#i love seeing tags of people thinking of makoto. its SO funny.

[samarecharm]

How is that old comic getting notes again 😭

[azucarian]

NEFELIBATA - Takuya Birthday Special

Masterlist No content/trigger warning. Extreme fluff <3

Takuya had grown upset at the possibility of his birthday being forgotten; especially considering his two childhood friends hadn't even raised so much as a 'happy birthday' to him. It's not like he particularly expected a gift - although it definitely would be nice. Tapping his pencil against the desk, he frowned - (Name) was the most attentive person he knew and even she had forgotten? Maybe he failed in making it known beforehand. At this point, he just wanted to go home and curl up into a ball with the birthday cake his mother had baked him.

Now that he thought about it, Makoto had an obsession with the western zodiacs - he always looked on those weird 'zodiac luckiness' websites. Cancer, that's what Takuya's zodiac was - the zodiac of the crab. His 'aligned' personality was about him being loving and full of emotions - but also moody, suspicious and overprotective. He was not moody, he'd like to believe. The thought made him grumpy-

Ah, wait, that'd be right then.

He mentally groaned as the bell signalling the end of the day sounded, and his phone let out the identifiable ping to tell him he'd received a message. Flipping his phone up, (Name)'s contact popped up.

(NAME)-CHAN Mizo Middle headin' out early - we'll see you later Taku-chan! Byebye!

So they had truly forgotten. Takuya felt himself visibly deflate; there goes his final slither of hope. He shrugged, at least he had all of that cake to himself. He began his journey home; the train ride being oddly silent - usually the group of them would rambunctiously play whilst (Name), Akkun and himself would stare judgingly. Until (Name) got annoyed with all the stares from the elderly people and try to beat them up. For someone who didn't fight, Takuya could admit that the girl punched way too hard.

Coming home to an empty house was normal; his parents worked long jobs to provide for them (he actually appreciated their evening absences because of Kiyomasa and his gang, but he no longer feared any of that). But it felt much more empty as he slipped his shoes off- Wait, those definitely were not his shoes.

Sloppily hidden amongst the eco-friendly tote bags, five pairs of shoes were stacked. Four pairs of messy trainers, and one pair of remotely looked after converses. He nearly laughed - so they were here. A surprise birthday party, he guessed. The idiot trio must've gotten side tracked and, in a hurry, (Name) or Akkun shoved the shoes to the side and threw the totes over them.

Takuya guessed he'd humour them after all their effort. Slipping his indoor slides onto his feet and hanging his bag up on the door, he slowly made his way to the living room - and, upon entering the dark room, the lights suddenly flicked on and the distinct sound of party poppers filled his ears (and kind of scaring him, admittedly).

"Happy birthday!" The collective cheer of each person brought a grin to his face; regardless of the under-planned surprise element, he couldn't contain his smile at the sight. Kazushi, Makoto and Takemichi each had several party hats decorating their heads - almost as if they were trying to imitate a crown. Akkun was off to the side with a bright grin and a party popper in his hand. (Name), however, wasn't in sight.

He was about to open his mouth to ask where she was when someone jumped onto his back, arms around his neck "Happy birthday, Taku-chan!" The familiarly cheery voice made him laugh, and he softly thanked them all. The girl of the group eagerly dragged him towards their paper cut out of a birthday cake laid out on the table, surrounded by gifts.

Takuya slowly opened each of them.

From Akkun, a new controller for his gaming console - the boy explaining it as a 'new' method for everyone to play together, instead of taking turns with one controller. He appreciated it, and smiled softly before gently placing it back in the box (promising that he'd play with Atsushi first and foremost).From Makoto, a porn magazine - he slightly sneered at the gift, and the dumb(est) boy began to whine and cry about how 'Takuya didn't like his gift'. Even (Name) sneered and appropriately smacked Makoto on the back of the head with an apologetic smile towards Takuya. The blonde just shook his head and thanked the boy reluctantly (he had definitely thought more of himself instead of Takuya - but it was funny regardless, both Kazushi and Takemichi seemed to think so, too).From Kazushi, a bunch of notebooks, pens and pencils - explaining it to him as a new hobby to pick up. According to him, Takuya looked like the 'artsy poet' type (admittedly, he couldn't help but agree). He tested the glittery gel pens on one of the note books and grinned - they were extremely pretty, perfect for exam note-taking too. He placed them to the side delicately and expressed his gratitude.

He couldn't help but side-eye Takemichi and (Name). Takemichi was someone who would buy an extremely expensively thoughtful gift - it always made him feel guilty for weeks after, because the determined blonde would never allow Takuya to repay him. And (Name)… he visibly sweated. She had no taste in gift giving, and her gift was probably going to be worse than Makoto's - appropriate, but worse. They all exchanged knowing glances as the girl turned around to push Takemichi's gift towards him.

Takemichi had gotten a choker chain; and, as expected, it looked expensive. On the front, 'TAKUYA' was written in cursive with two ruby colored stones either side - if he remembered ride, a ruby was his birthstone. He almost verbally awed, but, instead, opted for hugging Takemichi tightly with an over-the-top thank you. The bleached blonde looked very happy at Takuya's joy."It's time for my gift now, right?" (Name) cheerily reminded, pushing a large box forward "Don't be surprised; I asked for your parents permission too." What? Takuya rose an eyebrow. Parents permission? Whatever it was, the other four didn't seem to know either - they looked just as confused.

She raced out of the room for a few moments before returning with her head poked around the door, hiding her arms behind the door frame "Don't freak out, we have to be quiet." They all nodded "Promise?"

"Promise." They all quietly spoke, and Takuya could feel himself get slightly giddy. Whatever this was, he was excited - and he hoped he wasn't disappointed (he wouldn't be, regardless, because he'd get to jokingly bully her for a bad gift for the rest of her life). She slowly turned and walked in, and the bundle in her arms nearly sent him into cardiac arrest.

The cutest puppy was excitedly wagging its tail in her grip, adoringly staring at its new friends jovially. (Name) crouched down and softly placed it against the floor, and they all watched as it clumsily stumbled towards the closest human - Takuya himself. Pressing its wet nose against his arm, its little butt wiggled with the force of its tail.

"How- wha- I don't know how to react-" For the first time in a while, the group watched as an awe-stricken and very visibly shocked Takuya brought the puppy into his arms. (Name) laughed and slid to the floor beside him, gently patting the puppy.

"I spoke to your parents the other day before school about it; they said it'd probably do you good, especially with summer break comin' up. Keep you company, and you can go on walks with her." She explained whilst watching as the other four crowded round, each taking a turn at stroking the soft puppy.

"How the hell did you get her here?" Akkun questioned. It made all of them wonder; yeah, how? She had been with them all day, so how on Earth had she gotten a puppy to Takuya's house without them realising?

(Name) snorted "I asked Mikey-chan and Ken-kun to bring her; they put her in your room, in one of those play pens. Cute little thing was fast asleep but woke up straight away when hearing the door open. She was so excited." Takuya was so in love with this adorable creature that had found its new home in his arms "She ain't got a name, so that's up to you." He lit up, and the group laughed at his expression.

"Rocky." The name sent embarrassment into (Name)'s system, as she profusely rejected the name - completely being ignored by a cackling Takuya.

"Huh, what's so bad about Rocky? Rocky-chan is so cute!" Kazushi protested.

"It's Rocky because the last time me and (Name) hung out alone together, she fell into the river because of the rocks." The laughter from everyone was enough to make (Name) hide her face in her hands, muttering a 'I hate you' endearingly under her breath.

With his new friend and playmate in his hands, Takuya could wholeheartedly say... THIS WAS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.

TAG LIST @dot0nix @starsandkeysruler @hikkarins @valbedo @notsodeadgirlwalking​

Feel free to ask to be added to the tag list!

HAPPY TAKUYA DAY!! Honestly, as a character, Takuya grew on me progressively - I didn’t like him much when I first started but he definitely got my heart </3 He’s so pretty and sweet (totally didn't mistake him for Mikey at the beginning lmao) ~

A proper update will come out over the weekend - I’m currently looking for work so interviews have been taking up a lot of time. I promise it’ll be out tomorrow/over the weekend! I love you all!

[nengojo]

Could we please get some relationship headcanons for Ann, Makoto, Futaba and Haru?

i kinda went overboard and wrote more than I expected... but i am a sap for relationship hcs!! also saw that 4/23 is makoto’s bday, which is very cool and convenient for me hehe ,, hope you like this <33

word count: 1.549 warnings: SLIGHT STORY SPOILER IN HARU'S PART tags/genre: fluff, just all of it

requests are open!

Takamaki Ann

She loves to pamper you. Be it buying you stuff, treating you her favorite desserts, or staying over at your place and dressing you up with cute outfits. You try to do the same for her and she enjoys it as well.

A LOT of PDA, though it’s not over the top. She’d pepper kisses all over your face whenever she’s excited. Or always bury her face in your neck whenever she needs to be closer to you.

Even though Ann hasn’t dated anyone before you, she definitely learned and read up on how to be the best girlfriend. Probably read those relationships magazines (she denies it though)

Ann prefers simpler dates at the park or karaoke, but she wouldn’t mind making reservations for fancier restaurants if there’s an occasion. Would definitely choose buffets over the 5-star restaurant though.

Speaking of occasions, she’s the type to have celebrations for every little thing you guys do together as a couple. It can range from monthsaries, your first beach date, or your first night together. Ann keeps trinkets with her from every date you two go on.

Ann always has you on her mind. If she sees a new cheesecake shop, she buys it thinking that you would enjoy sharing it with her. When she saw cute phone charms, she bought a pair so you and her would have a “couple-y” item.

Would be into double dates, she doesn’t say it, but it definitely comes from her competitive side of showing off. Ann wants everyone to know she’s dating the best person ever. 💕

Introduces you to her parents through Skype. Ann says she couldn’t wait till her parents come back from their trips, so you could properly meet them. She quells your nervousness by saying that they already approved of you.

Petnames are minimal, but it’s very sweet when she does use them with you. You think it’s because she enjoys the flustered expression on your face when she calls you “baby” or “sweetie”.

Ann’s just a proud girlfriend! Be ready to be treated like the royalty you are, as you made her feel her worth once more.

Niijima Makoto

Similar to Ann, she values your relationship and you greatly. Makoto would be careful as possible around you. Always tending to your needs, mindful of what she says and does around you. There’s constant communication between you and her.

Probably would overheat out of embarrassment if she tries to cling onto you when in public, so hand-holding and touching knees while sitting together is enough for her.

Makoto DEFINITELY researched every possible tip and ‘guide’ on how to be the perfect girlfriend. You insist that she doesn’t need to incorporate all those into your relationship, saying that she’s perfect as the way she is.

With all that studying though, she actually sets up the best dates for you two. She always invites you to a newly-opened restaurant or gets the best seats whenever there’s a film showing nearby.

That said, she still prefers dates in secluded areas, places similar to Leblanc. She has this favorite nature trail that she found out about in dating forums and would take you there on nightly walks, talking about everything and nothing.

Makoto doesn’t announce your relationship to others, thinking that it’s better if people found out naturally. She likes the look on people’s faces when she admits to having a significant other while she acts all innocent and pure about it.

Her sister would openly confront her about your relationship, but Sae is lowkey super supportive of you and her. She says it’s good that someone is at Makoto’s side when she isn’t there.

She acts composed around others, but you’re the only one she lets see her vulnerable side. You tell her it’s adorable that you can easily tease her. (please don’t tease her too much or she’ll implode from being too flustered)

Makoto would think she’s too mature for petnames, but you don’t hold it against her, especially when she says your name with so much love in her voice every time.

Makoto is an observant girlfriend! She says it’s because she wants you to know that she genuinely cares and that she’s grateful to be yours.

Sakura Futaba

Futaba’s relationship with you feels natural from the start, despite her insistence that she would suck being a girlfriend. You reassure her at the start that she would do great with little to no effort, and she does :)

Wouldn’t even think twice about PDA, She feels safe and secure when she’s closer to you, so the more contact, the better. If she could, Futaba would shamelessly cling onto your back like a koala. (and you’d let her)

She says that experience is the best teacher, so she went into your relationship completely blind. The whole thing had its setbacks; she tried to kiss you out of nowhere one time, since “that’s what couples do, right?” You told her that there was no rush, and she was grateful for that.

She’s a fast learner though, and it manifests in her innocent but sincere gestures. When she thinks that you’re sad, she tells you jokes or shows you a meme she liked on her phone. Futaba thinks that whatever makes her happy, might cheer you up too.

Absolutely loves talking about her interests to you, because she knows that you would never judge her or question what she likes. You enjoy being on the listening side, since the way Futaba lights up is enough for you.

Alternatively, she’s a very active listener whenever you would talk about your day or share something about your interests. Futaba encourages you to tell her more about it, and on her own time, she learns about your said interests so she can participate in the conversations better.

In terms of interests, she convinced you to play video games with her (if you don’t already play) and it’s already a date for the two of you. Dates always involve either trips to Akihabara, arcade hopping, or the park when she wants quiet times with you.

Sojiro enjoys seeing you two interact whenever you guys stop by at Leblanc. When Futaba was in the restroom, he whispered to you saying that he hasn’t seen Futaba this energetic ever since she was a kid. That meant a lot to you.

She started calling you exaggerated names like “my lovely sweetheart babycakes” or “little fluffball whiskers”. Other than that, her favorite petname for you was “bub”, since she said the funny word fit you well. You love hearing it from her too.

Futaba is a heartfelt girlfriend! Your bond with each other has always been close, and now you get the chance to be closer.

Okumura Haru

Haru would be reserved from openly showing affection at the start, but you give her all the time and space she needs. She appreciates it greatly and reciprocates the effort in kind.

PDA is a no-no, although she does unknowingly flirt with you in the sweetest way. She has a way with words that makes the simplest compliment seem like the highest praise, and it’s enough to make you feel loved.

With her training for marriage, she obviously knows the basic aspects of a relationship. Taking care of you comes naturally to her, yet you were there to show her that she can receive the same amount of love that she readily gives to you.

You teased her about how she acts more like a mother to you, and she misunderstood and profusely apologized (poor sweetheart). Haru explains that she loves seeing you thrive and be happy, which in turn makes her happy.

It started as an innocent suggestion, but Haru wanted to write love letters to you from time to time. In most instances she would pass it onto you after a date, saying that you should read it when you get home. Other times she would quietly slip it in your bag as a surprise for you to find.

You’ve come to appreciate the craft that Haru puts into the letters. She always chooses the delicate papers, sometimes scented. And other letters had pressed flowers in the envelope. The most precious thing in the letter though was her confessions and affirmations.

Haru lets you choose your date locations since she wants to be more accustomed to city life. You once brought her to a conveyor belt sushi place, and you couldn’t handle the joy in your eyes when you saw her be fascinated about it. “It just moves in little trains! It’s so innovative and cute,” she says.

When you were closer with her, she opened up more about her father to you, even inviting you to visit the shrine dedicated to him in the mansion. That was the first time you saw her cry, and you promised yourself to do your best so you never have to see her like that again.

Romantic petnames suit her well, but she only uses them when you two are alone. Hearing Haru call you “my lily” or “my light” always caught you off-guard no matter how many times you have heard it.

Haru is a compassionate girlfriend! She treats you as delicately as she acts and you know that you’re in good hands with her, as she is with your own.

[cerealandchoccymilk]

woo got a tag game (thx @green-cargaytions), its been a while so might as well

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better

name: choccy

star sign: gemini

height: 150cm (5ft0in for you imperial freaks)

time: central time (wishful thinking)

birthday: gemini.

favorite bands/artists: MCR, Iyowa, Ghost and Pals, Jack Stauber, TOKIO (the J-pop one), Yonezu Kenshi, r-906, etc etc

last movie: this one pbs opioid crisis documentary bc im a sexy sexy little boy (summer credit recovery). otherwise the sonic movies ✌️ loved them cant wait for the next

last show: Puella Magi Madoka Magika was he last one i finished. i started rewatching Osomatsu-san after that but only half of s1

when did i create this blog: over 4 years ago. please dont go back to find my old posts i will kill mysel

what i post: 90% reblogs (general funny stuff and also any of my interests), 10% misc text posts

last thing i googled: "pill mill definition" because of the documentary UPDATE it is now "3ds badge homebrew" bc im hot and sexy and based like that

other blogs: @aumtism (witch hat atelier-focused) is the only one im willing to write here. look for the other ones yourself idk. i have a few artblogs and also a system blog

do i get asks: nope gimme

following: 1231 <-thats what autism adhd looks like btw

average hours of sleep: 4-4.5hrs? about 5 at most. insomnia gang

instruments: cello aka the most superior instrument in the world. played piano for several years in elementary-middle but i could never sightread treble

what i’m wearing: short jorts, Summer Wars (Shinkai Makoto film) shirt, slippers

dream job: psychologist? idk. mainly i dont want to fucking work!!!!!!!but that seems to be the most tolerable option

dream trip: i just wanna stay with my polish family man i wanna go back to podhale

nationality: 1/2 japanese 3/8 lithuanian 1/8 polish except i know nothing about lithuania bc my dads parents sucked at that i guess

favorite songs: Urapocere by Iyowa (and honestly the entire rest of the album), Your Tube by Tanabe Daisuke, The Foundations of Decay by MCR

last book i’ve read: i dont. fucking remember man. probably loz four swords fanfic? otherwise "the things they carried" for class

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: none they all suck. jk probably pokemon and nothing else

tags: (way less than 20 bc who???can tag 20 people??????) @awesomeifidosaysomyself @thedanmys @nishaletti @ohboy-herewegoagain @kodamahajime @vaniralatte and also anyone who sees this and wants to do it

dont feel obligated etc etc, also i might be tagging someone im not following back bc i just see anyone regularly in my notes and think "ah! mutual" so sorry if that happens. we are mutuals in spirit

[emiefaunwrites]

Okay so legit now. Someone asked an innocent question about Taka and now...NOW I can't ignore what my brain has conjured up. I would tag them but I'm not sure they'll be interested in my Ishileon bullshit!!

So yeah. Thank you very much @faustsqueeze for triggering me! I have to write this brainrot now haha! Sorry its Ishileon but they my boyyyys!

********************

• Taka likes his classical music.

• It's what he considers 'appropriate' music.

• The modern music these days are just full of sex and drugs and curses.

• As the Ultimate Moral Compass, he cannot condone such...such...THINGS.

• But ever since he heard Leon's SoundCloud rapping, he keeps hearing people listening to rap music.

• He'll pass through the halls and there it is again: that beat and that flow and those clever lyrics...

• DAMN IT!

• He can't help but ask Hiro and Makoto who they're listening to and they let him know its Eminem.

• And don't you know he heads straight to his room, switches on the laptop and listens to as many songs as he can.

• Everything about this man's music is vulgar and offensive and it goes against everything he should stand for.

• BUT HE LOVES IT!

• It's just ADDICTIVE and WITTY and FUNNY and he can't help but play it over and over again.

• And as Taka has an impeccible memory, he learns the entirety of Rap God word perfect within a couple of weeks of obsessive listening.

• But of course, no one can know.

• He is the Ultimate Moral Compass! He can't be seen to listening to inappropriate songs.

• And he's just getting to know Leon! And...he LIKES how he sticks to his morals and is pure hearted and all that. He of all people CANNOT know!

• But what he does in secret is just that. His own little secret.

• And we all know that secrets come out in the open eventually.

• Leon's on his way to the cafeteria one lunch time and decides to stop and see if Taka wants to join in.

• They went on their second date a couple of days ago and he's DESPERATE to arrange the next one as soon as possible.

• So he dusts off imaginary dust from his t-shirt as he walks over to Taka's door...

• And hears the low beat of a song coming from inside.

• Oh Jesus, he's listening to his SoundCloud again!

• Lifting his fist to knock, he finally catches some of the lyrics:

• 'This flippity dippity-hippity hip-hop, You don't really wanna get into a pissin' match, With this rappity brat, packin' a MAC, In the back of the Ac', Backpack rap crap, yap-yap, yackety-yack...'

• Of course Leon recognises the song now - Hiro jist won't stop listening to it.

• So it's not that the song is unfamiliar that shocks him...

• It's that Taka was rapping the lyrics.

• Word.

• Fucking.

• Perfect.

• Holy SHIT!

• He stands stunned outside the door for a few more moments, hearing curses and obscene lyrics coming out of his crush's mouth effortlessly.

• But eventually he knocks, not surprised to hear the music switch off abruptly with some squeaks of panic before the door opens to an overly cheerful Taka.

• 'Ah! Leon! Hello!'

• 'Hey...'

• 'Can...can I help you?'

• 'Yeah. Can I come in?'

• Lunch is entirely forgotten as Leon steps into the room, eyes scanning for the source of music.

• And the only thing he can see is the laptop.

• Taka's looking all shifty too - eyes darting over to said laptop, hands opening and closing against his legs.

• 'S-so...how can I help?'

• 'Oh. My uh...my laptop died. I need to look something up quick. Can I use yours?'

• Lies. Utter lies. But Taka isn't picking up on that as the colour drains from his face - spluttering about using the library or Mondo's or Chi or ANYONE else...

• 'I'll just be quick. Promise. Please?'

• He doesn't wait for an answer and moves towards the laptop, Taka squawking in panic down his ear...

• And sure enough, a Youtube video of Rap God is the first thing open.

• Leon hears the little squeak of shame from behind him, smiling to himself he clicks a new tab and looks up some random thing.

• And just gets up, closing the laptop and stands with - smiling at Taka, who's furiously blushing before heading to the door.

• 'Thanks!'

• 'Wait wait!'

• Leon stops as his arm is pulled back, looking at an extremely ashamed Taka.

• 'Hmm?'

• 'You're...you're not...disappointed?'

• That catches Leon off guard. Why the hell would he be disappointed that Taka listens to...

• Ah.

• A conversation at their last date springs back to his mind - a comment he made on how much he liked Taka's pure heart.

• And this is obviously something Taka thinks will ruin Leon's view of him.

• 'So you like a bit rap? It's no big deal. I like loads of different things. You think I care what people say?'

• Taka's clearly not convinced.

• 'And it doesn't change what I think. You're still cute, even if you swear to a song.'

• Now THAT brings a smile Taka's face, eyes watering with a light flush on his cheeks.

• But then it drops into an accusational glare.

• 'You heard, didn't you?'

• Busted.

• So with a swagger, Leon strides into Taka's personal space and smirks flirtily - pushing his luck.

• 'Hearing you say 'fuck' made my day.'

• Taka has NEVER gone so red so fast in his life!!

[kareofbears]

persona 5 strikers thoughts and feelings

This is going to be a long post. Like, the type of post you’d only really have time to read when you’re trying to sleep but you’re not ready to be unconscious yet so you’re just looking for something to do to spend your time with minimal effort. 

So in 2018, a masterpiece was born into the world: Into the Spider-verse was released and it was amazing—it’s honestly the best spiderman movie we have without a doubt, and it’ll be very far into the future before Spider-verse is beaten as the best spiderman movie. Them’s the facts. Then in 2019, Spider-man: Far From Home was dropped. It’s a great movie! Great characters, great continuation of who these characters are and works fantastic as a continuation of a story. It’s really hard trying to take the torch of a previous movie (or in Marvel’s case, juggling twenty something movies) and come up with a new movie that both works on its own, as well as being the next step in this series of films. Thus, with that idea in mind, I think it’s kind of unfair to judge into the spiderverse and far from home, because these are two movies with two completely different objectives in mind. 

Okay, so this is still a persona 5 strikers post, I promise, but the idea is the same: Persona 5 could basically do whatever it wanted—new story, new characters, new everything, and it’s just plain old awesome. However, Persona 5 strikers did not have that sort of freedom. It was bound to the original game, and it had its own rules and stuff it had to keep intact, characters they had to work with, and on top of that, it had to justify its existence as a sequel (lets pretend money doesnt exist lmfao). 

SO, the big question is: did it do that? Did it justify its existence? 

And my answer: holy fuck did it ever do that

I came into this game knowing the extreme bare minimum. I knew there was someone named Sophia, and i knew there was roadtrip, and i knew there were Personas. That’s my knowledge of it before i played it on the Switch.  I should also clarify like, early on, that i was not expecting anything from this game. At all. I was the world’s biggest cynic of this game—if you scroll down my p5s tag far enough, youll just see me complaining about a game that hasn’t even come out yet. I was fully expecting to have this be a Waifu show, and any male character that isn’t Akira to just be shoved aside like some kind of nerd in a high school hallway, and i have never been more pleased to be wrong. In fact, i actually owe it an apology, because of how fucking rude i was for no reason!!! Because this game deserves everything to be honest. 

Persona 5 strikers is, frankly, insane. Insane in the sense that it got to pull shit off that just would never have existed in the original game, because the original game is scared. It had to be as impressive as possible and garner as much attention as possible. Strikers does not have that problem—every single person who bought that game does not need to be convinced that persona 5 is a good game. They already played it. That means Atlus can just fuck around and have a good time, and man did they have a good time. There’s still scenes that still shock me if i think about it too hard, because i’m used to atlus having to follow this sort of rule set when it comes to persona 5 (or any of the main games im assuming, but i havent played them.) And on top of that, there’s still shit that’s Atlus Trademarked Branded in a good way. The style of story of story telling, and revealing the mystery that is so integral to what p5 is, is still there. 

So, to make this even a little bit comprehensible, i will make a list! 

First of all, What is this game?

In short, this game is an OVA of an anime. It’s bonus side content that has one thing in mind: to showcase these lovable characters more by putting them in fun situations. That’s it, and it is just phenomenal. That was the main point of, i’d say, like forty hours of the game. It’s just fun times with fun characters. 

But to get deeper of what i think is happening, or what they were thinking during the development, is that this is a second opportunity. Persona 5 (as we all know) had a lot of problems, and we were not quiet about those problems. We yelled it all out, made posts, made complaints on every social media platform ever. And Atlus heard all of them, and Strikers is a way to mitigate those mistakes. Aside from being a fun OVA, Strikers also works to be a deeper exploration of these characters—more specifically, the characters that did not receive much in the original game. Creating this sequel is having the ability to redo what they felt (or to be more specific, we felt) in the original game while adding new ones. I will get to that in a second.  

The format of the game 

Absolutely brilliant to throw them on a road trip. P5V already forced us to experience Shibuya for 200+ hours, and im so glad that they didn’t do that again. Going from town to town, making us experience these new places alongside our favorite characters is so good, and it just makes sense. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted, and it’s actually shockingly good. But one thing i do want to talk about early on is the way the story unfolds and the villains that they use, and what they do with it because it’s very interesting. 

So as we explore japan and stuff, we encounter jails, and with those jails comes an antagonist. This antagonist works to be a parallel to one of our characters. That character will find it in their hearts to feel bad for the antagonist, because the antagonist could have been them had the original game not happen. At first I thought all of the thieves were gonna get an antagonist, and i was really hyped for the ryuji one. And then came to hour forty of the game where i realized “yeah that’s not gonna happen. There’s just not enough time.” And i was right, and the game ended. But i am not salty at all, honestly, because the people who got a direct antagonist were: Ann, Yusuke, and Haru. (we wont count zen and sophie). 

Is there a trend??? Yes. these are all characters in the original game that have received the worst treatment by atlus. The three of them are basically cast aside the minute they finished their original arc, and its horrible! BUT that’s why this is the path that atlus chose for them—to give them more depth, and screentime, and a way to show their inner self. That isn’t to say that the ones who aren’t those three (makoto, futaba, mona, akira, ryuji) didn’t get anything. Futaba still has her thing at the end with ichinose, and she was very prevalent and animated during the rest of the game. Mona and Akira have to be a focal points, that’s just the nature of the game. The other two though, I will talk about in depth in a second.  

Makoto

Y’all i poke fun at shumako fans sometimes cause its kind of easy and fun, but i honestly love makoto. In my very first playthrough of p5 (my first ever jrpg game, first persona game, i had no idea what i was doing), i had only maxed out two characters: ryuji and makoto. And i know she had a lot of screentime and love in the original game which is great, but i truly felt like she was dissed in this game. Her only roles were

A driver

Someone to tell them “we don’t have a choice. Let’s keep going and see where this takes us.” (seriously, if you replay this game, you will see how much she does this)

Idk, i just wish she had more to do, especially compared to how much love they gave the other characters. 

But let’s talk about some of the new characters! 

Zenkichi

Damn you atlus. Damn you and your insistence at bringing in cop characters. I was fully on board with hating zenkichi, i was fucking ready for it. I was convinced that there was nothing they could do convince to like zenkichi. I was immune to their copaganda. 

And then i ended up loving him, which makes me sad a little bit. I didn’t realize how desperate i was to have an adult who has a persona. Someone who wants the world to change just as much as they do, while still having that aspect of them that makes them adult. Like??? As someone who is technically an adult, its a breath of fresh air. An adult. Who fights. For justice. Using a persona. And god i love akane so much, and her obsession with the thieves (that scene is probably in my top ten fave scenes of the game). Also what i loved about zenkichi is that he fucking hates the cops!! He hates the system of the cops!! And thats why i actually really started to love him!! Because i thought it was atlus saying that the systematic problem of the police cannot be solved by one person, and zenkichi threw away his badge. I actually cried at that part!! 

But then he became a cop again, and i was just :/ but as a character, i really love him to bits and would love to do a study on him, or at least use him as an outside pov. But! i absolutely love his persona, since im a les miserables fan hehe

Sophia 

she’s probably my favorite new aspect of the game. I was ready to not like her—again, i just suck like that, lmfao—and when i saw her, i was scared that she was just another waifu. I mean, she was very cute after all. But then as the game went on, i thought she was a little too cute. And even further into the game, i finally slapped myself in the face and realized oh my god shes not a waifu. Shes a sister. 

That blew my mind, im ngl to you. A female character that isn’t supposed to be romanced? By jove, what a miracle! 

And she…is an amazing character. Im sorry, i just love her so much. I love her so much that she  probably ranks as my fifth or sixth favorite character which is surprising even to me. Everything about her is delightful and invigorating. She’s funny??? Her comedic timing is amazing, and she has such chemistry with the rest of the team. She’s actually useful to the plot, and while her character design is a little too on the nose for me in terms of cuteness (i mean, good god she’s wearing oversized sweater to show how cute and tiny she is, and her hair has literal hearts in it), she is absolutely lovable. 

But what i actually really wanna gush about for a second is sophia at the last stage of the game. You get the idea, i dont really like to get excited over things, so at this point i figured that there was nothing this game could do to shock me. 

And then sophia had a persona awakening. 

Like. holy fuck did i yell. I didnt realize what was happening until the music had already kicked in. and its just so fucking smart!!! Sophia??? The ai?? With no heart?? gOT A PERSONA???? AWAKENING??? BECAUSE SHE LEARNED WHAT THE HEART IS AND THE PASSION THAT YOU NEED IN ORDER TO GET A PERSONA??? I started crying honestly, because it was just so smart. And looking back on it now, its obvious!! Of course it would lead to this, it only made sense that the culmination of her character arc leads to her getting a persona, nothing else would have been as good. Also, her voice actor is just amazing?? When she was talking to ichinose at the end, i actually got incredibly emotional because of the line reads. Its just so spot on and it really captures the essence of sophia.

Muah. five stars Atlus. You got me. 

Ryuji <3!!!!

Oh man. Oh boy. Okay. so where do i start. 

Yall know i love him. Hes probably my favorite fictional male character of all time, and he is the one i was the absolute most cynical about in this game. I was expecting literally nothing. Nothing. Like. nothing. I thought he was just gonna keep being used as a joke, or a gag, and he’s gonna be super horny all the time for the other girls and it was gonna make me mad and there was gonna be some insane homophobic/queerphobic jokes in every other scene and i know i was being unfair, but i cant help it. 

And then i played the first two hours of the game, and i cried the entire time. Because ryuji has never been better than he is in this game. Its crazy. 

The ryuji in persona 5 strikers is who ryuji should have been/how he should have been treated this entire time. From the actual funny jokes (for example, the gold bar joke + his reaction to it in the beginning of the game), defending his female friends instead of being the one people need to defend from (natsume arc), and the fact that he was the one to be there with morgana and akira in the very beginning of the game. Its such a small thing that they didnt even need to do, but it was such an integral part of the original game for me, that i just was convinced that nothing like this was going to happen. But then it happened. Its just small stuff like that that could have been overlooked but it wasn’t because this game? Persona 5 strikers? Fucking loves ryuji. 

The actual respect they gave this boy is insane and i wasn't ready for it. Like, they gave the shujin trio lunch, they gave the little charm of the katana when they were in natsume’s jail, and, in my opinion this is the second-best thing that they could have given ryuji is sophia. Ryuji and sophia are the pinnacle of a brother & sister bonding relationship in the game that isn’t akira & futaba. And its really prevalent too?? Small stuff from the beginning of the game (pulling her out of a jail, calling her shorty), but then you have the iconic “shut the fuck up” scene, and that scene was so well characterized and written and voice acted, that somehow him saying “fuck” was the least exciting part of that scene to me. Ryuji is an older brother to her, like its undoubtable, and its only further cemented at the end of the game where Ryuji helps out ichinose because he knows how much sophia cares about her. This game. Love ryuji. And i love. This game. 

You know what else i love? Akiryu. 

Guys. i was fully prepared to starve in terms of akiryu. But theres just. So much of it. I wont get too deep into it, because i think this aspect of the game for me still needs marinate a little bit. Like, what was that last shot when EMMA died and Ryuji walked to approach Akira so they could relish in their victory together?? And the smile from both of them??? What the fuck. That was amazing. Also Joker being saved by Ryuji when he was about to fall from the cliff to save sophia??? WHAT. The LEADER AND HIS RIGHT HAND MAN? WHAT. anyway. If theres anything i want to keep for myself in my own brain, its the akiryu aspect of this game, so i wont talk too much about that part of things (instead, itll probably manifest in fic lmfaooo). 

Sure, there’s tidbits of stuff i dont like that they gave ryuji: sexualizing ann in that one cut scene and making him touch the jails even though it hurts, and i recognize those and frown at them, but for the most part, i am blown away with how they treated him.

Basically, Ryuji has never been better. From the opening of the game with him being the first text message and the one to sling his arm around akira, to the very last cut scene where it was ryuji wordlessly leaving because he’s so confident that they would never be separated for long, this game adores Ryuji and i am so so happy to say that.

The Royal aspect of things

Yeah, i had to talk about this, but itll be a short thing i just wanted to point out. Because the last part of this game...is persona 5 royal. Which is curious. Like taking reality and giving that power to someone else so you dont have to experience suffering anymore? And even like, the final section just looked a lot like the top half of maruki’s palace?? And whats even crazier is that we had a boss fight with sophia, just like how we had a boss fight with sumire? Royal and Strikers have like, the same thesis statement. It’s kind of uncanny.It’s interesting, it’s like atlus came up with these two ideas, and then just decided they liked both of them so much that they just did it twice. I don’t mind though—actually, in terms of how the last Palace/Jails go, i probably like them both about equally. 

Though i did love the final battle in this one more than i did in royal. Splitting into teams?? Thats cool as fuck, and really innovative and i didnt see it coming. It also kicked my ass. A lot. 

Now for the last stretch: the small stuff!

The music — bomb as fuck. In my heart, Daredevil is ranked the same as Rivers. Axe to grind is also amazing, but Daredevil owns me

Akechi — i really debated whether or not to talk about him, but i figured a bullet point should be enough. Im really shocked that he wasnt in this at all. Like not even a name drop. If this is an OVA, and the point of the game is to please the fans, and akechi is arguably the fan favorite character, i was really ready for something. But there was nothing, except for the pancake hallway if that even counts as a reference. Thats it. Thats all i wanted to say about him.

The humour — FUCKING HILARIOUS im convinced that in my fifty hour playtime, five of that is dedicated to me laughing and unable to continue the game 

Akira — so much personality! His lines of dialogue are crazy sometimes (like. Whats up with him saying Ryuji has ‘nice abs’ when they were in bath? Im crazy and even i dont know what the fuck that could mean) 

Battle system — oh my god i almost forgot to talk about this. I love it! I kind of miss the turn based aspect just because i found it very comforting for some reason, but this hack and slash style of gameplay is so invigorating because i do feel like it justifies shit like the baton pass and huge attacks.  This battle system fully encompases how the Phantom Thieves are supposed to fight, you know what i mean?

Anyway, thats my thoughts on strikers. Loved it. Amazing. 9.3/10, wouldve been higher but Konoe’s Jail almost bored me to death. Also im a monster and i didnt do any requests that isn’t a fun one, teehee. As if i play persona 5 for the persona aspect of things.

[thoughts-of-a-bibleophile]

family

not me jumping onto the shusumi week train when there’s only a few days left 

i apparently used all my braincells to make this fic and saved none for the title

i...was very much possessed by a writing ghost when doing this. i was just reading some fics and suddenly had the idea for this and then an hour later, i had this fic. i was actually going for seasons when i first wrote this, but it very much turned more into a family piece, so here we are.

i’ve been a persona fan since about 2018, but this is my first work and, honestly, i’m really surprised it’s not shuake/akeshu since they’re usually my main ship. but the beauty of multi-shipping is that i can also love shusumi! i just think they’re really neat.

also, gonna be honest, i... think? this counts as shusumi? even though the focus is a lot more on family than anything else. i wanted to do a more internal piece about sumire and her thoughts after the events of royal, which i think i more or less got across here. there is definitely some shusumi in the end, though!

anyway, without further ado, i hope you enjoy!

if you’re in this tag, you probably don’t need this, but just in case: ***persona 5 royal third semester spoliers ahead!***

word count: 1.6k summary: sumire visits kasumi a year after the accident and reflects on everything that’s changed in the last year.

no beta, we die like men (i’m sorry in advance if there are mistakes, though!)

“I can’t believe it’s been a year.”

It was spring. The trees were green and blooming with flowers, the air perfumed with their sweet scent. Below them, rows upon rows of stones lined the grass, gray and somber, though some holding a pop of color from leftover flowers. A lone girl stood at one, clutching her own bouquet in hand, sakura petals clinging to her red hair.

She should be with her friends right now, celebrating their graduations and having their going away parties. But she couldn’t. Not after everything that had happened. Not without telling Kasumi first.

Of course you’d be the stick in the mud who had to ruin their days, a far too familiar voice seethed in her mind. She did her best to ignore it.

She bit her lip, wondering where to begin. How to begin. So much had happened that it seemed almost like a dream.

“I don’t even know where to start, but I guess the beginning is better than nothing, right?” Sumire sighed. “Honestly, you were always better at this than I was, but I’m going to do my best.”

And so she began. From living life as Kasumi for so many months to cope, to her short time as a Phantom Thief and battling monsters they had only heard of in storybooks, to her days of being lost as Sumire and denying the truth, to finally accepting herself with the help of her friends and-

“Akira...” she trailed off and felt herself smiling just at his name. “You would have loved Akira. He’s the one who was there through it all. He met me as, well, you, but he still likes me as Sumire and-“ She felt her cheeks warm, thinking of his ridiculous, yet romantic antics since she had blurted out that confession. And the fact that he had reciprocated-

Sumire shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and her blush. That was a story for another time, another visit.

“Anyway, he’s actually the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but he also goes to Shujin. Things didn’t start out that well for him there, but he faced it all head on and did some incredible things. And he met so many people and has so many great friends.”

She paused. “Well, I guess they’re kind of my friends, too, now.” She shrugged to herself. “I wish you could meet them, Kasumi. You would fit right in, as usual. They’re all so kind and caring and funny and- I never thought I would meet people like them. Like I know you always had amazing friends, but for so long, I didn’t think I would ever meet people like that.”

I didn’t think I deserved friends like that, the thought rose in the back of her mind.

The stone in front of her said nothing. Not that she expected it to, but it felt nice talking to it anyway. She played with the edges of her bangs, lost in thought for a moment.

“But...that’s in the past.” She gripped the flowers in her hand tighter, her voice rising as her resolve hardened. “I made a lot of mistakes before, Kasumi, but I’m not going to make them again. I’m going to live my own life and make our dreams come true as Sumire Yoshizawa!”

Again, the stone said nothing. Her words hung in the air for a moment, only to be blown away by the breeze. She fiddled with the violets in her hand.

“I thought you’d like these. I know they’re your favorite.” She tried to smile, only for it to fall moments later. She tried to swallow the lump quickly forming in her throat.

“I know I didn’t tell you this when you were here, but I miss you. I miss you so much it hurts.” Her throat felt tight, her chest hollow, like something had carved a hole into it, never to be filled again. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as her head dropped, the old familiar feelings of guilt and despair slipping through the walls she had carefully built back up the last few months.

“I feel like I’m messing this up; I was never good with speeches like this.” She sniffled, pulling off her glasses to swipe at her eyes. “I just wish you could be here somehow.”

She closed her eyes, wishing just for a moment, for a sign that her sister was listening. The spring breeze picked up again, rustling the leaves of the trees around her. She opened her eyes to see the petals spinning in a circle, almost like they were dancing in a swirl of pink. It reminded her of the pink ribbons she and her sister had first practiced with, of dancing with her friends and of gymnastics and everything that she loved.

Perhaps it had been simply a coincidence or perhaps she was making something out of nothing, but it was enough. It was a reminder to live. To live their dream, to live her life.

Sumire smiled and sighed when the petals fell back to the ground as the breeze lessened.

“I’ll be back soon, Kasumi. I’m going to a graduation party for two of my friends! Makoto and Haru, I’ll tell you more about them next time.” She placed the flowers carefully into their designated spot. “And I’ll make sure to bring new flowers next time, too! And... maybe I’ll bring Akira next time. So you can meet him.”

With nothing in her hands, she fiddled with the hem of her coat, feeling like there was something left to say still, despite knowing that she likely didn’t have much time left.

“I don’t know what’s coming next, but I know you’ll be there with me, Kasumi.” Pink flowers fell on the gray stone and for a moment she could imagine them caught in brown hair instead. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that, but I’m glad I know now. I really am going to do my best to make our dreams come true, Kasumi. And I’m going to keep on going and live my own life! I promise.”

With a firm nod to herself, Sumire cast one last look at her sister’s headstone before returning to the walking path. Sakura blossoms covered the top, with purple violets at the bottom. Small sprouts of white flowers had begun to bloom at its base, leaving little gray showing through. Colorful and full of life, just like Kasumi.

Sumire turned back to the pathway and made her way back down to the entrance, full of hope for the future to come.

-

At the entrance, a boy with black hair and glasses stood, lost in thought, his hair covered in sakura petals as well.

Whether it was from leftover abilities from the Metaverse or he was just that perceptive - she was betting on the latter - he turned toward her as she descended the last few steps down to meet him.

Akira said nothing, just opened his arms to pull her close and rest his chin on the top of her head. She sank into the embrace, feeling the heaviness in her heart lighten just a bit. His hugs were great, but they weren’t magic, even if he liked to say they were. They had a long road ahead, especially her, but she knew they could get through it together.

“Thank you for waiting,” she said, more into his coat than to him. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

“It’s fine. I knew it was important.”

Sumire tightened her arms around him, nestling further into his chest, wishing they could just stay like that forever. But she knew that wasn’t possible, so instead, she looked up.

She had seen a lot of his smiles in the time she’d known him, but she’d only seen this one once before. It was on Valentine’s Day, when his usual smirks and grins had softened into the one he wore now, a quiet little thing that held such care and love that it made her heart clench.

“I’m proud of you, you know that?”

She blinked at him. “Why?”

“I know how hard it was to handle everything, let alone talk to your sister about it. But you did it. That takes a lot of guts, Sumire.”

She felt her face redden and that soft smile edged slightly into his familiar grin.

“I-It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she stammered out. “I mean, I wouldn’t have had the guts to even come here if you weren’t with me, senpai, and even then I didn’t do anything that special!”

Akira laughed, probably at how easy it was to still make her blush around him. He was so annoying sometimes and he knew it.

But then he was serious again and searched her eyes for a moment.

“Are you going to be okay? We can always just stay at LeBlanc and watch movies if you don’t feel up to the party later.”

Sumire shook her head, feeling more okay than she had in a long time. “I want to go and be with our friends. I’ll be okay.”

He smiled and kissed her, a simple, short thing that had done a dozen times at this point, but it never failed to make her head spin and her heart sing.

“If you’re sure,” he said as they separated, only to link their hands as they walked to the station. She squeezed it and felt herself smile, more of the heaviness in her heart lifting at the thought of seeing her friends soon.

“Time to celebrate!” she cheered into the early April sky, the sun seeming to shine brighter in agreement. Hand in hand, they ran toward the station, to meet their friends and celebrate the start of something new.

-

so that was sure something. i hope you enjoyed it?

sorry, it’s not on ao3 - i just...have not set my account up, so all of my fics are very much just vibing on tumblr. one day i’ll finish setting up my ao3.... one day...

anyway, let me know if you like this! i honestly have no idea if i’m going to be doing any of the other days, but we’ll see.

[redxblueihateloveyou]

i know that there are rinharu shippers that exaggerate interactions and read too deeply into them, but ngl mh shippers take it to a whole new level. Like, yeah we all know Haru cares about Mako, he's his best friend, but they take soooooooo many things and twist it out of context and then try to claim it as canon. i don't get it. it's fine if makoharu is your deal, but then they use it to attack rinharu and its like not. even. canon???

Every shipper exaggerates their otp moments, I mean, it’s a normal thing. But there’s a huge difference between taking an existing moment and overemphasizing it and taking this moment and turning it completely upside down, you know what I mean? Take a canon moment and go ahead and exaggerate it, but don’t create something that didn’t happen and exaggerate it, and don’t take a canon moment and make it the complete opposite of what happened.

I think it’s perfectly okay and understandable, when you like see your ship smile at each other or smth and freak out, for example. Or like when Rin said that maybe he and Haru also gonna be in one bed together next year, like I think, I deserve to make a big deal out of this, cause... I mean, it’s right there. He said it, not me.  

Or take me, for example, after the new bnha ova, when I went like “tododeku flirted and forgot bakugou under the rocks”, which was like a hilarious scene. I’m of course exaggerating, cause I just found it funny that they started talking about getting out without even looking around for the third party, that could be crushed under rocks, but I’m just joking. I mean, you can’t help but joke at scenes like this, when it’s your otp.

Now imagine if todobaku fans for example were watching that scene in ova and be like “Todoroki only ran to Midoriya because he thought Bakugou was buried under him, and then Midoriya threw a magic dust at him so he couldn’t remember anything.” Can you even imagine such madness? Now that’s how most Makoharu fans are watching Free!

And I just want to say, that I’m normally in many fandoms are so good with people who ship something that I don’t. I mean, I absolutely love bakudeku and todobaku fans, like 90% are so sweet and they even write comments under my tododeku vids like “this is amazing, respect from bakudeku gang” and KNB fandom is very nice no matter what they ship, and etc.

But.. but makoharu, I mean Makoto fans, I in all seriousness cannot talk to. I mean, these bunch... most of them don’t even like Makoto for who he is. They sell him as some protective and secretly very dangerous dude. It’s like if I said that Haru is my favorite, cause he’s so good at communicating with people.

I mean, to create something that’s completely OOC and claim that it’s there is just utter nonsense to me. Like when someone wrote that Haru is unrequitedly in love with Makoto, I almost peed myself from laughing, but honestly at some point it all got to the point where it’s not funny anymore, cause when you read their posts, you realize that they’re serious.

I mean you gotta realize that when you change characters to the point that they’re not these characters anymore, it’s not called “all ships are valid”, it called “pure stupidity”. Because it’s not the said ship already. It’s some other characters.

And when you constantly post not in your tag and get jealous of a rinharu post that got 20k notes and screenshoot it on insta even tho it has nothing to do with your ship and wasn’t even tagged no by makoharu no by makoto, there’s clearly something not okay with you, just saying.

And I’ve seen some fandoms/ships who twist everything to the point where it gets histerical. 

Like when, for example, when Eren told Mikasa that he always hated her because she behaves like a slave without her own will, and they interpreted it as “he said it because he loves her so so much” and I’m not joking there’s a whole tumblr post dedicated to this.

And I’ve seen some fandoms/ships who twist everything to the point where I’m genuinely worried for people’s sanity.

Like when V had a live translation and someone wrote him about getting on with Jungkook (1stly, are u even ok???) and he addressed this and asked to stop being delusional, and that they’re friends. I legit thought maybe it’ll stop people, until next day I saw a post on YouTube about how Bighit tries to cover vkook with jikook and Jimin is an asshole who always hangs on Jungkook... I’m like I do not know how to react to this. I mean, do I wanna ask why Bighit would want to cover one gay BTS ship with another one? Or should we just skip to the question “are you okay?” lmao 

But I still think Makoharu fans take the cake tbh.

I mean it’s not about the ship wars, because I normally don’t mind anyone shipping anything, since everyone has their own tastes and some people, like in real life, see love in all kind of crazy shit. Like someone thinks “he treats you like shit and yells at you, means he loves you”, someone think that it’s if you’re with somebody all your life or grateful for something... ppl mistake this for love too. And hey, to everyone love means different things. Someone just settle for things, some dream big and wants to live a life. No judging. 

But like if you ship makoharu, accept it for what it is, not for something it’s clearly not. But once again, it’s mostly makoto fans, cause it’s all going from twisting a character, and pretending he’s not what he is.

But then once again, many people do not understand characters in anime in general. Like if you think Momoi is really Kuroko’s love interest and do not see what author intended, you probably need to broaden your horizons a bit.

Or like if you think that, idk, Alois is a villain, Lance is really this cheerful and Kuroko is an angel. I mean, it’s hilarious how even in some obvious situations people do not get things. Like seriously, maybe put just a tiny bits of brains into work when you’re watching, this is all I ask.

And don’t get me wrong, I won’t  generalize and say that all makoharu shippers are like that, but there are some ships and sometimes even whole fandoms whose most fans are just dumb, and makoharu is in top three of those for sure. I’m sorry, but it’s true, you saw it. I just can’t even have a normal conversation or a healthy argument with them, cause the logic doesn’t exist there.

And ones again, don’t get me wrong, you can be the smart one in the dumb fandom, too. Sometimes fandoms embarrass nice people, it happens.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Uchitama 1 - 2 | Hatena 1 - 2 | Ankoku Hakaishin 1 - 2 | Infinite Dendrogram 1 | Hanako-kun 2 | In/Spectre 1 | ARP Backstage Pass 1 | A3 1

Rolled out one tag. I got pretty far behind, so I’ll catch up in the next few posts.

Uchitama 1

Ume and Shirai here.

I would assume this kid with the tiger on his shirt is called Tora, because I vaguely remember a “Tora” in the promotional material.

The sakura aesthetic is nice.

This switch between boy and cat forms is a bit…”weird” is the first word that came to mind, but “random” was the next.

Tora = Shirai and Ume is a character called Kuro, who we haven’t seen yet. (Had to google which roles they had.)

LOL, I like Beh already. A sleepyhead like him is perfect!

I just noticed, but Beh sometimes has a cleft palate (that little dent in the mouth).

Ume’s character isn’t too bad-looking, y’know. He’s a clumsy one though, so he doesn’t quite seem like the sort of character I’d gravitate to.

Seeing boys and girls act like cats and dogs makes me LOL.

Huh? Is cat-dog romance like your standard opposites attract romance…?

Hmm…thank goodness the mother cat wasn’t “made human”…

I’m used to Nora being a woman (see Noragami plus the Western general usage of the name “Nora”)…so this one being a guy (with nice eyes, to boot) is a bit disorienting.

Turns out the Tosa is a huge dog with a face like a pitbull.

I find this Momo-Bull romance just a bit weird still.

I got spoilt on this from the reviews, but Waiha = Hawaii.

That flash of Nora’s owner (?) was interesting!

Other notes: The narration seems to be done by the voice of Tama. Ume sounds like Ume, but it doesn’t feel like Ume because he’s playing against his normal type of character. Shirai doesn’t sound like Shirai though…it’s a completely different character to the types I’ve heard him do before (Ramuda and Io don’t sound like Tora, but Vino sounds similar to En because a lot of Ume characters are done in his usual, suave voice…Ramuda is Shirai doing a falsetto though so he’s hard to compare).

Hatena 1

This one got alright reviews, but I get the feeling I’m not going to like it, so lt’s get this over and done with.

Why is Kana the only one with the black hair…?

This OP is rather low budget compared to the others…

I fully expect Kana to go “It’s bitter…” and make a face when drinking the coff-yep. Thought so. Why do people think black coffee is the mark of a distinguished adult anyway? I don’t even like coffee, so I don’t get it at all.

The sentence in Japanese went something like “Makoto’s always been good”, so I don’t get why the word “egg” had to be introduced into the subs.

There’s an onigiri sale in the back, LOL.

The gates were fairly CGId…

The butler’s name is literally Jeeves Wodehouse, LOL.

Oh, Yumemi is blonde because of Maeve and Kana is brunette/black (?) haired because of Mamoru. Yumemi = dream seeing and Mamoru = protect.

Kana’s voice is annoying! That’s why I thought I wouldn’t like this.

Kana’s such a tsundere now that she knows Makoto is a boy, it’s annoying. I already knew such a detail from the reviews, so I’m not miffed at all.

I find it vaguely amusing that there were 3 different types of animation of a person popping their head into the attic.

Ema’s just a bit evil…Update: Nup, she just ships Kana x Makoto, that’s all.

The hardsubs weren’t encoded correctly on this episode, so they’re all blurry now. Still readable but blurry.

The pun is that the ka in Kana can be read hate in other cases.

More CG doors.

Why is Kana wearing the scarf, even after her bath in a towel???

This reminds me of Hayate the Combat Butler…

Maeve is foreign...that’s why she’s blonde. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (<- partially sarcastic)

Hmm…the fact you can’t tell what is and isn’t real is an interesting factor. However, the production values and the bog-standard romance being set up undercut that.

Magical girl transformation, eh? Reminds me of DN Angel or Magic Kaito, but also Phantom Thief Jeanne or something of the sort.

Hatena 2

I’m still trying to see if this is something to kick out…

This “scarf punches guy” business is getting old…I never got used to it in the old-school harems. I don’t know why it’s become a “classic” thing in anime.

This is meant to be for a boy’s perspective, so…I don’t get it. Okay, I’m dropping this.

Infinite Dendrogram 1

An isekai…oh, goody. (sarcastic) Then again, if I liked this I could try a new publisher out, so it’s win-win for me and the companies I go through to get there.

*the exposition rolls in about virtual reality* Oh great (sarcastic)…this is SAO all over again, isn’t it???

I saw HOTZIPANG in the credits list…now I’m really wary. HOTZIPANG were in the credits for Africa Salaryman and their animation production isn’t the best.

1st person cam…you suck, you know that?!

No. 13 (unlucky number)…Cheshire (Alice in Wonderland)…

Ray for Reiji makes sense, but…(consults Google-sensei) mukudori does mean “starling”, after all.

Yo…does Ray have to be blonde…? Is this some commentary on how having blonde hair is better than black hair, or am I thinking about this too much? (It’s my belief that Asians want to look European and vice versa – just look at their beauty standards! - so that’s where that comes from.)

Box? Looks like a bag to me.

Welp, just grabbing the kanji for mukudori via Wikipedia revealed the Embryo is a sword to me…*shrugs* No surprise there – as TV Tropes would say, heroes love swords (and redheads!).

So you can commit murder in Infinite Dendrogram??? (I’m joking partially, but Cheshire did say “you can do anything”…right?)

…and of course Ray drops into Altea from the sky. It’s been a cliché since No Game No Life.

“This is a game?” – Actually, I thought the same thing when I entered the website and game of TERA. Then again, this is basically trying to be SAO through and through, so I guess spouting that line is a prerequisite here.

How does anyone break both arms from running into someone…?

Well, at least this show looks nice. It’s doing its job on that front.

I was going to ask what a tian was, but the show answered it for me. Good job, show!

*Googles “dendrogram”* - “a tree diagram, especially one showing taxonomic relationships.” – Oh, so that’s why it’s called Infinite Dendrogram! (Y’know, it reminds me of studying about dendrites, which have the same appearance as a dendrogram...hence the shared origins of the words.)

Normally characters don’t jump into virtual worlds with thir brother…they’d do it with their cousin or crush or something…Hmm.

I was about to think you die in real life if you die in the game, but thank goodness this one is nowhere near as bad.

CGI bugs…of course…

That one still shot revealed a crack in this show’s visuals. I almost thought I could select it on the basis of the excellent visuals alone, but nope.

“…that…leaves a bad taste in my mouth!” – Not again, Ray…stop saying that line…

Again? I just told you in the last note not to!

Of course Ray gets the girl. I should’ve known…well she’s a sword but also a girl…?

The sentence ending -grizz is –kuma in Japanese.

I felt something special in my gut when the sword appeared, even though I’m complaining about this being like SAO, so I think it’s worth continuing.

A3 1

A3 is based on a mobile game so it looks a lot like those idol games, but it’s actually about acting according to the full name of Act! Addict! Actors!.

This kid’s eyes freak me out!

Considering this involves – according to the synopsis – a Mankai (full bloom) Company and this is called “spring and summer”, plus the metaphors from earlier, it makes sense the kiddo’s jumper says “spring” on it.

I thought the kid was singing, but turns out he’s reciting Shakespeare. I don’t know how popular the ol’ Shakie is in Japan, but I’ll take it.

Veludo Way = Broadway, apparently.

It should be Biro-do or Verodo, but not “Vedulo” like the subs say.

*sees a woman* - Oh great, so now this turns into an otome game…or, like i7’s Tsumugi, she’s an audience insert.

Someone encoded the video funny again…*sigh*

I bet the demolition guy is going to join the theatre, based on his looks. Update: According to the wiki, yes he does (as part of the Autumn troupe)! One of his hobbies is bubble wrap, which I can relate to immensely…and apparently he’s a yakuza…?

Masumi’s voice…is that Kaito Ishikawa? Update: No! It’s Shirai! I’m so surprised…it’s a very Io-sounding voice, though, so I guess I shouldn’t.

Masumi is one of those needy types who could easily fall into yandere territory…I don’t like him. I don’t like Sakuya either, though…

I know this from my recent experience, but hard work hardly works, Sakuya. Staying somewhere one year or ten years does diddly squat if you don’t have what other people are looking for. *tries not to cry*

I’m sorry guys, but even with the attack to the heart, I don’t give a s*** about you all. The troupe was just arguing to delay their deadlines and Furuichi (the demolition guy) has a point – the guys didn’t really prove themselves outside a brief but unimpressive stint from Sakuya.

ARP Backstage Pass 1

Hopefully this show is actually good, y’know? A3 just bombed…

Okayyyyyyyyyyy…from the one minute or so that I’ve seen, it looks like a Coldplay concert but with bishonen (good) and bad music (which is…uh, bad). That does not bode well for this show…also, the stage names are pretty obviously that. I mean, who cals their kid “Rage”? It’s probably Reiji (again, considring Infinite Dendrogram).

The cars from above almost look like Frogger…LOL.

Oh f*** me and my on-the-ball instincts! I guessed correctly again (Rage = Reiji)…and that’s bad news.

Wait, why is Shinji staring into space…?

There’s a kettle noisily going on in the background, so I can’t really tell what’s so awesome about this show without the music…I guess I’ll have to abort this mission until later…

Okay, so I listened to the piano bit thrice and couldn’t tell if there was a piano noise…That’s bad news. Update: Yep, listened to it again and there is no piano sound during the piano scene.

The rock music was…unexpected.

Wait, you mean the dude’s name is actually Daiya??? What???

Oh my gosh, these guys are hilarious! I know that’s dark considering they’re starving, but…LOL.

Idolmaster Side M taught me that career changes are actually pretty interesting when combined with idol anime and…this may be a band or something, but it sure works the same way.

That transition to Leon was terrible.

This appears to be Yokohama (Chinatown) and Hakone (the pirate ship).

Well, the show’s case would be helped if they had music in the right places, rather than music videos interspersed throughout.

Geesh this one is tough…some of the music is actually pretty good and the episode does get better when Rebel Cross appear (but Shinji is kinda boring, even though I thought I’d like him the most, and Leon’s singing was downright terrible), but the animation is terrible and I found myself going “But why should I care?!” multiple times in my head during the first half. The group do seem to have quite good synergy at the end and are generally entertaining, too.

Ankoku Hakaishin 1

I’ve ben calling this “Destructive God” or “Ankoku Haishin”, so this is A Destructive God Sits Next to Me. Update: It should be Hakaishin…actually.

Ooh, Natsuko Takahashi. This show’s in good hands.

Very Seki-kun.

Black Mouse Land, LOL.

“This is war!” – The word here is shoubu, which literally means “victory or defeat”, so it makes sense to change it to a more commonly used phrase.

“RIP Koyuki” – The grave said “Koyuki’s grave”…which isn’t that funny to be honest, so again, I get the decision to change it.

Hanadori still had the dog…?

“Things I Want to Forget” – Literally, the words on the page mean “black history”, which I think is funnier.

Oh, I bet Koyuki will plan the class trip…

“[T]he jerk in the next class over” – Does he have a name…?

I bet Koyuki has the worst grades in math of the trio.

Koyuki is deliberately designed like a cat, it seems.

You can see the broken window from earlier…LOL.

It’s Animal Crossing! On DS! (But what’s up with that rabbit with the fishnet stockings…?) Update: Do Japanese kids even use DSs these days? DSs must be cheap in comparison to their newfangled gaming laptops and Switches…

Is Tsukimiya Mamoru Miyano or something…? Update: Nup, Kimura. I seem to get those two confused quite a bit.

The “Muney” (sic) thing is because he (Hanadori) wrote the hyou in mokuhyou (aim, goal) wrong. By the way, Hanadori put an eyepatch on one of his banknotes.

That ending was actually kind of cute. I always prefer heartwarming comedies like these over mean-spirited ones (Osomatsu-san, Konosuba), so…yep, it’s in my wheelhouse!

I predicted the ending but the galactic reaction I got was…awesome!

In/Spectre 1

Why does this have so many names? In/Spectre, Kyokou Suiri , Inverted Reasoning (or was it Inverted Interface)…? Update: Inverted Inference. That’s the name on the manga covers.

Ooh, Saki is pretty classy-looking.

This is being framed like a romance, huh? I know this series is supernatural, but I’m not really here for the romance.

What’s the age gap? 17 (Kotoko) – 23 (Kuro)?

Lel, Harlequin novels. Those seem to be exclusive to the Western world (specifically the USA and its English-speaking country buddies), so it’s probably just romance novels in the original words. Update: I found Harlequin novels for Japan, but still, they’d be nowhere near as ubiquitous as they are elsewhere. Update 2: I kept thinking about it, so now I have an entire post with my findings. Turns out Japan does have and know about Harlequin novels (which do look like the one the samurai was holding), but they probably couldn’t state the name because of potential lawsuits or something. 

Oh gosh, Potato-kun (Kuro) – yes, I think of him much like a normal harem lead – getting your hand chomped off to the arm is a bit stupid, y’know?

Whoa! Wht a crazy cliffhanger!

Whoo! This OP (? Or is this an ED?) is crazy cool. Kinda like low-budget Kekkai Sensen.

Well, this show is kinda losing me with the romance elements, but the supernatural part is great.

Hanako-kun 2

What’s Hakujoudai? Those will o wisps? Update: Seems so.

The explanation of Yousei-san has a voice like it’s coming across a radio…interesting.

The towel…I bet it’s the one from Senpai one of the students mntioned earlier.

The subbers spelt “brooch” wrong.

This new boy – which I thought was Minamoto at first (LOL?)…he has a traffic omamori as an earring and a staff/umbrella, so he’s probably an exorcist. Either that or a massive chuunibyou.

LOL, Castle in the Sky much? (Or is that Nausicaa?)

Nene is reading from a magazine called G Cinema.

The comedy is this is slowly getting better. That’s a good sign for this, but bad for Ankoku Hakaishin…

Seagull High????? (Kamome = seagull.)

Wait, Minamoto??? You mean Nene’s former love is an exorcist??? Update: Oops, that’s (Nene’s crush is) Kou’s older bro…but that’s spoilers.

“Kou” is written with the character for hikari, or in this case “Yorimitsu”.

The action scenes are pretty good in this…I guess I kind of took them for granted in ep. 1.

Oh, I guess I should’ve known that seal on Hanako’s face…there were more of them in his possession. Also, there’s an extra V in the subs for some reason.

The stairs remind me of Muzan’s “universe” near the end of Demon Slayer’s first season.

Oh, the events of this episode tell you why Nene does the next episode stuff.

The ED visuals remind me of Ranpo Kitan’s, and I love Ranpo Kitan’s.

Ankoku Hakaishin 2

Why is Koyuki eating with his teacher anyway? I thought he was the guy from the class next door until he started talking about kids.

“Miguel Whatever” makes me laugh every time.

The cat ears on Koyuki’s phone are cute.

Sumiso reminds me of Aikatsu girls…

Uchitama 2

Bull is an “ore-sama”, huh?

I didn’t think they would continue with the “Solitary King of Destruction” thing.

Bull as a chuunibyou ham is so entertaining, but when they try to play the Momo romance hand again…I start to lose my patience...

LOL, Petstagram…

…and now it’s a (reverse) HAREM!

“[M]ad dog”, LOL, what a turn of phrase.

Okayyyyyyyyy subbers, own up! Who put a dog pun in Bull’s talk?! (I’m referring to the “doggone it!”.)

*points at dog puns*- You didn’t, subbers! You’re still adding dog puns!

Wait, Bull’s singing?! This I didn’t expect!

Well…this decision is hard. Bull’s become greater than ever…but only in relation to his romance with Momo!

Aww…seeing Bull dejected makes me sad inside too.

Oh yeah! There we go! That intro landed its gag purrfectly…to use an intentional cat pun.

Why did I take to Bull so much? Well, if he weren’t a dog, I’d find him completely romanceable, even if he were a massive chuuni.

Oh, the pun is ippai (full). Then you unintentionally switch it to oppai (boobs).

What? Wow, I never thought I’d get Ume talking about cat and dog nipples. (That’s not a sentence I’m going to be able to match any time soon.)

Okayyyyyyyyy…that one segment was a massive weird non-sequitur. I have no idea how they’d represent that with cat and dog forms.

Oh, Petstagram! We actually get to see it!

This series is more prone to “mood swings” than Ankoku Hakaishin or even Hanako-kun…yikes.

No, no, no! Who is this guy??? Haven’t you heard of “stranger danger”?!

…Oh, so the guy was Tome, huh?

The ED! This aesthetic is too good!

ARGH! Okay, okay, Uchitama! You win! I was going to pick Ankoku Hakaishin because that’s more consistent in landing its laughs and Hanako-kun would’ve been a better choice because its aesthetic is more consistently there plus it has interesting ideas with its apparitions, but Ankoku Hakaishin is fairly interchangeable with Iruma-kun…basically, if Eizouken or Magia Record don’t work out, I can loo forward to switching in one or the other, but I’m going to stick with Uchitama because *gestures wildly at screen* just look at this manservice! Even if it’s actually for a dog, I cannot deny the manservice!

[readingwriter92]

MY FAV FICS

I’m bored, so here are my top fics (legit like these I have saved as an icon on my phone's home screen)(In no particular order)(Also this is me just quickly gushing about them so sorry it’s bad XD)  :

- Mikado’s Secrets - Looking Glass22 (FF.net)

A shizuo/Izaya where they’re parents to Mikado. I legit wish there were more fics like this cause I absolutely love the relationship and the parental Shizuo/Izaya XD. I always come back to this story when I feel like reading DRRR

- Taking Chances - plumeriafairy14 (Ao3)

A really good domestic AU Klance and Allura/Shiro. Now I haven’t been paying attention to the VLD fandom since the last season ‘cause I didn't like the ending but, a friend recommended this to me a year or so again and it was so good! It’s close to 40 chapters but the story is so good!!!!! (there's also some smut in it if thats not your thing, just a warning) 

-A Place to Rest - LuckE1 (Ao3) 

This author I love in general for their free! stories but this was the first one I found when it wasn't finished and I remember one Mondays reading it on the bus to school. This was a great Makoto angst story and I really enjoyed it. 

-You are my Dad, you’re my dad, boogie woogiewoogie - Hitinmiss (Ao3)

So funny story with this one, I was at the mall with my family and cause I always eat slowly, they left me in the food court. Not wanting to look weird I went on my phone to read some fics and this one probably made me look crazier. I legit was laughing and squealing silently throughout it and i’m happy my family wasn't there or they would have prob been concerned XD

-Innocence’s True Form - Innocent Heart2 (FF.net) 

Half the reason I started this list. I legit started writing because i wanted to make a story similar to this (luckily I didn't cause it was shit what i tried, tho I did draw some art that if y’all care to see XD) This DGM story Is basically all their innocence become human and it’s beautiful. I don't believe it’s finished but it’s been a few years soooo. But still what is there is great and I love where it was going. 

- neighbourly charms - thishasbeencary (Ao3) 

a great yuri on ice story where yuuri moves in to a new house next door to Viktor and it’s a 4 chapter romance fic. It’s really good with romance and a bit of fantasy (i dont wanna spoil anything ;) ) This story was another example of me losing and having to dig for a fic because I deleted the tab i was on (i read in private tabs ) and didn't know the name of the fic, I dug through the Viktor/Yuuri tag on Ao3 to find this. I’ve legit recommended this story to people because I love it!

- I’m not broken - BoovPerson (Ao3) 

This is like the only one-Shot on this list but is so beautiful. This is a story about Tony figuring out he’s aromantic. The ending scene is so beautiful that I almost cried and i’ve read this too many times. As someone who identifies as Aro Its so nice to see the representation and i found the story so heartwarming. I legit wish I could shove this down all my friends throats but a lot of them either aren't into MCU or dont know im Aro XD

- It Came Upon Voidless Clear - doodlegirll (Ao3) 

(This story has homophobia in it just as a warning) THIS F***ING STORY!! I legit made my friend read this when they got into WTNV beacause I absolutely love it. It was so good story wise, had some angst but also some really nice family/romance fluff!!!! basically Cecil goes with Carlos to his house for christmas and shit happens. I dont think ill ever find any better WTNV fic! (DAMN I REALLY WANNA READ THIS AGAIN XD) 

- Stitching Hearts - Mandelene (FF.net)

THIS STORY ACTUALLY MADE ME CRY!!!!!!! I legit stayed up until 5 am reading this and subsequently sat in the dark crying at the ending. It’s a ACE family fic if I remember correctly. Every once and a while I try to go and reread it but I can never bring myself to XD. This author in general I would recommend for FACE fics because theirs are AMAZING!!!!!

-----

K thats all the ones I had for now but I have more if people care! I hope the authors of these stories dont mind me ranting about their stories (if so tell me and I can remove it) Also sorry these weren't like, descriptions of the fics. I’m self conscious about recommending things so this was mainly to credit some amazing fic writers and fics that were important to me. I love fanfiction and it is a valid way to write! Tell me if you have or will read these, I can scream about any of these for hours!!!!!!! 

@mandelene@lucke1@plumeriafairy14@hitinmiss@thishasbeencary @doodlegirll-writes

(pls tell me if you know the other fic writers I dont wanna bother them just wanna make sure they know i did this in case they dont like it...)

[winterune]

Rin Yakumo: Thoughts and Musings

Unable to focus on what I’m reading, I sneak glances at [MC] and wait for the right timing. Just this once, I want to be like the guy in the manga that gets her swooning over like a ridiculous school girl. And with that, I prepare myself to make the first and last proposal I’ll ever give in my life

-- Rin Yakumo.

I think I’ve written plenty before how I saw that MLFK wasn’t a favorite until I met Rin, and I’ve also written my thoughts on him based on the first season, but now after reading his season 3 story, I fell in love with him all over again and I feel the need to write another Why I Love Rin (or who I like to call Rin-chan lol).

As you know, Rin is quiet. He’s quiet and awkward yet kind and passionate. What I like about him is that he is quite innocent and he is sincere. He can be unbelievably kind, yet his kindness is shown in an awkward way. He never seems to have an ulterior motive. He does what he does because he wants to. And seriously, this boy is desperately, head-over-heels in love with MC. 

Look at that! Just look at that! Who would wake up way earlier than you used to, to make your girlfriend’s favorite deserts, if you’re not deeply in love with her? Well... I wouldn’t know since I’m not a guy (and this is still shoujo and shoujo’s tend to exaggerate certain things) but that’s how I imagine people in love would be like.

MC is his first girlfriend. Sure he’s had crushes before, but she’s the first one he’s ever told his feelings to. She’s the first one who loves him back. And as both are still new to this relationship stuff, their interactions can be so funny and cute. I wouldn’t say Rin is a tsundere (though he has its traits). He’s just really closed off that he doesn’t know how to express his emotions, that it’s weird having a grin plastered on your face all day long even though he was so gleeful he could dance and leap. And this is what makes Rin so adorable. But when you reach season 3 and read his POV and realize the reason why he’s never honest with his feelings, you realize the reason why he always brushes off others’ teasing and rarely smile and admit that he’s happy or how he would sometimes disregard what he wants, Rin just comes across as ... sad. (sidenote: you know, I feel like I could make an entire fanfic about Rin’s past. his character is very interesting to explore). 

Another reason why I adore Rin and his relationship with MC is because they’re friends! It gets repeated in the story countless times but I do agree that Rin and MC are on the same wavelength. Aside from being a boyfriend, Rin is her friend first. They banter and joke and tease each other like how friends would. Because they are both each others’ firsts, they come into this relationship new and awkward and innocent, both wanting to take things slow and at their own pace. Neither really knows what they’re doing and they’re determined to explore this relationship together. They are cute and perfect for each other!

And they are fun to see! Their banters are fun to read. Again, unlike the others’ special CGs that I have seen, Rin’s is probably my favorite. I feel like with Rin, they can start their relationship with a clean slate. He’s a high school friend you reunited with through unexpected circumstances. You were kind of good friends with him once but then you separated at college. There are no ... burdens, or whatnot. You both stand on equal footing. Plus, Rin has never been a popular kid. Like sure, he’s cool, and some girls probably had fawn over him, but he’s always a bit unapproachable, so girls would just admire him from afar. MC though had the privilege of becoming his friend.  

And last is that he is so very endearing! Just the fact that he tries his best to push himself beyond the boundaries he’s set for himself, just to make MC happy, is beyond words to describe. He makes me smile. He reads shoujo manga because MC likes it. He’d set up dates to places he noticed MC likes (without telling her beforehand of course). He got down on one knee and proposed to her so very cringe-worthy and cliche, even though he’d said that there was no way he could do it, just so he could make MC happy. If that’s not pure, sincere love, then I don’t know what is.

(some thoughts on what I think about the others under the cut)

As for the others...I can’t really feel like you’re entirely equal. OK this is just me basing my thoughts on their first season stories--or heck, just their previews, first chapters, or the general gist of it.

Ayato: I loved Ayato the fist time the game was released. Why? Because he and MC had been so close when they were little. He came very close to be a favorite and my OTP, but... he’s an oresama. He can be so arrogant and he’s so popular--and he knows he’s popular. I don’t like popular guys and I don’t like oresama’s. I feel like he’ll always be the dominant one in the relationship. However, I tried reading what his season 3 looks like and I couldn’t help but like him again, because that’s just it. MC and Ayato had been close friends since childhood and they’re still close friends even now. 

Ichiya: I never really know who this guy really is. Always the sourpuss in the group, always feeling like he’s better than everyone else. Maybe his story would change my mind on his character, but I really can’t see MC and Ichiya getting along. Well, they’re just that type where MC would warm up after spending time with him. And he’s most probably be dominant over MC. 

Makoto: the big brother of the group who has had a crush on MC since ... forever. Now, Makoto had been the second character I was interested in after Ayato. Because I often like characters that has had longtime crushes on the MC. But...his first season story was good at best. It lacked that extra punch that makes the story unforgettable. He’s always loved MC and he’ll continue to love her no matter what her choice will be. In the end, Makoto didn’t stand out to me.

Takamune: have never read his story either, but I feel like he has an inferiority complex with Ayato. The gist I got from his first chapter is that, he feels like he’s that friend that tags along with Ayato and MC. I feel like he’s always felt MC is Ayato’s and that having feelings for her is unimaginable. So of course from the start their footing is not equal. 

Riku: have been meaning to read his story too. And maybe they could be equal, and I haven’t known what made Riku broke up with MC when they were still in school, but I guess... Makoto likes her, and she likes Hiro, and ... yeah I can see a lot of drama going on...

Hiroki: it’s already clear they’re not equal and that Hiro will always have his dominance over her. Hiro is her first love. Even if Hiro is not her boss, MC has already put him on a pedestal. Judging from his special cgs, I can already see signs of his dominance there... 

Anyway, what I want to say is that, neither of them resonate with me. They lack that ... equal-footing friend factor that Rin has. Though that’s not to say that their stories are bad. Each has their respective fans. This is just a matter of preference, and for me, the one who suits MC best is Rin. 

[lotusdiscussthis]

@yunevii 

I read your tags and I was afraid to respond to it considering you didn’t show it on the reblog. By putting your comments on the tags, I could’ve easily overlooked it, so I didn’t know if you really wanted to talk about it or not. In the end, I’ve decided to link you to give you my reply anyway. I hope you don’t mind.

I don’t blame you for not agreeing. After all, my perception of Saihara can be hard to believe when I haven’t given enough explanations as to what made me look at Saihara in such a negative way. It’s mainly due to having to reanalyze the story in a different perspective after discovering things that paints the supposedly innocent detective in a different light. But I’ll try to explain my thoughts the best that I can...

“kokichi often makes conversations go in frustrating circles because of his lies...

True, talking to Ouma also gave me headaches when I first played. Though sometimes the best way to determine someone’s nature is to not always rely on their words, but through their actions. It’s easy to say things like “I’m really evil” and act like the bad guy, but if your actions contradict with that behavior, that would naturally raise questions.

Let’s take Ouma’s evil speech after Gonta died. He said he enjoys their suffering, yet in the previous chapter, he urged Himiko to express her grief properly. How is it that he would go that far for someone he barely even knows, only to suddenly make a big show about he loves their suffering later on? Or when Ouma looked like he faked being injured only for Saihara to notice him wobbling as he walked and failed to notice how he was blanking out while talking to him? Or how about when Ouma was screaming “WE want to live, so don’t get in our way!” mid-trial while arguing with Kaito? We’ve just forgotten that part when Ouma later explains, “Oh yeah, me and Gonta were totally planning on getting you all killed so you wouldn’t have to face the horrible despair of the outside world!” None of this makes any sense. 

How is it that Saihara would overlook these major redflags that would contradict the fact that Ouma was a heartless person? If I can notice this myself, how is it that the protagonist, the Ultimate Detective, can’t??? (Also, reading between the lines is kinda what detectives do, so this is no excuse)

“i think more than anything saihara wanted to feel like kokichi was on his side-...” 

I will be frank, you shouldn’t expect people to do anything for you so simply. That was pretty much what I was trying convey in my original post. To think that somebody on the opposing side as you is automatically suspicious, not good, or wrong is just incredibly flawed reasoning. Especially since the reason why Ouma wasn’t on Saihara’s side in the first place was because he was mostly siding with Kaito the whole time. And Kaito, a man of instinct/belief/blind optimism, mostly showed hostility towards almost everything Ouma says and does. Ouma clearly knew the gravity of the situation and yet, he gets treated like the pariah because almost nobody wants to listen to what he has to say.

Ouma tried several times in the beginning to speak logically about their circumstances, yet practically everyone would automatically think he’s trying to start up pointless trouble. Like when Ouma said if Gonta were to continue being gullible, he was going to get killed. The reason why we saw Ouma as the bad guy in that moment was because everyone around him started to get all defensive and called him insensitive for saying such things after Kaede and Rantaro died. Which isn’t rational. THEY ARE IN A DEATH GAME. Whether Ouma had said anything or not wouldn’t have changed that fact. 

Out of everyone, Ouma has proven to have put in the most effort into showing his trustworthiness by spitting out the facts and warning them all to be careful, but it was everyone else (besides Miu and Gonta) that had rejected his help in the end.

On the one hand, Saihara hadn’t really done anything to earn Ouma’s support and friendship since meeting him. Even if Saihara was truly expecting what you had claimed, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s selfish for him to think that way. He doesn’t owe Saihara anything.

On the other hand, Ouma also did say at one point he was on everyone else’s side. And in the 5th trial, he had put everything on the line for his final plan to work and put an end to the killing game. Knowing that, does it still sound like he was not on his friends’ side? Even if you’ve figured it out, Saihara somehow couldn’t bring himself to comprehend this fact.

“...but talking to him always feels like a battle just to get the truth out” 

If the ‘truth’ you are referring to is about knowing Ouma’s true intentions and plans, then there’s a good reason for that. Ouma did mention in the beginning that carelessly opening up to people would be dangerous. And no, I don’t think he was speaking as Mr. Paranoia as much as the fandom loves to see him as. I think he said that because Monokuma would most likely be listening in on their conversations and that one of their friends is most likely the ringleader. (Just like how Kyoko was cautious of talking to Makoto out in the open in DR1) And turns out he was correct. So if he explained that much in the beginning, shouldn’t that give the listener (Saihara) a better idea as to why he shouldn’t be too outright with his intentions? There’s only so much you can do without getting careless within a killing game. 

“also by the time saihara says that he’ll never get kokichi to change kokichi had proven to be not just hard to talk to but pretty heartless and villainous as well” 

I would like for you to recall how Ouma first introduced himself... Now this is something I’ve always found curious, but never really dove into too deeply in case the story were to prove me otherwise at some point. But now that it’s been a year since I first played, I just have to ask those who think that Ouma has a single sadistic or villainous bone in his body.....

What kind of antagonist would out themselves as a liar in the beginning? In a killing game, no less?

We all know that he’s an incredibly clever boy who knows how to play mind games and put on an act that would befit the situation. So if he was truly serious about winning the game and was willing to coldly disregard the lives of others, wouldn’t it make more sense to not reveal that problematic aspect of himself? Wouldn’t it give him a better advantage to NOT play the flaming jerkwad role and piss everyone off to the point of wanting to kill you? Much like how Komaeda played innocent until Hajime and Chiaki cornered him into admitting that he set up the murder plan and then showed his crazy side. Ouma could’ve played himself up just like that as well, but no. Instead he kept claiming he’s nothing more than a liar.

Admitting to a bunch of (supposed) strangers that he’s a liar just makes no sense at all. Although, to disregard his intentions as just him being crazy or just him screwing around would be oversimplifying things. Even Nagito had an understandable method to his madness... 

“though he hadnt done anything drastic he does fuck up the trials and says (lies) about how much fun the killing game is”

When you say “fuck up the trials”, you mean when he took Ryoma’s motive video or saying that he killed Angie? I had to ask to make sure because just simply saying “he screwed up the trials” is not a clear enough explanation. Anyway, we never actually knew the real reason as to why Ouma stole the motive vid. We were made to think he did it for kicks, but in the end, he explained on Ryoma’s behalf that his motive video was empty when nobody knew what could’ve made him lose his will to live. I guess he also speculated that Maki was Ryoma’s killer and wanted to steal it before she got a hold of it. After all, she was the original holder of his video and nobody knew about her and Ryoma’s encounter besides Ouma, so nobody would’ve questioned her as to why she had his video. And I think Ouma was waiting for an opportune moment to shove the evidence in her face if things went differently. (I’m just guessing here tho.) But I do believe Ouma has reasons for why he does what he does, instead of simply doing it for jokes.

On the matter of him claiming that he killed Angie, he said so himself that he was trying to lure out the culprit by pretending to be the killer. He said if he played the killer, the actual blackened would likely push the blame onto him. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s more of a valid reason to do it than simply screwing around.

It’s rather funny to me how the fandom talks about how Ouma screws up the trials, but what about Tenko, Himiko and Maki??? 

Tenko kept others from questioning Himiko for the sake of the investigation, Himiko would sooner let everyone die for the sake of keeping her magic a secret, and Maki stupidly kept quiet and put the trial on hold so nobody would figure out her talent. And yet, Saihara would sooner side with them and lie for their sake in the middle of the trial even though he had just about as little relations with them as he did with Ouma. Why????

“its really hard for saihara to feel like he’s on his side despite how much he does want to work with him”

I’m sorry to say, but Saihara had that opportunity to work with Ouma when the boy himself made the offer in the VW. Without considering it or even questioning him, Saihara just ignored him and logged out. Saihara clearly had no intention of working beside him.

“i do kinda agree that he didnt really ask that many questions but kokichis answers really had proven to always be super vague or just a lie” 

Which vague answers are you talking about exactly? I wouldn’t know how to answer that myself because that’s not specific enough. Give me an example?

“the point is i really dont believe saihara is an arrogant person.”

I’m afraid that the screencaps I’ve shown in the original post aren’t the only proof I have to show that he’s an arrogant person. I wanted to mention them in a different post, but I’ll give you a few other brief examples.

He has insinuated that Ouma is stupid despite the fact that we’re talking about the same dude that has pretty much been doing more detective work than the actual detective did. Not to mention that Saihara’s the one that believed Ouma was the mastermind and screwed up the first case majorly.

After the 5th Closing Argument, Saihara claimed his detective’s intuition was flawless even though it was clearly just conjecture in the end. He had practically no proof to back up what he had laid out for them. He may have gotten Kaito to exit out of the exisal but only because he had to lie. That doesn’t prove that was what actually transpired. Only Kaito knows about what had happened between him and Ouma, and seeing how Kaito was following the script he was given, we wouldn’t know the extent of it.

This one really peeves me. Because he thinks he knows better, he thinks he gets to shut down someone else’s emotions because he thinks they’re lying when he couldn’t possibly have gotten the chance to know one thing about him. Whether you think someone is insincere or not, it’s not your place to disregard their feelings like that. 

There’s also the fact that Kirumi got unexpectedly personal and called out on the fact that Saihara doesn’t even listen to others in the 2nd trial. It was weird how she could make these accusations at all like she knows something...

And despite the fact that Tsumugi claimed it was Kaede’s twin as the possible suspect, Saihara would sooner disregard the piece of evidence because he trusted his intuition moreso than looking into possible facts. Same can be said in the first trial too, where he trusted his intuition to pin Kaede as the culprit despite the fact that she WASN’T...

I’ll just stop it here...

“i dont think its right to compare gundam and kokichi” 

Well, I don’t see how it’s wrong either, honestly... Considering how the game itself gave me a lot to work with to show how much these two said characters contrast with one another. I actually made something before that would showcase a lot of comparisons between Ouma and Gundham. So if you wish, you can look for yourself and see what I mean... (Link to Self-Sacrificing Duos post) And a friend of mine actually analyzed a scene between the two when they had a moment in TDP and the game even subtly hinted about them being similar! (Link to Gundham and Ouma TDP moment post)

It’s kinda hard not to compare when there are a number of things you can compare within this franchise, not just Gundham and Ouma. They are all by the same creator after all and he loves to re-utilize his own tropes.

“wow i should not have written all this in the tags its so long sorry i make it sound like i dont like kokichi when i really do. he’s a great character just really hard to get along with. i hope this made any sense lol”

It’s no problem. I just hope that what I’ve explained made sense ^^; I apologize if I come across as harsh or anything like that, but I couldn’t find myself expressing certain points any better than I did... 

Hopefully, this gives you at least a better understanding of where I’m coming from.

[agalnamedlunasea]

I posted 3,180 times in 2021

15 posts created (0%)

3165 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 211.0 posts.

I added 42 tags in 2021

#danganronpa - 13 posts

#anti capitalism - 7 posts

#hajime hinata - 4 posts

#komaru naegi - 3 posts

#;^; - 3 posts

#danganronpa summer camp - 3 posts

#resources - 3 posts

#zatch bell - 2 posts

#nagito komaeda - 2 posts

#chihiro fujisaki - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 121 characters

#i just think it’d be funny if hajime had more izuru traits in the form of one long hunk of hair instead of his whole head

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Fucking dying at the fact that there was a large canvas of komahina/wrightworth fan art at the pride event i went to on Sunday

46 notes • Posted 2021-06-07 09:24:57 GMT

#4

These witches gay! Good for them, good for them💖✨🌙🏳️‍🌈

65 notes • Posted 2021-08-10 23:10:46 GMT

#3

Shitpost/ headcanon time y’all

82 notes • Posted 2021-08-22 21:51:25 GMT

#2

Thinking about how even tho I love komahina this is the only drawing I've done of them

93 notes • Posted 2021-11-30 14:36:58 GMT

#1

No one asked but fuck it, here's my thoughts on all the swimsuit sprites for danganronpa

Makoto 9/10

I actually really love when they put makoto in boring clothes. Its always so perfect for him. That said, it IS still kinda boring

Kiyotaka 6/10

Honestly the more I look at it the more I enjoy it. I did have an initial "no no NO" reaction, but Honestly the more I think about it the more I can see him wearing it, and when people comment on it, him defending it as "standard swimwear" and it gives him "less resistance when swimming". However the look of it is pretty boring and it makes his legs look far too long. Also he is far too ripped

Byakuya 7/10

Its pretty much fine, it looks a lil uncomfortably tight, and I wish the gold was more evenly distributed throughout the suit. The strong emphasis the gold puts around the junk is.... not my favorite. But otherwise it looks fine, and yay no abs

Mondo 8/10

Its basically just his coat as swim trunks, they look fine, no real notes. Its solid.

Leon 9/10

Exactly what I'd expect for leon. I really dig the jacket and the gradient on the trunks. The outfit is really solid. The pose they chose is an odd choice but no points lost. Made me Google if baseball players have/ should have abs, ive decided they're fine

Hifumi 9/10

I should note that a good chunk of the scoring is based on how fitting it is for the characters, rather than the look itself. Hifumi would 100% wear swim trunks of his favorite character, regardless of how it looks. Its just fine.

Yasuhiro 10/10

Absolutely perfect stoner/lazy dad vibes. The prints, the somewhat clashing colors that doesn't hurt the eyes, its perfect for him

Chihiro 8/10

Oh thank God. I was so worried about what they'd do for chihiro and honestly its good. Its *slightly* more feminine than I'd go, but it absolutely works. Bright blue and yellow feels like a bit of an odd choice for him, but its still pretty flattering on them.

Sayaka 7/10

Its fine i guess? The shawl is a bit odd, and could go for a bit more pink,but otherwise its fine.

Kyoko 8/10

It's pretty basic, but it fits. Personally I'd have put her in something either high waisted or a one-piece, but it works. I love the gloves with it.

Aoi 8/10

It'd be hard to find something that doesn't work for her at all,and this one is fine. Its a bit of a weird color for her skintone though. Maybe a blue or a different shade of yellow would be better.

Toko/ Jill 10/10

I. Am. Obsessed. I really love the sash, and how it along with the gradient on the bikini changes depending on which of them is fronting. She looks really cute and I think its perfect for her.

Sakura 9/10

Its cute and frilly and she looks beautiful! Its what she deserves. My only note is I'd have picked a less saturated shade of pink. Otherwise perfect 👌

Celeste 10/10

Absolutely perfect for her, and it looks so cute on her. No notes.

Junko 1/10

Excuse me?!? Ms. Junko Enoshima, ultimate despair and fashionista in a *school swimsuit* ?! Absolutely fucking not. What happened to the bikini from the promo art? I really hope there's a plot reason for that or something because what the fuck

Mukuro 3/10

The suit itself is fun and cute but it doesn't feel very mukuro. Im also sooooo disappointed that we're not getting un-disguised mukuro sprites. If anything I think she and junko should switch. She deserves better.

Monokuma 10/10

No notes, exactly what I'd expect

Thh average: 7/10, overall decent.

Hajime 7/10

It looks fine. The orange is unexpected but fine. The radial design is not my favorite but its subtle so I guess it works ok. Its overall kinda boring but it works, though less so than Makoto's boring-ness.

Nagito 9/10

Gay rights! Nah but really I do like the blue on him, its good.

Imposter 8/10

Definitely better than byakuya's. The white is nice on him and is less of a contrast with the gold than black is, which helps a lot. I think he looks great.

Gundham 9/10

The trunks are perfect and I love that he's keeping the scarf and bandages like the absolute chunnibyo he is. Absolutely works

Kazuichi 9/10

Perfect adaptation of his jumpsuit into trunks. Also thank God they kept the beanie. I love kazuichi but no hat on him is a lil cursed.

Teruteru 5/10

Ehhh it fits but I really don't dig it. The roses are weird, as are the black top with white shorts. Not my favorite but its not bad...

Nekomaru 10/10

Exactly what he'd wear. Perfect.

Fuyuhiko 9/10

The trunks really work for him and I dig the necklace with it, its a nice touch

Akane 8/10

Its the same one from the game. It fits and looks nice, but I was kinda hoping for something new. Its at least nice to see her in it without all the blood. Also no abs makes me sad on her especially.

Chiaki 9/10

Again, same one from the game, but it looks perfect on her, no complaints.

Sonia 8/10

It looks really cute on her! They actually picked a flattering shade for her skin tone. The wrap is a little bit long and I can't tell if its supposed to be bulky or if Sonia just got wide ass hips. But she looks cute.

Hiyoko 9/10

Exactly what I'd expect. Slightly too saturated but still cute.

Mahiru 8/10

Wouldn't expect blue but its cute. However the white dots on blue combined with her red hair makes my dumb American brain think 4th of July :/. I think she'd look cuter in a gingham pattern but this works just fine.

Mikan 4/10

I can smell the fanservice coming off of this one. The white of her bikini and bandages makes her seem really washed out, and the bandages look really odd with that style of bikini. Not a fan.

Ibuki 10/10

Perfect for her and super cute. I love the style of it.

Peko 8/10

Same as in the game. So no surprises but still cute.

Izuru 6/10

Very basic and kinda boring. I think a little detail could be nice, but it works

Monomi/Usami 10/10

Look at her!! She's so cute, i love the floatie and the goggles and ruffle, I love it.

SDR2 average: 8/10. Probably my favorite collection overall.

Komaru 3/10

Nooooooooo!! Where's the cute one-piece from the promo art? That one looked much cuter. The shape of the bikini is ok I guess, but that color is awful on her. How could they do my girl like this.

Masaru 9/10

Exactly what I'd expect, I dig the asymmetrical pattern.

Jataro 10/10

I love the jacket!!!!!!! I love that its long and I dig the camo. I also like the cut of the shorts. He looks great.

Kotoko 9/10

Cute, and exactly what I'd expect. No notes.

Nagisa 7/10

Pretty basic but fitting. It looks kind of incomplete tho. I think he'd wear a rash guard.

Monaca 8/10

About what I expected but a little plain.

Kurokuma and shirokuma 9/10

They both look cute! I dig the hats and I love the floatie for shiro

Hiroko 8/10

The jacket is cute and helps the bikini clash less with her hair. Overall looks nice.

UDG average: 8/10, jataro is definitely making up for komaru's lost points.

Shuichi 7/10

This one is just,, so close to being great. The jacket should either be zipped or unzipped, and short sleeved, or maybe even no sleeves. Also the shorts look way too small. Just make them normal trunk size. The idea is just fine but its just a lil off.

Kaito 9/10

As expected, trunks in his signature pattern. Perfect

Ryoma 9/10

It looks fun but a touch off. Maybe give him some sunglasses or something. But overall nice.

Rantaro 6/10

The pink is an odd choice but its fine i guess? I like that he's keeping the jewelry tho.

Gonta 8/10

Cute, absolutely fits him, but its a little boring. Kinda wish they gave him the ponytail he has in the 10th anniversary outfit.

Kokichi 6/10

The shorts are fine, but a lil odd. I miss the jacket from the promo art, so this looks less complete. They got rid of his weird as shit abs though thank God.

Korekiyo 8/10

The wetsuit is very fitting, and I like the design of it, even though it's a bit generic. Keeping the bandages feels a little weird.

Keebo 10/10

The floatie!!!! The goggles!!!!! I love it!!!!

Kirumi 7/10

Its cute,but it doesn't feel very kirumi. I feel like she'd wear a one-piece tbh, or at least not such a small bikini. But I guess its fine.

Himiko 1/10

Oh noooooo what the hell is that? My poor girl, she looks like she bought a shitty cave person Halloween costume, someone stole half of it, and she decided to wear it anyway. It doesn't fit himiko at all, and aside from that it looks terrible. I simply do not believe that himiko wouldn't wear something more "magical" looking. Maybe like purple with some ruffles? Or something with a shawl? Who the hell decided to put her in a one shoulder brown bikini?! I hate it.

Maki 10/10

I really dig the straps and the slightly desaturated red. Give her some abs and its perfect.

Tenko 4/10

Do I believe tenko has good fashion sense? No. Do I believe she'd wear a pink gingham bikini? Also no. It just feels too preppy and feminine for her. Not that she isn't feminine at all, but I think a cool color and either a one-piece or shorts would fit way better.

Tsumugi 7/10

Its suitably boring,but the color feels a little off for her skin tone. Maybe if she and hina swapped color schemes, they'd both be better.

Angie 5/10

Its cute, but its literally just her v3 outfit without the yellow shawl. Paintbrushes and everything. Its a bit disappointing.

Miu 8/10

Of course Miu would wear a leopard print bikini. It absolutely fits her. Maybe they could have done more, but I'm satisfied with it.

Kaede 7/10

The blue is a weird choice for her. If she and tenko swapped thatd work a little better. I just think it'd be nice if they kept her in her signature colors.

V3 average: 7/10, definitely my least favorite overall but its still good.

197 notes • Posted 2021-07-20 15:51:47 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[akiharashizuka]

Cardfight Vanguard G: Z turn 18 thoughts

Dawn of the Decisive Battle

By this title, it seems that Z is approaching the climax. Considering that it will end in April, it might have around 7 episodes left (without this one), so guess it’s a good choice to start already with the final battle. This is more like a prequel to it, though.

The North America Branch lives up to its name if it really can hold up the materialized ZRs. As long as the system keeps working. Hmm, interesting mention there.

I liked when the explosions went off and Kai is so calm about it. Guess everyone was expecting a flashy attack, so at this point nothing can startle them xD And it’s Darkface we’re talking about.

For once the good guys use this strategy. Normally the heroes enter the enemy’s base and they have to deal with all sorts of traps. It’s kind of refreshing to see it the other way around. Though, Chaos Breaker seems to enjoy himself.

This might seems kind of messed up, but Darkface is way too hilarious running around and throwing dynamites like that xD He even says “dokan”, which is an onomatopoeia for explosions xD

 And when he found the computer and “injected” the virus xD I liked how he suddenly shifted from the angry voice.

Chaos Breaker is so chill. He doesn’t even bother to run. Just walks away when Aichi caught up with him. And then he is patiently waiting for Aichi and Kai to “corner” him. It’s almost like he was looking for the best spot to have a chat with them.

Good thing Aichi has figured out what’s up.

Pfff xD Darkface’s explosive entrance was funny, but Kamui kneeing him was even better xD 

And when about to get trapped, he kicks out Kamui and grabs Misaki. He has to idea whom he’s messing with xD

We also find out why Kazumi was sent there. I must say, I didn’t think about that. Actually, I didn’t think Gyze will tag along to retrieve the ZRs. But they saw it coming, so Kazumi specifically went there in order to take him on. Which I’m glad they did.

Now, surely he won’t win this. The summaries for the upcoming episodes kind of confirm this as well. But if he really manages to bring out Kazuma’s conscience, then I’m satisfied. Also, let him use Drachma.

I was wondering why out of all people, Arata, Makoto and Misaki were handling the PC. Turns out that Chris taught the boys a few stuff. And, guess I shouldn’t be surprised about Misaki. She’s one of the smartest people around. That’s why Darkface grabbed her.

Also, this anime read my mind xD Because, when I watched the episode this morning:

Kamui: Is there anything I can do?!

Me: ... How about calling Chris?

Kamui: I know! I’ll call Chris!

Me: O_O

I love it when I think of something and then a character says it xD

So, Chaos Breaker summons a subspace of Relics. Guess we’ll find out later on what’s the deal with that.

And it will be a 2 vs 1 fight. Like how it was in the neon Messiah movie with Aichi and Kai vs Ibuki. You know, Arata and Makoto should have been there in this case. I know Kai mentioned earlier in this episode that they are not strong enough and that playing the support role is just as important. But he is the one who trained them. Indeed, Arata lost to Gredora, but now it was a good opportunity to show that he had learned something from that. There’s  also the thing with Makoto. He was shown to be the most negative of the two. His loss early on against Arata, plus his opponent changing from Chaos Breaker to Arata when destroying Relics hinted that he might have an inferiority complex. This could have been a good opportunity to dive into that and make him overcome it. I’m sure Chaos Breaker would have noticed it and make the most use of this aspect. I don’t know...It seems more like a missed opportunity.

On the other hand, Chaos Breaker mentioning their history give me some hope about the fight. Mainly because of Link Joker-hen references and establishing some connections between that and what’s happening now.

Well well, at least Darkface admits that he is an oddball. And he was so touched that Gredora accepted him like that. Ok, but she is his mother. It’s natural that she would do that. Gredora does have her sadistic side, but she showed that her children are important to her. And not just as powerful soldiers. Interesting that he also imagines her in Gaily’s body. Now I’d like to see how her and Wakamizu would interact with each other.

We also get some insight on Misaki’s motivation. Which is a nice simple reason. Hmm, with all the talk about the new generation, I started to think that showing Misaki with her younger self doesn’t really convey that. It might have been better if they put Tokoha there, for example, since Misaki was like a mentor to her during GIRS Crisis. 

I loved this part. Darkface was so convinced that he trapped her into a corner, but when she discarded the card as cost for the PG, not so much xD

This fight had a bit of a throwback to the early Genesis. I kind of like the new Minerva and the G guard. 

Ok, so Chris got rid of the virus. And it seems he holds no grudge against Wakamizu. Well, it wasn’t technically him who blew up his research facility, so yeah.

Handa’s movements are really strange though...

First Dumjid, then Valeos (kind of) and now Darkface curses everyone before returning to Cray...It might be just because they are sore losers and not have any effect whatsoever, but what if this will actually end up hindering the heroes in some way.

The post-ending scene reveals that there’s a disturbance similar to the one summoned by Chaos Breaker near Earth. We know that’s related to Relics, which is quite worrying, considering that they still have something in store for it.

Guess it will be explained in the next episode. Also, Aichi and Kai vs Chaos breaker should be exciting. Just because of the Link Joker references. 

We’ll also get to see a bit of Kazumi vs Gyze. I just realized...even if Gyze takes Drachma and Megiddo, Zoa was just secured by Misaki and Stark might be taken away as well. So, the ZRs still won’t be gathered. Will he go and defeat everyone in the building?

[obstinaterixatrix]

2017 Fic Retrospective

yo I’ve been really looking forward to this, so much so that I basically drafted this weeks in advance. because with the onset of p5 and being trapped in rarepair hell I. went hogwild. plus I finished a bunch of stuff that have been drafts for literal years. all in all, 16 fics, 66k - not too bad for someone who doesn’t like writing longfic. alright here we go

1/26

Human After All, or, the Universal Ineptitude that Comes with Sentience, Homestuck, 2.3k words

Rose, Kanaya, and their date in the retcon timeline

glad I started the year right with rosemary. this was actually written to celebrate my eight-year fic anniversary. Eight years from that date is when I posted my first fic to ff.net. Wild. But actually though people don’t really focus on Rose and Kanaya and I just wanted to write something that highlighted some Rose’s issues while giving her support.

3/16

Fortune’s Wheel, Reversed, The Adventure Zone, 9k words

Sloane is going to do whatever it takes to figure out what happened to Lieutenant Hurley, and how to get her back.

I’ve been so in love with the idea of a roleswap with Sloane and Hurley that I really wanted to write a two-shot for femslash feb. which turned into a three-shot. which turned into a four-shot. one month and five chapters later,

5/6

interlude: a meditation on the concept of love, Persona 5, 2.7k words

Yusuke thinks about love. Yusuke buys some lobsters. The two are related, actually.

this is a side story for fox out a forest, but it was technically finished sooner, so

5/17

A Fox out a Forest, Persona 5, 17.5k words

Ryuji and Yusuke get to know each other.

ah. there it is. my descent into rarepair hell. this was the first time I was the first fic in the tag. it’s kind of funny - the format of ‘shadows canon events except It’s My City Now’ is pretty close to Action and Reaction, which was the first fic I posted onto ao3, which also took about a month to finish. I made a lot of friends through that fic, actually. this is like. a persona revival. persona renaissance. buckle up folks you’re gonna see a lot of persona on this list.

6/3

Catharsis, Persona 5, 1k words

Ryuji’s got bruises. Yusuke’s got questions, and some concerns.

Ryuji’s Rank 9 Is Bullshit. also this was the first time in a while I actually took a prompt, in a roundabout way. someone sent an ask and four hours later there it was. it was pretty serendipitous, since it hit right at the writing mood. hoped you enjoyed the sudden fic anon.

6/27

harbor, Persona 5, 2k words

Ann was always going to fall for Shiho; it was only ever a question of when.

ANNSHIHO ANNSHIHO ANNSHOHK ANNSHIHO AMMSHIJO ANNSHIHO AMMSHIO ANN AND SHIHO ARE IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7/9

chromatic conversations; a study on the art of photography, Persona 5, 1.3k words

Ryuji and Yusuke talk about art stuff.

god I could go on forever about this one. it’s hands down the most creative fic I’ve ever written, considering I had to use three different art programs for it. I used word to edit photos. I wrote a bunch of it while I was sick enough that I couldn’t leave the bed. lex and chip helped a bunch with art stuff. I bought a cactus out of embarrassment. this took a lot of effort but I’m really happy with it.

7/11

A Friend in Need, Persona 5, 1.7k words

Makoto may be Eiko’s best friend, but Eiko’s life mission is to slap some sense into her. Just once. Y'know, to get even.

Eiko: the only straight persona girl that exists. wow, I just, love Makoto and Eiko being friends. 

7/13

Fatalistic Humor, or, Jokes to Make Post-Mortem, Homestuck, 7.4k words

‘Head over heels’ is an appropriate turn of phrase because falling in love is exactly like throwing yourself down an endless staircase of inconvenient emotion.

cowritten with @dragonomatopoeia. hoo boy, this had been a work in progress for a *while* (almost a year) but with that, me & air’s collaborative davekat novel has Reached Its Conclusion. We’re Free. there’s a lot of language I’m really proud of in here - fun turns of phrases and super out there descriptions. that’s what’s fun about writing for homestuck, honestly.

7/14

Life & Likeness, Persona 5, 2.3k words

Yusuke finds himself in an aggravating art rut, one that specifically centers around a certain someone.

(it’s Ryuji)

yusuke fic is just me heavily projecting my art minor experiences onto him and finding a way to add Romance

7/17

Shared Summer, Persona 5, 1k words

Yusuke and Akira relive neither of their childhood memories by going beetle hunting.

This was a last-second bday present for sam. I’m extremely tunnel vision abt the ships I get invested in, but sam’s got good yusuke thoughts and we’ve both commiserated over unfortunate yusuke characterization so I wanted to give him ship content that was Definitely His Kinda Thing.

8/17

(un)productive streak; a not-so gentle reminder to take an effin’ break, man, Persona 5, 1.2k words

Ryuji enters the studio, taking in the scene. The scene being Yusuke lying on the floor, in front of his easel, staring listlessly at the ceiling.

“Uh,” Ryuji starts, after a significant pause, “what’s… what are you doing?”

“Wallowing in the end of my artistic career,” Yusuke replies.

this *was* gonna be my entry for the foxskull zine but lmao oops I ended up 200 words over the limit

8/22

paradise valley, lost, Wolf 359, 600 words

It wasn’t supposed to be a test. It was just supposed to be an end.

(Leave it to Lovelace to make things complicated.)

I love eris. once again camped out in my niche content desert. save me.

9/27

Pointless Subterfuge; A (not so) Helpful Guide to the Art of Self-Sabotage, Voltron, 7k words

Lance has a terrible, terrible secret he can’t let anyone know, ever: he thinks Keith is cool.

(it’d be a lot easier to keep secret if he didn’t go around telling every alien he met)

this was in drafts for 8 months and I didn’t get anywhere until I completely overhauled the one scene I started the entire fic for. I do really like the end result tho. nice work me.

11/8

a storm, a shelter, Persona 5, 1k words

Yusuke and Ryuji share an umbrella.

My entry for the foxskull zine! the first zine I’ve ever participated in! my writing’s actually been legit printed? wow. I had to hold onto it for a while - since june, I think - which killed me a bit bc I’m always so. instant gratification lemme post right now immediately

11/23

reprise, refrain, Voltron, 8k words

When the castle picks up an Altean distress signal, Allura desperately hopes to find surviving Alteans.

She does - just not in the way she was expecting.

for this one I asked the writer of a post if I could fic their idea. when it comes to gen stuff it always gets such little reception that I’m comfortable going Ah Yes. The Ignorant Masses Disdain My Masterpiece. No Matter. It’s Great. god allura deserves to be more valid. god mirrorverse was so wasted on canon.

last year I noticed I didn’t write any femslash or gal-focused fic throughout the entirety of 2016, so for 2017 I made the resolution to write more of that stuff. 6 compared to 0 is a good step up. I don’t think I’ll write as much this coming year without atlus’ good-yet-irredeemably-terrible narratives to fuel me, but my resolution is: keep writing more girls. Never Again Shall There Be A Year Without Gal Content. 

[the-apocryphal-one]

Hey do you have any fanfic recs? Read loads of your stuff and looking for new ones. Either FE or DR

So there was another one of these in my inbox that came in a while ago. I meant to answer it, but kept getting busy…and then accidentally deleted it -_- Then this one came in and I said “alright, that’s a sign, let’s do it.” Also, aww, thanks! :)

I’ve never really made a rec list before–there are a lot of fics I’ve read that I’ve enjoyed, but I’m not sure everyone would enjoy, if you get what I’m saying. So I’m trimming it down to what I think most people can like + some I feel are underappreciated by the fandom or have unique concepts. Also, expect shipping bias from me.

Fire Emblem: With one exception, this is gonna have entirely Awakening and Fates stuff–not because there isn’t great fanfic for the older games (there is), but because I haven’t looked at stuff for them in forever. Also because what I do remember enjoying was posted ages ago and not all of it’s around anymore.

The Mechanist’s Secret Power: A hilarious crack/parody fic that pokes fun at many of Fates’ mechanics and plot holes…while still having some semblance of a plot! In-Progress.

Decruited: Another hilarious crack/parody fic where, after the game has ended, Robin has to fire the Shepherds. He comes up with the most nitpicky of reasons to do so. Complete.

Awkward Moments: Azurrin. A short, cute and funny fic of Corrin and Azura struggling to adjust to married life. Complete.

The Kingdom of Forking Paths: Azurrin. Probably my favorite Conquest rewrite, this handles elements like the supposed revolution, the black-and-white morality, Corrin’s divisive characterization, the royal sisters’ lacking roles, and even the second gen well. Mixes in elements of the Revelation route, too. In-Progress.

Senbonzakura: Post-Conquest, Leo/Sakura. A fantastic romance with great pacing and a careful handling of the apparent consequence-free conquest of Hoshido. Has great worldbuilding and my favorite Sakura voice. It’s just the Leo/Sakura fic to read in my mind. Complete.

The Werdna’s “A Future” series: Okay, that’s just what I call it, the series doens’t have an official title. Robcina. A collection of multi-chapter Awakening fics, following Robin and Lucina’s journey in the aftermath of Grima’s defeat. Eventually crosses over with Fates. Most are complete, latest is In-Progress.

The Pacing of a Story is Also Very Important in a Video Game: Wanted to know what Chrom and Tharja’s supports would look like? Wanted to know what a romance between them would look like? Then this is the fic for you. Technically a dead fic, but it’s a collection of conversations and one-shots rather than one overarching plot, so don’t let that deter you.

Fire Emblem: The Hero of Shadow: Kris/Katerina. FE12 had potential that went nowhere, and there’s not a lot to fix it since it was never released in the west. This fic does, handling Kris’s characterization, skills and relationship with the Seventh Platoon Arc much better than the game did. In-Progress.

To Save a God: Anankos/Mikoto, pre-Fates. A “what-if” fic where Azura’s father survives Anankos’s attack, and thus potentially averts the fall of Valla. Of course, it all depends on whether he can save his friend… I enjoy this one for its rather unique idea. In-Progress.

Dangan Ronpa: I haven’t read any “Fangan Ronpa’s”, so you’ll only see recs with the canon casts here.

Video games and coffee cups: Hinanami, one-shot. Adorable, shameless coffee shop AU. Fluffy to the max, perfect for erasing sadness.

Beta: A Naegiri one-shot where Makoto has a depressing realization about his relationship with Kyoko. Happier than it sounds, promise.

Jack of Spades: Celes-centric, gen, one-shot. Excellent backstory and characterization fic.

It Didn’t All Go to Plan: Mukuro-centric, onesided Naekusaba, implied Naegiri. A look into Mukuro’s mind during the brief time she was alive in the Killing Game and her feelings for Makoto.

Undoing: Sayaka-centric, gen, oneshot. I love Sayaka, but fics about her are sadly rare. This is one of them, a nice look into Sayaka’s head and why she gave Makoto the golden sword that would ultimately screw her over.

Growing Pains: Oneshot, Kuzupeko. Touching and sometimes sad kid fic that deals with Peko struggling to adjust to the role of a mother.

Magical Girl Usami: HNNNNNG. A superhero/magical girl AU, starring tag-team Magical Girl Chiaki (codename Usami) and her partner, detective Kyoko. Hinanami and Naegiri (though the Naegiri was only just starting as of last update). I wish this would update again because it was so good so go read it and encourage the author. In-Progress.

The Insistence of Light: Modern AU (non-Despair and non-Talent, that is), Kuzupeko. A great fic where Peko has to adjust to suddenly losing her purpose in life when she’s fired by the Kuzuryu clan, and slowly comes into her own as a person. Almost complete, it’s just waiting on the epilogue.

Moving Forward: Naegiri, post DR3. A nice, fluffy series of shared oneshots about Makoto and Kyoko’s life after the Final Killing Game. In-Progress.

Hope’s Peak’s Best and Brightest: Non-Despair AU. Follows Class 77 plus Hajime as they deal with their boatload of psychological problems. This’ll swing you all over the place, from laughing to awwing to feeling really, really bad for everyone. In-Progress.

Cute Little Hamsters: Sondam with a side of Hinanami…from Kazuichi’s POV. It works, promise. A multi-chapter fic covering the 77th class’s first year together at Hope’s Peak. It was written before DR3 aired and thus has some details different, so it’s technically AU, but it’s cute, funny, and has a novel concept (again, a shipping fic from an outside POV). Complete.