#exploring japanese name giving themes

[sunflowersandcherryblossoms]

I'm really into my new series!

I love writing it so much I want to expand on it even more than Sunflowers And Cherry Blossoms. (not abandoned... Just haven't gotten around to decide what to write next.)

The timelines of SACB and MDHYE won't match, of course, and I'm thinking of augmenting the Abarai Clan. — Which I think it's a great idea to imagine Byakuya straight up creating a new Clan within the Kuchiki Retainer Clans, since the new Elder Council still doesn't accept Rukia as the heir because she's not a blood heir... So Byakuya says "Fuck it", creates a new Clan and gives them wealth and rights above and beyond the rest of the retainer Clans. — My logic is, since Rukia and Renji named their first daughter Ichika to honour Ichigo, (though the meaning is tied more with his Kanji nickname than his Kanji actual name) a couple of years down the line, they'd have a second daughter and called her Byakuren, after Byakuya.

It takes the same Kanji radical as Byakuya's name (白) adding the Kanji for Lotus (蓮), keeping with the theme of flowers, fruits and tress, signifying the rebirth, the blooming of a branch that seemed doomed to die...

[ane-doodles]

Make it turquoise!

Cult of the Lamb Narindersona and Lambsona :D

Special thanks to @linkerbell for motivating me to draw, name and finally share them

Below information extracted from a conversation on discord:

Aneerinder:

(Using he/him for this occasion)

I wanted to maintain both the theme of the felines and the god of death but with a bit of the Japanese aesthetic that I like and other details that I usually use in my drawings.

First, the species is still a serval (like my Narinder) but in white. The stripes and spots they have are painted by him himself, except for the ears and tail, which are natural.

Instead of just making him the god of death, I wanted to base him a little more on the idea of a prophet, who receives messages from the future and teaches them to others if you ask in the right way. He is considered the writer of destiny, even though as such it is outside his area, how someone lives or dies is outside his power, he only receives them and archives the stories of their life.

Based on this idea of a writer/illustrator, the idea was born that his hands would function as a writing instrument (similar to this character in the movie 9 who had pen(? fingers to write). Constantly gushing ichor from these using them as ink…

Jumping to the moment of imprisonment hehehe

He is partially blinded using a paper talisman behind his head. To prevent it from being able to write or create something with the ink/ichor, it is surrounded by water, so that the ink always runs.

He also ends up being immobilized with red ropes as an allegory to the "red thread of destiny", especially his right hand is especially tangled to prevent him from continuing to "write the destiny of the gods". To prevent the ropes from breaking there are also paper talismans hanging from them.

In short, prevent him from writing/drawing in any way in order to keep the destiny of the gods in his hands. He ends up becoming dependent on other senses, little talking, much listening.

He loves stories, after all his job as a god is also to record the lives of mortals.

Their followers could ask for glimpses of their futures, which were considered predictions.

When someone dies and reaches the other side, they are given a scroll with a copy of the record of their life.

I'm still thinking about how to draw him, but if I design a shape for him as a follower, I'll most likely end up wearing glasses to see.

You will never in your life get him to close the haori he usually wears.

Aniki:

Ok lamb, she/her this time

The lamb genocide occurs during an expedition trip. She coincidentally returns to her village the day it is destroyed. Easily resigned, once she finished digesting the idea that she was the last of her kind she had no choice but to move on.

She's not built for combat, she's even terribly bad at dodging (like me qwq) which is why she dies often.

[Here I have an inside joke in which the god tells her "I may be blind, but I clearly see a lot of death in your future" jsjsjs]

Their crusades mainly consist of collecting resources and trading with traders.

She is very good at managing the cult, to the point where in the first five years it was already self-sustaining. She is also usually quick to meet the demands of her followers and thereby increase the faith of the cult, avoiding at all costs giving sermons because she is too shy to do so. Despite this, in casual conversations with cultists he often talks about the god of death in a way that unconsciously raises their faith.

She never takes the cult on herself, because she couldn't be interested in the idea of taking that burden on herself, which is why all the cult's statues and decorations revolve around the cat.

Now, having a self-sustaining cult and a faith that is constantly growing, she ends up having too much free time, so she spends her time putting together a collection of objects she finds around, making decorations for the cult, playing and exploring.

When she dies she tells stories of common events that occur in the cult, and in return the god tells her stories of past lives that have reached his domain. They have a constant exchange of stories which is what allows them to get closer.

She changes over time (new design yipee) and the crown upon returning to the god grants her a blessing in which she becomes the "eyes of god"

The new design only has some minor changes from the original.

Since she never had the ambition to take power, divinity never affected her.

She only had small surges of devotion and power that made her possessed by the god and that way she was able to defeat the bishops (similar to what a writer would do with his characters)

[kwanisms]

Rough Waters — h.jisung

» stray kids masterlist «

➮ samebito!Jisung × f!Reader wc: 10k summary: Y/N is a marine biologist who is obsessed with finding new sea life. During a night dive, she stumbles across a very well hidden underwater cave entrance and finds herself meeting something that defies all logic and evolution. She forms a bond with the creature and comes back almost every night to visit him. genres/themes/au: fluff (if u squint), smut; supernatural and japanese folklore themes, s2l, slight predator/prey themes; non idol au, merman au, samebito au warnings: adult dialogue, female reader, a little bit of arguing between Y/N and some of the townsfolk about the existence of mermaids, some slightly sad conversation about Jisung being alone, sexual content (18+ mdni), see smut warnings under the cut! special taglist: @yoonguurt , @anyamaris , @wooyoungqueen , @kpop-stories-21 , @xsweetelegantdiasterx , @kookthief , @stardragongalaxy , @millennial-fangirl , @blankdyean , @imwithurmother , @bangchans-angel , @oreoqueen , @yjeonginlvr , @zdgx1 , @shuxsoo , @s00buwu , @queenmea604 , @pochaccomin , @katsukis1wife , @linos-catnip , @wh0r3mir4 , @cutiespaghetti Join the taglist! »» Closed ! Strikethrough means I cannot tag you. MINORS WILL BE BLACKLISTED & BLOCKED. AGELESS BLOGS WILL NOT BE ADDED.

a/n: this is super self-indulgent and I will not apologize for shark merman cnc Jisung. I wanted this Jisung so I made him. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. If you enjoyed this, reblog or leave a comment. I love feedback. The next part, Changbin's part, is the last one of this series! That being said, next up is the Holiday Special of Tales from Camp. You can sign up for that taglist here and read the first two installments here. If you've yet to read the OG Tales from Camp, that masterlist is here. Thank you so much for reading and as always, this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. for entertainment purposes only.

smut warnings: teratophilia (aka monsterfucking), unprotected sex (he’s a freakin shark merman. You think he cares about avoiding pregnancy? He can’t even get her pregnant lol but you need to use protection!), oral (f receiving), con noncon, pool/water sex (kinda lol), dirty talk, use of pet names (little fish, cutie, baby, pet, etc), rough sex, dom!Jisung, sub!Reader, even though it’s cnc Y/N is very receptive towards his advances and in the end, she does give him consent. But if CNC or dubcon makes you uncomfy, don’t read it. This is my fantasy. I wrote this for me lol if I missed anything let me know

dialogue prompt: ❛ I'm waiting for your permission to let me have my way with you. ❜

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

The warning sign at the beach that read ‘beware of sharks’ in all capital letters should have served as warning for what you were about to get yourself into.

Living in a seaside town has always had its perks. Sandy beaches to visit in the summers, the smell of salt that you’d come to love, boating, all the seafood you could want among them. It was almost like your own personal paradise.

The one drawback was the shark population that increased at the end of summer which drove away the rest of the tourism for the season. You weren’t mad about it. After all, the ocean was home to all marine animals, sharks included. As a biologist, you knew each animal had its own purpose and was beneficial to the ecosystem, especially sharks.

So despite the danger, you never missed an opportunity to dive when the weather allowed. Of course, you chose night time for your dives.

Night was perfect as the animals weren’t as active without the sunlight.

Your dive for the night had taken you to a rocky part of the shore where you knew caves would be. The caves along the shore were always hard to reach and most of them only had underwater entrances.

You’d explored a fair share of them since moving to this town but there were many more you wanted to explore and see what kind of life you could find.

This excursion was like any other, you’d made a plan with the local coast guard as well as letting your contact in town know when, where, and how long you’d be. It was a standard procedure which had become routine for you.

You had taken out your boat and anchored it just off shore and near what you assumed was the opening to another cave before suiting up and jumping into the water. The water was cool enough in the summer months but in the fall it was almost freezing, making you grateful for the wetsuit you wore no matter the temperature. Making sure your mask was secure you slowly sank into the water, turning on and shining your light towards the bottom of the rocks.

An opening was visible at the base and you carefully made your way down, inspecting the opening before starting inside. You’d explored many of these caves before, you knew the procedure and the caves never scared you. To some, caving was one thing but to do so underwater was an entirely different beast. To you, it was almost second nature.

As you continued forward, you scanned the walls of the cave, taking note of the coral, algae, and other life that had taken root on the walls. It wasn’t uncommon to find life in places like this. Sea caves were often the home to unique and enclosed ecosystems.

As you gently propelled yourself forward, you noticed how the cave seemed to open up. As you reached the end you looked up and saw that the cave did indeed open up into a large cavern. Sand lined the bottom of the cavern, many coral reefs and other life taking up residence. You started to swim up, noticing the surface approaching rapidly.

You broke through the surface of the water and found that the cavern was much larger than you initially thought. Swimming over to the edge of the pool, you pulled yourself up and started to look around as you started to remove your mask.

It was a rounded cavern. The pool was about twenty feet in diameter but there was a rocky ledge where you were currently perched on and then the rocky floor continued for another twenty feet making the whole diameter of the cavern about forty feet. You pulled your mask off and set it down as you undid and shrugged off your oxygen tank.

“This is incredible,” you whispered to yourself as you removed your flippers and got up, starting to walk around the cavern and inspect the walls. There was a slight glitter to them as you shined your light. Not like they were wet but like some kind of diamond dust was embedded in the rock.

You looked straight above your head and noticed there was an almost perfect circular cut out in the cavern ceiling and moonlight was filtering through the hole. The moonlight hit the surface of the water and danced around the cavern.

As you were inspecting, you noticed something else.

The cave seemed inhabited. You noticed bones collected in a pile and an old fire pit. You wondered who might seek shelter in this cave when it was so close to the boardwalk but didn’t have time to dwell on it as you heard a large splash coming from the pool.

You made your way back over and cursed as you saw your mask and oxygen tank sinking to the bottom of the pool. “Shit,” you said softly and looked around. You hoped there might be a break in the rocks that would allow you to exit the cave instead of having to go back into the pool but you saw nothing.

You turned around on the spot, trying to figure out a way out of this but you saw nothing that could help. There was nothing you could use to reach the tank and mask which were now nestled at the bottom of the pool in the sand. “Fuck!” you cursed, your voice echoing off the wall.

You looked away from the pool when you heard a shift against the rock behind you.

Shining your light back, you saw nothing and chalked it up to nerves.

You turned back, eyes catching something dark in the pool below you before you felt something grab you and pull you into the pool.

You kicked and fought against whatever it was until it seemed to let go of you and you quickly swam to the surface, coughing once you broke through the surface. You tried to pull yourself up onto the rocky ledge but something grabbed your leg and tugged, pulling you off the wall and back into the water.

Just as quickly as it grabbed you, it let go.

You tried to shine your flashlight around but whatever it was moved too fast for you to get a good glimpse of it. In a desperate attempt to throw the animal off, you threw your flashlight away, turning back for the ledge at the light splashed a considerable distance away.

You hoped the splash would distract the animal enough for you to get away and it seemed to work as you scrambled up onto the rocky ledge before you pulled away and peered back at the still water’s surface. Your eyes scanned the area, looking for any kind of predator that could have been responsible.

Upon not seeing one, you looked down to inspect your arm and your ankle. Your skin was unbroken and mostly unscathed. There were slight imprints, almost like teeth or maybe even claws but no blood had been drawn.

A small splash caught your attention and you snapped your head up in time to see a ripple cross the surface of the water. Something had disturbed the water. You saw a dark shadow move near the bottom of the pool, only noticing it as it crossed in front of the beam of your flashlight.

You were being watched. Whatever had dragged you into the water knew you were there and it was circling the pool. Waiting. Hunting. Whatever it was was sentient enough to know it had you trapped. It knew the only way out of the cave was through the water and it would wait.

You should have been terrified. After all, it was hunting you but your curiosity wouldn’t be satisfied until you caught a glimpse of it. You had to know what it was.

Carefully, you approached the edge of the pool, eyes scanning the dark and catching a large shadow as it swam in circles. Not in an erratic or frenzied pattern but calmly. Almost… leisurely.

As you peered over the edge of the rocks, the shadow stopped circling and started to swim to the surface. You watched in awe as a dark smooth body broke through the surface before you saw the fin. A shark fin. ‘Of course it was a shark,’ you told yourself watching as the creature moved towards you.

You pulled back slightly as it drew closer and closer. You were well aware that some sharks were known for their breaching behavior, namely great whites. This was definitely not a great white shark. It was much darker. It could have been a tiger shark but tigers weren’t known for their aggressive behavior.

Bull sharks on the other hand were and though bull sharks hadn’t been spotted in the area in over 20 years, it wasn’t completely impossible.You drew back entirely, hoping the animal wouldn’t try to jump out of the water to reach you.

As it drew closer, you watched as it dove down with just precision that you were starting to wonder if it was a shark after all. Sharks weren’t known for diving so steeply. They were gradual divers. You leaned over the edge and lost sight of the shadow. Your eyes caught the flickering of your flashlight and you cursed as it went dark, the illumination you had now gone and only the light of the moon allowing you to see.

The water seemed to still as you looked around. Had it left? Was the animal gone? Your instincts told you it was still there, waiting for you to slip up before it took you at its latest meal.

Even though sharks didn’t go out of their way to eat humans, if one was hungry enough, it would stalk one and wait. Just like any other starving predator.

As you looked around, you saw bubbles just under where you were leaning over the water.

You glanced down and let out an ear piercing scream as the creature surfaced quickly, forcing you back as it breached and landed on top of you. You struggled to push it away, taking care to avoid the head and any potential bites.

As you struggled under the weight of the animal, you could have sworn you heard… laughter?

Your eyes popped open and you looked up, fear and shock mixing as you stared at the creature above you.

You were looking into the face of a man. Your shock and fear turned briefly into anger as you tried to make sense of the situation. Had it been a man this whole time? Some weird cave hermit that had been tormenting you and pretending to be a shark to scare you into leaving his home?

“You should see your face!” he said as his laughter grew. You narrowed your eyes and tried to sit up but it was then you noticed the lower half of his body and gasped.

From the waist up, he was human. Golden tan skin that blended into the dark blackish-blue of his shark-like tail. A… merman? Your eyes traveled back up to his face, taking in each and every detail bathed in moonlight. He wore around his neck a black cord necklace with shells and in the middle, a pendant made from a shark tooth.

You watched as he continued to laugh, sharp pointed teeth peeking out from his plush peachy lips.

“You humans are so much fun,” he said as his laughter subsided. His hands rested on the rock under you as he leaned over you, his slim waist positioned between your thighs as he smirked at you. Leaning slightly to the left, you looked over his body again. The dark blackish-blue faded into a pale grayish-blue on the ventricle side and the same grayish-blue stripes covered his back. The fin on his back was just past his waist and was a very typical shark-like fin.

His tail was also the trademark shark fin but it was more like a thresher tail with the top part of the fin longer. Your eyes traveled back up to his face, inspecting the ocean blue irises that stared back at you. “What the--” you trailed off, pushing yourself up, forcing the creature to back up.

“What are you?” you asked, voice full of caution and curiosity. You watched as the creature fell back into the water, disappearing below the surface before popping back up, fixing you with a playful stare. “You’re the scientist,” he noted. “You tell me.”

You stared at him blankly. How could you even expect to explain this? Explain him? His very existence had been disputed and debated for hundreds of years. Mermaids were the stuff of legend and folklore. They weren’t supposed to exist.

If that were the case however, how did you explain this? How did you explain the creature treading water before you? “It has to be some sort of suit,” you mumbled, looking at the shark-like body under the water. The creature scoffed. “It’s always ‘seeing is believing’ with you humans until something shows up and then it’s all ‘has to be fake.’ Do you ever believe anything?” he asked.

You looked up, examining his face. His soft features. Round cheeks, plush pouty lips that started to lift into a crooked smile, showing off his pointed teeth. “I believe in science,” you explained and he rolled his eyes. “But I also believe there are things science can’t explain,” you continued.

You started to lower yourself into the water and he immediately shied away. You held up your hand. “I’m not going to hurt you,” you said softly. You saw his eyes flit to the knife strapped to your thigh. You followed his gaze and quickly removed the weapon.

“For protection,” you replied, setting it on the rocks behind you and facing him. “In case something tries to take a bite out of me,” you added. His brow furrowed. “If you get bit, maybe you shouldn’t get in the water,” he replied and you nodded. “I’ve never been bit,” you answered. “I’ve gotten close, but the knife is a last resort,” you continued.

“You have your teeth and your claws,” you reminded him. “My teeth and nails are no match for shark skin,” you added. “If you aren’t a match, why do you enter the ring?” he asked, tilting his head slightly. A smile spread across your face. “Because I study marine life,” you replied.

“I’m a marine biologist.”

The creature tilted his head the opposite direction. “Are you here to study me?” he asked. You shrugged before answering. “Up until a few minutes ago, I didn’t even know you existed,” you answered, swimming a little closer. He watched you cautiously. “So you didn’t know this cave is my home?” he asked and you shook your head. “No, I had no idea.”

He studied you carefully.

“Are you… a merman?” you asked suddenly. His expression changed, amusement crossing his features as he laughed. “A merman?” he asked incredulously. “Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “Those pretty boys live safe and sound in their lairs, never venturing far from home,” he added.

You cocked your head to the side. “Pretty boys?” you asked. “Do you not think you’re pretty?”

Your question must have caught him off guard because he stopped smiling and stared at you, a slight pink hue reaching his cheeks. “N-no,” he answered finally. “I’m not.” You frowned at him. How could he not think he was? You found all sea life incredible beautiful but nothing you’d encountered before had made you think it was attractive and yet here he was before you.

“I think you’re pretty,” you replied. He stared at you, eyes widening. “Y-you do?” he asked softly, to which you nodded. “I think you’re very pretty,” you replied. He swam a little closer, inspecting your face. “So,” you said, breaking the silence. “If you aren’t a merman, what are you?”

He raised his gaze to meet yours, drawing it from your body under the water. “What do you think I am? Hmm, marine biologist?” he asked and you sighed, backing away from him and pulling yourself up onto the rock. “Sorry,” you said as you situated yourself. “My legs were getting tired.”

He watched as you massaged your calves. “I can only tread water for so long.”

“In my experience,” you started. “I’ve never seen anything like you,” you continued. “The shark part is unlike any species I’ve ever seen. It’s like an amalgamation of tiger and thresher sharks,” you noted. He smiled, showing off his pointy teeth as he swam closer. “So you’re saying I’m unique?” he asked.

You nodded as he drew closer. “Unique and otherworldly,” you added. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” He pulled himself back up, leaning over your frame. “You’ve never seen anything like me?” You shook your head again. “Never,” you replied.

Silence fell over the two of you as you stared at one another. His dark hair had started to dry a bit, the ends of his bangs falling into his eyes. “What do you call yourself?” you asked, tilting your head to the right. He smiled, mimicking your movement. “Jisung,” he replied. “My name is Jisung.”

“Jisung,” you repeated. He leaned in, eyes watching your lips as you spoke. “I like the way you say my name,” he whispered. You could feel your heart rate kicking up as he leaned closer. ‘What is he doing?’ You stared back as his eyes moved up to meet your gaze. “What is your name?” he asked just as softly as before.

You froze. He was asking your name? Should you tell him? It’s not like he was going to look you up or something. You then wondered if you should tell any kind of sentient creature your name. Didn’t that give them power over you or something? You must have taken longer than he expected because he smirked at you.

“What’s the matter? Shark got your tongue?” he asked, amused by his own joke.

Your facade broke and you smiled. “Y/N,” you finally answered. “I’m Y/N.” Jisung smiled back, a genuine smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Y/N,” he replied, lowering back into the water and staring up at you.

“Likewise,” you replied.

After meeting Jisung that night, you promised to come back. And came back you did.

You managed to gain his trust enough to draw a small vial of blood, and take a couple pictures mainly of his tail and markings. You promised to keep his existence a secret, making sure all your research on him was done at home and that you kept everything under wraps.

A few days turned into a week and you came back almost every night, getting to know Jisung and more about his existence. You learned that he wasn’t a merman, like he had said. He was a samebito. He had explained that it was similar to a merman but different folklore and legends.

A week and a half had passed since you first met Jisung and you were currently sitting on the edge of the boat, writing in your notebook, going over your notes before suiting up and jumping in the water. 

A splash caught your attention and you glanced up. You weren’t sure why you even looked, it was night time and you couldn’t even see the water except near your boat. You grabbed the spotlight, flipping it on and turning it slowly until something came into view and you sighed.

“Someone’s impatient,” you chuckled, letting go of the light and returning to your notes as Jisung swam over to your boat. “I got lonely,” he said softly as he reached the end of your boat. He quickly pulled himself up to sit on the side of the boat near you.

“What’re you writing?” he asked, leaning over to see your notebook. “Just some notes,” you mumbled, finishing up your notes and closing the notebook quickly, and setting it aside. You turned to look at him and your smile fell upon seeing the fresh scar on his shoulder.

“What happened here?” you asked, voice laced with concern as you scooted closer.

He glanced down and let out a chuckle. “Oh,” he said softly. “I got a little too close to a shark feed ground,” he continued. “I’ll heal pretty quickly,” he added as you inspected the wound. “I was hunting and got in the way,” he admitted with a sheepish smile.

“Have you eaten?” you asked, looking up at him. He met your gaze and hesitated. “What?” he asked and watched as you got up and walked over to the opposite side of the boat, lifting one of the seats and reached in to pull out one of the fish you’d caught earlier.

“Here,” you said, holding it up. “I mean,” you added, turning your head to look at the fish. “I could cook it,” you said softly. Jisung smiled and chuckled. “Did you catch that for me?” he asked as you walked over, holding the fish up. You nodded. “There’s more in the cooler,” you added.

Jisung chuckled and shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said with a smile. “I’ve eaten,” he explained, taking the fish from you. “I don’t want to gross you out,” he added as he inspected it. “Oh,” you said dejectedly. Jisung looked up and handed the fish back. “Just keep it on ice for a little while longer and sell it if you don’t eat fish,” he said softly.

You took the fish and took it back to the cooler, closing it and placing the seat down before heading back and sitting back down. “So when did this happen?” you asked, nodding at his shoulder. He glanced down again as he thought.

“Oh, maybe like a couple hours ago,” he replied and your eyes widened in shock. “Wait, really?” you asked and he nodded, looking confused at your shock. “Yeah, I heal pretty quickly,” he added with a laugh. You leaned forward, reaching up to brush your fingers against his skin.

“Weird,” you murmured, making him throw his head back with a laugh. “Sorry,” you said sheepishly. Jisung shook his head. “It’s okay,” he replied. “Like you said, you’ve never met anyone like me.” You chuckled, nodding. “That’s true,” you added.

Silence fell over the two of you as you looked up at the sky, the waves lapping at the sides of the boat and a gentle breeze blowing through the air. You looked over at Jisung to find him already looking at you, a calm expression on his face.

“What?” you asked softly and he shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. “Nothing,” he answered. “Oh!” he said quickly sitting up. “I found something really cool while out the other night!” he said and turned towards you.

“Wanna see it?” he asked. You nodded, feeling excited. “Where are we going?” you asked, getting up and starting to strip to your bikini, not noticing the way Jisung’s eyes followed your movement and body. You moved to grab your wetsuit.

Jisung waited patiently for you to pull it on. “Jump in,” Jisung said, looking at the water and you looked at the water. “We’re swimming there?” you asked, making him chuckle. “It’s not far,” he answered. “It’s worth it, I promise.” You narrowed your eyes at him.

“Come on, Y/N,” he groaned. “Live a little,” he added with a wink before rolling towards the edge of the boat and diving into the water. You sighed and grabbed your boat keys, pulling the elastic over your wrist and walking over to the light, shutting it off the light and heading to the bow of the boat, grabbing your flashlight and snorkel mask. 

As you reached the back, you turned the light on to see Jisung was floating, waiting for you. “Where are we going?” you asked as you held the flashlight between your knees as you pulled the mask on. “Not far,” Jisung said as you grabbed the flashlight and climbed down the ladder, joining him in the water.

Jisung took your hand and gently pulled you along. “Come here,” he said softly. “Hold on,” he added, guiding your arms around his neck. “Are you sure?” you asked, softly, cheeks burning as you looked at him so closely. He turned his head to look at you, his own cheeks turning soft pink.

“Uh,” yeah,” he said softly. “Just try not to get under me,” he added. 

It felt weird, hanging off him from behind as he started swimming. It almost felt like you were riding a shark, the trashing as he started off but soon turned into a smooth motion as he zipped through the water, propelled only by the powerful tail.

Jisung was careful to stay near the surface so you didn’t have to hold your breath with the mask. You could tell he was holding back, not swimming as fast as you knew he could go. You’d seen him zipping through the water before, breaching the surface at speeds you suspected most sharks could reach.

This was much slower than you’d witnessed.

Jisung started to slow, lifting his head out of the water. As he came to a stop, you slid from his back, reaching up to remove your snorkel mask. “We’re almost there,” he said, looking up at the stars overhead. You glanced skyward, letting out a soft gasp.

“Wow,” you whispered. Jisung chuckled, grabbing your hand gently. “Come on,” he said quietly, tugging you through the water towards the rocky beach. “I’ve seen these rocks when visiting you,” you commented as he led you towards them. “You’ll need your goggles for this,” he said, turning to look back at you. As soon as the words left his lips, you pulled them back on, dumping any water out of them.

“Now what?” you asked as he took your hand again. “Hold your breath,” he instructed. You took a deep breath and allowed him to pull you under the water, leading you down towards a cave opening. It wasn’t unlike the entrance to his cave; only this one was much narrower.

The cave opening seemed to go on forever, winding around as you let Jisung pull you. Your lungs were starting to burn and you knew if you didn’t hurry, you’d start to suffocate. Finally, Jisung pulled you free from the narrow cave into a much larger one and pushed you towards the surface.

You kicked towards the surface of the pool, breaching at the same time he did. Jisung floated near as you coughed, allowing air to fill your lungs again, the taste of salt on your tongue. “I had no idea there were so many of these,” you gasped. “How many are there?”

Jisung chuckled, taking your hand. “Come,” he said simply, pulling you through the water. The inside of this cave was much different than his. Instead of a single round chamber, there were multiple round chambers, connected together. 

Jisung pulled you along into the next chamber until you reached the last one. “Through there,” he nodded towards a window in the rock wall. “This is so cool,” you commented as you swam over, pulling yourself up to peer out.

It was then that you saw it.

Jisung pulled himself up next to you, a wide grin on his face. “Wow,” you whispered. “Cool, huh?” he asked, resting his chin on his forearm.

Outside the cave was more stretch of ocean, waves rolling up onto a sandy beach. There was only about twenty feet between the beach and the treeline behind it and the beach stretched for about fifty feet between two rocky bluffs.

All along the beach, rolling in the waves were glowing blue lights. “Bioluminescent plankton,” you whispered. “They come here every night to feed,” he whispered. “It’s pretty cool, with the stars and the lights,” he continued.

You turned to look at him.

“This little alcove is remote,” he explained. “Human’s haven’t started colonizing it,” he added. “I think it might be privately owned,” he continued. You glanced at him before looking back at the beach. “I hope it stays like this,” you whispered, also resting your chin on your forearm.

You sat in silence, watching the lights dance in the waves. You could feel Jisung’s eyes on you and you turned to look at him, your cheeks burning. You watched his eyes flit between your eyes and your lips before he slowly moved. He lifted his hand, moving it to cup your face, thumb tracing the curve of your cheek.

Your heart started to hammer in your chest as he leaned closer. At that moment, a shrill laugh rang out from the direction of the trees. Jisung pulled back abruptly and you turned away from his gaze to look at the beach as a beam of light bounced along the sand.

“Teenagers,” you whispered as a group of teens came out of the woods, giggling as they descended on the shore. Jisung scoffed as he watched them. “Ungrateful little shits.” You snorted into a laugh. “Come on,” you said softly. “Before they decide to come into the water and find this cave with us inside.”

Jisung allowed you to lead him away, back through the cave. You pulled your mask back on, taking another deep breath and letting Jisung pull you through the narrow opening and back into the open ocean. You took your time swimming back, only hitching a ride when your legs gave out.

Back at the boat, Jisung watched you climb up the ladder and pulled himself up on the side again, watching as you disappeared into the cabin. In the privacy of your boat, you stripped and dried off, pulling on dry clothes and running a towel haphazardly over your hair before returning to Jisung.

His hair had started to dry as he lounged on the side of the boat, his tail hanging down the side of the vessel. You chuckled, turning on the lights of the boat and Jisung opened one eye to look at you. “Are you gonna sleep there?” you asked as you walked over, taking a seat on the cushion below where he was lounging.

He propped himself up, looking down at you. “What happened back there,” he started, his voice taking on a more serious tone. You looked away, feeling a sour taste bubbling up from your stomach. ‘He wants to forget it,’ you told yourself.

“It’s fine,” you interrupted. “It can’t happen, I know,” you added. You refused to look up at him so you missed the way his brows knitted together as he stared at you, a slight pout on his lips. “That’s what you’re going to say, right?” you asked when he didn’t answer.

“I’m a human and you’re not. So we can’t.”

You felt his fingers move under your chin, turning and tilting your head to face him. “Stop jumping to conclusions,” he said sternly before leaning in and closing the distance, pressing his lips against yours. For a split second, you panicked before accepting the gesture and melting into the kiss.

You whined as he started to pull back. You pulled him back in by the back of his neck, kissing him more fiercely. Jisung accepted your advances, lips parting as he took back control, his tongue slipping into your mouth. You pulled him closer, leaning back onto the cushions and forcing him to follow your movements.

Jisung groaned into the kiss and pulled back quickly. “Wait,” he gasped. “Sorry,” you whispered as he pushed himself up. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “Just give me a second.” You sat up as he pulled back, taking a few deep breaths. “Things were getting a little intense,” he admitted.

You smiled shyly. “Sorry,” you replied. “I got a little excited I guess,” you added, shrugging. Jisung chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “That’s okay,” he answered. “I did, too,” he admitted with a grin. “It happened really fast. I’m sorry if I crossed a line,” he continued.

You shook your head, pulling your knees up and resting your head against the backrest of the seat. “It’s okay,” you said softly, looking up at him in the lights of the boat. “I wanted it.” Jisung nibbled on his bottom lip nervously. “You did?” he asked, his voice sounding optimistic.

You nodded. “I did,” you reassured him. “You didn’t cross a line.”

“That’s a relief.”

Silence fell over you as you watched him and he watched you for a while. You weren’t sure how much time had passed before you spoke. “Do you ever get scared?” you asked him. He tilted his head curiously. “Scare?” he asked. “Of what?”

“The town? Fishermen? Being discovered?”

Jisung hesitated, no doubt pondering his answer. “Sometimes,” he answered finally. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it but I like being left alone,” he said, smiling before speaking. “Well, mostly alone,” he added. “I just want to live my life like most creatures.”

“Have you ever been spotted before?” you asked and he smiled wider. “You tell me? Heard any stories?” you snorted as you realized what he was hinting at. “No, thankfully,” you replied. Jisung chuckled at your response. “There you have it. Safe and undiscovered except by you.”

He leaned closer, brushing his lips against yours before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. Your cheeks heated up again. You could feel the heat spread all the way down to your core and you tried not to focus on the feeling lingering in your stomach. Jisung noticed a shift in your demeanor and tilted his head.

“You okay?” he asked softly, moving his hand to caress your cheek, thumb brushing over your bottom lip. You nodded wordlessly. “Yeah,” you answered. “I’m great,” you lied. “But it’s getting late,” you commented. “I should probably head out.”

You got up, Jisung sitting up and watching as you did. “Hey,” he called softly, reaching out for your hand. You allowed him to take hold of it and pull you closer. “I have to go hunting tomorrow but I’ll see you after, yeah?” he asked. You nodded, leaning in to press your forehead against his.

“Goodnight,” you said softly. Jisung pulled you in, placing a tender kiss against your lips. 

“Goodnight,” he whispered. You watched as he dove off the side of the boat and into the water with a splash, only surfacing to look up at you. You waved at him as he stared up at you. 

“See you tomorrow!” he called before disappearing below the surface, no doubt heading into his cave.

“See you tomorrow,” you whispered.

Only you didn’t see him the next day. Or the day after that. You couldn’t bring yourself to face him.

The night after Jisung took you to see the bioluminescent plankton and kissed you, your dreams were plagued with him. They started innocently, spending time exploring the caves but they soon took a turn and you were starting to have inappropriate thoughts and dreams about him.

Things you should definitely not be thinking about.

The dreams only escalated after that and soon you were dreaming about him showing up in your home, shark tail gone and replaced with human legs.

It was starting to get out of hand.

You hadn’t been back to see Jisung in almost a week and you were feeling guilty not only for disappearing but also for having continuous wet dreams about him. How were you supposed to look him in the eye when all you could think about was him pinning you down and having his way with you?

You knew sooner or later, you’d have to go back out there. You couldn’t just not ever come back. You at least needed to explain to him why you’d been avoiding him and avoiding coming back.

The final push came when you were at the market, looking at some cuts of steak for dinner when you overheard a conversation at the next stall over.

“You’re so full of shit, Paul,” a woman said, shaking her head as she continued crocheting. “No I’m not!” the man you presumed was Paul replied. “I saw it! Looked like a great big tiger shark but it had the upper body of a man!”

You froze, eyes widening as you inspected a particular cut of steak. ‘Jisung?’

“And where did you see this mermaid?” another man asked, laughing. “Near the pier! I was doing some fishing off the end when I spotted it! Was huge! Like ten feet long!” You felt your heart start to pound as you forced a smile and pointed out two steaks.

The stall owner packaged them up for you. “Thanks,” you murmured, handing over a few notes to pay for the meat as the conversation beside you carried on.

“I swear, I saw it!”

You walked away as the others around the man laughed and waved their hands, dismissing his claims. Upon returning home, your mind was made up for you as you entered your kitchen, making one of the steaks for yourself and saving the other. You wonder if Jisung had ever had steak before.

After dinner, you packed your stuff, grabbing your bikini and house keys. You stopped and grabbed the steak from the fridge and headed out of the house, locking up and walking towards the marina, bag slung over your shoulder.

You ignored the night beach goers enjoying bonfires as you headed for the docks. Once on your boat, you casted off, backing your boat out and driving out towards the caves where you knew Jisung had taken up residence.

You reached the rocks in record time, casting your anchor and moving to lower the microphone in the water. You normally didn’t have to use it but you figured after a week, you might need to use it to draw Jisung out.

You turned the dial, starting the dolphin call and sat on one of the seats.

You waited patiently, arms crossed over your chest before you got up and headed into the cabin, changing out of your clothes and into your bikini and then pulling on the wetsuit. As you exited the cabin you heard a splash and looked up to see Jisung perched on the side of your boat staring at you.

There was no smile nor greeting. He merely stared at you blankly.

Neither of you said anything as you stared at one another. Finally Jisung spoke.

“What?” he asked shortly. You crossed to the cooler, lifting the seat and opening the cooler lid. You pulled out the steak and held it up to show him. “Ever had beef?” you asked. Jisung narrowed his eyes. “That’s all you have to say?” he asked. You tore open the brown paper and removed the plastic, holding up the steak.

“Have you ever had steak?”

He glared at you. “Is this some kind of test?” he asked. You shook your head, walking over to where he was and climbed up to sit next to him. “No,” you replied. “I was at the market earlier and got steak,” you explained. He stared at you, glancing down at the meat and back up.

“And this is relevant, how?” he asked. He was clearly upset at you and you couldn’t fault him. You disappeared after he’d kissed you. You presented the steak. “How about you eat and I’ll talk, hmm?” you asked. He looked up at you hesitantly before he nodded.

You handed him the steak to inspect. “You said it’s beef?” he asked. You nodded as he raised it to sniff. “Cow,” you added. “It’s actually a really tender cut,” you continued. “I cooked the other one earlier and ate it for dinner.”

You turned away as he nibbled at the end of the steak. “I also heard an interesting story at the market when I was buying this steak,” you explained. “One of the guys there, a local fisherman. name’s Paul,” you said, glancing at him.

“Well, Paul told everyone in his vicinity that he’d seen something out on the pier while fishing this morning,” you continued, noticing how Jisung’ gaze flickered to you. “Said he’d seen something… strange.” Jisung lowered the partially eaten steak.

“Said it was huge. Looked like a massive tiger shark,” you continued as Jisung stared unblinkingly at you. “Said it had the torso of a man.” Realization dawned on his face as you spoke. “I was spotted?” he asked and you sighed. “What were you doing at the pier in broad daylight?” you asked.

Jisung looked away from you and down at the meat. “I went looking for you,” he admitted. Your heart skipped a beat. “Why?” you asked softly. “Because you vanished,” he replied, looking up at you. “I haven’t seen you for a week!”

Your stomach sank. It was as you feared. “I’m sorry,” you said softly as he ripped the steak apart with his hands. “I was dealing with some things,” you added as he tore into one of the pieces. You watched as he chewed the raw meat and swallowed. “Are you okay now?” he asked.

You nodded. “For the most part,” you added. “I’m still… dealing,” you admitted. Jisung devoured the last of the steak and looked at you. “Do you have any more of that?” he asked, sniffing the air. You chuckled and shook your head. “No,” you replied. “Just the one.”

He pouted. “That was really good,” he murmured, looking disappointed. He perked up quickly. “You’re here though,” he added and you nodded. “I know,” you replied. “And I’m sorry I was gone.” He shook his head and nodded towards the water. “I have something to show you, come on!” he said and before you could answer, he rolled off the boat with a splash into the water below.

Sighing you grabbed your snorkel mask and turned off the boat lights, making sure to grab your keys and the ankle flashlight. Once you were equipped, you climbed down the ladder and into the water with a splash. Making sure the mask was secure, you ducked your head.

You could see Jisung swimming near the opening to his cave. Once he was certain you spotted him, he slipped into the narrow opening and you took a deep breath before following, removing the mouth piece of your snorkel.

You pulled yourself into the opening and followed the path to the interior chamber, kicking toward the surface. Jisung was sitting on the ledge of the pool and you moved over to join him, pulling the mask off and setting it aside.

“What did you wanna show me?” you asked as you pulled yourself up. Jisung held up his hand, showing you a collection of shells. “Scallops,” you muttered, picking up one of the shells. “And this,” he added, showing you an intact clam.

“It already died,” he explained as he carefully pried it open with his nails. “But this is what I really wanted to show you,” he explained as he picked up something small and round and handed it over, placing it in your palm. It was a pearl.

“It’s so pretty,” you breathed, holding the pearl closer. Jisung smiled before he slipped into the water. “I have one more thing to show you,” he added and disappeared under the water, diving down to the bottom of the pool.

He resurfaced moments later and swam closer, holding up something small, smooth, and purple. “Sea glass,” he said as you took the smooth stone-like material. “I see this stuff all the time,” he explained as he rested his chin on your knee. You smiled at him. “You’re giving gifts now?” you asked and he nodded.

He took a deep breath, the smile on his face dropping. “Is something different about you?” he asked suddenly. You glanced down at him and shook your head. “No,” you replied. He lifted his head, sniffing the air. “Something smells different…”

Your cheeks burned as he leaned closer, inhaling your scent.

“Oh,” he said softly, glancing up at you.

“Are you-”

“These are really pretty gifts,” you interrupted, looking down at the pearl and sea glass. Jisung’s brow furrowed as you avoided his gaze. “Y/N,” he started and when you still didn’t look at him, he pulled himself up, caging you in with his arms as his body slotted between your thighs.

You let out a surprised squeak, the pearl and sea glass falling from your hands and into the water with a plop. Jisung was inspecting your face, leaning closer. “Jisung,” you warned as he leaned even closer, forcing you to lean back, holding yourself up with one hand.

One of his hands moved to your lower back and pulled your hips flush against him, forcing another squeak from your lips. Heat spread into your cheeks and pooled in the pit of your stomach and Jisung’s eyes widened as the realization hit him.

“So that’s why you’ve been avoiding me?” he whispered. You shook your head. “I haven’t been avoiding-AHH!” you gasped as he very quickly pinned you down, your back flat against the rock as he hovered over you.

“You have,” he murmured. “You’ve been avoiding me. Was it the kiss?” he asked, his hands moving to pin your wrists together. “Did it have some sort of effect on--”

Jisung stopped, his words catching as he caught the change of your scent. The sudden flood of arousal that filled the cavern.

“Oh,” he said, his voice dropping an octave and eyes darkening. “So that does it for you, does it?” he asked, grinning lopsidedly at you, showing his sharp teeth off. 

“Being pinned down and unable to move?”

You stared up at him, breathing heavily as heat rushed to your core, a tingling sensation starting to form in your toes. “W-what?” you whispered, your voice much softer than you intended. Jisung’s grin widened. “I think you do. I think you like this,” he continued.

You shook your head but your voice wouldn’t come out. Jisung tilted his head, black eyes boring into yours. “I think you’re lying,” he said, leaning down, his lips inches from yours. “I think you like the idea of being unable to fight back,” he chuckled, nose nuzzling into your cheek.

“Maybe I should teach you a lesson for disappearing on me for three nights. Making me worry about you.” You let out an involuntary whimper, feeling his hips grind against yours. Jisung let out a soft chuckle. “Oh, baby,” Jisung whispered as he ghosted his lips over the skin of your neck up to your ear.

“You really should have stayed away another night.”

You let out a squeal as Jisung pulled back, water splashing as he pulled you with him.

You surfaced, kicking under you to stay afloat as you looked around quickly. You turned back to the rocky ledge, to pull yourself up but as you got about halfway out of the water, Jisung resurfaced, pressing against your back and pinning you against the rocks.

You let out a cry of surprise as he chuckled in your ear, his hands wandering to your wetsuit and your eyes widened as you heard a rip of the fabric. ‘Did he just…’

When Jisung pulled back to admire his handiwork, you realized he’d ripped the entire back of your wetsuit open, completely ignoring the zipper right next to it.

You lowered yourself into the water and turned to look over your shoulder at him, finding half of his face submerged in the water. “What the hell!” you snapped. Jisung darted forward, pinning you against the rock wall. “Sorry, little fish,” he chuckled as his hands were quick to start pulling your wetsuit off, leaving you in just your swimsuit.

“That was my favorite wetsuit,” you pouted as you watched it sink into the depths of the pool. Jisung blocked your view, taking your face in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, leaning in until your lips were inches apart. You stared back at him, unmoving. He hesitated, a slight smirk crossing his features before he finally closed the distance, kissing you.

Your lips parted in a gasp allowing his tongue to slip into your mouth. Your own hands had moved to the rocks, trying to keep yourself from sinking. Jisung pulled back, lips ghosting across your cheek and kissing down the side of your neck.

You felt him nip at the string of your bikini top. “I could easily snap this,” he mused before continuing to kiss along your shoulder. You opened your mouth to retort but he pressed his hips against yours, ripping a moan from your throat instead.

Another roll of his hips and your hands slipped from the rocks. Jisung was quick to grab your wrists, placing your hands on his shoulders. “If you need to hold onto something, hold onto me,” he said, watching your face as he rutted against you again.

Your head was swimming, heat pooling in your lower belly as the shark creature grinded against you, one hand holding onto the rocky ledge while the other moved down to your thigh, holding your hips in place. The rocks in the wall behind you jutted out, pushing into your back but you couldn’t be bothered to care, not when Jisung was breathing heavily into your ear, teasing you with his words.

“You know I could pin you down and have my way with you right now if I wanted to, right?”

You let out another moan as he rutted against you. “What’s stopping you,” you breathed, your voice just audible over the sound of the water lapping against the rocks. Jisung chuckled softly, his breath fanning over your collar and neck. “Because,” he started, slowing his movements.

“I’m waiting for your permission to let me have my way with you.”

One of your hands moved up the back of his neck, tangling in his dark locks. “Then consider this my consent,” you whispered before pulling him into a heated kiss. It only lasted for a few moments before Jisung lifted you up out of the water, placing you on the edge of the rock ledge.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, reaching up and untying one side of your bikini bottoms, letting the material fall before untying the other side and grabbing your hips in his hands. You had no time to ask what he was doing before you felt his tongue rough against your clit.

“Oh shit,” you gasped, eyes fluttering shut, one hand moving to his hair. Jisung ignored your grip on him, merely licking slowly up your slit. “That steak tasted amazing,” he noted, his voice low and gravelly.

“But you taste divine.”

You let out another moan as his lips attached to your clit, teasing, flicking, and sucking on the sensitive nub. You felt the tips of his pointed nails digging slightly into the flesh of your thighs. “Oh shit,” you gasped as he nipped at your clit.

“J-Jisung!” you whined, back arching as he lapped at your clit. “Keep saying my name like that,” he groaned against you. “Sounds so good when you say it like that, baby.”

“I need you pliant,” he murmured, pulling back to look at your slit. “But I don’t wanna hurt you,” he added softly. “Spread your legs for me, cutie,” he instructed. “And keep them spread.”

You did as he asked, spreading your thighs, squeaking out a small yelp when he pushed your knees closer to you. “Hold right here,” he said, patting the backs of your knees. You replaced his hands and groaned as you felt his tongue against your slit.

“Relax for me,” you heard him mutter and you took a deep breath.

You felt the tip of his tongue push into your hole and both of you groaned; you at the intrusion and him at the taste and warmth of your cunt. You felt him ease more of his tongue into your walls and wondered if he’d been hiding the majority of his tongue.

You moaned, walls clenching as his tongue moved in and out of you slowly. “F-fuck. I didn’t know you could do that,” you whined. Jisung hummed against you, sending vibrations against your clit and you gasped out.

Just as quickly, he withdrew his tongue and pulled back. “I think that’s enough,” he said as you propped yourself up, chest heaving. “I’ll just have to take my time easing into you,” he added, grabbing your hips and pulling you closer.

You let out a yelp as your lower half fell into the water. “Turn around,” he growled, grabbing your hips and pushing you into position as you held onto the ledge. Jisung lifted you partially out of the water, holding you in place. “W-what’re you doing?”

“I’m going to fuck you, baby,” he chuckled. You felt something warm and wet grind against you and you let out a moan. “O-okay,” you said as he pressed the head of his cock against your slit. “It’s not too late to tap out,” he joked and you shook your head.

“No,” you retorted. “I want this.” 

Jisung hissed, the tip of his cock slipping into you and making you gasp at the intrusion. You hadn’t gotten to see it before he was pushing it into you but it felt huge. You moaned, your walls stretching to accommodate him as he slid in, inch by inch.

“Hold still,” you heard him whisper as he pinned you against the ledge. “What--FUCK!”

You cursed, gasping as he thrust forward, sheathing his entire length inside you with one motion.

“Oh fuck,” you groaned, knees bumping into the rock wall as Jisung bottomed out. “Hah, so t-tight,” you heard him grunt. “M’gonna fuck you so good,” he chuckled, resting his forearm over your back. “Now just stay still, baby,” he continued, slowly pulling back and snapping his hips forward, making you gasp.

“Fuck you feel good. I should have done this a lot sooner,” he mused, setting a steady pace, thrusting into you from behind. “J-Jisung,” you whimpered. You felt his breath as he leaned in close to your ear. “This was more fun when you fought back,” he panted. “So fight me.”

You tried to push yourself up but he just forced you back down. “Come on, baby,” he cooed. “You can do better than that. Beg me to stop,” he laughed, slamming into you, making you see stars with each thrust. “S-stop,” you stammered weakly.

Jisung laughed again, his breath hot and heavy against the back of your neck. “Is that the best you’ve got?” he asked. “Come on, pet,” he continued, grunting with effort. “Really beg me.”

S-stop, please,” you whimpered, finding a little more strength in your voice. You didn’t want him to stop though. Not when it felt so good. “That’s it,” Jisung groaned. “Keep it going. Beg me not to fuck you. Tell me you want me to let you go. Plead with me,” he growled.

You gasped as he gave you a hard thrust, stealing the words from your tongue and the breath from your lungs. “J-Jisung. Stop. This is wr-wrong. P-please s-uh-stop,” you moaned into the rocky surface. You noticed how your whines and pleas only spurred him on.

You tried again to push yourself up only for him to grab both of your wrists, forcing you back down against the rocks, pinning your arms behind your back with one hand. “You really think you can fight me off?” he scoffed, thrusts increasing in speed.

“You think you’re strong enough?”

You shook your head, moans slipping from your lips as your mind started to go blank. “That’s right, little fish,” he smirked. “You’re powerless against me. You can’t do anything. You’re completely at my mercy. This entire time you think you’ve been in control?”

He chuckled darkly. “You haven’t been in control of shit. I let you think you had the power here. You’re out of your depth, Y/N. You have no idea what you’re up against,” he growled, slowing his thrusts to deep rolls, making your eyes roll back and a low moan escape the back of your throat.

“I let you leave every night but you always come back to me,” he continued. “Why do you think that is?” he asked softly, continuing to grind against you, his cock lodged deep in your walls. “Because you’re mine,” he growled. “You’ve been mine from the moment you entered this cave and you’ll be mine when you leave ‘cause no matter how many times you leave after this…” he trailed off, licking against your pulse point.

“You’ll always come back to me.”

You let out a mix between a scream and a moan as you felt his sharp teeth pierce your skin. ‘He just bit you. You’re gonna bleed out, you idiot!’

Despite the sharp stinging pain, the bite was more superficial with only minimal bleeding. It was meant to scar you. To mark you. You were now marked as his. 

Upon sinking his teeth into your skin, Jisung felt your walls contract around his cock and he groaned, his thrusts regaining the same relentless pace from before, slamming into you repeatedly, savoring your cries of both pleasure and pain from the bite. It would heal. It wasn’t that deep anyway.

Your walls tightened, restricting his movement as he felt you cum and he coaxed you through it, whispering words of encouragement in your ear as you came down from your high. “That’s it, baby,” he whispered. “Such a good girl, taking my cock so well.”

You moaned in response as he kept going. “It’s my turn, little one,” he murmured. “Shhh, baby. It’s okay. Just let go. I’ve got you,” he added, keeping a firm hold on your wrists. “Gonna fill this cute little pussy with my cum and make you mine.”

He readjusted your hips so the rock wasn’t digging into your hips before chasing his own. The sound of skin on skin echoed around the small cavern, bouncing off the rock walls, mixing with your moans until Jisung finally let out a slew of curses, strung between moans as he came, burying his cock deep inside you and filling your cunt with his seed.

He knew it wouldn’t take. You were human after all. He couldn’t actually breed with you but damn did it feel good to pretend for a few minutes as he came down from his own orgasm, muttering into your ear about how you were bound to him forever and how cute you’d look carrying his child.

When the moment passed, Jisung inspected the bite wound to your shoulder, clicking his tongue. “I could have bitten harder,” he murmured as he released your arms. “It might not show once it heals,” he added as you pushed yourself up. “If it doesn’t show up,” you said, your voice hoarse.

“I guess you’ll just have to try again.”

Jisung smiled as you looked over your shoulder at him. “How about tomorrow?” he asked, eyes sparkling in the moonlight. You rolled your eyes. “I meant after it heals, you perverted sex fiend!”

Jisung pouted as you pushed him away, his cock slipping out of you and retracting back into his body as you shakily pulled yourself up onto the rock ledge. “But,” he started as you grabbed your bikini bottoms and turned to face him. “No buts,” you retorted. “Let me heal first, otherwise you might kill me.”

Jisung watched as you put your swimsuit back on, retying the strings. He watched as you moved back to sit on the edge, dipping your legs into the water before moving to push your thighs apart and slot between them, resting his arms on the tops of your thighs.

He smiled a toothy grin when you looked down, meeting his gaze before he spoke.

“So, the day after tomorrow?”

ⓘ Graphics made by me. Content and support banners made using a template by cafekitsune. I do not allow reposts, translations, or continuations of my works. All writing and graphics are ©️ kwanisms.

[absolutebl]

Hey. Ty very much for your posts. As a woman in my 30s I got hypnotised by the beauty of the novelists and was wondering if you had similar high heat intense recommendations (also watched the samurai one "taboo"), bi or mlm with older leads and non fluffy storylines.. Moody atmospheric and venomous is my weak spot

Moody, atmospheric & venomous BL

Like, the Novelist? really?

AKA Pornographer movie series AKA The Novelist, Mood Indigo, Pornographer Playback (Japan 2018-2020) - emotional manipulation, cheating, obsession, seduction, May/December, kink, touch of necrophilia, explicit.   

Okay I got one right off the bat: seek ye....

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese

AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru (Japan 2020) - obsession, cheating, breakup, reunion, then break up again, explicit, mature characters. 

Now let me think about some more:

high heat

intense

non fluffy

older leads

The last one is a doozy, so I'm not gonna use it as a qualifier. BL is most, well, about "boys" not men.

Some others that might work for you but don't meet all your criteria:

Your Name Engraved Herein (Taiwan 2020 Netflix) - this movie is fantastic but it is also seriously depressing, it’s a self acceptance journey, but if you wanna wallow in high quality acting and serious gay drama, this’ll do it. 

Innocent (Taiwan 2021 GaGa) - mental health, childhood trauma, actually kinda sweet. 

The Eighth Sense (Korea 2023 Viki - This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a KBL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled but it's really damn good.

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan 2023 Gaga) - Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. They're hot, young, in love, and total idiots.

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Thai 2023 grey or YT) - IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, elegant and classy… from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, it gets hot more that explicit, but it does have sharp edges.

Tokyo in April is AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan 2023 Viki) - Two young men with a shared tragic past reunite and fall in love all over again, but the past will not stop hunting them. It’s Japan in full on soft focus which means it gets emo, abusive, and chewy. These two characters are giving parts of their souls away in a desperate attempt to shape themselves to the expectations they have of each other it's heavy and cutting.

Moonlight Chicken (Thai 2023) - I enjoyed this complicated little show, even though it’s spectacularly messy gay with lots of shrapnel and authentic pain. EarthMix turn in their most compelling performance to date.

Bed Friend (Thai 2023 IQIYI) - Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship that is built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly longing eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged (ALL THE TRIGGERS). NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth.

Big Dragon (Thai 2022 Gaga) - This is a decent execution of true enemies to lovers, these two spy on and bully each other, exploring darker themes and self worth issues. The way the leads transition between anger, resentment, titillation, and flirting (and the way, with kinksters, this can all be the same thing) is really well done. A pairing that proved itself to be a lot more sophisticated than I expected with excellent chemistry, but something went askew around plot, directing, and ending. Still if you're in it for the sexy, go to, they did.

My Beautiful Man AKA Utsukushii Kare (Japan 2021 Gaga - One of the most Japanese BLs to release in the last decade, as weird and as messed up as any 2000′s yaoi: emo af and hella warped, entirely true to itself with no attempt made to modify its POV for modern sensibilities or current BL fandom. It used seriously old school problematic and kinky tropes, like whipping boy, for a truly uncompromising piece that also manages to hit up themes of communication, consent, and self acceptance. It’s a wonderful BL but uniquely dirty and harsh, in the best possible way - Japanese cinema, uncompromising.

End of the World With You

Junjou: Pure Heart

The Egoist

No thoughts on those three, not my thing.

You also might consider some of the stuff on this list:

Hope that gives you some options!

[linkspooky]

BUNGO STRAY DOGS VS LITERATURE: THE DECAY OF ANGELS

This is going to be the first in a long (long) running series where the goal is to read every single book mentioned by name in Bungo Stray Dogs, and try to connect the themes of that book to the characters who are referencing that book. In light of the recent arc I am starting out with "The Decay of Angels" the villainous organization consisting of Bram Stoker, Nikolai Goggol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ochi Fukuchi and Sigma.

The name Decay of Angels comes from Yukio Mishima's novel, the Decay of the Angel. The fourth and last book in his Sea of Fertility tetraology which is widely considered to be his masterpiece. I read all four books, so underneath the cut I'll elaborate on the connections between Yukio Mishima's work and Bungo Stray Dogs.

1. The Decay of the Angel

The Sea of Fertility is a tetralogy of novels written by Japanese AUuhor Yukio Mishima. The four novels are Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, the Temple of Dawn, and the Decay of Angel. The main timeline of the story stretches from 1912 to 1975, the main character of all four books is Shigekuni Honda a law student in Spring Snow, who's best friend Kiyoaki Matsugae dies at the age of twenty at the end of the first book. In each sequel, Shigekuni meet what he believes are the reincarnations of Kiyoaki, who are condemned by karma to die at an early age. Every time he attempts to save them from their deaths he fails.

The strongest connection between the Sea of Fertility itself, and the "Decay of Angels" organization depicted in Bungo Stray dogs is that both are heavily inspired by Buddhist ideology. The Sea of Fertility is an exploration of the concepts of both "reincarnation" and "karma" while the ideology of the decay of angels is to enact Karma in the real world for the past sins of the governing body.

The brihadarankyaka Upanishad states: Indeed the person performing a good deed will become benevolent, and one performing a bad deed will bcome evil; one becomes pure by pure acts, and black by evil acts. Therefore it is said: a human being is composed of karma, or "desire" by following karma one creates will, by following will one creates karma, and through karma, samsara comes into existence." The Temple of Dawn

Both the ideology of the Decay of Angels, and Yukio Mishima's work make constant references to budhism like this. Budhists conceive of the world as a suffering-laden sycle of life, death and rebirth without beginning or end known as Samsara. In essence in budhism, beings are driven from life to life in this system by karma which is activated by good or ill actions committed in this life as well as previous lives. Fukuchi's goal is more or less to make Karma real and enact it with his hand, to punish governing bodies for their past sins.

His ideals are also heavily budhist in nature, more or less budhists believe suffering in inherent to life. The goal of budhism is actually to stop being reborn and escape the cycle of death and rebirth by eventually purifying yourself of earthly desires, etc. etc. Fukuchi's goals allign with these ideas. Just like reality and earthly desires inherently cause suffering. As long as governments exists, they will continue to create war. The only way forward is to create a death and rebirth. Governments have to die, so society as a whole can be reborn into a higher, more enlightened state. He is essentially twisting lofty budhist ideals to justify his extreme political actions.

Bungo Stray dogs also borrows some symbolism from the fourth book, the Decay of the Angel. In budhist scripture Devas are mortal angels. A topic the fourth book discusses at length.

Here is the account in the twenty fourth fascicle of the Ekottara-augama: "There are thirty-three angels and one arch angel, and the signs of death in them are fivefold. Their flowered crowns wither, their robes are soiled, the hollows under their arms are fetid, the body ceases to give off light, it loses awareness of itself." Decay of the Angel

There are five members of the decay of angels in BSD, Fukuchi, Fyodor, Goggol, Bram, and Sigma, just like the five stages of decay. Just as in budhist belief death comes for everything, even the angels, the stated goal of the organization is to bring death to the members of the world's government. Quite literally in Fukuchi's case, by controlling a vampire army (vampires being symbols of death due to being undead and bloodsuckers themselves).

2. Death and Rebirth

The main premise of the Sea of Fertility is tracking the four reincarnations of one individual. Each successive reincarnation lives a short life and dies for the sake of an ideal.

'Kiyoaki Matsugae was caught by unpredictable love, Isao Iiinuam by destiny, Ying Chan by the flesh. And you? By a baseless sense of being different, perhaps? If destiny is something that takes hold of a person and drags him after, then the other three had desinty. And has anything caught you?' The Decay of the Angel

The whole organization of Decay of Angels, is seeking a somewhat symbolic death and rebirth of society, but at the same time as individuals four members are seeking to die for the sake of an ideal like the four lifetimes of Kiyoaki.

Gogol's may seem to be the simplest, to commit suicide in order to free himself entirely from god's will. He may be a russian character, but even some of his ideals are budhist. One of the major differences between Budhism and Hinduism as commented on in the books, is that Hinduism believes in the divine whereas in Budhism there are no gods. Not only do they reject gods, but they also reject the idea of a "soul."

"Budhism does not recognize the soul as such. If there is no core substance called soul in beings, there is of course, none in organic matter. Indeed quite like a jellfyfish devoid of bone there is no innate essence in all of creation. . If we assume there is no self, what is the basis of the birth-and-death cycle to start with?... WHen the Threavada Sautranika school evolved the concept of "seed perfurming" was established according to which the effect of a good or bad deed remains in ones consciousness, permeating it as the fragnace of perfume permeates clothes and thus forms character."

Gogol's ideal is similiar to that belief, he rejects both the idea of god, and the idea of his soul, in order to prove that all that exists of the universe is his free will and consciousness. He even goes through a metaphorical death and rebirth in order to reach that ideal, he fakes his own death, and then is revealed to be alive.

There's even a discussion of free will in several of the books, particularly the fourth.

"He should have armed them with the foreknowledge that would keep them from flinging themselves after their destinies, take awaay their wings, keep them from soaring, making them march in step with the crowd. The world does not approve of flying. Wings are dangerous weapons. They invite self-dstruction before they can be used." Decay of the Angel

If you wanted to parallel him to one of the lifetimes, you could even say he is much like Kiyoaki, someone caught up in an unpredictable love. At one point in the story, as he's dying of sickness he continues to try to visit his lady love every day for the sake of seeing her one last time and considers facing his impending death to be a trial to prove his love. Gogol similiarly puts his closest friend through a life or death trial to see if his feelings spring forth from himself and his own free will, or are brainwashing.

"I'd tell myself in it was because I was insincere. I'd know in my heart that if only I had gotten out of the rickshaw and walked, no matter how weak I felt, then such sincerity - even if she was unaware of it - would have affected her, and she would have seen me. That's it then. There's no reason to have such regrets. I have no other choice but to risk my life, if I want to see her. To me, she's the essence of beauty. ANd it's only that which has brought me so far." -Spring Snow

The second lifetime lived by Kyoaki is that of Inao who is a far-right extremist in Japan, who wishes to see japan return to its more imperialist ideals. As a whole these novels take place over a time frame that's post the russo-japanese wars, all the way to the lead up into world war two, and then post world war two. There are pretty obvious references to world war two (the island where Fukuchi fought on being a reference to Okinawa, Ahabaraki being a reference to the nuclear bomb). Bungo Stray Dogs also clearly takes place in a post-war society. The motivation of the current villain Fukuchi is the mistreatment of soldiers during that previous war.

Fukuchi resembles Isao, the far right extremist. In the second book there is a long recounting of the history of the Satsuma Rebellion. It was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. In the book it’s mentioned  they prayed at a shrine a number of times, and waited to rebel until they believed the god’s themselves approved of their rebellion. The main character of the book Isao wants to enact a similar rebellion against the government to rid Japan of western influence and to make the emperor all powerful again.

The sins I refer to have nothing to do with the law. And the greatest sin is that of a man who, finding himself in a world where the sacred light of His Majesty is obscured, neverthless determines to go on living without doing anything about it. The way to purge this grave sin is to make a fiery offering with one's own hand, even if that itself is a sin, to express one's loyalty in action, and then commit seppuku immediately. With death, all is purified Runaway Horses

The goal of the main character is to "before the sun... at the top of a cliff at sunrise, while paying reverence to the sun... while looking down upon the sparkling sea, beneath a tall, noble pine... to kill myself..." He is a man who wants to commit a sin he believes will put his country on the right track, and then die for his country. He also believes the only way forward is a military coup (guess what happens in japan in a couple of years). Fukuchi's goal may be the opposite, but he still uses the same methodology. He has seized full and total control of the world's governments acting as an ultimate emperor to achieve his goal. Everyone else is just instruments and puppets to him, he literally changes them into mindless zombies.

"Here was the power of the emperor himself. Only on this drill ground was the hand of the sun working with a mathematical clarity and precision. Only here! The will of the emperor penetrated the sweat, the blood, the very flesh of these young men, piercing their bodies like X-Rays." Runaway Horses

Fukuchi's goal is essentially to fight imperialism by using tools of imperialism himself. He also invokes the divine when fighting against Akutagawa and Atsushi, saying he carries and enacts the divine will. He is focusing all power on himself, the same way Isao wished for the emperor to have total control and authority of the country once more to purge out western, socialist, and capitalist influence.

He also, just like Nikolai experiences a death and rebirth on the battlefield. Fukuchi was once manipulated like Isao by far-right ideals that joining the military would equate to protecting both his comrades and his countries, only to be eaten up and chewed out by the war-machine and not accomplishing protecting anyone but the governments already in place, creating the current Fukuchi.

Just like the deaths of his comrades were wasted, Isao also experiences a disapopinting suicide which is the exact opposite of what he wanted, and the ideal of dying with honor presented throughout the story. Which clearly illsutrates all the militaristic and far-right ideals Isao believed in through the story, were proven false and nil by the end. 

“The sun will not rise for some time,” Isao said to himself, “and I can’t afford to wait. There is no shining disk climbing upwards. There is no noble pine to shelter me. Nor is there a sparkling sea.” 

Runaway Horses

The third book features Thai Princess Ying Chan who is said to have been caught by the flesh. This will be the shortest section because the third book is very dark, but basically the third book the Temple of Dawn deals with how the elder generation of japan, preys upon and takes advantage of the youth. Ying Chan because of her youthful body, is molested by two adults who she trusts.

Sigma is someone similiar to Ying Chan, a youth who is born and then continually used by everyone around him in his life. He is the ultimate child taken advantage of by society passed over again and again due to being born from "nothing."

The last reincarnation depicted in the fourth book "The Decay of the Angel" deals heavily with themes of nihilism, and deeply resembles Dostoevsky. Especially if you believe Fyodor is in part an adaptation of Raskolnikov's theory that truly great people should be above morality as depicted in crime and punishment.

Toru's goal in the Decay of Angels, is to devote himself to a pure form of evil and get lost in the pursuit of it. He is depicted as a twenty year old exceptionally brilliant individual who does not form relationships, is detached from the society around them, has no strong pursuits except for this, and his highly nihilistic believes. The kind of nihilism that is portrayed for its flaws in many of Dostoevsky's works.

"My purity will presently wander beyond the horizon to that invisible realm. Probably not on the end of unbearable pain, I shall seek to become a god. The pain! I will know of it, the pain of absolute silence, a world of nothing at all. I will crouch in the corner, like a sick dog. And the happy ones will sing songs around me. There is no medicine for it. No hospital. It will be written in tiny gold letters somewhere in the history of the race: that I was evil."

Which mirrors the description of Fyodor in his introduction as something "Darker than evil, something horrifying."

Fyodor is also someone with a large blind spot when it comes to ordinary people, this is something he is lectured on by Dazai. That he believes he has enough control like a player sitting outside of the gameboard that he can control the movment of every single piece. That the world is controlled by great people manipulating it. Whereas Dazai's beliefs are the world is controlled by everyone's actions moving together in an unpredictable fashion, rather than a god sitting outside manipulating things.

Toru receives a similar lecture because he bbelieves himself to be some kind of great man due only to his extra intelligence and how isolated he is from others.

"There is no special right to happiness and none to unhappinnes. There is no tragedy and there is no genius. Your confidence and your dreams are groundless. If there is on this earth something exceptional, special beauty or special evil, nature finds it out and uproots it. You thought didn't you, that you were a genius beyond compensation. You thought of yourself, didn't you, as a beautiful little cloud of evil floating over humanity." The Decay of the Angel

Which seems to be the lesson that the story is going in the direction of teaching Fyodor, that there is no such thing as inherent specialness, exceptional people, gods or demons. 

Fyodor is also someone who while he has no undergone a death himself, his goal is to deal death, which he seems to be able to do with just a touch of his hands, in order to make the world reborn into a “world without the evil of ability users”. Death, birth, and rebirth are themes that are strong with all five of these characters. 

As for Bram he’s the character we know the least about, but I would say while Fyodor, Fukuchi, Gogol and Sigma can be equated to individual lifetimes of Kyoaki, Bram himself being an immortal vampire and oldest of the group is much like Honda who is an outsider and witnessing the lives of young people being reborn over and over again. Especially since by the fourth book he is eighty years old and essentially a helpless elder. The various lifetimes of Kiyoaki die young, he lives on a much emptier life than any of them. Bram’s just a head. He’s the most helpless of the whole group. He’s just a witness to all of this. But he’s also an immortal vampire, so therefore an outsider to the cycle of death and rebirth. 

Well, that is all I have to say about “The Decay of the Angel” and the connection to the “Decay of Angels” depicted in Bungo Stray Dogs, and the five members who make it up. I fully reccomend picking up the book, just as Bungou Stray Dogs is shaping up to be anti-war in its text and the depiction of several successive generations (the war generation, the post war, the Sea of Fertility is a massive work referred to as “the most complete vision we have of Japan in the 20th Century” by Paul Theroux. It deals with similiar themes in BSD of the changes between generations, the shift in society of japan in the last century, the influence of imperialism. If you want to pick it up and read it, it comes highly recommended by me!

[pjsk-story-summaries]

April Fools Year 2: MikuDemy

TL;DR: The members of each unit have been invited to attend a year at the prestigious MikuDemy school. Through this school year, they make friends within their classes, participate in a sports festival, and tackle a graduation challenge.

The Solid Heart class consists of Shiho, Airi, Akito, Nene, Ena, and WxS KAITO. They tend to be reasonable and care deeply for those in the Pure Heart class.

The Passion Heart class consists of Saki, Minori, An, Rui, Mizuki, MMJ Rin, and VBS Len. They are an energetic group ready for action.

The Cautious Heart class consists of Honami, Haruka, Kohane, Tsukasa, Mafuyu, L/n Luka, and VBS MEIKO. They are kind and considerate leaders.

The Pure Heart class consists of Ichika, Shizuku, Toya, Emu, Kanade, and n25 Miku. They are a calm, if slightly airheaded and naive, group.

Some translations (potato ghost) are available here and here. Missing dialogue scenarios have been referenced directly in-game.

Song (Be the MUSIC!) 2DMV

Upon login, Miku asks you to check in on the others at a new school in a strange version of Shibuya?.

The only Virtual Singers that appear in this event are the leaders and Miku variants.

Introductions

Leo/need discuss their excitement towards attending the brand new MikuDemy academy, a prestigious music school. They're a bit surprised about suddenly receiving admission letters, though. They were asked to look for "something special" while there.

MORE MORE JUMP! walk together to campus. Their Miku was the one to get them acceptance letters. Airi's excited, since the school has produced many great idols.

Vivid BAD SQUAD arrive on campus. When An points out how Principal MkuDayo looks a lot like Miku, Toya points out that MikuDemy is just a nickname. They'd all received challenge letters to attend.

Wonderlands x Showtime explore the school campus. They'd been invited to attend after saving Principal Dayo from a gutter. Nene's especially excited to attend. Miku cheers them all on.

Nightcord at 25:00 arrive at campus. Mafuyu points out the "MikuDemy" nickname only works in Japanese, and it's technically a university, not an academy. Miku had been the one to recommend they come.

The Virtual Singers (minus Miku) took the train to campus together. They're excited to have the chance to get closer to those who have strong feelings.

The Leaders (human) watch Principal MikuDayo's entrance ceremony. MikuDayo explains the core themes of the school as being "respect", "creativity", and "challenge". Though admission is only one year, she's excited for everyone to become close friends. MikuDayo jokes that classes are assigned by putting on her head.

Solid Heart Class

Nene, Shiho, and Akito introduce themselves. Nene's glad to already know some people. Shiho asks Akito if his sister is also in this class, to his annoyance. Shiho understands the sentiment. They all think the class name is a bit strange.

Ena sneezes in the hallway while walking with Airi. She bets Akito's complaining about being put in the same class as her. KAITO approaches and introduces himself to the two. When Ena seems surprised at his kind demeanor, KAITO lies and says the one she knows is a distant relative. He asks to hear more about the ones they know.

Ena thanks Nene for giving her singing tips. Both Nene and Shiho were suprised that Ena's already such a good singer since she's just in charge of illustrations. Ena praises Shiho's voice in turn. Ena notices Nene too shy to ask a question and prompts her to join the conversation.

KAITO and Airi gossip about Akito watching Ena make friends. They believe he's likely shocked to see Ena acting like a good older sister. Akito tells them that she's usually annoying and selfish at home.

KAITO, Airi, and Shiho practice ping pong together. VBS Miku stops by to offer her help (though she doesn't confirm her identity). She's never played ping pong, but she's never lost a game of hanetsuki.

Ena asks Nene what sport she's thinking about. They're both considering the penalty shot game since they aren't too athletic. Akito calls them out for taking things easy. Ena and Akito start bickering, which makes Nene anxious.

Ena asks Shiho about the graduation assignment. They're all a bit worried abotu what it could be, but at the same time, they know they'll be fine.

Passion Heart Class

Rin does some idol catchphrases for An and Saki. An asks if Saki has an introductory catchphrase like her brother. She runs through her own rendition of it, but gets embarrassed after.

Mizuki points out both themself and Rui will fit in perfectly in a class called Passion Heart. They run into Len and Minori. Mizuki's super excited to be in a class with one of their favorite idols. They talk about the excitement of finding friend's names on class rosters.

An, Rui, Saki, and Len discuss the upcoming sports festival. An wants to play basketball, and Len soccer. Rui and Saki feed off their excitement.

Minori, Mizuki, and Rin discuss their lecture on the history of idols. Their assignment is to predict what idols might be like in 10 years. Mizuki and Rin think MORE MORE JUMP! will be a legendary group by then.

Minori decided to play a penalty kick game. Mizuki will play kickball with Saki and Rui against Akito and Tsukasa. An decides to ask Rui for some ideas on how to beat them. MMJ Miku cheers them on from the shadows.

Rui asks Rin and Len what sports they're going to play. Len wants to do soccer, and Rin's doing ping pong. Rui decided to go wherever needs more people since he's excited about all of them. Rin and Len both try and get Rui to join them.

The class discusses a recent challenge to play as a music ensemble together using the instruments found around school. Though it was difficult, they all found the experience to be highly valuable. They're glad they got to be good friends with each other through the year.

Cautious Heart Class

Tsukasa, Mafuyu, and Luka greet each other as classmates. Tsukasa recognizes Mafuyu as the one who helped Rui, and is surprised to find a Luka wide-awake. Mafuyu asks if Luka knows someone that looks like herself. Luka isn't phased by the question, but the two kids are shocked by her casualness.

MEIKO, Kohane, Haruka, and Honami greet each other. They guess that their class shares similar characteristics as deliberate and cautious. MEIKO teases Kohane over her shyness.

Luka asks Honami to not be so formal with her now that they're classmates. Haruka understands Honami's nervousness, since she feels strange calling her MEIKO "MEI". MEIKO feels jealous of that version of her, so Haruka calls her MEI. Honami tries calling Luka a nickname, too. Neither of them like it.

Tsukasa, Mafuyu, and Kohane chat about the sports competition. Tsukasa also is helping Kohane find who sent Vivid BAD SQUAD the challenge letter. Mafuyu suspects Principal MikuDayo was the one who sent it.

Tsukasa and MEIKO play ping pong against Kohane and Luka. Kohane sends over a curveball shot and wins the point. Tsukasa and MEIKO agree to practice even harder. L/n Miku watches on.

Mafuyu and Haruka run into Honami practicing for the sports festival by herself. The two of them are working on plays for the basketball team. An was the one to convince Haruka to join basketball.

Kohane, Haruka, Mafuyu, Tsukasa, and Honami discuss graduation requirements. Tsukasa belives they'll be fine as long as they attend class. Kohane still isn't sure who challenged her team. Honami also isn't sure what the "something special" she was asked to find is yet.

Pure Heart Class

Toya, Ichika, and Shizuku introduce themselves. Ichika's happy to be in the same class as Kanade, too. Toya asks her to introduce them.

Kanade and Miku arrive at class. Emu runs over to them and introduces herself. She starts talking about anime and invites Miku over to watch with her. Miku realizes she's made a friend.

Toya greets Shizuku, who is reading a picture book to Miku in the courtyard. Toya asks if they'd be interested in some of his picture search books and agrees to bring some over the next day.

Ichika talks to Emu and Kanade about their instrument class. Kanade found the various materials producing different sounds to be intriguing. They decide to ask Toya more about instruments.

Toya asks Miku and Kanade what events they'd like to play for the sports festival. Both Kanade and Toya are considering the penalty shot game because they're not athletic. WxS Miku (who denies her identity) runs in and offers to train them.

Ichika, Shizuku, and Emu discuss the sports festival. Shizuku wants to do the ping pong race, but Ichika wants something more involved. Emu invites her to play kickball with her.

The class discusses the graduation challenge. Everyone's glad Miku had so much fun that year. Ichika guesses the thing she was supposed to search for that day was "smiles".

Miscellaneous

The various SEKAI Miku watch the sports festival from the sidelines. Principal MikuDayo thanks them for all of their help.

Graduation is nearing. The SEKAI Miku are all sad the day will end soon. Principal MikuDayo asks for their help in ensuring things go well right until the end, to which they enthusiastically agree.

The Virtual Singer leaders (minus Miku) gather right before graduation. They're sad they all have to leave after finally getting so close. KAITO, Luka, and MEIKO believe the "something special" they'll all get out of this are fond memories.

Closing

On the day of graduation, Principal MikuDayo asks if everyone was able to find their "something special". The SEKAI Miku reveal themselves as the secret graders. They thank the others for being sources of joy (looking to the Pure Heart class), will (to the Solid Heart class), enjoyment (to the Passion Heart class), and confidence (to the Caution Heart class). With that, everyone graduated while singing the school anthem, "Be the MUSIC!".

Miku thanks you for watching over the kids. She hopes that you've found "something special" too.

[tranquilwilds]

Some wolfish games to try out!

- Wolfquest, a classic, both the original and anniversary edition are amazing to play, though anniversary edition is a lot more accurate to real life wolves. You play as a yellowstone wolf, you can roam the lands, find a mate, claim territory, raise pups, etc! There is a multiplayer function too, so you can invite the whole pack to play, awoo!!

- Neva, an upcoming game where you play as a woman named Alba, who shares a bond with a wolf cub. It’s an action adventure game, and over the course of the story your wolf cub will grow, and you will fight together. The art looks gorgeous, and it looks as if it will be a tear jerker, likely with environmentalist themes. It can be wishlisted on steam now!

- Werewolf: The Apocalypse, always a great go-to for tabletop RPGs, I have never personally played this one myself, but I have heard great things and hope to get a group together one day!

- Skyrim, now hear me out here, play as a werewolf! especially with upgraded perks like being able to call upon different wolves to aid you, it can be really fun and feel very wolfish! if you want a little more unpredictably, go to falkreath and get the ring of hircine so you will transform at random. Now you are a true uncontrollable beast of the night!

- Lonley Wolf Treat, this is more for calm, cute story-based game lovers. You play as Treat, a wolf who is just looking to find a calm place to settle down. Along your way you’ll meet rabbits, foxes, witches, cats, other wolves, etc. This is a much more human than animalish portrayal of all of the characters, but still a fun game, with a lot of cute moments and plenty of callbacks to them being actual animals. It is also free!

- Okami, this game is well known to be a masterpiece, you play as Amaterasu, the japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf, as you restore the lands. It was originally made for the ps2, and you can somewhat tell, but it is another of those ps2 games that knows what it was doing with it’s console and made something beautiful to work alongside it. Very good game, and actually playing as the wolf is a huge positive!

- Tyto Ecology, may be an odd addition to this list, but it’s a super good game to really feel out how ecosystems balance themselves. You play in a birds eye view in a little dome where you build your own ecosystem by adding plants and animals into the area strategically. Can be a little tough to keep everything stable at times, but a nice calm game and a good one for learning about our ecosystems.

- Lost Ember, a truly beautiful experience, you play as a shapeshifter, though for a large part of the game you play as a wolf. It’s all about exploration through your many forms. It is currently for sale on steam!

- Werewolf, looking for a fun in-person game? Find someone to run your game as you and a group inhabit the bustling town of Miller’s Hollow. This game is not dissimilar to ‘Mafia’ but it’s with werewolves! Strategically kill and pin blame on others in your group as a wolf, use your powers to hunt down the wolves amidst your town, or use your precious vote wisely. This is the most fun with a group of around 15-20 people, but can be enjoyed even in a smaller group of 5 or with more players than that. There are official card games and such of this, but really all you need is someone who knows the rules to run the game!

I hope at least one of these games caught your eye, if you give any of them a go, feel free to leave your review in the comments or in a rb! I would love to hear your thoughts!

Happy howling!!

[fantasyinvader]

I think one of the interesting things is that while Thales is the big bad, Edelgard is the bigger threat.

Think about it, despite their technological advantage TWSITD needed to manipulate her and the Empire into starting the war to serve their purposes. That despite the Javelins of Light, biological warfare, better weapons, crest-beasts, assassinations and the mini-mecha they employ, it would not be enough for them to wage war on their own. They needed an army for their plans to come to fruition, and they have positioned the Empire Rhea helped found to kill her for them.

But then, play Flower. The game does portray Edelgard as a liar in this route. The route starts with her taking credit for Byleth's leadership in order to bolster her own image, and the route ends with her telling Rhea she be spared if she surrenders in public while saying that Rhea needs to be obliterated in private. It really comes to a head, however, a couple levels before that. The Chapter Lady of Deceit begins with Edelgard giving her army a false target so that she can take Arianrhod unaware, it ends with Edelgard lying to her army about the Javelin's of light with the final explore chapter having characters mention that Edelgard knows more than she's letting on, and that some are concerned with how she keeps her army in the dark. The Japanese version of the chapter also has Cornelia's death quote saying that while TWSITD thought they were manipulating Edelgard, Edelgard was really the one manipulating them. In the final chapter, this goes as far as having Edelgard say she will continue to work with Thales until things calm down after the war, but Hubert made it very clear that once the war was over he was going after TWSITD. It's said to be a long and terrifying war while the Imperial army is marching on foreign nations according vb that she's walked the path of supremacy, or hadou, which has horrible implications relating to her abusing her power. But think about the usage of Apex of the World here, it's Edelgard's boss theme whether or not she is in the Hegemon Husk form. Is there really a difference between who she is between the two routes?

Hell, the game invoking the Mandate of Heaven seems to confirm this. Edelgard says her rule has followed the path of supremacy, hadou, in her Japnanese S support and while she says this is no longer the case the devs confirmed that her path does lead to hadou. As such, with the Japanese name of the Sword of the Creator being the Sword of the Emperor of Heaven it's Byleth's responsibility to reject Edelgard's rule and remove her from power, failing to do so takes away Byleth's power and ability to use the sword. Claude says to Hubert he will put an end of Edelgard's path of supremacy in Verdant Wind, which the translators changed to military rule still indicating that Edelgard is a dictator, while Dimitri's rule is supposed to represent the antithesis of hadou, oudou or the King's path, marking him as a benevolent ruler. Moon also refers to Edelgard as a hegemon through her final evolution, one that is supposed to represent the ideals she's started a war to serve, while Byleth's ending title in Flower is Wings of the Hegemon, treating them as nothing more than an extension of Edelgard.

Hadou has negative connotations, it's not meant to be a good thing and Edelgard's relationship with it is meant to be present in all four routes. People are going to suffer under Edelgard's rule, that is what the game is telling us. It doesn't matter if she turns around and takes TWSITD out after the war, unlike the other routes the people are going to suffer and not just in Fodlan as the Japanese text does indicate that she begins sending the Imperial army into other countries where they are “often out of control.”

The devs called Edelgard a villain, and she wins in Flower. It's a route where Fodlan is now under the control of a villain. The fact that TWSITD are said in Wind to have manipulated Edelgard and the Empire, pushed her down the path towards this war, doesn't erase that fact as her own route confirms she's turned it around and manipulates them. Villain Group A manipulates Villain B into doing what they want her to do only for Villain B, in pursuit of her ideals (which were informed by Villain Group A's manipulation of her), to succeed in manipulating Villain Group A before taking them out when they no longer benefit her. Edelgard will still be talking about ruling the world when TWSITD's nigh-immortal leadership is wiped out, and Hopes shows she'll still start her war even when parting ways with them and realizing how much influence they had in the Empire.

And, hell, considering the ending of Wind where Edelgard is defeated but the Imperial army doesn't respect the Alliance enough to accept their defeat, leading to TWSITD leading them to nearly conquering Fodlan with only Claude showing up with the Almyran army stopping them. On the one hand, it shows the strength of the Imperial army even after the loses they suffered at Gronder where TWSITD could do this easily and on the other, it shows just how shitty Edelgard and Leopold are when it comes to effectively commanding an army. That with the army after losing Thales, Nemesis and their hidden base they were almost able to pull of the win showing just how much of a threat the Imperial Army is when properly led.

And again, it's the Imperial army that would go around marching on other countries if Edelgard wins, with Caspar's endings saying they were successful despite his leadership resulting in them being “often out of control” in the Japanese text. The Empire under Edelgard, in essence, serves as a threat to the entire world. TWSITD might have turned her into their weapon initially, but it's clear they can't actually control her and as a result she's not just a threat to the heroes and Fodlan but to them as well.

Edelgard is the bigger threat of the two.

[lightfeltmemories]

hxh theory: is feitan a p3d0phile?

tw's: mentions of l0l1c0n, paraphilia, p3d0philia, sadism and torture because its fucking feitan, cp (debatable if you consider l0l1c0n cp), mentions of problematic hxh ships such as feitan x kalluto and hisoka x gon

just a note: before you come at me with your pitchforks leaving hate in my asks and dms, i am not a fan of l0l1c0n nor am i trying to defend it, this post is a simple theory i have gathered by evidence in the manga, no one is saying that you should believe this theory, it's more of a "do with this information what you will" kind of thing.

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

so, you may be reading this title and you're thinking "what the actual fuck?" and you probably believe that i pulled this straight out of the deepest parts of my ass, but what if i told you i had some plausible evidence for this theory?

so, for starters, this thought actually came to me when i was reading a post by a user on here named @/cautionworks (i'm not going to tag them here because i don't know them nor do i want to seem like a bother) who made a post relating to their favorite ships (warning as the post does contain problematic ships such as hisogon and such, not saying in particular im against the ship, im just giving out a warning to anyone who is triggered by minor x adult ships) and there was a ship listed as feitan x kalluto.

in the passage it mentions that they found out that feitan may be into l0l1, which at first thought was a bit strange but once you think about it more, the concept isn't the most absurd for someone like him.

i haven't seen anyone actually talk about feitan possibly being into l0l1c0n, much less being a p3do, probably because of the anti's in the fandom.

so, lets get on with the actual evidence!

in the yorknew city arc, after he was done torturing the owl, he is seen reading a book by an author named trevor brown, and as stated on his hunterpedia page, trevor is a controversial artist who's work involves paraphilia; atypical sexual urges.

according to trevor's wikipedia page, "His work explores paraphilias, such as lolicon, ero guro, BDSM, and other fetish themes. Innocence, violence, misogyny, and Japanese popular culture all collide in Brown's art."

there is also a reddit post relating to this topic as well, and according to said post the topic was popular on tik tok at a certain period in time (not very important but i thought it was kind of interesting since im a tik tok user and content creator kind of)

so, does this make feitan a p3d0phile? i can see why people would think so, and i can also see why people wouldn't.

why i would is simple; trevor brown's art speaks for itself, the usage of fictional little girls in... lets just say, VERY interesting situations would make one assume off rip that feitan may be a p3d0phile, or at least a l0l1con, not to mention, togashi isn't afraid of making a character like this especially since we have hisoka (not saying hisoka is a p3d0, but many do, and im just trying to prove a point and give an example as to why the concept of feitan being a p3d0 isn't something completely out of the ordinary, hxh does get pretty dark after all).

why i wouldn't: i've seen some arguments that feitan may not hold the same views as trevor despite him doing some questionable things, similar to how people may like a certain character or even person in real life but not agree with everything they say or do, not to mention he doesn't seem to act weird or overly charming with kids like hisoka, he certainly isn't afraid to hurt or torture one (gon) but theres no actual implications outside of him reading this book by a controversial artist that he is sexually attracted to them.

but in my personal opinion, unless specified by togashi himself, or given any more details about how he feels about such things i wouldn't go as far as to call feitan a p3d0 just because he's seen reading a book by someone known to create l0l1 art, hell, he might be reading a book that doesn't include anything relating to p3d0philia, since the cover art isn't explicitly shown.

[ammstify]

Y'know what's a weird thing that I want for Persona 6, that I think could be exciting to include given the possible theme of modernity vs tradition, or technology vs nature?

A character that's apart of the Ainu.

(***PLEASE NOTE, my knowledge of the Ainu people and their culture is fairly limited, so I will link down below some articles where you can learn more if you're interested!)

If you didn't know (because a surprisingly LARGE amount of people don't know about them), Japan has their own version of indigenous tribes, who have existed long before the establishment of modern Japan or even the monarchy.

One of these includes the indigenous peoples known as the Ainu, an ethnic group native to northern Japan, including Hokkaido, Northeast Honshu, as well as some territories and islands connected to Russia like the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Penisula, Sakhalin, and the Khabarovsk Krai.

While there is little history about their existence, we do know that the Ainu peoples are related to the Emishi, their ancestors, who during the 9th century came under Japanese subjugation and were pushed from their native lands to the north. Over the passing centuries, the Emishi and Ainu were treated with disrespect by both the early Japanese, who were known as Wa-jin, and later colonized by the more established dynasties that proceeded during the 17th century and beyond.

Today currently, there official population of the Ainu within Japan are around 25,000, but may actually be around 200,000 or more, due to the near-total assimilation into Japanese society, cutting off many individuals from knowing of their Ainu ancestry. Despite this though, the Ainu culture and their language somewhat prominent within their respective communities and continue to thrive, despite their dwindling numbers of the years.

In recent years, the culture has become a bit more well-known due to the fairly popular manga known as "Golden Kamuy", created by Satoru Noda and serialized from 2018 to 2022. The story is set after the Russo-Japanese war, where our main protagonist, Saichi Sugimoto, is a surviivng veteran of this war.

After learning about the possibility of a large cache of gold existing in Hokkaido, Sugimoto is nearly killed by the man who told him, but is saved from not only death by the man but also by a bear through the aid of a young Ainu girl named Asirpa. Together, the two of them form a very close friendship as they begin their complicated and dangerous journey to find the cache of gold, while collecting the tattooed map of the location of the cache.

The manga heavily focuses around the exploration of the Ainu culture, interweaving it with the plot of the manga, making it a very prominent and important topic within the story. Besides Asirpa, there are multiple Ainu characters that support the main cast, as well as many scenes exploring and discussing the culture of the Ainu and how the industrialization of Japan has affected their way of life.

One of my favorite scenes between Sugimoto and Asirpa is when she teaches him about some of their cuisine, in particular chitatap (or citatap), a dish made with the the raw meat of animals or fish that is chopped into fine chunks. Admittedly, Sugimoto is a bit worried about the idea of eating raw meat, but over the course of the story begins to fall in love with the dish to the point of obsessing over it.

Alongside that, there are also a few other representations too of the culture, such as the utilization of Ainu terms like "hinna" to express delight, the belief of "kamuy" or spirits in nature, or the tradition of Ainu women tattooing their lips! You can FEEL the authors love for the subject and wanting to let the wider world know about the existence of the Ainu, even though he might not be one himself.

So, why have an Ainu character? Well, for one, I think it would be a very interesting commentary upon some of the more complicated subjects that Japanese culture faces, and give a bit of representation to the tribe by having either a party member or supporting character within the town.

Persona is no stranger to dealing with complicated subjects and topics that are often shied away from in most JRPGS, notably SA, sexual harassment, depression, grief, struggling with ones own identity, sexuality, gender, and much more. The topic of the struggle of being indigenous not only in a judgmental and oppressive situation, but also a growing chokehold from the modern world as technology takes over, would be a very interesting thing to explore and provide one of many points of view upon the subject.

Its no question that many indigenous communities, including many in the United States, have been heavily affected by the growth of cities and the gentrification of areas, losing more and more of their territories everyday while backed into a corner. By writing about this, not only could the Persona team discuss the effects of the destruction of nature, but also the effects that it may have on smaller communities, be it indigenous tribes or merely small villages that exist outside the limits of cities!

So, whether or not this could happen, I think it'd be a really cool concept for Persona to explore and have, even if it might not take a center stage in the overall story!

Articles about the Ainu:

[elina-sakura]

💜Why I love Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE💜

Happy anniversary to my favorite video game I’ve gotten last year, and impacted my life for the better! For the anniversary, I’ve decided to do a list of why I love the game so much (alongside doing a separate post of ranking my top ten favorite Rain Code characters). Warning for Spoilers for anybody who hasn’t played the game before.

A Cyberpunk Noir/Dark Fantasy Mystery

I have been really getting into mystery novels for the last few years, been collecting and reading a lot of them pretty quickly. Just the suspense of what could happen and what mysteries lies for the characters and overarching narratives. And especially in rewatch with the context leads to new depths for the characters and world-building.

And one of my favorite aesthetics I love to view pictures of are Cyberpunk, especially with their color palettes having my favorite colors (pink, blue, and purple). Plus, the mixing of dark fantasy into the sci-fi setting makes it into a science fantasy hybrid genre, which I absolutely love. It leads to so much creativity in world-building and storylines and characters to be made. Combining that with the mysteries, it creates such an enriching environment and atmosphere that really draws me into the game before even playing it.

The Story

The thing that always gets me attached to the game are the storylines. Whether it’s the main storyline, the side quests we could do, or just the overarching narrative, I need the story to draw me in. Especially mystery stories on what mysteries lies ahead, and if they pay off well. And of course, they did! From the mystery of our protagonist’s amnesia and his deal with the Death God herself to the isolated city of endless rain to even the grand overarching Great Global Mystery that needs to be solved. The themes also really hit hard once you get to the end of the story, one of the biggest examples being “don’t handle everything on your own.” Which is super fitting for certain characters like Yuma, Makoto, and even Yakou. And the side mysteries were fun to solve of course, even if we only had a few to solve. Chapters 4 and 5 especially hits hard for obvious reasons. But of course, there’s also the side quests with little mysteries and character expansions and world-building that really also helps to make the city feel alive.

The World-Building

We only ever stayed in one setting, which is the isolated city of endless rain, Kanai Ward. Yet there is so much depth and character to the just one setting alone. From the different districts we explored with its own unique settings to the structure of the city to the many inhabitants that resides in the city. I mean, even if they don’t have names and only called by their genders and personality traits, the interactions with them reveals a lot of how living in an isolated city of rain ruled by a corrupt police force and corporation. And the kinds of interests and backstories they have, even if it’s just by little crumbs. Honestly makes the side quests more important since they help to flesh the world-building and the city itself much more than the main story can give. (Plus Kanai Ward’s OST is the perfect song to listen to over and over again).

And even outside the city, there is many world-building that really leaves a lot of questions and rooms for exploration and expansion. Like that there are people with paranormal powers like the Master Detectives (and makes you wonder if there’s more besides Master Detectives). Or that there is a literal unified government in the world, meaning there is much original world-building to be found. Or if there is more supernatural forces besides the Death God and spirits in the world. It leaves room for more side contents to expand the world of Rain Code, or add something like vampires in fanfictions or something. Though I’m really hoping for more side contents of the game like the Japanese mangas that hopefully could get translated to English soon.

The Characters

And of course, what clings me to the game and its story the most are absolutely the characters we followed along. Yuma Kokohead, the kind-hearted yet anxious ‘trainee’ detective, the dirty-mouthed yet tough loved Shinigami, the cowardly yet loyal Chief Yakou, the unique misfits of the Nocturnal Detective Agency, the mysterious yet silly Makoto Kagutsuchi, and even the adorable high school informant, Kurumi Wendy. Following their journeys, seeing them bond together, seeing their struggles, learning more about their backstories and motivations and characters overall, it makes me grow attached to all of them and want to see more of them. Of course, some of them took a while for me to warm up too like Shinigami, or see past some certain flaws that were over-exaggerated for comedy for some reasons (*ahem* Desuhiko *ahem*). I do plan to go more in-depth on my liking of the characters in my top ten list of the Rain Code characters.

As one of the writers’ sayings I follow by, “Characters are what drives the stories.” I wouldn’t love the stories I followed if it weren’t for the characters we were following, and seeing them fall and rise from the challenges. And I especially wouldn’t want to write fanfictions about them if these characters were bland and unlikeable.

Writing Rejuvenation

I have been writing and planning to publish fanfictions for a long time for other medias, but I never ended up finishing them due to my time in real life, the fics I planned being pretty big, and my wavering motivations. It honestly started to feel like it became a stale routine of just planning fanfictions, but never write them out fully. Until I played the video game, become attached with the characters, and came up with many one-shots that can be done quicker than my other fanfictions. These one-shots were fun practice to write full short stories and finally be able to complete them, and practice my writing style.

I have many fanfictions planned out still, including one for a Rain Code anniversary prompt week in just a few days, and a bunch of AUs as well that while may take time, are ones I hope to publish in the future, whether far or near.

The Fandom

I am definitely going to get mushy over this, but this is one of the main reasons why I remain attach to the game, which is the fandom. Although small, they are full of kind and talented people that I love to interact with, or see their talented works in fanfictions, edits, and/or fan arts. I hope in the future I could interact with more of them, and hopefully stay friends for a long time. And I’m excited for many creative works and interactions that I hope to come, and possibly more that will come in the future (as long as they’re good people and not toxic shippers or homophobic or anything else).

💜Happy Anniversary to Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE💜

[emimayooo]

Emi in Japan (2024) - Day 4

(Link to Day 1 and link to Day 2/3).

Hey guys,

OH MY GOSH I HAD SO MUCH FUN MEETING MY FANDOM FRIEND IRL😍❤️❤️❤️

R was just as easy to talk to IRL as she is over discord! At first we had that moment of "oh my god you're real" weirdness but it melted away like ice cream on a hot summer's day as we explored Shimokitazawa, a boujee district known for its thrift stores and cafés.

First off, we went to Bear Pond Espresso, a super cozy and cute café. Here, I HAD MY FIRST CUP OF COFFEE. Yes, you read that right: the first of my life! Ya'll, I took one whiff of coffee when I was ten and promptly decided "nah not for me". But omg I've been missing out! I had the sweet ice milk latte and I looooved how it tasted. I fear I may have unlocked something new in me lol...

I asked the barista recommendations for lunch, so we followed their rec and ended up at a soba place! It was very yum. Afterwards, we went ✨shopping✨. I bought a cute cat tote bag and some cat earrings hehe.

We still had some time on our hands before I had to go home, so by my recommendation, we went to Jimbocho, the book district of Tokyo😍❤️

Truly, I recommend Jimbocho to any book lover, even if you can’t read Japanese! There’s a lot of secondhand places that sell vintage/classic Western books. I’ve found gorgeous editions here that I treasure to this day.

R and I entered a very stylish bookstore that sold a lot of children’s books. I myself bought the second book in the Kiki’s Delivery Service series (fun fact: it was a book series before it was a movie!).

Then we went to Nyankodo, a cat themed bookshop that is a MUST VISIT for any cat lover😍❤️!!! They only sell cat related goods, whether that be books, tote bags, water bottles, pins, postcards, etc. It’s, like, my personal heaven.

On my recommendation, R bought a graphic novel about an old lady and her cat that made me ugly cry when I read it lol, while I bought a badge and two books. One was a photography collection about an old lady and her cat (I’m seeing a theme here lol). The second was a beautifully illustrated picture book about a teeny tiny black kitty named Toto. I’m so excited to dig into these.

We were feeling pretty tired at this point, because boy, was it humid! So we stopped by a bookstore/café I'd been to before and had a rest. I ordered an ice cream and hot chocolate. Oh my god was the ice cream heavenly. Like. So so good. The hot chocolate too was very yum.

Here, my friend and I talked about what brought us together: Sylvgrid 🤣❤️! We talked about our WIPs, what we love about our ship, and inspired each other to get back into it! After our chat, I felt sooo motivated to get back to my Sylvgrid longfic, Ludus/Eros/Storge. So galeheart folks, if you don't see me around in bg3land, you know what's up…

After our café break, it was time to say our goodbyes. We went to the station together and rode our respective trains, but not before giving each other a big old hug, of course!

During the train ride back, I was soooo giddy, and when I got home, I told my grandpa all about my day! He was very happy for me hehe.

I hope I get to see R again before she leaves Japan...today was the bestest day EVER����❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for reading my journal. Tomorrow will be a quiet day, cause I have to study, ugh. But see you next time🤗❤️

With love,

Emi xoxo

P.S mutuals pls come to Japan I wanna hang out so bad

P.P.S pls look at my new favourite hat (yes ofc I bought it🤣❤️)

[regalstudies]

Japanese Movie Recommendations!

こんにちは皆さん！今日、特別な順序ではなく５本の好きな映画を紹介したいです。

Hi everyone! Today I’d like to introduce you to 5 of my favourite Japanese movies! My personal tastes lean more towards the horror and anime side of things, but I hope there are some here that you guys haven’t seen! Cinema can be a great avenue to delve deeper social commentaries about the country we’re interested in learning about, so I’ve tried to pick some recommendations with that in mind! :]  

I’ve attempted to add all relevant content warnings, but there may be something I have missed so please take caution! I’d recommend having a look at what people say on DoesTheDogDie.com if you have specific concerns

Without further ado, let’s get started!

1.  Confessions (告白) directed by Tetsuya Nakashima (中島哲也)  

Confessions is a 2010 psychological thriller based off of the mystery novel of the same name. It follows the aftermath of the murder of a school teacher’s daughter by her pupils, who utilise Japan’s laws on age of criminal responsibility to “get away with it” and focuses on the differing perspectives of those involved. This film explores themes of revenge, familial values and expectations, and the normalization of violence in youth. This film is unmistakably heavy, but it is powerful.

This was introduced to me by my professor when I was doing a Japanese Film course in Uni, and it has stuck with me for YEARS. Not only is the story itself poignant, it’s brilliantly acted, beautifully shot, and has so many striking visuals with artistically composed scenes. As this was a fairly successful film,  there are a fair few articles analysing its themes - if anyone is interested, I can try and dig up the resources we used when we studied this in class! :]

Content warnings: depictions and mentions of mental and physical abuse, violence towards children, violence committed by children, bullying mentions of animal death, attempted suicide, murder, mentions of chronic illness (AIDs and cancer in particular)

2.  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) directed by Isao Takahata (高畑 勲)

A retelling of famous folktale Taketori Monogatari (竹取物語) for modern Japanese audiences, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya brings new life to the classic story without sacrificing any of its heart. Takahata cited his own inability to connect to the original tale as inspiration for the retelling, aiming for something which the audience could connect to emotionally and really understand the titular princess. 

The film deals with feminist concerns about the restrictions of womanhood (especially in the ambiguously Heian-era Japan), familial obligation, love, and the beauty of life. It’s a cultural adventure which I would recommend to anyone regardless of their familiarity with the tale it is adapting! Honestly, I’ve written essays about  Taketori Monogatari and this film still managed to move me to tears with how beautifully and painstakingly rendered it is! I’d need a whole other post to detail just how much I appreciate the /art/ of this piece.

Content warnings: animal death, suggestion of sexual assault, arranged marriage, memory loss

3. Dark Water (仄暗い水の底から) directed by Hideo Nakata (中田 秀夫)

This 2002 horror movie is a sad ghost story! It follows the story of a single mother trying to get through her life while dealing with her divorce proceedings, new slightly-run-down apartment, and the paranormal occurrences haunting herself and her daughter. This movie deals with familial issues, parental sacrifice and confronting trauma.

Dark Water deals with aspects of Japanese horror which fans of Ringu (coincidentally, also directed by Nakata) may recognize, so I’d definitely recommend fans of Ringu and people wanting to explore the way that different cultures portray horror to give this one a shot. I found this one so fun to analyse  recurring themes and imagery in Japanese horror, and I’m more than happy to encourage others to fall down this rabbit hole too!

Content warnings: missing children, death (including that of a child), threat of death, drowning, abandonment, divorce

4.  The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女) directed by  Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠)

This 2006 sci-fi romance tells the story of a high-school girl who discovered that she has the ability to travel through time! Dealing with friendship, the pressures of growing up and romance, this movie integrates slice-of-life and coming of age themes into its sci-fi setting! Its your classic tale of fairly innocent time-travel shenanigans and trying to right some wrongs, and makes the the ultimate heartwarming story! 

This one used to be pretty popular amongst anime fans a gooood few years back, but I haven’t seen people talk about it in a while and I wanted to mention it just in case it had fallen off the radar!  With simple yet fluid character designs and beautiful scenery, this piece manages to portray grounded teenage characters and capture that warm summer feeling throughout.

Content warnings: threat of death, train accidents, minor violence and name calling

5.  Tokyo Sonata (トウキョウソナタ) directed by  Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清)

This 2008 drama follows the disintegration of a middle-class family after the patriarch loses his comfortable salaryman job unexpectedly. This film tackles issues faced by many modern families as the sense of traditionalism and societal normalcy becomes strained under the pressures of expectation, unemployment, and inability to communicate your authentic self to your family.

This film is an incredibly grounded drama, depicting real issues faced by so many families. Take a look at the date on this film, and you’ll realise how true-to-home this story of societal and economic uncertainty is for so many. Despite it all, what seems on the surface to be a depressing story of a family at their worst, actually displays a message of hope throughout. I find it to be a very realistic and poignant film.

Content warnings: unemployment, financial struggle, communication issues, war, military, abuse, domestic violence, crime, robbery, kidnapping, themes of suicide and depression, sexual assault, car accidents, police presence 

Bonus!  Gohatto (御法度) directed by Nagisa Ōshima (大島 渚)

This one was recommended by my flatmate for this list, as a quick shoutout because “its very good” so I don’t personally have much to say about it - but I’m never going to complain about a recommendation for a gay samurai film. :]

それで、おすすめを終わります！

Thank you all for reading through this list! If you have any recommendations of your own, please feel free to add them on!

[ideas-on-paper]

Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 2: Day cycles & Nighttime hunt in the Moga Woods

For previous entries, search for #monster hunter tri diary

Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.

Moga Village (night)

Yay, we have day cycles! This is actually a feature that got scrapped in MH3U; while there were day and night versions of each map (probably a leftover from this mechanic), it was always day in Moga Village. In Tri, however, time advances in the village too, and you actually get to explore Moga at nighttime! (I believe the only previous time they tried something like this was in MH Dos, with the seasonal cycles.)

And look, fireflies! Or are those Thunder Bugs? (Given that this is Monster Hunter, probably Thunder Bugs.)

Also, there is a nighttime version of the village theme! I've never heard it before, due to there being no day/night cycle in 3U. It's a tad softer and more tranquil than the daytime version - I like it!

Chief's Son: "To restore the base camp, we need to dig new latrines, rebuilt the tent, cover the old latrines, delouse the bed..." Sounds like a really pleasant job. Might be easier to just throw the lousy bed into the trash and get a new one, though.

Okay, so the Chief’s Son tells me I have to report to him what I hunted in the forest, since he’s responsible for keeping tabs on that. Makes sense, since you kinda need to keep an eye on the monster population to prevent an imbalance in the ecosystem if you want to ensure a sustainable economy.

Actually, this reminds me... I remember there's an in-lore explanation that the Guild keeps records of the monster population in each area, to prevent certain species from going extinct and others from growing too large in number. (I think the only time they integrated this into the gameplay was in MH Dos; there was some kind of "bounty system", and the more often you hunted a certain monster, the less money you'd get for it.) So, are the reports I give to the Chief's Son sent to the Guild as well? (I suppose that would be like constant surveillance; but maybe, that's the exact intention behind it.)

At first, I thought the Jumbo Pearl might be a reference to MH Dos (since the village from that game is called Jumbo). However, after checking the Japanese item name, the kanji indicates that it's just an extraordinarily large pearl, rather than a pearl found near/associated with Jumbo Village. (Pity, though; that would've been so cool.)

Chief's Son: "Go report to my dad, will you? He LOVES reports." Okay - well, at least that shows he's taking his job seriously.

Chief: "There are no hopeless causes... Just lost confidence!" That's actually a damn good motivational quote right there.

Gossipy Lady: "It's obvious whenever the Chief is in a pensive mood. He stands at the left pier and gazes out at the sea." I wonder if there's a story behind this habit...

Guild Sweetheart: "The good news is that the Guild apparently has completely forgotten about us. So, you're not missing out on anything!" Well, I guess that's the bright side of it... xD Still, a bit odd if you consider the Guild is technically responsible for protecting the village - all they do is send one rookie hunter here and that’s it. They don’t even bother helping the villagers repairing the damage in any other way.

Outfitter: ""No weapon is perfect. Every one has its strengths and weaknesses." Maybe grandpa was right after all..." Well... A fault confessed is half redressed, or so they say. xD

The shy kid tells us about a goblin with a mask living in the Moga Woods (his older brother also says he's "constantly talking nonsense about an elf"). If my memory serves correctly, that has to be Cha-Cha.

Blacksmith: "I'm gonna to tell you - but just this once!" Except when you cycle through the dialogue by repeatedly talking to him, you can select "yes" again. xD

The Bowguns are completely different in Tri. Instead of the usual two classes (Light and Heavy Bowgun), you have to assemble your Bowgun out of individual parts (stock, frame, barrel), each influencing the stat values and overall performance. I guess this was done in an attempt to make the Bowguns more customizable, so you can have a sort of in-between as opposed to just light/heavy. I'm not a Gunner myself, but I think the idea is kinda cool; ultimately, they didn't stick with it, though.

Btw, there are some weapons that are completely missing from Tri: Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Gunlance and Bow are all unavailable in this game (despite being available in Freedom Unite).

Also, the Switch Axe and the Long Sword are not available from the start; you have to unlock them later on (you have to do the 3-star Urgent Quest to hunt a Gobul to get access to Long Swords). I was a bit confused when I saw that I couldn't make any Long Swords, since I was sure I heard they existed in Tri. However, the selection of Long Swords in this game is very limited: Minus the weapons from online events, there are only seven Long Swords you can make in the game. That's right: seven. A bit of a bummer for me as a Long Sword main, especially since there are not even blades for every element. (There isn't a single Ice Long Sword you can forge offline.)

So, seems like I'll have to get a little creative here - I think I'll make myself a Great Sword when I get the chance, since that's a weapon I'm at least moderately accustomed to. I also might try out a Switch Axe against Gobul, since you already unlock these after the 2-star Urgent Quest. (Can't say I'm looking forward to it, though. xD)

Btw, I don't know if it's just a translation error in my localization, but when explaining weapon sharpness, the smith says orange is sharper than yellow which is sharper than green. Of course, it's the other way around, with yellow being sharper than orange and green being the sharpest. So, this is a small pitfall for anyone who might be new to the game - just wanted to mention it.

"Fuel for the furnace, chemicals for forging... All of that costs money, so you gotta pay something." I think this is the first time I've seen it mentioned that the smithies in MH are using chemicals to make weapons/armor. Guess that makes sense, since a lot of the equipment pieces are composed of both organic and inorganic materials, so it probably wouldn't hold together otherwise.

"My life's goal? To forge a weapon beyond anyone's imagination! I've tried again and again, but failed. One day, I'll succeed - just you wait!" Well, as long as you have a goal and dedication, you can achieve anything. Better luck next time! :-)

I really like the smith in general - such a lively and spry guy. ^^

What the?! How did the smartass kid get into my house? Who let you in? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMPHOUSE?!?

"Did you know you can skip conversations? That way, you can skip boring conversations with people you don't even want to listen to. Very handy!" I wish this was a feature in real life.

"But some things you'll get to hear only once. And then you'll say: "Oh no! Why did I press the cancel button? Now I can never hear this again! Buhuuuu!" Unironically me every time I want the text to scroll faster and accidentally end up missing dialogue. xD

"Oh, some conversations you can't skip, like important village info and lectures from your mom..." Pity - I'm sure everyone would appreciate the latter. xD

"Do you believe there is life on the moon?" I dunno, kid - I've never read sci-fi literature from the MH universe myself.

"Why don't hunters use their huge airships to fly to the moon? Did no one get this idea before?" Well, maybe they did - I just doubt they got very far. xD

Yay! I can actually give my Poogie a name! (Actually, I think this is the first time in the series you can do this.) Though it's curious that the list includes both male and female names - is Poogie's gender just whatever you want it to be?

The cuddle timing for the Poogie is WAY more lenient than in Freedom Unite (seriously, that was hardcore).

Moga Woods (night)

"Hello, it's me, the Chief's Son! Not Junior! Nobody calls me that!" Yep, definitely daddy issues. (Nice to see the Chief's Son inherited his dad’s telepathic skills, though.)

"Oh, nice attack! Maybe you're not such an inexperienced hunter after all..." Shit, they've caught onto my ruse - they know I'm too good to be a noob! xD

It will never not be funny to me that the "So tasty!" when you make a Well-done Steak is the only voice line they ever bothered to record for the old games. In fact, it was so important that they even recorded it in different languages. xD

I appreciate how there's a brief display of "MAX" at the end of the stamina gauge - that way, you know when you're at max stamina.

Okay, so the monster list also works differently in Tri. Instead of buying the books with the info at the item shop, you have to gather the infos yourself while being out in the field. It feels a bit like a spiritual predecessor to MH World; I guess they did this to add more to the "exploration" feeling. It's a little tricky to do though, so I understand why they got rid of it. (You have to open the monster list in the menu, point the Wiimote at the monster and then add the info to your list via drag-and-drop. I can imagine this is going to be rather difficult with large monsters, since you kinda have to pay attention that you don't die while gathering data. xD)

Honey: "Full of nutrients, but indigestible in this form." What? Last time I checked, honey was a perfectly digestible type of food. What makes MH honey different?

Okay, so I've picked up an item called "Firedouse Berry". It increases fire resistance, apparently. The logical conclusions would be that there are other berries in Tri to counter the other elements (water, thunder, ice). Either way, I've never seen these in any MH before.

I’ve always wondered what the "houses"/windows carved into the cliffs of Area 7 are. I suppose this is what the Head Farmer meant when he was saying that the statue in the cave had something to do with the "forest ruins". Is this where the ancestors of the sea people lived? If so, why are these great buildings in ruins? What brought about their demise?

You see, it's the little things that always kept me fascinated in Monster Hunter. You can find these ancient ruins in all of the old MH games, but it’s never explained who built them. It's like a dark mystery of the past, constantly looming over you - and perhaps, a silent threat that this might happen again.

It's funny how the Jaggi were my literal introduction to Monster Hunter. If I hadn't read an article about there being "raptors" in MH4U - despite the Jaggi looking more dilophosaurs with their frills (which is ironic, since they're the bird wyverns that don't spit poison) - I probably wouldn't have picked it up. xD

After playing Lies of P for so long, I have to get used to MH combat again. Although I adjusted the controls of LoP so it was basically the standard MH controls (because I literally can’t play with anything else xD), the combat itself feels very different. MH’s is a lot more mobile in comparison, involving lots of dodging and repositioning; since there’s no target lock-on (targeting for large monsters only got introduced in MH3U if I remember correctly), you can’t just lock onto your target to circle around them.

Also, I don't think there’s a pause button in Tri? A bit strange since Freedom Unite had one, but I guess you're supposed to use the Wii Home button for this.

There was a young Aptonoth in Area 1, probably the one who fled from Area 3 when I killed its parents (cool that the monsters move to other areas, though!). I briefly contemplated to let it live, but then I told myself "well, it's probably not gonna survive without its parents anyway" and did the mercy kill. (I'm such a cold-blooded murderer, guys. xD)

One thing that never fails to make me laugh is how there are wooden struts sprouting from the ground if you place the BBQ spit on uneven terrain. xD (That BBQ spit is so important, it even gains the magical ability to support itself if need be.)

So, in summary, I killed 15 Jaggi, while also gathering some stuff along the way. I would've needed 30 resource points at minimum, I delivered 90 - so, thrice as much. Well, there's no kill like overkill. xD

Moga Village (day)

As far as I know, 3rd Gen is the first to have its own kinds of fertilizers for mushroom and insect farming spots on the farm (Shroom Germ and Funky Pheromones, respectively).

Dung: "That's right: Monster poop. The odor reveals (too) much about the monster's diet." Must be really pleasant to carry that around in your pockets (or store it in your item box). xD

The item description says you can only sell Pittance Fangs for "pocket change" - that "pocket change" being 180z per piece, which is quite a lot by early game standards. (I've been wondering about the name, though; could it be that monster parts like fangs, teeth etc. are used as currency in some places in the MH universe? Is it custom to give these kinds of fangs to beggars so they can buy themselves something for it?)

Okay, the smith now wants me to bring him some Iron Ore to prove that I’m “worthy” of being his customer - at least he was so kind as to lend me his Mega Pickaxe for it. (Remember, kids? The time when you still had to carry pickaxes and bug nets with you to gather ore and insects?)

Village Chief: "All wyverians are hard to please. And this one is the worst. I know him since my early youth. I got into more brawls with him than the sky has stars!" Sounds like the Chief and the smith were best friends. xD It's charming to see the Chief reminiscing about his youth, though.

Chief: "My son still has a lot to learn... But you have to overcome barriers to grow." That's true - ngl, the Chief does have some pretty deep quotes.

Guild Sweetheart: "Drum roll... The Guild says: absolutely nothing!" Man, they sure are taking their time... Okay, how about this: I'm gonna go out to get some Iron Ore for the smith (and for myself), and you see if you can get through to the Guild in the meantime, alright? Don’t worry, sweetie - I’ll be right back!

To be continued

[wfagamerants]

I’ve made a whole post about why I don’t think Mario has any true canon months ago, yet at the same time also pointed out some things where Mario can be surprisingly consistent.

Truth to be told, while I do point to inconsistencies in the games, which are plentiful, the main culprit are Nintendo themselves.

I tend to look at what they say and how they operate to, as best as possible, gauge their intentions with a lot of stuff and a good example of their willingness to play fast and loose and actively alter information is with the Koopalings:

Contrary to what is often quoted, Miyamoto never said they never were Bowser’s kids, but rather that in ‘’their current story’’ Jr is his only child.

Another example of them changing their stance as they see fit to me is how they treated the subject of Mario and Luigi being plumbers.

We have very direct statements of how during the 2010s, people were not allowed to bring up that subject matter in videos:

And even a documented instance of a Japanese bio referring to Mario as having been a plumber a long time ago.

Which, as seen on the screenshot, has obviously been changed since and we got even more recent examples of the movie and one of Wonder’s loading screen trivia bits presenting his occupation proudly. Even at the time 3D World wasn’t shy about it:

Which is one of several times where official statements and in-game content don’t exactly align, heck, it’s weird on a general level given pipes are such a crucial bit of iconography for the franchise, derived by the fact that Mario and Luigi are indeed plumbers.

Stuff like that is why the Toad and Captain Toad thing is a sore spot for me. I never actually denied official sources claiming they are different character, but even despite that kind of explicit statement:

They chose to okay Galaxy supplementary materials that call Toad the Toad Brigade Captain and put him on the cover of Galaxy 2, in the same spot Captain is at in the Starship Mario art no less.

They chose to not have red spots, blue vest Toad in 3D World besides a pre-release Captain Toad life icon, instead having a Blue Toad be playable, which is not how the Toad character is ever represented, to the point where when 3D World art and renders are used to represent him, they are ALWAYS edited to give him the red spots. It’s hard to call it a SMB2 callback, because unlike say, Luigi’s Mansion King Boo or Biker Wario, it’s never even acknowledged or brought back like other game specific designs.

They chose to have a pre-release bonus for Treasure Tracker, an amiibo bundle for it and the function for said amiibo, to be all based around Toad and one of the mission descriptions even just calls him Toad, despite Captain Toad supposedly being a name.

They chose to give Captain in TT Toadette as a partner and include SMB2 elements like turnips and Shy Guys (only red and blue ones like in that game no less) which have no relevance to this supposed separate character, yet are highly tied to Toad.

They chose to have Mario in the Toad costume be called Captain in special Mario Challenge dialogue, in the first Mario Maker.

They chose to show Captain when talking about Toad in an Odyssey developer’s Q&A video.

They chose to have the Toad spirit become Captain Toad in Smash Ultimate, lining up with stuff like Shadow becoming Super Shadow or Alm, Celica and Isaac becoming their adult selves.

They chose to give Captain in Mario Kart Tour most of Toad’s animations, a trait *only* seen with variants and even classify him as a variant internally. Party Time Toad, who is definitively him, has more distinct animations than Captain does.

They chose to give Toad a treasure hunting themed expansion set and even call him a treasure hunter in LEGO Mario, an ongoing merch-line with an extremely big name.

They chose to continue the 3D World thing with Wonder, keeping Toad off the roster when Captain is around, while Mario vs DK has him playable no problem.

They chose to let the movie, Mario’s biggest non-gaming outing to date, very explicitly treat Toad and Captain as the same character and even give out pamphlets explaining references in the movie in Japan. Said pamphlet calls Treasure Tracker Toad’s game, making no mention of Captain as a separate character.

They chose to make a big promo video promoting Mario games tied to certain characters and have Toad tied to Treasure Tracker. This video was also put on the Nintendo Switch news tab, mentioning Captain by name in the description, yet showing Toad and it has its own spot on the Nintendo website too. Additionally they list Treasure Tracker in Toad’s list of appearances on Play Nintendo.

In isolation I wouldn’t think much of any of these, but when it happens so often I do start to wonder what the idea is. They are shooting every opportunity to establish Captain as his own character, especially for normies who likely just saw him and assumed he was Toad anyways, in the foot. 

I tend to refer to the movie a lot when trying to cite Nintendo’s seeming attitude towards some things too and yeah, I do still think it’s a big deal the New York backstory is back. It clashes with the Yoshi’s Island backstory, which is also supported by Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, but THAT backstory in turn clashes with the pre-SMB games and bios as late as 1994, that referred to Mario as italian, Foreman Spike as american and Pauline as being from New York, still establishing the old backstory as relevant enough to be brought up in character guides.

They are questionably compatible, but that’s because they are from very different eras of Mario. The Yoshi’s Island one will likely persist as the more commonly referred to one, because it mixes better with Mario’s SMB onwards world, but the old backstory is still accepted enough by Nintendo to allow it in a monster hit movie.

And that’s the thing, the movie takes liberties, but still holds true to a vision Nintendo themselves want to have out there, for Mario and his world. They know many people will be exposed to Mario for the first time in a while or possibly ever, through the movie and okayed for it as a way to interpret the franchise, that is a big deal.

Is the movie ‘’canon’’ to the games? We don’t know, Mario doesn’t have an officially recognized canon ala’ Hyrule Hystoria. It may not be canon in the sense of having happened in the game universe 1:1, but it is canon as a Nintendo approved, modern, big interpretation of Mario.

And the thing is, regardless if it’s canon or not, it’s influence can already be felt.

The Peach Showtime cover art has been updated in a way that makes Peach resemble her movie design a bit more, Wonder’s animation upgrade was directly motivated by living up to the movie’s standards of how people expect the characters to move and animate and then you got this:

A video on Nintendo’s official Youtube accounts, a Switch news tab article and even it’s own page on their website. A remarkably pushed marketing pull for games conveniently only highlighting characters in the movie and the game selection is clearly inspired by that too. Smash for DK to replicate his fight with Mario, Toad explicitly being called Captain, Mario Kart for Peach because that section was a prominent marketing scene for her, etc.

Nintendo’s biggest concern is how they want the brand to be presented, more than any canon. I’ll call out inconsistencies when I see them, but in general, this is what I pay attention to the most and why I am very accepting of the fact Mario is always bound to face changes, bigger and smaller, that may at times even be departures from what came before.

[intogenshin]

Tsurumi Island is also uncomfortable

I wrote a series where I dissected the underlying themes and narratives of the Inazuma chapter because most of the intent behind the poorly written storyline was lost in their ambition to pull a shocking plot twist. Unlike the other nations, the player doesn’t get to look into the archon’s inner world (figuratively) until the climax of the last act, save for some vague foreshadowing dialogues from Yae, so the most important part of the story was hidden from the audience.

I found the story they wrote compelling, but at the same time I couldn’t push away the uncomfortable feeling of knowing how that story was built by detaching it from its historical parallel: Tokugawa Japan. 

It is one thing to make fantasy dictatorship into a benevolent measure for protection, where the ruler was rather a subordinate to the major power and whose motivations were based on fear, if (if) the real life historical parallel of a feudal military dictatorship isn’t a big issue for Japanese people then it doesn’t matter much in the end. But it is another to blur the narratives around the parallels of indigenous people that were invaded and occupied by imperial Japan. 

Chinese media has strict restrictions regarding what they can and cannot portray or show, and revisionism of imperial japan is prohibited. I know it goes beyond even fiction, because an actor from a cdrama I liked was accused of praying at a temple that honors a Japanese general, and was unofficially banned from working in the industry (his name cannot even be used for registering a phone number). The actor in question has explained he was only walking outside, unaware of what the location really was since it is promoted as a tourist spot, yet he is still unofficially blacklisted. 

All this to say, no, this criticism is not implying hoyo is endorsing Japanese colonialism + mentioning an instance of just how serious the issue is in China. Let’s not waste time arguing in extremes. Moving on now. 

Names and terms in Tsurumi Island come from Ainu language, but it seems there’s very little that honors their culture. 

(Please check resources and research for yourself, don’t take my words at face value, as I might make mistakes)

Ainu cosmology sees their relationship with their environment in a symmetrical order, meaning there is a reciprocity between animals and humans, as well as humans and kamuy, the spirits that inhabit the heavenly world and watch over humans. 

Kamuy manifest in the human world (Ainu Moshir) through disguises of natural phenomena (wind, fire, water), parts of nature (animals, plants, mountains), and material culture (boats, pots), so when Ainu hunt or use these elements they are receiving the gifts of the kamuy in these forms. And they perform rituals in which they also give back to the kamuy in return, showing how important reciprocity between humans and nature is in their worldview. 

There is a ritual for “sending off” damaged, old or unwanted daily utensils to the the realm of the spirits called Iwakute, and one of salmon called Ascircep-nomi, but the most known ritual is Iomante, the ceremony of the bear, in which a cub is raised by the community for a couple of years and then sacrificed as a “sending off” of the kamuy of the mountains, Kim-un-kamuy, who manifests in the form of bears. 

The Ainu bear ritual has been recorded by varios explorers and researchers. It was so famous and attractive that it was performed in the presence of Emperor Meiji in the Shiraoi village in 1881.

Ainu believe that kamui live in the form of human beings in their own world Kamui-moshir. Plants and animals in this world are regarded as temporary forms of the kamui which are endowed to humans by deities themselves as gifts. Kindaichi states that the kamui who came down to Ainu-moshir can return happily to Kamui-moshir only by willingly being eaten and being respected. 

—The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada 

This type of ceremony or festival is very common in northern cultures:

As is revealed by Watanabe, the sending-off ceremonies for a variety of animals, including the caribou, the seal, and the whale, are commonly observed among northern hunting-gatherer peoples. Moreover, considering the northern cultures in terms of relationships between religion and ecology, Irimoto suggests two significant characteristics: first, the notion of reciprocity that exists between man and game spirits, and, second, the original oneness of both sets of beings. 

—The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada

Ainu is the name for the people that lived in the islands of Hokkaido, possibly Honshu, Kuril and Sakhalin (the latter two passed to soviet control following World War II), who lived in kotar (small villages) of people related by blood, but the groups shared similar religious beliefs and eventually came to be known collectively as Ainu. 

The history of the Ainu is intertwined with that of Northeast Asia, namely, Japan, Mongolia, and Siberia. The geography of these regions influenced various groups of Ainu and created obvious differences in their lifestyles. Nevertheless, all these Ainu groups seemed to share similar religious beliefs and subscribed to a similar philosophy. 

The identification of the Ainu culture is based more on “the Hokkaido Ainu” than other groups. This is because the Hokkaido Ainu were the largest of the Ainu groups and survived the Japanese and Russian conquests. 

—Symbolism of Symmetry in the Ainu Culture from the Viewpoint of Analytical Psychology, by Kazuko Kosaka-Tanaka

So, how did Hoyoverse portray this culture in the story of Tsurumi Island?

The people of Tsurumi are extinct due to their own actions, born of ignorance and naivety: the creature they revered as their god, Kapatcir, had no interest in them and didn’t regard herself as a deity or protector either, and the rituals of human sacrifice had no meaning for her. 

First of all, Ainu is a culture under threat of erasure after a long time of Japanese colonial/settler violence, but they are very much living and dedicate their lives to preserve their culture. 

Hoyoverse portrayed the island as a ghost civilization that only survives in memory and broken objects left behind, and that seems to be the way they also went about borrowing bits and pieces of their culture, as if they were taking different candies from a store, and carelessly used them to adorn their story. 

Tsurumi’s civilization doesn’t honor Ainu’s cosmology of reciprocity with nature, nor the respectful relationship between Ainu and Kamuy, nor their rituals or ceremonies performed in gratitude. It doesn’t even recognize them as a living people. 

I keep wondering just how many people might uncritically and subconsciously believe Ainu performed human sacrifices after playing this game. And I have to question why this narrative was used in this context at all alongside the recurrent justification of a civilization causing their own demise when it can make their main characters, the product they sell through their gacha, look bad. 

The Japanese themselves considered the Ainu to be barbarians, and this led to uneasy relationship from the start and to repeated efforts on the part of the Ainu to expel the Japanese from their lands. After a few centuries of sporadic conflict, including the last “pan-Ainu” uprising against the Japanese in 1669 (Shakushain’s War). 

Meiji government embarked on a policy of (forced) assimilation —a policy whose ultimate aim was to eradicate Ainu culture. Under this regime, the Ainu were systematically stripped of any Ainu identity and were “made” Japanese. 

The Japanese government redoubled its efforts at assimilating the Ainu into Japanese society and eradicating Ainu culture. As part of the act, Ainu families were granted small plots of land, in order to transform them from hunters into (more easily managed) farmers. Much of the best farmland had already been claimed by Japanese settlers. 

—Language Conflict and Language Rights: the Ainu, Ryūkyūans, and Koreans in Japan, by Stanley Dubinsky and William D Davies 

What it seems is, much like they did with Watatsumi Island and Ryukyu culture, the company intends to mimic the consequences of settler colonialism and the violence of occupation by framing the loss of these fantasy cultures in tragedy, but fails to address the historical parallels that inspired them in the first place so as not to damage the marketing of their product. Who would want to buy a colonizer ruler, even if it’s made in the vessel of a gacha waifu?

The archon and shogunate in Inazuma are portrayed initially as benevolent (by allowing Orobashi to maintain the island he brought from the depths nearby their territory), and their violence against Watatsumi and against Kapatcir is justified (Orobashi invaded Yashiori Island, the resistance broke the seals that suppressed the Tatarigami instigated by an undercover Fatui, and Kapatcir’s grief was out of control and therefore represented a danger to Seirai Island). Not to mention there is no contact between the Thunder Civilization of Tsurumi and the Shogunate or the archon. 

I don’t know if any allegory can work with Kapatcir at all. If she represents the power of the archon (thunder) and the destruction of Tsurumi’s civilization is an indirect reference to Japan’s genocide of Ainu, then it’s just weird that the people of Tsurumi were worshipping her in the first place. If Kapatcir is meant to represent the entirety of Tsurumi’s people and Ei sealing her in Seirai island is a reference to the genocide and forced assimilation, then it’s just weird that Kapatcir had such disregard and indifference for the people of Tsurumi in the first place. It doesn’t work in any cohesive way. 

Moreover, the human sacrifice narrative is at best distasteful and very unfortunate, and at worst malicious. 

There is a folklore Ainu legend that includes human sacrifices, though I couldn’t find much about it: Sitonai. A village is terrorized by a snake monster who demands human sacrifices and a girl, Sitonai, bravely volunteers in order to slay the snake with her wit and aided by her dog. This story however is about defeating a invasor, completely different from the narrative of ignorance and submissive acceptance portrayed by Ruu. 

There is no evidence of the Ainu ever performing human sacrifice, but given the racism against Ainu and this disrespectful notion of “barbarism”, it seems something malicious to imply. The only thing I could find was something that looks like an offhand comment by a researcher, with no evidence other than pointing out that a ceremonial object looks like ceramics in the shape of a person, nothing else. 

I did find, however, an instance of human sacrifice of Ainu people perpetrated by Japanese settlers. 

Ainu men and boys were exploited in Takobeya forced labor by the settlers, while women and girls were abused as Comfort Women. The laborers were kept incarcerated in small rooms and stripped off their human rights, and those who tried to escape were subjected to harsh punishments and brutally assaulted. 

Decades later, skeletal remains were found in a nearby tunnel in Hokkaido, and it is believed these remains were the result of Hitobashira, a Buddhist practice of human sacrifice where people are buried alive in a construction, perpetrated against some of these Tako laborers. 

Takahashi refers to these victims as “countless bloodstained human pillars” (hitobashira人柱). Although hitobashira usually refers to someone who sacrifices his or her life for a cause, it can also refer to the ancient practice of sacrificing people by burying them in the foundation of a building, castle, or bridge in order to appease the gods during a particularly difficult construction project. Takahashi does not elaborate on his word choice, but it is possible that hitobashira refers to the abstract notion of “sacrifice” for the nation’s “colonization” of Hokkaido, or the physical form of “sacrifice” involving the buried bodies upon which the “colony” was built. There were local rumors that there were “human pillars” buried within the Jōmon Tunnel walls, suggesting that Takahashi might have also been referring to the actual buried bodies at former construction sites.

—From “Convict” to “Victim”: Commemorating Laborers on Hokkaido’s Central Road, by Jesús Solís 

So why, just why, would the writers use the human sacrifice narrative in the fantasy island inspired by Ainu culture, while simultaneously butchering their religious beliefs of coexistence with kamuy, and ignoring the nature of the rituals they are known for? 

When I wrote my post The Allegory of the Puppet Ruler (first version on hoyolab, revised version on reddit), I could tell that the narrative of Inazuma’s chapter was trying to examine the beliefs around the bushido, a code of conduct that Tokugawa used to incentivize nationalism and military submission, which is something that plays into the expansionist colonial invasions of imperial japan. The NPC character leader of the Kujou clan also was portraying a quest for power, authority and control that scapegoats the rest of the nation (the shogunate and the archon) from this fault, especially with the way Kujou Sara vehemently rejects his delusions to follow the “true eternity” of the shogun instead, you know, the one that is benevolent and protective.

From the way they disrespectfully borrowed from Ainu and Ryukyu culture, the writing was on the wall for the fiasco that was Sumeru, but there’s something especially revolting about doing it to cultures under threat of erasure. And I’d be surprised if they improve at all in their depiction of indigenous America or Africa. 

Anyway, please check these resources if you made it down here.

Ainu Mythology: the Cuckoo and Pon-Oki-Kurumi, by Hosana Fukuzawa

Symbolism of Symmetry in the Ainu Culture from the Viewpoint of Analytical Psychology, by Kazuko Kosaka-Tanaka

The Concept of Shared Destiny in the Ainu Spiritual Belief, by Junhong Wang

Language Conflict and Language Rights: the Ainu, Ryūkyūans, and Koreans in Japan, by William D Davies and Stanley Dubinsky 

The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada

From “Convict” to “Victim”: Commemorating Laborers on Hokkaido’s Central Road, by Jesús Solís 

Forced Labor in Imperial Japan’s First Colony: Hokkaidō, by Pia M Jolliffe