#goro can also confirm

[breezypunk]

there's somethin' about you that drives me crazy.

[akiology]

Akiren, Goro kissing headcanons

Note: i hope this is to your liking anon! <3

Akiren

He honestly does not care where he is, if you ask for a kiss, you are getting one! Although, of course, there are limits. He would not engage in a full-on make out session with you outside, but he would definitely indulge you in a kiss or two. There may be times where he gives the back of your hand kisses too, and if you turn to look at him he will give you a smile and a wink.

In private though, his kisses are gentle and reassuring, you will never want to leave his arms. This man is absolutely in love with you, completely taken by you, and he makes sure you feel the full extent of his feelings. Whenever you pull away, he will nuzzle your nose and whisper a soft, "I love you so much," against your lips. He likes giving you neck kisses too, especially if you're ticklish there. If you show any kind of reaction, he will kiss you there whenever he is in the mood to be playful. He is also the kind of person to give you a kiss, just cause. You're in the way and he needs to pass through? Gives you a quick kiss in your shoulder, and an "Excuse me, treasure."

His kisses are fun and passionate, another way of expressing his love and as a way to keep him grounded. Sometimes, as he kiss a ticklish spot and you giggle, he smiles to himself and thinks that everything is going to be okay, because he has you.

Goro

He is not really into PDA, especially considering he has a public image to uphold and he thinks it will put you in harm's way if the both of you ever try to publicize your relationship. So if you ever ask him to kiss outside, he will wave you off. But if you are in a semi-private place, somewhere you can probably hide for a few minutes, then he may give you a peck on the lips. That's all you're getting though, as he tells you, "Be patient, please."

Whenever you are behind closed doors though, there's a sense of urgency and need behind his kisses. As if he is trying to confirm for himself that you are really there with him, and that it is his only lifeline. If you keep indulging him, he may or may not get addicted. He also likes giving you forehead kisses, and you may find him giving you a lot of those when he is extra affectionate. He finds your kisses as a way to 'recharge', and so in the times you are tangled up in each other's embrace, he makes the most of it. "Are you okay?" you asked one night, and Goro nods while tucking a stray hair behind your ear and a kiss on your nose, "I am now."

His kisses are a way for him to express his feelings, because gods is he terrible at it sometimes. But he is trying, and he hopes that somehow, that reaches you. There are so many things he cannot tell you yet, and when he remembers that, his kisses turn desperate and needier than usual.

[fereldanwench]

I'm not really sure why this is being brought up after almost three years, doubly so given that I haven't had any interaction with PinkyDude in probably just as long, but since he saw fit to vague about me, I'm going to address this:

I feel this is a misrepresentation of my actions and motivations during this entire situation.

I never made a call-out post specifically against Pawel. In fact, I didn't even mention him by name. I made this post because I saw history repeating itself:

As I said in the notes here, this was also largely informed my experience with the Dragon Age fandom: I witnessed how David Gaider's interactions, including responding to headcanons in a way that could be read as confirming them, contributed to a lot of fanwank. I think Pawel started the streams with good intentions, but he was clearly not trained in public relations (at least when he started), and I did have concerns with how things like the "meme review" were contributing to parasocial relationships.

I also had concerns because Pawel contributed to some misinformation that other writers had to later correct, like saying Goro had never been considered for a romance, which also caused a huge outcry in the community and necessitated another dev to come forward to set the record straight. He was straddling a fine line between being an expert/professional and being a buddy, and that can be problematic when you're interacting with 100s of people hanging on to your every word.

I have no problem with devs doing streams and interacting with the community when they have the tools and information to do it in a way that fosters healthy community interaction, which requires training. I never believed he shouldn't do them at all, and as PinkyDude noted, I enjoyed some of them when he had guests on that I was interested in. However, I did believe that he needed to be far more cautious about how he was interacting with the community, and I did express those concerns.

Mentioning this also seems to be framed in a way to insinuate that I had anything to do with any sort of spite reporting or flagging of any of his posts, and that's just false. I will admit to getting caught up in the throes of some of the drama during 2022, and I regret that and I have made a point to not repeat those mistakes, but I'd never falsely report anyone just because I didn't like them.

[skania]

Aqua, Akane and their relationship during his "Freedom" period

I know a lot of people dismiss Aqua's words to Akane in Chapter 97 because he wasn't shown being all smiles during their time together, but I think those people forget that Aqua has a very complex, very difficult, very painful rapport with happiness.

He has lived his entire life, be it as Goro or as Aqua, feeling guilty. Goro quite literally felt guilty for existing: he couldn't forgive himself for living at the expense of his mother. This guilt is accompanied by a feeling of powerlessness: he beats himself up because he couldn't do more for Sarina, and as Aqua he blames himself because he couldn't save Ai.

He assigns no worth to his own life. He has panic attacks when he lets himself enjoy things. Even something as innocent as Ruby reminding him of Sarina makes him think that he is unforgivable because he doesn't deserve salvation.

After living this way for so long, it's only natural that he still struggles with allowing himself to be happy during his "Freedom" period.

To make matters worse, this newfound freedom was born from Aqua running away from the truth and from all his issues. Ichigo said so himself, there is no way Aqua didn't notice the loophole. Himekawa literally tells him what age he was when his dad died, some simple math would've automatically let Aqua realize that the timeline didn't add-up.

But Aqua didn't want to realize it. He blinded himself to the truth because Himekawa gave him the escape he has been desperately yearning for since (at least) the TB arc.

Since Aqua didn't actually solve any of his issues and traumas, it's to be expected that they keep weighting down on him throughout that year. After all, healing takes time.

We see this weight very clearly in his dynamic with Kana, since his Ai-related trauma is the biggest factor in him completely avoiding her.

We naturally also see it in his dynamic with Akane.

Three examples come to mind:

Akane tells him that she enjoys being with him. We know for a fact that Aqua is reluctant to part ways with Akane, which means he enjoys being with her too. But he isn't used to letting himself enjoy things. So, how does Aqua react?

His guilt flares up and he focuses on how undeserving he is of her, even trying to convince her (and himself) that their relationship is nothing but a lie.

Something very similar happens here:

Akane tells Aqua that she wants to see him, and Aqua looks torn before admitting that he wants to see her too. It'd be easy to interpret his expression as Aqua feeling guilty because he is about to lie to Akane, specially since this page is followed by a page of Kana crying over him. But I believe it's the opposite.

We see him that very chapter asking Akane about her schedule so they can see each other. This alone shows that Aqua does want to see Akane, and the fact that Akane later says that Aqua has been doing his best not to lie to her confirms Aqua is being truthful when he tells her that he wants to see her soon, too.

So, why does he make that sad face?

I believe it's his guilt flaring up again. Knowing him, I bet that thoughts like these ran through his mind:

Does someone like me really deserve to live a normal relationship like this? Would Akane want to see me if she knew that I'm the reincarnation of Goro Amamiya? It it okay for me to want to see Akane even though I know Kana is hurting because I've been avoiding her?

Still, it's important to notice that we can see the positive effect that time has had on Aqua. During that first example, Aqua tried to put up a wall between him and Akane by claiming that their relationship wasn't real; during the second, he hesitates but ultimately admits that he returns the feeling and wants to see her too.

This trend of Aqua becoming more open with time continues in the last example, which comes precisely from Chapter 97:

Akane confirms that she is glad that she is dating him, that he makes her happy, and Aqua looks utterly caught off-guard, as if the thought of being able to make Akane happy was shocking to him.

His most telling reaction happens right after, though:

Aqua's lips tremble. He looks near tears. Why?

Because to him, who felt like he was underserving of salvation, being with Akane has felt remarkably close to it.

I feel that this moment right here contextualizes all the examples I mentioned before: Akane does make him happy and he doesn't know what to do about it half the time, because he isn't sure if he deserves that happiness at all. But Akane makes him feel like he just might.

And the truth is that he doesn't want to give up on it—on her, because to him his relationship with Akane has become synonym to the happiness that has been eluding him all along.

So I personally can't dismiss his words to her during Chapter 97, because to me they are actually meant to reveal the way Aqua has been feeling all along.

[saikolikes]

Aki’s P5R  fanfic recs! (part 2)

Hi and welcome to another one of my recs posts! As you can see, this is part two: part one of this post can be found HERE and includes fics I bookmarked between April 2019 and December 2020. This second post will deal with everything I bookmarked during 2021 and 2022 (... so yes, part 3 is bound to happen some times in the future)

Here a brief disclaimer:

Everything in here is spoiler for either P5 vanilla, Royal, or Strikers;

I won’t report the tags, as it would take too long, so if you’re interested in a fic, please open the link;

Fic recs obviously reflect my tastes and preferences. For example, I love suffering and I don’t like fluff or domestic works, so browse this list knowing that;

The stark majority of the works here is shuakeshu

If you want more recs you can find them in my bookmarks, most of them are public!

MY ONGOING RECS Again, I don't read a lot of ongoing works (although, admittedly more than in the past) and these are the ones I'm subscribed to that I'm adoring!

The Lovers, Reversed by salexectria, Terra5 (E) | Royalty a/b/o AU | akeshu | series in three parts, ongoing "A Thief is caught stealing from the Northern King, and is sentenced to death for his crimes. The Alpha Prince intervenes, but at what cost to them both?" What I love about this AU is the amount of politics and worldbuilding put into it, as well as the uniqueness of double povs who constantly switch from Akira to Goro creating one back and forth that acts literally like poking into their minds. Plus the slow burn and the pining are just on point.

never die when I'm dead by threerings (E) | Royal & post-Royal | akeshu | series in 2 parts, ongoing Two one shots featuring one of my absolute flavors of this ship: sad, intense and unhinged

IDC FOR UPDATES I resolved to defeat my abandoned-wip trauma one excellent fic at a time so here's a list of works that haven't been updated in a while or the author straight up confirmed they won't keep writing them, but they are so good you just have to read them and let them remodel you. Do it. Do it now.

the year of the knife by theexistentiallyqueer (M) | No powers AU | shuakeshu | 2 chapters "The plan for Akira's junior year of high school was to keep his head down and his nose clean, but he hadn't counted on his new high school having more trouble than it was worth--and he specifically didn't plan on Akechi Goro, the haughty, machiavellian vice president of Shujin Academy's student council, dragging him face-first into political scandal and a series of encounters that would change his life." Please let teq bring you through a journey of spot-on characterization and stunning prose that will rewire your brain chemistry completely. Their take on machiavellian Akechi is really good, and the snark Akira spits in this fic is really something I cherish.

kiss & cry by MajorGodComplex (T) | Figure skating AU | shuakeshu | 2 chapters "Goro’s first thought when he hits the ground is some combination of the words ‘shit fuck hell fucking bullshit bitch fuck motherfucking hell.’ His next thought is wondering whether Akira Kurusu, senior debut, constant thorn in Goro’s side, and the only person anyone this season seems to talk about, is also trying to land a quad axel at the moment." I don't know what to tell you, the prose of this one is so witty and funny you just have to read what's published of it as of now!

honeybrains by succubused (T) | Time loop | shuakeshu | 4 chapters "a chronicle of the twenty-fourth time akira kurusu lived through the month of january 2017" What can I say, I am really a sucker for time loops and this fic took me by the heart. Tagged as character study and with rights because the characterization here is very interesting!

in the snow globe by aminami (E) | Time travel | shuake | 1 chapter "It’s your heart,” Joker says like it’s the most obvious thing. “Your desires, your hopes, your fears. I’ll carry them with me always. My little snow globe." This fic will hurt you so badly but it will be so worth it, I swear. It's just so melancholic and tender and angsty and it carved a place in my heart.

my love has never lived indoors by rhodophytae (E) | a/b/o | shuake | 1 chapter "Ren Amamiya knows he's an alpha, and he's comfortable with that, but he's pretty sure that being an alpha is, well...different for him than it is for other people. He resigned himself a long time ago to the fact that he'd probably go his whole life without finding anyone else like him. And then he meets Goro Akechi." This fic has such an interesting take on omegaverse! Paired with a stellar characterization and delicious pining, it's no surprise it's a fic I will never forget.

GENERAL RECS The fics I’ve enjoyed the most and that I go back to reading sometimes.

how joker and crow survived the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 by shntlvs (T) | Royal | shuakeshu | series of 2 works "Escaping from Maruki's false reality gets interrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic." Could you have ever imagined reading a fic centered around the pandemic? Me neither, but this one and its sequel work so well and have very compelling bits of characterization for the boys. Unexpected premise, but I utterly loved it.

straw house, straw dog by caelam (T) | 3rd sem | gen | one shot "In the saccharine utopia of Maruki’s reality, Goro Akechi’s mother is still alive." I admittedly don't read too many fics with mamakechi so I won't claim to be an expert, but this one really left me impressed with how clear and tangible the tangle of feelings is.

Knight of Pentacles, King of Spades by Naometry (M) | Medieval AU | shuakeshu | 11 chapters "“Hifumi passed on your greetings,” Akira Kurusu says, fury simmering beneath his conversational tone. “And I’m polite enough to give you my own in person. So greetings, General Goro Akechi. I am the man who will kill you.”" I started reading this fic for the war captive trope but this story has so much more to it than just that. Nao's superb skill with writing violence and viciousness will have you thrust into a cruel world where two boys seem to be bound to kill each other... unless?

Ripples by Riona (T) | gen | canon compliant | one shot "Ten people know exactly who the news is talking about, and now they’re going to have to deal with that." A peek into the heads of 10 of Joker's confidants upon learning about his death. The fic I would never imagined myself reading, but I did because it was recced to me, and now I'm recc'ing it to you, too.

When Your Eyes Meet Mine by seths_dream (E) | no powers AU | shuake | one shot "The way the bellboy lingered on him made his heart jolt, made him think that maybe, maybe the bellboy was looking at Goro the same way Goro was looking at him." I've lost count of how many times I read this fic because the horny is just so juicy, it's unironically one of the fics I come back to when I need to remind myself how to write horny stuff. (the same author also wrote this delicious pegoryu that you have to read)

a study in what not to say by succubused (T) | 3rd sem | shuake | one shot "Akira has finally had enough of Akechi's bullshit; they resolve it the only ways they know how." If you like the boys being really nasty to each other, this fic is a must. It has excellent dialogue, dynamics, and a tad of homoerotic wound tending which can't hurt no one!

MY ALL-TIME FAVOURITES The fics that rewired my brain chemistry, took my heart out, slapped it, put it back, and left me a whole new person.

27 steps to seduce a crow by relationshipcrimes (G) | Royal | shuakeshu | one shot "A handy bullet-pointed list on how to flirt with, seduce, and keep your local Akechi Goro." Still to this day, I think of this fic in terms of Goro's characterization. If I have a thing for post-canon shuake chasing each other, it's probably due to this one.

The Brigverse by TzviaAriella (E but most works are M) | Pirates AU | akeshuake | series, ongoing I admittedly don't care that much about pirates but the og fic from this series (A Brig Too Far) was being passed on so much that I gave it a try and. Oh boy. Not only is the characterization impeccable, the story compelling, and the action thrilling, but at least one scene and/or line from each work in this series has altered my brain permanently. I am a new person after reading Brigverse.

wild and free by bangandawhimper (E) | a/b/o | shuakeshu | one shot "Akira Kurusu hasn’t always been an omega. But now everyone he meets in this city assumes he’s an omega. He’s treated like an omega. He feels like an omega. He knows he feels like an omega because he remembers what it was to be an alpha." This work might have my favourite take ever on shuakeshu omegaverse, it's so fitting for them, so thought out, and the characterization is so on point... my god. Read this fic now.

The Diamond Chest by kinneas (E) | post-Royal | shuakeshu | 3 chapters, complete "Who says you have to see Morgana speak in the Metaverse before you can hear him in the real world? Not the few hundred officers who arrested Ren in Sae’s Palace two years ago, that’s for sure." Honestly everything kinnes writes is gold but I'm shouting this fic out because I reread more than a few scenes from this fic more than once, and it's a 100k-words baby. I am a sucker for heist stories, I am a sucker for dealing with trauma in very tangible ways, and I'm a sucker for kinneas' characterization of the boys.

before midnight by specterthief (Not rated) | 3rd sem, canon compliant | gen | one shot "“I—” Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Sumire sets down her chopsticks and rubs her face with both hands. “Um—who told you I was going to training camp?” (On January 9th, Sumire goes home.)" This is the stellar Sumire characterization fic you're looking for. Read this. Read this right now.

I HOPE THIS DOESN'T AWAKEN SOMETHING IN ME (DELUSIONAL) I clicked on these fics solely due to my trust in the authors/the summary/one rec and now I find myself with a new kink. Thanks.

Containment Breach by salexectria (E) | Space pirates AU | akeshu | one shot Akira gets stranded on an abandoned spaceship seemingly infested by a terrifying creature. He finds the lonely survivor of the crew and they begrudgingly start to work together to contact help and survive. I am just going to say that I clicked for salex's name, I stayed for the stellar characterization, pining and top-tier bantering, and got overwhelmed by the tentacle sex. (/pos)

it takes two by lumensd (E) | 3rd sem | akeshu | two-shots By all means, this series has some things I usually am not interested in (phone sex, degradation) but Jay is so skilled and his akeshus are so fucked in the head that now I've signed up for the masochist Joker agenda. Hurray!

i dream of you draped in wires by rime (E) | 3rd sem | akeshu | one shot "Maruki's Shadows don't want to fight; they just want to collect data. Wait, are those cat ears?" You would think a work with the tag "catboy shibari gunplay fuckordie" can't be too serious. Wrong! Excellent character study attack 🔪🔪🔪 (from the same author there's also this P5 vanilla fic that is excellent)

Darken my doorway by EnlacingLines (E) | 3rd sem-post canon | akeshu | one shot ""I don’t need to test my theory. You should be thanking me, really. Opening this door for you.” “A door to what?” Akira says, exasperated by just how self congratulatory Goro still sounds.“ Submission.” Or: I am a firm switch shuake shipper, I don't vibe with too-extreme dynamics *proceeds to go ballistics over this fic regardless*, *awakens to the wonder of d/s a lil fucked up dynamics*

[cuddles-edits]

Ambiguously Bisexual Characters

Happy Bisexual Day of Visibility. Here's another icon set of ambiguously bisexual characters.

No Discourse Please.

Zoé Lee from Miraculous Ladybug; she is revealed to have feelings for Marinette in the Season 5 episode Adoration, confirming that she is attracted to women. Her exact sexuality has not yet been stated.

Blue Moon from Cyberpunk 2077; during their final text conversation after successfully completing the Every Breath You Take side job, V can ask them out to dinner. Regardless of gender, she turns them down, not because she doesn't want to, but because she doesn't have time. Whether this is a hint that she's bi or an oversight by the developers is uncertain, but it's a valid interpretation nontheless.

Yang Xiao Long from RWBY; she is in a relationship with Blake Belladonna, who is canonically bi, as of Volume 9, but it is unclear if Yang is bi, pan or lesbian. Though it is worth noting that she displays attraction to men very early on in the series, though hasn't done since, so it could be interpreted either way.

Fang from Goodbye Volcano High; they are non-binary and can potentially enter a relationship with the female Naomi. Their exact orientation remains unsaid, however, and is left open to interpretation.

Naomi from Goodbye Volcano High; she is attracted to the non-binary Fang, and can potentially enter a relationship with them. Her exact orientation remains unsaid, however, and is left open for interpretation,

Reed from Goodbye Volcano High; he is shown to be attracted to men, but his exact orientation remains unsaid and open for interpretation.

Boscha from The Owl House; when asking Amity if she saw a ghost and if they're cute, Boscha refers to them with gender neutral pronouns. In addition, the way she is written in For The Future provides some possible subtext that she may have had feelings for Amity at some point. No statement on this has been given, so it's open to interpretation.

Goro Takemura from Cyberpunk 2077; following the mission Gimme Danger, V can ask Takemura in a very suggestive fashion if he'd like some company, which he does pick up on. Regardless of gender, he turns them down, but also says that he is "honoured", and indicates that if circumstances were different, he may have accepted. Again, whether this is developer oversight or a hint that Goro is bisexual is open to interpretation.

Edric Blight from The Owl House; in the episode Through the Looking Glass Ruins, he's said to have a date with someone, but they are only ever referred to with gender neutral pronouns. We never see this person, or hear anything else about this afterwards, so their gender and his sexuality remains open to interpretation.

[brokenhardies]

FOOLSUKE WIP

to make up for me dropping bitbo/foolsuke;

so basically the story starts the same as the canon persona 5 - instead of akiren being arrested its yusuke

yusuke moves to shibuya in with a family friend (ohya) and goes to shujin academy where he meets his teacher takuto maruki and principal shido

first day of school ends up meeting popular streamer futaba isshiki and burnout goro akechi - ends up in shido’s palace inspired by the roman empire and awakens to his persona nezumi (or goemon depending on the draft)

they meet magician sumire (who’s a bunny rabbit) in the dungeons and free her in exchange for her helping them find an exit - her persona is giselle from the ballet of the same name

once they get back to the real world yusuke discovers that his record has been leaked - later when meeting goro on the roof goro confirms its because shido leaked it due to him viewing yusuke as a threat to his perfect school

shido’s basically a control freak who wants shujin to be perfect and rules the school with an iron fist - he brings students for ‘private study sessions’ that mostly consist of berating and occasionally physically abusing them - his sin is wrath instead of lust for that reason

so they end up in the palace a second time thanks to goro wanting to get more information on shido’s victims so he can officially report him to the police

instead what happens is that yusuke finds out that goro is shido’s bastard son with goro trying desperately to punish him for leaving him (and failing miserably) - goro awakens to his persona black bart

two days pass and yusuke finds out that futaba was the one who leaked his record, with her doing it so shido would stop harassing her friend kana - kana attempts suicide the next day and yusuke, goro and hifumi (who replaces mishima) are threatened with expulsion by shido

futaba wants to join yusuke and goro in the palace and they reluctantly let her come along - she gets captured by shido and awakens to her persona charlotte

that’s basically the first half of the story down so ill give the next palace rulers;

we have envy kaneshiro who takes the role of madarame with emperor akira and ren as his students - akira is the one who ends up in the palace and awakens to shūang bian (based on huyan zhuo from water margin)

then greed okumura who tbh is basically just the same but he’s a mafia don and is trying to make haru take over his position - priestess haru awakens to la pucelle (joan of arc’s nickname) in his palace

hermit ryuji who’s palace is a shipwreck slowly overflowing with water, who’s an amputee who blames himself for his mother’s death and his father’s abuse and his father is the boss of his palace in the form of a giant sea monster that attacks the ship - his persona is orwell

empress ann who’s mother basically is selling her models into sex slavery - her palace takes the form of a ochaya and ann joins the team in order to save her friend shiho - her persona is adler

after ann’s mom dies, detective princess makoto joins wanting to change the heart of her sister sae - november 11th happens and we discover that makoto is the traitor after she attempts to murder yusuke

palace 8 is madarame - who is actually yusuke’s biological dad and the man who got yusuke arrested that fateful night - his palace takes the form of a train with the engine room fight instead happening in the coal room - makoto’s true persona is alecto

they defeat madarame but oops! god of control! i dont have much of a plot for this but yusuke’s second tier is mephistopheles bc that’s fun

then the third semester features antag councillor takemi and her ‘guinea pig’ satoru yoshizawa - actually masaru yoshizawa aka morgana - his persona is don quixote

and that’s it! i also had a plan for strikers with the jail monarch’s switching and zenkichi & akane switching places with ichinose & sophia as well as a brief tactica concept with eri and yoshiro switching places but that’s basically it lol

i also altered the plot at some point having emperor makoto, empress morgana and faith akiren but that was before i dropped it lol

[kohakuriver]

Spirited Away Twitter Q&A Translations

Multiple theories debunked/confirmed and we're given answers on how Haku and Chihiro can meet again! Ghibli finally answered a lot of popular questions!

When the official Ghibli twitter was first active back in 2022, it held a Q&A during a Spirited Away rerun. I don't think anyone's ever posted about it on here so I thought I'd share these translations I found! Most of these answers are completely new information about the movie. Here's a site that archived all the tweets and trivia.

The credit to these translations and notes go to atrociouscheese.

Q: Is it true about the rumors that "Spirited Away" has an subsequent story about a phantom after, and that it was shown only in some movie theaters? Or is it just an urban legend?

A: It's an urban legend. Miyazaki: "At first, I was planning to start from Chihiro's house. Chihiro's room was a path for yokai, and she talked about going to a bathhouse with my mother. But I quit because it felt dull. So it would be interesting if such rumors were circulating!"

Q: Why did you decide on the title "Sen and Chihiro's Spirited Away"? (referring to the Japanese title of Spirited Away which is: Sen to Chihiro Kamikakushi) Were there any other candidates for the title?

A: At the stage of the completed proposal that was drafted on November 2, 1999, it was "Sen's Spirited Away". At some stage, the movie was titled "Sen and Chihiro's Spirited Away" because it was about Chihiro's story.

Q: What is the meaning of the mysterious Daruma-like rock in front of the tunnel?

A: The image board says "Stone person (actually a frog person)"...

Q: Do you have any plans to build that tunnel in Ghibli Park?

A: I asked Goro, who is building the acclaimed Ghibli Park under construction.

Goro said: "I'm making 'that tunnel' in 'that work'~ (laughs)"

Q: The mother feels a little cold to Chihiro. I've always been wondering if there's any reason or if she's a cool person by nature.

A: Animation director, Masashi Ando, said that he wanted to not have the image of father and mother that appear in Miyazaki's work, and he said that he set it with an awareness of "a person who is cool and not in a place where family harmony is disturbed".

Q: How did the main character come to be named Chihiro?

A: Chihiro was modeled on Miyazaki-san's friends who were around 10 years old at the time (including some of their names). After the first preview, Mr. Miyazaki was there before anyone else to hear the children's impressions of the film.

Q: I'd like to know more in detail about the objects and places you used as references in creating this work.

A: There is no specific location "here". Mr. Miyazaki recalls the places he once visited and draws while imagining places he cannot remember. The restaurant district in the mysterious town that appears at the beginning of the film was said to have been drawn with an image of the entertainment districts of Yurakucho and Shinbashi.

Q: Are Kamaji and the working soot sprites (Japanese uses makkuro kurosuke) the same species? Or are they similar but different?

A: The official name of makkuro kurosuke is "Susuwatari". That's what it says on the storyboard, so it's not wrong to say that it's the same species. Initially, there was a plan that rice and sesame were their favorite foods, but now konpeito became their favorite.

Q: Are the characters portrayed in human form like Lin, human? Or are they other creatures?

A: The employees of the bathhouse are frogmen for the men and female slugs for the women. This is symbolic of the fact that to the new employees joining Ghibli, all the uncles look the same. Lin may look human because she is a close senior. Doesn't that happen to you?

Q: I want to know more details about of the chicks who are crammed in the bath!

A: It's a chick god called "Otori-sama." By the way, the one who is also soaking in the hot water is the "Cow Demon." According to Miyazaki, he thought, "Today's Japanese gods must be having a hard time," and that's how the bathhouse was born, where gods and yokai can heal their fatigue. 20 years later, the bathhouse may be even more prosperous now...

Q: Why did Radish spirit (Oshira-sama is used here) follow Chihiro upstairs?

A: The spirit became interested in Chihiro and got on the elevator together with her, but they didn't like Yubaba's room, so they descended immediately (it's written in the storyboard).

Q: How many years ago was the world of the bathhouses set from now?

A: It's modeled on the "pseudo-Western" buildings that were popular from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period, so it can be interpreted as after that.

The actual model is Studio Ghibli. To work for Studio Ghibli, you have to go to Toshio Suzuki on the top floor and say, "Please let me work" (laughs).

Q: I really like the flood-like atmosphere of the flowers in the scene where Chihiro slips through the flowers before eating rice balls. Did you change the expression technique for only that scene?

A: For that scene, the flowers are drawn with paint and are then animated to have depth on the computer.

Q: I felt that the onigiri that Haku gave Chihiro were white rice balls, but did they contain any contents inside?

A: The storyboard says, "3 onigiri (without seaweed)". I'll leave it to your imagination to see whether it contained any ingredients in them (not that there was any wasabi).

Q: How many years has Haku lived approximately?!! He looks like a boy, but...!

A: His appearance is about 12 years old, but his actual age is unknown. He's kind during the daytime when Yubaba is sleeping, but is cold at night. According to Miyazaki, Chihiro is like falling in love with a manager. "What was that about last night?"

Q: Is No Face (Kaonashi is the original Japanese used)'s movement a little cat-like...? I personally think that, but are there any animals that you used as reference?

A: I don't have any "animals" as a reference, but the staff at that time said, "I felt like I was collecting the obsession that everyone had, the parts of people that were sick."

Q: I want to know the rating of the bathhouse bills! I wonder how many kinds there were and what rank of the tag Kasuga-sama was.

A: There are no ratings, but the efficacy of hot water is different for each tag.

Q: Is No Face a god? Is there a reason why they couldn't enter the bathhouse?

A: No Face is not a god, but Miyazaki said at the time that "No Face is inside everyone."

Q: Do many Ghibli staff have special feelings for Chihiro? Were there any celebrations among the staff on the 20th anniversary?

A: The studio does not do so-called "anniversary celebrations". Miyazaki and Suzuki's idea is to do what is in front of them without looking back on the past.

Q: I heard that most of the dishes that appear in the movie are made at least once, but was that big steamed bun (meat bun?) that Chihiro was chewing on also made by hand?

A: We don't cook all the meals that appear in the film. Miyazaki says, "Most of the food that appears in the movies are usually things I made and ate a long time ago."

By the way, the fried egg that appears in Laputa and Howl is said to have been drawn based on his memory of making a fried egg when he was a student, returning home from a long trip without any money and starving.

Q: Why is the name No Face?

A: At the drawing meeting at that time, Miyazaki said that Yubaba, No Face, and Chihiro are all "one aspect of the individual." Everyone has both good and bad points. I think he created a character called No Face as a symbol of human beings that cannot be drawn in a one-sided way (I answered seriously).

Q: When the film was released overseas, I was wondering what kind of responses and impressions people had about the unique concepts of Japan, such as Japanese gods and "spirited away/kamikamushi" had. Also, was it made in consideration of reactions from overseas at the time it was produced?

A: It varies from country to country. In some countries, the appearance of No Face became "silence", and other countries burst into laughter. Miyazaki does not make movies conscious of overseas reactions. Suzuki says, "If Japanese people make something that only Japanese people can do, it will become a global work."

Q: Why is Boh drawn so big?

A: It's a symbol of growing up as a child. It seems that Yubaba can't help but spend money on Bo.

Q: "Spirited Away" is the voice acting debut of Ryunosuke Kamiki, who has done voice acting in numerous anime. I heard that Ryunosuke was called to Ghibli's studio after recording his voice at home and sending in a tape because it was an audition. I would like to ask why you cast Kamiki in the role of Boh.

A: At first, people with big bodies were nominated for the voice of Boh. Miyazaki's face lit up the moment when he heard the voice of Kamiki who was eight years old at the time, he shouted, "This one, Mr. Suzuki!" and he decided.

Q: Please tell me how to distinguish between Yubaba and Zeniba.

A: At the image board stage, there was a clear difference between Zeniba and Yubaba. At the storyboarding stage, they thought it would be better to make them look exactly alike. One staff member said, "Yubaba has one wart on her chest and Zeniba has four warts on her chest." But I can't confirm it (laughs).

Q: Kamaji says that Zeniba is scary, but she is a gentle grandmother in the movie. Why did Kamaji say that Zeniba was scary?

A: People who look kind are the scariest when they get angry.

Q: Why did you make the scene of "I can't forgive you!" Dragon Ball-style? How did Yubaba hit such an orb?

A: The storyboard says "Dragon Ball style" (laughs). It's not clear why she was able to shoot an orb, but Miyazaki said, "Yubaba is an old woman who can swim in the air."

Q: I have a question about trains. Is there a reason why we used to come and return in the old days, but now we can only go one way? I would like to know if there are any settings.

A: During a drawing meeting, Miyazaki remarked, "All the employees of the bathhouse dream of saving money to open a store in the town beyond the bridge. Will they go for leisure? But if you get on the train you’ll never be able to come back and this will be gone.”

Q: Where was the scene that took the most time to draw?

A: If there are a lot of characters, the scene will take a lot of time, though I can't say in general that this cut took the most time. It is unclear what scene took the most time but Miyazaki often fixed Chihiro's small gestures, and in particular, Miyazaki seems to have, with all his effort, corrected the scene where Chihiro received the hair tie from Zeniba and tied her hair.

Q: What was the most difficult dubbing scene?

A: Kamaji, who is played by Bunta Sugawara, speaks a lot slowly, so it was difficult for Sugawara to get it on scale. Rumi Hiiragi was having a hard time with saying "one, OK?" from the line "one, OK? I can't call one flower a bouquet". And Miyu Irino tried many times with "Nigihayamikohakunushi"

(translation note: her line in Japanese, what "one, ok" sounds like is "ippon, ne." Japanese changes numbers when it comes to counting items, so one which is ichi becomes ippon when it comes to counting the bouquet. So instead of saying, "One, okay" she said "one okay") Additionally, I actually know what they're referencing and you can actually see the dubbing behind the scene difficulties they're talking about in this video uploaded on Youtube: video here

Q: How do you write Haku's real name "Nigihayamikohakunushi" in kanji (Chinese characters)? I am wondering if it is the characters for "amber river" (琥珀川) or "small white river" (小白川). I would like to know if there is a meaning to "Nigihayahimi"!

A: Although it is written in katakana in the setting, the name "Nigihayami" is said to be the composite of several gods including Nigihayahi (nigihayami-no-mikoto), the ancestor of the Monobe clan who fought against the Soga clan during the Asuka period, and Hayakitsuhiko, the river god and dragon incarnation.

Q: How did Chihiro find out that her mother and father were not inside the pig pen in the end?

A: I'm not sure of the reason, but please read the children's book called "Krabat", which Miyazaki was greatly influenced by.

Q: Is there any reason why Chihiro's hair tie sparkled brightly at the end?

A: That hair accessory is the only proof that Chihiro worked at the bathhouse. I think it can be said that it is a (choice by) stage direction to give that impression (of the sparkling).

Italics is my inference, but I'm not 100% sure.

Q: How many days did it take for Chihiro to get lost in the mysterious city, work in the bathhouse, and exit the tunnel?

A: Mr. Suzuki advocates the three-day theory. When her father and mother get into the car as if nothing had happened, the inside of the car is covered with dust, so the passage of time may be different here from the tunnel.

Q: Why is going into the tunnel different on the way back?

A: When I asked Noboru Yoshida, an art staff member, he answered, "It depends on the passage of time." Does that means that the "three-day theory" collapses...?

Q: Did Chihiro and Haku meet after that?

A: Haku was the spirit of the river that flows near the house where Chihiro used to live. If Chihiro ever visits the river...

[foma2000info]

The story of Jimmy Cage according to the Inmortal Kombat Wiki

Well, as I said in the last post, it's time to share more information about this buffoon. This time it comes from the Inmortal Kombat Wiki, a spanish speaking MK wiki which somehow has the most detailed information about MK: FOMA I have been able to find.

Despite its lack of real sources (it claims everything is in an old Threshold Entertainment website which I haven't been able to find), I can confirm that bits of info from it are 100% real and can be obtained using Wayback Machine in the official MK website. Since this proves whoever wrote these wiki pages had at least access to an amount of information I do not, I am going to try to translate the pages of the new characters of the show for anyone who could find it curious, even if I cannot really guarantee all the bits of information are real.

First we have the story of everyone's favourite character: Jimmy Cage (click to access the translated page in question). From now on, everything written in this way is my direct translation of that the wiki says, and everything written in this way are my personal comments:

Jimmy Cage is a character who only appeared in Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts, being defeated by Kitana. The fight between them is a reference (or parody) of the fight between Johnny Cage and Goro in Mortal Kombat (1995). The name of the actor who plays him is unknown.

Author’s Note 1: Despite saying this, the wiki page then shares a link to this website, which says Jimmy was played by John Melden, actor of Ermac in MK: Annihilation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

At first sight the character could confuse, since he was identified by an image of Johnny from the first movie, with the code “JIMY” at its right side. However, according to the known written story of the series, it is mentioned that Jimmy Cage is Johnny Cage’s little brother and a loyal member of the Black Dragon. The family bond isn’t mentioned in the Mortal Kombat 1 prequel comic, so it is assumed this familiar connection only exists in the Threshold Entertainment Continuity.

Author’s Note 2: First things which prove this wiki have information only accessible through Wayback Machine, the start of this paragraph describes Jimmy’s bio, which can only be found in the Mortal Kombat official webpage from the early 2000s. The part of Jimmy being a Black Dragon is also true, according to some old forums about FOMA I found. All sources for this can be found in my previous post about Jimmy.

According to the written story, Jimmy simply appeared, showing an unexpected resemblance with the late Johnny Cage. He doesn’t do anything relevant until Ruby’s murder, and then theories were created about him being the unknown ninja who murdered, with him being the main suspect. Later on, Jimmy demands a fight against Reptile whose result is unknown. Raiden tried to get him back to Earthrealm’s side with Nightwolf’s help, but the latter was received with hits by Jimmy and eventually attacked by other Black Dragon members. Aware of this, Sonya and Jax chased and captured Jimmy.

Author’s note 3: The part of there being theories about Jimmy being the murder of Ruby (something that happened in the series) and Raiden going to meet with him are true, since I found this in the FOMA forum:

After Jimmy was arrested, he spent more than 60 hours without eating, drinking or sleeping. Sonya and Jax interrogated him without success to obtain information about Ruby’s murder. However, what they obtain are some clues that finally reveal that Kano is still alive. They manage to confirm Jimmy’s information is correct and the Special Forces go after Kano.

The mission sends them to Hong Kong, where Sonya is captured by the Black Dragon. However, this situation and Sonya’s influence end up making Jimmy change his loyalty and help to save her life. The last thing that was mentioned is that Sonya and Jimmy remained in a hospital to treat their injuries.

Author’s note 4: Some of the FOMA extra online content (unreadable today, at least for me) seems to make some reference to the events of this curious story in which SF torturing prisoners is apparently legal:

There is also an extra bit of info in the Inmortal Kombat wiki which I will add before finishing this post. According to this, some complete Jimmy bio in that supposed old Threshold website (no link to it offered) said:

"Jimmy, a mystery for the Federation, who renounced to his friends and his loyalty to Earthrealm, swears he'll do what his brother couldn't in the last tournament. It has been reported that he is now an active member of the Black Dragon Organization."

[penguinkyun]

chapter 154 review (and 153 and 152)

due to the nature of these chapters this review will contain references to canonical csa, abuse and suicidal ideation along with references to canon one sided incest. if this affects any of you please click off and I'll see you next time! your mental health matters

before i say absolutely anything else: hoshino ai get behind me

while i did want to make a review for each chapter individually but since i couldn't, I decided to combine 152, 153 and 154 in this one because they're all a continuation of the same scene anyway. this will be primarily 154 though since the other two supplement it.

anyways. aughaughauhasufghauighasugh- *continued noises of agony* i want to eat this chapter. holy shit.

i had so many questions answered with this chapter (and like. got several more LMAO) and this was so so good to read

i have to comment on hikaru's characterisation because he's so utterly resigned to being unloved like all the light left his life the moment ai did. its sort of a mirror to how ai considers herself entirely unlovable too and it just hammers in the fact that they really some part of the understanding and acceptance both of them were seeking but unfortunately the factors weren't in the cards for them.

what does this chapter breakup do to the already established timeline of the uehara-himekawa suicide taking place in the year of dome preparations and 153-154 seemingly confirming that said murder-suicide takes place wayy before the twins are even born? i am not looking at it. i do not see it. i am absolutely not thinking of what this changes about aqua's no hoshigan arc. nope. not seeing it. timeline doesnt exist to me.

sorry to hikaru, but ai immediately going “teehee! no ^V^ <3” at his marriage proposal was incredibly funny. girl there are so many things wrong with you (affectionate)

anyways when i was reading this i was actually struck by how i could just. tell ai was lying during this whole breakup. its really remniscent of her fight with nino, because ai's defense mechanism is to fawn and find the right thing to say to fix the situation to try and descalate it and she does not like confrontation. and here its like...shes trying to break it off as clean as possible, throwing out every reason because she doesn't want to but she knows she has to both because she is utterly right that the type of relationship they have is not healthy for hikaru and that adding marriage + kids to that would be incredibly difficult and would just be Bad for the both of them.

it was just so bad in the delivery ai please oh my god. its actually a little bit funny if you ignore the. the breakdowns.

and its. just really really sad that both hikaru and ai blame themselves and hate themselves for things entirely out of their control, which hikaru thinking airis abuse of him was something he did and ai filled with so much regret even when she knew she was trying to make the best decision for the both of them.

anyways. also ignoring how the movie arc kinda fails in delivering the set up that wouldve made this chapter hit much harder than it already does. moving on!

i just really really enjoy how this hammers in the fact that ai really was just. an ordinary girl. she was a lonely girl trying her hardest to be able to love and give the best possible lives to the people she cares about and even her dvd is still just trying to do that. to give herself accountability in the future so that she can't back out of it by giving the DVDs to gotanda that maybe, she along with her kids can try for a family again. it is just so ai in a way that is utterly heartbreaking to read.

also uh. kamiki's assertion he did infact give ai's address to ryousuke would be a kinda a confirmation he wasn't entirely responsible if not for the huge sixteen year old corpse of amamiya goro in the room. wonder why the two of them were there at the hospital that night. wonder how hikaru got said hospital address when ai broke it off because she considered herself the burden rather than hikaru and thus wouldnt have given the hospital address to hikaru. wonder about all of that. also wonder about miss fuyuko niinos role in all of this. so many questions really.

(also justice for katayose yura. is she STILL in those mountains.)

as for this being aqua’s revenge plan, its exactly what i expected actually! we've been told over and over that aqua would not be able to kill kamiki, not without extreme damage to himself both mentally and probably physical if he went through with his suicidal plan. this revenge is as gentle as it is cruel. it thoroughly breaks apart hikaru's world — striking directly at his heart past every single denial he has offered himself for 15 years to slam him with the plain truth: ai loved him and he killed her. And he now has to sit with that regret of time lost for the rest of his life. but it's also so gentle as it offers everyone a release from the chokehold ai’s death has had on them. it offers everyone a chance to let go of those regrets and move on with their lives in freedom. even for hikaru, he is finally given the full truth and learned that he was infact loved

but as much as i like this revenge it feels…i don't know how to say it but its sort of a disservice to the struggles aqua has faced till now because this revenge is the conclusion without the necessary setup. ever since c.10, aqua has expressed intense suicidal ideation and has been incredibly depressed and that ideation got horrifically worse during the movie arc.

there has been no resolution to this intense downslide of his mental health with basically just ruby’s “You're my oshi and I depend on you”, Kana asking him not to die (framed comedically) and Akane trying to use kana and aquas crushes to fix him. none of this is a refutation of the core issue of his suicidal ideation: that he feels such immense guilt at having failed ai, to the point he believed he had to commit murder and die, for him to atone completely. none of that refutes his belief that he is worth less than everyone around him. So him reaching this revenge without any of the emotional healing required feels a bit jarring and there's no catharsis. after over 140 chapters of aqua feeling heavily suicidal to see him looking forward to his future is nice, but i'd have liked to see his healing yknow? to have him say point blank he wants to live

SHOUTOUT TO MENGO FOR DELIVERING IN FANTASTIC ART YET AGAIN....! HAPPY HOSHINO FAMILY PANEL MENGO ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME. AUGH. AUAHG I AM IN PAIN. AUGH. That page of Hikaru absolutely breaking down at the news Ai really, truly loved him, with no lie and just the desperation with which he presses his hand, his entire self as if he could just reach across the screen and hold Ai’s hand again. laughs in agony

although theres been a recent trend of ai's importance being downplayed to roid up grsr and this chapter feels sort of...the opposite? like the twins importance to ai was being downplayed in favour of intensifying the hkai relationship (but since this dvd is aimed at asking her kids if they want to be a family with hikaru 15 years in the future i guess...?)

oh hello ruby there you are i thought you had no idea about the revenge plan. her presence is interesting because im tentatively hoping we'll finally get a resolution to the AquaRuby debacle due to the way theyre paralleled to hkai. fingers crossed.

anyways ending on aqua literally sobbing as he delivers the final sentence to hikaru - that his understanding of ai was fundamentally wrong and because of his desire to have her for himself he lost both her and any possible chance he had of a happy ending.

fuck. break next week welcome to our favourite biweekly manga

[darydark]

I got possessed by spirit of drawing and did more of my RGG x TES crossover. I should make a tag for it. Again, some lore under the cut, now about Majima (Goro), Taiga and Makoto

This one is more lore heavy than the Kazuma and his siblings. I'm afraid all of this would seem like the actual RGG characters' backstories but with TES skin on it, but hey, I like their actual story and yeah maybe I lack originality so what, it's my crossover, I can keep any part of RGG cannon I want. Also I'm keeping the Taiga stuff more vague as I'm still playing Y4, where Taiga makes his first appearance and I'm not on his part of game yet, so I can still change stuff

Goro is an Ashlander from a small tribe that was wiped out by mainland dunmer. He was spared because the killers wanted to take him as a slave (Goro was a child when that happened). But then he was rescued (accidentally) by a strong and powerful orc. Goro wanted to follow that orc, but the orc just shoo'd him away, for now. Then Goro met Khajiit siblings, Taiga and Yasuko (who themselves were escaping being trafficked), and ever since travelled with them.

The boys were offering themselves as mercenaries in their teen years and did a lot of dirty jobs, until they met that same orc, who then accepted the boys into his outlaw group called The Dogs of Shimano. The orc is Shimano himself, of course.

While things were going alright for three of them, the boys wanted more and did stuff behind Shimano's back for additional cash. They had a plan to have enough money to live a normal life without crime. But, when they were ordered to do a hit on a group of people, it turned out it was a wrong move to make. Both of them were punished, Goro had his eye gouged out but Taiga was sent to Deadlands. The mage that sent him away mocked that only he knew where Taiga is at all time

Goro made a plea and was spared but basically became a slave to one of Shimano's friends (yes, Sagawa). If he ever wanted to save Taiga, unfortunately he had to endure everything and ask nicely later. So, Goro's master turned out to be a vampire. Goro had to put on a show, entertain other vampires and sometimes be fed on by his master. One day he was given a mission...

Makoto is half bosmer half dunmer (her mother is bosmer). Her parents were vampires and after having two children, the mother wanted to cure the whole family and live a normal life. The father disagreed. Anyway, the mother took the kids with her. Eventually she managed to cure herself and Makoto but the eldest child ran away, still a vampire. Even though Makoto is mortal, her blood is still powerful and would be beneficial for any vampire to drink. Makoto moved to Morrowind when she grew up. One day she was kidnapped. He took her to place with other people, where all of them were going to be sold. She was forced to drink something and then, after all the stress and the poison, she became blind.

She was rescued and lived relatively normally, until suddenly she became a target for vampires.

Goro was tasked to bring her to his master, so he would feast on her blood, but Goro just couldn't do it. They ran away with a whole big story to tell in which both Goro and Makoto ended up relatively fine. Goro was no longer a slave but returned working for Shimano (also Shimano confirmed that Taiga is still alive somewhere in Deadlands). Makoto was no longer chased by horde of vampires and regained her sight back, also got in touch with her brother again. Unfortunately, Goro and Makoto had to be apart and never meet each other (it relates to the plot I have in mind, which deviates a little bit from canon reason why these two can't see each other)

[fereldanwench]

👀 please share your thoughts on the emp threads and especially goro’s vanity I’d love to know more

Happy to oblige!!!

So for those who don't know, EMP threading in the Cyberpunk world is a type of cyberware that appeared towards the end of the Red Decades/Time of the Red, likely in the late 2040s. It was believed at the time that it could protect its wearer against electromagnetic interference from more intense cybernetics (like weapon augmentations and the like) and radiation. However, that was never scientifically confirmed, and in my opinion, it was probably some sci-fi woo-woo marketing bullshit.

It's cataloged as fashionware in the TTPRG, which means that it doesn't really increase the risk for cyberpsychosis and other negative side effects the way the real shit does. It's basically just about aesthetics and typically has little functional purpose.

I believe it was Goro's writer, Philip Weber, who confirmed on one Pawel's Twitch streams in fall 2021 that the markings on Goro's face are EMP threads and not "proper" cyberware. (I don't feel like tracking down the link right this second, but when I have a little more time I can verify and/or amend the exact source in the comments. I do know that Goro definitely has EMP threading.)

Goro's exact age has never been confirmed--We've just been told he's at least 45 years old in 2077, although I personally always felt like that was too young. My initial guess was early to mid-60s, and then I bumped my headcanon down to 55ish to find a happy medium between the two. Regardless, he's likely somewhere between his late teens to late 20s when EMP threading is gaining popularity, and I feel like this sort of new trendy cyberware probably has much greater appeal to young adults who are really finding their personal style and identity and whatnot.

So I've always had two different but not necessarily conflicting thoughts about Goro's EMP threading:

He got them for practical purposes, thinking they would enhance his abilities and make him an even better little super soldier for Arasaka-sama. Or maybe Arasaka even made their soldiers get them at one point, buying into the idea that they did have a functional purpose.

He got them because he just wanted to look cool. 😎 And I mean, he does still have them, even after presumably something traumatic damaged a part of the threading (that scar, to me, looks like it happened after the threading was implanted given how perfectly it lines up against the remaining thread), so I think there's some conscious fashion/style decision here. I don't see them as being something he'd have a hard time getting removed if he really wanted to.

And like I said: these don't even necessarily have to conflict. Maybe he got them on his own because he thought they'd be functional AND looked cool. 😎

As for Goro's youthful vanity--I really don't have any hard evidence or anything to back up this headcanon, it's just kind of one of those Vibes™️ type things based on the very little he shares about his life before Arasaka.

He does mention that he and his peers always made it a point to wash before the Arasaka transports would roll through Chiba, and I could see him really leaning in hard to having impeccable hygiene, which could also extend to style, to try to distance himself from his streetkid beginnings. Between the bullying we see with David in the Arasaka academy in Edgerunners and real-life stories my husband has shared from his time in a military academy, I imagine Goro was probably surrounded by some real fuckin' assholes who would love to take him down for anything they possibly could, so it would be not just a matter of pride, but self-preservation.

Goro also mentioned that he lacked discipline before Arasaka, and I think he was probably a fuckin' handful when he was younger. I just really love the idea of him being a vain, arrogant pain in the ass in his teens and early 20s and having a major humbling moment in the field, like losing fellow soldiers due to his over-confidence. (Side note: his time as a soldier is probably the era of his life I want to know the most about--He has that line about Saburo understanding what it was like, and I feel like if Goro can identify with someone who served in WWII that he's probably seen some shit.)

So yeah! There's probably other shit I left out, but this is basically the gist of my Goro's EMP Threading as a Symbol of Vanity thesis, lmao

[skania]

hi! same anon asking about the bridge- the first one you mentioned. when aqua first broached the subject of breaking up but they didn’t reach a conclusion to that conversation

Hi anon, thanks for the reply!

hi! I really love your analyses on aquakane stuff, so ive been wondering- what do you think about the bridge scene? (past the stuff with aquas guilt- you know, because people elect to ignore it) a lot of fans point towards it to being why aqua and akane don’t work together/aren’t interested, but something feels off to me. wdyt?

I kind of have a lot of thoughts, so this will probably be a bit messy!

Things that stood out to me about this scene, in no particular order:

It confirms that Akane saw through Aqua and knew he wanted to use her for something. This is important because it shows that despite what Aqua may think, Akane didn't stay by his side because he "bind" her to him, but because she chose to. Even more important is the fact that what motivated Akane's choice is that she saw through him and into the kind person he actually is.

Right here Akane is telling him: I see you. I know that you can be manipulative and sly, but I also know that above all—you're kind. This is huge for someone like Aqua, who thinks so little of himself and who blows his own flaws out of proportion.

It's also kind of funny in a sad way, because by this point in the conversation, Aqua was expecting Akane to agree to break up with him. After all, he tried to convince her (and himself) that their relationship wasn't real, and Akane proceeded to list all the ways he was right. You can see in that bottom-right panel above that Aqua is closing himself off, expecting Akane to walk out of his life for good.

And then Akane turns the tables on him because to Aqua's surprise, she wants their relationship to be real. She knows the kind of person that he is, and she still wants to stay by his side.

The funniest thing about this scene though is that Akane, sweet, inexperienced summer child that she is, thinks that they can become a real couple if they're intimate with each other 😭

She knows that normal couples kiss and have sex, so she assumes that's where the problem lies. For her, Aqua wanting to "use" her is a non-issue because she's known and consented to it all along. This is why she looks so confused when Aqua says that he has been deceiving her:

Because as far as she's concerned, she's known Aqua's intentions from the get-go 😂 Little does she know that she isn't talking to your typical hormonal teenage boy, but to one who has the mind of an adult.

That said, I do think that the way Akane is fine being intimate with Aqua despite thinking that Aqua doesn't like her that way is an issue. Once again, this reflects what I mentioned before: Akane doesn't know her own worth! But again, this isn't a problem born out of Aqua and Akane as a dynamic, but an issue that Akane herself has.

Moving on, I think this is the first scene that shows that there's a difference in the amount of (romantic) experience that Akane and Aqua have. Usually, when Aqua and Akane have scenes, they're pretty much equals. You wouldn't say that one is mentally behind the other. In this case though, you can definitely see that Akane has an innocence to her that Aqua has already lost during his life as Goro, but that's to be expected. What's really important here though is that despite this difference, Aqua isn't any closer to understanding romantic love.

So in that regard, he and Akane are actually closer than one may expect.

Moving on, I think Aqua's and Akane's conversation there does give Aka an outing if he decides to go for platonic AquaKane. Ironically, this outing isn't there because of Aqua; at the contrary, Aqua's behavior there would help set up a romantic AquaKane ending.

First, we're shown that Aqua does want to keep Akane in his life, he just talks himself out of it because of his guilt complex.

We're even shown Aqua trying to convince himself (and Akane) that their relationship isn't real.

Now, this could all be perfectly platonic in nature, but we later have Aqua admitting that he has thought of being intimate with Akane.

So, Aqua wasn't trying to break up with Akane because of the way he felt for her, but because of his guilt and for Akane's sake.

Aqua thinks Akane doesn't have romantic feelings for him, and Akane herself doesn't seem to know if she does because he is her first boyfriend.

Of course, we know that Aqua and Akane find their answer during the trip and that they decide to date for real, which suggests that their feelings for each other are indeed romantic. However, nothing is stopping Aka from revisiting that and going: Actually, they thought they were/could be romantic, but they'd be perfectly fine being friends too. Specially because Akane wanting to save Aqua doesn't hinge on Akane being in love with him, and same goes for Aqua wanting to protect Akane.

The thing is, though: that doesn't mean that Aqua and Akane don't work well together. I feel that some people try to deny any romantic involvement between them not only to shoot them down as a ship, but to shoot their dynamic down all together. But that's a moot point because the series has made it very clear that Aqua and Akane love each other. Whether their feelings for each other are romantic or platonic is besides the point: there is love between them and it's sincere, and it won't be any less important if it turns out to be platonic in nature.

Case in point, the bridge scene is great because it shows their care for each other. Aqua tried to let Akane go for her own good, meanwhile Akane wants to stay by his side not only because of the way she may or may not feel for him, but because she sincerely wants to help him. She doesn't want Aqua to carry his burdens alone anymore.

Aqua appreciates this, and he opens up to her. She is the first person he shares his troubles with, and Akane lends him a listening ear and acknowledges how hard it must have been on Aqua. Aqua dealt with it on his own from the get-go and we never saw him complain, but it must have been hard on him and it's great to have someone acknowledge that even if he won't acknowledge it himself.

Everything he can tell Akane, he shares. From his findings, to his feelings.

And I think the panels above are the most important ones, because this is the moment when Akane starts to realize that Aqua has been lying to himself all along. He doesn't want to have revenge, he wants to be free. And in true Aqua fashion, now he is blinding himself to the very obvious loophole because he is that desperate to be free.

Akane gets this and she acts accordingly. Unlike Ichigo, who royally messes up by completely overlooking the fact that Aqua was desperately clinging to that loophole to break free.

Ichigo realizes it too late and he breaks Aqua. Akane wants to keep Aqua from breaking, so she plays along knowing that being free is what Aqua truly wants.

I'm stopping myself here because it feels like I've been rambling forever and I don't even know if this was half-way coherent or if it addressed what you wanted me to talk about anon, sorry about that! lol

[pinkyjulien]

Okay now I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon of the prev ask about Valentin's and Mitch's first meeting 👀 how does his story continue with Takemura (if at all?) Does he track Valentin down, and how, or is what follows immediately after being saved and stable again also diverging from canon? (I just love the image of Goro showing up all dusty and exasperated at the nomad's camp like "There you are!! Fucking finally!" XD)

AAAAAHHH FHF Eating you UwU

They DO meet up properly eventually! 👀 (more old screenshots being used to illustrate here hfhf)

After getting his bullet extracted, Val stayed a couple of days at camp; he couldnt really do much in his state, plus the caldos wouldnt just simply let him go like that

Mitch and Scorp were keepin an eye on him, they were responsible of him after all; if Val turned out to be a danger to the clan, they would've finished the job, succeeding where Dex failed

Val eventually woke up, and he was asked a couple of basic, straight forward question by Mitch; his name, where he's from, and what happened. Val didnt lie, but he also didnt mention the whole -arasaka- thing. He might be a gonk, but he's not dumb; saying that his failed gig was an heist on Arasaka, when every radios and tv stations been blasting about Saburo's death for the path days wouldnt be a smart move fhksjgj

It was all over the news- and Dex probably left Night City too (< at that time he wasnt aware Takemura killed him yet. Dex took Goro to the dump, only to find it completly empty. He got popped before he could swear he left him here hfjd)

Infos and Rumors goes around extremely fast in NC, especially between fixers, so Dexter departure/disappearance and Saburos death wasnt a coincidence at all; so was Jackie's and Valentin's potential death. (Jackie being confirmed dead cause he sent his body to his fam, but people had no idea where Val was)

He had to get back to NC, to Viktor, Misty- his friends, the only people he had left over there

That night at camp, Valentin experienced the Johnny Night TM; of course, he freaked out, screaming and talking "to himself" - Ripper wasnt far, knew the screams where coming from the nursery and quickly gave injected him some tranquilizer

In the morning, not sure whatever happened was a dream or not, he asked Mitch and Scorp (not friends yet, but the only guys he knew around) if someone could drive him back to NC- Dakota was still around and since she had to go back to her Garage soon, he could tag along and she'd get one of her guy to drive him to Vik's

During the drive, he explained to Dakota what happened, from the heist, the relic, Jackie- ans the weird dreams he's been getting (she's like a mother figure to him, a trusted friend)

She didnt liked any of that and pressed him to get checked properly asap, hoping this might be a virus that can get easily wiped out

Once at Vik, everyone was happy and relieved to see him alive "and well", but it quickly changed when Viktor took a closer look, obviously

He also mentioned that a guy, kinda sus looking, came in looking for him the day before. Said he could help him if he ever show up. (Takemura is a resourceful guy, I'm pretty sure he could pin down V's main ripperdoc to ask questions- and Viktor, knowing that Jackie did die, would trust Takemura's story and information since it correlate with what Vik knows)

So they make contact and eventually meet up at Tom's Diner like the canon timeline 👁👄👁

Despite all the years its still a ROUGH MAP AND TIMELINE FHJSJF that I really need to properly put down 💀💀 BUT YEAH FHDJ

Thank you friendo for the ask!! 🤗🧡🧡

[nero-vanderwolf]

“Fuuka! Good to see you again!”

Aki steps aside, a familiar face walking through the door.

Fuuka walks in, bearing gifts and a smile. “Hello, Akihiko. Hello Shinjiro! Where’s Ken?”

Shinji relieves her of her burden- seriously, that girl works way too hard to begin with-, setting the (meticulously wrapped) presents on the table. “Upstairs with Goro, I think. Give me a sec, I’ll call ‘em down.”

Before he can, however, Ken comes bounding downstairs, Goro close behind. “Fuuka! Fuuka, you’re here!”

Ken wraps his tiny arms around Fuuka’s waist, Goro lingering by Shinji’s side. Fuuka smiles and hugs him, ruffling his hair.

“Hello, Ken. I missed you! Is that your brother?” Ken steps away, nodding and grabbing Goro’s hand.

“Mhm! This is Goro! Goro, this is Fuuka. She was part of SEES with us.”

Goro raises a hand timidly, shrinking into himself. Fuuka gives a little half-bow, still smiling. “It’s lovely to meet you, Goro-kun,” she said. Goro wrinkles his nose.

“You don’t have to call me that....” He mumbles, and Fuuka turns a faint shade of pink.

“I’m sorry. An old habit, I’m afraid. Oh! By the way, Yukari and Mitsuru should be here soon. I saw them in the northern shopping district on my way here.”

Aki grins, giving a little nod. “I’m surprised Mitsu could make it, with how busy she seems to be lately. I hope Yuka is reminding her to take breaks.”

Shinji rolls his eyes, nudging Aki in the side. “Sounds familiar. Wonder why.”

Aki doesn’t rise to the bait- gives him a sidelong glance that Shinji knows far too well to mean ‘later’- and instead brings Fuuka into a hug of his own.

“How have you been holding up, by the way? It’s been a little while since we’ve talked,” he asks, resting his forehead on hers. A love language that’s entirely Aki’- forehead touches.

Fuuka smiles, and parts. Aki lets her. “I’ve been well. I made a friend with my neighbor! She has a son. His name is Ryuji- he’s right around Goro’s age, I think. He reminds me of you, Akihiko.”

Aki laughs, and his hand finds Shinji’s. They entwine their fingers, as they offen do nowadays. A constant reminder to each other. A promise.

There’s a knock on the door, and Yukari and Mitsuru walk in- also bearing gifts. Shinji can’t help but wonder if Junpei and the twins are going to bring gifts, too. It isn’t even Christmas.

“Hey, everyone!” Yukari says, ever cheerful and ever lacking in sophistication. Shinji finds it a bit endearing, though. “Hello, Yukari-chan!” Fuuka says brightly, her and Shinji both helping their friends with their burdens.

“Hello everyone,” says Mitsuru, calmer- though she’s definitely still excited. The smile on her face says it all to Shinji and Aki, who have known her since they were children.

“Mitsuru! Yukari! Hi!” Ken is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement as he greets the old members of SEES. Shinji has to smile. It’s been a while since he saw the kid this ecstatic.

“...Hello,” Goro murmurs, clinging to Aki’s shirt. Aki places a hand on his shoulder, squeezing once, twice, three times. I love you.

“Is this Goro?” Mitsuru asks, looking at him. Goro shrinks further under her gaze. “It is,” Shinji confirms, and sees Goro straighten up a bit, a look of determination on his face.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Goro,” she says, nodding her head. Goro mirrors her.

“...You as well, Mitsuru-san,” he replies, his voice tight. Ken rolls his eyes and hugs Goro close.

“You sound like me when I was in elementary school! Hey, Dad, can we open one of our presents? Please?”

Shinji pauses. Would it help calm Goro down?

“Yeah, why not? Throw the paper away when you’re done, though.”

Goro immediately seizes a box from the table labelled with his name, plopping down and working at it, trying to do as little damage to the wrapping as possible. Shinji recognizes the handwriting as Mitsu’s, and wonders what the hell she could possibly have gotten the kids.

Before he can wonder too much, though, there’s more knocking on the door- accompanied by a flurry of barking and laughing.

Yukari opens the door, and there’s more laughing as she and Kotone rush in, Makoto and Junpei coming in a moment after, Koromaru trotting in the back.

Ken immediately hugs everyone, and hands Koromaru a dog biscuit from a jar in the kitchen. Koro barks his appreciation, and Junpei laughs.

“What, he gets a gift but we don’t?” He jokes, bringing Ken into another hug. Ken laughs, squirming away when Junpei starts noogying him.

“Hey, guys. Glad you could make it,” Aki says, and Kotone nods, taking her brother’s hand.

“Of course! We wouldn’t miss a reunion for the world! Would we?”

Makoto squeezes his sister’s hand. “We’re not technically supposed to be here. We’re supposed to be at home resting, but... What the Takamakis don’t know won’t hurt them.”

Kotone rolls her eyes. “You make it sound like we lied to them!”

Makoto gives her a look that Ken once dubbed the Sibling Glance. “We did.”

Kotone just smiles, engages in conversation with Aki and Fuuka. Makoto meets Goro’s gaze, and Shinji knows enough about the two of them to sense mutual understanding. Makoto nods once, and Goro sits up a bit straighter. Shinji pretends not to notice.

Dinner and gifts pass by without a hitch. Movies are playing, and everyone is either squashed together on the couch, or piled on top of each other on the floor on the Nest.

The Nest is a mass of blankets and pillows from throughout the house that Shinji and Fuuka constructed together, and he thinks it might just be the comfiest damn thing he’s ever laid in.

Maybe it’s because he built it with a friend. Maybe it’s because he’s laying in it with friends.

Maybe it’s because no matter what, he’s alive and happy and loved.

And Shinji thinks this might just be one of the best damn nights he’s ever spent with his family- his entire family- in his life.

THEY'RE A BIG HAPPY FAMILY AND THEY'RE HAVING FUN!!! RYUJI AND ANN MENTIONED!!! AND MAKOTO AND KOTONE TWINS!!!!! akechi being timid around the others... im in love with timid akechi as a kid. i just imagine he's a completely different person as a kid than he is now. they're all just happy and living in peace as they deserve. dont get me wrong i love a good character death but its also nice to see that character live and be happy :)

[breezypunk]

Get to know me

Got tagged by @kdval, thank you!

Last Song: ozeanblau - ambyion (my special song ☼)

Favorite color: green!

Currently watching: house md (I am currently on season 5 now)

Last Movie/TV Show: house md, haha.

Spicy/Savory/Sweet: all three, but if I had to choose just one than it'd be spicy, and this is coming from someone who can hardly handle spice, but damn I love it so much. spicy ramen beloved.

Relationship Status: single bean, loving it.

Current Obsession: still cyberpunk 2077, that'll likely never fade, as it shouldn't. but also good omens, and right now house md since I'm binge watching it. my 4th or 5th time binging it, it's just so good.

Last Google Search: looking up the mission gimme danger so I could confirm some of the lines goro said during the mission, I should know these things by heart -.- but just to be sure xD

gonna tag @wraithsoutlaws @drunkchasind @ugh-my-back @wanderingaldecaldo @zyana-wyvern & @kharonion ♥︎