#like dude look around for two seconds ur rabbit is right there

[impossible-rat-babies]

i appreciate the chill vibes of ppl watching me be turned into a toad for the 3rd time this boss fight

[marumafan]

You said misepan 2 is one of ur favorite yuuram short stories, can u give an analysis of it please!

Hello anon!

Ok! But I would really recommend reading it.  I have said this many times, there's something about Takabayashi-sensei style, the way she writes her stories, that I really, really like.

Misepan 2

Title: Misepan, means "Showing panties". So the first part (written 2 years prior and almost completely disconnected of part 2), was about a bet Murata thought for Yuuri. Yuuri said he was unpopular and Murata said he wasn't and bet Yuuri he could get someone to "show him their panties."

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Summary of part 1: In part 1, some chick was looking for a ring her bf gave her in the river and Yuuri helped her. That and the bet is the entire story.

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Intro: Misepan 2 starts in Shin Makoku. The topic of 'lost item' continues. This time it's Yuuri who has lost something very important. A hand made necklace that Greta gave him.

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The first part shows Yuuri and Wolfram around the castle. Yuuri tells Wolf he's looking for the necklace because he lost it. They meet Cherie-sama, who is wearing a maid suit and bunny ears and tells Yuuri that she wants Wolf to wear the same to attract customers for her new shop (a bar to find love).

Wolfram says he will refuse because of the bunny ears, because Yuuri hates rabbits (the mascot of Seibu Lions opposite team is an orange rabbit). Cherie mentions Wolfram used to love rabbits as a kid, because cats grabbed the attention of Gwen, and that they need Wolfram's help to cure Yuuri's rabbit-hate. (Yuuri is thinking he doesn't hate rabbits just that mascot from that team).

Yuuri calls Wolfram 'Honey-chan', and Wolfram gets angry and tells him that because he's younger he doesn't have a right to call him that. (Yuuri monologues that 'it hurt him to have Wolf remind him he is younger’)

When Yuuri mentions the lost item made by Greta, Cherie-sama remembers the 'pig soap' that Wolfram made for her. To which Wolfram mentions that it wasn't a pig, it was, of course, Cherie-sama herself. XD Cherie sama goes speechless due to the shock and Yuuri pulls Wolfram by the hand, and trots away from that place; so that he wouldn't see them fight.

Wolfram and Yuuri are alone again, and when Yuuri reveals he needs the necklace because he's going with Greta to the zoo the next day, Wolfram starts unbuttoning his shirt.

Yuuri panics saying he shouldn't be exposing his skin , people could see him ! What if some younger girl saw his bare exposed chest!  Yuuri is making a huge scene as if Wolfram were undressing. He seems jealous that someone might steal a glimpse of his beautiful chest.

At any rate, Wolfram shows him a necklace, just like Yuuri's. So it turns out that Greta made the same necklace for all 3 people in the family, Wolf, Yuuri and herself. Yuuri also notices that the stone used in all 3 are the color of Wolfram's eyes.

Wolfram says he will lend it to Yuuri for the zoo trip.

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Important scene:

Yuuri holds Wolfram's necklace still around Wolf's neck with both hands, and then pushes it against Wolfram's chest.

And says he can't accept borrowing it.

Wolfram asks why, wouldn't you do the same for me, if I needed something and you had it.

Yuuri says: "Of course I would."

At this moment, Yuuri has both his hands on Wolfram's bare chest. He goes into a monologue about how anyone would get 'blood rushing' to their brain, if they had both hands on their partner's bare chest, feeling how their heartbeat is the same as their own, and were thinking about something serious. He's overwhelmed and needs to take a moment.

Then he says:" when it comes to things that I can give you, I would give you anything, Wolf. But this is different. Because it's a handmade item. I'm sure that the shape of the stone is slightly different."

--------------------------------------------------- Important scene analysis: This scene is huge. Let’s analyze:

Yuuri: 1) Has both hands on Wolfram's bare chest 2) Gets blood rushing to his brain (to be taken literal and/or a symbolism for arousal) 3) feels Wolfram's heartbeat beating at the same rhythm as his own (symbolism for being in sync, one person, in love) 4) is thinking about everything he would "do" 5) says he's thinking about "something serious"

He's overwhelmed. Can't function. He takes a while to calm down and when he does, he tells Wolfram that "When it comes to things he can 'give him' he would give him anything."

Do you remember the 5 last points? Touching Wolf, aroused, in love, thinking about Wolf, and a "serious matter".

The undertone here is that 'anything' is referring to his virginity.

There was a time in novel 2, when he thought he was going to 'lose " his virginity to Wolf. But here, he's very clear when he says, he would 'give' it to him. It's those little things in the stories that brings back a memory of past things that happened and wraps them up with a little bow.

It's such a good scene. And although it has this sexual undertone, I like to see it more for the theme of 'sacrifice'.

He loves Wolf so much there is nothing he wouldn't give to Wolf. His virginity is cool, but what about his life? Is he thinking about that? If he's thinking about everything he would give to him, and this overwhelmed him. Is he thinking about that too?

I mean, who hasn't thought of that? What would you do for a loved one? How far would you go? And here Yuuri says it clearly to Wolfram, he would give him anything.

-----------------

Second part Gwendal is trying to find Yuuri because he found out about the lost item and thinks it can cause an international problem. The rumors have exaggerated what happened. Conrad also shows up, and Wolfram tells Yuuri to escape. Conrad follows him and Wolf stays there to stop Gwendal.

Yuuri sees Wolf as the bravest man alive, then this scene happens:

---------------------- Interesting scene: Wolfram: "Don't worry! It is a husband's job to rub their henachoko wife's ass!"

Yuuri: "Wait isn't it, maybe, "It is a wife's job to wipe her husband's ass" ? Yeah, maybe. No, I mean, I'm sure."

Conrad: "Eh? You're letting him call you henachoko? How generous. Well, then let us rely on Lord von Bielefeld's words"

------------------------ Analysis of this scene: Preamble: Before we get into it-> Because Japan has like a 4000 year old culture, and the 'couples' terms are always 'female' and 'male', we see a lot of 'wife' and 'husband' even between two males. Some may read into it (the top/bottom stereotype from the 90s), and I will analyze it too, but there's also a lot about 'kanjis' having certain associations that don't really fit the gender of same sex partners.

Analysis:

1) Wolfram makes a joke about rubbing Yuuri's ass (and asserts he's the husband and it's his duty)

2) Yuuri says the proverb is incorrect and "Isn't it "it's the wife's duty to wipes her husband ass?" But then he says maybe I don't know, I'm not sure.

3) Conrad is only surprised at the lack of complain of "henachoko", and not all the other married couple/sexual innuendos they've been throwing at each other.

This is the Conrad I love. He's so supportive of Yuuri and Wolf. He could have said something like "Wait, how long have you been married?" and make them both self conscious, but he didn't.  Conrad is great, and I love him and he deserves all the best. I'm a yuuram fan, but I love Conrad. He's an awesome character and a sweety. He's been through so much and I feel sorry for everything he's been put through, simply because the fans forced Takabayashi sensei to bring him back from the dead. (Additional info: Conrad was supposed to die in novel 5 and Takabayashi sensei spent many years trying to kill him after that, but the 'Conrad' fans didn't let her. This has lead to Conrad just 'floating around' in the novels... she was so angry she even made him the enemy for a while)

About the proverb: I couldn't find the actual proverb Wolf and Yuuri are talking about. The internet says two things: 1) it's a wife's duty to cut her husband's ear hair, and 2) it's a wife's duty to take care of her husband's arousal. Now I have no clue whether either of them are old sayings ... I simply couldn't find it.

But here's my interpretation. 1) Wolf says it's his duty to protect Yuuri as the husband 2) Yuuri says isn't that the wife's role? and in the end he's confused about the proverb. I think Takabayashi-sensei is 1, throwing sexual innuendos as usual here, and 2 is bringing ambiguity to the whole top/bottom stereotype. "Is he the top? Am I? I don't know", is what Yuuri says about this.

I think, as mentioned before, sensei addresses the top/bottom topic (because it's actually very uncommon not to bring it up), and says : yeah whatever, who cares.

----------------------------------------

Third part : Yuuri has a scene with Conrad, where he realizes that his necklace was shorter than Wolf’s so that both, the blue maseki and the emerald necklace Greta made, won’t become entangled. Yuuri is moved thinking that Greta even thought about that.

They find the necklace Yuuri lost, and this part ends with:

"Things will always return to the place they should be."

This makes me happy. It makes me think that Yuuri will always be back to Shin Makoku no matter what. I hope that Takabayashi-sensei sticks to her words.

And there’s another clear meaning: Conrad (blue maseki) and Wolf (the emerald necklace) will not entangle and cause problems. Conrad will continue to be the friend, and Wolf will continue to be the spouse, and the ‘necklaces’ won’t disturb one another. Another very important symbolism. Everyone has their place and role, and won’t mix, entangle or bother Yuuri. 

----------------------------------------

Last part:

The end of the story goes back to the main story in Misepan 1. So Yuuri is there with the chick looking for her bf’s ring. An old dude sees them, then the three find a bag full of gold in the river and they appear on TV.

In the end, Yuuri gets shown panties "mise pan" by the old dude. And the story wraps itself with a joke.

In the afterword Takabayashi sensei admits she didn't know how to end the story. This means, for what I can understand, that she just wanted to talk about the royal family necklace and Yuuri and Wolf, while finishing up a story he had to finish for the DVD set.

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The main reasons why I love this story :

1) There’s a new canon yuuram trope:" the family necklace”. This necklace is the color of Wolfram’s eyes. Greta was the one to chose it, too. She could have chosen ‘black’, the royal color and the color of Yuuri’s hair and eyes (that everyone loves in Shin Makoku), but instead she chose the color of Wolf’s eyes. I feel this is a symbolism Takabayashi sensei threw in there to make sure everyone understands it’s not Yuuri and Greta anymore, Wolfram is 100% part of that family, and it’s his color that binds the family together.

2) Yuuri’s line: “When it comes to things that I can give you I would give you anything Wolf”. As analyzed before, this is the ultimate expression of love, and he has said it clearly to Wolfram out in the open.

3) Yuuri and Wolf as established as a couple as they can be, not only between themselves, but also by others. Out in the open they’re calling each other husband and wife (in front of Dacascos and Conrad), and no one even questions this. Meaning it’s been a long time since people have known them as such.

4) Yuuri calling Wolfram Honey-chan (and Wolfram getting angry due to cultural misunderstandings)

Anyway, it’s a really great story! Please read it!

[shuwuwua]

farmboy!joshua

in which your first time in the rural countryside–crap internet, 20 minute drives to the nearest grocery store, random deer in the roads, and all–is not bad. not bad at all. (aka joshua and animals and being very soft) [fluff]

word count: 3k

disclaimer: not all rural areas are the same. you can get high speed internet. (just not in my personal experience lmao)

you were born, raised, and spent most of your livelihood in the same city

a proper skyscraper sort of city, not a “it’s bigger than a town so i guess we have to call it a city but the tallest building here is still only 4 stories high” city

your family wasn’t really one for vacations but this summer your parents decided to switch it up and spend a few weeks with your relatives who live in the countryside

and although you’ve been skeptical as to what’s possibly worth spending that long in the boonies, you figure it’s been a while since you saw those relatives and don’t say much against it

you’ve tried unsuccessfully for the past few days to avoid nature by browsing YouTube, but it’s proving difficult with your relatives’ lack of surfable internet

they finally suggest you go to the petting zoo

and you snort a little at first bc it’s not your ideal pastime but you suppose that’s what you gotta work with now in the boonies

so you drive to the nearby petting zoo. you exit your car.

and your hit with the Smell™ (of dried grass and poop, to clarify)

and you’re like. oh yeah. i’m definitely in the countryside.

you proceed.

as you walk up the path to the main buildings, you see some of the larger animals around you. horses. cows. the pigs are outside feeding at this hour. you’re kind of in awe because you’ve never seen a Live Cow and,,, they’re kinda cool how they’re so chill and they look sorta Smooth like they’d be really pettable and you wonder if you’d be able to milk one or smthn

but you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.

you open the barn door. and are immediately hit with more Smell™

you wonder if it’ll attach to your clothes. you figure you will deal with it later.

there is something else to deal with at the moment.

“wait, no–lucky! come back!” someone yelps as they rush around in front of you, chasing what seems to be a ball of fur that moves at the speed of light

or a puppy. same thing, really. 

that someone takes a giant leap of faith, only to just barely miss the pup and end up face first on the floor, which you can’t imagine being the most sanitary of surfaces

you look away in search of the flurry of fur. you can’t see it, but you can definitely hear it. unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like it has a collar, so you prepare yourself to scoop it up completely rather than grabbing its collar. as expected, it runs into your direction and you launch at it...

success!

lucky squirms in your grasp, barking and sniffing at your shirt. they must decide that you’re an agreeable human, because they start trying to lick your face

“wow, you caught him!” you look up at seemingly the body from earlier

and like,, not to exaggerate but is this what looking at an angel is like?

the boy you’re looking at looks back with such bright eyes and with a gaze full of affection, although after a second you realize the affection is probably for the dog. he has the best smile you’ve seen in a good while, because people you pass by in the city don’t smile that much. he just radiates Warm and Good and is probably great for business, because he’s just as cute as the puppy who is still going at your chin

“i… yeah, guess i did. uh, you kind of have straw all over you” is what you settle on saying to him, because out of all the things you noticed about him, your brain decides that the straw and dirt still sticking to his cheek and various parts of his shirt were the most acceptable features to point out. while they weren’t the more flattering options, they probably saved you from the complete AWKWARDNESS that would have come from mentioning his eyes or beaming smile or really anything else bc the straw and dirt were the only flaws.

“oh!” he exclaims, straightening up and brushing off his shirt

“… here too,” you say, grasping lucky in one arm as you move your other hand to your cheek

of course, he wipes at the wrong side.

“the other side”

“right. ok. am i good? sorry, that’s not a great first impression.” 

he still has a smear, but you decide it’s probably not going to budge and he’ll figure it out later. and he has no clue what a great first impression it was. clearly. “no, it’s fine.” 

he continues to smile at you and you’re still crouched, clutching lucky. lucky then decides to yelp because he’s tired of the severe lack of attention, which snaps you back to the situation. 

“oh, right.” you stand and give lucky back. 

“here he is!”

once lucky is back in the boy’s arms, he immediately starts to lick at his jaw. the boy sighs and pulls a treat out of the pocket of his apron, waving it around lucky’s face. “what are we going to do with you?” 

he turns back to you. “sorry about that, lucky is a very excited young pupper, as you just saw. the most problematic of all his siblings. anyway, i’m joshua! welcome to nabiya petting zoo. is it your first time here?”

you nod. “er. it’s actually my first time in this area, or in this part of the country, really. i’m from a pretty big city.”

“oh! well, a bigger welcome, then. i hope you enjoy your stay.” 

he rubs lucky between his ears. “isn’t it nice to get away from the busy urban life sometimes? i’ve always thought it’s really relaxing around here.”

“yeah, it seems… nice so far,” you say loosely, reflecting on how you haven’t really seen enough to come to that conclusion

he still has that warm smile. “i’m going to put lucky in his pen. hm… you’re the only one who’s come in so far today, so i could show you around if you want?”

“yeah, sure! i haven’t seen a lot of these before,” you reply, going down the list of animals at the side on the wall.

“ok, i’ll be right back!”

when he comes back y’all walk around n look at things and he asks you if you want to hold or feed some animals and you take everything pretty well, more than even you expect

you look at the normal domestic sort of animals like a litter of kittens, and the pen with lucky and his other pupper brothers and sisters

typical farm animals like pigs and sheep

sheep are not as fluffy as you imagine, they’re actually kind of gross looking if they haven’t had a bath recently

nonetheless you find them kind of cute, and you even pet one of the rams, aptly named… sam the ram

something tells you joshua was responsible for the name

you guys go out to the field and observe some turkeys strutting around

“huh so that’s the thing you see in clipart, the thing hanging off their faces”

“yeah it’s called a snood”

“LOL huH”

“only the dudes have snoods”

“um”

“during mating season, female turkeys pick male turkeys with longer snoods. you could say they’re in the snood for love.”

“please stop”

y’all spend a lot of time with the rabbits bc “bunnies are my favorite animal” says josh as he crouches next to a brown fluffball of a bunny, petting it

it’s just such a Good n Wholesome scene you can’t help but let slip “wow ur so cute”

he looks up, but his expression says he is otherwise unbothered

“sorry, what’d you say?”

“i SA ID the buNNY is sO cuTE” panics

“oh” joshua says. “alright” he turns back to the bunny, a tiny smile on his face

before you know it, 4 hours have passed and your stomach is letting you know dinnertime is approaching, so you bid josh farewell and wonder if you’ll ever see him again because that was a hecking nice 4 hours

you find yourself coming back again two days later lmao

today, joshua is putting out slop for the pigs. he grins at you. 

“hey again. what brings you back so soon?”

you find some excuse like “ykno i just bonded with sam the ram so well i had to come back, we’re bros now” and josh just laughs softly at you

“ok. you wanna look at some horses today?”

“whoa. o-okay.”

when he brings them out ngl you’re kinda intimidated bc like,, they’re some toL bois.

one time you saw a pony at the state fair but that was smol n cute and walked at a pace of 3 miles an hour

but these horses?? threatening. now you understand where the horse in horsepower comes from

“hey, don’t look so scared. they’re harmless!” the black stallion chooses that moment to snort and buck a little. 

you gulp.

“no, really.” he pets the stallion. “snuffles has never hurt anyone.”

you blink

“,,, snuffles ??”

joshua gives you a hard stare. “7 year old me thought that was an appropriate name and today years old me still thinks it’s fine”

you raise your hands to say “ok man ur turf ur way”

joshua clears his throat dramatically and turns back to ,, snuffles. “so aNyway, i brought snuffles out because i think he’s the best for a beginner to ride, and i’m assuming you’ve never ridden a horse before.”

“yeah i haven’t… wait did you say we’re gonna riDE them??”

“yeah, we don’t usually let people do that but i feel like you need the whole farm experience so you can go home and tell your friends the country isn’t just yeehaw and old town”

“but like… isn’t this just proving the point of old town? you literally have the horses in the back.”

“however, my hat is not matte black. i don’t even have a cowboy hat. or Wrangler. or anything else the song mentions. just the horses.”

“ok joshua if it makes u happy i will take snuffles to the old town road”

he gives u a big :D

he instructs you on how to mount the horse and stands behind you in case you start falling but thankfully you don’t so we don’t have to go over any kind of cliche

~ gripping of the waist for balance ~

or

~ catching you in his arms ~

scenes

: ))

“hey, good job! give snuffles some pats or something.” you reach a hand out to stroke the side of snuffles’s face. he whinnies a bit. Well frick, you think, that was kind of cute.

joshua decides he’ll walk some laps around with you before letting you actually ride snuffles by yourself. after you seem to be comfortable, you guys walk/trot around some and that’s how the rest of that afternoon goes :)

picture this with me

the sun is low in the sky

and y’all and your horses are just looking out over the hill

skin lookin immaculate bc it’s the golden hour

a massive grin you don’t even realize you have on your face.

and then you gotta go home, as your stomach reminds you again.

over your stay at your relatives’ place, you visit the petting zoo more times

you and josh become pretty comfortable with each other

he always has a lot of time to spend with you bc people don’t come that much this early in the summer, and in general they don’t get a huge amount of traffic but that’s okay financially bc the petting zoo is just a side thing, it’s mainly his family’s farm

and so you learn more things about him and his family from your times together, you guys sometimes sit around with some lemonade and hold some bunnies. lucky has also taken a liking to you, so you hold him a lot.

joshua tells you about his parents having always wanted to live peaceful and healthy lives, eating their own produce, moved to the area before he was born and it just expanded into the farm.

so although no one lives on the farm, they live pretty close by and he spent most of his childhood around all the animals.

you wonder if he was born with the soft, patient, and gentle nature needed to care for all the animals or if the animals shaped him to be that way.

but on top of that, he really loves spending time with them. even though he’s there basically every day, he never seems tired of his job.

“but what about you though? i’ve never really been that far from here, so i wonder what a big city is like.”

you trade your chaotic urban stories for his peaceful rural ones, and he trades his farm accident horrors for your memories of solidarity in the city.

you tell him about all the great food, countless different flavors of restaurants and a bubble tea chain every few blocks

you tell him about the convenience, the variety of transportation and the proximity of things, like basic groceries

the crowded sidewalks, the crowded metro, the crowded shops

the neon signs that light up the night, the period of quiet and calm somewhere around 3 in the morning, when you can open the window and hear the city nightlife in its most muted yet most raw state.

not only has time in the countryside made you appreciate it more, but also your home life more.

while you’re still wrapped in your memories, joshua smiles softly at you from the side. lemonade long forgotten, ice long melted. “that sounds really nice. your stories make me want to visit you in your hometown some time.”

huh. he could’ve just said visit the city, but he said visit you in your hometown. joshua has such a way with making the conversation personal.

you process what he said again and think about what it’d be like if he came. you could take him to all those places you raved about… it’d be like…

,,, a bunch of dates really. your brain frazzles a bit at the thought.

“… yeah! … that’d be pretty cool.”

and that’s how your afternoons pass these days. lemonade at the side, bunnies in hand, breeze passing through hair.

eventually josh asks you if you want to hang out like… nOT at the petting zoo

and you’re like whoa ok what’s your idea

and he’s like “can you meet me at watchtower hill tomorrow at 8pm?” 

he thinks about what he just said and quickly follows with “i know that’s kind of a really late time, but i promise i have no nefarious intent! oh, shoot that makes it seem like i do. i really don’t i promise! i just wanted to show you what the sunset and night sky are like in the countryside. oh, i just spoiled it…” he flashes you an awkward smile and some finger guns. “yep, that’s what we’re doing! no nefarious activities.”

you grin at him. “calm down dude, i didn’t think like that in the first place. i’m usually out even later at home anyway.”

he rubs the back of his head and laughs it off with you.

you do meet the next day at 8pm. he brings some midnight snacks that his mom made. except they’re not really midnight snacks, because you’re not trying to stay out there until midnight (spoiler: you do, because y’all yak a lot)

you guys sit on your jackets, watching the sunset. it’s the kind of temperature that’s says it was mad hot during the day, but now that the sun is going down, it’s cooled into a pleasant room temperature with an occasional warm breeze. 

for once you all don’t say much, because it’s nice to just share the moment. 

you reflect on how you’ve come to experience the area recently. most of it was the petting zoo, but sometimes you’d take up some of joshua’s suggestions about the area and report back to him how the experience was later on. 

looking out at the sun that bleeds out into the blueish black night, you think that it’s been a pretty good time here, and maybe it does have an edge on city life.

as the last of warm colors finally seep out of the sky, the moon takes over the night and the stars become more apparent than you’ve ever seen before.

seriously, it’s a scene out of a movie. you know, the wide screen shot of the protagonists staring at the sky, mystified. the panorama over the constellations that twinkle down at you, a little gift from the galaxy.

“i’ve never seen the sky like this. all the twinkling lights in the city come from the streets, and the buildings. which are pretty in their own way, i think. but Mother Nature… is really something else,” you say.

“yeah,” he says, looking at you as you’re still in awe at the sky. “something else.”

a few more moments pass, but it’s a timeless night as the sky is frozen in space.

joshua lays back on his jacket.

“hey,, maybe this is sort of crazy but.”

you turn to him, raising a brow.

“it’s been really, uh.. it’s been. really awesome getting to know you. i’ve just kind of… seen the same sorts of things all my life. the same sorts of people. i mean! of course, everyone is unique in their own way but! you know.” he takes a glance at you. “rural folks, urban folks. there’s a difference. so I’ve really enjoyed talking with you. uh, i mean i enjoy talking to you regardless of if you’re from the city or not!”

he puts a palm to his face and sighs. from behind his hand, he says, “i just like you.”

“i like you too, joshua! you’re a really great guy.”

“no, not like that. i mean. i like you.” he finally removes his hand.

you blink a little. and finally burst into a grin. “yeah. i like you too. you’re a really great guy.”

it’s his turn to blink

you lie back as well. he slowly starts to smile next to you

the stars above shine on.

yeah. this is a life you could get used to, too.

a/n: i stole the snood puns from a website i was reading sry website. hope you guys enjoyed and i had a lot of fun writing joshua this way (he’s all squishy, not exactly canon i would say lol)

[jugggheadjoness]

ink-stained skin // reggie mantle soulmate au

Ink-stained Skin

Ink-Stained Masterlist

Words: 1.3k

Summary: Reggie attempts to contact his soulmate through words written on his skin. (Y/N) attempts to push her soulmate away.

masterlist

(Y/N) sighed as the writing appeared on her skin. It had read:

‘I got football captain!‘ 

with a smiley face drawn at the end. Pushing herself up from her seat, she made her way towards the bathroom in hope of getting rid of the ink incorporated into her skin. It had been the third time in a week that her soulmate had written to her and it had been the third time in a week she had ignored the words he wrote.

She didn’t want to push him away but she also didn’t want to be with Reggie Mantle, the guy, who on most days had an iQ lower than her six year old cousin. Sure, he was built like a God and sure, he had enough sporting ability to make up for the lack of hers but she couldn’t be with him. Of course, she couldn’t be with him, not when they spent ever waking moment disagreeing over the simplest things. She knew it was him, however she tried her hardest to hide her identity from him.

He had tried to figure out who the person he was destined to be with ever since he realised that they existed.

He was eight when he first realised that his soulmate existed. Unlike the rest of his friends, he didn’t have a name etched into his skin, neither did he have a countdown on the wrist of his prominent arm. To Reggie, there was no sign of him having a soulmate. Until the very day, he saw a messy sketch of what seemed to be a rose appear on his right forearm during math class. He gazed around the room, wondering if it was anyone he already knew. Every year since, on the exact date, a rose appeared on his right forearm.

The sign of his soulmate’s existence that caused him to reach out to them occurred when he was thirteen. He felt a pain in his ankle that caused him to drop to the ground in the midst of a soccer game, clutching it in hopes it would stop the pain.

Later that evening, he picked up the purple sharpie that sat atop of his wooden desk and pressed it against his skin, doodling a frowning face, following it with the words:

‘I hope u r okay.’

He sat waiting for a response from his soulmate, shaking his leg impatiently. He sat waiting for a response; after an hour of waiting, he attempted to contact her again, etching the words:

‘ur probably asleep, i hope u get well soon’ 

and followed it with a doodle of himself.

She stared at his writing, only just noticing how messy it was. Analysing it closely, she realised it was his writing. It was Reggie Mantle’s writing. She recognised it from anywhere. Who wouldn’t recognise their lab partner’s writing?

It had been two weeks since Reggie had wrote to (Y/N) informing him of his new title as the captain of the Riverdale bulldogs.

She felt upset but she didn’t know why. She wasn’t that into Reggie. Looking down at her arm, she noticed a drawing of a sad face followed with the words:

'silent treatment?’

She let out a small laugh at the words, deciding it would be an appropriate time to reply. After eight years of ignoring him, she finally replied to his words.

'never’

She sighed, maybe she had judged Reggie before even giving him a chance. “Oh god, what’s gotten you in this state? Is it Mantle?” Kevin spoke, earning his best friend’s attention. “So when are you going to fuck him?”

(Y/N) spun around in her chair and dragged herself toward him and smacked his arm. “I hate you.”

“Does he even know his infamous soulmate is you?”

“No and he’s not going to find out until we graduate!”

(Y/N) was about to join Kevin on her bed, when she felt a tickling sensation on her left forearm. She smiled at his response, his words making him seem like an excited child during Christmas.

Reggie looked down at his arm, smiling to himself. She had finally written back. “Dude, she wrote back.” he grinned “Andrews, she finally wrote back!”

“I’m happy for you, cap but coach wants us on the field.”

He spent all of practise counting down the minutes until he could reply to his soulmate. He was unsure whether his soulmate was a female or a male but it never really mattered to him.

After showering, he picked up a pen only to notice that his soulmate had drawn a small rabbit on her left wrist. For most of the eight years he knew of his soulmate’s existence, he had always thought that they were left handed, as the drawing of the rose always seemed to appear on his right forearm. He took his place next to Archie, waiting for coach Clayton to enter the locker room with the information about their next game.

Archie looked over at his smitten captain, knowing that there was no way he would be paying attention to a word their Coach had said, too infatuated with the new drawing on his arm. “She actually wrote back. What is she doing?” he mumbled to himself, pulling his phone out from the back pockets of his jeans, wanting to text her.

Reggie was pulled out of his trance as he heard Archie’s mumbled words, his eyes widening slightly, Archie must’ve known who his soulmate was. “She? You know my soulmate!”

“Reggie, calm down, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Reggie nudged Archie playfully “Tell me.”

“No.”

(Y/N) could barely react before Kevin snatched her phone off her and answered Archie’s incoming call. She let out a groan, knowing that it would be related to Reggie.

“You’re writing back to Reggie? (Y/N), that’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Archie exclaimed as soon as she answered, causing Kevin to laugh. “You’ll never be able to hide your identity from him until graduation if you continue replying.”

“My god, Andrews, you sound like you’re in the midst of a mental breakdown.” Kevin scoffed “Plus, she’s only just started drooling over Mantle.”

“I’m coming over! I’m bringing food!”

Reggie sat in his car waiting for Moose to get back with their food. Looking at himself in the rear-view mirror, he noticed a bruise had formed on his bicep. Instantly, he picked up a pen and wrote to her, drawing a winking face

'how did u get ur bruise? hope you haven’t been fighting’

Within a few seconds, his soulmate had already responded.

'SORRY!!!! the door handle was a lot higher than i expected. hope you didn’t feel it.’

Reggie let out a small laugh, not even realising that Moose had joined him in the car.

“Dude, you’re whipped and you don’t even know who this person is. What if it’s some old dude who’s kidnapped your soulmate and is trying to lure you to his house?” Moose groaned. “You did order a steak burrito right?”

A new semester meant new classes, new activities. (Y/N) slumped into her seat during home room, Kevin to her right and Reggie sat behind him. He glanced up from his desk, only to be met with Kevin, whose head instantly shot back to face his best friend.

“Got a problem, Keller?” He spoke, earning a scoff from (Y/N) “You too, (L/N)?”

“Don’t inflate your ego any further there, Reginald. It might burst.” (Y/N) responded, turning back to face the front, not wanting to speak to him any further.

(Y/N) then realised the reason why she had been so hesitant to reveal who she was to him. It was because he was one of the most egotistical people she knew and the person she spoke to through her ink-stained skin was nothing like the person she knew.

As soon as the bell rang, (Y/N) pushed herself out in attempt to beat the crowd that would be gathering in front of her locker. As she rushed, she failed to weave through the desk, hitting her hip on the corner. She let out a groan, clutching her hip instantly.

Reggie felt the pain grow in his hip as he watched (Y/N) try to groan and walk the pain out. His eyes widening and a gasp falling from his lips.

“It’s you. You’re my soulmate.”

[bitbraver]

modern au grover hcs bc he is a Good™ :

his mom’s an environmental engineer, and has pretty much raised him on her own since he was five. for one reason or another, she’s not home as often as she’d like to be, leaving grover the house to himself most days. however, she does check in frequently with him, and the two do have a good relationship.

because he’s usually home alone, though, he takes that as he can walk around in his boxers or loose fitting pj’s as he pleases.

he doesn’t have many memories of his dad, and the only picture he has hanging up is one taken of him with his mom and little toddler grover at the park. it’s one of his favorites.

he wants to be an environmental engineer like his mom! like, he’s so interested in geoscience, dude! that is his passion.

his house is full of various plants, all of which he takes care of on his own. even his bedroom has a bunch of succulents lined up by the window, and chilling on shelves. he’s out of control. it keeps him busy, though.

i’ve already said this but: he has myasthenia gravis!

there are these two little flower pots right outside his front door. if you know that there’s a spare key buried in the left pot, that’s a big sign that he trusts you. he’s told, like...two people about that. maybe. not even.

gay for everyone but i mean, is that really new

his grandparents live on a farm, and he goes there every summer! he can’t help out with a whole lot of stuff, but he does what he can. his favorite is feeding the animals. there’s this fluffy brown cow there named elisabeth that he absolutely adores.

his grandparents actually taught him greek! his mom never really got around to it, but he’s capable of having a full blown conversation with his gma and gpa in greek, and likes to write in it and talk to his mom in it, just so he doesn’t get rusty.

listen. do what you want, but the second u step foot inside his house, ur gonna recycle whether u like it or not

grover is messy. he’s unorganized. despite that, he somehow manages to keep things looking decent, and even though he’s got a few clothes and stuff lying around here and there in his room, everything is...pretty well kept.

best courses are science and english (and lunch / study hall lmao)

also: adores anything mythos related. while his knowledge rests primarily in greek mythology, he also knows a few roman, slavic, and egyptian facts. he’s...a complete g(r)eek, and i really wouldn’t recommend talking about this stuff with him. or geoscience. don’t mention either.

pet! parrot! her name is cybele and she’s loud. i’m sorry

he...actually has a lot of pets. i mean no one’s really stopping him and he’s responsible enough (don’t u dare say otherwise, Blocked) to take care of them so ??

he has two lovebirds (theophane and ariadne), a lionhead rabbit (nemea), and there’s a somali (ailuros) wandering around somewhere. he has 0 chill. he’s gonna be living on a farm by the time he’s 20

what more do you want from me

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Week in Anime (Christmas Edition!)

Salutations and welcome to a special edition of The Week in Anime! With my winter break starting, I’ve been able to catch up on all of the anime and now I have stuff to say about them, both good and bad (fortunately this time, it’s mostly good). Because there’s around 3-4 weeks of stuff to write about, I’m gonna revert back to my old style of TWiA for this week. That is, I’m gonna write a blurb for every show, and not give out any awards. And since most of the shows ended this week, it’s also kinda nice since I can talk about the show as a whole. Thus, there will be spoilers. That’s kinda self-explanatory, plus I usually use spoilers in my posts... but no matter, still nice to have a warning. So let’s start off this show with the usual...

The News Corner

Since it’s been a while since I had one of these posts, there’s bound to be a lot of anime news that I can talk about. Maybe important stuff like Shokugeki no Soma getting a “fourth season” in Spring, Boku no Hero Academia’s third season airing during the Spring, etc. But here’s what I think is the most important anime news of the past few weeks:

http://moetron.news/post/168065646960/back-street-girls-tv-anime-has-been-announced

Yes friends, Back Street Girls. Read the synopsis for yourself, since I don’t think I can do it justice by describing in my own words. Truly, a pinnacle in anime.

Ok seriously, this is... something. Something weird AF. But I’m not gonna lie, it got my attention. Obviously since I’m writing about it, but it did. So much so that I ended up reading the translated chapters of the manga. And I have to say... it’s not that bad. There definitely is the merit to the complaint that the three dudes have the same personality and thus would probably be better as one person, but they’re different enough that it wasn’t too much of a concern in the manga.

In its core this whole thing is a gag comedy. I don’t expect it to be deep with its topic, and neither should you whenever this show airs. Definitely gonna be an interesting show to watch when it does come out.

All righty, with that, let’s start the rankings/blurbs starting with my AOTS:

Rankings:

1 (0). Shokugeki no Soma S3 (8/10) COMPLETE

So when I heard that this show was gonna be one cour instead a standard two cour, I shared the same opinions as the thread commenters of /r/anime: “no”. But after watching the last episode, I have to say the season ended on a really good note. Soma sharing the info that Joichiro was his dad to Azami and Erina was a nice cliffhanger to the future events I don’t know much about, but heard meh things about.

Disregarding the future though, this season was miles better than the second season. It brought back the nice balance of intense cooking battles and relaxed slice-of-life moments that made the first season so fun to watch, something the second season lacked until the last few episodes with the Stagiaire Arc. The biggest issue has to be the animation, something I didn’t notice until I saw it being mentioned on discussion threads. At first I dismissed those claims, saying that all anime was like that and that people were being their circle-jerky selves. But I went back to the first season and yeah, I admit it got worse. There was a lack of action-y moments in the third season which were replaced with panning shots. Now I don’t think this is a huge issue, because let’s be honest the animation isn’t a big draw in Shokugeki: it’s the nice-looking food and the explanations about the nice-looking food. And this season delivered on those fronts, making it a super fun watch as long as I had something to eat/wasn’t hungry. Because otherwise I suffer from watching good food being made/explained while wanting said food, and that’s not fun.

Anyway, overall Shokugeki S3 gets a 8/10 from me. I would say I’m excited for the next season, but based on comments from manga readers I’m not expecting too much from the next season... though I would recommend the show if you haven’t watched it, since the first season is in my top 10 favorite anime and this season’s looking like my AOTY.

2 (+1). Just Because! (8/10) [11/12]

Mmm that’s good stuff. Most anime nowadays just are stuff that I watch and move on from. But with this show, it’s been both a really nice slice-of-life/drama/romance/kinda comedy(?) that’s brought out a lot of nostalgic and comfy moments. It’s rare for a show to get me so emotionally invested, but when it does you know something’s going right.

Since the last episode is airing next week, I don’t want to go too much into detail about the show in general yet. So I’ll just talk about this week’s episode. It reminded me a lot of the time I was applying for colleges. A painful experience, yet for some reason I felt a warm nostalgia through the whole time watching this. Plus it was a really nice set-up episode for the finale: we get Natsume passing, Komiya winning an award, and Eita maybe passing (it was kinda ambiguous). Who will win in this love triangle? Who will end up with who? Will anybody win? Why did I ask the same question three times? Find out next week in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!

I have to give credit to Pine Jam (the studio making this): all of this is amazing when you think about how much delays the show’s been going through. It seems like every other week the episode is delayed on Amazon Strike even when it aired on time in Japan (a sign that they just finished the episode). Yet the animation hasn’t taken a nosedive in quality and it’s kept a steady consistency in all aspects. Hopefully the finale ends the show on a high note because so far it’s been a fun ride.

3 (+2). Net-juu no Susume (6/10) COMPLETE

If there’s one word to sum up this show, it’s AWKWARD. But you know what, that’s totally fine. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s that the last few episodes focused on the real life relationship of our two main characters, Moriko and Sakurai, who were some pretty awkward kids.

Before I go deeper into that, let me talk about the show as a whole. The first half of it was a nice “romance” with minimal interruptions. Towards the middle, the show faltered a bit for me with Koiwai become more of a presence and that weird gray area when Moriko and Sakurai were finding out the truth about each other and their online characters. Then we get that end with the awkward. The last episode especially, though I enjoyed how cute the whole thing was... minus the washing machine cucking (and the kids in the end to a degree).

I know that’s probably what most people were disappointed in: nothing definite happened between Moriko and Sakurai. I was a bit bothered by it too, until I realized it was probably the best ending for the two. After all, they’re two people who don’t have experience with love or people in general. Why would you expect them to suddenly confess their feelings or even straight up kiss? It’s a bit unreasonable to think that, and so the hand-holding thing at the end was a good enough confirmation that yes, they are in a relationship.

Disclaimer: I haven’t watched the 11th episode/special yet. I wanted to finish the show and write my blurb before doing so. So maybe something more might happen... though based on the MAL rating, doesn’t look like it.

If there’s one thing that did bother me, it was the number of sheer coincidences that had to happen for everything to fall into place. I mean I know it’s anime but still... it’s a bit too much. I can’t get over the fact that they met not only once, but twice in sepearte MMOs. That’s about as good a chance as me getting 5 UR cards in a single 10+1 pull in School Idol Festival. Which never happens. I think.

Anyway, overall the show was pretty nice, albeit a bit forgettable (since I’ve already forgotten a lot about it already and it hasn’t even been a week since I finshed it). 6/10, would recommend if you like a good romance.

4 (-2). Juuni Taisen (6/10) COMPLETE

“I mean it ended the way I thought it did.”

That’s if we’re talking about the battle royale aspect of the show itself. Because the actual anime didn’t end with just that, but rather spent its last episode with Nezumi’s wish, which turned out to be a pretty lackluster end to a show that in hindsight, wasn’t as great as I thought it was. Now that sounds harsh, but I had this show rated pretty highly for most of the season. Overall the show wasn’t bad, but there were some questionable decisions such as spending two episodes on the twins (whose backstories weren’t particularly interesting) and not having Rabbit’s backstory. Though I guess not having Rabbit’s backstory works with his personality. But I was curious to see why he’s like that, which is something we’ll never find out.

There were a lot of good moments in the show, though. Most of the backstories of the characters were pretty interesting, and made what sounded like a cliche battle royale into a more interesting study of characters with differing personalities and techniques battling each other. I love competitions as much as the next guy, so seeing how each warrior matched up against each other really triggered the inner sports fan in me. So much so that if I wasn’t into the competition, I probably wouldn’t have liked this show as much. Overall a solid 6/10, would recommend for those into battle royales and interesting character stories.

5 (+1). Love Live! Sunshine!! 2nd Season (6/10) [12/13]

You know at this point, I accepted that idol shows aren’t for me. Their whole focus of “the power of friendship and miracles” really isn’t my thing, and honestly it’s my fault for not realizing that sooner. Now don’t get me wrong -- I’m still very much in idol hell. Just... in different ways via the music and mobile game (which I should really stop spending money on...).

Now to the actual show critique part. Taking the above statement into account, this was probably the better Love Live Sunshine season. But as of right now, I’m putting this as the lowest ranked show in the Love Live series. Something about the number of cheesy episodes just really got to me, culminating in the penultimate episode with the most cheese so far in Love Live.

Okay, I’m gonna stop talking about cheese and actually use real words. There were some really great episodes, which happened to be the character-focused episodes. My favorite definitely is the YohaRiko episode with the dog, with a close second being the Dia episode. Episodes like those still have good cheesiness to them, but the cheese is character-based and more relatable instead of “let’s shine” and other buzzwords. Plus it adds good depth to the characters: Dia went from my second-worst girl to right in the middle of the pack. Riko went to the top 3, and Yoshiko/Yohane, well she was already #1.

Speaking of characters, there were definitely a few that got shafted hard in terms of screentime and character development. You is definitely an example: even though the later episodes have focused on her relationship with Chika, I still wouldn’t know much about her if I didn’t read her profile-stuff on the wiki (I was bored okay). Like the fact she’s a Olympic-level high diver. Did you know that? I did. Maru’s another example of this, though that’s more getting reduced to memes which honestly a lot of characters in LL have been prone to. I do have to give props for developing the third-years though, because I can now see Mari as more than just “Shiny” and “It’s Joke”. We can all agree though: Chika least best girl. Everything the girl says is cheesy AF.

Having said all of this, if a third season were to happen (or a movie, given this season might be the last one), I’d still watch it no problem. Truly this is the power of idol hell.

We’ll see how the last episode goes, because it might just be the end of Aqours... :(

6 (+3). Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara (6/10) [12/13]

I think this is the first time a show I rated a 3 or lower rose back up to a good grade. But that’s what happens when you focus on not having your alcoholic main character be drunk, but rather have nice moments where they aren’t drunk. Because it feels cheap to me when they’re acting cutesy while drunk. Almost like it’s fake in a way. The last two episodes in particular were really nice because they were the backstory in how Chisato and Sora met, which was actually pretty cute. More episodes like that please.

7 (+1). Blend S (5/10) COMPLETE

Sigh... this was an interesting one. Let me just say this right now: the “relationship” between Dino and Maika was the one factor in ruining the show for me. Yeah, the fanservice was pretty iffy, but if the romance wasn’t a thing I would’ve enjoyed the show a lot more.

I loved the idea of different personas in a maid cafe type of thing. It reminds me a lot of my favorite channel on Youtube, Cow Chop. They play up their bits in a “role” for most videos, but in their podcasts and other miscellaneous stuff, they’re their real selves which is refreshing to see. Because their bits and roles, while funny in doses, would be horrible if it was their real personality. Which is how I feel about Blend S. If the characters’ personalities were actually their roles, the show would be annoying as heck. But because it’s just a role, it’s fun to see how different they are compared to their actual selves. How Maika unintentionally becomes sadistic. How Kaho is actually the nicest character in the show. How Mafuyu is actually the most savage character in the show. How Miu is... kinda the same actually. And how Hideri is... exactly the same.

...Oh. Never mind.

All that would’ve made this one of my favorites, but that romance though. It just really bothers me. Now I know it doesn’t bother a lot of people, and that’s fine. But I’m just not about the weird age gap. I’m not saying I hate age gaps in general, just that when the gap starts with a high school girl, it’s a bit questionable. This may sound shallow, but if Dino was a bit younger or Maika a bit older, I would be totally fine with it.

Speaking of that, having Maika be older (say 19 or 20) would make a lot of sense in the context of the show. A girl struggling to look for a job so she can study abroad: still makes sense if she’s college-aged, and relationship is ok-hands for me.

Disregarding the relationship, the characters were fun. Yes, even Hideri, though I think it really helps that the VA for the character is the same VA for Nico of Love Live fame. Really got the obnoxious idol character down pat, plus her deeper male voice was really well done. Sasuga Nico.

One last thing: the OP is pretty bomb. Yes, I know how meme’d the first few seconds of it got, but watch the rest of the opening. It’s very fun, reminiscent of the Working OPs (which this show shares some similarities with in other areas).

So with all this said, 5/10 would maybe recommend if you like moe shows. Also if you can disregard the Dino/Maika thing, which I see a lot of people are anyways... SMILE

SWEET

SISTER

SADISTIC

SURPRISE

SERVICE

WE ARE STILE

(expected the meme? Pls)

8 (-1). Animegataris (4/10) COMPLETE

So... what the actual baloney did I watch? Seriously, that went off the rails after a certain point, that point being the festival arc. I have so many questions that were left unanswered and just brushed under the rug with the explanation that “the anime world and real world are being combined”. Like... really?

Confusion aside, the show’s only nice aspect was the meta with its sick anime references, both with the industry and the fandom. A modern version of Genshiken in a way. The “namedrops” were pretty fun and the explanations for some of the industry norms were the best parts of the show for me. Unfortunately, that all went downhill after the first half of the season as the show went full meta and went towards the “combining worlds” plotline that just ended up confusing me. Though I do admit the finale of the show was nice, albeit a bit lackluster compared to the WTF-levels of the few episodes before it.

But just because a show is meta doesn’t mean it’s good. At the end of the day, this show just crammed references and meta without much consideration for the characters or the story, which were both somewhat underdeveloped.

Off topic: one thing that really bothered me was the whole thing with Yui fanservice right before the OP for the first nine episodes (which continued even towards the last scene of the show. So I was right that something would happen with that. It’s just that the thing was just an OP with only Yui (Just Yui). Now that would be fine if she had something to do with the events of that episode, but she didn’t. So... WHY. WHY DID THEY DO THAT. SERIOUSLY. I’M SO CONFUSED AND I’M SCREAMING NOW SEND HELP.

That’s basically how Animegataris made me feel during its latter half. The “wao how META” doesn’t work for me in this case, and so I leave it with an unsavory rating and a “don’t watch this unless you like sick anime references and meta AF plot.” 4/10.

So before we end, I know I said no awards, but there is a little one I wanted to mention:

The “Red Flags” On Hold Show of the Week: Pingu in the City

It’s not that the show itself is bad. But... I don’t know, I don’t really have the motivation to watch the show. That’s usually how these shows end up on hold: I lose motivation. Maybe I’ll watch it again sometime in the future. Maybe not. Maybe I get to the 100 other shows on my PTW list.

And that’s all for this week! Thanks for reading this extra-long post! Hopefully I’ll get my “What I’m Watching” post out soon: I’m around 40% done with it so far. Anyway, thanks again, and I’ll see you in the next post!