#Arima training people

[tatatatatara]

How the special investigators cope with stress:

Ui: smoking (duh), horse riding while screaming his lungs out. People once reported his screams because they thought it was a ghoul's scream

Kuroiwa: working out then having some really good, warm meal. He always feels less stressed after eating good food

Shinohara: drinking and chatting. He uses to drink a lot as a junior investigator which resulted in many lectures from Iba

Kiyoko: making pottery. Her juniors receive a bunch of potteries whenever there is a hard case

Houji: quinque training, sex, buying clothes and beauty products. Yeah he uses retail therapy, good thing that he is rich and single

Mougan: meditating, going to clubs. He needs silence or really loud noises there's no in between

Arima: sleeping. He spends most of his day off sleeping if no one asks him out

Marude: bike riding, having a good cry. He is the type to limit the crying time to 30 minutes per day or something and has a alarm for it

Suzuya: eating sweets, throwing Hanbee. Hanbee must keep filling his sweet stock or he will be sad and stressed

[uriekukistan]

how would your favourite TG characters spend their Friday night?

(btw - well done on getting your work done. I haven't touched my coursework since Tuesday 😬)

(i was unnaturally motivated this week idk why 🧎 good luck with your coursework oomfie 🫶)

on a friday night, the quinx squad is having a family board game or movie night, courtesy of haise. this is a weekly routine for them, and haise has made a bunch of homemade snacks. juuzou and hanbee are frequent guests, and sometimes akira or arima make an appearance. akira only comes if they’re doing game night and gets really competitive about it. money wagers are no longer allowed because of her.

urie, however, is a rare participant in these events. he’s usually training at this time, or he’s quietly in his room painting. when he does get dragged in, he kicks everyone’s ass in monopoly.

saiko loves family night and she loves haise’s snacks, but the highlight for her is when she can retreat to her room and play video games until the sun comes up. she only takes a break to make 4am instant ramen.

pre-ghoulified takizawa likes going to get drinks with his co-workers on friday nights and decompress. not a fan of the club, he prefers going to a chill bar so he can have conversations. get him a little too drunk and he’ll start ranting about akira and juuzou.

post-ghoulified takizawa also hangs out near the bars, but he’s looking for food. drunk people are slow and h uncoordinated, so they’re easy to take down. he makes a game out of it to distract himself from reminiscing about the good times when he was human and could hang out with his buddies instead of living in the shadows.

kaneki likes to stay in and curl up with a book and a nice warm coffee. do not ask him to go out, he is clearly busy reading takatsuki sen’s latest work.

nishiki works his ass off all week so he can have fun on friday nights. he goes out with “the boys” from college almost every friday. he tells himself he’s just keeping his human image up by doing normal human things, but he kinda secretly has fun. if he doesn’t do this, he has a night in with kimi with (much to nishiki’s chagrin) takeout and a movie.

touka is a serious student, but if there’s one thing she can’t say no to, it’s yoriko, who shows up unannounced at her apartment with a rented film and a bag full of snacks. they have movie nights, which usually ends up as an accidental sleepover. touka pretends to be annoyed when yoriko shows up, but really, she looks forward to it every week.

post-time skip touka probably spends her friday nights working, either doing inventory or deep cleaning or crunching numbers at :re. since she’s cut ties with yoriko, kaneki has disappeared, and hinami has gone to aogiri, she feels very lonely. though she won’t admit that, yomo and nishiki know this, so they also spend their friday nights in :re after it closes. sometimes they do something bro-y like, play cards, sometimes they’re more serious and exchange information. touka appreciates the company.

[shadowsphere]

Can I request angst! Kishou Arima x reader with a happy ending?

🔮Side by Side ⎯ K. Arima

☽ Featuring: Kishou Arima x gn! Reader

☽ Request? ✓ I scrolled and saw this was in my drafts. Completely forgot. I'm so sorry!!

☽ Includes: angst, fluffy, character death, happy but sad ending, ghouls vs reapers, opposites attract???, enemies to lovers??,, afterlife, Ken Kaneki, wishing for death mention, gn reader, minor trans characters, ftm transition mentioned, inside joke, slow burn, unnecessary background, fearing arima, canon touken, ayato helps train you, owl suppression operation, slow ghoul identity finding, multiple skips around bc it wouldve been longer if i didnt, both of you like each other but dont get together, one adorable kiss, reader jumping into kishou's arms, fighting with ccg, winning but at what cost, One-Eyed King, unrealistic fight but its cool to think about, loosely based off a scene in naruto, not even dialogue bc i suck at it, hand holding but not really, reincarnation????

☽ Synopsis: You were both supposed to grow old together, yet here you two are, wasting away on the battlefield, revenge for who you two were.

☽ A/n: I included a trans character just so that I can get some practice in writing for a trans character. I hope that's okay. Also, please don't be afraid to recommend trans! reader stories as well as male! reader stories, I want to gain experience writing them.

🔮┊🔮┊🔮 ≛ ☽

This wasn't supposed to happen.

This war should have ended before it started, but that could be wishful thinking. This was bound to happen, it was the fine print of your jobs. Perhaps you two were just too selfish and the universe noticed. Maybe these were your punishments for all the things you've done.

Maybe it was just a nightmare. A really long nightmare that neither of you could wake up from. Anything was better than real life at this moment, and you two were forced to watch each other. Forced to manage the pain each was going through.

This wasn't punishment. It was torture.

But let's start from the beginning.

Kishou Arima, CCG's Reaper. Despite his job being to kill ghouls, he was on their side. He even took up a secret identity to fight alongside ghouls. Something he's regretting in his current timeline.

Y/n, a newly turned ghoul. You were constantly afraid of what you could do to others who didn't deserve to be attacked. But you cared less about attacking people who deserved it but were still scared of fear of getting tortured by investigators.

Before we get into how you met, let's get deeper into your story.

You hung out with Ken Kaneki a lot, you both were baby ghouls. You gave each other a lot of strength, both constantly going through the shock and hatred of what's happened to yourselves. Unlike Kaneki, you didn't know when or who turned you into a ghoul, you just remember one day getting worrying thoughts and urges.

You and Kaneki met when he was on a mission to kill ghouls in the area. He had stumbled across you while you were curled into a ball, noticeably crying. When Kaneki reached out to touch the shaking person in front of him, you flinched away and looked up at him with frightened eyes. The way you looked at the time made

Kaneki feel like they were a victim attacked by a ghoul that got away.

This leads to a weird dynamic between the two. Kaneki would take care of you, while you constantly pushed him away. You didn't want to hurt the person keeping you safe and would rather Kaneki forgot about you and left. But Kaneki was too nice.

You tried to run away multiple times.

The moment you learned that Kaneki was an investigator, you feared the moment he would find out what you were. You didn't want Kaneki to hate you for never mentioning that you were a ghoul. Plus you were conflicted with yourself. You constantly cursed the universe for letting this happen to you and wished for someone to kill you, yet feared being killed by an investigator.

Maybe this was the first act of selfishness. They need to be alive but want to be dead.

Kaneki did find out about you being a ghoul of course. He again was on a mission. He had heard that there was a ghoul out of control, eating and attacking any humans they would see. Kaneki knew these to be signs of either a newly turned ghoul or a ghoul who fought against their urges. Kaneki always hated killing those types, but they were dangerous to the world, and they needed to die.

It was deja vu.

He went through an alleyway. He immediately recognized you. But he didn't focus on that long. He noticed a lot of blood on you and your clothes. It looked like you were dunked overhead with blood. Behind you, he saw a pile of bodies and instantly connected the dots. He hoped it wasn't what it looked like, but from the tears on your face and the flesh around your mouth, he knew you did this.

"Y/n.." The sad tone in his voice made the tears fall. You crouched down and started crying into your knees, the scene reminding him of when you first met. The gut-wrenching screams of regret and hatred were loud, causing even more hesitation in Kaneki. He understood why you two met the way you did. You were scared of yourself and crying. He understood you pushing him away, you were protecting him.

This one time. This one ghoul. You broke him. He could kill any ghoul without a second thought. But because he knew you, because he knew you weren't dangerous and that you didn't want to be, he couldn't kill you.

Kaneki walked to you and crouched down, engulfing you in the tightest hug that you could muster. He felt you immediately grab hold of him and cry harder. Maybe out of disbelief that he's hugging you. Kaneki's eyes were focusing hard on the dead bodies in front of him now that he was looking over your shoulder. The bodies ranged from kids to old people.

None of them were completely finished. Kaneki's hand went up to the back of your head and pushed you against his shoulder. He didn't know, but he could guess that you tried so hard to stop yourself from completely killing them, but the urges got the better of you. Kaneki looked at your still crying form, deciding that he could lie this one time.

After this event, Kaneki allowed you to meet the Kirishima siblings. He had explained to you that they helped him control his urges as much as possible because he was exactly like you, he didn't want to eat human flesh. Hearing that not only was Kaneki a ghoul, but he also used to be in the same position as you. This gave you the confidence to trust the Kirishima siblings.

It's been 15 years since.

Even though some people get over being a ghoul in a few years, you were just now getting to the point where you were okay with it. It's mainly due to the fact that you had to work through the trauma of the screams of kids and families. Every day, you were plagued with those images, finding it hard to move on when you took their lives just because you were hungry. You still have the guilt, but you've constantly been going to their graves and paying your respects. You were the colors and mask of a swan, but unlike the animal, you repelled others.

Maybe it was the uncertainty you gave everyone who didn't know you. Your uncertainty increased oddly enough, not because you were displeased with who you were, but because you didn't know what type of ghoul you were. Ayato Kirishima would constantly say that you're possibly a Ukaku like him, but there was no evidence to prove that.

Still, you trained just in case.

However, you and Kaneki stopped hanging around each other for some time. It was rare for you to see him and if you did, he would instantly leave. At first, you were completely confused as to why and no one wanted to tell you what was happening. But you ended up getting over it due to how busy you were getting as well.

You spent a lot of time with the Kirishima siblings, especially Touka, who you realized had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on Kaneki. She and you grew close due to your relationships with Kaneki and would always be found laughing together. On some days, you both would get together to mutually worry about Kaneki.

Today was the same thing.

You were helping Touka out at the Anetiku, a routine you were used to doing after training. You were a stand-in waitress, and currently, you served a middle-aged man and his teenager, your last customers. The teenager seemed to have a mixture of interests from what you could tell. They had hair that was split but in an oddly satisfying way. Their hair was black on one side but dyed multiple colors on the other.

Their clothes were the same. They had on black pants but a very colorful top. Their accessories were a mixture of black and colorful. You could tell that the teenager was going through a self-discovery of who they were and what they liked. Any time you went to their table for their orders, you would unconsciously catch some parts of their conversation.

Something you felt very guilty about and tried hard to block out so that you weren't imploring on a sensitive topic.

You caught sentences like "I don't know who I am yet", "Dad how did you make your transition from female to male confidently", and "I don't even know if I want to transition." You were able to work out that the teenager was transgender and was seeking reassurance from their father, who went through the same process.

You hoped that at the end of their journey, they would be happy with what they decided on who they should be. You went through the same process of accepting who you were and it wasn't easy, so you hoped they had a good support system. You knew the duo knew you heard their conversation, but since you showed no ignorant reaction, they felt comfortable.

When they two got up to leave, they gave you a smile. You smiled back, wishing that you could've done something in order to show how supportive you were but didn't want to be too pushy. Touka noticed the interaction and looked at you, her voice teasing despite the monotone. "You look like they offered for you to join their family."

The sentence caused you to immediately laugh. "Is that what that looked like?" You were laughing hard, amusing Touka with the wheezing escaping you. She lived to make you wheeze, and you always delivered.

"I hear wheezing, and I know it's not the teapot." You and Touka looked to the entrance and saw Kaneki walking in, a smile on his face. He was followed behind by another person. This person was completely covered. You couldn't even see a small amount of skin. The person was making sure that no one could identify who they were.

Your eyes went from the mysterious to Kaneki who was smiling at you. You rolled your eyes playfully, "The first thing you do is make fun of me after ten thousand years of not seeing you." Touka covered her smile with her hand, finding it amusing how you exaggerated sometimes. Touka walked to Kaneki and hugged him. The hug was awkward, only because they both liked each other but didn't want to mention it to one another.

You couldn't see Touka's face, but you could see Kaneki's, and the blush on his face amused you. You watched as they hugged, completely forgetting that they aren't alone. A sound came from the mysterious person that came with Kaneki. He had cleared his throat, feeling awkward about what he was forced to witness. Kaneki and Touka pushed each other away, unable to look each other in the eyes now.

You snorted automatically and immediately covered your nose, expecting Kaneki to mention it. He didn't disappoint. The moment the sound came from you, he looked at you with a teasing glint in his eyes. "You better not." "Better not what piggy?" You glared at Kaneki and he only shrugged, but you knew he wasn't done. Not with how he was smirking at you.

"Though, I'm surprised I didn't have to bribe you for you to oink for me like I usually do." The immediate laugh that sentence got out of you made Kaneki cocky. He knew how much you loved any mention of any inside jokes you have with each other.

This inside joke was made when you two were extremely sleep-deprived at three am but still hung out. You two didn't understand how y'all got there, but you two started to talk about turns on and turn-offs. The conversation led to both of you snorting out of laughter at the ridiculous things you were saying, but Kaneki took the award for the most outrageous sentences said. "Imagine if your partner asked you to oink for them because it turned them on."

Safe to say that it made your life so much better after that.

Kaneki walked behind the counter and hugged you quickly then let you go. You wanted to make a joke about him hugging you like he didn't want to, yet held on to Touka so much longer, but you knew that would make them awkward. So instead, you just pinched his side and focused on making sure that no other customers were getting ready to come in.

With Kaneki here, that meant he found something out.

Touka went to the bathroom and knocked, trying to see if someone was in there still. Since there weren't any sounds from the bathroom, Touka gave you a thumbs-up. You went to the door and locked it. You closed the blinds on one side of the room, while Touka closed the blinds on the other.

You two finished making sure no one could see or hear inside the cafe. Then you went to go sit at a booth, Touka going over to make drinks and food for everyone. Kaneki and his guest sat across from you, and while you three waited, the conversation started.

"Kishou-sama, you can take everything off now. You're safe here. No one is gonna report you." Kaneki addressed the man next to him and smiled. The person next to Kaneki started to remove his clothing. First, he started with his white gloves, revealing the bony but veiny hands he had. His fingers were long but elegant. After, the large, bulky coat he had on came off next. He had on a white coat, which you found weird because that makes him unnecessarily hot.

But now you could see the black shirt he had underneath the coat. Then the white scarf around his neck came off, revealing that the black shirt was actually a turtleneck. Then he moved on to the mask that completely covered his face. The moment he took it off you were surprised to see a face that you only saw in photos.

His hand went up to push his glasses up his nose as he got comfortable. He had put all the articles of clothing onto the ground, clearing up space for everyone to be comfortable. You didn't show a visual reaction, you felt it would've been rude if you did. Instead, you panicked in your head. You didn't understand why a well-known investigator was buddy-buddy with a ghoul.

His gray, visibly bored eyes landed on you. It was like he could sense that you were panicking. He showed no reaction, he just nodded his head in greeting and then looked back at Kaneki.

When Touka came back and put the drinks and food on the table and got settled in, the meeting started. Kaneki and Kishou explained the reason for their visit and how Touka and you needed to inform all the ghouls you possibly could. The CCG was planning an attack and everyone needed to be ready.

Maybe you should've known Kishou would become a prominent figure in your life after that.

Kaneki would start to come back around, he said he was getting ready for the amount of fighting there would be. You were unsure about that, still unsure of your ghoul type. Along with Kaneki, Kishou also started to come around a lot. He couldn't come as much as Kaneki because he couldn't let his identity be found out, but he still would.

His attitude towards you and Touka never changed. He stayed professional and distant. It was understandable though, he couldn't get close, and it could ruin everything he worked for. Touka started to tease you about Kishou though. Maybe your lingering gazes of fear could be seen as gazes of attraction.

It wasn't like Arima wasn't attractive, you were just too plagued with the fear that one day he's gonna kill everyone. No matter how many times Kaneki said "He regrets killing the ghouls he killed. He's on our side", you couldn't fully believe that.

But the universe was funny. It gives you something just to take it away.

Ayato had told you that he couldn't help you train one day. He was too busy trying to prepare with everyone in the Aogiri Tree. He needed to make sure that everything was okay, but he wouldn't allow you to train alone. He mentioned that someone would help you train, but didn't say who.

It was a good thing he didn't say. You wouldn't have gone if he did. You remember entering your training room and seeing Kishou sitting down. He was peaceful. When you got closer, you noticed that his eyes were closed. You looked towards the door, thinking of skipping out on training this one time, but he noticed.

"Oh. You're here." His smooth but cold voice made you scared. You watched as he stood up to his full height. "I was told to help train you. You don't know what kind of ghoul you are right? Kirishima said that you could be a Ukaku." You just nodded along, looking at the exit. You knew that you wouldn't make it if you run, but the thought was tempting.

Kishou started to take off his white coat, something you noticed he always wore. He folded it and put it on the ground neatly far from you. He started to roll up the sleeves of his turtle neck.

Was it too late to run? He looked as if he could easily take you out. But still, you reluctantly got ready to train. Usually, you were confident and aggressive, but now you were timid. Kishou knew it was because you feared him as an investigator, halfway through the training session, he stood up straight.

He let out a sigh. "We won't get anywhere if you continue to fear me. If I wanted to kill you, I would've already done it. But we don't have time for you to be acting like this. So, either get over your fear or live in fear and die."

You weren't mad. You weren't even sad. What he said was completely valid. You were putting yourself at risk of dying just because you fear him. Plus training with an actual investigator would teach you what you need to know. Instead of losing fear, you used your fear of him for good.

When you two started training again, he noticed how intense you were and could only nod his head in approval. He was better than you, but you were still learning a lot.

It became a ritual.

You two would train together since Ayato was constantly busy. Especially now that Kishou has revealed the name of the operation, Owl Suppression Operation, and the full details of what the operation was. You were getting no closer to discovering your ghoul identity. You showed constant frustration with this, even though everyone repeatedly said to be patient and to wait.

You just felt useless. Again, the universe is cruel. In your time of feeling like you were a burden, Kishou was there for you. He would enter Anteiku and awkwardly ask you to sit with him. At first, you would look at him weirdly and decline. It seemed that when you declined, he would let out a breath of relief and get up to leave.

By that, you knew he was set up by someone to give you company against his will. But the sight of him being happy to not deal with you rubbed you the wrong way, even though you knew he would act the same to everyone else. So, you started to accept his invitations.

You would instantly regret the decision once you two were surrounded by awkwardness. He was distantly cold, and you hated that. So after ten minutes, you would get up and go back to work. Every time, you saw how he would be less tensed up. Maybe he just genuinely hated interaction that couldn't be calculated or controlled by him.

But an odd thing started to happen.

His silent and distant company did wonders. You started to feel more comfortable with him. His behavior was a break from everyone constantly questioning you or reassuring you. He was content, well kind of, with letting you sit down and didn't bother bringing up anything you worried about.

Maybe this was where the universe noticed that it made a mistake. You didn't know when, or how, but you craved Kishou's company over anyone else's. Instead of him asking you to sit with him, you started to ask him to keep you company. Of course, it threw him off. He was surprised you wanted to stay around him, but he allowed it, deciding that it wasn't that bad. Plus your presence was barely there.

What a lie that was.

You started to talk. He remembers being deep in thought, wondering how the plan against the CCG would work when you started talking. "Kishou, when did you find out your type?" Kishou was caught off guard, but it didn't show. He looked at you, noticing how interested you were. He also knew this probably had something to do with ghoul types.

He cleared his throat, keeping eye contact with you. "I don't know. It just happened." He noticed how your head hit the table, making a thud. You groaned out in frustration, sick and tired of being uncertain. "I noticed that you were a swan mask usually. Shouldn't that help you figure out what you should possibly go for?" Your mouth opened in surprise. Why didn't you think of that?

"Kishou, you're a genius. Swans have wings, and Ukaku has wings. Is that why Ayato was always saying I would be an Ukaku?" His mouth lifted up into a tiny smile, amused that you were making what he said seem like it was philosophical. "How do I become an Ukaku?" "You can't control what you become, it just happens. Maybe that's why you haven't found out what you are. You've been trying too hard to do it yourself and not let the Rc cells do their job."

Something that would never change, is how much you hate that Kishou is almost never wrong. He never fails to give a realistic answer and make you realize that you're just being an idiot for never figuring it out yourself. You know he never means to do that, but he always gives such simple explanations and you curse yourself for struggling to figure that out.

Due to that, and the date of the operation getting closer and closer, you stopped focusing on your ghoul type and started focusing on other things. Like you staring at Kishou too long. Touka and Kaneki team up to tease you about it, but you can't help it. His hair oddly complimented his pale skin. It was entrancing to see and made him look ethereal.

Sometimes you wanted to see how he would look with his hair pushed back, but that was the only thing that really held your attention. His hair was pretty and that really was it, no matter what Touka and Kaneki said.

Kishou wasn't stupid. He noticed how you looked at him. But he also could read the signs, knowing you weren't attracted to him. So he just let you be. Though, he couldn't help but get a little happy whenever you celebrated getting a tiny victory over him. It surprisingly caused him a lot less stress than you being worried over anything.

Maybe Kishou only noticed your staring because he stared as well.

He found it interesting how you would make weird sounds whenever you laughed or when you lost balance due to laughing too hard. He was amused with your questions about him, sometimes the questioning not making sense. They varied from "Do you ever wonder if you're getting old? You know, with your hair being white." to "How come you have different Kagune's like Kaneki? Are you two related?"

It was weird how many times you asked about the connection between him and Kaneki. Your reason was mainly that they both had too many similarities. You would accuse them of being long-lost brothers despite them proving that they had no connection to each other.

That's when he should've realized.

He was so focused on everything and everyone else, that he couldn't see his own growing feelings. He should've noticed that his guard was being let down. He let out laughs and smiles more in your company, yet he didn't realize that. He got too caught up and realized when it was too late.

Maybe it was punishment for taking too long.

Soon you both started being weird. You would stop hanging around Kishou, finding it awkward. No, awkward isn't the right word, you found it rude. Kishou was helping you anytime he could, and here you were gaining feelings. Slowly, but surely. It was immediately noticed.

Ayato first noticed it, but only because you allowed him to. He remembers being at the Anteiku and eating when you suddenly sat down across from him. He saw how nervous and desperate you seemed and sighed, knowing you weren't gonna let him decline anything you asked. "Come back to training me please."

Ayato nodded instantly, which shocked you. He noticed the shock and only shrugged "I don't feel like hearing you constantly whine. But why do you want me to do it? You were perfectly fine with Arima weren't you?" He notice you flinch at the sound of the name and rolled his eyes. He knew what this meant. He had to deal with it when Kaneki first realized he liked Touka.

"I don't want to know." Ayato stood up, completely losing his appetite. He didn't need to or have to deal with any more people being into each other, but not making any moves.

You would've been hurt if he didn't just grant your wish. He could be grumpy all he wants, he gave you what you want.

The next person to realize what was happening was Touka. Every time Kaneki and Kishou would come into the cafe, suddenly you were ducked behind the counter and asking her not to expose you. There were multiple times when she almost did, but she was a good friend. Though as for revenge for making her hide you, she would find multiple reasons to say Kishou's name when you least expected it.

You would be taking orders and here comes Touka. She would whisper in your ear, making it seem like she's telling you something about the cafe in front of the customers but really she's just saying "Kishou was breathing earlier." Yes, she made sure that it never made sense. She just loved to see you in the same situation you made fun of her and Kaneki for.

Speaking of Kaneki, he didn't notice your behavior. Either he was too busy to notice or he was too focused on Touka. However, you guessed Touka revealed to him your steadily growing feelings for Kishou. At first, Kaneki didn't believe her, but he was instantly convinced.

There was another meeting being held, this time all of the Aogiri Tree members were present. The discussion was being held about any final adjustments to be made. However, Kaneki noticed how your eyes kept drifting to a highly focused Kishou. He watched as your eyes traveled from his hair to his hands, the process of getting there being stopped occasionally by you getting distracted by his other features.

However, he also noticed something no one else could see. He saw how Kishou was tense. He was always tense, but never this much. Kaneki instantly knew that Kishou knew that you were looking at him. But he didn't seem tense because he disliked it. Kishou was known for being honest and blunt about what he didn't like, and this would be no different.

Kaneki knew Kishou liked it enough to not tell you to stop. He could only smirk as he came up with a way to tease you. He didn't stall on that either. The moment the meeting was over and everyone went back to where they needed to go, Anteiku was filled with only you, Kaneki, Touka, and Ayato.

You were cleaning up the tables like you were supposed to while Touka threw away the trash. You two just automatically split the chores, something that was learned after months of the same routine. Kaneki didn't care though. He leaned against the table, much to your dismay. "Ken. Get off the table, I'm cleaning." You stuck your tongue out at him as you spoke, but he didn't automatically respond.

Usually, he gave you a witty remark, but he didn't, which worried you more than you cared to admit. Though that care instantly drained when he opened his mouth. "No matter how much you clean, your reflection won't change. It, unfortunately, can't capture the look of hopeless pining." You froze while you cleaned the table. You continued to stare at the table, seeing your reflection wasn't helping.

The Kirishima siblings lost interest in what they were doing and focused on you and Kaneki. This was the first time your noticeable feelings for Kishou were mentioned, and you were obviously taking it bad. "....What are you talking about?" Kaneki stood up straight, noticing your unmoving body. He had two options: poke fun at you or be a nice friend.

For once, he would choose the former.

"After all this time and years of poking fun of me and Touka. Calling it a schoolgirl crush. Now, here you are. Crushing on someone just like a schoolgirl crush." Ayato had covered his mouth, not wanting to let you hear him laughing at you. Your hands were clenched into fists. Kaneki was right. This was your karma for all that you've done.

You sighed, letting your eyes land on Kaneki. He saw the sadness and disbelief in you and could only sigh before patting your head. "Well I can tell you one thing, he's noticed but he doesn't hate it." That caught your attention, but Kaneki only started to walk away. "Wait! Hold on! Come back!" Kaneki only waved at you, leaving like he didn't just drop a bombshell on you.

Well, now you have a lot to think about.

Kishou was thinking a lot around this time as well. He was constantly working but wasn't focused. Something that everyone noticed but decided not to mention for fear of what he might say. His task, with Kaneki, was to sabotage anything that the CCG had prepared for the operation. Currently, he was unable to effectively do it, causing a lot of frustration in his partner in crime.

"Are you that emotionally constipated that you're struggling with your own?" Kishou looked over at Kaneki who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. It was silent between them for a little, Kaneki realizing that Kishou barely understood anything. "Never mind." A big, dramatic sigh escaped Kaneki, but he went back to what he was doing.

Kishou followed suit, not entirely concerned with what was said. Though, he should've been. Maybe he could've stopped a disaster before it even started.

Kishou started to notice that he only ever trained with you now. He couldn't and didn't want to train with anyone else. He didn't understand why. He always gave the excuse of "Sorry, I need someone that's actually challenging" but that wasn't true about you. You were the weakest person he knew, and he didn't gain anything from training with you, but he still declined every invitation.

If you couldn't train, he wouldn't train at all. Kishou noticed this only when many CCG members started to complain openly that he was mocking them. He, of course, showed that he wasn't surprised by this information, but on the inside, it didn't make sense. Why did he train with you but no one else?

Kishou also noticed how he would occasionally look over your body. Before, he used to do it because he needed to asses what you should work on for the session. Now, he has no reason to, especially not in the middle of the session. Yet, he still does it and he knows you know because you would get awfully quiet and wouldn't look him in the eyes. Is he making you feel the way you make him feel when you stare at him? If so, why doesn't he hate that?

Why does he continue to do it, despite knowing how you're gonna react? He would subconsciously tell himself that it was because he enjoyed your reaction, but he wouldn't accept that. It was out of character for him. However, he knew that every time he did it, he would be smirking a little.

He remembers Ayato telling him to admit that he likes you to himself. Ayato sounded extremely tired of everything, and seemingly "Your unawareness that you like Y/n and their inability to completely accept that they like you is stressing me out more than preparations." was the main cause of it. Ayato had started to walk away after that, mumbling that he needed to sleep.

Kishou, weeks after that, continuously contemplated over if he really did like you. He thought he was exempt from experiencing romantic feelings. It was something he was okay with, but having romantic feelings was completely out of his expertise. Luckily, since preparations were coming to a close on both sides, Kishou had time to himself to think about everything.

He finally accepted the reality that he did have some sort of feelings for you, but there was no time for romance, especially on a battlefield. That's what he said, but he sang a different tune two days away from the start of a war.

He had visited the Aogiri Tree for the last time. He was walking around and getting details about any last-minute adjustments made. But his task was interrupted by the scream of his name. "KISHOU!" Kishou turned around and saw you running to him, smiling in absolute delight.

He liked your smile more than he could've thought. These feelings enhanced his attraction to you the more you did normal things like smile or speak. He was fed up with it, but didn't mind it. Kishou bowed at the people he was previously talking to and walked up to you to meet you halfway. Here he goes again, putting you above everyone else instantly.

You didn't stop running. Actually, you ran past him, but grabbed onto his arm and dragged him in the direction of your training room. "I have to show you something really cool!" Usually, he would protest getting pulled like this, but he allowed you.

Again, feelings were weird. Is this why people call it a weakness?

Kishou stayed silent and just accepted his fate. Once you got into the training room, you closed the door and started to push him away from you. Kishou didn't say anything, just watched. As he watched, he watched something incredible happen. Maybe it was just incredible because it was you.

He saw wings start to take form near your shoulders. His mouth dropped in shock. You were taking the form of an Ukaku right in front of his eyes with the happiest smile on your face. Once the wings fully formed, you two made eye contact and he could see happy tears start to form. His face shifted into one of pure happiness for you, his small smile meaning the world to you.

"It finally happened, huh? When did it?" He watched as you floated and spun around the room, gleefully laughing. He stood standing, watching as you finally enjoyed your ghoul identity. "It happened weeks ago, but you weren't here to see. Ayato's been teaching me how to fight as an Ukaku. I was running when I heard you were in the area and I needed to show you!"

Kishou watched as you got back onto the ground and your wings started to disappear. He didn't think anyone could pull off being an Ukaku as beautifully as you. 'But that's biased thinking.' He thought to himself. Kishou watched as your excitement rose again, but he wasn't ready for what you were gonna do.

You jumped onto him, hugging him tightly. He didn't stumble, but he was caught off guard. He just wrapped his arms around you confused and hugged back. You pulled away from the hug slightly and smiled at him, causing nerves to flow through him a little. "Thank you Kishou for telling me something extremely simple that actually helped me. Oh and also for training with me all those months."

Kishou only nodded. He couldn't focus on anything around him or what you were saying. Your eyes shone bright, happiness completely filling them. Your arms were around his neck, holding him like he truly saved your life. But what has his attention the most, was your lips that showed him smiles because he did something right.

Maybe it was okay for a little romance. He could indulge a little in his wants for once. Then after the fight, you two could talk about it more. But would you be okay with that? Ayato's words from weeks ago replay in his head, reminding him that you did in fact like him.

Maybe he should. He would regret it if he didn't.

Without even thinking, Kishou connected your lips. Your eyes widened from the sudden kiss but stayed wide due to the softness of how he was kissing you. Your eyes slowly closed, kissing him just as softly as he was kissing you. The kiss was delicate, representing the feelings you had for each other.

You pulled away from each other. His glasses were a little foggy, causing you to laugh. You took his glasses off his face and wiped them clean with your shirt. Before you put them on his face, you looked at him and admired his beauty without his glasses. For Kishou, all he could see was a blurry image, but he could feel that you were smiling at him.

His clear vision came back as you put them back on his face and your hands went down to his cheek, caressing him as gently as you kissed. The air around you two was a soft blanket of hope.

But that blanket would soon be ripped off of you, exposing you to the harsh and cold reality of the world. Because here you two were on the battlefield. He was appearing as the One-Eyed King, fighting against the most powerful CCG members while you were in the air, fighting against the weaker ones.

Everyone was fighting with their blood, sweat, and tears. Everyone would get back up after getting knocked down repeatedly. But the thunder that struck signaled a change in the war. At first, the ghouls had the upper hand. But then the CCG started to gain it.

All around you were the screams of excruciating pain. Ghouls were falling back to back. Sure the number of ghouls was overpowering, but the numbers were quickly falling. No one understood what was happening, and Kishou was also confused. But still, the fight continued, and the ghouls attack more ferociously than before. They mutually agreed that whatever was taking out the ghouls needed to be taken out fast.

You were fighting effectively in the air, the training with Ayato helping you out. But something went wrong. One of your wings got attacked, but instead of being unharmed, it completely disappeared. You let out a yelp, having only one wing barely keeping you in the air. But that wing also got attacked, disappearing like its pair.

You started falling, and fast.

Kishou was fighting but he kept an eye on you. When he saw you falling to the ground, he overpowered his opponent and ran to you, trying to catch you. It was wishful thinking. The world was too nice, it gave him multiple things in life, but he was sick of it. It now wanted to take instead.

He felt something thrust into his stomach. He looked down and saw a massive hole. He could feel himself start to change back. He looked back to see who attacked him and saw a smug-looking CCG member. The smugness of the member dissolved when Kishou was revealed to be the One-Eyed King. It was placed with betrayal. Kishou didn't have time to deal with this. He needed to catch you.

He just kept running to you. He caught you in his arms, you were curled up in fear. You opened your eyes and saw Kishou holding you and you smiled. He put you on your feet. He wanted to ask about your rings but for now, he would go back to the fight. He tried to change back into the One-Eyed King but he couldn't.

His eyebrows furrowed. But then he realized. The CCG was planning on making weapons that could cancel out a ghoul's RC cells, meaning they couldn't use their abilities anymore. They said it wouldn't get finished in time for this operation, so he stopped worrying about it.

He let his guard down. People were telling the truth feeling were a weakness.

"I can't believe Kishou Arima, our reaper, is on the side of the ghouls. This ghoul here, you care for them." Kishou glared at the CCG member. He could take him even without the RC cells. But what he didn't expect was to hear you scream. Kishou immediately turned around to see you on the ground. He saw that another CCG member had attacked you, making sure that you couldn't use your RC cells either.

He wanted to run towards the member who attacked you, but he was grabbed by another. They held him by his neck, and Kishou could've fought them off, but what he was told made him stop. "If you struggle, they die right in front of your eyes."

Yeah. Feelings and emotions were a weakness.

He was forced to watch you struggle to move, your body not used to not having any RC cells anymore. You were basically a normal human despite the ghoul trait to you. It was definitely causing you to have a small crisis. He saw someone step over him, noticing that the CCG member was smirking at him. They grabbed you by your chin and lifted your face up so that you and Kishou could see each other.

He saw the tears in your eyes, your body in more pain than he could imagine. Kishou was half-human, so his RC cells being taken wasn't a big deal, but it was different for you. "This is your punishment for being a two-faced rat." Kishou's eyes widened. They planned to kill you either way but wanted to take it slowly instead of having to speed it up.

Kishou immediately started struggling, much to the delight of the CCG member holding him. Kishou was wrong though. They weren't planning on killing just you. He found that out while struggling. It was easier to kill Kishou since he was still human. Getting rid of him now would mean they could get rid of a powerful force.

It was instant.

It was like nothing changed. Kishou starts gurgling. The blood was pooling up in his throat as it flowed out from the cut on his throat. He felt the grip of the CCG member loosen and he stumbled forward. He almost fell over while holding his hand to the cut.

He wondered how he looked to you. He wondered how scared and traumatized you were. But he didn't have to wonder, he heard you scream again. He instantly knew they attacked you for good. His vision was blurry, due to the fast blood loss, but he tried to reach out to you. He was dying, but he could save you couldn't he? He's done impossible things before.

He could save you with his last dying breath.

His body didn't agree. The moment he took one step, he immediately fell to the ground. His hearing was leaving him, but he could still hear the sounds of battle. What he couldn't hear was your breathing. They made sure to kill you quickly, but left him suffering. That's what he thought.

He felt a body next to his. He immediately knew it was you, but he couldn't see. He didn't even know how he got here. He must look ridiculous, he was bleeding out but all he cared for was you. He should've stuck to the fact that romance didn't work out. He put too many people in danger and with him losing himself but also you, he cursed himself for letting it get to this point.

You were looking up at the sky, or at least what you thought was the sky. Your hand was on what used to be a stomach, the CCG members had made sure to put a hole big enough through you. It was painful, but you would die faster. It felt weird, you were too used to feeling flesh, but there was nothing. Your eyes closed, and you lost your senses faster than Kishou. You didn't feel when he touched you or when he held your hand. Even he couldn't really feel it.

The universe was cruel, it gave and gave until it took. It took a massive chunk.

No one knew you two were dead on the ground. Everyone was too focused on the fighting. The ghouls felt a weird need to fight hard for some reason. Their fighting allowed them to win. The CCG members had started to retreat and the ghouls celebrated. But the celebration was cut short.

Kaneki, Touka, and Ayato went to go look for you. They wanted to congratulate you on overcoming everything you went through, but they soon realized it wasn't gonna happen.

The trio noticed you first. Kaneki had to cover his mouth so that he didn't throw up at the sight of your body. Touka wasn't bothered by how you looked, but tears were streaming down her face. Ayato wasn't as emotional as them. He was more curious about the person next to you. He crouched down and saw how Kishou looked.

It looked like he got the easier death, but he suffered by living longer than you. His eyes trailed down to your hands and sighed. The feelings you two held were finally accepted, yet accepted too late.

The war was won, but at what cost?

The next months after that, your funeral was being held. Kaneki cried loud and hard, he was on his knees the whole time and no one could lift him up. Touka cried into Ayato's arms, her emotions finally catching up to her. The rest of the ghouls mourned the loss of the One-Eyed King and Ayato? He cried with Touka, but he cried silently. After the service, you two were buried together. The reason being "They couldn't be together when alive, but they can be together eternally in death."

It's been years since you both died. Touka and Kaneki finally got together. Kaneki became the new One-Eyed King. Things were changing, but what never changed was the anniversary of your deaths and how every ghoul would mourn on that day.

Kaneki had decided to get new pets one day. He wanted cats since they could take care of themselves really without him being there. It would get lonely whenever he and Touka were doing separate things. They both spoke about how if the other isn't there, they started to think about you and Kishou.

So to cure that, pets were brought up, specifically cats. Kaneki had wanted to get cats from a shop, but he noticed two that were strays and that got his attention. One was an orange tabby, and the other was a completely white cat. He had brought them home, and even though Touka got angry, she allowed him to keep them as long as they were trained.

Kaneki quickly learned that the white cat didn't really care what happened. He's never seen the cat play with any of the cat toys bought and didn't respond to any affection. Yet, this exact same cat was always behind the orange tabby. It took a protective and possessive stance around the other cat and would hiss whenever Kaneki or Touka got close to the orange tabby.

With the cat's attitude, Kaneki and Touka settled on calling the white cat Ari, a shorter version of Arima. The cat reminded them of Kishou, and even though it brought some tough emotions, it made them happy. It felt like Kishou never left.

The orange tabby was a little shy around random humans, but once it warmed up to people, it would show exactly how chaotic it was. A couple of times, Touka saw the orange tabby run into multiple walls while trying to run away from Kaneki. Kaneki has caught the orange tabby playfully fighting with Ari, who never truly attempted to play with the other, but dealt with it.

Kaneki called the orange tabby Teapot, it reminded him of Y/n and one thing that Kaneki always remembered about Y/n is the teapot laugh they had.

So what if they both died? They obviously resurrected, and found each other again, but also found Kaneki again. That was something Kaneki would constantly tell him so many times, but it helped him grieve. It also didn't help that whenever he had that thought, the Ari and Teapot would come out of nowhere and stare at him.

They never left, and they would never leave.

[stitchedfeather]

It’s 9 in the morning.

Ui Koori would call himself a distinguished man, one that had many titles and awards to be confident of. He was short tempered, sure, but everyone had their flaws. Ui followed the lines closely as he could, and as he grew older did his morals and maturity melt into one thing; a Queen bitch.

Now, this makes sense in a setting of high-school, and trust me, Ui was Regina in the Academy. Even if he didn't know it. Because rich people are never self aware.

So take a 28 year old investigator in a place of work with his ( very attractive ) partner tagging along, smiling and humming. Investigator Hairu was a bit odd and a bit air headed, but she was sweet, smart. Respectful with nothing but good intentions, and always smelled like vanilla somehow but he wouldn't know.

But she was obedient. She listened, she learned. That's what made her an excellent partner, one he was proud to train and work with. She was never too loud, and a perfect example ( despite the few flaws he scolds her for like being doe eyed at Arima during a meeting ) of a investigator.

Unlike —

"Ahh—! Are those my fucking best friends in the fucking world—?!"

Oh no. No.

It's 9 am, he hasn't had a cigarette and was barely running on coffee, and Hairu kept talking over and over ( god damn it ) about Arima, and he had a meeting ( Hairu don't ) —

It already happened. Like riling up a dog, Hairu immediately snapped around with enough speed it had Ui stepping back blinking.

There stood Raven, skipping away from the S3 squad as she waved her hand. Full of energy as always. What personality was it today, who knew—

But Ui had a feeling.

Hairu squealed, her grin widening more than Ui has seen her before as she practically skipped forward meeting the older woman before he could stop her.

"Raven-channn—! Good morning!"

"What's up, sugar." Raven smirked, throwing her hand out and like instinct the two were doing some...elaborate handshake that had investigator Ui squinting as he mouthed 'what the fuck' under his breath. Of course a distinguished investigator wouldn't curse aloud where his subordinates could hear.

"Girl, you're getting better at these."

"I learn from the best~! We need to go out again, last time was so fun! Oh, and we could do a sleepover with the others our age, and—"

It was interesting, scary, cute, and almost embarrassing to Ui as he watched his partner ramble like he's never seen before. She was loud sometimes granted, and spoke out sometimes but with Ui she was nothing but respectful. But here? She was passionate, and treating Investigator Raven like a old long time friend.

And it made him jealous.

He'd never admit it, and he knew that the — 'investigator' had no ill intentions ( or so she says ) but to him, it ached how she could get her to open up like that. Just— so easily. There was no small talk, or gently easing into a conversation. It was natural, as natural as they had met the first time.

The two didn't separate for the entire day, and the separate squads had to practically tear them apart and herd em somewhere else. But somehow, it wasn't just Hairu.

She just had it with everyone, even those who didn't seem to care or straight up felt vicious hate towards the ghoul. No self awareness, always loud, always wanting attention. It was sad. But inspiring.

Inspiring not to be like that.

"How you doing, Koori." Raven grinned with a lazy smile, Hairu giggling as she turned to glance at her partner who in turn narrowed his eyes as he felt his eye tick. Exactly. Disrespectful.

"That's special class to you, and don't call me by my first name. That's disrespectful. Were you not taught any manners at all—? I doubt Investigator Suzuya would certainly not let this behavior fly— what are you doing."

He said, walking forward as he saw the two giggling and whispering.

"Ah shit, he's bitching again."

"He hasn't had a cigarette."

"Ok—! Ok! Ok, we get it." Ui pressed his hands together, before putting them out as he tried to force a friendly thin lipped smile.

"Thank you for your time, investigator Raven but we have a important meeting to get to. So, if you don't mind." He said, pulling his partner away to her surprise as she tried to keep up with him. This left a blinking Raven, tilting her head as she watched the two walk off before giving a comical puppy eyed look. Pouting, Hairu would groan as she leaned her head back before looking back like a distressed widow as she reached her hand out.

Ravens hand reached out into mid air, whispering back like a soldier finding his reason to keep fighting. Or the guy from titanic.

“Never forget me, I'll always be— oh shit! A penny!"

[ipsen]

Up Past Curfew

Cross-posted on AO3, as usual. Words: 901 Characters: Kishou Arima, Eto In which before her transfer to Cochlea, Eto receives one last visitor. (Another companion piece to Holometabolism.)

The sound of the door creaking long past visiting hours told Eto everything she needed to know.

On the other side of the glass was someone too clean to be considered a man. He was more a beast, and an old one at that: clad in a white cloak, with white hair and silver eyes.

The silver of his eyes was different from the ones that plagued her memories, that threatened to upend her own plans. The reaper’s eyes did not gleam like a star whenever she appreciated their value, nor did they gleam with any sort of potential for change. They were rigid in their color, and they would never shine under sunlight. The reaper’s eyes were dull, lifeless, devoid of anything resembling humanity.

Upon Arima’s appearance, she draped herself across the one chair provided for her, smirking bitterly.

“Well, well,” she said, looking him up and down. “Someone’s up past curfew.”

He took the only seat on the other side. “You’ll be transferred to Cochlea tomorrow.”

Not even banter. So boring. So predictable. “So your tantrum’s finally coming to an end, then?”

He took out a book— a weathered copy of Dear Kafka, complete with the original cover— and used the sliding drawer to transfer it across the glass. “I found it in my office and wanted to return it.”

She stared at the drawer, not making a move for it. “So that’s it, then, hm? Closing off all the threads so that you’ll be loved and remembered by everyone? Is that how you’re doing this?”

(hypocrite)

Eto recognized that copy anywhere; it was the author’s copy, the first of many things Arima stole from her. In her eagerness for his approval, she had rushed to their shrine— his shrine, in truth; nothing was ever truly hers, and when it was, it was stolen from right beneath her nose— and asked him to read it. He simply said he would do so, and she was left wondering if he did for thirteen years.

And that was Arima in a nutshell, wasn’t it? Stringing people along, using his overwhelming strength and achievements to make them believe that they could meet even a fraction of his expectations.

She stood up. “Keep your stupid book.” With as much force as she could muster, she shoved the drawer back across the glass. Even under RC suppressants, the room quivered. “Leave me alone.”

He looked at the book, expressionless, but she could hazard a guess. Confusion, resignation, some anger. Emotions he could never hope to express after being surrounded by a bunch of yes-men his entire life, and when someone said something different, he couldn’t comprehend nor believe them to be right.

“I liked it.” Arima held up the book for her to see again. “It was a bit vague, but I liked it.”

Eto clicked her tongue. She wanted his praise least of all. “If you’re done trying to kiss down to me, you can leave; I’m busy.”

He went to the door, but before he left, he turned around. “He’s a good choice. Well done.”

She froze. Words of praise from Kishou Arima. The world really was ending if it was coming to that.

She remembered craving those words when they first met. Something, anything to make him look her way, just for a bit. A small gift of light from God.

But she soon realized that the Reaper liked to dress in His robes. He always pushed her to get stronger, so she cannibalized more. She fought him more in secluded areas, where neither the public nor V could ever find them. He was training her, grooming her, for a greater role she would never obtain. She was his quinque, yet no matter how many sessions they held, no matter how many ghouls she devoured, she kept losing. The tower of corpses grew higher, yet heaven seemed further and further away.

He kept proving that she was weak, that she would always be weak. That she would never amount to more than that spoiled little vermin that ate nothing but hamburger steaks and, because of that, couldn’t protect the one person that mattered.

“You really are so empty!” Eto all but shouted, throwing her head back to stare at the ceiling. “Your strength is just another illusion to fool people into thinking you know anything. It makes me sick. You make me sick.”

Arima stole her agency, her life, everything. He even stole her motive for his own petty, selfish means. To him, ‘a world for ghouls’ meant slighting V and nothing else. He didn’t care about ghouls, otherwise he would spare them. He didn’t care about humans, otherwise he would try to change them. He only cared about his strength and his temper tantrum: a tantrum that slaughtered ghouls, humans, and plagued everyone who thought he was a character worth admiring.

The childish God of Tokyo turned the doorknob.

“He’s not gonna kill you,” she called, flopping onto her bed.

The heir— her pride— was spiteful like that, and had made his choice. He had chosen Arima, not her. If Eto was lucky, maybe he’d turn that blade around on her. Get to her first before V or Cochlea’s compactors did. It’d be the greatest mercy she never deserved, and she’d get to see those gleaming silver eyes again.

The door shut, and she was alone again.

(trash. just die.)

[tg-headcanons]

How would you go about writing the Sunlit Garden plot if you were the one writing tg:re? Personally, I thought having so many half-ghoul characters was just too much, and Arima especially was done dirty in the end.

For me, I would SCRAP THE FUCKER

The sunlit garden is, to put it nicely, sopping garbage. I think that the plot was built up to point to an upper class as the real driving force behind the violence, and the sunlit garden was convoluted weird shit put in place because rather than adding a statement that people can disagree with, it adds shock value that can add interest at the expense of a rational plot. And since even more early parts of RE, that’s just what’s happened, worsening plot and giving it more shock value. Now there are parts of it that could have been good, but there are so few that it can really just be plucked from canon and added into A Better Plotline

Even if we ignore the implausibility of a secret organization that does this shit, there’s a huge reason that it would be stupid to do. That is the FUNDING it would take. And they have no actual need for half ghoul super soldiers. Sure having a hybrid who can fight longer and harder than either species sounds good, but think of the cost to do that. They would have to not only find ghouls and humans who are both willing to have a child, but have one that can cause countless pregnancy complications and requires cannibalism to have even a chance at being born. Then they would have to keep the secrets, so either they’d need to kill the parents, potentially bringing investigation upon themselves, or they’d need to pay them enough to give away their child and keep quiet the rest of their lives. Either way, both the bribe to the parents if they live or the bribes to employees if they’re killed will need to be huge.

Then there’s the cost of raising a child. Food, medical, clothing, household supplies, and those are just the materials. There’s also the cost of teachers, doctors, even just childcare workers who, again, would have to be paid a SHIT TON to work there and not say anything. Add in that hybrid biology is a mixed bag and the amount of allergies, medical needs, and just behavior is a toss up for every single child, which makes any prediction for what they’ll need in terms of physical and behavioral health almost useless.

Speaking of their health, that’s a crap chute. There are so many risks involved for hybrids, anything can get weird when mixing two species with a different number of chromosomes and they’re dealing with dozens of children all with unique needs. And many of those unique needs will be because of health problems. 75% of hybrids do not have a Kagune, and are considered half humans instead of half ghouls. Half humans don’t live long. They’re strong when they’re alive but after 25 years their deterioration is visible and by 30, they’re dead. They have ghoul cellular regeneration without the safeguards of cellular senescence ghouls have, and their survival rate past 30 is at 1 or 2%, and those one or two percent aren’t exactly making it to retirement either. So that means that the handful of half humans that are successful are only good for their purposes for around 12-15 years, but the success rate for the half ghouls they’re trying to make is 25% AT BEST

So then, after all these years of creating, raising, and training these children, you have maybe 9 or 10 that are going to be used. Because between physical and mental health problems, a lack of care for unique needs, and regular old injury and, let’s be honest, suicide, plenty aren’t even going to make to the day they’re told they don’t have what it takes to do what they were made for.

So now they’ve spent, say, 15 years on these kids, and best case scenario one in four was useful and made it to the point they can start working, with at least three failures for every single usable soldier. And each one of them cost a fortune. The place they were raised cost a fortune. The staff cost a fortune. The training and education cost a fortune. And what do they have?

Nine or ten teenagers who can fight very well, and if they’re lucky maybe one or two will make it past 30

It would have cost less to just hire a couple new platoons, and now you also have some teenagers with powers far beyond that of a normal human or ghoul that know all their secrets that can and HAVE turned on them

And all I have to say about breeding more washuus is that if they really did go about it that way, and somehow the washuu men really aren’t infertile like all every other hybrid, even then with the small amount of personnel on hand they would be so, so inbred

In all, the sunlit garden is a stupid, stupid plot point and any government agency, no matter how single minded they are for their cause, would NEVER pay a fraction of what that would cost. So If I could change it, instead of the sunlit garden plot be about breeding super soldiers and new washuus, I would have it be a facility in which yes, they do train half ghouls, but they hunt down half ghouls born outside of it to bring in and train as doves. As rare as they are there are interspecies relationships and sometimes that results in a kid, and it serves their purpose well to kill anyone who knows humans and ghouls can live together, and turn the evidence into their own weapon. It’s so much cheaper, so much less work, and would explain so much in their world. It could have been a great plot showing a deliberate and vicious facility dedicated to taking living people who are the result of love between the species, and turning them into weapons to destroy any chance of it

[knightinsourarmor]

Arima Kana - SNK Verse DRAFT

Ai generated art

Kana's born in Wall Maria. Her mother was from Wall Sina, and her father from Wall Maria, and a cadet in the Training Corps by the time Kana's parents met, fell in love and got married. Kana's father didn't manage to enlist in the Military Police for their family to move together in Wall Sina, and Kana's mother, after marrying someone from Wall Maria, she lost her citizenship for Wall Sina. Kana's born a short while after, being an energetic loving child, her mother tries to raise like the aristocrat she was.

When Wall Maria falls, Kana and her mother immigrate to Wall Rose while Kana's father, a soldier in the Garrison, still fights in Wall Maria. A few days later, they tell them Kana's father heroically fought and died while protecting the Walls. Kana's mother, after the death of her husband is allowed to move back to Wall Sina, but Kana isn't, due to being born elsewhere. The years pass by, and Kana feels her mother blaming her for being stuck in Wall Rose when she could have gone back to Wall Sina if she was on her own.

When Kana comes of age, she enlists in the Training Corps, with the promise to score at the top 10 and gain citizenship for Wall Sina, so she and her mother can live together in the town Kana's mother comes from. Her mother moves back to Wall Sina the moment Kana enlists, and for years she doesn't contact Kana.

Kana works hard, she tries her best, she becomes an excellent soldier, but she still doesn't manage to score at the top 10 in the Training Corps. Her opportunity to move with her mother is gone forever. Screaming, crying and begging to be given another chance, she ends up enlisting in the Survey Corps. If she can't be with her mother, she could at least make her proud by becoming a hero for humanity. Her cause is at first selfish. She had to do everything within her power to get her mother's attention. She had no motive to serve humanity, but make herself known, like Captain Levi, and maybe one day, earn honorary citizenship for Wall Sina.

But the battlefield is merciless and those who can't work well with others don't survive. Watching people die before her, because of her, because of her arrogance, broke Kana beyond repair. Losing comrades at the expense of her life, watching others being ready to sacrifice their life for her, made her realize what was worth giving her life for. With her confidence shattered, expedition after expedition, she tries to make herself useful, lead when needed of her to lead and follow those she deems to have real power.

[ithoshi]

MY TOP 5 STRONGEST ANIME CHARACTERS

SAITAMA ( One Punch Man )

An unassociated hero, hails from Z-City and performs heroic deeds as a hobby. For three years, he has trained enough to defeat any enemy with a single punch, his unmatched strength leaving him bored. He becomes a reluctant mentor to Genos, a cyborg seeking revenge against another cyborg who killed his family and destroyed his hometown, after Saitama defeats a monster that defeated Genos. With Genos, Saitama learns about a heroes organization who are also fighting the monsters.

NARUTO UZUMAKI ( Naruto )

Has a lot of great qualities that make him the best character ever. He is kind and loyal, he knows when to be serious, and he always does what it takes to protect those important to him, the sheer power of Naruto’s chakra is unlike anything the world has ever seen before, Kurama, one of the tailed beasts, he has an incredible amount of chakra, he befriends Kurama, and the two join forces, making fighting against this incredible ninja virtually impossible.

MONKEY D. LUFFY ( One Piece )

Granting him a rubber-like body, his powers make him immune to electric attacks and most blunt forces, but he is susceptible to attacks made with a sharp object or weapon. His rubber devil fruit powers grant him the ability to stretch his body at will. He uses his elasticity to accelerate part or all of his body to deliver punches, kicks, head butts, and many other varied attacks as seen throughout the series. Although like others who have eaten a Devil Fruit, Luffy cannot swim; when he is submerged in water or contacts the Sea-Prism Stone, he loses his strength and cannot move on his own. In addition to his Devil Fruit powers, he has immense strength, durability, speed, reflexes, agility, endurance, and stamina.

KEN KANEKI ( Tokyo Ghoul )

Ken Kaneki is a first year college student, and after narrowly surviving a Ghoul Attack finds himself transformed into a Human-Ghoul hybrid. He struggles to find a balance between his two natures, and is taken in by the moderate organization Anteiku. In the climax, Anteiku is raided by the CCG, and Kaneki's fate is left unclear after facing the CCG's ace Kishou Arima in a duel, After working under the CCG as Haise Sasaki, he eventually regains his past memories and becomes Ken Kaneki once more. Unable to deal with his feelings of guilt, Kaneki eventually betrays CCG to save his imprisoned friend, Hinami, and then goes to fight his mentor, Arima, in hopes of commiting Suicide by Cop. However, during an ordeal, Kaneki realizes he wants to live, and after unlocking the full potential of his kagune defeats Arima, reveals he had been hoping for this from the start, proceeding to slit his own throat and explain that he was the One-Eyed King and Eto's mole in CCG, but needed a successor due to being a half-human hybrid suffering from increased age. Per Arima's final wish, Kaneki takes responsibility for Arima's death and the title of One-Eyed King, to become a Hope Bringer to all those victimized by the Washuu clan.

GOJO ( Jujutsu Kaisen )

A sorcerer working as a teacher in the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School. He uses his self-proclaimed and he was self-respected, most allies and enemies alike never actually dispute the title and generally consider him to be one of the most dangerous people alive. Gojo is introduced in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 a Jujutsu Sorcerer, under the guidance of the young Yuta Okkotsu whom he convinces to join the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School to control Rika and avoid his solicitude. During this time, Gojo makes Okkotsu train with Panda, Maki Zenin, and Toge Inumaki to help Okkotsu control his own Curse while helping him develop friendships. Okkotsu's Curse attracts Suguru Geto, a sorcerer friendly with Gojo but at the same time keeps an antagonistic relationship with him. Geto wishes to create a shaman-only world. When Okkotsu's Curse gives him the power to take down Geto, Gojo appears and kills Geto. He then helps the young Okkotsu to understand the true nature of his powers.

#EMTECH #1STBLOG

[historyhermann]

Kizuna no Allele Spoiler-Filled Review

Kizuna no Allele is an idolish music series directed by Kenichiro Komaya. Wit Studio and Signal.MD produce the series. The latter is known for series such as The Ancient Magus' Bride and Spy x Family, and the former for FLCL Progressive and Atom: The Beginning. In addition, Deko Akao wrote the show's scripts.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the forty-sixth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on August 25, 2023.

The series itself has a strange origin. It is an adaption of a YouTube channel by Kizuna AI, a Japanese virtual YouTuber, known as VTuber. This has led to claims that the series is a "forced meme" or that it embodies the "artificiality of pop entertainment in Japan." Whether that is entirely true or not, the series clearly has some positives in its favor. Well-known studios are producing it. A scriptwriter (Akao) is known for her work on My Roommate Is a Cat and Komi Can't Communicate. One of the show's composers (Go Sakabe) composed the opening and closing songs for Gosick. The show's art director Masakazu Miyake worked on series such as Fate/Zero, Spy x Family, and Steins;Gate.

While saying all of this, I had serious reservations about Kizuna no Allele, regardless of whether it an attempt by Kizuna AI to revive her brand or not. For one, the musical sequences, reportedly resembling actual VTubers, seem awkward and strange. This is especially the case to those who don't watch that sort of content.

The main character, Miracle (voiced by Ayumi Hinohara) is not as sympathetic as she could be. She is trying everything she can to become a virtual artist/performer, i.e., a VTuber. She attends a school named Artist Garden (Aden) Academy dedicated to that goal. That school is almost equivalent to a school where people train  to be influencers on Instagram or a YouTuber. It is clearly absurd.

One character shines through: Noelle. Voiced by Yuka Nukui, she challenges Miracle, a huge fangirl of Kizuna, to be better. Both go to school in the virtual world. Possibilities are said to be limitless. At first, it appears that Noelle is bullying Miracle. It is later revealed that her family pressured her to be "the best."

Later, she becomes a mentor of sorts telling her to face songs head-on. She brings her to a room where bubbles light up different colors depending on the interaction. In a touching scene, she declares that if you understand a song's lyrics, it will come out differently. She encourages Kizuna to tap into her abilities.

She has stronger character development than Miracle. This truly begins in the show's fifth episode. Some painful history which weakens her emotional connection to her parents is implied. In a final scene, she declares that everything must be "perfect."

One parallel is Kōsei Arima in Your Lie in April. His mother gives him strict piano instruction. He is so scarred that after her death he stops playing piano since he can't hear sound when he plays. This series is different. Noelle is pressured by her parents (and sister) to be the best. However, she has the notion she must be "perfect," even though they never directly told her this. Miracle plays an important part in making Noelle a more whole person.

The series seems to be pro-A.I. An A.I. named Vaity wakes up Miracle in her swanky high-tech apartment every morning. The character, Chris, is hinted as A.I. before episode seven. Chris (voiced by Hikari Codama) is clearly crushing on Miracle, calling her cute and kissing her on the ear in the second episode. As such, the series is yuri-ish, as much as Ippon Again!. It isn't directly yuri like Yuri Is My Job!, Birdie Wing, or Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. The latter, not the former, makes the series enjoyable, including when Chris gives Miracle tips on how to improve her dancing.

The person in the atrium adds mystery to the series. This character eats neatly and drinks tea. In some ways, the character reminds me of Victorique de Blois in Gosick. He seems out of place since much of the series takes place in Aden Academy and like a character in another show. This is the case for a (different) character named marumaru. Miracle often uses marumaru as a pillow, with the latter calling the former "ordinary".

While the fact that there are contests and school administrators is consistent with other idol shows. What sets Kizuna no Allele apart is the direct mention and almost encouragement of A.I. In a post-credits scene in the third episode, there is a question about non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs. A simple explanation is provided. NFTs have clear copyright, storage, environmental, and security issues.

This is compounded by the fees charged and manipulation of NFT prices. Some have voiced concern that these tokens are pyramid/Ponzi schemes and pointed to financial uncertainty of the data files. They function like cryptographic tokens, but are not so-called "cryptocurrencies." This isn't mentioned at all. This led some to say the show is shilling for NFTs. In this series, A.I. tools rank V-Tubers. In the 11th episode, participants in a music festival get an event NFT as a prize.

This uncritical focus on A.I. stands in contrast to the omniscient, godlike A.I. as depicted in the six-part OVA named The Orbital Children. This series almost encourages creation of anime by A.I. The latter is not possible. A.I. tools like ChatGPT are "incapable of creating anything new." They can only pull in what already exists. Consider Angela Carpenter in Carole & Tuesday who works with Tao, a music producer who uses advanced A.I. to ensure performers are profitable. That plotline is better constructed than Miracle wanting to write her own lyrics rather than A.I. tools.

Other series are more critical of A.I. than Kizuna no Allele. The same can be said for Cleopatra in Space. It has a paranoid A.I. scared of ghosts, near PYRAMID Academy which generates electricity for the campus. Later, an evil A.I. named Cyrano created by Octavian tries to control one of the protagonists.

Star Trek: Lower Decks and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur portray A.I. with more depth than anything this series has to offer. The former series has a malevolent computer A.I. in the second season. The latter has a "living" A.I. supercomputer and an entire episode on the dangers of A.I.

Otherwise, this series also reinforces, in many ways, expectations of idol femininity, even if it possibly subverts it. This isn't, necessarily unique, as those series within the Love Live! franchise, BanG Dream!, and If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, to name a few of the over 90 idol anime and manga out there, do the same.

Undoubtedly the series has a strong animation style and intriguing designs. But, it isn't as nuanced as Do It Yourself!!, which gives the lesson that do-it-yourself (DIY) ethics can mesh with techno-optimism and technology. Instead, Kizuna no Allele appears to be taking the side of the tech bros who favor A.I., rather than approaching the topic in a more critical way. This is one of the many downfalls of this series, to build upon what I've mentioned earlier in this review.

Another one of the issues of Kizuna no Allele is that it took time for all those in the opening sequence of the series to have a significant role in the series. For instance, Riz (voiced by Arisa Hanawa) does not have much a role until later on in the series. In fact, she begins to get a spotlight in the end of episode eight, when she declares that she might have collected enough data as she rides on her fogelboard (a hoverboard-like device) catching the viewer's attention for the first time in the series.

The music in this series is only passable, apart from opening and closing sequences, by Ayato Fujiwara and MikitoP respectfully. While this is the first series Fujiwara has worked on, MikitoP has composed for Kochoki. Sometimes it feels like the V-Tuber music would be better to listen to than watch. The animation sequences with characters in V-Tuber form can look a bit ghoulish.

Apart from previous criticism of Kizuna no Allele, in terms of subpar music and positive views of A.I. (and presumably NFTs), there are some positives. For one, Noelle takes Miracle under her wing and teaches her the importance of music, while Miracle does the same for Noelle. In fact, in the show's sixth episode, she helps give Noelle the confidence to write her own song, and get beyond her previous dedication to be the best she can be, which even resulted in self-harm.

More importantly, Miracle, and the show itself, emphasize that you should follow your own goals, not those imposed on others, and that it more important to be someone you love than to be perfect. This emphasis on self-love allows Noelle to open up more to Miracle, resulting in her smiling, and laughing, for the first time in the series.

There is the continuing mystery of marumaru and Chris. The series, like Ippon Again, seems to be saying that hard work can pay off. That isn't always true. Furthermore, the animation of this series flows well and there are some cute scenes with Miracle, meaning that she is relatable.

In the seventh episode, Chris goes on a journey to find herself. Miracle and Noelle look at her previous streams to find out more about her. They become such good friends that Noelle finger-flicks Miracle on the forehead when she gets annoyed. This shows their connection between each other.

The importance of self-discovery fits with other themes in Kizuna no Allele. In episode seven, one of the best episodes in the series, there is an unsurprising revelation. Only half the students base their avatars on their real-life appearance. Chris seems to be a real-life student, but Miracle doesn't want to bother her.

This episode builds on previous plot development. Specifically, Chris is even more direct with her romantic feelings with Miracle, declaring she can only overcome obstacles with Miracle in a sort of love confession. She later adds that she wrote lyrics only thanks to Miracle, who says she wants to be better friends with Chris.

All of this interlinks to the growing camaraderie, by the seventh episode of Kizuna no Allele, between Chris, Noelle, Miracle, and even marumaru. Miracle is criticized by Noelle for "dragging" them down, as she hasn't produced original lyrics. Even so, Miracle still supports her. Almost akin to the sub-plot in Alice Gear Aegis Expansion, Principal of ADEN Academy reportedly has a devious, or evil, plan. One character says in the 11th episode they need to stop ADEN's plan. The academy is described as existing across the world and run by the ADEN Network.

Many loose ends are tied up in the eighth episode of Kizuna no Allele. At first, it seems like any other episode, with the video streams of Noelle and Chris. Miracle worries that she is falling behind in her rank and views. However, something important is revealed: marumaru is actually Quan (voiced by Rina Kawaguchi). Miracle has been confiding in marumaru since episode one. Only the audience knows they are the same. As such, it is clear Quan has been front and center the entire time. Miracle even states that marumaru is not boring or pathetic.

The 11th episode turns this on its head. Noelle, Riz, Miracle, and marumaru perform at the Shower of Sound festival. While they fail, marumaru feels that their present form isn't good. Even though Miracle says that marumaru doesn't need to change anything, they transform into Quan, their "true self." This Quan is not like the one in the aviary. Rather Quan is a girl who appears in the series' opening sequence. Quan in the "real world" is a mystery, but could be a trans girl who hasn't transitioned. If so, Quan would have similarities with Snapdragon in High Guardian Spice, a trans woman shown prior to transition.

One of the strangest parts of Kizuna no Allele were the post-credit scenes in V-Tuber style, described as "recommended videos". While some were on topics like drawing, design, food, in-universe trivia, or something else entirely, they pale in comparison to those primarily about Sakura's outfits in Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card.

A later episode features a competition where characters race on hoverboards. In the case of the former, Riz got a lot more airtime. She becomes a stronger character, sharing the lesson that you shouldn't spread fake news. It appears she has a crush on Miracle, saying Miracle really interests her. The comradeship between Riz, Miracle, and Miracle's other friends, makes the series that much more enjoyable.

Riz, who only wants to get better data and cares little about her rank, served as a vehicle for the story to push Miracle forward by stating that she should think for herself rather than relying on others. Predictably, this causes Miracle to post videos and people accuse her of "copying others". She gets so much negativity that she even thinks of quitting becoming a V-Tuber!

This anxiety she faces is nowhere near what a high school student, an owner of a popular cat on social media, experienced in the 10th episode of Too Cute Crisis. In the case of that series, she could more effectively deal with her anxiety by not desiring to keep every single picture perfect, drawing from the terrible blurry photographs taken by protagonist Liza Luna of her cat Yozora.

Coming back to Kizuna No Allele, I liked that Miracle's friends don't abandon her, but cheered her up. In fact, Riz states that Miracle shouldn't be dependent on her friends and should walk alongside them instead. This causes Miracle to declare she will express herself the best she can in the virtual world, showing her "true" self. She expresses this even more directly in the series finale, where she embraces the idea of them playing a collab concert so they can qualify for the Virtual Grid Awards (VGA)

Furthermore, this episode not only highlights the clash between Lapin d'Or Ada (who heads the VGAs) and ADEN Academy principal Auris (voiced by Masumi Tazawa), but the value of originality. For one, Lapin is concerned about collaborative concerts, feeling they are copying one another and look all the same. She changes the system so students aren't rewarded. Many students to abandon the idea as a result. The latter impacts the friends of Miracle. They believe that working individually is  "better." This quickly dissipates as each of them realizes their connection to her.

In a powerful end to Kizuna No Allele, Chris, Quan, Noelle, and Riz all sing and dance together with Miracle in a concert as PathTLive. The 3D animation of the concert isn't terrible. It is more passable than previous 3d V-Tuber videos in the series. The lesson in the episode is that connecting and inspiring others is a good thing. It can even allow people to overcome obstacles, as Miracle and her friend make their way into the top 15 qualifiers for the VGAs. The series ending leaves open the possibility of a second season. Although it appeared to be very unlikely, when I wrote an earlier draft of this review, it was reported that another season will be premiering in October!

On the other hand, the show is not critical, in any way, whatsoever, of the YTuber culture, equivalent to social influencers in the U.S. There are no episodes, like those in the first season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder or Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Both focus on the dangers of online trolls and the power of a social media influencer. Instead, the videos have in-universe product placement. There is an advertisement for a bubble drink in one episode and an ad on the reported "value" of e-sports. Getting a high rank in the virtual world is indicated as important.

Such an emphasis reinforces the problematic idea the highly rated/ranked content is "good". In reality, this cannot be further from the truth. Even if a video has a lot of views, comments, and reactions, this doesn't mean that it is "good", as it can be actively harmful. Such content may not be to everyone's taste either. There can be "hidden gems" which don't get as much recognition. Although the show implies that Miracle's videos are awful, she is obsessed with getting a higher ranking, so she can compete in the virtual award competition.

While the series is watchable due to the interactions between Miracle and her friends, the yurish subtext, important of self-love and self-discovery, and sometimes absurd storylines, there are many issues. This includes non-existent criticism of VTubers, social media influencers, and A.I. Subpar music, lack of character development in the protagonist, and other problems are additional problems. Hopefully, a second season would fix these issues.

Kizuna no Allele is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[lost-in-2d]

i7☆Challenge day 08

⚠ Some discussion of Part 6 under the cut and lots of unnecessary rambling

my favourite Zool member is minami!!! 🐍

he actually won me over via his RabbiTube episode, Nishiyama truly knows what he was doing 😵💫

... I just like him a lot.

If sogo is my #1 fav, then he is #2. I really like how Arima sensei draws her female characters, and out of the cast, both of them are more delicate looking with somewhat feminine features. They are sooo pretty to me aaaaa I always enjoy sensei's posted pictures of them

TRIGGER may be contrasting in a masculine way and sexy, but I think Minami is also very sexy ^q^ (let's refer to a RabbiTube comment 🙈)

rough translation: He is soft-spoken and articulate, with a graceful elegance, but composes for ŹOOĻ with rebellious lyrics and a solid sound, which is contrary to his slender, androgynous image. He is ŹOOĻ's performer and former child prodigy with a child actor's background. At the end of the day, this sex appeal is still underage... Too many gaps, I can't help but stan

aaaa,,, I really agree ^q^

Okay, time for the serious talk about the character - there are commonalities between minami and sogo, where they have backgrounds that result in them being in the public eye since young. I don't doubt they come from well-to-do families. And they have resulting issues about it... :'( Here, in part 6 Zool shares a moment of vulnerability with their new manager. Minami confesses that the past him felt he could only follow the advice and bidding of the adults around him

I had so much brainrot about him. Are his parents also people in the acting industry, or maybe there's a possibility that they are also involved in music. It seems that minami travelled abroad to North Maea to obtain musical training, and it is implied that it is a decision he himself wished for. Is it because of his passion, or because he wanted to get away from his parents' sphere of influence in Japan? And from his bday card in 2022, the portrayal is that he had musical exposure since he was a child. Was it also a parental decision to coach him in music? Since he finds freedom in music, my headcanon is that either his parents are not overly passionate about it (they are in the film industry) or they are not fans of the rebellious genre that minami likes (lol)

And even more brainrot about his student years in North Maea. What kind of person was he, and what was his social life like!! omg!! In the MV for <Never Lose My Rule>, minami was depicted as a socialite :O was he like this during schooling years too? I could imagine him going to an uppity private school. Lowkey I think he's quite misanthropic, before he met Zool

He has very mixed feelings about Haruki. He says he does not want Haruki to be seen as a virtuous man through Ryuu's stage portrayal of Haruki. He may not dislike Nagi as an individual, though I think he struggles with the perception that he was being compared to Nagi in Haruki's eyes 😟 Minami struggles with feelings of abandonment as well, and it stems from buried insecurity regarding his bond with Haruki. so I can see why he coddles for Haruka :') I would love to unravel his trauma 😍 see more of his side stories or character arc, even after the North Maea main story arc

I really like how Zool consist of imperfect individuals. They are characters with more room to grow

An extra goodie below for the people reading all this 😍🙏

right now I'm hesitating whether to roll his card in the current Prince Stage event 😵💫

[blogbyahad]

Advanced Data Mining Techniques

Data mining is a powerful tool that helps organizations extract valuable insights from large datasets. Here’s an overview of some advanced data mining techniques that enhance analysis and decision-making.

1. Machine Learning

Supervised Learning Involves training algorithms on labelled datasets to predict outcomes. Techniques include regression analysis and classification algorithms like decision trees and support vector machines.

Unsupervised Learning Focuses on finding hidden patterns in unlabelled data. Techniques such as clustering (e.g., K-means, hierarchical clustering) and dimensionality reduction (e.g., PCA) help in grouping similar data points.

2. Neural Networks

Deep Learning A subset of machine learning that uses multi-layered neural networks to model complex patterns in large datasets. Commonly used in image recognition, natural language processing, and more.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) Particularly effective for image data, CNNs automatically detect features through convolutional layers, making them ideal for tasks such as facial recognition.

3. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Text Mining Extracts useful information from unstructured text data. Techniques include tokenization, sentiment analysis, and topic modelling (e.g., LDA).

Named Entity Recognition (NER) Identifies and classifies key entities (e.g., people, organizations) in text, helping organizations to extract relevant information from documents.

4. Time Series Analysis

Forecasting Analyzing time-ordered data points to make predictions about future values. Techniques include ARIMA (AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average) and seasonal decomposition.

Anomaly Detection Identifying unusual patterns or outliers in time series data, often used for fraud detection and monitoring system health.

5. Association Rule Learning

Market Basket Analysis Discovers interesting relationships between variables in large datasets. Techniques like Apriori and FP-Growth algorithms are used to find associations (e.g., customers who buy bread often buy butter).

Recommendation Systems Leveraging association rules to suggest products or content based on user preferences and behaviour, enhancing customer experience.

6. Dimensionality Reduction

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) Reduces the number of variables in a dataset while preserving as much information as possible. This technique is useful for simplifying models and improving visualization.

t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbour Embedding (t-SNE) A technique for visualizing high-dimensional data by reducing it to two or three dimensions, particularly effective for clustering analysis.

7. Ensemble Methods

Boosting Combines multiple weak learners to create a strong predictive model. Techniques like AdaBoost and Gradient Boosting improve accuracy by focusing on misclassified instances.

Bagging Reduces variance by training multiple models on random subsets of the data and averaging their predictions, as seen in Random Forest algorithms.

8. Graph Mining

Social Network Analysis Analyzes relationships and interactions within networks. Techniques include community detection and centrality measures to understand influential nodes.

Link Prediction Predicts the likelihood of a connection between nodes in a graph, useful for recommendation systems and fraud detection.

Conclusion

Advanced data mining techniques enable organizations to uncover hidden patterns, make informed decisions, and enhance predictive capabilities. As technology continues to evolve, these techniques will play an increasingly vital role in leveraging data for strategic advantage across various industries.

[cosmic-cannon-ocs]

// OC info template from @modeinthemiddle thanks!

Name: Kaito Last/Surname: + Yukimura: default (father’s) last name for modern/supernatural, usually has ice powers from his father’s side + Akimoto: alt (father’s) surname, mostly for his Naruto (Konoha) AU + + Yukimura is his mother’s last name, from Haku’s Ice Release clan + Sorata: mother’s surname, she is from a wind themed clan

Age: 18/21+ Gender: Male Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: Heterosexual Religion: ? Birthday: July 10 (same as mun’s) or July 11 Language: Japanese & English

Height: (average as an adult) 180cm / 5’11” Eye Colour: black/grey or light/icy blue (fantasy-themed AUs) Hair Colour: light (grey), (snow) white Skin Tone: light to pale (in fantasy AUs) Scars: usually hidden under his attire Other: has a slim build, trained for speed over power

Powers & Abilities: // and more info below

Modern: expert in his field (at work/studies) + basic self-defence/martial arts (depending on plot) Fantasy: trained hunter/assassin, with wind/ice magic/abilities

Occupation (options): + Modern: school teacher/staff/librarian, technologist, IT consultant + Fantasy: demon/monster/bounty hunter, archer + + (Hybrid) Ice Dragon/Demon // see verses for fandom-specific ones

Strengths: intelligent, reliable, learns quickly, can lead when he needs to Weaknesses: self-doubt in his abilities, overthinking, being a perfectionist Personality: quiet, thoughtful, observant, high achiever, polite

Likes: learning new things, helping people, (applied) technology/abilities, reading Dislikes: confrontation, rudeness, overly loud/enthusiastic people, tardiness

Outfits/Style: usually his school/work uniform, or a casual white/black theme

Fighting Style: cautious and tactical, usually to make up for his lack of physical power and stamina to fight for long periods of time.

Blood Type: ?

Mother: Senna Sorata // default, wind powers + alt name: Fuyumi Yukimura // alt ice powers Father: Yuto Yukimura // default, ice powers + alt name: Masato Akimoto // alt wind powers Siblings: can have a younger brother named Yukio Other Relatives: older cousin named Keita, uncle named Tatso Friends (other OCs): Hiroshi Takeda, Toshiro Yurei, Sakurai Fujiwara Enemies (recurring antagonists): Masaru Shimura

Japanese Voice Actor/Claim: Satoshi Hino (teenager-young adult) // Kouichi Aizawa (Nabari) Daisuke Namikawa (older adult) // Kisho Arima (Tokyo Ghoul)

English Voice Actor/Claim: Chris Burnett (teen-young adult) // Kouichi Aizawa (Nabari) Alex Organ (older adult) // Kisho Arima (Tokyo Ghoul)

[socaprince]

SOCA THERAPY - MAY 12, 2024

Soca Therapy Playlist

Sunday May 12th 2024

Making You Wine From 6-9pm on Flow 98.7fm Toronto

Long Live Soca (Dr. Jay Plate) - Voice

How Ah Livin (Muv Short Edit) - Farmer Nappy

Cloud 9 - Lyrikal

People (Ryan Sayeed's Stadium Status Intro) - Kes the Band

Ma Life (Thank You) - Motto

Greater - Dash

Middle Finger (Clean) - Boyzie

Let's Go Party - Problem Child

DNA (DJ Kevin Festival Intro Edit) - Mical Teja

Change The World - Ricardo Drue feat Drastic & Lily

Bam Bam (Remix) - Drastic & Shal Marshall

Guava Jam - Drastic

Ah Di Iron - Drastic (CANADIAN PREMIERE)

Soca Therapy - Lil Rick & King Bubba

Best Self - Nailah Blackman & Lyrikal

WDS - Aidol

Danger - Skinny Fabulous x Problem Child

Bandit Dance - Square One feat. Alison Hinds & Iwer George

Jammers - TC

Balapalampam - Keann

Heavy Bumper - Ricky Jai

Arima - God Father Asylum

Fete Is Fete - Bunji Garlin

Mom (Mama) - Ricky T & Ambi

Wassy - Full Blown

TOP 7 COUNTDOWN - Powered By The Soca Source

Top Songs Streamed On Radio Airplay in April for the continent of Oceania (primarily Australia & New Zealand)

7. Famalay - Skinny Fabulous x Machel Montano x Bunji Garlin

6. Big Fete - Father Philis

5. Splash - Patrice Roberts x Nessa Preppy

4. Night Train - Lord Nelson

3. Feeling It - Patrice Roberts x Kes

2. Dutty Flex - Kes

1. Turn Me On - Kevin Lyttle ft Maddzart

Mashup "When Ah Touchdown" - King Bubba FM

Whole Night (Ryan Sayeed's Intro) - King Bubba

Money Done (Fete Out Money) - Patrice Roberts

Inferno - Shraddah

All Ah Dem (Ryan Sayeed Intro) - Problem Child

Pop Ah Bottle (Travis World Remix) - Machel Montano

All Ahg We (DJ Shy Edit) - Peter Ram

Free Up Yuhself - Salty x Travis World

In The Center (BD Did It) - GBM Nutron x Farmer Nappy

Niceness - Kenny Montana

Beat Rum Bad - Wadicks x System32

Obsession - Mikey Mercer

Wifey - Farmer Nappy

Unforgettable (Best Friend Edit) - Kerwin Du Bois x Patrice Roberts

Cheers To Life - Voice

Woman - Fojo X Pahjo

PAN MOMENTS

(2004) Coffee Street (feat. Calypsociation) - Andy Narell

TANTY TUNE

(1995) Mother's Love - Sundar Popo

Mama - Lil Rick

Happy Mother's Day - Boogie B

Mama - Derrick Seales Feat Roy Cape All Stars

Cooking Good - Problem Child

Carnival Contract - Bunji Garlin

Road Friends - Nessa Preppy & Skinny Fabulous

Angels in the Sky - Shelly & Signal Band

Up & Up - Teddyson John

Anxiety - Patrice Roberts

Like Yuh Self (Riddim Master Edit) - Patrice Roberts x Machel Montano

Simply Everything - Patrice Roberts x Machel Montano

Band Of The Year - Patrice Roberts x Machel Montano

Rollin - Patrice Roberts x Machel Montano

NORTHERN PRESCRIPTION

De Last Time - Miss Cali

Devotion - Destra

Controller - Alison Hinds

Follow Dr. Jay @socaprince​ and @socatherapy

“Like” Dr. Jay on http://facebook.com/DrJayOnline

[meep-hani]

Tokyo Ghoul: re (2018)

Tokyo Ghoul: re

Aired: April 2018 to December 2018 Watched: No record

Producers: Marvelous Entertainment, Pierrot Plus, TC Entertainment, Shueisha (season 2) Studio: Pierrot

Number of episodes: 24 Synopsis:

Season 1: Two years have passed since the CCG's raid on Anteiku. Although the atmosphere in Tokyo has changed drastically due to the increased influence of the CCG, ghouls continue to pose a problem as they have begun taking caution, especially the terrorist organization Aogiri Tree, who acknowledge the CCG's growing threat to their existence. The creation of a special team, known as the Quinx Squad, may provide the CCG with the push they need to exterminate Tokyo's unwanted residents. As humans who have undergone surgery in order to make use of the special abilities of ghouls, they participate in operations to eradicate the dangerous creatures. The leader of this group, Haise Sasaki, is a half-ghoul, half-human who has been trained by famed special class investigator, Kishou Arima. However, there's more to this young man than meets the eye, as unknown memories claw at his mind, slowly reminding him of the person he used to be.

Season 2: After the conclusion of the Tsukiyama Family Extermination Operation, the members of the Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) have grown exponentially in power and continue to pursue their goal of exterminating every ghoul in Japan. Having resigned from Quinx Squad, the now seemingly emotionless Haise Sasaki begins taking on more and more tasks from the CCG with no regard to the difficulty. Despite his vacant expressions, Ken Kaneki's memories are resurfacing in Haise, leaving him in a state of internal conflict. Meanwhile, his new coldhearted behavior is affecting the people around him. Quinx Squad are left in shambles, having to cope with the death of one of their members without the support of their former mentor. Amidst this turmoil, both Quinx Squad and Haise must continue to fulfill their duties to the CCG, whether willingly or not. However, the presence of a mysterious group behind the CCG has been made known to Haise, and certain whispers of corruption have not gone unheard by the Quinx Squad as well.

Notable characters:

Kaneki Ken/Sasaki Haise (voiced by Hanae Natsuki)

Yonebayashi Saiko (voiced by Sakura Ayane)

Urie Kuki (voiced by Ishikawa Kaito)

Mutsuki Tooru (voiced by Fujiwara Natsumi)

Shirazu Ginshi (voiced by Uchida Yuuma)

Kirishima Touka (voiced by Amamiya Sora)

Rating/s:

Notes/comments (optional):

I remember feeling sooo sad for Kaneki/Haise in this series.

Will I rewatch? Mighttt.

Source:

MyAnimeList

MyAnimeList

[rishiaca]

Simple and Practical Data Science Topics for Your Next Academic Thesis. 

If you’re a college student looking to find your college thesis topic and have a keen interest in data science, we got you covered. Here we discuss some of the easiest and simple data science topics for your thesis may it be schoolwork, college, or even for an academic publication and so on. Read till the end, and pick your pick out of the options and start off with your research and writing to meet your deadlines on time. 

1. EDA (Exploratory Data Analysis) on Social Media Data: 

Firstly, we have one of the quickest research based data science thesis paper you can work on with simply looking into the social media apps that you use daily. 

Objective: With this project the goal is to understand patterns, trends, and sentiments of people scrolling through social media day in and day out. 

Tools: To conduct this research you can make use of the simple to install and use Python (Pandas, Matplotlib or Seaborn). 

Methods applied: To get started with the project, you can conduct simple analysis by opting to put a poll out on your social media page, and similarly find out what are the trending topics and then analyze the data received to visualize the engagement statistics. 

2.   Linear Regression to Predict Model outcomes : 

In this project your goal will be create a predictive model using the concepts of linear regression (‘a data analysis technique that predicts the unknown value of any data by using another related and known data value’). 

Here, 

The Objective: Develop a capable predictive model by using the concepts of linear regression. 

Tools: Similar to the first project, you can use Python (Scikit-Learn) to help perform this project too. 

Method applied: To start with creating a predictive model, you have to choose a data set that interests you, then perform feature engineering ( “Feature engineering is the process that takes raw data and transforms it into features that can be used to create a predictive model using machine learning or statistical modeling, such as deep learning.” ), then train the model and finally evaluate the model created. 

3. Stock Price Forecasting by using Time Series: 

If you are into the stock market, then this project may just be the one for you. Here, you understand and use time series analysis (“ a specific way of analyzing a sequence of data points collected over an interval of time.” ) to help predict future stock rates. 

Here, 

The Objective: The goal is primarily to help predict the future stock rates by using time series analysis. 

The Tools: To perform this project you will need access and knowledge to Python tools like that of ‘Pandas’ and ‘Statsmodels’. 

Methods Applied: In order to do this, you simply need to be know how to collect historical stock market details, organize and prep it, and then use the time series analysis models (like ARIMA) and check the accuracy of the predictions made. 

4.  Spam Detection by using Text Classification:

Go through our mails is something everyone of us does everyday, weekly, monthly even, but how do you know if an email is spam or not? This project does exactly that, helps try to figure out if spam emails are spam or not. 

Here, 

The Objective: The objective of this topic for you would be to build a classification model that classifies text and is able to detect spam emails. 

The Tools: To do this, one can use Python’s Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) to help you. 

Methods Applied: Here, basically you will preprocess the text data, make a classification model out of the preprocessed data and then see how it work. 

5.  Data Analysis of Online Reviews and Web Scraping: 

By performing this data science project you will be get data from multiple online sources and look into the reviews of customers. 

Here, 

The Objective: With this project the aim would be to get data from the many online platforms of your choosing and analyze the customer reviews of the platforms to understand customer engagement. 

The Tools:  For this project, you will again use Python tools, the tools you can use are Beautiful Soup, Selenium to complete the project. 

Methods Applied: By using the mentioned tools you are to gather data grom platforms, then proceed to sort and organize the collected data and then analyze the organized data to get an idea of how people feel about a product or service offered. 

So there you have it, five data science projects that are creative, interesting and can be performed in simple ways. With these projects you get an insight into the working of data science professionals and to write a thesis out of the process. This not only helps you meet your academic deadline submissions in a timely manner but can also be added to your portfolio to help you secure a job in the data science field in the future. 

[sukacheri]

ARIMA Chapter 1 [AO3 or Keep Reading below]

October, First Year

Hinata walked with purpose. The mid-October breeze that blew through his flimsy off-brand windbreaker blanketed his body in a distinct chill one could only feel once the sun set. Zipping up his jacket wouldn’t dissuade the cold, it only looked like a windbreaker after all, so Hinata let the flaps fly about in the wind like dual kites.

On his path the trees fought against the wind, shedding multi-colored leaves in the process. They danced around until settling onto the sidewalk, Hinata stepping on them with a satisfying crunch. He chose his steps carefully, picking out what he thought would be the most delicate and crispy leaves. 

He indulged for a few more feet, then continued at his original pace. Not running, but his frazzled hair blowing around him indicated a rush.

After a few minutes of speed walking, Yumenosaki was visible, just a few more blocks away. He couldn’t be certain of the time, but he assumed he would be rolling in right on the dot based on the clock he was keeping in his head. He was not feeling up for digging his phone out to check the exact minute, surely his instincts were tried and true enough to be correct.

He would have to trust them, because he really didn’t want to risk seeing any new messages on his phone.

Guilt squirmed around his gut at the mere thought of what exactly he was avoiding, but the alternative was something he couldn’t bear even more. It was like asking someone if they’d rather walk through coals or jump into a volcano. Both sucked, but equally? Not even close. And there was no contest to which one you’d pick when there’s no secret third option of ‘and they lived happily ever after’. 

Hinata derailed that train of thought from his brain, letting his main objective for the night take the wheel. He walked through the school campus, approaching the main auditorium, not a person around in sight. 

He was either arriving just in time as intended, or he was horrifically late. 

The door handle was icy against his palm as he pulled it open, reminding him that he should start bringing gloves if he kept planning to go out so late. Toes and fingers were the first to go, so you better take care of them.

As he entered he was thankfully greeted with muffled cheering of an audience from the concert hall. Hinata skipped past those doors, going instead for the side door leading to the hallway that would take him backstage. Now with a pathway around the crowd that would ensue like a flood as people left, Hinata walked at a more leisurely pace. He and the others would have to wait for the whole crowd to be gone before they could begin anyways.

“Oh, Hinata-kun! There you are,” Hajime said as Hinata entered the backstage area. 

Hinata smiled, ignoring the tinge of exhaustion in his cheeks. “Hey, Hajime-kun. Got everything ready? We should time ourselves and see how quickly we can get this done!”

“I think I’d only slow you down.” Hajime returned his smile cheerily. How was it that someone who surely worked twice as hard as Hinata could still keep his smiles so genuine? “We’re on sweeping duty, but don’t worry, I made sure to get us the working brooms. I may have hid them from last time.”

“I could really make a prankster out of you,” Hinata said. “If only you’d let me turn you to the dark side.”

“Kunugi-sensei is a bit too scary when he’s yelling at you, so I think I’ll have to pass on your lessons.”

Hinata shrugged. “Suit yourself. Now, pass me one of those brooms.”

Hajime handed one over, and Hinata knew he received the lesser one. It didn’t matter to Hinata, a broom’s a broom, but kind, sweet Hajime, selfless in all other acts, was particular about his cleaning supplies. 

“Hinata-kun, is it cold outside?” Hajime asked. “I haven’t been out since the live started and the sun went down.” He paused, eyes not leaving Hinata’s. “And your cheeks look a little red.”

Kind, sweet Hajime was interrogating him it seemed. He’d known the guy long enough now to see when his questions were less about what he was asking, and more about what he was implying. Even if Hinata didn’t know that, Hajime looked at him with concern, as if Hinata had trucked through miles of snow to get here and not the slight October breeze.

“Nah, it’s not cold! I was just running a bit to get here since I didn’t want to be late. That first time I got here right on time and I still had to beat the crowd going in. It was a nightmare, like swimming against a huge current.” Hinata tilted the broom in his hands, making a show of examining it before swinging it in a slow, exaggerated motion. “Now, en garde, Hajime-kun! Let’s duel and decide who gets the task of sweeping the front row!”

Hajime jumped back, holding his broom in front of him. “Ah! I’ll take the front row, I don’t mind!”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to coerce you into it, though? We can rock paper scissors if you want.”

“No, it’s okay, Hinata-kun,” Hajime said. “Besides, I’m so slow it really doesn’t matter where I start.”

Hinata would’ve scolded him for his lack of confidence in cleaning, but it was painfully true. He wasn’t sure how his classmate managed to so consistently be the last one to finish cleaning.

Hinata also wasn’t sure when his antics had taken a turn towards dueling jokes rather than exaggerated cons or begging, or whatever else he used to do.

Well, it wasn’t that hard to suss out. The influence’s face entered Hinata’s mind with piercing violet eyes, sending his stomach churning again. Hinata bit on his tongue, drawing his mind back to his present goal. He peeked his head out from the curtain and was delighted to see the audience was all gone.

Time to clean.

His tired body protested as he started to sweep, but Hinata pushed through it easily. That was one of his greatest strengths: his constitution. In times like these, he thought of himself as taffy. Being pushed and pulled, stretched thin, but never once breaking. He would come out of this completely fine, and with some additional money.

Yeah, sure, that’s why I’m doing this, Hinata thought as he sweeped an assortment of trash to the end of the row to pick up later. My real talent is running away. Yuuta-kun’s always said that, and I always prove him right.

The whole point of this busy schedule was to keep his bones and mind too tired to bother thinking about other things, and yet it felt like the longer it went on the more Hinata came back to it with increasing dread. Stretching himself thin wasn’t unusual behavior, it was what kept Yuuta so prickly with him after all, but Hinata had never had it work so ineffectively for him before.

Was he losing his touch? Or maybe there was a more simple answer.

Tsukasa was too earnest in his texts, not understanding they were supposed to be for sending jokes, “lol”, and various emoticons. That was clearly the problem here. It was no fault of Hinata’s that he couldn’t manage to exhaust himself and send all his troublesome thoughts away with fatigue by picking up trash after a busy fine live, no, it wasn’t his fault at all.

Hinata swallowed as he threw the trash away, thinking he wasn’t much different than what others deemed as garbage. Some napkins here, plastic wrap there, a crushed water bottle. Well, maybe he was different from a water bottle. They could at least be recycled, turned into something better. 

Poor Tsukasa had put all his affectionate wants and needs onto Hinata, and what a terrible choice that was. Tsukasa should know better, and he should be treating Hinata like the dust on the floor. Something to sweep away, throw outside, and strive to be rid of.

In truth, Hinata knew he was exaggerating, but didn’t they always say heartbreak would feel like the end of the world? Not that he was even currently heartbroken. Nope, the two halves of his heart were perfectly molded together, for now at least. It’d be a different story if he kept ignoring his boyfriend’s texts, sitting unopened on his phone like the second Hinata touched them they’d poison him. At least, that’s what it felt like. Or more like a bomb. A very dedicated ticking time bomb that Hinata carried around with him in his back pocket.

Thinking too hard about it made his stomach start to spin like a washing machine on full rinse, and he didn’t want to bother Hajime by throwing up right now—he was sure the other boy would actually take him home with him to take care of like a stray cat. There was still so much of the auditorium to clean, but at least they wouldn’t have to worry about the stage except for a quick sweep of anything left behind.

 So, Hinata threw himself into cleaning, being more thorough than someone paid 500 million yen to clean a single concert hall. His arms ached as he sweeped in a frenzy, his legs protested as he got on his knees to collect trash under the chairs, and his head began to throb in protest at having skipped lunch and now presumably dinner too. 

It was fine, he could eat when he got home. A quick snack before going to bed. And maybe a glance at his phone if his heart was worn out enough to bear it.

Maybe.

------

[Tsukasa]: 

10:15 AM

Do you want to try and meet up for lunch? It’s a bit chilly today so the roof may be open.

I’ll wait there, if you are available to join me.

11:40 AM

Yuuta-kun just mentioned that you’re working all day again today. You should at least eat lunch to keep your strength up.

[Hinata]:

12:18 PM

yea sorry!! no roof today. lunch another time!

[Tsukasa]:

12:19 PM

Of course.

I’m assuming you’ll be too busy to do anything after school, but if you’re not then I have a spare half an hour if you would like to have some tea.

5:23 PM

You’re likely at work now. Could you please text me when you’re off then? Or when you get home?

And if you are free tomorrow, I would really like to see you.

[master list] | [next]