#both times taiga is the one missing

[magicalyaku]

We went back to the King of Prism cafe, so I could get the full set of character cards that came with the menu (and the silly crown). I love them. I didn't want to leave. u_u

Before that, I also took my friend to see the latest movie which is just all the Prism1 perfomances edited together actually, no story at all (but fake advertisements featuring Over the Rainbow!) but at least that way she still had fun even with only understanding a few of the words. Kakeru's was her favorite! 8D The ending, though! The ending was wild. Like wtf! Whatever they do next (movie I guess?) will be even wilder and sillier than what they usually do? I'm so in for it.

[enanansbbg]

Anhane’s relationship, and it’s complexity:

this was originally uploaded onto twt, but I wanted to reupload it here because I was very proud of this analysis, so please enjoy and feel free to add anything I may have missed or skipped over!

With that being said, here we go! ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

Let’s start with the basics. The pure power of their aibouness, and its connections to vivid street.

To begin, you must understand what a partner is in VBS terms. In this case, it’s ‘a person who brings out parts of you never knew existed’.

In relations to Anhane, this is based off pure raw emotions. This is shown through An’s abandonment issues and Kohane’s want to make her heart pound.

Kohane wants to recreate that feeling she felt when she first heard An singing inside of An, to ‘make her heart pound’, while An’s abandonment issues cause her to fear Kohane’s rapid growth may lead to Kohane abandoning her.

This also plays into a certain factor about Kohane and the idea of her and angst, I believe.

Many people want Kohane to have some kind of angst event, especially related to her backstory, but that would go against all her motives.

See, Kohane’s pure movies for pursuing music—for working to surpass Rad Weekend all tie back to An. It was hearing An singing at WG that made her heart pound and An asking her to be her singing partner that caused her to even consider music as an option.

From here, their relationship develops into a lot more, and it’s when the idea of partners ‘bringing out an ugly side of you’ comes to play.

You can see even in the maim story An not seeing Kohane as an equal. It only gets called out and resolved in Singing in Sync.

Singing In Sync, ep. 1 and 3

🎧: “In the unlikely event that something does go wrong, I’ll cover for you and get you back on track, okay?”

…

🎧: “I failed as her partner…I couldn���t protect her…

…

🎧: “I mean, she’s my partner…And I wanted to guide her so that she could sing without worrying…”

…

🥞: “You don’t think of Kohane as one of the team.”

An telling Kohane “I’ll protect you if you mess up” subconsciously puts the idea into Kohane’s head “I’m not good enough, so I’ll probably mess up” This is what caused the entire issue in SIS to begin with.

But it’s once An tells her “you can protect me too” that Kohane is able to subconsciously think “I have the power to make her heart pound too”

Singing in Sync, ep. 8

🎧: “If I miss a cue at the next event…”

🎧: “Could you cover for me?”

🐹: “An… Sure, I can do that!”

After this we get Awakening Beat. Kohane is able to come out of her shell and fully adapts the idea “I can make her heart pound too” and has a large boost in confidence because of it. An both brought her confidence down and back up in the spam of one rotation.

Awakening Beat, ep. 8

🎧: (“It’s like she’s not even the Kohane I know. Could this be because she’s completely resolved herself?”

🎧: (“But even with just that, she can really change this much…?”)

However….In the same event, An’s insecurities begin to bloom and in Bout for Beside You, An has to face them for the first time.

Awakening Beat, ep. 8, BFBY, ep. 4

🎧: (“I was just gonna tell her she did amazing… That I never knew she could sing that amazingly, but…”

🎧: (“What’s going on? I just can’t get the words out—”)

…

🎧: “Kohane is…going to leave me behind?”

Here, An realizes her and Kohane ‘perfect’ relationship is more complicated now. While Kohane’s adapted the idea of “I want to make her heart pound”, An opens to idea of “I wont he able to make her heart pound anymore” (they doki doki more than ddlc i swear)

At the end of the event, An ask Kohane the golden question. “If I were to leave somewhere far away, would we still sing together?”

BFBY, ep. 8

🎧: “But what would you do if I said that I’d be going somewhere far far away someday?”

🎧: “And I wanted to reach greater heights just like what Uncle Taiga did exploring the world. If I were to go to someplace even greater and far far away from here—”

Of course, Kohane affirms this. Naturally, Kohane takes a lot of pride in being An’s partner, being the only partner for her. (as said in ORS) She wants to keep singing with An forever.

BFBY, ep. 8

🐹: “Even so, I would want to keep singing with An-chan!”

🐹: “No matter where you go or what you become, I’d still want to be with you!”

🐹: “I want to properly stand beside you and sing with you!”

We’re gonna skip ahead a bit and jump up to KIUAN, where we get our lovely “She looks like Nagi-san” line, the line that killed every Anhane shipper in the tristate area.

But what makes this line so special? Well, for that let’s discuss what made Nagi’s death (and the lie surrounding it) so impactful.

Nagi was someone An looked up to highly. So, when she was suddenly told that Nagi moved, not even saying goodbye, to pursue her music career, it left a mark on An. Added to the fact that Nagi wasn’t returning An’s messages or calls, just completely disappeared.

Now, looking to Bout for Beside you and KIUAN, you can see the importance of these lines. An fears that Kohane will improve so much that she leaves without a word, never talks go her again and just moves on. It’s why she looks so distressed.

VOT ep. 8, BFBY, ep. 8, KIUAN ep. 7

🎧: “…Aww. I wonder what Nagi-san is doing over in America? I wish she’d give us a call at least.”

🎧: “Ah! Maybe I’ll send her a text then! I wonder if she’ll be surprised~?”

…

🎧: “But what would you do if I said that I’d be going somewhere far far away someday?”

…

🎧: “…She looks just like Nagi-san…”

And, it’s why she can’t even believe Kohane when she says just how important An is to her, how much she loves her and wants to sing with her because Nagi said the same thing and now Nagi is gone.

This manages to reach a resolve in WTWG, where An ‘fights’ Kohane, takes all those raw emotions out in a healthy way, through her song.

An’s card in WTWG is more than just ‘An takes her anger out on Kohane’, because in truth that’s not entirely what she’s doing. Instead, it’s An’s raw emotions taking form.

An wants Kohane to grow, she wants Kohane to thrive fully, but that fear of abandonment—Fear that Kohane will leave and never speak to her again makes her want to hold her close and never let her go anywhere.

So what about Kohane?

Well, starting with thr WTWG card/story, Kohane wants to be An’s best partner. As she states, ‘to make An’s heart pound’.

So, to be vulnerable here is to accept all of An’s raw emotions. Let her lean on her and feel everything because to Kohane, that makes her a worthy partner.

She says over and over throughout the fight that An is amazing, that she wants to be like her, how much it makes her heart pound. Really, it reminds me of Kohane’s colorfes story.

WTWG, ep. 7

🐹: (“An-chan…really is amazing.”)

🐹: (“…Whenever I hear An-chan sing, it really makes my heart pound like nothing else. It makes me wish I could sing like her.”)

In it, Kohane goes to Vivid Street, but everyone thinks she’s An. This happens after she thinks about what it would be like to be An, but only going through this dream does she realize that she doesn’t want to be An, she wants to be her. She wants to be An’s partner.

Colorfes Kohane ep. 1 and 2

Record Store Onee-san: “You caught me off guard, using polite like that, An-chan!”

🐹: (“Did she just say An-chan…?”)

…

🐹: (“—An-chan’s so cool and strong…and there’s times I wish I could be like her…”)

🐹: (“I have to be me! Because—”)

🎧: “—Y’know, I was thinking, your singing is always so amazing, Kohane.”

🎧: “Whenever I hear your singing, it makes my heart race. The tension rises, and it makes me feel like I have to start singing right now!”

🐹: (“Because I’m An-chan’s partner—!”)

And to be An’s partner, is to drag all those raw, vertical emotions out of An, just like she does in WTWG.

In conclusion, Anhane explosion their relationship is so complex and strong and I love it

[xqllin]

what i think are the wbk boys' charm points !

first years edition pt1 | sakura, nirei, sugishita

tags ~ fem!reader, mostly fluff, mentions of body shaming (sugishita), random af

notes ~ don't mind me just daydreaming about wbk as usual, i tried including one for physical appearances and one for their characteristics..

first years edition pt2 | suo, kiryu, taiga

sakura's eyes / honesty

the first thing you notice about sakura is the sharp contrast of his hair, then when you approach the boy, his eyes are what catches your attention

on one side there's a bleak gray that reminds you of the barren field of the moon ; on the other is an eye as golden as the sunset - which you believe is absolutely captivating

sakura's shy with his advances, often needing a little push from either one of his friends, but one thing for certain is that the things he says are genuine and rarely sugarcoated

he's outright but still chooses his words carefully, and it gives you so much more comfort than the words of reassurance anyone could give

because you know he means it and that he wouldn't fake any reaction

sakura averts his eyes, gaze not staying on your figure for more than three seconds because he's never seen anyone as pretty as you

you were thanking him for saving you the other day from some creeps, to which he recalls happened quite recently but he hadn't gotten a good look at you until now

and god he doesn't know what to do with himself

everytime he looks back towards you (because it's impolite to not look at somebody talking to you), your eyes were already fixed on him and he prays that his appearance wasn't weirding you out

if it wasn't already obvious by the warmth that envelopes your cheeks when you realise how much you've been staring deep into his eyes

"those guys were.. bothering you right? you shouldn't let them walk all over you like that."

he mutters with a pout, he knows his face is unbelievably red right now, and he thinks it's so uncool to act like this in front of such a cute girl and he knows you know it too

but he still decides to send you off with some words of advice (he doesn't want you to get hurt the next time)

you smile with eyes filled with gratitude for him, you swear you can see steam coming out of his ears from how hot he feels, and give him a playful reply

"right, I'll send them one of those flying kicks you did!"

he then says you shouldn't do that without practice with a rather concerned face, which earns him another minute of your laughter

nirei's smile / support

when the corners of nirei's lips curl upwards, practically every facial feature of his light up, and naturally your lips end up mirroring his in any situation

he's a beam of sunshine that's for sure, the guiding light that you just need sometimes

nirei is the first to celebrate your achievements and the last person you'd shoo away during your moments of self deprecation

he's so eager to help too, pulling out his trusty notebook to offer you support in any topic, you wouldn't be surprised if he had your grocery list for the following week prepared for you

you have been struggling with a school project for a while now, you were constantly doing research, which resulted in you sleeping awfully late some days

luckily you have nirei around to remind you to 'take breaks!' and 'make sure you eat your fill!'

at one point, you both started facetiming each other while you continue your assignment (nirei's suggestion)

sure having nirei's company during these tough nights was certainly helping your productivity, but you didn't want him to suffer along with you and continuously assured him that he didn't have to do this, especially with how hard he's working to protect the town as well

he assured you back that he didn't mind at all and he was doing this on his own accord anyways

he's too shy to admit that he's missed hearing you and seeing your face after you've been busy holed up in your house completing your project for the past week

whenever you were having a tough time and nirei noticed, he'd give you a wide grin followed with some encouraging words to help you get through it

"nirei. nirei?", you call out with a soft voice, the camera showing the top of his head hasn't moved in the past half hour

you say his name once more and you see his body flinch slightly, head jerking up to face you, prying his bleary eyes open as best as he can

he mumbled a quick apology as he yawns.. and he apologizes for that as well

"it's okay, you should go rest aki. i'm finished."

you find it adorable how he immediately perks up, congratulating and praising you for your hard work, the proudest smile hung on his face

you would return the energy if it wasn't near depleted by then, so you settle for a soft chuckle, thanking him for all the support he's given

you pout when he denies your credit and sigh

"well if you're not gonna accept that, i'll just have to use my actions to repay you huh?"

"i'll make up for all the dates we've missed out on tenfold!", you hum, teasing his flustered face before wishing him a good night's sleep

sugishita's height / loyalty

not everybody is a whopping 6ft tall, but your boyfriend is, turning heads everywhere he goes

either curious of the way he towers over everyone or concerned about the prominent grouch he embodies

everybody knows the only person in sugishita's eyes is everyone's beloved top dog - umemiya, but one could argue you were a close second

you've seen how he reacted when anybody refers to umemiya without honorifics, he wouldn't hesitate to defend your name either

it was a lovely day, the weather was perfect and you had cleared your schedule for the day

you even spent the entire morning putting together a flattering outfit to go out in, of course you had to drag your grumbling boyfriend up from his nap for a date! (he quickly shut up after laying his eyes on you)

you both do a little window shopping, mainly just you leading in the front, squealing at whatever catches your eye

and sugishita follows closely behind, like a guard dog, ready to jump at any threat during your lovely outing

you tell him to lay off the scary expression, which he merely huffs in response (he tries to keep his face as neutral as possible after that and ends up looking even scarier through an onlooker's eyes from how hard he's focusing)

you've scurried off to a food stall to get you both a snack on the go when sugishita overhears some rather unpleasant remarks targeted towards you

his eyebrow twitches in annoyance, and mentally panics when he notices you stiffen up, the conversation you were having with the stall owner dying down

they weren't standing too far off, in fact you stood even closer than sugishita was, you feel like curling up and disappearing, like the nights where you'd curl into yourself, arms wrapping around your own waist in a pathetic way to comfort yourself

you quickly pay for the food and urge sugishita to leave the scene, your pace quickening from how desperate you wanted to escape this situation

but before you could react, sugishita was already heading towards the group of people, his back straightened to assert intimidation

"got a problem?"

he cocks his head to the side, with the meanest glare aimed at those people, you scramble to his side trying to pull him away but his stubborn head just wouldn't budge

the people were visibly flustered, their presence shrunk down to that of a mouse, while they hurried away with their tails between their legs

you sigh, "it's alright sugi.. let's just get going yeah?"

he obliges, but now with a hand around your waist, you look up at him in shock and his brows were still furrowed, eyes trained at the road ahead

you realise he's straining his arm to cover your waist, in case you felt insecure about people seeing

he knows you've figured out his intentions, but he doesn't let it show, you just smile and walk a bit more closer to him, happily indulging in the snack you had purchased

you reach the treat up to sugishita's face so that he could have a taste as well, giggling when he comments that it's too sweet

.. definitely not as sweet as your boyfriend though

before posting ~ happy girlfriends day girlfrienddss ‼️ tomorrow is actually my bday and I've finally decided to post this :3 this sucks and im embarrassed but when have i cared about that so it's getting posted 💪

[suvidrache]

Let The Games Begin

age in bio when interacting. minors do not interact.

Word Count: 951 | Read it on AO3 | Tag List

Featuring: Shintaro Midorima, Daiki Aomine, Atsushi Murasakibara, Taiga Kagami, and Teppei Kiyoshi.

Shintaro Midorima was saddened that he would have to miss your game. He didn’t want to miss his and you didn’t want to miss yours. So you were both stuck in the situation of whether one of you misses the other or both of you just go on your own way. He promised to update you on the status of the game and come visit you as soon as he possibly could. You promised to do the same. He wasn’t expecting the call during the break in the game. He had been listening to the coach talk. His phone rang, and he raised an eyebrow at the call. It wasn’t like you to interrupt. He thought for a brief moment, “just ignore it.” It wasn’t like him to ignore a phone call, and there was something off about the entire situation. He didn’t know what to do. He apologized as he quickly answered the phone. He heard the sounds of the sirens in the background. That was an unusual noise for someone in a game. Your voice was a tone he had never heard before, and he didn’t want to hear it again. You were clearly in pain as you told him about what had happened. He wanted to cry, but he was still in the middle of something right now. All eyes were on him. He couldn’t let his emotions show right now. He breathed in and out before putting on a serious face as he ended the call and let his teammates know that he had plans and something to do right now. He walked out calmly, trying to hold his composure before breaking out into a run to come find you. He wasn’t going to let you be alone.

Daiki Aomine is very passionate about basketball, and you knew that, but when you left a voicemail telling him that you had been injured during your sporting event and that you were on your way to the hospital he couldn’t help but cry as he had been too busy with basketball, he hadn’t heard your phone ring. He thought that he had turned the sound on. He hadn’t heard your phone ring or seen any of your texts until the game was over. He raced out, not bothering to change his clothes. He was already in his car and on the way to see you before his teammates had finally noticed that Daiki wasn’t in the locker room with the rest of them. They were going to talk about the game, and they still might. It just wasn’t the same without him. He had been with them for the entire game. They could only hope that he was alright. He was, he just had to go visit you, and make sure that you were alright.

Everyone was surprised that Atsushi Murasakibara had a significant other. He didn’t seem to care about much, in their opinion. It was halftime for the both of you. You called him up, and he answered. He was fully expecting you to tell him about how the game was going so far. Instead, you told him you were injured and on the way to the hospital. The bag of chips fell from Atsushi’s hand as he looked surprised. He didn’t know what to do. He could finish his chips and the game, or he could come see you. You knew that if you didn’t make the choice for him, he would sit there not knowing what to do or have someone else make the choice for him. You told him what you wanted, and he picked the bag up off the ground before following what you had said.

Taiga Kagami had been listening to the coach when all of a sudden his phone rang. He answered it without hesitation. You were in the middle of your game, or at least you should have been, depending on what time it started. You knew that he was in the middle of his game. It wasn’t like you to interrupt something so important to him. When he heard that you had been severely hurt, he simply swore and walked out of the building, telling you he was on his way to help you. You tried to convince him to worry about his game and that you would be fine. Your voice told a different story. He knew you were hurting, and he didn’t want you to be alone. Plus, who would pick you up from the hospital? He had a car and he could take care of you. The game had been boring to him anyway.

Teppei Kiyoshi loves basketball, his friends, his teammates, and you. He is always very kind and honest. He also isn’t much of a texter. Rather, he prefers phone calls. Unfortunately, you both had games at the same time and at different places. You both promised to update the other on how things were going. It was in the middle of the breaktime that he received a text from you. You weren’t one to text him normally. He read your text slowly out loud, and his teammates overheard what he was saying. They told him that he should worry about you and head over to visit. They could handle the game without him. He read the text out loud once again. Confirming what he had just previously read. Then it hit him. You were hurt and on your way to the hospital. You couldn’t call because you were in too much pain. He understood, and he double-checked with his teammates before leaving to come visit you. He didn’t want to leave them stranded, but he didn’t want to leave you stranded either.

© SUVIDRACHE — do not copy, translate, modify, or plagiarize my work. reblogs are appreciated!

Tag List: @eli-chris, @dragonlordrizz

[lilyginnyblackv2]

The small details that make this episode work: SPOILERS!

1. Miss Anna is shown to be on her own looking after a lot of kids:

This highlights a real-world problem in Japan, which is the extreme worker shortage and high turnover rate of daycare workers in Japan right now. I’ll link to a Japan Times article that goes into more details about this.

2. Rei notes how huge this zoo is in the very next scene:

3. The areas the kids are shown traversing on their own and shouting for help in aren’t heavily populated areas of the zoo. Compare this scene where Rei and Kazuki are to the kids:

Kazuki is also screaming and shouting nonsensical things, so it stops people and catches their attention. Meanwhile, the areas the kids are in have very few people:

The kids are calling out for their teacher and others here. Yes, there is a woman with her child there, but could that woman be completely zoned out at the moment? Absolutely. Her kid is the only one that notices Kazuki crawling on the ground in the next scene, after all. She could be scrolling on her smartphone for all we know too.

4. When they do reach an area with slightly more people around, and call out, these people are eating lunch with their kids. Their focus is on their own children. And only Miri’s “Miss Anna!” shout is said loudly once. Taiga kinda mumbles out a “Where could she be?” But that’s it. 

And, I do think that Buddy Daddies has been highlighting the lack of attention and care a lot of people in big cities, especially, tend to give towards others. Even children. And how, in Japan, the desire to not cause disturbance or conflict, can also lead to people not interfering in situations, even when they should.

But even here in the States or other parts of the world, how many times have people heard kids playing or shouting very loudly, and it was paid no mind, because the assumption is that kids are playing or the person they are looking for is just around the corner? You hear about situations like that happening all the time in missing children’s cases and the like.

It really requires the shouting or the scene/actions to be really loud or really odd (Kazuki being up a grown man up a tree shouting) to cause others to stop and stare, sadly.

5. Finally, when this lowlife does attack them, there is literally no one around (except Kazuki and Rei). They moved to a more secluded area nearer to the trees (rather than staying in the more crowded area by the benches). His attack is also meant to be ridiculous, because it highlights an actual, lowlife “delinquent” (a grown man who would steal food from a literal child), to contrast with Kazuki’s imagined delinquent Miri.

And, this part may be a bit of a stretch, but I do find it rather interesting that the episode started with this discussion:

An older man saying “Parents these days are too lenient with their children when they’re young!” But yet, it is these older men that likely had stricter or less lenient upbringings that are shown behaving poorly. Yet, it is a more lenient approach (Miri with Taiga) that shows good results. 

(Also, sidenote, in both this news story and in this episode’s B-plot, the adult exhibiting harmful behavior are both grown men - so the issue is less “they don’t know right from wrong,” as the man on the news says kids these days need stricter understandings of that, and more “they’ve never been taught accountability for their actions,” which is a different thing and is a very gendered issue, especially in Japan, though also around the world to varying degrees. Since Taiga was exhibiting a lot of the usual “boys will be boys” behavior, but Miri holds him accountable for his actions, like below).

As for Miss Anna, we don’t really see her side of things. But I’d imagine that she did the best she could to locate them/some form of security to help her find our lost gang, while also making sure no other kids took off, and keep things “on schedule” enough to keep the others calm and not cause panic. She was likely super stressed out and juggling a million different things at once. With her situation and them getting lost highlighting the understaffing issue with daycare workers and also the continued societal issue of lack of community and helping others, especially in regards to childcare.

Do a lot of these things also just help to tell the story that they need to? Yes, but at the same time, I feel they set everything up in a way that I could believe something like this could happen. Maybe it’s also because I can remember being a kid lost in the grocery store when others were around, and no one stopping despite distress being visible on my face and me calling for my mom. That definitely happened once when I was younger. So this happening to a small group of kids in a huge zoo in the city? Definitely plausible.

I also just think they tied this episode and its themes nicely together. And I wrote this post because one reactor was basically like, “If that was my kid’s teacher, she wouldn’t be my kid’s teacher anymore.” “If I was her, I’d cause a scene until the police came to me and helped fix the situation” and other sorts of Miss Anna slander, and I wasn’t here for it. 

(Also, that approach would have been awful. She is in charge of a bunch of other kids too. She can’t just cause a scene until cops or security or whatever came to help. That would have caused the bunch of other children she had to care and look out for to freak out and it would have made the situation 1,000x worse. Especially since she seemed to be doing this whole trip on her own).

[danieyells]

In Tokyo debunkers I have been thinking about the first years and what they have in common.I think all of them are short-sighted or have tunnel vision this isn't a bad trait

I may be wrong on this or miss remembering so if I'm wrong please correct it.Please excuse the formatting I'm on mobile and the length.

Leo-

He is the easiest one for this,the speech that Alan gave him at the end of vagastorm kinda sums up lot of leo problems.There was a post about Leo possibly self-sabotage or disregard for his own self, there's merit look at the scene of Leo,Alan and Thoma.

He may have figured out that Alan wasn't going to hurt him but Thoma was a complete wild card in that situation,he was grabbing his axe.Along with setting up the PC,he used her to his liking and was planning to fuck her over after the fact.Image if his planned success what would have happened most likely no more access to the PC if she believes her boasting does not work.That means no more spying on Thoma and Alan.

Please tell me if this has any weight.I have to go to work.Thank you

Sorry this took so long, anon! I wanted to reply earlier but I thought that maybe mobile wasn't showing parts of the message(it sounded kind of like you were going to list the ways the other first-years were short-sighted/prone to tunnel vision) so I wanted to check it on desktop and my Taiga brain ADHD made me keep forgetting 8'D Excuse me for rambling so much, I get a little long-winded! TL;DR, I do think you're right, although Leo isn't as careless as you think, and I think Sho isn't really prone to tunnel vision or short-sightedness beyond that he seems to bounce between interests somewhat easily.

Yeah, I agree that the first years are a little prone to tunnel vision--like, they all must have come here with something in mind and that something will expand in their time here. Ritsu intended to acquire clients--particularly the famous and wealthy Frostheimers who are prone to controversy and scandal. Ren has implied some issues with his family so he possibly did this to escape the responsibilities of home--and now he has to try and escape the responsibilities of work too. Sho. . .I think Sho is the least short-sighted of them in a sense? Sho seems very much like he takes things day by day and he does whatever catches his interest and whatever makes things easiest for Leo, even if it means he gets in trouble when Leo should've. He's really intelligent and has a plethora of hobbies and interests, although he puts a lot of his passion in cooking and tends to drop most other things that aren't sports. And Leo, like he said, came here expecting it to be a lot more fun to be around other people who made pacts with demons, and he acts like he only cares about thrills, profits, and having a good time. Most of them don't care about others or only care about others in superficial ways that benefit them(again, with the exception of Sho who at least seems to be more good-natured and considerate so far, unless Leo is telling the truth when he says Sho acts that way to get and keep customers, which wouldn't make sense since Sho only recently started the food truck.)

About the meeting in the car, both of them were reaching for their weapons, not just Tohma. Because they didn't know what was happening when they were summoned to the car by the other but they were both confused, so they suspected foul play and prepared for a fight either way. They may have been about to fight each other, suspecting the other wasn't actually themself, frankly. I think they had their hands on their weapons before that panel was shown. See how they both already have their hands off to their sides by the time Leo pops in, after they both get confused? Reaching for their weapons was happening before Leo made himself known.

But Leo is smart enough to know Alan wouldn't let him get hurt even if Tohma started swinging--although I imagine he was being sarcastic when he said he didn't think Tohma knew who he was and he knew Tohma wouldn't just start attacking him mindlessly. Tohma was at the entrance ceremony(he already saw Tohma's information with Darkwick so he would have recognized him anyway, and he could probably ascertain from how diligent Tohma is that he would also recognize Leo already) and he also knew Tohma knew of him from when he listened in on them previously. Even if Tohma did pull out his weapon, Alan would have recognized Leo and his voice when he started speaking and protected him. Leo knows who his muscle is. He wouldn't have had put himself in a situation he didn't think he couldn't safely get out of. He does this kind of thing far too much to not know his exits--not to mention, you don't immediately hurt or kill someone who pulled something like he did. You get information first. It's just the smart thing to do, especially when they're already worried about a spy. (Plus you can't just willy nilly try and kill motherfuckers on campus. The likelihood that Tohma was actually going to try and kill, or even injure, him was slim to none.)

As for convincing the PC their power didn't work, they already knew it worked from when they used it in Frostheim. They just wouldn't think it always worked. He would still be able to ask them to come and use it on the basis of 'let's see if we can get it to work.' He'd be claiming it'd help them, because if they don't know what does and doesn't cause it to work, they and Darkwick would want to figure it out--and since he would be able to say 'it seems like it works when we use it together' they'd end up relying on him to help them understand when it does and doesn't work. The PC just probably wouldn't be sent on missions with them due to being a liability. Also, he could still spy on Tohma and Alan--just not while they're in the soundproofed car. He mentions in the campus chat that they likely have more than one place they meet up(unless he wasn't spying on Tohma and Alan at that point, but somebody else), and he also plants bugs in the car according to his home screen dialogues(although they get destroyed.) He'd be able to spy on them less, but it's not like they only ever meet in there, and I'm sure he'd figure that out quickly enough.

You have to remember what the guy does for a living outside of being an influencer--he corners rich people and basically makes them give up money in exchange for him not releasing information they'd wanna keep private. His proper introduction is at the "mercy" of a guy with a knife who's clearly threatened to stab him multiple times based on the multiple stabbed pillows around them, summoning Sho to help him. He puts himself in danger all the time, but he always has at least one way to be backed up. He was second in scholastic ability among all the first years. He's extremely intelligent and clever. Yes, he is short-sighted, but that's in terms of making things work. He'll treat the symptoms without resolving the problem if he can, like Alan said--if it gets the desired result who cares if it's right or wrong in the long run? But he's not so careless that he'd put himself into that much danger with no backup plan--although he is careless enough to put himself in the danger in the first place, but. Everything involves risks.

The problem is that backup plans can fall through and understandings of situations can too. Like Alan said, he does need to take better care of himself because he absolutely is careless--not extraordinarily so imo, but definitely careless. Leo is willing to put himself in danger for an end goal, but it's not like he runs into things with no plan and no backup. Leo is smart enough to get things to work with his wits and his words 99% of the time, but that one percent is gonna get him in real trouble eventually--and we've already seen his plans partially fall through two or three times(although two were after they served their purposes.) Alan realized when Sho wouldn't eat the spicy donuts that he and Leo lied about who was at fault for their acting outside of the scope of their mission. Even at the end of the encounter with the anomaly, Sho ended up telling the [half?] truth and backing up that the PC was able to buff his stigma instead of going on with their deal, which Leo hadn't expected. And the PC and Alan, in Alan's character story, end up investigating the actual circumstances behind Jun and Takeru's deaths. He's used to things working out for him and going his way, so he doesn't consider enough what could happen if they don't. Short-sighted, yeah, careless, yes but not as much so as you might think. Calculated risks, normally really good at math. But sometimes you get the math wrong.

I do think you're not wrong as far as most of them being a little short-sighted though. The only one I kinda disagree with is Sho, but even Sho's like. . .he only cares about his interests, but he goes through with what other people want from him anyway sometimes? Like he tends to train with Alan in The Pit despite complaining about it a lot, enough so that Alan doesn't have to use the punching bag in his room as much when he trains since he can spar with Sho instead. He's also constantly doing whatever Leo wants despite seeming to dislike it, and letting himself take the fall for Leo's bad behavior. But maybe that follower mentality is a sort of short-sightedness and tunnel vision as well. . .then again, like he said to Hyde, "If I can use you to get ahead, I'm doing it." That's not really very short-sighted at all, he clearly has other things in mind. . .but it's hard to tell with Sho. We rarely see his motivations. Like I can't really pin down what Sho is. . .after in life. But also, Sho cycles through interests(with the exception of cooking and maybe basketball) frequently, so I get the feeling that's the point. Sho doesn't know what he wants either, and he follows who and whatever seems most interesting. When the PC says he could make money off of cooking, he takes a shine to that idea and immediately opens up a food truck. Fortunately he seems to like cooking and serving food for others a lot, because he's sticking to it at the moment.

[toskarin]

I agree that the movies mess up a lot of the story, but I always chalked that up to them not having enough time to include everything, and having to sort of "speedrun" the route, and I know this is probably an empty exercise, but given how much time they had, how would you include all those left out bits into the movies? because there's so much they just couldn't put in, especially illya and kirei's stuff, that the third movie feels incredibly hollow, but I just don't know how they could put in everything. I don't get why they decided to cram the longest route in the vn into a movie trilogy

three movies wasn't the ideal format for adapting heaven's feel, but it's shocking how much filler (and I'm using this to refer to actual empty content which doesn't progress the story or anyone's character) was added to reach feature length

free up maybe 15-20 minutes per movie by trimming dead air from the fight scenes that weren't in the vn. they can even keep them! just take about five or ten minutes of random back-and-forth from each one

scenes like the slow-mo walk to sakura are bewildering. literally just fade to black before shirou starts walking and then fade in as he hugs her. that's all that scene needed, and it's a perfect microcosm of the over-animation problem that the movies have

illya's conversation with shirou where she lets on that she knows someone has to die at the end of the story needs to be reinserted. otherwise illya has basically nothing to go off of and just kind of leaves the narrative emptily in the finale

somewhat controversially, I think Nine Bullet Revolver could be cut down to about a quarter of its length and still have the same impact. make it sudden and violent and intense. explain things less.

the school flashbacks in the intro are fine, but if it's between them and getting more content in the first movie so that we can hacve die lorelei later on, you know which one I'm voting to keep

if we have time for both, insert the conversation between illya and sakura about what it means to be a grail and keep illya overhearing taiga talking about kiritsugu's overseas voyages. that's a fine way to adapt the scene where illya looks for kiritsugu in the emiya household without relying too heavily on someone knowing the full context

changing none of the pacing, just have rider and rin in-frame during the final walk to the flower viewing. it's such a disservice to every character in that scene to tighten the scope like that. it feels so cold, utterly devoid of the cathartic warmth that scene is supposed to have

move kotomine's recollection of claudia's death forward. start it when assassin hits him with zabaniya, then reveal the missing heart as the story ends (in contrast to how it happens now, where the story ends right before assassin uses zabaniya)

get rid of the random ninja jumping shirou does in the angra mainyu finale. just have him walk towards her. it's startling how much the movies would be improved by just letting shirou walk normally towards sakura more often

and lastly, to correct for the fact that so much of everyone's characterisation in the vn comes from shirou's monologue being able to describe subtler body language, move the camera to rin once or twice. have a few scenes that are framed from her perspective which make it clear that shirou's acting weird to the outside observer. he comes off as too much of gigachad otherwise

[blundering-thoughtless-hooligan]

clothing style.

eating habits.

fighting style.

clothing style.

Almost the entirity of what Taiga wears comes out of Romeo's wardrobe. Even though he feels like Romeo tends to go overboard he mostly enjoys the things Romeo puts him in. If left to his own devices — which Romeo won't allow — he goes for comfort and functionality over fashion, yet still sticking to mostly black, white and red. It feels impossible to pinpoint Taiga's own style by now, so much of it being (literally) tailored by Romeo. But one thing that always manages to shine through is his love for rings and necklaces.

eating habits.

He either forgets to eat and misses several meals or he's on the brink of starving by the time he finally registers the hunger. Due to this he'll often end up with huge meals at the most unusual of times.

fighting style.

Dirty.

Just straight up nasty. Street fights are not meant to be fair so naturally Taiga has learned to use anything at his disposal, obviously including his teeth. Knifes are a favorite of his when it comes to close range but he's also a fan of shoving a gun right into someone's face.

During his first and second year he'd regularly hang out at Vagastrom and join in the Pit, fighting Alan or Tohma (or both). Every fight involving Taiga always started with a thorough pat down to take any and all weapons from him while he just stood there and laughed.

[third-arch]

I cried while brainstorming a chapter for my epilogue

!!Spoilers for “No Surprises” ahead!!

There are times that I’ve cried writing or coming up with ideas for my fanfiction. It’s a really sad story, and normally it doesn’t get to me.

But, Kanna will die. There’s nothing anyone could’ve done to change it. That’s why it’s called “No Surprises”. I’m telling you guys how it ends. The real story is their journey together. The bittersweet moments, the awkward, uncomfortable moments, the traumatic moments.

That’s the whole point. It’s a broken road of memories they shared together: both good times and bad. Insignificant and nostalgic.

Despite all his medical expertise, growth, despite it all, he couldn’t save her. He never ever will forgive himself for his recklessness. He blames himself everyday.

So imagine three years following the fanfic:

Law is now a “single dad” navigating parenthood to his almost 5 year old daughter, Taiga, who knows nothing about her mom.

Law hates thinking about her sometimes. It hurts. He feels like he’s going through the motions sometimes. It’s too quiet without her.

It’s not right.

And here’s taiga, this ADHD ball of sunshine tiger/Luffy character who loves her dad and wants to know about her mom. She believes deep down that she’s alive and carries around a photo of her.

One late night,

She tries sneaking out to find her, only to be caught at by Law.

“Where have you been! You foolish girl, you can’t ever do that again!”

“I went to go find mommy!! She’s here, I know it-“

They argue. Law keeps his cool, but thinking about Kanna makes him more and more emotional.

He loses his temper finally.

It escalates, and Law snaps at her,

“ENOUGH! I’ve had it with you! Mom’s gone! I watched her die!!”

His words catch in his throat, and he lets out a deep and frustrated exhale,

“…go to your room, right now.” He glares at her.

Taiga’s eyes well at his words, her lips quiver as she puts on her bravest face,

“I hate you daddy!! You’re the meanest worst dad ever!! Mom loved you and you’re just a monster!! I wish you weren’t my dad!!”

She slams the door littered with “Trafalgar Tiger!!” “Beware of tiger!!” “No Dads allowed” posters on her door and slams it shut, hugging the snow leopard plush Law gave her and crying.

She was six years old.

Law knocks on her door, gently apologizing and sitting down on her bed.

This tall, 191 cm stoic dad with his small, energetic daughter, who’s scowling at him.

But, putting myself in the mind of a six year old who’s convinced that her mom might still be alive and single dad Trafalgar Law having to tell her no hurts like crazy.

It’s heartbreaking.

I cried brainstorming this scene. The tension, imagining how a dad might yell at his daughter, is just heartbreaking.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You’re too young to hear those kinds of things. I hurt you deeply, and I’m sorry.”

He notices her wet cheeks and tear stained pillow as he puts his hand on her head.

“I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I don’t want any hatred or resentment to come of this. Can you promise me that, Taiga-ya?”

Taiga tearfully nods.

And at the end of it, he cuddles her until she falls asleep against his chest.

“I don’t hate mom, Taiga-ya. I love her. I would do anything in the world to have her back. But she’s gone. She’s watching over you everyday, and she loves you just as much as I do.”

“I know you miss her. But I promise you, that I never stopped loving her, just as I never stopped loving you, okay?”

I’m getting teary eyed just typing this out.

I love Law so much. He’s such an interesting character to work with, and it’s even better when you don’t try to pry into his mind. Just keeping it brief and vague as he would.

So the epilogue, “Speak Now”, is going to be really interesting when it comes to him being more of a minor character, given the canon story and fanfic.

[atti-rambles]

episode 9 broke me

like rei making more of an effort to help around the house and showing his care for miri and kazuki,, it's so beautiful. like kazuki thinking he's gone mad by wanting to make rice balls is so funny, he is so dramatic

and also kazuki is close to the daycare mamas!! he got into their group!!! pls tell me he's in the gc!!

also this, i love when they make these jokes

and then they joke about how kazuki is a comedian and kazuki is like "don't talk about that!" and they laugh at him saying how funny he is. he is an unfunny clown.

also miss anna is so great i love her every time she's on screen i love you

also soccer mom kazuki is a treat i like him being so passionate about his daughter like he really shows his love. and he gets so upset when she's with taiga it's so cute. and also this, rei being protective after episode 8's revelation that he wants to protect miri and kazuki hit me so hard okay.

rei's development is amazing, i rewatched the series thru the english dub (they did really great btw, i speak both languages so it was neat to see the changes and such), and gosh did rei change a TON. like he's allowing himself to be more emotive and present in kazuki and miri's lives,,, so sweet.

also rei put cereal and strawberry jam in rice balls, ngl that sounds good. like gummies in rice balls is a neat concept. and all the girls loved it too and he smiled,,,, we love to see it

and what i love is miri loses the race. i didn't except it to happen bc she trained so hard, but ya know it's a realistic outcome. BUT GOD rei cheering her on is so sweet,,, he's grown a lot

also seeing taiga's parents explains a lot on how he acts and i love how they look. like it's very cool to see someone with dyed hair in japan since it's frowned upon, you can tell they are close

also whenever miri says, "パパたち" i cry a little each time. that term is just to cute and personal gosh,,,,

and then the event where she needs to find something and bring it to the finish line, and she grabs rei. together the three win the gold. and then it's revealed what the note said, "family."

this,,, this is where i broke. it's so genuine and a perfect way to show how far this family has come, and that miri was able to win the gold with her papas,,, so perfect the writing is amazing for this show and has been consistent with it too. this is a special show in that regard.

and then they make a comment on how rei and kazuki have never had a picture together bc it can't be known they are associated with one another. which is really interesting, and it makes a ton of sense of course. it's a bad idea to take the photo together, but they do it for miri,, their soft spot.

kazuki telling how much he appreciates rei cheering on for miri is also very cute i like that detail.

and then yet again, they state their commitment to miri

both of them want to watch miri grow up.

and then they punch you in the gut reminding you how the last episode ended, thanks.

this episode was mostly fluff, and we all needed it after episode 8,, but god this domestic stuff hits me harder than the angst i gotta admit. bc even when all those bad things happen, they make an effort to make sure they can continue with their live with miri and let her have a normal childhood.

[kerizaret]

Okay so here have the gist of it:

The setting is a kind od victorian-like, somewhat southern europe country with Sherlock Holmes if it was Warm and Sunny outside vibe + magical realism (magic is there but it is not studied nor a well known fact). A famous travelling theatre troupe comes to Port Town and the lead actress, the diva and the face of the group (Nene) immediately gets kidnapped by the local mafia. Naturally everyone is in panic and all the detectives in the area are immediately on the case, however...

The whole kidnapping thing is actually entirely staged by Rui (with Nene's enthusiastic consent), the right hand man of the local mafia leader, because those two are childhood friends and haven't seen each other for literal ages, and because Rui is, well, a criminal and Nene is a celebrity, no way they would be able to catch up and spend time together as friends in public. So Rui decided kidnapping it is. (Additionally Nene wasn't doing so well in her troupe and wanted to take a break without anyone breathing down her neck about it. Neither of these people have a good idea of what normal behaviour is)

An is a prodigy detective who inherited the business from her dad and his detective agency (Ken is alive and well and is currently running a speakeasy, Nagi and Taiga are both considered missing). She's technically underage and should not be running a detective agency but nobody says anything about it because she's scary good. Unnaturally good even. Anyway An figures the whole Nene situation out fairly easily and when she tracks Nene down, she is met by Nene asking if not outright begging An to not blow her cover yet because she missed Rui a lot and still haven't had enough time with him (and also, potentially, maybe thinks she can make a law-abiding citizen out of him. Very unlikely and they both know that. Platonic "I can fix him")

An agrees, because

a) she knows how it is to be separated from your loved ones and misses people in her life as well (exactly what you're thinking about, but also Haruka)

b) she's in competition with other detectives and will gladly take the opportunity to throw them off the trail and then claim all the credit when Nene is miraculously "rescued" (their deal is basically this initially)

c) she's honestly gonna have so much fun with this

d) she's Down Bad for Nene let's be real

Cue them both trying to mess with the evidence and suspect sightings and other's group's trails and staging all sort of shenanigans. Hilarity ensures.

Bonus content:

1) Nene's disguise is just removing the hair puffs away from her face. Her regular haircut is somewhat similar to her Colorfes trained but with styled, curled into elegant strands of hair puffs. Once she hides them completely? Unrecognisable. Not the same person. Nobody knows it's her but Rui (and later An)

2) Rui is right-hand man to Mizuki, who is the mafia leader but they're not there much. They just basically got Rui on their side with "we're both outcasts, you know what outcasts do well? Crime :]" and the rest is history. They don't actually harm people much, they mostly smuggle stuff like diamonds and jewels and precious metals across the port security... For a price. And an occasional gun or two. But mostly just jewels.

3) Rui isn't actually that hype to be a part of the mafia, but he's still an inventor and that's like the only way he can both get his hands on materials and new tech and not be judged for it by The People. He doesn't believe he's ever going to fit in with regular society anyway, might as well.

4) An is rivals with Rui and they basically still have this cat and mouse dynamic (fox and rat?). An takes it Much more seriously than Rui ever did.

5) "Nene-san, I can understand a lot about secret relationships, but him?"

"it'snotlikethatIswear-"

6) The other featured characters:

- Akito, the only competent person at the agency. An's right hand man, but is mostly regarded as someone who's responsible for not letting her throw herself into danger head first. Perpetually annoyed by everything and is very grumpy

- Tsukasa, An's apprentice, much to his chargin (An never explains how she does Anything. "Idk dude just figure it out"). This is a part-time job for him; wants to be an actor still but keeps getting rejected

- Kohane, who works as a crime photographer for a rival agency. Whatever is going on between her and An is between them and god

- Mafuyu as a field medic/apprentice who's there from time to time. She wants to help people, but her mom wants her to have a prestigious career (still a doctor? Idk). Hangs out around An's detective agency often because Ken helped her out through a tough spot once and she feels indebted, but is otherwise not sure what to do with herself

- Touya is a double agent for An and Tsukasa, pretending to be part ot the mafia. At the same time she's such a nice guy he can't exactly figure out where his loyalty lies. He wants everyone to be friends. A good detective, rational and logical vs An's spiritual and intuitive. He's chill :]

- The Otoris do a lot of things, but they are mainly a merchant family. Therefore they clash with the mafia often, and Emu tries to prove herself by defending the goods! Unfortunately this leads to her also clashing with Rui, who she thinks is genuinely a good person and potentially an incredible inventor who just haven't had the chance to use his mind for the good of humanity. She tries to convince her brothers to hire him in order to develop more tech and make everyone's life better like her grandfather would have wanted, but to no avail so far. She and An know each other, but they're not so close yet!

- Honami runs a bakery in the district!

- Others probably will also have a role I just haven't decided yet

Inspiration sources, naturally:

(+more)

IMM FREEEEE WOOOOO

Anyway you read me saying it before but this us SO AWESOME AND ALSO SO FUNNY. AN CASUALLY HELPING NENE HANG OUT WITH A CRIMINAL HCHSHDH ruinene "I can fix him" help meee 😭😭😭 ruian one-sided rivalry over nene hxjajdhsh. MIZUKI MAFIA BOSS. Akito being SO Tired (tm). What's there not to love?

I love to imagine the shenanigans that ensue and the chaos but also fun of staging all those fake scenes 😭😭 and how thrown off all the others in the detective agency are. I imagine for a genius like an who usually solves cases quickly this is f9r once very fun snd challenging

I also rly wanna know what becomes of mizurui later, especially rui since he has nene and also emus offer in theory to maybe give him a more honest life. And also an too I guess

And also how annene develops! We know an is Smitten immediately but how does nene grow close to her 👀 also nene disguise is so funny 😭😭😭 shes not even trying and yet it works

Anyway!!! I love this!!! Thank you for sharing its super fun snd interesting! If you ever have more to share feel free :D

[wanderersrest]

A Cheat Sheet to Gintama References

Have you ever said to yourself "I want to get into Gintama, but I want to understand all of the references?"

Well fear not, for I have a cheat sheet for a lot of the references. Not all of them, because I'd never finish this post. But there are a lot of references the series makes, and as non-native Japanese viewers, a lot of things are lost on us. That's not even getting to things that are lost due to the language barrier. So here it is: a (not so) comprehensive list of series that Gintama references!

Manga

Dragon Ball (Bonus points if it involves dunking on Yamcha.)

Fist of the North Star (Complete with a copyright-friendly version of You Wa Shock!)

Saint Seiya (an entire episode hinges on Gintoki being afraid of getting sued by Toei because of their constant Saint Seiya references)

City Hunter (I wouldn't be surprised if City Hunter was an inspiration for Gintama. Like Gintoki as a main character is what happens if you were to combine Kenshin Himura and Ryo Saeba into a single man. And then you gave said man Kakashi's hair.)

Rurouni Kenshin (Gintama is best described as the post Big 3 answer to Rurouni Kenshin. While One Piece and Shaman King are the true successors to RK, Gintama is the series most similar in terms of aesthetics... minus the modern tech in Meiji-era Japan.)

One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach (I'm folding all three into one line due to their nature as Jump's Big Three. Not helping things is that Gintama ran around the same time as all three.)

JoJo's Bizarre Adventures

Death Note

To Love Ru (Yes, really.)

SKET Dance (Not surprising as SKET Dance mangaka Kenta Shinohara was Sorachi's apprentice at one point)

Fullmetal Alchemist

Lupin III

Golgo 13

Kinnikuman (the thing Ultimate Muscle is based off of)

Doraemon

Sazae-san

Berserk

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K (Ask me about how Gintama helped screw Saiki K out of an English Dub for Season 2)

Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam (It helps that Sunrise/Bandai Namco Pictures produced the Gintama anime, because there are a lot of Gundam references in particular. You also don't get the Renho arc without Sunrise producing the anime.)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (Specifically the fact that Shinpachi and Tsukuyo's voice actors are in each series respectively)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Especially if it involves MADAO, as MADAO shares a voice actor with Gendo Ikari)

Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro (I'm highlighting these three Ghibli movies in particular due to how often they are referenced throughout the series.)

The Brave Franchise (Specifically The Brave Express Might Gaine and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar)

Patlabor (Yes really, and SKET Dance is partially to thank for this one)

Video Games

Dragon Quest (Specifically DQ III & IV, this series gets referenced a lot once Tama is introduced)

Sengoku Basara (Specifically when it involves one Toshiro Hijikata)

Final Fantasy VII

Mother

Super Mario Brothers

Tales Of

Resident Evil

Yakuza/Like a Dragon (Not surprising, as both Like a Dragon and Gintama are set in and around Kabukicho)

Monster Hunter

Live Action Film & Television

Abarenbo Shogun (SHOGUN KA YO!!!!!)

NHK Taiga Drama (The Shinsengumi drama in particular is a primary influence for Gintama)

Game of Death

Star Wars

Kinpachi-sensei (The series that the Ginpachi-sensei segments are based off of)

Doctor Who

I hope this helps if and when you decide to watch through Gintama. I'll try to update this post as I remember more references or if anyone messages me with a reference that I missed. Because good lord are there a lot of references. Oh, also remember: if this is your first time watching Gintama, start on episode 3. The first two episodes are filler.

[raspberrylix]

(some) KnB characters and their favorite kpop acts

After seeing a post by @imalwaysinconfusion, I could not stop thinking about the characters and the type of music they would listen to, as music is very cool and event more important to me as knb. But then my recent expertise lies mainly in kpop so this the post. All credits for the idea go to them, hope me doing this is okay :] Most of these are based on vibes and vibes alone

Akashi Seijūrō

(Honestly I’m having a hard time with him, so many signals and yet nothing I could understand, great start)

BIBI

Day6

Midorima Shintarō

Shinee + gg (taemin bias)

Him and Kise have a similar taste but it’d say Midorima is more chill (but don’t come across him on twt during yet another fanwar)

Kise Ryōta

Loona

Itzy

NewJeans

Jeon Somi (when I think of fast forward, I see Kise, why is that?)

XG

He’s either the most nicest person you can meet at the concert or he won’t be afraid to drop kick someone from being a bg stan, the line is very thin

Aomine Daiki

Ateez(!!!)

MonstaX

P1Harmony

Stray Kids (with this I’m really not sure, but he’d love megaverse and side effects for sure)

Murasakibara Atsuchi

Xdinary Heroes

Ateez (Mura would love FOB -> mingi loves FOB -> I love both ATZ and FOB with mingi being my bias-> dots are connected)

Either Woodz or Gaho or both but both of those might be too light for him

Dreamcatcher (feels like Himuro’s influence)

Kuroko Tetsuya

Day6 (wonpil bias, won’t elaborate)

DPR, DPR LIVE in particular

Hoody

Dean, heavy on him

Kagami Taiga

Stray Kids

iKON

bold shot, but somehow, I feel like he would like BlackPink a lot

epik high

Woodz

Kiyoshi Teppei

Seventeen

GOT7

Red Velvet, heavy on Red Velvet

T-ARA, KARA

TEEN TOP, B.A.P, Block B, VIXX, basically all the best from early-mid 3rd gen

he's the chill type and would get along with everyone, despite their music taste and would try to learn about one's favorite artists, if he doesn't know them. he also misses how back in the day idols would interact between groups

Hyūga Junpei

Kard

SuperM

Cheetah

Rolling Quartz <3

he just likes badass people, dunno

Izuki Shun, aka a man with perfect taste

DPR IAN

J-hope

BIBI

Jamie (!)

Koganei Shinji

Xikers, definitely xikers

Billlie

5th gen stan for sure

Takao Kazunari

NCT all units

Riize (maybe)

SM gg

Basically I see him as a huge SM stan

Sakurai Ryō

Lucy

Onewe

AKMU

Himuro Tatsuya

The Rose

Tablo

Woodz

Dreamcatcher

Aida Riko

Yezi

AleXa

G-(i)dle

Mamamoo

(i just think she's very cool and would love cool woman of kpop)

Momoi Statsuki

Nmixx

TXT

enhypen

Oriwara Shigehiro

NCT dream

Riize, big fan of riize, totally has mastered play a guitar move

was this post just me assigning my own favorite artists to these characters, thus making a situation where they had to be my bffs? mayhaps. but i had a lot of fun

[redsamuraiii]

I started watching J-dramas in 2020 during Covid Lockdowns. At a time when I hit rock bottom, lost my job, lost the girl I wanted to marry, lost the chance to travel (flights were cancelled), lost my purpose, lost my mind, I had no idea what was going on.

I tried watching Western shows like I always did for many years since I was a teenager but somehow I could not find solace in them. I tried watching other shows like K-dramas to see what the hype was all about and C-dramas out of curiosity but I still felt empty.

Then I remembered the first J-drama I watched as a kid with my mum, Oshin (1983). She loved that asadora drama that she never failed to miss even one episode out of like 300! It always played on TV in the late weekday afternoons after school so there I watched.

I didn't remember or understand the story then but I remembered the places shown, and I was mesmerized. I was thinking, is there such a beautiful place? Then I started watching Tokusatsu on weekends which was played on TV which showed many similar places.

And for some reason, it was the most relaxing feeling I ever felt. Wanting to feel that again, I started re-watching them and nostalgia started running through my memory. I'm not exaggerating but I really felt at peace watching them, no longer feeling empty.

That's when I started watching more J-dramas of various genres, asadora, taiga (period), comedy, slice of life, crime. I got addicted to every one of them that I felt like I was traveling to Japan in the midst of lockdowns. And watching them made me feel happy.

The stories brought grief and joy but it helps me reconnect with my own emotions or process trauma. It's healing and inspiring. There are times it makes me forget reality and there are times it reminds me of it, but in a good and inspiring way, making me feel there is hope.

Watching the characters going through their lives makes me rethink my own and re-look at them from a different perspective. It makes me think of things I never thought of before, that it helps me to solve my life problems with a different approach. 

The characters and stories may be fictional, but the struggles and problems are relatable and universal. How they react to life changing events, the people they interact with in daily lives, their life circumstances closely reflects the real ones.

Stories told from Asian perspectives, in terms of work life, relationships, anxieties, depression, mental health, struck a chord with me, an Asian, feels closer to home. As the way Asian culture deals with these things is different from the West. 

I never felt such a level of happiness or sadness watching any shows but J-dramas. They showed me that nothing is permanent in life, both the good times and the bad times. They showed me how to treasure the good times and move on from the bad times.

I’ve watched 400 J-dramas in 4 years! They made me start learning Japanese and made me stop watching Western shows ever since (not all but most). I guess you could say it is one form of therapy which makes me able to express and experience emotion again.

Because if you’ve suffered from anxiety and depression, you know that you don’t feel alive. You don’t feel happy but you don’t feel sad either. You just feel empty. Watching J-Dramas make me feel like, hey, I’m not alone, they are going through this type of thing too!

[trans-ace-lee]

The Generation of Miracles + Kagami & Momoi

Kuroko Tetsuya

As a lee

Doesn't get tickled by his team very often, middle school or high school

In middle school, the generation of miracles had too much respect for him to do anything (not that they're afraid of getting wrecked afterwards minus Akashi of course)

The members of Seirin only tickle him when he's down on himself or when he pops up out of nowhere and scares them (they probably get wrecked later)

He and Kagami probably get into the most tickle fights

His worst spots are his ribs and stomach

When he laughs, he gets these tiny crinkles next to his eyes and sometimes you can't tell he's laughing because his laughter is so quiet and composed

His worst spots will make him laugh harder, but don't expect to get any shrieking or yelling out of him

As a ler

The invisible man himself

Characters canonically don't remember that he's in the room

Great at sneak attacks

Little shit

He's also one of the most observant characters

So get wrecked because he will and can wreck you

Knows everyone's worst spots

He's not a mean ler but he's just really good at it

His members from both teams come to him for tickles if they feel down

He just knows when they need them tho and what type of tickles they want

He doesn't tease people that often, but he can be an aforementioned little shit and give compliment type teases that makes his lee flustered

Kagami Taiga

As a lee

Angry boi

Loud, boisterous laughter

Worst spots are him underarms and feet

Be prepared to get kicked in the face unless you pin him down (minus Kuroko because Kuroko is great at dodging his flailing limbs)

He and Aomine get into stupid fights about whether Kuroko knows their tickle spots the best

Everyone else thinks it's hilarious to watch

They also fight about who can make the most shots (tickle penalties from Kuroko for every basket they miss)

He used to get wrecked by Tatsuya and Alex

I mean getting wrecked by Tatsuya and Alex

If you tickle his thighs, he'll start hiccuping from laughing so hard

As a ler

As opposed to Aomine, he can can mostly handle what he dishes out

He and Kuroko get into vicious poking wars and tickle fights

Kagami loses these most of the time

You'd think he wouldn't be that great at tickle fights with no siblings and being the younger sibling in his dynamic with Tatsuya, but he learns fast

He's really good at making his lee laugh before they're even tickled

This is mostly due the serious but endearing way he looks at his lee before he tickles them

Like imagine the gaze of a viscous tiger combined with the concentration of a tiger cub about to pounce on its prey

Midorima Shintarou

As a lee

Remember this composed and comically refined image?

It's gone when he's tickled

1000% snorts when he laughs

You can't tell me that the generation of miracles + Takao make fun of him for this

Bonus points for his facial expression when he gets teased about him snorting because it's just a mixture of his annoyed face with a slight blush on his cheeks

He doesn't flail too much but he jumps. . . a lot

Tries to keep his composure and gets annoyed and angry when you point out he's ticklish

Worst spots are his ribs and inner thighs

As a ler

Hilariously bad at teasing

He just makes a bunch of obvious comments in his signature pompous voice

Half the time, his lee is just laughing at the way he says teases rather than the actual tease itself

This doesn't mean he's not good at it because he is the second smartest member of the generation of miracles

Plus he has a younger sister

It's quite funny to see him tickle his lee, because his facial expressions don't change that often

Every once in a while, you can catch a minuscule smile on his face when he's tickling his lee

Aomine Daiki

As a lee

You'd think this cocky little shit whose main catchphrase is "The only one who can beat me is me," would have little to no weaknesses

This is a lie

He can't handle tickling of any kind

Literally loses function of his entire body

Flails around but has zero coordination

Wild instincts gone

You can break him with one poke

A giggler

But it's just so contagious

Cocky grin be gone bc he's just going to have a big stupid smile on his face

Aka his giant smile from middle school

Kind of walking tickle spot but his underarms + the area around his shoulders/shoulder blades and the small of his back are the worst areas

Blushy bitch

Doesn't like to admit that he's ticklish

As a ler

Can't handle what he dishes out

Agile as hell

He's great at dodging hands

He's also probably the best teaser out of the generation of miracles

"The only one who can beat me is me"

He. . . uh regularly forgets how his lee can pay him back tenfold

A bit of a mean ler

Lowkey gets flustered at his own teases but will just tickle his lee harder to push those thoughts away

He won't stop until there are tears in his lee's eyes

At Tooh, he definitely bullies Sakurai the most

Murasakibara Atsushi

As a lee

Literal man-child

He's the youngest of his siblings

One older sister and three older brothers to be exact

You better bet they've used tickling to take down their giant younger brother

Hint: go for the knees, and he'll just kind of fall over

Bonus point for knees: plop down on his thighs or calves, spider you fingers on the back of his knees, and listen to the sound of his fists pounding on the ground

Also you can tickle his neck and ears with his own hair

His worst spots are his thighs and knees but his ears are a close second

Feather ticklish

As a ler

Bored and lazy ler

Can be a scary ler if you piss him off

Uses one hand to hold his lee down and uses the other to tickle his victim

Good at teases but let's be honest, it's probably more along the lines of matter-of-fact insults

He's big, fast, and strong

He mostly just restrains lees rather than being a full on ler

That doesn't mean that he won't wreck you because he can

Kise Ryouta

As a lee

Also the youngest sibling

His older sister probably likes reminding him that he's not the pretty boi that everyone thinks he is (girls mostly)

Gets wrecked by the other generation of miracles because he can't stop picking fights with the other members

His entire torso is his worst spot + his ears

Fun fact: he only has one ear piercing because he couldn't handle the pain

Yes his ears are more sensitive after getting the piercing

Yeah he definitely can't handle tickles either but that doesn't stop him from antagonizing the other members

The members of Kaijo, especially Kasamatsu, tickle him to get him behave and to pay attention

Like I mentioned earlier he likes picking fights, but mostly loses them unless it's Aomine because Aomine is just too ticklish

As a ler

Cocky little shit

Probably the second best at teasing if we're being honest (that being said, he can't handle teasing tho)

Playful ler

He's the kind of ler that would disguise insults as teases but it works

This little shit would point out how ticklish his lee is and how much they love it

He probably learned how to tickle people from watching the other members of the generation of miracles

Because he can copy moves

Akashi Seijuro

As a lee

Oddly pretty when tickled

Like his eyes turn into little crescents, and he gets this huge smile on his face when he laughs that show off his teeth

His horse tickles his neck with its muzzle

No one tickles him by themselves

Not that he allows them to

And if they do, they gang up on him

R.I.P anyone who participates

His worst spot is his hips

Barely moves when tickled

As a ler

He's canonically only lost at something twice in his entire life

Run

His special move is being able anticipate people's moves, so don't expect to be able to defend yourself

Scary ler most of the time but sometimes a sweeter, more gentle side of him comes out from time to time

Very good at aftercare

Also can't tease to save his life, but his lee is probably laughing too hard to tell

The only thing he's canonically bad at is telling jokes

He comes up with individual strategies to take down his lee

He sees everything

Momoi Satsuki

As a lee

Her worst spots are her sides and neck/chin

Crinkles her nose when tickled

Her laughter is adorable and fun to listen to

Also snorts when he laughs

Doesn't flail so much as squirm

Loves tickle fights

As a ler

She can canonically analyze other players and estimate their potential like what they can do, and especially what weaknesses they have

So you're screwed. . . Very screwed

She might be an only child but you can't tell me that she can't destroy the generation of miracles

Laughs along with her lees

Compliments her lee until they're a blushing mess

Like Kuroko, she just kind of knows what her lee needs

She loves making the members of the generation of miracles laugh if they're being too serious or when they're upset

Aomine run

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Kazuki Dragging Rei Around

I skimmed through the episodes again (#1 - 7) to see when exactly Kazuki drags Rei around and in what kind of situations. Now, I didn’t fully rewatch all the episodes, just skim them, so I may have missed an instance, but this is what I found:

Episode 1: No dragging at all, even in the opening scene where they need to go to the daycare to pick up Miri.

Episode 2: This iconic scene, of course.

Where Kazuki is dragging Rei and carrying Miri from the gun fight going down. In this situation it’s just a safety thing. He needs to get all three of them out of there. He basically has to drag Rei away even though Rei is in his element. Though, because Rei is in his element here, he doesn’t make any complaints about this, he’s just focused on shooting his gun. Rei also doesn’t have much of an emotional attachment to Miri yet.

Episode 3: Kazuki doesn’t physically drag Rei anywhere in this episode. But he does kind of bring him along for the ride to see Miri’s mother. 

Rei kinda just goes along with it though, probably because he knows that Kazuki does actually want to keep Miri and he has started to form his own emotional attachment to her. But yeah, he is initially just met to keep an eye on Miri. Miri drags him to the park to play in a way too.

Though, once again, no physical dragging takes place here.

Episode 4: This is the episode where Kazuki drags Rei. He drags two times for sure, and one time that is heavily implied:

The first drag is to the first daycare that turned out to be an awful place. The second time is only implied and it is to Miri’s daycare (Aozora). The last time is when they are at Kyu’s bar and have to go pick up Miri at the daycare. In all of these cases, Rei was being dragged away from or being kept from indulging in activities and habits he likes (video games and smoking) to do something responsible and largely connected to Miri. He is also in his “Off” mode during all of these moments, not in his “On” mode and focused on his job.

The rest under a Read More due to length.

Episode 5: Kazuki doesn’t drag Rei around in Episode 5, but Miri does for at one point.

When the subject of their jobs gets brought up, Rei was going to try and escape it by jumping into his work “Scouting time.” But Miri sees him, stops him, asks him a few questions, and that causes him to turn around. No need to drag him back when Miri does it for him, lol.

It shows how Miri has a much bigger influence on Rei now.

Episode 6: Kazuki drags Rei, but not because Rei doesn’t want to go somewhere, but more so because they aren’t supposed to go there. 

Rei and Miri are once again shown to be very similar in this regard. Miri is shown to be a good kid who sticks to the rules. That is her general understanding of “right vs wrong” at this stage in her life. Taiga is shown going against the rules, so she knows that he is wrong. He also goes against societal rules (taking food, etc.) to get attention, so Miri also views that as being “wrong” and “mean.” Because often “mean things” are things that hurt others in society. 

Now, we know because of Rei’s upbringing that he doesn’t necessarily have a normal sense of right from wrong. In Episode 1 he was ready to shoot through Miri to get their target after all. But from the brief interactions we’ve seen with his father (and based on the kind of work that he was trained to do from a young age), it would make sense that Rei would be hyper aware of following rules that are laid down for him. 

So that’s why he doesn’t want to go to the zoo. Not because he wouldn’t want to (when they actually get there, he seems quite excited at going to a zoo for the first time), but because it was something they were told they shouldn’t do by the daycare. Those were the rules. Mirii is kinda the same. Taiga does something he isn’t supposed to do (like Kazuki), Miri follows/gets dragged along (like Rei), but both her and Rei end up having a bit of an adventure and a good time (overall).

Episode 6 is also the first time we see Rei (alone) bring Miri to school. It’s likely a first in general, since Rei was shocked at Miri stating she wanted him to bring her in. And I think that is a key thing to note here, Miri basically demands that Rei bring her in and not Kazuki:

She doesn’t ask. She states that Rei will bring her, so he is kinda “dragged” into doing so by Miri. He really has no other choice. 

Because neither Rei nor Kazuki are certain about how Miri is feeling about Kazuki after going to the zoo, Rei has to be the one that picks her up from daycare as well. Once again, there really isn’t any other option.

Episode 7: Now, in Episode 7, there isn’t any dragging on a physical or narrative level here in regards to Rei, Kazuki, or Miri. Kazuki does up and leave for the episode, but this isn’t dragging Rei into doing anything. Kazuki (and Miri) have both already done that enough with Rei. Now it is Rei’s time to drag himself into doing things. And he does them. 

When Miri asks about daycare, she isn’t demanding he bring her like Episode 6, she just asks about it. Rei realizes the time and then he actively gets up and starts getting Miri ready and brings her there (and then back). Miri will remind Rei of the things he needs to do with her in this episode (”I’m hungry” etc.), but Rei is the one that actively does it on his own (even if it is just ordering pizza). 

It will be interesting to see if Kazuki and/or Miri dragging Rei around physically or narratively will continue to happen now or if the series will stick to this growth we’ve been seeing build up, and have Rei take the initative on his own more and more.