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facets-and-rainbows · 4 years

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Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities. Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.

#blue exorcist #interview #Ao no Exorcist #translation

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sun-daddy-yoriichi · 4 years

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Hii, can I possibly request, Dad!Giyuu with a daughter that was turned into a demon and how he fares with her?

Of course! I made them headcanons, if you don't mind.

Little known fact about me but Giyuu is one of my favourite characters in the franchise, right under Yoriichi!

▬▬▬

Warning(s): Slight angst, some spoilers

Tomioka Giyuu With a Daughter That Was Turned Into a Demon (Headcanons)

How Giyuu came to have a daughter in the first place is my main question

He would be about eighteen when said child was born, so he wasn't prepared for the mother to ditch him as soon as she was able to walk.

Despite that, he would take good care of her. Believe it or not, he doesn't want to be a bad father.

(Shinobu is most surprised at that fact)

He tries to protect her as best as he can, but there comes a time where he doesn't make it in time to save her.

She's three when she's turned into a demon. Barely able to walk or speak, and harmless as both a human and a demon.

Giyuu tried to make himself decapitate her and put her out of her misery, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to kill her.

With special permission from Ubuyashiki, he was allowed to keep her alive.

From that moment on, Giyuu spends a lot more time with Tanjirou and Urokodaki, to try and wrap his head around the fact that his three-year-old daughter was turned into a demon.

Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be interested in eating people, which made everything so much easier.

He panicked when she began gnawing on his fingers one nigut, thinking she might be trying to eat him, before Urokodaki mentioned that she may be 'teething'. Getting used to her new canines, per se.

After a bit of experimentation, they figure out that she's partial to eating fish.

(Giyuu is happy to share his simmered salmon daikon with her)

For her teeth (which she didn't really have before), he fashioned her a somewhat temporary bamboo gag, if she ever needed to gnaw on something to relieve her teeth of pain (and it couldn't be anyone's hand this time).

They also get to know a few of her abilities quickly, as she grew to Nezuko's child-size upon seeing the other demon come out of the box. She tends to stay that size, probably liking it more than being a baby.

She's still his baby, though. But he can't exactly leave her at his estate while he's on missions. So he figures that he can strap her to his back during the day to let her sleep, and she can walk on her own at night.

And it works, yes. But it attracts unwanted attention from unmarried women. He has to somehow adapt to that new feature, as well.

Usually she has no need to participate in fighting, but once in a blue moon she will join in.

Her Blood Demon Art is similar to his own Breath style, which makes them a very compatible team. But she's also three, mentally, so she's not very good at fighting unless she allows demonic instincts to take over.

During the Final Battle with Muzan and the Upper Moons, she stays with Urokodaki while the effects of the humanising drug run their course.

Surprisingly, her young age makes it even harder for the drug to fight off Muzan's cells, but that doesn't stop her from running to her father's aid the minute she awakes in a cold sweat.

Shielding herself from the sun, she arrives just in time to see Tanjirou turn because or Muzan fusing with his cells.

She's there in time to pull her father away from Tanjirou's range before the drug begins to take effect. In minutes, Giyuu's holding his three-year-old daughter again, who is looking at the sunrise as if it's the most fascinating thing on the planet.

It's the first time Giyuu cries in a long time, doing his best to cradle her despite having lost an arm.

Despite everything that's happened, Giyuu is content to live the rest of his life alongside Urokodaki, raising his young daughter in a world without demons.

#kimetsu no yaiba #kny #kny headcanons #demon slayer #demon slayer imagines #kimetsu no yaiba headcanons #kimetsu no yaiba imagines #kny imagines #kny oneshots #demon slayer headcanons #giyuu tomioka #demon slayer tomioka #kny tomioka #tomioka giyū #giyuu tomioka kin #platonic tomioka giyuu

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a-very-little-nightmares · 4 years

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🤫Everyone can see it!🤭

Seriously I noticed some parts of the mamga where everyone seems to know or aware that theres something romantic going on between our main ship on deck! hananene!

Top 1-5

1.Akane kun! - I promoted him to number one, (not because he's number one mystery,but because he really is amazingly smart when it comes to figuring out someone!)

Akane to yashiro

Akane somewhat know that yashiro had something in store for hanako kun, maybe because on the elevator arc, yashiro seems to speak a lot about hanako kun, especially when akane seems to know that yashiro did trust hanako kun a lot.

Akane to Hanako kun

When akane kun nearly speaks out about minamito kun likes yashiro which is obviously true! And hanako kun acts out to it instantly! This was the first time hanako kun acts somewhat violent when he was jealous!

And this is also the exact moment that akane kun knew that hanako kun has a thing for yashiro🤭😏

And as a smart clever bad ass guy as akane was... He used hanako's blossoming feelings towards nene as his advantage to make hanako help him rescue aoi chan!

Well, this is definitely gonna be hanako kun's greatest problem, because maybe next time someone might use his jealousy as an advantage towards him!! Like akane kun did to him!

2. Tsuchigomori sensei- he was the 5th mystery, the curator of the 4 pm books stacks arc. Since he was the one who takes care of the books of life and death. And each book records what will going to happen in the near future of that book's owner. He definitely knew what is going to happen to nene and hanako kun on the near future! And guess what. He already said a lot of times that it is impossible to change the future.

And obviously he already read whats inside of yashiro nene' book so he knew something romantic might happen to our main ship! Maybe he already knew that yashiro is undergoing character development, can be her development when it comes to her feelings towards hanako kun! 😁😆

Eventhough, our expectations about them kissing on lips didn't happen, there's nothing to be dissapointed for. Because tsuchigomori sensei already said that it is impossible to change or alter the future, so maybe this certain event of them sharing first kiss with each other may moved to another day!

3. Mitsuba- Mitsuba is the main hananene stan on the first place! Because he already knew and pointed out exactly that these two have already fallen inlove😍 and plus he did pictured out perfectly what all we want for our main ship hananene to end up! Saying I DO and GET'S MARRIED!!😍 we are all mitsuba in this!!!

Such a lovely perfect picture of them!😍

4. Ao Chan!- eventhough she turned into an antagonist, and everything turned wrong for her, well she did done something right! And that is she always knew that yashiro's crush was hanako kun all along.

And maybe these following evidences from manga and anime adaptation helps aoi clearly figured out that hanako kun is yashiro's crush all along!

As follows:

Whenever yashiro was confused about hanako, she's the first person she talks about it, was ao chan her bff! (And nene was not aware that ao chan can actually see hanako, so whenever hanako kun visit her at their classroom especially sometimes hanako kun acts romantic towards her mentioning that time where hanako kun hugs her and fix her hair and turned her hair into a daikon hair artistry! Ao chan obviously saw all of it!!)

Anime adaptation. Manga.

Anime

Aoi- " what have you fallen inlove with this time?

Yashiro- apparition.

(Omg that so pretty straightforward yashiro lol😂 and we all know that thered only one ghost boy she talks about hmmmmm)

Manga:

Aoi- what have you fallen inlove with this time?

Yashiro- donut

(Lol we all know that theres a certain ghost boy who loves donut so much? Right and damn another straightforward confession we had there from yashiro😍)

😏 Nene has been caught red handed by her bff. An act of lying and denying it that it was not really a certain ghost boy whom she crushes on.😏 but the truth was she does like like him😁

5.Tsukasa- tsukasa can be somewhat childish and innocent when it comes to romance and stuff. But there were some parts that he nailed it right!

Yes tsukasa, they already kissed each other back, yes tsukasa amane asks her out on a date in perfect picture arc!

6. Sumire- is a human girl somewhat whose identical to nene's bff ao chan. With same appearance and personality like ao chan. She did pointed it out that gon(given name by her) which is hanako kun knew that he is her lover in some way. Also sumire also fell inlove with a supernatural which is mystery number 6. They also represents and resembles hananenes current relationship, eventhough they are still in denial but maybe someday they can finally tell that they had already fallen inlove to anyone. Eventhough as we can see here, sumire tell nene that fallin inlove with a supernatural is a taboo we kinda see a glimpse of what will become on our hananene's future. A forbidden love. Between human and supernaturals.

Conclusion:

I think These people are those ones who will help to push them to become a couple. These people will push hanako and nene off to the cliff of love.

As we can see on the following evidences on this post, that everyone seems aware that hananene ship is a real thing! We all do!

#hananene #this entry was so long it made my head doki doki like a heart #quarantine life is pretty boring #jshk hanako #jshk yashiro #jibaku shounen hanako kun #im going to commit suicide if my fav. otp's didn't end up together!#hanako x nene #hanako x yashiro #aida iro #aidairo

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daikonchild · 4 years

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word count: 10k

time taken: 4 days

notes: i don’t think this turned out the way i wanted it to, it’s way too fast paced, i probably will end up rewriting this in all honesty. but here you go! this is only part one, ill link part 2 when i post it! credit to @ikarus.txt on Instagram for ren!

characters: ocs only

cw/tw: religious mentions, demons, implied nsfw in one part

———————————

Ren... Didn’t know what to do. He was sitting in someone’s house, a very pretty house, but still. A stranger’s house. He had been knocked out, and now he woke up here, a cloth on his head, his horns bandaged up, same with his tail and wings. And it felt nice but.

“...Where the flying fuck am I?” He glanced around, it was a very regal house.

Portraits hung cleanly, the occasional butler or maid would pass by. The couch was velvet like, and even if Ren was butt naked under the cover, which seemed to be leopard print, he felt comfortable. The soft noses of cats came by sometimes, Ren enjoying it a bit.

On the other hand, the yelling children and other people following them around was annoying as all hell. Maybe it was his perked demon senses due to the ears, maybe not, but he hated it.

To add on, they were all humans. Disgusting mortals who were only good for sex, being bred, food, murder, and souls. Nothing else about them was useful to Ren. He didn’t even want to be in the mortal realm, he was only here to collect the souls of the unholy, bring them to his lord Rei, then go to another realm. He only had three decades, and that was a small portion of time for him.

“Hmph...” Maybe the shelter was good, but still. That was it. He wouldn’t find anything interesting.

...Oh who was he kidding, the shelter was amazing. There were butlers for crying out loud, and a lot of loud children, meaning there had to be some milf or dilf in the hous-

“Hello?” The soft voice of a male. Almost soothing. Ren groaned, turning away from the noise.

“Shuddup...”

“Ah fuck. An annoying one.” A snap later, and a few people were surrounding him.

“Fuck off satan...” He felt someone flip him over, him blinking. He didn’t like it, at all.

“Ah... There. You four can leave.” Ren was now looking at a pretty male. Someone who he could only describe as prince like. He was surprisingly... He didn’t give off the same aura as other mortals. Ren didn’t like him, but instead of a harmful, rude, dark aura, it was soft, mellow, soft aura. It made Ren relax for a little while. But not enough to listen to him

“Hey! What the fuc-Ow ow ow-“ Ren whined at the feeling of the man pulling him up. It hurt, a lot. “Wh-Where am I? And stop touching me you disgusting mortal-“

The human blinked, a soft sigh leaving his lips. “You demons are such dumbasses.”

“Hey how do you know I’m a demon-“

“You’re in my house you dumbass, I found you looking like shit on the side of the road and you needed somewhere. God you are so stupid. Sit still.” Ren tensed up, feeling the boy’s hand on his face, patching up a open wound. He seemed talented with his motions, knowing how to clean the wound and patch it up.

Ren wasn’t a very safe person, usually leaving wounds open and unattended to, but the man seemed... Soft. Fragile as well, Ren could definitely best him in anything. Not the mention the dress, Ren would’ve guessed he was a chic if it wasn’t for his voice.

His lacy apron, his dress, he didn’t look half bad for a human. Like a small living cottagecore aesthetic. Ren could still chuck him out a window.

A shelter as well. This is what he needed. He was going to just kill someone for their house, but that had so many fucking risks, but this place seemed nice. It seemed almost perfect, along with free food and much more.

“Done. You demons are such fucking idiots.” Ren groaned at his insults, being a bit offended. “Now lay down.”

“Nope.”

“I said lay down.” He glared, Ren shaking his head cockily. “What do you want in return you nasty demon?”

“...” Ren tapped his chin, eyeing the smaller up and down. “Hm~... A human like you can-“

“Guards! Pull hi-“

“No no! I have something!”

“What? If you think of a good deal, then I’ll need something in return. Something worth my time...” He slowly got up. Ren blinked, listening to the smaller. He seemed more businesslike then Ren had thought.

“Elaborate?”

“I don’t know, that’s up to you. Plus, I need something of value from you.” The human glanced down at the demon, coldness in his eyes. “I don’t know, think about it yourself. You’re the demon. Shouldn’t you be good at making deals?”

“Wait wait, you-“

“You’re a demon, I could care less, I don’t give a fuck, whatever people say. Just stay here until you think of a proper deal. Something that you want and something I want.”

“Do... Do I have to make a deal?”

“No, but it seems like a demon as foolish as you would make one. Plus, I need some reason to care for who you are.” Ren regretted thinking he was nice. “Now, do you have any proposals? I’m waiting.”

“Shit... If...” Ren groaned. “...If you make a contract with me, then I’ll behave and help you clean around the house.”

“Hm.” He stared down at the demon, seeing it try and look confident, “What do I get out of a contract with you?”

“Free sex, order, knowing where I am, a cool tattoo, along with a way to contact me if I were to go missing. And I can’t take your soul like this.” Ren assumed the feminine male would know this. He didn’t know why he was making a contract with him.

He needed somewhere to stay, and even if he were to go anywhere else, he could win a fight, but that would make him distracted, he’d have to do something unnecessary, and that could also be someone else’s victim. So he didn’t want that.

Plus the human seemed good enough. He was a little bitch from what he had seen so far, and Ren wanted to kill him a bit, but at the same time, everyone here seemed so happy. And if he was the head of the house, he could seduce him, then take his house after killing him. He didn’t have the proper aura of an unholy soul, and that was rare to come by, so he would have a good reason...

Ren saw the small boy contemplate it, staring down at the ground, his mind wondering around.

“...I suppose. But doesn’t a contract mean-“

“I’m also allowed to order you around. You’ll be like... A pet! An annoying little bitchy pet, but a pet.”

“I’m not... W-Whatever, what do you need me to sign.” A puff of smoke, and a clipboard and pen was in his lap. And of course he was reading it.

Ren groaned, leaning against the couch. Well it didn’t elaborate the kind of demon Ren was, so he wasn’t too worried.

He was an incubus, like a sex god, but a lot more tame. The main reason he wanted Seruni to make a contract with him? It’s good to have a human shield just in case you need to be careful. Especially a human shield that looks as fine as that...

He chuckled softly, looking down at contract signing male. Soon, a flick of the wrist, and it was returned to him. Ren quickly read the name.

“Seruni... Dakion? Is that a fucking fake last name?” Ren raised an eyebrow.

“Bit-Why the fuck would I lie about my last name?” Seruni crossed his arms, still glaring at Ren. He was hardly intimidating, but he was trying.

“Fine.” Ren signed himself, and it proved him wrong. A small stinging feeling came from his back, glancing over at Seruni, who was clearly feeling the same. He looked around quickly, one eye shut. No one. Good. There wasn’t a reason, he just felt it would be better with that.

“Ouch ouch...” Seruni sighed from relief when it stopped, gently grasping his back. “What was that?”

“The ritual symbol, did you not know about that?”

“No... Suppose not.” Ren nodded, gently grasping the boy’s face. “Hey wha-Mm!” A soft kiss between them, Ren shutting his eyes to enjoy it.

“Mm~...” Ren giggled into the kiss, before cutting it off swiftly with his thumb, just as Seruni was about to melt into the feeling. “Good Daikon pet!”

“I’m not a pe-Fuck!” And Ren had disappeared in his grasp, the cover falling onto the couch without a sight. “Stupid fucking demon...” He tried to ignore the bright red stuck on his face due to the kiss, covering it with his arm.

Seruni slouched down onto his couch, not knowing what better to do. But of course, was instantly brought of it by a little child.

“Is everything alright sir..?” The girl grinned brightly at the house husband, him smiling softly.

“Of course, go back to doing what you were doing, unless you need to-Oh-Yeah go ahead.” She opened her book, flipping to a random page and started to ramble happily about her story.

Seruni would’ve stopped her, but just sighed softly, patting her head and allowing her to go on. Maybe it wouldn’t be as tough with the kids around him.

---

Ren quietly sighed, sitting on top of the roof. He had officially been in this hell hole of a house for three weeks. Each day it was some new kid yelling out in joy, clinging to his arm, only being stopped by Seruni.

It was good food though, he hadn’t really gotten used to someone caring for him. It was new, it was like the family he never had. Something eventful. They would constantly listen to Seruni, who took great care of them. Ren didn’t really see any of them as special, besides maybe Seruni.

It was so peaceful out. Maybe it was because there weren’t any mortals on his doorstep bothering him, maybe not. Either way, the view over the pond was beautiful, the moon lighting up the sky, the soft noises of fireflies and-

“Hey.”

“Fuck!” Ren flinched, looking behind him. “Oh. You.” Seruni sighed, sitting next to him.

Ren stared at the pond. He needed to flirt with him, try and seduce him and get into bed with him. No one would have him as a victim due to his holy aura. He could just kill him and then that would get rid of him.

Seruni laid back against the roof, Ren staring at him. Not a dress, but still feminine clothing. White suspenders with a lacy undershirt, something Ren would only see in those cheesy romantic comedies. He... Didn’t look too bad for a human.

Ren had to admit, he was an attractive human. He had the looks, the personality from what he could see. He had an overall calming demeanor. Most likely good in bed, but most definitely submissive and nervous.

“So... Why is something as beautiful as you awake at this time?” Ren winked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Because I’m trying to read. But a certain demon is being an annoying bitch and won’t let me.” Ow, that hurt. Seruni opened his book, placing it on his lap, the demon glaring at him. He was going to be hard to get with.

“Mm...” Ren kept his eyes on the human, watching him flip through the pages. His calming demeanor, his soft face... It was easy to like, he hadn’t seen an attractive human in forever. “So~, are you single?”

“A-Are you flirting with me?” Seruni glanced over at him.

“Well who wouldn’t?” His trashy and corny flirting seemed to work on Seruni, his face heating up. He was even more cute when he was nervous. A cold harsh business heir who’s embarrassed easily and becomes a nervous wreck... That didn’t sound too bad.

“O-Oh shut up...” Seruni turned away, trying to ignore the man’s affection attitude. Ren didn’t give up though, his hands grasping Seruni’s waist and thigh.

“Woah... Are all humans this...” He jokingly squished his thigh, before getting a slam of a book to the face. “Fuck!”

“I-Oh my god I’m so sorry, wait...” Seruni didn’t pack a punch in it of himself, but that book was thick and heavy, it would definitely leave some bruising. The demon pulled away, trying to get away from him. He wasn’t a holy aura, he was a horrid-

“Mm-“ Ren felt an ice pack hit his face, whining softly at the feeling. “I-It’s so cold...”

“Hey... Just relax. I’m sorry... Just breath.” The demon wanted to pull away, but he didn’t, relaxing slightly. He didn’t think a human could care this much. Sure, Seruni had patched him up before, but he didn’t see it, so it could’ve been anyone. And the scar on his face wasn’t that bad, but...

Owning up to his own faults and doing this? It felt sincere... Unlike any other human he had seen. Everyone else would hurt him even more, or yell and order him around. Seruni was so gentle, his movements were... Soothing.

“...O-Okay...” Ren trusted him, he felt a bit more calm, leaning into his ice pack. Seruni let out a soft sigh, holding the ice pack there.

“Here... Let me make this more comfortable, a-and do-don’t tell a-anyone e-else or I’ll kick you out...” He didn’t have the guts to, but still.

Seruni sat up, pulling Ren’s head down into his lap, the softness of his thighs gently pressing against Ren’s head. The other hand moved the ice pack beside Ren’s cheek. Ren tensed up, he doubted this. He had never been treated like this. With sincere care.

“You’re... You’re messing with me aren’t you?” He shivered in fear, scared of what Seruni was going to do. Sure, he could beat Seruni up, but this was new, he hadn’t ever had this much affection.

“I’m not. I’m trying to ease your mind. Shush. You’re such a dumb demon...” Ren wanted this to last forever... He never got this, he barely knew what was happening, but it made him feel warm inside. Seruni’s thigh warmth, along with the ice pack.

“It’s... Woah.” The demon blinked, “You’re so nice...”

“I-No I’m not! I-I’m... I-I’m not nice...” Seruni looked away, still being as tsundere as ever.

“Oh c’mon! I’ve never gotten a mortal who would risk their night for a demon~. Plus you don’t look hideous!”

“I-... Is that a compliment..? W-Whatever, I’m not n-nice...” Seruni, even during this small little debate, wouldn’t let Ren move around.

“I guess~... But you’re quite special for a human...” Ren stared at the water, enjoying the comfortability.

“Hmph... On that note, you need to sleep.”

“Oh c’mon... No I don’t.”

“Yes, yes you fucking do.” Seruni retorted, his tone colder then before.

“Ugh... I’m not moving from here though.”

“You... Y-You want to sleep on my thighs, d-dumbass?”

“Well I was thinking just sleeping with you, but that works too.”

“Se-“

“Yes, sexually. But if you’re going to be weak and not-H-What are you doing?” Seruni retracted his thighs, picking up Ren’s head.

“Demon, lay flat.”

“Wow. We made a contract and you still don’t know the spell to order me around? What a weakling.” Ren chuckled, shifting around to lay flat, arms behind his head. But this teasing attitude soon changed, Seruni laying on top of Ren, face on his chest. “O-Oh.”

Ren was flustered now, not having experienced this. Usually after doing the deed, he just kinda left, there wasn’t any point in anything after that. And sure, this wasn’t sex, but it was cuddling, and Ren hadn’t ever...

“Shuddup y-you ugly d-demon...” Seruni nuzzled his neck, now really portraying his nickname of a pet.

“Are...” Ren’s heartbeat was a lot faster, him trying to find a way to slow it down, but he wasn’t able to. “Fuck-Uhm, a-are you comfortable?”

“...Y-Yeah...” Seruni’s hands wrapped around Ren’s upper back. And the incubus was panicking, not knowing what to do.

“I-Oh...” He, being more of a sexual person, moved his hand to Seruni’s ass, the other in his hair. Seruni shifted around, but just let the demon, not having the balls to speak up.

Both of them were having a gay panic attack, bright red, and nervous. Ren’s tail moved around Seruni’s back. Soon, even Ren’s wings lazily wrapped around Seruni.

“Does... Is that-I-Is that more warm?” He gently scratched Seruni’s head, Seruni still in his neck.

“I-Y-Yeah...” Both of them went quiet after that, Seruni and Ren way too embarrassed to speak up. Neither of them had ever cuddled before, well, Seruni had a lot, but he had never cuddled with a demon. It was foreign to him. At the same time, Seruni enjoyed it. It mad him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Seruni soon fell asleep, the noise of Ren’s heartbeat easing his mind. It had always calmed him, and even if his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest, Seruni didn’t care.

Ren was trying to sleep, but with his heart racing. He usually only had sex, making them satisfied by that, but this was... So much better, so much softer.

Ren couldn’t even stop staring, how peaceful Seruni looked, how he breathed softly, chest falling and rising against his own. Like a small little cat, or like a prince. How did a human act like such a cold hearted bitch, but then they looked like this, and treated him with care...

This... This mortal was different to Ren. Something worth protecting and cherishing. Ren didn’t understand the emotion, how it felt like his heart was pounding against his chest over and over again. How he wanted Seruni to cuddle him more. How he thought Seruni would make the perfect person to make a contract with.

“...I’d have to ask Rei.” He softly groaned, the missions and tasks he had been assigned completely washing away in his mind, instead filled with a certain little house husband who was undeniably the most adorable mortal Ren had seen in ever.

---

The soft noise of the fire filled the room, Ren half asleep on Seruni’s chest. It had become a habit for these two to cuddle like this after that incident. Sure, they grew close alarmingly fast, but Ren really wanted to learn about human affection, and Seruni had obliged.

“Ah~... No, no horns. Hands back to my horns.” Seruni scratched right where his horns connected to his head, the demon smiling like a dork. “Fuck~... It feels so nice...” Ren loved being the center attention, especially when it came to this mortal in particular.

“Nasty demon, may I ask something?”

“I have a name but go on beautiful~...” Ren was really dazed, so soft from being treated like a little puppy, borderline being a golden retriever boy.

“Why do you seem... So starved for attention?”

“Hm... Oh...” Ren looked a bit sadder, before opening his eyes. “I’ve... I’ve never gotten any affection besides sex. Maybe a bit of flirting, but that’s... That’s it. I-I don’t mean to over spill but...” Seruni stopped scratching when he lowered his tone, having a feeling something was up.

“M-My mom... She left me at young age... Maybe 100 years into my life? M-My dad was just abusive... I’ve... I’ve never been in a committed relationship either. Well, I’ve always wanted to be in one, but ya know... Never happened.” Ren sniffled, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. “A-And... D-Demons are cruel, a-and none of them g-give me the littlest bit of a-attention...”

Seruni’s gaze softened, Ren starting to cry. He grasped the taller’s face, wiping his tears away. Ren rubbed against his hand, acting like a little kitty.

“A-And for a mortal, s-something a-as disgusting a-as you, t-to give m-me what I-I n-need...” Ren whined, trying to not bother. He loved how Seruni treated him, he wanted more of his attention, for him to constantly give him affection and attention and praise...

“Demon.” Ren blinked, teary eyed as Seruni wiped his tears. “Rest in my neck for a second... We can get hot chocolate and watch a horror movie, you don’t have to move from my chest, I-I can give attention to whatever demon part makes you feel happy to be scratched by, a-and... W-We c-can do that i-if it eases your mind... B-But don’t be w-weird a-and t-tell the others d-dumbass...

Ren blinked, before grinning brightly, huddling against Seruni. “Yes, yeah of course! I’d love to!”

“Glad...” Seruni tried to move his arm away, the demon instantly grabbing it. “H-Hey? I-I need...”

“Horns and tail.” The house husband sighed, his hand moving down towards his tail, rubbing it a bit, before scratching where it connected to Ren’s lower back, he did the same with his horns. “Oh satan that feels nice...” He grinned, his face in his nape.

“I’ll... I’ll call the staff.”

And a few moments later, Seruni had kept his promise. The pair were huddle up with a blanket around them, Seruni’s hands now on his wings and massaging them, Saw 1 on the TV, Ren passionately watching seeing as he hadn’t seen it before,

“C’mon... You can do it woman! You can get it off your head!” Ren cheered, having only enjoyed her character so far. Plus she was pretty. Not to mention that Ren whole heartedly believed movies actually portrayed real things, thinking that she was actually in trouble. Seruni didn’t dare correct him. “Yes! You can do it girl!”

Seruni snickered, enjoying the other’s passion, his pure joy and happiness filling the room. The demon grabbed his cup of hot chocolate, holding it, Seruni only able to describe it like he was L from Death Note, and drank some.

“Yes! Don’t kill her possessed doll! Y-Oh wait that, mm~...” He softly groaned, Seruni scratching it in a particular way, distracting from whatever was going on in the movie. It wasn’t in a weird way, but he was an incubus, of course he made weird, a bit sexual, noises whenever he felt happy. “So nice... Thank you Daikon pet...”

The human sighed. “Y-You’re such a dumb demon...”

“Yeah but you love me~...” Ren teased, hearing Seruni’s heartbeat speed up a bit.

“N-No... No I-I don’t...” Seruni looked away, still acting all tsundere as usual. Ren giggled, before grasping his chin, leaning in close to Seruni’s lips, their eyes meeting.

“Mm~...” His finger traced over the softness of the house husband’s lips, Seruni already trembling to his touch. And without hesitation...

He leaned in, watching Seruni close his eyes, trying to compute what was going on, but at the same time he was completely okay with it. Ren giggled, their lips touching slightly, before...

A loud slurp noise, Ren’s tongue licking Seruni’s lips. Due to him being a demon, his tongue was a lot longer then usual, probably going down to his neck.

“Wh-Hey!” Seruni was bright red, but then there was demon spit on his face, Ren snickering softly. “I-It isn’t-Mm!”

Ren actually kissed him this time, easing into the kiss, making Seruni even more flustered. Still, he leaned into it, not moving his hands, but being a lot more gentle with scratching. Just soft kissing, Seruni enjoying the attention.

Ren pulled away, glancing at his lips. “I... Woah. Mortals usually don’t have this good of lips...” He toyed with his with his thumbs, staring dazedly at them. He had to admit, they were almost perfect.

“S-Shut...” Seruni didn’t want to finish, feeling Ren pull him into another kiss, their lips connecting, making Seruni space out. He couldn’t deny how perfect this guy’s lips were.

Soon, Ren leaned in again, surprisingly not horny or sexual about it. He just thought Seruni had a nice pair of lips on him, pulling him even closer, hoping no one would walk in. The hands through his hair, making sure he was focusing on him and him only, nothing else.

Ren was probably getting addicted to kisses from Seruni, even if they only had kissed a few times. His lips felt so soft, like plush. Something that Ren absolutely adored.

“Fuck...” Seruni pulled away, the incubus a bit distracted by all the tension between them. He just watched, Seruni slowly regaining his breath. “Ah... F-Fucking... St-Stupid demon!”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be kissed Daikon~?” Ren winked, Seruni quickly turning his head to glare at the winking boy. “Okay okay, I’m sorry my little pet.”

“S-Stop i-it... I-I’m not a p-pet...” He whined, his hands slowly going back to scratching.

“Human pet~, signed under a contract~. What will I do with you? I’ll just... Make you feel like the little prince you are.” He kept teasing him, trying to see how embarrassed Seruni could get.

“I-I’m not a-a p-pet o-or a pr-prince...” Ren giggled, his hands moving down south, grabbing Seruni’s ass. “H-Hey!”

“Oh nothing~... Just giving these attention~...” Another quick wink, he was back to groping his ass, Seruni bright red as usual. “You can ignore me Daikon~...”

Weakly, Seruni’s hand grabbed Ren’s horns, scratching where his horns and head met, the other moving down to his tail and massaging there. Ren lazily giggled, his face resting in the crook of Seruni’s neck.

“What a cute little human~... Alright~, continue.”

---

“Ooo~...” Ren watched quietly, seeing Seruni busy flipping pancakes. “Morning mortal!”

They had become fairly close after that previous cuddling session. Seruni wanted Ren to be open with him, and hearing him openly talk about his feeling made Seruni a bit happier. He wanted to make sure Ren was happy, reassure him in anyway possible.

“Morning twink.” Seruni yawned, staring at what he was making intently. Ren simply watched, not really caring. He just stood next to him as he cooked breakfast.

“That looks good~... Almost as good as your ass.” Ren winked, before getting shin kicked. Really hard. Not with any mercy. “Ow! Fuck!”

“Y-You fu-fucking perverted d-demon...”

“It’s not my fault you have a good ass.” Ren yawned, acting it off as he wrapped his arms around Seruni, his hands grabbing Seruni’s thighs. “These, belong to mwah~.” Ren chuckled, his hands playing with the squishiness.

“Y-You’re...” Seruni let out a groan. “F-Fucking si-simp...”

“Mhm~...” Ren stayed behind Seruni, doing his normal demon simp things, absolutely worshipping the house husband’s thighs with his hands.

Seruni shakily sighed, continuing to make breakfast, the demon a bit clingy but overall not too concerning. It was just a classic warmth session, nothing too weird.

Soft noises of the pancake hitting the pan then the plate, Seruni having to cook for around 40 people. Ren didn’t even know how Seruni’s house could hold that many people, but it seemed to. And everyone absolutely adored his food, that included Ren.

“Y-You can... Y-You can let go.” Ren heard Seruni mumble, his voice soft, face bright red, trying to play off his nervousness.

“What? Does it make you embarrassed?”

“No-No... I-It’s just t-that we aren’t d-dating? And ya know, w-we’re just friends.” Ren rolled his eyes, only clinging onto him harder. Seruni didn’t seem to mind, but part of what Seruni had said, it just started to gnaw at him.

That they aren’t dating. I mean, Ren knew that, they had only known each other for around 4 months, but Ren had already grown attached to Seruni. He was so kind, and he didn’t seem to mind that Ren was such a dork. An attention hungry little dork. If anything, it seemed like Seruni had found it sweet. Which was the truth. Seruni thought that Ren clinging to him was sweet.

How he looked, how he acted, Ren was a bit way too happy that Seruni existed. He wanted to pick him up sometime, see him flustered but looking down at Ren. Ren just switching it up, kissing him on the lips happily. It made Ren’s heart flutter whenever it happened

...

Was kissing not a common thing between humans? He hadn’t seen any of the humans kiss each other on the lips like him and Seruni did. He had seen people do it before, but most of them were holding hands or had rings on.

“Hey, Daikon. Is... Is kissing a common form of greeting between humans? We did it before, so I assume it’s common...” Ren mumbled the last part, leaning Seruni’s shoulder to look up at him.

“Wh-What? N-No i-it isn’t...” Seruni was trying not to mess up the food, while also focusing on Ren.

“Huh? Then why-“

“Y-You kn-know why stupid!” Seruni looked away, softly kicking Ren’s ankles. Not enough for him to even feel the pain, but maybe a small wince.

“Wh-No I don’t!” Ren blinked, a bit stiffened. “Is it something private?”

“I...I-I suppose...” Seruni was trying to make an excuse of his blatant like to be kissed by the simp, even if it was hard to explain that he had a small crush on the demon. But that was a whole other topic.

Ren sighed, cuddling up against the human’s back, before quietly whispering. “Human~... C’mon~, you don’t want to hide that from me?” And then a loud shriek. And it wasn’t from Seruni. “Fuck!”

“Y-You dumb... D-Dumb fucking de-demon...” Seruni was trying to cool his face, trying to ease his heart, but it was pretty hard to when he had no way to get out of being asked why he wanted to be kissed by Ren and Ren exclusively. Especially when Ren was using a raspy voice to see if he could be sexual and get it out of him.

“Hmph. Whatever.” The demon pouted, trying to play being kicked off, tightening his grasp around Seruni. The feminine male just remained silent, having a small urge to shin kick him again.

The silence remained like that for a few seconds, Seruni setting down the pan for a few seconds. Ren watched, lowkey having an idea of what to do to set Seruni off even more.

Ren grabbed Seruni’s shoulder, spinning him around, before pulling him to the side of the counter, making sure he wouldn’t burn himself on the stove, before grabbing his collar, the other arm on the counter holding Seruni in place, kissing him. Almost instantly he could hear the house husband’s panic, nearly being able to hear the guy’s heart beat.

Still, he quickly melted into the kiss, lips colliding, matching together like two puzzle pieces. His arms wrapped around Ren’s neck, pulling him a bit deeper. Neither of them cared if someone walked in, if this was gay, or anything. They just wanted to be there and kiss until they felt hazy minded, having to pull away, trying to regain their train of thought, before tossing that out the window again, kissing more.

Seruni pulled away, taking deep breaths. “F-Fuck...” Ren panted as well, even if he didn’t need to. Heart racing was an understatement.

Ren traced his thumb over Seruni’s lips, the human still trying to regain his breath. Seruni stayed a panting mess for a few seconds, before softly nodding, Ren instantly taking his chance and tugging him close and kissing him. He chose not to pin him this time, just tugging at his hair so he could make the kiss deeper, his other hand on Seruni’s lower back.

What was this? Ren’s chest felt like it was about to explode, that it was going to burst out of his chest, like something was just drumming on it over and over again. He didn’t hate it, it felt amazing, and it was caused by Seruni.

It didn’t feel like lust, even if that was a factor. It felt so much more... Warm, happy? It felt like his mind was blank with Seruni’s kisses, hugs, his care, everything, it made him a bit dazed.

Ren tried to think, but he couldn’t, feeling Seruni pulling him a bit harder. It was the only thing he could think of. Ren could multitask usually, but this made it so much different.

A loud door slam, Seruni instantly pulling away, pushing Ren off, landing against the counter. It was all so sudden to Ren, making him tremble a bit. It was another human, a more disgusting one. Well, all mortals were disgusting, maybe minus Seruni. But his mortalness did make Ren a bit ticked off.

The other human didn’t seem to care what was going on, simply walking to what Seruni called a fridge, pulling out a can of something orange with a fruit on the cover. They chugged it down, taking a quick sigh of relief after they finished it, before casually tossing it in the trash.

“See ya.” It was so fast, neither Ren or Seruni were near each other, Ren letting out a sigh of relief.

“Fuck...” Ren walked closer, arms wrapping around Seruni, a wink towards him. “May I, Daikon?”

Something seemed off, Seruni going quiet, Ren a bit put off. Something was on Seruni’s mind.

“You’re... You’re a demon, why am I even fucking...” Seruni dropped down, getting out from in his arms. “No-No no... You’re a demon, I’m not supposed to be with you.”

“Huh-What?” Ren blinked, staring hardly at the smaller. “We legit just fucking made ou-“

“No, Ren, I don’t think you fucking understand... I know you mean no harm, but I have a high profile family, and if I’m caught with someone like you, a demon? I’m fucking dead.” Seruni grasped the counter, pinching his nose slightly.

“I-Oh.” Ren grasped his arm. “Is your family... Is your family really that important to you?”

“Yes, what the fuck do you think?” Seruni slightly raised his voice, but his mood instantly changed, realizing he had just snapped at Ren. “Wait-Fuck I’m sorry, it’s... It’s my fault, I need to go... I’ll call someone else in.” Ren tried to grab Seruni’s hand, only for the smaller to jerk it away.

And there he was left, alone.

---

Ren... Didn’t know what he was feeling. Pissed, mad, enraged, Iike there was a pit in his stomach due to this. But even with that, he was trying to solve the feeling he was feeling about Seruni. It felt nice, but he didn’t understand it. Whenever Seruni was around, he felt a bit light headed, like Seruni was causing it. He didn’t think Seruni was a warlock or something of the sort, he was a mortal, but it was like some spell had been put on him, causing him to swoon.

Kissing him was replaying like a movie in his mind, like it was something that would never stop. The fight after was still in his mind, but at the same time, Seruni’s kiss was so fucking nice, and everything bad washed out of his mind due to it.

“Fuck~...” He suffocated his face in the pillow, trying to distract himself in some way. He ignored the wetness on his face from previously crying, seeing as they had only fought a few hours ago. He felt so light headed, almost like he could fly-Never mind, he could fly. Well, that he could fly without wings.

Ren grabbed the phone like device, dialing some random digits, picking it up to call his boss. Rei Mitsuru, she was honestly a scary women, and he was not ready to talk with her.

“...Hello?” Her voice came through the phone, Ren’s posture almost immediately tensing up. The merciless women already sounded tired of him. It was at this moment he chose not to bring up the fight, knowing she would probably be mad that he had already gotten into a fight with a non-victim.

“Yeah, it’s Ren...” He nervously spoke, his entire demeanor filled with fear.

“Akisuta? Oh. Hmph.” Rei sighed, already speaking. “Tell me, what are your intentions? If it’s not worth my time I expect an apology.” Yeah, he knew why. She was definitely stepping on someone based on the gagging in the background.

“I know this is a really odd question, but you know love? Like, the feeling that you feel when you... I don’t know, I’ve never felt it. Which-“

“Cliche. And are you asking what love means?” Rei chuckled. “What? Did you fall in love with a fucking whoreish mortal?”

“He’s not a whore!” Ren blinked, realizing what he had just said. Love, Seruni? Well, he thought he loved Seruni, I mean, it was perfectly plausible. I mean, he did look nice, he seemed overall... Nice enough. Plus Ren could force him to cuddle without getting into too much trouble.

“You... You fell in love with a human?” Rei seemed more cold, and the gagging had even stopped. He heard a lot crack and yelp in the background, following by the clacking of her heels. “Oh my god, you disgusting, foolish, nasty, ugly demon. You stupid idiot, what is your problem?”

“I-I don’t... I don’t know... He just... He’s just there, and... I kinda... I’ve never felt more happy around someone. He treats me normally, and...” Ren shivered quietly. “I like cuddling with him by the fire as he plays with my tail and wings, watching a horror thing, then talking while we do so, occasionally our lips meeting as we talk, enjoying the attention. It feels right! But, the thought of fighting with him,” He tried to be round about mentioning the fight, “it hurts, I don’t want to fight with him, he makes me so happy... And I love it, not the fighting, just his presence, and I don’t know for sure, but I think I might be in love with him? That isn’t weird right?”

The clacking of shoes stopped, followed by a sigh. “Tell me, what do you feel when you’re around him? Bliss? Joy? Does it feel like he’s causing this?”

“Oh! Well he’s super handsome and cute, he’s good with kids, he’s the owner of this household. He has a purer and more calming aura then an unholy aura, and it seems like he wouldn’t be a victim for anyone.”

“His name?”

“Seruni Daikon.”

“...We have a Seruni Dakion?”

“Oh, uhm, him! Yeah! Sorry, his name sounds so much cuter with Daikon, right?” Ren snickered, listening to Rei type.

“...He seems clean. An assistant to a lot of murders, but, you know.” Rei sighed, looking at her reports on the man.

“Woah... You think he’d commit arson with me?” Ren kicked his feet back and forth behind him, smiling at the thought of Seruni and him committing crimes together.

“No, looks like he has a stick up his ass, but... He seems pleasant, I like him.” She was clearly going through his record, smirking softly at what she was seeing. It was quite pleasant for Ren to pick a half decent man. “A house husband, would be a good partner. Not to mention feminine, he doesn’t seem bad.”

“Mhm~... Soft thighs, soft cuddler, amazing food, the best lips I’ve ever kissed, they’re addicting, and imagining him as mine would be so fucking amazing, it’s one of the best thoughts I can think of right now...”

“So... Are you in love with him?”

“I... I think I am.” Ren sighed with a dumb founded smile on his face. “I love Seruni... That seems right, I like that.”

“Does he seem to like you back?”

“No idea.”

“Okay, what about interactions you have had?”

“Ooh~, he cuddled with me on the couch after I had an emotional breakdown, his hands were just scratching at all the right spots, not sexually. Not to mention the kisses, how amazing his lips felt against mine, his embarrassment is so fucking sweet. He’s good with kids, even if I want to kill a child.” Ren explained, trying to fit all his thoughts on Seruni into one thought. It was hard. “Also his thighs, they’re like little pillows, I need to see them-“

“Nothing sexual, I will block you and boot your ass back into the demon realm.”

“Alright alright, Satan.” The incubus rolled his eyes, a bit too dazed to form a sentence without rambling about his small little tsundere crush. “I like it. I really like being in love with him.”

“Is that so?”

“Duh. I mean, he might not like me back, a-and that hurts, but, if he does, imagine all the little dates we could go on, cuddling on his bed, how we could just talk for hours, really anything. We would be partners in crime.” A shaky sigh left his lips. “That isn’t weird right?”

“No, you’re just a whore.” Ren groaned, taking that a bit personally.

“Rude... I just think he’s so...”

“Perfect, yaddity yadda. Whatever. Is there anything else you had to tell me?” Rei tapped her heel out of impatience, almost sensing something was off.

“...Yeah, actually. See uhm... Me and Seruni got into a fight recently. I didn’t mean to set him off or anything, it’s my fault, I kissed him and he realized just with a sudden realization that I was a demon, and that we shouldn’t even be in contact, and I got scared. Do you have any advice to settle this? I’ve never been in a situation like this.” Ren rambled a bit.

“I see... Well one, he’s acting pretty stupid. He shouldn’t be acting that way towards an incubus, stupid mortal.” Ren snickered at that, but it was a lot more sour, nervous. “But I suppose if you just let it happen. Don’t try and solve it with him, he might need time to think. When you have alone time together, then bring it up then, okay?”

Ren quickly shook his head. “Alright, thank you. I really appreciate it ma’am.”

“No problem whore, now I have to get back to stepping on men, this guy took all my panties. I’ll talk later you simp.” And a ring, and she had hung up.

Ren sighed, flipping over. That was that. He was in love, in love with a dumb mortal. He didn’t know how to take it, but at the same time, he really didn’t care, he was happy, knowing what it was. Even if it stun that he was in a conflict with him, he felt like he’d be able to solve it eventually.

“I... I love you Seruni Dakion.”

---

“Ren? Ren why aren’t you asleep?” Seruni walked into Ren’s room, seeing the demon up and just staring at his phone blankly. He looked tired, spaced out, but he didn’t seem to want to sleep. “Hey! Stupid demon!”

(Part 2!)

#artsy crime #oc x oc #gay #nblm #quick one shot

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ashaleya-birb · 4 years

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Oh? You’re approaching me?

- my name’s ashleah weird yes but please just call me ash ^^

> main blog : @ashaleya-birb

> goro akechi writing blog : @justice-aide

> toilet-bound hanako-kun writing blog : @damedamedame

- i’m also on ao3 ! : Ashush

> works on ao3:

... [light yagami x reader - slip of the tongue]

... [various goro akechi x reader one-shots]

... [adult confidant au]

... [various karma akabane x okuda manami one-shots]

... [chemistry - an okuda manami alternate universe]

... [currently wondering whether or not to post my teru fic collection on ao3 too]

- i look forward to meeting and knowing you all !! shoot me an ask about anything and i’ll answer because i <33

- currently writing for tbhk boys (damedamedame) :

> teru minamoto, MY LOVE, MY L I FE SOURCE

> kou minamoto, my precious pup

> akane aoi, of which i am heavily attracted to his glasses

> hanako / amane yugi, sad boyo not going anywhere and has fallen for daikon

> tsukasa, of who i am concerned of

- please read my rules first before requesting ! i won’t write any other other characters unless i feel like it :’))

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hanako-san · 6 months

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Guess! Guess! These ask is from someone you know ✨✨

Some reasons to hate the Daikon:

Always, swooning over other guys (its 100+ chapter peeps! Cant take anymore)

Didnt apologize for Her mistakes!

Always naive, and calls for help from hanako

Bullied Amane, in pp arc but never apologized

Always falling and getting used by guys but know that she knows they are using her, she wants to be used (famous words from akane telling her she is a maso)

Reasons to love Aoi! (HanaAoi)

Aois hair are in circles like donuts, Amane likes donuts

Amane deserves better then a selfish Daikon a beauty (Aoi)

Amane tried to kiss aoi when he was daikon

Aoi has flaws, but she accepted it knowing everyone has secrets they keep

Aoi has the best character arc Despite not being a main character

Thier quite similar in personality

Shes the best gurl

Actual better bff who listens unlike a certain daikon

Thats all!

Hmm?? My guardian angel? 😊✨✨

Thank you for this wonderful ask! Briefly and concisely, I would like to expand on one point because I am curious about your opinion.

in p.p arc She said 'I'm so sorry' when Amane admonished her, but that doesn't count, right? because honestly she started beating him again at the end of the p.p arc, saying that he was an "abuser", being an abuser herself and beating him at the same moment, total hypocrisy on her part💀 , I honestly think that such an apology is not an apology. She really doesn't regret it and in the p.p. arc it wasn't the only arc where she did something like that,what do you think? She has never sincerely apologized to anyone, she is always reprimanded and will do it, but she does not regret her own actions. She never regrets her actions because she thinks she didn't do anything, so her sorrys are insincere and cannot be considered a real apology.

I was just reading the line "you are a fetishist" when I came to this point in the question to remind of some facts 🤣

Comparing Aoi 's hair to donuts is so cute. I never thought about it, but it's one more reason to love them very much! 🥺✨

#anti yashiro nene #my answers #aoi akane #hanako x aoi #hanaaoi #reblog self

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medea10 · 4 years

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My Review of Toilet Bound Hanako-kun

How did I… *giggles inappropriately like a 7 year old* What the hell kind of anime is this? Does this anime take place on the crapper? Shit, I gotta watch this mess!

And seriously, who animated this? Was it the same guys that did Danganronpa?

Let me see…Studio Lerche…YEP! And that also explains why the main boy is played by Megumi Ogata again!

At Kamome Academy, there’s said to be seven wonders haunting the school. One of the wonders revolves around an apparition by the name of Hanako-kun. Hanako resides in the third stall of the third floor to the girl’s bathroom. It is believed that Hanako has the ability to grant any wish when summoned. We begin our tale with young girl, Nene Yashiro, seeking Hanako’s help to get a young boy to fall in love with her. But when she summons Hanako it is quickly discovered that Hanako is a boy living in a girl’s bathroom stall.

Your guess is as good as mine! Add another questionable character Megumi Ogata plays!

Due to a misunderstanding with a mermaid artifact, Yashiro is now bound to Hanako. Kind of like a slave or a hostage or a new friend. However you interpret this contract! And then there’s this monk in training (named Minamoto) who has a vendetta against Hanako. So we see this guy throughout the series as well.

Let’s have fun with the wacky misadventures of Yashiro, a gung-ho monk, and the toilet-bound spirit, Hanako-kun.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is a FUNimation licensed anime and they managed to dub several episodes prior to the COVID pandemic. I never got a chance to watch the dub, so I’ll just focus on the sub. Megumi Ogata is back to play another mysterious boy. And as for Akari Kitou, I’m starting to hear her a lot more often in the last two years. I really enjoyed her as Yashiro. Almost reminds me of her voice in Hitoribocchi! She’s in quite a bit of animes in 2020, so I would watch out for her. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from!

JAPANESE CAST: *Hanako is played by Megumi Ogata (known for Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon S, Yukito on CCS, Kurama on Yu Yu Hakusho, Naegi on Danganronpa, Shinji on Evangelion, Ayato on Angel Beats, and Yugi on YGO)

*Yashiro is played by Akari Kitou (known for Aru on Hitoribocchi, Kotoko on In/Spectre, and Kaho on Blend S)

*Minamoto is played by Shouya Chiba

ENGLISH CAST: *Hanako is played by Justin Briner (known for Deku on My Hero Academia, Yukito on CCS: Clear Card, Luck on Black Clover, and Mitarai on Danganronpa 3)

*Yashiro is played by Tia Ballard (known for Happy on Fairy Tail, Yamato on My Love Story, Kagura on Fruits Basket 2019, Komari on Little Busters, Zero Two on Darling in the FranXX, and Megumi on Shiki)

*Minamoto is played by Tyson Rinehart (known for Daru on Steins;Gate, Enji on Tokyo Ghoul, Hifumi on Danganronpa, Matsuda on High School DxD, and Bartolomeo on One Piece)

SHIPPING: At the beginning of the series, it seems as though Yashiro was the type to fall in love easily with pretty-looking boys. But will always meet up with disappointment as all these boys prefer someone else or they suddenly have standards. There’s even a running joke about Yashiro having fat ankles (or daikon legs), that has been a turn-off to some of the boys that she falls for. But a few episodes later, we notice Yashiro having a little crush on Hanako. I shouldn’t question a little girl falling in love with a ghost who loiters around the girl’s bathroom because this is Japan. Absurdity at best! There’s also this sort of admiration that Minamoto has for Yashiro. I really didn’t think too much on that due to this anime laying on the Hanako x Yashiro ship thick. And also…

…

I support Minamoto x Mitsuba.

I found this cute and I really wish for more between these two characters if this series gets a continuation. Don’t at me! I don’t care if Mitsuba’s an apirition and dumbass over here has to exercise demons. This is cute!

ANIMATION: Aside from this animation looking like it came from the ghost of Danganronpa past, I would like to commend this on something else. So one thing I do have to give credit to is that this anime, more often than not feels like you’re reading a manga from the way the design is setup. I just thought that was neat and felt like saying something about that.

ENDING: Pretty much all of the strange anomalies surrounding the school are just rumors (but the ghosts are very much real, just the tales about them are fake). And the one spreading those rumors is Hanako’s twin brother (who is also a ghost), Tsukasa. I should also point out that Hanako’s real name is Amane. But we really shouldn’t worry about this sibling rivalry as we know nothing about how or why Hanako killed his brother and it’s not brought up all that much in the finale. Yeah, this is balls-to-the-wall trippy.

Instead, we get a small arc of Minamoto befriending a spirit named Mitsuba. However this goes south really fast when Mitsuba’s soul is used by one of the seven wonders of the school and is then manipulated by Hanako’s twin brother Tsukasa. After that, Mitsuba is unable to know why he died or even the time he spent with Minamoto is erased.

In the final episode, we kinda go back to aspects of the first episode. As you may recall, Yashiro swallowed a mermaid artifact that makes her turn into a fish whenever she gets wet. Yashiro is visited by two fish spirits who want her to drink this mermaid blood potion so that she can cut the hold Hanako has on her and become the mermaid princess in their realm. Yashiro was kind of in an awkward situation as she cares for Hanako, but is constantly thrown bags of reality at her with how Hanako has treated her since forming the contract. They promise her popularity, a harem of eligible fish bachelors, and an escape from her body issue with her “daikon legs”.

Hey, you’d develop a complex too if people constantly taunt you for having fat ankles!

Anyways, she denied their request. But they were rather persistent and grabbed her by force. Thankfully, Hanako wasn’t far behind and saved her and set the fish packing.

Yashiro and Hanako’s relationship as a whole takes a turn for the better as Yashiro decides to stay by Hanako and he will eventually confide in Yashiro about his past.

This was a unique series. I mean, it was all over the place in where this story was going to go. But in terms of conclusions, not so much! I mean, Hanako’s brother is still spreading rumors around the school and unsuspecting students repeat it despite it being mostly false. We’re unsure of many things about those ghost brothers and the drama that went down when Tsukasa died. Hell, I’m not even sure the manga is that far ahead either. I loved the animation to this. Sure it looks like a Danganronpa clone, but again Studio Lerche animated it. But their direction of making this feel like a colorized manga at times was something I like to commend it for.

Each episode had a nice, quirky vibe to it whenever Hanako’s on the screen. So I say give it a try. It’s not a long series.

FUNimation has all 12 episodes available for streaming. Now that FUNimation is doing simuldubs again, Hanako-kun has a few more episodes available in English.

#anime review #toilet bound hanako kun #nene yashiro #jibaku shonen hanako kun #hanako kun #tsukasa yugi #kou minamoto #sousuke mitsuba

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multsicorn · 5 years

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this may or may not be a pimping post

Before I got into The Untamed, what I knew was: yeah, it’s gay. It’s a tv show from China, so there’s censorship, but the two main guys really are in love. They get married, they have a child together. All of which is true! And none of which is enough to make me watch something, guys. So what’s the story? Well:

In fantasy ancient China, against a background of intrigue and strife between powerful clans of magic-users (aka ‘cultivators’)… two young men meet at school, flirt, and become friends. As the aforementioned strife explodes into all-out war, the free-spirited Wei Wuxian starts using dark (aka ‘demonic’) magic, and eventually finds himself in opposition to the rest of the clans. Caught between the rogue necromancer he loves and the rules of the world he believes in, what will the virtuous Lan Wangji do?

(and after a time-skip, sixteen years later, after Wei Wuxian has died and come back to life - that’s not a spoiler, it’s the start of the show - when the demonic magic that Wei Wuxian developed and the power struggle among the clans that killed him are still around, and again making trouble, how will Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian overcome these dangers, and finally get their shit together?)

THAT’S the story. Doesn’t that sound more interesting?

And I love so many many things about it, I just had to try to make a list.

~~~~~~

First off, The Untamed is DELICIOUSLY TROPETASTIC. IDDY AS FUCK. etc. Let me count some of the AO3 tags:

There is so much hurt/comfort. Wei Wuxian, especially, gets hurt, threatened, tied or locked up, etc., so many times throughout this show, and we get to dwell on his suffering so much. Lan Wangji’s frequently there to protect him and/or help him recover! And it goes the other way round, too: Lan Wangji gets hurt or threatened, and Wei Wuxian heals or protects him.

There is… not quite huddling for warmth? But Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get trapped together in a cave, not just once, but twice! The second scene goes so far as to include some undressing on the premise of ‘let me get out of these wet clothes,’ and sleeping sitting up next to each other.

For that matter, there’s multiple instances of undressing for ‘important plot reasons.’ Multiple instances of carrying or attempting to carry each other, for ‘important plot reasons.’ And Wei Wuxian putting Lan Wangji to bed (so tenderly!) for ‘important plot reasons.’

SO MANY people get tied up SO MUCH I’m just saying. I kept noticing it ^__^.

There’s a pair of older (not-explicitly-canon) male cultivators who are wandering the world together, basically doing exactly what Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji want to do, showing them that it’s possible.

Speaking of ‘after the time-skip’ - like I said, Wei Wuxian dies and is resurrected. Lan Wangji not only mourns him for sixteen years, but also takes in and raises a young boy who Wei Wuxian had introduced as his own son. (That’s the ‘have a child together’ part, and also canon kidfic, and I don’t even go there but it’s so adorable.)

Again, speaking of ‘they’re just this canon’ - they go through several key of traditional Chinese courtship and wedding rituals together, WITHOUT EVER TALKING ABOUT IT, cause it’s just, apparently, something they silently agree to do. (And Wei Wuxian touches Lan Wangji’s ‘only for parent, children, and spouses’ ~sacred forehead ribbon~ several times, starting in episode six.)

~~~~~~

Some more of my FAVORITE THINGS EVER that aren’t quite so smush-em-together:

Lan Wangji HUMS A SONG for Wei Wuxian when they’re trapped in mortal peril in a cave - BY WHICH HE THEN RECOGNIZES Wei Wuxian when Wei Wuxian plays it almost twenty years later.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are so drift compatible. Whether they’re investigating or fighting or playing duets or doing magic, they trust each other implicitly, and grow to understand each other so well that they can eventually communicate with simply a look.

There are multiple times when Lan Wangji holds Wei Wuxian back from ~going too far,~ when Wei Wuxian’s being influenced by the demonic magic. Lan Wangji knows Wei Wuxian just that well; Lan Wangji’s grip on Wei Wuxian’s wrist is enough to stop him. And sometimes it isn’t! Multiple times, also, Lan Wangji attacks Wei Wuxian with his sword, not even in spite of but because of the fact that he cares (so very much!) about him. And there’s multiple times when Wei Wuxian (almost, or actually) invites Lan Wangji to kill him - only, specifically, Lan Wangji - if that’s what needs doing.

(That whole paragraph above is literally MY FAVORITE THING EVER, I could go a far way towards obsession just from that alone. Being honest about myself here.)

And then there’s Wei Wuxian as a character: his endless questioning of rules and accepted ways of doing things. The restlessness, both physical and intellectual, that makes him so much fun to watch, all the time, cause he’ll never sit still, or stop running his mouth. The way he’s constantly delighted by every little thing, food and wine and his own cleverness. Whenever everything else has paused for a bit, he is still A DELIGHT.

And THEN, there’s Wei Wuxian building a whole new home (and ~found family~, but, like, literally, they’re compared directly to his family-of-origin which he’s been forced by plot reasons to leave behind) for himself from the ground up in the Burial Mounds. At the height of the conflict! He’s figuring out how to grow lotus roots, and trying to make enough money for other food by selling (the subtitles say turnips, but it looks like daikon), hiding away and building houses and inventing on a cursed mountainside.

~~~~~

And it’s not all about the main characters! The most important of the general themes above: suffering, comfort and protection, restraining or fighting with people you love - recur among many secondary characters. I couldn’t list how many relationships of loyalty and obligation, conflicted or not, there are in this show - along with some very devasating betryals!

There’s a complicated sibling relationship (between the main character and his foster brother) which honestly rivals the central romantic pairing for me… which I could write a whole other post about, but that’s not this post. There are, actually, quite a few interesting, intense, and variably fucked-up sibling relationships in this show!

There’s a couple of characters who are very good at manipulation, although who and how doesn’t become clear until the end of the show.

And then there’s the whole wonderfully fucked up tragedy which is the Yi city arc: a psycho mass murder is rescued by and lives domestically with a ~too good for this world~ Taoist monk, whom he both tricks into murdering people and also genuinely falls for. And screws up irrevocably.

And the shallowest stuff: scenery porn! costume porn! swooshy hair and swooshy robes and swords and arrows and magic talismans (some of which are written in one’s own blood) and flutes and stringed instruments (guqins) and cute bunnies and a ‘wonder’ dog that the lead is scared of even though it’s adorable!

There’s so very much that I love. These are the main things, I think.

~~~

There are some things I don’t like, too.

The pacing is just a mess. The first two episodes make no sense as they’re placed, they introduce a bunch of characters that you’ll never see again and some more you won’t see until two-thirds through the show, and they’re in complete medias res re: the plot. Everyone seems to say ‘just don’t worry,’ but if you don’t like watching things you don’t get (like me? is this such a rare preference?), I would say to actually start with episode three, and then in the middle of or after episode 33 (you’ll know when, it’ll be obvious), go back to episodes 1 and 2 to watch the start of the post-resurrection story. Even skipping past the first two episodes, the plot takes a while to get going: if you like the lighthearted school shenanigans, you won’t have much of those for long, and if you prefer Conflict and Drama like me, you’ve still got to wait a little while.

(Lan Wangji starts having expressions, eventually, and Wei Wuxian becomes (somewhat) less of a brat.)

It’s cheesy fantasy show with not-great production values, the fight scenes and so on look ridiculous. I love the costumes and the acting but… I’m not picky re: those sorts of things. The reaction shots go on way too long (until you’re obsessed with every character and are glad for them), and subsequent shots sometimes have a way of overlapping with each other so that when the angle changes it looks like you’ve rewound a split second.

Lots of stuff about how the magic works never makes any sense. Don’t worry, just go with it.

Lots and lots AND LOTS of people die. I think the gore level is pretty mild/moderate, compared to the body count? The show’s a sausage fest (about ~80% or more male, maybe closer to ~90% by screentime!) and although there are several interesting female characters, all but one minor one die by the story’s end. (Also, although there’s no rape on-screen of women or of significant characters - there is of one minor villainous male character, and explicitly one and very arguably two backstories of rape between characters’ parents.)

~~~

If you wanna take a look at the show before diving right in, here are a few of my favorite vids:

The Archer by lolachrome, a character study of the main character (Wei Wuxian)

Daylight by helcinda, about the main relationship (Wangxian)

Sharp-Dressed Men by alpheratz, for the ooh shiny factor

Devil from Heaven by gamachanlive, focused on all the suffering and conflict and all four of my personal favorite relationships

#the untamed #cql #wangxian #this is WAY TOO LONG #and will probably tell exactly zero (0) people whether this show/fandom is #~right for them~#but i had to write it so... lol #this is why! although i didn't know it till i'd watched it!#it is VERY FUCKING RIGHT for ME

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burning-clutch · 4 years

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Crashing Like A Tidal Wave With Cardiac Arrest: Part 2

Read on a03: Here (chapter 2 of 2) Pairings: Jack/Maddie Trigger Warnings: Blood and violence. major character death (part 1) Author: @burning-clutch (Team Ghost) Total words: 6132 Prompt by: Anthropwashere / Anthrop AO3 and FFN: Anthrop

-.-.-.-

Danny was numb… numb to everything.

He could feel his friends hugging him tightly, and his father and whoever else clung to him at any given moment to offer him comfort, but it did little. He had never realized you could hurt so much you could become this numb… Emotionally, that is to say

He felt tired too, but not physically... Purely emotionally tired. He was tired of having people ask him how he was holding up, and how he was doing, how they could help him. He didn’t know how to help himself so how could they?

He remembers food, he remembers the days like they were a blur leading up to the funeral. He was just… aware but not there. His mother was cremated, and the urn chosen was one of a pretty polished blue and black stone. Not that it mattered… he was too busy staring blankly at the picture of his mother that was sitting in front of the infernal holder.

His mother smiling so brightly and carefree in the picture, taken from their last extrusion to the celestial observatory, his mother who stood at a decent height, condensed into a tiny stone container the size of his head…. He could hardly fathom it…

He hardly heard the words his father said and couldn’t understand the ones his sister had tried to get out, her tears blocking her voice from truly projecting itself, despite there being a microphone there.

Then it was Danny’s turn to speak. Normally public speaking would give him butterflies in his stomach, which at this point would be a welcome change to the numbness settled in his chest… but alas it was not to be. He had his speech printed out, and he read it flatly. When he was done he left the podium and didn’t even feel it when he tripped down the small three stair height difference and face planted on the hardwood floor.

He simply pushed himself up and continued on. That seemed to be all he ever did nowadays…

His one major saving grace was there were only a few ghost attacks that had happened, and the ones that did were simple minded animal ghosts that had no semblance of true intelligence. He was thankful for that… he could comfortably leave those to the Red Huntress and take some time for himself to just… well… be numb.

Danny watched blankly ahead as a few more people went up and said their piece, before the pastor, priest, daikon? Whatever the guy was, came up to say his closing statements. Then he rose, wordlessly and grabbed his part of the case, a ghost as a pallbearer would be ironic, funny even if he wasn’t numb.

They didn’t have to walk far, the funeral home that they were in for the service, had the cemetery just in the back. There was an odd sense of finality when they put the urn into place in the wall. A vase to the side of the plaque was practically overflowing with fresh flowers.

Another odd feeling came when they hung the plack in place. Maddie Fenton with her birth year and death year subscribed in bronze forevermore, while Jack Fenton, was beside it, birth year in place but the death year left open like some sort of taunting reminder to the man’s own mortality.

Jack sighed, running his hand across the plaque seemingly having a similar thought to his son as he didn’t stop at just Maddie’s name, tracing over his own.

“We should go. The wake is starting…” Jazz’s soft voice seemed to startle Jack from whatever thoughts had been running in his head. Still, he nodded and off they went.

Danny seemed to blink and he was there, Sam and Tucker once again glued to his sides as Danny stared blankly at the TV that showed pictures of his mother on loop. Nothing felt real. This was like a horrible dream worse than anything Nocturne could conjure up.

But it was real. Too real.

Jazz had been trying, she really had, but with Danny and Jack both having had seen the grizzly seen, the blood the-- the… Danny shook his head. It was too much to process…

It was something straight out of a movie, but the scent will be something that he knows will haunt him longer than anything else…

Danny blinked again and a sandwich was in his hand. Egg maybe? It didn’t matter, he wasn’t hungry, and besides, he didn’t really need to in here. The grief and sorrow were practically supercharging his ghost side. That would keep his human half satiated too.

The next time Danny blinked he found himself in a car, someone he wasn’t related to, or maybe he was, he couldn’t remember and frankly didn’t care to. As another blink sent him home where he and his father were curled up on the couch together. They were both sitting and staring blankly ahead at the TV which had been off for a while now, Jack’s arm around his son in a rather weak side hug, well for Jack anyway.

Danny was just thankful for the contact, the sort of normalcy and grounding the gesture brought. The other thing he was thankful for was that Vlad hadn’t tried to weasel his way into the funeral home, for, well, any of it.

It was refreshing actually. Though it also made him suspicious.

He also hadn’t really gotten too much time to talk with his father about the revelation either, and what that meant moving forward, and Danny, of course, didn’t want to push the man about it, but now the funeral was over those thoughts returned full force. At least his Dad was still here with him, that was something. Right?

Still …

“Dad… I’m…. I’m sorry.” Danny said after a moment of silence.

“I know… but you shouldn’t have to be. It’s not your fault and none of this should have ever been on you….” Came Jack’s sombre response. “If anyone’s to blame it’s that Wisconsin ghost… he’s been plaguing this family ever since we went to that family reunion in Wisconsin... “ Jack shook his head.

“I still should have… should have told you sooner… and mom too...” Danny argued back weakly, flicking his reddened eyes to his father. When had he started crying again?

“It doesn’t matter now… I … that didn’t come out right…” Jack sighed rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I mean I know now so you shouldn’t have to worry over the what if’s son…”

“Still…” Danny started but was cut off as his father turned to him and hugged him tightly, pressing the air out of him.

Jack had a few tears that flowed free from his eyes himself, though he refused to let go even as he could feel his boys snot building on the back of his jumpsuit. “You really can’t change the past, and even if you could, you shouldn’t… this isn’t something that we like, but it’s how it should be I think... It’s just something we need to get through right?”

Danny sighed, he got that message loud and clear, thanks, Clockwork… “Yeah…” he responded despite the inner turmoil he was facing.

The numbness continued for the week, falling in line with his routine. Even when ‘Phantom’ once again started reappearing in public, people commented on his lack of glow, though he had regained some of his lustre from the day his mother was killed, taken from him, cut down in her prime, he looked nothing like he usually did.

When Val, or rather The Red Huntress, confronted him about his duller look. Danny had tried to avoid her, had told her he didn’t want to talk about it, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer, shooting and attacking him as she normally does… Only this time, for Danny at least, it was different…

He had only wanted to fire a small blast, enough to take down her board’s engine and make her lose control of her speed and have to land… what he got was a large emotionally charged blast that obliterated her board. Danny stared at his hand a moment before snapping into action catching Valerie at the last second and turning them intangible.

When they were safely on the ground he’d uttered a quiet ‘sorry’ before going invisible and flying off, leaving a bewildered and angry huntress in his wake. The ghost was clearly getting more powerful… buy why. She’d remembered it starting right around Maddie Fenton’s death but… that couldn’t possibly be related…

She vowed to track him down again and shoot the answers out of him… as soon as she gets a new board that is…

The routine continued like this for a while for Danny… he was numbly floating on some days and hardly there on others. He would get up, eat, and go to school. Come home stare blankly at his off computer screen before going on a lacklustre patrol before dinner. He would patrol again before bed then sleep. Rinse, repeat.

After about two weeks he started to see things in his father again, how he would smile at Jazz when she came home with a perfect score, or how he would excitedly eat fudge, even how the large man started to regain some of his normal volume.

That it turn helped Danny regain some sense of normalcy to allow himself the illusion that everything was fine. That if he just went down the hall at night he would see his parents cuddle up together in their bed, of id he went down to the lab after school his mother would be there,

Yet it never was…

Danny had the sad realization, once his father started bouncing back to a bit of his normal personality, that was, that he didn’t notice as much of his mother’s lack of presence now…

It hit him like a ton of bricks.

His mother was always in the lab or working on some kooky invention or another, and when he did see her it was at the dinner table. Even then sometimes there were days often more than not, where she would opt to work through the family dinner time. Jack had always come up with the mention of food.

It was the main thing Danny had always wanted more of as a family… normal dinners. One’s where they just ate stuff and talked about how school was and not how they planned on dissecting ‘Phantom’ much like his father had started doing now… and all without his mom…

Jazz had helped pick up the extra chores to make it easier on Jack, and Danny had already started to do his own laundry before this… Meals had been rotated from person to person now… a schedule that his mother wasn’t on but worked without… the floors were still swept and vacuumed and the furniture was still dusted.

Jack hadn’t been in the lab as much either stating that it just wasn’t the same without her and it was too raw a nerve for him at the moment… but still, without his mom, he saw so much more of his father…

He hated that normalcy now… that sense that things were alright when everything felt so foreign, yet so… so… he didn’t know what to think really and that was the problem. He just didn’t understand this overly complex mix of emotion or the fact that he could enjoy this house without his mother in it.

It just felt wrong to do so…

Was it wrong? Or was that just him being a screw up again?

It was some time, almost a month later he’d found out Vlad had taken pity on him and made sure that the ghosts would leave Amity alone when Skulker showed up for the first time in a while. Surprisingly the hunting ghost paused his attack and backed off fairly quickly after Danny had exploded on him.

Both figuratively and literally, if the smouldering hole in the pavement from his halfhearted ghostly wail about his mother’s passing had anything to say about it. Skulker seemed to become contemplative a moment before disappearing back to wherever he’d come from.

And Danny simply continued on his way back to class, trying to calm his shaking hands and aching heart. Not to mention he had to try to make it back before Valerie was able to get out here herself and after him…

It was later that night though when something changed, something felt off, he just didn’t know what it was at first… Though when his ghost sense went off, stronger than it had been the last little bit, and he sensed two decently powerful ghosts, he knew he had to head out, despite his father's asking that he stay in the house once it was past midnight.

He heard the fight before he’d seen it, thought the smoke that billowed up from downtown was a good indicator of where he was headed. He zipped off towards the city’s core and instantly had to flick into intangibility as Skulker was thrown at him.

Danny blinked and frowned watching the robotic hunter spark and twitch felled on the ground, before looking up to his new opponent. His hands that were awash with energy fizzled out in an instant as he stared open mouthed to the new ghost before him.

They were female in form the hips and chest made that obvious. Her hair was icy blue and moved in an invisible wind and like smoke, it disappeared when it moved too far away from the source. Her eyes were a bright golden colour with iris only a shade or two darker and what would be the whites of her eyes only a shade or two brighter, making her eyes appear to be wholly that colour of gold.

Her clothing was made up of mostly reds, whites and blacks in a tight form fitting suit that looked more like something a fighter pilot would wear, rather than a rubbery spandex that Danny would have been expecting.

The white pouch that hung at her hip bobbed a bit as she turned her narrowed and angered luminescent eyes to Danny’s current green ones. But Danny couldn’t move he was frozen to the spot, Though the skin had a touch too much green and looked all too smooth like that of a doll, there was no mistaking it…

“M-Mom?” he had whispered out.

The woman screwed up her face and blinked at the ghost before her. Something sparking in the back of her mind but it was muted… did she know him before maybe? “Mom? I don’t know? Am I?”

Danny was awestruck yet still too rooted to the spot in the air to move his mouth agape as he stared at her confused posture, a slender finger poking at her lip as she bit the corner, screwing up her face in thought and strain.

Before Danny could speak he was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud. “Whelp!”

Danny spun instantly, hands reigniting their fire as he snarled at Skulker, core flaring in the need to protect his mother’s ghost. His aura burned brighter than it had for almost a month, and yet, Skulker simply raised his sparking and twitching hands in a placating gesture.

“I’ve brought you a gift Whelp. One Plasmius would have undoubtedly had me deliver to him,” Skulker said simply, causing the heat on Danny’s gaze to increase. Again Skulker waved his hand in a pointless gesture to soothe him. “I have not clearly. You have become weak without this one in your afterlife, so I brought her here so that I may hunt you again soon... you are of little challenge to me as you are now, whelp and I will not lose my title of Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter because I took out a prey in an unfair game.“

Danny blinked a few times as his rage died down. He did something nice? Granted it seemed it was for a selfish reason but still… He had his mother back… Sort of.

“If that’s all you came here for then leave” Danny ordered butting every ounce of his anger behind the command.

Skulker huffed but nodded turning away. “Until next time, whelp,” he said with a small smirk before fading from the visual spectrum.

Danny turned back to his mother and offered a small smile, watching as she too extinguished the yellow-green glow in her hands. She seemed to size him up for a moment before adopting a more casual stance in the air, while Danny was once again struck with awe.

“What do you call yourself then?” She’d asked after a moment, her eyes had roamed his form and still, the spark was there, she felt… something and she had to know.

“Phantom… Danny Phantom, I… Mom I’m so happy to see you” Danny couldn’t help himself. He flew top speed into the woman and clung to her chest like he was just a small child, tears flowing freely. Tears of joy this time, Tears of relief.

“Mom,” She mused. Her body was stiff at first when the other had ‘attacked’ her but she quickly realized this was something else. Following an instinct that guided her, she reached up and swam her fingers through the boy's ivory locks. It seemed to trigger something in the boy as he squeezed her tighter, and nodded his head into her shoulder.

“I’ve been calling myself Vexera, is that close to who I was… Before?” The ghostly woman asked after a moment.

“N-No… I don’t think so…. Your name was Mandoline officially, but you preferred Maddie, and well Dad called you Mads.” Danny explained.

She hummed to herself in thought, a low melodic sound. “Mad… Vex I think I see the connection,” she chuckled brightly. “Then if it’s true, you’re my son?”

“Yeah, Yeah! I am… I… I tried to save you. I really did! I never wanted this to happen, and you’ve died and it’s my fault! And you probably hate me for it, but I still love you so much!” Danny rambled off in a whir of tears.

Maddie simply held her son tight idly playing with his hair, her core sparked and it soothed her as she comforted him, telling her this was good. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s your fault, or rather I don’t feel mad at you anyway… I have a lot of anger towards something, it’s part of why I picked Vexera for a name, anger was all I knew at first, but... I know it’s not you that I’m mad at,” she soothed

“I… You’re not?” Danny practically whimpered into her shoulder. He sniffs a bit before wiping his face on his jumpsuit sleeve and looking her in the eye.

“No, I’m not.” She repeated simply offering a small smile to the teen.

“Still I’m sorry I-”

“Freeze ghost skum!” A shot of a reddish pink ectoblast whizzed towards them snapping Danny out of his sorrow and into battle mode. Instantly a green shield came up around him and his mother’s ghost blocked the blast.

Danny glared at Valerie, his eyes burning holes into her head, hands flaring, beside him Maddie readied herself in much the same manner. “Not the time, Red” He hissed to her.

“You’re looking normal again, ghost, and now you’ve got yourself a cohort!” The huntress snarled out to the ghosts.

“Mom? Do you remember where we lived?” Danny asked though the woman responded with a shake of her head to the negative. Danny frowned this would be harder then…

“Mom?” Valerie scoffs. “Ghosts don’t have mothers.” She hissed out charging another shot.

“I still am a mother,” Meddie growled fiercely. Her own aura sparking dangerously with electricity. “I had two kids when I was alive! And I’m still their mother even now!”

Danny couldn’t help the smile spreading across his face. “Are you starting to remember stuff mum?” he asked, completely ignoring Valerie in favour of the more pressing issue.

“A bit… I think I remember the house… it’s big with a-”

“Great, go towards the house then if you remember where my room is, go into there okay? I’ll deal with this then head over and we’ll properly talk.” Danny said, interrupting his mother before she could spill the beans on where he lived.

“Are you sure, Sweetie?” She asked.

Danny’s heart melted and his aura sparked in kind hearing her say that. It had been a month since he’d been called any embarrassing pet names by his mother. It was one of the stupidest things he’d found himself missing over the month.

Valerie shot a blast and Danny matched it with his own causing it to mix and explode into an odd sickly purple brown smoke. “You’re not going anywhere ghost!” Valerie called out heading out through the smoke to attack more physically.

Danny went up, Maddie went left, with Valerie following close behind apparently having deemed the newer ghost less of a threat or an easier target.

It was the wrong move though, as Danny’s core sparked and he spun around and took off like a shot towards the huntress, slamming into her, and catching her off guard. Phantom was hardly ever an up close fighter with her, preferring to stay back and shoot her as opposed to attacking her directly.

Valerie let out a yelp as she was suddenly slammed by the speeding freight train that was Phantom before the pair slammed into an apartment rooftop. She yelled and hissed in pain but her suit had taken the majority of the damage.

But really, what made her gasp more than anything was that she was staring into the fully green overfilled eyes of Phantom. No whites of his eyes no Pupil just green voids in his skull. It was creepy and the snarl on his face with bared fangs was the most ghostly she had ever seen him.

He let out a hissing noise that sounded like static before blinking a few times. His eyes cleared of they’re solid green state but his glare was no less fierce. He seemed slightly confused but saw his ‘mom’ floating nearby and seemed to relax somewhat.

“What did you do that for!? I swear if you broke my board again-” Valerie ground out.

“Sweetie?” Maddie’s voice struck through Danny’s obsession blinded brain as he turned to look at his mother.

“I’m fine… I just... “ He shook his head and turned his glare back to Valerie. “Don’t you dare touch her.”

“You don’t tell me what to do ghost!” Valerie spat back wrist ray popping out from her suit in retaliation.

“No, but I do, and I say stand down.” A new voice sounded as the door to the roof opened.

“What? But I-”

“Yes, yes you have the ghost right here, but, you silly girl, do you not see what was happening? Obsession blindness is not something you want to trifle with. These two are fairly new ghosts and do not know how to control themselves properly.” Vlad said sternly.

Instantly Phantom bristled. “You! I swear-”

“Ah- you will do no such thing if you wish to keep yourself in at least some mystery,” Vlad warned.

“You… I knew you…” Maddie said slowly after a moment.

“Why yes you did my dear,” Vlad purred.

Danny’s hands flared and Vlad shook his head “Come now, none of that while ladies are present little badger. You wouldn’t want to have yourself fall to ruin. Go home huntress, I can take these ghosts from here.”

Danny stood protectively in front of his mother. He would not fail to protect her a second time! He’d just gotten her back and he would fight tooth and nail to make sure she stays with him this time.

Vlad’s eyes narrow and flash red as he glares at the brat who dared stand in the way of his beloved.

Valerie looked between the ghosts and Masters a moment before catching his eyes flash. “What?! I knew something was wrong here! All you ghosts are just trying to trick me! Well, I’m smarter than that!” In an instant, she threw her arm up at Vlad and fired.

The blast never hit though, as a pink shield appeared in front of the slimy man.

Maddie instantly bristled seeing it, something in her mind and core sparked dangerously and her golden eyes glossed over. When the ghost, Plasmius, appeared, however, the reaction was instantaneous.

Maddie lunged.

Vlad gaped, both versions of him, as the sheer power of her ecto coated fist shattered the shield. The woman didn’t slow down as she instantly made an ecto constructed bo-staff and whacked Plasmius with it, shattering the concrete on the roof.

“I’ll end you!” Maddie roared bringing her construct down, sparking with electric power, right into where Vlad’s core should have been.

The man had managed to turn intangible at the last second and disappear into the building, leaving Maddie to frantically search and reach out her senses for him.

Valerie tried to launch an attack at Maddie while she was distracted only to be phased away by Danny, who was only a little bit in his right mind at the moment. The last thing he really needed was Valerie getting hurt because of his rising emotions.

The flood of his anger, worry, fear, protectiveness of his family, and love for his mother more particularly at this moment, all flared and swirled. His human half feeding into his ghostly needs and making it stronger.

Danny dumped Valerie in what he believed was a locked room, silently hoping that her need to play hero extended to not causing too much needless property damage, before flying back up to the roof.

All hell had broken loose up there. Maddie had turned into a hell beast with the ferocity that she was attacking Plasmius with. Human Vlad, Danny wasn’t sure which was the real one at this point, stared up at the display with a mix of giddy awe, with a touch of fear and worry.

“Perhaps I miscalculated where her biases lie…” Vlad muttered to himself. “I would have thought for sure she would have come after you as well,” he mentioned flicking his eyes to Danny as he speaks.

“You’re the one who killed her, you frootloop!” Danny growled, tossing an ectoblast at the man, who simply snuffed it out with his own pink glowing hand, while the other tossed something towards the boy.

The spectral cube activated and shocked Danny instantly, trapping him and forcing him back to human form.

Vlad shot the boy a grin of triumph, while the battle raged on overhead. “Now as soon as I can tire her out, I can bring my dear Madoline home, and take her as my bride.

Danny hissed out in frustration only to yelp as a lightning bolt landed near his trapped form. His eyes widen and he can’t suppress the shiver that wracks through his body. He hated lightning, and well any electric thing more than any other type of attacks he’d come across.

It always gave him death flashbacks…

Vlad, the human one, suddenly gasped and gripped his chest in pain as pink ectoplasm rained down around the roof. “You- You” he stopped himself and stared up at Maddie who landed harshly on the roof. Her glow was flickering and she looked tired but looked more than pleased with herself for having defeated the clone.

“Impressive… Though I should have expected no less from you, my dear.” Vlad managed out, trying his best to look poised as always.

Though Maddie ignored him in favour of staring at Danny, “Your… Phantom?” she asked curiously. “Danny Phantom.” She nods in understanding. “So then you’re the halfa I was hearing about”

“Oh thank you, darling! You took care of that nasty ghost who was overshadowing me! I can’t thank you enough!” Vlad poured on the good guy act as he moved to grab Maddie's hand.

In an instant her hand ignited, causing Vlad to yelp and jump back from the ghostly woman. She glared. “You. I don’t like you” she said simply.

Vlad’s face fell. “But why ever not my dear?”

“I don’t remember, I just know I don’t.” Came the clipped answer.

“Danno! I saw your signal blip out so I came to help an- V-Man what are you doin’ here and…” Jack trailed off as his eyes fell upon the full scene. His son was trapped in some kind of ghostly looking box, a ghost that looked suspiciously like his dead wife, and his best friend Vladdie all staring each other down. “M-Mads? Is that… is that really you Mads?”

Vlad sneered and as the Red huntresses hoverboard whirred in his ears he decided it would be best to take the distraction and bow out. As Jack moved to his wife’s ghost Vlad slipped into the stairwell to hide. A second later there was only pink mist where he had once stood.

Maddie turned to the large orange clad man, and something sparked in her. Her eyes seemed to become sharper and more defined and her aura seemed to calm seeing him. “Jack? Your name is Jack, right?”

Valerie had planned on coming out guns blazing hoping to take down the infernal ghosts that had been conspiring against her and her employer. When she rounded the rooftop to find Vlad gone, Phantom gone, Danny trapped, and Jack Fenton, the number one most eccentric ghost hunter HUGGING a ghost… she paused, turned her board to stealth mode, and tried to listen in, hoping to gather some info about this ghost's potential plan.

“You remember me then?” the large man asked hopefully as he practically drowned the ghostly woman in his arms.

“Some things…” She admits. “Not everything. It’s still fuzzy…”

“Some is better than nothing mom… The fact that you remember anything at all is really impressive. Usually, it takes ghosts a while to remember anything from their past life… er right, dad?” Danny asked.

It was still awkward when he talked to his father about ghost related things. There were things that his father had made theories on that were completely off the wall while others were very close to what he’d been taught as fact. But his father was considered one of the top ecto-biologists so whenever he talked like he knew more than his father, even though his father had been nothing but encouraging… it was still awkward.

“Yep! I remember talking to you about that a little while ago, we were talking about looking for your mother possibly in the Zone but she showed up here on her own!” Jack boomed in a boisterous manner he hadn’t used since Maddie’s passing a full month ago. Even the tears in his eyes did little to ruin the overall image of a happy Jack Fenton.

“Can someone get me out of this thing by the way?” Danny asked after a moment of his parents staring at each other.

Jack turned in an instant. “Yea, of course, son! Er, why are you even in that thing Dann-o? And what does it do?” it looks ghostly… kinda. Mads did you attack Danny before you recognized him?”

“No, that wasn’t me. It was the other man... Who’s run off now…” Maddie scrunched up her nose and lifted her lip to bear her fang. “I don’t trust him…”

“V-man? Hey Vladdie! ...huh… guess he didn’t want to get in the way of this reunion?” Jack asked with a slight shrug of nonchalance. He frowned and moved over to the thing trapping his son before finding a toggle switch and turning it off. It shrunk back into a small handheld object almost instant;y.

“Thanks, Dad,” Danny said with a sigh of relief.

“No sweat son! Though it’s an odd looking shield, I’ll have to give it back to Vladdie later.” Jack said with a nod to himself before pocketing the cube.

Danny ignored the large man in favour of moving to hug his mother’s ghost once again. “I really missed you…” He managed out with only one voice crack.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come back sooner… but to think! My boy, a halfa!” she said with a smile holding him tight only for jack to wrap his arms around both of them in a death hug and crush the boy even further.

Hovering just below the roofline as silent as could be Valerie went slack jawed. She mouthed out the word halfa, thinking back to the little half ghost girl she had helped to save. It wasn’t long after that for her to put two and two together.

Phantom had called that ghost mom, Jack Fenton had affectionately called the ghost ‘Mads’ and again, the ghost called Danny, a halfa. Valerie felt betrayed and hurt and… so many other awful things directed towards him right now. But as she peeked out to the roof, and saw the three of them crying in a reuniting hug, she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt.

As much as she hated Phantom, he was still half human, and she knew full well what it was like to lose a mother. She was just never so lucky as to have met her in death… though if her mother came back as a ghost would she have the strength of will to bring her down just like any other ghost? Or would she be dragged into its tricks by its image…

Valerie closed her eyes a moment to think, before shaking her head and deciding it best to just leave. She had a lot of thinking to do…

When the Fenton hug finally broke apart, Maddie's eyes were cleared, she had a slightly greenish tint to the whites of her eyes, but the only golden colour was the iris. Her glow looked stronger than ever, and she wore a loving smile as she assessed the males before her.

“I think… I think I remember our house… I would like to see it for real to be sure… if -- if you wouldn’t mind that is?” Maddie asked, looking to Jack with a hope filled glint in her eye.

“D’aw baby, ya don’t gotta ask. You’re still a Fenton, and Fenton’s stick together no matter what!” Jack answered with a glee filled chuckle

“I’m just glad to have you back mum” Danny sighed out before letting out a large yawn.

Jack shook his head though a fond smile still pulled at his lips. “See this is why I tell you to not go out ghost fighting past midnight… Though given the circumstances I think I’ll hold off on grounding you.”

Danny shook his head and blinked a few times. “Thanks?” He tried, unsure if that was really the appropriate response or not.

“Well, what are we waiting for!? Let's head home and wake up Jazzy pants!” JAck boomed.

A second later an angered resident from the apartment building next to the one they were standing on the roof of, called out a few obscenities at them.

“I think the neighbours agree it’s time we head out.” Maddie chortled out, an echoing musical sound. “I’ll help get us back down.” Maddie hummed out before grabbing an arm of each of the males and phasing them through the side of the roof and onto the street below.

“I remember a large truck?” She tried, looking around the area.

Jack beamed at his wife and nodded eagerly. “Yeah! That’s right hun! The Fenton Ghost Attack Vehicle! GAV for short!”

Thus closed a chapter in Daniel Fenton’s life, but with it came many more problems. Maddie slowly regained some of the memories she’d once held dear, though she still had large gaping holes in what she did remember. It was a slow process, but one that the usually overeager Jack Fenton had no problem being patient with.

For Maddie, she’d found it hard to fit back in with the family, and for the longest time, she was constantly trying to regain some semblance of what was. She didn’t really know who she was supposed to be, or who she once was as a human. Though, once she accepted her changes and realized that she was not any longer the Maddie they remembered, and were not pushing her to be such, she’d come into her own and found healthy ways to feed her obsession.

All in all, it was weird, good but weird. Then again the Fentons were always known as the weird ghost family anyway… What’s one more rumour in the mill?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Complete

Total word count: 6132

#Danny Phantom #Phic Phight 2020 #Prompt fill #jack #maddie #vlad #danny #main character becomes a ghost

17 notes · View notes

sophchoph · 4 years

Text

Info Time!

Hello everyone! Well this was bound to come eventually, but here goes! This post will be a bit on the longer side, I apologize for that in advance, but it’s a needed one in the end so here we go.

This is for my new RP sideblog @soph-choph-rp (real original name I know) which is where anything I do that’s related to rp related will be posted. Click that URL and head there if you’re interested!

Now then, under the cut, you’ll find Mun Info, Rules, and Muse info, so please give that a quick read to know how stuff works!

Mun info!

Hi y’all! First off, my name’s Soph, I’m 18, any pronouns ya want, and I’ve been writing/doing RP for around 4 years now. Not long compared to some, but hey I’m doin my best. Currently my main fandom of choice, thank you ADHD brain for hyperfixating so much, is on Dragonball and from there specifically saiyans. I’ve written for different fandoms in the past, but as of recently it’s pretty much been majority DB related things. Let’s seeee what else to say here...

I’ve got a dog named Baby who’s real sweet, she’s a Maltese poodle mix who thinks she’s a damn Great Dane even though she looks like a marshmallow. I work with wildlife to rehab animals to be released to the wild, lots of raccoons and opossums for the most part, but occasionally get some neat oddball animals in such as foxes, beavers, otters, bobcat kittens, fawns, and we even had bear cubs get brought in at one point! Animals are something I like a great deal, always have.

Back on the topic of writing though, I’m a bit scatterbrained sometimes, what can I tell ya I’m an ADHD mess, so if I’m a little late on replies (taking more than a day) please please please message me with a reminder, I promise it won’t bug me one bit! My inbox is always open, as are my DMs, so please feel free to message me or send in an ask or two whenever ya want! I’m happy to do all kinds of RPs with all sorts of characters, but I’ll definitely go out and say planet Vegeta AUs are absolutely a guilty pleasure of mine, probably cause I just love the saiyan beans as much as I do. Whether canon compliant or AU, I’d love to start writing/interacting with all you wonderful people in this community, so please don’t be shy!

Now for the not so fun, but also needed bit. Without further ado, please take note of the

Rules:

Now, I don’t have too many rules here, I’m open to majority of things, however there is a handful of hard no categories and actions that I feel the need to lay out.

1) I will not do solely NSFW rps. Now, this does not mean I will not ever have more NSFW leaning content, however I will not participate in a RP where the only purpose of it is to get a character laid rather than plot/character development. I’m here to write for plot, not porn, and I wanted to be sure that was quite clear from the get go. This is honestly just a personal preference, I have no qualms against anyone who writes smut/ERP actively, I just personally don’t enjoy writing it myself especially if there’s no real point to it. Even if the characters are in a relationship, there’s far more aspects to a healthy relationship than just the more lewd bits and that’s just what I enjoy getting into more and feel most comfortable with.

2) I will not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, or any other sort of hatred on this blog. In regards to a RP setting, this is a thin thin line that can be tread on, but my stance on such things is no slurs (obviously) and do not glorify it in any way. It can be part of a character’s past or a plot point (as in overcoming a past history of it to grow as a character or something to that extent), but it must be handled in a manner that is respectful to those who have had to personally endure such things.

3) If I come to find you are someone who actively sends hateful messages to those in the community or are just generally a toxic/hateful person towards others, I reserve the right to block you for such transgressions. This includes if I find out this has occurred even after already starting a thread/RP with you. Essentially, don’t be a dick and you’ll be all good.

That’s it when it comes to rules for now, like I said not many to worry about, however if more stuff comes up that I failed to put in here along the way I reserve the ability to make additions. Pretty much though, just be decent/respectful and we’ll be 100% okay for the most part. Now for the fun part!!

Muses!

As stated in my bio and above, my main muses are definitely the saiyan beans, namely Vegeta, Goku, Raditz, and Bardock; however, Turles, Tora, and Gine are also on the table there as well, I’ve just got a bit less experience when it comes to characterizing then. There’s also a chance I may use two of my OCs here, so may as well give them intros just in case.

Short of it is, there’s Daikon and Glacius. Daikon is a saiyan, a good bean honestly, real sweetheart when it comes down to it and someone gets to know him. Can be a bit cold at first, he’s somewhat shy that way, but get him to warm up to you by earning his trust some and his true colors come out. Glacius on the other hand... yeeeeah no, no he’s an ass. Glacius is a member of Frieza’s race, a nasty bastard really. Manipulative and cunning don’t even begin to cut it with him, not in the slightest, and he’s definitely not a merciful one. If you happen to be interested in those two, I’ll post a much more detailed google doc down below for you to click on and read. Will go more in depth on their characters in both personalities, fighting styles, and backstory along with give you an idea of what they look like. Drew the art you see on the sheets myself! Just click the names of each below to access the sheet and you’ll be all set.

Glacius

Daikon

#ooc #about #mun speaks #information #mun info #rp

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chibivesicle · 5 years

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Koito Otonoshin is from Kagoshima; what does the city and area reveal about his character.

While on holiday, I was very lucky to have a chance to visit Koito’s very own hometown of Kagoshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southwestern part of Kyushu. I’ve grown more attached to Koito’s character as the manga has developed and I’m more curious to try to figure out what he will do in the manga now that he has been “reunited” with Tsurumi. So, I figured why not go visit his hometown in January when the weather will be lovely [it was]. I will admit that I tricked my Mom to go with me not knowing it was a Koito research trip, but at least told my brother. He was fine with it since he had wanted to visit the nearby Miyazaki prefecture anyways.

This will be a little bit of a different meta post as I’ll present things I observed and try to place Koito in the context of them. This is based on my opinion and how I interpreted and observed things around me. Please keep that in mind when reading!

To get to Kagoshima, I took full advantage of the JR Rail pass for tourists and left from Kyoto to Kagoshima-chuo, the main train station with a transfer at Shin-Kobe. I went down in early January and it was lovely to see the scenery become more green as I went further south. Kyushu has a different feel than the island of Honshu, you see subtropical and tropical plants and it really feels different than other parts of Japan that I have visited e.g. Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. This was my first time visiting Kyushu and I really loved the southern part of the island.

If you are using a rail pass to get there, it will take you some time, it was about 5 hours or so in total from Kyoto. If you go from Tokyo, it will take at least 7 hours and that is just from Kagoshima-chuo to Shinagawa (Tokyo area) station. If you are unable to use a JR pass, like my brother who is currently working in Japan, or you have very limited time, the best option is to fly, say from Tokyo-Haneda to the Kagoshima airport (40 min bus ride from downtown Kagoshima).

The most obvious thing about Kagoshima and the area, is how different it is than parts of Honshu. The entire area has that tropical/subtropical feel. It was January and the weather was quite pleasant, around 14-16 degrees C as the high during the day and lows around 7 or so. It was sunny and there were flowers blooming everywhere in gardens and parks and you are right next to the bay! It was so lovely.

I have somewhat limited travel experience in Japan only able to previously visit cities like Nagoya (for work), Gifu (for work but Oda Nobunaga!), Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Shizuoka (for maguro tuna) before this trip. What I can say from the start is the feel and look of Kagoshima is different than these other cities. There are more colorful buildings in Kagoshima, some were green, lime green, light pink, magenta and orange intermixed with the more standard, black, grey, white of the modern Japanese landscape. The urban landscape was more varied and interesting than other cities I’ve been to in Japan.

There were many older western style buildings and street lights / lamp posts that looked like they were from 1880-1930. For example here is a public building that clearly looks like it is from 1900-1930 or so. I tried to figure out what it was, but it simply said civic building and likely was now associated with the performing arts center right next to it from about the 1950s/1960s. You can see lots of cycads(!) planted out in front of the building.

The city still runs streetcars that have old lamps as a part of the posts that hold up their electrical cables. I forgot to take a picture of some of the streetcars; half of their cars were old, ~1940s-1950s at the newest as well as sleek modern streetcars. I snapped this photo of the streetcar operator while riding in the city. Yes, it is an old lever operated drive system! It appeared to be made by Mitsubishi, and you can see the flowers blooming in the background.

A great example of a more western style building was this large department store in the downtown part of the city. It is the Yamakataya Department store, and after some quick online searching it appears to have been built around 1917 with other parts added on over time. You can find more photos of it on TripAdvisor.

I spotted other older Victorian and turn of the century buildings in the city which added to the unique vibe of the city. While wondering around the local shopping arcades looking for a restaurant, we stumbled upon an interesting glass ceiling at one of the intersection of the arcades. Four locations are shown on the map, Kagoshima, Malacca (Malaysia), Goa (India) and Basque (Spain).

This one shows Kagoshima and Malacca, with ships, churches and random people meeting missionaries, specifically Jesuit missionaries including Francis Xavier, who visited and converted people to Christianity in Kagoshima in 1550.

The Basque region of Spain, where Francis Xavier is originally from, though he worked throughout Asia. He was a pretty successful missionary all things considered.

It highlights his time as a missionary in Goa, India

And of course in Kyushu, including Nagasaki and other places as well as Kagoshima. I find it quite curious they have the classic Greek constellations on the sky and not the Japanese ones. It is quite clear that the Jesuit missionaries had an important influence on many people in Kyushu and they still have the highest number of Christians in Japan. I would guess that local people commissioned this artwork since it clearly celebrates the life of Francis Xavier and connects Kagoshima to the other places he lived and worked.

Kagoshima is uniquely situated as how far south it is from both Kyoto and Tokyo [Edo]. By road it is between 800-900 km to Kyoto and 1,300-1,400 km from Tokyo. This implies that it would take a long time before modern technologies in transportation to go between the places of power pre-Edo period and during the Edo period.

I was able to visit Sengan-en an estate of the Shimazu family. The Shimazu family held power in the region since around 1300 and were both powerful warlords, but also successful in international trade due to their location on Kinko Bay. As the Shimazu family were still under the power of the Tokugawa shogunate they were required to journey to Edo, but as a result of the distance, they had the longest overall travel time out of everyone in Japan. I’m sure you can quickly realize that having such a distance from the central government also resulted in the Satsuma domain having more freedom than say a powerful samurai family in Shizuoka.

Even when the Tokugawa shogunate closed off most of the country, this region was still able to trade internationally by proxy through the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) and developed more international style cuisine as a result. Sweet potatoes were introduced via Okinawa and the Satsuma sweet potatoes are everywhere. I bought and tried some dried-ish sweet potatoes that looked like twizzlers, but were underwhelming (I think this was a tourist trap, oh look sweet potato things, I’ll try them!). At Sengan-en, we ate some of the baked sweet potatoes of the local variety which were incredibly delicious as just plain potatoes. I’ve had baked sweet potatoes elsewhere in Japan and outside, but this was the best plain baked sweet potato I have every had! I also got sweet potato candy which is delicious, a variant of the famous Bontan Ame (a citrus caramel candy), also invented in Kagoshima! Bontan Ame is also a great candy, I love the subtle citrus flavor.

The sweet potato are the purple caramels on the right and the citrus Bontan Ame on the left. quantivore’s Koito is excited with Tsukishima in between! (quantivore’s artwork can be found on instagram @quantivore ).

Bontan Ame are popular with high school girls . . . for some odd reason I think that Koito would like them too!

I was able to sample some local Kagoshima shouchu, which again, is not surprisingly made from their famous Satsuma sweet potatoes! It tasted good and was pretty strong. I may have had more to drink than I should have with my yakiniku. There were soooo many varieties of shouchu to choose from in the area and they were sold at pretty much every gift shop! I did not buy a bottle since I was afraid to haul it all around Japan and break it on accident.

Recall that the manga highlighted that the Sakurajima daikon are cultivated in the area around the Sakurajima volcano and are the largest daikon in the world as introduced in chapter 197.

I was unable to see a full daikon in the flesh, while visiting the Sakurajima Geo-Park, I did spot some growing in the ground and you could see large leaves! I really wanted to see a Sakurajima daikon, in person. The daikon was found on public city artwork and designs. I had to settle with only seeing their leafy tops while on a bus, though I bought a small daikon charm and my brother found me a plushie at the airport. I did eat some daikon (already cut to a much smaller size) with the regional black pork which was delicious. The pork was richer than normal ground pork and the daikon melted in your mouth as you ate it cutting through the richness of the pork.

The daikon is important to Koito’s flashback as it helps to introduce his contrast to his older brother, who had a pale complexion like a Sakurajima daikon and tolerated Koito calling him that.

The last major regional produce of the area is citrus! There is so much citrus in the area! The Satsuma oranges (as they are known in the UK) came from the Kagoshima region after they went to war with the British in 1863! As a result of a naval battle between the Shimazu family and their fellow Satsuma retainers, this war only lasted a few days and resulted in great damage to the Kagoshima area. The positive outcome of this was increased positive relations between the Satsuma region and the UK as opposed to the influence the French government had on the dying/declining Tokugawa shogunate in Edo.

Here is a Satsuma orange tree at Sengan-en. It had an info plaque about how after the Anglo-Satsuma war they were popular for import to England.

In addition to the Satsuma oranges (aka mikan), there is a distinct variety from the area known as komikan or small mikan. These are grown both on the volcano, Sakurajima (桜島小みかん) and around the Kinko Bay as well (小みかん).

Look at the tiny tiny tiny komikan!

The regular mikan were quite easy to peel and delicious. Throughout the southern part of Kyushu there were lots of different citrus species and cultivars grown. In the neighboring Miyazaki prefecture, they had a yuzu x pomelo hybrid known as a hyuganatsu (also tasty in things!). I digress, the point is Kagoshima as the former Satsuma domain is a place that was able to interact with western nations and it is in part represented by the movement of the citrus fruits from the area to places like the UK and the USA as well where the States actually imported and grew cultivars from the Kagoshima area.

This region was also much more forward thinking that the government in Edo. The Shimazu family were the second largest book publishers in Japan for a very long time and they reprinted Western imported books that included science, technology and maps. I was able to see some of their moveable type for their publishing with both Japanese kanji and kana and the Latin alphabet as well for printing foreign books (I did not spot any Cyrillic, but the museum display was small).

They were the birth of industrial manufacturing in Japan, first trying to build equipment via imported books and later sent students abroad against the rule of the government to study in the UK and the USA. At the grounds of Sengan-en you can visit the first factory in Japan which gives a quick guide in Japanese and English about the development of industrial manufacturing. Unfortunately, you were unable to take pictures in the museum, but they produced various goods including cannons and whatnot which helped in late Bakumatsu period and gave them a weapons advantage over the outdated technology of the Shogunate government forces.

When you get off the train at the main Kagoshima-chuo station and walk towards the bus and streetcar stops, there is a statue erected in honor of all of the young students who risked going abroad to help the growth and development of Kagoshima.

These students also attended a World Fair in Paris or some of them not quite sure if all of them attended it was after their trips abroad. They also circumvented the travel restriction for Japanese by registering not as from Japan but representing the Satsuma domain as an independent delegation. I may not be 100% accurate with all of this info, since I couldn’t take photos in the museums, yet it gives you a good idea of what the Satsuma domain was doing to improve and modernize.

There is also a strong connection between Satsuma and Hokkaido - many of the leaders during the Meiji era that pushed industrialization were from Satsuma and used Hokkaido as the source for raw materials to power the factories in the south. Plus, many people from the region moved to Hokkaido to work either as the frontier soldiers or as laborers in the “frontier”. This has been mentioned before in regards to GK as Noda’s own great-grandfather was a frontier soldier from Kyushu (whom I’ve wondered was also a practicing Catholic based on how Noda depicts Christian theology). I recall reading this in some interviews with him translated by GK Central, but I forget which ones right now.

Another industry that grew up in the mid 1800s was the development of Satsuma cut glass (kiriko) which become more industrialized during the late Edo early Meiji period. Unfortunately, the technology was lost and in the 1980s, it was finally determined how to manufacture it again. As a result production started again and it is only produced in Kagoshima.

On the grounds of Sengan-en they have a fully operational glass works. You can watch the glass being blown, shaped, cooled, marked and cut. It was pretty neat! I thought about buying some; it was more expensive than I expected - small pieces started at about $200 USD and it only went up from there. There were gorgeous sets of two glass that sold for about $500 and it was clear they were wedding presents. It was really amazing and if I had more money, I’d be tempted to purchase some myself. My Mom did purchase a small green and blue bowl after looking at it at the glass works, and then looking at it in a Satsuma local goods store two more times before deciding to actually purchase it.

Since it was unique, the distribution of this from Satsuma helped with international relations and was considered neat by those in Europe who could purchase it. I think the best way to look at the cut glass is that it was an excellent example of a Satsuma [Japanese] product that combined with a European product, illustrating how this region was changing to adapt to modern times outside of Japan. There was also Satsuma porcelain that was made for the European market and it was very successful around the time of Golden Kamuy as an export.

To get an idea of the type of house that Koito likely grew up in, it would be something similar to, but obviously smaller than a place like Sengan-en. The house was quite large and the gardens and other buildings around it made for a place that was large and significant looking. It also had a mix of a Japanese and more Western style for some of the buildings as well as Chinese and Ryukyu influence.

This is the main gate that leads into the area where the house is in a large courtyard. It has a much more Chinese style with the bright red and slightly different roof shape. The English info said it was Chinese style, but I wonder if it wasn’t more Ryukyu since they were the domain that was essentially “controlling” *ahem* them at the time.

This was the inner courtyard of the house. The house had been added onto over time from the 19th into the 20th century as well as some parts being removed like household secretary rooms and other stuff now outdated.

The Shimazu family often hosted foreign dignitaries including Tsar Nicholas II (obviously before the Russo-Japanese war)!!! There were two large vases that were gifted to the family from Nicholas II on display in one of the rooms with lots of historical information about how the family hosted many people from around the world. Many of the people hosted here were from the UK and the Netherlands as well. If I recall correctly, the highest number of foreigners were from the UK (again, that Sastuma orange link).

This is an example of how the table would have been set for dinners for hosting European guests. The vast majority of the house was still completely Japanese in style in regards to the furniture, but this dining room and another (sitting? living) room had Western style furniture. The table setting appears to have Dutch plates, Western cutlery and several types of glasses including the local Satsuma cut glass produced in the local glass works. I believe my Dutch Canadian friend has the exact same plates that you can still buy today.

I took tons of photos of the grounds which featured many tropical and subtropical plants like these cycads and palm tree. You can see some of the buildings in the background and a Western style lamp post as well.

I have no idea what this building originally was, but it was clearly based on a European inspired design and a part of the estate. It is now a Starbucks and I didn’t investigate it any further.

The style of this house makes me think of the house that Koito lived in when his family moved from Kagoshima to Hakodate. There was also a “foreign engineer” house close by where English engineers lived and helped with the development of Kagoshima. I was a moron and forgot to visit it . . . but I did see it from the road.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/136169

I would say it is a toss up if Koito lived in a modern Japanese style house/estate like Sengan-en in Kagoshima or in a more modern house like the white one on the Sengan-en estate or the “Hakodate” house above.

What you get from visiting a place like Sengan-en is what it would have been like to be an elite from the former Satsuma Domain/Kagoshima. Including your personal doctor inspecting your poo everyday . . . These [predominately] men in power were hosting and having dinners with foreigners and were very passionate about the modernization of Japan in the face of the world colonial powers getting closer to them.

This connects with the fact that Koito owns the motorbike. Now it is unclear if this came from a Japanese individual in France or directly from a French person. When I did my chapter meta, I assumed it came directly from a French person but upon reading it again, the translation is unclear what the nationality of the acquaintance is, just a person in France not actually French. What it does show is that Koito’s father is connected internationally as a member of the Meiji elite many of whom came from Satsuma due to their pro-Western technology slant so that the could expel the barbarians [and freely make use of their science and technology for Japan]. I would guess the fact that Koito Sr. served the Meiji government well, indicated he was more in favor of modernization and less about a more hyper samurai opinion to maintain the old ways during modernization (e.g. Saigo Takamori).

Another thing is how the men in power from places like Satsuma linked themselves to the former shogunate through marriage and likely married women from the “losing” side to further integrate themselves into the power base in Tokyo. You wouldn’t want to completely cut out the losing side completely. Instead, with those that likely switched sides sooner integrate with them as you had the “in” to the old government which would become key for the new government fit into for stability. Completely cutting off members of the former government would lead to future issues since many of those individuals were still clearly wealthy and had more local connections in Tokyo than someone from Kyushu may have had.

Recall, when Hijikata fights Inodou, he mentions Enomoto Takeaki in chapter 135 as noted by EHS scans. He was a member of the Shogunate government who was key in founding the Imperial Navy that Koito’s father is a member of.

Another thing I learned at Sengan-en is that one of the Shimazu daughters married the last shogun in part to politically sway the shogun to transition and make way for the new Meiji government. This again shows that those from places in the south were positioning individuals to allow them to create a new government as easily as possible.

Since Koito’s father is a tall, darker complexion Satsuma man, as Koito is, his flashback highlights how different his mother looks. She’s very light in complexion and Koito mentions on his older brother looked like a Sakurajima daikon with very light skin tone.

Koito and his brother got their eye brows from their mother, yet he did not get her lighter skin tone, so on top of his Satsuma accent, other characters can tell that he’s from Kagoshima (or at least someplace in Kyushu).

I find it interesting that Koito’s mother is wearing a kimono in a house that is completely Western in decor and she almost looks uncomfortable in her surroundings. I can’t help but think it would be more socially appropriate for Koito’s mother Yuki, to also adopt Western style dress to fit with her position and role as the wife of an important member of the military and modern society. It is clear they are hosting foreigners in some fashion. When I was visiting Sengan-en, there were many photos of women wearing Western style dress ~1900, so many of them also adopted their fashion like their male family and friends did. Yet, instead, she seems out of place as though she didn’t grow up with this style (somewhere around Tokyo perhaps) and is unsure how to fit within it. Koito in contrast since his introduction at 14, is shown wearing full Western style dress and he’s sporting a much more Western style hairstyle than any other character had as a kid. Does he have an English style haircut?

I always get the feeling that Koito being raised in a more Western learning environment as a child in Kagoshima and being surrounded by a greater mix of people and seeing more differences he is just more comfortable in his role as a future military kid. He may not even realize it, but compared to many of the other GK cast members he’s both sheltered and open to things with his education. He has been spoiled and it shows in his dependence on Tsukishima, yet at the same time, he’s one of the most educated members of the group and has to be multilingual.

His bratty behavior which does not result in punishment from his father is also interesting as I sometimes wonder if his father was hoping he’d out grow things or come to his senses. It sounds like a more Western way to parent, but it is still the early 1900s so I could totally be off the mark here. Plus, in Koito’s flashback he seems to imply his brother’s death resulted in his father detaching himself from Koito, perhaps out of fear that if he did what his older brother did, he too would die? I think this makes sense with how Koito Sr. does rescue him and also when he tells Koito he’s glad he’s alright post-Karafuto-Sugimoto stabbing.

Some more general observations from walking around Kagoshima. People there seemed more relaxed, I observed people jaywalking, crossing a street against a “no crossing” sign and cars honking at each other! The feel is completely different than very stoic cities like Tokyo or Kyoto. Not surprisingly, there were also people with complexions that were darker like Koito and his father as well in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, so he really is a character based in reality. Not that I doubted Noda, but he really does try to make his characters as realistic as possible. I’m sure with current beauty standards people are more aware of this and try not to tan as much as they would have in the past, but there were quite a few people who just had a different skin tone and it was January, so not a lot of long days of sunlight.

The other aspect of Kagoshima is its relationship with the volcano, Sakurajima. The daikon and komikan are both grown on the slopes of the volcano due to the soil and are important local products. The volcano dominates the region as it is visible from pretty much anywhere in the city. It is also a very active volcano, with ash coming out almost continuously and with multiple eruptions per day. When you walk around the city there is ash everywhere on the ground, under bushes and in corners. The city has active street cleaners/sweepers to remove the ash from the roads.

Here is my first good view of the volcano taken around 5pm from the Dolphin Port area. You can see a little bit of the ash coming out of the right side of the southern peak.

Here is a view of Sakurajima from Sengan-en. The ash is mixed with the light clouds but again it is moving to the left (a southern direction). If you look closely you can see the electric rail line above the wall for the JR Kyushu local lines.

This is the best scenic shot taken from Shiroyama, a view point in a public park again around 5pm. Unfortunately, the trees and bushes obscured part of my view to include the northern part of Kinko Bay (to the left). Yes, that is ash from the volcano drifting off to the right.

A similar shot from the manga is here in chapter 197.

Here is a bit more zoomed in photo showing how the city is right across from the volcano.

I was able to take the ferry across to the volcano a quick 15 minute ride. The volcano was a separate island until an eruption in 1914. Hence the name of Sakurajima even though it really isn’t an island (-jima) anymore. Interestingly, during Koito’s time (pre-1914), the volcano was dormant for most of the previous century but since they were growing the crops that thrived on the volcanic soil they were more than aware of the power of the volcano.

Here is a picture of one of the four ferries in action. These had space for regular passengers as well as cars for the lower decks.

The entire bay and surrounding area are a large caldera. I’m failing to explain this well, but the volcano really is a major presence in the area. Kind of like how you feel when you see Mt. Fuji, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon etc but more personal. This is from the lookout point on Sakurajima. The volcano rises up in the background.

From the viewpoint you can look back across the bay towards Kagoshima. It was cloudy and overcast the day I visited the volcano; this is looking towards where Sengan-en is.

This is looking south towards the base of the bay eventually leading toward the ocean (it curves towards the left for the ocean).

As we took the ferry back to Kagoshima port, the sunset highlighted the cloud and ash covered top of Sakurajima.

What I’m really trying to highlight is how Sakurajima is a fundamental part of the Kagoshima area (it is part of the city) and it has influenced this area for a long time.

Unrelated, there are lots of stray cats on Sakurajima that are friendly and like to be petted. About 50% of the population all have these stubby tails as I got this shot of an orange and black cat with the volcano in the background. I did pet this cat. My brother also petted some of the cats too.

With all of the things that I learned in my visit to Kagoshima, I will use them to try to understand parts of Koito’s character and what may happen in the future for his character.

1.) Koito as a Satsuma elite -

It became very clear to me visiting museums and walking around the city that Kagoshima is a very European influenced city and prized including a Western education. My Mom also remarked that it appeared much more diverse in architecture and more Western looking (and she had no idea that I was observing this for my meta).

It is no surprise that Koito would have been a well educated young man and also interacting with foreign visitors on a regular basis. Before his older brother died he sounds like he was energetic but likely much more well behaved than his 14-16 year old self. Once he realized he wanted to go into the Army after his “rescue” by Tsurumi, he was an excellent student and excelled at his courses and passed his exams to enter the military college.

He trained in Jigen-ryu and based on his skill he has shown so far in his fight with Sugimoto on the airship and when he attacked the random Russian prisoner. Even if he was a wild child, he must have kept up the practice as demonstrated when he encounters Tsurumi in Kagoshima. He states that he’s the son of an important man, so he’s of course using that to his advantage and he’s upset. (special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for letting me use the new volume 20 pages!).

He then challenges Tsurumi with the old man’s cane instead of a sword. Sure he loses for all sorts of reasons - using what appears to be a lightweight cane, letting himself get overly emotional . . . the fact it is Tsurumi.

But after Tsurumi slaps him and leaves him in shock both failing to defeat him and using jigen-ryu, Tsurumi flatters him on his form. I take this to imply even if he is rebelling, skipping school and whatnot, he’s still practicing his jigen-ryu.

Previously, many of us avid readers of the series wanted Sofia and Koito to meet in Karafuto as we wondered if he was fluent in French as required for a military officer. However, after leaning that many people from Satsuma were aligned with the UK and also interacted with the USA around this time, I’m wondering if Koito can speak English instead. Tsurumi purchased weapons from a foreign arms dealer, Mr. Thomas (chapter 31). It is pretty damn obvious with the name of Thomas this man is an Anglophone. Though he’s based on a Scottish man, so he’d have a unique accent.

It is clear in this chapter that only Tsurumi and Tsukishima are meeting with Mr. Thomas in an isolated location. Based on the fact that Tsukishima and Tsurumi are both speaking with him, I would assume that they are speaking Japanese. This does not rule out that they also corresponded with him in English as well. I wonder if Mr. Thomas will reappear in the manga again as an arms dealer. Will the Anglo-Japanese relations of that time period come into play?

@goldenkamuyhunting has previous written about the fact that Mr. Thomas is likely based on Thomas Blake Glover a very successful merchant and business man in Japan who started out in Nagasaki. He also was one of the allies of the Satsuma domain families and involved in sending the students abroad to the UK.

Since Glover was more than willing to work with those in the Satsuma and Choshu domains, eventually leading to the overthrow of the shogunate government, perhaps we are to read that he’d be okay with another rebel faction in Hokkaido? Or since he became successful through relations in Kyushu does Koito Sr. know him?

2.) Koito is a citrus fruit.

This is a bit of an unusual angle, but I’m going to follow Noda’s lead here. Koito refers to his older brother as a Sakurajima daikon. It is clear that was his teasing nickname for his older brother, but it also something that he associates with his brother as a way to remember him now that he is gone.

If Koito Heinojyou is a large white daikon, than there are two options for Koito Otonoshin; sweet potato or mikan/satsuma orange. Sweet potatoes are more of a commoner food (alternative to rice) so a mikan makes more sense. I’m sure rich people still ate fancy sweet potato things, but likely in 1900 not all commoners could eat all the citrus grown in the area. Fresh fruit is always expensive.

Citrus fruits are brightly colored and energetic. All of the ones in Kyushu are various shades of orange and yellow. The mikans are a rich orange and are sweet and tangy. The aren’t a root vegetable like daikon or sweet potatoes, they grown on trees. Citrus need lots of care and attention to thrive. Citrus can only grow in warm climates and until modern industrial agriculture are in coastal regions (we are not discussing the central valley in California for various reasons). They also have fragrant flowers and are associated with people who are fresh, exciting, colorful and energetic. When you eat any type of citrus; lemon, lime, grapefruit, pomelo, yuzu, mandarin, mikan, clementine . . . etc no one would describe the flavor as weak, dull, or subtle. They are sweet, tangy, sour, bitter and aromatic as well. There is a lot of emotion and depth in citrus.

He’s charming and canonically an attractive male character. Sei Kobiyama has tweeted about this when the Vol 16 cover came out and the red eyeliner is linked to him be an attractive young man.

He’s got upper class manners and enjoys his Russian tea time.

Sei Kobiyama also noted that even when he tries to be angry and mean he doesn’t swear like the rest of the cast.

His deadpan upon his realization that he set Sugimoto up with his sabre blade.

The look of absolute horror that he may rip his skin off when trying to remove the cold hammer. I feel sorry with the volume edit where it is clear Sugimoto chased after him and pissed on him . . . why didn’t anyone suggest pouring some hot tea on his hand?

All of these aspects of citrus apply to Koito. His brother was a solid first son, well behaved and stable just like the large Sakurajima daikon. He is a native of the area, but his mother’s background is reflected in him as well. When Koito is rescued by his father and Tsurumi, we learn that Koito Heiji is also a much more dramatic and energetic man rushing in to save his son. These are passionate men who when at their best radiate this energy and warmth.

Koito’s older brother is a boring old root vegetable while he and his father are clearly sassy citrus, needing their sunshine and pruning etc etc. They may be capable men but face it, Koito Sr. spent too much time hiding his feelings and Koito is a very pampered guy who is very concerned about his appearance. Sure, he wanted Tsukishima to get his hand mirror so they could locate Vasily . . . but . . .

. . . but not without fixing his hair before looking!

And one of my absolute favorite jokes in the entire manga. Yes, I think Noda watched the classic comedy/parody “Spaceballs” for inspiration as a Princess has a ton of luggage that she insists on taking with her to the annoyance of commoners who rescued her.

I predict 50% of this contains personal care products for him. He’s so far north he’ll need to moisturize, and his hairstyle likely requires all sorts of products to keep it in such tip top condition. Okay, I’m jesting a bit, but I’m sure a lot of his stuff is for him to pamper himself.

Maybe as things change he’ll become a sweet potato? His hair color is pretty much the same color as one of the local Satsuma varieties - I kind of want to send Noda a message if Koito’s hair color is sweet potato colored. According to Sei Kobiyama he’s supposed have crow feather colored hair, which is considered very beautiful, but I see sweet potato.

3.) Koito comes from a region where people have recently questioned authority.

The most famous individual who helped shape Meiji era Japan and was from Kagoshima was Saigo Takamori. Tsurumi (as Hasegawa) tells Wilk, Kiro and Sofia about the 3 main founders of modern Japan. Sofia was compared to Saigo and he is from Kagoshima. Despite the fact that he lead to the change in government, he found himself in disagreement with the Meiji government and eventually returned to Kyushu to lead dissatisfied samurai of the region in a rebellion against the government.

It was clear visiting Kagoshima that he’s still a very famous and respected man, with many of the sites that you can visit are related to him. There is a statue of him along the art & culture road and he’s found everywhere; in shops, on o-miyage, products. If you see his statue in Tokyo’s Ueno Park, he’s portrayed in a less positive fashion (he’s got a bit of a beer gut as we’d say in English).

What is interesting is that Saigo worked in the Meiji government for some time. He didn’t just immediately fight against those he should be serving. Instead, he worked as a part of the government for some time and his somewhat both logical yet flawed ideas attempted to deal with the rapid social and societal change that the Meiji government was forcing upon everyone. He however, seemed more focused on the military than industrializing which would be counter to what he would have ultimately wanted. I’d say the soft power of the Shimazu family was much more forward thinking as they wanted to pursue industrialization.

Koito has spent a long time of his “focused” life trying to serve Tsurumi and prove to his father that he will be a good soldier. With the flashback in chapters 197-200, and his confrontation with Tsukishima in 210, he almost had a nervous breakdown.

He started to put things together and when Tsukishima threatened him and told him how Ogata killed Hanazawa he just was in complete shock. He was screaming in a non-Satsuma accent as he just did his best to behave how Tsukishima would anticipate he would behave.

I think in part when he got stabbed by Sugimoto when Asirpa escapes is in part due to the fact that he was still in shock. He lacked the usual energy and passion and overall “Koito-ness” that he’s shown in many other chase scenes. I honestly felt Koito was going through the motions when pursuing Asirpa and Sugimoto. Based on his mistake of approaching Sugimoto, I really think this adds to how he wasn’t quite with it during that chapter. He didn’t know what to think or do so he just went with the flow and relied on his training to cover up the fact that he clearly was a mess inside learning about Tsurumi. Even though he’s quite passionate and emotional at times he clearly does hold some of his emotions in and indicated by his distance/sulking post Ogata escape.

He stubbornly tries to get Tsukishima to keep pursuing Sugimoto as he weakly tries to waive him off. He’s trying his best to be a tough Satsuma Hayato (which I think is what he thinks he should be doing/acting as), and he made a mistake fighting Sugimoto even though he did the best he could do. He’s likely feeling very ashamed and still trying to determine what is going on with Tsurumi anyways. I also agree with Sei Kobiyama here that even though he’s a Satsuma Hayato, he’s too “nice” to really be one. I just keep coming back to him and Enonoka.

When we finally learn about his health he tells his father that he’s pitiful. Is he pitiful since he tried to stop Sugimoto? That he realized he’s been used by Tsurumi since he was 14? That Ogata gave him enough information that he sees what Tsurumi is doing isn’t for the benefit of the military and instead it is for Tsurumi’s own personal goals? The good thing about Koito being injured is it will give him a lot of time to think and rest. I really think him cornering Asirpa less than 12 hours after he learned part of the truth from Tsukishima was not a good thing for him.

That pained look on his face as his father looks away before telling him that he’s glad that he’s okay . . . and thankfully when Inkarmat finally reappears, she’s giving him his daily fortune as well as Tsukishima. His blush likely indicates he’s got some sort of crush on Inkarmat. He’s an extroverted guy, so he’d likely get along with someone like her. Even though he doesn’t interact with many females, I get the feeling that he relates to them better than men. I just think of how he was so sweet and respectful of Enonoka and he clearly enjoys Inkarmat’s company. I get the feeling that Inkarmat in canon is supposed to be a very attractive woman and we know she is both charismatic and independent.

Koito has kept himself going by trying to follow the military order and establishment up to this point. For him to question the system and go against Tsurumi, he will have to shatter his entire view of the military and how it operates.

I think Koito will want to seek out the truth as to what is really happening with Tsurumi. We know when he focuses on something he’s successful - just dealing with Tsurumi is going to be very difficult for him.

Thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting, I was able to see this change to volume 20 chapter 200. Koito is able to help himself up by himself from the blows that Ogata dealt to him. Battered and bruised he is able to exit the small hospital and we see a determined yet rough looking Koito. He gives the feeling of a man who wanted to catch Ogata to ask him more. I think Koito is thinking “What do you mean about the Manchuria Railway Ogata? What happened to Hanazawa? Why do you know the word a Russian kidnapper told me?” . . .

We later learn in chapter 210 that Ogata mentioned the Mantetsu (Manchuria Railway) so that Koito would link Hanazawa’s death to Tsurumi’s plans. I think Koito wanted to know what Ogata was referring to. He’s also likely had to rethink his opinion of Ogata based on chapters 200 and 210. He is an officer in the military, he’s an educated elite and he’s putting together big picture concepts that Ogata is dropping him hints about. I think he’s got the potential to be a clever character as well if he can gain confidence in himself. In the revised flashback with Tsurumi when he was 14, he was confidence using his father’s name. He needs to be 100% confident in himself. I hope he can get there!

Really the biggest determent to Koito’s character is how his bratty rich kid attitude prevents him from connecting with others. Time and time again he is not nice to others since he can get away with it. This is the aspect of Koito’s personality that I like the least. The only time that I liked it, is the fact that he is the only character to call out Sugimoto’s bullying and to go head to head with him. I think the rest of the characters may want to stand up to Sugimoto, but they can’t since they aren’t as privileged so they don’t know if they can. Koito however, just uses his baseline sense that he can push back at Sugimoto since “How dare he?” treat him poorly. His reasoning is a bit flawed but his response is what I would like to see others do as well. He really is just like Ogata in that regard, both of them have personalities that developed as a result of their background that makes it hard for others to connect with them. Ogata since he’s so distant refusing to connect with others and being too sarcastic for a lowly superior private and Koito since he’s just used to others obeying him as a result of his family and privilege.

So to stick with the local food analogy - I want Koito to go from being a citrus fruit to a sweet potato. Still important but much more humble.

Another Kagoshima analogy would be that Koito is like Sakurajima. His true potential and skills are dormant, but like the volcano does in his future, 1914, he reaches his full potential and is an amazing leader and force within the country.

Well that is all for my Kagoshima-Koito post. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I felt that visiting Koito’s hometown gave me a better perspective on him and where he came from. This is something I wouldn’t have know if I hadn’t visited it! I had a great time visiting and learning about Koito, so if you have a chance to visit do so! If people are more interested, I could do a more detailed Koito tourism post in the future.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #koito yuki #koito heinojou #kagoshima #satsuma #satsuma hayato #sakurajima #tsurumi tokushirou #tsukishima hajime

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