#but I did point out to him that mangas have age ratings and that one was 16+

[beauzos]

The other day someone asked me where the Colleen Hoover books were at and I said we had some in thriller and some in romance and she said “so it’s not really YA?” And while I didn’t look at her teenage daughter I had this moment of realization that she was probably trying to get away with reading Hoover when maybe she shouldn’t and I did not say shit LNDH

[andypantsx3]

Andy I just had a thought.. Shouto kabedon.. i’m very sane about this

Omg I loooveeeeeeeee this omg!!!!!!! You are a genius!!!!!!! This ask unlocked something inside of my brain; this is barely coherent and unedited but I offer you this heartfelt nonsense in return.

contents: shouto x reader, sfw, implied fem reader, aged-up characters, 1.7k

You tried to ignore it when you first heard Mineta say it.

"Trust me, the babes love it," he'd lisped to his doubtful audience—Kaminari, a befuddled-looking Kirishima, and Shouto, whose face was so impassive you'd actually been under the impression he wasn't listening.

The former members of UA's graduating class of 2X74 were stuffed into Kaminari's new apartment for a party. It was mostly the heroics department, but you'd spotted a few of your fellow general course graduates as you'd passed through the kitchen to grab a drink. You'd come out into the living room to see Mina and Jirou—as well as pretend like you weren't ogling your long-time crush Shouto—but you found you were immediately regretting leaving the safety of that kitchen.

"And you've... done it?" Kirishima asked, eyebrows scrunched.

Mineta made a show of inspecting his fingernails like it was nothing to him—which you seriously doubted. "Trust me, women like assertiveness. This move is plastered all over their romance manga."

You took another sip from your drink. You wanted to pretend like you weren't hearing this, but Mina and Jirou were making it hard, Jirou stone-faced next to you and Mina unsuccessfully trying to filter her gleeful laughter into her own drink.

"Do you think women even know it's a kabedon, if he does it?" she asked, leaning in to whisper.

Jirou looked doubtful.

"He's like, waist height," you whispered back, sighing. "I don't even know if his arm would reach the wall either...?"

"I think it probably looks like he's just trying to hold himself up," Mina said, her grin unholy.

"I pity the woman he's attempted it on," Jirou said drily.

"—you're sure?" Kaminari was saying when you turned back to the boys' conversation, also looking doubtful.

"One hundred percent success rate," Mineta insisted, eyebrows wiggling.

Despite yourself, your eyes slid over to Shouto, like they almost always did, wandering over that handsomely thoughtful expression. It was the thing you liked the most about him—how his angelically beautiful visage was at stark odds with how awkward and kind of strange he was; how he looked like an ice prince but was one of the warmest, kindest people you'd ever spoken to.

You'd been paired for a couple assignments back in school, hung out on the periphery of his Class A friend groups, and had ended up teaching him a fair few things about how to cook and do laundry when he'd asked. He'd even rescued you during one of the many attacks that made up your time at UA together—which was really when your crush hit you full-force.

He'd been so gentle with you, carrying you out of harm's way when your injured leg had crumpled beneath you, and the careful way he'd handled you had been so at variance with the raw, roiling power he'd wielded on the battlefield—the tidal waves of ice that swept up the villains, the towering wall of fire that mercilessly choked off any of their escape points.

You thought Shouto was one of the most gentle, well-mannered men on earth.

He would probably never kabedon someone. He would never need to—people fell all over themselves for him.

"The babes fall right into your arms," Mineta said, raising his voice to encompass the knot of girls stuffed together on the loveseat. "Isn't that right, ladies?"

"I'm going to get another drink, the image of Mineta trying to kabedon me needs to be wiped from my brain," you told the girls, flinging yourself over Mina's legs in your haste to escape.

The kitchen was a welcome reprieve, and you dug around in Kaminari's fridge for another can, letting the cool air wash over you. You studiously ignored that all Kaminari seemed to have in his fridge was a pile of moldering grapes and some mayo.

Can acquired, you briefly considered not going back out into the living room and abandoning Mina and Jirou to their fate. But the pull of Shouto was too strong, and with a sigh you resigned yourself to more of Mineta's lechery.

In the hallway, however, you stumbled into the man himself, coming towards you from the opposite direction. You were struck momentarily dumb by the way the breadth of his shoulders seemed to take up almost the entire span of the hall, the way his fading summer tan looked against the light-blue of his button up. He was so handsome even when he was just walking, it was so deeply unfair.

"Hi Shouto," you said, raising your can in a salute, hoping your voice sounded normal. "Careful in Kaminari's fridge, he's culturing something on his grapes."

Shouto blinked down at you, those beautiful mismatched eyes growing a little wider. "Y/N," he greeted you, though there was a note of something strange in his voice, like there was something weird about you that he hadn't expected.

You wondered if you'd spilled something on yourself like a child, and decided to detour to the bathroom on your way back. How embarrassing.

You gave him a rueful grin, stuffing yourself against the wall so you wouldn't accidentally bump a strong shoulder as you passed, swearing vengeance on your drink if it had betrayed you in this moment—

Except, suddenly there was a hand against the wall in front of you, blocking your passage down the hall. You startled, whipping back around to stare at Shouto, only to find him looming way closer than you had anticipated.

Your back bumped the wall as he crowded you in, his other arm coming up to press against the wall on your other side, caging you inside his reach.

Your mind was so overwhelmed with the sight of him this close—that straight, blade-thin nose, that full, pouty mouth—the light touch of some expensive cologne at his collarpoints—that it took you a second to catch up with what was going on.

Your mouth dropped open when you registered that Todoroki Shouto had just—kabedoned you?—was actively kabedonning you? what the literal fuck—in the middle of Kaminari's hallway.

"Shouto? What—?" you managed, your voice strangled. The air felt like it was resisting you, refusing to be drawn into your lungs.

Shouto's voice was low and intimate as he answered, sending a mortifyingly visible shiver right down your spine. "Is it working?"

You gaped at him, eyes flickering over his serious expression. "Is—what—?"

Shouto shifted even closer, so that his face was a scant two inches from yours. You were suddenly, horrifyingly aware of how close his mouth was, how tall and strong and warm he was over you.

"Do you plan to fall into my arms?" Shouto asked. "Mineta said women liked it."

It was a fight for your life to make the connection over the static in your brain, the lack of oxygen in the air. Mineta had said women would fall for you if you kabedonned them... Shouto was.... kabedonning you.... computation pending...

"You... want it to work?" you asked, words clipped. You felt like any stray movement and your mouth would brush his, and you didn't know if he wanted—it was too strange to think that he might—

"Yes," Shouto replied, his handsome face serious. Those heterochromatic eyes searched over you, trailing over your features like a warm touch. "I want it to. Am I... not doing it correctly?"

Your face heated, and an entire conservatory of butterflies took flight in your stomach. You could not believe what was going on right now.

"No you're—you're doing it right."

Shouto's face was even closer, then, his mouth a whisper away from yours. "Then you have fallen for me," he said, sounding like both a question and a conclusion. He looked like he didn't know what to do next.

You had to suppress a laugh, charmed and mystified and nervous all at once. He was so reliably strange—of course he had taken Mineta's assertions at face value. And he was so straightforward, of course he had implemented the advice straight away. He was so silly, you liked him so, so much.

"I... have," you said, a helpless smile creeping over your lips. "Although it was a while before the kabedon, to be honest."

Shouto blinked, and you could just barely see his mouth grow a little slack in surprise. "Oh," he said, a hint of a shy smile touching his mouth. "Good."

"Yeah. Good," you said, your own grin going wider.

Shouto's eyes dipped down to your mouth, and his eyelashes fluttered. A thrill of anticipation went down your spine, your knees suddenly liquefying, as Shouto leaned back in, and your own eyes fluttered closed.

The press of his mouth was hot and soft—perfect, like you'd always fantasized it would be. He shifted closer, so that he pressed against you, and you had to tilt your head back to accommodate how tall he was, reveling in the strength and the heat of him over you. One of his hands left the wall to thread into your hair as he kissed you, cradling the back of your head like you were something precious, and your stomach swooped in response.

He kissed you boneless, absolutely stupid against the wall of Kaminari's hallway, and it was all your could do to wrap your arms around him and kiss him back. You didn't know how long it was that the two of you stood there, wrapped up in one other. All you knew was you never wanted Shouto's mouth to leave yours again, never wanted to leave the circle of his embrace.

So of course an appreciative whistle broke the two of you apart. You tore your mouth away from Shouto's only to find Mineta standing at the end of the hall, grinning like a wolf. A tiny, lecherous little wolf.

"Nice one, Tododoki," he said, like you weren't even there.

You bristled, stiffening in Shouto's arms as you glanced back at him quickly to measure his response. But the dazed look on Shouto's face pulled you up short, and he looked at Mineta like he wasn't really seeing him.

"You were right," was what he eventually managed. "The kabedon is very effective. Now if you will excuse us, I need to do it again."

A shocked laugh escaped you as Shouto's hand seized yours, and then you were being pulled around the corner into Kaminari's bathroom. Shouto walked you back against the door, an arm coming up just like before, pinning you against the door.

Another pleased laugh was muffled in Shouto's mouth as he took yours again, cupping your face to his. The lock clicked shut behind you.

[paraphwrites]

so obviously the time period a character comes from impacts them. but i adore the analysis of dbda and loneliness so now i want to analyze the characters + their time period + loneliness

edwin. so, edwin is from the 1900s. he was raised with the knowledge that he would join the military, that he would get married. this was an accepted part of life. now, i do not wish to analyze the full scale of edwin's relationship with violence (at least, not here), but i do think it's interesting that edwin goes out of his way not to inflict harm on others. this is potentially because he was raised in such a way where that was the norm, and he always knew he did not fit traditional male standards. he has always preferred knowledge and books to fighting and sport. this would have been incredibly isolating, especially as a young boy in a school for children of military members. additionally, as a queer person, edwin would have been entirely socially isolated from his peers. whether they picked up on it like simon or just thought he was un-manly, the point stands: edwin would not have fit in with his peers and seemingly had no friends when he died. which is very sad. and very lonely.

crystal. crystal's parents neglected her for their work. she lashes out. she lashes out and pushes people away (or in front of traffic). she is volatile and destructive and she is like this because she lives in an age when parents are expected to care for their children, and her parents still actively chose not to. crystal is especially traumatized because even tho she is in upper class which may have a higher rate of willful parental neglect, the expectation is still that parents love their children. moreover crystal is psychic, and that's never really been fun. she'll be completely different from all her peers in a fundamental way which she probably never talks about with any of them! so, like, of course when david, a demon, comes along, she lets him in - she's finally with someone who understands and makes her feel less lonely. someone else who's weird and angry and pretty and supernatural. and then he, too, betrays her. there is also almost certainly a race element, which may further disassociate her from her peers, seeing as the upper class is usually very white.

jenny. so jenny grew up as a lesbian in the 90s. now, i don't know much about washington state, but i do know that they legalized gay marriage in 2012. which means for over half of jenny's life, she was living with the knowledge that she would never get to live the same type of life as her peers; though the white picket fence americana dream may have been less prevalent by the 90s, it still was very ingrained in american society - especially small town society. i wonder if part of jenny's gothic fashion is to distinguish herself from other people - if she cannot have the same lives as them, then no one will make the mistake of assuming she will.

so the night nurse is lonely in a very unique way. she is lonely because she does not have a proper conception of an actual human life. she has no friends or relationships - nor does she want to; she does not know what they are like. and, i think, because she exists so outside of time and removed from society, that it makes her inherently lonely. she is lonely because somehow she was created and somehow someone convinced her that her only purpose in life is to collect lost children and she is satisfied with this but she is also alone. she has no time period to be contextualized in, and that in itself is the context.

niko is lonely because her dad is dead and her mom lives in a different continent. and i think that because she is able to utilize manga and cartoons as a form of escapism, it allows her to fill that void of devastating loneliness a bit more. she lives in a world where if she doesn't want to think she does not have to. she is not obligated to be courageous. however, she also lives in a world where she is able to choose to self-isolate, even if that isn't good for her. so when she is sad she hides away because she can and it's scary and she doesn't want to do it alone but she doesn't want to do it with her mom. i've seen people saying crystal is such a teenage girl but niko? niko wants her mom to comfort her but doesn't want to talk to her mom. niko is horribly lonely and it's only a gay victorian twink who can get her to smile again. niko is lonely because she exists in a world which allows her to be and it takes someone who is not from this time to help her move past this

charles. god, we all know how lonely charles is. biracial, abused by his father, probably bisexual, good with people yet killed via hate crime, morally upstanding. charles is the epitome of loneliness because he grows up in such a particular moment of time. he lives in the 80s. feminism and queer rights have been radically shifting in the past two decades. the 80s have huge amounts conservative pushback from these movements. so, yeah, being gay isn't a crime anymore, but gendered expectations are being reestablished in a new harmful way. so, yeah, charles is growing up in a time of progress, but he's also growing up in a household which will absolutely be anti-progress, and ergo charles is stuck in this dichotomy of he could hypothetically have everything but that would mean losing everything, too. he's lonely because his dad beats him. he's lonely because his mom doesn't say anything. he's lonely because he has a piercing but his dad locked him in his room for three days after it. he's lonely because he attends a boarding school which rich racist pricks. he's lonely because never once in his life has he admitted how the intersection of all his identities puts him in a situation where he is completely alone. and he isn't alone -he's got edwin- but their experiences with loneliness are vastly different.

as i have said a stupid number of times, dead boy detectives is a story about loneliness. and the writers made these characters so damn brilliantly because they all make so much sense in the context they were raised in.

we are all shaped by the context's we're raised in. everyone is raised at a different moment in history in different environments with different families. human experiences are so unique that everyone is inherently lonely. but lonely does not mean alone and lonely does not mean forever. it means when you were fourteen you cried yourself to sleep but now you're twenty and know how to play cricket and your friends come to all of your matches. it means you were raised in a world that was cruel and unforgiving, AND it means that because of that you don't have to be. dead boy detectives teaches us that we're all horribly lonely, and maybe that makes each other a little less lonely

i'll take some of your burden if you'll take some of mine, and whatnot

[blackstarchanx3new]

FSR rambles 20

If you go with the viz translation, Green might have considered he had to kill Vio in that fight lmfao.

I lean very much on he wasn't going to and wanted to just knock his ass out but the flicker of "Oh shit. I might have to do something horrible" is still a present thought added here.

Since we KNOW Vio has a scar from Blue tossing that rock, and Blue even brought up he wonders how bad Green's scar is Green clutching his stomach here is uhhhh. Concerning haha.

Not beating the "Vio fucked up your stomach" allegations there Green.

Dark Link might have not really gotten the POINT of Green remembering this fight.

or maybe he's just too distracted to care.

Green's fucking face when Dark says "I LIKE VIO TOO!" gets a fucking laugh out of me because holy shit he looks pissed.

Like the audacity of that statement given everything is so funny.

Dark flipping hair colors depending on who he's imitating/talking about is just a fun visual detail and makes me very happy this comic is in color.

Jealousy...It's best served with Depression From Dark Link.

Because dude just keeps sinking back into a depressive state. It's almost like Dark just, doesn't want to talk about himself at all with Green.

He'd rather Green talk about himself/his experiences.

SOooo since I'm here to give all the answers:

"Why WAS Dark crying in this scene?"

Cause of Vio.

He was crying Vio's tears.

His hair has changed to vio's color, and he doesn't even realize he's crying till Green points it out.

There's also the idea he didn't realize Green was TALKING to him since he's not used to being noticed.

Hehe flashback.

So something to note: Blue didn't talk to vio, but just came to sit with him...Weird.

I'm sure there will never be a follow up about that weird detail and it was thrown in for absolutely no reason. :D

So to loop back in on why Dark Link was crying, Vio is just, busted up on the inside about all the bullshit with Shadow Link.

But isn't really allowing himself to express that in any real way.

I added this in cause I felt we didn't get much closure on all the bullshit Vio did in the OG manga due to time. So, here ya go haha.

haha guts spilled.

Vio really sums it up though. He "did" a lot of things by taking NO action. The guilt of inaction is haunting him HARD right now and it's just eating him up inside.

A continuous motif is when shown anything involving what Vio did to Shadow his face is obscured or not detailed, pitch black in shadows.

In this scene it's goopy which just adds this suffocating feel to his actions and words.

Vio's literally drowning in regret over his actions and can't reconcile with what he did.

Smth I honestly think the all ages rating completely holds back on us in the OG. Like I don't need over the top "oh nooo what have I become" but a LITTLE acknowledgement that vio watched Shadow (or at least it's heavily implied) kill people and outright text that he watched Shadow burn a forest would be nice.

We didn't see much of the consequences of Vio's actions even in just a self reflective idea despite them being SO HEAVILY FEATURED in the og manga.

Like we see the actions. We get no real closure for how vio is feeling about it. It's so odd.

Agh. So many emotions so hard to articulate the stuff behind them. XD

Green watching back on a past memory with just, a forlorn look on his face.

Dark is STILL crying and Green goes to wipe away his tears which just oomf.

Dark and Green's relationship is one I love VERY MUCH from a LOT of angles.

In a lot of ways in this scene specifically Dark is a stand in for Vio.

Green's wiping away Vio's tears from Dark. But it's still a sweet action regardless. He's showing kindness to an entity that hasn't been all that kind to him.

And on that note: Dark Link hasn't received much kindness from ANYONE.

Shadow's was basically entirely veiled in watching his own trauma from Vaati being thrown back in his face.

But there's not really strings attached to this action from Green. He's just wanting to comfort Dark, presumably as we'll see in a second BECAUSE he feels he failed when comforting Vio.

Anyway back to Vio and Green lmfao. I had too much to say about 2 panels of DarkGreen.

Vio questioning if Green hates him after this shit is a punch to the gut.

Haha guilt.

Guilt.

GUILT.

Green in FS just kinda fucked off and said "Screw them I don't care" when he was split up from them. (A reasonable response after so much bullshit lmfao)

but in doing so it opened him up to feeling a LOT of guilt over what DID go horribly wrong.

And it all sank in in this moment.

And current Green just watching back with sadness while giving Dark affection just aghhhh.

Pain. All I know is PAIN.

Honesty, togetherness. Pls kiss-

But as morbid as Green's words are it's true. Whether they succeed or fail at least they're together now.

Doesn't mean he's not still scared as hell.

This is the kind of characterization I wish we got from green in the og.

Like his bad leadership skills aren't really addressed in an impactful way outside of him fucking off for a bit haha. Which is never really brought up again after the pyramid bit and it only does in relation to how it affected HIM and not his team as a whole.

Green being more open about how he's a flawed leader is just smth I enjoyed adding.

*Laughs in Vioxgreen*

And I'm not sorry either.

Funny how HERE Vio is talking about the downside of being Link while in current day he's the one who wants to go back to that...

Just a fun food for thought thing.

The kiss is very much spurred from "Damn you're being nice to me rn."

Think you broke him there Vio.

Vio's no fucks given attatude really does boil down to "I've made so many mistakes what's another one" when it came to kissing Green.

Not that Green minded much haha.

Also hilarious you make such a disgusted face at the notion of smooching Shadow Link when page 358 is a moment green-

but yeah Vio's self loathing is on full display here and green's just like "Nah bro. but...you're a good boy-"

Smth I enjoy about Vio is just how much ANY link could be like him if they had enough removed from them.

Vio as a character to me is very much a side of Link that is completely willing to do ANYTHING to succeed and has NOTHING holding him back. Resulting in a very "not like link" link character.

The deadpan way Vio describes what he DID to Shadow Link.

Like in a lot of ways he's just. Numb. Like he's just dissociating with own actions.

It's less of a "Realization" that they're gonna have to deal with Shadow again at some point but the reminder still stings.

There's smth to be said on how I find a lot of people boil down the "Vidow is toxic thing" way to much and basically try to strip the convo of any nuance at ALL.

Here's an idea: They're both victims and perpetrators and they both care about each other but surprise surprise, being on two ends of the hero villain spectrum they were fucked from the start.

Vio lists what he did to Shadow here but Shadow was no fucking saint news flash: THEY TRIED TO KILL EACH OTHER. :D

They both did shitty as hell things to each other cause circumstances fucked them BOTH OVER.

Shadow: Pressured this bitch into joining him and DID NOT take NO for an answer and oh yeah tried to kill him when it turned out vio lied to him-

Literally wtf was Vio supposed to do when Shadow showed up in the woods. Pretending to be on his side just to not DIE if this massive lighting using man child decided to throw a fit if he kept saying no. Their entire team got wasted to shit by this guy and he tried to kill green at the start of the mangaaaaa.

it's almost like coercion is bad or smth...

Imo it's clear they care about each other it's freakin' circumstance that fucked them both over.

In terms of what they did to EACH OTHER I'd say Vidow is pretty even on that board. (If we don't count what Shadow did to other people in which, lmfao Shadow, the bad guy character is clearly more evil)

I have a lot of thoughts about Vidow lmfao.

I happen to like the fact they're a doomed romance I can give a happier and worse ending but that's just me-

Green and Vio after kissing:

😳

but yeah lol thanks for your input Green I'm sure Vio appreciates it. XD

Haha very funny Vio.

Though there is smth to be said about how Vio spent who knows how long sleeping next to Shadow Link that sleeping alone after that would be weird.

Oh Green. Sweet Sweet Green.

THE FUCK ELSE WERE YOU MEANT TO DO!?

ENLIGHTEN US PLEASE!?

Thank you dark for telling him affectively to stfu.

Dark's eyes being white with Blue is very unnerving and I like it. XDD

I'm just gonna say it:

I am in love with the last panel for a LOT of reasons.

So many.

Like idk where to even start holy shit.

1st of all: Dark giving green the flower. I've shit posted he wanted Green to eat it but that's not a joke lmfao.

2nd of all: Dark Link being a sweetie not only in his actions but his words. It was very fun to write him with someone he truly deeply respects.

Vaati he considers too dumb to live and Shadow he straight up thinks is the evilest entity alive. Zelda he barely interacted with and I've given my thoughts on them I think but like, there's not enough there to really deeply dive into yet.

Green, GREEN IS SOMEONE HE OUTRIGHT LIKES! And we get to actually see Green and Dark interact for an extended period UNLIKE Dark and Zelda. (I will have a LOT to say about them later lmfao)

And what Dark is saying here just, is the truth. Green is downplaying what he did MAJORLY, and Dark getting him back into a realistic sense of what is even feasible for one person to do is a welcome thing.

Overall I'm very happy with the dialogue I ended up with being "You did what you could with what you knew, that's all anyone could ask of you."

It's words I think a lot of people need to hear at one point or another.

Also, Dark Link is in a very similar boat AS GREEN. Vaati puts insane expectations on him and acts like he's a failure for not meeting them. Dark hasn't quite been hit with the "i'm not good enough" stick yet to take any of that seriously but they are in a similar boat of having the weight of their own worlds on their shoulders.

This is an experience he can actually RELATE to Green on in his own way.

In a lot of ways, darks lack of insecurity, and him kind standing up for Green here is a reflection of how he doesn’t view himself as a failure despite being treated like one. He's seen failure and doesn't deem Green or himself failures and won't beat around the bush in saying as much.

Overall I think the point that Dark makes, that sometimes there is nothing else you can do. And digging yourself into a guilt hole is not helping. Reminding yourself "I did what I could with what I knew" is a good thing to keep close to your heart. I think that point feels very strong coming from him. XD

You as a single person can't fix everything and you shouldn't have to.

Dark's infamous bitching about Vaati doing NOTHING while he does all the work, and him saying to Green "Bro you did the best you can" feels so personal and well indented coming from him. Which ah, has been so lacking in someone who thus far has been around people like Shadow and Vaati. XD

3rd of all:

This highlights an aspect of Dark that has been, rather shrouded in a questionable variable.

If he can TRUELY be a helpful entity or if he's only really evil. Obviously there's clues that Dark is more than what he seemed at first since he uttered that he wanted kisses and cuddles lmfao.

But this highlights the "Dark is a fucked up therapist" angle.

Lastly this whole interaction just stands out as smth that doesn't benefit Dark in a single way. In fact it might actually be a detriment to him.

One of his self described tasks is to destroy their mentality so they can't do anything to Vaati. But respects Green too much to not say smth when Green is being an idiot towards himself. XD

Having Dark being a nuanced character is smth I enjoy a lot because he's just so complicated. Shadow's whole "I'm the hero link think" didn't go beyond basically just jabbing at Link there was a dude with his face running around being bad and reveled in being bad.

But I like exploring a character who TRUELY thinks they are like Link and not just doing it as a jab. Dark's delusions that he IS a good hero is what makes him so fun to me. (I do like Shadow's characterization but making Dark and Shadow substantially different from each other was the goal. XD)

Cause Dark Link's thoughts that he's a hero aren't skin deep or just him talking himself up vs Shadow. Dark's mind is constantly contradicting itself to what he's supposed to be doing.

His main goal often defaulting to just wanting connection with others even if it kinda bites his other goals in the ass. Cause dude is lonely as hell as well as depressed and connecting with others kind of becomes his main driving force vs his actual purpose. XD

Suffice to say: I like this one panel a lot and DarkGreen as a whole means a lot to me from a story standpoint not just pure shipping fodder. XD (Even though unironically I do think they're one of the best ships in the comic from a dynamic standpoint.)

I think Dark is an important character in EVERYONE progressing their development in FSR and I do like how he's so flexible as to be a good foil or nudge characters in certain directions.

Darkgreen as a dynamic specifically just hits good cause of how it feeds into Green's arc of accepting help and listening to the fact he's not a failure and that this time, he doesn't have to pile things on his own shoulders and he can rely on his team. (Which is similar to his arc from the manga but the twist here is that he feels he needs to bare the weight of being the team leader.)

Dark kind of ended up being a "Safe" person to talk about his anxieties about.

Which is very ironic.

Lmfao. Green wasn't expecting that at ALL from this dude.

panel 2 is funny cause haha more funny out of pocket things Dark says involving "romance" (His urge to be close to people)

The "huh?" "Huh?" back and forth is inspired by smth in AOT lmfao go figure but two characters "huh?" ing at each other just gets a laugh out of me.

Like they're both confused to shit.

Green especially must have a ton of crap going on up there because this dude is ALL OVER THE PLACE during this conversation but admitting "Hey I'd want you to kiss me too" is probs the weirdest part lmfao.

The absurdity and audacity is just, laughable.

I don't remember who exactly Dark is quoting but I know SOMEONE said "Shadow link's a really bad guy" (I really wanna say it is green lol) and I thought it'd be funny if Dark repeated them here considering the circumstances. XD

It sounds childish as fuck but also cements WHY Dark doesn't like Shadow Link immediately at least in context to Green. Since Green doesn't know anything about their scuffle.

Of course Green pries a bit because figuring out Dark and Shadow got beef is...interesting to say the least.

He saw Shadow shaking him like a magic 8 ball so he's not THAT surprised but still that's weird.

Dark fundamentally seems to not really understand why he pissed Shadow off or he's being obtuse on purpose. Take your pick. Either way he's very to the point on him perceiving Green as "Hating" Shadow Link.

When in reality it's a lot more complicated than that.

Green also catches Dark refers to himself as a hero here which, confuses him but also intrigues him a bit.

Since I'm pretty sure this is the first time Dark has proclaimed himself to be a hero in Green's presence. XD

And considering Green's context: That's a wild ass thing to say.

I think it's interesting Green feels safe enough to confide in Dark at all...

Or you could take it how I kinda thought and by mere proxy of Dark not really being someone he can't afford to not let down, he can be honest about his feelings.

The other 3 colors and Shadow he has to have an heir of control and leadership around. Dark, doesn't expect squat from him, Dark is kinda their enemy...and he isn't someone Green needs to have a mask around.

Dark also giving him wiggle room to feel safe for that second I think Green just kinda, broke and wanted to talk about his feelings with SOMEONE and that SOMEONE just happens to be the nightmare monster that's a mental terror.

I think he's also lowkey defensive about why he's still a bit ehhhhh relationship wise with Shadow Link. XD

Because Green's wording here is WEIRD

"Nothing was the same after...ALL of it." - is more in reference to their entire journey and while Dark is the curse destroying their head Green can't blame him for shit that SHADOW did to make them mentally unwell as hell haha.

Like...Well the things Green describes above.

SPECIFICALLY the "You didn't laugh while me and Vio nearly killed each other" is...AMUSING because Dark did just watch kinda in surprise at that lmfao. His take away from that fight was "You like Vio? I like vio too. ^w^"

Green's not aware that Dark did uh, goofy things involving vio at the start of this comic haha.

Green's general bitterness towards Shadow makes a ton of sense. As Green puts it, Shadow put them through HELL. And he has every right to be pissed I think even if Shadow helped them in the end.

1 - It's called denial sweetheart they were both in it last night. XDDDD Vidow be complicated ya just gotta accept it.

2 - I fucking love Dark Link. He's just a treasure. Confused by Vio and Shadow's confusing ass relationship.

3 - Green's got that sexy self reflection to make his opinions nuanced.

4 - Truth.

5 - Dark Link's like "Damn I found a smart boy"

I do love Green getting shy at Dark Link praising him haha.

The admittion Dark thinks Green is a good hero also gives insight into what Dark THINKS a good hero IS to begin with.

What's fun here is just how different of a character Green is to Vaati or Shadow. Dark Link (At this point) hasn't had anything to berate Green on being hypocritical or weird about. (That wasn't Green's direct insecurities that Dark was just parroting) When in comparison to Vaati or Shadow who are "lying idiots". XD

Green downplays any good things he does while wallowing in his mistakes And Dark's like "...What are you talking about???"

Also Green. That last statement. You shouldn't have said it haha.

1 - That moment where Dark just, freezes and stops talking and STARES. Greens' like "Uh...you okay" wordlessly.

2. Creepy face.

3. Oh dear it's worse. XD I cannot remove the inflections from that one Lazy town meme "WOULD YOU LIKE TOO!?" and it makes me laugh but Dark's in general just, creepy as hell in these panels.

Also fun time into getting into Dark Link blushing since I don't know if I've gone into that:

Dark Link blushes for a lot of reasons but tends to do it when he's emotionally unstable. And he FOR SURE IS after Green made that throw away statement that he's unable to see into memories.

Dark Link is ALL too eager to share that experience though. For better or for worse.

I call him a sweaty weirdo for a reason. Dude be sweaty. XD

This entire page is hilarious and horrible for Green but Dark having no emotional filters is the norm for him at this point hah.

The main take away here is that Dark wants a "yes" out of Green when it comes to letting Green see something.

Green's horrified "WHAAAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE!?" is the first time someone's ACTUALLY referenced verbally that Dark makes disturbing expressions. XD

Which is another thing Dark does involuntarily when over excited. Like it's obvious Dark's not a normal human and I don't exactly think the hylian-ish form we see of him is his natural state. I think it's the result of him mimicking Link's appearance.

I think the interesting take away is that Green kinda catches on imediately Dark isn't acting this way to scare or hurt him but just has zero emotional regulation. But who'd fault Green for being scared from this behavior. XD

Dark's dialogue is all sorts of concerning here. Saying "They can watch whatever Green would like", which is very much a push to get Green to watch SOMETHING with him to a point where he doesn't care WHAT it is as long as they do it. But describes the process as "Sickening" which... Seems to throw the idea it'd be "fun" out the window but he proceeds to say "It'll be SO fun we'll both THROW UP"

Which uhhh.

Okay then buddy.

The response Green gives, which is to just gently push Dark off him is a far cry from how Vaati and Shadow treat him physically.

Green's got insane patience.

Which speaking of that, if Dark is ONLY used to physically violent actions towards himself, him shoving Green on the ground and not really thinking about it makes a lot more sense.

I think the most gentle thing someone's done was Shadow and Vaati patting him on the head.

It's funny to me how Dark kind of realizes his behavior was inappropriate from Green's reaction and apologizes. Which, again is smth you wouldn't expect out of your casual evil villain man.

Green comes to the conclusion that Dark is nuttier than a squirrel which...took ya long enough bud XD

Again Green kind of applies "This is a bad guy who's trying to trick me" logic. Which we know isn't really Dark's style.

Lying is what his DAD does after all-

Dark confusing the words "Catch" with like, the physical action of catching something which is just smth I find cute.

I'm sure I've touched on it before but Dark's conflation of "Fun" and "Pain" has been smth with him from the start of the comic. (Masochist much lmfao)

And on a level he kinda knows it'll make Green miserable to watch something with him but kinda doesn't care and just wants to do it WITH SOMEONE for once. Thus he doesn't want any payment because, well. Asking for payment would be rude.

I just like his completely broken logic on that because it shows how mangled Dark's idea of things like pleasurable and painful experiences are.

Green's determination is a turn on for Dark apparently.

Just kidding but Green. Green. Awww Green.

That's such a bad idea to look into Vio's memories stop.

Slot machine Dark was just a fun visual I thought would be weird unnerving, kinda funny and match Zelda quirkiness.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Lost, in the final part of the uprising, Levi tells Erwin, "Another gamble, the Survey Corps' only strategy. Just like everything else you come up with." I've seen people use this against Eruri, saying Levi didn't believe in Erwin's abilities and that it's another reason why he picked Armin over. I know that everything else contradicts this, but why did Levi even say this? Was he throwing shade? I can't see what else Erwin or anyone else could've done against the titans, and making gambles was really the only way to do it. They weren't fighting humans they could understand and try to outsmart. They were fighting giant man-eating monsters. So yeah, what's the point of having Levi say this?

Anonymous asked:

I saw someone say that when Levi insults Erwin, he does it genuinely. Do you think that's true?

I hope you don’t mind me answering both these asks together. First of all, let’s get this out of the way…

"I've seen people use this against Eruri, saying Levi didn't believe in Erwin's abilities and that it's another reason why he picked Armin over."

I can’t believe I have to say this in the year of our lord 20234.  There is nothing in the manga, the anime, the supplementary materials or anywhere else to suggest that Levi “didn’t believe in Erwin’s abilities”.  Levi picked Armin in order to save Erwin because he didn't want to condemn Erwin by dragging him back to hell to be the devil people like Floch expected him to be. At the same time, Levi relieved Erwin of carrying the burden of his dream and the guilt of the soldiers who died under his command, allowing him to die with his humanity intact.

But anyway, on to the real question - does Levi really insult / cast shade on Erwin.  And the answer is yes, yes he does! 

Considering Erwin is Levi’s superior officer, Levi is pretty fucking rude to him.  To be fair, Levi is pretty fucking rude to *everyone*, though he does seem to reserve a particular type of familiar sarcasm for Erwin. The exchange in the infirmary is a classic example.

As is this gem from chapter 75. (I know @tsuki-no-ura has written a post about this exchange but I can't find it right now.)

There’s another great example from the Smartpass Up Close interview where Levi tells Erwin that his kids won’t be cute. 

J: Then let’s not talk about that for now. How about just your own future dreams? L: Talking about future dreams at this age…how interesting. What do you think, Erwin? E: As for me…right. Retire to a reclusive area, or maybe have a family. J: I am surprised that commander seems surprisingly relaxed about this. E: My mind is currently filled with matters concerning the world, so I’m not in a position to pursue any dreams. But either way, you could say that I have an ordinary dream. L: How interesting. Your kids won’t be cute for sure. E: How about you, Levi? Would you go from hero to politician? L: That’s impossible. How could you even ask something that is so obvious?!

What I love about this example is that Erwin turns the whole ridiculous conversation back on Levi by asking is he plans to become a politician. 

To go back to the original example from chapter 68 though, Levi is not wrong when he says the Survey Corps strategy is based on Erwin’s gambles.  I answered another ask about Erwin’s gambles a few years back. Levi knows that Erwin is willing to take risks, this is one of the reasons he has chosen to follow him.  

L: Well yeah…the guy’s ideas can be sometimes be so heartless that even I get goosebumps. Like when he deliberately sacrifices his subordinates. However, he has his goals, and he has been able to achieve them. J: Indeed, despite the sacrifices, the SC survival rate has increased ever since Commander Erwin was promoted to commander. Also, special missions like capturing the Female Titan actually became possible. L: That’s right. If Erwin was someone soft-hearted enough to compromise battle strategy, I wouldn’t follow him.

Levi might not hesitate to insult Erwin, but he's also the first to remind everyone that Erwin was rarely wrong.

I feel duty bound to point out that Levi is also really insulting to Hanji and to members of his squad. Coming from Levi, it’s a sign of affection really ♡

[lucysarah-c]

Now I wanna know Levi's love life in the Underground, how it all started, the women he went out with and his first time-

Hello love! How are you?

Are you coming from Holy ground ch. 18? haha Levi's life in the underground is something that I adore to discuss about but I do understand that my point of view from it isn't particularly popular.

With that being said, I add this warning of "underage sex, underage alcohol or drug use, dubious consent and prostitution" ALSO, this is a hella long reply. Sorry

In Holy Ground, Levi mentions that he had 2 fuck buddies in the laps of more on less 4 years before joining the scouts as exclusive partners to keep the "clap" to a minimum (STIs). And, before that, he used to have more casual sex or random hookups. Apparently, from what is mentioned some of them was an MP girl around his age that offered for patrollings. Levi own words " I’m not apologising for shit that I did when I was eighteen, nineteen probably high, drunk, both or trying to space out from the shitty life I had to carry on."

I based this headcanons on personal experience I've either heard from my time helping adults from marginal environments that couldn't go to school as kids, their parents were either drug addicts, in jail and they were basically raised on the streets. You can be old enough to protect yourself but for the sake of surviving usually belonging to groups is the only way. With that being said and thinking that Kenny probably abandoned Levi at the age of 11-13. Levi probably formed part of other's thug's gangs until he was old enough to fully stand on his own. Those environments are never healthy and usually expose extremely toxic masculinity ideas, plus I do also think that Kenny fit or had those thoughts on his own. Therefore, I think that Levi probably lost his virginity at a really young age to prove he was "a man" and not "a boy". Probably with a prostitute. Somewhere the age of 15. This was an insane practice not until long ago, to take guys to "debut" as if this wasn't an abuse. Because men always want to have sex right? I'm being sarcastic here haha just in case.

I do not think Levi thinks deeply of this, he's the consequence of the society he was raised in (period of time etc). Therefore, when he started to slowly build his reputation as someone strong and powerful, he started to receive way more attention if you know what I mean haha. Teens are curious, even Levi and (as he mentioned) he was probably consuming either alcohol or drugs because 1) his environment would tell him it's the cool thing to do and you don't want to look like a "pussy" 2) probably under some circumstances it's cheaper than food 3) life down there must be a hell for a teen and needed to space out. So during this period, that would say between 18-20 years old Levi, I think that if a girl was interested in him and he was interested too, he was like "Why not? I may die tomorrow"

Then I think he had a severe mind change when he found Isabel (in the manga of ACWNR. Isabel is found by Levi as a little kid and practically raised by him). To this rate, Levi wasn't only powerful enough to be completely on his own, not depending on other gangs, but also taking care of a kid made him extremely responsible for the things he did and the people he surrounded himself with. Someone, Isabel, depended on him. He grew extremely picky and probably decided to get clean for real. "be the man he wished he had while growing up,". This is the time of his life that I call "fuck buddies", I think Levi was old enough to understand the consequences of keeping sexual relationships with people that may not be clean and also the willying to do more of his life than plain surviving. So this is when these two women come into the picture. Of one I've not imagined much and the other yes. Both women Levi trusted that wouldn't use him to get info or hurt Isabel and that he probably enjoyed the company enough to be like "We could fuck, no feelings, just two adults enjoying adulting,". The first one, I think her name was Emma and was at least 5 years older than him. She worked at a bar and started to do business with him and they got along really well. Until one day (as it said in Holy Ground) after almost 2 years of being sex partners she said "I'm getting married and moving up, so this is the end,". I think Levi was probably really shocked because he enjoyed her company very much and didn't even know she was getting to know someone "romantically,". Not gonna lie, even if he didn't love her, he felt a bit hurt of "Oh... ok," But we know Levi, he probably just accepted and moved on.

The second girl, I don't have much planned for her. Only that she was probably around Levi's age, maybe one or two years younger and part of his own gang. They lasted for a solid year and half, once again not real romantic feelings but "sexual interest and keeping it exclusive to avoid STIs,". He cut it without much information when he was finally sure they were going to move to the surface with the scouts. She "implied" that she had an idea of what was going on, that she wanted to go with him and that she "really liked him,". Something that not only shocked Levi but also he wasn't really happy with that. He wasn't romantically interested in that way and they did have this sort of "no feelings" thing so her impling that was like "so you had been in this shit all this time WAITING for me to catch feelings??? Oh no... what a fucking mess"

So, that's it! At least in Holy Ground, YN is Levi's first romantic interest... not the first girl tho haha. My only headcanon for the second girl (if you follow holy ground ) is that she ends up hearing about Levi dating OFFICIALLY a Sheena's wall rich girl and she gets offended because well it's like "oh so a posh surface girl is worthy of your love but not me?" haha

[dabilove27]

Could you write Chubby!Levi Ackerman x Fem!reader ? I mean imagine him with curves like his face is filled out , his cheeks are chubbier , his waist is getting plumped without forgetting his cute rounded tummy <3 ( fluff ) ?

Hello!!! So sorry this took forever and a day! Life has been crazy! So i've never written chubby! anything but I hope you like this! Thank you for sending in a request!

Thank you FOREVER AND ALWAYS to my wife @lady-lunaaa for brainstorming with me, helping me with ideas, telling me I could do this, supporting me and beta'ing this!

Paring: Chubby!Levi Ackerman x Fem!Reader

Rating: T (I am still an 18+ blog, MDNI)

WC: 1.8K

Warnings: AOT Manga spoilers, Chubby!Levi, first time writing chubby! Anything, pining, some thoughts/discussion of body issues, please let me know if I missed anything!

It's been years since the final war for Paradis. Life has become miraculously calmer since those last days. The towns have been rebuilt, and people have started to live an everyday life. 

Little shops began appearing on the cobblestone streets of Marley, and one that caught your eye was a tea shop nestled right in the middle of a long row of shops. It was named simply Black Currant Tea. Even though it sold all types of tea imported from all over the world, the most famous brew was black tea. The favorite flavor of the once well-known "Humanity's Strongest." 

At first, you were intimidated when you found out the man you had watched from the sidelines of the town was the owner of this humble tea shop. But the inside of it drew you in and held you. It was quaint inside. The smell of freshly brewed tea leaves tickled the air, and dark chestnut walls framed the single room inviting a cozy atmosphere. 

No one else was there just yet, no one besides the owner. Two heavy lines of scars covered the right side of his face, like a perfectly placed imperfection. But something about those two scars only draws you to him more. Levi has always been beautiful to you. Memories of watching him ride through the town's streets before missions flew through your mind.     

You're so caught in your memories that you didn’t realize you'd been staring at the man directly and the infamous Levi Ackerman until he cleared his throat. 

"Ah! Sorry! I just wanted to see what you had here!" You stumbled over your words as you took him in. He was leaning on one of the dark wooden counters, arms crossed over his chest as he surveyed you. 

"Tea, as suggested in the name," he replied blandly as he brought a slender hand to his left temple and massaged the area.  

You felt embarrassed, unsure what to say next, and decided instead to look over the little boxes set neatly on the counter filled with all different types of tea. Levi ignored you as you pondered, instead he focused his attention on the cash register, flipping idly through the bills. 

You let your eyes move back to him; he's filled out since the war ended. His face is a bit rounder with age and the lack of extensive training. He was still incredibly handsome, though, so much that it's hard not to stare at him. Like a stoic deity that has come to Earth, he was beautiful with all his imperfections.

His eye snapped up to meet yours, those reflexes from years on the battlefield still wired deep within him. "Did you need help picking something?" His tone was a little softer than before, not nearly as harsh. But before you could answer, he cocked his head to the side, taking you in more deeply than before. "Do I know you?" 

Shock and panic ran through you. You hoped with your entire being he didn’t remember you being at almost every going away crowd for the Survey Corps. That would be embarrassing. Thoughts scrambled in your head as you tried to come up with some reason other than being a complete stalker for why he would know you.

"Well, I-"

"You used to sell pastries, right? That little cobblestone shop in Trost?" His words were pointed, and you're not sure how he knew that you did sell pastries before your shop was destroyed by the Colossal. 

But you do know that he never visited your shop, you were sure you would've remembered him coming. You were the only one who ran it, so there's no way you would've missed him. 

"Um, yes?" you responded hesitantly. This is not where you thought this visit would go. Levi's gray eye scanned your face, irritated that you responded to him with a question.

He'd recognize you anywhere. He saw you every time they would leave on a mission, standing in the crowd staring at him like an excited child. At that time, he chalked it up to lost dreams of being an adventurer but now, as he watched you fumble over yourself, it clicked together. You truly had been looking directly at him, and it wasn't a dream of being with them that made your eyes shine; it was him. 

He was unsure what to do with this information, especially now that life has changed. Before the walls fell, you wouldn't have even been an option, but now he could create a life. This is what he's been trying to do with this tea shop, explore love and pass time that he couldn't in a world filled with terror. And although he recognized you and remembered your beauty from long ago, he was asking about your past profession for a good reason. Gabi and Falco, older and wiser than before, were still annoying and persistent that he should add some sort of food item to his shop.

"People want to eat with their tea, Levi. It's boring to just sit there and sip tea," Gabi complained one day as Levi tried to tune out her words. He fought every moment after the war, learning to walk again and live in this new body. So listening to some snot-nosed teenager trying to have a say in his life is not how he wanted to spend his day. 

But after multiple customers asked about scones or pastries, he decided to take this chance even though his well-laid-out menu was within plain sight. 

The two of you chatted a bit longer, Levi conveniently forgot to bring up how he truly knew you and instead discussed how Erwin had brought him food from your shop before. Omitting the fact that it's one of the best things he ever tasted. Years of starvation changed his eating habits for life, but he could still remember the first time he tasted one of your freshly made croissants. It had melted in his mouth, and Erwin had made ridiculous comments about the bliss that flashed across Levi's face. 

Levi needed money to go to your shop, though. Money he didn’t have, so he could only partake in your pastries when Erwin would stop by. But he did pass by your shop every now and then. He would catch small glimpses of you behind the counter with a dazzling smile as you talked to customers. But Levi left that out, too, as he asked if you would make some pastries for his shop. 

He let you know he'd install anything you needed and pay you well. And how could you resist that?

That's how you spent six days out of the week with the man you've watched for years on the sideline. A small oven and counter space area were dedicated just for you, and you spent time researching the best things that would match Levi's vast collection of teas. At first, everything was awkward. You fumbled over your words anytime Levi talked to you and could feel heat rush to your face. But the worst was when Levi caught you staring at him.

You marveled at his beauty, even now. Somehow he seemed even more handsome after the war. His body was more filled out, his waist a bit more pronounced, but still stunning. And it was hard to tear your eyes away from him.

But Levi was sure you were comparing him to his past self. Lithe, fast, and strong. Everything he wasn't now. Who was he kidding? He's not the man he used to be. In his mind, you were only idolizing a past Levi. 

But those thoughts didn’t stop your growing relationship with him. The two of you clicked, sharing an identical sense of dry humor. As well as being able to remember home and the good times before the world went to shit. You ended up being a comfort to Levi in a world where he never expected to have one.

And after six months of working side by side, he can't hold himself back any longer. The two of you sat at one of the little tables at the end of a busy day. The sun was setting through the glass window at the front of the shop. 

"You used to come every time we would leave." He said calmly, evenly, to not scare you away.  Would you hate him because he knew all along?

You slide your gaze over to him, anxious now. Even though the two of you had built a good working relationship and your schoolgirl crush had cooled a bit, you thought you had gotten away with watching him every trip out of the walls. But you should've known that he saw you. You were there every single time. Of course, he wouldn't have missed you. He's Levi fucking Ackerman, for god's sake.  

"Um? Yes?" Again you answered him with a question like you did when he first spoke to you. A statement that had irritated him back then he finds endearing now, cute even.

"Why?" His question was soft as he took his left hand and placed it on top of yours. You're warm. It felt nice with the cooler weather setting in.                                       

You let out a rush of air from your lungs, not sure how to reply to him. His hand weighed heavy on yours but was still comforting like he's known your secret all along. You didn’t want to sound crazy, but you knew very well you were there for him, and you knew Levi well enough now that he can see through any lie you tried to spin to save your dignity. 

"It was for you, Levi. I wanted to see you. Just in case it was the last time," your voice was quiet as you looked towards the chestnut table, tracing the patterns with your eyes. Looking anywhere but at Levi. What if he laughs at me? What if he thinks I'm pathetic for pining after him? The questions flowed through you like a waterfall as you waited for the rejection.

"I'm not him anymore, but I would like to–fuck. I know I'm broken now and that I don't look like I did in the past, but if you'll give me a chance–"

You cut him off, thrown by his pain of losing his past self in the war, "Levi, I don't care how you've changed. You're just as handsome as you were with each mission. I've liked you for a long time and–" You moved around the table to sit in the chair closest to him. 

"And I love every part of you, especially now that I've gotten to truly know you." You moved to kiss his cheek, a bit rounder than it was from the days in Paradis but it’s still Levi. Levi who smells of black tea. Levi who didn’t let the world in. Levi who could finally chase his dreams.

"I'm not the same anymore," Levi said solemnly as he gestures towards his waist and stomach, no longer toned after years of rigorous training. 

"Levi, I love you, just as you are," You placed a peck on his lips and helped him stand while leading him to the hall back to his room. "Let me show you."

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 3 Ramble#3 - The Martial Way ver.2

This month, as you probably picked up from the ramble title, I focused on reading martial arts manga for the second time because once was just never gonna be enough.

~[before I get into the episode I have a moment of silence for akira toriyama sensei who passed on earlier this… his legendary impact on media as a whole is beyond what my feeble words could hope to describe so a minute of silence is probably the most appropriate thing I could do. rest in power toriyama sensei.]~

The format is pretty much the same as last time, the meat of the matter is that I'll be speaking on the top 5 martial arts manga I read this month, focusing not so much on plot but more on what I think are the 4 cornerstones of martial arts manga, namely; art, action, technique and philosophy. For each manga in the list I'll be talking on these 4 things and giving them a rating on a 5 star scale.

I won't be talking about older top favorites this time so I encourage you to check out v.1 if you're interested but I will be doing what should be a quick breeze through of some martial arts manga I caught up on this month before I got into the newer reads.

So without further adeiu ~

CATCHING UP/OLD BREEZE

- boruto, shamo, batuqe, eternal force, tenkaichi

(pretty disappointing)

- peerless father, tsuyoshi, Sakamoto days

(pretty great)

THIS MONTH

#5) Kenji (art by Yoshihide Fujiwara and story by Ryuchi Matsuda, complete w 202 chapters)

Didn't have much expectations going into this one. I picked it up because the summary I saw on anilist listed a bunch of different martial art styles and among them was tai chi which I practice. So as someone who’s interested in different forms of mind and body tempering through martial arts, I figured even if the manga wasn’t particularly good, the exposure would be.. Glad to say my expectations were exceeded which is probably apparent as it’s one of my top 5 reads this month. but enough idle chatter.

The story here centers on a boy named Kenji (shocker), who is taught the basics of an ancient form of chinese kung fu called Bajiquan from his grandfather at an early age. When his grandfather suddenly has to leave the country to fulfill a promise to an old friend, Kenji decides he must keep practicing so he can have the strength to follow after his grandfather and present his growth as a person and martial artist proudly when they meet again.

Art - 3 / 5 stars

It was pretty unique but not altogether super impressive. When I say unique I mean that most of the manga had a sort of calligraphy or deceptively real water colour painting vibe, which I usually really dig for impact in action scenes or so but for this it was the whole way through so it kind of lost that effect. It did end up having a neat Chinese scroll type vibe with the whole calligraphy feeling I was getting though and it was solid throughout so no real complaints.

Action - 3 / 5 stars

The action wasn’t very impressive either. Undeniably and consistently solid but there were rarely any real wow factors. The mood or atmosphere surrounding the action was always very fitting though, usually engaging and immersive so although the illustrations weren’t anything to lose my mind over, holistically I found the fights quite pleasing.

Technique - 5 / 5 stars

Technique variety and illustration was pretty top tier. As in to the point where a good chunk of this manga feels like beginner kung fu for dummies, even going so far as to show numbered step by step illustrations for a lot of moves used. Most of the story actually unfolds this way as Kenji has nobody to teach him when his grandfather left and the only lead he had to go on was his kungfu. So in seeking out and practicing with different interim teachers, he ends up traveling from Japan deep into mainland China, gaining new friends and foes along the way. What I really really loved was how his core technique developed over time, as in yes he got new techniques within his original style and a few tricks and tweaks from other styles he interacted with, but what got him through from the beginning was sharpening the core fundamentals his grandfather taught him when he was a kid. And when I say got him through I don't mean just in fights, I mean that to be accepted by certain people in the martial arts world you have to be able to prove yourself as a martial artist in your own right first, which more often than being able to do a flashy killer move, really means being able to show a certain level of dedication to cultivating the art you claim to practice. Also loved seeing how the variety, views on and uses of martial arts changed as he traveled from Japan to China.

Philosophy - 5 / 5 stars

Philosophy here was top notch stuff. The best I've read in a long time and definitely top 2, if not the best in that aspect this month. It's so great that I'd really want it to speak for itself as much as possible so I won't be going into much detail but I will say I really appreciated the importance placed on strength of mind and character in no uncertain terms.

#4) Under Ninja (story & art by Kengo Hanazawa {also known for being the creator of the manga, I am a Hero}, 115 chapters ongoing)

This story follows ninja in the modern day and shows the struggles between different ninja ranks, organizations and the government.

Art - 4 / 5 stars

Was pretty cool, very cool even, sort of sharp in a kind of overtly digital way I tend not to like too much but it was still cool. Especially with all the rad spreads they had sprinkled throughout.

Action - 4 / 5 stars

It was odd in a good way that's kinda hard to describe. Maybe because of how well they modernized the ninja in my mind. As in the methods of combat were for the most part fairly recognizable (sword, shuriken, camouflage) but they were presented in such a fresh way from a modern technological standpoint + it all takes place within the context of a modern city landscape and everything,, pretty rad pretty rad.

One definitely kinda odd thing was the choreography. It wasn't very fluid or detailed how I'd usually like my action manga. This almost had a laggy game type feel which I'd usually not rate, or even hate, but because the main focus was ninja I couldn't help but think that was the creator’s intention. As in a ninja’s whole thing is to be unseen so how would an illustration of them and their activities really look yk. And unlike what's been popularized by Naruto with lots of hand to hand combat and big flashy moves, especially later on, I think it definitely leans more toward what was shown here in under ninja, with more of an “in n out" / “now you see me now you don't" type feel.

Technique - 5 / 5 stars

The techniques were pretty rad too, especially because of the technology, as I said very fresh stuff like the creator definitely had a very clear vision of how they thought a modern ninja would act. Very cool that they didn't go the usual route of just having a traditional ninja in the modern day but it actually looked and felt like how ninja may carry themselves had they advanced along with society from what we know of them back then. There wasn't any specific martial art used perse but in any case I really liked how they illustrated the "attack” of a ninja. As in it's not all hand signs and ninja stars, we get a more holistic view of the strategies employed from something as simple as misdirection to something as crazy as a fucking satellite laser. absolutely loved it. crazy crazy work I'm telling you.

Philosophy - 2 / 5 stars

There doesn't seem to be any great cause or meaning to much so far tbh. Which although generally important, isn't anything hyper critical in a fighting story, but as a cornerstone of martial arts in general it's something I look forward to seeing expressed uniquely by different creators in martial arts manga. For the most part in under ninja the thinking seems to be “complete the mission and fuck you if you try to get in my way” which I guess is fitting for ninja tbh but grain of salt here, it's ongoing and where I left off the story kinda took a mad left and a bunch of stuff is coming to light so I wouldn't be surprised if my view on the philosophy of under ninja changes when I come back to it next year.

#3) Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru (story & art by Yasushi Baba, complete w 500 chapters)

This is the journey of a guy who couldn’t make it as a gymnast and was bullied out of his club somehow becoming a karateka

Art - 5 / 5 stars

Pretty great in all the senses, casual and action wise. It was great and there's not much else to say there so no point lingering.

Action - 5 / 5 stars

Action was pretty great too, kept steadily building in intensity and technicality as the story progressed and the main character developed as a martial artist. Choreography was pretty up there as well, maybe not exceedingly dynamic perse like Sakamoto Days but it was all clear and fluid which is ultimately more important in stories dependent on action sequences. I will say they did have a lot of explody effects tho like.. idk… they were generally really cool tbh but would have probably been fine without THAT much, like the impact of each individual bomb effect kinda falls off when you're constantly carpet bombing yk,,, anyways the action was still a 5 so clearly it didn't bother me THAT much, just thought it kinda odd…

Technique - 3 / 5 stars

Was pretty solid in terms of illustrating, naming and using a variety of techniques but it fell kinda short behind the others because the techniques were like 93% Karate, and of that 93% about 80% was the specific kind of karate used by the mc, whereas pretty much all the other manga in this list showed more than a few other martial arts or at least had stronger individualization of a technique through its practitioner as was the case in under ninja and the next manga on this list. What was shown was pretty solid though and fairly thorough so it held up. variety is the spice of life and all but variety paradoxically encompasses a lack of variety so,, it is what it is.

Philosophy - 3 / 5 stars

Not bad, again pretty solid but nothing too crazy. could kind of be boiled down to different personal views on karate and maybe a bit of fighting on a whole but they didn't really push past how that affects the way one carries themselves outside the ring too much. Kind of an aside but I did appreciate that they had a fair bit of slice of life which is where you could see a bit, in action more than word, the various ways different martial arts practitioners carried themselves.

#2) Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls (original story by Fuutarou Yamada with story & art by Masaki Segawa, complete w 34 chapters)

Basically Romeo and Juliet but if they were ninjas. families. I could give a bit more detail but honestly that pretty much covers it and I already said this ramble wasn't really gonna be too plot focused.

Art - 3 / 5 stars

Sort of overtly digital in a scanny kind of way that I usually wouldn't like but for the most part it was solid enough where it counted.

Action - 4 / 5 stars

Ultra vibes, especially for how short it was, just 34 chapters but they used them extremely well as pretty much from the jump the atmosphere was constantly building. Fight scenes were clear although not very consistently fluid but the core choreography of the fights was definitely there. Something I really liked was how it could have easily been done as a standard tournament type beat or your average battle royale but all the confrontations were pretty dynamic throughout the story, shuffling through 1 v 1s, gang v 1s and gang v gang seamlessly. not to mention the pretty cool and unique techniques they all had.

Technique - 5 / 5 stars

Actual old school ninja stuff which was very cool although ultra hyper specific. Basically there were 20 main characters with 10 on each side, all having some unique jutsu that they alone could use. This could've made stuff play out in a sort of almost obvious rock paper scissors type thing but the way they introduced/removed characters throughout the story and juggled opposing character interactions was just so well done that it never got boring.

Philosophy - 4 / 5 stars

Tbh most of the cast didn't have all that much about them philosophy wise. As I said this was a kind of Romeo and Juliet type beat so besides the main pair they all just hated the other family. There's some very light sprinkling of something you could probably call philosophy through the rest of the main cast as their individual jutsu sort of mirrors their beliefs, so you could almost say they're all literal embodiments of their beliefs but that's not exactly a one size fits all thing and is probably more of a stretch than anything. In any case this gets a 4 because of how moved I was by the main pairings actions. especially because of how little chapters there were so it hit all the more. If I go into detail about such actions it'd be spoilers so what can I say but to go check it out.

#1) Tekken Chinmi (story & art by Takeshi Maekawa{breakshot, #1 S2R8}, read 131/158)

A talented lad named chinmi is seen in action by a traveling monk who invites him to further train at his temple. Simple shonen type beat except the hero’s journey isn't really thrust upon him, he kinda just actually goes on the journey willingly which is kinda refreshing. #end the era of child soldiers.

Art - 4 / 5 stars

Really easy to digest, kinda toony but well proportioned, has a really smooth old school vibe to it like you look at it and immediately succumb to the propaganda that everything really was better back then.

Action - 4 / 5 stars

Great all round, great choreo, great flow, pretty solid dynamics and I really dug how they showed that lessons learned in one thing can typically be applied to every other thing. As in he'd learn a martial art skill and it'd help him improve in a day to day situation or vice versa.

Technique - 5 / 5 stars

Widely varied, usually unique and v cool, as in they had from a Poison hand guy, to a one legged cane weilder and even someone who used a one finger technique. It was really great and sort of inspiring to see him improve step by step, from teacher to teacher and from fight to fight. Really loved that when he got new techniques he didn't just spam that from then on, he stuck with sharpening himself holistically and never using more force than necessary. Also dug that even though he was definitely quick on the uptake for story's sake there wasn't anything he ever just got immediately. He'd always have to take the time to sit and think through how to get some desired effect, which is what gave rise to his sometimes unique applications of certain techniques.

Philosophy - 5 / 5 stars

Loved how close they made everything to nature, nature even being his teacher a few times. Again the philosophy here was so great I want it to speak for itself but I loved the hammering of the importance of both body and mind. the philosophy here was definitely right up there with shinji though it felt a bit warmer here for lack of a better word.

honourable mentions:

Tenjo Tenge & Record of Ragnarok

btw this is a list of 5 with 2 hms but in total I read 15 new manga this month and maybe you wanna see the rest for yourself, for holistic, comparative or some other reason but in any case you can see those and all my other reads on anilist which is in my bio on all social media I'm on so yh

ofc I do some extra kinda off cuff rambles afterwards so you can listen in for that but if not have a good one regardless, hope you enjoyed this and hope you tune into the next 🍻

[eggs-can-draw]

firedemongaming: The survivors are pretty much the most famous celebrities in the world post-tragedy. So I imagine they (and grown up Shu who is famous by association) would regularly receive invites to cameo or star once the movie and TV industries are up and running.

Hiro accepts every job offered (despite his lack of acting ability) however he only really gets offered if the show or movie is related to fortune-telling or the occult. He once got an invite to appear in a horror movie and agreed without properly reading the movie description. He very quickly regretted that bit.

Hina receives invites for any movie that relates to water. She always refuses because none of them have caught her interest yet (she has been in a few doughnut commercials though)

Naturally Shu and Kirigiri are mainly invited to detective movies and shows because of obvious reasons. However, they usually refuse because of how inaccurate detective movies are. This, however, sets a challenge. And now movie and show producers make it a point to make a detective movie as accurate as possible while confirming to age ratings. So that's how Kyoko accidentally got a part-time job as a consultant for detective movies. So far only one movie has met her standards and Shu ended up appearing in it because he made and lost a bet with Kokichi.

Byakuya is mostly offered roles in movies and shows about famous entrepreneurs and businessmen but he does get invited to cameo in other genres as well (a la trump in home alone) however he refuses all invites out of principle.

Makoto is invited to literally any and all genre. At first, he refused all invites. Until he received an invite to appear in an anime adaptation of his favourite manga. At which point, after an internal struggle that lasted about 3 days, he agreed so he could show off to Komaru who also loves the manga. He quickly started begging byakuya to get him voice acting lessons. Byakuya did not need much convincing given how rarely Makoto requests stuff of him.

'Byakuya, please could you...' 'you already have me convinced but continue'

G-eetings: You think Byakuya would make a documentary on his family and father firedemongaming: No, he would make a documentary on himself though. His father would only be mentioned for the purpose of comparison. To demonstrate how much better Togami is doing. The Togamis don't really have familial bonds (Byakuya is probably the first to actually have a proper bond with his child(ren)) So to Byakuya, his father would probably just be the foolish old man who let the Togami empire crumble. So if he made a documentary about his family, it would certainly be about how he helped the company rise from the ashes like a phoenix. There would absolutely be 30 minutes at the start dedicated to his father's failures though.

Since he has megumi ogata's voice, Makoto does pretty well in the anime after a few weeks of training. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. Because now the invites are becoming more and more frequent. And eventually, a few companies realise that, if they send the invite through future foundation, Makoto doesn't really get much of a choice. And, as a result, Makoto ends up with the most TV appearances out of the survivors. And he hates it

That moment when it goes from cute to sad 😔

[kuriboo]

Checkmate

Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 906 Category: M/M Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga) Relationship: Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi Characters: Kaiba Seto, Mutou Yuugi Additional Tags: Drabble, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Not Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions Compliant, DSOD didn't happen in this fic, Interviews, One-Sided Attraction

“Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? Give me one good reason I shouldn’t throw you out of my tower right now.”

Seto Kaiba conducts an interview, and is surprised in more ways than one.

link to ao3 in the notes!

⁂

“Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?”

“No, Kaiba, I’m actually being 100% serious.”

Seto looked down at the resume on the table in front of him. Not a horrible resume, but he’d seen far better from people the same age. His own resume, for instance. He then looked up, glaring at the person seated across the table in front of him.

There was Yugi Muto, hands folded in his lap, a smile on his face.

That stupid, dorky smile. Usually, an interview like this, an entrance-level position, was far beneath Seto Kaiba. But when he saw this particular name come up, he rearranged his schedule.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t throw you out of my tower right now.”

Yugi seemed to ponder this for a moment. “How about when we saved you and Mokuba from Pegasus?”

“We both know it wasn’t you who dueled in Duelist Kingdom.”

“Sure, but we couldn’t have won without my help. I came up with the strategy against Pegasus, you know.” Yugi tilted his head to the side. “But if that’s not good enough for you… How about when we helped you take control of your tower back from Yakko Tenma? Atem couldn’t have gone through all those duels without any breaks, you know. I dueled, too.”

This dweeb was actually serious. And not only that, his points weren’t completely bad ones.

“Fine.” Seto rubbed his thumbs against his temples. “I’ve looked over your resume. Average, for someone your age. Being the King of Games won’t do you any favors here. What can you bring to KaibaCorp?”

“Passion and drive.” Yugi rubbed his thumbs together. “It’s my dream to make games, like Pegasus did. I heard about the project you just recently announced. Duel Links! Bringing people all over the world together in a virtual world to duel. Working with a game I’m already familiar with seemed like a good place to start for me, and you can’t deny I can be an asset to you in that field.”

“What do you like to do outside of work?” A question he didn’t care about the answer to.

“I’d think you already knew the answer to that one. I like to spend time with my friends and play games.”

Seto went through a few more questions, others he didn’t care much about the answers to. He was running through a script at this point, actually going along with this charade of an interview. The dweeb was taking this seriously, providing answers to each question that weren’t completely awful.

“That’s enough.”

“Huh?”

Seto couldn’t believe he was entertaining the idea of hiring him.

“If you really want me to hire you, prove that you’re worth my time.” He reached down and pulled out his deck, placing it on the table next to Yugi’s resume. “Beat me in a duel.”

And of course Yugi also had a deck on him. He brought his out and smiled.

“I accept your challenge, Kaiba.”

From there, the duel moved on. Magician’s Rod, Kaibaman. Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Every move calculated and made accordingly, like they were locked in a game of chess. Black rook, white bishop. Check, check, check.

Until…

“Looks like I win!”

Checkmate.

Seto stared at his empty field. How did he lose? He’d calculated each move for victory, and yet he’d been outplayed. To a duelist he’d never even entertained the thought of beating him. By a deck filled with magicians and cute monsters, no less. He looked up.

Yugi was smiling brightly at him.

What was this feeling? Seto’s chest felt tight, it was more difficult to breathe. He’d spent so long chasing after the other Yugi, eager to take his rightful title of King of Games, prove their previous duels were just flukes. And he’d obsessed over it, making sure he had chance after chance to duel the other Yugi again, and again, and again.

He’d written this Yugi off as weak a long time ago. But now, the truth was staring him in the face: the Yugi in front of him was a skilled duelist in his own right.

Yugi leaned forward, concern written all over his face. “Kaiba? Are you okay?”

“Peachy.” Seto looked away, clearing his throat. “You win, Yugi. Clearly, you passed the test. You start in two weeks. I’ll see you that Monday.”

“Wait, really?” Yugi leaned back. “You’re not going to check my references? Pass my application on to HR? Have anyone else review it?”

“Like I’d trust any of those fools with this decision.” Seto rolled his eyes. “I’m Seto Kaiba. My opinion supersedes anyone else’s around here. If I say you’re hired, then you’re hired.”

“Oh! W-well, thanks!”

“Don’t thank me. You passed on your own merits.” He stood up. “Now get out of my office. I trust I don’t need to lead you back to the entrance.”

“N-nope!” Yugi shot up out of his chair and backed towards the doorway out of Seto’s office. “I-I guess I’ll see you then!”

As Yugi scrambled out of the office, Seto closed his eyes. He still couldn’t believe he lost to Yugi Muto like that. Without the interference of the other Yugi.

And why did losing to Yugi make him feel like that? It was different than when the other Yugi beat him. It wasn’t humiliation, no desire for revenge…what was it? This feeling…

He’d never felt it before.

[gurleend287]

Genshiken (ep. 1, 2, 3, 9)

RATING: ★★

As someone who loves anime and manga, I was excited to watch Genshiken, a show that explores the nuances of otaku culture and the challenges faced by those who participate in it. The show delves into the social stigma attached to being an otaku in Japanese society and the tensions that arise when individuals with different levels of interest in otaku culture interact with each other.

While the show isn't my personal favorite in terms of humor and storytelling, it did present some interesting insights into the minds of older, college-age otakus. The show's portrayal of otaku culture aligns with the themes discussed in this week's readings, such as the idea of otaku seeing their interest as a lifestyle, the parallel development of fan culture that influences the source media, and the potentially harmful lifestyle that too much devotion could have on a person.

One of the main themes of the show is that otaku culture is a form of binding. All members of the Genshiken club have a passion for anime and manga. For them, a defining characteristic of their person is their love of the media they consume. It's a cultural identity that brings people together, and it's okay to have a slight obsession with something that brings us joy. An interest can be incorporated into our personalities and bring people closer together.

However, the show also highlights the potential dangers of taking an interest too far. Kousaka, one of the characters, is the embodiment of an unhealthy obsession with otaku culture. His interest in anime and manga has made him neglect his girlfriend and non-anime-related life. He cuts her off at every point in time and goes out to wait overnight in lines or compulsively shop for large quantities of merchandise. This is an issue that exists in the real world, and it's important to recognize when an interest becomes an unhealthy obsession that negatively affects other areas of our lives.

The stigma around being an otaku stems from negative stereotypes that have been associated with the term, such as excessive obsession with anime, manga, and video games to the point of social isolation and withdrawal from the “real world.” However, as the show actively attempts to make clear, many people who enjoy anime, manga, and video games have active social lives and participate in a variety of interests outside of their hobbies. It's important to approach otaku culture with an open mind and avoid making blanket assumptions about individuals based on labels or stereotypes.

In conclusion, while Genshiken may not be everyone's cup of tea in terms of humor and storytelling, it does present an interesting exploration of otaku culture and its potential pitfalls. It's important to recognize when an interest becomes an unhealthy obsession and to approach otaku culture with an open mind, avoiding blanket assumptions based on stereotypes.

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Corruption & Trust

Stormbringer and bsd spoilers in general ahead so read at your own risk!!

So in this post I will be listing all the times Chuuya used corruption and all the times Dazai was there to stop it. I will also go into depth as to why Chuuya trusts Dazai when it comes to having to use corruption and I will also emphazise on Dazai's care and how he takes corruption seriously.

1. First time using corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old

"Isn't it an unpleasant sight, Chuuya."

It was a young boy. This young boy casually caught hold of Chuuya's arm and lifted it up. With this movement, the gravitational field which had occured around them disappered immediatly. As well as Chuuya’s agony.

"Y...You..."

"You can't even die gracefully can you?" the young boy said in a raspy voice as he heaved Chuuya on his shoulders. He set off to walk.

Alright so this was the first time Chuuya's corruption was ever activated, after Dazai nullifies it and carries Chuuya on his back, he drops him off outside the bar were Chuuya's friends lay dead. He took him there instead of taking him directly to the port mafia quarters.

Why did he do that exactly? If Dazai doesn't care for Chuuya, then why did he give Chuuya the opportunity to pay farewell to his dying friends?

It's actually sort of funny because I don't really think Dazai really realizes or accepts that he feels a certain connection with Chuuya and therefore looks after him.

2. Second time using Corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old (obviously, its still the same light novel lol)

After losing his strength, Chuuya drifted in the air for a few seconds, then lost the black wings on his back and slowly fell.

Dazai caught his body.

From the spot where Dazai touched, the nulification skill was activated.

The self-contradictory skill that supports the energy of the singular point receded, and the output of the singular point decreased. Eventually, it converged and the "gate" closed. The red imprints disappeared from Chuya's whole body. Eventually, the gravitational field disappeared and the complete silence was restored.

“Good job, Chuuya." Dazai chuckled, looking at Chuuya he was holding in his arms. "I forgot to bring my ink pen, so I'll spare you from having your face scribbled."

As much as it looks like this is from a fanfiction, I can assure you that it's an actual passage from stormbringer.

I can't really say much except the fact that Dazai is being extremely soft here.

And this was the conversation Dazai and Chuuya shared beforehand:

"There is one problem." Dazai cut off his sentence hesitantly. "It has nothing to do with the sucess rate of the plan. It is a matter we have to overcome in the end but... It may require some time to decide."

"What's with you?" Chuuya raised his eyebrows at Dazai. "Stop dramatizing it. Just hurry up and say it."

"I said earlier about this control spell to open the 'gate' that is used to reset the command inside Chuuya, right?" Dazai spoke with a strangely restrained voice. "If we use that, the logs of the command formula that were written in the past will be erased. That means...even if the memory erasure was used on Chuuya in the past, the traces of that will be erased as well."

"What?"

"I told you before right? the memory erasure command. The only way we can confirm if Chuuya is human or not is to check the history to see if the memory erasure command was ever used. It means..." Dazai looked at Chuuya with eyes that he had never looked at him before. Those eyes were serious. "If we use that control spell, the method to confirm if Chuuya is an artificial personality created by a string of code, or just a normal human being, will be lost. For good."

The time had stopped.

Chuuya opened his eyes and looked towards Dazai but his eyes were not seeing anything. The wind blew between the two of them. Even so, Chuuya did not blink.

"Verlaine became like that because he was tormented by the curse that he was not human. That only is enough of a big problem. The matter of being human or not." Dazai looked at his pocket watch, gave it a glance and continued. "I can delay the time until the plan starts for about two minutes. I will send an order for my men to wait... You can think about it alone for a while. Cuz I guess its hard for you to collect your thoughts with me around."

Having said so, Dazai turned away and walked down the stairs, leaving Chuuya alone.

Dazai fixated in his pocket watch. Two more minutes. Too short for a life decision. But he couldn't afford more than that.

Inside Dazai's head, he was planning a procedure to swith to an alternative plan in case Chuuya refused, at a tremendous speed.

After this exchange, Chuuya does decide on using corruption. I have talked about this section on a previous post of mine, and I just love it so much. For starters, I think this conversation that these two shared is very important to their characters.

For Chuuya, it shows us how undeniably selfless he is. He would rather save the people of Yokahama instead of finding out something that meant a lot to him. He sacrificed his own desires to save the people he cares about.

For Dazai its a completely different story, in this exchange Dazai was able to openly express genuine concern for his partner. He also understands the gravity of the decision Chuuya has to take and therefore leaves the decision up to him.

Third time using corruption: Dragon's Head Conflict

Chuuya and Dazai' s age: 16 yrs old

During this one, Chuuya demands to know where his friends are, and Shibusawa says all six of them killed themselves after being caught. Enraged, Chuuya activates Corruption which ultimatley ended the 88 day conflict.

There isn't much to say about Dazai and Chuuya here since there isn't really an aftermath on this occasion but I bealive this picture is enough.

Before reading the DA manga, I genuienly thought that the only time Chuuya ever rested on Dazai's lap was when they were 22 but this proved me wrong.

I mean this is a minimal thing to point out but if Dazai disregarded Chuuya he would've just left him there, right? But instead he remained with Chuuya and allowed him to rest on his lap, in the picture you can also see he is putting Chuuya's hat back on. It's such a simple gesture but it shows us how caring Dazai can be when it comes to Chuuya using corruption.

Fourth time using corruption: Lovecraft Battle, Double Black reunion

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22 yrs old

This is personally one of my favorite times in which Chuuya uses corruption. The fact that these two had not been working together for 4 years yet they still managed to not only accomplish their mission, but mantain their trust for one another.

I find what Chuuya says here extremely ironic because if anything, the choice has always been up to him. Dazai always uses corruption as a last-resort trick and its always Chuuya who makes the final decision of using it or not, even in a life or death situation Dazai won't take it upon himself to force Chuuya to make the decision if they will be using it or not, and hes always willing to come up with an alternative plan in case Chuuya refuses. (an example of this is when Chuuya used corruption for the 2nd time in SB).

I think the reason as to why Dazai takes corruption extremely seriously is because during stormbringer he was the first person to even see Chuuya use corruption and also the person who understood how corruption will always be sort of like a burden to Chuuya, since it was thanks to corruption that his "am I human?" question stayed unanswered.

He knows how it feels to struggle with your own humanity and he doesn't want for Chuuya (who he literally sees as human), to hold that inner conflict with himself because of corruption.

Anyways, Chuuya decides to go through corruption trusting that Dazai will be there to nullify it.

And of course, Dazai does nullify it.

And after Dazai nullifies corruption, we get this very touching moment between both of them.

This is the first time Chuuya openly admits to trusting Dazai, although it was always evident that he trusts him, I just love how open he is being here.

Also the light punch he gives to Dazai's chest is such a sweet gesture, I see it as a silent way for Chuuya to say "I trust you because after all this time I still see you as my partner."

Dazai's smile in that small pannel is one of the most genuine expression we have gotten out of him. What he says is also a very sweet, I love that he calls him partner. The fact that these two are literally in rival organizations yet Dazai still calls him partner, it shows us that even after all these years he still can't help but see him the same way as he has always done.

Actually in Japanese he calls him "Aibou" and from my understanding, when you use the term Aibou it's for someone who you consider yourself to be close with. It means "partner" like in english but it holds a deeper meaning. If Dazai used the word "nakama" it would have been a very diffrent story since it means partner as well but it isn't used for someone you share a significant connection with. Asagiri's play with words here says a lot.

Fifth time using corruption: Dead Apple

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22yrs old.

Of course I have to talk about one of the most iconic moments in the history of Soukoku.

Chuuya uses corruption to save Dazai, even if Ango says that he's dead for sure. Something I find very intresting here though is that Chuuya screams for Dazai while he is on corruption, he is obviously not supposed to be self concious about the whole situation, while on Corruption clearly he is not supposed to be in sane state of mind, as we all here know, Chuuya loses control and does not have the track of reality while under his own ability but this time, while using corruption, the one and only thing that was on his mind was "Dazai."

It wasn't only Chuuya who entrusted his life to Dazai, Dazai too entrusted his life in Chuuya's hands. When Dazai came up with this plan, he was more than certain that Chuuya was going to save him. And I think a tumblr blog pointed this out but when Chuuya uses curroption, he cannot control his strength, but when he had to punch Dazai he did it lightly, which is strange considering he was using curroption and it would've made a lot more sence if Dazai ended up decapitated due to being punched by a literal god. Dazai had to have faith in the fact that Chuuya will somehow be able to control corruption, even if its just a little bit.

Afterwards when Chuuya manages to rescue Dazai, Dazai gently touches his cheek to nullify corruption and greets him with, "You used Corruption believing in me? I am so touched I could cry." Chuuya groans, and replies that yes he did, that he believed in his disgusting vitality and craftiness.

When they both fall to the ground, Dazai forces Chuuya to rest in his lap because he didn't want to have to protect him from this situation since the fog is still up and Chuuya himself is all worn out and wouldn't be able to fight. But heres the thing, both Chuuya and Dazai's abilities can't be seperated by the fog. I mean Dazai's ability is nulification so it basically cancels out, and Chuuya hosts a literal god inside him so it isn't really an ability if you know what I mean.

So in reality, Dazai just wanted Chuuya to rest. Dazai could've literally just left Chuuya in the fog if he was only using him for his goals, but he was genuienly appreciating Chuuya's trust in him. The way Dazai's hand is resting on Chuuya's hair is a nice gesture too, he is greatful for him and he is moved that someone trusts him, it is shown throughout the Fifthteen and SB light novel that no one trusted Dazai and how most were afraid to even approach him. And in the ADA, everyone is somewhat warry around him (excluding Atsushi ofc). But Chuuya literally puts his life on the line trusting that Dazai will always be there to save him. He trusts him greatly and Dazai knows that, and I think its pretty clear to us that he would never want to break that trust.

The fact that Chuuya trusts Dazai even after he left the Port Mafia without an explanation or goodbye shows us how strong their bond is. Chuuya most likely trusts Dazai because deep down he knows that he isn't using Chuuya's ability out of his own selifshness, a part of him is aware that Dazai uses corruption as a last resort but he just doesn't want to admit it, and I feel like he also trusts him subconciously because of how gentle Dazai is after Chuuya uses corruption.

I really hope we get to see more of these "corruption moments" because in all honesty, these moments are the ones that bring out the most vulenrability for both characters. The moment corruption is used, we see the inmeasurable amount of trust and care these two have for each other that they won't show in other situations. During these times it always shines a very open and bittersweet light on their bond and I love it so much.

[angstama]

apple tree | chifuyu.m

pairing: chifuyu matsuno x reader

genre: angst, slow-burn, unrequited love, pining, fluff, chifuyu doesn’t love you that way :( 

warnings: as usual, heartbreak coming ahead <3

✧. in which you look back on the times that chifuyu had been the highlight and heartbreaker in your youth. 

you were five when you first met chifuyu matsuno under the big apple tree one summer day. 

head deep into bending the fragile weeds into a flower crown when a blonde haired boy with the prettiest ocean blue eyes approached you. “what are you doing?” he asked curiously, licking his already melting chocolate ice cream while looking at the imperfectly balanced flower that you had spent hours on crafting in your hands. “making a flower crown.” you answered simply, not even sparing the blonde haired boy a glance as you were too focused in tweaking the branches. 

“woah that’s awesome!” he beamed in excitement, plopping down next to you instantly and leaning in closer to take a look at it. “yeah i know right!” you smiled in triumph, finally looking up to see whoever was showing interest in your little hobby and behold, there sat chifuyu in a rainbow striped t-shirt with his legs crossed and eyes gleaming with interest.

 in all honesty, your flower crowns were horribly ugly, but in chifuyu’s eyes it was uniquely you. perhaps it was maybe because he hadn’t seen anyone making an actual flower crown before or perhaps maybe he was just feeling sorry for the girl who always sat alone under the big apple tree that never bloomed a single fruit all year round. whichever it was, you wished that it was the first. “teach me how to make one please!” he grabs your wrist, causing your cheeks to burn under the scorching hot sun and heart rate quickening though you were clueless as to why it happened being only at the age of five, so you decided that it was okay to have him around. 

strangely ever since then, you were never seen alone under the apple tree in the park again. 

you were nine when you first understood the concept of crushes, with the help of your best friend, chifuyu matsuno of course. 

“it’s when you want to share the biggest chicken drumlet with them dummy!” chifuyu explained, voice muffled from stuffing his face with fried chicken one after another. you weren’t sure how the two of you derived at the current topic, though you remember the last you checked, chifuyu was rambling on and on about the new girl in your class. “so, you’d share this with whoever you have a crush on?” you asked as you pointed towards the biggest drumstick that chifuyu had saved for the last, as always. 

he nodded impatiently, grabbing the very same drumstick and ready to devour it but only to come to a halt when the two of you locked eyes. “want some?” he offered, waving the fried chicken in front of you. “wh-what?” your words fumbled, taken aback by chifuyu’s sudden offer right after the whole sharing of the biggest chicken drumlet explanation he had just made. “you kept staring at it. do you want it?” he asked, with innocence laced in his voice, oblivious to the shade of red slowly making an appearance on your cheeks. you huffed, “am not!”. chifuyu only lets out a snort, “yeah sure,” he chuckles boyishly, leaning down to rest on your shoulders, causing your body to stiffen upon the sudden contact. that afternoon, for almost an entire hour you were forced to sit as straight as you could, afraid that something was going to erupt in your tummy again as you could feel the bubbling sensation that threatened to explode. 

you were thirteen when you finally realised that you, y/n l/n, wants to share the biggest drumstick with chifuyu matsuno. 

it was christmas eve and chifuyu had invited you over to his place for a dinner, claiming that his mother had threatened to throw his precious romance mangas away if he didn't invite you. 

you arrived at the matsuno’s household ten minutes earlier than stated with a tray of roasted potatoes held in your hands and beads of sweat running down your forehead despite the freezing cold temperature outside. for the eight years of friendship you had with chifuyu, you’ve never felt this nervous seeing him and his family. it’s the cold, you naively thought, when the door swung opened, revealing your best friend dressed in a maroon striped sweater with suspenders. his eyes widened, not expecting to really see you when he was just opening to check in an attempt to ease his mother’s sixth sense. “y/n? why didn’t you knock?” he gasped, gently tugging the tray on your hands into his as he looked at you in surprise. “well, i was gonna but you opened the door before i could!” you scoffed a white lie, wanting nothing but to cover up the fact that you had been standing outside because you couldn’t get your heart to calm down. 

“chifuyu why don’t you give y/n the gift you got for her now?” mrs matsuno chimed, elegance evident in her posture and movement when she lightly dabbed a napkin across her lips which made you wonder how is it possible that she's the mother of chifuyu when chifuyu shared not a single bit of her grace when it comes to eating. chifuyu pauses briefly, “give me a sec,” he nods before stuffing the roasted potato that was previously halfway into his mouth and standing up to jog over to his room. “he cleaned the house for two months for it.” mr matsuno chuckled as chifuyu jogs out again, this time with a paper bag held in his hand. 

“you better wear it everyday.” he sent you a playful wink, handing you the brown paper bag. you carefully unwrapped the ribbon that bounded the paper bag and pulling out an overly oversized hoodie enough to fit you through a lifetime. you noticed that it was same hoodie that chifuyu often wears except that yours was in the shade of emerald green, the colour that chifuyu had taken the effort to remember that you had once claimed as your colour when the two of you had a heated discussion on what colour represents yourselves. 

“wow! now we have a friendship hoodie!” you beamed in excitement, pulling the oversized hoodie over your sweater. “how do i look?” you asked, posing a few turns at chifuyu as he took a good look at you. “pretty.” he held a thumb up before stuffing another spoonful of pasta down. 

your lowered your gaze upon hearing the sudden compliment your best friend gave, opting to look at the last piece of roasted chicken that mrs matsuno had offered you earlier just now before chifuyu could lay his hands on it. your lips pursed, not entirely confident to do it but eventually picking up the piece of meat and placing it on chifuyu’s already dirtied plate from all the sauces he had mixed with his food. “thank you,” you mumbled, looking anywhere else but chifuyu’s burning gaze on you. 

the butterflies were taking flight soon and you on the other hand had no idea how to contain it. 

you were sixteen when chifuyu first broke your heart on the first day of the spring season, openly declaring in front of you and takemichi that he’ll be confessing to the pretty girl sitting in front of him during lunch time. 

her name is haru.

“no way! you’re kidding!” takemichi gaped, leaning in closer to chifuyu as the close proximity between the two of them wasn’t enough for him to hear chifuyu clearly. chifuyu crossed his arms, confidence evident in his posture, “of course not! i’ve already decided, there’s no going back!” 

“be sure not to scare her away!” you stuck your tongue out to which chifuyu rolled his eyes in response. “eh? you’re just jealous that no one’s confessing to you!”, wiggling his head in a playful manner as he brought an ‘L’ sign up to his forehead to further anguish you. you raised a middle finger, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation for you weren’t sure if you were able to contain the effect of your heart dropping six feet down. 

you knew chifuyu succeeded when he came running to you after school with the brightest smile you adored, a faint tint of blush coated on his cheeks. “guess i’m gonna see you lesser huh lover boy?” you chuckled softly, shoving your textbooks into your canvas bag as he swung himself onto your desk with a smug grin. “you’d wish huh don’t you? but no, you’ll still see me as often when i’m off from boyfriend duties,” he sang happily. perhaps maybe because it was chifuyu’s own words, you believed wholeheartedly that you were okay with being just his best friend and being supportive of his relationship. so you watched chifuyu’s love for haru bloomed into something more than just the typical puppy love you often watch on romcoms. 

in just a blink of an eye, two years had passed and the next thing you knew you were spending your birthday without your best friend for the second time in a row. “this sucks,” you grumbled, throwing your phone aside when the time struck midnight, announcing a new day had just arrived. chifuyu’s words were just empty affirmations when you realised that you barely ever saw your best friend. you weren't sure if the two of you were even best friends anymore. it felt more like he’s just a friend that you talk to occasionally now. you see, chifuyu is a loyal friend and that’s a widely known fact and that’s what made it even more heartbreaking for you because chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive and you had no reason to hate him for that. 

you rubbed your temples tiredly, wanting nothing more than to run your aching head into the wall when a packet of your favourite watermelon mints was thrown onto your desk. “rough night?”atsumu, your beloved table-mate asked smugly. “you don’t say,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes at the obvious as you impatiently tore the packet open. “he didn’t wish ya happy birthday did he?” the freshly bleached haired boy questioned. atsumu got his answer when you didn't sat in silence, opting to look out the window to distract yourself from the threatening tears prickling at the corner of your eyes. and god do love to test you when the scene of chifuyu leaning in to kiss haru on the lips ever so gently unfolds at your sight. oh how you wished that it was you who he’s kissing right now. 

chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive. 

it was already late into the night when you heard a knock outside your balcony. your breath hitched when you saw that it was chifuyu who had disturbed your little movie marathon alone after the events that had happened lately. “hey,” he breathed, a soft smile wearing on his lips to which you returned it with an awkward one, inviting him into your messy room. “oh we’re in our friendship hoodie!” he chuckles nervously. your eyes travelled on him, realising that indeed he’s wearing the same hoodie that you were currently wearing right now. “it’s late chi, what’s going on?” you sighed, tone coming off harsher than you intended to. chifuyu nods slowly, face soon replaced with an apologetic look. “i’m sorry for missing your birthday, i feel horrible really,” he begun. “ i know i haven’t been around lately, so i want to make it up to you.” 

your brows furrowed at chifuyu’s apology, you knew he was being so sincere so why did you feel even much more upset hearing it? “that’s it? you could’ve just done this in school tomorrow chifuyu.”you sighed, trying your hardest to mask the pettiness within you with a tired voice. “ i know i know, but i couldn’t sleep knowing that i left my best friend alone on her 18th birthday.” he looked at you hesitantly as you quietly pulled your duvet over your lap. “how about let’s go hiking and watch the sunrise this weekend? just the two of us. i know you’ve been wanting to do that.” 

you wished you weren’t in love with chifuyu so that you wouldn’t give in so easily. you wished you were petty enough to make a scene and just be angry at him but you couldn't so here you are right now, hiking up the trail with your hand in chifuyu’s as you helped him up the slope. “your stamina really sucks,” you retorted to which chifuyu huffed in response. “it’s not that my stamina sucks, it’s that this trail is literally ninety-eight percent high slopes,” he pouts. 

“well you could've chose not to show up.” 

“no! i want to do this with you. what are you talking about?” 

you only smiled at his little defence. “whatever,” you mumbled as you quickly dropped your grip on his and walking ahead of him in an attempt to hide your blush. “hey! wait for me!” 

it was near autumn when one day chifuyu appeared in the wee hours of the night with tears streaming down his cheeks when he fell into your arms and hugged you tightly. you found out that haru was moving away to the states with her family and had broken up with chifuyu, refusing to try out long distance relationship. 

so like any other best friend, you let chifuyu cry into your shoulders as you sat in silence that night, heart breaking at the torn state chifuyu was in. he truly loved her. 

you were twenty when chifuyu held your hands and asked you to be his. 

“chifuyu matsuno! where the hell are my batteries?” your voice echoed through your shared apartment, causing poor chifuyu to jump and drop the eggs he was previously holding in his hands on to the floor. it’s been almost two years since haru and chifuyu had broken up and you had spent a great deal of time trying to mend his broken heart though you knew that it would never be fully healed. she was his first love after all. 

the two of you had moved in to a small apartment close to your university as planned since young, officially becoming roommates. “fuck!my eggs!” chifuyu cried out loud as he frantically lets go of the spatula in his hands to grab a kitchen tower and clean up the pool of egg yolk and egg white on the marble floor. you groaned in annoyance when chifuyu doesn’t answer your question, slamming the tools drawer shut and making your way towards the kitchen. 

“i swear chi-” you paused when you saw chifuyu kneeling on the floor with his pink kitten design apron tied against his body, a pout clearly evident on his lips. “what ever happened?” your head tilted slightly, annoyance slowly decimating. “you screamed like a mad woman. that’s what happened.” he retorted. you rolled your eyes, grabbing another kitchen towel and joining chifuyu on the ground. “well if you didn’t misplace my batteries, i wouldn't be screaming.” 

“if you looked close enough, it’s literally on your study desk.” 

“it’s not!” 

“it is!” 

“it’s not!” you huffed, getting up and stomping over to your room to prove a point but your eyes widened, horrified by the pure sight of your batteries accompanies by a fresh pack with a sticky note attached on top of it. ‘you’re welcome <3′, it wrote. you slowly walked out of your room with your head hung low, doing the walk of shame. “say it,” chifuyu taunts as he skilfully tossed the omelette onto the plate and placing it in front of you. you scrunched your nose, lips pursing and taking a deep breath. “i’m sorry,” you mumbled quietly, fingers fumbling at the ends of your shirt. “ah-ah i can't hear you,” you hear him sing, a little too happy. obvious that he’s enjoying this. you sighed in defeat, clearing your throat loud enough. “i’m sorry,” you said it loudly this time. 

chifuyu lets out a laugh in satisfaction, throwing his head back while you on the other hand could only pout at his triumph. but that didn’t mean that your heart didn't swell up at the expression of happiness he has on his face right now. digging in at the breakfast that chifuyu had made for you which had now became a routine, you couldn't help but to feel small under chifuyu’s intense stare on you. “are you not gonna eat?” you raised your brow, eyeing the untouched omelette on his plate. chifuyu rests his chin on his palm, looking at you with a look of as if he had something to tell you. 

“i will.” he hummed before reaching out to grab your hands. your body stiffened, dumfounded at what’s currently happening. “you know, for the last two years, life was a little less painful thanks to you.” chifuyu confessed earnestly, “ i guess what i’m trying to say is that, you’re my end game y/n l/n. i don’t think i would've came this far if it wasn’t for you so i’m going to ask you this once,” he paused, intertwining his fingers in yours as he gazes into your eyes deeply, 

“will you be my girlfriend?” 

your relationship with chifuyu wasn’t a perfect one but the two of you always made it work somehow. which is why here you are sitting against your bed frame with luggages packed by the side wondering what exactly had gone wrong along the way? 

and you realised that you were never meant to be chifuyu’s end game. you were never meant to be his forever. 

“you think that i don’t fucking know that you were always looking at her instagram when you think i’m not around?” you screamed, body shaking from the exhaustion that’s taking a toll on you both physically and emotionally. “i don’t see how it’s wrong wanting to see how my friend is doing?” chifuyu snaps. 

you scoffed, crossing your arms as you looked away. “yeah. as if you don’t still say her name in your sleep. as if you don’t fucking mess up our favourite food, as if you didn’t tell takemichi that you wished i was haru!” this was the last straw for you. you were too exhausted to try anymore. haru was irreplaceable and you were just a temporary band aid for chifuyu. 

it was as if you had hit jack pot when your lover went silent. “i’ve loved you for so long chifuyu. but loving you hurts too much. i’m so tired of this.” you finally allowed yourself to break down, letting yourself go loose on the emotions you’ve suppressed for years as chifuyu could only watch in remorse for tearing you apart till this state. 

you finally understood why the apple tree never bloomed any apples.

you were twenty seven when you decided to leave chifuyu matsuno. fifteen years of friendship and seven years of being each other’s significant other. you finally walked away, planting one last final kiss on chifuyu’s lips and shutting the door on your ex-lover’s sleeping figure. 

[sohin-ace]

Josuke & Okuyasu - Magazine

Inspired by that one fanart I can't use because I can't find the artist.

Enjoy~

'Boys will be boys'.

We don't count the times this excuse was used to justify the hormone-driven and often stupid decisions or behaviors of male teenagers.

This applies to our two protagonists, Josuke and Okuyasu who just happened to be at that age where boys were curious about their own selves but most importantly of course, curious about the opposite sex.

They couldn't really be blamed, sexuality was a normal part of a teenager's life after all. Which may or may not imply them oogling questionable things here and there or watching specific videos, for instance.

Josuke and Okuyasu decided to feast their eyes as a part of their numerous 'bro dates' as they called them, and made it a regular thing.

Of course, they made these moments very secret. Only them could know what sinful things they were doing after school. They trusted no one else than each other and nobody should ever know about their activities.

They especially couldn't let a girl know about their shenanigans. Oh no, that would be an absolute disaster if they were to be caught red-handed by a girl from their school. They would have to carry the heavy title of 'disgusting perverts', stamped right on their foreheads for the rest of their highschool years, if not their life.

One day as they got out of school, they decided to check out the X-rated section of a local konbini, section placed strategically in the far corner of the shop, and opened some nice porn magazine for their needy eyes. As one does.

"Yoooo Josuke check this out!" Okuyasu exclaimed to his friend while pointing to one of the pages, already blushing madly and coughing up an impressed chuckle.

"Oh my god!!" Josuke whisper-yelled to his friend, trying to not catch people's attention. "That's hot! You think those boobs are real?"

They kept on drooling over pictures of sexy women in bikinis or underwear and posing suggestively for 10 more solid minutes, completely forgetting about their surroundings.

They weren't really worried about getting caught as the section they were in was pretty far away from the entrance of the store and nobody really passed by this corner of the shop anyways.

As they were in their own little fantasy world, they didn't notice a certain H/C haired female coming up behind them.

"Hey isn't that the red head girl from last time?" Josuke commented as he pointed at a certain picture.

"The one who was licking a cherry? Yeah I think so." Replied his tan best friend who started chuckling.

"Who even licks cherries like that?"

"I don't know but she can lick my cherry if you know what I'm sayin'~"

They both snorted obnoxiously and stupidly to themselves until they suddenly heard a very familiar someone right behind them.

"Hey guys! What's up!"

The boys jumped, screaming high pitched 'Eeeks' and 'Uwahs' at the sound of your sweet voice startling them into the worst heart attack they'd ever experience, threatening to cut their short lives even shorter.

Josuke nearly dropped the lewd magazine from his clammy hands and they both turned around abruptly, sweating bullets as they desperately and clumsily hid the piece of dirty evidence behind their backs.

'Oh no. God, everything but not this...' They both thought in unison, as if connected.

The last thing they could have ever expected or wanted, was seeing YOU, of all people, here out of all places and now, out of all times. They really had the worst luck. Suddenly, getting struck by thunder seemed appealing.

"O-o-oh hey Y/N-chan..." Okuyasu stuttered shakily, still sweating profusely.

"What uh... Ahem... What are you doing... here...?" Josuke continued clearing his tight throat and eyeing his best friend with rising anxiety.

The boys were silently communicating, trying to come up with anything, any excuse to either hide their shameful crime from you, or make you leave as soon as possible. They had to work their so-called 'bro-telepathy' like they never did before.

"I was passing by to get some strawberry milk, but then I recognized your hair in the distance! I'm so glad to see you!" You smiled angelically at them while showing them your little pink carton of strawberry milk like it was some prize.

You were beaming so brightly at them, they almost had to squint at your radiating light and beauty. Oh no this was bad, they were both striked by you like an arrow right through their heart.

'She.... SHE'S TOO CUTE FOR THIS WORLD!' They both screamed in their heads.

You, in particular, should never know about what they were doing. EVER. You were way too pure and too innocent for this. Who knows what your reaction would be if you discovered their lewd secrets? Would you judge them? Be disgusted by them? Never talk to them ever again? They couldn't possibly risk that.

Sadly, they were not as glad to see you here as you were to see them. You eventually asked them the oh-so-dreaded question that they wished you'd never ask.

"So, what were you boys doing? Reading manga?" You leaned over to the side slightly trying to see what they were hiding behind their backs and they both panicked.

Obviously you didn't notice the big 'R18' sign over all three of your heads and surely, you couldn't know what this part of the store was since you probably never checked it in your entire life.

In an amazingly coordinated moment, Josuke swiftly handed the magazine to Okuyasu while walking towards you, passing in front of the Jobro, the action completely hidden from your sight.

Josuke came in front of you and grabbed your shoulders, smiling big and trying to act as natural as he could.

"Aah um yes! Manga! Actually there's this one manga I wanted to show you, good thing you're here!" The pompadour-haired haafu was still obviously in utter panick, even if he tried his best to play it cool.

As Josuke was trying to deflect your attention from their guilty pleasure, Okuyasu took this advantage to turn around and scurriedly hide the magazine back in it's original shelf.

You were confused at their shady behavior and furrowed your eyebrows a little bit. You noticed Josuke was sweating and panting slightly, but your eyes traveled to Okuyasu fumbling with the magazines behind and you tried to make out what he was doing.

But Josuke wouldn't let you discover their evil plan for anything in the world, and so, he cupped both your cheeks in his large hands earning a gasp from you as he almost squished them, and turned your head back to face him.

He leaned down to your height and your eyes widened, puzzled by his spontaneous actions.

"Y/N Look at me! Look at my eyes!" He stared at you with a serious expression and you blushed at his sudden bold act and how close he was.

"J-jojo...?" You yelped as your heart was beating fast in your chest.

You were so confused as to what the hell was going on and why they were acting so weird. You knew the two could be up to some truly bizarre adventures sometimes, but that was just so strange.

Whatever they were trying to distract you from, it was working. His face was so close to yours, and his big hands were so warm, you subconsciously put your small ones over his wrists in response, face now red with blood and adrenaline.

You were beyond puzzled at everything that was happening, but you were so lost in Josuke's ocean blue eyes, you completely forgot about what Okuyasu was hiding so clumsily.

Speak of the devil, the tan male suddenly came up to you both, and Josuke released you from his grasp as his best friend made a surprisingly genius offer.

"Ohh Y/N, you didn't pay for that milk yet, right? Good, it's my treat then! Josuke, let's get some too! I'm thirsty."

The scar-faced boy casually wrapped a large arm around your shoulders and swiflty turned you around in his strong hold, effectively dragging you away from the adult section of the store, and barely letting you any time to even glance at the overly sexual display around you.

"Eh? What about that manga you wanted to show me?" You looked back at Josuke, regaining your composure slowly.

"Oh that? Never mind, it's not important anyway- Hey Okuyasu, do you want banana flavor or chocolate?" The fourth Jojo quickly changed the subject as he opened the fridge doors and picked up some drinks.

"You guys are acting so weird today..." You loved the boys, and they usually brought you into their messes, that wasn't anything new, but sometimes you really couldn't understand them. "I'll go wait in line while you guys make up your minds."

You gently patted Okuyasu's chest who almost forgot to let you go and you walked away towards the cash register.

When you were finally out of earshot, they both stared at each other, thinking of how they just dodged a bullet so big, it might as well just have been an atomic bomb.

"D-dude... That was so clutch man...." Josuke sighed, still swallowing his stress out and his best friend only shut his eyes and cringed before grabbing his drink.

"Just shut up, let's not talk about it..."

"Aaahh!!" Okuyasu let out a loud sigh of delight as he sipped his banana milk. "Man, that hit the spot."

"Yeah! Nothing better than some fresh milk in the summer. Great idea Y/N."

You three walked out of the store and headed back home, enjoying your drinks. You giggled at their over-the-top reaction and handed them your own carton.

"You guys want to try strawberry flavor?"

"Oohh~" Okuyasu gushed before smirking and taking the item from your hands. "An indirect kiss from my little Y/N! Lucky~"

Josuke gasped and snatched the drink as well, snickering when he was done. "Can't say no when she's the one who proposed huehue!"

"Well you both drank from the same straw, so technically you two kissed too!" You laughed at their priceless shocked facial expressions.

"WHAT?!"

"Naah dude, no homo, no homo." Josuke patted his friend's back, reassuring him with the holy expression famous for saving countless men from potential homosexuality.

Okuyasu sighed in relief. "Yeah, no homo! Still in the bro zone, bro."

You snorted at their questionable reasoning and kept on walking when you suddenly saw two familiar faces coming towards you.

"Oh! It's Koichi and Yukako!" You waved and smiled at the couple who approached you.

"Oh hey guys, what are you doing?" The short male greeted with a smile.

"Oh nothing much, I bumped into them in the konbini." You sheepishly answered and Yukako quirked an eyebrow at the two suspicious looking males next to you.

"Really?" She feigned, still staring at them. "What were they doing without you I wonder..."

"I don't know, reading manga I think? I'm not sure, they wouldn't tell me." You tried to look between her and them and they seemed to glare at the girl as hard as she did them.

"Huh?" She scoffed and shifted her weight on one leg." I bet you guys were reading porn again. Y/N I can't believe your patience around those guys."

"HUUUHHH???" Koichi yelled in pure surprise at the revelation and you three widened your eyes.

"YOU FREAKIN- OH MY GOD SHUT UP!" Okuyasu gasped and screamed at the girl who was smirking in victory.

"W-what?" You stuttered and looked at the two visibly stressed boys. "Po-... I don't- ... What??"

"Y/N DON'T LISTEN TO HER SHE'S LYING!" Josuke guiltily tried to reason as you covered your mouth in shock.

"Well it's the truth, right? Did I hit a sensitive subject, perhaps?" The brunette chuckled cutely, infuriating your friends even more.

"YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

Josuke sprinted towards Yukako who easily hoisted her awe-struck boyfriend over her shoulder and ran for dear life, having no regrets whatsoever.

An old one. A very old fic, it hurts to read it. I'm going to go ahead and post some old stuff I wrote just to get them out of my drafts. I hope they'll be enough for my beautiful gangsters.

[monsterhugger]

cw csa/

am i overanalyzing this? am i applying weird symbolism that doesnt exist in a shonen battle manga? have other people already written better meta analyses of this? almost definitely.

but like... the relationship between tomura and all for one (and also between AFO and his brother) seems to be at the very least allegorical to grooming. whether it's a metaphor or it's meant to be read as him having actually groomed/abused tomura there's just. so much to them that feels like it has that subtext... examples under cut for brevity's sake

-numerous instances of AFO being shown stroking tomura's hair, as well as this cover which seems to depict him being grabbed/petted (the two hands at the top in particular). the hands given to him by AFO could also be an effort to get him used to being touched.

tomura states at one point that wearing all of the hands makes him feel sick. some of his discomfort with the hands obviously comes from them being his dead family members, but some of them are from complete strangers, and tomura has shown that he doesn't feel guilty or remorseful over killing strangers (or his father for that matter). if the hands are serving another purpose in getting tomura used to unwanted/inappropriate touch, it doesn't seem out of place.

-the concept of forced quirk activation/forcibly giving someone a quirk feels kind of uncomfortable. tomura's situation is a bit different from yoichi (AFO's brother) with the whole tube thing but when we see AFO give yoichi one for all, he seems to be in pain/distress, whereas when izuku receives the same quirk from all might it's not shown as being painful.

being given a quirk by AFO is clearly a traumatic experience, and at least in the case of tomura and yoichi if it's representative of another form of violence it fits with a pattern.

-speaking of yoichi, i find this pretty telling:

this is the viz translation, so of course take it with a grain of salt, but i find the specific use of the word "groomed" to at least be somewhat significant. especially since this is coming from yoichi, who obviously having been a victim of AFO's abuse is familiar with how he works. yes, "groomed" doesn't always have a sexual connotation and in this case yoichi is referring to tomura's response to being severely wounded during the meta liberation battle. though it is important to note that this also implies tomura has been conditioned to not respond normally to pain or violence against his body.

on a final note regarding yoichi, there's also this:

i feel like it's pretty clear yoichi was the first subject of AFO's obsession/grooming. interesting how AFO says he could never make yoichi his despite literally having him locked in a cell 24/7: he doesn't just want access to his victim's body, he wants to be looked up to and loved by him, and he's had much more success with tomura than he did with his brother.

-the possession thing

so the possession, and specifically this page, seems to be the moment at which tomura realized he was being groomed/abused by AFO. this panel in particular seems to imply some kind of sexual abuse, at least as much as that can be implied in a work with mha's age rating: note AFO stroking tomura's hair and neck in an attempt to calm/comfort him, while the lower half of his body seems to be inside tomura. if we're assuming the grooming narrative is allegorical as opposed to something that's literally happening, this could be the moment AFO feels he's earned tomura's trust enough to get away with abusing him in this manner.

obviously, tomura understands what AFO is doing to him after this event and expresses a desire to escape AFO's abuse:

the specific repetition of "this is my body" really just... hits me. obviously he's still being possessed at this point (though see the previous panel for the metaphorical implications of that) but seeing tomura express concern over his own body after being shot multiple times, having half his hand torn off, walking around for several chapters while gaping wounds opened on several parts of his body, and also engaging in self injury from a very young age is a stark contrast. he's been groomed to not notice or care that something is hurting him, but AFO went too far and he's upset and scared and he wants out.

i'm really curious where tomura's arc is going, regardless of whether my crackpot analysis is accurate.

[astaroth1357]

The Obey Me Cast on a Camping Trip (Part One: Brothers)

Hey guys, thank you sooo much for getting me to 2,000 followers!! I honestly don’t know what to say... I never dreamed that this little hobby of mine would reach so many eyes, and I can’t be more grateful. At a time in my life where things feel so chaotic and uncertain, being a part of this community and sharing my weird ideas has been what’s kept me going. It’s been such a rewarding experience all around, so thank you. From the bottom of my heart. 😊

I pulled out all the stops for this post. I even brought out one of my favorite songs of all time: Ao to Natsu by Mrs. GREEN APPLE to get the feel juuust right. I hope you all enjoy it!

This post is split in two due to length (I had too much fun again...) For the Undateables, please click HERE!

Intro:

Another day, another team building activity between the demons and the exchange students. It was Diavolo’s idea to go on a camping trip to the human world (because of course it was), and there were very… mixed responses. That sentiment wasn’t helped when he refused Lucifer’s insistent pleas to just purchase cabins for everyone to stay in. Oh no, the Demon Lord wanted to rough it out in the wilderness, and now everyone else was getting dragged along with him…

Wonder how that turned out?

Lucifer

Really, really, really tried to push Diavolo to just rent out cabins in but noooo, he wasn’t having it... So he ended up driving a van crammed with his brothers, the MC, and a butt-ton of camping equipment into the Alaskan wilderness… 

The car ride itself was insufferable… We’re talking, “I SWEAR I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND!!” level of antics every 10 miles or so (mostly from Mammon)…

Setting up camp was even more of a nightmare because about half of his brothers were utterly useless. The other half (save Satan) were completely clueless… Had it not been for Barbatos and Satan he probably would have just resigned himself to the mercy of the river’s currents and let it take him away…

He couldn’t even wear his usual clothes because of the situation… For the first time in who knows how many centuries, he was stuck wearing jeans… Diavolo even bought him several plaid shirts... (which he was not happy with btw because his brother wouldn’t stop making fun of the “new” him)

He had his own tent of decent-size, enough to move around in but nothing to write home about. The very fact he didn’t have to share was a luxury in itself, so he took it for what it was worth...

He spent a good portion of the trip focused on two things: keeping Diavolo happy and everybody else alive. He rarely left camp unless forced to; he just wanted to get it all over with as soon as possible…

If he did leave, it was because Diavolo would drag him along to fish or hike. He was... less than pleased to be called out of his tent at the crack of dawn or well past dusk to sit on a little rented fishing boat with Diavolo… but he didn’t exactly pick his friends so...

He rates the trip Too Much Trouble/10. Let’s never do it again.

Mammon

Wasn’t a massive fan of being stuck out in the wild, but Satan told him some made-up bullshit about buried treasure out in the forest and got him HOOKED. He even borrowed stole a whole bunch of mining/digging equipment just for the occasion!

He spent most of the car ride asking, “Are we there yet??” like a child. The MC had to step in to keep Lucifer from leaving him on the side of the road at multiple points during the journey... 

He was one of the utterly useless ones when it came to setting up camp. Someone charged him with putting up the twin’s tent, and he spent thirty minutes reading (then re-reading) the instructions while shouting expletives. Poor Simeon had to shield Luke from the vulgarity…

He has to share a tent with Levi, which neither of them liked. Mammon mainly because of Levi’s “old fish stink” and Levi because he feared catching “Mammon’s stupid.”

He was all jazzed up to go digging from Day One, though. He’d have breakfast, grab his shovel, then wander out into the middle of nowhere to go dig holes in the ground…

He also got completely lost on Day One, and it took the MC summoning him with their pact to return him to the group... By that time, he was filthy and somehow looked like he had been castaway for days (even though he was gone for like, three hours?)

When he stubbornly refused to stop digging, Lucifer resorted to just tying a rope around his ankle and letting him loose. It was up to Mammon to get back to camp before dinner, or else Lucifer would yank him back like he was on a leash.

Satan waited until the last day to finally tell Mammon the treasure was bullshit, and he was PISSED. He even threw Satan into the river, which resulted in the rest of the brothers joining in for a swim while the two tried to “playfully” drown each other.

He’d rate this trip 0/10 because he didn’t get any buried treasure. What a ripoff…

Leviathan

Hated the idea with a burning, seething passion. There’s no internet, cable, electricity, or phone signal out in the middle of nowhere! How the heck is an otaku supposed to survive?!

He clung to his electronics during the car ride until either they ran out of signal or their battery died, then he didn’t know what to do with himself… He resorted to reading several volumes of the manga he stuffed into his bag and clung to the MC for emotional support…

Yet another useless soul trying to put the camp together. He was in charge of his and Mammon’s tent but ended up almost crying in frustration… How the hell do humans do this all on their own?? Wasn’t he supposed to be the third strongest?! Why is he so pathetic?!? 😫

Hates sharing a tent with Mammon because he always wakes up to the second born encroaching on his space somehow… Poor baby is pretty much directly against the tent wall and STILL has to deal with legs and elbows in his side... 😰

Spends the majority of the trip moping in the tent... If he goes out there, he has to deal with the sun, bugs, and people… No thanks. He only leaves for meals and occasionally to go swimming. 

When he found out part of the way through that Barbs brought portable solar panels and a battery pack for Diavolo and Lucifer’s phones, he was livid. He demanded access to the power source, which Lucifer refused because “It would defeat the purpose of this trip.”

He’d have summoned Lotan right then and there, deadass in the middle of the forest, if the MC hadn’t intervened. He then went back to moping, but now at the bottom of the lake and it took a lot of coaxing to get him back out…

On the final day, he was packing up the camp before anyone else even woke up. He wanted OUT and back to civilization ASAP. Bedroom here he comes!

Satan

You wouldn’t think of Satan as an outdoorsy guy. Still, he has shades of a survivalist in him (mostly because he’s read a lot of guides and was looking for an excuse to use them for a loooong time).

He read for the majority of the ride. He was squished between Asmo and Levi, which was reasonably peaceful. But he did end up shouting at Mammon quite a bit towards the end because “NO, we’re not there yet, peabrain!!”

He actually wasn’t a waste of space when setting up the camp, and between him, Barbs, and Lucifer, they were able to get a lot of stuff set up before sundown. He did have to bark a few orders to the others here and there, but overall competency won out in the end.

He shared a tent with Asmo, and the two made it work well enough… Except when Asmo did things like spraying his perfumes and dry shampoos, making it practically impossible to breathe in for a few minutes…

Spent a lot of the first few days reinforcing the camp to a ridiculous degree.

Did he have to collect large branches to build an exterior fence around the campsite? No. But he did.

Did he have to set up a water distillation system using some of the materials Barbs had lying around the “kitchen?” No. But he did.

Did he have to weave a series of fishing nets to catch them lunch from the lake and river? I think you get the point by now.

Only once he built pretty much every contraption or improvement he could think of, did he go back to just reading and relaxing by the fire.

By the time the group was ready to leave, Satan had somehow managed to craft them a veritable, self-sustaining fortress in the middle of the Alaskan wilds…

Overall he would rate the trip as… meh. Next time give him a challenge like a deserted island or an actual desert, and then he’ll really see what he can do.

Asmodeus

Was about as unhappy with the idea as Levi was… It wasn’t that he disliked the outdoors per se, it was just that no one, NO ONE, pulls off looking flawless after several days stuck in a tent!

He chatted the entire car ride from start to finish. He never stopped talking. It made for decent background noise at least…

Was one of the more clueless ones when trying to set up camp and pretty just did what he was ordered. The second he was left to try and figure something out on his own, he went to Lucifer or Satan for help because NOPE. Human equipment is needlessly complicated sometimes…

He had to share a tent with Satan, which in theory shouldn’t have been that bad, but Satan was out basically all day in the sun doing who knows what and would always come back sweaty and gross! At some points, he had to chase his brother out of the tent until he dunked himself in the river or something. No way was Asmo sleeping next to that. 😤

Asmo took the second-longest to get up and get ready in the morning. Sometimes he wouldn’t even leave the tent until well past breakfast just in an attempt to salvage his hair and skin… He only got grouchier about it as the trip went on… 😥

A more… earthy looking Asmo is kind of a bizarre sight. He’s still attractive, no doubt, but it’s less like polished glamour and more like Hollywood humble. He spent the majority of the trip looking like a somewhat dirtied movie-star (which he still insisted was the worst he’s ever looked in ages).

Aside from salvaging his looks, he actually enjoyed taking pictures of their surroundings or of the group (but not himself). He sometimes forgot how genuinely breathtaking the human world could be…

….but his patience for the place wore out quickly once he started noticing his hair getting greasy. He was right next to Levi, packing up the site once it was finally time to leave. At least those two finally found something they could agree on, let’s get the fuck out already! 

Beelzebub

He was really curious about trying camping food and pretty excited that Barbatos was coming, too (because that meant great food in general).

Unfortunately, Lucifer had to stop the van at basically every gas station they passed for Beel could refill on snacks… Belphie ended up getting buried in wrappers pretty often, but he was asleep, so it didn’t matter much.

Beel did a lot of the heavy lifting when setting the camp up, but the finer details were left up to everybody else. He had his hands full getting stuff off the cars as is…

Of course, he shared a tent with Belphie, and there wasn’t much complaint between them. Honestly, there would have been more drama if they were split, so this was the better option.

After the MC told Beel about fishing and how it could net him more food, if he did it right, he knew exactly what he wanted to do during the trip.

… But no one told him how long and slow the process would be. There were points he’d get so hungry he’d consider eating the bait himself…

That was until about Day Three of the trip when they passed by a river full of grizzly bears… He was about to ask the MC why the bears were all standing in the water, but then he saw a fish practically leap directly into one’s mouth…

Beel had discovered his true calling.

Of course, the grizzlies didn’t take too kindly to a demon suddenly sprinting into the water with them. They tried to fight him off, but Beel just tossed most of them downstream without any issue until they realized who the apex predator really was…

After forming a shaky truce with the bears, Beel would stand in the water for hours then come back with whole baskets full of salmon… There were far more fish than Barbatos knew what to do with, so he’d just confiscate a few then let Beel eat the rest...

The MC shuddered to think about what Beel had done to the local salmon population… But he was full and happy for most of the trip, so he had a great time!

Belphegor

Sleep for him isn’t too contingent on location, so the idea of camping wasn’t terrible. It did sound like a lot of hassle for no good reason, though…

He spent the entire car ride asleep, head and cow pillow pressed up against the window and everything. It wasn’t the most comfortable experience, but he’d dealt with worse.

He was utterly useless when putting up the camp by choice, thank you. He had more than enough sense to get things put together; he just didn’t want to. If he wasn’t asked to do something by Beel or the MC, he’d just lay back in the grass and smugly watch everybody else struggle…

Again, he and Beel are in the same tent, and you wouldn’t hear any complaints out of him. He did start to have some second thoughts when Beel began getting a fishy smell, though, so he tried to bunk with the MC in their tent for a while.

Like Levi, Belphie didn’t leave the tent much during the daylight hours, but that was because he was still asleep… There was no good way to wake him with no alarms available, so he’d sleep in past lunch easily.

When he was awake, he didn’t leave camp very much except to walk with the MC or watch Beel fishing grizzly-style.

Eventually, Asmo and Diavolo got sick of him dodging their photos, so they’d started posing him Weekend at Bernie’s style around the camp (always conveniently propped up by something and with sunglasses on)

Something Belphie did like, however, was the nighttime. Since there were no lights around, he could practically see everything the sky had to offer. He could spend hours laying on his back long after everyone else had gone to bed just admiring the stars.

All in all, not a terrible trip. Anything that could give him that view like that was well worth it. 6/10, would sleep again.

Click HERE for Part Two. Check out my Masterlist for more!