#i think that i'll write a manga some day

[paper-mario-wiki]

im not sure if it was the intent, but i read this post like it was the final page of a seinfeld manga chapter.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[orcelito]

Rereading itnl to get back into the mindset for it and God Damn that first chapter really is smth huh

[bestdressedchuuya]

As much as I'm enjoying going through the anime, I will say it's got some MASSIVE pacing issues compared to the manga. Everything takes sooooo much longer to get through, and yea I know that's a given when going from reading chapters to watching episodes, it's inherently going to take longer. But it's soooo obvious when they stall for time by dragging out scenes way longer than they need to be or adding scenes that are completely unnecessary and it really gets on my nerves sometimes. Like with Impel Down, how the hell did they manage to take 25 chapters and drag it out over 27 episodes?? It's really quite something

[majinael]

Kaiser, how we know him in the manga, absolutely does not know how to love and would never end up in a relationship or at least, a healthy one, so, I'll write here one of my most important works (that I'll probably refer to in a lot of my future writings), helping you guys understanding what I think is the most realistic way he could love anyone.

★TW : mentions of mental abuse, depression.

★1k words

✾ You absolutely fell in love first and stayed even after seeing him fail and witnessing the worst sides of him with your own eyes.

✾ Kaiser would eventually notice something special in you, something he didn’t see at first. As time passed, he couldn’t help being drawn to you because you saw through his facade—the ego, the arrogance—and treated him with both blunt honesty and quiet compassion.

✾ He desired you, though not in a romantic way at first. To him, you were someone he needed around, someone he didn’t want anyone else to have, almost as if you were an object to be kept.

✾ One day, you found enough courage to confess your feelings to him. To Kaiser, it was an opportunity to keep you tethered to him, to have control over you. He accepted, assuming you were the type to be so stupidly in love that you’d let anything slide—and you did.

✾ Even then, he tried to “love” you, though selfishly. He didn’t want you to leave, even if he didn’t truly know how to put you first or care for you in a way that wasn’t about his own gratification.

✾ You stayed because you saw glimpses of the person he could be, because you believed he deserved to be loved, and because you were far too attached to walk away.

✾ Over the years, however, the emotional weight of loving someone so broken—someone who was unwilling to change no matter how many arguments or breaks you endured—began to take its toll. His jealousy, his possessiveness, and his inability to communicate left you exhausted.

✾ “Why do you always forgive me, even when I don’t deserve it?” he asked one night, his frustration laced with disbelief. He thought you might have finally given up on him. You just smiled sadly and replied, “Because someone has to.”

✾ Eventually, your love alone wasn’t enough to hold you together. You left—not out of anger, but out of self-preservation. You were on the brink of losing yourself entirely.

✾ At first, Kaiser wasn’t overly concerned and was mostly in denial. He convinced himself you’d come back, just as you always had. When hours turned into days, he believed you felt the same need for him as he did for you. But as the days turned into weeks, the silence began to gnaw at him.

✾ He spiraled, masking his pain with his usual bravado—if not more exaggerated than ever. Yet when he was alone, he was consumed by thoughts of you being with someone else. The idea drove him mad, and for the first time, he felt true, raw heartbreak. He realized your leaving wasn’t an act of abandonment but a final act of love—giving him what he thought he wanted most from you towards the end: freedom.

✾ Kaiser wasn’t used to losing or feeling such despair paired with a complete loss of control. Refusing to accept the end, he did everything in his power to win you back—grand gestures, heartfelt confessions, and promises he’d never made to anyone before.

✾ Of course, you were deeply hurt and hesitant. “Words don’t mean much, Kaiser. You need to show me,” you said firmly.

✾ He offered you everything—luxury, security, anything money could buy—but you demanded something far more valuable: his willingness to change.

✾ One of your conditions for reconciliation was therapy, something Kaiser initially scoffed at. “You think talking to some stranger is going to fix me?” he said, incredulous, thinking he knew everything about psychology already.

✾ But he agreed, not just out of desperation but also because when he saw your tearful, pleading eyes filled with hope that this time it could change, he couldn’t refuse. For the first time, he understood that this was something he had to do—not even for you, but for himself.

✾ The sessions were slow and grueling, forcing him to confront parts of himself he’d buried for years—his insecurities, his fears, and his warped view of love.

✾ Over time, after almost two years, he began to heal. He learned to express his feelings in healthier ways, to apologize without deflecting, and to listen instead of always trying to be right. Winning you back wasn’t a quick process. It took years of effort, of proving he had changed—not just for you, but for himself.

✾ During this time, you were together but not entirely as close as most couples might be. You still needed proof that he had truly changed, even though you frequently told him, “I’m proud of you.”

✾ When you finally accepted him again, it was under the condition that he continued to grow. This time, he was willing to meet you halfway and love you in a way that didn’t destroy you. “You stayed when I didn’t deserve it,” he said one night. “Now it’s my turn to stay, no matter how long it takes to make things right.”

✾ You were the first person—the only person—who cared for him so deeply, who showed him what selfless, innocent, and unconditional love looked like.

✾ And, in turn, Kaiser became someone capable of deep, selfless love himself. He cherished you not as a possession but as an equal partner.

✾ The scars of your past together never fully faded, but they served as reminders of how far you had come. “You taught me how to love,” he told you one day, his voice softer than you’d ever heard it. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life proving I deserve it.”

✾ For the first time, he said the words he never thought he could mean, the words he never expected to truly feel: “I love you.”

MK:"Someone beautiful, smart, and full of love."

[bunnwich]

HELLO! Do you have a summary of how you portray Leona's personality in your stories? I'm a big fan of your Leona and Yuu stories and I've read them multiple times www /gen I always feel like you just nail how he would act and say things and you inspire me to work on my own fics and get better at writing scenarios with him. Than you in advance ily🙏 🦉anon

How I Portray Leona in General and in Romance

HI ANON! So I've gotten this question a few times and someone in my discord asked me basically the same thing so I'll share with you what I wrote a few months ago about Leona and the general way I write him. (it's quite funny bc a lot of these things come up in Chapter 7 when we see his dream. I AM CURSED WITH APOLLOS'S GIFT OF PROPHECY WITH THIS MAN ISTG)

I hope this is helpful?? I would like to point out that the way I write Leona is fully based on my biases and life experiences. And that a big part of fandom is projecting what you wanna see in characters while still making them feel like the same character we know in canon, yk? Good luck with your fic writing! And thank you!! mwah mwah.💚 --

So Leona takes himself as a direct person, BUT he hides A LOT. He purposely misdirects people to get a reaction out of them. (Ex: pretending to be incompetent to anger someone) or he's playing with them. HE LOVES GAMES. Everyone is a chess piece, he has to feel in control bc that’s all he has ever had over everyone else; his wits. He’s a dickhead. He will say offensive shit to scare people off.

It’s a test to see who sticks around. He has no reservations when it comes to this. You take him as he is. And despite how some people write him he’s kinda silly? Like dad jokes. Why does he joke so much about eating people, who knows? (He says shit like Namby-pamby ffs) Why are you a 40y/o in a 20 y/o body?

I HC he purposely talks casually and gruff to distance himself from his upbringing. (I like to mix proper language and slang with him bc it feels right? Also lots of animal puns, and nicknames. HE'S CORNY AF)

In general, I don't think Leona is an entirely romantic person in canon, however in my timeline, I do HC that he, like Scar has this “want vs need problem” with connection to others. He thinks it's just praise he wants (or to be king) BUT he NEEDS TLC. What was Scar MOST jealous of at the end of the day?? Mufasa’s connections, a ✨queen✨, a family! BEING KING DID NOT MAKE SCAR HAPPY!! He needs to be needed and in Chapter 2 novella, he admits he HAS to numb himself to not care. I feel like this is something he constantly battles with. Yeah, he's lazy but it's partly bc he’s tired. He’s burnt out.

On the surface, he projects 100% nonchalance. He wants you to think everything he says is just "off the cuff", but it's not. He plans everything!!! He’s a mentor, big bro, caretaker. He is not the best at comforting words but he enjoys being a leader bc people appreciate him and look up to him. Something he never got at home.

Leona and ✨Romance✨

He fools himself into thinking he has the upper hand at first and keeps his distance keeping an eye on the object of his affection. Why would you catch his eye? Well, his greatest strength is picking up on OTHER STRENGTHS. Chessmaster. He is a mentorrrr and caretaker lowkey, he wants others to NEED him and rely on him. HE WANTS YOU TO NEED HIM.

At first, he would place himself in your path, trying to be helpful in a very tsundere type way. But he would still be causal and keep ruffling your feathers to gauge how you feel for him. He guards his heart pretty heavily. And more and more he is slowly collecting info about you he would find more ways for these meetings to happen until he realizes: "Oh shit, I’ve caught feelings." This one is the winner. He’s the king of nonchalance but also...he’s a very overly sensitive person. No doubt he’s freaking out a little, he doesn't wanna screw this up. But, he’d never show it.

I do think he wants to be challenged and given some pushback (insert manga panel about "something being harder to get and therefore is better"), He wants to WORK for it, to prove himself to you that you SHOULD choose him. He wants to impress you. It makes him feel alive. A person who keeps him on his toes.

And once this ”game” of cat and mouse starts to happen. He might start to let his guard down if you are shown you can be trusted with his VERY VERY delicate feelings, that you DO accept his flaws, treat him differently than all others, and see past his gruff demeanor. It is a test of sorts. He is testing that you can “handle” him. MORE GAMES.

He’d let you set the pace though. He won't be the first to give in. To kiss you or confess first. But he would fall first HARD. He’s not been given much one-on-one attention in his life so he would crave that time with you. Physical touch is a big one, but he would not be pushy. He'd tease your boundaries and become addicted to your time together.

But yeah, this push and pull goes on for a while, all the while he’s gauging how you react to this. Memorizing it all.

He’s def one of those texters who erases their sentence like 5 times when they are nervous bc he is cookin' up the RIGHT response to endear you. (Not in a sappy way of course more in a: “I know you miss me, mouse.” snarky sorta way.) Though he can be self-deprecating on bad days. He’ll act confident, though soften up behind closed doors.

I think once he realizes that you have picked up on his simpery and there's no going back...all bets are off. He doubles down, no longer ashamed of hiding it. (Assuming at this point the person has reciprocated these feelings too!) He wants to be yours and he’s not subtle. Someone to be by his side.

Then you get the REAL simp Leona, who lowkey mumbles the sappiest shit to you in his native language when he holds you, (bc he’s still embarrassed to be vulnerable, though this will fade over time) He’ll be your biggest supporter, and wants you around him as much as you can be.

This just keeps going until you're married. Congrats you now have a lion to take care of forever.🦁 Hope this helps!✨

[lightfeltmemories]

dungeon meshi | delicious in dungeon; reactions to reader having a crush on them / having a crush on reader

dungeon meshi various x gender neutral reader

note: hey everyone, please be mindful that this is the very first time writing for these characters, i have watched every available episode but i am still reading the manga (though i do have a general idea about the setting and the characters backstories and personalities) so if any characters are ooc to you my apologies, don't be harsh im new here lol. sorry some of them are shorter than others i kind of ran out of ideas when it came to certain characters :p let me know in the comments or reblogs or more preferably in my ask box if you want me to do any other character.

characters: laois, falin, chilchuck, marcille, senshi, namari, shuro, izutsumi (i'm adding her here because feels weird leaving her out when i've added former members of the party, also this is purely sfw so nothing weird will be aimed towards her.)

trigger warnings: nothing out of the ordinary but just read the manga or watch the anime before reading this.

if you like this and my other fanfics, please be considerate to reblog my work, it not only helps reach a broader audience but it also motivates me to make more content like this!

laois touden

reader's crush: when laois finds out that you have a crush on him, his reaction is.. well, how do we put it this way? is he flattered? yes and no, he doesn't see himself as ugly but also doesn't look at himself as the most handsome guy in the world, but someone straight up having a crush on him is kind of new, he doesn't really care much for relationships at the very moment but has thought about settling down with someone he likes, will it be you?

laois' crush: when it comes to having a crush, he tries to be his normal self around you, but sometimes can't help but be a little nervous especially when the two of you are alone, sooner or later he comes to the conclusion of realizing the he indeed, likes you, but confessing is the hard part, he's never thought much about rejection, it is a normal part of life after all, but when it comes to you? it's an entirely different ball game.

falin touden

reader's crush: falin already has someone chasing after her; shuro, theres a 50/50 chance of her reaction to reader's crush being the same as shuro's, but could there be a different reaction this time?

falin's reaction: surprisingly less shy than her brother, when she comes to this conclusion she'll build up the right time to actually confess, not wanting to rush things, just watch out for shuro i guess.

chilchuck tims

reader's crush: chilchuck learning about reader's crush is a bit sad, though he's no stranger to romance as he not only had a wife but also three whole kids, he's not really good with emotions so he's kind of scared you'll leave him just like his wife did, so, if reader confesses, there's gonna be a high chance that you'll be rejected, just give it some time.

chilchuck's crush: this weird feeling in his chest whenever he see's you will confuse him at first.. there's no way he has a crush on you?? after his wife leaving him he didn't really have any interest in romance, he might as well just focus on his work at the moment, one of these days he'll bring up the courage to confess, just not right now.

marcille donato

reader's crush: she can't really decide on whether she'll return the feelings or not, definitely flattered is what i'll say.

marcille's crush: she's similar to falin, she'll build up a better relationship with you for the right time to confess, she tries to make it seem as if she's not into you but it's quite obvious to the other party members.

senshi of izganda

reader's crush: out of everyone, he'll definitely be the most flattered, someone having a crush on him wasn't something he put much thought into, not to mention romance kind of isn't his thing, nor does he think he have the time for a significant other.

senshi's crush: i don't think this is the very first time he's ever had feelings for someone, but it's definitely a special feeling, he's not nervous of confessing his feelings at all actually, and he's not that sensitive to rejection.

namari

reader's crush: namari wouldn't really know how to react, honestly, she's never given the idea of someone having a crush on her much thought, she won't care much about rejecting the reader, at least she's honest.

namari's crush: her crush will be a bit hard to spot but when it comes to you, there will be a notable soft spot, she treats you like everyone else and isn't afraid to scold you if you do something wrong.

shuro | toshiro nakamoto

reader's crush: in an au where he still has feelings for falin, he immediately rejects you, telling you boldly that his heart is for falin and falin alone, but lets go to an au where he either loses interest in her or doesn't like her at all; definitely flattered, someone liking him (back) isn't unheard of but it is... nice?

shuro's crush: just look at what he does with falin, he will propose to you at some point, of course when time goes by and he starts to fall for you harder and harder, until he just can't contain it anymore.

izutsumi

reader's crush: very, very strange, someone having a crush on her is.. almost unheard of, or she doesn't pay much attention, anywho, she doesn't know... how to react? she knows what to do if she doesn't return the feelings but... someone liking her is just weird lmao.

izutsumi's crush: she won't make it obvious.... or try to at least, she accepts affection from you much more than she does from the others and sticks by your side more.

[badgalsasuke]

My thoughts on the Naruto ending

So I had said I was gonna post about my feelings and thoughts regarding the Naruto finale that might contain a few hot takes for some people, so here it is.

THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG POST.

The Naruto ending is universally disliked, there's not doubt in that. Veteran SNS shippers don't like it because Naruto and Sasuke end up with women they don't love and aren't attracted to, and believe Naruto and Sasuke could've end up "single" with no ships confirmed; younger SNS shippers that weren't there when Naruto was still coming out believe they should've ended up together even though that could have not been plausible due to the manga industry quite conservative practices. Het!shippers on the other hand, believe the ending is bad for two different reasons: the first being that some believe that Narusaku and Sasukarin would've made more sense than SS and NH (some say just Narusaku and Sasuke should've stayed single); the second being that although they like SS and NH and the potential they believe these ships have "but wasn't explored further", Kishimoto can't write romance so he messed up both ships, making them bland and barely romantic.

Another reason why the ending is disliked for non-shipping reasons and mostly by Sasuke stans, is that even though in the couple chapters before the 700th one Naruto and Sasuke talk about changing the shinobi system, we see in Boruto that the system has not been changed at all and instead Naruto and Sasuke are reinforcing it despite all the oppression and suffering they were put through it in its name. We even see Itachi, the man who committed genocide being lauded as a hero for his actions and zero reflection on Konoha as a genocidal State. Oh and the Hyuga clan still practices slavery.

So here I come to say the following: Naruto's ending makes sense.

Now before y'all tear me to pieces let me explain myself. The first time I read the finale I thought it was stupid, one reason being that the ships make no sense no matter the angle you try to look at them and the other reason being that Sasuke was now working for the same State that murdered his clan with Naruto now as the head of that same State and making no changes to the Shinobi system (not a very good look on him, right?), so I thought for many years that the ending sucked.

Then The Last, Boruto and Sasuke Retsuden came out and all I could think was "woah this is all really shit from the butt".

But then one day when I was thinking about the manga as a whole, mostly because I was starting to realize that Kishimoto was being intentional in his writing of Naruto and Sasuke's romantic bond and it wasn't accidental like most of the fandom thinks, I just started connecting dots and trying to make sense of the whole story and seeing how the ending fitted into that. I'm someone that whenever it comes to literary analysis and criticism always tries to think about what was the author intention before I label something as bad because it wasn't my personal preference how something was written.

And that's how I realized what there was theme to the Naruto ending is. It's all about conformity.

Now, don't get me wrong the Naruto ending still has flaws, two big ones in my opinion, which I'll point out further down the post, but what I want to do is show you the forest because I feel the fandom is mostly focused on a couple of trees when it comes to the finale. I want you to see the thread of events Kishimoto created and how he was trying to keep it as in character as possible.

So first things first. If you've read Kishimoto interviews over the years then you would know what was the ending he had envisioned: chapter 698. He talks about how he wanted Naruto and Sasuke to have their final fight, make ammends and change the shinobi system together. He achieved two out those three things he intended.

In a quite controversial interview that most of the fandom likes to ignore, Kishimoto stated that he had no emotional attachement to Naruto and Hinata as a couple and it was Studio Pierrot who had pitched the whole thing about The Last movie. He also states that he decided to make NH endgame after Shippuden had started and he had also considered Narusaku as well, but then in another interview that came later he started saying he had intended to make NH canon since the very beginning. He was constantly contradicting himself in these interviews over the years. Kishimoto has also expressed his distate for SS and Sakura's character in general in different interviews.

So what I personally believe is that Kishimoto's editorial, Shueisha, made him change his statements because saying he had no plans for NH and it was Studio Pierrot idea was quite damaging to the franchise (no wonder the interview got kinda buried too, lol).

I think the biggest challenge for Kishimoto was giving the editorial, the studio and most of the fandom the het!ships they wanted without compromising as much the characters the story of his manga revolves around, Naruto and Sasuke.

So we get to ch. 699 where I believe Kishimoto is laying the ground for the finale we ended up getting.

In ch. 698 it seemed like Naruto and Sasuke had been able to resolve their issues and been able to talk about their feelings for each other. Something Sasuke repeats in ch. 699, a chapter entirely narrated by him. However right at the end of ch. 699 we get what seems to be a regression of what we had seen in the previous chapter.

It is implied that Naruto and Sasuke had an argument off-screen hence why Sasuke thought Naruto would not come to see him and bid him farewell before his atonement journey. What was the argument about is never really explained, some fans speculate Naruto was upset about Sasuke going on an atonement journey considering Naruto had pleaded for Sasuke to not be imprisoned and saw no reason for Sasuke to go on a redemption trip. I personally believe it had something to do with Naruto failing to come to terms with his feelings for Sasuke because, as we see right away, Naruto gives Sasuke back his headband and Sasuke says he'll keep it until they have their real fight which is interesting, to say the least, because didn't we just see their real fight the literal prior chapter? basically, we're being told Naruto and Sasuke haven't been able to truly talk about their feelings and put into words what their relationship really is about hence why Sasuke keeps the headband. As long as Sasuke has the headband, it will mean Naruto hasn't been able to truly accept what he feels for Sasuke. In essence, ch. 699 is Kishimoto retconning ch. 698 to give way to what comes later.

After chapter 700 came out we started getting so much content, both filler and canon, that tries to explain how we got there. Let's start with The Last, the movie that tries to explain how the heck Naruto ended up with Hinata.

The Last is sort of a hybrid, it's written for the most part by Studio Pierrot employees who had the idea in the first place and Kishimoto corrected a few things here and there and is also what for me, makes the ending flawed for one big reason: Naruto's character assassination.

Naruto is a shonen manga that's more focused and concerned on it's emotional battles and communicates it to the audience through it's physical battles rather than the powerscaling stuff Naruto dudebros would have you thinking the manga is actually about. So this means that Naruto, its main character, spends the entire manga learning about his feelings and putting them into words. That's what his story is mainly about; learning to love and to be loved.

The Last undoes this in the stupidest way possible. To give Naruto an excuse on why he always ignored Hinata they intend to make the audience believe it's because "Naruto doesn't know what love is" by writing Naruto not being able to differentiate between loving someone and liking ramen. This is absolute nuts. We know that Naruto understands what is love, what is not love and that love doesn't come out of nowhere, we see that when Sakura fake confesses to Naruto, he's able to spot right away she's not being genuine because he understands those three things. So this is the first flaw of the Naruto ending for me.

The second flaw is the dismissal of Kurama and Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki. I find the most embarrasing thing about The Last to be that they had to put Naruto through a genjutsu so he could hallucinate "memories of Hinata being there for him but he was too dumb to notice" but it's even worse once you remember that Naruto canonically should not be able to be put through a genjutsu in the first place. Studio Pierrot had to break rules of Kishimoto's universe in order to give NH some mediocre development and to me this will always be the worst part of the finale. If you can't make a ship work within the universe rules, then why make it a thing at all?

Some people didn't like that Hinata is totally useless in the movie, but for me this is not a flaw, as it is entirely in character with who she is in the manga. Making her a mary sue out of nowhere on the other hand, would be a flaw of the story.

Now that I've talked about what I think are the flaws of the Naruto ending, let's talk about the things that work in The Last (and I believe is where Kishimoto put his input) to make the finale make sense. The first one being that Sakura is the one that pushes Naruto to be with Hinata. In the manga we see several times Sakura is insecure about Naruto and Sasuke's bond and being jealous of Naruto's spot in Sasuke's heart. Even Hinata is baffled by Sakura wanting to help her and asks her why she's doing all that because she knows they're not friends. We then see Sakura think about Sasuke (who's also conviniently excluded from the movie) and simply say "we, girls, should support each other", she wants Naruto out of the picture so she can have Sasuke for herself and she succeeded. It's also important to note that once Sakura got what she wanted she no longer pretended to be a friend of Hinata, she didn't even kept close contact with Naruto either as we see in Naruto Gaiden, Sarada and Naruto don't know each other like that at all, if Sakura was being a genuine friend to Hinata and Naruto, she would've kept her family close to Naruto's but she didn't.

One more thing that I find works about The Last is that Naruto doesn't passionately fall in love with Hinata, but instead is constantly guilt-tripped into liking her, which is more true to his character. You have a man already struggling to accept his sexuality, who also has his deceased mother's expectation of marrying a girl and on top of that is a pathological people pleaser, of course he's gonna marry the first girl that tells him she loves him. It makes sense this all happened while Sasuke was not in the village. Naruto panicked about his sexual identity and rushed to marry an "acceptable woman" in the eyes of the people whose approval he craves, as we see in the special chapter Kishimoto wrote that came out after The Last: the villagers fawning over Konoha's hero dating the Hyuga heiress.

Likewise, Sasuke not attending Naruto's wedding helps the ending not be as contrived or out of character of them. Kishimoto never wrote anything on why Sasuke skipped the wedding as far as I can recall, but in the episodes that Studio Pierrot made dedicated to Naruto's wedding we see a Sasuke completely absent and detached from the event, something Naruto dudebros use to dunk on him because that made him a terrible friend from their perspective, but as usual they're not paying attention to the full narrative Kishimoto is creating here.

Making Sasuke be happy for Naruto and attend his wedding and give him a gift and all that crap, would've made het!shippers and Naruto dudebros happy but it would be at the expense of his character and the story Kishimoto was writing. Remember, Sasuke had kept the headband all these time until he could have his real fight with Naruto, meaning he was waiting for Naruto to be honest about his feelings for him, so him not attending Naruto's wedding is a way to communicate to the audience (at least the part that's paying attention) that Sasuke is heartbroken by the news.

I believe this is why Kishimoto designed adult Sasuke the way he did and makes him dress the way he does as an adult. All black and depressing. I also believe that Sasuke will stop dressing that way the minute he and Naruto have their real fight, if they ever have it, that is.

Additionally, Kishimoto nailed making NH canon before SS would be canon. Naruto, as I stated before, is the one that struggles with his identity and feelings for Sasuke and the one that has the expectations to marry a woman so it makes sense that he would be the one to marry a woman first. SS becoming canon first wouldn't make sense because not only is Sasuke more outspoken about his contempt for Sakura, whereas Naruto remains polite and neutral to Hinata's feelings, but Sasuke also has no reason to be with Sakura if Naruto is still available, in fact, Kishimoto making Sakura be the one to chase Sasuke after Naruto's wedding because Sasuke never came back, as we see it stated in Naruto Gaiden ch. 10, is also in character for both Sasuke and Sakura, instead of writing it the other way around like SS shippers wished, y'know their whole thing about Sasuke coming back to the village for Sakura and apologizing to her because he didn't realize how much he actually loved her because he was trapped in the darkness blah blah blah (I think this is what happens in filler novel Sasuke shinden lol).

If Naruto is not available, then Sasuke is in a very emotionally vulnerable position and Sakura took advantage of that. You see the narrative Kishimoto is creating here? There's a thread to follow on why stuff happened they way it did.

Now, I mentioned before that the theme of the Naruto finale was conformity. Here's where I explain how:

The first thing is Naruto's physical appearance. Kishimoto liked to draw a young Naruto all punk and grunge. He even had already made a design of adult Naruto where Naruto looks, well, cool and HOT.

Yet, for the actual finale he gave us an ugly Naruto, but also a Naruto that looks tired and exhausted. How does this tie with the conformity theme? when Naruto was young he used to go against the rules, defy expectations people had of him, tell authorities to fuck off. Like, when he was told to give up on Sasuke when he was 12, Naruto responded "If giving up on Sasuke makes me wise, I'd rather be fool my entire life", this man was a rebel. But as an adult we see him become the head of State that continues to reproduce the status quo that had once oppressed him. Naruto turned apathetic, his appearance reflects his attitude.

And this is consistent with the narrative Kishimoto's been crafting. Just in the same way Naruto conformed to society's expectation when he married a woman he doesn't love and barely knows, he also conformed and succumbed to the shinobi world status quo. It would *make zero sense* for Naruto to revolutionize the shinobi world while married to princess slaver Hinata Hyuga, that'd be an oxymoron, completely contradictory narrative wise. Certainly, Naruto always struggled to find an ideology, to put it in some way, when it came to Konoha and its ninjas practices and had a messed up perception of its villagers (see: the whole Dark Naruto mini plot) but he still wanted to change the shinobi world WITH SASUKE by his side, once the story established they don't end up together and Sasuke isn't by his side, Naruto doesn't care anymore.

This is why I don't find strange that Kishimoto wrote Naruto oversleeping in the eve of his name day as Hokage, a day Naruto had once dreamt about when he was a child. The spark is gone.

But the spark isn't just gone for Naruto, it's also gone for Kishimoto. Naruto didn't even attend his name day because he was knocked out by Himawari. This is Kishimoto being petty. He spent 15 years writing a story where the goal was to see Naruto become Hokage and he knew how anticipated this moment was and he still went and ruined it for the fans anyway. Naruto dudebros were furious about this, but not once did they stop to wonder about the implications of this, what it said about Kishimoto's relationship with his work if it had gotten to the point he went and "fucked it up".

Naruto cared about the state of the world before he became indifferent to it. This is why when Sasuke stans complain about Naruto not actually caring about Sasuke's trauma but can never really explain why Naruto is like that as an adult. They try to pretend Naruto never cared but this is a lie, kid and teenage Naruto was compassionate to Sasuke's trauma and pain even if he didn't always managed it in the best way possible. So, I always feel like they're missing this particular piece of the puzzle: if Naruto can't be his true self then he cannot change the world and neither can Sasuke.

Because the same thing occurs to Sasuke. One blog once posted that Sasuke not caring about his child is out of character, but Sasuke not caring about Sakura's child is very much in character and I feel that sums up Kishimoto's writing of both adult Sasuke and Naruto. This passiveness you wouldn't imagine from their younger selves, takes a hold of them once they become adults and gradually "get in line" to be a part of the real world. Sasuke doesn't care about his child because he had her with a woman he doesn't even like or respect. Sasuke is stuck in time still holding onto that headband, hoping he and Naruto will one day have their real battle.

Sasuke uses the forehead poke, a gesture he always hated, on his wife and child because he, just like his brother to him, wants to distance himself from them. Sasuke now serves the same village that plotted the mass murder of his clan and family because why not? his brother is lauded as a hero for killing his entire clan after all. Sasuke too, has conformed.

I actually wonder if this is in some way linked to modern Japanese culture. Japanese culture and society are deeply conformist with everybody is always trying to fulfill roles imposed in them, always trying to achieve what is expected of them. It could also be about how adulthood sucks the passion and hopes out of the youth (Kishimoto started writing Naruto when he was 24 and finished when he was in his forties). And of course, the closeting of queer people leading miserable lives as pretenders.

If Sasuke is meant to end up with Sakura and Naruto is meant to end up with Hinata then Kishimoto cannot make them happy marriages and give them happy families, he also cannot keep Naruto and Sasuke as revolutionary outcasts that stand up against the status quo, that fanservice would be out of character and out of theme.

This is what I mean when I say the ending makes sense, once you see the finale is all about conformity the thread of events becomes understandable and more heartbreaking too. You don't have to like it, but I do think we have to understand where is Kishimoto coming from when he wrote it the way he did.

The Naruto fandom wanted black and grey from Kishimoto and that's exactly what Kishimoto gave them, black and grey.

EDIT: I've written more on how the conformity theme starts to become present in the series as far back as in Neji's death, check it out HERE

[moonydustx]

The night cook.

masterlist | requests here

Summary: Insomnia has struck one of the crew and Sanji is willing to find out. Meanwhile, you try to deal with your fear as best you can.

Warnings: I don't know, mention of clowns maybe (yes, exactly what you're thinking).

Word count: 1.4k

Pairing: OPLA!Sanji x F!Reader.

A/N: I have a new obsession and I need to write more and more. I watched the series in one day and now I'm racing against time to catch up with the anime (and soon move on to the manga). It has not been proofread so I apologize for possible errors.

Part 2 here

Sanji was starting to get stressed.

Despite the short time he had been part of the crew, he already knew where he belonged: the kitchen. He could spend hours there and felt comfortable. But something bothered him. Every morning, some fruit always appeared cut, food scraps in the trash, his knives disorganized. He wouldn't look for trouble right away, but he was aware of every move.

Your steps dragged to the kitchen, after another bad night's sleep. The dark circles under his eyes were visible from afar, as was his bad mood.

"Good morning madame! Glad you joined us today for coffee." Sanji caught your attention, placing your plate in front of you.

"Good morning sunshine, your mood seems to brighten the day." Zoro teased you, only earning an eye roll.

You stared at the food in front of you. They looked appetizing, but hunger seemed to be nowhere in your body. You rolled them from one side to the other, without removing any pieces, while heard the others talking in the distance.

"Everything is fine?" The cook's voice caught your attention, a quick glance was enough to realize that the others had already eaten their meals. "Sorry to say ma'am, but you look tired."

"It's okay Ji. I'm just discouraged." You stand up, handing the plate back to him. "They look delicious, but I'm out of food, I'm sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for, my sweet. I heard that if you eat with a full stomach, or in your case without hunger, you can't enjoy the food and the last thing I want is for you to not like one of my dishes ." He leaned on the table, watching you.

"That's impossible. I could eat anything you make, as long as it's you making it."

It had been a while since the two of you exchanged small gestures, small flirtations. Unlike most other women, you weren't bothered by what he said. You felt seen, admired like never before, even though you knew he would say that to a thousand others. Plus, it was fun to see him shy with your answers.

"So... What can I do special for you today. Choose and I'll do it."

"Surprise me!"

You left it in the kitchen and if you looked back, you could see it lost in your image. None of the other beauties would be like that beauty, her beauty. Even though he was still lost, Sanji tried to regain his thoughts, thinking about the perfect lunch.

You got caught up in the tasks on the boat, all to keep the tiredness out of your body. Despite having heard the call for lunch you decided to postpone it, as well as dinner.

When you returned to bathe, you could see that everyone had retired to their rooms. Even with the most comfortable clothes, the coziest sheet and the cool sea breeze coming through the window, it only took a few minutes of sleep for you to wake up sweating, scared.

You were tired of it would be another wasted night. You got up and went towards the kitchen, since sleep didn't decide to appear that night, hunger had already taken its place and a salad would go well at that moment.

You gathered some radishes to cut and a few slices later, you felt the knife against your skin and was scared.

"So you're the cook for the night!" Sanji spoke suddenly.

Before you could curse him for his fright you had to hold back a scream due to the inconvenience of the pain.

"Shit, let me see." in a matter of seconds, he was already in front of you , holding your injured hand.

"It was nothing, you can rest."

"That, young lady, I will decide later." he gently placed a cloth in your hand, pressing it. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep, I decided to prepare something."

"Honey, what's been going on?" He took your hand again, removing the cloth. "Okay, I have the solution to mine and your problem."

He took you by the hand to the bench, placing you in a sitting position, returned to the kitchen, placing a small container to heat and disappeared from sight for a few seconds, returning with a small box in his hands. It brought everything in front of you, allowing you to see what it was really about. A small box with bandage and a small plate with lasagna.

"I saved it from lunch for you, I think you'll like it."

"You know you're my favorite. Shit!" you immediately regretted trying to use your injured hand to eat.

"Now, we'll fix this." The cut was small but uncomfortable and felt a little deep.

You watched him bend down to your height and tend to the small wound like something precious while you ate. The silence between you didn't last long, against your will.

"When are you going to tell me what's been going on? You know, we're friends." Sanji charged, finishing applying the last strip. "Something is wrong with you and I can't figure it out. Besides, you've been destroying my onions in your nightly escapes."

"I'm having some trouble sleeping..." you tried to leave the explanation superficial, but the look in his eyes made it very clear that he wouldn't just buy that.

"You could have told me, you could have made me some tea or something that would help."

"It's not that." You pushed the plate away and straightened up, trying to look away from Sanji. Shame already dominated your body at that time. "It's a stupid thing."

"No mon amour, it's not. I'm here, talk to me."

"There's only one thing in the world that I'm afraid of: clowns. Be they the cute ones or the psychopaths alike..."

"Buggy. Has he been a problem?" Sanji tried to understand, although it didn't make sense since the crew hadn't seen him in days.

"First we were trapped in his circus and it was horrible. Then we had his head on board and I was sure that at any moment he was going to appear. Now, I can't stop having vivid nightmares about it." you confessed, feeling your face burn with embarrassment. "I can't sleep, so I come here at night and I always cook something. I usually watch you cook and it seems like something so relaxing, so good. It hasn't helped me much with my sleep, but at least I've been eating some of the inedible things I make ."

"I bet they're as good as the ones I make and if you don't mind, I'd love to cook with you one of these nights." he winked, eliciting a smile from you. "But for tonight, we need to sleep, finish your plate and I'll be right back with something."

A few minutes and mouthfuls later, Sanji appeared with two mugs, with some hot liquid inside them.

"Herbal tea. It'll help you fall asleep."

"I have my doubts, but…" you took a sip of the sweet drink. "It doesn't hurt to try. Are you sleep deprived too?"

"Not really, I just couldn't leave a lady drinking alone."

"If this works, I promise to buy you the next drink at a bar."

"Wait. This a date?" he asked and if it were possible, you would see hearts instead of his eyes.

"We have the drink." you pointed to the two mugs. "We had dinner." You pointed to the lasagna. "Sounds like a date."

"That miserable clown at least did one good thing"

"Don't ruin the moment, Ji."

The two of you finished your drinks in silence, a few glances exchanged were enough to get comfortable together. Sanji picked up the dishes on the table and you followed him with slower steps.

"Thank you for helping me."

"Who said our date is over?" he turned around, grasping his arm for you to intertwine. "I would never let a lady go alone to her chambers."

"You are a gentleman."

"Only for you amour." He stopped in front of your door. "It's delivered and safe."

You stood on your toes, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, really." You opened the door and before you could enter, you turned around. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Whatever madam wants."

"You can stay here for a while, just until I sleep."

"Of course sweetheart" He walked you into the room.

You straightened the bed and lay down on one end, watching him just stare at you, waiting for some sign that he could sit down.

"Please be my guest."

He lay down and almost automatically gave way for you to snuggle against his chest. Your laughter was suppressed when you saw him smiling widely at the contact.

"A few drinks, a dinner..."

"And you ended up in my bed." your voice was already sleepy. Maybe because of the tea, but something said it was more because of the company.

"And I ended up in the perfect place." reciprocating your gesture just now, in the little conscience you had left, you felt his lips touch your forehead. "Sleep missus. I promise not to let any harm come."

[battydora]

Hashiras when they want to have sex with you but you are on your period (minus Muichiro & Iguro). —♡

masterlist | pinned post | rules

characters: tomioka giyuu , kocho shinobu , tengen uzui (+ wives) , rengoku kyojuro , mitsuri kanroji , shinazugawa sanemi , himejima gyomei

content: nsfw , gn. reader (afab) , adult reader!! , minors dni!! , period comfort , period sex , vaginal sex , unprotected sex , fingering , cunnilingus , implied size kink (gyomei) , brief references to the manga (giyuu)

note: iguro stans, i had the hardest time trying to write for him and i swear i couldn't i'm so sorry 😭. also shinobu's is so short damn, sorry i wrote that a year ago

—Giyuu

being extremely honest, i think giyuu would be clueless about menstruation, he knew about it by briefly recalling the times her sister would complain superficially about it but he would need a whole explanation to understand, so you explain it to him to reassure him that you're okay and that you might need some things from him every now and then. when it comes to sex, he wouldn't be so sure to keep going if you're on your period but after he slides into you for the first time while you're menstruating, he'd find himself feeling more comfortable fucking you than any usual day, the blood and slickness of your cunt feels so unbelievably good he lets out a loud moan when he fits it all in. beyond the mess you may make, you two will have a lot of fun, giyuu moaning sweet nothings into your ear, telling you how good and comfortable you feel around his cock. he may get carried away just a little but expect great aftercare.

—Shinobu

she wouldn't mind at all! she takes things as usual and wouldn't mind not even a little bit fingering you while you're having your period, she knows how sensitive you become when this time of the month arrives so she'll have you begging for more. you will no more feel ashamed of having your period thanks to shinobu.

—Tengen (+ wives)

the man has three wives, i would be so disappointed if he doesn't know at least SOMETHING about menstruation. he treats you with care and softness all through the act, he comes out to be one of the most romantic among all hashiras. "i know babe, i know" he whispers as he slides in you, your whole body tenses when he fits it all in, moaning softly. hinatsuru let's your head rest on her lap as makio and suma sit beside you, holding your hands and casually caressing your skin. "you're doing so well, sweetheart" hina mumbles softly, sliding her hands up and down from your neck to your chest. an odd satisfaction washes over tengen at the view of his cock being painted red as he thrusts into you back and forth, holding your legs up and wide open, moving ever so kind and careful of your sensitive body "god, i wish i could rail the hell out of you, but i'll be kind, angel." you're in heaven.

—Kyojuro

"shh, it's okay my love i got you, keep going". kyojuro is the sweetest, he's so needy when he's horny but will be so so gentle and sweet with you when you're on your period. he sits you on his naked thigh and makes you straddle it, he wants you to come to friction alone, he helps you stay on place by holding your hips firmly. however the view of his leg getting soaked red and the slick and wet sounds from your moves make him hornier than he thought, also having you almost bouncing on top of him didn't help much and by the end of the session you're laying on your back, legs spread open and kyojuro rubbing his hard cock against your blood stained folds without really penetrating you, soaking his dick with your juices and rubbing it's length against your clit, enjoying the noises you and your pretty cunt make. "s-sorry, love... you look so good like this... fuck i'm so turned on..."

—Kanroji

"kanroji..." you moaned, breathless, as you threw your head back in the chair you're sitting. you refused to look down the table you had infront of you, you were trying so hard to keep your composure as your skirt was up/your pants were down and kanroji had her face buried between your legs, giving you the day of your life. mitsuri did not even hesitate to kneel down beneath you the moment you told her you were horny for her. you tried to stop her by telling her you were on your period and that it was okay if she didn't want to do it like that. she looked at you with a shocked expression but then smiled warmly yet seductively at you "then i'm going to make a mess down here~" a dangerous combination of cute and hot were settled in her words, you weren't ready for the wonders her mouth was capable of.

—Sanemi

"ngh, stop moving, you're making a mess" he growls, the two fingers curling inside your cunt are making you quiver and jolt. sanemi is... a bitch. he knows how sensitive you become on your period so he really doesn't miss the chance to tease and overstimulate you. but of course, his words may be mean most of the time but contradictory to his actions, you will find sanemi being one of the most careful among the hashiras, he always checks your facial expressions, your body language, 100% self-aware while finger fucking you in case he notices you're getting so many intense cramps you might need to stop. "does it feel good, babe? yeah? good because we ain't stopping. no, i don't want to hear your excuses. i'm gonna get this through."

—Gyomei

himejima is far from being disgusted by this, he is a man entirely determined to please you no matter the circumstances. when you tell him you're on the mood but warn him about being on your period, he remains silent for a bit, before leaning to you in bed, cornering you against the bed with his enormous figure, resting his big hand gently on your hip, sliding to caress the soft skin of your belly reassuringly. "love of mine, i am unbothered, if there is anything i can do to take you to your pleasure, just tell me, i will get you there, no matter the circumstances." his words are warm enough to make you melt, a rush of love and excitement runs through your body and you grab the wrist of the hand touching you. he allows you to lead his hand wherever you desired, sliding it only a few centimeters until it landed between your legs, he understands immediately but waits until you speak again, his hand only presses ever so slightly on your clothed sex and your only reaction is let out a soft whimper, you can't control it your body is so sensitive it responds to his touch immediately. gyomei blushes in delight and so do you, in embarassment "touch me, please... use your hands to make me cum, i need it so bad..." he doesn't need any more words before start working on your pussy over your underwear, staining his hand and any other part of him you wished just to please you.

thanks for reading!

[rabbitsrants]

PROOF THAT SHINRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ROMANCES OF ALL TIME - PART 4

symbolism

disclaimer: gosho's imagery is subtle and therefore often overlooked, so in order to highlight it, i'll be referencing the work of suzanne collins, an author who tends to spell out her metaphors more

sharks

chapter 882-884

how the case begins:

how it progresses:

this isn't gosho's first time exploring the theme of sharks in the manga:

chapter 311

both shinichi and haibara relate to sharks, they're self-admittedly drawn to blood and darkness. but why?

haibara was born into it, she didn't have a choice... and even though she's no longer a part of the black organization, she still carries the past with her.

shinichi on the other hand? he seeks it out. he directly confronts it, because he wants to defeat it. his unfaltering idealism is what pushes him to be a shark.

ran is very idealistic too, which i talk about here. so why doesn't she act like a shark?

"Finnick knows then what Haymitch and I know. About Peeta. Being truly, deep-down better than the rest of us." - Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire Chapter 19

the closest that gosho comes to spelling it out like this, is haibara's line about ran "i'm up against dolphin, one of the most loveable creatures in the ocean"

ran's defined by more than her virtuous nature, she's also unbelievably compassionate and sensitive. that's what makes her a dolphin.

her unmatched kindness is constantly displayed throughout the whole manga.

sometimes it irks shinichi:

chapter 787

sometimes it hurts him:

but most of the time it baffles and touches him:

chapter 258

now i'm going to say something that might be controversial: from what i've gathered, shinichi doesn't just appreciate ran's tender heart... he depends on it.

and i'm not saying that lightly, i'm aware that ran's caring nature affects a lot of dcmk characters - it's the reason why vermouth calls her an angel, why haibara refers to her as a dolphin and sees her as a sister figure, hell, it's the reason why kogoro's able to function most of the time.

but i'd still argue that nobody relies on it the way shinichi does, which brings me to the next symbol i want to analyze:

cherry blossom

flowers can represent a variety of concepts, depending on your source and in what context you use them for your writing. the same rule applies to cherry blossoms.

gosho's used it as symbol for justice in the past:

chapter 687

it's interesting to look at it through that lense, but i don't think that's what the cherry blossom represents for shinichi.

after doing some research, i came to the realization that cherry blossoms are widely believed to symbolize hope and the beginning of spring.

i think that interpretation makes a lot more sense for shinran. especially if we examine their first interaction:

chapter 924

shinichi shows ran his deduction skills to impress her... ironically he ends up impressing everyone but her. shinichi's condescension leads to a full-blown argument:

but then something completely unexpected happens... despite the fact that they don't know each other, despite the fact that shinichi insults ran, despite the fact that ran's completely put off by his arrogance, despite all of that... she offers him a cherry blossom and along with it the kindest smile he's ever seen:

and i just can't help feeling like ran's cherry blossom is symbolically very similar to suzanne's dandelion:

"I found him staring at me  from across the school yard. Our eyes met for only a second, then he turned his head away. I dropped my gaze, embarrassed, and that’s when I saw it. The first dandelion of the  year. A bell went off in my head. I thought of the hours spent  in the woods with my father and I knew how we were going to  survive.  To this day, I can never shake the connection between this  boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the  dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed. And more  than once, I have turned in the school hallway and caught his  eyes trained on me, only to quickly flit away." - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games Chapter 3

"What I need to survive is not Gale’s fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that." Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay Chapter 27

and clearly, only ran can give that to shinichi...

let me further elaborate by revisiting the shark analogy:

the most beautiful dolphin in the sea sees a shark like him, calls him out on his bluff and instead of avoiding him, she actually welcomes him. ran shows him genuine affection, despite having so many reasons not to. how could he not fall for her?

for someone like shinichi, a cool shark who's able to recognize other predators in the sea from such a young age, seeing the innocence and warmth of a dolphin is pivotal for him, because it reminds him that there's so much more to life than constantly familiarizing himself with other sharks (in his childhood by reading and later by investigating them)... there's good too.

to summarize... shinichi sees a delicate cherry blossom, a gentle dolphin and holds on to her for dear life. he desperately clings to the promise of hope and spring, he depends on her affection and warmth. he needs ran, because without her winter would never end, he'd never escape to coldness of the sea, he'd freeze.

which explains why

a) he's so protective of her

b) ran's smile serves as a compass for shinichi throughout the whole story - while his mind is busy chasing sharks, shinichi's soul is persistently searching for the same smile that strummed his heartstrings all these years ago. which is why he immediately notices when ran's not okay (even though she's very skilled at concealing her pain) and why he always tries to make her feel better

and that's ultimately why

a) shinichi's keeping his identity a secret

b) he's so focused on getting his old body back

without ran, shinichi wouldn't have a constant inner conflict as conan, without her, he'd lack purpose and as a result, detective conan would be empty and lifeless.

ran's not just a love interest y'all...

she's the heart of the entire manga.

visit the shinran library for more

[kurokens]

Everything I Love Will Make Me Cry | Satosugu

anime/manga: jujutsu kaisen

character: gojo satoru & geto suguru

words: 1.5k

pronouns: they/them

request: none

notes: part 3 of In The Middle, my first satosugu piece. trying stg new by including some texts in the middle but idk if i'm a fan, just didn't know how to convey it better than this way.. don't judge the quality of the text this is an app i used to use back in 2020 and i didn't want to try and find a new one. also thank u to 🪼 anon, ur message helped me get out of writer block, this one for u!!

not proof read

song rec: Everything I Love Will Make Me Cry - Movning

genre: hurt comfort, fluff, slowburn, a little bit angsty, poly?

warnings: satosugu are in a loving relationship, misunderstanding, pinning, a lot of pinning on satosugu's end, reader is so oblivious, insecure and self conscious reader

Taking all of your clothes and getting out of the apartment was probably one of the hardest thing you ever had to do in your life. Especially what forced you to do it. But what else could you do? You no longer were welcomed there, and you knew it, the longer you stayed and the worse it would hurt. So you took advantage of both of your roomates being gone for the day to pack your essentials, write a note and get out of there. Not without your vision blurred by your tears. You didn't really plan your next moves but it felt like an evidence to just go and crash at Shoko's, such an evidence that you refused to do it. After all she was just as close with these two as you were, well, as you used to, so it would be quite an awkward position for her, and you refused to impose this on her. That's how you found yourself at the door of an old friend of yours, looking like a kicked puppy. "What are you doing looking like a sad little puppy?" Namami said after opening the door.

"Please don't, I already told you, and I don't want to cry any more than I've already did." You replied in a whine, to which he just gave a roll of his eyes, stepping aside to let you in.

"Haibara is in the kitchen, he is making some food for you. He thought you could use a warm meal right now." The blonde man told you, leading you towards the kitchen.

"M'not really hungry though..." You sighed, following him without another complaint.

"Ah! Don't say that, I've poured my soul into this meal. You better eat and appreciate it!!" Haibara exclaimed, popping his head through the door after hearing you two coming his way. "I made your favourite!"

"It smells wonderful Yū, I'll eat it, just for you. And enjoy it, that's for sure." You giggled, seeing his enthusiam and the effort he put into this, pulling the younger boy in your arms.

"You can stay here as long as you need. And I promise I won't say a word to Satoru and Suguru about your whereabouts." Nanami chimed in, a soft smile on his face at your interactions.

"Haha, you don't have to worry about that. They're probably not gonna look for me at all, on the contrary." You whispered the last part, tears starting to well up again.

"Just, don't rush yourself to find a new place okay? You're more than welcomed to stay there. And I'm sure all of this must be a big misunderstanding." He gently answered.

"Thank you so much. It means a lot, even though I do doubt your last words." Was all you could muster as an answer.

To say the lovers were frantic was an understatement, they need to find you, they needed to tell you what they felt and how all of this was a misunderstanding. There was no way they were about to lose you over this, no not like this, not before you knew what you meant to them. It couldn't end with you thinking they hated you, lord, it was so far from the truth. They would never forgive themselves.

"Try calling them!!" Satoru shouted, pacing around your empty room.

"I already tried Toru, they're not answering, I go straight to voicemail." Suguru replied, his heart sinking at the potential meaning of his calls going straight to voicemail.

"No, no, no... You have to try again, please Sugu, try again!" The white-haired man begged, his voice breaking as the tears made their way up. "Sugu, this can't be it. Sugu we need to find them, this can't be it, please this can't be it."

All Suguru could do was take his lover into his arms, letting him break down and cry on his shoulders. Words stuck in his throat, as his own tears made their way down his cheeks. He never felt this helpless.

"Maybe..." He began slowly, "Maybe we should try and text them. So they can read it whenever they feel like it and not feel pressured to answer right away."

"Let's do that." Satoru grundgingly said, his pout never leaving his face.

Both of them let out a breath seeing your answer, it wasn't really positive one but at least they weren't blocked, and right now it meant already a lot for them. They would give you all the time in the world you needed, they were ready to wait an eternity if it meant that you would come back to them in the end. Well, at least Suguru was ready for that, Satoru was a whole other story. "M'gonna die Sugu. M'gonna disappear from the face of the earth if I don't see them soon." The youngest whined, holding onto his lover for dear life. "Why don't we call Shoko? I'm sure they're with her. Even better, we could just go there and tell them how this is just a misunderstanding, and we can tell them how much we love them and how we want them in our space forever, and never out of it."

"Baby, we have to wait and you know it. We don't know what they heard, and why they're so hurt. It made them leave our place Toru, it's not something we can fix that easily. We probably lost their trust, and winning it back won't be an easy task. That's why we can't force this on them. We have to be patient, and wait for them to come to us, no matter how much it hurts." The dark-haired man explained, not fully convinced by his own words, but one of them had to be rational in order to mess this up further.

"I know you're right, but knowing we hurt them and that we can't make it better is so hard. I never wanted to hurt them in the slightest, and now we drove them away. At least, I'm glad I have you in all of this." Satoru confessed, hiding even further in the crook of his lover's neck, hoping this wouldn't last too long.

You couldn't help the small smile that made its way on your face after reading your conversation, but it didn't stay for long. After all, you heard what you heard, and there was no way you could have gotten it wrong in any way, it was pretty clear who they were talking about, so this all misunderstanding thing seemed like a lie to you. But why would they lie about that? What was the point in hiding the truth now that you knew about it? Wouldn't it be easier for them now to get rid of you? Not having to go through the burden of telling you directly to leave and everything?

You were confused, a part of you wanted to believe they were telling the truth, that all of this was a misunderstanding, and your best friends didn't hate you. But at the same time, another part was scared because what if they really did hate you, and they were doing all this just to be able to humiliate you even further, and have the satisfaction to tell you in your face how much they wanted you out of their life. You were kind of used to be the odd one in friend groups, and ultimately being left out, so why would it be different this time?

"You realy should hear them out." A voice suddenly said, making you jump.

"Gosh Kento you scared me." You squeaked, hand on your chest in a futile try to appease your beating heart.

"I'm sorry, but really. I'm not the biggest fan of these two, and I think that's why you decided to come here, but I know they would never hurt you." Namami chuckled softly, sitting down next to you.

"Well, look at that, for once in your life you're wrong." You tearfully laughed.

"I've been wrong a lot of times in my life, but not on that. I promise you, they would never intentionally hurt you, especially not with their words." Your blonde-haired friend affirmed, and the look in his eyes told you there was no convincing him otherwise, almost as if he knew something you didn't.

"I don't know, I need time, I don't think I can face them yet." You explained, curling into a ball next to him.

"Take all the time you need." He simply replied, petting your hair as if to comfort the crying child you were. And for now it's all you needed, some time and a comforting friend, you would deal with all of this later, maybe.

oki here it is!! sorry im not quite satisfied with this part, i wanted to make it longer and have them maybe meet to talk it out but i also didn't know if it was the mood of this part or not... also, yes, don't worry there will be a part 4! part 4 here!!

[kyokutsu-sama]

"I'll meet you in another life, my love"

🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍

Sanemi x f!reader| angst/fluff

Plot- The scary and fearful wind hashira ends up meeting a new hashira (the reader) and from the first day he saw her, he fell in love with her and she with him. This love was so strong and so reciprocal that the memories still prevailed in the reincarnated souls.

A/n: I don't know where this idea came from but to be honest I think I ended up being inspired by the scene between Mitsuri and Obanai in the final fight and because of that my eyes are now dry from crying so much😭🥹 Don't worry I'll be writing something happier for him soon😅

Tw: There is a nsfw scene but not fully detailed, suggestive, mentions of violence and death, character death and some little manga spoilers.

🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️🤍🔸️

You were the newly arrived Hashira, the one your comrades were ready to welcome and the one that Master Ubuyashiki would also be happy to welcome and accept into the hashiras meeting.

You were a little nervous because that was your first day as a Hashira and you didn't know exactly how the others there would react. But apparently it was better than you expected.

"It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the new Hashira who will be joining you from today onwards." The master spoke in his usual calm and formal voice."Y/n, please come and introduce yourself to the others."

You then crossed the wide porch of the house, bowing to the master and the others who were in the garden looking at you.

"My children, this is Y/n. I hope you can collaborate and work together so we can defeat the demons. It's always a pleasure to welcome another person to this place." He smiled at you and you smiled back

"Thank you, master. I am very proud to be here too." You bowed again

Each hashira carried an idea about you and everyone seemed to share good thoughts about you.

Shinobu-"She seems really pleasant. Maybe I can have a chance to talk to her later."

Rengoku-"Her posture is serious and her smile is very kind. It's a pleasure to welcome you, young Y/n."

Tengen-"A flashy and cheerful appearance. And she has nice hips by the way."

Tokito-"She's cool but I'll probably end up forgetting about her soon."

Gyomei-"She has a gentle voice and even without seeing her I can tell that we're going to get along well. I'm going to say a prayer for her."

Tomioka-"Humble and calm. I hope we get along well."

Mitsuri-"Another girl too? She's look so pretty and so cute. I want to be her friend!"

Obanai-"She also seems to be strong. She also has a confident air."

Of all the Hashiras' opinions, Sanemi was the one who didn't want to say a word. After all, he didn't have any. He was speechless.

He thought that feeling was just some idiocy on his part, but with time and the interaction between you two, he realized that it wasn't. And that same feeling only grew bigger and stronger when his eyes met yours by chance during meetings or when you called him to train.

You always approached him without fear, which also caught his attention since everyone was afraid of him. Your kind but very silly attitude, the jokes and provocations where he pretended to be angry with you when deep down he was loving it all.

There was even a day when Obanai caught him looking at you so much that he was even forgetting to blink, and his friend quickly realized what was happening and decided to tease him a little about the subject.

"Is she that pretty?"

"What?" Sanemi turned to him, "coming back to reality"

"You're completely focused on Y/n that you were almost drooling. You like her?" Obanai said, and Sanemi immediately changed his expression to his usual threatening one

"What are talking about? Don't bring Y/n up, and besides, stop seeing things that doesn't exist." Sanemi said, turning his back on his friend

"Oh really? Because I'm sure that you're feeling something for her."

"Oh shut up, why don't you go after Mitsuri? You like her too, don't you?"

"Don't bring her up either, Shinazugawa." Obanai's expression also changed when his beloved was mentioned in the conversation

And so things started like this. Obanai was the first to suspect and later Gyomei himself, who even without seeing, knew about all the tea between you and the wind hashira and he mentioned it to Mitsuri, who went to tell Shinobu and who later also told Tomioka and Rengoku, who also happened to tell his best friend, Tengen. And so everyone started to raise suspicions about a possible relationship between the two of you. But no one dared to confront you or Sanemi about it, limiting themselves to just waiting for something to prove it and then applauding the good news (which everyone already knew but didn't say).

That night, Sanemi decided to go to your house to "check on you." Everything seemed like a normal, casual encounter, but for a few months now, things have been getting tense between the wind hashira and you. Tense in the sense that both eyes were already speaking louder than mouths and the hearts were screaming louder than both minds.

Sanemi was a tough nut to crack. Who would have thought that he would be head over heels in love with you since the first day he saw you? He wanted to have you, he wanted your whole form and essence. Not just physically but to have your whole heart, to love you completely.

And there he was, going to your house knowing that now he would have you once again. Just as he had always wanted. And so had you.

You were getting out of the shower wrapped in a towel when you heard someone knock on the door. You went there with a smile on your face, already knowing who you would find on the other side. You opened the door to see the wind hashira right in front of you.

"Did I come at a bad time?" He looked at you up and down, holding your waist

"You could have at least let me get dressed." You smiled before kiss him, turning around and going to the bedroom to get dress

"You're talking as if I didn't already know what you look like under that towel." He entered the house and closed the door

You heard his words from the bedroom and couldn't help the immediate blush on your face and a certain shiver as you remembered the scenes that had happened inside that room. And in other corners of the house too...

"Where have you gone?" He asked, looking for you

"I'm in the bedroom, just give me five minutes and--" You stopped talking when the bedroom door closed and you realized that you were now both in the same room and that he was now right next to you

You looked up to meet his big eyes that looked scary when he was out of his mind. Of course he tried to make an effort not to seem so scary around you. He liked you and he didn't want to push you away, he wanted to keep you close. Forever.

"Are you going to stay there, cowered in shame?You always seemed so bold when we were alone. What's wrong, princess?" He bent down in front of you, grabbing your face with one hand, squeezing it lightly, and you held onto his wrist

"That's what I ask, my dear. Did you miss me, Shinazugawa?" You gave him a teasing smile

"I've been thinking about doing a lot of things with you since I saw you enter the meeting room, and believe me, you don't want to hear even half of it." He said, his eyes unable to focus on anything other than your eyes and lips

"Your mind is quite creative, I see." You pulled his hand away and brought your lips closer to his, almost touching. "Why don't you do it then? That's why you came here, right?"

Sanemi pulled you into his arms in a sudden movement and kissed you hard, leaving you breathless. Everything about him was breathtaking, by the way.

It didn't take long for his strong hands to rip the towel off your body and throw it aside while his lips devoured yours. Your trembling hands still managed to remove his haori and uniform together and throw them aside with the towel.

The need and hunger to be fed by that love and by his touch was growing inside your chest.

Both of you were now in each other's arms, his hands running over his favorite curves and yours running over the scars of someone who had been through a lot. Each one of them had a story and you knew each one of them.

When you touched them or kissed the scarred skin, he felt loved and this also led him to tell you a little about their origin. Most of them had been the result of his fights against demons. And even the more personal ones that had been left by his mother when she also became one of those creatures, he had told you.

He trusted to tell you everything because he loved you and this was a way for both of you to maintain intimacy. It wasn't just about the nights when you had more than just conversation, it was about the way everything that was done there was done with reciprocal and true feeling.

"Sanemi..." You moan in his ear, arms hugging his body closer and grabbing his hair as his strong hands gripped your hips as you rode him faster

"You really miss me too, don't you? My hands running you, the way I fill you...All of that?" He asked with his hungry lips kissing down your neck and shoulder

"Yeah... I did." You whimpered, pulling his head away from your neck to find his lips again and kiss him roughly

He was not a man of words but of actions and if he had to say that he loved you through actions, he would probably hold you in his arms until he died. He would never abandon you, never run away from you. He would always protect you from the dangers of that world full of nocturnal and deadly enemies. He would train whatever it took to become strong and to keep you safe.

He was rough, stubborn and complicated but his heart was good and he never lied when it came to feelings. He was very honest and direct. Even though he was embarrassed to say many things because he had shyness in his heart that was hidden by his rough and tough personality.

He wasn't ashamed to tell you he loved you, or to grab you by the waist in the hallway of the mansion and take you to your room to take a "short break" from training.

The times when you would sneak out during the day and no one would know your whereabouts, the times when he would look at you suggestively during meetings. Or sometimes when of his hands "accidentally" slip under your skirt when no one was looking and you would blush and hold his hand so he wouldn't do anything stupid in the middle of the meeting. But of course that was only when you weren't in the presence of the master, then he would just exchange looks. Looks where your love was written and your souls met.

But deep down you knew, you knew that playing that game was a risk. A love story like yours could not be lived in that world, not when both of you could die on any mission you were subjected to. There was hope but there was also fear.

You rested your head against his chest as you caught your breath, his fingers tracing imaginary paths on your back, caressing the sweaty skin. He kissed the top of your head and rested his chin there for a moment.

He wanted it to be like this forever and you would also undoubtedly choose him over and over again without thinking. His strong arms were your shield, the place you went to feel safe and warm.

"Nemi?" You called in a low voice

"What?" His eyes went down to where you were

"Don't you want to lie down for a bit?"

"Yes."

The wind hashira lay down on the futon with you on top of him, hugging you tightly. The fingers of one of his hands played with your hair as you looked into his eyes holding one of his hands, caressing it. It was that touch he needed to feel, the gentleness that contrasted with his nature.

"Are you going to keep looking at me like that because you think I'm pretty or is this your way of inviting me to the second round?" He teased and you laughed softly, leaving a kiss on his lips

"You really are an idiot, aren't you, Nemi? No, I was just admiring you, is there a problem with that?"

"None."

"Good." You smiled, kissing him

The long make-out sessions always made him even more eager to have you. He was slowly going crazy with the sweet and soft texture of your lips.

You, on the other hand, had a something to ask him for a few days but hadn't had the chance to do it yet, and before he put you on the futon and got ready for the second round, you reluctantly pulled away from his lips and decided to ask him.

"Can I ask you something?" You whispered

"You're really annoying, you know that, brat?"

"Aren't you going to call me princess now?" You smiled, patting his chest

"Not if you don't shut up."

"Please Nemi, I really need to ask you this."

"Are you going to ask me if I wanna go again? Let's do it then, dear."He raised his eyebrow and you rolled your eyes

"No, it's not about that."

"What is it then ?"

"Nemi, what would be the first thing you would do after we defeat Muzan?" You asked, looking into his eyes, which seemed to have changed expression at that moment

He wanted to answer a lot of things, one of them was to ask you to marry him, run away from there, live with you forever in any place, have children and make you the happiest woman in the world.

He wanted to say so much, but the words wouldn't come out, he couldn't. He was afraid that none of it would come true.

Being a Hashira wasn't for everyone and the worst thing that could happen was to love someone, to get attached to someone, but love is a feeling that no one can control and that's a fact.

Sanemi couldn't help but fall in love with you, he couldn't help but look at you when you when you passed by him and he saw how beautiful you were getting every day, how much he wanted to run away with you. He couldn't help the intensity of his emotions. And as much as you wanted to have him too, to have a future with him, the fear of losing him was always there. Fear of being alone if he died in the battle against Muzan or the upper moons. You would probably never have a day of rest again and you would probably never fall in love again in your life like you fall in love with him.

You also wanted to know more about his feelings towards you, even though he was evasive about the subject.

You had been dating for months but sometimes it seemed like there was still so much to discover about each other. You wanted to know everything about him, you didn't want to lose him without knowing every single thing about him.

"So? You're not going to answer me?" You combed the white strands of hair that were still stuck to his forehead because of the sweat

"I..." Sanemi got a little confused between his words and his thoughts. "I'd probably dance on that idiot's grave, does that sound good to you?"

His joke definitely served to break the tension and get a laugh out of you. He then smiled, seeing you laugh like that but felt bad for having run away from his heart once again.

"Did you really just say that?" You said, still laughing. "You're unbelievable, Sanemi."

"What? Are you going to tell me that you don't want to get together too, after everything he's done? And keeps doing?"

"Well, he destroyed thousands of lives and is still causing a lot of problems, so yeah. I would join you in this dance."

"What about you?" He ran a hand over your face, looking into your eyes. "What would be the first thing you would do after we defeat that son of a bitch?" You felt your heart race when he asked you the same question

The urge to tell him...

The urge to tell him that you wanted him as your husband and as your man until you die.

But the fear was there once again, preventing your feelings from coming out.

"I honestly don't know. I have so many things on my mind that I can't decide."

"Besides being an idiot and annoying, you're also indecisive. What a great wife I got." Sanemi felt his heart race with anxiety after realizing what he had said just now

"Wait a minute, what did you say?" You paused for a moment, processing to see if you had heard correctly

"What?"

"Just now, what did you say? A great what?"

"I didn't say anything." He looked away, trying to change the subject even though he was already burning with blush

"Yes, you did. I heard. Come on, what did you said?"You slapped his chest, insisting

"I said a great girlfriend." He lied

"That's not what I heard."

"Go to sleep." He said, adjusting himself and closing his eyes, and you looked at him, waiting for him to repeat it

"Nemi... Say it again, please." You shook his body, but he was determined to stay silent. "Look, I'm going to sleep in the living room, you hear?And you're going to sleep alone tonight." You threatened, trying to get off of him, but his arm pulled you close and kept you quiet

"Listen here! Just shut up and go to sleep or I'll shut you up some other way, understand?" He put his hand on your lips, and you rolled your eyes, taking off his hand

"What a beautiful husband I got." You murmured, laying on his chest

"What did you say?" He lifted your face looking at you

"Nothing, go to sleep." You repeated his words, and he let out a sigh

You were mad at him for not repeating those words, but deep down you knew that it wasn't by chance, it was his feelings speaking louder and he couldn't control them. You felt a wave of emotions, but deep down you cried with joy, knowing that he also wanted to live the same life. That both of them walked side by side with the same love even if the ways of showing it were different.

*One day before the Hashiras entered the Infinite Castle*

"Sanemi, where are you?" You called out to him in the middle of the tall trees in that forest. "Nemi!" You shouted and suddenly the wind blew stronger, indicating that he was closer.

You then continued walking until you reached a large weeping tree near a river that crossed the forest. There was also a small bridge that led to the other side where there was a ruined gazebo next the large tree.

You crossed the bridge and found your boyfriend sitting on the stones of the small wall of the gazebo and looking at you as you approached. You climbed the small stairs and then he stood up to face you and you smiled at him.

He approached you and pulled you by the waist to kiss you hard as usual. You wrapped your arms around his neck and gave in to that passion. It was just the two of you there.

Crazy in love and far from the world out there...

"Where have you been? I've been calling for you this whole time and I haven't gotten an answer." You said, pulling away from his lips for a moment

"You're too annoying that's why I didn't answer." He bit out before kissing you again, silencing any answer you were going to give

"Nemi." You called him in the middle of the kiss and he pulled away, biting your lower lip

"What?"

"How did you find this place? It's so beautiful."

"I didn't think I'd find this, but I kept walking and I ended up here by chance." He said, looking around."It's a really nice spot."

"It's quiet and very pleasant. I'd give anything to live in a place like this." You hugged him and he hugged you back. "If we make it out of this battlefield alive, I'll definitely live in a place like this. A modest home and a happy marriage..."

Sanemi looked at you and thought about everything you had said. He would definitely give you all of that. The house, the wedding, everything.

"Everything..."

"My dear wife and also, the mother of my children."He thought." My everything."

*Moments after Muzan was killed*

Sanemi was so exhausted and injured that he almost died at that moment. But as soon as he looked around and didn't see you, the anxiety and the need to look for you increased.

"Where is she? Where is Y/n?" He asked himself as he ran in circles, looking for you.

"Y/N!!!" He shouted trying to find your whereabouts

He then found your body, lying on the floor, covered in blood. Deep punctures, open cuts and scratches, tearful eyes, sobs, moans of pain and sadness. You didn't want that to be the end, not without at least seeing Sanemi one last time.

"Y/n!!" He ran to you, kneeling down and taking you in his arms, hugging you and crying like you had never seen him cry before

The crying of a desperate and passionate man. He didn't even have words to describe what he was feeling at that moment he saw you there on the floor, on the verge of death.

"Nemi! You came!" You smiled almost weakly and he pulled you away for a moment to look into your eyes

"Of course I would come, my love. I will always come for you." He spoke nervosly, with words you never thought you would hear. "I'm going to call the paramedics." "No, you don't have to, Sanemi." You grabbed the collar of his uniform and he looked at you. "I've already lost a lot of blood and I can't barely feel my body. I'll just...l'll just use my last bit of strength to tell you something and you'll have to listen to me. Please, just you and me." You begged, feeling the tears running down your face

He felt tied hand and foot, knowing that this was where everything would end and that he couldn't do anything.

"Sanemi, from the first day I saw you, I fell in love. I fell in love even though I knew that this life wouldn't give us a chance to be happy, I never wanted to give up on you I tried hard and fought for your love even though I knew that this could happen. I'm so grateful to have a man like you in my life. You loved me like no other man could love a woman. I love you so, so much." You said whimpering and sobbing and he cried along with you in his arms

"I love you so much too I just wanted to see you happy and protect you. You know, that night I really meant it, I really called you wife that time because I love you and I want you forever, I want to be your man, your husband and make you happy. I want to take you to a calm place like you told me before and live with you. I want you to live, so please..." He took one of your hands and squeezed it, sobbing."don't close your eyes. Don't do this to me."

"So... You really wanted me as your wife... That's good to know." You smiled, bringing your hand to his face to meet his eyes."Your wounds will open if you push yourself too hard." You warned him, watching his blood run down his abdomen

"No, don't worry about me, my dear, it doesn't hurt, it's nothing."He comforted you by hugging you and kissing you several times on your forehead and head."Your husband is strong."

"I know...That's why I love you" You said proudly

Sanemi felt his heart tighten with anxiety more and more when he saw his hands completely covered in your blood due to the deep wounds. No one there could heal you from those wounds, too much blood had already been spilled, many of your bones had been broken, your uniform was torn, covered in blood and dust.

Sanemi looked at you and saw that that image contrasted completely with the beautiful girl with a bright smile he saw on the first day, next to the master. He blamed himself so much for not being able to protect you and now having to watch you die slowly in his arms.

"Love?"

"What?" He looked at you

"Can I ask you one last thing?" You murmured, feeling your last strength

"You can ask me whatever you want, but it won't be the last. You'll live much longer." He said optimistically, with a little hope in his heart

"Nemi...Kiss me one more time. With all your heart." You said, slowly approaching his face, and he nodded

He held your face and kissed you deeply. The tears on your faces mingled, both hearts beating fast, and the eyes closed, which were the windows of the soulmates there, hugging each other.

His lips always carried passion and roughness when he kissed you, but on your deathbed, everything seemed more gentle and pure.

When you pulled away, you caressed his cheeks and sniffed, opening your eyes to find those that did not leave your face for a moment.

"If I reincarnate and meet you in a next life, I will be your wife and I'll carry your children." You promised, holding his hand

"And I promise that I will come to you wherever you are. I will find you in the next life, my love. I will make you mine again, no matter how long it takes to find you." He promised, kissing you once more because he would never get tired of kissing you

You stayed in his lap, your arms hugging him and he hugged your body tightly. All those pain you felt earlier now seemed to be falling asleep after the heat of his body surrounded you.

He cried and cried the whole time he was there with you. That would be the last moment by your side and you yourself admitted that you did not want anyone else there so that you could stay in a quiet place with him. No one could interrupt you two there.

The wind hashira was also feeling weak at that moment, even though he didn't care, the open wounds and bleeding were taking away his strength.

Knowing that he would still have a few more years without you by his side would be painful. His mark would be his death at 25 and he was still 21. he would still have four painful years without you. He wouldn't face his own death in a sad way but rather happy, knowing that he would have to meet you. Looking for his princess in another life.

"Are you still there, princess?"He called out to you

"Forever..."An almost inaudible whisper left your lips to say your last words

"You're going home with me now, okay? I'll take you home safely and you'll live." The tears wouldn't stop flowing as he pretended that everything would be fine again

He put his hand on your chest and felt your stop completely. The wind hashira shook his head in denial, not accepting the death of his beloved.

"No...No...NO." He screamed in frustration and suffering."NOT YOU, PLEASE!!! I've already lost my family, I can't lose you too."Sanemi cried in despair, begging and sobbing

It didn't take long for the kakushis to arrive and come across the scene of him with your dead body in his arms.

Everyone there didn't dare get close to him, some even cried because they also knew you and mourned your death. Sanemi felt his heart being torn into pieces. There was no one left. He had put so much faith that today he would get back together with you to finally asked you in marriage.

The truth is that he ended up doing it, but it wasn't the way he had thought. In his dreams, you lived together. His hand caressed your hair and went down your face, closing the eyelids of your still open eyes.

When one of the members of the Demon Slayer Corps finally decided to get close to separate both of you, he immediately grabbed his wrist and pushed him back.

"Don't touch her." Sanemi threatened and the other immediately moved away. "I'm the one who will take her back. Don't you dare get close to her." Sanemi then stood up with you in his arms

*4 years later*

He remembers the place where you were together for the last time. He decided to bury you in the ground of the weeping tree. He knew you loved that place and so he decided to let your soul rest there after that fateful day. A calm and peaceful place. The same place you wanted to live after that mission was over. He never left you alone, he always visited you every day, he brought you fresh flowers when the others were drying, he brought you incense and he even ate all his meals there so he could be with you.

Sanemi was turning 25. That would be his last day alive and he decided to sit one last time in front of your tent, crying as he looked at the stone

"Today is the day. I'll be looking for you, my brat." He smiled even as he felt the tears flow. "I'll look for you and my brothers. We'll be a family again. There will be no more demons to separate us. And..." He took a small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the silver ring. "We're going to get married. I was supposed to give it to you on our last night but I didn't have the courage."

He left the ring next to the flowers and lay down on the ground, slowly closing his eyes and feeling his body slowly die. His life ended there, by your side.

*Current life*

You were leaving home that day to go for a walk since it was your day off and you wanted to have some fun. You got ready and left the house.

There was a large garden in front of your house, with a large weeping willow tree in the middle that was really beautiful and many people liked to spend time there. You also liked to spend your time there, reading some book or just to get some air.

You entered the garden but were so distracted that you ended up bumping into another man who was coming from the opposite direction. He ended up grabbing you on impulse so you wouldn't fall to the ground and you clung to him, almost hugging each other.

You looked at him in the eyes and he looked at you, a strange feeling ran through your body. It was as if you had seen him somewhere else.

In another life...

A hazy memory of having kissed a man just like him appeared in your head, but when he spoke to you, you quickly came back to reality, leaving these memories aside.

"Hey! Are you okay?" He asked, looking at you, who was still a little shaken

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." You said, slowly moving away from him

"You seem a little scared, are you really sure?"

"Yes, thank you for holding me and for worrying." You smiled. "What's your name by the way?" You asked

"Sanemi, and you?"

Another memory appeared in your head of being in the arms of a man where he said,

"I'll meet you in the next life, my love."

"What's happening to me? What are these memories?" You thought, increasingly confused

"Nice to meet you! My name is Y/n." You extended your hand and he shook it

At that moment, the man had a memory where he was hugging a woman just like you and where she said, "If I reincarnate and meet you in the next life, I'll be your wife and I'll carry your children."

Both you and he froze for a split second that seemed like it would never end. A connection so strong that it had once been cut off by an unfair outcome.

But here you two were, meeting as you both had promised in past, although now you could only remember the past as vague memories and strange sensations that you never imagined you would feel.

"Be careful not to bump into anyone else out there." He said and you gave an embarrassed smile

"I'll pay more attention next time. Have a good day." You bowed slightly and left

He looked at you as you walked away, his expression one of confusion and curiosity at the same time.

"Who is that brat? I feel like I've seen her before but I can't remember where." He then went back on the path, still with that idea mulling over in his head

[paper-mario-wiki]

i have now watched all of what has been animated of Overlord, here is my review:

okay i'll watch the fifth season but if Renner doesn't act like a fucking freak openly on-screen in at least half of the episodes im gonna be pissed. to be quite frank, and quite self indulgent, there are SO few yandere women that are given proper screentime these days-- and that's in manga AND anime. why is nobody brave enough to go full yuno gasai? what's wrong with these people? have they forgotten one of the core dere archetypes? my god. the only time girls get to act crazy on screen in anime is when they're an abusive guardian, a power ranger tier villain, or traumatized into helplessness. i want to watch someone whose derangement gives her power and i dunno, maybe she wields them selfishly for the one she loves! and that SEEMS like it's whats been promised to me in the 5th season, but ive been wrong before!!! theyve strung me along with the promise of seeing her do some real insane shit with no more than 6ish minutes spread thin over the 1248 minutes of animation the show's runtime has been composed of thus far. but god dammit. im still gonna watch.

anyway, everything else was pretty cool too, at least enough to keep me interested in the meantime. the animation was pretty bad for most of it. but the writing, voice acting, and overall direction were able to keep the story enjoyable despite that. to compare it to another isekai with a similar premise, though executed very differently; the politics are more interesting in this show than in Slime Show, but Slime Show's world feels more consistent, and the events contained within more justified, where Overlord does ass-pulls often. but i like this world too. i like these characters. i like how complicated they are. much of it is very edgy, and it's chock-full of what i'd call "anime bullshit", but that's a seinen story for ya.

my ratings for the seasons are as follows

6/10

7/10

6/10

7/10

Overall verdict:

this show is hard carried by its sprawling cast of deeply insane women, and god dammit they carried my girl-loving ass through 52 episodes. and probably 13-26 more depending on whether or not the studio really does end up wrapping up the story in the next season. due to the shamelessness of this shows content, i don't know that i can think of many people who i would recommend it to without feeling embarrassed about it. HOWEVER. if you're the kind of person who kept reading this because of the multiple mentions of really, really insane women, and that was enough to get you to read this whole thing, you'll like this show. i mean. as long as you can tolerate all of the *blech* Heterosexuality.

[forbebeandjam]

THE DINER | Bada Lee x Fem Reader | angst

Summary: you’d do anything for the girl you met at THE DINER

Word count: 2.1k

TRIGGER WARNING: this story contains sensitive topic such as murder, blood, jail, and psychologically issues.

READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED

A/N: hi!! This is a short story inspired by the song “THE DINER” in Billie Eilish’s album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. I was afraid that I might not be able to express the lyrics through this but I still hope you like it. I’m also not used to writing angst so… yeah. Have a good day or night!!🤍🙂‍↕️

You sat at a small diner in your hometown. All alone. It was almost two in the morning. You had a small cake with a candle in front of you. You, with psycho tendencies, celebrated your 25th birthday on your own. No kid ever wanted to befriend you and you ended up trying to make friends at some point.

So all you did was work from home. Your mother and father split up when you turned eighteen leaving you in that small home all by yourself. You learned that you could never lean on anyone for anything. All you could do was grow attached to fictional characters you watched after work.

You didn't go out much so no one really knew you. You didn't know anyone either. You never wanted to. What was the point either way?

They would end up walking away after a while, leaving you empty and lonely.

So you spent birthday after birthday in your bed, reading books and mangas that your online friend sent you. The only person you truly liked and trusted...

She forgot your birthday. How great! All alone again.

So maybe going out for your birthday wouldn't be such a bad idea.

You let out a deep sigh as you rested your chin on the palm of your hand. You twirled the lighter around your fingers, thinking that maybe setting the place on fire would bring some sort of warmth and comfort to your heart. Maybe even some satisfaction.

"Can I take your order?" You heard a sweet voice. As you looked up, your eyes met with her. The most beautiful girl you've ever met. You looked at the name tag and back at her eyes quickly.

"Um... no, I'm just here for a little bit. I'll blow the candles and vanish," you said and she gasped.

"It's your birthday? Oh my! Happy birthday!!" She said making your guts feel warm.

"Thank you, Miss Bada. But there is nothing happy about my birthday," you replied with a soft blush.

"Oh please. Call me Bada. Also, why not be happy? You're alive and healthy, right? Let's celebrate that!" She exclaimed. The diner was empty with only her and a cook in the kitchen.

"I am sitting here, alone, at two in the morning thinking about burning this place down. Don't you think that's kind of depressing? Crazy even?" You asked as you set the lighter in front of her.

She pulled out a cigarette out of her apron and placed it between her lips.

"You have me now, don't you? You're not alone," she picked up the lighter from the table and lit the cigarette. You started at her in awe. You couldn't believe how gorgeous she looked. How did someone so perfect live in this shitty town?

"Besides, let's be honest. If you burned this place down, you'd be doing me a huge favor," she said with a wink. That didn't. She had you. You were at your knees for her.

"Come on. Let's light your candles," she said as she lit the candles with your lighter. She sang you a soft birthday tune, and you blew the candles feeling the happiest you've been in twenty-five years.

That night, you ate food with her and chatted for hours. She told you she moved here to care for her parents and that she was pretty lonely herself, so you promised to come to the diner every night.

You did what you didn't want to. You let her into your life, hoping she didn't leave. It was just that, her perfect smile and the sweetness of her voice melted you. Her ey smile was now your weakness, and you couldn't think about anything else but Bada.

-

And so the days passed. You would be at the diner at midnight, and she would clock in to do her job. The place was often times empty so you two would have time to chat and laugh around.

However... you started to notice something odd about her. Her attitude was drastically changing. She looked tired and sad her clothes covered more of her body and she would sigh deeply when she was with you.

She wasn't laughing anymore, and you wanted to kill whatever was making her feel that way and make it suffer as well. 

One night, she didn't sit with you at all. She kept walking past as she served two tables. You wanted to call her name but she was just ignoring you. You had enough and grabbed her arm making her flinch and spill some hot coffee on your leg.

You hissed and she apologized as she bent down to clean your leg with a rag. The hot liquid left a red mark on your skin but you could only pay attention to Bada. 

"You shouldn't come here anymore. Please," she said and left without an explanation. 

"Wait!" you said but she disappeared into the kitchen. You saw the cook look at you from his window. He gave you a nasty look and a smirk before disappearing as well. At that moment something took over you. 

You stood up and fixed your skirt before walking to the kitchen where you found the cook holding Bada's arm tightly and he was about to hit her. You used your body to push him on the ground. 

You took one of the knives on the counter and stabbed his stomach with it. 

"No! OH MY GOSH!" Bada shouted. She pulled out her phone and called the cops. You looked at her in awe. 

"But... but I thought you loved me," you said and she covered her mouth. She ran out of the kitchen and you shrugged. You knew you'd do anything to protect her and she would come to her senses. 

You walked out of the kitchen where you saw people's horror faces when they saw you, covered in blood with bright smiles trying to look for Bada. 

She was in the bathroom trying to calm herself down when you walked in. 

"Y/N, you need to leave," she said as she grabbed paper towels and cleaned your hands and face with them. 

"But you, love me right? You need to marry me and kiss me on the head after an argument that you will most likely win. Please..." you said. 

You heard the sirens outside and Bada looked at you. 

"Stay here. Don't go anywhere," she said and you complied with her orders. You patiently waited for her to come back to you and take you far away but... 

The next thing you knew, you were being knocked to the ground and handcuffed. The people at the diner were cursing at you. Bada looked at you with apologetic eyes. She knew you were a lonely girl and you didn't mean any harm... at least not to her. 

You smiled at her and gave her a reassuring nod. 

-

As the days passed, you focused on seeing her again. You only got a restriction order after all since you did tell them it was self-defense and they believed you. Bada didn't speak or testify and what helped you was the lack of security cameras. 

You had never been charged with anything before either so you pretty much had a believable case. Still, you kept your profile on low to prevent alerting anyone but you needed to see Bada. 

The only thing that kept you alive was the memory of her beautiful eyes and smile while she talked to you. 

So you decided to go see her. when you arrived, you noticed there were security cameras all around. You sighed and slipped your hood on getting ready but stopped as you spotted Bada in a car. 

She was sitting next to someone. A man... 

Your guts twisted as you saw her smiling and giggling away and then it broke you. They kissed on the lips. Your blood left your body and you felt a cool shiver down your spine. 

"No... that can't be. She loves me. She can only love me," you bit the inside of your cheek letting the metal-tasting liquid fill your mouth. You didn't bother going to her. 

You went back home and tried to brush it off. You tried to make up lame excuses for her but they all led to the same conclusion- Bada didn't love you anymore.

So you knew what you needed to do. 

A normal person would simply cry and get over it but Bada was the love of your life. You had to protect her from anyone who tried to take her precious love away from you. You didn't sleep the entire night thinking about it...

-

The following night, you went to the diner again. You waited and saw the car pull up again. Bada was in there with the same man and you got angry. 

You waited till Bada went inside to approach the car. 

"Woah... who are you?" the man asked with a confused expression.

"Your worst nightmare," you replied before killing him. It was a quick death and you didn't care if anyone was watching. You took him to the woods behind the diner and dropped his body somewhere dark. 

You cleaned your hands and went inside the diner to find Bada. She looked at you with concern and dragged you to the kitchen where there was no one. 

"What are you doing here? You're going to get caught," she said. 

"Do you love him?" you asked. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. 

"Y/N, you shouldn't be here. Please go home," she said. 

"Bada... Do you love him?" you asked again firmly. She passed around the room. 

"No. I don't but he is my fiance and there is nothing I can do about it," she replied. 

"Do you love me?" you asked. Tears filled her eyes. 

"I can't be in love with a girl. It's not right. You should leave before he comes back," 

"Kiss me. If you love me kiss me and I promise I will make everything right," you stepped closer to her and could see her Adam's apple move up and down. 

And she did. She kissed you like there was no tomorrow and it was all well again. Every single one of your worries died down and you knew at that moment that Bada loved you. 

You could feel a tear roll down your cheek and when you opened your eyes she was crying as well. You wiped her tears and smiled. 

"I love you so much, Bada. You have no idea how much I love you," you said. 

"Let's run away, hm? Let's go far away where we can live together and no one will come between us," you said she nodded. 

She told you to go home and get ready. She would pick you up and you would go somewhere else and you agreed. You would agree to anything she told you to do and you went straight home to get your things ready. 

But Bada knew. She knew when you walked in by that small stain of blood on your cardigan that you had done something to her fiance. 

She knew by the way your eyes looked at her that you had committed a crime because of her and it broke her heart. She did love you. She loved you more than anything but she knew you were a dangerous person. She knew that all of your thoughts would soon turn against her and you would end up more hurt than you already were. 

So she picked up the phone and called the police. She gave them your location in detail and when she hung up the phone, she slid down the wall crying loudly. The pain consumed every bit of happiness left in her body and only the memories of you replayed in her mind. 

She felt the air leave her lungs and the tears wouldn't stop flowing. 

You on the other hand were sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for Bada when you saw flashing blue and red lights. 

You knew what was going on and you didn't care. Bada loved you and you knew that. You saved her from her fiance and that's all that matters. 

So you lived your days in solitary confinement. You called her number every day and sometimes she would pick up but never speak. She would never speak and would just let you talk, listening to your voice. You wrote letters to Bada and sent them to the diner. 

The diner...where your twisted love story began...

Thank you for reading 🩵

[secretsofdbz]

So I finally caught some sleep (I woke up at 4 am, 20 minutes after the announcement, and slept a bit more after my last post announcing his passing).

First of all, this is going to be my panel: "See ya later guys, when you die we'll meet again!"

The hematoma that's mentioned in the statement announced in his passing implies a head injury (so perhaps he fell, perhaps something fell on his head, and the internal wound may have not be noticed)

The last artwork he did that was published was this new Sandland one to celebrate the upcoming series. It was revealed on March 4th, so after his passing. We don't know if it's the last artwork he did (he may have drawn this earlier and it was revealed later, who knows.

I'd also like to share some other statements, in no particular order:

Toyotaro's:

Masako Nozawa (Goku's VA) statement:

「コメントできる状況にございません」 -> "I am not in a position to comment."

(aka she was too shaken)

Nozawa update:

「信じたくない。考えたくないという気持ちで頭の中が空っぽです。それでも、お会いするたびに鳥山先生がおっしゃってくださった『悟空をお願いしますね』というお言葉を思い出すと、『私の命が尽きるまで悟空のそばにいよう』と気持ちを保つことが出��ます。先生、空から私たちを見守っていてください。どうか安らかな旅立ちでありますように。」 I don't want to believe. My mind is empty because I don't want to think about it. Still, every time we met, Toriyama-sensei said to me, "I'll take care of Goku for you, won't I?" When I remember your words, 'I will stay by Goku's side until my life is over,' I can keep my mind on it. Sensei, please watch over us from the sky. May you have a peaceful departure.

(Mayumi Tanaka, the voice of Krillin who was requested by Tori super early on will probably say something at some point too).

Oda (One Piece author) statement:

It is too early. The hole is too big. Sadness washes over me when I think that I will never see him again. I have admired him so much since I was a child, so I remember the day he called me by name for the first time. On the way home from the day you used the word "friend" for me and Kishimoto, I remember being overjoyed with Kishimoto. I also remember the last conversation we had. I was one of those who took the baton from the days when reading manga made you a fool, and he also created an era when both adults and children could enjoy reading manga. He showed us the dream that manga can go worldwide. It was like watching a hero going forward. For not only mangakas but also creators in various industries, the excitement and emotion of the time of Dragon Ball serialization must have taken root in their childhood. His existence is like a big tree. For the manga artists of our generation who stood on the same stage, Toriyama's works became more and more important to me as I got closer to the same stage. I even felt being scary. But I am just happy to see the aloof man himself again. Because we love him on a blood level. With respect and gratitude for the creative world he has left behind. I pray for his soulful rest in peace. May heaven be the joyous world he envisioned.

And Kishimoto's statement (the autho of Naruto)

To be honest, I don’t know what to write or how to write it. But right now, I want to tell Mr. Toriyama the things I always wanted to ask him and my feelings. I grew up with Mr. Toriyama’s manga, Dr. Slump in elementary school and Dragon Ball in high school. It was natural for me to have Mr. Toriyama’s manga next to me as a part of my life. Even when I was feeling down, the weekly Dragon Ball always made me forget about it. It was a salvation for me, a country boy with nothing to do. That’s how much I enjoyed Dragon Ball! When I was a college student, Dragon Ball, which had been a part of my life for so long, suddenly ended. I was overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of loss and didn’t know what to look forward to. But at the same time, it was an opportunity for me to realize from the bottom of my heart the greatness of Mr. Toriyama, who created Dragon Ball. I want to create a work like Mr. Toriyama’s! I want to be like Mr. Toriyama! As I chased after Mr. Toriyama, the sense of loss gradually disappeared. Because it was fun to create manga. By chasing after Mr. Toriyama, I was able to find new joy. Mr. Toriyama was always my compass. He was my inspiration. I may be bothering Mr. Toriyama, but I am grateful to him without permission. To me, he was a savior and a god of manga. When I first met him, I was so nervous that I couldn’t say a word. But as I met him more and more at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize jury meeting, I was able to talk to him. I will never forget the time when I talked to him about how much fun Dragon Ball was, like a child with Oda-san, as Dragon Ball children, and how he smiled a little shyly. I just received the news of Mr. Toriyama’s death. I am overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of loss, even greater than when Dragon Ball ended… I don’t know how to deal with this hole in my heart yet. I can’t read my favorite Dragon Ball right now. I don’t even feel like I’m writing this text properly to Mr. Toriyama. Everyone in the world was still looking forward to Mr. Toriyama’s work. If one Dragon Ball wish really comes true… I’m sorry… It may be selfish, but I’m sad, Mr. Toriyama. Thank you, Mr. Akira Toriyama, for 45 years of wonderful work. And thank you very much for your hard work. To the bereaved family, I pray that you will find peace and comfort in the midst of your grief. I pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of Mr. Akira Toriyama.

And finally one of Toriyama's close friends Masakazu Katsura (Video Girl AI author) also had this to say:

I feel drained and unmotivated. I don’t want to write a comment like this. But I’ll write something. Once I start writing, I’ll have so much to say that it will probably turn into a long text, but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible. I apologize for the rambling, as my thoughts are still not in order. Looking back, all I have are fond memories of the times we spent together – whether it was visiting your house, having you stay over at mine, or going out on trips. Every time we talked on the phone, we would laugh so hard that we would get tired. You were a funny person. You were perverted, cute, sharp-tongued, and humble. We collaborated on some manga projects, which were also a lot of fun. But 99% of the time, we never talked about manga. As a manga artist, the gap between the way we saw things and our level of skill was too great, and I never really felt your greatness. I know it now. But when I was with you, I never felt it at all. That’s just the kind of person you were. That’s why I still can’t think of you as anything other than a friend, even though you were a great manga artist. Last summer, before I had surgery, you heard about it somewhere and sent me an email. It was really rare for you to send an email, and it was so full of concern for my health. We’ve been friends for 40 years, but that might have been the first time I felt such kindness from you. I thought it was going to snow. You know, you usually only talk about jokes or nonsense. What the hell, you shouldn’t be worried about other people, right? I called you a little before that, and I was feeling sick all over, so I said, “I’ll probably go first, so have a farewell party for me, Toriyama! And make sure you give a speech, because it’ll make me look good!” But you didn’t keep your promise. I really regret not calling you after you emailed me. I just can’t believe that I can’t talk to you on the phone for hours anymore. There are so many things I want to talk to you about. There are so many things I want to say. Even if you don’t care about what I have to say, you can just zone out like you always do. I just want to talk to you again. The last thing you said to me was “OK” in response to my email asking you to contact me again. That’s just not good enough. I’m so sad.

And the Dragon Quest LEGEND, Yuji Horii, too...

I am still filled with disbelief at the sudden news of Mr. Toriyama’s passing. I have known Mr. Toriyama since I was a writer for Weekly Shonen Jump. At the recommendation of my editor, Torishima-san, I decided to ask him to draw the illustrations for the game Dragon Quest when we were launching it. For over 37 years since then, he has drawn countless charming characters, including character designs and monster designs. The history of Dragon Quest is one that has been intertwined with Mr. Toriyama’s character designs. Mr. Toriyama and the late Mr. Sugiyama were longtime collaborators on Dragon Quest. I can’t believe they’re gone… I can’t find the words to express my sorrow. This is truly, truly a tragedy.

Torishima, his "evil editor" (the one the Mashirito from Dr Slump is inspired by), also put out a statement:

"The last time we worked together was on the book we published last year, 'Dr. Mashirito's Strongest Manga Technique.' In that book, 'Torishima and Toriyama Back Then' was the last manga we made together. 45 years, thank you very much. Mr. Toriyama, you were the best manga artist I have ever known."

(this is what he's talking about)

Jackie Chan statement:

"Akira Toriyama-sensei, thank you for creating so many classics, they will always be with the world, farewell 🙏"

French president Emmanuel Macron:

the tweet reads "To Akira Toriyama and his millions of fans who grew up with him",

The authograph says "for Ma-ku-ro-n president" (to President Macron); the hand-drawn parts are the little Goku and the dragon balls surrounding him, alongside the autograph. It was drawn over a printed paper (as per custom when getting an autograph)

The date indicates it was given to him during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Yabuki Kentaro (To Love Ru's author) (link to the tweet)

Takao Koyama (screen writer for 90% of the episodes and the movies) says Toriyama was sick for over a year at this point. He himself is pretty badly sick as well.

Hiroki Takahashi (Makafushigi Adventure, first DB opening)

Hironobu Kageyama (Chala Head Chala and everything else)

"Singing 'CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA!' is the biggest medal in my life! The loss of the sun is too much to bear But the power of Toriyama-sensei's works Will continue to be a strong light And may it illuminate people all over the world. May you rest in peace."

(some more of the Editorial department of Jump can be found here, with a good browser extension you should be able to get the gist of it)

Feel free to reblog with your favorite manga panels, interviews, trivias, and let's pay a homage to his life and work, alright??