#do not bully me i got into the manga just a while ago !!!!!

[psychlocke]

what the hell is with the yaoi ship featuring kabru? sorry i can't hear you over the sounds of my tragic monsterfucker yuri?

[nereisi]

You want a non-cliché male (shounen) protagonist? I got it!

Something that I literally can’t get out of my head recently is how I constantly see discourse about the staleness of male MCs - especially shounen manga protagonists - always so ready and accepting of being the Chosen One. Always so ready to discard their “mundane” life and embark on some dangerous mission. Outspoken, fiery and with unbeatable charisma.

And while we are beginning to see (minimal) change with recent books/manga, do you know who was literally the antithesis of this a lot of years ago?

Tsuna.

Tsuna who was literally the last choice for everything, whose nickname was Loser-Tsuna, constantly bullied and harassed and whom nobody thought he would ever amount to anything. 0 friends, 0 abilities, 0 accomplishments. 

And when some guy to tell him “You can become the head of a mafia family. You’re gonna be respected, sought after.”, when Reborn serves him POWER on a silver platter... Tsuna says “oh hell no, fOck all that”, turns tail and RUNS. 

He won’t manage to escape forever, but that’s beside the point. Tsuna is a coward, a plain nobody, so boringly normal that in any other anime he would be for sure one of the background filler characters. He isn’t cut to be a protagonist. He’s wimpy, weak and whiny, sometimes to the point of being annoying ever for me - and I love KHR.

But what fascinates me is this. A character so weak and bullied, usually would be elated to have that much power offered to him. I knew that he was the protagonist, so the first time I watched the series I was expecting him to accept the power and better himself, become a different person, a hero. (Or, if he was in another manga, a villain.) 

Instead, not only Tsuna refuses - again and again, until the very end - to become who he was destined to be, who everyone around him wants him to be; but the only time he uses the power he was gifted with is strictly to protect himself, his friends and family. And then he quickly steps away immediately after, like when you move a scalding pot without mittens. 

His guardians have become... his guardians, in order, because: 1) he saved his life, so he thinks he’s cool 2) mostly head empty, only vibes (also he saved his life) 3) a literal child bribed with candy 4) somebody else asked him and he just went with the flow 5) one crumb of kindness got them hooked (actually 2 psycopaths in one body and it’s not a metaphor) 6) doesn’t give a shit as long as you give him a good fight. 

Sure, at some point they all recognize his strenght, but apart from Gokudera’s blind idolization, for everybody Tsuna is just A Guy. He might be their “boss”, and they might come to respect him, but he gets treated nothing like a cliché male MC. 

It’s really a shame that Katekyo Hitman Reborn, as a series, was managed badly as it did. Even though it’s one of my favorite shows, it’s weakened by a lot of factors... but an uninteresting MC? It ain’t one!

I smell a reboot in the air. I really hope they will to the series justice.

[fic-dumpster]

Only time will tell

Word count: 3k+

Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen (idk gojo? Nanami?) x reader

Warnings: none? Nonsense? Manga divergent, attempt at a fix-it-fic, Y/N is a looser, unfinished, no beta🫡 we die like a jjk characters. 3erd person POV (I wanted to try something dif but i regret that decision now).

Sorcerers, below assistants, managers, and supervisors. Everyone’s part of the well-oiled machine in the so-called Jujutsu world.

Under all of them is Y/N. The janitor of the Jujutsu world.

Fixing someone’s problem was her job. Be it cleaning crumbling buildings, or roads after sorcerers and curses fought. In short, tidying up the aftermath. Because of her, nowadays none gave much thought to what would happen if their cursed techniques damaged their surroundings.

Y/N was content doing what she could to support the order and balance of things… until a pair of clear blue eyes disturbed the balance of her life.

Chapter 1: It’s probably what’s best for you

“It’s probably what’s best for you,” Yuki told Todo’s friend.

Nine years later, Y/N could still hear that same phrase every time she got ready for work. She was given the option to stay behind, to continue to see curses, and never be able to do a thing to stop them. Not human but not a sorcerer either. Not even a window.

Y/N had ignored half of Yuki’s comment back then and that’s why she’s here today. Ready to step into action after some second-grade sorcerers finished his mission.

It wasn’t much, just a couple of crumbled walls and a hole or two. It was nothing compared to whenever she’s sent for cleanup after Gojo Satoru. He made hurricanes and earthquakes look nice.

“The barrier is up,” not even glancing her way, an assistant informed Y/N. “Please hurry up.”

Without answering, Y/N began fixing their mess.

May, 2008.

Aoi Todo, eight years old, beat up a high school kid.

Y/N understood it wasn't her fault, but that didn't stop the strange feeling of remorse flowering in her tummy. Blood decorated the ground as she stood observing Todo sitting on top of the older kid.

“That’s what he gets for mocking me,” Todo spad blood, adding more red to the green grass underneath him, “why does he care if I only hang out with you.”

Todo and Y/N have been the best of friends since he could remember. Todo beat every single person who made fun of Y/N and that happened almost every single day. Crying-Y/N, crazy-Y/N, and freaky-Y/N were some of the names kids in their district called her. Why? well, Y/N could see curses. Those weird shaped monsters scared her to death. So much so that she couldn’t control her fear and thus her reaction to them. Todo didn’t question why she cried. Curses are ugly monsters after all. What he didn’t understand was why all the others bullied his friend.

Back to the present Y/N noticed a fourth presence. Looking up from where she stood, she noticed a woman watching them with a strange glint in her eyes.

“Nice fight, boy!” The blond woman with a motorcycle and a weird snake shouted at Todo. “So, when it comes to women, what’s your type?”

That phrase presented the last day of their normal human life.

August, 2008.

Admitting that seeing curses wasn’t enough, Y/N almost gave up, but the third grader was a stubborn little thing. The training Todo went through was excruciating and Yuki realized pretty fast that Y/N wasn’t sorcerer material.

April, 2016.

While Todo went and became a superstar at Kyoto Jujutsu High, Y/N barely got the cleaning job. No, she didn’t even qualify as a manager or assistant. She couldn’t even perform a veil.

Eight years ago, Yuki did find a very interesting technique in the young girl. Every time Todo was injured, a strange thing happened, time stopped and every drop of blood from the boy went back to where it belonged. Todo looked as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t reverse curse technique. It was something similar to small time jumps… back and forth. It didn’t always work as expected, seeing Todo’s current face scar. Then Yuki soon noticed Y/N’s technique only worked on inanimate objects and… surprisingly, Todo. It also didn’t work when other cursed techniques were active or with cursed objects. It means, no curse energy she wasn’t comfortable with should be present for Y/N’s technique to work. That’s her limit and it didn’t change with time. No matter how much Yuki pushed Y/N.

However, there was something that bothered Yuki. Something she couldn’t grasp or understand about Y/N so instead of just kicking her to the curve, Yuki gave her two options.

“Stay and do what you can to help or go back to being the freak girl at your school, but no Todo this time.” as always, Yuki was blunt. Not an ounce of compassion for the young girl.

May, 2016

The assistant who was assigned to Y/N’s first cleanup job, moved out of the barrier so she could turn back the time in that specific area and fix the demolished street.

And she did it. As if nothing ever happened… the children’s doodles on the sidewalk reappeared, the overgrown weeds, cracks on the asphalt, and even the old stains on walls emerged.

What an amazing power, anyone would think, but Y/N knew better. What is the point if it doesn’t work against anyone or anything?

“I’m done here!” Y/N stepped out of the barrier with a tired expression, though not from exhaustion. “Where to next?” it was because she knew this was gonna be it for the rest of her life.

It’s probably what’s best for me, she thought.

Chapter 2: A watch, a mask and the sun

Unlike most sorcerers, Nanami tried to focus on his assignment, be done and gone. Nothing perturbed his concentration on the job or after it. Except today, when he couldn't find his watch. He looked everywhere for it. Wrists? Nothing. Pockets? Nothing. The car that picked him up? Nada.

Nanami must have dropped it amid the fight, and nothing bothered him more than misplacing his stuff. Oh, and maybe Gojo.

It was late, later than he expected by the time Nanami got back to the place he had faced the curse. Before arriving, he called the assistant manager assigned to the case and asked if anyone had seen a watch or anything remotely similar at the location where he had exorcised a grade-one curse, but none reported anything, so here he stood.

The darkness of the night felt different once it was past midnight, it gave the place even more of an eerie feeling. Once the blond sorcerer stepped into the building or what was supposed to be left of it after the fight, something wasn't right, he stopped dead in his tracks, muscles tense, and only heavy silence filled the place.

The place, which was once destroyed, looked as if no battle had ever taken place in it. Nanami checked his surroundings in case it was a domain or veil, but nothing. Not a single trace of any kind of energy. Not even his own or the curse that once lived there.

Somewhere in Japan, Y/N was in a car.

“Oh my god,” Y/N couldn't believe the price of the watch she found back at the crumbling building. After fixing the place, she almost buried the watch. Now looking up the model, her internet search showed about $4,150.00 and that was even before taxes. Who in their right mind wears that and just drops it? She couldn't wrap her head around such a thing.

After processing the price shock, Y/N wasn’t so clueless as to whom this might belong to. Seeing as it was a first-grade curse and it was exorcised in less than a day, and the price of the watch screamed jujutsu paycheck… oh, and taking into account the mess left at the site. Yeah, it definitely screams jujutsu sorcerer. The answer was clear, it belonged to some big-shot sorcerer, so she did what was right and called the only person she knew with that type of knowledge.

“Shoko? Hi? It's Y/N,” she wasn't going to call Yuki or anyone else. Shoko was the only person decent enough to establish a conversation. “I have a small problem and I don't know if you could help me?”

The next morning, Y/N was at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High even before sunrise.

“Okay… Shoko said to find Ijichi at the Tokyo branch and he would make sure to deliver it to its rightful owner,” Y/N held the watch in her hands as if her life depended on it. What if it got scratched in her bag or something? Better safe than sorry.

Y/N was so focused on her task as she climbed the infinite stairs to reach the main office that she didn't notice a second person going in the same direction not far from her.

In the same vicinity, Ino Takuma was just arriving from a mission and on his way to give a report when a young woman caught his attention, and he almost missed a step. Going up the stairs in front of him, was a girl holding something he instantly recognized. Nanami’s watch.

He was about to approach the girl when a thought crossed his mind. Nanami never said anything about a woman in his private life… Was she a friend? A girlfriend? Why else would she have his watch? He must have left it at her place last night and she was bringing it to his workplace and…

As the twenty-one-year-old sorcerer continued to create a whole love story for his mentor, Ino felt a bit sad. Nanami never mentioned a girlfriend before, at least not to him. Accepting the situation, Ino was happy for Nanami. She was cute as far as he could see and young— oh, she looked even younger than him. Ino was getting dizzy with so many things passing through his mind at once.

At the top of the stairs, a certain blond sorcerer awaited.

Shoko told Ijichi about Y/N’s predicament and Ijichi did hear about Nanami’s issue from another assistant. He concluded that Nanami and Y/N must be looking for each other so he informed the grade-one sorcerer about her and her estimated time of arrival.

Nanami scanned the girl from head to toe and observed from above how she held the watch as if it were water, and she didn't want a single drop to go to waste poured on her hands. A faint smile flickered on his face at such absurd behavior.

Anyone would think Nanami didn't smile and Ino believed as much until now. Until Ino saw his senior sorcerer flashing a ghost of a smile. If Ino hadn’t been paying close attention he would have thought he imagined it.

Ino still observing, saw that Nanami's head was directed at the girl, who was a couple of steps ahead of himself. That confirmed his suspicions. They were a couple.

Y/N was tired and having zero sleep last night didn't help her situation. “I hope whoever lost this watch carries me back down because there’s no way in hell that I’m going through these stairs again,” she mumbled with heavy breathing.

“I apologize for troubling you,” a monotone voice spoke from above.

Looking up, Y/N’s eyes clashed with a pair of goggles-like glasses. Swallowing hard, she watched the whole structure of the man in front of her. A beige suit and spotted tie, polished shoes, tall, blond, and a sculpted jawline. If Y/N didn't have air before, she sure as hell didn't even remember the function of her lungs now.

As light from the rising sun glimmered, it appeared to only light the blond sorcerer. He was like a godly apparition and Y/N was just a puny human in his presence. Ino, behind her, saw the same sunlit scene and thought the same thing. Nanami is majestic.

Given the awkward silence that followed, Ino assumed his presence was bothering them so he turned around and ran down the stairs as fast as he could. Once he was out of earshot he still took glimpses as he saw them converse with each other.

Back to the present world, Y/N realized she just stood there and stared at the glorious man. A mental slap later, she managed to speak like a normal person. “Yeah, no, I mean-” or as normal as she could.

“I believe that belongs to me,” indicated Nanami with a solemn face, “I appreciate the time you took to deliver it here.”

An internal scream later, and trying to engrave his smooth voice in her auditory system, Y/N nodded agreeing with whatever he said.

“Y/N,” red covered the apple of her cheeks, “Hi, I'm Y/N,” Blink! Don’t forget to blink, “Yes, of course, it was no problem!” She took the last steps with jelly-like legs and finally delivered the watch to its owner.

Nanami’s hand grazed hers when retrieving the item. Y/N felt her pulse flatten and then go into overdrive. A rough, big, calloused hand brushed her skin, and… it was over. He quickly put on the watch.

Breath! Y/N mentally reminded herself. The problem was she never met anyone like Nanami before. Someone who overwhelmed her senses like he did, someone who filled every space available in her mind and left no room for anything else. Was this love at first sight?

As Y/N got lost in thought about the golden man, Nanami had other questions in mind, and he wasted no time in asking them out loud.

“May I know how you came to find my watch?” said Nanami, clearing his throat so Y/N could pay attention to his words.

“Watch? Oh…!” She hurriedly tidied up her thoughts, “I found it at my last job, kinda careless on your part using something so expensive when killing curses, don’t you think?” she scrunched her nose at the image.

Taken aback by the sudden comment, Nanami just ignored it as he acknowledged it was true. “And why were you there? Even if I did get rid of the curse, the place was dangerous since the edifice was about to collapse,” after hearing her, he abruptly became more interested in finding out who she was.

“Well, that’s my part of the job, you know,” Y/N still had to look up at him, even when they were practically on the same step. “Clean up after y'all leave chaos and debris,” moving her hands and fingers in a small explosion-like form.

Confusion clouded Nanami’s face, brows crinkled, “I didn't know a division like that existed.”

“It doesn't,” Y/N chuckled, “and if it does then I am the only member- ” She was about to explain a bit more about her role on the nonexistent cleanup team when the ringing of her phone interrupted.

“I- “ but Nanami never got the chance to finish either because his phone rang too.

“It seems we both have other matters to attend to. I'm happy you got your watch! Have a nice day!” Y/N almost flew down the stairs as she didn't even let Nanami say his goodbyes.

The sorcerer gave a quick glance at his phone before looking back to the girl who almost rolled down the stairs. If Ino hadn't popped up and caught the girl in his arms then she sure would have kissed the hard stone of the stairs.

Ignoring the two youngsters chatting on the stairs, Nanami called back the number that just interrupted his conversation, he had some questions still unanswered.

“Ye-”

“NANAMIN! Who’s the girl you were just standing with?!!” Gojo could never mind his own business.

Well, that answered one of his questions. Gojo didn't know Miss Clean-up team.

Running down the stairs isn’t a good idea, especially for Y/N since her foot-leg coordination was not the best. So a slip and a scream later, closing her eyes, she swore she could taste the rock of the steps. Until a pair of arms stopped the fall.

Holding her bridal style, Ino kept walking down the stairs. “So… Y/N, right?” said Ino, as if carrying someone was such a mundane task, “how long have you known Nanami?”

“What?” oh gods, not this too. Why was he still carrying her? Y/N felt her face redden three times more than it already was, “Uhm, just now.”

“Just… now… you mean… he isn't… you two aren’t…” Ino’s heart was shattered. He felt as if his parents divorced or something. A heavy disappointment burned in his chest as the story he created earlier disappeared before his eyes. He stopped moving.

“Hey, I am very thankful for you… you know… catching me but-”

“Did you steal it?” Ino’s heartbeat accelerated, thinking of the precious watch he wanted so much. “Are you a thief?”

Ino knows he tends to create stories before he even has the chance to check the facts as seen in the previous situation. But the watch was such an important thing for him too and she wasn't what he thought she was.

“Thief? Me?” Y/N outrageously replied, “You’re the one walking with a ski mask! All in black!”

As they bickered, Ino moved once more, and they both kept going down the stairs. Forgotten was the fact that he was holding Y/N.

Once home and ready to take a nap, Y/N thought back to her bizarre day. Two high-grade sorcerers and a lost watch. What a day…

After those encounters, she now sat in her room and again, mentally slapped herself. Why did she act like that? That was such an out-of-character behavior for her. It must be her ovulation or something.

Oh… shut… Y/N forgot about Aoi’s call.

Chapter 3: Elementary school disaster

2017

“What type of idiot makes such a mess?” Seventeen-year-old Y/N could barely hold the acid in her throat. The putrid smell of rotten meat surrounded the young girl who walked alone towards the elementary school entrance.

The curse that was exorcised a couple of hours ago, more like exploded, was taking its sweet time to evaporate. Y/N hated working nightshifts and it was even worse that the whole place was covered with a nasty purple slimy substance. Since it wasn't a living thing, she knew her technique would work just fine.

“Oookay… let’s get this done and go home,” said Y/N to none in particular. Already used to working on her own and maintaining monologues by herself. She focused on the task and… Nada… not a single thing happened.

Her energy wasn't working. Not a single piece of glass went back to normal. Nothing.

“What the hell?!?” Y/N shook her hands trying to activate her curse technique.

Not far from where she stood, a man in monk-like robes observed the lonely girl shaking her arms like a maniac. He would have called her a monkey with disgust, but something wasn't right with her. Besides the fact that she was standing alone at night and dancing weirdly. It wasn't the same sensation as a sorcerer or a human. What was she?

Soon the intrigue died, he couldn’t waste his time with whatever this was. Picking up the student ID from the rooftop, the man disappeared. Leaving the girl to her antics.

“YESS!” Y/N finally got a hold of her powers and the building began to fix itself.

A/N: I had an idea once upon a time but I no longer have it so here’s crumbs. Aaaand I’m sorry if my English sucks… I forgot how to write in this language. Let’s blame Gege either way. This is soooo old btw~ just posting to free my soul of the guilt.

[kurisus]

Noragami: Final Chapter thoughts

For the last time :') I've been making these for roughly half the manga's runtime, both in chapter count and years. Which is wild to think, but anyway, spoilers under the cut. One final time.

I really spent the first half of this chapter with bated breath alternating between being relieved that Hiyori is okay and grew up to be a doctor and everything, and stressed about where Yato was and where her memories were. Then Yato showed up, and I think I burst into tears out of hysterics. They really got me, I thought he was gone.

That aside, it was an excellent chapter. I was right when I said that this would just be an epilogue and the true suffering was over, but god. god. I'm relieved they gave me that open ending and the chapter was mostly good old-fashioned Noragami silliness. With the expected gut punches.

It's probably a good thing that Yuka never got to reunite with her brother, but at least knows that he's resting in peace. That he was given a proper burial by someone who, at the time, barely knew him but wanted to make things right anyway. Great now I'm crying again.

Hiyori's pocket with the little capyper keychain she bought forever ago. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Yato's CPR being so intense it cracked Hiyori's ribs. god he was so desperate to save her. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

HER TOUCHING HER LIPS WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Fujisaki getting nostalgic seeing tall grass (as we know from the omake is called kaya) was weirdly touching. Though Father has faded, Kaya is the one that is still remembered. We never got to learn his real name, and while I am still curious about it, I can see the purpose--by not knowing his name, we the readers don't give him a lifeline.

That's not the only fourth wall lean in the final chapter. There was also Yato being able to save himself by becoming a meme, much like how the fandom and Adachitoka have memed on him for years as well.

Back to the chapter, it looks like Father's consciousness had always been lurking alongside Fujisaki's, maybe making him do things from time to time, which is really weird and creepy. Maybe he was dormant until the Yomi arc, but either way he's been doing this to a dozen other guys over the centuries. I'm glad the cycle was broken.

It's hilarious that Fujisaki tries to ask Hiyori out and she's just like haha not interested coo phone be upon ye.

I'm so glad the cherry blossom party has become an annual tradition with even more gods invited to the party. I'm also so glad that Yato refuses to release Kazuma and Bishamon apparently makes it a point to bully him about this whenever she sees him. But also, Kazuma doesn't seem to want to be released. He's just like yeah whatever man I'm glad you saved us. Cheers.

Side note, Kazuma's new glasses look a lot like the ones he was wearing in that 100 years ago flashback of him and Bishamon, around chapter 68 or 69 I think?

So we also get to see the aftermath of what happened to Yukine--he still transforms into a wolf every now and then, because much like how Nora transforms into a snakelike creature whenever she loses control of her emotions, his form is a wolf, and unlike Nora he's always been very emotional. So the nightmares come out and Yato's left with a giant wolf thrashing around in their shared living space lol, but at least his dad is there to hug him :')

WAIT STOP PAUSE EVERYTHING IT LOOKS LIKE THEY SHARE A BED NOW. I JUST COLLAPSED INTO A BALL.

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

The panel of Yato hugging him made me lose it again. THEY'RE SOOOOOOOO.

So we never did get to find out what happened to Yukine's father--but as I pointed out in the reread I did during December, I don't think it matters. Yukine wasn't going to exact revenge on him anyway because he's not the kind of person to do so.

The page of Nora reading Hiyori's diary also made me so sad. Hiyori's right--she probably did have parents who loved her, but she never got to meet them. One thing I noticed throughout this manga is shinki habitually chasing something relating to their pasts. Yukine craves a good relationship with a father figure, Kazuma is obsessed with Bishamon because he missed out on marrying a girl he loved, Daikoku acts like a dad to every child he meets because he died before having his own kids, and like Yukine, Hiiro craves the parental love she never had. And as Hiyori pointed out, being given a name by Father was like being given life.

Since we didn't get to see what became of her name situation, but Yukine still bears the Hagusa name, she must still have Mizuchi. If her master is gone, can she still draw borderlines? Does she hang around with Yato and Yukine still? Adachitoka didn't say Kofuku DIDN'T name her, so...

The way Hiyori remembered Yato because of his scent had me SOBBING, yall. She didn't forget, but she did solve her problem and it was solved by people, just like they've been saying throughout the manga. But now, they can be together again. Yato was away from her for some years, and maybe he'll leave for several more (it's been a repeated thing in the manga that he'll insist he has to stay away for her own good), but the point is that even if it's been years and years, she'll always remember him. It's open-ended, but that just means it can be my preferred ending of Hiyori not forgetting but choosing to distance herself. She'll meet up with Yato and Yukine every once in a while living her own, separate, fulfilling life. They've been watching over her all these years anyway.

And so, that brings us to the close. It's as happy an ending as we could have possibly gotten, and above all else, I'm relieved. I've been saying for...years, probably, that I want an open ending, but I really thought it was off the table with recent events.

Final hangups are the same as they were in my final reread (tagged under #Noragami reread on my blog), so I won't repeat them, but the bottom line is that I got everything I wanted out of this ending--except maybe a trio hug? But that interior illustration of the four of them, all smiling and happy, Yato's arm around his sister, made up for that. I kind of wish there was a Yatori kiss for real, but the panel of her touching her lips also assuaged that.

Anyway, I'm not sure what other manga would/will make me unhinged enough to type up monthly thoughts posts for years, but I'll be tuned in to whatever new Adachitoka has coming up. Whether it's a full series, a short series, or just a oneshot, I'll be reading every word. I'm also looking forward to getting the final volume once it releases here, and praying for an artbook announcement.

Thank you for reading! I have some posts to make, some projects to plan, and I'll be diving into the tag once more for old times' sake. This won't be the last of me!

[very-grownup]

So a couple years ago, I fell into watching Chinese dramas and because my posts about the most recent one garnered some curiosity, here are the dramas what I have watched.

Hikaru no Go

DID YOU KNOW. DID YOU KNOW. THAT IN 2020 THERE WAS A CHINESE DRAMA ADAPTATION OF HIKARU NO GO AND IT IS AMAZING AND MADE ME CRY ALL OVER AGAIN? It is faithful in spirit while making understandable alterations both for the setting and to avoid managing child actors for the entirety of the series (there are about six episodes with Hikaru/Shi Guang as an elementary school student before a time jump to high school).

If you are unfamiliar with Hikaru no Go I recommend becoming familiar with Hikaru no Go, my first and still one of the best sports manga. It's what Takeshi Obata was the artist on before Death Note and my hot take is that Obata post-Hikaru no Go is mid at best.

Hikaru no Go is a sports series about the most normal boy finding an antique go board that houses the soul of an ancient go master who died too young and with go regrets, so he bullies/guilts the boy into helping him play go so he can see or play a divine go move. In the process he acquires a rival/stalker in the form of the genius son of a go master. It's amazing and the drama absolutely does it justice.

The heart of the series is the relationship between Hikaru/Shi Huang and Fujiwara no Sai/Chu Ying.

It's just a fucking good series.

The Untamed

According to one description on imdb, this is about two friends solving a series of murders. This is technically true, although it neglects to mention a few details.

Sixteen years after doing a whole lot of demonic blood magic shit and dying because of it, hated by society, Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan) is brought back from the dead by more super demonic blood magic and is recognized by his noble and esteemed peer/friend Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo) and trying to deal with why Wei Wuxian has been brought back from the dead leads to their investigating a series of murders that result in their becoming entangled in wider political schemes stretching back twenty years.

It's got weird pacing, prolonged flashbacks to explain a lot of the relationship dynamics, and basically an entirely self-contained sub-story that brings the main plot to a grinding halt. There are creatures and CGI effects of interesting quality. There are amazing wigs. There are piles of corpses. There's physical torture and emotional torture and some doomed love stuff and sword fights and musical instrument fights and a donkey and chicken theft and brotherhood and what you're willing to sacrifice for your goals and what goals you're willing to sacrifice for and it is based on a novel that ends in the protagonists raw dogging on the side of the road.

That part's not in the show.

Douluo Continent

Ignorant country boy Tang San (Xiao Zhan) finds himself involved in the world of martial arts and magic after discovering a hidden talent and ends up in the group of fellow martial artists who are all weird or unorthodox or hiding crucial bits of their backstory like girl who is actually a rabbit and immediately decides Tang San is her best friend/husband (Wu Xianyi), guy who needs to become powerful enough to kill his older brother (Gao Taiyu), girl who rejected an engagement to the would-be brother killer and wants to fight him (Liu Mei Tong), guy who wants to ditch martial arts to become a great actor (Liu Run Nan), and girl who is too rich to be here (Ding Xiaoying). They learn together, they grow together, they fight monsters and embark on a tournament arc, and there's an overarching mystery about Tang San and his weak but simultaneously super powerful spirit summoning.

Even though the best technique is clearly the one where the boy in question can summon a sausage that you eat and heals you.

It's very much of a specific genre that can be pretty samey, but Douluo Continent has a charming cast that makes up for its predictable plot beats.

It does end on a cliffhanger that is possibly resolved in the sequel series where ... all the main characters were recast with, I'm guessing, slightly less pricey actors. Such is the way of things.

Word of Honour

Do you like knowing what's going on? Then get the fuck out of here, Word of Honour is not for you. Real ones want to be immediately submerged into chaos and confusion and secret identities. You want Mr Bones' Wild Ride in plot form. Why has former superassassin Zhou Zishu (Zhang Zhe Han) abandoned the sect of assassins he created to live in wandering drunk anonymity as he slowly dies? Why is Wen Kexing (Gong Jun) stalking him aside from poorly censored horny desires? Is Wen Kexing actually a ghost? Can any of the impressionable youths attaching themselves to Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing be stopped from their very poor choices in role models? What is up with this legendary hidden armoury and why do Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing seem unable to escape the conspiracy around it? HOW HARD IS IT TO GET WOLONG'S FAMOUS NUTS?

Not recommended for people who constantly want to know what's happening or why X is doing Y, but great if you want to watch with someone and then after an episode, walk your dogs and try to figure out what's going on and what's going to happen (you will be wrong).

Advance Bravely

What if the most ridiculously unrealistic and unhinged slashfic by a teenage girl who doesn't fully understand anything was adapted into a drama series where censorship means everything must be painted with a special "no homo" brush? You get Advance Bravely which is the most incoherently homoerotic thing I've ever watched. No one thinks you should watch Advance Bravely and you watch Advance Bravely and you agree but sometimes you just have to watch a beautiful trainwreck where the protagonist explains his lack of a girlfriend with erectile dysfunction and the series climax involves his being, essentially, trapped in a well.

Love Between Fairy and Devil

DO YOU WANT TO GO FULL SHOUJO MANGA FANTASY?

Innocent fairy Orchid (Yu Shuxin) just wants to strengthen her immortal spirit and pass the exam that would let her serve in the palace of the fairy capital so she can catch glimpses of the War God Chang Heng (Zhang Ling He) who she is hopelessly in love with. Instead, an attempt to help her crush causes her to bumble her way into the high security spiritual prison that has held Dongfang Qingcang, the Moon Supreme (Dylan Wang), for 30,000 years.

DO YOU LIKE BIG NUMBERS BECAUSE YOU WILL GET TO SEE SOME BIG NUMBERS IN TERMS OF TIME SPAN AND AGES.

Because of some plot magic, Orchid and the Moon Supreme swap bodies and loophole out of prison, much to her distress. Their fates are tied together and Orchid becomes more familiar with the wider world and the politics between the realms and how much the fairy realm's supreme ruler fucking suuuuuuuuuuuucks while Moon Supreme finds himself having feelings again after they were tortured out of him in a mystical coffin prison as a child.

Moon Supreme's closest friend is a dragon. Orchid's closest friend is an opportunistic snakeoil saleswoman. There's a pissy younger brother and a bitchy but honourable love rival. There are secret origins and reincarnation and hidden identities and the way it alternates broad comedy and melodrama and sweet romance may give you whiplash.

I just love a bodyswap, you guys.

Sailor Moon vibes but Mamoru is actually interesting and becomes likeable.

Guardian

Okay so the best thing about Guardian is not only that it's a censored adaptation of a novel with a same-sex romance, but that /the entire premise/ is altered for television purposes.

The novel is steeped in Chinese folk religion and the Underworld is real and mythical creatures secretly walk among us.

In the show?

ALIENS, BABY.

Ghosts? THOSE AREN'T REAL BECAUSE HUMANS DON'T HAVE SOULS, THEY'RE JUST ENERGY BEINGS.

It's so ridiculous it's endearing.

Anyway, it's about bros solving mysteries with a Monster of the Week vibe until it becomes about possibly the end of the world and alien domination and evil twins.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook

IT'S TIME TO SOLVE CRIMES. IN ANCIENT CHINA.

Quack doctor Li Lianhua (Cheng Yi) is just trying to live a quiet life with his dog and his horse-drawn house. Fang Duobing (Joseph Zeng) just wants to gain admittance into the martial art cop organization that's carrying on the legacy of his dead teacher, Li Xiangyi, who was maybe never actually his teacher and also wasn't killed ten years previously by Di Fei Sheng (Xiao Shunyao), the head of an evil martial arts sect who is also not dead. Not nearly as many people as people think are dead! Identities are cleverly hidden behind pseudonyms and various levels of mask!

Crimes are solved and Li Lianhua is very tired about the whole thing. It's an unwilling buddy cop sort of thing until it becomes about youthful hubris and the sins of the past and also one woman's determination to conquer the world and give it to the man she loves, even if he doesn't want the world and also doesn't love her. We love a woman who takes what she wants and if necessary cuts a man's tendons and imprisons him in a torture pool so his blood can't clot until he agrees to be her wife, don't we, folks?

Folks?

Story of Kunning Palace

The scheming empress Jiang Xue Ning (Bai Lu) dies and wakes up, eighteen-years-old, at the point in her life where she's on the verge of making the start of the decisions that lead her to the Very Bad End. She is going to make different decisions this time and prevent the things she regrets and avoid becoming the empress at all costs.

What you need to know about Story of Kunning Palace is that Bai Lu could have chemistry with a rock and she inadvertently collects a bisexual harem. Her end game love interest is Xie Wei (Zhang Ling He), the man who killed her, an advisor to the emperor, music teacher, double or triple agent, and sufferer of vampire snow madness and a fear of cats, whether adorably fluffy or badly CGI'd. But she's in love with noble civil servant Zhang Zhe (Wang Xing Yue), a pure and hardworking man who she seduced into betraying his principles, leading to his imprisonment and probable death. However, her childhood friend Yan Lin (Zhou Jun Wei) is in love with her and previously she rejected him VERY HARSHLY after his family fell into disfavour due to political machinations and Jiang Xue Ning had cemented the likelihood of her marriage to the next emperor. Also there's Princess Le Yang (Liu Xie Ning), who Jiang Xue Ning made an enemy of after the Princess fell in love with her when Jiang Xue Ning was crossdressing and did not take the reveal of her true gender well. Xue Shu (Elisa Ye) is an unfavoured daughter of a scheming lord who was the only truly loyal person Jiang Xue Ning knew as empress. ALL OF THESE PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WITH JIANG XUE NING and you look at Bai Lu and go 'yes, that makes sense'.

It's mostly about the politics and scheming and Jiang Xue Ning trying to find a way to have a stable, satisfying life without betraying everyone she knows and standing on a pile of corpses, but the love shape Jiang Xue Ning isn't fully aware she's in is comparable in complexity to the plots between ministers and lords and dowager empresses and cousins and rebels.

The choices the characters make are maybe not always the best choices, but DAMN are they a good time.

Story of Kunning Palace is also one of the only times I have begged a character in a show to take a particular action and then she DID IT and fuck it was satisfying.

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

IT'S TIME TO SOLVE CRIMES. IN ANCIENT CHINA. AGAIN. BUT WITHOUT MARTIAL ARTS.

Tang Fan (Darren Chen) is a low-ranking government official and detective genius who loves food and hates routine work, but loves a fucked up crime. Since he spends most of his money on delicious food, he writes trashy porn under a variety of pseudonyms to pay his rent. Sui Zhou (Fu Meng Bo) is an imperial guard and ex-soldier with PTSD who has no time for nonsense but loves the passionate pursuit of justice and food. He's also From Money and has a very empty house that Tang Fan whines his way into after they solve a case together. Everyone is manipulated by dangerously powerful eunuch Wang Zhi (Liu Yao Yuan) who is the enemy of basically everyone, except for Tang Fan, who has the political and social awareness of a rock.

An amiably pathetic man solves a variety of mysteries, from murder to complex imperial assassination plots and also this really complicated one involving diluting the purity of silver currency, and also the executive producer is Jackie Chan.

It's missing the romance subplot that I understand is in the source novel and also apparently there's an overarching plot involving a cult?! which we don't get here, but there's lots of bombs which are almost as good as a cult, maybe? (They're not.)

Divine Destiny

This is the one we're currently watching and the ride that this show is. How many plots can be crammed into one show? How many ridiculous but true things can I say about this show?

Ji Ruochen (Ma Tianyu) is an orphan who dreams of martial arts adventures. Raised by a couple who run a Crime Inn, one day a customer robbery goes very wrong when the customer turns out to be the latest incarnation of Yin Feng, the Banished God (Marius Wang). Ji Ruochen accidentally kills the Banished God and his foster parents promptly take the body into the desert and dump it down a cliff, but not before taking a necklace made from a piece of Gu Qing, the Blue Stone Goddess (Xuan Lu), which is supposed to let her recognize the Banished God in their final incarnation. Accidentally stealing the Banished God's identity, Ji Ruochen finds himself a hotly desired commodity by the cultivation sects who are all eager to have the Banished God as a disciple for prophecy reasons. He goes with Zhang Yinyin (Angelababy), a feisty, argumentative girl who has had to work extra hard because her spirit was contaminated by a demonic root planted by the evil nine-tailed fox who is poorly imprisoned in a cave anyone can access.

MEANWHILE some dudes with amazing moustaches and a penchant for laughing in delight at their own evil have found the body of the Banished God and done some questionable mystical shit to put him in a new body and nurture a grudge against Ji Ruochen for stealing his identity.

THEN Gu Qing meets Ji Ruochen and like everyone else assumes he's the Banished God and she falls in love with him (Gu Qing having been a literal rock spirit who cultivated to immortality under the guidance of the Banished God, who followed her into the mortal realm and a cycle of 100 incarnations after Gu Qing accidentally Did A Crime) but then falls in love with HIM.

ALSO Zhang Yinyin is always at risk of succumbing to the temptation of using the demonic fox power that is within her even though that will literally turn her into a demon but maybe it's worth it if a woman who is actually a goddess who is actually a rock is making eyes at the junior you brought into the sect and are in love with and you want to be more powerful than her?

ALSO what's the mysterious power that let Ji Ruochen kill the Banished God in the first place?

IS the woman seeking revenge for the death of the Banished God's mortal incarnation his sister or his cousin or his "cousin"?

WHY is the only love language of immortals stalking?

There's a homunculus and a baby snake demon who is the most precious angel in the world and so many evil dudes delighted in how evil they are and TWO GOOD AND ALIVE PARENTS and a pair of comical monks who have a special attack with a name they have to shout out every time they use it.

Oh and the imprisoned fox demon may have an ex who just hangs out on a rock in something called the Endless Ocean wearing a mask and playing go against the homunculus he made.

And there's an ancient master who lives in an ice mountain and eats memories of love.

Also some people might be secret demons.

There's some weddings.

There's a tiny woman with an ice sword who brutally murders so many dudes.

Do you like CGI birds?

Do you like giant mechanical CGI birds that are for riding purposes?

There's a desert hermit who has a son who is a giant tortoise.

So many things are going on and terrible decisions are constantly being made and it's over a week before I can watch another episode and it's driving me mad. WHAT WILL BE THE FALLOUT OF THE MOST RECENT BAD DECISIONS?

[duhragonball]

Phantom Blood Liveblog JJBA ch.1-5

🇬🇧🗡️⚰️🩸🧛🐸🧂Yikes! P-part 1!🌭🍫🏰🧟🛳️🎩🥖

Back in May I liveblogged JoJolion, because I've been wanting to do it for a few years and couldn't find the time. Once I finally got into it, I had a blast, and that got me motivated to block out time to do other JoJo parts. I tried to cover the anime as I watched it in 2017, and the manga for the parts that weren't animated at the time. But I didn't really get a handle on how to do it right until later, and I always wanted to go back and read the manga for the parts I only saw in cartoon form.

And since Part 1 is the shortest one, I thought this would be the easiest one to squeeze into my busy schedule of reading comic books uh... important business. Yes, important sexy business. But liveblogging JoJo is pretty important and somewhat sexy in its own right, so let's begin, shall we?

The story opens on an ancient Aztec sacrificial ritual from sometime between the 16 and 12th centuries BCE. I don't want to spend a lot of time on that, since the main purpose of the scene is to showcase the weird, spooky mystery of the stone mask that appears throughout the story. For the first several chapters, it seems to be little more than a curiosity, but it quickly turns into something much more important.

We then jump to 1880, where Dario Brando is trying to talk to his son, Dio. Look at this. Just look at this. This is the very first time Dio has appeared in anything, anywhere, and he's flipping us all off. No one holds a book like that, Dio, you salty, salty bitch. You ain't slick.

What Dario wants to tell Dio is that he once "rescued" George Joestar back in 1868. I'm using quote marks here because what actually happened was that Dario and his wife discovered the Joestar family in a carriage wreck and tried to rob their corpses. But George was still alive, and he mistook Dario's actions as a kindness. This naivete pretty much defines George Joestar's whole character arc.

George's driver was killed in the wreck, and so was his wife, but their infant son, Jonathan survived. The anime implies that Jonathan's mom used her own body to protect Jonathan as best she could, but that isn't spelled out here. I guess that's kind of a given, though. I mean, she died and the baby lived, so what other interpretation could there be?

Anyway, George wanted to reward the Brando family, so he gave Dario a bunch of money, which he later used to start a hotel, but kind of blew it. But also, George promised to take care of Dario's son if anything ever happened to Dario. So now that he's dying, Dario tells Dio to go to the Joestar estate, where he can become a rich man.

Dio agrees to do this, but not out of any love or respect for his father. He hated Dario, mostly for being a failure who mistreated his mother, and he vows to become rich and powerful, but not for his father.

On the day Dio arrives at the estate, young Jonathan tries to rescue a doll for a girl named Erina. He doesn't know her, but he just happened to see bullies messing with her and chose to intervene. Jonathan gets his ass kicked, though. That doesnt' matter to him, though, because he considers himself a gentleman, and a true gentleman always has the courage to help those in need, even if he can't win. Especially if he can't win.

And this page might be the throughline of the entire JoJo series. I was watching some Hamon Beat videos a few weeks ago, and I was impressed with his response to the notion that Part 1 is "boring". Part 1 is literally the foundation of the entire series, and establishes all of the themes that run through the Parts that follow it. Sure, the 19th Century setting might be a little off-putting for some, and it takes a little while for the nutty super powers to kick in, but Hamon Beat makes a pretty strong argument. How much can someone really enjoy Stardust Crusaders or Diamond is Unbreakable if they hate Part 1?

Young Jonathan standing up for Erina--even when he doesn't know who she is, even when he's outnumbered-- is exactly the same thing that makes Jotaro advance towards Dio when he doesn't seem to have a chance of winning. It's the same thing that drove Josuke in his battle against Kira. Having preferences is fine. It's one thing to like Part 5 better because you liked the Stand powers or fashion choices more. But it's weird that people got into JoJo and seemed to completely miss the real heart of the story, so much so that they held the origin of it all with such contempt.

So Dio arrives to be adopted by George Joestar, and when Jonathan introduces himself, his dog Danny runs up and Dio knees him in the jaw. Keep in mind that Dio's whole agenda here is to play it cool and get in good with the family so he can score a huge inheritance. All he really has to do is behave for a few years until he's established himself, but he hates dogs, and he's too angry to hide it.

The family dynamic becomes pretty clear up front. Dio's main goal is to demoralize Jonathan any way he can. Presumably he wants to diminish Jonathan in the eyes of George, so that Dio will get the lion's share of the inheritance. And Jonathan is a little too nice for his own good, so he lets things slide in an attempt to get along. And George is still to naive to see Dio as anything but a perfect little gentleman.

For example, one night George scolds Jonathan for his table manners and sends him to bed before he can finish dinner. George points out Dio's impeccable table manners, which is... kind of ironic, considering what Dio will be doing for nutrition later on.

Anyway, the isolation really starts to get to Jonathan, and he wonders in a moment of teen angst if anyone will even miss him when he dies. This always gets to me, because Jonathan is part of this lineage of JoJo protagonists, but he's the very first one, and the second one won't show up for decades. Jonathan's the founder of this thing, but he has no way of knowing that, and it's a very lonely position to be in. If only he could know how dearly he'll be missed after he's gone, and how much his loss will mean to his descendants in the future. Maybe this is why I like Part 2 the best.

Oh, also this scene of him staring at the moon kind of reminds me of Jolyne looking at the moon in prison. But let's move on.

No, wait, let's not move on, because Jonathan's morbid thoughts lead him to notice the portrait of his dead mother that's mounted over his bed. Maybe that gives him some small comfort, the reassurance that if he misses her despite having no memory of her, then perhaps his life can mean something to others as well. Anyway, he forgot he had secret bedtime candy in his room, so he won't go to sleep hungry tonight.

But Jonathan's life still sucks. Dio quickly steals away all of Jonathan's friends by beating him at boxing with his superior fighting skills. Jonathan and his pals box for fun, but Dio grew up on the streets, so he knows all the tricks. He offers to teach the others, but warns them not to share his secrets with Jonathan, whom he says can't keep secrets.

This is sort of the basis of Dio's interpersonal skills. "Everyone wants to be friends with someone who is strong or will do something for them!" By making himself useful to the others, and making Jonathan appear weak and useless, Dio can ingratiate himself to the other boys, and isolate Jonathan further.

Later, George sees Dio checking out the Stone Mask and explains how he bought it at a yard sale in London the day of the carriage accident. Dio is curious about its value, its history, and the Aztec writings inside it, but he denies having any interest in the thing.

Meanwhile, Jonathan hits it off with Erina Pendelton, the girl he tried to help earlier in the story. They ride old-timey roller coasters and swim in old-timey swimsuits and so on.

Here's a panel of Erina chilling out with Danny that I thought was pretty cool.

But Dio quickly finds out about this, and decides to forcibly kiss Erina just to wreck what little happiness Jonathan has left.

You might have noticed by now that Dio is kind of an asshole. Again, this is the blueprint for every other villain in the franchise. Dio's already got a bright future ahead of him as an adopted son of George Joestar, but he wants more, and he believes he can increase his own fortune by oppressing others. Dio wants to dominate Jonathan, Kars wanted to dominate all of nature, Kira and Diavolo wanted to erase all evidence of their crimes to live as they pleased, and so on.

But it's not as easy as he likes to think. For all his cruel tactics and ruthless plotting, Erina can shut him down just by washing off her face with gutter water to show her contempt for him. Dio could just let this slide and appreciate how well his plan is working, but he can't. He knows he's being insulted, and he can't stand that. Deep down inside, he wants something that can't be reduced to a simple display of power. He can hurt and manipulate others but he can't make them love him.

For a while, Jonathan isn't aware of this incident between Dio and Erina, because Erina is too ashamed to go near him or tell him. But Jonathan still has Danny. George tells Dio about Danny's backstory. As a pup, Danny was timid, so Jonathan use to tease him and throw rocks at him and stuff. But then Jonathan was drowning in a river, and no one was there to help him, except Danny, who dove in and pulled him to safety like a good boy.

The moral of Danny is that he had no reason to repay Jonathan's cruelty with loyalty, but he did it anyway, and after that they became good friends, with Jonathan never giving him orders. The bond between them was more like that of trusted friends.

Of course, Dio can't understand any of this. He just sees Danny as another vulnerability of Jonathan's to exploit. It's possible, though, that Dio envies what Jonathan and Danny have together, and he can't have that for himself because the concept is so alien to him...

Later, Jonathan finally finds out about what Dio did to Erina, and he confronts Dio immediately. Dio kicks his ass again, but this time Jonathan refuses to back down. He knows if he loses this fight, he'll never escape Dio's shadow, so he knuckles up and...

BAM! PART 1 IS BORING? BITCH WHERE?

YEAH FUCK HIM UP JONATHAN! FUCK HIM UP!

So as they fight, some of Dio's blood splashes onto the Stone Mask, and it falls off the wall, then a bunch of claws come out of it, as though triggered by the blood. This distracts Jonathan, but not for very long.

Dio actually cries, although I suspect this was just a diversion so he could pull a knife, but before he can escalate things, George shows up and scolds them both for fighting in the house. Being George, though, he leans harder on Jonathan for beating Dio excessively. Dammit, George...

Dio retaliates by locking Danny into the incinerator, and the next time one of the servants uses it, he discovers Danny burning alive. I'm pretty sure the anime didn't show Danny getting out of the incinerator, so here you go.

Jonathan comes home to find out Danny's dead, and he knows Dio did it but he can't prove it or start another fight, so he just goes to bed and has a depression nap. As for Dio...

He finally does enough self-reflection to realize that he's overplaying his hand. Dio's plan is to play the long game and win the Joestar estate, but he underestimated Jonathan's righteous fury and pushed him too far. If he tries any more shenanigans, it might wreck everything, so he resolves to dial it back for a while.

Meanwhile the Stone Mask... uh... doesn't do anything. Patience, folks...

[takingback-thepenguin]

More of One of my Nerdy Prudes Must Die Concepts/AUs

So a while ago I made this post, and since then, more thoughts and ideas have come to mind! Thank you to my friends for giving me the courage to share my thoughts.

Note: I just wanted to say again that this concept takes place in a timeline where Max either chooses not to be a bully or chooses to become a better person post Waylon Place, and as a result, is a bit nicer, and has befriended the Nerdy Prudes gang. They’ve also graduated and are in college.

First things first I wanted to share my thoughts on how I think some of the characters found out about hypnosis in the first place!

Richie definitely saw someone getting put under in an anime or read about it in a manga at some point and decided "Huh, I could do that." or "I'd wanna do that." He’s probably been trying his hand at it since he was a little kid, and maybe his family humored him, but in reality it was just a game of pretend. However, once he got to high school, he actually started doing research.

Pete and Ruth probably found out that it was more than just a movie/tv show kind of thing from Richie during their childhood.

Max found out about it through a HFHS event: they got a stage hypnotist to come in, and Max saw the show along with the other seniors. Something in his brain went “Hmmmm…” and when the hypnotist asked for another volunteer from the crowd to help him with the next part of his act, Max found himself raising his hand. Helping the hypnotist out made him realize that there are ways he could help people while still fulfilling his own need for order and control (because even if he’s not a bully or has gone through a redemption arc, he’d still have that need).

Steph also found out about it through the stage hypnotist, but Richie probably told her it was more than just a stage thing at lunch one day. Grace would have also heard that conversation.

Most of the NP squad aren’t interested in being the hypnotist. The only ones who do actually take a full on interest in that role are Richie and Max. Pete and Steph would only be the hypnotist if one of their friends asked; Steph doesn’t really believe in it, but if one of her friends said “Hey, I’ve been really stressed and I think this might help. Would you help me with this?” I think she would do it. Same goes for Pete. But even then, it would take a lot of researching before either one would be willing to attempt it.

Now that we’ve established that, here are some characters that I think would work well together!

Hypnotist!Richie and Subject!Ruth: I definitely think Ruth would trust Richie as a hypnotist enough to let him help her over the hurdle of letting go and getting out of her head. I also think they'd do some improv/acting exercises with it to help Ruth improve on her acting and get over her stage fright. It could involve him acting as a stage hypnotist (because Richie would get into that performative aspect) and she’s coming up in front of the audience, or maybe while she’s under they just go through a monologue or scene. Either way, Richie would reassure her that she’s doing great. I think Ruth would probably ask him to cuddle at some point, and he’d oblige. Cue the cuteness.

Hypnotist!Pete and Subject!Richie. Pete would only be doing this because Richie asked him to, and he wants to help his best friend out. He would definitely feel kind of goofy at the beginning of the induction, but as he goes along he starts to build up some confidence and by the time Richie's under, Pete is completely serious. Richie would probably ask for cuddles, and I can see fluff ensuing.

Hypnotist!Richie and Subject!Pete. Even though Pete is nervous and feels a little silly asking, like Ruth, he trusts Richie enough to help him get out of his head for a bit. I think he’d also ask for cuddles once under because he just wants to relax. Again, cue the cuteness.

Hypnotist!Steph and Subject!Max. Like Pete, Steph likely would not do this unless asked (and it'd take some convincing), but I think Max truly would let himself be vulnerable around her. I think he trusts her, and would let go if she was the one putting him under. And all he’d want to do is take a breather from everyone’s expectations of him and lower that invincible front that he puts up.

Hypnotist!Steph and Subject!Pete. This would only be if Pete asked, and again, would take some convincing and a lot of research. Pete would probably have to reassure her that this is what he wants and he believes in her. I think he'd definitely trust her enough that he'd get out of his head...but considering his feelings for her, he may actually have trouble getting out of his head cause his mind might be racing. I do think eventually though he’d relax and fluff would ensue.

Hypnotist!Max and Subject!Richie. I think it’d be interesting to see since they’re the ones I have the most thoughts about for this AU/concept. They’re the ones who would be the most interested in the topic and the most performative. And if they had that trust and friendship from the start or built up that trust, it could be interesting, since one is the one who enjoys playing the hypnotist role the most, and the other is the one who goes under the easiest.

Hypnotist!Richie and Subject!Max. This would be an interesting role reversal to see as well. I think Richie would find it a fun challenge since Max isn't so easily hypnotized. However, I don't think he'd get Max under in the end and if he did...well, it would take a good long while. It’d be interesting to see what could happen if they had that friendship and trust from the start or ended up building up that trust.

Now here are some headcanons I’ve come up with:

If Richie is the hypnotist and either Pete or Ruth are the subject, I think he uses something Star Wars related. He spins Pete’s kyber crystal (that they all like to fidget with) around with his fingers and has them watch as it catches the light. Maybe if he does a trigger, he includes the Jedi Mind Trick wave as part of it.

Going off of that last bit, Pete and Ruth have gotten into debates about whether that counts as the Jedi Mind Trick, or just as hypnotism. Pete’s stance is "No he just implemented a trigger to repeat what he said back to him after he waved his hand." and Ruth’s stance is "Hell yeah, the Jedi Mind Trick is real."

Additionally, Richie found that he liked fidgeting with the kyber crystal and so he ended up buying himself a kyber crystal necklace so he could fidget with it. He wears it all the time but it's under all of his layers, so no one except him actually knows it’s there.

Not only did he choose the kyber crystal because it’s Star Wars, but because he figured Pete and Ruth would want something that wasn’t as flashy and in their face. He figured picking something that they fidget with would be more of a comfort to them and would be something that would gently grab their attention but not make them over analyze things.

Once as a fun thing when the group was hanging out (although it was discussed beforehand and Max just didn't give away that he was planning on making it anime related) Max put Richie under and made him think his name was the same as his favorite anime character for a little bit. Everyone got a kick out of that.

Even though Max mainly wants to keep the focus on him during inductions, occasionally he'll pull out a watch or pull up a spiral for Richie cause that is his friend and Richie likes those types of inductions and Max wants to see his face light up.

Someone came up with a football themed induction to try and put Max under that involved watching a spinning football. Max found it funny so he borrows it from time to time.

[heathersproship]

how bad is it? i just got it on my youtube recommended and i dont want to give it watch time

Going through the transcript because I'm not watching it again lmao. Typed it all out for context. Misinformation bolded in red for you to skim through.

TLDR: Youtuber Thumin obviously and obliviously describing antis but labeling them as proshippers. Unsurprisingly, she got her info from the good ol' Tiktok.

Starting at 3:24: "Let me go over what a proshipper even is."

"A proshipper is a fandom term for an individual who endorses or creates content that ships fictional characters together regardless if the ship is considered controversial or taboo. These ships can include minors in compromising situations, child x adult relationships, incest, and even glorified violence and SA. The reason why proshippers get so much backlash is their insistence on normalizing specifically child x adult relationships and sexualizing underage characters in their works while avidly defending their stance. "According to proshippers, they aren't doing anything wrong by depicting fictional children in inappropriate ways because no real child was harmed when creating said works. They are adamant that the problematic works they create or consume are completely harmless because it's fictional and those who criticize said works are stupid and in the wrong. This is my biggest issue with proshippers specifically. It's one thing to have a controversial opinion on something and rolling with it, and another to try and shove it down others' throats or harassing and bullying others who don't agree with your opinion. Proshippers are infamous for seeking out anyone who has any criticism for works that depict children in disturbing ways and straight up harassing them over that opinion. "It happened to me a while ago too when I criticized a manga because it shipped a kindergarten teacher with a toddler and I got swarmed by angry proshippers who insist I was in the wrong for my opinon. They went on to harass me in my mentions by sharing toddler hentai for anyone to see while still mocking me for not liking such a predatory relationship. [. . .] "In these fandom streets, proshippers are infamous for being freaks and weirdos who judge anyone who doesn't approve of their bizarre interest in sexualizing fictional kids. Some go as far as calling proshippers who still continue to sexualize children even in their adulthood [pedophiles]. [. . . ] So now that we know what a proshipper is and how problematic they can be . . ."

At 6:40:

"A proshipper is literally just a term for someone who supports problematic ships . . ."

At 9:40:

"When it comes to the whole discussion of if being a proshipper is good or bad, that's up to you guys to decide for yourself. I personally dislike the ship dynamics that proshippers die on the hill for. I think it's disgusting to sexualize underage characters, incest, and non-consensual relationships. That's my opinion. I also believe that sharing art like that could hurt real children because it helps normalize depredation that is being glorified in said works. Again, this is just my opinion. If these sensitive and taboo subjects are covered in a non-glorified way in order to shed light on them or to tell a compelling story then I personally don't mind them. As a fan of horror mangas and thrillers, it's common to come across stories with disturbing relationship dynamics and that's totally okay. The issue I have with proshippers is that they defend even the most blatant works that are literally just made and meant for predators to consume. They also have to attack and force their ideals on anyone even if it means harassing them for simply disagreeing with them. This is what I've personally noticed is the case, at least online."

So my New Year's Adam was incredibly disappointing lol. I quite liked her content. And I did the proshipper thing, which was to immediately SMASH THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON to unfuckingsub.

There was a comment she replied to saying that she worded it like this due to her experiences with proshippers in the past. Bestie, those weren't proshippers. SALS, like live and let live, is inherently anti-harassment. Someone whose job is to put out informative videos to facilitate meaningful discussions should know not to get her info from fucking Tiktok of all places.

[strawwritesfic]

Enma Kozato x Female!Vongola!Reader: Coda

Summary: Can we try again?

Rating/Warnings: T (post-Inheritance Ceremony arc; Friends to Lovers; Enemies to Lovers; Love Confessions; Face Slapping; Slapping; Delivery Person!Reader; Adelheid & Enma; Adelheid/Julie)

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: I've been in a Reborn mood lately, reviving some old OCs of mine with a friend via email. I'm even rereading what little of the official English translation manga there is. So I thought I'd brush off some of my old one shots for the series and post them, especially since I've had such kind feedback on the ones I've got on my Tumblr.

This was written back when I was in college, so probably circa 2011/2012. I did polish it up for this repost! Although there's really no helping the abrupt ending. I suppose I could have tacked something on, but the style would be so obviously different that it would really only make the original ending seem even more painful.

The reader character is based on (and originally written as) an OC in a roleplay group that I was in on DeviantArt at the time. I no longer recall the username, but credit where credit is due, so much as I can give it. The character's name was LaRae Souma.

Coda

Enma’s heart had never beat so wildly in his chest. Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump. In the silence of the growing evening surrounding him, the noise felt abnormally loud. He lifted a trembling hand to his chest and pressed it against his rib cage.

“Why are you doing this?” he mumbled.

His heart, of course, gave no answer. Or maybe it did. Maybe its attempts to tear itself free from his insides were its way of telling him how downright crazy this entire plan was. Whatever the reason, Enma really wished his traitorous organ would stop. This whole situation was hard enough without adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Trying to calm down was a vain effort. Enma knew that. He’d been trying to do whatever that would take since school got out hours ago. How many girls had passed by, giggling because of how weird he looked standing at the gate? How many bullies had come by to exact their “standing” tax?

Maybe that was why his heart was still going crazy. Maybe he was finally running out of blood, and this was its last, desperate attempt to get what was left to the rest of his body before it gave out. Enma supposed that wouldn’t be too bad, really. At least if he was dead he wouldn’t be picked on anymore. He wouldn’t fail any more tests, either. And, for the love of God, he would not have to do what he was planning to do next.

The bag at his side buzzed. His head turned toward it. He blinked before slowly plucking his cell phone from the bag's pocket. Who would be calling him now? It was nearly dark, and the Vongola had no reason to contact him.

“Hello?” he said.

“Enma. Are you all right? It’s late.”

Oh. It was only Adelheid, then. He probably should have known, but Aoba had stolen his phone and changed all the contacts to pictures of himself flipping the camera off, so now Enma had no way to tell who anyone calling him actually was.

“She hasn’t been by.” He stared down the street again. Still no shadows appeared to be growing against the bright red sky. “Maybe she’s not coming.”

“It’s nearly dark. I would say she’s not.”

“She could be working overtime.”

“Enma, just come home. We’ll order more food, and you can talk to her then.”

“I don’t want to say it front of Julie.”

“He’s not going to say anything. If he does, I’ll hit him.”

"I'll wait a little longer.”

“Okay.” This time, her voice sounded a little warmer. “Call me when you’re on your way home.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Goodbye.”

He ended the conversation with a simple push of a button. Why hadn’t he taken the out Adelheid offered him? This was her idea to begin with, and Enma was seriously beginning to doubt her understanding of the matter. Her relationship wasn’t really comparable to his. All Julie had to do was grope her every once in a while.

Oh, God, was he going to have to grab your breasts? Did you even have those? It had been so long since he'd seen you that he didn’t remember. And Adelheid usually still slapped Julie when he did that. Enma didn’t really feel like being slapped. 

Was this what hyperventilating felt like? He had never done it before, so he didn’t know.

A rapid tapping came from down the vacant street. Enma looked up. Running down the shadowed walk was a figure moving at a quick pace. He stood straighter. Was it you? It had to be. His hands had started to sweat again. This did not make him feel any less like an idiot. He wiped them on his pants. That only made it worse; now he had wet patches on his legs.

The figure continued to draw nearer. The golden pool of light surrounding him was soon the one they stepped into, bringing their features were placed in high relief. [Color] hair, [color] eyes, waitress uniform. Yes, that was definitely [F Name] [L Name]. It didn’t take the painful lurch in his heart to tell him that much.

The moment of recognition must have been shared because you froze mid-step, one leg stuck awkwardly in the air. Enma reached up to ruffle the back of his head. Now he was completely lost. What was he supposed to do? You were just staring at him like he was a particularly disgusting bug that had fallen directly in your path.

Then your expression hardened. Your normally warm eyes he grown so accustomed to turned more brittle as you smacked your heel back down against the pavement. For a split second, he thought you were going to say something. Instead, you started moving again, your movements now choppy and stiff.

“[Name],” he said as you passed. 

You didn’t even spare him a second glance. 

“[Name]!” 

You did not even so much as twitch in his direction. 

Enma sighed. Now what was he supposed to do? Adelheid hadn’t described her plan past his finally making contact with you. Still, he was not the same boy you had known a year ago. Steeling himself, he moved off the wall and into step beside you. It was only be the grace of God that he didn’t fall flat on his face doing so.

"[Name].”

"What?” He had never heard you speak with that much venom in your voice before, at least not directed at him. He gulped. Maybe this was a dumb idea.

"I need to talk to you.”

“I’m in the middle of a delivery.”

“I know. It's for me.”

Thankfully, this was enough to get your attention. Once again, you stopped completely, though at least this time you remembered to put you foot down. Your mouth fell open in an “o.” Then you narrowed your eyes.

“What do you mean, it’s for you?” you asked.

“I ordered it. Can I have it, please?”

“No! I’m not giving you anything!”

“I’m going to pay for it.”

You continued to watch him for a few more seconds, then tossed the container at his head. Enma flailed. The box knocked straight into his temple before falling open on the ground. 

“Fine, then!" you snapped. "Eat it! See if I care!”

“Thank you,” Enma murmured. 

He bent down to retrieve the contents of whatever food he had asked for. He was so nervous that he didn’t remember, nor did he think he’d actually be able to stomach it if he tried. If he remembered correctly, most girls didn’t think it was cool when boys threw up their food. Once he had the scattered contents all gathered, he rummaged in his pocket until he found the wad of cash he had stuffed in it that morning–more than enough for both his food and a decent tip for you. 

“Your money." He held it out to you.

You said nothing as you snatched the cash out of his hand. And then you stood there. And continued standing there. Apparently you were intending to watch him eat the food. 

Groaning inwardly, Enma picked up the chopsticks and dug in without looking at what he was digging into. It was probably good, but he didn’t get to taste much before he started to choke. Seemingly satisfied with this development, you hopped on the wall and crossed your legs, the better to see him.

“Why’d you order from there anyway? Thought I didn’t work there anymore?” you asked.

“N-No,” Enma stammered. He was still coughing up bits of rice. “I needed to talk to you.”

“So you ordered food from my workplace?”

“It was the only way I could talk to you. You were avoiding me.”

“Because I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Right.” 

Enma gazed forlornly at his eating utensils. Why had he done this? Of course you didn’t want to talk to him. After what he did…The look of betrayal on your face as you stood there with the rest of your family, the way your eyes seemed to grow dim as you watched him mutilate your friends…His gut clenched every time he thought of it. Who was he kidding with this? You weren't going to want to hear him out. You didn’t even want to be his friend anymore.

He took a deep breath and looked up toward you. It looked like he was still Loser Enma after all. What he realized, however, was that you were no longer looking away. Instead you had the full force of your glare on him. He flinched.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you asked.

There could be a million things he hadn’t told you that you were asking about, each a worse secret than the one before. But Enma thought he had a pretty good idea what you were talking about. 

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” he said.

“And why would I get hurt?”

He licked his lips. “My family…what we were doing…”

“Yeah, it was pretty stupid,” you snarled. “And thank you so much for showing such faith in me.”

“I didn’t want you to tell Tsuna. It was important. What if you said something and they found out?

You snapped straight up. Enma stumbled backward, managing to stay on his feet but spill what was left of his meal. This did nothing to stop you. In one easy movement, you jumped off the ledge, landed on your feet, and marched up to him. For a moment, all you did was look into his eyes. Then you launched yourself forward and started trying to smack every bit of him you could reach.

“Are you kidding me?" You all but shrieked. "I thought you trusted me! I thought I was your friend!”

“Ouch. [Name]. Stop." 

Your punches, if anything, merely increased in number. Enma groaned. What would Aoba and Julie say if they saw him now? Probably something along the lines of “You’re totally whipped!” Without thinking, he grabbed your wrists. You sucked in a breath. He supposed he had surprised you. The him of a year ago wouldn’t have tried to defend himself at all. One split second later, however, and you were back on the offense.

“You.” You tugged. “Are.” You tugged harder still. “Such a jerk, Enma Kozato!” You arched backward as far as you could. Still he did not let you go.

“I know," he said. "I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough! I don’t care what you have to say to me. Just go away!”

Enma took a deep breath. Now was good as ever. He didn’t think you were going to let him stick around much longer anyway. “I think I love you.”

The anger drained slowly from your face. Feeling that it might be safe to let you go, Enma released your wrists at last. He stuffed his now-free hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. The silence stretched on for several more minutes, and then there was a sudden whoosh and the sound of flesh meeting flesh.

Enma’s eyes went wide. The sound of the slap echoed in the empty road.

“That’s for avoiding me for a year!” When he looked up, you were rubbing at your wrist and scowling. “Did you think I was going to yell at you?”

“Well, you’re doing a good job of it now,” he said as he pressed his palm against his stinging cheek.

“Because, Enma, you are an idiot.” You scowled at him again, then whirled on your heel and marched over to your delivery box. Without looking at him, you continued, but he noticed your voice was quavering a bit when you spoke: “If you’re just going to say empty words, then you can leave me alone. For good this time.”

“They weren't empty.” he mumbled at the ground. Enma thought that maybe he heard you pause before going on your way. “I won’t bother you anymore.”

Before you could answer–if you were going to answer, which he didn’t believe could be true at all–he started shuffling away. He didn’t get far before he managed to trip and crash face-first into the sidewalk. A sickening crunch sound coming from his nose told Enma that he had just seriously screwed up. Perhaps it would be best if he just stayed there in the dirt until you left. He didn’t want the last thing you saw of him to be the blood spilling profusely from his face.

“Enma? Are you okay?” 

Oh, crud, you were standing right above him. He craned his neck so he could see, trying to make sure you couldn’t get a look at the newest disfigurement on his face. You knelt down next to him and then dragged him to his feet.

“You’re bleeding.”

��Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

You frowned. “No, I will worry about it. Sit down.” 

You pushed down on his shoulder and Enma obeyed without thinking. What were you doing? Why were you still talking to him? Hadn’t you already left, glad to have him out of your life? While he was pondering all of this, you were digging around in your own bag. A few moments later, you pulled out a first aid kit. 

Enma leaned back. “You don’t have t–”

“Yes, I do.” 

Enma fell silent as you began to work on him. It almost felt like old times, except for the part where the girl he was in love with hated him. He could probably do without that. Well, that and the broken nose.

“Hold still. I’m going to set it. It’ll hurt.” 

He braced himself. Sure enough, you pressed your fingers onto both side of his nose and pushed. There was a loud pop and pain streamed into his face. Enma lifted his hand to feel his nose.

“Why did you…?”

“Did you mean it when you said you loved me?” you asked.

“Y-yes.” Did you find him terribly stupid? Were you going to laugh at him? 

You turned, face hidden as you placed your kit back in your bag. “Then why didn’t you talk to me for so long?”

“I was afraid you hated me. I didn’t want that.”

“I didn’t. I just wanted to hear from you. When I called and you didn’t answer…” You trailed off. He could see your eyes again. They were filling with tears. “I thought we were friends.”

“You’re my best friend, [Nickname].”

"It doesn’t feel like it.”

Enma stared at you. You looked away and dabbed at your eyes with your sleeve. “I’m sorry.” 

You didn’t answer. 

His eyes darted about the street. What he was about to do was risky, but maybe it would work out? Maybe this time he could actually do it. Maybe this time he wouldn’t be a loser. “[Name].”

You looked back. He shifted his bag so it was behind him, then opened his arms. You gawked at him, and he lifted them slightly. For a few more seconds, you did not move. Another flurry of anxiety rushed through him. Was he being dumb? Should he put his arms down? Were you just going to hit him again?

You blinked back another set of tears. Then you leaped forward and threw yourself into his arms. Enma closed them around you, shut his eyes, and buried his face into your soft hair.

“I love you, [Name]. Can I try again?”

“Only if you promise,” you sniffed, “to never lie to me again.”

Enma smiled. “I promise.”

In return, you wrapped your arms around him. “I love you, too, Enma.”

[bluebunnysart]

i'm still super excited so im gonna gush some more (abt the fic) but i do wanna say i freakin love how big the artist chose to make Teto's wings; i thought my own drawing was big but this artist made them BIGGER and I LOVE THAT because she's sooo creature-coded and i super love that about her, just, isnt it so cool when we have three characters (Triple Baka) but one of them can just sprout (hugeass) wings at any time, Teto, ur so so special <3

Also i love the clear circuitry on Miku's face/the side of her neck.... super obviously an android...... I welcome it immensely, I didnt think of that but I absolutely accept it. She's actually been in that place for a non-small amount of time so it'd make sense if she got slightly damaged from the elements!! Idk if I'll change my existing drawing since I'm treating it as alternate interpretations which i love, but I wanted to say I love it <3

Fanfic spoilers below:

talking about my own fic, one of my favorite moments is towards the end where Miku is like completely ready to ditch her bc eksgskfsks ofc Teto's like, "??!???!" and if i drew it, you'd start seeing her expression slowly change into mild irritation/sheer disbelief bc I think it's kinda understandable why Teto would be the type to get attached easily (in this setting) but all Miku remembers is Teto agreed to help her for a little bit so ofc Miku's like, "Yay you've done what you said you would! thank you so very much! I will now be taking my leave"

The reason I like this moment (among others) is bc I think it really highlights their differences in personality and approaching things xD Ofc I love interpretation so I wont cross out alternate interpretations at all but if you're curious about mine,

I'm a fan of tsundere (always have been) but this Teto in particular (UTAU Teto) has had like zero contact with others for quite a while..... She might even be a shut-in because I did briefly explore her perspective in my mind and she actually tries to avoid others/going out if she can help it. That's bc going out into the world depresses her!!! lol!

She doesnt immediately trust others, maybe she's seen how savage/disloyal other creatures are and thinks there cant be anything good from associating with them or getting along with them, so she's most comfortable alone. When she first encounters Miku, you might be able to make this connection, but the main reason she approached (besides needing food) was she was like, "who is THAT??" and thought it might actually be a human (all of whom were supposed to have died out a long time ago). Teto has mixed feelings towards humans, maybe a mix of positive and negative, so unlike other creatures, if she saw a human, of course she'd get curious. Obviously humans make her favorite French bread too so she owes them for that xD

ANYWAY Teto lore dump aside, she doesnt know how to socialize/be very friendly and is pretty blunt/sharp-tongued/sassy. The main thing about her is she's kinda dishonest now and cant really speak her feelings cuz it feels like revealing weakness, so if she's ever expressing something about herself, she's most likely to couch it in like rational or practical terms. never "i want/feel like this so please listen to me" but more "this will benefit us both so I'd go with that if I were you". It's something I find very cute about her!!!

Miku is the straightforward type who doesnt understand connotations or anything yet so she's really easily the type to say or do socially unconventional things and have Teto react like "???" (one of my favorite reactions in manga/etc is confusion lmao, it's just so raw)

Anyway Teto would never bully Miku or anything, she's just sassy and sharp like I mentioned, but Miku is also the type to have those things completely fly over her head, so even if Teto tried to rile Miku up in return, she'd probably totally fail at it and it'd backfire xD (making her embarrassed instead from even trying/thinking it'd work)

This is just random gushing about different personalities coming together and interacting with each other but honestly this is prompted by the fanart too cuz i LOVE those expressions

i'm so happy people like the fic LOL, i posted it expecting like only one kudos at the very least I hoped so I'm really happy! having more eyes on it makes me kinda nervous but I'm glad if the reception is positive ^_^ (it's not like I'd crumble if i got negativity but I really would prefer not to see it considering how much I like Negidrill!! so!!! xD)

OH YEAH, WHILE I WAS looking up Walkmans to help describe them in my fic ebay recommended me a HATSUNE MIKU WALKMAN and that made me laugh bc everything that exists has a Hatsune Miku version of it out there, bet xD

Was fitting considering I was also making Hatsune Miku fanfic 😂😂😂😂

[yeehawbvby]

My First Kiss (Went a Little Like This) | Piers x OC Maxine

Rating: Teen+ (Explicit Language, Suggestive Themes)

Summary: "In the most cliché, teenage rom-com fashion imaginable, Piers and Max came to an agreement.

If neither of them had their first kiss by the time they were both 21, they’d have it with each other.

It was corny, and they denied it would even come down to that… But here they were. "

Author's Note: I've been completely brainrotted by the friends -> lovers these two have going on lately and HAD to write about it >:3 This all takes place in the past and pre-SWSH.

In case anyone is curious to learn more about Max, her tag on my page is “oc maxine”!!

I hope y'all enjoy this, I had a lot of fun writing it! x

Check it out on ao3!

This is part of a series of one-shots! Please see my SWSH Masterlist for the recommended reading order.

The walls of Max, Piers, and Marnie’s shared apartment were paper thin. It was to be expected. Spikemuth’s never been known for luxury. That said, Max was laying on her bed, her Rotom phone hovering over her face, when she heard a baritone “Oi” from just outside her door as opposed to a knock. 

She checked to make sure her sleep shirt was long enough to not flash her panties at anyone. Had to scoot it down a little bit. Once in the clear, she answered, “What’s up?” 

When Max didn’t hear a verbal response, but rather her dingy doorknob turning and the dragging of socks against the wooden floorboards, she looked to the source. Piers, still in his dark ripped jeans and loose blue muscle tank from the day, offered a lazy grin which Max reciprocated.

She grabbed her Rotom and closed the manga app she had been browsing. Then, she sat up and let the device float over to her bedside table before leaning back onto her palms. Her absurdly long hair, not tied back into its usual low pigtails, got a bit wrapped up around her arms in the process; and as Piers sat down beside her, he helped detangle it.

“Everything alright?” she asked, eyes focused on her friend’s pale fingers. 

Piers grunted in place of an answer. After finishing his work on her hair, he playfully insulted her, “How’s it feel to be an old hag?” 

Snorting, Max lightly tapped his right side with her right knee. She met his eyes, squinting her own. “Not even an hour after my birthday and you’re already bullying me?” 

“You did the same thing last month.”

“Yeah,” she explained, “you were an old fart last month.”

“And now you’ve caught up t’me.”

“And I’m as young as can be,” Max wistfully retorted. Piers rolled his eyes, his grin betraying the action. “You come in here just to harass me, or what?” she asked.

“Quite the opposite, actually.”

Max tilted her head to the side. Some stray hairs fell into her face, which she quickly tucked away behind her ear. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Piers sighed, looking down. He almost looked a bit shy. “You remember that little pact we made a few years back?”

Max scrunched her nose. “We’ve made plenty of those.”

“Well, yeah, but… jus’ think about it.” 

Max looked up, trying to recall which one he was talking about specifically.

There was that one where Piers promised to hire her as gym and concert staff if she couldn’t find a steady gig (that wasn’t illegal), but they were past that point by now. She’d been at his venue for a few months.

Another where she told him that, since he took her in, she’d do the same for him and Marnie if it ever came down to that and she was able. But they were up to date on bills, so she doubted that was the case this time.

Hmm… 

Oh. 

It was just over two years ago. Her and Piers were sitting in her tent — her home at the time. Snacking, listening to music, chatting while they watched the denizens of the city go on about their nights. 

Marnie was at a friend’s sleepover play-date a few blocks over, Max’s Misdreavus was curled up and sleeping on her crappy blow up mattress, and all of Piers’ Pokémon were tucked away in their balls for the night. Piers’ 19th birthday was coming to an end, and Max’s would arrive exactly one month later.

They had both been lamenting the fact that they’d gone so long without dating anyone, let alone having their first kisses yet. How pathetic they were, how much it sucked, how they felt like they were so far behind other trainers of their age because of it.

They acknowledged that it made sense — sure, Piers was an up-and-coming rockstar and queued to be the new Dark-type gym leader after the current competitive season ended, so he had far more chances at romance than the average person... But he was an introvert, through and through. So was Max. She’d never really put herself out there, so she didn’t stand a chance.

In the most cliché, teenage rom-com fashion imaginable, they came to an agreement. If neither of them had their first kiss by the time they were both 21, they’d have it with each other. They found each other attractive and felt comfortable enough in their friendship that they didn’t think it would be weird at all, so it kind of just made sense.

It was corny, and they denied it would even come down to that…

But here they were. 

There was a short silence as the memory hit Max like a freight train, her cheeks gradually growing rosier. “Oh,” she chirped, still zoned out with her gaze off of Piers.

He laughed, bringing Max’s attention back. “There ya go,” he teased. “Knew it would come to ya.”

She looked down at her lap, smiling and playing with a piece of her hair as she batted his side with her knee again. “So, like… now, huh?”

“Only if you still want to,” Piers reassured her. “I’d be wounded by the rejection, but I reckon I’ll live.” 

Max appreciated the lightheartedness of his approach. She took a deep breath, then looked up at his face. His was a little pink too. Well, what she could see of it, at least.

Piers’ hair, now longer than she’d ever seen it, draped down to the middle of his back, with side bangs reaching just below his right cheek. It was styled half-up today. He’d been experimenting with how to maintain it, wanting to grow it out for his ~brand~ but struggling to figure out a good style with how thick it was.

It looked… really, really good like this.

He cleared his throat. Max blinked, realizing she’d been staring. 

Oh god.

Why was her heart beating so fast?

“Alright there?” he grinned.

“Yeah, sorry,” she answered, shutting her eyes. Took another deep breath. “Um… yeah,” she nodded, a breathy laugh escaping her. “Let’s do this.”

“Cool,” her friend responded, still grinning.

“Cool.” Max smiled sheepishly. She was growing more excited about this than she cared to admit. “So, how do you wanna go about this?”

“Well, I figured we could just mash our faces together and see what happens.”

Max got up onto her knees and rotated a little, shimmying herself closer to Piers. She sarcastically remarked with a laugh, “Oooh, you’re so smart!” while lifting her hair out of the way of her legs. 

She sat down onto her calves and dropped her brown and pink tresses while Piers angled his body more towards her’s, only slightly adjusting from his previous position as he quipped, “S’about time you noticed.”

As Piers lowered his right hand to the mattress, he gnawed at his lower lip. Swallowed hard. Max watched the bob of his Adam’s apple and wondered if he knew that he looked as antsy as she felt. She wondered if she looked as antsy as she felt, too. The thought made her more nervous, so she began fidgeting with the bottom of her oversized tee.

“Ready?” Piers breathed, his gaze flickering to Max’s lips for a moment.

All Max could manage to do was nod. Her grip on her shirt tightened when Piers leaned in a smidge. His eyes lowered to her lips again, and stayed there, which made her tummy tingle.

Max looked at his lips too. Has Piers always had such nice lips? They looked so smooth… and served as a subtle reminder for her to wet her own. She didn’t want Piers’ first kiss to be with sandpaper.

He smirked at the action, and for some reason, that made her breath hitch. Piers leaned in a little more. So did Max. She could feel his breath on her face now. She felt like she was going to die. Why was this so nerve-wracking?

A little further… and their noses were touching oh my god it was really happening! 

Max chanced one last glimpse up at Piers’ eyes just as he decided to do the same. His pupils were huge. Was that normal? She had read about eyes doing that when you look at someone you think is pretty, but she didn’t think it was real.

Were her pupils that big too? 

She slowly looked back down, and felt an amused huff against her lips.

Piers angled his head a little to the right, and Max mirrored him, parting her mouth slightly and letting her eyes flutter shut. Their lips touched, and lingered there for a moment, before Max and Piers simultaneously locked them together.

After a few short seconds, they separated. Neither of them spoke as they hovered just in front of each other. Max was unsure of what Piers was doing, but she was still staring at his lips, as if in a trance. She could see both of their chests heaving slightly in her periphery. To her surprise and delight, Piers dipped back down. 

He kissed her with a little more confidence this time. It felt nice. Max smiled against him as she reciprocated, hoping it wouldn’t ruin anything. Her worries were quelled when Piers did the same. The solidarity made her smile more toothily, and he followed suit.

They tried to kiss through it anyway. Their teeth bashed together a little, and they both laughed quietly about it before resuming. Rather than pulling away again when they unlocked this time, they simply repositioned, testing the waters of how it would feel if they’d both leaned to their respective lefts.

…Yep, still good.

But not as good. They silently agreed to go back the other way.

Max felt the bed shift a little, followed by the warmth of a large hand against her cheek.

Oh, she really liked that.

She parted her lips again and kissed Piers deeper, removing her left hand from her lap and placing it on the bed in front of her knee; giving herself some leverage to lean in closer. His hand slid a little further back, his thumb remaining on Max’s cheek while his fingers brushed her neck and tangled through her hair. He matched her energy, kissing her harder, and Max sighed dreamily through her nose as he began gently nudging her backward.

She took it in stride, leaning back on her right hand for support while repositioning her legs in front of her. To assure him that she had no intentions to break their kiss as she moved, Max used her left hand to brush Piers’ hair away from his right eye, keeping it between her middle- and forefinger while placing the rest of her hand against his cheek.

Max’s mattress dipped around her as Piers finished lowering her down to her pillow. He kept his body to her right side still, but his right hand was now caging her beneath him. His other hadn’t left her head. Now that she was fully prone, Max got a little cozier, keeping her right leg flat but bending her left knee. She also brought her now-free hand to Piers’ other cheek. She subconsciously brushed soft strokes against his skin with her thumb, which he absolutely loved . 

Considering this was both of their first kisses, Piers wondered how it was going so perfectly. For now he would chalk it up to the fact that he was kissing his best friend. Because obviously the person who knew him best would know how to kiss him well… right?

Piers decided to savor the moment now, question it later.

Besides, his thoughts were broken by a blissful, almost heady sigh from Max.

He pulled away a bit, reveling in how Max craned her neck up a little in an effort to chase his lips. When he opened his eyes fully, looking down at the scene he’d caused, he was caught off guard.

Max’s mane was splayed around her, looking soft as ever. Her eyes sparkled with a glint he hadn’t seen in them before, and likewise, her pupils were blown wider than he could’ve ever expected. Her lips were red and swollen, still parted as she softly breathed out through them before closing them together. Cheeks were redder than they had been earlier, too. 

Max was just as starstruck by the view above her. Piers’ cheeks had more color than she’d ever seen in them, given how ghostly his skin was. His hooded eyes had a certain look about them that she couldn’t pinpoint. He looked… enamored by her.

That wasn’t right, was it?

She ignored it, favoring how almost ravenous Piers looked as well. God. 

Just like her own lips, his were swollen from all the use. She kept her hands on his warm cheeks. Played with the hair between her left fingers a little as she watched him watch her.

His lips twitched, and she perked up in anticipation. 

“Can I try something?” Piers asked, his voice quiet and slightly hoarse.

Curious, Max nodded. “Okay.” 

Piers lowered himself down again, but as he did so, he repositioned his hand lower on her face. His pointer remained against her jawline while most of his other fingertips laid on her neck. His thumb rested against her chin, though. Max didn’t close her eyes just yet, curious about what her friend had in mind.

Piers chastely kissed her again. She kissed back, like the gentlewoman she was. Then, he added pressure to her chin, gently using his thumb to tug Max’s mouth open. Her eyes widened as she felt his tongue slip past her teeth and against her own. She shut her eyes again, but the noise that came from her throat as Piers experimented was downright embarrassing.

He sealed the kiss in favor of laughing quietly.

Shit.

“You like that?” he whispered, his gaze hungrily flickering between Max’s eyes and lips.

Oh.

Oh.

Why did he have to say that like… like that?!

Max’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she settled on simply nodding again, humming “Mhm” for some extra confirmation. 

“Good,” he murmured before repeating the action.

Max was a little more responsive this time, now that she was more prepared. She did her best to swirl her tongue around his without overdoing it. A strong sigh left Piers and she figured she was doing something right. Her hands traveled further, both her fists tangling into his hair. Tugging a little as they all but sucked each other’s faces off. 

Satisfied with their new rhythm, Piers tested the waters some more. Tentatively, he brushed his hand down Max’s throat and onto her collarbone, then down her side. Repositioned himself so that his right leg was between both of hers. He shuddered as she lightly sucked his tongue, then felt her shudder as he cheekily tugged her bottom lip between his teeth.

He squeezed her hip, and thought he was going to fucking faint when she – subconsciously, he assumed – rutted against his thigh a little.

It was then that he noticed their breaths were getting heavier and louder, and their hair messier. He also realized that, at some point, Piers lifted Max’s huge shirt to her tummy; that he was squeezing her bare hip, only slightly clothed by some soft cotton panties. He didn’t even mean to do that. Either she didn’t mind, or she was too lost in his lips to notice.

At this rate, Piers thought, things might go too far if I don’t calm the hell down.

Reluctantly, Piers pulled back. Unable to resist, he left one more lingering kiss against Max’s lips before actually breaking off. His palm was still against her hip, now rubbing soft circles against her skin.

Max sighed, slowly opening her eyes. Looking into Piers’ through her lashes. Seems like they had the same idea, as they noticed each other trying to settle down a bit. Piers pressed his forehead to hers, and they both shut their eyes again.

“We should probably stop for now,” Piers suggested. His voice was barely there, and Max took note of how somber his words had come out. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, opening her eyelids again.

Piers sat back onto his knees, and Max leaned up, her position similar to how it had been when he entered her room. Just much more disheveled this time. Shamelessly, Piers scanned Max’s body. He’d seen her stomach plenty, given her taste in clothing, but… this was…

Oh god. He had to leave.

Max, watching as Piers checked her out, felt frozen. She wanted to cover her face, but opted to keep staring right back at him. Her throat felt dry.

“Um…” She got back on her knees, sitting in the same position Piers was in. “That was… that was cool.” She giggled a little, fully aware of how dumb she sounded.

Piers couldn’t help but laugh too. “Yeah?” Max nodded. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, “it was.” 

“Yeah…” Max looked down at her lap – now covered by her shirt again – and resumed her earlier fidget, playing with her hair. “Not too shabby for our first.” She looked up, a playful glint in her eyes as she held a fist in front of her.

Piers snorted and bumped it with his own. “Nerd,” he commented.

Max switched it up, now flipping Piers off. He did it back. They often greeted one another this way.

Slowly, Piers got back on his feet, still facing Max as he backed away from the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

Max nodded. Again. He’d never seen her this shy, at least since back when they were barely acquainted. 

It was cute.

“Yeah.” Max had a super dopey grin on her face.

It made Piers happy.

He had no idea that he was sporting the same look on his own features, nor did he know how happy that made Max as well.

Piers turned to approach the door, but looked back over his shoulder after opening it. “G’Night, Max.”

“Night, Piers.”

Once alone, Max flopped back on the bed. Her hands covered her face and she rolled onto her tummy, freeing her hands only to squeak her feelings into her pillow.

[epickiya722]

how can you be a fan of mirko and hate bakugo tho??? they have basically the same personality.

And you know what, this is one of the few times where it's the MALE character that's hated while sharing the same traits as a FEMALE character.

I said this is the recent ask I just answered, but I really think it's because Miruko is a hot woman.

Don't get me wrong, I find her attractive, too.

But seriously though, let's be honest, with Miruko her personality doesn't matter when she's a rabbit woman with a cute face. I have made a post about it before so long ago, but Miruko has to be the most sexualized female character there is in BNHA.

I don't see a lot of people wanting to explore her more character wise as they do with Midnight. Who is a canon sexual character.

Like I bet you right now, go into the Miruko tag and you'll see more fanart pictures of her where her tits and butt are drawn way bigger than she naturally has before you see a headcanon post that doesn't touch on how she can screw the reader.

Back to Bakugou, I also feel like it's the case of popularity.

Miruko isn't that much of a popular character, she isn't. She's just getting the acknowledgement due to her showing up more in the manga and anime.

Before her appearance in season 4, I doubt anyone remembered or cared for her from the manga. (As a opposed to me who saw her in the manga and went, she's already became my fave. It was her lines that got me.)

And when she was animated, people were more antsy and racist to her English VA than to hate on Miruko as a character.

Bakugou, on the other hand, has been present since day one. And even then, he already got fans, grew in popularity. He has reigned #1 since, what, the second popularity poll?

So guess what?

He's easy to hate on.

With many fans, there's going to be many haters because "Oh, look, more people to bother". I feel like half of the time, his haters don't really be hating him. They just look for easy targets to bother because they're bored.

Like I don't see Mineta fans get bothered. Some I'm sure do, but at best they're ignored like Mineta himself who the fandom either hates or ignore exists.

Overhaul fans. Despite him experimenting on Eri since she was a toddler? Don't see them get bothered much. Why? Overhaul isn't that popular of a character.

People want to pull the "He is a bully" card as if Bakugou hasn't acknowledged that himself. Yeah. As much as people preach about kids being kids and they can learn, they sure do get antsy about a fictional one admitting he was a complete ass and has issues.

Something quite a bit of ADULTS in REAL LIFE won't even do.

So far, I have only blocked 1 person who was anti Miruko but so many anti Bakugou blogs.

Like even if I hated Bakugou, I'd probably still be blocking anti Bakugou posts just for the fact a lot of antis tend to be trolls. That's how annoyed I am.

Your whole blog dedicated go hating a character?

WHY ARE YOU SPENDING ALL THAT TIME BEING NEGATIVE?!

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (5/03/23)

there’s a buncha new Jump SQ series but they’re not on Manga Plus yet cause of Viz so I’ll read them whenever they arrive there. I could do it on Viz but don’t feel like fiddling around with vpn for it, I can just wait a week lol

I wanted to do this last week, but didn’t get around to it, but from now I’ll have a list of everything that’s under the cut, in order (left to right), here so you can know what’s in there without opening it EDIT: Witch Watch Ch99 is between sxf and bb, completely forgot about it tehe

Dandadan Ch95

the training arc is finally over and now is the time for the big fights to begin 👀also didn’t say last week but it’s crazy to me how yukinobu manages to, consistently, have crazy pages like this on a weekly series

One Punch Man Ch178

thank you for the excellent food like always murata 🙏 I feel bad for poor metal bat at the end tho lmao

Kaiju 8 Ch81

oh yeah there was no kaiju last time but I’ll keep it short. it’s really good, just a good ol hot blooded battle manga. I especially appreciate having an older mc (30s) for once. anyway I figured what happened in this chap was the case from when the 1v1 fights started but still, stuff is looking dire monka

Show-ha Shoten! Ch16

it’s about manzai comedy and drawn by takeshi obata of death note fame, I wasn’t sure about it at first cause comedy stuff either gets you or it doesn’t but it’s pretty good even ignoring the jokes and all that. also been a while since last chap so I forgot they had introduced a baddie sheesh

Ichigoki’s Under Control!! Ch13

another bad chap, at least it should be ending soon so that’s good cause I’ve been over it for a while

The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins Ch15

not much to say here either, still as edgy as ever, tho it’s certainly gotten a lot better since the bullying arc. but I’m still waiting for it to end soon like ichigoki, fabricant and ginka

Fabricant 100 Ch12

honestly? one of the best chaps it’s had. the scene under was cool and the reveal and spread at the end was neat

Ginka & Gluna Ch24

some really gnarly art in this one, which has been ginka’s biggest strenght from the start and this chap really shows it. tho good art is not enough to save it and it seems to be setting up to end soon, which is expected considering it’s rankings

Jiangshi X Ch7

more sprinklings of the overarching plot and setting up the main villains, expecting the mcs to get saved by the big boss and then for there to be a timeskip of sorts to when they’re strong enough to actually fight scary stuff but we’ll see

Tokyo Demon Bride Story Ch25

damn thing’s didn’t go according to plan and they got caught by the big baddie? what a shocker. leaving my prediction here that next chap is gonna be mostly talking and a cliffhanger at the end with them about to fight

SPY x FAMILY Ch76

anya focused chap with her being a fool as usual, not much to say really lol

Witch Watch Ch99

a teacher chap oh no. thank you for your hard work translator and typesetter. teacher chaps are always rough cause they’re super wordy and it’s all hardcore otaku rambling but this one had a nice message along with it so that was good

Blue Box Ch91

another incredibly good chapter. yumeka’s extremely relatable for me as I also used to do sports and quit for the exact same reasons she did as she explained some chaps ago and her feeling in this chap too. it’s just crazy to me to see a character like this in a sports manga where every chara just loves the sport and rarely has any second thoughts or negative feelings about it.

incredible work as usual miura-sensei, jump really needs more female authors

Cipher Academy Ch14

a nice chap, however I’m very excited for the murder mystery game. it seems like it’ll be very fun especially considering the 2 cards that got revealed and the narration box at the end 👀

Mashle Ch146

well that was fast, I expected that to last 2 or 3 chaps total not just 1 lol

Sakamoto Days Ch109

you’re gonna hear me say this a lot but the action coreography in sakamoto is some of favourite in anything, it’s soooo good

The Elusive Samurai Ch100

always very exciting to see a series reach the big 100. a nice chap too, done with upgrading the mcs tho this line had me very 👀👀👀

Akane-banashi Ch52

holy moly, another incredibly good chapter, continuing from the last one and further setting up and characterizing akane’s biggest rival

Ayakashi Triangle Ch122

a nice conclusion to that mini arc and a cute ending, thank you yabuki as always

[socratetris]

Reviewing: The Boxer - Spoiler Free

The Boxer is the first webtoon comic I chose to read. When i read comics, I typically turn to stories action series, and I gravitate most toward grounded/realistic stories than say the fantasy battlws of most shounen manga. This is because these stories remind me why I love martial arts and combat sports, even though i had to give them up years ago.

Having just finished all the boxing/combat sports related shows/anime I could think of - i.e. Baki, Kengan Asura, Hajime no Ippo, Megalobox, Levius, etc - I turned to manga. Found some great ones like Teppu! Or All Rounder Meguru, and became a little disillusioned when others didn't scratch that itch.

Wouldn't you know it, but one of the top comics when i downloaded the app was The Boxer. A somewhat edgy, christian-imagery forward, victim of bullying with natural talent, finding the sport of boxing. A premise we have seen done quite often, and as I would come to learn seems to be the main set up for combat sports comics from South Korea.

The Boxer, however, was my first, and so I didn't see it as a trope. I saw the trauma of the main character to be the premise of a story of personal growth through sport. The main character, Yu, stilted and despressed from a vaguely represented abusive childhood, learning to connect emotionally and build personal character through boxing.

This was not the story the author would tell.

Strangely, The Boxer contains practically no boxing whatsoever. Chapters build up by exploring character histories and motivations, while the grand fights almost always end in a single punch by Yu. If not one punch, then a few, but the fights themselves are almost never depicted in illustration.

While the comments praise Yu for being the strongest boy that ever did strong, the process of reading The Boxer as a person who loves the sport feels like active contempt for everything that goes into it.

Training, technique, weight, reach, study and strategy, history, nutrition, and everything that goes into becoming a skilled fighter are ignored and ridiculed. Instead, "natural talent" is insurmountable, and the source of natural talent is apparently trauma and depression. The more traumatized the main character becomes, the more powerful they become, the more their single punch per matches mock the very idea of sport.

I put the comic down while it was still ongoing, only returning much later now that the series is complete.

At its conclusion, I understand that The Boxer was never meant to be a story about boxing. It was, from the beginning, a story about The Problem of Evil from a Christian world view, and that one honest connection with another person makes that problem tolerable.

The story mocks the sport of boxing precisely because boxing is seen as a meritocracy. Once in the ring, the winner is simply the person who is better at the sport of boxing. The sport was chosen to emphasize that the world is unfair through a character that is simply superior for being superior.

From a literal sense, this story fails represent the sport, because its concept of "natural talent" is so esoteric as to fail to represent the reality of the sport. It is only after the characters become metaphorical symbols of either Sorrow or Hope that the story can be taken seriously as an allegory.

If you read The Boxer for a love of boxing, then I believe you will be too dissatisfied to enjoy it. However, if you read The Boxer to indulge in an edgy power fantasy that honestly attempts to legitimize the ongoing struggles of personal trauma, through the lens of Christianity, then I believe you will enjoy this comic quite a lot.

[smashboxgirl26]

fucking valentine's day

katsuki bakugou x gn! reader (oneshot) summary: (forcibly) getting closer over shared interests contains: FLUFFFFFFF word count: 1.8k masterlist author's note: i haven't written a proper oneshot in a while,, so here we are.. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE

“That was a dumb fucking story,” Bakugou shoved the manga into your hands. “He was way too easy, and the girl was way too annoying and insecure. I have no idea why you liked it so much.”

“Oh shut up, it was cute,” you rolled your eyes.

Of course he thought the cutest, most wholesome manga you had was dumb. Well, it wasn't like he really appreciated much of your other suggestions either, the only one he seemingly remotely liked was Wotakoi - and that’s only because it was “realistic”.

It made you think about how he desired the simple kind of mundane love - something that was quite the opposite of what was expected out of heroes in the spotlight. Obviously you wanted to ask him about it, but it wasn’t like he’d answer you.

“Too cheesy,” he clicked his tongue. “Your taste in romance sucks. It’s so childish.”

“Oh yeah? Give me a rec then.”

“I don’t have anything to prove to you,” he shoved his hands in his pockets as he leaned forward. “Gimme something else to read. There has to be at least one good series out of the fucking library you’ve got hidden in there.”

“Says you,” you challenged, watching as he just walked into your dorm room with no warning. “You have like, five whole boxes under your bed.”

“And you have a whole bookshelf, but I’m not comparin’” he chided with a grin.

“Well, I think I already made you read all my favorites,” you shrugged. “Most of the others are shounen or they’re not the best. I do have anime recs though if you’re into that.”

“Damn, I went through all your favorites in like, a month. You must be a slow ass reader.”

“I’m not! I just follow a bunch of series that I’m still keeping up with.”

He huffed after perusing the bookshelf situated at the side of your room, seemingly through annoying you after he thumbed a couple of the titles that caught his eye. He’d liked barging into your room to complain about random shoujos ever since you caught him at a bookstore with an armful of manga not too long ago. And even though the so-called “friendship” had started as a way for you to not expose him, he’d flipped the tables to make it about bullying you instead - because of course he would.

“What’s the anime?”

“It’s literally my favorite romance anime of all time,” you gushed. “It’s called Fruits Basket. It was actually an older one that they recently rebooted to be more accurate to the manga and update the art style, and it’s so good. I cried like, five times while watching it. It was totally worth it. I don’t have the manga though, so you’d have to find it yourself.”

Bakugou raised an eyebrow, “Is it a harem?”

Of course that’s his first question (he didn’t like harems either - reverse or otherwise).

“It’s kind of like a reverse harem?” you tried to reason with him. “But it’s kind of not since they make it kinda clear from the beginning who she’ll end up with. It’s really good though, I promise.”

Bakugou didn’t look the most impressed by your explanation, but he clicked his tongue and nodded as he walked towards your door “I’ll try it, I guess. If it’s shit I’m blaming you.”

“Okay,” you raised your hands up. “I promise it’s not though.”

He seemingly paused in front of your door before reaching out to twist the handle, like there was something else he’d come to do, or say. But nothing else came out before he mumbled out a “Night” and closed the door behind him.

You didn’t question (or notice, really) his odd behavior, just heading to your bookshelf to put the manga he’d borrowed back into its rightful place - unaware of the way he was still standing outside your door, with the words he’d finished that manga in a day for, still sitting on the tip of his tongue at the forefront of his mind.

“Happy stupid Valentine's day.. idiot.”

…

You’d actually forgotten it was Valentines the next day until you’d opened your locker to find it stuffed with letters and chocolates. It wasn’t exactly the newest occurrence, since you'd received an ample amount of love letters since your first year when you fought in the sports festival and almost made it into the top three.

Your friends teased you about it at lunch of course, gushing over the sickly sweet poems and the letters you’d received while munching on your chocolate (under the name of poison testing) - but you still never thought to consider the holiday as important or something to pay a lot of attention to. After all, you still had to do your classes, excel in your hero work, finish your homework, and go to your internship;there weren’t breaks available to aspiring heroes to go on dates or hang out with their significant others. Not as second years, at least.

It’d been a long ass day (one that you were ready to end) by the time you finally got back to the dorms from the agency around 8 o’ clock, wearing a rumpled uniform with messy tied up hair. Damn, had Ryukyu been kicking your ass recently.

All you wanted to do was change out of your clothes, grab some leftovers from that night’s dinner in the fridge, and hop in bed to fall asleep to some show.

You made your way over to the kitchen first, hoping and praying as you opened the fridge that there were some good leftovers or that someone had been nice enough to save a plate for you, only to find it practically empty.

You frowned as you remembered that it’d been Bakugou’s turn to cook that night, which meant that all of it was gone because no one would ever leave his cooking to waste no matter how much it inflated his ego.

You let out a sigh as you decided to just eat cereal for dinner. You didn’t have the energy or the ingredients to make yourself something “proper” at the moment. You just needed something so you could go to sleep. But first, you were changing into some sweats.

You were back downstairs in about ten minutes, only to be greeted by Bakugou standing at the stove making something.

You’d opened your mouth, ready to ask him what he was doing, but he didn’t let you get a word in.

“Sit,” he ordered.

You didn’t argue, just sitting on one of the stools seated at the kitchen counter. You were too tired to think about why he was doing what he was doing, or how he even knew you hadn’t eaten in the first place. The only thing that'd invaded your mind was the smell of his cooking that’d wafted through the kitchen. And it was amazing.

“Eat,” he placed a plate in front of you with no warning, handing you a pair of chopsticks before he headed back towards the stove.

You didn’t even look to see what it was, just deciding to stuff it in your mouth with no hesitation. And damn was it amazing.

“Mmm, that’s really good.”

“Of course it is,” he grunted. “I made it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you chuckled. “Don’t let your head get too big.”

“Too late.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this for me, though,” you stuffed another bite in your mouth. “I would’ve been okay with a bowl of cereal.”

“Don’t be stupid, it’s not for you,” he shook his head. “I’m still hungry. Didn’t get to eat enough at dinner since everyone was fighting over the food like animals,” he raised his own plate of food as he came to sit down beside you.

The both of you sat in silence for a few moments - a quiet, comfortable silence, filled with chopsticks against plates and chewing.

“I started that Fruits Basket show,” Bakugou said after taking a sip of water. “S’not that shitty.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

“But why does that Tohru chick have to be so fucking good about everything?”

“Because that’s her character!” you turned to him, annoyed. “I love that about her.”

“It’s boring though,” he shoved another bite into his mouth. “Such an overused trope. She just lets everyone walk all over her and it’s annoying.”

“Shut up,” you rolled your eyes. “You still said you liked it so I’m taking it as a win.”

“I never said I liked it, I said it wasn’t shitty.”

“It means the same thing coming from you, Bakugou,” you stared at him pointedly. “I’m pretty sure I’d know how to speak your language fluently by now, after being stuck with you for two years already.”

He only rolled his eyes before taking another sip of water, “You’re so fucking annoying.”

You retaliated by flicking a piece of rice at him, and then laughing at the glare he gave when it landed on his plate.

You’d finished pretty quickly out of the desire to run up to your room and curl up in bed, and Bakugou watched as you pushed yourself up to put your dishes away and grab a glass water before going upstairs, but as you turned to thank him for sharing his “snack” with you, he’d shoved something into your hand.

“I found the manga,” he grumbled. “S’for you.”

You stared down at it, jaw almost to the floor when you noticed the title and the familiar animal characters on the front.

“Where’d you find this?” you looked up to him, amazed - as he simply put his dishes away. “This has been sold out everywhere I checked since the last part of the show came out. And it’s the limited edition cover too.”

“S’not important,” he shrugged.

“Thank you,” you smiled. “And thank you for the dinner and stuff too.”

“S’not a big deal,” he walked past you. “Now go to sleep, it’s late.”

“You’re such an old man,” you teased as you followed him. “It’s not even nine yet.”

“Yeah, exactly. It’s late.”

You gave him a weirded out look as you passed him towards your room, just shaking it off because, well, it was Bakugou.

“So you admit you’re an old man?” you called out behind you.

“Shut the fuck up.”

You chuckled as you closed your door behind you, hearing Iida scold Bakugou for being too loud in the hallway, and turned back to the manga that Bakugou had shoved into your hands.

The cover was beautiful, and as tired as you were, you wanted to thumb through it just to see the artwork. You already knew the story, of course, but you couldn’t help yourself as you plopped down onto your bed and turned to the first page - noticing the little note scribbled down on the inside of the cover, its’ words causing a fluttering feeling in your stomach as you thumbed the messy handwriting.

Chocolates are stupid, so I got you this instead. Happy fucking Valentine’s Day. -B.K.

[idontblushsrry]

Love Language|| Jujutsu Kaisen

“I wanna be fluent in your love language. Learning your love language.” 

A/N: If you didn’t guess from the tagline this is inspired by the song love language by Kehlani. I’ll probably do more of these with different shows and what not because why not. If I missed anyone lmk and I can make a part 2. Also please tag spoilers appropriately esp for manga readers, that being said spoilers for the prequel? manga on Yuuta’s part.

Characters: Itadori, Fushiguro, Kugisaki, Maki, Inumaki, Okkotsu, Gojo, Nanami, Sukuna

Warnings: said it b4 but spoiler warnings in general but esp on Yuuji, Yuuta, and Maki’s parts

Plot synopsis: The 5 love languages; physical affection, quality time, words of affirmation, gift giving and acts of service, and how each jujutsu kaisen character shows their love and affection for you. Ft. a gender neutral reader!

Word count: 2352

Itadori Yuuji

Love Language: Quality time and physical affection

Ok listen-

So for physical affection, Yuuji’s just that kind of person

He is all about giving to you

He’s holding hands with you if you’re ever walking anywhere, and if you’re not a hand holder pls pls pls let him hold your pinky he likes the reassurance

No but seriously he loves to hold you like yall could be walking in completely opposite directions and he’ll try to find some way to hold onto you until the very last second

And even then he’s all ‘:( babe imy’

‘Yuuji we just talked 2 minutes ago’

Another way he shows his love is through quality time

I think for him this is the biggest thing overall, esp as a jujutsu sorcerer bcus you never know yk but also because you’re important to him

Like remember how he literally went to occult club so that he could get out of school in time to go visit his grandpa...ye :(

He also loves finding dumb touristy things to do with you while in Tokyo or anywhere yall go together on a mission 

If you get together before he died and came back then that time he had to spend away from you literally killed him

Like my mans was goin THROUGH it

He almost considered spoiling Gojo’s secret

When he sees you again, he’s not gonna let go for like a solid day

Fushiguro Megumi

Love Language: acts of service and words of affirmation

This boy loves you so much

He loves to tell you all the things he loves about you when you’re alone

But he’s a little awkward with his words sometimes, hence where acts of service come in

He’ll immediately offer to hold your things, run to help you train or study, and if you’re cold? He’s fully prepared to never see his jacket again

Also he can’t cook but he’s fully prepared to suffer hearing Sukuna and suffering through Yuuji’s antics if it means he can learn how to make your favorite food

He also will surprise you by making you a playlist of all the songs that you’ve had stuck in your head and sends it to you randomly out of the blue one day like ‘thought you might like this’

However the best of both worlds is when he leaves you little notes throughout the day or sends you texts asking if you need anything or just encouraging you to keep going 

Negl he’s lowkey the president of the Y/N support club bcus-

You need anything? It’s yours

Cravings? Sad? Angry? What do you need bby, I’ve got it for you

Also he’s totally the type to be like you need help fuckin this person up? 

Also before yall started dating, Fushiguro was a mess

He was constantly asking to spar with you and go on missions, basically anything he could do to be near you  

End of the day, Fushiguro loves you and makes sure you know it whether it’s through his actions or his words

Kugisaki Nobara

Love Language: physical affection

So, she’s not the best with words, she tries but like someone help her bcus she is LOST

Like when she had a crush on you she was like “c’mere dumbass i wanna give you a hug”

In fact, she still is like “c’mere” but now you are dating :)

She loves you though and at first she doesn’t really know how to show it 

But one day you both come home from training and you just look at each other like ‘yeah today sucks’ and yall both just held each other for the rest of the day 

After that, she decided that she wants to do that with you but like always

She’s holding your hand, kissing your cheek when you go shopping, etc. etc.

She really loves to cling to you because she always has this fear that maybe one day you’ll get killed or just disappear so she figures might as well hold onto you for as long as we’ve got

After missions, she’s running up to you and if you aren’t prepared for the tackle, you’re probably gonna fall

On dates too, like if you guys have to meet up for a date, she’s tackling you

On the subject of dates...

She doesn’t mind PDA, and while she might hold your hand or arm so that you don’t get separated

She also doesn’t mind wiping food off your face and eating it, only to then kiss the spot on your face the food was previously at

She will split her shopping load between the two of you, however she will be slightly pouty if she’s carrying more than you (she then cheers up when she realizes she can do more shopping to “balance” the two of you)

In private she’s very cuddly and kissy which honestly isn’t that bad until it gets hot

At which point she’ll just say turn on the ac or convince you to walk around in a tank top (or something like it) so that she can continue holding you

Tbh she prefers the big spoon, but if she’s ever upset you let her be the little spoon >:(

All in all a very loving girlfriend who tries her best to show how much she loves you by glomping you at any given moment. 

Zenin Maki

Love language: acts of service and quality time

So you’re telling me that Maki wouldn’t immediately go out of her way to make sure her and her s/o can spend as much time together as possible?????

Like she’s super observant (which can cause her to be a bit harsh, see Yuuta) but she can always tell what’s bothering you

So if you’re upset that you haven’t been spending enough time together due to her being out on missions or otherwise busy she’s immediately running to finish her stuff and spend time with you.

((She’s very sorry, but on the bright side she brought your favorites!))

Maki is also an acts of service type

This mostly ties in with her kind of direct action way of thinking

She thinks she’s slick but you can always see her sneaking around to do small things like grabbing your laundry for you and folding it

She’s very much like if you love someone, you gotta prove it

Overall, dates with her are very intimate and personal to the two of you

Like she’ll take you to a frog pond you landed in during a fight once

Or you’ll take her to a street fair that serves this exclusive food that Maki mentioned wanting to try 

However, Maki shows her love through quality time and acts of service and while she does receive love from these to a degree, she is very much a words of affirmation gal

She’s not insecure in her day to day life but she has her moments, everyone does

Sometimes, she’ll feel like shit and a failure and all she wants is for you to say that she’s doing amazing and that she’s a great girlfriend.

Inumaki Toge

Love language: Physical affection

Because of his curse, he can’t exactly express how he feels about you through words

He does text you frequently throughout the day (I’ll have to do a hc abt that someday)

But he’d prefer not to be on his phone to communicate if you’re right in front of him

So he does the next best thing and just smothers you in physical affection

He loves kissing you the most

Like he could spend hours just kissing you if you let him (please let him)

But in public, he gets if you’re not a big fan of pda he’s willing to tone it down as long as he gets kisses later in private

He’d still prefer it if you held his hand or linked pinkies maintaining touch in some way

Also, unrelated, but it means so much to him if you try to understand his sushi language

He knows realistically the foundation of any relationship is communication so already he’s at a disadvantage because of his curse 

But if he sees you like take notes after he says something or start to need him to text you to translate, his heart is swelling

Like ‘omg this person loves me enough to learn a whole new language <333′

Another tangent but before you were together he was struggling so muchhhh

Like how does one express their feelings for someone without words?

If you’re Inumaki, you buy some flowers and text said person to meet you at a cafe

It took an embarrassingly long time for you to realize it was a date, but once you did, you ever so gently linked pinkies with Toge

Okkotsu Yuuta

Love language: words. of. affirmation. 

He’s literally so sensitive please tell him you love him regularly

In return he’ll be sure to tell you how much he loves you too

He knows that he can’t really be there for you as much as he’d like but he likes to let you know that he’s thinking of you

Doesn’t matter the time, if you call, he’s answering

If he doesn’t he’ll cry he’ll immediately call you back and is apologizing for missing your call

You assure him it’s no big deal but the man has his volume turned all the way up and changed your ringtone to one specific for you by the time you’ve even said hey

Aside from that, he really is sensitive

He’s been through a lot especially with Rika as well as growing up alone and bullied 

So for him, it’s everything to hear that you like having him around and don’t think he’s too much or anything like that

Of course, he gets better with time, trusting you and having the confidence in himself to not need constant assurance

That being said, if you ever just whisper in his ear, “I love you, Yuuta.”

That’s not your boyfriend, that’s a puddle of love on the floor

(Maki, Panda, and Inumaki had a field day when they saw him, Fushiguro now questions if Yuuta really is a respectable 2nd year.)

Gojo Satoru

Love language: gift giving and quality time

So Gojo doesn’t exactly get to spend a ton of time

Between missions, him beefing with higher ups, and you and him playing parent the baby sorcerers yall don’t exactly get time to go out much

In which case Gojo tends to default to two options:

He’ll either go the extra mile to try and spend time with you 

Whether that be an at home date where he tries and fails to surprise you with a home cooked meal

Or a date out at a restaurant or cafe (which you tend to visit after his home cooking efforts)

OR he’ll bring you various souvenirs from his missions

He loves to spoil you, and if he could he’d probably bring you back a whole store’s worth of stuff

But alas, airport security regulations

Anyways, he loves to spoil you especially if he can spoil you with sweets because it benefits him in two ways 

He treasures all the time you spend together, and he does try to overcompensate for his absence with gifts

Despite your assurances, it’s kind of a guilty pleasure at this point (just let him, trying to argue just goads him on further)

He doesn’t only buy you small things, he enjoys buying you outfits

And he especially likes seeing you in them 

Kento Nanami

Love Language: acts of service

Y’all remember the episode where he killed that curse that was bothering that baker lady?? Yea that

He’s literally such an acts of service boyfriend it’s not even funny

Before you got together, he would memorize your coffee order and bring you a cup pretty much everyday like clockwork

Now that you’re togehter, he wakes up before you so h=that when you wake up there’s the smell of coffee throughout the house

When you come out of you’re shared bedroom and he’s just scrooling through his phone like “mornin’”

Of course you already made the bed and ironed his clothes because relationships are give and take

And then when you leave for your jobs in the morning, he kisses you and holds the door open for you

He’ll draw a bath for you if he gets home before you, if you let him join or not is up to you

Also, if you ever get sick, he’s actually the best

Like he isn’t the best cook but he can heat up soup and tea

He’ll run to the store while you’re asleep and when you wake up, there’s like a whole tray of food in front of you and he’s like ‘it’s important to eat and drink so your body can heal’

And when you inevitably fall asleep after eating and taking medicine at his insistence, he tucks you in and clears away the dishes, exiting with little more than a kiss to your head

Ryoumen Sukuna

Love Language: gift giving and acts of service

So like Sukuna never says he loves you...ever

But he does notice if someone or something’s making you uncomfortable, and if so, said entity’s head will be presented to you later that day

You also just so happen to be the only person he can tolerate being around him for longer than 20 seconds

He also loves to give you jewelry, he likes seeing you adorned in something from him

He also isn’t gonna just handle all your problems for you, he will push you to become stronger by training with you 

He’ll also expect this energy to be reciprocated, as long as you’re pushing yourself to be better, he’s content with that

(He wants to see you grow because he’s scared that if he ever gets caught lackin one day you’ll end up dead)

He’ll never tell you or admit it, but Sukuna truly does care for you and hold you in a regard that he doesn’t have for others

So be grateful jkjk