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pheebslu · 3 months ago

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Story #1

Guys, this is a Miguel O’Hara fanfic, my first ever work of fiction written ever (apart from all those English paper projects.) I wrote this when I was extra bored, and I kept it marinating on my notes app. English is NOT my first language, and I am NOT responsible for the second hand embarrassment I make y’all feel. Without further ado, hope you beautiful people enjoy.

11:59 PM Nueva York, April 2nd.

Party on a typical suburban mansion from a rich boy whom you barely even know of — he is the friend of one of your friends.

You had not planned to come. You didn’t even know of the event completely, your friend telling you about it just a few hours ago.

A few hours ago, when your boyfriend had just broken up with you — ex boyfriend, more so. It felt wrong to say such… yet, you kind of saw it coming. Him being the opposite of attentive, the contrary of emotionally intelligent. You wondered how you even allowed yourself to date this guy.

It was getting quite late, at least for what you were used to. You’d be better off at your dorm, finishing off any assignments due, taking advantage of time as best as you could. Yet here you were, partying — for what you understood of the term. It felt good to have a friend by your side, the day hadn’t gone exactly well.

“You okay, hun?” Your friend cut you off your daze.

“I’m alright, hun.” You blinked more than enough times, smiling up at them as they seemed to offer you a drink. You loved how affectionate with their words they were, repeating them yourself in a way of admiration.

They smiled back, a frown sliding across their face as soon as you seemed to cut eye contact.

“Look, I know what happened today. I know you might not feel your best— honestly, I don’t even know what I was doing by inviting you here but—“

“It’s alright.” Your voice remained calm in the midst of their anxiousness.

“I just thought distraction might be good…”

You sighed softly, a tiny smile decorating your lips.

“I’m fine, really. Parties might not be might thing, especially right now but— I get to be accompanied, and that I like.”

Your friend’s eyes seemed to shine, tears threatening to fall from how much your words and yourself meant to them.

“You’ll be fine, just know that.” They placed a hand on your shoulder blade, the warmth managing to comfort you a bit. You gave them an acknowledging nod.

“Let’s try and dance a bit. C’mon, girl.” You chuckled, grateful at their attempts to keep you away from it all.

1:03 AM Nueva York, April 3rd.

Seems that it is true when they say the party is just getting started. The music seemed to only get louder by the second and your feet ached immensely from the heels you dared to wear today.

You scurried away from the crowd, keeping an eye on your friend as they seemed to dance happily around everyone else. You smiled almost nostalgically, wondering how to be more like her. Maybe you just needed your time.

You roamed around the house, passing people by, finding comfort in the personal things that decorated the house. Photos, vases, pens and books. Finally, you found yourself a seat. The house was big, the amount of people in it even bigger. You considered yourself lucky for finding a free couch.

The room had a coffee table with several papers and documents in the center of it, other two sofas surrounding it. Several people were scattered around it, yet it was not the same chaos as the room you were once dancing in. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, talking and laughing alongside their friends.

You sat down, a quiet exhausted gruff coming out from your mouth. Reaching down, deciding to remove your heels, you took note again of the documents in the coffee table. Genetics? You squinted your eyes, trying to read more of it. Genetical Engineering: VOLUME I - Principles, mechanism and expression. Well, someone’s a nerd around here. You leaned back in your seat, looking for something to distract yourself with — a rubik cube? Someone’s definitely a nerd around here, you though again chuckling at the thought.

You grabbed the cube, playing and distracting yourself with it for a while. You knew time had passed, the room getting quieter by the moment. Your eyes seemed to get tired, too. Quietly shutting them until you were half conscious.

Thud, thud, thud

Heavy muted steps were heard at the entrance of the room.

You would’ve liked to open your eyes, put a face to the presence you felt entering the area.

Too tired, your body decided to let go. The cube escaping from your fingertips.

Swoosh

You felt a breeze of air brush your face, opening your eyes from disconcert.

“You’re breaking my stuff, nena.”

You met gaze with a pair of pretty brown eyes, mellow profound voice. Adversary to the defined and sharp facial structure that stared up at you with amusement.

You shot yourself off the couch, tumbling and tripping from your fast, almost reflexive movement. You rested your hand on whatever offered you steadiness— his firm shoulder.

“Sorry!” You yelped, taking a quick step back from the figure.

“S’alright.” He got up from his kneeling position, rubik cube in hand.

His height kept getting larger and larger as he seemed to straighten up, a quick shiver running down your spine. You kept glancing around the room, his eyes themselves never really leaving yours.

“Someone’s past their bed time, eh?” He smirked, tilting his head to the side.

You relaxed a bit, comforted by his nonchalant nature. A soft chuckle escaped past your lips. “I was just taking a break— from dancing.”

“By solving a rubik cube? Don’t even want to know what you do in your free time at this point.” All over again, he made you smile. Looks like he knew how to ease someone’s nerves successfully.

“Y/N.” You extended your hand, warm smile plastered on your lips.

“Miguel.” He took your hand, a firm confident shake. It was cordial, seemingly entertained. It began to feel suspiciously long — you quickly retreated your hand.

“So…” You began, trying to continue the conversation. “The rubik cube, yours?” Of course it was his, are you deaf? You wanted earth to swallow you just for the question you just asked.

He nodded, his lips seeming to fail at hiding an even bigger smile.

“Ajá, mío. You were solving it, weren’t you?” He inspected the piece, his brows slightly kneading together.

“Trying to, at least.” You let out an airy cackle.

“Better than anything.” Creases formed around his eyes, a homely feeling lingering around the air of the room.

He sat down on one of the sofas, yourself following along by sitting on the opposite side from the coffee table. Then, there you saw him: furrowed brow, lower lip bitten down. Solving the cube like the strings that held his life together depended on it. Quick rough fingers working fervently on the block. Soon enough, the colors seemed to match. Each corresponding to a specific side. He extended his hand to you, a perfectly solved rubik cube that looked almost tiny in his palm.

You smiled eagerly, mouthing an amused wow. He laughed at the sight, a deep rumble that came from the bottom of his chest.

“I can teach you, chula. If you let me, I’ll show you the trick behind it.” He evidently winked, though you were to shy to admit it and process it yourself. You took the cube off his hand, careful fingertips taking ahold of it. You smiled.

“I’m a fast learner.” He smiled back at you, even bigger than before. He swore he could already feel the wrinkles form around his eyes, cheeks aching from how long his expression had unconsciously stayed the same. He really didn’t mind eitherway.

1:43 AM, Nueva York. April 3rd.

Time is relative. Passing by slowly when crucial moments rely on uncontrollable outcomes. Passing by quickly when enjoyment is found on the simple occurrences.

Time with your new acquaintance, Miguel, seemed to break all the rules.

Career choice, family relations, general hobbies were discussed in the first five minutes of the conversation. Turns out he actually lives in this very same house. His brother, Gabriel, being responsible for the occurrence of this party. You two quickly turned to topics like beliefs, specific niches, a tad of political overviews and controversial opinions around science. Laughs were shared, inside jokes were made. Time went rhythmically, at a specific nearly ideal pace.

“No, no, no!” Miguel screamed slightly, trying to hush himself immediately after he attracted attention to himself. “‘M not letting a roach nest form on my house just ‘cuz — ‘cuz you think it’s got a family to sustain and — and kids to… to care for!?” He pinched his nose bridge, tone in his voice that showed a tint of disappointment and disbelief.

You felt almost light heated from all the laughter, it was funny how over dramatic he was.

“It’s basic human decency. Moral etiquette, compass — you name it!” You responded, flickering tears off your eyes.

“Etiquette mis huevos. Dios mío.” He shook his head, dragging a hand across his face. Looking back at you, all teary eyed and beaming smile — he caved in, warm chortle whose vibrations you picked up even across the table.

You both took a second to calm down, eyes meeting once again with a tenderness that could make a thousand of glaciers melt easily.

You coughed into your hand, parting your gaze away.

He raised a hand onto his neck, scratching impulsively.

“Want to get a drink, chula?” You liked the softness and tenderness in which he said things.

You nodded. He stood up almost in command, walking besides your couch and offering you a hand. Oh. You took it. Timidly brave. He helped you stand up, close attention to detail in your face. Once your eyes found courage to look at his, he was now nervous. “Just so you don’t fall.” He added quickly as the tremble in his voice did him dirty. You smiled. He made you smile.

You two walked downstairs. Your hand on the railing, his on the middle of your back. The sound of music became louder, drowning your senses alongside your reasoning.

He guided you through the dance floor, more so — the living room. You two finally reached the kitchen. He made sure to sit you down on a stool near the counter, bowing jokingly after he did so. You giggled. He walked towards the opposite side of the counter.

“‘M gonna make you…” He opened the fridge, “Una de mis revolturas.” You raised an eyebrow, confused at the sudden change of language. You had practiced a bit of Spanish in High School, yet it never really stayed in your head.

“Special drink for a special person.” He clarified, grinning slightly at your expression. He took out a couple of lemons, condensed milk and a cup of ice. You’d wanted to see what he was making, yet the enormity of his annoying quite-sculptured-but-you-won’t-admit back was getting in your way. In between the loud music, you swore you heard a blender going off. Soon enough, Miguel placed in front of you a fizzy sparkling yellow colored drink.

“Okay, show off.” You teased him, not wanting to admit the drink looked quite appetizing. He laughed, tilting his head.

“Va pues, rate the show off.” He gave you a cheeky smile, wanting to reciprocate the behavior.

Placing the cup near your lips, you looked up at him. He gave you a nod, eager to see your reaction. You smirked, taking a swig. A rich smooth and bubbly flavor danced around your tongue, sweet and sour combining perfectly.

“Oh, okay, well — This is very nice!” You couldn’t help hiding the excitement in your eyes. Surprised at how good the drink actually was.

Miguel laughed audibly, pampered by your reaction. Crazy how he liked seeing you just like this. Crazy how he wanted more of your time.

Talking becomes an easy thing for the two of you, immediately finding a topic to discuss about. Everything was so easy, so casual. He talked, you talked. You talked, he inevitably followed along. Silences were not a sign of uneasiness, just veneration.

A tune catches his attention, his brows raise in thrill. He taps his fingers along the counter. You find the song rather nice, bopping your head from side to side. You look at his hand, following the same rhythm. You look into his eyes, now boring into yours. A smile is shared. A moment is saved.

“Let me dance with you, flaca.”

And so you did. Making your way onto the dance floor, his hand grasped softly around yours. And he didn’t strike you as a dancer. And he, himself, wasn’t even sure of his movements, yet he had the necessity of — dancing, with you. His hand didn’t let go, not like you wanted such. He gave you a twirl, earning a laugh from you. That eased him out, his shoulders relaxing visibly. Your feet adapted to the rhythm, Miguel looked down so he could follow you along. You cackled fondly at how out of rhythm he was, grabbing his forearms tightly so he didn’t loose a beat. He followed along, still laughing at himself. His hands left specks of warmth along your body, making everything feel out of focus. You liked the irony of that, feeling intimate around other million of people. Like a tulip. Many layers, the closer to the center, the more tender. And so you got closer to each other. Your hands in what could reach of his shoulders, his hands along the curve of you lower back. And you two probably looked like two awkward teenagers playing twister, and yet it felt right. And if you moved away the slightest, he pulled you back firmly. Although he wasn’t going to admit such.

“You know, you’re a pretty bad dancer for someone who has really nice reflexes.” You laughed, raising your voice so he could hear you clearly.

“Compliment?” He leaned down, not taking his eyes off of you. You shrugged, smirk tugging the corner of your lips.

#miguel o'hara #miguel spiderverse #miguel x reader #miguel spiderman #atsv miguel #miguel x you #miguel 2099 #miguel fanfic #poor writing #im sorry #i’m so sorry #Spotify

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bobawitch · 5 months ago

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Highschool Battlefield | C.S

pairing: chris sturniolo x fem reader <3

cw: none!

wc: 2,379

a/n: OMG YALL IM SO SORRY! i did not mean to disappear off the face of the earth thats so my bad. life got crazy and my writers block was unrelenting. but heres the first chapter in a chris fic that ive been working on off and on. hope yall enjoy ;P

Chapter One:

You always had a distaste for “normal” highschool activities like pep rallies and homecoming afterparties. Which landed the question of why were you here? At the homecoming pep rally for your highschool. Well that was easy, your best friend Allison had dragged you. She had begged you for the last week and a half to come and eventually you gave in. Now Allison was the literal opposite of you, popular, bubbly. She was the girl everyone loved, and you were her best friend that no one understood. Most of the school just knew you as Allie’s friend, it wasn’t uncommon for people to not even know your name. She had it all, the style, the boyfriend, the grades, she was head of student council as well as head cheerleader. Honestly sometimes you wondered why she was your best friend, you were nothing like her. You were the outcast art kid that could have amazing grades if they cared, but you didn’t. Honestly if you hadn’t met Allie in 2nd grade you doubt y’all would’ve become friends. So now you sat on the top of the bleachers watching Allie lead the cheerleaders in their big routine, the football boys sitting on the front of the bleachers as the rest of the school screamed and cheered. Even though the homecoming pep rally was mainly for the football team the other sports teams were encouraged to wear their jerseys. Among the jocks you saw Chris, anybody that was anybody knew who Chris Sturniolo was. Potentially the most popular lacrosse player in the whole school, and way out of your social group. Though his older triplet brother Nick was a good friend of Allie’s so sometimes you’d cross paths. Your eyes drifted from his messy curls over to Allie and her beaming smile. You grinned to yourself, looking down at the sketchbook in your lap. A small sigh escaped your lips as your thumb pushed the volume button on your phone. Djo blared in your ears and you closed your eyes, laying your head back against the wall.

As you drifted into your own imaginary world you felt someone tap your shoulder and your eyes shot open. You were met with Allie’s big blue eyes and toothy white smile. You nodded at her as she sat next to you. “Hey.” You mumbled, tugging your earbuds out of your ear by their chord. You grabbed the pencil out of the ring of your sketchbook, opening it to the page of doodles of people in the auditorium. “I’m so glad you came Y/N!” Allie nearly yelled into your ear. You smiled over at her. “You’re my best friend, of course I came!” You shouted back. She grinned, leaning her head on your shoulder as her boyfriend came up to her. Jackson, Allie’s boyfriend, head of the football team. They were textbook prom queen and king. You gave a half smile at Jackson as he nodded to you, pulling Allie back to her feet. “Hey babe, the sports teams are going to get some pizza, wanna come?” Allie nodded before looking back at you. “Yep! And you’re coming with Y/N.” You looked up, your eyes fluttering in a confused look. “Uh, no thanks I’m good.” Allie shook her head and grabbed your arm, tugging you to your feets and causing your pencil to drop next to your docs. You sighed, Allie got like this sometimes, where she’d decide it was her turn to pick what we did. You slowly bent to grab your pencil and stuff it along with your sketchbook, back into your bag. You then adjusted the ratty flannel that clung to your arms as Allie let Jackson lead her away, following closely behind. You loved Allie but whenever she tried to force you into going places with Jackson and her cheerleader friends you felt a bit out of place. It was overall uncomfortable for you and usually no one would talk to you.

Soon enough the 3 of you arrived at a pizza place by your school and you stepped out of the car. A singular earbud securely tucked into your ear as Allie and Jackson pranced into the place, arm and arm. You crossed your arms as you walked in afterwards, finding a seat at the end of the table where some of the hockey and lacrosse players sat. You pulled out your sketchbook and began drawing again, peering into the back where a tall boy with black hair flipped some pizza dough. You quickly began a sketch of the boy, it was a hobby of yours to just sketch the people around you. It was so common that you had almost managed to draw everyone in your small high school. “That’s really good.” You jumped slightly from the sudden voice, looking up and being met with bright blue eyes. You stared at none other than Chris Sturniolo who met your gaze before looking behind him to see the boy you were drawing. “You’re really good at drawing.” He spoke again. “Oh uh, thanks. It’s just a hobby.” You shrugged, suddenly feeling the need to put your sketchbook away. He watched as you slid your sketchbook closed, setting down your pencil. “You’re Allie’s friend right?” He kept eye contact with you as you looked at the rest of the table. All of his teammates were chatting and laughing and yet here he was looking at you. “Uh, yeah.” You finally answered his question, looking at Allie who was talking to Chris’s other brother, Matt. Matt was on the hockey team with the triplet’s friend Nate, though you could still feel Chris’s eyes boring into the side of your face. “Does Allie’s friend have a name?” He spoke once more, causing you to turn. “Oh, sorry. Yeah hi, I’m Y/N.” You quickly muttered out. You weren’t good with socializing and you couldn’t quite wrap your head around why Chris Sturniolo of all people was talking to you. “I’m Chris. Nice to meet you Y/N.” You smiled lightly before looking down again, staring at the cover of your sketchbook. “Oh Y/N you met Chris?” Allie was suddenly sitting shoulder to shoulder with you, smiling with joy. “Uh, yeah.” She smiled and leaned closer to Chris. “You’ll have to excuse her, she’s not very social.” She said, nudging you playfully. You rolled your eyes before nudging her back, a smile tugging at your lips. “I am too, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to me here.” You rebutted, looking at Chris again. His lips were tugged into a playful smirk. You rubbed your nose, your rings gently clicking against your septum piercing. You looked back towards where the pizza boy was, he had since left causing a sigh to escape your lips. “Did your muse disappear?” Chris teased from across you. You rolled your eyes. “Not my muse, I just like drawing candids.” “Then draw me.” You scrunched your nose, furrowing your eyebrows as you studied the boy’s face. “Uh no.” You shook your head, slowly opening your sketchbook and swiping past the drawings of the pep rally. “Why not?” You could’ve been imagining it but you almost thought you heard genuine hurt in the boy’s voice. “Because.” You tried to search for a reason but honestly you didn’t know why you wouldn’t draw him. “Because why?” He leaned closer, his tone a teasing and playful one. You sighed and flipped to an open page. “I don’t draw people when they are posing for it.” It wasn’t your best argument but it would work. “First time for everything right?” You sighed, examining the blue-eyed boy that sat in front of you. You chewed on your inner cheek before giving in. “Ok fine. Just act like I’m not drawing you please.”

Chris’s grin was impossible to hide as he bounced up and down in his chair. He cleared his throat before looking directly at you, apparently this was how he wanted you to draw. You shook your head, yet another sigh escaping your lips. “No, just start talking to your teammates and I’ll draw you. I don’t want to draw you staring at me.” He furrowed his brows, obviously confused as to why you cared so much but obliging anyway.

You stared at Chris’s features as your pencil danced along your sketchbook paper. You hated to admit it but Chris was actually pretty fun to draw. His hair swooped it a way that you enjoyed replicating. After about 20 minutes you had filled an entire page of your sketchbook with quickly drawn poses of Chris. You cleared your throat to catch his attention, him immediately stopping his conversation with his teammate and looking at you. He smirked when he noticed the clutch you had on your sketchbook. You slowly slid your sketchbook over to Chris before sliding your hand back. For some reason watching him inspect your drawings of him made you anxious, your heart beating out of your chest as you waited for some kind of reaction from the boy. He stared intently at the page before his hand gripped the edge of it. With a long ripping noise he pulled the page of drawings out of your sketchbook. You watched with an agape mouth as he folded it up and placed it securely in his pocket. “Thanks pretty girl.” He winked at you before turning to his teammate and beginning to speak again. You were absolutely stunned, staring blankly at the insanely popular boy. “Uh… yeah. Don’t mention it.” You looked over to your phone that lit up and frowned, taking your sketchbook and stuffing it in your bag. You stood, leaning over to Allie. “Dad called, I gotta get home. See you tomorrow.” Before you left the pizza place.

You gazed into your friend’s mirror, glaring daggers at your own reflection. Once again you found yourself questioning what you did to get into this predicament. You were in a black denim mini skirt with a black lace tank top hugging your curves, complimented by your signature fishnets and platform doc marten boots. You looked over to Allie’s bed where your green denim jacket laid. Quickly you grabbed it, snaking it around your arms before pulling it around your waist, hiding your torso from yourself. You hated when Allie made you dress up for things and today was no exception. Somehow you had talked Allie out of making you wear a big dress to homecoming but when you attempted to talk her out of making you go you were less successful. So you sighed and put on your least tomboy outfit before heading to Allie’s. She also insisted on doing your hair and makeup. You had sat as still as possible as the girl did a “clean girl” look on you. You quickly fixed it by adding some dark eyeliner and a little bit of liner on your waterline, darkening your eyes. Seemingly content with your look and her own, Allie dragged you to your truck. You had agreed to drive her so she could get wasted even if it meant you had to be at a high school dance completely sober. Not only that but Allie had already signed you up for going to at least one homecoming after party.

Within no time you had gotten Allie to the school, helping her tipsy self out of your passenger seat before walking her over to Jackson. Jackson smiled at her and she quickly tackled him, smashing her lips against his. You cringed and looked away, making a fake gag face. You hated PDA, maybe just because you had never experienced it with someone, maybe because watching people swap saliva was gross. Who knows. After the two broke apart Jackson led Allie off towards the opening of the dance, looking back at you and nodding for you to follow. You looked down at your beat up boots before sighing and slowly dragging your feet to the front. Alison walked in with Jackson without a second glance at you, just expecting you to blindly follow her into your own personal hell. The overwhelming urge to cover your ears hit you like a ton of bricks, followed quickly by the smell of teenage sweat. You sighed walking over to a table that Allie had thrown her bag on. You sat down and pulled out your pocket sketchbook, grabbing your pencil from the messy bun you had thrown your hair into. You were granted a few fleeting moments of peace before you felt a tap on your shoulder. Upon swinging your head around you were met with a newly familiar pair of eyes. You felt your heart leap through your throat as you stared at the Sturniolo boy. “Hey pretty girl. Wasn’t expecting you to be at one of these, doesn’t seem like your thing.” He spoke in his usual charismatic way though he was forced to a near shout by the loud music. Chris held eye contact with you as he sat in the plastic chair next to you. “It’s not my thing, Allie made me come.” You replied to him in a shout, looking over to where Allie danced with her boyfriend. You sighed before looking back to Chris, a smirk still on his face. “Oh and stop calling me pretty girl. I have a name.” Chris chuckled, causing you to wonder if what you had said was funny. Chris opened his mouth to say something but before he spoke you felt a weight collapse on your shoulders. Your nose was immediately filled with the rosey perfume you knew Allie wore to events. Your hands moved up to hold her arms that had wrapped around you. “Hey Allie.” You said, Allie’s drunken giggling in your ears. She looked up and smiled at Chris. “Hii Chrissy!! I’m so glad you met Y/N, she’s so funnn.” You looked at Chris who was softly admiring you. Eyes darted away as your cheeks grew warmer. You stood, one hand still holding onto Allie’s arms and the other catching your sketchbook. “Come on Allie let’s go dance.” Allie smiled and moved her arms, grabbing your hand instead. You set down your sketchbook and gave a glance to Chris before walking off to the dance floor.

#bobawitch #bobawitch asks #sturniolo triplets #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo #matt sturniolo #sturniolo #sturniolo triplets imagines #christopher sturniolo x reader #sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo x you #chris sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo x reader

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daisynik7 · 1 year ago

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Heart on a Sleeve

Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x Original Female Character

Rating: Mature

Word Count: ~6.3k

cw: explicit language, switching POVs (2nd and 3rd person), established relationship, kissing, suggestive touching, sexual tension

Summary: You and Mitsuya make your budding relationship public and things only continue to grow from there. The Tokyo Manji gang successfully absorbs the Leviathans all thanks to the efforts of new captains Tetta Kisaki and Shuji Hanma. Despite Mikey’s praise for them during this month’s meeting, Mitsuya remains wary of the two. His suspicions only increase when he runs into them while on a date with you.

Author's Note: This took me so long to write, but I did it and I am proud of it. I thoroughly enjoy writing about the honeymoon phases in a relationship, so this was a fun one for me. Thanks for the love and support on this so far and I hope you like where the story is going so far. Thank you for reading.

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Sunday night, still reeling from the glorious high of breakfast with your new boyfriend Takashi Mitsuya, you call your best friends to break the news.

“You’re what?!” Keiko exclaims, her shriek loud through the phone.

You lower the volume, not wanting to be overheard by your parents downstairs. “I’m dating Takashi Mitsuya,” you repeat. “From homeroom.”

Mei is quiet on the other end while you can practically hear the cogs spinning in overdrive in Keiko’s head. “Takashi Mitsuya, from homeroom?”

Losing patience, and also amused by her reaction, you confirm, “Yes.”

“Mitsuya, who’s in the Tokyo Manji Gang. That Mitsuya?”

“Yes, Keiko, that Mitsuya!”

“He’s in a gang. What is our sweet Hana doing dating a gangster?!”

Defensive now, you reply, “He’s been nothing but kind to me. You know as well as I do that he’s never caused problems for us at school. He’s only ever acted when he knew there was someone he needed to stick up for. I don’t care that he’s in a gang. He’s a good person and I like him.”

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Mei finally speaks. “You’re right, Hana. We know he’s a nice guy. We just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all we’re trying to say. Right, Keiko?”

She clears her throat before muttering, “Yeah.”

“Takashi would never hurt me. I feel safe with him.”

At that, they relent, setting their worries aside to discuss the details on how your budding relationship came to be. They had known since the beginning that you were taking sewing lessons from him, though they didn’t have a clue how you truly felt. It started as a tiny crush, a fantasy that you kept secret because you never considered it’d ever become real. Then, when Takashi admitted his feelings towards you, everything happened so fast. It’s only now that you are able to reveal everything to your friends, who are ultimately excited for you.

The only obstacle left is your parents. You’re sure that they’ll be in for a shock once you tell them since this is your first boyfriend ever. Naturally, they’ll be protective, as any parent would be. You’re confident that once they get to know Takashi, they’ll see him just as you do.

Monday morning, you do your usual routine of walking to school with your friends. Takashi offers to pick you up, but until you are ready to inform your parents about him, you figure it’d be best to avoid any cause for suspicion, especially since they are already wary of him to begin with. Instead, you part ways with Mei and Keiko to meet him in the parking lot before school, greeting him with a hug. He smiles, placing his hands at your waist to pull you in closer. “Hi.”

You nuzzle your nose to his, beaming. “Hi.”

He kisses you again, his tongue slipping past your lips this time, surprising you. Heat rushes into your cheeks, flustered and excited. You break apart, burying your face into his shoulder, catching your breath while he massages your back tenderly. “Are you okay?”

You nod, still hiding. “Just…getting used to all this.”

He tips your chin up to meet your gaze, smiling softly. “Me too. If I’m moving too fast, just tell me, okay? We’ll go at the pace you’re comfortable with.” He gives you a quick smooch before locking his fingers with yours. “Ready?”

As new and foreign as all this is for you, having Takashi makes it’s much easier to navigate. He leads you through the hallways of your school, unwavering, the grip on your hand confident, despite the prying eyes and hushed whispers from your passing peers. It’s odd being the center of attention for once, but like most high school relationships, the intrigue from others will eventually fade, and all that will matter is how the two of you feel about each other. And in this moment, you’re happy to be by his side.

Peh-Yan, one of your classmates and Takashi’s close friend from Toman, approaches you with a respectful bow. “Hello, Shimizu.”

You smile, greeting him back by his surname. “Hello, Hayashi.”

Takashi smirks, giving him a light punch on the arm. “No need to be so formal, Peh-Yan.”

He stands up straight. “Right, sorry. Anyways, I have some intel on Kisaki and Hanma infiltrating the Leviathans. Thought I’d pass on the information to you in case you were interested.”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes, facing you. “Toman stuff. I’ll see you later in class, okay? Let’s eat lunch together.” He gives you a peck on the cheek, letting you go.

Part of you wants to stay, to listen in, but you know better than to intrude on topics that don’t pertain to you. You wave goodbye, heading to your classroom alone, your skin tingling with his warmth, already missing it.

~~~

Mitsuya never imagined himself to be a doting boyfriend, but he quickly finds himself adapting to that role almost too easily. In their only shared class, he spends too much time staring at the back of her head, admiring how cute she is. The few times she glances back at him to flash him a grin, his heart swells and he’s itching to hold her again as soon as class is dismissed. Usually, he’d eat lunch with Peh-Yan out in the courtyard or alone inside the home economics room while working on his latest sewing project. However, this entire week, he sits with his girlfriend and her friends. Mei and Keiko are nervous around him at first, unsure how to interact with a delinquent. But with Hana’s help and support, he gradually falls into place with them, finding topics to discuss that all of them can connect on.

They aren’t able to spend much time together after school, not with the both of them being preoccupied with extracurriculars. So, Friday remains a special day for them. It’s their first sewing lesson since everything changed a week ago. Mitsuya is a bit nervous, wondering if he’ll be able to focus on the actual lesson when he gets so easily distracted by her presence. When she meets him inside the home economics room, cradling her helmet, a pleasant smile on her face, all his worries disappear. Even if he does get distracted, who cares? He’s happy to be spending this time with her, alone.

She drops the helmet onto the usual desk, stepping closer to him. “Hi Takashi.”

“Hi Hana,” he responds, closing the distance between them with a kiss. They’ve gotten more comfortable doing this, their lips brushing seamlessly, his hands always finding the plush curves of her body. He loves the way she feels under his touch, on his mouth, against his chest. All the spaces of him that felt empty before are now full, all thanks to her.

Before they get carried away any further, he pulls off reluctantly, steadying himself before explaining what they’ll be doing today, eyes flitting back to her lips, now slightly swollen from their kisses. It’s happened several occasions so far this week. Their chaste kisses turning into more, both of them chasing their hunger little by little, teasing that fine line inch by inch. Mitsuya has managed to contain his excitement, though it’s getting more and more difficult, especially with her gradually testing the waters. A soft moan against his lips, her fingers toying with the elastic of his pants, her tongue pushing up against his, mouth open for him to explore and enjoy. He’ll continue to stand by, waiting until she’s ready to take the next steps forward. Despite how eager he is, nothing’s more important to him than making her feel safe.

Their lesson today results in a heart patch sewn onto the sleeve of her jean jacket. She admires it silently as Mitsuya puts away the sewing machine and the rest of his materials into one of the cabinets. When he’s finished, he returns to her side, draping his arm over her shoulders, pressing a smooch to the side of her head.

“The machine made this way easier than I thought it would be,” she comments.

“It usually does,” he says, running his finger over the stitching. “Before you know it, you’ll be an expert.”

“I doubt it. But that’s okay because I have you. If this patch here ever comes off, I’ll go straight to you.”

He raises a brow at her, teasing, “And who says I’ll help you?”

She tugs at his collar, peering up at him, smiling. “I guess I just assumed, now that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“You’re right. I’ll always be here to stitch your little heart back on.” He leans in, meeting her lips in a passionate kiss, surrounding her in his arms, the fluttering in his belly growing erratic. The door is closed and all the other students have already left for the day to enjoy the weekend. Mitsuya’s favorite spot is an empty classroom after school, and they happen to have this one all to themselves. As if on cue, his phone vibrates in his pocket, and before he checks it, he knows it’s his mother reminding him that she’s leaving for her shift soon. Disappointed, they break apart, gigging as if they were caught doing something naughty while they gather their belongings, heading towards his bike outside in the parking lot. On their way to his house, her grip is snug on his waist, holding him tightly. He’s reminded how good it feels to ride with her behind him, keeping her safe, keeping him safe.

They behave themselves in front of his sisters, only exchanging subtle glances and grazes when they’re absolutely in the clear. He’s tempted to skip today’s Toman meeting, hoping to spend the rest of the night by her side, but given Peh-Yan’s news from earlier this week, it’s an important one to attend. Begrudgingly, he says his goodbyes, sneaking a kiss to Hana’s cheek before he leaves for the shrine.

As usual, Draken is waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, leaning against his Zephyr. He smirks as soon as he sees him, giving him a congratulatory pat on the back. “My man. Did you finally get some tonight?”

Mitsuya rolls his eyes, shrugging him off. “I told you, we’re taking things slow. Besides, we were watching the brats. We couldn’t do it even if we wanted to.”

“Are you telling me that you don’t want to do it with her?” he teases.

“No, I definitely want to do it with her. I mean, make love to her,” he corrects himself, blushing.

Draken snorts, not one to indulge in euphemisms. “So when do you think the two of you will start fucking then?”

He grimaces at his vulgarity before answering, “I don’t know. It hasn’t even been a week yet. We’re taking it one day at a time. It’ll happen when the time is right.”

Draken digs into his pocket to retrieve a lollipop, unwrapping it to stick into his mouth, sucking on it loudly. “Alright, it’s your dick. I’m just here to offer you some moral support, man-to-man. Dragon-to-dragon.”

Mitsuya chuckles. “I appreciate it.”

They wait a few more minutes, chatting idly about other topics. Emma seems to be doing well so far in her pregnancy. Draken continues to cook whatever she’s craving at the time, from chicken katsu curry to spaghetti and meatballs. They don’t know the gender yet, though they don’t really seem to care; they’re both just ecstatic to be having this baby in the first place. Mikey remains oblivious to the fact that his sister is with child and that his right-hand-man is about to become a father. According to Draken, he continues to be a recluse, despite their efforts to reach out to him. It seems like forever now that Mitsuya has seen Mikey outside of these Toman meetings. He remembers vividly the tears it Takemitchy’s eyes over a month ago now, worried about their friend, their leader. He’s gone. And I don’t know where to find him. Maybe it’s time they finally made a real effort to bring him back.

From the corner of his eye, Mitsuya spots Kisaki and Hanma, the newly appointed captains, leading a group of unfamiliar faces up the shrine steps. He assumes it’s members of the rival Leviathan gang. The two must have been successful in their mission to infiltrate and absorb them, which doesn’t change Mitsuya’s opinion about them. Peh-Yan warned him about this earlier in the week and anticipates Mikey’s reaction to this recent development.

Takemitchy eventually arrives with Chifuyu, the two of them still the best of buddies. They greet the others cheerfully, waiting for Hakkai, who is always the last to arrive, fashionably late with a toothy grin on his face as they all berate him playfully, joking about how he was with yet another chick right before this. Draken, who always has a sixth sense about these things, deems it time to begin, leading his brothers up the shrine steps. Mitsuya always gets a swell in his chest when they’re together like this, nostalgic and proud to be in Toman. If only Mikey were here to join them like he used to.

In their usual formation, the men face Mikey, who’s front and center, Draken standing beside him. His eyes are noticeably heavy from either exhaustion or loss of sleep, maybe both. There’s an unsettling lack of emotion in his expression. He used to burn so bright with passion and intensity, something they all admired about him. It’s what got them to form Toman in the first place. Now, it’s as if the fire has dimmed to the tiniest ember, flickering just enough to barely survive.

After going over standard housekeeping issues, Mikey moves on to the main topic of tonight��s meeting. “Kisaki, Hanma, come forward,” he announces, beckoning them towards the front. They step towards him, smug grins on both their faces. Mitsuya can’t help but roll his eyes, already annoyed.

“I’d like to recognize these two for successfully following through with their mission. The Leviathan gang is no more. We welcome its past members into Toman as one of our own. Show them the respect they deserve.”

There are loud whispers amongst the crowd, everyone turning to look at the new brothers, who are intimidating in terms of numbers. There’s at least twenty of them, most of them built like brick houses. Mitsuya has always felt odd whenever previous rivals gangs join them. There’s always that initial distrust, considering they were just at each other’s throat prior. But he’s learned to accept it for what it is, trusting Mikey to make the right calls.

“Anything you’d like to share with us?” Mikey opens the floor to the two captains.

Kisaki, of course, takes the opportunity to speak, his voice as slimy as ever. “Toman welcomes the Leviathans with open arms. All these men will surely make a great addition to our crew. Not only are they abundant in muscle, they are clever and cunning. Exactly what Toman needs to continue its reign over Tokyo.”

Hanma adds, “It was a real bitch to convince them to join us, but it was all worth it. You’ll see soon enough,” he smirks, licking his lips.

“I’m sure we will,” Mikey says with a small smile, the slightest spark in his eyes. “As far as I know, you two are the only captains that have stepped up recently. I have nothing but the highest respect for you.”

More grumbling from the crowd, especially from the remaining captains. Draken’s brows are tight, clearly offended by the subtle diss. Chifuyu scoffs quietly, nudging Takemitchy, who looks like he’s near tears. Have their personal lives gotten too much in the way of their duties to Toman? Have they all let Mikey down?

When the meeting ends, they break formation to gather into their smaller circles. Chifuyu is still peeved, complaining to them. “Respect? To those two bastards? Has Mikey lost it?”

“Hey, watch it,” Draken warns. “I’ll admit. I’ve been too busy with the baby.”

“And I’ve been busy preparing for university, I’ve totally neglected Toman!” Takemitchy admits. “I don’t blame Mikey for being annoyed with us.”

Chifuyu throws his arms up, frustrated. “What does he expect us to do? He hasn’t reached out to any of us, doesn’t even talk to us anymore. How are we supposed to do anything if he’s completely ghosting us?”

From his peripheral, Mitsuya notices Mikey walking away from whatever private discussion he’s having with the old Leviathan gang. Before he can go anywhere else, Takemitchy calls out for him, waving enthusiastically. “Mikey!”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “Takemitchy, you idiot,” he mutters.

They all turn to their leader, who stares at them, eyes cold, palms in his pockets. He doesn’t move for a couple of seconds, and Mitsuya thinks that he’ll ignore them completely, which wouldn’t be surprising. But then, he takes slow steps towards them, expression unreadable. When he’s there, none of them are sure what to say, until Takemitchy breaks that ice. “Let’s go to Danny’s tonight! Just like old times!” he suggests, desperate.

Late night dinner at Danny’s was routine for them back when they were young, dumb, and broke. The food was mediocre at best, but the memories they shared there is what kept them coming back. Pancake eating contests, where Mikey would always come out victorious. Flirting with their favorite waitresses to get extra French fries. Loading up on the free refills of soda to compete in burping competitions. It’s more nostalgic than anything. Gradually, as they got older and busier with life, Danny’s become less frequent. Maybe this is what they need to get back into the normal swing of things.

Mikey doesn’t say much, except for giving them a small nod and muttering a quiet, “Sure,” his hands still buried in his pockets. At least it’s something.

~~~

It’s past midnight by the time Mitsuya arrives back home. You’re half-asleep on the couch with the TV on in the background. The girls are snoring in their room, tired after playing with you all night. He rouses you awake, caressing your cheek sweetly as he kneels on the floor beside you. “Hey cutie, I’m back.”

The pet name catches you off guard. You beam at him, tugging him by the neck to meeting his lips with yours. He smiles into this kiss. “You like that, huh?”

Nodding, you answer, “Yeah, I do.”

He deepens the kiss, running his fingers through your hair, tongue flicking against yours. Soon, you’re both breathing heavily, lips smacking loudly. Before it gets any further, you break away from him, giggling. “Takashi.”

Pressing his forehead to yours, swallowing hard, he whispers, “Yeah, I know. I know.”

You grin, sitting up on the couch to make room for him, patting the space beside you. “How was the meeting?”

He sits down, holding your hand, resting his head on your shoulder. “It was good. We went out for a bite after and it was really fun. Mikey joined us and it was just like old times.”

“Mikey?” you ask. You’ve heard that name before, but you barely know anything about Toman, simply because you’re too nervous to ask, embarrassed to be so nosy.

“He’s Toman’s leader. He’s the reason Toman is what it is. He started it all. Recently, it seems like he’s been distant from us. But tonight, I think we finally got him back.”

You squeeze him tight. “I’m happy to hear that.”

He doesn’t explain any further, enjoying the comfortable silence between you. Eventually, he says, “We should go out on a real date tomorrow. My mom doesn’t work until night, so we can spend the day together. What do you think?”

“I’d love that.”

He sits up, grinning at you. “Want to just stay the night?”

You laugh. “I don’t think my parents would like that, considering they have no idea we’re officially dating yet.”

“Then maybe we should tell them soon, over dinner. I really want them to like me.”

“I’m sure they already like you!” you answer, half-heartedly. In all honestly, you have no idea how they feel about him, except for that short conversation you had previously over dinner. You wonder how they will react when you tell them he’s your boyfriend, that you even have a boyfriend. You’d be lying to yourself if you say you aren’t anxious about it. “Let me talk to them first and we can arrange something, okay?”

He smiles brightly, pinching your cheek. “Don’t be nervous! I’ll work my charm on them, you’ll see.”

Mitsuya drives you home after a few more snuggles on the couch. Your parents are asleep by the time you walk through the door, quietly slipping out of your shoes and sneaking up the stairs into your bedroom. You don’t fall asleep right away, staring blankly at the ceiling, excited for tomorrow’s date with your boyfriend. He plans to pick you up at eleven in the morning but doesn’t elaborate on any more details. You wonder what he has in store for the two of you.

The next morning, you eat breakfast before getting ready for the day ahead of you. You make the brave decision to inform your parents about where you’ll be off to today. Clearing your throat, you brace yourself, confessing, “I’m going on a date today. With Takashi Mitsuya.”

It’s the most jarring silence for the next ten seconds. Your mother gawks at you, dropping her fork onto her plate with a harsh clink. Your father’s face is twisted in an expression akin to him witnessing some sort of apparition or horrible monster. Given their reactions, you almost regret being so honest with them, though a small weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

Your mom is the first to speak, tone unnaturally high-pitched when she responds, “Oh! Is this a study date perhaps? Are you preparing for an upcoming exam?”

You shake your head. “No. We’re just hanging out.”

“Hanging out,” she repeats, slightly breathless now. “You’re hanging out with a boy?”

“Yes,” you answer plainly, maintaining your patience as the cogs in her head start spinning faster, finally understanding.

“Oh. Okay,” you mother says, at a loss for words. Your dad remains speechless, clearly flabbergasted by the mere idea of you spending time with someone other than them or Keiko and Mei.

Before they can begin a full-fledged interrogation, you quickly scarf down the rest of your breakfast on the plate, standing up and announcing, “I’m going to change now, bye!”, sprinting up the stairs without any further explanation. For now, it seems you’ve dodged a bullet.

For today’s date, you decide to wear a floral sundress that ends just above your knees, something you’re comfortable and confident in. You keep your hair the same, unsure what else to do with it. You stare at your reflection in the mirror a while longer than usual, nervous though you know you shouldn’t be. Takashi has been nothing but kind to you, so you have no reason to believe he’d care so much about your appearance. Still, you want to make a good impression on him, especially since this is your first official date.

When he texts you that he’s waiting outside, you give yourself one last glance in the mirror, rushing out of your room to slip into your nicest pair of sandals by the doorway. Your mother and father both appear beside you, watching. “Be careful,” your mother comments, crossing her arms over her chest. Your father hums, still incapable of forming words as a response.

Turning the knob to leave, you smile at them. “I will.”

To your surprise, Takashi stands on the other side of the door, flashing that signature grin, waving politely. “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Shimizu.” He has a backpack slung over his shoulders and you notice that his Impulse is nowhere to be seen, so you assume he walked here.

Your mother returns his smile as best as she can, though she’s obviously still wary about the whole situation. “Hello, Mitsuya. What are your plans today with our daughter?”

Your cheeks get hot, embarrassed by her nosiness, but Takashi takes it in stride. “We’re going to have a picnic at the park. I made sandwiches for our lunch. Then, we’re taking the train to Shibuya to play at the arcade. I’ll have Hana home before dinnertime, since I’ll be babysitting my sisters tonight.”

Impressed by his answer, you study your mom’s reaction, mentally breathing a sigh of relief when her smiles grows wider, seemingly pleased. “That sounds like a fun time.” She nudges your dad. “Doesn’t that sound like a fun time, sweetheart?”

Your father’s eyes narrow, glaring at your poor boyfriend. “I suppose,” he mutters.

Takashi doesn’t waver, maintaining that easy-going expression while he bows to them. “Thank you for allowing me the honor of spending time with your daughter.”

The two of you manage to leave for your date unscathed. From the doorway, your parents watch you and Takashi walk towards the park, keeping your distance from each other until you’re out of their sight. With the coast clear, Takashi laces his fingers with yours, laughing. “Well, that was scary.”

“You were scared? You were completely cool in front of them,” you reply, surprised by his comment.

“I’m glad it came off that way because I was this close to shitting myself, especially when your dad starting staring daggers at me,” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“I’m so sorry about that! He’s been acting weird all morning since I told him I’m going on a date with you.”

“You told them that?”

“Well, I didn’t want to lie to them,” you explain. “I think they were just shocked at first. I’ve never been out with a boy before, so naturally, they are concerned.”

He nods. “I get that. It’s nice to have parents that are always worried about you,” he muses, a glint of sadness in his eyes. “I love my mom, don’t get me wrong. But she’s always working, so she relies on me a lot to be the man of the house. Nobody ever really worries about me, y’know?”

Your chest swells with emotion, empathizing with him. It can’t be easy being forced to grow up too fast. You squeeze him affectionately. “Well, you have me now. I’ll be here to worry about you and take care of you whenever you need it.”

He pauses in his tracks, staring at you. “You mean it?”

You smile reassuringly at him. “Of course I mean it.”

He gazes at you, pulling you in close to kiss you on the lips. You melt into him, letting his tongue slip inside your mouth, deep and passionate, full of unspoken gratitude for your commitment to him. “Thank you, Hana. I – ” he pauses, swallowing whatever he’s about to admit, instead repeating, “Thank you.” You pretend not to notice it, forcing your mind to forget about it completely.

A few minutes later, you arrive at the park, finding a good spot to settle in. It’s a beautiful day, perfect for a picnic like this. Bright sun, blue skies, and the ideal breeze. People are gathered all around you, walking along the pathway, jumping on the playground, throwing a ball in a game of fetch with their dogs. Takashi swings his bag towards his front, retrieving a big throw blanket that you lay out on the grass. He unloads his pack, displaying the sandwiches and variety of snacks he prepared, including some of your favorites. You’re dazzled by how charming this all is, how charming he is. Every day you’re together, you grow more and more fond of him.

The two of you dig in and everything is, of course, delicious. What makes it more special is the company. It’s easy being with Takashi. Conversation flows naturally and you never have to think about occupying any spaces of awkward silence. Even when it is, it’s comfortable, the two of you basking in each other’s presence, marveling at the sights and sounds surrounding you. Children’s laughter ringing from the nearby swings, dogs barking, the gentle wind blowing through the trees. When a leaf falls in your hair, Takashi picks it off, lingering a bit longer to twirl your soft strands between his fingers. After you’ve digested enough, you both lie down, staring up at the sky, pointing out clouds shaped like cotton balls, marshmallows, and bunnies. His hand never leaves yours, always interlaced, his fingers filling in the spaces between yours seamlessly. Time both stops and passes too quickly whenever you’re with him. You’re lost in the moment, savoring each second and before you know it, it’s already time to move on to the next. “We should head to the arcade now,” he suggests, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear, cupping your cheek.

You nuzzle into his palm, relishing his gentle touch. He gives you a smooch on the forehead. “I could lay here for hours with you. But I want to impress you with all my skills at the arcade so that you think I’m cool,” he teases.

You giggle, sitting up to help him pack. “I already think you’re cool; you don’t have to prove anything to me.”

With everything put away, the two of you take the train towards one of the more popular arcades in Shibuya. It’s teeming with kids and teenagers, typical for a Saturday. You spot several of your classmates here, who greet you with a polite wave. At one of the cashiers, Mitsuya redeems two play cards to last you enough games for the next hour.

As expected, he suggests starting with a racing game, one where you’re propped on top of a fake motorcycle, riding through the streets of Tokyo. Seems all too fitting for him. What he doesn’t expect is for you to win, whizzing past him at the very last second before crossing the finish line. He’s thoroughly impressed, rewarding you with a proud kiss on the cheek.

You go through a variety of games, from classics like skee-ball and basketball, to new ones you haven’t tried before, like a zombie invasion simulation that had you screaming at the top of your lungs to your boyfriend’s delight. Eventually, you make your way to the claw machines, where Mitsuya manages to win a Hello Kitty plushie after five tries and you somehow score a squishy shark in only one. You exchange your prizes with each other, both of you cherishing them as your first gifts as a couple.

Time flies as it always does with him. Eventually, you run out of tokens to continue playing, only left now with points to redeem for prizes. On the way to the prize room, you notice Mitsuya staring off into the distance. You find out who he’s looking at; there are a group of boys in the signature Toman jackets gathered on one side of the arcade where the shooting games are located. Most of them are burly and it’s hard for you to believe that they’re your age, maybe even younger. There’s a shorter boy amongst them, blonde hair and glasses that gleam against the bright lights of the arcade. You’ve never seen him before, though something about him gives you an unexplainable chill.

“Are those your friends? Do you want to say hi to them?” you suggest.

Takashi snaps out of it, surprised that you caught him. “No, that’s okay. It’s our day today, remember? No need to drag you into any Toman business.”

You’re tempted to argue with him, not at all minding being introduced to this part of his life. However, he seems determined not to do that in this moment, so you let it be.

You take your time perusing, making note of what you can afford with the total number of points the two of you managed to accumulate throughout the day. It’s clear that he’s distracted now, not nearly as chatty as he was earlier, the most subtle glint of worry on his face. Halfway through, he announces, “I’m going to use the bathroom. Just stay right here, okay? I’ll be back.” He walks out briskly, leaving you alone. You sigh to yourself, already lonely without him. You dawdle even more as you admire the big prizes on display, contemplating saving your points to redeem one of them someday in the future.

“Got enough for that?”

The unfamiliar voice startles you. You turn to whoever is speaking, surprised to find a tall, lanky boy standing beside you, grinning. His hair is black, though he’s got a blonde stripe down the middle. A long, golden earring dangles on his left lobe. He’s wearing the recognizable Toman jacket.

You swallow, suddenly nervous under his gaze. “What?”

“I asked if you have enough points for that.” He points at the giant Pikachu plushie you were just admiring. “Because if you don’t, I can definitely lend you some.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate me accepting things from strangers.”

His smile grows bigger, showing his teeth, amused by your response. He holds his hand out. “Shuji Hanma.”

Hesitant, you end up taking it, introducing yourself. “Hana Shimizu.”

At that, his eyes widen and his grip on you becomes tighter. “I guess we’re not strangers anymore.”

~~~

He should have ignored them completely, Mitsuya knows that. He also definitely shouldn’t have left Hana alone. But seeing Kisaki all buddy-buddy with the old Leviathan gang members gives him an uneasiness that he can’t shake. So, he pretends to need the bathroom to excuse himself, just for a few moments to get some intel on what they might be up to. It’s for the good of Toman, that’s his justification for it.

Luckily he’s in casual clothes today and not in his Toman jacket, so he blends in with the crowd easily as he maneuvers through the arcade towards Kisaki. Eventually, he finds a spot behind one of the arcade games that gives him coverage to remain hidden while within earshot of the group.

They watch as one of the bigger guys shoots his toy gun towards the screen, an intense look on his face, the other boys surrounding him cheering him on in the process. Kisaki’s expression remains neutral, as always. They remain like this for a while longer, and Mitsuya starts to believe his efforts are useless. About ready to return to his girlfriend, he pauses when he hears something that piques his interest.

“I bet Kisaki can’t wait to pull the trigger on Mikey, am I right?” One of the Leviathans nudges him playfully, pointing at the gun.

Kisaki shoves him away aggressively, glaring at him. “Shut up. Don’t say such stupid things out in public.”

“Hey, there’s no one here but us, man! Chill!”

He grabs him by the scruff, fingers clenched tightly to his collar. “Oh? Is that what you think, you fucking imbecile? For your information, Hanma is greeting a fellow Toman brother right now.”

Struggling to speak with Kisaki’s knuckles against his throat, he croaks, “Who?”

“Takashi Mitsuya.”

At his name, Mitsuya leaves his spot, sprinting back to the prize room in a panic. He’s an absolute idiot to think that they didn’t notice him earlier. An even bigger idiot for leaving Hana alone, vulnerable to Hanma. But he has no idea who she is, right? There’s no way he could know. He vividly recalls the meeting from a few weeks ago. I guess I’ll just have to find out who Shimizu is myself. The subtle threat from his sleazy mouth. What could that asshole possibly want with her? Mitsuya is too afraid to find out.

On his way, he catches Hanma exiting the prize room with that signature smug smirk. “Little Taka, fancy meeting you here.”

Mitsuya glares at him. “Hanma.”

He points his thumb behind him, over his shoulder. “Finally got a chance to meet your precious Shimizu. I can see why you’ve been hiding her from us. She’s a really good girl.”

Mitsuya’s fists are unbearably tight at his sides, trembling with anger. He’s on the verge of swinging, wanting to see his ugly mug all scrunched up from his fist. However, he manages to control himself. Through gritted teeth, he growls, “Leave her alone.”

Hanma holds both hands up to him in false surrender. “Hey, I was just being polite. Saw you earlier, enjoying your cute date, thought I’d say hello. Oh, and Kisaki sends his warm regards.”

The urge to inflict violence upon the man in front of him is getting more and more difficult to suppress with each slimy word that comes out of his mouth. He’s incapable of formulating a coherent response, body shaking with rage. He always planned to keep Toman away from her as much as possible, thinking that’d be her safest option. Now, she’s become acquainted to it and in the worst way possible.

Hanma forces a chuckle. “You better get back to sweet Hana, now. Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting any longer or someone else might just come along and take her.” He shoves past him, hitting his shoulder hard with his own.

Before he can walk away, Mitsuya grabs him by the collar, tugging him close, voice low and threatening. “Don’t fucking talk about her. Don’t fucking look at her. Don’t even fucking think about her. Got it?”

Hanma laughs maniacally, clearly enjoying this side of Little Taka. “If you mind your business, we’ll mind ours.”

Mitsuya releases him, watching him disappear into the crowd of people without exchanging anymore words. He’s attempts to collect himself, returning to Hana, who stands at one of the corners, still inspecting the prizes. When she sees him, she smiles, seemingly unfazed. “Everything okay?”

For a moment, Mitsuya believes that all of it was a bluff. He slides his hand around her waist, pulling her in close. “Yeah. You?”

She rests her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. I met one of your Toman brothers. Shuji Hanma. He seems…nice.” There it is. The falter in her voice. The hesitation. The lie.

Deciding that now is not the time to discuss it, Mitsuya nods, not saying anything else.

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sparklecarehospital · 4 months ago

Note

hi i've never asked here before but i love sparklecare and all the other comics i keep seeing snippets of, so i'm also putting my discovery syory here :3

found out about it mthrough a quotev quiz that was like "which patient would be your friend" or something like that, and the artstyle really intrigued me so i started reading (the creator linked the website). i think i might've caught it just before or just after the 2nd volume started? but its had me hooked ever since

i love the amount of trans/general queer rep (AND OTHERKIN REP WITH FLIPPING HOWIE?!?! I WASN'T EXPECTING HOW MUCH I'D LOVE THAT AS A THERIAN/OTHERKIN), the way its written and how everything is portrayed (literally wanna beat up every civilian who doesn't believe the escaped patients + wring out cuddles like a filthy towel. that's good writing) and how you, the creator themselves needs to have ALL the ships and not just one. i feel that way too hard

can't wait for the revamp and the next volume, you're freaking cool as shit, stay silly :3

ANOTHER REALLY INTERESTING REACH, i've seen those quizzes before i think (or at least ones similar) and it's so cool that you found it and were hooked after checking it out!!!

i don't do stuff for the purpose of giving things "rep" but i try to be inclusive as much as i can without forcing things, i feel like it's important for stuff like otherkin to be normalized as well. stuff like xenogenders and neopronouns and being objectum or even the entire worldbuilding surrounding polyamorous relationships, all this stuff is personal to me because it's coming from my real life. i am everything i just listed there. i want to see people like me in my own characters, i've said before that a lot of the comic's contents come from me personally, especially in the AUs. for the main comic the projection is more situational, in cometcare/DM the projection is more direct and explicit from myself as a person.

i love shipping everything imaginable. i am playing touys. i love shipping it's nonsensical and fun and there's no harm in any of it

hope you'll enjoy the new site and v5 when they're released!!! :D

#answers

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beltransadie · 8 months ago

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Small tidbits about my Still Into You 2ha animatic

Coz it's April, exactly one year from now was when I started completing it and I'm in the mood now. + I don't think I made a proper one + it won the twitter poll

Check it out if you're interested... or not! I just want to dump my thoughts and fun facts that I thought of while making this.

To preface this, check them out if you haven't seen it yet: (Still Into You & Please Don't Leave Me)

If you've been hanging around my blog for a while, it's kinda evident that I did post a promo post for Still Into You back in January 2023. And that first part does have an in-depth explanation about what it covers (which is from the start to the first chorus).

If you're wondering why: TL;DR I can't work on An Act of Kindness coz I was back home from school for vacation and I thought of the idea during a trip.

Anyway, I ramble. Time to get to the actual discussion.

(spoilers!!) The Actual Discussion

Making the rest of Still Into You, unlike Mo Ran's feelings for CWN, was actually just straightforward. I already knew that it'd cover the rest of the book, given that I intentionally focused heavily on book 1 while making part 1.

Like part 1, part 2 was that type of animatic that just naturally flowed during the storyboarding and rough sketch process. The whole animatic is divided into three phases which covers the following: Book 1, Book 2 and 3, and lastly the Epilogue.

Book 1 I've already discussed in an earlier post here but I did find this interesting tidbit I wrote to my cousin:

Anyways the discussion:

Yeah I really wish I have a funny image to put here. I'm really enjoying looking back at my stuff and seeing my initial plans though.

Order at which I made each part.

One thing of note (and actually a common oversight I experience while doing storyboards coz I don't do timings) was that I storyboarded the frames when the vocals started and forgot the timings in between.

So I kinda had to fill the parts between part 1 and 2 last-ish? (don't really remember the proper timings).

Oh, oh! And another fun fact:

Still Into You Part 2 (Rough Draft)

Part 2 was initially done on my tablet in CSP so there's a whole different and rougher version of it. (pls lower the volume if you're wearing earphones)

Funnily enough, this took me like one sitting to finish and a whole lot of sessions to clean up. I do like this process though given that, around the time I drew this, I started leaning heavily into animation and prioritizing getting my thoughts across without care for cleanliness. (Something I felt held me back too much while making Please Don't Leave Me).

In fact, there are some obvious frames that I didn't really bother polishing up (mostly because they're too hard for me or they just flash by quickly). A glaring example is this frame from the third part:

Another fun fact about the scene where TXJ shows CWN the plant he's been raising is it's actually inspired off of a doodle I made for someone in the Two Lifetimes CSE back in April 16 2023.

I just really think that it's super adorable for them. Mo Ran in the the epilogue section alternates between TXJ and 2.0.

Aside from the plant, TXJ also appears in this frame which is inspired from one of the extras. Another silly intentional decision I did is to have him pour alcohol onto a cup and drink from the bottle.

Meanwhile 2.0 appears here:

The one on the left is also from (you guessed it) an extra! It's based from an offhand mention that CWN makes in one of them. (Let me know what your guesses are haha)

I kinda just jumped into the 3rd half of the song, huh? I hope my ramblings aren't too much! I just wanna let it flow naturally.

Returning to the topic of the storyboard, I really only had a rough idea of what I wanted for the 3rd half. The references to the extras and even Goutou's appearance just came when I was already putting it into frame. Like, this was what I initially had in mind for the 2nd chorus to the end.

I think one of the notable differences is that I initially planned on doing the half MR half CWN screen transition the same way i did with chorus 1 and 2 but decided against it. In retrospect, I think it fits a lot because both aren't divided anymore.

Something about the second verse + chorus of the song

Like in chorus 1 and chorus 3, this section of the song takes on a darker tone since it covers book 2 going into book 3. It's a lot to talk about so I'm gonna select a couple that I personally like that's worth mentioning and leave the rest to the viewers to guess.

Also sorry not sorry for those who got spoiled by the animatic lmao.

The confession scene

Another fun fact: The confession scene in Still Into You and Please Don't Leave Me are intentionally connected through the color palette.

It's just that Still Into You takes a dump at how it treats it. Yes, the stick figures are intentional. It adds to the funny and tbh Still Into You really is just a feel good animatic. The comedy also serves as a whiplash to the angst hell that is the chorus 🥰.

(Insert obligatory CWN running at a tree meme here)

My Favorite 2ha Moment

Gotta insert my favorite chapter here (ch 184) which I think is one of 2ha's peaks because it resolves CWN's doubts about MR's feelings all this times.

And I'm just soo glad I could incorporate it in an animatic because it's so important to me. AND Like, 'yknow, I think it echoes the song very well because guess what MR tells CWN then?

“It has always been you."

That one frame before the chorus

There's like this moment before the second chorus starts where MR tells CWN something. I wanted it to echo ch 207 where MR felt the pressure of having to reveal that he actually is reborn and has memories of his past life.

If this were animated I'd have had MR match the song and tell CWN "I'm still into you".

Anyways, here's the frame before it zooms in. Physically it's still at ch 207, but I wanted the shadows to imply what happens next which is the chorus.

Other Bonus stuff

Ran out of stuff I wanna gush about so Imma talk about cut content.

XM and the MHX twins are supposed to have more frames (I didn't include it because it felt like it had too much energy)

2. Ling'er and the village ranwan visits during farm arc is also supposed to make an appearance

3. I forgot to animate the butterflies

4. I was supposed to polish the sequence at 2:41 - 2:51 at one point.

5. Fuck ow

6. CWN was supposed to glomp MR at the reunion scene

7. You and I

anyways go watch it

#2ha #erha #ranwan #danmei

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saffronapplemanga · 2 years ago

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Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol - 天幕のジャードゥーガル

HISTORICAL, DRAMA

Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup

(1 volume, ongoing)

JP only. Hopefully, it gets licensed! Please hire me to translate this, publishing companies. The first 5 chapters are up for free in JP here.

Links to my other manga posts here

An Irani girl named Fatima who’s a captive of the Mongol Empire and uses her education to her advantage???

Hello, my name is Fatimah, I’m half Irani, and it’s finally my time >:)

I hope you guys are ready for history and cultural lessons! I worked really hard on this post and she’s a long one... I literally just came back from an Iran trip and got some books, took pictures, and consulted people who know more than me for this post (the trip wasn't for the post, that was a coincidence lolllll).

This series won first place in the オンナ編 (Female Category) for the このマンガがすごい！2023 / Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2023 / “This Manga is Amazing! 2023″. I’ve talked about the Male Category’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners. Check the links if you’re interested :)

This post will be broken up into the following sections - What's It About? - Some Background - Representation - My Localization Choices - Story - Art - Culture Time! - Let's Talk Religion - The First Word From God, "Read".

Enjoy!

What's It About?

I usually don't like to go into plot details too much so you can discover the story for yourself. But since it isn't currently accessible in English at all, I figured I’d summarize the first chapter so you at least know what it’s about. Then I’ll summarize the rest of the chapters in a spoiler section for those who are interested. That way, we can all be informed enough to discuss it. I might touch on themes or other things outside the first chapter in the discussion, but I’ll try to do it in a way that doesn’t spoil for those of you who want to wait and read it for yourselves.

Chapter 1

We kick off with a rather poetic reference to scholars using geometry to measure the earth and the idea of trying to quantify fate. In 13th-century Iran/Persia, in the city of Tous, we meet a family looking for a domestic worker. The family is a woman, Fatima, who is newly widowed, her son, Mohamed, and her brother. A slave trader offers her some options, but they are rather pricey. So he suggests she take a little girl, Sitara, for a heavily discounted price. The slave trader asks Fatima to educate Sitara since they are a scholarly family, so she does.

However, Sitara plays dumb to ensure her value as a slave stays low. That way, no one would bother taking her to faraway lands to sell her for higher prices as she wants to stay close to her home to try and go back. Sitara tries to sneak out and runs into Mohamed, who talks to her about why he thinks learning is so great. He inspires her to pursue an education so she can have the tools to handle whatever life throws at her. Mohamed wants to travel and learn from others to find the "truth" for himself. He promises Sitara that he'll write letters to her and his mother, which further inspires her to learn to read.

The chapter ends with Mohamed leaving Tous, and the narrator tells us it was the last time Mohamed and Sitara ever saw each other.

Chapters 2-5

I'm going to speed through the rest now that we got the setup out of the way.

***SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 2-5***

8 years have passed since Mohamed left and Sitara has been pursuing an education under the direction of Fatima and her brother. While the Tous army is investigating strange activity near their borders, Fatima shows Sitara some things her late husband left behind such as books and astrology tools.

As the Mongols are closing in on Tous, Fatima and Sitara hunker down in a cellar to wait the threat out. Unfortunately, they're found, and one of the Mongol princes takes a book that belonged to Fatima's late husband. Sitara tries to stand up to him, causing her to be attacked. Fatima takes the blow, saying, "Don't touch my daughter," before passing away.

Tous is razed to the ground, and its citizens killed or driven out and forced to march to the Mongol camp. Sitara finds out that the city of Neyshabur, the city Mohamed is studying at, was also attacked. His whereabouts are unknown.

Interestingly, the Mongol prince was specifically looking for the book he took since his fiance had asked him for it. However, the book is in Persian and they are unable to read it. Sitara meets a boy who is interpreting for the Mongols in an effort to make himself more useful to avoid becoming a meat shield in battles for them. While he can speak Mongolian and Persian, he can't read. But, Sitara can. He asks her to team up with him to help each other become more valuable to their capturers. Sitara will read the stolen book, and the boy will translate. He suggests she come up with a more "elegant" or "majestic" name before presenting herself to the Mongol princes. She steps into their tent and introduces herself as "Fatima".

***END OF SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 2-5***

Some Background

Quick disclaimer, I'm by no means an expert. A lot of this is what I know and what I've experienced. I might have to make some generalizations or else we're gonna be here all day.

I feel like I’m about to overshare but I want to offer my perspective on this series. I don’t get to do this often so indulge me please. This background is so you have an idea of some things that influenced my perspective on this story.

For those of you new around here, I'm a Kuwaiti/Irani-American, Japanese-to-English translator (I speak English, Arabic, and Japanese).

What that means more specifically is that I've grown up/lived in the U.S. my whole life, visiting Kuwait when we could, until I moved to Japan after college. My parents are both Kuwaiti with Kuwaiti fathers, born and raised, but both of their mothers are Irani. They know Farsi to varying degrees of fluency as a second language. I never learned it since their first language is Arabic and that was the language they focused on teaching me while living in the U.S. They usually spoke Farsi if they wanted to keep me and my brother out of a conversation between adults, rude. But I can sometimes pick up on some things being said. One of my best friends is Irani-American (Her name is also Fatimah! It's a ridiculously popular name) and our experiences are quite different, but there's overlap as well!

For those of you who don't know where Kuwait is. It's a tiny little country in the northern end of the Persian Gulf in Western Asia. FYI "Mina" in "Mina Al Ahmadi," which you can see on the map, means "port".

Most of our Kuwaiti relatives have Irani roots and some Turkish. There are a lot of ethnic groups in Kuwait because it started out as a port city that was a part of the Silk Road network. (I actually wanna study the Silk Road more!) So lots of people from all over gathered there. There are afro-Kuwaitis, those with blonde hair and blue eyes (my mom's relatives are like this), those with more East Asian features (my cousins), those with darker features (my dad's side), etc.

The Silk Road in the 1st century, courtesy of Wikipedia. You can see the route going through Kuwait. It was specifically part of the Maritime Silk Road route.

Because of all the trade, you can see the influences of many other regions in the food, clothes, language, culture, and so on.

But, yeah! History is cool.

Representation

I am indeed one of those people who is annoyingly passionate about representation. Like, I could write a whole Master’s dissertation on why it’s so important, but I’ll spare you… for now. More eloquent people have already done so anyways.

As you can imagine, I’m not used to seeing myself represented in media. And any representation I did get, was… well, how do I put this… not great? Bad™ actually. Beyond racist tbh. So can you blame me for being excited? I’m still mad about that one episode of Grey’s Anatomy when that girl whipped off her scarf/hijab to save a patient IN A FULLY STOCKED HOSPITAL!!! That would NEVER happen ;_; like imagine if you pulled your pants off to put pressure on a wound when the gauze is literally right there. I CAN’T, where do I even begin??? But I digress.

And even if I wasn’t a person from this culture, it’s just cool to see rep we don’t usually get! For example, Requiem of the Rose King is fresh in my mind right now, but having an intersex main character is not something I recall seeing. While not intersex myself, nor a noble from ye olde times, I related to Richard a lot and appreciate what the story did. I can see people from other cultures relating to Tenmaku no Jadoogar, or simply just learning new things about a culture we don’t get to see a lot of rep about.

My Localization Choices

There are no official spellings for this manga, so some explanations as to why I wrote things the way I did. Thankfully, these are all real-world names with context, so I'm not pulling nonsense out of thin air. Localizing uncommon/made-up names is... hard... traumatic flashbacks to when I had to look up official spellings for Gundam and Kamen Rider and the client didn't give me glossaries... Literally did research about Sypha Belnandes' name localization being all over the place for this blog post. Spoiler, I don’t think it was supposed to be Belnandes.

It really be like that...

Sitara - シタラ "Shitara". This isn't a name I was familiar with, so I asked my mom and Irani-American friend if it sounded like a name they knew. I wanted to say "Sitra" sounds like something that has a more "West Asian pronunciation" than the Japanese pronunciation in the manga. I was wrong and it's "Sitara" which means "star" just like what they said in the story.

Fatima - ファーティマ "Fātima". Same as my name! It's a super popular name. I katakana-fied my name as ファティーマ, which is the same, I just put the dash that elongates the sound in a different place. Why? Fatima is an Arabic name فَاطِمَة. In classical Arabic, it's pronounced like Fā-dtee-ma or Fadt-ma in Kuwaiti Arabic (the letter طِ doesn't exist in EN/JP and the best way I can describe it is it's like D+T sound.) An Irani pronunciation is more like Fā-teh-meh, which is what my grandma and Irani-American friends call me. In English, I personally pronounce my name like Fuh-tee-ma, but people have various preferences. So basically, I took the Arabic and English pronunciations and katakana-fied it how I thought it would sound best in Japanese. And no one has ever pronounced my name wrong in Japan since katakana is phonetic and is actually pronounced how it's spelled. Wild I know. Meanwhile in the U.S. ... *cries* I have a half-Irani-half-Japanese acquaintance who doesn't put any elongated sound in her name like ファティマ, and it's all just preference tbh. There are also different ways you can spell it in English, but "Fatima" is the most common way.

Mohamed - モハンマド "Mohanmado". This one is pretty straightforward. I think most people are familiar with this name. Also super popular. There are various English spellings as well, so I just went with a common, shorter spelling (manga bubble space is limited after all, haha).

The title, 天幕のジャードゥーガル Tenmaku no Jadougal (this is how it's romanized on anilist), also doesn't have an official translation. It basically translates to Witch of the Marquee. Tenmaku="tent/marquee" in Japanese. ジャードゥーガル comes from جادوگر "jadoogar" meaning "witch" in Farsi. The romanization of the title should actually be Tenmaku no Jadoogar. There is no "L" in Japanese, so it often becomes "R". In Japanese, ジャードゥーガル is "Jādoogaru". Without context, it's often hard to tell if it's supposed to be "L" or "R" so I don't blame them for the mistake. But yeah, that's why I wrote it as Tenmaku no Jadoogar for the title at the top of the post. How do I contact the anilist admins about correcting that? The way my brain is short-circuiting trying to combine Japanese, English, my nonexistent Arabic reading skills since Farsi uses basically the same alphabet, and consulting my Farsi "sources"... my brain can only handle two of the three languages I speak at the same time...

Shout out to Fatimah #2 for putting up with all my questions <3 Farsi has some extra letters that aren't in Arabic and I didn't know about that one...

Story

I’m starting to realize that I really dig historical fiction. Things like Requiem of the Rose King (current read, I'm obsessed), Vinland Saga, Bride’s Story (a priority TBR of mine), and Ertugrul (this one is a Turkish drama, highly recommend!) are so fascinating because we get to take a peek at what life used to be like, especially if the author did their homework. This story reminds me of Ertugrul at times since they both take place in West Asia during the 13th century, and the characters in both had run-ins with the Mongols.

This baddie took out three Mongolian soldiers on her own!!! Well, her horse helped. Horses are great. I'm a horse girl, literally took riding lessons for ~4 years.

I found out while researching for this post that this story is in fact based on a real person in history! Here's the Wikipedia page, more info here by Dr. Jack Weatherford who wrote a book that I'm totally going to read once I can get my hands on it. I think this manga is going in a similar vein as Vinland Saga where the events are real historical events, and some characters were actual people in history, but the author is going to take creative liberties. (Check out Merphy Napier and Philip Chase's Vinland Saga discussions. They're great and Philip has a lot of historical knowledge relevant to that series that's super informative!)

The characters are lovable and interesting. I like Sitara's spunk, Mohamed's thoughtfulness, and Fatima's gentle nature, just to name a few. The relationship Sitara has with Mohamed and Fatima was very sweet. I'm interested to see how the relationship that I mentioned at the end of chapter 5 goes. Also intrigued by the bits of relationship dynamics with the Mongolian characters we have so far.

I got super excited when the theme of "learning/education" came up. Seeing how that looked back in 13th-century Persia which was a hotspot for advances in many fields is so cool! This story led me to do some research and asking around on topics I was familiar with, but not an expert on, and I learned things about my own culture/religion. More on learning and education later. But overall, a strong start and I can't wait to read more!

Art

My twitter reading thread for this series

The art is very stylized, like a chibi-esque style with Persian art influences. I like the contrast between the simplified shapes and the detailed bits. I’m a big fan of inky blacks and white whites. I know all manga is black and white but this one feels like it has more contrast due to the simplified shapes. It's got tons of charm!

The shoujo-esque flowery background, but make it Irani-flavored✨ It looks like the rug we got in Iran!

Some pictures I took at historical sites in Tehran with more examples of flowery imagery. Sorry if the image quality sucks, I didn't have my good camera :(

Culture Time!

As soon as I saw this cover, I felt a sense of familiarity. Particularly, the style of henna on her hands made me go, “Hey! That’s similar to how we do our henna!” While we also do the mehndi style henna (Is that the right term? Help) in Kuwait because of Indian influences due to longtime trade, we have another kind as well. You take the paste and hold it in your hands while curling your fingertips into it.

I had such a hard time finding pics that weren’t the intricate mehndi design ones. I would’ve just put henna on my own hands and taken a pic to show what I’m talking about, but it’s winter and it’s not good to use henna in winter because it has a cooling effect. I put henna on in winter once, and it made me so much colder. But makes you feel nice and cool in the summer! That’s why it’s traditionally applied to the head, hands, and feet, which are places you have a lot of heat dissipate from and it saps the heat away. I remember my mom doing that for me and my brother all the time when we were little during summer.

But! With the help of my mom, she helped me narrow it down. I didn't know the actual name of this style of henna. I just called it Kuwaiti-style henna lol. Apparently, it's حنه قصعة henna gasa'a, and bingo!

It doesn't show super well here, but the tops of the fingertips are also dyed like on the cover of the manga. Love that nazar ring though, so cute! 🧿

This is the mehndi style henna that people are most familiar with.

When I was little, I assumed that henna was made from soil because there are soils that can dye things a reddish color. But it's actually from a plant! The leaves are ground into a powder and then made into a paste when you want to use it.

Health, cleanliness, and hygiene are big deals in Islam. Other than being used for beauty and it’s cooling effect, henna is also used to keep oneself clean and smelling nice. It’s said that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) utilized henna as well.

I actually didn't know much about Iran's henna culture. When I asked my Irani-American friend whose family is from Tehran (northern Iran), she said she wasn't familiar with any. But like Kuwait, Iran has a lot of ethnic groups. It's also a large region (it used to be a whole empire and all that, too), so there are definitely people who do use it!

Turkmen Iranis, dying their fingertips with henna, exactly like in the manga! My family are Turk, too! (From a book I picked up a few days ago in Iran, "Nomads: Migrating with Swallows". What a pretty title...)

The clothing of the characters also felt very familiar. The cover of volume one reminded me of this picture:

Maku Kurd girl ("Nomads: Migrating with Swallows")

Iran grows tons of fruit, herbs, and flowers, famously roses! Rose water is a staple we pretty much always had at home.

Rose water is used for medicinal purposes and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities. People often wash up with it since it has a lovely fragrance and makes you smell nice. It's also used in foods and desserts or added to drinking water for flavor and health benefits.

Sitara bringing Fatima rose water. It looks just like this 12th-century rose water container. We still have containers like this nowadays and I actually used one to wash my hands recently.

Faloodeh (Persian Lime and Rose Water Granita With Rice Noodles), Bastani Sonati (Saffron and Rose Water Ice Cream), in Kuwait we say Sharbat Nimil but apparently, it's Tokhm-e Sharbatie in Iran (Rose Water and Basil Seed Drink) Fun fact: Sharbat Nimil means "ant drink" because the seeds look like... ants... and the thought freaked me out as a kid, I never wanted to drink it. I thought my aunt was messing with me but my parents said, "Yeah, no, that's actually what it's called."

Dates! Another staple. Always have some in the house.

These are ripe dates. We call them "tamar". Sweet, delicious, amazing.

These are fresh dates! We call them "khalal". Sweet, crunchy, amazing.

The architecture was also, you guessed it, familiar as well. Particularly the courtyards! It really took me back.

Courtyards! My Irani grandma (also Fatima, I told you it was a popular name...) had a courtyard home in Kuwait too, but less fancy, and she had a huge date tree instead of a fountain. We would play there all the time when we visited. Also reminds me of the houses in some of the Irani movies I've seen.

Let's Talk Religion

I know religion is historically always a fun and totally not divisive topic, but we're all going to be civil and discuss stuff like adults. I'm not trying to convert anyone, I swear. Chasing after people and forcing religion down their throats is actually frowned upon in Islam believe it or not. I’m also not saying it’s a better religion than others or anything of the sort so don’t come for me. It's just relevant to the story and I'm hoping we can interact in good faith, so let's talk.

I am NOT a scholar, this is just what I know and my understanding so please don't quote me. I probably have to gloss over and simplify a lot because there's... too much.

There are various interpretations of Islam. The Quran, to my understanding, is meant to have its interpretations evolve over time to address the issues of people no matter the time or place. Issues faced centuries ago might not be as pressing now, or we might have new issues today that weren't a thing back in the day. Iranians mainly practice Shia Islam, which is also the sect I know most about so that's what we're focusing on.

Islam is the fastest-growing religion. It's also quite misunderstood due to hate/misinformation, AND — I'm gonna just say it — there are Muslims who have skewed interpretations of Islam's teachings. Am I the perfect Muslim and my interpretations are law? I didn't say that, obviously not. But I'm going to call it how I see it. I don't take sides and I'm not going to defend someone just because they identify as Muslim if they're doing stuff that doesn't make sense (that would be un-Islamic and just... dumb imo). But anyway, there are a few points I’d like to touch on so we all have a base understanding.

Many people think that Allah (SWT) is “the Muslim god” but actually, he’s the same god that brought down the Bible and Torah. He's just... God. This is why you’ll see a lot of crossover between these religions. And Christian Arabs, for example, say Allah because that’s just God in Arabic.

Why did God come up with different religions? It’s my understanding each religion was what the people needed at the time. (Also because of the next point.)

Muslims DO believe in the original Bible and Torah, but historically there's evidence that these books have been altered by people over the years. (Again, I'm not saying your religion is wrong if you're Christian or Jewish. You do you.) Then what about the Quran? I’ll actually address that later.

Muslims DO believe in Jesus. We just think he's a prophet instead of the son of God or God.

Cool? Cool.

Now to address some religion-related things that came up in the story.

The part where there is the selling of slaves made me raise an eyebrow since slavery is not allowed in Islam, because, duh.

I did some research and asked around. I was able to talk to my Irani-American friend's aunt when I visited them during my Iran trip last week since she's studied this kind of stuff. She joked that I should save myself the trouble and not touch the slavery topic, especially with Americans since it's... like... a super touchy topic. But this is an important topic and we should talk about important topics instead of shying away from them. Respectfully, of course. And maybe we can all learn something. It was a perspective on slavery that was very different from what I'm used to hearing about in the U.S. She essentially confirmed what I was thinking.

The Quran envisions the ideal society as one in which slavery no longer exists. Since slavery was such a widespread issue around the whole world back in the olden days, (it still is an issue today, but I'm assuming it was worse back then) it was unfortunately unrealistic to try and abolish it in one fell swoop. Again, this isn’t just abolishing in one country or region, but tackling the issue worldwide. So, in Islam, the idea is that there are steps in place to phase it out. For example:

No free people can be enslaved, duh.

People cannot be enslaved due to debt or crime.

You are encouraged to help slaves buy their way to freedom by giving them money to do so or buying them to free them.

If you are in possession of a slave, you should free them.

If you house a slave, you must treat them well.

This last one is just an interesting thing I didn’t know about that I saw in my research and it came up in the story — Slaves get half the punishment for a sin than if the same sin was committed by a free person.

I wondered why then, did Fatima's family not free Sitara and the other slaves? It didn’t look like they had anything stopping them from running away either. Sure, Sitara got scolded by another slave for trying to leave, but she could have tried again and run away. The other slaves in the story seemed like they wanted to/were okay with staying, even though they did wish they could go home and felt homesick. So what’s up?

It's my understanding that back then, it was common for people to take slaves into their families, sometimes even presenting the option of marriage into the family if they were interested, and offering shelter and and education. It was a way to take them off the streets, away from the slave traders, and keep them safe.

Why not just take everyone back to their homes? Various reasons. They might be in danger if they try to go back. They might not have anywhere to go back to. Also, this was the 13th century. It's not like they could just hop on a plane and go home. There's also no law enforcement the way we have today. Hell, even with all the local and international law enforcement of today, slavery is still a major issue.

Sitara wants to go home but has no home to go back to.

Is this ideal? As I mentioned, ideally slavery wouldn't even be a thing. I’m pretty sure we can all agree slavery=bad. I'm not here to argue that. But I also think it's important to try and understand what things were like back then and why people did what they did. A lot of times I see people measure things with their standards that were developed in modern day, with their own life experience. You need to be careful when doing that. I'm sure in the future, people will look back at us like, "Damn, y'all lived like that???"

Perhaps, this was the best the average person could do. Try to protect them and offer them shelter and an education. As long as we don’t live in an ideal world, we need to consider various solutions to issues. So this was an interesting way to try and tackle the issue given the time and circumstances. It’s rather different from what I think most Americans know about this subject.

Did everyone do this? I'm going to say probably not. Terrible people always exist. Plus there are plenty of people who say they practice a religion, but cherry-pick what they want to follow, do the opposite, have distorted understandings of its teachings, or just downright weaponize religion to suit them. That's a whole other discussion though, so I'll leave it there.

I would like to read more about this topic though, so if anyone knows any sources, let me know!

The First Word From God - "Read"

"Slave or not, it is a Muslim's duty to seek knowledge, as stated in the hadiths."

What's a hadith? Here you go. Also, this is the OG Fatima, Lady Fatima (PBUH).

When God first sent the angel Gabriel down to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his first word to him was, "read". Education and seeking knowledge are SUPER important in Islam, and should not be kept from anyone regardless of race, gender, social standing, etc. Seeking knowledge will make you a more rational, well-rounded person. Knowledge in this context is broad and all-encompassing. It doesn't only mean religion, math, and science, but philosophy, art, and so on. Literally anything. I hope I don't really need to convince anyone that education is a human right and empowering and all that stuff, so let's keep it moving.

"Isn't that what learning is all about?"

To address this earlier point:

Muslims DO believe in the original Bible and Torah, but historically there's evidence that these books have been altered by people over the years. Then what about the Quran?

Tbh, I hesitated to include this part because people might misinterpret or take offense. To reiterate for the umpteenth time, I'm not saying your religion is wrong if you're Christian or Jewish. You do you. We’re actually told to respect believers of these religions. I swear!

So, yeah. Moving on.

Another reason seeking knowledge is an obligation in Islam is so that you are able to read the Quran for yourself. When loads of people read it, memorize it, and are familiar with it, any changes will not go unnoticed. This is to stop people from weaponizing and distorting the Quran's teachings. And this is why there is only ONE Quran, and not multiple versions (I’m not talking about translated Qurans). Modern-day Qurans match the oldest Qurans. They haven't changed.

In general, having knowledge about things makes you less susceptible to being lied to or misled, regardless of the topic. Unfortunately, I'm in the camp where I believe not enough people do their own research and reading. And again, I don't just mean religion, but everything. That kind of thing takes effort, and effort is hard.

Go read!

You're Still Here?

Like the first-place winner for the Male Category, The Summer Hikaru Died, which I’ve been pushing on anyone who will listen since volume one hit bookstores in Japan, Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol deserves to win the Female Category. From what I can see so far, it’s well researched and written with love. I'm looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds and I may add more thoughts as we go.

Volume 2 is due to come out February 16th, so I’ll be tweeting my thoughts on my reading thread. The link to this post is on Twitter here if you want to share it there. EDIT: Volume 2 post is up!

If there's anything else you'd like to see me discuss or expand on, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'd love to hear what others think!

I await your email publishers, my resume is ready... [email protected]

🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿

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If there’s any Japanese-only manga you want me to check out, let me know! No promises, I’ll only read what I’m interested in, but I’ll take suggestions into consideration. Preferably, shorter manga or newer manga with a few volumes out since I like to take breaks from longer series I’m reading :)

#天幕のジャードゥーガル #Tenmaku no Jadougal #A Witch’s Life in Mongol #manga recs #manga #漫画 #おすすめ #Tenmaku no Jadoogar #manga recommendation #kono manga ga sugoi #このマンガがすごい #manga discussion #shoujosei #josei #josei manga

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blue-scorpion-king · 1 year ago

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RWBY is not dead, just on uncertain waters at the moment.

I am getting this out there for you all in this fandom who are feeling uncertain and scared for RWBY right now.

And maybe in the near future this fall and winter.

Or maybe even next year, in 2024.

And spoilers for RWBY up ahead.

RWBY is not dead.

Rooster Teeth did not cancel it or else, everyone would have been talking about it and I would , even at an later date from that hypothetical, disheartening announcement.

I ain't all that worried from V10 from getting greenlight at RTX this year, which was last month from this post being made.

Why? Crunchyroll might have made a deal with RT on V10 being greenlit AFTER the RWBY X DC crossover movie's 2nd part get released.

I know that it is speculation right now, but that is a high possibility.

Alongside that Red Vs Blue is still going, Let's Play is still up, and they are still being talked about.

By both fans, non-fans, and haters.

Even with their failings and all that. They still have to make money at the end of the day and go for supply and demand, even with having to make compromises.

But, as it stands right now, as we are in yet another RWBY hiatus, as it is the norm, just a little more uncertain than the other hiatuses-

We don't really know.

But, I don't think we should be really be worried about RWBY being 'dead' just because

Do keep going at it at trying to convince RT to finish RWBY by releasing V10 and onwards, which could be finished in 2 to 3 volumes. 2 to 3 years I think.

And always remember what the message of Ruby Rose to all of the world in V8 did to its people, which got shown at the end of V9.

She brought hope to all of

Even in this uncertain time of fear, despair, anger and bitterness of 'what could have been' for this fandom, especially with the massively uncertain time when Monty Oum died 8 years ago (R.I.P. always), and business happenings that we don't know, that are not being said online, all of that-

Don't give up hope.

Even if in a decade or two, when RWBY continues after an hypothetical hiatus that spanned sooo long.

And perhaps the writing on the wall of RWBY being 'dead' or 'dying' was written by those who have given up and not given hope to those who want to watch RWBY and enjoy it for what it is.

Even when they have left the series.

Even with those who think hope is a dangerous thing and can drive someone insane.

And get an man's project finished for all to experience. I don't know the full vision of Monty Oum and I wouldn't pretend that I do.

But, his story getting out there and being understood and cherished, even with life's ups and downs, even with him being dead, is what I think he would want as he was making it.

And that's all I have to say on this matter.

So, we will continue to wait for the day we all have been waiting for and the revolution that Team RWBY and friends bring to Remnant against the walking *cancer* witch, that is Salem.

When that days does come-

~Hades-Hando~

#blue-scorpion-king #ooc #ooc post #rwby #uncertainty #hope #greenlight volume 10

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yourforeverokay · 2 years ago

Text

The Meaning Behind the Song (Elvis Presley x Reader) pt. 1

word count: 1,4k

summary: A new life is waiting for you in Memphis, Tennessee as you take off with your car. You face some troubles on the way there, but luckily you meet a handsome boy insisting to help you.

a/n: Hey my loves! I've decided to start a new series and I'm very excited! This doesn't mean that I won't continue What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, this only means that I will post more for you guys. I hope you like the start of this series and accept it with open arms. And as always, you can imagine Elvis, Austin or Austin!Elvis as the character, it's all up to you! I hope you enjoy the start of a new beginning and a new story. Thank you <3

A new life - that's what you were going towards to. Chasing dreams were either going to get you on stage in front of shining lights and adoration from people who loved your art. It could also crush you and leave you for dead. You knew the risks of this field and you knew that you would have to deal with any kinds of consequences that you would face during your journey, but you were ready. Ready to take the next step, ready to take the leap and ready to do what you actually love. That's why you were currently on your way to Memphis, Tennessee. 'Let the story begin' You thought to yourself as you started the engine in your car and left your old life behind.

You couldn't believe it. You were on your way to a new city and to your new apartment which was located in a small and isolated town called Memphis. You had met Sam Phillips, the producer of Sun Records, in your home town when he was looking for new talents for his up-and-coming recording studio. It was the only chance for you to try to show your talents to the world, and you couldn't miss it. It was just you and your guitar, head filled with big dreams. Luckily Sam Phillips loved your song and performance so you immediately got signed in. He gave you one requirement though. "You need to move to Memphis or else the business won't work. You have two weeks." He said after shaking your hand.

So here you were, in your father's old car driving yourself to Memphis with only two bags, a guitar and a lot of hope. The car ride was going to be long but with the excitement bubbling in your stomach, you could not care less about it. The radio was blasting country songs and the volume was on the highest level. As you were arriving closer to Memphis, the radio started to play local songs from none other than the Sun Records. "And now let us hear the new single released by the Sun Records 'That's All Right'" Suddenly an old song you loved played through the radio but it wasn't what you were expecting it to be. It was different, but in a good way. A young boy sang the song with such passion and talent that you were immediately interested. You started tapping your finger against the steering wheel and sang the lyrics with the boy.

"That's all right now mama, anyway you do"

You put your sunglasses on and put your foot on the gas petal as the wind blew your hair back. You had your 2nd best clothes on (1st were reserved for the first official meeting with Sam Phillips) because you wanted to give a good first impression to your neighbors. You were wearing a white dress, red sunglasses that had thick frames and some red heels. You had your nails painted cherry red and you had also bought a new lipstick that you had on. The name of the lipstick was "The Kiss of Lust" which your mother did not approve but she let you buy it anyways. As the radio was playing, the wind blowing and the sun shining, suddenly a bump on the road took you off your thoughts. The car started to slow down and confusion took over your mind. 'What on earth was that' You thought to yourself. Your father's car completely stopped and as you tried to restart it, it wouldn't bug. You stepped out of the car and saw a flat tire. "Oh, no no no. This can't be happening to me!" You cried as you tried to look for housing close to by. You needed help from anybody but you didn't see no houses or anything close by. You sat back in your car and the tears started falling. 'Not today'

"Excuse me miss!"

You had cried so loudly for tens of minutes that you hadn't heard a car pull up next to you. You looked to your left and saw a truck that said Crown Electric CO. on the side of it. You then turned your head to look at the driver and my god, was he dreamy. A young man with dark hair and ocean blue eyes, was sitting on the driver's seat and his hand was resting on the opened window. "Miss, ya look like you're in some big trouble ther' ." His voice was deep, but smooth. His voice mesmerized you but also you couldn't help but to wonder why it sounded so familiar. You pushed the thought out of your mind since you were in a hurry. "Oh, yes! I seem to have a flat tire but I don't know how to fix it since I don't have a spare tire." You answered. You were lucky you had your sunglasses on since the crying probably made your eyes puffy. The man got out of his car and he was taller than you had expected. "Mind if I look at it, miss?" He asked very politely. He called you miss even though you both looked the same age, about 18. He looked and observed the tire for a minute, went back to his truck and took a brand new tire out of the trunk. He then rolled his sleeves and got to work. You were amazed. A handsome boy was changing your tire, with sweat dripping from his forehead. You couldn't help but bite your lower lip as you watched him fix your car. In minutes, the tire was changed and you were ready to continue your trip.

Before you did that, you had to get this boy's name, even though you were probably never going to meet again. "Thank you so much for helping me! But I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name?" You informed him as you stood up from the seat of your car. "My name is Elvis Presley and it was my pleasure to help you miss.." "Y/L/N, but just call me Y/N." You smiled at him sweetly and he returned the smile. He offered his hand for you to shake, but for your surprise, he kissed the top hand like a true gentleman. You cheeks turned as red as your sunglasses while he gave you a cheeky smile. You stood there for a second, lost in his eyes, while he was still holding your hand. "Could you wait for a second?" You asked Elvis as your hand left his and you turned to walk towards your car. "Oh I could wait all day for ya, sugar." He said with a smug look on his face as your head turned to look at him while your legs kept moving. You shook your head, dumbfounded, not knowing how to reply to that comment. You bent over the door of your car and grabbed some paper you could find and a pen from your purse. You then wrote your number and your name, with a heart, on a tiny piece of bubblegum wrapper and then you walked back over to him. "This is for you." You handed him the wrapper as he looked what was written on it. "As way of showing my gratitude, Elvis." You smiled at him and walked back over to your car, now to sit in it.

"I'm sorry, but I need to continue my trip now. " You said to him, with a hint of sadness in your voice. The uncertainty of not knowing if he would ever call you washed your thoughts but you did not let the boy see it. You wanted to seem confident...and sexy. As you started your engine, Elvis stopped you for a brief second by taking a hold of the car door. "I'll call ya, I promise. Until next time, honey." He then winked his eye at you and walked back to his truck. You were shocked, but incredibly pleased, with his flirting since the guys back home didn't do it as much (or as well). The red on your face couldn't get any worse so you left the scene, hoping to meet that boy again.

"Bye Elvis!" You yelled while waving your hand, not looking back, from your speeding car as you disappeared far into the distance.

#elvis presley #elvis film #austin butler elvis #elvis imagine #elvisaaronpresley #elvis x reader #elvis 2022 #austin elvis x reader #austin butler x reader #austin butler imagines #austin butler #austin!elvis x reader #elvis baz luhrmann #baz luhrmann elvis #elvis x y/n #elvis presley fluff #elvis x you #austin x reader #austin elvis imagine

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