#also caught up with anime and continued reading manga from there and it's been such a blast!!!

[juustozzi]

finally iruma gets to show off! with a little help...

(azz ver / clara ver)

an alternative ending:

[holymusicalmothman]

Sweet Nothings -- OPLA!Sanji x Reader

I've only seen the Live Action, so this is new for me. I started reading the manga a few hours ago and the anime is bookmarked on my Crunchyroll. But for now, I'm working with what I've got. So this is exclusively the Live Action. Best friends to Lovers Trope cause I wanted to. I'm not entirely happy with how this turned out so I might redo it at some point.

Also, shoutout to @avidanadvocacy who managed to like and reblog this within, like, five seconds of me posting it. They're probably the only reason I sat down and wrote this lol

Warnings: vague mentions of canon typical violence, reader is very cautious of showing the fact they're rather soft (not sure if that counts as a warning or makes sense, I'm tired lol)

No use of y/n, or those weird descriptor things, reader is gender neutral. Reader is however you imagine them

Word Count: 2.5k

Masterlist

I spy with my little tired eye Tiny as a firefly A pebble that we picked up last July Down deep inside your pocket We almost forgot it Does it ever miss Wicklow sometimes?

You had known Sanji since you were young. You had both been around twelve at the time Zeff took you in, after you had been abandoned rather unceremoniously at the Baratie. You couldn’t remember much about the pirates who had left you behind, not that it mattered to you. You were thankful, even after all the years since, that Zeff had taken you in. You weren’t a skilled cook, but you were diligent and hard working, so you worked as a head waiter. 

Having grown up around Sanji, you were used to his…antics. He was a flirt to each and every female customer, but whenever you asked, he would wave you off and laugh about it being how he simply ‘gets the customers to keep coming back.’ And you’d roll your eyes and continue on with your business. He had been your best friend for years. When you had initially met, you had simply clicked and that was that. Nothing to it. 

He would make you smile on your worst days and you’d do the same for him. Because that’s what friends do. Right?

The first moment you had doubted that his friendship was just that was the day he lent you his coat. 

You had just stopped in the kitchen to drop off orders and take a quick breather. The lunch rush at the Baratie was merciless on a good day.

The winds had shifted earlier in the day and despite the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, a chill passed through you and you shivered. 

Within moments, a navy blue suit jacket had been deposited around your shoulders.

You turned to see Sanji grinning at you.

“Wouldn’t do for our favorite waiter to catch cold now, would it?” He said before walking deeper into the kitchen. 

You smiled at his retreating form, then slipped your arms into the coat properly and rolled the sleeves so that you’d be able to work.

A bit of time had passed since then, and you stopped to survey the tables around the restaurant, putting your hands into the pockets of Sanji’s jacket.

Your fingers brushed against something and you pulled it out in confusion.

A pebble sat in the palm of your hand. Just as blue as the day you had initially found it two years back.

Zeff had sent you both for supplies and you had spotted it. It was a stunning cerulean blue and you had immediately thought of your best friend. He had told you of the All Blue, and ever since that moment you had associated the color with him. Not every shade of blue, of course, but only the ones that were the most beautiful. One’s that caught the eye and seemed to shimmer.

You had almost forgotten the tiny pebble. But this jacket…Sanji’s favorite. There would be no way he’d be unaware of it being in the pocket. 

You put the stone back. Your mind racing. 

They said the end is coming Everyone's up to something I find myself running home to your sweet nothings Outside, they're push and shoving You're in the kitchen humming All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

The one thing you didn’t like about the Baratie was the fighting. You knew it was inevitable, especially with pirates. You were old enough now to look past it. It was a fact of life. Sometimes it was genuine fighting, other times customers simply got into little spats that were easier to ignore.

You sighed and wandered into the kitchen. Zeff had stepped out to smooth the wrinkles on whatever argument had broken out. To be entirely honest, the dinner shift had taken it out of you and you were exhausted. 

You plopped down in a chair off to the side with another heavy sigh and shut your eyes.

The clink of dishware being set before you and a chair scraping the ground next to you brought you to open your eyes again. 

A rice dish sat in front of you, a glass of water next to it. Sanji’s eyes watched you carefully.

“What is it?” You knew the Baratie menu inside and out, and this was definitely not on it.

A signature smile graced his face. “Seafood risotto. Nothing terribly fancy, just terribly good.” 

“Does Zeff know about this?” You asked, taking a bite. It was divine. 

Blue eyes twinkled. “What the old man doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Sanji paused, smile fading and voice growing soft. “You seem tired, sweetheart.”

You tried to squash the flutter in your chest. It had been months since you found the pebble in Sanji’s coat, and you had found out that he always carried it. Your heart had run away with that information. And while the blond had called you by the same pet name for years, it felt different now that your affections towards your best friend had shifted. You kept the information to yourself, afraid of change. 

So instead you shrugged, continuing to eat. “I guess I’m a little tired? The dining room has kept me on my toes all day and I didn’t sleep very easy last night.”

Sanji’s brows furrow in concern at that. “Well, make sure you finish eating. And try and get some better sleep tonight. For me, yeah?”

You swallowed. He always looked at you so sweetly. Always treated you so differently than the girls he flirted with for good tips. Now he was giving you that small smile, blond hair in his face as always, but the softness in his eyes was unmistakable.

You nodded, “Of course, Sanji.” 

Your heart was doing somersaults. 

On the way home I wrote a poem You say, "What a mind" This happens all the time

Monkey D Luffy came barrelling into both your lives like a cannonball. One moment life was as it had been for years, the next finds both you and Sanji preparing to leave the Baratie and join the crew of the Going Merry

You weren’t sure why Luffy had insisted you come too. When you had asked him, he had only shrugged with a smile, saying that it had felt like the right thing to do.

So, you made yourself useful where you could. Whether it be helping Sanji, or any of the other Straw Hats. 

Luffy had soon after discovered that you enjoyed writing. 

It was the day before everything went wrong. 

You and Sanji had left the Baratie that afternoon, Zorro was on the road to recovery from his battle against Dracule Mihawk, and everything seemed fine .

A conversation of dreams had even arisen over a meal, and you had shyly mentioned how you enjoyed writing. Not that there was time for it while waiting tables. 

Sanji was surprised and intrigued to find a new side of you. You had never mentioned it to him. It was just a silly little hobby in your eyes and, in the life you led, you had always kept those simple things to yourself. Not even sharing them with your best friend. 

Luffy, however, had been delighted and immediately asked if you would document the voyage.

Granted, his wording had been more along the lines of “write down our adventures”, but same thing.

Later that night, Sanji had found you on the deck, a new journal in your hand. 

“A writer, eh?” He had that soft voice again. 

You nodded, refusing to look at him properly. “I want to be a famous poet someday.” You whispered, inwardly afraid of making such an admission.

The years on the Baratie had led you to shove all the soft spoken emotions deep down, gentleness was not a trait most pirates were fond of. But your new captain was the exact opposite, his kindness earning your trust instantly. You knew without a shadow of a doubt that you had found a new and true friend in Luffy. 

But you’d never replace Sanji.

Your heart seemed to clench and you opened your mouth to apologize for keeping it from him, but when you looked at him, your breath caught and your voice failed you.

The chef was always sweet on you, but he looked at you in that moment as if you had hung the stars. 

“What a mind.” He said quietly, as if he was simply in awe of you. 

Unbeknownst to you, Sanji had been looking at you like that for years. There was a reason he called you sweetheart, why you were always the first to try his new creations, why he treated you so differently than all the other girls. A reason why he was so sweet on you. 

Everyone could see it. Zorro knew. Nami knew. Usopp knew. Luffy knew. The young captain had made sure to bring you both from the Baratie. If it meant he had to separate the two of you, then Luffy would have never had Sanji come aboard as Chef. 

Even Zeff knew. Which was why he had let you both go.

However, you couldn’t see it.

But in that moment, with Sanji looking at you, you were ready to throw it all away. Willing to possibly ruin years of friendship if it just meant you could kiss him once.

'Cause they said the end is coming Everyone's up to something I find myself running home to your sweet nothings Outside, they're push and shoving You're in the kitchen humming All that you ever wanted from me was nothing

Nami’s betrayal had shocked you all to the core. You had only known her for such a short time, but it had still hurt.

Sanji was convinced that her alliance with Arlong wasn’t something she had chosen. Zorro seemed to only see it in black and white, positive that she had made her choice. 

Luffy simply wanted to hear the truth from Nami herself. And only then would he believe it. 

So the Going Merry was currently sailing for the Conomi Islands just to hear that truth. 

It was once again late at night, but sleep would not come. The day’s events play over and over in your mind, keeping you wide awake.

So you headed quietly to the kitchen only to find the light on and an equally awake Sanji sitting quietly with a cup of tea, humming to himself. 

You froze. You had almost kissed him the night before, fear holding you back. 

But he had already seen you. 

“Can’t sleep either, can you, sweetheart?” 

You gave up on resisting, going to sit beside him. 

Without speaking, he poured you a cup of tea, setting it before you.

“Chamomile. Should help.” Was all he said. 

The day had left you both content with each other’s silence as you sat next to each other, shoulders brushing lightly. Sanji eventually went back to humming. 

You couldn’t tell if it was the gentle movement of the ship as it sailed, the tea, or even Sanji himself humming softly next to you, but eventually your eyes shut.

Vaguely, you were aware of being carried and eventually set down gently in your hammock. 

Something brushed your forehead and you thought you heard Sanji’s voice before you drifted fully into sleep. You felt almost certain it was a kiss, but you were too deep in the fog of sleep to deem that true. It had most likely been your imagination.

“Sweet dreams, sweetheart.”

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more" To you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it

The fight against Arlong and his pirates had once again changed everything overnight. You wouldn’t lie, it was terrifying. But you had prevailed. The Straw Hats won in the end. Nami and her village were safe.

It had brought so many things to light for you. As soon as you had all reboarded the Going Merry, you dutifully recorded the events of the day, from the villagers of Coco Village to the fight at Arlong Park, you made your way to the kitchen, needing solace from your best friend. 

Your emotions had been bottled the whole day. Yes, fighting was inevitable. You were a pirate, it was simply a fact of life. But you still didn’t like it. 

“Sanji?” You called.

The kitchen was empty to your surprise, so you made your way to the deck, finding him by the tangerine trees.

He had the pebble in his hand as you walked up and your heart began to race. He slipped it back into his pocket as he noticed you and you pretended not to see.

Instead you wrapped your arms around his middle, and Sanji instantly returned your hug, holding you close.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” 

“I don’t know. I think…” you trailed off.

Sanji released you from the hug, but still kept you within his arms. “You know you can tell me anything, right?” 

You nodded. “I think…I’m too soft for all this sometimes.” You admitted slowly. “I mean, I can do it, don’t get me wrong. But, Sanji, today was terrifying. And the Grand Line is supposed to be worse.”

That twinkle and smile were back again. “You’re not too soft, sweetheart. You’re perfect. You were strong today, and I know you don’t like fighting. But you’re brave, and you protect those you care about. Being soft doesn’t make you weak.”

“But what if it does?” Your voice dropped to a whisper. “Because–”

You stopped, confessions halting on your lips.

“Because what, sweetheart? Stop hiding yourself, it’s just me.”

“That’s exactly why I’m hiding.”

He frowned in confusion, silently imploring you to continue.

“Because you make me feel soft. I kept my writing to myself because somehow it always ended up being about you. Whether it be the way you look at me or even the fact you kept that pebble.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. Apparently he had genuinely thought you hadn’t noticed.

“We’re supposed to be pirates, Sanji. There’s no softness allowed in this profession.”

He gently pulled you a little closer, warm breath now able to be felt on your face as he spoke, “I think we’ve already proven we’re a different sort of pirate than what’s expected, sweetheart.”

You were drowning in an ocean of greyish blue. The little nickname. That tiny sweet nothing. It wore down any and all of the final doubts and reserves in your mind and the two of you melted into each other. 

He held you tightly, arms around you as both your hands grabbed tightly to his shirt, the both of you lost in a kiss that seemed like forever. 

Eventually it ended, and he rested his forehead gently against yours.

“I’m in love with you, sweetheart.” He said gently. “How’s that for being soft, hmm?”

A small smile formed upon your face. The both of you had been oblivious to the other, yes. But at the same time, all of Sanji’s little sweet nothings over the years–both in words and actions–played quickly through your head. The past week had pulled everything straight to the surface. 

“I love you, too.”

All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothings.

Not entirely happy with this but it's late. Let me know what you think. I'm still new to this fandom, and there's a lot of content that I've yet to learn about. But I'll get there.

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 93... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

IT HAPPENED...! IT FINALLY HAPPENED!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!! 😵

Honestly, words cannot describe how crazy this chapter was, but we're gonna talk about it anyway...!! 👀 LET'S GO!!! 😆

The chapter begins with everyone checking how well they did on finals, and Anya did a whole lot better than last time...!! 😆

I AM SO PROUD OF HER!!! 👏😄

Anya went from 213th to 168th place!! 🎉 Let's hope that Anya continues to improve in the future...!! 😊👍

Then, we finally got to see how well she did in Classical Language and...:

She got second place...!

But, she will still receive a Stella for it!! 👏😆Then, we find out that she got 24 points in math, which is just below the cut off point... Which means...:

So, not only did Anya get a Stella, she ALSO received A TONITRUS BOLT!!? 😵😂🤣😌

GODDAMNIT ANYA!! 😂 That means the score is still tied, but now it's 5 and 5 until she either becomes an Imperial Scholar or gets expelled...!! 😌

Then, we got probably my new favorite Loid expression...:

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 I'M SO SORRY LOID!!🤣

This poor man can't catch a break, but at he's quite proud of Anya for doing well on the test...!! 😊

After that, we cut to Authens praising Anya as well, but Sigmund says something that intrigues me...:

"...One day you'll experience the frustration of realizing that hard work is not always rewarded..."

Hmm... What could this mean...? Personally, if Sigmund does have something to do with the experiments that were conducted on Anya, then this could be his way of saying that not many know of his scientific experiments... But, that's just a guess at this point and I could very well just be reading too much into this single sentence... 🤔

Moving on, before Anya goes to bed that night Loid asks her a question...:

I was surprised that Twilight asked this!! 😲 But his question turned out to be for naught because Anya doesn't really remember... 😔 So, Twilight just tells her to forget about what he asked and now I'm wondering if this will lead Twilight finding out the truth about Anya's past and that she's a telepath... 🤔

Well anyway, we cut to Anya and Damian receiving Stellas for doing well on the test, and then it's the middle school students turn... AND GUESS WHO SHOWS UP...?! 👀

DEMETRIUS MOTHER F---ING DESMOND!!!😵

AFTER ALL THIS TIME, HE HAS FINALLY APPEARED...!! 👀

I can't believe that I was ACTUALLY RIGHT that he was gonna look more like his dad...! (Check out this post where I drew what I thought he might look like!! 👍)

But to continue, Demetrius is also as strange as his mother and father... ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THIS...!!:

After finally getting to meet him and seeing that Anya can't read his mind, my original theory that he might be working with his father, just got thrown out the window...!! Because now, I think that Demetrius has been experimented on... 😥 I hope that I'm wrong, but I just don't know this point...

AND THINK THAT'S ENOUGH ABOUT THIS CHAPTER FOR TODAY!

Today's chapter was excellent, but now that Demetrius has finally shown up, my mind is going crazy about what this ALL MEANS!😫

Anyway, I think I'll stop for today and possibly regroup with myself to figure out WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE DESMONDS!! (Except for Damain, who is the only normal one there..!!🥲) So until the next Mission or if I try attempt to figure out what is up with the Desmonds; take care, be safe out there and be kind to one another...!! Later!! 👍

[hoippu]

Chronological ZoLu Fanfic Masterlist [improved]

Guide for people who want to avoid anime spoilers

you can check out the google doc for more updates on this list (There is a total of 53 fanfics on the google doc so far)

Hey Lover! by clouddq

-takes place when zoro is recruited -soulmates AU (pre-timeskip)

I’ll Take This Piece of You by lucerile

-One Piece Live Action -Pre-arlong park but post baratie -(pre-timeskip)

Definitely, Spontaneously by croissantmusain

-One Piece Live Action and regular one piece anime/manga -no spoilers -pre-timeskip

last year i abstained by Augment

-part 1 of a series -(pre-timeskip i think) -No major spoilers

this year i devour by Augment

-part 2 or companion fic of last year i abstained -(pre-timeskip i think) -No major spoilers

I Don’t Talk (I Kiss Things) by lostmagician

-One Piece Live Action -I guess there aren’t any major spoilers -(pre-timeskip)

to fail you would be to fail myself by yinyu_ink

-One Piece Live Action -(pre-timeskip) -takes place after Arlong Park

Found in the Crack of your Palm by The_Furthest_City_Light

-(pre-timeskip) -takes place from the beginning until somewhere after alabasta

catching butterflies by aquietdin

-(pre-timeskip) Takes place sometime between Skypiea arc but before Long Island arc. -You should also watch the G-8 filler arc because I think it’s referenced, but it’s okay cuz it is honestly the best and only filler arc worth watching. (G-8 is right after skypiea)

Gold-Tinted Days by needchocolatenow

-indefinite time period but brook’s there. there’s no spoilers

Ode to an ocean by novks (thychesters)

-(pre-timeskip) -Takes place right before water 7.

Chimes by drcalvin

-(pre-timeskip) Contains spoilers from Water 7/ Post-Enies Lobby.  -Takes place shortly after marineford I think. Maybe wait until the timeskip begins before reading this one just in case.

Unable Are the Loved to Die by BasicallyACat

-(pre-timeskip) post Enies Lobby up until sabaody -part 1 of a series

a Losing Game by Angelgotchi

-right after water 7 probs pre-thriller bark -(pre-timeskip)

greed by species_baby

-(pre-timeskip) Thriller Bark

Feelings, what a mess! by drcalvin

(post-timeskip) Very early into the timeskip. I’d say you can read when they’re on the way to fishman island.

Let me carry your scars by arkhamsjason

-DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH MARINEFORD BECAUSE TAGS CONTAIN SPOILERS -(post-timeskip) at some point after return to sabaody arc

Heliotrope by LostInClouds

-(post-timeskip) -As long as you reach the timeskip and have made it more or less to when they are sailing to Fishman Island, you should be fine.

The Things we do for Love by LostInClouds

-(post-timeskip) - It’s recommended that you reach the timeskip for this one too and probably before fishman island is also good enough

Feed your plants a little sunlight by swordsmans

(post-timeskip) indefinite time period tho i think Inspired by this comic

Of First Mates and Duty by Whatev3rs

-(post-timeskip) takes place at an indefinite point in the timeskip after return to sabaody arc. -kind of part 1 of another fic

Look at this! by nuftda

-(pre-timeskip and post-timeskip) takes place from the beginning up until some indefinite point in the early timeskip

‘Til You by Whatev3rs

-Post-timeskip -no real spoilers -it’s KIND OF a continuation of Of First Mates and Duty by Whatev3rs

Kizuna by YokoHogawa

-(post-timeskip) after fishman island

His Captain, Captivating by jirachi

-a sequel to Unable Are the Loved to Die -(post-timeskip) takes place up until the end of dressrosa i think

The Five Times Luffy Kissed Zoro, and the One Time Zoro Kissed Luffy by EclecticIsMyMiddleName

-This one takes place throughout the story up until the end of Wano arc. -It’s preferable that you’re fully caught up because it’s so good you might wanna binge it.  -see google doc if you want a more detailed description of where each chapter takes place in case u cant wait that long

To the ends of the earth (I'll follow you, worship you, love you) by lunarblossoms

-(post-timeskip) occurs when luffy awakens gear 5

Carnelian and Gold by kermit_coded

-Post timeskip  -No major spoilers

I Do the Dumbest Things for You by it_is_i_a_simple_nerd

-(post-timeskip) -Takes place somewhere between wano and egghead

Loyal Till Death Do Us Part by StygianHeart

-(post-timeskip) -takes place after wano and does have some spoilers at the beginning -it takes place in a fictional arc n stuff so its cool

I'm gonna make another masterlist later for the AU fics or maybe add them to this list but you can still find them in the google doc

[arataka-reigen]

Winter Anime Review by Yours Truly 🍄🌻

This season I said I would not watch anything besides dunmeshi. As we can all see... that was a fucking lie.

In total I've started 10 anime (can everyone praise me and be proud of me for being a bit more tame than I was in the fall season? At least it wasn't 20 anime this time).

My reviews are something I make just for fun, and they 100% reflect my own personal tastes. I might give a highscore to shows other people would call absolute trash, and that's okay! To each their own~~ That being said, I do try to make it very informative to aid you in choosing what you might want to check out by adding a summary and a few content warnings along with the actual review.

A little preview: this season has some great romance anime with couples that actually do make progress in their relationship, which is kind of rare for anime couples, always on their "will they wont they" thing, so if anything, i would recommend picking up one of the romances this time around. (And dunmeshi. Watch dunmeshi.)

***This review will include exclusively animes that debuted this winter, so no 2nd seasons or continuing shows from the fall season.

So, without further ado, let's get into it under the read more.

Dungeon Meshi

Summary: Seinen, Fantasy, Gourmet, Comedy

A party of adventurers gets stuck fighting a Dragon even though they are starving and in no shape to survive. In a last ditch effort to make it out alive, mage Falin sacrifices herself to save her brother Laios and their party. She sends them back to the surface but gets eaten by the Dragon. Now Laios and co are in a race against time to save Falin before she gets digested. The problem? They don't have any money for food. The solution? DUNGEON MESHI!!! AH, DUNGEON MESHI!! DUNGEON FOOD!! JUST EAT THE GODDAMN MONSTERS 😋

Rating: 10/10

Review: if you've been following me for 2 seconds or less you already know dunmeshi is one of my all time favorite mangas. And the anime absolutely delivers. The animation is great, the voice acting is great both subbed or dubbed (the english dub AND the portuguese dub are worth it). The comedic bits hit so hard, and we're just at the start but you can already see bits and pieces of a larger and more dramatic story unfolding.

World building is insane. Character design is insane (everyone say thank you Ryoko Kui our goddess).

Not only is the story incredibly well written with no plot holes, the characters are also well fleshed out and three dimensional.

I could sing praises for it for hours, but then it would leave no space for the other shows on this list so I'll stop now.

But if you only have time to watch one anime this season, this one is it.

Content Warning: blood, death, necromancy crimes 🧟‍♀️

7th Timeloop: the Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy

Summary: Reincarnation, Fantasy, Romance

Rishe is not new to the reincarnation business. This is her 7th time around. After being accused of crimes she didn't commit and having her engagement to the crown prince broken off in her 1st life she went on to discover that life is full of possibilities and adventures. But, after 5 years, she died. Only to find herself back at the moment the crown prince broke off their engagement. With each life she explores new countries and new possibilities, but in every life, after 5 years, she is caught up in the war waged by emperor Arnold Hein, and is killed. In her 6th life she dies directly by Arnold's blade and in a turn of fate she runs into him in her 7th life, catching his attention, and maybe his heart? Can she prevent her death this time around and finally live a peaceful life?

Rating: 10/10

Review: ah, we all knew the otome reincarnation was coming. This shit is my life source. That being said, even if it wasn't, I would still probably really love 7th Time Loop. It's just that good.

Rishe is a great main character, in all her past lives she was on The Grind. From being a merchant, to a doctor, to a maid, to a royal guard. And now she tells herself she just wants to chill, but this girl simply cannot chill. She is playing mind games with Arnold, trying to figure out what he is planning and how to stop the war from breaking out.

Meanwhile, Arnold is head over heels in love and probably so so full of trauma we still don't know yet. We must protect this dude. I'm very excited to find out more and more about him and what exactly led him to start a war against the world.

The animation is gorgeous, I love the way the eyes are drawn like constellations.

The romance is great and developing at a very nice pace, Arnold is very respectful of Rishe's boundaries for their marriage and overall just a really great guy.

CW: blood, death, kidnapping.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Summary: Boys Love, Adult Cast, Workplace, Supernatural, Comedy

Office worker Kiyoshi Adachi has gone 30 years of life without ever having his cherry popped. Due to this profound accomplishment, he gains the ability to read minds through physical contact. However, this new skill has only made his life harder and he now hates crowded spaces.

On the way to work, Adachi runs into his colleague Kurosawa, curious about what an outgoing guy like him thinks about, Adachi touches him and finds out that Kurosawa has a crush on someone from their office, looking further he realizes Kurosawa is actually crushing on him.

Rating: 10/10

Review: first of all, if you say "romance + adult cast" you already have my full attention. Add mind reading to the mix to make sure that the main character doesn't have miscommunication problems and i'm at the fucking table eating it up.

This show is incredibly funny, Kurosawa's thoughts about Adachi are always so sweet and/or horny and obsessed, but he is still just a super great guy with great morals and he would never do anything Adachi doesn't want (much to Adachi's surprise because he thought the dude was going to jump him anytime with how badly in love his thoughts are).

Adachi is straight until proven otherwise, and Kurosawa proves otherwise really fast. The pace of their romance is really great, we dont get ten thousand episodes of "will they wont they" and I really appreciate that.

CW: none that i can think of atm. Let me know if you have anything i could add here.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord

Summary: Otome Isekai, Fantasy, School

Yumiella Dolkness is a girl with dark hair and dark magic (characteristics associated with the Demon Lord) and for that she is feared.

When Yumiella was 5 years old she regained memories of her past life in modern Japan, and the game she used to play: Light Magic and the Hero. In it, Yumiella was the secret boss you had to defeat after the Demon Lord. Determined to avoid this fate she applies gamer logic to her life and begins adventuring in dungeons to max her power levels.

Now, 15 year old Yumiella is going to school, where she will meet the true hero of the game. She wants to avoid calling attention and just go through her school years without trouble. But when their power levels are measured in the first day of school, she is measured as a level 99 dark magic user and now even the king and queen have their eyes on her.

Rating: 10/10

Review: you gotta trust me on this one and get through the first ten minutes, I promise it gets so much better after Yumiella is really introduced. They just had to spend a few minutes doing a gag introduction, where you follow the game's hero before you find our beloved villainess. And it was very cool how the opening resemble a dating sim game opening.

Yumiella is great, one of my favorite female leads this season, and that is including frieren and maomao from the fall season animes that are still airing. She is not very aware of all the social cues and has trouble communicating and making friends, but we get to see her inner thoughts and they're always hilarious.

My favorite gag is that dark magic can be used for healing, but the healing process looks fucking grotesque so people would rather not be healed by Yumiella. For some reason that always gets me.

I really fucking hate the 4 hero characters, they're super annoying, but in a "i love to hate them" way, and I love seeing yumiella wipe the floor with their asses without even trying because she is just that overpowered. Most of the anime is just her trying to use just a tiny bit of her power because if she uses her full power people would just straight up die with a simple punch.

CW: blood

Yubisaki to Renren

Summary: ✨️Shoujo✨️, Adult Cast, Romance

(Summary stolen from myanimelist, sorry) Yuki Itose is a hearing-impaired university student whose world has been shrouded with silence since birth. She has lived in the same place her whole life, and rarely interacts with others save for her best friend, Rin Fujishiro. During her commute one day, she meets the silver-haired and multilingual Itsuomi Nagi, a mutual friend of Rin. Unlike most, Itsuomi is unwavering when he learns of Yuki's impairment; this, along with his experiences abroad, fascinates and touches her. After they part, her fondness of him starts to grow. A new world begins to open for both Yuki and Itsuomi as they learn about each other's different lives.

Rating: 10/10

Review: and here we have The Shoujo Of The Season. And it occupies that spot marvelously.

Yuki and Itsuomi are another one of the incredible couples of the winter season. Relationship developing at a very nice pace that isn't too fast and not too slow (like shoujo can be sometimes). Yuki is very inspired by Itsuomi, she wants to see the world and experience new things now that she got a glimpse into his life and realized how big the world is.

I specially love how cool, calm and collected Itsuomi always acts, but how his cousin, Kyouya, lets us know that Itsuomi is really interested in Yuki and just shows it in different ways, like the way his voice gets very affectionate towards her.

The animation!!!!! Wow!!!! So soft!!! So warm!!!! I love it!!!! I'm sure you'll love it too!!!

Sound design is also very good, it's specially interesting during scenes where we cant hear anything because we are on Yuki's point of view. I wish it happened even more often.

I've seen people compare this show with Koe no Katachi but they're very different shows, specially since we get to see most of this one through Yuki's point of view, while Koe no Katachi was not from the POV of the hearing-impaired character and dealt a lot more with issues like bullying and suicide. Yubisaki to Renren is a lot more light-hearted, soft, sweet and overall just a feel good anime.

I am always going to recommend shoujo. Specially when they're as good as this one is. So definitely check this one out.

CW: none that I can think of. Let me know if there is anything I should put here.

The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil

Summary: Seinen, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural

The angels and the devils are waging a war. Things are not looking so good on the devils' side, so they send Akutsu Masatora on a journey to the human world, to find someone that can aid the demons on their fight.

Akutsu is assigned a seat next to Lily Amane, the cutest girl in class. But when he tries to recruit her to the devil's side he realizes she is not a normal human. Now he must deal with the fact that he is tied to his mortal enemy, an angel, and with the fact that he might be falling in love.

Rating: 10/10

Review: More like,, the foolish devil gets played by the angel.

Akutsu and Lily get into stupid mind games trying to make the other fall in love, all while realizing that "hey, angels/devils arent so bad after all" as they spend more and more time together.

It reminds me just a bit of Kaguya-sama how the main couple wants the other to cave first.

This show is simply hilarious, I was laughing out loud at so many stupid scenes. Some gags do get old a bit fast, but overall it's still going strong and makes up for where it falls short with how badly in love these two already are just a few episodes in.

I'm not sure we'll get a proper confession this season, but it doesnt look like these two will be stuck forever in the "will they wont they" stage like the couple from kaguya-sama.

CW: there is a scene by the end of episode one that is completely played as a joke that has one of the lead characters putting a collar on the other lead and the imagery was a bit disturbing, definitely leaning on non con bdsm themes, it isnt terrible, just felt a bit distasteful to me, but nothing big, i dont think it should deter you from watching this, but watch out for that.

Solo Leveling

Summary: Action, Fantasy

(Synopsis stolen from myanimelist again) Ten years ago, "the Gate" appeared and connected the real world with the realm of magic and monsters. To combat these vile beasts, ordinary people received superhuman powers and became known as "Hunters." Twenty-year-old Sung Jin-Woo is one such Hunter, but he is known as the "World's Weakest," owing to his pathetic power compared to even a measly E-Rank. Still, he hunts monsters tirelessly in low-rank Gates to pay for his mother's medical bills.

However, this miserable lifestyle changes when Jin-Woo—believing himself to be the only one left to die in a mission gone terribly wrong—awakens in a hospital three days later to find a mysterious screen floating in front of him. This "Quest Log" demands that Jin-Woo completes an unrealistic and intense training program, or face an appropriate penalty. Initially reluctant to comply because of the quest's rigor, Jin-Woo soon finds that it may just transform him into one of the world's most fearsome Hunters.

Rating: 8/10

Review: everyday that passes I find myself liking battle shounen less and less. This one is not bad, it is actually quite interesting, it's just not the type of stuff i'm into anymore, I guess.

That being said, if you're in the mood for it, this one if very interesting. Jin woo's life is now completely ruled by this game that allows him to level up, and he is getting a bit fucked in the head by it.

Animation is great, I love when his eyes get all shiny because you know he's gone Beast Mode.

Not a lot of characters introduced so far, but it's still cool to see Jin Woo leveling up on his own. I mean... a show named solo leveling has got to make sure that the solo aspect isnt boring lol.

For some reason tho I still gave it an 8, which is high, so... it's pretty good.

Jin woo is just a bit... generic i guess. Nothing you havent seen before from an isekai male lead.

Also... i miss his haircut from the earlier episodes, his current haircut makes him look even more generic.

CW: blood and gore, body horror, torture, death games. Big and scary god statue that smiles in a fucked up way and kills kills kills.

Drop Box

Animes I either already dropped for a specific reason or will probably drop in the future simply because I wont have time to watch everything I started this season, so among the 10 I started, these are the ones i'm least likely to finish:

Majo do Yajuu

Summary: Seinen, Action, Fantasy

Guideau and Ashaf are an ominous pair, working for a mysterious organization that deals with magic crimes. Guideau is a feral and unhinged girl/genderless beast with a curse she wants to break and Ashaf is her soft spoken and calm companion. They go from town to town looking for witches to defeat and trying to find the witch who cursed Guideau and get their revenge.

Rating: 7/10

Review: I do like this one, I just think that if it comes to it and I dont have time, I wont miss it too much if I never finish it.

The blood and gore are heavy, and that might be the reason why i'm fine dropping it, i'm not that big of a fan of gore.

Other than that tho, I find the two main characters extremely interesting and i want to learn more about them, specially Guideau and her curse and that crazy beast mode she goes on when she manages to put a pause on her curse sometimes.

CW: blood and gore, body horror

Gekai Elise

Summary: Reincarnation/Otome Isekai, Fantasy, Medical, Romance

(Again, stolen from myanimelist) In her first life, the renowned and genius surgeon Dr. Aoi Takamoto was Elise de Clorance, a villainess of noble descent. Elise's selfishness, insolence, and obsessive love for her fiancé—Prince Linden de Romanoff—led to the deaths of her family members and, eventually, herself. Only after being reborn did Elise realize the error of her ways and decide that, instead of ruining lives, she would devote herself to saving them. But a tragic airplane crash robs her of her dreams too soon.

By a miracle, Elise wakes up in her original body before her official engagement to Linden. Recognizing the chance to cherish her loving family and free Linden from an unwanted marriage, Elise wishes to use her advanced medical knowledge to continue down the path of saving lives. In a deal with the emperor, Elise is given only six months to prove that her true place is not on the throne, but rather with the wounded and ailing who desperately need her help.

Rating: 6/10

Review: I'd like to say I dropped this show for personal reasons, not because it is a bad show.

It is definitely not the best otome isekai of the season (7th time loop and Villainess 99 win by a mile), but it is quite good and has an interesting premise. The main couple didn't seem too promising or interesting to me tbh.

The thing that interested me the most was the fact that Elise's original life was as a noblewoman, her second life was as a doctor and then he got a chance to relive her first life and change the mistakes she made.

Unfortunately, I am a med student, and I simply can't watch medical related stuff without nitpicking it to hell and back. Mostly, I try to distance myself from medicine related shows because my life already revolves around it too much, u know. I just need a break from All That when I'm watching my silly little shows, so... i had to drop this one.

Also, the main character was kind of annoying, but that might just be me.

Anyway, check this out if you think it sounds interesting. I might not be the best judge of this one.

CW: plane crash, death, medical procedures, surgery

Gushing Over Magical Girls

Oh boy...

I'm putting the CW before anything else because this one is problematic and I don't want anyone acting like I didn't warn them beforehand.

CW: this is straight up softcore porn and the characters are all middle/highschool aged. The anime revolves around BDSM themes (so many and increasingly worse themes, from simple bondage to pain play, to age play and other stuff), and there is nothing more than that to it, all the character growth is about the characters becoming more and more uninhibited with their sexual preferences. Also extremely dubious consent for all of it.

This is just a hentai disguising as an ecchi. It's fully yuri tho. Small blessings lol.

Summary: Mahou Shoujo, Girls Love, Ecchi, Comedy

I'm tired already so this will be short. Utena is a girl obsessed with magical girls. One day she gets the chance to become a magical girl herself, however, she is fooled and actually becomes a villain. She is made to fight Tres Magia (magical girl group) and ends up realizing she quite enjoys inflicting pain against them.

Review: the animation is good, very clean, the boob physics is not all that bad (what. this is an honest review and the anime is an ecchi. i gotta talk abt the boob physics.)

It is indeed super funny and definitely unhinged.

Plot wise, it is pretty straightforward, girl likes magical girls -> girl finds out she likes to watch magical girls suffering and in pain and moaning (well, not only watch, she does a lot of touching too)

Do I recommend it? No. Am I having fun watching it? Yes, it is pretty funny if you're the type of person who can ignore A Lot of things.

I'll probably favor the other animes tho so this one is very likely to get dropped before the season is through.

Thank you for reading (if you managed to make it this far lol, although this list is definitely smaller than my fall anime list)

If there is any other anime you think I should check out this season leave it in the replies and I might take a look at it and update this review with it!

[soft-mafia]

Buzzsaw [Buggy x Reader]

Part 1: Introductions, Troublesome Girl

warnings: fem reader, oc insert, slow burn, age gap mention(reader is 20), blood/injury, reference to violence and murder, set before the events of One Piece, not completely proof read

a/n: I decided to go through with the idea of making my own series since I’ve been inspired by all of the fics others have made! I hope you guys like this loollll I’ll try to make sure to update as frequently as possible. Also there’s this part where Y/n introduces herself with her last name first, I only did that because in OP a lot of the characters do that too. Tbh I don’t think I’ll continue this if you guys don’t like it😭so please feel free to send in any opinions or critiques!! (This fic is about anime/manga Buggy btw)

“What do we think, boys?” Buggy asked as his men kneeled down next to the unconscious body of a woman. She was still breathing, but was bleeding out slowly. Her clothes were drenched in blood, more noticeable on her white coat.

“She’s loosing a lot of blood. Should we take her back to the ship?” One of his crew members asked.

Buggy squinted, rubbing his stubbled chin for a moment as he looked up in thought, “Hmmm..” he looked back down at the woman.

“Oh what the hell, I am feeling a bit generous today.” Buggy said before kneeling down to gently pick her up. She was light, extremely light, he knew that she had to get medical attention fast before she died.

“What the hell was she even doing out here anyway?” Cabaji questioned, “This island is desolate, there’s no town here and judging by her clothes it doesn’t look like she’s apart of a tribe of some sort.”

“It is a bit peculiar. We can ask her questions once she gets fixed up.. well erm, if she doesn’t die on us, that is.” Buggy looked down at the girl in his arms. [H/c] hair fell over her face, her lips slightly parted, there was blood dripping down her face from a head wound. Buggy held her firmly in his arms, carrying her back to the ship.

•

When she awoke, her head was pounding. The smell of musk and sea air filled her nose and made her cringe upon consciousness.

Faint sounds of seagulls could be heard from outside. She sat up and looked around; she was in a dingy make-shift nurses office, but all of her wounds were perfectly bandaged and wrapped up.

She swung her legs over the side of the cot, then looked around some more until she caught the glimpse of a window. Where the hell am I? She stood and made her way towards the glass to look out at her surroundings; there wasn’t any land. “Shit..” she mumbled under her breath before stomping out of the room, wanting to get a better look at where the hell she was.

When she stepped out of the room she was met with a long corridor of other doors, but at the end of it was a bright tunnel of light that she followed. It led her to the main deck, she looked up, holding an arm over her eyes to block out the morning sun. The girl was met with a Jolly Roger with a big red dot where the nose should be. What the hell?

She ran over to the edge of the ship, putting her hands on the railing as she looked down at the sea, she saw her reflection in the water far below, her face was clean, and a huge bandage was placed on the right side of her hairline, where her injury once was. The girl looked out to the sea for a while longer, a small wave of relief fell over her, until she remembered what happened.

She stood there for a moment, her breathing shaky as it all played out in her mind once again, her hair blowing through the wind.

“Look who finally woke up! Sorry toots but we had to toss that coat of yours, there’s no way you’d be able to get all that blood out of it anyway.” A deep chuckle emerged from behind her, followed by creaking footsteps against the deck. The girl turned around to face the voice in both shock and surprise. She looked like a ghost at snuck up on her, making the man put his hands up innocently, “Sorry, sorry! Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

The man was tall, broad shoulders and an even broader torso; he practically casted a shadow upon her, making her feel slightly intimidated. The most noticeable feature about him though was right in the center of his face.

At first glance she thought it was fake, but the texture of it, and the fact that his nostrils molded into it made her eyes widen slightly.

“You should be thanking me, my crew found you basically half dead, if it wasn’t for us you’d probably be eaten by the crabs.” The man said, his voice was hoarse but deep, and has a menacing undertone. She looked into his eyes, a deep ocean green, his brow bone casted a shadow over them that just added to his chiseled features. Rough looking stubble painted his jaw.

She felt a warm feeling in her chest, she stood there in awe, not even realizing he was speaking.

“Hm?” The man grunted, confused by her lack of response.. she looked like a stunned possum, “Are you listening to me?!” He growled, “Stop staring at me like that and show some appreciation!! It’s rare for me to be so generous, especially to brats like you.”

“Oh- uh.. are you a pirate?” The girl finally spoke, slowly taking her arms off of the railing and turning her body towards him. The way she moved interested him, soft movements, but careful and wary, like a cat.

“I’m not just any pirate.” The man chuckled and crossed his arms, the sleeves of his red striped t-shirt squeezing against those muscular arms, “I’m Captain Buggy!” He said with a grin, surely this girl knew who he was. He was the most feared, flashy pirate around!

She just stared at him again, with those same big bug eyes. “Eh-.. Captain Buggy the pirate clown!” He frowned at her, narrowing his eyes a bit, “The flashiest, most feared pirate captain in all of the East Blue?!”

“I don’t-.. I don’t really follow pirate stuff.” She replied, making him grumble and press his palm to his forehead for a moment before looking down at her again, “Well remember the name because I’m the reason why you’re still alive! What the hell even happened to you anyway? What causes a little girl like yourself to just.. wind up on a desolate island, half dead?”

Buggy raised a brow as he noticed her demeanor change, she looked to the side nervously, suddenly becoming scared again before she whispered, “Buzzsaw.”

This made the clown’s eyes widen, “What?”

“I was.. kidnapped by Buzzsaw. Me and my friends.”

“Buzzsaw?! The serial torturer that not even the marines mess with?!” Buggy felt a cold chill run down his spine, “It’s rare for someone to survive a run in with him.. he’s gonna be coming after you y’know?”

“He killed all of them.” The girl said, looking back out at sea. Buggy was really starting to regret his decision of saving this girl.. “Your friends?” His voice cracked. What the hell was I thinking?! That maniac is going to come back looking for this girl and I don’t think I’m strong enough to take down someone like him!! Buggy panicked in his mind.

“When I escaped he- didn’t try to fight back. He just let me leave.” She whispered again, not actually speaking to Buggy, but she was trying to make sense of it all. Why did he let me leave?

“Yeah yeah that’s nice. Uh, where do you live exactly?” Buggy laughed nervously, clasping his hands together, “Just tell me, I’ll tell the navigator and you’ll be back home in no time to mommy and daddy!” He grinned, breaking a sweat.

“I can’t go back home.” She turned back towards him, “I have nothing left— I don’t have parents, and now that all of my friends are dead I have nothing.” Tears pooled in her waterline, making Buggy’s heart clench.

Don’t look at me with those eyes..!!

“Well um.. you can’t stay here.” Buggy swallowed, “Sorry kid, but I can’t have you here. You being here just put a huge target on my ship!”

“But you can protect me, can’t you? Like you said, you’re the most feared pirate ever. There’s no way Buzzsaw would come after me if I’m with you.”

Buggy cursed himself for trying to impress this girl moments ago.. Damn it!! Why did I say that!! “Umm. Yes, but.. as a captain I have the duty to keep my crew safe!!” He stood up straight, hands on his hips, “Sure, I can fend off that guy without a problem.. but my crew aren’t the sharpest tools in the toolbox y’know.”

“Then let me join your crew or something! Is there an application I can fill out?” The girl looked up at him again, stepping closer to him, a desperate plead in her voice. “Eh- err.. fine! Fine! You can be on cabin girl duty or whatever..” I need to get rid of this girl!!

“Cabin girl?! Isn’t that for kids?! I’m an adult!!”

“You’re so ungrateful!! You know I can just throw you overboard right?!” Buggy snarled, “You’re lucky I’m even letting you join my crew!”

Buggy and the girl glared at each other for a moment before she huffed and turned away, crossing her arms. “What’s your name, anyway?” Buggy grumbled out, looking her body up and down, Hmm. Not too bad.

“Y/n.” She replied, “L/n Y/n.”

“Do you know anything about being a pirate, Y/n?” Buggy asked her with a smirk. After a few days she’ll be begging to go back home, she looks so weak! She wouldn’t last a day on this crew, that’s a perfect way to get that Buzzsaw off my tail! “Not really. But you can teach me right?” Y/n looked up at him, still glaring, but her voice was soft with a hint of hopefulness. Buggy hummed and put a hand on his chin, “I suppose I could..” Just for now.. until she starts crying to be let off the ship.

Buggy then stepped beside of Y/n, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding her firmly to his side with a laugh, “Well here, let me give you a tour of the ship! And a run down of what you’ll be doing for me.”

Y/n couldn’t help but blush. He was so strong, and the way he held her.. she chewed on her bottom lip and looked down at the deck as he led her off, rambling about pirate stuff, but she wasn’t listening. Y/n’s mind began to wander as well, what was she going to do now? Was she going to spend the rest of her life as a pirate, hiding behind this captain for the rest of her life? She couldn’t get the blood curdling screams out of her head, the sound of her friends choking on their own blood, the haunting images of their mangled corpses.

“Are you listening?” Buggy interrupted Y/n’s train of thought. She blinked for a moment, then looked back up at him, “Huh?” She then looked at her surroundings. They were in the lower deck, crates stacked upon crates, some unopened, some not.

“Your first task is simple, take stock of every thing, make sure things are in the right boxes.. shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Buggy gave Y/n a firm pat on the back which nearly knocked her over. “What?! But there’s like a million boxes in here!! And I’m still injured!”

“Well in that case it looks like you’re gonna have a lot of work to do then, huh?” Buggy laughed before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Y/n to her own devices. That should do it! Surely she won’t be able to finish all of that so easily without a slip up.. and once she makes a mistake I can just kick her off at the next town without feeling like an asshole! Perfect!

The next day, Buggy walked down to the storage room, Cabaji and Mohji in tow behind him with a huge smirk on his face— but when he got there.. Y/n was asleep on top of one of the crates, everything looked clean and orderly. He then bent down to pick something up off the floor, “What’s this?” He grunted, squinting and looking at it as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

It was a clipboard, Y/n had written down each labeled box along with its components, “No way! No way she did this all by herself!! It’s impossible!!”

Buggy’s grumbling was interrupted by a scream from Mohji, then a loud thud as he fell to the floor.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Y/n shouted as she jolted awake. “I didn’t mean to wake you up!! I swear!!” The beast tamer scrambled to his feet, then brushed off dust from his chest.

Buggy stormed over to Y/n, “You- you did all of this?!” He pointed at the clip board.

Y/n rubbed her eyes, then took it from him, “Oh yeah, I did. I organized everything and took stock just like you asked.. how long was I asleep?”

Buggy grumbled and looked down at his wrist, “No idea..”

Y/n furrowed her brows, sitting up on her knees while watching Buggy as he checked his bare wrist as if he was wearing a watch, “What are you looking at?”

Buggy snorted softly when he realized what he was doing, he then jerked his fist down and then growled at Y/n, “That’s none of your concern!!!” He snapped before turning away, his coat swishing behind him flashily as he stomped out of the storage room.

[benkyoutobentou]

What I've Been Enjoying Lately - Japanese Media

This is way overdue! I've been consuming so much great media in Japanese, it's time to share the love and recommend some things for all of you lovely language learners

📚 Books:

旅猫リポート - 有川浩: This is a super adorable novel about a stray cat who is taken in by a young man. Five years later, the owner is suddenly unable to take care of this cat and the two embark on a road trip across Japan to find the perfect new owner. This one is definitely a tear jerker to any animal lover and will absolutely make you want to cuddle your own fluffy friends into oblivion.

キノの旅 - 時雨沢恵一: This is a light novel series that's extremely close to my heart! The 2003 anime adaption of this series also isn't just my favorite anime, but my favorite TV show ever. Because of the relatively simple vocabulary, I often see it recommended as a first read for Japanese learners just dipping their toes into novel reading, and I find myself agreeing. This series follows a teenager named Kino who travel from country to country with a motorrad named Hermes. There's not much of a continuous plot and very few recurring characters, making it even easier to follow if something confuses you. Despite the fluffy sounding description, this series has a good amount of content warnings accompanying it and can get pretty gory at times as well.

僕らの地球の歩き方 - ソライモネ: An adorable manga series in which two men travel the world together under the agreement that, upon returning to Japan, they'll get married. I feel like if someone looked into my brain to find what I like in a series in order to create a manga series perfectly suited to my tastes, it would be 僕らの地球の歩き方. It's gay, it's adorable, it's about traveling the world, it's about loving the people around you and human culture and delicious food, I'm already crying. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

薔薇王の葬列 - 菅野文: I went back and forth about putting this on my list, but it's not titled "What I've Been Enjoying Lately" for nothing and boy oh boy have I been enjoying this lately. Perhaps I've been enjoying it a bit too much. A while back, I actually banned myself from reading this series because I didn't have the full set and would instantly be put in an awful mood if I caught up with the volumes I had. This manga series follows Richard Plantagenet III, yes, that one, and his ascendance to the British throne. This series is chock full of treachery, murder, violence, and everything else nice. Due to the... everything about this series.... there's a lot of unusual vocabulary, but it has furigana on everything, which helps a lot for speedy look ups.

気になってる人が男じゃなかった - 新井すみこ: Bonus manga! Because this one is worth it, and also because everyone needs a little more GL on their shelves. This manga is so good that I've even been seeing people who don't speak Japanese buy this to have on their shelves. It follows a slightly awkward girl and a gyaru from her class as the two bond of their shared love of western rock music. Yeah, this is the manga that's doing a collab with Nirvana.

📺 Shows and Movies:

Old Fashion Cupcake - This is a BL office romance drama about a middle aged man and his subordinate who begin acting like teenage girls in an attempt to regain some of their youth. Through eating sweets together, taking selfies and food pictures, and talking "girls' talk," the two deepen their bond. I don't think I can say this enough, I love food romances. If their is food involved in a romance, I'm there, no need to tell me twice. This series is super sweet and a really enjoyable watch.

カルテット - Four musicians meet by chance and decide to form a quartet together. However, each one has secrets that they're hiding. Bonus points to Netflix for actually having a J-drama I like for once. This series has a warm and cozy found family vibe, while still managing to have some of the most wildest shenanigans imaginable. I also really appreciated that this series seems to take some stances that I've never seen before, especially regarding family and what you owe to your parents.

映像研には手を出すな！ - This anime follows three girls and their attempts to make anime. As an anime that is about the creation of anime, it's really no surprise that the art and animation is stand out in this series. I loved the ways that we as the viewer were able to see the imaginations of the characters. I also really enjoyed the characters, and the voice acting was phenomenal as well. This show is also home to one of the best intros ever.

赤髪の白雪姫 - This fantasy anime follows the titular character Shirayuki as she escapes from her home kingdom after being chosen as a royal concubine due to her unusual red hair. On her travels, she meets a prince from a neighboring kingdom and becomes a palace herbalist. It's not often that I watch or care about straight romances in media, but this romance is so adorable, and even beyond it, I truly love all the characters and their relationships in this series. Also, I think this is the only show I've watched where I found the soundtrack to actually be distracting- and not because I didn't like it, but because it was just that good.

🎤 Music:

オーガストの風 - THE BLACKBAND

夢伝説 - Stardust Revue

lemonade - Chili Beans.

Show - Ado

[everlasting-rainfall]

I really like your One Piece Crossing Au, could I request more from that Au? Any character or characters would do. I'm just having fun reading what you come up with.

Any character, eh? Well you did say any of them so I’m going to give you a random one that will probably be unexpected but fun nonetheless

Or at least I hope that it will be as much fun for you as it is for me and honestly I am glad that you like the One Piece Crosskng AU, it is quite fun to write for!

Now then before we get into things, I did pick a character that is SPOILER WARNING territory if you are not caught up with One Piece. I won’t say who it is just yet though

I will however warn you that YOU SHOULD NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE ANIME OR MANGA

SPOILER WARNING!!! I’M SERIOUS!!

Okay now that that’s out of the way… Let’s get into it, shall we?

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

Sentient Video Games, Writing Heavily Reminiscent of Old Creepypasta, Stalking, Heavy Manipulation, SPOILER WARNING, Destruction

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

Saying it again just to hammer it home… DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE ANIME OR MANGA

Also… I WILL NEVER AND HAVE NEVER CONDONED THE ACTIONS OFN ANY CELESTIAL DRAGON, THEY ARE ALL DISGUSTING IN THEIR ACTIONS

Okay so imagine that you managed to get your hands on the One Piece Crossing game and how you got your hands on it is irrelevant but when you open up the case

There’s a little piece of paper inside telling you to input a certain code at the character select screen for a secret villager who can only be unlocked with that code, the name of the villager wasn’t on the paper but hey. It’s interesting and you’re curious

So you boot up the game. You make your character and pick your island then you’re brought to the screen that will help you choose what villagers you get, you hit randomize a few times to see if there’s anyone that you’d prefer over this secret character

And although characters like Akainu, Kizaru, Fujitora, Smoker, Tashigi, Sengoku, Garp among others are tempting to take. Curiousity gets the better of you and you input the code causing a text box to pop up once the screen fades to black

“Oh! You’re with them? Why didn’t you say so? They’ve been waiting for you!”

So when the screen fades back in, you’re on the island with an odd looking character as their body is completely blacked out and is only present in silhouette if you could even call it that. The character is downright unnerving too with those big red eyes

Like you’ve heard about what the tutorial is supposed to be but instead of fun little characters telling you how to play in a wholesome little setting, you have a text box telling you exactly what to do which wouldn’t be so unnerving if this weird villager would stop following you

You tried talking to them but the only thing that shows up in their text box is “…” with maybe the occasional “…?” if you keep trying. This is of course too weird and creepy so you turn off the game without saving in hopes of starting a new file without them

But when you reloaded the game, you were right back where you left off with your character laying on the ground like you had fallen unconscious. The character was still there too sitting by you and watching over you with those unblinking red eyes

You tried a few more times but no result so this was your game now… And what were you gonna do? Not play it?

So you continued on with the tutorial going through everything and learning everything until you set down a place for your home, it turned out to be much more extravagant than you expected because as soon as you confirmed that’s where you wanted it to go. The screen faded to black and when it came back in, it was like some kind of mansion

Thinking you would finally be able to get away from this character, you went inside only for them to follow you in and a text box to pop up at the bottom of the screen with your character doing a little animation to show happiness

“Hooray! A new life started with your best friend, Imu! This is gonna be great!”

So Imu was this characters name, at least you knew what to call them and at least they weren’t following you around anymore as they proceeded to make themselves comfortable in your new shared home

Honestly the game wasn’t too bad after that as although it was far from what your friends had told you what their Animal Crossing games were like

Like they had a museum where they would donate their caught fish and bugs to be shown off usually doing a nice animation of some kind to indicate that they were alive while you got a journal to log everything that you found and a wing of the home to show off your findings more like trophies as they would be hung on the walls in frames and placards

Their villagers were friendly and would clap for them when they caught something while you had Imu who needs no explanation further than that and would only acknowledge your catches with a glance in your direction unless you caught a butterfly which appeared to make them mad

They had a shop or two where they could buy things from the cute little NPC’s that ran it while you eventually did unlock a shop but the little NPC’s who ran it seemed more serious and formal like seriously, they would bow to you like you were royalty whenever you entered

They even let you take a sweater for free once saying that Imu told them to allow you to have it… Of course you couldn’t ask them why as any dialogue option that you picked with Imu always resulted in “…” even if it was so much as “Hello!”

It was incredibly different from how your game was and whenever you tried to show your friends just how things were, the battery for your console was always conveniently dead or it just wouldn’t turn on if One Piece Crossing was the game inside of it

As time progressed in the game and you had multiple new villagers move onto your island, which were five old men, you found yourself actually unlocking a few interactions with Imu as you would always talk to them at least once or twice just to see if anything new had occurred in the game

These interactions was the ability to ask if they wanted to do something with you, it would bring up a little menu of “Do you want to fish with me?” or “Do you want to go on a walk with me?” or something to that extent

Typically Imu would follow your character to do whatever you wanted and despite their character model never changing… You could feel an almost… happiness in the air? It was weird as Imu was a video game character…

But regardless, you hung out with Imu now that you had unlocked this but they never did any of the activities with you besides walking or sitting like if you were fishing then Imu would simply stand by you and watch without speaking a word

It was creepy but at least they weren’t just in your house or wandering around your island like a ghost

Plus you weren’t gonna lie, they were turning out to be much better company than the old men who had moved onto your island earlier as lord almighty… They were serious about just about everything…

Imu was creepy and weird but it was better than listening to five old men talk about what sounded like fictional politics…

Eventually when hanging out with your friend one day in real life, they had the suggestion to see if you could visit each others islands in game as the games were incredibly similar

You had a bad feeling about it but you decided to go along with it so when you got home, you booted up your game and headed to the dock. You talked to the NPC there and they seemed reluctant to take you off the island

Asking you so many times if you were sure about this and if Imu knew but eventually they gave in and you were soon heading off

Hanging out with your friend on their island was great fun! Their villagers were cute and friendly, they didn’t even look anything like yours as they were sweet colorful animals. The NPC’s were even way more fun too

You adventured around your friends island together and generally had a great time but all good things must come to an end as suddenly, both of your characters stopped and a notification rolled by saying “Someone has come to visit!”

Asking your friend if they invited someone else turned up nothing but soon you found out who was here as it was NPC’s from your island… Saying that they had come to retrieve you…

Shock went through you and they asked you to cooperate as otherwise they would have to take you by force so seeing no other option, you selected the option to return home and you left your friends island

Upon getting back, you were escorted right back to you and Imu’s home where they were waiting for you. You were left with them and honestly you’ve never felt like your character was in so much danger than they were in that moment

Imu got up and started moving to your character, you had a bad feeling so you made your character rush upstairs and go to sleep. Saving the game and turning it off

A few days later, your friend called you in a frenzy as the island that they had spent so much time building and decorating had been destroyed. They couldn’t load their game and every time that they tried, the game would tell them that their save file was corrupted and they needed to delete the entire game and try again

You tried to comfort them over the phone and get your friend to hopefully calm down but as you were doing that, a thought went through your head. Could it have been…?

No, no, no… That would be ridiculous… Imu was a video game character…

Regardless you booted up your game later in the day when you had time and decided to at least try to figure out what happened and if Imu really did have something to do with it

They weren’t home when your character got out of bed so you went outside deciding to ask the villagers as you were sure that heading to the docks would be a bad decision. Plus they were quite knowledgeable about just about everything

you would select the option to ask them a question but when you typed it in. You didn’t get the response of “I’m not sure how to answer that” but instead…

“That island? I’ve never heard of it…”

“Are you feeling alright? Who are you talking about? What friend?”

“You never left this island… We would have known about it…”

“I think you just had a dream… You never visited a place like that…”

It was like the island just stopped existing to them which you supposed it did because your friends save data was corrupted but surely they should remember something… Right?

It wasn’t until you asked the very last member that they sighed and told you something that sent a chill down your spine as the speakers spoke with a voice instead of the typical sound that it usually made when they spoke…

“Stop asking about that island… It never existed… Do you hear me? It never existed, your supposed friend never existed, you never went anywhere… Stop asking questions and go home… Get some rest… You clearly aren’t feeling well…”

Your hands were honestly shaking as you stared at the screen… It almost felt like the character was speaking to you directly, not your character but you like they had finally gotten tired of this…

Your blood ran cold when suddenly the character model looked up at the screen and you could feel cold eyes staring directly into your soul, it made you lean back and you could practically feel your heart stop

“Besides… Imu-sama is looking for you… You shouldn’t worry them so much… They care for you deeply…”

It was after that is when you yelped and shut off the power to your console effectively ending your play session, you threw the console away from you like it had caught fire and stared at it like it was a demon that just crawled up through your floorboards

Honestly you weren’t sure how long you sat there but when you finally moved, you put the console away. Unplugged so it wouldn’t charge and out of sight until you could figure out what to do with the damn thing

You tried to live your life for about a month after that, you told all of your friends exactly what you had seen when they asked to play games with you but they didn’t believe you. “Nice creepypasta!” they would say and “Come on, quit messing around!” was another

Even your friend who had gotten their save file corrupted didn’t seem to quite believe you like they did at least agree that your game was weird but didn’t believe the game was sentient and speaking to you

It wasn’t like you didn’t want to play games with them so after an entire month of being unable to play any games with your friends, you decided that you had to do something

You took the console from where you had put it one night and tried to eject the game from its slot but it wouldn’t come out so you decided on the next best thing besides just buying a new console, you went on your computer and looked up how to completely delete your save file

Chances are with how similar it was to animal crossing, the same rules must apply… Right? That had to be the case

So once you knew exactly how to do it, you booted up your console and took a deep breath to ready yourself before starting the game to completely delete your save and be rid of whatever was going on in there once and for all

It took a long time to load but once it did, your screen turned white and the console sparked in your hands causing you to drop it from surprise

The second that it collided with your lap, a bright was released and once it cleared. You felt so much different, the room that you were in was dark but you were laying on something soft regardless

Your clothes had even felt like they had changed so you opened your eyes and looked about, you saw the shape of a lamp in the room and flicked it on with a click only to immediately wish you hadn’t

You were in your in-game home sitting on the bed underneath the covers except it was different as the bed was bigger and Imu’s bed which would be on the opposite side of the room was gone

Of course you tried to wake yourself up but it wasn’t a dream, you were here for real and it was horrible

Considering the feeling of dread about Imu that you got when the NPC’s dragged you home from your friend’s island, you decided that you needed to find a way off of the island. Maybe you could head to the docks and input a random code to get away?

It was safe enough to say that you were panicking and desperate so you slipped out of bed and carefully walked downstairs, the house looked much different indicating that Imu had redecorated which made you uneasy

You snuck out of the house and ran to the docks as fast as your legs would carry you, you ran past about two of the old men villagers who attempted to stop you. Calling out your name when they saw you, your real name

Once you had made it to the docks, you were panting and out of breath. The NPC there looked shocked to see you as “You’re supposed to be in bed! Imu-sama told us you weren’t feeling well!”

Despite your attempts to demand to be taken off of the island and away from here, the NPC didn’t listen and kept refusing until “I think that you need some rest… You really aren’t feeling well… Don’t worry, we’ll get you home…”

When you tried to ask why they wouldn’t let you leave, they informed you that Imu was in charge of the island now and that they decided everything for it. Who left, who came, how it looked, what it was named, etc, etc

You didn’t need to worry about a single thing anymore as Imu would take care of absolutely everything allowing you to get better and relax! Besides they had been great while you were resting!

Upon returning you home, they stood in front of the door so you couldn’t leave before announcing that they returned you. Imu quickly appeared from one of the rooms and you couldn’t stop the feeling of dread that came over you when you saw them as they were far scarier in person

They dismissed the guards standing behind you and approached you, they took you by the arm with a cold hand and dragged you upstairs

They forced you to sit on the bed all the while remaining completely silent, they laid down next to you and held you close to them almost as if they were trying to cuddle you

The rest of your life would be spent in the game with Imu as despite your many, many escape attempts. None of them worked and when one managed to get you off the island, it wasn’t long before you found yourself being chased down by what reminded you of an Umi Bozu

Imu would force you to remain within the house usually in what you had come to find out was your now shared bed, no one was allowed to see you or speak to you

Not even the five old men living on the island as whenever Imu needed to meet with them, you were locked in the bedroom and forced to listen to them talk downstairs about things that you didn’t entirely understand

And no matter how much you screamed and pleaded to be let go, to please return to your normal life. Imu would simply stare at you like they had always done with the most response that they ever gave you was to get down to your level and look you directly in the eye

Eventually as time passed as well, you began to accept that this was your life. There was no escape from this game, this was your new home and this is where you were going to grow old and eventually die

But of course, this is a video game and no one ages inside of a video game… The years would pass by but you would never change, Imu would never change, the five old men would never change… The only thing that ever changed was the scenery…

The constant isolation and lack of change started to get to you and slowly you started believing… Maybe you were a video game character and maybe you truly weren’t feeling well so that’s why you believed otherwise

This was your home… Right? You had never lived in the real world that you remembered because this was the real world… This is where you belonged… With Imu…

The one who had been so nice and caring to you as they made absolutely sure that you would recover…

Yes… You were sick… And you had been so ungrateful to Imu…

The next time that Imu came to check on you, they were pleasantly surprised to see you in bed for once instead of trying to wander about…

They came over and sat on the edge of the bed to look at you, you looked back at them and an apology escaped your lips…

An apology for trying to leave them, an apology for not believing that this was the real world, an apology for having been so ungrateful to them, an apology for not realizing how unwell you truly were to believe that you were someone else

They actually reacted to this as they extended a hand that no longer felt cold yet oddly warm as it took yours, they gently lifted your hand and began to slide something onto your finger. It was a ring

You should be grateful you know… Imu forgave you and loves you…

It was after admiring the ring for a bit, the blacked out figure leaned in and pressed their lips onto yours in a kiss that you happily returned and when Imu pulled away, you heard them speak for the first time

“You are mine, my love…”

“I am yours…”

It was after that, that Imu held you close and rested with you on the bed… Meanwhile in the real world, you were slowly erased from existence…

All of your friends forgot about you, they didn’t remember a single thing about you let alone your name and every missing persons poster faded away into nothing

It was truly like you were never even a real person in the first place as everything about you vanished except for one thing… Your old console was left sitting on the floor of what used to be your home with the game cartridge disappearing to find its way into some other poor souls possession

You would never know this of course, you were completely under the impression that you were simply a person living your sweet and caring partner on a nice island where no one ever aged

You would never even entertain the thought that you were a real person stuck inside of a video game and if you did then Imu would shoot those ideas down as soon as they sprung up

And as the days passed by living with you as their spouse, Imu honestly knew that leaving that code for you to find was a good decision

(Couldn’t find any good gifs of Imu that weren’t really jittery or had heavy spoilers, sorry…)

[ecargmura]

My New Boss Is Goofy Episode 7 Review - And They Were Roommates

Before I start the review, I want to let you know something about the rest of this show’s episodes. Dan Ichikawa, the author of this story, left a note on their Twitter page about how the show already caught up to the manga, so starting this episode forth will be anime original content. I never read the manga, so I’m not too sure how many more chapters of original content there are, but this entire episode is actually anime original. I hope this can ease your confusion, if you had any. Now, onto the review.

Oh gosh, they are roommates now. I think this is the most peaceful I’ve seen Momose throughout the show. He really did need that new change in environment to heal once and for all. He won’t change instantly and he’s still fidgety every now and then, but I can see a huge improvement compared to previous episodes. The dynamic between Momose and Shirosaki have become more domestic now that they’ve become roommates. There’s this intimacy between them that is there, but they probably don’t know about it. They seriously do behave as if they just started dating; maybe they’ll skip over the dating and head straight to marriage towards the end of the show. Heck, they could probably get accidentally married too!

I’m glad that Momose finally opened up and told Shirosaki about his time at his previous workplace. Some of my readers commented on my review of the previous episode that workplace harassment is all too common in Japan; in fact, one of them did say that having your boss show up at your doorstep is common in the Japanese work force! That’s so scary! I’m glad that Momose finally took a step forward and quit his job. Had he continued working there, he’d probably die from overwork and stress. I was a bit nervous when Momose headed back to his previous residence, but I’m glad that nothing bad happened and it was just him overthinking and Shirosaki coming to check up on him.

Shirosaki’s goofiness is as adorable as always, but it’s funny how living with Shirosaki has now affected Momose in a way too. The part where Shirosaki was washing rice and then wondering how much cups he used is practically me! One time, I was washing rice and then after washing, I was like ‘Did I put in enough sweet rice’ and pondered about it as the rice started cooking. Also, the part where Shirosaki was trying to get the wrap unpeeled is relatable. That has happened to me with wrap and tape; in fact, in regards to tape, it has happened to me earlier this week. I was trying to return some items, but the post office didn’t have free tape, so I had to buy some. When I tried using tape, it took me a few minutes to try and find where the tape end was and it took another few minutes for me to get it unraveled. Why do transparent things have to be hard to get out?

Maybe it’s because Hakutou has only been seen interacting with Shirosaki, but I think that he took an instant liking to Momose the moment he moved in. Compared to how it took an entire episode for Hakutou to warm up to Shirosaki, it only took a day for Hakutou to be spoiled by Momose. Maybe it’s because of the time the cat spent with his owner that got Hakutou warmed up to humans, but given that the cat is such a tsundere, I would assume he’d have a hard time getting used to other people too. I’m glad that’s not the case, because Momose does seem like the type of person animals would love due to his gentle aura. I think it’s super cute how Hakutou likes Momose so much that he’d give him his treasures so easily. Both men are now Hakutou’s dads. It’s an irreversible contract now.

Kinjou and Aoyama are still their adorable selves. Kinjou is all super jealous that Momose and Shirosaki are living together while Aoyama is bummed out that he has a house built for two people but no one wants to move in with him. Despite Aoyama’s neediness, I do like that Aoyama is still considerate as he told Shirosaki to go home as he knew Momose would be waiting. He’s such a nice guy; when will he hook up with Kinjou?

It was nice learning about Shirosaki too. He has an older brother who used to live with him but now lives abroad and his family are rice farmers. That’s so cool to know! I hope to learn more about Momose too! Do you think Momose will stay with Shirosaki longer than he intends? Also, the plot twist with the ghost reaching out to use shampoo was so unexpected! I didn’t expect the ghost to be as silly as Shirosaki too! What are your thoughts about this episode overall?

[tatertotcosmonaut]

So I recently got fully caught up with the JJK anime and am now on chapter 176 of the manga because I was bored. I basically went through a “wow I get it” moment when it comes to why people like this series so much.

While reading though, one thing I found interesting is that Gege-san seems to really like Nietschze. Nihilistic philosophy, especially passive vs active nihilism, comes up a lot in this series. You mainly see it in characters like Geto, Gojo, and very much with Mahito. The meaning of life or “the meaning of the soul” is a common question that comes up, with each character having their own views on the meaning of themselves and their place in life.

I’ve been liveblogging my experiences in a discord server and me and another person have real interesting conversations about how Geto seems to symbolize the passive nihilist, while Gojo is the active nihilist or the absurdist. Mahito is basically a twisted form of active nihilism.

The passive nihilist is a person of resignation, it is described as a person of weak will that views nihilism as the end to life and nothing beyond that. They often fall into violence or herd mentality in a scramble to give themselves some meaning or accept destruction. Nietzsche described it as “pessimistic Buddhism”.

The active nihilist is basically the exact opposite. Through the destruction of the meaning of life, they go in to construct new ones by their own will and ideal. They are free and of strong will and are often opposed to authority figures and find rebellion in their creative meanings of life.

I think this is a pretty good reflection of Geto, Gojo, and Mahito. Geto, who spiraled due to the shattering of his ideals and resorted to despair and destruction to find a new one. He became resigned from world, resigned from others. Gojo’s past ideals were also shattered, but through that he built a new one. He is completely absurd and humorous even in serious times, but he ultimately cares a lot about aiding the future generation and does so by rebelling against the higher ups of Jujutsu Society.

Mahito is an interesting case. His whole character is basically just a philosophical analysis of nihilism and the meaning of life and the soul. He is creature of free will to the most dangerous degree. That, since there is no meaning to life that means one has the free will to control other’s lives, or even take them away. He revels in the despair that he spreads, he fully believes that he has the free will to do so.

Now, the reason why there is probably so much “meaning of life” talk in this manga is because it has a lot of Buddhist imagery, so it’s possibly an analysis in Buddhist philosophy- but I still think that this manga can be viewed through the lens of nihilistic analysis!

I find manga that get philosophical like this so intriguing! I’m excited to continue reading.

[bcbdrums]

Event Horizon

A Soul Eater fanfic. Read on: AO3 | FFn

A/N: Monthly OTP prompt fills from this list for Spirit and Stein, because I cannot stop writing about them. I’m happy to hear recommendations each month for which prompt to write next. February’s chosen prompt is: 2. Fear Gas I had ideas for most of February's prompts in my head, but, this one grabbed my attention the most after chatting with some people and mulling over ideas. I took some extreme liberties on how it's interpreted, but gotta follow the muse. And, this fic is late because the muse has been drained. Too much has happened in the last month for me. But! Writing this story is seeming to revive me, so, we shall see what the future holds. Sometimes...the OTP goes through some...tough times... Spirit is 18 years old. Stein is 15. Maka is not yet one. Manga or anime canon, leaning heavily into my headcanons regardless. Also, this lovely art is referenced. And lastly, this is a gift for @cannibal-nightmares, whose art, kindness, and cleverness inspire me...constantly. Do check out their art! Uh...sorry for this one? I guess. Enjoy.

Event Horizon

Spirit stopped short as the book atop the stack in his arms began to slide away. He lifted his shoulder to adjust the balance of the stack, using gravity to shift the heavy volume back into position.

"Hurry up, Death Scythe."

"Y-Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir," Spirit said as he hefted the stack higher and hurried after Lord Death. He realized he probably could have checked out fewer books—especially with his propensity to speed through them—but every topic had him practically salivating with curiosity. From the history of demon weapon kind to the very first death scythe, Spirit's mind was alight with thoughts of battle and honing his skills.

They left the library and turned the first corner, Spirit still trailing a few paces behind as he bore the burden of too many books. But as academy students passed in the other direction Spirit held his head higher. He still felt a swelling of pride each time people paused to stare or whisper about him, the newest personal weapon of the Grim Reaper.

To that end, a couple of younger girls caught his attention by their giggling, and he wished he had a hand free to wave or make some other gesture of acknowledgement besides his million-dollar smile. But it wasn't needed as the two took a few hesitant steps in his direction, hands shyly lifted to wave.

"Hi Mr. Death Scythe!" one said too-loudly, and Spirit felt a flush of pride rise under his collar.

It would be too much to toss his hair, not to mention the risk in dropping the books, which would negate any air of prestige he was trying to effect. He merely met their eyes in response, held their gaze as he maintained his smile while he passed, and another thrill rose from somewhere in the pit of his belly as he listened to their giggles all the way around the corner.

"Spirit Albarn."

Spirit startled at Lord Death's address; he'd only called him by his title ever since becoming his weapon.

The reaper had stopped and turned slightly, and Spirit hurried to catch up. Lord Death didn't move again until Spirit had reached his side and then matched his pace as they continued down the hall. He felt rather than saw Lord Death's slight turn, the white mask looking down at him in a way that dampened Spirit's former rush of pride.

"You're a married man."

The last of the pride shriveled up until his throat felt tight, and his cheeks were flushing in embarrassment now. The reaper's discreet reprimand had been unexpected and brought every thought in Spirit's mind to a halt as he mechanically followed his newest meister through the twists and turns of the academy's halls.

He hadn't been thinking of his wife...which, was apparently the problem. He hadn't really been flirting with those girls...students...had he?

Spirit frowned as a gloom started to sink over him while he trailed after the reaper, through another set of heavy doors and down some stairs. Those girls were students. He was their superior. And he'd been thinking of them like classmates.

He was Death Scythe. He needed to get the real meaning of that into his oblivious skull, and not be worried about the attention he might get from girls.

That had been the start of his problems in the first place.

"Death Scythe, are you listening?"

"Wha? Oh... Sorry, Sir."

Spirit blinked into sudden awareness as he realized they had left the brightly painted academy halls and descended into a place more broad, dark, and foreboding. Lord Death had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and Spirit continued his descent more slowly as he took better stock of his surroundings.

A chill in the air told him they had gone underground, and the architecture was similar to that above but looked as if it had been constructed in a past age. There was also stonework among the wood, and an eerie painting of an inverted trio of eyes on the floor at Lord Death's feet. The gloom he had been feeling turned to a sickness as he arrived at the landing and looked up to the black holes in the white mask that were studying him.

"Oh well. I suppose you can read about it in all of those books and then ask me questions later," the Grim Reaper stated, and shifted his gaze toward a door ahead of them.

Spirit looked at the door where the inverted eyes were painted again, just visible on the dark wood framed by a square of red stone. Two gray statues stood on each side the door, oddly shapen and with their arms raised as if holding up the ceiling. They each had one large eye, oriented properly this time, taking up the whole of their misshapen heads.

As Spirit stared at the strange artwork, he felt a sudden pressing of darkness against his soul. The sick feeling rose from his stomach up to his mind and swirled into fear that froze him in place as solidly as if he had fallen helpless in his weapon form. Blackness filled his vision, and with it came a sudden onslaught of thoughts, all crashing over his mind at once and twisting and overlapping and confusing him such that he was barely aware of his feet on the ground.

Who was this old deity telling him what to do anyway? He had never seen the masked figure so much as leave Death City let alone fight, so why should he feel guilt for whatever he might do that displeases him?

And why shouldn't he flirt with those girls, or anyone he wanted to? He was Death Scythe after all and could do anything he wanted. It wasn't like his wife ever stayed home at nights when he finally clocked out anyway.

They were supposed to be a happy family but she never acted like it. He should teach her a lesson for her taking off at every opportunity when they had a daughter to raise. Leaving him all alone to deal with bottle feeding and diapers and the crying and what had he wanted that baby for anyway?

Spirit gasped.

Shuddering breaths racked his frame as his eyes pierced the darkness swirling through his mind, fixing on the door in front of him as he tried to will away the sickness that had his legs shaking.

Was he standing still? Or was he moving? He couldn't tell for the way the room seemed to rise and fall on waves and his body with it. He was certain he would fall at any moment and that if he did he would never be able to get up again.

"Spirit."

A great hand, heavy on his shoulder, was turning him around carefully to face the stairs again. Spirit blinked repeatedly as the spinning of the room slowly began to subside. The darkness started to move away, touching only the corners of his eyes.

He sucked in air and fell to his hands and knees, and the impact of an elbow on stone stairs jarred him further into the present and out of the evil place his mind had been fast going.

"Spirit," Lord Death repeated gently, and the young weapon let the familiarity of the voice be an anchor, hearing it again and again in his mind until the darkness had faded from his vision and before his eyes was only dust-covered stone.

"M-Maka..."

He shivered as tears fell from his eyes and mingled with the dust.

He didn't mean it. He would never mean anything like that. Maka was the most important person in his life. He didn't want to breathe if her perfect face wasn't the first thing he saw each morning and the last thing he saw each night. He would do anything and everything for his daughter.

So where had that horrid thought come from?

He shivered again, more from the anxiety than the chill around him, and slowly started to right himself. Never-mind the books scattered on the floor behind him. He needed to get home to his daughter.

"Spirit?"

"Maka..." he repeated, his breaths quick.

He felt the hand squeeze his shoulder and he looked up. Worry exuded from the Grim Reaper, and it was a further anchor to reality bringing Spirit back from... From...?

"What...what was that?" he asked, his voice sounding small to his ears. As if Lord Death could somehow know what had happened that caused his mind to flood with more disturbing thoughts and feelings than he had ever experienced in his life.

"That...was the kishin's madness," Lord Death said gravely.

Spirit's eyes widened and he whirled around to face the door again. The trio of inverted eyes, a mere painting, seemed to stare through him, and he felt a fresh wave of fear penetrate him like daggers.

"Asura?"

Lord Death bent down to gather the dropped books.

"Yes. Through those doors is the path to where the kishin is imprisoned."

Spirit shuddered again as the sensations lingered in his mind and left his wavelength feeling ill and out of balance. Lord Death offered him the stack of books, and Spirit swallowed nervously as he took them, and then turned to follow the reaper back up the stairs.

"After you read about it in detail, we'll talk," Lord Death said.

Spirit looked down, and it took several attempts before his eyes would focus on the title of the book at the top of the stack. Kishin it read simply, with no author listed like a great many of the books on the fourth level of the library, and Spirit wondered if Lord Death himself had penned it.

"Ah... Lord Death, Sir?" Spirit ventured cautiously as they reached the landing.

"Yes?"

"Can...can I go home?"

Lord Death paused, but Spirit slowly released the breath he'd been holding as he felt the understanding and almost-warmth coming off of his new meister.

"Yes."

Spirit felt unsteady on his feet again despite the relief in his soul as he strode forward with single-minded purpose, hefting the books higher in his arms. He knew any fear was irrational, but he couldn't rest until he saw for himself that Maka was okay.

"See you tomorrow, Death Scythe," Lord Death called after him, and Spirit paused to turn and nod acknowledgement even as he sighed silently. He would make sure Maka was fine, but...he still had his new job to do.

---------------

Spirit opened his eyes to a blinding light that obscured his surroundings. When he tried to lift his hand to block it out, it wouldn't move, and testing each limb one at a time revealed the same immobility for each. His head felt as heavy as lead when he peered down to try to find the source of whatever was restricting him, but he was only able to move just enough to see a gray strap tight on his wrist, restraining him where he lie.

"Awake, I see," a familiar voice intoned flatly, and a shock of fear ran across Spirit's nervous system like electricity.

"S...Stein?" he said weakly, his mouth sluggish in response to his brain's command to speak. "What's...happening?"

"It's time for your punishment," the voice said from a distance. Spirit tried to look around for its source, but he was still being blinded by the overhead light.

"Punishment? Stein, what... What are you talking about? Where are we?"

Spirit pulled against the strap at one wrist, but it had no give whatsoever. He lifted his head to look around again and discovered he was without his shirt, wherever he was, and a large gray strap was around his waist as well as his ankles and wrists.

"For entertaining madness. It's the ultimate crime."

"What? But I... I didn't—"

"Evil desires entered your mind. And you...a death weapon. There's no coming back from that."

Stein's voice was growing nearer, but Spirit still couldn't see the teen. Cold fear swept him at the harsh edge of judgment in his former meister's voice, and he pulled at his wrists and ankles again but found the effort as futile as before.

"It wasn't my fault! I would never...I wouldn't act on those things!"

"But you've already flirted with other women," Stein reminded him.

Spirit choked, his next protest dying on his lips. It was true... And that had been before the encounter with the madness below the academy.

"But I... I didn't mean..."

"What you intended doesn't matter. Idle thoughts and mindless errors are as criminal as deliberate intent."

Spirit shook his head violently as finally, the familiar form of Stein appeared above him, blocking out some of the light.

"But that's not true! You don't believe that anymore than...than Lord Death does!"

Spirit ceased his useless thrashing when Stein didn't respond, and he blinked the dark silhouette above him into focus. The young eyes, so familiar to him, were now distant—sad and cold as he gazed down at the weapon with his mouth fixed into a frown.

"What matters is that you believe it," Stein said.

Something prickled at the back of Spirit's mind as he turned over the strange words. He had never believed any such thing. Stein had to know that. And why was he looking at him that way?

"So, it's time to cut out your soul."

A hoarse cry left Spirit's throat as Stein slowly lifted a massive cleaver, its sharp edge gleaming in the bright light.

"What!? No, what are you thinking!? Stein, stop!"

"Goodbye, Senpai."

The blade came down.

---------------

"Stein!"

Spirit sat up so fast his vision swam, the nightmare still vivid in his mind as the brightness of the laboratory contrasted the dark of his bedroom. He blinked repeatedly until the texture of the blanket came into focus in front of him, the way it sagged between his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

Finally, he groaned and fell back against sweat-stained sheets, letting the blanket fall away. He could hear the rapid pounding of his heart in the silence of his bedroom as he let the cool night air tend to the moisture on his chest, slowly wicking it away and soothing the tension that had coiled in his body.

After a moment he let his arm stretch out and feel in the empty space at his side, the sheets dry and crisp for their lack of any recent occupancy.

Spirit sighed through his nose and shifted to squint at his alarm clock. Nearly two-thirty in the morning and his wife wasn't home.

She'd not been home that afternoon either when he'd arrived back early from work. Finding his home empty had only increased his residual horror from the experience underground, and he was grateful that his first call to the academy had located his daughter, safe in their daycare. What had surprised Spirit was to learn that she had been there all day, and was there most days.

This had been the catalyst for the argument when his wife had arrived home that evening, already spitting fire due to Spirit's discovery of her ongoing deception. It wasn't fair, she had seethed, that she stayed at home all day every day with dirty diapers as her only company, unable to live her life, while he lived out his dream.

Spirit only grew more bewildered at these claims, as his dream was two honey-haired girls in the cheap apartment they shared together.

Perhaps due to the terrifying experience he'd had that afternoon he wasn't as discerning or eloquent in his choice of words as he could have been. Fear was speaking for him when he ordered his wife to stay at home where she belonged, caring for their daughter and not leaving her in the hands of academy students while she went gallivanting off to Death knows where.

Her response had been another departure. But at least this time...Spirit had Maka.

He slowly turned his silver wedding ring around his finger as he rolled over in the bed to face the crib. He could see Maka's sleeping form within, still snuggled beneath her blanket and with her stuffed puppy tucked in next to her.

He wanted to get up, gather her in his arms and hold her until every memory of madness left him. But it wouldn't be right to disturb her precious sleep. So instead he simply watched her. How her tiny, delicate eyelashes rested upon her face. How her impossibly soft hair fell over her forehead and atop her ears. How even at less than a year of age, she was starting to look like his wife.

He turned the ring one last time before moving his hand up under his pillow to be more comfortable. The day had taken a greater toll on him than he realized, for the way his eyes kept dropping closed. His breathing had calmed, and the fear of the nightmare had faded. But the images returned as he let himself attempt to return to sleep, and his brow pinched together as he tried to analyze them.

The bright light, the restraints, and even the cleaver were no doubt due to the horrors his wife had verbally painted for him so many months ago with the discovery of an unremembered scar as they lie in bed. But the look in Stein's eyes... That sadness wasn't anything Spirit ever remembered seeing from the meister in their five years as partners.

And, why had he dreamed of Stein at all?

Spirit's eyes opened as he tried to recall the last time he'd spoken with Stein, and he could feel an ache with the further creasing of his brow when he couldn't place a date.

He slowly sat back up as realization struck... When had he last seen Stein?

Between the busy hours of learning the ropes as Lord Death's personal weapon, the sleepless nights when Maka wouldn't keep a schedule, and the growing number of unresolved arguments with his wife... He simply hadn't had time.

In fact, the last time he could remember seeing Stein, the meister had come there to his apartment, and he'd fallen asleep with Maka on his chest after a round of complaints about his life. He couldn't remember what, if anything, the two of them had talked about. And Stein had been gone when he'd woken up.

Spirit rose from the bed and glanced in the crib once more before moving to his closet. Despite his wife's protests, next to his blazer hung a long white coat that had been cut apart and reassembled with stitches to match an aesthetic that Stein had started adopting heavily in their last year as partners.

That day when Spirit had woken with the sunset in his eyes and Stein gone, the coat remained, draped over he and Maka to keep them warm while they slept.

Spirit pulled the coat from the hanger that had been its home for months, remembering the repeated insistence to his wife that he was just keeping it for Stein and would give it back the next time he saw him.

That had been months ago.

Whether it was residual madness or something else, a sudden urgency had Spirit pulling his clothes from the day back over his limbs, moving quickly but quietly lest Maka wake.

He had been Stein's weapon partner for five years. Even after his sins caught up to him and his life started to shift drastically off the course the two of them had planned, they had still been inseparable.

How could he go months without speaking to him and not realize it?

Once his shoes were tied, he folded the white coat carefully and then stepped up to the large standing mirror on his wife's side of the bed, and with his finger, drew the familiar number into the glass.

"Death Scythe," was Lord Death's unsurprised greeting, but absent his usual flurry of cheerful pleasantries. "Any residual effects of the kishin's madness?"

Spirit blinked in surprise at the reaper's cutting right to the chase, but he supposed he shouldn't have. He knew that he had only been touched by the mere edge of that wavelength, but the impact it had had was profound. He was certain it was the ultimate cause of his nightmare too, even if the subject had been a surprise.

"Ah...about that. I was wondering if...you could send someone to watch Maka for me? For just...just an hour, maybe less. I need to do something."

"Shouldn't your wife watch her?"

Spirit looked down at the coat in his hands, tightened his fists into the fabric.

"I...don't know where she is right now."

Spirit was still looking down when he felt a sudden wave of power and then his bedroom was filled with the imposing presence of the Grim Reaper.

"L-Lord Death! Sir!" he stammered as he moved back until his legs hit the bed, and he fell back to sit on the pile of tangled blankets.

"I'll watch her for you," Lord Death said, and Spirit's eyes widened as the imposing form of the reaper glided over to the crib and reached a huge hand down inside. Spirit's breath caught as one massive fingertip that dwarfed Maka's tiny body tickled lightly at her shoulder. "Oochie-coochie coo!"

"Uhh..."

Lord Death turned back to peer at him through the dark of the room. "It's the least I can do, after exposing you to that. Although, you would have been more prepared had you been listening."

Spirit blushed, and then quickly rose to his feet and tried to throw the bed into a semblance of order. He was glad there was no dirty laundry lying around and that he had taken out the trash bag of dirty diapers earlier that evening.

"Madness is nothing to take lightly," Lord Death continued. Spirit finished arranging the blankets and looked up to see Lord Death nod at the folded white coat. "Just consider your former partner."

Spirit swallowed slowly as he picked up the coat again. He thought of the fear he'd felt, the invasion of thoughts not his own and yet that had seemed to come from someplace within his soul.

Was that what Stein struggled with every day?

He considered the times he had touched the madness in Stein's wavelength when they resonated, the fear and violent desires that while objectively worse than what he had experienced, hadn't remotely carried the terror or dark lust that the wavelength underground had momentarily instilled in him.

Stein had been shielding him all along, he realized, even when he couldn't hold it back entirely. He hadn't wanted Spirit to know the depths of what he battled against. Who would, after all?

And...this was what Stein went through all the time?

Spirit's heart had begun racing again. He clutched the white coat tight to his chest as he began backing toward the door.

"Thank you, Sir, for watching Maka. I, ah... I shouldn't be gone long. The apartment is close. And..."

"Spirit."

Spirit stopped mid-step and looked up at the impassive mask of the Grim Reaper.

"He isn't at your old apartment anymore."

"...What?"

---------------

Spirit's pace had been hurried the entire journey to the city's outskirts, but he slowed when he approached the old, abandoned warehouse that he had passed so many times before without taking any notice. It was the same as always from the outside, but knowing his former meister was within made it feel different somehow; no longer part of the scenery, but something living. And yet for some reason, Spirit felt a heavy foreboding as he approached.

Stein had asked for and been given the building as a home months ago, according to Lord Death, and had hardly been heard from since except to request and take missions. He only showed his face in classes to take tests, which he passed, and would then vanish again.

When Spirit asked why Lord Death had accommodated these eccentricities, the Grim Reaper had been silent. He also hadn't answered any of Spirit's questions about the missions Stein took, except to say that he had recently taken their friend Marie Mjolnir as his new weapon.

Spirit had bristled at the designation, even though he knew he shouldn't. He had left Stein, after all. How could the meister be expected to continue his studies without a weapon partner? And yet for some reason, Spirit had never conceived of Stein working with anyone but him.

This and other thoughts had his head swimming as he propelled his feet down the sidewalk toward the warehouse, his heart rate seeming to increase with each step. He clutched the folded coat tightly to his chest and tried to will away the strange dread that had arrested his mind ever since the realization he'd not seen Stein in months.

He tried to tell himself it was just a product of the residual madness, or something brought on by the bizarre nightmare. It would all go away once he saw Stein again. He would knock on the door, and Stein would answer because the younger teen kept atypical hours. Spirit would apologize for not having seen him in so long and plan a day, maybe two, for them to catch up very soon. Then everything could go back to the strange, evolving normal his life had become ever since the day he'd learned of the pregnancy.

He held his breath when he knocked on the large double doors and then fidgeted with the fabric of the folded coat as he waited. Stein would be glad to see him, surely? But, Spirit suddenly wondered... Why hadn't he come around in months?

Spirit knocked a second time, louder. Perhaps Stein really was asleep, if he was even there.

Spirit counted the seconds until another two minutes had passed, and then with a shaky breath fit his hand to the doorknob. It turned without resistance, and he paused. Perhaps he could just quietly leave the coat and a note for Stein to stop by or perhaps call him when he could.

He pushed the door open slowly, wincing at the way it creaked on its hinges, and stepped into a broad, dark hallway. The walls on either side of him were gray and nondescript, just like the building's exterior, and all was silent as he cautiously started forward.

His brow rose when he heard what sounded like a voice muttering somewhere ahead of him, beyond another set of doors. He strained to listen and soon felt the tension drain from his body when he recognized the voice. Stein was awake after all, probably busy with some experiment, and simply hadn't heard his knock.

A smile was on Spirit's face when he pulled open the next door and passed into a large room lit dimly from a single standing lamp and the light of a computer monitor. Then, he saw Stein. And his expression dropped into horror.

Stein was seated on a rolling chair pushed back from the computer desk, and the whole of his shirt that Spirit could see was stained with layered drippings of what could only be blood. On the desk on either side of the computer were two large mirrors, propped against stacks of books and angled to the forty-five, and atop the monitor was a cracked mirror that appeared to have been bolted to the monitor's plastic frame.

All around Stein on the desk and floor were scattered papers and open books, and the computer screen was displaying some lines of text too small for Spirit to read. But his attention was fixed on the blood, his gaze rising up past where it clung to Stein's neck and soaked his silver hair. Both of Stein's hands were raised and fidgeting with something just as bloody at the sides of his head, fingers slick with the bright red substance, and the cuffs of his sleeves were stained as well.

Spirit's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare, unable to process the sight before him. And that's when he saw the screw.

"S...Stein!?" Spirit gasped in disbelief, his voice shrill. He looked past what Stein was fidgeting with to his countenance reflected darkly in the mirrors. His pupils were mere pinpricks in his wide eyes, and his skin was paler than usual under the streams of blood that ran down his face, even over his lips and staining his teeth where he was smiling broadly between incoherent mutters and soft, manic laughter.

"Stein!" Spirit repeated, taking an instinctive step forward. The folded coat fell from shaking hands as he looked around, searching for some enemy or any explanation for the horror that sat before him other than his ex-partner's own nimble hands.

The second cry seemed to get the teen's attention, and his laughter halted abruptly as he looked in one angled mirror first, seeming to stare in confusion at something in the corner of the room before shifting his eyes to the mirror atop the monitor until his gaze rested upon Spirit.

"Spirit."

Spirit glanced at the corner that Stein had focused on and found it bare, and then took another hesitant step forward. The blood dripping from Stein's stilled hands had his heart racing in a panic, but not more than the long object with which Stein appeared to have just impaled his skull.

"Stein, what... What... What's going on? What are you doing!?"

Stein slowly spun around in the chair and stared blankly at Spirit until his brow knitted very slightly.

"Hm. There's not usually two of you. Are you going to play the angel on my other shoulder?"

"I... I don't... Stein," Spirit stammered breathlessly. His heart was pounding hard in his chest, harder than it even had when he and his wife had battled the witch.

The faint look of scorn slowly left Stein's face to be replaced by the glassy-eyed expression and toothy smile he'd worn when Spirit first entered. His bloody hands had fallen to his lap when he turned, but he slowly raised one again to left side of his head where the larger end of the object protruded from Stein's head just above his ear.

Spirit's initial, instinctive assessment of the object as a screw seemed to be confirmed as Stein set his fingers around the flat, round end of it, gripped firmly, and twisted it backwards. A ratcheting sound came from the object and Spirit flinched away at the same time he took another step forward, the desire to stop Stein, to help him, and to just understand what was happening at war with the horror that had him nearly paralyzed.

"Stop!" he cried. "What...what is that? What did you do!?"

Stein adjusted his grip and turned the object again rapidly. His face contorted in pain as the ratcheting sound echoed through the large room, and the young meister began to laugh. The sound started low in his chest and then rose higher than the usual timbre of his voice as he doubled over and turned the screw a third time.

Spirit didn't know when he'd started crying, but tears streamed down his face as he forced himself forward on legs that felt as stable as jelly. He fell to his knees in front of Stein and reached up, set trembling hands on his shoulders and gripped the blood-soaked shirt.

"Stein."

The action arrested Stein's attention, his laughter ending as suddenly as if a switch had been flipped. He looked down at Spirit as if seeing him for the first time, hand frozen on the screw. Then he looked over to the corner that had stolen his focus before. Spirit glanced over his shoulder; the corner was still bare.

"I don't know if it's working."

It was the closest to sane Stein had sounded since Spirit had entered, but the meister's eyes were still glazed and didn't seem to see him. Spirit watched his face as he continued staring at the corner, could almost see the calculations working behind his eyes.

"This... Stein... Can you fix this?" Spirit said desperately, finally daring to look at the screw that Stein still held onto almost protectively. He leaned left to peer at where the smaller end of the object was protruding above Stein's other ear. He couldn't tell if it was truly impaled through his friend's head, or if some other mechanism was at work; it was impossible to tell through the matted, bloody hair that fell over the dark metal.

Stein blinked, and Spirit's breath caught as the meister's gaze suddenly narrowed on him.

"Don't you see? I am. Fixing this," he hissed cruelly.

Spirit shook his head. "Stein."

"If this doesn't work..."

Spirit listened to the frightened words, low and hoarse as Stein adjusted his grip, turned his hand, and the ratcheting sound echoed through the room again.

"Why would you do this?" Spirit pleaded, still not believing what he was seeing. If it wasn't for his fingers digging tight into Stein's shoulders he would think it was another delusion of madness.

Suddenly, Stein's eyes truly focused on his for the first time, and his face fell into a terrifying frown. It was just enough warning, and Spirit was able to lean back fractionally as Stein's free arm swept up harshly into both of his, knocking him away and barely missing hitting his face.

Spirit fell back onto his rear, caught himself harshly on his already-sore elbow, and gazed up at Stein in disbelief. The action seemed to startle the meister as well, his anger fading as rapidly as it had come. He stared at Spirit with something of confusion, and then looked up at the corner again. A sound of surprise fell from his lips, and Spirit watched as his eyes darted around the room rapidly as if searching for something, until finally settling on Spirit with another frown.

Spirit was frozen by the bitter look of betrayal that suddenly filled his friends eyes, and all he could do was watch as Stein started to shift his hand upward again. But then, apparently catching sight of the blood on his hand, the meister refocused his attention and a placid smile replaced everything else that had been twisting his features into something beyond recognition.

Spirit's tears fell freely as he stared at his friend and the massive object protruding from his head, blood still dripping down the sides of his neck. His thoughts were finally catching up to his horror, and he knew he should probably call someone for help, get Stein medical attention before he lost too much blood, and see if anything could be done about the metal rod that was apparently set straight through his brain. It shouldn't even be possible, Spirit thought, as he felt he would choke for how his heart pounded in his throat. That he had found Stein alive after his self-mutilation was nothing short of miraculous.

"Stein," he began carefully, his voice broken apart for his fear. "You... We need to..."

Stein stared at him with an unsettling calm, and Spirit's mind recalled every time he had had seen that expression before—all the times he'd had to hold Stein back, either physically or mentally, from some terrible desire borne of madness.

Spirit bit down on his words as he felt bile begin to rise in his throat. He shifted to sit upright, but his muscles felt useless under the weight of guilt that was suddenly bearing down on him as heavily as had the darkness underground.

Who had Stein had, to help him fight his madness...in all those months Spirit had forgotten him?

"Stein..." he tried again. He reached up to his eyes, closed them as he wiped away tears that kept flowing. Stein lifted an eyebrow, and Spirit realized his face was likely now streaked with Stein's blood from his fingertips. "Please, I... I should have... I don't... Stein, why?"

He blinked in attempt to clear his vision, gazed pleadingly up at the meister who sat so calmly, as if half his body wasn't stained in red and the air around them didn't taste of iron.

"Senpai," Stein said, his voice finally something familiar. Spirit watched his friend's hand slowly fall, rest limply upon his knee. But the calm ended once more as a wild, toothy smile bisected the meister's face, and something like the distant sadness from the nightmare filled his eyes. "You know better than anyone that I have a screw loose."

Spirit choked on a sob, shook his head as Stein began to laugh. It started low as it had before, but rapidly rose into uncontrolled shrieks that tore from his throat and racked Stein's body in the chair, rolling it back and forth through the drippings of blood on the cement beneath.

Spirit wept.

It was his fault. If only he hadn't forgotten Stein... No, if he hadn't left him to begin with. Then he wouldn't be seated at his friend's feet, watching him possibly bleed to death and collapse fully into the madness he'd fought so hard for years to protect him from.

He let his tears fall freely as memories raced across his mind, questions and possibilities and denials he had replayed countless times before, and conclusions drawn from the voice he had chosen to believe. It was too much happening too fast, all over again. And as over a year's worth of confusion and fear joined with the present and tangled into an unsalvageable mess in his mind, two words slowly formed and found their way to Spirit's tongue.

"I'm sorry."

It was time to rise out of his denial. He needed to ask Stein... To hear everything from his lips, find out what was true and what wasn't... Learn his side of the story. And no matter what, Spirit realized he didn't care; that in his soul the decision had already been made, and all that was left was to come back. To offer to fix what he had broken. It was all his fault, and couldn't they just erase the past, and please...wouldn't Stein forgive him?

"Stein, I... I..."

The shifting of plastic wheels on the floor stopped, and the laughter faded to hiccuped chuckling. Spirit wiped his tears again with the sides of his thumbs, brushed his hair from his face, and looked up.

Stein appeared frozen above him, grin still manic and eyes not quite seeing him even as he stared straight at him.

Stein's shoes pushed on the floor and the chair slowly rolled back and hit the edge of the desk. His gaze remained on Spirit, unblinking. A bloody hand reached back, felt blindly on the desk and knocked a few previously unseen surgical instruments to the floor. And then Stein's hand returned, rose up between them, his fingers delicately holding a scalpel.

"It's about time I gave you some new parts as well."

Spirit's breath hitched. Stein's shoes pushed down, and the chair started rolling forward.

Spirit let out an involuntary cry as instinct had him roll backward and away, far out of Stein's reach, and then he was on his feet and backing toward the door.

"No! Stein, no, listen to me!"

"Hm, but Senpai... Don't you think you could do with a new liver? I have one in my freezer," Stein said, jerking his head toward another door that Spirit hadn't noticed.

The simple movement of his head seemed to cause him pain, and Spirit watched as Stein winced, his fingers tightening on the scalpel even as both his hands quickly raised to grip the ends of the screw.

"Stein, I... Don't... Stay here. I'm going to get help. I'll get..." he stammered as he continued backing toward the door.

Stein's face settled back into the mad grin, the hand holding the scalpel lowering as the other turned the screw.

Spirit flinched at the sound it made, at the tiny laughs that seemed to slip involuntarily from his friend's lips. He shook his head in terrified disbelief as he felt behind him blindly until he found the doorknob.

"I'll get help. Stay here! I... I'm so sorry, Stein."

Spirit turned, away from the horror and the sight and scent of blood, and the echoing crank of metal mixed with laughter as he fled the warehouse and ran as fast as he could ever remember moving. Maybe...maybe if only he could reach some help...there was still time.

--------------

In the warehouse, Stein blinked at the metal door until it drifted shut, closing into position with a soft click. Then, all was quiet.

He blinked, slowly turning and glancing all around the room, into every corner and next to every haphazard stack of books, seeking any movement or sign of life.

"Spirit?"

Stein waited. But silence was the only reply he received.

He slowly turned back toward the computer, the feeling of moving his feet foreign as if he hadn't walked in an age. He was going to attempt to analyze that sensation, and why his body suddenly felt as though it wasn't his, when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirrors.

He took a few steps forward, not quite believing he was looking at himself. He noted the blood, both the dried and the wet still seeping from his flesh. And then he studied the screw, tilting his head slowly to each side and evaluating its appearance and placement.

Then he glanced around the room again.

"Huh. I guess it works."

Stein reached up to the screw, turned it once. Hissed at the excruciating pain it caused. And then he laughed.

---------------

Spirit was breathless and his limbs ached as he sprinted down the sidewalk to his first-floor apartment. He was so panicked and intent on his goal that he didn't notice his wife approaching the door at the same time until he nearly crashed into her.

"Spirit?" she said in surprise. He stopped, doubled over to his knees for a moment, and then stood again as his entire frame shook from exertion. His wife had looked confused and deeply annoyed at first, but she must have noted the blood on his face, he realized, as her expression dropped to fear. "What's going on? Where's Maka? Where have you been?"

Spirit ignored her questions as he wrenched the doorknob open and darted through the familiar halls to his bedroom.

"Lord Death!" he gasped upon entering, and the Grim Reaper turned from his faithful vigil next to Maka's sleeping form and tilted his great, curious masked expression down to the weapon and took in his appearance.

"Oh, my. What's happened?"

Spirit sucked in air and looked over his shoulder as his wife followed him into the room. She looked properly shocked by the presence of the Grim Reaper in her home and quickly schooled her appearance into something of respect as she dropped her purse on the dresser, glanced at Maka in the crib, and then turned her wide eyes to Spirit and waited.

Spirit took a few more breaths, looked back to Lord Death, and wiped his eyes again. He forced his tears into compliance before launching into a hurried explanation of what he'd found at the warehouse—of the screw, of Stein's mad behavior, and of the supposed threat at the last when he'd made to leave. He stole glances at his wife throughout, noted her astonishment, suspicion, and ultimately, anger.

"Oh, my," Lord Death repeated when Spirit had finished, his words slow and grave. "You stay here and look after yourself. I'll see to Stein."

"Yes... Yes, Sir," Spirit breathed, his lungs still aching in pain for the sprint back through town.

With that, the reaper vanished, using his mirror as a portal in the same way he had entered, and left Spirit alone with Maka and his wife.

With the promise of the best help for his meister possible, Spirit collapsed. He sank heavily to the floor between the bed and crib and let his head fall back against the edge of the mattress, his eyes fluttering closed as he tried to slow his breathing and bring his body back to some semblance of normalcy. But unbeckoned, the horrors from the warehouse flooded his vision behind his eyelids, and he blinked repeatedly to banish the experience worse than any nightmare he had ever had.

He lifted a shaking hand and tried to wipe the salt from his cheeks, feeling the flaky, dried residue of the blood that he knew he would need to wash before Maka woke up. And then he suddenly realized how overheated and sticky with sweat he was from the run, and achingly peeled himself out of his jacket.

"You...went to see Stein?" his wife's voice broke through his thoughts.

He rolled his head sideways on the edge of the mattress until her scowling face filled his vision.

"After everything he did to you!? I thought you were smarter than this!"

Spirit's brow furrowed. "I don't think—"

"You told Lord Death yourself, he threatened to cut you up again tonight! And he's gone totally mad! How could you do this to me? To Maka?"

Spirit shifted, started to push himself to his knees. "Angel, I—"

"Don't 'angel' me anything! What if he'd killed you? Your stupidity would have left me a widow and Maka fatherless!"

Spirit stared dumbly up into his wife's furious face. He wanted to argue that she'd hardly been a mother or wife, with her lying almost every day about where she was and leaving Maka in daycare, and then heading off again at nights when Spirit got home. But he was too exhausted, too overwhelmed by the horrors he'd experienced, and too worried about Stein to even begin to put any of those thoughts into useful words.

"He's my meister," was what finally escaped Spirit's lips, though he knew the argument was already lost. Even when he held the higher position, somehow with his wife, he always wrong.

Her eyes widened. "What?" she seethed.

Spirit realized his error as her face reddened further in anger, even though technically she couldn't claim to be his meister anymore either. Lord Death was the only one who would wield him now.

He was expecting an explosion, like usual. Words of censure and revulsion, to remind him that he was a dreadful husband and only Death's weapon because of her, and what thanks did she ever get for it?

But none of that came, as her feet padded softly between he and the crib, and then Spirit stumbled to his feet as he heard Maka's soft whimpers of distress as she was lifted out of her bed and into her mother's arms.

"What are you doing?" he said anxiously, a panic that was becoming too familiar racing across his nervous system.

"I'm going to Azusa's. Have your head on straight by tomorrow night, Death Scythe," she fairly spat, tucking Maka against her chest as she turned on her heel to leave.

"But... Kami!" he cried, stepping after her. But the door had already slammed shut.

He stumbled back against the bed, fell seated to the mattress as he heard Maka begin to cry from the sudden and startling sound. He listened to the second slam of the front door and Maka's cries growing distant as she was carried away from him, away from the home that suddenly didn't feel like it deserved the name.

Spirit's bloodied fingers found his wedding ring and twisted it slowly around his finger.

How, in just one day, had everything fallen apart so completely?

Spirit took a few breaths and then pushed himself to his feet. He walked on shaking legs into the bathroom, turned on the light and blinked against its harshness. His stomach turned as he stared at the red streaks on his face and that had matted some of his hair. He felt the prickling of tears in his eyes again, but with effort he swallowed them down.

His wife was right about at least one thing. He was Death Scythe. And he needed to be prepared for whatever he may need to face.

Maka would be fine, if they were going to be at Azusa's. Marie was still her roommate, unless something had changed, and often all the young weapon would talk about was the day she too had the privilege of being a wife and a mother. Maka was in good hands. And tomorrow, after some rest, he would deal with the issue of his wife's deception and leaving their daughter at daycare all the time.

That left the more urgent issue of Stein.

Spirit wanted to go back. He wanted to find out just what Lord Death would do to help his friend, to see for himself that Stein was going to survive the horrible self-mutilation, and could it even be undone? And, what of his madness?

Spirit thought again of what he'd experienced underground, the terror of those invasive thoughts, and how real and demanding they had been. Was that truly what it was like in Stein's mind? All those years that Spirit had felt the bristling, violent edge of his thoughts whenever he and Stein resonated... How Stein must have been holding it back, protecting him from the worst of it...preventing him from seeing the true depths of the madness.

Spirit took a slow, deep breath to hold the tears at bay again.

How could he have believed his wife? When she insisted Stein had been conducting illicit experiments on him, convinced him that the younger teen couldn't be trusted. Stein's refusal to offer either affirmation or denial was all the proof she had needed, and it had seemed the easiest way to ease hostilities to simply accept her word.

To abandon his partner.

And now, Stein may die because of him.

What kind of death weapon was he?

Spirit splashed water on his face and ran it through his hair, scrubbed at the blood until his skin felt raw and his scalp ached. Fresh tears mingled hot on his cheeks with the cool of the water, and when the only red left on his cheeks was the flush he felt from humiliation, he turned off the light and stumbled back into the bedroom.

He was no one anybody should be looking up to, or offering flirty waves in the academy's halls. He was an idiot and a failure, and everything his wife always accused him of being. He was probably a bad father, too.

He sniffled as his gaze locked onto the empty crib while he stumbled across the carpet, hoping that his wife would bring Maka back to him soon the next day. So focused was he, that his foot caught on something just under the bed and he tripped, falling so that his knee grazed the hard item when he hit the floor, and he hissed against the pain.

He felt in the dark for the offending object and soon pulled out a small, forgotten lock-box. His eyes widened on the sight, and familiar warnings rose in the back of his mind with too many words to form into coherent thought as he looked at the small, combination lock, the number sequence easily called into memory.

His thumb began turning the dials.

He had promised to stop drinking the day he found out about the pregnancy, and he had been true to his word. The box of expensive liquors was just for very special occasions, like the night after he and his wife had defeated the witch, and the day that Maka was born. And just a single shot those times, he had insisted, because it wasn't worth the risk to have more. Not when he was Death Scythe. Not when he was a father.

Stein's expression had been bittersweet when he told Spirit he was proud of him. Spirit had never understood that look.

He flipped the lid of the box open and lifted out one of the bottles, and his brow furrowed in confusion. It was nearly empty.

He considered for a moment, and then his eyes widened in understanding.

So, his wife had other secrets she had been keeping from him besides her daily excursions.

Spirit slowly turned the bottle over in his hand. He felt the warnings prickling all the way up his spine. He heard the echoes of his promises. He heard Stein's kind but melancholy praise.

And then he thought of his wife's lies. And the blood dripping down the sides of his friend's head. And the mad, defeated laughter as Stein had looked at him like he was a stranger.

Spirit replaced the nearly empty bottle, and then lifted a full one out of the box. He took a long, slow breath as he leaned back against the side of the bed. Felt every one of his nerve endings tingle in fierce opposition. And then he twisted open the cap.

He could keep some secrets, too.

[sauntervaguelydown]

So I mainlined pretty much all of Lupin III canon in about three months this winter, right? Back to back, all the tv shows and the movies and also the limited amount of the OG manga that has been released in English. And here's my feeling about Lupin's personal backstory.

I really enjoyed the Zero anime, but it poses some interesting problems. It shows Lupin III and Jigen as teenagers caught in a bit of a family struggle between Lupin's father and grandfather, who expect different things of their younger relative. Zero clearly takes a lot of direct cues from the OG manga, going so far as to adapt the one "backstory" issue with Arsene Lupin the First. The thing about the Manga is that it is 1. mean-spirited black comedy 2. low-continuity high-concept nonsense 3. fanservice power fantasy, roughly in that order. Lupin the First is written as being a legendary asshole, perfectly willing to steal his own grandson's physical, biological heart if needed. They absolutely keep this for the anime, and kind of make him worse. (I cannot forgive pulling out a sex worker's tooth just to make a point, that is so MEAN.)

Now, I've also read some of the French short stories the Mangaka stole his protagonist's lineage from. And I can tell you right now, that Arsene Lupin is a lot more like the Lupin III from modern incarnations of the anime--good humored, a womanizer with a romantic streak, clever manipulator of expectations, lovable conman. Not the kind of guy who would yank out a woman's tooth for no reason.

In the manga, there's a Lupin empire, established by the First: networks of henchmen and resources and properties all over the world, employees, servants, etc. When Jigen shows up as a regular character, he's supposed to have been part of the Lupin empire, which is now falling part. They were friends growing up, although we don't know the details. It seems reasonable that Jigen's parent probably worked for the Lupin family.

In the various anime, even as far back as Part One, there's no empire. Not only that, but Lupin is less...dark. He has an episode about risking his life to save an innocent woman from a death trap. He treats Jigen like an equal. He's softer around the edges, picks his targets more fairly, all that stuff. Even when he's acting like a genuine sex pest, he always gets knocked back down and lets it go.

When you line up the pieces, a pattern starts to (accidentally, I think) arise. Manga Lupin is a crueler, nastier, more violent person, canonically raised by a crueler, nastier, more violent person.

In the various anime, Lupin III seems to respect his grandfather's legacy. He seems to have respected the man. He seems to have been fond of the man, at least in some complicated sort of way.

The accidental pattern here suggests: Manga Lupin is like that because he was not raised by Leblanc's Arsene Lupin. Anime Lupin is like this because he was.

Zero, however, throws a wrench into all this, because it is trying to preserve the various backstory elements of the manga while keeping the gentler, more mischievous Lupin III developed over decades of television and movies. If they're going to pull it off, I think the key might be the presence of Lupin the Second, who is a much bigger player with much more agency in this anime than in the manga--and who is utterly absent from every iteration of the TV shows up to this point.

Anyway, that's my unified Tonal theory of Lupin Backstories

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 99... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

*Ahem...*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! THIS CHAPTER!!!! 😱 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

S-Sorry about that folks, but uh... There is A WHOLE LOT to talk about with this chapter, so uh, let's into it shall we...?! 😵 [Aggressive Thumb SHAKING] ((👍))

So, to start things off... What happened at the end of chapter 98 was apparently just a false alarm, but it still managed to end the the graduation party after everyone ran to the bunkers... So, Henry asked Martha about what she was going to tell him, and well...:

...She decided not to tell him the truth... 🥲

After this, Martha is seen crying her eyes out at her home...!! 😭 But after receiving a letter in the mail, she has a wonderful idea to write letters to Henry while she's away...!! 🥹

The first thing she writes to him is to see her off before she departs, but because the letter contained her exact location, these assholes "lovely gentleman" had to black out almost EVERYTHING MARTHA WROTE!! 😫 Which meant...:

...Henry didn't show up... 🥲🥲

(Why Endo...? Just, WHY....?! 💔)

But even after that mishap, Martha would continue to write to Henry, and he even wrote back to her...! 🥹 But eventually...:

Aw man... This image is just... It breaks my heart, man... 😔

Soon after that, Henry started to yearn to hear from Martha once again... But then, Martha and the rest of her group got some unexpected news...:

AND THE WORST PART IS THAT THEY CAN'T ACTUALLY DECLINE TO JOIN THE FRONT LINES BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE LABELED AS DESERTERS AND KILLED!!! 😡 (SUCH FUCKING BULLSHIT!!! FUCK WAR!!! 😠😠😠)

While the girls are panicking, Martha steps up and says that she'll fight...:

...And now Herny knows about it... 😞

Y'know... This chapter already had some crazy stuff in it... But nothing, AND I MEAN NOTHING, could've prepared me for THE VERY NEXT PAGE...!!!:

MOTHERFUCKING YOUNG DONOVAN DESMOND!!! 😵😵😵

AND BOY, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHIN'...! When I read what he said at bottom, that "Human beings are simply liars"... The first thing that came to my mind was...:

...HE HAS TO BE A FREAKING TELEPATH JUST LIKE ANYA!!! 😱

I MEAN, it's the only thing that makes sense, why else WOULD HE SAY THAT...!?!? 😵 He also could've been raised that way by his parents, BUT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT ONE CHIEF!!!!

My goodness... THIS PAGE HAS GOT ME LOOKIN' AND ACTIN' LIKE THIS:

Anyway, Young Donovan continues to speak about how as long as everyone hides their true intentions from each other, war can never truly end... And I just... I can't accept that...!!

Call me a dreamer, but I believe that we as people can make a difference if we speak up & fight back against ideals like Donovan's...!! I know that there is awfulness all around us and not everyone is in it for the betterment of others... BUT THAT'S WHY WE HAVE TO FIGHT BACK; THAT'S WHY TWILIGHT, YOR, ANYA, AND OTHERS IN THIS SERIES ARE FIGHTING FOR PEACE!!! So that we all can have a better tomorrow...!!! ✊

Anyway, back to chapter... And boy, it does not get better for Henry and Martha... 😔

After Martha writes a letter a telling Henry that she wishes that she could see him, it brings him tears and the only thing that he could muster to think of saying to her is "I wish I could see you too"... 💔 Then when going to mail another letter to Martha, Henry over hears on the radio...:

THIS PAGE IS JUST SO HEARTBREAKING!!! 💔

Later at an assembly, Martha's group was brought up as valiant for giving their lives for the cause, but Henry was having none of it:

...and then, they beat him up an locked him away...!! 😠 Then Henry's dad shows up and tells him that if he keeps this up, he'll never teach in another classroom again... And of course, Henry folds... 💔 AND I THINK THAT HENRY'S DAD NEEDS TO GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE!!! 😡

Time passes, Henry has a his famous monoclonal now (most likely due to be badly injured in his eye when those bastards beat him up) and is forced to marry someone for his family... Then, it cuts to place near the East-West border and...:

Martha's still alive, obviously, but WHO TOOK HER IN AND SAVED HER!?!? 🤔

Could it be someone from the Blackbell's, someone related to Twilight, Shopkeeper or McMahon...? I DON'T KNOW...!! But, we'll have wait and find out in CHAPTER 100 BABY!!! 😆

And that was Mission 99, and it was FANTASTIC AND HEARTBREAKING ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! 💔🥲💔 This why we LET 👏 ENDO 👏 COOK!!! 👏👏👏

But anyway, before I go....

SEASON 3 OF SPY × FAMILY WAS ANNOUNCED BABY!!! 😆

I am SOOOOOO EXCITED for this!! 😄 But when it releases, I'm not sure if I'll continue to do reviews of the episodes as they come out... Near the end of season 2, I got quite a bit burnt out from writing my anime reviews, so I never talked about the last 3 episodes of season 2... 😩 But, we'll see how I feel by the time when the anime returns...!! 😁

Okay, that's it now...!! 😄 So until the next Mission; take care, be safe out there and be kind to one another...!! BYE!!! 👋😁

[jaycrakhead]

Gauche x Grey (Greyche analysis/Guide?) PART 2

(not me promoting my art as the cover again)

HEEEYA here's part 2

So let's continue this massive-… I don't even know what to call this anymore, I feel like I'm just making a Greyche Guide for beginners KAKQKQOA If you are reading this, I hope you like it UEDUH I'm just having fun while rambling that's all DUEIDH

So, first things first, I went through the anime (from where part 1 left off) to catch some little moments on the time skip (before episode 150);

(Chapter 224/ Episode 128) Gauche and Grey are pretty much traumatized after the Agrippa Family experience. Asta in the anime says that what they ate got them like that, as in the manga they just died in their beds DIUEDUHDH Luck says they are stuck in bed akakqka Some meme that they are stuck in bed for that sus reason we all know about but yeah memes aside, they just are traumatized IUUDHHE

And yes it's worth mentioning for the pics. Since they don't appear for a bit in the anime, that food really fucked them up for real kwkakaka I'm just kidding UEDIUHDHE

(Episode 134) I do know that this episode is filler but since Sister Theresa implied that Gauche asked Grey to transform him into a child, I just wanted to point out how the conversation must have been for her to turn him into a child wkakskd How did he even asked that? And imagine suddenly being asked to turn someone into a child- But truly like (This is just headcanon now) He gets turned, looks at the mirror "Ah just as I remember" And just leaves like a child, and Grey there just watching- UEDIDH

(Episode 140) They are caught together by Sally and it's just dorky the whole scene. When Sally says that she will experiment on both of them, Grey replies with "Us together... embarassing"- But she would be embarassed with anyone I believe- Well, have Grey clinging without Gauche complaining (at this point is pretty much something natural to him). Also I love that that's just Gauche's signature pose after the "hands in pockets" pose.

NOW THE EPISODE

(Episode 150)

Well this maiden's challenge is about overcoming her shyness and feeling more comfortable in her true form or at least to handle being looked at. It begins with Grey thinking about how her comrades are improving and she believes that she needs to improve too. She comments on Finral, Gordon, Luck, Magna, Noelle and Asta, the last she comments on is our grumpy boy Gauche. She comments he got "less weird" or at least she thinks so. Which is the funniest improvement to have tbh KQKQKQK actually there’s not that much screen time for Gauche’s improvement/or just focus during the timeskip but it’s fine too

Grey in Gauche's form goes to speak with Gauche himself. She is probably hella embarrassed at this point to need to transform in him to ask for his help. He asks why she is walking around in his form and then she actually asks for help. But he doesn't understand at all since their magic attributes are totally different. Then she explains that she would like to learn how to be more confident. Since she asked him for his help is safe to assume she thinks of Gauche as a confident individual too, I just think he has that “zero fucks attitude” which goes along with it tbh

He refuses at first, to which she says "Don't be mean >_< help me", then he says that he doesn't get anything in return. She offers to do a favor for him. He agrees to help if she transforms into Marie and reads a script of cute quotes to him. Well Grey still is a bit puzzled since she isn't the real Marie but that would make him happy anyway? Gauche is just like "I will survive since I only see real Marie monthly"

Well, outside Gauche surrounds Grey with mirrors with his reflection on it, like it must be a total nightmare of embarrassment for Grey jakqkaka being watched 360 by Gauche.

Well she can't handle it as it is obvious and Gauche is forced to think of something else. Then the whole butterfly hypnosis thing happens, where he commanded Grey to have a carefree mind like a turtle. If I Google it for the overanalyzing sarcasm, Goggle says that "Butterflies symbolize the essence of eternal love and companionship" and “If the turtle is your spirit animal, you probably value stability and security in your relationships. You tend to move slowly and methodically, taking your time to get to know someone before committing. However, you can sometimes be too cautious, missing out on opportunities because you're afraid of taking risks.” UEDUHIUEHD

Overanalyzing sarcasm aside, Butterflies are the symbol of transformation which goes along with Grey. That's it.

Back to our slowburn as it is, she handles the fact that she is being watched 360 by Gauche and he smiles at the accomplishment.

He takes her to town, (date vibes- kidding UEIHIUDHED) and she is quite handling well to be around so many people. Gauche says it will be fine to be surrounded by her comrades then. She thanks him and there he goes asking for her to fulfill her end of the deal.

She transforms into Marie, Gauche immediately rushes nose bleeding to hug "Marie". Grey goes back to her true form. Gauche stops there mid almost hug (;-;) and asks why she turned back, to which Grey is embarrassed again and replies that "that was a bit much". He tells her to transform back. Some people see that as him forcing her, I can see that too but at the same time well they were testing Grey embarrassment too after all and he doesn’t do it again so meh, whatever it was he redeems himself a few seconds after so yeah UEUDHEH. She says she can't transform because she is embarrassed. That means the hypnosis has also worn off. I have the theory that probably the hypnosis worn off because well Grey got embarrassed because it was Gauche… And it’s sus, so that person that you have a sus feeling coming to hug you is fucked up but it’s just a theory, probably it just worn off naturally and that’s pretty much it.

Gauche complains that she got back to normal, so he looks away from her and says that it was a waste of time all their work. Also the frame where Grey is dying of embarrassment and Gauche is looking away, if you take out of the context looks like two embarrassed people that have that sus feeling towards each other is funny UIEUDHEIUHD

Then he asks why she just doesn't turn to the other form since she doesn't get embarrassed while transformed. Grey says that it wouldn't be the real her. To which Gauche replies with the infamous "No matter what form you take, you are always Grey" and starts walking away as if it was nothing like the aloof wannabe mf he is (Zora and Gauche are just that type of guy but then internally they are soft edgy mfs). Grey giggles and then follows him.

With that being said…I think is great that he didn't actually see her as his sister when he asked to turn into her. It's still weird and all if you think too much about it due to the siscon thing, but despite popular opinion I don't shipp them just for Gauche to lose his "siscon" thing, he is already working pretty much on it when caring for his team mates and such. Also I think their partnership is far more about just Grey making him transcend or some shit. Also, I think it was nice of him not forcing her at all to transform back after that or pressuring her. Their time was wasted and he was just like "oh well...", not to mention him like saying that to Grey. Finally, It’s pretty much convenient calling the episode “The Maidens’ Challenge”, and including two “princesses/maidens” with their “princes”. Two anxious princesses in their own waysUEIDUHED and well those… two princes UDEDUYEH Let's head now to the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle Arc

(Chapter 240/241/242/243- Episode 162) Well I like these three panels. We have "Them", "Traumatized them" and "Gauche having a window jumpscare" like Grey did (not exactly a jumpscare but it was a funny paralel)

We have a little scene before Gauche goes with shit. Like in the anime Grey notices Gauche isn't there when he goes off to the roof. But well GAUCHE GOES WITH SHIT

ah wrong image

BUT GAUCHE GOES WITH SHIT In the anime we can see Grey looking at him worried and yeah good job Grey ;-; I would be brain dead at that point because I would be feeling so much shit that worried would be my last facial expression, that's why I'm not a magic knight for sure

Grey cries calling out his name and cries because she couldn't do anything and her magic is "useless". She cries, we cry, I cry,- idk if he is in the same state as Yami when he was about to die in the Spade Raid arc and Charlotte confessed to him, but he didn't manage to listen to any of what she said. so idk if he is listening at all at least he is kinda seeing what's happening in front of him and he knows she saved him well

(Chapter 244_Episode 163) CINDERELLA GREY LET'S GOOO

As Dante casually wrecks the shit out of Asta, Grey is having a hard time, I mean, sure Gauche is literally dying BUT HEY GREY MY GIRL is having a hard time.

It seems like he is looking at her while he dies but I'm not sure so I won't go further into it.

mf just looking straight to what's in front of him and I'm like OH SHIT HE IS LOOKING AT HER

Seriously I can't tell at all

We see her Cinderella back story, we cry- I cry and we will skip to the part where she runs away from home. A group of bastards try to do you know what to Grey (in one of her step sisters from) and suddenly Gauche saves her. However he tells her to not be mistaken, he just saved her because Marie asked him to. By seeing how Gauche and Marie are good siblings she wishes she had a good sibling relationship like that. Well Gauche asks what she is doing at a forest. She doesn't know how to answer, Marie says she should go back home. Gauche asks if she ran away from home and well here we have Gauche's life advice:

and

Well destiny brought them to the same place. And that advice actually helped her a lot. When she was recruited to the Black Bulls, there, she reencountered Gauche but he did not recognize her. Regardless, she was grateful AF for him indirectly leading her to the squad, where she felt that she truly belonged and made friends who are like family to her. Which is also some type of Cinderella and Prince thing, he doesn't recognizing her because she was transformed into a maiden. Also if I was to be dramatic, her transformation on the night she met Gauche went off just like Cinderella's at midnight. In Cinderella, she is the one to disappear so she can go back to normal away from everybody else, however in this story Gauche just walked away and Grey got back to normal. Cinderella Gauche confirmed- However to be fair it probably wasn't midnight but it's a parallel I guess. Actually I could be even more hours talking about all the meanings and shit behind the Cinderella parallel but I might as well die from writing. Ah About her true name theory, I have no idea what it might be but if it is meant to be "Cinderella's name" I just wanna say to everyone who gets Cinderella's name wrong, her name is ELLA, not AURORA, not RELLA it's ELLA. CINDER plus ELLA (not including the old origin story of Cinderella for that info) I just wanted to say that because I've seen so many people getting Cinderella's name wrong while theorizing and it hurts However I don't think Grey's name is Ella or Cinderella, I have no clue I wouldn't be surprised if her name is Blue or some shit IUDEIUDHHE And her sisters where like "sksksksk Grey matches your name since it's a colour too" Idk guys UIEDUHUHE BACK TO FOCUS, in the anime it is added the scene of episode 150 where Gauche tells Grey that she will always be Grey doesn't matter what form she takes to add more into it. Well she wishes to save him and-

she does save him and says this cute thing too <3

well

then Gauche is just there IUDEIDUHEIU lowkey dying but this time alive and well IUEHDIE

(Chapter 260-Episode 167) Well Asta and Yami win and stuff- Gauche wakes up (Note: Grey never left his side, I know she wouldn't be helpful at all in the battle but yeah SUS) She is just happy as hell and hugs him out of happiness. Which is cute because she was THAT happy to not even think on how "embarassing it would be". He doesn't brush her away or anything but well she gets embarrassed and pushes herself away apologizing. Worth mentioning Vanessa lowkey shipping-

In the anime, that scene stays basically the same but Gauche actually talks besides saying "...Hey, Grey"

ups wrong pic He still says "Hey, Grey", then she notices that she is hugging him, lets go of him while apologizing and Gauche asks why she is apologizing ;-; In the English dub instead of "Hey, Grey", I believe he asks if she is okay after she thanks the gods for him to be okay. In the English dub Vanessa also says "Yeah something is up with those to for sure"

After that, they are just framed together basically. To be fair I think they are meant to have something because manga foreshadowing is always important duedhiuehd and yeah at this point there's no reason to put all this moment and Grey's back story with Gauche if they are meant to be just friends or nothing at all. If they end up as friends, I'm okay too however I feel like something is off IUEDIUDH But I also don't see a big dramatic kiss out of nowhere

(Chapter 261-Episode168) Grey asks Owen to take a proper look at Gauche since mf almost fell out of the world. In the anime Gauche reasures Grey that he is okay and healed quite softly which which is SUS AF When Owen reveals that Grey's magic might not be transformation after all, in the anime Gauche asks what kind of magic it is then. quite interested aren't we- SUS But I won't overlook that I mean mf just almost died and well it's normal to have curiosity at least IOUDEOIDJ but in the anime his shock is also framed with Grey's so

SUS

Now let's hold back the canon events for a bit and let's go to the movie

At Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King There aren't at all many scenes, and it makes sense since when they appear the focus is the black bulls in general, fighting or been there.

However, one of the scenes is as they watch Yuno in the arena, Vanessa comments to Gauche on how everyone wants to see Yuno. To which he responds with " I only want to see my dearest sister Marie", Grey looks at him with a kinda sad expression, but I won't get much into detail since she looked already kind of sad before looking at him. She comments "as expected from Gauche-kun" and keeps staring as he chuckles.

The other scene is what made my heart go "AAAAAAA" (you probably know what I'm talking about) Despite the movie not being canon, I think it's still a great scene that shows that something is sus between them JQKQKWOW When the Black Bulls are fighting Edward Avalaché, there's the scene where Finral and Gauche "teleport" Gordon and Grey out of the danger. Finral transports Gordon alone ("alone" as meaning he just caught him in a portal, he didn't transported himself to go get him), Gordon even falls on the floor poor guy. He drops him like shit, kidding Gordon just falls wuwiaka, but I want to point out the opposite moods. Then Gauche, mf appears with Grey in his arms and she thanks him stuttering. Like that was a sight to see KQKQKQKW

Sure, It's just nice of him to be that caring, but he didn't need to be THAT caring if you know… something wasn't sus. Probably if he didn't have that extra care towards her, he would have just dropped her beside him or something like that, not hold her in that dramatic way I mean kwoqowow

Well on the movie we got happiness, on the manga we got pain (the real ones know the feeling) JAKWKWKW Not complaining If I thought the movie scene was a dramatically great sight, the manga events were a theatrically tragic beautiful sight ;-;

Let's head back to the canon events again with the SPADE KINGDOM RAID ARC

(Chapter 312) THE BLACK BULLS CRASH THE RAID PARTY we have just brief scenes of them. I saw some people mad at Gauche telling Grey to shut up after her saving him. Bros, i swear I would curse the shit out of my wife if she was being embarassed in the middle of a war. To be honest he was quite light by saying "Shut up for now…" Like what the hell would he say "yo love chill out, here hold my hand" God no-

We have another Grey Mirror Brigade feels like the 20th IUEIUhd After that they are pretty much framed together or near each other like they didn't left each others side anymore (not talking just about this arc because I do know it's only a few scenes of them together, but like since the Agrippa family thing they pretty much have been usually together)

well let's go to the Final and Current arc

(Chapter 337)(Let's include chapter 361 to keep in mind they are still side to side) They learn about Asta's "death" and well they are there existing but props to the fits I liked them.

(Chapter 364-365 ;-;) Before the pain, here's tiny them preparing for the 100th Grey Mirror Brigade

well, then DAMNatio.. YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID

missing the movie;-;

So Gauche jumps to take the hit for Grey, he fails. We have these really theatrical death panels, that well is the sus confirmation that yup something is meant to happen between them. It's way too theatrical at this point what Romeo and Juliet type of shit am I witnessing- I don't know what happened in the timeskip but yeah 1 year and 3 months brings people together (not saying they are together as a couple oficially of course) Also I wonder what Gauche might have felt after noticing he failed to protect Grey.

(Chapter 367) They are revived together which is another fair detail to have in count and here they are

I've seen some people commenting that they might not be getting matching scars but it would be iconic to be fair Therefore we just need to wait for the rest now

WELL WE'VE REACHED THE END (for now) OF THE GREYCHE GUIDE DUYEGDIG (until chapter 368 format)

I might cover the new updates in the future WELL I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS MASSIVE GUIDE DIOEODEJIOED thx <3

[ma3mae]

Welcome to my page 💞

Lmao nice, you found my page 🤡. Anyway I'm Mae and I've been here for quite some time tbh but with (sadly) plenty of hiatuses. Ppl originally came here for my story "Two worlds" (which im still working on, its just rly rly slow :((() but i started writing again bc ive finally caught up with bsd and it inspired me to start writing again in general! I'd love some requests but even if i dont get any, I'll still write some random hc's, stories and more bc i gotta use the motivation i have rn! Because of work i'll atleast try to upload smth every 2 days so yall in for smth (until my brain decides to shut off and not let me write again 💀) Anyway now onto my

Masterlist

Bungou Stray Dogs

-No one likes syringes! (hc with dazai, atsushi, kunikida, aku and chuuya)

-No brain, just horny! (Dazai, Kunikida, Ranpo, Fukuzawa) hc

-No brain, just horny! 2 (Chuuya, Akutagawa, Nikolai and a bit of fyodor) hc

- I feel like sleeping on the couch tonight! (hc and lowkey drabble with Fukuzawa, Ranpo and Tetchou)

- Don't be so annoyed, love! (hc Dazai, Kunikida, Ranpo)

- Exams are a hassle! (Chuuya x Reader) oneshot

-In sickness and health (Chuuya x Reader) continuation of Exams are a hassle!

- Cherry Sweet Kiss! (Tetchou x Reader) oneshot

- Love has no bounds! (Knight! Tetchoux Princess! Reader) oneshot

- Don't be so antsy! (Tetchou x Reader) mix of hc and oneshot

Arcane

-how the characters would help you with an assignment! (caitlyn, jinx and vi)

- Arcane Story Masterlist "Two worlds"

-"Two worlds" moodboard

-short future story idea (jinx x reader)

Bsd: Majority of charas (the kids only platonic, pls no smut or smth with them or ill put u to jail 📸) not reading the manga so just a heads up if you request for charas that havent been seen in the anime yet! Also wont be writing about mori bc i c why ppl simp for him but i cant 😩 fyodor's also a bit tricky but i can try 🛐

HSR

- Hubby gets some help (IL Dan Heng x Reader x Blade) Drabble

Who I'll write for!

Demon Slayer: I still gotta watch season 2... Pls no nezuko romantically... I beg you 🛐

Arcane: everyone except heimerdinger and silco bc im not into yordles and... silco is silco..

Also some characters in from League of Legends in general but just ask which charas bc listing the ones i wont write for is just too long of a list 😐

Jjk: all charas but only from the anime bc.. im not reading the manga yet again...

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All jojo's and their respective gangs! Also other supporting charas but just ask and ill say if i write for them, lol

-still debating about dio bc i get why ppl simp for him but man's legit traumatised many generations of one family and prob hundreds of other ppl 💀

Naruto: main cast and akatsuki lol, u can request side charas too but im not gonna count every one of them bc yeaaaaaaah too long

Final fantasy 7 : all main casts from all ff7 games

Kingdom hearts: Organisation 13 and main cast!

Honkai Star Rail: all playable characters! (kid charas only platonic 💕)

still gotta think which other series but tbh my brain can only keep track of like some while ive consumed over 100 or smth and the ones that i like were streamed 6-7 years ago or smth 😭😭😭😭 but im currently in a bsd brainrot so give plenty of request for that rn if u want to LOL

Have fun on my page yall ✋💅

[unkn0wn-self1]

An unknown fate.

—————————————————————-

Gosh, I’ve been so busy lately but! I had an idea in my mind. Also its my birthday soon! 🎉

(This was inspired by the anime “Im the villainess so I will tame the final boss!”)

(Any anime men you desire that would fit the demon kings role XD) x you!

Basically, this is like the anime/manga except YOU are the main character (since when were you not?)

Warnings(?): fluff, medival days, crack, sfw, isekai, reincarnation, fem reader, fancy words

————————————————-—————

You were in the hospital, your parents were speaking with your doctor. You noticed a novel beside you, it was your favorite novel, the novel you always red before you got insanely sick.

“I.. wanna read ..” you coughed out, reaching for the novel.

But.. once you opened the book.. your vision started to become blurry.. until your vision was fully black.

“Oh my gosh..! Honey! Are you okay-!” ..A woman cried out, maybe it was your mother.

..someone called out a familiar name,

“Im going to terminate our engagement.” Someone had said.

Your vision becomes more clearer now, and there you stood infront of a man and a woman. It was weird, they looked so familiar. Then the man spoke again.

“I’ve had enough of your behavior.”

..You start to recognize them! It was the character’s from your favorite novel, The man was the love interest and the woman was the main character.. wait a minute. Main character…… then who were you?!

You quickly looked at your hand and the man spoke again.

“Are you even listening?! Aireen!”

Aireen… wait! Aireen?! You got reincarnated as the villainous daughter!?

The man, or aireen’s ex fiancé, Cedric was now visibly annoyed.

“Are you going to say that this isn’t like me? You don’t look satisfied, Aireen.”

“We were engaged for years.. and yet, you still dont know the real me.” Cedric sighed.

The woman, Lillia looked so guilty while looking at you, “Lady Aireen.. Im sorry.”

“I have chosen to live the rest of my life with lillia.”cedric said.

You were so confused, you were so dizzy as you were regaining your memories.

..but you remember this scene, This was the engagement annulment that happens mid way in the novel.

“Everyone here knows that you behave like a tyrant.

The countless times you had harassed lillia, you should be judged for your crimes.” Cedric had said.

“Crimes?!” You yelled almost hitting him, but cedric’s acquaintance grabbed your wrist tightly that caught you off guard.

Once he let go, You took your wrist back.

“You’re awfully rough with ladies, why dont you learn about chivalry again?” You said, harshly.

“What lady? Your deeds cannot be hidden.” He spoke back, insulting you.

.. You turned back to cedric who was looking at you coldly like you were an enemy.

“..It seems you wont listen to what I have to say.” You were about to cry.

‘Dont cry, dont cry until its over, and laugh..’

“I shall excuse myself, ..though it saddens me greatly that I could not cry and beg as you have desired.” You kept smiling.

You bowed gracefully, “I did love you, deeply.”

Cedric was speechless.

You turned and left, the doors slamming behind you.

“Hmph!” You walked down the stairs.

You sighed, “according to the novel, aireen got expelled by the request of Cedric.”

“The novel stops at the graduation ceremony that is 3 months from now.. there were a few other events aswell.”

“..My memories aren’t clear but im to be inherited as the dukes daughter and continue down to the path of ruins.” You sigh deeply.

“Right.. if this world really is the same as the novel, then I dont have time to be crying. That ending in 3 months is waiting for me. So I will not give up and cry!”

“Wait.. if the enemy of your enemy is your friend.” You smile.

“I will avoid the bad ending!” You were determined to avoid getting a bad fate.

—————————————————-

You gulped as you walked through the creepy forest.

“Of course.. A place full of bad omens..

Is..

Where the demon king lives..”

You kept walking, the demon kings castle lied ahead.

And you notice crows on tree branches,

“The Girl who was abandoned yesterday!”

“No one likes you!”

“Turn back now!”

“Evil!”

“Capricious—”

You snap at the crows that were insulting you, “is this how you treat your guests?! Simply humiliating them!?, I have no intention of leaving until I meet your master! Hmph!”

You continued walking as the crows felt guilty.

“uhh…”

Until you had reach the doors of the castle.

“Oh my…” you gulped.

You place your lantern on the ground and pushed the doors but it was too heavy!

“Argh!” You pushed it as hard as you can.

“I cant-! Its so heavy—”

“Allow me to help.” A man spoke.

“Oh! how nice of—”

The door explodes, and you stand there.. in shock.

“you….”

You gulped, turning your head slowly to the man.

and as you see his face, you realize. It was the demon king.

‘Wait, wait, wait a second! ….. The real thing is so much impactful!’

‘he is so beautiful! I hate him-!!’

“You… you are—!”

“Yes, what does a human want from me.” He said with an unamused tone.

“..well, I think this is a great deal.” You say.

The atmosphere got as ominous as the forest.

“I want you to…”

“I want you to marry me!”

(SFX: shine)

A loud thunder strucks down and startles you. (BAM rumble noises idk)

“..who wants to marry whom..?” He asks, he angry.

“L-like I said! You with me—”

You get cut off by a loud thunder and you faint…

“ha-….”

———————————————————————-

If I have time, I will do the second part as quickly as I could! 😆

This took like 1 and a half hours (BIG OOF!)