#hes even more reigen than the original reigen wtf

[cerealandchoccymilk]

found a german dub reigen clip compilation and holy shit. just. just watch it theres subtitles

[teruthecreator]

As someone who started reading Side Quest based on the fanart I saw and was blissfully ignorant to most of the problems you pointed out, I just wanted to thank you for your post. The thing that stuck out to me while reading that fic was the entire Toichiro rewriting. Every interaction he had made me so angry while reading and looking back I think a big part of that has to do with how out of character he's been. I had been partway through chapter 11 when I stumbled upon your post and decided to finish it through that new perspective. Tbh, I don't even think I would have needed it to ask myself wtf was going on because once it hit Reigen encountering Toichiro in the tower Toichiro instantly starts calling Reigen a slut. This chapter was already kinda slow compared to the rest because it was just a retelling of what happens in the episodes, and what was interesting about this fic when I first read it was the new scenes that were added, but simply adding unnecessary comments to a known scene and focusing on how Reigen doesn't have sex and doesn't know where he got these accusations from was very off-putting.

As for everything else, aside from not having dealt with anything like that and not immediately noticing how things were worded, I want to say I likely chalked it up to plot. I think I read a lot of things passively just to see what people write about without thinking too much about how they're writing about it. And maybe that's a flaw on my end, just being bored and randomly throwing a dart on a dartboard to consume more media regardless of what it is (mostly, I do have limits).

But I do agree that the author should be more ridged with her tags. I've written fics before and I always try to include every little things I can think of in the tags, even if that might get me less views or "spoil the story" because I'd rather everyone know what they're getting into instead of them getting surprised by it. When I first started reading I was surprised to see that it was labeled "explicit" even though none of the tags clued me into why it was written like that, unless the grooming was more intense than what my baseline thoughts on grooming are, but if said grooming does lead to anything more then it should be tagged as such.

Another thing that has been bothering me about this has been the fact that since chapter 9, the author has mentioned that "there is a fairly explicit scene, marked by <3... it's not just porn... etc." I can somewhat understand not fully tagging an unfinished work, since in my experience I didn't think I'd post a second part to one or I started posting without having the entire story fully fleshed out so things take a different direction than what I originally expected, but I always go back and make sure the tags are fully updated every time I post. The fact that this was mentioned and then nothing in the tags were updated was kind of strange. I skimmed through chapter 12 since it was posted yesterday to see if this scene was finally going to be put it, and low and behold I did see the <3. There's something about continuously reminding people to watch out for the explicit sign each chapter and then it not appearing until 4 chapters later. What's the point of unnecessarily making your reader expect this to show up after every paragraph they read only for it to be 40k or however many words away. Personally, I'd understand warning of this the chapter before it happens and the chapter of (or, you know, in the tags as well), but that far away feels like you're trying to string the readers who want to get to that scene along and just scaring those who are ready to skip it. I haven't read it so I can't say what the scene is about and how fair this warning is, but again being surprised about the fact that this fic has an explicit scene somewhere is something readers shouldn't have to deal with if tagged properly.

This turned out to be a way bigger reply than I originally intended, but if you'd like a few more screenshots to add to your collection here's all of the out of pocket Toichiro replies:

first off, you rlly don't need to thank me for that post, but i appreciate it anyway :-) its something thats been on my mind for a while, and with its rapid popularity i was simply confused how people weren't seeing what i was seeing. i do wanna say that nobody should feel bad/guilty for reading this or liking it without seeing the content i mentioned. as i mentioned at the end of that post, people's personal experiences will inform how they consume media and what blindspots they may have, and i'm certainly not here to judge anyone for that. i Am happy to hear that someone who had been reading the fic was able to hear my criticism and consume the fic in a new light, so thank You for sending this ask!

you brought up a topic that i wanted to touch on but didn't rlly have room on the other post, but yeah toichiro's characterization throughout this fic is strange and Extremely ooc. it feels like she was purposely building him up to be the worst character in the story--a true villain, as it were. which is funny bc mob psycho doesn't even have true villains bc the show is about second chances and connections and trying again. but with the racism, plus the eugenics/creepy remarks, plus the overtly sexual manipulation and grooming, she turned toichiro into a kind of cartoon caricature of a villain. which was wholly unnecessary and, in fact, creepy! and not funny! and strange!

but the thing that annoyed me more than that was how she tried to walk it back. there are several moments where toichiro is calling out to his ex-wife in his sleep, asking for forgiveness and shit. which, for one, would not have happened at this point in the story. it is very explicitly shown through wd arc that toichiro's First moment of realization is when he's down in that basement area with mob, when he flashes back to his ex wife leaving and suddenly realizes what he missed. toichiro before this moment was not thinking mournfully about his wife. he wasn't thinking about his wife At All. he pushed the memory of his family out to make way for his plan, something that then becomes a key point to him accepting help from other people! so like. there's that. but Also having toichiro have these quiet moments of vulnerability feels like the author's way of rolling back her own characterization, which just makes the whole thing messy and hard to read. from the way she's written him, toichiro is NOT a character people should be empathizing with. he is a groomer and a racist and a creep and all of that together is like. a recipe for someone who needs to just be shoved off the face of the planet. but she works in these moments of "humanity" to try and bring toichiro back to where he's at in canon, likely so she can write out some kind of silent redemption (or hint at redemption) like how canon does. but in this case that redemption would feel gross because she turned his character into something so statically evil that it feels impossible to forgive.

and yeah, those quotes are absolutely ridiculous. like they border on comedy, but really they just sound awful coming out of his mouth. i know this phrase has been used a million times over but HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT!

also to talk on the topic of tags (which i do agree with you on), i do find it strange that she refused to put ANY tags on the fic with the proper warnings for explicit content, but seemingly had the time to make that reminder each and every chapter. because in reality she really only needed that warning on ONE chapter--the chapter that has the explicit scene! but i do agree that simply tagging it would save her readers the emotional labor of having to keep an eye out for a sex scene they might not be ready to deal with. especially with the content of some of these later chapters (the ones ive seen, anyway), having the looming threat of an explicit scene could make some readers uneasy!!! (im talking specifically abt the chapters where toichiro is making moves on serizawa in an effort to manipulate him. i understand the author did mention in an authors note that this wouldnt happen, but i'd also like to point out that she HID THIS PART OF THE AUTHORS NOTE. so you had to make the decision to "spoil" yourself just to see if someone was going to be sa'd or not. which i think is wrong; an author should always prioritize the safety and comfort of their readers above any potential "spoilers")

and to wrap up with one last thing, just a more general thought: i think there is a difference between content that includes dark topics in a thoughtful way and content that includes dark topics in an edgy way, and this fic definitely leans towards the latter. a lot of these outlandishly mature topics are treated like throwaway jokes or shock value items, which feels inappropriate when we are dealing with topics of such weight like racism, transphobia, child impregnation (again. What.), etc.. i am not trying to police people on what content they are or aren't allowed to talk about--i am saying that, if your story NEEDS to have this content in it (which i would argue that here it doesn't), then you need to treat it with the care it deserves to be treated with. if not for your own sake, then for the sake of your readers. at the end of the day, i just want people to be safe out there

thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, and thank you for being so respectful <3 have a wonderful day!

[galacticvampirisms]

So @hkasof‘s amazing art inspired the start of this fic. I’ve still not reached the actual thing I set out to write about because I’m extra af and wanted to sketch in some backstory. And also include this little bit because it’s v meaningful to me. 

I’m still gonna be writing a lot (but it’s all scattered. I literally laid down and instead of working on zine layouts spent an hour writing another 1500 words of this “ficlet” wtf). I don’t know. This art is inspiring. This pairing is inspiring. I’m drowning in inspiration and I can’t get up. 

Also since Haley missed the time I just quietly reblogged it, hopefully @’ng will make sure it reaches your notes. I bolded the first sentence of the new stuff so you can find your place! 

Matsuo wasn’t good with people. Even at Claw, he’d preferred to keep to himself. The other espers considered him odd because he liked being with his spirits more than people, but they didn’t get it.

While Sakurai wore his curse like a badge of honor, Matsuo preferred to keep his Tragic Backstory ™ under lock and key. After all, it wasn’t as though he would be very accepted if he did open up to the others. He was certain of this, even after a group of middle schoolers and their weird guardian destroyed the 7th Division headquarters.

Unfortunately, this meant Matsuo wasn’t really sure what to do with his life without Claw.

Retail? He dropped a vial containing a new pet and found himself fired for the amount of damage she had caused while he tried to coax her back into a better jar, much more cozy for her ballooning body. Not that the manager could see her of course. He just saw the destruction like a tornado after leaving Matsuo alone for twenty minutes.

Factory work? Much of the packaging was too monotonous or would strain his health after a couple weeks working odd, long shifts.

Finally, he chose to work as a regular psychic, specializing in exorcisms. It was hard. He had to be polite to customers, even when they abused or misgendered him or made fun of his style. And then he got the call, like nearly every other psychic in the region.

Asagiri mansion.

There had been so many people at the mansion, it was easy to hide from the loud and talkative Reigen and his strange student. Matsuo watched the rogue ghost wreck havoc of the legitimate and false espers alike, feeling a familiar warmth spread through his body. That ghost was powerful. He wanted it.

And… he got it. Mogami Keiji, a formerly powerful esper that had eaten so many evil spirits that even being exorcised hadn’t drained the spirit’s powers completely. Mogami was kept in a canister at first, the stickers imbued with Matsuo’s containing aura gradually layering on so thick it was impossible to see the original object.

Mogami’s negative energy kept corroding the layers, and sometimes Matsuo thought he could hear Mogami speak. Not like how the other spirits spoke to him, unintelligible to other people not so closely attuned to the dead.   See, ghosts degraded after awhile, metamorphizing into animalistic beasts – beasts that Matsuo could understand and befriend (or control, if they were especially unhelpful). But Mogami wasn’t a beast.

No, he was something else.

“Pudding-chan, won’t you play nice today?” Matsuo spoke to the poison jar softly, picking it up to carry with him as he prepared for the day. He didn’t like leaving his more dangerous spirits unattended, and the weight of the jar was a comfort, grounding him in the moment. The stickers looked less absurd next to the mess of magnets that he collected on his fridge. “We’ve a couple of clients today looking for…” The emails were all on his phone, and he checked it, positive mood immediately dropping. “Oh, fantastic. They’re wanting an escort for a spirit walk. How exciting.”

The jar didn’t move or make any sign that the spirit inside was listening. Still, Matsuo continued on, by now quite used to talking aloud to ease the silence when one of his pets wasn’t out. “You think it’d be easy after dealing with all the low-ranking members of Claw at the base. It’s not. At least they left me alone. These are, ugh, young adults. They’re going to want to talk to me. Have potentially meaningful conversation.” Ignoring the fact that Matsuo himself could be considered a young adult. Under thirty-five at the very least. He set about making breakfast, sucking the spoon he used to scoop jam onto toast as a self-soothing measure. “The pay is barely worth it.”

Rent, bills, things he wasn’t used to after living at the 7th Division base. But now he had an apartment, a small one, but big enough for his books and pets and himself. And Mogami, Pudding-chan, the pet that steadily corroded the stickers keeping him contained. “Are you hungry Pudding-chan? Maybe we’ll find something for you while we’re out.” Mogami was a picky eater after all, and harder still to keep contained when giving him an evil spirit to devour.

It was a quiet existence, lonely in some ways, but Matsuo was alive. Living more respectably, in his own little apartment looking out over Seasoning City and avoiding trouble. All of Claw knew eventually what would happen, figured they’d be bulldozed by their former boss, the one who had given them their scars to begin with. But Matsuo maybe foolishly hoped that he’d be left well enough alone. Just live his life with his spirits like a person might with their cats.

As if.

He saw the television takeover like most people did, but unlike the social media chatter that thought it a joke, Matsuo panicked. Immediately, he gathered his most powerful spirits, Mogami included, leaving his apartment for what might be the last time.

But Seasoning City had been shut down. No one in, no one out. It was Suzuki’s plan to force his hometown to witness its destruction.

Honestly, what happened to Matsuo before running into Mob and Minegishi isn’t terribly important to this story. He hid, he protected himself from Claw lackeys hunting down espers, questioning how they were suddenly so powerful, and he managed to keep a lid on Mogami’s jar to the very end. Until he didn’t.

And we know what happened there.

Matsuo ran from the destruction, following Mogami’s trail to the edge of the city, where they were both still trapped by Claw’s intense barrier. “Pudding-chan! What happened? Why didn’t you destroy Minegishi?” The spirit seemed focused on the barrier, ignoring the esper below. “Pudding-chan… Pudding-chan!” There was a brief pause before Matsuo changed tactics. “Mogami-san?”

“Mm?” Mogami looked down at Matsuo, frowning. Well, frowning more. It had been much longer than his death since he had smiled properly. “Oh, it’s you. You’re the one who trapped me in a jar.”

“Well,” Matsuo started slowly, only a little put off by the negativity Mogami exuded. “I also fed you. And kept you from disappearing.”

“And talked incessantly about anything that popped into your head.”

Matsuo was only slightly offended by that. “Well, you weren’t exactly a conversationalist.”

Mogami looked at Matsuo for a moment longer. “I was in a jar.” He turned back to the barrier.

“Okay… you have a point. What are you doing anyway?”

“Trying to get out. That boy seems to be learning. I don’t need to be here.” The spirit pushed against the barrier, getting repelled immediately with a fierce red aura Matsuo recognized immediately. He reached out, pulling Mogami back. “Hey!” Mogami turned to the esper in anger, but the genuine concern wiped whatever the spirit was about to say from his mind.

“Don’t do that; it’ll exorcise you before you can get through.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because you’re my friend Mogami-san.”

There was silence then, marked only by the sound of air moving, maybe a bird or the distant sound of a TV. There is no true silence in the world anymore, especially not in cities, even cities that were under threat of destruction. But between esper and ghost, former(?) evil spirit and former evil organizational leader, there was a moment of the truest silence to be found. Matsuo released Mogami from his hold, but the spirit didn’t move.

“You realize you say that so casually to someone who has done many evil things,” Mogami finally said, breaking their moment. “Not everything I think I care to regret.”

“I’ve done evil things too… and I don’t think I can regret all of them either.”

Mogami floated closer. “The boy seemed to know you.”

Matsuo let him approach, unafraid. “He definitely knew you.”

“He… taught me that perhaps the world isn’t so dark as I once thought.”

Matsuo nodded in agreement. “His master showed me how to grow up.”

“Grow up? You still eat sugared cereal.” There was a comfortableness in Mogami’s voice now, as he floated to be just taller than Matsuo, though his feet were well off the ground. Matsuo shifted, folding his arms across his chest and trying to stand taller.

“And just what’s so wrong with that? Adults eat sugar all the time.”

“It’s just… cute.” Matsuo blushed and looked away, back towards where they had left. “What are you going to do Matsuo?”

“I don’t know. If anyone can beat Suzuki, it’s that boy. He and his master could probably talk sense into a rock if they chose.”

“No, I mean. Afterwards. Will you keep being a psychic for hire?”

Matsuo made a face. “It’s the only thing I’m good at. But what about you? What are you going to do?”

“…I don’t know. I don’t regret many of the things I did, but it’s pointless to continue the way I was with people like him out there.” Mogami turned to the barrier again. “Maybe I should be exorcised. It’s what he and you were originally told to do by that rich idiot.”

Matsuo reached out, grabbing Mogami again, this time physically, a hand holding onto the spirit’s jacket. “Wait. Why not stay with me?”

“You don’t know the things I’ve done,” Mogami repeated. “There’s no telling how I’ll act.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done either,” Matsuo argued, holding tighter though Mogami hadn’t moved. “But just because we’ve got our burdens to carry doesn’t mean we have to do it alone.”

Mogami’s empty sockets stared into Matsuo’s own determined gaze, shifting subtly to take in his scar, his hair, his clothes. Then back to his face before Mogami let out a sigh, sinking closer to the esper’s level.  “This means the jar again?”

“No… no I think I trust you to stay out.”

“You just want to talk my ear off about your new sports rules.”

Matsuo laughed. “It would be nice if you talked back.” He started to walk, away from the barrier and the edge of the city, towards his, their apartment.

“I always talked back. Your jar just wouldn’t let you hear.” Mogami was following close beside Matsuo, equals in starting a new chapter in both their lives.