#Sempai brings the sense

[admirableadmiranda]

Yes, all of this.

I still like to explore Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian as siblings in firm aus, I think they have the sort of dynamic that could have evolved that way if they were given more time without debts between them, but it couldn’t have happened in canon as it stood at the time of their deaths.

Wei Wuxian clearly thinks well of her later on, it’s her words that he uses to start teaching Jin Ling how to be a decent person, but their bond was much more that of the two who had such deep debts between them that it made it almost impossible to clear that hurdle for a healthier relationship, especially what with how their time living in the same place even started.

They respect each other, they understand each other. But siblings? Not really, siblings don’t hold such deep debts between each other, and lovers most certainly not. To hold onto such things and insist they must be repaid is not a loving action at all. It is an act of survival, and one that while they don’t begrudge each other, also cannot be erased until such time as there is nothing left to hold onto.

And sadly in universe they never got to live to see a world where such debts were cleared.

Actually. That last anon made me interested enough to break down why Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing have no romantic chemistry.

The major thing is, that from the start, Wei Wuxian is only enraptured by one person romantically in his life, even if he didn't realize what those feelings meant. This is shown from the start of when he is taken by Lan Wangji i the moonlight without even knowing his name, and when he is upset enough to truly pout at the thought of a handsome boy, ignoring him.

He has no such reflection about Wen Qing, for as lyrical as he is with flirting, he does not at all do the same in thought about any of the women in the work. He is not even our narrator in describing Wen Qing's appearance as that is left to our omniscient narrator for that. Each of their following interactions after this, are transactional.

First: When Wen Qing is persuaded by Wen Ning off screen to shelter Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng (and neither of them particularly catch her interest other than as an annoyance)

Second: Wei Wuxian transactionally talks her into the transfer, not out of emotional appeal, but out of the experimentation and her doctoral sensibility, he has no emotional attachment to her at all at this point and is himself suspicious of them as Wens until he is able to secure the deal of the core transfer.

Third: after years and meeting again. Unlike with Lan Wangji, who he didn't quite recognize at the archery competition, yet still makes a point of him being handsome, he only sees Wen Qing as weary until he can place a name to her in surprise, not longing or playful as he does with Lan Wangji, of his own volition.

Fourth: Is when, once again, transactionally she begs Wei Wuxian to not save all Wens as he had, but to help her find Wen Ning. Even with Wen Ning, Wei Wuxian raises him up as a fierce corpse, not for her, but due to the cruelty and horror inflicted upon Wen Ning that killed him as it had.

Fifth: He took the role of keeping the Wens safe, as he felt it was only morally right, despite his own voiced opinions that he wasn't exactly fond of any Wens, which at the time dis include Wen Ning and Wen Qing. But, his love of A-Tuan is what reflects his sentiment he expressed in the second chapter of not taking resentment out upon the children of parents that may have helped to kill him.

Sixth: It is not the supposed death of Wen Qing that is what makes him admit to his frustrations with the cultivation world, it is the world's hypocrisy to paint itself as just and deny the right of natural morality to give humans over greed and ignorance.

If he did carry a romantic torch for Wen Qing, it would have been easily explored as a valid bi triangle. But, given his heavy comphet he displays, he is not romantically inclined towards her. Anything of sentimental romantic thought is left for the absence of Lan Wangji in his life. It is a stretch to call what is canonically showed between Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian as sibling like as well, as there was always the barrier of transactional speeches between them. For the two, it was business, until they could see the other as just another person, with their own thoughts. Neither of these two thought of the other as more, and when that was acknowledged, it was nothing deeper than just that.

[isekai-crow]

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

I didn't go into this expecting much, because you can almost never tell if an isekai is going to be good or not (and all the subjectivity that comes with the term 'good'.)

This looks like it's gonna be hella fun.

Overall Score so far: 7.5/10

The summoning to another world as "Heros" to defeat the "Demon King" is your standard isekai plot. It's not original, but it's a good basis for a story, if that's not all there is to the premise. I'm looking forward to how this will get it's own unique twist.

The initial vibes I was getting from it were a mix of

a bad reminiscence of the beginning of "Rise of the Shield Hero" where I was worried that healing magic would be considered a bad or weak ability, and our main character Usato would be looked down on. AND

The great impression of "Wow, I want the Student President Inumaki and Vice President Kazuki to become a poly ship with Usato." I'm just gonna head cannon that the whole way though, thank you very much, they have great vibes together!

I'm thankful the first didn't come to pass, and that the second is going to be the basis for fanfic I look for in the future lol. But also, I hope the Demon King is fun, and that the fox girl doesn't bring any Loli vibes into this.

The green-haired Rose, a healing magic user who is going to train our intrepid healing hero, is the only Voice Actor that popped out at me. Which makes sense, as going through the other voices, it's a lot of small time or up and coming VAs! They're all doing a fantastic job though.

But Rose.

For a second I thought it was the Headmaster from Season 2 of Ancient Magus Bride, as she have a similar low and husky voice. But no, we have Tanaka, Atsuko - The voice of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, and where I recognized her from, Hanami from Jujutsu Kaisen!!! She has a very long record of supporting roles in so many anime, and I really like her voice, so I'm glad I get to listen to it here~

Episode 1 Spoilers Below!

Youve got your standard typical kid who is So Normal, and you have the Amazing and Loved By Everyone Student Body Council members, who everyone thinks are dating, and are just So Pretty and Smart and Good At All The Things.

I love how they are both interested in Usato for treating them like normal people, because as we find out, they are just typical high school students. And while they are not actually dating, just spend a lot of time together, I could absolutely peg these two as swingers looking for a third member, and that's all just delusions on my part hahahaha.

Inumaki-sempai, the Student President, is a secret Chu-Ni-Byo, or one of those edgelord kids doing the naruto run and unironically thinks they have special powers to move things with their eyes. It's a phase everyone goes through, even if they won't admit it. But she is SO HYPE to be in an isekai, and I'm right there with her. I would totally react the same way.

And of course, to feed her Chunibyo tendancies, which are immediately spotted by Usato whose image of her is shattered (good, please see her as human), she's gained the power of Lightning Magic. All she needs now is an eye patch and some bandages on her hand, along with manical laughter.

Kazuki, her second in command, seems like a typical Popular Guy, but I love that when he's getting heated over their nonconsensual summoning (despite Inumaki getting hyped in the backgroun), Usato stepping in to calm him down and point out that there is no use getting worked up, is such a good base jumping point for where things will go from here. He's not a particularly interesting character yet, but he's a good guy who wants to protect those around him. It makes sense that he gets Light Magic.

I love that Kazuki has NO IDEA what an Isekai is, and is like - "Light magic... I can blind people I guess???" Has he never even played Dragon Quest? lmao

Usato of course, gets something different, and everyone flips out. He then stops being able to read the room and puts himself in his own situation by mentioning as such in front of Rose, despite the king and magic nun trying to dissuade her from finding out. He's a Super Duper Rare Healing Magic user, because of course he is. He's Protag-kun. But it's fun to see the "tag along" who DIDN'T HEAR THE HERO BELLS WHEN SUMMONED get such a unique skill.

Bless this sweetheart. I hope they can become an awesome trio.

I can't wait to watch episode 2, and see if we get some actual twisted ways to use healing magic to fight.

My hopes for how Healing Magic can be used "incorrectly"

up someone's internal organs with a punch

be able to manipulate their blood or body water content to kill, OR

just toughen this kid up into a fighter who can heal all the damage he takes and turn him into a tank rather than just a support. ZOMBIE FIGHTING STYLE

Either way, I'm gonna enjoy this one!!

ep2 ep3 ep4 ep5 <- these will be links eventually

[indzae-mayumi]

Comfortable Silence

(Sendoh x Rukawa fanfic, though this is more of a friendship fanfic)

(A "Slam Dunk" fanfic. "Slam Dunk" is by Inoue Takehiko)

****

It was a few minutes after the head of the summer sunrise appeared. Yet, the sky still displayed some bits of red orange and purple on the horizon. There were a few people already hanging out by the beach, as it was still too early in the morning. They wanted to have the first taste of the cold waters of the sea before everyone else could.

In a different location, still fronting the beach, a lone figure spent his early morning by fishing. It was Sendoh, and he woke up early just for this. Everybody knew he often woke up late, but for fishing, he would sometimes give up his sleep for it. It was a Sunday, and he called off basketball practices the day before despite the fact that teams from other schools still practiced on Sundays.

"But it is Sunday, and I want to hang out just by myself," Sendoh thought as he yawned. "I wish Taoka-sensei will make Koshino as the captain."

It seemed like ages (even though he had been there just thirty minutes ago), but no fish had taken his bait. Probably, the fishes had gone smarter and thought it should be they who should throw a bait at him. And if he takes the bait, the fishes will have to offer this handsome young man to a mermaid princess.

Sendoh thought amusingly at his silly thoughts. Alone, he would often indulge in silly fantasies like this just to prevent himself from falling asleep in public places, unlike someone he knew...

And it happened that this "someone" arrived. Sendoh was already accustomed to the light ringing of a bell, and he knew it was Rukawa because the ace of Shohoku attached a bell to his pink bike. It was like he did just that to let everyone know that the notorious sleepyhead will be passing through. The spiky-haired ace of Ryonan turned his head and smiled when he knew he was right. It indeed was Rukawa, bringing with him his Walkman. He called Rukawa the night before, inviting him for an early morning fishing. Rukawa agreed to meet him at that hour.

"Ohayou," Sendoh greeted.

"Ohayou," Rukawa replied as he squatted beside Sendoh.

The relationship of these two started out just as rivals from different schools, but it got a bit stranger when Rukawa, who hated long distances, went all the way to Ryonan just to challenge Sendoh to a one-on-one game. And the kitsune was not contented. He often asked Sendoh to play ball with him on an open court nearby. Without having many friends , Sendoh obliged. After all, he had started to like the challenges that this certain jet black-haired pale guy brought, and he felt that a different kind of friendship between them started to blossom. On days when Sendoh would decline because he would go fishing, Rukawa would just tag along, bringing with him his Walkman and his bike.

Sendoh welcomed the silent company of this arrogant and seemingly irritated freshman, for Rukawa was not one to talk much. Rukawa sometimes complained that Sendoh talked too much, but the latter would only smile and shut up. Rukawa, on the other hand, liked hanging out with Sendoh because, unlike his Shohoku teammates (the patient Yasuda included), Sendoh would seldom ask him anything, especially if the sophomore was also deep in thought while fishing.

Sendoh noticed that Rukawa had already blasted some rock music from his Walkman, and despite the intimacy Rukawa wanted with his music, Sendoh had good sense of hearing, except when it means instructions from Taoka-sensei.

"New rock song?"

"Hmm," Rukawa remarked. "Kogure-sempai introduced me to this band."

"Kogure-san?" Sendoh asked in surprise. He did not know that the soft-spoken vice captain of Shohoku liked rock music. If there were someone who he thought would have indulged in such genre, it would have been Sakuragi, Mitsui, or Miyagi.

He was stunned when Rukawa offered the other half of his earbud, for Rukawa rarely shared anything. Sendoh took the earbud and placed it in his left ear while holding the fishing pole with his other hand. He was not prepared, for the volume was a bit too loud for his taste. And it was still early morning, for crying out loud.

"It's too loud," he told Rukawa.

Without apologizing, Rukawa adjusted the volume of his Walkman.

"Better. Arigatou," Sendoh replied. "You and Kogure-san have the same music taste?"

But Rukawa only nodded. Sendoh was used to Rukawa's nonchalance and his tendency to not reply verbally. Both of them liked it that way. And so, while Rukawa enjoyed the blasting of the rock song on his eardrum on one ear, Sendoh enjoyed daydreaming about the fishes he would get if they take his bait. He thought if he could sell some of his fishes to Uozumi so that the former captain could make sushi exclusively for him. And so, the two of them stayed like this for some minutes.

"Is this Wands?" Sendoh asked, getting only a nod from the younger guy. "I hear their songs on the radio all the time. Man, I think Wesugi Show has a cool voice."

"Kogure-sempai thought the same," Rukawa talked at length. "It's why he introduced me to this band."

Sendoh knew that Rukawa was a casual fan of X Japan, and he was a bit glad that this prickly guy could take some recommendations from a sempai. The two of them went silent again, indulging in their own separate worlds. After a few minutes, a familiar voice called out to them, though it was only Sendoh who turned around, for Rukawa did not bother to.

"Kiyota-kun?" Sendoh asked with a smile at the approaching Kainan freshman, who probably went jogging that morning, as evidenced by his jogging attire.

"Is this a party or what?" Kiyota asked Sendoh before he noticed a familiar mop of jet black hair. "And my basketball rival is here too!"

"Tsh," Rukawa clicked his tongue.

"Oy! Don't ignore me!" Kiyota complained as he took his seat beside Sendoh. He liked to sit beside the sophomore, for Sendoh had a better mood than Rukawa.

"I thought you were with Jin-kun," Sendoh remarked. "I often saw you hanging out together. Or jogging in the morning."

"Jin told me last night that he'd be hanging out with Fukuda-san today," Kiyota said. "You know, middle school catching up."

"They're friends?" was Sendoh's stunned reply. Of course, he didn't know. He didn't bother to really get to know his teammates personally, except maybe Koshino (as Sendoh had a slight crush on Koshino's cousin, who was also their classmate).

"Yeah," Kiyota remarked. And then, as if his monkey senses were acting up, he looked at Sendoh again and asked. "What are you listening to?"

Sendoh replied while pointing at Rukawa with his thumb, "Rukawa's blasting some Wands songs on his Walkman now."

"Wow! I love Wands too!" Kiyota remarked while bragging about his collection of cassette tapes.

Sendoh only listened while laughing occasionally, for he was not one to really listen to music. His life choices were simpler than most of his friends, such as the plain black color of his basketball shoes and wanting time for himself. The only extravagant thing he did for himself is indulging on his hair.

"Bragging monkey," Kiyota heard Rukawa mumble.

"Nandato???!!!!" Kiyota screamed, for he heard that.

"Maa, maa, let's not fight, shall we? It's too early, and should you be eating insults for breakfast?" the sophomore told them with a smile on his face as he raised his one palm up to pacify them (as the other one was still holding his fishing pole). Then, turning his attention back to Kiyota, he asked what the Kainan small forward had been doing lately.

"Basketball practices, of course," Kiyota remarked. "We will be joining the Winter Invitational. And oh, we might be joining the National Sports Festival too."

Kiyota looked at his watch before standing up and wiping the dirt off his pants, "Sorry, Sendoh-san. I really should go now. Maki-san promised to treat me breakfast today."

"Lucky," was all Sendoh said with a smile.

Kiyota bid the two guys goodbye, but he also hurled some mean stuff at Rukawa, who only looked at him with disdain. That wild monkey. As the Kainan small forward went on his merry way, Rukawa heaved a sigh. It was not always like this when people would intrude his alone time with Sendoh. He'd prefer that someone silent would join them but not talk to them.

"Oy! Is that Rukawa?" a familiar shrill voice came up.

Rukawa and Sendoh simultaneously turned their heads to see Sakuragi's gundan, without Sakuragi. Rukawa realized that the voice was from Takamiya. Of course, he would know. Despite the fact that Rukawa didn't seem to care, he would know the names of the gundan because Sakuragi would often shout at them during practices the moment they would get any chance to make fun of him.

"Jaa, we're only jogging and passing by. We won't disturb you," Yohei said.

Rukawa somehow appreciated Yohei's sense to read the room. Among Sakuragi's friends, it was only Mito Yohei that Rukawa probably liked the most because Yohei was sensible and perceptive.

"We'll be visiting Hanamichi later at the rehab," Noma said as he approached the duo, despite Yohei silently giving them signs not to. "It's a pleasure to meet Sendoh-san up close."

"Oh, thank you," Sendoh said with his usual friendly smile. "And you might be--?"

"Hanamichi's friends," Oukusu remarked, though he thought Sendoh must not have paid attention when Noma said that they would be visiting Sakuragi.

Noma asked to shake Sendoh's hand, which the latter obliged. Oukusu and Takamiya approached too, and asked for a handshake. Despite wanting to leave already, Yohei also approached Sendoh to shake his hand.

"I'm not a celebrity, omaera," he genially informed them.

"Don't be so humble, Sendoh-san," Yohei remarked. "You are a celebrity. Everyone who knows about basketball in Kanagawa knows about the Ryonan ace. And we rarely get to see you out like this."

Sendoh only smiled and said his thanks. The gundan casually made some friendly remarks at Rukawa, who only nodded at them.

"How's Sakuragi-kun, by the way?" Sendoh asked. "I heard he hurt his back during the game with Sannoh."

"Yeah, it was unfortunate," Takamiya said while looking at Rukawa a bit. He was glad that his glasses prevented the kitsune from knowing that he was being carefully watched. "But damn! He was still able to continue playing."

Sendoh grimaced. "It must have hurt a lot." And he looked at Rukawa.

Rukawa looked back at him. Despite wearing that poker face, Sendoh could see that Rukawa probably was wondering how how his life would be if he were to stop playing basketball for a longer time due to an injury. Sendoh knew that Rukawa also got injured and passed out during a game against Toyotama because Minami, the ace killer, knocked him down during the first half of the game. Sendoh knew that the two first year players were not friends, but he could see some kind of worry etched on Rukawa's eyes.

Turning back to the gundan, Sendoh remarked in his usual gleeful manner, "Send my regards to Sakuragi-kun. I expect him to fully recover. I am anticipating how he would take me down."

"That man is intense," was all Yohei could say, but with a laugh.

Finally, Yohei said they should really get going now, and they did, leaving the two aces to their own devices. Kanagawa might be large, but the basketball world was small that players (or their friends and fans) get to see each other any time at random.

It was as if fate had wanted them to meet and be friends outside the basketball court. Sendoh was originally from Tokyo before he moved to Kanagawa because Taoka-sensei recruited him. He had a few friends in Tokyo, though because of basketball, he met a lot of interesting friends in Kanagawa. Also, as he loved the sea, he settled in Kanagawa just perfectly.

As for Rukawa, the few moments of silence pacified his mind and heart. At least, it was getting to be peaceful around the vicinity between him and Sendoh, for it was far from the beach where the beachgoers were hanging out.

"Eh??? Is that Rukawa-kun?" a familiar yet irritating voice came up.

Sendoh turned around, but Rukawa didn't. The Shohoku ace instantly knew who that voice belonged to. It was from one of his stupid fan girls who kept dancing and chanting during his practice sessions at the gym and during Shohoku's games. Sendoh noticed that Rukawa didn't turn around to acknowledge the three girls who were standing from where they were situated in.

"Hi girls," Sendoh greeted them, and the three girls squealed in delight. Should they be jumping from Rukawa to Sendoh now?

The three of them walked hastily in delight towards the duo and asked for a handshake from Sendoh, who told them, like he told the gundan, that he was not a celebrity. After shaking Sendoh's hand and thanking him for being kind to them, the three of them flocked towards Rukawa and gushed at how cute he looked with his usual violet jogging outfit.

"Rukawa, why don't you say hi to them?" Sendoh asked in amusement. "It's probably a rare opportunity to have them see you this close."

Rukawa turned to one of them and said a curt hi, but the girls just squealed all the more and asked for a handshake. He noticed that, like Kiyota and the gundan, the three girls had been out early for a morning exercise because of their outfit. The ace did not want to give in, but because Sendoh was looking at him as if to tell him he should be nice, Rukawa sighed and gave his hand to shake his fan girls' hands. The girls quarreled among themselves as to who should shake his hand first, but the girl with the long hair shook his hand first. And then the other two followed.

"Kyaaaa!!!! Thank you so much, Rukawa-kun! We won't wash our hands!"

Rukawa only sighed, but Sendoh laughed in amusement.

"You should, I suggest," he told them. "It's to prevent you from getting sick, you know?"

"Hai~," the girls answered in unison before they resumed to shouting kyaaa.

"Rukawa-kun, tomorrow is my birthday," the one with short hair said.

"Advanced happy birthday," Rukawa replied, and he got a shrill squeal from the short-haired girl.

"I am inviting you to...." she began again.

"Oy, tomorrow is a Monday," the one with two ponytails admonished her. "He will be practicing at the gym."

"Is it a birthday party invitation?" Sendoh asked them, and they all nodded. Turning to Rukawa, he told his silent friend. "Why don't you go? It might be fun."

"I'm busy, sorry," was all the kitsune replied.

Sendoh looked at the girls apologetically and shrugged, as if telling them that they should get used to Rukawa's cold treatment. The girls still squealed because they were able to see Rukawa on their summer break, and they finally bid the two handsome aces goodbye before going to wherever they were heading to.

"You should be nice to them," Sendoh said to his friend.

"As if," was all Rukawa said in return.

Sendoh often gave tips to Rukawa regarding basketball, but with regards to the kitsune's personal life, Sendoh was not one to trespass. After all, he did not want people to know much about him too.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Sendoh realized that the music from his earbud stopped. He turned to see Rukawa opening his Walkman and turning his tape around. Side B, Sendoh mused. As Rukawa pressed play on his music device, Sendoh's mind flew away again towards the sea, still wondering why no fish had taken his bait. There was no full moon last night, and the fishes should have been swimming merrily at sea today. But he was a patient man, and patience is a virtue.

"Still no fish?" Rukawa finally spoke up.

"Nope."

And another minutes of stillness. As for Rukawa, this was heaven. Peace and music and the sea. There were no other people further disturbing him and Sendoh while they were passing time just appreciating the beauty of the azure waters of the sea. Finally, Rukawa announced that he brought drinks for him and Sendoh, knowing that it was a summer day, and it would get too hot later during the day. It was already almost six-thirty in the morning, and each of them knew already that they both were not breakfast people. Rukawa handed the Walkman to Sendoh, who took it with his free hand and placed it in his lap. Rukawa stood up and went over to his bike, checking out his bike basket for the drinks he had prepared for them both. As he started grabbing two cans of their favorite fruit drink, he noticed two tall men jogging by. The two men did not seem to see him or notice him at all, for they were busy discussing something.

The two were Shoyo's Hanagata and Fujima.

Rukawa froze in place, hoping that the two seniors would not notice him. And so engrossed were Hanagata and Fujima with their discussion that they did not notice Rukawa or Sendoh. Indeed the two Shoyo players continued jogging without stopping. The kitsune heaved a sigh of relief, for he did not want to engage in small talk, even with those two. Finally, he took the drinks to where he and Sendoh hung out, sat on the cemented ground, and opened them both before handing one to Sendoh, who dexterously drank with one hand while holding the fishing pole with the other. Rukawa took the Walkman from Sendoh's lap, put the other earbud on his right ear, and took a swig from his own drink. What occurred afterwards were another moments of silence.

"Eh... Rukawa-kun?" a gentle feminine voice called out to him, and he could clearly hear it.

Sendoh turned around to see a young woman with beautiful bright round eyes and almost-shoulder length brown hair. Unlike with the fan girls, Rukawa turned his head and nodded at the "intruder."

It was Haruko. She was already the assistant manager of the Shohoku basketball team, and the two of them were already more acquainted than when Haruko was just mainly at the sidelines. Haruko also noticed that Sendoh was beside Rukawa, so she took a bow and greeted the sophomore. She introduced herself to Sendoh formally.

"Care to join us?" Sendoh asked amiably.

He noticed that Haruko was in her casual clothes, and she was bringing a small basket of goods. It looked like she had been to the market early.

"Ah, I won't be long, Sendoh-san," Haruko said with a blush, for Sendoh's smile was cool and sweet. "I am actually going home to fix breakfast. And we will be preparing the house."

"Such a nice kid you are," Sendoh replied casually, still in a friendly manner.

The two guys noticed Haruko approaching them, and they noted (or Rukawa probably did not care) that the girl in front of them was fidgeting.

"Anou, Rukawa-kun, uhm... Onii-chan is holding a small party tonight. Just a little party. So, I am inviting you and... I am inviting you too, Sendoh-san! I am sure Onii-chan would not mind. He invited Uozumi-san too!"

"Uozumi-sempai?" Sendoh asked in happy surprise. "That's great! I'll be seeing him, then. Thanks for the invite."

"Hai..." she replied. Then, turning to Rukawa, she asked him, "Would you go tonight?"

Rukawa nodded and replied in English, "Yes."

"You remembered our address, ne?"

And a nod from him. Haruko beamed when she finally got a proper interaction with her crush. She bid the two handsome aces goodbye and went on her way home.

When Haruko's silhouette was getting farther, Sendoh noted that Rukawa was still looking back at her. The Ryonan ace smirked, sensing something from the Shohoku ace. So, he teased him when he spoke.

"You like her?"

Rukawa instantly turned around, but he was not able to retort. Instead, what Sendoh saw was an obvious blush on Rukawa's face. Of course, it was plain to see. It was already morning, and Rukawa's face was so pale that someone could see his blushes, which rarely came. And instead of denying, Rukawa nodded.

"When did you go to Akagi-san's house?"

"Before the Interhigh."

"What for?"

"Tutorial."

"With her?"

And a nod.

Sendoh smiled again. Rukawa had many chances with girls. Why could he not try to get to know the assistant manager, then?

"You never shared me about your crushes, while I told you about Koshino's cousin. Say, when did you like Haruko-san?"

"Dunno," Rukawa remarked. "I guess it started when I heard that she started writing to the do-ahou."

"Oh, jealous, I see," Sendoh teased him. "That's cute. But I guess you're not seeing her that often because of the camp."

The All-Japan Junior Camp. Sendoh was a bit envious of Rukawa because the latter was noticed during the Interhigh during the game against Sannoh, and the All-Japan team reached out to him. Meanwhile, the Ryonan ace who Rukawa had never managed to beat, did not get an invitation by the exclusive team. Nevertheless, he was happy for his silent friend.

"Does Akagi-san know about your crush on his sister?"

"Gori... er, Akagi-captain doesn't know," Rukawa replied. "Ah, sorry, Miyagi-sempai is now captain."

Sendoh laughed very, very heartily. He knew it was Sakuragi who often bellowed "Gori, Gori!" at Akagi, who often punched Sakuragi for embarrassing him in front of the crowd. But that moniker stuck like gum, and even Rukawa had accidentally called Akagi as "Gori" in front of Sendoh. And not only that, Rukawa forgot that Miyagi was now captain of their club.

As for Rukawa, Sendoh's boisterous laughter sometimes annoyed him, but it also comforted him because he did not have another friend like Sendoh at the camp.

As of this time, like some rare times, Rukawa had a break from practices with the camp, which is why he could hang out with Sendoh like this (of course, he let Sendoh know of his schedules), or hang out at the Shohoku gym to catch up with the people there. He still wore his usual cold air around people, but his teammates in Shohoku were what he cherished most in his heart that he would go back to them when time allowed. And of course, there's also his unusual friendship with Sendoh.

And Sendoh sighed, "I miss being so carefree. I should tell Taoka-sensei to let Koshino be our team captain, and Uekusa or Fukuda as vice captain."

Rukawa only listened attentively. After airing his grievances, Sendoh looked back at the sea to enjoy the view and wonder where the fishes were. By now, he could have caught some fishes already. Rukawa also looked at the view as he continued listening to Wesugi Show's voice over his earbud. The two friends continued to spend their time silently together and in their own thoughts, wishing that no other friend or acquaintance would disturb them this time.

--end--

[graciellasamma]

Persona (series) x KR Ghost x Yokai Watch

Status:

Name: Takeru Tenkuji

Nicknames: Take-kun, Sempai, Shuichi-sama, Pumpkin Face, Ghost Boy

Codename: Ghost

Age: 18-19

Gender: Male

Species: Human//Ghost

Home Residence: Daitenku Temple, in Taito City, Tokyo, Japan

Ethnicity: Japanese

Native Language(s)//Language(s) Spoken: Japanese, English, Spanish, French

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Birthday: October 31st

Blood Type: O

Appearance:

Hair Color: White

Eyes Color: Purple

Height: 6'8"

Weight: 96 kg

Handedness: Ambidextrous

Species: Human, Ghost (Temporary), Ganma-Youkai Hybrid (Previously)

Body Build: Lanky but bit of a muscle

Scars//Tattoes: Despite he is a ghost he still has the scar from the Shadow who killed him

Style Dress: Regular Clothes, School Outfit, Phantom Thief Attire, Phantom Thief Mask

Voice: Masahiro Itou (JPN) / Sam Duke (ENG)

Personality:

Takeru is generally calm, but he can be mostly hot-headed, energetic, impatient, and carefree. Despite his quirks and the criticism, Takeru is said to have a personality that draws people to him, inspiring friendship and loyalty through acts of genuine kindness that could change a person's worldview and thus build meaningful relationships that he lacked in early life; Takeru deeply cherishes these bonds and will go to great lengths to protect them, best seen with Makoto when he tried to still his Eyecons and Tohru when he was been manipulated by Saionji when he control him with the power of Dark Ghost. Likewise, even in the face of people close to him committing horrible deeds, Takeru remains loyal to them, pushing aside his grief enough to see the nature of what they did. Along with this nature, he is extremely perceptive, able to notice the smallest of details from a quick observation. From this, he can quickly discern the nature of a person and their life to make correct conclusions on situations at hand.

After he became Ghost, Takeru's personality suffered a main change. He became even more friendly and wise, retaining his carefree Nature, but to a lower degree. Another good point in him is that this made him capable of recognizing a person and their potential, something he saw in��Kosuke Kimijima and his skill in playing piano. This made the girls (Rise, Yoko, and Shia) develop a crush on him, something he's oblivious to, but later in "Enma Daio to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan!" he started to slowly notice, mostly in Rise.

Takeru also seems to get angered by anyone who does not value their own life or the lives of others, as being dead has given him the perspective to cherish/protect all life and enjoy the time he has left while trying to restore himself. This trait seems to override his common sense at times, as he is willing to put his own existence in jeopardy to save someone's life such as Kanon Fukami.

Favorite(s)//Like(s): His friends and family, Youkai, Ghost, Mythical beings, Legends, History, Acting, Eating food

Least(s)//Dislike(s): His friends and family being hurt, Vegetables, People who don't value life, Corrupt people, Police, Masayoshi Shido, People who abuse others

Hobbies//Habit(s): Singing, Playing his guitar and violin

Talent(s): Nagisa Shiota-Style of assassination, Persona-Dex

Dreams//Goals: Find the 15 Heroic Eyecons to make a wish to bring himself back to life and live his life to the fullest without any regret.

Fears: Not able to finish the deadline and leaving his friends behind.

Character's Mind:

Guts: 5/5

Charm: 3.5/5

Kindness: 4/5

Proficiency: 3/5

Intelligence: 4/5

Character's Combat Status

Agility: 8/10

Strength: 6/10

Tricky: 7/10

Attk Power: 7.5/10

Dfns Power: 5/10

Health Bar: 568/999

SP/Mana Bar: 320/999

Cognition:

Arcana: Fool//Death//World//Hope//Wildcard

Melee: Gan Gun Saber//Sunglassesslasher

Gun: Gan Gun Saber//Sunglassesslasher

Velvet Room: Train

Velvet Attendant: Eve

Awakening: Takeru awakens his Persona after he is killed by a Ganma but doesn't want to die yet, that's when he meets his shadow, who asks him whether he is willing to accept his fate, which Takeru doesn't, that's when they make a vow and where he awakens his Persona and gain the power of Kamen Rider Ghost.

Persona: 1. Orpheus Picaro (Fool) Weak: Curse Repel: Elec Null: Bless - Agidyne - Cadenza - Maragidyne - Repel Electricity - Fire Boost - Fire Amp - Endure - Tarunda 2. Thanatos Picaro (Death) Resist: Phys Repel: Curse - Door of Hades - One-shot Kill - Bloodbath - Charge - Ghastly Wail - Almighty amp - Enduring Soul - Apt Pupil Evo) Messiah Picaro (World//Hope) Evolve from Orpheus and Thanatos Resist: Fire, Ice, Electric, Wind, Psy, Nuc Repel: Bless, Curse - Megidolaon - Oratorio - Firm Stance - Enduring Soul - Spell Master - Repel Curse - Magic Ability - Almighty Amp 3. Black Frost (Fool) Repel: Fire, Curse Drain: Ice Null: Nuc - Diamond Dust - Ice Age - Ice Amp - Ice Boost - Freeze Boost - Miracle Punch - Apt Pupil - Magic Ability 4. Metatron (Justice) Weak: Elec Drain: Psy, Wind Null: Curse - Salvation - Angelic Grace - Makougaon - Debilitate - Spell Master - Dodge Phys - Bless Amp - Concentrate 5. Titania (Empress) Weak: Psy Null: Nuc, Bless, Curse - Mafriendyne - Friedyne - Ice Age - Dormina - Nuke Amp - Mediarahan - Marakukaja - Sukunda 6. Seth (Tower) Weak: Bless Resist: Curse Repel: Fire Null: Wind, Psy - Riot Gun - Gun Boost - One-shot Kill - Gun Amp - Maragidyne - Null Physical - Trigger Happy - High Counter 7. Cybele (Priestess) Resist: Fire Repel: Elec Null: Bless - Salvation - Vacuum Wave - Panta Rhel - Wind Boost - Wind Amp - Magic Ability - Spell Master - Repel Elec 8. Beelzebub (Devil) Repel: Bless, Curse Drain: Fire - Maeigoan - Death Flies - Demonic Decree - Repel Bless - Magic Ability - Mudo Boost - Curse Boost - Curse Amp 9. Fafnir (Hermit) Resist: Electric Repel: Phys, Gun Drain: Fire, Nuc - Cosmic Flare - Debilitate - Psycho Force - Atomic Flare - Magic Ability - Nuke Amp - Nuke Boost - Spell Master 10. Kohryu (Hierophant) Repel: Electric Null: Psy, Bless Drain: Nuc - Psycho Blast - Psy Boost - Psy Amp - Life Aid - Spell Master - Magic Ability - Drain Nuclear - Concentrate 11. Yatagarusu (Counciller) Drain: Curse, Wind Null: Bless - Magarudyne - Drain Curse - Sukukaja - Mediarahan - Regenerate 3 - Wind Amp - Drain Wind - Dekunda 12. Sraosha (Star) Repel: Bless Drain: Curse - Hama Boost - Hamaon - Debilitate - Makougaon - Angelic Grace - Amrita Shower - Drain Curse - Bless Amp 13. Quetzalcoatl (Sun) Weak: Psy Resist: Wind Null: Fire - Garudyne - Magarula - Memory Blow - Endura - Agidyne - Heat Up - Defense Master - Growth 3 14. Alice (Death) Repel: Bless, Curse Null: Psy, Nuc - Die For Me! - Megidolaon - Almighty Boost - Almighty Amp - Mudo Boost - Spell Master - Repel Bless - Survival Trick 15. Cerberus (Chariot) Weak: Ice Resist: Nuc Drain: Fire - Vorpal Blade - Blazing Hell - Firm Stance - Arms Master - High Counter - Fire Boost - Fire Amp - Enduring Soul 16. Baal (Emperor) Resist: Bless Drain: Wind - Vacuum Wave - Charge - Ayamur - Panta Rhei - Apt Pupil - Magic Ability - Wind Boost - Wind Apt

Relationship:

Father: Ryu Tenkuji

Mother: Yuna Tenkuji

Sibling(s): Toshiro Kasukabe (cousin/older brother figure), Makoto Fukama (older brother figure), Kanon (younger sister figure)

Uncle(s)//Aunt(s): Takuto Maruki (uncle), Chisato Dojima (aunt), Ryotaro Dojima (step-uncle), Yuki Kasukabe (aunt), Toshiki Kasukabe (step-uncle), Rumi Amamiya (step-aunt), Tohru Adachi (step-uncle)

Nephew(s)//Niece(s)//Cousin(s): Toshiro Kasukabe (cousin/older brother figure), Ren Amamiya (cousin), Nanako Dojima (cousin)

Best Friends: Ren Amamiya, Teddie, Ryuji Sakamoto, Toru Fuse

Friends: Whisper, Yurusen, Onari Yamanoichi (guardian/friend), Rika Ryuzouji, Ririn Ueda, Shiang Sun, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, Gakuto Inoue, Vince, Honey Sweet, Morgana, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura, Kosuke Kimijima, Yoko Kimijima

Love Interest: None

Backstory:

Before he was known as Takeru Tenkuji he was also known as Shuichi a hybrid of Ganma and a Youkai, as well as the protector of peace in both the Youkai World and Ganma World, thanks to his Persona Messiah, and thanks to him the Ganma worship Shuichi as if he is a God, but he sadly passed away due to an unknown illness, which he was poisoned by Adel, then he reincarnated as a human named Takeru Tenkuji and Messiah for some reason has been split into two.

His past is almost the same as the canon, as his father, Ryu Tenkuji, was killed by a Ganma and Takeru has been living with his uncle, Takuto Maruki, and Ryu disciple, Onari Yamanoichi, at Daitenku Temple. Since then he hardly sees his cousin, Toshiro Kasukabe, whom he sees as an older brother like Makoto Fukami before he and Kanon disappear, and Ryotaro and Nanako have been visiting the Temple more often to make sure that Takeru is okay, as well to Ryotaro have them babysit Nanako for him while he still working to find his late-wife and his step-brother killer.

As he grew up he started to hear voices but he couldn't see anything until he met Ren on the train with his uncle Takuto when they were about to go to Shujin together as Takeru wanted to go there to visit his old school and Takuto was about to work there as their councilor. That's when he, Takuto, Ren, and another boy named Ryuji Sakamoto found themself in front of a castle which is ruled by the perverted king, who is also the volleyball team coach, Suguru Kamoshida. When they're inside the dungeon, Kamoshida is about ready to kill Ryuji but before that happens, Takuto stands up and defends Ryuji when the guards try to pin him to the wall, with that much commotion Kamoshida decides to order the Ganma, the same one that kills Ryu, to kill Takuto first instead. When the Ganma is about to kill him Takeru shakes off the guard and shields his uncle with his body making him have a large wound on his back, bleeding him to death.

As Takeru is dying he can hear his own voice but distorted saying, is he seriously just lay there and die, to just accept his fate?, when hearing this, Takeru doesn't want to die and leave all his friends and family behind, that he wants to continue to live, that's when he open his eyes and found himself inside a room in a train and in front of him is an old man that called himself Sennin and a young girl named Eve. Sennin and Eve explain to Takeru about the Velvet Room, that Sennin isn't truly the owner of it and that he was taking care of it for his old friend and also explain to him that if he wants to be alive again then he needs to collect all the 15 Heroic Eyecons before his 99 days are up and if he does that then he can make a wish to be alive again.

When Takeru agrees, Eve tells him to sign his name on a contract, and when he does he meets his shadow and starts making a vow where a mask appears on his face and rips it off awakening the power of his Persona, Orpheus. Sennin then gives Takeru an Eyecon and a Belt to transform him into Kamen Rider Ghost, he also gives him a Youkai Butler named Whisper and his other assistant Yurusen, to guide him about the Ganma and Youkai and to help him to find the Eyecons, he also told him that thanks to his power as Ghost (as well as his power from his reincarnation) his Persona gain new strength and weakness than their previous power. After being given this power, Takeru starts to wake up as a Ghost and protect his uncle and his new friends with the help of Ren who also awakens his Persona.

After that, the story is still the same a combination of the Youkai Chronicles except that Takuto joins the Phantom Thieves as he is able to face his own Shadow as well as Toshiro when he rebels against his father, Toshiki Kasukabe when he becomes the next target after Madarame's confession and facing his own Shadow, including the Liberation Team from Dx2 with a mixture members from the Investigation Team from Persona 4 also joins the team as well as Tohru Adachi and Ryotaro Dojima after Futaba and Rise joins the team, to joins the team as well Tohru's background is different as he is the younger brother of Rumi Amamiya but after the murder of their parent and Rumi catatonic depression Tohru was sent to the Adachi family for them to raise him.

Even though Tohru never really cared for his parent considering they hardly ever were home even at Christmas or his and her sister's birthday all because they were busy with work, he cared for his sister since she was the only one who took care of him so seeing what happens to her he wants to make the killer pay by becoming a police detective and sending them to justice but on a darker path, Tohru still has the same personality as the canon but is less of a jerk and non-psycho.

After an incident with his partner Ryotaro Dojima, who is like a father to him, where Tohru asks about the pillow that his partner always holding which makes Ryotaro accidentally gets into a one-sided argument with Tohru to the point that he says that he didn't matter to him which really hurt Tohru a lot to the point that he runs out of the Police Department and somehow on the top of the Mall roof. Tohru then starts to reflect on his life as he recalls all his memories of his parent never being there for him, his sister being in the hospital and not responsive, and the only person that he considers his father figure now hating him, his life really sucks and he wants his pain to end so he jumps off the roof and landed on the ground where a person found him barely alive and call the hospital in a coma. That is when Saionji used this chance he meet Tohru's spirit and was willing to help him avenge his sister and all the people who hurt him by giving him an Eyecon and a Belt to transform himself into Dark Ghost in exchange for Tohru helping him on getting him the Eyecons.

But that went off the rails when Tohru and the Phantom Thieves learn that the true killer of Rumi and Tohru's parents is actually Tohru's Shadow, because of Tohru's hatred of his parent due to them rarely being home because of their job's many responsibilities (which is involve about Cognition) and being a target of getting bullied. Apparently, when Tohru's parent decide to spend their day off with their son to go to an amusement park to make up for all the time they've lost, someone from the cognitive researcher decides to do an experiment on them by transporting them to the cognitive world where Tohru's Shadow appears and taunts at his real self about how he hates his parent and they are better off dead, and when Tohru denied his Shadow, it has gone berserk and tried to kill his real self but thanks to his parent they were able to protect him.

After Tohru's parent died, his Shadow decided to continue to torment him more by showing him the truth about why his parents never came more often at home, that his parent tried to find a way to heal and save people by curing their mentality by controlling their cognition, and if he had just open door whenever he was to go home instead of running away, he would be able to spend more time with his parent when their home. When Tohru learned this he was so shocked to the point that he passed out from a panic attack, that's when his Shadow decided to make this even more fun, he rewrote his real self memories thinking that when he was about to go home there was a robber at his house and his parent got killed because of it. When that's done he takes his real self and his parent to their house in the real world and makes the place look like it was robbed and somehow spirited away into Tohru's body.

When the flashback is done, Tohru just freezes in his place not believing what he has learned, that all this time the one who killed his parent and made his sister suffer was because of him and that his parent was able to spend more time with him if he didn't run away, making him blame himself and put him in despair. This despair causes his Shadow to possess him and transform into a new form of Dark Ghost called "Dark Ghost Despair" (basically the Dark Ghost version of Toucan), lock away Tohru from his mind, and tries to steal the Eyecons, the keyword is "try" thanks to Takeru, Ren, Takuto and Ryotaro (who got involved when he tries to save his partner) were able to save him. After that, Tohru's spirit goes back to his body and regains his consciousness from his coma.

Extra Information:

He's a history, mythology, and youkai nut, he loves looking into any history, youkai, legends, and mythos from all over the globe.

He loves escape rooms.

He's always blunt when he comments on stuff.

He has a big metabolism and tends to eat a lot.

Notes:

NONE OF THE ARTS ARE MINE!!

This was inspired by: Kamen Rider Ghost: Youkai Chronicles by GammaTron, Lupin vs Pato: Personification by Seanzillea1988, Wanted it to be a Game by SkylaDoragono, Walk Backwards (with Open Eyes) by harardous lucent lightshows (Esoterika), A Meadow Watered by Tears (father, can't you hear your baby crying?) by charlietheepic7, The Jester Fathers the Fool by Purpli, Persona 5: Tainted Soul by striberx and Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate by CaptainBlueoftheFleetingDream & ViolettheCutieFarplaneReaper

Welp, I hope you guys like my oc of Kamen Rider Ghost, even though my oc has the name as the canon, I want to keep the last name but I couldn't find any name that just fits so I just keep the first name as it is, he also has his own Social Links but with different character, and sorry if my information is not enough all that, I'm just tired with college stuff and all that, I'll update on this whenever I can.

I just watched the animation of the Persona series and I really like it, after watching Persona 4 the Animation, Golden, Persona 5 the Animation, Royal, and Tactica on YouTube and Anitaku I really love it, especially Ryotaro Dojima, Tohru Adachi, Takuto Maruki, and Toshiro Kasukabe to the point I want them as my oc family.

If you guys are confused about the family tree don't worry you're not the only one I just trying to figure it out myself but it's more like this: Takuto Maruki, Yuna Tenkuji, and Yuki Kasukabe are siblings while Ryu Tenkuji and Chasito Dojima are siblings, making Toshiro is the son of Yuki and Toshiki Kasukabe, Takeru is the son of Yuna and Ryu Tenkuji, Nanako is the daughter of Chisato and Ryotaro Dojima and that they are cousin, while Tohru Adachi and Rumi are siblings making Ren is the son of Rumi, since that Takuto and Rumi are fiance and all and lets just they one of hell of a night they made Ren as their offspring, which makes Ren the cousin of Toshiro and Takeru.

I also made Tohru become Kamen Rider Dark Ghost cause I thought it would be cool. Plus, in the canon, Tohru wanted the world to end and made everyone become Shadow, while Dark Ghost wanted people to become Ghost, so thinking this part I thought it would fit. I was also thinking of having Ren have a Rider form as well, but I don't know what kind of form should I give I really like Makoto and Alan so I want them to still have their Rider Form so I don't know what kind of Rider Form should I give him, I could give Ren an OC form like Kamen Rider Phantom like this one I see in Deviantart but with black and red, but I don't know, what do you guys think?

I really like the characters from Megami Tensei Dx2 as well as a few of the Investigation Team members' characters so I decided to remove two of the Liberators and added the two members of the Investigation Team and added them to the Phantom Thieves team as Takeru's group as well with Adachi and Ryotaro while Takuto is in Ren's group, and Takuto and Tohru's Persona will be different. If you guys want to know what the Liberators, two Investigation Teams, Takuto, and Tohru codenames are, and what order they join, as well as which Arcana belongs to whom then here's my thought on it:

Ren Amamiya: Joker (Fool)

Takeru Tenkuji: Ghost (Fool)

Morgana: Mona (Joker's Magician)

Teddie: Kumada (Ghost's Star)

Takuto Maruki: Legion (Joker's Counciller)

Ryuji Sakamoto: Skull (Joker's Chariot)

Tora Fuse: Megaking (Ghost's Chariot)

Ann Takamaki: Panther (Joker's Lovers)

Rika Ryuzouji: Dragon Templar (Ghost' Priestess)

Yusuke Kitagawa: Fox (Joker's Emperor)

Shiang Sun: Chalk Eater (Ghost's Magician)

Ririn Ueda: Eileen (Ghost's Empress)

Makoto Niijima: Queen (Joker's Priestess)

Kanji Tatsumi: Ironclad (Ghost's Emperor)

Futaba Sakura: Oracle/Navi (Joker's Hermit)

Toshiro Kasukabe: Takt (Ghost's Justice)

Rise Kujikawa: Melody (Ghost's Lovers)

Ryotaro Dojima: Baron (Ghost's Hierophant)

Tohru Adachi: Dark Ghost (Ghost's Death)

Gakuto Inoue: Meat Balloon (Ghost's Hermit)

Haru Okumura: Noir (Joker's Empress)

Goro Akechi: Crow (Joker's Justice)

Vince: Carbon Black (Ghost's Hanged-Man)

Honey Sweet: Charm (Ghost's Sun)

I hope y'all enjoy it and if you guys have any other suggestions on their codenames let me know. Until then see ya!!~

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 11/30

We hope everyone had a safe & restful holiday!

Sunburn TP -  Andi Watson & Simon Gane

Rachel is a teenager who lives a gray suburban life in gray suburban England. It's a world of brown sauce, warm beer, and scrambled eggs every Tuesday. With her summer already mapped out for her-a job working at the butcher and a caravan holiday in Clacton-it seems like this year will only bring more of the same. So when family friends invite her to spend the summer with them in Greece, she jumps at the chance to escape her life and finally be treated like an adult.

The Warners are everything her parents are not-glamorous, sophisticated, and carefree-and when Rachel meets Benjamin, a handsome young friend of the Warners, her summer seems to be taking a turn for the better. But there's no escaping the pains of growing up, and she'll soon learn that life on a small island where everyone knows each other's business may not be all it's cracked up to be.

In The Clear Moonlit Dusk GN Vol 1 -  Mika Yamamori

Yoi Takiguchi's long legs, deep voice, and handsome face are the perfect recipe for an attractive guy-until people realize she is, in fact, a girl. Dubbed a "prince" by her peers since childhood, Yoi has all but given up on being seen as anything else. That is, until she bumps into Ichimura-sempai, the school's other prince (who's a he) and gets a taste of what it feels like to be seen for her true self. The story of the two high school princes starts here!

Plush #1 (of 6) -  Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard & Rico Renzi

Serial-killing, cannibalistic furries! PLASTIC and VINYL creators DOUG WAGNER & DANIEL HILLYARD are back. This time, they've recruited colorist extraordinaire RICO RENZI for their disturbing "neon-horror" spin on fursuit psychopaths and bizarre love.   In PLUSH, Devin Fulcher is coerced into attending his first furry convention. When he accidentally happens upon a group of furries devouring a human, the insanity begins. Do they just want Devin for dinner... or something much more wicked?

Koshchei In Hell #1 (of 4) -  Mike Mignola & Ben Stenbeck

The world above may be over, and Hellboy gone with it, but Koshchei is still in Hell content with his wine and his books-until an old face arrives and brings Koshchei a critical task. An old and powerful foe is returning, and Koshchei must take up his sword and defend the city from destruction.

Magic: Nahiri The Lithomancer #1 -  Seanan McGuire, Kath Lobo & Ariel Olivetti

Nebula, Hugo, Locus, and Alex Award-winning novelist Seanan McGuire (Ghost-Spider) returns to the world of Magic: The Gathering along with Kath Lobo to bring Nahiri the Lithomancer to comics! Nahiri-also known as The Harbinger-has protected her home plane of Zendikar for centuries, her ruthlessness and terrible deeds kept in check by a strong sense of justice. But her fate is far from decided, and a new challenge awaits that may change the way the entire Multiverse perceives her...

Penguina One Shot -  Julie Devin

Sent in a dimensional portal ship and landing in the Antarctic as a baby, Penguina is found and raised by Samurai Penguin. Leaving to see the world once she's grown, she finds out she has the ability to mimic powers of any comic character if she reads the comic but only for 1 hour!  To keep a low profile, she takes a secret identity working as in intern at a small comic company...until Penguina is needed!

Star Wars The High Republic Adventures #1 -  Daniel Jose Older, Tony Bruno & Harvey Tolibao

For young Padawan Sav Malagan, joining the ranks of the noble Jedi Order has been all she's ever wanted. But a chance encounter with a crew of eccentric misfits makes her question everything she's taken for granted in her life. Trapped aboard the ship of infamous space pirate Maz Kanata, will Save ever be able to rejoin the Jedi? And if she spends much long with Maz and her crew, will she even want to?

I’m A Terminal Cancer Patient, But I’m Fine GN -  Hilnama

After being diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, the creator documents her physical and emotional journey through treatment in this powerful memoir manga. At 38 years old, Hilnama, a manga artist, is diagnosed with colon cancer. Never one to lose hope or give in to despair, she begins cancer treatments despite the deadly diagnosis. But when going through such a grueling process, it can be difficult to keep a positive outlook. When faced with the struggles and trials of life, Hilnama turns to what she knows: writing and creating manga again, drawing herself as a rabbit in a world of humans and hospitals. This poignant and down-to-earth account of diagnosis, treatment, and living with terminal disease will be a reference for positivity and perseverance for years to come.  

Whatcha snagging this week, Fantomites? 

[admirableadmiranda]

my first fandom experience is with MXTX but i'm kinda confused as to why fandom spaces tend to convoluted their version of canon with actual canon as if the canon written by the author is false. fanfiction is transformative content since it explores and expands canon. it's been bugging me because i really dislike OOC depictions lmao it has no effect on me but ive been disliked by an irl friend for shipping wangxian because chengxisn is obviously what was supposed to be written since (1/?)

(2/?) since apparently jc is so fuckable but it's a pity it wasn't. i just thought of @jiangwanyinscatmom but still,,,, it just bugs me because i feel like my current interactions with fandom or stan culture has put me in this mindset where i care more about what others are doing with their toys (I.e. characters) but still,,, i guess these interactions leave a bitter taste. it feels so whack to me that people think mxtx deliberately didn't put their ship as if wwx or lwj would ever choose anyone

I don't know if there was more to your ask, anon, this is where it cut off! Anyway it seems like you had some frustrations to get off your chest and I hoped this helped. I do question your friend's take on how apparently Chengxian was supposed to be the endgame pairing, but then I've learned after a whole year here that some things simply can't be explained.

To answer your questions about fandom and attitudes, I've been in fandom for fifteen years now and I've gone through really caring and really not caring and I've pinned it down to it really depends on the source material. The tighter the source material and the more dynamic the characters, the more annoyed I am when fanworks deviate as opposed to works that play fast and loose with characterization in the source material or the ships are just plain boring. Modaozushi is incredibly tightly woven so I find myself being much pickier here and it's only my vast experience that lets me decide that I'll be picky in what I choose to consume and I'll just ignore (for the most part, I still get into a lot of fights with JC stans) takes that do not mesh with mine. We can live and let live for the most part.

I will say that Modaozushi has one of the more volitile fanbases I've been in. It definitely depends on the average age of the fanbase and how big it is, but my previous one, Good Omens, was for the most part very calm and relaxed and most debates tended to exist in the gray spaces of canon where there was a lot of room for debate. I highly doubt that wherever you end up next will be just like Modaozushi, every fandom has its own idiosyncrasies and you'll find your spaces every time.

Also @jiangwanyinscatmom is fantastic and deserves all the love. She is the only one allowed to determine JC's fuckability level and I can't wait to hear what she says when I graciously bestow this privilege upon her.

Thanks for the ask, anon!

[admirableadmiranda]

I think really a better question is what doesn’t he have to apologize for?

If you spend your life walking over other people, eventually there will be no one left who will give you a chance and only the bloody trail of your footprints to show your journey. He bought his reputation with the blood of innocents and everyone who loved him.

"are you a jiang cheng apologist" no, because what the fuck does Jiang Cheng have to apologise for

[spockandawe]

I'm that anon who loves your meta ❤ Thank you for your answer! I've been thinking a lot about Tarn lately. What confuses me is that he killed Kaon, this is very out of his character. Also, I can't figure out if he wanted Megatron-sempai to kill him since he already had a suicide attempt. If you come back to IDW1 fandom and you have some inspiration, talk about Tarn please, I'm very curious how you see this boy 🙏

Okay, catching up a tiny bit on my inbox here!!!

So, honestly, Tarn killing Kaon was a surprise to me, but the thing that was more of a surprise to me overall was that the DJD had gone so long without a member being killed. Given their role as officially appointed moral police of the decepticon faction, it's kind of shocking that even a small, small team could last for so long without anyone stepping out of line or reaching their limit on what they can tolerate doing to people on like.... their own side. But the stability of a team like this for so long speaks to both the intensity of their bond, and to how fuckt things are going to get if something knocks them out of equilibrium.

So, as a parallel example that didn't end in outright murder, consider that the team received a MASSIVE blow shortly before canon that we only get to see the echoes of! I'm going to be vague on the particulars for anyone who may not have read it yet, but the pet? Like, WOW, imagine being part of this team and getting hit with a reveal like that! And even with the scope of that betrayal, they didn't kill the teammate who betrayed them, they kept him.... in a sense :V

At first glance, this seems to suggest the later scene with Tarn was an error in characterization. If he was willing to tolerate (in a very generous sense of the word) one of his team being an autobot SPY, and was willing to leave him alive, why would he kill a faithful member of the team over a minor infraction like frustration with his priorities?

But as far as my reading of the story went, Tarn starts spiraling out of control the moment Megatron updates his manifesto to be like 'lol whoops', and that's the most intense indication of how far he's fallen by the end. As fucked up as his morals are at the beginning of MTMTE, the DJD does care deeply about each other. Tarn's got two big priorities, megatron and his team. Those two things are pretty much aligned with each other, and it's hard to imagine anything would bring them into conflict. Until it's suddenly a HUGE conflict, and it becomes increasingly clear that Tarn absolutely 100% cannot cope with this.

In the beginning of the story, it's wild to think that the DJD would kill each other over anything short of a betrayal in the autobot-vs-decepticon paradigm, and it does eventually become clear that they wouldn't even kill each other DESPITE that. And by the end, tarn kills kaon because kaon wants them to go rescue the pet. Kaon continues to care about the team, and Tarn gets so frustrated that he casually kills Kaon on the spot. It's not JUST that Tarn is determined to get revenge for Megatron's betrayal of the decepticon cause, it's also that he's so fixated on that revenge that he's willing to throw away the family that's been a physical presence in his life for eons.

We see Tarn willing to chase his revenge past reasonable limits, all the way to his own self-destruction, but I think that seeing what happened with Kaon was the moment that really underscored how far he'd fallen. In the performance reviews, we see him getting angry when Tesarus questions the way they left team members behind, and we see the way he's willing to throw away the lives of Deathsaurus's people trying to get to Megatron, but those were technically deserters, sort of, Kaon's death is a true point of no return.

I don't think he necessarily wanted Megatron to kill him, but I also think he didn't really care what happened to himself as long as he was able to punish Megatron. And he didn't care about anyone else either. In early MTMTE, he cares a lot about his team, they're very close-knit. He takes a huge blow to his sense of self, and he could choose his team, or he could choose a rigid set of morally absolutist standards, and when he chooses that absolutism, we see him compromising everything else he valued until he's reached a point he can't undo.

This may sound like I don't like Tarn, but honestly, I adore him!! I'm a sucker for a character overflowing with this sort of intensity, especially when they've kind of... outsourced their sense of self. It's not entirely removed from the way I characterize Cyclonus, where he has a set of private values that mean everything to him, but where he relates them to the world around him by pinning Everything on something external, and hoping that his external linchpin stays stable. When Cyclonus lets himself begin orbiting Tailgate, versus when he thinks he's lost Tailgate forever, it's a similar flavor of implosion. But with Megatron, it's not even that Tarn lost someone he was in love with, but the revolutionary philosopher and leader who started a movement that Tarn built a whole identity around, the leader who empowered Tarn to hunt down and torture any traitor who betrayed the decepticons, was eventually the one to turn on his own creation and say 'this was wrong, this was a mistake, i shouldn't have done this.'

The trouble with the intense characters like this is that it's so hard for them to recover from a blow like that XD I love it!! While things are going well for them, they seem like such a powerful, confident presence. But it's like tapping a sheet of glass with a hammer and watching cracks radiate across the surface. When someone's more self-contained, less of them is exposed to take damage like that. But when so much of them exists outside of themself, how are they supposed to piece things back together? I've written and read a little fic that pokes at alternate Cyclonus futures, and I've read Tarn fic that takes him in different directions than canon, and so often, it's hard for a character to self-actualize past this kind of blow, it takes bonus personal support for the character to piece themself back together. But while they're in the process of falling apart, it's so tempting and easy for them to destroy their life even more than events already did. It's like looking at the burned-out shell of your house, and asking yourself 'well why CAN'T i knock down that last wall,' only instead of your house, it's everything you love.

So that's where I come at regarding Tarn!! He's very much shaped my one of my faves, but he's, uh, even more morally Difficult to really excuse than, let us say, Pharma (i probably won't get to him tonight, but i could scream about him forever). The fan vitriol in some quarters re: JC in MDZS really took me off-guard, because like, he didn't lobotomize one family member, murder another, and lead the rest to a terrible end after a long and successful career in the psychological warfare murdertorture moral police, lmaooo. I think Tarn was always remarkably fragile, it was just that blows like this could only come from a few possible sources, so he wasn't able to weather the hit when it did come.

[popwasabi]

Why I don’t give a fuck about canon

Recently, after randomly coming across some dope pictures of Transformer toys on Instagram that gave me a strong case of nostalgia, I was inspired to revisit an old childhood favorite in “Beast Wars.”

“Beast Wars,” in case you never watched or heard of it as a kid, is the continuation of the Transformer’s story set in the future as descendants of the Auotobots and Decepticons, the Maximals and Predacons, respectively, accidentally travel to prehistoric Earth to continue a centuries long battle between the two opposing factions.

There’s a lot of to digest there, so I’m not going to go into extreme detail over the plot, but the cast features colorful characters such as Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Dinobot and Megatron to name a few. They all have interesting and distinct personalities and generally play well off each other. It was a big part of my childhood and I collected an ungodly amount of their toys back in the day.

(This was my first ever Beast Wars toy and I think it’s beautiful.)

My rewatch though was…a mixed bag to say the least. The graphics have not aged well. The adventure of the week setup of the plot was repetitive and lacked real character development at times. There were characters that were added in last minute to the show clearly to promote a new action figure over the story on numerous occasions. Though I found the humor to still be pretty good, the action was stale and just lacked high stakes most of the time, save for a few episodes.

I was not shocked it didn’t land terribly well on my rewatch but you know what did? “Beast Machines!”

“Beast Machines” was the follow-up to Beast Wars that had the Maximals fighting on Cybertron where Megatron has taken control of the whole planet using a virus that changes Transformers into mindless drones to do his bidding. The remaining Maximals manage to survive however after Optimus discovers The Oracle which reformats them into animal robot hybrids that are both mechanical and biological. This sets them on a quest to stop Megatron and bring biological and mechanical balance to Cybertron once and for all.

The series is much more narrative based than the previous as it follows a steady trajectory to its epic conclusion. The animation is much sharper, and the soundtrack is fun as hell to listen to still. The pacing is much faster as the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Maximals and all the old characters from the previous grow in interesting ways and develop into more organic people (literally in some ways). Optimus is a more hardcore and emotionally damaged leader and Megatron goes from being something of a punchline in the previous series to a far more menacing and calculating nemesis. The story touches on themes of balance, authoritarianism, PTSD, love and reunion to name a few and for a kids’ show it is, dare I say…more than meets the eye.

I absolutely loved it as a kid and I might actually love it even more as an adult, so it was shocking for me, to say the least, when I read further into the history of the show, that a lot of fans straight up rejected it back in the day.

Common complaints I came across were they didn’t like how characters, such as Ratrap especially, “changed.” They didn’t like the new bio/mechanical Maximals and couldn’t believe that Cybertron was once an organic world.

Their big reason (in just about every forum and video I saw about it)? It didn’t adhere to “canon.”

Now, I’ll start this by saying there is no objective way to critique or even not critique a story. People can like or hate something for a variety of reasons that don’t follow a strict logical pattern. Gods know I have a few questionable/divisive favorites in my catalogue that I have written about here that are based on abstract ideas and personal experiences.

(The Matrix Reloaded is still great btw)

But I will say, if you judge a mega franchise’s latest entry on how well it is supported by established canon it is, in my opinion, a flawed way to critique a work of fiction.

Canon, sometimes referred to as “lore” by fans, is most often applied and used to describe the long running back stories of franchises that stretch beyond just the main books, movies or series, or even the original narrative of the plot. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and to a certain extent Harry Potter, all fall into this camp of series with so many interconnected parts, with more than one main character featured in each, that fans follow along this canon like ancient monks studying scripture and history books.

And they can be just as fanatical and over zealous about it.

(I wish they were more fanatical about proper hygiene or at least deodorant...)

My problem with the ways fans often view canon is that their conceptions of what a new story should be is based entirely on the past rather than what is happening right now with the story and what themes the writer is trying express with it this time. 

They base their impressions of the story on external continuity more than the internal continuity.

Yea, the changes in a series like “Beast Machines” are jarring to say the least. Cybertron was formally an organic world like Earth? Rattrap doesn’t have confidence in himself and actually at one point sells out his comrades? Transformers can be biological now? It’s a lot to take in but when watching the story play out it’s not like these elements aren’t explained through the text of the new story.

Cybertron lost balance between its robot inhabitants and its biological life forms and its why it’s out of balance now, and Megatron is the logical progression of that inbalance. Rattrap is struggling to understand his new form, half his friends on the Maximals have been turned into drones, and the remaining team out loud say they don’t have confidence in him. He has PTSD from both the events of this story and the Beast Wars and feels insecure because of how others view him and that’s perfectly logical to not just the story but also the canon. If a fan is willing to give a story a chance they will see that the canon hasn’t actually been destroyed in much of any way and the logical progression is actually there if they simply listen to what’s going on.

(Seriously, it’s not that deep.)

Fans need to stop confusing a character achieving a franchise long arc with being “suddenly different.” In this way, criticisms of canon in new entries in long running series reveal that fans really just lack imagination to connect the dots. It would be like complaining that Luke Skywalker can’t become paranoid and make a grave mistake in judgment because people never change, nevermind the character already has changed a lot from his origins in “A New Hope” to where he was in “Return of the Jedi.”

(Oh wait, people did do that…)

But that’s not to say you have to like the new direction either. You can understand these changes and still be like “well, it’s not for me. I don’t care for a PSTD angle or a new origin for Cybertron,” but that’s whole lot different than saying the new series “rapes your childhood” or “Bastardizes the canon.” All the old canon you hold nostalgia for still exists. My love for “Beast Machines” is not harmed by the existence of newer Transformers properties that don’t meet what I look for in the series.

Too often, fans take changes to established “lore” very personally because it doesn’t fit their expectations or have the same nostalgic feelings they had before. When new entries in mega franchises occur fans often try to judge it by how much it is like what they watched before, rather what makes it different and what it is saying now. Again, you don’t have to like new directions in tone or character but consistency to established work DOES NOT equal good storytelling.

I have not been immune to this myself in the past, of course. Back in the day I wrote a 2500-plus word diatribe on “The Amazing Spider-man 2” that mostly went after how it changed the character I grew up with in a bad way and butchered the established back story I knew him by.

You know what other story doesn’t follow canon very well though? “Spider-man: Homecoming.”

(Now, hear me out...)

Spider-man in the MCU is generally agreed upon to be a good thing by fans. Both movies were big hits both critically and financially and fans often go as far as to say Tom Holland is the “definitive” Peter Parker. 

But Holland’s Spider-man differs quite a bit from the comic-book webslinger. This Spider-man does not have a spidey sense. His best friend is not Harry Osbourne but in fact a retcon of a Mile Morales character. His father figure is Tony Stark, something that never happened in the comics, instead of Uncle Ben, which no matter what way you spin it is arguably his most important relationship in the series.

His character is a reverse of traditional Peter Parker too. Where comics Peter is a reluctant hero, who if anything hates being Spider-man and the burden of his responsibility, “Homecoming” Spider-man actively seeks out responsibility and in many ways enjoys his role as the famous webslinger. In fact, his whole arc is about him earning a spot as an Avenger. He wants to be THE hero and be worthy of it. It’s completely different from what we know of Spider-man.

(He just wants Tony sempai to notice him uWu)

Now I know some fans actually do complain about this Spidey from a “canon” standpoint, but most don’t. So why did this Spider-man get a pass for many but not “The Amazing” one? Quite simply it’s because stories, as cheesy as it sounds, are about feelings and stories like “Homecoming” tell a good story that effectively make those feelings connect with the audience.

We root for this Peter Parker and his journey to becoming an Avenger and successor to Iron Man because the story is told well, the emotions feel earned, and frankly both films are fun and enjoyable.

It’s easy to complain about canon for many nerds because it’s something tangible that they can point to and make a big stink about when they don’t understand why a movie isn’t reaching them. I don’t doubt that many neckbeards genuinely hate a film like “The Last Jedi” (Hell, I’m not a big fan myself) but when those same nerds enjoy something like “The Mandalorian,” a series that has its own loose relationship with canon and establishing new rules in the series, it tells me it’s not about the “lore” to them.

(Easy, fanboys...)

I have come to understand, in my growth as a nerd, that my problems with a lot of movies and TV shows in my favorite series rarely, if ever, have anything to do with the story not meeting some arbitrary guidelines regarding canon. It has more to with the story simply not connecting with me emotionally. The story isn’t drawing me in and keeping me on its narrative path. I’m not feeling the same magic that someone else might feel enjoying it because either a) it doesn’t feel earned to me or b) it just stylistically isn’t for me.

To paraphrase a line from another mega franchise, also owned by Disney, the canon is more like guidelines than actual rules.

(Didn’t expect to see ol’ Barbosa in this write up, did ye?)

It can show you where a story comes from but it isn’t law that you strictly adhere to it. Of course, when writing a new work in a popular series you should consider what came before it but I would like writer’s the freedom to try something new and most importantly fans to be open to it. You don’t have to like it but the idea that new entries in a story MUST remain strict to the canon is bull shit. Not even the original Star Wars trilogy adhered to its own canon perfectly, as clearly the writers were in fact making it up to a certain extent as they were going along.

(hmmmm...)

And that’s ok, because some of those changes were great! Made the story better and made the conclusion stronger.

Again, you don’t have to like every new entry that tries something bold or confrontational in your favorite franchise but if writers strictly followed canon to the T we wouldn’t have things like “Homecoming,” we wouldn’t have “The Mandalorian,” and we certainly wouldn’t have my favorite Transformers series “Beast Machines.”

Canon shouldn’t be a trap for writers and it shouldn’t be a litmus test for fans digesting it. There are so many better ways to judge a story than whether or not it fits neatly into established lore. A good story is a good story, regardless of whether or not it’s supported by something as static as canon.

“Beast Machines” has its flaws here and there, but canon isn’t one of them, at least not for me. Again, if you feel that the lore is important, that’s fine, you don’t have to ignore it but I would ask you to look beyond what came before when critiquing a new story.

Otherwise, you might miss something special that comes next…

Now then... 

[nelapanela94]

Of Love and Other Misunderstandings

Kenya Oshitari x Fem!OC

will they be able to confess their feelings without leaving victims along the way?

Warnings: None

Sorry for grammar mistakes, English is not my first language.

_____________________________________________________________

Tanaka Sora was standing before her black spiky haired kohai. Her head tilted to the side as she blinked twice waiting for him to speak. The Tensai of Shitenhouji shut his eyes closed and let out a heavy sigh. She noticed his strange behavior. Zaizen Hikaru, the second-year tennis regular, who was always calm and collected, was acting out of character. He avoided her gaze and his cheeks turned slightly pink.

“Ano, Hikaru-kun" she intervened. “Why did you ask me to meet you here?” The girl asked for a second time. “If you’re not telling, I’ll take my leave. Nakamura-buchou will make me run laps if I’m late again”

She whirled around to leave, but the boy's grip around her wrist stopped her.

“I like you Tanaka-sempai" he confessed. “I do like you”

Sora froze. Her eyes widened and she pressed her lips into a thin line. She was left speechless, but got the courage to face the boy and turned around.

“I…I don’t know what to say Hikaru-kun“ she stuttered. She had rejected other boys who had previously confessed to her, but Zaizen was a good friend and she wasn’t ready to break his heart. “You know…” she looked down. “I…”

“You like someone else" he completed her sentence.

Sora lifted her gaze to meet his.

“Then why…?”

“…did I confess to you?” Sora slightly frowned at the second interruption. “I just needed to let it off my chest” He bit his lower lip and shrugged.

“I’m sorry Hikaru-kun” she shook her head.

“There’s nothing to apologize for sempai. I knew the outcome beforehand”

An apologetic smile drew on her face.

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship nor make things awkward between us”

“Neither do I” she replied. “And I’ve told you hundreds of times to call me Sora"

“Alright Sora-sempai" he mockingly grinned as she rolled her eyes. “If you want me to call you Sora, call me Hikaru then”

“Deal, Hi-ka-ru" she extended her hand.

“Deal, So-ra" they shook hands in agreement.

Sora took a glance at her watch and sighed. “I guess I’m running a hundred laps around the field again”

“Me too" he added. “What a bother"

“Let’s go then" she positioned herself next to him and linked arms with the boy. To get to the football field she had to pass by the tennis courts first. “I’ll drop you at the courts"

.

.

.

“Ja-ne! Hikaru”

The boy simply waved and headed to the club house to change into his tennis uniform.

“Why late today, Zaizen?” kenya Oshitari asked his kohai as he closed his locker.

“I was with Sora" the bleach haired boy scowled. “We were to organize the movie selection of the month”

“Sora?” The second year was sometimes disrespectful to his sempais, but he always addressed them with the proper honorific.

“She asked me to call her by her given name" he bluntly answered. “And she calls me by mine”

Zaizen enjoyed annoying his short-tempered sempai.

The baka pair was eavesdropping while changing into their green and yellow uniforms and mischievously grinned.

“Ne-ne Yuu-kun, don’t you think Sora-chan and Hikaru-chan are getting closer since they joined the library committee?”

The boy with the headband nodded in agreement. “you’re right Koharu, they even use their first names"

Kenya’s jaw tightened.

“Aho! You should address her as sempai"

“I can’t. We made a deal"

Suddenly their captain, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, entered. An irritated look drawn on his face. “Practice began ten minutes ago. What’s going on?”

“Kurarin~” Koharu began. “Our Hikaru is growing closer to Sora-chan and Kenya is getting jealous”

“I’m not!" the bleached haired boy snapped.

The captain lifted a brow. “Mind to explain"

“They’re on first name basis and they were walking together to the courts" Hitouji explained.

“Is that so?” Shiraishi addressed the second year, who indifferently shrugged.

The tennis regulars were totally aware of Oshitari's and Shiraishi's feelings for Tanaka Sora. The trio had been in the same class since freshman year and had become good friends. Nobody knew about whom she liked back, though.

“Zaizen" the black haired glanced at his captain while unbuttoning his shirt. “Fifty laps!”

Zaizen Hikaru deeply sighed. Stupid sempaitachi.

The baka pair left the clubhouse giggling at the war scenario they had just created.

.

.

.

“Ano, Kura" Sora turned her head towards the boy sitting next to her. “Can I borrow your biology notes? I fell asleep yesterday during class" she sheepishly smiled.

“You should pay more attention or you’ll fail again" he replied.

The girl frowned. “Are you on your moon days or what?” she rolled her eyes. “Sorry for not being perfect in everything like you. I don’t get what’s wrong with you and Kenya. You’ve been out of character since last week.” She hissed. “I´ll find another way"

“Ask Zaizen, he's a tensai after all" he didn’t bother to look at her.

“Hikaru? What does he have to do with this?” she sighed in defeat. Sora didn’t feel like arguing with one of her best friends. “Let me know when you get back to normal" she finished putting her things in her backpack and left the room.

If only she knew how perfect she is.

Sora had her mind buried in the biology book when the second-year genius took a seat in front of her. “hey" she greeted.

“hey"

She closed the book and looked at the boy. “Do you know what’s wrong with Kura and Kenya? They've been distant to me since last week"

He shook his head.

“It hurts, you know? They being so indifferent" her eyes emanated sadness. “And they don’t even tell what I did wrong”

“Sora" Zaizen changed the topic. “Who is the one you like?”

Her eyes went wide at the sudden question. “Why are you asking?”

“curiosity”

“mmmmm, I’m not telling"

“Give me a hint”

“iie"

“I won’t stop pestering then"

Tanaka Sora sighed.

“It seems I don’t have a choice" she muttered. “he’s in my class, plays tennis and he’s fun to be with"

Zaizen narrowed the eyes. “Is the health freak or the one that collects weird erasers?”

“it’s a secret" she placed her index finger on her lips. “Fun fact, I’ve had a hard crush on this guy since first year"

“And why don’t you just tell him? You’re always saying we have to be honest with our feelings.” He mimicked her.

“Collateral damage. I don’t want to ruin a good friendship" she leaned back and looked at the ceiling, then back at the boy. “Why the sudden interest in my love life? What about yours?”

“The girl I like rejected me last week"

“What a heartless bitch!"

“Don’t be selfish to yourself sempai” he said interlacing his fingers and stretching his hands in front of him with the palms facing outwards. “You'll end up hurting yourself”

The third year stood up and leaned forward flicking her kohai on the forehead. “Stop saying no sense” she swirled around. “I need fresh air” she looked down. “Can you cover up for me?”

“Sure”

.

.

.

Sora found herself near the broadcasting room. She claimed that the water fountain in that hall had the best tasting water of the school. She pressed the button and took some sips. Then she rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.

“Sora” she heard someone calling her name from behind and turned around.

“Hey, Kenya” she gave a forced smile.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in committee duty now?”

“Hikaru is covering up for me”

The boy irked.

Sora studied his face. “Did I say something wrong?”

The Speed star of Naniwa took a deep breath in order to constrain his annoyance.

“Are you dating Zaizen?” he shot the question without anesthesia.

The girl in front of him raised her brows.

“What are you talking about?”

Kenya looked away after the realization of what he had just asked. His cheeks were turning red.

“Hikaru and I are just friends. I actually see him as a younger brother.” Her eyes saddened. “Hikaru and Kin-chan remind me of my late baby brother, that’s why I’m always spoiling them. It makes me nostalgic when Kin-chan calls me nee-chan” the ends of her lips lifted.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know”

“It’s ok Kenya. I never told you, and it’s been a while already”

He felt sorry for the girl. She had lost her mother recently due to a car accident. A drunk driver; and the bastard only got a few scratches.

Sora was about to swirled around; she didn’t want him to see her crying. But a sudden embrace stopped her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest.

“it’s ok to cry Sora” he whispered as he patted her head. The girl hugged back and buried her face on his chest as tears began to form in her eyes. Kenya remained in silence. All he could hear were the girl’s sobs. His chest felt warm and wet, but he didn’t mind.

“You always go around giving hugs away and comforting people.” He rested his chin on her head. “Let’s change roles for a while”

The Oshitari loved having her petite body so close to him. He yearned for every second he could be near her ever since first year.  Her positive aura, her scent, her smile, her eyes, her soft skin under his touch. He wanted her to be his, but he was aware that his best friend and captain of the tennis team had feelings for her as well. In fact, he was jealous of Shiraishi for sitting next to her in class and having her near almost all the time. And confessing his feelings for her would ruin his friendship with the silver haired boy, and might bring trouble among the tennis club members. That is why he decided keep it to himself.

The sobs faded and the girl finally pulled away. “Thank you, Kenya” She rubbed her swollen eyes. “I feel better now”

“iie” He looked at her in the eye, then he gently kissed her on the forehead. “You’re very welcome Sora” His action made her cheeks heat up. The girl swallowed hard.

“I must go back to the library Kenya” She nervously said. “Our bratty Kohai is waiting for me”

“Waiting for a couple of minutes won’t kill him”

She lifted a brow. “You have no right to say that. You can´t tolerate a single second of waiting time” Sora gently hit him on the shoulder. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“See you tomorrow then” She finally said with a smile. “And I’m sorry for your blazer”

“Nah, don’t worry” he carefreely said.

Kenya walked back to the broadcasting room. He placed his hand on his chest where Sora had buried her tears and clutched the fabric tightly. He was dying inside. Locking up his heart like Yuushi advised was not working at all. He felt he was about to explode anytime soon.

“Oi, Sora, you have to cover up for me tomorrow” Zaizen nonchalantly said.

“Ne, ne, Hikaru, it’s Ok” she happily replied while putting her texts inside her bag. Her kohai threw an inquiry look at her.

.

.

.

“Takoyaki no nee-chan!!!!” The wild redhead first-year cheerfully waved at her from the tennis courts. Sora waved back with a big smile. He ran towards her and threw his arms around her, almost making her lose her balance. “Wow Kin-chan" She patted her beloved Kohai’s head. “I’ll take you to Akaoni this Friday after practice, ok?”

“Hooray!” The boy happily celebrated by jumping and throwing fists to the air. “Ne, ne Shiraishi” He called his captain. “Isn’t Takoyaki no nee-chan the best?”

“She is, Kin-chan" he muttered to himself as his eyes followed the girl. “Jaa ne, Kin-chan, I gotta go” She swirled around and her gaze locked with Kenya’s for seconds. They didn’t say a word and she continued her way.

When football practice was over, Sora showered and changed into her school uniform. She said goodbye to the club members and left the clubroom, walking to the rhythm of her favorite song. She mumbled the lyrics with her eyes closed as she headed towards the main gate.

“gomen” she opened her eyes and pulled the earphones off of her ears when she bumped into someone. “Kura, I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking” she bowed and continued her way.

“Wait, Sora” Shiraishi took her by the wrist.

She turned around and looked at him wide eyed. “What can I do for you?”

He let go and sighed. “I wanted to apologize for the way I’d been treating you lately” he confessed.

“It’s ok” she faked a smile. “I’ll get going, dad is waiting for me to do groceries. See you tomorrow” Shitty excuse she came up with.

“Listen, I know I’ve been a …”

“Jerk?” she scowled. “you’d better tell me why because I don’t recall doing anything wrong!”

Shiraishi’s face reddened. He knew he owed her an explanation, but telling the truth would expose his feelings for her. If he didn’t, however, she'd still be mad at him, and that may be worse.

“So…” she interrupted his thoughts. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out.

'Is the one with a beetle or the one with the pet iguana?’

She rolled her eyes and texted back.

‘Stop bugging me'

“Can you make Hikaru run a thousand laps tomorrow?” she asked with a wry look on her face.

Shiraishi startled at the question.

“What did he do?”

“He’s been a pain in the ass lately” she put her phone back in her bag. “Anyway, do you have an answer already?”

His hands cupped her cheeks and his eyes held her gaze. He wasn’t sure about what he was about to do, but he had to give it a try. He was in love with the girl who sit next to him in class. The one whose hair smell like strawberries. Whenever she was distracted, he would pass close to her to feel her sweet scent.

Without a second thought he leaned pressing his lips on hers. Sora's eyes widened, then she closed her eyes and gave in the kiss. Shiraishi’s lips were soft and gentle. His lips brushed hers delicately, long enough that he could taste the vanilla of her lipstick. Sora’s lips were warm and sweet, just like he had imagined they would be. He had longed for that moment since summer of their sophomore year.

For Sora, the kiss didn’t feel awkward; but didn’t feel right either. She didn’t feel butterflies in her stomach like it was supposed to be according to the books Kenya’s cousin used to read. They broke the kiss and locked their gazes. “Kura” she began. “I’m sorry, but…” before she could finish her sentence, he embraced her.

“I know, you don’t have to say it” he wasn’t ready to hear those words. He closed his eyes and rested his chin in her head. Sadness clouded his features and he didn’t want her to see him heartbroken.

“I was jealous of Zaizen” he explained without letting go. She had her head pressed on his chest.

“Hikaru?” she slightly narrowed her eyes. “he’s like a brother to me” she stated.

He finally released her. “Wait a second. You don’t like Zaizen?” she shook her head. “Then, who…” he stopped at the realization. “Oh!”

“I have a hard crush on him since first year, but I knew that confessing my feelings would ruin our friendship and I didn’t want to cause trouble”

“You should tell him before it’s too late”

“But…”

“I know it won’t be easy, but I’ll get over it” he gave a half smile. “I don’t want to see my closest friends suffering, Sora”

.

.

.

Kenya had received his first drum set when he was three as a birthday present from his grandfather.

Genji Oshitari, a well-known pediatric doctor in the Kansai area, was very fond of Classical music. He dreamed of his grandchildren to master an instrument of the beloved genre. Erina, his only grandaughter had inclined for the Harp. Her younger brother, Yuushi, began to play the violin at the age of four. Shouta, the youngest Oshitari grandchild, was still learning how to play the flute. However, with Kenya was a different story. The Oshitari Grandfather noticed that the boy needed an instrument to channel all his hyperactive energy. That is why he opted for the percussion set.

Kenya cherished his drum set. His mother not too much, though. The Oshitaris had received many noise complaints from their neighbors; therefore, his father built a soundproof room at home.

“Shouta, where is your brother?” Mariko Oshitari asked when she took her place at the table. Her youngest boy nonchalantly shrugged.

“He locked himself in the music room. He was upset when he got home, I didn’t dare to ask”

“Don’t worry, he'll eventually come out” her husband added.

The bleached haired boy had been practicing Bleed by Meshuggah, one of the hardest songs to play on drums. He still wondered how Tomas Haake was able to play the whole thing live. It was virtually impossible for any mortal being, even for the Speed Star of Naniwa. Yet he wasn’t quitting. Playing drums was Kenya's therapy. He used it as a relieving tool that allowed him release his towering rage. He needed vast concentration to forget the scene that involved his best friend kissing the girl he died for.

He had witnessed the confession and felt a wrenching pain consuming his heart. If only had he told Sora about his feelings for her. If only had he been brave enough. If only, if only, if only. ‘if only’ didn’t exist. He hated himself for being a coward.

When his arms and legs could not keep the rhythm any longer, he called it a day.

Kenya took a cold shower and went straight to bed. He laid on his back, staring at an imaginary point on the ceiling. Tears formed in his eyes and he shut them closed, covering them with his forearm when he heard knocks from his door. The knob turned revealing his brother.

“Nii-san” Shouta worriedly asked. “Are you ok?” He didn’t get any reply. “If there’s anything I can do let me know” and with that he closed the door.

What hurt the most was that he had to see Sora and Shiraishi everyday in school. He wasn’t sure about how to deal with it.

.

.

.

Kenya exhaled before sliding the door open. He rapidly scanned his classroom before entering. His classmates were chitchatting. He heard girls’ conversations about make up and random stuff, while boys were discussing about the latest video games. His eyes darted towards the tennis captain. He and Sora were sitting together at her desk. Shiraishi had dragged his chair next to her. Their eyes were focused on her iPad screen and the two shared earphones.

The Speed Star of Naniwa headed towards his desk, placed his bag on the side and took a seat. He crossed his arms on the desk surface and rested his head.

“I swear if they don’t end up together, I will sue everyone involved in this drama” Sora annoyedly slammed her hand on her desk.

“Wow, calm down” Shiraishi Kuranosuke was Sora’s Korean drama partner. They would meet up on the weekends to watch the series together.

She pressed paused.

“What’s wrong with Kenya? he didn’t say hi” The girl tore a page from her notebook and formed a ball, then threw it hitting the Oshitari’s back. Kenya turned around with a wry look on his face. Sora and Shiraishi waved at him, but he just ignored them. The Korean drama freaks exchanged glances and shrugged.

When the lunch time bell rang Kenya stood up and left. He wasn’t hungry at all and holing up in the broadcasting room sounded good. He had to do the noon broadcast after all.

Sora followed him, but keeping Kenya’s pace was impossible. She carried a paper bag with her with a cute drawing of the Oshitari chibi version. It also had a handmade card that had “arigatou” written on it. The girl was awake all night baking pain au chocolat for the bleach haired boy.

She entered the broadcasting room and scanned the place with her eyes until they landed in the boy she was looking for. He was sitting on a chair leaning back with his eyes nailed on the ceiling. Sora closed the door behind her.

“There must be something interesting up there” she broke the silence. She grabbed a chair and took a seat in front of him. He accommodated, sitting tall to face her.

“You look terrible” he carelessly said. It didn’t bother her though. He was right.

“I stayed up all night making this for you” she handed him the bag. “I know you like them. It’s my way to say thank you for yesterday.” She warmly smiled.

He looked at the chibi drawing of him and half smiled.

“wouldn’t Shiraishi be upset with you for giving away baking goods to other guys?”

She tilted her head. “Why would he?”

“don’t play dumb with me Sora!” he snapped. “I saw you two yesterday near the school gate. At least you could have found a more private place”

Realization hit her. “Oh! You mean that”

“Are you jealous Kenya?” her giggles irritated him.

“Stop laughing!”

“I’m not dating Kura, nor anyone else” she finally admitted.

“But…”

Before he could say another word, she leaned forward. Her lips met his in a quick peck. “you’re the one I like. The one and only” she sweetly whispered before brushing her lips against his one more time.

She pulled apart and locked gazes with the boy for few seconds, that seemed an eternity for him.

“Enjoy your pain au chocolat” she smiled and stood up. Before she could turn around Kenya grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him.

“Tell me I’m not delusional” he asked under his breath. He stood up and cupped her cheeks, caressing her smooth skin with his thumbs.

“This is real” she muttered.

There was nothing left to say. Sora didn’t have time to react before Kenya slammed his lips against hers. The moment she was yearning for so long. She hungrily kissed back.

It was rough, the good kind that turned her on. Her arms reached up and tangled around his strong neck. She felt fire igniting inside and consuming her entire body. His lips were warm. His Acqua di Gio fragrance was so addictive she didn’t have any intention to let go. She was doubtless Kenya was the right one.

The boy's insistent mouth parted her lips. Sora pushed Kenya making him fall on the chair behind him with her on top. Without taking a break from each other’s lips, she accommodated her knees on each side of his legs. Kenya’s hands slid down until they found her hips and pulled her closer. A sweet moan escaped her lips when she felt something hard right there.

They broke the kiss before it was too late, resting their foreheads on each other’s. Their gazes interlocked as they tried to catch their breaths. “I…ah, we can continue later” her voice was trembling. “I mean, only if you want to. Dad is out of town…”

He suddenly embraced her and buried his face on her neck, inhaling her fragrance. He wanted to memorize it.

“Only if you’re certain you want it" he whispered.

“Daisuki, Kenya" she softly said.

He leaned back, meeting her eyes one more time. “Daisuki, Sora"

Three figures from the outside were peeking through the door. They could hardly see anything, though.

“Hikaru-chan, you’re too young to witness this" Koharu said to his Kohai.

“Koharu is right" Hitouji covered Zaizen’s eyes, who immediately snapped his sempai’s hands off.

“Yuuji-sempai, Koharu-sempai" Zaizen extended his hands in front of him, palms facing upwards. “It’s my win” the kohai triumphally smirked.

His sempais wryly took the money out of their wallets.

Damn Zaizen.

“Congratulations Hikaru-kun” Sora opened the door; a mocking smile grew on her lips. “Sorry guys, but the show is already over”

“We were just passing by, right Yuu-kun?”

“Hai, Hai, Koharu”

“Jaa-ne, Sora-chan" they waved at her and left before they got murdered.

“Get me some chocolate and I’ll spare your life” She addressed the spiky haired boy.

“Oi, Zaizen” Kenya stood behind the girl. “I want chocolate too”

“No” The youngest nonchalantly replied. “And Kenya-Sempai, don’t make her cry”

“Stupid brat” The bleach haired boy hissed as the black haired walked away.

“Let’s cuddle on the couch, Kenya” She smiled at him, and took his calloused hand in hers. The boy followed with a blush on his face.

_____________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading!

[admirableadmiranda]

I feel like given some breathing room, wangxian is inevitable. They are two stars orbiting each other until collision occurs and something new is born.

The biggest barrier besides needing to grow up a bit in order to learn how to communicate with each other is that they spend much of their youth in turmoil. Between the ever present threat of the Wens and a literal war that they are leading before they are even twenty, there is no time to learn how to speak to each other, let alone build anything. They are both constantly strung on a wire where literally it could be the last day they live. Wartime romance cannot work when the stakes are this high. Especially not with the understanding of each other that they have.

Even post war they are picking up the pieces of their shattered lives. Again there is no time, no emotional bandwidth. But amazingly once Wei Wuxian comes back to life and all they have is the body part road trip, they now have those most valuable resources. Time and space.

But I do think in an au without these barriers, wangxian will always happen. It’s only a matter of time.

hello hello, happy weekend :3 so, i was wondering whether you think wangxian could have still happened if there was no war or even gc transfer? curious to hear your thoughts about this

Happy Weekend anon! (•̀ᴗ•́ )و

Yes, I think, inevitably, they would only ever seek each other out, no one else. It's the point of them anyways and MXTX herself said that matter what, there can be no one but Lan Wangji for Wei Wuxian.

I don't think it would be fast of course, they still have plenty to overcome to understand each other. Lan Wangji needed to stop being so closed off and a stickler, and Wei Wuxian needed to stop being so in denial and be given the time to notice what his own actions meant.

Whatever was in between, really, were just outside obstacles making that harder. Since when both have the time they are in synch easily and admire the other very much when there is nothing stopping them to second guess intentions.

[actualaster]

Alright Ep 6!

Fair warning, this one includes end-game spoilers/end of anime spoilers (at least, I assume--I dunno if they revealed it yet in the show?  If not it’ll be reveled next episode anyway I imagine seeing as...  Not including that would 100% completely change every aspect of the ending)

Lmao nice shift after that absolutely shit-eating grin you ended the last ep on, Asshole Jesus.

I want to punch him so bad.  So.  Bad.  I love him but I want to kick his ass.

Joshy-boy knows he’s untouchable lmao.

Oooooh, Neku broke Asshole Jesus’ phooooooone.

I do like how they had a bit of a sequence elaborating a bit more on the creating of a Taboo Noise Refinery Sigil

asdlkfjasd  Neku has been body slammed out of the way of danger like 3 times in the last like 2 minutes lmao.  Also the Delinquent Reaper is back!

That’s actually a really interesting translation for this part--I admit my knowledge of Japanese is beyond basic but I do know a few handfuls of words/concepts.

Beat specifically uses “sempai” here but his body language, facial expression, and the way he speaks as he says the word are very clearly derogatory so I think the use of “old timer” works well in English to convey the idea of “person with seniority (that I absolutely do NOT fucking respect)”  (Kariya, of course, Gives No Fucks in return)

sdajkhfasdjf  JUST.  JUST FUCKING LEVITED HIM RIGHT UP AND DRAGGED HIM OFF LMAO.  Also an interesting way to showcase him losing the pendant.

Ahhh, they shuffled the conversation a bit, here we have that happening, I was expecting it last episode when they met and Josh pointed out that winning doesn’t always mean getting brought back

Actually got 2 convos going on here.  First, it’s interesting--Neku wondering “Does Josh have a reason, too?  A reason he killed me?”  (Not in so many words but basically.

And then you contrast that serious point...  With Josh being like “lol not my fault the phone broke that was Neku’s doing” XD

Honestly, the washed out look of the RG people is working so well to contrast with the recurring Red Skull Pins, it really helps draw the eye to them immediately.  The RSPs are also a bit washed out, but not entirely--an excellent visual representation of the fact that they exist in the RG but very clearly (as was seen in an earlier episode as well as previous one with Josh’s tracker picking ‘em up) hold some connection to the UG as well. 

oh because THAT’S not an ominous facial expression at all.

sdzljfasdjlkf  I lost it at this, the just.  Delivery of hte lines is A+++, absolute perfection

Neku’s little freak out is so cute, he’s having his mind blown in a much better way than usual.

oooooooooh stars, oh sweet sky help me, his blush is so cute, this BOY IS SO PRECIOUS i want to give him a hug (he certainly deserves one)

HIS FACE IS JUST TOO CUTE

Mmmm, more RSPs being showcased.  They’re really going heavy on the washed out look for the people in the RG to emphasize the appearance of the RPSs.

Lmao Josh’s tired of Neku’s fanboying.  Well, shoulda thought of that before you told him the secret identity of his idol lmao.  You brought that on yourself, dude.

dksjfasdkf Neku sweetie you’re so cute

At least nobody is around to see your despair--well, aside from Prissy Boy anyway.

...So this is the second time this...  Red-washed concert or something has been shown, last time it was in the BG.  The fact that the shot zoomed in on it, and that it’s red feels significant for some reason.

Heh.  We’ve seen that Noise symbol before

Remember this, from episode 2?  (again, interesting to point out the significantly overcast appearance here which I mentioned in the last post)

JESUS BEAM JESUS BEAM JESUS BEAM JESUS BEAM JESUS BEAM JESUS BEAM JE--

this part is massive ending spoilers for the game/show.

Mmm, I know I mentioned last post that the anime (and game) were pretty implicative that Josh offed himself for the game, and then this episode (and slightly after that in the game) brings up that in this case he’s “playing while alive”, but I stand by my theory just as I’ve held that theory for absolute ages.

That entire conversation seemed to indicate it was about the more distant past--as in, before Josh’s current situation in the UG.  As in, back when he was alive.  We know he’s not technically alive-alive in the sense that the never dead or reborn players are due to what he is.  It feels like it’s being more clear about implying that, when he first entered the UG before the current situation, it was by intentional choice.

Of course, can’t fault Kariya for assuming Josh’s a living player that snuck into the game and all.  He’d have never had reason to come into contact with what Josh is before this, after all--he’d simply never have any reason to know the truth.

lol he tossed them treats Asshole Jesus wiped out the Taboo Noise for him

Neku’s entire thing where he loses it at Josh here is just wonderfully emotive, it really comes to life well in the anime.

f u c k, that was a low blow even for you dude.

Noooot helping your creepy stalker vibes Josh, noooot helping them lol.

Interesting take, J-boy.

Well, Pi-Face sure has been having fun making minions

And that’s a wrap for ep 6.

[ee-furoido]

TwstOBer Day 19

For TwstOBer Day 19 prompt: BOOK, from @raven-at-the-writing-desk‘s prompts found here. All Prompts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

It was a new semester at Night Raven College, which meant a whole slew of new work for the Octavinelle staff members of the Mostro Lounge. As a manager of the Lounge, Jade was always quite busy when the new semester began. His assistance was vital to assure a smooth start to their new menu, their new rotating student staff, as well as the clients that would be visiting Azul in the VIP room as the point cards come in.

Jade knocked onto the door of the VIP room and let himself in without bothering to wait for a response. While he expected Azul to be huddled over his desk, the last thing he thought he would see was him surrounded by a stack of books, each one with a strange title and a drawing of a monstrous entity on the cover.

“Azul, what is-”

“What should I choose to create the optimal character? There’s so many choices.” Azul is muttering to himself, completely unaware of Jade’s presence until he feels the shadow of his friend block out the light. He barely glances up from the piece of paper in front of him, a sheet with various boxes and columns filled with attributes and numbers. Azul’s own scribbles littered the page. Jade cocked his head trying to get a good read of it, but it only caused him more confusion.

“Azul, I brought the suggested recipes for this semester’s menu, but…” Jade picks up one of the books. Rathanax’s Guide to Everything. “What is all this?” Azul clasped his hands on his head, the stress of whatever he was working on apparently getting to him.

“We are starting something entirely new in the Boardgame Club.” Azul said, speaking more into the table than at his friend. “I’d never heard of this game, but apparently Idia-san has played it multiple times… So he leant me his whole library so that I can study up on it and create a character.”

Azul picks up one of the open books to his left and points at a paragraph. “I’ve got to choose one of these archetypes and create a whole backstory that makes sense. We’re starting this game tomorrow, and this is probably the third character I’ve created?” Azul sighs and shakes his head. “I know I only need to make one, but… I keep finding archetypes that I like, so I wish to be prepared. Idia-san says that our characters may die if we don’t play it right. It would be smart to have backups.”

Jade places the book back down and walks around to the other side of the desk, standing beside his friend. Azul threw himself back into the character sheet in front of him, molding his perfect character with stats that would help them survive whatever may be thrown at them. His eyes flit from book to book, turning pages, trying to absorb as much information as he can to completely take advantage of the rules set before him.

Jade could feel a literal small sweatdrop crawl down his temple as he sees Azul’s frantic pace. “Azul… What is this game?”

“Idia called it Dungeons and Dragons.” Azul grabbed four six-sided dice that were in a small tray in front of him, and rolled them on his table.

“I-I see…” Jade said, definitely not seeing. “And… what are you doing now?”

“In order for the characters to be completed, I must randomly determine their abilities. I am looking to create a tabaxi artificer, so I must roll high for my Intelligence ability. Jade, the amount of thought that goes into this game is so strenuous!” Azul’s voice starts to reach a new high, his eyes wide. “I have to determine why they go on this adventure? What magic they wield? Who they worship? Everything I may have questions to are in these books somewhere, and I am going to read them all tonight.

“I will make a better character than Idia-san and the other sempai if it’s the last thing I do. Fufu.” A flame burned within him as he delved back down into the books before him. The players handbook before him was well read and marked from Idia’s prior sessions, and Azul wasn’t missing a single scribbled note. Whatever he could do to come out on top.

Jade sighed, but couldn’t stop a chuckle from escaping his lips. It was much like Azul to get caught up in such a competition. It was well within Azul’s lane to perfect a character for an adventure, and he had no doubt that whoever Azul ended up bringing to their campaign would most likely survive whatever the rest of the group would throw at him.

“I’ll just leave the menus here on the table then, Azul. I’ll be back some other time to talk about it.” Jade said, although he was quite sure that Azul hadn’t heard him. He was back to muttering into one of the books.

“...Once my tabaxi, Link, reaches level three, I’ll get to choose a specialty… hmm…”

Jade gave another chuckle and silently left the VIP room, leaving Azul to his own devices. Work could wait for tomorrow.

[fuwafuwamedb]

The King and His Tot Pt 6 (Gudako, Mash, Hakuno, Gilgamesh)

Previously with the Tot: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

___

They barely slept.

Gudako couldn’t help it. It was hard to sleep when Hakuno and her son were held in the palace and Gilgamesh was refusing to do much of anything with them. The man should have been letting them tay in the palace. He should have thought about the fact that Hakuno would probably feel more comfortable around her friends than with a man that she didn’t remember.

Of course, for him to know much about that, she would have needed to have a conversation with him. He would have needed to be less commanding and more reasonable.

Now she was stuck in a brewery, lying in bed and thinking about the conversation that she’d had with Romani and Mash.

“Technically, there are records of Ur-Nungal,” Romani pointed out. “We knew this when we put the name amongst a list of Uruk sounding names for Hakuno.”

“That doesn’t mean that it’s the same Ur!”

Romani had sighed. Da Vinci as well.

“Mash, help me out.”

“Gudako,” Da Vinci leaned in, coming closer to the monitor on her side. “If you want the two safe, then we need to extract them tomorrow. The later we extract them, the more likely it is that the two will adjust to the timeline until they are fully incorporated. While Hakuno can be considered nothing more than one of many wives that Gilgamesh had, Ur will be another matter. I have no doubt that the boy will become considered the Ur we know from history.”

“What do we know?”

“He has a son and he rules for about thirty years. That’s it.”

Hakuno would be upset to know her son lived and died so quickly in their realm of time. She would have to bring Hakuno back to Chaldea. She was their friend, but for her to lose her son…

No, tomorrow she would extract both Hakuno and Ur-Nungal before it was too late. She had to.

So it was settled…

“What if he became the king and was summonable?”

Gudako glanced over at Mash, watching the shielder roll over and look to her.

“I can’t stop thinking about it, sempai. If Hakuno leaves her son with Gilgamesh after the singularity is about to end, she could summon her son and spend time with him for the course of our time saving humanity. We know from Romani that Hakuno isn’t human in the normal sense. She won’t die. So if she leaves Ur here, then she never has to lose him because she can summon him and Gilgamesh.”

“Would you give up having your son around though?” Gudako asked.

“…Probably not,” Mash sighed.

“That’s the thing. I’m trying to think of ways that Hakuno could keep her baby and not have to lose him to the passage of time. I’ve seen how much she worries about him. She almost lost him during childbirth and you’ve seen how she is now. She panics easily.”

“So we’re going to send them both back tomorrow?”

“We have to.”

They could think of something else for Ur-Nungal. Having him raised by Gilgamesh and stealing Hakuno away would be far too cruel. Hakuno would be heartbroken.

Still, Gudako found that she lay there for hours, her mind revolving around the possibilities and the outcomes. She couldn’t get rid of the way Hakuno had looked when she had heard that Ur had almost stopped breathing.

They’d become best friends in no time at all. Her, Mash, and Hakuno were tighter than tight. They were sweets thieves. They were movie companions.

The lived hard and they tried harder.

“I just want to hug Hakuno,” Mash grumbled. “If only we could just steal Gilgamesh and the two and place them all in a nice singularity without trouble.”

“Been reading too many stories, Mash?”

“I like the happy endings.”

She did too.

She hoped they could find one for Hakuno.

[vvildrose]

"we all signed up for this. I regret nothing." (maki)

     There are words that would quash any form of doubt in a person’s mind, and there are things that could be said to lead one’s soul in clear light. Maki’s words were filled with fire and undeterred resolution, ⸺ but it seem to sink her heart in deeper. There was an urge to argue, but Nobara, no matter how difficult it is to physically leash her frustrations with gritted teeth and clenched fists, she could never bring herself to disagree.

     Sorcerers are a different breed of stubborn creatures. To be one is to be born with what’s necessary, and later, choose to be one. That rule did not pertain to her, no. Maki simply chose to be one despite lacking what’s required. A concrete proof of an unsurmountable will that cannot be withheld by any means. Nobara knows this, Maki will continue to fight. It swelled her sense of pride for the weapon master for sure, but she still felt helpless about it.  

     ❝ It’s only gonna get worse from here on out isn’t it, sempai? ❞ Nobara said, defeated. Her gaze only stuck on the healing scabs of the older female’s hands. They were a true manifestation of just how much they could push themselves until the point of no return.

     ❝ I don’t know how to handle it. ❞ The younger admits, her voice only above a whisper. ❝ How do you simply accept the high odds of losing the people you care for?❞

[eyeslikefoxglove]

Episode 4 - Meng Yao has a crush & Foxglove likes to babble

Hello everybody, welcome to episode 4. I slept like a baby last night, but I have a migraine so I may sound a bit incoherent. (Post episode Foxglove here, I’m not incoherent in this, I’m just ranty)

Poor WWX. Funny story, during my first? Second? Year of Med School I fell aspleep on my biophysics notes during exam period, woke up at 9pm when my alarm for my meds started ringing, realised what I’d done and called my mum (who was on a 24h shift at the hospital) crying. In hindsight is hilarious because I had something like two weeks until the exam so I lost no more than a few hours but oh well.

Full disclosure here: I don’t like the Lan sect, LXC, LWJ and the Ducklings excluded I think they’re a bunch of hypocrites. You can’t call yourself righteous and boast about your almost 4000 rules and then shrug when people decide to commit genocide.

Also, 4000-ish rules? Fuck that noise, there’s a post floating around here where some amazing soul translated what they could see of the Wall of Rules and yeah, some of them are in the “don’t be an asshole, don’t hurt yourself or others” vein which, absolutely fair. But things like “dress properly” who are you to tell me what and how I cover my body with? “Don’t be promiscuous” wow thanks for the slut shaming my dudes. “Don’t smile foolishly/don’t smile too much”, “sit properly”, “don’t be too sad”, “don’t be too happy”. You’re telling me these are rules, not guidelines, not common sense stuff. RULES. You’re telling me people get punished for grinning or crying. Fuck off mate.

And we can’t forget the golden example of hypocrisy “Don’t talk to Wei Wuxian” so much for “don’t speak ill of others”.

Is my Western Girl showing? I’m sorry, I’m from Spain and I was raised by the guidelines “don’t be an asshole, don’t hurt yourself or others, don’t take anyone’s bullshit, live and let live, have courage and be kind, we will always love and support you” so some stuff in here is very very grating. I don’t have enough knowledge about the culture to discern if it is because of my modern sensibilities or because my culture is so different.

Oooooohhh I don’t like birds. I mean, I love crows, ravens and birds of prey to an unhealthy degree, but they keep their distance. The other day a pigeon flew into my building and decided that my (very dark) doorstep was the place to have a rest. I screamed like a banshee.

Hey, those two assholes at the back, get the fuck out of here.

LXC protective mode activated.

You will never convince me Meng Yao did not develop a monster crush right then and there.

Oh no. It’s this asshole.

Oh WangJi about to cut a bitch.

Drag him WWX.

MY’s protective mode activated.

And LXC is too done with this shit. Yep, NHS also thinks MY got a massive crush.

WQ aka Qishan Wen’s only braincell.

It’s the One Braincell Trio!

Notice me sempai! Omg JC’s faces.

This is where I dump all my canon-divergence AUs:

Meng Yao stays in Cloud Recesses. He and LXC keep gazing longingly into each other’s eyes.

NHS introduces him to the other two from the One Braincell Trio. WWX takes one look at him and goes “yep, you’re my friend now, I’m kneecapping anybody who fucks with you.” Because there’s no way he wouldn’t be sympathetic to MY after his own childhood (omg, both of them drunk, making terrible gallows’ humour jokes about living poor and mostly homeless while JC and NHS just listen horrified). JC goes into overprotective bro mode with MY. I mean, he still can’t emote for shit but he’s made very very sure that he will cut a bitch for MY and at least he knows MY has a brain, not like someone else he knows.

Shijie makes friends with MY because Shijie is a goddess and MY is so confused because how the hell does someone so kind exist? And she wants to be friends? And she doesn’t care at all about his past? What? MY.exe has stopped working.

Maybe JZX gets his head out of his ass and goes to talk to MY and warn him about what an asshole JGS is, because I refuse to think JZX doesn’t know it. Maybe MY hears him disparaging Shijie and decides that nope, the Jins can fuck right off every single one of them is a rude idiot; it’s ok with him because of his parentage (it’s not ok) but no one touches Shijie. The Yunmeng sibs is where it is at.

And that’s when he unleashes his full Slytherin powers on behalf of his new family. Because he does indeed have a fully functioning brain and shit is going to get really ugly really fast for all the people he loves if he doesn’t try and mitigate the damage somehow.

(A lot of mutual XiYao pinning is going on in the background because I live for the angst ok. LWJ fully approves of him as a brother-in-law tho)

A lot of terrible shit still happens because this is my AU and I want pain, but not only does JGS not have MY’s enormous brain on his side when he tries to seize power, he’s actively working against him (you can’t tell me MY wouldn’t get the kick of his life publicly bringing down and exposing his terrible father).

I’m sorry, back to the commentary.

This two idiots omg.

It’s WQ! Drag him WQ (gently)

I’m going to channel my ballet teacher here for a second: put your hair up! (You bunch of spider crabs, as she would call us)

I mean, JC’s hair is clearly in his face when he’s doing drills and, while the visual of all that dark hair whipping in the wind with the robes (another beef I have, they look like they’d catch on everything) is very dramatic I can assure you it’s fucking annoying. Plus it limits your visual field a lot. Again, I know jack about the culture and people can fly on swords here so why am I complaining about hair but let me live.

I used to have that much hair (then I got a pixie, now I’m growing it back out) and smacking yourself on the face with your own braid hurts.

Shijie knows what’s up with Jiang “I can only show anger” Cheng.

My one track mind when I saw the fish: Anisakis!

I think I would absolutely become a vegetarian if I got dropped in the past tbh. Not only is there no quality control of animal products (hello Trichinella), there’s also no way to do a proper cold storage (hello Salmonella). I’ve read and seen to many horror stories due to contaminated animal byproducts and, while vegetables pose their own risk (hello E. Coli) usually you only have to be thorough at washing and peeling to not have trouble.

5am wake up call without coffee. Fuck that noise.

Wei “I’m a petty gremlin” Wuxian.

I once called WWX a “mad scientist with ADHD” on an AO3 comment and I stand by that assessment.

Ok, but why the turtle caricature? It’s because turtles are “old and wise” like LQR? Is that the joke? Or are they laughing at WWX’s balls?

AW NO PAPERMAN.

“Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood? // Where, would you look if I asked you to get me a bezoar? // And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?” It’s pretty much the same energy. LQR is Ancient magic China’s version is Severus Snape down to the pettiness. He tries to catch WWX in a mistake, and when he can’t he dismisses his knowledge (look at Shijie’s face when he says WWX should not be proud to know what he does). He keeps pushing until WWX’s runs into a wall, then uses LWJ to “show him how it’s done” I mean, look how smug he looks and how uncomfortable everyone else is.

“Pity... clearly, fame isn't everything.”

(No, I don’t like LQR and I don’t like Severus Snape either; tragic past and sacrifices do not give you a pass to abuse children don’t @ me, I’m not interested in changing my mind)

And here is where all my “mad scientist with ADHD” hc stem from.

“No screaming in Cloud Recesses.” Screams LQR (yes, I’m 100% that bitch)

WEN NING IS HERE HI WN YOURE SO PRECIOUS.

But intercepting an arrow mid flight is some Geralt of Rivia Witcher bullshit right there.

Detective Wei strikes again.

The scenery is gorgeous my god.

Can we talk again about how this 16-year-old boy reacted to someone sneaking up on him by drawing his sword and attacking? That’s not fucking normal, that’s a common reflex in soldiers or people with PTSD.

(The Netflix translation has him calling LWJ “WangJi” and I die)

Thanks for reading!