#in the manga his hair is usually shaded very dark as well

[ratsbanes]

reminder that in the light novels dazai is described as having black hair and not the butt ugly brown he has in the anime

[shoheiakagi]

Can you give me your thoughts of what you think of Homra alphabet boys? It could be who’s your favorite and who’s not, what you like and hate about them, who would you date and why. Etc etc…

of course i can!

i absolutely adore all of the abc boys and wish there was sooo much more content on them - fan and official content. although im a little more biased to some of them more than the others, i dont think im capable of disliking/hating any of them. theyre a lot more interesting and attractive than a lot of the major characters to me

i would literally be content with reading more stories on them getting drunk and causing chaos, despite serving no relevance to the plot lol

im gonna share some opinion/headcanons on each of the boys, so more under the cut:

Ask me shit!

akagi shouhei:

i think anyone that scrolls through my blog for like atleast 5-10 minutes will figure out that he's my favorite character in the entire series, even though he is a minor character. he's different from a lot of the other male characters that i typically go far (i usually go far guys with darker hair who have a similar personality to yata or even a quiet, cold personality similar to fushimi), but i remember reading mor for the first time and finding him super cute?? thats when i realized that even tho i typically prefer darker hair, im a huge sucker for guys with messy hair in general, especially when its tucked under a baseball cap. especially if theyre the rebellious type 🤭 think i got more interested in him when i reread mor around late 2018 and started analyzing the little details (he owned a motorcycle before joining homra, how he was all cocky and smirking when he raided that gang who kept his friend captive) that gave me this impression that hes not this generic nice guy that he likes to portray himself as. not ashamed to label this man as my fictional crush, 100% would date him irl, and 100% do think he gives chitose a run for his money when its comes to their face card (in the manga, at least). my least favorite thing about him has to be the lack of content on him. this applies to all of the boys, but i feel like the very few content we see on him, ends up relating back to bandou for the most part (i will get to that in a bit). like fuck, i want to know more about his daily routine, life before and outside of homra, his family, his friends out of homra, how hes like when hes drunk, how often does he party, whats his type, does he go to the gym, whats his views on life, etc. i also think that he can pull of the yandere stalker vibes very well cause first, he knows how hack into devices lol. second, i always see shouhei as someone who pulls this false, cheery facade to hide his true emotions. you can't really tell if hes angry or jealous unless youre closely paying attention and notice that his eyes seem darker than before, fists clenched, jaw locked, etc. and when he fights, he has this borderline psychotic grin on his face. like look at the material:

like yes daddy, pls fuck me

bandou saburouta:

i dont remember if i ever mentioned it here but out of all the boys, i related to bandou a lot when i was younger, with the whole introverted earth sign with dark hair who is jealous of their extroverted best friend who has better luck with the opposite sex lmfao. i really adore this idiot and he has me dying with how petty he can get, and how he seems to be the punching bag for some of the members (*cough* yata *cough). its so weird tho cause physically hes more of my type, but i guess its bc hes always decked out in a hoodie and shades, its hard to remember that hes actually pretty cute. the only thing that rubs me the wrong way is how the writers made his dynamic with shouhei erase some of shouhei's individuality. like even tho mor started off from shouhei's perspective, the minute we find out about bandou and him being friends, the narrative switches to bandou's inferiority complex around him. i love bandou's plotline, it definitely gives him more depth, making him one of the more developed abc boys along with eric. but i HATE how the writers made everything about shouhei, relate back to bandou. mor started off with shouhei joining homra to save his friend, which he succeeded in, great! but i feel like we learn more about bandou as a character, and whatever we do learn about shouhei, its mostly from bandou's perspective. there was also this series of short stories for each character, and boyyyyy you dont know pissed i was to see that shouhei's story was about bandou being jealous of how popular and friendly he is with girls. but when you read bandou's story, it was cute little heartfelt conversation between him and anna. i do feel like this is a reoccurring issue with the homra abc boys (we learn more about chitose and eric than we do about dewa and fuji in their respective chapters) but fuck man, at least in dewa's short story, we learn that he runs the bar when kusanagi is not around, making him popular with women, and that he loves extremely spicy food. granted, shouhei's story does provide some details such as how well liked he is and that he would take anna out shopping if totsuka and kusanagi are busy, but then most of his story morphs into bandou being jealous of him....like we get it, can we please move on from that topic? platonic banshou? 10/10, fucking love that shit. romantic banshou?? ehh, im indifferent

chitose yo:

chitose is my third favorite abc boy!! he's hot and a super fun character. its truly a shame that hes a minor character so the anime has him just standing around with a blank expression and maybe have him making a one-liner or two. hes genuinely the type of person i cant imagine staying silent and not giving his two cents, whether its during the more serious moments or the chill, laidback moments. im currently rereading mor and some panels of chitose got me like 😳🥵 cause hes fucking hot lol. but! im not a big fan of playboys/womanizers, so i never got into him the same way i did with shouhei and eric. at first, i was happy when i read one of the more recent post rok stories where it was stated that he finally found someone and got into a stable relationship! but then thinking about it, i feel like the writers should have made him seek therapy first, and then get into a relationship. cause from what we know about chitose, he was so scarred by how his first relationship ended with his late gf passing away, he avoided committed relationships bc he does not want to be emotionally vulnerable like that ever again. so clearly the guy had some psychological issues, which should have been addressed with therapy, instead of drowning himself in casual sex and alcohol. so i cant help but feel a little skeptic about him being ready to enter another relationship so soon. also hate how the writers make him say some suggestive comments about anna (getting married by 16, proposing to buy red lingerie for her as a bday gift, worry about her gaining weight for eating at night). like stop it, that shit is fucking gross and its making chitose go from a relatively harmless playboy to a creepy pedo. i never read the lost small world manga, but i remember coming across this omake (?) where chitose and dewa were talking and chitose made some comment that implied that he was willing to (or already had) have sex with a drunk girl, which is a huge no.

dewa masaomi

i would totally date dewa tbh. he fits my type irl (dark hair, introverted, can be witty/sharp, etc). it also helps that since he hangs out with chitose a lot, hes not really fazed by conventionally attractive women lol. along with fuji, he lacks a lot of depth since we don't know much about them. but hey, thats what im here for! i like to think that dewa makes all of his life choices by doing the exact opposite of what chitose does. where chitose would date and sleep any pretty girl that comes his way, dewa would be super picky and not just fall for a pretty face. chitose loves women in mini skirts and cropped tops, dewa prefers his women in suits and form-fitting long dresses that accentuates their curves without showing any skin. i think a general consensus for dewa is that he joined homra bc of chitose, which i definitely agree with. although some of the members may not be as brash and aggressive as someone like yata, i can still see them fitting in. dewa, on the otherhand, seems to be the odd one out. like the man seems like he would fit in with s4 better. but i do like the hc of dewa, despite how different he is from the other boys, dislikes authority figures trying to control his life, which is why he chose to stay with homra. cause its easier to join a gang for a friend, but its harder to stay in a gang if they dont align with your values/goals. i also like to think that dewa actually comes from a well off family, which reflects on his mannerisms and sense of dressing. but he doesnt share a close relationship with his parents. while theyre not emotionally or physically abusive, they are very emotionally absent, which is why he grows up detached from them. that doesnt stop them from trying to make his life decisions for him (i.e. have him take over the family business after college, settle down with this girl who is also from this well off family, etc), so dewa doesnt think twice before moving out once he hits 18

eric soult

my baby boy, my second fave abc boy!!! i think hes probably the only white character i like in anime lol (but then again, i dont really watch a lot of anime). i was veryy attracted to eric when i first read mor and found him so handsome (still do tbh), but now i feel so soft towards him??? like i still would tap it, but did you eat??? you look so cold, let me wrap a blanket around you!!! oh, youre telling me to back off or else you'll stab me??? aww, youre soo cute 🥰 all jokes aside, him and bandou are the most developed out of the abc boys, which makes sense on why theyre more popular than the others. i also wish we saw more of his dynamic with yata, cause i felt like their banter was fucking hilarious and i loved how eric was not scared to show him sass despite being new to homra lol. i recently started having this headcanon that eric has this old fashion mindset where as a man, you have to provide for your girl, even if its the most ridiculous and expensive thing ever, so whenever the guys talk about buying gifts for anna or any other woman in their life, hes always suggesting expensive jewelry and clothes. this also makes him very vulnerable to the wrong women, who would probably drain his wallet and emotionally abuse him if she doesnt get what she wants. i actually got this hc from the mor movie where fuji tells him that he'd fall for the type of wrong girl when he proposes buying designer gifts for anna lol. i was soo emotional when i read that eric makes the choice to travel the world by himself and taking pictures of beautiful sights. cause not only does it seem like he's honoring one of totsuka's hobbies, he's also getting this opportunity to see the world from a different and healthier perspective!!! he's going to be able to see more color in a world that was previously in shades of black and white for him!!!!

fujishima kosuke

my fellow taurus!!!! i remember thinking that he was related to mikoto when i first read the manga cause of his hair lmaooo. idk why but i always visualize him to have a deeper voice?? hes just so manly but yet so caring and nurturing, so i cant imagine him without a deep voice. i like to think that out of all of the guys, hes the only one who has a good relationship with his family, hence why he still lives with them, despite being part of a gang and having a bad habit of taking in stray animals. i know that in the same official story where chitose ends up in a relationship, fuji ends up being a carpenter, but i like the idea of fuji deciding to go back to school and becoming a vet so that he can take care of sick/injured animals. or atleast opening up his own no-kill, animal rescue agency!

[silvers-d-me]

Where Has My Underwear Gone? OP Men Edition: Portgas D. Ace

Date Night with Ace and Marco! Reader is AFAB and a Devil Fruit user. Reader is in a poly relationship with Marco and Ace. Probably swearing, definitely smut, female body parts, male body parts, so much dick. Explicit language. Minors DNI!

Date night! This was something special, something you and your boyfriends didn't often manage with the responsibilities of two Division Commanders, plus Marco being the Moby Dick's ship doctor, plus the trips Ace took on behalf of Whitebeard, and now, your promotion to Maintenance Division Commander. That was one of the reasons for the celebration. More responsibility, yes, but given the fact you were the user of the Mend Mend no Mi, it only made sense. You'd learned enough about repair and maintaining the gigantic vessel with your hands as well as your Devil Fruit to take over from Blenheim and allow him to move to other duties.

So here you were in a fancy ass hotel lobby with Marco, both of you wearing your best fancy ass attire, at Ace's direction. Marco was looking absolutely delectable in his dark charcoal suit with a burgundy dress shirt, for once button closed and not displaying his very admirable torso, pants cut to fit almost too well, shiny black shoes a distracting contrast to the sandals he usually wore. He'd even slicked his blond sprout of hair back somehow and with his heavy lidded eyes he looked very much like the image of some gangster boss in a manga. He was a doctor, but even dressed up to the hit, he couldn't shake that aura of I AM A PIRATE. Said pirate glanced down and you and smiled. “Like what you see? You're looking even more lovely than usual, yoi.”

Marco took your hand in his, stepping back a pace to appreciate your own fancied-up appearance. Your hair was combed and sleek and piled up, adorned with glimmering combs of gold and diamond and pearl, The dress was a honey colored satin that went beautifully with your skin, one shoulder left bare, the other graced with a strap set with matching diamonds and pearls. The lights of the lobby gleamed down the satin that hugged your form just right, the sweep of it adding to the overall image of luxury and opulence. You wore actual heels for once, strappy things that peeked out from the satin with an echo of pearl and glint of white diamond fire. Your wrist and ears were adorned with the same metal and gems: diamonds of varying size set in lush gold with pearls gleaming in the settings. You were also a pirate, after all, and enjoyed the chance to show off some of your plunder. At your throat was a fine chain of gold, nearly invisible, holding the most precious piece of jewelry you owned.

The pendant was of a gold nearly orange color holding three gems: a bright blue sapphire, a deep red ruby, and a pearl of twilight purple between them. It had take Ace and Marco a long time to find that pearl even with access to the chests of them Pops collected. It was, they had decided, a perfect color for you, rare and exotic and carrying shades of both the other jewels in its luster. You only wore it on the most special of occasions and time when you felt sure it was in no danger or harm nor pillage, though really, on Marco's arm, there weren't many safer places to be. He drew you in and kissed the back of your hand fondly, then turned it over to press warm lips to your pulse point. He knew very well how to get that pulse moving and you grinned up at him, other hand smoothing over his lapel.

“Behave yourself, Commander. We're supposed to be somewhere in just a few minutes. I still wonder what our Ace has gotten up to this time. Not that I'm complaining, you understand.” You let your arm be tucked into Marco's as he led you towards the sweep of elegant stairs, lit by a ridiculously intricate crystal chandelier. “I wonder how much he paid for this, or if he just threatened to burn it to the ground if they didn't give him a suite?” Even with the Phoenix's support you were having to be careful to negotiate the stairs in heels with the dress clinging to your legs too closely.

“I hope he just paid since I don't want to be interrupted and have to fight off the constabulary yoi.” Marco's hand "accidentally" slipped down the pretty satin from your hip to your butt. "Why, Y/N, I'm shocked yoi. Are you bare under that scandalous gown?!" He sounded just shocked beyond all propriety.. but his voice had dropped and his hand was nearly radiating heat. The glance you shot up at the handsome doctor through your lashes was amused and irritated. You had to pause as he reluctantly left the supple curve of your butt to produce a key from his pocket and open the closed door that faced you. A dark glossy wood, brass fittings and an elegant letter A.

"I think you know very well why I'm not wearing anything under my dress, Marco. It's all gone. Every stitch! All of my pretty underwear is missing.  Everything else is there! Garters, stockings, bras, corsets, every other piece that either you or Ace has given me is gone. I'm not wearing my business underpants with this dress, Birdie." You gestured up and down yourself, directing his attention to the dress and the shoes and the stockings and the hair and the makeup and the jewelry and the everything. Even the perfume, as you drew your wrist slowly under his sensitive Zoan nose. You smirked as his bright blue eyes dilated under his heavy lids. Zoan users were so easy to tease. You twirled away from his grabby hand by opening the door and stepping into.. wow.

[To Be Continued!]

[twistedmusings]

How the dorm leaders react when they catch you kissing someone from their dorm [Part 2]

A/N: AND HERE IT IS! Oh my god I still can't believe I managed to get this done! I actually stayed on task! Honestly these three were probably my favourite from the original post, I've had far too much fun writing these bois.

And what can I say? Playfully flirty MC is a good MC u wu

Warnings: Heavy smooching, possessive talk, and the reader just really pushing the dorm leader's buttons~

Part 1 here!

“How dare you...?”

Vil was more than happy to be coming back to Pomefiore with all the stuff that had happened today. Classes were more annoying than usual, he had to chase Leona down to tell him to get his work done and there had been some problems in the modeling studio that caused the lights to be brighter than usual and now he had a headache that only a nap could fix.

Thing was, if he wanted to keep his schedule as tight as possible he would need to stay awake for...another 6 hours.

One good thing was waiting for him though. Rook had greeted him at the entrance and let him know that the Ramshackle prefect was in the dorm today as per his request.

Good.

This would keep him awake. He remembers promising you a lesson in proper skincare in order to remedy whatever you did once you woke up in the morning. Deep in the back of his head he remembers you telling him that you just splash cold water on your face but he preferred to think that you at least put some sort of moisturizer. Maybe.

He rushes to his room to freshen up and makes sure that he has the materials he needs. Vil had decided that his own brand of face cleansing products would be a good start for your skin. The tingles in his fingertips went ignored as he thought of you thinking about him in the morning. It wasn’t that sort of thing at all, he reminded himself. Dorm leaders were supposed to help each other out, despite how often they were at each other’s throats, and he was just fulfilling his role not just as a dorm leader but as a...friend.

Vil takes one last look at the mirror and makes his way down the row of rooms in Pomefiore to reach the Lounge, only to stop when he sees you being pulled into one of the many rooms by what was clearly a Pomefiore’s students hand.

Wait what?

It’s almost alarming how quickly he approaches the door and puts his foot in it, choosing to stay quiet as he sees that the two people in the room didn’t even bother to wonder why the door hadn’t closed all the way. The student was pressing kisses against your lips in small intervals, choosing instead to talk as you run your hands up the expensive purple robe and taking in the little designs.

“I had a new lip scrub I wanted you to try out.”

“Really? Then why aren’t we in the bathroom?"

“That’s rather forward for a dorm leader. Is everyone in Ramshackle this daring?”

Vil couldn’t even pinpoint the student’s name. That was your first offense. The only thing he remembers about him is the man’s caramel brown hair and how it contrasted beautifully against his dark skin. After that, nothing could pop into his head that would make that student even remotely interesting for you to be hanging off of him like that! Of all the people to be with, it just had to be a nameless potato, didn’t it?

The hairs at the back of his head stand up as the potato hands you what he believes to be the best lip scrub in the business, which only makes the alarms in Vil’s head go off even louder. That brand wasn’t even known for doing lip scrubs! In fact, they once put out a three in one shampoo/conditioner and the fact that the student even had that brand in the dorms and you just blatantly accepting it was your second offense.

And as much as he wanted to focus on that being the thing that truly bothered him, he felt the alarms deafening him as he saw the potato’s hands wrap around your waist as he kissed you again, your lips parting to let him inside.

He shouldn’t be looking at this, he should be leaving and just leave you to your own devices. The lesson wasn’t important, you weren’t that important to him--

Amethyst eyes widen when you tilt your head as the student starts kissing down your neck, already choosing one spot to make his own as he licks and nips at the skin while you dig your fingers into his robe.

Vil didn’t really know how to describe the sudden surge of energy that caused him to fling the door open and grab the student by the back of his robe and pull him backwards, eyes glaring at you the entire time as you whisper his name, as if suddenly remembering that you had a previous engagement before this whole ‘sticking your tongue down a Pomefiore student’s throat’’ business.

“Prefect. My room. Now.”

You put your hands up and walk out of the room without looking at him, Vil letting go of the student’s robes and walking out after you. He didn’t even need to tell him that he was in trouble, the student would realize it soon enough once Rook delivered the chores that needed to be done by tonight.

A list only that student would be getting instead of the entire dorm.

Vil closes the door of his room and turns the lock rather harshly, looking back at you sitting at the edge of his bed still staring at the window. You weren’t trying to defend yourself, you weren’t even looking at him.

“I hate to be kept waiting, Prefect. Not just that, it is extremely rude to keep someone waiting just so you can fraternize with someone in my dorm.”

No answer. He grabs his desk chair and sits down so he can face you directly.

“What made you go and pick that potato?”

“Why would that be any of your business Vil-senpai?”

It was very much his business, if you asked him. He would have been okay if it was Epel or even Rook that you had picked to make out with but he wasn’t just going to stand around and watch as one of the student’s whose name he didn’t even know threw all of his work out of the window! So he asked the question again, this time getting a chuckle as an answer which only served to upset him even more.

“Out of anyone in my dorm you could have picked, you had to go with someone who offers you such a low quality brand of lip scrub?”

“That is your problem with this? What he offered me? Me and him just started hanging out, we know nothing about each other! I just wanted to change that.”

His headache was coming back again.

Vil put hard work into everything he did. That was his work ethic and people be damned if they thought it was too much. Maybe they couldn’t handle it but they still respected it, respected his craft and the work he put into it.

So why do you, of all of his recent projects, disrespect him so blatantly?

It was clear you weren’t ready yet, Vil wasn’t done working with you yet. After doing something like this, and right inside his dorm, he knew that you had just taken all of the careful brushes and strokes he had decorated your canvas with…

And burnt it right in front of his eyes.

Which is why he didn’t necessarily feel any guilt when he grabbed your cheeks and pulled his own lipstick out of his back pocket, ignoring your protests.

“Quiet.”

He applies the shade quickly and before you have any chance to protest, pushes his lips against yours.

The kiss is anything but sweet. It’s almost punishing. Vil was reminding you that you were a work in progress. He still had so much left to teach you, so much left to work with you and if you kept rushing things you were going to make him mad. Once he was done with you, you could go about your pitiful little life and kiss whoever you wanted and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelash.

A hand grasps at his wrists as you press his palms on your cheeks, your tongue gently pressing against his lips so you could slip inside--

Nevermind. This sort of impatient kissing would also have to go.

He pulls away and pushes you onto the mattress, your eyes hazy with eagerness and confusion as Vil removes his jacket and gloves and leans down to trap you below him.

“Were you this greedy with him? Did he also get this treatment from you? No, don’t answer. I fear I’ll only get angrier if you do. Now be an obedient little potato and stay still, the first thing I’ll fix is that messy kissing of yours.”

“ :( “

Snacks runs had to be the most annoying and heart pounding of his usual daily life quests. If waking up was a struggle enough, especially when no special loot such as new anime or manga was available, it was hard to complete such basic tasks without some sort of incentive.

Although Idia guessed that not dying of starvation was enough of an incentive.

He walks down the corridor of his own dorm, humming a quiet tune to himself as he looks down at all the snacks he had acquired. Which, score! They even had a limited edition chip flavor that came with the card of one of his favourite idols! It took everything in his power to not just spend all of his money on more than one bag but he had such a good day today that he knew his gacha pull luck just had to be good.

The door to a room behind him opens, Idia quickly picking up his pace and hiding behind a corner as he looks at who it could be. He isn't against anyone in his dorm but...he didn't have the means to engage in any conversation that wasn't about his current FPS game or Gakemo so--

"Thank you for the help! I thought my phone was beyond repair!"

His hands tighten around the chips pressed tight to his chest, eyes wide in surprise as he sees you stepping out of the room.

Of all people...why were you here so late?

The student laughs as he scratches the back of his head, handing you back your phone and looking away.

“No--No problem! I...I honestly didn’t think you would come to me for help. I integrated the newest magical technology on it as well as voice activated features and a--a brand new messaging app that sends messages faster!”

Idia clicked his tongue as he heard the student speak. Look at him showing off. You didn’t know that he was taking advantage of your naive mind! You didn’t know anything about magic so, of course, all those features would sound fancy!

When it was literally taking your phone and just downloading some fancy new apps on it!

Yet there you were, marveling down at it as if you had just gotten the latest version.

Well maybe he shouldn’t complain too much, even from here he could see your smile. A part of him worried that all this luck he was suddenly getting would affect the luck he would get on his chip bag but...you were worth it.

Such a rare event shouldn’t be left unnoticed.

Maybe...maybe if he stayed here you could walk by and he could open up the ‘bumping into each other late at night’ event?

“So how can I repay you? Do you need anything done?”

Idia tunes back into the conversation as he frowns, looking back at the two of you as the student looks at every single corner of the ceiling instead of looking at you.

Payment? The guy had just downloaded a couple of apps that wasn’t good enough reason to offer some sort of payment. He frowns and taps his foot impatiently as the guy stutters out a few excuses before finally giving you an answer.

“A ki--A kiss? Would that be alright?”

The Ignihyde dorm leader almost falls down as he hears that, retreating further into his corner as he glared daggers at the guy who had just dared to ask for such a bold request.

A k--kis--kiss? A kiss...from you?

This guy was starting to piss him off! He should just be content staring at you! You were a SSR character all on your own! That guy should be happy he even got to talk to you at all and shouldn’t ask for more than he was given! He already rolled for such a life changing event why would he even want more!

His eyes soften when he sees you mull it over. It was okay, you could reject him. Such a guy wouldn’t even be worthy of a kiss from you so you so all you had to do was say no! Go on, [Y/N], just reject hi--

Idia can feel his heart breaking as his muscles stop working, dropping all of his stuff on the floor with a thud as the sound echoes. Yet it went ignored, the other two people in the hallway too busy with their own activities.

When...when had you even kissed him? Idia only remembers you putting your phone away and the moment he blinked you had already pressed your lips against that other guy--!

He should be leaving, why isn’t he moving?

The student’s hand goes to your waist as you deepen it, his face turning a deep shade of red as you pull away and tap his lips.

“Was that your first kiss?”

“...y--yes..”

You were smiling and giving him such a rare, almost ultimately rare item and Idia didn’t know how long he could stare until he combusted.

So all he could do was turn around…

And run as fast as he could.

He ignored the familiar voice calling out his name, footsteps quickly following him as he started to run out of breath.

Making a poor otaku like him run, even now you were still being so cruel to him!

Idia’s door slides open as he bursts inside, ready to bury himself in his bed and never come out again--!

Only to stop when he hears you hiss in pain.

Blue eyes turn around to see your foot jammed into his doorway, not allowing the electric door to slide closed. A part of him wants to immediately go to you and ask if you were alright but he stops himself as the image of your kiss flashes through his mind again.

“[Y/N]-shi! W--What--!”

You rub at your foot and sigh, walking in with a confused look as Idia presses his back against his bookshelf. He knew it. If a SSR character could be brought to real life, this is the sort of power they would have over him.

The kind of aura you were emitting was enough for him to want to get on his knees, but he chose to remain strong.

“I was calling out to you…didn’t you hear me?”

Idia turns his head and looks at the floor, the pain still raw and emotionally taxing than what he was used to. Disappointment was one thing but heartbreak was a complete other monster!

“Shouldn’t--Shouldn’t you be with your boyfriend?”

He spits the word out, annoyed that a guy from his dorm could unlock...no...could get someone like you. You were open to every single activity Idia gave you, you gave him good feedback and didn’t get scared when you two disagreed on something. Every manga he gave you, you read and every anime he told you to watch, you would watch it.

You were receptive, you were attentive, you were what Idia wanted in a real life friend!

He hadn’t dared hope for more!

That still didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasize when he was all by himself.

“Boyfriend…?”

You tilt your head in confusion before chuckling as you realized what had happened.

“Oh so you saw that.”

Is that all you were going to say?! You had just taken his heart and crushed it into tiny little pieces and you were just going to talk about what a pervert he was being!

Someone just KO him now, like right now!

“Yes...I saw. So what? You were just ki-kissi--doing that thing from everyone to see! So you should just go back to him instead of bullying me in my own room!”

Please just leave, he wanted to cry in peace.

Yet you stubbornly remain, just like the first time he met you.

“Idia I don’t know what crazy assumptions you are making but that guy isn’t my boyfriend.”

You put up one finger.

“He fixed my phone…”

Another one follows after.

“And he asked for a kiss for payment. Simple as that. You shouldn’t act like you caught us doing something major. It was just a kis---”

Large hands land on your shoulders as Idia now stands in front of you, head hung low as he mutters something to himself.

“Just a kiss….just a kiss.”

You jump as he gets close to your face, eyes staring at you pleadingly as he cupped your face.

“JUST A KISS? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE? AN EXTRA RARE CHARACTER SUCH AS YOURSELF SHOULDN’T BE GIVING OUT SUCH RARE ITEMS LIKE THAT!”

He shakes you back and forth.

“IF YOUR KISS WAS JUST NORMAL THEN EVEN I...I COULD--”

Idia’s eyes fall on your lips, the rush of adrenaline mixed in with his built up desire for you all culminating in two choices popping up in his head. And for the first time, he knew that hesitation was not an option.

So he dives in.

His lips met yours roughly, not really moving them or anything but just pressing them against you. You put your hands gently on his chest but he takes it as a protest, which only causes him to push them onto yours even more.

This was...disastrous.

He had never kissed anyone before. How in the world did he think that he would be able to kiss you? Ah, maybe this was a dream? Right! He had just dreamed all of this up and you didn’t really force your way into his room to confront him!

His hair flares up when you cup his face, pushing him away slightly and tilting him in such a way that your lips would meet in a much softer fashion. He looks down and sees you closing your eyes, following in your footsteps and melting inside your kiss.

You both pull away slowly, Idia opening his eyes and blushing when he sees you licking your lips and sending him a teasing grin.

A rare sight...made only for him.

“I feel like I just spent all my stamina on this one event...so I don’t want to go unrewarded. Can we go further? I want to go further. What option do I have to pick for you to do that again, [Y/N]?”

“Don’t touch them.”

“YOUNG MASTER! WHERE ARE YOU!”

Malleus sighs as he looks on at the Diasmonia students gathered around the outskirts of the school, smiling as he sees Sebek directing them each and every way. Sebek really didn’t give up, did he? One of his classes had been canceled and he was eager to see the gargoyles around Ramshackle in a much better light but he figured Sebek would cause up a stir when he didn’t find him in his classroom.

As much as he appreciated him, Sebek didn’t have to walk him to every single class.

He sighs and goes deeper into the woods behind Ramshackle, the small broken path there leading him down a familiar terrain.

This is where he usually walked with you, after all.

Seeing this place in bright light was so very different. Instead of it being illuminated by his lights, the sun peeked out from over the trees and provided a sunny trail instead of the usual moonlight. He took a deep breath as he breathed in the smell of flowers all around, all of them growing wildly around him and defying any human to try and tame them.

His fingers trace some of the thorns he found on some of them, the flowers attracted to his touch and moving closer to his hands as a small vine wrapped around his finger.

All with his magic’s help after all.

This was his safe space. Malleus would come here during his first and second year and lose himself in the wilderness. In here no one would fear him. Here every single thing was responsive to his touches and even dared to touch back. Some of the wild rose bushes also reminded him of him, Malleus adding a bit more thorns around the flowers as in to emulate the very home he missed.

In this lonely place, he flourished.

But it wasn’t so lonely now, was it?

His third year had brought one big surprise. A human. A child of man who did not know who he was or what he was capable of. They looked at him as if he was just any other stranger roaming around their dorm and not the next ruler of the Valley of Thorns.

And Malleus, being the very curious person he is, found himself pulled to your inattentiveness.

He had dropped many hints that he was eager to get to know you more, relishing in the fact that you two were starting to get closer. And while he had hoped to keep his identity a secret a bit longer, he found it almost unbearable for you to not know who he was.

If you were so open with who you were, then he should show you the same kind of respect.

How wonderful that you were now on a first name basis with each other.

Malleus could walk over to Ramshackle dorm now and knock on your door without hesitation, smiling as he sees your excitement at just what places you two would discover in the dead of night.

Bummer you couldn’t be with him now.

He had seen you come out of your dorm and ask Sebek if he needed any help, to which the fae replied rather rudely that no human could ever track down his young master, so he was a bit reluctant to discover any more places without you by his side.

These walks were something you two did together, after all.

So he remained at this spot, touching everything and anything that would strike his fancy while going deeper and deeper into a small clearing you two had found. A large tree decorated its middle, the leaves falling gently upon the ground as the sun shone down on the large pond that provided this part of the forest with the water it needed to balance out the sun’s gentle rays.

“Shhhh, don’t make too much noise.”

Malleus stops as he hears your voice, his head immediately turning towards the sound as he hears rustling behind him. He smiles and turns to where he thought you were coming from only to be struck by a sudden idea--and immediately hiding among the trees and bushes so you couldn’t see him.

Would you be surprised to find him here?

He hoped so. Malleus had the habit of appearing to you suddenly so this wouldn’t be breaking any traditions between you two. If he played his cards right, you might join him on a walk all the way to the edge of the island.

“Prefect do you know where you are going?”

“I do! I’ve been here so many times. Now come on!”

Another person’s voice. No...he had heard that voice before.

Malleus retreats back into his hiding spot as he sees you rush by, holding by the hand a Diasmonia student as he rushes to follow you. You smile and turn around, still holding his hand while the other looked on in amazement at where you had led him.

“Prefect...this is…”

“Like it? Me and Malleus found it a while ago. This is how we know we are close to the edge of the forest.”

The Diasmonia dorm leader smiles as he watches you show the student around, pointing out different sights and sounds as the other watched on in amazement. That student probably had never gone anywhere this secret and while Malleus was glad you were showing off the place you two shared…

There was a feeling deep inside his chest that flared up angrily as he caught the student looking at you more than his surroundings.

Green eyes watch as the student’s hand clenches and unclenches, seemingly working up the courage to do something as you continue speaking. Which was rather rude, in Malleus’s opinion. You were explaining some wonderful things about the flora here and he was just staring at you without engaging in the conversation.

And how did you two know each other? Malleus had never mentioned you in Diasmonia except to Silver and Lilia, had he known you before him?

Malleus hands grip the tree bark tighter as the student takes your hand, stopping your explanation as he gets you to focus your attention on him.

What--?

“I’ve been eager to find some time alone with you.”

The student clears his throat before pulling you by the hand gently, your surprised look turning into one of playfulness as you follow along with his movements. He leads you to the edge of the pond, spinning you around as you allow him to position you in such a way that you are now closer to him than before.

Which only makes the angry feeling in Malleus’s gut flare up even more.

“Have you now? What for?”

An answer Malleus wanted to know as well.

Blushing, the student smiles and leads you into a dance with no music which only served to make you laugh and make Malleus’s fingers dig deep into the wood of the poor tree.

In the dragon fae’s eyes, you two are dancing for hours without caring about who was around. Why had he even brought you here? This student was part of Sebek’s surveillance crew and yet here he was not doing his job. But he wasn’t the one who brought you here…

You were.

Your actions were lost on Malleus as the dance finishes up, the student dipping you low before bringing you up.

“So you brought me here to dance? Who knew Diasmonia students were so charming.”

Malleus didn’t like the way you were smiling, nor how your hands rested on the student’s shoulders. He hadn’t seen this side of you before, you were playing along with this student and his motives.

Had you always been so playful? Malleus had only seen you during the night and whenever you two spoke it was a conversation worthy of two friends sharing experiences together.

But not this...never this…

“Well, not just a dance. I’ve wanted to state my intentions outright.”

The tree starts to crack slowly as Malleus can feel more thorns growing out of the rose bushes around him.

“Ever since you arrived, you have been an enigma to me. You are always so helpful even to those who do not seek your aid. Even now, you didn’t have to help me search for our Young Master."

He wasn’t searching for anyone, he was too close to you for Malleus’s liking and he needed to learn how to respect your boundaries.

“Yet you still offered me your help...and I…I want to...”

The student was leaning closer as his hands slid down to your waist, Malleus staring as you started to tilt your head as you placed your hands on his chest while his lips were dead set on meeting yours--!

Your face is tilted up as cold lips meet yours, your mouth opening in a surprised gasp as the hold the student had on you was no longer shy and timid but angry and possessive. These lips were pulling you in closer and closer, greedily eating each and every sound you were making as the air was slowly stolen from your lungs.

A string of saliva is left hanging as you two separate, your eyes fluttering open as you think of something to say to such a ravishing kiss.

Only for them to open wide in surprise as you see who you had really kissed.

“Malleus!?”

You turn to look behind the fae’s back, the Diasmonia student looking at his Young Master in mild panic and surprise while Malleus presses you close against his chest, clearly hiding you from view.

Right before the student even had a chance to taste your lips, Malleus had rushed out of his hiding place and pulled him away by the collar of his shirt.

For a dragon to watch on as something that was his was so close to be taken away, the surprise must have gotten to him.

“Go tell Sebek to head back to Diasmonia and call off his search. I will be there by nightfall.”

The student tries to stutter out a response but Malleus glares back as he keeps you pressed firmly against him.

“Now.”

You watch the student leave in a hurry, following the broken path you had led him in with. Your eyes peek up to look at Malleus but the dorm leader waits until the sound of footsteps is long gone before tilting your face up again and leaning down to press his lips against yours in another rough and dominating kiss.

Hands push you forward as your back collides with the huge tree in the clearing, Malleus making sure that the back of your head meets the bark gently as his lips never parted from yours. You wrap your arms around him as best as you could and let out an involuntary squeak when the fae decides to pick you up so that you could pull him in even closer.

He is the one to pull away first, hands firmly on your bottom as you wrap your legs around his waist to support yourself.

“Malleus--”

The fae presses another kiss to your lips, effectively silencing you so that all your attention would be on him.

“Don’t ever bring someone else into this place, child of man. Do I make myself clear? This place is our haven and I will not have someone else come steal both it and you away from me. Well, even if you don’t understand, I’ll make sure to explain it to you thoroughly. Now...kiss me again.”

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

Okay but I really sincerely do love the small subversion that gets pulled in the clothes shopping episode/chapter.

Even at her most covered Kokomi seems to prefer clothes that, while not tight tight, do fit. In the winter/autumn she seems to prefer a clean cut, preppy look. Fitted sweaters with undershirts, usually paired with skirts and long stockings. If she’s wearing something overtop it’ll probably be a very nice jacket or blazer. If she does wear any patterns, from what I recall it’s usually polka dot or plaid.

Kokomi also seems to favour skirts that are closer to knee length than a mini, whether it’s a dress or a separate.

If she does wear a short skirt, she seems to prefer pairing leggings with it.

Which isn’t to say that she won’t hike her skirt up, she’s not a person who’s shy, but overall Kokomi tends to favour a somewhat conservative but feminine wardrobe. Kokomi’s perfectionism leads to her being very image conscious, and she’s a person who’s not shy to manipulate others. She dresses with that in mind, usually covering up to her neck. Kokomi wants to project what she considers innocence and purity through her clothes.

To that end, she tends not to ornament herself much, and overall she leaves her hair/head alone. If she does accessorize her hair, she’ll choose a bow or something frilly - an extension of how she prefers to wear her clothes in other words. Even then, I believe this is the only time we ever see her in hats.

Now, take what Kokomi thinks is an example Kusuo will pick out for her.

The skirt is very short, and very fitted. The anime likewise chooses ankle high white socks instead of dark knee highs, showing more leg. However, that’s not to pardon the manga. The gap is a bit long to be considered absolute territory, but the idea is still there.

So you’ve got a body hugging skirt that shows a lot��of leg.

On top of that, Imagination!Kusuo has chosen a sweater that is considerably baggier than what Kokomi appears to prefer. This creates a bit of a startling clash, silhouette wise. It’s not that it’s not something that can’t be pulled off, but these pieces don’t look like they go together. The sweater also appears to be a cool shade of pink, as does the skirt, so colourwise the top and bottom suit each other but they clashe with the yellow-brown toque, and red-brown shoes (two items that by being different shades/hues of brown also clash together).

It’s also overall just a lot of neutrals (white, grey, brown) to pair with one pastel. The clash of the warm/cool colours is going to draw the eye all over the place. Separately these pieces may go together but combined the overall impression is of an outfit picked by a guy who doesn’t have much of an idea about colour coordination, silhouette, etc. The colour of the toque also really doesn’t suit her hair at all, or her skin tone, since it’s so yellow.

Kokomi’s hair is blue and her skin has cool undertones so effectively we’re trying to match for ‘blue’, here. Pink works as an analogous colour scheme. Orange works as a complementary colour scheme. Yellow might work as a primary colour scheme. But throw it all together and you get.

Well.

A mess.

It further illustrates that Kokomi is willing to compromise her standards for the boy she likes, and also that she expects Kusuo doesn’t actually know her. 

And maybe that she expects he’s a leg man LMAO

Now, Kusuo says straight up that he shops and dresses to be plain so it’s not entirely unfair that Kokomi would expect he, well, doesn’t know how to dress. She probably expects his mom does all his shopping and he just throws together whatever passes the sniff test. Which is to say shows that Kokomi doesn’t know Kusuo, which is a pretty hilarious subversion given she expects he doesn’t know her. In her imagination he’s close, but not quite. We’ve got two different shades of purple, one of which is quite dark, on top of brown trousers. The jacket also does not look like it fits well (it’s a bit high on the waist/wrists and shows his shirt underneath) and his undershirt appears tucked in whereas Kusuo usually prefers letting his undershirts hang loose for the double triangle effect.  

It’s not unreasonable. Kusuo might wear something like that. He certainly has enough brown slacks.

But he probably wouldn’t.  

Now. Not to imply Kusuo is the height of fashion, but he’s found preferences in his self-imposed niche of plain. He tends to prefer cool toned shades, seemingly showing a preference for pastels especially, to offset his pink hair. He seems to favour white as his preferred neutral, usually going for a “I can wear ONE COLOUR today” scheme to effectively contrast the neutrals and to avoid overwhelming the pink and green he’s stuck with regardless. 

He either pairs to monochromatic or contrasting effect. He usually will not wear the same non-neutral twice. When he does, the shades are usually pretty close together, so two different shades of purple layered on top of each other? Unlikely.

He also has a more preppy style, leaning hard into sweaters, cardigans, defined or constructed collars, and slacks with loafers. He likewise prefers a fit that, while loose, is by no means baggy, but like Kokomi, tends to be conservative. Buttoned to the neck, full length sleeves in winter and tees in the summer. You’ll rarely catch a glimpse of this kid’s ankles unless he’s at the beach.  

(This is ignoring the sometimes ridiculous outfits he gets put in on the cover/haiku pages, yes, which don’t seem to fit what he usually wears in canon but may hint that, if he was allowed to dress for himself, a fondness for accessories?)

So Kokomi’s Imagintion!Kusuo misses the mark in several aspects and reveals, well, she probably still thinks his name is Kunio, frankly. Kokomi has been observing him but not close enough to know him. His personality is still a figment of her imagination, and his tastes alongside.

Kusuo, on the other hand, does know Kokomi. Obviously because he has telepathy but he also understands her as a dresser (goodness knows she’s stalked him enough for him to see her in casual clothes on the regular), and he DOES know how to construct an outfit. He has to because, like Kokomi, he uses his clothes to manipulate people - not to put out an aura of purity, but to blend in without looking like he’s actively trying to hide, which is pretty tricky balance.

He has to dress just decent enough to not look out of place, while also not drawing attention for being a style icon, and just poorly enough that your eyes will skim by him, while also not drawing attention for being a shitty dresser like we see with the Kurumi Special Zebradigan.

That takes skill.

So when Kusuo does construct an outfit for Kokomi, it hits the nail on the head.

This is an outfit that works very well together. The bottoms are the same colour as the small patches in the jacket holding the loops, which has a lot of subtle but cute details with belted cuffs, triangle buttons, and slim loops instead of notches cut into it. Note, Kokomi has already been seen to wear a jacket that has belted cuffs so it’s safe to assume she doesn’t mind that detail. 

The jacket is also a warm red brown as opposed to a yellow brown,  so we got success on playing into her skin tone through contrasting it, and the outfit itself is more monochromatic and therefore harmonious.  

The sweater is a warmer shade of pink and because the jacket and shirt are both warm red leaning hues, they suit each other. The neutral white of the undershirt likewise matches the white of the fur trim in the jacket, and stacking those two whites on each other (the trim and collar) leads the eye to the face, especially because Kokomi is also wearing a hat that’s white as well. The bow is grey, and another pop of a new neutral, but because it’s such a small detail it doesn’t detract from the outfit. And it’s a bow.

The outfit from what we can see is fully covering. There’s no weird belly cut outs or low necklines. We can’t tell what her bottoms are but if they’re a skirt I doubt it’s as short as the one in her imagination. After all, they both lean toward clothes that are covering.

So let’s go over what we know about Kokomi’s preferences in fashion.

She likes a preppy style, often pairing an undershirt with a sweater. Match.

She likes bows. Match.

She likes feminine colours. Match.

She’s typically a conservative dresser to evoke a sense of purity. Match.

Apparent preference for plaid. Match.

So we got a match on both Kokomi’s preferences and a match on an outfit's execution itself, in a direct contrast to Kokomi’s expectations and possibly even the audience’s expectations. Did any of us really expect Kusuo to pick out an outfit that was that cute? Or are our expectations more in line with Kokomi’s?

Something something Asou at it again with subverting gender stereotypes something something make this boy a stylist something something unexpected career in fashion while looking plain AF hilarity.

[httplovecraft1890]

Spy x Family WMG

So something that I don't think I've seen people really talk about in Spy x Family theories is how Anya will inevitably be forced to tell Yor and Loid about her powers. There are lot of ways that it could be done, but I think one of the most appropriate would be in relation to Operation Strix... but perhaps not in the usual scenarios some might imagine that to happen (fessing up to Damian she can read minds, Loid desperately needing intel that only Anya is able to glean, etc.). There are a lot of parallels between characters in Spy x Family, and I'm aware that there's very little evidence for it at this time, but I'd like to direct people's attention to character art choices by Endo. Please note that while I haven't read the manga yet, I have looked at the wiki and absorbed things through Tumblr, so apologies if something is off or I'm not fully informed on something.

It's rather difficult to find a good picture of Desmond showcasing this, but something that greatly interests me is the fact that he has two scars on either side of his head in direct parallel to one another. Similarly, Anya's hair was styled in a similar way in the past, as are her horn hair pins/clips that she has in the present. It's entirely possible I'm reading far too deeply into this and especially so for a character we know almost nothing about but I suspect that this is purposeful. Let's explore that a bit, shall we? The introduction of Bond isn't just to complete the image of the near picture perfect nuclear family (seriously, we're only missing the other 1.5 children bit and it's likely that a baby will be born or adopted by the series' end to round it out, I feel); instead, I think he performs a much more important function: it showcases that in this world there are a lot of powers related to the mind that exist and it obviously isn't something unique to Anya herself. Ostania's human experiments were something that were even mentioned during wartime but have very clearly continued either in the not too distant past or are still ongoing. Anya's designated number, 007, while a cheeky nod to James Bond also indicates that the scientists had previous subjects - some of whom might very well still be alive. I suspect that Desmond is one of them or at least I could see him having been an esper all this time. One of the few character beats we know for certain about him is that he apparently finds it impossible that human beings can truly relate to one another. On one level, there could be numerous reasons for that; he would certainly be old enough to have fought in the Westalis-Ostania war (a parallel to Twilight's life) and he could very well have lost those important to him while away on the front lines, echoing Yor's personal history (it's quite interesting to me that we haven't had a mother mentioned at all for Demetrius or Damian and their age gap suggests a possible second marriage). The other thing is that, to me, raising the stakes in the narrative itself would be for Anya to finally get her wish to go to Damian's house... and she proceeds to find out Papa's target is just like her, perhaps immediately giving everything about Operation Strix away if he can actively dig around in someone's memories rather than just reading thoughts like they're on a teleprompter. Suddenly, Agent Twilight/Loid is in immediate danger and even possibly Yor if the Garden aren't on the Ostanian state's side. Even if none of what I suggested about his life is true, then his seeming distrust of others could very well be framed that for him there's no filter for other people and who they really are, and if not that, then I could see him feeling smugly superior to those he sees as beneath him. The National Unity Party is reactionary; such ideas are baked into it. Spy x Family likes having layers to its characters even though it's primarily a comedy manga/anime. Our heroes have been given shades of gray, sometimes quite dark, and I suspect that Endo will do much the same for its villain. That isn't to say that Desmond's beliefs or person ultimately turn out to be good but that there is almost certainly a reason for why he thinks the way he does, perhaps one that's more than a little sad. Never being able to truly see the good in anyone when you can see all of their misdeeds would be an excellent way to showcase that IMHO.

[dirty-brainrot]

(Artist)

Finally! A oneshot! But it's Rohan... Next I'll do pucci hc and hopefully I can finish it before next Friday.

Pairing: Kishibe Rohan x Reader

Doing your peaceful research in a manga store, you hummed a tune and let your hand glide over the cold plastic covers of new books until you find a unwrapped comic book. What kind of research could be going on here? Art research purposes.

"Y/N!" A random voice calls out to you with no warning, resulting in you getting startled and dropping the costly manga from your hands. "Oh! I'm sorry for startling you, Y/N." A familiar white-haired short boy apologizes and immediately bows as an act of apology.

"Koichi?" The boy looks up and sheepishly smiles at you with a nod. He reached out to grab the fallen manga but when he saw the cover he immediately stopped and squealed, going into fanboy mode. Snatching the book off the floor, he faces towards you with a wide smile as well as his eyes sparkling almost like stars.

"You—You read Pink Dark Boy too, Y/N?!" He exclaimed while you made a hushing motion with your finger on your lips after noticing the weird looks of the other customer on you two. Koichi lowers his voice and blushes in embarrassment.

"Well... I do read them but I mostly use them as references when I draw. The art style... The color palette and the dynamic poses. Others use magazines... Maybe I should use magazines or I could watch fashion shows for character design— Ah, I'm rambling again!" You cover your mouth. Now it was your turn to be embarrassed.

The short boy hands you the manga and nods slowly, somewhat understanding what you've said despite spouting all of it like a rapper. (He possibly nodded to be not rude.) "Anyway, I should buy this before it all runs out of stock again. People seem to like this manga a lot... Maybe I could learn." You head to the counter, grabbing some more colorful comic book/manga for references and entertainment on your way with Koichi trailing behind you and checking some too.

"Y/N, maybe I could bring you to Rohan-sensei?-" He looks around the surroundings before going on his tippy toes to whisper in your ear. (Of course, you slightly bent down for him to reach your ear due to the height differences.) "-I know him and his place so maybe If you want you can have an artist to artist talk?"

The cashier looks at the two of you weirdly but hands you your change and a paper bag. "Hmm... Why not? You know him and I'm happy to meet another artist."

You stood to your height fully before asking him, "Why were we whispering?" He rubs the back of his neck almost apologetically. "I didn't want to leak his address... Since he's REALLY famous" Taking that as a valid response, you hummed and followed him.

★

"Rohan-sensei! I'm here with a friend!" He balls his hand into a fist and knocks on the door. Koichi's small fist makes the knocking sound much more quieter than intended. "...Will this Rohan mind us intruding him at this time...?" He shakes his head and positions half of his body to face you whilst he left his hand to hover on the door, ready to knock again.

"He usually doesn't mind as long as it isn't Josuke. Or... Anyone he doesn't know but you're with me so it's okay." You nod, confused. 'Why would he not allow Josuke in? He's a very nice guy. He even helped me gather some art supplies while I was bedridden.' You continue to ponder, waiting.

Koichi knocks on the door once again, this time a bit louder taking you out of your thoughts, but before his hand landed on the refined wood a hand shot out from the slight crack making Koichi and you scream in terror. "R-Rohan-Sensei! There's no need for you to k-keep doing that-"

The door swung to the side and revealed the so-called "Rohan". A man in his middle 20's with a green shade of side-swept hair. He wore a black shirt... With holes? Or it could be skin-toned patterns that could make it look like holes. Along with red baggy pants and a large green and purple necklace with a large pen tip decorated in the middle.

"I know but you're very expressive when you're startled or scared." He makes an ominous and menacing smile then his eyes wander over your figure by the corner and looks at you, judgingly.

"Hm? Who's this?" He lets go of Koichi's wrist and looks at you, eyeing you up and down. "L/N, F/N. Nice to meet you." You furrow your brows at him, trying to remember where you've seen his face. You could've sworn you saw his face somewhere but can't recall where exactly.

"Uhm... Yeah... Rohan-Sensei meet Y/N. Y/N meet Rohan-Sensei, the creator of the pink dark boy." Your eyes widen and you made an "oooh!" sound along with it. "I remember you seeing at the back of a pink dark boy manga! It's nice to meet a fellow artist." Placing your hand out for him to shake, he ignores it. You could've sworn he looked at it in disgust... Could've been your imagination though.

A subtle frown appeared on your face but you immediately changed it into a smile. He was heavily staring at you, watching every movement of your face.

"What brings you here?" He asks before opening the door widely for you two to enter.

As you were about to enter, you see from the corner of your eye, Koichi was removing his shoe. Halting in your steps, you quickly removed your shoes before accidentally disrespecting him in his home.

"Y/N wanted some inspiration for her art!" The boy cheerfully exclaims after taking off his shoes. Rohan hummed in affirmation, taking you two to his workspace.

Once Rohan got near his desk, he grabbed a piece of paper along with a pen. Drawing on it as his hand glides across the paper with ease. It was fascinating, to see an artist draw without using a pencil for guidelines also drawing inhumanely fast was a surreal experience. Not to mention he drew whilst standing.

He finished it within less than a minute and shows you and Koichi the sketch. "Oh!" You exclaim in surprise. Not really sure if it's considered as a sketch... "You draw really quick!..." You stare at the drawing in awe. It had every single detail of your face, from the slight wrinkles and beauty marks. He got everything down!

"This... Is really good... But-" Looking up his face, he had a sour expression upon hearing the last part. A little bit of criticism won't hurt anyone right? "You draw too quick. It's good? Lacks on some parts... But you shouldn't just rush art-"

"And who are you to tell me that?" Not taking the unwelcomed criticism, he squints and glares at you. "Like I said, a fellow artist!" You beam innocently, making him scoff and roll his eyes. "Are you really?" You nod, the bright smile dissipating and turning into hesitancy. "Yeah!..."

Rohan gestures to his work table. "Y/N, I'd like to see your artwork." Looking at Koichi, the small boy looks up at you expectantly. Since you left your sketchbook at home, you looked at backed to Rohan. "I don't have any on me now... Maybe some other day?" Fumbling with your bag, you were embarrassed after realizing the mistake of criticizing him.

"Or you could draw now." It didn't sound like a request, it sounded more of a demand. Who knew real-life mangakas could be this mean.

"Oh... Alright then. Maybe I can whip up a small sketch?" You look at his table and back to him as if you were asking permission. "Go for it then" Understanding what you meant, he sways his hand back and forth, giving you permission to touch his materials.

Might as well since Rohan had a perfect setup ready to go. On his table, placed an empty piece of paper on his desk and an assortment of pencils (well, an assortment of art supplies rather). Grabbing a 2H pencil, you began to gracefully move your hands around the canvas, sometimes alternating between pencils to add volume to the drawing.

It was Koichi and Yukako. A memory you had of them earlier before they part ways. Yukako was bent down, giving Koichi a kiss on the forehead.

"..." The flamboyant man grabs the piece of paper, examining it, whilst Koichi stood on his tippy toes to take a look at the piece. It's was hard to tell what he thought of your drawing since he kept a sassy look on his face.

"Woah! It looks great Y/N! I thought it takes you several days?" Koichi praises you as he stares at the drawing in awe.

You thanked Koichi "If painted, yeah. Colors aren't my strongest suit plus anatomy is hard..." Rohan was quiet, inspecting your art closely. Looking at each and every detail, careful not to spread the pencil's pigment everywhere.

"I'm sure you can do better than that." He mocks you as he gives the drawing over to Koichi. The little man looks at the art one last time and looks at him dumfounded while you smile with your newfound confidence. "Is this a challenge, Mr. Kishibe?"

He snickers and ushers you away from the seat. "Maybe..." Answered him in a mocking tone. Placing the pencils back to its locations, you stood up.

"Oh! I have an even better idea if you're planning to challenge me."

"Hmph... Go on."

"I'll admit, you draw really fast so I doubt that I would beat you but! What if we painted? Quality over quantity. And we'll have Koichi rate it and choose the winner!" You both turned your heads over to Koichi at the same time. He could feel the air become tense as both annoyances radiates from both of you. With shadows covering both of your faces, the two of you tower over the poor boy, expecting some sort of answer. Your sickly sweet smile didn't help, in fact, it made him more frightened.

"U-Uhm... Sure. But can I keep this drawing..?"

The moment you walked to the familiar streets of your home, far from Rohan's home, your suave façade disappeared and a panicked expression took over. "Gah! I don't know why I challenged an artist that's probably 10 times greater than me!" You grabbed Koichi by the shoulder and gently rocked him back and forth.

"I didn't even know what I was saying when I was criticizing him!" Hiding your face behind your hands, you shook your head. Cringing from the memory.

"But what do you think of him?" He questions you, carefully handling the art you drew planning to show it to Yukako. Glancing back to him and Rohan's home, you answered with a grin. "I think overall... he's pretty neat!"

★

Rohan peeks from his binds watching you interact with Koichi. He never thought to be oddly attracted to you... Your brash actions of challenging a professional artist but yet you were shy of your own talent. Could this be love at first sight? "No... What am I saying?!" He shakes his head at the thought of it but his flustered cheeks say it all.

[taohs]

tanchirou’s coloring tutorial

hello!! i was asked to make a tutorial showing how i color a while ago, so here it is! i’m honestly not the best at explaining at all so i’m very sorry if i lose you somewhere along the way ;; you can always come ask me to clarify anything, my dms are open to everyone :) 

also a quick disclaimer: this tutorial will only be focused on coloring, so i won’t be showing you how to redraw lineart. however if you are interested in what programs i use, i use clip studio paint to redraw and photoshop to color 

besides this tutorial, i also want to link some others that are great for tips & learning!!

katsuke’s coloring tutorial

sugawara’s coloring tutorial 

dicennio’s coloring tutorial

and without further ado, let’s go goooo

since coloring given is therapeutic for me, i’ll be using this manga cap for the tutorial: 

first step: render, sharpening, psd

take your image, resize and sharpen accordingly to your liking! even though i have a lineart here, it is something that i have gotten into very recently and i have been able to achieve nice results in the past even without it. 

some tips: 

i find it easiest to use the pen tool to erase any background or redraw any lines. the eraser is also helpful for places that are harder to cut out.

play around with the levels adjustment before coloring. this can make your edit look sharper and cleaner if regular sharpening doesn’t do the trick.

if i ever need to clean something on normal mangacaps, i make a new layer above and then color it with a white brush like so: 

i always like to add my psd before i start coloring, and simply make final adjustments with it later on (but this comes down to personal preferences as well). i have a psd that i’ve made for manga colorings, so the first thing i’ll do is just slap it on top of my panel 

after adding my psd: 

second step: base colors

fill in your base colors! when looking for what colors i want to use, i usually look for the character’s anime pictures as a reference. for mafuyu, i chose this picture

all my layers are set on top of the lineart as multiply. this is how my edit looks after filling in the base colors: 

if at any point you don’t like how a certain color comes out, use the hue/saturation tool to adjust it!!

use a new layer for everything (eyes, hair, skin, etc.) so that it’s easy to fix if you ever need to go back

third step: shadows and blush

add your shadings! 

i’m pretty amateur with this, but usually i try to imagine where the light source might be coming from and shade in the part where it seems like the light wouldn’t hit. for this picture, i imagined that the light will be coming from the right side of mafuyu’s face, so everything on the left side will be darker. this process definitely comes more intuitively after a while, so practice lots!

i like to set my shading as multiply on top of my base colors on 50% opacity

use the smudge and/or blur tool for a softer effect on the shading and to blend it nicely with the skin

i also pay close attention to the areas under the hair, neck and around the ears. using the same color that i did for the first shading, i will create a new layer, set is as multiply on 50% opacity, and shade in those parts as well. i won’t take the extra step of blurring it with the rest of the skin this time

next, using a pink color, i’ll color in the cheeks and mouth using a softer brush

fourth step: lighting

 using a pastel color that matches the background, i’ll shade the right side of mafuyu’s hair to make it brighter (again, that’s where i imagine the light will be hitting him). this layer is set to soft light. 

then to change the color of the lineart and make everything bright and pretty in general, i’ll choose a dark red color and set it to screen on top of everything else. 

some tips:

you can try to see what colors work for you on your own edit by using the hues/saturation tool again. aside from red, i saw that orange and brown are also nice to color with

you can also try and set it to lighten instead of screen to see what kinds of effects you can get. go with whichever one you like more

fifth step: extra effects

this part is really fun for me and also gives me a chance to explore my creativity a lot! here i’ll add highlight to his hair wherever i want, to his face, eyes, etc. all of these are done with either the pen tool or the brush tool set at size 1. 

the modes that i like to play with the most for this is either soft light or overlay 

if you’ve ever seen me stream my colorings in the DailyAnime discord, you would see that i always use a looot of layers to experiment with things. so honestly just go wild with your colors!! don’t limit yourself!! :’)

lastly, i’ll be adding any extra things that i want such as speech bubbles and sparkles in his hair. i will also add some noise to the skin and the hair to make it look nicer too. here’s the final product 

aaannnddd..... that’s basically it! i use the exact same coloring method for posts like these (x), (x), (x). hopefully this tutorial is able to help at least one of you! ^^

(and a quick thank you to narumii @narumii-chan, zebra @reddriot​ and jaime @itsyuurikatsuki​ for helping me look over this tutorial ♡ love you all sm )

[gojology]

Jealousy. (1/3)

𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆 | im a sucker for jealous teenage gojo and thats all u have to know

𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 | Teen! Gojo Satoru x Gender Neutral Reader

𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 | 1236

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 | Light Cursing. ALL CHARACTERS HERE ARE AGED DOWN FROM PRESENT ANIME/MANGA INTO WHEN THEY WERE TEENAGERS. 

𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 | Gojo hates whenever you spend time with Geto. Unfortunately, you do that more than half the time. He can’t put a finger on it, but he has a feeling of dread whenever he sees Geto with you, and silently wishes it’s him. Shoko tries helping.   Gojo’s eyes glared at you and Geto, he was grateful his eyes were concealed behind his dark shades. A beautiful warm orangey-yellow coated you two both, Gojo noted how golden hour suited you so well, but for once paid no mind to Geto. Both of you were sweating incredibly hard, but didn’t seem to mind the sticky skin and the clothing.

  You were profusely giggling, and every time you caught your breath, Geto would tickle you again and you’d burst into a fit of giggles, and the cycle would repeat.

   Your cans of Pepsi sat untouched, not even the caps were opened.   Grumbling, Gojo took another swig out of his second energy drink. Still looking at the both of you through his glasses. He sat down on a bench, hunched over. Even though he hated the very sight of you hanging out and being so friendly with each other, he didn’t want to leave.

    Was it fear of Geto kissing you without Gojo’s vision cast upon you two?

 “Stalking (Y/N) and Geto again?” a familiar serious voice grumbled, Gojo’s head swung around before he realized Shoko was sitting down on the bench next to him. She crossed her leg, Shoko’s shoulder length hair ruffled a bit in the weak breeze as she shifted her gaze towards him.

   Gojo blinked, cursing himself for being so obvious in his stalking endeavors. It would be too useless to even argue, trying to tell Shoko that he wasn’t even looking at them, and rather very interested at a random bench that just so happened to be next to the pair was comparable to just straight up admitting that you had a crush on (Y/N).

 “This is my first time even lookin at the two, fuck are you talking about, saying again?” Gojo placed a hand on his chest, leaning backwards a little. Grinning a little while taking another generous swig of his energy drink. “Free entertainment, I’d rather look at them then some fucking birds flying by.”

 “Mmm. Yeah okay.” Shoko nodded sarcastically, and then burst into a fit of giggles.

 “What?”

 “Holy shit, Satoru.” Shoko was now holding her stomach. Wiping the corners of her eyes. It had been a while since he had seen Shoko laugh like that, she was always doom and gloom all the time. Gojo couldn’t quite put a finger on why she was laughing, though.

 “I’m not that stupid, Satoru.” laughing again, opening her drink loudly, then taking a short sip of her canned coffee. I’m pretty sure I see you looking at (Y/N) more then I see you gloating to some dumb schoolgirls in public.”  

 “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”

 “You get defensive when you’re lying.” Shoko stuck her pinky out, her eyes bore into his. Gulping down the rest of her drink. She crushed it with a singular hand, examining the wrinkles and folds in the now compressed and beyond repair tin.

 “I do not! You’re accusing me of some weird ass shit, you know.” Gojo spat out, an unfamiliar feeling bubbling inside of him. He had never felt this before. Playing with the hem of his pocket a little, he reached for his emergency candy that he always had in his back pocket, he hated awkward situations like this. He stared down at Shoko, heart beating quickly for some unbeknownst reason.

 He played a little with the wrapper in his pocket, while Shoko leaned her back on the bench, looking at the sky. She crossed her arms, setting the crushed can on the splintered wood bench, blowing on a stray hair on her face. “Whatever, Satoru.” she grinned, replying a little later. She stood up, casually throwing the can into the nearby trashcan. She shoved her hands into her pockets, walking down the gravel path.

 As her figure grew farther and farther into the distance, Gojo sighed, realizing that he had completely forgotten about you and Geto.

 He turned his head over his shoulder, this time not as obviously. You and Geto were still giggling with each other, like a stupid couple. Your Pepsi cans still sat untouched, water dripping down the both of them. It was like the two of you forgot Gojo or Shoko were ever there.

 He spat at the ground, guzzling down the remaining energy drink. Crushing the can, just like Shoko had done but with way more aggression, Gojo angrily threw it into the trashcan, grinding his teeth. ‧₊˚✩彡.   “AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” You screamed, arms up in the air, hair blowing in the wind. Geto was chasing after you around the grass field, Gojo’s legs splayed out, entranced by the two of you running around in circles.   “I’M GONNA FUCKING GET YOU, (Y/N)!” Geto grabbed at the air, running at you. You squealed loudly, running even faster.   Gojo mindlessly took a bite out of a sandwich, spitting out a tomato. He was sitting on a picnic blanket under the shade of an incredibly large tree, enjoying the cool against his sweaty, hot skin. Yet, not once considering taking his glasses off even though the sun wasn’t even in his way.    He was wearing a more casual t-shirt and a pair of shorts, compared to his usual Jujutsu Tech uniform. He enjoyed the casual wear, and felt like a normal teen for once, doing normal teen things.   “Gross.”   Shoko tilted her head, her legs also splayed out. She was also looking at you and Geto running around, yelping turned into giggling as Geto finally tagged you.   “The tomato or the lovebirds?”   “Both.” Gojo snickered, looking down. The familiar, negative feeling expanded inside of him again. It always occurred when he saw you and Geto having fun.   “Mmmm.” Shoko looked down on the picnic blanket, it had been custom decorated by the group. It was a group celebration after the crew had defeated all of the curses in a certain small village. Gojo had drawn an incredibly large stick figure, with his iconic pair of black circular sunglasses and his hair. A tiny person stood next to him, with a smiley face. A heart between the two.   He had also drawn multiple penises, and a pair of incredibly circular breasts, but that was besides the point. Shoko speculated that Gojo probably had a crush on (Y/N). If he didn’t, Shoko figured he just wanted (Y/N) in his bed, one or another.   It didn’t take a lot to figure Gojo out. Shoko wondered how stupid (Y/N) could be, not noticing Gojo’s crush when he obliviously stared at them like an absolute buffoon.   On the other side, Geto and (Y/N) decided to collaborate together, Geto had drawn (Y/N), and (Y/N) had drawn Geto.     Both of them were hideous.     “Ugly, right?” Gojo scoffed, looking down at the drawings. Silently wishing that he was in Geto’s place.    “How’d you know I was staring at the drawings?” Shoko shot back, a triumphant, cocky smirk on her face.     Gojo whistled, leaning on the tree trunk. His head resting on his hands, which he had propped up to rest his head against.     “Strong people just know these things.”     Gojo furiously dug into the ice box, yanking out a chilled, sugary pink lemonade. He held it to his forehead and sighed in relief.     Shoko turned over, now looking at Gojo’s ear. She narrowed her eyes.    “Satoru, have you ever considered that you have a crush on (Y/N)?”    

[kyberphilosopher]

Lᴇx Tᴀʟɪᴏɴɪꜱ

Word Count: 3285

Warnings: graphic descriptions of gore, manga spoilers following the 4th line of stars.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. 

"An eye for an eye" (Biblical Hebrew: עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן‎) or the law of retaliation (Latin: lex talionis) is the principle that a person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree by the injured party.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Gone. Your eye, was gone.

There was no warning, no time given for you to say your farewell. You didn’t have the time to even register what was about to happen. You had seen him, heard the bells and then... 

Well, you must’ve known what the price for this was going to be to some degree. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have bothered, would you? So, there in lies the catch. All the feelings going through your brain right now are based on your own individual decision, and the only person responsible for the consequences of that decision is you. 

“Come on, you have to eat, Y/N,” Historia practically sobs. She holds a spoon with a glop of banana colored mush on it, hoping to slip it in between your lips so you can just accept some kind of sustenance. But you don’t, and you won’t. You haven’t since the incident. “Please.”

You don’t say anything to the girl. You don’t even meet her eyes. You only stare at your own lap, giving her a nice view of your long, soft, sad eyelashes. The gauze wrapped around half of your head is threaded between pieces of your hair messily, and your shoulders have the hunch of that of defeat. 

Historia closes her pink lips, and puts the spoon back in the wooden bowl. “You just eat whenever you’re ready, then,” she tells you softly, and she places it on the nightstand to your right. Although she is young and nurturing, she doesn’t dare push you. The petite girl closes the door behind her, wondering if it would’ve been better to shove the food down your throat. 

It wouldn’t have mattered. You probably would’ve just stuck your own fingers down your esophagus as well, and then the banana mush never would’ve even reached your stomach. 

It felt like you’d misplaced something very important. It feels like something is missing. Something you’d been tasked to protect since birth, and had formed a friendship with. And now it was gone, and you had failed both the friendship and yourself. Your left eye wasn’t something you could just grow back, either. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. And now it’s gone for good. 

Your head lifts up slowly, and you’re allowed to catch a glimpse of yourself in the wooden mirror across the room. It doesn’t take long for the loathing to boil inside of you like venom. 

The one good eye you have is rung with tired darkness. A maroon, chestnut brown shade of gray lingers right under your bottom lashes starkly. The same lashes are tiredly clumped together in a particularly unflattering way. The right half of your face feels ice cold, and the left magma hot. The bandages around your head have scrunched up pieces of your hair, and they rub against your cheeks tightly at any slight movement. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least. But the slightest thought of what these bandages cover makes you want to scream your throat bloody.

The moment you pull the gauze away is the moment you see the socket of your own eye, exposing it to infection and dirty air. You’ll see a hole, a stark reminder of the missing something that you’ll never be able to replace. You might as well have a hole in your ridiculous heart at this point. 

And it was for what?

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

The bells rang every time you thought of him. 

Sometimes they were loud, but usually they were soft. You hadn’t heard them since childhood, but you couldn’t place the exact context of them. You knew, at least, that they were made of bronze, but that didn’t help much at all. And now that had appeared in your head again, and they were fused to the man you’d taken a bullet for. 

Historia and Hange seemed to be the only two who would visit you regularly. You’d see other comrades of yours in the next room when the door was open, but you had a preference for keeping it closed. Besides those two, you knew Armin and that Mikasa girl had been in your room as well. Sasha Blouse once came to take the food you hadn’t eaten. There was a vague memory of Connie Springer in your room, but you had been too preoccupied with hiding your face to receive a complete vision. 

Nobody really saw you for days. You kept yourself buried in the scratchy blankets, ashamed of what you had done to yourself. You accepted no food. Questions began to arise of whether or not you were regularly bathing anymore. At least you were able to take yourself to the chamber pot when needed, but you refused to look at your reflection on any surface. Otherwise, you feared you’d hear the bells again. 

Through everyone that had at least come to check on you once, he never had. You saw no signs of him at all around the area. You couldn’t feel his presence in your room at any single moment. At was almost as if the man had become a ghost, and maybe he had. Maybe this was another missing piece you’d have to live with, and maybe it was also bound in permanence. 

You lost your eye, so that he could keep his life. And he hadn’t even thought to show up. 

Not that you wanted to see him. If he had thought to show up, you hadn’t a clue what you would’ve said. You couldn’t explain your own actions, and you couldn’t ask him to avenge your loss. As you’d come to terms with before, this was all your doing. This was the consequence of your choice. Whatever consequences are born from that original consequence- well... that was on you too. 

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*. 

“Y/N, when was the last time you ate?” Historia frowns, her shoulders sinking with sympathy. 

You stare at your lap still, with one good eye steady as it’ll ever be. 

“It doesn’t matter,” you answer after a moment, voice low. 

“What are you talking about?” the girl questions, the corners of her eyes pricking with tears. “Of course your health matters. You saved our lives out there.” 

And there they are. The bells. 

You’re a fool. You can’t do anything right, can you?

“I’m not hungry.”

“Please,” Historia practically wheezes. “For me. Just a bite.”

You still don’t move. You blink slowly, mesmerized by the dust particles you can see from the light of the setting sun, which streams through the glass of the windows behind you. 

In a flat, firm, low tone, you tell her simply. “No.”

She inhales sharply, as if she was keeping herself from tears. And you’re not doing it to make her feel like she’s not a human, or someone you distrust. It’s because with the loss of your eye comes a deep, dark hatred for yourself that you didn’t know human beings could even possess. To put it simply, you didn’t think you deserved to eat. 

Historia’s chair scoots against the floor. You see her movement out of the corner of your eye, and hear the old floorboards creak under what little weight she possesses. Then you feel even more hatred towards yourself for wasting her time and making her feel the same way that you had. 

Well, you’re certain you don’t deserve to eat now. 

There’s mumbling by the doorway. 

“She told me she wouldn’t... Just seems really out of it lately... I tried to... Okay.”

Historia’s pretty little golden head disappears from your room and around the corner, out of sight. Instead, there is another figure in the doorway, facing you. 

The bells come back. 

“I heard you wouldn’t eat,” the smooth voice calls to you. You can hear his footsteps against the wood. 

They’re getting loud. 

“Did you not hear me? I’m talking to you.”

You lift your tired head up. Your right eye, pupil big with dilation as if you were high off pain, drowns out all other color. Your face is pale, half sweaty. You’re sick, inside and out. 

Immediately, your mouth is forced open. Something hits the back of your throat roughly, and your teeth sink down from being stuffed. 

Levi shoves the piece of bread further into your face. It scuffs against all corners of your maw, dry crumbs falling down to your stomach. Your taste buds explode with an overwhelming dusty flavor after having nothing for days. It almost burns. But despite the wet scoffs you give off from gagging against the material, the man doesn’t back down or away. 

“Are you gonna eat it yourself? Or will I have to force this down your throat?” he questions- no- demands an answer from you. You’ve closed your eye from the contact, and it’s gone blurry from the abruptness of the situation. But you can picture your comrades face clear as day. 

His gray eyes will be narrow as usual. His expression will be set in stone. He will not hesitate or falter to do as he has said, and he won’t feel bad about it either. You know this. And you’re right, too. The man is steady as ever, and if anyone was ordered to guess what he was thinking, they wouldn’t have a clue on how to read him. 

No. You won’t eat. You can’t stop yourself from feeling sick at the very thought of rewarding yourself. Levi creases his eyebrows slightly, and his fingers press the piece of food farther down your esophagus. Now it’s hurting. 

“I guess I will then,” Levi speaks out. 

You don’t have a choice. Every time your gag reflex tries to push the bread away, Levi’s palm is there to keep it in place. It burns and hurts, and you wonder if bread like this has the ability to make your soft inner skin bleed. You concede.

Your teeth bite down fully, breaking off a fair portion of the roll. It makes your jaw sore from the weight of it, and Levi’s hand doesn’t move away. He watches your movements closely, making sure that you’re doing what you appear to be. He won’t take the chance. 

After chewing for what must be a lengthy forty-five seconds, you hold the mushed pieces of dough on the back of your tongue. You can’t do it. You can’t make yourself eat. 

“Swallow it,” Levi orders from above you, his voice cold and commanding. 

You concede again. 

The dough slips down in pieces, aided by saliva and awaited by your empty tummy. 

Levi finally pulls the remaining half of bread away from your lips, but doesn’t change his position of standing over you. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he mutters as he places himself in Historia’s former seat.

Your good eye opens and looks over at him, still glossy from budding tears. You feel out of breath. Your nose has gone pink. God, he could’ve suffocated you right then and there. 

Levi’s face is still and calm as always. His frown is ever present, and his dark hair falls the same. The only thing out of place is the fact that he stands out of uniform, in a white button up, cravat, dark vest and dress jacket. On another day, you would’ve thought it looked nice on him. Today, you have to try not to vomit all over it. 

He reaches for a wooden bowl that Historia left on the nightstand earlier. It’s filled with that banana colored mush she keeps insisting you eat. When Levi takes it into his hands, his nose inhales a little whiff. 

“Well, no wonder you won’t eat this,” he says, staring down into it. “It smells like shit.” Then, he takes the spoon from inside, and raises it into the air. “Open wide.”

No. There’s no way in hell. 

The bells are loud as you turn your head the other way. You can’t bear the sight of him, or food. 

“If you won’t take it,” Levi frowns angrily, “I’ll have no problem forcing it into you again.”

Who fucking cares, Levi? Just please, stop looking at me. 

Your left hand reaches up to the bandages over what used to be your eye. You fit your palm over it in shame, as if that would keep him from noticing what had become of you. 

“It’s been a week since this happened, and you haven’t talked about it to anybody,” you hear Levi say. “Hange says you’re not taking your medicine, either.”

Shut up. Shut up. Please, the bells are so loud. 

Cold fingers against your own turn to warm ones. Levi’s digits pat your own off your face, and then around your ear to find where the bandage ends. 

Your opposite hand reaches up to catch his wrist softly, asking him to stop without saying a word. 

Levi pauses for a moment, watching you stare off into space with exhaustion. Then he shakes your hand away gently, and continues his movement. 

His nails scrape against the end of the rope. Then he peels the bandage back, and it begins falling away from your head in a circle. Loop by loop, a layer of gauze strays away from your face. The anticipation of seeing what’s underneath is brewing inside of the man slowly, while the depression of knowing what’s to come has made you quiet as a stone. 

Finally, the last layer lays against your skin. Once Levi’s fingers pull this away, you’ll be bare to him. He’ll be able to see what you lost, but never locate it. Just as you have. 

Levi continues. 

The gauze falls away at last, revealing what had been covered. 

His eyes widen, both of them. You can’t say the same. 

Where your left eye once was was now a hole. It had layers, and he could see the socket underneath all of them. But it’s ridged and dark, almost as if it were burned. Some parts of your eye are black, others deep purple. There are traces of smeared blood around the edges it all. And, quite frankly, it looks almost glossy with some type of ooze. 

“Does it look bad?” you whisper finally, still staring off into nothingness. 

Levi tenses up, staring into the void. In all honesty, it looks absolutely horrific. Even if it was properly cleaned and patched up, it would be disgusting. It must be one of the most gruesome things Levi has ever seen- and he’s seen plenty of gruesome things.

“When the bastard shot at you,” Levi begins with a calm voice, “did it hurt?”

Kenny Ackerman. The bastard.

You don’t say a single word for a full minute. “No,” you finally decide. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

Humanity’s strongest breathes out through his nose with stress, but it’s silent. “What possessed you to do this, then?”

You’re silent once more. You’d always been a little on the quieter side of things, for as long as Levi had known you. But this was different. This was sad, and still, and devoid of life. He considers just walking away with acceptance of knowing he won’t get anything out of you.

“I just thought,” your voice comes out hoarse, “it was either you or me.”

Dark pupils dilate, grey irises enlarge. “You took the shot for me.”

The eye on the right blinks slowly. “I didn’t want you to die.”

Levi goes completely still. His shoulders square and the muscles in his back tense. The inside of his mouth melts dry, and the only thing moving in the room are the specks of dust illuminated by the light.

“I see.”

He remembers it all so clearly. He saw the flash of Kenny’s gun, weighed his chances of living. A hand pushes his face up from his jaw and he’s shoved backwards. The nails of his assailant had cut into his skin, but his life had been spared in the process.

Instead of recounting this, Levi prompts, “What made you think that was a good idea?”

You don’t answer at all, which doesn’t surprise the stoic man. He’s not sure he would, either. But he wonders if it’s because you know the answer, or because you don’t.

“Why didn’t you come to visit me, Levi?”

A soft breeze races into the room. Strands of your hair glint and swirl softly. “I thought you would’ve been here sooner.”

The truth was that Levi just didn’t want to see you. But that was because he knew the answer to why. What possible explanation could the man have given you that justified your sacrifice? How would he have shown his appreciation, or annoyance, or simple thankfulness that you’d even survived?

Your long, slim fingers run against each other in short, little pats, almost like a child. “Is it because you hate me I wonder?” Then, your face looks up to the ceiling, exposing your throat to the air. “No. You can’t hear them, can you?”

“Hear what?” Levi knits his brows in question.

“You hear them so often at funerals,” you continue, ignoring Levi’s inquiry. “Or weddings. Or homecomings.”

Y/N is out of it, Levi decides. I’ll get nothing out of her.

“If I don’t bother asking, will you just eat?”

“...funerals...”

Levi picks up the bowl of shit scented banana mush, and runs the spoon through it. With a hefty pile in the dip, he lifts it up, and slips it in between your unaware lips. You don’t struggle, and you even chew and swallow. The corners of your mouth upturn softer than softly after Levi gives you two more bites. “Wouldn’t be so bad.”

Levi doesn’t have the heart to ask what you’re talking about. Though he suspects it might be the prospect of your own funeral, he says nothing. Your death isn’t something he’s keen on thinking about. Not with all the time he’s spent trusting in you, admiring in you. It’s painful to imagine a life without you present, or even beside him. But now you’ve forced the idea onto him because of your own selflessness. At this, Levi concludes that it should’ve been him who took the shot, not you.

“We can talk about what’s not so bad after you eat.”

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*. 

Levi touches his palm to the bandage over his right eye. Gone. Gone for good.

Why do I have to think of her now? he asks himself, replaying the image of your ghastly missing piece over. Is this how she felt?

Like something’s missing? Questioning if the loss of something so valuable was worth it? You hadn’t questioned it for a second. If Levi had asked you if having your eye blown out for him was a fair price for his survival, you both knew what you would’ve answered in a heartbeat. Maybe he should’ve before you had died.

As the wagon bumps on the rickety dirt road, the soldier clenches the fingers he has left. His head drops back, and he looks up to the pale blue sky. Dark hair brushes against his nape, green cloak sticky with blood. Through the eye he can see out of, he makes out a cloud in the shape of you, and listens to the distant ringing of the bell.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*. 

I hope everyone who reads this is in bittersweet pain. Happy holiday season. 

Also if anyone has any ideas on how to write Levi better please let me know. I think I captured his character okay, but I want to do him justice. pullup hoe.

[akirasbangs]

Touya is a very rich boy, (as is stated when his father retires, he earned about a hundred million yen a year) and as such he wears clothes that are very expensive. Most of his clothes are obviously designer clothes, and he has a quite large variety. He isn't an active person, and he is rather vain, so him wearing casual jeans or baggy clothes wouldn't fit his personality. He usually wears dress pants combined with a shirt and a pullover, or a turtle neck. He wears very classical black shoes, also something very expensive. He's a well bred boy, and it's not difficult to believe that his mother's taste reflects his choices - but he is also very feminine, which is only emphasized in this.

This wonderful article by Lowaina ✨✨ I want to thank her for writing this.

.

.

💚 Akira no Fashion 💚

In that manga, I think Akira's style thoughtfully suits his personality. His clothes were well drawn by Obata-sensei. I love his sense of fashion!

A portrait of Akira when he was a young boy. He looks perfectly elegant as a Go prodigy. Little Touya must be wearing an expensive tailored suit! Its colour matches his shirt. I think his tie looks great too. And his determined eyes though. And oh.. his habit of playing with his cuff is adorable isn't it?!

.

.

.

Akira in his Kaio junior uniform. It has a good design. Still, those sharp gaze though.

.

.

.

This violet suit. I agree with the article above that this set seems to be silk/silk mix designer set. And violet and pink go well together. I think the choice of colour also reflects his personality. It looks good on him.

.

.

.

This shade of red looks good on him too!This is not just a buttoned plain red shirt. I love that lacing detail on it. It makes him look... interesting. Everything is perfect, the white trousers, leather shoes, and that cute little belt.

.

.

.

It's getting chilly so he grabbed his stripy black-and-white turtleneck and matched it with this leather black jacket. Not a bad taste at all. Instead, he looks like a cool, adorable boy. Love skinny jeans on him ✨

.

.

.

Ahhhh. I find this an effortless smart casual look. The way he pulled up that collar. His cozy jumper. Just look at him matching all the layers perfectly.

.

.

.

His checkered trench coat. (while Hikaru is wearing a bomber jacket?)

.

.

.

Just a white short-sleeved collar shirt, contrast with Hikaru's bright checkered yellow shirt. You can see a hint of his muscles in it 👀 He is firm though. It must be breezy he unbuttoned his shirt.

.

.

.

Here we go, Akira's playing with his collar a bit. The colour of the suit matches his dark hair. He is a gorgeous man. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

.

.

.

Alright, he is a gorgeous, beautiful man.

[secretpeachtea]

Onigiri Miya Tidbits Ch 7

Title: the fox’s den

Genre: gen fic, reader insert

Word Count: 5.4k

Summary: Onigiri Miya is now hiring and you just happen to be the right person for the job. The business has been gaining popularity since its grand opening, and many customers travel from different cities just to have a bite of Miya Osamu’s delicious recipes. You did expect some craziness from working in food services, but what you didn’t expect was to be bombarded with frequent tomfoolery from a bunch of attractive volleyball players during your shifts.

disclaimer: manga spoilers

A/N: Hey y’all! There’s gonna be quite a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but I hope it’s not too boring. I was really excited to write this chapter since Inarizaki is my favorite team :D Hope you enjoy!

Previous///Next

There was always something entrancing about the second half of the year when the green and gray streets transform into a multicolored wonderland as a response to the incoming shift of seasons. You admire the different shades of red, orange, and yellow that litter the ground that you’re walking on as you make your way to work. The only things going through your mind right now are serenity, peace, and-

“‘SAMU, YOU BASTARD!”

At the sudden voice, you almost trip on your own feet in surprise. Once you’re sure you won’t fall flat on your face, you look up and see two familiar twins right outside the front door of Onigiri Miya, clear irritation written on their faces.

“How could you say that?! Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?” Atsumu yells at his brother while clenching his hands by his sides.

Osamu’s eyebrows are furrowed in distress. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one with common sense here. I’ve done what I can to convince you, but you just won’t listen to me!”

You start to worry now as you continue to watch the two glare at each other from where you’re standing a few feet away. You know it’s best not to interfere, but there’s a part of you that wants to stop them before things get out of hand. It seems like you don’t even have to make a decision as Atsumu’s eyes meet yours. “Hey, sweetheart! Come over here and tell this tasteless scrub that he’s wrong!”

“Who you calling a tasteless scrub, you uneducated swine!” Osamu crosses his arms in disdain but softens his gaze when his eyes land on your approaching figure.

“Hold up. What are you guys even talking about?” You try your best to keep your voice as relaxed as possible but still proceed with caution in case one of them were to blow up again in anger. 

What you didn’t expect, however, were the next few words that came out of the blonde’s mouth. “The best Disney princess is obviously Rapunzel, but ‘Samu doesn’t agree!”

“You just like her ‘cause she’s blonde! Clearly, Belle is the superior princess!” The other twin spits back.

You pause for a moment to process the situation. That’s...not exactly what you expected when you first saw them arguing outside of the shop (and quite loudly too). A deep sigh leaves your lips as the two childish men in front of you continue to banter.

“Oh yeah?!” Atsumu suddenly directs his attention on you and places his hands on your shoulders for emphasis. “Sweetheart, who do you think is the best Disney princess?”

Already feeling an incoming headache, you just say the first thing that pops into your mind in hopes of stopping this madness. “Oh, uh...I don’t know. I think Mulan is pretty badass.”

The twins go silent as they contemplate your response for a brief minute. It seems like you gave a satisfactory answer because they both make eye contact with each other and nod their heads. Their strange twin telepathy is something you’ll never understand. 

No longer having the patience, you just brush off Atsumu’s hands and use your spare key to open up the front entrance of the shop. The two men just follow you inside and the blonde is the first one to break the silence in a much calmer tone than before. “Okay, fair. But, I really do think-!”

Atsumu halts his footsteps as you and Osamu just glance at him confused. The blonde gasps dramatically as he stares at the new additions to the shop’s walls. “HEY! Why do you have their autographs on your wall?!”

Not wanting a part 2 to the previous fiasco, you just head over to the back room to put your belongings away and get yourself ready for work. Securing the cap on your head, you walk out of the room and stroll to your spot on the register. It seems like Atsumu is a lot more fired up than usual because he’s still arguing with his brother. 

It took everything in Osamu to keep his voice at a normal level while responding to Atsumu’s pettiness. “They came over to eat one day and I thought it would look good for the shop.”

“Don’t you know that we’re ultimate rivals?! You can’t be siding with the enemy!”

“They’re your rivals, ‘Tsumu. Everyone’s technically considered a customer to me.”

“Traitor!”

You swear you saw puffs of smoke pop from Osamu’s ears from his frustration. You were about to place a hand on his shoulder in hopes to keep your boss from throwing something at his brother, but a smooth voice interrupted the tension in the room.

“Calm down, Atsumu.”

You and Osamu jumped in surprise, while Atsumu let out a startled yelp at the unexpected guest. The three of you turned toward the front entrance to see who showed up an hour before opening. Although you only heard one voice, three tall figures in casual clothing stand at the doorway. They step inside the building and you vaguely remember seeing their faces in a picture Osamu once showed you from high school.

The person in the middle of the group brushes away a couple strands of his gray hair with black tips while his other hand sits on top of the handle of a small suitcase. The one on the left has a built body with dark skin sporting a kind smile. The one on the right has a lanky body and long fingers that reach up to his face to cover a yawn on his bored expression.

If you remember correctly, Osamu had told you about some of his former teammates and the ones standing in front of you were Kita Shinsuke, Ojiro Aran, and Suna Rintarou.

The twins brighten in recognition and make their way over to the newcomers. “Kita-san! Aran-san!”

“I’m here too, you know.” Suna comments.

All of the guys greet one another in the middle of the room with smiles on their faces. You’re not really sure what to do since you’re the odd one out.

You stand off to the side behind the counter awkwardly, but you are interested in their little group dynamic. The Inarizaki alumni all hold completely different demeanors and postures, but one thing that they all share is that all of them are incomprehensibly attractive in their own way. Why are all of the former and current volleyball players that you’ve met so far like this?

Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realize that you’ve been staring at Kita in particular for a couple minutes. He must have felt your eyes on him because he momentarily looks away from his current conversation to make direct eye contact with you. You let out a small squeak after getting caught staring, but it doesn’t seem like Kita is bothered at all.

“Ah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” Kita leaves his group to walk over to where you are and this catches the attention of the other four males as well. 

“It’s no problem! I wanted to give you guys room to catch up.” You lift up your hands to wave off his apology and give Kita a bright smile as you speak. “It’s finally nice to meet the oh-so-praiseworthy rice provider for the shop, Kita-san.”

Your reply elicits a soft laugh from the man’s mouth. “Nice to finally meet you too, (Surname)-san.”

“You know my name?” You ask, surprised.

“Aside from looking at your name tag, yes. I’ve heard some things about you from the twins,” Kita answers.

Your cheeks turn a bit pink in embarrassment because you completely forgot that you were wearing your name tag for work. Your embarrassment doesn’t last for long, however, when you quickly realize what Kita had just implied about the twins. You shoot an intimidating look at the two culprits and neither of them meet your gaze. “They talk about me?”

“Only good things. No worries.” Kita tries his best to reassure you that there hasn’t been any slander against you, but you still feel a bit insecure.

Knowing that feeling this way is probably unnecessary, you just resort to a little bit of teasing. “I don’t worry so much about Osamu-san. It’s the other one that needs to be kept in check.”

“Hey!” Atsumu’s head quickly turns to your direction at your very obvious accusation.

Suna snickers while ignoring his friend’s outburst. “She’s a smart one.”

“Hey!”

Aran chuckles in amusement and Osamu just smiles at his brother’s distress. You try to fake exasperation by placing a hand on your cheek and Kita’s smile falters as he catches something from the corner of his eye. The charm bracelet that you received from Osamu is secured to your wrist with the small onigiri charm shining under the fluorescent lights.

 “Oh, so you’re the one…”

You look back at Kita in confusion. “The one what?”

Kita hesitates for a moment before simply shaking his head in dismissal with a knowing grin on his lips. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

You’re bewildered by his mysterious response, but it doesn’t look like he wants to talk about it anymore, so you just brush it off for now. 

As everyone else continues their own conversations, Kita thinks back to a conversation he had a couple months back.

“The rice should be coming in a couple days, Osamu.”

“Sounds good, Kita-san.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Actually...I have a quick question.”

“What is it?”

“What would you...um...give to someone who just graduated that’s not so generic or meaningless?”

“...Are you asking for your coworker?”

“Scary! Are you sure you don’t read minds or something, Kita-san?”

“I don’t believe I can. But, to answer your previous question, if you want to give a gift that holds more meaning, I would say buy or make something that’s personal to both of you. It could be from a fond memory you share or a common interest. However, based on the positive things I’ve heard about her, she would probably appreciate anything you give her.”

“Hm…”

Kita is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears Osamu’s voice nearby. “I’ll get you guys the usual, right?”

The rest of the guys all nod their head and Aran makes the motion to take out his wallet. However, before he can do so, Osamu lifts up a hand to stop him. “No worries, Aran-san! All of this is on me!”

Atsumu’s ears perk up. “You’re not gonna make me pay for my food this time, ‘Samu?”

Kita looks towards Osamu and slightly tilts his head in confusion. “You make your brother pay for his food?”

“Always.” Osamu answers without hesitation and with one of the most deadpan expressions you’ve ever witnessed on him.

“I see.” Kita simply nods his head in understanding. “It would be detrimental to your business if you gave things out for free too much.”

Atsumu grabs onto his former captain’s arms in exasperation. “Kita-san!”

A quiet giggle leaves your mouth at the scene in front of you. It seems like the twins are a bit more competitive and bicker more often when their former teammates are involved. Seeing this side of Osamu amuses you since you’re more used to his laidback nature.

Eventually the brief comical moment calms down and Osamu begins to prepare all of the food. Kita and Atsumu seemed to be in their own world, so you decide to try and speak with the other two people in the room that you have yet to be acquainted with.

Suna and Aran seem to have been thinking the same thing because they are already walking up to the counter in your direction. Suna raises his right hand in greeting, while Aran gives you a polite smile before speaking, “You must be (Surname)-san. Apologies for taking so long to greet you.”

“No worries.“ You wave off the apology. “You guys were also teammates with the twins in high school right? The only thing I really know are your names. What were your positions?”

“I was a wing spiker. I’ve actually known the twins since we were in elementary school,” Aran replies.

You clap your hands together in realization. “You guys are childhood friends then! I’m surprised you haven’t come up in my conversations with them more.”

“Those two were always running around all over the place just to compete against each other, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t remember half of the things they experienced in school.”  Aran lets out a deep sigh, but you couldn't detect any real annoyance. 

If the counter wasn’t in the way, you definitely would’ve patted the man on the shoulder. “Well if you’re as patient and calm as you are now with their antics for all those years, then you definitely deserve the appreciation, Ojiro-san.”

“You deserve it just as much since you see at least one of them almost every day now.” Aran sends you another kind smile and you can’t help but mirror it.

Not wanting to leave out Suna from the conversation, you turn your head towards the male who is just listening with his hands shoved into his pockets. “What about you, Suna-san? What was your position?”

“Middle blocker. Although, I did work as a part-time witness to the twins’ stupidity.” The stoic male smirks and looks at you in the eye. “Seems like you’ve taken up that job?”

You burst out laughing. “I can’t really deny that. We should be compensated for all this work.”

Suddenly, you feel a heavy weight on your shoulder that catches you off guard. When you look up, Osamu’s elbow is leaning on your shoulder and there are pieces of rice stuck to his fingertips. He has one of his eyebrows raised in suspicion. “Hey, why do I get the feeling that you guys are talking behind our backs?”

Suna looks directly at Osamu with his usual expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Feeling a bit playful, you also answer with the same deadpan tone. “Yeah, we’re just bonding over some relatable stuff.”

Suna takes one of his hands out of his pockets and raises it up next to you. Without hesitation, you give him a high five while holding back your smile. Aran just chuckles at the unexpected tag team between you and his former teammate. 

Before your boss could make any more comments, his phone dings from where it’s sitting on the counter between his work station and the register. Osamu seems briefly conflicted since his hands are covered in rice but quickly comes to a decision. “Hey, (Name)-san. You mind holding up my phone for me? I think it’s a message about a shipment for some ingredients we needed to restock.”

“Yeah, sure!” You pick up the phone and a picture of Onigiri Miya with a large ‘Grand Opening’ sign in front of the entrance illuminates the lock screen. “Oh, you have facial recognition. I’m gonna have to borrow your face for a bit, Osamu-san.”

Osamu leans down as you place the phone in front of him for a couple seconds, but nothing happens. You try to angle the screen differently and wait a little longer, but it’s still not unlocking. Across the counter, Atsumu watches the two of you struggle through a few more attempts before losing his patience. “Just put the phone up to my face. It’ll probably work.”

A bit curious to see if the phone will actually unlock for the other twin, you move your arm to where Atsumu’s waiting. You keep the phone up for a few moments, but there’s still no response.

The blonde just stares at his brother’s phone in disbelief. “What the hell? Why isn’t it working??”

“Wow, even my phone can tell who the uglier brother is.” Yup. Osamu’s definitely feistier today.

“WE LITERALLY HAVE THE SAME FACE.”

The twins look like they’re about to start another round of unnecessary bickering. From the side, Kita sighs at the idea of having to intervene in yet another argument. He opens his mouth to stop the madness, but you beat him to it. You shove Osamu’s phone into his face again and surprisingly it unlocks. “Alright, guys. You can shut up now. I got it to work.”

Both Atsumu and Osamu shut their mouths immediately. They still looked a bit irked at one another, but no longer have the will to fight. Kita stares at you with shock. He’s never seen anyone other than himself dissipate the twins’ bickering so quickly and you haven’t even known them for as long as he has. Even Aran gives up at some point. Perhaps you are a much more important presence than he realized.

Clicking on the message notification, you lift up your arm just enough so that both you and Osamu can look at the screen comfortably. The message consisted of a picture of a shipment with a list of items. The list is barely legible due to the small font, so the two of you have to lean in closer to the screen. 

“The text is so small. Can you read anything?” You ask as you bring the phone closer.

Osamu squints and wipes one of his hands on a clean towel before placing it over your own to steady the phone. “Barely. Why did he send such a terrible picture?”

The close proximity and subtle touches between you and your boss do not go unnoticed. As you’re discussing the contents of the picture, Suna and Aran share a knowing look with each other.

After a couple minutes of trying to decipher everything in the message, you and Osamu have successfully written down a complete list of all the shipment contents on a napkin. Osamu pockets his phone and the napkin before turning to look at you. “Okay, I think everything’s all good. Thanks, (Name)-san.”

“No problem!” You rub your eyes from the slight strain and move back to where you were standing before while Osamu finishes up making the last of the group’s food. Suna and Aran just watch you both go back to whatever you were doing before as if your cheeks weren’t millimeters away from each other a few seconds ago. The two males make eye contact once again, but just shrug their shoulders.

“Food’s ready! Grab your onigiris and drinks. We can sit at the table for a bit.” Osamu announces to his friends. Your boss turns to you briefly as he starts going around the counter. “Wanna join?”

“No, that’s alright. You guys use this time to catch up. I can take care of setting up the shop on my own, so take your time.” You give him a reassuring smile and he returns a grateful one back.

While the guys chatted about their lives, you set up the chairs and checked each of the sauce bottles to make sure none of them were empty. About fifteen minutes went by and you now had a broom propped up against your shoulder after sweeping. On your way back, you pass by the table where everyone is still talking with one another. 

“I am funny! There just wasn’t anyone competent enough to get the joke!” It seems like Atsumu was yet again becoming a victim to the endless teasing of his former teammates because his face is slightly flushed and he’s fidgeting with pent up frustration. In hopes to ease his heated face, Atsumu roughly starts refilling his cup with ice water with a tight grip on the glass.

Suna shakes his head. “I thought it was funnier when you almost passed out from being overheated from the Jackasuke suit.”

“What?!” Atsumu abruptly stands up from his chair and in his haste, he doesn't realize that he had also raised his cup just as quickly causing the water to splash onto the nearest thing which just so happened to be you. “Oh shi-! (Name)-chan!”

The front of your shirt is entirely soaked and water drips down from your face and the tips of your hair. You mentally thank your boss for making the uniforms black. Lucky for you, your pants are completely dry because your apron took all of the damage. Aran, who is the next person closest to you, takes the broom from your possession and hands you a couple napkins to at least dry your face, but it’s definitely not enough to make a dent in your drenched clothes. 

Atsumu frets over you with a look of immense guilt in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, (Name)-chan! I-I didn’t mean to do that!”

“It’s...it’s okay. Just try not to lose your cool so easily next time.” You can’t really say you’re happy about your current predicament, but it wouldn’t do anyone any good if you lash out in anger. The running A/C is much more apparent now that it’s much easier to feel the circulating cold air and you start to shiver a bit.

Osamu catches your attention from the corner of your eye when he stands up from his seat. “You good, (Name)-san? You should probably go put on a jacket or something.”

“I didn’t bring a jacket or any extra clothes with me today.” You sigh at your misfortune at how something like this happens on the one day you don’t have your hoodie with you.

Osamu’s frown deepens at the growing unfortunate circumstances. “Ah, damn. We usually have extra shirts in the back, but I left them at home to wash.” 

You dread at the thought of either working with a wet shirt or having to walk all the way back to your apartment to change while suffering through the chilly breezes. However, the universe must be taking pity on you when you hear another voice join in. 

“(Surname)-san, I have some spare clothes in my suitcase.” Kita pats the suitcase that he had brought into the shop with him. 

You know that the best and most efficient way to get out of your misery is to accept his offer, but you’re still reluctant. “Oh no! It’s okay! I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for you.”

“I don’t mind. It wouldn’t do you any good to go around with wet clothing. You might catch a cold, especially since the weather is becoming cooler.” Kita immediately brushes off any concerns you may have. He zips open his suitcase and grabs a simple navy sweater from his pile of folded clothes. There’s a slight pause when he holds out the shirt to you before continuing the conversation, “It would mostly cause Osamu to be very distressed.”

There isn’t much room for arguing, so you slowly take the soft sweater from the older male’s arms and nod your head in understanding. “Yeah, I guess he would have to work twice as much if I’m not able to help out.”

Kita blinks at your oblivious rationale. “...right.”

You hear a hint of something in his tone but don’t dwell on it for too long because another blast of cold air hits your body causing you to shiver again. Muttering a quick thanks, you rush to the bathroom to change. After peeling off your uniform shirt and bundling it up with your apron, you wipe off any water that remains on your skin before slipping on the borrowed sweater. It’s much larger and warmer than you thought it would be. After gathering the wet pile of clothes, you head out of the bathroom in your new attire. 

The table that everyone was sitting at is now completely cleared of any food and some of the guys are sitting at the counter while Osamu is washing all of the used dishes. Atsumu’s head is laying on the counter and still has distraught laced into his expression. He immediately stands up to apologize again when he hears you come out of the bathroom, but his words get caught in his throat when he sees you.

Kita’s sweater is definitely too big for your frame. The sweater reaches your mid thigh, but you’ve opted to fashionably tuck the front of it into your pants. The sleeves go past your hands only exposing your fingers and the collar reveals a sliver of your collarbone. The overall fit of the sweater creates an image that can make anyone stop and stare.

Atsumu’s ears redden at the sight in front of him and Osamu is frozen in front of the sink. Even Suna and Aran have briefly halted their conversation to stare silently. The only one who is visibly unaffected is Kita.

Kita decides to walk over to where you are and hands you an empty plastic bag. “You can place your wet clothes into the bag so it doesn’t get anything else wet. You can return the shirt to Osamu and he can give it to me before I head back home.”

“Ah, thanks! I’ll wash it tonight and give it to Osamu tomorrow when I come in for work.” You smile at him gratefully and do as he suggested. During the process, your sleeves roll down uncomfortably and you have to constantly pull at it so that it doesn’t get in the way.

Kita notices the way you are fidgeting and gives you an inquisitive look. “Are the sleeves bothering you?”

“Oh, um...just a bit, but it’s not too bad.” You reply.

The male just pulls the plastic bag away from your hands and puts it off to the side for the time being before holding out his own hands in front of you. “Here, let me help.”

You accept his assistance and hold out one of your arms to him. Kita calmly folds the sleeves to a proper length while you just watch quietly. Once he’s finished with one arm, he gently lifts the other and proceeds to fold the sleeve as well. 

The rest of the guys were just watching silently. The entire scene is almost like it’s from some kind of shoujo anime. Atsumu swears there is even a sparkling background with multiple flowers to match the sweet moment. There’s a strange feeling bubbling inside Osamu’s chest, but he chooses to look away and continue washing the dishes. You and Kita looked really good together.

“Thanks again, Kita-san!” Once Kita finishes up the last sleeve, you smile at him once again. “I guess I was lucky that you decided to visit so suddenly today or I might’ve been in trouble.”

“You’re welcome.” Kita returns the smile. “We were all busy on the twins’ birthday last week, so it’s a good thing we rescheduled to today.”

“What.” You blink once. It takes a few seconds for you to process what the man in front of you had just said, but once it clicks, a wave of shock passes through your body. “What?!”

You scramble over to where Osamu is avoiding your gaze and grab onto his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was last week?!”

“Oh uh… it never came up?” A bead of sweat runs down the side of your boss’ face.

Still enraged, you swerve your head towards the blonde twin and point an accusing finger at him. “And you! I would’ve expected you to be all over having the attention!”

Atsumu shrugs his shoulder in an uncharacteristically nonchalant way causing you to drop your arm in confusion. “Meh, I’m not really all that big on birthdays. I thought my brother would’ve told you.”

When you look back at Osamu, his hand is rubbing at his neck sheepishly. “It was your day off and you looked like you weren’t feeling well the day before, so I thought it’d be best if you rested.”

You’re not sure if you should feel touched that he noticed that you weren’t feeling so great last week or upset that he didn’t think to tell you about such a special day. Your boss has also been pretty busy lately due to work, so there is a part of you that is understanding of the situation. There isn’t really anything you can do about it now since it’s already too late, so you just sigh in defeat.

Kita decides to intervene before you get even more upset. “No worries, (Surname)-san. There’s always a next year for birthdays. If you wanted to spend time with him, I’m sure just asking will suffice.”

“Indeed. Osamu would definitely not mind making time for you, (Surname)-san.” Aran adds.

Atsumu seems to be feeling a bit left out and chimes in, “Wait, but what about me? It was my birthday too.”

“It’s not like Osamu knows how to do anything but play volleyball and work. Might as well take him out somewhere nice.” Suna mentions while ignoring Atsumu’s outburst for the nth time today.

“Woah, guys!” Osamu’s face flushes a bit from the teasing. You laugh at the group's antics and feel your frustration melt away.

Suddenly, a phone alarm goes off and Kita pulls out his phone to shut it off. “Well, we should get going now. We wouldn’t want to be in the way of your business, Osamu. We’ll see you tonight with the rest of our former teammates.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys later.” Osamu replies with a wave of his hand.

“I have to get to practice too, so I’ll walk out with all of you.” Atsumu walks towards the exit with his hands folded behind his head. Aran and Suna get up from their seats to get ready to go as well. The two say their goodbyes to both you and Osamu before stepping outside to catch up with Atsumu.

Kita is the last one out, but before he closes the door he gives you one last glance. “It was nice to meet you, (Surname)-san.”

“You too, Kita-san!” Your lips curve upwards at being able to have met yet another kind person at work. Kita finally closes the door and now it’s just you and Osamu left in the shop. After having such an eventful morning, the peace and quiet is pretty refreshing.

Osamu looks at you from the corner of his eye thoughtfully. His gaze then shifts down to where his former captain’s sweater rests on your figure and he feels a twinge of irritation but keeps his expression neutral. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and change? You live pretty close by too.”

You think for a moment but eventually shake your head. “Hm...no it’s fine. I wouldn’t want to miss work just to change into another shirt. I think my extra uniform needs to be washed anyway. Is there something wrong?”

“...no.”

“Jealous that I talked to your friends more than you?”

“N-no!”

A giggle escapes your lips when you hear your boss stutter. “You know you’re my favorite onigiri chef, right?”

“I’m the only onigiri chef you know.” Osamu points out and you giggle even louder. The male can’t even be upset because your laughs are quite contagious. Although, he does make a mental note to bring one of his own sweaters to keep at the shop from now on.

Leftovers

The Miya household is a simple two bed apartment with a decent view of the suburbs around the area. Both Miya twins are considered residents of the complex, but Atsumu usually stays in the dorm available for MSBY players. Today, both twins are in the apartment.

“‘Samu, I swear this shirt makes me look fat-...?” Atsumu barges into his brother’s room without knocking but cuts off his words when he sees his brother intensely staring at a pile of hoodies scattered on his bed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out which hoodie I wanna keep at the shop.” Osamu responds distractedly.

Atsumu stares at him incredulously. “What? Just pick whatever. It’s not like you don’t go to work every day. Why does it matter? ”

Osamu pauses for a moment. “...for emergencies.”

“Whatever, man. I’m heading out to go buy some new volleyball shoes with Shoyo-kun.” The blonde shrugs off his brother’s strange behavior and chooses to just walk away since he needed to leave soon. He momentarily looks out the window and notices some dark clouds filling up the sky. “And, I’m taking your umbrella!”

Osamu doesn’t hear what Atsumu says and barely registers the slam of the front door because he’s too deep in thought. What was your favorite color again?

A/N:  Ouch. I realized that if you were to actually follow the haikyuu timeline, some of this wouldn’t actually make sense. BUT I don’t care :D Also, not me indulging on some Kita action cause I am whipped for this man (but not as much as Osamu hehe)

taglist: @kiyoo-omi​ @tris-does-stuff​ @livshotel​

[madomagitransparent]

how do you make your transparents? whenever i do it they end up terrible 😔

Hi there!

First of all, you’ll need a decent image-editing software. Most mobile apps won’t really work well and I can imagine that the case is similar for online editors. My tool of choice is GIMP - it’s free and has a lot of nice functions, but I presume most programs should be usable.

I deal with various types of images separately. Most important questions are:

Is the image BW?

Is the image’s background detailed?

Is the image’s background bright or dark?

Is the image’s outline thick?

Is any part of the image obstructed? (By, for example, other characters, furniture, speech bubbles)

Was the image a JPG or a part of a video at any point?

Is the image big?

It’s not like these are any sort of “very separate categories”, rather, it’s just properties an image can have. I’ll start with thin-outline, colourful detailed background jpg with no obstruction of moderate size.

1. Open your image. If the image doesn’t use transparency anywhere already you can just copy it from the internet without downloading, just make sure not to accidentally use fanart. Also, if your layer name is bolded, that means it doesn’t have an alpha (transparency) channel. Right click the layer and click “Add Alpha Channel” option, it’s near the bottom.

2. Pick the lasso tool. It’s probably gonna be visible from default, if not, just right click the icons until you see it. If you’re used to GIMP but it suddenly doesn’t have a lot of options, don’t panic! They’re still there. You can change the looks of the toolbox within Preferences menu, but if you’re a newbie, you don’t need to worry about that.

3. Start outlining the character with the tool. Make sure your mode is “create a new selection”. You can also add softening to the edges, just don’t overdo it. Within radius of three should be fine, though for normal-sized images I’d aim for more like one-ish.

Remember to do it carefully! If you mess up and place a point wrong you can move it by clicking and dragging it or by pressing backspace. Backspace also works if you accidentally finish the selection too early! You should keep your line right next to the outside of the outline.

4. Copy the new selection and add it to a new layer. You’ll probably have some areas to clear off, like spaces between shoulders and hair, sometimes gaps between legs, hair strands, or body+arms. Don’t worry - select them like you did before and either erase them or delete them.

5. Make a new black layer. It’s to see if there are any issues popping up. If you look closely on my image, the edges are slightly coloured with the background. For this...

6. Colorize the edges. To do that, right click on the layer, pick “Alpha to Selection”, make the selection smaller by a few pixels (unless you’re working on a really big image or something with a thick outline, one pixel will usually be fine, and invert the selection (Ctrl+I). Then go to the color tab on top and pick “Colorize”. You’ll get a menu similar to mine; pick a low-saturation color with a fitting shade - reddish or orangish usually work the best, but you probably should just a shade from the image directly. Don’t go with too dark though, it won’t look good against light and dark backgrounds. You still want a visible outline on a pure black background.

7. Crop the image so it doesn’t have any excess transparency around it and export it to whatever format you need.

Since the image was originally a JPG, you may want to treat it with waifu2x.me before using - waifu2x is a site which allows you to upsize an image with AI and remove JPG artifacts from it. I recommend avoiding upscaling above 2x, however - it looks wonky otherwise. The website can fail at times, just retry it until it works.

The next part is about manga!

1. Open the image of choice.

2. If the background is just white, pick the wand tool and just select the background around. With more detailed ones, simply pick the character out like I explained before, except try to go in the middle of outline rather right next to it, this time, and invert the selection. Don’t invert if your background is white.

Be careful with the wand! Sometimes the lineart has gaps. If anything accidentally gets picked up, remove it with the lasso.

3. Pick “Colour to Alpha” and apply it. Don’t change the settings.

4. Crop the image up. If the image was a fried JPG, go to “Levels”, Alpha and move the handle on the left to the right a bit. Keep in mind that some of the soft edges of the image will be deleted as well, so don’t go too ham. If there are still some dots left, copy the main transparent with the wand and add it to a new layer, and erase unneeded parts manually. You may add a bright background, like #00FF00 to see things better.

5. Alpha to selection, make the selection smaller by one pixel, invert selection, fix the edges that are touching the canvas borders, colour to alpha.  This will leave you with nice, smooth edges. 

6. Export the image. I also remove the dialogues from the speech boxes, but you don’t have to do that. 

Simple, light backgrounds can be dealt with similarly as manga. Try to make them B/W first, though.

This is how it works for me. 

Have a nice day!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Quick outline of the changes in Golden Kamuy Vol 24

Here is a general outline of the more relevant changes that take place in Vol 24 compared to the magazine. Note that as usual I won’t dig into minor changes or redraws unless they seem to be relevant for the plot or characterization (or I really like them).

So now let’s start.

WARNING: I hadn’t had the chance to check dialogues yet. I’ll probably do it during Christmas holidays. If there are changes in them that are relevant I’ll update this post as soon as I can.

We spend a moment on the cover, which, like the previous, shows us a character who has never appeared on a cover before and who’s also one of my fave, our charming Roger... I mean Kikuta Mokutarou.

It’s an action scene in which he’s making good use of his beloved Nagant while wearing Toni’s scarf... and he’s not alone on this cover.

Ariko is also with him, ready to fire at his opponent. The background is Sapporo as we can recognize the building as appearing in chap 232 when the characters are in Sapporo.

Really, I love this cover and I was hoping so bad to have a Kikuta cover...

Anyway this is our updated list of covers.

Noda please, give us a Boutarou cover as well!

We then move to the colour page.

It’s the image with Tsukishima and Koito that was used as a cover for chap 251. It’s a fitting image considering this volume starts with the chapter in which the cooperation between Tsukishima and Koito began.

A colour cover that was in the chapters included in this volume and that instead isn’t shown is the one of chap 234.

Maybe Noda will use it later.

No summaries for this volume. Pity.

This volume counts 9 chapters only and changes are pretty tame but, as usual there are additions of extra pages and panels to expand scenes that already were in the magazine version so we can better understand what’s going on and of scenes that are redrawn, either to improve their quality, correct mistakes or add to the plot.

Note I’m not going to add them all but only those which are plot relevant (or that I particularly like). Also no scanlations this time as the changes aren’t so characterization or plot relevant you’ll need to read a scanlation to get what’s going on. I’ll add a dialogue explanation though. Keep in mind I might be wrong.

Let’s start with chap 232.

We start with a new opening page for the chapter in which the box says we’re at Asirpa’s grandmother’s house near Otaru and we’re shown that Tanigaki is next to Inkarmat.

As many already know Noda has enlarged Tanigaki’s neck as he watched Osoma and changed a little his expression so, although I know Sensei pays a lot of attention in improving Tanigaki, I won’t show you that.

A line is added to Tsukishima’s dialogue. Now in addition to saying that it might be that Tsurumi doesn’t have a true goal he adds that it might be a lie that Tsurumi is acting for the sake of the dead comrades and for the prosperity of Japan.

Tsukishima’s memory of Tsurumi having finger bones now is enlarged and that shows clearly Tsurumi’s naked feet.

Naked feet had been used to foreshadow the death of a character so is this meant to hint at how Tsurumi too will die?

As everyone knows I’m partial for Ogata I’ll show him adjusting his bandages. I wonder, does he have the glass eye already and he’s trying to get adjusted to it?

Asirpa and Boutarou’ hair had been redrawn, which makes them better but it’s nothing big.

We move to chap 233.

After Ueji manages to disappear noda added more dialogue between Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Asirpa.

Sugimoto asks for confirmation that the boss they met was called Wakayama and Shiraishi asks Asirpa if she’s certain that guy said they would never be able to find the gold. Asirpa says that’s what it sounded like and Shiraishi asks what they will do now, wondering if they should go after the candy seller or continue to pursue the pirate. Sugimoto thinks he should have stripped the candy seller and Asirpa wonders if maybe she heard wrong.

Noda also expanded the scene with Boutarou and the old Ainu. Now Boutarou is no more heavily shaded at the start and his men are more active.

Pirate Boutarou’s main henchman (子分 ‘Kobun’) now has a name, Gontō Kōjirō (權堂 公二郎は) and he’s better drawn. 

The old Ainu says Boutarou won’t find the gold because his sons also went looking for it but it wasn’t anywhere.

Those are very good improvements, if you ask me.

Chap 234...

...continues the tradition of better drawing Boutarou’s hair (which are also often drawn longer than previously) and also gives him a better pose.

The postman also has a name now he is Nozawa Niheiji (野沢 仁平治).

Shiraishi is definitely more worried when he meets Boutarou.

...but Boutarou looks even happier to meet him, while his reaction catches the captain’s attention.

The sailors are better drawn and there’s even a new small panel of a sailor trying to catch Sugimoto’s rifle.

Sugimoto gets an extra page in which he’s shown throwing the sailor off the boat...

...and then some more panels as he fights the other sailor as well.

Really Noda is so good at drawing fighting scenes...

He also expanded the scene of Boutarou talking to Shiraishi about Sugimoto.

...and redrew Gontou with the other henchmen, who’re shown wet because they too had previously ended up in the water.

Really, a lot of additions for this chapter and I love how Noda tried giving the henchmen some characterization now, despite them being merely plot devices.

We continue with chap 235.

I’ll say in the cover Noda better drew the water. It’s not terribly relevant though, so I’m not showing it, i just love the man for the care in this details.

Better image of best boy Shiraishi...

...but there are also a lot of images that are better drawn.

The order of the panels is switched a little as in the magazine the bandits would knock at the door, then we would see Shiraishi praying the boat would hurry then we’ll go back to Asirpa and the postman.

In the volume first we see Shiraishi and Sugimoto praying the boat would hurry then we go to the bandits knocking and then to Asirpa and the postman, with the scene mostly redrawn.

Noda actually put a lot of care in redrawing the postman who now to me look even more like Clint Eastwood.

The shooting fight also gets better drawn and so the boat crashing against it. But my fave redrawn is the one of Boutarou and Shiraishi cheering, which now shows a much more happier Shiraishi and a childishly cheering Boutarou. I love those two!

Noda then proceeds to show how Boutarou is very angry at the idea 3 of his men were shoot... which better explains why he took an anchor and attacked without regard for the people. Similarly to Sugimoto, when he’s furious he’s dangerous... and it’s possible he grew so angry because he was fond of those men.

We then see Boutarou take matters (and an anchor) in his hands...

Another redrawn is in the Boutarou/Sugimoto confrontation.

And with this to chap 236 we go.

Again, some scenes or expressions are drawn better here.

Plus we get some redrawing when Boutarou explains things.

We’ve a new panel of Sugimoto turning down Boutarou’s idea.

Then we get more interaction between Boutarou and Sugimoto as Sugimoto’s reveal of his past now involves more Shiraishi and Asirpa.

And we better dig into Boutarou’s connection with Sugi.

Sugimoto’s expression after he pet the cat is much more dramatic...

...his eyes losing their light.

Chap 237 continues expanding things.

We get a flashback in which Boutarou remembers the cigarette case was Heita’s.

The volume shows us the gold is a lot more than the one we see in the magazine version.

The scene about Botarou trying to kill Sugimoto and Shiraishi is expanded.

Boutarou seems genuinely shocked when Gontou is hit by the spinning wheel, stretching is hand as if he were wishing to bring him aid.

Differently from teh magazine he won’t be smiling when he tries to drwon Sugimoto...

...and the two will fight a lot more. Sugimoto tries to kick Boutarou a lot and Boutarou uses his long hair to tie Sugimoto’s foot and pull him down.

It’s beautiful and definitely worth buying the manga.

We are at Chap 238.

A small panel about Asirpa explaining Sugimoto about Heita.

We’ve then more interaction between Boutarou and Asirpa.

I find interesting how again we’re show Sugimoto saying hinna but not Asirpa.

And so we reach chap 239.

Jack/Ostrog’s face is still kept in the dark at first, but his clothes are much more visible. The battle between him and Usami is expanded and sorry, no, I’m not going to show it. Still Noda is more comfortable showing him, his face partially visible (and Kikuta too as his eyes were back in the magazine).

And it’s when Kikuta see him we’ve the big reveal and it makes A LOT MORE SENSE having it here than as late as it happened in the manga. And honestly that lateness feels it was due to Noda not having chosen yet how to characterize him.

We can also see that on his genitals there’s a birthmark... which explains why Kikuta comments on getting a look on his face and member, because now he can recognize him either by looking at his face or by looking at... something else.

So yeah, Ostrog/Jack stops being a dark silouette.

Noda let us hear his thoughts after he killed those two women.

We’ve a flashback from Kikuta, showing Jack/Ostrog’s face and how he had a birthmark in a... peculiar area, which is why Kikuta remarked it was relevant he saw it.

And now we move to the last chap of the volume chap 240.

Ostrog is now clearly visible where before he was just a dark shadow.

A new panel showing how Kirawus... well, he didn’t quite disguise himself, albeith he did something, he tried to sell fireworks.

Another new panel showing how Kadokura in his disguise, can’t pick up coins.

When Ishikawa explains about Jack the Ripper Noda added people walking in the image of the city he drew and also showed a nespaper talking of Jack. The writing on the newspaper explains how in Japan the case became a hot topic in 1888 and how in 1900 they started to call the killer ‘Kirisaki Jack' (切り裂きジャック “Jack the ripper”).

We’ve another image of Ostrog/Jack when Ishikawa talks about him.

And we finish with the last page which shows the faces of Ostrog and Ueji.

And that’s all.

Well, actually no. The one thanking the editor is...  I’ll let you see for yourself.

And that’s all for this volume. While there’s nothing drastic in terms of new content, it better flashed out the relationship between Boutarou and his underlings, giving a name to the main one of them, better showed how Boutarou fought underwater and handled Ostrog/Jack WAAAYYY better than the magazine version where it seems Noda remained undecided on his character design for a much longer time and that’s why he obscured his face, making the reveal pretty anticlimatic as nothing big justifying it happened.

Here instead it’s just perfect so really, I recommend you to buy this new volume of Golden Kamuy, either in Japanese or as soon as it comes out in your country!

[gallickingun]

basic manga cap tutorial || ibis paint x

I got a request on how I color my manga caps (you can check them out in #morgan-colors-bnha and #morgan-colors-hq), so I thought I’d do this step by step tutorial that walks you through my process!

I color and draw on my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note10+) using the stylus provided with the phone, however you can use your finger. For manga cap coloring, I use Ibis Paint X, which you can find HERE for the Google Play Store, and HERE for the Apple App Store! It is a FREE app, and actually really helpful for a number of reasons, which I’ll show you down below! It does go without saying - there are a limited number of brushes that you get with the free section, but I haven’t found them to be too limiting, however I’ve only done basic manga cap coloring. You can watch short ads (I haven’t watched any, so I can’t vouch for the obscenity of them) to use the non-free brushes for a short period of time, though. 

The first part of this tutorial is going to be showing you how I took THIS SUGAWARA manga cap and turned it into the one you see HERE (both as pictured on the header image). The second part of this tutorial, attached at the bottom, is a timelapse video where I show you how to turn THIS BOKUTO manga cap into the one you can find HERE. 

Alright - without further ado, let’s get into the tutorial! As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop by my ASK BOX! Hopefully this is in depth enough without being too confusing. ❤

I’m doing this in steps so it can be in depth and informative enough, but I know that can become a little confusing, so I’m going to do my best to explain each step. I’ve also highlighted using little yellow boxes where I’m referencing, as pictured below. 

To start, here are the ways I usually find manga caps: 

1. Google searches, Pinterest searches, etc. Sometimes they’re already transparent, other times they’re not. I’ve found that I’m able to use the non-transparent ones because of the tools that are within Ibis Paint X.

2. Tumblr blogs - there are some blogs that are meant purely for transparent manga caps. 

3. Manga scans. I, personally, haven’t used manga scans, but I know others that use them! They usually require some extra clean up, which can take extra expertise. Removing speech bubbles, backgrounds, etc. 

Please remember to provide credit if it’s requested from the original poster!

Step #1: Open IP (Ibis Paint - I’m not going to say it every time because WOW that would get repetitive) and click on “My Gallery”.

Step #2: This is your gallery - as you can see, all of my prior caps are here, and this is where you will either open an old cap and keep coloring, or start a new one. In the bottom lefthand side, you see I’ve highlighted the “+” sign. This will bring you to the next screenshot.

Step #3: This is where you can choose if you want to create your own canvas, or create a canvas based off of the imported photo. Since I don’t do many “official” manga cap posts where I create a full image set from them, I usually just click on “Import Picture”, and go from there! However, if you want to create an image canvas, and import the picture once you’ve gotten the canvas open, please see Step #6 for how to import the image once you’ve already created a canvas!

Step #4: This is the screen that should pop up every time you import an image. When you’re doing manga caps especially, you’ll want to hit “Ok”.

Step #5: I believe these are the automatic settings, however if they’re not on your app, these are the settings I use when selecting how to extract the line drawing. Black at 0%, White at 100%, and Middle at 50%. This will remove the background from the manga cap, and only leave the dark line art remaining.

Step #6: This is what the layer should look like once you’ve extracted the line drawing. See highlighted the “+” button - this is how you will add new layers. I chose to add a new layer, which you can see in Step #7. However, if this is where you want to add an image, see the highlighted camera button. This will let you choose an image from your camera roll and import. The “Extract Line Drawing” option will appear each time that you import an image, so don’t worry about triggering it! It will trigger itself!

Step #7: Here is the new layer! I cut out the screenshot from before, but each new layer shows up on top, so I had to use the three little lines on the righthand side to drag it beneath the layer of the Sugawara manga cap layer.

Step #8: I used this new layer to import a photo of Sugawara in his uniform from a quick google search. I actually end up grabbing another one just to make sure I know what the bottom half of his uniform looks like, but I don’t show it just yet. Because the layer is behind, it shows up underneath Suga’s face. I end up erasing the parts that interfere with the cap here in a bit. 

Step #9: When you click the brush button down at the bottom, this selection screen comes up. There are a ton of brushes to choose from, but for the base colors, I use “Dip Pen (Hard)” at 100% opacity. I’ve shown it highlighted here!

Step #10: Now we’re going to create our color palette. Sometimes I will find color palettes online And import them, but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to use this photo of Suga along with another one that I nab later to create the palette. The way you use the “dropper” tool (if you’re familiar with Photoshop) to select the colors from another portion of the image is to press down rather hard, and then this circular selection tool will pop up. You can keep the pressure and drag it to the specific spot you want to pick up a certain color for. I’ve found that it’s best to do this with my finger instead of my stylus. I’m not sure if it’s because the heat of my finger and the change in pressure is easier to pick up, but that’s what works for me! 

NOTE: It is important to note that if you have the eraser tool selected instead of the brush tool, you won’t be able to use the color selector. This might come as second nature to some of you, but it STILL makes me screw up from time to time, haha. 

Step #11: Using the dropper/color selection tool from Step #10, I create a small color palette, as you can see in the upper lefthand corner of the image in this step. I grab both the lightest and darkest shades from the different things I’ll need to color in for the cap. I picked up the highlights and shadows of Sugawara’s skintone, eyes, hair, and jersey. I just draw in little overlapping circles so I can switch back and forth between the colors 

Step #12: I added an additional layer in the very back of this image, and colored it in completely using a blue shade. This will allow me to make sure that I’ve filled in all of the space behind the manga cap. It’s important to note that in order to color the line art in later, you’ll actually need to “overdraw”. We’ll touch on that more later. 

Step #13: As I show here, I have a layer where I use the singular skin tone shade and color in behind the manga cap, filling in all the spaces where Sugawara’s skin is showing. I usually use a different layer for each different shade/color just in the event I need to do a bunch of erasing, or if I need to change the layer style later. 

Step #14: Here is where I show how I “overdraw”. I’m not sure if you can see it very well here in these screenshots, but the way that these manga caps are drawn, sometimes the line art isn’t “clean”, it looks more shaded/scratchy. So, in order to combat white space, I usually overdraw and then go back in with an eraser. You can see in Step #15 the size brush I usually use - somewhere between 2.0-4.0, but most of the time I use a 3.0 size brush. I’ll go back in with the eraser with a similar size on the easy parts, and then all the way down to the smallest size - 0.3 for really close quarter erasing. 

NOTE: It’s important to realize that the smaller the eraser, sometimes the circumference of the eraser can be really light in opacity as well. You can help this with the intensity of the pressure that you use with your stylus/finger, but I’ve found that sometimes using a really small eraser can be counterproductive. There are times where I’d rather “over” erase in which I actually erase into the cap and then redraw using a small brush size. You’ll have to play around with eraser/brush size and such to see what works best for you!

Step #15: Here is the skin all colored in! You’ll notice I colored in his eyes and mouth, which are going to end up being white in the end. I do this because usually it’s easy to forget that you need to color things in white if you’re doing it against a white background. I oscillate between the colored background and the white/transparent one because sometimes it can be tough to look at that bright color all the time. I’ve found that this is more of a tip/trick for me to be able to remember to color in his teeth and eyes and even sometimes the brow or other features! In the end, this just works for me. You don’t have to do this step!

NOTE: As I stated in Step #14, using pressure can change things. The same goes for this specific pen type - the dip pen. I use about size 3.0 most of the time, but I can actually do really detailed work with this size pen (see Suga’s ears, the spaces between his hair, etc.) by using lighter pressure. I do have a stylus, so this is a lot easier for me. The pressure was a little tricky for me to get down in the beginning, but once you realize how soft/hard you need to press down, you can use bigger brushes for even smaller areas. I find that makes it a lot easier for me, since I don’t have to keep changing the brush tool - which you can do using the sliding bar at the bottom of the screen labeled “Thickness”. The thickness of a brush is the circumference it has when you are using the hardest version of pressure you can muster, so keep that in mind!

Step #16: Here is where I do the basic coloring for the skin, hair, and eyes. These colors will be relatively the same as the colors from the palette, because there is not a “gray cast” caused by the line art sketch from the manga cap. This means that the skin color that is showing in the manga cap that I’ve colored is pretty close to the original color from the screencap from the anime/the palette that I’ve got in the upper lefthand corner. I do FLAT coloring for this - aka NO SHADING YET. So I only use the LIGHTEST shade for the hair and skin - the ones farthest to the left on the palettes for each section. I do use the DARKEST shade for the eyes, but that’s because usually the lighter shade is the one you use most sparingly, where as with skin, the darker shades are used for shadows only and aren’t used in excess.

NOTE: As previously stated, I do a separate layer for each different color. At this point there should be six layers, as follows (from the bottom up):  Layer 1: Background Layer (Mine is blue, but for the sake of easy viewing, I made it white.) Layer 2: “Notes” Layer - this is where I keep my notes, as in the reference photos, color palette, and any other things here and there.  Layers 3-5: These are the colored layers - skin, hair, and eyes.  Layer 6: Manga Cap Line Art

Step #17: Here’s where I’m showing the two different orange tones. This is what I meant in Step #16 - The original orange shade is the lower part of Suga’s collar - as you can see, the line art shading makes the color a lot more muted. I used the color wheel to find something brighter, just for a comparison shot. I still choose to use the traditional palette that I pulled from the anime screencap. 

Step #18: Now that I’m ready to color the manga cap pieces that are skewed by shading (i.e. his jersey here), I usually turn the manga cap down in opacity, so I’m able to recognize where I need to fill in! This is where I fill in the blue of the jersey, the orange of the collar and other accents, as well as the off-white shade for the number and the line accents. 

Step #19: Using the eraser and smaller brush sizes, I fill in all of the flat colors. No shading yet!

Here comes the time consuming, nuances...

Step #20: I’ve turned back on the colored background layer - sometime between when I started and now, I changed it from blue to pink. If you can zoom in on the image, you’ll see the boxes in white contain “errors”. This is areas where there are “holes” in the coloring, or where I’ve gone outside the lines. I’m going to go back in and clean this all up with the eraser and some more brush work. 

NOTE: This is very important, especially if you’re trying to make this a transparent image, or if you’re going to do the extra steps and color in the line work. Any holes, overdrawn, or underdrawn areas will make the final drawing look a little funky.

Step #21: Here is the shading! Honestly, this cap kind of shaded itself, haha. Some manga caps have “built in” shading, as you can see on Sugawara’s arms and neck. I added some shading to his hair and face, trying to use the anime caps as a reference. I’m not very good at shading yet, but I wanted to show it here so you guys could see!

I used the darker shades from the palettes on the eyes, hair, and skin. I didn’t do any shading to the jersey because the manga cap lines already skew it so much, that it didn’t really seem necessary. This can be a really hit-or-miss time, both with areas that you choose to shade, as well as the colors that you use. I would really suggest searching for skin tone palettes if you’re not using the anime screencaps for reference!

Step #22: For my shading, I actually use “clipping” effects. As you can see, the two layers that are highlighted are clipped to the layers beneath. This means that the coloring on the clipped layer will “attach” aka clip itself to the layer beneath and that layer only. So, for the shading of the skin, hair, and eyes, I chose to clip the shaded parts to the base coloring, that way even if I over drew, the colors wouldn’t bleed together. 

I did more of what’s called “cell shading” for this manga cap, as well as the Bokuto one that I do in the timelapse video below. What is cell shading? This wiki page explains it pretty well, but basically it’s more “harsh” shading where there’s not necessarily an airbrushed quality to it, it’s more blocky. You can see I only chose to use one color of shading, which makes the contrast much more stark. IP does have several airbrush tools, I’ve used them in my Bakugou manga caps for his gauntlets, and they work really well! 

I brought up earlier that it’s important to color your base colors all the way to the edges of the manga cap line art. This clipping effect is why. On Suga’s neck and ears, the darker shade that I used for his skintone goes to the edge and actually underneath the line art of the cap, because it is clipped to the base skintone layer beneath. Had I not made sure to go all the way to the edge of the line art, this would be much more choppy, and there would be white space between Suga’s ear and his hair! 

Step #23: Here is the extra step - line art shading! This can be tricky, depending on the complexity of the line art, the shading, etc. Usually, in choosing a shade to color in the line art, I grab the darkest shade for that section, and then grab something even darker. As seen in Step #18, there is that drop down box that is currently listed to “Normal” - this will need to be set to “Screen” for the current line art coloring layer. You’ll also need to “clip” the layer you’re using for the line art color to the manga cap, meaning it will need to be on top of the manga cap layer - and therefore, should be the highest layer in the image.

For this image, I only did line art coloring on Suga’s face, hair, arms, and neck. I was really satisfied with leaving the jersey alone so far as coloring. I did this mostly because of the sketchy quality of the cap, the line art would be really involved and complicated, and it just wasn’t worth it to me (so sorry lol), and I liked how it looked with the darker color outlining it anyway. 

Also, I added little details like making the sweat on Suga’s face outlined in white! And yes, I do know that missed Suga’s beauty mark, but we’re going to pretend I didn’t just do that. I love you, Koushi, please forgive me. 

And that’s it! I’m sure there are easier ways to do things, or better ways, haha. But this is my beginner tutorial (as in I’m the beginner, lol). I hope that this helped anyone whose doing it for the first time! I stated this before, but if you have any questions, please feel free to hop into my ASK BOX and ask me! I’d love to help anyone out! And I’ll do my best! 

See below an additional manga cap coloring - Bokuto Koutarou this time! I thought doing a timelapse video of me actually coloring in the cap would help you guys out! 

PLEASE BE AWARE: This video is in 2x speed so it could not be forever long and really boring lol. With that being said, I do spin the screen around several times while coloring in the cap - this could make you nauseous, so please beware of that before you watch!

Here is a link to the time lapse video on YouTube! 

A special thanks to @cutesuki--bakugou​ who helped me a lot while I was coloring my original caps, and also to @writeiolite​ who nudged me in the direction of finally starting to color manga caps! And a little thanks to @rouge-heichou​ since I bugged her about a couple of things as well. And then as always, a huge thanks to @candychronicles​ because she keeps me sane. Also a special mention to @pixxiesdust​ because she does really cool gifs and has done a wonderful job in the bookclub of trying to share her knowledge with everyone else.

Disclaimer: I’m no artist, this is just for fun! I’m sure my shading and line art can use some work.. but I’m not focusing on that! Instead I’m just going to keep playing around and having a good time ❤

[mandy23bwrites]

Match Your Match

Fandom: Attack on Titan

Character/Pairing: Marco Bodt x Jean Kirschtein 

Tags/Warnings: Playing with hair, spontaneous hair cutting, kissing

Disclaimer: 1) I saw that sketch of what adult Marco would look like in 854 and I wrote this at 2am a month ago. 2) I have not read any of the manga; I’ve only watched the anime for the first time recently. 3) There is no set timeline of when this would happen other than it’s before Jean grew out his hair. I will leave the rest up to you!

Word Count: 770

Summary: Marco thinks he’d look ridiculous with shaved hair. Jean thinks otherwise, taking matters into his own hands.

Read on AO3

Jean tensed at the feeling of a hand on the back of his neck, fingers spread, slowing carding themselves through his hair. The gesture was gentle, making him pause any thought of a counterattack. People were usually wise enough not to bother him but he could never be too sure. But the hand did not grab or strike; it ruffled his hair before its owner came into his view and sat next to him. His eyes locked with the soft, smiling pair that belonged to Marco. He was glad he hadn’t done anything rash.

He could feel his face grow warm so he quickly turned back to cleaning his gear. No matter how long they had been together, Jean felt that he’d never get used to Marco’s affection. And if that meant every touch still feeling as special as the first, he decided that wasn’t a bad thing. If only he would stop blushing every time…

“Has anyone ever told you you have lovely hair?” Jean looked back at Marco, taken aback.

“Well, no one’s ever touched it as much as you have.” It came out much more snarky than he intended but Marco smiled, unfazed.

“I guess I’m very lucky then.” His hand was back, gently scratching the hair that was cut close to his scalp. Jean couldn’t help but lean back into the touch, trying not to shudder. “Sometimes I wish I had shaved hair like you do.”

“What’s the hold-up? Just do it.” Jean peered at Marco from the corner of his eye, careful not to make any movements that would make him pull his hand away.

“Oh no, I couldn’t. I’d look ridiculous.” At this, Jean jerked away to look at his lover incredulously, unable to stop himself. Marco’s eyes widened and his mouth softly fell open, startled.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard bullshit like that. You can’t possibly be serious.” Now it was Marco’s turn to blush and look away.

“I don’t know… I just don’t think I’d look as good as you.”

“You’d probably look better.” The words slipped from Jean’s lips, as was customary with most of his compliments. But even though he wasn’t the best with controlling his mouth, he meant it all. Marco seemed to flush an even darker shade of red in return. “You should just do it. We should do it!” Jean shoved his gear to one side and stood, then grabbed Marco’s hand and pulled him to his feet.

“Wait, right now?!” 

“Why not? Let’s go!” Jean was nothing if not slightly reckless and spontaneous, taking off in a sprint, pulling his partner with him.

*****

It was only when he had the tools spread out in front of him that Jean had to accept that he really didn’t know much about cutting hair and that his recklessness was about to bite him in the ass if he mutilated his lover’s dark locks. He’d seen it done plenty but seeing and doing were two completely different things.

Marco looked nervous but excited and Jean did his best to swallow his own nerves, which came out as a gulp. Marco laughed quietly at the sound.

“I trust you.”

“I don’t know if I trust me though,” Jean muttered. Marco smiled, the tender one that always made him want to melt.

“That’s okay, I’ll trust you enough for the both of us.”

With that approval, Jean set off, carefully cutting, clipping, and snipping hair. The process was painfully slow, since he was determined to make it look decent, and he occasionally marveled at Marco’s seemingly unending patience in him.

But by the end, he really was quite proud of himself. He even slicked back Marco’s hair which complimented the shaved section more than his usual part did. Now for the real test…

He handed Marco a mirror and took a step back, letting him inspect his new look. Jean’s stomach twisted a little; what if he hated it? All of that would have been for nothing - and it all would be his fault.

But when Marco looked up, he seemed starstruck, eyes sparkling. He launched up from his chair, wrenching Jean forward by his jacket lapels to deliver a searing kiss. Jean grinned.

“I take it you like it?”

“It’s perfect! I never imagined it would look so good. We… we match.” Jean wasn’t expecting that but the revelation seemed to make Marco even happier.

“Does this mean you're going to stop playing with my hair?” It came out much more nervous than Jean hoped for. Marco grinned and pulled him in for another kiss.

“Not a chance!”