#kanji chill out

[kwoomochi]

Summer rikoha…….

Watched today's p5x stream with my boyfriend @kwoomochi and as always he got struck with inspiration and again we collabed to create this awesome art

Riko x Motoha is real btw

[birdmenmanga]

ok thats enough mental illness for the day. time to do real work now

[akkivee]

so like the title to jyushi and hitoya’s duet is 夜光虫 (yakouchuu) which is a sea sparkle like the sea bug lol but the kanji consists of ‘night’ and ‘light’ like the moon and stars, the night sky lights, they are and i wanna cry actually

[nikkilbook]

My grandparents had a long history of naming their dogs “Babe.” I’m mostly certain it was after the pig.

All the feeder goldfish we got around 2005ish were named after HP characters (except for my brother who was determined to name his Sparky). Dumbledore survived the longest, only to die while we away were at a family reunion. Coincidently, my dad finished reading Book 6 to us on that trip, and we came back to find that good ol’ Dumble-fish had yeeted himself from the tank and fallen about 4 feet to the floor.

One of the first stray cats we tried to adopt back in 2012ish was named Rollo. We’d tell people it was Rolo, like the chocolate/caramel candies, but it was actually supposed to be the baby bank vole from MATTIMEO, one of the Redwall books.

The first cat we SUCCESSFULLY adopted was temporarily named Baby Volstagg, because she was VERY ROUND, but I’d briefly read like, a page of whichever Percy Jackson book comes after Mark of Athena when my sister was reading it, and there was something about a hundred-handed one named Bob and he had a little kitten named Bob as well, and so I suggested Bob and it stuck. She is mostly called Robert, Roberto, or Bobbity now.

One of the spawn of Bob was originally called Chill/“The Chill One”, but at some point my siblings were watching the FairyTail anime in Japanese and there’s a cat-creature called Carla (ENG)/“Shararu” (JAP). It came out sounding something like “Chalalou” courtesy of the R/L thing, which is I think how we technically spell it, and everyone thought it was fun-sounding so she got a new name. It has of course evolved further, and now she is Chalalou, Chapalou, Shapoopie, Shapoopus, and Shoopus. Once, when Sister 2 (@demisexualhemidemisemiquaver) had to put down her name on an apartment thing, she went the COWARD’S WAY OUT and just went with “Lou.”

Other such-named creatures in the household include Gawain, TW (Trespassers William), Simba, Mr Noodle, and Papyrus.

Also, the service dog I’m saving up for is gonna be named Baymax, so there’s that.

Put in the tags please if you answered yes lets have fun with this

For example my childhood dog was named Cher after the singer and yes she had a brother named Sunny

[lord-radish]

Started writing the fifth chapter of my persona 4 fanfic at midnight on a Sunday. Story is tentatively titled Let's Bash Queerphobes!, but I'll probably change it to something a bit more low-key because despite one scene of queerphobes getting bashed, a sheer, SHEER majority of these five chapters has been character-building and conversations.

With this fifth chapter, I'm finally getting to the point where the gang is gonna start getting into fights, but the chapters are so long y'know. Already planning for chapter six to have the next fight scene, and it should hopefully bring Kanji and Naoto into the action. I want to start publishing the chapters when I hit chapter 10.

[cmdrfupa]

Prologue

all warnings and chapters can be found here.

Hiromi x Reader

The room reeked of power—a sharp blend of smoke, leather, and the subtle tang of whiskey that lingered on polished wood. Hiromi Higuruma sat with his back straight, his face an unreadable mask of calm. The table before him was littered with contracts, each one marked with red seals and neat rows of kanji spelling out his future. He skimmed them without truly reading. The words didn’t matter. The decision had already been made.

“You understand what’s at stake,” his adoptive father spoke with a boom from the seat across the table. His voice was deep, unyielding, each word an order cloaked in false reason.

Hiromi glanced up. He didn’t need a reminder. The opposing family had been circling like vultures, looking for any sign of weakness in their organization. The marriage wasn’t just an alliance; it was a lifeline, a way to ensure their control over contested territories while keeping your family in check. It was strategy.

“Of course,” Hiromi replied, his voice steady.

His father leaned forward, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Good. Then there’s nothing more to discuss. The arrangements are already underway.”

There was no room for protest. Hiromi knew better than to argue with the man who had raised him. Gratitude was the chain around his neck, the silent weight that kept him tethered. But as his father spoke, Hiromi couldn’t help but think about the woman he was being ordered to marry.

He’d heard of you, seen one horribly snapped photo of you and accepted it. He had never met you, though rumors painted you as this quiet, stubborn woman who despised the yakuza lifestyle you’d been born into. Hiromi wondered if you’d would hate him, too.

“Do you have anything to say?” his father asked, a challenge hidden in his tone.

Hiromi met his gaze, his expression unflinching. “No. I understand my role.”

That was the truth, wasn’t it? He had spent years playing the obedient son, the loyal consigliere. What was one more sacrifice in the name of the family?

—————

On the other side of the city, you sat in your bedroom, hands clenched into fists as your mother fussed over wedding plans.

“This is for the good of the family,” your mother spoke sweetly, holding up a delicate hairpin as if it would somehow soften the blow.

Your jaw tightened. “I don’t want to marry him.”

Her mother sighed, setting the hairpin down with an exasperated clink. “You think this is about what you want? You’re not a child. This is about survival.”

Survival. You hated that word. It was the same justification they’d used for every compromise, every betrayal of the values you once thought your family held. Survival had cost you your freedom, your voice, and now, it seemed, your future.

But you didn’t argue further. What was the point? You had no power here and you certainly wouldn’t have it anywhere else.

Your gaze drifted to the window, where the city lights stretched endlessly into the darkness. Somewhere out there was the man you were being forced to marry. A stranger.

Closing your eyes, you tried to imagine his face. Cold, calculating, cruel—he had to be, if he was a consigliere for a family like the Higurumas. The golden boy of his family and one day the head. You wondered if he felt as trapped as you did, or if this was just another business deal for him.

Either way, you would find a way to hold on to whatever pieces of yourself you could. Even if it meant playing a role in a world you hated.

_________

The drive into the city was suffocating, despite the chill in the air. You sat stiffly in the backseat between your mother and father, your hands folded tightly in your lap. The leather interior smelled faintly of cigar smoke, a scent you’d grown up associating with every decision you’d never been allowed to make for yourself.

“This isn’t just about you,” your father said, his voice breaking the heavy silence. “It’s about our family. You understand that, don’t you?”

You didn’t answer right away, staring out the window at the blurred city lights.

“I understand,” you said softly, though the words tasted bitter on your tongue.

Your father grunted in approval, adjusting his tie as he glanced at you from his peripheral. “Good. Then listen carefully. This man, Hiromi—he’s not like us. He comes from this family of clever, calculating types. The kind of man who’ll see through you if you don’t keep your wits about you. You need to be strong, but not too strong. Respectful, but not a pushover. A good wife.”

The word made your stomach churn. “A good wife, yes.” you echoed, your voice flat.

“Yes,” he repeated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “Your job is to make him trust you. Make him see you as someone worth protecting. That’s how you secure your place—and ours—in this world.”

You turned to face him then, anger flickering in your chest. “And what about what I want?”

Your father’s jaw tightened, and he shot you a sharp look as if you were the enemy. “This isn’t about what you want. It never was about what you want. Get that through your head.”

Your mother reached over and squeezed your hands, a silent apology that should be coming from him instead of her.

The rest of the ride passed in silence, the weight of his words pressing down on your like a stone.

When the car pulled up outside the Higuruma estate, you felt your pulse quicken. The house loomed in the distance, its dark silhouette framed by meticulously trimmed hedges and iron gates.

As the car came to a stop, your father turned to you.

“Remember what I said,” he murmured, his voice softening for the first time that evening. “This is your life now. Make the best of it.”

Your driver opened the door and your mother gently rubbed your back as you stepped out of the car behind your father, the cold air biting at your skin as you stared up at the house and the dozen people standing like statues to greet you.

—

The ink was drying on the contracts by the time Hiromi left the meeting and stepped outside. His family stood sharply, holding umbrellas down the walkway as he stepped into the cold night, waiting to take you and your family in for the first of many dinners.

He wondered how much of himself he’d lose to this marriage.

The answer, he suspected, was more than he was willing to admit.

And as he watched you step out of the car, he felt as if he was destined for doom no matter how this played out.

[awriternamedart]

Narukami Yu wasn't the touchy type. He wasn't against it or anything, it just wasn't really his vibe most of the time.

That was, until Hanamura Yosuke came into his life.

Yosuke wasn't a big touchy person by any means— he was actually pretty distanced from a lot of the people around him. Chie, Yukiko— he rarely came into physical contact with them. Even when Kanji, Teddie, Rise, and Naoto came into the picture, his gestures never went beyond fistbumps or the occasional handshake.

In fact, the most he had really noticed was that he was okay with giving Nanako a piggyback ride.

Which is why, when Naoto came up to him as they were finishing up preparations with that simple observation, it threw Yu for a loop.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Hanamura is far closer to you then the rest of the group." They said, rather plainly. It was if they were stating just simple fact, like 'you can breathe air.' "You and him often exist in each others personal space. I'm surprised you two don't have a duel tactic like Amagi and Satonaka, or him and Teddie."

Yu had kind of blanked on them, admittedly, humming noncommittally before Naoto turned the subject back to their tactics for battle. But it had circulated around in his mind, suddenly becoming far more aware of his partner's antics.

Like whenever they were idling at Junes' for some reason, Yosuke would be leaning towards him, if not on him if Yu was sitting down. Or he'd sidle right next to him and elbow him in the side to get his attention, or constantly be next to him whenever they were resting or sitting or in preparation phases. It was a little embarrassing as he became so aware of how close Yosuke simply just resided near him— but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

Until he realized Yosuke had stopped.

It was strange. There was this chill that seemed to permeate when he first noticed it. It began not long after Naoto had brought it up to him, when Yosuke seemed to suddenly disappear from his side. It wasn't that far away, he was still nearby, but now there was this distance. It was unfamiliar, chilling.

He didn't like it. Not one bit.

Yosuke seemed surprised when Yu divvied up the exploration team into pairs this time around, and took Yosuke with him. It wasn't meant to be any sort of serious mission, he was just looking for some items for some people, but when even Rise and Teddie were paired up to scope out the place, it was a little concerning.

Especially when Yu took Yosuke as his partner for this investigation.

They were barely a few rooms in when Yu suddenly pulled them to a stop for a break. Yosuke had barely even broken a sweat from the two fights they had gotten into, wiping his blades clean as he looked to his partner, who had sheathed his own blade and set it aside.

"You good, partner? If I didn't know better, I'd say you made up a ruse for us to hang out!" He had to poke fun a little, but genuine concern colored his voice. Yu cracked a faint smile at that before he set his sword down. "Seriously, Yu— whats going on-!?"

His voice taped off into a small squeak when Yu suddenly collapsed on top of him, arms loosely wrapped around Yosuke's waist. A small sigh escaped him as he shoved his face into Yosuke's shoulder with a faint murmured apology.

"Sorry."

"Woah-hahah- a little close there, Yu— the others, they could— you uh- you— whats going on-?" Yosuke scrambled to gather his words, idly pushing on Yu's body to no avail. He gave up after a few seconds, stiffly just standing still, "Seriously, whats with you??"

Yu seemed to pause for a second, though he didn't budge much. If anything, his embrace got tighter.

"You've been avoiding me."

Yosuke flinched immediately, and Yu knew he had hit the nail on the head. So it had been purposeful.

"Geez, you- you noticed that..?" Yosuke murmured, ears turning a vibrant red. before his voice got a little bit louder. "Whaddya mean, partner? I haven't— been avoiding you. I'm right here!"

Yu stood up just enough to give Yosuke an unimpressed look, he had heard him clear as day, and Yosuke took all but two seconds to crumble, sheepishly folding his arms as Yu finally stepped away.

"Sorry, partner— I thought you wouldn't notice.."

"So you were avoiding me." Yu put his hands in his pockets, bangs drifting as he tilted his head to the side.

"I wasn't avoiding. I was just— putting more distance so you weren't uncomfortable!" He stumbled over his words, trying to brush his hair out of his face. "Naoto asked me about it so I figured you must look uncomfortable or something, so I just—"

"Did I ever say I was?"

Yosuke's face got redder.

"N-no, but—.. no. No, you never said anything." He gave up trying to defend himself under Yu's pointblank stare, hanging his head. Yu at least chuckled a little, getting Yosuke to glare at him— which only got amusement in return.

"What did Naoto say? They only mentioned that you were closer to me then the rest of the group when they talked to me." Yu had to admit he was a little curious. While Naoto was a valuable asset to the team and was only attempting to connect by sharing their examinations, Yu knew Yosuke would probably overthink it just that little bit.

"Sh- they only said somethin about me only really bein touchy with you. Or something like that." He looked to the side, pushing his headphones up a little. "It was a- wait, they said something to you as well?"

Yu nodded.

"They had mentioned to me their surprise that we didn't have a joint attack, and that you and Teddie instead had one instead of me and you." He rolled his neck a little, before looking bacl to Yosuke with some sort of forlorn look on his face. "Can I hug you again?"

"Wh— dude, seriously?!"

"You haven't been near me in a week and a half. I miss you." Yu's plainspoken nature never failed to throw Yosuke off guard. He said whatever he wanted to, with this same sort of smoothness that made it seem like no matter what the words were, he was going to be right. Yosuke could only stare at him blankly, cheeks burning a brighter red by the second, before he relented under Yu's stare, groaning.

"…you can't say stuff like that, partner." He put his arms out, Yu's face lighting up with the barest shift in his calm expression. Almost immediately he was melting back into Yosuke, this time his face nearing Yosuke's neck, arms tighter as Yosuke hesitantly put his hands on Yu's back. "Not to me.."

"Why not? Its the truth. Why would I deny you the truth?" Yu was genuine, but he couldn't see the scarlet that drowned Yosuke's face and neck, the tips of his ears matching the rosy red as his heart raced, faster then he had even at the riverbank. He didn't respond to Yu's question, instead just curling his hands into fists and holding onto Yu's school uniform jacket.

Hate it as he may, he had missed their casual intimacy too.

-

Casual Touch - awriternamedart

p4g has gripped me so tight im about to pop its not funny anymore

[writers-potion]

International Slang, Slang, Slang!

I'm sharing this list of slang in different languages (English, British English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, Russian, Hindi) to use for dialogue:

English Slang

LOL = laugh out loud

OMG = oh my god

Noob = newbie

LMAO = laught my ass off

SFW = Safe work work

HMB = hit me back

XOXO = hugs and kisses

Txt = text

msg = message

cuz = because

kinda = kind of

outta = out of

'bout = about

C'mon = come on

'em = them

lil = little

lotsa = lots of

nope/nah = no

wanna = want to

dunno = don't know

lemme = let me

TBH = to be honest

gotcha = have got you

jack around = waste time

jillion = an immense number

nuke = destroy, delete

bushed = extremely tired

fab = fabulous

chicken = coward

grabbers = hands

grub = food

vanilla = plain

peanuts = very little money

British English Slang

skive = lazy or avoid doing something

knackered = tired

nicked = stolen

bugger = jerk

zed = equivalent to zzzzzz

nosh = food

dog's bollocks = awesome

bog roll = toliet paper

nutter = crazy person

punter = customer/prostitute's client

fiver = 5 euros

toff = upper class person

taking the piss = screwing around

pissed = drunk

wonky = not right

gutted = devastated

Tosser = idiot

Cock-up = screw up

Bloody = damn

Wanker = idiot

Fancy = like

Lost the plot = gone crazy

Kip = sleep or nap

Bee's knees = awesome

Dodgy = suspicious

Wicked = cool!

Know your onions = knowledgeable

Chuffed = proud

Bespoke = custom made

Give you a bell = call you

Hoover = vacuum

Tad = little bit

French Slang

Spanish Slang

Tu (me) fair chier) = (literally: you make me

shit) You are pissing me off

Ca me saoule = I'm sick of this

J'en ai ras le cul = I'm sick of this

Fringues = clothes

Grailler = to buy/steal/take/eat

Crever = to die

Crevant = exhausting

Gerber = to throw up

Defonce = stoned

Glander = to procrastinate/to do nothing/to

lay around

Va craver = go die

J'ai la dalle = I'm hungry

Avoir la flemme = not wanting to do

something

Japanese Slang

Tio = dude or guy

Guay = cool/great

Currar = to work

Fome = boring

Value = okay or sure

Colega = buddy or friend

Pasta = moneu

Majo = nice or friendly

Flipar = to be shocked

Bocachancla = gossip

Raro - weird

Papear = to eat

Resaca = hangover

Plomazo = boring

Loco = crazy

Chafa = Lame

Baka (ばか) = Stupid or idiot.

Bucchake (ぶっちゃけ) = To be honest or frank.

Chiruru (チルる) = To chill or relax.

Chō (超) = Very.

Dame (だめ) = No good or not allowed.

Dasai (ダサい) = Uncool or out of style.

Disuru (ディスる) = To disrespect or talk down about someone.

Egui (えぐい) = Awesome or incredible.

Gachi (ガチ) = Serious or real.

Ganba (がんば) = A short version of “ganbatte,” meaning “do your best” or “good luck.”

Guguru (ググる) = To Google something.

Gyaru (ギャル) = A fashion-conscious young lady with tanned skin and long nails.

Honto (ほんと ) = Really or for real.

Ii kanji (いい感じ) = To have a good vibe or feeling about something.

JK = High school girl.

Kimoi (キモい) = Creepy or gross.

Kira kira (キラキラ) = Sparkling, cute, or beautiful.

Kireru (キレる) = To snap or lose your temper.

Maji (マジ) = Seriously or really.

Moteru (モテる) = To be popular or attractive.

Mukatsuku (むかつく) = To be irritated.

Nampa (ナンパ) = To chat or pick someone up.

Sugoi (すごい) = Amazing or incredible.

Uzai (うざい) = Another word for annoying.

Wakannai (わかんない) = I don’t know.

Yabai (ヤバい) = Anything from “awesome” to “oh no.”

Russian Slang

Долбоеб (dolboyob_) = Fool, Idiot

Иди на хуй (idi na hui) = F*ck yourself

Сволочь (svo lach’) = Trash, Scum, Jerk

Жопа (zho pa) = Brat (typically used towards children)

Гавно (gav no) = Sh!t (used more when speaking to yourself rather than to insult someone)

лох (loh) = Stupid, Idiot, Sucker

Гандон (gan don) = Condom (Whilst calling someone a condom in English is just not a thing, it’s quite common in Russia. Used to refer to someone weak or just plain irritating)

Чушь собачья (chush’ sobach’ya) = Bullsh!tter

Malaysian Slang

Трахни тебя (trakhni tebya) = F*ck You

Ти дегхенераат (ti degheneraat) = You’re a degenerate

Отыебис от меныа! (otyebis ot menya!) = Move your ass / Get the f*ck away

чертовски дно (chertovski dno) = F*cking bottom (would be used when referring to hitting rock bottom.)

Bo jio = use when referring to friend who didn't invite them to a gathering (e.g. 'why you bo jio?)

Ýum cha = hang out over drinks or food at local coffee shops

belanja = I got you covered

Potong Stim = killjoy

Boss = waiters refer to their cusomters as boss, and customers call out for waiters using the same term!

Tapau/Bungkus = take-away

Ang Moh/Mat Salleh = "Western foreigners"

Kantoi = being cuaght red handed

Paiseh = shy or embarrased

Walao Eh! = brother

Macha = good friends (equivalent to "fam" in English)

Alamak! = shock, surprise, or frustration (punctuate with 'face palm' for dramatic effect)

Lah = This one really has no meaning, used to add "emphasis" and "flavor" to sentences. It is rather addictive...

Kawan baik = best friend

Jom = let's (inviting someone to do something together)

Best gila = crazy good, crazy fine (like "amazing!" in English)

Kantoi = busted

Fuyoh = WOW or OMG

Cincai = whatever

Italian Slang

Ma Dai = come on, imagine, stop it (express surprise, amazement)

Chi Se Ne Frega? = Who cares?

Scialla = stay calm

In Bocca Al Lupo = Good luck

Come Il Cacio Sui Maccheroni = like sheep's milk for the macaroni

Come Te La Passi = How is it going?

Trescare – Have a flirt

Camomillarsi – Calm down

Sbalconato – Be out of your mind

Incicognarsi – Get pregnant

Citofonarsi – Call someone by surname

Tirare tardi – To be late

Inciucio – Intrigue, a cheat, a mess

Un carnaio – Many people together in the same place

Abbioccarsi – falling asleep unexpectedly

Bordello – Problematic, confusing, and chaotic situation

Fottìo – Something that has happened or occurs in large quantities

Svalvolare – Loss of control

Rosicare – To be envious of something

Scazzato – A state of mind of malaise

Che pizza – a boring or bad thing

Sbroccare o sclerare – Getting angry and making a scene

Raga – Guys

Tranqui – abbreviation of the word “calm,” it means to stay calm

Che Figata – Cool

Meno male! – Luckily or thank goodness

Che schifo – How disgusting

Vivere alla giornata – Live in the moment

Pisolino – An Italian slang word that means “afternoon nap”

Hindi Slang

Yaar = Friend, used at the end of sentences for casual social interactions (including shopkeepers/autorickshaw drivers)

Achcha = good/okay/really?

Thik Hain = okay (+ head nod)

Arre = hey (with a higher tone = surprise, lower tone = exasperation)

Bas = that's it

Chakkar = dizziness

Funda = fundamentals

Ghanta = Yeah right

Jugaad = hack

Bakwaas = nonsense

Chalega = That will do

[verysium]

please write something about blue lock as cat dads, like we have cat and its batshit insane <3

my cat was furiously scratching at my bedroom door this morning, so i'm taking that as a sign to write this. here you go anon:

rin owns a void. black fur with bluish green eyes and sharp little fangs. rin adopted him as an emotional support animal after sae left for spain. his name is kuro (黑) which means "black" in japanese because the itoshis are just unoriginal with all pet names. sometimes the cat camouflages with the furniture, but rin knows its habits too well to accidentally sit on him. they have an almost telepathic bond. kuro follows a very strict routine. feeding times are 7 in the morning before rin's football practice and 6 in the evening during dinner. he is calm and quiet most of the time but hisses whenever there are birds in the window. very shy around strangers. will curl his tail around rin's leg and peek out from time to time but does not have the courage to actually approach. sometimes if rin has free time, he takes kuro out to the park and lets him chase after the butterflies. kuro is also very intelligent. knows how to unlock doors, fetch the newspaper, and clean up after using the potty. sometimes spaces out when rin watches his horror movies at night. will blink at the screen owlishly. he's not very skittish when it comes to jumpscares. he just doesn't understand what's going on in the film. his favorite time of the year is during the holidays when rin goes back to kamakura to visit his parents. mama itoshi always sneaks kuro an extra fish bone.

oliver has a cat with heterochromia. his name is björn which is swedish for bear because he is a massive maine coon. flirts with all the tabby cats in his neighborhood and purrs loudly to show off. incredibly fluffy but sheds a lot. very strong physically. one time he moved oliver's entire closet because he did not like how it was blocking his cat door. secretly the leader of a cat gang, but oliver doesn't know. pretty chill most of the time and enjoys large family gatherings. multilingual because he can respond to commands in swedish, japanese, and german. he also knows a little bit of danish. oliver taught him a few tricks as a kitten. he can twirl around, roll over, and give high-fives. despite his large size, björk is very flexible and light on his feet. one time he got into the cookie jar on the top pantry shelf, and oliver's mom had to shoo him out.

shidou has an orange cat named ryu (竜) which is an alternative form of the kanji for "dragon" (龍). it is also adapted from the first character in his name "ryusei." his cat looks exactly like how mcdonald's sprite tastes. very spicy. does not sleep at night. his business hours are from three in the morning to whenever he passes out. drifts like a literal race car and makes vrooming sound effects. ryu took one whiff of catnip as a kitten and has never been the same since. all of his toys are shredded. prefers taking the head off first. you will find cotton stuffing everywhere. he destroyed the brand new cat bed shidou got for him, so now he's been downgraded to a cardboard box. ryu is prohibited from all open windows especially the ones with pull-down blinds because he once saw a squirrel and went absolutely feral. only eats raw meat and refuses to even touch dried kibble. sits beside shidou whenever he orders yukhoe from the local korean restaurant. feasts on all the scraps.

barou has a tuxedo cat. her name is mimi, and she is the sweetest cat in existence. claws are always trimmed. licks herself clean. unusually calm at the vet and groomer and is one of the few cats who actually enjoys baths. sometimes helps barou with cleaning by catching all the dust bunnies. his apartment is also insect-free thanks to her. she is, in fact, a baddie. the tomcat next door has tried to get her attention for over a year now, but she refuses to be swayed. he gave her a dead rat once, but mimi swatted it away before telling him he better start paying some bills and look somewhat hygienic before she even looked his way. the only man in her life is barou, and it will stay that way. mimi is also a polydactyl cat, so it looks like she's wearing white mittens. sometimes barou comes home from practice exhausted and collapses face first into bed, and mimi will crawl onto his back to knead his muscles for him.

nagi has a scottish fold. she has white fur and brown eyes, hence her name yuki which is japanese for "snow." she is very similar to nagi. lazy and sleeps all day. their favorite activity together is sunbathing. eats a lot but somehow still manages to stay in shape. she often sits upright like a human and kneads the fur on her tummy. as a kitten, she mirrored nagi's actions, so he got her a mini video game controller. it doesn't actually work, but she gets to press on the buttons whenever nagi is gaming. makes her feel very involved. scientists have also classified her as a liquid. she can get herself through every nook and cranny. even the two millimeter crack under the bedroom door. her favorite place in the house is her bed. has two fluffy blankets and a teddy bear. during winter, she moves her bed closer to the heater. has unofficial beef with choki because she tried to eat him once. ended up with spines in her mouth and never touched a houseplant after that. choki still has a giant missing chunk from where his arm was bitten off.

reo has a persian cat. her royal title is kana-hime because she is a spoiled princess. she has silky fur that smells like perennial roses. has an entire room to herself and a private chef. reo has like 3134736845 pictures of her on his phone. she is even included in the holiday cards and family portrait above the fireplace mantel. her collar is made of sterling silver with a diamond in the nameplate. very coquette. pink bows are her favorite. sensitive paws so reo customized a pair of small fur booties for her. clingy and has attachment issues (just like her owner.) sometimes goes on playdates with yuki. said playdates involve yuki just sitting there while kana-hime gives her a full body grooming session and makeover.

sae owns a siamese. light blue eyes and a dark patch of fur on her face and paws. she does not have a name because sae never formally adopted her. one morning he had gone to practice and returned to a mother and her kittens on his fire escape. sae did not keep the kittens, but unfortunately the mother was very persistent, so he let her stay. despite originally being a stray, she is very clean. always licking herself and sae's hands. not very picky but has a preference for seafood, specifically surume. very productive during the day. rearranges her bed and water bowl. scratches her post five to six times. takes a daily stroll on the rooftops of madrid. she doesn't have a collar, but somehow always manages to return safely to sae's window. has an almost sixth sense when it comes to his emotions. if she senses he is tired, she will hop onto his lap and force him to lay down and give her pets. if she sees that he is stressed, she rubs her head under his chin to calm him down. probably the only emotional attachment sae has had ever since he left japan.

kaiser has a norwegian forest cat. it has golden fur, dark stripes, and blue eyes. has a little mane around his neck, so he resembles a small lion. his name is klaus. basically a mini kaiser. preens in front of the mirror every morning alongside michael. prances around as if he owns the entire establishment. bullies other cats but is scared shitless in the presence of dogs (even chihuahuas). has a little habit of gently biting kaiser's finger. not enough to draw blood but enough to leave a little imprint from his fangs. it's his way of showing love. nuzzles against kaiser's neck tattoo when he picks klaus up. a very needy baby at night. cannot sleep well in any place that is not michael's bed. needs to be tucked in like a child with his stuffed animals and blankets. ends up sleeping on kaiser's face by the time the morning rolls around. has perfect loafs, as in 11/10 if it was a competition. side-eyes ness whenever he comes to visit. extremely judgmental to the point kaiser suspects klaus must have been a human in his past life. knows how to pose for photos and even tilts his head to capture a good angle.

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 755: Kaburagi and Doubashi!!

Pag 1

2: He counted for three second and then accelerated!!

3: I'll go, yon

4: to the

Pag 2

1: Sprint line ahead!!

Hayaa!!

Pag 3

1: One person jumped ahead at 700m from the sprint line!!

2: Yaa!!

3: That guy's so fast!!

He's steadily accelerating on his own!!

4: He counted for three seconds and then accelerated!?

Usually, when one catches up they stop for 10-30 seconds to rest their legs

5: He did it for three seconds!?

Ah!?

Pag 4

1: That guy doesn't follow the usual road-racing common sense, Orange!!

I know!! San-na, just now I was also

Pag 5

1: Thinking the same thing!!

2: Those two are chasing too!!

3: Get behind me, we're accelerating!!

7: Fifth stage

Pag 6

1: “Orange”

Pag 7

2: Houruraaa

3: Ugh

4: Oi oi, he's so fast!! Seriously!?

He really got something like this in him!?

Pag 8

1: Houuu

2: ruaaaa

3: How hard did you work, Orange!!

4: During this past year

5: How much have you sharpened yourself?

I know it'd be wrong to tell you at a time like this, but let me tell you!!

Pag 9

1: Reckless guys are the coolest!!

Pag 10

2: You got closer

4: You did great closing the gap, Orange!!

5: 600m left until the sprint line!!

Pag 11

1: Hold on and don't fall behind!!

3: From now on I'll do it!!

4: Burst open!!

Contract!!

Don't tie it down!!

Crush it!!

Pag 12

1: Feelings at full throttle!!

Pag 13

3: This is bad

4: Buaaaaaah

Pag 14

1: Aventador!!*

(*NdT.: the kanji are read as “bullfighting” but the reading says “aventador”)

Pag 15

2: Hakogaku and Sohoku lined up in one go with the guy riding in the lead!!

3: Seriously!?

4: Don't let him get in between, get your bike close to mine, Orange!!

Got it!! San-na!!

Pag 16

1: But

2: The seat in the back is empty, yon

3: Spread out!!

4: Uh oh

5: We won't let you

Pag 17

1: count up to “three”!!

2: …. tch

3: You caught up and got here, but looks like you've run out of options now!!

So what will you do

4: Mountain bike guy!!

Pag 18

1: What incredible tension!! Each one of them has their own style!!

No but don't those two guys give you the chills?

2: I've noticed it before

3: Hakogaku's Doubashi and Sohoku's Kaburagi, even though they're from different teams and so are enemies, they're cooperating while running!!

4: This is something you won't find in other sports

5: Like in soccer or volleyball, you'll never see opponents coming together and cooperate!!

Pag 19

1: “Having multiple opponents at the same time”, that's what makes road racing unique!!

2: This is

3: the exciting thing

4: about road racing!!

5: Until the sprint line-

Pag 20

1: - there are 500m left!!

3: You don't follow the common sense of road racing....

That's why

4: we caught up to you using the “common sense of road racing”!!

[apotodiplodocus]

Guard Dog Ch.2

Double update yippee!

You’re peacefully asleep, dreaming about better times with your nanny when your forced awake by ferocious growling and clashing. Eyes shooting open, you whip your bleary eyes towards the sound and see three figures, one clearly Gyutaro, the others unknown.

“What are you, stupid? Get the fuck down.” Gyutaro snarls and you don’t even think about arguing, throwing yourself to the floor and crawling to the bathroom as quickly as possible. Once inside you slam the door shut, eyes squinted shut so you couldn’t see any of the carnage happening outside. The fight goes on for a minute, one or maybe even both must have been demons to have lasted this long. What sort of people had your parents pissed off? From the sounds of things Gyutaro was victorious, the vicious giggling seeping its way under the door and seeming to ricochet hollowly off the tiled walls. You don’t know whether to come out, years of working with demons has made you highly aware of the fact that other than the researcher that created demon poison, the only way to kill a demon is to cut off their head with a nichirin blade of some kind. As a result, you’re wary of what Gyutaro could have done to eliminate them as threats. Trying to figure it out, you don’t hear him approach the door until he hammers on it with a clenched fist.

“You can come out now… Human.” You squeak jumping to your feet, quickly clearing your throat in embarrassment. You compose yourself as quickly as you can and peek your head out. Gyutaro had immediately walked away to recline on the sofa leisurely, looking proudly at the demons he had impaled to the wall with the clothing rod from the wardrobe. They’re squirming but otherwise unable to move. They look ferocious, so terribly angry, you’d dare to say rabid. It was odd, so you approached them carefully, stopping when they noticed you and start wriggling more intensely.

You examine them as close as you dare, no identifying marks, no kanji in the eyeballs, not much of anything in their eyeballs really, a cloudy white having overtaken whatever should have been there. Maybe for one of them you would have overlooked it, but both demons having the same eyes but looking completely different otherwise, you realised that they must have been on something. You cover your mouth as you think, this wasn’t the first time you’d heard of something like this, of demons being crazed and uncontrollable, which was what made the situation so strange. Why would two demons, both rabid find their way into your room specifically? You hadn’t heard any screaming or sounds of violence, so you know that no-one else could have been attacked.

A chill settles on your skin as you realise they must have a handler waiting outside somewhere. A handler that had somehow managed to get the door open and release them inside. Before you can even tell Gyutaro he’s piping up.

“Whoever set ‘em loose is probably gonna wait a while for whatever they’re on to wear off.” He states, his eyes flicking from your face to your navel every now and then as if waiting for something. For the first time you realise the chill isn’t just fear but that you are still in only your underwear.

“OH MY GOD!” You run back to the bed and hide behind it. If it wasn’t for the deep shame of being seen like that you would have admired that Gyutaro came to the same conclusion as you much faster. Fair enough he had fought them, seen them for a longer amount of time, but that was still an impressive feat to be fighting against two opponents and still be able to realise the gravity of the situation.

“We will not speak of this. You are going to forget you saw that.” You can barely keep the embarrassment out of your voice, Gyutaro cackles. The grin on his face is lopsided from what you can see, peering over the edge of the bed.

“I don’t like this power dynamic.” You huff but he just grunts and quirks his head, so his ear is pressed closer to the wall. His brow furrows, and his frown deepens, you don’t dare to ask anything, just trying to pull your clothes back on, quickly and quietly. Once your clothes are back on and adjusted as comfortably as you can, you notice the room is much quieter than it was before. There are no more growls or shifting and to your horror, both demons are limp on the pole, frothing at the mouth. A hand clamps on your mouth, frightening you at first.

“Get under the bed.” Gyutaro whispers. Eyes not leaving the front door. You nod, replacing his hand with your own and shuffling under adjusting the sheet behind you so it covers you better. Gyutaro has taken a spot near the door, hidden just out of view when a flashlight peeks through a slight crack in the curtains. You stay completely still, watching the light move in the limited space it can. Too soon the light goes away, and the doorknob starts to turn. Before they can come in fully, Gyutaro wrenches the door open and drags the person in. He slams the door closed again and leans on the persons back, knee wedged into the small of their back. Once secure, he takes a huge bite out of the man’s neck, sharp teeth ripping and tearing the tendons and flesh like butter.

You close your eyes and face away from him, covering your ears to try to block out the mans muffled, horrified screams. You’re racked with a sense of guilt and horror at the fact you’ve seen two people die at the same demon’s hands. You know that they have tried to harm you, you understand it was them or you, but it doesn’t stop the vomit inducing feeling that flows over you in waves, threatening your stomach contents. You take a moment to contemplate what you should do. Surely, your plan of going back to your apartment is a bad idea. But what else do you have? You aren’t rolling in enough cash to just get a new place, especially on such short notice. You resolve yourself to just get on with it, and look to the clock, noting it’s the early hours. But how are you going to explain this to the clerk?

Gyutaro is wiping off bits of the man when he pulls the bar out of the two demons who crumple to the floor but seem to be coming round.

“I’m going out the back. They’re injured so they’re gonna maul ‘im, go freak out about it to the guy at the desk or somethin’.” He says it with such a nonchalant air, contrasting the sharp grin gracing his face and the savage act he had just gone through with. Were you impressed by his brain or terrified by his power most? That’s something else to untangle later, you figure and nod.

After he walks to the bathroom, you work yourself up a bit and then sprint out of your room when the demons start to get up. You slam the door behind you and start screaming running down the iron steps. The receptionist practically flies out of his little room, and you babble some story about barely keeping them off you and how someone had heard a struggle and came to help. He holds up his hands which tremble in a way you should probably be shaking and heads back inside to call the police. You take this chance to dash away, meeting up with Gyutaro further down the road. Once you’ve caught your breath you drag him a few more miles forward, towards a bus stop you had seen the day before. He drags his feet as the sun is coming up and the bus stop is already lit up by the early morning rays. You realise then just how much you must do to make him presentable in public. Demons aren’t allowed out and about without a collar, and he’ll need sun cream to avoid getting blisters from the sun, you’ll need to feed him (things that aren’t humans preferably) and get him registered or you’ll be in trouble before you can even begin to get back to normalcy.

For now, though, you settle with keeping him in the tree line in the shade and ripping your shirt for a makeshift collar. You probably look like a hobo at this point. You still had mud and debris covering you and your clothes, and now a ripped shirt.

“Gyutaro, I need you to put this on.”

“No way.” He states, eyeing you suspiciously from his crouched position in the nearest bush to you.

“I can’t walk around with you if you don’t have at least something resembling a collar on. We’ll just get arrested for public endangerment.” He rolls his eyes but holds his hand out, reluctantly taking the ‘collar’. He looks at it for a while, seeming deep in thought. You can see he has a lot of hesitation about putting it on and you can’t blame him, you remember those awful marks on his wrists and neck. The last time he had anything on there, it clearly hurt a colossal amount. After the longest minute he slips the tied bit of fabric over his head and lets it settle on his shoulders.

You must look quite the pair, you, covered in all sorts of forest debris and him in ill-fitting clothes, a ratty ‘collar’ and both of you looking like you’ve been dragged through several bushes backwards while on fire. But here you both are, waiting for a god forsaken bus because you were abandoned out here, hours from home. You clench your fists to relieve some of the pent-up tension from your situation and take a shuddering breath out. Gyutaro doesn’t even look at you, too busy watching the horizon for any sign of movement. You watch him from the corner of your eye, even crouched he seems huge, taller than basically every human you’ve ever met and definitely one of the taller demons. How did a demon so huge go undetected for so long? The leaves of the bushes and shrubs sort of blend in with the green colour in his hair, but you can’t keep looking at him for long as he points out the approaching bus.

You hold a hand out to signal for it to stop. The bus driver gives you an odd look and is startled when Gyutaro appears from the tree line, before he can panic you reassure him, he’s yours and make a small joke about having the day from hell. He gives you a wary look and you pay him what he needs, he tells you Gyutaro must sit on the level above to keep him away from the humans. You frown but nod, but as Gyutaro passes to climb the stairs you hurry to follow him. The bus driver loudly tuts but leaves you to it starting the bus when you’re halfway up the stairs. You only stay on the stairs because Gyutaro grabs your arm and pulls you up the rest of the way, pushing you into a window seat and sitting next to you. It’s awkward because he’s so large, his legs have to be in the aisle because the seats are too close together and your shoulder is pushing into the tinted window a little bit.

“Why don’t you sit in another seat? Surely it would be more comfortable for us both?”

“Any demons that have to get off will be going past you, do you really want to risk it?” He says sending a sharp look to the 5 other demons up there, they seem to shrink a bit and avoid his gaze. You see his point and while it would be OK, they seem too afraid to try anything you don’t have it in you to fight him you just focus on trying to stay awake so you can get off where you need to.

By the time you arrive at your apartment you’ve had to switch buses twice and it took twice as long as it did for you to get out there. You are exhausted, run ragged and have a new demon companion which has your neighbours slamming their windows closed as you pass. You’re pretty sure you hear a few shrieks too. After all this is a neighbourhood where they don’t usually keep demons.

Throwing open the door your alert senses notice right away that someone has been in your house, though it seems to have just been police from the leftover tape and boarded up window. Gyutaro pushes past you and is clearly not pleased by all the scents gathered in your apartment but shuffles past to find and collapse onto your bed, taking the time now to heal himself from the half day of sitting in barely blocked sunlight or outright sunlight. You’re sure he’s probably exhausted too so you order some groceries in, a LOT of raw meat for your new companion and some simple pieces for yourself too weary to even think of cooking. Immediately after you are calling the non-emergency line to declare yourself as safe and not missing, funny to think that the one time they react quickly to a situation is a time they aren’t needed.

After the rest of your day being taken up by police nonsense you finally, finally, settle down with a warm drink on your sofa. For the first time since this whole nightmare started you feel a sense of peace that can only come from a sleep-deprived fool. But you don’t care, curling up under the blanket you keep on the sofa, you sip at your drink until you drift off. Your sleep is dreamless, and morning comes all too quickly. The clinking of glass jars and bottles startles you awake and for a second you forget about your house guest, whirling around to see him raiding the fridge and devouring all the meat he can find.

“Gyutaro? You don’t have to rush it’s not going anyway.” You quirk an eyebrow at his back, but he ignores you, searching for any meat he hasn’t shoved in his mouth. How are you going to do this? How could you make such a stupid deal?

Whatever, if you keep him fed, he’ll probably leave you alone. Once he realises there really isn’t any more, he turns around and just stares at you. Doesn’t close the fridge, doesn’t move, just stares. It’s unnerving you a bit, but you get the hint.

“I’ll order some more.” Seemingly satisfied he stalks off back into your bedroom, already acting like he owns the place, leaving your fridge door open like that. You close it and lean your forehead against it, closing your eyes just to sigh. You lightly slap your cheeks after a minute of this though, to perk yourself up and grab some new clothes. After changing in the bathroom, you snatch up your keys and stand in the doorway of your room.

“Gyutaro, I’m going out, I won’t be long just don’t wreck the place while I’m gone, OK?” Ignored again, it irks you, but you move on from it. “See you later.” On your list is all the things Gyutaro will need to be allowed in public. Oh, and of course lots of raw meat.

During your manic shopping where you are definitely spending too much money, you stop by the office of Demon Control Bureau (the DCB), to pick up some demon adoption forms. It’ll be good to start Gyutaro’s paper trial as soon as possible. You’d have preferred to fill out the form legally but since he was a wild demon for a while who knows where he came from, and you have no intention of alerting his previous owner to his whereabouts. The thought of scars being left on a rapidly healing, upper rank demon still sends shivers down your spine. While he may be rude and a bit of a jerk the few times he does speak, you still have the sense of responsibility hat comes from promising to take care of him. It also makes you think about how tender he was when he mistook you as his sister because of that damn wig, how gentle he was until he caught your scent in the wind. He has the potential to be more than just the guard dog you have taken in, given time and patience, maybe, just maybe he could be a friend. Your ally.

You are shaking from your thoughts when you realise you are already home, turning the key in the lock and open the door to Gyutaro lounging on the sofa, not a care in the world and in an odd way it makes you happy. You have someone to come home to. Seeing him look like he’s already made himself at home gives you a weird pride. You immediately offer him one of the steaks you bought, and to your surprise he doesn’t wrench it from you like you thought he would, he was calm (which makes your pride grow but he doesn’t need to know how pleased this makes you).

“I got you a couple of choices for collars, there’s green, red, patterned oh, and made sure they were all oversized.” He gives you a surprised look before disguising it as suspicious.

“Why?” He speaks slowly, that creak in his voice making him sound more suspicious than he actually looks.

“Well considering how long it took you to put on that rag yesterday I just figured you didn’t like the sensation of stuff against your neck.” His eyebrows go up, but he looks more impressed than anything else.

“Hmm. Maybe you do have a brain cell in there.” He shrugs.

“Moving on. There’s also a bunch of sun cream in their which you’re gonna have to start covering yourself with tomorrow, I’m taking you to where I work. You’ll be my ‘emotional support’ demon- don’t give me that look! You want to find your sister, don’t you?” He stops scowling at you immediately.

“You were really being serious?”

“Of course? What, you weren’t going to kill me if I wasn’t?”

“No, I was, I just thought it would be better to wait until after I’d had some free meals and a place to hide for a few days.”

“… Charming.”

“I’m just saying maybe you’re a bit less of a pathetic disgrace than I thought.” This also makes you weirdly happy, even though it was the worst excuse for praise you’d ever heard.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 62 Chuunibyou Posting

...Hello dear void. Rumours of my death are only slightly exaggerated. I'm back from the hospital and I'm ready to chill with this chapter over the break. Taking it easy on myself and not doing the editor's notes this week. This will be short in general since I'm still in recovery, actually- sorry about that. Gonna rest up and get ready for the next chapter that drops on January 3rd.

Chihiro...?

Something something fresh hatred

I got a kick out of Chihiro from Wish, I really did. Goes to show how ridiculous his edginess in the first few chapters was before Char softened him up for the better. Everyone give Char a pat on the head for doing a good job, okay?

Iori's impression of Chihiro as a murderer is something I'll allow myself a little satisfaction for since I called him having a trashed public image thanks to his interruption of the kabuki play back in chapter 52. He's going to have a harder time completing his mission thanks to this in some way- betting on the Kamunabi using it against him somehow, but the Hishaku easily could too. It's anyone's guess on how exactly this will come to bite him in the ass but it will happen.

Worst of all, though, he's got kids imitating him like he's some MC out of an edgy wish-fulfillment LN. What a way to trivialize what someone's been through (not that Discount Chihiro knows, of course). Chihiro's image is already out of his control in some pretty damaging ways.

But She Was, in Fact, the Chosen One

Thank you for your helpful narration about the general public's reaction to Owl darkening the skies, Iori.

We don't know the kanji for Iori's name yet since it's only been spelled with Katakana so far (イヲリ), but it's clear as day that she's inherited some of Samura's reckless bravery and quick assessment abilities.

I like that she's very much an ordinary girl being thrust into a situation that's way over her head. Her memories of her dad are locked away so she's just an average highschooler being plucked out of the ordinary and tossed into the extraordinary like Discount Chihiro wished he was until Kuguri held a sword to his throat.

The seal is breaking through Iori's own will to know what the hell is going on so I wonder if the Masumi will re-do it. I think not, since Minimura had that bit about Samura underestimating kids near the end, so she'll probably get a few panels to come to terms with her real identity while Chihiro does some cool moves in the classroom to fend off the Hishaku.

I have a feeling that Iori's going to be sticking around for a while. She's getting a lot of screen time and set up for development if she's just meant to be an arc character or damsel in distress. Won't get too attached, obviously, but I kinda like her already based on the little glimpse we've seen. Looking forward to learning more about her personality and seeing what's in store for her beyond this arc.

Silly Murderers

There's no fixing this kind of crazy.

Place your bets: blood-based identification sorcery, or just plan nuts? We'll find out sooner or later.

This is gonna be another inconclusive fight since we need to see Kuguri meet the Bearer that's bonded to the blade he's pining for and learn Tomboy's name.

Small Complaint

Just a note about a small difference I'm petty enough to be annoyed about in the EN version:

The "no"s stop pretty short in English, but in Japanese...

...they run on into Minimura's speech bubble to show her racing thoughts getting cut short.

Alright dear void. Let's enjoy lobotomybachi week and let the brainrot flow during the break. Also, consider getting help before you shut down and enter a tailspin- this is a very difficult time of year for some of us. You're not alone if so. Reach out for help if you need it.

[adachimoe]

summary of the persona 4 golden anime audio drama: boo!

Adachi is in this one. Thank god. I put this under a read more cause there's quite a bit to describe.

This one takes place before Naoto joins the Investigation Team so no one knows she's a girl yet. At Junes, the gang are telling Marie about their class trip to Tatsumi Port Island: Visiting Gekkokan, going window shopping, going to Club Escapade (Yukiko has no fucking clue what happened at Club Escapade and Chie tells her its for the best lol).

Marie also wants to make memories, so Rise suggests they figure out something to do with her. But they already went to the beach, the shrine festival is already over, there were fireworks, etc. Rise wants to go to an onsen, but Yosuke is a bit too overly enthusiastic about the idea, and Chie vetos it because "it's too hot out" (I'm fairly sure the implication is that Chie actually vetoes it because of Yosuke's reaction to the idea of seeing Rise at an onsen as Chie is still in her "compare herself to every girl" arc, but she just says it's cause of the weather).

Yukiko's suggestion of something cool and hot is a test of courage, which everyone except Chie is on-board with. Yu suggests they do it at Tatsuhime Shrine. The group recounts how there's been reports a woman in a white kimono, the cries of a fox, and bugs, but the shrine gets rejected cause of how narrow it is. Teddie wants to do it at Junes, but Yosuke refuses. Chie tries to get out of it by saying they don't have a place to do it, but Yukiko then suggests the school. Since Marie is willing to go, Chie gives up and agrees.

At school the next day, Yu tries to invite Naoto, but Naoto is busy due to the case with Kubo. When Naoto asks why Yu even asked, Yu replies that it would be fun if Naoto came along too.

At night, Yu explains that Naoto isn't coming (Kanji is disappointed). Yukiko thinks that Yosuke is going to lockpick the school gate open, like in spy movies. But Mass Destruction starts playing, and it turns out that Yosuke left it open earlier during the school day, referencing what Junpei does when SEES finds Fuuka in Tartarus in Persona 3. Yu begins to call Yosuke, "Brilliant!" a la Mitsuru, but he gets cut off by Yukiko going "Normal", as she and the others were hoping for the spy movie route. No one is impressed by Yosuke except Yu, who now quotes Akihiko, telling him "Good job" lol. (Yu is quoting what Mitsuru and Akihiko say this to Junpei in P3 when he leaves the door open. I think English put C'est magnifique for Mitsuru and Oui good job for Aki?)

For the test of courage, the group will split into pairs, visit all 3 levels of Yasogami High, and stick talismans at the ends of each hallway. They get paired up as Rise and Yosuke (Rise wanted to be with Yu, Yosuke is psyched), Chie and Teddie, Yukiko and Kanji (Yukiko tells him they're going to discover the Mysteries of Yaso High, and Kanji is like "wtf"), and Yu and Marie. Each group takes turns entering the school, 5mins after the last.

Yosuke and Rise enter, and Yosuke is hoping that Rise will cling to him (like, "kyaa sempai i'm scared >w<!!!"), but Rise is totally chill with this as she once filmed something at a school at night time for a program and it seemed haunted/cursed. Yosuke assumes it was just a set, not a real thing, and Rise gets upset he doesn't believe her. Meanwhile, Chie is terrified walking around with Teddie, and wants to go back to the entrance. Teddie messes with her / scares her by saying that if she goes outside and waits for the others, she'll be all alone, and ermmm insert a lot of muffled unintelligible screaming during which Chie gets afraid and tries to get into Teddie's bearsuit but I can barely make out the dialogue over the two of them yelling at each other lol.

!!!!!!!!!! ADACHI ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!! ADACHI UN-ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!

At Shiroku Pub, Dojima is drunk as hell and bitching about Naoto, saying that Naoto should be in school instead of helping the police. Adachi gets a bit "well, ahkstually" and brings up how Naoto literally goes to Yasogami High, and Dojima gets pissed lmao and is like no you dipshit why is Naoto allowed to work on a murder case despite being a high schooler. Adachi brings up how Naoto is this super genius and they might not have caught Kubo without their help, which reaaaaally just pisses off Dojima even more. He tries to pour himself another beer, and ends up spilling it. Adachi tries to spin this into a positive, saying that they will have free time. Except "free time" also pisses off Dojima, so Adachi pivots into how he can spend his free time with Nanako. But instead of talking about Nanako, Dojima invites Adachi to come over for dinner, Yu will cook, etc. He begins to say something like, "the four of us..." before passing out (fairly sure Dojima was trying to say "can be a family"). Adachi then gets a call from someone about a "suspicious person at Yasogami High". He attempts to get Dojima to investigate this, but Dojima is out cold. Adachi finds this all giga annoying, as Adachi always does, but he suddenly gets the bright idea to pawn this off on someone else.

Back at Yasogami High, Yukiko and Kanji are near the music room, and Yukiko asks if they can go in so she can "confirm something". Kanji's brain turns into a romance anime and he's very excited at the idea that Yukiko might confess to him. However, it turns out she wanted to go into the music room to see if one of the Seven Mysteries of Yasogami High -- the one about Mozart having shining eyes in the music room (see: the portraits on the wall in P4 Arena) -- was true or not, and Kanji is like, "...oh". She then tries to see if the other mystery about the Midnight Piano, a self-playing piano, is true or not, when she taps a key on the piano to see if it plays back. Kanji says the word "kanji" (meaning feeling), and this causes Yukiko to do her hyena laugh because "Kanji said kanji", and she presses random piano keys while cackling. The two hear someone outside of the music room, but when they open the door, no one is there. Kanji thinks it was nothing, but Yukiko chases after this person, and Kanji loses track of her.

Lastly, Marie has no idea what's so great about this, so Yu decides to show her.

Yosuke and Rise are hanging their final talisman when Yu suddenly calls Yosuke. Yosuke asks what's up, but Yu doesn't reply and does mouthy breathing over the phone while telling them "b-e-h-i-n-d-y-o-u", then Marie suddenly comes from behind and spooks both Rise and Yosuke, and they start screaming. Marie instantly understands why this is fun, and Yu takes her to scare the shit out of Teddie and Chie next.

Teddie and Chie are "walking" around with Chie clinging to Teddie. They hear footsteps, but Chie doesn't think it's the others cause they don't hear any voices. Marie spooks them by going "I curse--", and Chie begins screaming. Yu calms down Chie, and Marie complains about not getting to finish her sentence ("I curse you"). Yu suggests Chie finally let go of Teddie. Now free from Chie's grip, Teddie reports on how Chie's warmth caused him to see the pearly gates.

Kanji is still looking for Yukiko, but instead finds Marie who moves around a skeleton and goes "I'M A SKELETOOOON", and Kanji is like, completely unphased by this. (Yu thought it was a good idea, but it just didn't have impact.) Kanji asks them if they've seen Yukiko, who ran off chasing a shadow. Yu goes with Kanji to look for her and sends Marie to go wait with the others.

Before returning, Marie begins composing a poem:

You are a reaper who harvested my heart then vanished into the darkness. I am an artist who wanders through purgatory in search of my stolen heart. A ghost, as happy as she is sad. If I must wander forever, then so be it. I'll climb these infinite 13 flights of stairs and dance an endless waltz. You embrace me with eternal darkness itself. And so I sleep in your arms, as a Forever Dreamer.

(The "embrace" is "arm/arms", but it seemed too repetitious for poetry to puts arms on 2 consecutive lines? Also the 13 stairs is most likely because of the superstition about "13 steps to the gallows".)

After, Marie hears someone near her, and thinks Yu might be eavesdropping on her. She gets embarrassed and begins chewing him out by calling him a stupidshittyassholejerkface ghost and telling him to go climb some endlessly looping 13 stairs himself lol. But when Marie goes and investigates, she finds........

Elsewhere, Yu and Kanji have found Yukiko when they hear Marie yelling for someone. The three run over to her, and find Marie and an unconscious Naoto.

!!!!!!!!! ADACHI ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at Shiroku Pub, Adachi receives another phone call, and we learn that Adachi is an asshole who tricked Naoto into going to Yasogami High alone at night by saying the report about the "suspicious person" was possibly related to the murder case. Adachi tells the other person on the phone that he'll be going over to the school shortly, and hangs up after replying with a bunch of "Yep, uh-huh, yes, sure, yep, yeeep", calling all of this shit annoying. Instead of going to the school, he orders another beer from Shiroku.

!!!!!!!!! ADACHI UN-ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at Yasogami High, everyone apologizes to Naoto who calls them a bunch of morons. (In JP fandom, this is Naoto's popular line from the King's Game part. Akechi even gets to say it in Royal lol.)

Naoto recaps to why they came to the school: After receiving a call about a suspicious person at the school, Naoto was walking around while waiting for Adachi, but LOL Adachi was drinking and he never showed. But Naoto heard Yukiko playing the piano, and thought it might be one of the Seven Mysteries of Yaso High about the Midnight Piano (this was the funniest fucking thing to me cause it means that Yukiko didn't just make up the seven mysteries shit, it was actually a real thing lmao. I thought from Kanji's reaction that it wasn't a real urban legend in town or w/e).

Naoto tried to convince themselves that this needs to be ahem scientifically investigated, but then Yukiko started laughing, and Naoto ran the hell away, meaning that Yukiko really did hear someone moving around earlier. Then Yu and Marie began scaring people, and Naoto heard all of them screaming while trying to convince themselves that there's absolutely no way there are ghosts or spirits at the school. Finally, Naoto heard parts of Marie's poem: "...reaper... darkness... purgatory... sad... ghost..." Naoto thinks it's the voice of some deceased person, and that there really is a spirit there. Then, Naoto hears Marie again: "wander forever... 13 stairs... eternal darkness... sleep... forever..." Following this, Naoto can't take it anymore, and collapses.

Back in the present time, Chie tries to play it off as hey everyone's okay, so it's fine, and Naoto is like, NO??? NO IT IS NOT FINE??? Seeing how livid and pissed Naoto is, this just confirms for Yu that they reaaally need to get Naoto to join in on whatever they do next time.

[pretentiousgayguyidk]

Hey Hi Hello!

I saw your requests are open so here I am!

I was thinking about Ran, Rindou, Hakkai and Mitsuya with an slavic reader? Male preferably could be gn!

Also could I be the 🥟 anon If your making a list?

Feel free to ignore this!

Pre writing thoughts - Yes!! I absolutely can, I've studied a small amount of Russian and Icelandic - but it probably won't be accurate as I'll have to use Google translate to fill the gaps. I hope you enjoy this 🥟 Anon!

Post writing thoughts- Okay... Well, I wasn't expecting to write so much, so I'll have to make other parts for the other characters 😭 but I hope this is good enough considering how long it took. (Also sorry it wasn't gender neutral, I completely blanked on it)

(Name) stuck out like a sore thumb, having moved to Japan half way into the school year; it wasn't often that foreigners moved to the area. The peculiar student had certainly caught Mitsuya's attention, piquing Takashi's curiosity... Well, (Name)'s caught the eyes of everyone not just Mitsuya.

One thing that stood out was (Name)'s accent, the mix of Japanese words with the addition of deep and throaty annociations strange yet amusing; the rolling of his r's and the emphasis of the ch's and k's pointed towards Slavic origins. That note inspired Mitsuya, and in an attempt to make (Name) more comfortable he started researching traditional Slavic clothing.

"What is that?" Yasuda questioned, her brows furrowed in confusion and slight judgement - as the current piece Mitsuya was working on was out of character for him. The red, black, white, and blue fabric stood out against his usual more casual colour choices - and the sketches of geometric embroidery patterns weren't at all like the usual Kanji he used.

Mitsuya sticks his pencil behind his ear, leaning back in his chair earning satisfying pops from his spine; he had honestly been expecting this question and was expecting it to be asked sooner. He gives Yasuda a tired smile, his arms lax as they hang by his sides.

"It's a uh..." He trails off, unsure how to properly pronounce the word - as it was either Russian or Ukrainian, he couldn't tell the difference even with the little research he did - all he knew was that it was a more traditional Slavic outfit. "Byshibanka?"

He felt a tad guilty, even though the certain Slavic student was nowhere near to hear his horrendous mispronunciation; it felt like a dishonor of sorts. Yasuda raises a brow, her hands on her hips as she looks down at her club captain.

"A what?" She asks, knowing for a fact that - one: Mitsuya mispronounced it - and that two: she would never remember to look it up later when she got home.

Mitsuya sits up, running a hand over his short silver hair; his expression filled with exasperation, not at Yasuda but himself.

"It's this like- traditional Russian or... Whatever... Outfit? I wanted to give it to the new guy." He explains, earning a knowing nod from Yasuda - who knew from her first meeting with Mitsuya that he liked guys... Even if Mitsuya didn't know it himself yet.

"Oh... So you like him?"

Mitsuya shrugs, not getting the implication - as it wasn't exactly the norm for guys to date other guys. He had no idea if he liked the new kid, he just wanted to do something nice... It wasn't like he found (Name) interesting or cute.

"I don't know, he seems like a chill guy - I've never talked to him." The teens nonchalant answer only furthered Yasuda's suspicions, she wasn't going to spell it out for Mitsuya just yet; but she was certainly coming up with a scheme.

"Well, I hope he likes it... And hopefully he's actually Russian... You do know there's other countries like that, right?" She narrows her eyes, doubting that Mitsuya actually did enough research; not surprising, many teenagers weren't all that informed of nations outside of Japan and the major powers.

Takashi's eyes widen, shifting away nervously as he realizes that he completely glossed over the fact that there are other Slavic countries; he didn't bother looking at a map or anything, just looked up some traditional clothing.

"I mean- I..." He trails off, glancing down towards the pile of cloth in front of him; he didn't consider looking beyond Russia, and he didn't even know for a fact that the Vyshyvanka was Russian or not. He shrugs, attempting to wash away his own mild concern over what could be a massive mishap. "I'm sure it'll be fine... Right? Maybe he'll appreciate the sentiment?"

"I'm sure he will... Whatever, I'll leave you to finish your little gift." She states, turning to pay attention to some of the other club members.

Mitsuya felt strangely nervous, holding a box in his lap as he waited for (Name) to enter the school gardens, a place where (Name) often stayed for lunch - since he didn't exactly have many people to talk to. Soon enough, the Slavic man rounded the corner; entering the school gardens, taking his place in the corner with his lunch. (Name) didn't even notice Mitsuya, far too focused on his hunger to realize he wasn't alone like usual.

The Japanese teen finally gains his confidence, standing from his spot on one of the benches. His steps were steady, and his expression showed a lack of interest - or rather calm despite his slight anxiety.

"Hey." Mitsuya calls out casually, causing (Name) to jump as he looks up from his food. It probably wasn't a good idea to interrupt someone in the middle of their lunch, but Mitsuya's mind was oddly scrambled when it came to (Name); his usual calm and collected self thrown out the window.

"Eh? Hi?" (Name) replies, glancing away as he rubs his throat; conscious of how he spoke. His accent has always been a problem, especially with the Japanese language; it's earned more than a few strange looks from locals - as if him being visibly not Japanese wasn't enough to earn strange looks on occasion. Yet, Mitsuya didn't seem to mind his accent, in fact - Mitsuya found it endearing.

"So uh... I just wanted to give this to you." Mitsuya states awkwardly, gesturing down to the thin box in his hands; which had his name written on it, which helped (Name) - as he didn't know Mitsuya's name till reading it on the box.

"Yeah? What's the reason?" The Slavic teen questions, shifting in his seat as he sets aside his lunch box; pulling one leg up in an attempt to seem casual - even though he was very confused and suspicious. Mitsuya glances away nervously, rocking back and forth on his heels; a nervous habit he rarely ever felt the need to do.

"It... It's just a little something I made- I just uh... Wanted to... I don't know-" Mitsuya chokes on his words, feeling his heartbeat speed up as his cheeks warm; he felt strangely embarrassed by his reasoning. "I just wanted to help you feel more welcome."

"Ah... Makes sense... I guess." (Name) mumbles, glancing down to the box as he accepts it; his mind racing for any sort of clue as to what this gift could be.

The silence that falls between them grows more and more awkward and uncomfortable by the minute, neither of them knowing what to say in the moment. Finally, Mitsuya mumbles a small goodbye before turning on his heel to leave the garden.

Once Mitsuya was gone, (Name) hesitantly opened the box - his eyes widening at the sight of familiar clothing. He can't help but smile, setting the lid aside as he runs his hand over the embroidered fabric; he wasn't Ukrainian, but he had childhood friends who were - they always leaned towards traditionalism. They often wore vyshyvankas, and some other clothing that (Name) couldn't remember for the life of him... But either way, the sight of the clothes brought back fond memories.

Lifting the clothing from the box (Name) notices something, there wasn't any sort of tag or label printed onto the fabric... Did Mitsuya make this just for him? There was a note at the bottom of the box, which (Name) quickly turned his attention to.

Hey, I just wanted to make you feel more comfortable and welcome here - we Japanese aren't always the nicest to foreigners or whatever. So I did some research and made you this, I hope you like it.

It was such a simple note, but it made (Name)'s heart skip a beat. It wasn't as if Mitsuya had bought him a gift, which would have been greatly appreciated as well... But the fact that Mitsuya made it - well that was a whole other level.

"I'll have to thank him later..."

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

All the fling posse song snippets are out !!!

👀 The Fling Posse snippets are all out now!! :D Ramuda sounds so happy I cry TwT

Hey! Any thoughts on the Fling Posse solo previews? Love hearing your opinions on the trailers and getting some neat tidbits of insight into the lyrics/motifs.

Thanks for the messages! Let's go check 'em out.

One and Only

(8 seconds in) Ramuda's saying "Let's go" too

(41 seconds in) Ahh!

(48 seconds in) Jesus, Shirai is really pushing his range in this one

(50 seconds in) Self love for Ramuda, hell yeah. Good on him

(End of video) Not a lot to say; I feel like this one was pretty straight-forward. It's Ramuda embracing his personal identity as a unique human being-- LOVE to see it-- which is the culmination of his arc through the series so far. The music itself didn't capture me. I might warm up to it later like I usually do, but Shirai's singing on its own isn't usually my cup of tea. Which is chill; I hope other people like it. The wordplay on "clap your hands (te wo tataite); I want to celebrate [being alive] (tataeteitai)" was neat.

Lies

(Title note) I'm intrigued that the title is in kana instead of kanji, giving it a simple and almost "honest" feel in its simplicity. It's been a hot sec since I've seen Gentarou use that word in writing but iirc he usually uses kanji for it.

(5 seconds in) Loving this piano.

(15 seconds in) A boku-using Gentarou? Bruh.

(35 seconds in) Ohhh I see the point of the kana. The title is the same as a famous Shuntarou Tanikawa poem narrated by a little boy (hence the lack of kanji). Since the song lyrics reference it, here's a quick 'n dirty TL of the poem: Lies I think I'll always tell lies. My mother doesn't, but she's done so before. I think that because I know lying is painful. Even if the things I say are lies, the lying feeling is the truth. There are some truths that can only be told in lies. Even dogs--if they could talk, I think they'd tell lies as well. Even when I tell lies, even when my lies get caught, I don't apologize. I never tell lies just to get out of trouble. (*) Even if no one knows that, I know that, and so here I am, living with my lies. Until I just can't bear to lie any longer, I know I'll lie again and again and all the while long for the truth. (*) Literally, "resolve [the trouble] with apologies" which is why the narrator says he doesn't apologize Anyway, the "Even when I tell lies..." verse sans "and so..." is the opening of this song. Gentarou stops at "Even if no one knows that" and sighs in his second repetition of the verse.

(end of song) Wait, the whole thing is just verses of this poem? This is really cool and artistic (I dig it) but wow, what a choice! Saitou Souma's performance is incredible, and the background music is cool. I don't know how well this would go on a playlist, but I am here for it! ...I'm also wondering what the rights acquisition must have been like. This poem isn't in the JPN public domain yet, right? Hahaha.

God in the Dice

(title note) Fwiw I usually say Dice has "spirits" in his dice; calling them gods is just as valid. That seems to be what this is referring to.

(15 seconds in) Man I love Nozuyama's rapping chops. He delivers every time

(23 seconds in) Going to take this "I don't care" and make it a reaction image. Can't adequately express how much the phrase "Thog don't care" gets me through the day; this is right up there with that

(29 seconds in) It's very, very funny that Gentarou always teases Dice about his lack of vocab when you compare these two songs back to back. Hahaha.

(50 seconds in) Call back to Scramble Gamble with a more positive outlook. I can fuck with that.

(end of song) This one seems very similar to Ramuda's in terms of message (once again, I'm inappropriately amused at the notion of Ramuda and Dice living it up in the booth like "Love yourself...! Respect yourself! Love yourse--" and then it cuts to Gentarou who's got a piano and a Dramatic Poetry Reading and Angst. Well, that's Gentarou's way of loving himself, I suppose) and on the one hand, I am very happy for Dice deciding to live his life his own way, even if it goes against societal values... but I don't know how I feel about indulging in a gambling addiction as a way to explore that. You know? Maybe I'm just going "You don't have to follow societal expectations, but you should follow MY expectations, dammit!" Hahaha. Well....... Do what you gotta do, homie.... I'm reminded of how very 20 Dice is. Very, very 20 y.o. leaving a bad home life. Do what you gotta do....

Well, that's Fling Posse! Very much their usual Fling Posse selves.

[ponponproblems]

Tachibana is an extremely complicated, interesting character, who's origin and experiences intersect with Japanese war orphans in a number of complex ways.

I would like to recommend the books & academic journal articles,

Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism, by Louise Young, 1998.

Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. 2, 1600 - 2000, Pt. 2, 1868 - 2000, collected by William Theodore de Bary et al., specifically citing Ishihara Kanji's "A Plan to Occupy Manchuria" and "Empire and War."

Beyond Racism: Semi-Citizenship and Marginality in Modern Japan, by Tessa Morris-Suzuki, published in Japanese Studies 35, no. 1, 2015.

When Empire Comes Home: Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan, by Lori Watt, 2009.

Japan's War Orphans: Identification and State Responsibility, published in Japanese Studies 34, no. 2, 2008.

Japanese War Orphans: Abandoned Twice by the State, Jiaxin Zhong, 2021.

There are so many ways in which Tachibana's life had to work out precisely just so for him to have the experiences that he had, but because Yakuza 0 is not a history textbook and is just trying to tell a fun, semi-political action drama story that, to its credit, does end on the side of "the economic miracle was not a miracle for everybody and racism in Japan is a real problem that should be opposed," I feel it struggles to localise a lot of its context to a western audience.

For instance, if Tachibana's dad were provably Japanese (his dad is specifically Chinese, which I believe is a choice the writers made for this reason), he would've had a different experience of the citizenship process, as legal policies and 'ethnicity' were partially determined patrilineally. If this story were set a decade earlier, it likely wouldn't have happened because pathways to migration weren't nearly as available prior to the 1980s. There are people alive today (they sued the Japanese government in the 2000s!!) who have had experiences in common with Tachibana and who provide a tremendous wealth of insight and information; one of the sources I've listed, the one by Jiaxin Zhong, has a number of interviews with these cool people about their experiences as identifiably Japanese people in post-war China.

This isn't me attempting to criticise Yakuza 0. I really do like it. But it swings at some very loaded political subject matter and handles it in a way that I feel is somewhat inaccessible, due to what it is as a cool videogame people play to chill out, and thought it'd be fun to point to some academic sources for people who want to understand a little more of what the game is exploring with Tachibana.