#anyways i'm wondering if this means next case there's going to be multiple murderers

[sleepdepravity]

finished chapter 4 of dangan ronpa v3 by the way. i wanted to mention that i think both case 3 and 4 are real solid, very good line of reasoning and satisfaction of like. going through the logic. i *am* suspicious of the two new rules that they've set up through both of these chapters though. They really need a mass murder to happen. may happen next chapter i suppose.

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 19)

The finale begins!

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - The Motel Episode

Current Score: 76 acquired/113 total

(Points versus @venus-is-thinking: 27 acquired/38 total)

Bench Points: 8/10 (so far)

(Note: Scoring for Fiore, James, and Yul was taken from the Motel episode. Scoring for Tom, Aiden, Lake, Connor, and Miriam are taken from the preview.)

Well, that was... not what I expected! I mean, all of the character dynamics and fun banter I mostly expected-- other than that one last shot at some Yul depth-- but the setup for the three finale helpers being chosen by a first-dibs challenge was not. And, even if I knew that that was going to happen, I probably wouldn't have guessed that Fiore, James, and Yul would be chosen as the helpers to Ally, Jake, and Riya. I look forward to seeing those unexpected pairings gain more focus in the finale.

Yeah, I think that pretty much everything else I had to say, I covered in my initial thoughts. There's less to talk about here when no one was actually eliminated. So, let's look at the trailer!

Trailer Analysis

Looks like Emily will literally have to drag Trevor into being complicit kicking and screaming. Surely Derek and Trevor won't have a misunderstanding this episode that is resolved romantically in the last episode, right?

I'm guessing that Ally and Jake are practicing here? Notably, it appears that Jake wins the practice race. I'm sure that won't get in Ally's head.

Ooh, are they doing the Survivor-style finalists' breakfast this season?

Is this one of their letters from home? Why is Jake smiling while reading it? Out of the two of them, I would guess it's probably Riya's letter, but it could also be a surprise Connor's letter or something.

We're back in the mines from Season 1! Some bonus trauma for Jake, as that challenge occurred in the episode where Ellie berated him before he got eliminated.

I guess maybe they have to mine/dig for clues?

Despite the two seemingly getting along while eating breakfast, Ally will still sabotage Jake's team via giving James a rock to the face. Maybe that'll make James think twice about emotionally supporting Ally. (/j)

So, Emily's act of sabotage (for this episode at least) is releasing the scorpions onto the campers in the midst of an otherwise peaceful challenge. Hooray for murdering people...?

First of all, Jake needs to stop engaging in long jumps where he barely makes it to the other side. Secondly, this is probably the same gap that we see Riya putting a bridge over multiple times in the trailer, which may imply that Jake and James reach this area before Riya and Yul.

Of course, everyone is going to wind up in the same tunnel at the same point in time anyways.

This is interesting because, in the last shot, Riya was in the front of the pack. But now, she's throwing a rock at Ally, who's ahead of her. I wonder which scene happens first.

"C'mon, everyone! Let's do the Jake cheer we've been practicing!" "One, two, three, four! Gooooooo--" "And, that's enough of that! Here come our finalists!"

James looking so dead inside while doing the cheer has me dead. Based on this, I'm guessing that Ally will have Hunter, Tess, Grett, Gabby, and Ellie, as well as picking up Alec, who's there to support Fiore. That would leave Jake and Ally with even benches, and Riya with no one other than a mandatory Yul. I feel really bad for Ally, though, given that Jake picked up both Ashley and Connor. It makes sense why both of them would pick Jake (they befriended him first), but I hope she doesn't take it too hard.

Power Ranking

I don't even think anyone is getting voted out this episode, so I'll keep this formality relatively quick.

#1: Jake

Jake is still my winner pick, as he has been for a while, and nothing other than his elimination is going to change that. Going up against Ally + Fiore and Riya + Yul is a stellar combo for Jake, because no way ONC wants Fiore or Yul to actually get their hands on any money. The only mildly confusing thing is that James would wind up winning money from the show again (despite being the first boot, even), but I have half a mind to believe that he'll just donate that money to Ally anyways.

I think that James is here to be an audience insert. Having barely participated in the game at all, James is still of the belief that Jake is exactly the same as he was at the end of Season 1, no matter what Aiden tries to tell him. By being someone who had no faith in Jake who learns over the course of the finale that Jake truly did become a more thoughtful and responsible guy, ONC will use a character that the audience loves to prove why they too should root for Jake's victory. They want to prove to the nonbelievers that Jake has improved, through him mending his relationship with his first DCAS burn. Or at least, that's how I see it, as a Jake winner truther since the beginning of the merge.

#2: Ally

While an Ally/Riya finale feels basically impossible to me, a Jake/Riya finale is plausible. Offputting, but plausible.

Ally has been in the strange position of being rootable but unlikeable for most of the game. I believe that she could turn it around and win, if ONC is going for a plot twist ending, or that she could be taken out now as the lesser of two evils to let the real baddie shine in the finale. Most likely, though, I believe she'll take second, learning some important life lessons and maybe getting some money from James.

Fiore is probably here to be the devil on Ally's shoulder. She'll suggest something cruel and unusual, and it'll be up to Ally to decide whether she can resist those urges, or whether her fate will fall to villainy. Fiore also may be here as someone who can comment on her relationship with Hunter. She saw the beginning where they were fighting, but she's also been at the Loser's Motel for long enough that she probably knows how Hunter feels about her now. If she's feeling nice, she could use that as motivation.

Let's go team Fiore!!!

#3: Riya

If someone is eliminated in this episode, it'll be confusing in and out of universe if it isn't Riya. She has Yul as a partner and a second disadvantage, and no one should want to work with or root for her. She's also obviously not going to win the season, so if the writers want to keep up suspense for who does, they should eliminate her and leave the finale to Jake and Ally. Really, the only reasons why I don't think she would be eliminated this time are because 1) it's so obvious and 2) I don't think anyone will actually be eliminated this episode.

I think that Yul is mostly here for the comedy of it all, and so that the writers didn't have to choose who he would genuinely choose to root for otherwise. There is also some juicy potential for something I've mentioned before-- for both of them to reflect on their shared tendency to sabotage themselves by always choosing material success over building relationships or choosing to be kind. If we're lucky, we'll get some reflection on that, but I'll be happy with just a Riya/Yul cringe comp.

Alright, I've probably hit my government-mandated word count now that I've yapped about the helper choices a bit. Excited for the finale! Let's end this season on a high note!

[animehouse-moe]

Link Click Season 2 Episode 4: Let It Unfold

As we enter into the heart of this season in terms of story, the opening of this episode does struggle a little bit with some all-too-convenient exposition about Qian Jin, which thankfully the latter half makes you forget all about. Potentially a bit of rough writing to give viewers information, as we slip into the past we shed those struggles and present a more expected but refreshingly different plot line. Certainly still a good episode, and certainly still a good bit to talk about.

So like I said, the episode itself doesn't start off incredibly strong by any means. It details all the information leading up to the current events: the phone missing, the picture Lu Guang has, Qian Jin's past, and so on and so forth. I don't think it's explicitly bad, but it feels like rushed writing for the story. A big old exposition dump from multiple parties, it feels like. Personally, I definitely believe they could have done a better job with conveying the information, but I also think it would take considerably more screen time to do so which is where this tradeoff stems from in the first place most likely.

Anyways, I'll just quickly expand on a few of those key details here.

Qian Jin's contact with Xixi. They're obviously aware of one another, but apparently were not working together explicitly at this moment. Qian Jin's surprised to hear that his lackey doesn't have Liu Min's phone, but isn't unaware of who's calling or shocked at the phone call when (presumably) Xixi makes contact.

Qian Jin's past. A by the books cop that gets turned sour after the death of a loved one. It's not a novel story by any means, but is clearly the foundation for some sort of interaction with Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi. It does make me wonder though if Xiao Li will play a role in talking down Qian Jin, or if Cheng Xiaoshi will take over Xiao Li himself, since he's the one who oversaw the murder case.

And the last piece: the weight of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang's powers. Not quite exposition, but definitely the most important piece of dialogue through this front half. It continues to establish the regret and grief the pair feel over their previous forays into the past, and their hesitation and wariness of continuing with it once more. It's the natural conclusion from the first season, so I'm glad to see it referenced so heavily whenever the past arises between these characters.

Anyways, into the past we go with Cheng Xiaoshi as Xixi. I think similar to the first half there's not a world of stuff to talk about, but overall it's the much stronger and more put together sequence in the episode. The struggle of a single mother with a mute daughter is felt rather quickly through the story, and Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang are firing off piece after piece of information for the viewer to soak up.

Overall, it's a really solid sequence that teleports viewers back into the season 1 mindset as we explore experiences of the past and their regrets, challenges, and fears. Considering how well fitted it is to the overall idea of this season, I'm really curious to see how they move forward and how often we find ourselves diving back in time.

Regardless of my thoughts though, as I just said there's quite a bit of info here and there to take in, so let me highlight it really quickly.

We'll start off with this interesting notion. By pulse alone, the doctor could tell something was different with Xixi. This itself means that when Cheng Xiaoshi takes over the body of a person, they exert physical changes to some degree. Arguably only temporary changes, but a stronger pulse and physical capabilities were shown here specifically.

It's also just funny because Cheng Xiaoshi was worried about this specifically.

Next up is the eyes of the mother. This one makes things more complicated, as she shares the same eye color (but not pupil shape) with Lu Guang. Equally as interesting is the fact that Xixi's original eye color (that reddish-pink) does not come from her mother, but presumably her father? Considering that, is it possible that Xixi's father is the source of Lu Guang's abilities, and that the father (who has Xixi's eye color) is the one chasing Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang? That presents the question though of why a father would attempt to kill his own son, which is the right kind of dramatic for Link Click, if not a bit of a stretch.

Next up is our first callback to the opening, our stuffed animal. I know it doesn't look exactly alike the 3D one because of the style, but if you pay attention the design on the ears is the same. A rounded triangle on one, and a star on the other.

This indicates to viewers both the number of pasts we visit in this season, and also the order of them. We've started with the stuffed animal, will move onto the gun, and finish with the diary. Now, I'm unsure of who the diary may belong to, but I'm somewhat confident that the gun story will be related to Qian Jin who's past we learnt of today.

The next piece is this curious question: the deceased owner of a phone that was texted information about Qiao Ling. The name is Liu Lan, which has the same surname is Liu Min. Are they actually related? Is Liu Min the real brother of Xixi? It raises an incredible interesting question of just how things came to be, and if it actually is Liu Min that's Xixi's brother, or if there's any relation to Lu Guang. Incredibly curious detail to reveal, that I'm very interested to learn more about.

And last but not least, Cheng Xiaoshi's realization. Is it Liu Min's father that touches Xixi's mother on the shoulder? Or is it someone else that Cheng Xiaoshi would recognize? Whoever it is, their expression relays the notion to the viewer that Cheng Xiaoshi knows the person that's in front of them at this moment.

From here, we end the episode with (presumably) Xixi waiting for Cheng Xiaoshi to discuss things with him. Are they planning on airing out all of the pasts to provide a reversal of events? Knowing the past they now aim for the future? It's an interesting question to pose, but without knowing what it is that (presumably) Xixi wants to tell Cheng Xiaoshi, it's hard to say for sure what direction we'll be moving in with the next episode.

Building a mystery atop several smaller mysteries, all the while taking into account timelines and order of events can be challenging. So far though, Link Click S2 seems to have a pretty confident read on how it wants things to go down. At times it might be a little too literal with how it hands out information, but at its core it still aims for the heart like season 1 did, which leaves me very hopeful for how things go as we continue on here. Very much looking forward to the next episode.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 10

Come to think of it, this is probably the most emotion we've seen Rika display in any of the arcs up to this point. Also, this section shows that Shion Sonozaki might actually be dumber than Keiichi.

I wonder if Japan has a fundamentally different interpretation of what a witch is compared to your more traditional European style witch? Or maybe I'm just woefully out of touch in that regard and the idea of a witch being basically immortal is the more commonly accepted idea.

Hanyuu and her nice new bag of I told you so's. Now, I know I've said this before in regards to the characters in the past, but Rika is such a dramatic child. She suffers one singular misfortune and she writes off all of her accumulated good luck as just gone forever. I'm not saying she's wrong for feeling that way, I'd be lying if I said I never experienced days where if one single thing went wrong I would start thinking everything was ruined forever. I'm just saying she's been such a rather optimistic character lately that this change to complete and utter defeatism is kind of darkly funny.

If Rika gives up and loses her last shreds of hope and becomes something that's no longer Rika, does that mean that Hanyuu was born from a similar situation? They've said multiple times that she's existed for a lot longer than Rika, so was Hanyuu formerly a human? I don't know if that's the case at all, but it's a fun little thought experiment I think.

Skipping ahead a little, Rika goes to school the next day in the vain hopes that Satoko will be there as well. When she's not she let's her despair takes over and starts being Rude Rika, telling Chie to shut up and she's going home. Chie then takes this thoroughly morose Rika to the teachers office and gets the skinny from Rika about how Teppei has come back and is basically making her life a living hell.

The rest of the main cast eavesdrop and overhear about Satoko's situation.

Say what you will about Keiichi, and I have, at length, and will again. But at least when he decided to plan, and then carry out a murderous plot he at least had the good sense to not scream it out loud in front of witnesses. Sure, everyone knew anyway because despite the idea that people remember the past arcs has only really become a thing as of Tsumihoroboshi everyone somehow knows everything everyone has ever done in this series.

Wanting to put a delay on Tatarigoroshi: Shion Edition Chie drives off to Satoko's home. Would Tatarigoroshi: Shion Edition give her the ability to kill people with her mind, do you think? I think it would. Anyway, she arrives at Satoko's house and is immediately screamed and shouted at by Teppei. Upon being yelled at that yes she's here, no you can't see her, she's just sick, trust me Chie goes back to the school.

Shion rants and raves at Chie's uselessness in this scenario and once again talks about "come on guys, murder!"

Rena proves once again to be the brains of this outfit, because honestly, if you're gonna kill the guy just do it, don't yell and scream about it. Shion decides the next logical course of action is to beat anyone who gets in her way with a chair. Which she does. She smacks Keiichi around with the chair until he convinces her to quit giving him brain damage and to calm down for a second.

Something that I like so far in this chapter is the fact that the TIPs are back to being more than just documents. I recall in chapter one the TIPs would have these extra documents yes, but it also had scenes like Rena and Mion talking secretively about how Ooishi is a servant of Oyashiro and the like. Then up until Minagoroshi here, the TIPs were all just extra lore building documents. So it's neat to see them go back to extra scenes and actions outside of the main narrative.

I'm trying to be more upfront with what I like so far with this chapter, because in very short order I won't have much positivity about it. Once the narrative switches back to Keiichi as the viewpoint I had a pretty miserable time of it, up until it switches back to Rika's perspective.

[my-arlington-academia]

A little fanfiction for Axel's birthday! (Yes I'm always late to everything 😔)

After I missed his birthday, for some reason inspiration hit me and I wrote this to apologize to myself for forgetting. I decided to make Scholar a boy in this one since I feel like there's not enough male Scholar content! (This is also the very first fanfic I have ever shared with other people so don't be surprised if some parts are really clumsy. Beware of possible typos and grammatical errors...) Enjoy!

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

The day was slowly drawing nearer.

Scholar was checking out multiple social networking sites and Axel's Wikimedia page for a few hours now. The fangirls and fanboys were excited all over the Internet as if it was their own birthday. Comments such as "Axel and I share the same birthday!!" And "I've been following you since the very beginning, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Axel 💖 you really helped me when I was going through tough times." Or "HAPPY B-DAY AXEL❤❤ I LOVE YOU BBY"

Made Scholar wonder how it must feel like to receive happy birthday messages from millions of strangers. Well, he was guessing that it must be really pleasant: why wouldn't it be? Even if Axel doesn't know them it doesn't change the good intentions they have. Anyway! This wasn't the point of Scholar's "research."

He was browsing through a bajillion of interviews, fanblogs and comments to find what Axel liked. Which was, he thought to himself, maybe a little dumb. They may have known eachother only for about 3 months but at least he knew Axel on a personal level, not through a screen. Hell, when they met Scholar had no idea of who that handsome rocker boy was supposed to be. And now here he was trying to find an answer to something he should probably know the answer to better than Axel's fans. Not to throw shade at them or anything.

"Aaaaaghhhh!!" Subconsciously, Scholar let out a loud whine not realizing that his voice was louder than he intended it to be. "Shut up!! We can hear you from here!" It was Karolina in the room nextdoor. "I'm sorry!! ...ugh." Thankfully she didn't hear the "ugh" part not that it would change her opinion about him.

Scholar was just so lost: "what the hell can I gift to a rich handsome talented guy and not look like an idiot?!" Is what was going through his mind the whole day and it was already 11pm. Tomorrow was Axel's birthday and he still didn't find shit. He had never been good at finding gifts, the only person he gave them to was his dad and then again, it was only sometimes. The both of them weren't the type of people to worry about formalities such as Christmas or birthday presents. And when it came to "friends" it was about the same story.

Scholar put the phone down. It was stupid to worry over something like that. Being surrounded with rich, talented and sometimes famous people all day long Scholar swore to himself one thing. Don't be fake. Be sincere with those people. To be treated like anyone else is what they deserve.

And so Scholar searched for a gift idea again, but this time in his mind. He searched for an answer in his memories, through the small amount of time they had spent together. What does Axel like? It's not that hard. He already knew.

Scholar's mind was set: music, dogs and piercings. A hobby, an animal and accessories. Simple, but let's just go from the basics. "It's not like I can buy something expensive anyway..." His muttering was blocked out by his pillow, no matter what he would find, Scholar was just hoping that it would at least make Axel genuinely happy. Even just a little.

The next day went as expected: everyone was wishing Axel a happy birthday. He was getting occasional gifts from people he was close with and from people with whom he had never even talked to, or at least Scholar was pretty sure that he didn't. Even Tadashi went a bit soft on Axel.

"Not giving me detention for my late arrival today, Mister Student Body President?" Axel was over 15 minutes late which meant that he was deserving of a detention slip by usual à la Tadashi rules. "Go away before I change my mind you ugly ear-pierced clown." Axel was nodding and smirking all knowingly. "Uh-huh. Of course Sir, could I consider this lack of strictness towards me as my birthday present?"

Tadashi reached out for the detention form inside of his bag and took a pen in his hand ready to write Axel's name down and the reason why he got a detention slip. Axel backed away immediately. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry! Geez. Could you at least not threaten me with this shit on my birthday??" Tadashi put the pen back into his pencil case and smiled. "There you go. I knew you had some self-awareness behind your 3 kilograms of makeup and your millions of engagement rings you wear."

Axel frowned like a child. "I don't wear *that* many rings! Also, my makeup is super light!"

The rest of the day went on pretty smoothly, though Axel was probably wondering why Scholar didn't wish him a happy birthday. Whenever other people approached him to do so Axel would always peek at Scholar from the corner of his eye,  as if to say: "See?! It's my birthday today..."

Scholar felt secretly super giddy because of that. Axel was totally waiting for it. After the last school hour of the day he even came towards Scholar ""to say hi."" "Hey, Scholar!" "Hey there."

Silence.

"Um. So. Don't you have anything to tell me?" "Nu-huh." "You sure?" "Yup." Silence again. Axel looked down in such an adorable manner that Scholar felt almost like he was murdering a puppy. "Hm. Okay... See you tomorrow?" Scholar smiled as sweetly as he could to hint to the fact that they would see eachother again today. "Of course. Bye!"

After trying to sound as chill as he could, Scholar hurried himself into town. Blindly looking for a gift might be a bad idea but it's often this way that we find the best ones. Scholar was relying on his luck and intuition, he was storming through every single shop until he came accross something a bit silly that could do the job. It was in a small shop named "lying tiger" with a lot of useless gadgets. It was simple, cheap and adorable. Hopefully Scholar's intuition was right.

Upon seeing the gates of the school getting closer and closer as he was walking towards it, he decided to pull off the fastest sprint of his life. If Murdoc had seen him he'd be impressed.

After a couple of minutes Scholar was standing in front of Axel's room. "Okay.... No wait."

It was 7pm and the sun was already gone from a long time ago since it *is* November. Scholar was sweating as if he just ran a marathon, which... He kinda did. He muttered again. "Ugh. Good job, Scholar. Why did you have the bright idea to make yourself smell like a horse before-"

Voices from the hallway were heard, a couple of girls coming his way. Damn it. Alright. Scholar decided to at least make himself look good before coming back, he changed his clothes into something more casual but also charming. A bit of deodorant here and there, some perfume and done!

This time around he was ready, if it wasn't for his stress kicking in that is. He suddenly didn't feel as confident in his gift as a couple of minutes ago. Well, it was too late to change it anyway. Scholar took a deep breath and knocked. He waited there without moving nor breathing. As if until Axel would get out of his room, time had stopped.

Suddenly, the door flew open. The moment their eyes met Axel mockingly smiled. "Oh? You finally decided to come and wish me a happy birthday? Haha." Scholar had kept his hands behind his back but when Axel said that, he instinctively moved them to his front, revealing the package he was holding. Axel stopped smiling and his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh." Scholar was already happy with that reaction alone, even if he was unsure on whether or not Axel would like the gift. For a second, this felt like it was enough. "Yeah. I couldn't wish you a happy birthday without giving you a present, could I? Happy birthday, birthday boy!"

Axel carefully took the box into his hands, really gently, as if he could break it just by pressing his palms on it. "Thank you! But geez, you didn't have to. I was worried the whole day, you know? I thought that maybe you were mad at me for something."

He said that while pouting, it was so cute and worth the trouble. Scholar didn't regret his sprint and the whole day lost searching for the gift. "Haha! Of course not. Oh but don't shake the box, you might kill it. Also hurry up and open it, the lil guy needs light." Axel blinked a few times before following Scholar's advice, he tried to open the package as quickly as possible without damaging the wrapping. Needless to say that he wasn't being really successful.

"What do you mean?! Don't tell me it's a hamster or something! You know that we can't keep pets in the dorms, right? Tadashi is *so* gonna kill me if-" It wasn't an animal. Not a real one at least. "A... A toy?" It was a little puppy playing an electric guitar.

"Yup. It has buttons on his back, when you push them the doggo plays sick riffs for you. It has also light effects on the guitar." Axel looked at the toy with admiration. As if that dog made of plastic was a real puppy.

"Oh. My god. A puppy. Playing the guitar for me?!? This is the cutest and most precious gift I have gotten today!" "You like it?" "Are you kidding?! I love it! I'm gonna practice the guitar with him from now on! He's gonna be my little guitar buddy!"

Scholar felt so proud. So damn proud. It was a good call. It made him think about the fact that children often receive useful gifts from the adults rather than fun ones. There was always a craving for a new toy in a kid's heart rather than the need to get a new backpack or clothes. Scholar believed that every teenager in the world still had a child inside of them who would always secretly pass in front of a toy store while ogling at it but being too embarrassed to enter and take a look.

"I'm glad, to be honest I was a bit worried about it. I mean, you probably received a lot of pricey and more useful things today." By the time Scholar had said that, Axel already took the plastic puppy out of the box. "Excuse me? You think that there is something greater in the world than a doggo playing a guitar? Pathetic. And like I told you I'm gonna practice with this guy!"

"Uh. Don't you practice in the auditorium? What will you do when other people will see you hanging out with a toy?" Axel let out the loudest gasp of his life. "How *dare* you call my friend a toy?? Have you even heard him play?"

Axel pushed the button and some light effects emerged from the toy along with a guitar riff, so skillfully played that he felt almost ashamed when comparing himself to the dog. "Holy shit. This dog is better at playing the guitar than me..." Scholar laughed cheerfully, his laugh was followed by Axel's adorable giggle. "Well, I'm happy you like it. This way whenever you play the guitar, hopefully you'll think about me for a bit."

Axel tried to pull off the most flirty expression he could, the kind of stare that couldn't be mistaken for anything else. "Bold of you to assume that I don't think about you everyday, sweetheart." He would've been so persuasive... if it wasn't for the doggo made of plastic he was holding. Scholar couldn't keep it in any longer and laughed again. Needless to say that he was surprised when he noticed that Axel looked a bit hurt. "... Axel?" "That's so mean. I'm really trying so hard but it never gets through to you, you know?" Scholar's heart dropped into his stomach. "What?"

He heard that right, didn't he? What Axel said just now. As for Axel, in a matter of milliseconds he was already back to his usual smiling self, regretting what he had said. "Oh, haha! Whoops, that came out really wrong. Don't worry, I'm not upset for real. Um..." The hallway went silent and Scholar was really anxious. He felt as if he effed up big time. He was about to apologize and get it out in the open. The fact that he was actually really mortified at the thought of Axel disliking the gift. The fact that he had a crush on him for a little while now. The fact that he was a dumbass when it came to taking hints because he thought that Axel was like this with everyone. But before he could, Axel spoke again. "Don't make that face, you didn't do anything wrong. Look, let's hang out together soon. Just the two of us. Deal?"

Scholar wasn't so sure about the "you didn't do anything wrong" part, since he just noticed that Axel was in fact trying to flirt with him for a while now and he was constantly brushing it off while thinking that it was just his imagination wanting his feelings to be reciprocated. Scholar gulped, unable to say anything else other than: "Of course! Whenever you want, I'll be there."

Axel slowly closed the door... and immediately felt like the hugest moron of human history.

Because he knew. He knew that Scholar would never play dumb with something like that, he just genuinely did not think that he, Axel, could ever like him in that way. But now he knew. Axel just spelled it out for him loud and clear. Next time they see eachother there won't be any doubts in the way. Axel fondly looked at the puppy in his hands. "If only your previous owner knew how to take hints... Well, there's no going back now."

Axel pushed the button again and listened to the puppy's incredible guitar riffs for a while. Even hours and hours later, before falling asleep, he still couldn't get the image of Scholar's astonished face out of his mind when he finally realized what Axel felt towards him. Axel grinned. This kind of expression had no subtlety to it at all. Axel swore to himself.

The next time they see eachother he'll tell him clearly what he thinks, no hints, no silly pick-up lines. And then they'll kiss for sure.

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Here it is! Sorry, the last part was so cheesy 😂. I apologize 🙏🙏 Most of this was written at 3am when I couldn't sleep, because obviously everybody knows that the best moment to write something is when you're supposed to be asleep /s

This has so many plot holes, like for example how is it possible that Karolina didn't beat Scholar's ass the next day for yelling in the middle of the night?? Or how come Tadashi was nice towards Axel for once? That's so OOC, absolutely impossible.

Anyway, Wikimedia is obviously Wikipedia and the "lying tiger" shop is actually "flying tiger" (Not sure if this shop exists in the US.)

Well, thank you for reading!

[nemuri-no-kid]

It's me, the fic request anon... I hope this doesn't sound rude, but are you going to answer it? It's completely fine if you don't!! I'm just super curious and I keep checking your profile but it never shows!! :) (Sorry I'm being pushy it's been a few weeks now...)

Wait, who’s rude here again? It’s rather me who’s seemingly ignored you. But it wasn’t like that, I swear! But I guess you’d prefer to see an actual answer (finally) instead of excuses, so here you go! (You have some incredible timing though, like I’d post it today anyway - the joy of having cold) I apparently can’t make a simple list and it got ridiculously long, so I’m putting it under Read more. Does tagging people even work under Read more btw? If not then well, I suppose I failed a bit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway. You’re probably already aware of this, but I feel I should point out that Kaito is my dearest boy, and therefore pretty much everything what I’m going to mention here is more or less about him. Contrary to appearances it won’t be only KaiShin, but I admit there’s a lot of that. Also, you won’t find here too many long stories, as I rarely read fics with more than 50k words unless I’d started them before they got so long. I mean, I do have quite a few saved and waiting to be read and I’m sure they’re all amazing, but at the end of the day I usually prefer sleeping than night-reading and yeah. Ok, let’s start:

So, did someone say KaiShin? Because you know, Shinichi is my second dearest boy, and when both of my boys are happy together it’s just the best thing. One of first writers who shown and are keep showing me the joy of reading about these two is @rachello344. Many of Rachel’s fics are only prompts, so they are pretty short and that’s a real shame, but they’re still worth reading! I think my favourite stories are these two and honestly I could read them over and over again - asexual Kaito is good, the fake-but-not-really marriage of these two dorks was the best thing and please write more self-indulgent stuff

@lunarscaped (Luna Darkside)’s oneshots steadily get longer and longer but I definitely don’t mind~ Some of the most memorable to me are Penumbra (a.k.a. only Shinichi could write a romance by accident), Darling, So It Goes (undercover mission and more of oblivious Shinichi) and Ease (just. asfadsfgdga) but really, they’re all good

House of Cards is a beautiful story of Kaito taking care of Shin-chan the Dove written by V. Shalyr (how Ai managed to make that pill will forever remain a mystery though); my other faves are With Each Season (it’s beautifull too), Paper Trail (funny short piece in which Kaito is too good at being bad, somebody stop him), Countdown to Forever (good old taking BO down together) and On Wings of White (aww, these two)

Alaena F. Dragonstar’s Win Some, Lose Some and Shadow of a Smile followed by Echo of a Laugh are all good examples of A+ writing. Boys, it will be fine, you have each other. Check the profile for more good stuff~

All ToukoTai’s fics are good, but Life In Technicolor is good, and then there is this Flower shop AU KaiShin Give A Little which includes Shinichi convincing Kaito to become Kid, and if isn’t that ironic

This Little Thing I Have by teawithmochi is a really nice piece - Conan overthinks his situation, but what are annoying phantom thieves for?

solomonara’s Getting Off Track - did I say something about overthinking? This is real overthinking, boys, come on

Almost Magical by ObsidianAbyss got me by this one scene in the class - Shinichi, if you’re trying to deny you and Kid have a thing, you’re doing it wrong

I love the dialogues in dokidokidk’s The Guy Next Door, they will never be not funny for me, plus it’s a nice idea of AU

Good Soulmate AU KaiShin is not bad, and aceoftwos’s Apple Blossoms is good. Also there are locard’s exchange principle series for even more of these two

Beautiful Carvings written by RavenShira is another really nice Soulmate AU. Misunderstandings are strong in this one - lesson: multiple identities don’t help in finding your soulmate

No Ghosts Need Apply by Cursed Detective is a really nice supernatural story, and Shinichi and Kaito are always a big plus for me, obviously. Kaito is sort of dead - the title may suggest as much - but such trivial detail won’t stop him, haha. And then there is a really nice (Not) Supernatural story. It’s ongoing, Shinichi is not a vampire and honestly, I love this and I need more

purple_mangosteen’s Clair de Lune series mean more KaiShin goodness, and also I’m a sucker for Conan and Kid texting each other

joisbishmyoga - I loved Rolling Snake Eyes for a good application of Kidnichi. Will Conan ever stop being so reckless though? I don’t think so. Pluralverse is about minds of three teenage detectives somehow ending up in Kid’s head, and it’s tight in there. It’s interesting, it’s good, read it. Twist the Knife is really intense and the writing is amazing, but it may not be to everyone’s taste, as rape and trauma happen and well

@kawaiibeyotch (kaitothegreat) writes mainly AoKai fics and they’re wonderful, I simply adore Aoko in these. Some nice examples are Live Life in full Bloom and Hello Incognito - these two are good AUs and have I already mentioned Aoko? There are also few HeiKazu stories which I’ve yet to read but I’m sure they’re worth trying, too

Slip and Fall, Obligation, Pride Goeth Before, Philanthropy, Heavy Silences, Never Here, Never Far and Shades of Grey by blinkblink form sort of a series and I wouldn’t make a better summary to any of them than the author, but it’s Kid and the Kid task force dealing with some actual dangers and criminals, there is action and mystery, and it’s really good written and you totally should read it

Nerves of Steel by Ellen Brand is another must read - Robo-Kaito makes a comeback and things get serious

A Perfect Act, No Little Plans, Both Dark and Deep and Forgiveness and Reunion by Candyland - a set starting from sort of cornering Kid by the police and presenting him an offer he couldn’t refuse followed by good action

@backtodc‘s piece about the Kid task force being actually competent when it comes to other crimes is both funny and brilliant, try it

The Cranes by Acier Glace is just so sweet? No pairings here, it’s just Kid making lots of paper cranes to make you believe in magic and did I say it’s sweet? Because it is

miladyFeather wrote the ridiculous The Adventures of Kudou Shinichi, Fast Food Worker which is ridiculous and I have no regrets sharing this one, even if it’s ridiculous

Now a surprise, as Love-Love Daisakusen by neonquincy1217 is Makoko/Sonoko! Where’s the catch? Well, remember Doito Katsuki? *wink*

When I think of quality SaguKai, I think of @5160763 (OrphanText). There is good KaiShin, too, but both examples I’m putting here happen to be SaguKai, so. Anyway. The way Kaito and Saguru are written, I simply love it. And How we begin is so good? Also, In the language of the birds. I read it while it was being put on Tumblr in small fragments and boy, every new fragment was making me so happy

The Hattori-Kudo Files is a set of few cases solved by Heiji and Conan (who could’ve thought that?), written by MeridianGrimm - I believe the last one isn’t finished, but the others are really interesting! And then there are some nice SaguShin and SaguKai fics, too~

I picked five of Mikauzoran’s fics for different reasons but again, I recommend trying all others as well: The Fifth Detective (Kaito’s reasoning is funny and brilliant, he needs a hug though), The Pit: A Romance and Quietly Starving (SaguKai, these dorks), Healing Heartbreak for the Holidays (SaguKaiShin? That’s even more dorks), and Coming to Terms (KaiRan - usually I prefer it platonic but this one really got me, also interactions with Conan? It was a pleasure to read)

Dressed to Impress by Lisa Telramor is a really nicely written SaguKai oneshot, for all your SaguKai needs

Addy01’s When the travel bug bites is a sweet story about Shinichi travelling the world to find his way in life again and befriending some magician thieves along the way. You made me reread it and I don’t regret anything

In case of Operation: Gift Wrap by Boogum I’ll just copy the author’s summary as it’s explanatory enough: ‘Sera Masumi was used to being mistaken for a boy. She was not used to being mistaken for Kaitou Kid.’

Critique written by Eliryn is a short but really nice piece. “Looks just like the real thing, doesn’t it?”

AngelicSentinel’s the suffering of fools was already amazing as a oneshot, so when more chapters appeared one day I was overjoyed. It’s KaiShin and it’s good. Also, the author is one of the only two (look below) which I trust enough to blindly read their ShinRan fics. Like, I have nothing against ShinRan, and I kind of ship it while being in Canon Mode, but I don’t go and read fics about them at all, so this is quite an achievement. Read their other pieces, too, they’re really worth reading!

Cost of Freedom by @mintchocolateleaves? OMG, Cost of Freedom. Read Cost of Freedom. I love both the plot and the characterizations, it’s amazing, read it. It’s ongoing and you’ll suffer because of that, but read it. And while suffering, try other ongoing fics: The Innocence Game, Law Unto Themselves and various oneshots. Like, I can blindly recommend each and every fic Mint wrote, even ShinRan. Cost of Freedom though

Next, Taliya - I recommend all present and future fics. My faves are Without Fanfare (my heart though), Search and Recovery and Recompense (the kind of Kidnichi enactment I approve and aftermath), A Word of Caution (Ai and Kaito as the main characters? Yes, please) and TMPD Antics (it’s simply hilarious)

lucathia’s 4-6-4-9 is a oneshot about Conan getting disturbing encrypted message and trying to find the sender. Oh, and there was some murder, too

A Snowy Meeting (followed by ongoing Hidden Friendship) by angelwingsonline puts Kaito in DC movies, starting from Quarter of Silence, and lets him befriend and exchange messages with Conan. I love this concept

Ichthyophobia’s Mirror Mirror and Two-faced, Half-faced are really funny - the former has really nice interactions between Shinichi, Kaito and the bad guy, while the latter… Let’s say that Kid fixing Subaru’s face is my aesthetic. And then there is Shaking Hands about Kaito not being really able to do magic anymore but getting help and somehow overcoming it and it’s beautiful. And again, check other fics too~

I liked the idea of Shinichi with grapheme synesthesia working in forensics in Number the Stars by The Sand Assassin. Then there are sweet KaiShin fics: Kaitou the Snowman (Akako, stop) and Dakimakura (it’s just a shirt Conan, you’re making Kid sad)

Yannami’s A Criminal’s Fiasco is a good example of why taking Kaito hostage is a bad idea. Poor criminals

@kkrazy256 (kakashikrazy256) likes making Kaito suffer. A lot. In all possible ways. And I really mean that. If that’s your thing, then check it out. And if it is not, there are the mild ones I like coming back to: Early Snow (this was literally my first fic in this fandom, I’m sentimental ok - also Shinichi and Kaito, come on), Mr Barista (Mystery Train aftermath starring Bourbon and Kid) and Sympathy From the Devil (or how could OVA 10 end if the bad guys weren’t so dramatically bad at being bad). As for the rest, you were warned, haha

In Elirius’s Put on a Smile and Take me Apart Kaito definitely doesn’t cope well with his situation. Somebody help him *sobs*

Hostage situation and platonic KidRan anyone? In that case, Irreplaceable by LostInTheDreams is the thing you need. As for other stories, I can only vouch for these with Kaito, but my boy is suffering a lot. Again

Unfair by Frozen-Infinity, but only if you want your heart to break, my boy is dying and this is unfair

StoryWriter369’s Broken Record makes my heart ache every time because immortal Kaito is not what should ever happen, but I’m doing this to myself from time to time anyway *sobs more*

Hebiaczek’s The fox and hounds is an ongoing story and to be honest I’m not up to date, but what I’ve read was a really amazing writing, and exactly the kind of plot I like the best. Because. The plot.

I loved Externalities by 873.25 and I hope Internalities will be continued. Characters are written so well, and both concepts are really intriguing. Try it and you won’t regret it

And last but definitely not least: kittebasu’s A Study in Scarlette - it’s a must-read. There is a good plot, there is Kaishin and it’s truly amazing, and did I say something at the beginning about not reading long fics? So this one is very long and I still read it, so it really does say somehing

I 100% missed at least few people and I’m totally going to regret it later, but let’s say I’m finished. See you in few weeks Anon, haha