#Does THIS count as the xxxholic That Moment?

[completeoveranalysis]

[6]

And we get... SOMETHING! Something sure did happen!

Is there an immediate explanation or -

NOPE.

OK END OF CHAPTER.

LET'S SEE.

The Jam Jar versions of Sakura and Syaoran are OUT, but can we piece together anything else?

Aside from the obvious visual differences (ie, covered in blood, asleep) there are a couple of things that make them look different to the present day Lava Lamp Guy and Super Sakura that we have in the middle here.

Their faces are SLIGHTLY different. Almost identical but not quite! The Jam Jar Syaoran also doesn't appear to have the goggles, and isn't wearing gloves either. Which is probably not significant, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

Oh! Also the Jam Jar Sakura is slightly transparent! You can see the other Sakura's dress through her feet!

Wild!

What does it mean? WHO KNOWS, but I sure will wait patiently for CLAMP to tell me eventually without suffering every single day in the meantime :D

(lie)

[peatbogbody]

history of my Anime/Manga Eras:

2000-2005 (proto-weeb era): introduced to Ghibli, immediately obsessed. Notable media from this time: Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle

2005-2006 (pre-weeb era), introduced to the concept of manga from an exhibit at the children's museum, sister got really into Drawing Manga for a while, i was envious of her drawing ability & tried to emulate. also read a few volumes my friend had borrowed. Iconic media from this time: Marmalade Boy, Tokyo Mew Mew

late 2007-early 2008 (early weeb era), started taking Japanese (to this day I must insist i did NOT take Japanese bc I like Anime it was the OTHER WAY AROUND which like idk if thats better but shrug emoji), started borrowing manga, mostly shoujo iirc, from middle school library (that had a shockingly good selection), only watched a few anime. Iconic media from this time: Kindaichi Case Files, Fruits Basket, Vampire Knight, CCS, Red River, Paradise Kiss, OHSHC

summer 2008-2012 (Weeb Golden Age), kicked off by an epiphany moment that holy shit Twilight is garbage, i can just stop trying to be cool and Popular, i'm ok with being a Nerd goddammit. watched more anime but still not that much. Got more into shounen series. Era of checking out the maximum limit of manga volumes from the public library and reading them all over the course of a week. Era of going to Lindsay's house after school to play Shitty Naruto Fighting Game. Generally kept my interest in it under wraps esp when around "popular"/normie peers. (memorable moment: driving past the convention center on Con Friday omw to a lacrosse game, teammates see cosplayers: 'lol wtf' me: *hiding face bc that's gonna be me tomorrow*)Iconic media: Fullmetal Alchemist, Code Geass, FLCL, Bleach, Tsubasa:Reservoir Chronicle/xxxHOLiC, Junji Ito's Uzumaki, Nana. First Sakura con attended, 2010. 2nd Sakura-con, spring 2013.

[summer 2013-early 2014 Dark Ages (superwholock era)]

spring 2014-2016 (Weeb Renaissance/Cringe Era: anime edition), part of my Fandom Tumblr era, got sick of other Fandoms and went Fuck It i'm an anime fan again! (cornell notes: interesting parallel to Spring 2008!). Sakura cons: 2014, 2015. Iconic media: SNK (lol), Free! (Lol), Yuri on Ice (ok), Tokyo Ghoul (ok), and uh does. dmmd count.

2017-Present (Integration Era): Sakura con 2017 just kinda a constant background part of my life now ig. Don't care if people know but im still not just wearing anime merch around. Not that i wouldnt but that shit's expensive lol. More into just reading Good Fuckin Manga these days. Discovered my secret to being able to read manga online (i hate reading on a laptop and phone screens are too tiny for some series): tablet! (first theorized by me and then proven right by virtue of commandeering family's old unused samsung tablet). Now maybe i can actually finish Dorohedoro... Attended Sakura Con in 2023! What's next? Iconic media of this era: Dorohedoro, Pluto, Berserk, Chainsaw Man, and...?

[kimium]

Thanks @m34gs for tagging me! I'm super excited to answer this because I always love talking about my fanfics!

How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently, I have 201 works on AO3.

What's your total AO3 word count?

My total word count on AO3 is 2,134,171 words.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I've written for 14 fandoms. They are:

-Danganronpa franchise, Fire Emblem franchise (Awakening, Fates, Three Houses), Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Akudama Drive, Bungou Stray Dogs, Assassination Classroom, DMMD, XXXHolic, Kingdom Hearts, Magi, DGM, Black Clover, Fire Force, and Dr. Stone.

(**Do note some of these were in crossover fics)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

By kudos my top 5 fics are:

1. How Did You Get In Here? (1821 kudos)

2. Waking Up In Pieces (1396 kudos)

3. Take It All (1037 kudos)

4. Your Kindness is a Lie (910 kudos)

5. Three Rules (881 kudos)

(Note: All of these are SDR2 fics)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, I respond to comments. I believe if someone took the time to tell me their thoughts on my fic it's the least I can do in return and show my gratitude.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I honestly don't know. I don't usually write angsty endings. Probably the ending to my Demon Komaeda series is the most angsty?

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've ever written?

I 100% write crossovers! I love crossovers! The craziest one I've ever written is probably my Bungou Stray Dogs and SDR2 crossover.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes, I have. Most of the time it's people not realising how their comment could be read as rude, but I have received some legitimate hate. It really sucks. It drains my motivation to write and my desire to delete the fic skyrockets.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, I do write smut but there's NO WAY I'd ever publicly tell what kind I write. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of... (and honestly, someone would have to be pretty desperate to steal my works...)

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've had multiple fics translated!!! Here they are:

Exhilaration (And the Bottling of It) (Chinese, sorry, I cannot remember if it was Mandarin or Cantonese).

The taste of melon and weight of a plushie fox (Spanish)

1000 Kisses (Spanish)

Just a Moment (Vietnamese)

Your Kindness is a Lie (Spanish)

How Did You Get In Here? (Vietnamese)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Ahaha!! Yes! I have! I've co-written multiple Fire Emblem Fates fics with @someobscurereference

Love Finds a Way (A sort of Sleeping Beauty AU)

Mafia AU (a total of six fics spanning 221k words)

What's your all time favourite ship?

(I'm assuming this means "to write") My all time favourite ship is Komahina. I also love writing Leo Trio OT3.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I have three false fic starts to a FE Fates Kiznaiver AU that will probably never see the light of AO3. It is a shame because I am in love with the concepts in Kiznaiver but the fic never does what I want it to do.

What are your writing strengths?

I think writing dream-like imagery is one of my strengths. At the very least it's the thing I enjoy writing the most.

What are you writing weaknesses?

I am consistently guilty of setting up a detail to expand upon later and then promptly Forgetting to do it.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Unless it's the title of a piece of work/art/sculpture/a real life place etc. I don't like it at all. It immediately takes me out of the fic because I stop and wonder "what the heck does that say?"

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Technically Shaman King, but for actually posting on AO3 it's a tie between SDR2 and DMMD.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

I don't know. Honestly. I've written 201 fics for multiple fandoms. I like each fic for different reasons. So, I can't pick. Instead why don't people tell ME which fic of mine is THEIR favourite??

I'm tagging @someobscurereference @little-shinras-red-notebook and @shreedle

[doumekiss]

the descendants (xxxholic fanfic)

OCS, Doumeki/Watanuki, Doumeki/Kohane // 1512 words // T // Kohane and Doumeki had children to make sure Watanuki will never be alone. A little bit about how their children feel about that.

Also available on AO3

Koemi Doumeki

As a child she never thought much about Watanuki's presence in her life, it seemed like just another natural part of her routine, going to school, watching television, playing with her friend who lived down the street, visiting her father at university during the break between the classes he gave, going to the shop.

 Watanuki always smiled when he saw her coming to the shop accompanied by her mother or father, but there was sadness in his eyes sometimes. These days her father would tell her to go hug her uncle Watanuki, in retrospect she thinks her father would do so because he dared not do it himself as much as he wanted to.

 She was the eldest of four siblings, two boys and another girl, children enough to guarantee that a lineage would probably be formed even if one of them died or simply decided not to have children. She was born to love him. Or at least to make sure he would never be alone.

 She’s not sure if Watanuki knows about it or not, sometimes he catches her staring at him, smiles and says he would like her to talk more about what she is thinking, what she is feeling. That is unhealthy to keep so many things inside herself. And she thinks he's saying that to the wrong person.

 Before telling her parents that she intended to do medicine rather than study folklore as they were surely expecting her to do, she often wondered if they would be disappointed or proud of this decision. When she finally tells them, she realizes it is not a matter of pride or disappointment, it was just a choice she had a right to make about her life just as they had made theirs.

 Although still years later during her shift at the hospital she finds herself texting Watanuki asking if he needs anything, and even if he says no later she always ends up going to the shop to see how he is before going back home.

     Soraka Doumeki

People always talk about how much he looked like his father. Uncle Watanuki never did that, he said that Soraka looked like his great-grandfather Haruka who sometimes talks to him in his dreams, that his smiles and temperaments are similar and that this was a good thing because his father's personality was a disaster (what even as a child sounded a bit fake since Watanuki had a clear preference for his older sister who was the most similar of all his siblings to his father). 

 But in fact he was more like his father and older sister than most knew, while they hid what they were thinking with their neutral expressions he hid with a smile. He liked that about himself, because if his emotions showed Watanuki would know that sometimes he hated him. He loved him too, of course, loved him more than he could ever hate, but that didn't change his other feelings and why they were there.

 He met the girl who one day  is going to become his wife in between the sophomore year classes when for no reason he decided to walk around the university science building and there she was carrying a lot more books than that she could handle when he offered to help her, and even before they reached her class room he was in love. In love in a way that just continued to grow with each day since they met, love that seemed to shape the world around them. In love in a way that his parents were not, at least not with  each other. 

 He thinks he should have noticed this before, but only after that he came to see that the relationship between his parents was affectionate but never passionate, and worse than that they were content but not happy and living like that is okay, but accepting that it would be like this forever is just too sad for him to even fully understand. And he knows who, even if unintentionally, is to blame for that.

 He thinks one day he will get married and have children. And he won't take them to the shop, though it's hard to spend more than three days without going there himself. He hates to think of the face his parents and Watanuki will make when he tells them about that decision. But that won't make he change his mind. He couldn’t change the way he was made, or the things that happened in his heart, but ensuring that his children were not put in the same position, that was at least his choice.

   Akane Doumeki

One morning when she was in high school she decided to stop by the shop to ask her father to sign some school permit that she had only remembered existed when she had already left the temple and was on her way to class. She ended up not going to the tour, or school because when she got there she found that her father was not in the guest room but in Watanuki's room. So she left and spent the morning wandering the city full of thoughts and feelings in her head. And of these feelings the most prominent was envy. 

 She hoped her feelings for the shopkeeper were just an inappropriate and fleeting crush, or a case of magical attraction as often happened among those with powers in that world. But the pain is too big, too visceral not to be real. As well as the quiet acceptance that follows.

 She couldn’t show her love with kisses and caresses after all Watanuki still saw her as all her siblings as children and would probably be quite uncomfortable with that, or with words of devotion because these would only bring him guilt.

 So she shows her love the way she can, as her father and mother before her she chooses her studies based on what would help Watanuki most.

 Like her father and mother before her she goes to the store and talks to him, tries to make him smile and make his life a little less miserable.

 Like her father and mother before her she marries and has children to ensure Watanuki is not going to be alone when she is no longer there to accompany him.

 Although she was one of the youngest, she was the first of her siblings to get married. A few weeks after the birth of her first child she took the boy to meet Watanuki, the baby who was whining and crying for hours calmed down as soon as he was placed in Watanuki's arms.

  You will love him too, won't you?  she thinks unsure if this should be counted as a blessing or a curse.

   Hisaka Doumeki

He had all the powers of both his parents, he could see spirits and repel bad entities without even trying. But he couldn't see the shop, he knew his parents had been quite surprised by it. When they were holding him a few days after his birth and were taking him to be introduced to Watanuki they found only a vacant lot in the place that the shop should be. He can't even imagine the despair his parents must have felt at that moment, or the relief when after leaving him and his siblings with Obaa-san to realize that the shop was still there, that Watanuki was still there.

 They tried to get him to meet Watanuki at other times but all he could see as he passed that street were two columns and the empty lot where his parents and siblings appeared and disappeared.

 On his birthday his father always brought to him a gift from Watanuki, and even when it wasn’t his birthday sometimes Hisaka got things Watanuki had done especially for him like dishes he liked or gloves and scarves made in his favorite colors, and after he found out his taste for cooking the shopkeeper started sending him a bunch of his favorite recipes and special tips on how to prepare them. He usually thinks the shopkeeper probably does this because feels wrong for not treating all his friends' children the same way, other times he thought that as irrational as it was Watanuki loved him even without having met him, loved him simply because he was the son of two people he loved so much.

 On days when he is not working at the restaurant he often helps his parents and siblings on missions for shop customers. He meets Ame-Warashi and Zashiki-Warashi. The Oden Fox and Raishuu the god of thunder. But never the shopkeeper who they all know and who seemed to occupy so much space in the lives of those who cross his path. And then Hisaka goes home to his husband and sleeps in peace.

 He thinks that one day he might be able to see the shop if he has a wish that only the shopkeeper can fulfill. And he feels a little guilty for wishing that this will never happen. 

[someobscurereference]

Do you have anymore AU's you want to write? Is there any au you think you'd like to read but don't want to write yourself?

Oh heck yeah!! For both! I don’t think I’ve ever written a single canon-verse fic in my life? Like… maybe one, but I can’t even think of it right now if I have done it. (Granted, I’m counting both entirely new universes and canon-divergence fic as AUs, so maybe you’re using a different scale). But I most definitely have AUs I want to write still, even if they aren’t huge works and are still only like… barely 1K of severe sickfic or Trio’s Past Gets Revealed Early or something. Even if I don’t have an immediate fic planned and ready to write, I usually have something on the back burner in my mind, even if it’s something I’m unsure I’ll ever fully write. (I haven’t talked about the Modern Trio AU in quite a while now, but it legit haunts me daily and makes me laugh still.) Those ideas keep me going until a more immediate AU inspires me. So yes, always AUs! Forever!

(Unless you were hoping I’d name something specifically, in which case I just posted my most recent fic and besides one ongoing collab, I now don’t have a super concrete idea for my next fic, whoops. I’ve been haunted a bit by more Xanlow and Xander x Odin again for some reason, but it will probably pass and I’ll have to figure out something else unless I get a sudden prompt idea, since I’m a bit short on those all around atm. But we shall see.)

“Is there any au you think you’d like to read but don’t want to write yourself?” Every single one, lmao. Every fic I write is a very specific scenario I would like to see but because it only exists in my head and not already out there in the world somewhere, I’m the one who has to write it, haha. Don’t take that to mean writing isn’t fun though! It is and I love it a lot! But it’s always different when you read someone else’s fic and you get to be surprised, you know?

That said, because I was so general with that last answer, here are some specific ideas I’d want to read someone else write in no particular order and only because they spring to mind right now as I think on them: 

a Xander x Odin fic that reads legit because I’m still a sucker for rarepairs

a fic dealing with the Royals/Retainers and non-primary parent (or even non-parent but close aunt/uncle) bonding, 

a fic where Odin tells Ophelia (and others overhear) about Ylisse and his past through fairytales

(OT3) Fic dealing with Ophelia having the Brand and Nina/Forrest Do Not, as meaningfully or as inconsequential as the author deems (I can see it both ways)

another FE horror au tailored to my tastes (but nobody dies because I could never allow that, lmao)

more reincarnation AUs where the Trio doesn’t remember their past lives, but others do 

The Modern AU

The Modern AU B-Side that focuses on the parents instead of the Trio in another world where the Trio are treated like a legit missing person’s case and its suspenseful/a forever unsolved mystery (I have like 3 different scenarios for how this goes down already, lmao) until the Magic Reveal (maybe reveal in another fic, even though I technically already wrote that?)

Inuyasha-style FE Fic where instead of using the dried up well as a portal (or maybe still using it, I’m not picky) the Trio use bodies of water (pools, lakes, rivers, etc) and dive deep in order to get to Nohr/Valla/back home (bc water theme)

Every Fic Where The Trio MUST Reveal Their Identities/Get Reveal Not Of Their Own Volition, In Every Scenario Ever

AU where the Trio really do go with Corrin when Corrin first bails, even though it hurts real bad, and the aftermath of that decision (or even where the Trio are split because of it, whether willingly or not)

More fics that explore the connection human Anankos made with the Trio, whether that be magically or if it has dragon!Anankos acting weird/possessive/whatever

Fic that explores the full extent of having their appearances + new powers given

This means weird feelings about their different appearances now

Also means I want to know exactly what Anankos did. In-game power boost, yeah, but are the Trio like super soldiers now? What does that mean? Are they weirdly inhuman sometimes? I wanna see both the humorous version and the super serious version of this

While we’re on the subject, someone continue my Immortal Trio AU for me and get me that Nina Sees Odin Not Die When He Should Have And Has to Deal With That (i.e. The One Where Nina Trusts Herself More Than Anything Else In The World And She Should)

Or like… any of the kids seeing it happen, basically. 

A zombie AU like that zombie AU I wrote but Better

AU of that AU where everyone is slightly older and Niles (plus Leo? Depends on the circumstances but they’re both present in the plot, if not location) trek into zombie-infested Ylisse to find their online BF, Owain

Kinda Cinderella AU where the Trio show up sometimes and then just bail and seem to come and go of their own deadlines and are So Mysterious

That xxxHolic au I always say I’m gonna write

This list has gotten so long, whoops

Haha, anon, you got me to go on a bit of a list of just different plots I’ve been thinking about as of late. Again, this are in no order or some not even with a particular supreme need. They’re just ideas I’ve been thinking about lately so it would be convenient if they were in front of me at this very moment rather than me having to work for them, lol. I made this list, but the next fic you see from me probably won’t be any of these, haha. Maybe some day? Either way, thanks so much for your question! It had me thinking a lot again. I hope you don’t mind the length!

[icharchivist]

any idea what your next obsession phase is gonna be? :p

Heya!!

Oh dear :’D Why does it feel like someone who saw me go from one obsession to the next ahah. Thanks for bearing with that ;O

And that’s a very good question. I myself can’t really project myself this far, I don’t know what can happen.

Honestly I may have been two fingers away from coming back to ff7 if an info dropped (and we’re not safe of anything yet, i’ve been kinda itching to play it again ever since yesterday) - but hey i’m never safe from suddenly coming back to previous any fandom

As it is the biggest “threats” i can think of are Mass Effect since i’ll play it eventually (and i know myself too well - the moment i said “it’s not exactly my kind of story” i’ve doomed myself all my long lasting obsession started with just pushing it away because “eh idk i don’t feel it for now”. That’s the reason it took me actual years to start hxh or da after deciding i will start them. Actual. Years. Genuis Icha.) and eventually bnha since i still hadn’t picked it back up and it’s likely the next arcs will get me more involved than where I left of.

Then anything can drop anytime. Who knows maybe i’ll finally get to play the final fantasy games I have in my wishlist? (mainly ff13, ff8, ff10 and ff15) or better, those i have on my computer?  (im so sorry ff9 i will play u one day). Or hell, actually getting into KH more than I do yet? (because i do have some of the games it’s just that I can’t play the ps2′s KH1 bc of my parents, and i’ve been pushing off finishing days (because yes i played 3/4 of days without having played any other KH before i’m a genuis) and then aybe start bbs or ddd, which i own.). Or the Zelda’s games that, again, I own but have been pushing off playing because I was too lazy? or even some random FF games i don’t care about but own because i found them at 2€ each in occasion shops? (which btw is also the reason why i have those KH games i mentioned, i’m reasonable) Or actually finishing my current Pokemon X game?)

And knowing all of that, would an obsession kick in for any of those medias i’ve been pushing off and refusing to play for so long? 

I’ve been planning for years now to actually re-read some Clamp’s manga (mainly Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHolic and Card Captor Sakura) but i’ve been lazy about reading anything. I used to be obsessed with those so if i try them again the obsession may kick in again.

I still need to read/watch YYH. (ten bucks i’ll be obsessed over Kurama I know myself too well. or Hiei. Likely both.). I should definitly maybe check what the hell happened in Haikyuu since i dropped it. 

And I have sooo many things i told myself i’ll need to read/watch eventually (mp100, one punch man, aggretsuko, violet evergarden, and others i forget about) - but do I watch them? Nooo i rewatch the same episodes of b99 over and over again.

And that’s not even counting things that i don’t know about yet that may fall on me randomly out of the blue and makes me go “yknow what I wanna try it” and suddenly take over my life.

Life is full of surprise that way. I’m sure my new obsession will be a surprise worthy of making everyone groans because “seriously Icha? seriously?”. 

the ultimate irony would be that the next obsession will be absolutly none of those things and will be something I’ve never mentioned before and it will suddenly take over my life. This is regularly how my obsession starts.

So I guess it’s all the bets for the next one. Will it be DGM while kicking back with its new chapter? or another story that will just suddenly bring me back into feeling for it again? or one of the story i’ve been planning to read/watch/play but didn’t find the time? Or something Completely New? 

The bets are up ;O

thank you for bearing with this mess ahah ;O

Take care!!!

[modernart2012]

Cosplay (Magical) Girl

@sumigakure Halloween Event 2017

Prompt 4: Magical Girl

Word Count: 1224

Rating: G

On Ao3

 “Rin, are you sure my wig is on right? It’s awfully uncomfortable.” Obito plays with the carefully styled “mane”, coming close to dislodging the face guard holding the whole thing in place.

 Kakashi peeks up from where he was perusing the convention guidebook, “At least you get a wig and bobby pins not a badly-installed weave.” Just mild enough to be considered conversation, but just barbed enough for Rin to feel the sting. If it wouldn’t ruin the cosplay to leave a bright red handprint on Kakashi face for the rest of the afternoon, she’d slap him in a heartbeat. Kakashi hadn’t had any objections to the cosplay until he learned he needed extensions!

 “And who’s fault was it that they kept moving as I clipped the extensions in?” Rin stressed the correct term because she knew Kakashi knew the correct term for the easily removable lengths of hair she’d clipped in in the wee hours of the morning, sacrificing her sleep in order to deal with Kakashi’s whining. “Besides, you make a lovely Kero and Yue. Just keep your costumes together until the judging for the group cosplay contest.” She smoothes the front of her costume, the classic and iconic pink and white one that was a straight up bitch to stitch because of the miles of layered, heavily starched, ruffle-hemmed petticoats that went under the skirt. Rin wished she had a real life Tomoe to make her costumes for her, but alas, of her friends Yugao was the only other one who had any ability to sew and even then she couldn’t sew a straight line for love or money.

 “Oh hey! They have takoyaki! Bakashi, come on, let’s grab some.” Rin freezes and tries to stop them - all those dark sauces and their bright costumes! - but then thinks better of it once she sees the terrified begging face Kakashi is making at her as Obito pulls him into the queue, wings dragging behind them both. She packed bibs on purpose, and it serves Kakashi right for reading porn while getting styled then having the balls to complain about it. Maybe she’ll only insist on fried-foods for the rest of the day? Or pointedly eat miso-glazed fried eggplant in front of him - there’s a stall right there.... But there’s mochi too and pistachio ice cream filled mochi are so rare to find.

 Mulling over the possibilities, she doesn’t notice where she’s going until she’s bumped into someone much smaller than her. “Oof!”

 “Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you...,” Rin can’t believe what’s she’s seeing.“Sakura?” That is very clearly Sakura, but the older Sakura from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle not the child Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura that Rin herself is cosplaying.

 The poor girl’s wig has been knocked askew though, and Rin can’t help herself as she tries to right it. The girl’s pink hair flutters loose as she knocks aside Rin’s hand, huffing, “Watch where you’re going!” Green eyes glare at her for a moment before widening in surprise. “Oh. You’re....”

 “Also Sakura!” Rin chirps, ignoring the rudeness. Anyone would be rude in that situation, especially if someone knocked one over in a very detailed, primarily white cosplay. “You also going for the competition?” This convention’s contest was one of the most difficult, with lots of really good cosplayers coming and competing, but Rin thought the girl’s would do well.

 “Ah, yes.” The girl gets up, smoothing her white skirts and checking for stains. Her coins clink against one another - real metal, not cheap. “The group competition, actually!”

 “Really! Who are your companions?” Rin hopes it’s not the two Syaorans. The girl can’t be more than 12, and the whole storyline of the two (three? Four if you count the father?) Syaorans makes things very awkward via implication. Not that Rin is judging but ... 12 is a little young to date?

 The girl smiles, “Mokona and Mokona!” Oh good. The dumplings. Perfectly innocuous. “I wanted them to be Kurogane and Fai.”

 Rin doesn’t know what to make of that. “Why didn’t they want to be Kurogane and Fai? They’re amazing!” The best original characters in the series - not a hard thing to win, considering, but still! Rin read Tsubasa and xxxholic for Kurogane and Fai not for Syaoran and his quest!

 “They kept fighting over Syaoran.” And that’s almost better, almost worse. “So I made them be Mokona instead.” The girl shrugs. “What about you? Are you in the single entrants competition?”

 Rin laughs, “No, I’m entering in the group competition too. My Yue and Kero are off getting food right now.”

 “Mine too! Maybe we can go sit down to wait for them?” The girl points out a set of empty benches in easy line of sight from the food stalls. “Then maybe when they get back we can get a group photo?”

 It’s easy to talk this is small Sakura, who is starry-eyed over the romance of the series and the exquisite detail CLAMP puts into their stories. It’s clear the older work references are lost on her, but that’s okay since they’re clearly before her time and hard to find in print anyways. They bond over Gate 7, and poke fun of CLAMP’s obvious weakness for the name “Sakura”; how many “Sakura” does one group even need? The girl shyly offers that her name is also ‘Sakura’, which is why she loves the character so much.

 “Say, did your ... friends have problems with cosplaying too?”Sakura asks after a lull in their conversation. She’s fiddling with one of the coins on her scarf, and Rin can’t help but feel a pang of empathy. Cosplaying alone is hard, but it’s also difficult to agree on what or how with a group, and it’s even worse when people start causing problems. 12 year old boys are the worst about that sort of thing, waffling between excitement over the characters and self consciousness when they realize cosplaying nerdy stuff and that it might be “uncool”.

 “Yeah, but they do every year. It’s okay. I have a plan - next year, we’re going to cosplay Sailor Moon. And instead of letting them be Shittenou, I’m going to make them rule 63.” Rin smiles deviously. Kakashi will love that, especially the wigs and short skirts. Sakura giggles, and a thought strikes Rin. “Hey, wanna cosplay Chibi Usa if I cosplay Usagi? You already have the hair.”

 Sakura grins, “If we add my two friends with your two friends, we could get all of the Sailor Scouts - at least the Inner Scouts.” Oh, but how Rin loves the way this girl thinks.

 They’re exchanging contact information when two pre-teen figures in black and white run up. “Sakura! Sakura! They have the figure you wanted!”

 Her own two idiots stroll up, “Rin! Rin! We got you a serving of yakisoba!” It’s clearly time for them to part ways, especially given the way their two groups are sharing Looks. Last time those Looks had been shared, Kakashi got into a fight with some hooligans from Iwa. That year wasn’t a good year.

 “‘There is no such thing as coincidence in this world. The only thing is hitsuzen.’” Rin intones as she waves goodbye.

 “What?” Obito asked around a mouthful of octopus ball. Rin giggles into her noodles instead - they won’t know what hit them.

[ichiban-no-jammu]

RULES: Repost and answer the questions, then tag at least 3 of your followers :)

I was tagged by: @the-damnedest-creature​​ !! thank you!! //;;w;//

I’m not gonna tag that many peeps because I’m not solely a J-rock blog and not many people that follow me are solely J-rock blogs either I think hehe but um mebbe @romanesque-moon​​ and @severemagazinementality​​ idk ignore this if you don’t want to do it of course but we’re mutuals so yeh !! ;u; go for it if you feel like it, sorry for taggin out of the blue ///v// I have hardly any J-rock fan followers to be honest I think /;;   ;))/

anywaaaaaays ヽ・ω・*/ﾉ

1. When and how did you get into j-rock?

jokesss it was animu as usual ahahahaa I was already listening to J-pop at the time like Arashi and Yuki Kajiura I also liked Perfume by that point too, around.. 2012..? somewhere around there ;w; I was 13 years old.

I actually can't remember who my first J-rock band I ever heard was ;;u ; I listened to a lot of anime intros and found a couple of artists from there....   the first J-rock song I ever heard was probably SID's Monochrome no Kissu huhuhu but I didn't actually listen to SID after that.....  ting is is that I was painfully weeby at the time, the typically cringey child that would more listen to ... random american pop songs that I found on amvs, and all the classics like cascada's everytime we touch and the 'numa numa song' ,,...... //////v/// and I listened to a LOT of Vocaloid, all of it, I was obcessed, it’s literally all I would listen to for a year or so ﾉω`*)ﾉ  I also found a finnish rock band called Indica through an amv and even bought one of their albums ;u; my music taste was a crazy mix of stuff I'd just found on Youtube really... I loved The Midnight Beast (reppin from uk) and I still do, Lemon Demon too.... and I downloaded official soundtracks from anime like Pandora Hearts and D.Gray Man and listened to those as well. I was also a big fan of Yugioh the abridged series and would listen to yugioh song parodies LittleKuriboh made ;; u ;

Only a small part of my music library was J-rock and J-pop at the time... but I think the first band that caught my attention was Buck-Tick, after I watched the anime xxxHolic somewhere in 2012. Then after watching Shiki a little later I recognised the same voice and looked kuchizuke up and was jammin, and for some reason I watched an interview with Aachan before getting distracted by that one video that everyone has seen of T.M singing dress with him, and listening to ABS instead because I knew them from the theme song to D.Gray man ///u// it was only until summer 2013 until I really found out who Buck-Tick actually was, I listened to as many singles as I could find and I fell in love with them in less than 24 hours hehe ´｡• ᵕ •｡` I actually didn't like rock music at all before then, b-t were the group that introduced me to being a rock music fan even though I still didn't like heavier sounds, like Gazette that my friend was into. Sometime later that year I listened to L'arc en Ciel for the first time too, I think I read about them in a magazine or something.. I can't remember //w// ((I bought the 'stay away' single at may mcm in 2014, my first J-rock cd :3c)) I still listened to a lot of J-pop during 2013 and Arashi had begun to dominate my life, so I didn't really get properly into J-rock and visual kei until early 2014 when I started listening to ancafe, because I'd heard of them from cosplayers on deviantart who had them in their ID section under music interests, and then subsequently finding out they were touring in europe :3c I was more partial to oshare and lighter pop-punk things around that time.. early days was LM.C and Alice Nine and Royz after that....

Kind of a long and patchy story (wow it’s really long why did I write so much I’m so sorry it’s so boring) but there isn't necessarily an exact moment I started listening to J-rock... only in the last year or so have I let Vkei fully consume my life so... back then it was only a side interest for me among all the other things ˊ꒳ˋ  from 2014 onwards I just found more and more bands as well as listening to a lot of johnny's and J-pop stuffs... >w> and the rest is historyyyy

2. List your current most favorite band(s).

bakuchikuuuuu forever and ever every moment of my waking life alwaysss till I dieeee //w/// and Dog in the PWO >:3 two very contrasting groups to say the leest but I have a wide breadth of faves hehe ;;w; I fell in love with Doggu super quickly and have been following them ever since, I've known them for a year now and they are 100% in my top 5 favourite bands ever ;u ; dems are my two main faves as it is right now but there are too many others to list that I have a lot of feelings for /;;w;//

Currently I also like listening to Hakujitsu no Yume... Pentagon are my children.... Piglow in Gloomy are really amazing also ;w;;

3. How many j-rock concerts have you been to? (If you haven’t been to any, which band would you like to see the most in the future?)

not many becos I am a baby and I have never travelled out of my home country to raibus ;;v; my first ever was Ancafe in 2014, when I was a weeby mess, and most recently Versailles in January 2017 :3c inbetween I’ve seen VAMPS (and alexandros) at a shared live @ ‘Japan Night’ which was a lil concert organised by HyperJapan, a convention here in uk ..can I count bands that I’ve seen at Hyper too..? ;;w; I’ll just count Vaniru because they were aight while Yuto and Leoniel lasted as a couple heheh >w>> and I also went to SuG’s raibu in 2015~

so that makes 6 i guess.. I am a bebe ;;

//come on Merry where u at with this europe tour??//

there are so so so many bands I wanna see live, and I would go to a couple more lives in London here and there but I always get attached to groups that are very Japan-based and that are very unlikely to make any overseas appearances ;v; and I don’t wanna spend a lot of monies on bands that I don’t know as well that occasionally visit //3///

4. Which j-rock band do you think is the most underrated?

Daizystripper o´ω｀o   They used to be a more popular with western peeps but I think a lot of people stopped listening to them a while ago an might not even realise that they're still active and tings ;; v; their debut with Victor might make it a little difficult for international fans though eheh but I wish they still had the support they seemed to have~ so many good jams ;  u ;

And everyone from Planet Child Music records needs more recognition and to be invited to more events ///u//

5. Which j-rock band do you think is the most overrated?

If I had to I'd say Vamps hhhhuu I thought that they were v good up until recently ;;w; I dunno I feel like the couple of newer songs have lost their power and originality... and no matter what I'll always think L'arc are infinitely better but some people think not //vv/// Vamps are always over here and in other countries too, whereas L'arc I feel are neglected a lot with world tours and overseas promotion and stuff when they deserve more love than vamps ;3; I mean.. 25 years going strong //u/ why dis Hyde come back to uk without vamps this time hhhh

6. Who is your ultimate bias in j-rock? Optionally: Post your most favorite picture(s) of them.

ahhhhh .. Aachan got me from the start ;; ﾉﾉ*ФωФ ;;ﾉﾉ ﾉﾉ                            

7. What is your most treasured j-rock related memory?

Um.. not that much has happened to me personally that I can really mention hehe >w>

Hizaki calling me cute at Hyper's meet & greet last year was probably the best thing that's acc happened to me ;;;;w;;;;;; It was the end of the day and I looked like a wreck, Hizaki saw me as I came up for cheki and said 'kawaii~' ////w// best memory heckk I mean Hizaki---- being called cute by Hizaki ;;;;;u; why dis I do not deserve (and obvs taking cheki with him was part of that good memory too >w>)

An Cafe was my first live, and I'll always remember that my one of my favourite singles is 'My heart leaps for 'C'' and when they played it after the encore I went insane hehe ;;; u ; that was a treasured moment for me because it was kind of surreal like 'oh wow a band that I love is playing one of my favourite songs is this real??' and ... since I was an hyperactive 15 year-old that moment just made me really excited ;v; I was singing along (horribly) to every lyric and bouncing up and down like crazy and I would not let that feeling go for a while //w/ ah to be young again ~~

But SuG is probably the best raibu memory ever ever. they played a very very small venue in London and it was literally the most intimate thing imaginable, you could touch everyone and Takecchi almost hit his head a few times on the lights above him ;;u; and even though I was in like, three rows of people away from the front, Chiyu's hand grazed mine for a second and that was the most special moment ;;w; Shinpei leaned into the audience for a group hug and Yuji and Chiyu were high-fiving and ruffling people's hair ///;w;/ it was such a long farewell with everyone touching hands and patting heads and it felt so nice and close, I thought we were really lucky to get such an intimate show ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄  

8. How do you support and enjoy j-rock the most? Buying CDs? Going to lives? Just full on going to Japan for it?

I buy Cd's if I can for bando that I really love and want to support, and at lives I buy at least one peice of merch every time too :3c and I'm trying to get into a habit of buying Cure if bands I like are featured >u> I accidentally end up following e v e r y o n e on twitter and just scroll thru liking posts if that counts as 'support' ? :'3

9. How does your family feel about this hobby of yours?  

My parents don't really mind, I end up showing my mama photos and videos and she understands my hype at everyone I think hehe, and I play cd's often so my parents hear J-rock a lot but don't complain~ we all have our own music collections now it’s so cute 〃▽〃 I talk about J-rock a lot like, I just ramble on mostly to myself because I have no-one else to talk to in the house so ;;u; my parents don't really listen that closely but ye, they don't mind and they're glad I'm into something different I guess :'3c

10.What is the craziest j-rock fandom story that you have?

idk what j-rock 'fandom' story means exactly,,, like, you heard the story from the fandom or the story is about the actual fandom itself..? ;;w; well actually I guess this is both haha this is the only story that I have worth telling and I only heard it a couple weeks ago but ;//u.//

A friend of a friend has connections with Mejibray’s MiA, and he messages her and lots of other peeps I’d imagine as MiA prob does~ and on one occasion MiA was sent a cute little (I say little but) Intimate Image that the 1 and only Yohio took of his peen and decided to share it around so other people could enjoy it obvs >>>ww.>> and he sent it to said friend, nice one >;3ccc thank u for showing me too I feel very privileged, too many bants I was dying ahh ..//www//// why dis MiA why dis......... poor Yohio ;; v; u don’t need to send dick pics to impress your senpai, kids ;;  /////; poor little child ;u;;

---yyyyeee I’m so boring das literally all I have apart from the most mediocre things like being jealous of people that get to go to meet&greets and have fun encounters and peeps that actually manage to catch picks at lives etc //u..../// 

Thank you for reading ♡

[completeoveranalysis]

[6]

SO cute.

I think that’s the end of this chapter already, but it was such a nice little pause in things to check in on Watanuki and measure how he’s doing as a person. How much he’s grown. How he’s so used to it all. How he’s become suited to everything happening around him and can do it naturally. 

But also how he’s gathered himself a small family. Just Haruka talks about making choices and only noticing the effects afterwards, the effects here are clear - Watanuki, who was born alone and on accident with no-one in the world, has naturally gathered people around him who he cares about and who care about him in return. He’s surrounded himself with laughter and love and it’s all because of who he’s choosing to become and all the choices he’s made along the way. 

There were many ways this all could have turned out very differently, but they turned out this way, because of him.