#i used to tease this a LOT when i first talked about asuka (which is like two years ago now whaaaat????)

[misty-wisp]

1 for Asuka :3

What memory would your OC rather just forget?

...maybe having a molotov cocktail as your ranged weapon isn't the best idea after all.

the splash damage could really hurt someone.

[shotorozu]

hello!! i saw that your requests were open and wanted to ask if you could do single dad! atsumu suna and sakusa falling in love with reader, like it's sort of a meet cute (or not) but the reader falls for them and the kid and happiness lskfjsdfk have a great day!!

single dad! falling for reader

character(s) : miya atsumu, suna rintarou, sakusa kiyoomi (haikyuu!!)

legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, timeskip au! (because,, single dads.)

headcanon type : fluff, crack and angst if you squint (x reader)

warning(s) : mentions of the character’s ex wives, the ex-wives being jerks for multiple different reasons and ways (so,, be warned. for negligence, not very detailed hitting, and cheating, but not on reader)

note(s) : me, writing for haikyuu?? wow, a surprise! also, it’s been a while since i’ve written for haikyuu so if i don’t get the characterization correctly— ESPECIALLY FOR SAKUSA, i’m sorry in advance.

»»————-　♡　————-««

miya atsumu

at first, his marriage was happy. miya atsumu— successful in his 20s, basically set for life, and with a head strong wife that gave him a wonderful daughter

he was elated when his son, genji came into this world. he wouldn’t swap him out for anyone else. and it was all good, really

until he started spotting marks on genji’s delicate skin, and he even found a large bruise on his shoulder when he was changing his shirt! he almost passed away seeing that

genji would also have a sudden fear of being alone in the house— even when his mother would stay behind to take care of him

but why though? genji’s only 4! what could’ve happened to him? he doesn’t recall hiring any babysitters.

he finally found the answer one day, when he found out that his head strong, intense wife— has been physical with him!

basically, all the love for his wife flew out the window, and he filed for a divorce— and of course, he won custody

and he assumed that his love life would stop at that— and it didn’t sound terrible. all that mattered was that his son was safe, and happy again

but this is where you come in

you work at a toy store, a small business toy store really, that sold the highest of quality only

and atsumu took genji to either replace, or fix the toy he broke a few days back. the place was recommended to him by shoyo— who also had a kid of his own

you’re just two years younger than him, eyes full of determination and care, practically the complete opposite of his ex-wife.

you put up a good conversation with him, while you fixed the toy— the two of you talking about the mutual friends, and that ‘this place should be a lot more popular.’

and also, his son did happen to take a liking to you. he seemed joyous in your presence— compared to how he was with his ex-wife

and from that moment on, the two of you would only become closer— especially when a bunch of his son’s toys started breaking magically

before atsumu knew it, he harbored something for you— the absolute angel you were to the both of them

“‘m sorry for the inconvenience,” the faux blond scratches the back of his next “didn’t know genji here was a ‘lil clumsy weasel,”

you laugh, and genji’s just staring at you with amusement, “it’s fine, genji could break his entire toy box— and i’d still fix it anyway.”

so this was the nerve wracking part, “to make up for it, would you like some coffee later? i could treat ‘ya.”

“is this yer way of askin’ Y/N—”

“shut yer mouth for a sec— uhm,” he looks at you, sheepishly

you laugh, “miya, i wouldn’t mind honestly. but i’d assume you’re busy as it is.”

“not at all!” atsumu replies, “i’ll just, drop off genji first. say yer thanks to Y/N,” atsumu looks at genji, encouraging him to say his thanks

“,,thanks for fixing my toys, Y/N.”

“no problem, genji.” you smile at the two of them when they move to leave the store, fixed toys in hand— as they wave at you before parting

“oh, Y/N?” atsumu calls out,

“yeah?”

“call me atsumu— from now on.” his cheeks are tinted pink, and he can feel genji’s eyes on him.

“oh, uhm. yeah! i’ll see you later, atsumu.”

so yeah— the two of you went out for some coffee, and before he even knew it, he was in love.

it might take him a few months to realize it though

suna rintarou

i can’t imagine him having kids for some reason 💀 but if he were to have any, he’d definitely have a daughter

rintarou himself, didn’t think he would have kids at at all, really. but the moment he was able to meet asuka— his lovely little daughter

he was hooked. he seemed a little awkward at first, not very used to caring for a child. but he was actually decent at his job

he’d sneak into his daughter’s room to hold her when she was upset— even when his wife was too knocked out to realize it, and he’d show her picture books

since she liked them a lot, even when she can’t coherently read a straight paragraph yet.

it started to concern him when he realized how little his wife was involved in the development of their daughter.

she started acting different, a little bit after she didn’t have to breastfeed asuka

and then, that’s when it happened.

“i literally can’t believe you,” he speaks when he’s packing his things, “we have a child together.”

his soon to be ex wife is on the floor, begging him to stay— but he doesn’t care. “look, the idea of you cheating wasn’t very surprising. i don’t care anymore, really. but the fact that you’ve been neglecting asuka for your selfish needs is low. i hope you’re ashamed of yourself.”

his words are so much different that his lenient, calm self. which only solidifies reality

so he leaves with asuka, not caring about the sobs that left his soon to be ex wife’s mouth.

and even though he was still angry at his wife for not being there, he’d never let it show to asuka

he’d still show her picture books, he’d still sit down and watch miraculous ladybug with her— even when she doesn’t understand it all completely

and speaking of picture books— he decided that he needed to buy more for her

so he took her to the bookstore, and he didn’t really know what he was doing. he bought all those previous books when asuka was still a newborn

now it’s a little fuzzy on what he should be looking for. colors, right? he needs a picture book that has plenty of colors.

and that’s where you come in. you’re youthful, despite looking not that far off his age, you’re humming to yourself as you fix the bookshelves

“uhm,” he calls out for your help, and you look at him in recognition “need any help? what are you looking for?”

there’s a helpful glint in your eyes, and it reminded him of what should’ve been in his ex wife’s eyes. “my daughter, likes picture books. and,, i don’t know what i’m doing.”

she’s basically a replica of him, same eye color, and same hair color. but her eyes are much more rounded, youthful.

“cute kid,” you smile when she coos at you, “the children books are this way, follow me!” you exclaim, moving to navigate your way to the children’s book isle

so it seems to be that you really know what you’re doing. most people would’ve recommended picture books with a lot of words, or just no words at all

but you’ve found the books that made asuka exclaim in happiness.

and although it’s not very obvious that rintarou’s caring to his child— he is, and you could tell. despite looking lost, and sometimes bored when you’re explaining the books.

so every 2 weeks, the father would return with his daughter, after he got back from volleyball— and you’d help them pick out on certain books.

rintarou assumed he’d never take a liking in anyone again, but,, here he is. and he doesn’t know how you’ll react to that.

but it’s worth a try— he’d try and get your number when he’d see you again

the next time you see him, the middle blocker’s alone. and he tells you that he needs more picture books for asuka, since she’s staying over at his volleyball friend’s house for a day

“Y/N,”

“yes?” you turn your head, meeting his stare. he looks well,, himself. like how he first sought out for your help a few weeks back

“,, could i get your number? y’know, just in case asuka wanted worded books in the future. you’ve helped a lot, so,,”

you smile, “is this your way of hitting on me?”

he didn’t think it was that obvious, “what?— i mean,” he fumbles to reason out, feeling a bit more awkward. because yes, he’s asking you out but,, he has the power to make things more laxed, y’know?

truthfully, you don’t know much about him. you know a lot about his daughter, sure! but you don’t know anything about her biological mother, or what happened, or why she’s not taking asuka to the bookstore

but you chose not to ask, out of respect. he’d tell you some other day. “i’m just teasing,” you smile, moving to get a small piece of paper— writing your digits on the paper, and placing it in his pocket

“i’d like to see you again,” you smile, “say hi to asuka for me.”

the middle blocker left the store in content, absolutely sure that asuka would love to see you again even when she can’t form proper sentences.

sakusa kiyoomi

didn’t think he’d be fit to be a father— but here he is

though he seems cold, he does take responsibility, and he does love and care for his child, seina

it’s not like he’ll be posting pictures of his child everywhere— i mean, even if he had a different personality, he still wouldn’t be posting his kid everywhere

but he does cherish seina, like his life depended on it. he’d still silently watch her cross out word puzzles in a messy matter, he’d silently listen to her talk about her favorite pastries

he loves her!

so that’s why it made him mad, when even after 4 years of seina being born, her mother made little to no effort in spending time with her

doesn’t matter if it was a simple gesture like tucking her in, or showing up to a birthday— she just,, never did.

it was almost as if she was ignoring seina, which causes some distraught on the child’s behalf— which passed on the negative feeling to him

like,, seina wasn’t an unbearable kid. sure, she acted up here and there, that’s an issue kiyoomi has been trying to fix on his own

but it was nothing too concerning, and it was containable. but his wife treated her like she was absolutely unbearable

and it was super strange because, she’d act normal around him, but would barely acknowledge her own daughter’s existence

so what did kiyoomi do? he confronted her, of course.

and no— his wife wasn’t cheating, and nothing tragic happened that would’ve caused her to be this way

she was just,, lazy

“so.. you gave birth and stopped caring for her? is that it?” furious was an understatement, considering that his wife forgot to make her daughter breakfast

which caused her to sneak out of the house, and ask for some breakfast from some nice neighbors.

“look, if you want nothing to do with her, just say that. i’m taking seina, and leaving.” so yeah now he’s a single father.

to say he didn’t love her was too quick, a part of him didn’t love the fact that his wife loved him, but didn’t show any sign of affection towards her daughter.

he knew it was going to fade away anyway. his feelings for his unofficial ex wife.

and i don’t think he’d plan on seeing new people, since now these days— people just like the idea of being with him

which meant that most people would’ve been scared away, or turned off if they really sat down in a conversation with him

besides the point, kiyoomi was taking his daughter to the bakery again— as she was craving new pastries, and wanted to go to the new bakery that just opened near by

and kiyoomi was like “why not ig” and took her there— but then, this is where he’d meet you for the first time

you were one of the bakers, and it’s not like he was going to pay attention to you— until you did something even HE couldn’t do

“papa, whyyyy” the whining sounding painful in his ears, as his daughter clung to the display of pastries “can’t we get moreeee??”

“seina,” he sighs, “no, we can’t.”

“but—”

“papa, you’re no fair!” her bottom lip trembles, and he could almost FEEL the judgmental stares of the other customers in the bakery

and this is where you come in, “is something the matter?”

“papa won’t.. get me more!” she stares at the selection of pastries, “i’ve been so nice but.. it’s no fair!” her eyes tear up

“don’t cry,” you bend down to blot her tears away with a tissue, “y’know, he probably has a reason, but you’re in luck— actually!” you maneuver behind the counter

you come out from behind, presenting a fresh batch of pastries— that were just right to his daughter’s liking, to the point that it shut her up entirely

“they’re on the house, today’s our opening day, so it’s the bakery’s treat!”you state in a warming matter, grabbing a paper bag to place the pastries in

kiyoomi stares at you, observing you quietly— you could feel his cold stare, even though he’s wearing a medical face mask, that covers about half of his face

you blink, not knowing what is going through his head, and you gesture to his daughter to take them

you clearly don’t know who he is— and that gives kiyoomi some sort of relief, compared to the other customers that are murmuring to each other “sakusa kiyoomi’s here with his daughter! is this what he does in his free time?”

kiyoomi takes the paper bag, giving some sort of non verbal acknowledgement, before he takes his daughter’s hand and leaves

“bye, kind person!” seina calls out to you, which catches you off guard— this causes your coworkers to coo at the girl’s words

“didn’t know sakusa’s daughter was so cute!”

and you’d assume that your interactions with the quiet stranger and his daughter would end at that, but no! life is full of surprises.

the tall masked father comes in again, a little bit before closing time— you were absolutely beat, your back feeling as if boulders were glued to the back, and your feet burning from all of the rush

“oh, what could i do for you?”

he stays quiet, but a small presence sticks behind him, and peers up to you. the face is familiar to you, so you wave “hi there! it’s nice to see you again.”

“i wanna say thanks.” her rounded eyes practically shimmer when they lay themselves on the pastries again, but she shakes her head “for the pastries! they’re very tasty.”

“i’m glad you like them, what was your favorite part of the pastry?”

“the filling! twas yummy!” she gives a toothy grin, “tell me, where ‘dya learn to bake like that?”

kiyoomi stares at the scene unfolding before him. it was.. new. unfamiliar— he hasn’t seen his daughter act like this with anyone else— besides him and his team mates. so, he simply watched.

seina babbled and babbled, much to the your amusement— and the other staff members. you listened to her with your full attention, your interest never wavering in the slightest

it’s a bit later, kiyoomi holds a tired seina in his arms— you expect him to leave the bakery, his daughter’s wishes been fulfilled, and he wouldn’t have a reason to stick around

but then he presents to you a large stack of cash “for the pastries. my,, daughter really liked them.”

your eyes widen, “sir! i told you, the pastries were on the house!” you shake your head, “either way, i can’t take this! it’s too much for some pastries!”

“no, seina insists. in fact, she’s entirely why i’m here.” his tone stays consistent, but even with the mask— you could tell that he’s smiling. “she’s well,, everything. if she’s set on something, then she’ll do everything to achieve her goal.”

you smile at the statement, “thanks for bringing her here sir..?”

kiyoomi hesitates to tell you his name for a moment, an unfamiliar, yet familiar pound in his chest rises— he chooses to not figure it out right now, considering that it would be too soon to pursue a romantic relationship.

but, if his daughter brought him here, then it must be for a reason. “kiyoomi.”

“right,” you smile, “thanks for coming here, kiyoomi. you can give me a call, if seina wants any more pastries.” you write your number on a piece of paper, and hand it to him

he doesn’t reply, but he does take the piece of paper anyway— keeping it in his pocket

and for once, he thinks that he doesn’t hate having to go to the bakery weekly., because there’ll be a warm presence there to greet him— and of course, seina.

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own hq!! and it’s characters. haikyuu!! belongs to furudate haruichi, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission :))

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

WORK FOR THAT

Prompt: Requested, by a lovely anon. Hope you’ll like it, sweetie

Word Count: Long-ish

Pairings: Rhea Ripley x Reader

Warnings: +18, smut, oral sex, dirty talk

Editor: @thenightmareismyreality

Tag: @sassymox , @waywardwrestlewritingwaif , @yungbludjazz360 , @placeoffreedom

Notes: If you’d like to check out my previous works, you can find them on my Masterlist 😉

“I think she’s into you” Asuka smirked, as she stared at Rhea, who was sitting down in one of the catering tables behind me “You should’ve seen the way she was eating you up with her eyes when you were interviewing Drew earlier” She giggled

“She is something! But also seems like trouble, so uh, no thanks” I laughed

“Come on, Y/N, how much trouble could a one night stand cause?”

“A lot when you know that it probably wouldn’t be a one time thing!”

“Oh” She smirked “And why is that?”

“Do you know me at all? If you think I could ride that face only one time and that’s it, then you don’t know me as much as I thought you did! Have you seen her? She looks like she knows exactly how to eat a pussy, ok?”

“I sure can” Rhea whispered in my ear “And if you ever want a free test drive” She slid a piece of paper on top of the table “Let me know, so I can prove it to you”

She stepped back towards the door, when she reached the doorway, she turned around and mischievously stuck her tongue out at me, the piercing in the middle catching the light

“I fucking hate you” I slapped Asuka’s arm

“Ouch” She dramatically screamed “You’re welcome! And let me know if she means it” She laughed when I got up from the table to go to the bathroom, so I could splash some water on my now burning face

……………………………………………….

My phone buzzed on top of the hotel bedroom’s nightstand

Rhea 😈: Good morning, gorgeous. When will you stop being so stubborn and come here to get that free test drive? 👅

Y/N 🍑: In your dreams, Ripley

Rhea 😈: C’mon, princess… Don’t pretend like you don’t want to 😏

Y/N 🍑: It’s not a matter of wanting, it’s a matter of doing what’s right

Rhea 😈: Exactly! And what’s right is for you to come to room 635 right now and ride my face 👅💦

Y/N 🍑: 🤦‍♀️ You’re no good...I gotta go now, I need to shower

Rhea 😈: Can I join you? You know, just in case you need some help of course 😇

Y/N 🍑: Yeah, that’s exactly why you want to join me 🤥

…………………………………………………

Later that day as I was heading to hair and makeup, I heard someone wolf whistling at me. I turned around to find the blonde and female version of the Devil, right behind me

“You scared me”

“Sorry, princess” Rhea leaned against the wall “I just had the perfect view of your ass and fuck, it looks so good that I couldn’t help myself” She smiled

“You are so filthy” I tried to hold back my laugh

“But you love it, don’t you?” She roamed closer “I know you wanna laugh” She teased “Or at least giggle”

She dipped her head down towards my neck, nuzzling her nose against my skin

“You drive me crazy” She mumbled

“Rhea...” My words died on my lips when her arms circled around my waist and her hands rested against my ass, pulling me even closer to her

“I know you’re playing hard to get, but I’m reaching my limit here” Her hands caressed my ass “I’m starting to wonder if I’m doing the right thing, because it feels like I’m pushing you into wanting something you’re not in the mood for”

“You’re not doing anything wrong” I caressed the back of her neck and let my nails lightly scratch her scalp, which made her growl

“So I’m not overstepping here?” She asked

“No, you’re not”

She lifted her head up, and tightened her grip around my waist

“So you won’t mind if I do this?” She leaned down, brushing her lips against mine, testing the waters but also giving me a chance to pull back if I wanted to.

When she realized I wasn’t going to stop her, she fully captured my lips in a breathtaking kiss. Biting my bottom lip, until it slid out of her teeth. I opened my eyes to find a dumb smile glued to her lips

“Oh, you like me” She teased, kissing my lips once more “You like me a lot” She smirked

“You’re so childish” I cackled, as an intense pink shade took over my cheeks

“And you’re blushing?” She hugged me tightly “You really like me” She attacked my neck with several nips, making me squirm and laugh loudly

“You’re so cute together” We heard Asuka say, as she passed by our side in the hallway

We both startled when we heard her voice “Fuck, I thought it was boss lady” Rhea chuckled

“I know, I almost shit in my pants thinking I was going to be fired” I laughed along with her

“Come get dinner with me tonight?”

“I don’t know, Ree...I don’t like to think someone can take a picture of us together and put it on the internet, just so then people can say that I got this job because of you”

“But you didn’t!”

“Yes, but you know how people are, they just assume things, and suddenly fiction becomes truth, even when it’s the farthest thing from it

“Ok...my hotel room then? We can order some room service, have a chit chat, make out” She growled playfully

“That’s all you want me for?” I teased

“No” She giggled “But I’m not gonna sit here and lie to you either! I feel very attracted to you and would love if we had sex, but that’s not the main reason why I like you”

One of the things I loved the most about Rhea was her raw honesty, she’s always one to tell you the truth, no matter how harsh or sappy it is

“Ok, I accept your invitation”

“Really?” She smiled widely, spinning me around the hallway

“Rhea, you’re gonna make us fall!” I laughed

……………………………………………………….

“It looks fine, Y/N!” Asuka said, chewing on a handful of popcorn

“Right” I rolled my eyes in annoyance, staring at the full length mirror in front of me “It displays my pouch beautifully” I poked my belly

“First of all, you’re beautiful! Stop putting yourself down like that!” She stood up from her bed and stopped by my side “Secondly, you could be wearing a trash bag and Rhea still would think you are the most beautiful woman on the earth! Trust me, I know what I’m saying” She smirked

“You heard her say something?” I asked, hopeful

“I heard a thing or two” She smiled wickedly “But I’m not telling you anything!” She laughed when I scowled

…………………………………………………………

I knocked on her door, already regretting my choice for an outfit (which basically consisted of a pair of yoga pants, with a loose crop top shirt and some sneakers), but before I could run back to my room and change outfits, she opened the door and her whistle was what made me get out of my self deprecation daydream.

“Fuck, you look hot” She smirked

See what I meant about the raw honesty?

Shaking my head while chuckling, I said “Thanks”

She offered me her hand, pulled me inside her bedroom and pressed me against the closed door, kissing me as if her life depended on it

“What happened with the ‘food first, sex later’ rule?” I laughed, as she pulled me towards her

“That was before you showed up at my door looking like this” She smacked my ass “This is your fault, princess, not mine” She hugged me tightly

I stepped away from her, turned around and walked towards the bed, giving her the perfect view of my ass in the light grey yoga pants

Do I know my ass looks insanely good in those pants? Yes!

Did I do it on purpose? Hell yes!

When I reached the bed, I placed myself in all fours on top of it, wiggled my ass in the air and looked over my shoulder at her

“Come, Rhea” I purred, and cackled at the low growl she made

She ran towards the bed, grabbed my hips and pushed me down on the mattress, locking me there with her body weight

“You’re in some big trouble, missy”

“Am I? What did I do?” I batted my lashes innocently

She chuckled “You’re no good, woman!” Her hands dipped underneath my crop top, and grabbed my breasts through the bra “And to think I was worried about corrupting you, when in fact you’re as dirty as I am” Her tongue traced patterns along my neck

“Rhea, please” I moaned

She pushed my pants down, but suddenly stopped to sit up

“Where are your panties?” She smirked

“Oh damn it! I knew I was forgetting something” I smiled devilishly

“Fuck” She panted, dipping her head down to my core

I sighed deeply in content, when her tongue met my clit “You’re so fucking good” I looked down and she winked. My hand quickly grabbed her short blonde locks at the same time she pushed two fingers in

“Oh my fucking -” I pulled on her hair when her fingers inside of me curled and her lips began to suck on my clit

I looked down to find her gaze glued to my face “I’m gonna cum” I moaned “Fuck you’re gonna make me cum so good” I bit my lip in order to control my moans

The next touch of her tongue piercing against my bundle of nerves was what made me explode around her fingers.

Rhea’s fingers and tongue actions became softer and softer as I came down from my high. Smiling, she made her way up, towards my lips and kissing me softly

“Why are you so good at this?” I asked, completely mind blown

“Told you I could eat pussy” She chuckled

“Fuck, I think you ruined me” I panted

“Oh no, princess” She grinned “I’m not even close to ruining you yet”

Please, if you’re comfortable with it, let me know your thoughts on this? Feedbacks are always appreciated 🥰😘

[petitfanboy]

Comprehensive and in-depth analysis of Asuka and Shinji relationship in 3.0+1.0, implications for the ending and why many youtube Eva analysis videos titles I believe are wrong. (Spoilers ahead)

Preface

It seems it was yesterday when I wrote an extended essay regarding the essential and critical relationship of Asuka and Shinji in Evangelion for the last time. However, seven years have passed. 

My idea here is to write, in general lines, about the relationship of Asuka and Shinji in the last movie and the ending and its implications in a more detailed way. I will use different analyses I have read so far besides mine, and you will find the links to all of them in the text. 

I have tried to maintain an analysis that followed the narrative plot and what I believe is closer to what the director wants to express. However, as Anno himself has said multiple times, his work may inspire different feelings in different people, so I understand where the differences might come from and, in no way, this is intended as a confrontation to other opinions and theories. 

Please, let me start with an introduction.

Introduction

While a lot has changed for me in these years, my view of A/S relationship in the whole Eva universe, including their dynamics, meaning, and canonical aspects have not changed. 

Long story short, A/S represent core aspects of the message Evangelion wants to transmit: The Hedgehog's dilemma, the fear of connecting and rejection while having a strong desire to be loved and understood, and finally, the pursuit of happiness. Asuka and Shinji are opposites on their outside and equals on their inside. A perfect match for exploring those issues.

RoE makes clear their similarities

Asuka and Shinji similarities

Evangelion arrives at a fulfilling conclusion at the end, showing us how it is possible to overcome the abovementioned problems. To depict that, it always involves resolving the different issues Asuka and Shinji have between them, becoming closer, opening to one another and, probably and eventually, staying together.

Evangelion portrays that resolution using scenes showing the exact moment of the change in A/S dynamics, the moment when both pursued real connection starts. What happens after that change is unknown, but the intention is clear: once they begin to make an effort, they have the chance to be happy together.

Before the release of 3.0+1.0, different spoilers and youtube video’s titles ruined my life, as I suppose that happened to some of you. It had such a significant impact on me that it is hard to define with words. Not because I was an angry asushin fanboy as some might classify me, but because, had it been confirmed, it would have meant that the message that Evangelion has been constructing since its first airing was shattered to pieces. I could not accept it.

At that specific moment, the Eva Extra Ex manga came and saved me.

Eva Extra Ex Manga Translated

I cannot highlight enough how important this manga was and still, it is. For me, it represented a call from Anno himself, saying: Do not worry, Evangelion is going to keep being Evangelion. I still recall the endless discussions on the internet when 3.0 came out about the effect of the time-skip, in what lousy state the relationship between Shinji and Asuka was (or if it was even inexistent!) and how Evangelion was going to transmit another message in the end. For me, there were always precise moments in 3.0 that pointed against those conclusions. But with Eva Extra, everything changed. It tied aspects of 2.0 and 3.0 very nicely and allowed us to discover more regarding Asuka's feelings and motivations.

With the first interaction in the manga between Asuka and Mari, we see that Asuka still has (deep) feelings for Shinji.  As the story progresses, we see how Asuka reacts to Mari's teasing and how unconvinced Mari is of all the bravado that she displays. A/S relationship, alongside their communication and hedgehog's dilemma related problems, still existed in the present timeline of the events of 3.0 and 3.0+1.0.

God's in his heaven all right with the world.

Chapter 1: The houses of healing

Instead of speaking of every Shinji/Asuka interaction scene, I will try to make this analysis lighter by talking about how it progresses across the film and focusing only on key scenes.

The film's first part explains how Shinji achieves healing after understanding how people around him are friendly, which is a big difference from EoE. In EoE, it was impossible. Shinji was left hurt and without any option to heal. He ultimately achieved healing through his experiences in instrumentality, leading to the ending and the hope/love message we all know in One More Final: I need you.

This process, this healing, happens in a precise location. That is the reason for the chapter's title. I took the liberty of naming this first chapter as the eighth chapter of Tolkien's book The Return of the King. But, what place is it?

Initially, Shinji is taken to Toji's house. While that place suits Rei, who will understand the basic meaning of life and being human, Shinji makes no progress there. Interestingly, Kensuke sees how Shinji is not making any progress and suggests he should go with him to his house. Why? It is driven by his new parental role, reminiscent of Kaji. He thinks why Shinji is in such a state and understand his needs at that moment. Besides, with or without knowing it, he reunites Shinji and Asuka under the same roof and the same parental figure.

I cannot say that he willingly wanted to reunite Shinji with Asuka, although I am sure he thought it was a direct consequence of carrying Shinji with him, so he was happy with that idea. As we know from 2.0 and the original series, their friends are the ones who notice Asuka and Shinji bond, so it would not be strange that Kensuke wanted to reunite both of them.

With or without Kensuke's will, bringing Shinji to Kensuke's house mirrors Misato's apartment, but with a male figure as the leader (i.e. A Kaji instead of Misato). It is a comeback to better times. Kensuke takes the parental figure for both Shinji and Asuka, as Misato did when Asuka moved in 2.0 for both children. This time, Asuka is the one who is already living there (previously it was Shinji), and Shinji is the one who arrives later.  In 3.0+1.0 Misato cannot fulfil her maternal role anymore, as explained later in the film (and redeemed at the end).

Let me linger on this parallel. In 2.0, when Asuka arrives at Misato's house and introduces Asuka to Shinji, we have the romantic comedy scene of the shower a few minutes later. The scene makes us understand that they feel some attraction to each other, albeit in a very early stage (and introduces PenPen to Asuka). Time forward, this first interaction is repeated in Kensuke's house. When Shinji arrives, he finds Asuka naked after having a shower. This time, no reaction is seen from either part explicitly. Neither Shinji nor Asuka blushed or overreacted, but Asuka clearly states her disappointment, which shows us her desire that Shinji reacted, that Shinji expressed attraction towards her. A significant line that adds up to all the previous evidence about Asuka's persistent feelings for Shinji. What about Shinji? There is a minor detail. When he sees Asuka naked, he stares at her with a glare that is just a mix of emotions. Although it is difficult to tell what he is thinking, Asuka is directly opposite him, and he can see both the DSS choker and her body. However, he only notices the choker when she wraps herself with a towel. Draw your conclusions.

From that point onwards, we get a few scenes representing the problem Asuka and Shinji have communicating and how alike they are. When Shinji throws up for the first time, Asuka explains to Kensuke why Shinji behaves like that and shuts himself off. However, she is doing the same, playing with her console. Asuka's video game is Shinji's SDAT.  Asuka hates the behaviour of Shinji because she sees her flaws in him.

Despite all the façade, she tries to communicate and help Shinji repeatedly in the coming scenes, checking on him on several occasions. Whenever she does that, the movie clearly shows us that she has abandoned her Shinji-like behaviour, showing us the console turned off.

Asuka and her videogame

The climax of their conflict is the force-feeding scene. But before analysing that scene, let me tell you a few more details.

I believe that the mirroring of Misato's apartment is portrayed through other details. For example, the name KenKen might have been chosen in honour of the missing companion from Misato's apartment: PenPen.

Furthermore, while some people might find odd the tendency of Asuka to be naked, this is driven by her disgust with her own body, which is shown in the Eva Extra manga. Finally, to enforce the idea that the relationship between Kensuke and Asuka is different from the one that she and Shinji have, it is essential to notice how Kensuke calls them. He calls them by their surnames, Shikiname and Ikari, placing distance between them.

Let's return to the force-feeding scene. In that scene, Asuka wants to help him, which is why she feeds him, and at the same time, she explains her frustration regarding the lack of reaction and understanding on his part. The conflict between them is portrayed similarly to the Eva 03 incident in 2.0

Visual comparison 1

Visual comparison 2

She is trying to understand him, and she tells him rather precisely why she thinks he is in such a state. She only wants him to reciprocate that understanding, and she wants him to think and explain why she punched him after seeing each other after 14 years. I must highlight the punch's importance. It summarises their communication problems, their conflict. Eva clarifies it in 3.0 using the same parallelisms as other communication problems, like Gendo and Shinji.

However, we know how she feels. The Eva extra manga gives us that insight. She has feelings for Shinji but hates his inaction due to his internal struggles. The hedgehog's spikes have been replaced by a punch. If they can talk about the punch, they will start communicating.

From an external view, Shinji reacts to being force-fed in a way that probably is not what Asuka wanted. Shinji leaves the house, followed secretly by Asuka, in another display of how Asuka feels internally.  It is another parallelism with Misato's apartment, again with a reversal of roles between Shinji and Asuka.

Parallelism

However, we will learn in future events that Shinji started to think about what Asuka told him at that moment, so he listened to her.From this point onwards, Shinji will deal with his thoughts and come to an understanding with himself. It is not achieved alone, but with the help of Rei and, although not directly, Asuka. She is the one who directs Rei to the place where Shinji is and continues checking on him to see that everything is going fine. She is there.

Asuka cares

When Shinji grows up and maturates, we have the first bidirectional communication attempt between Asuka and Shinji. While she asks Shinji if he feels better, he responds with only sounds. Yet, this is the first time they have tried to talk about their respective problems and emotions calmly. We will see this pattern repeat itself several times in the movie: Shinji grows a bit, and then Asuka opens herself another bit. It is very interesting to see Asuka's glare. Asuka is drawn with that glare whenever she is looking at Shinji in a positive/concerning him way. We will return to that later. Besides, she speaks to him without looking at her console.

All this healing process ends in a sentence that is easily overlooked. The night Kensuke is discussing with Asuka the plans to return to the Wunder, Shinji comes home and says, "I am home". It is the reflection of Shinji's complete healing. Thanks to his growth, he has found a new place where he belongs once more. It let us understand why he will consider that this place is important for Asuka too. Both have suffered the same parental love deprivation, lacking a place where they truly belong. Finding a place that they can call home is part of their way to happiness and usually happens before both connect.

The film also let us see how Shinji heals, comparing it with the healing of one of the village's dogs

Now, Shinji is ready to go with Asuka to the Wunder and start a transformative journey for himself and those around him. But first, let me post a few more details, some of which I had not noticed until doing some research on the internet:

Visual comparisons that highlight the similar role of Kensuke as Kaji (Parental role)

2. Asuka's scarf to hide her DSS choker.

3. The possible futon share between Asuka and Shinji, showing how she cares about him.

Chapter 2: A trip in the Wunder

The most relevant scene for their relationship in the Wunder is Asuka's confession. However, there are a couple of interesting interactions before that. The first one is the display of Asuka's jealousy of Sakura when she sees her interaction with Shinji, saying, "Are you his wife?"

The second one happens when Asuka meets Mari. While loaded with fanservice, this interaction is not trivial. Mari's teasing is an essential element in the Rebuild series, even more knowing how important the character of Mari will become at the end. She seems to be aware of Asuka's real feelings, and we know from the Eva extra manga that she tries to push Shinji and Asuka together, which I will come back to later. Asuka replies to Mari's teasing that Shinji "does not need a lover, he needs a mother". This sentence is a double edge sword. First, it shows Asuka's interest in Shinji as a romantic partner, given her deception, and actually, Asuka is saying this sentence while she is playing the videogame, so probably she is hiding her feelings, shutting herself oof the world as Shinji used to do. Second, it shows the problems they face: Communication and maturity. Maturity, because Asuka feels that Shinji has not changed as she has had, and communication, because as we will soon know, Asuka also wants that figure in her life. However, it is not true that Shinji has not grown up. It is just that they have not tried to communicate again, and thus, she does not know about Shinji's recent developments

Everything will change when Asuka faces the reality of possible death. Before the "final battle", she decides to reach out for Shinji. After Mari introduces herself to Shinji in an awkward way that will be important in the ending, Asuka repeats her question. In reality, she asks if he has thought about her, how she feels and everything she has gone through. To Asuka's surprise, Shinji answers the question, blaming his inaction. Taking this as a partial sign of maturity and growth, Asuka starts opening herself, although not wholly, a sign that Shinji's answer might not have been entirely correct. Besides, her body language is similar to the previous lift scenes in Evangelion, where we know she hid her real emotions.

She will equal what to tell Shinji to Shinji's growth. Therefore, she explains to him how she liked him 14 years ago, but not how she feels now. Furthermore, she leaves before Shinji can reply to her statement, leaving Shinji staring back at her through the glass. So, it is Mari again who makes us understand that this has been a sign of communication that goes in the right direction. She congratulates Shinji and stimulates him to continue like this. Again, Mari is trying to solve Asuka and Shinji's problems. Mari says goodbye in Chinese to Shinji (perhaps, a way to tell us that the spell of goodbye works, as they meet again later) and goes to do the same with Asuka, asking her if she feels better. Mari is trying to make Asuka see that opening herself to Shinji will bring happiness to her too.

Nevertheless, we must not forget that the short confession happened because Asuka thought this might have been the end. In a sense, it almost was.

Chapter 3: I need you

This chapter starts after Shinji and Gendo have resolved their issues. As I explained before, the need of resolving their parental matters will be critical to both Shinji and Asuka. The same happened in EoE. Asuka gets to know her mother in her battle against the mass-produced Eva, and Shinji learns about his father's plans and mother during instrumentality. After those experiences and their other interactions through instrumentality, they arrive at the I need you scene where they open to each other.

Gendo gets off the train, and the control of instrumentality is handed over to Kaworu. While Gendo was willing to sacrifice everything for his sake, the growth of Shinji reaches its maximum at this point. Shinji decides to take the reversal role of his father. Even if he is heartbroken or it is a hard and not a pleasant experience, he wants to help Asuka and those who were nice to him. This is the transformative journey that Shinji accomplishes in RoE that marks a completely different path from NGE+EoE.

I worded the sentence highlighting Asuka because those are the literal words of Shinji, naming Asuka as an individual and using the Japanese word "minna" for the rest, which could be the rest of his friends or even the rest of humanity. Shinji has learnt that he must give without seeking anything in return. He must stop thinking about himself only. He is going to help their friends without any positive repercussions on himself. As he later will explain, he plans to rewrite the world with the new spear given by Misato to get rid of the Evas and what they represent, stopping the cycle of suffering that comes with them, and let their friends live a happy life.

Symbolism of the spear

Interestingly, he does not explain this to Asuka and only mentions it to Rei, with some hesitation, which is what prompts him to tell her that Mari would come for him eventually. That behaviour is because for getting rid of the Eva and rewriting the world, he needs to impale himself with the spear inside Eva 01. While we do not know for sure the effects on Shinji, the way it is portrayed resembles a willing sacrifice, a person opening himself to that terrible outcome for a better benefit for their friends. Besides, we must not forget that the sync rate of Shinji with his Eva was infinite at that time, so probably the expected outcome would be the death of the pilot and he knew about that.

This situation is what gives us an essential context for understanding Shinji's actions. As Asuka earlier, he also thought that he might not return. But let’s see what happens with Asuka and Shinji.

The first to be saved is Asuka. As some sort of guardian for Asuka (and Shinji, and even Asuka/Shinji relationship), Mari reminds Shinji before he leaves her entry plug in the anti-universe that he has to find her. And he does.

There are many iconic and meaningful landscapes in Evangelion. Still, none of them has the symbolism, meaning, emotional associations and beauty as the beach where Shinji and Asuka laid at the EoE has. Although it is not the same beach and there are different details, the scene's meaning is clear. It was the scenario of One More Final: I need you. Thus, the location evokes that meaning, where Shinji and Asuka connected and expressed their emotions and feelings in EoE. To increase and highlight that intention, the first shot we have of the landscape is a full white moon, a remnant from the N3I. The moon has always been a poetic figure for love, and it brightens the sand creating the white beach. It is the perfect scenario to share an intimate moment.

Then, a saved, Eva curse-free Asuka awakes. The first sentence references the fact that the curse of Eva is lifted, and she can sleep. As some people detail, the plugsuit is a combination of different ones. This phenomenon will repeatedly happen in the anti-universe. Long story short, as I do not want to enter the terrain of the time loops and different universes, I believe that the idea behind that symbolism is that Evangelion is a multiverse. The anti-universe might somehow connect them, and we can see them. However, the characters remain the same from the universe where they come from. Only those annotated in the book of life remember those other universes or RoE time-loops (which seem to affect only the RoE universe and seem not to be confirmed in the other universes), and probably, as Shinji is in charge of the flow of events, the bleeding in his memories is what drives those changes.

The fact that Asuka wears a plugsuit that is a combination of previous ones, does not mean that she is Soryu or several Asukas at the same time. She is Shikinami, and it is the first time that she is on that beach. Her background and memories are from the RoE timeline, as she does not express, as Shinji will do later, any perception of that phenomenon. The same goes for their location. While they are on a similar beach, it is not the same where Soryu and Shinji found themselves in EoE. It is probably the bleeding of details between universes that wraps the metanarrative message that gives importance to the scenery (that beach is where they connected and accepted each other both in EoE and in this movie, and the place will always symbolise that)

Even those aware of other timelines (Kaworu and Shinji at that point) can only remember that they met before or have a déjà vu feeling. They do not have a complete insight into what happened. I think that this bleeding of details gives an important message: All the universes of Evangelion exist. Soryu and Shinji's story from NGE and EOE has happened, albeit in another universe, part of a larger multiverse. In a sense, it is saying that NGE+EoE is as canon as RoE, something essential to maintain coherency. The difference is that they happen in different physical planes of space and time.

Let's return to the fact that a grown Asuka is on the beach. The camera plays, repeating the same shots as in EoE, linking both scenes thematically again. Moreover, the visual links expands to other couples in Eva.

Here, Shinji sits next to Asuka, with his arms around his legs and a completely different gaze, making clear Shinji is happy to see her. The events follow this path:

Asuka sees Shinji next to her and calls him "Baka Shinji" in a not mean way. A way that shows us that despite calling him "Baka Shinji" time and time again, that did not mean that she truly hated him.

Shinji verbalises his happiness to see her again and says thanks to her for letting him know her feelings previously.

Shinji reciprocates the same feelings, using the past tense. Why? Well, at least this time is more straightforward than explaining why he choked her.  Shinji has several reasons for this: First, it directly answers what Asuka told him earlier. And second, he wants to save and return her to the Eva free world, and thus, knowing that he might not return, hides his current feelings.

Asuka is surprised that her feelings are reciprocated. She blushes and turns to her left, hiding her real feelings at that moment to Shinji. In the next shot, we see a happy, blushed Asuka smiling.

The reaction of Asuka and all the previous evidence from the movie and the manga make it evident that she still has feelings for him. With his body language, Shinji is also transmitting to us that he is hiding his true feelings. Besides, a past tense confession for Shinji makes no sense at all. Shinji has been sleeping those 14 years. For him, those moments where "he liked" Asuka are only a few weeks or months ago from this moment on the beach.  We will get the last evidence that Shinji still has feelings for Asuka, thanks to Kaworu. He, who is aware of all the timelines and universes, asks Shinji if he will feel lonely letting Asuka go. Shinji, with the same body language and a sad face, says no. We must link Shinji's behaviour to the fact I explained earlier. Shinji wanted to sacrifice himself for the happiness of Asuka and everybody.

This links with another idea. The scene is fast-paced. Once Shinji confesses his feelings, he says goodbye to Asuka and the Kensuke sentence. While this might be a reminiscence of Asuka's behaviour in the Wunder, allowing him to avoid any reply, that would have made things more difficult. However, his words are carefully chosen. We know from Rei's experiences in the village that "goodbye, is a spell of magic to see each other again. Despite his plans, Shinji's wish is to see her again

The meaning of goodbye

Then we have the Kensuke sentence. I wanted to talk about this in a simple way. Asuka needed the same parental role as Shinji, and through her experiences in instrumentality, she finds that she has that part of herself fulfilled by Kensuke. However, things get complicated if we start to notice some details. The fact that Kensuke calls Asuka "Asuka" instead of Shikinami and that the doll with Kensuke inside of it appears in the Rei scene has raised concerns that the Kensuke who appears in Asuka's instrumentality scenes is in fact Shinji, helping Asuka to find her place in a future world without him. In more detail:

All Asuka's scenes in instrumentality revolve around Shinji, nothing from Kensuke. It seems that Shinji wants to revert that and makes her conscious that she can find a place to belong and the parental role she needs, especially taking into consideration that he was about to die.

Instrumentality scenes comparison

She verbalises that she has no place to belong yet (despite living with Kensuke for some time), so Shinji wants to clarify that point for her.

It answers why Kensuke calls her Asuka and not Shikinami and why the doll appears again in Rei's scenes on the stage. Furthermore, it connects Asuka's memories with the beach scene, as it is after Kensuke says, "Asuka is Asuka" that she wakes up next to Shinji.

The original source of the theory for me was this video

In the end, from Asuka's instrumentality to the end of the beach scene, Shinji wants her to understand that she has a place to belong alongside the parental figure that she needs and that she is also loved by him, although he is going to let her go for her benefit. A true act of selflessness given his feelings. That is heart-warming and an actual act of love on his part.

Then, something happens amid the fast-paced scenes. The camera shows Asuka with an open mouth, sleeping(?) and Mari next to her. Wait. When did Mari come in? Why? I am not sure of the answers to these questions. It shows that Mari is more than we thought and has more knowledge about the anti-universe and what is happening. We do not know if this scene happens just after Shinji’s words or something has happened in the middle, as Asuka's expression seems not to match the last we see from her. Is there a deleted scene in the middle? Mari says her goodbye to Asuka. Mari has been a bridge between Shinji and Asuka and a close friend to her. In some sense, and continuing the parallelisms between Shinji and Asuka, she has been her Kaworu

Interestingly, Mari only appears to say bye to Asuka and not Rei or Kaworu. At the same time, Shinji only says sayonara to Asuka, the only character that does not have a handshake and a shutter closed. While there is no definitive answer to this fact, I believe it is crucial regarding the ending, as it will establish a continuity between the goodbyes and future gatherings, all directed by Mari, and that is why she appears probably (and she might be the one ejecting Asuka’s entry plug)

After Mari's take care, Asuka wakes up in the entry plug and is ejected by Unit 13. It is important to note that Asuka leaves without any kind of voluntary movement. She awakes in different locations and is the Eva 13 who ejects her. We do not know Asuka’s opinion about this at any time, or how she feels about being saved leaving Shinji behind.

Chapter 4: The sacrifice is stopped

After Kaworu and Rei's scenes, which I am not going to talk about, Shinji decides to carry out the Neon Genesis. We get to the moment where he is ready to sacrifice himself, in some sort of redemption of humanity's sins for creating the Evas and all the suffering that accompanied them. But then, Yui appears.

She stops the spear, protecting Shinji, and takes him out of the Eva 01. Yui’s wish is that he can live in that Neon Genesis world where the Evangelions do not exist, where people, and Shinji, can be happy. This moment changes everything. The plot twist will allow Shinji and Evangelion to have a happy and hopeful ending, thanks to Yui's (+/- Mari) plan.

The sacrifice of Shinji's parents for the sake of their child redeems them from the emotional deprivation Shinji has endured all his life. Shinji, mimicking the last instrumentality scene in EoE, returns to the anti-universe, now alone.

Chapter 5: Mari to the rescue

Shinji waits patiently on a blue water beach. Slowly, he starts to fade away in the anti-universe, as there are no others to relate with. This concept was explored both in EoE and at the end of the TV series. Then, Mari comes with her Evangelion to rescue him and take him back to the real world, now the Eva-free world, as promised to Misato. This is very important, as it highlights that Shinji is not going to a parallel universe. He is returning to the same world where his friends are (Asuka for sure, Kaworu will meet him again too, and Rei, honestly, it is not so obvious where she decides to go in her scenes, but probably too)

Mari's last Evangelion is important too. Contrary to Kaworu and Rei, I believe it is how Mari and Shinji returned to the ordinary world (probably with its entry plug, like Asuka). We might never know that. Then, the next scene is the opposite scene from Asuka in the entry plug, but with Shinji. Now we see an adult Shinji in a train station.

There are different questions to answer to understand what is happening in the ending. However, I think that the film's conclusion is the same regardless of the answer to those questions.The questions are:

Is the train scene set in the AU or in the real world?

Are Mari and Shinji the people we see coming out from the station?

Did Asuka arrive at Kensuke’s house or is she present there if that is the real world?

I tried to sum up the different theories in simple pictures.

 My personal opinion just after watching the movie was that the first scenario was the most likely. However, after seeing different analyses, I am not 100% convinced and I cannot give my support to other theoriesyet. 

The sources for the other theories are these

And the fact that the pilots might be illusions come from here 

As you can see, regardless of the answer to the questions from above, they always end up meeting again. While this is not explicitly shown in the movie, I strongly believe it is the reason why Mari appears at the end scene. Mari is the beacon light that will guide him in this new world, and there is a lot of visual comparisons that prove this fact, comparing Mari to Misato, and knowing the role of Mari in Gendo and Yui’s life. Furthermore, a lot of people consider that the fact that Asuka is alone in the platform is a sign that she is there to be reunited with Shinji, as she has no partner and seems to be playing with something like her old videogame. All of this is enough evidence to stop thinking about this ending as “Shinji choosing Mari to live a happier life” or “to let go the past”.

Comparison

The role of Mari in Yui/Gendo life. A hint in her possible role with Asuka/Shinji

Mari and Shinji, Mari and Gendo, the same fate.

I am sure that Mari will reunite Asuka and Shinji. She has been a bridge between them since 3.0, and the Eva Extra manga gives more insight into that respect. Besides, she did the same with Yui and Gendo, and there are a lot of comparisons between Yui/Gendo and Asuka/Shinji in a visual way throughout the series.You will find Asuka glancing at Shinji with the same face and eyes expression as Yui did. 

We have talked about this before. 

While it would be interesting to know exactly how Shinji arrives there, the narrative conclusion that they will meet again, independently of what has happened to the world, will not change. This resonates with the title of the movie "thrice upon a time", as evidenced here. 

There have been multiple Evangelion universes, both with and without Evas (EoE ends with a world without Evas, as the manga does) and in all of them, all of them, Asuka and Shinji meet again. And this is really important, as now they can communicate and have the chance of growing together and be happy.

Conclusion

Asuka and Shinji are two sides of the same coin, with different defence strategies in the context of the hedgehog's dilemma. Despite their mutual attraction, they are incapable of communicating and reaching each other. In EoE, it took almost the end of the world and humanity to understand that it is thanks to not living with the fear of pain and rejection that we can understand and accept others, ultimately overcoming the hedgehog's dilemma. This is expressed by the caress of Asuka to Shinji in EoE. This loving gesture shows us that the characters start understanding each other and have the chance to be happy together. EoE ending is a message of love and hope.

A/S relationship will represent this conflict wherever they are portrayed, in a cycle of desire/attraction, which leads to conflict and a resolution with understanding and love once they learn to accept each other and start communicating. In EoE is quite visual and displays both of them together at the very end. The manga is less explicit and more hinted at, but the scene at the train depicts how they connect in that new world where they will understand each other.

Thrice upon a time is not an exception to this rule. The last scene of EoE and the manga that involves Asuka and Shinji is the moment they connect, communicate, and change the way they treat each other. In 3.0+1.0 their final scene together is the beach scene, where they confess their mutual feelings in what is a never seen before sincerity and openness between them. Then, a world without Eva is created (in EoE this is exemplified by the crucified Eva and in the manga is more similar to the movie) and we know that Mari will guide Shinji to a safe return to that Eva free world and a gathering with Asuka and his friends. Despite not appearing on screen, all the narrative of the movie, and the whole of Evangelion, makes us understand that they will understand each other more and more and will be more honest towards their feelings, giving them the chance of being happy. As a consequence of that, the leitmotif of Evangelion is repeated once more.

The message of 3.0+1.0 is not about letting go of the past because you have grown up or let it go to move forward. The message is that it is thanks to going through those good and bad experiences that life gifts us, accepting the chance of suffering pain, that we can mature and learn. This learning will make us understand ourselves and those who surround us more, making us love ourselves and others, having, ultimately, the chance of being happy, loved and finding a place to belong to.

And it is in the middle of this struggle, that the love story of Asuka and Shinji shines, reminding us that humans can connect and be happy. 

If they can overcome their problems, so will us.

Everybody finds love in the end.

One More Conclusion: Where is Anno's wife?

What a ride! I think I have written about almost all of Shinji and Asuka's interactions, perhaps leaving just a few ones at the beginning of the movie, and without the mention of Anno as Shinji or his wife as Mari in all the essay! While extremely popular, the theory that Mari represents his wife has many flaws and I still do not understand where it is based. From the character being designed without the supervision of Hideaki Anno to the direct denial from his wife, including that the theory does not match the narrative plot. While self-insertions and story developments related to personal experiences are not rare in storytelling, we cannot explain everything in Evangelion by metanalysis. While Anno's struggles with depression have shaped NGE+EoE, the development and growth of the characters in their own arcs are what matter when analysing them. Shinji might be inspired by his awful experience at that time, but as we said earlier, Asuke is shaped like Shinji, albeit with different behaviour. Therefore, we should accept that both of them are depictions of Anno and not only the masculine figure.

In the end, it is Shinji who rejects instrumentality, returns to the real world and is caressed by Asuka in EoE. The characters do that, not Anno. The same happens in this last scene. While the location of the train station and city is totally related to the director, what is going to happen to the characters in the context of the plot is an important thing to consider when analysing them.

From NGE+EoE to this last movie Shinji grows and understands the path to be happy always.  This is not exclusive of the RoE saga because Anno has overcome his problems. Therefore, conclusions such as "now Anno is happier, so he wants Shinji to be happy" are not supported. What changed in RoE is that the growth of Shinji happens prior to the last impact and instrumentality, instead of growing after those experiences. This allows the portrayal of a lighter version of Shinji in those dramatic moments, resembling more a traditional hero who saves his friends, instead of letting them down and then coming to an understanding all together (because everyone shares a slice of the guilt cake) in instrumentality.

I believe that it would be more fruitful if we took into consideration his wife's work in the way that this tweet states, rather than engage ourselves in discussions about meta self-insertions.

I hope my words have helped those who felt like me after the release of the movie.

Thank you very much for all your time reading this.

[goji-pilled]

Okay @princekirijo you want an essay? Well here it is now, or as I like to call it Felix's "Asumari is great and this fandom has no fucking taste" rambling and infodump. Congrats fellas, thanks to Prince you ALL get an asumari essay. But before that I'll try to give you a rundown of Mari and Asuka. 

(I'm also so sorry for putting this long ass post on everyone's dashboard)

(Spoiler warning for Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time!!)

Alright on one hand we have Mari Illustrious Makinami. Her whole deal? She's a walking ray of sunshine, literally lol. Unlike any other character in the Evangelion franchise she doesn't suffer from her trauma, she's quite literally the only healthy and functioning human being, she's just slightly leaning towards "batshit crazy" with the stunts she pulls 🤷‍♂️. Other than that she just loves living, she loves being with people, she keeps moving forward, stays positive and decides to live life to it's fullest even after she experiences loss and multiple apocalyptic events (Second Impact, Third Impact, etc.) and she really just embodies the joy of living. That's all there is to her, or at least all we know.

On the other hand, we have Asuka Langley Shikinami who is... well it's hard to explain what she is to be honest. She's part-German and part-Japanese and part of a line of clones specifically made with the purpose to pilot an Evangelion and later on be used as a sacrifice to trigger another Impact (ITS COMPLICATED I KNOW-) Asuka is, unlike Mari, very much suffering from her trauma. She doesn't have her parents and has a very deep seated belief that she's completely alone, which she says doesn't matter as long as she can pilot the Eva. She also very much wants to fight and kill angels all by herself, and it's seriously messing with her when she can't achieve that.

Now we get to the more interesting parts (hopefully this so far wasn't too confusing, then again it's Eva and even I can't fully wrap my head around it all LMAO)

In the second Rebuild movie (Evangelion 2.0 You can (not) advance) we get introduced to both of them, Mari's introduction scene (in the original English dub) has her pilot an Eva and singing about how she'll take the world on by herself, while in the third movie's (Evangelion 3.0 You can (not) redo) opening scene she's piloting the Eva again but this time it's together with Asuka (in her own Unit 02 though) and during that Mari sings about how wonderful it is not to be alone. It's nothing big yet, but it's a really cute detail me thinks,,, you know what else I love about them? They bicker and they banter and it's genuinely so fun to listen to shskdhsuwj

(For a quick catch up: During the end of 2.0 Shinji (the protagonist) triggers another apocalyptic event, the Near Third Impact, and was only stopped due to Kaworu (the guy in my pfp) stepping in. Also between 1.0/2.0 and 3.0/3.0+1.0 are about 14 years (without Shinji bc he's like comatose) where A LOT happens AND we learn in 3.0 that Eva pilots don't age physically bc of "The curse of the Eva"... honestly Eva is wild lmao)

Okay okay I'll get back to it!

So one thing that happens is that Asuka during 2.0 develops a crush on Shinji (girl why-), unfortunately things take a turn for the worse. Asuka had volunteered to be the testpilot for a new Eva (Unit 03), she seemed happy at the time and it was a really sweet build up with the "I can smile, I didn't know I could still do that."-line. And then? Then it turns out the Ninth Angel had infected Unit 03 (Angels are basically the Kaijus they fight using Evas btw). The thing goes on a loose and Shinji is forced to fight it (With Asuka inside mind you), he refuses and his father uses an autopilot to destroy Unit 03. And boy did it destroy the angel, well it and it crushed Asuka between its jaws (you can actually hear her scream btw haha pain :)).

Asuka survived though, but the whole incident cost her her humanity and she ended up becoming an angel herself/she took the place of the Ninth. But despite that, there's one person who keeps believing in Asuka's humanity, who fiercely believes Asuka is still a human and tells her as much.

Yep, that one person is Mari and she keeps holding onto that belief until the very end when Asuka uses her last resort, which is using the power of an angel (Doing so was a guaranteed death sentence btw). Mari's own words (in the German dub) were, "Princess, you're giving up being human…" AND IT MAKES ME SO EMO GOD FUCK

While I'm at it, Mari and Asuka are a fucking killer combo as a team. They rely on each other for support in combat, listen to the other's orders and advice. Especially in Asuka's case it's kind of a big deal that she so openly relies and counts on Mari's support. Like these two trust each other with their damn lifes!!! Holy shit!!

Guess what though, they also have nicknames for eachother. Mari always calls Asuka "Princess" or "(Your) Highness" while Asuka calles Mari "Four-eyes" / "Four-eyed chrony (idk how you spell that tbh RIP" Even better though, in the German dub Asuka calls Mari "Brillerella" as in a combination of "Brille" (German for glasses) and "Cinderella",,,,Cinderella and her Prince,,,Brillerella and her Princess,,, man, that was a gay fucking move of the translation team. Spoiler: I owe them my life.

Funfact: There's exactly two times throughout the Rebuild movies where Mari uses Asuka's actual name. These two times being when she watches Asuka "die" and be used as a sacrifice for Gendo's selfish plan and when later on she begs Shinji, "So please the Princess… Asuka needs your help!" And the best part? That wasn't even the first time she did that. The mentioned line came from 3.0+1.0, but she did that too in 3.0 with the, "At least save the Princess!" line (although her tone was much more...pissed, like she was really angry lol)

Remember the crush Asuka had on Shinji? Well due to the Unit 03 incident a whole lot of other shit got mixed into that and her feelings for him in general became really bitter (understandably so). Now Mari being who she is sometimes teases Asuka about said old crush but she really does want Asuka to get closure and sort that mess out. 

As an example for the teasing, in 3.0 there's a scene that goes like this (please imagine Mari with a literal :3 face while saying that):

"Unit! Are you back in the game?"

"I'm on it, your Highness. But first things first, how was our little puppy (Shinji)? Did he sit like a good little boy?"

"He's exactly the same! Same stupid face talking mayhem!"

"That goofy face of his, that's what you wanted to see? Riiiiight?"

"Shut up! I went there to bat him one!... And I feel better!"

There's also a very short bonus manga that was released in Japan for Thrice Upon a Time's release that has Mari trying to convince Asuka to come with her on the mission to get Shinji, given everything that follows, it's just another thing to prove my point. And the final bit relating to that is this:

"Feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I do feel better."

That's the exchange Asuka and Mari have after they talked to Shinji, it's nothing special but I think it's really sweet and this time Asuka actually sounded like she was feeling better instead of when she was screaming after she nearly broke pretty thick glass with her fist (If she had hit someone with that much force she definitely would've broken something omggg #violentimpulsesgang)

To get back on track though: I already mentioned it but during the second half of 3.0+1.0 Asuka "dies" (and honestly that entire scene is worth its own in-depth post because its just one huge parallel to The End of Evangelion), the point is: You can tell that the loss of Asuka honestly hits Mari hard. Not only because of how Mari screams Asuka's name but also because of her expressions. They're pained, like really fucking pained and Mari even apologizes to her that she has to fall back due to the fact that she's injured AND because eveything is going wrong.

After the events of Evangelion 3.0 these two got seperated from eachother, Mari was with WILLE (the organization both of them are with) and on board of Wunder (the ship WILLE basically operates from) while Asuka was in a Village full of (Near) Third Impact Survivors. When they do meet again it went like this:

Asuka, barely back, comes to the door and calls, "I'm back." And within seconds of Asuka stepping into their room after the door opens Mari already runs towards her, arms wide open and she says, "Welcome back, your Highness! Good job. I missed you so much!" And she says that while she literally nuzzles into Asuka,,,like,,,what the fuck gay people real!!! 

Best part? Asuka clearly has enough strength to push Mari completely away if she were uncomfortable, but she doesn't. Asuka merely wanted enough space to look at the room (because Mari managed to horde even more books lol) and play her game. During their entire renunion Mari keeps hugging her, and part of me thinks that perhaps deep down Asuka actually enjoys the feeling of physical affection.

Before we get to the last point though, let me say that Asuka and Mari have scenes in 3.0+1.0 that parallel Shinji and Kaworu's from 3.0. (Fyi Kaworu loves Shinji (yeah, like that, and 3.0 was basically them being gay as fuck for an hour) so like...do I even need to explain? 

And then of course there's also this, the "Take care of yourself, Princess…" line. That is the last time Mari talks to Asuka and as much as that line alone already is so much, it's Mari's expression in particular that kills me. Because this? This soft, almost bittersweet expression she has, as she basically says goodbye? Because she knows Asuka will finally be happy and safe? It just makes me feel so much actually. Man.

In the end it's a fact that Mari loved Asuka, wether that is interpreted as platonic or romantic by someone is up to them. But it is a fact that Asuka was loved enough that someone wanted to hug her, was happy to see her, to praise her, was hurt by her loss, wanted her to be safe, that someone told her "Take care of yourself…" Asuka was really and honestly so loved that someone would tell her, "I missed you."

But Asuka? Asuka was too hurt, too wrapped up in her own head to actually see how loved she was by Mari (and other people) that she genuinely believed she's completely alone and always will be alone.

It makes the "Take care of yourself" line hit even harder to me, because it's not only Mari's goodbye, but it's a goodbye during the one time Asuka allowed herself to be vulnerable and admit what she really wanted.

And honestly? All of this? Its makes me feel so many things and I just love them  so much man.

[pridewhatpride]

do you have any gx rivalshipping hcs!! im super curious on your take of them :]

When I saw this ask my immediate reaction was thinking: "Yes, I have an excuse to talk about gx rivalshipping, YES."

So yeah. I love this ship a lot, like a whole damn lot and it's a little hard to explain why, especially when gx has so many open possibilities for romances involving Judai. By which I mean two, really, and Manjoume is not one of them (sadly for me). I am referring to Yubel and Johan, by the way, I refuse to acknowledge Asuka as a love interest.

I'll start off with a bit of fluff headcanons?

Manjoume thinks Winged Kuriboh is really cute and that its friendly and fluffy appearance screams Judai, in a way. But he will never admit it because of what that might imply for him and the Ojamas.

Manjoume is fueled by caffeine and monster, he only really starts to recognise how nice it can be to have a meal because of how much Judai enjoys his food. He tries to sit at the table with him with dumb excuses.

Judai feels a bit guilty for how his actions impacted Manjoume's life, but Manjoume generally tells him that it's fine, it's better this way, that he's never this happy, that the only reason why Judai should maybe feel bad about it is because of his tendency to get overly invested in other people's problems and getting hurt in the process. Judai responds with bear hugs.

Manjoume brags about Judai a lot, actually. "Oh you think that's cool? One time Judai managed to do a backflip, you loser." "Slifer reds suck, but they do have redeeming qualities, by which I mean one of them is actually good."

Judai likes to indulge himself in the thought that he's Manjoume's most trusted, that he's the only one who could ever be allowed to have that many incriminating pictures of him. Because Judai just loves taking candid pictures of Manjoume. He thinks he looks and and cool in every situation, so yeah. A part of him does it because he has an inexplicable fear of forgetting people and the way they look, but he just can't say why that is.

They hang out in silence a lot, but once they start talking they just never stop. You'll find them on the beach at 3 am with a smiling Manjoume listening to Judai go on about how crazy it is that you can fry food in so many different ways and how he once caught a butterfly as a kid and named it Kujaku.

They share their music a lot, so Manjoume's tastes switch from just emo to fast paced rap and the weirdly happy sounding songs about very morbid things Judai listens to (plus emo). Judai starts to enjoy a bit of angry screaming into microphones thanks to Jun. Do they sing along like idiots as they share earphones? Yes. Is Manjoume mesmerised by Judai's singing voice? Also yes.

Judai loves hiking and sometimes invites Manjoume, but because he's a lot weaker and has less stamina, they take it slow. Manjoume keeps cursing himself for being slow and dead weight, but Judai is just happy to have a companion. Admittedly, going slower makes the walks better as he has the time to enjoy the scenery properly. He never teases Jun about his lack of physical training.

Now... I wanted to talk about my general view on the ship, plus headcanons I guess, but this is going to be EVEN LONGER (you are getting more than you asked for, your fault for enabling me, really). For the sake of the sanity of mobile users, I'm adding a cut so nobody has to unwillingly scroll through endless text.

On to the the juice, then. My thoughts on the ship. Manjoume and Judai are, of course, the rivals of the series and, if my thoughts on rivalry weren't clear enough, I am one of those people. It's just really romantic to me. What is very interesting about the two of them specifically is that they are polar opposites in the way the reason why they play, throughout the whole series. Hell, their views end up getting reversed completely: Manjoume goes from "if I don't win I'm gonna have a breakdown breakdown" to "losing is ok, as long as I enjoy the game and am true to myself", while Judai does the 180 from "I really just love playing cards with my friends, who cares about the outcome, it's fun" to "I have card game related trauma, nobody speak to me, games are only an excuse to assert a sort of power scale and honestly fuck that".

Manjoume is sort of the only person in the 'friend group' (he's never actually part of it, sadly, literally only Judai and Fubuki like him) to not idolise Judai, not explicitly. He clearly has an admiration for Judai from the beginning, but he is adamant on expressing it as hatred towards for being better than him. A part of me feels that a lot of his superior act is meant to try and fool himself and Jaden into thinking that he's a worthy rival, because I know for a fact that Manjoume doesn't believe that. He wants it to be true, yes.

What I am trying to get at is that Judai is probably a little confused by the fact that Manjoume doesn't drool all over him like the rest of the school does, but it soon becomes a crutch. Judai is under a lot of pressure because he is the hero who will save everyone and people like to remind him of how much they count on him. Manjoume is in it for Judai. He wants to be acknowledged by him, he wants his recognition and his attention, but he never asks for help or expects Judai to fix his problems for him. Judai is probably thankful for that.

Manjoume is also really scared of being left behind and cast aside as soon as he stops being useful and that's exactly what the writers do to him!!! hooray!, but Judai keeps insisting that he's not a bad guy, that he's fun to be around, that he's competent. Manjoume doesn't really believe all that that much, but Jaden keeps playing him despite his repeated losses and to Jun that's the equivalent of someone kissing his tears away. Manjoume only learns to accept his losses and shortcomings because Judai did it for him first.

So basically Manjoume is the only one who fully sees Judai as a person, while Judai is the only one who is really willing to look past his pretentious facade. I fully believe that Judai was relieved to learn that Manjoume was not just a perfect boy with perfect manners, by the way. They both just love to learn about every imperfection that the other has and silently thinking that they just add to the beauty of the other's character. Will they tease eachother about it? Fuck yes. Do they feel awful when the other tries to fix something about themselves because they pointed it out? Also fuck yes.

They are in a dumb competition against themselves to be better in order to earn the right to be friends with eachother, but because they are fucking dumb they never actually communicate (until they do), so for a long time it's endless pining that is definitely not gay because admittedly Judai just doesn't think that dating is a thing, while Manjoume is straight™, really straight. He has never liked a boy in his life, he's so very fucking straight, I swear.

So Manjoume is a bisexual disaster (and in my headcanon he prefers boys, actually, the Asuka incident is the biggest example of denial™ ever. He prefers Fubuki, fight me over this). The problem is that he never really considered he might be crushing on Judai, but at the same time admitting to maybe liking boys too means that there was more to wanting to stay at DA, to hanging out with Judai's crew despite their mutual dislike, to his continuous playful headlocks and ear pulling. To add onto that, there is probably a certain amount of guilt over having betrayed that bond with Judai by trying to throw away his cards and everything. Judai, on the other hand... is confused at how bothered he is by the public declarations of love, because Manjoume is his rival and rivals are supposed to focus on eachother, not on some girl, no matter how good said girl is at card games.

So maybe they are a bit gay for eachother. And maybe they just want excuses to be together as much as possible. And it's really just the vibe of highschool romance between two people who don't want to admit to caring for one another on a deeper level, but are also weirdly possessive of eachother for no apparent reason. And I think I'll stop here with my gay retelling, but really if you look at the two of them you do see that they do a lot for eachother's characters. It's kind of beautiful, really. They are the two socially inept characters who find comfort in someone being just like them and understanding them as they change and grow up.

I have a lot to say about how that changes once the transfer students come in, but I think I've bored everyone for long enough- as in nobody will read this lol. That's ok. I thank you again for the ask and for allowing me to gush about this ship that is so close to my heart. If anyone ever wants to talk about them, just. Do. Break into my house at night and I still won't mind, I just want to talk about them.

[animezing-fandoms]

Starting a Family

Masterlist

Relationships: Nalu

Warnings: None

Summary: After Natsu asks Lucy if they can have a Nasha of their own back in Earthland, Lucy has a conversation with him about what it means to have a family together, and what that means for her and hopes it means for him...

A/N: Here’s a little one-shot inspired by Chapter 66 of the 100 YQ enjoy! 

---------------

“Yeah I’m sure you guys will get together! I mean, maybe your Natsu hasn’t admitted it yet but...” Edolas Lucy says as she takes a glance out the window and sees him fawning over Nasha. “I think secretly he really likes you.” 

Lucy let out a small squeak before placing her pale hand over her mouth and her reddening cheeks. 

“And it looks like those feelings are definitely not one-sided.” Her alternate self adds, only adding to Lucy’s embarrassment even more.  

“Oh no no no! I don’t like him at all and he definitely doesn’t feel the same way!” Lucy replies quickly with a nervous laugh. 

“How do you know?” Edo Lucy asks. 

“Well, my Natsu- I mean Earthland Natsu, isn’t really interested in romance at all! He’s only really focused on fighting and becoming a really strong wizard! So even if I wanted to marry him and have kids with him one day, I doubt there’s any way he would ever want the same.” Lucy says calmly. 

I mean, that was the truth as far as Lucy was concerned. Natsu may be great with Asuka and he seems to like Nasha too but...in most cases there is a big step that comes before having a kid of your own and that’s finding someone to raise that kid with. And Natsu had never once shown any interest in settling down with anyone, much less falling in love either. So even though in her heart she hopes that one day Natsu will return her feelings, she knows that the odds of that ever happening are...

More likely than she thinks as Natsu suddenly kicks the door open and appears in the room, holding Nasha by her armpits in his hands with the biggest smile on his face. 

“OH MY GOD LUCY WE’VE GOTTA GET ONE OF THESE!” Natsu exclaims. “She’s so cute and if we had our own I could teach her how to breathe fire and she could melt Gray and his son’s stupid ice and it would be so cool!!! Can you lay us an egg when we get back to Earthland please!!!”

Lucy stood frozen as both embarrassment and shock took over her. Did Natsu just ask her to have a baby with him? Well, technically he asked for an egg from her which, for biological reasons was never going to happen. But, she knew what he meant. She just couldn’t believe what she was hearing! And her alternate self wasn’t helping calm her down at all. 

“He seems pretty interested to me. Better get layin’ if you know what I mean.” Edo Lucy says with a smirk and elbows Lucy’s arm.

“I really don’t know what anything means anymore.” Lucy mumbles and covers her eyes with her hands.

“I mean, we’ve got a spare room upstairs with a bed if you two wanna get started on making that egg.” Edo Lucy teases while picking up her daughter after Natsu sets her down.

“That’s a great idea! Lucy can we start right now?” Natsu exclaims excitedly. 

His excitement ends with Lucy’s foot in his face as she kicks him out the door. 

“Know what you’re asking for before you ask for it you dummy!” Lucy shouts angrily after him. 

Everyone watches as Natsu flies over them before landing in a tree nearby. 

“Whoa...can you do that too mama?” Nasha asks. 

“I wish! Hey can you show me how to kick like that?” Edo Lucy asks.

“Sure. I’m surprised you don’t know how already though, given how you are and how boneheaded Natsu is.” Lucy says. 

“Well, my Natsu doesn’t seem as bad as yours. He might not be the brightest of the bunch but at least he knows where babies actually come from.” Edo Lucy laughs. 

“Where do babies come from mama?” Nasha asks and Lucy smirks as her counterpart’s face goes red. 

“Uh...” Edo Lucy starts while staring down at her daughter. “We’ll tell you later.” 

“But I’m curious now!” Nasha protests. 

“And I’m sure you’ll still be curious later, now go help your father get himself out of that tree!” Edo Lucy says. 

“Okay!” Nasha says cheerfully and skips away to help her dad. 

“Phew.” Edo Lucy says while wiping the sweat off of her forehead. “Dodged a bullet with that one. Parenting is no joke.” 

“I can only imagine. Which is why Natsu joking about it was extra rude...” Lucy says with a blush while looking out the door to watch Edo Natsu pull her Natsu out of the tree only to have him land on top of Earth Gray which of course prompted another fight between them. 

“Why do you think he was joking?” Edo Lucy asks. 

“Pfft. You heard what nonsense came out of his mouth! Isn’t it obvious!” Lucy exclaims. 

“Well yeah it’s clear he doesn’t have the knowledge needed to start a family with you but I think he made it pretty clear that in his heart, that’s what he wants.” Edo Lucy explains, making her Earthland counterpart blush and turn away from her. “And something tells me, you already knew that’s what he meant too.” 

Yes. Of course she did. But she’s fallen for that once before, and now that she’s really fallen for him, she didn’t dare raise her expectations again. Even as she dared to hope that this outburst could have meant something, it was safer to assume it meant nothing. 

-------------

As they made their way towards the Capital, they decided to take a break and eat some of the food that their counterparts had given them for the road. But for some reason, everyone except for Natsu had decided to go exploring in the woods, so now Lucy was left alone with Natsu. Dreading the awkward silence and the even more awkward conversation that was sure to follow.

“Hey, Lucy can I ask you something?” Natsu asks, breaking the silence.

“Before you kicked me in the face and sent me flying into a tree, you said ‘know what you’re asking for before you ask for it’. What did you mean by that?” Natsu asks. 

Lucy blushes and stares at the ground, suddenly very interested in drawing squiggles in the dirt with her shoe. 

“Well...There’s a lot more to raising a kid than just having a child you know.” Lucy explains. “If you’re going to do it with someone then you want to be sure that that person is someone you care about and want to spend a lot of time with-” 

“Yeah, that’s why I asked you!” Natsu exclaims. “I said we were going to be together forever!” 

“I know but there’s also certain feelings that you have to share with that person that I’m not sure you have with me...” Lucy says and looks away from him.

“What kind of feelings? I have feelings of wanting to have a kid with you, is that not all there is?” Natsu asks. 

Lucy blushes even more. 

“Well, yeah. There’s more to it than that. And I’m also worried that you think that because the Natsu and Lucy here in Edolas had a family together that you and me need to get together but you don’t have to if you don’t want to-” Lucy starts before Natsu cuts her off. 

“But I do want to!” Natsu exclaims and Lucy blushes. “I can’t think of anyone better to do this with! I already told you we’d be together forever, going on adventures and stuff so why not have a kid to come along with us!” 

Lucy couldn’t help but tear up a little bit as she looked at his eager and excited face. How could she say no to him, especially when she wanted the same thing as him. 

“Okay then Natsu, we can have a kid.” She says. 

Natsu’s face lit up with excitement and Lucy couldn’t help but smile back at him before squealing as Natsu lifts her up off of the ground and spins her around.

At that same moment the rest of their friends returned. 

“Whoa what are you guys so happy about?” Happy asks. 

“Lucy said she’s gonna give us our own Nasha in Earthland with me once we finish the quest!” Natsu exclaims and everyone freaks out. 

“Whoa really!” Wendy exclaims. 

“First Gajeel and Levy, now Natsu and Lucy, maybe I should talk to Jellal about starting a family when we get back to Earthland...” Erza says to herself. 

“How in the world did that moron manage to win her over in the span of one conversation...” Carla mutters. 

“Seriously! A kid! With that idiot! He’d be a terrible father!” Gray exclaims. 

“I bet I’d be better than you ice princess!” Natsu quickly snaps back. 

“Oh yeah! You’re on flame brain!” Gray challenges. 

“So then you plan on asking Juvia about having a Greige of your own when we get back to Earthland?” Happy teasingly asks Gray. 

The ice mage’s anger melts away as his face reddens at the thought of asking Juvia to start a family with him.

Happy flies over to Natsu and Lucy. 

“So you’re really going to lay us an egg Lucy?” Happy asks. 

“Well uh...” Lucy says and blushes, unsure of what to say next. 

“Don’t be worried Lucy! I’ve got a ton of experience with eggs! I hatched Happy and Kemo Kemo! Now that I’ve practiced with both of them, I’m gonna take the best care of your egg!” Natsu assures her. 

“He called me a practice egg...” Happy whimpers and tears up. 

“I know, and that’s great Natsu but...human babies don’t come from eggs.” Lucy says with a gentle smile. 

The infectious grin he was sporting quickly fell as a look of confusion passed over his face and Happy’s.

“Huh? Humans don’t lay eggs?” Natsu asks. 

Lucy shakes her head no. 

“If you’re not going to lay an egg then where is you and Natsu’s baby going to grow?” Happy asks. 

Lucy’s face was now bright red under the curious gazes of both Natsu and Happy. 

“Well, humans are mammals so we carry our babies inside of us in a special part of our body until they’re ready to be born.” Lucy explains and places her hand over her womb to show them where that part was.

“Whoa, really!” Happy and Natsu exclaim together.

“It fits in that small spot for the whole time?” Happy asks.

“Well it’ll get bigger eventually...you’ll see it with Levy in a few months.” Lucy says. 

“Wait so if they baby grows inside of you...how does it get in there?” Natsu asks. 

Lucy felt even more embarrassed now after hearing that. Just explaining human pregnancy to him was challenging enough for her. But telling him what he’d have to do to her in order for her to have their baby, was something she was definitely not prepared to do. 

Wendy runs off in fear that this conversation was going to an inappropriate place and Carla follows her. 

Meanwhile Gray and Erza just roll their eyes and sigh.

“Wait...you don’t even know how babies are made!?” Lucy exclaims. 

To be fair, if he thought human babies came from eggs, then she really shouldn’t be surprised that he doesn’t know how they’re made at all. 

“Well, I thought that girls would just lay an egg when they want to have a kid but apparently I was wrong about that.” Natsu says and scratches the back of his head. 

Lucy turns to Erza and Gray, needing an explanation for why she was currently in this embarrassing situation. 

“You all grew up in a guild with a bunch of pervy men, how does Natsu not know where babies come from! Did none of them talk about it with you guys?” Lucy exclaims. 

“They did.” Gray says. “But while the rest of us were willing to actually listen to what they had to say, this idiot just wanted to fight them.” 

“Well duh! Why would I want to sit still and listen to some dumb lecture when I could have a lot more fun punching them!” Natsu exclaims.

Despite her embarrassment, Lucy couldn’t help but giggle at the mental image of a younger Natsu trying to fight Makarov or Gildarts while they were trying to give him the talk.

“So they decided to give up, and they figured that if Natsu ever wanted to know where babies come from, he’d ask them himself.” Erza explains. 

“And you’ve really never been curious about that until now?” Lucy asks Natsu. 

“Well, yeah I mean I’ve never really thought much about love before until recently. Why would I want to know stuff about getting married, and having kids if I didn’t know anyone I’d want to do that with?” Natsu states like it was obvious. 

After a moment, the meaning of what Natsu just said hits everyone and they all gasp and Lucy’s heart jumps to her throat. 

“Wait, so if you’re thinking about that stuff now...with me?...Natsu does that mean that you-” Lucy stammers before Natsu cuts her off. 

“Enough of that though! Let’s just keep moving! We’ve gotta get to the capitol so we can get back to Earthland and finish this quest!” Natsu exclaims and runs off. “Come on Wendy stop hiding in the bushes, we’ve gotta go!” 

“Coming!” Wendy shouts and runs after him. 

Gray and Erza look back and forth between Natsu running away and Lucy standing frozen in the path. 

“Lucy, aren’t you gonna run after him and make that idiot explain himself?” Gray asks. 

Lucy smiles softly and looks at the ground. 

“No. I doubt I’d get much more out of him than that. But it’s okay because I don’t need to. For right now, it’s enough.” Lucy says and places her hand over her heart that was swelling with love. 

[dimitrescus-bitch]

Compromised (Becky Lynch x Liv Morgan x Reader)

smut

“Where is she?” Liv asked as she ran around backstage. Word of your brand switch over from Smackdown had reached her and she was so excited to get to spend time with you again. The two of you had been super close at NXT, but got called to different main roster brands, worked different PPVs, and rarely got to see each other after that. “Y/n, sweetie, there you are.” 

“Hi Liv,” you said with a little smile. It was really nice to see her again. She still made your heart flutter when she smiled at you or laughed. Liv launched herself into your arms and kissed your cheek. “You look really good.” 

“Thank you, it’s amazing what a new gimmick will do for a girl. I’m winning matches and lookin’ like a snack,” Liv laughed as she threw her hair over her shoulder. You had also been “improved” by creative with a new gimmick. Where Liv had been like the brand’s “juvenile delinquent” you had been the “golden girl” of the company. Now, you were more unhinged and if you lost a match, it was because of a DQ. “And you seem to have made a new best friend.” 

“I wouldn’t say that,” you said, leaning against your kendo stick. You took it with you pretty much everywhere at work. “I should get ready for my match. It’s a pretty big one.” 

“Good luck,” Liv told you as she leaned up to kiss your cheek. You smiled and went back to get your hair and makeup done. You were main eventing the show against Becky Lynch. You were doing a run-in on her and you were supposed to come out with the win. That was going to catch Charlotte Flair’s attention and set the two of you on a path to potentially being allies. 

------------------------------------------------------ 

“Damn, you did a number on me,” Becky said as the two of you sat in the medic’s office. Becky had a pretty bad bruise on her back and you accidentally gave yourself a bloody nose on the ring apron. 

“I did a number on myself.” You tossed your tissues into the trash and grabbed some more. “Hey doc, is my nose supposed to bleed like this?” 

“Absolutely not,” the medic said and you glanced over at Becky. “No concussion Y/n, but you need to be careful. Becky, ice and rest should help that bruise heal up nicely.” 

“Thanks doc,” you said to the medic as you hopped onto your feet. You walked out first and Becky followed you to the locker room. You showered, changed out of your ring gear, and then went out to your car. Once again, you found yourself walking beside Becky. “That was fun.” 

“It was. Maybe sometime we can get a drink together, I think that’d be fun too,” Becky said and you nodded. She gave you her number and you went home with butterflies in your stomach.

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Months went by and you had started spending a lot of your time with both Becky and Liv. You wanted to ask one of them out, but you didn’t know which one you liked more. If that wasn’t enough of a problem for you, things got worse when it became evident that both of them liked you. 

Becky had kissed you one night after the two of you got a drink after a show. It wasn’t uncommon for one of you to stop at a liquor store before you went back to the hotel and share whatever bottle you got together when you got back. Less than two weeks after Becky had kissed you, you found yourself waking up in Liv’s bed after a sleepover with the majority of your clothes gone. You hadn’t had sex that night, you had gotten pretty close to doing it. 

“You look more distressed than normal,” Charlotte noted as she sat down next to you. Tonight was another main event for the two of you, so you had about an hour to hang out in catering. Normally Liv did her match towards the beginning of the show, but you weren’t even sure if she had come in today. Your match was against Becky and Asuka. “What’s bothering you tonight?” 

“Becky and Liv,” you said and Charlotte huffed. It had been one of them for the past couple of months and she wasn’t sure if she could actually help you or not. You were about to go into your problem, when it seemed like all hell broke loose backstage. 

“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked one of the other wrestlers as they ran towards a monitor. 

“Becky went after Liv Morgan,” they said and you scrambled to find a monitor. Charlotte was right behind you and everybody watched as Becky and Liv got into it. Security went out to get them and Stephanie came to tell you and Charlotte that you’d get your match against Becky next week. 

“Jesus Christ, you need to talk to them,” Charlotte said and you ran a hand through your hair. “Because something tells me that whatever happened out there is because of you.” 

“I know,” you sighed. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Becky’s suspension lasted a couple of weeks, but Liv’s lasted a month. You were obviously pretty bummed about Liv, one of your best friends, not being there, but Becky kept you in pretty good spirits. The two of you got closer and she had kissed you a few more times, but nothing more came of it. That should have cleared everything up and helped you make a decision in who you’d ask out, but your visit to check on Liv ruined everything. 

“We slept together,” you told Charlotte the second you saw her. “Liv and I slept together.” 

“Get your shit together.” Charlotte sounded tired, but at the same time, slightly amused. 

“I’m trying, I really am.” You flopped onto the floor and Charlotte’s eyes widened as she saw who was standing behind you. 

“You slept with Liv?” Becky asked and your head shot up. “You didn’t think to tell me that you were a thing?” 

“We’re not really a thing,” Liv said and Becky nodded. The two of them looked at each other and then looked at you. “Quite the compromising position you’ve found yourself in, isn’t it?” 

“I’m fucked aren’t I?” you asked and Liv shook her head. She looked over at Becky and the Irishwoman shook her head as well. “You guys hate me don’t you?”

“Quite the contrary. We got to talking and then we realized something. There’s no point in fighting over you when we could just share you,” Liv told you. “This way we both get to be with you and you don’t have to beat yourself up over not making a choice.” 

“I, I’d like that,” you said and Becky pulled you off of the floor. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

You laid on your stomach with your head buried in between Liv’s thighs. Becky was behind you, teasing you with the tip of her strap. Liv’s fists were balled up in the sheets as you ate her out. Becky slid into you from behind and you moaned into Liv. Liv had really done a number on you when you got to the hotel room, yet she hadn’t let you cum. 

“Faster,” Liv moaned and you moved your fingers faster inside of her. You could feel her muscles clench around your fingers as she came and almost immediately, she flipped herself around so that she could kiss you. Liv kept your mouth busy as Becky fucked you. When you came, it took you by surprise, everything hitting you all of the sudden. 

That night, you laid in bed with both Becky and Liv, thinking about how much you liked that compromise. You didn’t have to make a choice and you got to have the best sex of your life with two women that you cared deeply for. Liv was fast asleep in your arms, but Becky was still awake as she held you. 

“I love you,” Becky said quietly. 

“I love you too,” you said back to her. Becky smiled and kissed the side of your head. “Now to go sleep, we have a long day of driving ahead of us.”

[takanenene]

hewwo it’s january 1st which means heroine development plan novel

under read more as usual bc spoilers

what you’ve been so curious about. Hiyori’s crush: Asuka

Hiyori meets Asuka a few times at the library/book store? he’s working in, also yes, LIPxLIP did some makeover for Hiyori, but didn’t know who her crush was. The 3 of them went to the library/book store together.

“Huh? Why are you guys here?” “That’s our line, why are you here, Kaidou Asuka?”

Asuka/Aizou/Yuujirou got into an argument and then Kanata later showed up

“Everyone, don’t fight because of me~!” “Kanata, be quiet” (Asuka literally said be quiet in english dfgsdfgsdf)

After that they all heard some sort of siren, thinking that it was the police, Hiyori panics bc she thought they’re gonna get Yuujirou again so she drags him with her. Both Kanata and Aizou also ran away somewhere else.

Yuujirou later apologizes to Hiyori for ruining her chance to confess. After that Hiyori returns to Asuka to finally have a talk with him.

“For now, There’s something that I want to do....well, no...There’s something that I have to do so, I can’t accept just one person’s feelings.”

She doesn’t need something like “I’m sorry”

She already knew from the start.

Just from hearing his reply, it was enough for her.

Hiyori then asked Asuka about the thing he wants to do, Asuka replies that he’s aiming to be an idol just like LIPxLIP together with Kanata. Hiyori then said that she’ll definitely be their fan, which surprises Asuka bc Hiyori is LIPxLIP’s manager, Hiyori replied with “I’m free to become a fan!”

“I too....understand. Kaidou-kun’s feelings!”

Not to do something for one person, but instead to support, and to be useful to a lot of people. Putting all your effort, to make your dream come true.

“That’s why, I’ll cheer you on!”

Asuka then thanked Hiyori and asked her to come to their live once they’re able to perform one someday. Hiyori replied with a yes. After that Hiyori parted ways with Asuka with a smile.

After that she went back to Yuujirou. At first Hiyori tried to put up a strong front before slowly started crying, although she was quick to return to her usual self after Yuujirou teased her. They both then went back home after.

Falling in love for the first time, with it ending up being unrequited after a lot of things that happened. It was just like a love comedy.

‘I don’t need something like tragedy after all....’

Aizou and Yuujirou who are chasing after their big dream, it’s the same for Asuka and Kanata too. Everyone is running forward towards the “Present”. That’s why--

‘I’ll do my best too.’

Meanwhile Aizou was stuck with Kanata who wouldn’t stop bothering him lol

Anyway I’m skipping a lot after this but in the epilogue it was new year i think? and both Hiyori and Aizou snuck into Yuujirou’s house bc when they both called for him he wouldn’t come out sdfhfs Later Yuujirou found them both instead.

“What are you both doing in someone else’s house?”

Aizou and Hiyori then looked at each other before bursting into a laugh.

“We’re here to pick you up.”

After that the 3 of them went to the shrine and made their new year’s prayer/wish. Hiyori loudly prays that both Aizou and Yuujirou’s dream to come true, before being laughed at and teased by AiYuu. They later were about to go back but Hiyori fell down so Aizou and Yuujirou ended up helping her stand up.

Hiyori then took both of their hands, gripping them tightly.

No matter what happens ahead, both of them are together with me.

It’s okay. We can go through this together.

“I’ll do my best....”

[moeruhoshi]

Natsu bringing up the subject of wanting children to Lucy for the first time

OMFG ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THE ORIGINAL RETURNED IM GONNA KICK SOMEONE

Natsu sighed as he twirled his fingers absentmindedly, sitting at his usual table in the guild. He’d been grateful that Levy had taken his wife on a girl’s only quest that would last a week, giving him an appropriate amount of time to sort out the messy thoughts he had.

It had been two wonderful years since they finally tied the knot after their many years of friendship that transpired into dating, and now, he had the best wife in the guild. Alzack would probably argue that Bisca was the best, but he was surely too shy to make such a public declaration.

Natsu loved Lucy more and more each day, thankful he was able to wake up with her and not get kicked out of bed. Going to bed with her was just as nice, and depending on the night...well, you know.

She’d moved out of her apartment and into his house, after a very intense discussion on how clean he and Happy would need to keep things. He’d do anything to keep her there once she moved in, or moreso anything to keep her comfy bed where his hammock used to be.

Recently Natsu had thought about expanding their home by making a room for them, a room for Happy, and a room for...the little fledgling he’d had a sudden desire to hold.

Seeing Al with Asuka, Macao with Romeo, Levy with her twins, even Gildarts with Cana, made his thoughts wander to having a baby of his own. He loved kids and was known for being one himself, so he worried that maybe Lucy wouldn’t want to make such a big commitment.

He could practically hear what she’d say to him;

“Eh? You want us to have a baby? I’d have to hire a nanny for the both of you! There’s no way you’re mature enough to take care of a kid!”

And he had his rebuttal prepared;

“I raised Happy, didn’t I? And he turned out just—“

Okay...maybe Happy the best example.

As much as he loved his little buddy, Happy was a rascal, and knew just how to pick on Lucy’s nerves. But he teased out of love! And did it less now that they were living together.

But she’d seen him with Asuka before, and played nice with the twins. He would have totally been their babysitter when metal breath and Levy went on missions if not for the fact that Gajeel trusted Juvia way more.

And he’d been saving money! Money was important if he wanted to have a kid, so he secretly put away ten thousand jewel from every quest they took. He nearly had a million or two stashed away, plus now that Lucy didn’t need to pay rent, they had a lot more they were able to spend between them. The extra money would give her some peace of mind when they’d be too busy to go out on jobs, it’d surely be enough to manage their lifestyles as they took time to learn a new routine.

He cooked a lot too, learning from Mira how to make anything but burnt campfire fish. Lucy was obviously better than him, but his food wasn’t half bad! Lucy was gonna need a lot of bed rest after having their kid, so he wanted to let her know he could take care of her in that sense too.

Natsu wasn’t gonna lie, he also thought his pregnant Lucy would look...just amazing. He imagined rubbing her swollen belly as they laid together in bed, or pressing his ear against it to feel the baby kick and heat them moving around. She’d get moody and tired and he’d wait on her hand and foot, even carry her around if she wanted it. He’d take care of her in...other ways too, much to his own delight.

So he’d been sitting in the same spot for nearly a week, nervous as it became the day before Lucy would arrive home. He was finally gonna bring it up...maybe...no definitely! Or...

“Okay, spill it,” Cana plopped herself in the seat across from the dragon slayer, starling him out of his thoughts. “I’ve been watching you make the same five faces all week and it’s starting to get annoying.”

“Sheesh, Cana, I don’t gotta tell you an—“ Natsu yelped as she cut off his sass with a flick to the forehead, grumbling as he rubbed the now sore spot.

“Oh, hush. Don’t get an attitude with me, I’m here to help. You’re plannin’ to tell my Lulu something important, right? As her interim guardian, I need to be breifed before you say a word to her. And it better not be some shit about divorce or so help me, Dragneel, you’ll never walk again,” The card mage warned as she rose a suspicious eyebrow to him and drank from the pint she’d brought along with her.

“Geez, I’d never leave Lucy!” He quickly clarified as she still looked at him sideways. “It’s nothing bad...it’s just that I wanted to have a serious conversation with her,”

“Which is...?” Cana drawled on her question until he finally sighed and gave in to her curiosity.

“I want, I want us to have a kid,” Natsu quickly slapped a hand over the brunette’s lips as she almost yelled out to the whole guild. Luckily enough, everyone was too occupied with their usual hustle and bustle to pay attention to the intimate subject. “Don’t you dare!”

“Alright, alright! I won’t say a word! But oh my gosh, a little Natsu and Lucy! I’d reach that kid everythin’ I know, ‘specially about drink—“

“This isn’t about you, Cana,” He rolled his eyes and stopped her before she could go on, but smiled as she did, unable to hide his excitement.

“I know, but! Ugh! Okay, I really have to tell someone—“ The dragon slayer quickly snatched her wrist in his hold before she could make off with the information.

“No way! I only told you because you said you wanted to help me!”

“Oh yeah, sorry, got carried away,” She retook her seat and hummed with lips now puckered as she thought. “What’s got ya so nervous? She’s your wife, ain’t she? I figured something like this would be easy to talk about,”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if Lucy thinks I’m ready. It’s a lot of responsibility and I’m not the most responsible...but I know I could be,” Natsu frowned as his worries began to churn again. “I’m ready to be a dad,”

“Then it’s as simple as that. You need to voice your concerns with her or she’ll never know how you’re feeling.” Cana said as she took a swig from her barrel-like stein. “And you’ve practically taken care of us all since we were kids, I don’t think there’s anyone better suited to raise a someone, you’re a good guy, Natsu.”

Cana’s words provided the strength he’d been looking for all week, encouraging him to take the leap and bring up the difficult question with his wife.

He even planned to set the mood; sending Happy off to Wendy’s for a couple nights, cleaning the house, washing their sheets, ordering flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries Lucy couldn’t get enough of. He showered like crazy too, styled his hair, wore a nice suit, even let his stubble grow in. That was one

[blackforestwhiteroad]

Devilman Lady / Devil Lady.

                       When Yuri is so scarce you gotta dive into the classics

    I’m pretty sure you have all heard of the controversial yet popular Netflix original series ‘Devilman Crybaby’ which is the latest within the Devilman series. The Franchise spanning manga, anime, movies, ovas, Novels, video games, live action and a spin-off all starting way back in 1971  with Go Nagai’s Demon Lord Dante.

    While there’s so much to unpack from each series I want to focus on one specifically that gives tones of tasteful Yuri goodness; Devilman Lady / Devil Lady, which has lots of peak Yuri moments or undertones, depending on sub or dub. Though I will be talking about the 1998  sub version of the anime. There is a manga as well yet it heavily differs from the anime.

                                               Summarized Plot:

   Jun is a 22 year old model who’s pretty popular amongst the industry. Even with the popularity Jun is a kind person who mostly keeps to herself and has very few close relations with people. Our story generally begins with her being approached by Asuka who leads her to a warehouse thus introducing us to Beast and the discovery that Jun herself is also a Beast. She gets provoked into wakening up her beast gene by the means of survival and the harsh rebukes from Asuka to fight. Without much of a say for herself she is forced into a whole new world of fighting, uncontrollable urges, and dealing with the psychological repercussions. 

                                                  Main Characters

   Despite there being plenty of consistent characters throughout the show each leaving some form of impact on Jun.  The main cast, with Yuri undertones, can be narrowed down to 3.

                                 Jun Fudo | Protagonist | 22 | Model

                    Kazumi Takiura | Low-Key Love Interest | 18 |  Model

                Lan Asuka | Bitch Ass Hoe | 23 | Head of Human Alliance

                                              Where’s The Yuri

   Finally, We have few instances of Yuri. Starting off with our first (and my personal favorite) is Jun and Kazumi. In just a few episodes in jun is confronted by a beast who calls out Jun for being romantically interested in her kohai even practically stating they are lovers. Kazumi doesn’t make it any better. After some circumstances she forces her way into Jun’s home and  teases Jun about them sharing a bed together. Like a cute little puppy in love she often feels excluded when she realizes that Jun is changing and has starting to distance herself emotionally. The more Jun pulls away the more Kazumi tugs creating a very unhealthy cycle between the two.

                                                                Our Second couple brings up nothing but bittersweet memories of a time long past. Being a minor character yet having a deep impact and realization to Jun's feelings, is her former Classmate. As the two meet and begin to reconnect Jun confronts the past and acknowledges the downfall of their friendship. In snippets of flashbacks it is revealed that the classmate had feelings for Jun, not being able to contain herself she begins to slowly fondle at Jun while unconscious. Coming too and realizing what is happening to herself Jun tries to run away and begins a struggle with her friend resulting in an life-long injury an thus the deterioration of their friendship.

   Lastly, Jun and Asuka. While I have debated on adding this pairing to this category not just because of my totally distaste for this toxic relationship but because of some important facts that contradict the pairing yet not wanting to giveaway too much spoilers for those who wish to watch the series to experience themselves.

   Asuka is just unsympathetic to those around her most likely seeing them as nothing more than stepping stones to get what she wants; Including Jun, who she often berates, chastises, degrades and demeans, seemingly all coming from her disdain for beast in general. Though she shows no hesitation of relying on Jun to fight other beast, of course, not without making some form of comments of Jun embracing her true nature - a violent blood-thirsty beast.

   Jun constantly has to remind Asuka that she isn't anybody's Lapdog, fights of her own free will, and is still human regardless of the recent changes. Asuka does show some concern when the MC fights turn dire but it just seems superficial as minor actions shows that Jun is nothing more than a trump card for Asuka's questionable plans...

                                                                                                                                         Worth the Watch?

   If your watching for just the Yuri there is a lot of great scenes, solid dialogue (at least in the sub case) Just be mindful that the Anime also falls under the categories of:

            Horror | Psychological |  Violence {at least in the 1972 sense)

    Plus a shoot tone of angst with a sprinkle of tragedy an a pinch of *SOL. Can you smell the depression? Is it worth the watch? Well that’s up to you to decide

.

Sources

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Devilman_(Franchise)

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Demon_Lord_Dante

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Devilman_Lady

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Lan_Asuka

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Jun_Fudo_(TV)

https://devilman.fandom.com/wiki/Devilman_Lady_(Anime)

[ft-dads-au]

Chance Encounter - Chapter 5 (Final)

Home for the Holidays 2019 Prompt: Limits A collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​ AO3 | FF.Net | Prev: Ch 4

6:40 pm - 7:15 pm Members are encouraged to talk about any issues or share successes

"Alright, that was incredibly uhm, informational?" Gildarts muttered, "Anyway, on to my favorite part. For those of you joining us for the first time, this is the part of the meeting where we talk about what's going on with us. Any issues that we're facing or anything we managed that we're proud of. Keep it to kids/family stuff, I'm looking at you Wakaba, no one needs to hear more about your fights with Millgana.”

"Let's start with the positive things first, does anyone have something good to share?" Macao asked even as he snickered at a man with a pompadour hairdo that Rogue could only assume was Wakaba.

One of the other dads got up from his seat, smiling widely. He had short dark hair and was wearing a blue t-shirt with the Magnolia Police Department logo. "It's my daughter Asuka's birthday today. She turned six and wanted to celebrate with you guys as well."

Upon hearing her name, Asuka left the play area and rushed to her father's side, "Is it cupcake time, daddy?" she asked, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yes it is," he assured her, still smiling as he patted the top of her head through the cowboy hat she was wearing. He then addressed the rest of the group again, "We made cupcakes together to share with the club. It was a lot of fun, and they turned out great, Asuka even did all the decorating herself!"

They all took a moment to sing Happy Birthday to the excited little girl who beamed at being the center of attention. Father and daughter then retrieved a plastic tray that had been covered with foil from the snack area.

"Are there any more napkins?" the man asked, and Gildarts walked over to where there were still some market bags, quickly grabbing one and handing it to the father.

"That's great, Alzack!" Macao complimented as father and daughter wandered around the room offering cupcakes, "I think one of the challenges we often face as fathers is allowing ourselves to enjoy activities that are usually associated with women. Baking, tea parties, or playing with dolls, just to name a few. We need to remember these are just another part of our children's development. Giving them affection and support is much more important than any perceived affront to our masculinity."

Hearing Macao mention tea parties, Rogue couldn't help but remember the ones Gildarts and his father had forced on him and Gray when Cana had first shown up. She'd been so quiet and sad when they had first met her, and both men had tried their best to make her smile. To the point of wearing ridiculous outfits while sitting around holding conversations with dolls and holding the little cups from the tea set that had been a present from Rogue's mother in their large hands.

Rogue chuckled at the memory and searched out his brother, wanting to see if he'd had a similar reaction only to find Gray watching him as well, and for one instant, they shared a smile before Gray looked away.

"I'd love to do stuff like that," a man spoke up, drawing Rogue’s attention to him. Unlike most of the other men there, he was dressed impeccably in a fitted suit, and for some reason, he chose to wear tinted sunglasses inside. His expression was sad as he accepted a cupcake from the little girl, but he still managed to offer her a smile, "Thank you, sweetheart."

"What's going on, Loke?" Gildarts asked, sitting in one of the empty chairs next to him.

"I barely get to see my girls anymore. They're usually asleep by the time I get home during the week, and now my wife has started taking them to her parents' summer house on the weekends."

“I get that, with my crazy schedule I don’t get as much time as I’d like with the twins, so I try to plan something each week and just kind of grab any moment I can along the way, you know?”

Rogue knew Sting was just trying to be helpful, but something about Loke's body language made him think his situation was very different from theirs.

Gildarts leaned his head towards Loke, and they began speaking in quiet voices, Loke seeming more upset the more they talked.

Rogue looked away, feeling uncomfortable with watching when Loke seemed so unhappy. As his eyes wandered, he couldn't help but notice that his brother's companion was staring at Loke with a rather interesting expression on his face, seeming to Rogue to almost border on dislike.

Before he had a chance to wonder about it, Alzack and his daughter were standing in front of him and Sting, holding a tray still half-full of cupcakes. The little girl's eyes were hopeful, and Rogue could only gawk at her attempts at decoration. Each cupcake was slathered with pink frosting, a drawing of some kind done in white frosting on the top, although to him it looked like no more than a blob.

"Oh, wow! Those look great!" Sting grinned, always enthusiastic about anything having to do with food, "Can I have more than one?"

“Sting!” Rogue scolded, but the little girl only giggled as she handed his husband two cupcakes.

“You can have one too!” she handed Rogue a cupcake before moving on to the men sitting next

to them.

Rogue ate his cupcake before Sting could beg it off him, he had to admit it was pretty good.

Another man had spoken up about a problem he was having with his teenage son when Rogue heard someone say, “Wouldn’t these have been more useful before you got here?” followed by a chorus of laughs.

Gray’s companion was holding a box of condoms in his hand, and a quick glance at the impish grin on Gildarts’ face and the way he was watching Macao for his reaction made Rogue realize this must have been the object he’d hidden earlier.

Macao, for his part, was frowning at Gildarts with what looked to be long-suffering exasperation, which seemed to be enough to set Gildarts off into a fit of mirth. It almost reminded Rogue of the way his dad would sometimes get when Gildarts was too much for him to handle. And he stopped that thought before it could gain any traction. Of all the hornet's nests that had been stirred that day, his father was the one he couldn't afford to dwell on.

7:15 pm - 7:30 pm Upcoming events or activities (signups)

"For now, we are still paper only, so there will be a clipboard available where you can sign up to bring an item or help plan an event. The old club used to do activities like picnics, potluck dinners around the holidays, stuff like that. We'd like to continue the tradition, so if you have any ideas of things you'd like us to try, don't be shy. As soon as Warren finishes, you should be able to just do it from your phone." Macao declared.

“Feel free to send Warren an email to encourage him to hurry up, his email is-” Macao teased as Warren yelled at him to shut up.

“As far as the snacks, we’ve decided to just charge a 500 jewel monthly fee rather than asking people to remember to bring stuff. Please make sure to list any allergies you or your children might have on your membership form. Gildarts and I will just buy snacks before every meeting. Everyone okay with that?”

No one complained, and they soon began discussing different possible activities both with the kids and dads only.

Rogue lost interest in the conversation, his eyes darting more and more to the play area. He observed Aki, hoping he could somehow glean the answers to all of his questions just from the way he acted.

Aki ran back to his father, sporting a bright smile on his face as he climbed back on his lap. Gray

hugged him, kissing his forehead and listening to whatever the little boy was telling him. The silver-haired man smiled at both of them, ruffling Aki's hair, which caused the little boy to frown at him, and it was such a perfect replica of Gray's frown that Rogue had to laugh.

There was a longing in him now to have Aki be a part of their lives and to rekindle the bond he'd once shared with Gray, back when things were simpler. He waited impatiently for the meeting to come to a close so that he could try to approach his brother. If nothing else to let him know he wanted to talk.

7:30pm Cleanup

“Alright, our time is up. We’d like to thank everyone for coming, we’ll be here again next week. Please take a moment to help us clean up, and make sure to grab your kids on the way out!” Macao announced as Gildarts appeared with a large garbage bag.

The room once again became chaotic as everyone got up to help with the cleanup. Small groups formed blocking Rogue’s view of Gray and his mysterious companion while others cluttered up the play area in search of their kids.

He finally caught a glimpse of them and without even a word of warning to Sting Rogue took off after them. He tried to get through the crowd to get to his brother, but he was stopped by an older man.

"Are you the journalist Macao was telling me about?" he stared up at Rogue, and though he was furious at the interruption, the man's kind smile made it impossible for him to snap at him.

Instead, he took a deep breath and held his hand out for the older man to shake, “Yes, my name is Rogue Eucliffe.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Makarov Dreyar.”

For a man his age- and this short, he had to be under 4 feet tall- Makarov had a firm handshake. Whatever he had to say did not quite reach Rogue’s ears. Instead, he was focusing on overhearing the conversation Gray was having with his companion.

"I told you this would be a waste of time," Gray grumbled as they walked towards the exit, a smiling Aki in his arms.

“I wouldn’t say that. This was just as much for Aki as it was for you, and he seems to have enjoyed it immensely. Now, are you going to tell me what your deal is with that guy with the long black hair or what?”

The doors closed behind them, and Rogue felt his frustration grow as Makarov continued to talk to him, asking him questions about his family, which he tried to answer as politely as he could.

"Can you excuse me for just one minute?" Without waiting for a response, Rogue ran out the daycare center exit, down the long hallway and out the community center doors, but he saw no sign of them.

Damn it! How was he supposed to find him now?

With a heavy heart, he hurried back to the daycare center, feeling bad for acting so rudely towards the older man. When he entered, he was surprised to see Sting had already put both boys in the stroller and was talking to Gildarts, million watt smile at the ready.

"Put that away, son, you're liable to blind someone with that thing," Gildarts asserted, looking amused. "I've already told you, I can't give you any private information on any of our members. Would you like it if I just gave out the half-pint's number to anyone that asked?"

“But Gray is his brother,” Sting protested, “You know that for a fact.”

"I do, still doesn't change anything," Gildarts shrugged, "Listen, kid, I wish I could help you out, but my hands are tied. Now, if you were to ask me for information on his companion, that would be a different story."

“What?”

"He gave me business cards and permission to hand them out to anyone who might need one, but you didn't so-" Gildarts turned away, and Rogue wanted nothing more than to throttle him.

Same old Gildarts, always playing games, never taking anything seriously.

“Give me the damn card, Gildarts,” Rogue growled, not in the mood to play along.

“Half-pint, you came back!”

Rogue rolled his eyes, grabbing the card Gildarts offered him and reading it hungrily. Lyon Vastia, Attorney at Reitei Family Law and a phone number. It wasn't what he'd hoped for, but it was something, a connection to Gray no matter how small.

“You talked to him, what did he say?” Rogue demanded, not even bothering to disguise how important the information was to him.

Gildarts crossed his arms “I’m not saying a word until you start talking. What the hell happened between you two? And don’t you dare say nothing, I’m not stupid. I’ve witnessed sworn enemies act happier to see each other.”

The last thing Rogue wanted to do was to rehash the events of the last six years with Gildarts, especially when he was already riled up. But Gildarts had always known how to push all his buttons and this time was no different. The man had been interrogated countless times by professionals and had never been broken, Rogue knew without a doubt Gildarts would not disclose anything until he came clean.

“Fine,” Rogue accepted the terms, but when he opened his mouth to begin Gildarts stopped him.

“Not here.” Gildarts turned to Sting, flashing him his own million watt smile that had wooed more women than any of them had ever been able to count. “Half-Pint’s coming with me to FairyTail, assuming he’s honest with me he shouldn’t be home too late.”

Sting looked like he wanted to protest but one look at Rogue’s face was enough to silence him. Instead, he gave him a quick hug and whispered, “Good luck, I’ll see you when you get home.”

Home. Rogue held on to that word, it had been an empty one for so long, until Sting had come along and given it meaning again. No matter what came of his talk with Gildarts, knowing that he had a home to return to that was full of love and family gave him the strength to suffer through whatever the rest of the night had in store for him.

~~~

“That bastard!” Rogue ranted the second he made it through the door.

Sting shushed him, pointing at the door to the twins’ room. “How much did you have to drink?”

Rogue blinked, trying to remember how many drinks Gildarts had shoved at him as they talked. He shrugged in response, he had no idea.

Sting snatched the baby monitor and the glass of wine he’d been drinking, leaving the other he’d obviously poured for Rogue behind. Grabbing him by the arm he gently led him outside, sitting both of them on the bench swing in their backyard.

“What happened?” Sting pushed his feet against the ground, rocking the swing back and forth slowly.

“I must have talked for hours, I told him everything and-” Rogue was once again filled with rage, “He didn’t know anything, said he tried to get Gray to talk to him but failed.”

Rogue wanted to scream, he felt like such an idiot. How was it that even after all these years Gildarts could still turn him into an insecure child? Gray would never have fallen for that.

He could feel Sting’s eyes on him, even worse he could see the way he was trying hard not to laugh at him.

“That guy is something else,” Sting chuckled with something akin to admiration, “Let me ask you this, outside of the anger you’re obviously experiencing, do you feel any better?”

“What?”

“You heard me, you’ve been holding on to a lot of that stuff for years, I know it’s been eating away at you. He might have been a dick, but he got you to talk about all of it, which is something you desperately needed.”

Rogue had done more than that. Gildarts had always been a man of action. Given all the things he’d come to learn about there was no way he would be willing to stand on the sidelines while people he considered family were floundering about.

No, Rogue thought as he remembered how furious Gildarts had seemed upon hearing the events that had transpired while he’d been handling his own issues. He had unleashed Gildarts on all of them and with a sadistic grin, considering everything he’d gone through on his own, he realized he wasn’t one bit sorry.

He laughed until tears streamed down his cheeks, the alcohol feeding into his hysteria, causing Sting to gaze at him with concern once again.

“You’re right, it’s going be fine,” Rogue finally replied, wiping the tears from his eyes. He waited for Sting to put his glass down and snuggled into him, reveling in his warmth. They swung together for what felt like a long time, enjoying the silence after the chaos of the long evening.

Things were likely to get interesting in the coming weeks but for right now Rogue was at peace.

A/N: This concludes our first multi-chapter story in the main plotline.Gray and Rogue’s story will continue in the sequel which is tentatively titled Brothers.

[yume-fanfare]

according to you, what would the personalities of aizou and yuujirou be like from what you know so far? or just what personality headcanons do you have of them?

oh boy this grants a long answer, i'll try to put it under the cut when i'm on desktop,,,

so, i see aizou as a more straight-forward sort of person, let it be in a bad or a good sense. he seems more easily excited and cheerful about the things he's passionate about, but also has a shorter temper, very hot-headed. he feels things strongly. would probably throw a punch or two for his friends, now that he's got a couple of good ones. he likes to annoy them too. he's some degree of good at lying, as he's done some acting in the mvs and he has this flirtatiously-aggressive onstage persona that's likely based on his brother, but he doesn't have any qualms about openly expressing his distaste for other people off-camera and his default until now (pre-novels and stuff) seemed to be >:(. for that reason, he's also not a very sociable person, even less in the morning, and probably tends to avoid people in general. he definitely Holds Grudges too; while there's a big chance yuujirou doesn't remember all the people he has beef with, aizou probably keeps an alphabetical list.

now onto yuujirou. i feel like knowing why he got arrested would give us a lot of important information onto his character. whatever he did, was it for himself? to help others? what happened. there was this headcanon which i like abt how he used to be bullied but that's deeper into fanon territory.

about him, we know he's an excellent actor. unlike aizou, he took his time to greet, smile and talk with all the girls that approached him during class. however, with people he doesn't know or who don't know him, he's more indifferent and even treats them coldly. he too is pretty open about the people he dislikes, and even if he's not as open as aizou in that regard, he probably has more beef with people than him, since instead of avoiding the people he doesn't like, he gives them The Nasty Look, which just worsens whatever relationship he had with the other person. even so, i think he too is protective with the people who are close to him, but not as aggressively as aizou. aizou is hot anger, yuujirou is cold anger. he seems very professional but even when they're on cam, he teases aizou a lot, so who knows.

he's also most likely a fast thinker that would do good under pressure, definitely more level-headed than aizou. but as aizou pointed out, even if he insists on denying it and doesn't seem to like it at all, he has a cute side. he apparently falls asleep easily, probably gets cold easily too.

and some stuff on their relationship which you didn't really ask for but i think is very important to understand them better!

so it is very likely that they fall into each other's "you're the first friend i've ever had" category but i have a feeling that even now after the heroine ikusei keikaku novel they're still in this "what are you talking about i don't even like him" denial phase. they're both very competitive and will probably keep insisting on the rival thing until the end of times. still, we've seen their relationship improve and it's clear that yume fanfare is the turning point for them, when they go from "strangers who don't even get along and happen to be working together" to actual partners and friends who care about each other. however, before yume fanfare, they already understood each other well (yuujirou knew that aizou grabbing him by the collar was just his aggressive way of caring and aizou couldn't stay mad at yuujirou for taking his headphones), even if they hadn't let the other know about it. it takes a long time for them to warm up to each other and get the hang of a proper friendship, but it isn't until they're in good terms with each other that they're able to make new friends (they met minami afterwards and hiyori became their manager and later on friend for the yappa saikyou concert). and while they also randomly started a fight with asuka, they're slowly getting better at the whole socializing thing.

they have as many things in common as disagreements and for that reason, they complement each other perfectly and help each other improve in many ways

and tl;dr i love them. also this is just the way i view them and not at all canon i just like talking about them

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Secrets Given Away

Shou lay back on his bed. His bed, not a bunk bed. He’d slept in the Osiris Red bunk-beds for so long that the idea of opening his eyes and not seeing slats above him required getting used to. So did the soft mattress underneath him. The ones in Red weren’t anywhere near this comfortable. They weren’t rock-hard and thin, no matter what the stories he’d heard Yellows and Blues pass among themselves, but they weren’t this soft, either.

I don’t know if I like it. Part of him wanted to go back to Red and spend more time with his aniki. After all, if he didn’t do that, that dinosaur Kenzan would try to claim – again – that he was aniki’s younger brother friend and Shou wasn’t having any of that!

He sat up, ready to head back out, when the door opened and there stood Kenzan, as if the thought of him conjured his presence. Shou glared at him.

“What do you want?” He didn’t like that grin on Kenzan’s face as the other strolled over.

“I picked up something interesting from aniki earlier,” Kenzan said, and the grin on his face just got worse. “He said something about you being ticklish.”

Shou would have jumped right out the window if he could. “He wouldn’t tell you that!”

“Well, he really didn’t,” Kenzan said, all of that muscle of his in between Shou and the door. “He saw Fubuki-sempai trying to tickle Asuka-sempai and said Fubuki-sempai would have better luck with you.”

Shou decided he’d heard enough. He darted around Kenzan, or tried to, and squawked when one of Kenzan’s meaty hands caught onto his jacket and lifted him off the ground. His legs kicked and flailed, his arms too bound by the jacket to do anything.

Then, the fingers of Kenzan’s other hand traced down first one side, then the other. Shou held out as much as he could, still squirming, until Kenzan hit that spot, right in his left armpit, and he started laughing, squirming even more.

He drew in great gulping gasps of air, shaking his head and squirming. Almost by accident he managed to get a whack on Kenzan, who didn’t so much as twitch. “Let me go!” Shou shrieked, hoping to get this to end before Kenzan found out about his feet.

He almost didn’t believe it when Kenzan finally set him down and looked at him. Shou wrapped his arms around himself and glared.

“That wasn’t funny!” Fury raged in every scrap of Shou’s body. He wasn’t just going to let Kenzan get away with it. He didn’t know yet what he’d do, but it would be something! Dueling wouldn’t be good enough for this. Kenzan didn’t deserve a fair and honorable duel.

Kenzan started to move around him. “I thought it was-don!”

Shou didn’t think, not for so much as a second. Instead, he tackled Kenzan, latching onto the broad boy’s back, wrapping his legs around Kenzan’s waist, and started to race his fingers up and down Kenzan’s own sides.

“What are you doing-don?” Kenzan squawked, wriggling almost as much as Shou had. Shou kept right on him, hunting for whatever vulnerable points he could find. His legs wiggled to get to Kenzan’s stomach and he traced his fingers from Kenzan’s sides and arms to his throat.

He didn’t want to hurt the big lug. Kenzan hadn’t really hurt him. But Shou didn’t like being tickled and turnabout was absolutely fair play. If Kenzan hadn’t wanted this, then he shouldn’t have come to bother him in the first place.

“Isn’t it funny?” Shou teased as he continued to tickle and Kenzan wriggled and wriggled, little snickers of laughing spurting out of him. “I think it is!”

No one could have guessed how far this might have gone if someone else hadn’t appeared in the doorway – Misawa. He stared at the two as if he’d never seen either of them before in his entire life.

“What kind of noise are you making here?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m trying to study.”

Shou bounced off Kenzan’s back, moving so that their eyes met for a second. This was something just between the two of them – like a duel, only different. Only they needed to know what was going on, and why it was going on. No need to explain. Misawa would probably just lecture them about the dignity of Ra Yellow or something.

“Nothing!” The two echoed in unison. Misawa glared even harder, clearly not believing them, before he sniffed, and headed on back to his room.

As soon as he was out of sight, Shou tensed, expecting Kenzan to try for a second round. Instead, the burly boy gave him a look.

“Want to get some food?” Kenzan offered in a tone of reconciliation. “All of that got me pretty hungry.”

Shou wasn’t certain if he wanted to believe him. After all, this started because of Kenzan. Why would he just suddenly change? But his stomach said that he wanted something to eat and while he wasn’t sure about the bed, he really was sure about the food in Ra Yellow – he loved it a lot more than the plain meals served in Osiris Red.

“Let’s go,” he said, choosing to concentrate on getting something eatable instead of continuing what happened before. Kenzan seemed to make the same decision, as the two of them headed out of Shou’s room and down to the dining hall.

He considered for a few moments as they walked. He had to take two steps for every one of Kenzan’s, which didn’t give him a lot of thinking time, but after a lifetime of following in his brother’s footsteps, he wasn’t that bad at it.

“Kenzan-kun?” Shou finally said. “Do you know if aniki is ticklish? Cause I don’t know.” They’d never talked about it before.

Kenzan tilted his head to the side and his eyes gleamed bright and mischievous. “Why don’t we find out?”

The End

Notes: I love friendship stories as much as I love torment! Also, the random words are: soft, hurt, concentrate, explain, & eatable.

[vobomon]

OVA Satan Analysis

Last month, I wrote a post teasing the fact that I believed that the design created for Satan within the OVAs was disliked by the fandom because humans naturally have an innate and subconscious aversion towards anything that they are unable to emotionally or facial recognize. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people had showed genuine interest in reading an extended version that went into further detail on the topic in question. 

So without further ado... here is my full length explanation.

In this essay, I will explain why the design for OVA Satan succeeded in its goal of looking “alien” and “otherworldly” but ultimately, ended up pushing the threshold into the uncanny valley. 

When meeting someone for the first time, you’ll often be quick to pay attention to their facial expressions. The expressions that they make will act as an indicator of their mood and the primary motivation behind the conversation. 

Facial recognition is one of the most important skills available to humans; it has enabled the formation of long-lasting, interpersonal relationships between group members. Subsequently, it has (also) played an important role in shaping human societies.

The scientist, Charles Darwin, speculated that in prehistoric times -- before communication that used words was common -- one's own ability to communicate with facial expressions increased an individual's chances of survival. Being able to read facial expressions allowed prehistoric man to observe a potential danger and avoid it. 

A wild cat is baring its fangs. Its ears are flattened and its fur is standing on end. 

Based on the body language that this animal is portraying, it is likely that this situation might be read as “Danger, danger. This is a threat. It will attack.”

Our emotions exist because they serve an adaptive role. Emotions motivate people to respond quickly to stimuli in the environment, which helps improve the chances of success and survival.

But as humanity evolved and began to create societies, our emotions began to serve a new purpose. Facial recognition was no longer needed for survival -- but to create a connection with another human being. And facial expressions became the primary body language needed for creating those deep-seated relationships.

So what makes OVA Satan so unpopular among the fandom?

It all stems from the fact that the artists who designed OVA Satan had wanted to put more focus on his “alien” and “otherworldly” aspects.  Prior to the creation of the OVAs back in the 1980s, there had only been one version of the Devilman story (compared to the many retellings available now) and that was the original manga. 

Changing Satan’s design was a big risk. 

Changing Satan’s design and making him look different from the manga’s design was a bigger risk. 

Changing Satan’s design and making him different from the manga’s design by giving him an upgrade using the Uncanny Valley Effect was the biggest risk of all. 

Not too long ago, I talked about the Uncanny Valley in a prior analysis of Satan but I’m going to repeat myself for the purpose of this particular topic.

“there comes a point in time when a creature can become too similar in appearance to a human and this invokes a sense of dread and terror– because there is something fundamentally unnatural and ‘off’ about it which keeps the creature from being able to be considered a actual human” 

The Uncanny Valley was first discovered by the Japanese in the 1970s and by the time that the OVAs would have been in development, this phenomenon would have been well-known to the public.

I’d imagine it would have been fun to test out this phenomenon using Satan due to his “alien” characterization. Just to see what the feedback would be like from the general public.

So they changed his design.

They took special care to have Satan not look like Ryo Asuka, but just enough that he still barely resembled his human form. Enough that it would be an uncomfortable resemblance. 

And then they took away all of Satan’s ability to show facial expressions. Without a mouth and without pupils (in his eyes) he’d be at a severe disadvantage of being able to show any visible emotional response. 

I’m absolutely sure that the artists knew what they were doing when they designed Satan to look like this. Especially when their primary source of reference was the manga, where Ryo Asuka was represented as an extremely emotional and unstable teenager who was often noted for his exaggerated facial expressions. 

Due to making OVA Satan into an “otherworldly” design that was purposely created to inspire thoughts of the uncanny valley... he can only create feelings of aversion among people nowadays.

And this stems from the primary reason that facial expressions were something that prehistoric man had depended on. Because if they were in a situation where they encountered something that was impossible for them to ‘facially read’ then their mind went into a automatic fight or flight response.

“Danger, danger.

Is this a friend? I don’t know.

Is this a threat? I don’t know.

It can’t be trusted.”

After all, if you can’t determine whether something is safe or not... then its better to just avoid it. And that is how humans were able to survive.

OVA Satan brings back these innate and instinctive fears that had helped our ancestors survive in an environment where facial expressions were necessary for determining whether someone was friend or foe. But now, that feeling probably just shows up as an ominous sense of dread. 

It is truly unfortunate that the artists who designed OVA Satan ended up succeeding far too well in their goal of making him look “alien” and “otherworldly.” Because the design has never been replicated in any other adaptations of Devilman since the OVAs. Every design since then has stuck to the same format and basic platform -- with a few small differences here and there, such as hair length or feather color.

But the OVA design was the one that tried to be different.  And maybe the design deserves some form of special recognition for taking that risk.

Maybe someday we’ll even see a future adaptation try to do a complete Satan re-design. Anything is possible and now that a new generation has been introduced to Devilman, I’m holding out hope that new ideas will be brought to the table.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a new perspective on OVA Satan and his design now. He’s a truly unique character and I think he holds a lot of potential.

[samiralula01]

Who is Aware of Mei’s past?

I was thinking about this earlier on today; while this will probably not be a “theory,” it’s still something that makes one think. Warning: This one is going to be long.

Who is and isn’t aware in the story of Kôzuke and Mei’s relationship? And would it change anything of the plot if they did?

Ah~ What a thought. Let me break it down for you. Reeeaaallly break it down.

【 1 】Who knew/recognized Mei in the first place?

The first person Mei met of the cast (aside of our pure, cinnamon roll Prince Osamu) was General Shibisaki. Now, as we are currently at『Ep • 78』, we know that Shibisaki was long aware of exactly who Mei was and the role she played in Kôzuke’s story.

Except, I rather believe that he didn’t immediately recognize her upon seeing her since he did ask, “Who are you?”『Ep • 02』and the whole accusing/jailing thing. He still hadn’t gotten her name then, by the way.

However, Mei is saved by who we now know was Ryusaki. Now, Ryusaki on the other hand, can recognize Mei immediately. Since we know that Daisuke made sure that Ryusaki knew her in『Ep • 64』

Anyways, Ryusaki being ‘Ryusaki the tease’ still asks Mei for her name. Then this boy immediately tells her that she has to stay at the palace. (I think he skipped a few bases there, lol.)

I thought it was an interesting side note that Ryusaki’s voice changed during there conversation. When they start talking, Mei notes that his voice was kind and weirdly...enthusiastic? I was wondering if he was kinda happy to see her specifically after Daisuke had died a few years prior.

But he seems to remember his role after Mei refuses to stay, his voice turning “sharp and cold,” thereafter. But that was just a side note. Anyways, it’s established that Ryusaki immediately recognized her.

“How did you know that I wasn’t Asuka?”『Ep • 07』

The third introduced character was Katsu. He, like Shibisaki, also didn’t recognize her, since he had never met her prior. He also threatens her at sword-point, which Ryusaki is surprised by. Until he realises he probably didn’t recognize her. 

So anyways - that’s one point. They all knew Mei though Ryusaki was the only one to immediately recognize her. (Sorry, Fujioka-san did too. But I’m focusing on the main characters.)

【 2 】Who does know of the KôzuMei connection? And if so, how much do they know?

Let’s keep up with the same order (of appearance.) 

‣ Shibisaki, as I mentioned was long aware of exactly who Mei was and her connection to Kôzuke. We learned that in『Ep • 71.』

By the way, I was also wondering...what did Mei do with the letters Kôzuke sent her? Shibisaki didn’t seem to find them when he was looking through her room? 

He also seems to be the person who knows the most of the entire situation; he knew the truth of Daisuke’s death, the reason for it, Mei’s connection to the whole situation(...) So you can check that one off. Shibisaki knows and knows a lot more than we readers do.

‣ Ryusaki... I think I’ll make an additional second posting on this since there are quite a few misconceptions on his own role in this. Expect more written on this subject but for now, I’ll speak briefly -- Ryusaki only knows that Kôzuke and Mei know each other but nothing more of the story. 

“Kôzuke knows her. I don’t know when or how he came to know her, but there is history there.” 『Ep • 64』

‣ Katsu knows the connection. Though how much is the uncertain part. In 『Ep • 48』when we got the whole, “she was mine first and I intend to take her back,” line. Katsu if one noticed, did not have a bit of surprise at that line but only anger. 

Do you see any surprise or shock there? He seems to know exactly what was meant by those words...and how far Kôzuke would go for Mei, up to and including breaching the palace. 

So there’s the second point. Shibisaki and Katsu know, though Ryusaki doesn’t. A complete opposite of the first point. 

【 3 】What does knowing this change?

The entire story for starters. I’ll talk about it in my next post, but it means that instead of it being Ryusaki as everyone believes to have been using Mei, it was everyone except Ryusaki. Or if not using, placing her in the very danger Ryusaki was said to have placed her in front of while knowing the situation. 

Always expect mind-blowing plot twists with lifelight, guys.