#Kyushu University

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Organic thermoelectric device can harvest energy at room temperature without a temperature gradient

Researchers have developed a new organic thermoelectric device that can harvest energy from ambient temperature. While thermoelectric devices have several uses today, hurdles still exist to their full utilization. By combining the unique abilities of organic materials, the team succeeded in developing a framework for thermoelectric power generation at room temperature without any temperature gradient. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. Thermoelectric devices, or thermoelectric generators, are a series of energy-generating materials that can convert heat into electricity so long as there is a temperature gradient—where one side of the device is hot and the other side is cool. Such devices have been a significant focus of research and development for their potential utility in harvesting waste heat from other energy-generating methods.

Read more.

[nobuyukikakigi]

転機の三月に

早いもので3月も終わりに近づいてきました。温暖化の影響か、年を追うごとに開花が早まっている桜が見ごろを迎えようとしています。ウクライナでの戦争が一年を超えて続いていることをは���め、世界を覆い、人々の生を蝕む闇の深まりを感じさせる出来事の報せを耳にすることが多い今日この頃ですが、自然の生きものたちが明るさを増していく風景のなか、彩り豊かに生命を繰り広げていることが感じられる時季は巡ってきます。その様子に心が開かれるとき、少し力づけられる気がします。 新しい散歩道で見かけた桜 さて、この3月より福岡市の南部へ居を移しました。娘がこの地域にある高等学校に進学するのに伴い、家族と同居できるよう、また娘の通学の便がよくなるように、職場の近くから引っ越した次第です。大学へ通うのに時間がかかるようになりましたが、別れ別れの生活を余儀なくされている人々のことを顧みるなら、家族で暮らせるのはありがたい…

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

New story idea: Teenage Yuuri

Writing on one project frequently results in ideas for side projects when the characters' backstory develops.

This particular idea has been brewing in me for quite a while now, but gained momentum now that I'm writing on my post-canon story In Love and War again.

I'm going to write a story about teenage Yuuri.

There's so much to unpack here which the anime only shows in short flashbacks or hides in subtext. Some of these key aspects I've discussed extensively in my metas and hinted at in my novelisation, but this story will become more like an in-depth study of young Yuuri, including:

how his obsession with Viktor shaped his path as a skater

friendship

growing up as a queer kid in a rather heteronormative environment (Kyushu is rather rural, hence less diversity)

being bullied for his obsession with Viktor as well as for being a little bit chubby (I will approach that subject sensitively)

early signs of his aceness and how that sets him apart from other Viktor fans like Yuuko or Minako (Yuuri is ace-coded, I wrote several long-ass analyses about that, see my metas, and I will make use of the split attraction model)

his reasons for leaving Hasetsu and training abroad

My teenage Yuuri project will be part of my "A dream too large to bear alone"-universe, which means that every take I use will be directly supported by canon and be backed by the source material or be a logical extention thereof as far as that's possible based on the little backstory the anime provides and the personality of adult Yuuri. Unlike Vitya's backstory (about which I've been unsure because I don't want it to be associated with the movie), I'm really looking forward to posting this story once it's done. I don't think such a story already exists and it probably won't be the kind of story that will attract many readers due to the lack of popular headcanons, which I believe is even more reason to write it.

(This is definitely going to be a shorter project (50k), planned for the first half of 2025.)

Are you interested in reading that? Is there anything in particular you would love to see my take on regarding that part of Yuuri's life?

[reasonsforhope]

"Scientists have created mice with two biological fathers by generating eggs from male cells, a development that opens up radical new possibilities for reproduction.

The advance could ultimately pave the way for treatments for severe forms of infertility, as well as raising the tantalising prospect of same-sex couples being able to have a biological child together in the future.

“This is the first case of making robust mammal oocytes [a.k.a. egg cells] from male cells,” said Katsuhiko Hayashi, who led the work at Kyushu University in Japan and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in the field of lab-grown eggs and sperm.

Hayashi, who presented the development at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Wednesday, predicts that it will be technically possible to create a viable human egg from a male skin cell within a decade. Others suggested this timeline was optimistic given that scientists are yet to create viable lab-grown human eggs from female cells.

Previously scientists have created mice that technically had two biological fathers through a chain of elaborate steps, including genetic engineering. However, this is the first time viable eggs have been cultivated from male cells and marks a significant advance. Hayashi’s team is now attempting to replicate this achievement with human cells, although there would be significant hurdles for the use of lab-grown eggs for clinical purposes, including establishing their safety.

“Purely in terms of technology, it will be possible [in humans] even in 10 years,” he said, adding that he personally would be in favour of the technology being used clinically to allow two men to have a baby if it were shown to be safe.

“I don’t know whether they’ll be available for reproduction,” he said. “That is not a question just for the scientific programme, but also for [society].”

The technique could also be applied to treat severe forms of infertility, including women with Turner’s syndrome, in whom one copy of the X chromosome is missing or partly missing, and Hayashi said this application was the primary motivation for the research.

Others suggested that it could prove challenging to translate the technique to human cells. Human cells require much longer periods of cultivation to produce a mature egg, which can increase the risk of cells acquiring unwanted genetic changes.

Prof George Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, described the work as “fascinating”, but added that other research had indicated that creating lab-grown gametes from human cells was more challenging than for mouse cells. “We still don’t understand enough of the unique biology of human gametogenesis to reproduce Hayashi’s provocative work in mice,” he said.

Study Methods

The study, which has been submitted for publication in a leading journal, relied on a sequence of intricate steps to transform a skin cell, carrying the male XY chromosome combination, into an egg, with the female XX version.

Male skin cells were reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state to create so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The Y-chromosome of these cells was then deleted and replaced by an X chromosome “borrowed” from another cell to produce iPS cells with two identical X chromosomes.

“The trick of this, the biggest trick, is the duplication of the X chromosome,” said Hayashi. “We really tried to establish a system to duplicate the X chromosome.”

Finally, the cells were cultivated in an ovary organoid, a culture system designed to replicate the conditions inside a mouse ovary. When the eggs were fertilised with normal sperm, the scientists obtained about 600 embryos, which were implanted into surrogate mice, resulting in the birth of seven mouse pups. The efficiency of about 1% was lower [although not THAT much lower] than the efficiency achieved with normal female-derived eggs, where about 5% of embryos went on to produce a live birth.

The baby mice appeared healthy, had a normal lifespan, and went on to have offspring as adults. “They look OK, they look to be growing normally, they become fathers,” said Hayashi.

Going Further

He and colleagues are now attempting to replicate the creation of lab-grown eggs using human cells.

Prof Amander Clark, who works on lab-grown gametes at the University of California Los Angeles, said that translating the work into human cells would be a “huge leap”, because scientists are yet to create lab-grown human eggs from female cells.

Scientists have created the precursors of human eggs, but until now the cells have stopped developing before the point of meiosis, a critical step of cell division that is required in the development of mature eggs and sperm. “We’re poised at this bottleneck at the moment,” she said. “The next steps are an engineering challenge. But getting through that could be 10 years or 20 years.”

-via The Guardian (US), 3/8/23

[whencyclopedia]

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival

“In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians” documents the arrival, flourishing, stifling, and eventual prohibition of the Christian faith in Japan's Edo period. It was survived only through those known as “Kakure Kirishitans” (Hidden Christians), whose secret ceremonies and home-grown rituals persevere even today.

Dougill writes about the history of Christianity in Japan writ large, before focusing more precisely on the history of Hidden Christians and their existence today. There is much for both the casual reader and the academic to enjoy here, as the author interweaves his own perspectives and experiences (particularly those he had while traveling in Japan to research the topic) into the narrative. Dougill leaves little room for interpretation as he explains his thoughts and emotions throughout the book, which may sometimes conflict with the reader’s own. As such, the book reads as more a journey of the author's understanding of the topic, factually and emotionally, rather than the work of an impartial academic who seeks nothing but the cold truth without a hint of bias.

Chapters One and Two chart the arrival of the first Jesuit missionaries, the difficulties they initially faced, and the eventual conversion of some Japanese people. Chapter Three shows the reader that the Christian faith experienced some significant success in its early days, as the missionaries found favour with then Shogun Oda Nobunaga. However, in Chapter Four, we see a shift as the Christian faith that was spreading throughout the nation was seen as a potential threat by the new shogun, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and expulsion edicts were put in place. Chapters Five and Six are about the intensification of the prohibition of the faith, as well as persecution, including the crucifixion of the 26 Martyrs at Nagasaki.

Then, in Chapters Seven and Eight, the Shimabara Rebellion is explained, as well as some of the circumstances that came about after the incident such as how the Christians would attempt to hide their religious symbols in plain sight. Chapter Nine is dedicated to Endo Shusaku and his widely-known work Silence, which leads into Chapter Ten, where the history of the faith in Japan is harboured and sometimes transformed by Japanese thought in the Goto Islands, off Kyushu. Chapter Eleven explains the Dutch connection in Nagasaki and how some of the first Hidden Christians started to emerge into public view as the country began to open itself up to the world after its period of isolationism. Finally, Chapter Twelve explains the Protestant and Catholic connections to the country a bit more and reveals to the reader that the Hidden Christians of Japan were more akin to a Japanese folk religion rather than the Christianity that first arrived on their shores. Additionally, the book includes a short bibliography, as well as many images of what Dougill writes throughout the book which helps to lend a sense of realism to what can sometimes feel like an otherwordly topic.

While Dougill, who currently teaches British Culture at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, at times shows a limited understanding of Christian doctrine, the discerning reader might be able to find what the author misses through his discourse. Regardless, this book is a fascinating tale of hope amongst harrowing circumstances and the determination of the human spirit, and anyone who seeks to learn more about this little-known part of Japan’s history should see this book as a window into a much larger world.

For those wishing to look further into this topic, Ann M. Harrington's Japan's Hidden Christians (1993) which, written from a Catholic point of view, focuses more on the beliefs of Hidden Christians may be of interest. Some more contemporary analyses are Kirk Sandvig's Hidden Christians in Japan: Breaking the Silence (2019) and Christal Whelan's documentary Otaiya: Japan's Hidden Christians. Finally, The Beginning of Heaven and Earth: The Sacred Book of Japan's Hidden Christians, written by Hidden Christians during their years of persecution and edited and translated by Christal Whelan, would give the reader an insight into the beliefs that these particular Christians held and regale the reader with Bible stories with intrinsically Japanese themes.

Continue reading...

[daikaiju-yuki]

An isle of dreams.

Author of How to Have an Adventure in Northern Japan, Raffael Coronelli, returns to Japan on two southward journeys — first circling the subtropical island of Kyushu, then exploring its secretive corners, forging lasting relationships with the people who make it one of the most culturally exhilarating places on Earth. From big metropolitan Fukuoka, to the natural beauty of Miyazaki, to the corners of Oita Prefecture and the depths of Beppu’s electric nightlife, experience an adventure through history, cuisine, and the universal power of friendship and love on the adventure of a lifetime in Kyushu.

The new epic from the creator of Daikaiju Yuki is out now.

Order link

[arkipelagic]

Japanese attempts at invading early Spanish colonial-era Philippines

The earliest written mention of fears of a Japanese invasion in the broadest sense of the word appears in a Memorial to the Council of 1586, in which there is speculation within Manila that the Japanese wakō [i.e. pirate gangs] might have greater ambitions beyond mere plunder: they "make a descent almost every year, and, it is said, with the intent of colonizing Luçon [Luzon]." That never happened, but in 1591 the first proper invasion scare began when the Philippines entered the consciousness of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98). By means of a series of brilliant military campaigns, Hideyoshi had reunified Japan after the chaos of a century of civil war, and he now set his mind on overseas expeditions.

… Farandaquiemon was a Japanese Christian merchant from Sakai called Harada Kiemon. He had visited Manila on several occasions, most recently in 1591, and, having looked at its defences, he returned to Japan convinced that the city could be taken easily. Together with his colleague Hasegawa Sonin, described as a "court favourite," Kiemon persuaded Hideyoshi to write his arrogant letter to the governor of the Philippines. Hideyoshi's military strength and his unification of Japan had become known in Manila, so the bombastic letter begins with a reference to these military triumphs and his miraculous birth that had augured Hideyoshi's destiny to rule other nations. The threats appeared later in the missive: "If an ambassador is not sent, I shall unfurl my banner and send an army against that country to conquer it with a multitude of men; so that that country will repent at not having sent me an ambassador."

The Spanish sent back a reply dated 1 May 1592 that was delivered to Hideyoshi by the Dominican friar Juan Cobo. Cobo traveled to Japan with a Chinese Christian called Antonio López, who appears to have been sent as a spy. Cobo and López met Hideyoshi at Nagoya Castle, the military base in Kyushu built for the invasion of Korea.

… On 1 June 1593, López was questioned closely under oath about what he had seen and done in Japan, with most of the questions relating to his knowledge of any Japanese plans for an attack on the Philippines. López said first that he had heard that Hideyoshi had entrusted the conquest to "Kunquyn," which probably refers to Harada Kiemon. There was also a possible motive, because "[i]n Japon there is universal talk of the abundance of gold in this land. On this account, the soldiers are anxious to come here; and are coming, as they do not care to go to Core [Korea], which is a poor country." López also stated that the Japanese had interrogated him about the military strength of the Philippines. He seems to have tried misinformation on that point, even though his initial reply had caused some arrogant amusement: "The [Japanese] laughed when they heard Antonio say that these islands contained four or five thousand Spaniards. They said that the defense of these islands was merely a matter for jest, for one hundred of the Japanese were worth two or three hundred of us."

Lopez … also had overheard the Japanese discussing the likelihood of the Philippines being reinforced when under attack. "[F]our months are needed to go from Mexico to Luçon," said López, "and on this account but few soldiers could come from Mexico. Japan is not more than twenty days' journey distant, and therefore it would be well for us to appreciate this fact." In terms of Harada Kiemon’s personal ambitions, everyone López had met believed that when the Philippines were conquered he would become the governor.

Excerpt from Wars and Rumors of Wars: Japanese Plans to Invade the Philippines, 1593–1637 by Stephen Turnbull, published in 2016

[t0r1b34r]

Life Update

Ok guys!! So I’ve gotten lots of questions!! About whether or not I’m planning to update First Light and when and how I’m doing, etc. etc.

So here’s a life update!!

Tori! Where are you now? We miss you!

I’m currently in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, Japan! It’s insane. When I was younger, I’d always dreamed of coming to Japan and walking through Torii gates, wearing a kimono, and exploring the beauty of Japan’s natural forests. And guess what? I’ve done it!! Thanks to a study abroad program through my university, I’m currently spending a semester studying political science abroad. Incredible!!

I arrived on March 22nd, and will return home on August 15th. Every day has been spent exploring the beauty of Japan, making new friends, and studying hard to learn Japanese. たのしいですよ！！

But because I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to update as much as I’ve wanted to. Date I say a part of me even lost inspiration in being distracted with so many other things…!!!!!

So when are you going to update?

Great question. Recently, I finished binge rereading First Light and getting reacquainted with Audie and Gale. It’s been a while, after all! And oh, how it filled me with so much happiness to read everything they’ve done and been through. All of the happy and excited feelings I felt when I first wrote the fic came back to me. And it’s inspired me on what I’m going to write next, believe me.

I cannot give an exact date on when the next update is gonna be. I can only say that it’ll be sometime before next week ends, if I’m lucky. Here’s the things I need to catch up on right now:

My Japanese class (I’m like 4 topics behind guys don’t skip class)

My international law class (seriously guys)

My peace, humanity, democracy class (don’t FUCKING skip class!!!)

Planning my flight back home

Planning my goodbye trip before I go home

I have hope! And inspiration! And so much excitement!!! And so much LOVE!!!

Can we get some pictures of all you’ve done in Japan!?

That would be AWESOME however I’m not the most keen on posting pictures of myself online just yet. I do want to go into politics after all— not that having a massive and popular fic under my resume is a downside LOL

But here’s some non-face pics from my recent trip to Osaka :)

I’ve made so many amazing and incredibly friends from all over the world. I never thought I’d be able to travel like this, much less to the place of my dreams.

If any of you are in the Kyushu/Oita area and wanna hang out, let me know. I’d absolutely love to!

But in the meantime, stay tuned for more Nobleweave coming real soon.

Love you!!!!

[thesakuragarnet]

Pent-Up (TouKei Quirkless College AU)

Summary: Touya and Keigo are long-distance and going through a dry spell.

THIS WORK IS 18+ ONLY! S3XUAL TAGS WILL BE HIDDEN BELOW THE KEEP READING BUTTON!

Non-Spicy Tags: DabiHawks, College AU, No Quirks AU, long-distance relationship, fluff, light angst, smut, making out, swearing, idiots in love, teasing

Word Count: 3,462 words

AO3 link

Spicy tags: explicit s3xual content, sub bottom Dabi, dom top Hawks, aftercare, a n a l s3x, masturb8tion in the shower, shower s3x, n!ppleplay, bl0wjobs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Touya missed Keigo. There was nothing else to it. He missed his dumb, adorable laugh. He missed the way his eyes sparkled with flecks of gold in the sunlight. He missed the way that they fell into the same rhythm of steps when they walked side by side. He missed the way that they would sit on opposite sides of the room, not saying anything, simply enjoying each other’s company. He missed the way his lips curled into a smile filled to the brim with love when he caught him staring. But most of all, he missed his touch. He missed the way his hand fit perfectly in his. He missed the way his soft lips pressed against his neck. He even missed Keigo waking him up in the middle of the night because he’d accidentally stolen all the blankets in his sleep. Touya missed Keigo. 

And at this very moment, Touya can’t bring himself to concentrate on his professor’s lecture. It had been a month. A whole month of not seeing each other. Touya and Keigo were high school sweethearts, graduating from UA high school and choosing to continue dating long-distance when Keigo had to go back to Kyushu to take care of his mom. Touya was enrolled at Kyoto University, which was about a six-hour train ride away. Despite everything, they’d made it work. They traded off, visiting one another every other weekend, but they hadn’t gone this long without visiting in years . It hadn’t seemed to put any strain on their relationship, but, nonetheless, it was annoying. To Touya, it was more than annoying. It was gut-wrenching. He needed Keigo…especially with how the past few weeks had been going. Everything was crashing down on him. His last round of exams had thoroughly kicked his ass, he’d lost sleep from the stress, and he’d gotten in a minimum of ten fights with his parents over the phone. The stress and exhaustion were making him feel physically sick. His brain is filled with white noise as he tries to process literally anything his professor is saying. All of it goes in one ear and out the other. All he can think about is Keigo. They’re supposed to meet up at a halfway point tonight to get dinner, and each tick of the clock on the wall is driving him insane. He’s dividing the time in his head, counting the minutes, seconds, and hours. Suddenly, his phone screen lights up beside his open notebook on the desk, and Touya sharply inhales when he sees the familiar nickname crawl across the screen. Frantically, he opens the text message.

Kei: hey…something came up at the hospital. They need me to work an extra shift. I’m so sorry, T, but I’ll have to rain-check this one.

Touya’s world comes crashing down around him, and he feels his chest getting tight. This was the only thing that had kept him going all week, and now it was ripped from his hands. Who knew when they were going to get to see each other again? Two more weeks? Four more weeks? Touya can’t stand it. He wants to be angry; part of him is angry, but he knows it isn’t his fault. He swallows his sigh of disappointment as he sinks into the chair, wishing he could continue to sink into the ground until he was away from everyone and everything. Touya barely even registers when class is over until he blinks, realizing that he’s the only one left in the room. His heart aches and his throat hurts as he feels tears welling up in his eyes, and he sloppily gathers his belongings before storming out of the classroom. He stops dead in his tracks when he looks out the window and sees the torrential downpour, realizing he’d forgotten his umbrella. 

…

The walk to his apartment from campus was about thirty minutes, and Touya trudged through the pouring rain with a scowl painted on his face. He’s freezing, soaked to the bone, and more desperate than he’s ever felt. He’d needed a nice weekend with Keigo. He’d been craving the feeling of Keigo’s strong arms wrapping around him, keeping him safe and snug. He’d been longing for Keigo’s blissfully amorous touch that would make him forget about all of his problems. Now, his weekend is just going to be filled with emptiness. He’ll probably just heat up one of his dwindling cans of ramen, eat the same thing for three days in a row, stay inside all day, curled up in a blanket, wishing that Kyushu would’ve offered a program that he could transfer to. He’d have no excuse not to answer his phone if his mother called, badgering him about making any friends, which he still hadn’t. Touya was a loner…except when he was with Keigo. His phone vibrates incessantly in his pocket as he sees his apartment complex come into view. For a fleeting moment, hope stirs in his gut, and he tears it out…only to see that it’s his father calling. He grits his teeth as the vibration stops, only to start again almost instantly. He stalks into the building, fumbling for his keys as he stomps up the stairs to his floor. The third time the phone jolts against his leg, Touya snaps. As he storms to his door and jams the keys into the lock, he answers the phone. 

“I DON’T WANNA FUCKING TALK RIGHT NOW!” He snaps angrily, his voice cracking as he violently shoves the door open. The second he steps inside and lifts his head, he sees Keigo standing in the middle of his living room, holding a bouquet of rindo flowers, looking extremely concerned. Touya drops his phone as he stares at Keigo, open-mouthed in total shock. He feels faint. Keigo is here . Keigo is here here. In his apartment. 

“Uh…surprise?” Keigo laughs nervously, not sure what to make of his frazzled, sopping-wet boyfriend as the awkward silence is permeated by the faint irate screams of Touya’s father blasting from the phone. Slowly, the white-haired man processes the scene before him, taking note of the cinnamon candle burning on the table between two freshly made plates of yakitori. Touya picks up his phone, promptly hanging up on his father as he turns around and closes the door, pressing his hands flat against the wood as he stares at the ground. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and decide which emotion to choose. Moments before, he was angry enough to smash something, and now, everything he wanted is right behind him. If Keigo knew how shitty he’d been feeling, he probably wouldn’t have tricked him like this. In truth, Touya hasn't been as open lately. He didn’t want Keigo to feel bad about having to constantly cancel their time together. But…

“You fucking liar ,” Touya laughs light-heartedly as he turns around, pointing a fake accusatory finger at his boyfriend as he feels his anger melting away. Keigo seems to silently sigh in relief as he shrugs sheepishly, holding the flowers out to him.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have tricked you. Seems like you haven’t been having the best day,” Keigo mutters apologetically as Touya takes the flowers. 

“It’s the best day, now ,” Touya grins, drinking in the familiar scent of his favorite flower, picking up the faint whiffs of his boyfriend’s cologne mixed in. He’s so full of intense relief at this moment that it’s almost painful. The heartache he’d been experiencing for weeks is fading. On instinct, he walks forward, opening his arms to pull Keigo into a hug, but the blonde steps back and laughs nervously as he puts his hands up. 

“Whoa, there, loverboy. I promise I’ll give you the biggest hug in the universe but you may wanna get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold,” Keigo sneers, and Touya rolls his eyes, huffing and wiping away the strands of white hair that are plastered to his forehead from the rain. He suddenly becomes very aware of how cold he keeps his apartment, and the chill sends an uncomfortable shiver through his body in combination with his soaked clothes. 

“Lemme jump in the shower real quick before dinner,” Touya mutters, leaving his bag on the floor as he heads to the bathroom. 

…

He still can’t believe Keigo is here . He can’t remember the last time they were alone in his apartment. The last couple of times they’d gotten together, they met at a halfway point. Keigo hadn’t spent the night over in ages . In fact, Touya had almost forgotten that he still had a key. He’d been so pent-up over the past couple of weeks. He’d craved Keigo’s touch. He’d craved Keigo’s voice in his ear, breathing down his neck. As Touya stands in the steaming shower, he zones out, daydreaming about his lover. A soft sigh breezes past his lips as he imagines Keigo pinning him to his bed, staring into his eyes through the thrusts, planting soft kisses on his lips that harshly contrast with the rough sex. Touya feels light-headed as the blood surges from his brain to between his legs, and one of his hands ghosts over his erection as he slowly strokes himself. 

“ Keigo ,” Touya moans under his breath, eyelids fluttering closed as he braces himself against the wall, his back pressing against the cool tile as his brain fills with his boyfriend’s groans of pleasure. 

“ Oh, fuck ,” He whimpers, his other hand grasping at his pec, digging his fingernails into his skin the same way that Keigo does. His back arches as a chill runs down his spine, and he inhales the steam as the warm water trickles down his face. Touya doesn’t hear Keigo enter the bathroom over the water and his own pleasured noises; he hadn’t realized how loud he’d gotten. Keigo strips down, a smile playing at his lips as he listens to his partner fantasizing. He’d missed the sweet sounds he made; Keigo had missed the way he felt pressed up against Touya… inside him. With a mischievous grin, he pulls the shower curtain back, and Touya almost jumps, turning white as a ghost. His rock-hard cock throbs in his hand. 

“Having fun without me?” Keigo asks innocently, taking in the scene in front of him as he steps into the shower. Touya can’t find the words as Keigo puts his hands on the wall, each one on either side of his head.

“I truly wonder…,” Keigo hums, eyes scanning up and down his lover’s slightly-toned body. Their bodies are separated by only mere inches, cocks twitching with just barely enough space to avoid one another. “How long we both can make it without touching?”

Keigo’s voice is sickeningly teasing, on the verge of taunting with a slightly sadistic air. Touya’s heart is racing, and, for a moment, he feels faint. Keigo was thoroughly in shape, and the sight of his bulging biceps as he presses his hands against the wall is enough for Touya to bite his lip. He wants Keigo all over him. He wants him to use him up until they’re both puddles of pleasure, and then he just wants to fall asleep snuggled up in his arms while Keigo whispers sweet nothings in his ear. 

“Can you do something for me, baby?” Keigo croons, and Touya practically dissolves into the floor at the pet name. He gulps, nodding wordlessly as they’re locked in an intense staring contest. Blue absorbed into gold. 

“I’m going to kiss you. But. The first person to touch the other loses,” The blonde proposes. 

“What happens if you win?” Touya raises his eyebrow. 

“Bragging rights,” Keigo shrugs, “It’s just something a little different. Something to really snap the tension.” 

“Okay,” Touya stammers, wishing he could rip the fucking tension in half. He can hardly take it. He’s on the verge of begging.

A smirk plays at Keigo’s lips and, slowly , he closes his eyes, leans in, and kisses Touya. It takes everything inside Touya not to moan like a whore into his boyfriend’s mouth. Keigo’s kisses are incredibly addicting. His touch is a drug that Touya can’t get enough of. The white-haired man’s eyes flutter shut as he kisses him back; the soft, innocent sounds of their lips colliding in intermittent bursts are inaudible beneath the water. 

“Missed you…so much…,” Keigo breathes between kisses, and Touya echoes his words before desperately flicking his tongue at Keigo’s bottom lip. The blonde chuckles before teasing with a short, returning glide across his boyfriend’s top lip, and Touya’s eyes roll back into his head. He wants to grab Keigo. To pull him so close. He wants skin-to-skin contact. He wants savage passion. He wants Keigo . Touya desperately sucks on Keigo’s bottom lip, gently taking it between his teeth and pulling, as if silently pleading. Keigo exhales sharply through his nose, as if trying to restrain himself from railing Touya into next week. He shudders as he effortlessly slips his tongue into his boyfriend’s mouth, making him moan like a bitch in heat. Touya almost seems surprised with himself at the noise, but he doesn’t let that distract him for very long as he focuses on how Keigo’s tongue traces against his own. Restrained, low whimpers muffle in Touya’s throat as he fights the urge to crumble into a pleading, horny mess. The sounds are music to Keigo’s ears, and it gets him even more riled up. Steam from the water fills the shower, fogging up the mirror and the entire bathroom.

Keigo’s the one who breaks first when he feels Touya moan his name into his mouth, tasting sweeter than honey; he grabs Touya’s shoulders, startling him. 

“You win,” Keigo laughs under his breath as he takes a step forward, ripping a moan from Touya’s throat as their cocks rub against one another. A small stream of curses falls from the blonde’s lips as his calloused hands slowly travel down Touya’s body, fingernails lightly tracing against his skin, sending shivers down his spine. Touya kisses Keigo with a fervor, water droplets clinging to his eyelashes as the water cascades down their bodies. 

“ Fuck me ,” Touya whines between sloppy lip locks as Keigo’s fingers tenderly ghost over his nipples. They’d been together so long, they’d memorized all of each other’s weak points. 

“Not yet,” Keigo answers, borderline impatient, as if he’s trying to convince himself. Deliberately, he pinches Touya’s nipples between his fingers, making his boyfriend curse and writhe against the wall. The movement increases the friction between their cocks, forcing moans out of both of them. Keigo starts to bend down before he presses his lips to one of his nipples, swirling his tongue around and around before carefully taking it between his teeth. Touya softly cries out, eyelids fluttering as one of his hands finds its way into Keigo’s hair, combing through the damp blonde locks. 

“ Kei ,” Touya gasps as his cock throbs, aching for more stimulation than the fleeting feeling of Keigo’s length. Keigo’s stare is full of lust as he traces kisses down his body, knees bending until they hit the tile of the shower floor. Touya’s eyes fly open, and he looks down to see Keigo kneeling before him, staring at his cock with a hungry gaze. 

“ Please, please, please ,” Touya finds himself begging before it even registers in his head, and Keigo’s lips curl into a devious smirk. 

“You don’t have to beg, T. I’ve been thinking about this all day,” Keigo huffs before he licks up and down Touya’s cock. Touya drags his hands down his face, leaning his head back against the wall to moan in ecstasy as Keigo takes him all the way into his mouth. It takes an uncomfortable amount of self-control for Touya not to greedily thrust. He wants more. He wants it forever . Keigo’s eyes water as he fights his gag reflex, pushing forward until his nose is pressing into Touya’s flesh. Keigo reaches into the basket of various shower gels and other bottles beside them, and Touya realizes he’s looking for the lube. 

“W-wait, wait, wait,” Touya stutters, breathing hard as he gently pushes Keigo off of him. Keigo coughs, sputtering under the water, and Touya promptly turns the pressure off. The air is still thick with steam. He reaches up into the top shelf and hands Keigo a bottle. Immediately, the blonde resumes deepthroating his lover as he opens the bottle and slathers it on his fingers. Touya’s voice breaks as he cries out, and Keigo works two fingers inside him, slowly massaging in circles. 

“ God, don’t stop ,” Touya begs, his mouth hanging open, and his moans bounce off the walls without background noise to mask them. The lewd sounds of Keigo slurping and sucking turn him on even more. Touya feels his whole body practically melt, and as his muscles relax and give in, Keigo presses a third finger inside. 

“Almost ready for me, baby?” Keigo grunts as he pulls back to take a breath, pressing a slutty kiss to Touya’s tip. 

“I want you so bad,” Touya answers, his voice sounding horribly desperate. Keigo starts to spread the lube over his throbbing length as he tries his best not to break. Seeing Touya getting off feels so good. 

“Lemme know if I’m too rough,” Keigo insists as he rises, and Touya promptly turns to face the wall, putting his hands against it as he spreads his legs. Keigo’s heart flutters seeing Touya in such a horny frenzy. It had been too long. The moment he starts pushing inside, Touya becomes a stuttering, begging mess. Touya’s breath comes out in choked sobs as he becomes completely absorbed in the pleasure, turning his head to press his cheek into the cool tile of the shower wall. His tongue slightly lolls out of his mouth as his panting makes wisps in the steam with every roll of Keigo’s hips. 

“ God , you’re so fucking sexy,” The blonde huffs as he leans forward, gently pressing his teeth into the side of Touya’s neck. The white-haired man whines, lips trembling as his legs shake and Keigo picks up his rhythm. Every thrust wrecks him so beautifully. His nerves feel like they’re on fire, and his emotions are intensely flaring throughout his body. The aching emptiness he’d been feeling for weeks has been replaced with overflowing passion. The two feel like they’ve been brought back to life…as if they’re breathing clean air after drowning for so long. 

“ Kei , Kei, ah~” He moans, his breath hitching when he feels his lover reach around and wrap a hand around his twitching cock. Keigo plants deep kisses on Touya’s neck, hungrily sucking on his skin. Their pleasured noises blend together in a beautiful harmony, echoing off of the walls and resonating in the bathroom acoustics. Keigo mutters Touya’s name under his breath, eyelids fluttering as he feels the familiar buildup in the pit of his stomach. 

“Close,” He murmurs swiftly into the nape of Touya’s neck, and his answer is a sudden jolt of his lover’s body as he orgasms without warning. The way his insides squeeze around Keigo sends him over the edge, and he harshly bites Touya’s shoulder as he empties into him. Within a few moments, Keigo slows his hips to a halt, and they remain still and shaking, breathing hard in the damp, warm bathroom. 

“I fucking love you,” Touya stammers, stumbling over his words as he tries to regain his composure. 

“I love you, too,” Keigo whispers sweetly, planting a gentle kiss on the bite mark he left. 

…

…

With full stomachs and full hearts, Touya and Keigo are now cuddled up on Touya’s twin mattress. Touya rests his head on Keigo’s bare chest, listening intently to his familiar heartbeat as Keigo traces small circles on his back with his fingertips. 

“I vote we never go that long without seeing each other ever again,” Touya chuckles half-heartedly, and Keigo sighs. 

“I second that…but you know I can’t promise it. You’ve got, what. One more year? Then you graduate and can move to Kyushu with me,” Keigo yawns groggily before adding “Then we have to put up with seeing each other more often than ever.” 

“I think I’ll be okay with that,” Touya smiles, wrapping his arms around Keigo’s middle and nuzzling into his pecs. “How’d you even manage to be away for the whole weekend?”

“I bribed Rumi to watch Tomie. She owes me, and she was doing some motivational summit in town anyway,” Keigo replies. 

“Remind me to thank her,” Touya murmurs as his eyelids start to droop. Keigo kisses the top of his boyfriend’s head as they both fall asleep in each other’s arms.

[stirringwinds]

how i think Kiku’s people might understand his existence in-universe, especially before the modern era:

the vibes the shogun expects from foreign ““kami””/personifications: 

hws netherlands arriving when De Liefde shipwrecks on kyushu in 1600: 

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Zeolite catalyst method uses microwaves to convert waste cooking oil into useful chemicals

Researchers from Kyushu University have revealed that a zeolite material called Na-ZSM-5 is effective in improving the chemical conversion of biomass into olefins—a precursor chemical that makes everything from plastics to pharmaceuticals—using microwaves. Publishing their work in Chemical Engineering Journal, the team explains that microwave heating of Na-ZSM-5 could open doors to a more energy-efficient and sustainable chemical industry. If you want to synthesize complex organic compounds, whether it be plastics, pharmaceuticals, or food additives, you generally need to start with chemical precursors with simple structures. Naturally, finding ways to efficiently and sustainably synthesize precursor chemicals is an extensively researched field.

Read more.

[nijigasakilove]

Episode 2 and things already escalating quickly here! Who tf would threaten Takuya over the fake marriage? Like it’s none of the office’s business.. if they say they’re married they’re married that’s the end of it. Mfs treating Anchorage like it’s Syria 😭 you’re gonna get paid and be at a US branch with better work conditions.

Also, we knew they’d have to meet family eventually, but episode 2 and Takuya dad already here!? News travel way too quickly in this universe lmao. Nice fella and seems genuinely concerned about his son. Also it’s cool to see some Kyushu traditions and wedding customs mentioned! My fave part of Japan, particularly Fukuoka.. and Kumamoto prefecture is gorgeous.

Glad we got to see a little of Rika’s true self too. When she’s talking about Maps she really is glowing. I love seeing people talk about things they’re passionate for.

Good episode! Adult workplace romance just hits different

[mybeingthere]

Japanese printmaker Gashu Fukami.

Raised in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Gashu Fukami attended Doshisha University in Kyoto, graduating in 1975. During his time in school he discovered the works of Umetaro Azechi and Takeji Asano. These artists inspired Gashu to pursue woodblock printing in 1977. The following year he traveled to the United States to study at Kaji Aso Studio in Boston. Gashu returned to Kyoto in 1983, holding his first solo show in 1988. By 1997, he had moved to Nagasaki, before settling in Fukuoka in 1999.

Self-carved and self-printed, his colorful works carry the spirit of Sosaku Hanga into contemporary printmaking.

[akemisalem]

The Kyushu Chapter for the fic is finally posted!!

Chapter 7/17

Rating: Mature

8,192 Words

★僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hero Academia I My Hero

Academia (Anime & Manga)

Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shirakumo Oboro, & Aizawa Shouta I Eraserhead/Shirakumo Oboro, & Aizawa Shouta & Kayama Nemuri & Shirakumo Oboro & Yamada Hizashi

Characters: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, & Shirakumo Oboro, & Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, & Yamada Hizashi I Present Mic

Shirakumo Oboro Lives, & Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead in Love, Additional tags: Shirakumo Oboro is a Ray of Sunshine, & Fluff and Angst, Major Character Injury, Blood and Injury, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, Crush at First Sight, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Mutual Pining, Dorks in Love, Aizawa Shouta Kayama Nemuri Yamada Hizashi are Best Friends, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight is a Little Shit, Shirakumo is alive in this and he's in love with Shouta, Crushes, Eventual Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, & Angst and Tragedy, Hospitalization, Wingman Yamada Hizashi I Present Mic, Oblivious Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Idiots in Love, Eventual Sex, Sexual Content, i am not good at tagging so please forgive me,

[ruiyuki]

Aight folks, I went to watch Providence with Japanese subs TWICE in three days now and after the initial emotional anechoic chamber it put me through, I can finally recount the movie and make sense of its plot and themes. So here is a ⚠️‼️ VERY SPOILER HEAVY RECAP ‼️⚠️ of the whole movie (literally very long, scene-by-scene of everything I can rmbr) & some commentary under cut.

The movie opens with a group of assailants raiding a cargo ship. Seems like their target is a woman aboard named Professor Stronskaya who's accosted in her room by a man with red dreads and a blond man. Over the ship we see Kougami flying on a plane with Frederica over the radio. They're there to rescue the Professor. Kougami drops down to the ship (in only what I can call, a flying squirrel suit) and there's a shoot out. He finds the Professor's room but she's dead. He's attacked again and hears somebody speaking to him an excerpt of the bible. Things are exploding on the ship and Kougami escapes to safety by jumping into the ocean.

Cut to Nona tower after the OP credits. Akane is speaking at a meeting of Directors about Japan's upcoming decision to abolish the legal system now that judicial proceedings are more or less moot with Sybil in place. We meet Atsushi Shindou, Director of Welfare who tries to keep the peace among the members and he says a guest was suppose to join them but did not make it to the meeting. Akane gets an urgent call from Mika and excuses herself from the meeting.

Mika tells Akane about the attacked cargo ship that's sailed up to Japan's port and tells her to "stop playing politician and get back here already" lol. Shindou approaches Akane and accompanies her to the cargo ship. Turns out it was Shindou that invited Professor Stronskaya as the guest for the meeting and that she is a global researcher who wrote a document called "The Stronskaya Papers". They have a discussion in the car ride where Shindou tells Akane he has high hopes for her, but also, maybe she shouldn't piss off people that could help her in the long run. Big oops mood but also, nice to see our classic Akane still, haha.

Akane and Shindou arrive at the site of the cargo ship where we find Mika being difficult to Frederica to say the least lol. Frederica is with the Director of Foreign Affairs (who I honestly forgot his name so I'll just refer to him as "DFA"). Shindou calls up Kasei and she instructs Division 1 to hand over the case to Foreign Affairs. There's a funny moment after of Mika badmouthing the situation and Shindou sneaks up on her telling her to watch what she says cuz the DFA has a really special hearing aid LMAO.

Division 1 recaps to Akane what they could find on the ship in the short amount of time while Akane also fills in her team abt Professor Stronskaya. Gino mentions they found the Professor dead but confirming it would be difficult bc she was decapitated. Hinakawa says the Professor sent one last message out before she died and it was to Jouji Saiga (👀‼️).

Akane calls Saiga-sensei in the privacy of the MWPSB car. Shindou knocks on the window and joins in on the call. Turns out Shindou and Saiga-sensei know each other from their university days where Shindou was Saiga's senpai (again another 👀‼️). They talk abt Prof Stronskaya but Saiga says he wants to speak to Akane alone about it.

Akane meets Saiga-sensei in his isolation unit and they talk abt how he knows Shindou, Prof Stronskaya and the Stronskaya Papers. Saiga tells Akane the papers are about Sybil and its impact on society and that they could very well change the stability of the world and Japan. He confirms the last message he got from Prof Stronskaya is the location to a P.O. box in Dejima, Kyushu where the papers are kept. Akane asks if Saiga would help her retrieve the papers, ofc Saiga agrees.

Before they head out to Dejima, Akane meets with Kasei alongside Mika, Frederica, and the DFA. They debrief on the assailant group and its here we learn of the main baddie of our movie: a man call Tonami who was part of the Japanese military group, the "Peacebreakers" formed by the MOFA. The Peacebreakers were active overseas 5 years ago on behalf of the MOFA, but all its members including Tonami went rogue. Now that they're back in Japan, its decided this will be a joint operation to reign them in. Kasei says smth along the lines of "you cant hunt feral animals with dogs so what better way but with bloodhounds, make good use of him" referring to you know who !!!!

Cut to Division 1's office. Gino's livid and ready to start a fight at the sight of Kougami back in Japan (he's really yelling "how dare you show your face here again"). Sugo breaks them up as Akane, Mika, and Frederica enter the office. Kougami greets Akane with calling her "Inspector" (🥺) while Akane (tries to?) keeps a poker face.

Akane, Gino, Sugo escort Saiga with Frederica and Kou to Dejima while Mika, Yayoi, Hinakawa and Shion stay in Tokyo as support. They discuss Tonami again on the plane where Gino asks a question and Kou tried to answer but Gino retorts a petty "I wasn't asking you" LMAO. They arrive at one of the MOFA buildings for their stay and it's noted that Dejima is where all the refugees/immigrants live in Japan while they await naturalization.

Saiga looks into profiling Tonami and the Peacebreakers. He and Kou discuss it over liquor and Saiga-sensei gives some more dad advice to Kougami (he tells Kou to apologize to Akane while he still can 😂). Kou calls up Akane on the balcony a while later and they talk about why he's returned. Akane hangs up on him when he says he doesnt regret his decision (and his face is priceless 😂😂😂) cuz she was also hoping he would apologize but he didnt. Frederica meets with DFA for something and he tells her dont let Kougami or Saiga know of their plan.

The next morning the team goes to retrieve the papers at the P.O. box and there's another Saiga-dad moment where he teases Kougami for "[he] couldnt do it, huh" while Kou plays dumb (😂). The P.O box address was a fake, Prof Stronskaya didnt leave the document in there to be safe. Turns out DFA also planned Saiga to be a setup: there was a leak in the MOFA to lure the Peacebreakers targeting Saiga-sensei for the papers. Now the Peacebreakers—including the dreads guy and blond guy (now named Kai) from before—are attacking, and its a matter of keeping Saiga safe.

Akane, Kou, and Frederica try to evacuate Saiga to the extraction point while Gino and Sugo fend off Peacebreakers on their own. They find out the Dominators dont work on Peacebreaker soldiers bc of (artifically) low Crime Coefficients and have to resort to brute force or guns. Kou's group is attacked by the man with red dreads shortly after walking past some bodies with bomb traps (where Kougami FUCKING RAN to protect his wife shield Akane from one that set off... gouchisousama deshita 🙏). Kou gets trapped in a shoot out with other Peacebreakers while Frederica engages the red dreads guy but gets overpowered. The red dreads guy ends up holding Saiga hostage at knife point but Kou manages to shoot the dreads guy in the head (literally mere inches from Saiga-sensei, Kou that's insane. Saiga calls him out on it lol).

But the red dreads guys isnt down yet (?!?!) Or at least, he is suppose to be very dead but his body still moves and talks like he's possessed by something. Kou engages him again but Saiga gets slashed and starts to fall off a ledge of the atrium they're at. Akane runs to catch him but she can't pull him up. Saiga-sensei looks up to Akane and puts his faith in her, tells her smth along the lines of "justice and truth can be seen by those high above and he believes she is capable of reaching there". He lets himself slip out of her grasp and falls to his death, crashing into the fountain under the atrium.

I asked where was Saiga-sensei in S3 but I didnt want the answer to be he fucking DIES 😭😭😭

Akane runs down to the fountain as Kou still tries to handle the dreads guy. Eventually Frederica takes over as Kai and the Peacebreakers make their retreat now that their target expired and Kou chases after Kai. There's a Kougami vs Kai 1v1 in a holo room while Frederica, now with Gino, fights the possessed dreads guy (there's a lot of hand-to-hand combat sequences in this movie) also Sugo got shot but he's ok. Kai manages to escape from Kougami, but not before monologuing at him another excerpt from a book and leaving Kou a dagger with a tassle stuck in his shoulder. Gino punches a hole through the dread guy's torso with his prosthetic arm just as the dreads guy sets off a grenade in suicide. Gino thankfully disconnects his prosthetic in time and jumps back to safety.

In the aftermath, Frederica finds out the DFA is missing bc of the Peacebreaker attack (he was initially observing their whole decoy plan from a surveillance room). Akane chews her out, but Shindou suddenly appears in Dejima and says he'll handle the clean up. Akane starts to get suspicious of Shindou at this point but there is nothing she can do since no one wanted Saiga-sensei to die. Kougami and Akane share an elevator ride where Akane's starting to cry over losing Saiga-sensei, and Kou gives her a pep talk of "keeping calm, she can cry after the case is over" (a callback to the pep talk he gave her after Yuki died by Makishima in S1 🥺).

Once Kou is back in his room, he thinks about the monologue Kai gave him and runs a search. The excerpt was from a book called the "Great Aso". He calls up Shion for the forensics result from the tassled dagger and she says the tassle was made of horse hair. He asks her to do a search of horses location restricted to Aso, Japan while the conversation moves to cognitive and scientific theory of body possession (makes sense given that Shion is a physician), and more specifically—possession of a body by a god?

By morning we get a scene of Shindou meeting with Arata, Kei, and Maiko in Dejima. If you've been paying attention to the names you'll realize Maiko is Prof Stronskaya's daughter. Shindou is there delivering the news of her death to the young'uns. On top of that, he mentions Kei's older brother—Akira—might be able to return for Kei and Maiko's wedding happening shortly after Lunar New Year. Shindou and Arata leave and stroll through Dejima as the immigrant residents prepare Lunar New Year festivities in the district.

There's a scene change to now watch the Peacebreaker side of things. We follow Kai as he walks through their secret base. He stops to observe Tonami speaking to Peacebreaker soldiers like a religious cult leader and it is revealed they kidnapped the DFA and are water torturing him. We follow Kai for a bit longer to his quarters where he struggles with body convulsions, takes some pills, then smash his reflection in the mirror (looking hot doing it). He gets a call from Tonami telling him to handle the DFA again as Tonami is now leaving to meet with their leader called The General.

Back to Akane's crew: Mika, Akane, Frederica have now found the Peacebreaker's secret base located in Aso, Kyushu thanks to Kougami's search. They request a raid with the use of traditional guns from Kasei who allows it. There's a really nice sequence of Kou and Gino partnered up being the vanguard of their raid. They get stuck in a gun fight against turret drones though and have to hide behind stone pillars until the drones are suddenly disabled. But by whom?

Surprise! It's Kai, who has extracted the DFA. Turns out Kai is an undercover agent for the DFA and Shindou, and his real name is ‼️ Akira Vasily Ignatov ‼️ Kei's brother!!!! Now it all makes sense—dropping the monologue and tassle dagger as clues.

Akira tells Kougami and Ginoza to restrain him and take him in before Tonami finds out about the base. DFA is recovered but needs medical attention, so Akane, Frederica, and Kou escort them both by heliplane back to Dejima while Akane leaves investigation of the Peacebreaker base to Gino. Aboard the plane, Akira reveals the details of the Stronskaya Papers: its actually a formula for a simulation using Sybil's Crime Coefficient concept to calculate society's likelihood of disagreement and unrest—a Conflict Coefficient. The Conflict Coefficient could be used to settle wars or elevate them which is why Tonami wants the papers. Akira reveals the data is stored in a chip implant in his brain, but also says there's a second implant in his brain from the Peacebreakers called "The Divider". The Divider can negate negative thoughts and emotions by sharing it to another entity, which is how they fake Crime Coefficients read by Dominators, and it's also how Tonami possesses a soldier's body.

When they reach Dejima, they're greeted by Shindou. Shindou thanks Akira saying it must have been hard on him. Akane requests to talk with Shindou, Frederica tends to DFA and Kou takes Akira in for his statement. Akira reveals he was the one that killed Prof Stronskaya to protect the mission (and it hurt him to do so now knowing their familial ties 😔) and that Tonami can possess members of the MOFA bc each MOFA agent already has a brain implant for translation, while Shindou explains why Akira was undercover in the first place. Akane questions Shindou on why everything he does seems to have no flaws, like things are perfectly laid out for him; he's about to answer when they're interrupted by Kougami's urgent call. Kou's and Akira's questioning was interrupted by Tonami possessing DFA who locked Frederica in the elevator and shot Kou in the leg. He's hijacked Akira's body and making a run for it, trying to escape with the Stronskaya data.

When Akane and Shindou catch up to the Tonami-possessed Akira, Akira tries to overcome the body possession and struggles pointing a gun at himself to suicide. He manages to shoot himself in the chest and chucks the gun at Shindou, pleading to be killed so Tonami can't get the Stronskaya data. Shindou obliges (but not before Akira asks him to look after Kei) and shoots Akira dead as Lunar New Year fireworks go off in the background and Akane and team watches on. Kasei arrives in Dejima to speak to Shindou.

We get to the interlude before Act 3 of the movie now. Akane visits Kougami in hospital bed recovering from the leg injury regretful that he couldnt prevent the loss of Akira. Akane reminds him that they're a team, and they'll get Tonami next time (🥺 again, it's a nice call back to S1). Kasei meets with Shindou in his car in the middle of Dejima's Lunar New Year festivities, where Shindou addresses Kasei as "Sybil System". They discuss the events and Shindou taking responsibility for it. Kasei leaves Shindou with "a parting gift" and exits the car. Not long after, Shindou calls Akane to meet him, still in the midst of festivities and explains Kei is getting married very soon and he requests for Akane that news of Akira's dead not made public til after the wedding. He then invites Akane to attend the wedding too.

Shindou and Akane arrive for the wedding where they're greeted by Arata. Arata walks Maiko down the aisle and Kei and Maiko are really cute at the altar. Shindou gives a speech at the reception (that really is more cryptically directed to Akane and Arata, I think 👀) then immediately disappears after the speech. Arata and Akane notice Shindou's gone and go searching. He's in his car, looking at a photo of him with his wife and a child Arata. The parting gift from Kasei is a gun. He shoots himself. Arata and Akane find him.

At the morgue, Arata, Kei and Maiko mourn Shindou. Arata, distressed, tries to get answers from Akane to make sense of the events but Akane doesnt know either. The joint investigation between MOFA and Division 1 is called off and Division 1 is ordered back to Tokyo. Akane meets with Kasei who shows her a video message from Tonami. The Peacebreakers have relocated to the northernmost islands (the Kumail Islands? Or smth, I forgot the name) of Japan declaring independence with The General as their leader. Apparently Sybil has conversed with this General of theirs and agreed on the terms, and wants Akane to deliver the Stronskaya Papers to Tonami (as a peace offering I guess?). Kasei basically tells Akane to shut up and go with it, Akane will be out of MWPSB soon anyway as Sybil will have her take Shindou's place as the new Director of Welfare.

Ofc, Akane's never gonna "just shut up and go with it" lol. She reviews the notes Saiga-sensei came up while profiling Tonami that concludes with "God?" and calls up Kougami asking him to join her in solving this case. He says he was going to go with her regardless if she asked (🥺). Frederica overhears Akane's call and she agrees too to "finish the job their boss failed to do".

So the team assembles at the office. The plan is for Kou, Frederica and Gino to arrive at the islands to take down as many Peacebreaker soldiers before Akane arrives via MWPSB heli as the decoy for Tonami with the Stronskaya Papers. Sugo takes care of the transportation issue, and Mika, Shion, Yayoi again work logistisical support. We learn that the Peacebreakers have a satellite in the stratosphere which is how they do jamming and control The Divider devices, so Sugo will fly a drone within its airspace after dropping Kou's team off for Hinakawa to hack it. Akane makes a point that they'll operate by MWPSB standards and by that will mean use of Dominators, and she's already arranged for Kou and Frederica as temporary users.

I really like her speech of "if we are going to enforce the law, we will do so as MWPSB detectives" 🥺 bc that brings me back to her learning what it means to be a detective in S1 from Kou and Masaoka.

Everyone divides into their assignments. Kou's team loads onto the boat Sugo has arranged with the JDF submarine. There's a snarky tsundere-Mika moment as she gives Gino a new Dominator she's had R&D work on. Akane sees Kougami & co. off, though not without Kou tell her to not do anything reckless as the decoy and she replies "I can't guarantee that.." / Kougami: "Oi. 😑" / "So make sure you get there (to me) quickly".

On the boat, Gino and Kou have a heart-to-heart finally with Gino asking again why Kougami's come back. He says he's trying to do the responsible thing and Gino think it's at least an improvement. They share the thought that they are the reason for Akane tying herself down to her job as an inspector, and want to protect her for it.

I really loved this part bc you can feel the friendship is still there between Gino and Kou, and although they now see each other in different roles with respect to Akane (metaphorically, Gino being a "shield" for her, and Kougami as her "sword"), the shared guilt and understanding of their motivation ever since end of S1 is there which is what makes the team so great.

Kougami & co. get to the islands, setup, and start infiltrating the Peacebreaker base. Sugo flies the drone to the satellite after but is met with laser defences trying to shoot it down. (There's a whole CGI sequence for this part and the jury's still out on whether I like it or not 😂). Akane arrives at the base where Tonami greets her. She says the Stronskaya Papers are now in her brain from Akira's implant and that she wants to meet the General before handing them over. It's revealed that the General is a medical AI (the Bifrost in S3) that was initially created to support latent criminal rehabilitation within the Sybil System, but the project was scrapped and later repurposed by the MOFA for the Peacebreakers. Essentially (for what I can interpret at least), the Peacebreakers were created to do the MOFA's overseas dirty work where the implant in their brain would transmit negative thoughts & emotion to the medical AI as a sinkhole for the soldiers to stay.. unburdened (is the best word I can describe? Somebody pls correct me if I understood this wrong lol). Tonami and fellows resented that, the hypocrisy of them being used like that, which prompted their defection and subsequently trying to claim the medical AI as their own system to elevate world conflict through the addition of the Stronskaya Paper's simulation algorithm with religious rhetoric. Tonami tried to added Prof Stronskaya's decapitated brain to The General in place of the papers, but it didnt work which is why he's still after them. Akane debates that AI systems like Sybil and The General cannot replace the will of humanity but Tonami will have none of that and shoots her in the thigh.

Outside, Kougami's team is fending off Peacebreakers while Sugo drone-piloting is trying to hold out long enough for Hinakawa to hack the satellite. They cut it very close with Hinakawa excitedly exclaiming when they're finally hacked in. (I am so proud of him this whole movie cuz there were small moments where Hinakawa openly voices his thoughts on the case and his hacking capabilities: "if the enemy is using this type of thing, then I should be able to hack it"... it's a mile growth from the meek enforcer we met in S2!!). Shion & Yayoi use the hacking to shut down the Dividers creating fake Crime Coefficients and to put the Dominators online for Kou, Gino, and Frederica. The next bit is a nice sequence of Kougami initializing the Dominator's start up UI with the PSYCHO-PASS theme playing (more callbacks to S1, god I missed these moments). Gino's new Dominator from Mika is apparently a multi-target lock on Dominator, and Frederica's gets a new railgun Dominator with a multi-shot Destroy Decomposer. Once they get mostly control of the battle, Gino shouts at Kougami to "get to Tsunemori!" (he actually says "Tsunemori ō mamoru!" in Japanese which made me keel over cuz that can be translated as "go protect Tsunemori" 🥹), and Kou bolts.

Things are looking alright until Shion, Yayoi & Hinakawa realize the satellite isnt stopping its motion and is actually on course to crash into the Peacebreaker base as a fail-safe for being hacked. At this point, Mika actually suddenly left the operations room to go to Kasei. She argues to Sybil that Akane is too valuable to let die, so Sybil pulls the strings to get the JDF to shoot down the satellite before it crashes into the base. (I do appreciate that for all her attitude, Mika does respect Akane and see the importance she has in her role. We see another moment of this later on too. This movie finally moved me from negative opinion of Mika to neutral lol). The debris from the shot down satellite fall onto the base where Gino & Frederica are fending off the last of the Peacebreakers and they take cover. We finally catch up with Akane and Tonami.

Akane's handcuffed by Tonami and bleeding from her leg profusely but she's still fighting back. She crawls far enough to reach her Dominator that has fallen on the ground and chucks it to the terminal that controls The General. Seems like she actually hid the Stronskaya data in her Dominator and the contact with the terminal updates The General's AI. Akane says she places faith in the system that The General's AI will choose to opposite outcome that Tonami wants, where the AI will choose reducing conflict with the peace Sybil brings to society. The AI does just that and assimilates itself once again with Sybil, updating itself to remove Tonami's influence within its system and shutting the base down. Tonami is ofc, livid at Akane's ideologies and shoots her again in the abdomen. She gets held at gunpoint with Tonami standing over her just as Kougami arrives. There's more debate between Tonami and Akane about the nature of using AI systems in society, with Kougami listening on, gun in hand (honestly his facial expression looks really unimpressed with what Tonami is saying during this part, I couldn't help but laugh LMAO). At the end of Tonami's spiel, Kougami shoots him in the head just when it looked like Tonami would shoot Akane again, and Kougami says that its true, he agrees with what Tonami is saying. Akane deflates saying she "promised she wouldnt let Kougami do that (kill/break the law) again" but Kougami explains that although he agreed with Tonami, he believes in Akane's sense of righteousness, and for that he also needs to be judged (by her and the laws upheld by their society with the Sybil system). He unlocks Akane's handcuffs (and there was someone that posted about him cuffing himself to Akane as they get up, symbolic of her arresting him, but I didnt catch that 😔) and bridal carries Akane out.

The case's aftermath is a recovered Akane meeting in Sybil's brain room. Gino and Sugo had gotten approvals to transfer from Division 1 to MOFA, while Kougami was placed in a cell as his punishment for breaking the law (I guess), but he's not there for long since Sybil deems him useful enough so he'll be approved to go back to MOFA soon. Sybil reveals the roles DFA and Shindou had with the case and that it will be buried with their deaths as Akane soon accepts her new position as Shindou's replacement. Sybil says Akane will walk the path of Atsushi Shindou as they've prescribed as Akane leaves the room (which didnt click to me until my second watching here that the reason there were never any flaws in Shindou's "moves" was bc Atsushi Shindou knew the truth about Sybil, considering that Arata is criminally asymptomatic. Shindou went along with everything he did with no flaws bc it was already arranged by Sybil.. in order to protect his son..). Shion, Yayoi, and Hinakawa comment that things will be different in Division 1 now that so many members have left, but now it's time to watch Akane's promotion ceremony broadcasted on live TV.

While the broadcast is happening, Kougami reads a letter from Akane in his cell. She writes about her thoughts on the case and tells him she now knows what she needs to do to question the nature of justice in their society, and its something that only she can do. Kougami realizes immediately what she intends and responds to that with a pained expression calling her an idiot (mirroring his letter to her in S1). At the ceremony, Akane dressed in uniform goes through the delegation, but when she's about to accept the promotion from Kasei, she pulls out a gun and shoots Kasei on stage with a blank expression. Mika, running security at the event points her Dominator at Akane where it reads her Crime Coefficient at 60. Akane leaves Mika with a bittersweet "please take care of Division 1" and Mika angrily says she cannot accept this. The news broadcasts that Akane committed a crime live on air in public but her Hue remained clear, bringing forth public questioning on the Dominator's judgement and that the dissolution of the legal system that was in dicussion at the beginning of the film is now halted. Akane is arrested and converses with Sybil in the MWPSB paddywagon, resolute in her decision. The film ends with Akane brought into her isolation cell where she can finally breakdown crying while Kougami leaves his cell promising to get Akane out.

👏👏👏 and that's it. Hopefully this will help anyone having trouble following the film (or aren't able to watch) bc I certainly missed a lot on first watch. Personally, I loved this film as a cumulation and celebration of the 10 years of this franchise. I have a few extra thoughts on how themes in this movie would fit with the rest of the franchise, but I actually haven't watched First Inspector yet and feel the need to rewatch S3 with a new perspective now. Hopefully enough people will get to see the film with international release now so maybe we'll get a S4. Prayer circles in the meantime I guess 😔🙏

[immunologies]

look at my land developer dawg i’m going to jail 😫

lmao hiiii everyone! i’m anwar (not hadid) + always writing for underused model fcs but anywhooo — thank god for reopening bc i was supposed to app during the first launch but i was on vacation so my activity would’ve flopped real bad BUT… I’M HERE NOW… a lil jet lagged still but fuck it we ball :’) i present to you: iida!

navigate: general info / about / pinterest

sparknotes!

tw / suicide

okawara yosuke, 33 (proud twink death survivor btw he left that long haired era behind in his mid 20s), born and raised in fukuoka prefecture so you know he’s a bearer of the masculinized stereotype that kyushu men have but surprisingly his ego isn’t as fragile as i would expect it to be — i wonder why?

lower middle class to middle class financial status for the entirety of his childhood / it’s one of those things where as a kid you’re like “well, this is it” because you’re not fully aware that your family doesn’t have money on top of being surrounded by other kids who, in return, also come from families without bands so it is what it is / it can’t be that bad when your necessities have always been met

tbh there’s not much to write home about in terms of his childhood as in it was fortunately(?) uneventful for the most part despite starting off rocky: his mom was barely twenty when she birthed him, two freshly married young adults rushed into the hard-bitten chaos of childrearing, do they resent bro in absence of trying to enjoy the beginnings of their married life? probably, but it doesn’t matter by the time his younger brother is born, soo la voo or whatever the french be saying (tiktok reference btw if ur uncool)

yosuke is your average kyushu boy growing up: he spends his time outside rather than inside with his head in the books (it’s the same shit his teachers would always say about his lack of potential, ie: he’s lazy), has boyish fights with his younger and complete opposite of a younger brother, tries his best not to piss off his stay-at-home mom and stay away from his chronically emotionally constipated aviation mechanic drunk for a dad, you get the idea

…UNTIL the voices started to become apparent more than ever and he tells his mother who dismisses it but is reminded of her grandfather who unalived himself from alleged schizophrenia but nobody in her family knows if he ever got tested for it (y’know, if it was a genetic hereditary thing) or if it was just the aftermath of unresolved trauma/ptsd because grandpa fought in the war (you know which war) NOBODY KNOWS A GODDAMN THING. except yosuke as a child hated going to see his relatives in the far village/countryside on his mom’s hick side

lmao but when yosuke told his mom “yeah girly pop dad’s gonna have a shitty liver if he doesn’t stop drinking so much in the next couple years or so” is when she drops his ass off at a mental health facility so she definitely prioritizes her man over a kid that she wasted her 20s raising! (she’s definitely an unevolved libra no shade to yall sorry) but anywho! he’s diagnosed at 17, life is looking brighter(?), but his “schizophrenia” isn’t something talked about much at home because let’s be serious. it’s fucking abe shinzo’s japan at the time, we do not talk about shit like this

yosuke goes on to carry two jobs after high school because his parents didn’t save a college tuition fund for his lazy, non-academically inclined ass so it’s up to him to be the architect of his future / he’s psyched about entering the aviation department of kyoto university after working his ass off by trying to build a humble living but somebody’s bored and filthy rich daughter from a zainichi korean family comes into his life and what does he do? say goodbye to the ol’ pilot dream and traps this woman so he won’t ever have to worry about money like his family did

mind you he actually had love for the old girl! but he’s a gemini and gemini men get bored when you’re not their outstanding type or half as witty or clever as he may be. he knows that he’s settling for what poor lee jiyoung can do for him so after dating in college, yosuke goes on to marry the woman but never goes on to tell her about his “schizophrenia” because he’s scared that it’ll ruin his marriage (spoiler alert: it did)

so uh *scratches head and turns the page* they end up divorcing because his condition worsened as a result of his body becoming “immune” to the medications because he never had schizophrenia in the first place (ie: iida canon) — and he tried saving the relationship for the sake of his position at tk group, he really did, but at the end of the day he’s just some penniless, opportunistic man who failed to completely use up his wife’s beneficiaries. but again, he’s a gemini man who’s good at playing the part of using his “mental health” as a crutch of their failed marriage instead of being exposed for taking advantage of his ex-wife financially

(trust me he’d rather be that Type of Shitty instead of portrayed as the Exploitative Type of Shitty because it gets some pity points on his end. believe the scheme!)

so now? okawara yosuke takes up the tk group’s little passion project proposal with goero because it’s a chance at redemption. he needs to prove one way or another that he’s worthy of his job, that he’s the right man for it, his undying loyalty to the corp (questionable :3), and he’s taken the more political and diplomatic approach of gravitating/winning the trust or appeal to goero’s inhabitants instead of the founding families ‘cause his coworker’s already doing that anyways — he understands his shortcomings as a foreigner (more so as a japanese guy telling yall what to do with the land so goero can prosper financially and commodity-speaking for trade.. and commerce..) so if he can strengthen his morale to the people even if it doesn’t mean the quota won’t be met — yosuke would prefer that for the sake of ethics. he will promise the residents of goero that much: business or not.

that is all. i think. :-) i’ll be yapping for specifics on discord if needed be

personality!

likes to think of himself as an ambivert over being written off as an extrovert which is kinda true? despite being a professional yapper with those he’s suuuuper comfortable with, he finds that people who don’t match or vibe with him tire him out very quickly / genuinely a very friendly person and is emotionally inhibited probably as a result of his career where logic/numbers/analytics are concerned so yosuke prefers to focus on reason over the “possibilities” … even tho he would like to be that optimistic / isn’t one to have an extreme temper, but can be prone to outbursts if incompetence is in question / really. really. hates the notion of being black-or-white on many matters as life usually puts him in the grey area so. u know. atm doesn’t have any ulterior motives because he doesn’t have it in him anymore to be evil or whatever. he ran out of plans. just trying do the right thing from here on out, so, let him help you! bro’s probably a lawful neutral man i know i’m sorry for being boring :/ c’est la vie

connections!

i prefer brainstorming over anything and i’m down for just about everything so hit me