#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.

[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.

[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.

[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”!!

[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.

[heich0e]

yakuza!suna/escort!reader part 4: the prequel(ish) continued..., tw alcohol, reader goes by a stated pseudonym for her work (Yua) but is otherwise unnamed, this part immediately follows PART 3 and here are PART 1 + PART 2 icymi!! series masterlist

“You.”

The sound of the man’s voice—low, smooth, and unmistakably pointed—makes you freeze.

The room goes terribly quiet in the wake, like no one is quite sure how to respond.

Kaito’s eyes snap towards you, a flash of something close to panic momentarily slipping through the facade of his gregariousness. He composes himself quickly and looks back to this new guest, his brows lifted in surprise as his eyes narrow into crescents thanks to how his mouth lifts in an easy smile. “Who, sir?”

“Her.”

All eyes in the lounge turn to you, but somehow you only manage to meet one pair.

Your grip on the champagne flute in your grasp is so tight you worry that the thin stem might snap between your fingers.

Kaito laughs a bit, but the sound is stiff and doesn’t fit his usual tone. He reaches up and places a friendly hand on the man beside him’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take a while to acquaint yourself with the girls, then you can—“

The man—Suna-san as he’d been introduced to you all just a few moments before—turns his face to look at him. You watch as his eyes flicker down to the hand resting on his arm with a look of disdain.

“Is there a reason you’d question my choice?” he asks flatly, a chill in his tone that makes your stomach feel uneasy. “I was told these girls are your best.”

“Of course,” Kaito assures him with an easy, obliging smile. You can’t help but notice how he quickly drops his hand. “You’ve made an excellent decision.”

The other girls and Kaito quietly leave, once the manager waves them out following a terse snap of his fingers. There’s a sense of disappointment that you detect from some of the girls as they bid the guest goodnight as they step past him, having scarcely had the opportunity to spend time in his company at all. Yuki meets your eyes as she glides past you towards the door, a curious—if not concerned—look passing between the two of you.

The door to the lounge closes behind Kaito once the last girl has filed out, and then it’s just the two of you.

You watch as Suna walks to the chair on the opposite side of the room, directly across from you, sticking close to the very edge of the wall and giving you a rather wide berth. It’s strange. Most men in these situations make their way right for you, or at least beckon you to come to them— especially ones as forthright as he’d been. Instead, he gestures for you to take your seat, nodding towards the chair you’re still standing beside. In spite of your relative confusion, you oblige him. On the other side of the room he does the same, slumping down into his seat with his legs spread wide.

You sit at the edge of the upholstered chair with your hands crossed primly atop your lap.

He watches you for a while, and under his heavy stare you find yourself resisting the urge to fidget. 

“What’s your name?” he asks you after a while.

You blink slowly, as though you’re processing the question he’s asked—though it’s anything but a difficult one.

“Yua.”

It’s not your name, of course. You’re sure he knows that too. It’s not even one that you’d chosen for yourself, in truth. There had been a girl working at the club before you started who’d used it as her pseudonym, and when she left and you arrived to take her place, it was easier just to inherit it than come up with a name of your own.

The kanji used spell out binding love.

The irony isn’t lost on you.

It doesn’t seem to be something Suna-san misses either, because there’s a little pull at the corner of his mouth that indicates a sort of wry recognition of the fact.

It goes quiet again.

You being to worry things are getting awkward. You can’t let that happen.

“Would you like something to drink?” you finally ask him, shooting him a warm smile before looking towards the mini bar.

His eyes flitter to the empty glass in your hand. “What are you drinking?”

“Champagne.” You stand and approach the bar, running your finger along the bucket where the half-empty bottle sits in ice. “But there’s plenty to choose from, no matter your taste.”

“What do you like to drink?” It’s the same question as before, more or less, but this time he poses it differently.

You glance at him over your shoulder, and find he’s watching you intently—still torpidly reclined back in his seat.

“I’m not very picky,” you answer with a little laugh. You reach for a bottle of whiskey off the bar. It’s a nice one. Expensive. You hold it up so he can see it, turning around to face him. “Would you like a highball?”

He cocks a brow. “Will you join me?”

“Of course,” you agree with a smile, and then you set to work.

Highballs are easy cocktails to make. Calling it a cocktail seems undeserved, sometimes, but the quality is in the ritual. 

First the ice goes in, and you stir it for 30 seconds using a long barspoon to chill the polished glass. The ice clinks against the edge in a delicate little noise as you go.

The room is weirdly quiet. Unnaturally so. 

The private lounges are mostly soundproof, for many reasons, but it means that none of the usual thrum of activity or music from the rest of the club seeps into the little space you occupy. It leaves a stagnant, almost uncomfortable silence stretching in between you while you work.

You drain the water from the bottom of the glasses carefully. 

Next you add the whiskey.

You’re partial to a stronger highball—somewhere closer to a 2:1 ratio of soda to spirit, but you know not everyone enjoys their drinks so potent. You opt instead for a 3:1 ratio for the evening, letting the whiskey spill down into the waiting glasses below. You stir it precisely 13 and a half times clockwise in each glass.

Last is the soda, which you allow to trickle down the rivulets of the bar spoon so it doesn’t lose its effervescence. Each drink is then garnished with a delicate twist of lemon.

You swallow, steeling your nerve before you turn to face your patron once more.

“Would you like to listen to music?” you ask cheerfully as you bring his drink towards him. 

There’s a sound system throughout the room controlled by a tablet, you’re trained to make the offer just as you had been to prepare the drinks.

“Not really,” he replies from below you once you arrive next to his chair. He reaches up to take the glass you offer him from your hand, and your fingers brush as the drink passes from your grip into his own.

His touch is warm.

Most men would pull you down into their lap at this point in the exchange, or otherwise grope you in some way, but save for that gentle pass of his fingertips along your own, he doesn’t make any attempt to touch you. 

You perch on the couch beside him, a little bit perplexed.

This man is not what you’d expected. 

He’s young, handsome, and above all strange.

Especially how he watches you—his gaze heavy-lidded but surprisingly impassive. You’re fully dressed but the way he watches you makes you feel terribly bare.

He lifts the drink to his mouth and takes a sip.

“Is it to your liking?” you ask him coyly.

He nods.

Since he’s taken his first sip, you’re now free to do the same. This drink is far sharper and stronger than the watered-down champagne you’d been sipping earlier. You savour how the heat of the whiskey sears its way down to your stomach. Part of you is relieved to finally have a proper drink in your hands.

Beside you, Suna sighs. He leans forward and sets his glass on the low table in front of him, and you watch as a bead of condensation drips down the edge of the polished glass.

Your eyes flicker over to him curiously. He meets your gaze.

“I’m not much of a drinker,” he admits with a little shrug.

“If you don’t drink and you don’t like music,”—you prop your elbow up on the armrest of his chair and rest your cheek in your hand, batting your eyelashes demurely—“this seems like a strange place you’d choose to spend an evening.”

Suna’s eyes flicker down to your lips, and he leans towards you.

“I don’t think anyone is coming here for the atmosphere.”

There’s a flutter in the pit of your stomach that erupts in the same place the whiskey had just warmed. For a few petrifying moments, only the span of a few heartbeats, you wonder if he’s going to kiss you.

As a general rule, you prefer not to kiss newcomers. It might seem an arbitrary place to draw the line, but some forms of intimacy just feel unnatural with a stranger, even in your line of work. Some of your regulars don’t even get to do that. 

For a confusing, startling moment, you can’t help but think you’ll let him if he tries.

But he doesn’t.

Instead he leans back in his seat once more, his long legs still spread before him.

“It wasn’t my choice, anyway,” he says.

You make a little sound of confusion from the back of your throat, quenching your sudden thirst with another long sip of your drink. You’re not quite sure what he means.

“Coming here tonight,” he explains, sensing your uncertainty. “I just got into a bit of a… scrape at work. My boss sent me to blow off some steam.”

He wouldn’t be the first man who used this place as a means of stress relief. Though you wonder who his boss might be to have had Kaito scrambling the way he was.

“I see,” you reply quietly. Slowly, you reach forward and set your glass atop the table next to his own, the difference in how much you’ve each consumed more stark when your glasses rest side by side. You pull yourself upright again, and turn to face him with your lip caught gently between your teeth. You let it slip out to quietly murmur, “I’m happy to help with that, if you’d like.”

Suna’s head tips back against his seat as his eyes close, and he lets out a breathy little laugh towards the ceiling.

Just above the neckline of his high-necked sweater, along the column of his pale throat, you see the faintest edge of a mark. 

A tattoo.

Without thinking, you reach out for it. Just before your fingertip can touch the enticing tendril of ink, his hand catches yours in a tight grip.

You jump slightly at the unexpected contact, and your eyes flash up to his face, only to find that he’s watching you again—more alert now than you’ve seen him since he arrived.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize meekly, your entire face suddenly feeling hot. You're not sure what possibly possessed you to think touching him like that was okay.

He’s still clutching your hand, but after a moment his grip eases—his touch slipping down to your wrist. His long fingers circle it easily, and something about the sight makes you feel strangely small. Breakable even. 

His hold is different now, gentler. More delicate.

Slowly, he takes your hand and guides it to his cheek.

“Your hands are cold,” he remarks as his eyes slowly close again, and you realize the chill of your touch must feel nice against his injury. His cheek is radiating heat as he holds your hand to it.

You cup your hand to cradle his face in your palm, but he still holds fast to your wrist.

“It’s from making the drinks,” you reply quietly to his comment, your thumb reaching out and ghosting over the cut on his mouth without thinking. Other than the wound, his lips are incredibly soft under the pad of your finger.

He hums, leaning into your touch. After a few moments his eyes flutter open and meet yours, but they’re heavy lidded again. His gaze hazier now. More disarming, somehow. Your thumb is still pressed to the swell of his bottom lip.

“You’re good at this,” he whispers softly, like you’re not supposed to hear it at all, and you’re confused by what he means. He tilts his face and presses his lips to the heel of your palm in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. Next his lips slide down to your wrist, mouthing at you there too.

“Pardon?” when you finally manage to speak, you find your voice is fluttery and unlike yourself.

“I really had no intention of fucking you,” he murmurs into your skin. “You just looked so miserable when I walked in that I thought it might be fun to bother you a little bit.”

Your heart is suddenly hammering in your chest, and you wonder if he can tell as his tongue sweeps out against your pulse point.

He smirks against your skin, his unfairly long eyelashes fluttering as he peeks over at you once more—his stare is just as electrifying as it had been the first time he turned it on you.

“I underestimated you,” he says, and his words sound like commendation.

Your head tilts to the side, not quite knowing what he means, but your confusion only heightens as Suna takes your hand and guides it to his throat. He holds it there the same way he holds you in his gaze—firm and unwavering.

“I didn't think you’d be so good at seducing me.”

[thepersonperson]

thank you for writing out all your thoughts on the dream theory!! it’s so so interesting and i have been thinking about it non stop lmaoo

i think it could be interesting to note that the only chapter title (i think) that mentions dreams is chapter 11. literally called “a dream”. this title is referring to gojo’s dream of “resetting” the world of jujutsu, and not really relating to this dream state/delusions. but it could still relate to this theory?

to achieve this dream, gojo explains that he became a teacher to foster strong allies, with yuuji front and center of that frame. yuuji wakes up right after this and while it’s unclear if he heard any of it at all, yuuji’s current dream (assuming the theory is correct) could be a way of preserving gojo’s memory, and therefore gojo’s dream of this fixed jujutsu world (specifically see gakuganji saying chill everything’s gonna be alright) where everyone is alive.

another interesting point is that the clocks in 268-269 seem to go backwards? in 268, when they realize they’re late to meet up with the others, the clock reads 2:52. but in 269, once they’re fully in the meeting, the clock reads 2:21. it could just be a coincidence but the clock in 269 takes up almost an entire page. and also when you’re dreaming time is all wonky/ clocks don’t work quite right…

(Click captions on images for citations.)

The dream used in JJK 270 differs slightly from JJK 11 in Japanese. Kanji can be read in multiple ways depending on a lot of things I don't have the energy to explain right now. Anyways, the dream in JJK 270 is 夢 (ゆめ=ゆ(Yu)め(Me)=Yume) while the dream in JJK 11 is 夢想 (むそう=む(Mu)そ(So)う(U)=Musou). The Furigana above the Kanji lets you know how it's supposed to be read.

夢 (Yume) is referring to dreams in the general sense while 夢想 (Musou) is referring to a dream that is very unlikely to happen. It's almost like a wishful thinking type dream or goal if that makes sense?

This probably has some implications that are going over my head because my Japanese sucks, but I do think you're onto something. The dream/delusion Yuji has created has some preeeetty far fetched logistics not unlike Gojo's dream. Like the vessels of the incarnated sorcerers surviving the separation process at 1%. (This is excluding soul damage lobotomies.)

"yuuji’s current dream (assuming the theory is correct) could be a way of preserving gojo’s memory"

Honestly, that alone is a really good way to look at it. Yuji seems to be unable to confront Gojo's death head on, so the next best way to keep him "alive" is to see his dreams realized.

And yup that's another good catch. The clocks do be going backwards. (Kind of like resetting of the crappy Jujutsu world Gojo wants?)

It's all so tragic though. Yuji trying to keep Gojo alive this way by denying his death and making his dreams come true. He's only 15...he doesn't know how to cope with it all.

[higanbana-writer]

Hidden Gaze

Prompt: Soulmate AU where one of your eyes is the same color as your soulmate’s. Pairing: Kyōjurō x Gn!Upper Moon!Reader Part: 1, 2, 3 (coming soon)

“Congratulations on your healthy baby boy!”

The midwife beamed as she placed the crying newborn into Ruka’s waiting arms. She gently cradled her son and despite being clearly exhausted from having just given birth, her eyes shone brightly with pure, unadulterated love and joy as she gazed down at him. Shinjurō, whom had been kneeling by her side during the entire ordeal, now softly wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“He’s ours...” He murmured, looking at their son with a mixture of pride and awe.

Ruka smiled, leaning down to place a light kiss on her firstborn’s forehead. “Welcome to the world, Kyōjurō.”

Perhaps her actions helped to calm him, as his crying began to subside. His eyes, which had been squinted shut up until that point, began to open.

It should have been another heartwarming occasion for the parents to witness their son’s first look at the world, but what Ruka and Shinjuro saw when his eyes fully opened sent chills down their spines.

Now, it was obvious to anybody who looked at Kyōjurō that, even as a baby, he completely resembled his father. He had a head full of bright yellow hair and forked black eyebrows that even slanted downwards, just like Shinjurō's. So naturally, his eyes would be just like his father’s, right?

It was. Well, sort of. His right eye was a brilliant gold and red, as it should be. His left eye, on the other hand… The iris was a vibrant hue of [color], which, in itself would have been no problem since something called heterochromia existed. No, the problem lay in the fact that the kanji for Upper Moon was etched into that eye.

The warm, loving atmosphere that once filled the room had all but vanished now as Ruka and Shinjurō stared down at their son in horror. Noticing the change in the air, the midwife stopped whatever she had been doing and began heading over to them in concern. “Is something wrong?” She asked, hands reaching out to take the infant.

Shinjurō immediately blocked her, turning his shaken gaze onto her now. “Please leave the room.” It was a simple request, but his tone left no room for argument.

The midwife hesitated for a long moment before slowly nodding. “Very well. I shall be right outside if you need me.”

He watched her leave, making sure she properly shut the door behind her before instantly focusing back on his wife and child.

“His soulmate-“ Ruka stopped, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence.

“…I know.” His grip on her shoulder tightened as he stared into his child’s mismatched eyes. “He’ll have to hide that eye until he meets them.”

Fate must have been playing a cruel trick on them. A baby, born into a family of Flame Hashiras and destined to become a Flame Hashira himself in the future, having an Upper Moon demon as a soulmate. Shinjurō could only imagine the kinds of accusations that would be thrown at Kyōjurō if anybody saw his eye.

Traitor. Demon spy. A fake Hashira.

And as horrible as this was, they both knew; there was nothing they could do to change their son’s soulmate bond.

A single tear rolled down Ruka’s cheek as she felt for her son, knowing the hardships that lay ahead of him. Not only would he have to hide his eye from his peers, but he would also have to one day face his soulmate, a creature that was supposed to humanity’s sworn enemy and someone he was meant to kill.

Shinjurō pressed his face into his wife’s hair, unable to bear looking at their child any longer. “Everything will be alright.” He whispered in reassurance, though it instead sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.

Kyōjurō, blissfully unaware of his parents’ distress, let out a soft coo as he snuggled up against Ruka.

---

Seven centuries.

You had been alive for over seven centuries. That was a long time to stay alive for. And during all those years, not once had there ever been an indication that you had a soulmate somewhere out in the vast world. So why was it that after a whole seven centuries, your soulmate suddenly popped into existence??

It had been like any normal night for you: eating people, hunting down demon slayers, and looking for any clues about the blue spider lily. It’d been completely normal up until the point when you happened to catch a glimpse of your reflection and saw that your left eye had become a completely different color. No, we’re not talking about the ‘getting a bit red because your eyes are strained’ kind of different color. It went from being [color] to suddenly being two shades of red and gold.

But the most important thing was, your eye no longer had the Upper Moon kanji in them. The very thing that had been bestowed upon you by Muzan was now gone.

You panicked. You knew what had happened and spent the entire week trying to think of ways to regain your left eye back. Nothing you tried work, obviously.

Why now? Why had your soulmate decided to show up after seven centuries?? You had been perfectly content working under Muzan as an Upper Moon before they decided to be born. Well, if there was one thing you were grateful for, it’d be the fact that you still had your other eye which showed your rank. Better to be known as Rank Three, rather than to be just as a Upper Moon.

You absolutely dreaded the next time you would have to face Muzan. This rarely happened to a demon, but the last time it did – and that demon happened to be a Lower Moon – Muzan killed them. Maybe he had been in a bad mood or maybe he simply didn’t like the concept of soulmates. Well, whatever the reason was, you just prayed that the same fate wouldn’t befall you.

Thankfully, when Muzan finally saw you with your ‘new’ eye, he didn’t behead you. Yay for that! He simply gave it a disdainful look before addressing other matters. Somehow though, that disdain of his bothered you a lot more than the thought of getting killed.

After all, you were Upper Moon Three for a reason. You were powerful and dutifully carried out everything he asked of you. When you did well, he praised you. So naturally, you did your best to always meet his expectations and more. For him to show contempt towards you for something you couldn’t even control was simply unbearable. You wanted to be praised again. You had to please your master.

Following that incident, you tried your best to track down your soulmate. Once the two of you met, both of your eyes would go back to the way they originally looked. Then, you’d kill them for putting you through such a thing. You prided yourself in being a demon and demons didn’t need soulmates. Demons were perfect creatures all on their own.

Yet, even after two decades had passed, you hadn’t been able to find your soulmate. But over the course of the years, you’d learn to grow fond of your soulmate’s eye. At first, it had been a source of shame for you. An Upper Moon without their proper title? Preposterous! However, the more you had looked at it, the more you began to realize how beautiful it was. The vivid gold that wrapped around the red reminded you of a flame. A warm and inviting flame.

At some point, you realized that you’d actually begun to look forward to meeting your soulmate. What were they like? Perhaps they’d be cheerful and affectionate. Or perhaps they would be more on the mellow side. Well, whatever they were like, you were certain that they couldn’t be anybody bad. After all, such a gentle looking eye could only belong to somebody with a noble soul – somebody unlike you, whom had killed a countless number of people to get to where you were now.

Did your soulmate wonder about you, too? Did they like your eye, or were they repulsed by it? Were they even aware of the meaning behind the kanji etched into them?

You let out a despondent sigh, only to look up at your surrounds with a start. Oh, you’d gotten so absorbed in your thoughts that you failed to notice where you were going. Heaving another sigh, this time one of annoyance, you glanced at the buildings around you.

Having taken on your human form, you were currently in the heart of a bustling city, looking for somebody to prey on. However, it was taking you longer than usual as you were feeling rather picky tonight.

Maybe you would try another street – see if there was someone suitable there. Weaving through the crowd of people, you made your way to the edge of the street and towards an alleyway, planning to take a shortcut through it. But before you could enter the alley, a flash of orange caught your attention from the corner of your eye. You turned to look and saw a man with hair the color of fire walking past. Under the white and yellow haori he wore, you were able to catch a glimpse of a Demon Slayer uniform.

He was clearly a demon slayer, so why did you feel the need to stop him before he disappeared into the crowd? You hadn’t been in a fighting mood when the night began and certainly weren’t right now. But something about him seemed to be calling to you, begging you to reach out before it was too late.

So that’s exactly what you did. Before you had any time to process what you were doing, you had grabbed onto the back of his haori.

“Wait!” The words left your lips in a desperate plea.

The man stiffened upon hearing your voice and when he turned around, his hand was on the hilt of his katana. Except, you didn’t see it. All you saw was his eye and those exact same colors you’d seen numerous times in your own reflection. His left eye was covered by an eyepatch, but you knew exactly what was hidden behind it.

As you looked at him, warmth spread throughout you and suddenly it was like the piece to your heart that you didn’t even know had been missing, had been fitted in at last. From the way he stared back at you with widened eyes, hand dropping away from his weapon, you could tell he felt it too. And in that moment, it felt like it was just the two of you there, the busy street fading out into nothing more than a dull buzz.

You didn't know how long the two of you were standing there and gazing at each other, but you were the first to break out of your stupor. Though you weren’t sure how to feel about him being a demon slayer, the one thing you were sure about was that you no longer held the desire to kill him. Instead, you wanted to get to know him, to bond with him, to fall in love, and to spend eternity with him.

Tentatively, you smiled at him.

“Hi there, soulmate.”

[adachimoe]

Despite being a silent protagonist with occasional multichoice dialogue, Persona 4's protagonist has a "catchphrase" of sorts...

As various incidents related to the TV world occur, the protagonist always has an option to tell everyone to "calm down". And whenever he says it, the other characters will reply something like, "Damn dude you're right okay let's all chill".

We lost a "calm down" here but trying to turn this into a "calm down" *does* seem annoying.

Rest in peace, lost calm down. We won't forget you.

You can tell it to Marie when she has a Japanese mythology-induced headache.

You can say it to Ai when she finds out Daisuke or Kou isn't into her.

You can say it to Teddie when his imagination runs wild.

You can say it to Kanji when Nanako is ill.

You can even say it to Nanako when she sees you again.

It makes sense, then, that the phrase that finally gets the Investigation Team to come to their senses is...

(It sounds like BM in Arena though...)

[randoimago]

May I kindly request Junpei, Akihiko (P3) and Yosuke (P4) with a male!s/o?

Basically they meet an experienced persona user that's so cool and awesome that it causes them to have a gay awakening

Fandom: Persona 3, Persona 4

Character(s): Junpei, Akihiko, Yosuke

Note(s): Considering how canon is, I feel like Akihiko would be the most comfortable learning that he's crushing on a guy (he was pretty chill with the Aigis meeting Kotone scene).

Akihiko

Akihiko is impressed that you have experience with your persona prior to meeting. He already wants to train with you and figure out how you got your power and how long you've dealt with it alone. There's also some concern because he's seen personas go berserk or cause collateral damage so he wants to be someone you can confide in if you're carrying some past trauma too.

Akihiko doesn't care how it looks when he blows off his fangirls to be with you. He goes out to ramen with you, goes on jogs, walks to the dorm together. Rumors end up spreading easily, but he doesn't care. So long as you're okay with it too.

It's because of those rumors that he pauses and actually thinks about it. Akihiko knows that it's just a few students that talk about him being with you, but that's enough to make him ponder. He can't help but laugh when he does find himself entertaining the idea longer than what he'd be able to defend. Romance isn't his thing, however, so he might bring up the rumors sometime, but right now he's happy to stay your friend.

Junpei

You become his rival. I mean, are you serious? He has to deal with Makoto/Kotone and now he has you showing up being all cool and good looking. How is he supposed to be cool and show off now?

Very pouty as he talks about your stupid attitude, the stupid smile on your face, your stupid eyes lighting up when you've done something.

Yells when he realizes his feelings for you. Because, come on! Why does he have to have feelings for someone like you?! No way you'd like him back or feel anything for him. God, he hopes something ends him before he has to face you again and act like everything is cool.

Yosuke

Fully believes you two are just good friends. He finds you cool and strong. And yeah, he has eyes, of course he notices that you look good. And he's glad that you're his friend.

Yosuke notices Rise or some other person flirting with and is quick to come to your defense. Like you need someone that thirsty flirting with you. Come on, he'll take you out for ramen instead.

With Yosuke's luck, he's riding his bike when his mind starts to wander to you. He's hardly paying attention as he thinks of your eyes or smile or how he likes when you two are laughing together. He runs into a pole or something when he realizes what the hell is going on. Oh Yosuke is a mess after finding out that he has a crush on you. He teases Kanji about this same thing and now he likes you? He's screwed!

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@abellahearts-blog