#it's good to finally let this saga draw to a close lol

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Tomorrow Ye Will Get Your Pay

Dual Timeline Historical Fiction - 90k words

New Bedford, 1867 Amos Cudjoe, a harpooner on his second voyage, joins the crew of the bark Wampanoag, hoping to earn enough money to return home and marry. Before he can step on board, he meets Tobey, a greenhand freed by the Civil War, looking for something that he isn’t going to find. Amos loans Tobey his last name, and his friendship, and ties their fates together in their dangerous hunt for oil. New Bedford, 2057 Marcus Ashton, a historical interpreter on a reproduction whaling vessel, finds Amos's journal-- and loses himself. As his life falls apart in the hottest summer on record, visions of the past and future offer no consolation for the present.

[Read for free on AO3] [Print/Epub pay-what-you-want on itch.io]

Cover image: Landing the Shore End of the Atlantic Cable - Richard Dudley

[blackknightgargiemoviephile]

How To Train Your Dragon Saga

In the beginning, I was never really interested in watching the movie and never even bothered to watch the trailer, since we thought it was one of those cliche failure movies (and Dreamworks hasn't really had a very good track record of good animated movies at the time), but after being bombarded with tons of Toothcup fanfics and fanarts and after very high recommendations by my friend Jello13 from dA, I finally got down to watching the movie. Boy, was I glad I took my friend's recommendation to watch this movie, and the subsequent sequels after that, because after 3, 4 friggin' times, I still fucking LOVE this movie!!!

Here's my findings of the saga:

Apparently this movie was based on a children's novel written by Cressida Cowell which focuses on the 2nd book in a 10-volume book franchise. There are certain deviations between the real Hiccup and Toothless and the storyline as a whole, but after reading the summary of the original story, I think I like the movie version better. In fact even the writer said so in her blog that she likes the deviation as the movie captured the core essence of her story and it was amazing to see her story to be interpreted this way.

The storyline and the pacing is very good, and the sarcastic humour and slight optimism of Hiccup despite people thinking he's anything BUT a Viking is very intriguing. I love his catchphrases like "I'm way too muscular for their tastes. They wouldn't know what to do with all...this" and "Thank you for summing that up" and his famous line "You just gestured to ALL of me!" is just some of the LOL-worthy lines the talented Jay Baruchel who voices Hiccup does.

I was totally shocked to find out that Gerard Butler plays the role of Stoick, Hiccup's old man! I have never expect him, who is known for his brawniness and action-packed persona, made famous in the movie 300, would actually play a voice-over for a cartoon character. After finding out, spotting his voice and hearing the familiarity was much, much easier.

And of course, the creme de la creme of the entire movie: TOOTHLESS!! He is just so, so, so, soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo uber cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute~~~~!!!!! When I read about him in fanfics and caught glimpses of him through fanarts, I was thinking, "Hey, this dragon is quite cute." Now amplify that feeling by a gajillion times more. That's how I feel about Toothless. He started off a little vicious with his snake-like slit for eyes, trying to act strong and tough like the dragon he was, but the moment he let his guard down a little, he got these pair of big doe eyes that is just so MOE and SQUEE-worthy. And of course I finally learn how he got his namesake: with retractable teeth that he can materialize at will

My most favourite scene of the entire movie would be this scene where Toothless finally was at peace with Hiccup and allowed him to touch him. The way Toothless tried to copy his drawing, and then growled whenever Hiccup stepped on his drawing, then Hiccup moved to avoid the lines in tune with the music until finally they were so close they were allowed to touch was just so AWW-worthy. And the music score was perfect too, especially the title of that score: Forbidden Friendship. Isn't that just sweet?

The part where Hiccup and Toothless slowly develop that bond while trying to get Toothless back on his flight feet again was also very interesting as they slowly worked together and forget each other's differences to reach a common goal, while at the same time trying to learn about each other, and Hiccup using that knowledge to good use (the eel and the scratching of the neck part was really epic), making him the life of the team, much to his crush, Astrid's chagrin.

I also love the part where Hiccup tries to convince everyone during the final exam of killing a dragon that dragons are not what they think they are, and tried to pacify the Monstrous Nightmare only to be interrupted by Stoick and having Toothless coming to the rescue (damsel in distress much, Hiccup? XD) and revealed their relationship. It felt really sad and my heart just broke when Hiccup shouted Toothless for him not to kill Stoick and Toothless looked at him with his doe eyes, then Hiccup tries in vain to stop everyone from hurting Toothless, and that argument which led to his disowning, and earning back his role as a son by proving his worth and Toothless' reputation, though a cost of his leg. I was wondering where would be the scene where he looses his leg, since I read that he had a prosthetic in fanfics, but turns out it happened in the near end of the movie, and literally mirrored Toothless' missing left tail fin.

Ending is a bit cliche where he gets the girl, he is lauded as a war hero and gained the respect of everyone including his father, the dragons made peace with humans and all that, but still it was a very heartwarming cliche scene. One that leaves a smile on your face and a sigh of contentment in your heart.

Speaking of Astrid, not really sure it's because of that yaoi in me, but I never really saw Astrid as a suitable pairing for Hiccup. I know, I'm not usually one for bestiality, but seriously, can't you just FEEL the love between Hiccup and Toothless to the point where you can consider them as lovers? Toothcup (Toothless/Hiccup) pairings are in the rage right now since the movie has been uber popularize, and you cannot deny that sort of relationship exist, right?

This one, personally I feel, is almost as par as the first one. Not better, not worse, but more or less par. Hiccup and Astrid are still together, but the Toothcup shipper in me just don't feel like they match somehow. Moreso, suddenly out of the blue, Snotlout and Fishlegs were heads over heels with Ruffnut, which I ABSOLUTELY have NO CHEMISTRY feel whatsoever! Even after I've watched their TV series that led to the second movie, I STILL don't get the vibe or the chemistry between those three people. It's like "Wait, what?" moment.

Although that moment when Ruffnut was just totally thirsty for Eret was absolutely hilarious though. I couldn't help laughing and cringing at the same time.

When the moment Hiccup's mom Valka showed up, I was not expecting her to be so... skinny. Stoick said that he made helmets out of Hiccup's mom's breast plate, and it seemed pretty big, but looking at her, she didn't look like someone who was close to being a big bosom woman, but what is continuity anyways? LOL Though Hiccup definitely has inherited her knack for dragons. Guess it's in the blood after all.

I teared up a little when Stoick died, and I felt so bad that their bromance was threatened by this, but thankfully Hiccup still loves Toothless and is willing to forgive him and try to bring him back to his side. Goes to show how deep their bond is, and Toothless ended up becoming the Alpha Dragon was one of the most epic moments in the whole movie.

It also kinda interesting that Hiccup has somehow became pretty hot in this movie. Was pretty surprised at how he transformed from the awkward tiny little runt of a boy to a strapping man LOL

Plot feels similar to the 2nd one, but the ending was so so SO bittersweet. A fitting ending, but sweet yet painful for me to watch.

My heart broke at the scene wen Hiccup was complaining about Toothless being in love n said "Am I not enough?" and I was like internally screaming "YES! U ARE ENOUGH!! U TWO ARE ENOUGH!! FUCK THAT LIGHT FURY!!"

Throughout the courtship scene btwn Toothless and the Light Fury i was like internally screaming "NO, SHE'S A TRAP! SHE'S A FUCKING TRAP! HICCUP, WHY ARE YOU OKAY WITH THIS?! I'M NOT HAPPY WITH THIS! I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!"

I cried like a fucking baby, especially at the end of the movie. It was like I knew it was happening, that they were gonna break up, but I was in denial, then when Toothless hugged Hiccup goodbye, I lost it, waterworks all over. In fact, waterworks all the way to the end at their final reunion ugly-cried like a fucking baby.

It did ended perfectly; perfectly bittersweet and perfectly heartbreaking and I was like "This is it. It's official. It's over. My Toothcup ship has fucking sank!!"

Fuck you, DreamWorks, you have killed my bromance!! Gahh!! I hate and love this movie at the same time!

Overall rating:

HTTYD: 9/10

HTTYD2: 7.5/10

HTTYD: 9/10

[duhragonball]

What are your favorite fights from each anime iteration of Dragon Ball? (DB/Z/GT/Super etc. Yknow lol) I’m curious!

This is a good ask, anon. Just wanted to point it out.

I'm not sure how long a list I want to make for this, because if I really go nuts with this I'll probably end up covering like 75% of the fights in the franchise. But I don't want to just pick one favorite fight from each series, because that feels too short. Tell you what, let's just play it by ear and see how this goes. I won't bother ranking these, because I'm not sure I can.

OG Dragon Ball

1) Goku vs. Jackie Chun, 21st World Tournament final

2) Goku vs. Tien Shinhan, 22nd World Tournament final

3) Goku vs. Piccolo Junior, 23rd World Tournament final.

We'll start with these, because they're tentpole moments for the series, and they define Goku's character arc so well. The Jackie Chun fight was pretty short, but it was really the first big fight in the franchise, and it set the tone for all the later battles to follow. What makes it work is how Chun is determined to keep Goku from winning, not for his own sake, but because he thinks Goku will lose interest in martial arts if he wins a big tournament on his first try. Chun entered as a ringer, but he finds Goku a lot harder to stop than he expected, and the match very nearly ends in a draw.

So you'd think Goku would be a shoo-in at the next tournament, but he has to get through Tien for that, and Tien turns out to be extremely tough and he wants to murder Goku to avenge his master's brother. It's an awesome fight, made more awesome by the way Tien's character arc begins to overtake the action itself. He starts out wanting Goku dead, then decides he'd rather fight fair because he enjoys the competition too much.

So by the time we get to the 23rd tournament, the contest itself feels like an afterthought. This is just the venue for the more important showdown between Goku and Piccolo. Except Goku still wants that World title. It means a lot to him, and no one else seems to get that. Through this whole arc, everyone is scared shitless of Piccolo, worrying that Goku might not be able to beat him. But Goku has a game plan, and he sticks to it and powers on through to victory. And yet it's still this insanely close match. I dare say this is the most even battle in the franchise, but Goku seems like an underdog to start out, and by the end of it, you see that he had things under control the whole time.

4) Goku vs. Red Ribbon Army HQ

5) Goku vs. King Piccolo

6) Goku vs. Grandpa Gohan

I guess you can call these #reference fights, because when I rewatched these episodes in 2019, I noticed how much they resembled battles I've written in to my big-ass OC fanfic. Goku just charging headlong into an army base is sort of the prototype for Saiyan mayhem, and when I started writing Luffa I quickly realized that this would have to be the sort of combat she'd be used to. There's no Vegeta or Perfect Cell to tackle a thousand years ago. She's got no rival, so her best bet is to fight large armies single-handedly, as Goku does here.

Likewise, I ended up inventing a lot of villains who think themselves invincible, only to get knocked on their ass when they find out how vincible they really are. King Piccolo's meltdown during this battle is a sight to behold, because once he starts losing, all he knows how to do is talk about his fearsome reputation, except it's completely hollow when the other guy is feeding you a can of whoop-ass. He just doesn't know how to process this beating, and that's always left an impression with me.

Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, that you had this character who has some relation to another character, and gosh, wouldn't it be nice if they could meet and fight each other, and one of them could leap forward beyond their natural lifespan to make that happen? I dunno, maybe it'd be kind of emotional? I haven't actually written anything like that so far, but if I ever do, it'll probably resemble Goku vs. Grandpa Gohan quite a bit.

Dragon Ball Z

1) Goku vs. Vegeta

I mean, what else can you say here? This one's a classic.

2) Anybody vs. Cell, pretty much.

Obviously, the Goku and Gohan fights from the Cell Games are the best of the best, but Cell's entire run in DBZ is awesome, including the fights he has with Vegeta, Trunks, Android 16, Piccolo... you just can't lose. I could go on, but I don't want to get too far down this one category.

3) Pikkon vs. Goku.

This one gets dunked on a lot because it's filler, but it's excellent. Just a friendly competition where everyone's dead and there's nothing at stake but bragging rights and fighting spirit. Pikkon's a brilliant opponent and Goku has to find a way to beat him, and that's really all the story you need, sometimes.

4) Goku-Vegeta II

This one's a bit wonky because there's no clear-cut winner and the Buu crisis overshadows it, and it doesn't quite hold up compared to the original Goku/Vegeta fight, but it's still awesome, because of the buildup and also a lot of the intensity. It kind of functions as a coda to the Androids/Cell Saga, where both guys were Super Saiyans but they never got a chance to duke it out. As it turns out, they're so evenly matched that it kind of works against the fight. One of them does a big move, and the other one just shrugs it off like nothing happened. In a way it's kind of the opposite of the Goku/Piccolo fight. When it's a couple of Super Saiyan 2's, there's just no way for anybody to pull ahead, and ultimately their battle takes on a very tragic tone, which is awesome.

5) Majin Buu vs. Everybody in Season 9.

Okay, apparently Tumblr won't let me post any more images, but that's cool, you all know what Buu looks like. I remember flipping through an issue of Beckett DBZ Collector at the grocery in 2003 or 2004, and it did this top ten fights article, with this as #1. I just liked the sheer gall of counting the entire Fusion and Kid Buu Sagas as one big fight. But let's face it, it works. From the moment Evil Buu shows up to the Spirit Bomb finale, it's basically nonstop action for Majin Buu, as he takes on one opponent after another in a zany gauntlet. And sure, I'd probably say Vegito and SSJ3 Goku were my favorite portions of that larger battle, but it's tough to isolate any one section.

Dragon Ball GT: There were no good fights in GT.

Dragon Ball Super

1) The Tournament of Power.

I suppose this also counts as one big battle, although my absolute favorite part is when Caulifla and Kale battle Goku and he ends up using Ultra Instinct to beat them.

There's also a lot to be said for Vegeta vs. God of Destruction Toppo, and the whole endgame with Jiren against Goku, 17, and Frieza. Oh, and the part where Universe 9 gets wiped out in one episode.

For my money, Dragon Ball Super doesn't really get off the blocks until the Tournament of Power begins, which has always frustrated me about DBS. It's basically one really good run of episodes at the tail end of an otherwise lackluster series. The U6 tournament was pretty weak and the Zamasu/Goku Black saga was downright pathetic.

Movie-wise... let me see here. Mystical Adventure had some good action, Dead Zone, Cooler 1, Super Android 13, Broly 1, Fusion Reborn and Wrath of the Dragon were classics, and Battle of Gods and Super Broly had some excellent fights too.

And yeah, I think that about covers it.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

So... I’m a few days late for this, and I apologize. I was busy making birthday presents for the best friend and lost track of time.

And if people can’t use this because it’s late, they of course don’t have to. But...

This is what KH means to me... My thank you to the KH team...

I would have loved to write something for them, but I don’t know if they’d be big on getting fanfiction for their own work. I also could have done a digital manipulation or gmv for them... But IDK. Maybe them getting their own work back to them in a fan-edited way wouldn’t seem good at all? Because you didn’t do most of the work there. They did. You just edited it. And maybe you even edited in a way they wouldn’t approve of, and they see your work as copyright infringement?

So that leaves drawing, but I’m not the best drawer yet...

So screw it. I’m just going to write an essay about what this series has meant to me, the last seventeen years.

(Warning. This will be long. And probably emotional.)

Where do I even begin... I discovered this series when I was nine-years-old, right after the first game had come out. And seeing the advertisements for it on Disney channel made me want to have it so very badly.

I actually didn’t have a PS2 at the time... And while my sister and I did want other games alongside KH, yes, it was mainly for KH that we wanted a Playstation 2... So we begged our parents for one for Christmas, and they were gracious enough to get us one and quite a few games... and, of course, Kingdom Hearts with them.

We actually didn’t start with that one, though (even though I wanted to). My sister wanted to somewhat save the best for last, I guess... And when we did finally end up playing it, I had actually caught a bit of a cold (and it was only the promise that we’d finally play Kingdom Hearts, that day that got me to game. Even though I had been every day before, and had enjoyed all the other games--don’t get me wrong--but I was feeling that crappy, and it took the incentive of Kingdom Hearts to get me to agree).

And to say that I fell in love with it from the get-go would be an understatement. The opening cinematic pulled me in, it’s true (and already, I could tell this was different from the other games based on movies that I’d played), but it was mainly the Dive to the Heart section that really captured me (and made me forget my illness). That atmosphere still gives me chills and wonder, and calls me back to give it a go again years and years later. And I’m glad something like it has been included in games since, like in KHII, KHIII, Re:Coded, and what have you.

I was nine... So I stumbled my way through a lot of this game--and I mean stumbled--I had no idea what I was doing most of the time. In the fights, a lot of the ways I’d let Donald and Goofy do all of the work... and it took me a whole month to find Maleficent in Hollow Bastion. But I did end up beating the game, and understanding all of it.

I also ended up getting deep thoughts about it--as it is a mystery series that leaves you thinking--and I know I used to annoy people by talking about it. Haha. But this series got me thinking in a way that nothing else had... And that I honestly don’t know if most other kids my age could have... at least without something like this in their lives.

At this point, the series owned my soul. It touched me more than any other piece of media ever had, and ever will--and I’d had plenty pieces of media I really liked back then, such as Sailor Moon and yet they didn’t even come close. And while I’d shipped other couples before, such as Usagi and Mamoru from Sailor Moon, Sora and Kairi was the first one where I really felt like “These two have to be together”--and my life became about waiting for the next game (it still very much is, as sad as that might be to say).

I remember I would go to the store, and often times ask people who worked in the game section if they knew anything about a Kingdom Hearts II (this was before I had the Internet), and I recall being really sad one time when one of the workers told me maybe there never would be. LOL And to be clear, this was the time even before Chain of Memories.

Eventually, I saw Chain of Memories advertised on Cartoon Network and then begged my parents for a Game Boy Advance, so I could play this sequel. And for the Christmas that year, they complied as well (gosh, I have the best parents in the world). But I was saddened when I realized I couldn’t really play it with my sister (and her best friend) who I’d played the first game with. So my sister just told me to play it, and then tell her everything that happened. Which I did... With notes, and everything. Oh, yeah. I kept notes on KHI, CoM, and KHII, I think. I was that level of crazy (in a good way!).

Around this time, I was also subscribed to Disney magazines... And when I eventually got one that had Kingdom Hearts II in it: the one that revealed Sora’s new outfit as Beast’s Castle as a world--the first I’d ever heard of it, and the first I realized that Chain of Memories wasn’t the “true sequel” (as much as I did like Chain of Memories, I was glad to hear this. And even moreso that it was coming back to consoles, so I could experience it with my sister and her best friend again), I legitimately screamed so loud, you don’t even know. It’s a good thing I was home alone that day... And screaming about anything Kingdom Hearts related has pretty much become a trend of mine. Oops.

...So then I ended up pre-ordering Kingdom Hearts II from GameStop, with all of the cool things that came with that (like the special edition strategy guide that had four different covers, based on Sora’s Drive Forms. I have the Valor/Brave Form one), and I asked my mom to pick it up for me while I was at school so I could come home the day it came out and immediately start playing it. It came out near the beginning of that year’s spring break, and I beat the whole game in that time... You couldn’t have pulled me away from my Playstation 2 that break if you had tried. 

I also know that I tried out for my school’s show choir the time that Kingdom Hearts II had just come out... Something I really should have cared about, but I didn’t as much as I could’ve... And while my mom had gotten busy talking to someone, waiting for me to come back from my audition, when I got back and she was still talking to them... I sort of wanted her to hurry along, so I could get back to my game... Something I think my mom even admitted to that person (but in as nice a way as possible)... Oh my gosh.

I also know that one day, I was thinking about KHII in class--I’d left off on the half-way mark of the game, with the 1000 Heartless battle and all that--so it was heavy on my mind... Our teacher was asking us about our weekends, and someone else in class started talking about how they started playing Kingdom Hearts II, and I gasped loudly--to which everyone stared--and I said that I had the game, too, and loved it... My teacher then said that was the most emotion they’d ever gotten out of me.

Ahahahahaha. I have many other embarrassing stories that I could admit with this series--particularly with KHII, and I have on past accounts--but you know what? I’m going to save myself some humiliation and keep them to myself.

But KH... It means the world to me. How can it not? It’s been a constant joy in my life for so many years: That’s been with me through just a little before my double-digit years, all of my teens, and into my adulthood.

I’ve made many friends through this series, too, either by convincing my friends to give it a try or making friends with people I know love the saga.

It’s a constant light for me, and always has been, that reminds me of my childhood (for so many reasons. The Disney for sure being one of them) and simpler times: And that there always is a light at the end of the tunnel... 

In fact, the KH characters even feel like friends I’ve had for a long time--that I can always count on--and who I’m always happy to see.

And even now, that feeling hasn’t faded away (it probably never will). Since the way I reacted to KHIII, is pretty much the way I did KHII: Even fourteen years later, and as an adult now.

Kingdom Hearts even introduced me to all the things I love. I found YouTube--after I finally got Internet--when a friend told me I could watch the Kingdom Hearts II secret ending there, as I hadn’t unlocked it myself (and since I had doubts in myself as a gamer back then, I wasn’t sure that I could. Even though I had unlocked the one for the first game. And did eventually do so for the second game... and all of them, except for KHIIFM so far). And YouTube, amvs (a lot of them for KH) is how I found my love for video editing.

And moreover, I’m a writer. And it was in Googling stuff about Sora and Kairi that I eventually discovered fanfiction (that I actually, stupidly, thought was official stuff by the actual writers at first, because I found fanfiction on sites that weren’t called that), and through that started it myself and honed my writing skills. My writing style is probably even inspired by KH, in a lot of ways--like how I handle mystery and when I deliver information to the reader, and all.

KH also did simpler things, like getting me into other Square Enix games (Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, Bravely Default), and gaming in general.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Kingdom Hearts, and that’s just the facts.

I’ve even bonded over it with my dad. My dad doesn’t know the series at all, God bless him, but he’s always willing to talk to me about it and ask me questions since he knows I love it so much. He always asks me when the next game’s coming out. Or if he knows one’s coming out, he’s aware of how happy that must have made me... Or if I’m playing it around him, and he hears a long song begin to play, he knows I must have beaten it. He also went to the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra with me:D

My mom also knows the series through me. A bit more than my dad, since she used to come up and watch us play it some (my dad also did a few times). But I felt it’s more fitting to mention my dad here, since he actually knows it less... And still admirably does this stuff, and is still this in the know about how much it means to me.

...I’ve admitted this before (like in an official survey to Square Enix)--even though I don’t like to, for obvious and personal reasons (and this is for sure something my parents don’t know and never should)--that in really rare, dark times of mine... Kingdom Hearts has saved me from suicide: Those times that I struggle with depression, and felt like I really had nothing else to live for... And yet wanting to be alive to finally see the end of Sora's story, drove me to give life another chance.

And I don’t really think I can say much more than that, or go deeper, to express just what this franchise is to me.

So Kingdom Hearts team... from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.

[terriblesportsimagines]

Continuation of fwb! Miyuki request the one where he found out he had a kid. Pleaaaase (i hope i make it since im also late lol)

You made it!  A conclusion, perhaps, to this saga?

Miyuki Kazuya

Being afather was a lot harder than he anticipated. Not that he’d known anything about being one, mind you, but it was.  There was an adjustment period, as all ofthem got used to each other, and as he got to know his little girl.  She was still in the hospital for anothercouple of weeks so he went to visit her there every chance he got.  This usually mean in the late morning orearly afternoon between practice and his games. When he had to go out of town for a series, made sure to call and talkto her at least once a day.  You weregood that way, making sure he had your schedule so he could know when to call.

Dealing withyou was probably the most difficult, because he felt so angry and betrayed whenhe so much as thought of you.  He stillloved you, and though it was his fault for never telling you, you had keptsomething so precious from him.  You’dcost him years.  He wasn’t sure he could ever forgivethat.  

But therewasn’t any place for animosity when there was a little girl in theequation.  He didn’t have to be your bestfriend, or even be particularly close to you, he just had to be civil and workwith you.

When hislittle girl finally got out of the hospital, he made extra efforts to pick herup and take her places.  It waschallenging because almost all of his days off were during the week when shewas in school.  

The Sundayafter she was released, you let him pick her up with a bag of her things andtake her home.  His house had nothing toentertain a little girl, but you’d thoughtfully packed some of her favoritethings along with her clothes.  Mostly,they spent the rest of the evening making a mess in the kitchen.  Cooking was something he was confident in,and she’d shown some interest, so he used it as a bridge between them.  They made cookies, because she liked sweets,and she beamed when he ate his fare share, even though sweets weren’t reallyhis thing.

He spentlong hours watching her sleep.  It wasprobably creepy, but his heart ached when he looked at her – this little girlthat looked so much like him.  Hewondered how it was possible that he didn’t know she existed, surely parentsshould know these type of things?  Healso wondered how long those lost years would haunt him.  All the years he could have spent learning tobe a father, being there for her every milestone.  It made him sick to think about.

He fellasleep leaning against the wall at the head of her bed and woke up to hercrawling into his lap.  She grinned athim and gave him a hug and it was honestly the best morning of his entire life.

His firstreal challenge came a little later on when he got her ready for school.  She didn’t want to go to school, instead tostay with him all day.  Of course sevenyear olds couldn’t be reasoned with the same as adults, so he floundered.

Miyukilearned in that moment that she’d gotten his stubbornness, and probably some ofyours as well.  And that she knew how topitch a fit.  Not knowing how to dealwith it, he let her blow herself out before trying again.  “Yumi-chan,” he said softly, taking a kneebefore her and reaching out to draw her closer. “I’m really happy you want to stay with me, but school is important,especially when you’ve missed so much of it already.  It’ll go by quickly, and before you know it,I’ll be there to pick you up, okay?”

Her littleface looked mutinous, bottom lip quivering as she blinked her wet eyesrapidly.  “I can’t stay with you allday?”

He shook hishead, smiling and running a hand over her head. “Sorry, princess, not today.  In afew months when daddy doesn’t have to work, we’ll spend a whole weekendtogether, okay?”

“Promise?”

“I promise,”he replied, holding his pinky finger for her to hook hers around.  She did so without hesitation.

Shesniffled, then threw her arms around his neck. “You really won’t go away again? I don’t want you to go, daddy.”

Miyuki heldher as tight as he could, kissing her head. “I’m not going anyway.  You’restuck with me forever, Yumi-chan.”

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 1 Chapter 1-Yata no Mori (Part 2)

Not going to lie but this chapter nearly drove me crazy with the kyudo terminology. Luckily, there’s a lot of information in English about kyudo online (and surprisingly a lot in French as well) so I just want to give a huge hand to the people who share their kyudo knowledge online in easy to understand ways, you’re the real MVP.

I highly recommend opening the chapter in two tabs and scroll down to the translation notes at the bottom if you can since a lot of words won’t make sense if you don’t know what they mean. I’m still searching for a convenient, non-intrusive way to write the notes so if anyone has any ideas,  let me know.

Also I think I’m going to go on a break after this (yeah even though I promised to post this a lot sooner) cuz I’m still a little burned out from DIVE!!. I just hope the anime doesn’t air before I actually finish this book lol

Translation Notes

1. The Raiki Shagi and Shahoukun are two important ancient texts in modern kyudo. They are written in the front of the Kyudo Kyohon and provide a lot of the philosophy behind Kyudo.

2. Yoshimi Junsei is a famous archer of the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868) who wrote the Shahoukun.

3. Yazuka measurement (not to be confused with yakuza) is the distance from the center of the body to the tip of the middle finger of the left hand when standing upright. This measurement is used to determine proper bow size.

4. Kataboushi yugake is a type of archery glove that has a hard thumb cap (I think???) There are three-fingered, four-fingered and five-fingered types.

5. Kake gae no nai ( 掛け替えのない) is a Japanese saying that means “irreplaceable”.

6. “Makuuchi” is a term for shooting an arrow into the curtain.

7. Gyousha is the movements comprising the act of aiming the bow and shooting the arrow.

8. Oyaki is Japanese stuffed dumplings.

9. Yips is a disease that causes the loss of fine motor skills in athletes. It manifests as twitches and jitters and occurs a lot in sports like golf and darts.

Full list of translations here

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What was that?

Who was that?

He thought back to that breathtakingly beautiful shooting, and Fuu’s deep black eyes.

He tried searching online, but couldn’t find any search terms to enter. The kyudojo of Yata no Mori didn’t have a website, only having its name entered in a list of all the kyudojo in the prefecture. And because of the Personal Information Protection Act, the identity of the person who owned it could not be disclosed either. In that case, he should have asked the man for his name. But, what would he do if he did asked for it?

Minato was heading for the school’s entrance to go home after school. It was bright outside the open windows, and he could hear the sounds of people going to club activities. When he narrowed his gaze on the still distant sunset, the wind died down.

Then, his shoulder was grabbed from behind again. I guess I don’t need to check to see who it is anymore.

“…Ryouhei.”

“ ‘Sup Minato. What are you so dopey about?”

“Do you know how big you’ve gotten? You’re heavy.”

“Sorry, it’s just a habit.”

While apologizing, his hand remained on his shoulder. The other hand was waving at the people passing by.

Since elementary school, Ryouhei liked to join shoulders with other people. Minato disliked being clingy with people, but when he saw Ryouhei’s smile, he couldn’t turn him down, so he left it as it was. Even during the several times when Minato and Seiya fought, Ryouhei would squeeze between them and join shoulders, saying with teary eyes, “I get sad when you guys fight,” and then it became impossible to get angry. Minato had a bad feeling as he felt the similar emotions from those times.

“Isn’t it too early to go home? Let’s go to the kyudo club’s information session together.” Ryouhei said.

Minato replied without a moment’s delay, “No. I’m not going.”

“Alright, then at least listen to some of the information. Tomi-sensei has back pain so he can’t do the practical skills, so it looks like Seiya will be demonstrating them.”

“Ryouhei, did Seiya bribe you to do this?”

“It’s not like that. But, he told me to tell you this: ‘If you don’t come today, then I’ll never let you see Bear again.’ Did they finally start to keep a bear over there? Sweet.”

No, that’s really not something to be impressed about, Minato quipped in his mind.

“For me, Seiya’s the sage, and you’re the hero. You have a heroic saga too, don’t you? Hey, do you remember what happened on our kindergarten trip?”

“Trip? Oh, the one where the hornet landed on my arm, and I kept walking without shaking it off? But, that’s not a big deal. Even though the hornet kept approaching me, the teacher warned me repeatedly not to kill it with my hands.”

“That’s not it! It’s the one where you barehandedly caught the crayfish that I couldn’t touch. When I saw that, I was like, ‘This guy is cool!’”

Minato was completely drained, and placed his hand on his knee.

“Ryouhei, we aren’t in kindergarten or elementary school anymore.”

“How’s that different from being in high school?”

Ryouhei’s innocent gaze pierced Minato.

Minato was an only child, but he was got the illusion that the naughty younger brother, who had always followed behind him, had suddenly matured.

“Actually, when I was in the second-year of middle school, I accidentally saw you drawing your bow. When I saw that arrow firmly hitting the target, I was so excited. I thought that I want to draw like that too. I want to do kyudo together with you and the others—. You said that you were busy with chores at home, so I gave up the other day, but I guess if Seiya and I cooperate we’ll manage somehow? It took a lot of trouble to meet you like this. Just try to listen to the information first. And then can you make your conclusion?”

“Ryouhei, I’m…”

“I want to do kyudo with you…is that no good?”

Ryouhei’s ears seemed like they were drooping down dejectedly. Minato was never good at handling his juniors.

“…All right. But I’m only listening.”

Ryouhei’s face lit up. He couldn’t understand why Seiya involved him into this, but he couldn’t refuse that face. Minato hung his head in shame at his weak-minded self.

At that time, Seiya headed to the kyudojo with Tomi-sensei before everyone else.

Kazemai High School’s kyudojo was located inconspicuously in a corner of the schoolyard. For kinteki (close-range) tournaments, the range was twenty-eight meters, with room for six people to draw at the same time. Though it wasn’t being used, it was well maintained, thanks to Tomi-sensei’s hard efforts bringing in senior citizen personnel during spring break. Seiya only resumed breathing when his hand traced the nameplate that read “Kazemai High School Kyudo Club.”

They bowed once as they entered the kyudojo, and then went ahead and bowed twice in front of the kamiza. Being barefoot is strictly forbidden in the kyudojo, for the same reason entering someone else’s house barefoot is impolite.

To prepare the kyudojo, first apply water to the azuchi (target bank), and then place the targets with their centers twenty-seven centimeters above the azuchi. The targets used were kasumi-mato (mist targets), which were targets with a diameter of thirty-six centimeters where black concentric circles were drawn.

Next was preparing the kyudo equipment. The arrows were placed in the yatate-bako (arrow stand), and the bowstrings were stringed onto the bows. The height of the ha—the distance between the bow’s grip and the stringーwas about fifteen centimeters. There were dedicated tools for measuring that height, but Seiya measured it using his right thumb and said, “This is fine.” Then he went on to rub “ma-gusune” on the string. He did this by applying kusune, which was a boiled mixture of pine resin and oil, onto a small waraji woven from hemp strings, and then using it to neaten the loosened string by fusing it with friction. The saying “to be ready and waiting for (te-gusune o hiku, 手ぐすね引く)” definitely came from kyudo, but the use of kusune was different.

After he got that far, he changed clothes. Shooting a bow right after stringing it was a cause of bow damage, so it was necessary to make it adapt ahead of time.

Seeing Seiya turning towards the makiwara (straw practice targets), Tomi-sensei spoke.

“Oh, Takehaya-kun, where are your glasses?”

“I use glasses because I have dry eye, but I only use contacts when I’m drawing a bow. Before, the bowstring would get caught on my glasses and send them flying.”

“The lenses cracking would be pretty shocking. But, when people who normally wear glasses take them off, do you think it’s okay to be so defenseless?”

“I am seeing perfectly now. I am completely prepared for the attack, far from being defenseless.”

“I say, that’s frightening.”

“Tomi-sensei, thank you for inviting me to the kyudo club. I’ll definitely make your mission a success..”

“I’m counting on you. Fu-ho-ho!” Tomi-sensei laughed.

To Seiya, Tomi-sensei was a happy miscalculation. Before the entrance exams, he had already investigated that the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club was on the verge of disbandment. Minato probably knew that as well. So, he planned to revive the kyudo club with his own hands.

A favourable wind was blowing.

In order to stand at that place once more—.

Seiya encouraged himself, as an unseen power pressed against his back.

On this day, an information session titled “Introduction to Kyudo” was scheduled, and people began to trickle in. Probably twenty or thirty people of mixed genders. For the boys, their goals weren’t just being introduced to club activities.

“Don’t you think kyudo girls are hot?”

“Yep.”

However, with the entrance of one attention-attracting boy, the boys’ ambitions were abruptly destroyed.

“Sorry I’m late. Thank you for preparing everything.”

When greeted with cries of “Nanao-kuuun!” from the girls, he made peace　signs with his hands and waved at them. They then exchanged incomprehensible greetings of “Merha~” “Merha~.”

It was a boy with bright, somewhat unruly hair, and who seemed like his whole body was shining beams of light. He was swinging a quiver in his hand, which was more a “pearls before frogs” accessory than “pearls before swine.”

Seiya set his bow down, and waved Nanao over.

“You’re Kisaragi Nanao-kun, right? My name’s Takehaya Seiya, and I’ll be with you today, nice to meet you. The frog on that quiver is pretty funny.”

“Oh, this is nice, right? Right now my room’s full of frogs. Oh, you can just call me Nanao.”

“All right, please call me Seiya as well. By the way, what was that ‘Merha’ you said just a while ago?”

“It’s short for ‘Merhaba.’ It’s Turkish for hi.”

While wondering why Turkish, Seiya let it pass. This was probably the reason why he was popular with girls. It wasn’t a type you saw much among boys who did kyudo.

When he picked up his bow and quiver, another person who didn’t seem to belong in a kyudojo appeared.

It was a boy with healthy, suntanned skin. Because of his sharp eyes, he was more a wild person rather than a refreshing sports boy, and a somewhat hard-to-approach aura floated around him. Even the girls who surrounded Nanao quickly backed away to surround him from a distance.

“Nanao, don’t block the entrance. Let me in right now.”

“Ehh, Kacchan, you’re so impatient~”

“Stop calling me Kacchan.”

“But aren’t you Kacchan, Kacchan? I can’t call you anything else at this point.”

“This sucks, having to be in the same high school as you, and then in the same club.”

“Aren’t you joining the soccer club? Didn't the guys in the soccer club ask you ‘What position did you play in middle school?’ on the first day?”

“I’m not joining the soccer club, I’m set on the bow. I’m different from the guys who started kyudo just to wear a hakama, like you.”

“I look pretty cool in a hakama. Of course, it’s not for show. Today, I have to show the girls my charming figure. That’s why, Kacchan, you should work hard too.”

“The only one I don’t want to be told that by is you.”

Noticing Seiya being taken aback, Nanao formally introduced him.

“This here’s Onogi Kaito. My cousin.”

“Onogi-kun, I’m Takehaya. Nice to meet you.”

“…I’ve seen you at a match before. What’s your middle school?”

“Really? It’s a private school, so it’s not around here, and I don’t think you’d recognize the name even if I told you. But putting that aside, I want to start soon, so the two of you should go change your clothes first. I’ll keep your bow strung.”

Kaito looked like he wanted to say something, but he entrusted his equipment to Seiya and headed for the waiting room (hikae shitsu).

The first round of Introduction to Kyudo has begun.

Seeing Minato and Ryouhei among the gathered people, Seiya murmured, “Ryouhei, good job.” under his breath.

Tomi-sensei cleared his throat.

“Everyone, relax your feet. This is a good gathering. It seems that I’m popular. I’m blushing.”

A laughter that said “That corny introduction is enough, so please quickly get on with it” rang out.

“Well then, first, some requests. Kyudo is a martial art. You need to respond with spirit. And then, this is essential, but if you nock an arrow to the bow, you absolutely cannot point it at other people, even as a joke. Even if you did not intend to release it, it can lead to a serious accident. Also, absolutely do not take the arrow off the bow to 'dry fire' it, as there’s the danger of snapping the bowstring. You must always obey these rules.”

And then, they chanted in unison the “Raiki Shagi” and the “Shahoukun” (1) that were printed on the right hand side of the kyudojo (TN: this is called wakishoumen or position where one is facing the kamiza and the targets are to the left). The former began with “The shooting, with the round of moving forward or backward can never be without courtesy and propriety. After having acquired the right inner intention and correctness in the outward appearance, the bow and arrow can be handled resolutely,” an inscription mainly preaching the ideals of kyudo. The latter began with “The way is not with the bow, but with the bone, which is of the greatest importance in shooting,” written by Yoshimi Junsei (2), and was mainly the dying instructions of his technique.

Tomi-sensei asked one of the students in the front row, “Do you understand the meaning?”

“No, not at all.”

“I was also completely clueless about what was written in the beginning. But as I kept practicing, I thought that 'Oh, this is what that was talking about.' You can look forward to that as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, this is also a breath control technique. As reading out loud is a way to continuously exhale, this action will enhance your parasympathetic nerves and relieve tension. A good presence of mind is essential for drawing a bow. Isn’t it hitting two birds with one stone to learn the essence of kyudo and do breath control?”

“I seeee.”

The voices were overlapping each other.

It was Ryouhei’s and Nanao’s. Nanao had at some point sat down next to Ryouhei, and they were giggling as they looked at each other. Minato and Kaito, who were on both sides of the two, had sour looks on their faces.

Tomi-sensei held up the kyudo equipment.

“There are three main equipment necessary for kyudo. The bow and arrow, and the ‘yugake’ (archer’s glove). It is a glove made of deer skin used for protecting the hands. Most students use the three-fingered yugake. Now, let’s see the actual shooting technique. Tournaments are done with three or five people. Today we’ll have three people.”

Seiya, Kaito and Nanao got up. At that moment, a visitor came and informed them that sorry for the interruption, but Nanao was being summoned over the school PA system.

“Really? Did I do something? Sorry, Tomi-sensei, but I have to leave for a while. If you like, please replace me with someone else.”

Tomi-sensei looked around when the girls said things like, “Eh—, if Nanao-kun isn’t going to draw a bow then should we just go home?”

“Well, there was another person with experience here. What’s more, he’s a good-looking guy. Narumiya-kun, you can choose to change into a hakama or not, just try drawing the bow for a little bit.”

After a pause, Minato exclaimed, “What!?”

“I can’t. I haven’t held a bow for more than half a year already.”

“I just want you to show everyone how it’s done. The equipment is borrowed, so everyone naturally understands that you won’t be able to strike well. Everyone wants to see him shoot, right?”

Because they all applauded at once, Minato was cornered into a hard-to-refuse situation.

While waiting for Minato to get ready, the others were touching the kyudo equipment. Tomi-sensei and the others moved to the wall.

Kaito took an arrow and approached Minato.

“Since it’s troublesome to have the bowstring caught on your buttons, change into a gym uniform and put on a chest protector (muneate). What was the draw strength of the bow you used? Hold out your left arm so I can do the yazuka measurement.” (3)

“Hey, hey wait a minute. I never said that I was going to draw it. Right, I heard that Ryouhei also drew a bow in class when he was in middle school.”

“Even if he did it in class, it was still dangerous. Plus, Tomi-sensei said that it’s natural that you won’t be able to hit anything, and nobody cares about your skill.”

“It’s not that, it’s not that at all…”

“This is getting annoying. Just do the one or two things you’re asked to do. Aren’t you ashamed to be not much of an archer?”

Minato became speechless at the word “archer.”

Kaito took that as acknowledgement, and used Minato’s throat as a starting point to verify the length of the arrow. If it was too short, there was the danger of accidental discharge when the arrow was pulled towards the inside part of the bow.

Seiya stood next to Minato.

“Let’s trying shooting at the makiwara first. If that seems impossible, you can decline. Though the club has some as equipment, what will you do for the yugake?”

“…I’m fine.”

“All right. It’s a waste of time to go back to the classroom to get your gym clothes, so I will lend mine to you.”

Minato changed into the t-shirt and jersey, and took out the dragonfly-patterned pouch from his bag. Inside was a well-used yugake. The other day, when Seiya had said that he was carrying around a treasure, he was referring to this.

There are people who think that when shooting a bow, the end of the arrow was pinched and pulled back, but in fact, the thumb was used to hook the bowstring and pull it. Minato used a three-fingered kataboushi yugake (4), and the groove at the base of the thumb where the bowstring is hung from was called the tsurumakura. Since the position and form differed slightly depending on the yugake, it was difficult to use something unfamiliar. “Kake gae no nai” (5) was an expression that came from kyudo, with the “kake” meaning yugake.

Minato put on his shitagake (under glove) and yugake, applied giriko (glove powder) to his middle finger to prevent slipping, making a squeaking sound.

As he stood in front of the makiwara, his heart was striking the alarm bells. Although he never failed to do muscle training and rubber bow practice, this was actually the first time in a while that he had held a bow.  The anxiety of not knowing whether his movements were correct or not grew stronger. However, his body moved by itself, and before he knew it he had already nocked his arrow.

He performed gyousha (7). He carefully drew the bow back to its limit. When he drew the bow back to its fullest position, “kai,” Minato counted.

One, two, three, four, five—.

The arrow left Minato’s hand, and hit the center of the makiwara.

When he set down his bow, Tomi-sensei called out to Minato.

“Ooh, you have a beautiful form. If that’s the case then you’re fine.”

Minato tightly pressed his lips together, and took out the arrow embedded into the makiwara. When he exhaled on his shoulder, Seiya, who was watching attentively from a little distance away, also sighed heavily in the same way.

Once they finished preparations, Seiya, Minato, and Kaito lined up at the entrance in that order. It was the beginning of nyuujou (entering the dojo).

They bowed, then moved forward with their feet scraping the floor. They turned towards their respective targets, and then briefly sat down and gave a shallow bow. Their lined-up position at this moment was called honza. When they stood up, they got into the position for shooting and then sat down again. This position was referred to as shai, the position where one shot from their sitting position was called “zasha,” and the position where one was always standing was called “rissha.”

As the three of them nocked their arrows together, Tomi-sensei began to explain.

“As you can see, aren’t they nocking two arrows? Those two arrows are called ‘hitote,’ shot in the order of haya (first arrow), and then otoya (second arrow). First up is Takehaya-kun. The first person to shoot is called the ‘oomae.’”

When he was called, Seiya stood up with his nocked bow. He spread his feet, set the bow on his left knee, and removed his right hand from around his waist. With that as his cue, Minato, who was second, also stood up, and followed Seiya’s movements.

Seiya took the bowstring with his right hand, gripped the bow with his left, and faced the target again. He raised both arms in front of his body, slowly bringing the arrowhead to the center of the target. The exact moment when the bow was taut was the highlight of kyudo. The cross shape formed by the person and the bow conferred a pleasant tension to the viewer, and of course the person themselves.

One, two, three, four, five—.

It hit the center. An ooh sound went up.

With Seiya’s tsurune as a signal, Minato got his bow into the uchiokoshi position. Everyone thought that Minato’s arrowhead would slowly approach the center of the target as well.

However, the arrow left Minato’s hands early, not aimed at the center of the target at all, and it landed a great distance before the target. “Before the target” meant the right-hand side, and “behind” it meant the left. Since the arrow was released at a speed as though he was startled out of his wits, the kyudojo became noisy in an instant. Some people were looking at each other with expressions that said, “What was that?”

Tomi-sensei spoke playfully, “Were you nervous so many beautiful ladies here? Whether you hit or miss, having a poker face is one of the basics. It is courtesy with regards to others to not show emotions. Unlike archery, you can gain a point just by hitting the target anywhere. You only either hit or miss. Well then, the person who goes last is called the ‘ochi.’”

Kaito should have used Minato’s tsurune as a cue to get his bow into the uchiokoshi position, but he had to be told to do it. He drew the bow to its limit, and waited for the moment of hanare, but the arrow missed the target.

In the second round, the arrow that Seiya released went behind the target. Having finished shooting the arrows he had in his hand, he began the process of taijo (exiting the dojo), but Minato didn’t move. The raging palpitations of his heart, and pulsations at the back of his neck were deafening. He cautiously got his bow into uchikoshi, and seemed to be drawing it close to the target on the lawn, but he couldn’t breathe.

I can’t let go, I absolutely cannot let go—.

Minato repeated that many times in his heart. He pulled the arrow to half of its length, and then tried to draw it even wider from there, but the arrow flew out again while he was doing that, and it went high above the target, hitting the curtain that was covering the azuchi.

In the end, Kaito managed to hit the target, and it ended with a total of six shots, with two targets of 1:0:1.        

“It’s more difficult than it looks to hit the target in kyudo. That’s why, it is such a pleasure when you do hit it. As I’m thinking of everyone learning together, people who are interested are sure to gather here tomorrow as well.”

After they were dismissed by Tomi-sensei’s words, Kaito waited for Minato to finish changing clothes before approaching him.

“Oi, Narumiya. What was with those earlier shots… Even though the ‘makuuchi’ (6) can’t be helped, why did you do it so early? Since you shot it so early, I couldn’t even get into yugamae in time.”

“Hey, didn’t I say that I couldn’t do it from the beginning? I didn’t mean to release it so soon.”

“Hah? What a lame excuse. You shot normally at the makiwara. But as soon as you stood in front of the target, you did those messy shots. Aren’t you ashamed as an archer?”

“…Oh, I am. I’m already not an archer anymore… Move, I’m going home now.”

Minato shook off Kaito, and walked quickly towards the exit.

“Minato, are you coming tomorrow? …Since I’ll be waiting for you.”

“You don’t have to, since I already stopped doing kyudo!”

Standing next to Seiya as they watched Minato run off, Tomi-sensei whispered to him.

“Takehaya-kun, is it possible that…”

“…He has hayake.”

Minato mounted his bike and sped off without looking anywhere but ahead.

It began to rain. Gripping the wet, slippery handlebars tightly, he pushed his bike on and ascended the steep hill road. His tail lamp left a trail of red afterimages on the gleaming asphalt, and the sound of car tires repelling the water overtook it. When he saw the torii, he stopped his bike and entered Yata no Mori.

At the Yata no Mori Kyudojo, the man was standing on the other side of the bamboo fence of the outdoor stands. As if so that the man would not find him, he crouched down on the spot to watch him. Maybe because of the humidity being high due to the rain, the clear tsurune from before couldn’t be heard, but the shots he sent out from his relaxed limbs were still beautiful. Deviation-free movements that were somewhat liberated. And yet, there was also a somewhat solemn feeling.

It was as though he was performing a prayer.

What would I wish for on a night where the moon and stars couldn’t be seen?

Suddenly, he met eyes with the man. Was it natural to spot him because the other side was on a higher ground?

The man made a scissors gesture with his yugake-covered right hand, and casually beckoned him over. Minato didn’t refuse him, simply staring vacantly at that gesture without using his brain. Then, the man placed his bow at his feet, and then went to the edge of the shajo and crouched down. “Come, boy,” he beckoned him with both hands.

It’s like he’s—.

“I am not a dog or a cat.”

“Well then, come here quickly. A soaking wet boy in the dark looks like a ghost from here, so it’s really scary.”

“I don’t want to make the shajo dirty.”

“It’s fine, it can just be mopped up later. You’re going to mop it up, right?”

He laughed, just like that night. Minato went up to the shajo, still dripping wet. The man picked up his bow lying on the ground and left that spot, then returned with a wrapped packet in his hand.

“Take off your clothes and dry them out, since I’m lending you this beginners’ training uniform. The men’s changing room is right in front of the reception desk. Also, you don’t need to be so formal with me.”

After he changed his clothes and returned, the man was sitting in a corner of the shajo. The spots where Minato dripped on were also completely wiped clean. “There you are,” he said, handing him a can of coffee that had a flame design on it this time.

Minato cupped the can with both hands.

“…It’s hot.”

“It gets cold at night. Oh, I have something good. Do you want to eat it too?”

When he wondered what was going to appear, it turned out to be oyaki (8). With red bean paste. Minato tossed the sweet oyaki into his mouth, downing it with the canned coffee.

After finishing his drink, the man began to adjust his bowstring’s nakajikake (nocking area). The groove of the arrow’s nock was slightly bigger than the bowstring’s thickness. In order to make it easier to nock the arrow, glue was applied to the bowstring and then it was wrapped in hemp, before it was adjusted to a reasonable thickness.

Minato looked up at the night sky and muttered, “Is it impossible for Fuu to come since it’s raining today?”

“Yeah, I’m going to call him on the next sunny day. Your shoulder is the perfect perch for him after all.”

“I’m not an ornament. By the way, how long do you do this for?”

“It was supposed to be until around nine P.M., but I only seem to be using it in the daytime recently. When I use it, I take the key out of the mailbox, then place the fee on the reception desk. 50 yen for an hour. Apparently couples sneak in here at night, since there’s no one here.”

“And this is supposed to be a sacred dojo…”

“You don’t seem to have much experience in that area. Shall I teach you the basics?”

“You perverted old man.”

The man grinned, as he used two small wooden block-like objects, called douhou, to tighten the nakajikake firmly. Thinking that he was restarting his practice, he instead said something unexpected.

“I get the feeling that you’re experienced with kyudo. Do you wanna try shooting a bow for a bit?”

“Um, no thanks.”

“Don’t be shy. Didn’t you come here because you want to shoot a bow?”

“I said, no thanks!”

Minato came to his senses at his own raised voice.

“…Sorry, I’m going home now.”

“Before you go, it’s okay for you to let out whatever you want here. Telephone lines don’t even pass through this kyudojo, so it’s a place isolated from the modern world in a sense. I’m someone who doesn’t exist in your reality. What you say now will never be told to anyone other than me.”

The man waited for Minato’s reply.

A long time passed, and Minato squeezed out the words, as if he was gasping them out.

“How are you able to do such beautiful shots? …I got ‘hayake’ in my last middle school tournament, and after that…I’ve gotten scared of shooting a bow.”

Hayake was a condition where one shoots an arrow even though one hasn’t decided on it. Without arriving at kai, the arrow was shot in the midst at drawing the bow apart. It was said to be a serious affliction in kyudo, much like the yips disease in golf. (9)

“After I lost in the tournament, I resumed practicing. Even though I could endure standing in front of the makiwara, I couldn’t last even one second in front of the targets. My own body wasn’t listening to what I was telling it at all. The more I think that I must not shoot it, the more the arrow slips from my hands. Before long, even drawing the bow became scary. Staying like that, I caused trouble for everyone.”

When he first joined the club, he had a senpai who could hit very well. Someone who could have served as the team captain. However, when that person got hayake, the club had dropped out right before the prefectural tournament. It was a mystery at the time. Why did he let go so quickly? What made him let go even though he didn’t want it to? He must be a weak-spirited person.

Now that he himself was in that position, he finally understood. Even though he was scolded by his sensei with “Why are you releasing it?” even though he was criticized by his teammates with “You’re shooting it too early,” he couldn’t do anything on his own. It was exactly like a disease. Before he knew it, nobody said anything. He knew that they had given up on him.

“And so, I quit just like that. Today, I held a bow for the first time in half a year. I was hoping that it might have been healed, but I was still no good… This is so uncool, right? This is what a talentless hack is like.”

“I see, that must have been so painful for you.”

Minato raised his head in surprise.

What did he say just now?

Painful? Was I in pain?

He reflexively guarded his eyes. It was the best he could do to withstand the things that were welling up.

The fear from the appearance of the hayake was similar to drowning in a muddy stream, but not everyone could sympathize with it.

“…Could I ask for your name? I’m Minato, Narumiya Minato.”

“Takigawa Masaki. Since I’m mostly called ‘Masa-san’, I’ll call you Minato as well.”

“Masa-san, I don’t know what to do… I don’t want to do kyudo anymore. I don’t want to reconfirm my unsightly self. So when my dad told me to take the entrance exams for a public high school because our finances were tough, I thought I was saved. With that, I didn’t have to continue on with the private school I was attending, so that was a justification for quitting kyudo. But even so, I couldn’t stop running and doing muscle training. It feels like the bow is trying to call me back…”

—The tsurune is calling me.

The number of promises that he had failed to fulfill had become his fetters. Will you abandon everything and run away? The heroics of Minato that Ryouhei talked about were in the past, and nowadays he was the same as a warrior scurrying back home after losing a battle.

“But you still want to draw a bow. Am I right?”

“…Yeah. But how can I recover from hayake…?”

“You’re looking at someone who overcame hayake right now.”

Masa-san grinned.

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[courage-a-word-of-justice]

SGRS 24 – 25 (FINAL) | Classicaloid 23 | ACCA 10 | Nanbaka 25 (FINAL) | Blue Exorcist: Impure King Arc 11

(SGRS 24)

Hey, I once had a Bungou Stray Dogs fic that was kinda similar to Sukeroku’s situation (it became Chain Reaction, if you want to know), so to see the plot being turned into SGRS is a real dream come true!

“Is the floating world a lie?”

It’s weird to see Sukeroku and Kiku talking in the bodies of their child forms while talking about Miyo. It’s really funny though, and it’s a concept I’d like to explore in more detail.

Hey, Kiku’s wearing white, like he’s a ghost or shinigami from old times…

The fireflies were a nice touch to this scene. I wonder if they were in the manga.

All these jokes about fires are so grim, yet the context states they’re alright simply because this is the underworld.

The decision to change it to manga panels is like suddenly choosing to do one manga chapter without dialogue (to cite Bakuman as an example). It’s so sudden and yet it brings such a punch you have to keep watching!

Shinnosuke? I thought it would have been Yotarou, but…I guess it’s entirely in the perception of Yakumo, meaning that indeed, it would be Shin-chan.

Akira Ishida is definitely a master of his art when you hear him switch from young man to old man at a drop of a hat.

I started to tear up around the time Yakumo saw Shinnosuke, and now I really don’t want this show to leave. This show is love, this show is life and it draws out such intense feelings, you never want to let go of it…The only thing that makes me happier than seeing SGRS get a proper ending is the fact I saw a spoiler image on the SGRS twitter (that was before I saw the next ep preview) that showed Shin-chan as an adult. I never thought I’d see Shin-chan as an adult, but man, I want 100 of him. *bangs table impatiently*

(SGRS 25)

Konatsu’s such an old lady already. It makes me feel young.

As I said previously, give me 100 ikemen Shin-chans. However, on a serious note, I understand what it’s like to have your talent fade into mediocrity…

Wasshoi – it can mean “heave ho!” in this context.

Hey, it’s a Shibe (Shiba Inu). I wandered around the SGRS Discord and saw there was a Shibe in an image over there too.

C-Could it be…Shinigami? Yes, yes it is!

I thought adult Shin-chan’s voice was different to the young one. It was kinda monotonous, but full of promise…it was Yuuki Ono. I’ll have to keep an eye on that guy too, now.

It was surprising to see that they left an Inokori by Yota-chan over the top of the credits. However, it wouldn’t do the show justice to continue from here – there’s nothing left to adapt, and it’s a work of art as it is. So, farewell, until I get to another show where I can meet you again.

(Classicaloid 23)

Schubert’s notes…Top left: Avocado -> ahoucado (ahou being the Kansai word for fool), around the middle of the left page: existence (sonzai) -> careless (zonzai), below that: alright alright, choral, one’s selfishness (or as the subtitles say, “egotistically”), as one likes, bottom of left page: senpai respect, top of right page: shutter, arcade, favourite food, black clothes, full (of what? I can’t tell), turban shell (yakoukai), scallop shell (hotatekai), rapper, yo yo gyo gyo (gyo being the noise a fish makes.

Why does Mitsuru have a black ring on her thumb?

“We’ll be imposing on you for a while.” – It’s shitsureishimasu, probably.

Now that I think about it, where is Schu?

Prelude…hmph.

I guess all this red stuff means either Kyogo’s in China or Chinatown somewhere, eh?

“…just change the world at will…”

We’ve learnt from previous episodes that if you need a lot of hitting done, you’ll need penguins. Lots of penguins. Therefore, Beethes is your man.

Well, I guess I never expected this…Schu’s on the side of the enemy, eh?

(ACCA 10)

Kino and Baccarat, LOL.

Welp, it’s pretty much as I said previously – it’s a study of multiculturalism through the eyes of people who know it all too well. That and/or globalisation’s effects, but I ain’t here to harp on about globalisation. There are academic subjects that can do it much better than me.

Wait, when did the other chief officers get there?!

I don’t think I ever got why the Japanese call their big gatherings “parties”, even though not all big gatherings are parties.

Ah hey, it’s an underground town! The backgrounds are real pretty. Come to think of it, the only real life underground town I know is Coober Pedy.

From what I know, this sounds like 1950s USA, when people were chasing the “American Dream”. Ono-sensei seems to be inspired by various cities and countries to get ACCA, and that’s part of its charm.

For some reason, Pranetta strikes really close to home for me.

Jean and his meaty hands strike again!

Now that I look properly, Lotta has different colour hair (slightly) from Jean. Hers is more of a cheddar, while Jean’s is a more yellow version of the colour.

I thought Furuwau was based on India. Now that I see the buildings, it’s based on Saudi Arabia…

(Nanbaka 25)

Sure, Jyugo’s foot turning into blades looks cool, but normally it take tonnes of training to get to that kind of stage. It can’t be his rage that’s subliminally letting him make up moves like that on the spot, right? Come to think of it, I’ve been so used to a gradual buildup of experience = more control (to the point where I can naturally write stories that way without thinking) that not doing it bugs me.

What’s the “sara” in “sarabaka” mean?

Finally, something good! Something funny! That’s (the aura thing) what I watch Nanbaka for!

“Before you try to be like someone else, you should re-examine yourself first.” - I think my aunt said that once. However, she said it in much less elegant terms than that…

I half expect Hajime to kick Jyugo in the face and I have no idea why I think that.

So…they left all the plot threads unresolved? Just because this is an ongoing manga doesn’t mean you can do that! *swears into distance*

(Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga 11)

I don’t think I can explain anything this episode because facets-and-rainbows has pretty much covered it all…so enjoy the lack of comments this time around. (Or if you’re here because you like my comments, take a breather and enjoy the show.) Specifically, I’m referring to this post of theirs.