#The Kyoto and Tokyo students seeing things and reacting to them in a way that works well with their teachers' experiences and viewpoints

[yueebby]

sooo i read your "indulge me?" piece and that's why i wanted to ask for gojo simping for reader that doesn't really seem him as more as a friend and he's fine with it (lol he's not but he's need to keep the facade you know???) hope you write it at some point! btw loving you writing so far <333

11:34pm — gojo satoru

contents. highschool!gojo, fluff, he’s so in love bye, underage drinking, tokyo and kyoto students have a little get together!

“what’s wrong with him?” utahime watches her white haired underclassman down another can of beer. it was rare to see gojo drinking with the rest of the group, always opting for a soda instead.

shoko takes another swig out of her drink, unsurprised. “[name] is on a date.” 

a pathetic groan leaves gojo’s lips and the upper half of his body is splayed over the kotatsu in shoko’s room, sunglasses long forgotten somewhere. he lets out an unapologetic burp. everyone at the table spares him a glance of pity. 

utahime grimaces and mutters a quiet, “gross”. 

“don’t provoke him,” geto scolds shoko, flicking some ash from his cigarette to the ashtray below. “she’s just dealing with clan matters. arranged marriages and whatnot.” he used his free hand to land a firm pat on gojo’s back. what kind of best friend would he be if he didn’t try to comfort satoru? 

“poor thing. i can keep you company in the meantime,” mei mei’s smile is far from something with good intentions. gojo shakes his head to refuse, but with the way his forehead was pressed to the table, it looked comical. like a child throwing a tantrum. 

the only thing that managed to get gojo satoru out of his drunken slump was a soft knock on the door. he could recognize that pattern anywhere. could it be–? the snow haired boy immediately perks up. his drunk dazed eyes brighten as he quickly makes his way to the door. 

geto snorts at the way his best friend reacts. he thinks he can see an imaginary tail wagging, as if he were a dog. 

“you’re late!” gojo accuses you when he opens the door. you blink.

“are you…okay?” your voice is laced with concern as gojo’s large frame towers over you. gojo preens.

“awww, is my [name] worried about me now? don’t worry, ‘m doing just fine!” there is a goofy grin painted on gojo’s face as he leans against the doorway. all conversation has stopped and every sorcerer was listening attentively to gojo's hopeless conversation with you. utahime can’t help but feel just a little compassion for the boy. he was pining so much it hurt.

“i wasn’t worried. it's just that your words are all slurred– don’t tell me you let shoko talk you into drinking with her again?” you sigh. it was hard to miss the smell of beer on him. gojo and alcohol never mixed well, and the last thing you needed tonight was another lecture from yaga. 

from inside her room, shoko shouts, “it wasn’t me this time! the idiot decided to drown himself in beer after we warned him not to!” it was common knowledge that gojo couldn’t handle his alcohol. 

the male in question pouts.

“can a man not grieve about the love of his life being married to another?” gojo deflates. on the other side of the threshold, you wrinkle your nose.

“who said anything about marriage? like hell i’m going to accept a proposal from naoya zen’in.” you grumble. it had been a long night. dealing with your family and naoya was enough to scare you into staying in jujutsu tech for good. you’d rather lose your sanity to gojo than your dignity to naoya. 

“never mind that though, are mei mei and utahime still here? i was hoping to catch up with them!” you smile, crouching under his arm to make your way into the room. gojo doesn’t hesitate to trail right behind you. 

“[name]!” utahime waves happily at you, her mood no longer sour after she sees you. your wave back is enthusiastic. mei mei acknowledges your presence.

“how was dinner with naoya?” suguru asks. your face pinches up. he laughs before handing you a cold can of soda which you accept graciously.

you hear gojo mutter to himself from behind you.

“what’s up with him?” you whisper to suguru.

“you know how he is when he drinks,” he sighs, ushering you to sit beside him. gojo seemed to have his own agenda though, forcefully squeezing himself between the two of you. you shoot him an annoyed look to which he responds with a grin on his face. 

“‘m tired,” he whines, stretching his arms dramatically while letting out a loud yawn. you grunt when there’s a heavy weight on you; gojo has thrown his entire body on your side.

you don’t bother pushing him off. you’ve learned in the two years you’ve known gojo that he is like a baby when he gets drunk. it’s best if you let him have his way.

“go to sleep then, idiot,” you flick his forehead. he juts his bottom lip childishly, looking up at you with wide eyes. his eyes are captivating and you think you see nervousness through those azure orbs.

“will you come to bed with me too?” he rests his chin on your shoulder. you raise an eyebrow in surprise.

“eh? why would i?”

“because i’m cute.” gojo bats those long eyelashes of his innocently. you roll your eyes playfully before taking another sip out of your soda. 

“you’re weird– that’s what you are.” your lips quirk upward, eyes twinkling with mirth. he sulks, chin still comfortably supported by your shoulder.

“‘m not that bad!” he protests, a frown forming on his lips. you look at him for a long moment. this was the first time you’ve ever gotten to look at gojo this closely. 

his hair was getting longer, you note silently. with your free hand, you slowly move a strand of hair out of his face. gojo watches you earnestly. if his cheeks were not already flushed, they are now. 

“can we stop it with the flirting? let us single folk live in peace.” shoko speaks up. you turn your attention hastily from gojo to the rest of your fellow peers. 

“i feel like i’m intruding on something,” mei mei says scandalously. your eyes widen.

“we are not– no way!” you shake your head repeatedly. no one believes you. especially not while gojo is still resting on your shoulder, eyes watching you, full of love.

“stop giving him all your attention and talk to us! we’re much better company,” utahime scowls, pointing her beer disapprovingly at the white haired boy on you. you think you hear gojo grunt.

“alright, alright,” you concede. 

“i hope you don’t mind me asking again, but do tell us how your night with the zen’in kid went,” suguru snickers. you groan exasperatedly.

“where do i even start?”

the rest of the night goes by pleasantly. you had been so engrossed with retelling your experience with dealing with your family that you had failed to notice what gojo was up to. by the time everyone left their respective dorms (or temporary dorms), you noticed the head of white hair sleeping soundly on your lap.

he mumbles something in his sleep, nuzzling himself closer into your stomach. cute. you giggle at how innocent he looks. 

you don’t know what took over you, but you remember bending down and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. to your surprise, gojo reciprocates your kiss. to the best of his capabilities anyway. you watch as he puckers his lips in his sleep. oh my– how precious.

you suppose he isn't so bad.

notes. THANK U FOR BEING MY FIRST ANON ASK. ily!!! i saw somewhere that gege confirmed gojo would have drunken failures when he was a student haha this is my take on that. hes so bf

also thank you for all the support on my first post?!? you guys are too sweet im crying. i literally giggle and kick my feet reading your feedback ><

[lets-curse-each-other]

"Money doesn't stink", or analysis of Mei Mei

Mei Mei's second name is "paradox". Almost every scene with her is a mixture of socially accused features and humanly approved virtues. We're getting acquainted with her during the Goodwill Event with Kyoto and our character perception changes within a few seconds:

she praises Maki - positive attitude:

she is actually corrupted - negative attitude:

The "simplicity" of Mei's aims and reasons could seem so petty 'cause they don't inspire, don't raise moral or aren't dramatic after all. She loves money, she works for it and does extra tasks only if she's well paid - nothing more. Similar situation was with Nobara:

I didn't like living in the middle of nowhere so I came to the city! This was the only way for me to move to Tokyo.

In ch. 5 Itadori represents the readers; he awaits to hear about tragic circumstances and grand higher purposes and gets ordinary wishes, human desires. "I'm not a hero, I'm a jujutsu sorcerer", remember? Gege is perhaps mocking (with respect of course) at the great anime titles (you know these guys, Naruto, Bleach, etc.) where the majority of characters are pompous in their achieving goals, usually these goals have dark and tear-jerking bases. It's not very human actually. I don't attempt to say that people in reality can't possess noble motives, however usually (USUALLY!) we're striving for common, necessary (or not), nice trinkets, not for "I WILL SAVE ALL THE PEOPLE BECAUSE I'M THE AMBASSADOR OF THE GOOD". Let's be honest, as well as we, Mei is just a human who is happy as fuck when sees her bank account has been replenished.

Nevertheless, she later helps the students with promotion by her (!) initiative. Mei doesn't take advantage from it, she's just admitted their skills without any prejudices and does them a favor. It could be the action of kindness or pragmatism because it's better for the sorcerers to accomplish missions according to their abilities and not stay on the plateau. Perhaps there was a possibility that Mei felt some kind of solidarity to Maki because their sorcery paths were alike, in a way. However, let's not forget her dogma: service potential is life itself for me. So for her courtesy she probably would expect from Maki reciprocal benefits.

She, surprisingly, isn't arrogant. Mei easily accepts others' suggestions (like with Utahime in Gojo's flashbacks), positively reacts to different plans and ideas, admits achievements and pays compliments:

"The Shibuya Incident" also shows Mei's contradictory character. We're getting used to her practical interests (even in her own family) and view on life as the goldmine of possibilities to get profit from everything and everybody, that observing such sincere empathy of her is really beyond our understanding. It's suspicious and confusing. Nice of Gege to not focus on one bright trait but to extend the personality further. That method helps readers always be a little bit shocked when there's this kind of a sharp transition: from "interested only in money venal person" to "caring, attentive and trustworthy fellow".

As far as concerned her past, Mei is likely from some minor jujutsu clan if taking into account the info from databook that the enrollment method was family lineage and Ui Ui's words about her "using family for employment". Howbeit, she inherited the cursed technique too weak to use alone, that forced her to train her physical abilities and develope skills of enhancing the body with cursed energy. Unfortunately (or luckily), she faced obstacles again: her body had a limit. She found strength to get back to basics, to her worthless at first sight inherited technique. Ironically, the thing that was useless at the beginning helped her to become a grade 1 sorcerer. It is necessary to admit how her highlight, main attack, reflects her life mottos in the best way. Are you ready to imperil yourself for me? Could i gain benefits from your sacrifice? Is your life able to help me in my aims?

Here there is a gist of her sympathy to Maki during the Goodwill Event. She realized how much effort, stubbornness Maki put into her achieving such excellent results without cursed techniques, not talking about mockeries and disrespect that the girl has to endure. In this aspect they are similar.

While on the subject of family and the Goodwill Event, I've been rereading ch. 40 (Mei's first appearance) several times and only now, as an afflatus, i realize that she could mean the connections between relatives/family traditions and its members. For her these formal bounds don't make sense at all. Everything should have its value, everything has a price. The idea is hard-nosed and unsentimental, but, you know, i like it in some way. I think you're familiar with a situation when you're obliged to do something for people just because these people are called your relatives. Mei's credo denies it. No profit, hence no efforts. Fair.

The battle between her and Kenjaku remained behind the scenes. And next time we see Mei (ch.133), her "betrayal" is obvious. I'm using quotation marks because, honestly, she acted logically, didn't change her businesslike habits. Mei Mei and her brother somehow could escape from Kenjaku, survived, and she immediately calculated the situation, grasped the outcomes of the Shibuya Incident and its winner and took the steps. Mei left the battlefield and her comrades fighting, but she and Ui Ui stayed alive. Therewith, her predicting the final, Mei saw no point in endeavors that would put her and her brother on the line.

Despite this, Mei does not avoid tragic consequences, in chapter 190 it is said that Ui Ui (most likely by the order of the elder sister) helps sorcerers in the colonies. I like how Noritoshi describes this type of relationship between Mei and the jujutsu society:

Risk diversification is the process of investing across a range of industries and categories. This ensures that even if some assets perform poorly, other areas can completely or in part cover the loss (source).

Diversification of risk is, therefore, a tactic to balance between maximising returns and minimising risks (source).

The siblings don't be in a hurry to jump into the deep end, despite the fact how tensed the situation is. They keep the distance, carefully help from comfortable positions, contribute gradually and cautiously. They will venture only when the game is worth the candle. Having such controversial characters on the side of good adds this very side more human features and realness. So I'm looking forward to see these guys' next actions.

[violettelueur]

GOJO SATORU || SWEET TASTE OF CHOCOLATE

| featuring : gojo satoru ft. itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara from jujutsu kaisen

| warnings : grammar errors, but other than that n/a

| form : imagine

| word count : 2243

| published : 19 december

| request : hiii! i love your works sm 🥺 may i request for gojo x reader (can be headcannon or oneshot, your choice!) where reader is also a jujutsu sorcerer and teaching in kyoto? they act like they hate each other's guts but deep down they really like each other 😂 then when reader visits the school in tokyo gojo and reader were already arguing and teasing each other, the students can't help but think they're together but nAh then they help gojo confess to reader? feel free to ignore if u can't write this,thank youuu! ❤️

| barista’s notes : hi there~ i apologies for the extremely long wait for your coffee order but now it is there ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ my day today hasn’t really been the most active at all to be completely honest with you, that lovely time of the month has arrived and i couldn’t help myself but sleep through the pain  ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ but moving on from that, i hope you enjoy your order of a cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and i hope you come back soon! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆

“Gojo sensei, why don’t you just confess to L/N-sensei already?” Itadori curiously asked, causing the white-haired teacher to lift up his blindfold to look up at his first-year students, who were all standing around him on his chair, with a somewhat confused expression.

“Yuji-kun, what are you talking about? Confess? Ha?” Gojo asked in confusion, wondering why his student was asking such a weird question as well as wondering how Itadori knew about his feelings towards you.

“Sensei, it’s so obvious that you like L/N-sensei! There is no denying that fact,” Kugisaki shouted in frustration, annoyed at the fact how her teacher was so ignorant to the fact that it was clear as day that his infatuation towards you was just painful evident.

“Ah~ you guys caught me~” Gojo teasingly admitted with his hands stuffed into his pocket, before smiling up at the three students that were staring at him with dumbfounded faces.

“WAIT SO YOU KNEW YOU HAD FEELINGS?” Both Itadori and Kugisaki yelled in anger, causing Fushiguro to give both them as well as his teacher a glare of annoyance due to their loudness.

                                              ꕥ

“Fushiguro, who is that?” Kugisaki quietly asked as she pointed towards someone that was walking towards the first-years and Gojo with Principle Yaga right beside them, discussing something that seemed extremely important between both the adults.

“That’s L/N-sensei, she teaches at the Kyoto Metropolitan Curse Technical College but from time to time, she does come over to this school to teach us as well,” Fushiguro explained, as he watches you finally stop right in front of them with a small smile on your face.

“So, these are the two new first-years you were talking about,” you commented to Principal Yaga before introducing yourself towards the three. “My name is L/N Y/N, and you all will be seeing me here from time to time since I’ll be helping you all, but you already know me Megumi,” you stated before gently patting the young boy’s head, causing Fushiguro to smile kindly at you.

“Ah~ isn’t it little Y/N? Have you gotten shorter over the past few months that I haven’t seen you?” Gojo then asked in a playful tone as he placed his giant hand on the top of your head, causing a sudden wave of irritation to hit you once you heard the shaman’s voice. “Well, well, well isn’t it dumbass Satoru? Are you still salty at the fact that I beat you in our last match?” you asked mischievous tone as you then violently pinched his right cheek before pulling it as much as you could.

“Are they dating?” Itadori then asked his friend, only to receive a simple ‘no’ as a response from Fushiguro, causing all three of them to continue watching the mess that was unfolding right in front of them.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch,” Gojo painfully panicked, before you suddenly let go of his face leaving an extremely bright ruby red mark on his face where your fingers were. “That hurts Y/N, who is going to even date you with your abusive antics?” Gojo mocked, causing you to instantly reply with “definitely not you, idiot Satoru,” you quickly answered back leading to the powerful shaman to express a blank expression his face before instantly replacing it with a cheeky smile to cover up what he was feeling - yet, even with that split second change, Itadori, Fushiguro and Kugisaki all notice this and began to wonder the same thing.

‘Does Gojo-sensei like L/N-sensei?’

                                               ꕥ

“You should really confess to her,” Kugisaki suggested to her teacher, causing both Fushiguro and Itadori to nod in agreement - most likely to not be a victim to her wrath if they had disagreed with the female student.

“Maybe you should give her flowers? Or maybe some chocolate since L/N-sensei really like sweets,” Fushiguro commented, causing everyone to look at him with confused expressions on their faces.

“How did you know L/N-sensei loves sweets?” Itadori asked in a perplexed expression, as he wondered by Fushiguro would know such a random fact about you, causing his classmate to sign in frustration before explaining with, “when I was younger, she would always have a few small snacks in her pockets and would offer me some when I was upset or after picking me up from school,”.

“Awww that is so cute Fushiguro, L/N-sensei was basically your other parent,” Kugisaki commented with her hands hold her cheeks while squealing as she imagined the little image of you crouching down and giving a mini Fushiguro a chocolate chip cookie.

“Sensei, listen to Fushiguro and get a box of chocolates! The expensive kind as well because good food is anyone’s best friend,” Kugisaki ranted, as she was getting excited to set this couple up like she was cupid with the arrow - well...more like the nails and hammer.

“Or just get L/N-sensei’s favourite, which is…” Itadori added into the conversation before turning to his shikigami user friend, waiting for him to complete his sentence. Fushiguro turned to look at Itadori before quickly answering, “Meiji Milk Chocolate,”

“That’s quite a cheap chocolate,” Itadori then commented before Kugisaki quickly commanded, “it doesn't matter! Gojo-sensei, you need to go and buy that chocolate as soon as possible since L/N-sensei is coming to teach us today, so better hurry it up!” leading to the special grade shaman to sigh loudly as he quickly standing up from his seat to on his own two feet before making his way out of the room, quickly waving his arm out to all three of his students as a simple ‘see you later’

                                              ꕥ

After an extremely quick run to the closest convenience store, there was no surprised that Mr Gojo “I like eating sweets as well” Satoru came back with a small white bag with the store logo filled with masses of different types of sweets and chocolates nearly overflowing to the top, making any sweet-tooth child that saw this exceedingly jealous at the adult.

Walking around the grounds of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, Gojo was in search of both you and his three students, wondering where all four of you could have gone since he was very certain that there were no missions needed to be completed by anyone from what he was informed. 

However, there was a sudden sound of laughter coming from his left side causing the shaman to quickly turn in that direction and from the sounds of it, it was definitely Kugisaki laughing her ass off at something right now at this current moment in time. Turning his feet, Gojo steadily made his way towards the direction of the sound, hoping that he would find you and the rest there on wherever his feet would guide him.

After finding his way, Gojo had unexpectedly come to the amusing sight of both Fushiguro and Kugisaki - who was still laughing her ass off - sitting on the stairs that were leading to the track field of the school, with you casually standing with your hand in your pocket as Itadori was face planted on the ground from what he assumed was from your beating in your react combat training match.

“I can’t lie Yuji, you’re definitely stronger than I had imagined, if you are able to somehow combine both your physical strength with your curse energy equally, you would be able to beat Todo in no time,” you commented, as you stretched your arms to realise some of the tension that had gained from the little practice match you had with the salmon-haired student.

“Are you sure about that sensei?�� Itadori excitedly asked as he quickly lifted his head up from the ground, causing you to gently smile at the young boy before nodding at his question. Leisurely, you turned your head towards the other students to ask whose turn it was until you suddenly saw an exceptionally tall figure standing behind the seated Fushiguro and Kugisaki.

“I guess class has to be dismissed for you,” you quietly mentioned to all the three students causing them to then look at the direction you were glancing at, only to find their playful teacher waving at them with a bright smile on his face.

“Yo~ it seemed like all of you had taken a beating, especially you Yuji,” Gojo stated, causing the Itadori to look away with a tired expression before steadily getting up from the ground. “Also, you all can head back into your dorms to freshen up from your training session since I need to have a chat with L/N-sensei. Class dismissed,” Gojo suddenly announced, leading all the first-years to look confused before seemingly realising what their teacher was going to do once they caught the slight of the small white bag that was in his hands.

Quickly making their way up the stairs, Itadori, Fushiguro and Kugisaki all gave you a wave ‘goodbye’ before making their way back to their rooms, making you and Gojo the only people that were in the area right now.

“What is it that you want, idiot?” you asked, before making your way towards him with a tired expression painted on your face before positioning yourself on the stairs where Kugisaki was previously seated, leading to the white-haired shaman to take a seat next to you - where Fushiguro was previously. 

Suddenly, you unexpectedly heard a loud sound of something ruffling causing you to turn your head, only to now discover the small white back that your Tokyo rival was carrying to then also quickly detect that it was filled with chocolates and sweets leading to a cute little shine in your eyes to which didn’t go unnoticed by the white-haired man.

“You looking at something sweetie~?” Gojo teasingly asked, causing you to look up at him before quickly turning your head away to the opposite direction, embarrassed that he had caught you peeking at his little snack bag. Although, a few seconds later, you suddenly saw two rectangular boxes that were in both brown and white colour appear in front of your face leaving you in a confused state before hearing “I thought you would want something sweet after teaching my students, like a thank you gift I suppose,”

Hesitantly, you grabbed the two packages before slowly turning back your head to look at your jujutsu sorcerer colleague to see what he was resting his chin on the palm of his hand, somewhat covering the lower half that wasn’t covered but no enough for you to not see the pink hues that were slowly appearing on his face.

Deciding to not ruin the moment, you peered down at the chocolate that Gojo had given you to only suddenly find that he had brought your favourite kind, Meiji Chocolate but he had also added the white chocolate version for you to which put a gentle smile upon your face.

“Oh~ are you liking my gifts?” Gojo playfully asked you as he peered upon your face causing you to look at him with an irritated look. “Way to ruin the moment, you fool,” you then stated before carefully opening the box as you then slid out the foiled covered chocolate before processing to remove the shiny wrapping, only to be presented with the smoothest looking bar of chocolate you have ever laid eyes on. 

Admiring the sweet treat for a few seconds, you began to break the top row of cubes because handing it towards the shaman that was still looking at you. “Here and thank you for the chocolate, I really appreciate it,” you quietly said to Gojo, leading to the shaman to look at you with a shocked face - since you rarely thanked him for simple things like this - before using taking a bite of the chocolate that was still in your hands causing you to blush extremely from his actions. 

“HEY! At least take the chocolate from my hands and not eat it while I’m holding it, you snow idiot!” you shouted at him before feeling something being gently pressed upon your lips while a hint of sweet milk chocolate could be tasted.

Instantly dropping the chocolate bar on your lap, you slowly raised your hands and gently placed them upon Gojo’s cheeks, keeping him still as you wanted to savour this moment a little longer with him. Just a little longer. 

The taste of chocolate was sweetly addictive and there was nothing that could make you want to pull away. You were just plainly addicted. 

Slowly, you moved one of your hands to place it behind his head while placing the other arm over his shoulder. You just needed him close to you. You were willing to let him take your last breath if that meant you get to taste the sweetness that was being shared between the both of you right now.

Unwillingly, you felt yourself and him begin to pull away due to the lack of air, leaving both you and Gojo with heavy breaths. However, before Gojo could ever get a word in between the silence that was surrounding the both of you, he suddenly felt you pull his head back towards you only to feel your lips upon his in a desperate state, letting him off with no choice but to enjoy the feeling on unconditional love that was evolving between both you and him.

As well as the sweet taste of chocolate.

[bonsai62]

I just realized something... I was talking to this person one time on a post before and as I was typing that’s when i realized something:

This is for my fellow Nobamaki & Itafushi shippers! If you guys don’t ship it then it’s okay! This is just like a small analysis in my eyes and the way I read things! I can be wrong or just love reaching on a shit ton of things but this is all for fun and I love sharing with you guys!

Let’s get started! Also, this contains spoilers!

Do you guys realize that Nobamaki/Itafushi actually parallel to each other? Let me explain in shitty English and basic grammar and vocabulary lol:

As I watch and read Jujutsu Kaisen I see a lot of parallels between characters; Gojo with Megumi or Yuji, Getou with Megumi and Yuji or Nobara and Maki... but what I want to parallel between characters is:

Yuji & Maki

1. Raw strength:

Both are hella fucking strong and for people who don’t have cursed techniques, they know how to kick fucking ass. What made me realize that both of them are the same is honestly during the baseball game. I like how we were able to see Maki and Yuji making a home run... okay well Momo fucked up Maki’s groove! Haha! But during the Tokyo vs Kyoto event, Maki and Yuji go ham on their enemy.

Yes, Maki used weapons but still, we can’t deny she got good speed and strength that is similar to Yuji’s. That’s why I wish I can see them both doing a bad ass duo fight together.

I have a small headcanon that Yuji actually enjoys training with Maki the most because I feel like he can understand someone who shares similarity in natural raw strength and speed. And Maki feels the same way and it’s a good excuse to bully Yuji as a joke. I would honestly love to see that! Lol!

2. Their story:

Yuji and Maki honestly have it bad. Yuji loosing his only family member (his abuelo) and becoming Sukuna’s vessel which leads him to a future execution. For Maki is the fact that her family treated her like garbage and having to leave her sister behind and eventually her sister dying.

Both Maki and Yuji share that same pain when it comes to loosing someone. We saw Yuji with Junpei and in the Shibuya Arc with Nanamin and Noabra. Again, Maki the same with Mai.

I think what made me even realize it MORE on how alike and how they parallel with each other are these images right here and how they worded their final saying:

In the Shibuya Arc, Yuji lost it. He lost it with Nanamin and Nobara (but luckily for Todo, he was able to pick his feet back up).

If I was Yuji, I would’ve reacted the same way because imagine having the idea you want to save people no matter what but people keeps dying around you or by you? It’s tiring and I would’ve had a mental breakdown too.

After kicking Mahito’s ass, Yuji says there is no reason anymore. For me, when Maki’s arc came it really reminded me of this:

When Mai died and was killed by her own dad. Her dad took away someone who was precious to Maki no matter how much they didn’t get along. Maki really wanted to create the Zenin clan just for Mai to be safe and free.

Again, same with Maki, I would’ve killed the whole clan too because of how in general the Zenin clan is and how they treat people.

3. Having a “curse”:

Nanamin to Yuji: “You’ve got it from here”

Mai to Maki: “destroy everything”

I don’t necessarily mean a curse curse but it’s more like final words that someone important to them said before dying.

For Yuji, he won’t die because Nanamin believes that Yuji can move forward and save the world.

As for Maki, Mai tells her to destroy everything in order for things to change (I might be wrong). It’s for the Zenin clan to start fresh. That is another way I kinda Interpreted (again, I can be wrong). Maki still isn’t done with destroying things plus she is going to move forward just like Yuji. 

I have a thing that if the higher ups find out about Maki, she would be on the verge of being executed as well. So imagine both Maki and Yuji together being executed.

Now on to the next pair!

Megumi & Nobara

Again, this is just me analyzing. But if you ship Itafushi and Nobamaki, you can actually see another pair that parallels to each other but so far I haven’t seen anyone compare them yet, or it’s just me lol!

1. No rivalries:

I think what I love about these ships so damn much is that there is NO RIVALRIES. Even if you don’t ship them you have to admit it is amazing seeing a m/m or f/f getting along without being damn rivals. I’m glad Gege decided not to do that especially towards the women because it does get so tiring that two women don’t like each other for no damn reason or fighting over the main guy or other main guy. At least when Nobara didn’t like Mai or Momo, she had a reason for not liking them.

And don’t get me started with Megumi and Yuji. I was so happy to finally see two boys be friends instead of the usual, boring rivalries. I’m a be honest with you, I was pretty shocked that Gege was able to make Megumi and Yuji be so close and trust each other as friends. It’s a breath of fresh air for the two ships like omg I was happy not seeing the basic shonen bullshit with the f/f and m/m relationship.

2. Hyping up their pairs:

What I mean by hyping them up, I’m talking about the potential that Maki and Yuji has that Nobara and Megumi sees from them. Nobara since the start acknowledge that Maki is strong and vice versa with Megumi with Yuji. What made me see that Nobara knows that Maki is just amazing and strong was during the baseball when Maki was able to hit almost a home run. Nobara just knew that Maki would be able to make that home run but again Momo ruined her moment! Lol!

As for Megumi, we see while the Tokyo students came up with a strategy to win against the Kyoto students, we see him saying that Yuji can actually beat all their asses without curse energy or energy(one of those). Megumi reassures to people that Yuji can take care of himself and is very useful. Another time Megumi reassured that Yuji is strong is when he was in his bed healing from Hanami’s attacks and when they fought tiger against that one dude (forgot his name)

3. Thinking about them/defending them:

Now… this is really what made me think why Nobara and Megumi parallel with each other

It’s becasue I feel like they’re the ones who are more attached and over protective with Yuji and Maki than how Maki and Yuji are with them.

Now, I’m not saying it’s vice verse with Maki and Yuji. But I’m talking about how Nobara and Megumi expresses it. Let me explain:

While reading and watching JJK, we see how Nobara is with Maki compared to anyone else. And no, I’m not saying that Nobara isn’t overprotective with Megumi or Yuji but just the way she is towards Maki. I would honest love to see how these girls got along and how they became close!

Ever since Maki and Nobara had that deep conversation about why Maki choose to be a sorcerer, that is when I actually started shipping them because of how much respect Nobara has towards Maki and it continues to develop more and more with the two of them. We saw how Nobara got super defensive when she fought against Mai (First time) and started dissing Mai. The second time was with Momo, when she was straight up talking shit about Maki.

I love how when Nobara was talking about Maki and Yuji when fighting against Momo. However, I felt a different vibe towards it as well. What I mean by that is that I got more of a “big sister vibe” toward Yuji and a “I love and respect Maki”

But again, I feel like Nobara had some sort of feeling and attachment toward Maki ever since that fight with Momo and more than anyone else too. However, that is just me though! You do t have to agree with my reaching!

For Megumi and Yuji… First of all… Megumi would not hesitate to pull a trigger if anyone is trying to harm Yuji. What made me see that was against Kamo and the Kyoto students. I swear that day Megumi was literally about to commit murder.

Yeah, Nobara got pissed but she went easy on them, but Megumi didn’t. Oh no, he was about to commit a felony. He wanted all the smoke. He wanted that curse. I swear I even felt how pissed he was. I just feel like every time and separates, shit goes down the wrong way and everything goes wrong.

For me, shipping Megumi and Yuji is a whole ass different post but I won’t do that lmao same with Nobamaki because I can write a whole ass essay why I love how compatibly/perfect for each other lol

Bonus:

But guess what… during the Kyoto and Tokyo event, same shit happened with Megumi like Nobara: Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. And again, I felt like it was still different when Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. I find it crazy how Nobara and Megumi were thinking about two people during that event:

Nobara: Maki & Yuji Megumi: Yuji & Tsumiki

This is my personal favorite image of Nobara and Megumi. *wink wink* it’s basically the same image on who is important to to them.

Again, for Nobara and Yuji’s relationship, I just love the way it is. She gives me “big sister” energy towards Yuji and vice verse. Yuji and Nobara are those chaotic siblings that are the hyper ones while Megumi and Maki are the chill ones that can actually keep them down. There has been one occasion where both Megumi and Maki calms Yuji and Nobara down because of how they were acting and I’m not gonna lie it’s kinda cute lmao:

4. Not leaving them:

During the Shibuya Arc, Maki and Nobara separates but at one panel, Nanamin was telling Nobara and Nitta that he was going to join the Zenins. Nobara quickly picked her head up and suggested that she wanted to join him in order for her to be with Maki (this is a stretch but hey Iike being dramatic) however, Nanamin quickly declines her and tells her that it’s too dangerous. I think she was disappointed that she couldn’t go, but hey, Nanamin is a gentleman and he knows when a child is gonna end up getting hurt. I thought it was cute that she was super worried about Maki and just doesn’t care and wanting to join her.

Now, up the recent chapters, Megumi really shows us that he doesn’t want Yuji leaving him or he wants to stay by his side. Those few chapters really made my heart feel some type of way because it just the way Megumi is for Yuji and I can honestly feel how much he cares for him. As I mentioned above, I feel like everything goes to shit when those two aren’t together and I hope that they develop more and more. There has been two more occasions where Fushi doesn’t want Yuji to be left behind; one during when they were in prison and the second during the fight against Hanamin. The eyes that Fushiguro gives Yuji is full of trauma and careness.

In conclusion, I can’t wait for Nobamaki and Itafushi to develop more and more in future chapters. Again, you guys don’t have to agree with me on this. This is just for fun and sharing is fun too! If I’m overreaching then I’m sorry I just can’t help it :(!!

I hope you guys enjoyed my lil analysis! I’m sorry for the bad writing, I’m not very good at translating my feelings as I’m typing because my brain goes all over the place lol! But please, feel free to comment or give me an ask! I’ll be happy to elaborate more for you guys!

Stay safe y’all! And good night or morning!

[seoafin]

Sooo i may or may not have become obsessed with the rip!verse (each of your posts make my day and white lighters what a delightful read, holy shit) and i have so many questions! (Pls ma'am... feed us... we need the high quality content you provide...)

1. What is reader's cursed technique? I remember toji saying she had potential upon (brutally) trying to kill her and her examining yuji to... idk, try to seal sukuna, but you've never explicitly said anyting and i am dying to know more (pls help)

2. We all know poor, poor Megumi suffers from the incessant pining between reader and gojo. But what about Yuji and Nobara? And the second years? Do they try to set them together, crossing out the ideas/plans they've already tried, becoming more and more desperate each time it inevitabely fails in the most improbable way? Or does gojo asks for their help?

3. And how could i not talk about the Shibuya Arc? (also known as "gege please for the love of god stop" arc) Where is reader? Did she manage to follow gojo abd watch the... incident unfold? Did she stay behind with Shoko? Did she go with the students? Did she join the kyoto school? How did she react upon learning that gojo was chillin' in his lil cube while the whole world was going to hell? (And did she see Getwo??? What was her reaction??? I have whole scene in mind and am now itching to write it down although i must sleep?? Why??)

(Yep, the rip!verse leaves rent free in my mind. Not that i complain though. It never ceases to amaze me no matter how many times i read it. Plus it inspires me for my own writing so *bows* thank you so much for creating such a bloody brilliant masterpiece! Have a lovely night/day!)

THIS ASK??? Hxhsbndnd i’m so glad you like the ripverse!!

prepare for an info dump + general information on rip!mc which I probably should have typed out/ elaborated on earlier LOL

1)

honestly i'm still working out the details but it's probably going to be something along the lines of the ability to suspend time for a person/object with certain conditions that must be met. but once they're met you can hold it for as long as you wish. It’s not exactly an offensive cursed technique, but deadly if utilized properly! it also comes in handy when trying to study curses!

rip!mc is a historian/researcher who classifies curses which is a fascination which was born after geto left. weirdly, it helps you feel closer to him. your research takes you around the country, and even abroad some times (which gojo despises), but you’re more than well equipped to defend yourself. you trained maki with the polearm!!

I also like the idea of them occasionally teaching as an adjunct professor at Tokyo University (grad student MC ftw), so they know what it’s like to be a teacher, although it’s not exactly the same! the semesters you do teach—you occasionally stay with gojo

the reason why toji said that is bc rip!mc caught toji's eye a split second before he stabbed gojo. since you’re very very sensitive to cursed energy and by default, other people, the pure absence of cursed energy made you instinctively turn. toji was referring to the fact that if you honed your skill a little more, you maybe would have even sensed him!

also the reason why rip!mc is more sensitive to cursed energy than gojo is because he probably automatically filters out the sheer number different cursed energies (since the sensory overload would be crazy while rip!mc never really learned to do that and as a result became more attuned to cursed energies in general)

Also more about the cursed seals! Rip!mc is exceptionally good at making seals because of how sensitive they are to cursed energy. In harmonious, you had to gauge sukuna’s overall (at the time) power in order feel out whether or not you could make a good enough seal (the higher ups requested it) to contain sukuna.

2)

Everyone is tired of gojo’s pining. And suspicious at how oddly ignorant you are. When gojo makes himself at home on your lap in the middle of a meeting for the umpteenth time, and you’re completely unfazed, everyone’s like?????

It kinda goes back to how rip!mc refuses relationships because she knows she’s going to die (hazards of the job), and she’s afraid of leaving a lover behind more than anything (childhood trauma. involves parents), and in her head, friends and lovers are two distinctly different things (they really aren’t). Getting over a friend's death is different from getting over a lover’s death (once again, not really, who’s going to tell her???)

And gojo, for as much as he lacks boundaries (ie; has none) tries to accommodate it the best he can although you’ve always been his. shoko always tells gojo that (like always when it comes to rip!mc) he’s jumping the gun, but he shoots her with finger guns and says that he has no idea what she’s talking about :)

Maybe the reason why you’re never home is because you doesn’t want to confront your feelings haha

When it comes to the nosy students. Nobara likes you but can’t fathom gojo in a relationship. Yuji automatically assumes you and gojo are dating. Maki thinks that you can do so much better than that idiot. Panda thinks it’s cute. Inumaki: Salmon. Yuta sees the way gojo “looks” at you but thinks he’s overthinking it, and doesn’t want to say anything.

Megumi, on the other hand, tells everyone to leave it since he’s a bit protective over rip!mc.

3

You’re not the only one!! I’ve gotten messages on ao3 asking about the shibuya arc LOL 😭

the reader was called back from Okinawa as backup and reached tokyo as soon as gojo entered the curtain. he texted her saying not to worry (haha). They entered with shoko and yaga to protect her and the patients. And when she hears that gojo’s been sealed, she’s completely bewildered. Gojo can take care of himself wherever he is, she’s more worried about the students than him tbh LOL (gojo is definitely going to whine about that later)

When megumi’s dropped off by yuji (ugh!!!) this is where it could go either way.

1) Shoko sees how worried you are about yuji, whose cursed energy you picked up before he ran away, and tells you to go. You find him but he runs away from you. If this happened I could see a getwo reunion (I’m hurt, did you already forget my face?) where getwo reaches out to touch your hair and gets stopped by surprise, surprise, original geto deep inside. Cue some more body vs soul philosophical talking points before you eventually meet up with the kyoto gang AND utahime!!!

2) Stay with shoko. Eventually get called to the Kyoto group.

Meanwhile inside the prison realm gojo is playing with a ring the size of your ring finger (how he got the measurement nobody knows)

[norafinds]

Around the World with Vintage - Tanaka Kiyomi (Akanesasantique)

The best thing about being a vintage girl in the modern world is having the internet and finding other kindred souls from other parts of the world. This month on the Around the World with Vintage series we visit the coastal Yokohama in the beautiful Japan.When I came across Kiyomi whose wardrobe constantly turns me green with envy I just had to learn more about her. The way she puts together her outfits is artistic and detailed and now that I know what she does for living it totally makes sense. She graces my Instagram feed regularly with her posts at Akanesasantique and we chatted about the vintage trends in Japan and how the World War II affected the fashion movement there.

Tell us about yourself 

I’m a 38 year old vintage enthusiast, pianist, lover of art. I was born in Tokyo and spent my childhood, in the late 80s, in Los Angeles. I studied classical piano at a collage in Tokyo, and a conservatoire in France. I lived near Versailles for 5 years. During that period, I encountered early 1960s fashion that inspired me to start wearing vintage clothing. I used to frequent booksellers along the Seine river, and bought a lot of old magazines such as ELLE and Modes et Travaux.

Do you live in Yokohama? As a seaport town people are probably dressed more casually do you think there’s a big different between Yokohama fashion to Tokyo or Osaka/Kyoto?

No. I don’t think that people in Yokohama dress more casually than people in other towns. Yokohama has always been an elegant town rather than casual. There was a fashion movement called HAMA TORA(=YokoHAMA TRADditional style) which encouraged classic and elegant dressing.  It originated in a university in Yokohama in the late 1970s but this specific style lost popularity in the 90s when the university moved location. In addition, as fast fashion become popular, Yokohama loses is individuality like other cities. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with Osaka/Kyoto fashion though I have heard that Osaka fashion is bolder than Tokyo.

Japan is a very fashionable country and vintage has gained popularity but mostly people combine vintage with modern pieces or go for a specific style like rockabilly rather than wearing vintage authentically. You have however chosen to stick to a more authentic style. Why have you chosen to do so and how do people react to your looks?

My closet mainly consists of clothing between 1930s and 1940s.The 1930s is important era in cultural history of 20th century. Replacing culture of 19th which had been ruled by aristocrats and landlords, new cultural trend had arrived. Through this era, the base of contemporary fashion style and dress code had been matured. I really did not want to be a COSTUME player who turns away from the modernity of after WW1. At the same time, recklessness of today’s fashion, which is not constrained by any dress code, brings discomfort to me. Meanwhile, there are many kinds of clothing in my closet. The dress used to be owned by a duchess, casual homemade dresses in war time era, and an old stock dress of mail order catalog company, .etc. I love everything of these dresses, the fabric, the sense of colors and the delicate sewing details are amazing. I enjoy mixing and matching them but I’m not concerned with those original value. So, my way of wearing vintage is absolutely free and based on modern spirits not obeying customs in past. I feel like that is a real pleasure of dressing vintage in our modern time.

My vintage looks often attract attention of others, especially on historical tourist spot like a classic hotel. Sometimes I get compliments from fashionable elderly persons and kids.

What do you think about vintage shopping in Japan? I mostly see 1960s and 1970s Japanese vintage clothing but never found any older pieces. Why are they so rare?

There are many vintage shops in Japan. However, I don’t often go to local vintage shop in recent years so I don’t know a lot of them. All I can say for sure, most of vintage items in those shops are clean, easy to wear for vintage beginners. Though they seem more pricey than other countries.

It’s actually impossible to come across the true Japanese vintage as most was destroyed in the WW2. The life of Japanese people was hard for several years after war. For these reasons Japanese vintage before ready-made clothes became popular (before 1960s) very rarely exist in fact.

Are vintage clothes are popular in Japan? Is there any particular style that is more popular than others? I often see rockabilly vintage girls but not as many from earlier decades like you?

No. not really popular. Certainly we see many second-hand clothing stores for re-use, but they are not so fashionable. There are also no one specific popular styles among vintage lovers in Japan. Why not earlier decades? In my personal opinion, modern people tend to prefer loosely clothes with stretch material rather than tightly fit. The vintage clothing before 1950s is cut closer to body. I guess it would be hard to accept its characteristic silhouette.

How do you feel about mixing vintage with modern clothes? I have seen numerous times Japanese women wearing vintage bed jackets as summer cardigans with jeans but rarely see head-to-toe vintage pieces.

That actually seems difficult for me. I feel that mixing vintage and contemporary clothes is more difficult than mixing different eras of vintage together. Modern mass-produced clothing doesn’t easily match with vintage. There is a great difference in fabric, pattern and sewing method between them. In contrast, I wear sometimes tailor-made clothes, they are also modern clothes and not are vintage reproductions, though they go well with vintage.

What do you think are the most sought after vintage pieces in Japan? 

That’s hard to say. Because vintage lovers in Japan have respective originalities and strong tastes. Some like rockabilly vintage, some wear American or European vintage with antique kimono, and others mix 1970s vintage and modern jeans, etc. The list is endless. Their needs are too various, more complex than general people. So, I can’t think of any right answer.

Is there a lot of WWII memorabilia still around in Japan? What about WWII-related clothing such as uniform? What is the general sentiment regarding these pieces?

Nowaday we can’t really see WW2 memorabilia. Japan is a defeated country. Most of　Japanese are conscious of a feeling of negative heritage about WW2. However, the prewar memorabilia remain even now. For example “Sailor fuku” (=sailor style uniform) for high school girl and  graduation gown for female university student, consisting kimono and overskirt called  “Hakama” were born in this era, they are still generally worn today . The pre-war Japan was very rich in culture.

We don’t see a lot of Asian vintage girls around, why do you think that is and do you have any advice for any other Asian girls who want to start wearing vintage?

In Asia, there used to be no role models of western fashion because of the undeveloped mass consumer culture. As an exceptional case, in Japan, western fashion lifestyle has become accepted ever since the prewar era . Nonetheless, for many Asian people, vintage clothing is still new culture.

If I was to give some advices for Asian girls who want to start wearing vintage: find a good quality shop and with knowledgeable owner. For beginners, it is not easy to buy vintage online, better to getting advice from experts . I myself havelearned many things from them.

If there is one thing that you want people to know about you, what will that be?

Since I started Instagram and etsy shop in 2016, I’ve met many vintage lovers all over the world. I’ m very content with my vintage fashion life. Furthermore, I’m thinking that I would like to embody the composite art that combines the fashion and music of olden times. Because the base of my aesthetic always presents in the music, though I am attracted to a lot of fields.

[astormyjet]

July 19th 2017 - January 7th 2018. Summer, Autumn and the start of 2018.

Ho boy. I have been useless at keeping this updated. Things got super busy with RA, working with the kids and just generally getting out and doing more, rather than being a shut in. I lie. I’ve been studying Japanese, doing more outside of school socially and sportingly AND playing more video games. But either way, I haven’t been chronicling my time here as much as I used to.

Ok, so summer. I went to Tokyo for a holiday some time in July/early August. I met up with Maya, one of the cool kids from up north that had actually contacted me about JET stuff before they got here the year after I did, I also met one of my sempai, who actually taught as an ALT alongside my Uni Japanese Uni friend who came to visit me in January last year. So that was a hilarious twist of fate. Tokyo was A plus as per usual, but I don’t see myself living there in the future. Too expensive, too busy. Too many people.

After getting back to Matsuyama, the new ALTs came. They’re all fab. Some of us oldies and a bunch of the newbies play DnD together now, so that’s taking some of my weekends. 

When they first got here, Miriam (the other RA) and myself organised a beach welcome party, we made a kick ass sand castle inspired by Matsuyama castle. We then destroyed it with a big rock. We also beat the crap out of a watermellon on the beach while blindfolded in an attempt to recreate an “authentic beach experience”. Basically in their first couple of weeks, RA duties saw Miriam and I making sure they were settling in all good and running/presenting at Ehime Orientation alongside the other RAs and the PAs. That was both fun, challenging and terrifying. 

Junior High sports day was in September. I jumped in on the white team, or rather the white teams 3rd years basically yanked me into their tent and told me I was their cheerleader, they even got me up doing their chant and dance. I love them all so much. They’re such genki, kind and hard working kids. It’s going to be hard for the last few months of teaching at my base school after they all graduate in March. I’ll have to change schools in August most likely as that is what happens here in Matsuyama to fourth year JETs. It’s probably time for a change, but with the new changes rolling out at Elementary school, I’m seriously concerned about the future of the JET Programme in Matsuyama...side note...our BOE still has no idea how they’re shuffling the new classes at ES 3rd and 4th grade is going to work...when everywhere else on the island had that sorted out last year.....argh. 

Halloween itself was pretty rough for me and a couple of my students. Along the route I bike to school, there is a few bridges with pretty high drops. From the hospital near my house to one of said bridges an ambulance and a police car kept pace (in early morning traffic) with me. By the time we got there, there were already a bunch of police cars and a group of the local community standing on the bridge pretty somberly. I made the mistake of looking down into the river and there was a guy who’d jumped. 

My students were standing nearby and one of the community members suggested that the four of us walk to school with the kids, so we did. It was pretty bleak, the kids weren’t really sure how to process it, neither was I to be honest, but I’ve been in a similar situation a couple of times with friends at Uni so I think that kind of helped me talk through some of what was happening with them. We got to school, informed the principal of what had happened and then the day went on as per usual.

Suicide here is a pretty big issue, luckily for the students and community it turns out the guy was from elsewhere in Matsuyama so it’s impact wasn’t as strongly felt in the community. The community has made efforts to reach out and support the family of the victim and the kids who saw the aftermath are being looked after as well. Thank god. 

I am a little bit worried about how they’re going to react to the whole Logan Paul thing that’s happened recently, and I am incredibly worried about who is going to be at school and who isn’t come the new term, as that is when youth suicide rises, but there’s very little one can do about stuff like that except keep an eye out for and support those who might be dealing with mental health issues.  

On a lighter note, Matsuyama Autumn Festival in October was fun as usual. I made my way down to my school block area and joined in with the community there. The shrines were beautiful, I saw a dragon/lion dance for the first time in real life. I got to hang out with a bunch of my students and their families and generally just put myself out into the community down there which has opened some pretty cool doors for me.

In October, Miriam and I were also in charge of sorting out the yearly Halloween Orphanage visit for the Chuyo region. It was stressful, but rewarding. The kids at the home are all getting so big! I really feel for the staff who take care of them, there’s so many. This year they actually provided costumes for the kids to wear, and boy did that go down a treat. We had a good time. The Christmas visit went along in a similar fashion. Stressful, difficult to co-ordinate, but we all survived.

Skills Development Conference happened at the start of December, it was as per usual, not fantastic. Basically the workshops were more of the same and the speaker this year was bloody useless. Japan is so frustrating in respect to educational change, despite how many JTEs and ALTs ask and suggest changes or improvements, it’s basically screaming into the void. 

After the last day of school, I ended up going to Osaka for Christmas break. I left on the 26th December and came back on the 30th. In that time I spent my first day up in Kyoto, where I hiked Mt. Inari in the snow...it was pretty cool. Figuratively and literally.  The shrine, Fushimi-Inari Shirine and the tori gates are a lot more beautiful than photos can capture. It’s eerie and quiet, but it’s also a peaceful place, if you go earlier on in the day, like before 9am as due to it being a tourist hot-spot, it gets busy fast. In Osaka I went to Nipponbashi and then a bunch of the surrounding places. I didn’t do as much shopping as I thought I would, but that meant I had a bunch more money to spend at USJ. 

USJ was unreal. I loved the Harry Potter world portion and was impressed by the Spiderman ride as well as a couple of the other smaller attractions. I avoided the Minion theme park like the plague, but probably would go if I go again and it’s still there. I also went to Osaka castle, but the museum portion was closed due to it being New-year break fro Japan, so next time. I also went to a cat cafe called Mocha which was really clean, relaxing and the cats were super well cared for. I saw the staff grooming the cats and cleaning the room while I was there, so they’re on to it. I also went to an owl cafe. I got pooped on. Apparently it’s lucky. The owls again were well looked after and the staff were on top of the animals welfare. Basically I had a blast in Osaka and have some ideas  of what I want to do with my partner when they come over in May. Yay!

On the 31st I climbed up the Shiroyama-park hill to Matsuyama castle and watched the last sunset of the year. It was pretty lackluster, but it was a nice way to end the year. I spent the rest of the evening curled up in my room with the heat on and watching Kohaku uta gassen. 2017 wasn’t a bad year for me, it was just an average year. I think now that I am a little more established in Japan, but coming towards the end of my time on JET (only 2 more years! CRIKEY), I’m starting to think about, and panic a little, the future. Like I have no idea what to do after this, but I know I want to stay abroad, but weather that is in Japan, England or Canada, I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to go back into study, or if I want to stick to doing odd jobs with my somewhat useless BA in English, Linguistics and TESOL Minor. I enjoy teaching, and I enjoy working with kids and young adults, learning from them and encouraging them to reach their goals, but I don’t know if I can find a good, stable job with my current qualifications. 

On New Years day I went to the big mall and lined up for lucky bags, I got the Pokemon Center one. I was stoaked, as initially I’d been in the wrong line, but 10 minutes before the doors opened I saw the right one, jumped in and managed to get one of the last bags!!! I also went and bought new running shoes and a Nintendo 3DS  for an early birthday present.

On my actual birthday, I went to work, hung out with the Volleyball kids, the table tennis kids and made paper cranes for the kids graduation in March. I then came home, ordered Pizza and spent the evening on my DS and PC gaming. It was nice. 

I haven’t made my New Years resolutions yet, but I think I’m going to do something similar to what I did last year and write a list of 25 things to do before I am 26. I got about 20 out of 25 things done last year, so I’ll carry over the five I didn’t manage. I have my first shot at my Karate Blackbelt on Wednesday, I don’t think I’ll pass this time around (dammit, why are test fees so expensive), but I think that getting it by the end of the year is on my list. Along with JLPT N3.

I signed my re-contracting paper before I went away, so I am definitely here until August 2019. I’m equal parts excited for the changes in the Elementary school English Education, and dreading how poorly our BOE has been planning it out. But we’ll just have to see. Until next time, this has been Kai, the 25 year old, sleep deprived and slightly Jaded 3rd year ALT.

[neisuinene]

In Your Dreams Tonight - Chapter 2- Soul of Samurai

Prologue 1  Prologue 2 Prologue 3

  Chapter 1 Chapter 3

An hour after, Neisui and her friends along with the rest of school are inside the gym for some assembly. Ms. President is standing on the podium, giving her speech about school rules to the new students, the boy students from KHS. The two schools are now merging together and each classroom will have two homeroom teachers.

“Summarizing the points above, there will be no dating allowed until I can see our students can learn to control yourselves…AND have achieve the aforementioned 90% on standardized tests, then I promise that I will once again permit dating…. Now, ” Ms. President paused, “is that clear?”

“YES, Ms. Kiyokawa!” the voices were clearly females, the students of SLA. Neisui glanced around, some students from KHS are complaining only to be scolded by Sensei Shinchi. She quietly sighed and felt bad, those boys don’ really know SLA yet, but being a student here, she and other girls knew that if they didn’t respond to Ms. President right away, god knows how long she would lecture about it. And Shinchi, though he is not her homeroom teacher, he teaches every student’s mathematics. And after that little stunt in Kyoto, Neisui knew she is being watched.

If the sudden merging of all-boys and all-girls school and no dating were not surprising enough, Neisui was surly surprised when she saw some familiar boy faces in her classroom. Those are…Toramatsu and his friends? The ones she bumped into then got teased at the Kyoto fieldtrip?

“Hi little girlie,” the punky hair boy whistled, “so you are in this school too? And in this classroom? That’s totally awesome! Talk about coincidence!”

“Hey Neisui, you know them?” Mei asked.

Neisui nodded, “yes on Kyoto fieldtrip. Their school was on field trip as well, I kinda got pushed by the crowd and knocked them over.” She answered quietly, would Sensei Shinchi recognize them when he sees them? Perhaps, but as long as they go by the rules and keep their grades, Shinchi couldn’t hold what happened against them. No he won’t, he may be a very strict one, but his fairness is as equal too.

After a few seconds of thought, she held out her hand, “I am Seta Neisui, a vice president of this class, and Kan,” nodded to her friend Kan who now stepped forward, “is president. She is the one usually helping our teacher with organizing and planning. And I, if there are any questions about this school’s procedures or of the teachers, or finding your directions around the school, you may always find me and them. Now that we are in the same school and same classroom, we should work together as a team!”

*** *** ***

The first day was not so bad, though some boys in the classroom are yawning during lectures, or they did their own things on paper, especially during their homeroom teacher Kiyonori’s history lecture. Unlike other homeroom teachers, Sensei Kiyonori thinks to control oneself first need to free oneself, if they are too afraid out of control so they don’t interact naturally, then it would only do worse later on. He does not agree with principal way of handing this situation, but he has no say. Well, at least principal didn’t forbidden the boy and girl students sitting together.

Using a palm to hold her chin, Neisui tilted head slightly to see the boy’s profile sitting next to her, who was no other than the boy she bumped into, then given the red scarf for their meeting, Li Toramatsu. His eyes focused on the black board, listening to Kiyonori on and on’s lecture of Samurai, of Bushido. What is on today’s lecture is not really in the textbook and not going to be on the tests, so she had no intention of copying them down, and she does heard and read about it from the book Kiyonori lent her during the break. But Toramatsu, his attention is all on Kiyonori, his pen not stop moving…Kiyonori will sure be glad having him as a student, someone who is so interested in history, not just for test purposes. But still…

There is another thing about him that bothers her. If she remembers correctly, he did mention if he meets her again in Tokyo…

First time is coincidence, second is encounter, third time is fate.

When he gave her his scarf, he looked like he was pretty sure they were to meet again, as if it is already fated. And what of his name, the same as the samurai, the one who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. And the scene in Kyoto, the scene in her dream…or was that her memory of somewhere, someone, was too similar. If he was not the one, or no relation to Li Clan…Toramatsu was perhaps testing her, to see how she would react, as if would played out as it did long ago.

She didn’t mention anything of her dream, but how much expressions did she gave away when he did? Fate, strings of red.

Then Toramatsu turned and saw her looking at him,

Neisui? He wrote in the notebook then looked back to the black board

No, nothing. She wrote back.

Really?

Contrate on your class lecture.

Not when you staring at me like this. Tell me. His eyes now back on her.

We will talk later. I want to ask you something…but not here, not now.

The bell rang, school has finally ended. Neisui led Toramatsu and his friends in front of a room at the end of a corridor.

“Woot, the vice president of class is taking us to somewhere that looks kinda mysterious and isolated on the first day!” the punky-haired boy whistled, “So what’s the agenda?”

Before Neisui could answer him, another boy snapped, “Tadakatsu, be quiet!” then he turned to get, “Neisui, speak!”

Neisui looked at them silently, so this boy…the one that is so calm and unreadable seems to be their leader. What is his name, Ieyasu? She turned the door knob and opened the door “go inside and you’ll see.” She walked in, tilted her head to the inside the room as a signal for them to follow.

Inside, Kiyonori, both their homeroom and history teacher is inside, practicing laido, a wooden sword in his hand. Kiyonori practiced his sword quietly, making several different kinds of moves as he is fighting with someone, an imaginary opponent. Few minutes passed with complete silence except the sounds of the feet moving, the sword swinging.

“Neisui?” Kiyonori said quietly, without even looking at their direction. “Something the matter? Perhaps with the new students? Or you come to join me?”

An edge of her lip curled slightly, she grabbed a sword off the wall, made her move to Kiyonori as she advanced towards him, but was blocked. “Neisui, I could feel your presence once you entered, as the air has changed. What makes you think you can surprise attack me now?” he tilted his head toward her. Now he is looking at her.

Because of their closeness of space, and perhaps he let his guard down as he was speaking to her, Neisui had a chance to move her feet and changed position, now she’s behind him, holding something beside his throat.

Kiyonori looked down at his throat, it was a blue pen. “Nice move Neisui, but a blue pen? But are you going to do with it?”

“I can click,” Neisui started clicking her pen besides his throat. “Mr.Taishi, look around, we have other guests in the room. I brought them here.”

Against the wall stood Toramatsu, punky -haired Tadakatsu, Ieyasu, and another pretty haired boy, Yasumasa.

“I decide to bring them along for fun. I’m not sure about others, but Toramatsu seems to be enjoying in your class lecture, and well…” she rubbed her nose, “I assume they are athletic, from what I heard most boys in KHS has more energy after school, and we can put what you just talked about in class. About bushido, about etiquette, about putting body on perfect harmony to express mastery of spirit over flesh.”

Kiyonori nodded approvingly, “That’s right. The end of all etiquette is to so cultivate your mind that even when you are quietly seated, not the toughest ruffian can dare make onset on your person. This is the soul of samurai, soul of Japan.” He paused to look at them before continue, putting his word at his side as the way swordsman does, “so are you boys ready to join?”

(One of the quote I taken directly from 《Bushido: The Soul of Japan》 by Inazo Nitobe. This is kind of a passing through chapter and to explain how things are at the school. The real beginning. I forgot who I tagged before but…😂I’ll add on more later. From now on fiction will go under this blog of same account for easier access.)

@asktoramatsu @shirokazekikagami @nitroforcepower @rose-of-yonezawa @dreamfar628 @akanojikan @suzunesays @sugoileo @my-funandgames @aqua-pikachu

[sailorrrvenus]

The Only Rule in Street Photography

I see a lot of articles across the Internet claiming to know the “rules to follow” or the “things to avoid” in street photography, easily one of the most hotly debated genres. What they tend to misunderstand is just how little the genre cares for photographic rules, and what the defining elements of street photography really are that go beyond any of the purely photographic elements.

If you study the history of the genre and the work of those that came before us, you’ll start to understand that the rules of photography, while important, are generally irrelevant to the real strength behind the most intriguing street photographs. Composition, framing, and light are always important in each genre, but in street photography they don’t take center stage like they might in landscape photography.

The strongest street photography ultimately tells us something about ourselves, about how fleeting and arbitrary our lives can sometimes feel, and can even reveal moments that we may never notice as we speed through our daily lives.

Invoke Questions On The Street

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Tokyo, Japan

Could they be brothers? Are they old friends? Why are they holding hands? Is something wrong with the man on the right? Is he ill?

I was trying to think of the best way to describe not necessarily how to achieve great street photographs, but to describe the fundamental nature of what they do to us as viewers; why they intrigue us more than other work. “Invoke questions” seemed to fit the task the best.

I’ve been practicing street photography since around 2014 when I began to get involved with other photographers who loved the style and accessibility of the genre, but it took me until recently to become aware of just what made the best street photography most fascinating.

Like everyone else, I’ve made countless photographs of people walking past me, of a person walking along a wall, of a crowd, or simply seen something with interesting light and taken the photo, but these photographs have served a purpose, to tell me what is interesting and what is not.

Mystery & Narrative

The problem with a lot of street photography is that there is little to no narrative being suggested, such as the commuter walking along a wall mid-step or the person stepping into a shaft of light. In contrast, the most intriguing photographs will have questions flying around them and may even puzzle your viewers as to what is going on. Your viewers may start to build a narrative in their minds, whether truthful or imagined, due to the circumstances of the subject matter and timing.

Take the photograph below for example. In the center of the frame we have a woman wearing a mask with a man who seems to be questioning her, and curiously in the top left corner is someone asking for what seems like a donation while wearing more traditional Japanese garments and a hat that seems out of place in central Tokyo.

What draws me in is the man’s face. What is he doing? Is he harassing her? Does he know her? What is he trying to sell to her?

By arriving at that last question, I’ve started to imbue some kind of potential narrative on the scene, and that is where intriguing street photography begins. I haven’t answered any questions, but I’ve suggested to myself some kind of narrative based on my own personal experience, something I can relate to in a personal way.

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Tokyo, Japan

Not all street photographs are this straight forward. Many have no clear questions to ask but are still fascinating for other reasons. This rule of invoking questions is more of a waypoint to guide you. The problem for someone wanting to improve on their street photography is that there are no hard and fast tips. I’m the first person to understand that you can’t exactly go looking for “questions” as if they are floating above people’s heads.

The best advice I can give, as only a student of those that came before me, is to do just that. Study the greats, from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Joel Meyerowitz, Fred Herzog, William Eggleston, Elliot Erwitt, Vivian Maier, Dorothea Lange, and others. Their names are on the walls for a reason.

Then find contemporary street photographers doing great work and try to see how the two groups meet in a modern environment. One of my favorite contemporary street photographers is Severin Koller, but his work seems timeless due to its fundamental nature of capturing fascinating and sometimes puzzling moments of human life irrespective of light or visual beauty.

Pay attention to people, their actions, and their potential motives and you’ll start to instinctually move toward areas where something “may happen”, or you’ll see things happening in your periphery and if you’re ready, you can capture the moment at the perfect moment.

One suggestion I personally have is to work on your timing of the shutter. Learn to wait until the action is at its halfway point, such as someone speaking or an arm being raised in gesture or a person running down a street is halfway through their stride. This suggests action and action suggests narrative.

When Is It Something Else?

Street photography is a broad genre, one that defies boundaries in a lot of ways because it is so fundamental to human nature, so it’s interesting to figure out just where the genre fades and a photograph starts to become something else.

Take the photographs below. While I can definitely say these are street photographs because they tick the necessary boxes, are they something other or perhaps something more?

When the clear narrative questioning makes way for graphical composition, I think the work has started to transition into fine art composition more than literal street photography.

These photographs are visually composed more deliberately to balance the elements into a piece that could be printed and framed on a wall. The environment and the light has started to take on a larger role, which is where fine art begins and street photography lessons to a degree.

That is not to say these are any less worthy as street photography, but simply that they will play a different role in your work. They may even become the photographs that sell more due to their more deliberate visual appeal.

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Kyoto, Japan

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Brisbane, Australia

The Takeaway

Street photography is hard. It challenges our observational skills, our sense of vulnerability and our ability to react at a moment’s notice, which is why it can be so rewarding to finally capture something that others may have never noticed and to walk away with work that can hopefully stand the test of time and be remembered.

Remember that us humans love to ponder narratives and pose questions on circumstances inside and outside ourselves. From childhood we are curious creatures, asking questions of our parents then of our friends and peers as we grow up.

We wonder about other’s lives and what ours might be, so to find photographic moments that also ask us to question, to ponder and to be intrigued by seems only natural.

About the author: Nick Bedford is an documentary and fine art photographer based in Brisbane, Australia. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Bedford’s work on his website, YouTube, and Instagram. This article was also published here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/02/14/the-only-rule-in-street-photography/

[pauldeckerus]

The Only Rule in Street Photography

I see a lot of articles across the Internet claiming to know the “rules to follow” or the “things to avoid” in street photography, easily one of the most hotly debated genres. What they tend to misunderstand is just how little the genre cares for photographic rules, and what the defining elements of street photography really are that go beyond any of the purely photographic elements.

If you study the history of the genre and the work of those that came before us, you’ll start to understand that the rules of photography, while important, are generally irrelevant to the real strength behind the most intriguing street photographs. Composition, framing, and light are always important in each genre, but in street photography they don’t take center stage like they might in landscape photography.

The strongest street photography ultimately tells us something about ourselves, about how fleeting and arbitrary our lives can sometimes feel, and can even reveal moments that we may never notice as we speed through our daily lives.

Invoke Questions On The Street

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Tokyo, Japan

Could they be brothers? Are they old friends? Why are they holding hands? Is something wrong with the man on the right? Is he ill?

I was trying to think of the best way to describe not necessarily how to achieve great street photographs, but to describe the fundamental nature of what they do to us as viewers; why they intrigue us more than other work. “Invoke questions” seemed to fit the task the best.

I’ve been practicing street photography since around 2014 when I began to get involved with other photographers who loved the style and accessibility of the genre, but it took me until recently to become aware of just what made the best street photography most fascinating.

Like everyone else, I’ve made countless photographs of people walking past me, of a person walking along a wall, of a crowd, or simply seen something with interesting light and taken the photo, but these photographs have served a purpose, to tell me what is interesting and what is not.

Mystery & Narrative

The problem with a lot of street photography is that there is little to no narrative being suggested, such as the commuter walking along a wall mid-step or the person stepping into a shaft of light. In contrast, the most intriguing photographs will have questions flying around them and may even puzzle your viewers as to what is going on. Your viewers may start to build a narrative in their minds, whether truthful or imagined, due to the circumstances of the subject matter and timing.

Take the photograph below for example. In the center of the frame we have a woman wearing a mask with a man who seems to be questioning her, and curiously in the top left corner is someone asking for what seems like a donation while wearing more traditional Japanese garments and a hat that seems out of place in central Tokyo.

What draws me in is the man’s face. What is he doing? Is he harassing her? Does he know her? What is he trying to sell to her?

By arriving at that last question, I’ve started to imbue some kind of potential narrative on the scene, and that is where intriguing street photography begins. I haven’t answered any questions, but I’ve suggested to myself some kind of narrative based on my own personal experience, something I can relate to in a personal way.

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Tokyo, Japan

Not all street photographs are this straight forward. Many have no clear questions to ask but are still fascinating for other reasons. This rule of invoking questions is more of a waypoint to guide you. The problem for someone wanting to improve on their street photography is that there are no hard and fast tips. I’m the first person to understand that you can’t exactly go looking for “questions” as if they are floating above people’s heads.

The best advice I can give, as only a student of those that came before me, is to do just that. Study the greats, from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Joel Meyerowitz, Fred Herzog, William Eggleston, Elliot Erwitt, Vivian Maier, Dorothea Lange, and others. Their names are on the walls for a reason.

Then find contemporary street photographers doing great work and try to see how the two groups meet in a modern environment. One of my favorite contemporary street photographers is Severin Koller, but his work seems timeless due to its fundamental nature of capturing fascinating and sometimes puzzling moments of human life irrespective of light or visual beauty.

Pay attention to people, their actions, and their potential motives and you’ll start to instinctually move toward areas where something “may happen”, or you’ll see things happening in your periphery and if you’re ready, you can capture the moment at the perfect moment.

One suggestion I personally have is to work on your timing of the shutter. Learn to wait until the action is at its halfway point, such as someone speaking or an arm being raised in gesture or a person running down a street is halfway through their stride. This suggests action and action suggests narrative.

When Is It Something Else?

Street photography is a broad genre, one that defies boundaries in a lot of ways because it is so fundamental to human nature, so it’s interesting to figure out just where the genre fades and a photograph starts to become something else.

Take the photographs below. While I can definitely say these are street photographs because they tick the necessary boxes, are they something other or perhaps something more?

When the clear narrative questioning makes way for graphical composition, I think the work has started to transition into fine art composition more than literal street photography.

These photographs are visually composed more deliberately to balance the elements into a piece that could be printed and framed on a wall. The environment and the light has started to take on a larger role, which is where fine art begins and street photography lessons to a degree.

That is not to say these are any less worthy as street photography, but simply that they will play a different role in your work. They may even become the photographs that sell more due to their more deliberate visual appeal.

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Kyoto, Japan

Leica M7, Voigtländer 35mm F1.7, Kodak Tri-X 400 in Brisbane, Australia

The Takeaway

Street photography is hard. It challenges our observational skills, our sense of vulnerability and our ability to react at a moment’s notice, which is why it can be so rewarding to finally capture something that others may have never noticed and to walk away with work that can hopefully stand the test of time and be remembered.

Remember that us humans love to ponder narratives and pose questions on circumstances inside and outside ourselves. From childhood we are curious creatures, asking questions of our parents then of our friends and peers as we grow up.

We wonder about other’s lives and what ours might be, so to find photographic moments that also ask us to question, to ponder and to be intrigued by seems only natural.

About the author: Nick Bedford is an documentary and fine art photographer based in Brisbane, Australia. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Bedford’s work on his website, YouTube, and Instagram. This article was also published here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/02/14/the-only-rule-in-street-photography/