#Wild fucking manga they really go places

[orcelito]

Shino raising his dead friends and friend's dog from the dead with the power of bugs as one friend's cousin watches [not clickbait]

[ozzgin]

Sorry to bother you, but the bodyguard post you did was just 🤤🥰😍 and I can't stop thinking about it day later

Have you ever seen Oshi no Ko? I'd love to see Bodyguard react to someone trying to do something similar as what happened to Ai.

Fans get wind their beloved idol might have feeling for her staff, so a crazed fan tracks down her private address. He plans to get revenge for "His idol cheating on him" but doesn't know there is a guard dog inside ready to bite any threat to his precious charge.

Sorry to keep ragging on about the topic, I just adore you work enough that it lives in my head rent free.

Happy holidays

-🌟

I sadly haven't seen Oshi no Ko, but your description sounds very interesting. Thank you for the idea! I've combined it with your previous suggestion, I think they work together really well. Happy Holidays to you, too! :)

Yandere!Bodyguard x Idol!Reader (II)

Your new manager has sent you home for the holidays after persistent rumors surrounding you and your bodyguard. And, as luck would have it, the fan responsible for the accusations successfully sneaks his way in. Sadly for him, you’ve never left the watchful gaze of your loyal, mean dog.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

content: female reader, violence, threats, mentions of stalking

(Cover from the manga “A girl and her guard dog”)

"Enjoy your holidays!" 

The driver cheerfully bids you goodbye and speeds away, leaving you behind the imposing gate. You drag your luggage inside and nonchalantly toss it with an annoyed huff.

What now? You're all alone in a hollow mansion. 

Early December you begun receiving worrying letters from a fan, making wild claims about you and your bodyguard. Naturally, you laughed it off. Your bodyguard found them equally amusing. So much, that he'd ask you to read them out loud as you rode him. "I w-won't stand for it. You know we ha-ave something special going on, (Y/N)-chan." You barely managed to form coherent sentences, feverishly clinging to the large man underneath you. "You heard the guy. Better be on your best behavior", he'd add with a chuckle, wiping the drool from your mouth. 

The new manager, however, wasn't as relaxed about it. He couldn't risk tarnishing the reputation of his beloved cash cow, so he suggested you take a break from personal assistants until the rumors tone down. If you remained within your expensively secured house, you wouldn't need any guarding. So, he caringly prescribed a dose of homely isolation for the upcoming holidays. 

"Don't be so dramatic", he said, "Jesus spent 40 days in the desert by himself. And he didn't have your indoor cinema or jacuzzi bathtub."

"Yeah, but he had the Devil to tempt him. Where's my bad guy?" You whined as a retort. 

You let out another groan and throw yourself on the couch, fiddling with the remote. Kind of them to decorate everything for Christmas, you think as you eye the gigantic kitsch of a tree slapped in the middle of the living room. 

Fuck. What an absolute waste of time. All because of one crazy fan. You almost wish he'd show his stupid face so your bodyguard could pummel it to bits and crumbles. You wonder what he's doing by himself. Is he going to be assigned to another idol? Probably not, two weeks is too short of a time for anything. You check your phone.

Suddenly, the screen lights up. A text notification. 

"Bored?"

Heh. It's almost as if he can read your mind. You smile to yourself and type your response, stretching onto the sofa. Your little back and forth messaging goes on until you look up and notice the room has gotten darker. Already evening. You can hear your stomach growl, so you get up and drag your feet towards the kitchen, searching for takeaway fliers. If you're going to be under house arrest, the least you can afford is junk food. 

Once you place your decadent order, you hop onto the counter and idly dangle your legs in anticipation. Your favorite off-duty guard dog has abruptly told you he needs to go and is now offline. "Something came up". What could possibly require his immediate attention? A mistress? You giggle at the idea. In all your time spent together, you haven't seen him glance at a single woman. If he must, he will engage with other people using one-word replies, visibly uninterested. You never considered him much of a talker, but his behavior with anyone else, in comparison, is downright hostile. 

There's a rustling sound and you jolt. Was the food delivered already? It hasn't been that long. You jump off the marble countertop and freeze in place once you see the man standing in the doorway. His face is concealed with a medical mask and he's audibly panting, the hot air fogging up his glasses. You notice the knife in his hand.

"How rude of you to cheat on me so shamelessly, (Y/N) dear."

Huh? Your eyes widen in realization. Was this the crazed fan bombarding you with threatening letters? Your features twist in utter disgust, still transfixed on the weapon within his grip. 

This little shit. Not only does he break into your home, but he decides to intimidate you with a department store kitchen utensil. Is that all you're worth? Is that any way to greet one of the top idols in this country?

You angrily pull the nearby drawer open and grab a long, sharp blade. The man tenses up and steps forward, but you stop him in his tracks, throwing the item at his feet. He stares at you, bewildered. 

"It's a Yoshihiro Sashimi knife. More than your monthly income, most likely." You state as you leer down at him, grimace plastered on your face. "Pick it up like the animal you are."

He cannot move. Is this his beloved (Y/N)? Her pretty, innocent smile and sparkling eyes have been replaced by this hateful scowl. He feels like a cockroach about to be stepped on, a mere vermin invading her personal space. This can't be right. It's him that should be upset, he's the betrayed party. When has she gotten so...Ah. This must be the work of that bodyguard. He's always known. The way he looks at her, with a predatory glint as if marking his territory. He should've noticed earlier. Poor, sweet (Y/N), at the hands of a brute. Tears form in his eyes and he opens his mouth to speak up, but a burning blow assaults his back and everything goes black. 

Your bodyguard casually walks in and lifts the intruder up by the nape of his neck. 

"Are you okay? Did he touch you?"

You blush and wipe your eyelashes dramatically, releasing a gentle sob from your puckered lips.

"Touch? He almost killed me! I was so scared...I thought I was done for."

He frowns at your words.

"I'll take care of it."

You can feel the familiar knot forming in your stomach. As he drags the body out of the kitchen, you follow behind enthusiastically. 

"Do it in the living room!" You almost squeal.

"Are you sure? It will get messy. I'm not letting this one walk out." He warns you with a worried expression. 

"Yes, yes!" you nod, all bubbly. "Right here, next to the Christmas tree."

Once the gory spectacle is over, the bodyguard sprawls onto the sofa, exhausted. He exhales loudly and runs a hand through his hair. You are about to join him, when a thought crosses your mind. 

"Now that I think about it, how did you know I was about to be attacked? That was some really extraordinary timing."

Out of reflex, he palms his pocket to check if his phone is still within his possession. Thankfully he hasn't left it in plain sight. You squint suspiciously. 

"Are you spying on me or something?"

He remains quiet for a few moments and eventually lowers his head apologetically, avoiding eye contact.

"Forgive me, Miss."

When he glances up again, your small figure is looming over him.

"Wow, what a pervert you are." You push his chin up with your dainty fingers. "How will you make it up to me for such nasty habit~?"

"Is there anything you want me to do?"

"Good boy."

[inukag-archive]

Merry Christmas!

On behalf of the Fic Finder team please enjoy this compilation of some of our favorite Christmas themed stories. We couldn't even make a dent in the number of holiday stories across the platforms, so please add your favorites in the reblogs!

A Quick Note: As the world continues to spin through the holiday season, hold your fandom friends close. We may not all be at the same party or curled up under the same tree, but we're together all the same.

Wishing you peace, love, and hot chocolate- The Fic Finder Team.

Pixie, Rudd, KStew, Anisa, Lost, & MamaBear

Silver and Gold by @splendentgoddess (E)

Christmas Eve is a time to celebrate family, love, and togetherness. Not something Kagome gets a lot of while trying to stop Naraku. But everyone deserves the occasional night off, right? Takes place during manga chapter 512.

--

Apple Pie and Mistletoe by @ruddcatha (M)

Called out of town unexpectedly for work just before Christmas, Inuyasha Takahashi asks his best friend Kagome, whom he's secretly loved for years, to house sit. When a storm grounds his plane, will the two friends admit their feelings, or continue to stay silent? What role does Apple Pie and Mistletoe play in what is about to unfold?

--

'Tis The Damn Season by @akitokihojo (T)

Best friends, to nothing, to one of them putting every ounce of their effort into avoiding the other. Christmas was supposed to be about visiting her family, but Kagome noticed the snow on the ground wasn't the reason an icy feeling crept down her back. Her childhood best friend, and neighbor, was home for the holidays as well. Turns out, being an adult doesn't help you escape from messy assumptions and the repercussions of being too scared to go after what you really want. For either of them.

--

A Piece of Home by omgitscharlie (E)

At winter's first snowfall, Kagome finds herself reminiscing about Christmas back in her time.

--

Mistletoe: Inuyasha by masterhiccup (K+)

Christmas in a remote cabin? Check. Best friends trying to play matchmaker? Check. Stunning girl that makes your heart go pitter patter despite constant, inward disapproval? Double check. Oh man, Inuyasha was in for one hell of a ride from the very beginning. How was he going to make it through the holidays if he could hardly handle the Hallmark movie he was currently living?

--

Everything But The Pear Tree by @fandomobsessions016 (E)

After going through a rough break-up, Kagome decides she's going to pull herself out of her slump by diving head first into holiday preparations. With her friend Sango and the help of her new neighbor, Inuyasha, Kagome is reminded why the holidays are so special to her.

--

The Best Present by @fawn-eyed-girl (T)

Inuyasha helps Kagome bring a Christmas tree home to the Higurashi shrine. Kagome tells Inuyasha about the traditions of Christmas Eve, and he gives her a special gift.

--

Slipped by @witchygirl99 (E)

“I was worried it’d be more of a sex thing.” A sex thing. Inuyasha makes a face at the ceiling. God, why does Miroku say shit like that? “Yeah, well,” he grouses, grabbing at his cell phone so that he can look his friend in the eye. “Give me some fucking credit. I’m trying not to fall in love with her.”

Miroku looks, in that moment, far too smug. “And how’s that going for you?”

“Fuck you,” comes his automatic response, a knee-jerk reaction. Begrudgingly, unhappily, Inuyasha sighs his next admission. “Not great.” Inuyasha has a life plan that is viciously, cheerfully and quickly dismantled the moment he becomes temporary roommates with one Kagome Higurashi. Unsurprisingly, this is all Miroku's fault.

--

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by FrameOfMind (T)

AU. God, how he hated Christmas carols. Now, if someone would only think to write one about the overcrowded shopping malls and the sticky pine needles and the damn Salvation Army, that would be the Christmas carol for him...

--

Secret Santa (series) by @splendentgoddess (E)

In a modern world where most youkai stick to the wilds, hanyou are stuck in the middle, forced to live in human society. Inuyasha has an okay job and okay coworkers, but he's lonely, until one year when the office Christmas party changes everything.

--

If You Dare by @fawn-eyed-girl (E)

Inuyasha hates Christmas, and looks forward to spending it alone. Kagome loves Christmas, and is devastated that she has to spend it alone. She decides to leave a notebook in the stacks at a bookstore, in hopes of making a special connection. When Inuyasha finds it, does he dare take her challenge? And will she dare to accept his Commissioned Artwork by Clearwillow

--

Skeins and Schemes by @cannibalsforbreakfast (G)

Inuyasha didn’t understand why she was insisting she needed to go back to her time, because this time last year Kagome had said her school was on “ho-li-day” and that there were no classes. She’d tried to put Inuyasha off with excuses — she had a makeup exam, her school had changed its schedule — but she could tell he didn’t believe her. Because how could she tell Inuyasha that she needed to go back to her time to make him a Christmas present?

--

No Matter The Storm by @lavendertwilight89 (T)

Kagome gets taken and Inuyasha comes to save her but the can't outrun the winter storm. Trapped in a cave, what could happen?

--

Ego & Bias by hoshi-ni-onegai (T)

Sometimes, first impressions are everything and Inuyasha wasn't winning any contests. While attending a holiday party, Kagome runs into a guy who grates her nerves like no one has before. AU.

--

Christmas Traditions by @ideasthatbuildcities (G)

It's Christmas time and Kagome is eager to start sharing with her daughter the Christmas traditions she used to do with her mother. She only hopes Moroha would like to be as involved as Kagome wants her to be. Inuyasha is helping in his own way. [InuKag Family Christmas fluff for ruddcatha for the 2020 Inuyasha Fandom Secret Santa on Tumblr]

--

Mistletoe Tales by Reinamy (T)

The holidays are a time for miracles, even of the romance-variety. A love story told in bits-and-pieces.

[kimbapisnotsushi]

miscellaneous high school shenanigans part two!!

tsukki's only ever been struck speechless twice in his life

the first was when hinata snuck into the mock training camp. the second was when he found out that kageyama didn't have any music taste whatsoever

after tsukki gets over the shock he's like "what do you MEAN you don't listen to music?? how do you just not listen to music??" and kageyama just shrugs and takes a slurp from his yogurt drink or whatever and goes "just don't"

i'm telling y'all kageyama doesn't listen to music the closest he gets is the rhythm of sneakers squeaking against the gym floor and hinata's bathroom song

also i think it'd be funny if yachi was just always taking cues from high school romance manga for living her life. right after becoming manager she picks up the first sports manga that catches her eye and uses that to guide her through the epic highs and lows of high school volleyball

hinata and kageyama: [yelling about something something passionate confession of emotional vulnerability something something partners and teammates something something reaching your dreams something something] yachi: oh my god . . . this is just like in slam dunk . . .

(i will be honest with you guys i have never seen slam dunk so i don't know if it matches anything in slam dunk but i respect slam dunk so i went with it)

honestly every day yachi is grateful she's living in a sports series because she does NOT think she could handle the backstabbing female love rival whose only purpose is to be mean to the female lead for getting involved with the male lead

i mean she COULD. but maybe after like thirty chapters of development and a major event.

(yachi thinks about this a lot. she rambles about her hypotheticals to tsukki and yamaguchi and although tsukki will never admit it, he finds it very entertaining)

i think konoha is really good at modern romance. i think he excels at the small everyday romantic things and makes people swoon without even realizing it. he's the fukurodani academy heartthrob but is completely oblivious to it

leans in to tuck an earbud into your ear when he wants to share music. walks you to where you need to go even if it's out of his way and never says anything about it. will take the stack of textbooks you've been asked to carry without a word. buys you a drink from the vending machine without being asked. really good at leaning against the wall/doorframes/over the window in a way that makes him look windswept and pretty.

just UGH konoha akinori i love him

the other third years would be soooooooo jealous but they get it. they too have fallen prey to his charms

on today's edition of making hq characters collect a random Thing™️ (following fukunaga + bucket hats): sakusa likes coasters

they're easy souvenirs from different places AND you can swap them out to match whatever you're feeling at the time!! plus they save his desk from water rings!!! they're functional, pretty, and he has less to clean up because of them!!!!

sakusa's favorite is this square white ceramic one with ginkgo leaves drifting off a tree painted onto it

(no it's not because iizuna-san got it for him as a bday gift or anything shut up motoya!!)

sakunami totally had a tiny tiny secret crush on asahi at some point

he just thinks asahi is really cool!!!! and handsome!!!! and maybe sakunami just wants to be cool and handsome too!!!!

sakunami has a really good poker face i guarantee you. nobody knows how wild his inner monologue is until they get him to open up around them

i mention this because one of the times dateko is discussing karasuno after a match with them (practice or otherwise), the others get around to talking about asahi and sakunami gives a dreamy lil sigh and is like "yeah . . . he's so strong . . . isn't it cool . . ." and everyone is just like. what the fuck

they were NOT expecting that from sakunami of all people and especially not about karasuno's ace

kogane is devastated because he doesn't think there's any way he could compete with asahi

cue the miscommunication in which kogane tries to be a little bit more like asahi to get sakunami to like him while sakunami wonders if kogane has a fever or something because he's been acting weird

ALSO keep in mind that kogane probably gets all his info about asahi from the rumors and whatnot so he's like "i have to be MEAN???? i have to BEAT PEOPLE UP???? i don't know how to beat people up!!!!! i can barely beat futakuchi-san in arm wrestling!!!!!"

sakunami please put the poor boy out of his misery the rest of dateko are SUFFERING

usuri is definitely the first to clock kiryuu's massive crush on bokuto. he's the first to realize that kiryuu is speeding down the highway in that direction even before kiryuu himself

kiryuu is like "wtf how did you know| and usuri is like "haha you know how perceptive i am!" when in reality he caught kiryuu sleep-talking about bokuto's muscles and how fluffy his hair looks

see also: akaashi on the fukurodani side realizing that bokuto has a major thing for kiryuu that bokuto is oblivious to

akaashi: hold on what—what did you just say??? bokuto: i SAID i wanted kiryuu to try holding me against the wall!! doesn't he look strong enough?? and he's so solid, i bet it'd feel really nice!! what do you think akaashi? akaashi, on the inside: god why can't i be of legal drinking age

conclusion: usuri and akaashi wingmanning bokiryuu while tripping headfirst into feelings for each other themselves

can you guys see my vision PLEASE tell me you guys see the vision usuaka would be so fucking funny

usuri is trying to woo akaashi via elaborately planned schemes that produce the perfect romantic atmosphere and situations but akaashi is too busy overthinking and analyzing every second they spend together that he simply does not notice. it's absolutely terrible and they need all the help they can get

it's okay, bokuto and kiryuu totally plan on returning the favor (mostly because bokuto really likes the idea of double dates)

[tobiasdrake]

I'm curious what Tenshinhan's fighting style is beyond general weirdness lol. I always interpreted it as a "showing off" sort of style back in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, with most of his moves being visually impressive and/or intended to instill despair in his opponent, but then you have his kikōhō, a move that damages the self for greater strength...

Tenshinhan is fucking weird is what he is.

I mean that sincerely. Fitting for a man who walks in with three eyes like that's totally normal and no one ever speaks of it, Tenshinhan's style comes straight from the realm of the bizarre and esoteric. He's an outside-the-box challenger to test the limits of Goku's counter-fighting.

He is the drunken boxer. The fighting game character that plays utterly differently from all other characters, making them hard to learn but unpredictable when mastered. Ten forges his own way through martial arts with off-the-wall tricks and game-changing shenanigans.

It's just. Easy to forget how weird he is because the rest of the cast have thoroughly cannibalized his style. Kame-senryu are a bunch of fucking thieves.

This eye-searing image is the most normal thing Ten has in his repertoire.

Ten and Chiaotzu lay out that they're going to be... unlike anything we've seen before right from the get-go, when they use psychic powers to rig the matches.

Already, it's clear that we're about to see some weird shit. Both of these characters are built on the martial arts philosophy of "Okay what the hell even is that, how did you even bring laser eyes to a knife fight?"

Ten in particular is a formidable martial artist.

But as early as his first match, the oddball nature of his abilities start to settle in.

Okay, so Ten can just Nope any Kamehameha thrown at him. Sure. Guess that's a thing now. New rule, guys: No more Kamehamehas.

But you also kinda get it. Like. Tsuru-senryu is the rival school to Kame-senryu, and the Kamehameha is the signature technique of Kame-senryu. So it makes sense that they'd develop countermeasures for the Kamehameha.

Also, they can levitate.

Well, that's going to make scoring a ringout fucking hard, isn't it? One of the two ways you win in this tournament is by making your opponent fall in the grass outside the ring, and these fuckers can fly.

That's unfair, is what that is. They don't even need to use helicopter tail shenanigans or a well-aimed Kamehameha for propulsion to do it. They can just decide that they don't feel like being rung out today.

This is the first technique that doesn't seem so special today because everybody cannibalized their Bukujutsu. But at the time, it was unique. Even Taopaipai, their idol, couldn't fly. He got around by the delightfully comical method of throwing something really hard and then jumping on it and being taken for a ride.

Taopaipai was doing Breath of the Wild rock transit decades before it was cool.

As the tournament picks up, Chiaotzu foreshadows the bizarre nature of the fights ahead when he reveals his ultimate technique: Binding his opponent in place with psychic powers so they can't defend themselves.

That's. Not. Really. A martial art? Even by the incredibly loose definitions already on display in this manga. It's closer to General Blue's paralyzing glare. And there's a lot more of that to come.

Further included in Ten's repertoire of Weird Shit (TM) is his third eye, which serves a vital function in combat until everyone starts ki sensing and it ceases to be relevant.

Ten has enhanced perception, allowing him to see things that others can't. This is notably distinct from being able to sense people by following their ki signatures. A distinction the Muten-Roshi helpfully lays out by stating he can't see Goku but can sense him just before Ten confirms he can still see him.

When Goku meets Popo, we'll have entered the realm where the limitations of human eyesight can no longer keep up with the speeds of the characters, and learning to perceive through ki sensing becomes necessary.

But right now, Ten's enhanced perception lends him a number of edges over other martial artists that have to rely on eyesight to track their foes. Advantages such as thwarting this particular invisibility technique of Goku's.

Or piercing the illusion of the Zanzoken/Afterimage speed technique.

As an aside, I love the way both of those moments draw attention to Ten's two normal eyes looking one direction while his third looks the other. It's such an eerie but effective way of conveying the idea that he can see more than a normal man.

Ten and Chiaotzu play by different rules than everyone else.

Sometimes he has four arms. That's life, man. Again, they make a point of showing us what this looks like as a speed technique:

Both to set up Goku's counter for this and also so that we understand how meaningful it is that Ten is not doing that. Chapa and later Goku perform Hasshuken, moving their arms so fast it creates the illusion of eight. Ten physically sprouted two extra arms. He can just. Like. Shapeshift, I guess. He's a flying shapeshifter who sees faster than everyone because of his three eyes and he hangs out with a telekinetic doll.

Also he can flashbang his opponents as a clincher.

This is another move that seems mundane now because everyone stole it from him. They took his Bukujutsu/Levitation and they took his Taiyoken/Solar Flare. But it's another data point on the list of ways Ten's such a weird and complicated opponent to try and fight.

Even by the standards of Tsuru-senryu, he's weird. Taopaipai didn't do half of this shit. Ten specifically refers to the Taiyoken/Solar Flare as a New Tsuru-senryu technique, which implies that he created it himself.

Which makes me wonder just how much of his moveset is actually part of the Tsuru-senryu curriculum and how much is Ten. Just. Being weird.

Notably, at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, Ten shows up with something even more absolutely freakish than the Shiyoken/Four-Armed Fist.

Shishin no Ken also known in English as the Multiform Technique is another departure from your illusory speed techniques, in that Ten splits his body into four bodies. How does he do that? Fuck you, that's how. This is the evolution of both his enhanced perception and his ability to sprout extra arms - And, in being so, a demonstration of how Goku has left him behind.

It's an admittedly creative solution to the problem that Goku, following his training with Popo, can move too fast for even his three eyes to follow. But now he has twelve eyes.

TWELVE. That's as many as four Tens! And that's terrible.

The Shishin no Ken was another weird-ass technique from a weird-ass martial artist, serving a practical function in enhancing Ten's unique characteristics to compensate for Goku's now godly abilities.

But it was ultimately undone by a catastrophic vulnerability, which is the reason nobody ever tried this shit again.

Splitting into multiple copies of yourself turns you into a team of useless scrubs who can't throw a punch to save your life. It's a bad technique and was written off immediately after this fight, never to be seen again.

...except in anime filler, where everyone stole that from Tenshinhan too.

You guys were both at the tournament when Goku pointed out that this technique makes you throw punches like slow, limp noodles! Come on, guys! These characters would not even try this shit.

But I digress.

Not to be outdone, Chiaotzu invented a technique where he blows himself up and dies ineffectually.

Tenshinhan never let him fight another person again for the rest of his life. This cost him fighting privileges. Straight up left him with the non-combatants during the Android arc. You are done, Chiaotzu.

Look, just because their shit is weird doesn't mean it's all good.

Of course, we can't talk about Ten without talking about the Big Gun. His ultimate technique. The thing he's known for better than anything else, especially by people who never watched or read the material prior to Raditz.

The Kikoho/Tri-Beam is not a Tsuru-senryu technique or a Kame-senryu technique. It's not even a Tenshinhan original. It's a forbidden technique known to both schools but, at least in the Muten-Roshi's opinion, inappropriate to ever pass on. Tenshinhan's going to use it to win at recreational sports.

And people complain about Korra entering the Avatar State to win a race. If Goku broke out the Genki-Dama/Spirit Bomb to punch Krillin out of the ring, Kaio would have his ass for that....

The Kikoho is, so far as we know, the most powerful individual technique in Dragon Ball in terms of the gulf between the wielder's power and the destructive force output by their technique. It punches far above Ten's weight class. Whether that means:

Managing to fuck up Nappa pretty bad.

Holding back Semi-Perfect Cell.

Or even dissipating a shot from Super Buutenks, the Kikoho is in a league of power far beyond anything Tenshinhan would be capable of himself. This technique lends Ten the ability to show up and be occasionally useful even after the power scales leave him far behind.

At least, for a short time.

Sorry, man. You cannot fight at this level. But at least you got that killer shot in.

Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu are wild cards. Not as characters, mind you, but as martial artists. Their greatest strength is their unpredictability. You never know what they're going to pull out of their pocket next, which for a time made Ten in particular into a fun and engaging rival for the ever-analytical Son Goku.

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

OP I am new to twisted wonderland but I saw the binding hc post and I uuuuuh have a request if that’s okay. My request is basically like, MC/Yuu who is AFAB and NB or Trans Masc who isn’t out. They get sorted into dorms or something and refuse to wear the uniforms because Tiddies are More Pronounced and that’s not cash gender of them. and they basically get into a fight with the dorm leaders that lead to them coming out while yelling and then just. The dorm leaders are like ???? Well shit that’s fixable why didn’t you say that earlier ??

Trans Yuu

Yuu is a trans dude in the middle of transitioning at the worst place to do it— NRC.

Notes: went in a wild direction lmao. Anyways FTM Yuu. Shitty jokes and cringe.

You are a 2010 Stefani Canturi Barbie and God is a mother going through her kid's toys to donate to the Bratz section at goodwill, you are sure of it. There is no way in hell it was coincidence that you ended up in an all-boys school filled with the stupidest people you met otherwise. Perhaps god just assumed you were both dolls so it doesn’t really matter what toy pile you were put in, and you don’t know if that is the biggest compliment you have received— to be compared to cis dudes— or an insult (these men fucking suck).

With all the running around you had to do the first day, no one was able to sniff you out, yet. Still, it didn't last that long, and it didn’t. Deuce was far too kind and dense to really tell what you were, and Grim was Grim. Ace on the other hand almost seemed to side-eye you at times. You tried to ignore it and pray to the goodwill mom that he doesn’t say anything, and surprisingly he didn’t, you got that stupid gem, celebrated, and went over to your crow overlord (who doesn’t even notice your predicament either) to turn it in and go the fuck home. Perhaps the only break you got was the fact that people here spoke a sort of similar language to you even if it was a bit… strange. Whatever, you can think tomorrow, right now you can make yourself comfortable and finally sleep uninterrupted.

And then that fucker from before came to you at one in the morning, after you have unbound yourself and got comfortable begging for you to let him sleep in your bed, strange collar on his neck. “No, Ace. You can make yourself comfortable on the couch.” You crossed your arms over your chest nervously and thankfully the dumbass didn't notice.  “C’mon, c’mon, I’m super skinny! I won’t take up any space!” Ace pleaded. You and Grim looked at each other tiredly then back at Ace. “No.” You said before sighing and heading upstairs. 

“Awwee!! Cmon!!!” “Cry about it.” You sneered, but as you ascended the steps you notice Ace watching you with that look in his eyes from earlier. He knows doesn’t he…

***

You may not know Trey and Cater well, but you owe them your life. The dumbass trio you were with despite living in this world their whole life could not tell you the most basic shit about it for the life of them. And even worse, despite two of them being selected for this university and one choosing to sneak in with plenty of time to research it beforehand (hell, Ace has a brother who went here), they both decided to go in completely blind and not understand anything at all. 

Thankfully, your dear juniors seemed to take pity on you and actually took time to explain the bare fucking minimum for all four of your sakes. Yet as they explained everything to you in such sweet simplicity, you notice Trey look over to your form that you kept nervously wrapped up in the only oversized overcoat (that all Yuu’s in the manga have) to hide your figure. “Are you alright there Yuu?” He asks and you freeze. 

“Yeah, it's just…” Trey frowned and adjusted his glasses out of concern. “Did Crowley provide any resources for you? It must be difficult being stuck here as a girl and all.” You pause and before you can speak you are interrupted. “YOU’RE WHAT.” The dumbass trio all yelled at once making you, Trey, and Cater all shut your eyes pensively. “Dude! I mean bro— I mean— Ugh!” Ace sputtered, and Deuce looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die with how much he was overthinking. Looking over at Trey, the regret on his face was obvious, and you can only assume he thought you told the other three. “You didn’t tell us you're a girl!” Ace yaps.

“I’m not, I’m a guy, I just…” Cater speaks up. “They got the wrong body babes, it's nbd.” The ginger strikes a selfie pose, “That's a thing???” Deuce stared wide-eyed. “Exactly!” You speak up. Trey clears his throat, looking even more ashamed. “Ah, my…. I’m sorry Yuu I didn’t know.” “It’s fine, you didn’t know, plus I guess it was obvious.” At that, the group around you went quiet. 

“Uh no it wasn't ?” Ace crosses his arms. “Have you seen the guys in this school? Some of them straight up look like chicks!” “I thought you knew 'cause you were looking at me weird yesterday!” Ace’s face becomes slightly flustered. “I wasn’t staring—“ Ace stopped his excuse when he saw you and Trey glare. “Okay, fine I was! You happy?” “Why were you staring at them?” Grim asks unimpressed.

Ace gets even more flustered. “It's cause, well you know—“ Cater raises his brows and suppresses a knowing smile and a laugh to the best of his ability as he looks over at you. Ace huffs, “How did you not know Grim? You share a bed with them!” “Haaah? Don't change the subject—“ “Okay that's enough.”

Trey sighs. “Once again, I am very sorry about that Yuu, I thought—“ “It's okay Trey, you didn’t know… But also how did both of you know?” Cater winks, “Oh he’s just like that, babes. Trey-Kun attracts all sorts of fruit to him.” You snort and not how Trey seems to sigh, “Are you one of them?” Cater's eyes widen for a moment before he gives a chuckle. “Good one, but we’ve dealt with enough people in this school to tell by now, though. “So you both just have a gaydar, got it.” “Ooh I like that word, I’ll steal it from ya!” Cater winks again.

“In any case…” Trey adjusts his glasses again. “There's no need to sweat over it. You’ll fit in fine here, Yuu, however, I recommend that you bother Crowley for a spell or potion to get you switched to a new body as soon as possible so this conversation doesn't happen again.” Trey is putting on a brave face to hide his mortification of how he accidentally outed someone. “Crowley can be a real pain sometimes, but he will deliver on that at the very least. Until then you could probably get something from Sam’s for a temporary fix, though they will cost a small fee since they’re home-brewed, or brew your own potion.”

“Oh yeah, you guys have magic here for that stuff… that's crazy…” “Oh yeah, there’s no magic in your world huh Yuu-Kun?” Cater thinks for a moment, “Healthcare here includes that sorta care, but I imagine it’ll be a little difficult to apply for it since you're not from this world and stuff. Kinda hard to do that stuff if you don't exist here, huh?” Cater muses. “Alright, now let's get back to telling them about the dorms Trey!”

“Ah, one more thing, all of you.” Trey’s expression becomes more serious, and gestures to a table where two people— twins with teal hair sit together. “Be careful with Octavinelle students,” he warns, “especially those two. They work for their dorm leader, Azul. They’re scam artists, do not ever make a deal with any of them, especially you, Yuu. Do not tell them what you are.” “Why?” Cater nudges you. “They’ll totally be like ‘We can help you transition Yuu!’ And then your soul is theirs!”

“That’s no different from where I’m from.”

***

Ace and Deuce were a bit weird with you for the next few hours, before Grim got annoyed with them acting overly cautious and insulted them, which in turn made them all have an annoying argument that you got involved in, in which they treated you like one of the bros. You have to make a note to get Grim the world's most premium tuna for that later. 

And when it came time to grab the tuna, you also had to check out Sam’s potion brewery, where you learned that Sam was a real cool dude. He’s a salesman at the end of the day, always looking for a profit, but at least he was fair. He never overpriced things and always knew how to make a good deal. And though you were prepared to drop nearly your whole allowance on a potion Sam seemed to stop you.

“Hey there little imp! Before you pick one of those out, what form are you lookin’ to take?” You look around for a moment, making sure no one was nearby. “I’m looking for a transitioning potion? I wanna be a dude…” You mutter. Anxiety brews in your gut as Sam leans in, keeping eye contact with you. The salesman then bounces back to his feet in an animated and theatrical manner. “Well, we got those iiiiiinnn STOCK! Lucky for you, we have all sorts to choose from!” Sam says before taking out crate after crate.

“Please, pick that one that calls to you.” You look at the vials nervously before pulling one out of the velvet casing they were carefully placed in. The liquid inside has the consistency of a purple, glittery syrup. “That's a great one!” Sam says. “One small issue though.” Oh god here it comes, by picking up the vial you probably should your soul to him and you're gonna be doomed to work here the rest of your life.

“That's gonna be temporary, little imp! Not good for the long term. The Mystery Shop cannot sell permanent potions for these unless you have a prescription, but my little friends from the other side say that you ain’t from these parts.” Sam smiles. “Take 4, on the house! And drink them all at once, that should give you around 4 and half months in that form!” “Really? Are you sure!” Sam nods, “Course! It's not a loss at all either, I get compensated to give em out anyways! Do be sure to tell Crowley to get you a permanent one though! Or it may be quicker to ask that professor of yours!”

“Thank you Mr.Sam! I’ll keep it in mind.”

***

Crowley is an asshole, a real bitch, and one of the most annoying people you know. But at least he can be reasonable once in a blue moon. When bringing up needing a potion he merely went on a 30-minute rant on how he’ll get a prescription for you because he’s “oh so generous” and totally not because he’s probably a fruit too like everyone else in this school. 

You expected this process of getting a prescription to be a very annoying and long wait, just for you to receive the paper later allowing it less than an hour later. Sam did say that asking Professor Crewel for a good potion would be better than asking him since he’s certified to make them. Given how extra he is with everything too, you're sure any potion by him would be insane. So here you were, head down and begging that this man help you, one alphabet soup to another. 

“Let me get this straight. You want me to make you a prescription potion for you, rather than get it from Sam’s because you think I would make a better one.” You nod, and Crewel could tell there wasn't any flattery behind your words, you truly believed what you said. “Sam didn’t put you up to this did he?” “I mean he mentioned you could help but that’s it, why is he plotting something?” “He’s been trying to get me to make him a batch of these for ages, saying that he only wants the highest quality products for his customers.” “Seems like I was right to go to you.”

Crewel almost lets out a sigh, before tapping his whip against his palm. “Fine then pup. I’ll give you a private lesson for potionology because you will be taking notes and helping me as well.” “Really?” “Crowley did say there is no record of you existing anywhere. Consider this the pre-lessons you were supposed to learn in high school.”

After an hour of work, you have successfully created three giant bottles of the stuff Crewel guided you to make, and now in your notes, you have the recipe just in case something happens to them. “Listen here.” Crewel commands and you whip your head to him. “Wait until those four months are up on the serum you are on before taking these. Take only 15 milligrams of each a day until you are all out. This way, it’s permanent and you don't have to worry about someone turning you back so easily.” The professor smiles and taps his baton in his other hand.

“Any questions?” “Why am I on the serum then, sir?” “That one prepares your body for a more permanent change, especially if you show any complications with the magic used.” “Got it, sir, that’s all the questions I have.” “Good, now clean your workspace, and go back to your dorm. I expect you to be fully awake in the morning for class.” “Yes, sir” “And I also expect that you will be more responsive than your peers in class because of this.” “Of course, sir.”

Carefully putting the bottles in your bag, and using your jacket as a cushion for each one you braved your way outside nervously. Sam did say that the vials you took will take a while to take effect since your body isn’t used to magic…

***

The final thing you learned in these past two days was that the misogyny here is very much inclusive, you can't tell if that’s a sign of progress or not. The second you walked out of that door you had your very first instance of bullying (Aside from Ace) since arriving in this world. A few Savanaclaw jocks standing by seemed to immediately look over and snicker.

You stood your ground as they approached, knowing walking away would make it worse and if it got bad Crewel was still in that room. “Tch, you’re the new kid huh?” One said in a very stereotypical stupid school bully way. You’re half surprised they didn’t include some insult like “dweebus” or something. “Hah, bro doesn't even have good pecs, what a fucking girl.” One says. “Never knew they made exceptions for girls!” The other says.

“Uh, yeah, it's gonna take a while for this potion to take effect.” A cat boy scoffs, “What potion.” “The one that’s supposed to make me a boy, it's taking a while.” The group went silent for a moment, the weird wolfman sniffs the air at you for a moment before beckoning his bros to lean in and listen. After a painfully awkward moment, the cat boy leader comes back to lean into your face. “So you are a boy! Big deal! You still don't have pecs!” He says, changing his whole tune. “Yeah well you may be a boy but you're… your…” The fox boy pauses, trying to find a proper insult, just to be interrupted by the wolfman again. “But you fucking suck at being one!”

“YEAH!” All three cheer together as they finally find the right niche to bully you in. Suddenly the door next to you opens. “You three! Silence! Leave them alone, it's curfew! Or do you want me to put you to work?” Crewel reprimands, leaving the three running off with their tails between their legs. “You too Yuu.” And you nod and take it as your sign to leave.

You were gonna have a great time learning how to be a boy

[feroluce]

I've been yapping at a new friend a lot lately about Boothill & Rappa; she described them as "sidekicks in chaos" and! Yes! Finally!Someone else gets it! They're SO cute and so sweet, I adore them. They speak so highly about each other and they have a lot of respect between them! I love them being friends!

With the way Rappa calls him Lord (vs Ninja for everyone else) and how much she openly admires and mimics him, I'd like to think Boothill was the one that showed her the ropes when she was first brought into the Galaxy Rangers. Mentor/mentee and teacher/student are too strong of labels for how I see them, though.

Rappa and Boothill are like a college senior taking the new little freshman under their wing. Or the much older and more experienced coworker trying to look out for the fresh-faced little newbie who's just entering the workforce.

As for how they met and became friends in the first place, I like to imagine it was a case of Boothill's soft heart and being unable to turn a blind eye to things. ☆

Like Boothill wasn't on the mission where the Galaxy Rangers found Rappa, he was off on his own Hunt at the time. But given that the Galaxy Rangers have a leader (La Mancha) and they do seem to have some kind of organized efforts, I wonder if there's any kind of secret hq, or at least certain places where they tend to congregate, like how the Masked Fools have their taverns. Anyway.

Boothill maybe sees Rappa for the first time at one of these hqs (he came back when he heard there'd been a major breakthrough with Dr. Primitive). Or he maybe just happens to run into that Galaxy Ranger from 2.6 that initially found her, who then just. Wasn't really sure what to do with her after the raid. Boothill walks in all these Rangers sitting around like "well now what" because none of them actually expected Rappa to survive the memetic virus. Honestly, her brain should have fried.

Either way, Boothill comes across her by total coincidence. But I think he'd have a lot of sympathy for her because like. Aeragan-Epharshel had been an uncontacted planet before the IPC came around. And since they were there to fuck the place up, they definitely didn't expose the natives to the rest of the cosmos. To say that Boothill "left" the planet is a massive underestimation- he didn't just leave, he escaped. And when he got out, he was completely alone, with very little idea how the rest of the world worked or how to get by.

And right now, Rappa is much the same.

She doesn't know anything beyond the lab she was held captive in all her life. There's no way they would have allowed her to learn that kind of stuff, and I'm sure Kucha wouldn't have told her out of kindness. It would be cruel to taunt her with things she couldn't have.

So someone needs to teach her The Ways of the World! It's just a matter of deciding who.

Boothill: ...What're you morons doing.

The Rangers, in the middle of a very intense rock-paper-scissors tournament:

And Boothill likes these people. He really does! ...Ok, except that one guy. He's kind of a prick. But the rest of them are at least mostly decent! But he wouldn't trust them to keep a pool, let alone a whole human being. If he lets this girl go with any of these dumbasses, there's no way she'll make it. So Boothill smacks them around a bit and announces fine, he'll show the new girl how to be a Galaxy Ranger! If any of them have a problem with this, feel free to make complaints to his revolver ☆

Rappa watches all this go down with stars in her eyes, because Boothill is just like the heroes in her manga! Wow! So cool!

(When it came time to actually leave though, Rappa made some sad eyes at the Ranger from 2.6 that actually found her- for better or worse, she got a little attached. The Ranger told her to go on! Go! Just get out of here!

It's very important to imagine this like a movie where the kid frees the wild animal they bonded with skhzksksjk)

Afterwards, Boothill does actually take Rappa aside and ask if she even wants to be a Ranger. If she doesn't, it's fine. The Galaxy Rangers do a lot of charity work, and everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone. They'll find somebody that can help her figure things out and get settled. She can have an actual life now.

Rappa gives a passionate speech (that Boothill catches about 50% of sdlkfjasdl) about how she wants nothing more. She'd wanted it before she even knew the name for it. This was what she'd dreamed of, laying across the bed in Kucha's room, reading through his manga collection for the nth time.

Kucha isn't with her anymore. He'd died just to get her out of there. But she can take the opportunity he gave her and make the most of it. She can still keep her dream alive.

So yes, Rappa wants to be a Ninja Hero. Please teach her!

(Boothill: Bein' a Galaxy Ranger ain't easy shirt. Ya gotta be able to hold yer own in a fight. Can ya even do that?

And then Rappa fucking suplexed him and Boothill was like ok so the first parta bein' a Galaxy Ranger is- JSJJSJDKSK)

They're mentioned together so much outside of the main game, too. So I'd like to think even after Boothill passed on to Rappa all the street smarts he could, they still remained pretty friendly, and make the time and effort to meet up whenever they pass nearby. They just ended up getting along so well!

Like no, they don't see each other very often. They're each on their own separate Hunt. Galaxy Rangers still largely work alone. But they're the kind of buddies that can still happily greet each other the same even after months of not speaking. ♡

(Clutching my heart imagining Boothill telling Rappa she is now a full-fledged Ninja Hero, and she is now strong enough to make her solo journey! But he does give her his phone number. And he tells her that if she's in trouble- like real, real bad trouble- call him. Call him and he'll come runnin', to any corner of the galaxy, ok?)

[aihoshiino]

chapter 157 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 14… IN THIS CHAPTER OF ALL CHAPTERS…????

Aqua Hoshigan Status: White

Congrats to 157 for taking 144's crown as the Oshi no Ko chapter that has vexed and confused me the most. Taken entirely in isolation, it's a sweet, lowkey, calm before the storm moment… but it's entirely because it stands in such stark isolation from the events surrounding it that it feels so baffling. It's like an amped up version of the issues with 156 - when viewed in isolation, you can't strictly say there's anything wrong with it, but as a part of the sequential storytelling of Oshi no Ko it just feels off. I'm reminded of the weird, off-kilter pacing of the Movie Arc, where story beats fell at weird places as if the story was falling out of tempo with itself. Because of that, this chapter review is probably going to be a bit disjointed but tbh besties i am fighting for my life on this one

I will say at the top of things though that it's darkly funny to me that we're fastforwarding through so much of the B-Komachi tour lol. Offscreen no Ko strikes again!

Honestly, this chapter in general kind of defies any attempt at a beat by beat analysis though that does seem to largely be by design. As the chapter title suggests, this is simply some pagetime spent on letting us stew in what a calm, ordinary day looks like for the twins and for what it is, it's sweet and chill. Taken on its own there isn't really a ton to pick apart, other than just pointing at what moments I found cute which was like 90% of them. I want a 5 chapter mini arc of AQRB goofing around at the grocery store and squabbling over the cooking together.

I also really like that Aqua is the one to suggest doing something nice for Miyako and that he joins Ruby in waiting up for her to get home and see it. It feels like a sweet and warm acknowledgement of the subtle shift in their relationship after 155, with the two of them properly stepping into their roles as parent and child.

As nice as this chapter is though, it does kind of feel like too little too late. One of the major complaints across the series (that I do largely agree with) is that Aqua and Ruby's day-to-day dynamic is for the most part underbaked and that the two of them don't really feel like people who grew up in the same household for 16+ years. I think a few more moments like this properly threaded through the manga would have helped but… well, considering OnK's pacing, do I really want to encourage much more downtime…

Moving on from the things I liked, as cute as this chapter was it's also just kind of weird that so much of it feels like the framing device is a recap episode lol. I guess it isn't the worst idea in the world to have one as we're heading into the final stretch of the story but… well, again, see my point above about weird pacing.

It's also just baffling as fuck to see Ruby frame these events in a way that distinctly did not happen lol. Like, sure, she was definitely having fun doing idol stuff for a lot of it but seeing her so warmly gas up stuff like Tokyo Blade when the anime airing right now is reminding us that Aqua was going through the SpongeBob horror hallway the entire time is so jarring - especially when Aqua (and thus, implicitly, the narrative) agrees with her. I mean, fuck, even putting Aqua aside it's WILD to see Ruby framing "Dig Deep" as having been fun for her when her major contribution to the show was manipulative drama stirring for the purposes of chasing clout that she herself said was having an impact on her mental health. I've criticized the story for the ways Ruby's black hoshigan arc amounted to nothing but there's a special kind of infuriating in seeing it specifically call back to that arc and still fail to actually acknowledge any wrongdoing on Ruby's part.

This is part of a much bigger trend in OnK right now of Ruby being super coddled by the narrative and coming off in some really unpleasant ways as a result. I didn't mention it last chapter but something that's been percolating in my brain since after I wrote my review is just how fucking bonkers Ruby's total non-respose to Mem's situation is. "Oh, you're getting stalked by the press? Sucks to be you, thank god I'm Miyako's special little favourite tho 🙏". Not only is this just kind of a shitty response to begin with but it feels insane coming from a person like Ruby who, you know, saw her mother's life blighted and then ended by this kind of treatment. No concern for Mem, tho!

Idk. I don't want to dislike Ruby but man. A lot of the ways Akasaka has been playing favourites with her lately has the effect of Ruby coming off, in universe, like a deeply self centered and callous person in ways I don't think narrative intends or even realizes and thus fails to interrogate in a satisfying way. But that's a rant for another day. And I'm pretty sure you guys already know what today's rant is gonna be. Which is to say, uh…

HEY. AKASAKA. ARE THEY GONNA TALK ABOUT… ANY OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE ARC?? ANYTHING AT ALL????

This is what I meant when I said this chapter utterly fucking bamboozled me. The way the story has contorted itself into knots to avoid letting Aqua and Ruby have a conversation even when they're literally in the same room is already insane, but giving us an entire chapter of them alone together with ample opportunity to have any sort of meaningful discussion as to the gigantic elephant in the room looming over their relationship and……. literally nothing happens???

This is made even more insanity inducing by the fact that this is, as stated above, more or less a recap chapter and not only does Ruby talk about the movie specifically but we even SEE a flashback to the HikAi kiss…. but not the one Ruby jumpscared him with at the end of 143!!!

What the fuck is even going on anymore? Was it retconned? Resolved offscreen?? Did we collectively hallucinate it??? Is Akasaka gaslighting us????

If nothing else, this chapter has proved to me once and for all that whatever goes on with Aqua and Ruby, that resolution is going to come entirely at the speed of plot, as and when Akasaka decides to do it and not when it would be natural and organic for development to occur. This is an issue that has plagued Aqua and Ruby's r/s from the start, where Akasaka simply refuses to let them communicate, seemingly for the purposes of drawing out the drama rather than because of any narrative justification. So I'm giving on predicting what direction their relationship is going in and what the outcome is going to be. The inner machinations of Aka Akasaka's mind are a mystery to me.

To pre-pick some nits before I leave off… I've seen some people calling this a 'Tanabata chapter' and insisting this is intentional/foreshadowing aquruby end/etc and uh… sorry to be that guy but no it's not lol. Even accounting for the differences in calendars that scatters Tanabata celebrations across July and August, August's Tanabata falls on the 10th this year - and even in the anime world, celebrations across Japan took place on the 'official' date of 7/7. And while there is a Tanabata festival being held in Sendai today… that's just in Sendai, which is all the way up in northern Japan, nowhere near Tokyo where the series is set (and which itself had its Tanabata celebrations on the weekends surrounding 7/7 as per usual.)

There's also just the fact that this chapter… has nothing to do with Tanabata? There's no imagery or iconography and it takes place in the middle of December lol. I simply don't think it was intentional at all on Akasaka's part. It's a cute coincidence, sure, but still just a coincidence.

break next week. i love biweekly manga, oshi no ko.

[kikuism]

the best books i read in 2024!

this year was all right in terms of reading. there were many duds, but the books i did enjoy i truly enjoyed, and really stuck out to me in a sea of mediocrity. there's a difference between a book i think is good and a book i think is great, and that's when it changes my brain chemistry in a way that inspires me as a writer <3 all of these just had a little kick to them. i really wanted to emulate some of what these books did in my own work.

intermezzo: i'd never picked up a sally rooney book before because i wasn't interested in them being primarily romance oriented, but the brothers being the main characters here intrigued me so i picked it up and the rest is history <3 this was so tender. it's about the importance of community and how the small kindnesses of the people around you are what will save you and how people need people. it was so lovely. and i was completely enamored with her writing style, the way she used two completely different styles for ivan and peter, it was so effective. and i love when a man is in intense emotional pain, so ivan's chapters were like crack to me. i don't care if this didn't really have a plot, or that it was, as one review said, ‘just sad people doing sad things’, it scratched such an itch in my brain and made me realize i do actually quite like contemporary if it's written like this. introspective, meandering, somber, thoughtful 💙 my favorite book of the year!

in memoriam: historical fiction my beloved <3 so i've already spoken at length how i adore english novels that take place in the english countryside around the ww2 era (or any era of turmoil/at the cusp of change) so it was a given i was going to love this, and i did. i still can't believe this is a debut....the character work was astonishing, the newspaper clippings made my heart drop every time, the meditations on england, the futility of war and the clarity it brings, the way the wool was pulled from their eyes all made for such an immersive, emotional experience. it was so unbelievably good. again, i'm in shock this is a debut.....i can't wait for what else alice winn does.

pink heart jam: my only manga! this was completely unexpected. i loved this one so much. bl is full of tropes i couldn't care less for so i was shockingly pleased how normal this was. like, the two main characters were even the same height (!!!!), their conversations felt so realistic and honest, there was a tenderness and maturity to it all that i absolutely didn't expect (the bar is in hell). is it perfect? well, no <3 but the older i get, the less time i have for nonsensical garbage, especially in the bl genre (why is it so hard to find a tender, raw story that isn't just gratuitous sex and unsavoury tropes and which also has a lovely art style.....), so this was literally a diamond in the rough—i'd honestly given up finding anything worthwhile. i'm so disappointed that part 2 was cancelled....i know i won't find anything else like this for a long time.

poor things: shockingly funny! i think it's really hard to do the 'new human learns about civilization' type of story in a way that's both engaging and entertaining but poor things manages it and more. a scathing critique on capitalism and patriarchy. what struck me really is how pathetic all of these men are, whining and flapping about in the name of some supposed goodness they are working toward. the use of language, especially hyperbolic language made for a book that i did not expect to be so funny, and bella’s dialogue was such a treat. two different narrations of the same events by two unreliable narrators makes for a reading experience that has you questioning everything you've just read while reaffirming the core themes of the text. it's genius.

the library at mount char: i don't want to say too much about this one, but there's a genre of book i like to call simply fucked up. just outlandish in the best way possible. what a wild ride.....everyone should read this one!

now for my two honorable mentions—

the goldfinch: this is no surprise.....i'll read anything donna tartt writes. like what else is there to even say about her. she's a master at the craft, and i loved sitting back and relishing in that fact and knowing i was in such capable hands. i loved the experience of reading this. she created such a world and such a colorful cast of characters and i loved being along for the ride, especially as someone who's enamored with art and art history. i'd been meaning to read this one for years and i'm so glad i finally did! when's the next book donna!!!!

prophet song: really harrowing, really prevalent story that absolutely moved me to my core with some devastating imagery that's going to stay with me. a family torn apart, a mother's ironclad will in ensuring the survival of herself and her children. it was hard to read. all throughout there was a permeable tension pulsing just underneath the surface which made for an unputdownable experience. it's really important. everyone should read this one!

[leviackermanscleaningbuddy]

SKZ DRABBLE-OT8

Felix has never been one to complain when something is wrong. But sometimes, he needs a gentle little reminder from someone he loves that he's perfect in every conceivable way that matters. And for all the other times, talking anime and school girl skirts with the baby and his favorite noona is just what the doctor ordered.

A/N: For that one nonnie who wanted more JeongLix fluff. I hope this fulfills all your wildest dreams. 💗

(Also, it's canon that if you say Minho's name three times in the mirror, he appears and roasts the shit out of you.)

Tags: SKZ, Stray Kids, Stay, OT8, Skz!pack, Poly!skz, Skz!abo, ot8 x you, ot8 x reader, skz x you, skz x reader, skz imagines, skz reactions, skz scenarios, skz fluff, fluff, Bang Chan, lee minho, seo changbin, hwang hyunjin, lee felix, han jisung, kim seungmin, yang jeongin, y/n

Genre: Fluff

Title: Zero Complaints

“Do you think Yuki honestly didn’t know Kaname was her brother that whole ass time?” 

You glance up from where you’re hanging your head over the bed, popping the sucker out from between your lips as you meet Jeongin’s furrowed gaze. 

“Yes.” 

Jeongin heaves a sigh and tosses aside the finished copy of the manga he was reading, annoyance written all over his pretty features, making you want to laugh. 

He’s really going through it. 

“But-” Felix points out from where he’s lounging beside you, leaning over to snatch your sucker, as you shoot him a halfhearted glare, even as he smiles innocently at you and sticks the candy between his own teeth. He points to the youngest omega. “-she knew at the end.” 

Jeongin scoffs, wiggling out from under the weight of your combined legs, huffing as he goes. “Yeah, but then she still chose him over Zero! And we all know, that man was fucking hot, not to mention a trained killer.” 

You laugh, dropping your head back over the edge of the bed as he gets up, watching him upside down as he returns the manga to its proper place amongst the extensive collection on Seungmin’s shelf. 

“You say that like it’s another reason she should have picked him.” 

“It is!” Jeongin protests heatedly. “Guys with a little bit of psychotic energy and the means to kill you are always the better love interest choice, everyone knows that!” 

Felix grins around the stick of your sucker at the clearly irritated baby omega. “You’ve been spending too much time with Hyunjin.” 

Jeongin sticks his tongue out at the other omega. “You can’t say shit, hyung, you’re like the fluffiest, softest, most harmless guy I know.” 

Felix shrugs and takes a long lick of the sucker. “Guilty.” 

“You know who could kill you though-” You reply thoughtfully, sitting up as Jeongin throws himself back on the spacious bed by your feet, looking clearly bummed out by the conversation. 

Without a thought, both omegas reply back in sync, “-Minho-hyung.” 

“What about me?” Minho stops in the open doorway, a basket of laundry propped on his hip, his dark eyes scanning your trio with something akin to dangerous suspicion, expression unreadable. 

Jeongin snickers beneath his breath, flicking his eyes first to you and then to Felix, who is trying to bite back a grin and remain nonchalant as he takes another slurp of the lollipop innocently.

“Nothing, hyung.”

Minho narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t enter the room, taking another step in the direction he was going as he says warningly, “That’s what I thought.” 

When he disappears from sight, you all let out a collective sigh of relief and Jeongin instantly falls back on the pillows in a fit of wild, chaotic laughter. 

“Fuck, that was close.”  

“How does he always just appear when you’re talking about him?” Felix gasps out around his own laughter, sucker held between tiny fingers, as he waves it toward the now empty doorway. “It’s like he has a sixth sense or something.” 

“He can smell bullshit a mile away.” You agree with a nod and an amused grin in the omegas direction. “Fucking scary, that one.” 

Something thoughtful comes across Jeongin’s face. “Do you think if I asked hyung nicely, he’d dress up as Zero with me for Halloween?” 

Felix instantly shakes his head, and you choke out a cynical laugh. 

“Not a chance.” 

“Nope.” 

“Who would you be if hyung was Zero?” Felix asks curiously, eyes sparkling with delighted amusement as he eyes the youngest. 

Jeongin crosses his arms over his chest with a huff. “Yuki, obviously. But I’d make the right choice.” 

“I’d like to see you in a school girl uniform.” You muse thoughtfully, something wicked flashing across your gaze, as Jeongin snaps his eyes to your own. You arch a brow at his look of shock. “What? I bet you’d be adorable.” 

“Adorably sexy.” Felix adds, pointing the almost finished sucker at Jeongin to prove his point. 

Jeongin snatches the candy from the older boy’s fingers and pops what’s left of it into his cheek with a glare in your direction. 

“I changed my mind.” 

“Ah, Innie, don’t be like that.” You coo, biting back a smile as you flop down on the bed so your head is in his lap, pinning him beneath your weight and forcing him to look at you as you reach up to pinch the full skin of his cheeks. 

He tries to push you away, but not with enough strength to actually do anything. 

You smirk up at him, playing with the stick stuck between his full lips. 

“C’mon, I bet we could convince Sungie and Bin to do it with you.” 

There is intrigue in his eyes now. 

“Fuck.” Felix says in almost a groan beneath his breath, stretching out beside the two of you, open hunger on his pretty features as he stares up at the ceiling, eyes far away. “Can you imagine hyung’s thighs in something like that?” 

You watch the bob of Jeongin’s throat as he audibly swallows. 

You don’t blame him. Saliva is pooling beneath your own tongue at just the thought. 

“Maybe we can convince the whole pack to do a group costume. School girl outfits for everyone.” You say somewhat hopefully, because now that it’s been spoken into existence, you absolutely need to see it come to fruition. 

“Fuck.” Felix repeats again, sighing hard, as he reaches up to throw an arm over his face, the skin of his throat flushing pink. “Minho-hyung’s thighs too-” 

“You know, if you’re all so desperate to see me, you could just ask.” 

“Fuck.” It’s your turn to swear sharply, jerking upright in surprise at the unexpected voice from across the room. 

Minho is leaning in the doorway, arms over his chest, a smirk on his lips, eyebrow arched at the three of you. 

Felix puts a hand over his heart, and you’re sure it’s pounding matches yours. 

“How do you do that, hyung?” 

Minho cocks his head, eyes going predatory, and you hear Jeongin swallow again. 

“Consider it a gift. Or a threat. Your choice.” 

You all stare at him as he backs from the doorway, teeth flashing in a dangerous grin as he disappears from sight once more, words echoing over his shoulder as you hear his feet on the stairs. 

“Come find me when you’re ready to pitch your ideas.” 

Jeongin lets out the breath he’s been holding. 

“Fuck, he’s scary.” 

Felix nods in agreement, but you don’t miss the hot flush creeping across his throat in reaction to Minho’s dangerous teasing. 

“Yeah, but-” He looks thoughtful. “-’psychotic, kill you energy,’ am I right?” 

Jeongin blows out a harsh breath and grumbles somewhat begrudgingly, “Yeah, yeah. It’s fucking hot or whatever.” 

You grin and settle your head back into the youngest’s lap once more. 

“Now, more importantly, let’s go back to school girl skirts.” 

*******

“I’m just saying-think about it! Do ghosts have teeth?”

Beside you, Seungmin lets out a long, irritated sigh, and levels a glare across the table at Jeongin that could scorch earth.

“Shut the fuck up, Innie. This is the last time I ever let you join our study group.” 

“No, no, he’s got a point.” Yeosang chimes in, tapping his pencil thoughtfully on his chin, the open book in front of him long forgotten. 

You shoot him an openly exasperated look of desperation. “Oh my god, Kang, don’t encourage him!” 

Jongho blows a harsh breath out through his teeth where he sits on Yeosang’s opposite side, and shoots both you and Seungmin a dead sort of helpless look.

“You’ve lost him. You’re not gonna get him back at this point.” 

“Oh my god.” Seungmin groans, leaning back in his chair and rubbing at his temples violently, as if to stall the incoming headache. “We’re all going to fail this exam.” 

“Speak for yourself.” Jisung scoffs from the beta’s opposite side, snapping his book closed with an air of finality and a smug grin. “I’m gonna ace it.” 

“You’re not even in the class.” Seungmin deadpans, and Jisung shrugs, nonplussed. 

“Yeah, but if I were, I’d smoke you all.” 

“Absolutely no fucking way would that happen.” 

“Okay, beta boy, keep telling yourself that.” 

“God, I’m going to throttle you.” 

“Oh, hell yeah, I’m into that.” 

You glance across the table, away from the betas’ bickering, to where Yeosang and Jeongin are now deep into a debate over the logistics of ghostly dental procedures, and let out a long, resigned sigh. 

Fuck, Seungmin’s right. You’re screwed. 

“Hey.” 

You glance over your shoulder at the deep, accented greeting, and see Felix and Minho approaching your table, duffle bags slung over their shoulders, still wearing their work out gear, damp hair tousled with quickly drying sweat. 

Their dance seminar must have just ended. 

“Hi.” You respond, giving them a little wave of your fingers, as Felix leans over you, his chin on your shoulder, and his gaze sweeps over what you’re currently studying. 

You feel rather than see him pull a face. 

“That looks hard.” 

“It is.” You reply dejectedly, leaning back into his embrace, as his fingers find the knots in your shoulders and begin to massage gently. You groan and sink further into your chair, rolling your neck as Felix’s small, warm fingers work over your tense muscles. 

There’s a headache starting to pound behind your eyes. 

You glance to where Minho is breaking up the still arguing betas, across the table to Jeongin and Yeosang, and then complain quietly, tiredly to Felix, “Unfortunately, even after hours of studying, I don’t think I’ve retained anything.” 

Felix hums in sympathy beneath his breath, and continues to massage your shoulders, the sweet scent of oranges beginning to curl around you the longer he stands behind you. 

It’s nice, it helps the headache that’s threatening, and you feel yourself relaxing the more he continues, like a human stress relief lotion.

Omegas will do that to you.

You tilt your head back and close your eyes, before you ask him, “How was the seminar?” 

You hear him sigh and crack open an eye to see his lips pull down into a slight frown. 

You sit up straighter, suddenly on high alert. 

“Felix?” 

He shakes it off and shrugs, giving you a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes as his fingers resume their motions down the center of your spine. 

“It was fine. Really. I’m just tired.” 

Before you can question him more, San and Wooyoung appear, slapping the omega standing behind you on the back in greeting, their own bags still slung over their shoulders, and Felix plasters on a bright smile for the pair. 

“Our pretty pixie boy stole the show like always.” San remarks, as if he can sense what you were just talking about, a grin curving his lips upward as he regards Felix with something akin to pride. “Sure you don’t wanna switch out of kinesiology for dance, Lixie? It’s not too late, you know.” 

Felix chuckles, and your wolf relaxes slightly at the familiar sound. 

“I’m sure. That was exhausting.” 

Wooyoung grins sharply in response. “Good choice. Minho-hyung might kill you if you threatened his throne.” 

Felix laughs again, holding up his hands to the pair of friends. “I want no part of the ice kingdom, thank you.” 

Minho glares at the four of you over Seungmin’s head, that uncanny ability of his surfacing again, and you offer him a sweetly innocent smile before turning back to the conversation at hand. 

“Speaking of- '' You lower your voice and glance between Wooyoung and San, their faces etching into curiosity at your sudden change of tone. You grin mischievously and arch a brow at them. “-how much convincing do you think it would take to get Seonghwa in a school girl uniform, complete with skirt?” 

Felix grins, and it's the first time since he arrived that you’ve seen the expression reach his eyes. You make a mental note to check in with him later. 

San looks intrigued. “Probably not much honestly.” 

Wooyoung looks downright devious. “Why?” 

You lean back in your chair. “Oh, just ruminating on ideas for interpack Halloween costumes, that’s all.” 

Wooyoung shrugs, unbothered. “I mean, he’s worn something like that for Hongjoong-hyung before, so it probably wouldn’t be much of a stretch to convince him to dig it out of the old closet and wear it again.” 

You fake gag. “Ew. Gross.” 

San grins, all sharp teeth and bright eyes. “You asked.” 

“Yeah, but there’s such a thing as too much information, mate.” Felix says with light amusement, clapping the beta on the back warmly. 

San shrugs one shoulder. “All’s fair in love and war.” His expression grows wicked. “And interpack relations.” 

Something like shock ripples across Wooyoung’s face, as if he’s had a sudden revelation. His mouth forms a little ‘o.’

“Wait.” His jaw drops and his expression shifts covertly to Minho, who is currently annoying Seungmin by messing up his carefully color coded notes. His voice lowers to a whisper. “Do you think when Seonghwa-hyung and Minho-hyung were dating-?” 

He leaves the question open ended, hanging in the air between all of you, like a bomb about to go off that none of you know how to defuse. 

“No.” Felix says in slight disbelief, shaking his head, even as Minho suddenly freezes, narrowing his eyes on the four of you from down the table. 

“Uh oh.” You mutter beneath your breath, reaching for your textbook and shoving it into your waiting backpack. “Time to go.” 

“We should ask him and find out.” Wooyoung is saying, and San is immediately shaking his head, dragging the omega away from the encroaching alpha with a hand slapped over his mouth. 

“Absolutely the fuck we should not.” You’re just standing up from the table, reaching for Felix’s hand, when Minho catches the strap of your backpack, yanking you back into him, glaring down at you as his hand migrates to curl around your forearm, fingers digging into your skin and making you wince. 

“Oh, hey, Min.” You say, somewhat breathlessly, trying to go for innocence. 

You’re not sure it’s working, judging by the look on his face. 

His gaze shifts from you to Felix, and then he reaches out and snags the omega, pulling him toward the two of you even as Felix lets out a surprised little squeak. 

You’re sandwiched between the two of them now, and the spice of Minho’s amber in your nose makes you want to sneeze. 

“Felix.” Minho says in a low tone, staring right at the omega, and you see him fidget beneath his gaze, and you reach conspicuously beneath the edge of his coat to pinch him, warning him silently not to tell him anything. 

Felix winces, as Minho reaches out to snake a hand beneath his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. 

He knows he can break him. Felix isn’t known for his lies and deception, and for good reason. 

“Felix.” Minho repeats, his voice firmer this time, and his fingers dig slightly into the divots beneath your mate’s jaw, making Felix shiver, but clearly not in a bad way. 

His scent of oranges spikes in the space between you, making your mouth water. 

“What were you talking about?” 

Felix flicks his gaze down to you, desperation clear in the dark recesses of his eyes, and then he swallows. 

“Nothing, hyung.” 

Minho sighs, and without warning, tugs Felix forward roughly, nearly sending him toppling into the two of you. His fingers slide down the omega’s throat, and his expression is thoughtful, as Felix once again shudders beneath his hold. 

“Ah.” Minho tsks, letting his gaze sweep over the omega, before he drops it to you, held immobile between their bodies, a smirk curving the corners of his lips. “I’m disappointed, sweetheart. I’d have thought you’d have taught him how to lie better than that.” 

You open your mouth to respond, but Minho snakes a leg between your thighs, and all you can manage is a soft gasp at the sudden pressure. 

Behind you, you feel Felix freeze. 

Minho leans into your space, eyes holding your own, and moves, his thigh creating delicious friction between your own, and you jolt forward, your fingers grasping his shoulders and digging into him as you drop your head, trying to catch your suddenly lost breath. 

You manage a glare in his direction, even though your brain is screaming at you for being stupid and stopping this, because you need more. 

“Minho, we’re in the library.” You hiss out between your teeth, voice strained, and in response, he rubs you again, and you sink your teeth into your bottom lip to stop the strangled groan from leaving your lips. 

“Oh, I’m aware.” He tilts his head, dark eyes flashing. “But public punishment is just so much more fun, is it not, sweetheart?” 

You glare at him, holding his gaze in a silent stare down, and he smirks, before finally dropping your eyes and flicking his attention to the omega standing silently behind you. 

“Now. Let’s try this again.” He murmurs, and it takes everything in you to hold still and not use the thigh at your disposal to apply pressure where you need it most. 

You won’t give him the satisfaction. 

He tilts his head and stares at Felix, a predator appearing in his dark eyes. 

“Are you tired, Felix?” 

You feel Felix swallow, and then, “Yes.” 

Minho smirks. “Very good. Good boy.” 

You don’t miss the way Felix shivers at the alpha’s praise, and you clench your hands into fists at your side, trying desperately to ignore Minho’s thigh still pressed against your increasingly wet heat. 

“Do you want to go home?” 

“Yes.” 

Minho hums in approval in the back of his throat, eyes glinting dangerously. “What were you talking about?” 

“Seonghwa-hyung in a mini skirt.” 

Jeongin appears then, resting his chin easily on Felix’s shoulder, answering Minho’s question without a care in the world, as if he’s completely oblivious to the battle of wills currently happening between the three of you. 

Both you and Felix groan simultaneously. 

“Innie.”

Jeongin looks suitably baffled, eyes going wide. 

“What’d I do?” 

Minho arches a brow, looking slightly interested, slightly amused, but there’s not enough in his expression to go off of to give you an answer one way or the other. 

He pulls his thigh from between your own and you release the breath you didn’t know you were holding. 

He lets his fingers fall from Felix’s chin, but his sharp gaze remains on the omega as he asks, softer this time, “Do you want to tell (Y/N) what happened at the seminar?” 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Felix swallow, and then he lifts his chin. 

“No.” 

Minho stares at him for a moment longer, and then nods in response, reaching into his back pocket for his phone. 

“Okay.” 

He glances between the two of you as he pulls up the brightly lit screen. “Call the rest of the pack. We’re going to that stupid little rundown bar the two of you are so misguidedly fond of. It’s been awhile since we all blew off some steam together.” 

Your eyes light up, and you smell Felix’s sudden excitement in the way his scent sharpens. 

“Seriously?” 

Behind you, Jeongin does an excited little jig. 

Minho rolls his eyes, nodding as he holds the phone up to his ear. 

“Yes. But hurry up before I change my mind.” 

******

“It was a joke, baby. I swear.” Jisung tosses his hands so wide that he nearly knocks over a couple of drinks, Hyunjin still glaring narrowly at him like he’s not entirely convinced he believes the floundering beta. 

“You gave my number to Choi Yeonjun freshman year as a joke?” 

“I mean, yeah?” Jisung looks around the table as if for support, but you all give him the same blank look, knowing better than to get involved in their little fights.“Why else would I do it?”

Changbin arches a brow between the two as he takes a sip of his beer. “I wasn’t aware you guys knew each other freshman year.” 

 “Oh, we didn’t.” Jisung waves a hand in dismissal, reaching for his own glass of alcohol. “But Minho-hyung knew Seonghwa-hyung, and I asked him who the biggest prick he currently knew was and he gave me Hyunjin’s name.” 

Across the table, Chan chokes on his drink and Jeongin cackles loudly with unbridled amusement from beside you. 

“Fuck you.” Hyunjin bites out, tossing back the rest of his own drink as he pushes back his chair to head to the bar for another. 

“I’d let you.” Jisung wiggles his eyebrows at him suggestively as he stands, narrowly avoiding being hit upside the head as the disgruntled omega passes behind his chair. 

Beside you, Felix lets his head drop onto your shoulder with a heavy thunk and a contented sigh, and you glance over to him, noting the cute red splotches on his cheeks and nose from the sake he’s currently drinking. 

Felix is normally touchy on any given day, but buzzed Felix is even more affectionate. 

It’s always been on the list of endearing things you love about him. 

The conversation between your mates has drifted onto other things around you, and you use the opportunity to press a kiss against Felix’s warm forehead, brushing his hair out of the way as you ask in a low, soft voice, only heard between the two of you, “What happened today, Lix?” 

He sighs, and you think he’s going to clam up again, but instead, he burrows closer to you and rubs his nose along the fabric covering your shoulder before he says quietly, “It really wasn’t that big of a deal.” 

You angle your body to face him, lifting his chin until he reluctantly meets your gaze. 

God, he’s pretty. 

“Baby.” You murmur gently, letting your fingers trail the line of his jaw, down the column of his throat, across his scent gland. You don’t miss the way he visibly relaxes at the targeted touch. “If it’s bothering you, then it’s a big deal.” 

He drops your gaze, sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth, his brow furrowing. You resist the urge to reach out and smooth the expression over. 

He doesn’t need you to fix anything right now, he needs you to be patient and wait. 

It’s not something your alpha has ever been very good at. 

Felix sighs and flicks his gaze briefly across the table to Minho, who is currently listening to something Chan is telling him with a fond, amused look on his face. 

“It’s stupid.” He protests halfheartedly once more, but you don’t say anything in response, waiting for him to continue. 

Finally, he glances down at his fingers clenched in his lap, and says quietly beneath his breath, “The instructor called me up. As an example. Said I was doing everything perfectly.” 

You let out the breath you’ve been holding, and give him a gentle smile, but he still doesn’t meet your eyes. 

“That’s good, right?” 

“Yeah, but.” Felix blows out a harsh breath between his lips, gripping the fabric of his sweats between his fingers. He shakes his head slightly, and the scent of oranges bitters, putting you on edge. “He called me ‘the perfect omega.’ Kept going on and on about how I have the ‘ideal build’ and the ‘right body for the job’ and ‘my expression was soft and open and exactly how it needed to be for something like this.’” 

Ah. There it is. 

Very few people outside of the pack know how much comments like that bother Felix. He’s always been regarded by others as ‘the perfect omega’-gentle and empathetic and lithe and soft spoken, swathed in pastels-but like Hyunjin, he’s never just wanted to be seen as a pretty face, a by-product of his subgender. 

Of course Minho would’ve instantly picked up on how uncomfortable your shared mate was as soon as the instructor started talking about that shit. 

You reach out and slowly, gently unclench his fingers, one by one. 

“Baby.” You murmur, and when he doesn’t look at you, you slide a finger beneath his chin and repeat yourself. “Lixie. Look at me.” 

He does so, albeit reluctantly, and you tilt your head, studying him, your eyes holding his own. 

You see him relax slightly as you begin to radiate calming pheromones. 

“None of that is untrue.” You start, and he sucks his bottom lip back between his teeth, even as you reach out and swipe your thumb over the plush skin to free it once more. “But you also absolutely know that none of that defines you either. None of that is even remotely important in making you you.” 

The corner of his lip curves up into the start of a small, unconvinced smile. 

You clench his fingers tighter between your own, sweeping your gaze slowly across his face. 

“Lee Felix is not just ‘the perfect omega.’ In fact, when I think of you, that’s not even a blip on the radar. But do you want to know what is?” 

Felix hesitates, and then he nods, and you let out the breath you’ve been holding, squeezing his hands between your own. 

“The Lee Felix I know is the only person who can make Minho laugh on a bad day. He’s the only one who knows exactly when Seungmin is too much in his head for his own good and can pull him back out again. The only person I’ve ever seen able to convince Changbin to skip leg day and stay home for snuggles and a movie instead.” 

Felix cracks a smile at that, and you feel yourself start to warm with relief from the inside out.

You chuckle, releasing one of his hands to sweep some hair back off his forehead, lingering when you feel how soft the strands are beneath your fingers. 

“He’s the single most important person in Hyunjin’s life, the only one besides his moonmate who truly knows what it’s like to only be seen for your pretty face or your label society has given you. He’s also the only person-and I know this for a fact-that Jisung has ever shared his childhood blanket with. Willingly at least.” 

Felix laughs, and his eyes shimmer a little, as you stroke a finger down the high arch of his cheekbone, marveling at how smooth his skin is beneath your touch. You trace a line across the constellation of freckles that spatter his nose. 

“He’s the only one Jeongin ever lets see him cry, the only person who can pinpoint exactly when Chan is having a bad night for sleep and sneaks into his bed so he’s not alone, and the only person on the whole goddamn planet that MeiMei loves more than me.” 

Felix sniffs and wipes a hand across his nose, and you reach up and brush a tear from his lash line before it can completely fall. 

“The Lee Felix we all know, and love, is all that and so much more, subgender be damned. And I need you to remember that for me, baby. Always. Promise me.” 

Felix nods, sniffing once more, and swipes at his eyes before he downs the rest of the sake in his glass. 

His scent is clear now-sweet and crisp and untinged. 

Across the table, Minho quickly glances in your direction from where he’s still in conversation with Chan, as if he can sense the shift in Felix’s demeanor for the better, and he arches a knowing brow, a sudden slight lift to his lip that silently praises ‘good girl’ which is clearly meant for you.

Your alpha stops clawing at the pit of your stomach. 

Behind you, Jeongin leans into your space, resting the sharp jut of his chin on your shoulder. You can feel the concern for his hyung radiating off of him in waves, the spice of cinnamon filling your nose. 

“You okay, Felix-hyung?”

Felix nods again, and lets out a little watery laugh, fixing the youngest with a gentle, affectionate look. 

“Yeah. I am now.” 

You grin and drain your own glass before glancing at the two omegas you’re currently sandwiched between. 

“You guys wanna get out of here?” 

Felix nods. “Yes please.” 

Jeongin grins deviously, sharp teeth on display. 

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” 

*****

“You’re literally so pretty, hyung.” Jeongin comments wistfully to Felix, where he’s currently braiding the older omega’s long hair, still wet from the bath they had just left a few moments before. 

You enter the room, pulling down your sleeves and drying your hands after draining the water for them, and arch a brow as you watch the two of them fondly. 

Jeongin glances up at you with large, dark eyes. “Right, noona?” 

Maybe it’s the lingering warming effect of the alcohol from earlier, or maybe it’s the effect the combined cocktail of their scents has on your body and mind, but whatever the reason, you agree truthfully, fervently, without a second thought.

 “So fucking pretty.” 

Felix blushes, his tan skin going rosy beneath his freckles, and looks away from your heated gaze, his throat bobbing in a silent swallow. 

You settle onto the bed beside them, watching, enraptured, as Jeongin’s long, lithe fingers easily work a perfect french braid into Felix’s blonde hair. 

Your gaze drifts to the youngest omega’s side profile, sharp and fox like, and you admit, again without thinking, into the silence between the three of you, “You’re also really fucking pretty, baby boy.” 

Jeongin’s fingers falter, and he shoots you a surprised, wide eyed look, as if he’s caught off guard by your honest sentiment. 

“Right, Felix?” You echo the youngest’s query from earlier, glancing to the omega currently sprawled between the other’s legs. 

Felix nods instantly, tilting his head back to study Jeongin’s slowly reddening face with an almost reverent expression. 

“Yeah.” 

Jeongin flushes all the way to the roots of his hair, and muttering something that sounds pretty close to ‘shut up’ under his breath, he goes back to playing with Felix’s hair, doggedly avoiding both of your eyes now. 

Silence stretches, Felix humming a soft little tune to himself under his breath, and you find yourself watching them again, lost in the way Jeongin’s fingers deftly weave Felix’s hair into intricate patterns, the way that Felix’s shirt-one you vaguely recognize as Minho’s-slouches off his shoulder, revealing the shiny pink skin of his mating mark. 

The sight sends a shiver of delight down your spine, your wolf instantly triumphant. 

Mine. 

“Fuck, I love you.” You say out loud without really meaning to, caught up in the moment, your heart all sorts of stuttered in your chest, your entire body warm. 

Jeongin scoffs. “I mean, I would hope so, noona.” 

“No, but like-” You fall back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to make them both understand. 

Everything inside of you is currently humming with the rightness of this situation. 

“It’s the kind of cheesy, sickening love that makes people do stupid things. The sort of love that you hear about in fairy tales, where the prince gives up everything for the princess, or the whole world is righted just by two people finding each other. It’s that feeling you get when your stomach leaps before the edge of a rollercoaster, or the way you feel eating your favorite childhood food that your mom made special only for you. That’s the kind of love I’m talking about.” 

You take in a breath, pondering in the lingering silence for just a moment, and when you look at Jeongin, his nose is scrunched in open disgust, his lips pulled into a dramatic grimace. 

“God, noona, who knew you got so sappy when you drink?” 

“She’s always sappy, even when she hasn’t been drinking.” 

Minho appears then, dropping a blanket onto the bed on top of all of you, and there is immediate panic in Jeongin’s eyes as he scrambles to sit up straighter and blurts out, “We weren’t talking about you!” 

Minho tilts his head with a predatory look, watching the youngest sweat for a moment, before he replies easily, “Oh, I know.” He motions to the blanket he’s just delivered. “Hyunjin said you were having a sleepover, so I thought I’d bring back the blanket I washed earlier. It’s Lixie’s favorite.” He gives the omega a knowing wink. 

You bite back a smile as you watch Jeongin relax just a little. 

“Thanks, hyung.” Felix gives the older man a grateful smile and grabs the blanket, raising it to his nose to inhale the scent of laundry detergent. 

Minho nods and leaves for the door without another word, pausing in the frame for a moment to say, “Oh, I have seen it by the way.” 

The confusion must be apparent on your faces, because his lips curve into the hint of a smirk as he leaves the room as quickly as he came, but not before tossing out casually over his shoulder, “The school girl outfit.” 

He disappears, like he hasn’t just dropped a bomb, and Felix shoots you a disbelieving look, eyes wide. 

“Fucking-” 

“-hell.” You finish for him, nodding slightly, jaw slack. 

Jeongin looks lost, glancing between the two of you. 

“What? What was Minho-hyung-?”

You move at the same time Felix does, pouncing on the youngest omega as you slap your hands over his mouth, pinning him down and tickling him into submission beneath the two of you. 

“Don’t. say. his. name.” 

********************************************************************************

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[isa-ghost]

*places down some money*

Phil headcannons please

*eats the coins whole*

Other qPhil headcanons

He means it 1000% when he says he'd burn the entire island to the ground for the kids. No building would be safe. Not even his own. All bets would be off. And if one of the other parents would do the same for their kid? He'd be right there with them.

He loves every egg, dead and alive alike. He has no clue what any of them think of him, and tbh he'd probably be overly humble or vaguely negative abt it bc he's just so shitty to himself when it comes to image related things, thinking they probably find him weird or smth. But he loves them all, and even if any of the eggs DO have a negative opinion of him, he'd still shed blood sweat and tears for them.

GUYS PLEASE THIS IS CANON BUT he is SO BAD at picking up on certain things if not explicitly told. If you have an issue with bird man you have to TELL HIM. He has a million other things on his mind and he has survival brain on by default which means several other things are taking up brainspace, he doesn't have the means to be looking for subtle signs someone isn't happy with him. FUCKING COMMUNICATE WITH HIM!!

Idk I just think Fit, Pac & Mike should convince him to get high with them. But I can't tell if I want to say he'd actually chill out for once & get a lil goofy or if he'd be the type that gets super anxious & hates every second he's stoned

Has a manga collection. It's not that big series-wise, he's a completionist so his collection is big bc he collects every volume of a series he's interested in. He has all of Bleach ofc, most of Chainsaw Man, probably 1-3 other series. He's preoccupied with other things usually so he hasn't read any of them in ages, but Chayanne has been going WILD reading them when he's not out and about

He gets sluttier when he's drunk. That confidence boost he gets when he's drunk enough goes places. Particularly when he's around Fit (Fit's a bad influence /pos)

Tbh? If his usual civil disobedience and the like don't work, I would not put it past him to follow Cellbit's example and just start killing Feds. I don't know how canon Phil's past is but if this is the man who helped create the Antarctic Empire or the man that leveled an entire country? Quesadilla Island's days are numbered and it will be Specifically to spite Cucurucho and any other Fed that's responsible for whatever Phil has an issue with. All it takes is taking his kids away again or hurting his friends :)

Fr tho if/when he finds out what they did to Jaiden or Baghera or anyone of the other islanders? He WILL be unleashing hell for them.

He's ready at all times to die for someone. The goal is to Not die, but if it comes to it, better him than them. And in classic hypocritical Phil fashion, he vehemently refuses to allow anyone to do the same for him. The survivor's guilt would be too much for him.

Outwardly, he processes grief and stress with humor. Because if he doesn't, he'll shut down emotionally and mentally. But don't think for a second that internally, he's a wreck. He's angry, he's in pain, he's stressed, he's conflicted, he's grieving. He just won't let anyone know he is. He doesn't like admitting it.

That said, GOD do hugs and random acts of kindness during tough/dark times get him. It's a hit straight to the heart. He'll get emotional before he can stop it or mask it. They mean more than anything, and they're the quickest way to make him realize just how much shit he's shouldering and bottling up.

Currently his greatest fear is the Federation finding out about or asking him questions related to Ender King. Normally he'd at least prepare how to answer such questions. In this case he has no clue what to say, which really stresses him out. And he knows fleeing the conversation wouldn't go well.

He doesn't typically do anything special with his hair but goddamn it looks good in a short braid. He only ever does smth with his hair for certain events, like Festa Junina. And that was mostly because Lullah insisted.

If the Federation one day declared every islander needed some kinda career for whatever weird reason, Phil's would be photography.

Don't listen to his complaining. He REALLY likes that there's so many birds around the house. Prefers them outside but he likes them around regardless.

[l0sercat]

Chishiya from Alice in Borderland please 🥺

Chishiya NSFW alphabet

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Since we are talking about the Netflix adaptation and not manga he would d some aftercare. Just a little like getting you a glass of water.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He loves his mouth. Not only can he make you squirm with it but when he flashes you a grin it makes you melt. He likes your hair, he just loves to play with it when you rest your head in his lap.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

He doesn't like messes a lot so he prefers to cum in you. Doesn't matter if it's your mouth or hole. Sometimes he might cum on your chest or back but it bugs him a bit.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He secretly has fantasies of him and Arisu fucking you. Chishiya hitting from the back while Arisu fucks your mouth. It's a little fanon ikik but hear me out..

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

I'm gonna say he only fucked 1-2 people and it wasn't even passionate. So he has hardly any experience but he knows a lot about the body. Plus he's pretty confident can please you.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Missionary. He can see your face while you moan out his name.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

He's more serious. Need I say more.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

So imma go out on a limb here and say he's a bit bushy. He keeps it nice and tame but he doesn't care about shaving. It doesn't bug him and it's a waste of his time. But once every 5 months he shaves it all off.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

He's not really romantic but if you want he can try to be. He'll succeed dw

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Only jerked off once or twice. He just comes to you or just ignores his boner.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Anything where your submissive. He's not opposed to tying you.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Anywhere with privacy.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Seeing you needing him. Relying on him in diamond games. Practically attached to him and trusting your life with him. Definitely more manga Chishiya sorry..

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Being tied up. He doesn't find it pleasurable or enjoyable.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

I can't decide but honestly imma say receiving. But he is semi-skilled at oral and as much as he loves your cum the mess bugs him.

P = Pace (Are they fats and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

I really can't decide. I'm gonna have to say s mix of both most of the time. But sometimes when he gets possessive he gets rough and fast.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He doesn't mind quickies. You guys have them often.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

He okay with experimenting as long as it isn't super messy. He doesn't really take risks to often.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

He can last 4-5 rounds 7 if he has a lot of stamina.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Nohe doesn't own toys or want to use them on him but hear me out... he'll use some on you...

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He teases you a lot in a condescending kinda way.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

He's not loud but sometimes because he knows it turn you on he'll whine in your ear. But most of the time he'll groan and moan but it's quiet

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

I'm gonna say he can be possessive. He see's you taking with Niragi and he's grabbing you by the arm and fucking you in the nearest room.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

He's thick that when you wrap your hand around him your hand doesn't fully cover him. He's 5 and a half inches long.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Not that high. It's hardly there lol. Although I do wanna write a fic where he is super horny, maybe he ate something with a aphrodisiac in it...>:))))

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He sometimes falls asleep after 30-45 minutes after fucking you. But sometimes he doesn't fall asleep at all and you have you snuggle/cuddle with him.

[seeminglyseph]

Every now and then I'll see a critique like "they sure just shout their feelings at each other"

And it's like... a shounen fight anime for teenagers.

Which is not to say that the genre is not *capable* of subtly but like. Also, sometimes, when your target audience is teenage boys who are specifically looking for punches, like... sometimes, you put the text in the text on purpose. Sometimes, you consciously choose to have the hero geadbutt the power of friendship into a guy, and they talk about loneliness and fun and leadership.

And also sometimes. Characters don't have the vocabulary to describe their emotions in a way that sounds "valid." Sometimes that's characterization in itself, the lack of vocabulary to describe emotions and motivation. Honestly, it's wild how often people will just take characters at their word when they describe their feelings in a shallow way when like... all the imagery is like... clearly depicting something else. Like, say.... Sometimes, a character just says their bored, but like... literally, all the imagery involved clearly depicts a pretty deep depression or personal crisis. But that character has no words or frame of reference for how to discuss those feelings, so he just says he's bored and lashes out in increasingly erratic ways?

Yeah I might be talking about Wind Breaker again Tomiyama Choji gets done so fucking dirty by people what the fuck is up with so many videos I have seen just fucking going "what he did all this because he was bored???"

Like. No. Did you pay attention??? He lost his purpose, and he lost his way, and none of his friends were willing to stand up to him or stand with him, so even though he was the leader and he had a gang, he was entirely alone. But he didn't have the ability to find what he was missing, or name what he was feeling. So he didn't know how to ask for help.

He's as much a feral child as Sakura and so works as a first arc foil for him, a character who seeks power and leadership without any goals or intentions behind it besides "Freedom." Especially since Choji is shown not fully knowing for himself what freedom is or would represent. But for the types of people who end up in feral street gangs? And for a character that is a foil to Sakura and is also... very speed based in his fighting style. Freedom makes sense for something that Choji would want.

But it seems like a promise he was given without much intention of him receiving it. I don't really think he was supposed to overthrow the boss of his gang and become the leader... though that's some rampant speculation.

I dunno man. I know part of it is like. O ly one season is out, so everyone is still not sure what to think about it. And that's fair. I'm still like... confused about multiple angles of the series. I've read... a decent chunk of the manga, and I'm still like. Pretty curious about how the universe works, honestly. Maybe the fact that I clocked how Choji held his chopsticks and like. Multiple puzzle pieces fell into place because I have been loving the weird little details Wind Breaker will throw in. Either this series tells a very intense story through background details and character designs, or one day, I will be made a very large fool of.

None of this is an organised enough thought to be worth anything but like. I know this is probably not controversial among Wind Breaker *fans*, but like. I keep like... seeing people with this opinion in videos and stuff talking about Wind Breaker that seemed to have not connected and not understood.

Which does make me feel a little like a "you just don't *understand* man." But like. If you really felt like Choji acted the way he acted because he was bored and wanted to have more fun you like... *didn't get it* or were being purposefully disingenuous because you personally disliked the portrayal.

[brdpch]

NSFW Alphabet - Chishiya Shuntarō

my gf wrote this about manga!chishiya and let me post it hehe

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex) Done and gone as some would say. Probably relaxing by himself with a book.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s) He likes his face and his stomach. His partners - sucker for a pretty face.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically) Cumming down a person's throat, or other hole, no protection.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs) He sometimes looms in places where he can't be seen and observes the Beach members fucking.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?) Experienced enough, although not participating at all lately.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying) On a side or any where he could restrain someone.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.) No goofiness at all, he's not a very goofy person, but if sarcasm counts he is using it a lot during sex too.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.) Zero hair, ass too.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect) The most intimacy he can offer is a pat on the back after he's done.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon) Few times a week, preferably when he takes a shower - more as a habit than a means of easing the sexual needs.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks) sadism, voyeurism, restriction, dominance, humiliation (of the other person), public

L = Location (favorite places to do the do) Anywhere he feels horny, he doesn’t care if he is caught.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going) Dangerous sexy people.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs) Shit, piss, anal.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.) Likes to recieve, doesn’t like to give unless he really likes the person.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.) Depends on the place and a person he is with.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.) He actually prefers quickies to normal sex.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.) Yes, please.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?) Isn’t very athletic but he trained himself to last pretty long.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?) He doesn’t like toys and doesn’t own them, they complicate a simple act.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease) A LOT, he enjoys the chase and being chased/teased too.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.) He is rather quiet but enjoys when his partners are loud.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character) He did the deed in the bathroom of a hospital, more than once, with different people.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes) Big cock, elegant balls, average ass.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?) Rather on the lower side.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards) Quickly after the deed.

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia is Officially Ending and I'm Fucking Coping 😭

So, it was officially announced early today, June 24th, 2024, by Shueshia and mangaka, Kohei Horikoshi, that My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Academia will officially end in 5 chapters on Chapter 430. The last chapter will be released at the beginning of August after 10 years of publication in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine if all goes well.

I woke up to this news. I'm sitting here on my laptop typing this as a way of coping tbh. On the outside, I'm numb and stunned. On the inside, I'M SCREAMING, CRYING, THROWING UP, MOURNING LIKE I LOST A LOVED ONE WTF 😭

*sigh* But, this was going to happen eventually. It was only a matter of when. When Horikoshi said that we would have more epilogue to cover, I thought "Maybe he'll give us 10 more chapters!" Turns out it is 6-7 chapters instead... In Horikoshi's defense, 6-7 chapters are much longer than what most mangaka have given us for epilogues to their stories. I'd rather have him give us 5 more chapters of an epilogue than rush it in 1-2. Plus, if possible, we could potentially get 19-20 pages per chapter which might be just enough to wrap everything up. And since final chapters of manga tend to be longer than usual, we could get extra pages in the last chapter to finish everyone's arcs and the story properly.

Still, it's so wild to see a series I have loved for years and have such a strong attachment to end as I am following it. I have been a part of many fandoms before and have stuck around them for years (Pokémon, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, and many more), but it's not often that I've been there there to see a series come to it's conclusion. Sometimes that can turn out well (Breaking Bad) and other times I've seen it end badly (Supernatural; only read about it and it was not great. I bounced after season 13? and I am so sorry to the fandom). My Hero Academia is one of the very few series I will see through to the end.

I'm really coping here, honestly. I've been a fan of My Hero Academia since 2018. I first heard about the series randomly through the internet, but I didn't fully introduce myself to it until I listened to a cover of The Day on YouTube (I forget the artist, I'm so sorry). I thought the song was so cool and that led to me listening to more covers of MHA OPs (Peace Sign is still GOATed btw). This eventually led me to the manga and the anime where I became truly immersed in the series. I started reading the manga around the Joint Training Arc (I think) which was definitely an interesting time to read the manga because the chapters where so short due to Horikoshi dealing with health and I think moving conflicts at the time. It was still an enjoyable arc and enough to keep me interested in reading from the beginning. I want to say I started the anime around season 3?, but I started at the beginning and worked my way up from there. "Shoto Todoroki: Origin" was the episode that finally solidified my love for the series and is still my favorite episode of the series.

To say that MHA has an important place in my heart is an understatement. (⚠️Warning: very quick mention of suicide) I was very sad and depressed in the latter half of 2018. My life didn't feel like it was going anywhere and I was close to giving up entirely. (⚠️ ). Finding and loving MHA during that time honestly might have saved my life. As strange as it sounds, it was one of the few things that brought me genuine happiness at the time. I had something to look forward to every week and it was thrilling. I still remember debating whether Deku or Shoto was my favorite character. Shoto took the top spot in my heart, but Deku is a very close second 🩵💚.

Seeing MHA end is heartbreaking, honestly. I'm watching something I truly love come to an end. We'll still have the anime, movies, and spin-off series to keep us busy for the next few years, but the manga that started it all is coming to a close. It feels so, so surreal. God, is this how the Haikyuu fandom felt when it’s manga ended? My hope is that this fandom can be kept alive long after the series is over. The MHA fandom DEFINITELY has it's flaws, but it also has a lot of good in it too. I have seen incredible art and fanfics come from this fandom. I have laughed and hyped up some of the best moments of MHA with people who love it too. I know that the fandom is collectively mourning its end and I know we'll all cry bittersweet tears when it ends. If anything, I am glad to see Kohei Horikoshi end his momentous story on his own terms. I hope it ends up being one of the best manga endings in recent Shonen Jump like how Haikyuu's was. I think Horikoshi can do it. Regardless of how it ends, My Hero Academia will be one of my favorite pieces of fiction. I am really glad to be here to celebrate it.

[radiosummons]

One of the funniest things to me about Trigun Stampede and- subsuquently-Vash getting such a much larger fandom presence (especially here on the Tumblr's and AO3), is that Vash was always sort of already the quintessential Tumblr baby girl.

It's just that the 90s anime was so batshit insane and nearly incomprehensible (combine that with limited exposure of the show overall in "the west" other than Toonami) that barely anyone knew about it. Save for those who were able to catch episodes of 90s Trigun as well as the manga, I would say it's pretty fair to state that most people's impression of Vash would just be that of a bounty hunter/gunslinger anti-hero that's really good at shooting guns.

(Which is just fucking wild to think about in the first place because he's everything BUT that)

But now you have a massive audience (a good portion of which is queer-hi there!) just frothing at the mouth over any and all possible Vash content. Obviously, his redesign is a big factor in this, but character designs can really only go so far in terms of a feeding a fandom's fixation on a particular character.

It's been a lot of fun to watch people's reactions go from just going absolutely gaga over Vash's redesign (of which I have also taken part in haha) and his inherent dorky and idiotic cuteness, to being absolutely surprised/shocked that Vash is among one of the saddest characters to ever live.

I'm not gonna go into spoilers here, but I'll simply say this: Vash's life sucks ass. And it only keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse--

--AND YET he still keeps his baby girlness throughout all of Trigun (90s anime and manga).

I genuinely look forward to seeing the reactions of only anime fans the longer Trigun Stampede goes on. Y'all are in for a wild ride HA!