#is this what hibiki would say?

[yume-fanfare]

happy halloween! the cast from fist of idol: togenkyo have reunited again to bring us...... a horror movie?!

[bearimba]

Ethan (HGSS) Character Headcanons

Continuing with the New Bark Town trio headcanons!

Starring Ethan next:

So unlike Lyra, Ethan doesn't really do anything in the main storyline (same as the games, really, if you choose Lyra as the player character).

I thought maybe it would be cool if he had some kind of connection to the legendary beasts? since I associate Silver with Ho-Oh and and Lyra with Lugia. So basically, he experiences the Suicune/Eusine subplot instead of Lyra

I think the way it would go is that while he's out on his journey, he happens to encounter one of (or all of) the legendary beasts but it's scared off by the arrival of Eusine. Ethan asks what in the world just happened and Eusine starts explaining the ✨lore✨. He ends up accompanying Eusine on his quest in the hopes of another legendary encounter (though he doesn't really care about Eusine's reasons. he's used to just nodding along to Lyra's infodumping and Eusine isn't really any different. so). Slowly though, he starts to warm up to Eusine, genuinely getting invested in his efforts to bring back the legendary beasts and learning a bit about maturity/empathy on the way. It ends at Cerulean Cape like in the games, except Ethan doesn't catch Suicune and the event is left on a hopeful note that the beasts can in fact regain their trust in humanity.

His maternal grandmother was very hard on his mom during her child, so he ended up getting raised with much more relaxed rules. Unfortunately, rarely getting in genuine trouble, he kind of got used to getting away with more than he really should've. He ended up a little too confident and even a little self-centered at times as a result, though he's never intentionally mean-spirited.

A huge part of his character arc involves figuring out what he wants to do with his life. Living in a tiny town such as New Bark, he was always convinced that he had to go out and do Big Things™ with his life---and he kind of does while he's out with Eusine and later competing in the Pokelathon. But while doing so, he ends up overlooking what really matters: the people (and pokemon) close to him. And eventually he learns that not only is it fine to have an "average" life, it's actually kinda preferable in some ways.

(unfortunately the exact timeline/story beats are still very much undecided. so. can't elaborate on the specifics for now :/ )

After Lyra chose Totodile and Silver stole Chikorita, he was left with Cyndaquil. He already had a starter pokemon (Marill) but since Cyndaquil was left by itself, Elm decided to offer it to Ethan and he was like "yeah why not." His third pokemon is a Pichu, specifically the spiky-eared Pichu (how'd get it without already having a shiny Pichu? Great question, moving on---).

He was the first person to really bring Lyra out of her shell when they were kids. Back then, she had the impulsive ideas but he was the one to actually go through with them. Some of their antics included climbing the windmills in New Bark Town, sneaking into the pen of a very wild pokemon Elm was studying, and sailing down the river on Route 27 all the way to the ocean on a poorly made raft, none of which were very successful. Kris tried to do damage control when she could, but as a research assistant there was no way to keep an eye on them at all times.

He's actually the weaker battler compared to Lyra and Kris, but what he lacks in skill he makes up for in sheer willpower. by which I mean he likes to act big and cocky and tough when he really isn't. Dude loves his pokemon but just has no idea how to battle, he just does whatever feels right in the moment.

He still loves competition though, so when the chance came to compete in the Pokeathlon he was absolutely pumped. He and his pokemon are later considered one of the best teams, and he kinda becomes a celebrity---not necessarily mobbed on the streets, but definitely a well-known name to anyone who keeps up with the sport.

While he's competing, he lives with his grandparents in Goldenrod and helps out around their daycare. They don't initially approve of his participation, but he gets money for winning and he promotes the daycare every chance he gets so they can't really complain.

Partially due to the advertising, business at the daycare blows up and Ethan eventually "retires" to focus on it. He doesn't bother announcing it or anything, he just kinda stops showing up to the Dome. When interviewed about it, he responds "oh yeah, I'm actually done competing lol. anyways if you need any top-tier daycare services---"

He ends up taking over the daycare for his grandparents once they're older and it's too much for them to handle. He occasionally helps Elm with his research since he deals with pokemon eggs and evolutions so often.

Between the Pokelathon and helping out at the daycare, Ethan gains a decent amount of muscle. It gets to the point where he can just throw his friends over his shoulder without warning and parade them around, and it's his favorite thing ever. Kris will just hang there chilling, Lyra will burst into laughter until she's set down, and Silver will either quietly sulk or cuss Ethan out depending on the mood he's in.

He's cousins with Red on his dad's side! They both know the basics of Kantonian Sign Language because sometimes, it's easier to sign than miming or pulling out their pokegears to communicate when Red goes mute (though it's not their main form of communication). He really looked up to Red as a kid, so when his older cousin goes missing, he takes it as best as he can even though it's still really hard on him.

He cuts his own hair because it "looks cool." Eventually he figures out how to do it well, but for a while his hair just looks like he put it under a weed eater and called it good.

Despite getting flak from his friends for occasionally lacking common sense, he actually grows to be very emotionally intelligent. He's easily able to pick up on what other people are feeling and works around that during conversations, which is part of the reason he gets along with almost everyone (helps that's he's super charismatic---not in an attractive way necessarily, just a big lovable dork kind of way)

He's naturally extremely friendly, but he also returns exactly the attitude he's given. He and Silver's friendship has a very rocky beginning, with the two of them tolerating each other for Lyra's sake until they manage to find common ground (and Silver becomes a little less of an ass)

He's the kind of guy to wear shorts no matter the weather. It's fine when he's living in New Bark Town, but unfortunately for him Goldenrod tends to be a bit more chilly. Not that he'd ever actually admit to being cold, of course---he's too cool for that (pun intended)

He hands out nicknames left and right---Crystal, Lyra, and Silver are Kris, Ly, and Silv respectively. The more he dislikes someone, the more outlandish (and/or insulting) their nickname tends to be.

[wataeicentric]

I think the new event has just solidified wataei as the single most canon enstars ship

"I could see from the way you looked at me."

"I was driven by some inexplicable emotions"

"You killed out of love, not out of hatred"

"Ride that desire! From now on, forever, as long as you live! And, if possible, let me ride with you."

"One day, please lead me to the best stage once again, Eichi"

"It's a promise, Wataru."

[diz-eaze]

TRIVIA: LOVE. (soft yandere! wanderer x female reader)

; written during 2023. you call him kuni, vv self-indulgent i will not lie. minor lore divergence because of the name kunikuzushi.

; There is a longing present in his eyes when it came to you.

WHEN WANDERER met you under the hustle and bustle of Port Ormos, a missing piece of his being was completed like the last component to a crucial puzzle. The memories come rushing back - memories that are you, memories that compromise of you, memories that enjoy life with you - memories that he thought have been locked in the very back of his mind.

Yet that proves to be false, for how else can he know it's you if not for knowing you? He thought he'd moved on, he thought he accepted peace with himself that this time, he'll let you go and allow you to be free - a luxury that he hadn't granted you before, back when he wasn't a mere wanderer.

He thought he contented himself with aimlessly wandering the world of Teyvat.

Yet that also proves to be false, a lie piled on top of another lie, as before he knew it he was fast approaching you.

He had to make sure it truly is you, he had to.

Amidst your pleasant conversation with a kind merchant comes him, the outlier. He taps you on your shoulder, plastering on a kind facade - he asks you for your name.

"It's (Y/N)." You respond, returning his politeness back.

"What's yours?" You ask.

Ah, it truly is you.

It seems no matter what he does, Wanderer will always come back to you in the end. For his soul will always yearn for yours.

Just as it had since the very beginning.

Wanderer chuckles - a boyish charm that brings heat to your face.

"I don't really have a name," He says, relaxed and poised. "But someone always called me Kuni, so I suppose that's what you can call me. As it would be an honor I bestow upon you."

"Okay...?" You trail off, not able to decipher his cryptic words. "Kuni."

He'll never say it out loud, at least not yet, but he truly did miss you.

For as long as he lived, through every version and past of himself that he experienced, there was always one constant.

It's you, always have been.

Kabukimono - Resident of Tatarasuna.

The populated city of Inazuma lies the most prominent influence of the shogun, for her domain is placed at the most lavish point in the city. The shogun's army littered the streets, with soldiers occasionally passing by rowdy children playing tag or perhaps coming across the elderly in need of assistance. The residents of the main city greet the army with respect, with honor.

Life in Inazuma City is easy, almost unfairly so. The residents are under the protection of the Shogun, even despite her recent inactivity in ruling the lands. Outside the Main City of Inazuma, there is still life to be found.

There is Tsurumi Island, where a boy that befriends an almighty being resides. Seirai Island is inhabited by Asase Hibiki and her cat, Neko, along with a small village. And many more.

Tatarasuna is where Kabukimono's home is.

After being woken up from a deep slumber by Niwa, the puppet was introduced to the local residents of Tatarasuna, where Blacksmithing thrived. Most of them had an affinity for swords - sword dancing, sword forging, sword duels.

Even you, a local village girl who's known for sword dancing, specialized in it.

Kabukimono meets you on a particular night when everyone else had gone to sleep with the exception of the two of you. He sees you sharpening your blade, lost in thought. Kabukimono hesitates on approaching you, in fear of resulting in an unpleasant interaction.

After all, Kabukimono is not human - how can he know what humans like to talk about? He is naught but a mere imitation of life. He is a puppet, his joints, and his porcelain face are proof of that.

So he stays hidden in the shadows, watching you with catlike eyes - eager to harness your techniques when it comes to sword dancing. Kabukimono has no courage to talk to you - he can't and he won't.

It stays like that for a couple of weeks, he watches you in the shadows at night with a sense of standstill - the urge to cross it and just speak to you.

It isn't until Niwa introduces you to him one summer day did he cross the boundary.

"This is (Y/N)," Niwa says, smiling brightly. "I thought you needed more friends, Kabukimono. I think (Y/N) is perfect for that! She's adept at sword dancing!"

Kabukimono knows, he's seen you dance at night far more times than anyone else in the village. He's memorized each trademark of your dance, the signature flare that makes it your dance. He knows your mannerisms, and your routine before doing a dance - he knows it like the back of his porcelain hand.

And unlike nighttime, there in clear daylight, Kabukimono sees all your perfection and imperfection that makes up your entire face. He sees all the little details that the moonlight refused to reveal to him.

Here in broad daylight, you are even more beautiful than when he first saw you.

Niwa nudges him subtly, worried about his friend's sudden silence.

"Psst!" He whispers, not wanting his efforts to go down the drain.

Kabukimono's eyes widen, "U-uhm!" He stumbles over his words akin to a newborn baby, "You may call me Kabukimono...!"

You nod, not minding his belated response. "It's nice to meet you, Kabukimono. I hope we can be good friends!"

He nods as well, big doe eyes never leaving the silhouette of your form. "Likewise!"

This was the first time, out of the many, that he met you. His time with you was short, but it was undoubtedly the catalyst for everything that transpired between the two of you in the span of centuries.

Loving you when he was Kabukimono is akin to a first love in late summer and early spring.

Because you are, you're his first and only love.

Kabukimono vividly remembers chasing after you in the rice fields of Tatarasuna, not minding the gentle humming of cicadas and the soft buzz of bees. He remembers the way the wind tickled his hair, blowing past him as he races to catch up to you, he remembers the way you joyously laughed as you continued to outrun him.

Kabukimono remembers the heat of the summer sun, he can still imagine the feel of the blooming flowers that tickled his bare feet, he remembers the tsk coming from blacksmiths and the bemused chuckle of Niwa as he watches the two of you having fun without a care in the world.

Kabukimono remembers the countless nights spent dancing with you, holding your hand, and being surprised at the warmth your skin held - as opposed to his artificial hand that was cold to the touch. He remembers the way you awed at the feel of his skin, the way you traced each inch of his hand up to his forearms.

Kabukimono remembers a treasured conversation shared between the two of you, speaking out your innermost feelings and thoughts with each other. There, you ponder his lifespan and how he'd fare when you die.

"Do you think reincarnation is real?" You question, not really expecting a response from him.

Kabukimono remembers frowning as he looks at the way you seemed so troubled.

"Well if reincarnation were real, then I'd find you."

You frowned, finding his words hard to believe. "But what if I look different then? What if I looked nothing from the way I am now? How would you know it's me?"

Kabukimono remembers laughing out loud, "That's easy!" He retorts, grinning when you stare at him, "Because your eyes would tell."

"I'll know it's you, just because."

For the first time that night, you finally smile. "Okay," You reply, "I trust you, come find me in my next life."

"It's a promise, then."

(The same night, you gift him the name 'Kunikuzushi', and he feels blessed by Celestia itself.)

He remembers it all too well as if forgetting it would result in his ultimate demise.

As a puppet, Kabukimono knew he was not a real human. He can't be human, for he has no beating heart - he doesn't have the sound of gentle thumping that can be heard through your chest. When he presses against his own, he hears nothing but silence. He can't blush the way his friend Niwa can, for he has no blood, and blood can't rush up to his cheeks. He can't bleed the way you do. He can't wound the way you do.

Kabukimono has no human functions, but he feels human. He resonates with humanity far more than the average person, he empathizes and he cares like a human would. He feels love swirling within his nonexistent heart whenever he looks your way, and he thinks that this must be what living means; to love.

Life with you then was easy, he had nothing to worry about other than trivial matters. Life was an enjoyment, every time he opened his eyelids he was off to search for you.

First love is reminiscent of sweet candy and sunsets; Kabukimono thinks you are a dream, for you are everything he's ever wanted. Kabukimono thinks you're like candy because you love him like he's the only one in the entire land of Teyvat. Sunsets remind him of you for he can't imagine anything else other than the countless afternoons he spent with you.

But all good things must come to an end.

When you die while accompanying Niwa, Kabukimono feels his whole world tilt on its axis, and a surge of pain sprouts from his hollow chest; heartbreak. He's suddenly thrusted into a reality where you no longer exist because you're dead. He's forced to live on without you.

Love feels so good, but it also hurts just as much.

As Kabukimono, he feels love for the first time and loses you in the same breath.

But that's fine. Because you and he both promise to meet in your next life - he holds onto that like gospel. 

When Kabukimono leaves Tatarasuna, it's you in the back of his mind.

Kunikuzushi - Caretaker of a Sickly Boy.

A few decades have passed before he met you again. This time, he no longer goes by Kabukimono; he calls himself Kunikuzushi nowadays, a fond reminder of the imprint you left on his identity.

You were the one who gave the name to him, after all.

This time, you are no longer a village girl with an affinity for sword dancing. Instead, you are tied down to life by being the sole caretaker of a sickly boy with no parents. You look a bit different compared to your 'original self - a weary look is permanently etched onto your face, there are stress lines visible all throughout your body, you are deathly frail, and your face has blemishes more than usual - minor differences but ultimately, it's still you.

Kunikuzushi breathlessly laughs, it's still you, even after all these years.

From then forth, he volunteers to help take care of the sickly boy - he'll be the one to scavenge for materials and food because his inhuman physique allows him to. Your frail body can't handle it, clearly.

Kunikuzushi finds that this life with you is harder to navigate due to an unexpected factor - the child. It isn't to say that he's unwelcomed, because that's far from the truth - Kunikuzushi adores the child. But it's clear that his inexperience with handling young children shines through, especially when it comes to taking care of him on the off chance you were unavailable.

You, too, are terribly sick. Some days it has come to a point where you are bedridden. It's like an unknown disease have caught both you and the child - but it's fine, Kunikuzushi still loves you all the same.

Kunikuzushi learns that life is not easy at all, it's nothing compared to the easygoing perception he had back in Tatarasuna, where all he had to worry about was whether or not you would be at the village that day.

This time, he has to mature and learn along the way. Forced to abandon the childlike wonder he once had back in Tatarasuna in favor of adopting a more mature role in life, Kunikuzushi lives day to day as he learns more and more about vulnerability when it comes to being human.

Day by day, he tries his absolute best to keep you and the child alive through only his inexperienced hands - but this proves to be fruitless as with time, you come to deteriorate like the wood rotting the walls of the 'home' you and he called.

In the grand scheme of life, Kunikuzushi is nothing but a speckle of dust, powerless to stop or prevent deaths. Trying to keep you two from dying was akin to sand slipping through his fingers. It's the thought of fighting just for it to amount to nothing in the end.

On your deathbed, the last few remaining hours of your insignificant life, Kunikuzushi blabbers anything and everything that his puppet mind can conjure up; anything to keep you conscious, to keep you awake. He speaks of tales and stories about a life you once had with him, he speaks of it fondly like a wistful dream.

He assures you that he'll find you once more, it was bound to.

Amidst your hazy mind, you find the strength to ask, "...How will you remember that you loved me, Kuni? Don't your feelings fade over time...?" Your voice is hoarse, frail, and weak. So, so unbearably weak, it pains him to hear it.

"Never." He refutes, answering without skipping a beat.

"...Why?" You question once more.

"That's easy," He whispers, his cold fingers moving to gently grasp yours. "I can't help it."

He loves you so. 

Because loving you is like second nature to him, a part of his life that will always happen. An inevitable that has no end - and he has no complaints against it, he wants it all the same. Kunikuzushi knows how to love purely because you loved him so much that he learned how to love, too.

You let out your last breath and Kunikuzushi is now left to live without you once more. Quietly, he buries your cold corpse near the makeshift house. Kabukimono's time with (Y/N) was short, but even more so with Kunikuzushi - it's almost unjust.

A few days later, the sickly child dies too.

And Kunikuzushi is left to re-evaluate the very notion of love. 

Scaramouche - The Balladeer of The Fatui.

Scaramouche is everything that Kunikuzushi and Kabukimono are not, he is the very opposite of their being, he abandoned his previous life after he joined the organization known as the Fatui. The antithesis of what they once were.

Here, his existence means something - he is not the clueless childlike puppet back in Tatarasuna nor is he the powerless caretaker. Here, he is a Harbinger - a bringer of demise, he's a sense of coming foretold.

This time, when he meets you once more, you won't slip away so easily. This time, he'll make things right, the way he previously couldn't do. This time, he'll face death and fate itself just to keep you bound to him - not even your mortality can interfere, he'll find a way.

Except it takes over two centuries for you to reincarnate once more, a time too long for him to idly sit by and wait for you. Scaramouche meets you after an agonizingly long time, in this life, you are a resident of Inazuma City - home of the ruthless Shogun who stores people's vision in the massive stone statue.

For the first time since he met you ages ago, you yield a vision now - a Dendro one, a vision that signifies life and blooming hope. Such a shame, then, he has no plan for you to cultivate that kind of mindset once he grabs a hold of you.

The term 'meet' is much too generous, as he never introduced himself to you - he has no plans to, at this moment. He simply caught sight of you around Tatarasuna, looking for flowers to cultivate back at your house. But even with you meters away from his eyesight, it's unmistaken.

It's you, he's never been wrong about this. Because Scaramouche knows you so well it's almost as if the image of yourself is stuck to him whenever he closes his eyes. For him, it's impossible to mistake you for somebody else for his soul is so attuned with yours that it's no different to a pair of instruments.

Scaramouche knows you better than anybody else, that's simply a fact.

Yet while his soul strongly yearns to see you after all these years, he knows that patience is key. He must content himself with surveying you from afar until all the pieces are put into motion, once it's rolling then he can make his move.

He waits patiently, akin to a spider waiting for their prey to get stuck on the web.

For days, weeks, and a good month or two, Scaramouche keeps tabs on you as if you're Steambird's latest headline. He never skips out on a day when it comes to checking up on you, out of concern or malice, none of his underlings know the underlying reason.

They think he's a tad bit obsessed, but it's far worse when delved into the deep crevices of Scaramouche's mind; he thinks of you day and night, almost incapable of thinking about any other matter. He needs to see you daily, even if afar, or else he'd lose his grip on his sanity.

He has waited for you for centuries, what's a couple more meters to endure?

A few days later, the ship has been tipped - the resistance's army has made its move and the spread of the delusion has greatly impacted them. The traveler confronts him in a fit of rage, Yae Miko saves them by giving Scaramouche the Gnosis, and,

All is well.

He obtained the tool needed for him to break free from his place as a Harbinger. Next stop is Sumeru, with the company of no one else but you. That night, he visits your home as if he's a welcomed guest, clearly having known the interior and the contents of each room, unknown of how many times he's been inside.

Scaramouche creeps into your room like a shadow, quiet and undetected. You're sleeping peacefully, softly clutching your pillow and occasionally mumbling in your sleep - he watches for a few moments and lets adoration bubble up in his hollow chest.

And once more, he is reminded as to why he adores you so.

Nothing else in the world matters except you.

He'll become a god for the sake of you - for your worship, for your love, for your mortality to fade away. He can't bear to see you die one more time, he simply can't.

Everything he'll do is in the name of love, for the sake of the happy ending he deserves.

Scaramouche rips you away from the place you call 'home' and forces you to travel with him to Sumeru, threatening for you to not try any means of escape or call for help. You follow what he says, in fear of other people being involved in the tyrant named 'Scaramouche'.

He claims that he loves you, that all of this is for your sake, he says he's doing it for the two of you, he states that he doesn't mind being the villain in your mind as long as you're alive in the end.

You think this guy is off his rockers, spouting utter nonsense with no correlation whatsoever. How is his birth of godhood beneficial to you in any way?

Yet, the softness of your heart pricks at your very being when you see him purposely harming his puppet body just to accommodate the artificial god the Sumeru Sages are creating for him. Can puppets feel pain? You think so, you'd like to think so.

You liked to think so, so that your concern for him can be justified. It's so that you have a wall to hide behind when he questions why you're hurting in his stead - because surely, piercing large holes on his back just to insert a tube can't be painless, right?

His words play at the back of your mind,

All of this is for you.

And you curse yourself for having such a soft and fragile heart, for letting yourself feel concern over someone like him - yet, despite it all,

"Hey," You call out to him at midnight, "Does it hurt?"

It takes a while for him to respond, his eyes snap open and he instantly looks at you in his peripheral, "Concerned?"

"Perhaps," You admit, slowly climbing the robot he's now permanently tied to lest he ripped himself off it. "I just don't like it when I see people get hurt."

"I'm not a person," He snaps, haughtily crossing his arms. It takes a while before you're able to climb inside, stumbling in as you do so. "I don't care," You frown, guilt overcoming yourself. "You're still getting hurt."

He stays quiet for a few moments, not expecting you to care this much - in hindsight, he should've expected so. It's you, (Y/N), after all. "I'll be fine," Is what he finally says, "So stop worrying your pretty head over it."

"It's hard for me to not care when I see your back get impaled by a tube every day," You retorted, inching closer to him. He allows you. "I'm only human, I don't know anything, but let me see your back."

"Why?" He asks, yet he still turns around.

"I'll see if my Vision can help," You whisper, gently placing your hand at the smooth expanse of his tubed back. He almost shivers at the feeling of your touch alone.

"You really shouldn't concern yourself over matters like this, you'll lose sleep," Scaramouche snippily responds. "I'll heal overtime, I'm a puppet."

"But I want to," A soft green glow emits from the palm of your hands, "Because it's you."

He sputters at that, softly flinching before incoherently cursing you out. Eventually, he quiets down, not before muttering something.

You lean closer, eager to find out what he said, "Hm? Can you repeat that?"

"No." He grumbles. "Please?" You plead. "Pleasee?"

He sighs, giving in all too easily. "I said," He reiterates, "It's been so long since I felt what love from you is like. There, happy? Drill it into your tiny little brain."

You huff out a laugh, opting to stay quiet as you tend to his wounds. When you finish, you remove your hands from his back and bid him goodbye, clearly tired and sleepy from staying up for so long.

"Goodnight," You bid him farewell, exiting his Mecha and trudging back to your room.

Only when you're gone did he whisper out, "Goodnight."

Scaramouche is not one for religion, and he never will be. Scaramouche does not yearn much in his life, just one thing; you.

Celestia above, please let him have this one thing, for he doesn't ask for a lot.

You are the one, after all. Only you. 

Wanderer - One With No Name and No Kin.

The innermost layer of the Irminsul Tree is a once in a lifetime experience, he thinks. Inside the section that pertains to his centuries long life, are various memories and perspectives that he never thought he'd see.

But he came here inside, risked everything and more to make things right.

Dottore killed both you and Niwa, and he must adjust history according to what he sees fit. Even at the cost of his existence, the reality that he, Kabukimono, no longer existing would result in you never meeting him - never loving him, he'll risk it all.

If it means that you will live out your life without dying in such a cruel manner, then he'd do so in a heartbeat.

Because there's nothing more that he values in his life more than your happiness.

He loves you so dearly, so he must let you go - to make the ultimate sacrifice at the cost of you never meeting him. You love him, and he loves you - then and now.

But if you were to ask him, he loves you more.

He looks around the memories of his life, trying to pinpoint the exact moment he was created into the world by his mother. Countless glimpses and flashing memories of you go by, as if tempting him to back out. But his will to make you happy is much stronger, as it's not long before he finds it; the memory he seeks.

The moment of his creation - his birth.

He takes a deep breath, preparing to change history in a few moment's time.

Before entering, he bids you a heartfelt farewell.

Goodbye, (Y/N), I will always love you - even if it's at the cost of you not knowing. 

For the ultimate form of love is to sacrifice. 

V. He who loves you in every life.

Wanderer doesn't know if he should be thankful or not for his attempt at rewriting history. While you may not have met Kabukimono, Kunikuzushi, or Scaramouche - in the end, you still met the ultimate mix between his past and present; the Wanderer.

But then again, who is he to defy the strings of fate?

Fingers creep up in front of him from behind, and he resigns to a deep sigh, already knowing who's behind him - he wouldn't have let them get near him if it wasn't you, anyway. "What?"

You giggle, mischievous, clearly in the mood of teasing and annoy him to the edges of Teyvat. "Nothin'", comes your easy reply, "Just wanted to see my soulmate, is that so bad?"

Soulmate, the word suggested by you when he revealed to you the past that you hadn't lived through - the lives you met him in, back when all his previous versions of himself still existed in the world.

At that time, when he finished disclosing from top to bottom, he expected you to laugh at him or perhaps look at him like he was a madman - a most appropriate response considering he had no evidence to back it up. Unexpectedly, you looked at him in complete awe - curious at his past incarnation and your past lives that they lived through together.

"That's amazing!" You remarked back then, "It's like we're fated to meet, no matter what."

He coughed, a little flustered. "I suppose."

You smiled, "It's kinda romantic, no? It's like a..." You trailed off, pondering. "...! A soulmate!"

"What's a damned soulmate? Did you make that up just now?"

Cheekily smiling, you winked at him. "Maybe."

"Well?" He prodded you, "Elaborate on the term 'soulmate'?"

"Soulmate is a... person that knows you better than anyone else, it's like your soul is in tune with theirs and nothing can change that. I think, a soulmate is a greater scale of loving someone, because your love goes way past than what's considered the 'average'. A soulmate is... someone who loves you in every universe, in every life, and will never stop loving you no matter what..." You trailed off, deep in thought. "A soulmate is a best friend and a lover in one, they're someone who wholeheartedly accepts you for what you are and who you are."

You looked at him straight in the eyes, then. "I think that's what a soulmate is."

He stayed silent, processing the words you just spoke out. "...You think of me that way? That I'm your soulmate?"

"Why not? If we weren't meant to be, then we never would've met after you tampered with the Irminsul."

"But-!" He retorted, "We only met because of me-"

"So?" You shrugged. "That's still us meeting again."

You smiled at him back then, filled with mirth and unfounded feelings he could never fathom. "You are my soulmate, after all."

"I..." He was at a loss for words, the things he wanted to say were stuck on his throat.

"I think," You moved to intertwined your fingers with his, "You will never be unloved by me, because you are too well tangled in my soul."

It's impossible to stop loving you, too.

"'Cause you love me, and I love you."

Tears threatened to spill over his porcelain face,

"...I love you too."

To the boy who still found love amidst the great sacrifice he made for his one and only. It's the thought of being loved so much to the point someone would alter time and history just for the idea of you being happier. But what he didn't know was that you were happier with Kabukimono, Kunikuzushi, and Scaramouche in your life. No love is perfect, but his love for you was the best there was. 

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

Heisei/Reiwa Kamen Rider Bike Riding Time research

Hello there! Does anyone remember from a little while back when this image was going around?

For a while, at least in fan communities I frequented; this was quite infamous for showing just how sharp a decline Kamen Rider's namesake had become in the last few years, with the absolute nadir of the Heisei 20th anniversary Kamen Rider using his bike for a total of 47 seconds (and also, on the other end; just how much Kuuga would not get off his bike)

Obviously, it's been a few years since Saber now; and I've found myself wondering from time to time exactly how the Riders since then have fared, especially since both Geats and Gotchard have garnered a reputation of sorts for putting a bit more emphasis on the bikes and feeling like they have more screentime than your Zero-Ones and your Sabers.

So! I went looking and found the source. This extremely dedicated Japanese poster called Yamashita Radio who of course I will be basing the majority of this on, including his rules and his counting. And when I say 'dedicated' I mean that at one point he lost all his data so he just counted Kuuga through Saber all over again. MAD respect for this man! I highly recommend a full readthrough of this 5-part post at one point because it's very impressive and interesting stuff in my opinion

One other interesting point is that that chart there? That's main rider only; and also includes any riding they did as civilians. There is a separate chart for all motorbike riding in the show as a whole; including other riders, including monsters, including even just random civilians! For posterity, I think it's important to post that chart for comparison with the main rider one -- I've colour coded here so that red is Heisei 1 (Kuuga-Decade), green is Heisei 2 (W-Zi-O) and yellow is Reiwa (Zero-One onwards). Main rider only on the left, all biking on the right.

Up front there are some absolutely fascinating observations to make here - Zero-One had the least bike scenes of any show! Brand new era of Kamen Rider! - but I think I've talked about the past enough. With all this said and what I feel is a very important plug to make, let's get into the meat of this -- how do Revice, Geats and Gotchard compare to previous shows?

Rules

... okay, yeah, sure; let's quickly establish a baseline first. As I'm going off of Yamashita's work, I'm also going by all his rules; it's a good thing I agree with all of them because I kinda didn't want to completely redo the count of every season!

TV Show ONLY! No movies, no TTFC specials, no HBVs, no V-Cinema, none of it. The main reason given is that, uh, Paradise Lost has a 100+ bike scene near the start so that's too much of an advantage -- fair enough! Personally I also think it's more interesting, because movies generally have more budget and allowances for bike scenes so those tend to be the same. Maybe a separate count would still be interesting, but I think including movies would flatten out the times too much and make the data pretty uninteresting

No openings! Agito has too much of an advantage

Non-transformed states count the same as transformed states. Godai riding a bike is the same as Kuuga riding a bike.

All motorcycles are treated equally! Mopeds and even CG scenes and bikes are allowed

Other vehicles such as cars, trains and even bicycles and hoverbikes are excluded. Two big exceptions are made for Drive and Revice as they do not have a main motorbike otherwise, but this does exclude things like Gaim's Dandeliner, many of the Oni in Hibiki's transport vehicles, Den-O's Den-Liner, Gotchard's Steamliner and Madwheel and Decade's Agito Slider

Transformations of the bike still count as long as it's being ridden. The Boostriker turns into fox mode while you're riding it? That's fair game

Flashbacks and other repeat footage ("previously on" segments etc) don't count of course. But in cases where it's clearly stock footage but it's still a new event, like the many Ryuki Rideshooter scenes, that's still counted

Count from the moment the bike is straddled to the moment the bike is gotten off, and everything in between. Scenes where the bike isn't technically visible - such as close-ups of the rider's face, or cutting to another character's reaction - are still counted if it's all the same scene

Revice

3m21s (2m23s for Revi only)

Oh lucky me, this was actually done for me! Yamashita made a small update after Revice finished to add this. I just went over and double checked it.

At 3m21s, Revice is at this point the series with the 2nd least amount of bike riding; above Zero-One and below Zi-O. For Revi alone he's in 3rd least; above Zero-One and below Saber. Happy 50th anniversary!

An interesting note here is that Ikki never rides Vice Ptera untransformed -- concerns over the actor's safety, maybe? Daiji also pulls in 58 seconds for the show on his own motorbike, but abandons it completely after episode 13; only bringing it back for the summer movie (which is also the only place he rode it as Live). Interestingly, the 12 seconds he rides it with Sakura in episode 13 is the only time he uses it in the show after becoming a Rider. The skateboarding scene in episode 7 for Jackal Form goes on for over a minute, but unfortunately can't count for this...

I think most people expected Revice to place quite low, though. So let's move on to a show I think a lot of people expect to place higher.

Geats

4m05s (3m45s for Geats only)

I keep repeating it, but this is a show where it seemed a lot of people got the impression of the bike having more importance than before. I think there's a lot of aspects that come together into that -- the bike being tied to a specific 'special' item that's even part of the main rider's main form, the upgrade forms going off of that, and the bike being used in prominent scenes including in the first episode. Geats even arrives on it in his Revice summer movie cameo!

But ultimately if you look at riding time, Geats ends up in 3rd place for overall bike time; above Revice and below Zi-O, while for main rider only Ace ends up in 5th last; above Saber and below Decade. As such he ends up being the main Reiwa Rider to use his bike the most.

This is where I started splitting main rider and untransformed rider in my personal tracking charts, just for fun -- I actually couldn't do that for Revice because as said Ikki never rides anything untransformed except his bicycle. Until episode 11 Ace actually just slightly edged out Geats for having more bike time which was enjoyable to see.

A very interesting thing happens in regards to the Boostriker's transformed state. I decided not to include finishers involving it unless the Rider is specifically riding it -- and the one and only one to do so was Buffa in episode 6, accounting for every single second he rode the machine. He had a penchant for using the buckles' weapons in ways he wasn't supposed to, and he kept up that rule even when the 'weapon' was a bike.

Geats spends a decent amount of time in the final episode sitting on his bike while talking to Regad and the other Riders, and that really saved the show's overall times.

Gotchard

5m09s (2m32s for Gotchard alone)

According to production blogs, Gotchard had a stated aim of using the bike more. Unfortunately it seems this didn't manifest itself in a very major way... but I think we did see more interesting uses of it! Spanner has his own bike (that like Daiji, he never rides transformed!), there's a version of Golddash from the future, other characters including Golddash itself ride rather than Hotaro at multiple points!

For 'others', the 3 seconds in Episode 2 is when Minato rolls up to deliver Golddash to Hotaro personally. Episode 9's 5 seconds have Renge (with Sabimaru in the back) riding it to deliver Hotaro's cards to him in Kyoto.

Spanner shockingly saved the series' overall time here in a similar way to final episode Ace, by sitting on his for an extended period of time during his conversation with Lachesis at the start of episode 47.

While it's not a very long scene nor did it change anything for the rankings, the bike scene in the final episode that just aired is notable for an extremely rare instance of a Rider Machine being ridden by a Kamen Rider's final form. To my knowledge this has previously only been done by Agito, Den-O and Revice (the latter in a movie). Fittingly for a show where part of the direction was inspired by Agito, both Agito and Gotchard do this Final Form bike scene in their final episodes.

And now, for the final count...

Gotchard ended up in 21st for overall bike time between Zi-O and Saber, but this was largely due to other characters; so Hotaro alone ended up in 22nd between Revice and Saber.

Overall we're now 5 shows in instead of 2, we can indeed see a very large dropoff in the Reiwa Era -- including Zi-O, the most recent 6 shows are all at the bottom of the list. This is especially notable when The next most recent series, Build, had 12m31s; almost double that of Saber's -- and this wasn't uncommon, with Ghost and Ex-Aid sharing similar times.

This was the main thrust of my research... but what say we go on a little addendum? Because when I mentioned Yamashita updated his post to include Revice in 2022, there was... one other series he saw fit to do a count for. One that was only halfway through, but nonetheless saw an impressive amount of bike riding time. He only got halfway, but what say I finish the job out of pure interest?

It is "Avataro Sentai Donbrothers"

The extremely normal 2022 entry into the Super Sentai series has a number of bike scenes. Some you may expect from Don Momotaro riding his CGI Enyarideon on his Palanquin for much of the first cour. Some of you might say that CGI shouldn't count, it's easy enough to animate together a scene than deal with road laws and such -- but does Kijibrother not count? Does Inubrother not count? Do none of the mech scenes count? It's a festival, people. Let's enjoy it.

Even aside from the CGI, Yamashita noted halfway through the show; that can't quite account for everything else. Sonoi has a bike he rides in multiple episodes, every time with a wheelie. Inuzuka twice within 4 episodes steals a bike and almost runs people over with it, as is perfectly fine for a hero. Don Kaito shows up with his own motorbike to promote his new book, which you should buy. For a show where it's not even in the name and for recent Sentai, there's an awful lot of riding going on.

Yamashita in his post speculates that part of this is Inoue's own habits -- as a man whose Toku experience largely consists of regularly writing for Kamen Rider in the 00s, it's natural to expect he would be inclined to write something like "Inubrother escapes the scene on a motorcycle..." as if it was second nature; as if that's nothing special for a modern show.

And I would be inclined to believe that... as such a habit is something that would likely get ironed out after a while; and sure enough, while bike scenes are frequent for the first half of the show, they disappear entirely from episode 23 to 43. It is at this point in my own count I thought we would simply never see a large bike scene from the show again, and the sheer fun of counting up Donbrothers would be lost.

And then... he appeared.

My saviour from the future.

With a full uninterrupted 1 minute 15 second bike scene

I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I remembered the future episode but I had completely forgotten this was a part of it. When I started timing this episode I was leaving the house fairly shortly and I figured like the past 20 episodes this would be easy enough to count, and I was utterly bewildered. I should never have disbelieved for a moment.

With all that said... where does Donbrothers end up in full?

7m21s (4m23s for Don Momotaro alone)

This overwhelming record easily puts both Donbrothers and Don Momotaro in 20th place of their respective charts; beating all Reiwa Riders and Zi-O -- with Don Momotaro even coming close to dethroning Kamen Rider Decade's riding time!

This is where we stand, my companions. In an era where Kamen Rider's biking time is lower than ever before and shows no sign of significant recovery, Donbrothers swoops in to steal its glory. Never lose faith. The festival never ends

[rekino2114]

I just thought up a prompt for Kanade otonokoji being proposed to. How about She's hanging out with her boyfriend when suddenly he's says he doesn't wanna be her boyfriend any longer which leads Kanade into having yandere thoughts, when suddenly he says that he wants to be her husband instead. I was hoping you could also do this for Arei and Teruko is possible.

You propose to kanade, teruko, and arei by saying you don't want to be their bf anymore

Kanade otonokoji

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore?"

"Huh?"

Kanade actually felt surprised when you said that, which is uncommon for her to say the least

This wasn't supposed to happen, kanade loved you with her entire being. You had no idea what she would do for you if you just asked her. You were her darling, the most important person on the entire planet. No one else in this world even came close to your perfection. She genuinely couldn't live without you.

What did she do wrong? She treated you like a God on this earth. She would have given you literally anything you could have wanted, just in exchange of you loving her and staying with her forever. If you just told her what she did wrong, she could fix it

Or maybe she could try to fix you, just to change your pretty little head a bit, not as much as hibiki of course, she still wanted you to love her of your own volition but maybe she could just make it so you loved her just as much as she loved you, she would have just put some beautiful thoughts in your brain about her and you wouldn't have even known the difference. Just to ensure that you would never leave her

"I want to be your husband"

Oh.............nevermind

All of her previous thoughts disappeared, and her head was now filled with images of your wedding and life together. She hugged you and ranted about how much she loved you and was glad you weren't leaving her.

She should have never doubted you. Of course, you loved her, and of course you were going to be together forever, and she didn't need to do absolutely anything to you to make sure of that........but that idea did sound pretty fun, maybe she should try it on hibiki next time

Teruko tawaki

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore"

As much as she doesn't want to admit it, teruko knew this day would come.

It was just inevitable. Her luck had taken everything away from her, her family, her health and it would have eventually taken her life. She was used to it at this point.

But there was someone her luck couldn't have taken away from her, her happiness, which was you, the fact that you entered her life alone was the luckiest thing to have ever happened to her, and the fact that you loved her and stayed with her trough everything, that was the best thing in her life period. You were the best thing in her life.....so obviously it had to end.

The worst part about this is that she really couldn't blame you. Who would wanna date someone who, just by being near you, puts your life at risk? She was fine with her luck affecting her even if she hated seeing you sad whenever she got hurt, but the fact that you could be hurt just because you loved her was just so unfair and it broke her heart.....so it was probably for the best to end this

She knew this would happen so she promised herself not to cry......even if it hurt so mu-

"I want to be your husband"

"W-what?"

She was more surprised by your proposal than your sentence from before, but when she fully realized what was happening she obviously said yes and hugged you

"You made me so worried"

"Why?"

"Did you think "I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore" would be a good opening for a proposal?"

"I didn't think you'd instantly assume I'd wanna break up with you, I love you so much teru, I thought you knew, I would never ever leave you"

"..........thank you"

"It's nothing, I'm sorry"

"No it's fine.........I'm just really happy now...... can we stay like this for a while?"

"Of course, anything for you teru"

You stayed wrapped in each other's arms for longer, and teruko could feel herself smiling so wide......she had never been this happy to be wrong

Arei nageishi

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore"

"..........wait what?"

Arei though this was a prank for a few seconds, it had to be, you couldn't have been serious, there was no way you, one of the incredibly few people she actually gave a shit about in the world and that she even loved more than anything would abandon her like this.

There was no way you were just willing to throw away everything you worked towards, all of the talks and help you gave her in trying to become at least a little bit less shitty, she had never wanted to become a so called good person but she wanted to at least be someone who people wouldn't raise their eyebrows at when they saw you together, so that people wouldn't ask you if she was forcing you to date her whenever you announced that she was your girlfriend........even if she would never admit it.......she wanted to become someone worthy of you with your help.

So there was no way you would just give her the hope that she could become less shitty and then just leave her alone like that, did you even love her at all?

Even if she promised herself to beat the shit out of you later for this she knew it would have never happened, she loved you too much to let that happen..........why the hell was she still this soft with you?

"I want to be your husband"

"..........seriously?"

Arei wants to be mad at you for starting your proposal like that, but the genuine happiness in her heart that your words caused didn't leave any anger in her body, so she just hugged you and grabbed the ring, saying "obviously" in the meantime

"That was the worst proposal ever by the way"

"What do you mean?"

"How am I not supposed to think you want to break up with me after you say something like that?"

".......now that you put it like that, I guess you're right"

"You're a dumbass"

"But you still said yes"

"......yeah.....cause I love you"

"I love you too arei.....I can't wait to marry you"

Arei looked at her new ring and then back at you, she flashed you a smile, a pure and genuine smile

"Me too"

[celestial-fairy-girl]

I'll never write it, but it's been on my mind for years and Ive seen a few posts talking about how everyone and their mothers have had a crush on Lucy at some point so -- here! My '"I Love Lucy" Club' fic-idea

Cana started the club on accident when she and Gray were talking and they both mentioned their respective crushes on the blonde.

She laughed and said they should start a club when they noticed how Natsu seemed to hang off the girl and the way Erza would blush when Lucy complimented her

It didn't actually become a club until Loke became Lucy's spirit and told Gray the other spirits fascination with the girl

The first meeting involved Cana, Gray, Erza, Loke, Virgo, Taurus (tho he was never invited to another session), Levy, and (surprisingly, but maybe not) Happy

Happy and Levy realized VERY quickly that they were the only ones in the group to not have an actual crush on the blonde, though their love for her allowed them to stay in the club

Natsu was NOT invited, because he'd blab the whole thing to Lucy unprompted

Hibiki came to a few meetings after the whole Nirvana incident

It was a shock to all the members when people Lucy fought started coming to the meetings as well

First was Mary of the Legion Platoon; Dan trailing behind with hearts in his eyes

Dan just gushed about his beloved "Lulu Pie" and how they'd get married someday

Happy laughed and wished him good luck

Flare, after the GMG's, was spotted in the distance a few times, nodding along whenever she agreed with someone about "Blondie"

She fully joined after the sun-village arc

Gray actually slowly left the group after Juvia joined the guild. He said that he'll always love Lucy like a sister, but he realized that's as far as his feelings went

Plus, if Juvia heard he was in an "I Love Lucy" club, she'd kill the poor girl

Brandish just showed up one day. She and Cana had a stare down and began trying to one-up the other

"Well I've bathed with Lucy!" "So have I!" "I can touch her boobs whenever I please!" "I enlarged them for my own benefit!"

They both, respectively, ended their little tiff when they agreed her hair was as soft as the clouds in the sky

Natsu accidentally stumbled into a meeting when he was trying to find Lucy at the guild

When Cana told him what the club was, Natsu was confused at first

"Uh, yeah? Everyone who meets Lucy loves her. I mean, how could you not? She radiates positivity and warmth and her smile's as bright as the stars at night and she's so soft and squishy and when she sleeps she has this little tiny smile that you really need to concentrate on to see but when you do it's easy to notice how at peace she is in her dreams and-"

They just let him ramble that whole meeting

Brandish took notes

After that Natsu was officially invited to join the club, which he agreed whole-heartedly

They made him sign a waiver saying that if he spoke of the club to Lucy, they'd sic Erza on him. And he was NOt allowed to fight back

So yeah! There's that. (and the way the fic was supposed to work was through the meeting journal that Levy wrote. So like different entries)

Also, just to add on: I have this headcanon that if Natsu overhears someone talking about Lucy he has to butt in and give his two cents. Usually it ends in him info-dumping personal things about her. Half the guild now knows Lucy once only shaved one leg in the bath because she nicked herself real good. Had to wear pants until her next bath

[paniniichan]

Ballade of the Lost Child - Prologue

Characters: Niki, Yuzuru Proofreaders: Aru, Oli

Niki: Nomnom…♪

Kuu~u. This “hashimaki¹” is super yummy! Guess I was lucky there was a food stand here.   

It’s so delicious, why don’t more people know about this?

This world truly is weird~. Society should acknowledge “hashimaki” so much more.

It’s a flour-based food and it’s super easy to eat. You can even choose its flavour.

(In falsetto) Welcome ♪ Which flavour sauce would you like? Soy sauce flavour? Or how about cheese? –Hm~m, I just can’t choose!  

…Whoops. Woah, that was close. I almost passed that place by accident…!

Nahaha. I suddenly forgot why I’d come out here since I came across such delicious food~. 

Ooh, this line is huge!? Is this for those doughy churros that are trending at the moment!?

I thought I could avoid the crowds by coming earlier, but there are already so many people here.

I guess people gather at places with delicious food after all~.

In other words, it’s not an exaggeration to say that “delicious food creates world peace”...!

Right, this is no time to be messing around. I need to get in line before it gets too long.

<At the same time>

Yuzuru: Let’s see. I believe all the necessary purchases should be complete by now.

One, two, three… I bought this too, and that one just a moment ago. This one was sold out, so I shall have to come back at a later date.

… Hm, it appears all is in order. I don’t seem to have left any oversights.

Niki: I’m really looking forward to it~. Coming across new food is always so exciting. ♪

Yuzuru: Oh my, do I hear a familiar voice?

Ah, so it belongs to Shiina-sama. He seems to be at the end of a queue.

Season Avenue is always bustling. Hence it’s odd to see so many people lined up in a single queue.

They all seem to be queueing outside that stand. I wonder what exactly is being sold?

If Shiina-sama is lining up, it’s likely to be some type of food or drink.

… (Looking around)

… The people who’ve moved away from the stand all seem to have brightly-coloured sweets in their hands.

From their shape, I would guess they were donuts… No, perhaps churros?

Churros…? Come to think of it, I believe the Young Master mentioned those the other day…

Something about a speciality store selling cute churros on Season Avenue.

I see. He must’ve been referring to this stand.

……

Hm… He truly seemed to want to eat them, so perhaps I’ll buy them as a gift for the Young Master.

I wouldn’t usually let him eat this kind of thing, but…

Recently, he seems to be putting more and more effort into both his studies and work. Why not spoil him once in a while…♪

Shiina-sama.

Niki: Huh? Fushimi-kun?

How strange seeing you here~? Did you also come to try the churros? 

Yuzuru: I believe they would be a good gift for the Young Master. Would you mind if I accompanied you?

Niki: That’s fine by me~, let’s get these trending churros together! A journey is most fun with a companion after all²…♪

Yuzuru: It’s not a journey, we’re merely waiting together in line.

Niki: Nope nope. This line is the “Food Road”! In other words, it’s kind of like the Silk Road³, isn’t it?

Yuzuru: Well, um. Are you trying to compare this long queue to a road?

Niki: Yup! 

Yuzuru: sighs. Since the “Silk Road” isn’t about food, but rather silk, I feel like it’s a bit of a strange analogy in the first place. 

Niki: It’s instinct, Fushimi-kun. I thought I should express it to you in some way or another. Anyway, I don’t really care as long as we can get these churros. 

Yuzuru: Please stop talking based solely on reflex⁴. 

I don’t often find myself surrounded by your type, Shiina-sama. If I had to say, Hibiki-sama comes the closest.

Niki: Really?　

I don’t keep any company that’s like Fushimi-kun~. I only have irresponsible and weird people around me.

Oh well, thanks to that I can usually take it pretty easy, so that’s a plus.

Yuzuru: By the way, Shiina-sama. It seems that most people here are eating their churros as they leave, so do you know if I could order them to go? 

Since they’re not for me to eat and are instead a gift for the Young Master, I’d like to get them for takeout if possible. 

Niki: Hmm~? Is that so? I was also planning on eating while walking around here.

Truthfully, this kind of food is usually eaten on the spot or while walking, so I’m not sure if they’d be alright to take home.

Ah, Fushimi-kun. Take a look at that guy over there!

Yuzuru: Sure.

Niki: It looks like he only just bought some churros.

They’re wrapped in a paper bag from the stand too! I bet that means you can get them to go–

Man: Uwahh!?

Niki: Eh, what happened!? A fight!?

That guy was shoved over and knocked down by another man in black!?

Man: My bag! Wait, get back here! Bag thief!

Niki and Yuzuru: A bag thief!?

-----

¹ Hashimaki is Okonomiyaki wrapped around chopsticks

² Japanese proverb which means something alone the lines of “no road is long with good company”

³ The Silk Road was a series of trade routes connecting Europe and Asia spanning over 6,400km (4,000 mi) named for its primary use of trading silk. Niki is trying to liken the queue that they’re standing in to a long road where food will be traded at the end.

⁴The literal translation of what Yuzuru says is for Niki to stop talking based on “spinal reflexes”. These reflexes being involuntary and based on instinct without input from the brain. It’s effectively the same phrase as “knee-jerk reaction” in English.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Ello

I found this blog, and I want to first say that I think your lessons are pretty useful and insightful. I like how they’re clear and for the most part straight to the point

Secondly, I want to get some feedback for my redesigned looks of my Black OCs. As previously they fell into the “ambiguously Black” design trope and I wanted to fix that

I’m still not all that great with Black character designs (Mainly hairstyles) and there’s definitely more things that I should keep in mind and look out for. So I’m sorry if this design of one of my Black OCs looks bad or unauthentic to Black people irl

The OC in question that I want feedback from first is this guy, a punk o’ rockstar by the name of Hibiki:

I like the idea of him having different dyed locs (I think that’s what they’re called? Correct me if I’m wrong) for hair. His previous depiction was just him with generic spiky hair, so I think this design that I currently gave him is a step up. But there’s still some things I worry about

Mainly if his hairstyle is considered too overused but also if he still falls into that trope of having a Black character design with Eurocentric features, due to him having purple eyes. Those are his eye contacts and not his actual eye color, but still I’m a bit weary about him falling into this trope…

Feedback would be appreciated! Again, I’m no expert at Black character design. But I do want to commit to making my Black OCs look unambiguously Black

👍🏾 looks fine to me!

[back2bluesidex]

Incognito - JHS (WDBHG Drabble)

A Where Do Broken Hearts Go Drabble

Pairing: Hoseok X Fem!Reader X Jungkook

Wordcount: 1k+

Summary: Hoseok is curious about the guy who left you behind. So, he goes incognito.

Warnings: drinking!

Minors are not allowed in this blog!!

A/N: This takes place after chapter 4 and before chapter 5

Try as he might - Hoseok can’t think of anything else other than your lips, which he was about to kiss. 

He doesn’t know what had possessed him earlier tonight but he really regrets it. He had been trying hard not to look at you for the better part of the day. But he failed 

As if he hasn’t sold himself as a creep by continuously ogling his daughter’s therapist, that he had to lean down and almost kiss you. 

Thank god Sua woke up and stopped him, otherwise things might have changed from the next session and he doesn’t want that. Not only Sua but also he have been forming a genuine relationship with someone for the first time in all these years, he doesn’t wanna fuck things up now. Even though you seemed ready for him to take you over.

He pours a good amount of Hibiki in his fancy diamond cut glass. Looking at the liquid he sighs, he thinks to himself of the countless identical nights that he has been spending locking himself up in his study after putting Sua to sleep. 

He could have called Mina tonight. She is always ready and one call away. But somehow Hoseok feels greatly turned off by the idea. 

He almost had a taste of you, he almost put his mouth on yours and lord, he can still somehow smell your sweet subtle vanilla scent in the air. How the fuck he can think of anyone else when you were ready to jump in his arms just an an hour ago? 

He groans at the thought. 

What is this feeling of confusion? Why does he want you but is grateful that things didn’t escalate? 

The whiskey burns at the back of his throat but does nothing to take away the troubled thoughts he has been having. 

Then something ticks in his mind. 

“Jungkoo-?” he murmurs to himself. You didn’t say the full name but this jungkoo person has to be the ex boyfriend that supposedly fell out of love with you. 

And suddenly Hoseok is curious. He wants to see the face of this idiot who let you go. He wants to see the person who broke you and whom you still probably love. Whom you probably thought of while he was about to kiss you. 

He takes a big gulp from the glass and walks towards his desk. Settling down in the huge chair he opens his laptop, taps on the browser and goes into incognito mode. Typing a specific address and agreeing on using the site on guest mode, he filters out the search criteria. 

Location: Seoul,  Gender: Male,  Age: he thinks hard about it. You don’t seem like the type to go for very older or very younger guys. Given the fact that you are still under 30, he selects the age bar from 20 to 35.  Name: Jungko

Enter. 

There are 5 results that pop up: 

Jeon Jung Kook 

Shin Jung Kook 

Kim Jeong Gguk 

Kim Jeong Guen 

Lee Jung Min 

It’s good that your ex-boyfriend has a distinct name, it makes it easy to find him. The website showed him the most relevant results, so there are 5. But he knows which two he has to work with. 

So, he clicks on the first profile: 

Name: Jeon Jung Kook

Age: 28 

Occupation: Modeling 

Address: Unknown 

Email ID: Unknown 

Website: www.goldenstudios.kr  

Hoseok frowns at that. He has been using this people finder tool for the better part of his career but this ‘website’ section is added only on special cases. Either this jungkook guy is a bigshot or a celebrity. And he doubts if you settle for those types. 

But he clicks on the link regardless. 

His breath hitches upon seeing Jungkook’s face. He is the Calvin Klein model, whose face is in every possible billboard? 

Jesus. Is he really Y/N’s ex? He thinks to himself as he scrolls down the page. 

He can be wrong as well. There is another guy with the same name, so yeah. And he doesn’t really think you would have the mind to put up with a celebrity for three years. 

But something keeps him from exiting the page. He clicks on the instagram icon that is added at the end of Jungkook's bio. 

When the instagram opens, the first thing he tries is to look for your face but he finds none. Then he clicks on a random post and starts scrolling. 

Hoseok stumbles upon a post from a month ago. In the picture a pretty lady is hugging Jungkook tightly. As Jungkook lovingly wraps up her waist with one of his hands, laying his head on the top of her head. There are no captions but a ton of congratulations in the comments. 

So, this guy is already committed. 

Hoseok thinks of the likeliness of this guy being your ex. You said he broke up with you but didn’t mention when. Given the fact that your wounds are still fresh, it might haven’t been that long. And this guy just got into a relationship a month ago. So, he can very well be the Jungkook you were talking about. 

However, still, you dating a celebrity doesn’t sit right with Hoseok. So he decides to exit instagram and investigate the other guy. 

Before exiting, though, he decides to tap on the profile picture to view the recent stories. 

There is a picture of Jungkook, with another strikingly beautiful guy inside a condo. The caption says “happy birthday @j.m” with a tagged location. 

And.. it is the same location Hoseok picked you up from today. You also mentioned visiting a friend just before the session. 

Hoseok’s eyes narrow at the screen as he takes a better look at Jungkook’s face. 

“So you left Y/N for the girl in the photo, huh?” He talks to the screen as if Jungkook can hear him. 

“What an idiot you are, Jeon Jungkook.” Hoseok takes a swig from his glass making a silent promise of making you forget your ex.  

Taglist 1:-

@phenomenalgirl9 @variety-is-the-joy-of-life @sukunabitch @chimchimmarie @coffeedepressionsoup @meowstake @vonvi-blog @nochuel @xjoonchildx @justmewondering-recs @cuteipat @miakey98 @purpleanchorcrown @chimmisbae @ane102 @junniesoleilkth @terjeonbebas @kookssecret @appleh4ad @kayleeshinee @whoa-jo @definetlythinkimanalien @lovelgirl22 @agrika

Taglist 2:-

@llallaaa @mikrokookiex @parkinglot-nights @hiqhkey @diamonddia-mond @00frenchfries00 @koalasandcuddles @superchamchi88 @ttanniett @coralmusicblaze @multiasf @kookscumrag @sumzysworld @knjjjk @xtrataerrestrial @survivalistghost @kelsyx33 @aann95 @btsffreader92 @jjk174 @dragonflygurl4 @xwniazx

[fanganfessions]

(SDRA2) spoilers!!

about kanade otonokoji I never understood why some people would say her true nature completely came out of nowhere, I can understand not expecting her to be this insane, but I swear even in earlier chapters to me she always gave the vibe that something was off about her, the way she would change from kinda passive to being smug and insulting people, and being so apathetic when it came to investigations and body discoveries and she showed how much of an expert she was when it came to these situations in the trials.

I remember in chapter 1 kanade snapped at iroha and insulted her during investigation and then immediately switches up and starts comforting hibiki with a smile on her face like her personality didn’t just change.

Even when they discovered the body in chapter 3 she made a joke about how “the killer wasn’t messing around this time” like what?? I’ve always felt that her true nature was foreshadowed in earlier chapters

⠀

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

okay someone said they want to see it so:

THINGS I THINK I KNOW ABOUT VARIOUS TOKU SHOWS I HAVE YET TO SEE

please don't send me spoilers like you can kinda confirm but i don't want real spoilers

kamen rider (heisei and reiwa - sorry showa)

kuuga:

everyone keeps telling me that mr gay and godai are like yuma and ishido. this is promising

the grongis have their own language and it's divided if you're supposed to know what they're saying or not. toei i want to know why you will give bad guys whole spoken languages but not good guys. can you explain this please. okay thank you.

you're not supposed to read the manga

the shoulder thing is episode 2

the coroner guy has a wet morgue. no one knows why.

everyone also tells me its really good and i am frankly terrified that i will not think so because EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING IT AND I WAS TOLD THAT ON OTHER SHOWS I DID NOT GET BRAIN WORMS ON

faiz:

there's a horse. i think this horse dies. but there's a horse. i said this out loud because i talk to my screen and my sister just said "the godfather". i do not think the godfather scene happens in faiz but then again it's inoue

inoue's guy is there and he's evil he's evil he mispronounces words cause he's the fucking deevil

juuzo is there?? for some reason??

houjou is ALSO there but is supposed to be punchable in a different way

is this the one where mr is in WAY TOO MANY DRAMAS is in like several episodes. i think so. i think he's a snake. don't quote me.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's inoue bullshit

one of the smart brain people is mio kiva just remembered that

hibiki:

yuuto is here. i know that.

the kid would grow up and be in a vampire drama where tezuka plays a gay kid, a half-french faiz guy that was in the cross-dressing show that was ryoutarou's first role was there, and murakami was also there. he had to do drag in it. i think the kid's name is adachi.

the first episode is supposedly a musical

inoue ruins it after episode 29

trumpet. there's a trumpet.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i have none idea on the plot.

ghost:

some people really hate this one and i think it's cause high schooler

i've seen the main guy in one other thing and that was silly

i have seen whom i assume is the mentor guy in quite a few things and he rocks and can't wait to see him.

there's gay people but i'm not entirely sure who is with who

the one guy is like. super hella asshole in real life. i think it's alain's guy but it might be makoto. but i think it's alain. i don't know what either of those guys do i just know these names

there's the guy who calms down dan kuroto but i didn't think he was super important to the plot?

there's that eye thing.

oh it's like. famous people over the centuries for power ups

zi-o:

IT DOESN'T MATTER. IT ENDS WITH THEM DOING THE REGULAR TIMELINE AND IT DOESN'T MATTER IN THE END

woz is hot

the den-o rules are broken again because god forbid we abide by den-o rules

some people ot3 or ot4 it

tsukasa decade is divorcing daiki AGAIN the whole show

let's blow up toei studios!

zero-one:

we're supposed to have father forgiveness and this pisses people off

gai is like. my age irl or so but is supposed to be in his 40s

non-binary person

the secondary really likes mr main guy's puns but will never admit it

covid fucked this one over i think

izu is there

saber:

miss reika's lesbianism in all crossovers is like. brocon instead

there's a lot of them

there's an ot4 strong enough that a friend that doesn't really do ot#s ships it but if you asked me at gunpoint to identify them i wouldn't be able to

souta and...genta? show up at some point

storius hot. phew

touma has fun hats and strange outfits

they have a bookstore

revice:

demons. trans allegories.

THEY SOMEHOW NERFED MAEDA. I HAVE SEEN HIM HE'S VERY CUTE WHAT DID THEY DO TO HIM

the kimiyuki main guy is there but doesn't do a lot

they own the bathhouse that is many a toku

george. i know george.

something goes on with a man named hiromi

lesbians. very strong lesbians. that they try to sister in that special with micott orb

geats:

WAYYYYYYYYY TOO MANY OF THEM. WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TOO MANY. YOU SHOULD SEE HOW MUCH I COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING GEATS JUMPSCARED WHEN LOOKING UP ACTORS

main guy is a fox

keiwa is adorable and has a good bl and a nice singing voice

buffa is angry and purple

there's some punk guy named hallelujah win

the wizard movie villain is there and has power dynamics with one of these guys. not sure if it's hallelujah win or the guy who was in zettai bl.

there's some yuri but since it's ten bajillion guys it's way more yaoi

gotchard:

a return to fun practical effects

high schoolies again

there's chemies and one of them is just a guy and the lore implications are not actually explored

juggler is there at one point

some people ship the girl and the guy and some people don't

miss orbgin princess is like super mega lesbian

there's some goth girls and one of them is like. 9. reji 2.0? i don't actually know. i think one of them is mixed.

oh the cocoa otoko vocalist is one of the villains

there's like. stuff with spanner and a teacher

the girl turned into a kamen rider in the movie in a move that pissed off a lot of people

gavv:

parents complained about the stomach showing

food

valen is the chocolate one

they didn't have the girl be a kamen rider

i have no idea who the villain is actually

super sentai (ones i can name off the top of my head. sorry i still do not have the hero-getter memorized)

gingaman:

my year.

those grunts are. uh. what.

the one gozyuger guy is hella promoting it

i don't actually know anything about gingaman but i'm watching it next

magiranger:

family

magic

toei's parking lot man is the yellow

the two villainesses can combine into one

THAT'S OUR IDIOT

capes!

dekaranger:

cops

jasmine hot and has esp

doggie kroger and swan are in a relationship

the red and blue are homoerotic

kakuranger:

i'm supposed to watch it cause it's fun

liveman:

why'd you do that to your friends

the villain is fun

MPREG EPISODE

go-busters:

supposed to be fantastic. cause koyabashi does not miss. however.

the robots. i do not like that bunny. i know that.

they're data? corrupted data?

jetta orb is there

mr toei parking lot is there and i think he dies

mr toei parking lot man also swears for real in english

it's morphin time

changeman:

supposed to watch it

goggle v:

rescue da

supposed to watch it

goseiger:

angels

you don't actually fuck with the red despite him being this tiny lil dude

gosei knight

they wear the jackets of past sentais

ninninger:

family again

the red somehow has a kid but he never has a woman

the sixth is american

the blue is british somehow

i think the red and pink are siblings and then the white and blue are siblings? i have no fucking clue. not sure what the yellow is. frankly forgot he existed for a second there but then remembered he was in zettai bl 3

ryusoulger:

dinosaurs

melto is gay

canalo is a womanizer

one girl

the green and black are brothers

zyuranger:

power ranger show number 1

dinosaurs

i have no idea that is literally all i know about zyuranger

ohranger:

also a power rangers

uh the one guy was in the kingoh in space special but had been replaced and they're supposed to live forever? or something

shapes

carranger:

is that power rangers turbo? i think so

cars?

bioman:

is this the terrible dad one

gogofive:

teachers? family of teachers?

kiramager:

diamonds

wait maybe this was the one with the yellow in zettai bl 3 actually

i think all the boys were in bls by now. the blue. does not stop showing up in random bls. the red has 2.

PINK4PINK GIRLIE HERE

the silver has that sister that isn't human? i think?

covid fucked this one over

goranger:

the first one but no it isn't but yes it is

no mecha

jakq:

not supposed to watch this one

ultraman (also just ones i can remember)

trigger:

tiga related

basco is there

um. that lady with glasses.

the one guy is gonna be in the stage show of mdzs with sonoshi

yeah mostly i know basco is there

decker:

dyna related

the main guy kissed lupinred

x:

taiga ex-aid is there

DR MAKI IS APPARENTLY THERE

the main guy has his own bl

uhhhhh i dunno i didn't make it through that movie despite owning it on bluray cause it came with the ginga s movie

z:

exists

tiga:

always paired with dyna and gaia

dyna:

always paired with tiga and gaia

he shows up with cosmos in ginga or orbgin or something

cosmos:

really long

the main guy is way cuter in the later stuff

blue!

ultraman:

came out the year my boss was born and he's watched 1 episode cause it's on tubi

started it all

seven:

no idea

taro:

the host literally never shows up again

does not get into tregear (lmao)

goofy i think?

ace:

is that the one with the glasses?

jack:

is this even a show or is he just an ultraman

zero:

i cannot remember if this is a show or like an extra guy

blazar:

it's heart drive!

pretty light on yaoi

those noises are.

skard does not have two women

the netflix show:

supposed to be awful

the anime:

not supposed to be great?

on tubi and i think also hoopla

power rangers (off the top of my head yet again)

power rangers:

the red is. uh.

original green ranger. rest in peace

my dad met a few at a birthday party, and this is backed up by the uncle i can trust with stories so

zordan

zyuranger

in space:

is this ohranger?

they switch some people.

light speed rescue:

gogofive? i think? no idea on plot.

turbo:

tommy oliver is there?

mystic force:

magiranger

they're wizards i think

apparently NOT in california

spd:

dekaranger

is happening...now. in 2025

dino fury:

ryusoulger

orange girl? or is that just cosmic fury?

cosmic fury:

continuation of dino fury

AWFUL BAD SUITS

the red is now a girl!

lesbians for real

uses KYUURANGER MECHA?????? FOR SOME FUCKING REASON???

ninja force:

i think this is the hurricanger one. assuming that is the next reasons

HOLD THAT GIRL BY THE PUSSY

school of ninjas

beast morphers:

go-busters

made in 2020

MUSICAL EPISODE???????

the red seems cool

the ninnin one:

the guy who played the blue was koda's irl brother i think

no idea on anything else actually

megaforce/super megaforce:

first is goseiger then is gokaiger

yellow is yet another blonde girl

the red met ozawa

i don't think they're angels

random various toku

zubat:

good at everything

show of all time

super rabies

dogengers:

decide NOT to do world domination (too much work)

kitaqman

metal heroes:

if you asked me which was which i'd have no idea. sorry.

gavan:

MARVELOUS'S GRANDPA

the reboot guy sure is like. gay with every guy he meets

space sheriff. no idea how that plays out

garo:

gotta watch it in order

boobs

lotta familar faces actually

[kudouusagi]

Bravern April 2024 Animedia

I don't know if anyone has translated this but I haven't seen any and where I found this it wasn't translated so I thought I'd translate the bit about what Isami and Smith would do if they received a love confession at graduation. Sorry if it's already been translated lol.

The question is answered by Suzuki (Isami's voice actor) and Azakami(Smith's voice actor).

Q: If they received a love confession at graduation, how would Isami and Smith react?

Suzuki: Since we've seen Isami not react even though he's surrounded by cute girls like Hibiki, Miyu, and Honoka, I think that even if Isami were to get a love confession from someone he would just say "Thank you" and then do nothing after that... that's all I can picture.

Azakami: I don't think he would realize that saying "Thank you" would equal "let's date" either (lol). This is just my opinion but I think that Isami has zero experience with love.

While Smith is super forward, I don't think he would be that forward when it comes to love. I think even if he was confessed to he would say something like "rather than that, why don't we go to a party" and use that as a smart way to turn them down.

Suzuki: That's true, Smith does give off the feeling that he won't take that final step towards being lovers.

Azakami: It's just my opinion but I feel like, surprisingly, Smith might also have very little experience with love.

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

i think it's interesting to try and guage what toku shows are Popular or not bc there's a fair amount of information to go off of in Japan, but you're practically just guessing in the West bc there's nothing to go off of beyond what you personally see

Like. In Japan we've had multiple polls; we had that big NHK poll of the most popular rider shows and then there've been a few smaller ones, some around Heisei 20th. And you've also got the trends Bandai and Toei tend to follow for what gets merch and what gets actor comebacks. They always always ALWAYS do so much for Kuuga and W but then Ghost and Hibiki never get anything y'know.

So for Japan, I would say this is about how the main Heisei/Reiwa riders rank for popularity

(too early to judge for Gotchard but it actually seems somewhat popular? Time will tell I guess. This is just for the shows also; other elements can still be very well liked -- Tsukasa has a LOT of fans, and Kabuto often seems to get model kit merch bc of its designs)

But if I'm to try and re-arrange this for The West. Oh god. Oh god help me. Uhhh???

and like if you go to someone else they'll probably tell you nah this list is nonsense Revice and Drive are the ones all the people i know love and no-one liked Blade or Den-O. It's so hard to tell

[rekino2114]

I love kanade I really really do, bjt Arei just wins out for me. So how about Arei from Despair time alphabet with J, L, V, Y

J,L,V and Y fluff alphabet prompts with arei nageishi and kanade otonokoji

A/n:I'll do you one better. Why choose when you can have both (yes, this is allowed. It's still 4 letters even with 2 characters)

Arei nageishi

🎳J=jealousy (how jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

Arei gets jealous pretty easily. While she may appear to have a big ego, she knows better than anyone how her personality is, and she's very afraid that you'll get tired of it and leave her so when she sees a girl flirting with you she'll immediately start yelling at her and calling her every insult possible while telling her you're taken. She'll also start making out with you in front of her just to rub salt in the wound

🎳L=love confession(how did they confess to you?)

She invited you bowling and was planning to confess while comforting you for your loss, but she ended up getting distracted by you and her emotions and losing, so you comforted her instead and she blurted out that she loved you, she was very embarrassed at first but very surprised and happy when you accepted her confession

🎳V=value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

Your relationship and you in general mean so much to her, specifically the fact that you could see through and endure her personality, you and eden are the only people who see her for what she actually is:a person genuinely trying her best to make friends and change at least a little bit. She knows she probably will never be a good person, but she doesn't really care as long as you're with her

🎳Y=yes (how do they react to you proposing to them?)

"So, did you bring me here just to get destroyed at bowling? Hehe, sorry, but seriously, why did you play with me? You usually just watch me play"

"Well today is special"

"Really? How so?"

Arei watched as you got on one knee, pulled out a ring, and started your speech. Part of her genuinely couldn't believe this was happening. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and before she knew it, she started crying.

She carefully listened to everything you told her and had the biggest smile you had ever seen on her face while still crying when you asked her the question

"Are you fucking serious? Of course I will, yes, yes,yes, do you need me to say it again? cause I will, yes I would love to marry you"

Kanade otonokoji

🎸J=jealousy (how jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

Kanade is very much the jealous type just seeing you talking with another girl causes her to get violent thoughts, and if that girl starts flirting with you, you might as well say your goodbyes because that is the last conversation you're gonna have with her, she obviously trusts you and knows you're never gonna leave her but it's better to send a message to any possible competition.

🎸L=love confession(how did they confess to you?)

She wanted to go all out to show you just how much she loved you, so she asked hibiki to make a special song for you and make her sing it this time, she was very surprised by her sister's actually pretty good performance but didn't think too much about it. She made a private concert for you and after she finished singing she went over and told you that everything she had said in the song was for you. She then kissed and hugged you when you said you liked her too. She may have seemed blushy and nervous on the outside, but on the inside, she couldn't be happier that you said yes as that made things much easier for both of you

🎸V=value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

When kanade fell in love with you, any obsession she might have felt towards her sister was replaced by you. She couldn't think of anything but you. All her dreams were filled with her and you living a happy life together. She loved you so so so so much, and thankfully, you feel the same . She doesn't even have to break you to be with you. She would gladly kill everyone in the world, including her sister, to be with you or if you simply ask her to. So safe to say you mean a lot to her

🎸Y=yes (how do they react to you proposing to them?)

"The scenery is beautiful, darling, but why did you bring me here?"

Despite what her question might lead you to believe, she knew exactly why you were there, the recent searching for rings online and measuring of hibiki's finger (you didn't want her to know and they have the same fingers) made it obvious, it was a bit disappointing if she had to be honest, she wanted to be the one to propose, to make a perfect discourse on how much she truly loved you (as if she didn't do that every day) but she could never complain, it was an even greater sign that you wanted to be with her

"To do this"

You got on one knee and pulled the box out, kanade tried her best to look surprised, but the pure ecstasy that was filling her mind was too much to contain, she started drooling a bit and hearts replaced her pupils, her true self coming out for a bit, but she shrugged it off in time to answer your questions without you noticing

"O-of course my darling, I would love nothing more than to marry you, I want to live the rest of my life with you, I will love you forever and ever, that's a promise"

[cutepresea]

So uh, Shirabe Meshi chapter 37, part 2

Immediately after the end of the first half, a group of people suddenly appear

They are very obviously up to no good, singing happy birthday and bothering people by getting in their faces saying stuff about "bathe in the light of deconstruction and it'll heal all sickness and end climate change" but Chris somehow comes to the weirdest conclusion that they got a flash mob for her birthday.

She turns to Miku, "Look, I don't feel right saying this to someone I owe my life to, but this is in really bad taste" and Miku says that she also doesn't have a clue what's going on

They all take out a bunch of summoning crystals and let loose a bunch of Alca-Noise

Chris: "This surprise took a turn for the disastrous!"

Hibiki: "We didn't know anything about this!"

Chris: "Why are you here?!"

So these people think they're creating some new world by breaking down the old one

"This world's bloated population will be culled by Alca-Noise! This filthy world shall be reborn on this day! Let's celebrate the birth of a new world! Happy birthday dear New World"

So yeah, these poor girls happened to be there the same day as some Alca-Noise death cult so now they gotta take care of it

As they're fighting the Alca-Noise, Maria eventually gets in contact with everyone and tells them how the group she was tracking down was one that would deceive wealthy people who were into the occult into sponsoring them. She had found evidence proving their connection (as she mentioned she was investigating in the first half) but she was too late to make an arrest

The cult keeps making their speeches and Chris is obviously not too happy with them

"Even without Noise, people will always be at conflict with each other...because there would be people like YOU! Today's the new world's birthday, you say? Small world, mine too! Take this! A heaping helping of missiles as a birthday present!"

And blows up the Alca-Noise

So the cult members get arrested and Chris makes it back to her apartment, disappointed that there wasn't a surprise after all but as she opens her door

"Happy birthday Chris-senpai!"

Kirika and Shirabe had been waiting the whole time

Hibiki and the others start patting themselves on the back for things going mostly as planned outside of that little incident

But Chris starts telling them that when nobody said anything she thought they forgot and starts crying, saying she's at least glad they didn't forget after all

Tsubasa, Hibiki, and Miku start apologizing saying they should've considered how it'd make her feel a bit more

"Um..."

Kirika and Shirabe walk up with the cake saying they worked hard to make it for her hoping it'd make her happy. Chris wipes her tears and takes a bite of the cake, which reminds her of the cakes she had as a child

"It's sweet...! But so good"

Afterward, absolutely everyone starts showing up

So of course Chris gets overwhelmed by everyone coming all at once (though Hibiki claims she's actually happy)