#kanji aside of course

[miserye]

also i'm learning jap (because i'm lame and basic) and it's so much easier to type than korean i'm so jealous

[itsalwaysdark]

music is so good

[rikusahoge]

"But be safe. No reckless stunts."

On Sora and Riku's respective recklessness as showcased in the series, and what it means for their relationship

Under readmore because i am going to talk a lot

As an aside: Im going to be pulling from the Japanese text, though I am not a native speaker or really any kind of speaker, so take what I say with a decent amount of scrutiny. I'm more than willing to be corrected on these conclusions!

One line that has stood out to me in kingdom hearts is the repetition of "no reckless stunts!" and similar phrases. If you examine the original text, three slightly different words have been used to mean "reckless", which I'll include below (pulled definitions from Jisho, mostly)

無謀 (mubou): reckless, foolhardy, rash, ill-advised, mad (scheme)

無茶 (mucha): reckless, absurd, unreasonable, ridiculous

無理 (muri): impossible, unreasonable, unjustifiable

Importantly for what i want to talk about is how "muri" is used in situations where a character wants to express that something is impossible (think of a character giving up all hope due to an insermountable obstacle in front of them, they may mutter something like "muri da...") keep a pin in this, it will matter toward the end.

Also note that each of these words starts with "無" (mu), which usually means nothingness or absence of something. The definition of this kanji isnt super important, it's more important that its presence ties these three phrases together in a really unique way as i hope to demonstrate.

what i propose is that both Sora and Riku are depicted as reckless characters, albeit in different ways. The established pattern I've noticed is that Sora: "mucha" & Riku: "muri". I will tentatively refer to "mucha" as "rash" and "muri" as "impossible" (despite that it does also mean other things in some cases! bare with me it'll make sense)

Dialing back a bit, we have seen countless moments of Sora acting rashly. It is one of his key character traits and it tends to get him in trouble. He has a big heart, and is quick to anger.

Sora's response to loved ones and helpless innocents that have been put in harm's way is to repetitively bash things with his keyblade (and ask questions later).

It's Sora's rashness that allows Org 13 to use him to complete kingdom hearts. The extreme end of his rashness is showcased when he stabs himself to release Kairi from his heart.

Tldr. I think it's pretty well established and easy to argue that Sora is one to leap before he looks.

Now, Riku might be a little harder to sell as reckless, because of how well he tends to hide it. He carries himself as a role model for Sora, and tries to be the responsible friend. But if we look at his patterns of behavior, despite how he carries himself, he is quite reckless!

Without thinking of the consequences, he rushes the open door when destiny islands falls to darkness, eventually succumbing to it himself. He lashes out several times at Sora, particularly dangerously when he fires off a dark firaga in Hollow Bastion. He closes the door to darkness with Sora without knowing what would happen to him if he was trapped in the realm of darkness. When Sora is asleep, he sacrifices his form to defeat Roxas, without any assurance that he would ever be able to get his old form back.

We see Riku's recklessness too in the fight against Xemnas. He recklessly throws himself in front of Xemnas twice, hurling Sora away from danger and taking a very nasty blow to the hip. I'd count his dive to save Sora in DDD among these, mostly due to his risk taking behavior when it comes to saving Sora. Finally of course we see it in KH3, with his ultimate sacrifice. (but i think importantly, this scene isn't just recklessness, but I'll explain in a bit)

So tldr. Despite Riku's mask of level headedness and resolve, he has been shown over and over to take massive risks without caring for the consequences. Which is pretty reckless, in my opinion!

Sora and Riku's recklessness, mind you, is also called into question by Yen Sid, who tells Riku the reason he kept Aqua's fate a secret was to keep Riku and Sora from staging a "half-baked attempt at rescue"

He says similar in Japanese, but i want to just note the word he uses when he describes the rescue attempt as reckless (highlighted for ur convenience):

(the highlighted word here is "mubou", it will come back later in an Important way, so keep it in mind)

he's *basically* saying that if Riku, or worse, Sora, knew about Aqua, they would have recklessly marched into the realm of darkness to rescue her. Because he knows they are both ... Like that.

I would be remiss to not mention that Sora's impulsivity and recklessness is something Riku admires! After Yen Sid tells riku not to be rash, and Riku excitedly tells Mickey he's ready to help save Aqua, Kairi observes that Riku has changed, and he's more like Sora. Riku asks if that's a compliment, but I think it's clear that he feels it is. He says it's more Fun to just follow his heart, which is sora-esque. (;_;) This is also something he brings up to Sora when they're on the dark margin together, that he's jealous of how Sora can just follow his heart. It's clear Riku has started to embrace his more impulsive side, to follow his heart like sora does. This is important later!

So now that I have my premise Mostly set up, I'd like to highlight a handful of scenes that I thought were really telling about how Sora and Riku relate to the terms "mucha" and "muri", respectively.

Let's start with Sora and "mucha".

The first instance i have found "mucha" used is in Olympus Colliseum.

lets recall How Herc initially loses his power in KH2, and compare it to the movie.

In KH2, Herc is tricked into leaving the colliseum unguarded by capturing Meg and hiding her in the underworld so that Herc and Sora must go to her rescue. Hades sends a hydra in to destroy the colliseum while Sora and Herc are busy fighting heartless and Pete and rescuing Meg.

Upon seeing the destruction in the colliseum, Herc falls to his knees, and you can visibly see his colors fade to a more ashen complexion, similar to his appearance without his powers in the movie. He calls himself a piece of shit basically and Meg helps him up to limp to safety, leaving Sora to defeat the Hydra (ahem sora helping riku walk in twtnw after xemnas fight anyone)

(Herc even has a second journal entry for his Desaturared form.)

You leave the world after defeating the hydra and jumping up on its back a few times, and after sora d & g are named true heros. Yay. But Herc doesn't have his power back yet, which will later be addressed in the second episode.

Herc's loss of power is much different from the movie. In the movie, he agrees to let Hades take his strength for a day in order to keep Meg from harm, and release her from the contract she had entered with Hades (iirc). This was all so Herc wouldn't get the chance to save Olympus from the titans that Hades revives in order to take Zeus' throne for himself.

Herc still tries to wonderboy his way into rescuing the town, and fights a giant cyclops. While he lacks physical strength and gets pretty much Pummeled, he ends up beating the cyclops with his wit - but in doing so, a pillar is knocked over. It is about to crush Herc, but Meg pushes him out of the way, and is crushed to death.

She gives her life to save him, which in turn returns strength to Herc, because the contract was only good if Meg remained unharmed.

What I'm mostly trying to say here on this tangent is Herc's loss of power in KH2 specifically is very reminiscent of Sora losing his keyblade in Hollow Bastion, which is later echoed in the keyblade graveyard when he feels he loses his strength to fight after losing his friends. I bring up the movie to show how bizarrely different it is from the Kh2 plot, perhaps precisely to make the parallel between Sora and Herc stronger (and the parallel between Herc and Riku, by the way - Herc falling to his knees, losing his power, and giving up, only for Meg to walk him to safety, is a parallel to Riku losing his will to fight and press on after the battle with Xemnas - Sora refuses to let him and in the same Exact way he helps Riku walk on)

So Hercules, when faced with the impossible wavers, and loses his strength and will to fight. This is important so keep it in mind. Impossible/Muri isn't stated here as far as i know, but it's important that he is feeling utterly defeated and unable to win.

The second visit to the world is when we first see the term "mucha"/reckless used as far as I was able to find. Hades casts Meg into the Soul Hole and Herc dives in to save her without hesitating (mechanically to write Herc out of the boss fight, but)

We later see Herc emerge with Meg, his godly aura restored (he is Radiant!) something that *should* have killed him. and should have been impossible. But his desire to save her was so great, he recklessly dives in, without knowing that he will succeed. Luckily, all he had to do to prove he was worthy of godhood and power in both the game and the movie was to use the strength of his Heart rather than his fists, as a true hero does:

Sora scolds him and tells him not to do anymore crazy stunts after this reckless dive to save Meg (screenshot makes it look like herc is saying it sorry lol) and that is where we can see the term "mucha" being used in Japanese:

instead of crazy stunts, Sora moreso says "but don't be reckless (mucha)":

to which herc responds:

"people always do stupid things when they're in love" (note he doesn't repeat reckless, he says "baka" lol)

so here we have a direct link between herc's sacrifice when he dove in to save Meg, the restoration of his power/Godhood, and acting recklessly (mucha), without Fear or Doubt, to save someone he is In Love With. put a pin in this because it's all connected.

Now moving onto KH2.9 and KH3. From the start of the game we are told Sora has lost the Power of Waking, and his Entire goal in the game is to regain it, wake Ventus, and prepare for the battle in the KBG with Xehanort.

The Power of Waking is already a very vague, disney-esque power, essentially the power to free sleeping hearts from slumber (and first introduced to us in DDD, particularly in terms of Riku waking Sora up in a sleeping beauty retelling but I'm getting ahead of myself)

Yen Sid suggests that Sora go to Olympus for clues to regain his power, as Just Like Sora, Hercules also lost his power, but was able to regain it.

It's pretty straightforward, but in the interest of not making this post a fucking novel ill try to keep it short. Herc tells Sora he's not sure just *how* he got his powers back, just that he wanted to save Meg with all his heart when he (recklessly) dove in to save her. The game is trying to tell Sora that it's the Power of Love that brought back Herc's strength, and that Love will be key in bringing Sora's PoW back, too.

Specifically, I think that Herc's story and the other worlds Sora visits are saying that it's True Love that will bring Sora's powers back. Acts of true love in KH3 are framed as courageous, selfless, and performed unconditionally.

Despite the visit to see Hercules, Sora still doesn't gain the PoW. He has an idea of what he needs to regain it, but he has to visit multiple Disney worlds to learn more about the power of true love and sacrifice (well also separation but thats not as important to this post) before he's ready to test it out for himself.

After Arendelle (i think) we get to another important cutscene where Riku, Sora, donald, goofy, & mickey meet up with Yen Sid to discuss the progress they've made on their respective journeys. Sora wants to go to the Realm of Darkness with Riku & Mickey because he's worried, but they Won't let him because he doesn't have the PoW. Riku does the fondest laugh known to man, eliciting a bit of anger from Sora, but explains it's because of what Yen Sid had told him earlier - that had Sora or Riku known about Aqua being trapped in the RoD, they would have recklessly gone in to save her.

he's pretty much directly quoting yen sid here, just like he does in English (saying half-baked instead of reckless too). So basically saying here Sora would have marched into (the dark world) recklessly (had he known where Aqua was) - again using "mubou" like master yen sid.

Interestingly, when we get to Sora telling Riku to not be reckless in the dark world to Riku, he's not repeating the same word for Reckless that Riku is using (Now this might be just a flow of the conversation thing, which i certainly cant confirm as a non-native speaker but i think it's still notable)

Sora says something similar to what is said in English; with a few distinctions. A rough translation would be "but don't overdo it, call me if anything happens" (need I gripe one more time that english localization cuts out sora telling Riku to call him; which is why he spends the rest of the time apart from Riku wanting a call, and why its so unhinged that Riku triangles for sora and basically summons him. I DIGRESS)

This line is translated as "but be safe, no reckless stunts" in English, which serves as a callback to what Sora tells to Hercules in KH2, (further solidifying a herc/riku parallel) but IMPORTANTLY, Sora is NOT even saying the same thing he said to Hercules in the Japanese script. He's saying something else - 無理しないで (muri shinai de), which is usually translated as don't overdo it - but literally means "don't do the impossible". This will be important later when I talk more about Riku so keep this in mind.

We immediately get Donald saying "Sora's the reckless (muri) one" (abbreviating for simplicity) but Jiminy disagrees. In English he says "He's not reckless, he just doesn't think!" but in Japanese he says this:

Which i know im going to butcher any translation I do, but Jiminy is basically saying "[Sora's] not muri he's mucha". That distinction is important enough for Jiminy to make a joke about it. That Riku might actually be the one who is overdoing it/trying to do the impossible (muri), while Sora is the one who runs headfirst into danger recklessly (mucha). Which, i think, is quite fitting, given the actions theyve done through the series.

Importantly we get one more instance of "mucha" which I think really ties Sora's trait "recklessness" together nicely, and puts into perspective what the repetition of these phrases is doing from a story telling perspective.

After Sora finishes up the remaining Disney world visits, S, D, & G find out that Chip & Dale have lost contact with Riku & Mickey. Sora is very upset at this, and is Determined to save them (Riku) (with all his heart). Sora has NOT GAINED THE POW at this point, and they don't know how to even get into the RoD, so Sora opts to "let his heart be his guiding key" to find his way to Riku and the RoD. (Recklessly I might add, he hasn't called or talked to Yen Sid or consulted anyone about it lol)

He arrives at Destiny Islands and mysteriously finds Master's Defender which happens to be the key to getting him into the RoD. Right? Well. We know from the glossary that the established method of reaching the RoD is with a keyblade of darkness, through dark corridors, or with the Power of Waking.

Others have argued this (see SRT) but it's heavily implied that Sora regained the PoW on his way to rescue Riku. That he used it explicitly to get into the RoD is where people tend to be a little caught up in the details, because it *does* seem like Master's Defender plays a role, which begs the questions - is it a keyblade of darkness? What the fuck was it doing there? etc. (literally saw on a kh wiki that sora got into the RoD because Masters defender was a keyblade of darkness, which is unconfirmed currently lol) It's also not traditionally what the PoW looks like. There's a huge door that appears, Sora isn't using the kingdom key, he doesn't burst out of Riku's chest. Etc.

HOWEVER. I think with the context of the narrative arc Sora is going through, the foreshadowing present in the game, and The Reckless Rescue angle can at least prove that he DID regain his power here, regardless of whether or not he explicitly used it to get into the RoD. I'll try to briefly summarize the points I've seen made before I add my own.

After the visit to Olympus, Sora explains to Yen sid that he didn't regain his power but he still learned a lot. Yen sid stresses again that sora needs the PoW, Sora gets pouty, and Goofy cheers him up by saying "maybe something will trigger it real soon". Shortly after a bit of banter, there is a knock at the door, and Riku and Mickey walk in. The camera kmakes a point to show Mickey off to the side, then pan up to Riku as he walks in to close the door, who is centered in the view (almost as if we are watching from Sora's POV, who is anticipating Riku's appearance in the door).

Putting this side by side is a little unfair, since it's not an immediate jump from Goofy saying this to Riku's entrance, but it's pretty in your face about just what (or who) might be key to reawakening sora's PoW.

We also get some heavy handed foreshadowing in the next visit to Yen Sid's tower, right before Sora tells Riku to not overdo it:

Yeah. and he does, importantly, get the power of waking, not BEFORE he comes to the rescue, but BECAUSE he comes to the rescue.

Now for my contribution since I stole the last two/three points from other posts. Just before Sora enters the RoD, he tells D & G to stay behind and that he has to go alone. (Sigh, yes, this scene is a parallel to Riku using the PoW to save Sora in DDD - it *has* to be him, and him alone) D& G protest, but eventually relent. But Donald doesn't let Sora go without saying this:

(In English, Donald says "you promise to be good?" inexplicably) but in Japanese he tells sora (basically) "Don't be reckless" - aka. No Reckless Stunts, complete with the use of "mucha" (recall Donald in the previous scene was the one to call Sora "muri" before being corrected by Jiminy). This is similar to what Sora tells to herc, so we are pretty much full circle on this scene being a callback to Herc rescuing Meg in KH2.

Like Herc, Sora does the reckless thing. Like Herc, he heroically dives into the abyss to rescue his loved one with all his heart.

Like Herc, Sora regains his power the moment he resolves to rescue Riku, even if it is not made explicitly clear to Sora OR the audience (perhaps the fact that he regained the PoW is why he is able to save aqua, too)

I could probably go on about this and what it means for Sora for a long time, but I think it's high time I actually wrote about "muri" and Riku's recklessness, so let's rewind a little.

I've already brought up how Riku relates to Herc in terms of his recklessness and heroics, but theres a few more things to add. of course. I'll recap with pictures of one of the parallels i've already discussed:

So here i think at least metaphorically, we can argue that Riku has lost a bit of his "power"- or rather, his drive. After everything is over, he just collapses, ready to die or be left behind. Sora WONT let that happen. So Riku asks Sora to lead. He confesses to some of the jealousy and superiority he'd been feeling over Sora for the past few years, and seems to be trying to find a new direction in his life, having now repented Quite a bit for the sins he committed in KH1.

Riku's entire purpose for fighting after KH CoM and KH2 was to wake Sora up, keep him safe while he does his keyblade weilder duties, reunite him with Kairi, and send him on his merry way. Sora refuses to let him leave, and demands that he comes home with him. So he does. but without his jealousy over his feelings toward Sora, or without his feelings of guilt and feeling he needs to make it up to Sora, what is left to drive him to keep fighting?

DDD gives him a pretty strong answer - it's where he both rediscovers his sense of purpose and gains the Power of Waking in the process. And his dream eater powers too. btw

Riku's journey in DDD is, simply put, not really about passing the mark of mastery exam and becoming a keyblade master. it's about remembering What he lives for. remembering his promise to Terra, and how those feelings have evolved - from wanting strength to protect the Stuff that matters as a child, to, in DDD, discovering that the "stuff that matters, like his friends" was Sora the Whole time, and that Sora is actually a "precious best friend" that he wants to protect. It's About recovering his strength, like Herc needs to do in KH2.

So how does Riku regain his "strength"? By Sora-style taking a reckless dive into the deep abyss of Sora's heart to wake him using the PoW.

(Not once was I able to find any mention of "recklessness" here, or any particular language that ties this moment together cleanly with what happens in Olympus Colliseum in KH2, but the repetition of diving down into an abyss to rescue someone (with all your heart. etc) is Enough of a parallel to make the connection between this scene and Herc's dive to save Meg)

It is within the deepest depth of Sora's heart where Riku is interrogated by three pieces of Sora's heart about what he's afraid of, what he cares about more than anything else, and what he wishes - All canon answers involve the mention of "precious" - "taisetsu" (sorry im not explaining this one im going to just assume you know what im talking about if you are a soriku that reads meta you should know.) - to lose something precious, my precious best friend (fuck da english localization for this one), to recover something precious that I lost. It is here that we see Riku's simple "protecting important stuff" become "protecting something precious/my precious best friend" (note that this hasn't quite become "taisetsu na hito"/precious person but hes getting there)

Ansem the wise is there i guess and he tells Riku that his 3 answers are what were the key to waking sora up, and I think, importantly, are what give Riku his "strength" back. He has rediscovered his purpose, which is, to him, protecting Sora (with all his heart)

Continuing into KH2.9 we have another couple scenes that will both complete Riku's development from protecting stuff that matters to protecting a precious person and also continue to make a strong connection between him and Hercules.

It's been pretty well established that these two scenes are deceptively mistranslated, but i'll go over it again

Herc here is saying "taisetsu na hito" which is translated to "person I love most"

The EXACT phrase Mickey uses to tell Riku why he's feeling more powerful and fearless in the RoD, in the literal next scene in 2.9. They were supposed to be VERY CLEAR hit you over the head parallels but, well. SENA said fuck gay people i guess.

Riku repeats what Mickey says into his hand ("strength to protect my precious person") and recalls his promise to Terra, to protect the things that matter. (again it's implied it's always been about protecting sora, he just didn't have the language or understanding of himself yet to know how to say it)

There is absolutely no room for nuance here. This is explicitly framing Riku's feelings for Sora on par with Herc's feelings for Meg eg. explicitly romantic. And that it's his ROMANTIC LOVE for Sora that is what gives him his strength - not just to protect Sora, but also to do THE IMPOSSIBLE

phase ??? of my argument will now commence hang on to your butts. (i wrote this all in one night im tired)

Now that ive Exhaustively set that up. lets actually get back into discussing what I initially set up - riku doing the impossible "muri" thing.

As a reminder, Sora tells Riku to not "attempt the impossible/overdo it" in the RoD. And to call him if he needs him.

So Riku, instead of attempting the impossible in the RoD by facing the demon tide, does call Sora, which ends up being what saves the day! Yay!

I have bad news though! Riku is terrible at listening to advice when Sora is in trouble.

Now recall what I mentioned earlier about the fall of the guardians in the KBG and Sora's subsequent breakdown being a parallel to Herc losing his power in KH2. Sora *fails* everyone here, and he explicitly states he is worthless, without strength, when he loses them. It's very in line with Herc losing his powers in KH2.

(just putting these in here to hurt you and myself)

So, we get the Herc parallel, but it stops here for Sora. He doesn't do some grand self sacrifice for Riku to prove his heroism and regain his "power", but i think theres a reason for that beyond it just being Riku's time for the spotlight but I am getting there.

In the english localization, Sora says "we've lost, it's over". It's a subtle change from the Japanese, where instead of "it's over", Sora simply utters "muri da--" ("its impossible") (in the wettest saddest voice you can imagine)

It's at this moment where I do truly think we're meant to make the connection between Sora saying "its impossible" and Sora telling Riku to not attempt the impossible. It fits in nicely with Sora telling Herc to not do reckless stunts, with the slight change in language from "reckless" to "impossible", and with the impending self sacrifice. Riku knows that beating back the demon tide is impossible. But he does it anyway (compare to how, when faced with a much smaller demon tide, and he was losing, he listened to Sora's advice and called Sora for help instead of attempting the impossible)

So we have Riku's ultimate true love sacrifice for Sora, which both takes his life and grants him a spot upon an alter in Olympus, perhaps symbolically giving him some sort of ascension for his heroic deed. And again tying his sacrifice intimately to Herc's.

Because Sora and Riku are both "herc" and "meg" here I am going to make a little bit of a reach. Recall that I went through the effort of recapping the climax of the hercules movie. for no reason. There is a connection though even if it's loose, and i would kick myself for not including it.

In the movie, Meg, like Riku, protects a powerless Hercules from impending danger in her own act of true loves sacrifice. Her death gives Hercules his strength back (partly due to contract BS but it's still a romantic moment). And her death is what drives Hercules to dive into the Soul Hole to rescue her soul at a potentially great cost, which is what ultimately restores his godhood (showing his strength of heart). Riku sacrificing himself for Sora can be seen to be more like the events of the Hercules movie, Riku standing in for Meg - Sora does have to restore Riku's heart after it's been taken by the Lich, after all, much like Hercules brings Meg's soul out from the Hole. And Riku's sacrifice is what gives Sora the resolve to keep fighting. (not arguing with anyone who thinks it was only kairi because it wasnt lol)

So Riku attempts the impossible here, and ultimately he is rewarded. An interesting nuance is that the phrase "attempting the impossible" isn't meant to be taken as a challenge. From what ive read from native speakers, the phrase Sora uses really is better translated as "don't overdo it" as it is less about proving yourself to be able to overcome crazy obstacles and more about keeping your expectations in check. But Riku is reckless, and following his heart, which he learned from Sora.

I hope I've properly illustrated how Sora and Riku are both painted as reckless in different ways, and how the language used in KH3 is making direct references to Herc's reckless heroics in KH2 and in the actual Disney movie. And how these reckless acts are showcasing how much these two love each other, because I still have one more point to make. Namely, how this ties into Cinderella, and ultimately KH4.

In Terra's route of Birth By Sleep, he happens upon a distraught Cinderella, who has had her dress torn up by her step sisters. She was planning to go to the ball, but cannot, because it is "impossible" (muri)

Terra tries to console her. It's all very reminiscent of the scenes of Herc's, Sora's, and Riku's defeats.

After Terra fights off the unversed summoned by Cinderella's negativity (toxic much..), Out of the blue, the fairy godmother appears and makes everything better. She fixes up Cinderella with a dress and a ride to the ball, and sends her on her merry way.

She explains to Terra that she appeared to Cinderella to show her that her dreams *can* come true and that she typically appears only to people that have a strong belief in their dreams. Terra says he believes in dreams but you have to work for them, to which FGM responds that simply believing in dreams is already a difficult thing on its own. (Ventus also compares Terra to Cinderella. btw. because of his strong dreams)

Now. Sigh. Im not the only person that has pointed this out. The FGM quite literally appears to Riku, but only after a year has passed and they have no leads on Sora, and after it's implied that Riku is starting to lose hope.

In the limit cut, you can see Riku's sad wet puppy dog face as he talks about how hard everyone is working, and how they haven't found anything at all. He says "if Sora is really out there, don't you think we would have found something by now?" - Again, he's losing faith in his dreams of Sora's return. This is important.

I do not have the strength to go through and find all the times Riku told everyone to believe in Sora in KH3. It's a lot. And the last thing we hear him say Near Sora, is to let him go on his suicide mission to save Kairi - to BELIEVE in Sora (#wish).

So one, we know the dream Riku believes in is Sora, and two, we know he is starting to lose his belief in his dreams, like Cinderella before the ball, when he dress is destroyed.

Right after it's clear their is no lead through the data from Org 13, FGM appears, just like she did for Cinderella. And she tells Riku that His Dreams Are Literally A Key To Find Sora (that hes quite literally been #dream drop distancing into sora's dreams while hes in unreality is already so much without the FGM being there to explain this to him but KH is crazy!)

One last thing to really drive this home. The FGM brings Riku and Kairi to the nameless star to bring the three keys together.

And what does she tell Riku, before he leaves?

"Be careful. Do not attempt to do the impossible."

---------

if you read this whole thing... well... im proud of you. I know i definitely missed stuff, because it would be so hard to go through all the games and really dig for the use of this term especially when I dont speak japanese at all. and because i wrote this all in one night. But dont hesitate to comment or reblog if you have anything to add. I freaking love kingdom hearts

[vashtijoy]

terms of address: maruki

I was asked how the squad refer to Maruki, so here goes.

first, the normies

Many of the cast refer to Maruki exclusively as "Dr. Maruki": 丸喜先生 Maruki-sensei. These mentions are universally in kanji.

Ann has 41 of these, and often uses sensei by itself;

Haru has 26 of these, and uses sensei alone a couple of times, during Maruki's Palace;

Makoto has 27 of these. She uses sensei alone quite often;

Yoshizawa has 41 of these total, 14 as Kasumi and 27 as Sumire. She calls Maruki just sensei often.

Noticing anything? Yeah: they're all the girls. These particular characters consistently seem to have relatively colourless and unmarked speech. This may in itself, of course, be a form of marking, since expectations around gendered speech in Japan can be so strong.

the relatively boring

Ren appears to always use "Maruki", apart from one instance very early on when an option, "Ask about the counsellor", includes Maruki-sensei. He also always uses kanji; protagonists don't have to be polite.

He calls Maruki sensei alone once, during his confidant. Kawakami gets it more often, while Takemi gets it constantly.

slightly more edgy

While Futaba always uses "Dr. Maruki", she slurs it a little, making it slangier: 丸喜せんせー Maruki-sensee. She always uses kanji for "Maruki", except in the text chat after he visits Shujin, where she's only heard his name spoken!—which is a cute detail. Occasionally she uses せんせー sensee by itself, which is distinct from her 先生 sensei meaning "a teacher".

Ryuji, again, virtually always makes it "Dr. Maruki", usually Maruki-sensei in kanji; a few mentions very early on, when they're still talking about the new counsellor guy, are just straight "Maruki". Also, in his counselling session, Ryuji almost just calls him that!—ultimately deciding to make it "Dr. Maruki":

Ryuji なあ、丸喜⋯センセーってよ、よく『変わってる』って言われね? naa, maruki... sensee tte yo, yoku "kawatteru" tte iwarene? Hey, Dr. Maru— ah, I mean, Doc. Anyone ever tell you you're kinda… not normal?

The meaning is a little lost in translation here, with Ryuji cutting from the normal form of address to a nickname. Also, in Maruki's Palace, he recognises Maruki on one of the videotapes, and starts off in hiragana before finishing in kanji. It feels a bit as if he isn't initially sure what he's seeing:

Ryuji まるき… 丸喜先生？ maruki... maruki-sensei? Maruki... Dr. Maruki?

He uses sensei by itself a couple of times, far fewer than you might expect; his "Doc" is usually either glossed in, or was originally Maruki-sensei, "Dr. Maruki".

He also uses 大先生 daisensei, "great leader/teacher/artist" etc, as a term of abuse, aimed at palace bosses such as Shido and Madarame. 獅童大先生 shidou-daisensei—"that stuck-up bastard Shido!".

the slightly outlandish...

Morgana overwhelmingly uses katakana for names, and Maruki is no exception. He talks about him a lot, always in katakana, as マルキ Maruki. He never uses any honorifics for him.

He has only one use of kanji, 丸喜 Maruki, in "will you meet with this confidant?" text, around I think rank 5, which looks like it may be a slip.

the strangely polite...

Akechi, of course, fails to grace Maruki with his title of "doctor"; he's just plain "Maruki". The localisation sometimes makes it "Dr. Maruki", but that's a gloss; Akechi never once uses sensei (or any other honorific) about him.

But he uses an honorific to Maruki, once:

That "isn't that right" is ですよね desu yo ne, which might seem startlingly polite for third semester Akechi. In fact, he's rather consistent about his masu forms to Maruki—and only to Maruki—during the third semester.

He has no uses of desu or -masu/-masen, for instance, to anyone else in the third semester. It's actually rather cute, because it makes it clear a number of his lines in the 1/2 and 1/9 Palace are directed not to Ren or Yoshizawa, as it might seem, but to Maruki.

So this looks like a sardonic little aside, and I'm sure there's a lot of that in it—"Maruki-san". But this is also the only time Akechi ever addresses Maruki by name. And since he has all these desu and -masu forms going on around Maruki, then maybe he just calls him Maruki-san, full stop.

Did I mention he's a weird boy?

...and the downright weird

That leaves us with Yusuke, who (as nobody will be surprised to hear) does his own thing that raises some fascinating possibilities.

Yusuke only appears to address Maruki by name once, when they first meet in the courtyard, and as you'd expect, he calls him sensei—丸喜拓人先生 Maruki Takuto-sensei, "You are Dr. Takuto Maruki, correct?".

But every other time Yusuke uses sensei in the script? He's referring not to Maruki, of course, but to his sensei, Madarame. That initial approach to Maruki, stranger to stranger, face to face, is the only time he uses it to anyone else.

So what does Yusuke call Maruki? He calls him 丸喜氏 Maruki-shi.

what is shi

氏 shi is a very formal and exclusively third-person term, usually seen in writing, or heard from newsreaders. It's often translated "Mr X", which can be very odd to hear in media that retains honorifics like -san and -kun; "Mr. Akechi's coming on!" is an example, from 6/10. And Akechi is, in fact, usually mentioned as Akechi-shi on the evening news.

Yusuke's Maruki-shi is universally translated as "Dr. Maruki", as if he'd just said Maruki-sensei like everyone else. Which is a little bit of a shame.

Yusuke also uses shi for one other person—the art patron Kawanabe, in his confidant, before you meet up at the sushi bar. Most of the rest of the time, before and after, Yusuke just calls Kawanabe "Kawanabe" in third-person, with no title; he pulls out a Kawanabe-san at rank 10, after he's won the contest—face to face, of course, since shi is only third-person.

On the other hand, Yusuke never mentions Maruki at all without a title.

the other time yusuke uses sensei

Okay, I lied: Yusuke has one other instance of Maruki-sensei. This, like Morgana's single lapse into kanji, is in prompt text: "Are we going to Maruki's Palace today?" Again, I think this is likely an error.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/12/29)—first posted.

[saoirseyun]

— .ᐟ ౨ৎ . . . 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 001

𝖲𝖸𝖭𝖮𝖯𝖲𝖨𝖲 — today is the day, at last. much less to your own relief, however. attending your wedding in the local prefecture, aomori; and leave once and for all that drenched life in the brothel... let's only hope that you last in your new life.

𝖢𝖮𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖭𝖳 𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦 — unreliable narrator, bad writing? idk its been a while since i wrote long works, blunt humor, mentions of sex, taboos, historical inaccuracies, unsettling behavior from dazai, possibly poor depictions of Japanese culture, no beta we die like oda

𝖠𝖴𝖳𝖧𝖮𝖱'𝖲 𝖭𝖮𝖳𝖤 — happy new year & rn im screaming crying bc here it is! my first fic after march 30th. please do enjoy to your heart's content~

𝖶𝖮𝖱𝖣 𝖢𝖮𝖴𝖭𝖳 — 3.0k words, partially proofread

CHECK OUT HALF AN HOUR FOR LOVE, OVERVIEW.

Japanese terminology; kamuro - a female child servant who serves courtesans temporarily until they graduate. shinzō - a young female servant, older than the kamuros, who also serves courtesans but has now been fully bought by the brothel. one/ne - to refer an older sister. obasan - "aunt" or "middle-aged woman" in Japanese. kitsune no yomeiri - a folktale about foxes having a wedding. The belief varies between being a good omen or a bad omen. nanakorobi yaoki - Japanese proverb for resilience. kanji - Japanese writing system in the form of borrowed Chinese characters.

Honorifics; chan - Term of endearment. san - One with respect. sama - One with higher respect and is formal. dono - Literally used like "My lord." ue - Denotes a high status.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓.

It poured rain that day; paint the skies with suspense and tension between the pristine clouds, a sunshower. When a beloved shinzō gingerly applied a sweet shade of peach blush to your cheeks and covered your face in salient white powder; stroking bold, black liner to your lower lid with a thin brush as to regard high standards of beauty whilst you remain aimless to admire the falling drops of water hit the eaves of your dormitory—drip back to the ground. You were at the least comforted with the weather's appearance coming abroad to stay as your companion, however still, oh so not much relaxed with the hour of your wedding ticks close to its arrival. You didn't even have a single chance to know who is taking your hand in marriage, for goodness sake. A subtly, a few weeks back you were informed by a close woman that a fine gentleman is likely interested in getting committed to you...

You've perk at the voice of the 30-year-old shinzō. In question, belongs to beloved friendly Akashi. Genuinely the definition of safe haven in your case if it counts close friends. "Oi, Jun'ai! A fine fellow been's collective to have you as his own, aren't you aware? Madam-sama does keeping 'em around too! By the teahouse." Her accent's rough and undoubtedly native to common farm villages—and also not forgetting to mention that charisma's energetic and careless as ever today, without a doubt of surprise of course. And bright yells as the poor Akashi had such terrible hearing, she'll never know how loud she is. Gushing you over to the area, finding the old lady herself amidst the aftermath of such agreement, dare say. There's a signed paper with extravagant black ink, strokes elegant front of the elder—smirking with pride regardless of you chiming in to inquire about the stranger.

Who, you may ask, but she simply says that it's best to keep it a surprise… You weren't able to keep composure since that day.

As who does that?! Outrageous, utterly outrageous, you'd whisper harsh mutters only thinking about it even a single time in a day. Oftentimes resist the urge of cursing at that damn woman for casting you aside in saving grace for the brothel's funding and, many of other's finances.

Eyeing your dear assistant tuck delicate, golden pins and fine décor to your lovely hair—all you can do in anticipation was hope he was also a good-looking, refined man who wasn't either younger or older than your age. Preferably of status, sure, that's a most likely. He manages to pay double the amount for you to leave your workplace, after all. He has to be, otherwise you're immediately disappointed by your own lack of judgement. You need to be a lot more cruel to yourself, but it hurts plentiful.

"...Nee-san? Are you feeling okay?" Voiced the young 14-year-old. Who consist attentive to adding your makeup to the delicate skin and face. Her face visuals a pit of worry you'd rarely see in this type of workload. You weren't even sure how to react. "I will be all right," Is what you answered reluctantly.

But the shinzō knew you best.

She was drowning into you eyes a lot more personal, and, rather heartwarming. A sigh. "Ōnami-chan, I beg. It's not of high relevance..."

"If it refers to you, then it has to be." The younger girl insists while she timid to touch your sleeve. Still much a grown-up child, sometimes you forget that too... Your fingers met the scalp of your head out of stress and uncertainty of what to put it. "...Trust me now. This can be excused." Despite having this unsaturated need to tell your closest servant everything without regard and loosening the grasps of staying ideally perfect, no complaints.

The only thing you were to offer in the end was a weightless fondle in her neat hair. Affection like being a genuine member of one's family or just reassuring an immature girl who, yes—older and very well more aware, still innocent and a tiny tad bit of cluelessness. Two reasons can go a long way.

Perhaps she wondered to your conflicted state as to why the reaction. The situation at hand is, at least by an outsider's perspective, is dream-like. Watching her older sister, the woman she has served since childhood to be married off to some well-known or not handsome noble of the court. What fantasy, unfortunately it's our reality.

"Nee-san, do you adore him to some degree?" How where you to speak to a question as broad and vague as this... That you were obviously not into a man that you didn't even knew existed, how could one love? "To be frank, I am not the most interested..." Even when the life of nobility and esteemed high ranks sound greatly to one's likely. "I can't help imagine but break the poor man's heart sooner or later if it so be it. Either that or potentially unhappy in my own marriage."

"Will I last more than a month there?"

The answer to such is as unclear as midday mist, compared at even evening's pouring drops of rain.

"...Do me a favor, Ōnami-chan. Visit me once in a while—let's say every other month. Then, must you always be sure that I am well and whether or not I'm returning back to this life. I'll write a letter to a buddhist temple in case."

It was too much to do out your own distrust and anxiety in him, of course. Maybe you're exaggerating, and yet only can the Gods know what may happen in time's passing. The most richest people of them all tends to be the nastiest... Heeding your words, the shinzō smiles.

"Okay!" A certain heartfelt warm in your veins. The little girl Ōnami was sure to keep that to her mind.

With the bare minimum of excitement inside of your heart, you've scurry yourself out of the brothel as a final leave to your old world into the carriage—hurriedly saying spoken goodbyes to the kind workers and fellow courtesans, the sweet little kamuros reckless to play out their times in the stunning gardens and hardworking shinzōs… And, yes, of course—do not forget your Obasan on the way. She might as well demean your name quicker in the whorehouse than disgracing the family bloodline and lineage. That out of your way at last, seated on the backseat as the couch leaves the Red Lantern District. To which, the moving world in the foreground of your eyes although you've went into a state of another faint reverie inside your head. On which the scenery fades and soon, a vivid trance that can only be described as unexplainable. Inexplicable dread to your veins just raises your discomfort knowing that you... You were living fine well enough. But... but of course! Why wouldn't the Madam accept such rising numbers on papers? What else was there to make of the situation than romanticise? You must be at least sicker than a loose serial killer.

Stiff optimism fixates your face. Looking out to the carrier and spot every little couple on the roads complete such mundane tasks together under the rain in a sake of not facing loneliness. You weren't sure of a word anymore on what to do. However, making these ceremonies intercept to that kind of point... Ah, how it sickens. The way of ill that's akin to the waves disrupt your unfortunate stomach during a sail travel. In all actuality—case in point—its sensation were although too alike to what you're going through at the moment attending to the wedding. The silence deafens you to a premature funeral! Hearing voices now seems a lot more comforting.

Alas, onwards moment's finality, the carriage stops to the relief of the body. Motion itself places to a hault and your entourage of men escorts you off the ride with the protection of an umbrella covering your head. Here's when your form itself took full stillness and enters a sort, self-control state. Your movements are gracious as ever but you're definitely not moving as to avail. You could only think what's to come. Relentless. Think of your life, over and endless until the head's decomposed itself into liquids. Not even the presence of the clan head's eldest child manages to snap you out of musing.

"...You should be the luxurious Jun'ai-san, is that correct?" The woman sat across the table from yours. She was calm and obviously held regard to such respect in the house as murmurs and shy stares from young maidens chatter about her in disclose, their own little fantasy, a kind of imagination you've grown used to from those disgusting men in the sex industry. What pigs. You've snapped back, forcing your head to the topic at hand as ahe serves the matcha tea. You nod, "Splendid. Then may you refer to me as Dazai Masako, if you will. I'm glad that you're able to make it to our humble mansion." You twinkle at her words and show signs of flattery—although having heard exchanges like these from wealthy clients in the past... "The pleasure is mine to meet you."

"I'm sure you're aware why I've arrived?" You inquire, to be more certain as Masako then flicks her head. Only for it to fade into a slight, disappointed frown. "...Marry my younger brother Osamu, yes, I'm acknowledged. Pardon my critique, however, kind lady. Except you're prohibited to fully engage with my son." Says the clan head's eldest—the sister—who... Pause, what? Hold on. Now hasn't the supervisor explained to you in person that the wedding's immediate? Today, in particular! "Yes, originally so." Masako clarifies, she gestures to an open windows. "Yet as you may noticed much earlier before entering the abode, the weather is not ideal. Therefore, shall it grant misfortune over the lovebirds and ruin the gathering for guests alike. My sincerest apologies..." White powder stains light to your fingertips as you can't foresee this day getting doubled the horrible! It's a tragedy... In your entire own sense, there is not a single opportunity at chance will you ride a half-soggy carriage of return. You didn't knew the folklore of kitsune no yomeiri migrated to Aomori as well. Dazai-ue continues,

"It would be our honour to offer the comfort hospitality of this house. And I suppose it shan't be an issue for you to see him at once. It surely have been long way here to Aomori, yes? We will discuss the formalities soon after meeting Osamu..." ...Roughly translates to tomorrow. The head of the clan's task for you to see him by now seems too easy, but it had to be some pity.

"...Yes." A reluctant answer to your rose-colored lips. Did the products still look good after cold winds meet the face? "How generous of you, ma'am. I prolong my gratitude. For I, can only but offer a mere humble."

It was what matters. You'll commit to this man whether or not you do fundamentally enjoy it—so might as well take a glance at his face. None double taking as you took another deep breath with a servant leading to his room, finally, you think. Meeting him for the first time, when that gluttonous madam of yours hide him from you. Left to the hands of a darling female maid as she takes you to where he resides, parade the prestigious, elegant halls of your presence and careful to approach that damn door and feast your pure eyes.

Said gentle-hearted patron proceeds to leave your wake upon reaching the door facing front of you right now, a polite bow. Gesturing her leave. and instead went off and serve his... Siblings? Assuming so. As your head catches sights of a small, worn-out family portrait next to the door. Clear to not tell which one is Dazai Osamu. Right, right. Your supposed've, soon-to-be husband and hand in marriage, The Dazai Osamu... It's quite bothersome—ponder what's so special about this name particularly and not the father's? Better question yet, why must every woman gossip with a slither of his mention among useless conversations? Now you can't get Dazai Osamu's name out of your head.

And for one reason.

The noise, bleak and rather frank done as if swift in action, behind you caught you off guard and the little silhouette of that man.

"...Dazai-dono, is that correct?" Is what you've been instinctively told by your own gut to try and receive the brunet noble's attention away from the stillness of beautiful ornamental flowers. Unbothered, frozen in the skilled crafts of capture life through the hands of clay and fine arts. Frightened to your snicker, he awkwardly reaches for his fallen smoking pipe. Well, that should be the one causing the single noise but how on earth is it so full of volume...? Can that be a thing?

"And who else shall it be, the one and only, sweetheart?"

His movements—grace akin to the shows of swan lakes and beautiful doves taking leap to the unknown heavens, clouds, and skies with free, open wings; and boundless to the world beneath thee. A skip to your chest, admiring his facial features—the vague dimples wrinkle his lips and stupid, horrendously stupid, smile. Divine mahogany eyes in the corners of an almond-shape and a few cute baby hairs hang behind those pine-shaded bangs. Dazai softly gestures yourself nearer to him, step on the higher platforms of his room, no matter of what status you are, maybe Dazai spoke quietly. Or forgot to use the mouth. The brunet-haired noble examines the physique of that body of yours and fondly admires your face, even though covered and hidden under all of that makeup, he manages to crack a small smirk. "Forgive me, but... Ah, you're... As beautiful as up close."

It's cost him an expense of his whole sense to control his nerves and desire to have you on his lap, held lovingly—darling—precious. Importantly, as embracing your beloved form to his closely as humanely possible. If you're ingenuous in allowing that off the bat... How shameless of him. "Ah, you must be humbling me, my lord. I don't deserve such remarks so early." Gently, you exclaim. Twist the fan to your liking and cover your mouth of kind elegance and timid meekness. By the celestial Gods above, he's head struck although you didn't start seducing the noble with your pretty long lashes... Dear, it stole the time to apply too! Infatuating. That's less time trying to appear loving to him, sure. Well...

It's hard to be doubtful that he does look to love you in those starry eyes and blunt browns. Even harder to imply whether or not if this factor relies importance.... Keeping close to.

"Oh but I am usually quite certain as to what I say whenever, lovely Jun'ai-chan. So to speak... I don't intend to be harsh." Dazai puts to rest his smoking pipe. Cast away soon after picking it up...

"Spare me a good time and listen, I beg, my dear Jun'ai-chan. I am absolutely certain that this must be the most abnormal thing you'll hear today—or ever—throughout your entire lifetime; yet I cannot be held back. Albeit the humble nature resides me, nanakorobi yaoki." Dazai offers his hand, and so you've placed yours in return soon after Dazai reaches to you. "...Since the parade weeks ago sitting adrift by spring's exposition, you've caught these eyes for yourself." Dazai starts. "I—I can't be helped, guilty as charged! But in its climax, I have hurried my legs to the brothel where you used to live. Then... Respectfully having you became a sort of necessity in my brain."

Who's to guess that this fine, handsome young noble is indeed this selfish—greedy?

Then again, who are you to reflect so hasty? Oh, no. How exactly must you put it with him? "What pleasure." You exclaim, feign shock. "In all truthfulness, I'm much more relieved in hearing those kinds of words from you at the moment..." ...And just what are you thinking?! Saying it dilly-dally won't save you from anything. "I'm not disapproving your ways, Dazai-dono. Matter of fact, I appreciate it." He completes a soft-spoken grin that's both boyish and ugly. Ugly in a way that's good-natured, and whole. Akin to the luminous burning sun which lasts eternal and hurts your eyes... Let us become a bit realistic here:

Dazai's hand takes the kettle of refreshing green tea into his hands then proceed to serve you a cup—along a charming smile. "What a merciful woman you are. I hadn't had a message that you were going to be a forgiving type... Well, shall I cherish upon wondrous setting beneath fallen sakura petals of early bloom; and pray to beloved heavens above—with a drenched heart—must it not go soon."

"A heart for poetry?" It's the first you've taken akin to catch on about Dazai.

A couplet, kind of freeform in a sense amidst those twin lines the noble recited with grace and honour.

"Indeed, belladonna. Let me ask you... As it soothes the soul countless of times, how can one not be compromised into the elegance, intricate, and exquisite lines?" To the rhythm of his voice, endear and charming, he takes a pen between two fingers and strokes across a random bit of paper next to Dazai in idle. "What touching words. I much agree." Was all you managed to reply. His writing was neat, written the kanji for what seems to read 'peafowl.' You felt flustered over closely admiring his movements, notably Dazai's fingers. "May we perform poems until the rising sun meets dew grass and kiss the windows clear?"

You weren't expecting your mouth to speak for itself. You only thought of so as light rain drips slowly and comes to a close. It's presumably the late night by now, time flew.

The young noble smiles with such tender elation at the suggestion at hand between him and you. "It'd be ill-mannered for me to decline, no?" He paints a small portrait of himself, modest, he is more than thrilled at your words, isn't he? Although it was basic splats of ink on paper arranged in a way of ornamental flowers Dazai admired his eyes to.

...Maybe you were being a little too arrogant about him.

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭.

@wasdy-san, @inojuuy, @imkwikly, @nonexistence1199, @emyyy007, @coilai, @writingandmusing, @hypocritic-trash-baby

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Hello!

First of all, thank you for your blog, it is pure linguistic gold to me (especially since I'm learning Japanese).

Remember when you mentioned a parallel between Zoro's nickname 閻王/enou as a parallel to Rayleigh's 冥王星/meiou ? Well, the dots connect to your post about the gorousei's planet-themed name since Pluto's name is 冥王星/meiou- makes sense, it's the japanese name for Hades and Pluto in Greek and Latin mythologies. But where it gets interesting is when you realize that all Ancient Weapon-based Greek/Latin god names have 王/ou in the name of their star equivalent : 天王星/ten'ousei for Uranus (where you have the kanji for sky/"celestial"/heaven), 海王星/kaiousei for Neptune, and what I mentioned earlier for Pluto. None if the gorousei's star name equivalents have this. All theories aside (like the parallel you can establish between the 3 Ancient Weapons and some Straw Hat members), what can you tell us about the Earth (地球/chikyuu, if I'm not wrong) ? Can you think of any instance where this term stood out, or if Mr. Oda used the kanji but with a different pronounciation ? Or if he used the term at all instead of borrowing the english word.

If you can't find anything, it's okay though! I just couldn't help but mention the link between the gorousei and the Ancient Weapons through the kanji, haha

TRUE! this also connects with something i noticed awhile back, which is the fact that the name of the sea kings, 海王類/kaiourui (sea-king-species), matches with the name of the planet neptune (aka poseidon), 海王星/kaiousei (sea-king-star). which is why they're sometimes called neptunians in translation!

so the gorosei are the five closest non-earth planets, and then the outermost three planets- uranus, neptune, and pluto- are the ancient weapons, 天王星 (heaven-king-star), 海王星 (sea-king-star), and 冥王星 (dark-king-star).

the most interesting thing i can say about your actual question is actually that, unless i've missed it, i don't think we've ever gotten a name for one piece's planet? i don't think it's ever been referred to as earth/地球 or any other specific name. normally the only term used for one piece's world is 世界/sekai, 'world' more generically. so that is still something of a gap in this assemblage, as is the lack of a clear association for imu.

but since we're talking about the solar system i would be remiss if i didn't mention we've also of course got the sun accounted for.

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.15 thoughts

[What's a King Magik to a God Magik?]

(Topics: character design - World Hater, translation choices, narrative analysis - escalation/plot progression)

Gaaah, I knew I should've mentioned the bone pattern on this guy's outfit last week!!! I got hung up on the fact that he also had a wave pattern on his sash and figured "oh, those are both just aesthetic," but no!!! The bones were the hint!!! I've been writing these reviews for two years and I still haven't learned to trust my gut!!!

Knowing that the World Hater (true name pending) uses bone magic, I do wonder what the meaning behind the wave pattern is. Based on the color page, where Ichi is depicted with a mountainous backdrop and the World Hater is depicted with yet more waves, my guess is that it's meant to establish him as a foil for Ichi

Aesthetic Perfection

Whereas Ichi grew up on the mountains, land that stretches up to the heavens and is teeming with life, the World Hater's aesthetic evokes the depths of the ocean, the lightless abyss where life is sparse and the remains of the dead fall like snow. Ichi kills only for the sake of survival, showing respect to the lives that he takes, but by the looks of things, the World Hater resents life itself, and doesn't even seem to take any semblance of joy in ending life, merely taking it as a matter of course or perhaps a warped sense of duty

This is even reflected in the aftermath of their kills. Ichi, being a hunter, either turns his prey into food, clothing or tools; the only evidence that he ever took a trophy is the head of the wolf he killed when he first started, likely meant as a reminder of the weight of the life he lives. Presumably anything he can't use is returned to nature as fertilizer or some similar way to keep it from going to waste

The World Hater, on the other hand, leaves a massive crater of calcified corpses, a monument to his own power and distaste for life itself. What impact this has on the ecosystem hasn't been explored yet, but it doesn't take much imagination to see that nothing is likely to ever grow in that radius again, the land itself certainly rendered infertile at minimum and likely toxic at worst

Both methods leave the target as nothing but bones in the end, but whereas Ichi's hunting honors his prey and begets further life, the World Hater's wanton destruction disgraces them and warns of greater death to come

This is what Monegold means when she says that the World Hater's targets get "warped out." They aren't "wiped out," as in erased from existence, they're very much left behind - but changed. Distorted. Warped. Forever immortalized as a testament of malice, irreparably blighting the world that the God Magik hates so thoroughly

Ms. Translation

I've given Adrienne Beck a lot of flack for her translations thus far, but honestly I can't think of a better way to convey this phenomenon. The kanji used is 変滅 (henmetsu), comprised of "strange/change" and "destruction." "Destruction through change." The best direct translation I can think of would be "deathstortion," to convey that what's left behind has been fatally gnarled and distorted into something unrecognizable, but a portmanteau always carries the risk of coming off as silly, and this moment absolutely should not

"Warped out" isn't entirely unsilly, but it accomplishes the idea in the most elegant way I can currently envision, and I'm sure Adrienne did her damndest to think of the method that would leave the biggest impact she could. Credit where credit is due, and all that

Moreso than the implications of the word choice, the bigger issue right now is the implications that this event has for the progression of the narrative

Sudden Escalation

I've been saying since the beginning that I wanted to know what the stakes in this story were, what the actual, tangible goal was going to be aside from just hunting Magiks as a matter of course. While the introduction of the World Hater certainly paints a clear picture of the answer to that question, going so far as to refer to this villain as the God Magik feels a little early for chapter fifteen!

We've met, what, three self-identified Human Haters so far? One of whom was the designated King Magik, which gave the impression that he was the strongest. I suppose quickly establishing that there's someone above him was kind of a necessity, especially if he's not actually meant to be a Sukuna-style main villain, but I would have figured we'd meet a few Magiks who are on par with Uroro before meeting one that's an order of magnitude above him!

Like maybe there are a handful of Magik Kings or Queens, or at least a Prince or a Knight or something. Maybe a royal family whose spells all involve interacting with other spells in a way that's similar to Uroro's Ultra Amplification, like Nullification or Inversion? That might still happen, since there has to be something in between the previously established floor and the presently established ceiling, but either way, the World Hater is pretty clearly being established as presiding on a level far beyond what Uroro is capable of

It is worth noting though that "God Magik" and "World Hater" are simply titles that Monegold and Mantinel assigned to this Magik, and did so without ever actually seeing it, much less conversing with it, so how reliable this assessment is is up for debate

For all we know, this isn't the God Magik, but a God Magik, specifically the God of Death, and there's an entire pantheon of God Magiks out there. Or, "God" and "King" are just titles meant to evoke their power, not political status, and other, undiscovered Magiks are just as worthy of those designations but never made themselves known to humanity yet. There are too many unknowns to really worry about it right now

Either way, this sudden jump in stakes greatly reinforces my speculation from last week: that Ichi is about to learn firsthand how lacking he is as a Witch

Rising to Incompetence

Now, originally I was expecting Ichi to win the fight, if only barely, and likely driving off the World Hater rather than actually defeating him, but now it's pretty clear that that just isn't an option. If Ichi defeats the God Magik in less than twenty chapters, where the hell would we even go from there? Defeating the Supreme Kai Magik?

No, for the sake of pacing, Ichi has to fail here. That doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't save the town, I don't know how dark Nishi wants to go with this, but just barely scraping by without casualties is far different from claiming victory, especially if the World Hater can just mosey onto the next town unimpeded

The threat that the World Hater poses will be made perfectly clear to Ichi one way or the other, and he's not going to take that lying down. As he said at the beginning of the challenge, he won't be outdone on a hunt, and the World Hater's about to be Ichi's Most Wanted

This will also facilitate a greater connection between Ichi and Desscaras, who clearly recognizes the World Hater's dome from the previous time it appeared, strongly implying that she's a survivor from that event. I won't speculate on the details, but this is the sort of thing that will surely light a fire under someone who's usually as lazy and non-commital as her, and she'll likely endorse Ichi's official training going forward

If I had to guess, the flow going forward will be Ichi training under various Witches to learn new concepts while hunting increasingly powerful Magiks until he can be reasonably considered on par with the World Hater. I know there will be twists along the way that keep it from working that way consistently, but that's how I bet the story will tend to progress for the foreseeable future after this fight

Either way, while I was obviously already invested, this glimpse into the greater narrative has gotten me back on board in a way that I haven't felt since chapter 1, so I'm super excited to see how it develops from here

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[kaurwreck]

I'm certain now that bsd!Sigma is Yukio Mishima. (Although, that his character design parallels Shibusawa's was reason enough.)

In math, sigma is the symbol Σ, which indicates the summation of numbers. The kanji in Yukio Mishima's (三島 由紀夫) name translates literally to three islands + cause/reason for, chronicle/record, man.

Sigma, who has only three years of memories, chose his reason for existing to be the sky casino, a floating island. He's also lonely, an island unto himself, with only three years of memories. In other words, Sigma is the base sum of his parts.

(Of course, Sigma wasn't born three years ago because, aside from being nonsense, Dazai can touch him, and Dazai hinted at the absurdity when he teased Sigma. Never mind that it doesn't make sense with reality narratively, thus violating the "rules" of the Page, and that Fyodor has performed lobotomies before, with Ivan.)

[harleyquilt]

Touken/Kanetou "first times" headcanons:

Kaneki has never been read to as a child, or if he has, he certainly cannot remember. He often reads to Ichika and sometimes to Touka, who at one point admits that she finds his voice especially soothing. At times, he'll read to both, with Ichika on his lap and Touka leaning against his side, her arm hooked around his. But being read to? No, that doesn't happen. That is until he returns from work one day, both too tense to relax and too drained to do anything else besides think about how tense he is. Thankfully, Yomo is already watching over Ichika, so Touka drags him to their bedroom, lays his head down onto her lap, and reads to him his favourite book. She struggles over a few Kanji, but she pushes through her embrassment, stroking his head as his tension slowly unravels into a tender relaxation. Teary, he treasures this small intimate moment between them, and he would later ask her to do it again during times he feels depressed or tired. She, of course, is happy to indulge his rare requests.

It's pretty obvious that Touka and Kaneki had no time for dating by the time they became a couple. Sure, they spent the nights together, retreating to each other's arms for a brief moment of respite. But with the war against the CCG and the grim setting of the 24th Ward, they were robbed of their chance to experience the conventional dating lifestyle. So, once everything has settled and their wounds have healed, their friends insist that they watch over baby ichika and allow the couple some time to themselves. It doesn't take much convincing, but they're not exactly sure what to do, having spent so much of their lives tensely traversing through daily struggles. Yoriko steps in and takes Touka aside, giving her a pampering makeover, whilst Tsukiyama does the same for Kaneki (Nishiki joins to make sure it doesn't go overboard). When Kaneki and Touka meet at their date destination, (a beautiful garden and gazibo reserved just for the two of them), they're both quite flustered with how attractive the other looks. It actually reminds them of their wedding day, which they reminisce fondly together over a bottle of blood wine -- courtesy of Tsukiyama, of course. They hold hands, enjoying the silence while they watch the nearby pond reflect the soft colours of the evening sun. Squeezing her hand, Kaneki tells her that he's grateful to have met her, and with a small blush, she nods and says she's also grateful. They decide to go on a date every now and again from that day forward, having realised what exactly they've been missing.

When they have human visitors, which can be pretty often, Kaneki usually cooks something for them to eat. Touka usually keeps away from the kitchen, knowing she wouldn't be much help, but one day, she asks if she can help. She becomes pretty bashful when Kaneki becomes overly excited in response, beckoning her with a big smile. She grumbles as he helps tie her apron on, kissing the back of her neck. He teaches her how to best chop the vegetables, sometimes placing his hands over hers to guide her, watching her and gently encouraging her while she measures out the seasonings. Her embarassment remains, but she's touched by how happy Kaneki seems, listening to him carefully. Even when she makes a mistake, he gently rubs her shoulders, swiftly fixing whatever error she made. From that day forth, they both start making food for the cafe, spending their mornings working together.

[angelicsatin]

Seraph | Miyu Ozora ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭

art credit to @ wiinwiinko on insta !

Full Name: Miyu Ozora 美優 桜空 Hero Name: The Angelic Hero: Seraph Age: 15-16 (Ages alongside her classmates + the other students) Birthday: February 28 Zodiac: Pisces Height: 165 cm or 5’5 Gender: Cis female Sexuality: Undecided Blood Type: A Status: Alive Affiliation(s): U.A High School, Class 1-A Romantic Interest(s): Katsuki Bakugou MBTI: ISTJ Enneagram: 8w7

Quirk: Angelic Blessing

This quirk allows the user to heal and restore the energy/health of her comrades. Her quirk also allows her to repel evil. (Rumor has it that if you stay near her, you are guaranteed good fortune.)

Overusing her quirk drains her of her stamina and strength, causing her to grow fatigued – making her fly slower with her wings. 

read below the cut for her full bio <3

Random Facts ⁩

A student in Class 1-A

The second tallest girl in the class, after Momo Yaoyorozu. 

Comes off as regal and elegant, but has an inner monologue of violence (similar to Sakura Haruno’s inner self in Naruto)

Her mother is Pro Hero Aerialia and her father is a doctor.

Her wings are inherited from her mother’s side of the family, while the main component of her quirk (healing) was passed down from her father. 

Like Todoroki and Momo, Miyu was a recommendation student.

When Hawks chooses Tokoyami for his hero internship, he additionally chooses Seraph. 

She becomes close with Tokoyami during their internship and admires Hawks greatly. 

In the beginning, when she’d try to heal Bakugou, he’d snap at her and push her away. Claiming he didn’t need the help or healing. However, as their relationship progressed and they grew closer, he began to reluctantly accept her assistance… And one day accept it as if it's the most natural thing. 

While she doesn’t particularly hate class 1-B, she finds Monoma frustrating and isn’t very fond of Shiozaki. However, she is quite friendly with Sakura (my other oc), Kendo, and Setsuna.

Despite trying to come off as modest, sweet, and, of course, angelic, Bakugou is the one person who can seemingly rile her up. Bringing out that aggressive inner self she hides. Additionally, on the same topic, once she and Bakugou become closer, a simple touch and look will ‘calm him down.’ Sure, he’s still fuming and angry about whatever, but he stops himself from going ballistic thanks to her. 

Has thrown Mineta before. Like a football. 

Even if she’s ‘an angel,’ she thinks violence can be hilarious. 

She has great penmanship and beautiful handwriting + calligraphy skills.

Miyu’s first name means ‘Beautiful Excellence.’ 

Miyu’s surname Ozora means ‘Sakura Sky’ with the specific kanji used.

Aside from Bakugou, in class 1-A, she’s very close to Momo Yaoyorozu, Kyoka Jiro, Eijirou Kirishima, Mina Ashido, and Denki Kaminari. 

Specifically, though, Momo is her best friend and one she trusts the most outside of Bakugou. 

She tries to stifle her laughter when someone gets hurt.

Shares a voice actress with Pearl from Steven Universe (and all the pearls)

Likes

Being Right

Slapstick Comedy  

Obscure / Niche Trivia

Helping Others

Being Called an Angel

Making Lists

Reading

Drinking Tea

Watching the Sun Rise

Autumn and Summer

Preening

Peace and Quiet

Volleyball

Calligraphy 

Routine

Dislikes

Pranks

Being Late 

Short Skirts / Revealing Clothing

Enclosed Spaces

Makeup

Getting Her Wings Wet

Winter or Cold Weather

Carpeted Floor

Wearing Shoes 

Having Her Wings Pulled/Tugged On

Beaches

Functioning Without a Plan 

Theme Parks

Lightning 

Personality ❣︎

Positive Traits: Confident, Gentle, Persuasive, Supportive, Nurturing, Courteous, Ambitious, Charming, Calm, Merciful, Sentimental, Intelligent, Sophisticated, Generous, Mature, Disciplined, Studious, Accepting, Proper, Responsible, Analytical, Kind, 

Negative Traits: Controlling, Stubborn, Hypocritical/Two-Faced, Defensive, Perfectionist, Spoiled, Vain, Sardonic, Nagging, Pretentious, Can be Vindictive at times, Judgemental

Parents

Mother

Name: Sora Ozora (Hidan before marriage) 

Hero Name: Aerialia

Age: 40-41

Height: 5’8 or 173 cm

Occupation: Low-level hero who bounces between agencies (often out of a job or joining team-ups that need an aerial specialist)

Quirk: Angelic Wings

The user has wings that resemble white dove wings, although usually referred to as ‘angelic.’ The wings grant them flight and increase their mobility and speed. 

Overusage of this quirk simply exhausts the user

Important Facts: 

Her mother and father each had quirks that granted them wings. 

Her father’s gray wings gave him flight and made his job as a firefighter easier. Her father saving people from burning buildings was what inspired her to become a heroine herself. 

Her mother’s white wings were also dove-like but described as angelic, their beauty helping gain her a career in modeling.   

Gave birth to Miyu at age 24, while her husband was 29.

Taught Miyu how to fly.

Father

Name: Yuzuki Ozora 

Age: 45-46

Height: 6’0 183 cm

Occupation: Doctor

Important Facts: 

His father was a doctor and quirkless, while his mother had been a low-level healing hero before retiring. 

Experienced a lot of pressure to follow one of his parent’s footsteps. Ultimately choosing to be a doctor like his father while still using his quirk to heal others. 

He was 29 at his daughter’s birth. 

Quirk: Healing Hand (or Helping Hand)

By placing their 5 fingers onto another person, the user can emit healing energy to restore the recipient’s health in small to moderate doses.  

[gothicxreylover]

Good day! I have another scenario in mind that I'd like to request: the Hashira (+ the Uzui wives), Kanao & Aoi with a foreign y/n. I actually have a couple of foreign reader scenarios so this is probably the 1st one 😄

Okay, so foreign y/n is doing their best to learn Japanese diligently the way we do irl. Since Kanji characters are a big challenge, y/n has to practice writing them numerous times. However, being a fast learner, they quickly proceed to tackle more complex Kanji. And the good way to do start is to write people's names.

In y/n's notebook, there are full names of their friends written repeatedly. Prior to that, y/n went around asking their friends how their names were written in both Kanji and Hiragana, and asked them to show how to correctly write the Kanji characters. So I lowkey think that y/n's s/o might get jealous of seeing other people's names aside from THEIRS written with sm care and precision.

P.S: I feel quite bad for keeping sending you these requests the past few days as I'm concerned that you might have a lot on your plate atm. I'd hate for you to feel the pressure of having to rush to finish our requests asap. But your writing is great and I keep wanting to read more (or I'm just overthinking 🥲)

As always, take your time and have a great day!

The Hashira (+ Uzui’s Wives, Kanao & Aoi) React to Their Foreign S/O Practicing Kanji with Everyone’s Names

I HOPE YOU ENJOY SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT❤️

You had been studying Kanji tirelessly, dedicating yourself to learning the complex characters that made up the names of your friends and loved ones. Your notebook was filled with page after page of carefully written characters, each stroke placed with precision as you committed them to memory. Since names were an important part of learning, you had gone around asking everyone how theirs was written in both Kanji and Hiragana, then had them demonstrate the correct stroke order.

Of course, you thought nothing of it—until your significant other happened to see your notebook… and noticed whose names you had written most frequently.

Giyuu Tomioka

Giyuu had never been the type to hover or pry, so when he happened to pass by as you were practicing, he simply glanced at your notebook.

“You’ve been working hard,” he murmured, his voice as quiet and steady as always.

You smiled up at him. “I think I’m finally getting the hang of stroke order. Kanji is still difficult, though.”

He nodded, watching as your hand moved smoothly across the page. His gaze softened at the way you carefully traced each character, your dedication evident in every mark of ink. However, as his eyes drifted down the page, his expression changed ever so slightly.

Kocho Shinobu.

The name was written over and over, each iteration just as meticulous as the last. He noticed other names, too—Mitsuri Kanroji, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Tengen Uzui—but what stuck out to him the most was the sheer number of times you had written Shinobu’s name compared to the others.

His lips pressed into a thin line. “You’ve written Kocho’s name… quite a lot.”

You glanced at the page, blinking. “Oh, yeah. She was helping me with stroke order, so I practiced with hers first.”

Giyuu was quiet for a moment. He knew there was no real reason to be bothered, but for some reason, the idea that you had spent so much time carefully writing someone else’s name made something stir uncomfortably in his chest.

He wasn’t going to say it outright, but you could tell. The way his gaze lingered, the way his fingers twitched slightly at his side—it was subtle, but you’d learned to read him well.

You smiled, setting down your brush. “You know, I was just about to dedicate a whole page to you.”

Giyuu blinked, his blue eyes widening slightly. “You were?”

“Mhm. Want to help me write it?”

He hesitated for only a moment before sitting beside you. His fingers lightly rested on yours as he guided you through each stroke of Tomioka Giyuu. Though his expression remained neutral, you could see the faintest hint of pink dusting his cheeks.

Later, when you weren’t looking, he carefully tore out one of the pages with his name and tucked it into his uniform.

Kyojuro Rengoku

Kyojuro was absolutely thrilled to see how dedicated you were to learning. The moment he saw you practicing, he beamed with pride.

“Splendid! You are making great progress!” he declared, practically vibrating with enthusiasm as he leaned over your shoulder to inspect your work.

You grinned at his energy, always appreciating the way he encouraged you. “It’s still a little hard, but I think I’m improving.”

“I have no doubt! Your diligence is inspiring!”

However, as his eyes drifted across the page, his usual radiant expression faltered just a little. He wasn’t one to get jealous easily, but when he noticed that Sanemi’s name was written significantly more than his, something inside him stiffened.

“Oh?” His voice remained steady, but the slight pause before he spoke was uncharacteristic. “You have written Shinazugawa’s name many times, I see.”

You glanced at your notebook, completely oblivious to his change in demeanor. “Oh! Yeah, he helped me with some radicals, so I practiced using his name.”

“I see, I see…” Kyojuro nodded, but there was a flicker of something unreadable in his golden eyes. He wasn’t necessarily upset—he knew it was just practice—but still…

He suddenly clapped a hand on your shoulder. “In that case, I believe you should practice with a true challenge! My name, written in the boldest, most flame-like strokes imaginable!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his dramatics, but the way his eyes gleamed told you he was completely serious.

And so, you dedicated an entire page to Rengoku Kyojuro, each character written with the fiery energy he deserved.

Shinobu Kocho

Shinobu had been the one to teach you stroke order in the first place, so she was already aware of your diligent practice. However, what she hadn’t expected was to see Mitsuri’s name written so many times in your notebook.

She had just been passing by when she caught sight of the page filled with careful repetitions of Kanroji Mitsuri. Her ever-present smile didn’t waver, but something in her golden eyes sharpened.

“My, my,” she murmured, her voice light as ever. “It seems you’ve taken quite an interest in Kanroji’s name.”

You looked up at her, blinking in surprise. “Oh, well, Mitsuri’s name was really fun to write. The strokes flow really well.”

Shinobu tilted her head, the same sweet smile still gracing her lips. “Is that so?”

There was something in her tone that made you pause. It wasn’t quite jealousy—no, Shinobu was too composed for that. But there was a teasing edge, a subtle warning hidden beneath her usual playful demeanor.

You set your brush down, smiling at her. “Would you like me to practice yours next?”

Her smile widened, and she hummed in approval. “Oh, only if you want to, of course.”

(You had a strong feeling that if you didn’t, you wouldn’t hear the end of it.)

And so, you spent the next hour writing Kocho Shinobu over and over, while she sat beside you, very pleased with herself.

Sanemi Shinazugawa

Sanemi wasn’t one to pay attention to things like handwriting or study materials, so when he passed by your workspace and saw you scribbling in your notebook, he barely gave it a glance.

At first.

But then something caught his eye, making him pause. His sharp gaze honed in on the page filled with carefully written names—some in delicate, practiced strokes, others a little rougher as you worked to perfect them.

And there, right in the middle of the page, was Himejima Gyomei’s name.

Not just once. Not twice. But over and over again.

Sanemi’s brow twitched. “Oi.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, still focused on your writing.

“The hell is this?” He snatched the notebook off the table before you could react, flipping through the pages with a deepening scowl. “Why is Himejima’s name all over this thing?”

You blinked at him. “Oh! He was helping me with proper stroke balance, so I practiced with his name for a while.”

Sanemi’s frown deepened. His grip on your notebook tightened slightly. “You practiced with his name?” His voice had that low, dangerous edge to it. “What, my name too damn hard for you?”

You let out a laugh, reaching for the notebook, but he yanked it just out of reach. “No, actually, yours is really complicated. I was saving it for later.”

“Tch.” Sanemi still looked irritated, but there was the faintest hint of red on his ears. His thumb ran over the edge of the paper as he stared at your careful penmanship, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.

After a moment, he dropped the notebook back onto the table and crossed his arms. “Write mine.”

You tilted your head, smirking. “Oh? You want me to—”

“Just do it.” He muttered, gaze averted.

With a chuckle, you dipped your brush into the ink and started writing Shinazugawa Sanemi over and over again. The entire time, he stood behind you, watching intently—arms still crossed, lips pressed in a firm line, but his posture just a little less tense.

And later, when he thought you weren’t looking, he ripped out the page and tucked it into his uniform.

Obanai Iguro

Obanai wasn’t the type to get openly jealous, but he was exceptionally observant. And right now, as he stood silently behind you, watching you scribble Kanji with intense concentration, his mismatched eyes caught something that made his muscles stiffen.

You had written Rengoku Kyojuro’s name.

Over and over.

The deliberate care in each stroke, the repeated precision, the sheer amount—it all gnawed at something deep inside him.

He stayed quiet for a long moment, staring at the page. Then, finally, his voice came out cool and controlled.

“You’ve written Rengoku’s name quite a lot.”

You nearly jumped, not realizing he was standing so close. “Oh! Obanai, you scared me.”

He didn’t respond to that. His gaze remained fixed on the notebook.

You followed his line of sight before giving him a sheepish smile. “Ah… yeah. Kyojuro has a fun name to write. He also taught me a good technique for balanced strokes.”

Obanai’s jaw clenched ever so slightly, though his voice remained neutral. “I see.”

You could feel the shift in his demeanor—the subtle tension in his shoulders, the way Kaburamaru coiled a little tighter around his neck.

You sighed, setting your brush down. “Would you like me to practice yours now?”

A pause. Then, a quiet, “Yes.”

You hid your grin as you flipped to a fresh page. “Alright then.”

As you carefully wrote Iguro Obanai over and over, he watched closely, his gaze never leaving your hands. When you were done, he reached out and gently took the page between his fingers, examining it in silence.

Satisfied, he gave a small nod. “Keep this one.”

You chuckled. “Why?”

His gaze flickered to you. “Because your strokes are finally precise enough.”

(But really, you knew he just wanted to keep it for himself.)

Tengen Uzui & His Wives

Tengen prided himself on being flashy, confident, and above all, the most important person in your life. So when he casually glanced at your notebook and saw Tokito Muichiro’s name written more times than his, he audibly gasped.

“You’ve written Muichiro’s name more than mine?!” He clutched his chest dramatically, staggering back as if you had just personally wounded him. “How unbelievably unflashy!”

Before you could even respond, Makio stomped over and snatched the notebook from the table. “Hold on—why isn’t my name here at all?!”

Suma, already in tears, wailed, “Do you love Aoi more than me?!”

Hinatsuru, ever the voice of reason, simply chuckled and patted your shoulder. “You should probably write ours next, dear.”

You sighed in exasperation. “Guys, I haven’t even gotten to your names yet—”

“No excuses!” Tengen interrupted, flipping the notebook open to a blank page. He grabbed a brush and practically shoved it into your hand. “Right now. Write Uzui Tengen in the largest, flashiest script possible.”

Makio huffed. “Mine too. And make it just as big as his.”

Suma sniffled. “And—and mine with little hearts next to it—”

Hinatsuru smiled. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind a few elegant flourishes on mine.”

You groaned in defeat, but secretly, you were amused by how deeply invested they all were. And so, for the next hour, you meticulously wrote each of their names in the most extravagant calligraphy you could manage.

By the end of it, your hand was cramping, your ink supply was nearly depleted, and Tengen was holding up the notebook like a prized work of art.

“Now this is proper dedication!” he declared proudly.

Makio nodded in satisfaction. “Much better.”

Suma threw herself into your arms, sobbing dramatically. “I forgive youuuu!”

Hinatsuru just chuckled, kissing your cheek. “We really do appreciate it, sweetheart.”

You let out a tired laugh. “You guys are ridiculous.”

Tengen grinned, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “And yet, you love us anyway.”

And honestly? He wasn’t wrong.

Mitsuri Kanr oji

Mitsuri was delighted when she first saw you practicing Kanji. She thought it was so cute how dedicated you were, and she showered you with praise the moment she saw your notebook.

“Wow! You’re amazing, Y/N-chan! You’ve written so much!” she gushed, leaning over your shoulder with sparkling eyes.

You beamed at her enthusiasm. “I still have a long way to go, but I think I’m improving!”

She giggled. “Oh, I’m sure you are! Let’s see what you’ve been practicing—”

And then, she saw it.

Right there, in the middle of the page, over and over again, was Iguro Obanai.

Her expression didn’t immediately change, but you noticed the way her cheerful energy faltered just slightly.

“You’ve been practicing Iguro-san’s name a lot,” she murmured, her voice still sweet, but with the slightest hint of something… off.

You blinked, glancing at the page. “Oh! Yeah, he helped me with stroke order, so I used his name for a while.”

Mitsuri’s lips pursed, her usual pout appearing. “I see…”

You turned to look at her fully and immediately recognized the signs. The tiny pout. The slightly puffed cheeks. The way her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve.

Mitsuri Kanroji was pouting.

You chuckled, setting your brush down. “Mitsuri, are you jealous?”

Her eyes widened. “Wha—no! Of course not! I mean—” She fidgeted even more, her cheeks turning pink. “I just thought maybe you would’ve practiced with my name first, that’s all…”

Your heart melted at how adorable she was. You reached out, taking her hand. “Do you want me to write yours now?”

She perked up immediately. “Really?! You’d do that?!”

“Of course.” You flipped to a new page and carefully wrote Kanroji Mitsuri in the neatest script possible. Mitsuri watched with a lovestruck expression, swaying happily beside you.

And later, when she thought you weren’t looking, she carefully tore out the page and tucked it into her sleeve, pressing it to her chest with a dreamy sigh.

Muichiro Tokito

Muichiro was passing by when he caught sight of your notebook, his curiosity piqued when he saw all the careful Kanji written on the page.

“You’re practicing?” he asked, peering over your shoulder.

You nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been working on stroke order.”

Muichiro hummed, scanning the page absentmindedly. His mind tended to drift, but when his eyes landed on a particular name, something inside him snapped into focus.

Kyojuro Rengoku.

It was written multiple times, each character precise and elegant.

Muichiro stared at it, his usual sleepy expression unreadable. “You wrote Rengoku’s name a lot.”

You barely glanced up. “Oh, yeah. He helped me with balance techniques, so I practiced with his name for a while.”

Muichiro said nothing, but his presence suddenly felt much heavier. His usual cloud-like demeanor darkened slightly, and his teal eyes sharpened in a way that sent a shiver down your spine.

Then, he plucked the brush from your hand.

“…Write mine,” he said flatly.

You blinked at him. “Huh?”

“My name,” he repeated, his voice eerily calm. “Write it now.”

You gulped. Why did this suddenly feel like an order?

Without questioning further, you quickly flipped to a new page and began writing Tokito Muichiro as neatly as possible.

Muichiro’s intense stare never wavered. He watched each stroke carefully, nodding in silent approval as you filled the page. Once you were finished, he picked up the notebook, flipped back to the page with Rengoku’s name, and—

Tore it out.

You gawked at him. “Muichiro—”

“It’s fine,” he said, slipping the paper into his sleeve as if nothing had happened. “You don’t need this anymore.”

And with that, he wandered off, looking completely unbothered.

Meanwhile, you sat there, gaping at the missing page.

Did… did Muichiro just erase Kyojuro from your practice records???

Kanao Tsuyuri

Kanao had been quietly observing your progress, always fascinated by how determined you were to learn. She admired your dedication, though she never voiced it aloud.

One day, as she passed by, she saw you practicing again and leaned in curiously.

You were so focused that you didn’t notice her at first. But when she suddenly spoke, you nearly jumped.

“You’ve written Aoi’s name a lot,” she murmured.

You looked at the page. Indeed, Aoi’s name was scribbled multiple times.

“Oh, yeah! She helped me a lot, so I used her name for practice,” you explained.

Kanao stared at the page, then at you. There was no immediate shift in her expression, but something about the way she clutched her coin told you she was thinking.

After a few moments, she held out her hand. “Write mine.”

You smiled, flipping to a fresh page. “Of course.”

As you wrote Tsuyuri Kanao over and over, she watched with the slightest glimmer of satisfaction in her violet eyes. And once you were done, she took the page for herself, slipping it into her sleeve without a word.

Aoi Kanzaki

Aoi sighed when she saw your notebook, hands on her hips. “You’re still practicing? Don’t overwork yourself.”

You chuckled. “I’m okay. I want to get better.”

She peered over your shoulder—and then, her eye twitched.

Because right there, in painstakingly neat handwriting, was Shinobu Kocho.

Multiple times.

Aoi immediately narrowed her eyes. “Why is Kocho’s name written so much?”

You blinked, confused by her sudden shift. “Huh? Oh, she helped me a lot, so I practiced with her name.”

Aoi huffed, crossing her arms. “I see…”

Her usual sharp tone masked her emotions well, but you knew better. You smirked. “You’re jealous.”

“Wha—I am not!” She turned away, cheeks turning pink. “It’s just… If you’re practicing, you should’ve used mine first!”

You couldn’t help but laugh, flipping to a fresh page. “Alright, alright. Aoi Kanzaki, coming up.”

As you wrote her name, she muttered something under her breath—but you caught it.

“…Make it better than Kocho’s.”

Gyomei Himejima

Gyomei had been quietly observing your progress for a while, always patient and supportive.

One day, he approached you as you practiced and knelt beside you. “You are doing well, Y/N.”

You smiled. “Thank you, Gyomei-san.”

Then, he felt your notebook, his large hands tracing over the pages. “May I?”

You handed it to him, and he carefully flipped through the pages, his blind eyes scanning the indentations of ink.

After a moment, he sighed deeply. “…You have written many names.”

You tilted your head. “Yes?”

His lips pressed together. “But mine is not here.”

Your eyes widened. Oh no.

He exhaled, his massive shoulders sagging slightly. “Am I… not important to you?”

Panicked, you immediately grabbed your brush and filled an entire page with Himejima Gyomei, each stroke filled with pure dedication.

Gyomei felt the fresh ink and nodded solemnly.

“…I will keep this safe,” he murmured, tucking it inside his robes.

(You were pretty sure he was smiling.)

[tsugumichikaneshiro]

tsugumichi kaneshiro’s name, a short analysis

don’t know who he is? ⬆️ now you do!! he got namedropped in deep cover through a news article, so he’s one of two side characters with a full name written in kanji (hinako mukuhara being the second) so i thought i’d try my hand at guessing what it might mean since nobody else has.

TSUGUMICHI -> 亜道 (jisho)

亜 essentially means “second to,” or more simply “inferior” / 道 means “path” or “road,” but can also mean something like “morality” or “teachings”. the characters here have some other meanings aside from those, but these are the ones i’ll focus on

basically, his name means “inferior path” or “inferior morality.” which like is kinda obvious... he’s a guy who kidnaps & kills children of course his morality is inferior, or of course the road he went down was inferior.

also check out kotoko's 12th interrogation answer. lol

KANESHIRO -> 兼城 (jisho)

兼 essentially means “simultaneous” or something like that, but i don’t have many thoughts on it, so i’ll leave you with checking out the link. / however, 城 is fairly simple, it just means “castle”!

castles are sort of a reflection on their (not just tsugumichi, but his family in general) higher social status, as well as how they’re “protected” by said status from whatever they did wrong. castling is also a move in chess, where the rook sort of “swaps” position with the king, so the king is pushed more into the corner, protected from central threats. which is basically what his father did for him, right?

i don’t know how to end this. his name could actually be adou kaneshiro instead of tsugumichi. but im more used to one than the other

[hestzhyen]

Volume 4 Extras and Da Vinci Interview Yap: Names Edition

Not going to post screen caps since the extras are considered an incentive to buy the volumes. But I will definitely talk a bit about the info we got!

Names!

Braidbro's given name is Enji (円慈). 円 (en) means "circle" or "round" and is also the kanji for the Japanese yen. It's chosen for a baby to convey a sense of being valued, successful, and surrounded by love. Hm. 慈(ji) means love (in a parent-child sense), mercy, or compassion, and is chosen for it's direct meaning. HM. Wonder why he was the one Shiba talked to about honoring Tenri's memory by making sure none of the other kids followed his footsteps... (not). [circle of compassion] perhaps?

Sazasis is Tamaki (珠紀)! 珠 (tama) means "pearl", chosen for purity, beauty, and grace. 紀 (ki) means era or chronicle to remember special moments or events, the family's legacy and history, and/or to follow rules and regulations. [pearl chronicle] is a pretty name!

Birthdays

Kerfluffle over Hakuri being 17 aside, not much stands out. Unless you're into zodiac signs and Western birthstone interpretations I guess- go wild if so.

Well, actually... Sojo being confirmed 30 years old is pretty funny. Dude legit had beef with an 18-year old because of his parasocial relationship to the kid's dead dad. LMAO. He must have been so happy to have been born a day (and like 10 years) after Kunishige too.

If we want to take holidays into account, Chihiro was born on Mountain Day (8/11)! It's a fairly recent holiday that was only enacted in 2014, ostensibly to promote appreciation of the many mountains in Japan. I don't think there's any special meaning to this beyond the trivia value, as it was probably a coincidence if anything.

Hakuri's birthday falls on an unofficial holiday- Sakura Day (3/27). It was created in 1992 by the Cherry Blossom Association to promote interest in the tradition of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. Probably another coincidence but we take these. It seems to suit him somehow!

Spring and summer, what a wonderful combination~ Don't think too hard about how Kunishige probably had New Year's sex based on Chihiro's birth date though. Don't imagine sexy Kunishige. Don't do it! Stop that!

SoTen?!

There was a little sketch of Soya talking to Tenri (thanks to Hella for the TL!) in the extras. It mentioned that Soya had a slight inferiority complex towards Tenri due to how fast his youngest brother surpassed him, which led him to fixate on Hakuri instead.

SoHaku folks are going a little nuts over this as you'd expect. Can't blame them though since several prominent artists in and outside of that circle had thought this might be the case. To have it confirmed in canon is pretty satisfying for all those who believed in it.

I never gave it much thought from the Tenri perspective, but it makes sense. Soya seems like he was supposed to be That Guy but was found lacking for some reason. He was lurking in the background every time Kyora was talking to Tenri and Hakuri side-by-side, completely unnoticed. And the stuff with his name, of course... So yeah. Hakuri really was Soya's punching bag because Soya felt he wasn't good enough. Thank goodness Soya is dead and definitely never coming back. Clothing Mysteries Revealed

There were also simple sketches of Hakuri and Chihiro's top layers to basically confirm what we already knew thanks to Chapter 45. Chihiro wears a plain long-sleeved black shirt, a track coat, and a trench coat that is a pain for Hokazono-sensei to draw. He might change the trench coat for something else later but wouldn't count on it for now. Hakuri wears a long-sleeved black turtleneck under a dress shirt and a haori that he tucks into his pants (cute!!!). The biggest surprise is that the dress shirt has a breast pocket I guess?

I'm happy for all the fan artists out there who will find the references useful, but... THE STRAPS? HELLO??? WHY THE STRAPS ON THE PANTS?! I insist this insignificant detail gets elaborated on. I require it. Is it his own fashion sense? If so, he didn't have them the day Ice Lady died despite the half boots, pants, and haori-undershirt combo remaining intact. At least a day passed (maybe) between her death and him being kicked out- he has a different style of dress shirt on the second layer compared to when we see him in the present day. So Hakuri had time to change but why add the straps? Where did they come from??? I cannot let this go. HELP.

Da Vinci Magazine Interview

Hokazono-sensei provided a long interview to the magazine that was published to help promote Volume 4's release. Brasilbro posted a lightly edited Machine TL of it, which has caused some buzz (my soul withers at the prospect of trying to do it myself...). As expected there's a lot of love given to Naruto, John Wick, and depicting blood splatters. He also references JJK and CSM as other manga that tell a faster story than previous shounen series. I've seen a lot of manga in recent years try to emulate Fujimoto-sensei's style, but I think Hokazono-sensei's done it the best because he's also a film buff. You can tell he loves action movies and has a movie director's PoV when he's composing the scenes (and especially the fights). Not that other styles are bad- I love me some more traditional shounen like Wind Breaker and HxH too. It's just if you're going to try and copy the feel of a Fujimoto manga, you need to be as insanely in love with movies as he is.

That's why the pacing in Kagurabachi is so fast, too- he doesn't want to lose reader engagement by slowing things down and having longer arcs with a few "dead" chapters here and there. He acknowledges that this makes the manga a very dense read at least. And I'm fine with it. I wish it was a smidge slower, but I still wouldn't change the pacing. I just hope it doesn't go any faster than this because every week is like a whirlwind already.

Kind of interested, kind of worried that he's using up all his prepared ideas as fast as he can to try and create new ones. Won't call it arrogant but maybe... idealistic? Creation is hard, man. Especially working at the brutal pace of a weekly serialization. I just hope he can keep up without compromising his health like so many other mangaka are forced to do. He mentions in the next paragraph that he's starting to feel the pressure. Not surprising in the least with all the extra art he's had to make for cover and color pages, volume bonuses, and re-draws.

I'm also really, really glad that I can put my worries of a sudden introduction of yokai or mythical beings as enemies to rest. He confirmed that he wanted Kagurabachi to be about people versus people. Yay! I wouldn't drop the manga if we changed course into fighting a supernatural threat, but I could get that pretty much anywhere. I'm invested in Kagurabachi for the storytelling about the human vs. human conflicts more than anything else. Keeping the cast and foes entirely (or mostly) human helps sell the extremely personal nature of Chihiro's revenge mission IMO.

Then there's this...

You wanted Hakuri to add some cuteness, huh?! Oh boy did you nail that one, Hokazono-sensei. These two are going to be fruity as heck to the end I can tell. But I'm also reassured as a HakuHiro shipper that Hokazono actually wanted Hakuri there and likes the character (he also mentioned that he likes drawing him in the Vol. 4 extras). I didn't believe the bad-faith accusations of Hakuri being the result of executive meddling for one second- don't sell me that short. I've read all of Hokazono-sensei's oneshots so I know he loves his color-coded SasuNaru expy duos. But sometimes I feel the relationship he's written between Hakuri and Chihiro is too good to be real. If he REALLY wanted them to come across that sus, though? Okay then! I won't worry about the wellspring drying up any time soon.

In general it seems like Hokazono-sensei's pretty put-together (for a memelord) and happy to be drawing Kagurabachi. I'm really, really glad for him and It's exciting to see his series finally get the recognition it deserves. Kagurabachi's on the big come-up now with all the extra promotion since winning the Tsugimanga award. Become the future of WSJ!

It's late. I've yapped too much today. If you read this- thanks. Say something nice to yourself, alright? And take care.

[st-kitten]

brat party pt.6

i'll likely upload the last chapter today itself since i have a work holiday. college started, so i don't want to drag this a lot and leave readers left with 'what nexts'

warnings: angst, weed, coke

the morning sun filtered through the shoji screens, casting soft patterns of light and shadow on the tatami mat where you and mikoto sat. her hand rested lightly in yours as you worked on the henna design, the faint, earthy smell of the paste filling the air.

"you’re really skilled at this," mikoto said softly, watching as the delicate swirls and lines took shape on her hand.

"years of practice,” you replied with a small smile. “it’s a tradition back home. every festival, every wedding, someone’s always asking for henna."

mikoto tilted her head, a curious glint in her eyes. “are there any customs tied to it?”

you paused, thinking as you drew a tiny, intricate leaf. “well, there’s this one where you hide the husband’s name in the design. it’s kind of like a game—if he finds it, it’s supposed to mean good luck or that the love is strong.”

after a moment of silence, mikoto spoke, her tone soft but amused. “would you write fugaku’s name for me? in kanji, of course. i’d love to see if he notices.”

you laughed gently at her request, setting the henna cone aside for a moment to consider how best to incorporate the characters into the delicate, minimal design. “all right,” you said, leaning closer to examine the pattern you’d already started. “let’s hide it so well, he’ll be staring at your hand for hours.”

mikoto chuckled, her cheeks faintly pink, though whether from the warmth of the room or your teasing, you couldn’t tell.

as your henna cone danced over her hand, you explained, “we’ll weave it right here. though, if he can’t find it, i’ll take no blame..."

mikoto smiled and shook her head, "either he finds it or i get to tease him about it forever."

sasuke entered the living room, spotting you and his mother. for a moment, seeing his mother smile and be relaxed made him giddy, but the persistent unease that had settled since the day before kept beating in his heart.

"y/n."

the mood shifted the moment sasuke called your name. his tone was calm—too calm—and the glint in his eyes was unreadable. you set the henna cone down carefully, excusing yourself from mikoto with a polite smile before following him. he led you down a quiet hallway, out of earshot of anyone else in the house.

once you were alone, he turned to you, his arms crossed, the familiar tension radiating from his posture like a storm brewing on the horizon.

“you need to leave,” he said abruptly, his voice low but firm, leaving no room for argument.

you blinked, caught off guard. “what?”

“you’ve overstayed your welcome,” he continued, his words clipped. “it’s time for you to go back to campus.”

you did not expect that all of a sudden. "you invited me here."

"and now i'm asking you to leave."

the coldness in his voice stung, far more than you were willing to admit. “sasuke, if i’ve done something wrong—”

“you haven’t,” he cut you off, his gaze fixed somewhere over your shoulder, as though looking at you directly might break his resolve. “but you shouldn’t be here any longer. this is my family."

"what is this about?” your voice cracked, and you hated how vulnerable you sounded. “because your family’s been nothing but kind to me."

he took a step closer, towering over you now, his presence suffocating. “this is about us. or whatever you think this is.”

“what i think this is?” you repeated, your voice trembling now, not with fear but with something far more fragile. “sasuke, i—”

“don’t,” he snapped, his hand flying up as if to ward off your words. he closed his eyes for a moment, his breath shaky as he exhaled. when he spoke again, his voice was quieter, but it didn’t soften. “it’s better if you leave. it’s better if… we stop whatever this is before it gets worse.”

“worse?” you echoed. “what are you so afraid of, sasuke?”

his jaw clenched, his hands balling into fists at his sides. he didn’t answer, and the silence stretched between you, heavy and suffocating.

you scoffed. "there's a difference between protecting yourself and punishing others for no reason."

“this isn’t about me,” he said. “it’s about you. you don’t belong here. you never did.”

the words gutted you, their cruelty only magnified by the fact that you could see through them. his voice was steady, but the slight tremor in his hands, the way his eyes couldn’t meet yours—those told the truth. he didn't mean it.

you took a step back, suddenly feeling like an intruder in a place that had felt so warm and welcoming just moments ago.

“if that’s what you really think,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper, “then i’ll go.”

you wanted to scream at him, to ask why he was doing this, why he was pushing you away when you’d only ever been kind to him, only ever cared. but you didn’t. instead, you nodded, your throat too tight to speak, and walked away before he could see the tears collecting in your eyes.

when you reached your room, the weight of it all finally hit you. the warmth of the uchiha estate, the feeling of being welcome, of belonging—it had all been ripped away in an instant. and as you mindlessly packed your bag, staring out the window at the sprawling grounds you’d come to love, you wondered if sasuke felt even a fraction of the hurt he’d just inflicted on you.

you left quietly, without a peep, before lunch.

every step felt heavier than the last, as if the very walls of the uchiha estate were reluctant to let you go.

but you couldn’t stay. not after what sasuke had said.

you'd still left a small note on the hot table in the living room where you knew they'd have tea in the evening.

the train station was quiet, save for the occasional hum of announcements and the soft shuffle of passengers moving about. snow blanketed everything outside, turning the small town into a postcard-perfect winter scene. you’d bought a ticket for the night train, giving yourself hours to wait, not because you needed to but because leaving too quickly felt… wrong.

you found a spot on one of the wooden benches near the platform, its cold surface biting through the fabric of your coat. pulling a book from your bag, you settled in, your fingers stiff from the chill as you turned the pages. the story was a distraction, one you were grateful for, even if the words occasionally blurred when your mind drifted.

at lunchtime, you stepped outside to the small convenience store across the street. the bell above the door jingled softly as you entered, the warmth inside momentarily soothing. you picked up a simple onigiri and a bottle of green tea, paying the cashier with a polite nod.

you unwrapped the onigiri carefully, the smell of rice and seaweed faint but comforting. the first bite was bland, but you didn’t mind. it was food, and it was enough. as you ate, your eyes wandered to the snowy platform, watching the occasional flurry drift lazily from the sky.

the hours passed slowly, the world outside shifting from the muted whites of the afternoon to the deep blues of early evening. the station began to quiet even more, as though it, too, was preparing for the year’s end.

when the train finally pulled into the station, the sound of its brakes cut through the stillness. you boarded with your bag slung over your shoulder, finding a window seat near the back of the car. as the train began to move, you leaned your head against the cold glass, watching the snow-covered countryside roll by.

the houses were lit with warm, golden light, some decorated with twinkling strings of white and red, preparing for new year’s celebrations. you imagined families inside, bustling around tables, clinking glasses, and sharing laughter. the contrast to your quiet solitude was sharp, but you told yourself it was fine. it is what it is.

as the train chugged on, the rhythmic sound of the wheels against the tracks became a lullaby, lulling you into a strange calm. you sipped the last of your green tea, the bottle now cold in your hands, and watched as the lights of the small villages you passed grew sparser.

somewhere in the back of your mind, you wondered what the uchiha estate looked like at that very moment—whether mikoto was setting the table with small decorations, whether itachi helped her cook a nice dinner, whether the family finally wore something other than black, whether sasuke—

you shook the thought away, closing your eyes briefly.

new year’s eve passed without fanfare for you, just the quiet hum of the train and the faint vibration of its journey forward.

as the clock struck midnight, you were somewhere between two small towns, watching the snow fall against the glass, letting the world pull you along with it.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

sasuke had been dragged to the low wooden table in the living room, the emptiness doing little to ease the cold knot that had taken root in his chest. in front of him lay the small note you had left, its delicate handwriting almost mocking in its sincerity.

mikoto and itachi sat across from him, their gazes heavy with disappointment and confusion. mikoto had picked up the note again, her fingers trembling slightly as she read your words for the third time, as if doing so might help her understand. the quiet gratitude you had expressed, the way you had called the estate “a home away from home” — it only deepened the ache in her heart.

“she thanked us for our hospitality,” mikoto finally said, her voice low but sharp enough to cut through the tense silence. her eyes lifted to meet sasuke’s, searching for something in his expression. "why would you just let her leave like that?"

he didn’t answer immediately, his jaw clenched so tightly it ached. his hands were fisted on the table, knuckles white.

itachi, who had been silent until now, leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “you’re not this careless. what happened?”

sasuke’s gaze flicked to the note, then away again, as if the words burned more every time he looked at them. “it wasn’t like that,” he said finally, his voice rough, defensive. “she... overstayed. it was time for her to leave.”

“overstayed?” mikoto echoed, her tone incredulous. “sasuke, she was a guest. she didn’t ask for anything. she even helped around the house—”

“this isn’t about her,” sasuke snapped, the frustration spilling over before he could stop it. his voice echoed slightly in the room, startling even himself.

itachi’s expression remained calm, but there was a sharpness in his gaze that pierced through sasuke’s weak defenses. “then what is it about?”

he looked away, his eyes fixed on the far corner of the room, where the shadows seemed to gather like a judgment.

“i didn’t want her here,” he said, his voice quieter now, but no less strained.

“you didn’t want her here, or you didn’t want to feel what you were feeling?” itachi asked, his tone unnervingly steady, yet laced with an unspoken accusation.

sasuke’s head whipped toward his brother, his glare fierce, but itachi didn’t flinch. the eldest uchiha had always been able to see through him, peeling back layers he didn’t even know he had.

“she doesn’t belong here,” sasuke muttered, the words bitter on his tongue. “she’s better off at campus, with her own life, not... not here.”

mikoto’s brows furrowed, her expression softening, though the hurt lingered in her eyes. “sasuke, you don’t send someone away for their own good by making them feel like they’re not wanted.”

itachi’s gaze shifted briefly to the note, then back to sasuke. “did she even understand why you asked her to leave? or did you make her think she wasn’t welcome?”

sasuke didn’t answer, his throat tightening as the weight of their words pressed down on him. the truth was, he didn’t know what you had thought, because he hadn’t given you a chance to explain. he’d pushed you away, shoved the words out in a panic, hoping that distancing himself from you would extinguish the fire he couldn’t control.

but now, sitting at the table with the echo of your absence growing louder by the second, he wasn’t so sure. all he knew was that he had done what he thought he had to, and yet, it didn’t feel like relief. it felt like loss.

fugaku entered the room silently, his imposing presence enough to make the already tense atmosphere feel worse. he had been listening from the hallway, and the slight furrow in his brow as he approached the table made sasuke’s stomach twist.

“what’s this i hear about you sending away a guest?” fugaku’s deep voice was calm, yet laced with the authority that always made the air around him feel heavier. he stood at the head of the table, his hands behind his back, his piercing gaze fixed on sasuke.

“it wasn’t like that,” sasuke muttered, not meeting his father’s eyes.

“then explain it to me,” fugaku said evenly, though there was a sharpness to his words. “because from where i stand, it sounds like you’ve embarrassed this family.”

mikoto’s eyes widened slightly, and she glanced at her husband. “anata—”

fugaku calmly looked at her, telling her he'll handle it.

“we are the uchiha. we do not exhibit such poor hospitality, especially not to someone who has done nothing to deserve it.”

sasuke flinched slightly, his father’s words hitting harder than he expected. “she... she overstayed,” he said weakly, the excuse sounding even thinner now.

fugaku raised an eyebrow, his expression hardening. “overstayed? she was here because you invited her, was she not?”

sasuke’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

“then it was your responsibility to ensure she felt welcome until she chose to leave,” fugaku continued, his tone growing colder. “instead, you sent her away. tell me, sasuke, was there any indication that she was a burden to this household? any sign that she disrespected our home or our family?”

“no,” sasuke admitted through gritted teeth.

“then your actions are unacceptable,” fugaku said bluntly. “the uchiha do not treat their guests this way. ever.”

mikoto reached out, placing a hand gently on fugaku’s arm. “perhaps he didn’t mean—”

“intentions mean little when the result is the same,” fugaku cut her off, though his tone softened slightly. he looked back at sasuke, his disappointment evident. “you’ve disrespected not only her, but this family, and our name.”

sasuke’s fists clenched on the table. he wanted to argue, to defend himself, but the weight of his father’s words crushed any rebuttal before it could form.

itachi, who had been silent for most of the exchange, finally spoke. “she didn’t leave because she felt unwelcome by us,” he said quietly, his gaze steady on his brother. “she left because you made her feel unwanted by you.”

the room fell silent again, the only sound the faint crackle of the hearth. fugaku sighed, his expression softening slightly, though his disappointment lingered.

“whatever your reasons, sasuke, you’ve made a mistake,” he said finally. “and you will have to live with the consequences of it.”

with that, fugaku turned and left the room and mikoto followed him, leaving the brothers behind.

itachi remained seated, his posture relaxed but his eyes sharp, studying sasuke in the way only an older brother could.

itachi began quietly, his voice calm, almost patient, “do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”

“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” sasuke muttered, though the bitterness in his voice betrayed him.

itachi’s lips curved into the faintest, almost imperceptible smile, not one of amusement but of understanding. “you’ve always been a terrible liar, sasuke.”

a moment of silence passed by. leaning forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, itachi asked, “you sent her away because you felt nothing? or because you felt too much?”

“you don’t understand,” sasuke said finally, his voice low, almost defeated.

“then help me understand,” itachi replied, his tone soft but insistent. “you’re not one to act impulsively, sasuke. yet you pushed her away, knowing it would hurt her—and, judging by the look on your face, knowing it would hurt you too. why?”

sasuke felt like hiding from all this confrontation.

"i don't do girlfriends."

"who said anything about girlfriends?"

itachi's response made sasuke twitch.

"i mean. i... she..." sasuke bit back a scream. "it's too much. she was... everywhere. with you, with mother, with... father."

itachi didn’t respond immediately, letting the silence hang between them like a thick fog. he watched sasuke’s hands flex and twitch, betraying the unease he was trying so hard to mask. then, finally, itachi spoke, his voice calm but with an underlying sharpness.

“you’re acting like it’s the worst thing in the world, sasuke,” itachi said, his tone a mixture of concern and quiet reprimand. “but what’s so terrible about her being everywhere? about her being with the people who care about you?”

“it’s not about her... being around. it’s just...” he hesitated, words caught in his throat. “she doesn’t... she doesn’t belong here.”

“and why does that matter?” itachi asked, his eyes narrowing, trying to gauge sasuke’s every reaction. “why does it matter so much to you that she doesn't fit the mould you’ve created for your life?”

sasuke’s chest tightened, and he looked away, frustration building inside him, threatening to spill over. “because everything about her is... too much,” he said, voice low but thick with emotion. “she’s different, but in a way that everyone notices. you notice. father notices.” he stopped, as if the weight of his own words had just caught up with him.

itachi looked at his little brother pensively. "sasuke... do you feel unnoticed? by us?"

his words had caught sasuke off guard, digging at something he had never voiced aloud, not even to himself.

itachi didn’t push him. he simply waited, as he always did. the silence stretched between them, heavy, expectant. finally, sasuke broke it, but his voice was barely a whisper.

“it’s... it’s like... no matter what i do, it’s never enough. i’m never enough. with you... with father... with anyone. i do everything right, and still, i'm always just... here. not seen. not noticed.”

itachi’s eyes softened, the weight of sasuke’s words sinking in. he knew his brother had always carried that burden, even if he’d never admitted it before. but hearing it now, from sasuke’s own lips, felt like the first real crack in the armour he’d built around himself.

"you’re not invisible, sasuke," itachi said quietly, his tone gentle. "not to me. not to anyone who matters."

"then why does it feel like it?" sasuke snapped, frustration creeping into his voice. "why do I feel like I’m just... shadowed by everything else? like I’m not seen for who I really am?"

itachi chuckled softly. "if you never show us, how would we know?"

sasuke’s chest tightened, his throat constricting as the weight of those words hit him. he wanted to push them away, to deny the truth of them, but somewhere deep down, he knew they were right.

"i don’t know how to..." sasuke trailed off, the words failing him.

itachi hummed, "for someone who has the loudest, most open-book friends, you're telling me you don't know how to be yourself?"

sasuke frowned.

itachi regarded sasuke with a knowing look, his eyes reflecting a wisdom that came with age and understanding. the silence between them stretched long, but it was a comfortable one, the kind that comes with knowing someone so well, understanding them without needing words.

"you know," itachi said softly, his tone carrying a quiet weight, "the uchiha are known for their intense love. the kind of love that doesn’t fade, no matter how much we try to suppress it."

"i don’t care about that," sasuke muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. but even to his own ears, the words sounded hollow, like a lie that had been repeated too many times.

"you can lie to yourself all you want, sasuke," itachi said, his gaze steady, "but no matter how much you try to distance yourself, everything you do, every action, every word... it comes from a place of love. even when you push people away, even when you tell yourself you don’t care, it’s still love. that uchiha blood runs deep in you."

sasuke swallowed, feeling a knot tighten in his chest. love. he had always seen it as a weakness, something that could be used against him. he had always thought that to love was to be vulnerable, to be exposed.

"i don’t know what to do with it," sasuke admitted, his voice barely audible.

itachi's gaze softened, a flicker of understanding passing between them. "you don’t have to do anything with it, sasuke. you don’t have to control it. you just have to accept it."

he could see that sasuke was still not convinced.

"what do you think will happen if you let people in?"

sasuke opened his mouth to answer, as if he knew... only for nothing to come to his mind.

he couldn’t explain what he feared, couldn’t put into words the uncertainty that gnawed at him when he thought about letting anyone in. especially someone like her. someone who was so... present. someone who had already gotten under his skin, despite his best efforts.

"i don’t know," sasuke finally muttered, the frustration clear in his voice. "i don’t know what will happen. it just feels... dangerous."

"dangerous?" itachi asked, his tone still gentle, like he was trying to coax out the deeper truth.

sasuke clenched his fists, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. "yeah," he snapped, "because when you let someone in, you risk everything. everything they could take from you. everything they could make you feel."

his voice broke for a split second, and he immediately turned his face away, trying to regain his composure.

itachi didn't look surprised. in fact, he seemed to expect that answer, his gaze softening as he leaned against the table. "isn't that what you did to her?"

sasuke froze, his eyes fixed on the note in front of him.

"she let you in, no conditions. and i'm guessing you two had a thing. so... you as good as used her, and tossed her away when you got scared."

"i... didn’t mean for it to happen like that," sasuke muttered, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew they didn’t hold any weight. he had used her, in his own twisted way. she had let him in, he had allowed himself to feel something, only to push it all away the moment it got too real, too complicated.

"you never mean for it," itachi replied softly, not unkindly, "but that's what fear does. it makes us hurt the people we care about."

"she didn’t run away, did she?" itachi’s voice cut through his thoughts again. "she faced you. and when you couldn’t handle it, she didn’t fight you. she just… walked away. quietly."

sasuke’s throat went dry at the thought of it. she walked away. no anger, no arguments, just... genuine detachment, something sasuke thought he was an expert at.

the distant fireworks brought them back to the present.

itachi stood up.

"forgive yourself, sasuke," he said, an echo of the exact words you'd said to sasuke.

two fingers gently poked sasuke's forehead, itachi's smile behind them. "happy new year."

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the new semester began as it always did; with a frat party.

sasuke sauntered from one quiet corner to the other at the party with a drink in hand, trying to ignore the buzzing energy around him. it was like every year, the same predictable cycle. the loud music, the flashing lights, the people in their tight clothes, their fake smiles. the air was thick with the smell of alcohol and smoke. and yet, none of it felt real. none of it ever reached him.

he knew how to blend in. to act like he was just another guy here, there to forget, there to drown whatever was lingering under his skin. so, he let the haze of alcohol kick in, the dull blur at the edges of his vision making it easier to pretend.

he didn’t care about the people dancing or the people flirting. they were all just distractions, just noise. what he cared about was silence. the quiet of his own mind, something that had been so elusive ever since... well, ever since everything. and he planned to avoid you as much as he could.

sakura and naruto were way ahead in the planning, running around, laughing, getting others involved. sasuke barely noticed them, his thoughts too far gone to focus on anything but the pull of the alcohol and the high that would hopefully wash away everything he didn’t want to deal with. he didn’t want to think about y/n, about the words itachi had said, about the guilt gnawing at him from the inside out.

he just wanted to forget.

joints after joints, all thanks to shikamaru, clouded sasuke's mind, creating a temporary safe space for his turbulent mind. the endless supply of booze kept him blended in like the chameleon he was. the bass-boosted music was perfect to silence his thoughts. if that wasn't enough, sasuke did lines, carded neatly off of discreet surfaces, the cocaine surging through his blood like lava.

sasuke stood back in the corner, his eyes glazed, a thousand miles away. the room around him was alive—flashing lights, people dancing, the bass reverberating through his chest—but none of it felt real. it was all a blur, like a low-budget film reel skipping frames. the colours bled into each other, red, blue, wild pink, spinning like a kaleidoscope, the world distorting with every pulse of the music.

his body was there, but it didn’t feel like his. his fingers tingled, his hands restless, but everything moved in slow motion. the beat of the song thudded in his chest like a heartbeat, almost too loud, but not loud enough to drown out the quiet hum in his head.

the lights above him flickered like strobe lights in a music video, and for a moment, he felt like he was falling through them, deeper into the darkness, out of reach. the bass dropped again, shaking the room, and everything spun with it, his head heavy, like he was floating in the middle of the night. everything blurred together, people’s faces, voices, the music—it was all just a buzz in the background.

his eyes closed for a split second, yet everything felt off. the momentary clarity left as quickly as it came.

"sasuke..."

"sasuke?"

he opened his eyes, a mop of red hair visible in his peripheral vision. he turned his head slowly, the intensity in his gaze almost chilling, like a predator who’d just locked onto its prey.

there was a weight in his stare, something dangerous, something cold enough to make the room feel a few degrees colder. it wasn’t a look of simple annoyance—it was like he was studying her, sizing her up with the kind of intensity that made people feel like they were being dissected. if eyes could be weapons, his would have cut her in half.

karin faltered, taken aback for a moment, but sasuke didn’t say a word. he just stared, his expression unreadable, his lips tight. the silence between them was thick with tension, and the intensity of his gaze spoke volumes—words weren’t necessary.

the two stumbled inside a dimly lit bathroom, in an attempt to make out. she was way shorter than him, so he had to lean forward to kiss her. he hated how dry it felt.

he pushed her against the wall, spinning her around so he wouldn't have to see her spectacled face. he ground himself against her ass, steadying himself. when he slid her panties off and when he undid his own trousers was a blur.

karin stood there, her back arched, face pressed against the cold bathroom tile. expecting a quick fuck from the campus hottie he was, at any moment. a moment too long later, she looked behind at sasuke.

his eyes were dead, hollow orbs, devoid of any trace of emotion. they stared straight down, unblinking, as if running on autopilot. there was no recognition, no sign of awareness.

his mouth was a flat line, void of any smile or frown—like a mask, as if his face had simply forgotten how to feel.

his skin seemed pale under the dim lights, the unnatural flush from the drugs not enough to mask the ghostly pallor of someone teetering on the edge of consciousness.

in the half-light, his face took on an almost haunting quality. there was a coldness in his expression, like he wasn’t fully here.

it wasn’t anger. it wasn’t hatred. it was something far worse: the feeling of being completely untethered, dangerously adrift.

"s-sasuke?" karin asked. upon hearing no response, she dressed herself again, not wanting to be near his venomous aura for even a second.

"some o-other time, haha!" she mumbled and ran out of the bathroom.

sasuke kept staring down. at his dick that refused to get hard.

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[what a way to end the chapter lol. if u like the added effects, the song i had in mind when writing sasuke's coke trip, was 'manali trance' by neha kakkar, and yo yo honey singh. idk it's the perfect rave music to describe a trance like that]

[desultory-novice]

I recently found out that “weekend Susie” is a mistranslation and it’s actually called “susie on vacation” in jpn. I’m pretty sure she’s supposed to be Susie in the future like Manager Magolor..any ideas on why shes missing her hairclip and the “Secretary” title she always has in jpn? Susie is so hard to figure out..like how she only smiles three times in the entirety of robobot (once when she takes the program controller and twice when singing the noble haltmann but ONLY when saying the words father in jpn) so I’m curious on what your thoughts are on her (and unfortunately has the worst localization ever…i had to look at the robobot translations from @/kaialone on tumblr) sorry for rambling but shes so interesting to me and it’s a bit sad seeing how a lot of the details she has in characterization never get talked about

Anon...Did you somehow know I've been replaying Robobot in Japanese?! And it's basically strengthened my confirmation that some people - though less than before - are a bit too harsh and/or restrictive in their takes on both Susie and her father. 

That said, I do I try to give people room to "safely hate" these fictional characters as, for a lot of people, it may be one of their only ways of processing a gross problem that affects the real world/so much of history that they can't do much about.

But I love the silly/tragic Haltmann family. I'm sympathetic and even semi-defensive towards 'em. Which is why I'm happy to answer any good faith Haltmann asks.

Ahem! Also, before I get into it, I wanted to say that technically "Weekend Susie" vs "Susie on Vacation" is not a mistranslation per se.

What it IS is a localization.

休日 can mean "vacation," yes. When you break down the kanji, literally it is made up of the words "rest day." So it can also be just about any day when you're not working/not at school/not busy.

For most of western civilization (not me because I'm a contractor XD ) the weekends are people's "rest days." To read 休日 as "weekend" might not even be that much of a stretch/localization!

Probably explains the lack of "secretary" title. She's literally not on the clock! As for the hairclip, who can say...? Similar reasons? I know in Susie's case, it's sentimental, though hairpins in Japan often have this association with studiousness/"time to get serious" so removing it is an easy indicator "She's allowing herself time to be silly!"

I do like to imagine that this is a post-canon Susie though. That girl deserves something nice after her trauma...

Anyway, reminder that post-FL, the localizers have been working more closely with the Japanese team to create a more accurate translation for us. I know the wounds from PR's rough translation (and SA's fast-and-loose in weird places one) still hurt, oof, but the Kirby series is getting better about its translations!!

Actually... you know... there's not THAT many cutscenes...

Maybe I will make my own "If they'd hired Dess to translate Planet Robobot" translation of the game? I've already threatened several times to do a full translation of "The Noble Haltmann" with all references/metaphors intact...

But yes! Speaking of how Susie uses her emotions, I was so moved by something in her first meeting with Kirby, I actually wrote about it! And I'm going to share it here, because you might find it interesting~

-

So, I had my eyes peeled for any interesting bits of characterization left behind on the cutting room floor. Immediately, I was amused by how politely Susie talks to Kirby in the beginning. She doesn't really "talk down to him" or insult his intelligence in the slightest. (One could argue that it's a false business politeness, of course. Although she only breaks that in like, the second to last cutscene) Any dismissal of him feels very "company-mandated." (And the company is run by a murderous computer but leaving that aside...)

She gently praises how beautiful the water and the air on this planet is and that's when something... starts to change in her...

Susie gets impossibly sad. And her attitude changes COMPLETELY.

I stopped for a second reading this. "Hold on. What? Why does she lose her cool HERE? Is this some indication that the place she and her dad used to live on was a really poor planet without clean air and drinking water?" And heck, maybe that is the case!

But something else struck me about her line:

"...You don't even know the value of what you have..."

It's not the snooty we-know-better-than-you "misappropriation of resources" that is triggering her. It is having something precious right next to you and you don't even recognize it.

It's about her dad. Right from the beginning.

She can't NOT talk about it. It affects all her actions. Maybe another reason while I feel like it's better to judge Susie on a whole than any one individual action she takes, because (like Magolor, oops oops oops) she is masking her intentions alllll the time.

Also, omg, I know some people are still sensitive about the Mechaknight thing but that is PEAK grim humor in Japanese! It is treated way too cold and business-like in English, imo.

In Japanese, she starts to describe him exactly like she's telling her bestie that she just met the man of her dreams and then the WHAM line: "So, I gave him a full-body modification!"

Yes, it's unhinged. But it's also wonderful. (She's so Eggman-core.)

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Goshiki(numa)

After a river, it's lakes! (reference to Sanzu-no-kawa/The River of three paths and, well, Sanzu.)

Goshiki-numa ('five-colors-lakes/ponds') are a bunch of lakes in Japan, known to have the particularity to change color (greyish, green, blue, ...) depending on the time of the year, the weather, etc (because of various reasons such as the minerals in the water). They are lakes that formed following a volcanic eruption. A nickname it was given is 'The Witch's Eye' so I hope Wakui has something about that.

Of course, being named after something that literally changes color makes the easy interpretation that Goshiki has different 'faces' (which everybody has because it comes free with your ability to socialize, but it has to be more marked in Goshiki) and that he's.. adaptable? He'd change face when the situation calls for it. For deeper interpretation, I'll have to wait for more textual matter. Sorry. We literally have nothing on him that's not my fault-

There is the fact those lakes were created because of a volcano eruption... Something about Goshiki's past resembling that in some shape or form? Can it be compared to the meteor shower? Did the meteor shower create lakes? Is it linked to any astro he may have? Who knows.

Now, there is a small difference of spelling between Goshiki the lakes (五色沼 - Goshikinuma) and Goshiki the character (伍色). 五 and 伍 both mean 5, the latter is simply a different way to write it. Why did Wakui choose to put this one, so far we can't theorize on why - at least, I can't. It is used in formal documents, not anywhere else, really. Goshiki already has that sense of being more of a business man of the family rather than a fighter if I may say, personality speaking he seems rather relaxed (always freaking smiling irritatingly) but we can only speculate so far about his role in the family and I'm betting a lot he's the one making deals (for allyships mostly). He has to be formal, and he has to be neat.

The missing siblings aside since we can't take them into account so far - Torazo (寅三) is the only other Yotsurugi with a number in his name but it's the standard/simplified kanji, not the one used in legal documents (参) and, honestly, who would name their child with a kanji made uniquely for it to not be altered on legal documents and have no other use. The coincidence of both Torazo and Goshiki having their adoption order in their name will be remembered until an explanation on why can be given. I'm guessing the most obvious answer would be their name got changed when they got adopted, alongside their family name, but why...

If we go VERY far, and take away the 人 from 色 then we end up with 巴, tomoe. Tomoe are usually represented being between 1 and 3 (for example; yin-yang is two tomoe stuck together), as far as I've seen them in the past. Never seen five tomoe, not that it doesn't exist. In the context where Hibaru has Kusanagi no Tsurugi and Terasu Yata no Kagami (two out of the three sacred treasure of Japan), anyone being linked to Magatama (single tomoe, third sacred treasure) feels weird. I don't see Goshiki fitting with them as a sort of trio, no can do. So then, if we go one step farther, there's also 巳 - which is a way to write snake - as in, the Chinese zodiac sign. Oh, Wakui you The snake is the 6th Chinese zodiac sign though, not the 5th.

In conclusion, Goshiki is a bunch of color-changing lakes. And five snakes in a trenchcoat.