#Christmas is like a couples day in Japan

[mylonelydreaming]

Nintendo just released a new advertisement for tears of the kingdom a few days ago and it's so hateno house zelink coded 😭

[kaiijo]

FRIENDS TO LOVERS — [KNB]

characters: aomine daiki, midorima shintarou, hanamiya makoto content: gn! reader, reader has implied tieable hair in midorima’s, toxicity (it’s hanamiya, no one is surprised) notes: scenarios inspired by prompt list here

aomine daiki ✶

aomine yawns again as he reclines against your pillows, sitting up only to peer at you. you’re working on homework that’s due in a couple of days, headphones covering your ears. you promised that you’ll order in food and play super smash bros with him when you finished, but it’s nearing eight and you’re still hunched over a problem set.

aomine groans loudly, “are you even close to being done?”

you move one headphone cup off. “i would be closer if you didn’t interrupt me every ten minutes.”

“i didn’t ask to hang out just to sit around.”

you roll your eyes. “you can go if you want, daiki.”

he sits up fully now, moving to the edge of your bed. “why’re you even doing this? s’not due ‘til friday.”

“some of us want to be good students.” you slide your headphones back on and turn back to scribbling out complicated equations on paper.

a couple of minutes pass again and instead of asking you anything, aomine stands up and shuffles behind you, reaching around and snatching the paper from underneath you. “hey!” you protest, shooting up from your seat and tearing off your headphones. “give it back, daiki.”

“no, you said you’d be done, like, two hours ago.”

“i swear i’m almost done!” you make a lunge for it and aomine just holds it above his head, his long arm adding to his already-massive height.

“no.” he smirks at the way your eyes furrow and your cheeks puff out. your head tilts to the left, and he knows that you’re thinking. he’s sure you’re going to try and jump of it again, so as a show, he stretches up further, the hem of his shirt lifting slightly. he swears he catches your eyes flickering down and something in his body sings a song of triumph and satisfaction at the motion. he can’t say why.

what you do next though is nothing that he expects. you stand on your toes, rest your hands delicately on his shoulders, and gaze up at him through your lashes. he startles; there’s something so… heated about your expression, about those half-lidded eyes.

“daiki,” you say softly. it’s almost hypnotic, the way you say his name, and he’s watching you with one raised eyebrow. the tips of his ears feel like they’re on fire.

he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing as his arm lowers, heading for the dip of your waist. he only snaps out of it at your victorious cry. “ha!” you take advantage of his still half-dazed state and push him firmly out of your bedroom door, closing it. the lock clicks into place and he hears you call on the other side, “one more problem, daiki, i promise. be a dear and set up smash in the living room?”

he walks down your hall automatically, the fire-like feeling spreading to his neck.

midorima shintarou ✶

takao holds up a porcelain statue of a cat. “what about this?’

“takao, what about that screams ‘midorima shintarou?’”

takao shrugs. “i don’t know, maybe it’ll be december 25th’s lucky item. does oha asa put out horoscopes ahead of time?”

“no, that’s why he listens every morning when it airs,” you reply, setting down a teapot from a bigger set. you thank the tired-looking cashier, who just waves drowsily as you two exit the shop.

the two of you have been shopping all day for midorima’s christmas present, wandering all over japan and into various tchotchke stores to look. he’s a notoriously hard person to please, especially with gifts, and neither of you want a repeat of the ‘grey’s anatomy incident’ where four people got midorima the same book last holiday season when he announced his intention to go to medical school. nor do any of you want to get that look from him that struggles to look somewhat grateful while being very, very obviously displeased.

“we’ve been walking all day!” takao whines, clutching his stomach as it lets out an ungodly rumble. you check your watch; you two have been out for at least four hours. you point at a small diner boasting american food. “would you be okay with that?”

“i’d eat you right now if you’d let me.”

you snort, “hard pass. come on.”

the hostess sits you two at a booth and you shrug off your heavy winter coats. you pick up a menu and glance over it, but when you go to ask takao what he’ll be getting and if he wants to split a large order of assorted fries with you, you see he’s not looking at the menu.

you definitely do not like the way takao is eying you right now. “what?” you ask defensively, hands flying to the top of your head to try and pet down at hair you presume has been ruined by your excursion. “do i look bad or something?”

“is that shin-chan’s sweater?”

fuck. you had forgotten about pulling on one of the sweaters midorima left at your house the last time you studied together. it’s insanely soft — a mix of gray wool and cashmere — not to mention extremely cozy and warm. you tried to return it to midorima before but he just pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and huffed, “wear it until you get proper sweaters. no, sweatshirts don’t count.”

you internally groan. you don’t need takao on your ass again about whether or not you’re sure you and midorima aren’t dating or if you like him like that. honestly, the only reason you haven’t given him a certain yes or no is because… you don’t really know yourself.

you don’t have proper time to answer before the bell to the restaurant chimes and you see very recognizable green hair. of all the time and places he has to show up. (well, he did text you this morning that your zodiac sign was the least lucky and to wear a blue watch in order to improve your fortune; you should’ve found the watch.)

“oh! shin-chan!” takao waves him over, giving you a sly look. “we were just talking about—” takao’s stupid hawk-eyes zero in on midorima’s wrist as he tugs off his gloves. he looks way too please with himself as he asks, “shin-chan, is that their hair tie?”

hanamiya makoto ✶

hanamiya steps out of the locker room shower, cracking his knuckles as he makes his way to his locker to dry off and change. he rolls his shoulders, toweling off his hair as he changes back into his school uniform. yamazaki and hara are prattling away, snickering under their breaths about the injuries they inflicted: sprained ankle, a hairline fracture, a minor concussion.

hanamiya doesn’t even turn around as he growls, “can you two shut up?”

to just bug him more, hara pops his gum. loudly. “who pissed in your cereal, captain?”

furihara drones, “you were sloppier today. almost got fouled by the ref.”

hanamiya doesn’t reply, yanking the knot of his tie down furiously. “fuck off.”

hara lets out a low whistle and seto asks, “does this have to do with your little friend? they got a boyfriend, right?”

hanamiya lets out a long breath through his nose and he spins around to face his teammate. “for now,” he says, slamming his locker shut.

“you got a plan, captain?” asks yamazaki as he digs through his duffel bag.

“when do i not?”

———

you greet hanamiya’s mother with a thin smile when she opens the door. her face lights up when she sees you and she pulls you into a warm hug, telling you that hanamiya’s in his bedroom and that you could go right up.

you wonder if she can see the glossy film to your eyes or if she was polite enough not to comment on it.

hanamiya’s sitting at his desk, head propped up on his knuckle. he languidly flips through pages but you know he’s not really reading the material. he’ll get away with it too and get an a anyways, the bastard. he glances at you. “you look like shit.”

usually, you could banter with him. it’s why your friendship works; you have a thicker skin than most and you give just as good as you take, especially when it comes to hanamiya’s sneering, half-joking insults. normally, you would have replied with something like “still better than you,” but instead, your frayed nerves snap and you feels the hot tears start rolling down your cheeks.

hanamiya’s simpering expression sobers up and he sighs heavily, ushering you to sit on the bed. “why’re you crying?”

you sniffle and tell him that the guy you’ve been seeing from your literature class broke up with you. just out of the blue told you that you two wanted different things and you were going to colleges in different areas and that wouldn’t work and he was sorry and… that’s all you gleaned because his words were so rushed as he scurried off as fast as he could.

hanamiya’s brow furrows sympathetically and he draws you into a hug, saying, “i told you i didn’t like that guy. fuck him.”

you sink into his arms. “yeah,” you mutter, “fuck him.”

as you relax against him, hanamiya can’t help but smirk to himself in satisfaction. someone who runs off after a little confrontation doesn’t deserve anything from you.

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

Let's talk about Jump GIGA

Jump GIGA covers, 2016-2024. Volumes are published (left to right per row) as Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn releases, with 2018 and 2019 briefly breaking the pattern by having three Winter and three Summer volumes each. 2023 has an Early Spring volume in addition to the standard four.

So, people have pointed out that the 2024 Spring cover is, uh, not like other covers.

But I've only seen comparisons to other MHA GIGA covers and MHA Weekly Shonen Jump covers. Out of curiosity for what GIGA's typical marketing aesthetics might be, I put together a comparison between all of Jump GIGA's covers to date.

And, um. Some things stand out, to say the least.

First, let me clarify what Jump GIGA even is: it is a seasonal magazine from Shonen Jump, published separate from Weekly Shonen Jump. SJ is an absolutely massive brand and they have a number of magazines serialized outside of the most well-known weekly magazine.

The content of Jump GIGA is primarily made up of one-shots and spin-offs. From the beginning, a lot of the appeal has been the cool cover illustrations which showcase special merchandise that comes with the purchase of GIGA. Usually the cover also promotes big things going on related to the WSJ series, like movie events, new games, or special figurines for sale.

The marketing aesthetic has been clear from the start: the cover consists of one core illustration and a number of ads surrounding it. Most often you get a cover illustration of a protagonist, and then ads and merch for other series, e.g. Food Wars protagonist cover with One Piece film promotion and Haikyuu!! merch.

The purpose of this marketing direction is pretty obvious. Spin-offs and one-shots are not likely to generate a ton of interest consistently, so they lure people in with the cool covers and tempting limited edition merchandise of the series they already know and love. In this way, highlighting one series with the cover and different series with the merch makes sense, because maybe somebody doesn't care about Food Wars, but they definitely want those Haikyuu!! stickers, stuff like that.

Starting from 2020's Autumn volume, you can see a shift. For the first time, basically all of the merchandise is for the cover series. The Demon Slayer manga had already ended five months earlier in May, but a two-chapter spin-off was scheduled for release in WSJ during October. This GIGA was released exactly one day before the second chapter was published and it capitalizes on the hype.

After this point, only MHA and Jujutsu Kaisen dominate the cover and the merch in quite this way, with Black Clover getting attention last volume as a way to highlight the fact that it actually switched syndication from WSJ to GIGA.

Anyway, most commonly the cover illustration is a solo shot of a core cast member (usually but not always the protagonist), and if it's not a solo, it's a big cast illustration.

Only a few covers focus on two characters, and usually it's a crossover as opposed to characters from same series sharing the limelight.

Here we've got Food Wars' protagonist with the main characters from Dr. Stone and Act-Age.

The two covers most similar to the Izuku & Kacchan cover are 2022 Winter and 2023 Autumn.

Winter depicts the main trio of Blue Box in a seasonally-appropriate aesthetic. Not gonna lie, this one kinda makes me laugh--Blue Box is a romance and sports manga, and even though Christmas has a romantic air to it in Japan, instead of depicting any sort of like, hesitant but hopeful romantic energy between the heterosexual couple that actually get together later in the series, they focus primarily on the two girls being cute with the guy is a wee footnote? I mean, all right.

Meanwhile, Autumn depicts one of the protagonists with the series antagonist with a typical cool action style. I'm not very familiar with JJK, but I hear these two have got Some Drama going on, so, there's that.

The merch itself has also evolved over the years. Stickers and posters were present early on, but they have since expanded to decorative folders and now acrylic stands and coasters. 2021 Summer sees the first time the cover illustration is marketed as merch, with the Jujutsu Kaisen cover included as a decorative folder.

Right after that, the Kacchan cover of 2021 Autumn is included as a poster alongside earlier covers featuring Todoroki and Izuku.

2023 Summer's cover is a huge, wrap-around MHA cast illustration and it was published three days after chapter 396 came out, strategically timed to highlight the big shift in the final battle as Ochako vs Toga ends and All Might vs. AFO begins. Merch includes a decorative folder of the wrap-around cover and character motif stickers.

And then we get this!?

A duo cover illustration where the cover art itself has been merchandised to hell and back!?!?

Acrylic stand and pin set!?

Double-sided coaster showing bkdk greatest hits!? With volume 29's river scene cover!?

There's also a double-sided poster featuring the Spring cover with the ninth popularity poll art and a decorative bag with the anniversary art. The cover art itself is plastered all over the volume, front, back, and spine, apparently a total of 19 times.

I honestly don't know what to say about this. It feels wild that this is actually what the cover is. Obviously it is a huge marketing push in anticipation of season 7, and Izuku and Katsuki are the most popular characters, but. it just feels... unique.

In the course of Jump GIGA's publication, this direction is kind of unprecedented. Genuinely no one could have expected this. This seems to be the first time there's been this much merch for a cover. And it was a solid fucking move, marketing-wise--it's sold out basically everywhere, everyone is talking about it. And even people who don't follow the series or ship these two can't help but comment on how strikingly romantic it looks!?

I don't know how much say Horikoshi had in what the cover was, but damn it sure feels like he drew this with immense affection. I kind of wonder if he personally pushed for it to be these two, rather than the typical solo shot, cast shot, or even a protagonist vs. antagonist shot.

I'm KO'd, man. idek if this post is useful to anybody I'm just on my hands and knees here.

Everybody knows what we're all here for, and it's these cute boys finally getting their happy ending.

EDIT NOTE: I gathered much of the information and many, many of the images in this post from a fan-made Jump Database. I neglected to say it properly when I first posted this, but special thanks to the very dedicated people who maintain that website!

[izvmimi]

"i can't believe you have me out doing this," katsuki grumbles, but he's still holding onto you tightly with one arm, a free hand guiding his path towards the largest Christmas tree you can find this side of Japan. it's three am, the only time you think the two of you won't be spotted, and you hold the homemade topper you've worked painstakingly on for the past month tightly in your hand as he carries you, towards the town square.

"you're doing it because you love me, and also because you think it's hilarious," you tease. your legs kick as you speak, and he gives you a pretend annoyed stare as he urges you to "quit moving or he'll drop you," but you're right about both things.

just moments later, katsuki is angling you towards the newly (and illegally) decorated tree, the biggest holiday fixture in downtown Tokyo. your body pressed up against him like this is distracting as usual for the both of you, but you're able to twist in his hold and get a good angle of the tree from the air. you snap a couple pictures and are deathly quiet as the two of you glance at the photos, but finally the silence breaks, and both of you burst into laughter, katsuki open-mouth guffawing your entire flight home.

---

"are you guys fucking serious?"

it's noon of the next day when midoriya finally calls instead of texts, and you can hear his partner, howling in the background. katsuki answers him by swiftly hitting the end call button and you're practically in tears.

midoriya sends a text and it's a picture of the off-brand bootleg (think temu) vomit teal-colored bobblehead that his team took off the market after its short run two months ago, the head popped cleanly off of it in his irritation.

you motion for katsuki's phone and he tosses it to you, and you text him, don't lose your head, deku!, which he only replies to in angry emojis, and you look at katsuki whose eyes are filled with glee.

neither of you are on the nice list this year but it's worth it.

[skania]

OnK Chapter 158 Thoughts

This is literally me every time Akane shows up 😭

It was so cute to see Ruby so happy to see Akane! It feels like the two must have grown close again off-panel after this happened:

Akane looks so cute, too 😭

Onto the more pressing matters, first thing that caught my eye was that the concert took place in Miyazaki, aka the town where Goro & Sarina lived and died. According to Akane, she had "some business" there. This business is quite obviously not something she is keen to discuss, considering her reaction.

Could the business be keeping tabs on our resident psycho, the one and only Nino?

To be perfect honest, I'd also hope that "business" involves Akane doing some digging about Goro...

...But since I've gotten used to not having nice things in this manga, I'll just settle for Akane tailing Nino and keeping an eye on her, because that feels like the in-character thing for her to do.

So we could say that the beginning of the chapter establishes that Akane may be tailing Nino.

That's one thing to keep in mind.

Moving on, Akane says that she "might not be able to make it" to the Christmas concert. The very concert Kana will Graduate in. The one where Kana is expecting a reply from Aqua.

Akane (and her now patented ^^ smile) is vague enough that we can read it in various ways. Could it be that Akane doesn't quite want to watch the concert where she's expecting Kana and Aqua to get together? Or could it be that she has something more important to do that day?

And if she does, could that involve the 'Happy Ending' she and Aqua discussed two chapters ago?

That's another thing to keep in mind.

Speaking about Aqua, since Christmas in Japan is a holiday for couples, we get this very funny, very interesting panel from Ruby, who looks anything but supportive at the thought of Akane dating someone new lol

Looks like Ruby isn't too keen on Akane moving on from her precious brother. It's up in the air whether that's just Ruby being a brocon or because Akane still has her seal of approval to date him, though.

Akane really has this fake smile down to an art lmao

Next we get an Akane monologue where we're told that despite Kana being a force to be reckoned with, she can't match up to Ruby, who outshines her.

When I read those words, they automatically reminded me of Nino, who went through the same thing with Ai. Fittingly enough, we later get this Nino panel, where Memcho's face is obscured and only Ruby and Kana can be seen.

We also happen to get this ominous panel where Akane shows she's aware that there are people out there who want to "destroy" Ruby's sparkle. This is another thing to keep in mind.

I'm curious as to what Ruby was about to say when the scene cuts to Nino, but I won't speculate about it. Tsukuyomi's monologue was also interesting, in the sense that it tells us how Aqua's, Nino's and Kamiki's love for Ai has gotten all twisted.

Next thing we know, we get a timeskip. Aka has literally timeskipped us straight to Christmas, aka Kana's graduation concert.

The rushed pacing alone would've been hilarious if it weren't for what happens next.

Let's summarize everything Aka has established in the past few chapters up to now, shall we?

Aqua and Akane know that Nino is behind all the deaths in the manga. We have no idea how they realized this, but Aka took the time to show that they magically knew it. We're thus led to believe that this is important.

Akane wants to ensure everyone's future holds a happy ending, and Aqua is aware of this. Considering that both of them outright discuss Nino, we're led to assume that they may team up to make sure she's dealt with.

To this end, Akane may be, quite literally, tailing Nino.

Meanwhile, Ruby herself is being constantly watched by Miyako and Ichigo, to the point she says she doesn't have a single second of alone time.

Moreover, Akane pretty much summarizes in this chapter why Nino would target Ruby.

So I must ask:

Taking all of this into account, in what world does this make any sense at all?

The door even had a window! A window!

And even if it isn't see-through, we've been told over and over again that idols need to have keychains and security systems to protect themselves from crazy fans. Ai herself says so.

So in what world does it make sense for Ruby to get stabbed like that?? lol

Now, the stab in and of itself is anything but surprising. The manga hasn't exactly been subtle lately about Ruby likely becoming Nino's target. Some of us thought that Gotanda's line about Kana protecting Ruby was foreshadowing and that Kana would tank the stab for Ruby. Others thought that Kamiki would be the one to step in to save his daughter, one good deed to help atone for his past wrongs.

Whatever the case, despite our personal preferences and hopes for this manga, we all knew that Ruby was in danger and that someone would be getting stabbed. Some of us even expected it to happen this week because it's the week where Sayahime would be getting slashed in the manga lmao

So how am I supposed to believe that Aqua and Akane, who somehow even figured out Nino killed Yura and thus her motif, didn't take the necessary measures to not let it happen? lol

Even the lead up to it is... bland. Forced. Nonsensical. Why isn't Ruby shown curiously peeking at the door just like Ai would've done? Why don't we see her behaving normally at all before she opens the door?

The stab page is pretty much a copy-paste from Ai's, so why not go all the way and have a repeat of these panels, too?

This all could be explained by forced, bad writing — an Aka staple, certainly. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. In fact all of this must sound silly coming from me, since I've been laughing about Aka's mess for weeks now. But biased as I am, I'm kind of forced to take the bad writing more seriously when my favorite character is directly impacted by it 😂

So I'd like to think that Akane and Aqua did see this coming and that they have a contingency plan. In fact, I'd even go as far as saying that I'd like to believe that the stab itself is staged. There are certainly enough weird things about it to make room for that possibility. The first thing I wondered about when the leaks dropped was if it could be someone pretending to be Ruby to trick Nino, and the lead-up to the stab does leave room for that possibility imo

Akane (or Aqua) with a wig, or even Ruby herself but aware of the plan — I would literally take anything at this point except the very empty, very forced scenario where Ruby truly just got stabbed because everything established in the previous chapters suddenly ceased to matter lol Heck, I'd even take Akane using a prop knife to give Ruby a scare and force Miyako & Ichigo to take measures to keep Ruby safe during the concert. Would it be silly? Absolutely. But this entire situation is already silly as it is, so I'll settle for the lesser evil lol

The story can't keep making Aqua & Akane ridiculously intelligent when it suits it, and normal when it doesn't. It's inconsistent and most of all, it's unnecessary. They could just as well have figured it out after the fact, alongside the reader, which would have drastically increased the emotional impact of the Nino reveal from: predictable and rushed to predictable but impactful.

If this was done so that Aqua and Akane can question themselves and their desire to shoulder the darkness to protect others, couldn't this be done in a better way? Because as it is, if everything is just as it seems, then Aka has deliberately kept Aqua and Akane from growing just so he can force them to do so through shock value alone.

I know I always say that I don't like predicting Aka, but I thought it'd be revealed that they had enlisted everyone's help to deliberately lure Nino into targeting Ruby during the Christmas concert, and that they would catch her red-handed before she could hurt Ruby. Since I figured that Aka may want someone to get stabbed anyway so that Aqua could put his medical knowledge to use, I thought that something would go wrong during the confrontation with Nino and that she would manage to hurt someone either way.

Maybe it was my mistake to expect any sort of consistency from Aka. Time and time again he shows that all he cares about is his perfect timing, and so characters will do whatever they have to do and will be kept as stagnant as they need to be in order for their development to happen only when that perfect timing has been reached. Like the way he rushed and rushed just so the stab could happen at the same time as the Saya slashing in the anime.

I do wonder though, aside from Ruby being immortalized as the ultimate idol through surviving the same attack Ai died from (and Kana's graduation happening at the Dome, because who wouldn't want B-Komachi at the Dome after this), what would be the point of this? Will Aqua magically get there in time so he can use his medic knowledge? Will Tsukuyomi perform a miracle? Or will we get a few chapters of people crying over Ruby's hospital bed while Nino keeps being crazy in the background?

No matter how I look at it, I feel like the only scenario where the writing is (somewhat) salvaged is the one where things aren't as they seem and this is all part of a plan we aren't privy to. Making Nino think that she has killed Ruby, only for Ruby to get on-stage brighter than ever would be a pretty cool twist.

If there is no twist though, then characters were made to look circumstantially dumb and incompetent just so Aka can have some last hurrah in the form of forced drama lol

So yeah, as per usual, I'll be hoping for the better option out of the two while preparing myself for the worst outcome.

Edit: I literally forgot KAMIKI lmao if not Aqua and Akane, KAMIKI should know that Nino is definitely going to go after Ruby. Why would he just sit on his butt and let it happen??

If there's no twist at all, this will seriously be an all-out character massacre 💀

[drdemonprince]

This is kind of late re: the culture conversation but I feel like I have a kind of weird perspective on this general idea of cultural appropriation re:embodiment. I’m Italian American, and indigenous South American but I was born in the US and when we immigrated to the US my South American ethnic group is so small and my parents were in Japan so long they culturally assimilated and I was raised in the Japanese immigrant community and literally went to Japanese day school.

This tension between who is “allowed” to participate in a culture or identity has always been deeply fraught for me in a way that has kind of bulldozed my understanding of cultural ownership. Not being “ethnically” Japanese has led to many people deciding for me what the appropriateness of my cultural participation is. And being indigenous South American complicates my relationship to standard cultural alignment with latinidad more broadly.

I have a lot of friends who are white USAmericans who are progressive but also deeply concerned about the boundaries between themselves and the cultures they studied in college and the countries they taught English in as migrant workers. I had a conversation with one of my friends who worked in China and he was talking about how he didn’t mind being legally disenfranchised because he was a white American migrant and didn’t feel it was necessary for him to have the same legal rights as Chinese citizens. And I had to point out that he was living in the same disenfranchised conditions as any other immigrant and there was no reason for him to downplay it. I don’t think it’s disingenuous or appropriative for him to have Chinese art in his house or cook Chinese food or participate in Chinese culture. Not because he lived there or had a complicated legal status in the country or somehow crossed some imaginary threshold of true and genuine cultural appreciation but just because culture is what you do its not a given fact of who you are. It’s a seamless part of his life and just because he sought it out doesn’t make it less genuine to me.

I think because of my complicated upbringing I have spent a lot of time with people between cultures, reconnecting, adopting new ones and feel very strongly that if there is no biological tie to culture people can incorporate whatever they want into their lives and it’s a VERY US American perspective to be so self critical and political about it.

And this isn’t to say cultural exploitation doesn’t exist but when it does happen it’s usually underpinned by a capital motivation to sell an idea of a culture and not a weird white guy who got really into Buddhism or a several generations totally removed Italian American incorporating Panettone into their Christmas celebrations. When people cross the line it’s cringe and inauthentic but it rarely goes beyond that.

When I was in college I had a professor who studied my indigenous ethnic group and I took a couple of his classes. Once I brought my grandmother and mom to campus to speak with him in our indigenous language, and my grandmother spoke to him for three hours straight. He was a white man from Michigan but also one of my only connections to my culture, a person to practice and share my language with, to connect with my family. And all because he thought South American indigenous groups were interesting and got a job with Amnesty International to investigate the dictatorship to get down there. He is the kind of man people wag their finger at and he was one of the most important cultural elders I had.

This is a long way to say basically I just really believe we are allowed to make our lives whatever we want and make ourselves whatever we want. The phenomenon of white Americans in search of culture exists for the reasons you listed below and outside of these political discussions about its appropriateness and its moral boundaries there are just people doing and embodying that cultural fluidity and exchange for a million different reasons that aren’t worth litigating. The small town gay kids who move to big cities and hang out in the leather scene, getting into punk or hardcore or goth scenes, even converting to a new religion function under the same mechanism of the kind of cultural immersion that gives you access to the community and membership in the culture that weebs who immigrate to Japan to teach English, or international students coming to America, or inter cultural or inter faith partnerships undergo.

Anyways thanks for listening to my treatise. So to whoever’s reading this take the dance class or the traditional craft class or learn a new language or learn to cook new kinds of food make all different types of friends and make new traditions out of old ones or old traditions out of new perspectives. Culture isn’t a sacred part of who we are it’s a sacred form of the things we do and embody and connect with others through :-) <3

this is an incredible, wise, compassionate message. Thank you so much for sending it. You've said so much here about the problems of tying cultural identity to a race, ethnicity, or blood, or to regard it as static or isolated. And how much the standard racist American conceptions of racial and ethnic identity make structural discussions about disenfranchisement worldwide hard to have. Said so so much far better than I could, thank you!!

[snek-panini]

At long last, it is Post Stuff I Made Time again. The last time I had a book to show off was in May and that's just too long. Not a fic (this time. I have them, they're coming) but a journal:

I made this as a dnd journal for my husband, and it was originally supposed to be a Christmas present, then a birthday present (in March), and finally it has reached its true potential as a Labor Day Week present. But it's gorgeous, he loves it and I'm proud of it. The cover is Allure book cloth (the color's called skylight), with the strip at the bottom in chiyogami (from ChibiJay; I got it in one of their assorted strip packs), and the flower is gold foil htv. The campaign is pirate/high seas themed, and his character's background has a distinct Fantasy Japan element, so a lot of the design choices followed from that.

More photos under the cut!

Close up on the cover. I thought I had a close up of the flower icon but I must not have taken it. Love how close the color match is between the blue in the waves and the book cloth. The gold htv came out a bit less smooth than I'd have liked, but it has a kind of gold leaf look to it that we both ended up really liking.

He requested a Coptic bind so it would lay flat when opened, and I did Coptic end bands for stability and because they look cool, especially with the exposed link stitches. I find the link stitches also add a bit of stability when you've got fewer Coptic stitches. I special ordered the pink thread (again, his choice) from Hollander's, and it was expensive and totally not worth the hassle. The only way to get this color was pre-waxed and there is SO MUCH WAX on it, it's ludicrous. I scraped a lot of it off on a blade and it was still too waxy, like handling a candle. It's also very stiff and thicker than I'm used to, to the extent that it was hard to thread the needle with it. I've ordered their unwaxed thread before and would do it again, but this is the last time I buy the waxed stuff. Embroidery floss is cheaper, easier to work with, and comes in more colors.

Please ignore the blurriness in the second photo; I have never claimed to be a photographer and didn't notice it till now. This is the doublure on the inside of the front cover, and it's more chiyogami from Chibijay. The wave pattern wraps around from the front to finish up under this paste-down; I wanted to do the same in the back but didn't have enough of the wave print, so the back is plain.

I thought I'd taken a photo of the pages but I guess I didn't because I can't find it now. Being a journal there was no typeset for this. I actually bought a pre-cut and pre-folded unsewn book block from Hollander's for this. They come in a couple of colors and you can get them blank, with lines, or with graph print for drawing, and Husband chose the graph paper for ease of drawing and making charts.

As a rule I don't normally make journals; books only become interesting to me after there is something in them. So I just skipped the part of the "learning to make books" process where most people make a bunch of sketchbooks. This is actually the first one I've ever made. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and Husband loves it, but I can't see them becoming a regular part of my output unless it's requests like this. However, I've got six finished fic binds to post, so stay tuned for those.

[karasukarei]

Wind Breaker Drama CD vol. 2 - Oedo-style Fuurin Tale (Part 2)

Translation masterpost here! Part 1 here!

Special thanks to @/orewing!

Updated shorthand because some names are really long:

Sakura – Sakura

Nirei – Nirei

Suo – Suo

Sugishita – Sugi

Kiryuu – Kiryuu

Tsugeura – Tsuge

Hiiragi – Hiiragi

Umemiya – Ume

Enomoto - Eno

Scene 4 – 5:17~9:20

Eno: Yosh… You guys… (t/n: please imagine him rolling his r’s even though there aren’t any r’s in english here) YOU’VE PASSED!

Nirei: *gasps* Ha!

Eno: Frrrrrom today, you’rrrrre parrrrt of Fuurrrrrrrin-gumi.

Nirei: Yes! Thank you very much! Ahhhh, isn’t that great, Sakura-san? From now on, we’re both part of Fuurin-gumi!

Sakura: Wait, hold on! To join the group it’s just an interview?! There should be more than this right?! Like a test of strength or a test of courage, stuff like that?!

Eno: Selection of people joining Fuurin-gumi, is all decided by just one perrrrson, Enomoto! I can see what a perrrrson is like with just a glance.

Hiiragi: Oi, is the interview over?

Eno: Hirrrrrragi-san! Thank you for yourrrrr harrrrd worrrrk!!!

Hiiragi: So how was it?

Eno: These two guys, they passed.

Hiiragi: I see… tsk. Just when you really need him, where does that guy go? Urk… my stomach…

Eno: If you need stomach medicine, I have it here!

Nirei: Woaahhhhh! It’s Hiiragi-san! We’ve just joined and right on the first day, he’s here right in front of us!

Eno: Oi you lot! Grrrrreet Hirrrrrrragi-san!

Nirei: Y-Yes! I’ll be under your care from today onward, my name is Nirei! I’ve always greatly admired Fuurin-gumi!

Hiiragi: Is that so? I look forward to working with you. But there’s one thing you need to know. You’re not under our care from now on.

Nirei: Y-yes.

Hiiragi: You’re a warrior of Fuurin-gumi now. Protect your feelings of supporting the group properly.

Nirei: *gasps of admiration* Yes! That’s so cool… (t/n: you can hear his eyes sparkling ;-;)

Sakura: Hmm? Is that so?

Nirei: What is it, Sakura-san?

Sakura: You’re called Hiiragi, is it?

Hiiragi: Huh?

Sakura: With that attitude, you’re the top of Fuurin-gumi, the strongest guy in Fuurin-gumi aren’t you?

Hiiragi: Huh? (t/n: Sakura is going to turn into another cause of his gastric issues at this rate)

Sakura: The factions within the group fight daily to one-up each other, and be it obon or new year, as long as they lock eyes with each other they draw their swords and rumble. The fear of the town, where ruffians gather - that is Fuurin-gumi. (t/n: obon and new year are major holidays in Japan and people generally just chill during this period; it’s the equivalent of saying that Fuurin-gumi still brawls even during christmas. This was also a very hard sentence to translate purely by ear please praise me for managing to decipher it ;-;) And Hiiragi! If I defeat you, I’ll be come the top! (t/n: I feel second-hand embarrassment.

Nirei and Enomoto I think: *groans of embarrassment* (t/n: let me join you)

Nirei: W-w-w-w-w-wait a minute! Where did you hear such rumours from?! They’re all wrong, or more like, it’s the exact opposite!

Sakura: Opposite?

Nirei: Fuurin-gumi are the group protecting this town! Everyone in the group are samurai who draw their swords to protect this town!

Sakura: Huh?

Nirei: In other words, Fuurin-gumi are the ones who help the weak and exterminate the evil, they’re on the side of justice!

Sakura: HUH?! What’s with that?! Isn’t this completely different from what I heard?!

Nirei: That’s what I just said!!

Hiiragi: Well, we’ve got a couple of scary looking guys so it’s not strange that people would get the wrong idea.

Sakura: Then, what did I come here for?

Hiiragi: You got one more thing wrong

Sakura: Huh?! What more is there besides this?!

Hiiragi: The head of Fuurin-gumi is not me-

Umemiya 🩵: Ohh, Hiiragi! You’re here!

Enomoto: !! Umemiya-san! Thank you forrrrr yourrrrr harrrrd worrrrk!!!

Umemiya: Oh! (t/n: think of it like a sign of acknowledgement)

Hiiragi: Where have you been all this time?

Umemiya: Ahh, sorry about that, here, I bought some dango as souvenirs to share with everyone!

Hiiragi: *grunts of gastric issues without GasCon 10* Anyway, those two over there, they’re new people who just joined today.

Umemiya: Oh?

Nirei: You’re… *excited sounds* It’s the real person! Sakura-san! It’s this person! This person is the top of Fuurin-gumi! The group head Umemiya-san!

Sakura: Eh?

Umemiya: Yo, Sakura! You really came, huh? I look forward to working with you from today!

Sakura: Huh? Huh?! HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!!!

Scene 5 – 9:21~11:11

Sakura: *grumbling like an old mad with white hair* I came here to become the top, why am I doing patrols?

Suo: Well, you did end up getting into a fight with Sugishita on your first day!

Sakura: We didn’t fight! He’s the one who drew his sword first, I just drew mine in return!

Kiryuu: Tsuge-chan juuuuust barely managed to stop it in time, didn't he? Nirei-chan had it tough too right?

Nirei: Ah- Yes- No!

Suo: There’s no need to be so uptight! We’re all in squad one together after all.

Nirei: Even though we’re in the same squad, Suo-san and Kiryuu-san both joined the group before us…!

Suo: It was just a little while earlier, it’s not such a big difference!

Nirei: But I’ve been hearing about your names since a while back!

Kiryuu: Is that so? By the way, I’ve noticed for a while, but Nirei-chan’s haori is really cool~

Nirei: Ahhh I’m so sorry about that!!! I got too carried away!

Kiryuu: Why? I think it looks goods, and suits you too!

Nirei: *sounds of sparkling eyes* Really?

Kiryuu: Mmh!

Suo: But speaking of this, it’s quite rare to see such a striking haori around here right?

Nirei: Oh, yes! I used some exotic fabric for this-

Kaji: *cracks lollipop with teeth* YOU GUYS! DON’T DAWDLE AROUND! ARE YOU GUYS PATROLLING PROPERLY?! (t/n: I think this should be correct but I couldn’t quite catch the last sentence, if there’s a better translation let me know!

Nirei: Yeeeesss!

Suo: Sorry about that! We’ll be more careful.

Sakura: Hmph. What’s with that guy?

Suo: That’s not “that guy”, he’s the squad head of Tamonshuu’s first squad.

Sakura: Tsk, we’re following him to learn about how to patrol, but he hasn’t said a single thing, and he gets mad suddenly for no reason, and he’s always sucking on candy-

Kiryuu: It’s cos Kaji-san’s teaching style is to show you and have you remember~

Sakura: And the team captain is ok with that?

Nirei: Don’t say stuff like that! There are rumours that that person used to be ruffian beyond salvation!

Sakura: Eh….

Scene 6 – 11:11~13:22

Suo: Huh? Over there, is there some sort of commotion?

Kiryuu: Something seems to be up, huh?

Kaji: That restaurant seems to have had someone eat and run.

Sakura: Eat and run?

Kaji: The granny from the shop said that the culprit was a man wearing a blue kimono.

Nirei: A blue kimono? Ah!

Kaji: What is it?

Nirei: Just now, there was a man in a blue kimono running down that road!

Sakura (?): Tsk, dammit. *starts running*

Kaji: Oi, hang on! (t/n

Suo: Let’s go too!

Nirei / Kiryuu: Yes! / Mm!

*Everyone disperses to chase down the culprit)

Eat-and-run dude: Hmph! That was easy! I managed to get here without anyone following.

Kiryuu: Hello big bro, sorry about that! I can’t let you pass from here~ (t/n: omg so cute…)

Eat-and-run dude: I’ll need to go there instead-

Suo: Oh! You can’t go here too!

Eat-and-run dude: *grunts*

Nirei: You can’t pass through here too!

Eat-and-run dude: Hmph, a small kid like you is no match for I, Sukeroku-sam of Zeninashiku-in! (t/n: I’m actually not sure if I caught the name here of his town / dojo correctly, the guy’s accent is pretty strong and the name is kionda weird x_x)

Kiryuu: Hm? Like what’s with that name? It’s totally not cool at all maybe you shouldn’t use it. (t/n: SEE IT’S A REALLY WEIRD NAME)

Eat-and-run dude Sukeroku: I’ll kill you!

Suo: You can choose anything for your name, but perhaps you should take a better look around you.

Eat-and-run dude Sukeroku: What do you-

Sakura: Click clack click clack (t/n: onomatopoeia for running around in geta sandals), don’t just-

Kaji and Sakura: Run around!!!

*Kaji and Sakura land spectacularly*

Eat-and-run dude Sukeroku: From the top?!

Kaji and Sakura: ORA! *beating up sounds*

Eat-and-run dude Sukeroku: Urk! *falls defeated*

Sakura: Hmph! Wasn’t he too weak?

Kaji: This guy didn’t even get a chance to draw his sword.

Nirei: *clapping very hard* As expected of both of you!

Suo: Well done!

Kiryuu: The rest of us didn’t even get a chance to show off~

Kaji: ANYONE PAST THIS POINT WHO CAUSES PAIN, WHO BRINGS DESTRUCTION, WHO HOLDS EVIL IN THEIR HEART, WILL BE PURGED BY FUURIN-GUMI WITHOUT EXCEPTION! 

*townsfolk cheer*

Man: As expected!

Another man: You’ve really saved us!

Woman: Thanks so much for everything!

Nirei: Wow, amazing! The people of the town are…!

Another another man (old guy): Ran-chan looked real cool too! (t/n: I think Ran-chan is a nickname based on the given name Ren, like how a doting old grandpa would give his own grandkids nicknames)

Sakura: O-oh…

[daidonzo]

Girls just wanna have fun

A/N: little insight on what i think Chishiya and the reader's relationship is like after the ending of As much as you want. •ᴗ•

Usagi and Arisu were getting married.

Chishiya had simply congratulated them when they announced the news. Kuina had been shocked, but had run to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Ann, on video call, busy because of work, had clapped and cheered, just as anyone would. Your reaction, however, had been a bit different.

"A child bride." You had gasped, eyes wide open, half-joking, half-actually-serious, your voice low so that nobody but him could hear. "What's next, teenage pregnancy?"

Chishiya silently laughed, burying his face in your hair so that nobody could see, one arm around you.

"She's your age." He pointed out, entertained by your reaction.

"And what am I? A literal child." You whispered, brows raised.

"A literal child way past her twenties."

"Three words: I. Am. Baby." You lifted a finger with each of them, and then stuck your tongue out.

The two of you had been dating for as long as Usagi and Arisu had, but clearly your relationship had a different timeline. Chishiya didn't mind. You, judging by your comments, didn't either.

"I wonder, what will I do now with the ring that I have in my pocket…?" Chishiya asked, teasing you, staring at the ceiling as if the answer to his question laid there.

"Don't you dare." You pointed your index finger at him, menacingly.

He chuckled, and lifted both arms above his head, his palms directed at you.

Things had been good. You had found a job in Japan, which meant you could stay for as long as you wanted and had moved on your own, although truth be told, Kuina pretty much lived with you, even if she didn't pay rent. The two of you had become inseparable. Ann and Usagi had later on joined your little group.

Chishiya and you also spent a lot of time together. He had got a definite workplace in a hospital close to where you lived and would come spend most nights. Or afternoons. Or mornings.

It didn't matter the time of the day, if he was available, the two of you were together.

Yeah… One could say things were better than good.

-------------------------------------------------- The night of the bachelorette party came.

Usagi had wanted something simple. To go to dinner with her best friends, maybe have a couple of drinks and call it a night.

Kuina and you had a different idea.

Ann just let you do whatever you wanted, lifting her shoulders every time Arisu or Chishiya would ask, as if saying "Well, what can I do to stop them?".

So you did go to dinner. But then you also went to a huge party in some fancy club, all of you dressed in pink except Usagi, who was forced to dress in white, wear a crown and a t-shirt saying "Here comes the bride!".

Chishiya had been working the whole time. He had a night shift, and it was about nine in the morning when he finally was done. First thing he did after changing into his normal clothes was checking his phone.

And saw he had an impressive amount of notifications. He was surprised the device hadn't blown up.

He opened his always on-going conversation with you. You never said goodbye, not even good night. You just went to sleep, and would continue where you left off the following morning. Sometimes you would write "(going to sleep, love you, tty in the morning <3)" between parenthesis, but that's as much as he would get.

Again, Chishiya didn't mind. He loved it.

He stopped to look at your photo, holding one of your parents' cats. It was from a trip you took on Christmas to your home country. You had kept saying that this particular cat reminded you of him.

He read the messages with a smile on his face:

hiiiiiii! we just had dinner and we are going to go to da club nowwww

After that, you had sent a picture of your food and another one of your outfit in what was probably the bathroom of the restaurant. You were wearing a pink dress and looked absolutely beautiful, at least in Chishiya's opinion.

hi agaiiiiiin, in the club now!!! good music today, i know every single song

i really hope i'm not bothering you and your phone's on muuuuuuuute

miss u

miss u again

miss u a third time <3

A picture of the four of you. A video of you singing one of the songs with the lyrics copypasted down below, because they said stuff about being in love and you wanted him to know you were thinking about him when they played it.

i'm having so much fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun

wish u were here <3

A lot of pictures of Usagi. More selfies of you. Selfies with Kuina.

Your writing got worse. The messages more sappy.

i jst wished i coold go home and be with u tnight bcs i miss u

u mean evvrthing 2 meeeeeeeeeeee

bst dctor ever

go bby go!!!!!!!

A picture of you, sent by Kuina using your phone, in what seemed like a car. You were sleeping.

You had another message, from Arisu:

I went to pick the girls up. Kuina is with your girl at her appartment. Everything fine! b(＾＾)b

Thanks, Arisu.

Chishiya put his phone in the pocket of his dark jeans after replying to the text and left the hospital.

It was about an hour later when he rang your door bell using his elbow, holding three coffees in his right hand and a brown bag with breakfast buns for three in the left one.

Kuina opened up, very sleepy, wearing pyjamas. But her eyes grew wider when she saw the coffee Chishiya was holding, extending both arms to grab it and opening and closing her hands, clearly thrilled.

"You're the absolute best!" She said after taking the first sip and Chishiya simply tilted his head to one side, conceding. He left everything he was carrying on the kitchen counter.

"She's still sleeping?"

"I would be as well. She's in her room."

The woman with dreadlocks just threw herself on your sofa and turned the TV on.

Chishiya went to your room, opening the door without knocking, because you probably wouldn't have heard it, sleeping as you were. You usually slept in the weirdest positions, but now, you were on your side, both your arms below your pillow. You were still wearing the make-up from the night before. He smiled when he saw you were wearing one of his t-shirts.

Silently, he took off his shoes, and climbed to bed with you, placing himself at your back and putting an arm around you.

"Chishiya?" You whispered groggily, not even opening your eyes just moving backwards so that you could be closer to him.

"No."

"Yes you are, dummy."

He smiled and gave you a kiss on the top of your head, covering the both of you with the blanket.

"Had fun?"

"Yes, very much so. How was work? All good?"

"Boring."

"Boring means good. No accidents. No meteorites."

Chishiya laughed at that. You had met in the hospital, after being victims of a meteorite hitting Shibuya. In his opinion, a natural disaster wasn't such a bad thing.

It had brought you into his life.

"Did you bring Kuina coffee?" You asked, suddenly, opening one of your eyes and turning your face so that you could look at him.

"I did."

"I think you just moved to the number one position in her list of favorite people."

"What number am I in yours?"

"Did you bring me coffee?"

"No."

"I know you did, so you are number one."

"Because I brought you coffee?"

"No." You flashed him a lopsided grin, cheekily. You used to do it only sarcastically at first, but Chishiya had mentioned once or twice much he liked it when you started dating, so you had incorporated it to your list of smiles. This one you used when you wanted to mess with him. "Because I know you brought me a cinnamon bun."

The blonde laughed, and you ended up completely turning around in his arms so that you could be face to face. You gave him a kiss on the tip of the nose, then on the lips.

"Can we stay here a little bit longer?" You asked, feeling warm and safe.

"Yes. But only a little bit."

A small wrinkle appeared between your brows, and you squinted your eyes.

"Why?"

"Kuina will eat all the breakfast."

You laughed and cuddled up to him.

Five more minutes wouldn't hurt anyone.

[the-roo-too]

candy -> miyawaki sakura ver

aka the fluff alphabet

admiration (what does she absolutely adore about you)- actually, i think you as a whole. sakura is just so djebbfjrjd when you… she adores everything you do, every breath you take

body (what’s her favourite body part of yours)- sakura kinda strikes me as a person who likes hands. she likes holding hands with you, she likes to play with your hands when she’s stressed, all of that

cuddling (how she likes to cuddle)- hear me out, she loves cuddling you while she plays video games 🔥 gamer girl also needs some cute gf time

dates (what’s her ideal date)- ideally, sakura would like to take you to japan to see her hometown etc :( just so the two of you could enjoy each other and the atmosphere

emotions (how does she express her emotions around you)- open about what she feels hehe there’s no reason to hide anything from you

family (does she want one)- she does! and she doesn’t really care when, whenever you feel like you want it too :( she’ll wait for you with that <3

gifts (what about gift giving)- to me sakura is big on like, christmas gift giving etc ‼️‼️ also she loves when you just give her random stuff (like rocks) just with the ‘it reminded me of you’

holding hands (does she like to hold hands)- LOVES TO‼️‼️ she’ll be so pouty if you don’t hold her hand while walking somewhere omg

injuries (what would she do if you got hurt)- c a l m 🫡 someone sane needs to take care of you, and that will be her

jokes (does she like to joke around)- sakura appreciates a good joke always ‼️‼️

kisses (how does she like to kiss you)- sakura loves to kiss you all together, it doesn’t really matter how or where. she’s in love your honor 🫡

love (what’s her love language)- she’s kinda a mom friend, her love language is taking care of you and reminding you of things, like to drink water <33

memory (what’s her favourite memory together)- i honestly think she was so smitten with you from the start, she most fondly remembers just meeting you :)

nighttime (how does sleeping with her look like)- i kinda feel like sakura has a body pillow of some character… 💀💀💀 that pillow she either cuddles or makes you hug it while she spoons you 🤠

oddity (what’s one quirky thing about her)- …the fortnite dance…..

pet names (what does she like to call you)- i can totally see sakura calling you pretty girl all of the time, thank you for coming to my ted talk

quality time (how does she like to spend time with you)- sakura is a gamer girl ofc, so she’d love it if you wanted to do a game night with her! she’d be happy to teach you to play even

rush (does she rush into things)- yes, but also no. she’s hyper to do many things but poor baby is too hesitant sometimes 😭

secrets (how open is she with you)- you know everything about sakura ‼️ from fortnite dances to yume de kiss me (you’re the only one who can make fun of that)

time (how long did it take her to confess)- a couple days? on the first meeting you gave her your number but she was too nervous to call you, and when she finally did, she just blurred out her confession first thing after you picked up 😭

upset (what’s her reaction when you’re upset)- when she sees you genuinely being upset, she’s gonna offer you some cuddles while a random show plays in the background. the two of you can just do nothing together, enjoy the little calm moment

visibility (is she afraid of the public opinion)- not really. sakura is more afraid her members wouldn’t like you :( dw tho, they adore you!

warrior (how often do you fight)- you don’t fight very often, but it sometimes gets to the level when you call chaewon to scold your girlfriend using her leader privileges

x-ray (is she able to read you)- sakura is a little obvious, don’t hold it against her. you could be a little down, but sakura just wants to show you the cute little villager on her island!

yes (how would she propose to you)- no because she would do something kinda cringey 💀💀 like proposing to you with a pokeball, i’m sorry but it’s true

zen (what makes her feel calm)- sakura games to unwind too, but the most relaxing and calming for her is gaming with you nuzzled comfortably on her lap as she does so <3

part of [the fluff] series

[bnnywngs]

Shoyo is a famous actor/model, he's currently everywhere from the current popular drama airing prime time, to that big billboard in the city, he's also in some magazines covers and has a million followers on his sns.

He's also pretty infamous for his coming out during a live show earlier in his career, and his refusal to act in stereotypes/prejudiced works, and for calling out homophobic acts, talks and people.

Because of that, he's celebrated between the lgbt community in Japan, and his fans are not only loyal, but fiercely protective and active in protests online or in person, for many things - either lgbt, feminist, or just to get a better access for wheelchairs in the subway.

But recently, after years saying he was single, he came out saying he had a lover who was neither an actor or a model, but wasn't unknown. He didn't want to say who it was because it could be bad for them, as Japan still has a long way to go to accept lgbt couples.

People respected that, but not the paparazzi, as always, so they relentlessly followed Shoyo, who kept going from work to home, and home to work, with a few outings with his friends and colleagues, so the photographers were getting anxious and restless.

It all came down to one letter.

Every Christmas Shoyo sends a custom postcard to his parents and his sister (who's a famous volleyball player now in Turkey) before going back home for new years (if he didn't have anything in his schedule), and this year he decided to get a picture of him and his boyfriend in a Christmas setting as his postcard.

But it was intercepted by one of the paparazzi.

Shoyo's boyfriend was none other than number 1 japanese streamer kodzuken! It was a cute little postcard with a picture of both of them sitting in front of a big and full of ornaments Christmas tree, with matching sweaters and doing a heart with their hands together.

The leak was soon everywhere and Shoyo's radio interview was cancelled that day, together with all his schedule, so they could do a somewhat damage control and to write a handwritten letter to his fans not only explaining everything, but criticizing those who stole his family letter.

The truth was: Shoyo and kodzuken met each other in highschool, when they both played volleyball in their respective schools, and started a relationship early on, that kept going for years and years, both their families knew about it and accepted it, Shoyo's family loved Kenma and treated him as another member of the family, and kodzuken's parents are always inviting Shoyo to have family dinner with them and even going out together without kodzuken.

kodzuken just did a small update stream a week or so later, saying almost the exact same thing as Shoyo's letter, and also criticizing those who make money over these kinds of scandals, and that they wanted to come out some day as a couple but in their own terms and not like this - as kodzuken wasn't even out of the closet for his fans.

As the media was letting go of this and the fans were calming down (Shoyo's fans being more open and receptive of their relationship), a magazine with them at the cover was released, with a long interview where they shared one single picture of their teenage years, where they went a bit more deep into their relationship and why they gave up volleyball after highschool.

[heavenlyakin]

Atsumu Miya x Fem!Reader

Here's a little late Valentine's Day fic! Minors DNI.

Genre: mild angst, fluff, and smut (the holy trinity!) oh and a little comedy

Warnings: some light couple fighting/bickering, cunnilingus, fem reader.

Word count: 2.6k

Atsumu nearly loses it as you clench around him, body writhing beneath his. Your eyes flutter shut and your mouth parts open to let out another breathless moan. He fights back every urge he has to bust in you now, not wanting to end the pleasure for either of you. 

“Tsumu,” you whine, your eyes opening, glossy with love and lust.

He can’t take it anymore. There’s nothing he can do to stop himself. He cums deep inside you with a final thrust, his breath catching and then a groan escaping. He opens his eyes to look at you, but you start to fade from view. 

Atsumu wakes up abruptly, jerking his arms and sitting up. His forehead drips sweat as he shakes his head. Another wet dream, he realizes. Flipping the covers off him, he sees he’s made a mess of himself again. He flops back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and wishing you’d just come home already. 

Looking over at his alarm clock, he sees it’s 3:34 am, just after lunchtime for you on the east coast of the United States. He never imagined you’d go no contact while visiting family back home, but he also never imagined you’d have such a detrimental fight just hours before your flight. 

–

2 Weeks Prior 

“That’s really close to Valentine’s day, right?”Atsumu asks you, peering over from the couch. You’re surprised to see he’s looked up from the volleyball game he put on half an hour ago. 

“Yeah, I’ll get back here on the 14th, actually.” You tell him, drying the final plate and putting it away in the cabinet. 

When you look back at Atsumu you see he’s frowning. 

“Look, I didn’t buy the ticket. If you have an issue with it, take it up with my dad.” You walk over, sitting down beside him on the sofa. 

He wraps his arm around you and you lean into him, curling up on the sofa beside him. His fingers lazily stroke your arm as you sit with him in silence. He’s watching the Argentinian team again, the one you can never remember the name of. All you do know is that one of the players is from Japan and going to be playing in the upcoming Olympics against Atsumu this summer. You assume he’s keeping tabs on him. 

“What if you didn’t go? I’ll pay to change your flights so you go after Valentine’s day and once practices pick up and I’m not home as often. I-” 

“Atsumu, why don’t you want me to go home?” You snap, sitting up and moving his arm off your shoulder. “I haven’t been home in over a year and missed Christmas with them.” 

“Baby that’s not-” 

“No, it is. You’ve been whining about this trip since my dad booked the flight.” You stand up, storming out of the room and to your bedroom, shutting the door behind you. 

Atsumu has never made a big deal about Valentine’s day before, given you’ve spent two previous together you didn’t think it would be bad getting in on that day. Sure, you’ll be jetlagged and exhausted, but you’d still be able to go out if he wanted to, but last year you had takeout in your pajamas after a particularly long practice. Why would it be any different, especially since his prep for the Olympics has already been so intense, and will only begin to pick up more?

Either way, he’s not getting his way this time. It's not like you’re keeping score, but you tend to give in to his wants more now that you’ve moved in together, even sacrificing Christmas with your family to spend it with his family and meet Osamu's baby. How does he not understand that you just need a few weeks to spend with your family as well? 

You grab your suitcase from the closet and begin to fill it, rather haphazardly. You’re more productive when you’re worked up, anyways so you might as well use the energy. Plus you leave tomorrow night, it’s not like you have too much longer to get your stuff together. 

A light rasping knock draws your attention to the bedroom door. “Baby, I’m sorry, I just am going to miss you is all.” He says opening the door and leaning on the frame, looking rather defeated. 

“It’s fine,” you tell him, going back to packing your bag. “I just need some time to pack and then sleep before the trip tomorrow.” Atusumu looks defeated but smiles anyways and leaves the room.

Even though it’s clear he feels terrible about pestering you, it’s too late now for your attitude to shift. It’s not like you enjoy your sudden shift in mood, but once you're feeling foul there isn’t much you or anyone else can do about changing it. Overall, it’s just better to let you ride it out. 

–

Your nails bite into your palm as the plane starts to land. Flying has always been fine, but the landing has always made you nervous, mainly because you hatehow it makes you bounce around. Luckily, you didn’t have anyone beside you for the flight back home to Japan, so you have been comfortable for the long journey. 

You find yourself picturing Atsumu fighting the airport traffic, cursing and threatening to honk at the people in front of him. Usually, he’s the one at fault, but you’ve learned to just let him rant and rave since he never actually makes a fool of himself to others… just threatens it. 

The next half hour goes by in a flash, it’s grabbing carry-ons, waiting in line, and fighting for bags at baggage claim. Next thing you know, your phone is buzzing with Atsumu’s picture as he calls you. 

“Hi baby,” you answer softly, but loud enough to be heard over the airport chaos. 

“I’m right outside your terminal. Are you already off the plane?” He asks, not sounding as excited as you expected him to be. 

“Yeah, I just grabbed my bags.” You tell him. 

“Alright.” He’s in a mood, you assume. He’s rarely this short with you. 

Okay, I’ll be there soon.” You hang up as you head towards the exit doors. 

You see his car before you’re out of the doors. He managed to get a good spot right up front. Dragging your suitcases behind you, you manage to make it to the car without pulling anything. You’d only brought a carry-on home, but your parents had gone overboard to make up for your missing Christmas, you had to pay for two checked bags to bring back. 

Atsumu jogs towards you, taking the bags from you and loading them into the car, silently. He smiled, but that’s the most affection you received from him. You slide into the passenger seat, pulling out your phone, and scrolling to find some pictures to show Atsumu on the drive home and tell him about your trip. He hadn’t texted you much during the time you were away, so you assumed it was because he was so busy with practices so you didn’t bother calling or texting him more either. 

Atsumu gets in the driver’s seat and starts to take off. “Want to see some of the pictures from my trip?” You wave your phone around smiling. “Everyone missed you this time.” 

“Everyone?” He side-eyes you, and you frown. 

“What’s up your ass?” You ask, putting your phone away in your pocket. “I thought you’d be excited to see me.” 

He sighs, gripping the steering wheel harder. “You texted me twice, in two weeks. You never called. You were angry when you left. So, sorry if I’m not the Mr. Sunshine you expected.” 

“You’re seriously mad at me?” you almost laugh but decide it’s better if you don’t. It’ll probably only antagonize him more. “You could have texted or called me, but you didn’t.” 

He looks over, his brows furrowed. Opening his mouth, it looks like he’s about to speak but then he closes it again, deciding against whatever he was going to say. 

“Happy fucking Valentine's Day.” You sigh, leaning against the door of the car, looking out at the city as it passes you by. 

The rest of the car ride home is deadly silent. Neither of you even bothered to put on the radio or Spotify. It’s awkward but you refuse to give an inch and apparently, Atsumu feels the same way. You sneak a glance at him as you pull into the parking garage of your apartment, seeing he looks exhausted. How hadn’t you noticed that before? 

Maybe you should give in, you think to yourself. Before you left you had been snippy with him, even if you felt like he was trying to get you to not visit home. It’s stupid, how high your temper can run without stopping over little things like silly comments. You hadn’t even thought about it while you were gone, only focused on visiting and getting back here; home. 

Atsumu parks the car, and you look over at him again. His knuckles are still white from gripping the steering wheel. 

“Let’s not fight anymore.” You suggest softly, knowing his stubbornness won’t let him give in. This could be worse than the Cold War if you let it continue. 

He sighs, his hand reaching up to his forehead. He runs his fingers through his blonde hair, pushing it back from his face. “It’s been hell. These last two weeks, absolutely agonizing.” He admits, leaning back against the seat and looking over at you. 

“I’m sorry, Tsumu, I didn’t know.” You tell him, reaching out and taking his hand. 

“Wanna know something funny, though?” He smiles, the silly grin you love so much. 

“Sure,” you squeeze his hand softly. 

“I kept dreaming about fucking you, I couldn’t get it out of my head.” He laughs, tilting his head back and looking at the roof of the car. “God, I even came a few times in my sleep. Can you believe it?” 

“Oh god,” you laugh with him, imagining the way he must have been mortified waking up to that not only once, but a few times. “Maybe we can make up for it after dinner tonight.” 

“Dinner?” He looks confused as you nod. 

“It’s still Valentine’s day. It’s not too late for us to get ready and go out. I can be fast,” you open the door and get out of the car. 

Atsume follows, popping the trunk and getting your luggage from the car. You're quiet again as you take the elevator up to the apartment, but not the awkward kind as you rode in during the trip home. You hold his hand, leaning your head on his shoulder when you can until you’re out of the elevator and making your way to the apartment. 

The next bit is a rush, playing out in front of you like it’s not real. Maybe it’s jetlag? You had just traveled for upwards of 18 hours. Or it’s the rush of knowing after weeks you’re finally going to sleep with your boyfriend again? Not even the dirty kind, just the excitement of sharing a bed, your bed, is exciting after weeks of sleeping in the guestroom of your parent's house. 

After your shower, you dress in an emerald green dress that has a golden sheen to the fabric. Underneath, you made sure to pick out Atusmu’s favorite pair of lingerie underneath a honey gold set with thigh straps attached to the thong. 

“Holy shit,” Atsumu leans against the door frame of the bathroom as you’re applying your last coat of mascara. 

You smile sweetly, turning to look at him. He’s dressed in navy blue slacks and a cream button-up shirt. “I’m ready to go.” 

Atsumu pulls you by your hand into him, wrapping his other arm around you. “I’m not.” 

He kisses you, pulling you closer against him so you’re flush with his body. Your dress rides up in his hand, exposing your ass. He smacks it once, making you yelp against his lips. He laughs deeply. 

“There’s no way we’re making it out tonight.” He mumbles, his voice gruff. 

You giggle as he pulls away, pulling you with him and pushing you against the bed. Your dress has now risen above your pelvis, bunched up underneath and around you. Atsumu takes one look and groans, smiling wildly at you. 

“You fucking angel,” he drops to his knees in front of you. He licks you over the fabric of your thong, sending shivers down your spine in anticipation. “Would it be stupid if I told you you taste sweeter than honey?” 

You laugh, sitting up on your elbows. “Yeah, a little. But I like it.” 

He grins at you from between your thighs. His tongue pokes out again, slowly circling the fabric over your clit. The teasing pressure is too much, you want his tongue on you. Whining, you push yourself closer to the edge of the bed and he pulls back. 

“Ah ah ah, no rushing this. I’ve literally been dreaming of it for weeks.” He says after pulling away and lying his face on your thigh. He looks ungodly pretty like this, and you hate him for it. 

“Please, Atsumu I need you.” You whine, pouting your lip out. 

He grins again. He loves seeing you beg, even when it’s as half-assed as that. You can’t be expected to give more though, after all the day is starting to wear on you. 

He pulls the thong aside and drags his finger down your cunt, covering it in your wetness. “Fuck, you’re so needy.” 

You nod, closing your eyes and letting yourself fall back against the bed. As you bounce lightly against the mattress, Atsumu takes advantage, pressing his tongue against your clit. You moan, gripping the sheets and forcing yourself to stay still. 

He sucks lightly, sending waves of pleasure from your spine to your toes. 

“Fuck me,” you whimper, eyes fluttering open to watch him as he eats you out. He doesn't notice, too lost in you to care about what else is going on. His tongue slides down, teasing your entrance when you feel his fingers slip in. 

The stretch overwhelms you. You can't keep your eyes open now, closing them tight as he starts to finger fuck you while sucking your clit again. 

“Tsumu, of god,” you mumble out with moans traced between words and syllables. 

Gripping the bedding harder, you fight back the overwhelming urge to cum now. You hadn’t even masturbated while you were gone, and now it’s so much at once you’re struggling to stay afloat. Atsumu must know, the way he flicks his tongue and twists his fingers in sync sends you over and you cry out. Cumming you can’t help but arch your back and press your cunt further against Atsumu’s pretty face. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you pant quietly, trying to regain some composure after the waves of pleasure start to roll off you. 

“Oh, Angel, you barely lasted five minutes.” He crawls on top of you, his face shiny from being between your thighs. He kisses you softly on the lips. 

“Who can blame me?” You laugh, taking his face in your hands. You kiss him again, closing your eyes and feeling the exhaustion taking over your body. “I doubt you’ll last much longer.” 

You push him off you, flipping positions. 

You pray he cums quickly as you pull his pants down his thighs. Not for any normal reasons but you’re not sure you can stay awake much longer. The eager look on his face suggests you might not have to.

[yuurei20]

Good day Yuurei-San!

I wanted to ask why there is Christmas in TWST if Twisted Jesus is not a thing? Probably.

Is it because of how Christmas is in Japan or is there a in lore reason?

Hello hello!! Thank you so much for this question!

I was not able to find a lore-related reason for the Christmas-style furniture and maps that have turned up in the game!

A cursory search mostly results in people wondering why there isn't a Christmas-themed event in Twst like there is for Halloween, and there was this response on Yahoo! Answers of, "Santa only brings presents to good children so they don't have Christmas in Twst" ww.

The closest the game seems to come to acknowledging Christmas might be Book 4:

The ghosts mention celebrating the new year with family, which is very Japan, but they also mention cake and gingerbread houses.

This might have been a little too on-the-nose for EN, where those foods were rewritten as pie and ham:

But Trey referencing cake has been kept, and Christmas Cake is a big part of Japan Christmas:

Theme cakes are not unusual, and there was a Twst Christmas cake offered back in 2021.

There are a couple places in the game where EN added "holidays" to character dialogue, like Crewel:

All he said was "when you go home," and going home is what New Year's is all about in Japan.

But it's not just any home! New Years is when you go to stay at your 実家, where your parents (or their parents, or their parents' parents, etc., depending on how old you are) live.

This comes up in Grim's line where he explains to Jamil that he and the prefect don't have a 実家 to return to.

But the characters do reference unspecified "holidays" directly, even on JP!

So what is being celebrated is possibly an unspecified combination of Christmas and New Years, together!

Christmas celebrations seem to vary by country and they may be particularly different in Japan, when viewed from the perspective of the EN server's target audience.

There are many English-language articles out there about how Christmas is celebrated in Japan, and this one might be my favorite:

"In Japan, Christmas in known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration...Another popular activity at Christmas in Japan, especially in Tokyo, is visiting Tokyo Disneyland (which opened in 1983) and seeing all the decorations and the parades. The Christmas 'season' at Tokyo Disneyland is from the 2nd week in November until Christmas Day. On December 26th, all the Christmas decorations are gone, ready for the New Year celebrations to start! New Year is a very big celebration in Japan. A 'Disney' style Christmas might have also influenced how Japanese culture celebrates Christmas as a fun and romantic time, rather than a religious one."

Much like Disney's influence on Japan's Halloween they have also had an influence on Japan's Christmas, which might be one of the reasons why certain elements are turning up in Twst!

[swissboyhisch]

MASTERLIST

JAMIE DRYSDALE

Last Call Inspired by "Last Call" by Will Linley.

NIKITA ZADOROV

My Jersey After a little rain comes sun... And thunder. Thunder in the form of a six-foot five Russian defenseman.

That Scar Hurt By The Way In a world where everyone has a soulmate link, you happened to luck out with a pain link.

NATHAN MACKINNON

Lost In Japan Inspired by "Lost In Japan" by Shawn Mendes.

TYLER SEGUIN

Picasso The perfect family... Mum. Dad. And three dogs. With a touch of fluff and uninformed comment.

DYLAN LARKIN

You know I love you right? After bad game, what more could you ask for? Maybe just chinese, Netflix and some good old cuddling.

CONNOR MCDAVID

I’m Your Favourite, Eh? An All-Star Competition and a married couple with a kiddo. What more could you ask for?

I Brought Too Many Sorry Female issues are always a fun time of month. Even worse... running out of pads in a time of need. Luckily someone comes to the rescue, a little too well.

MATTHEW TKACHUK

Surprise Cheerleader Surprises from one party to another during a big Volleyball game.

All-Star Love The NHL All Star weekend is always fun. But bring in a romance… Then that's when it becomes interesting.

GUSTAV NYQUIST

Hey There Delilah Inspired by "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's.

NICO HISCHIER

Thanks For The 20 Kiddos Hosting hockey players was normal. Guys that would become brothers. Until him.

Cupid Cousin First game against his old team for your cousin and he wants you there. Luckily some of his ex-teammates are cute.

The Aussie BBQ Experience You finally got to take Nico home to Australia. He got the true experience of an Aussie BBQ.

The Aussie Easter Experience Nico gets to experience an Aussie Easter after being not making the playoffs.

The Aussie Snack Experience As a marketing idea, you get to feature in a video with Nico trying snacks from your home country.

The Aussie Chrissie Experience Since Nico is injured just before Christmas, you head back to Australia for Nico to experience an Aussie Chrissie.

Sorry But I Really Like Her You head to Newark to see your parents new place after avoiding it like the plague. Maybe this time, something with make you want to come back.

We're Not Naked You just wanted some time alone with your partner. Sadly, your brothers are clingy.

Hughes Siblings Acquired (Part 1) Somehow, the New Jersey Devils acquire a player who will fit in well on the team.

Welcome to New Jersey (Part 2) Quinn arrives to New Jersey and has his first training with his brothers and new team.

The Sugar Fix After opening your cafe and bar, a familiar hockey player comes in opening day. Seems like he remembers you too.

JACK HUGHES

Prom Queen Inspired by "Prom Queen" by Molly Kate Kestner.

LUKE HUGHES

Don't Want to Lose You (Part 1) You notice something is wrong with your body. A wrong diagnosis then something you never wanna hear.

Will You Be There When I Wake Up? (Part 2) Two weeks pass and it's time for surgery.

I'd Marry You Tomorrow (Part 3) As a precautionary measure, you follow through with the doctor suggestion to collect eggs. It wasn't as an easy process as you thought.

MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD

Home Inspired by "Home" by Phillip Phillips.

MAT BARZAL

Opening Night For once Mat is your pretty accessory for your big night. Instead of the other way round.

Drunken Mistakes (Part 1) After receiving some bad news, you just wanted to not be alone. After a couple drinks, what most likely is a bad decision, starts to sound too good to miss.

New York Luck (Part 2) After a lovely holiday, your partner breaks up with you and so you turn to your only friend in the city.

CARTER HART

Something In The Orange Inspired by the song "Something In The Orange" by Zach Bryan. Little Miss Klutz Despite you hating your pain link to your soulmate, he had a tendency to look on the brighter side.

BRAYDEN POINT

You’re Not Useless Broken bones and being bed bound can affect you more than physically. Fighting words are thrown between the pair.

STEVEN STAMKOS

WAG Meetings After it's confirmed that the boys will go to playoffs for another season, the WAGs have a meeting to discuss the most exciting part. WAG Jackets.

AUSTON MATTHEWS

My Family A pair of friends reunite with a surprise in store for one of them. Oops, it's a baby.

Bad Day = Cuddles After the worst day you have had in a long time, your boyfriend at home was ready to take care of you.

You're My Favouite A visit to your family goes wrong when Auston meets your Aunt.

MATTHEW KNIES

Halloween Surprise The team's Halloween party seemed like the perfect time to reveal to everyone who you were dating.

MITCH MARNER

God, You’re Amazing A championship game ends up being the best day for multiple people's lives.

Stop Flirting With Marner! A few Leafs spy a figure skater practicing on the ice of the All-Star Arena. After persistent bugging from his friends, one finds himself embarrassing himself to try score a date.

WILLIAM NYLANDER

Flirt With Her Tomorrow A day spent at a stable as a team bonding exercise turns out to be a great place to meet people for some.

Never Letting You Go Again Bumping into exes are always fun. But with a little meddling from a sweet cafe owner who's missed her favourite regulars, some truths are revealed.

ANTHONY BEAUVILLIER

Baking Antics A rainy day means baking and dancing in the kitchen.

Kick Ass Your first time back in a competition and your luck charm definitely helped.

QUINN HUGHES

Support My Girl The final dance concert comes around and you're lucky to have such a supportive family.

SOCIAL MEDIA FIC MASTERLIST

ALL WRITING AND GRAPHICS USED ON THIS POST IS MINE. I CREATED THE VISUALS FOR THIS ON CANVA.

UPDATED: 9/11/23

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 3-9, 2023)

I made a frame from this shot Wikizilla's Image of the Week. No regrets. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I love ya. When I was a teenager, explicit queerness was anathema to most big-name franchises. Those dominoes have been slowly falling, often in lower-profile tie-ins first, and to me this is a huge one: 69 years without a queer live-action Godzilla character are over. And Cate's the main protagonist of the show! I'm not under the delusion that media representation will cure all society's ills, but it sure doesn't hurt. Now, the non-Tumblr parts of the fandom are being completely normal about this, right? Right? Whatever, that's why you'll never get rid of me here. Cate had a couple more sweet moments with May in this episode, and Mariko Tamaki wrote episode 7, so don't expect her to stop kissing girls. Hopefully she's learned a valuable lesson about cheating though.

"The Way Out" is also another gift to those of us who have always wanted to see more of the ramifications of a world where Godzilla exists, from underground towns for the super-rich to ruined cities where federal troops shoot looters and harass people experiencing homelessness. And the show continues to find ways to use kaiju to talk about COVID, from Cate and Kentaro's exchange about San Francisco truthers ("It's easier than waking up every day and thinking, at any moment, the same could happen to you") to the blink-of-an-eye speed at which the threat went from on the news to her front door in the flashbacks.

As I foretold, we got a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer, an amusing contrast to the weighty Toho flick and Apple show already fore of mind. It's Adam Wingard unbound, that's for sure. The human cast seems pared back, a longstanding Monsterverse problem, and the kaiju fights were far and away the best part of Godzilla vs. Kong, so hopefully this approach will play to his strengths. But that movie also had excellent VFX, and some of the shots in here are rough. There's time to fix them, at least... which probably can't be said of Godzilla's design. I like that he's pink (did some Warner Bros. executive take the wrong message away from Barbie?) and sporting a thagomizer on his tail, but his proportions are uncanny. And I see Kong found the Infinity Gauntlet; good for him.

I am, of course, not done talking about Godzilla Minus One. It added over 200 screens and made $8.3 million in its second weekend in the U.S., a minuscule drop considering that its $11.4 million opening "weekend" spanned five days. Almost a third of all tickets sold this weekend were for Godzilla or Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, remarkable in a market so allergic to foreign imports. That brings its total to $25.3 million (more by the time you read this). With an avalanche of Christmas blockbusters on the way, its grip on premium-format screens is about to slip. Still, I see it hanging around theaters for a while. I have never seen the fandom so united in praise for a film before, and it's making plenty of new fans.

Some of those fans are in high places. Variety leaked that it's on the 20-film shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars (to be narrowed to five nominees), something I, again, never expected to read about a Toho Godzilla film. Alas, it's locked out of this year's Best International Film category due to the quirky nomination period.

Much has been made of how great the film looks on a $15 million budget. I have two caveats, one in each direction. No one is quite sure where the $15 million figure came from; Yamazaki said at a recent con appearance that he only wished he had that much to play with. (He has yet to divulge the actual budget, just that it was above ¥1 billion.) Now, unions in the Japanese film industry are much weaker than in Hollywood, so a given production budget goes a lot further in Japan. All the same, I doubt that alone explains Minus One looking better than most superhero movies made for twenty times the cost. I'll offer a couple more reasons: Yamazaki has extensive visual effects experience (he's been the VFX supervisor of all but one of the live-action films he's directed), and the film's big effects scenes aren't as busy or lengthy as many of the Hollywood counterparts. I don't know if Disney will ask Yamazaki to direct the next Star Wars movie (that would require there to be a next Star Wars movie), but the studios here should be taking notes.

the sphinx, a blog with a ton of American Godzilla rarities to share, has outdone itself—behold a continuity and dialogue script for the U.S. version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! Included in the download is a detailed comparison with the film. No huge differences, apart from the script giving the secretary added to the U.S. version a name, but a fascinating piece of history all the same.

The Minus One incarnation of Godzilla (MaiGoji?) has joined Godzilla Battle Line, accompanied by [SPOILER]. To be honest, my enthusiasm for this game has been flagging, and I'm not caught up on the strategies developing around these two, so I'll just refer you to Sir Melee's channel as usual. This Godzilla's also doing a collaboration with the Japanese mobile game Fleet of Blue Flame.

Tiffany Grant, Asuka's original voice actress, will narrate the audiobooks for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA light novels which explore an Instrumentality-free path for the show. Seven Seas Entertainment published them in English from 2019 to 2021, which, to be honest, was also news to me.

This one's for my fellow library workers: the obscenely popular Who HQ nonfiction series for children is publishing a book about Godzilla next June. I don't know if this will have quite the same impact on today's young Godzilla fans as the Ian Thorne tome had on Gen Xers and Millennials, what with the Internet and all, but it's certain to be more factual. Expect illustrations instead of licensed photos, and not just because of Toho.

I can finally talk more about the Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers mobile game without fearing a DMCA. Not that there's much to talk about; it's freemium through and through and I'm not sure I know a single person who's excited for it. Interesting to see some critters from the comics break into another medium, at least. Here's the trailer.

[kitthepurplepotato]

Another Purple Potato special?! Kit, what about your main stories?! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!

See You Next Year. 🎆

Genre: One-shot, short story (1,7k only), fluff-angst-fluff

Pairing: Pro Hero Deku x fem! Reader

Warnings: Swear words, mentions of sex but nothing detailed, literally 2 sentences.

Also, this potato’s first language is NOT English so please be nice to the potato and don’t make them cry. It’s bad luck to do so.

Summary: Midoriya and you became a couple after sharing a New Year’s kiss under the night sky illuminated by fireworks. Things didn’t go the way you two planned it and ended up on different paths but there is a promise still lingering in the air even after all this time; the promise to meet each other at the same place on New Year’s eve, every year.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

It all started with a kiss on New Year’s Eve.

Izuku’s lips were soft and tentative as he kissed you right when everyone had started cheering in the background; the sound of fireworks muted the sounds of the world completely just a few milliseconds after, but in your little bubble there was nothing but Izuku and you, finally sharing your first kiss after longing for each other for years and years. No explosions, no drunk cheering, just love and happiness as you kissed him back with all the love you’ve had to suppress until now.

“Let’s meet here next year. And the year after. Hopefully, every year for the rest of our lives because… I really like you. Actually, fuck it, I…” Izuku mumbled only a few millimeters away from your lips.

“I love you too, Izuku. I loved you for years.” You jumped into his sentence with the purest smile on your face.

The next three months were beautiful. Izuku was the best boyfriend the world has ever seen; caring and attentive, always did his best to be around even though he barely had a day off thanks to him being one of the strongest and most needed heroes in Japan. He was perfect. Beautiful and so-so loving.

But then…

Being a hero isn’t just a job. Being a hero means you are constantly on the call, there are no off-days and sometimes, it’s just… a lot. For him and for you too.

Izuku couldn’t really attend any of your friendly meet-ups. Izuku couldn’t have Christmas off to spend the romantic holiday with you. He couldn’t even attend the dates he planned himself, but it was okay. You still loved him, you still cherished him because even if it was just him limping into your bedroom at 3 in the morning just to spend the two hours between his two shifts by your side, you appreciated the thought, you appreciated him trying.

It was enough for you.

But apparently, it wasn’t enough for him.

Izuku went on a three month mission to America. You two said goodbye by having the most passionate sex you’ve ever had. He couldn’t stop saying that he loves you. He couldn’t stop loving you even when his alarm went off and it was time for him to go.

Everything went to shit when the distance came in play. The daily video calls became weekly ones, then it was nothing but a few fleeting messages until it was time for him to come back.

You were so excited to jump into his arms the next time you see him. You were so excited to make up for all the missed time by kissing him for days until you can’t feel your lips anymore… but life had different plans.

Izuku was pulled into another mission just as he arrived at the airport. All you’ve got from him was one evening shared with his mother and one night in your bed and he was off again. Needless to say it was a night full of deep kisses and mumbled I Love You’s but now there was another word in there as well… the word “sorry”.

Izuku couldn’t stop apologizing. You told him it’s fine, you told him you don’t really care if he’s barely around because when he is, he makes you feel so happy the feeling stays with you even when he’s away from months but as the time went by, your words weren’t enough anymore; Izuku couldn’t handle the long distance, ended everything with a few, wobbly words and took your heart with him to wherever he had to go next.

You’ve been completely empty since, like a walking, half-functioning shell, the empty space inside you filled with fake hatred towards the person who broke your heart while deep inside where no one can reach, not even you, there was nothing but love, still, to this day because Midoriya Izuku might have ended your relationship out of the blue but he was so kind and so sweet with you the whole time he’s been yours that even in the darkness, there was one tiny light still shining bright, showing you the way back to the sun, back to the warmth and you couldn’t help but chase it, even if the road was full of obstacles and your knees were bloody from all the times you stumbled on the way there.

That tiny light was the arrival of the new year, or the be exact, the end of the last one.

~•🥦•~

Let’s meet here next year. And the year after. Hopefully, every year for the rest of our lives. - Izuku’s words echo in your mind as you make your way towards the little clearing now filled with people, all of them excited to leave this shitty year behind and start a new one with a clear slate.

Being so excited over the new year is really fucking stupid because in reality, nothing will really change; it’s just one constant number changing to a new one and life goes on just as it did before but if that tiny little change gives people hope, gives people strength to stop their bad habits and live a better life then so be it.

Last year was the first time you’ve been excited for the New Year and it was mostly because of Izuku; he asked you to spend the evening with him and you still remember the absolute thrill you’ve felt when the words had left his mouth; you’ve been in love with him for years but you’ve never had the guts to do anything about it. You can still feel the tingle on your lips as you move to the exact place you were standing at back then, in the same dress, with the same hairstyle, everything the same, except one thing; Izuku is not by your side and he’s not smiling at you knowingly as the clock slowly ticks forward, closer and closer to midnight.

You touch your lips while you reminisce about the past, remembering his touch, his scent, the feel of his curls touching your forehead as he kisses you after a long day. Someone runs towards you and the time just stops, even though the ticking in the background still continues, the sound constant and louder and louder as someone yells “five minutes!” in the background somewhere, not like you really care anymore.

“Y/N… Y/N!” You would recognize that voice even in your sleep. The deep start and the high pitched end, the little tremble in the middle. Someone pulls your hand away from your lips, body half folded and panting because of course, Midoriya Izuku had to have a fucking shift on New Year’s Eve as well. “I’m… I’m sorry I’m late.”

Izuku looks rough. There are dark circles around his eyes but they still shine so beautifully like they did on your first official date. His hero suit is dirty and he smells like damp soil but under all the dirt there is a bit of sweetness, a bit of pine, a bit of Izuku and you can’t help but let the tears streak down your face as you look into those beautiful eyes once again, on the same day, at the same time, in the same exact place like last year and you swear your heart had been mended just by Izuku’s existence in your vicinity because when he gives you that little sad smile and pulls you towards him it’s like the last few months didn’t even happen and the world is back to the way it should be; being in Izuku’s arms is where you belong and finally, after being strayed for all this time, you are now home.

“One minute!” Someone yells in the background but it gets ignored.

“I’m sorry for being so selfish, I’m so sorry for doing this, but I miss you so fucking much I can’t bare it anymore… it’s like a piece of me is missing and I can’t function without it… I’m so sorry, I’m selfish, I don’t want to hurt you again, you deserve so much better, Y/N, you deserve the whole world and I can’t give you that… but just for tonight…”

“Izuku, you absolute fucking asshole!” You yell into the greenhead’s face. “The only time you hurt me was when you broke up with me. All the other things? I didn’t care because you were worth the wait. Izuku, I don’t care if you are not home by 6 every day, i don’t care about you not being able to be my plus one on my friend’s wedding! I don’t care about the pain I’m feeling when you are away because you are worth all of it so you can shove your ‘today’ in your ass because I won’t let you run away again. I’ll stick to you like gum, I will make a fool of myself if I need to, I’ll tie myself to your apartment door, I’ll be selfish for you if you don’t want to be, but Zuku… don’t you fucking dare to leave me again.”

The tears are unstoppable when they start to streak down on both of your faces as you two meet halfway in a heated kiss just as the whole crowd yells “happy new year” in the background.

“Let’s be selfish together, then.“ Izuku pulls you impossibly close. ”Let’s meet here next year as well.” He kisses you like he can’t even wait until he finishes the one sentence he’s about to say. Your chest is finally filled with love again and you swear the fireworks have nothing to do with the fact that suddenly, the whole world became somewhat brighter. “And the year after.“

“I promise.” You mutter into his lips as the last fireworks dissipate in the sky, the beauty of it completely ignored in exchange for a few more kisses.

“I need to go back to my patrol but take my keys and see you at… uhm… home?” Izuku mumbles into your ears. You’ve never been a happy crier but you can’t help to tear up again.

“I’ll be waiting for you in the bed. You have to make up for the lost time, you know.” You giggle flirtatiously and Izuku almost whines.

“I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“Don’t rush. I won’t go anywhere.”

You two meet at the same place next year and the one after that and all the following ones as well.

Even after you both get too old and too weak to get there by yourselves, not a single year goes past without you two enjoying the fireworks together on New Years Eve. It’s a family tradition now.

~• The End •~

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Potato ramble:

- Happy New Year, guys! I hope you enjoyed this little extra that wasn’t even on my planning list until yesterday afternoon 😂

- If you like it, thank my favorite supporter @ronimacaroni77.

I was sitting on the bus when she randomly made a comment about new years, not even relevant to this story btw and then this idea popped into my head when I started to think about Izuku enjoying New Year and I was like “oh fuck off now I need to write this😂”

- Sorry Bakugou stans for making all my extras Deku ones but while I have several other stories coming up with him as main I only have one Deku story so I decided to make these about Deku instead. I think that’s fair. Plus, I was in a Deku mood.

If you liked this story, please check my Master List for more!

There is also a Christmas Deku Special! 🎄

And if you want to read a long, multi-chapter Deku story, click here!

Don’t forget to like and comment and make the potato’s day a little bit brighter! 🥦 Reblogs are also appreciated!