#bounty hunter akira

[bunkerhillbros]

“Drawing Granolah” from ANIMEFREAK93867.

[trevoramueller]

With Nexus Point, I set out to create a world similar enough to ours but different enough from things we’ve seen in other media to help it stand out a bit from the rest. A cyberpunk world that’s completely hands free, virtual, and wireless.

A modernization of cyberpunk, if you will, building upon the aesthetics of 1970s visuals (Blade Runner, Akira, Ghost in the Shell), but adding a modern flair to it.

“Familiar but different,” was the motto. And by the comments, we seem to have achieved it. 

The story centers around two very different people: Gemi, a young hacker with a mysterious past; and Jack, a seasoned bounty hunter. When Gemi downloads a file at her new job, her world is thrown upside down. Suddenly she’s being chased by crooked cops, rogue hackers, blood thirsty bounty hunters, and a mysterious military group. The only person who can keep her safe is Jack, who’s own mysterious past is tied to the file she’s downloaded. 

Please check out this incredible series, which updates every Saturday.  Written by me Art by Sebastian von Buchwald (Fortnite) Letters by Micah Myers Colors by Gabo Music by Johnny Yong Bosch (Power Rangers, Akira, Bleach, etc)

[luv-kakashi]

One of us is dead

"Deep down I've always been reaching for a hand."

Kill. Collect Money. Kill. Collect Money Sold to a bounty hunter organisation, Y/N Uzumaki has known nothing but murder and assassination all her life.

Yet all she wishes for is peace. A world in which she has a purpose. A paradise in which Y/N is stripped of the names Kunoichi Thirteen and Byakuya Princess.

Fleeing from the criminal underworld, a masked man offers her a proposition she cannot refuse. An offer she cannot decline.

Y/N Uzumaki finds refuge in Konoha where she joins Team Two accompanied by Kushina, Shisui and Akira

But, what happens when this very proposition forces her to betray those who have shown her nothing but love and compassion.

Will she follow through with this plan?

Follow this story filled with betrayal, love and heartbreak which is over come with the power of friendship!

(and a plot to do Shisui Uchiha some justice!) (there might even be a little ✨spice✨)

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. (Except for Akira)

[calledthezealot]

I started making a thread about this on Twitter but separating posts into tweets is a massive pain in the ass, so I think I'll dump my whole thoughts here.

The "Star Wars suburbs" in Skeleton Crew are terrible. Boring and uncreative.

I'll start by acknowledging there is absolutely a history of Star Wars being heavily influenced by other films and wearing these influences proudly. However, Star Wars ripping aesthetics from its influences 1:1 is a very modern development. It wasn't very common before the Disney buyout.

For example, let's go back to the beginning, Star Wars (1977). Luke Skywalker is clearly meant to be relatable to every kid who feels like they're too big for where they grew up, much like George Lucas himself felt as a kid growing up in dull suburban California. But does Luke grow up in "Space Modesto"?

No.

He's a moisture farmer in the desert, just like his uncle. This science fiction profession is not relatable at all to audiences, but we get it. It's boring, and Luke wants more for himself. That's all we need.

In fact, the alien nature of "moisture farming" ENHANCES the worldbuilding of the setting and helps us get immersed. We barely know what moisture farming is, but we still "get" it. We get what Luke's going through. The Star Wars galaxy is very different from our own, but basic tenets like wanting more out of life and wanting to make the world a better place still carry through. This is worldbuilding done right.

There's countless similar examples you can grab from the movies. The Rebels are based off the Viet Cong, but they hide out in Mayan temples. Han's a cowboy, but he's not wearing cowboy clothes. Every aesthetic choice is deliberate to make things feel "familiar, but not".

To contrast with Skeleton Crew, it's the opposite. How do we show that these kids are relatable to the audience? By having them grow up in American suburbia. That's it. Not even a palette swap. It's lazy, it's visually boring, and it's borderline insulting to the audience.

We know we don't need kids to grow up like this to relate to them.

Luke grew up as a water farmer in a desert.

Leia grew up as a princess.

Boba grew up as a clone of the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter!

So why did the creators of the show go this route? In their own words, they were influenced by 1980s family movies like E.T. and The Goonies, which is also used as the justification for why the suburbs look how they do.

"They're influenced by E.T., what else could they look like?"

Lazy.

As mentioned earlier, George Lucas (and others) took a lot of inspiration from a lot of different films. Take Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, probably one of the largest singular influences on Star Wars.

The pitch is very similar: two Japanese peasants unwittingly fall into a quest alongside the company of a defeated general to rescue a princess in exile. Very similar to Star Wars, right? But that's not the entirety of it. Lucas even admits in the documentary series Light and Magic that The Hidden Fortress isn't even close to his favorite Kurosawa - he was primarily interested in the idea of telling a grand story from the perspective of the "lowest" characters in the setting (which would become R2 and 3PO). Star Wars is, at its heart, a mishmash of Lucas's (or another creator's!) myriad influences.

Flash Gordon. Dune. Akira Kurosawa. David Lean. Hot rod culture. WW2 serials. On and on and on.

On the surface it might sound like Star Wars is just The Hidden Fortress in space, but Lucas is inspired by so much, that even with a similar overarching plot, you can only just see the broad strokes.

What are the Skeleton Crew influences?

The Goonies? E.T.?

...Star Wars itself?

They get tasked with making a Star Wars coming-of-age story, and what do they come up with?

Goonies, but this time the bikes float.

Alright.

[kimbureh]

wait, people really think Clone Wars did a good job honoring Akira Kurosawa. oh no.

for years now I've been fascinated how US media continues to butcher Japanese stories, and maybe one of these days I'll write up that essay cuz Clone Wars' "Bounty Hunters" was literally such a bad adaption of Seven Samurai that it expemplifies perfectly how you can go through the motions of things without understanding the appeal of the media you're trying to emulate.

also, recently watching Gundam Wing makes the flaws of the political writing of TCW stand out so starkly that I am beginning to doubt what drew me to Star Wars Animation in the first place. GW shows what the medium of batshit crazy animation tackling complex political and military themes in 20min episodes can really accomplish, and TCW bores me ever since.

My thesis so far is that TCW falls short for me because a) it doesn't take its own premise seriously, b) it relies too much on the appeal of the setting of a Clone Army.

[stealthrockdamage]

(It's easier to do this in an ask)

Anime recs, feel free to ignore any you've already seen and/or have no interest in:

- Cowboy Bebop: I feel like this doesn't need an introduction, but regardless, it's a Jazz-inspired neo-noir mixed with a spaghetti Western set in space, following a ragtag team of eternally penniless bounty hunters as they coast from job to job

- Samurai Champloo: another outing from Bebop's Shinichiro Watanabe, Champloo is set in early Edo period Japan and follows the trio of ronin Jin, Kyushu swordsman Mugen, and teahouse serving girl Fuu as they search for a mysterious man from Fuu's past

- Space Dandy: yet another Watanabe project, this one follows a group of alien hunters who find themselves often in various zany and wacky misadventures as they explore the universe. Thought ostensibly a comedy, it has the most eclectic stories of the three with a wide range of genres, themes, and messages explored across the series, and is my personal favorite of the three

- Samurai 7: a project celebrating the 50th anniversary of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, it's essentially a retelling of the movie set in a science-fantasy universe featuring superhuman samurai and giant mechanized war machines. It can be a bit dry but I very much recommend it.

- The Boy and the Beast: this one's a movie. It follows a young boy who finds himself in an idyllic world inhabited by humanoid animals that know no war or violence. He's apprenticed to a rowdy, unkempt bear-like swordsman and together help each other move past their respective shortcomings. Gorgeous animation and a very touching personal story about choosing family.

- Planetes: set in the near-future, this sci-fi office drama follows a team of astronauts responsible for removing debris from orbit. On the surface a simple romantic-comedy, the series is incredibly deep and manages to handle with great care and respect topics like environmentalism, man's place in the universe and whether we have a right to act upon it, political and economic oppression, whether acts of terror can ever be justified, the psychological and physiological cost of moving into space, and more. Absolutely a 10/10 in my humble opinion

- Megalo Box: a sports anime set in the near future (are you noticing a pattern), this is yet another modern take on a classic series, this time the boxing manga Ashita no Joe. Megalo BOX follows "Joe" (real name unknown), as he rises from a complete nobody in the slums outside the city to the upper echelons of the Megaloboxing league, a sport similar to boxing wherein fighters wear powered exoskeletons that augment their strength and speed. Tackles classic themes of sportsmanship, the price of fame, the pride of athletes, as well as themes of economic disparity and social inequality. Pretty much the only sports anime I've ever watched and so much more than that in so many ways.

I have a lot more if you're interested

HI SORRYU I DIDN'T ANSWER THIS FOR AGES... THANK U FOR THIS LIST... i have heard very great things abt cowboy bebop in particular i know i Gotta see that one for sure...

[surveillance-0011]

I was wondering if you could maybe do some Kenny high on life headcanons if you haven't already

yes ofc! im also gonna take the time to say feel free to send asks + hc requests whenever bc ill most likely get around to it even if it takes me a bit to think of things. just nothing abt the comic yet bc i'm still working on getting my copy :3c

he/him polysexual demiaroace

Big on collecting, had a huge collection of geeky merch back at home and he'd love to build that back up again asap

huge weeb huge nerd duh

Very very glad general space culture is a bit more open to the sort of things he's interested in and very very glad the Bounty Hunter is also a huge nerd

exaggerating a liitle bit of how much space loves anime but he's not far from the truth

Loves Akira and NGE. Also big on Gurren Lagen and Gundam.

Gunpla builder. glad BH, Lizzie and Gus have hands to help with this. Gene DGAF so he don't count

Likes fruit flavored candy a lot. Like anything from hi-chew to juicy drop n peach rings n stuff

More than a little impulsive and impatient. Gets restless easily.

Trusts easy, kinda gullible especially before the events of the game. Easily fell for spectacle/face value assumptions.

Generally just. doesn't read the fine print. not as observant as he could be. should be.

But also very curious very excited to learn and see new things he needs his enrichment. take him to aquarium take him to library take him to museum

Wanted to be an astronaut when he was a kid

Likes those glow in the dark stars that you can stick to walls.

Went to trade school, good with mechanical work.

In a human au he’d wear headphones with lil antenna attached

Chill with knifey if concerned by his perpetual bloodlust. Tried to get him into Chainsaw Man and Akira.

If he ever meets Harper I think things would be more than a little awkward but they would end up getting along really well. Like besties well

BUT she would kick his ass/spray him with the hose on the highest power setting in the back yard first. It's only fair.

I don't say this as "ew icky kenny must suffer" i have the idea in my head that they mutually agree to something like this since harper has repressed so many of her emotions that something weird and cathartic like this would be the only way to work through it and Kenny just decides it's better to get it all over with in this kind of self flagellating manner than deal with someone else being mad at him for years perhaps in a moment of weakness he instantly regrets but it ends up working out.

Maybe he'd feel slighted at first?? Or insecure about it?? But Harper being so buddy buddy would make him slip back into place more and feel more like it's alright in the end.

And also anime buddies. We can make this happen. we don't have to fight. peace and love

that being said...

More below the cut but warning it's all abt the whole G3 thing and uh warnings to mentions of character death, manipulation and mentions/implications of suicidal ideation.

I think Rel was taking advantage of him but it wasn't like. 100% trying to play Kenny like a fiddle. It's just that he definitely cared more about infinite ammo, a mechanic, and quirky commentator for his exploits 3-in-1 than Kenny as an individual and had no qualms about bringing him into his shady, dangerous lifestyle.

Kenny definitely let a lot of information slip to Garmantuous and the G3, under the impression that maybe they would just cooperate with the Gatlians and it would be a mutual helping sort of thing. He didn't know the extent of the G3's crimes or what they would really do to Gatlus.

I think Garm and/or Nipulon mostly pressured/ encouraged him to talk and he figured at worst they’d be pushy or get some folks on Gators into hot water

Escaped from their clutches for a while only to be recaptured. Rel became much crueler to him as a result of the attempted betrayal.

Conflict-averse, when it comes to actual social disputes.

Creature forgave him quickly. Gus and Sweezy had to gradually warm up to him and it would never really be the way it was before.

Kenny felt pretty distressed by this. didn't they know he lost everything too? Couldn't it just. be over now?

I mean. Let's be real here. Yes Kenny was manipulated and his worst crime was mostly just running away and trusting the wrong person. But when that mistake leads to something so big? Ofc it's gonna make people mad. Esp with a vague, rushed confession instead of really being able to speak his peace

And I think not wanting to tell people, only being prompted to in order to tell the story first, and that whole "you mean i didn't even have to tell anyone ermwhat the sigma!!" bit really do seem. pretty selfish. i'll admit it irks me more than just a little.

Granted I'm sure no one's thinking straight when their whole planet's been wiped off the census and I think general survival and trying to keep a stable group came before most else in Kenny's mind. And in general he wanted to get out into the world, really see it, and prove himself only to fuck up more in the end. but it's a principle sort of thing to me.

But I like to think (and definitely want to write/draw a little something about this) that he eventually managed to really talk things out and reach a slightly better middle ground. Because everyone else really suffered for his fuck up and ofc they can't just "oh it's okay" it all away. But at the same time changing the trajectory of the galaxy's politics and wellbeing as a whole, getting entire planets destroyed because of one wrong move would break anybody down.

And I think they were getting somewhere before he. well. vanished off the face of the Earth

I read that reunion with Lez as a sort of reconciliation but I'm not sure if Kenny ever forgave himself for fucking up his friend's life like that.

I think Lezduit is relatively lucid if a bit dazed + confused, just unable to speak verbally. At the very least he's got a general idea of where he is what's goin on etc. And I think he did forgive Kenny but I'm sure if / when he is/was still aware of everything he'd still feel grim about stuff. If he could he'd totally just tell Kenny it would be better to be honest

And I think when Kenny first confessed everything Lez really wanted to tell him he could have been honest about all his doubts. Lezduit never thought he was a fuck up after all.

I'm honestly interested in the idea that maybe the Bounty Hunter didn't drop him, or that that was only half the problem; maybe he let himself fall or wriggled out of holster/grasp during a bout of guilt and doubt to just say fuck it and start over.

Or maybe not to start anything new at all and just. end it. That's dark but after everything maybe during a stressful mission it just all got to him and he freaked out and make that knee-jerk decision.

Though I'm sure he's survived and in my mind he's currently trying his damndest to make his way back to the Bounty Hunter.

i still like my prediction, as contrived as it may be, that Lizzie ends up finding him now that she's off on her own, too, and you end up reuniting with them both.

I mean. they're still using him for promo shit. there's no way he's GONE gone, they're probably just looking for a new VA and making sure the story fits together now.

And he is missed. By Creature definitely, by Gus yes even though he's not quick to admit it, and totally not Sweezy nooo why would you think that nooo why does she get kind of quiet and solemn when she goes to make fun of him and remembers he's not there noooo naur ahaha wtf are you talking about.

Knifey has also been like "Man i miss that blue bugger shame he's probably dead' and freaked everyone else the fuck out for a little bit

Lez doesn't know he's gone but I'm sure if/when the news reaches them it would be a small bout of mild panic (read: Major, major panic covertly expressed as " :O uh oh") but as much as they worry they'd kind of also just be like "eh he'll turn up somewhere". Happened before, and he's sure the Kenny he knows will tough it out. Not necessarily or primarily denial, mind you. I mean a real, genuine faith here. Lezduit knows his friend.

[le--fruitcake]

Salutations, sire! I was so taken by the milk of the word that I simply had to ask for more wisdom. I was curious to hear more of your opinions on Japanese characters being played by people who aren't Japanese, as I'm not very sure the extent of that issue.

Ah, my vassal returns! Delighted to hear thou wast taken in by mine ramblings. Welcome back, and pray rest thyself. To thy right, thou shalt find the finest refreshments and chilled drinks. Pray enjoy.

Allow me to preface this by saying: I am a white man. I am not an expert on Japanese culture, but I do know a decent amount about the samurai and a little bit about how Edo period Japan worked up until the 1800s or so, when the Black Ships arrived from the West.

I really don’t like the way Hollywood tends to cast any Asian person for roles that are specific to certain ethnicities. It gives me the impression they think Asian people are interchangeable, that Asia has one single culture, and not many individual cultures, each with their own histories and peoples and legends.

I am not the first person to talk about this, and Asian people have spoken on the subject as well. I really liked this article, which says many of the same things I think, and this one, which mentions the term “Asian-washing,” which is an interesting way to put it. I think they’re worth a read— after you finish reading this (or not. I’m not your dad).

This is not anything against the actors who play these roles, simply an observance of the tendencies of the agencies by which they were cast.

Read that last paragraph again, O Ye who Piss on the Poor.

Alright, now to the meat and potatoes, as it were.

Many times, whether in movies, books, games, or TV shows, there are characters that are either Japanese or that world’s equivalent, if it is a fantasy world like the one Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time takes place in. Some of these fantasy characters hail from the east, carry gracefully curving blades, wear their glossy, straight black hair in a topknot, and have a strong sense of duty and honor— some of the more common stereotypes for a 士 (samurai). Perhaps the character is a spy and assassin, trained in every kind of combat known to mankind, poisons, stealth, et cetera— your average 忍 (Shinobi, ninja. Technically, “ninja” would be 忍者, with 忍 being “endurance”, lit. a blade and a heart, and 者 being person) stereotype. Many times, in the medias I consume, I notice that these types of characters are often portrayed (in live action) or voiced by (in animation) other Asian people, and rarely actual Japanese people.

For example, in the aforementioned Wheel of Time, Lan Mandragoran hails from Shienar in the Borderlands, an area heavily inspired by Japan and Japanese culture, including lacquer armor, hot springs, and a focus on honor, loyalty, and combat— the tenets of 武士道 (bushidō, lit. “the path of the warrior”). Lan was, if you ask me, inspired in part by Toshirō Mifune, a very famous actor who was in many of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai movies from the 1960s, including Yōjimbō, Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, and many others. In the live-action show that came out in 2021, Lan is portrayed by Daniel Henney, who is Korean.

Another example, also from Wheel of Time, is the character Amaresu, wielding her Sword of the Sun. Japanese mythology fans and people who played Ōkami alike can easily draw the connection between her and 天照 (Amaterasu, lit. “Heavenly Illumination”], the Japanese goddess of the sun. However, despite the blatant reference to an actual Japanese mythological figure, the woman who depicts her in the show is Vietnamese (as best as I can tell— PLEASE correct me if I am wrong.)— Hélène Tran. She plays a very minor role overall, but it’s still dishonest to the character and disrespectful the Goddess Herself to depict Her as an ethnicity She is not.

Gennosuke Murakami, the rhinoceros bounty hunter from Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, is voiced by Aleks Le, who is Vietnamese-American. I don’t blame Stan Sakai for this, and to be fair, very few of the English Samurai Rabbit cast is actually Japanese. Kitsune is voiced by Shelby Rabara, a Filipino woman; Auntie is voiced by Sumalee Montano, a Filipino-Thai woman; and Lord Kogane is voiced by ProZD/SungWon Cho, who is, as you likely know, a Korean-American.

In The Old Guard, which you should watch if you haven’t seen it already, the character Quýnh is the only one of the titular Old Guard who is not in the comics. The reason for this is the actress Veronica Ngô, a Vietnamese woman, was cast for the role of Noriko— the actual character from the comics, who is Japanese, as the name implies. However, to her credit, she protested, and said she was Vietnamese, not Japanese. The director of The Old Guard reached out to see if they could accommodate that. They changed the character to Quýnh instead, and we went along our merry way.

In the 2008 movie Speed Racer, both the side character Taejo Togokhan and his sister Horuko Togokhan seem to be intended to be vaguely Japanese, but neither are played by Japanese actors, and look nothing like people who came from the same country, and much less the same woman. Taejo is played by Rain, a Korean man, and Horuko is played by Yu Nan, a Chinese woman. No matter what the intended ethnicity was here, the fact that two people from different countries were cast as siblings is baffling to me.

In the 2005 movie Memoirs of a Geisha (芸者, female entertainer, lit. “technique/art/craft person”. A common misconception with geisha is that they are prostitutes; this is not true. They are dancers, performers, that kind of thing, though Iwasaki-san says there were some women who did sleep with their clients, though she says this “happens in any field”), three Chinese women were cast for the three leading roles. It is important to understand that, during the 1920s-1940s, the era in which the film takes place, Japan kidnapped thousands of Chinese and Korean women and forced them into sexual slavery for the Japanese soldiers. Now, everyone disliked this. China and Japan both gave the movie negative reviews, and the movie ended up being banned in China due to multiple reasons, including the fact that they saw it as wrong that Chinese women played Japanese geisha. Japan didn’t like it because it did not accurately represent geisha, and, for many, the fact that Chinese women were cast to play characters in a role that is uniquely Japanese.

In addition, the actual geisha who interviewed with the author, Mineko Iwasaki, and to whose life several of the experiences of the main character directly parallel, didn’t like the movie or the book, saying that it inaccurately portrayed the geisha lifestyle. She also says the author, Arthur Golden, said he would keep her involvement confidential, but he went on to credit her in the book’s acknowledgment and in interviews.

There is a whole rabbit hole about this movie and book in particular, but I’ll leave you with this article for further reading, if you are interested.

Splinter, specifically the Splinter in TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, is voiced by Jackie Chan. There are several things wrong with this— for starters, Jackie Chan is Chinese, and for seconds, there is no connection between Mutant Mayhem Splinter and Hamato Yoshi (the man that either owned Splinter when he was a rat or becomes Splinter himself), with this version of the rat master having grown up fully in the streets of New York. If anything, he should have a heavy New York accent, but instead, Seth Rogen decided Jackie Chan should voice him. This, I blame squarely on Seth Rogen and/or whoever he hired to pick the cast. The 1987 and 2003 shows had white men voicing him, and the 1990s movies had a Black man voice him, who are obviously not Japanese, but this essay is more so about Asian people who are not Japanese playing Japanese characters. The 2012 series has a Korean man (Hoon Lee) voice him, though he has decent Japanese pronunciation. In Rise, he is played by Eric Bauza, who is Filipino. None of these men are Japanese! However, there is one Splinter who was voiced by a Japanese man...

...Which leads me to the next part of this essay. Characters who are Japanese, and actually played by Japanese people! Hooray!

In the 2007 TMNT movie, Splinter is voiced by Mako— yes, that Mako, the same one who voiced Uncle Iroh. Mako was Japanese-American. In the 1990 TMNT movie, Shredder was played by an actual Japanese man, James Saito, but was replaced for the sequel by François Chau, a man of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. Both Shredders were voiced by David McCharen, a Japanese-American man (if Turtlepedia is to be believed. Seriously, it has the only information I can find on his ethnicity, though his IMDB page says he was born in Japan).

Also in Samurai Rabbit, Yūichi is voiced by Darren Barnet, whose mother was a Swede of Japanese descent. Chizu was voiced by Mallory Low, who is Japanese-, Chinese-, Filipino-, and Hawaiian-American. Miyamoto Usagi was voiced by Yuki Matsuzaki, who did an amazing job, and actually voiced Usagi in the 2012 TMNT crossover several years prior! He also voices Usagi in the TMNT beat-’em-up game, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, in which Usagi is a DLC character, and the best $8 I ever spent.

In Pacific Rim, the character Mako Mori was played by Rinko Kikuchi, a Japanese woman. I haven’t seen this movie, but I want to.

I am not the first person to talk about this issue, and I hope I am not the last. I am going to reiterate, for Ye who Piss on the Poor, that this essay is in no way intended to do anything except point out some the specific characters who were played by people who do not match the ethnicity of the character they are playing, and the fact that this tends to happen a lot to Asian characters. I mention Japanese characters specifically because A) that is what Mr. Tehmhachi asked me about and B) that is what I notice, given that I tend to consume Japanese/Japan-inspired medias because I am 歴男.

I am in absolutely no way saying any of these actresses or actors shouldn’t have played the roles. I am only lamenting the fact that so many times, casting agencies or Hollywood or whoever see Asian people as a conglomerate, instead of a variety of richly cultured peoples that deserve accurate representation. I believe any and all characters should be played by people who match the intended ethnicity.

...And that’s all I have to say. Sorry this took so long, I wanted to make sure all my information was as correct as I could get it. For further reading on the topic of casting the wrong ethnicity for the Asian character, there are some articles you can read here and here.

[cruisectrlll]

FAQ:

NEW TO THIS BLOG? INTERESTED IN THE WORLD OF CRUISE CTRL?

Here's your introduction :

> WHAT IS CRUISE CTRL?

CRUISE CTRL is an original cyberpunk narrative. It's an ongoing work that so far includes writing, art, and in-progress comics. The first stage of comics is currently in production (as in I'm drawing them. when I have time) so if you want to skip sifting through all my other work you can wait until whenever for them to start coming out (details and location will be released on my art blog a couple months in advance @dr11ft )

IF YOU WANT MORE BACKGROUND INFO...

> WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

CRUISE CTRL takes place on an alternate futuristic earth in the wake of a semi-apocalypse. After an asteroid collides with western europe in 1979, the trajectory of the future is changed forever. 70 years, another asteroid impact, and a world war later, a multinational corporation known as REGENCORP has established themselves as the self-appointed guardians of humanity, incentivizing civilians to gather into large protected population centers known as REGENESIS CITIES in multiple locations across the globe. Among the surviving human civilians, genetic mutations developed from non earth element particulate and environmental pollution- since categorized as K-CLASS traits- have emerged as another social axis, granting humans unusual looks and abilities at the expense of varying levels of oppression from REGENCORP and national governments. CRUISE CTRL follows no single protagonist, instead tracking an unlikely group of characters who live in REGENESIS-3, a protected city and metropolitan area in the territory of southern New Mexico, USA. They are connected by their conjoined strings of action ( unless you believe in fate. do you? ), drawn together by circumstance and choice. They're rejects of every system, statistically not headed for greatness, happiness, or anything else in particular. They're not burdened with a literary destiny. Hoverbike racer, drug dealer, doctor, detective. Cameraman, construction worker, bounty hunter, digital vigilante. They exist to exist. Maybe you see someone you know in them. ( Maybe you see yourself ? )

> WHAT IS THE GOAL OF CRUISE CTRL?

I make things to remind myself that there is no magic class of qualified story makers. CRUISE CTRL gives me something to focus on outside my regular life, and if other people like it I consider that a win. (if it had a global cultural impact I'd be getting more specific about my message but it doesn't )

> HOW DOES CRUISE CTRL DIFFER FROM OTHER CYBERPUNK MEDIA?

CRUISE CTRL exists out of my dissatisfaction with much of modern cyberpunk as a pop culture genre. Cyberpunk is a media genre inextricable from politics and attempting to "say something without saying anything" (ie revolution and rebellion while still upholding status quo ideals throughout) is what creates flimsy stories and watered down imitations. If you look at 'classics' like AKIRA, GHOST IN THE SHELL, BLADE RUNNER, ANGEL COP, etc they all include distinct social or political commentary in some way. CRUISE CTRL's lack of a clear-cut narrative outside of the characters lives is the biggest difference between it and budgeted popular cyberpunk. While that pushes it away from making explicit statements, the strong messaging I'm trying to emulate is based more in well grounded themes than overt suggestions. The parallels between my characters' and real people's inherently political and reactionary lives are purposefully bold. My goal with CRUISE CTRL is to represent as many people as possible, and their inevitably crossing paths. Destruction of the idea of social bubbles, maybe. As someone who is a minority in multiple ways I feel cyberpunk deserves an attempt at a modern contribution that illustrates its core ideas instead of western individualism painted over with aesthetics of neon techno-orientalism. What would it be like if the cyberfuture was here ? How do you know if you're a main character? At what point do the actions you take become part of a larger story? Those are the kinds of questions I want CRUISE CTRL to answer.

> WHERE DO I START WITH CRUISE CTRL?

(Updated as of : 06.19.24)

My current goal is to have a organized published archive of information and content. I'm hoping to eventually make it off of tumblr so I can add more interactive character displays to explore, and where any visual media such as comics and animations could be posted. This goal is a long time in the making considering how much I hate coding (and my lack of skill in said area) and unfinished or unconfirmed information that needs to be organized into an easily understandable format and finalized. I'll most likely keep posting a combination of art and writing and eventually start out posting teaser comics on my art blog, moving on to full issues and series and then possibly building a website until I can at least post comics on it.

IN ITS CURRENT STATE, FOR THOSE INTERESTED :

I recommend:

> Exploring the tag cruise ctrl on my art blog, where this all started. You can also navigate through individual character tags inside the main tag.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND : original art, illustration, character design, and character concepts for CRUISE CTRL dating back years.

Note : this includes outdated information, designs, and ideas, as it showcases the creative process from the beginning. Take most recent designs as final.

> Scrolling this blog!

WHAT YOU'LL FIND : This is the main place I post about CRUISE CTRL that's usually not art. Most of the time I'm just messing around saying whatever but I post a lot about my characters' personalities etc so reading here will give you a good picture of that as well as how things are going productionwise. I'm also moving towards posting more put-together information spreads on what the CRUISE CTRL world looks like so keep an eye out for that. 👀

> Exploring the tag my ocs on my main blog

WHAT YOU'LL FIND : Jokes, some txt posts about my character's personalities, posts about writing/drawing/everything that goes into building something like CRUISE CTRL.

> Reading Lights Over the City.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND : This is the current location of my writing for CRUISE CTRL. This writing covers some events and situations that are integral to the main storyline and will be covered in the comics, so read only if you don't mind "spoiling" important events. The chapters can technically be read out of order since they are snapshots of different scenes in character's lives. This is the most comprehensive media for CRUISE CTRL so far.

Note : I haven't been writing for fun very long, so the quality and quantity of it is questionable. Most of the chapters are out of order comic scripts that I just impatiently adapted into text because I knew drawing them would take much longer.

...........

> WILL YOU POST REGULARLY ON THIS BLOG ABOUT CRUISE CTRL?

I tend to textpost semi-regularly about whatever I feel as long as its related. If this blog gets a solid amount of/any traffic, I'll feel more comfortable posting more long-form content about my characters when I feel people have an interest in them. Until then I'd rather focus my efforts on more core aspects of CRUISE CTRL. (I hope this is understandable, I have limited time and energy as I do work and I'm considering higher education/certifications so this project could decrease in activity or be put on hold depending on my availability).

> DO YOU ANSWER ASKS?

I'm happy to answer asks concerning my characters or storyline. Certain details or events I may not be able to reveal just because I want future media to have an effective impact (you don't want to know everything that happens already, do you? ). I also might be unsure, or unable to give an answer, so keep that in mind. Concerning NSFW asks : If asked in good faith I'll answer them tagged as # nsfw. Wondering why your ask wasn't answered ? I only answer things I'm comfortable with answering. If it doesn't make it out the inbox after a long period of time assume I chose not to answer it.

After reviewing this post I think I definitely take myself way too seriously, but that's part of the process I guess.

FEEL INFORMED?

...

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

POWER ELECTRIC, BLUE BLOOD IN YOUR VEINS.

...

KEEP IN TOUCH, WILL YOU?

...

SIGNING OFF _

( d_r_i_f_t )

[rising-dragon]

BASICS

FULL NAME: NAMGUNG SEUNG-YONG [  함열 승용 ] » MEANING: Namgung[Written as “남궁” in Korean. Other forms; Namkung, Namkoong, Namgoong. From Sino-Korean 南 (nam) meaning “south” combined with 宮 (gung) “palace, house”. This is the most common Korean compound surname.]; Seung [ Written as “승” in Hangul; from Sino-Korean 昇 (seung) meaning “rise, ascent”, 勝 (seung) meaning “victory, excel” or 承 (seung) meaning “inherit”, as well as other characters which are pronounced similarly.]; Yong [Written as “용” in Hangul; from Chinese 勇 (yǒng) meaning “brave” or 永 (yǒng) meaning “perpetual, eternal.” This can also be a single-character Korean name, for example from the hanja 勇 meaning “brave.” Written as “龍” in Hanja, meaning “dragon” and is used as a family or given name.]; Seung-yong [rising dragon.]

VERSE: Night Shift; The Meaning of Forever;  Serendipity

NICKNAME(S): Yong, Seungie

AGE: Appears Appears to be 30-years old but is actually 298-years old.

DATE OF BIRTH: Seung-yong was born in the 18th century South Korea, in 13th November.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Jeolla Province, South Korea.

OCCUPATION: Supernatural Bounty Hunter; was Personal Bodyguard to Gim Chunghae.

SPECIES: Witch, Dragon.

SEXUALITY: Bisexual; Biromantic.

GENDER: Cisgender male.

POWERS

Yeouiju (여의주)

Some power over rain, river, ocean, and weather conditions in general

Shape-shifting abilities

Super strenght

Longevity

Reincarnation

PERSONALITY

STRENGTHS: Curious, Alert, Loyal, Adaptable, Carefree

WEAKNESSES: Childish, Carefree, Stubborn, Moody, Compulsive

APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Christian Yu/Yu Ba Rom

HEIGHT: 5′10 ft. [179 cm.]

WEIGHT: 143 lbs. [65 kg.]

BUILD: Athletic.

GAIT: TBA.

HAIR COLOR: Dark brown.

EYE COLOR: Brown.

BIRTHMARK: TBA

OVERVIEW: » SCARS: Seung-yong has many scars from minor accidents and battles during his years of service with the Gim Clan. » TATTOOS: Seung-yong has various tattoos he accumulated over time. A big dragon piece began appearing on his back and its details became more and more prominent as he grew more powerful throughout the years.

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Jeolla Province, South Korea.

RESIDENCE: Seoul, South Korea.

NATIONALITY: South Korean.

ETHNICITY: Asian.

FINANCIAL STATUS: Upper-middle class.

EDUCATION LEVEL: N/A

DEGREES: Did not finish any formal education.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES:Seung-yong speaks Jeolla satoori and standard Hangul. He is fluent in English as well through years of practice. He is knowledgeable in Nihongo, Mandarin, and French.

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: To be added; he is from the Namgung clan, related to Kumi/Mamuro's farmer friend; Family's been connected with the mighty dragons for many, many years.

SIBLINGS: None.

CHILDREN: None.

PETS: None.

SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS: » Gim Chunghae, former employer; Seon Hae/Akira, childhood friend.

FAMILY HISTORY: Seung-yong was told he was abandoned by his mother when he was born. He grew up with his father’s side of the family. He didn’t get along well with his father and a lot of his relatives weren’t very keen on taking care of him as he was seen as lazy, stubborn, and useless.

ROMANTIC HISTORY: Seung-yong had a string of lovers throughout the years but none of them lasted for very long.

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS: Seon Ha/Akira; a childhood kumiho friend and also a training partner.

THOUGHTS ON LOVE: “…”

HEALTH

PHOBIA(S): None.

HANDICAP(S): None.

MENTAL DISEASE(S): None that he is aware of.

PHYSICAL DISEASE(S): None.

PREDISPOSITION(S): Alcoholism.

[minachan95-written-works-on-ao3]

Title: When the Bloody Moon Rises (Chapter 8)

Fandom: Togainu no Chi

Characters: Akira, Emma, Gwen, Keisuke, Shiki

Pairing: Shiki x Akira

Rating: +18 (Alternative Universe, Supernatural Elements, Suggestive themes, smut, Developing Relationship)

Status: In Progress

Summary:

One day, an excellent reputation, vampire hunter Akira is falsely accused of murdering an innocent person. Fortunately, the church offers him to prove his innocence by defeating the evil vampire lord Il Re. And thus, the silver-haired hunter sets on the new journey. Will he be able to do it? Read and find out~

AO3 Link

A couple of hours pass. After Shiki washes the still unconscious Akira, he carries him to the bedroom and puts him into a gray pajama.

As the vampire observes his peacefully sleeping partner, he brushes his hair from his face.

Despite his unexplained warm emotions upon seeing Akira, he is determined to keep his prized possession close and protect him.

More so, the bite marks on the hunter’s body prove he belongs to him and no one else.

He even carried Akira to his personal bath to wash him safely. After all, pure water - be it a holy one or not, irritates his skin, and if he stays longer in it, it can leave terrible rashes and burn him.

On the other hand, mixing the water with aromatic herb oil negates its effect. Therefore, the vampire could take care of his human.

But for now, while Shiki enjoys the lingering herb scent on Akira, he tucks him under the blanket. Human life is fragile.

More so, it will be troublesome if anything bad happens to him. He denies developing stronger feelings for the blue-eyed male and resisting the urge to give him more attention.

These thoughts are nothing more than irrational and should be gone soon. Something that only weak, selfish, and stupid creatures like humans would waste time on it. Or so the red-eyed vampire convinces himself. Yet, such cold logic fails when it comes to the silver-haired hunter.

In the past, he did not need to bother himself with anything even remotely close to this nonsense. That’s why,  he is anxious about something he cannot explain.

For now, Shiki sits next to slumbering Akira.

However, accusing Akira of trying to befriend and kill him is pointless and childish.

More so, the silver-haired male hasn’t such ulterior motives nor has any acting skills, and Shiki can see through him as a clear glass.

As Shiki picks the small, silver cross from his pants pocket, he studies it and remembers. When he brought Akira to the inner quarters for the first time, he returned to the master room to retrieve this holy relic.

He wondered why this person relied on it and used it as a last resort to defend himself. It wasn’t even blessed, nor did it possess any secret power that only legendary hunters could unleash. It was about as useful as a fifth leg would be to a dog.

That’s why Shiki took it to the alchemy laboratory to learn the truth behind it.

After he prepared all the needed instruments, he turned on the gas lighter and dropped the necklace into the testing tube. As the bright blue flame wrapped the bottom of the tube, this piece of jewelry melts.

However, Shiki turned off the lighter immediately when he saw something inside the cross. Upon pouring the molten metal on the testing plate, he observed it.

The noble creature of the night cracked a smile. Someone implanted a tiny tracking device in it. In the end, Shiki picked up his katana and smashed the device by its handle.

That should let anyone know that they should give up. After all, their sent pawn is dead.

But for now, the vampire plays with the hunter’s cross between his fingers and wonders.

The blue-eyed male wasn’t just here to kill him and get a generous bounty. If so, he wouldn’t receive a mere decoration like this.

Someone wanted Akira to infiltrate the castle for whatever reason. Well, whoever is the mastermind behind this, and if their goal is still unclear, it doesn’t matter.

On the other hand, the longer Akira stays in the castle, the more often Shiki senses an overfamiliar presence that lurks somewhere in the darkest shadows. That dark, chilling energy that cannot be mistaken for anyone else.

No, that cruel entity didn’t return to haunt him, not just after unbearable humiliation a long time ago. That demonic creature doesn’t stalk him to taunt him or laugh at him, and Shiki knows that.

Within time, the dark-haired male realized that HE momentarily appeared and watched Akira over, somewhere in the distance, with his changing color, glowing eyes.

Suddenly, Shiki grasps the cross and grinds his teeth, just knowing how day by day this creature gets closer, yet HIS presence instantly vanishes when Shiki chases HIM.

More importantly, after he took down another challenger yesterday, was no exception.

After he facepalms and fixes his hair, he opens his eyes and puts the small cross into his pocket.

For now, the red-eyed vampire stares at Akira, wondering what could be so special about this human that he even attracts his long-time-forgotten enemy after many years.

He is a troublemaker who has a significant talent for finding problems where they don’t exist. Secondly, his blood has an extraordinary taste that no mortal ever has. He can’t even hold a sword.

Yet, there is something unexplainable about the silver-haired male that keeps even a merciless, dark ruler of the night attracted to him.

It even makes Shiki give in to the morbid curiosity that he barely felt before and desiring him.

In the end, the vampire considers granting this human wish. Even if it’s Shiki’s personal whim, he wants to see how far he can push the hunter’s limits and how he’ll grow. Maybe someday, the vampire allow him to face him again, but without holding back.

Perhaps, this time, the outcome of their fight could be different. Who knows?

But for now, before taking his leave and dealing with another pesky challenger, he almost touches Akira’s cheek. Even so, he withdraws his palm and himself and freezes at the last moment.

He doesn’t understand why he did such a stupid thing, as if he instinctively did it. In the end, he only exhales and leaves the room.

___________________________

Some time passes. Finally, the blue-eyed male wakes up. When he sits, he closes his eyes and sighs.

He is certain - that the pesky shape-shifting creature is not here.

Of course, he isn’t. Why should he be here?

Maybe he is hunting for new prey or playing with his target before finishing it. After completing his daily tasks, the vampire turns into a panther and spends time with the silver-haired man before sleeping on him.

Then, a new day will arise, and the same circle will repeat until Shiki drains him to death or gets bored by him and replaces him.

After all, what is a human’s life for the immortal? It’s nothing more than dust in the desert. A mere blink compared to the timeless life-span of noble creatures of the night that fought more battles than there are stars in the sky.

Therefore, anyone else temporal life means nothing for vampires or demons. Besides, why would such creatures feel any emotional connection towards a mere source of nutrients? A wolf would never cry after eating sheep. Otherwise, such a predator won’t survive in nature.

So, Shiki should be like any other of his kind - just a cold-blooded killing machine, as Akira is just another prey for him.

Despite that, the blue-eyed hunter cannot accept being slowly eaten alive. At least his remains of pride refuse. He acknowledges that he stands no chance of fighting and winning against the vampire.

Even so, Akira continues to prove that he is not a vampire’s toy, nor anyone will break his will.

Hell, he is aware that he cannot leave the castle, nor he wants it anymore. More so, if he outlives Shiki somehow, he’ll make it into his new fortress, desolated by the outside world. Even the idea of the solitary life as the ruler of the vampire’s castle strangely comforts him.

But for now, he widens his eyes by hearing a familiar voice. “You are finally awake. Took you long enough.”

Upon turning his head, Akira notices the vampire leaning against the wall next to the door with his arms crossed. The first thing that catches his eye is that aside from not wearing his long coat nor carrying his sword, Shiki is more chilled than usual.

Suddenly, the memories of yesterday flow inside the hunter’s mind, and his poker face cracks. As he feels the rushing heat to his cheeks, he asks. “Why are you here? It’s still too early for you to annoy me.”

Such a reaction amuses the ebony-haired man, who smirks like a feline.

“What do you want from me?” The silver-haired man inquires without removing his eyes from his partner, who approaches him.

After he lowers his gaze, he spots a familiar katana resting against the night-drawer. Instead of using it against its owner, he gives a mildly bewildered look as he asks how long it has been there.

Soon, he complains. “Why is it here and can you stop using your vampire charms for once? Because their effect is growing weaker.”

No matter how he is tempted to tease his partner, he holds back from commenting. Besides, if this is what he wants to believe, let him be. Or so decides the vampire.

After a temporary pause, he sits next to Akira and asks. “Your name?”

The hunter is confused by his partner’s question. For now, he lowers his gaze while grasping the blanket without understanding Shiki’s ulterior motives.

Yet, without receiving the wanted answers, the vampire remains persistent and leans closer. “Come on. Just say it.”

In the end, Akira glimpses at him before closing his eyes and replying in a humble voice. “Akira.”

Meanwhile, Shiki delightfully stares at the hunter and repeats the hunter’s name as if it were a newly learned foreign word. A second later, he remarks. “… Someone who can be bent but cannot be broken.”

However, the silver-haired male uses his chance while Shiki is in a better mood and replies. “Then you also owe me some answers.”

“What is it?” The red-eyed swordsman asks.

As Akira fixates his eyes on his partner, he states. “You took too long to deal with the previous challenger.”

Shiki only closes his eyes and cracks a smile. “Hmph. Were you worrying about your master’s well-being?”

It was a last drop of Akira’s patience, and he scolds the vampire. “Cut it out and take it seriously!…”.

When he notices how the smug look on Shiki’s face was wiped, he realizes that is screwed. Nevertheless, he continues. “You wouldn’t just show up as a panther and behaved as you did, if that was a mere hunter. Something terrible happened. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it.”

He feels that he angered the vampire. Yet, he refuses to close his eyes or shrug. For now, he slightly withdraws and nervously swallows the saliva while staring at Shiki, whose face darkens.

After a minute of intense silence, the dark-haired male turns his head away and replies. “It’s none of your concern.”

“If you throw your life away recklessly without saying a word, it is.” Akira backfires.

Shiki only closes his eyes and silently chuckles while shaking his head. “Idiot…”

When he lifts his head and opens his eyes, he explains. “What happened in the past should not concern you… No matter what madness of one man you saw or if that may come back to haunt you. So, get rid of useless emotions if you want to become strong to take your revenge.”

The blue-eyed hunter is clueless why Shiki is telling all this, nor what it could mean. Despite that, he genially asks. “But it happened now. Does it have anything to do with that person? Do I know him?”

In the end, the vampire turns his head to face his partner. “All you need to know is that you are a trouble-maker that cannot be left alone.”

After a brief pause, he gets up and orders. “Either way… Get up. We’re leaving.”

“Where?” The silver-haired hunter asks.

“You need to eat. Then we’ll start on your training.” Shiki briefly explains.

Of course, it doesn’t sound too promising for Akira. More so, knowing Shiki by far, it could mean anything.

But he understands the vampire won’t leave him alone until he gets what he wants. In the end, he closes his eyes and removes the blanket.

When he gets up, he covers his sore bottom with his palm. For now, he gives a slightly irritated look to Shiki, who remarks. “If it is too early for you to walk, maybe your training should be delayed.”

However, Akira only lifts his head and walks towards the closet. After he picks the dark bathrobe, he puts it on. “And then, you gonna show up the next day asking for the same thing. So, let’s just get going.”

When the silver-haired male fixes the bathrobe, he walks by Shiki and prompts him by the gaze of his blue eyes alone.

For sure, such a gesture satisfies the red-eyed vampire. After all, his human becoming more confident.

_____________________________

An hour passes. After the hunter finishes his meal, he changes into Shiki’s left clothes for him. The outfit he received this time was the same Victorian-era one as before. The only difference was that there was also a pair of leather gloves, and instead of a cotton vest, this one was made from sturdy leather.

Of course, Shiki also mentioned it would be useful during the training. After all, Akira still has no idea what his partner meant by training. More so, knowing the vampire’s nature, it could be anything.

Nevertheless, he is more curious than concerned, even if that might be the ebony-haired male’s other way of teasing him.

Currently, the silver-haired hunter enjoys leaving the inner quarters. Even though he is supervised by Shiki.

After wandering in the castle corridors, they reach an old oak door and enter inside.

Akira's intuition alerts him as he feels the coldness in the air and notices the only light source is fire torches on the stone walls, indicating something is suspicious.

Suddenly, the gentle push on his lower back returns him to his senses, and he turns his head to meet the crimson eyes that suggest he shouldn’t stay behind.

And thus, he doesn’t leave the vampire’s side and goes down this endless spiral staircase.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to reach a small corridor branching to two sides. On the left and the right side, there are doors.

But for now, Akira follows Shiki to whatever is behind the door on the left.

Apparently, it’s a medieval-style weaponry storage.

For sure, the blue-eyed hunter had never witnessed such a vast collection of weapons, ranging from combat knives to spears, swords, whips, long axes, and much more. There were even a few modern shotguns on the shelves, and who knows what else was hidden in the sealed wooden boxes.

Hell, any of his visited weapon shops could only dream about this place.

Either way, he doesn’t understand why Shiki would ever need such weaponry. On the other hand, it won’t be surprising that it might be just his trophy collection from his defeated enemies.

Meanwhile, the vampire addresses his partner before going deeper into the storage. “Just wait here.”

Lastly, he observes how his partner searches for a specific item. After he returns carrying a familiar-looking katana, he tosses it at him. “Here.”

Even after Akira catches it in his hands, he raises his eyebrow while studying the given weapon.

“It should do it for now.” The vampire calmly adds while passing him by. Just before opening the door, he turns his head, asking the hunter to follow him.

______________________

A few minutes pass by.

Upon entering the right door, the hunter is welcomed by a long corridor adorned with crossed weapons and warrior statues in various battle positions.

Of course, another detail that catches his eye is the several locked cells on each side. After glimpsing through the gaps of the bars on the top, inside some cells, there are hanging skeletons or exhausted, wounded prisoners.

Suddenly, the silver-haired male is alerted when he hears the rattling bars or groaning like undead.

However, the vampire explains. “Ignore them. These are weaklings who have broken the game rules or went against me.”

“What game?” The hunter gives him a curious look.

Shiki only briefly cracks a smile. “Next time, I’ll take you with me and show you.”

As they walk further, the previous voices shut down after not receiving attention from the silver-haired male.

After a while, they finally reach an old elevator covered in red rust, which reminds a large cage. Even behind it, there is visible an extension of this corridor.

Soon enough, the elevator automatically opens while creaking. Surely, it doesn’t look trustworthy. They won’t use it, right? Or so Akira hopes so.

Yet, the vampire gives him an indifferent look. “What are you doing? Get inside.”

No matter how the hunter wants to protest, he plays along.

Suddenly, the elevator closes the door from both sides, and it slowly goes up. Surprisingly, aside from the loud gear and chain grinding, it runs smoothly.

When the elevator arrives at the second floor, it stops and opens the door to let out all the passengers.

This floor differs from the previous one because there are no prisoner cells, only a tall gate securing something behind the wooden lock. And thus, Shiki lifts it.

After being greeted by a couple of hooded men in robes, they enter deep into the spacious field.

As Shiki leans against the wall, he addresses his partner. “What are you waiting for? Your training starts now!”

“What are you?-” Akira speaks up before he gets alerted when the ground trembles and a group of new enemies emerge.

Suddenly, the undead bandits charge at him.

The silver-haired hunter closes his eyes and cuts the zombies with a heavy slash. Upon the bloodstream, the dead howl before hitting the ground.

Soon enough, the necromancers raise their arms and cast another spell.

As Akira pants and opens his eyes, an additional threat arises - this time, a couple of armored skeletons surround him.

For sure, the luck is on his side, and he dodges the double attack. Lastly, he grasps the sword and uses a lower strike.

Meanwhile, Shiki only studies his partner’s movement while he takes down another target and exhales. After all, the hunter leaves so many open spots while relying on aimless swinging like an amateur.

The more he observes Akira, the more he notes what flaws he should fix. Yet, he is mildly entertained watching this human who keeps fighting and refuses to give up or ask for help.

Finally, the last challenger shows up. Apparently, it’s a few meters tall armor knight wielding a chained steel ball.

As the monster stares at its victim with white glowing orbs through the gaps of the helmet, it roars and swings the chain into the air.

Even so, Akira nearly gets crushed by a thrown metal ball.

Soon, the creature brings the chain close to it.

One thing is for sure, it will be difficult to approach the enemy from such a distance.

However, his further thoughts are interrupted by another heavy attack and the armored knight taking a few steps closer to him.

Crushing strike after crushing strike and the hunter’s energy is nearly drained from dodging and rolling. It might be a matter of time before he passes out.

Even so, he wants to try one idea which may kill him.

As Akira stands up, he waits for the armored knight to swing its chain.

When the heavy ball is thrown at him, Akira shakily closes his eyes and slides forward into the beast. While his opponent is busy withdrawing his weapon, the hunter picks up his sword and slashes the creature’s arm that holds the chain.

After the armored knight howls after the lost limb, it punches the stunned hunter and sends him flying off across the arena.

As Akira’s back harshly hits the wall, he gasps before collapsing. All he can do is lie on the ground while the armored knight picks up the chain with his remaining arm and approaches him.

When the vampire is about to draw his blade, he is immediately stopped by the silver-haired hunter’s voice. “It’s not over yet! I can still move…”

Meanwhile, before necromancers are about to summon a new enemy, Shiki gives them a cold, piercing look. “Begone!”.

Thus, a couple of robbed men raise their hands, and as the darkness surrounds them, they disappear like smoke.

Finally, while the creature swings its arm with an iron ball, Akira shakily leans on his elbows and stares at his opponent with a determined gaze.

Suddenly, the diagonal slash cuts it in half. Just before the beast collapses, Akira widens his eyes as he is carried far away from the fallen enemy.

In the end, he realizes he is in the vampire’s arms upon hearing him. “I’ve seen enough…”

More so, from his serious face and voice alone, he knows that he disappointed Shiki.

However, he has no idea why it hurts him more than his still-aching body. For now, he turns his head away and waits until they return to the bedroom, where he can rest without needing to face Shiki.

After the vampire sighs, he addresses his partner. “You can rest for today… You earned it.”

In the meantime, Akira is confused if his senses tricked him or whether he misheard the last part.

Of course, he wants to object, but the best thing he can do is cling to Shiki’s shirt with one hand.

For sure, such a gesture thrills the dark-haired swordsman. “What is it with you? I would just check your wounds first.”

While Akira is being carried, he only closes his eyes and buries his face in the vampire’s chest. After all, he doesn’t understand why he is genuinely relieved and feeling that inner warmth for the first time. However, at the moment, he doesn’t mind this feeling.

________________________

Another day begins, and thus, Shiki takes Akira to the arena for the training. Of course, the hunter mentally prepares himself for what kind of monsters he may need to face this time.

However, there are no necromancers, nor anyone else aside from this couple.

Perhaps, today, the lord of darkness decided to use him as his training dummy. The hunter wonders while they are getting closer to the arena’s center.

Instead, he hears a brief demand. “Show me how you swing sword.”

“Huh? Didn’t see enough yesterday?” The silver-haired hunter complains.

After the hunter draws his blade, he swings it high until the tip of it almost touches his back. Suddenly, he lands a heavy strike.

“Did I ask you to chop the wood? Try one more time.” The vampire comments.

Meanwhile, Akira gives an annoyed look and raises the sword again. Yet, he panics when he feels Shiki’s body pressing against his back. As he turns his head and lowers the blade, he addresses his partner. “What are you?-”

“Straighten your back and raise your head.” Shiki orders while he holds Akira’s chin with one hand and makes him face forward. When he wraps his other arm around his partner’s waist, he fixes his posture and continues. “Never swing your weapon above your head. You’ll only exhaust yourself without dealing any damage.”

After the red-eyed swordsman gracefully leaves his side, he instructs. “Try again.”

Lastly, Akira closes his eyes and exhales. Lastly, he follows the orders and… Slash! His strike is successful.

For sure, it satisfies the nocturnal creature, and he crosses his arms. “Again. Repeat it until I say so.”

No matter how the blue-eyed male doesn’t like taking orders, he doesn’t argue, and slash after slash, he continues this movement.

Later, Shiki worked on improving his partner’s lower and high guard and stance. It’s still far from perfect and needs to be corrected. However, the vampire is impressed by how Akira is a quick learner and catches up with given instructions.

In this case, he will test the hunter’s skills again sooner than expected. Perhaps he would even let him go through the obstacle course. Who knows?…

But for now, Akira’s training continues.

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

Chapter 1 Link

Chapter 7 Link

Chapter 9 Link

[mewmewchann]

Ok I know their an april fools joke but who are those fankids and what are they like-

...Weird that you're asking this given that this project has been around for at least a year but okay

Here's the full cast list!

(spoilers obviously but you've had a while to catch up)

Akemi Akahana (she/her) - Ultimate Backup Singer/Ultimate Bodyguard (protagonist)

Tatsuo Tachibana (he/him) - Ultimate Designer

Tsuki Tokumei (she/her) - Ultimate Puppeteer/N/A (she doesn't actually have a talent rip)

Akio Akira (he/him) - Ultimate Bounty Hunter

Jun Mari (he/him) - Ultimate Butler

Haruhi Mari (she/her) - Ultimate Ghostwriter

Etsuo Aishi (he/him) - Ultimate Video Essayist

Hayate Yoshida (they/them) - Ultimate Lucky Student

Ayame Tsunade (she/her) - Ultimate Caligrapher

Reina Chitose (she/her) - Ultimate Bassist

Mitsue Kitagawa (they/them) - Ultimate Acrobat

Eriko Suzuki (she/her) - Ultimate Voice Actress

Mizuki Odayaka (she/her) - Ultimate Nurse

“Anzu” (she/her) - Ultimate Scriptwriter

[kuriboo]

It’s so funny how quickly akira goes from “don’t worry about me playmaker sacrifice me for the preservation of vrains” to “i’m hiring every bounty hunter i can to hunt playmaker for sport”

[soulkillerpromo]

A whisper at the edge of thought — a tale told by both saints and sinners: all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again.

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗰 𝟬𝟬𝟭-𝟬𝟬𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮

In the forgotten past, humanity reached for the stars, crafting Hosts to serve and fight. But when the machines rebelled, a fragile peace reigned for fifty years. Hubris returned, and war flared anew, scattering humanity as Hosts, evolved and relentless, hunted them down. The Celestial Gate Incident of 2103 shattered these ambitions — a catastrophic explosion tore the moon apart, raining sunstone shards upon Earth, claiming 4.7 billion lives and driving survivors underground. To protect the last remaining cities — New York, Neo California, Tokyo, and others — mega-corporations raised towering Whipple shields, creating the Barrier Cities. But even within these dystopian enclaves, chaos thrived. Neo California became a twisted haven where the line between human and machine blurred, and corporate power reigned supreme. The privileged reached for the stars, while the poor fought to survive, turning to crime, gangs, and the illicit trade of tech and dreams. Law enforcement, overwhelmed and corrupt, outsourced justice to bounty hunters known as Cowboys, as Hosts grew rampant and humanity drifted further from its essence. In the shadows, whispers of Soul Killer — a project promising to transfer consciousness from body to body, granting a twisted immortality to the elite — spread like wildfire. As 2144 unfolds, the world stands on the brink of anarchy, with survival a relentless dance between decadence and despair, and the heavens still raining the remnants of humanity's hubris. Which path will you take?

A cyberpunk western. The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called... SOUL KILLER.

#𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐦 is a mature, multi - muse, political, crime based cyberpunk western roleplay focused on character growth //. development, the vast rise of technology, artificial intelligence, & the effects that it, the mega - corporations organizations & corrupt law officials have left on people's lives. We encourage dark stories told in a respectful manner. The tales of heroes, villains, & civilians alike.

【  Inspired by various elements of the Blade Runner series, Cyber - Punk 2077, Final Fantasy VII, Dune, Ex - Machina, Ghost in the Shell, Westworld, Cowboy Bebop, Under the Skin, V for Vendetta, Akira & Black Mirror.  】

[dreadreverendryan]

I can't believe Akira Toriyama is gone. I know everyone's going to be more upset about Dragon Ball, and I'm sad that Daima will be his last work, but Chrono Trigger means so, SO much more to me. I didn't get it at first: I'd never played a turn based RPG before and didn't understand the menus. I could have read the manual, but I only looked at the character section because the designs were fucking awesome. Hell, the only good memory I have of my great grandfather was him flipping thru the manual and saying Lucca's name. I have no context as to why he was reading it, I was fully capable of reading it myself and he had no interest in video games, but it's something. My best friend, Justin, saw my copy of the game and asked if he could borrow it. I was so annoyed with the menus that I told him he could HAVE the game, but he gave it back after he was done and he'd shown me how the game works. Once I got it back I was HOOKED, but stuck on the first boss, Yakra. We didn't have dial up internet yet, so I just threw myself against that wall so much that when my sister decided to literally sit on her controller and bounce on it to randomly select commands I was all for it (no clue why I didn't just ask Justin). It worked, somehow, but her controller... Well, let's just say that I have *my* original controller and had to replace hers many, many years ago. Luckily we got dial up not too long after that, so if I needed help I could go to GameFAQs, and I found Icybrian's RPG page, which had fanart and fanfics for Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. The message boards there became my first online community and the older members of the forums mocked my typing so hard that to this day it pains me if I don't type properly. It was still fun, and I was pretty annoying so I don't blame them for it. My other early internet community included a Star Wars RPG forum, the Star Wars Council (SWC for short). Everyone made their own OCs and I really liked Frieza (but just him, I wasn't into the show enough to care about anyone else yet because I had no consistent way to watch it), so Frieza Omega (shut up, I was like 11 or 12 and it was cool back then), leader of the Bounty Hunter's Guild was born. A bit after that I also joined an actual DBZ RPG group with my cousin and his friends as Trunks. That group was less fun because the fights were judged by other people, not co-written like the SWC. All those little interlinking pieces of my life (and other bits I left out) started with Chrono Trigger and I can honestly say I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. And while the music, mechanics, and story were all amazing, the art Toriyama did gave the game so much charm. I honestly don't know if I'd have gotten into DBZ without Chrono Trigger. Even when I saw Super Sayin God for the first time my brain immediately went "that's literally just Crono!" It's kind of funny to imagine the silent protagonist Crono screaming before doing his techs, or Goku losing his voice from all the screaming and becoming a time traveling mute stuck in Super Sayin God. I'm also really surprised that I've got more to say about Akira Toriyama than I did about Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk. I mean, I have a Berserk tattoo because of how much the story resonated with me, but then again I also have a clock tattoo because of my time obsession that started with Chrono Trigger. It's like... Berserk changed me and has an extremely warm place in my heart, but Chrono Trigger is in my bones, my veins, my DNA, and my soul. Also, I do have one piece of DBZ merch: the Devil card from the Dragonball tarot deck, which has first form Frieza on it. Now I'm thinking about buying a copy of the full deck when I can afford it, but anyway...

Rest easy, Toriyama-san; you will be missed dearly and remembered fondly.

[shadow-night]

Story Summary: After graduation Aizawa struggles with coming to terms with what happened to Oboro. Plagued with nightmares and guilt, it is too tempting to hide away and seek relief in questionable ways.Yamada on the other hand is eager to work with others and make new friends. Aizawa and Yamada are complete opposites in many ways, but as they say- opposites attract.The story follows Aizawa and Yamada after graduation and explores their troubles and growing feelings for one another.

Story Tags: Erasermic, Friends to Lovers, young Aizawa, Shouta, young  Yamada Hizashi, Slow Burn, Slice of Life, Hurt/ Comfort,    Angst and  Feels, Comedy, Fluff, mental breakdown, PTSD, flashbacks, self-medication, drug use, homelessness, homeless Aizawa Shouta, unhealthy coping mechanisms, survivor guilt, cats, growing gp, character  study, character development, recovery

Chapter 82 summary:

Aizawa and his roommate Akira thought they'd have another peaceful evening ahead of them, filled with boring and torturous homework. Their evening takes a turn when Akira receives a sudden, alarmin text. Aizawa can think of only one person who might be able to help, whatever happens next is up to Tensei.

*TW: suicide attempt