#PERSONALLY i like this song being from katsuki's perspective the most but it could really be both of them.

[dailybakudekusong]

Today's Daily BakuDeku Song Is: Follow You - Imagine Dragons

Call you up, you've been cryin', cryin' all night You're only disappointed in yourself, alright Taking those, taking those losses if it treats you right I wanna take you into the sunlight If the world would only know what you've been holding back Heart attacks every night Oh, you know it's not right

[collisiondiscourse]

on the wonder duo (part 1)

(BNHA Analysis Post Ahead! This isn’t explicitly romantic, but it is an analysis of the relationship between the two most popular characters in BNHA--Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya. Split into two posts because I realized that this was gonna be long as HELL)

yall ever think about the fact that the wonder duo is perfectly set up in so that bakugou and deku together are the better version of all might?

bc like. ive been thinking.

everyone knows the win to save and save to win parallel. How they are supposedly two halves of a whole perfect hero (which, previously, was defined as all might)

but ever since bakugou and deku started working as one—growing together to win AND save and continuously reminding each other that they shouldnt try to do things alone, ive realized that its BECAUSE theres two of them that they surpass all might. its not a case of deku and bakugou both being 50% of an ideal hero, but rather i think that they are 100% of what all might SHOULD HAVE BEEN from the very beginning.

as early as the AM v AFO battle in kamino, we see the effects of all mights flawed existence. the fact that he, the greatest and supposedly infallible symbol of peace, was destroyed—society had begun to collapse. there was suddenly no pillar to hold people together and the impacts were so severe that even in the latest chapters of mha it keeps on getting worse. the truth is, all mights biggest mistake was the burden he placed on his own shoulders

with bakugou and deku... its different.

its different for them because down to their attributions, they seem like two halves of a whole person.

i think that the wonder duo are going to surpass all might because of the fact that they work together.

@bakugoukatsuki-rising @svpercraigus @tybee​ @isaustraliaathing​

(batshit crazy and conspiratorial essay under the cut !)

1. Complementary Colors

I’d like to first preface literally everything I say by the fact that I am not an expert analyzer or literary major in any way. I am literally just some random fan on the internet who has wayyy too much time and looks wayyy too deep into things, but here we go!

A common thing we see when we talk about bakugou and deku is the way they are... sort of an inverse of one another.

Down to the design of their features and the way they move, Deku is the obviously softer of the two. There’s an intentional contrast between the two of them, in the way that Deku’s drawn with round shapes and curvy hair and the way Bakugou is literally all spikes and half-mast eyes and rough muscles. Bakugou’s movements too are languid and showy, with the way he leans when he walks and splays his legs and kicks open doors. Katsuki, in a casual sense, is loud and dramatic. 

Deku on the other hand s finicky. He jitters when he walks and he’s often fidgeting and mumbling. Comparatively, the aura he radiates is energetic and frenzied, even self-conscious to a point unlike Bakugou’s calm and confident movements.

the point is, there’s a clear difference in how either of them are designed and what exactly they are supposed to represent. They utterly complement each other down to the way they behave and even their main colors (red-orange and blue-green) being literal complementary colors.

Now, moving to my more ungrounded points, this is quite a bit of a stretch so I’ll try as much as possible to make sense of these with hyperlinked sources because. yeah.

Down to their names, I think Deku and Bakugou both symbolize something deeper. I think that the way Hori expresses characters and what they’re meant to do is something that we have to pay close attention to when we talk about the Wonder Duo’s rise to success.

Izuku Midoriya (緑谷 出久), as some of us may know, does have an interesting meaning when broken up. According to a lovely fan translation of his name, ‘Izuku’--while not an actual name used commonly in real life--means to ‘Come out’ or ‘Long time’. ‘Midoriya’ on the other hand means (Midori) ‘Green’ and (ya) ‘valley’. The translator further pointed out that his first name ‘Izuku’ could be a reference to him being the first legendary hero to come out of the long-running All Might Era. (or, if you’ve been reading @/bakugoukatsuki-rising’s posts, the first significant anime protag in a long while to come out as queer, ppfft)

but that isn’t my focus right now.

We know that Hori LOVES telling stories with names, and more often than not in the BNHA universe, names alone tell us a lot of things about the characters. When referring to Izuku’s last name, Midoriya, it’s important I think to step back and realize that hey, maybe there’s something more to Green Valley than just the fact that his motif is all green.

After searching for a lil on the specifics of green valley, I’ve found out that across many cultures, the colour green and valleys in general tend to represent life. From dream analysts, to Christianity, and even old Taoist teachings, valleys are seen as areas of fertility and escape. They are seen as safe havens and often escapes for people to come to after running away from bad circumstances.

(Sound familiar?)

Deku, in essence represents life and peace. He represents being the “salvation” that the world in BNHA needed. To me, it sounds like Horikoshi is trying to say that he is the long-awaited hero in the sense. The one that people can feel will create a society that feels safe for everyone after years of All Might just saving people from themselves as a band-aid solution.

On the other hand, we have Katsuki Bakugou (爆豪 勝己), who’s name we commonly know means (Katsuki) Winner and (Bakugou) Explosion Master. He is essentially, the champion. The power. His name means success and power and all the things that make up winning.

When putting them side by side, it then becomes increasingly... interesting to me how their names almost perfectly slot into All Might’s save to win and win to save mantra, and how they are both quintessential parts to what made All Might as a hero.

2. Hero Too!

Now, I’m not even gonna really TOUCH much of what happens in canon. If you want me to do a step by step breakdown of their arcs in regards to the plot of manga and anime, feel free to send me a gratuitous ko-fi tip so I can pay for the headache I get after trying to organize my thoughts into word vomit.

What I WILL talk about on the other hand, is the subtle shift both of them slowly have in regards to how they look. Bakugou and Deku, while growing up, seem to have MANY many parallels--but before I elaborate on all of that, I wanna talk about something else.

Detour: Deku’s Red Shoes 

We all know the iconic symbol being Deku’s red shoes. For all his life, save for some outfits like his hero one, we see Deku more often than not wearing his signature red sneakers which have become a running joke in fandom.

But the funny thing is, in Japan, red shoes seem to have an interesting connotation.

In 1922, a popular Japanese nursery rhyme was written, called “Red Shoes”. The interesting part to me about this song was the symbolism that, in my tiny pea-sized brain, I could connect to the story of BNHA.

The story goes that there was a little girl with red shoes named ‘Kimi’. She was from Shizuoka prefecture (which, if you didn’t know, is most likely where Musutafu supposedly is) and was raised by a single mother. When she was young, her mother had to entrust her with a foreigner under the impression that they would give her a better life in America. The stranger is a man named Charles Hewitt (who was described to have blue eyes) and supposedly took her away. 

The singer of the song (supposedly the mother, but some argue it was written from the perspective of a childhood friend) believes that Kimi is happy and living a better life away from them, when the reality of the situation was much worse. The young girl with red shoes in actuality had Tuberculosis, and thus the foreigner whom she was entrusted to had left her to fend for herself and eventually left her to go to America while she died alone and orphaned.

“When I see red shoes, I think of her.”

A very interesting story with very interesting implications indeed.

-

Anyway, moving on to the more... “nuanced” and connected parts of this section, I have every reason to believe that Bakugou and Deku were simply MEANT to be working together down to how they dress. Now, I’d like to discuss their hero costumes.

At the start of their series, using these godawful pics for reference, it’s clear to see that neither of them seem alike in any way--reflecting the dissonance in their relationship at that point in canon.

ough. deku why. (yes we know why its because you love your mom you stupid little bunny <3)

Anyway, we see an immediate gap in how the two of them are. Deku’s first costume is one that reflects how he treated his dream of being a hero. He was still in that childlike idolization phase, the one where his dreams and aspirations were hinged on pure feelings and inspiration from All Might. Katsuki on the other hand was a lot more tactical--professional to an extent. The gap between their respective development with their quirks is something that is clearly felt in every fashion decision they’d made.

(Notice how Deku’s green is a lot brighter and less like the green accents Katsuki has all over his costume.)

As time progressed however... their costumes changed. The colors, the silhouettes, the practical functions, most things.

(Deku’s Gamma Costume and Bakugou’s Winter Costume used respectively)

we begin to notice a few similarities.

As the show goes on and we see more evolutions of their costumes, it almost seems like they begin to look like a matching pair. Deku’s green grows darker and almost teal in nature, while Bakugou’s orange is veering towards red territory. This is important to note because red-orange and blue-green as I said earlier were complementary colors as compared to simply orange and green. The minute shift is something I really wasn’t quite sure was intentional, but something I find interesting to pick up nonetheless as the colors they used to accent their costumes begin to match up.

Secondly, I think and important thing to note is silhouettes. The way that both Bakugou and Deku’s costumes are designed follow a lot of parallels that typically we don’t see with the rest of 1-A. For one, they both have a combination of tight long-sleeved tops with a bulkier set of bottoms. They also share the use of utility belts and metal pieces typically worn around their necks. Deku has his bunny-eared hood that mimics All Might’s hair, while Bakugou has his orange and black explosion ear-pieces that mimic his own quirk.

i don’t think any other people in class 1-A match each other as subtly yet strongly as these two. Uraraka and Deku and Bakugou and Kirishima do come close however.

“But Codi, you fucking knob!” I hear you plea. “This is such a reach and tells us practically NOTHING!” And yes, I’m inclined to agree with you! You’d be sort of right in the idea that this is a reach. Maybe I am looking too much into this, and maybe it really isn’t that deep--but I do think that them subconsciously matching outfits means something quite brilliant.

In the way that their costumes are designed, each aspect of either outfits have a very logical explanation. The changes were strategic and made with their fighting styles vividly in mind, so what that tells me is that BECAUSE these costumes are so complementary or similar in nature (Bakugou’s reinforcing his arms while Deku reinforces his legs), these two are implicitly showing the audience that their combat styles are complementary as well. 

The evolution of their design choices and similarities tell us that even unknowingly, their minds line up in strategy on the battlefield--a clear exhibit for why they would be INCREDIBLY POWERFUL as a Hero Duo to begin with.

When I look at their hero costumes side by side, I see a mirror. I see the way that these two are reflections of each other and are strong where the other isn’t. The point I see in BNHA repeatedly is that EVERYONE HAS A WEAKNESS. Nothing is infallible, regardless of how hard you train or how powerful your quirk is. Everyone will always have a weakness, but the significant difference I see when fandom discusses the future of Pro-Hero Society is that the new generation is finally raising itself to be RELIANT on each other. 

Observing their fighting styles and the simple use of their quirks, its obvious that they are indeed two parts of a whole hero. Bakugou, who’s quirk emphasized his arms and hands and the power that comes from it, while Deku who’s quirk now emphasizes his legs and lower body and the way he’s always running to save people.

IN CONCLUSION:

As they become heroes, it is easy to assume that if nothing else, Bakugou and Deku will cover each other’s weak spots (especially when you consider the way Deku probably won’t be able to keep using his arms with the way both the anime and manga are going...) (also chapter 285, anyone?)

-

Part Two: Interactions, OfA

kofi || commission details

[thegrimzuera]

1 + 4 for the ask game? I'm always down to hear more about Autumn! 😁❤️🧡

Ahhh you are the sweetest 💛 thank you!

Spoilers for my Kiribaku (Bakugou centric) fanfic In the Roaring Autumn are below the cut. If you haven’t read it yet, click the link to the story and take a gander! These answers are in response to this fanfic ask meme I reblogged yesterday.

1. If you had to create a soundtrack for your story, what songs would you choose? Why?

This is such a great question, and I’m going to interpret it more as songs that remind me of my story and the characters than as if I were constructing a film with background music.

The Lakes - Taylor Swift

This song is one I heard well into the writing process of In the Roaring Autumn, but it was one of those situations where I felt like my brain had been hacked and the guts of my story were spilled out in this gorgeous, cottagecore-esque song. The idea of running away into nature—away from society and the eyes that are always watching a little too closely—is so true to Katsuki’s desires in the story.

Lines like “I’m not cut out for all these cynical clones/ these hunters with cell phones” and “what should be over burrowed under my skin in heart-stopping waves of hurt/ I’ve come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze tell me what are my words worth” stand out to me in particular. They really speak to Katsuki’s struggle to let go of his own past and all the devastation and guilt he feels because of it, and also the ways in which other people in his life (primarily Midoriya in this case) have tried to tell Katsuki what he meant with his own actions and what he must do in order to redeem himself.

And of course the fact that the narrator of the song isn’t escaping alone. They’re going to the lakes to look over cliff sides and be with the only person they trust—the only person who can understand the ways which they’ve been cast out. One might even say Kirishima is the “red rose” that “grew up from ice frozen ground.” Katsuki is escaping the bounds of society, but as the song says in its final line, not without his muse—not without Kirishima.

I Was an Island - Allison Weiss

I have no idea whether anyone else in the world knows this song or not (it could be a beloved classic or a complete unknown for all I know), but in my opinion it is THE quintessential Kiribaku song, and therefore it must be included. I have a feeling that it works in most any universe that includes Kiribaku, even (and especially) canon. But, I think of it particularly in regards to the last third or so of the story where Katsuki begins to pull back out of fear, deciding it’s better to avoid Kirishima altogether than to tell the truth about his struggles. The song deals with a lot of the same things Katsuki is going through—this idea that he was a loner and he liked it that way, and then Kirishima came along and changed all of that.

I imagine that Katsuki would particularly resonate with lines like “I was a fighter and I was so brave/ but I lowered my sword when you held me and swore you’d stay stay stay” “I was a wolf dear/ apart from the pack/ but you heard my cry in the dead of the night and told me that you had my back” and “I’m no good on my own anymore/ what did I do to deserve this/ what did you do to me/ baby come back, you know I don’t wanna be free”.

Medicine - Daughter

This song is so heavy and angsty and I love it for Autumn. I imagine that it could be from either/both Katsuki and Eijirou’s perspectives and they try to help each other out of unhealthy coping mechanisms and numbness. It’s all about how they both see each other’s worth and wish to communicate that. It’s about encouraging the best in each other, encouraging accountability, but also saying “hey, if you mess up once in a while, that doesn’t change who you are and what you’re capable of”. The opening line starts it off right for me “Pick it up/ Pick it all up/ And start again./ You’ve got a second chance/ You could go home/ Escape it all, it’s just irrelevant.”

Don’t mistake my brevity for lack of love for this song. I just thing the song really speaks for itself. If somehow you haven’t heard it in the blessed year of 2021, please go listen now! It’s one of my favorites.

That’s enough songs I suppose 😅 considering I rambled so much.

4. What are your main character(s) motivations? What do you consider their main drivers?

This question actually made me pause! I think because it’s been a while since Autumn ended and I want to get it right. At the time of writing I was very connected to Katsuki as a character, so while I didn’t necessarily ever put this into words, I definitely knew his motivation. I’ll start with him and try to put myself back in his shoes for a moment.

Katsuki’s motivation more than anything else, I think, is to feel safe. There may have been a time when he wanted to be the best, but we come into his life at a point where he’s kind of thrown his hands up and said “Fuck that bullshit!” It’s something that Katsuki realizes is out of character for himself—so out of character that he no longer knows how to function. He’s living his life on the run in a way, choosing isolation as a means of protecting himself from things that he sees as threats to his well-being: consequences, human relationships, the wrestling team as a whole, and the concept of processing his trauma. We see him build wall after wall throughout the story, but we also see Kirishima peeling those walls away brick by brick. Soon enough Katsuki stops looking at Kirishima as a threat to his safety, and he begins to see him as a help to his safety. It’s a beautiful change, but through it all Katsuki’s motivation stays the same. I would say even with the lessons that Katsuki learns and the ways he grows, the moral is never that he was wrong for prioritizing his mental health and well-being. That was very important to me.

Kirishima’s motivation is a little more difficult for me to pin down (haha, wrestling puns), especially in hindsight. I think I’m looking for some sort of deep or abstract answer when in reality, the thing driving Kiri is the desire to be good. He’s made some poor choices in the past, and they were choices he knew were poor even when acting them out. It’s something that weighs heavily on him—something that has altered the way that he lives his life in a very permanent sense. Kirishima wants to do the right thing; it’s the reason he’s so willing to examine Midoriya’s actions and motives when (as Katsuki mentions) everyone else sees Midoriya’s gentle demeanor and assumes the best in him. It’s also the reason that Kirishima emphasizes Katsuki’s own goodness to him. Kirishima knows what it’s like to feel less than, or to feel that you’ve fucked up so supremely that you have no honor at all. Not only does he want to prevent Katsuki from feeling those things, he actually views Katsuki as the morally superior between the two of them and looks to Katsuki as an example of authenticity, honesty, heart, and goodness.

Thank you for sending in these lovely questions! It was so fun to recall where my brain was at the time of writing this story and in some ways examining it from a deeper perspective. I really need to dedicate more time to writing my upcoming fic because CLEARLY I have the urge to spill a lot of words into the universe right now.

[miioouu]

Single Father Bakugo (3) Birthday Dad

More cute single pa Baku!! Honestly idk i just got this idea randomly sooo. Also idk if i said I'll update you guys on Single Father bakugou once a week, buuuut i don't think that's true, I'll post a part anytime an idea comes to my mind. Anyway HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAKUBOO❤️

Ten months…. 

It's been almost a year since Bakugo was taking care of his little baby. Ever since, his life seemed a little brighter, a little more colorful. Even behind his tired, sleep deprived eyes, happiness and joy can be seen. Life has changed drastically, but he wouldn't have it any other way. And to say he wanted to put the little girl up for adoption! So pathetic Katsuki. 

Even though it's his birthday, things were going on normally, being a dad meant that he wasn't able to go out and party, enjoy his special day like every other young person his age. He could still ask his mom to keep an eye on the child, but honestly he'd rather spend the day with her than surrounded by drunk sweaty bodies, annoying music filling his ears. He'd much rather listen to his baby girl babble and babble incoherent words and him pretending to understand and have a conversation with her. What he didn't expect was that this year, he'd have the most wonderful gift of all time. 

Holding her on his hips as he was making himself a birthday dinner, the little girl always looking up to him, hand gripping his thin sweatshirt, incoherent sounds would come out of her mouth every now and then making the young father look at her and reply with a "yes, you're right" and "I know right?! Unbelievable!". Bouncing her to the rhythm of whatever song that was stuck in his head, focusing on the task at hands, he almost missed the sound coming out of her little lips, if it weren't for her hand tugging harder at his top and other one patting his strong arm, a gesture that she learned would get his attention anytime. Dropping the wooden spoon to the side, seeing her mouth open and close, trying to get out something. "Come on baby! What do you have to say? Dad's listening!" He didn't want to get his hopes too high, knowing that it's still a bit early for her to say her first word, but maybe it's his dad instinct telling him to listen closely, or maybe it's just the little bit of hope that she'd say her first word on his birthday that told him to focus on whatever that was about to come out of her. "Ba… BaBa". That's it! That was it! Wide smile stretching on his face, tears threatening to fall, since when did he become so soft? Well it doesn't matter now... He couldn't believe how lucky he was, to have his daughter's first words be "baba" and on his birthday! He was on cloud nine! Hugging his baby tightly, telling her how much he loves her and treasures her, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face for the rest of the evening. 

He spent his first birthday as a dad calling up his beloved ones, telling them about the most amazing gift he's ever gotten. 

5 years….

Growing up and growing older together, was everything Bakugou ever wants. His little baby now five, how did time pass by so quickly? It felt like just yesterday he was teaching her how to walk, and now he's begging her to stop running around the house, afraid she'd knock her head on things. It happened before, hearing his angel cry, making his heart drop, he never again wants to hear her in pain again….

His birthday wasn't his special day anymore, it was their special day. Making it a ritual to always spend it together, they'd either go out and celebrate it over ice cream, or they'd stay at home, playing and cuddling watching movies as she drifted to sleep in his arms. He never asked for gifts, she's a child, and even later in life he wouldn't. He never liked his birthday, until he became a dad, the first year she gifted him with her precious first words. The second with a hug, the third with a kiss, and the fourth with morning snuggles. His little bundle of joy completely changed his perspective of his birthday. What will she do this year? 

Apparently, something really special, as she was hiding from him all day, running away from him everytime he tried to get a hug or a kiss. Making him a little angry as he just wanted some affection from the little girl, but he's not getting any of it. Well at least he didn't have to wait that long, lunch was approaching and so did his baby, well not so baby anymore, hiding something behind her back as she was making her way to him. Giving her a little smile as she finally, for the first time today, showed some interest in her father. Pressing her head on his leg as she couldn't reach higher to get his attention, like he wasn't already waiting for her. Bending down to get to her eye level, he gave her a little cheek kiss as she revealed what she was keeping a secret from him all day long. It must've been something on a paper or something like that, but he couldn't quite tell as glitter was covering all of it, looking behind her to see the trail of orange and pink shimmers that would definitely be a hassle to clean. Though he didn't care right now, the only thing that matters was his gift, as narcissistic as it sounds. Taking the present from her hands only to open the envelope to reveal a folded paper. Shaking his hand in a sort of way to get rid of the sparkles, gently unfolding the paper. Eyes wide, then softening as a grin made its way to his lips. It was a family drawing. There she was holding hand with what he assumed to be him, wearing his hero costume, and their little cat to the side. Not forgetting to add her uncle Kirishima but it seemed as she crossed him, writing a small no to his side, making the blond giggle. And on the top of her paper, in bold multi-colored pencil a big "Happy birzday Baba" with a crooked heart next to it. It was nothing amazing, but he can see the thought she put into it, the love and passion she dedicated in the drawing, making him ever so proud of his girl. Giving her the biggest hug, lifting her up in the air as he thanked her. He was honestly having the time of his life, always, with his little bundle of joy…. 

14 years….

Rituals are bound to fade one day. And considering spending his birthday together as a ritual, he wasn't that surprised when it broke. But it still hurts. It's the first birthday in 14 years he spends alone, without her by his side. With her laughs to fill the air, with her hugs to warm his heart, with her "I love you dad"s. Instead she decided to spend the night with her friends. And the worse thing about all of it, she hadn't even acknowledged him all day long. Teenagers… 

Bored out of his mind, and too sad to do anything, even spending the night with Kirishima. He couldn't bring himself to move from the couch, laying under his blankets. Pathetic Katsuki, you've been limping around all day long like a heartbroken teenager! Man up it's just a night away. At this point he had no idea if he was sad that he's not spending the night with his daughter or if he was just worried about her. It's not the end of the world! He can still get out, have fun on his birthday like everyone. He still can….. But he doesn't want to. He wants her. He wants to hug her, mess her hair, listen to her drag his names as he teases her about her crush. He wants to cuddle up with her as they watch their favorite show for the fifteenth time. And fuck, is he crying right now? It's just…. It feels like just yesterday he was teaching her how to lace up her shoes, warning her about boys. It felt like just yesterday, she took her first steps, yelled her first swear, she gave him the middle finger for the first time. She just grew up so fast, how can he not be sad? And his tears didn't stop rolling as he looked at the fridge, family drawings she made, the highest score on a maths exam…. He was just so proud of her. He was just so proud to call this little daredevil with a soft heart his daughter. And he was so proud of the woman she grew up to be. 

Thinking so much about her, it seemed like she sensed it. Right before midnight, a special ringtone shook him awake. It was her! Is she ok?! What if something happened to her?! Shooting out from under the blankets to answer the call, mind drowning in fear, until he heard her gentle voice, slightly above a whisper so her friends don't listen to her. "Happy birthday dad, I love you so much!"

18 years…. 

Sadness, it was all he was feeling lately. The thought of her being already so grown up, he didn't want his baby to leave him. He didn't want his baby to fly away from him. He didn't want his daughter to forget about him…. But there's some things in life that you can't stop. And one of them was the departure of his girl to college, leaving him alone, with their old cat, just to stare at all her childhood photos, relive all the memories, and when he gets her occasional texts, it never fails to make him smile and tug at his heart as tears threaten to fall. 

Though on his birthday, she made sure to make it as special as possible, even if she wasn't near him. Going out to get his mail like every morning, he noticed a special letter. One decorated with glitter, orange and pink. Excitement flowing in his vain as he knew exactly where that special gift came from, or to be exact from who. Running inside and gently opening up the letter, wanting to keep it intact to save it. He couldn't help but sob at the words in front of him, the love they expressed…. 

    "Dear baba… 

     It's your special day! So I thought I'd make it even more special and write to you how I truly feel. 

    I know it's been hard, and I haven't been the easiest to raise. But can you blame me for the temper I inherited from you? Can you blame me for the loud voice I got from you? Can you blame me for the love and care and sweetness I offer the word that I learned from you? 

    I know what you're thinking, cause I thought about it too. Do you ever wonder, like me, about what would've happened if I was never a part of your life? Do you ever wonder, like me, what it would've been like if I had a mother, to braid my hair and caress my cheeks? To lull me to sleep with angelic voice and the smile that would appear everytime I do something right? Do you ever wonder, like me, if I never were a mistake? But I don't blame dad, it's not your fault. I'm not asking you to change anything, there's nothing you can do. And I understand. 

    Do you want to know what though? All of these are just what if's… In reality I wouldn't change a thing, and I know you won't either. In reality I don't need that motherly love, I only need yours. I need your rough hands to pinch my cheeks, I need your loud voice to praise me up, I need your evil smirk to boost me up. 

     I've seen your tears dad, I heard your cries. I've shed those tears too dad, and I bet you heard my cries. You wish you had someone, I wish that too. You wish you were better, I wish I was that too. But now I know, life might be us two. And I'm so ok with that. All I need in life is you. My angel and devil, my father and so much more, my number one hero…..

      Happy birthday to the most wonderful hero, to my best friend, to my one and only! Happy birthday baba! I love you!

                           From your daughter xoxo"

Tags

(@babybakuu )

[eijiroukiriot]

After Months of saying i would i’m finally posting about my Kiribaku playlist! I’ve linked it before but I’ve never really gone into what the songs mean to me and how I see them in relation to the boys, and I think the explanations puts things into perspective, so I typed it all out!

This is my main krbk playlist - I also have playlists for Bakugou and Kirishima separately - and this focuses mostly on happier songs (and a few that are so ingrained into how I see them that I had to put them in anyway). I also have an angst-themed krbk playlist and post-breakup playlists for each of them! Really I just. love music and love seeing characters I like in it so this is fun for me 

Spotify Link

song descriptions under the cut!

i typed up all of this after 1 a.m. last night so not only is it very long it’s also somewhat incoherent but these songs mean a lot to me so if you’re down to read it then thank you!!

note: a few of these songs aren’t available on spotify at the moment but they’re so crucial to the Vibe that i’ve still included them here!

i. I Always Knew - The Vaccines

“So let’s go to bed, before we say something real - 

Let’s go to bed, before we say how we feel” 

-this is my Ultimate krbk song, man. the first time i heard it i was walking to class and i just had to stop on the sidewalk and take a Big deep breath. everything abt the lyrics fits them so well - i’ve talked about this before but the verses and prechoruses really capture that “being young and stupid and tiptoeing around your emotions” feeling, then the chorus hits and it just SOARS, and really, has there ever been a sentiment that fits them more than “it’s always been you” 

ii. Fly Me to the Moon/Lucky - Rick Hale

“Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore - 

Tell me I’m the lucky one you worship and adore” 

-I have an extreme soft spot for these boys and love songs. and this has been a part of my fic writing playlists for so long that it always makes me think of them. I don’t even have a lot to say by way of lyrics, this is a full atmosphere pick 

iii. If My Heart Was A House - Owl City

“Circle me and the needle moves gracefully back and forth -

If my heart was a compass, you’d be north” 

-boy if this song doesn’t make me think of bkg every time!! it’s the transition from the prechorus into the chorus that gets me - it starts so quiet, like there’s so much love inside of you that you’re still trying to keep down, and then the “bombs away” is the moment when you decide to stop running and just embrace it, and the chorus comes in so loud and strong and so thoroughly in love. call me a sap (spoilers: i do that myself multiple times here) but it really does remind me of what it must be like when bkg just...decides to let himself have this. and then i feel dumb bc this is about anime boys who are like not in love in canon at all but inside the intricate Kiribaku Canon i have built in my head oh yeah this is how bkg falls in love

iv. Knock Three Times - Tony Orlando

“One floor below me, you don’t even know me - I love you” 

-this is just the prime soundtrack for a college AU where kirishima’s dorm is right above bkg’s and he’s in Love with him. And Also, something about the bold retro vibe makes me think of kirishima, but that almost certainly a me thing! still a big bop though 

v. Intergalactic Disco - Interlunium

“So, with stars in our eyes, let’s fly through the glowing galaxies” 

-again, a big sappy atmosphere pick! i really do love the imagery in this one and the storyline of playing things off as just having a good time until it turns out the other person is as deeply in love as you are. it really is just That Song! please stan interlunium

vi. Animal - Neon Trees

“Here we go again, I kinda wanna be more than friends” 

-the ENERGY in this song!! the loud, highkey, driving beat! the vibes of being young and stupid and stumbling through having feelings for someone equally as inexperienced with love as you are! and yet the fact that we KNOW both of them would run full-force with it once they realize they both want it! the lyrics to this one do get a bit spicy but it’s really the high school crush energy in this one that gets me 

vii. If You Wanna - The Vaccines

“I don't want to do things independently, but I can't make you stay -

That's what all the friends I do not like as much as you say...but if you wanna come back it's alright”

-the ENERGY in this SONG!!!! the electric guitar and the chorus so long you think he’ll run out of breath! bkg getting so fed up with being so close to kirishima’s face and not being able to kiss it that he takes the dive and goes for it and then goes to run away until kirishima yells WAIT- IF YOU WANNA COME BACK IT’S ALRIGHT!!!

viii. No One Like You - Best Coast

“Been around this crazy world, but I still wanna be your girl - 

Cause there’s no one like you.” 

-I feel like...if krbk had a cheesy high school romcom, and everything led up to a big dance at the end, and at the very end the camera panned out as they finally caved into each other and went onto the floor to do that slow dance, this would be the song. This is their slow dance 

-seriously like 70% of the lyrics to this song are “there’s no one like you” which is really, once again, just the Pinnacle of krbk 

ix. Idfc - Blackbear

“'Cause I have hella feelings for you -

I act like I don't fucking care, 'cause I'm so fucking scared” 

-the bkg energy in this song...the self doubt and the pining but the deep-seated belief that you don’t deserve this, even though you’re so close, even though he keeps telling you he loves you- but how could he, he has to be lying, and why would you even care, you don’t care about people like this- you never have, until now...oh this song is just DRIPPING in it

x. My Best Friend’s Hot - The Dollyrots

“Won’t you apologize to me, to me, to me? For being such a tease, a tease, a tease” 

-it’s a song about being pissed at your oblivious hot best friend who you have a huge crush on! they might as well have credited the lyrics to bakugou katsuki 

xi. Stay by My Side - Twice

“I can’t hold it back anymore - 

I can’t even believe how much I love you” 

-it’s Cheesy Romance! it’s cheesy romance that’s all this is!!! this one is pure michigan cheese!!!!! 

xii. Love Line - Twice

“With you by my side, I wanna take a shot, take a walk on the love line” 

-again this is a very me pick! this one’s been sitting around on my writing playlists for a long time and i’ve come to really associate it w these Boys. the member who wrote the lyrics has said it was about her first crush and it’s generally about just. being So enamored with someone you can’t stop thinking about them. and i’m a big sap so you know where that goes 

xiii. Maybe (Luck of the Draw) - The Vaccines

“There’s nobody else like you, there’s nobody else like you -

And if there’s nobody else like you, then maybe I want to spend my life with you” 

-this one always sounds to me like krbk growing up, spending late nights both awake in the dimly-lit kitchen of their second apartment, watching the hours tick by on the microwave clock as they just talk and argue and make each other laugh and slowly realizing that this is by no means perfect but there’s no one else they’d rather keep getting old with...i feel like this is another end credits song for them, you know? 

xiv. I’m Totally Obsessed with Him - Matt Fishel

“He’s in my heart, he’s in my lungs - he’s in everything that I touch” 

-matt fishel deserves SO much more than he gets i mean LISTEN to this huge campy gay anthem about being just extremely an unapologetically in love with your big gay boyfriend!!!! i feel bad making pride anthems like this about anime boys but i’m also gay and i’m here to say that the absolute SCALE of this - the explosion of electricity and infatuation and campy guitar in the chorus - this one has BIG kirishima energy. words can’t do it justice just please please listen to this one 

xv. Slayers - Matt Fishel (again lol) 

“We’re in this together, you and I -

Hand in hand, side by side, unbreakable” 

-It’s a song about being in love with someone who you see as your total partner, you rely on each other and protect each other and you’re with each other through everything, and it’s written through the lens of a fantasy story - this one always, always makes me think of the two of them in the fantasy AU, sworn partners for life, able to rise above any challenges in their path, flying into the sunset together after a long day of adventures, so happy that it seems to make the world spin 

-this really may be the most krbk song i’ve ever heard so please listen to it, 

-i played it for my krbk friend once and when he said unbreakable they started screaming

xvi. Hooked On a Feeling - Blue Swede

“I’m high on believing you’re in love with me -

I said, I’m hooked on a FEELING!!!!!”

-picture this: class A crammed into a karaoke room for a party, kirishima standing up in front of the scream and screaming “THIS ONE’S FOR YOU BKG” and belting out the entire thing, slightly off pitch but FULL of spirit, every time ‘girl’ comes up in the lyrics he sings ‘bakugou’ really really fast (‘I CAN’T STOP THIS FEELING, deep inSIIIde of me, bakugouyoujust don’t reallize!!! what you do to me!!!!”) and everyone is whooping and hollering along except bkg who gets so red that nobody can tell if it’s angry embarrassment or in love god just so in love embarrassment 

-it’s hooked on a feeling it has such loud kirishima energy do i have to explain myself here

xvii. Everyday I Love You - ViVi (Loona) 

“If only you liked me - if only you loved me

Like a fool, I think only of you” 

-note 1: stan loona

-note 2: this song is just such a sweet picture of pining!! imagining the stolen glances and ‘hopeless’ crush feeling when (in some AU where they both have. less emotional hangups the first time they meet) they first meet,, i can’t explain it for this one even it just makes me so soft 

xviii. Crush - Weki Meki

“This feeling- like I’m losing, it’s hurting my pride

But I can’t help it, I’m so curious that I’m going crazy” 

-i’m sure you can tell by now that i. Really like kpop but the first time i read the lyrics to this one i lost it! there are really too many lyrics than i can fit here that remind me of how bkg sees kirishima when he first realizes it’s really a crush that’s making him act like this - i really recommend that you take a look at the translation for this one!! it really has it all - being mad at your crush for how they make your heart pound, feeling like it’s hurting your pride, “it’s not like me to be circling around you like this, i’m gonna make a move”, the line about how “i’ll be better to you than anyone else” - seriously, i cannot exaggerate the bkg energy in these lyrics 

xix. Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai - Masayoshi Ohishi

“I want to get to know you more and more - but that kind of line doesn’t really fit me” 

-aaaand here’s a song that radiates EXTREME Kirishima Energy!! everything from the vibrant guitar to the big belted chorus to the lyrics about being, like, confused but absolutely buzzing and just wanting to be with them - it’s loud and bright and awkward but THRILLED about every part of it!!

-it, of course, helps that the title essentially means “it’s gotta be you” 

xx. I Do Adore - Mindy Gledhill

“Everything you do - it sends me higher than the moon” 

-like….is there a more classic song to associate with your favorite stupid pining high schoolers ship 

-don’t get me wrong i KNOW this one is cliche and i KNOW there’s other ships this fits better but i’m soft don’t @ me 

xxi. Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You - Frankie Valli

-legally this song is only Half in the playlist bc spotify likes taking it down and putting it back up at random but after writing fly me i can’t NOT think abt krbk when i hear it. i have no further justification 

-also imagine kirishima being loud and embarrassing and singing this song to bkg all the time

xxii. Television/So Far So Good - Rex Orange County 

“I don't know, no, I don't know what you like,

But if you're looking for something new, I know somebody that you could choose: 

What about me?” 

-what about MEEEEEEEEeeeeeEEEe 

-i think it’s that driving guitar rhythm that makes this one for me. it just sounds so...ready to take on this weird new feeling of knowing how perfectly things could go with someone if you both just took the jump. it sounds very kirishima. 

-the content does start changing as it keeps going but those first few minutes and the RAP VERSE really have such bubbly dumb teenage ‘it’s our first time feeling like this and it might be a little too serious for us but why don’t we take the leap i’m sure it’ll be worth it��� vibes. it really feels like the first “what about me???” in the chorus should be accompanied by kirishima sprinting up to bkg and lifting him up and kissing him because he’s so caught up in this feeling

xxiii. Sweet Talk - Saint Motel

“When you laugh, I forget that it’s about me 

But it’s alright - cause being your punchline still is something” 

-we all know this is a krbk song, everyone knows it’s a krbk song, my non-bnha friend who I annoy constantly w krbk stuff knows this is a krbk song, honestly do I even have to explain why? it contains the line “you could yell ‘piss off, won’t you stay away’ - it’d still be sweet talk to my ears” and we All know how whipped kirishima already is 

xxiv. Into The Storm - Banners

“Through night and dark, through fantasies that fall apart,

Know you're always in my heart, anywhere you go” 

-Unconditional love! Working through the hard times together! and knowing these two, there have been & will be no shortage of hard times to work through. it’s that loyalty and devotion that makes this one. 

xxv. Talk Too Much - COIN

“Stay cool, it’s just a kiss - so, why you gotta be so talkative?” 

-when it comes down to it bkg and kirishima are two idiot 16 year olds who have never been in love before so you know they’re gonna stumble a lot when they first get together. i don’t know how to explain it but i think this really captures that

-also i feel like this is a pretty staple krbk song! i see it on so many playlists

xxvi. If I Tremble - Front Porch Step

“And if I tremble at the sight of you, it’s not because I’m cold -

It’s because I’m staring at the girl I want to love me when I’m old” 

-that idea of the kind of love you want to last forever, knowing the person you want to grow old with...I honestly don’t like this one for them that much anymore but it Did make me cry the first time I thought about it so it gets to stay. tbh when I’m soft enough it still gets me 

xxvii. Cold Cold Man - Saint Motel

“You’re the only one worth seeing, the only place worth being -

The only bed worth sleeping is the one right next to you” 

-Saint Motel is just krbk culture at this point, this is another staple krbk song. I mean, the core theme is “I know I’m an asshole but I love you more than anyone” - come ON

xxviii. Wonderful Things - Ryan Corn

“So you say you wanna grab hold - well to hold, you’ve gotta let go

Of the only way you may have ever known” 

-is this song about god? maybe. is it about krbk? Oh absolutely 

-the themes of not knowing what you’d do without the other person in your life, and looking back on the person you were able to become because of them, and that lyric up there always makes me think of Kamino - it’s just all around got the themes and I’m very soft about that

xxix. Bad Enough For You - All Time Low 

“You love to hate me when I'm chasing you, 

And I hate to say this, but I'm stuck on loving you” 

-Okay this is totally 12-year-old me talking here but hear me out: Bakugou being convinced Kirishima could never like him more than this weird half-flirting thing they’ve come to and also being scared that he’d never be good enough for him, but him as he is now is letting them HAVE this half-flirting thing, so...he keeps it up, even though he wishes he could be the one to treat him how he deserves to be treated, but there’s no way he could be Kirishima’s boyfriend anyway so what’s the point in caring (but kirishima loved him the WHOLE TIME!!! they sort things out before long lol)

-also they’re both 16 and emo so. 

xxx. Instead of My Room - Charlie Burg 

“Can't we just put on Ramones? And we'll drive

And I'll kiss you, in my car, instead of my room” 

-if kirishima wrote songs with kaminari and sero during high school, i think they’d sound like this

-the lyrics to this one are just so Fun! it’s goofy and jokey and just having a good time! i can’t make the lyrics line up as much as i’d like them to but it really just sounds like them to me 

xxxi. I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing - Aerosmith 

“I don’t wanna close my eyes -

I don’t wanna fall asleep, cause I’d miss you, babe” 

-i have exactly 2 krbk moods and one is “they are stupid. 16 and loud and just so dumb” and the other is “this is Love love, they’re gonna live off this forever” 

-kirishima looking over at bkg fast asleep the night after their wedding and feeling so wholly in love that he cries 

xxxii. Stutter - Marianas Trench

“So here I am - you can take or leave me,

But I won't ever be anywhere but here” 

-If krbk starred in a mid-2000s battle of the bands romcom with a car chase scene this is the song that would play in the trailer (I KNOW that’s crazy specific but that’s the image I always get when I hear this) 

xxxiii. Must Have Done Something Right - Reliant K 

“If anyone could make me a better person, you could -

All I gotta say is I must have done something good” 

-i feel like i’m 13 when i hear this song but it’s really really Them

-really i think the thing that keeps me so invested in krbk is that they’re so involved with each other’s character arcs - they’re constantly making each other better people, each of them is like a missing piece for the other, and they’re both so wrapped up in their own shortcomings that they barely even realize how big of an impact they’re having on the other. but really they would never be the same if they hadn’t met. and that’s the entirety of this song’s content

xxxiv. Deer in the Headlights - Owl City 

“Tell me again, was it love at first sight

When I walked by and you caught my eye?” 

-there is literally nothing in the lyrics that makes me think of them. this one is 100% for the vibe. and also kinda the lyrics in the chorus. like, being taken aback by how suddenly everything is happening but in a very excited and enthusiastic way. things don’t go Smoothly when they confess, persay, but oh man is it memorable (and loud and sweaty and hoarse-throated but never, ever sad) 

xxxv. On and On (About You) - Bowling For Soup 

“Now you can scream about the little things, slap me twice across the face,

Man it would be great if I could buy you flowers every day” 

-this is really middle school me speaking here BUT: 

-krbk don’t exactly work out in high school and end with some big fight but with time they both realize they were wrong and when they finally meet again at a class reunion they both wanna get back together but they’re still arguing and shooting quick remarks at each other but the whole time they’re thinking “man, if i could, i’d buy you flowers every day” 

xxxvi. Mamma Mia - ABBA

-it’s mamma mia. it’s just mamma mia

-it’s also kirishima’s inner monologue every time he thinks he’s finally kicked his crush on bkg and then he sees him for 0.1 seconds and falls right back in 

xxxvii. I Dare You - The Regrettes

“I can't seem to sleep, and I feel my pulse beating

I wanna keep all my control, but you're the one that brings the sun” 

-maybe it just reminds me of the music video song in quote love unquote but the second i heard this song i was like oh yeah that’s kiribaku

-the idea of trying to catch yourself as you feel yourself falling but also choosing to make the jump in the first place! the idea that you’re taking a big chance but things are so much better together that you’re not scared! you’re even pushing yourself forward! it’s truly for them 

xxxviii. I Want to Hold Your Hand - the version from Yesterday

-like, fuck the beatles but it’s a song about hand holding. come on 

xxxix. Love At First Sight - The Brobecks

“Turn the lights off, I’m in love” 

-that lyric has happened in canon. that lyric is the context of why bkg went to bed at 8:32 pm that one time 

-it’s such a sweet mix of being scared about falling in love but also...feeling like the world just got a little brighter, and kinda letting yourself sink into it in reluctant acceptance because it just feels so good? kinda hitting the same notes as If My Heart Was A House. idk the first time i heard this i thought abt the girl i have a crush on so i was like “nope. nope. refocus this to krbk” 

xxxx. Holliday - The Weekend Run Club 

“I'd never been so soaked before

I was drenched in your arms, dancing in your downpour” 

-this was on my discover weekly last week and I put it on here without thinking about it and now I”m really listening to it for the first time and. wow. Wow. 

-you know the scenario i’ve been bringing up this whole time of taking a leap into something awkward and electric that makes you happier than you could imagine? that’s the energy i’m getting from this

-just imagining krbk being out on their first date and it starts pouring so they duck inside and they’re like “well...should we just go back?” and then realize it’s so much more like them to run out into the downpour and get soaked and kirishima’s losing his mind laughing and bkg’s like “what are you so happy about idiot” and kirishima’s just like “i don’t know. i just really like this. i just really like you” and then they’re both kinda floating on air

[mysterylover123]

Datte Atashi No Hero, aka the BKDK Theme Song: meta

“ ▪ While writing the song, LiSA imagined what it would be like if Izuku Midoriya were to sing his honest feelings to Katsuki. In a way, this is a song dedicated to Katsuki from Izuku.”

-BNHA Wiki entry on Datte attashi No Hero (Link: https://bokunoheroacademia.fandom.com/wiki/Datte_Atashi_no_Hero )

For those not in the know, Datte Atashi No Hero is the 3rd ED of BNHA. The one with the Fantasy AU theme. The lyrics by Lisa are explicitly stated on the wiki to have been written about Izuku’s perspective of Katsuki. I’m not used to hearing that an OP/ED in anime was specifically written to be about the story at hand - they usually seem to be songs off the singer’s album that happen to fit with the theme of the story (see: Again by Yui, FMAB OP1). So if we’re reading the translations of the lyrics, offered on the DVD release of BNHA S2, with this in mind, I can only come to the conclusion that studio Bones and Lisa must ship BKDK at least a little, because damn, these are awfully suggestive for platonic rivals. Let’s get into it:

The Lyric: “I can’t imagine you ever giving up”

Opening line of the song. Now, I can imagine this line being from many different perspectives: Izuku on Bakugo or All Might, Uraraka on Izuku, any of Baku’s friends on Baku. But it is still a bit of a stretch to apply this line to anyone but Izuku watching Katsuki, and since we know it was written that way…The line fits really well too with the Final Exam arc bit where Deku socks Kacchan in the face and chastises him for accepting loss.

The Image: This is paired with Fantasy AU Izuku leaving home and waving goodbye to Inko. This situates us in Deku’s POV, which is reinforced by the rest of the ED. This song is definitely Izuku’s point of view. Pairing this lyric with this image, I think, means Izuku is inspired not to give up by Bakugo’s determination - inspired to leave home and pursue his dreams.

The Lyric: “But I’m sure you’ve had days that were empty and miserable”

This line establishes that Deku has empathy for Bakugo, and sees him as human and fallible - connecting with him over their shared feelings of misery. Again, I can think of a few BKDK scenes this pairs well with, especially DVK2 (“Why was I the reason for All Might’s end”).

The image: Deku trips over himself. I guess this is relating to that empathy idea I had earlier. Both Deku and Baku have times where they’re empty and miserable. Deku is greeted then by Uraraka and Iida, symbolizing the moment in the series where he meets them (At the entrance exam), and they pull him up and support him. (not BKDK related but it is cute, and helps establish the ED as a metaphor for the story so far - and in the future).

The Lyric “If you think you’ll have many once in a lifetime endeavors/Then I want to see those moments”

This one also translates into something like “I want to be with you/around you” in different versions. Basically, Izuku wants to be around Katsuki, to see what he becomes and what he’ll achieve. He wants, in short, to be with him.

The image: Shoto on horseback, greeted by Iida Uraraka and Deku. Deku looks super urgent and Shoto, after looking a little bewildered, smiles and joins them. They cheer. Obviously, this symbolizes the Sports Fest w/ Todoroki; Deku (and later Iida in the Stain arc) bringing Shoto along on the mission to become great heroes. It’s paired up with the lyric about ‘endeavors’, also, which might be a coincidence but probably isn’t. For BKDK, there’s a difference in the way Deku interacts with Shoto here (urgent face, all business) to the way he does with Kacchan in the next scene.

The Lyric: “Even if there’s only one lifetime there are many chances to BE TOGETHER.”

I capitalized the last lyric; it follows on the last line about being together. This one is very shippy sounding, like something straight out of a wedding vow or marriage proposal. Again, this was written to be Izuku expressing his genuine feelings about Katsuki.

The image: Fantasy AU Bakugo pops up looking dramatic. This image is paired with this lyric, making sure you know he means Kacchan. Big close-up on Kacchan’s eyes, zooming out to reveal his badass, shirtless, dragon riding glory as the camera pulls back to make this look extra awesome. This is Deku’s POV on Kacchan, as something mythical and larger than life, that starts out close to him and pulls away.

The Lyric: “You’re the strongest, giving me, with absolutely nothing, meaning in life.”

Yep. This could only apply to All Might or Kacchan in Deku’s life. To quote from DVK2  again “It’s precisely because I had nothing that I kept chasing after you…your sheer amazingness at everything you do was so brilliant to me it was blinding.” I’d imagine that Lisa had this line in mind, because DVK2 was published long before Season 2 of the anime. Kacchan was the one who inspired Midoriya and gave his life new meaning.

The image: The quartet stare at Kacchan (cept Todoroki, who’s worried about his horse). Iida, with glasses blocked out, looks offended; Uraraka looks flabbergasted, Deku looks…in love. He even has his hand over his heart (holding his pack). We get Deku, in profile, presumably asking for Kacchan’s help, and Kacchan, also in profile, acting annoyed - but when the monsters pop up, they both turn to notice. This seems to be Deku reaching out to Bakugo to fight villains together and Bakugo rejecting him, which happens a lot, but the villains showing up will force the two to cooperate (USJ, Camino Ward).

The lyric: “Hooray, hooray, what’s this ability you have to make me say this over and over? “

So Kacchan has the ability to make Deku believe. He gives Deku faith and power, makes him say hooray. This is Deku’s feelings of inspiration when he looks at him, the Symbol of Victory idea. ‘Hooray’ is what you say when you win. Deku tries to speak like Kacchan when he wants to win. And being around him makes him happy.

The image: Basically just Class A fighting, particularly Deku with a sword and some quick flashes of the others. I guess this is Bakugo and Deku’s ability to inspire each other seeping out to the rest of the class, like Aizawa highlights in the Twin Stars speech.

The lyric: “Keep standing your ground and giving me courage”

Pretty simple I guess. Bakugo must keep fighting, and this helps Deku believe.

The image: Nice panning shots of Class A. I think this is the symbolism I mentioned before, Aizawa’s Twin Stars speech, all of Class A taking inspiration from their passion. Deku glances back at Class A and smiles, showing how he takes inspiration from others.

The Lyric: “Hooray, hooray, even all the insignificant things are calling out” I’m not as sure what this means - what are the ‘insignificant’ things? I guess that around Bakugo, to Deku everything, even the things he didn’t notice before, becomes better.

The Image: Shoto sword-fighting followed by Bakugo sword fighting. Again, this part is a little vague, but we do have a compare/contrast invitation for Shoto and Kacchan - one then the other, both riding something. Horseback and Dragonback. Paired with this lyric it has…kind of an anti TDDK slant, (“insignificant things”) but I don’t like anti-shipping so I won’t go there.

The Lyric: “When I look at your eyes, I can run too”

(all my instincts, they return/and the grand facade so soon will burn…in your eyes) Sorry, I had to. Anyway, the top lyric (which could also relate to a certain famous song that goes with everything) from the ED says explicitly that looking into Kacchan’s eyes gives Deku the strength to run, to move forward. This is easily the most romantic sounding line in the whole thing; it’s really hard to interpret ‘Looking into your eyes’ platonically. And if you have any doubt that he means Kacchan…

The Image: Deku and Kacchan, panting and out of breath. Deku looks at Kacchan, who looks back. He means Kacchan. He means looking into his eyes. This moment, and the following, probably symbolizes both DVK2 and the pair’s future as the ultimate Wonder Duo, who inspire each other to become the greatest heroes.

The Lyric “I want to try carving out the best finale”

I hope the finale of BNHA is good too! OK, more emotionally, Deku wants to do his best because of Kacchan. He wants to fight by his side to the end. He wants to end up with him. Paired together with…

The image: Facing the fight, Deku and Kacchan stand side by side, with big smiles, fighting together. They’re meant to be together, as a team, to face down the villains side by side and make each other stronger. Some day they’ll be unstoppable.

The Lyric: “Cause you’re my hero”/Datte attashi no hero”

Now of course this applies to everyone. But again, this song is about Kacchan. And Kacchan is Deku’s hero. This line right here says it, loud and plain. And DVK2: “All Might was my hero but you were the one actually in my life/To me you were an amazing person, much closer to me than All Might”. To sum it up, obviously All Might is Deku’s favorite pro-hero, but Kacchan is a different kind of hero. Plus another lyric that we tend to associate with romance (“did you ever know that you’re my hero/and everything I would like to be…oh dear god wind beneath my wings is way too fitting for this, go look up the lyrics it sounds like BKDK).

The image: Everyone watches on as Deku uses All Might’s sword to fight villains. Now we do see Bakugo on the sidelines, despite them working together before - but paired with the lyric, I think this is just reinforcing that Kacchan motivates Deku to be his best.

[toraonice]

Yuri on Ice interview translation - PASH! 2017/03 (p10-11)

The second part of the episode commentary by Mitsurou Kubo! I have now fixed it with all the italic & bold parts as in the magazine (in the magazine they are actually bold & bolder). If you have any questions please send me a private message and I’ll reply when I have some time.

You can find the first commentary about episodes 1-6 here.

Just a note: when she quotes lines from the episodes I’m not using any of the “official” English translations, I’m translating them as I would translate them myself, so they might not be like you are used to hear them, but I think you will understand which lines they are anyway.

The translation is under the cut because it’s long.

***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it*** 
***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***

Story Maker Mitsurou Kubo complete commentary - Second half Once again we have interviewed Mitsurou Kubo-san, who created the original plan, manga storyboard and character plan for the story! This is the sequel of the episode commentary whose first part was published on the Dec. 2016 issue of PASH! and covers from the second part of the China tournament in episode 7 up to the last episode. Here you can find her detailed comments for the 6 episodes!

Episode 7 “Kaimaku Grand Prix Series Yacchaina!! Chuugoku Taikai FS”

-In episode 7 I wanted to portay Victor’s inexperience as a coach and how this causes Yuuri to fall into his worst possible psychological condition, but also how Yuuri manages to get out of it. In the course of the story Yuuri necessarily had to experience a series of setbacks, however not as deep as to become fatal injuries, plus we needed them to be solved within the same episode and still in the same episode I also wanted to show him regain his strength without any grudges. That’s why in this episode, that is about halfway through the story, we had him “break”.

-The ones like Victor, who are more skilled than others, tend to wonder why others cannot do the things they can do, and probably have trouble finding the right words to say to people who can’t do what they can. The fact that “excellent athletes do not necessarily become excellent coaches” is also something I wanted to depict in the story. However, that is also the reason he and Yuuri are able to confront each other baring their souls, and when I drew the scene I was sure that they would be able to make up without any long-term effects.

-In every episode, when I drew Yuuri I was always careful to “make him act in ways Victor would never even imagine”. That’s why he pushes the whorl of hair on the top of his head before the FS. It was Yuuri Katsuki’s way to loosen up the atmosphere. He came up with an idea to ease the tension and just acted it out, then looking at Victor’s surprised face made him even more relaxed when he started the FS. How can Yuuri Katsuki skate with a new state of mind? That is something Yuuri himself is thinking about, and Victor is too. I wanted to show this in the GP Series, and I think episode 7 is where it became concrete.

-There are so many young skaters in the China tournament that Yuuri and Chris automatically look like veterans, even though they are still young too (LOL). In all this I wanted to show Chris’ charm as someone who looks at things from a different perspective than the younger skaters. In the anime his charm was just explosive. I love Yasumoto-san’s Chris! It was also wonderful how the animation expressed his sexiness, which is slightly different than Yuuri’s.

-Regarding Yuuri and Victor’s scene after the FS, I was fine with it being interpreted in any way. However this is the part that had more response from overseas, I was even directly asked “which one it was”. And then I heard from Japanese people too that some had an argument with their friends over whether they kissed or not, or they just hugged. I was surprised that people would want to know the truth. Up until then I had always thought that people wanted to be able to interpret fiction how they preferred. But seeing the reactions that this episode received, I realized that even if it’s fiction, inside people’s mind this series exists as a world of its own and so they believe that there must be a correct truth, an exact answer somewhere. Episode 8 “Yuuri vs Yuri Osoroshia!! Russia Taikai SP”

-Victor is asked whether he would like to fight Yuuri as an athlete, but he really doesn’t think that. Actually many people were expecting to see Victor and Yuuri confront each other in a match eventually, however Yuuri is also “trying to win to prove Victor’s skating”. The director and I shared this same opinion when we wrote the series.

-As opposed to the China tournament, the Russia tournament has a completely different atmosphere and is more like a bloodbath (LOL). We had already decided which skaters would participate in which tournament and the results 1 year before the broadcast, but fleshing out the story we realized that the atmosphere was somewhat more tense than in the China tournament and we decided to emphasize this. Yuuri already knows Michele and Sara from last year’s GP Final, but they didn’t really make friends. By the way, I think that if Phichit-kun is the sun of Southeast Asia, Emil is the sun of Europe. And JJ is just on a whole different dimension than the sun (LOL).

-This is the tournament where Yuuri skates his best SP. He gets more heated up when he’s in an unfamiliar situation, which means that on the contrary he probably tends to feel the pressure more easily when he’s being cheered on. And just when you think that you’re going to see a confrontation between this Yuuri and Yurio… JJ arrives and paints everything in his own color. “Ahh, everything has turned into JJ color…” I was a little excited at the JJ shock (LOL).

-Yurio is unable to give his best performance because here I still wanted to show him “incomplete”. It actually happens often that real Russian athletes cannot achieve good results in their home country. Also, to show the difference between the episode 8 SP where all the ones supporting Yurio are not present yet and the episode 9 FS where they are there, and to create a development where he still isn’t able to win even with that, I decided that his grandpa, who is also his agape, would be unable to come to this tournament. But it’s not like he lost because his grandpa wasn’t there. He doesn’t physically go to watch all his matches, after all.

-JJ’s song was so perfect and amazing that I thought I wouldn’t need to put too much effort in my storyboard, as the song would probably be enough (LOL). His line “JJ will never stop~~~” is something I came up with from an early stage, to put in in the script used in the seiyuu audition, but he really became a character that would say such a line. Treating Yurio as a lady is JJ’s idea of a joke. He doesn’t mean to be offensive. Maybe he thought that Yurio would relax. By the way, he makes a joke in episode 10 too, but I have the feeling that neither JJ nor the others understand how much of it is a joke and how much is not (LOL). In the Russia tournament the entrance to the rink is also the exit, therefore I took advantage of it to show some exchanges between skaters who have just finished their performance and skaters about to start. Episode 9 “Yuuri vs Yuri Osoroshia!! Russia Taikai FS”

-By having Victor temporarily part from Yuuri Katsuki as a coach, here I inserted a mainstream kind of development where “to grow, the protagonist loses something important”. I’m really sorry for Makkachin, but I didn’t have any intention of killing him off of course. I wanted to depict more clearly what Yuuri Katsuki himself wants to do.

-Victor said “if you are in trouble hug Yakov and he will help you”, but looking at how the episode developed, well, no, it doesn’t help at all! (LOL) However, it’s pretty common in manga as well that remembering someone’s words will help you when you are in trouble or help you get out of a difficult situation. In this case, those words said by Victor didn’t really help Yuuri (that’s also because I’m a bit mean), but I still wanted him to leave Yuuri with something before going away.

-Yurio’s FS is still incomplete, but I wanted to show how he was able to obtain a new strength and elegance thanks to the presence of Lilia, Yakov, his grandpa and JJ as a rival. I also depicted his aggressive side when he changes the composition of the program to win, and the fact that he still isn’t able to win against JJ, which is another trial that he needs to overcome.

-In a meeting with the director I asked her a very basic question: “Why does Yuuri want to win?”, and she replied “Well, he has never won a gold medal so far, of course he wants to win!”. I thought that made sense. Yuuri, who has never won an international competition, wants to win a gold medal before retiring. The “origin” of his desire to win is in fact pretty simple. He has been able to work hard so far because he wants to win a gold medal and is confident that he is good enough to succeed. I inserted that monologue because, even though Yuuri might look weak, he actually has been fighting the whole time.

-In the end the person Yurio most wanted to eat a katsudon pirozhki is Yuuri. I thought that this was probably the last time Yuuri and Yurio could have a conversation alone, so even if the scene itself is short in the anime, I hope they talked about lots of things here.

-I was told that the words “please take care of me until I retire” are actually something that real skaters say when they ask someone to be their coach. When I heard that, I thought that this was the perfect timing for Yuuri to tell Victor. At this time, Victor doesn’t take these words in the sense Yuuri really means, which is “until the end of this season”. He left Yuuri fighting alone in a tournament, so I think he was very torn about whether he should apologize and about what he should tell him when they met again. But then Yuuri told him “until I retire”, and I think Victor was probably really happy because it meant that Yuuri still needed him even when he was far away. Victor didn’t think that Yuuri would retire after the end of the GP Final, and he didn’t clearly decide until when he would continue being Yuuri’s coach, therefore I believe that he was happy to hear Yuuri’s feelings, to know that Yuuri too wanted him to be his coach until the end. Episode 10 “Chou Ganbaranba! Grand Prix Final Chokuzen Special”

-Otabek finally shows up. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to show how his friendship with Yurio developed, but I wanted Yurio to think “the wind is finally blowing my way!” (LOL). Yuuri and Yurio kind of had something missing as rivals, so I started to consider Otabek’s role as the one that would steal the position as Yurio’s rival.

-What Yuuri bought is pair rings. When I looked it up I found out that buying a pair was cheaper (LOL), and I also thought that if they were going to wear something matching this would be good. There are actually many real skaters who wear accessories as “omamori”, protective charms. More importantly, Yuuri has been giving Victor fresh surprises until now, and I wanted him to get a new item, a weapon to fight in the final match. When I suggested the rings to the director she was like “Yes, that!!” (LOL). We were like, “yeah, a cornered athlete would do something like that!” More than implicating something like a wedding, it’s similar to members of the same circle deciding to have a matching item.

-Victor is surprised by Yuuri’s action but understands him, so he makes a wish upon the ring telling him “show me the skating that you like the most”. In the China tournament he said things as if he was testing Yuuri, he “broke” his heart, so here he finally vows to the ring that “he will completely trust what Yuuri decides” and is determined to do what he can as a coach.

-Before the GP Final Yuuri and Victor’s relationship deepened yet again, therefore I wanted Yurio and Victor’s relationship to change a little too, hence I inserted the scene by the sea. I’m glad that I did, because after this point there was no time to show them talk alone again. Like in episode 9 Yuuri and Yurio share a moment together, Yurio and Victor do too, and in their case what they have in common is the memories of Hasetsu, and what changed from that time, which is what I wanted to show here.

-There’s also a moment where Yurio thought Victor was smirking looking at the ring. Like Yurio says in this scene, people tend to believe that athletes “die as competitors” when they stop and “become stable”. But I think that Victor, more than anyone else, is sensitive to this topic and is worried that people will say that about him, or that he will actually become like that. In this scene Victor wasn’t smirking, he was starting to think about his future.

-The fact that in last year’s banquet Yuuri told Victor “be my coach” is something that we had already decided as a “hidden setting”. But we didn’t know whether there was time to add that scene somewhere in only one cour. Eventually we decided to cram this episode with amusing scenes from the beginning to the end, so we added a special ED and C part. Since there were no skating matches we inserted a lot of crazy stuff and there’s plenty of information. Episode 11 “Chou Chou Ganbaranba!! Grand Prix Final SP”

-Yuuri makes an attempt at adding a quadruple flip in his SP, but actually in the beginning I wasn’t planning to have him jump so many quads. The increasing level of real life competitions prompted me to add a realistic feeling by showing how you can’t win if you don’t have multiple quads in your programs. The reason Victor jumps a quad flip together with Yuuri during his performance is, more than something he does as a coach, something that comes from his feelings as an athlete.

-At this time Victor still hasn’t decided how to use the experience earned in the GP Final to contribute to Yuuri’s future, and also hasn’t decided what to do about himself as an athlete. He used to think that new surprises and impressive feats is something that he needed to create himself, however after becoming Yuuri’s coach his world broadened, he realized that it’s not necessarily that way and this changed him.

-The reason Yurio could pull off his best performance is that many elements like his experience and the environment surrounding him all blended together perfectly right at this time. From an external point of view young and strong athletes somehow tend to look like they are “destined to win”, like they are performing a program prepared to win. However, every single second of their performance is the result of their efforts. I wanted to show this with Yurio’s SP.

-When Victor is watching Yurio’s performance we cannot see his expression because I myself haven’t decided what the truth is, like whether he is frustrated because Yurio beat his record, or he wants to surpass him again, or what else. However, when Yuuri sees Victor like that he becomes anxious because it looks to him like Victor wants to go back to the ice, and he himself wants him to go back, but at the same time he doesn’t… so he wavers. That eventually piles up and leads to the last scene of this episode.

-I think that Victor and Chris have been in the Olympics and in ice shows together until now. Chris is probably the one that was closer to Victor in his career, and I think that Victor does genuinely like Chris’ skating. Maybe Chris also did his best in his own style because Victor was a different type than him. The screen looks really vibrant when they are together, and I believe they are good comrades.

-We finally see Otabek skate. I like his song, it’s cool. While I was the one who created his setting, I wasn’t sure how to represent him as a “soldier” on the ice, and in the end I decided to emphasize his thirst for victory.

-JJ was overwhelmed by Otabek’s ex-delinquent-like spirit. I saw lots of comments from people who came to like JJ in this episode. It’s definitely his highest point as a character. However, it also looked like “JJ can overcome this” (LOL). JJ calls himself the “king”, but if you think about it as long as Victor was around he could only really become the king in the World Junior Championships or the Four Continents Champsionships… I realized that JJ is only saying that to motivate himself and in fact he is not a real king, he is just behaving like he is because it’s his goal, and fans are cheering on him for that… and in a way that moved me. In the end I’m really portraying every character thinking that I want them to win, and especially in JJ’s case, he has a power that makes you want him to win. Last episode “Chou Chou Chou Ganbaranba!!! Grand Prix Final FS”

-In the storyboard I drew the scene where Victor cries, but then I couldn’t come up with a good line for him to say and rewrote it many times. In the end I chose the line “I didn’t think Yuuri Katsuki was such a selfish person” and then I also got the idea for Yuuri’s reply. In the part where he pushes aside Victor’s hair like a curtain, I thought “even in such a situation Yuuri still manages to surprise Victor”. After completing this scene I could finally start writing the final episode.

-What Victor told Yuuri right before he starts is performance, more than something that he really thinks deep down, is what he came up with when thinking about what could encourage Yuuri Katsuki the most, so basically it’s “Victor playing the role of Victor as Yuuri expects him”.

-The part that I like the most in this episode is Yuuri’s monologue before he skates: “My name is Yuuri Katsuki. I’m just an ordinary figure skater, 24 years old.” This is the same line he said in episode 1, so it’s like he is going back to his origin, and I think it’s the moment where he finally accepts himself. I cried writing the storyboard.

-The director said that he wanted Yuuri, that has spent half of his life with Victor as his goal, to try his hand at a program with the same difficulty as Victor’s, and I agreed. The development where Yuuri gets his best score and wins against Yurio in the FS is something we had decided from the start. Since not having a perfect ending is what spurs him to continue, we aimed for a conclusion that is not too nice, therefore we made it so that Yurio wins but is not completely satisfied with the result.

-Regarding the scene where Victor hugs Yurio before the competition, he didn’t do it because he was begging for his help to stop Yuuri from retiring, or because he was asking him something. He just wanted Yurio to skate at his best, it was his genuine feelings of support for him, as if he was saying “go and do your best!”. After all, until this scene we never really saw Victor support Yurio. It’s an action that cannot be explained with logic.

-I believe Yurio thought “no way you can call it quits now!”. And I agree with him. I think what he had in mind while he was performing his program was something like “I know that whether to retire or not is someting the person concerned should decide, but I’ll still say my opinion”. The reason he cries after finishing is also not something logical. But I think it was probably because he could skate at its best, and because of the sense of fulfillment caused by being able to skate that well despite a few mistakes. I’m sure he himself didn’t really understand his own feelings at that time.

-I really wanted to draw the scene of Yuuri and Victor skating the exhibition together. In the original setting Victor was meant to join in as a surprise, but in the anime they were wearing perfectly matching costumes and I was the one surprised (LOL). They were doing lifts as if it’s nothing, but Yuuri’s exhibition program for this season was “Hanarezu ni Soba ni Ite”, so maybe they just tried it out while fooling around during practice.

-I was told “we can have a C part, though only about 30 seconds!”, and thinking about what could fit I decided to show an ending that would give hope for the future, with Yuuri in St.Petersburg. I was told that the last episode had a number of scenes that was about twice a normal anime episode, and beside that they even had to add those 30 seconds. I’m sure the staff must have had a really hard time.

-The selfish decision ultimately taken by the selfish Yuuri Katsuki is to continue competitive skating. I think there were many reasons that led to this conclusion. Not only what Victor gave him, but Yurio’s performance in the FS also managed to pull Yuuri back to the ice, and maybe he was influenced by the other athletes’ performances too. However, Yurio definitely wanted to see more of Yuuri’s skating, and Victor wanted as well. I guess Yuuri might be finally realizing how much things have changed from one year ago, when he almost decided to quit, and how now he’s on a completely different path.

[kaworubunga-surfs-up-shinji-kun]

Y!!!OI Spread - AniWave (27th January 2017 Edition) Translations

Hi! I’m back with some translations! I just got back home at around 11:30pm on the 1st and I’ve been working on this since last night so yes, it’s finally here! It’s somewhat lengthier than the SAO translations due to this interview piece being around three pages long in the magazine. I just bought the latest copy yesterday afternoon and scans of the cover will be up by tomorrow. But for now, this is the Yuri!!! On Ice Interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki (Yuuri), Suwabe Junichi (Viktor), Uchiyama Kouki (Yuri) and Hatano Wataru (Georgi Popovich)! The headline roughly reads Figure Skating Pretty Boys [下]. Since there was an interview with the first three voice actors mentioned last issue, this could be taken as a continuation / finale. 

The subtitle below the main header states that “last week’s article wasn’t enough to cover everything, so this week’s issue reveals the rest of the information!”

This does not feature translations of every single question otherwise it would take an awfully long time for this post to be complete and I’m sure no one wants to read a three page long translation piece. If anybody else wants to add on to translations for questions and answers I did not include feel free to reblog this with your own additions. Note that I am not the best at Chinese despite being of that race myself, so please excuse my errors! I am a young student aiming to improve so this is good practice and hopefully this will appease you YOI fans.

Translations under the cut!

The first segment is with Toyonaga Toshiyuki, with his character Katsuki Yuuri being described as a “fierce competitor of Yuri".

Q - In Episode 9, Yuuri receives katsudon-filled pirozhkis from his rival Yuri, so do the relationship between the two become stronger and do their thoughts towards the other party change?

Toyonaga - Yuuri’s attitude towards Yuri hasn’t really changed in any way. The one whose way of thinking is changing is probably Yuri.

Q - From Yuri’s perspective, it seems like a competitor ‘stole’ Viktor away from him out of the blue. Wouldn’t he be very unwilling to make peace with Yuuri?

Toyonaga - Even if it is so, he still uses a method unlike Yuuri’s to justify different situations (not quite sure what this refers to). Though he still isn’t open towards Yuuri, Yuri acknowledges and respects Yuuri as a great rival in the Grand Prix with his strength and expressive force. In the Rostelecom Cup competition he still acts resentful towards Yuuri, reason being that he sees the Japanese man as his biggest competitor. Internally, Yuri must be thinking, “You’ve got Viktor as your coach, you’re not supposed to be this lovey-dovey with each other!”

Q - If we look at it this way, isn’t Yuri really mellow?

Toyonaga - He’s only fifteen years of age but he has already been able to accomplish so many feats in the skating world and he’s really impressive. But towards other people he displays sometimes childish temperance and attitude, so we know he’s totally an adolescent boy (laugh).

Q - JJ’s voice actor Miyano Mamoru-san is very enthusiastic with his acting, isn’t he?

Toyonaga - When we were recording, I definitely thought that because of まもちゃん (Mamo-chan)’s acting, JJ’s character could then be established fully. It was as if he were actually JJ in those scenes and it was very passionate.

[admin Nat: fun fact is that Miyano-san and Toyonaga-san have worked closely together in both Durarara!! (Kida & Mikado) and Tokyo Ghoul (Tsukiyama & Hide)!]

Next we have Suwabe Junichi on his character Viktor Nikiforov. The attached header is “The whole world is watching! The anime’s intense (not sure if this is correct translation) atmosphere!”

Q - In the competitions leading up to the Grand Prix Final, Viktor and Yuuri have joined forces to create a powerful team and many more supporting characters have been introduced in the story. What is your impression of them?

Suwabe - Well, every individual character has their own merits but the one that catches my attention the most is Popovich. He, like Viktor, is a Russian skater but has always lived in Viktor’s shadow and does not receive the audience’s attention as much. He thinks that he has a chance now that Viktor has decided to become a coach this season, but now Yuri has come to steal the spotlight. If all goes well, he may well be crowned the Prince of Russia, really makes people feel __. Perhaps it’s because of this possibility that he’s become quite a beloved character (laugh). Of course, in the viewers’ perspective, he might be the last character they think of but amongst the male seiyuu / staff, he’s gained a good amount of popularity. When performing, Christophe was also incredibly sexy and sensual; JJ’s noise level is a necessity / must in the world (?); Phichit is super innocent and cute; if these characters didn’t have their distinct personalities, the intensity of the battle of the highest honour might not have been possible to achieve. The voice actors that perform for the audience are also special in their own ways, and it was very fun recording for this anime.

Q - Do you watch figure skating competitions in your spare time?

Suwabe - If they’re airing on television, then I will watch it. Due to the influence of this anime, I’ve been intently watching this season’s rounds of competitions with great fervour. During the finals there was a promotion for Yuri!!! on Ice, actually; and after the broadcast of Yuri!!! on Ice, there was an advertisement for the competition too. Now the series has been rising in popularity, leading the skating community to get hyped as well, it’s pretty exciting.

Q - If you, Suwabe-san, were a figure skater, what song would you perform with?

Suwabe - Nowadays, songs with vocals are allowed in competition, but rather than trendy, modern songs, I still prefer classical songs filled with emotion and intensity. Carmina Burana is a song that is emotional yet impactful that I would very much like to try and choreograph a piece around. I will strive to be like Viktor and blow the audience away by landing a quad (laugh).

Now we focus on Uchiyama Kouki and the character he portrays, Yuri Plisetsky. The introduction for him is to “please anticipate Yuri’s journey in overcoming defeat!” (admin Nat: I sure will even though the series is already completed - it’ll never be over if you rewatch it every week lolol)

Q - In episodes 8 and 9 we see Yuri performing at the preliminaries to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. What thoughts or impression do you have about his performance?

Uchiyama - I too am excited for his performance in the Final. In such a high-pressure situation like this his performance was already pretty good. In the short skate, the quality of his program was affected by the absence of his grandfather; despite achieving a personal best, he still lost to JJ; his inner self is still somewhat unwilling towards certain things but he managed to place well in the ranks which is superb. Losing to JJ that one instance may have led him to hold certain hatred towards the Canadian for making him suffer defeat. But throughout the competitions you can see the tension between the various characters, the air of competition is very real. Even though Yakov tells him to not eat to many pirozhkis before competing, he relies on the food to regain his composure and do well in the competition. The interesting relationships between the skaters run very deep, I feel.

Q - Yuri constantly feels as if he’s not good enough or has not performed to his full potential, what is your opinion on his feeling this way?

Uchiyama - Yuri has the mentality that if he constantly practices hard enough then he won’t lose in competitions. Even if his grandfather’s absence in the crowd during his performance affects his emotions, he still has a strong side that will tell himself “to persevere”. His maturity doesn’t reflect on his age, really. But if he has a one-track mind focusing solely on the performance, there might be an unexpected outcome. Even with this theory it’s hard to say.

Q - Amongst the finalists, the characters each have unique personalities of their own. Other than Yuri, who is the character you pay most attention to?

Uchiyama - It has to be JJ. His short skate program left a deep impact on many people.

Q - In episode 10, the friendship between Yuri and Otabek was established, what are your thoughts on how it played out?

Uchiyama - Yuuri and Phichit have a close friendship, but ultimately Yuri is basically the lone wolf. He is more frequently seen with Yakov or Lilia than the other competitors; on the other hand, Otabek seems distant from the others too. Two lonely characters forming a friendship and shaking hands before a competition feels good. Episode 10 concerns the events of the night before the Grand Prix Final, it’s sort of a more laid-back episode to catch a breather, it was very well-done.

The final spread is about Hatano Wataru, the voice actor of Georgi Popovich and singer of the ending song You Only Live Once. The first header reads “In the studio recording the ending, I rediscovered myself”.

Q - Hatano-san, you provided the vocals for the ending song You Only Live Once, composed by the music producer Keisuke Tominaga-san (I’m not too sure which is his family name). When making this song, what interaction did you have with him?

Hatano - Even though I’d already heard the arrangement before I recorded the vocals for the song, I didn’t personally meet Keisuke-san until the day to record it came. Keisuke-san told me he originally created the song solely for Yuri!!! On Ice, and he hoped that the performers could bring out the unique style of the piece. He explained that the piano sections in the song were already planned out early on and embodies the heart of the song’s meaning, so I put a lot of effort into singing.

Q - What advice did Keisuke-san give you (regarding the song)?

Hatano - If I sing with too much passion, even after the producers layer effects onto my voice, there is a possibility that it cannot be integrated into the song. But on the other hand, if I sing without emotion my voice will seem as if it blends in with the instrumentals (laugh).

Q - Tell us about the problems you faced when recording this song.

Hatano - It was a really challenging task, not to mention that the lyrics have many English words… The opening line “you only live once” took more than ten takes before it was approved. But without Keisuke-san’s guidance I would have never been able to do it.

Q - Actually, in the final product of the song, the lyrics and backing music have sort of a similar style / vibe.

Hatano - In the opening and various part of the song, the phrase “you only live once” actually has another recording of “wow… yeah…” sort of backing it, purposely making it harder for the audience to hear the lyrics clearly. It’s really interesting seeing what culminating the hard work of everyone in the studio produced and how it is received by the rest of the world.

Hope you liked this!

[midnightcrowisabadname]

Of Stolen Glances and Faked Smiles Chapter One

Decided to post the actual fic now that it’s reached 11 chapters.

The alley stank of garbage and cigarette smoke, if anything it actually smelled better than it normally did, yesterday's rain had washed away some of the stenches. It would be even worse tomorrow when the trash began to rot and grow mold from being wet, so I made a mental note to avoid it tomorrow if I even came this way at all. All alleyways and back routes through Sterling were the same, covered in rotting food and broken trash bags that the hungry would rifle through if they were desperate enough. I'd nearly stooped that low once or twice but the vile odor caused my stomach to lurch and any interest in eating to fade.

I'd swiped food from restaurant trashcans after watching for an employee to toss out the unsold hamburgers from that day, and despite being cold and slimy, they tasted heavenly. Living on the streets for several months really changes your perspective on food and something you thought you would never touch becomes a five-star meal if you haven't eaten in days. I was reaching that point now, the last thing I'd eaten was a granola bar I'd bought with a wet dollar I'd found, and that had been the day before yesterday. My stomach hadn't felt full in weeks and the gnawing pain of hunger often prevented me from getting a full night's sleep, if attempting to sleep outdoors didn't do the trick. Last night had been especially hard because both the bench and my clothes were soaking wet, and each gust of wind only made me colder, I'd woken up with a sore throat after barely two hours of rest and felt even more tired than before I'd slept.

Shivering slightly I returned my gaze to the alley entrance and continued scanning the crowd of people, there were those who looked like obvious tourists and others who navigated the busy street with elegance from years of living there. Only a few people stood out to me as possible targets but they either were walking with someone or looked too scary to approach, not a good night for stealing I thought with a sigh. I'd practiced picking pockets several times within the past few months and managed to be successful and snag some loose cash and even a whole wallet once, although there hadn't been much in it and the credit card had been canceled before I could use it much.

A tall man passed by my hiding spot looking as though he'd tried and failed to be inconspicuous, he wore a dark gray peacoat along with a red beanie that hid his hair, and a matching scarf despite the fact it was warm for November. What really made the person stand out was the expensive-looking sunglasses perched on his pale, thin nose; sunglasses, at nine o'clock at night like that weird song mentions. Yeah, there were bright signs and streetlights, but unless this man was extremely sensitive to light the glasses were there for a different reason, or so I guessed.

I honestly just wanted to follow him because of how outrageous he looked, but the leather wallet sticking out of his jeans pocket didn't hurt either, my stomach rumbled just thinking about food. I slipped into the crowd, coughing into my sleeve as I worked my way slowly nearer to the strange man, watching him out of the corner of my eye in an attempt stay out of his sight. Neon signs flashed advertisements and the smell of fried food made my mouth water as I stalked my mark for several blocks through the crowded city streets, hadn't I just thought it was warm out? Maybe the setting of the sun had cooled everything down because my teeth started chattering, I really hoped I wasn't getting sick.

After a while, the man pulled out his phone before darting into one of the many side streets that ran through the city like a labyrinth of stone and asphalt, I walked faster, not wanting to lose him and any chance of picking his pocket. The thought of another night without food was enough to make my feet pick up the pace almost of their own accord and I'd just entered the alley when a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and dragged me farther inside. My first thought was to cry out, but a gloved palm slapped down over my mouth and a deep, sultry voice whispered in my ear.

"Who are you, what do you want from me? How did you recognize me?" The man's tone was harsh and inquisitive as he spun me around to face him; the oversized sunglasses were gone and I could see his face in full, horrifying detail. I recognized those piercing blue eyes, the sharp cheekbones and the angles of his pale, thin face; hadn't I memorized it all those years ago? His tall, lanky frame made sense now, sculpted for years so as to look perfect onscreen, and I knew that the absurd beanie he'd worn was to keep his distinctive silver hair out of public eye.

I'd seen this man for years, in commercials and TV shows, movies and interviews; at least once a month it appeared on the cover of some magazine or in a newspaper. He was everywhere and inescapable even if you were a poor kid who couldn't afford a TV, let alone cable.

Ice seemed to flood my veins I stared at Victor Nikiforov, the world-famous and award-winning actor whom I'd idolized as a child and the realization of just what was happening finally sank in. He'd known I was going to rob him, he'd probably watched me follow him the whole time before coming down here to confront me, he'd probably called the cops by now, and hell they were most likely on their way to arrest me. Maybe prison wasn't as bad as people said it was.

Those blue eyes that made teenage girls swoon narrowed as he glared at me, shaking me by the shoulders. "I asked you a question, who are you? What do you want? An autograph? An interview? Who do you work for?"

I only realized my mouth was uncovered once I began coughing once again. Why did my throat have to hurt so much? Why was I sweating? "Please, I swear I didn't... I was just hungry... I haven't eaten in days and I saw your wallet... Please don't send me to jail." I knew it was pathetic but I was terrified, this man who'd been on the top ten "Most Handsome Actors" list for the past six years was staring daggers at me and I had no way to defend myself.

His silver brows knitted together as though he were confused, but wasn't it obvious I had wanted to rob him? "You aren't paparazzi?" He looked me up and down as though only just now noticing my filthy jeans and sweatshirt that was now so discolored I didn't remember what color it originally was, not to mention there was no camera with me, hell I didn't even have a phone. "Who are you?" Victor asked again, clearly just as perplexed as I was.

"Yuuri, just Yuuri." No need to bring up any connections my last name might bring, but I should have given some other name.

The actor pulled his phone back out of his pocket, the latest model but with a case adorned with cartoon poodles, and spoke very fast in a language I assumed was Russian to whoever was on the other end, sneaking glances at me every few seconds as if afraid I might run away, which I probably should have. After a minute or so of a rushed conversation, I did attempt to edge slowly down the alley back out towards the street only to have my wrist grabbed before I got even a foot away.

"I don't think so," Victor had clearly finished talking and returned his attention to me. "Look, ‘just Yuuri,' I'm not letting you get away that easily. There's no guarantee that you're not wired with a microphone or hidden camera or something that will alert the press of my location and the last thing I want is some nosy, no moral idiot who thinks that owning a camera means instant fame." He was smiling still, but his eyes were cold and unforgiving; years ago, he'd played a detective who'd nearly gone to jail in pursuit of a criminal and the expression of forced politeness was eerily similar.

"I swear my only interest was the wallet, I didn't even know you were..." My head spun, the cool night air refreshing against my sweaty face as the realization hit me, my immune system was already in the toilet from living on the streets for months and spending the night in wet clothes must have been the last straw. I was sick, with what there was no way to tell, I'd probably been exposed to hundreds of diseases in the past week alone, and it seemed like I was about to pass out or get arrested in front of Victor effing Nikiforov. My breaths became shallow as my legs began to tremble and I fell against the alley wall, scraping my palms and coughing into my filthy sleeve. It was all over, I'd done my best but there was only so much a child who'd been unwanted from the start could achieve and I'd been lucky to make it this far.

Through the haze clouding my mind, I registered someone grabbing me, lifting me to my feet and practically carrying me into a car, and then the door slammed and shocked me back to my senses. Breathe, just breathe, I could still prove I hadn't done anything wrong; intent to rob someone isn't actually robbing someone, right?

"What's wrong?" Victor was in front of me again, a look of concern replacing the suspicion and irritation that had been there up until now.

I took a deep breath or as deep a breath as I could take since my lungs didn't seem to want to work without coughing, my vision getting blurry as I slumped sideways on the car's wide leather seats.

"You're burning up!" How did he know that? I hadn't felt him touch me. "Yuuri, what-"

My eyes slid shut.

"Yuuri, why are you crying?" Mama Katsuki stroked my head as I sobbed, tears and snot dripping down my face.

"I broke it. It was important to you and I broke it." The vase lay in pieces on the ground, shards of glass, crushed flowers, and water already soaking into the carpet.

"Did the glass cut you?" She pried my small hands from where they clutched my pants and forced them open so she could inspect them. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, shoulders trembling.

"Then it's ok, it's just a vase Yuuri, I can always get another vase but you are irreplaceable," she lifted my chin so I was forced to look her in the eyes. "You are important Yuuri, and

I care far more about you than I ever could an object, never forget that."

I woke warmer and more comfortable than I had been in a long time, but at the same time everything hurt; my head was pounding and every muscle ached as though I'd done a serious workout. What had happened to me? I opened my eyes slowly and immediately regretted it, the lights were too bright and the ceiling and walls too white and reflective.

"You're awake." I cracked one eye open in the direction of who'd spoken; it hadn't been a dream at all, I'd wanted to rob Victor Nikiforov and instead I'd fainted in his car. "You're lucky it's just a cold, although the doctor said you're dehydrated and severely malnourished, so that made things worse and it will probably take you longer to recover."

"Is this a hospital?" My voice was hoarse and my throat felt raw.

"No, this is my place, you may not be paparazzi but that doesn't mean ‘Victor Nikiforov Rushed into Emergency Room' wouldn't show up in papers somehow." The actor sat in a plush armchair next to the bed, one leg crossed over the other in a gesture that seemed both relaxed and confident at once.

My shirt felt weird and I glanced down at my chest to see someone had changed my clothes, I was now in clean pajamas and it looked like someone had at least attempted to clean the dirt off my skin. "You believe me?"

"There were no wires in your clothing, no microphones or cameras either; there was also no chance of those clothes ever becoming clean again so I had them thrown out. You can thank me later."

I coughed again, a bitter taste filling my mouth. "Why are you helping me? Why not just turn me over to the police?"

"Because I want to listen to your story before I decide what to do with you, I'll admit I'm curious to know how a twenty-year-old kid ended up on the streets and resorting to theft in order to survive."

My cheeks felt warm at the thought of telling this man, a famous actor who most likely never had to work another day in his life if he so desired; we were as different as we could possibly be, and he knew it too. "Can I have some water first?" My tongue felt heavy and dry in my mouth and I knew I wouldn't be able to talk much if I didn't drink something. To my surprise Victor held out a bottle of water, cold enough for condensation to have formed on the outside of it, I drank nearly the whole thing, only pausing to cough after some of the stuff went down the wrong pipe.

"Slow down, it's not like I don't have more and I really don't want to have to deal with you throwing up in my apartment." I obliged, finishing the bottle in slow sips before handing it back to him.

"Thank you..." I couldn't look Victor in the eye, my story wasn't all that interesting if I was honest with myself, but if he really wanted to hear it...

"I'm not exactly sure where to start, but I've been on the streets for a few months now since the place I used to work for laid off all its employees when it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Since I couldn't pay rent my landlord kicked me out and I couldn't exactly get a new job thanks to the fact nobody wants to hire a twenty-year-old with no degree and no connections."

"Why couldn't you go back home?"

I gulped, a lump forming in my throat as I thought of what had once been my home, and I didn't realize I'd miss it that much. "I don't have a home anymore, I grew up in a group home and sadly once I turned eighteen and was legally an adult the government found an easy job for me and took me out of the system. Apparently being an orphan is expensive."

"You-" Victor tried to ask me something but I knew if he stopped me or changed the subject I might never be able to talk about this again.

"I don't know who my birth parents are, they're alive but that's about all I know besides the fact that they were probably teenagers who didn't want to take care of a child. The home had just opened and since I was the first child the owners took in they treated me like I was their child, even let me take their last name since I have no idea what my real one was, hell I didn't even have a name before arriving at the home." It was true, Toshiya and Hiroko Katsuki had been as loving as any real parents could be, and a part of me really wished they had been my actual parents so I could stay with them forever.

"I was named Yuuri, meaning courage to win, although I'm not sure why they picked that name because I've never won anything, and courage seems like it has forsaken me, and I was the first child taken in by the Katsukis but I wasn't alone for long. For eighteen years I found some happiness in caring for the other children like they were my siblings; I didn't mind cooking dinner or other chores because it was the least I could do to repay the owners for taking me in."

"I studied hard in the local public school and graduated with high grades but college was never an option for me, not unless I somehow managed to get a scholarship to pay for everything, and even so I had no idea of what I'd even study. In the end, I was given a job as a secretary for some dentist's office and managed to survive week to week until I was laid off, which brings me back to why I tried to rob you and you, for some unknown reason, taking me into your apartment." I sighed, there wasn't anything more to tell Victor and I was sure he wouldn't be interested even if there were.

"That sounds like the plot for some made-for-TV movie." There it was, had he been paying attention at all?

"I know it's a lame story, you don't have to tell me that."

"Well I know it's the truth because I did some research on you before you woke up, there was no way of knowing what kind of thing you might tell me in order to gain my sympathy but you stuck with the truth not caring what I'd think." Victor smiled at me, his blue eyes peeking out from under silver bangs in a way I just knew he'd practiced multiple times. This man may have been an award-winning actor, but there were articles talking about how smart he was as well; he'd had no way of guessing what I might do so he tested me...

"Wait, you looked me up? How? I didn't give you my full name and-" out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar brown object on the side table next to the bed; instead of me stealing Victor Nikiforov's wallet he'd taken mine. He held up my learner's permit, I'd never actually tried driving but it seemed like the best form of identification I could have, and turned it over slowly.

"Yuuri Katsuki, male, twenty years old, birthdate..." He glanced up at me. "Is this your real birthday?"

"I don't know, I've never seen my birth certificate but it's the best guess I have."

"‘Assumed' birthdate is November twenty-ninth 1997, five foot eight, should I go on or can you trust that just knowing your name was enough for me to Google?"

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, the suspense was killing me and he knew it. "What did you find out about me?"

"Not much more than you've already said, thankfully you have a unique name or I might not have found anything, but the internet doesn't really care unless something noteworthy happens, by the way, why did you name the picture you got in an art show ‘another bad self-portrait?'"

"Apparently just because I thought it was terrible didn't mean the teacher did, but it was a shitty painting and I didn't care about it."

"Aww, I thought it was cute."

I stared at Victor, wondering just what he wanted from me because he could have easily abandoned me somewhere after learning that I wasn't actually paparazzi. Apparently, he noticed my anxiety because he pressed one thin finger to his chin in fake contemplation, was I finally going to learn just what was going on?

"You don't seem like a bad person ‘Just Yuuri, you've been dealt a bad hand and been told to be happy about it, so you tried even though you're homeless and starving. You plaster a smile on your face because it's the best way to convince yourself that everything is all right, and nobody around you pays attention closely enough to consider it's all a façade and that you're close to breaking. You figure that you've been fortunate enough to make it this far thanks to the kindness of others and that asking for any more would be pushing your luck." Victor Nikiforov didn't sound like he was reading from a script; instead, it was as if he was speaking from his own experience.

"You know what ‘Just Yuuri?'" The actor turned to face me, a sad smile on his perfect face. "You're allowed to be happy, you're allowed to be greedy sometimes, and you're most certainly allowed to put yourself first because if you don't nobody will."

"How do you know that?" My voice was trembling now, all my strength drained from simply telling my story.

"Because I've felt similarly and although I've never lived on the streets and am famous now it doesn't mean that I started off great; in fact, the man you see now is the result of overcoming many hardships, which is why I want to help you."

What. He couldn't be serious. The Victor Nikiforov was not offering to help me and this was still some bizarre dream caused by sickness and hunger.

"I'll ask you this, Yuuri Katsuki: do you want to change?"