#but I think I like it better that she has something similar to Kafka

[mechazushi]

Insane Dad Lore (Essential Errand)

[Slight Trigger Warning] Verbal Abuse.

[Notes] Sooooo.... change of plans.... Instead of posting the chapters in order even if I get them done out of order, I'm just going to post them as I finish them and then organize them once I port all the chapters to Ao3. Really, the ultimate goal here was to just get all the ideas on (electronic) paper anyway. So I guess ya'll are going to have fun wondering what order these are going to go in, {cuz' I'll be doing the same damn thing ᕙ (° ~ ° ~)}

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There had been a break in the lore gathering where there wasn't as many an opportunity to try and pry some new childhood history out of Kafka. That didn't mean there wasn't inciting incidents that led to new loose threads. It was after an early morning period of training did such an event arose. Reno and Kafka has just gotten back to barracks after hitting the gym just to come back and find Minase in a state of inconsolable crying. Hakua was sitting next to a tower of shaking blankets placed on the bed, desperately trying to appease the distraught soldier within by patting and rubbing its back as well as whispering words of comfort. She tried to say comforting things at least, but must have accidentally said something to make the crying worse.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Reno tried to ask as they passed through the door.

"I'm not entirely sure? I just caught the tail end of a phone conversation and now she's like this." Hakua told them as she continued to hug the pile of blankets close, "Whatever it was, it sounded pretty distressing."

"Hey, Reno?" Kafka spoke softly down to his friend, not wanting to take his eyes of of their compatriot, "Can you do me a favor and go down to the vending machine and grab a water? I feel like she's going to need it."

Reno nodded quickly and turned back out the doorway, leaving Kafka. He approached Hakua and nodded his head away, silently asking permission to sit on the bed next to Minase. After she moved, Kafka sat down slowly so as to not make the pile of blankets jump. He mimiced Hakua's original position and wrapped his large arm around the tower, Squeezing it close to him as he tried to wrap his other arm around it.

"Heeeyyy, Minase." He said cheerfully, but not loudly, "Looks like you're not having a good go of things, huh?" The covered pile only continued to cry.

"Bad days are no fun, aren't they?" He chuckled in an attempt to brighten the mood, "It's safe to say that there's never going to be a shortage of those. You wanna know what makes me feel better about them though?" He tried to ask the sad menagerie of stolen blankets. It had stopped full on crying and had downgraded to some small sniffles.

"Much like our tears, it can't be raining all the time. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to see the sun!" He smiled brightly as the pile continued to sniff harshly. Eventually, a very red face with pink, tear stained eyes managed to poke her face out from under the blankets.

"Wow, are you corny." Minase said through a mixture of tearful snorts and half-efforted chuckles.

"Got our resident Sun to poke her pretty little head out, didn't it?" Kafka joked back as he gently tugged the edge of the blanket off from around her hair.

She giggled a little in return as she leaned in harder into Kafka's embrace. Seeing Minase in a more relaxed state that what she was in earlier, Hakua took the opportunity to seat herself behind Minase and lean her weight against her back as a show of support. They all took a few minutes of the calm for themselves, just letting their friend take deep soothing breaths and let the last of her tears drain from her eyes. Reno came in after Minase had gotten her heart under control and gladly took the offered water bottle. He had decided to sit on the floor in between Kafka's legs and Minase's.

"Want us to grab anything for you? I think they're selling strawberry ice cream fish cakes in the canteen." Hakua offered as a helpful gesture. Minase's tears almost triggered again as she thought about the offer.

"Sound's great." She said bitterly, "But I think I would rather have my dogs right now."

"Oh, you have dogs?" Reno asked innocently. He started to cringe and think he said something wrong once Minase started to cry again.

"Not for much longer apparently!" She wailed, "I think my horrible step-father is threatening to kill my dogs!" She tried to wipe her tears with the edge of the soiled blanket, but it wasn't very effective.

"Now why would someone do something like that?" Kafka asked, astonished at the thought.

"I don't know! I think he's just always had it out for me since he came into the family!" Minase's tears had slowed, but her sorrowful screams hadn't, "I had them stay with Aunti Mei before I left for the defense force, but apparently her new landlord is evicting the pets at her place, so she had to drop them off back at mom's, but Chase hates me; he's always hated me! And now he's taking it out on my bubbies!"

"Oh, baby…" Hakua said softly as she tried to give Minase a hug from behind.

"I just got off the phone with him, I don't even know how he got my number, but it's just… something he said, or how he said it… I don't know, I just feel like my babies aren't safe anymore!" She began to cry again as Kafka held her even harder, "I can't bring them here! I don't have any other relatives nearby to send them too! I refuse to send them to a shelter! I don't know what to do!"

As she continued to cry again, Reno could see Kafka's expression growing darker and darker. He had tucked Minase's head into his chest as he listened to her woes. Reno started to wonder if maybe it was so she couldn't see the quiet anger building up behind his eyes. Suddenly, like someone had flipped a switch in his head, Kafka donned as soft smile, one that barely managed to hide the softly rolling fury behind his expression. He brought a hand up to gently pat the top of her head. With a clearly sincere tone, Kafka spoke some more sweet words until she stopped crying again. When he could hear the hiccuping had slowed, he pulled her head back and made sure to look her in the eyes.

"Minase, I'm going to tell you this right now. You aren't going to worry your strong heart any longer, ya got me? Nothing is going to hurt your fluffy little friends, okay?" Minase just looked at him with a lot of burning questions in her eyes, but found that she didn't have the strength to say them.

"I wan't to hear you say 'Okay' too." Kafka gently placed both of his hands on either side of her face as he asked, "Please?"

"Oh-okay." she said meekly.

"Atta-girl." He responded as he gave her one last strong hug.

Kafka then looked at Hakua and gave her an expression that seemed to communicate a lot of things, most of which Reno just translated as 'Keep an eye on her'. He then got up loudly from the bed and stretched, groaning all the way. He walked over to his personal locker at the other side of the room and could be heard rummaging through it. Reno couldn't see what he was grabbing from his spot on the floor, but could definitely hear when he stopped going through his and suddenly started going through what he thought to be Aoi's.

"Sir, can I ask what you are doing?" Reno called out as he got up from the floor to investigate the weird behavior.

"Hm? Oh, just- uhh, changing into civilian clothes. I just remembered I had some business outside of base that I should probably take care of." Kafka said as he donned a large black jacket, thin gloves, a neck gaiter, and grabbed his over-sized black towel. The item he had seemed to grab from Aoi's locker was his spare set of combat boots.

"Okay… If it's just errands, then why do you need Aoi's boots? Aren't they bigger than your feet?" Reno continued to question as he followed Kafka out of the barracks and over to what appeared to be a supply closet.

"Oh, the boots? I-uh, noticed mine were pinching my feet, so I thought I'd take Aoi's for a spin." Kafka offered as an excuse, but Reno could tell what a poor excuse it was. It didn't distract him enough from questioning why Kafka was holding the door's handle a weird way and suddenly slamming his shoulder into it.

"Isn't that door locked?" Reno kept interrogating an uninterested Kafka. He didn't stop him once he somehow managed to bash the door open and walked inside like he owned everything.

"Only if you don't know how shittly made some of the doors are here on base." Kafka said nonchalantly as he scanned the shelves within. He found and grabbed a flat head screwdriver, a hammer, and a can of WD-40 and put them inside the towel before twisting the whole thing together and tying it in such a way as to not have the contents spill out.

"Hey, could you do me another favor? I know, I'm asking a lot today, but just this once? I'll even pay you back for the water bottle later, but first, could you help Hakua keep an eye on Minase while I'm gone?" Kafka asked as he left the supply closet and slung the impromptu bag over his shoulder.

"Wait, you're leaving now?" Reno asked as he followed him to the end of the hallway.

"Yeah, bud! I just said I had errands to do, didn't I? Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell Vice Cap where I'm going." Kafka said with an encouraging wink as he rounded the corner and quickly jogged out of sight.

Reno wasn't sure what was going on with his friend, but he was fairly certain it wasn't good. It certainly didn't make him feel better about knowing that Kafka was about to do it without him.

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It was about three am that night when Minase got woken up by another phone call. She shook the sleepy fog from her head as her pink flip-phone rang out it's cheery little chip tune. She grabbed her phone quickly and walked as fast as she could bring herself to in her groggy state out the barrack door. She walked a good distance away before sliding the device open and taking the call.

"Sweetie?" A familiar voice called out, not bothering to hide the distress it carried.

"Mom? Are you okay? What's going on?" Minase answered in a gravely tone, trying to get accustomed to understanding others on a lack of sleep.

"Listen Sweetie, I get you were upset at your father about what he said about the dogs-"

"He's not my dad." Minase interrupted in a quiet voice, knowing that her mother was just going to ignore the comment anyway,

"- But I don't think it warranted hiring a hit-man to get them!" Her mother whispered harshly. In the background, she could hear the sound of sirens and her step-father shouting at someone.

"Wait, what?" Minase asked as she rubbed her face.

"I understand you're attached to your little goobers, but Chase wasn't actually going to hurt them! He loves them too, he just has a hard time showing it and-"

"Mom, stop, back up. What was that about a hit-man?" Minase thought she had heard her mother wrong when she said something about a hit-man.

"A strange man broke into our house tonight and stole your dogs!" Her mom said as her quiet tone got increasingly shrill.

"Maybe start with that?!" Minase almost felt like she was shouting once she heard about the break-in.

"What, that someone stole the dogs? I thought I did?" her mom questioned.

"No-god, the break in! Someone broke in?" Minase's mind started to fray again. First with her step-father threatening her dogs and now this!

"Yes, I thought that was implied with the dog-napping?" her mother could be scatter-brained some days, but tonight was taking the cake. Minase was growling as she tried to think of her next question, but stopped once she heard her mother scuffling with someone on the other end of the line.

"god damn it woman just hand it here- YOU." A clearly irritated voice broke into the private conversation with an enraged bellow, "Listen here you dumb bitch, I get that being a Defense force officer might make you feel like such a big girl now, but getting one of your suped-up, mutant Kaiju super-freaks to come down here and take away your stupid mutts is a clear overstepping of where you stand in life! How many dicks did you have to suck off for that, Huh? Did you have to get on your hands and knees, bat your dull little eyes at the first dumb schmuck that would listen to you? It really speaks to the quality of your fellow members that if you were that desperate for your yippy rats, you somehow managed to find some deprived knuckle-dragger willing to dedicate some serious grey matter to this idiotic plan of yours and-"

"Shut up, just shut UP!" Minase yelled into her phone, "I didn't ask anyone to get my dogs back! No one even knows where you live because I actively try to forget you exist! We don't even have any mutant Kaiju hit-men for me to even bother sending out to your dilapidated rust bucket shed you call a house!"

"Oh yeah? Tell that to my right fist I just sent through someone's eye socket! Not to mention the fact the fridge has a dent in it now from where that stupid asshat sent me flying into it! Ya wanna come down and take a look at it and continue to be the stupid little bitch that you are, huh? Denying that you got someone from your freak division to come down here and fuck up my shit? You know your paying for the damages, right? I'll be expecting money for a new fridge, a nice one, from your paycheck and it better be before the sun rises on your precious bitch lackey's funereal!-" At that point, Minase just clicked the flip phone shut.

The creaking of its case echoed slightly into the empty hallway as her fist tightened around it in restrained rage. Her arm shook with the force of her quiet wrath before launching her phone into the nearest wall with the full force of everything she wanted to hold back. She watched as it bounced off the wall and bench under it before coming to a stop a few feet from her. The phone looked like it remained intact, with was more than what one could say about her emotions right now. Minase tried not to fall directly onto her knees and instead stumbled quickly over to a nearby vending machine, its light acting as a pleasant beacon in her mind. She tried to stop herself from falling onto it, but her knees gave out at the worse time and caused the machine to rattle a little from the force of her landing. Tears had been welling up for a while, but now fell freely from her tired eyes. She felt her legs lose their strength as she slipped quietly onto the floor, covering up her sobs as best she could.

"Minase? Is… that you?" A tired voice cracked the night's stillness, causing her to turn and face the newcomer.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Minase whispered as she gathered herself up just enough to ask Iharu, who was standing in the hallway with just a pair of sleep shorts.

"No… Well, kinda. But that's not important." Iharu rubbed the sleep from his face as he came over to the vending machine and helped Minase onto her feet just enough to help shuffle her over to the bench next to it.

He turned around and went back to the barracks and returned shortly with cash, and paid for a can of hot corn soup from the machine. He chugged some of it and hissed from the heat before sitting down next to her on the bench.

"Here, it's cold out here. You should get something warm in ya." He said as he offered the half eaten can.

She took the offered can with reserved appreciation and took a small sip for herself. A part of her didn't want the company, but considering it could have been anyone else that found her, she was at least glad that it was Iharu. When growing up with a family life that was less than ideal, it tends to make one yearn for anything stable in their life. Minase initially left because she wanted just that, and joining the Defense Force gave her the perfect opportunity. While continuing her training, she came to hear all about how the Defense Force was a great place to not only meet great people, but a place to form deep bonds with them. Something she wanted to experience with all her heart.

It wasn't hard to make friends here with everyone being fairly like minded people. It had only been about a month and she already felt like she was a sister to everyone here. She couldn't even begin to explain just how quickly she became attached to everyone, including the witty old guy in their battalion. Minase knew it was way too early to admit this, but she really did like to think of Kafka as the dad she wished she had. And if Kafka was her dad, then Iharu felt like the brother she always wanted. Most girls here probably would have had their hearts racing at the thought of having an indirect kiss with the resident hot-shot, but to her it just felt like something a caring brother would have done.

"So can I ask what happened, or do you want to sit in silence together until you feel like letting me walk you back to bed?" Iharu asked with a yawn, slouching over until his elbows hit his knees.

Minase bitterly chuckled, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep for a while, let alone tonight."

"What, did the fucked-up old man say something stupid and insane like usual?" Iharu tried to be helpful as he tried to cut her step-father down.

"No." Minase tried to playfully counter before contradicting herself, "Well, yes, and it's actually kinda serious, but it wasn't what he said about me."

She took a deep breath before she spoke, "Someone broke into my parent's place tonight."

"Anyone hurt?" Iharu reflexively fired back.

"No one that didn't deserve it. Chase got thrown into the fridge after he slugged the guy, but the biggest problem is that the guy that broke in stole my dogs." Minase answered before she took another sip of the hot canned soup.

"Fuuuuck." Iharu sleepily droned out, "Ain't that a swift kick in the nuts."

"You know what hurts the most?" Minase hinted at, "Is that I feel a little relieved that it happened." She tried to hold back another wave of sobs which caused her lungs to hiccup and her frame to shake again.

"Nooo, Minase! You don't mean that, come on." Iharu drawled as he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. She tucked her head into his chest as a hand came up to hold back her tears.

"They have a chance to go to a nicer family this way, right? They practically look like pure-breeds so some fancy, upper-crust family would have to pay out the nose to give them a happy life." Minase continued to quietly sob as she did her best to hug Iharu back for personal support.

"Look, it's been reported to the police, right? Maybe in the morning we can head to your parents' place and we can ask your mother for details. Or maybe we just spend a day or two posting flyers, I don't know. Either way, we can all pitch in to get your dogs back." Iharu tried to comfort her as he rubbed soothing circles into her shaking back.

"There's no point if I have no where to keep them!" Minase did her best to muffle her pitiful wails behind her already occupied hands.

Off in the distance down the hallway, they heard a strange noise, loud enough to be heard over their emotional conversation. Iharu spared a glance down the darkened hallway in what he hoped was the direction the noise was from. Since Minase didn't seem to hear it the first time, he ignored his instincts and went back to comforting her. However, he couldn't bring himself to ignore his gut feelings any longer once he heard what sounded like chairs crashing and a muffled curse.

"What was that?" Iharu muttered suspiciously as he shifted on the bench.

"Yeah, I heard it too." Minase confirmed as she wiped away the last of her tears.

The two of them looked at each other before deciding to get up and follow the noise. They traveled down the almost pitch black hallway with Minase peering into the dark panes of glass that lined the corridor with the light from her phone. Iharu quickly found a janitor's closet in the dark and began to brutally shoulder the door open. He reached inside and grabbed a wide broom and met back up with Minase.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"Intruders?" Iharu answered with an unsure shrug.

"Why would anyone want to break into a Defense Force Base?" Minase countered.

"I'm sorry, do you think we get paid enough to ask that kind of question right now?" Iharu retaliated as he brandished the makeshift weapon.

They didn't have to continue very far before they noticed something strange in one of the offices on that floor. Looking through the inner window, they both noticed that one office was a lot brighter than the others, mainly due to the fact that one of the outer windows was open and the blinds covering it were drawn up. The full moon outside gave out enough light to let the duo see what was a clear outline of a large, hunched figure currently ducked behind a desk. They quietly rushed to the office door, and once finding it unlocked, let themselves inside. With her phone off, they stealthily rounded the desks behind the lumbering figure.

Iharu couldn't tell what the person was saying, but could tell that they were struggling with something wriggling in their jacket. As he lifted the full weight of the broom to come down on the intruder's head, he accidentally knocked the head of it against the lip of a desk next to him. As he let out a clipped curse, the stranger in front of them quickly turned around and scrambled backwards across the floor screaming. Startled by his screaming, both Iharu and Minase began to scream as well. Once everyone started screaming, did two little yapping fluff balls make their presence known.

"Wait, dogs?" Iharu called out first once he heard the unusual disturbance.

"Shit, Iharu?" The barely masked stranger guessed after he calmed down.

"Kafka?" Minase and Iharu both answered once they heard the intruder's voice.

"Well, so much for anonymity." Kafka groaned sarcastically as he pulled down his face mask.

Minase turned and bolted for the light switches back next to the door to the office and turned the lights on. Coming back she saw two familiar looking lumps of hyperactive fur rapidly shaking in the confines of the large black jacket Kafka was still wearing.

"Ronny! Tototo!" She cried as she scrambled for her twin Pomeranian pups.

Kafka unzipped his jacket and very carefully pulled them out so he could hand them over to a very teary eyes Minase. Iharu let the broom drop to the floor as he watched with astonishment while Minase fell to her knees and lavished her once forsaken pets. She held them close as she lovingly pelted them with loud kisses before fully falling to the floor and laid on her side, letting them lick her back with equal voracity. More tears came to spill out, not of sadness for once, but out of happiness and was now mixing into a layer of joyous dog slobber being lathered on her face. Her enthusiastic giggles could not be contained and instead echoed slightly in the mostly empty office. As the scene unfolded before them, Iharu slowly moved closer to Kafka and helped the quietly elated man off the floor.

"Jeezus, man! What the hell happened to your eye?" Iharu asked once Kafka had dusted himself off.

"Hmm! Oh, this?" Kafka answered as he pointed to the fresh shiner blooming over his right eye, "Got distracted and walked right into a light pole! Can ya believe it!" He tacked on a great big smile to hopefully sell the lie.

"Uh huh." Iharu grunted, already suspicious, "Was the distraction caused by the dogs or from recovering getting knocked in the head first?"

"Don't know what you're talking about." Kafka muttered as he innocently shrugged.

"Really?" Iharu incredulously countered, "You seriously expect us to believe that you didn't just break into Minase's Dad's house, knock his front door in, and make away with the dogs in question."

"Yes, because what the story actually is-" Kafka began with a mischievous glint in his good eye, "That I graciously intervened in what was clearly a home invasion gone wrong, rescued the dogs off the street after failing to apprehend the suspect that just so happened to be a similar build and height to me, and have so humbly decided that I could bring these poor, distraught, and fluffy victims to a safe location before notifying their proper owner. Who, come to find out, I just so happen to work with." Kafka finished smugly, "There's already a police report and everything."

Iharu rubbed his hands over his tired face for a moment and groaned loudly, "Oh, this is bad. Oh, you are going to get so caught." Those same hands came up to pull back on his hair, "How did you even know which house to hit? Minase never says anything about her family. E-e-even then, what's your excuse for being out so late? You have to know that Vice-Cap is going to kill you for being out this long."

"I don't know if you know this, but there aren't a whole lot of guys living in Western Japan with the legal name Chase, let alone living with a woman whose last name is Akari." Kafka informed as he patted Iharu's back, "And look, just leave the rest of the scary shit up to me. This may come as a shock, but this isn't the first time I've had to duck an assault charge as well as B+E." Upon hearing this, Iharu slowly turned and looked up at the fellow brother-in-arms, now a complete stranger to him once again.

"Please tell me this is just another Germany thing?" He asked, wanting it to coax out some reassurance that Kafka wasn't as crazy as he was being led to believe.

Kafka just let out a breathy chuckle, "I'll tell you about it some other time." He left cryptically open-ended.

Iharu watched as Kafka walked off and joined Minase on the floor, pulling out strips of cold, precooked bacon from the pocket of his jeans and teased the Pomeranian brothers with it. Iharu, still being too tired to continue to question any of this, just shook his head gave up, preceding to join the other two people on the floor and introduced himself to the new ferociously furry company.

"i really appreciate you doing this for me Kafka!" Minase cheered as she held her pups close to her chest, "But it doesn't change the fact that they can't stay here. I'm sure the higher-ups wouldn't let us."

"You let me worry about that too." Kafka countered as he tore up the last strip of bacon he owned, "Who knows, maybe Bakko could do with a pair of friends."

"Or a set of snacks." Iharu mumbled as he reached out a hand for one of the Pomeranians to sniff at.

"Don't even joke like that." Minase growled as she harshly pulled her dogs out for Iharu's reach.

[yoredoesmore]

Hello yes me again 🫢, so how about this. Reader who has incredible sense of fashion like she dress gyaru (or smth similar). And when the 3rd division is fighting kaiju or having training she's always so serious and 'cold' (she's actually a sweetheart but she just has b12ch face). They go out cuz they celebrating something and they see reader but they are suprised that she has that kind of style? Like they thought that a person who is always neat and serious in her work would dress like 'plain' and not in bright colours and skirts? Expecially with those cute accessories hairclips, bracelets(I love them) Take your sweet time don't worry I will wait 💕💅

(I hope you understand what I just wrote cuz my mind was foggy writing this💀 Btw I love your work❤️)

a/n: if i could i would give you the biggest smooch!! your requests feel like a breath of fresh air, i had so much fun writing this! i apologize for the long wait tho ^^

pairing: Fem!Reader & Third Division

genre: fluff/comedy [wc: 2,2k ]

a/n: the third division has two vice captains in this ff ^^)

enjoy!

GAL is Mind! | Hoshina Soshiro

“Third Division!” Your voice echoed through the entire training room, ice cold and sharp. Everybody immediately halted in their movements, their bodies in perfect sync with your voice.

“Salute!” The sounds of boots clicking and body's straightening brought satisfaction to your ears. A smile, though short lived, formed on your lips as your eyes fell on the rows of cadets. One of them stepped forward, gaze lifted up high in the sky as she opened her mouth.

“Thank you for today's training, Vice Captain L/n!” She yelled out.

“Thank you for today's training!” Everybody followed her suit.

“Dismissed.” And with that said you stepped away from the front and began your journey to the dressing room.

“Vice Captain L/n really is something, huh?” Kafka sighed, hands reaching for his water bottle. Heavy puffs of air escaped his lips, the effects of the training still harsh on his body.

“Tell me about it. She's gotta be the third strongest on the base for sure.” Reno replied, copying his friend and reaching for his bottle as well. He too was trying to catch his breath. Whenever it was your turn to train the Platoon, even the strongest cadets would end up collapsing after the session. Yet you walked away unscratched, with no signs of exhaustion or weariness.

“I wonder what she is like off the field..in private, you know. Shinomiya's words caused a shift in atmosphere. Immediately all feelings of enervation were forgotten as the group tried to imagine you in a more casual setting.

“Off..the field?” Kafka's gaze fell on your disappearing form.

Most of the people at the base already had a set image of you in their mind. Your cold demeanor was engraved in their heads. The fearless Vice Captain who led every fight with precision and a cool head– that was the only version of you which they knew. But they knew better than to judge a person solely from what they decided to show to the public– and not to mention that most of the time, people were different in private than in their work life in general.

They wondered if that applied to you as well.

“Wouldn't Vice Captain Hoshina know? Or Captain Ashiro. As Captains they must spend lots of time together off field, I think.” Iharu suggested. His words made sense at first but upon consulting the other Vice Captain, it seemed that you were as isolated off field as at work.

“I never really interacted with L/n outside base grounds, besides out on the battlefield of course.” Hoshina admitted, surprising the entire group.

“No way! Ain't she your work partner? Don't tell me you never went out for a drink or two? Sir.” Iharu quickly added the sir after realizing that he was talking out of line.

He was quite shocked at the Vice Captain's words and it seemed like he wasn't the only one. The entire group stood in disbelief as Hoshina told him that you were as quiet and introverted as they came.

“No, because now I really want to know what Vice Captain L/n is like off duty!” A spark had been lit inside Shinomiya. Her determination was contagious, as the others soon started to feel the same way. Even Hoshina was starting to wonder what image laid behind your nonchalant facade.

Therefore they came up with a plan to get you to ease up around them without drawing any suspicion towards their real motives.

x

“You want to..hang out?” Your voice perfectly reflected the image on your face– you were confused.

“A little get together with the other cadets sounds nice, don't it? Allows the group to bond and stuff, get their mind off things.”

Hoshina was prepared for the rejection of his life. Despite sharing many great memories at the base together, neither he nor Ashiro knew you on a very personal level. You were a strong and dedicated fighter, that was a fact. Your skills were flawless and your performances during battles praiseworthy. Yet all they got to see so far was your work behavior. You were like a ghost, hovering around the base and gaining everyone's curiosity.

“Sure, why not.”

“But it would be– whaddya say?”

“I mean why not? Sounds nice, I'm down.” A cold gaze sat on your face as you arranged the files on your desk and even your voice sounded uninterested. It gave Hoshina the impression that you were forcing yourself to agree to this meeting. Five whole minutes were needed to convince him that you really stood by your words.

At the end he walked out of your office, carefully pulling the door shut behind himself. Only after you were sure that he had left the area surrounding your office did you manage to produce a small smile.

“Yay!”

x

“She said yes just like that?!” The squad could barely believe their ears. Hoshina simply shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to say. He himself still had to process the fact that you willingly agreed to this, without arguing or rejecting him. But then again, you never made a ruckus when having to pick up an extra shift or taking care about some more paperwork, therefore who knew what truly went through your mind.

“Am I the only one who is getting nervous?” Kafka asked into the round.

It was such a silly discussion, the mystery behind your personality, yet everyone involved found themselves curious to seek the answer.

“Vice Captain probably dresses really well! Like elegant and modest.” Shinomiya chimed in, clapping her hands together.

“I can definitely see that too.” Aoi agreed. The group began to chat and talk about the event of the night and how you were going to appear in front of them. They talked and talked, just for a little bit longer, before they returned to work.

x

A couple hours later and the time for the rendezvous came closer and closer. Throughout the day, Hoshina managed to ask Captain Ashiro if she too wanted to join the festivities and to everyone's surprise she agreed as well.

“I too want to see the Vice Captain in her casual glory.” Ashiro said with a straight face and sparkles in her eyes.

Everyone arrived around the agreed on time, some earlier and some later, but at the end they all gathered in front of the fine establishment.

“Oh, L/n just texted me that she is already inside!” Ashiro had a soft smile sitting on her lips, happy about the fact that you had texted her.

“Am I the only one who feels excessively excited??” Iharu looked around the group for validation.

“Nah, I'm just as excited” Izumo placed a reassuring hand on the other one's shoulders. “But I do feel like we are totally doing too much. I mean, it's just the Vice Captain.” The group was unsure if Izumo's words were directed towards everyone else or just himself, as he had quite the distressed look on his face. Shinomiya, Hoshina and Reno on the other hand carried a blank look on their faces. Their excitement manifested itself in the form of silence.

“Does anybody see her?” Kafka asked.

The bar was of decent size. It was most likely on the more fancier side. Not too many guests sat seated at the tables and from their point of view they should have had a clear vision of the whole place. Yet you remained to be discovered.

All they saw was another group of businessmen, a handful of couples, a person who seemed to be having a stroke in the corner and some young college students who were being a little too noisy..

Ashiro was about to ask a staff member for help, when all of a sudden a stranger approached them.

“Guys? I have been waving at you for the past two minutes, didn't you see me?”

Silence

In front of the group stood a woman, who's stroke turned out to be her attempt of getting their attention. She was dressed in attire that did not fit the establishment's vibe.

l

Her long eyelashes were a perfect match for the dramatic makeup she had put on. Half of her hair was put into a high ponytail, with the ends strongly curled. Although her head lacked charms and accessories, many of those were found on her long, white nails. The clothes she wore perfectly reflected everything that was going on in her face.

A skirt so short sat around her hips that the group feared that it would only take her one bad step to reveal herself. They just hoped that the golden star belt she wore was good enough to hold everything in place. What truly topped everything off weren't the dark fur leg warmers or the thick golden chains hanging from both her belt and neck, but rather the bold, off shoulder cheetah print shirt.

To put everything in simpler words– she was a looker for sure.

“...L/n?” Shinomiya was the first one to open her mouth.

“Yes?”

“WHAT?!” Kafka could barely contain himself. Shock wasn't even expressive enough to describe the sheer disbelief he was currently feeling. His eyes were stuck on the countless bracelets you were wearing, trying to count them all. Meanwhile Izumo and Aoi still had to pick their jaws off the floor.

“Ya gotta be kiddin me..” Hoshina cursed under his breath, his eyes still drinking in the image of you.

From all he had expected, this would have been the last thing. Seeing you in such revealing and bold attire, it was out of character for you. Even Ashiro found herself speechless as she slowly started to recognize your face behind all the accessories and makeup.

And let's not get started on Shinomiya who almost fainted.

“Do..I have something on my face?” Your voice was genuine and filled with confusion.

“Everything!” Iharu blurted out, earning a slap from Reno.

“This..is just very unexpected.” The white haired man tried to explain in the best words available.

“Unexpected is puttin it lightly! Shit, you sure this is our Vice Captain??” Iharu barely finished his sentence before the second slap from Reno came flying towards the back of his head.

“Oh. Yeah, I figured you guys would be surprised. I tried to tone it down a little and left some accessories at home but once I get dressed I can barely hold myself back.” You smiled softly.

For some it was the first time seeing you present such a sweet smile. It melted their hearts in an instant and forced them to question everything about you that they knew.

As you showed the way to the table, the group of people behind you silently fought about who got to sit next to you. Both power and authority were abused, as Hoshina and Ashiro ended up by your side with Shinomiya getting the seat right in front of you.

There it was, the moment they all have been waiting for. The silence was so strong that it became one of the loudest things in the entire place.

Their gazes poked holes through your outfit but you simply sat there, enjoying their attention. Such close interactions did not exist at work, as all were too afraid of you. They did not go unnoticed by you, the comments and whispers about your unapproachable behavior. There were obviously no ill intentions in their words but it still hurt you a little that nobody tried to get to know you on a personal level.

Your shyness and professionalism were labeled off as coldness on your very first day and ever since you had found it quite difficult to build more skin deep relationships. That is why you were beyond happy when Hoshina asked you to join them today.

“Have you always been dressing like this?” Shinomiya asked the question that has been on everybody's mind. The sparkle in her gaze returned, her eyes shining with nothing but admiration for you.

“Yes, pretty much. My mother was a Rokku Gyaru and taught me everything I needed to know. Started off as a Kogal and slowly found my way into the world of Tsuyome.”

Everybody listened with great attention as you explained your sense of fashion. It was the most talkative they have ever experienced you in, it was a memory to cherish. It made you feel awfully happy, their kindness and acceptance, that you temporarily lost yourself.

“Sorry Vice Captain, but I really didn't take you for the kind who would dress like that. So bold and carefree..but now that I think about it it suits you quite well!”

“Thank you a lot, Kafka.” You both exchanged mutual smiles.

“Same here. I first thought that you were gonna come in all formal and shit but this really hits the spot.”

“Your head will swell if I hit you one more time, moron.” Reno shot the red head a deadly glare.

“I know that I come off as cold sometimes, but I can't help it. I like to express myself with my appearance and actions rather than words and not to mention– in this field of work I just cannot afford to be as silly and expressive as my clothes.’

“It is very impressive that you are able to have these different sides to you.” The woman next to you spoke.

Much more time was spent talking about certain fashion styles, life and work at the defense force. The night was long and who knew when the next time would come where you got to talk the way you did now? Therefore you talked and talked, until all troubles and thoughts were taken off your minds.

a/n: i literally threw up couple hours ago and i got so mad bc i really wanted to upload this fic today so i swallowed a pain killer, took a nap and got right to the editing after waking up 😭 don't play with me stupid migraine (ง'-̀̀'́)ง

btw, if you want to get a better image of tsuyome (the gyaru subculture) make sure to google it! It is sooo pretty!!

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

What HSR Girls Smell Like Pt. 2

Part 1 (Asta, Himeko, March 7th and Stelle)

Part 3 (Bronya, Serval, Natasha, Seele)

(Ft. : Kafka, Firefly, Topaz, Jade)

Kafka

Her aroma aura is extremely potent and powerful. It's easy to get headaches from, and to get dazed and drown in.

I think most of this is because she experiments with perfumes a lot.

If it's early into your relationship, she definitely coats herself in every single overwhelming spray she has, just to see your reaction, and if you'll ask her to tone it down or express annoyance and get a headache (she 100% will push your buttons early in a relationship! You better set boundaries you lunatic!)

If it gets to the point where this woman cares about you and she notices you're starting to have anxiety, depression, or you're generally down, she'll put on scents that are said to help with those from aromatherapists.

She doesn't believe that it's real.

But just in case it is she definitely buries herself in it.

Every day she'd try on a different scent that is said to help out your angst. Focused lavender one day, jasmine the next, chamomile, sandalwood, etc...

Firefly

As we've seen from Jade's Pawn Shop event, fire-baby, though pretty dang poor, wants to appreciate life, and what it has to offer. She wants to be a normal girl.

She doesn't buy expensive scents and perfumes, just general ones.

She loves to test them out on you to see your reaction to each.

If you two are up for some spice, she places "sexy" scents on her lower back (chocolate, patchouli, cinnamon, figs...) on her lower back, so that when she strips it's wafts over the warm sheets (which she learned courtesy of Kafka, who's been wing-woman-ing her).

If she finds perfume out and about, especially if it's affordable, there's a high-chance she'll buy it.

Topaz

Numby.

She rubs herself up on, and cuddles the little Trotter so much that it's now become embedded into her skin.

This isn't all bad, really! Numby smells kind of like wild bushes and refreshing leaves.

Also, there's this plant called aster, that's basically like trotter catnip. It's supposed to smell like caramelized honey. While it's toxic when consumed, Topaz absolutely has it as a little fragrance bottle.

She mostly sought it out to see if she could get Numby to have the aster-high without the actual plant being around if Numby ever wanted it, that way there's no risk of a dead trotter!

Though... if you wanted her to wear it for your own high, she wouldn't object...

Jade

In her pawnshop she smells more... comforting, or at least blends more into the background. Maybe has a similar smell to green tea when she wants to reel in certain customers.

Otherwise, she has a darkly-bitter smell to her while working. Something cold, and subtle that you can only smell when she's right above you. Something you can only smell when it's too late to run.

[animehouse-moe]

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Episode 14: Nothing Venture, Nothing Have II

Kafka and MahoYome are settling in to this second cour of its second season, as we refocus on the missing book. While the episode stays pretty well in line with expectations for viewers, there's quite a few ambitious and well executed moments within.

The first thing that springs to mind is the use of CGI. Kafka's shown themselves to rely on it to a decent degree for some moments, so I was expecting to see it in this episode regardless.

Two moments stand out though, as rather well done examples: the werewolf opening scene, and Mariel's Harry Potter style brick-removal trick. I think both look surprisingly good, and that they owe it to the darker compositions of the scenes. CGI in bright light can look bad if your detail or compositing isn't really good, but those are both things that can be better hidden with darker and more bleak lighting and colors.

Let's get into the episode at hand though, mostly because I noticed a mistake (that was pointed out by a comment) with my previous post. That is, that Isaac has a crush (or something of the sort) on Philomela.

That's not the case, those feelings certainly still lie with Rian in some capacity, and we come to understand Isaac's actions through the lens of Rian's past. Here, it's Philomela that he remembers rather than Isaac, which is really interesting. It implies that Philomela and Rian's families were closer before his and Isaac's were, where Philomela originally played the role of Rian's friend/right hand man.

Isaac doesn't seem to understand or know of the past between Philomela and Rian, but he grasps the feel of their emotions. He discerns that there's a type of bond between her and Rian, and he doesn't like that so he ends up pressuring Rian on Philomela in this episode which I thought was very interesting.

For reference, it becomes clearer in hindsight now that Isaac's self-deprecation to Philomela was him comparison himself as a match to Rian. Though I'm unsure if it's meant to be in the romantic sense and that that's why we had that shot of Philomela's chest.

Cruising from character to character, I want to visit Alcyone next because this second cour seems to be doing something very curious with them.

Yes, they're continually aware of Alcyone's height in how they frame layouts, but that's not it.

What I'm more interested in is the piece said by Chise later on in the episode about Alcyone.

It's a really interesting idea that she brings forward, because Alcyone sort of fits the bill for being a replacement/parallel Elias for Philomela. I'm sure that Alcyone will play a critical role in Philomela breaking free of her cage, similar to how Elias impacted Chise. It does make me wonder though if Elias will appear much alongside Chise through this stretch. I think leaving them separate is a good thing as of right now though, and that in doing so they're able to allow Chise to grow as an individual and use her past experiences with Elias to involve herself with Alcyone and Philomela.

Speaking about Philomela so much though, she absolutely has the scene of the episode. I love it so much for so many different reasons.

The narrative behind it is just so great. Philomela thinks she's free from her grandmother at the college, that she has a chance to be a normal student thanks to Chise, that having Alcyone by her side she'll be okay.

But then then her old habits kick in and she can't drink the water. She begins to spiral in her isolation, and the iron grip of her grandmother returns in the worst way possible. She uses Alcyone as a vessel for a pre-recorded message to disparage Philomela, to drag her even deeper into the abyss of her own mind. It's an incredibly well put together sequence that shows just how little a thread Philomela has been holding onto as her grandmother threatens to let go of the other end.

And just re-winding a little to the last bit I really want to talk about: the hole in the wall vendor.

One of my favorite things about MahoYome is how consistently it terrifies with the world of magic. How often things are unsightly and uncomfortable, dangerous or menacing. This specific vendor is a great example of that with two things during their interaction with Mariel.

The first is how they search Mariel's mind for the book. In contrast to her way of touching lips, the vendor sticks his hand directly into Mariel's head, which given the physical reaction Mariel has, was not a pleasant experience.

Following that up is the casual explanation that the vendor would have eaten Mariel had she not paid a reasonable price to them for the information that she's searching for.

The world of magic and monsters is such on that the name implies. It is certainly not the realm of humans, and I love that distinction so much. It presents such a unique, but at the same time very classic approach to magic, and I really can't get enough of it.

I also can't get enough of these detailed environments. I wish Kafka had more to play with in regards to the design of the college, because the vendor's space looks incredibly good.

All in all, it's an episode that has a lot of strong points, but can struggle with getting stuck in lulls. Kafka remains a little too ambitious in some scenes as they rely on still images to fill the space. In others though, like the Philomela sequence, they have some really great work being done. I don't think that MahoYome has to be animated perfectly 100% of the time, but I think that the direction and boarding can use some work to promote animation in sequences.

The story remains rock solid though, and I love how much detail and subtle progression there is with the characters here. So so much to love that I essentially forgot about the book that remains lurking on campus. But I suppose there'll be more about that in the next episode.

[sonicasura]

Oh it spreads alright. Soshiro is also not immune to the pranks from the pair either, but both Mina and Kafka knows better then to prank the man when in his office working or having a bad day.

Other silly stuff also includes Kafka transforming while on a family vacation during one summer. That one actually was the transformation that showed Proto, Hina, Akari and Tabiki that Kafka had finally gained his electric pwoers since he caused the hotel they were at to lose all power for a good few hours when his tail hit one of those power boxes found here and there.

To say the adults was quite embarrassed about isn't an understatment. They had their lucky stars to thanks that noone found out how said power box got utterly destroyed and fried to high heavens.

Speaking of powers accidently destroying things. Akari is just as bad as her son in this regard as well. Sure, Akari has pretty much been training since she could walk on how to properly use her gravity ability. But that those not mean she did not do similare damage as her own son would do.

Its just with gravity, things goes up a notch. Or five.

Akari has done the following things by accident: sending the school roof flying sky high, the same to countless cars and bikes (sometimes into other houses or even stores), countless furniture being pulverized by high gravity, casuing at least 5 hydrants to explode and ripped off a road once during a temper tantrum.

She also almost accidently killed herself at the age of 10 by crushing her own organs and several of her bones. Remember how I told you that Proto had to do an emergency surgery on her while she was in kaiju form and discovered that she too had the heart core? Yeah this was how the old kaiju found out about that. He did not have a good time trying to save his daughter.

Nor did Akari have a good time staying bed bound either for that matter. Kafka is lucky his more like his father in this aspect as Akari is someone who hates bed rest. She a woman who prefer to do something than just idle sitting around doing nothing. Not even when sick as one could be could keep her in bed long. Though when she found out she was pregnant with Kafka, she was far more willing bed rest giving how much harm she could cause by not doing it now and then.

Especially in the early stage. It also helped that her maternal kaiju instinct pretty much kicked in hard and made her more willing to do things she would usually not if it meant the little life in her was safe.

I can only imagine how terrifying Akari's fury was while pregnant. Mama bear and mother kaiju instincts combined into one. There honestly would be mishaps when it comes to a hybrid's powers coming in.

I bet the Defense Force is grateful that Kafka didn't inherit gravity powers from his mom. The idea of a kaiju whelp making everything float via a single sneeze is horrific to describe. I think they'll rather take the walking taser instead.

[astrxlfinale]

Head on his shoulder, Guinaifen let out a content hum as she'd scroll through endless of updates on her social medias, the buzzing life of the streets around them fading on occupied focus. All it took was a feed, the comfort of her lover and a soft drink in hand to bask in the artificial warmth of the sun above them. Quick scrolling, occasionally showing him hilarious pictures, and then... a pause.

Who was that ?

Finger scrolled back up, clicking on a video that would display a woman with purple hair and a great set of legs. Wow. Guinaifen needed both hands for this, fingers zooming in on the female figure. It was a news report, something that went straight past the performer's head as she paused on an image shown of her full figure, sword in hand.

"W o w, look at this woman -" Not just any woman, but a woman the trailblazer might find it in him to recognize as she exceeded every bit of reputation tied to her name (destiny's slave, Kafka) would be held up before the two of them, a nudge to his side. "Her legs are awesome ; I'd love to get my hands on that outfit ! Do you think she's like a celebrity or something ? She looks awesome... and kinda hot, but I think that's the outfit's fault ... Hm..."

There'd be a glance down at her own legs. "Mine might be a too long for that outfit though - What do you think, babe?"

Caelus's own hands were no better. A rhythmic, constant flow of the thumbs repeatedly raining perturbation upon his foes, and the gallant strides required to avoid their lethal, eldritch brand of powers on the other. Comfort like this genuinely feels rare, how even in open space they're basically treating it like their own house. Once again their 'infamy' has made them a common sight, either in mischief, testing new frontiers or just this.

From the bottom of his heart, the Trailblazer knew he could get use to this.

There's a moment of tension from her figure, and from that, a natural assumption that her attention might've been snagged as a volatile, original plan may be in the makings. "Mm? Just what did you--" Eyes drifting to the side, for a moment the delinquent's heart found itself stunned to a pause, his phone nearly dropping as the velvet like confidence of quite the infamous face found itself parked on Guinaifen's phone.

Exactly as he can remember or imagine, the way how life itself is played to her silk, the devilish glow underneath those eyelashes as the entirety of her form was utterly recognizable to him. Should he tell her? "Dude, that's--" He begins, that nudge succeeding in jostling out any thought that would come. Only for this moment to heighten it's prominence by the opinionated addition that, due to knowing these two worlds, watching them converge made his jaw hang in utter speechlessness.

Her legs are awesome---

SHE looks awesome.... and kinda hot.

Caelus could not refute that statement. All the same, his heart ping ponged within his ribcage as this obscure combination of amusement, shock, stunned, how the hell was he supposed to feel about this?! In the gleaming eye of his imagination, that image briefly comes to life, Kafka's calculating eyes practically peering up towards them as if the epitome of innocence. As if she was wholly conscious of the chaos woven by her hands.

...Did that goddamn image of her just wink at him!? He swears it did at this moment!

"You've-- legs." Of course she has legs, Caelus. The image of those form fitting tights would be imposed upon the mind, drifting from the image of Kafka's natural confidence to his Firekiss, except rather than her sunny disposition, here she was wearing that same confidence as the Stellaron Hunter in question! It led to his face growing warm, this image of Guinaifen holding those razor edges, donning an outfit similar to Kafka's as within moments, his eyes sailed down to the glory of those lovely and strong legs of her's.

For an instant that phone was dropped, impulse overtaking him as he press a hand onto her thigh, drifting it over the current fabric and the warm shape of that lovely curve, prompting him to give it the most appreciative of squeezes. Somehow, his body was host to a spiritual form of autopilot as he pictures a different fabric adorning them. A low hum of confirmation escapes as he peers back up to her.

"We'd find the length if you like-- That, considering how beautiful your legs are?"

.....

"Firekiss, I'd stay buried between them for the whole day if I saw that."

Caelus what.

@avaere

[grandhotelabyss]

Thoughts on Lewis Carroll?

Not sure—will have to revisit. I never quite understood what he was doing, except in some very broad literary-historical sense: exposing the myth of Victorian childhood and helping to create modernist adolescence, deconstructing realism to pave the way for the likes of Kafka and Borges in fiction itself and poststructuralist theories of language and representation, etc. I've also heard rumors there's something mathematical happening in those texts, which would really be unfortunate from my non-mathematical point of view. And the less said about those photographs, the better. I think I only read the first Alice book, to be honest, and as an undergraduate.

Of my usual go-to critics, I believe only Nancy Armstrong has treated his work at any length. I quote from "Sexuality in the Age of Racism: Hungry Alice" in Fiction in the Age of Photography: The Legacy of British Realism (1999), where Armstrong puts the matter in dystopic Foucauldian terms of the kind that make academics say things like "only middle-class white people exercise self-restraint" and think they're being anti-racist, but it's nonetheless a fascinating lens on the novel that puts it rather in something like the Great Tradition:

Childhood according to Carroll turns out to be the condition of lacking the very kind of power that subjects exercise over objects, the power to classify, to evaluate, to consume with discrimination. The acquisition of literacy is what empowers subjects to keep objects in their place. If Alice fails to distinguish herself from working-class and native women whenever she gives way to appetite, then she reestablishes that distinction in a more decisive way as she begins to crave this power more than she craves objects themselves. In bringing us to this conclusion, however, Alice’s misadventures bring us to the very heart of a contradiction. We must recall that objects in the story tend to come engraved with the invitation to consume them. “Eat me” or “drink me,” they say. Her compulsive response to a marmalade label indicates that writing in fact creates the appetite that Alice must control through reading and recitation. How, then, can appetite originate inside her body if it originates in writing? Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland defines the heroine’s development as the acquisition of a peculiar kind of literacy that embraces this self-contradiction. Put another way, Alice herself embodies the fantasmagorical spiral of desire and restraint that women would soon experience in relation to a world made of enticing objects. Alice’s tumble down the rabbit hole reveals an appetite for marmalade. Because she has the literacy of the ruling class, however, Alice has acquired an appetite for rules well before her adventures begin. And even though something that seems more like an aversion to books prompts her adventures in Wonderland, Alice’s story is ultimately a struggle to possess the kind of taste that comes with literacy.

I was never exposed to his work in childhood. It's strange, considering his enormous influence on those Dark Age British Invasion comics I read so avidly: Morrison's Arkham Asylum with its Mad Hatter exposing the whole story as a dream of Batman's, Miracleman with its "Red King Syndrome" doing something similar for that early work of Moore's. Then there was the kid-lit pornotopia of Moore's Lost Girls, which I dislike, but that came later. I conclude with a disturbing page, perhaps the most disturbing page, from Morrison and McKean's Arkham. Unlike Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I first read this at the age of seven:

[etchingstoalostgod]

for the mothers who need to go to therapy

22/01/2025

time is like a dark wound in my mother's chest that can never quite seem to be diagnosed by doctors because she refuses to see anyone who isnt greek. theres something soft in the water and when i try to touch it is gone like a cotton ghost custom in a party shop. i wish there was a flare too sickness that was refreshing, nothing to do in too little time, but feeling possessed by a screaming cricket reminds me too much of kafka for my liking. you don���t work enough when the toaster always seems to burn your pop tarts you stole from the store even though you have too much money to know what to do with because the rich never pay. painters who walk away from me because they're too scared to hear the truth that using acrylic paint won't make you caravaggio. for fish who pretend to lose their memory every few seconds to trick researchers that they need to be loved again. real tail therapy with your company’s money because it feels good when you forgetting adding seven to cart doesn’t mean seven rolls of electrical tape but seven entire boxes.

metaphors that don’t make sense just to keep the future academics debating where madness starts, and genius ends to even up realising that language is just as incomplete as mathematics.  i want more people to find God, not because i care much about belief but because i want to hear the greek gossip of the town not just from eighty year old women. sea rocks are the last thing you see after jumping over the do not enter sign to put vaperwave filter over the sunrise only to find cape barren geese are swarming towards so you so pretend to sleep but on second thought that might have just been the filter.

ordering your gravestone with a filtered picture of you that was meant to make you look older but instead makes you look like the grinch. you're not quite sure why you're green. but you give yourself green carnations anyway because self (grinch?) love, because of oscar wilde, because it goes with your green theme now. you say you little grinch? greek? bleak? pray about how you were always loved in life and even in death you stole christmas. only for someone claiming to be greek and your mum and your ride home that you always looked so similar to your great greek pappou (grandad). wait is some strange alternative beginning to dykettes?

fair floss always seems like a good deal because who doesn’t love big pink fluffy love on a stick but im really just throwing a tantrum in the middle of luna park to force my mum to buy me pink air while i cry before going on the ferris wheel because you see the seat swing and you think you're going to die. i tell myself i want to get better and i want to be okay but i'm too busy thinking about my dune fanficiton to actually do anything about it. stream of consciousness for writers who want to be virgina woolf so bad that they spend their days in bed from chronic illness, endless journaling because you think you're doing it for the craft and trying to get hot aristocrats to swoon over because you love the attention and lesbian sex then to just tell them off with their heads. or at least that’s what i got from her letters.

tackling a man at a supermarket over the last cookies and cream ice cream so you can pretend to cry about your ex that you were over months before she broke up with you while watching a three hour video essay about how winne the pooh is actually post structural critique of capitalism so just so you can pretend to feel human.

housewives who do too much and need better boundaries because they are not personal servants to every person in their lives but everyone else is either a man or sick and she has too many issues to ever see needing to help everyone as a problem not a strength. and when i try to tell her she doesnt listen, she never listens like i never listen so i know where i get it from but i want her to be happy and okay and know that she is loved and that things can just be inconvenient at time and let the men learn to live with not have enough protein bars in the fridge. he has a car. why am i the only one who wants to celebrate your birthday with cars anytime you say they are busy but we both know they can make the time they arent the ones working themselves to death. and there's no metaphors in this. just truth. and the type of vulnerability that i can only write on blogs to no one and the occasional stranger. and im scared she will even up in hospital again and she is doing too much for no real good reason other than its all she ever known.

[guardianlioness]

Hfjdkwksf Sorry for putting you on blast, I really love this series and am dying to talk about it! And your commentary is SPOT on!

Reading it got my brain chewing—I think you’re totally right and ended up playing with your points a bit. 😭 Sorry, both for the avalanche and grabbing your post with both hands.

Obligatory Manga Spoilers cut for the anime-only folks.

You’re SO right! The dynamic goes both ways, and I’m so emo about it!

MAN, the way Kafka gives both Kikoru and Reno exactly what they need! He hands them the praise and consideration that they respectively need, and it totally flips their worlds upside down! They’re being handed exactly the encouragement they’ve been starving for, and they’re getting it freely for the first time in their lives!

Ugh, I am just. Reveling in these storytelling choices. 😭

I LOVE your read on Kikoru! She’s trying so hard. She has BEEN trying so hard. She’s spent her entire teenaged life striving. Hoping that maybe, at the end, she’ll have done someone proud.

She’s caught off guard by the resurrected honju in the exam. She gets torn up. Fails to win, and worse, fails to preserve her own life. She’s going to die before even clearing her father’s lowest hurdle of joining the Defense Force

Except…the adult she’s spent the entire day insulting puts himself between her and death.

He tells her she’s amazing.

He shows her exactly where she’s won (all the other examinees made it out safely).

Then he takes the burden off of her shoulders.

He steps up. Becomes the adult in the room. Tells her it’s critical that she worries about her own safety—and then removes the problem. Failure is no longer on the table because he literally wiped that option off the map.

If that moment doesn’t completely upend her brain chemistry, I don’t know what will. Area girl is not used to normal compliment dopamine, much less adrenaline-relief on top of it.

I love, too, that his callouts and compliments still leave her a little flustered. It does so much to characterize her. She grew up as that validation-hungry little girl, and that won’t disappear overnight.

Isao’s decision to raise her the way he did is something to debate, and I don’t think it was ideal, but there’s something so deeply warm to me about the idea that she won’t be trapped in the mindset he gave her. Between Kafka and her other new friendships, she’s developing a more nuanced and positive view of herself and her skills. Mina, Hoshina, her cohort—even Gen, to a degree—call her skill out.

She’s going to get better. And all of that is tied to age.

While we don’t have Kikoru’s canonical age, manga volume bonuses show that she’s not allowed to drink at squadron parties due to how young she is. The legal drinking age in Japan is 18. The oldest she could be is 17.

Kafka is able to help because he’s a grown man that goes out of his way to take life and death responsibility away from a literal child. He’s living proof that she doesn’t have to be perfect—because he is there to help pick up the slack. As is the responsibility of the adult in the equation.

This connection just plain old does not work if they’re in a similar age range.

And RENO!

I think you’re right with Reno too. He starts the story as a legal adult and Kafka’s junior coworker, and honestly that feels like a key setup point for his character. They work together for months before joining up, and I bet Kafka was teaching him every Kaiju cleanup trick he could that entire time.

To go from complete emotional independence—no support, no help—to being saved and taught at every step?

Reno wants to join the defense force. It’s subtextual, but it really seems like his motivation is to become the hero that he doesn’t have. The hero that isn’t real.

According to his character profile, he likes Shonen manga. A genre full of heroes. Of determined characters and powerful mentors. But he’s never met anyone like that. As far as he knows, they don’t exist.

So he decides to make them real—only to run into Kafka and find that extended hand where he least expects it.

Reno needs consideration. Someone to take his problems, his success, his safety into account. And Kafka does it without reward, without thanks, without even liking Reno as a person first.

That kindness hits him like a truck, and understandably so, but like you were saying? It’s different.

Reno knows what it’s like to be abandoned. To need help and not have it. I think he’s terrified Kafka will end up in that situation, and the faster he proves himself Kafka’s equal, the faster Kafka will lean on him in return.

Reno being 18 and his coworker makes a “peer” relationship a possibility, and Reno is running headlong for it so that Kafka won’t suffer the way Reno already has.

The best part of both of these connections is that Kafka has no idea he’s inverted their realities! It’s instinctive! It’s core to who he is! He’s always handing out protection and assistance and an encouraging word. It’s not premeditated, it’s not a strategy or creed or oath. It’s just Kafka.

He’s not trying to analyze them. He’s not trying to fill some gap or need in their lives. He doesn’t know anything about how they were raised!

All the way back in chapter/episode 1, he tries to comfort himself about his abandoned dream by reminding himself that his job is valuable to society. He’s just. He’s just a guy who believes in acting for the benefit of his world. Just a guy that grins in the kaiju shelter so that the other children aren’t scared. A guy that will throw away his own humanity to keep his teammates from crying.

He’s clueless about his own impact.

And I’m. Deeply emotional about it.

RE: The Shonen Protag thing, YES. YOU ARE SO RIGHT! If you want to read an Isao type character, seinen as a genre is full of that attitude and grit. It’s got different genre conventions, yeah, but from what I am told, there’s quality storytelling there! Shonen operates on determination, and yes, a good deal of goofiness!

Seeing a lot of takes about how Kafka Hibino feels “like a teenager”/“like every other Shonen MC” but as someone rapidly approaching his age range, his portrayal feels really solid to me.

He is quick to point out what those around him are doing right. Despite trying to prove he belongs, he doesn’t let his ambition or pride interfere in his perception of his teammates. It’s a specific form of security and sincerity that only comes with life experience.

And the result is that the other members of the cast trust him.

They may rag him from time to time, but they see him as someone to admire, even though they’re vastly superior in terms of traditional Kaiju hunting. IMO, that’s not a dynamic you can create using characters in the same age range.

[mechazushi]

A bit of a Theory. {Kaiju Number 8}

So I've been spending some time sketching out this OC idea that I have and her whole thing is that she's like Kafka and is a half Kaiju. Her transformation is supposed to look like a mixture of Bakko (Mina's tiger) and Kaiju Number 8. I'm sitting here looking at the first take on the design and I'm hating it because it's just looking like a muscular Furry in a mask so I decide to add on some extra details to her Shoulders and Thighs/Waist to tie in the fact she's an offshoot of Kn8. As I'm turning design ideas in my head, I decide to have it take on a more samurai look as a sort of nod to the original host of the Kn8... bug? Dragonfly? Mini Kaiju? Progenitor? Progenitor. (From now on though, I'm just gonna use sonicsura's term for the thing and call it Tiny)

And I'm tossing the ideas around in my head and suddenly I'm thinking "Wait. Kafka doesn't have pauldrons in his design? And the Samurai does?" And now I'm wondering why that is? And the longer I'm thinking about it, now I'm wondering why he's wearing a suit in the first place?

(This is the only shot of the samurai that I can get off of Google images, apologies)

Now I can hear what you would be saying, "No shit he's wearing armor Zushi! He can't be caught by the public in that form, less they murder him on the spot!" I understand that is still very much the case and it's of course better to fight alongside a group of people when they aren't actively viewing you as a threat at the same time, so the armor in this case can help him blend into the crowd as he fights.

But hear me out for a second. Traditional samurai armor has a LOT of layers, and if they were wealthy enough (Which most were) they typically had a helper (Though, most were expected to have knowledge on how to put it on/take it off themselves) And I know we joke about Kafka's Kaiju form having a thick ass, but when paired with the idea of someone in that specific form, wouldn't it be difficult to don armor over an unusually shaped frame? Even if the armor was custom made and he had someone he trusted to help him put it on, I still think that the armor crafted would have a distinctly different look about it. So much so that I think that it would show up in history book, wouldn't it? You can't tell me that there wouldn't be a chapter dedicated to an oddly shaped samurai in and around the Meireki era that had notable displays of super strength and agility. He fought to help humans in their endeavor to protect humanity from the kaiju, he had to, at some point, do something crazy and superhuman considering we are just now seeing what that samurai went up against thanks to the latest chapter.

This is where most of my theory is. Kafka's Kaiju form didn't always look like that. My theory is that not only does Tiny function as a biological version of a Numbers suit, something happens at the point of the user's death and it absorbs whatever the user is wearing at that moment and recycles the fit onto the next user. I'm starting to think that in the first iteration of the human Kaiju form, it looked a lot different than what we have now. I'm leaning towards it looking something similar to the Colossal Titan from AoT.

No natural armor, just exposed, heightened muscle. That way, having the samurai armor makes more sense because now he has protection. Now he won't get injured as much as he taps into his super powers and can still move around easily AND blend in with the rest of the soldiers.

While we can't confirm for sure if the samurai is the only iteration of Kaiju Number 8, I'm going to again lean on the Numbers suit comparison and say that Kafka can only see the samurai due to 1) Tiny can sense what they're about to go up against and the Samurai is the most knowledgeable on the subject. Or it's most likely 2) The samurai is the most recent user and it has the easiest time coming to the forefront of Kafka's psyche. It should also be said that it's not said one way or the other whether or not Kaiju number 8, or more specifically Tiny, existed before Number 9's time, only that 8 really hates 9. I do want to point out something that I've noticed from the Kikoru verses 15 fight where she starts seeing her mother, that her mother is also wearing the Numbers suit. Which, I mean, sounds like another No Shit Sherlock situation, but I think it adds something interesting to the lore behind the suits

The suits can still "see" their wearer, even as a suit. While 10 is the only suit that can talk back, the others can, in a sense, invade the wearer's mind (Since the suits don't come with visors) and project an image of the previous wearer's actions, even down to what they were wearing at the time. Which, of course, makes sense because how could they if the suit isn't active any other time. Which brings me to my next question, "What if whatever Tiny is can do more than that?" If it already fundamentally changes the user into a Kaiju, core and all, who's to say it can't also absorb what they're wearing at the time?

And if that IS the case, why doesn't Kafka's Kaiju form look more like a samurai suit of armor instead of the glowing six pack that we get? Here's my ongoing thought. Let's assume for a second that the placement of the core doesn't change from User to User, since the placement of Kafka's core is centered around his heart (Thank you for the breakdown kujoestars). It can be confirmed via logic that the previous samurai is dead, but lets play with the how.

To kill a Kaiju, you hit its core, so to kill a Human shifting Kaiju, you hit its chest. What if the samurai got hit in the chest so hard, he not only died from it, it destroyed his chest plate. So when he died, the only thing that ended up getting absorbed at time of death was his helmet, his face mask, and his pants, leaving his chest open in the next iteration and thus revealing the glowing six pack we've come to love! (And some of us hate, but we ignore them because we don't care, it's glow-in-the-dark abs.)

I don't know about you, but I feel better having said this. Even if I'm going to be called crazy and be debunked seven ways from Sunday. And I'm also aware that this might not be the easiest to follow along, but all this is coming from some half formed thoughts that I had at the tail end of my work day, so excuse the shitty frame work.

(Bonus thought. If this is the case and Kafka dies (IN THE DISTANT FUTURE) he's probably more than likely going to be wearing the defense force suit. If the next reincarnation on n8 puts on a defense force suit (and we're assuming they're going to be even more technologically advanced at this point) what would happen? Would it still read a 0%, or would it give an Error 404 code and say something like "It is not advisable to wear one suit over the other" "Uuuhhh... they're not wearing another suit..." "Huh, that's weird, don't know why THAT could be happening. *Sweating bullets*"

[dropintomanga]

Manga I Enjoyed in 2022

Happy New Year, everyone! I know this is somewhat late, but better late than never. I originally wanted to do this in a video format like I did for my favorite 2021 manga. But after some health issues that started late last year and finally went away this month, I decided to write about my favorite manga of 2022 instead of recording myself in an awkward manner.

Here we go!

Honorable Mention: Choujin X by Sui Ishida - This title reminds me so much of Masakazu Katsura’s ZETMAN. It’s about a young man named Tokio Kurohara who suddenly becomes a supernatural being called a Choujin after being attacked by one in the street. Tokio then enters a world where he meets other Choujins, good and bad, and realizes that he’s part of a larger scheme that potentially involves him being a “god/savior” of all Choujins. I love the art and the story is fascinating. I feel that this is potentially Ishida at his finest when he’s not being rushed to create a fun story (which is what happened with Tokyo Ghoul: re). I’m glad that chapters of this series are somewhat sporadic as it allows time for a more structured story and one that I know Ishida is wanting to tell.

On to my top 5 of the year!

No.5 - Kaiju No. 8 by Naoya Matsumoto - After Spy x Family and Chainsaw Man, this is the next big breakout anime hit from Shueisha. Kafka Hibino was once a young man who wanted to become a kaiju-fighting soldier alongside his childhood friend, but instead is now a 30+-year old cleaner of kaiju remains. He one day encounters a certain powerful kaiju who enters his body. Kafka becomes a threat of humanity all while retaining his. He enters a kaiju defense force in order to control his abilities and protect those he cares about.

When I saw promotional art of the series posted all over France last year, I realized I had to check this series out. I’m so glad I did. The art is amazing, the story is intense, and the soldier outfits are really cool. Kaiju No. 8 satisfies any fan looking for something new that’s similar to Attack on Titan.

No. 4 - Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe - I don’t really hear many people talk about this series, but I feel this is one of the best fantasy stories I’ve read in a while. It also has one of the best manga heroines this decade so far. Frieren is a long-living elf who once saved the world from a demon king alongside a group of adventurers. 50 years later, she embarks on another journey to see off the hero who changed her life long after his death all while making note of humanity’s struggle to define themselves with the short life span they’re given.

I feel that this series is somewhat Yotsuba&!-ish in terms of having memorable chapters that are one-offs. However, when it gets to the major story arcs, Frieren excels in delivering gut punches. The flashback scenes are amazing and Frieren has a variety of facial expressions that make readers appreciate her. I have kept up with the Japanese releases and the story keeps getting better and better. This series has a way of making you think about human nature.

No. 3 - Akane-banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue - I got into this series in the Fall after hearing Hideaki Anno and Eiichiro Oda praise it. This is arguably the best series in Weekly Shonen Jump right now and it’s not even a battle manga. Akane Osaki, a young girl whose father was a rakugo performer, is on a mission to become the best rakugo performer in all of Japan after her father was shamed in front of a major rakugo audience. It’s very refreshing and the hype does remind me of the early days of The Promised Neverland. 

This manga is a really good case of how to use art and panels to tell a very cool and well-paced story. I also love how the main character is written as she stands out among the many popular male Jump protagonists. I think what makes this series so good is how relatable the characters and setting are. There’s always something exciting happen in every chapter because of that.

No.2 - Sensei’s Pious Lie by Akane Torikai - This series isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I can’t recommend this to anyone who’s experienced sexual trauma and hasn’t healed completely from it. But I can’t help but be enamored with seeing how messy the characters in this series are. Misuzu Hara, a teacher, is a victim of sexual abuse by her best friend’s husband. One day, she finds out a male student of hers is interested in her. Misuzu then learns the student is also a victim of sexual abuse and the two become involved in a complicated entanglement that affects everyone around them. 

This is a very uncomfortable read, but I understood what Torikai was trying to say. When it comes to love and sex, people get caught up with the worst aspects of both in terrifying ways. And there’s ways to overcome them when possible. People are often known as monsters to many are still human beings at their core. You can still care about someone and want them out of your life for good. There’s no one to root in this series and I’m glad Kodansha USA brought this work over because sex (and especially sexual violence) is very often a difficult topic to talk about and life is sadly never that black or white.

No.1 - Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto - Another Fujimoto one-shot on what it means to live in the face of loss. I’ve written about this one-shot in the past and the last pages still stick out to me to this day. I appreciate how Fujitomo uses the main character in a way that shows how a major loss of a relationship can affect someone even when they get older.

I want to remember people who will eventually leave me and celebrate their lives. I just hate how everyone is pressed to move on and not process whatever grief they will experience over their lifetime. Goodbye, Eri is highly relevant to everyone today because there’s only so much one can take when it comes to death and when we don’t take the time to talk about it in a productive way with people who will listen, we lose what makes humanity beautiful. In a time where some folks are talking about immortality and living on via technology, this manga reminds me that what we really want from life is genuine and unconditional love from people.

I hope you enjoyed this list and here’s to a fun 2023 full of exciting manga titles to read!

[yingren]

maybe, just maybe, if his goal was to seem less intimidating and more approachable, he’d be tempted to try something like that. but ren has long since stopped caring much about his appearance, knowing that any changes to his body would heal or fade faster than he could count to ten. aside from the scars that stretch across his body, a testament to centuries of battles with swords, blades, and other weapons, ren’s appearance isn’t all that different from yingxing's. they still share a lot of similarities—ones that aren’t so bad, though that’s something ren will keep to himself for now.

“ not wanting to sleep is apparently a crime if you say it too loud. especially in the presence of those who cannot go a full day with less than eight hours of rest. ” there it is again, that sense of familiarity he’s not quite sure how to deal with. while ren rarely relies on coffee to stay awake, he knows it’s a common enough solution. he can't exactly criticize the other for it, knowing he’s no better himself. so, naturally, he decides to let it slide. “ it’s easier to fall asleep when you feel like you have no other choice. like your body is going to collapse anyway and claim a few hours of rest. tossing and turning in bed has never been my thing, i’m sure you know. ” ren rolls his eyes at the comment, stifling a small chuckle behind his fist. of course yingxing would say something like that—confident enough in his appearance to not mind being the center of attention during a shopping trip. but maybe he’d change his tune after spending a day with kafka. oh, the things ren would do to be a fly on the wall for those interactions. “ if you jumped out of a cake i can’t guarantee that she wouldn’t shoot you on sight. then again i wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t startle her at all. ironically, i think she would get along fairly well with someone like jing yuan. ”

"Not to mention you'd look more approachable and less intimidating," Yingxing adds with a snort. He wonders if any such simple modifications to Ren's body would even stick, or if his regeneration factor is so powerful that it would even recover something so silly as hair color. But that's too close to one of the topics he's resolved to not ask about, and definitely not out of idle curiosity. There is much he doesn't understand about Ren's existence, but he might as well figure out his own before he starts prying into something that's not technically his business.

The question has him pause and glance away, feeling a little sheepish. It's true, before, that would have been only an hour or two before he'd get up to head to work, so he wouldn't have normally been awake, and certainly not to get food. "My sleep has been significantly worse since I woke up here. Either I can't sleep or I don't want to. For the latter, cheap, strong diner coffee feels like a miracle cure. It keeps me up and working until I can collapse somewhat safely." He figures if anyone isn't going to poke at him for his unhealthy new habits, it would be Ren. Once again, it's so much easier to be honest with him than with anyone else. "... hm, I think I like to look at myself in a mirror enough to tolerate a shopping trip like that," he jokes. "Regardless, I'd be happy to meet her. In whatever form you're thinking of. Just don't have me jump out of a cake."

[quitealotofsodapop]

MvA assorted headcanons

General:

So many years together has made the core monsters inseperable. If something affects one member, it affects the group.

All. The. Monsters. Are. Family.

It takes Susan a while to understand inside jokes and past incidents because of being the most recent addition.

There are Other anomalous creatures kept in Area 5X, but they are either non-sentient and/or are too dangerous to be kept around the more human-friendly monster group.

Area 5X is so gotdang big because they were expecting a lot more kaijus like Insecto to crop up. Sadly not many have surfaced to justify the space.

There’s a hangar in Area 5X full of wrecked UFOs. Some are spacecraft wreckage while others are stuff like weird meteors (Susan’s is in there), and at least one alien creature that got crystallised upon entering Earth’s atmosphere.

There’s significant difference in staff employed at different points throughout the past 50 years. There are far more women on the Area 5X worksheet than back in the 50s, and the guards are generally more sympathetic towards the monsters. Many modern staff members have been reprimanded or let go for failing to uphold secrecy, or for unnecessary cruelty towards the monsters.

Budget cuts were a legitmate concern up until the Battle of Golden Gate Bridge. The facility was far more barebones and sterile before the government had to formally recognise Area 5X’s importance. There have been a lot of redecorating at the facilty since the fat checks started coming in.

Putting individual characters under read due to length.

Susan:

Enjoys many hobbies considered stereotypically feminine; baking, sewing, cosmetics, etc...

Grandparents and extended family are farmers or are atleast connected to the business. Modesto is the agricultural centre of California after all. Her parents were the first of their generation to go against the mold and seek out white-collar careers.

Studied cosmetology in school and was working at a beauty salon to save up for her and Derek’s wedding.

Is very athletic and grew up doing a number of physical extracurriculars like cheerleading, dodgeball, and roller-derby.

Grew up being teased for being the shortest kid in her class/family. They still tease her for it.

Greatly fears causing collateral damage and/or harm to others through her size.

Has issues with anxiety, worsened only by her new job as “savior of earth”. She wishes for a confidant to tell her worries to.

Married life with Derek was doomed to fail. Susan had a plan in place for what came after the marriage, and focusing 100% on Derek’s career was not it. There’s also the line from Derek’s mother about Susan being “the weatherman’s wife”, implying that she was to be the homemaker and not have a career of her own. It’s possible that Susan was planning to settle down and have kids with Derek, but the lack of control she had in moving to Fresno implied that more was going on.

Is currently “taking a break” from love and dating, despite gaining many new admirers.

Tries her best to return to Modesto to visit her family and friends whenever possible, though work often keeps her away for weeks at a time.

If she retains her height-shifting abilities as in the series; Susan goes through really bad “growing” pains.

Link:

Was frozen in his relative late-teens during a cold snap. Got shifted around until he ended up somewhere in Greenland before being discovered by modern humans. Post-thaw he went a bit wild, swimming frantically back south to try and find his old enviroment.

Was one of many scrappy youngsters in his troop, with a number of adoptive parents. The strongest ruled the troop, and Link was fairly weak in comparision to the leaders. He had gotten into a fight the day of his freezing (over something silly in hindsight) and swam away to sulk. When he didn’t return after the cold snap - the troop accepted that he had likely died out on his own.

Likes to freak out humans by making up weird biology facts about his species and ones he’s fought against - like joking about laying eggs or having his tail dettach and regrow like a lizard. However there’s some things he has to ask about, because he doesn’t have medical knowledge or words to describe something.

A lot of his macho behavior came from imitating the guards who kept watch on him. 1950s violent military alpha males aren't a very good role model for someone who doesnt know what societal norms are yet. Link was a lot more insufferable back in the day but chilled out as he began interacting with other walks of life.

Has a high paternal instinct and immediately becomes softer around kids and smaller animals.

Has body language similar to a cat/alligator. Slaps his tail when angry or in deep thought. And yes; Link purrs/rumbles when happy.

Loves monster movies - especially the ones where the monsters “win”. He cried when he saw “Beauty and the Beast” and then immediately booed loudly when the Beast turned human.

Does Not Trust doctors or scientists due to bad past experiences. Will only go to Dr Cockroach and Monger if he ever gets hurt/ill. Gets stressed fast if he has to be in a waiting room or doctors office.

Link had no idea what gender indentities or orientations were until recently - he did come from a pre-human civilization that really didnt mind/care about the schemantics. It took him some time to wrap his head around it. He identifies himself as bisexual after much thought and many hours alone on the computer.

Don't press him about his body. He's built different from humans and cis people. He will punch anyone who doesnt respect his or anyone elses identity.

Has been in love before. It didn’t end well.

Will occasionally wear clothes, but finds it a challenge to find anything that fits him. Will give any shoes he finds to Dr Cockroach and BOB to eat.

The best driver/pilot out of all the monsters.

Dr Cockroach:

True name is Jaques-Yves Herbert. Prefers to just go by "Dr Cockroach" because he dislikes the association with his birth family.

Picks up human languages very easily, although not as quickly as he can understand animals.

Parents were a mixed scientist couple. His father was an aggressive “Strong British Man” that would beat him son down for not following orders or for not meeting his standards for a man. Dr C turned down both chances to attend his parents funerals.

This man isn’t straight. He probably uses old-fashioned slang when asked about romance such as; “I am Uranian” or “I wear a green carnation”. It took Susan a few times to realise what he meant, as she is used to a more open minded enviroment.

Got the idea of transforming into a cockroach from reading Franz Kafkas “The Metamorphosis” as a child. He sympathized with Gregor’s abusive situation, and began considering the possibilties of how one could survive better as a creature like a cockroach.

Studied in biology and entomology in the Uk before moving to the states to follow engineering. Obtained his degree in Dance as a “side gig” in University.

Has been barred from free access to the coffee maker/machine due to overnighters. Once stayed awake so long that he forgot the letter “R”.

Owned a terrarium of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches throughout college. He mourned each of them when his roommate’s iguana got into the tank.

Was a "beatnik" back in the day and still kinda is. Embraces and encourages modern counterculture as he himself was not given such acceptance in his youth. He has however shamefully eaten his old Lenny Bruce album.

Hasn’t actually aged physically since his transformation. He attributes this to the fact that certain athropods can’t age physically beyond maturity. Link is very jealous.

Has obtained more degrees while in captivity, as Monger allowed him access to research and learning materials. He has however had his allowances revoked for previous escape attempts/doomsday devices.

Does still enjoy human food, but the cockroach instinct of "eat detritus" tends to overrule his eating choices. Can’t cook either.

Ironically a terrible driver. The damages from previous drives has made Monger restrict him from operating even a razor scooter.

BOB:

Pretty much considers himself human. Was created by them, raised by one (Monger), and talks like one. Gets sad when he's reminded that no other humans are blue blobs like him.

Absorbed some dna from the scientists present at his "birth", leading to his eye, speech, and omnivorous diet.

Doesnt actually need to breathe (as he can just absorb oxygen through his mass) but the fact that humans Do means that BOB thinks he has to as well.

Shares some physical characteristics with tomatoes/nightshade plants, as he is technically half tomato. He refuses to eat tomatos for this very reason, considering it cannibalism.

Attracts garden pests looking for a tomato plant. This unwittingly makes BOB a pretty good bug zapper.

Still retains his "mental broadcast" ability from "BOB's Big Break" although at a more subtle level. He tends to parrot the things he accidentally "eavesdropped" on.

Is empathetic, and can tell when others aren't doing ok emotionally. Will flop down on someone who’s really sad to comfort them. No brain, only heart.

Best cook out of the monsters. If he doesn’t forget what he’s making at least.

"Whats a gender? Can I eat it?"

Insectosaurus:

Core body is that of a Japanese Silkmoth, although she ended up being spliced with other animals present on the island during her initial mutation; namely ants and ground squirrels.

Eats over a literal ton of mulberry leaves per day. Also enjoys oranges.

Secretly wishes to be more humanoid.

Was only able to pupate and transform due to physical trauma. It seems that her transformation was like a “power-up” that required her to be in geniune distress for it to activate.

First language is Japanese. She learned it from the intial recovery team, and later developed an understanding of English from years in Area 5X.

Goes into torpor in cold weather. Pretty much impossible to wake her up for missions during Winter, as she needs to “rev up” before becoming mobile.

Still very much Link’s best friend. Still enjoys sports, chicks, and beer.

Monger:

Full name is; Warren Rex Monger.

Is very protective of the monsters and will defend them to the death.

Pretty much raised BOB (as seen when BOB was a baby blob in “Night of the Living Carrots”), and considers him his “freaky gelatinous son”.

Has a reputation of being a “control-freak” due to his aggressive overseeing of the monsters’ containment. This toughness is partly because of incidents that occured without his knowledge. Lets just say some scientists have been wedgied/fired for running experiments on the monsters without Monger’s approval.

Has a very “Ron Swanson” emotional response and view of the world. Crying is acceptable only at funerals and at the Grand Canyon (if he hadn’t lost his tear ducts in the war).

Has been married multiple times. Will not confirm or deny if he is currently seeing anyone.

Invisible Man/TiM:

Legit got out but no one at Area 5X is sure how. He suffered a geniune medical emergency and disappeared after surgery. The other monsters were informed that he died from complications to deter them from getting escape ideas.

Is able to be detected in Infrared light. Dr Cockroach managed to rig up goggles to view TiM in case of injury and to foil pranks.

Was a scientist working on an invisibility potion for the military and used himself as a guinea pig. Hasn’t actually been able to replicate his results since - thinks the effect may have been caused by a genetic abnormality.

Dr Cockroach and him are massive rivals. Both actually met eachother pre-transformation through a CalTech expedition. This makes the pair one of few people that have seen the others human face.

Is 100% naked. Was forced to wear clothing once this was discovered.

A massive prankster and a cynic. Him and Link were a force to be reckoned with.

Has revisted the facility multiple times and has started a number of ghost stories.

Any additions are welcome! I proably have alot more to dump about. Might make one of the alien characters from the series

[bisluthq]

If I dislike something about Taylor with a passion it’s her friendship with Lena because Lena is uncool/racist/annoying/more of a weirdo than 1000 Taylor’s combined like none of Taylor’s other friends are as bad as Lena she’s just so annoying and idk what Taylor sees in her. Honestly idk Taylor or her business but from what I know of her Lena is the most annoying friend of hers no one else compares.

I genuinely think they have tons in common (and they obviously agree) so I don’t really get this take. Taylor is a lot ~cooler obviously but I think she doesn’t always feel that and feels great and safe and shit with Lena. Not excusing Lena’s lengthy history of white lady racism but I also think Taylor isn’t like tons better since that’s a bestie of hers and Taylor herself has been in plenty of kerfuffles before she essentially decided to just shut up.

Lena understands being polarizing, Lena thinks and writes in similar ways to Taylor tbh, Lena makes the kind of media Taylor loves and loves Taylor’s music, like idk dude it’s one of the least confusing of Tay’s friendships for me.

I find say the friendship with Gigi more confusing because I’m like “what do they talk about? Big slay major slay or escape rooms or Kafka or how homeboy can like get it or fucking WHAT like WHAT IS THERE TO SAY THERE” whereas I’m like “ah yes Lena and Taylor watch Phoebe Waller-Bridge shows and read Glennon Doyle and like talk about how they fancy Hot Priest and the English that tracks.”

[sonicasura]

Yup. Got that right on the nose I think. And its only going to get more interesting as time goes pass I believe.

But thats about it for the Bloodline Au update and now over to the Fosterdad Kafka Au. Me and my sister have had quite the fun continuing growing and expand this au. Its been quite the bonding time for us too.

But lets start shall we? Lets begin with the Shinomiyas first. You pointed out the first time I posted about this that Kikoru and Isao's family bond is never going to be the same again. And your quite right at that.

For one, as the years go by things become better for them. Both have a far more daughter and father like bond then in canon, along with being far less awkward around each other. Better at telling each other's feeling and Kikoru is less afraid to tell Isao off or even argue with him.

Though that does not mean theres not been bumps, pain or hard truths to swallow. Within the first two years after Kikoru and Isao got seperated and each went to therapy shortly after, the pair will have their first true shouthing match in years. Or rather Kikoru finally snapped at her dad and told him all the bent up emotion and hurts he has casued her over the years after Hikari died.

Isao can't find the words to describe how much it all hurt. Nor will he ever find them to begin with. Seeing the tears, the look of utter hate and disgust, the way his daughter was shaking from either more rage or something else broke the general in a way that was very similare to the day his wife died.

That day was possibly the first time the girl ever saw Isao cry. Kafka, Jugo and Keiji are all nearby, hidden away in a room close by and are awkwardly staying quiet as they listen in unintentionally to it all.

Kafka decide once he and Kikoru leave to treat the girl to something nice, and when they get back to the apartment Reno is quick to look after the girl while Kafka is busy making some of her favorites for dinner.

Over the two years period she's been in Kafka's care, the girl have come to like the meals Kafka makes. The himbo is no master chef nor is the meal made out of rare or expensive ingredients. But theres something about a home cooked meal that makes it far more tastier than any meals she had since her mom's death.

And getting to annoy Reno a little as the two helps set the table is always nice too.

Isao immediately realizes how much he not only failed his wife but daughter as well. Hikari's ghost would strangle him in his dreams for being this thick. And he'll deserve every bit of it.

Homemade meals are something else to say the least. Kikoru can feel the love and care Kafka puts into the food he makes. It isn't so awkward to talk or tease each other at the table unlike back home.

[uramichi-s]

Karneval - Score 128: Memory Fragments.

Hi guys! Here’s the summary for chapter 128, enjoy!

Summary below:

[Don’t forget you can check Muse’s blog for the raws: here & here. Remember to look at them from right → left].

— 

We continue where we left off last time. Nai is shocked by Kafka-Karoku’s words as he thinks: “Do I have to kill this person?” [x - first page]. 

Eleska is suprised to hear this but then Karoku only says: “Well, all the better if this is not yet the case... Ah, there's another thing that has been bothering me. You haven’t said my name even once since you arrived here. You know my name is Karoku too, right?” .

Nai looks sad as he says: “K... Karoku...”

“That’s better” KK replies  [x - second page].

“Let’s go for a walk” he says as they go out [x - first page]. 

Nai looks at the scenery that surrounds them and says to KK: “I’m afraid of you... but I love the things you create. Why?”  [x - second page].

“We were made to love that which is necessary to the world” Karoku replies [x - first page], “and this vegetation is very useful”.

Nai then says: “You were the one that killed the people from the Third Ship, right?” while Eleska turns around shocked while she exclaims “What?!”.

“That’s right” KK says [x - second page].

“They were necessary too!! Why did you do something so horrible?!” Nai yells.

Karoku says “Your judgment is too biased in favor of humans... the grass you are stepping on will die because of you. And also the little insects you crused while walking... why did you do something so horrible?”  [x - first page].

Nai looks shocked but doesn’t know what to answer. KK continues: “If you think like that you won’t be able to put one foot in front of the other to advance. And for me, the destruction of the Third Ship was necesary to keep moving, do you understand it?”.

Nai doesn’t reply and KK says: “I don’t give more importance to humans than to other beings [x - second page]. Now Nai, there’s something I want to show you the foot of this rock, let’s go” [x].

Eleska is marveled at the sight and asks Karoku if those floating lights are fireflies but he says they are actually very ancient organisms and that their glow is because of their incuna cells. He continues saying that he made them develop their habilities more than normal and also that he was the one who created that pond/mare where they are [x - first page].

He then asks Nai if he can feel their power resonating in his body, and explains that that’s due to the iris cells (which Niji’s are made of) being pretty similar to incuna cells.

Nai begins panting and Eleska asks him worried if he’s okay [x - second page].

He says he’s hot, that his body feels light and that it’s like there’s an energy entering inside him. Eleska tells KK that it seems Nai is not feeling well [x - first page] but KK remains unfazed while he tells Nai: “Try to understand and remember it all. After that, you will have to choose” [x - second page].

We see a flashback of Niji-Nai. Someone is saying: “If you are weak... is for a good reason” [x - first page].

Nai is in pain, he thinks to himself “Aah... this voice, I heard it a very long time ago...” while he faints [x - second page].

—

Back to the Research Tower and my beloved Akari now.

Ako is reprimanding Doctor Akari for being a workaholic and for not taking care of his health and tells him to get some rest. 

He says that even Gareki went to bed already (yeah sure lol). Akari tells Ako to go ahead and then he too leaves the office [x].

But Gareki was actually hiding behind a cabinet, waiting for the doctor to leave [x].

He goes to Akari’s computer to look for more information about Nai [x] while he recalls that no matter how much he searched he couldn’t find any information about Tsubame’s hospitalization nor the Research Tower’s history. He is also suspicious of Circus, he’s sure there’s more to it than just destroying Kafka.

He needs a password to access sensei’s computer so he created a program to decode it but then, just when he’s about to insert the pendrive with the decoding program, someone else enters the password to access the files [x].

—END—

Update: Check chapter 129 here.