#doing another one like this but with shorter & yut lung based on that one scene in the intro too :]

[climbing-starrs]

FINALLY figured out how to FUCKING DRAW THEM

[eatingmyownwiener]

✨ shorasheiji au hcs where eiji is the siren ✨

i had this idea for a couple months but can't bring myself to write anything even tho i'm full of ideas so i'll drop them here if anyone wants to write something idk. btw, this au is based on the show siren (i haven't watched it whole yet but i feel inspired hahaha) this post will be only about shorash.

- ash is a fisherman and writer. he likes to sit in his boat in the middle of the ocean and just write stuff. he's books are well known; the book are something between extremely gory/horror or fantasy. he also writes short stories for max's magazine. he was adopted by blanca and natasha. yut-lung is his adoptive brother (i love aus where ash and yut-lung are brothers). he's still in school, but already has his own apartment next to the sea.

- shorter owns a restaurant and also has a gang. don't ask, he doesn't know how it happened either. his dad left him when he was still a baby and his mother passed away two years after he was born. nadia was the one who educated and raised shorter.

- shorter met ash bc ash spent most of the time looking out the window when he went to chang dai, the restaurant in the same street as ash's apartment, as if he was in another world. nadia told her lil bro who ash was and shorter read a book that wasn't a recipe book in years. he liked it and went straight up talking to the author abt the book.

- ash felt immediately his personal space (?) being invaded by the owner of the restaurant being so close to him but didn't see any malice coming from the dorky guy. at first, it kinda made him uncomfortable that man staring at him for a long time (but really loooooooooong time) but now he just wanted that man staring at him the whole time.

- shorter got an invitation to go fishing after two months of conversation with the blond and accepted without thinking twice (his sister scolded him bc he had work, but he couldn't just miss the opportunity to go fishing with ash lynx). shorter felt really happy about it and even put on his lucky shorts (they're pink with pineapples all over) and a his favorite Hawaiian shirt. needless to say he looks extremely sexy and ash makes fun of him when he sees him.

- while they're in the middle of he sea, ash felt inspired and started to write something while listening to shorter ramble abt random things. it wasn't distracting, at all. in fact, ash liked listening to shorter's voice.

- shorter constantly asks when will the fish appear and ash just tell him they won't appear if he doesn't shut up. shorter pouts and sits next to ash, grabbing a beer. shorter points out how beautiful ash is out of nowhere like it's something common and gives a detailed list of why ash is a literal angel sent from heaven. this, of course, makes ash a blushing mess tho he tells shorter "shut up, i'm trying to concentrate"

- they end up just catching two fishes and both were shorter's. he feels extremely happy. they say their goodbyes after ash took them back to the shore (that thing where it's a parking lot for boats, idk the name). ash thanks shorter for the time and hopes they can do it again. shorter is completely down for it and is excited to see the blond the next day at his restaurant.

- one time, they were lying on shorter's bed (aka ash's safe and fave place) just staring at the ceiling after they got tired of playing. ash told shorter, his bestie and crush, abt the sexual abuse he suffered as a child (that canon story) and abt a older brother that went missing when he was fishing. that's why he likes to fish. he hopes he'll find his brother someday. shorter hugged ash and kissed the top of his head "he'll appear someday. don't lose your hope". ash lets more tears roll down his cheeks and rests his head on shorter's chest. that scene that made him feel like no one would never hurt him again.

- they start dating after a year and a half. it was mutual pining bc they're dumb (yes, dumb/oblivious ash lovers, where are you at?). it just sorta happen. ash accidentally kissed shorter one time and it became a habit until shorter presented ash lynx as his boyfriend to nadia.

- they're dating which is nothing different besides the amount of kisses shorter gives ash and tells him every. single. time. how much he loves him. ash blushes or sometimes teases back only to see shorter be the blushing mess. which is now ash's favorite thing.

-ash has a neutral relationship with shorter's gang. he'll only mess with them if they mess with him, and vice versa. ash meets sing for the first time when he visits shorter at one of his secret hideouts. sing is a fan. he tried not to let it show but when ash asked him where shorter was, sing's voice cracked. at the end he was able to get an autograph thanks to shorter. he keeps it inside his pocket all the time; it's a lucky charm.

- (nsfw) ash was able to have sex with shorter twice and they were amazing. ash can only have sex with shorter if they're on ash's room with the curtains all closed, shorter has the day off the next day and that day and ash finished a short or an arc from one of his books. shorter and ash lost all their energy bc if they start they will only end until they can't move anymore. shorter is a service top djkdjkdks the next morning they take a bath together and it's ash's time to spoil shorter by giving him kisses, gentle touches him and washes his mohawk in the most gentle and softest way possible (shorter loves ash's hands and always makes sure to say it at least once a day).

- shorter calls ash by his real name most of the time bc he thinks it's pretty.

- when shorter met blanca and natasha for the first time he knew ash was adopted but thought natasha was his real mom bc they look very alike. shorter wasn't very welcomed by yut-lung but he tried to. at dinner, yut-lung and ash had a fight that blanca couldn't stop. shorter ate the food and complimented it; natasha gave a delicate smile as a thanks before pulling her sons' ears to make them stop yelling. after they left, ash was still all pouty bc the dinner didn't go as planned. shorter kissed ash and told him he looked very sexy yelling; ash rolled his eyes even though his cheeks turned pink. shorter then dropped ash at his place and ash invited his boyfriend for some cuddles and watch a movie.

- a week later, ash invited his boyfriend to go fishing with him on his day off (tho he offered they could do other things). shorter accepted it, excitedly.

- when they were at the sea, ash noticed the fishing rod had caught something so he went check it. it was a big fish since it pulled ash into the water. ash didn't believe what he saw before shorter came to save him, who also took a glance at the big fish with dark hair.

[uozlulu]

Banana Fish episode 22 reaction post. Spoilers.

Overall, I think this episode was a really hard episode because of how much had to happen within it, which shows yet another weakness to the anime’s infinite list of pacing problems. I did fast forward through the stuff with Foxx, because not only do I find what he did excessive and something that brought nothing new or strong to the story, it’s also just nothing I care to view. I really liked Uchida and Fukuyama’s voice work in this episode. Ash repeating Eiji’s name over and over at the end was painful and I liked the range and rawness that Fukuyama brought to Yut-Lung.

Please be aware that there are spoilers below.

”You’re like a leopard…” This is going to become some kind of death flag that broke the camel’s back if we’re not careful.

”You could have anything you want.” Like freedom? Pretty sure he’s trying to obtain freedom.

Anyway, I’m going to fast forward through this for the sake of my own sanity. What I can say is this: I always found this to be excessive and unnecessary. Like the mounting death flags, we know Ash’s history. We know what trauma he’s been through. Perhaps the point here is to retraumatize him since Ash has been healing a little over the course of the story. Maybe the point is some kind of fetish. Maybe it’s a way to deal with personal trauma. Maybe it’s meant to solidify something to justify what’s going to happen later in the story. I don’t know, but I’ve always felt Foxx taking this to the level he takes it to did not really add anything to the story and did not strengthen anything in the story. It’s just torture for the sake of torture rather than torture for the sake of plot.

I know it’s aiming for a door and blowing it away with a gun, but like Eiji could not hit that can in Cape Cod worth beans and here he is now.

The benefit of the anime is that it strengthens this hug between Eiji and Ash. We can see Ash shaking (trembling? Both?) and Eiji wraps his arms around him and Ash slowly stops shaking. I also like the contrast of how Cain approaches Ash and Eiji approaches him. Cain does what most people would want, a hand on the shoulder. It’s an honest gesture but comes without any warning. Eiji, however, gives Ash a moment to be ready and then hugs him. I don’t know if I’d characterize it as asking for permission but more like Eiji’s saying non-verbally, “I’m going to hug you,” and Ash chooses to accept it in his own way. I also like the lack of background noise or music.

I have to say I really understand where Lao’s coming from here. He’s operating with the information he’s been given. He doesn’t know why Ash killed Shorter, but he knows that much. Under any other circumstance, that would give him – any of them – the right to go after Ash and get revenge. Since he doesn’t have the information Sing has, Lao is frustrated with this whole affair. He doesn’t want to capitulate to the guy who murdered his boss (and probably friend), he can’t trust anything coming from Ash at all, and it’s probably like everyone’s lost their minds. One thing I am curious about is like how Sing exactly became the leader of the gang. How did they decide? Was he always Shorter’s second in command? Did the gang as a whole decide Sing was the best leader? Is it a family thing? Does it have to do with Sing becoming acquainted with Yut-Lung? I just have a lot of questions and I really can’t fault Lao because he’s making clear logical choices based on the information he has.

I know it’s the writing, but just in universe motivation a sec, I wonder if part of what’s driving Yut-Lung to return Ash to Dino is jealousy. When Ash and the others fled the mansion ages ago, Yut-Lung left, but did not leave Dino’s influence. Now that Yut-Lung’s brothers are all dead and he’s gotten his revenge, he’s still connected back to Dino. Eiji in many ways represents Ash’s freedom and Yut-Lung doesn’t really have anyone like that right now in his life because when Sing could have become that, the story required Sing to walk away. Blanca meanwhile is part of the snare that Yut-Lung is still trapped. I am curious but not to the point I’d want to necessarily know what Yut-Lung’s been through over the course of the story, what caused him to kind of go from the equivalent of a student council nemesis to some kind of braid twirling kid on a downward spiral. I mean I know the answer is it’s for the sake of the story and the ending we’re working towards, but I guess as per usual, I’m left wishing we could have gotten more from Yut-Lung than this.

I feel like this is part of why I end up ultimately neutral on Blanca. Like you can see how his choices are made in a way to help Ash, but at the same time just some of the choices he makes you know? But that’s also kind of what keeps him from lacking dimension like Foxx does, which I can appreciate. I’m kind of curious about the editing team situation during the manga’s run. Everything starts out fairly strong and the main characters are pretty dimensional for the most part (Ash’s Gary Stu moments aside here), but as we get into the later parts of the story we lose a lot of that especially as we drive closer to the end. What kind of editing discussions went on? Was the manga popular enough that the editors just kind of went with whatever? Are these things based on compromises made with editors? I’ve just always been curious about these things.

This is also why I’ve always been rather sympathetic to Yut-Lung as well. Up to this point, he’s had all these opportunities he could have killed Eiji. He’s even been in a position a few times in which he could have killed Ash as well, especially if the narrative allowed him to show up his assassin skill to its fullest extent. I think that he doesn’t actually want to kill Eiji or Ash. I think that what he’s observed with them stirs up things he doesn’t know how to handle possibly. Yut-Lung has lived a fairly isolated existence even when his mother was alive. He can’t generate the support network that Ash can. Everything he’s been through, ,he’s had to carry himself. Ultimately he gives Blanca the location because I think that he set the hit for Eiji to try and capture whatever it is that he’s lost since achieving his goal against his brothers. Perhaps he thought that by killing Eiji he could kill whatever it is about Eiji that eats at him. Yut-Lung hasn’t been able to take a breather and step back to analyze what’s happened to him since he finally got his revenge and that’s part of the in universe motivation for his current state of being. I think that’s also why I’ve always kind of toyed with what would happen if Eiji and Yut-Lung were to meet again post-“Garden of Light” perhaps. What does Yut-Lung go on to learn about himself after the series ends? How does he mature and grow? I mean he’s basically a high school sophomore/junior who’s been severely traumatized which likely won’t do the maturation process any favors. I feel sorry for him ultimately totally see for these reasons but also how he’s used by the narrative throughout these final sections as well.

I like how the anime does what the manga did where they have the character speak in English to represent speaking in Japanese. lol “I’m thank you.” I can totally see Ibe’s face while messing around teaching Ash straight up gibberish.

I know this must be shocking for everyone, but you’d think between Alex and Jessica they would think to put pressure on Eiji’s wound to help stem the blood flow. Like I mean Alex is the second in command of one of the bigger gangs in New York City during the cocaine crisis. Certainly he knows first aid for wounds like this. I mean I know that the anime wants to present the scene so we can clearly see the wound and see all the characters in the room. It’s framed really nicely. However, please someone get Eiji some first aid please.

Once again, Uchida is giving us what we deserve in terms of voice work.