#Sakamoto-san's ass is great but

[lozza342]

Pros of watching Haisute: Ass

Cons of watching Haisute:

In all seriousness though... If you haven't watched these plays, you are MISSING OUT! I am so in love with these, I have the DVDs and I am seeing the next one on stage in November.

It covers the rookie winter training camps and the Dateko practise match from the manga. I can't wait to see Kindaichi spike that ball into Hinata's crotch-

I mean...

Who said that?

(but seriously if that isn't something they do in the stage play, I'm gonna riot)

I wish all the new actors for Karasuno well in their roles, I'm sure they'll do a brilliant job! Along with all the new characters we haven't seen, too!

[maddogofshimano]

Goromi Character Story

I really liked this one even if it was a pain in the ass to translate. Damn all that kansai slang! I have some pics to go with this one unlike the Goromi Event where I forgot to take any screencaps.

Character stories are split into three parts with a fight in each part, and this one will be a little more paraphrased because there’s a lot of back and forth dialogue that doesn’t matter too much. Here’s Goromi’s card!

Summary: Turns out it takes several days for Kiryu to actually show up to club SHINE to meet Goromi (he’s busy!) so Goromi spends her time working there and taking care of problems. She’s not the number one hostess for nothing!

<Part 1> <Majima Goro, as Goromi, has been working at club SHINE for several days now> The shop manager has been having to deal with this and he doesn’t know what to do.

Majima shows up again, as usual, and the manager fumbles over himself on whether to say Majima or Goromi

He asks if Kiryu has shown up yet and Majima complains before heading to the back to get changed, where Goromi continues to complain that she’s a good woman and Kiryu is a horrible lazy bum for standing her up for so long. She’s bored to death! (I wonder, does Majima leave the Goromi outfit at the club or take it with home each time?)

A rowdy customer comes in and makes a scene and Goromi steps in to wallop on him, because she’s bored and he spilled a drink on her dress.  <Fight Happens> Goromi wins, easily, and makes him leave his wallet. The manager pulls her into the backroom to tell her that she can’t fight customers. Goromi counters that she can’t allow a threat to women to go unchecked. 

Another hostess on the floor shouts at a customer to stop because touching is forbidden. Goromi says that sounds like trouble, she might as well handle it since Kiryu hasn’t shown up yet. The manager says absolutely not, those are Sakamoto Family men (probably, it’s not spoken out loud but Sakamoto is the most common reading).

The manager goes out to deal with it and gets hit by a Sakamoto Family goon for his trouble, but the guy leaves. Turns out the Sakamoto Family has been showing up a lot and never paying, and it’s a real pain. Goromi tells him to get his act together and fight back already! The manager says there’s no way he can win, going along with them is the best way to protect the club. Goromi calls him a coward, and leaves. <Part 2>

<the next day> Majima once again shows up and has a brief struggle with the wig until... Tada! A perfect Goromi~❤️

Goromi is certain Kiryu-chan will show up today! He definitely will! ...Why the hell hasn’t he shown up yet? She notices yet another unruly customer, once again a Sakamoto Family goon, hassling the manager, but this time she just watches. The manager tries to explain that the rules clearly state you aren’t allowed to touch the hostesses, and gets hit for it again. He stands back up, repeats himself, and gets punched another time. The goon grabs the hostess and says they’re going to the bathroom together.

Goromi steps in to stop him, but the manager beats her to it, and finally hits the guy back. He’s remembering what Goromi-san said to him... He’s not going to run away!!

<Fight Happens>

Manager gets his ass KICKED, goon taunts him and says he’d never win in a million years. Manager gets back up anyways, tells him he has to leave... just in time for the patriarch of the Sakamoto Family to arrive. He’s heard this is a fun place, and wants to sit with a lady ASAP. His goon shouts at the manager, the manager fumbles, and Goromi steps in.

Sakamoto thinks this is just great, that eyepatch is really getting his fighting spirit going! His lackey is less sure. The manager tries to step in, Goromi cuts him and says she’ll be his hostess tonight. Sakamoto is falling over himself trying to offer Goromi a seat, he’s just smitten.

The manager wonders what Goromi is up to...

<Part 3>

We start off immediately with Sakamoto telling Goromi how cute she is, and how much he likes her, and that she’s got a real tight lil butt.

“Stoooop~, ya pervy patriarch❤️” 

Sakamoto says he really like Goromi, too many girls nowadays would throw a fit if he grabbed their ass. The manager is wondering what the hell is going on, why is Goromi being so nice??

Sakamoto asks what kind of men Goromi likes. She likes strong, beefy guys, of course! Sakamoto says that she’s gonna love him then. Sakamoto: I was the strongest guy in his whole town! I’ve heard that the strongest guy in Kamurocho’s the patriarch of the Majima family, some moron named Majima Goro. Goromi: Oh, is that so? Sakamoto: I’m pretty sure him being crazy strong’s just a silly rumor though. If I were up against him it’d be like beating up a baby. Goromi: Woahhhh, that’s so cool~ 🎵 All that strength is really making my heart beat fast~

Sakamoto lets Goromi order whatever she likes from the menu. The manager worries that she’s going to order a fight! But no, she just asks for Don Perignon, the most expensive thing on the menu. And she convinces him to get 10 bottles of it.

<2 hours pass>

Sakamoto: Bahaha! Goromi-chan, you're the best girl of them all! Goromi: Before ya go I got one more thing for ya Mr. Patriarch! Sakamoto: Ehhhh, is it a kiss~ Goromi: It's your bill! Sakamoto: Ah....? Haha, great joke Goromi-chan! Goromi: It ain't no joke! Between the drinks and the service... you've racked up 5 million yen. How would ya like to pay that?  Sakamoto: Now hold on, I ain't payin' that! Even if you're cute!! Goromi: Eh, you really won't pay? Sakamoto: No! I absolutely will not pay!! Goromi: So that mean's you're not a customer now, is that right?

Goromi: Since you're not a customer, Goromi can be a little... rough Sakamoto: Tch, boys, let's teach this lady a little discipline! Goromi: Discipline....? Idiots, Goromi is the butterfly that dances in the night. I don't take orders from anyone, especially morons like you!! <Fight Happens, Goromi obliterates them> Sakamoto: You, you're actually...! Goromi: What are ya talking about? I'm Goromi, Kamurocho's number one hostess. Goromi: If you disrespect the women of this city... I'll show you a world of hurt. Sakamoto: W-Wahhhhh!! P-Please forgive me!! Goromi: From now on you're banned. Don't let me see your face here again. Got it?  Sakamoto: Y-yes ma'am! I understand! P-Please excuse me... Goromi: Wait. You still got a bill to pay. Sakamoto: Wh- um, well, I don't have that much right now... Goromi: Haw? Then why'd you eat and drink so much! You got some nerve takin' whatever ya fancied. But... I could forgive ya if you go on an after hours date with me. Sakamoto: ...Eh? Goromi: Until the money's collected, we're going on dates. ...Be prepared. 

<the next day> Manager: Majima-san, thank you so much. Goromi: Eh? What're you talkin' about. This is just Goromi gettin' paid properly for her work. Manager: Ah. I see. Goromi: And... I'm glad you stood up for your girls. Ya finally showed your guts. You've got a real good crew here, keep workin' to be the best. Manager: Th-thank you so much! Uhuuuuuu! Goromi: Don't get all emotional and cry! I'm countin' on having your full cooperation when it comes to fighting Kiryu-chan! Manager: Yes ma'am! By all means.   Door Greeter: Maji- I mean, Goromi-san! K-Kiryu-san is coming here!! Goromi: Ohh, nice timing! Well, let's do this thing! Manager: Yes! <Goromi goes to greet Kiryu at the door> Goromi: Heyyy, it's Goromi~  

<END>

Another bonus fact that relates to both this and the event: the rggo twitter put up a poll asking everyone which of these girls was their favorite

(Lady that does the gatcha rolls, Mayumi from rggo’s story, Yuki, and badly photoshopped Goromi)

in a shock to no one reading this, Goromi obliterated the vote, coming in just shy of 80%...

...which was apparently a shock to the staff! They immediately tweeted "Goromi got 80%...! What a crazy result 😵 We're having an emergency planning meeting now. Thank you all for voting so much!"

I have to wonder if this was a turning point in how they wrote Goromi, with the event and substory presenting her as not strictly a one off occurrence! Maybe the fan enthusiasm got them to take her a little more seriously

[cardest]

Japan playlist

Are you turning Japanesa? I don’t think so! This, I believe is the ultimate Japan playlist. One of my favorite countries in the world to visit. it truly is a fascinating place in the world. The music from this region is just so. Crazy even! I have been a few times and cannot wait to get back over there again as soon as Crap-19 takes a hike and leaves this planet already. Meanwhile, here is the Japan playlist to keep us happy. Perfect for those of you out there in lock down.

I hope you dig the list of songs I put together. You can even let me know what songs or bands I forgot and let me know! 私はあなたがそれを掘ることを望みます Arrigato! Hit play right here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_IcliLasW5eajllU8pA5Gh

JAPAN

001 Fantomas - 4-30-05 002 INXS - I Send A Message 003 LADYBABY - candy 004 Babymetal - DoKiDoKi MORNING 005 MOMOIRO CLOVER Z vs KISS - YUMENO UKIYONI SAITEMINA 006 The Cure - Kyoto Song 007  Kill Bill Vol.1 - Isaac Hayes - Run Fay Run 008 CHAI - GREAT JOB 009 Mutant Monster -  Barabara 010 Sigh - Inked in Blood 011 The Vapors - Turning Japanese 012 Fantomas - 4-7-05 013 Ocean Machine -  Night 014 Masayuki Sakamoto - Psy'chy 015 Astro Boy - 1980 English Intro Theme 016 Go Misawa - 悪魔人間 (デビルマン) - 不動明 017 Red House Painters - Japanese To English 018  八十八ヶ所巡礼「仏滅トリシュナー 019 Acid Mothers Temple - Floating Flower Shizuku No Youni 020 Ween - Japanese Cowboy 021 Otoboke Beaver - Don't light my fire 022 Gojira's Godzilla Theme Song 023 Cavalera Conspiracy -  Bonzai Kamikazee 024 Ultra Bide - DNA vs DNA 025 David Bowie - Crystal Japan 026 A Flock Of Seagulls - Tokyo 027 Sakura - Cherry blossoms 028 BON JOVI - Tokyo Road 029 Aneka - Japanese boy 030 Endon - Boy Meets Girl 031 Junko Ohashi - Dancin' 032 Ike Reiko - Yoake No Scat 033 Shohjo-Tai - Flamingo Island 034 Chthonic - Kaoru 035 Herbie Hancock - Nobu 036 Akiko Yano - Dogs Awaiting 037 Inoyama Land - Glass Chaim 038 Fantomas -  4-14-05 039 Hide - Dice 040 Japan - Talking drum 041 Sabbat - Samurai Zombies 042 Brian Ice - Tokyo 043 W.A.S.P. - Tokyos on fire 044 UHNELLYS - SWITCH 045 Boris -  LOVE 046 Kill Bill Vol. 1 - Battle Without Honor or Humanity Tomoyasu Hotei 047 eX-Girl - Pretty You Ugly 048 Gonin Ish - Shagan No Tou 049 Banana Erectors - Fed Up With Highschool Days 050 Strapping Young Lad - Japan 051 Yoshida Brothers - Ibuki 052 Zeni Geva - Total Castration 053 Flower Travellin' Band - Satori, Pt. 1 054 MOMOIRO CLOVER Z - GOUNN - 055 Tom Waits - Big In Japan 056 ABIGAIL - A Witch Named Aspilcuetta 057 Sigh - The Tombfiller 058 Marty Friedman-Dragon's Kiss-Dragon Mistress 059 RIOT - Tokyo Rose 060 Fantomas - 4-13-05 061 Guitar Wolf - High Schooler Action 062 Becoming a Geisha - Memoirs of a Geisha Soundtrack 063 Seven Samurai- Ending Theme 064 Miki Sugimoto - Rei's Ballad (Theme from Zero Woman Red Handcuffs) 065 Yoshida Brothers - Rising from Best Of Yoshida Brothers 066 Ruler - Jeanie Jeanie Jeanie 067 Kill Bill Vol. 1 OST - Twisted Nerve - Bernard Herrmann 068 Fantomas - 4-23-05 069 Shonen Knife - It's a New Find 070 Polish National Radio Symphony OrchestraKrzysztof Penderecki - Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima 071 ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - Helen Buddha; Miss Condom X 072 Shugo Tokumaru - Decorate 073 PiGu - Bye Bye Honey 074 Hello Kitty Theme Song - Hello Kitty 075 ACUTE -  生き地獄 076 Sabbat - Karmagmassacre 077 Yellow Magic Orchestra - Tong Poo 078 Yojimbo OST -  Main Theme 079 Anpan-man (Red beans bread man)theme song 080 Ex-Girl - The Crown of Dr. Keroninstein 081 Kate Bush - [The Whole Story] Breathing 082 Coffins - Hatred Storm 083 The Books - Tokyo 084 Fantomas -  4-19-05 085 男の一生／松方弘樹 086 Azuma Kabuki Musicians - Dojoji 087 Saxon -  Walking Through Tokyo 088 Kill Bill, Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack - The Flower of Carnage - Meiko Kaji 089 Les Rallizes Denudes - Now is forever 090 G.I.S.M. - Nih Nightmare 091 Mono - Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn 092 Deftones - Romantic Dreams 093 Strapping Young Lad - Zen 094 Dead Can Dance - Kiko 095 Kinoco Hotel - キノコホテル「キノコノトリコ」 096 Esashi Oiwake - Ensemble Nipponia 097 Naitemo idayoi - bcmomoiro clover 098 Bryan Ferry - Tokyo Joe 099 Suzuki Junzo - Crying Out Double Suicide Blues 100 Iron Maiden - Sun and Steel 101 Kikagaku Moyo - Dripping Sun 102 Fantomas -  4-3-05 103 BARBATOS - Tokyo Rock'N Roll Show 104 BABYMETAL - MEGITSUNE 105 Eternal Elysium - Shadowed Flower 106 The Erections - stupid punk 107 The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Original Soundtrack 1) 108 Rush - Manhattan Project 109 Today Is the Day - Samurai 110 Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST - main theme 111 Japanese War Music - Samurai Battle March 112 Steel Panther - Asian Hooker 113 The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation -  A Place For Fantasies 114 Guitar Wolf - FIGHTING ROCK 115 HEAVY METAL ARMY - That's Hammurabia 116 Michale Graves -  Godzilla 117 Noriko Miyamoto - My Life 118 Loudness - Ashes in the Sky 119 Mary's Blood- Save the queen 120 Mellvins - One Fine Day 121 High On Fire - Bastard  Samurai 122 Shakuhachi - The Japanese Flute 123 Luna Sea - IN SILENCE 124 Tatsuro Yamashita - Sparkle 125 PIG DESTROYER - Kamikaze Heart 126 Tomoko Kawada - Akanegumo 127 Sodom - Kamikaze Terrorizer 128 Carlos Toshiki and Omega Tribe - Sky Surfer 129 TOKKAEBI - cheon mun 130 Pere Ubu - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo 131 Wanda Jackson - Fujiyama Mama 132 Witch Cross - Night Flight To Tokyo 133 F.O.E. - Total Eclipse 134 Coffins - The Frozen Styx 135 Sword of Doom (1966) - Main Theme OST 136 Sigh -  The Transfiguration Fear 137 Yondemasu Yo, Azazel san - Opening song 138 Thundercat - Tokyo 139 GHOST IN THE SHELL O.S.T.2 - i can't be cool 140 Japandroids - No Allegiance to the Queen 141 YAMANTAKA - SONIC TITAN - Hoshi Neko 142 Doraemon 2005 Opening - Sha La La 143 Akira Soundtrack - Kaneda's Theme 144 Anatomia - Morbid Hallucination 145 Traditional Japanese music - Honno-ji 146 Kodo - Lion 147 Tomita Planets - Mercury, The Winged Messenger 148 Yuji Ohno - Lupin The Third Theme '78 149 Ninja Scroll TV Series Soundtrack - Jubei's Theme 150 OKAWARI_BOY show me your space 151 Boris - The Woman on the Screen 152 Sepultura - Kamaitachi 153 X Japan - X 154 L'Acephale - Hitori Bon Odori 155 Zilch (hide) - Inside the Pervert Mound 156 Fantomas -  4-12-05 157 Kodo - Akatsuki 158 Sigh - Hunters not horned 159 Pucca Theme song 160 Tujiko Noriko - Solo - Magic 161 MYSTERY KINDAICHI BAND - THEME OF KOSUKE KINDAICHI 162 Akiko Yano -  クマ 163 Sooo Baad Revue - バッド・レビュ 164 Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says (instrumental) 165 Imaginary Flying Machines - Sanpo (My Neighbor Totoro) (feat. Living Corpse & Yoko Hallelujah) 166 Mutant Monster - kamisama o negai - pv with romaji lyrics 167 Mount Fuji - Neun 168 Kumi Sasaki - Tanchame Bushi 169 Yakuza - Yama 170 Chai - Choose go! 171 Goto Mariko – Drone 172 Blue Oyster Cult  - Godzilla 173 Kinoco hotel –  F No Junkai 174 ASS BABOONS OF VENUS - Jet Unchi 175 James Bond you only live twice OST - Aki, Tiger and Osato 176 PJ Harvey -  Kamikaze 177 BABYMETAL - Awadama Fever 178 Alcatrazz - Hiroshima Mon Amour 179 Tokyo Blade - Warrior of the Rising Sun 180 TIK & TOK - TOKYO GIRLS 181 Queen - Hammer To Fall 182 Nana Kitade - Kibou No Kakera 183 Gallhammer - Blind my eyes 184 Yellow Magic Orchestra - Kai-Koh 185 Chikyuu Kyoumei  Resonance of the Earth 186 Hoodoo Gurus -  Tojo 187 John Waite - Euroshima 188 Tommy Snyder / Yuji Ohno) - ザ・マリン・エクスプレス (The Marine Express) 189 Boris - Riot Sugar 190 Yellow Machinegun - Again 191 Kill Bill, Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack - The Lonely Shepherd 192 Church of Misery - Chilly Grave 193 Jimmy Takeuchi  - Yasuki bushi (Shimane) 194 Yuji Ohno "Andromeda no kanata ni" - (OST - Captain Future) 195 Bo Ningen - Henkan 196 Blood Stain Child - Electricity 197 Crime - Yakuza 198 Tatsuya Yoshida & Satoko Fujii - Feirsttix 199 Ike Reiko - Kokotsu No Sekai 200 Fantomas -  4-9-05 201 David Bowie - It's no game 202 Manon - xxFANCYPOOLxx 203 Sparks - Here In Heaven 204 MAD SPYAIR - samurai heart Gintama 205 Terror Squad - Nightmare Rider 206 Fantomas -  4-6-05 207 Mutant Monster - Hanabi 208 Jimmy Takeuchi - Akita obako 209 NAKED CITY - OSAKA BONDAGE 210 Death Panda theme 211 Crossfaith -  Monolith 212  OMD - Enola Gay 213 Dir en Grey - Obscure 214 LADYBABY Age-Age Money 215 Fantomas -  4-17-05 216 S.O.B. - Deceiver (Napalm Death cover) 217 Jimmy Takeuchi - Time Of The Season 218 Dark Mirror Ov Tragedy - Thy Sarcophagus & Unwritten Symphony 219 Laurie Anderson -  Kokoku 220 THOMPSON TWINS  - TOKIO 221 Electric Eel Shock - Killer killer 222 Kodo - Nanafushi 223 Ningen Isu - Heartless Scat 224 Amachi Shigeru – Showa Blues 225 BlackLab - Insanity 226 TENGGER - achime 227  Riot - Narita 228 Martin Denny - Japanese Farewell Song (Sayonara) 229 LADYBABY - Renge Chance 230 Tokyo Electron  - She Keeps Me Shut 231 Kan Mikami - Anata Mo Star Ni Nareru 232 Kraftwerk - Radioactivity 233 CHAI - N.E.O. 234 Fantomas - 4-27-05 235 Gacharic Spin - Next Stage 236 Loudness -  Crazy Nights 237 David Bowie - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 238 The Presidents of the USA -  Japan 239 Fantomas -  4-4-05 240 Kyary Pamyu P - Fashion Monster 241 Wagakki Band - Senbonzakura 242 Deep Purple - Woman From Tokyo 243 Krokus - Tokyo Nights 244 Kyoto - Venetian Blinds 245 Happy End - Natsu nandesu 246 Motohiko Hamase - Plateau 247 Boris - Tokyo Wonder Land 248 Asia - Countdown to Zero 249 Hiiragi Fukuda - Me And My Marshall Amp 250 Marty Friedman -  Ai Takkatta 251 Kodo -  O-Daiko (japanese drummers - Taiko - tambours geants Japon) 252 Sonic Youth - Tokyo Eye 253 Otoboke Beaver - Anata Watashi Daita Ato Yome No Meshi 254 Y&T - Midnight in Tokyo 255 Metalucifer -  Heavy Metal Samurai 256 Urami Bushi - Meiko Kaji 257 Alphaville -  Big in Japan 258 M.O.D. - Godzula 259 Akiko Yano - Hitotsudake 260 Japan - Life in Tokyo (Giorgio Moroder Version) 261 Boris with Merzbow - Sometimes 262 Dragonforce - Power Of The Ninja Sword 263 Fantomas -  4-10-05 264 The Guyver Dark hero Theme song 265 Minami Deutsch / 南ドイツ - Futsu Ni Ikirenai 266 Yukihiro Takahashi - Drip Dry Eyes 267 ZooBOMBS - Doo Bee 268 SIGH -  Shingontachikawa 269 Burt Bacharach - Me Japanese Boy I Love You 270 Kay Cee Jones - Japanese Farewell Song 271 Dhidalah - GRB 272 Kikagaku Moyo - tree smoke 273 The Fall - I Am Damo Suzuki 274 Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knives 275 Yasuaki Shimizu - kakshi 333 Godiego - The Birth of the Odyssey (Monkey Magic) 666 BABYMETAL -Headbanger

Here are the songs to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1_IcliLasW5eajllU8pA5Gh

[kareofbears]

taste test

“To everyone who decided to come today…”

Makoto heaves a heavy sigh, palms flat on the table, eyes dark and shrouded.

“There’s no backing out now.”

—

read on ao3 or below the cut :)

(lovingly beta read by @mad4turtles)

“To everyone who decided to come today…”

Makoto heaves a heavy sigh, palms flat on the table, eyes dark and shrouded.

“There’s no backing out now.”

Ryuji squints from the sofa. “Are you about to invite us into a pyramid scheme?” his eyes light up with understanding. “Is that why Yusuke’s not here?”

“No,” Ann leans forward. “I think this is a yakuza proposition.”

His brows furrow, “Guys, my mom already thinks you’re all sketchy, can we not join the yakuza?”

“What’re you talking about?” Akira raises an eyebrow, poking Ryuji’s side. “Sakamoto-san loves me. We’re having brunch next week.”

“You’re what?”

Futaba rolls her eyes. “Yakuza isn’t even that bad. Some of them are just trying to protect their adoptive father from being kicked out and shamed for life.”

Ann makes a noise of indignation and slaps her hands over her ear. “No spoilers, no spoilers!”

“That was the first hour of the game!”

Slamming her hands down the table, Makoto glares down at all of them. “This is not a yakuza recruitment meeting.”

“So this is actually a pyramid scheme?” Akira asks slowly.

“This,” Makoto hoists a heavy bag onto the table with a thud, and sloshing sounds from within. “Is much more dangerous and life-altering.”

Four pairs of eyebrows shoot up.

“Alright, place your bets,” Futaba reaches over to jostle the bag. “My guess is that it’s filled with goldfishes and she wants us to learn about responsibility.”

Ryuji snaps his fingers. “Like a Tamagotchi?”

“No.”

“I remember getting one of those,” Ann says wistfully. “I got one, hopped on a train home, and I realized I forgot it on the train.”

“Okay, so at least now we know not to give Ann one of Makoto’s fishes,” Futaba sums up.

“Hold off for a second, children,” Akira interjects. “Makoto has an announcement, or some kind of gift-giving session, I don’t really know.”

Makoto smiles. “Thank you, Leader.” He gives her a deadpanned thumbs-up. “So as you all know, I’m a third-year that plans on going to university, which you should all start thinking about—” all of them suddenly avoid her eyes. “—and that means I need to start acquiring the essentials of adulthood.”

Futaba nods sagely. “R-rated mangas, but age never stopped me.”

“Don’t you already drive?” Ann accuses.

Ryuji’s grin is sharp. “The good mags? Age never stopped me for that, either.”

“Makoto’s about to admit to her smoking addiction,” says Akira.

“Cooking,” Makoto sighs, dejected. “The answer was cooking.”

There’s a collective sound of understanding as Makoto opens her bag and takes out a large pot, plastic utensils, and paper bowls with the words DAD TO THE BONE printed on, placing them all on Akira’s table. She shrugs. “Father’s Day clearance.”

“Ooo! Did you cook this yourself?” Ann peers closely at the pot.

“I did,” Makoto starts setting out the bowls, dropping spoons in one by one. “Though I didn’t get a chance to taste it before coming here. However, I gave it my all, so I hope it’s to your taste.”

The aroma begins to waft from the pot, and the scent of it hits them like a brick wall.

Futaba sniffs carefully. “Seafood?”

“Hmm? No, chicken actually,” Makoto uses a ladle to lovingly pour soup into each bowl.

Her eyes flicker over to Akira’s. His brow cocks up. Got something to say?

Eyes darting to the soup before going back to Akira, her expression morphs to one of alarm. The soup looks bad.

He leans back into the sofa, and raises a shoulder. What can we do about it?

She rolls her eyes. Nothing, obviously. I’m not that mean.

Ann shifts in her seat, and the three of them all watch as she studies the pot with a grimace. No, I’m with Futaba. That soup’s bad news.

Ryuji squints hard at Ann. Rude. You’re a rude person.

She squints back at him. So you’re not worried at all? Really?

Scoffing silently, Ryuji throws his arm around Akira. Nope. He and I are gonna chow down no problem.

Futaba nods patronizingly. Yeah, Ann. Kindness is a virtue.

Ann glares hard at her. “Faker!”

“How’s that soup coming along?” Akira asks quickly, seeing Ann’s outburst from a mile away.

“Ready to eat,” Makoto answers, gesturing to the bowls, expression hopeful. “Would you like to try some?”

Kurusu Akira isn’t lionhearted for nothing. “I’d love to.”

And if Akira’s lionhearted, Ryuji is positively fearless. “Alright, let’s all dig in!”

They all crowd around the table, lifting their respective Father’s Day themed bowls. Ann scoops a spoonful, take one last glance at Makoto’s optimistic smile, and takes a sip.

She almost drops the bowl.

The moment the broth hits her tongue, she immediately understands what Futaba means by seafood; it’s like the ocean had manifested in her bowl and its waved crashed directly into her mouth. It’s mercilessly, brutally, bile-inducingly salty, to the point that any other ingredient is completely overshadowed.

“Mmm,” Ann fights back a grimace with her life. She swallows, and her body trembles with effort. “What a taste.”

Tasting the Dead Sea is almost worth how bright Makoto beams. “Really?”

“For sure,” glancing past Makoto, Futaba looks like she’s being held at knifepoint with how profusely she’s sweating. “Really something special.”

Makoto nods seriously and takes out a notepad and pen. “I’d love to hear anything you’d have to say. Details, specifics, anything to help me improve.”

Ann sends a panicked look at Akira, whose expression is worryingly blank. Still, there’s a reason he’s their leader. “It brings...an explosion of taste,” he chokes out. Bravely, he takes another sip and his eyes water. “There are no words for it.”

Makoto is furiously writing in her notepad. “Explosion...got it. This is great. Anything else?”

Akira gives Ryuji a pleading look from the couch they’re sharing. Ryuji sighs and pats his thigh. Wordlessly, Akira moves to stand where Futaba’s sitting on his bed.

“Makoto,” Ryuji calls. “Sit beside me.” Confused, she does as she’s told. “You got that soup recipe on you?”

“Yes, just let me—” she flips her notepad back a few pages. “Here we go.”

“And, out of curiosity,” he continues gently. “How much salt did it say to add?”

“If I’m not mistaken, it said to put…two cups, I think?”

In the background, Futaba silently spits her soup back into her bowl. Akira moves to where Ann’s sitting instead.

Ryuji works to school his expression. “Did the recipe say to add two cups?”

“It did, look—” she points down at the paper. “See? ‘Add two pinches of—’” she pauses. “Wait a second.”

“Take your time.”

“It didn’t…” Makoto’s brows knit together as her eyes scan through her notes, and Ryuji leans forward to read along with her. “I distinctly remember it said ‘half a teaspoon of pepper, two tablespoons of parsley, two cups of salt, two punches of broth—”

Futaba inches towards Akira. “Did I hear that right?” she whispers, urgent. “Did she say punches? What the heck is that?”

“Just let Ryuji handle it,” he whispers back, eyes never leaving the pair on the couch.

Ryuji points at a line in her notes. “Senpai, it says two cups of broth, and two pinches of salt.”

Makoto could only stare at him.

He clears his throat. “And, uh, ‘punch’ isn’t a measurement. Or, at least not in cooking. Tell that to the guy in the alley, huh?” he laughs.

The silence only serves to punctuate how much that joke didn’t work.

And then, slowly, Makoto stands from the sofa and, hands shaking ever so slightly, lifts the ladle to her mouth, and sips. They all watch as she promptly walks over to the open window and spits out her mouthful.

Akira winces. “Really hope the neighbors didn’t see that.”

Collapsing back into the sofa, Makoto buries her face into her hands. “Oh my God.”

“I know.”

“That was terrible.”

He places a heavy hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“I basically fed my friends salt water.”

“Makoto, if it’s any consolation,” Futaba says while discreetly hiding her bowl under Akira’s blanket. “It was really good salt water.”

“That’s right,” Ann agrees. “Best salt water I’ve ever had.”

Makoto wails in response.

Akira strides forward and kneels in front of Makoto. “Hey, champ.”

“Don’t bother,” she mumbles into her palms. “I’m too stupid to understand what you’re going to say.”

Ryuji winces. “Damn, if she’s stupid, what the hell does that make me?”

“The guy Akira chose?” Ann offers.

That cheers him up. “And don’t you forget it.”

“Look,” Akira continues, focusing intently on the extremely distressed Makoto. “You remember that time I made coffee for you? The first time, back in June?”

She refuses to look at him. “Yeah?”

“And you almost threw up?”

“...Yeah.”

“What was that you said again?”

Flushing red, “I don’t remember.”

He knocks his knuckles against her knee. “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t want to say it. It was mean.”

“Come on.”

Sighing, she peeks through her fingers. “I said, ‘Kurusu, did you get these beans from Morgana’s litter box?’”

Ryuji coughs, and Akira holds back a smile. “And you said that because…?”

“Because it tasted pretty bad,” she admits.

Ann scowls. “Oh God, I forgot about that. That was so much worse than the soup.”

“Thank you, Ann.”

“Didn’t Sojiro ask why you put dirt into the filter because it tasted so much like crap?” Futaba muses.

“Alright, that’s enough—”

“Dude, I love you a whole lot, but it literally tasted like actual rat poison—”

“Basically,” Akira cuts in loudly. “You are going to improve. You’re not stuck here. I promise you, as long as you practice, you will improve.”

Makoto sighs. “Thank you, but you don’t know that.”

Gray eyes slide to lock with brown ones; even with how easily they all communicate with each other through gestures, it’s still a drop in the bucket compared to Ryuji’s and Akira’s near telepathy.

Do you have this?

You know I do.

Ryuji pats Makoto’s head. “This bastard is going to keep his promise, because I am going to make sure you practice and be a kick-ass chef.” He stands abruptly. “Get up.”

She blinks. “What?”

“There’s a grocery around the corner, and my chicken soup recipe is a thousand times better than whatever mommy website you pulled that one from.” His grin is bright enough to rival the sun. “Let me prove to you that you can move past this.”

Hesitantly, Makoto stands. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay!”

“Okay!” he grabs her wrist and leans forward to steal a kiss from Akira’s cheek. “Be back in ten.”

Akira waves at them half-heartedly as Ryuji sprints down the stairs, a newly-invigorated Makoto in tow. “I hope he buys me some fruit packs—we’re running low.”

“Ryuji’s good at that,” Futaba comments. “Handling her crises, I mean.”

“I was just thinking that.” Ann pours her bowl’s contents back into the pot. “Pretty unexpected. It was honestly kind of weird.”

Shrugging, Akira moves to tidy his room. “Not really. It’s probably because of his mom.”

The girls share a glance. “What about her?” Ann asks.

“When his dad was still around, he made them all get take-out every night,” he says, focused on collecting all the utensils scattered around the table. “And when he left, Ryuji was too young to cook and his mom had zero experience in cooking. So the two of them had to learn it together. And once that’s all done, Ryuji walked out of it knowing how to make great food and help other people learn how to make great food, too. Pretty on brand of him, honestly.”

Akira lifts his hand over his mouth, but it’s impossible to cover the sheer amount of adoration radiating off of him. “He taught me how to cook stuff other than coffee and curry, too. He’s good at what he does.”

Futaba and Ann didn’t know what to say, sincerity catching them off guard.

Akira reaches over to ruffle Futaba’s hair. “Help me clean, or I’ll have to sleep in your room tonight.”

She bats his hand away. “No way, not after you stole all my pillows last time.”

“I’ll get the trash bags,” he grins, heading for the stairs. “And don’t think I didn’t see you hide the soup under my blanket!”

“Shut up!”

Ann hears Akira laugh quietly from downstairs. “They’re good together,” she says softly. “Aren’t they?”

“Akira and trash bags? Yeah, I’d say so.”

—

An hour later, they’re overcome with food comas, stomachs full of soup and fruit packs. All through the night, Makoto couldn’t stop smiling.

[therainroguefanfiction]

🏀 Professional; Lev Haiba (Sportember #014)

📑 Table of Contents | ⚾ Challenge Post

Genre: Angst, Slice of Life, Fluff, School

Word Count: 2,351

Pairing: Reader x Lev

World: Haikyuu!!

Prompt: Professional

Sport: Basketball & Volleyball

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You chewed on your lip, unable to focus on the teacher’s words, your eyes trained on the dark sky outside. Thunder rumbled in the distance like a hungry animal, the wind blowing heavy enough to make the rain appear as if it were falling sideways. To you, it was a beautiful sight, as if mother nature was creating a piece of art in front of you, but even your typical enthusiasm was lost, outweighed by something deeper.

“Y/N-san!” Sakamoto-sensei smacked his hand on your desk at the exact moment that a streak of lighting split the sky, making you nearly jump out out of your chair. “This is the third time I’ve caught you not paying attention in class today. Detention this afternoon!”

You frowned at him as he headed back to the front of the room. Any other time, you would have been upset because it meant missing practice, but today, you just didn’t have the stomach to face your teammates. And so, their messages sat unread on your phone since you didn’t know what to say to them. You lowered your head, hands clenched around your uniform.

Kuroo glanced at you from across the room, cat-like eyes narrowed. He had picked up on your dampened spirits since first seeing you that morning and, since Lev refused to leave your side, he decided to approach you at school’s end before the future ace could reach you. With you being given detention, though, that would be a harder task. His eyes slid to the teacher, knowing that the man was already annoyed by your lack of attention.

‘Shouldn’t be too hard to get detention for myself, as well.’

Waiting for the older man to turn toward the board, Kuroo rested his head on the desktop, closing his eyes before smacking his hand loudly onto the wood in hopes that it would sound like his head had been the one to fall. The classroom fell silent, his cue to fake a loud, obnoxious snore.

Footsteps approached his desk, followed by the angry voice of the teacher. “Kuroo-san!”

Snore.

Sensei’s hand came down on the desk beside him, scaring the girl sitting there half to death. “Ku-roo-san! Wake up this instant!”

The third year slowly opened his eyes, faking a yawn as he stretched his long arms above his head. “Damn and I was having the best dream.”

“You can join Y/N-san in detention!”

“But, sensei, I have volleyball practice.” Kuroo’s eyes sparked with amusement as he glanced at you.

“Too bad!”

You clicked your tongue in response to his half-smirk, turning your gaze back to the window. You knew he had done that on purpose and you knew why, as well.

When the final bell rung, you and Kuroo remained seated as the rest of the class filed out in a hurry to get to their clubs or to get home. Sensei glared at the two of you before hiding half of his face with a thick, brown book, the very same one he had been trying to get through for a month now. The room was silent save for the ticking of the clock above the door.

Kuroo sneaked his phone under his desk, tapping away before sliding it into his pocket before the teacher could notice. A few moments passed by before the door slid open, revealing the volleyball team’s setter and Kuroo’s best friend. He shot his captain a glance before addressing the teacher in his usual monotone voice.

“Sensei, Yamasaki and Mikutani are fighting again near the library.”

Sakamoto lowered the book with a scowl. “I’m watching over detention. Go get one of the other teachers.”

“They’re currently in a meeting.”

With a frustrated sigh, he smacked the book shut and tossed it onto his desk before following the blonde from the room.

In the blink of an eye, Kuroo was sitting in the desk in front of you, sitting backward so that he could face you, his eyes narrowed as he observed your expression. You tried to ignore him, but his gaze was piercing through you, taking in every breath, twitch, and movement. You felt like a mouse about to be pounced on by a cat.

Finally, you sighed, lifting your eyes to meet his. “Can I help you with something, Kuroo?”

He hummed, lips twitching upward. “I’m waiting for you to tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing is going on,” you brushed him off, returning to the schoolwork that was laid out across your desk, the pencil scratching across the paper. “Sensei will be back soon, you know. He’s already annoyed with us.”

“Guess you should explain fast then, huh?”

“Kuroo -”

“Or I can just tell Lev how weird you’re acting and let him handle -”

“No!” Your hand slammed onto the desk, a bead of nervous sweat trailing down your cheek. His eyes widened at the pleading look that you were sending him. “I’ll tell you, alright. Just… please don’t mention this to Lev.”

He frowned, letting his cheek rest against his palm. “So it does have something to do with him.”

A heavy sigh passed your lips as you fell back against the chair, eyes on the ceiling. “I… had a meeting with a recruiter yesterday.”

“A recruiter? You mean…?”

You nodded, fiddling with the ring upon your finger – a gift from Lev for your one month anniversary. ‘A promise,’ he had told you, but he never elaborated on what that promise was meant to be. “I was invited to join this new team that the NBA is trying to create. It’ll be the first co-ed national team.”

“That… that’s great!” He grinned as he stood up, large hands on your shoulders. “Congratulations, Y/N!”

“Yeah… thanks.” You tried to offer him a smile, but it ended up being more a grimace.

“Are you not happy about it?” He questioned with surprise, settling back down onto the chair. “I thought it was your dream to go pro?”

“It is my dream, but…”

His eyes flashed with recognition. “Lev…”

You nodded again. “Accepting this offer means going to the United States and leaving Lev behind, which I can’t do. If I accept, I’m going to break up with him.”

“Hey, now, let’s not be hasty.” He folded his arms on the back of the chair. “With today’s technology, long distance relationships are easier than ever!”

A sad smile came to your lips and you shook your head. “Long distance relationships rarely work out and they are unfair on both sides. I couldn’t possibly ask Lev to go through that and I can’t ask him to move to another country just for me, either. To give up his own dreams and desires so I can chase after my own… and I know he’d agree with it without a second thought, but he’d end up regretting it. I can’t do that.”

“You make it sound like you’re never coming back,” he commented, rubbing the back of his neck before frowning. “You’re not coming back, are you?”

“No.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I… I don’t know,” your voice shook, barely above a whisper, but the words hung thick in the air around you, as if taunting you.

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It had been a week since the offer to go pro was extended to you and, in that time, you had avoided Lev wherever possible, using exams, basketball, and even the need to give your cat a bath as excuses for why you couldn’t spend time with him. You felt bad about this, heart cracking just a bit more with every crestfallen expression he made, though he tried his best to hide his disappointment.

To you, though, it was as clear as day within those beautiful emerald eyes.

The basketball team had all but forced you to spill the truth to them, even though you tried to avoid the conversation. They were happy for you and proud of you, giving you hugs and slaps on the back as they tried not to cry. Their precious captain, who had worked their ass off for years, was finally achieving their dream. How could they not be happy for you?

What they didn’t realize, however, was that you actually had two very different dreams, two desires. But life is not a fair place and you knew that you couldn’t have your cake and eat it, too. The deadline was quickly approaching, but you were no closer to choosing a path than you had been on day one. If anything, you felt more torn, but you knew you had to put on your grown up pants and make your choice.

“Y/N-senpai!”

Your shoulders tensed up at the familiar voice of your boyfriend, feeling his boney fingers gripping your shoulder to make you stop. You forced a teasing smile as you turned to him. “You’re going to be late for class again, Lev.”

“I don’t care,” he stated firmly, a series expression on his face. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.”

Your heart raced within your chest as his fingers slid to your wrist, tugging you down the hall and away from your class. You had never seen the first year so serious before, not even during his matches. Had something happened? Many different scenarios flew through your mind, each one worse than the last, but you shook your head to try and dispel them.

Lev brought you to an unused classroom on the third floor, closing the door behind him. For a moment, he just stood there facing the door. You had never seen him like this and it was starting to scare you. “Lev -”

He finally turned, his chin quivering as he bit hard on his lower lip, eyes filled with tears that he was struggling to keep at bay.

“Oh, darling,” you didn’t hesitate to pull him into your arms and he had to sink to his knees so he could wrap his arms around your waist, face buried in your chest. You shushed him softly, fingers combing through his silver locks. “Tell me what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed, hands fisting around the back of your shirt. You could feel how wet the cloth was getting from his tears, but you didn’t mind.

“What for?” You wondered, using your free hand to run up and down his back, trying to sooth the tense muscles.

“I’m not good enou-enough for you,” he sniffled, making your heart crack.

Shaking your head, you pushed him back so you could see his face, your hands cupping his cheeks. “Why would you think that?”

“B-Because,” he rubbed at his eyes. “You’re avoiding me! A-And Kuroo-senpai said that I should try harder! D-Did I forget our anniversary? Did I say something stu-stupid? I didn’t mean it, I swear!”

You chuckled softly, brushing away the hair from his eyes. “I’m sorry for making you feel that way, darling. I’ve just been… stressed lately. You didn’t forget our anniversary or say anything stupid, at least not to me.”

His eyes brightened up as he looked at you with a hopeful expression. “You’re not breaking up with me?”

Your lips parted and you realized that this was your wake up call. Life was telling you it was time to make your choice, right here, right now. It would be so easy to tell him that you wanted to break up, now was the perfect chance to do so, but… “Lev, I…”

“Y/N-senpai…” he mumbled, his eyes filling with more tears as he waited for your answer. His heart was beating painfully within his chest.

Your thumb brushed across his cheek, pale skin slightly pink because of his crying. Even like this, he was so beautiful, like a god among men, and he made you feel a way no one else had. Your life had become so much brighter, filled with more laughs and happy moments than ever before. You smiled, pressing your lips to his forehead, then his left cheek, his right cheek, his nose, and finally, his lips, lingering just a bit longer than the others.

“I’m not breaking up with you, idiot. You’re stuck with me.”

“Forever?”

“Forever is a long time, you know.”

“I know!” He pouted.

You chuckled in response. “Forever.”

Lev’s face instantly brightened and he stood up, throwing himself at you as he giggled happily, spinning around with you in his arms. “I love you so much, Y/N!”

Your arms wrapped around his neck, lips pressing to his cheek. “I love you too, Lev.”

Maybe you would come to regret turning down the offer later on in life, but in that moment, you felt as if it was the right thing to do. It felt as if this path would make you happier than the other because Lev was by your side and he was more than enough for you.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry!” He placed you back onto the ground, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I didn’t mean any disrespect for using your name, senpai.”

“I don’t mind. Call me whatever you want.”

His head tilted to the side as your hand reached for his. “Are you sure?”

You laced your fingers through his before bringing the back of his hand to your lips. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Okay!” He chirped happily.

Maybe it was wrong not to tell him about the offer, but you felt like he would only feel guilty if he knew, so you swore Kuroo to secrecy which he agreed to reluctantly. When it came to your team, you told them that the offer had fallen through, and asked them not to mention it because you just wanted to forget, and they also agreed, not wanting to upset their captain.

Life moved on, but you never did come to regret your decision, and he never did come to find out that you had chosen him over your dream of being a professional basketball player. After all, creating a life with Lev was also one of your dreams and… that one ended up coming true.

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[raphaelaan]

Gintama chapter 704 translation

Chapter 704: “There’s no such thing as a good guy with perm head”

Under the cut

Page 1

Katsura: Gintoki! Takasugi! Can you hear my transmission!! Where are you right now? Are you alright? We have taken over this ship and in the process of eliminating the rest of the enemy; they are at the state of complete annihilation. But the terminal’s berserk won’t stop! It’s just a matter of time until it blew itself up along with this plane, you have to escape quickly!

Page 2

Sakamoto: Zura! We can’t run either! If the terminal goes down, the Altana’s berserk will only get worse! That would spell the end for this planet as well! Those who are still alive have to deal with that thing somehow!

Katsura: But do we have any way of doing that?

?: There… is…

?: Can you please… allow me… handle the things here…

Katsura: Who is…

Katsura: You are….

Shouyou: This berserk happened because the sucking up far too great a quantity of Altana using the enemy’s weapon.

Page 3

Shouyou: Which means, if we can reverse its flow we can let the Altana collide with an equally strong force. Turn this great quanityty of Altana back to the Terminal by destroying the weaponry. Using the Altana inside of me as the trigger.

Shouyou: But even if we stop the berserk that way, this terminal won’t come out unscratched. Can I trust you with the evacuation, my prodigious student? I do not want to allow for more victims than there already are. If it’s you, then I can entrust this task.

Shouyou: All of you.... please… go and live.

Page 4

Shouyou: Just as you heard, please leave this place…

Shinpachi: Shouyou-sensei… you

Shouyou: //coughs blood

Shinpachi: …! Sensei!

Shouyou:  …….

Shouyou: How very ironic. That I, who bear eternity, am now trying to stretch what time I have left. And I understand very well, the meaning of why he gave what remained of that fragile life.  

Page 5:

Shouyou: I am a failure of a teacher, one who cannot even protect his students. That’s why I must protect the future that they weaved… I have to protect all of you.

Shouyou: My one thousand years of life might exist solely for this moment. This is the first time that I honestly think… I want to live a bit longer. Please give me more time, even if just one second.

Page 6:

Shinpachi: one second will not be enough. If one person can only bear that one second

Kagura: then if we combine the life of every one

Shinpachi: Then you will have enough time to at least see your student’s stupid face.

Shouyou: …! You all--!

Shinpachi: I’m sorry, Shouyou-sensei. As I thought we cannot leave just like that. Because if we do, we will no longer be Yorozuya.

Page 7

Shinpachi: Haven’t we said?

Kagura: That the Yorozuya will work until the payment is received?

Shinpachi: If there is a future, then we will not want someone to give it to us. We Yorozuya will doggedly take it by our own hands.

Page 8

Shouyou: All of you…

Kyuubei: Then we will accompany you.

Sacchan: It seems like in order to create an immortal, the cult has collected Altana from various planets.

Kyuubei: If we destroy all this, you can even hit your idiot student and not just look at him,

Shinpachi: Everyone!

Zenzo: Saying we’ll destroy it is fine and all but how are we supposed to do that? Let me tell you, the only type of cellphones I can use is the ancient ones.

Mobcop: We can no longer follow the current pace of modern technology

Zenzo: Is that something a person completely made of tech should say???

Nobume: If it’s cellphones then just leave it to me.

Sacchan: People and pieces of techs are the same. When they just don’t want to listen…

Page 9

Girls: You do this to them!

Zenzou: Ooooooiiiii you tomboy bitches!! This is no longer at the level of communication jamming! It’s now at the level where Siri would give it her all to shower you in boos and jeers!!

Tsukuyo: It will reach. If we gather this many feelings, it will certainly reach even without a phone.

Page 10

Shinpachi: This—this is--! A huge amount of Altana is flowing in!

Shinpachi: Shouyou-sensei, if you want to destroy it then this is the chance!

Kagura: Sadaharu! Protect Shouyou!

Shouyou: All of you… why… why…

Page 11

Hijikata: yo. You’re late, we almost left without you.

Gintoki: You guys…

Hijikata: Evacuating citizens is also the work of police force.

Kondo: My god, if there are unreasonably stubborn guys like you around, our work will get way harder.

Okita: Sorry but I’m not interested in kicking the bucket together. The only choice left is to go home, side-by-side.

Hijikata: Get up and let’s go.

Page 12

Katsura: Gintoki. Just a bit more. Ahead of that, sensei… and the Yorozuya will be there. If you have anything else to do, wrap it up quick.

Gintoki: Is that okay with you? Isn’t the prodigy of Shouka Sonjuku entrusted to make sure everyone come home safe?

Katsura: The evacuation is over, the only ones remaining is you troublemaker lot.

Gintoki: Zura… Takasugi is…

Katsura: Maybe sensei just doesn’t understand. Every time you troublemakers make a mess back then, there’s one more troublemaker who stepped up and wiped your asses. Isn’t that right Gintoki? So when it comes to Takasugi’s… to the final trouble the two of you stir up, the one who gotta wipe your asses later can’t move from this place.

Page 13

Gintoki: Zura…

Sakamoto: Dying or living, we’ll go together I guess… if it’s like this then there’s no choice but to come back alive. But don’t worry. I will come and save you, even from the deepest bowels of hell.

Sakamoto: That’s why go and make as great a fuss as you wish. Make a big one for his part too.

Page 14

Shouyou: Gintoki…

Page 15

Shouyou: The people here… for you they are what you are to me, aren’t they?

Page 17

Shouyou: That day… the eternal demon met you… met all of you and was able to become Yoshida Shouyou.

Page 18

Shouyou: Since that day… the small demon with such sorrowful eyes gained many meetings

Page 19

Shouyou: And was able to become Sakata Gintoki

Page 20

Shinpachi: Shouyou-sensei!!!

Page 22

Gintoki: Shouyou. I always wanted to show you. A lot of things happened since then. And I…

Page 23

Gintoki: I worked as Yorozuya with these guy.

Shouyou: Yes… I see it.

Page 24

Shouyou: Yorozuya. Sakata Gintoki. You have become… such a good man…

Page 26

Small Tama: Data transfer is completed. Good morning, Fuyou Iizerogou.

Page 27

Tama: This place is…

Small Tama:  This is Gengai-sama’s workshop. Ever since the war, you have been asleep for a very long time. I am your clone, Tamako, whose job is to gather data in your place during that time.

Tama: I’m sorry… I still… my circuits is still out of order. How long have I been asleep for?

Tama: Is this… Edo…?

Tama: No, right now this place is called Tokyo. After the last battle, Edo has seen many great changes and was reborn.

Page 28

Small Tama: Without everyone’s hard work, this Tokyo wouldn’t have come into existence. Yes… the world has regained peace.

Tama: And yet… it seems like the world that I know no longer exist. After that, what happened to everyone…?

Small Tama: The answer to that question is already inside of you.

?: -san… Tama-san…

?: I wonder when you will wake up and receive this data.

Tama: This voice... Shinpachi-sama? And is this the old Edo?

Shinpachi: Since that day, we still don’t know what we fought, with whom we fought. Or just what we lost and what we won.

Page 29

Shinpachi: But we returned home. To Edo. To the everyday life. And yet from the lonely smile I saw on Gin-san’s face that day, I feel that the amount of what we regained and what we lost…

Shinpachi: It seems… they won’t come back after all.

Page 30

Shinpachi: Aaaaaaaa!!! Where the hell are you sleeping Gin-saaaan! It stinks—I stepped on puke!! Just when I thought I’m not gonna be seeing your face for a while you went off and had a drink, didn’t you!!

Gintoki: Agh so noisy. This is my home. I can come back whenever I like and throw up wherever I like—gogogogoo

Shinpachi: Wait!! Don’t make more of a mes—gogogogo

Gintoki: And why are you sitting nonchalantly on the president’s seat

Shinpachi: The hell you’re talking about! The one who supported the Yorozuya while everyone’s gone is the leader! Didn’t you say you will start from the very bottom of the rungs?!

Gintoki: I didn’t say it. And didn’t you say you will start over, beginning from your glasses frame?

Shinpachi: I didn’t!! Why don’t you start over from your dad’s ballsacks?!

Gintoki: You start over from you dad’s glasses case

Shinpachi: That’s just dad’s glasses then!! And if you’re gonna sleep, sleep properly on the futon!!

Page 31:

Kagura: Don’t come into a lady’s room! How many times should I tell you this is no longer Gin-chan’s room! This is the room of the vice-president, who returned second after the president!

Shinpachi: Yeah… but vice-president, your president flew because of that kick as well...

Kagura: In all companies, presidents are nothing but decoration where short beards can grow. The real power usually belong to the strong ones, in the end the people with the most physical strengths hold the world in their palms.

Shinpachi: No… the super strong is not even super strong and not even the vice-president.

Kagura: Well, just he just won’t be responsible then just beat the responsibility into him as hard as you can.

Shinpachi: Even if the one doing it is a super-powered hercules it still can’t be done!!

Gintoki: Cut it out you two!! Just where is my place to belong now? Since it came to this, let’s just begin everything back from the markingssss----rruururururuu

Shinpachi: We’ll kill you, you bastard!!!

Shinpachi: …even so, I think the reason we can still be ourselves with nary a change like this is because there is three people and one dog here.

Page 32:

Otose: My, my… since it’s been two years I thought you all would have piled up enough money to pay the rent. But looking at those faces, seems like all you did these past two years are digging your noses.

Gintoki: I’m thinking about leaving the rent in the new president’s care.

Shinpachi: Don’t just push off that role when it benefits you…

Kagura: Alright, leave it to Leader! I’ll handle the right hole, Gin-chan handle the left. And then there’s Shinpachi.

Shinpachi: You bastards aren’t doing anything but picking noses, are you?!

Otose: I thought both Shinpachi and Kagura have grown up, but it seems like they all just went back to how they were when you returned.

Catherine: One spoiled apple would spoil the entire barrel, after all.

Gintoki: I’m more of the sweetness of canned fruits person than barrel person.

Gengai: I see. When it comes to canned stuff, the rot don’t spread out easily after all.  

Gintoki: Can the person one step away from rotting just stop talking?

Shinpachi: Even though she verbally abused everyone as usual, she doesn’t tell us the reason…

Umibozu: There’s no need to ask about such a thing, is there?

Page 33:

Umibozu: Then I’ll ask in return. What is the reason for me to come from across the universe and see you?

Kagura: Because you’re balding?

Umibozu: It doesn’t have anything to do with baldness.

Kagura: Or maybe that thing is balding.

Umibozu: I said it doesn’t have anything to do with baldness.

Umibozu: There’s no reason. There’s no reason for a family member to come and see the member of their family. Just as you need no reason to remain here and rebuild the Yorozuya. Same goes for your hell-raising big brother, he might come without no reason at all.

Shinpachi: And just like that… It is said that Umibozu-san’s back as he walked away looked a bit lonely and bald.

Otose: Well, whatever happened, I’m not going to complain as long as you pay the rent. With the world changing, is there no good stories to be heard?

Reporter: Behold, the rebuilding of the terminal has reached this stage.

Soyo: No matter how many disasters come knocking, as long as we have a heart that won’t give in we will be able to stand back up no matter how many times we’re knocked down.

Page 34

Soyo: That’s why, everyone, with me…

Reporter: With all due respect, Soyo-sama, but what we really want to hear is about the assassination of the previous leader Donald Zuramp. There have been some rumors that it was ordered by you to remove Donald Zuramp and gain power

Nobume: If the princess truly is someone who will assassinate people who stood in her way, does that mean you came here ready to die?

Reporter: Then, that rumor truly is real!

Shinpachi: They are the ones who rebuilt Edo that once again was filled with conflicts. Taking over what Zuramp (Katsura) –san  has started, Soyo-hime marvelously rallied the masses and rebuilt Edo. And loyally staying by her side is Nobume-san. No… not just her. Surely by their side, those people are also…

Page 35

Shinpachi: And then one more person that must not be forgotten about.

?: You fools! There is no way the great Donald Zuramp was done in by the likes of those girls! That man is alive! His soul has become a Heroic Spirit that protects this land! Do not forget that Donald Zuramp is always watching you. Must you stray from the righteous path and forgot your heart, he will come and strike you down with heavenly vengeance!

Katsura (?): Yes, this patriotic Heroic Spirit , ObaZ!!

Gintoki: And that’s the end. Katsura-san is dead.

Shinpachi: Don’t kill him off on top of taking over the narration!! And it’s not like he’s definitely Katsura-san even if it’s 100% Katsura-san!

Gintoki: That idiot’s as good as dead anyway. I’ll put an end to him. And what’s with the continuous grumbling, when will you stop?

Shinpachi: Did you hear that!! I’m so embarassed!

Page 36:

Shinpachi: I thought it would be nice to leave a recording for Tama-san.

Gintoki: Just because it’s the final chapter do you think you can wrap it up high-handedly with a narration? It’s long and boring, and there’s no need to give that idiot Katsura any pages. Tama’s and the reader’s eyes will fall off if this goes on. Here, let me take over for a bit.

Gintoki: Tama, there has been so many things that happened since then, I don’t even know where to begin. But there is one thing I want you to know…

Gintoki: that everyone is dead.

Shinpachi: Don’t just wrap it all up like that!!!

Gintoki: Whatever, it’s fine isn’t it. Everyone will someday die anyway.

Shinpachi: That’s too rough a stroke to draw! Surely Tama-san would want to know what happened after that!

Kagura: Gin-chan, it’s just as Shinpachi said. It’s sad if only Tama doesn’t know anything. I will tell everything that happened and everything I feel while she’s gone.

Kagura: The tamagoyaki is delicious.

Shinpachi: What did you decide to tell her? Goddamit! If we also include commentaries about breakfast, our final chapter is going to be even longer all the volumes of KochiKame!!

Kagura: After KochiKome ended, for some reason Jump felt a little lonely.

Shinpachi: We also don’t need to know your feelings after KochiKome ended!!

Kagura: Jump, too, dies.

Shinpachi: Don’t say here that it will die!! That will just create misunderstandings!

Page 37

?: Now have you beheld the truth? Without another peron’s eyes to look at them, human will fall into corruption and decay to the very final chapter.

Shinpachi: Hey, who’s saying that? It’s not me, you know.

?: This world needs an ‘eye’ that will cross through time and watch over the nation for eternity. The only one who can do it is this Supreme Heroic Spirit… no, this Patriotic Heroic Spirit, Obaz--

Gintoki: He’s coming this far just because we didn’t pay attention to him, oi.

Kagura: Even so, with this we wrapped up one person. Who will be next?

Shinpachi: Don’t work your hardest to make this an ‘everybody dies’ ending!!

Gintoki: And those are his final words.

Shinpachi: I am not dead yet!!!

Shinpachi: it’s okay, I’m not going to let them take over the narration. As you have seen above, the torch lit by the Zuramp administration passed down, and with it comes too the revival of the Shinsengumi.

Matsudaira: I want to say welcome home, but the place we returned to is not so soft as to allow those words. This is a battlefield. All your overflowing feelings and nostalgia better be thrown out right here.

Page 38

Matsudaira: And drink until you’re dead!!!

Shinpachi: there’s not even a second to breathe in their job. So that the tax money from the people doesn’t get wasted, they fought without rest day and night. And that is alright because they have their girlfriends by their sides. Beside successfully reviving the dojo and gaining her own shop, my sister who has become the face of Kabuki-cho, the one who used to fight Kondo-san’s advances to the bitter end… they are now…

Shinpachi: They now support each other both publicly and privately. Though I feel quite lonely, for the sake of my sister’s happiness I shall pass through myriads of battles to become a proper adult. I wonder if I can manage to do so someday…

Shinpachi: OO! Eat this adult tsukkomi!!!

Page 39

Shinpachi: So it’s you! The one who’s been stealing my identity and went on and on as you please about things that didn’t happen!! Just what are you lot thinking? Don’t deceive yourself into thinking you can run off to imaginary land just because this is the final chapter, goddamit!!

Shinpachi: Just like that, the moment I set eyes on my brother in law, I just wanted to tease him.

Shinpachi: Oi! Are you a psycho or something, you bastard? That’s not what you normally say to people’s faces!

Shinpachi: Big sis too, why are you supporting this fabricated final chapter??

Tae: Eh? But I’m not doing anything, you know? I’m just…

Tae: Ou, Gorilla. If you ever show your face in this shop ever again, I’ll make it so that you’d have to pay triple.

Shinpachi: Something super scary just came out as the narration!!

Kondo: I understand, Otae-sama. My wallet… no, this government’s treasure vault belongs to you. Oh yeah, and here’s the live ticket to Bz’s as forward payment.

Tae: Ah, Gorilla you are such a bad boy.

Kondo: Ah, no, no, I’m nowhere near Otae-sama’s level.

Shinpachi: It’s just a scene of corruption!!

Tae: I’m sorry… you must have been trying to hide it using narration.

Shinpachi: My tears flows free, unable to stop. As I thought, the only person I can entrust big sister to is—

Shinpachi: Like that’s true at all!!

Gintoki: Oi, you’ve used up three pages on that bullshit. What’re you going to do now, you morons really never changed.

Okita: I’m sorry danna, but isn’t that for the best? I don’t need such a thing as a fabricated ending, as long as I have this peaceful everyday life.

Gintoki: oooh, you said a noble thing, didn’t you. Now wrap it up in the next panel. Wrap it up by committing hara-kiri.

Page 40

Okita: The peaceful everyday life they regained. But for Shinsengumi it is only the beginning of a new battle. From here onward, the Memoirs of Shinsengumi will begin serialization! This is but a small preview.

Gintoki: Rather than ending, a new serial is being greenlit over there!!

Gintoki: Where’s the heck’s the next issue gonna be?! Because of our repeated ending scam offense this manga’s been kicked off Jump!

Okita: With new costume and a new beginning, Shinsengumi’s new fight is freshly beginning. And what is the identity of their mysterious new enemy?

Gintoki: It’s not new at all! I’ve just seen that face just now!! Don’t try to be sneaky and come out here as well!!

Okita: And what exactly is Shinsengumi’s new weapon…?

Okita: Yamazaki-kun, during the process of your rebirth, your personality has been split into 108 individuals…

Gintoki: Oiii!! What happened there Jimmy? He’s still in a situation that looks wholly troublesome!!

Okita: Now, will the Shinsengumi succed in protecting Edo from the disgusting idiot?

Okita: Being a vice-chief is quite troublesome, after all… Now I’m painfully aware of how hard it was for you. But… I will support Shinsengumi for your sake as well, Hijikata-san.

Page 41

Hijikata: In the end you’re fabricating stuff as well!!

Hijkata: What are you people doing, slacking off on your jobs?! Pay for your shame by committing hara-kiri simultaneously!!

Okita: Hijikata-san, this is the final chapter, y’know? We’re not going to get paid even if we work anyway. Look at Yamazaki over there. He’s doing mecha poses with the mecha Yamazakis.

Hijikata: But why??

Gintoki: Vice-chief, vice-chief. I get it, I get it. None of you have the talent to wrap things up, I understand that now. For now, here, just put this on. Alright, now strike a pose. Good. Now stay just like that.

Hijikata: Please wrap this up, will you?! Just why did you tell me to strike a pose? What were those eyes??

Gintoki: Shinsengumi is that.

Hijikata: Is what?? What kind of wrapping up is that?!

Page 42

Tae: Hijikata-san, don’t be so tense. Since it’s a rare thing for everyone to gather under one roof, why don’t you relax as well? Considering this is the final chapter…

Hijikata: There’s no such thing as a final chapter on a policeman’s job!! During the time we’re being stupid like this—

Kyuubei: I see… so throwing up a huge fuss and going berserk inside a shop is a policeman’s job, is it? Then, I, too, shall do my job.

Hijikata: Oh yeah, I remember this kind of thing happening back then, Kyuubei. Fine, bring it on. I held back because you’re a woman but now I know you’re much more than that. Now show me the dedication to your job!!

Kyuubei: A serving of fruits coming up, now open wide~

Hijikata: You’re a cabaret girl?????????

Tae: When I invited her to just come and play, she said she feel bad about it and decided to help out as well.

Kyuubei: I thought up of a way to serve the costumers without coming into contact with men. Like this, being the number one cabaret girl is not a mere dream for me.

Hijikata: Don’t put someone who appreciates their personal space far too much on customer service!

Tae: This, right here, is a fight as well. There’s a lot of cabaret clubs where people try to please the costumers by eliminating distances, but I hear in Yoshiwara it’s customary to first reject the costumer with a swipe of your graceful, flowing sleeves and make them more interested that way!

Page 43

Tsukuyo: Otae, the mission is complete.

Hijikata: Forget graceful flowing sleeves, this girl has no sleeve!!

Sacchan: Mugu—Ginsyaan staaaph

Hijikata: With her being here as well, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull anymore!!

Tsukuyo: Kagura, how have you been?

Kagura: Everyone came here after all.

Tsukuyo: Yes, everyone does

Page 44

Zenzo: Shoo, shoo! Hey, I came here because I was invited to visit but there’s no fuglies around! What’s the meaning of this?!

Gintoki: Here’s your order, please enjoy your stay.

Gintoki: Dang it, what a troublesome bunch. Coming around and gathering just because it’s the final chapter.

Tae: But with this we can wrap the whole thing up with everyone’s narration, right?

Shinpachi: uh, why are you trying to wrap things up. Everyone getting drunk and having fun together, that fits us just well doesn’t it.

Page 45

Shinpachi: Yes. Truly, nothing has changed. That might be the best words we can offer you.

Shinpachi: Come on, please hold it together.

Gintoki: Which part of me is not holding it together? If you want proof I can list al Dragon Ball’s villains for you right now.

Shinpachi: Uh, that offer is already proof you’re no longer holding it together. Doctor—gororororororo

?: Hei, lady. I want ten more portions of this meal.

Abuto: Oi oi, just take it slow and stop right there, will ya? We’re a poor-as-dirt organization with no money and no financial backing, you know? Be a bit mindful about your spending habits.

Kamui: I can’t help it, this place just have the best food. Plus, it’s better to fill up your belly before a war.

Abuto: A war? Like we have the money to do that.

Page 46

Kamui: Then delay the excitement for a bit, lady. Next time, we will come to consume this planet.

Abuto: my, my. We spent so much again.

Kamui: Even if we are broke when it comes to money, we have to be rich in dreams.

Abuto: What about your little sister?

Kamui: Is that even a question? Of course, I will defeat her.

Abuto: Ah you’re saying such a thing again. Even though when your little sister went out to look for knowledge during the last two years, you followed her around for quite a while.

Kamui: Another old man also did the same as me, didn’t he? Don’t play dumb, you idiot.

Katsura: Y-you have very good eyes to notice me, ahahaha! That’s right, the Heroic Spirit ObaZ will always be watching y--

Page 47

Sakamoto: It has been some times since I contacted you, how are you faring? Chintoki-kun, as always I’m still running around in space. As I thought, space is just the best. When I look out to the infinity stretched before me, petty stuff like all my bad feelings just packed their bags and left. Mantoki-kun should come and look around space with me next time.

Sakamoto: Now, the reason why I took up the brush this time is that there is something I must tell you. I promised that come hell or high water I will come and save you, but when I saw the broken terminal I had honestly thought “Oh, well, they’re dead lol”.

Sakamoto: I don’t mean to say this as mere consolation, but I believe the one who saved you was, without question, that man. After sacrificing his all to the Altana and was erased, he became a part of it and protected his students.

Page 48

Sakamoto: That’s why I don’t think there’s any reason for you to feel lonely. Without doubt your teacher is there, inside that planet, and always watching over you.

Sakamoto: To my dearest friend, Chinmanbuku-kun.

Sakamoto: P.S. I met Zura recently and heard that the remnant of Kiheitai is showing strange movements.

Katsura: Dragon’s veins?

Henpeita: Yes. I heard she continued her journey to visit every Dragon’s Veins opening in the land.

Katsura: Just who is she imitating by doing that….

Henpeita: I believe she must have been unable to forgive her own self who allowed Sakata Gintoki to bear the burden of Takasugi’s... of everything.

Page 49

Henpeita: Of course we are grateful, to be able to see his smile once more—the man who was trapped by death. And this time, this is her turn.

Katsura: ….

Katsura: Takasugi’s body was certainly swallowed by altana, but the possibility of him being reborn is not even one in a million. That miracle only happened because Utsuro was born from the Altana.

Henpeita: And that does not matter. Because this is Kiheitai’s atonement. Our cross to bear.

Katsura: Takechi, could it be you too….

Katsura: won’t give me any attention?

Sakamoto: I believe that something like a miracle doesn’t exist in this world.  

Page 50

Sakamoto: the things that happen in this world have a reason to be, and only happen because they must. That’s why I don’t think you being saved was a miracle, no.

Villager1: Why is in this kind of place…

Villager2: Did someone abandon it?

Villager3: It’s the work of the Dragon Vein God, the divine punishment of the Dragon Vein God!

Sakamoto: A teacher protecting his students can’t be called a miracle. It’s just how things are.  

Page 51

Tae: Oh, so you came after all.

Tae: It’s been some time since we meet our father together. We should report something to him.

Shinpachi: No…

Shinpachi: Back then, father looked up to the skies of Edo and lamented. And yet… even though this is that very same sky, it seems so different now.

Page 52

Shinpachi: That’s because I know now that everyone is also under this very sky.

Page 53

Shinpachi: It doesn’t matter if a cloud comes rolling in. I know that, inside our hearts, everyone is still here underneath my sky.

Page 54

Shinpachi: That’s why, Tama-san… Even if now you’re standing underneath an unknown sky, even if now you’re standing underneath a sky under which we no longer exist. Please don’t cry. Beneath your sky, by your side, we are always there.

Page 55

Shinpachi: That’s right. If you would kindly believe us, then it doesn’t matter what comes. Without fail we will break through the world, the era, and the panels to come and wipe your tears.

Page 56

Tama: Let’s go.

?: After that, those girls continue to live in this era. A world of technology where robots are at its peak prosperity. Humanity had their homes and jobs robbed from them by the robots, and in this new world a new main character appear.

?: Those girls lived happily, and humans became jobless. Everyone. Every last one.  

Page 57

Madao: If everyone is jobless then joblessness is no longer joblessness. Joblessness will become colorlessness. And then colorlessness will become happiness…

Tama: Hasegawa-san…?

Yorozuya: You’re trying to fabricate an ending too aren’t you??!!

Gintoki: You bastard! What kind of final chapter you’re trying to make Tamako believe?!

Kagura: Don’t just make up a story about the future as you please!!

Madao: No, you’re wrong! You’re wrong! It’s just I stopped being a hero and tried looking for jobs but no one would hire me!! That’s why I was just telling Matako-chan that it’s good thing the world has become one where everyone is jobless!!

Tamako: I’m sorry. It seems like there is an error in my data.

Page 58

Gintoki: Yoo, what’s with that half-asleep face you’re making there, Tama? Well whatever, we’re going out on an emergency job so you keep your eyes open until we’re back, got it? There’s no need for us to wipe those tears, eh?

Kagura: Gin-chan! What’s the emergency job again?

Gintoki: Eh…? What is it…

Shinpachi: Why are you forgetting it even if the work is an emergency??

Kagura: What was it…

Gintoki: What was it…

Gintoki: Ah, well, it doesn’t matter. Because we are--

Page 59

--Yorozuya”

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Hijikata Biyori Track 7 Translation Attempt+ update

Update first (and at the end): found the Shinsengumi Oni-tan translated in Chinese~!! Unfortunately I have no time to read it right now and I’m not sure if I’m missing anything as there are nine tracks on the CD (+1 song which I didn’t find translations for, not that I’m going to do any lyrics translations).... Somehow I managed to get a ton of other translations while I was at it though... *sigh.*

Anyway, this is the last of my stock for translations from Chinese to English that I actually started a month ago (like my music transpositions I tend to do more than one at a time) but kinda forgot about since I got distracted by the Saito short story (priorities, haha. in general it’ll go: Saito> hijikata/kazama/yamazaki/sano>  sakamoto>souma>souji>heisuke>iba>sanan>nagakura or something like that if I were to put an order to it for pairing characters and more lore(in relation to oni anyway though there’s only one drama that fits this criteria rn)>personal entertainment value> something really long>monologues (I like interactions more [on that note the 8th HT biyori is only with hijikata so i’m pushing that off til later), in terms of me choosing something I suppose).  

Here is my translation attempt with lots of machine help for the 7th Hijikata Biyori Drama. 

Enjoy...

Hakuoki Hijikata Biyori Track 7  Dispute “ 争吵 “ 

Translation Attempt by KumoriYami

Going forward, ‘( ) and /’  will be used for personal edits/places changed for better flow/uncertain points while [ ] will be used for personal notes unless brackets are being used in a short story translation where they’re also used for thoughts (only got 7 of those tho).

Nagakura: I can't take it anymore! Let's do it! Heisuke!

Heisuke: That's my line, Shinpachi!

Nagakura: Ohoh! (You're) pretty confident (alt: Pretty confident, huh)! Don't cry afterwards!

Heisuke: Shinpat-san you really are!(---> Really Shinpat-san , you!(?))

Nagakura: What did you say/are you saying?

Heisuke: You coming?

Nagakura: Coming!

Heisuke: Haven't started yet! (-->Haven't even started!)

Nagakura:  Really, you’re so hot/It’s so infuriating you/ You people really well done ah!/Really, you’re so hot-headed/ Really, you’ve got such a temper!

[ I have no idea what to do with this sentence and this is just all the mtls of the sentence with the last 2 being my not exact interpretation of “真让人火大啊你!” will probably go with the 2nd last one though?????? an acquaintance translated this as: you really making people mad ]

Heisuke: What did you say/are you saying?

Hijikata: Hey! What are you arguing/fighting about!

Nagakura: Hijikata-san, don't stop me!

Heisuke: Haha, don't stop it (him)!

Hijikata: What's going on? Are you fighting?(-->What are you fighting about?/Why are you fighting?)

Nagakura: Fighting? It's not about boring/trivial things// anything so trivial.

Heisuke: Yes! It's/This is a fight between men!

Hijikata:...You guys, what’s the reason (for) this time? Is this a fight over food again?

Heisuke: Aaaah!!!

Hijikata: Hey, what happened, Heisuke?

Heisuke: I remembered! That is, the fish that I was going to have for dinner the day before yesterday, my share was, it was eaten by Shinpat-san !

Nagakura: Ee?

Hijikata: That being said, Heisuke came back very late that day.

Heisuke: Yes, yes. When I returned, the rice was still there but all the (side) dishes were gone.

Nagakura: ....Why are you saying/implying that I took it(/them)?

Heisuke: This is something that only Sano and Shinpat-san would do!

Nagakura:.....No, not Sano?/ Then, then what about Sano?

Hijikata: Harada wasn't at headquarters that night.

Nagakura:............

Heisuke: Look! This is/it was Shinpat-san!

Nagakura: Then, I have to ask, was it Heisuke who stole my blanket last night!

Heisuke: Eh? 

Hijikata: Speak of which/On that subject, it was really cold last night.

Nagakura: Right, Hijikata san. I found that my blanket was gone! I felt like I was going to freeze to death when I woke up this morning! [will need a better way to phrase this later]

Heisuke:...H-how do you know that you didn't move it when you fell asleep? Because Shinpat-san has bad sleeping habits.

Nagakura: How can/could (I) be skilful/clever--> How could that happen/How could I do something like that! You took it/ it's you who took it!

Heisuke: I, I don't know (anything about it!)!/ I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Hijikata: Aah, enough! i know i know! For such a stupid reason? Really, just fighting for this?

Heisuke: What are you saying/talking about, Hijikata-san!

Nagakura: Dishes(/food) and blankets are different things!

Heisuke: We won't be fighting over such trivial/boring (stupid) things/(reasons)!

Nagakura: Oh, yes! (We're) not kids! right, Heisuke?

Heisuke: Hijikata-san, you looking at us like that will make us feel troubled!

Hijikata:....Then what was the reason for this fight?

Heisuke: Areh?

Nagakura: Areh?

Hijikata: What happened for the two of you to act like this (then)?

Heisuke: Eh... what's the reason?

Hijikata:....Well, I need to see Kondou-san about something. Later/See you later.

Heisuke: Wa-wait a sec/moment, Hijikata-san! No need to look so tired, we have a reason!

Nagakura: That is/Indeed/that's right! now please wait a moment! because Heisuke will come up with a reason.

Heisuke: Why is this my responsibility! Shinpat-san started it/this!

Nagakura: What are you saying! It's because Heisuke immediately came back right away! (--> It’s because Heisuke suddenly spoke up) [I think this is referring to responding right away]

Heisuke: Ah, I can't take this anymore (of this)! Let's do this/it, Shinpat-san!

Hijikata: You're continuing to fight/You're fighting again.

End

-----

So I found translations for all of the Hijikata Biyori Tracks so I’ve added them to my growing list of things to torment myself with (*insert pitiful laughter here*)... also the audio for this is on youtube so I may get to making an srt file and a subbed video in the future though it’s a low priority since those tracks are grouped together and it’s a pain in the ass to go and cut videos since I hate timing stuff and my video editor isn’t great with that.

Regarding the Hana no Shou Reservation Bonus short stories that I plan on translating, I’ve only found stories (side note: a bunch of translations online can’t be accessed by simply clicking their links for some reason and I don’t know how to avoid getting stopped by their host websites) for: Saito (done!), Hijikata (80%ish done), Yamazaki, Kazama (40% done but i hate translating his stuff in general since his way of speaking is weird in Chinese,  difficult to translate, and i’ve taken a creative license with a bunch of his stuff which might cause things not to be accurate -.-), Harada, Souji, and Heisuke. As I have way too many things on my list now (seriously it exploded since a friend of my sent me a link that gave me +20 dramas to look at including the Shinsengumi Oni-tan drama...), I don’t have any intention on looking for the stories for Sakamoto, Shinpachi, Sanan, Iba, and Souma (again, sorry, but I don’t wanna accidentally give myself more things to work on lol). If someone sends Chinese translations of them my way however, I will add them to my list.  

One of these days I’m going to add a page to my tumblr that basically lists what drama audios I’m looking for since I got the names/pics for some of them which would really help if people want the stories to have audio. 

[individuationfic]

Hoping I’ve Got It All Right Chapter 2: Don’t You Know What You’re Starting?

AO3

Sakura Sojiro is prepared for a lot of things, but he’s not prepared for the boys who walks into his café.

The kid is quiet. Polite. He calls him “Sakura-san” and doesn’t complain about sleeping in the attic. The only question he has is if he could plant flowers in the window if he can find a planter box for it. He is, in no way, shape, or form, the delinquent Sojiro was expecting.

Sojiro doesn’t know how to handle this kind of honesty, so he calls the kid a pain in the ass, tells him not to do anything reckless, and heads home, where even if Futaba comes with issues, they make sense.

*

[Akira]: Got here safe. Sakura-san gave me a big room.

[Jun]: Good! I shipped some dried flowers with your clothes. Make sure to hang them up.

[Akira]: Okay, Papa.

[Tatsuya]: You’re going to the school tomorrow, right?”

[Akira]: Yeah.

[Tatsuya]: Let us know how that goes.

[Akira]: I will.

[Akira]: I’ll probably head to bed early. I’m tired.

[Jun]: Good night, sweetie!

[Tatsuya]: Good night.

[Akira]: Night. Love you.

[Jun]: 💖💖💖

*

Papa sent some dried lavender, so Akira hangs it by what he decides is the head of his bed. Well, “bed” is probably generous. It’s a thin mattress on a bunch of crates. He glances at the couch he just wiped down and decides the “bed” is his best bet for any kind of restful sleep.

He’s glad he convinced Dad and Papa not to come. They would never let him stay here, and this is their last hope. Akira can deal with living in an attic for a year if it means everything will go back to normal after.

He re-deletes the weird red app from his phone, goes to sleep, and dreams of a blue prison, of twin wardens, and of a man with a long nose and a deep voice.

*

[Akira]: I met my homeroom teacher. Her name is Kawakami-sensei.

[Akira]: She seems tired.

[Jun]: She had to come in on her day off. Of course she’s tired.

[Tatsuya]: Give her my cell number next time you see her. I want to introduce myself.

[Akira]: Ok, Dad.

[Jun]: Did you ride the train today?

[Akira]: No, Sakura-san drove me. I’ll have to take the train tomorrow.

[Jun]: Well, be careful, and leave a little early so you have extra time in case you get lost.

[Akira]: I know, Papa, I will.

*

The punk kid reminds Akira of Uncle Eikichi, so he feels comfortable following him to school. Which would have been fine, but the school is a castle and they’re in a dungeon and all Akira wanted was a normal day.

He feels sick—like, physically ill—when the man his schoolmate called “Kamoshida” starts beating him. It’s the same feeling Akira had before he pushed the man who sued him, encouraging him to act.

So he does.

Even when he’s pinned to the wall, he struggles. He feels a bit like a feral ccat, wriggling and hissing and clawing at the suits of armor to get free. His back is already aching; it will probably be covered in bruises come morning from how hard he’s being slammed against the brick behind him.

But he keeps fighting, because he’ll die before he lets an innocent person get hurt if he can stop it.

And then comes a voice, both new and familiar, and his head feels like it’s going to break in half because the insides are too big for his skull. Call upon my name, says the voice, and release thy rage! so Akira says, “Arsène.”

The sound of his voice alerts Kamoshida, who stops in his brutal beating of the other boy to face Akira. The blond boy is panting, covered in scratches and bruises and looking half dead already. Something flares in the back of Akira’s mind. Something primal. This boy whose name he doesn’t even know is his. He knows this like he knows the sky is blue and Aunt Maya can’t clean. It’s a fact, undeniable and true. It’s not sexual or romantic, but the boy is his, and he refuses to let Kamoshida touch him again.

“I will stop you,” he tells Kamoshida, and he almost doesn’t recognize his own voice. It’s low, guttural. Barely human. He’s gratified to see some of the color drain from Kamoshida’s face, and, emboldened, continues speaking. “You have no right to touch him.”

Kamoshida laughs, though it’s a bit shaky. “No right? I’m the king of this castle! I can do whatever I please!” He jerks his head, and one of the guards slams his shield into Akira’s face, knocking his glasses to the cell floor.

“If this is how you want to play it,” Akira says in that animalistic voice, “so be it.”

And there’s a mask on his face, and he needs to get it off get it off getitoff, so he rips it off, and he’s surrounded by blue flames that don’t burn.

*

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”

“You can believe or disbelieve whatever you want. I’m just telling you what happened, Prosecutor-san.”

*

The cat-monster he and the other boy rescue is familiar to Akira. He can’t really place why, just like how he knows the boy is his somehow, but this isn’t the first time he’s met Morgana. He tells himself it’s because of Arsène and Zorro and pretends that’s it until he has more time to think about it.

*

Going to school after… everything is surreal. He tells Kawakami-sensei he got lost on the subway and while he knows she doesn’t believe it, he also knows she has no proof that he’s lying. He gives her his dad’s cell number and sits behind the girl who got in Kamoshida’s car this morning and does his best to ignore his classmates’ pointed whispers.

*

The boy is Sakamoto Ryuji, Akira learns on Shujin’s roof. When Akira looks at him, he sees the white flowers of the copaiba tree, or maybe the African violet. Something that symbolizes his honesty and vitality.

He doesn't know why he has this power. He doesn’t know why the school turned into a castle and then back into a school. But he knows he wants answers and has the ability to get them, so he agrees to help Ryuji.

(Plus, he’s not about to leave Kamoshida alone with Ryuji again. Ryuji is his, and he’s going to protect what’s his.)

*

Sojiro is angry with Akira when he comes back to the café.

Maybe angry isn’t the right word. Sakura-san doesn’t really care enough about him to be angry. Irritated is more like it, Akira thinks. He gets another lecture on staying out of trouble because “I’m in the restaurant business, you know.” Akira does his best to placate Sakura-san and escapes up to the attic. He’s going to need his rest if he and Ryuji are going to make any progress tomorrow.

*

[Akira]: I think I made a friend today.

[Jun]: That’s great, honey! What’s their name?

[Akira]: His name is Ryuji. I got lost in the subway and he helped me find the school.

[Akira]: He reminds me of Uncle Eikichi.

[Tatsuya]: Just what we need. Another Michel.

[Jun]: Eikichi is a lovely person and if Akira has made a friend like him, he’s a lucky young man.

[Akira]: I think so, too.

*

It takes Akira and Ryuji an embarrassingly long while to connect the weird app on their phones to the whole school-castle thing. When they finally do, Akira is back in the strange outfit, mask and all, from yesterday and Ryuji is left in just his school uniform.

Morgana, despite his (and Akira is sure Morgana is a “he,” no matter what his name is) feigned indifference, helps Akira and Ryuji break back into the castle. And maybe it’s just Morgana’s phantom thief talk, but sneaking around like this really is exciting.

Not that Dad can ever know, Akira thinks as he strikes down another group of what Morgana calls “Shadows.” If he knew what a rush I get out of this, he’d keel over.

And that’s another thing. The fighting. Akira isn’t usually a confrontational person, assault charge notwithstanding. In elementary school, he was the kid who ran and got teachers, not the one getting into fights. But this place has a strange effect on him. It makes him animalistic in a way that should scare him.

It doesn’t. It makes him feel powerful.

*

Until he falls.

He and Morgana are lucky Kamoshida underestimated Ryuji. If he’d been pinned down like them, they would be dead.

As it is, Akira’s encouragement helps Ryuji awaken to Captain Kidd and they manage to wipe the floor with Kamoshida’s goons.

(Whatever primal thing in the back of Akira’s mind is, it’s pleased by Ryuji’s power. Akira’s just happy Ryuji can defend himself now.)

Ryuji is still worried about the volleyball team members they saw Kamoshida torturing. Sure, they’re not real, but everything in this world is a distortion of the real world, so they both know some kind of abuse is happening. And then there was the fake Takamaki and… ugh. Any teacher who thinks of an underaged student like that is the lowest of the low.

Morgana says they have to steal Kamoshida’s heart.

Akira has a lot to think about.

*

He’s waiting for the train at the Aoyama station, staring at his phone for a lack of anything better to do, when something rugs at the edge of his mind. He’s not used to hearing Arsène talking in his head just yet, so he jumps at the sound (feeling? thought?) of his low voice. Turn around.

What? Why?

Trust me. Turn around.

He’s not sure what could possibly interest Arsène so much, but Arsène is also a semi-physical manifestation of his inner self, so Akira shrugs and does as he’s told.

And freezes.

A few feet away stands a girl he never though he would see again. Sure, her hair is longer now, her face more angular, her body more lithe, but Akira would know her anywhere.

He sees the moment she catches sight of him. Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open in shock. For a few seconds, she is frozen, but then she rockets forward, and Akira barely has time to lift his arms before she slams into his chest. It aches a little to realize he’s more than a head taller than her now.

She’s shaking in his arms. Quietly, almost too quiet for him to hear, she says, “Akira.”

He squeezes her, impossibly gentle. “Shiho.”

[cant-icle]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhheard you were taking prompts...? ryuji sickfic please? a hurt/comfort fic touching upon his insecurities all the while physically having a bad time... a fucking terrible time. caretaker? im kinda leaning towards akira or ann...pick your poison (if you do this thank you!! i can never get enough sickfics i love those...)

hurgles this isnt great and i apologize D: 

Akira’s late.

He’s never late, and inwardly Ryuji knows that it’s reallynot a big deal, that he’ll be back in the country as soon as he can, thattravelling with Yoshida-san is great for his upcoming career in politics andall that, but Ryuji’s felt like absolute shitfor the past two days and his absence is really starting to grate on the fewnerves he has left.

He’s never thought that he’s like, a clingy jackass oranything—he’s happy to do his stuff and have Akira do his own, long as Akiracomes home to him—but he hasn’t felt this bad in a long time, his head fuzzedand his bones aching and his body heavy and his lungs full of sewage and rot.He hasn’t been this alone in a long time either, not since moving into their sharedapartment.

It was only supposed to be a week, an internationalconference on some shit or other, a great opportunity, Ryuji understands, but hewas supposed to be back days ago andthe flu season this year is hitting everyone hard and he’s working two jobs tomake his ends of the rent meet and he’s tired and lonely and nothing tastes right and—

“Sakamoto-kun?”

Right. He’s been crouching here with his forehead againstthe shelf shoving canned vegetables around for...a while, if the groove in hisforehead has anything to say about it. His supervisor is hovering over him, agirl just a little older than him, and her eyes are concerned. “Sakamoto-kun,are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

He wants to say yes. He’s in no shape, monetarily, to bemissing work shifts, but he also hasn’t had anything to eat since....he doesn’teven know, just that he didn’t eat breakfast this morning and didn’t eat muchlast night with his stomach roiling like it has been. The way his vision fuzzesjust lightly at the corners tells him that if he tries to stand up as fast ashe wants to he’s gonna be in for a world of hurt.

“Yeah,” he says after a moment, grimacing at how rough hisvoice sounds. “I’m good, Inoue-san. Sorry.” He’s not sure what he’s apologizingfor. He’s apologizing for everything anyway.

His shift eventually ends; he drags himself onto the subwayand down the streets and up the stairs to his (empty, cold, lonely, dark)apartment, fumbling uselessly with the lock for nearly a minute and a halfbefore he inserts the key. His stomach is roiling and his mood is in the gutter,even more so when he sees the dirty clothes on the floor, the pan that hecooked plain noodles in for dinner two days ago filmy and gross still in thesink, and no wonder Akira doesn’twant to come home, not to filth and mess and a useless boyfriend who can’t evenmanage to keep things neat and tidy over a week—

“Stop it,” he growls low and rough under his breath, alreadykneading into the meat of his thigh over his scar. He’s got too much to do toclean up in case Akira comes home tonight to stand around and loathe himself.

He goes and stands in the shower till the hot water runscool instead, and even hot enough to turn him red as a lobster he’s still cold.Every inch of his body aches like he’s been steamrollered. There might be someleftovers in the fridge he can scrounge together for dinner, but instead hejust towels off his hair and goes straight to bed.

Akira doesn’t come home. Ryuji wakes and the world is thinand filmy, tenuous like a soap bubble. He doesn’t have to work; he rolls overand sinks back into his hot, gross pillow, and dreams.

He hasn’t had a fever like this since he was a kid. Everybreath rattles; every rattle drags at his throat, leaves him parched and achingfor water. His lips feel chapped and cracked, no matter how many times he wetsthem. His dreams are wild and fearful, crazy kaleidoscopes of memories andthoughts that spiral together until Ryuji can barely tell what’s real from what’simaginary, what happened in the past from things he’s only thought about.Kamoshida swings the bat over and over; he hits Ryuji’s leg, his arm, his head,Ryuji stands up and hits him back, punches him in the face over and over untilhe sees blood and bone, Ryuji lies and whimpers and takes it until the batswings one time too many.

Then he’s in Mementos again, knocked spinning and dizzy onhis ass by an attack that leaves him drained. He’s in a palace and there’s aShadow controlling him, turning him against his team. He brings his bat downonto Mona and watches him splatter across Okumura’s sweatshop, he winds up andhits Ann so hard her head pops clean off her shoulders, he knocks Yusuke downand takes his shotgun and hits Akira with a lead pipe over and over and overand over and over and over and over until there’s just red, everything runsred, and his hands are red and his arms are red and it’s all over his face andin his mouth his eyes his nose his ears everything is copper and lava and bloodand he raises a hand but nothing is there no one is there and he drowns drownsdrowns in a sea of crimson and copper

 there’s a hand on his brow, cool and soothing; there’s avoice above him that brings him to the precipice of awareness, familiar andbeloved, but he’s in too deep; he sinks back down, but all that awaits him issoft, deep blackness.

 The next time Ryuji wakes, there’s a cool wet washcloth onhis forehead and he feels...not great, but not as bad. Every breath still achesand the world still feels film-bubble-bad, but when he cracks his eyes openthere’s a fuzzy black head above him that resolves itself into Akira’s face. “Youawake?” Akira says, soft and low.

He’s such a sight for sore eyes. Ryuji squeezes his shut inhopes that it’ll prevent the tears from escaping, but it doesn’t. Akira makes astartled noise and wipes one away, very gently. “Hey, babe, it’s alright,” hemurmurs. “You’re gonna be alright.”

He brings Ryuji chicken soup and glasses of cold water,sponges the fever-sweat from his face and neck and arms, curls up beside himand reads from his stupid law books out loud until Ryuji grates out a genuinewish for death, and then he just laughs at him. His hands are always cool andsupportive, and Ryuji’s grateful, so sograteful, but all the while there’s an underlying current of guilt.

It wasn’t’ meant to be like this. He was supposed to comehome to a clean apartment and dinner and Ryuji there happy and beaming, notcoming home to take care of Ryuji’s sick, useless ass. He knows Akira doesn’tcare, doesn’t mind in the slightest, but still...

There’s nothing he could have done, but he’s still guilty.

[sleeping--beast]

Something-something Timeskip in Gintama

Yet again another list concluding the life of Gintama characters at the... "Epilogue"

Spoilers ahead.(again)

Copying my previous posts ahead (duh…)

We still have:

Otose - alive;

Katherine - old dude, but alive;

Shinpachi - alive, changed his hair, still a virgin, became a hired assassin and weapon buyer, still great with a sword;

Kintoki - alive, became a babysitter;

Tama - beyond repair, but there is hope called Tamako;

Gengai - alive, repairs his robots;

MADAO, aka Hasegava-san - alive and finally bloomed;

Kondou - alive, married a gorilla, not that gorilla, but gorilla gorilla one, became a father;

Tae - alive, eats healthily;

Nobume - alive, mutated into Matsudaira, still loves donuts;

Soyo-hime - alive, a cool politician;

Matsudaira -alive, operates in shadows;

Hijikata - alive, everything suits him. Works in the country, quit quitting smoking;

Shinsengumi - are the new Man In Black;

Saito - alive, resigned, in Mafia now;

Sougo - seppuku, alive, the head of Mafia, still a sadistic bastard, we are so "surprised" you are not dead;

Katsura - alive, kicks ass, Zurump;

Elizabeth - alive, kicks ass;

Mutsu - alive, looks like she’s found One piece, weapon smuggler;

Sakamoto - AT LEAST HE IS ALIVE;

Takasugi - looks like he’s alive, mutates into DIO Brando, has suicidal tendences;

Gintoki - alive, FINALLY CHANGED HIS WARDROBE, deeply behind sad eyes is still Gintoki, looks for Takasugi, always a badass;

Yamazaki - a cyborg, never asked for this, goes on a rampage;

Kagura - ate too many bananas, became a mother…(what the actual hell, Gorilla…?), not shown;

Kanna-chan - new character, a banana child;

Matako - alive, looks for Takasugi;

Henpeita - alive, looks for Takasugi, impersonates Takasugi;

Sorachi-sensei - greatest troll in the universe, who doesn’t want to give us a rushed ff happy end and had a nice research last week.

To be continued…

[turbobyakuren]

Top 5 servants

Heracles / Berserker. He’s one the best things to come out of Fate/Stay Night and i’m frankly very sad that he gets little to no attention in related medias. His servant profile in the original game states that Heracles can be manifested as any class except Caster, but frankly please do that DW. Please do that TM. Heracles Alter/Alcides isn’t enough. Please.

Scathach / Lancer. Might be because of my NP2 Sca, but she really is a peculiar character all around and I really appreciate how they manage to give a character with little to no lines or development in her original myth and make her a full fledged thing while staying coherent.

Ryoma Sakamoto & Ouryou-san / Rider. Dear fucking god the concept of a dude and his dragon wife is growing a lot on me. I like what they did with these two a lot, and Pako excels in giving them great character art. I haven’t read the translation yet, but I bet that their dynamic is good. With what I understood from voices + what little japanese I understand, they are so sweet.

Francis Drake / Rider. Thank you Nasu for giving more attention to this first boss rider from Fate Extra. Please give us more. Please. Also IMO if Fate Extra series had Nero being replaced with Drake it would become 100% better. Anyways, Drake doesn’t give a fuck all around and she’s got that FIERCE LOOK. Excellent design and servant to play in FGO. Can’t wait for Extella Link.

Nameless / Archer & Gilgamesh / Archer ex-aequo. What the fuck. They are. Excellent. I can’t develop further I just love how complementary they are and their fights in Fate Stay Night were off the shits. Unlimited Blade Works My Ass SO COOL

Achilles / Rider. Here because he became a meme with my roommate at some point.

[sisilafami]

2017

Same as every year.

Rap:

Kodak Black - Project Baby 2 All Grown Up & my compilation of his loosies

Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti

FMB DZ - Washington DZ

SahBabii - S.A.N.D.A.S.

Quelle Chris - Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often

Chief Keef - Thot breaker / Two Zero One Seven / Dedication

Meek Mill - the right mix of songs from Wins and Losses & Meekend Music ep’s

Famous Dex - Adex Twin

Goldlink - At What Cost

Tee Grizzley - My Moment

Payroll Giovanni - Payface

SOB X RBE - s/t

Mozzy - 1 Up Top Ahk

Mozzy & Gunplay - Dreadlocks & Headshots

Keydo - FunkLYFE 3

Smino - Blkswn

Tay-K - Santana World

Peezy  - Winter Grind

And then,

1WayFrank - Sunland Stunna

21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin - Without Warning

21 Savage - Issa

70th Street Carlos - BANG 2

Armand Hammer - Rome

Ball Greezy - Bae Day

Big Quis - MTV2

Cuban Doll - Aaliyah Keef

Daboii - Young Wild Nigga

DrakeO The Ruler - Cold Devil

Future - the right mix of songs from FUTURE & HNDRXX

Ice Billion Berg - Rare Is Real / I Never Lied

ICYTWAT - MILK

Kendrick Lamar - DAMN

Lil Durk - Love Songs For The Streets

Migos - Culture

Mulatto Beats - 22 Summers

OMB Shawniebo - Problem Child Dreams Of A Normal Life

Rich The Kid - Rich Forever 3

Rico Nasty - Sugar Trap 2

Shy Glizzy - Quiet Storm / Jefe - The World Is Yours

Starlito - GetthOut

Thouxanbanfauni - Heavy Weight Champ

Trouble -16

Valee & ChaseTheMoney - VTM

Ybs Skola - Only Hope

Young Nudy - Nudy Life

Young Thug & Carnage - Young Martha EP

ZMoney & ChaseTheMoney - ZTM

Honorable mention:

03 Greedo / Ca$h Out / Johnny Cinco / Koly P / Lil Durk & Lil Reese / Lucki Ecks / Lud Foe / Smokepurpp / Sniper Gang / UnoTheAactivist / Yo Gotti & Mike Will

R’n’B:

Brent Faiyaz - Sonder Son

Kehlani - SweetSexySavage

Ty Dolla $ign - Beach House 3

Syd - Fin

Kelela - Take Me Apart

Digital Beats:

Jana Rush - Pariah

Sinjin Hawke - First Opus

Percentius - 0%

Iglooghost - Neō Wax Bloom

Various - Firma Do Txiga

Equiknoxx - Colón Man

DJ Earl - Meditate On Bass

DJ Nigga Fox - 15 Barras

STILL - I

Various - Guarapo! Forty Bangers From Barranquilla

Basic Rhythm - The Basics

DJ Tre - The Underdogg EP

Digital Bliss :

Lorenzo Senni - XAllegroX \ The Shape Of Trance To Come

Ryuichi Sakamoto - async

Various - Mono No Aware

Autechre - JNSN CODE GL16 \ spl47

Kara-Lis Coverdale - Grafts

Palta - Universel

Klaus - Cry Tuff Gus Bela

HKE - Dragon Soul

D.K. / S.K.

Visible Cloaks - Reassemblage / Lex

Aclds - Fuadain Liesmas

Inventing Masks - 2nd

Pop? :

Taylor Swift - Reputation

Bjork - Utopia

Laurel Halo - Dust

Dean Blunt & Johanne Robertson - Wahalla

Contemporary Composition, Improvisation and all that good stuff:

Luís Antero - Sound Places-Serra do Açor Vol. 1 / 3 Mountains

John Cage - Klang Der Wandlungen

Kate Carr - From A Wind Turbine To Vultures (And Back)

Moniek Darge - Sacred Balinese Soundies, Mauro's Song

Sarah Davachi - All My Circles Run

Benedict Drew - Estuary Magic

Bruno Duplant & David Vélez - Preservation

Morton Feldman - Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

Jürg Frey - Ephemeral Constructions / Collection Gustave Roud / L’Âme Est Sans Retenue I

Klaus Filip & Noid - No No No No

Haptic - Ten Years Under The Earth

Eva-Maria Houben - Organ Sonatinas And Drones

Eva-Maria Houben & Ernesto Rodrigues ‎- Layering Time

Yan Jun & Ben Owen - Swimming Salt 游泳的盐

Alice Kemp - Fill my body with flowers and rice

Kostis Kilymis - A Void

Yannis Kyriakides - Subvoice

Giovanni Lami - Hysteresis II

The Necks - Unfold

NYZ - FLD RCDR

Éliane Radigue - Occam Ocean vol. 1

Jeffrey Roden - Threads of a Prayer Volume 2

Ernesto Rodrigues, Emídio Buchinho & Ricardo Guerreiro - Fall

Vanessa Rossetto - Rocinante

Mark So - And Suddenly From All This There Came Some Horrid Music

Tyler Wilcox -  Works For Two Chapels

Techno / House:

Call Super - Arpo

Terrence Dixon - Like A Thief In The Night

Errorsmith - Superlative Fatigue

Fred P - Instinctive Rhythms

Galcher Lustwerk - Dark Bliss

Hieroglyphic Being, Sarathy Korwar and Shabaka Hutchings - ARE Project

Mori Ra - The Brasserie Heroique Edits Part 3

Nkisi - Ruin

Powell - New Beta Vol.1&2

Reboot - Are You Loosing My Mind (Ricardo Villalobos Remixes)

Sublee - Ideepsum

Various - Superlongevity 6 Disc 2

Untold - Tear Up The Club \ Watton Res

Villalobos & Einzelkind - Arnorac

Vtgnike - Collection

New Old:

Camp Lo - On The Way Uptown

Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1 The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane

Luc Ferrari - Hétérozygote ∕ Petite Symphonie...

Nature - Queens Classics vol. 2

Prince - Purple Rain Extended

Jaap Vink - Recollection GRM

If you made it through this long ass post, as a present, here’s a mix of contemporary music i made not so long ago.

[puzzlingwriting]

The Baker and the Author - Chapter 2

It was about 3 pm when Kazue Kaito walked down the street towards Rock On Bakery. It had been a difficult day to say the least. Kaito's morning had been spent slaving away trying to think of a way to write a "hook" for his latest novel. It was the type of text authors write to fit the back of the book to get readers interested in reading the book. It was one of the types of writing Kaito was the worst at.

Kaito loved creating worlds. Whether it was a fantasy world where magic existed or a science fiction world, whether the world was at peace or at war with one another, Kaito loved writing them. Each piece of the story was like a puzzle piece waiting to be put into place. Better yet, each puzzle piece  often came as a blank slate. The tabs and blanks existed within the pieces already but it was up to Kaito to paint the picture onto the pieces. It was an incredible feeling for Kaito: to have the power to create worlds and stories but be constantly reminded those worlds and those stories still had to fit into the laws of the world. Even if those laws were ones he created himself.

It was trying to boil down such complex stories and worlds into a hook Kaito hated. They were no longer interlocking pieces he had the power to connect and paint on. Instead, he was restricted to a single square piece he had to paint. Yet that same single piece was supposed to somehow convey the depth and breadth of the worlds worth of interlocking pieces it came from. Nothing Kaito wrote was powerful enough to paint the picture of the depth and breadth of those worlds.

That wasn't even the worst thing. The worst thing was knowing he wasn't skilled enough of a writer to do such a piece justice.

And that was only the morning.

In the afternoon,  he had attended a meeting with a new editor. The publishing company wanted a fresh set of eyes on Kaito's works so rather than his usual editor, they had called in a new one. Kaito liked his old editor. There had been rough patches at first but eventually, they got into the groove of things with one another. There was an understanding between them about how to communicate with one another without degrading into pointless arguments.

Even those pointless arguments would have been kinder than what Kaito faced with his new editor.

There was no conversation between the editor and Kaito. The editor had instead decided he was correct and explained, in excruciating detail, what was wrong with Kaito's work. The editor completely ignored Kaito anytime he tried to speak, only talking louder or slamming his hands on the desk. If the editor had been wrong about everything, it wouldn't have bothered Kaito so much. After all, Kaito was a published author and there were stylistic quirks specific to his writing which Kaito refused to change. But the reality was the editor had been right about some critical flaws. Before the afternoon, Kaito would have put the progress bar of his current work at about 80%. After meeting with this editor, it dropped down to 65%. 

It had been a difficult day for Kaito.

As Kaito walked down the residential street towards Rock On Bakery, Kaito wasn't sure if his next appointment could be considered a plus or a negative to his day's pleasantness score. He was being forced to eat cake. Which most people would probably consider a huge plus. For Kaito however, a rare kind of man who didn't like cakes, this was easily a negative.

The reason it might be considered a plus was Sakamoto Saki. She was the master baker and owner of Rock on Bakery. Kaito first heard and saw the girl through his little sister Sento when she started working at the bakery. When Sento had shown him a picture of her new boss, Kaito was pleasantly surprised. She was perfectly Kaito's type: attractive in a cute way but not a defenseless way. Kaito had the distinct impression of a cute rocker girl who would kick your ass if you crossed her. Everything he had learned about her since only confirmed his initial appraisal.

It was only his second time taste tasting for Rock On Bakery and already he had started engaging in friendly banter with her. In fact, they had started rather comfortably with it on the first day. Kaito himself had been surprised at how easily it came to him. Kaito wouldn't call himself a hikikomori as much as his sister's thought he was one but he also wasn't a smooth talker so to speak. It was one of the reasons it had taken him so long to get into a groove with his first editor.

Kaito was well aware of his feelings. He liked Sakamoto Saki. The question was: did he like her enough to act on it?

"いらっしゃいませ! (Welcome to the store!)" Kaito heard as he opened the front door to the bakery. Despite it's small size, Kaito enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. Many cake shops were bright places with large displays for all the tasty treats available. It made sense for what they were selling after all. Rock On Bakery had a different feel. Rather than flood the building with lights, Rock On Bakery featured windows which allowed the sun in at all times of the day allowing for more gentle, natural lighting. The display cases were also smaller due to the smaller size of the residential bakery. Saki used this to her advantage.

The display cases and front counter sat perpendicular to the front windows with a display case right against the front window. Each display case was lit with dim lights inside the case just enough to bring out the color of the cakes. With the natural light the bakery used, the lights were often even left off. The true ingenuity of the other display cases lay in their usage. There were the large display cases used as the counter but there were also smaller, table sized display cases set around the bakery.

When a customer walked in, they could pick one of these tables, pay for them at the counter, then unlock the case and eat the cake right on the display case. There were four of these tables set against the wall opposite the front counter which could comfortably sit two people. They were the perfect small tables for dates. If the customer wanted to use the table but not eat what was on display, they were naturally allowed to. To prevent customers from being tempted, Saki would even drape an opaque cloth over the table.

Lastly, there was the music. You would expect light, cheery music from a cake bakery. Maybe even some soft, instrumental music. But remember, this was the Rock On Bakery and, as Saki put it, "the Rock On Bakery is always rocking on." Sometimes it was hard rock which made you want to pound your head along; sometimes it was soft rock which made you want to sway with the beat. Either way, there was always rock music and Kaito loved it.

"Wait, I know this song." Kaito thought a loud as he walked in. There was a familiar beat and a familiar voice but Kaito couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Its Nano's new song!" Saki said proudly, raising her finger pointedly.

It was an artist both Saki and Kaito listened to. They both loved her music which they discovered at their first meeting though Sento had made it a point to tell them both before. It was a gentle rock song which made Kaito want to sway his head gently to the tune. Kaito hadn't heard the new song much and took a second standing in the doorway to appreciate the song. Thankfully, there was no one else in the bakery. It made it slightly less embarrassing to see Saki smiling gently at him when he stopped and opened his eyes.

"Rough day?" Saki asked gently. Was I that obvious? Kaito thought.

"Why do you say that?" He countered, walking to stand on the other side of the counter from Saki. She waited a little before responding. It wasn't until the chorus came back on Kaito realized why.

"I thought it was just another day/But now I can see it isn't so/Today I had to fight/To stay alive for just one more day." Saki sang along with the chorus, the words which had washed gently over Kaito has he had walked in. "Your sister said you're as moved by the lyrics of what you listen to as much as the beat. You also just look a little tired." She spoke kindly and gently to Kaito despite the banter they often traded. It didn't surprise him in the least. Partially because of what Sento had told him about Saki. But also because despite the hard, rocker appearance Saki gave off, she also gave off the air of a kind, caring onee-san (older sister).

"It hasn't been a great day." Kaito admitted, leaning against the counter and sighing.

"In that case, how about some cake?" The gentle smile Saki gave belied the trap beneath it. Then again, maybe Saki knew this was just the distraction Kaito needed. She placed a small plate with a new kind of cake a top it in front of Kaito.

"Remember." Saki began. "I want a detailed report about what you like and what you don't!"