#School Uniform Color Scheme

[yyh4ever]

Hi, I've been wanting to ask, could you tell me why Kuwabara and Yuusuke has different color for their uniform? I thought they are in same school but..

They actually attend the same school, Sarayashiki Junior High, and have the same color for their uniforms. While Yusuke wears a tanran, a school uniform in which the blazer is cut extra short around the waist line, Kuwabara wears a chouran, a uniform with long lower hem. Both were popular uniforms among delinquents guys in the 80s. You can read more about Kuwabara and Yusuke Fashion Variation from the official databook.

The thing is, for magazine covers and chapter opening pages, the manga artists usually highlight the characters with different colors. It's called "image color". You can read more about them in the Yu Yu Hakusho Artbook.

Togashi decided Kuwabara was going to be yellow during the Dark Tournament Saga, and changed the colors of the other characters on a whim. Yusuke used to be green, Kurama pink, and Hiei blue. Then, he changed Yusuke to red, Kurama to blue and Hiei to green.

For the Yoshihiro Togashi Exhibition, even if Yusuke became famous for his green anime uniform, Togashi kept him red, since Gon is also green.

When it was decided that Yu Yu Hakusho was going to have an anime adaption, director Noriyuki Abe was against painting Yusuke and Kuwabara in different colors as they were from the same school, so he went to the JUMP editorial team and asked for confirmation. (Source: V-storage, 10.26.2018).

Not only the editorial department endorsed the colors, but also the anime producer Ken Hagino explained that children remember the characters by their colors, so they needed to make the characters stand out, like in tokusatsu such as "Goranger". If they had made everyone wear black uniforms, with emphasis on realism, it would have looked pictorially simple. (Source: Yu Yu Hakusho 2009 Blu-Ray Booklet).

If I'm not mistaken, in the English dub, Yusuke says his favorite color is green or that green looks good on him. Nothing like that is said in Japanese. I don't why they changed the original dialogue with Keiko.

[ladynoirist]

the cruelest thing thomas astruc has ever done to adrien agreste was giving his evil cousin the dog miraculous because now adrien can never live out his tamaki suoh dreams without a bucketload of trauma

[zoe-oneesama]

Would any of the international characters (Fei, Aeon, Jessica etc.) have angels?

Okay, you inspired me to dust off my tablet. I don't see myself fitting them into the story proper, so for fun, here's Fei, Aeon, and Jess. Uh, keep in mind that I haven't watched either of these specials:

I hate LadyDragon's McDonald's Ass color scheme.

I deviated from the "sort of but not a school uniform" for Fei cuz I think she deserves some funky cool CLAMP fashion. she's too good for the boring jeans and tshirt they gave her, though if she's tight on money then it makes some sense.

In this AU, Aeon totally knows what she's doing with her naked and weird named angel. She's having a big laugh behind that vacant smile when people kick up a fuss. At least in tHIS universe, she's just a doll!

Originally I was gonna put her blue sun thing as a patch on the blazer but her hair covered it up, so it's moved to the cuff. My rule for translating most of the characters is Make the Hair Bigger lol thus the massive braid for Eagle. Spoiler Alert, but in the anime there are three angel characters that sprout angel wings and it's never?? explained how???? I guess we're supposed to accept it as another possible glitch, so I think Jess would feel real proud of unlocking it and making it her own with the eagle wings.

[renthony]

There's a post going around right now about women being allowed to wear pants, and the way that relates to discussions on gender nonconformity, etc.. There's a long thread of folks talking about how women very much do not have absolute freedom to dress masculine, and a few other posts that have spawned off the main discussion.

And I haven't added onto that main post because I didn't feel like I had much to add, but now it's been a couple days and I can't stop thinking about how I was forced to wear a dress to my high school graduation in small-town Mississippi. I'm not a woman, but I didn't know that yet, so it's a relevant story.

The school administration threatened every single girl with the punishment of being banned from walking across the stage if we wore pants beneath our graduation robes. We got an entire lecture about how it was inappropriate for us to wear pants to such an important formal event.

My school had a strict uniform policy, and the graduating seniors being allowed to wear our own clothes to graduation was seen as a huge fucking deal. We'd spent four years not being allowed to wear our own clothes or accessories, and graduation was supposed to be our time to finally wear what we wanted. This was a bigger deal than it might have been otherwise, because my school also refused to allow us to decorate our graduation caps. We were not allowed to display any customization at all. One girl put her name on hers so her family could find her from the crowded stands, and the school administration made her throw her hat away and buy a new one or else she wouldn't be allowed in the event hall.

The school, knowing how excited many of us were about picking our outfits, gave us a strict dress code. Our outfits wouldn't be seen until after we took off the graduation robes to go home, but still, we had a nightmarishly strict guide for what we were allowed to wear beneath them. They had to be formal outfits, they had to fit a certain color scheme, they had to adhere to the school policy about skirt length and skin visibility, and, naturally, they were extra harsh on the girls, as dress code policies always are.

One guy joked that he was going to go naked underneath in solidarity with all the girls who were upset about the dress requirement. He got pulled aside by an administrator and told that if he made that joke again, he wouldn't be given his diploma. Which I'm pretty sure is illegal, but it was still the threat that got made.

Everyone was pissed, several people were livid because they had already bought an outfit they were now not allowed to wear, because the administration had actively misled us for weeks into believing we would be allowed to wear what we wanted. There had been no mention of dress code requirements until they dropped them on us at rehearsal the morning of graduation, less than 12 hours before the event.

We had no power to override the school administration. We were given a strict lecture at rehearsal about how flouting dress codes is unprofessional and if we gave that kind of attitude to people over dress codes in the workplace, we'd be fired.

We were ultimately told that, "if it's not appropriate for church, it's not appropriate for graduation." Those of us who asked "what if we aren't Christian and don't even go to church" were told "you still know what kind of clothes church clothes are, so stop being rude."

This happened in May of 2011.

[smelt-starverse]

On the Amphibia Timeskip Designs

Hi! I know I normally don't do analysis posts like these, but I got into an interesting conversation (read: infodumped hard to a couple of unsuspecting friends) about the subject on Discord earlier and I felt like it might be enjoyed by you all. Anyways, to begin...

I think the best place to start is Marcy. The thing that jumps out to me about her new design the most to me is her color scheme.

Across the board, everything is brighter and more saturated. Her dark blue coat has been swapped for a bright blue jacket, her dull green skirt has been traded for some vibrant green pants, her shirt has gone from a light gray to an off-white, and her debatably brown boots have been replaced with light brown, almost orange shoes.

Through the entire series, her hair is neat, properly combed (when not messed up by water or helmet-hair, anyways), and it's got this layer of gloss to it. It's a pretty innocuous set of details...

...but I think the picture comes together better when we compare it to her hair in the finale. It's less neat, it's messy in places, but it's not greasy anymore. It's not constrained at all, it's healthy and doing its own thing. And I think, in a way, that applies to her outfit as a whole. Throughout the "present" of Amphibia, Marcy is nearly always wearing a uniform of some kind; her school uniform, the Newtopian Night Guard uniform, the Core's greaves, it's always a look forced on her. In the finale, though, she finally gets to make her own decision on what to wear. It's casual, but it's her, emphasized by the personal touches like the pins on her jacket and the figures on her bag that expand out from little expressions of freedom on her original design. She's even got ear piercings, something typically associated with rebellion and freedom. She's finally allowed to be her own person. Not anybody else's, just... herself.

My thoughts on Sasha and Anne are a bit less in-depth, but there's definitely interesting stuff to mention regardless.

It might not seem like Sasha's changed much visually during the timeskip. Her hair is cut pretty much the same way, she still has a pink accessory on her head, she's still wearing a skirt and a jacket (like she did over her school uniform), and... I think that's intentional. It's a subtle sign that most of Sasha's growth wasn't off-screen during a ten-year time jump...

...it was during Season 3. With every redesign she got from her Barrel's Warhammer redesign onwards, her design got softer. Less spikes, more rounded edges, less rigidity. She even undid her ponytail, not holding her hair back anymore. Her reds got less area on her design, until on the timeskip look they were pretty much replaced entirely with a simple purple skirt. All that aggressiveness is gone, replaced with a comparatively soft design...

...and with the addition of a blue shirt to her color palette. It comes off as a little random, but considering her new profession as a therapist, I think a light and soft color palette featuring hues that are easy on the eyes is an important part of that. It's subtle, but I think it helps a lot.

And finally... Anne.

I find Anne's timeskip design to be the most difficult to talk about in this context, because it's mostly just a regular uniform. The green polo, beige shorts, white undershirt, and lanyard are just what she has to wear to work, and I find it a little difficult to find meaning from it... but that doesn't mean there's nothing there.

Let's get the obvious one out of the way. The leaf scrunchy is a cute way to call back to Anne's hair leaves, a pretty defining aspect of her original design dating all the way back to the first episode of the show that followed her all through her journey in Amphibia. It's a fun little way to reminisce on her past... but it's not the only part of her outfit dedicated to reminiscing.

That little blue flower band on her wrist is also easy to miss, but pretty obvious what it's referencing once you notice it.

It's most obviously a callback to the blue flower crown from earlier in the same episode, but Anne's almost always been associated with blue and flowers, with even her energy aura in her Calamity form taking the shape of blue flower petals.

But those are just simple callbacks. I think the two things that tell us the most about Anne's growth and who she is now... are these.

For her entire exodus in Amphibia, Anne's had one ragged shoe to keep her company. She wasn't ready for an adventure in the swamp. Now, she has proper rain boots, something designed to actually withstand the kind of work she does now. She's fully become comfortable with where she is and who she wants to be. And, of course, there's that little bandage on her leg. Perhaps it's a sign that she's still going out there, undergoing little adventures, taking risks and getting into trouble. Maybe it's a sign that that spirit we come to know so well over the course of the show is still alive and well... or maybe it's where she takes her estrogen shots

[p0ckykiss]

a door was my downfall (yet you caught me) - yang jungwon

summary -> you go to pick up jungwon at school, but run into some troubles at the door

warnings -> female reader x jungwon, fluff, protective jungwon, falling in love

you glanced around nervously, the school gates looming above you like a prison gate. you had changed into your old school uniform to try and blend in, but it was no use.

you hadn’t anticipated the different color schemes at all. your beige school blazer and skirt did nothing to blend you in with a crowd of black blazers and sewn on insignias, even picking up your friend from school seemed like a major task.

you took a deep breath. “alright y/n, you can do this,” you muttered under your breath, eyes glaring at the front doors of the institute, “just walk past all the groups surrounding the door, ask the front desk lady about jungwon, and then walk home. easy. perfectly doable,” you said, taking your first steps forward through the school gates.

as soon as you walked through the gate, you felt nearly every single eye turn your way. you don’t blame them, you would turn and stare at someone walking through his school gates with the completely wrong uniform on too, but you really wished they wouldn’t. you just wanted to pick up jungwon and go home, maybe getting ice cream while on the way. you didn’t want to be the center of all the whispers being exchanged. not at all.

you made it to the front door with no difficulties, about to pull it open to walk inside when you felt someone tap your shoulder. you turned around and came face to face with— a boy? he seemed to be a bit nervous, his hands playing with his fingers.

“uh, hi,” he started, making eye contact for a second before glancing back his fingers. you could practically hear all the whispers floating around now, and you desperately wanted them to stop, but you also didn’t want to be rude to the poor guy.

you continued to stare at him as he gathered his words again, “um, why are you here?” he asked, using all his might to look you in the eye. for someone so nervous, he seemed to be handling it well.

“I’m here to pick up someone,” you responded, about to spin on your heel and walk through the door. as much as you didn’t want to be rude, you also wanted to get jungwon as soon as possible.

a grip on the back of your blazer stopped you, “wait!” the boy exclaimed, drawing even more attention to them, as if half the school wasn’t already watching this shitshow of an interaction. “can I have your number? uh, you look really cute, and all. yeah.” his voice trailed off at the end, forcing you to strain your ears to hear his last few words before leaning back into your own space.

you looked at him with a blank stare. what were you going to do? you couldn’t just turn him down with no good explanation, and you didn’t want to seem more rude than you’re probably being right now. you glanced around nervously, hoping someone would give you the social cues you needed to turn him down and enter the damn school building like you had been trying to for the past five fucking minutes!

you were about to give up and completely ignore him when the door you were holding on to suddenly pushed open, forcing you to stumble forwards toward the guy in front of you. you tried your best to steady yourself, but felt your weight shift forwards beyond your control, and you were already begging the gods for mercy as you pitched forward toward the guy and the concrete ground.

you pinched your eyes shut and awaited for your head to meet the ground, but it never came. instead you felt a pair of arms grab you and pull you backwards back on your feet. the person who yanked you backward, however, obviously misjudged their strength and together you fell backwards, with the other person cushioning your fall.

as soon as you hit the ground, you shot back up to your feet and profusely apologized, not even looking at the poor person you had fallen on. you then heard a familiar chuckle, and your eyes rose to meet the smiling ones of jungwon. you let out a sigh of relief, thankful for his amazing timing.

you went to talk to him, but a tug on your sleeve stopped you again. the guy was looking at his shoes still, but his grip on your sleeve was tight, “so, can i have your number?” he asked again, his voice now echoing across the square.

you opened your mouth to respond, so ready to turn him down now that jungwon was by your side, but a hand around your waist stopped your words in your throat.

“i’m sorry, but she’s taken,” jungwon said, pulling you flush against his side. if the whole school wasn’t listening, they sure as hell were now. every eye in the square was suddenly interested at the interaction occurring at the doors and you couldn’t help but feel the warmth rush to your face.

“a-ah! i see! i’m so, so sorry for bothering you two!” the guy exclaimed, words breaking and faltering in between his breaths. he quickly walked away, rejoining his group of friends who laughed along with him in a shared moment of embarrassment.

jungwon loosened his grip on your waist, grabbing your hand instead as he turned to face you, “shall we go then? i’m sure you’ve dressed up for something, and you don’t change out of your pajamas unless you really have to,” he teased, tugging you down the walkway away from the school with everyone still watching.

you whined, “hey i change out of my pajamas sometimes!” you refuted, walking along side jungwon as you walked back through the gates. was this what love felt like, you wondered? a stomach full of butterflies and a heart threatening to escape your chest? if it was so, then there was no doubt.

you were in love with a certain yang jungwon, and you really had to talk to him about it.

but for now, you enjoyed your time off. getting ice cream with jungwon and playing around at the park. you would reserve this happy feeling in your heart for the next year if you could, but alas, it wouldn’t last forever. your heart was being tugged into knots after all, but you would worry about that later when you returned to your apartment. then you would talk with him, you promised yourself as jungwon ran off to get the ball you had accidentally thrown over the playground fence.

a smile was all you needed now. and it was easily attainable.

[1l-ynn]

Want You So Bad

Megumi Fushiguro x Reader

1.4k words // use of y/n // mutual pining-ish

a/n: this is very long and WILL HAVE a part 2. i realized that i kinda didnt focus on the romance of this like at all... EEK I am open to any feedback!! please tell me if there's anything i need to fix

part two

"No ones asked you? For real?" Nobaras brows pinched in confusion as she stabbed at the peices of lettuce in her bowl. Homecoming was just around the corner, and although you didn't care to go, seeing all your friends get asked out left and right left a bad taste in your mouth.

It seemed like everyone and their moms were getting asked out. Of course the cutest couple, Kirara and Hakari were going together no questions asked. Maki had asked Yuta an hour before lunch. Toge and Panda were going just to cause chaos, and having no one else, Nobara and Yuji decided to go together.

"Yes for real. What did you expect?" You scrunched your face, huffing as you sipped on your strawberry milk. Your style was admittedly different from your group of friends, their light colors and fast fashion seemed to clash with your velvety style. Not even the school uniform could conceal your preference for darker clothes. Maybe thats what scared others off.

"Well you can always go with Yuji and I, I doubt Megumis coming." She drops her fork, wiping her mouth and dusting her hands off. The lunch period was coming to an end. And as she rises from the table, bringing her tray with her, she finishes her statement. "Not unless Yuji successfully forces him."

Megumi had the right idea. Who'd wanna go to an event where high school students get together in a stuffy gym room with their tacky decorations and overplayed pop music? Or better yet, where the girls are practically breaking their ankles from their heels and the guys are sweating bullets into the cheap fabric of their suits.

"Then what's the point of even going?" You say, trying to match her walking pace. You and Megumi weren't close, but that didn't stop the fuzziness you felt anytime he was near.

Though you're sure he doesn't look your way.

It was practically common sense that Megumi wouldn't be joining you guys, he was more of a home body. There's been countless times where you went to hang out with the group and he was no where to be seen. But that's okay, his isolation only made you wanna learn more about what was under those brooding expressions and the walls he kept up so high.

---------

"You're fucking lucky." The dark haired boy grumbled, he looked rather sharp this evening. Too sharp. He was originally planning on pulling an all nighter. Playing valorant until his eyes bled or until Tsumiki had enough of the string of obscenities he would scream at the TV each time he died.

But no, here he was being Yuji and Nobaras personal driver. He's lucky for Gojo, without him Megumi would look a hot mess. He was dressed in a dark gray button up paired with black slacks. His hair was unruly and had no plan to tame itself, and his cologne had this trace of woody scent.

"C'mon Megs- it'll be fun!" Yuji said enthusiastically, though it didn't take a scientist to realize that was bullshit. Megumi knew that he was really there to drive them from homecoming to some after party. "Plus! Y/n's coming, aren't you excited?"

Thats what got him. It was the best manipulation tactic ever, and Yuji knew it. Although he would kill to go back home, get in some sweats and play Valorant, nothing beat the rush of excitement he got thinking about how nice you would look. Granted you always looked nice, your style was always something that interested him.

Your eerie color scheme appealed to others, but Megumi wanted to be the one to uncover those secrets you hid behind those drappy sleeves. Though its not like you guys were close, he was fine wondering why you were thinking behind those perfectly blended smoky eyes.

"Who knows maybe something'll happen tonight?"

"Yeah right, this is so dumb." Megumi ran a hand through his hair. "She's probably gonna latch onto Nobara."

"Okay yeah but- its worth a shot right?" Yuji gives Megumi a sheepish smile that he only rolls his eyes at. He huffs as he pulls out of the driveway and on to Nobaras.

------

"I don't know..." You stood in front of Nobaras full body mirror. Looking at the dress you guys rushed to buy a few days ago. It was complete luck you got such a beautiful dress, completely your style. The fabric was made of black lace, its corset was tight and form fitting, and the neckline hung a little lower against your chest.

Nobara and Maki give eachother a pointed look before looking back at you. Could you see yourself right now? "Girl what are you talking about? There's nothing wrong." Maki says as she touches up her lipstick. She looks up at you with an incredibly deep scowl. You silently cursed yourself for being the reason for Makis sour face.

Maki set down her red lipstick, it went perfectly with the green pattern of her dress. It was a simple style, the only thing about it was the cut in the skirt. Nonetheless she looked perfect. Yuta would think so aswell.

"Yeah, you look fine.." Nobara pauses before looking at you cheekily, a smirk painting its way onto her face. "You look fine."

She was in a satin red dress with an asymmetrical skirt. Her black heels were practically toothpicks, it was insane how she was keeping herself upright.

You roll your eyes, continuing to pick yourself apart. "Doesn't something look off?" Maybe it was because your hair pins were poking into your head and you were sure it was gonna give you a headache. Or maybe it was the fact that your makeup was a lot lighter than usual.

"Look, you look great. Those guys are gonna wish they were got their grabs, okay?" She hugs you from behind, pouting a bit before starts speaking. "Y'know-"

"KUGISAKI. The boys are down here." Her grandmother called from downstairs.

The boys..? Wasnt it just supposed to be Yuji?

"Finally." Maki grumbled, grabbing her hand purse and walking out the door.

"Wait, what does she mean boys-?" Your question goes unanswered as she unlatches from your back, grabbing her purse and making her way out the door.

Her head pops in for a second. "You look fucking hot, okay?" The brunette gives you one last smirk before saying "Megumi will think so, now let's go."

"Wait- what?!"

---

"They've been up there all evening. I don't even think they got any food..." Nobaras grandma says as she wraps up the last of her Onigiri. Placing them into a small bag before handing it to Yuji. His fat ass already digging in. "Take these so you guys don't starve."

Megumi's face immediately pulls into a scowl, as he raises a hand to smack Yuji with. Earning a yelp from the pink haired boy. "Thank you Ma'am. Thats very generous of you."

"Ehh..Don't mention it." She waves her hand, beginning to clean the kitchen. Just in time for the girls to start walking down. First Maki, then Nobara and lastly y/n..

Y/n...?

"Oh would you c'mon already?!" Nobara throws her head back in exasperation. She looked up at the stairs with an expectant glance. "God so help me-"

Megumis adams apple bobbed in his throat, holding that same expecting glance. He was silently preparing himself for your arrival. His brain filling with possibilities of what you could be wearing.

"Get down here before we drag you down." Maki was already starting to stomp up the stairs.

"Okay- okay I'm coming.." You slowly walk down steps, Your hands clutching onto your long skirt so it wouldn't get caught under your heel.

Megumi's breath hitched- There you were in all your glory. Your dress was perfect. The corset fit snugly on your waist. Like it was tailored to your form, or better yet a second skin. It continued to hug you down to your knees showing off the cute divots where your hips were. Your sleeves went down in that same fashion, draping down your forearm. And to top it all off your neckline rested just a bit lower than your collarbones.

Megumi practically had hearts for eyes, watching you look around nervously. Your makeup was simpler than usual but that didn't take away from the look overall. He was stuck in that daze until you both locked eyes.

"Finally. Now let's go take pictures!"

part two

[kroosluvr]

split set (notes under cut)

STOP DROPPIGN CRUMBS IN HER HAIR U ASSHOLE (shes used to it)

theyre mixed doubles partners! otherwise sumire partners with ann and akira with goro

everybody plays tennis in tennis au. yes even futaba.

in the back is makoto vs mitsuru! and ryuji's like "dude is she gonna be ok.... mitsuru's scary...."

they split sets so they get a 10 min changeover before the tiebreak! sumire's quickly picking apart their last set while akira takes the chance to fuel up SJKDAKAD

rio iwasaki poster in the back. she's everyones idol in this au because I SAID SO!!!!

kasumi still does rhythmic gymnastics in this au. sumire grew up with it as well but 180'd into tennis bc of self doubt and insecurities of living in kasumi's shadow so she wanted to carve out a new space for herself etc and tennis is a good fit for her

also shiho probably still also plays volleyball

i imagine each school has like a Club Team(???) so this isnt necessarily like varsity tennis or anything its not attached to the school itself if that makes sense. thats also why theres no set uniform as you can see, just a general color scheme

[jerusalemstraycat]

Guess what?! Miku's birthday on the Gregorian calendar was weeks ago, but her Hebrew birthday (17 Elul) was only a few days ago! I'm not actually late for this trend!

(I really was going to finish it and upload it back in August, but then I...got a little preoccupied LOL)

Anyway! I've seen several lovely Jewish Mikus, but I wanted to make one of my own. So here's Hatsune Miku as this very specific variety of frum Jewish woman who may or may not live in NYC.

Notes under cut:

I erred on the side of faithfulness to the original outfit and color scheme rather than cultural accuracy, so she looks like she's going to shul rather than just hanging out. Shabbos Miku, why not.

I guess I could have given her one of those tichels with the long tails? but like. She's a teenager.

Her hair is slightly darker blue to make it look more similar to traditional תכלת color.

Hoodies. Why are we so obsessed with our hoodies? We have them from schools and organizations and fundraisers. At least it's a better swag idea than t-shirts.

I spent WAY too long on that מיקו logo for it to be barely visible :(

I felt like a Magen David necklace might be too overdone, so I gave her a hamsa instead.

The only difference between Middle School Miku's uniform and my own middle school uniform is that my jumpers were navy, not gray.

I sketched the one in the middle singing היא רק רוצה לרקוד, then saw an old post on Israeblr suggesting that Miku should sing Omer Adam. Neat coincidence.

[lagomoz]

Everyone so far seems to be theorizing Amane’s victim as her dad, her mom, or an unnamed child also in the cult. I’ve got my own theory - it was Gozake.

That’s Gozake, from Magic. The blue guy. He’s one of the four main figureheads of the cult, and possibly a music teacher of some kind to Amane, conducting her to sing in Magic. The very first shot of The Purge March is Amane playing the drums.

The mindscape Amane’s wield flags representing the four cult leaders (teachers? elders? propaganda peddlers? high up members? whatever, important cult people), but Gozake’s flag in particular is given special attention. 

Same color scheme, same three dots over a narrow rectangle like design, same ear thingy to the side, same orb-like design features - that’s Gozake. Before we see it flying though, we see it crumpled up on the floor by Amane’s feet, something not true for any other flag.

We then see an Amane messing up her flag routine, dropping Gozake’s flag in particular and falling over. The other Amane looms over her, preparing to punish her for a failure related to Gozake. Once the punishment starts, rain pours down.

Then, the punished Amane begins to drown. You can even see the flag while she’s sinking.

She drowns further, and we get another shot of just the flag, lying on the ground, and then the drowning Amane reaching up towards it. She’s reaching toward Gozake, the one responsible for drowning her.

And he is the one drowning her. We see it directly in Magic.

It cuts to the real world, with Amane actually being drowned, and her placed below the one drowning her like she is placed below the flag. 

Take note of the framing, with one hand stretching from out of frame.

I can’t find a better picture for her undercover card, but her location shows a bathroom. Undercover also has a shot of a victim lying on a blue tiled floor (we can’t see the floor, but the shower in Purge March has blue and green wall tiles) with water coming down. Blue and water are representations of Gozake (Amane’s character color is aqua), and it’s framed as a single hand stretching out while the rest is (mostly) obscured, and takes place in the bathroom (or at least a bathroom) that Amane was drowned by Gozake in.

Throughout the MV, there’s a lot of blue, too. Amane’s school uniform is blue, the cloth she heals the cat with is blue (the cloth later becomes bloody, another thing representing Gozake being damaged), the sky and general background and lighting is blue. Symbols of Gozake are present everywhere in the MV.

The suit man with the briefcase could be Gozake, I’m not sure. Gozake would fit the profile - a cult member, adult male, disapproving of medicine, willing to put Amane in harm’s way - but I don’t have further evidence.

Before Amane goes all in on the cult’s doctrine, she has an umbrella, but it’s unopened. The baton she uses to kill and to represent her as fully converted and the opening umbrella are overlayed. 

The lyrics show her motivation for the murder, as both a means of protection and revenge. She’s been horrifically abused for years, and has taken on the role of the punisher to avoid being the punished.

“It’s my turn to tear you apart / So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me /  It’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry” /  You’re sorry? I don’t care! / Please, go ahead and die already / Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?”

Beyond showing a lot of resentment and disdain for the one she’s speaking to - her victim - the phrasing clearly shows that she’s not just punishing a sinner, she’s turning the tables. She’s returning the favor to someone who’s been violent to her in the past.

The umbrella is symbolically her murder weapon and what she uses to punish others, but also literally and obviously a tool to protect from the rain. What she uses to kill is what protects her from Gozake. She can’t take the abuse anymore and tries to become the cult sanctioned violent avenger that’s hurt her so many times. She can’t be the victim if she’s the perpetrator.

The final shot has her over the corpse, having tracked in water from the rain. The puddles lead right to it and the framing is the same as both the Undercover victim and the one drowning her - a single hand, reaching from out of frame.

Amane killed Gozake.

[mikufigureoftheday]

Do you know any Miku figures that are pirate/sailor theme? Like not the school uniform sailor but actual ship lol

There's a pirate garage kit by Rocket Punch but nothing official

The Puss in Boots one is a musketeer I understand, but her color scheme reminds me of what's commonly seen in pirate motifs

The Summer Dress one has sailor themes and hopefully isn't too sailor-skirt esc for your tastes lol

These are really all I could find/remember but I hope it helped you a lil bit (*/ω＼)

[cyphyree]

Adolescence of Utena -- Architecture x Character Designs

Dunno if I read it from somewhere, but I realized that Utena's new uniform is styled somewhat like the architecture of Adolescence Ohtori, namely how her clothes are black and white (later with red accents) . Whereas Utena stands out in the world of RGU, she blends right into Adolescence Ohtori, almost as if she is a part of the architecture and vice versa.

The movie is also called The *Adolescence* of Utena (or Girl's Revolution Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse), and in the show, we see adolescent Utena wear black and white at the funeral. I think that her wearing this scheme again in the movie is a sort of return to her adolescence. Not to say that she regressed back into the child she was before the show, but more so to represent the child that Utena still is even after maturing. An adolescent is defined as someone roughly between 10-19; Utena is still a teen who's growing in this age range.

That said, Adolescence Ohtori seems to be an architectural representation of Utena's inner child/self. Like a mindscape of sorts. At the end of the movie, both she and Anthy would leave the mindscape of their adolescence and enter into the unknown "outside world" of adulthood.

Red is associated with the Rose Bride, ie Anthy. Before meeting Anthy for the first time in the show, Utena's clothing was absent of red (her child funeral dress); however Utena's RGU uniform afterwards would have red accents.

Similarly, Utena's Adolescence "boy" clothing doesn't have red, but her "prince garb" after meeting Anthy does.

Speaking of, if we continue seeing Ohtori as Utena's mindscape, the deep red of the Adolescence rose garden is like the part of Utena's mind that Anthy occupies. The tower where the girls draw is also Anthy's domain, as it's draped in red.

Even other black-white architecture of Ohtori is accented with red--Anthy has always been present in Utena's thoughts, even if subconsciously.

Alternatively, red in Ohtori could represent Anthy's mindscape "overlapping" with Utena's. Anthy is still wrestling with leaving Akio after all, and after the events of RGU, it would make sense that she and Utena share "spaces"/experiences/solidarity.

Anthy's Rose Bride dress also more closely resembles Utena/Ohtori's aesthetic (white, red with black accents), and we only see her transform into that when she is with Utena. It seems to signify that Anthy has become more familiar/recognizable to Utena, as her Rose Bride dress visually brings her closer to Utena, more so than her generic mint-green uniform.

When Utena first meets Anthy in Adolescence, a light flurry of rose petals fall from the garden above, crossing from Anthy's domain into Utena's-- they are beginning to cross each other's paths again. During the dance in the garden, a much heavier shower of roses blanket the school architecture below, as if Utena and Anthy's connection has now become much stronger. From then on, Utena would try to create a genuine bond with Anthy (as we see during the drawing session)

Alternatively, it could also signify a progression towards Anthy taking the spotlight when she and Utena decide to leave the school for good:

Near the end of Adolescence, we are back in Anthy's rose garden, we see the chairman's tower (associated with Anthy and Akio), and everything is washed in purples and reds-- Anthy's colors. Utena's black/white structures are now absent. From here on out, Anthy is going to drive (heh) the story forward.

I wanna talk about the architectural styles of Ohtori, but that'll be its own post once I do a bit more research. I wanna expand on some differences such as:

Adolescence- constructivist, Russian Revolution, industrial, "masculine"

Show- neoclassical/rococo? French Revolution, floral/decorative, "feminine" -- perhaps Anthy's mindscape in a way.

Anyway this was supposed to be a bullet point list of miscellaneous stray thoughts, but I guess that's impossible, so I'll just eventually write more individual utena thoughts posts lol

Please feel free to tell me what you think btw!

There's also another post by @nothing-suspicious-in-there about Utena's uniform that's a completely different take, please check it out!

[jariten]

Roundup-catch up: September 2024 (〜Take me back to the Reiwa era arc〜)

After a rather all consuming and intense reading experience that took me 60 years back in time (I will get to that one another time) I wanted to get back to the present time, specifically 2020 to today, and explore what's new and buzzing in the manga landscape. Luckily had a couple titles sitting unread ready to give me the most productive reading week I've had so far this year.

Akari by Marco Kohinata is a work I don't want to go too in detail about because I think it's one that I think is better by just diving straight in so I want to describe a bit what it does artistically. Even before it became the norm to produce manga manuscripts fully digitally with programs like Clip Studio there's always been manga artists who challenge the "correct" way of how manga manuscripts should look with clean inked lines and nothing but screentone or crosshatching to add dimension. Like Taiyo Matsumoto, Hiroaki Samura, and Q Hayashida just to mention a few. But with the digital way of doing it becoming the norm and thus there being less time consuming and high risk ways to experiment with the expected form of a manga manuscript the diversity of artistic expression in manga is expanding. All the manga in this post have an expression to them only really possible to do in a digital medium or if analogue, made possible by the innovations of digital artists. Akari has a sort of charcoal texture to it that I haven't seen any other manga artist use giving it a really illustrative look that really elevates the emotional themes of familial estrangement and being at risk of falling to the margins of society that the work depicts. Its made me really look forward to seeing what the "average" manga manuscript might look like by 2030.

Last year I gushed a bit about the cutesy gag manga Yoko to Tora by Fuyuko Kurosaki which really charmed me with its truly adorable art, little world building touches and anything goes absurdist comedy. This mini project finally got me to pick up Heike Monogatari Yoru-kun no Hanashi. This anachronistic time slipped retelling of the tale of the arrogant Taira samurai clan and its conflict with the Minamoto clan backed by imperial interests. Recently orphaned Yoru-kun has spent most of his life with the spoiled but lonely rich girl Sara. But one day, he is suddenly kidnapped from our time to the Heian era by Taira no Kiyomori! (portrayed as a flashy rock star super villain obsessed with his wife) to play the role of his daughter in a grand scheme to marry the Taira clan into the imperial family. Yoru now finds himself living at the whims of his war mongering and arrogant new father, but at the same time finds himself sympathetic and invested in his new family. Because they aren't all that bad. Right? But what about Sara? She's not going to let Yoru be all alone in this strange story, right? The Heike story is retold with a maximalist, deeply anachronistic and absurd fashion by, I will already declare, one of my favorite contemporary manga artists.

There's clearly a "gender bending" aspect to have these characters take the roles of historical figures of the "opposite" gender but the role assignment is as far as that went. The only new item of clothing that gendered Yoru was a kimono overcoat worn over his school uniform while Sara was only gendered by a piece of armour worn on top of hers. And of course Yoru can have a baby, you can just go pick those up anywhere. Like, at the cabbage patch. Intentionally or not it becomes a farcical commentary on how gender is assigned upon you by others.

A lot of current manga are in some way colored by the pandemic and 2020 COVID lockdown era. After Shinzo Keigo was hospitalized from COVID complications he produced Hirayasumi. But his wife Natsuko Taniguchi was obviously affected by this time in world history and her personal life as well and produced her own manga in response to it. Fukiyose Residence introduces us to the flashy gal cashier at a non-franchise conbini. She talks loud, sits on a camping chair behind the register but her high spirits brings as much joy as annoyance to her customers. But her public self and private self couldn't be more different, which her neighbours in her apartment building learn one by one. A short but very sweet story about actually finding connection with those closest to you and the ways we transform ourselves through and for others.

Sometimes I don't do my due dilligence and check if I can get a title I'm eyeing in Japanese in english, but to be fair that overlap is just so rare that I lost the habit. But here I made a mistake, because last week Astro Biologist Pratess by Sarami got a translated omnibus release by Alien Press. That particular edition is not what I will review T^T but it's def one to check out. A classic coming of age during summer vacation with past lives from outer space a la Please Save My Earth and astral connections to an alien astro biologist brings 3 friends closer as they try to figure out exactly what they want from life. This is one I wish was just 1 or 2 volumes longer so all 3 characters got to be fully fleshed out but I enjoyed what we got and it made me feel even more excited about what manga is waiting for us in the near future. The work was also licensed in Spanish so if that's your preferred way to read do check it out!

[kanekoii]

Hey, hope you are having a good day, Lyra!

What if the Iluna and XSoleil guys dated a person who is from the other school? Like opposites attract kinda thing…

lyra’s notes -> HI HELLO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG BUT THIS IS SUCH A CUTE PROMPT???! just since i wanted to write the girls too i only did iluna but feel free to request for xsoliel

pairings -> (i added the girls sorry i love girls) iluna x gn! rival! reader

genre -> scenario, a little fluff, tiny bit of crack

song -> sorry, i love you - stray kids

warnings -> school rivalry shit, HI IM SORRY THIS TOOK LITERALLY FOREVER I AM SO BURNT OUT

SCARLE YONAGUNI ->

she knows you're technically rivals due to your schools' rivalry but she couldn't help but fall for you. it's a cute contrast when your uniform is generally darker along with the color schemes of your fellow school counsel members and her school's pallet is much lighter. surely her friends won't mind if she takes you along sometimes despite the rivalry, right? scarle loves you to death and even if you don't always get to see each other, her love won't fade.

AIA AMARE ->

due to an intense school rivalry, she might want to keep your relationship a secret at first. eventually, she'll take you to meet the rest of her friends and they don't mind a bit when you tag along on their adventures! aia is a loud and somewhat chaotic person, so she would fit well into xsoliel too if you take her to meet the rest of the student counsel. they all love her so much too cuz she fits in so well!

REN ZOTTO ->

he generally wears a much darker color scheme so his uniform matches yours. of course, no one aside from you knows that. but either way, he absolutely loves spending time with you on the days you don't have school. if anyone were to see the alien prince with someone from the rival school, he'd just brush it off because he loves you regardless.

KYO KANEKO ->

okay so i got a whole scenario for this. imagine at a sports game and you and kyo are kissing under the bleachers and maririn catches you while looking for kyo. she's just flabbergasted and doesn't know what to say and kyo gets all defensive and tsundere about it. especially since you're wearing his jacket hehe. i wanna write a whole fic about thsi plz

ASTER ARCADIA ->

everyone knows right away, he spends no effort keeping it a secret. it's not like it matters much to him, cuz he never cared much about school rivalry or things of the like. the only problem is that your schedules conflict more often than not, so you only get to hang out some weekends or if you skip school to spend time with him. omg thats another idea skipping school with aster

MARIA MARIONETTE ->

she's like aster in that she doesn't care if it's a secret or not, she's just happy to be with you. as long as you're happy, she'll be happy. much like the rest, it makes her a little sad if you can't spend a lot of time together, so please take her with you to your student counsel meetings! she's so adorable you just have to say yes.

[ddarker-dreams]

What's gg's mc aesthetic outside of the sorcerer's uniform? She's somewhat of a hello kitty girlie so I imagine her wearing the Y2K style especially in her school days but like a little less gaudy. But I wondered what your interpretation of her style would be

THIS AAAAAAASK OMG i know you sent it in a while ago but it was fun to think about and answer 😭 OKAY lemme go into my thoughts

2005-2007 (gg mc's style in her high school years)

your guess was pretty accurate!! she went for light denim, ruffles, and a pinkish color scheme. she had a lot of scrunchies from shoko. as for accessories, she didn't care much for wearing a purse... she'd just make gojo or geto hold her stuff GJSKDFKS she's proud of nobara for this reason. if they weren't around, pockets were a must. got to put that pink razr somewhere.

2017-2018 (gg mc's style in the current events of jujutsu kaisen)

she's on the precipice of entering her MILF era. she still loves ruffles and pink, but she's branched out a bit. midi length skirts have been added to her repertoire. she sees the appeal of purses now too, a revelation that led to gojo buying her waaaay too many. she prefers a line silhouettes and anything soft/feminine.

she might not have her pink razr anymore, but her phone has a pastel pink case if that counts. the wallpaper is always gojo. he takes hundreds of selfies on her phone and then makes himself the home and lock screen. cringe husband.

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏: 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝐂𝐖: social anxiety and very brief mentions of past bullying

𝐀/𝐍: surprise another chapter this one is long guys so buckle your seatbelts

𝐖𝐂: 6,600 +

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

the next day flew by fast as you busied yourself with rearranging your room to how you liked and making sure you had all of your supplies and uniforms for school.

“nervous?” your mom’s voice questions, interrupting the anxious silence that had permeated the kitchen.

you look up from the coffee that had burnt your lips a few moments prior, your mind too busy to notice the excessive steam coming from the drink.

pursing your lips together you nod at your mom, who had an understanding yet hopeful look on her face.

suddenly, it’s as if all of your previous anxiety leading up to this moment comes crashing down on you all at once. your face tenses as you try to control the tears beginning to build, causing your nose to prick and throat to tighten. a small sigh escapes her lips.

“i figured. but this is a bigger school. you won’t have to see the same ten people every day like before. it’s a fresh start. you’ll find plenty of people who are going to love you.” she smiles, coming around the counter to hug you, one of her hands brushing some of your hair back.

“and i know you’re scared, and you don’t like talking, but if you smile and put yourself out there you might find friends faster than you’ll think.” she pulls back, using her fingers to brush your hair out of your face, giggling as your nose wrinkles in protest. you attempt to smile at her as you nod, trying to soak in her advice. “see! no one will be able to resist that sweet smile.”

you roll your eyes.

“whatever.” you playfully mutter back, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself.

a small laugh leaves her lips as she grabs her tote bag and coffee thermos. your old school was so small that you were able to drive together every day since pre-k through high school was all on the same campus. now, you were close enough to walk and the elementary she taught at was in the opposite direction. your lips twitch into a deeper frown at the thought that you wouldn’t be able to sneak into her classroom when you wanted a snack or a break from your classmates.

“well, try to have a good day,” she says, grabbing her car keys, her shoes making soft clicking sounds through the silent house as she walks to the door. “and wish me luck on wrangling twenty little five-year-olds.”

you laugh quietly, shaking my head.

“yeah, let me know how that goes,” you say, slinging your backpack over your shoulder. “i love you, mom.”

“love you too, sweetie.”

the door shuts, and you stand idly in the hall, your brain shuffling thoughts so fast you can’t really grab onto one. you turn on your heel, grab your coffee, and chug down a couple of sips before leaving the cup by the sink.

after pacing back to your room, brushing your teeth, popping a piece of gum in your mouth, and sliding on your shoes, you take one last look in the mirror.

it was strange, wearing a uniform. especially after going to a school all your life without one. the fitted white button-up was complemented by a navy blue tie and blazer with the school logo on it to match. it was paired with a navy blue skirt, and black socks and tights that followed the same color scheme. you were allowed to wear any shoes as long as they were black, so you gladly wore the mary-jane doc martens you had begged for on your last birthday.

it was cute, at least, and you wouldn’t have to worry about deciding on an outfit every morning.

after adjusting your hair and fussing with how your socks rested on your calves, you finally gathered the courage to leave the house and make your walk to school, sending aphmau a quick text that you were on your way.

instead of breaking down, you busy yourself with looking at the scenery around your neighborhood. the morning weather felt much better than where you used to live, if not a bit chillier than what you were used to, and you note you should probably bring a coat with you for the walk when fall sets in. pretty trees line the streets, and a small smile graces your face as you imagine what they look like in the fall. would they turn a beautiful orange? would some turn yellow? or red?

your attention is taken away from the trees to your new shorter friend jogging out of her house. sylvanna wishes her a good day with a loud voice and a bright smile before the girl starts walking in your direction.

“you too, sweetie!” she shouts to you, and you wave back.

“i’ll try!”

“you will!” she lifts her fist up in a fighting pose of encouragement.

aphmau looks at your matching uniform with a matching nervous smile stretched across her tanned face.

“the uniform looks good on you!” she compliments with a small stutter, wringing her hands together.

“thanks! you too.” you reply, feeling yourself relax. it was like her anxiety had overpowered yours, making you somehow feel like a guardian over her.

her face lights up. “really? i’m so used to wearing whatever i wanted when i was homeschooled so i feel kinda weird.”

“yeah, same.”

“i really like how you did your hair, by the way,” you say, awkwardly pointing your finger at her raven locks. “and the purple ribbon—it’s cute.”

her thin eyebrows raise as she stutters out a thanks, mindlessly tightening the ribbon around her half-up ponytail.

“how was freshman year for you?” she asks, wringing her hands together.

“eh, wasn’t great for me, but it also wasn’t something to stress over,” i shrug. “but i also didn’t have a normal experience.”

“aw, yeah, i forgot you said that. i’m just really nervous about making new friends.”

you nod with a sympathetic smile on your face. “yeah, same. i’m sure we’ll make some friends, though. and we can sit together at lunch.”

“yeah! yeah.” she nodded.

☆

the school was huge. way smaller than the little 1a school you used to go to. your eyes widened at the large stoned building, feeling that familiar anxiety creep back in, starting from your fingertips and crowding your throat. 

“let’s take a picture!” aphmau suddenly says cheerily. you weakly smile, endeared by her sudden enthusiasm as you slightly bend your knees to get in the picture.

“cute!” she says before a small grunt leaves her lips as she harshly bumps into you. the boy causing the collision brushes past the two of you, his build towering over not just aphmau—who wasn’t hard to beat in height—but you as well.

he doesn’t make an attempt to apologize, and he doesn’t look like he’d be the type to, either. his black hair was messy, framing what would have been a handsome face if he hadn’t had such a deep frown on his features. you don’t get to see much of it, though, before his head was pointed back to the ground as he continued walking forward. 

“hey, watch it!” aphmau suddenly scolds, making your eyebrows raise a bit in surprise. “…ugh, what a jerk.”

“i’m sure he just wasn’t paying attention. maybe he’s anxious, too.” you say, attempting to diffuse. you’re a bit taken aback by her sudden burst of irritation. “but he still should’ve at least said sorry.”

aphmau huffs once more. you stifle a small giggle at her annoyance. both her stature and her kind-looking features make it hard for her anger to be very intimidating.

the next second she seems to be over it, as she continues to post the picture. 

“oh, i forgot to add you on insta. let me add you.”

“mhm, sure!”

you make it to the school's tall front doors. aphmau tugs on the handle, only for a confused noise to leave her lips as the door stays in place, the glass reflecting your confused expressions.

“why’s it locked…?”

“they probably don’t open the doors until it’s time for school.. maybe?” you give a guessed answer. it would make sense safety-wise, otherwise anyone could sneak in.

a small laugh comes from behind us. “i’m assuming you two are freshmen, huh?”

you both turn to see a beautiful girl with a bright smile. her smooth and glowy dark skin was complemented by straightened hair that framed her face. kind brown eyes glimmered at you as her hands rested on her hips. aphmau jumps a bit, causing the girl to laugh again.

“sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. jumpy one, eh?”

“oh uh sorry, the door is locked, so...” aphmau stutters, jutting a thumb back at the school.

“worried about that? don’t bother. they usually lock the doors on the first day.” she shrugs. “then they unlock them and everyone floods in all at once and bam! chaos everywhere.”

you like the way this girl expresses herself. her hands animatedly move as she talks, hair bouncing and smiling wide. you’re sure if you stood across a field, you might be able to make out what she was saying from body language alone. 

aphmau lets out a nervous laugh at her explanation, tugging down the edge of her skirt mindlessly.

“that’s kind of weird.”

“you’re pretty nervous, huh? you’re shaking a lot.” the girl bluntly asks, though you’re sure she means no harm from the curious and concerned tilt to her head. 

“sorry, i just haven’t talked to anyone in over a year. besides, her.” aphmau replies, looking over at you. you give a small awkward smile.

the girl smiles back at you and waves, but her eyes dart back to aphmau in shock as she processes her words.

“woah! what does that mean? someone keep you in a dungeon or something?”

you hold back a grin of amusement as you look back over to aphmau, who is trembling like a leaf. it seems she was feeling just as intimidated by the extrovert as you were, only you were clearly better at hiding it.

“no! no, nothing like that. i was just homeschooled.” she explains, waving her hands a bit around as she talks.

“ooh. that. sounds. awesome! getting to stay at home every day? best. school. ever.”

aphmau forces a smile in response, and you resist the urge to reach out and pat her back or something to comfort her. 

“well, it’s actually more lonely than anything.”

“aww, well cheer up freshman. you’ll get the hang of it in no time.” the girl encourages, holding up two thumbs up with a grin. 

aphmau looks back at you before returning her eyes to the girl. 

“um, would you want to be our friend…?” she starts before a man’s voice interrupts us.

“teony! ms.peacock is looking for you.”

teony turns in surprise, her long brown hair whipping around as she turns to look at the teacher. after he explains some more, she turns around to face us, already beginning to backpedal away.

“sorry, freshmen. i’m a teacher’s aide and she needs my help right now. just keep your heads high and you’ll be fine! see you cuties around!”

before anything else could be said, teony was already off and turning the corner.

“she seems so nice and confident,” aphmau says quietly, wringing her hands together.

you nod in agreement.

“yeah, she was. i didn’t get a chance to tell her i’m not even a freshman, though.”

aphmau looks back up at me. “oh, i’m sorry! i didn’t mean for you to like… get run over in the conversation or left out or anything! i just-“

you stop her rambling by raising your hand and shaking your head with a small smile.

“no don’t worry, i don’t really like to talk much, anyways. i just meant she was very outgoing and i had no idea what to even say.”

aphmau tilts her head up at you with an expression of… awe? before she turns her attention to looking around at the rapidly growing amount of students in the front courtyard.

“oh, well… speaking of not knowing what to say, there’s so many people here. how do you even make friends when everyone is already in their own groups…?”

as she walks towards the fountain nervously, you trail next to her, turning and walking backwards while looking back up at the school. a small yelp leaves your lips when you bump into something, your feet clumsily tripping over the other. before you could embarrassingly draw attention to yourself by colliding with the pavement, two arms were already holding you up.

the first thing you see is aphmau’s wide eyes and her slim hand covering her mouth. before you can gather your thoughts, a smooth voice vibrates from right behind you, sending a small shiver across your skin.

“hey, are you okay?” the boy asks, steadying you on your feet and turning you to face him, his hands not leaving your shoulders.

you couldn’t tell if your face had gone pale or embarrassingly red, but what you could tell was that the very attractive boy in front of you was very close. 

you had to crane your neck back to look up at the boy’s towering height. his widened eyes were a beautiful shade of blue-green, framed by long, light brown lashes. his golden hair was lighter than his tanned skin, and to top it off his small smile revealed a perfect row of pearly whites. you could almost hear the cartoonish ding! from the sight. you can also catch the faint scent of a fresh cologne… coconut?

“i’m… so sorry! i wasn’t looking where i was going,” you manage to say, embarrassment fully setting in. 

“you should be more careful and watch where you step next time. that could’ve been a nasty spill for you.” he says with an amused grin. 

nasty spill? you’ve never heard someone use that before. and you swear you can almost hear what sounds to be an… o’khasis accent?

your brain feels like it’s short-circuiting. this was not what you had planned when you rehearsed your social interactions for the day, and that familiar dreadful feeling was sending an uncomfortable electric shock starting from your fingertips.

“um, hello? are you okay?” the boy asks again and you manage to gather yourself, pulling back from his grasp.

“yes! yes. i’m good. just caught off guard is all, i’m really sorry again.” you say, huffing out an embarrassed sigh as you look down, smoothing out your uniform. “thank you for catching me, and saving me some embarrassment.”

his face relaxes a bit. “yeah, of course.”

he seems to notice aphmau behind you, giving her a nod and smile before looking back at you. a chuckle leaves his mouth as he backs up and starts to walk away, giving the two of you a small wave.

“well, i have to get going. see you around, and try not to trip over anyone else.”

he turns to walk away and you robotically turn back towards aphmau, who has an equally shocked look on her face. in fact, it barely looks like she moved at all.

“he. was so. dreamy!” she said from behind her hand.

you raise your hands to cover your face, groaning.

“yeah, and i totally embarrassed myself in front of him. ugh, i can’t believe that happened.”

“but—but he caught you! and smiled at you! and me!” she lowered her hand to reveal a face that was probably just as red as yours.

a nasally-sounding voice cuts off your conversation, making you cringe as you turn to the source.

“didn’t you look pathetic drooling all over him.”

the girl speaking had beautiful long raspberry-colored hair, and bright blue eyes that squinted at the two of you with an ugly sneer. she stood tall, shoulders overconfidently squared and aggressive. a shorter tanned girl stood behind her with crossed arms and an unimpressed look on her face, her long curly hair tied into a ponytail.

“huh, us…?” aphmau asks. your face pales and you feel dread creep up in your stomach at this girl’s presence.

“yes, but especially you!” she says, jabbing a long polished fingernail in your direction. “don’t think i didn’t see you playing that innocent freshman act.”

…why does everyone here think you’re a freshman?

before you can open your mouth to defend yourself, her unpleasant voice cuts you off again.

“look, i don’t really have time to deal with you. just know that garroth ro’meave is off-limits. okay? so don’t get any ideas, skank.”

what the fuck?

she turns and walks away, her friend following behind with a snarky look on her face.

“excuse you? ugh. who does she think she is?” aphmau says in an irritated tone.

“…maybe his girlfriend…?” you say quietly.

your now narrowed eyes follow her, an angry and anxious feeling building uncomfortably in your chest. you had  escaped those kinds of girls in your last school, and you hoped you wouldn’t have to deal with them again.

you turn back to aphmau, trying to ignore the annoying automatic response of tears pricking at your eyes. her eyes widen before you shake your head vigorously, taking a deep breath to calm yourself. she seems to understand, crossing her arms and glaring at the backs of the girls.

a few seconds pass.

“school hasn’t even started yet.”

aphmau turns her attention back up to you before a small laugh leaves her mouth.

“i know right? that was crazy. seriously.”

“i think i’ve had enough social interactions for the day already.” you groan, pinching the bridge of your nose.

the school bell loudly rings, prompting the crowd of students to all file toward the entrance of the school. you and aphmau nod at each other with nervous expressions, grabbing onto each other’s backpacks and merging behind the mass of teenagers.

☆ 

you ended up separating from aphmau since you already had your schedule and id tag. standing off to the side of the hallway, you glance down at your schedule as you try to figure out where your homeroom is. after some more wandering around, you find that the halls have become increasingly more quiet and empty, leaving you as a lone wanderer.

your head spins dizzily from confusion. while you were pretty sure the school was built to be one huge loop, there were still three or four floors. shiny white tiles and tall brick walls seem to swallow you as you aimlessly try to find the class you’re looking for.

as you turn the corner, you nearly run into someone again. you stumble back a bit, a quick “sorry” leaving your lips before you realize it’s aphmau and…yet another attractive boy.

“oh, are you lost too?” aphmau asks, a small frown on her face.

a deep sigh leaves your lips and you nod, blowing a stray hair out of your face as you look back down at your schedule.

“yeah… my old school had just one hall. this building is huge,” you mutter.

“another freshman?” a honeyed voice asks. you turn your attention from aphmau to the taller boy she was with, restraining a sigh.

middle parted caramel hair framed his olive-tanned face, a few wavy and wispy strays brushing against his cheekbones as he flashed a charming smile at you. his grey-blue eyes seemed to reflect the light that bounced off of it, making them even more entrancing to look at. wow, is this what it’s like to have more than ten options of boys to look at every day? what’s with all the attractive guys in this school?

“oh, uh, i’m actually a sophomore, i moved here recently,” you say, biting at the inside of your cheek.

the boy’s smile widens.

“oh, really? can i see your schedule?”

you nod, passing the paper to him.

“well, looks like we’re in the same homeroom.” he says, passing the schedule back with a grin. “and a few other classes, too.”

“i was just guiding her to her class, and i can show you to our class after?” he suggests.

“yeah, that would be so great! thank you.”

we drop off aphmau at her homeroom, and she nervously turns back towards the two of you.

“sorry, i probably made you guys even more late to class.”

he chuckles and shakes his head. “oh no, don’t worry. i’m helping set up for the club social, and since she’s new here i’m sure she’ll get a free pass.”

aphmau nods, looking back at you again.

“i guess i’ll see you in a bit… later!”

you smile and wave. “see ya!”

you turn and glance up at the boy, who smiles and nods for you to follow him. he walks with one hand in his pocket, the other mindlessly twirling around a pencil.

“i’m laurance, by the way.” he says, his honeyed voice permeating into your ears once again.

you smile nervously, introducing yourself before asking him where you were going.

“our class is actually in the gym setting up right now. i’ll go with you to tell the teacher you’re here.”

“oh, thank you! that’s relieving.”

“it’s no problem.” there’s a small smirk on his lips as he glances down at me before we stop in front of the gym doors.

he pulls one open, suavely waving you forward as he holds the door for you. you shyly nod with a taut smile, stepping into the crowded and noisy gym. there were several booths lined up around the gym for different clubs and sports, and your eyes couldn’t decide where they wanted to land.

“come on, i think ms.peacock is over here.” you hear him say, and you nod while swallowing down your nerves.

trailing closely behind laurance, you tightly cross your arms over your chest. the voices of every student crowd your ears as you stare down at the backs of laurance’s shoes.

the shoes in front of you come to a stop, and you look up to see laurance looking back at you with a slightly concerned look on his face.

“…huh?” you mutter.

“are you okay?” he asks, offering a comforting smile. “i asked how you liked it here so far.”

“oh, it’s alright. i just,” you sigh, hesitating a second, “crowds aren’t my thing, usually.”

“well if anyone gives you a hard time you can tell me.” laurance tilts his head with a glimmer in his eyes that seemed much more genuine than before. it was a simple action that was way more attractive than it should’ve been.

“thanks.” you nod with a tight-lipped smile, knowing that you probably wouldn’t tell him. it was still nice knowing that the offer was there.

you make it over to a taller woman, who you assume is ms.peacock. the girl from earlier, teony, is handing her some copies before turning to face you two.

“hey, laurance. and the freshman from earlier! i didn’t catch your name, sorry.”

you step forward, and the three sets of eyes that land on you feel like pins sticking into your skin.

“i’m actually a sophomore. i moved here this summer,” you explain, giving them your name and popping your fingers as you talk.

teony’s almond eyes widen a fraction before she recovers, her bright smile from before returning.

“oh! it’s nice to meet you. you’re in our class, then. i remember seeing your name on the roster.”

“it’s nice to meet you too,”

you nod, turning your head to ms.peacock. kind brown eyes crinkled into a smile as she looked back, her short curly brown hair bouncing a bit as she nodded.

“and i’m sorry i’m late. i didn’t get a tour or anything before i came here and i was totally lost in the halls.” you say, your words coming out a bit rushed as you try to salvage what you can of your first impression.

she waves her hands dismissively with a light smile stretched on her lips. her voice is calm and quiet, with what sounded like a northeastern accent.

“that’s alright, just as long as it doesn’t happen again. i can tell that won’t be a problem, though.”

you nod at her words, feeling your shoulders relax. “no ma’am it won’t.“

whack!

you all turn your heads at the sound of a boy groaning and a girl’s laughter. you spot a familiar purple bow and raven hair leaning over a boy lying flat on the ground, hands gripping his shoulder. laurance is already beginning to walk over, and you turn to give a polite nod to the teacher before following behind. you begin to pick up on the conversation the closer you get.

“…hey! that’s not very nice of you!” aphmau’s voice pipes up.

the girl she’s talking to is tall, with long legs and an athletic build. long, powder-blue hair frames her pale face and high cheekbones, and her eyes crinkle in amusement as she looks down at aphmau. she lets out another laugh, one of her hands coming to her side.

“you gotta admit that was kinda funny.” she snickers, taking a breath to calm herself.

“no, it wasn’t!” the shorter girl defends, looking back down at the boy on the ground who looked like he was probably concussed. there was a grimace on his face and one of his hands was reaching up to cover his eyes.

“katelyn… don’t tease the freshman.” laurence’s voice chimes in his teasing and honeyed tone.

ice-blue eyes turn to the boy next to you.

“hey, come on. i’m teaching them tough love. they know i didn’t mean any harm in it.”

you raise one of your eyebrows, looking back down at the out-of-commission freshman on the ground.

“tell that to the dude’s face.” laurance quips sarcastically, and your lips quiver for a moment as you hold back a laugh.

the poor guy lets out a pathetic groan of pain, seeming pretty disoriented. how hard did he get hit?

laurance sighs pitifully. “we should take him to the nurse.”

katelyn mutters about it just being a scratch, putting her hands on her hips stubbornly before really getting a good look at the boy and grimacing.

“not everyone is as tough as you, katelyn.” 

you turn towards the familiar smooth voice from earlier, spotting the guy you ran into. garroth, that girl had said? aphmau flinches back with a small squeak, and you glance over at her reddened face from the side of your eye.

way to be obvious, girl.

“well if it isn’t prince charming.” katelyn teased sarcastically.

he lets out a short chuckle. “huh, i have a name, you know.”

katelyn rolls her eyes. “tell that to all the freshman girls gawking over you. i swear they don’t even wanna know your name.”

“jealous?” he teases with a joking smirk, raising an eyebrow playfully.

katelyn huffs an amused laugh and rolls her eyes, scoffing at his suggestion as if it was the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.

“i really couldn’t care less. you’re annoying.”

your lips press together in amusement. she was kind of funny. a little scary, but funny.

“don’t you have a booth to run?” garroth quips.

katelyn raises her eyebrows, her mouth dropping open.

“oh crud! that’s right,” her attention turns over to aphmau. “hey, little freshmen!”

“me?” aphmau stutters with a squeak, wringing her hands together as her wide amber eyes look up at the girl.

“yeah you,” katelyn sighs with an apologetic look on her face. “sorry about your friend there. stop by the volleyball club’s booth if you need someone to hang out with.”

that was… pretty nice actually.

“ah, there’s the sweet katelyn i know.” garroth’s deep voice smoothly remarks.

she rolls her eyes before saying something about her girls needing her and jogging away with a small “see ya!”

“alright then, i guess we should get him to the nurse, huh?” garroth asks, causing laurance to dramatically nod a sarcastic yes.

“like i said.”

you glance down at the boy with silvery-white hair who is still lying on the ground with a dizzied expression, and crouch down to help him sit up. 

he groans, peeking open his eyes to reveal striking green irises that were glazed over. he really must have taken a hit. you steady his shoulders and keep him from flopping back down.

“you okay…?”

“ugh… what?” he groans, blinking around the room that widen as they land on you.

laurance and garroth lean down next to you to help hoist the boy to his feet, each throwing one of his arms over their shoulder and walking him out of the gym.

aphmau and you glance at each other, both silently agreeing to follow them with a nod.

☆ 

garroth leaves the nurse’s office, walking over to laurance, aphmau, and you with his hands in his pockets.

“he’s fine. not concussed, just a victim of katelyn’s abnormally strong spike.” he says with a small chuckle.

“oh, good. i was worried.” aphmau sighs in relief.

you nod in agreement before laurance stretches out his arms and sighs.

“well, i should get back to my booth if everything’s good here,” he says, turning on his heel with a short wave. “i’ll see you guys later.”

“see ya.” you wave back, before turning back to the other two.

“he’s actually running a booth?” aphmau questions, tilting her head in curiosity.

garroth nods, crossing his arms as he leans against the wall.

“yeah. he’s the captain of the soccer team, so he’s repping for them at their booth.”

aphmau and you both hum in understanding. a beat later the nurse’s office door swings open, revealing travis with an ice pack on his less swollen and red cheek, but an optimistic grin on his face nonetheless.

“i’m all good, guys.” he says, his green braces adding to his boyish charm as he holds out a thumbs up.

you let out a small giggle, holding up a matching thumbs-up in return.

“let’s get you back to the social, then,” garroth says, beginning to walk back to the gym.

☆ 

“um, i’m sorry but i don’t think i got your name?” travis asks you.

you introduce yourself to the nervous-looking freshman.

“and you’re travis, right? it’s nice to meet you.”

“yeah! you too!” he flashes another metallic smile, before looking over at aphmau as you walk around the booths in the gym.

“who’s the dream boat you were drooling over?” travis questions, raising an eyebrow at the shorter girl. 

aphmau’s head whips back to you two, her amber eyes widening as her cheeks redden in embarrassment.

“what? i was not drooling,” she laughs nervously. “um, i mean… what we should be focusing on is if you’re feeling okay now.”

you and travis make brief eye contact, smirking and raising an eyebrow at aphmau’s flustered explanation. 

travis shrugs and nods, “i’m fine, i just feel like i got sucker punched in the face.”

“so, not really okay,” you chuckle.

“i’m sorry about earlier, travis. that must’ve been embarrassing.” aphmau sighs, her thin eyebrows raising with a grimace as if she were imagining herself in the situation.

“nah, it normally would’ve been embarrassing, but you guys helped me,” he says, looking at both of us. “plus, i was kinda r.k.o.’d, so i couldn’t really feel embarrassed or realize what was happening anyways.”

after walking around the social some more and encouraging travis to check out the theater club he was interested in, the bell rang.

☆

after being told—last minute—that you were supposed to go to your last class of the day before release, you managed to find the classroom for your geography class.

taking a deep breath, you walked into the room with shaky hands, glancing around the room to gratefully see the teacher wasn’t there yet. you press your lips together, trying to find a place to sit while your heart thuds in your chest.

“oh, hey.” you hear a familiar voice call out.

you turn to once again see laurance, garroth, and the katelyn girl from earlier sitting towards the back of the class. you grip onto your backpack strap as you walk over to them, giving a small wave.

garroth and laurance sit at two paired seats together while katelyn sits in the row in front, moving her backpack from the seat beside her.

“wanna sit next to me?” she asks, patting at the desk next to her. her voice sounds a lot deeper and calming than your earlier impression. 

you feel yourself physically deflate in relief, dropping your backpack onto the desk and sliding into the seat next to her.

“thanks. i was worried i’d have to sit alone.” you mutter, tugging on a strand of your hair.

“yeah, for sure. i didn’t catch your name earlier, by the way.”

you introduce yourself to her, feeling like you were repeating the same rehearsal over and over again.

“so, why did you move here?” laurance asks from behind you, making you shift in your seat to face both katelyn and the two boys behind you.

“oh, well… my mom got a new job here at the elementary, so we moved for her… mainly.” you say, picking at your nails. “we come from a really small town a little south from meteli.”

“oh, meteli? i lived there for a bit when i was little,” laurance chimes in. “there’s a lot of hills and country surrounding that area.”

“yeah, that area!” you nod.

the genuinely interested looks the three look at you with while you talk sends a shock through you, and not knowing how to respond you fumble to change the subject.

“uhh but what about you guys? have y’all known each other since last year?” you ask quickly, trying to ignore the pins and needles in your fingertips.

katelyn lets out a small giggle from next to me, and you turn to her with widened eyes, your blood draining from your face. was she laughing at you?

“hah. ‘y’all’. that’s so cute.” she smiles.

the blood rushes back to your face, and all at once. you can feel your face turning red, and you turn your head away as you bite your cheek, muttering a quiet “oh,” as you do.

you can hear both laurance and garroth laugh from behind you. 

“a country bumpkin in a big school. must be nerve-wracking.” laurance notes, resting his chin on his hand.

“yeah, i’m actually pretty awkward at making new friends, if you couldn’t tell.” you sigh, before clearing your throat. “uh, but you guys didn’t answer my question.”

garroth chuckles, leaning forward a bit in his chair.

“yeah. katelyn and i met when we were younger through our parents, but we all got to know each other last year.”

you nod, tilting your head as your eyebrows pinch together in thought. “and katelyn is the volleyball captain and laurance you’re the soccer captain, right? do you play any sports, garroth?”

you see laurance briefly smile wider, a genuine look flashing across his features. garroth also seems to smile a bit warmer at the question.

“yeah, i’m actually also a captain—of the baseball team.”

your eyebrows raise, a small “wow” coming from your lips.

“so y’all are all captains? as sophomores? that’s pretty cool.” you say with a look of wonder on your face.

katelyn smiles and looks like she’s about to say something before the teacher finally walks through the door. you flash her a small apologetic smile for being interrupted as the teacher starts passing out a syllabus and begins to instruct about class expectations.

☆ 

you didn’t catch aphmau to walk with on the way home, but in a way, you were relieved for the quiet time alone. you make your way into the empty house, sighing as you shuffle to your bedroom and slide your backpack to the floor.

flopping unceremoniously onto your bed, your droopy eyes close lazily as you let out a small groan of exhaustion. the late afternoon sun shines through your window, the sun rays warming your skin as you melt into your duvet.

despite feeling like you had run a social marathon, you also feel the satisfaction and pride of actually making a few friends today. hopefully, you won’t have to talk to that girl you met by the fountain again anytime soon.

before you could drift off completely in your after school nap, you get a buzz from your phone.

aphmau: hey! sorry we didn’t walk home together

you: oh it’s fine! we’ll probably be walking to and from school everyday so

you cringe after hitting the send button, quickly backtracking out of habit.

you: i mean, only if you want to! i understand if not

aphmau: that would be great!

you: okok cool

you: how was your last class btw?

aphmau: they put me in werewolf studies even though i’m not a werewolf, i don’t know why either

you: …if you’re not a werewolf then how were you even enrolled in that class??

aphmau: idk, that’s why i was confused!!

you: hahah awkwarddd

you: did you ask to switch?

aphmau: yeah, but i think i have to ask the office in the morning

you: i can go with you early if you want!

aphmau: really? that would make me feel a lot better!!

you: yeah for sure! just let me know when you’re about to leave in the morning and i’ll meet you

aphmau: wow, thank you so much!

aphmau: oh, how was your last class?

you: it was actually pretty okay!!

you: garroth, laurance, and the volleyball girl who spiked travis was in there haha they’re actually pretty cool

aphmau: poor travis hahaha

aphmau: that’s great though! i didn’t make any friends in my last class

aphmau: i sat by a guy who was really rude for no reason

aphmau: the guy who bumped into us in the morning!!!

you: ah :( sorry

you: hopefully they let you switch

you: i can’t see why they wouldn’t if you aren’t a werewolf, so don’t worry too much :)

aphmau: thanks, i really needed that

aphmau: i guess i’ll see you tomorrow?

you: yeah for sure!

☆  

“honey? you awake?”

your eyes nearly refuse to open as you lift your head from your bed, wiping the drool from your cheek. gross.

you turn to your doorway, where your mom is peeking through with a hand on her hip.

“now i am.” you croak, rubbing your eyes and groaning when you realize you still have your mascara on. 

“was school good?” she asks, giggling at your pain. 

you nod, giving her a small rundown of the day.

“see, i knew you would do well. have you eaten anything? i was going to make some spaghetti for dinner. your dad is at work late tonight, so it’s just us..”

you regretfully lift yourself off of the bed, shuffling behind her as she makes her way to the kitchen.

“how was your day?” you ask, setting out the pots she needs.

“oh, it was good. just exhausting. it always is at the beginning of the year,” she says, a small sigh leaving her mouth. “especially since parents are getting lazier every year. the first week is always more like a daycare until i get them used to my discipline system.”

you shake my head incredulously.

“i’m patient, but i don’t know how you do it. you’re crazy.” you mutter.

“any teacher willing to teach pre-k is crazy. it comes with the job description.” she winks, before a small fit of giggles leave her mouth.

you can’t help but laugh with her, interrupting her cooking with a hug. that familiar perfume mixed with her lotion relaxes you, and you resist the urge to tip over and pass out again. 

“i’m gonna take a shower.” you announce, padding back to your room.

“okay. don’t take up all the hot water!” she calls after you.

“i won’t!”

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.