#and like Majima; she's always looking for a good fight~

[gazkamurocho]

スケバン ゴロ美

[majimasleftasscheek]

'The Majima Dilemma' Anon here, looking for some feedback on how would one write Goro Majima's other half Goromi so that it doesn't sound offensive or cringe-worthy. I have the basics - like some stuff noted from the game, but would like to hear someone's idea on Goromi-chan - how she acts around Kiryu or other people etc.

ohoho so I think that the best way to write her (subjectively of course) is to treat her sincerely. of course there's the elephant in the room depending on how you interpret her - I'm going to be viewing her as genderfluid cuz that's my thing so for my purposes, she's an amab dude in a dress. as such, I don't point out said elephant unless the point of my story is to talk about that specifically and with it often comes discussion of gender, etc etc. if I'm not talking about that, I talk about her as if she's any other woman doing her thang.

example: if I had a basic scene where she's putting on lipstick, I'm not going to write her as if she's struggling or being incompetent "because man unga bunga." I'd just have her put on lipstick. that same scene could change depending on the "when" too. maybe early Goromi did struggle but! it's important to portray that struggle with sincerity. write her being anxious, clumsy, etc. don't try to make it comedic tho as it'd be inappropriate imo. if there is anything funny, it shouldn't be at her expense.

so, the game treats the Goromi encounter like a joke, basically just a reason for Kiryu to fight her on the basis of "haha man in dress doesn't that just piss you off." so if you take anything from the game, the conversation they have in the minigame is where it's at, in regards to how Kiryu feels himself around her, how he doesn't have to put on airs, how Goromi's genuinely surprised, things like that. with such a short encounter, you really have to rely on your own imagination to expand upon it but even just that lil bit of exchange is a good base. beyond that, I wouldn't take away from the game that much tbh.

I write Goromi pretty much how I write Majima, with all the usual vulgarities and mannerisms since the way I see Goromi is that she's still very much the same person but with a femme flair. I know some do like to write her significantly different as a personality of her own so that too is an option if that's your thing. I project a lot of my genderfluid experience onto her so when I'm personally feeling flip floppy, I'm not really anyone new, but the way I act, the way I carry myself does differ to varying degrees.

so when Goromi's around Kiryu, for example, she's still up to kicking his ass and being a rude lil shit but she'll carry herself a bit more refined, generically ladylike but surface level - some of it being playing the stereotype of a woman, another part her actively trying to be someone else or "removed from being a typical man." for example, if I wrote Kiryu flirting with Majima, I'd make him get embarrassed but in a sort of aloof way with performative confidence typical of Majima. flirting with Goromi tho is different as she's being very vulnerable, very open about herself and when you love her, you love a part of Majima that he may feel self conscious about.

speaking of the previous mentioned elephant, if you wanna talk about Goromi being a dude, I think that's fine tbh if done with tact. I make it a point in my art to portray her as masculine because for me, the cis part of being genderfluid is just as important as everything else. so I like to see Goromi with her beard and muscles and dick bulge cuz fuck it. I don't shy away from that stuff but I don't make fun of it either. one of my best friends is a transwoman and respecting her as a woman no matter how passing she is, is very important to me. but it's not sunshine n rainbows either. if you do talk about that sorta thing, it does come with baggage and handling that doesn't always have the most right or the most appropriate answer. comes down to respecting people as people imo and I think with common sense and empathy, you can certainly write something well intentioned.

interaction-wise, I think she would try to act the part around most people, maybe being at odds with herself because she's not ignorant to how to she looks or behaves so she tries to be more elegant, more ladylike in order to be likeable, acceptable. but at the same time she's still very much Majima and that crassness doesn't just bleed but hemorrhages out of her. it's a battle within herself to decide how to behave so when people are being genuinely nice, she fumbles. I think it'd be normal even around people she's close to cuz even tho she knows she has their respect, it's almost unreal and she gets very flustered 😌 to an extent, I like to think she even rejects some of that kindness cuz her self doubt makes her think she doesn't deserve it or that people are being dubious to get on her good side.

she's good at faking it too. if you need her to be a perfect lil peach or put up with a lotta crap, she can do it. she'd more so do this if the situation required it so I can see her being polite around those of a higher status or if she was in a situation where she shouldn't be a goblin. she'd be pleasant but cold towards strangers, cautious you can call it, until she can place their vibes. there's an RGGO story (idk if you know what that is but it's basically yakuza gatcha on mobile) where Goromi (before Kiryu ever gets to Club Shine) very seriously plays the part of a hostess and wildly excels so she can very much be a totally different person if need be.

whenever I write an upset Goromi, I like to make her revert to tough guy Majima strats where she'll do her damnedest to not let anything get under her skin but it never goes well, especially if it's personal. if she's not crumbling under depression, she'll be snappy then pissy, handling anything with a fight over pouring her heart out. she's prone to spiraling and holding grudges, preferring to suffer in silence alone which is very much how I'd write Majima normally.

a happy Goromi is bombastic, moreso than Majima if that's even possible. and depending on the context, very very sincere. because the theater in my brain never stops replaying the same scenes over and over, I always have this mental picture that Kiryu says something sweet about Goromi and she's just on the quiet side smiling in a sad sort of way like she can't even believe he actually means what he says. and he looks at her worried like he said something stupid and she has to reassure him she's just happy to be so lucky and that tough exterior opens up just a lil more each time. Majima is a big softie and as Goromi, I feel he can explore that a lil more freely if hesitantly.

I hope this stuff helps! it's my own thoughts so of course take things totally subjectively. I think writing Goromi sincerely does rely on taking considerations of femininity, especially in regards to how a man would approach them and how society would view that. it's a lotta reactionary stuff and I think if you can empathize with that, you can write her well enough. Goromi is a divisive topic for people so you're not going to please everyone but trying to write her in order to please everyone wouldn't be sincere imo. she's a mixed bag of things, some good some ugly, so write her in ways you feel good about while also being considerate/respectful of course.

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Yakuza 5 starting.... tomorrow! Probably. If not, on Saturday. Just came back from a trip, so am too dead tonight. And I have a dentist appointment to wake up early for.

From the limited access I grant myself to any fandom stuff at any given time, I've heard this game is.... an opinion splitter. I'm very eager to see which side of the spectrum I fall more towards. I'm going in completely open-minded for now.

Expectations and thoughts on what I wanna see from the game below!

Akiyama seems to be in the game based on the art on the disc. Cool, love the guy. I wonder if we get to play as him again; I really like his fighting style. I don't know how his character arc could go forward, though - unless The Ex™ makes an appearance. Or maybe he'll have a role closer to that of the Florist - more of a consultant than a protagonist? But he wouldn't really be on the cover art if that was it, huh?

If the girl depicted in the artwork is Haruka... maybe a slightly bigger time skip than one year this time? I don't recall Haruka looking quite that old in Y4. Not like, old person-old, just... you know? She looks more like an older teen!

Kiryu's fit looks sick. I hope he has a bigger role in Y5. LOVED 4, but Kiryu's involvement was kind of minimal since he was sharing the spotlight with 3 other guys. The fit does make me wonder if Okinawa has been put on the back burner for now? Will he start off in good ol' Kamurocho this time?

NO idea who the other two lads in the disc's artwork are. I kinda really hope we don't get another 4-protagonist game. I adored 4 and liked that system in it, but twice in a row with 2 new dudes in the mix? Ehhh😬 I'm gonna trust the writers, but I'm worried.

I do have a feeling we'll see more of Saejima. Why would he be made a patriarch if he was just gonna be tossed aside? All that potential for interaction with Majima too! ....IF they don't toss Majima into a random void of inaction in the mid-game this time around, that is. Not too hopeful about that one, not gonna lie. But as long as we see his face, I'm happy enough, I guess.

As for Tanimura.... I'm guessing he's gonna end up in the Side Characters We No Longer Need Void™ . I dont want him to end up in there, but that's the vibe I got. Idk, maybe he'll join Date in the "makes phone calls in the background and keeps morale up" squad instead?

Plot-wise I'm totally blind once again. I do get the vibe that Kiryu's character arc will be reaching a significant point, maybe? I feel like stuff has been building up, especially with the way he was talking about his role and stuff at the end of Y4. I just hope that won't require Morning Glory Orphanage Destruction 2: Electric Boogaloo to happen. Kinda worried about Morning Glory, not gonna lie. But then again, I'm ALWAYS worried about Morning Glory.

[yakuzacanons]

Hope you’re well and that I’m not bothering you, is it okay if I request a sort of headcanony thing about Zhao where his S/O is Majima’s (adoptive?) daughter? Like if Majima was kinda overprotective, how’d he react when he finds out? Idk if this is weird or not thank you <3

SKSKSK this is so funny to me??? I've never done anything like this before so hopefully it's up to snuff n all that. Headcanons below. Last one for today, big sick rn.

First of all, Zhao just didn't know. Had he known, he would've been like "Listen, I'm pretty sure I got into a fistfight with your dad". In his defense, she wouldn't be surprised hearing that. Majima kind of gets into fights with LOTS of people.

Zhao isn't exactly scared of Majima but once he finds out his girlfriend's dad is Majima, he's like "...Okay, what now?" I mean, of course he knows he'll meet the guy eventually but what the heck are they going to say to each other?

On the flip side, Majima always knew his daughter would at some point grow up and probably eventually find a partner and even get married one day. He doesn't have a fatherly instinct in the same way that Kiryu does with Haruka but he does have that same protectiveness.

Majima would never demand that his daughter do or not do something, but he's seen her get heartbroken a couple of times before and it was only at the behest of his daughter that those guys weren't walking around missing an eye themselves right now. Of course, his daughter hasn't told Zhao about that yet...

In the end, they decide to invite Majima over for dinner at Zhao's place. They figured since Zhao's such a great cook and Majima is easily pliable with food, it's the best scenario. Plus, it's a private setting so they don't have to worry about being in public with Majima because... well, he's HIM.

Majima jokingly complains the whole way there, saying things like "Whaddya mean this guy's gonna cook dinner? If he's tryna impress me, it ain't gonna work!" Secretly, he's thinking it must be pretty serious if he's about to meet his daughter's boyfriend at the guy's house. And he's going to cook food too? He must be serious about his daughter then too...

Zhao doesn't come out to greet them as he's busy holding a giant ass wok in the kitchen. From the smell, Majima seems temporarily pleased but he's a little snippy about the fact Zhao didn't even come out to say hi. His daughter also goes to the kitchen to help Zhao plate the food. Meanwhile, Majima sits down grumbling to himself about manners and how the dinner better be damn good.

Once Zhao finally steps out of the kitchen and the two make eye contact, Majima literally just lets out a loud "ACK" and recognizes him immediately. Zhao just kind of waves hello casually. Majima just kind of sits there shocked for a little bit while his daughter fills up a plate for him and Zhao pours them all some tea.

Majima finally snaps out of it and starts making all kinds of noise about how come no one told him when his daughter said she was dating a guy named Zhao that it just so happened to be the same Zhao that he got into a fight with before the Omi dissolved. His daughter hands him his plate and in his noisy panic, he quickly snatches the plate out of her hands and haphazardly shovels some food into his mouth, still talking and yammering away.

He instantly realizes it was a mistake to doubt Zhao's cooking because the food immediately makes him shut up. His frenzy is placated with each bite and eventually he just kind of looks at Zhao and nods. In hindsight, despite having gotten into a fight with Zhao at one point, the guy always seemed pretty chill. Plus, he did help with dissolving the Omi... also, his clothes are kind of cool?

All in all, the night ends up going pretty well. Majima enjoys the food but to his surprise, and kind of to his daughter's surprise too, he enjoys the conversations with Zhao more. Seeing how genuinely happy his daughter was all the proof he needed though: this guy might be the real deal. Provided he doesn't get into a fist fight with him ever again.

[nyxqueenofshadows]

yakuza 3 (sort of) done! thoughts under the cut cos they got quite long. they're a lot more coherent than my kiwami 2 ones cos i made them along the way rather than in a feverish mess at the end, though ofc they contain spoilers for 3 and ig gaiden??

overall thoughts, it's messy and weird and makes some Choices, but it's not a bad game, and the people who write it off as being shit are, imho, wrong. once i got into it i liked it, it introduced some great characters, had some really fun moments, and i'm gonna miss the morning glory kids (yes even riona).

if you're looking at this like when did you change the difficulty??? the bit where you have to run away from the police at millenium tower, fuck that bit so hard, none of the other chases gave me trouble but that one ughhhhh

also i neglected haruka i'm sorry

the combat is harder and more tedious, and i can see why it puts people off, but i find pulling off the combos and counters way more satisfying as a result. like, i tiger dropped lau ka long to finish that fight and it felt *so* good, way more than ending fights with heat actions or whatever has done in previous games. having said that the blocking oh jesus christ the BLOCKING

it’s the place we get the most on kashiwagi pre-y0 especially kiryu’s opinion of him (including the iconic lines about reimen) so you can’t knock it for that.

rikiya buddy i love you but wtf was that substory with natsumi. actually why is he suddenly a dick in all of his side content???? (i know he’s confrontational and that’s just how he is but idk, smth about how he is in the side content feels different). he’s rude to utabori to his face (despite kiryu repeatedly telling him not to), when he meets natsumi again he’s like yo i kept this necklace why are you in tokyo you don’t fit in here come back to okinawa with me, like ????? she clearly has a life she’s built up there (not a good one, i don’t think, but still) and they might have known each other when they were kids but we never get her side of the story on that, only rikiya’s. idk. it’s one of the first things he says to her, that’s a neon red flag if ever i’ve seen one.

also also during that entire scene in asia, kiryu watches rikiya’s reaction to the dancing the *entire* time. is that a bug of how conversations work or was that a deliberate choice or what

MACK buddy why aren't you in this game more

we had a second majima-no-nii-san! from hamazaki of all people! tho having said that i think he was being sardonic. like, he never says it again, and is generally kind of like that. he’ll use polite forms but he’s never being *polite*. lowkey obsessed with his hand on majima’s shoulder in that scene and what it says about his character and their relationship up to that point and how majima has ended up in this kind of position *again*. kiryu leaving - as it always does - fucked so many people over it’s not even funny.

some of the translations bother me. as an english script it’s for the most part pretty coherent and works well enough on its own, but in combination with the japanese it sometimes deviates in ways that change character moments or even just feel weird. like the addition of the puns in the seven mysteries substories is fun, very ace attorney, but sometimes it feels like they step too far (‘getting tight in your britches!’ for ビビった like ???? even ignoring the japanese what is that supposed to meannnnn)

specific moments i was thinking of were the really early line where taichi is like 晩ごはんまだぁ？ and they add in an unnecessary ‘i thought curry was supposed to be easy!’ in the english which then undermines later when they all sit down to eat and are like カレーだ！ like they didn’t actually know what was for dinner. another one is when kiryu leaves rikiya behind in okinawa and tells haruka that he can’t let him come (in various ways, three times). in the english they shake it up a bit by adding ‘it’s my burden to bear’ WHICH i’ll fully admit flows better and is a very kiryu thing to say but i think it shifts the tone of that scene from worry to responsibility? in a way that doesn’t feel quite right in context of the story as a whole. last one where mine calls kiryu a coward when he’s leaving after showing whatever was left of kanda in that box. again, it flows better and lines up with kiryu’s behaviour in later games but doesn’t feel quite right and i think it changes the point mine was trying to make there. there's also the minefield about how mine expresses his feelings about daigo right at the end. BUT i’m a learner this isn’t my job what do i know. they worked hard and faults aside it’s a fun read and they also had to deal with that fuck-awful section of exposition from the politician so no blame here. it’s not like the other games don’t have this, it just feels especially weird in this one to me.

i loved the little wrestling bit. it’s not perfect but it has the kind of heart and good intentions that makes those sections (and yakuza 3 as a whole) really enjoyable for me.

objectively very funny that the text you get congratulating you on all the revelations is from kaoru, and that she’s like hey your blog was very funny, go see my friend bob utsunomiya for your reward. i know it’s mostly game mechanics to make it make sense but is it not the funniest thing to imagine a. that kaoru knows a bob utsunomiya (how did they meet??? why???) and b. that on her breaks between Mystery Police Stuff she’s refreshing kiryu’s blog like what dumb shit is this idiot up to now asdfghjkl tbf his blog can’t be hard to find, it’s literally ‘day in the life of the dragon of dojima’ it’s a miracle he gets anything done ever with how bad he is at being on the downlow

standing on the morning glory beach, especially in the evening/at night and looking up at the sky while listening to the waves roll in is so calming, the first time i got to do it i stayed there for like ten minutes just chilling

some of the animation is genuinely really really good, like saki’s eyes shaking in fear or kiryu’s cheek twitch when he finds out about morning glory, or mine on finding out daigo's alive. idk how much is the work of the remaster and how much was originally there but i really like it

the last three chapters are such whiplash cos it’s like sad, sad, very sad, bulls! sad, very very sad, sad, jet! thumbs up! sad, sad, ANGRY, there is no change in the plan, sad, sad, on the roof, sad, sad, MACHO, things are gonna be fine! oh wait sad sa- please mr richardson they’re trying to have a moment -d sad sad surprise! murder! surprise! alive! done. you know?

idk if i was just hormonal or emotional but saki calling out to nakahara really got to me for some reason. her first word after years of silence was ‘dad’, and that hit me in a way i wasn’t expecting even tho i knew it was coming.

show us the akimoto/mizuki kiss, cowards

that last section was really fun to play for me (aside from that first little bit going up the first couple of floors of the hospital), the music’s great, the combat had (mostly) good pacing, the fights felt challenging in a good way, yeah i was all for it! reinforced for me how much i like mine as a character and wish we’d got to see more of him (but hey, look, if andre richardson survived the fall...?). like, the moment he realises daigo is still alive - and that he was about to kill the man he love- ahem sorry admired, so much - is seared into my brain.

[trixibebe]

oc stuff - Kori pre-Japan ~elementary school, high school, university

I once made a short post about her throughout the years but I wanna elaborate.

Elementary school: (age 6-14)

a good kid, good grades, pretty quiet, well liked overall

occasionally gets made fun of for liking anime, heard a lot of "one day you're gonna marry Naruto" kinda phrases; it did annoy her but she laughed it off as her friends just pulling her leg

people got eventually over it, so she wasn't really bullied for long periods

but because of these instances, and her parents raising her to be understanding in general, she always tried to keep an open mind about things, not wanting to judge people too soon or make them feel bad about their interests, like she occasionally was

always happy to help others with homework

starts loving Miffy

starts collecting stamps because she saw her grandpa do so and she wanted to participate

liked activity: fishing with her grandpa

High school: (age 14-18)

starts getting into metal, but also rap (it's her edgelord phase)

her goal to move to Japan is starting to become clear

has an unrequited crush but doesn't do anything about it (far too shy)

still quite liked overall (in a "she doesn't have to eat lunch alone" kinda way) but her friendships are rather superficial; not long after high school she loses contact with them

starts seriously getting into studying Japanese in her free time

liked activity: playing video games (fighting games) with her dad

University: (age 18-21)

moves to the capitol for university, lives on her own

eventually she gets a boyfriend who studies at the same department but they mutually part once she seriously looks up information on how to move to Japan (had a good time together but they don't want to "waste each other's time")

at this point she doesn't try much for friendships or relationships otherwise, knowing she won't stay here for much longer anyway

graduates with a Bachelor's degree in Eastern languages and culture, specializing in Japanese as one of the best in her class

she's generally on good terms with her parents but as the years go by she has less and less contact with them, especially after her grandpa dies while she's at uni

She then works in the capitol for two years to get the money together, before she goes on to move to Kamurocho working various jobs for a couple of years before she ends up in Majima's office. The rest is history :D

[atanx]

Just finished Yakuza 3 so here's some of my thoughts:

BEAUTIFUL EYES

Richardson and Kiryu talking at each other in different languages was so funny to me. Like they don't understand each other yet stubbornly keep talking as if they did XD

RIKIYA DYING WAS SO UNNECESSARY FOR THE PLOT WHYY like Kiryu has GOT to get rid of his stupid habit of leaving defeated enemies to their devices around various lethal objects (especially guns). Because they always, ALWAYS get back up. I'm not saying he should kill them. But like secure them in SOME way. Start carrying around some rope or something. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried.

Damn, Mine, babygirl, you are so beyond fucked up you need therapy BAD

Poor Daigo like imagine getting shot, being in a coma and you wake up on a rooftop in fucking december, toes freezing off, falling off of a hospital bed and immediately being greeted with the sight of several gun wielding assholes. You shoot them, still confused about what's going on (why tf is your father-figure of sorts there? Why is the dude u wished was ir boyfriend there? WHY ARE THEY SHIRTLESS AND BLOODY). Then ur crush starts spouting cryptic shit, the dude you shot somehow still has fight in him and to save you, your crush charges at him, getting shot multiple times and then tells you that he doesnt deserve to live before throwing himself off the roof. You've been awake for three minutes.

Also Haruka slapping Mine was EPIC. She should have kept going, kicked Mine in the shin, bitten his arm etc all feral foaming-at-the-mouth chihuahua mode

Also Mine feeling good about himself for having slapped a teen back. A grown ass adult. Like damn dude has issues

I'm stilk very upset about Rikiya. Like one moment I would run away from him in the Kamurocho streets and giggle with a warm feeling in my chest when he'd scream "ANIKII!!" and then the next he fell victim to this stupid gimmick of defeated opponents not being taken care of properly

I honestly feel like that gimmick is so overdone at this point

I think I did something wrong during the final boss battle because Mine was constantly going into this Jojo's bizarre adventure pose and regenerating health AND I had to do like the exact same QTE cutscene like four times even though I never failed it (besides the first time)

RIGHT I ALMOST FORGOT my steam screenshot folder is prob like 90% just various Majima facial expressions because I enjoyed them so much. Reminds me of that post going like "while older character models are kinda eh Majima's crowfeet in them slap!" and I really agree. I'm playing the games chronologically and when I got to YK2 something about Majima just looked extremely off but I couldn't put my finger on it. I think that's it tho they ironed him out and took away his wrinkles :(. Like obvs the model is still good it was just a weird change that I'm not sure why they implemented it. Anyway the Y3 Majima expressions are fucking precious especially the grins

Also pink truck scene probably best scene in the game it was so cute the way Majima was worried that he accidentally ran over Kiryu <3

I took way too long to finish this game because the old graphics are kind of jarring especially considering I played Judgement and Lost Judgement at the same time, but it was still a pretty good game. (another contributing factor was that for some reason the game doesn't allow me to do anything else on my PC besides access the taskbar while I'm playing it so taking short breaks is harder. The game literally does not allow for any apps to show up on screen) I'd really like a YK3 I think that would be epic especially to get an updated Rikiya model (I think there's an updated Mine model in Ishin? Idk anyway just more modern graphics would be really cool)

I can continue with Y4 now, which I'm really excited for because I've hears quite a bit of stuff about Akiyama and Saejima and this will be like the first proper contact with them and their storylines. I've actually started Y4 already and Akiyama has major cat energy to me

[stingslikeabee]

this had to be the wildest shit he had done yet for kiryu-chan's attention.

dressed in a hot pink snakeskin dress, that risked showing off more than it should, fish net tights, standing in high heels, a blonde styled wig, & finally, some make-up to finish the look off. he didn't however shave off his beard, fuck that shit, that was going too far even for majima, he spent too long getting this beard of his just right for him to be shaving it off.

he recalls fondly as he said to a hostess he knew years ago when they were talking about their jobs, majima jokingly said that he'll make a good hostess for sure, little did he know that would become a reality, although, good was debatable.

but, he really didn't want the attention of other dudes until kiryu-chan came along, he only got this job as he basically threatened the manager of the place that he'll bash his head in if he didn't hire the beauty known as goromi, so he went to hide in the staff room.

a familiar face was in there as majima walked in, he stopped in his tracks. oh fuck, it was someone he knew from sotenbori. melissa, wasn't it ? so she's working here now, good to see the gal still got it.

❝ fancy meetin' ya here, didn't i tell ya though ? ❞

this was the hostess he had that conversation with all those years ago, that he'll make a good hostess, & majima felt like he pulled the look off, he sat down next to her, in the least ladylike way in possible, legs spread as usual, with his right hand gripping his right knee.

❝ i make a good hostess, right ? think my man when he arrives will be happy with this ? think he'll take me on an afterhours date ? ❞

afterhours date ... more like an afterhours fight.

unscripted asks . always accepting

Hostessing, Melissa had found, could be a very fulfilling career once one got rid of the saddling debt and death threats. Well, most girls hadn't really gone through that part - and the brunette would never do it again; she had learned the lesson that her naiveté and the beginner years as a foreigner in Japan had cost her.

Melissa was now about to retire - she found herself looking forward to switching sides and going to management operations. After all, going so long in that industry had taught her a thing or two about what clients needed and what they were failing to find among the clubs, too. There was determination in her - she could get there, despite the upcoming challenges, and become the queen of her little kingdom in Kamurocho.

And then all her thoughts derailed at the moment Majima Goro's voice called her, the man looking like... One of her colleagues?

"Majima-san?" the brunette said while shifting in her seat and watching her former boss from her time at the Grand dropping into the place next to her. It was evident that Melissa had not been expecting to run into the yakuza there, or that he would be dressed in such an... Interesting fashion.

At that moment, one of the club managers got inside and approached her, bowing down to whisper something about how they had been forced to not only welcome Majima, but indulge his whims until a certain 'Kiryu' dropped by. He was working under the name of 'Goromi', and Melissa was asked to politely keep him out of the way and from making too much of a fuss; things were weird for the other girls and clients as it stood with a yakuza patriarch in the house looking like that.

"Ah, my apologies - Goromi-chan, isn't it?" the woman opened a smile next, but it was an entirely sincere one. Despite the fact that Majima looked very different when he worked as the manager for the Grand, he had never lacked a flamboyant streak (or the drive to do anything he put his mind to, really). The brunette had been a witness to his shenanigans more than once - in fact, it was good to see that he was well and still marching to the beat of his own drum.

"Well, come here - let me take a look at you. Your make-up is perfect, reminds me of the tricks one of my first bosses in Osaka taught me," Melissa winked at him, but actually held Majima by the hands, examining the handiwork and the overall look with a very serious expression. Well, it was impressive - his 'Goromi' persona was really putting in the effort, even if the dress chosen seemed to be about to cut the supply of oxygen to the yakuza's lungs; his body was much more muscular than the hostess had realized, and she vaguely wondered where he had found shoes that fit.

"And I really think pink suits you - you strike me as a girl who goes well with neon hues, Goromi-chan. I'm sure we will be collecting your man's jaw from the floor once he arrives; he would be so silly to decline the chance for a date, if that's what you want," Melissa nodded emphatically, clearly not only indulging her former employer but also having a very good time with the entire charade. She had never met this 'Kiryu' - and now the woman wished to linger and see how things would unfold.

The strangest thing was realizing that she was really cheering for Majima - he had looked after her during a bleak moment of the hostess' life and she would never not be grateful to the yakuza patriarch. It wasn't as if the former manager of the Grand didn't know how to take care of himself either, but Melissa didn't wish to see his good effort wasted and his pouty face around; Majima and a gloomy ambience were hardly a good combination, after all.

"Listen, if he doesn't take you on that date after we close, you come to me. I can take you on one, show all the good spots we go with our clients," Melissa squeezed Majima's hands playfully, offering him one more smile of the encouraging kind, "You got this, Goromi-chan."

[mjm5655]

“ we can not choose what fate has in store for us; how we mold the universe is dictated by our own hands. and their consequences determined by our own actions. we can not choose where our birthright starts, but where it ends. ”

dainty digits extend outward. both palms simultaneously take in Majima’s, and stacks one atop the other. purposely aligning their engagement rings together as symbolism for her next statement.

“ and as humans thrive, prosper and persevere—able to shape their own destiny. to become another footnote in history’s texts. their stories will be retold to the up and coming generation of yakuza. regardless how it began, your story will undoubtedly make an impact upon this underground lifestyle. for better or for worse, it will become a source of inspiration to those who look up to you. amidst it all, i endeavor to continue being apart of goro majima’s autobiography. ”

unprompted asks // accepting ! // @cogiita

❝ how is it ya always know what's buggin' me ? ❞

furrowing his eyebrows, somehow cogita always knew what was up with him, he began to wonder if she had what they called psychic powers. she was just really good at figuring things out. he had told her about his family sometime ago when she had asked, told her as much as he could remember ... wanted to remember. he told her how he wants to fuck his dad up for ruining his life, but really ? had the man really ruined his life ?

if none of this had happened, majima likely would have never become a yakuza. he'll been a businessman, ceo to one of the top insurance companies, he would have lived a very comfortable life. a boring life in majima's opinion. he wouldn't trade anything for the life he had now. being yakuza ... it wasn't a traditional job in the sense, especially when one was in as high position that he was in. he didn't have to do any work besides keeping his family in check, & advising the sixth chairman, anything majima decided to do, was stuff he didn't trust anyone else with. but more importantly, he never realised to the day he started running about with that biker gang, how much he enjoyed fighting.

a sport he was never really allowed to do by his parents, they considered it barbaric, even know they were barbaric themselves in their fights with each other. but majima could understand their wording, he was barbaric in fights, using a steel baseball bat ... he's killed many with that weapon alone, never mind his favoured knife. something his boss gave him as a welcoming gift. he's even killed with his bare hands.

hands held, majima looked down to see their engagement rings entwined each other, as if they were real snakes cuddled, & about to mate with each other. he looked back up into cogita's eye, her eye on his.

an autobiography ? who would want to read that ? no one in this lifestyle valued reading that much to read something so random as an autobiography. though, majima guessed when he eventually passed, there would be a lot of media surrounding it. there was enough media surrounding his false death, never mind when it actually does happen. he's legendary, everyone knows it in this lifestyle. the mad dog of the tojo clan ; though, he isn't really that much of a mad dog any more, he's definitely mellowed down, got more serious as he has aged. ever since kiryu entrusted him with daigo that he learned, kiryu considered a son ... majima has done his best in pointing the kid in the right directions. they had their ups & downs for sure, but it was never nothing the two didn't learn from.

majima would have never thought it ... that he'll been in such an important position, he always expected to be long dead by now. he never expected to have his own family under his name, he never even expected to have a fiance again.

❝ i dunno how ya figure it out, babe ... but yea, i'm proud o' what i've accomplished ... 'sides, ya ever look at me, n' go, yea, he could definitely be a ceo of an insurance company ? with a normal as fuck life, no fun allowed sorta thing ? man, i'll sooner die o' boredom if that was my life, fucker who my old man was ... i wish i coulda been the one to have ended him y'know ? left me, n' my momma fer dead, wish i coulda seen my momma 'fore she got axed 'pparently. she was as much o' a victim as i was. ❞

[squishylemonbubbles]

i don't have much in specific to answer to at the moment but just hearts all aroundddd

i think w goromi in specific it's important to remember unfortunately the whole initial joke framing, but then it's wild how they almost kinda… back down from that. the conversation could have been scrapped, never written in the first place, could have jumped right into kiryu saying "ew, gross" (even if this would be ooc, the writers… clearly don't always care about that anyway lmao) and fighting right there

like i'm sure that's why people see so much in her, because in spite of the first look we get at her being a "lol baited" joke, everything else about the interaction is… decent if not sometimes good. goromi's wavering pronouns (うち, 俺 and あたし) are never really brought to attention, beyond the first "wait, majima?" shock i don't think kiryu brings her looks into anything, they just… talk.

there's something to say for the fact that almost all of the crossdressing and outright trans characters in the series are men and trans women, being hypervisible groups that are easy to get "shock" from. but again, that's why i think a lot of people appreciate goromi - even with the "joke" she is a genuine character, being that she's majima, not just. uh. shock fodder or a substory girl you'll never see again.

and that brings up a lot of possible questions to explore, like… how did majima learn to fight in heels? is this a one-time thing, or does he have experience in this? why did majima go to this kind of length, acting out a date when he could have dragged kiryu outside the moment it began? how the fuck did majima learn to fight in heels—

and like, part of the "joke" is her mixed masculine-feminine presentation, being "so obviously a man", but that's something i've so rarely seen in actual queer rep that uh. yeah. fucking crumbs over here, which is frustrating as a man with mixed presentation myself. so often crossdressing characters are the "femboy" and, uh, "trap" type that are so unbelievably passingly feminine that it again, is supposed to come as a shock, and even genuine moments aren't so relatable to me.

so i get people who are turned away by the joke presentation for sure, but there's enough genuine character talk within the interaction, and a mixed expression so rarely represented as anything more than a pure joke that i think it's understandable to hold onto the idea of goromi and make her even more legitimate.

also AAAAAHHHHH trust me i've been thinking how badly i want to dress up saejima… i'm all aboard the fat saejima train too so like, between that, and his lack of exposure to *gestures* anything in the last 2 decades (right?) i think there's a lot to explore and unpack with him and i want. to do it. alas i don't know yakuza 4 yet LMAO. i need him… to gender. i need it

your thoughts on goromi and kazumi? :3c

ok sorry it took me a day to respond it's because when i saw this (and periodically afterwards when i remembered this ask) i legitimately just (out loud, late at night) went

GOD. FUCK. GOD I LOVE WOMEN!!!!!!!!! I LOVE WOMEN I LOVE WOMEN I LOVE WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!! AND I LOVE MY GENDERQUEERS AND I LOVE MY TRANSVESTITES AND MY TRANS PEOPLE AND MY DRAG ARTISTS I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!

because i didn't know how to verbalize this image that appeared immediately in my mind but which i also had to make myself

literally any of those interpretations of goromi and/or kazumi are incredible gorgeous scrumptious. i was gonna end it there but i gotta reiterate some things actually oh my god i love them so so much

i figured out i was genderfluid right before i first played kiwami so goromi literally changed my brain chemistry

like i don't think i CAN put it into words how much goromi means to me. she's incredible. what the fans have done with her is incredible. i never finished it but i was planning on making a massive post on my relationship with gender and goromi and what she means to me but i can sum it up. im gonna (numbered) list some needs and then talk about how goromi hits each one. (so like 1-4 (general) then 1-4 (goromi))

i have never encountered nor heard of a genderfluid character within canon media. not even a character that uses multiple pronouns. the closest situation to it are shapeshifters, and even then their other genders are more like disguises than "openly same person just different gender/expression", so it doesn't scratch that itch for me and i never really related to them much, nor to even the occasional fictional nonbinary person. i didn't really relate much to transmasc people and their experiences either. honestly, the stuff that grabbed me most were transfem stories, which i didn't understand because im afab (turns out im transfem AND transmasc. i know that's unconventional but you're just gonna have to trust me on it bc im not elaborating rn <3). it's not as if i don't have transmasc-typical experiences or feelings, but it's like. it's different. hell my genderfluidity doesn't even present very much like what I've seen from other ppl. what the fuck. so basically no man is an island except for me okay.

when i go into media expecting queer rep, i tend to be underwhelmed by it. im not sure why exactly, but i tend to enjoy non-canon stuff more for whatever reason, even as i yearn for actual representation. the result of this is that the rep i tend to be most affected by is stuff i stumble into on accident, canon or not, so my expectations/feelings develop more naturally. it's not an exact science, but it's there.

(i think some of the aforementioned issue also comes from the ways rep is done. like maybe they're sapphic, but they're usually both cis and gender conforming (not even gay-looking femme either, like. cishet normie style. hallmark type gay, for lack of a better term) and neurotypical, so their experiences are vastly different from mine. i just tend to latch onto them less than I'd like (i imagine this goes even more for poc because oh my god is (western) sapphic . media like. very very white). basically, i lack investment in them because they lack the texture i need to get a foothold in it)

one of the main problems i have faced as a genderfluid person is a lack of direction in regards to transition. I've never seen it talked about but there's no way for me to ever get a body i am going to be consistently satisfied with, given current technology. the best i can do is try to straddle several common gender demands and compromise between them. if i want to cut my hair, i have to live with it tomorrow, when it might give me dysphoria. if i take hormones, it'll be slow to take and slow to stop. surgery is permanent. it's not that there's no solutions, but i just. can't be the person i want to be at all given moments, or even most of them, because doing anything at all takes from something else. and so when the closest thing we have to genderfluid rep is shapeshifters, it doesn't feel like rep to me because it's a completely unattainable fantasy, and one that disregards one of the primary issues i face given my identity, one I've never seen represented

I've never seen a character that a significant amount of people headcanon as any kind of genderfluid or multigender. i don't really know that many people with such identities either. so even within fandom spaces, where queerness can be more evident/daring, it's a rare thing to see, and never reoccurs within the same character much

im not gonna lie i just really like majima in general okay. and kiwami hyped me up so hard on its queercoding so any little thing got me howling and crying and pointing vigorously.

speaking of which i FUCKING LOVED YAKUZA back then (still do <3) but i literally knew no one who played it and didn't engage with it online other than scrounging pinterest (which was rough but also shoutout to that comment on a majima post that was like "so there's this he/she 😳" you literally actually changed my life and also made me soo so much more transgender. lime it was already there but it got multiplied. thank you i would actually kiss you in real life mwah) so like any queer rep that's good or close enough is gonna rock my world. I'd already talked to rina (that sapphic hostess) and kiryu saying gay rights and her talking about her actual issues was fucking. i cried actual tears over that man it meant a lot to me. not the point rn though

okay i think that's enough. here's how goromi engages with these points

look idk what it is but goromi FUCKS gender wise. big scary gruff nasty yakuza man in the streets, absolute BABE in the sheets. she's gender nonconforming as fuck and she's. god i love her. she's so interesting, the way she's both a disguise and fully just majima for real in a way the other disguises aren't. like she puts so much more design and thought and personality into goromi's clothes when she coulda just gone to party city and grabbed Hostess #1 y'know? she's the same person, but her mannerisms change in ways i relate to. it's intentional and it's not intentional and i love her she's complicated and again gnc femininity is actually super my jam apparently so that's it that's the itch scratched. more in point 4

full disclosure i technically knew about goromi beforehand and was very prepared to fall in love with her, like heart racing clearing my schedule kinda prepared, and i wasn't disappointed. i wasn't expecting it to be like... so good, y'know? like i got my hopes up, i just was kinda also bracing for something queerphobic to happen (which can happen, but it didn't for me), and instead the encounter was really affirming and tender and wonderful and romantic and i really fucking liked it ok. maybe she wasn't supposed to be more than a gag character, i don't know. but there's a lot of genuineness in what she says and how she acts. she feels real, she makes sense like this, and im not alone in seeing that significance. and people took it and ran with it beautifully, because they found something meaningful in that (see 5)

it helps that i was already really invested in majima as a character. he has a LOT of texture and frankly this series can't write or treat its women well so like. we'll make one i guess (transes your fave). a lot of female characters (and a lot of mainstream queer ones as well) tend to be kinda sanitized in certain ways, or just don't have a lot of room for personality elements that could be divisive or non-marketable, if that makes sense. they can't be "ugly" or "annoying" or "cruel" or "gross" or "bitchy" or anything else. my favorite female characters are ones that are allowed to be weird and unpalatable!!! they're wonderful!!!! let women be shnarsty 2k23. and goromi is anything but bland <3

this one's big. goromi has to wake up tomorrow and be a patriarch. she has to keep her men in line. for all the confidence and glamor of the butterfly of the night, she's gotta take it all off tomorrow. maybe when she's not ready for it. maybe she can't do all the stuff she want to with her presentation because of her job, or because she's predominantly guypilled, or whatever. a lot of it for me comes down to her goatee. it's not just that she's gender nonconforming (though that reading is in and of itself deeply refreshing), it's also that she may face some of the limitations in expression that i do, in a way I've never seen expressed before. she has to pick and choose. is she gonna want that goatee tomorrow? is it worth it to shave it off only to feel weird without it? is it worth the time it takes to grow it back? she's no shapeshifter, and it can very well cause her problems. but she still radiates beauty and confidence, y'know? i love her :)

this one's really important too. i have never seen so many people see my (often OUR) experiences in a character like this before. she's WIDELY headcanoned as bigender, genderfluid, etc, and people love her so much. i am not alone in loving her for very gender specific reasons, and the fan content I've seen really resonates so much with me. sometimes when im down I'll just... dig through goromi content. she's a great pick me up, even when her stories aren't completely happy. the myriad ways people interpret her and her identity and how/when it came to be, the self discovery, the confidence, the insecurity, the compromise, the vulnerability!!! the GENDER. (god the outfits they put her in. stop im already dead. im so endeared to her you have no idea. but you probably do and THATS the magic, baby) i have found solace and camaraderie and belonging in people's content of/for her, and im not alone. seeing that passion and excitement is so profound to me, even more so than it usually is with art and community and fan spaces (which is already a lot). when i mentioned i was making a "what goromi means to me as a genderfluid person" post (the one that got scrapped oops lol), someone responded saying they, as a bigender person, also really loved goromi for that. it meant a lot to me to see. genderqueer readings of goromi are obviously not universal and there's for sure transphobia within the rgg fandom, but I've never seen such a large force of people united in not just a trans interpretation, but a genderqueer AND genderweird interpretation. WE THE GENDERFUCKS LOVE HER IS THE POINT

not much to say here besides: this is why marginalized rep matters in all media (rather than just designated gay zones), because seeing it grow/appear in media that means a lot to you makes you feel like you're being seen as a fan. you matter and are a part of that world. i think it especially makes sense as part of a big/long running franchise as well, as a part of adapting to a changing society and an acknowledgement of past gaps and work to correct it. it's also good to get a wide variety of voices and experience portrayed, and that's easier when more people are doing it.

related to above but this one's short but it's one thing to have a side character in an rgg game be queer and accepted, and it's another for a main character to be so queercoded, and accepted within canon, at that. i think that's part of why people care so much about how mine's lines and story are translated and depicted, as well, though that's another tangent for another time

umm other goromi points speed round

number one i have SUCH a big lllllllesbian crush on her oh my god. i love womne. two the visual art these people make of her is insane. like they UNLEASH. three the fan writing surrounding her is also so good mwah thanks y'all four i watch the goromi all answers somewhat frequently fun fact about me five if any character is getting a shrine in my house it's her. kiryu's a second. i need to see this woman all the time im not fucking around six her voice is soooo pretty to me seven why did they put her in the worst lighting in her intro. not important she serves always but that was really strange like she's pretty don't be scared of it. embrace it seven 80s goromi content drives me insane I've posted about it before but it's so fuckinf good eight t4t kazumaji is always going to be incredible and flavors where goromi exist are impeccable. same for saemaji. equality nine i love how she screeches and cackles and wears "gaudy" clothing i love how instead of trying to be the "perfect woman" she's like fuck it im gonna be myself it's like that post about that trans guy who wants to be one of those men who's house has a bunch of disassembled cars in its yard just loving the mundane and the unconventional or unconsidered elements of gender because it feels so good to explore that even if others take it for granted ten HARUKA + AUNT GOROMI CONTENT >>>>>>>!!!!!!!! eleven i love women and i love queens and i love queers uhhh i think that's most of it for now

kazumi time

i also love women. i love kazumi. i love her so so much. much like goromi there's a handful of ways to interpret her identity-wise and they're all fantastic.

something I've noticed about the series while trying to scheme up sapphic/"genderbend" (i mean it's? not the most accurate term but it's as close as i can get. "sexbend but they're cis" is i guess also it but like. they don't have to be cis? anyway) content for these characters is that a lot of the ways they live their lives and express themselves are very tied to a particular kind of masculinity. so like, take kiryu. kiryu's pretty gender conforming, and his job is to be a big strong man who protects the weak. he's expressed feeling pressure due to gendered expectations before. how would one go about an "everyone knows she's a woman + transphobia is not relevant (i.e. a cis woman kiryu or i guess just. really early transition kiryu? idk)" version of her? because she would not have these same expectations living as and being seen by the world + the yakuza as a woman, right? is she gender conforming, or gnc? is she butch or nah, i guess. and i think majima's relationship to goromi has some overlap, with like,, how he is only able to do yakuza things as a man and fun girly stuff as a woman, how she's an outlet/persona (or everyone just thinks she is).

this is to say that people seeing goromi (as she's allowed some wiggle room by being both more mischievous/deceptive and queercoded in a more feminine way) and seeing her and kiryu's dynamic and going oh bitch. it's makeover time and pulling him in is GREAT because it's fun and hrngh women sexyhot but also fascinating in regards to like,, how kiryu as a character relates to gender. I've seen a few interpretations (namely @squishylemonbubbles ) that view kazumi as a sort of way to put the sword and shield down and just... be. be taken care of, even. to be softer in ways she can't be as a man due to her environment. and i LOVE that shit. and then some people are like idk she's a bad bitch though let her have some gender too and that's ALSO GREAT. i like it when people explore her with goromi as a guide/catalyst, though i think it'd be cool to have her do things a little more independently of goromi/majima/kazumaji stuff just for the sake of it. i love her. people should draw/write about her way way way more often and maybe just exclusively from now on and i think maybe I'll be satisfied. i should do that too

bonus thought: we should do this for way more yakuza characters. you're telling me NO ONE has done saejima yet. I've never seen her. no daigo no akiyama no ichiban etc (i was gonna say nishiki but i actually HAVE seen hostess nishiki..... once... <3). c'mon. t-boy swag/drag king haruka also has a lot of potential but i think ppl never do it partially because there's no women in this series so like. endangered species

anyway im not kidding i actually was derailed for a while just going OUHOUUUGHHH I LOVE WOMEN when i first got this and it was a delight getting to answer this, thank you x (also sorry it was so long? anyway im gonna edit this and link to some of my goromi and kazumi content, of which there is too little, because i love them so so so so much. ok bye)

(ok here's some of my goromi and/or kazumi posts. some of them are old and im not proud of them all anymore but that's okay. they may not much but they're honest work. in approximate most recent -> least recent order)

misc doodles ft 80s goromi AND girlboss nishitani

goromi pink truck dialogue

squishy's kazumi design 1 (ft goromi and haruka)

squishy's kazumi design 2 (but it's just kazumaji this time)

she was a boy and he ate. worms

screaming into the void about drawing kazumi

^^similar but for goromi (actually im redrawing this atm bc i never posted it)

80s goromi text post

another goromi wip i didn't finish oops lmao

wigless goromi wigless goromi

goromi kiryu post-fight printcircle

misc goromis

aunt goromi

unfinished wip teaser i was super confident about and then never finished oops lol anyway it's more goromi

[nagarashi]

Damn this game! How many times can you hurt my heart?! D;

This cry of discontent means that I played Majima Saga yesterday and all I feel, well besides being devastated, is the desire to drown myself in a river of my own tears =_=

Admittedly, after Zero, the later parts (I settled on Kiwami 2 for now) started to feel a bit more... bland in terms of emotion compared to Zero. So Kiryu's drama doesn't really grab me, either with Yumi or Kaoru, even though I like Kiryu himself as a character, but the tragic image of Majima Goro and his love burned the brightest mark in my heart after which everything else seems rather simple...

 

There's so much Majima in Kiwami 1 that at some point an overdose could happen, everyone remembers that great "Majima everywhere" system, right?  After the events of Zero, I find his obsession with Kiryu very interesting, and oddly enough, his attempts to constantly punch him in the face are a gesture of friendship, as paradoxical as that may sound.

Goro says he wants to fight Kiryu to the fullest, but I have a couple of thoughts about what else that might be... We all remember Zero's denouement and Majima probably knows what kind of involvement Kiryu had in it. I think his desire to keep Kiryu in shape is due to his own gratitude for his help with Makoto and that Majima knows how important it is to be strong if you want to protect what you care about.

 

Everyone calls Majima a comic character, which is a little strange for me, because this comedy is based on tragedy. Maybe I'm overly depressed, but watching his "madness" after Zero makes me sad rather than funny... Or bitterly funny.

His Mad Dog persona, to me, is more of a defensive reaction to the external environment. For almost the entire game, Majima feels oppressed by the fact that his life is under someone else's control, it doesn't belong to him. Most frustrating for him is the fact that he is unable to make his own decisions, which is evident near the end of Zero, when he learns that even his decision to protect Makoto was calculated long ago from the start.

Even when Shimano makes Goro an extremely profitable offer, that is, Majima brings Makoto to him, she gives Shimano the right to own the land, and the girl will be out of danger as Makoto stops being hunted... And even more, Shimano will give the girl to Majima, but he refuses them in the most radical way by making his own choice. Besides, where's the guarantee that everything promised is true? Not to mention that such an act would leave an extremely unpleasant residue on Majima himself. If he did that to Makoto, how would he be different from those who would use him?

 

No one would risk putting a collar on a mad dog, no one would touch it, and no one would go near it...  The image of a chaotic and unstable guy is a good mask to scare off those who want to put this beast back on the chain.

However, the real Majima does sometimes show through the Mad Dog mask. One of those highlights for me was the scene in Kiwami 1, it's practically a moment, but that makes it more memorable... The scene in Shangri-La when Majima takes the girl hostage. Still trying to hide under the mask, he unwittingly shows the same Majima from the distant 1988, still wounded by his love... At least that's what I thought of when I saw him let go of that girl at her words that she already has a lover, she reminded him of his own love for Makoto. Not to mention that no matter how badass Majima thinks he is, he won't hurt, much less a woman or a child.

 I always thought he looked very sad at this moment...

 

Finally, the reason I'm writing this is Kiwami 2, or to be precise, Majima Saga.

When playing Kiwami 2, I was surprised that the game would touch an old wound on my heart again, as I realized at the time that we would no longer be given as close a look at Majima as we were in Zero. So it came as a surprise to me that at a certain moment the opportunity to play for him arose. And I was even more surprised when the events of Saga led to his chance encounter with Makoto.

I was really afraid that the developers might have done something to spoil the story, but...

 

The first minutes are served up in a fun tone - Majima holding back a scream of pain so Makoto won't hear it. It's as funny as it is sad when you think about this scene in a more... larger scale and apply it to Majima himself, who literally has to remain silent in order to hide his feelings from Makoto... and I'm not talking about the pain of the massage right now. That's why his song "Shiawase nara ii ya" to me comes across as more of a scream than a song, a desire to scream out what he wanted to say to Makoto... but couldn't.

 

Then he notices the watch on her hand and seems surprised that she still wears it. Makoto tells him about the important part Majima has played in her life, because thanks to him she was able to get the right to happiness. And he listens to her with an incredibly gentle and warm smile, filled with... relief. After all, this is exactly what he wished for, for his beloved to be happy, even if not by his side. I wonder if listening to Makoto, did he ever think about how they could have a family?

 

It seems to me that Majima really wants his own family. He's got the makings of a good father, and he gets rather sweetly lost when the kids turn to him, it knocks Goro out of his usual mask... For example, it's worth remembering one scene in Dead Souls where he's just giving tough orders and then just one thank you from a little girl makes his Mad Dog mask give a crack and then rushes to defense with some kind of recklessness.

I love how for a moment his gaze slips to the side... He even looks a little tired at this moment.

I'm not talking about the doll girl quest or Hibiki and Yuki's quests in the cabaret club storyline.

Also, in 1992, when he marries Mirei Park, Majima takes the news of Park's abortion rather harshly (even hitting her, and I think deservedly so), which underscores the fact that family is a rather painful topic for Majima. In addition, Park hid her pregnancy and subsequent abortion, perhaps because Majima wanted a child while Park was more interested in her career.

 

I love how many parallels there are in Majima's and Makoto's fates, and that Sotenbori has played an important role in each of their lives, the only difference being that for each of them it is seen differently.

For Makoto, it is the city where her misfortunes began, and for Majima, it is a cage, a prison... She meets Majima and tells him that Sotenbori's is a special place for her, a place she keeps fond memories of when she first met him. It's funny how just one man has made her forget all the pain that was concentrated in Sotenbori for her. This is where her brother left, where Makoto was tricked and sold into slavery, where she was hunted... And yet she keeps good memories of this place, of the short time she had with Majima. And by staying here, she hoped to meet him again, for years to come... And Majima, who for no reason would not want to return to Sotenbori. For him, this place, no longer a cage, but the memories of what was lost in this city are still alive. In fact, it demonstrates well how emotionally fragile Majima can be under the mask of Mad Dog.

 

I like how in the dialogue about the watch, Makoto tells that it's old and should probably be thrown away, but it's important to her, it's her treasure. It's always with her, even the old strap has long since worn out and she had to use a new one... But it's so bright and doesn't fit such an old thing at all. She loved the old design, elegant and perfect for this watch...

How funny that her words felt as if they had a double meaning.

The old thing in a bright, garish wrapper... It's so much like Majima himself that if you forget about the watch for a second, it feels like Makota is talking about him.

 

I also find it very cute the way Majima smiles when Makoto asks him to keep what she told him a secret. It's so in a special way true and gentle, the very presence of their own secret that no one else knows about....

 

The only pity is that everything ends sooner or later. So, the brief reunion came to an end...

It would seem that making the breakup scene on the same level as in Zero, when you could feel what was going on with Majima without any words, would be difficult... Well, Kiwami 2 did a great job with it, but in my opinion in a slightly different way that only emphasized Majima's feelings for Makoto even more clearly.

In the final Zero we could read his feelings through his eyes and the barely visible changes in his face, as he tried his best to hide his feelings from Makoto, but in Kiwami 2 we can see that in their last moments together his resilience began to falter...

 

If for the duration of the massage, Majima made every effort not to show his face and not to look at Makoto, which he was clearly eager to do... and their last moments together only attested to that.

He was in the middle of the session hiding his gaze, but at the end of it, just as he did at the end of Zero, he suddenly starts to hesitate...

 

When he takes the card, he has a moment to walk away, but he continues to stand there unable to turn away from Makoto.

 

Even when he answers Makoto's question, he still reaches out to her with his gaze... like he's waiting for something. From her? Or from himself?

 

And then the situation only gets worse... Majima is caught by his sadness, which he has felt for 18 years, cannot look away ... the most piercing gaze in its tenderness. You can see and even feel every second like a nail being hammered into him, nailing him to his beloved image, seemingly permanently, forever....

 

... And then it all comes to an abrupt halt.

 

Admittedly, that moment when he abruptly turns away is probably one of the hardest moments for me, after Zero's finale. It's in such contrast to the scene before, when Majima gently touches Makoto's smile with his gaze, that I even thought I could hear the sound... you know, like something ripped, like a sharp jerk, or like a tender melody was interrupted by a sharp blow to the keys. At that moment, though, that's what Majima most likely did, yanked himself away with all the strength he was capable of... 18 years of longing and uncertainty...

But Makoto is happy, just as Majima always wanted. Who would he be if he interfered in her life now?

 

Just a moment of weakness, showed well the extent of how much he longed for this girl, that even he barely had enough self-control, he literally breaks free from the grip of his feelings as if from the claws of a beast.

 

Once again, the story ends beautifully on the watch...

Majima once again grants Makoto's wish, which she dropped on nothing, without hope or expectation, she was just talking... But the sad dog grasps at this wish as the little thing he could say without words, "I love you, be happy."

 

P.S.

I freaking love this moment... That frantic look gives me goosebumps.

 

Always found it interesting that Makoto was supposed to be the one to free Majima (i.e. the contract to kill her in exchange for his return to the Tojo clan) ...and she did, but not the way everyone hoped.

She was the reason Mad Dog was finally able to break out of his cage... ...and the reason he was able to keep his soul.

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days

Author: Asaura

Illustrator: Imigimuru

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 9 September 2022

My Score: 4/5

Content warnings: parts of the book are told from the POVs of the customers of LycoReco. Most of them are adult men and this leads to some of the descriptions of the girls feeling a bit icky. There’s a particular part where Takina and Chisato mention that they have night work leading to the customers wondering if they are engaging in sex work and Chisato’s chest is mentioned in relation this. This is a fairly minor problem but I thought it worth mentioning because gross. Also, the final story is very dark with depictions of bullying and attempted sexual assault.

This is a short story collection for the recent anime Lycoris Recoil. I really enjoyed the anime so I was eager to read this and, for the most part, it didn’t disappoint. The short stories here are intended to show the daily lives of the main characters and there’s a good variety of tones and themes explored. While I didn’t like every story, I did enjoy seeing more of the characters and the simple writing style made it a breeze to get through. The focus of this volume is purely on Chisato and Takina. The other staff members of LycoReco do appear but they’re not given much focus and characters like Fuki are only mentioned in passing. I thought this was a shame as I was hoping for a story about Mizuki or Fuki to give them more exploration that they were missing in the anime. That being said, I love Chisato and Takina and this book definitely delivered on the ChisaTaki moments. At first, I thought it was a bit lacking but the stories get progressively gayer, especially in the third and fourth story. They are very cute and wholesome. Judging by the state of their relationship, the appearance of Kurumi and the lack of mention of Yoshi or Majima, I’d say these stories take place after episode 4, with the aquarium, and before episode 6 as that’s when they first directly encounter Majima. Overall, I thought this was a good short story collection that was easy to read and gave some satisfying fan service. I don’t recommend it if you haven’t seen or enjoyed the anime but if you have then it’s a real good time.

Now I’m going to go into further details on each of the stories and my opinions on them below the cut. There will be spoilers, especially for the last story so be warned.

There are five short stories and between each story is an Introduction chapter. These are used to introduce the topic and tone of the following story. They also feature the plotline of a journalist who wants to write an article on the LycoReco Cafe. I thought these were good breather chapters and led to a good payoff at the end of the book but I didn’t care for the plotline much.

The first story follows a new customer who is retired early at the age of 55. Takina seems concerned about him so Chisato thinks Takina’s in love with the guy and puts all her effort into getting them closer and convincing him to see Takina as a serious romantic interest. This is of course a misunderstanding and Takina actually hates him. She hates the gloomy atmosphere he brings to the cafe and hates that he always only orders coffee and no food. While I had a bit of a chuckle at this one and it was in character, I did find myself annoyed about the misunderstanding and I didn’t care for the older man character.

The second story entitled “Gun Fight, Coffee, and Chisato’s Red ‘That’“ is the shortest one and the one that I disliked the most. It’s pretty much one big action scene with a lot of descriptions of gun that bored me to tears. It tries to explain how various gadgets in the show worked, like Chisato’s non-lethal bullets (the red “that” in question) and the parachute bag seen in the anime’s opening but I didn’t care. I forgot almost everything about it as soon as I finished it. Probably the most interesting thing about it is how Chisato’s bullets are described as looking like flowers blooming when they hit which was not how they came across in the anime. If you like guns, you might like this one more than I did.

The third story, “Takina’s Cooking”, was one of my favourites. Takina’s starting to adjust to life at the cafe but struggles when it’s her turn to cook lunch, leading to her just making protein shakes. Chisato of course makes it her mission to fix this disatrous state of affairs. The comedy in this one was great and the ending was so sweet and adorable.

The fourth story, “LicoReco of the Dead” was probably my favourite. In this one, Takina and Chisato wake up to find themselves alone at the cafe and that a zombie infection has happened while they were asleep. They quickly conclude that this is a dream and the story is about their survival. The reason why I loved this one is because of Takina’s reflection on her relationship with Chisato. Chisato asks Takina whether she would like to be together forever with her and it leads to Takina doing some overanalyzing on her question and it’s great. This is what I mean by this volume getting gayer with each story: we started with Chisato thinking that Takina was in love with an older man and we get to a story where the highlight is Takina having gay thoughts.

The fifth and final story, “What Would You Like to Order?” is very bleak. It’s about a middle schooler named Kana who has found solace at the cafe. She lives with her dad and step-mum but has complicated feelings because their relationship started before her dad and birth mum seperated. She hates her dad and step-mum for this. She’s also getting bullied at school and is blackmailed by her bully who took a nude photo of her while she was getting changed for gym. The bully blackmails her into spending her afternoon with the bully and her boyfriend who try to get Kana into sex work. When she escapes, the bully spreads the nude around and then her teacher tries to sexually assault her. To escape, she pulls out a gun that she found and was planning to use to kill her bullies and parents. Like I said, this is a very bleak story and I had to skim through most of it because it was so depressing to read. I did like that it explored why someone might be driven to the point of murder as the anime dealed with very black and white cases of terrorism and this was a more complex case but I found it a let down as the final story. It does have a happy ending but I found it unsatisfying and it didn’t give me as much catharsis as I needed after reading such a depressing story.

Thankfully, it was followed with the outroduction and a bonus very short story to end the book on a happier note. I think it’s testament to the writing that even though I only really enjoyed two out of five of the short stories, I still came out of it thinking that it was a positive experience. Despite not liking every story, I still had fun reading most of this book (except the last story) and I hope we get more spin-off novels in this vein. Maybe one focusing on other Lycoris? I can only hope. Given the popularity of the anime, I think this one has a good shot of getting an English release so here’s hoping.

[woundedheartwithin]

(Just a little one shot I banged out in record time because I have feelings.)

Yakuza Kiwami 2 | implied unrequited Majima/Yuki

———

“Kiryu-chan!”

That voice. His voice. Here, of all places.

She freezes, still looking at Kiryu when he groans and rolls his eyes nearly out of their sockets.

“Majima no nii-san.” He huffs, annoyed, and Yuki finally forces herself to look at the source of the voice that had offered her so much guidance so long ago, at the man who had been her friend, her confidant, her protector, who had disappeared into thin air like he’d never existed at all. “Do I want an explanation?” Kiryu continues, exasperated, and Yuki blinks at the phantom before her.

“M-Majima-san?” She breathes, her hand flying to her mouth as she drags her gaze over him. He looks like a crazy person with his snakeskin blazer and stupid haircut, and if not for the warmth in his only eye, if not for the janky eyepatch that covers the other, if not for his handsome face and the kindness that somehow still lives there, she’d have testified under oath that this was not the same man she had known nearly two decades ago.

She looks again at his jacket, worn with nothing else beneath it, the black leather pants and gloves he wears to round out whatever look it is he’s going for, and thinks that the only thing the Majima she’d known would have ever been caught dead in are the silver-toed boots he still wears. Somehow, they fit this look far better than they had the tuxedo he’d always worn before, and Yuki feels a little unsettled at the thought.

Her eyes drift to his bare chest and the tattoos that peek out for the world to see, and she suppresses a shudder at the implication. She’d always suspected he was yakuza, just as she suspects that Kiryu is now. No ordinary man could have fought like she had seen Majima fight, and Koyuki, Kana, and Aika had all recounted the vicious scraps they’d inadvertently dragged Kiryu into themselves. She actually might be more surprised if they aren’t yakuza. But ordinary men do not bear tattoos like the ones on Majima’s chest, and Kiryu’s deference to the older man is telling to say the least.

Not that it matters, she thinks as she marches up to Majima, stopping in front of him and slapping him so hard across the face that his head snaps away, pitching his whole body sideways with the force of it. He freezes, comically holding the posture of a man slapped for a beat too long, then chuckles lightly and straightens, rubbing his cheek with one gloved hand as he looks just past her shoulder.

“The hell was that for, Yuki-chan?” He asks glibly, and that just makes her angrier. She slaps him again, this time on his other cheek. He gasps and puts his other hand on that cheek too, pressing them forward so that his cheeks squish and pooch out his lips. “Ow! That hurts!” He whines, and she might have laughed if her guts weren’t tied in knots, anger twisting viciously in her chest as eighteen years’ worth of worry and grief boil over within her.

“I thought you were dead.” She says lowly, hating the way her throat constricts and burns as she says it. Majima’s face falls then, affected more by her words than either slap, and he studies her with his one good eye with something like regret in his gaze. “Eighteen years, Majima-san. You’ve been gone for eighteen years. You disappeared out of nowhere, without so much as a word or a phone call or a damn postcard. I thought something terrible had happened to you. I watched the news every morning and every night for years, waiting for the day they dragged your body out of the river. I thought.. I thought.. oh god.”

She breaks then, sinking to the floor and covering her face with her hands, sobs she tries to hold back erupting from her chest. She feels Koyuki kneel down beside her, her soft, small hands grabbing her shoulders and rubbing comfortingly as she babbles a meaningless but well-intentioned apology over and over again. But Yuki doesn’t want to hear an apology from Koyuki, who has no idea what she’s talking about.

She wants to hear it from the man who had broken her heart.

“Yuki-chan.” He murmurs through a sigh, put upon like he’s speaking to a naive child instead of a 39 year old woman, and Yuki feels her anger spike again. “I…” He starts, hesitating as though he can feel her emotions shift. “I had a lot goin’ on at the time.” He continues in a deep rumble, more sincere this time, and she looks up at him with watery eyes. A long moment passes, so long she’s sure he’s not going to speak again, and the weight of his gaze is almost suffocating in the silence that has fallen over the entire club. Then he sighs again, looking away and rubbing nervously at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Yuki-chan. I guess that was pretty shitty of me to just leave without sayin’ anythin’.”

“You think?” She snaps, and he smiles tentatively at her as he steps forward. He kneels down in front of her, putting his weight on his heels and resting his arms on his knees, and she watches him warily as he looks her over with such warmth in his gaze that she can’t hold it for long.

“C’mon. Can’t have ya gettin’ stuck down here.” He teases gently, then grabs her arms with his gloved hands and pulls her up, his touch lingering longer than is strictly necessary before he withdraws and grins.

“You’re one to talk.” She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her nose in the air. “You’re practically an old man, now. To think you prance around in that outrageous outfit. If ‘walking crisis’ is the fashion statement you’re going for, then congrats!” And he laughs at that, full and loud, and she can’t stop the smile that creeps across her face at the sound.

“What the hell?” He crows, one gloved hand delicately touching his chest as though he’s a damsel who’s just been slighted. “Where’d this savage Yuki-chan come from?”

“From years of living without you!” She fires back without thinking, then blushes fiercely and looks away, ignoring the soft gasps from the other people she’d forgotten were still in the room. Majima laughs again, softer and warmer, then reaches out and hooks his fingers under her chin, pulling her face back and looking her in the eye.

“Then maybe me leavin’ wasn’t all bad, huh?” He murmurs gently, that warm sincerity back on his face, and she can’t fight the shy smile that pulls at her lips.

[real-sotenbori-hours]

Hello there 💖 Love your writing and just finished yakuza 0, and if you're up for it, I'm in the mood for something different. I love Majima, but I'm craving drama atm. What if he and his badass beauty of a s/o are getting it on and he calls Makoto's name by mistake? New bae is sweet, makes his lunches, but is NO Makoto! How shook is she? Can the couple reconcile or is that the deal breaker?

This is a terrific prompt... I’ve been dealing with some roller coaster emotions as of late so I appreciate a drama req. Pls be patient and I’d love to write this. TYSM for requesting <3

Mistaken Makoto

Reader is Female

Mild smut, angst, mentions of trauma

***WARNING: YAKUZA 0 SPOILERS***

What a day. If she didn't stay and help up, who would?It had been this way all week, and Y/N had only realized how emotionally and physically drained she truly was at the end of it all, which couldn't be more ideal because nothing is worse than realizing how thanklessly overworked one is in the very midst of the issue itself. Thankfully she now had a couple of days off to decompress and relax and the first things on her mind were a quick snack, a cup of tea and hopefully some pleasures of the flesh with her all too irresistible man. She desperately needed some bliss to tear her from her incredibly demanding lack of work/life balance. Good thing her man was more than understanding.

They didn't reside together, but Majima's flat was a lot closer (and fancier) than her place, so she typically crashed there in the evenings especially after late work days. Her apartment was more of a storage unit for her belongings and less urgently needed clothes as she usually spent her nights at his place. Though he'd been pushing the idea of moving in together for months, it was just so much work to pack her stuff and close out her lease and with her long hours as of late, she didn't have the energy to seal this lingering loose end. She planned on it, but something else held her back from making it official. She hadn't even had the time to analyze her trepidation, it was just there, and something far more easily avoided. Money wasn't an issue, so she couldn't complain. She'd get around to it soon enough.

It was a damp, sultry evening... an hours' long rain had set a sexy mist in the air and with the low lights of Kamurocho illuminating her quick and safe walk home, she felt like a seductive evening at home was just what the doctor ordered. Majima had texted her only a couple hours prior, hinting at the same theme as he'd just settled some big work things and wanted to relax. He'd offered a lovely night on the town but because Y/N was stuck at work just a little later than usual, a hot night at home seemed like the move. He'd warned that he was settling in for a nap, and to wake him when she arrived.

Her plan was to forego the food and tea, strip down and slip into bed with him... he loved being awakened by her eager warmth.

After locking the door, she dropped her coat and shimmied out of each of her professional garments, slowly sauntering into the bedroom from which only a dim light from the bathroom shone due to the door being slightly ajar.

What a marvel --- his back was to her, his irezumi slightly visible in the dim light and partial obscurity of blanket. No matter how many times she'd seen it wet, dry, slightly irritated from her nails raking its flesh, it still made her skin tingle. She loved Majima Goro through and through and was willing to do anything for him. He treated her like a Queen and still offered her the world if she needed anything. He respected her independence, always offered to support her if she so desired, and was in turn endlessly grateful for her love and commitment to him. Many a time she wondered how in the fuck that she was The One to tame a yakuza boss... but she had. It was so natural and uncomplicated, she never batted an eye. It was sparks in the air the first time they met and every day and night since.

By the time she reached the bed, she was beautifully nude and ready. As much as she needed him and his attentions, she wanted to at least begin by lavishing him with attention while rousing him from his slumber. It drove him crazy.

After slipping beneath the linens, pressed against him, she kissed his shoulder, slowly and deliberately and then made her way down the back of his arm while slipping her hand along his back and over his hip, gripping the bone. He groaned, rolling on his back as she snuck up to his ear.

"Mmmm, I'm home...."

No further words necessary, he wrapped his arms around her as she straddled him, kissing and biting his lobe, down his neck, stopping to suck along his clavicle. His hands found their way to her hips as he gripped them and urged them to rock back and forth, but she wanted to prolong it. She needed to tease a little.

His eye remained closed, his breathing grew heavier as he gripped her hips hard enough to bruise. She adored it.

Leaning in to kiss his neck, she traveled up to his lips, leaving quick and desperate pecks along them before sinking herself on him. She rubbed his pecs delicately before leaning back and gripping his thighs, preparing to ride him. Just as she'd begun to establish a momentum, his hands gripped her forearms, his eye still shut tightly, lips parted. She raised herself, holding steady, slowly sinking down on him again just as he moaned... "I've missed you..."

She loved it when he mused in the throes of it. She bounced a few times, leaning in to kiss him again, harder, taking his bottom lip and kissing his chin... leaning in further to whisper, "I've missed you too..."

He slid his hand up the back of her neck, gripping and keeping her close. He turns his head, eye still screwed tightly shut as he kisses her cheek. She rolls her hips again. He rubs his lips along her lobe, sighing.

"Mmmm..."

She slams her hips harder, urging him to chase his release as he continues to keep her pinned to him, gritting his teeth. She loves his scent, his sweat, she wants to lap up every bit of it.

"....Mmmma..."

She bites at his clavicle, sucking tenderly as she continues pumping him with her entire body, just wanting to make him feel so good for no reason but adoration and appreciation for him... She just wants to hear him moan and watch his face contort as he fully surrenders.

She sits up, one last slam as she tightens herself around him. She descends, pulsing on him, cradling his head as his lips part one more time. He exhales, groaning.

"....Makoto...."

Screeeeeeeeeeech.

Y/N's heart, stomach, hell, fucking everything dropped. Without a second thought, she pressed her hands on each side of her along the bed and dismantled herself, rising.

His eye flew open, his head frantically turning, searching for his girlfriend, who was promptly planning on redressing and bolting before the tears could burst out of her into every direction. What the fuck?!

"Oy!" He shouts, sitting up, still registering.

She's already made it out of the bedroom, picking up every piece of her clothing trail and hurriedly putting them back on with the urgency of a burning building.

She's grabbing her bag off of the counter as he barges into the kitchen, wrapped in the linens. "OY! Where the hell ya think yer goin'?"

She takes a deep breath and turns around to face him, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm leaving. Fuck off."

"What in the hell for? What's the matter?!"

ARE YOU SERIOUS.

She steps forward and shoves him with a single, open hand. Bag still in her other hand. "FOR CALLING ME 'MAKOTO' WHILE I'M FUCKING ON TOP OF YOU. ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

He catches himself, grabbing the counter and throws his head in his other hand. "Jesus Christ, I'm a little drunk, babe. I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, great. Well, you can be sorry alone. I'm going home."

"Nah c'mon don't be like that, it was a mistake, I love ya and ya know that, don'tcha?"

"You know honestly, I'm not sure. If you're thinking of her while I'm giving it to you, giving you my fucking body, my affection, my time, I think the mistake is my being in this entire fucking equation. I must be insane. I knew there was a reason I wasn't ready to move out of my place yet...."

"Nah babe it's not like that, I swear. I'm really sorry, I know that didn't feel good but I was in such a deep sleep I really wasn't thinkin---"

"---ABOUT ME. You were thinking of another woman. While I'm here. Are you serious? Do you have any idea how much I love you, how you might as well have shoved your tanto straight into my chest? That would've felt better than to hear another woman's name come out of your fucking mouth..."

Majima realized this wasn't a conversation he could charm his way out of. All of the times he came home battered, bruised and bleeding? Yeah after a few minutes of patching, he could calm her down. All of the times he was stuck at the office late and hadn't eaten in hours, she'd bring him something home cooked, knowing full well that none of his favorite shops were open. She'd beg him to come and get some sleep but he'd assure her that he'd get it done and be fine. She'd take it all in stride, this was the man she loved, it was par for the course.

But being called another woman's name, one that held such a crushing significance in his life? Nah.

"...I'm leaving. I need space. Leave me alone for a few days." His eye flew open as he nearly tripped over the blanket, dashing to her and grabbing her arms.

He knelt, looking up at her pleadingly.

"Y/N, baby, please. Please. Yer everythin' ta me. Please don't go..."

She sighed, too tired to even fight the tears. She let them roll.

"I can't do this, Goro. Maybe you love me, but obviously I'm not everything to you. Maybe it's unfair for me to demand to be, but it's what you are to me, and I can't compromise. I won't find myself in another love in which my feelings aren't matched."

"They are matched, babe. Please just stay so we can talk about it. If ya don't wanna stay after that, fine, but please gimme a minute to explain..."

"Goro, what's there to explain? If she's still in such a dominant place in your mind, then what's left for me? I can't share your affection like that. This isn't gonna work. Am I supposed to get over it and hope it doesn't happen again? What do you take me for?"

He choked, taking a deep breath. He dropped the Kansai-ben.

He looked up at her slowly, his face changing, his voice low and serious."I cared a lot for her. I haven't spoken with her in almost 20 years. There is nothing there. Sometimes I'm plagued with nightmares from the events of those years. Between my captivity and the situation in which I met her. I wish her nothing but the best. I have moved on since then, clearly. She only means anything to me because she is a good person. I'm not in love with her, I'm in love with you, and only you."

Y/N swallowed hard, taking his words into consideration... soothed but still feeling an uneasiness.

"You said her name while you were balls deep inside me. How are you going to explain that away? Be fucking honest with me. You have one minute."

"Makoto and I were never physically intimate! She isn't an ex-girlfriend or former love or anything like that! It was an honest mistake, it had nothing to do with the fact that you and I were in the middle of it, okay? I was just waking up, babe..."

"You were conscious. You grabbed me, you kissed me..."

"My mind was still out of it. Come on, I'm telling you the truth. I love you, Y/N. I love you like crazy. Makoto has absolutely nothing to do with my life now. I was just having a fucked-up dream."

Y/N set her bag down and draped her arms around him lazily as he hugged her hips.

"Look, I don't know how much I ever told you about it but here's the brakes: I was told to kill her and if I did, I'd be let back into the family, which was all I wanted at the time. You know all about my Grand days and that tiny apartment and the fact that all I did was run a cabaret club and get followed everywhere I went and my direct boss at the time would just slap me around like a fucking puppy and throw wrenches in everything I did, right?"

She nodded.

"I was told that I'd be in good standing and that I'd get my life back if I did my first hit. I was supposed to take out some ruthless scumbag that trafficked women. It was a no-brainer. I hunt my target down only to find that this ruthless scumbag was a blind woman who had no idea why in the fuck anyone would be after her. You can only imagine my confusion and why I did not kill her. But I was then of course risking worse things than death by keeping her alive and hidden away, all the while lying to my boss. Once he wised up, he tried to kill me, her and the guy she worked for at the time who was a solid guy. I watched him die. I got roughed up time and again, had to find her, make sure they didn't kill her. She was totally blameless and a survivor of the trafficking itself. This woman went through so much and still never batted an eye at her poor hand of cards. Yes, I wound up caring for her very deeply and after all was said and done, I could've told her how I felt, maybe she felt the same, who knows. Instead, I wanted her to be happy and to have nothing to do with me... because at the time, I only created more and more enemies as I climbed the ladder and I knew I couldn't keep her safe forever. I knew that at that time in my life, I had to focus on where I was going, I couldn't drag an innocent person into my mess of a life just because I had feelings for her. I did what I thought was the right thing then and I stand by it now... and where I'm at now, finally, is a place in which I can finally be with the woman I love -- you -- and I don't have to keep you away. I'm not climbing anymore... I'm no longer a real target and neither is anyone close to me."

Y/N nodded again, feeling relieved... but sad. So sad. Sad for being angry at him and sad for his loss... she had no idea the extent of what Makoto was to him and had only assumed the usual out of fear of bringing up such a heavy conversation... but she was glad to finally have it all out in the open.

"Alright... I know I shouldn't ask this but I need to..."

"Anything, babe. What do you want to know?"

"Do you wish you had been with her anyway? I know comparing myself to her is nonsensical but---"

"---Could I love you like I did her?"

"Yes."

"...No. Because the way I felt for her is different. You have to understand, I had to fight dozens and I mean dozens of men to protect her. She kept getting nabbed, I'd have to fight my way through buildings full of armed men to get her out alive. She got shot and almost died. I thought she had at first. It looked grim. So I guess in a way, the way I felt for her then is that I just wanted to protect the only truly good person I ever knew in my life... at that point. How do I feel about her now? I just hope she's happy... and I believe she is."

"You said you haven't spoken to her in 20 years?"

"That's a half truth. When we went through all that shit, she was blind. She never knew what I looked like, she only knew my voice. Years later I ended up in Sotenbori tying up some loose ends that led me to her shop and she didn't realize it was me, telling a perfect stranger how she was happily married with a kid. I was glad to hear it, you know? That was it. I just hope her life now is great because the first half wasn't, you know what I mean? That's it."

Y/N closed her eyes tightly and breathed in slowly, trying to make sense of her emotional state.

"Goro-kun..."

He looked up for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Y/N-chan?"

She sighed once again and carded her fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends, trying to stifle a laugh. Though she was still mildly hurt, the burn of her fury had subsided... she was grateful to have gotten a full discourse out of him and now felt almost foolish for being so (understandably) upset. She all but worshiped this man... he has always been good to her, holding her up on a pedestal, treating her with the respect and care that one only does when they truly and deeply... love and care for another.

She realized it's not a competition, Makoto wasn't "some other woman" or even a threat to her... she was a member of his past, a traumatic and murky one at that. She realized in that moment that it's okay that Majima loved another woman (and more, of course) before her... look at him.

But in this moment for a time before and likely to come, Majima Goro is hers and only hers. He did the right and likely painful thing by scratching at the scab to let her in, to tell her what happened and how it applies to his life now... to give her a perspective on her importance to him now, in comparison to what he's endured. It's a scab because the events of his past never truly heal or leave his psyche... he's just learned to live with and in spite of them, in many thanks to her.

Her unconditional love keeps him grounded, her presence adds to his purpose and for her, the same.

She was indescribably appreciative that the gave her a part of him in his honesty... and she would never take it for granted again. Walking out the door in anger would be, in her eyes, taking it for granted.

He nuzzled his face against her stomach, cradling her hips, giving her all the time she needed to cycle through her thoughts and feelings. God, what a man.

She gripped his chin and pulled him up to his feet, slipping an arm around him, re-tucking the blanket around his hips.

"Let's go to sleep... and bring back the Kansai-ben. I miss it already."

He laughed his usual insane, multi-octave laugh and grabbed her face, kissing her lips, nose, cheek and forehead before ripping the blanket off of him, wrapping it around her and scooping her up, carrying her back to the bedroom.

[snuggetfish]

I know that you're busy but would it be too much to ask about some Dadjima having a tea party with his little daughter, Bun-chan and maybe some other dolls and plushies 🥺? Bonus points if Majima's wife is taking photos of the tough Yakuza patriarch who is absolutely wrapped around little finger of a five year old and attending a very important meeting with Bun-chan. Bun-chan doesn't take shit and is a one hard negotiator.

I like to think that it's kind of a tradition for Majima and his little pride and joy to have those tea parties at least once a week (he really tries to make it but his line of work doesn't really allow to have a regular schedule.)

Even when she's a grown up the meet for tea in cute cafes for their quality father/daughter time.

Anon this is just the kind of sweet mental image I needed to get me through a tough week! 🥺💖💖 I wrote a short fic based on it and I hope it does your idea justice!

"Ya drive a hard bargain, Bun-chan," Majima declared, in between sips of his much-too-sweet tea, served in a much-too-small cup. He tried to sound poised and formal, offering the round bird plush his best “negociator” look, in spite of the awkward position he was hunched in.

"Bun-san!!" a feisty voice corrected from across the coffee table.

"Sorry, sorry where are my manners? Bun-san, o' course..."

“As I was sayin’, you and yer partner here”, he paused to glance at the dopey smile of a stuffed axolotl sitting to his right, “really know how to put the screws on a man.” 

The pink blob had been carefully posed with its front legs looped through the handle of a teapot and its head turned to stare right at Majima, or maybe right through him, for maximum intimidation. Like waiting to make its move, the moment Majima emptied his cup.“More tea, sir?” it would’ve said, in an ominous, froggy drawl.

Concealing a smile, he turned his attention back to his little daughter, who was supposedly preoccupied with fixing Bun-chan’s tie, but secretly stealing glances at him. Her big eyes sparkled with an eager hope, unmatched in intensity by any of the other beady gazes from around the table. Had daddy finally given in?

“So it's ok then? Sweets before dinner and I can stay at Midori-chan’s house tonight?” she questioned.

“Sweets before dinner once a week. An’ it’s gotta be a fruit, no chocolate. Ya can stay with yer little friend as long as ya like, “ Majima conceded, before dropping to a lower tone to add: “...provided ya hold up yer end of the deal too."

The girl squirmed on her seat, pouting.

“No more stayin’ up late, kiddo. We agreed on nine as bedtime.”

“...ten?” Seemed she wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“Nah, if momm— my advisor—” He briefly locked eyes with his wife, sat just an arm’s length away, teacup in one hand and camera in the other  “ —says ya gotta be in bed by nine, there ain’t no ‘buts’ about it. Girls need their beauty sleep, y’know?”

“But, but...

“What’d I say about ‘buts’?” 

“But then I don’t get to see you come home...”

The sentence hit Majima like a boulder to the chest. As much as he’d tried over the years to not let his work keep him busy late into the night, the days where he could arrive before the entire house had gone to bed were still few and far between. He felt foolish for thinking that maybe, with her mother always around, she wouldn’t notice his absence.

“Hey, c’mere,” he motioned to his daughter and she obliged. As soon as she was next to him, she pressed herself to his side, half trying to climb into his lap and half hiding her face in his shoulder. Majima’s hands instinctively went to hold her, rubbing small circles on her back.

“Listen honey, how about this: every night daddy’s home late ‘n yer already asleep... he promises to tiptoe in yer room to give ya an extra big smooch. That sound good?”

She wiggled a bit, angling her curious little face up at him.

“How big?”

“The smooch? Big enough that it wakes ya up... but only for a second! Then ya gotta go back to sleep.”

“Show me how big!” she kept wiggling.

“Need a down payment first, huh?” Majima chuckled and wasted no time bringing his lips to her soft cheek, squishing harder for every one of her delighted giggles. When he pulled away, she seemed almost disappointed it hadn’t evolved into a tickle fight.

But there was still business to discuss. And besides, the sweet scene had already been immortalized. Amidst the giggling, he was certain he’d heard the faint sound of a shutter going off.

“So, about our deal,” Majima began, certain now that he’d sweetened it enough to make his girl acccept it with no further grumbles.

The kid didn’t respond, instead sllipping out of his grasp and padding over to each of the plush participants. She whispered some words into each of their ears (or gills, in the axolotl’s case) and nodded gravely as she listened to their equally conspiratorial replies. Finally, she turned back to face her dad.

“My advisors told me to tell you:... yes.”

An afffectionate grin spread across Majima’s face and this time he made no effort to stop it.

“Well then, was a pleasure meetin’ with ya today, ladies, gentlemen...” 

He bowed his head in a parting gesture, but just as he was about to get up, tiny fingers tugged him back down. 

“Wait! How we gotta do the cup thing! 

The cup thing? He watched her hastily grab the lukewarm teapot and fill the two closest cups, Majima’s and Bun-chan’s, as it happened. Then with slow, ceremonious movements, she swapped their places, nudging them in front of their new owners before enunciating in a clunky Kansai:

“That’s how ya seal a promise!”  

Majima could do nothing but blink at his reflection in the clear liquid. Oh. The cup thing. Of course. Sakazuki. What 5-year-old yakuza daughter wouldn’t know about it?

[blackcatclawsout]

Majima Goro x Reader- Breakfast for Two

    I also post to AO3 under this same username!

 It wasn't often Majima got a day to himself, let alone being able to spend it with his lover. He enjoyed doting on her whenever he could, one might even say that it could be one of his favourite past times.

Then why the fuck was he in bed alone?

Majima's eye cracked open, exposing itself to the bright room. The steel-grey eye darted around the room cautiously, searching for signs of occupation. He stirred, bare legs sweeping through the bed sheets, cooling with every newly discovered area. A huff, and he was propped up on his elbow; groggily looking about. The blue of the morning sky painted the white walls of the apartment walls, adding to the suprising chilliness of that particular June morning.

Majima sat up, looking out the window. The bustle of greater Tokyo was steady, with civilians treading on their way, trains taking their baggage to the next weighted stop, and cars synchronously flowing through the streets. He loved it here, wouldn't trade it for the world. Being able to share this life with her, the foreigner who somehow survived the streets of Kamurocho long enough to find him, it was unthinkable.

He swung his feet out of bed, settling them on the cold flooring. His body ached as a shiver ran through him. His last fight had left him pretty battered and bruised. Majima hoisted himself off the bed, limping towards the bathroom. He poked his head in, finding no one in.

Where the hell is that gal?

He came in further to the bathroom, eyes falling on the gaunt figure in the mirror. His body resembled that of a leopard, spotted with bruises and welts. Majima was the first to admit; He loved a good thrashing with Kiryu, but he could understand the concern of his girl. He had pretended to feel perfectly fine around her, to not notice her stirring when he arrived in the early hours of the morning, gasping quietly when he removed his jacket while undressing. He frowned, how the hell could he take care of her if he could barely take care of himself.

Majima sulked out of the bathroom, grabbing a pair of boxers to wear before roaming the rest of the house.

Real shitty way to start my day, feeling sorry for myself an' all that

He walked out of the hallway, brooding as he entered the kitchen. He was completely caught off guard looking up.

Y/N puttered around the small kitchen, quietly humming as she cooked. Majima watched in amusement; he had always known her as a driven, unconventional, and modern, so to find her doing something like this was a surprise.

As she turned, her eyes darted to the entryway, eyes settling on her partner. There was a pregnant pause between the two before Y/N smiled.

"Good morning, Goro-chan" she chirped, tilting her head slightly.

His heart leapt, causing Majima to suck in air through his teeth. His aches melted from his body, pushing him forward.

"What's all this, Y/N-chan?" His eyes scanned over her work in a much-needed distraction.

"I took you not leaving by six this morning as a sign that you were staying home, so I decided to make us some breakfast." Motioning to the food, they watched together, the savoury smell of fish first catching Goro's attention. He glanced at her, a small grin tugging the side of his face. God, he loved her, like no one else before. He almost couldn't keep it to himself.

"Yer too good for me... You know that right?" he settled his jaw in the crook of her neck, hugging her from behind. He held her tight to him, almost like he would wake up from this perfect dream.

She sighed blissfully, "Nonsense. Now go throw on some clothes- the rice is almost done."