#never have i been more sad i don't live in japan

[uncomplicated-joy]

isu and jsf quaking in their boots rn.

also appreciation for whoever is running the olympics website they are really spending their days having feelings about yuzuru and that is frankly so relatable.

[paperdice]

Hii! I saw you write for saiki k, so i was wondering if i could please request Kusuo x foreign reader hcs? Reader is a transfer student from somewhere outside of Japan (maybe australia because i’m australian, but anywhere is fine if you can’t do that 💕), and she (or they, up to you) ends up in saiki’s friend group and they get feelings for each other. If you end up deciding to do this, tysm!! xx

𝐊𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐱 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬)

"Is it sad that my heart's beating frantically? you give me that look and I'm over the edge."

small note, reader will be Australian for the hcs but it won't be heavily influencing in all the hcs

When you first joined the new school, it was naturally nerve-wracking for you. New country, new culture new everything, it was one scary ride that only made you hope for the best.

Thankfully, you wouldn't be alone much longer, not with the new friends you've made. In fact, one of them had been tugging at your heartstrings for awhile now, and the melody felt right for both of you.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Kusuo knew your intentions and how you were rightfully afraid during your first day. He knew how you truly feel, just as he does for everyone else in his life. Your thoughts and feelings were another book for him to read clearly, so why was it he was slowly growing an interest in you?

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He's got a sharp mind, he knows himself better than anyone else, or so he thought. He always knew that he wasn't interested in romance and thought he would never feel it due to his psychic abilities. His romance radar seemed to be a little 'nonfunctional' but he didn't care.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ After awhile of getting to know you, he realized he was feeling off when around you. A feeling he didn't recognize was growing within him, and he quickly realized it. In the deepest farthest back of his mind, Saiki understood it had to be a romantic feeling.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He was stung by the idea, though the more time flew the more he was okay with it being towards you. The hidden love you had for him was no secret that you could possibly hide from Kusuo, he observed the gradual blossoming of your feelings for him firsthand.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ When you first arrived, people were curious about your life in Australia and shared their thoughts and comments during your conversations. Although Saiki didn't say anything to you, internally, he was interested in the life you lived before moving.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He knew you snuck in a lie or two about encountering a snake that tried to eat you, or how you threw in scares with exaggerations about the snakes and spiders. Or how overly dramatic you made yourself when addressing the pure hatred felt towards the city of Melbourne, Saiki never knew there was a city in Australia that was heavily frowned upon. And from what he heard in your thoughts, you didn't know why either, not from personal experience that is.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Trying to evoke reactions without ill intent, you seemed friendly. Over time, quirks like these grew endearing to Kusuo. He saw right through your choices more and more, only to find more things about you he liked. So, how is he now that he knows he likes you and you like him?

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He definitely looks out for you. Naturally, he knows better than to be a stalker constantly following you around. His abilities underline that idea as useless; though it's not like he'd ever do it. That's why he checks up on what nuisance is bothering you or what future nuisance will be. People do have a habit of barging in on you. You'll never say how tiring it is, so Kusuo does you favors.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He enjoys your new-found company in the friend group, whenever you come around he subconsciously moves more in your direction. You don't like bothering him too much so he doesn't have to worry about you being a problem, he knows you don't wanna make some foolish mistake in front of your crush. Though you don't have to worry, your flaws to him are meaningless.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Sadly Kusuo doesn't get butterflies around you, but being near you disrupts his control over his powers and makes it hard for him to maintain while solving unthinkable problems. This can be frustrating, but he's never been mad at you about it, he can't control his heart after all.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Ever since he developed a crush on you, he has been smiling without even realizing it. It's just a small, soft smile that creeps onto his face when he sees you enjoying yourself with others. Luckily, he manages to catch himself before anyone else notices.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Saiki can't help but be a little jealous if guys are flirting too much with you, he knows you won't accept them however for some reason his mind can't help but feel envy.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ He finds your opinions and morals interesting, internally giving dialogue on breaking down your thoughts and why you might think that way. An unspoken way of his is that he shows he cares about how you think by breaking it down like some analysis.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ If you have any hobbies or interests, he'll take some time out of the weekend to take a look at what's got you all hooked. Music tastes, collections, shows, podcasts literally anything you're into he'll give it a try. The appeal might rub off him, you do have good taste in things, to Saiki that is.

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ His crush on you was a secret for a long time, and was almost accidentally figured out by Nendo. That mindless Nendo somehow connected the dots out of nowhere, maybe he saw how Kusuo looked at you, or maybe how close he gets naturally. Whatever the case, Kusuo freaked as Nendo was calling your name. But when you turned, it was just Saiki standing there, you felt crazy..

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Kusuo has only ever thought of you two being in a relationship as a maybe thought, which says a lot. But he decided that if he truly does want more in the future, he will make a move, a slight one at least. Just for you.

Saiki is such a cutie pie, maybe ill write dating hcs at a later date. Thanks for the request, feel free to return to ask another!

[whisperofwonder]

Departures & Arrivals

Timeskip!Iwaizumi Hajime x reader (gender neutral)

POV: You are one of Iwaizumi's college classmates in California, and there's definitely something between you, but it takes two trips to the airport to figure out exactly what.

2k words | Slight angst with a happy ending

You navigate through the crowded lanes in front of the airport, finally coming to a stop in front of the correct gate. Hajime turns to you before reaching for the door handle.

"Thanks for dropping me off," He says for what's probably the fifth time. "I really appreciate it."

"Of course," You wave it off, "There's no way I'd let you pay the crazy prices for an uber. We're broke college students." You laugh, and he answers it with a smile. "You need me to help get your luggage?"

"No," He shakes his head, "I've got it. Don't bother getting out." You nod, and he finally opens the door as you pop the trunk. You roll the window down as he turns for the door, pulling his suitcase behind him.

"Have a good time back home!" You call out. "Send lots of pictures!" He turns back and lifts his hand in a wave.

"Of course I will," He promises, flashing you one last smile before he turns to go. You watch his retreating back for a few moments before rolling the window back up and putting your car in drive.

It's bittersweet, watching him leave. You know he's been looking forward to going back home for a few weeks this summer, and that he's been feeling a little more homesick than he'll admit. Still, your life is going to feel just a little bit emptier without him around.

You sigh, turning the music up a few notches as you pull onto the highway. You can't get the evening a few weeks ago out of your head.

The two of you had been dancing around it for months. Your friends recognized it in the mildly flirtatious back-and-forth, the way you always ended up sitting with your shoulders touching, and that you somehow found a way to spend nearly every weekend together. You recognized it in the tug in your middle that you felt whenever he was around, in the strange certainty starting the moment you met him that this was someone you've known all your life. Someone you connected with on a level you didn't even realize existed. You'd never felt this way before.

"Hajime, I really like you!" You'd finally blurted out. You aren't sure if that means exactly the same thing in Japan as it does to you, but judging by the look on his face, you can only assume it does. For a few moments, he only looked at you, different emotions playing across his face, then closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"I can't," He finally said, sharply, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, that was - I mean -" He paused, and you watched him parsing the English together in his head, heart falling into the pit of your stomach. "I can't do that to you." He said more softly. "I - I've thought about it," He admits. "But I don't want something... casual." He finally settled on the word. You're left reeling, because he's admitted to having feelings for you and turned you down in the same breath.

"And after I graduate, I know I'm going back to Japan," He continued, "And I can't ask you to deal with whatever that involves. I can't ask you to choose between me and the rest of your life. So I think it's better if we just stay friends." He paused. "Because I do want to be your friend. I think you're pretty great," He added with a small, sad smile.

Even turning you down, he's the nicest guy you've ever known. "Okay," Is all you could say, softly, pasting on a brave smile. "Friends, then."

It's not as though you haven't considered what it would mean, being in a relationship with him. You do have a life here in the U.S., and a family, but you're confident in knowing that it's something that will always be here, waiting for you, no matter where life takes you. With your major, you know you could find work anywhere. Even before meeting Hajime, you'd had dreams of living abroad. Japan doesn't sound like such a bad choice.

You haven't told him this, not in so many words. You don't want him to think this is something you're saying just to be with him. The future is a big thing to promise on what might turn into a few dates before you decide to go your separate ways. Still - if he was open to it, you'd be willing to try.

The next morning, you wake up to a message letting you know he'd arrived safely, shortly followed by a photo of the Sendai airport. You smile at your phone, telling him you're glad that he made it home.

The following days are punctuated by photos and messages, painting you a picture of a place called Miyagi - somewhere you'd had no reason to know existed until you'd met a certain dark-haired sports-science major. Suddenly, it seems like a very important place indeed.

You reciprocate, sharing snapshots of your hometown, places you can't help thinking you'd love to share with him in person. As time passes, the messages grow more and more frequent, and longer as you try to cram exactly how much you miss him between the words without admitting as much.

One morning, you've just poured yourself a cup of coffee and curled up on the sofa to enjoy it when your phone rings. To your surprise, Hajime's name shows up on the screen.

"Hello?" You answer hesitantly, a little worried at first that something might be wrong.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Even across the phone line, the sound of his worried voice is a welcome sound.

"No," You laugh softly, "I just poured my coffee." You lift the mug to your lips and take a sip.

"Good," He says in a huff of relief. "Time zones are weird."

"They are," You agree with a chuckle. "So, what's up?"

"I couldn't sleep, and - I thought I'd call you. Texting isn't quite the same," He admits. You picture him, maybe sitting cross-legged on the bed in his childhood bedroom, and you press your smile to the rim of your coffee mug.

"No," You agree. "It's not." You haven't ever really talked on the phone with him before. You saw him so often, you hadn't ever felt the need to, but this is nice. "How is it being back in Japan?"

"It's been really great," He says quickly. "Seeing my parents and my friends again has been nice. In a way, it almost feels like I never left. But is it weird that I also kind of miss California?"

"No," You say softly, biting back the fact that you miss him. "California misses you, too," You say more lightly, drawing out a warm chuckle from him that you feel in the pit of your stomach.

"What about you?" He asks then, "Anything exciting going on?"

You shift to a more comfortable position, hugging a throw pillow to your middle and taking a breath. You hadn't known how to share this with him via text. "Well, I just heard back from this company in Norway. They're really interested in having me work for them, starting with an internship this fall. I could transfer to a university there to finish my degree."

"Oh," He says quietly, and you hum in response. "That's great!" His voice brightens, but it sounds fake even through the phone. "So... you would move to Norway?"

"Yeah, I would," You confirm. "If I decide to accept," You add. "I think living abroad would be exciting." You aren't dropping any hints, you tell yourself. Just stating the facts. A year ago, Norway would have done just as well as Japan, or any country, really. A year ago, you probably would have already accepted this opportunity by now.

"That sounds like a great opportunity," He says, "I'm happy for you."

Are you really? You want to ask, but you don't.

"Thanks," you say instead, and find an excuse to move on to another topic. You chat about his travels in Japan with his friends, and your recent trip up the California coast. By the time the conversation winds down, things feel almost normal between the two of you again.

"I should let you get to sleep," You say finally, after he stifles yet another yawn.

"Yeah," He says reluctantly, "You're probably right." He pauses. "One last thing," He adds. "You can totally say no, but would you mind picking me up at the airport when I get back? My flight gets in on August 9, at 4pm. I can always ask Adam to do it if you-"

"I'll be there," You say quickly, before he can finish. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay," You can hear the smile in his voice. "Thanks."

For a few moments after you hang up, you don't move from the couch. Talking to him again, hearing his voice, it stirred up everything you'd been trying so hard to keep at bay.

As the days pass, your correspondence is relegated to shorter messages and quick photos. Things between you feel just a little more stilted than before. Slowly, you're beginning to accept the truth, something you'd been trying so hard to ignore.

I can't just be your friend. You've practiced it over and over in your head. It's going to hurt to say, but you can't go on like this. If Hajime doesn't want to try to make a relationship work - and you can't blame him if he doesn't - then it will be better for both of you if you don't see each other anymore. You even have your perfect escape route - Norway. You tell yourself you'll wait to give them your final answer until after August 9.

Driving to the airport, the gnawing pit in your stomach grows with every mile. This may be one of the last times you see him. You're terrified that you'll chicken out before you can even give your carefully planned speech. You're terrified it can only lead to goodbye. You can't even allow yourself a sliver of hope, because it will only hurt that much more in the end.

Waiting in the lineup of cars, you watch the streams of people passing by for a familiar face. Craning your neck, you finally catch sight of him stepping through the doors, and you can tell the moment he spots you, because a smile breaks across his face. You clench your fist to strengthen your resolve.

Getting out of your car, you move to the trunk, making sure there's plenty of space. It looks like he's returned with an extra suitcase. When he finally approaches the car, only a few feet from you, you look up at him again. "Welcome back!" You say, attempting to put as much cheer in your voice as possible.

He doesn't answer, and instead lets go of his suitcases and strides purposefully through the remaining space between you. Before you can react, his lips are on yours, a hand at the back of your neck to keep you steady. You let out a small, surprised sound before you return the kiss automatically, fingers bunching into the material of his t-shirt as if to prove to yourself that he's really here in front of you - really kissing you like he means it.

When he finally pulls away, his cheeks are flushed, and he's breathing heavily. "I want to see where this goes," He says breathlessly. "I want to be with you, if you'll have me?" What a silly question, as if the way you'd shamelessly pressed back into his kiss hadn't been answer enough. You can't help but smile back.

"Yes," You say quickly, eyes searching his face, taking in very part of him.

"I know it won't be easy," He adds, "And I know we'll have to be long distance, at least for a little, but I want to try. I want to put in the work, because I know it will be worth it."

"Yes!" You say again, giddy laughter bubbling up, "I'm ready," You nod, "I'm ready to do whatever it takes. To be with you." Your smile feels like it's splitting your face in half.

There are long conversations ahead. There's so much to discuss, and so much to prepare for. It won't all be easy. For now, though, Hajime pulls you close and kisses you again, the press of his lips assuring you that, no matter what, it will be worth it.

[bibibbon]

Just realized that the way Deku is treated like a nobody for saving the world in the ending is exactly how All Might was trated after his retirement.

There are no more fans pestering All Might for his autograph or trying to talk to him, we don't see any of his fans or kids even try to approach him. It's like this guy wasn't the #1 hero for years and helped them feel safe in a chaotic world, but was filling papers for 40 years instead.

Everybody knows about All Might's real form and they act like he's nothing just like with Izuku. Dai is the only one of those kids who recognizes him. The way heroes are discarded once they are no longer of use either because of death or retirement is sad honestly. It reeks of commercialism's Out with the old, in with the new kind of mentality

Ooooh an unintentional parallel by horikoshi between these two??? Iam not sure

However, Iam not sure what horikoshi was trying to get at here. In my opinion, it doesn't make sense at all for the public to simply become silent about all might after his retirement specifically the all might fans in particular. After all mights forced reitement there was various talks in the media about the great change this would cause in society and how they could prepare for it and this can be seen in chapter 115.

I do find it interesting that everything seemed to be convinetly quiet for all might after his retirement maybe this is because a lot of people still didn't know hos legal name and all they knew was his second identity instead. But don't you think its weird that the public who saw all might fight and be forced into retirement due to that fight not question a lot of things at hand like:

Why does all might look so different?, is it another quirk?

Who was that villain that was so strong to be able to take down the strongest hero in Japan?

Has all might been lying to the public?

For a character like all might who was set up to be the most infuelntial hero within Japan and the world, who was set up to be a pillar to society his absence was treated like a casual Tuesday morning which is so weird. Sure its understandable that people would of expected all might to retire soon since he has been on duty for over 30 years but it would still cause a huge ordeal that probably the guy who kept japan the safest and has been the most constant thing in hero society is suddenly retiring.

You would also think that all might would still be visibly shown to have fans, people who acknowledge him, respect him, appreciate him or heck even the opposite people who dislike him and want to kill him. Horikoshi could of shown us how all might deals with all of this whether that be fans bothering him nonstop like paparazzi, invading his personal space and bombarding him with questions and wanting him to sign their things or haters who keep posting about all might and outright maybe threatening to kill him for a various of reasons. Yagi was a convenient cover up for all might in the vigilantes manga he used it to pretend to be his own assistant to naomasa and he could easily live a quiet life without needing to be bothered or in danger 24/7 by villains and what they could do in his disguise of yagi.

Yagi is the true all might that the world was never meant to see so what happens now that the world knows?

Does the world simply cancel all might? Honestly I doubt it but hey iam adding it here since it could be a possibility.

Overall, this does seem pretty weird with how the former strongest hero in Japan simply being forgotten about even though the whole idea of yagi being all mights disguise was framed in a way where it helped keep him safe and was equally convient for him.

Moving on to izuku now this one is equally as annoying and weird as all mights to be Frank. The hero society is never framed to have fully learnt their lesson since almost everything from the last chapter and before that hints at the topic of history will repeat or rhyme itself. The way izuku receives recognition from characters in the series is very mind-boggling to me since its always inconsistent. @mikeellee provides good examples of this whether that be izuku being never given the credit to him cleaning the beach or to him being able to help keep control and keep cool under pressure during the shopping mall incident which helped save lives.

Izuku does seem to get much more negative light when it comes to his mistakes which is fair and valid however, arcs like the vigilante and final arc come to prove that the thing that izuku is necessarily being told off about is something outside of his control. Izuku can't control the fact that he is all mights successor he didn't know what he was signing up for when he received ofa and was ignorant to the existence of afo. The same idea applies to the civilians who put a huge pressure on him to get things back to normal and bring back an era of peace. You expect a 16 year old child solider to do that? The final arc was framed in a way where izuku couldn't save shigaraki and in my opinion with the way it was written and framed it seemed like ahigaraki wouldn't be saved. Izuku tried yet he lacked everything he needed, knowledge, resources etc etc and due to that it led to a horrible conclusion for both characters making them unlikeable (to me).

There was this very insightful meta that went along the title of the "uselessness" of izuku midoriya. This meta points out a poem about izuku and how that revolves around his character while I do enjoy the idea of this I still dislike the execution of it. Yes, this can be an explanation as to why izuku is so forgotten adding that ontop of the reoccurring idea that izuku is plain and easily forgettable it meshes well as an explanation however, you would think that after someone has accomplished incredible feats like izuku and someone who has a statue would be talked about right? And not in a fangilring cheerleading way similar to what happend to bakugo and shoto because that just went to show how hero society didn't change instead.

In the end, I don't think that this was an intentional parallel written by horikoshi but it was an interesting one

[absolutebl]

hi!!! do you have favorite bl movies (maybe with happy endings too)?👀❤️

Top 10 BL Movies

(as of end of 2024, in no particular order)

My personal favorites will always have HEAs (or at least HFN). I don't love ambiguous endings and I hate sad ones. I'm going to include the Korean stuff that has been recut as movies, because I can.

1 Seven Days

Japan 2015

AKA Seven Days: Monday-Thursday AND Seven Days: Friday-Sunday

This is a cheat as it's 2 movies, but that's still less run time than your bog standard marvel tent pole these days, so it counts.

One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes. The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

2 Can I Buy Your Love From A Vending Machine

AKA Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? AKA Vending Machine Sabi Koi

Japan 2023

This movie is utterly adorable, impossibly awkward, and kinda old fashioned. About a cute nerdy little office worker (he's out!) who has a big'ol crush on the tall hulking vending machine guy. They fall in love. And that’s it. And it’s charming. There’s some first name eroticism (because Japan) and there's emphasis on communication (so not Japan) which turns this into an organically loving and talkative relationship. There’s a bit of an age gap and our office cutie may or may not have a muscles fetish (the hot bod, not the shellfish) because (if I’ve told you once I’ve told you 1 million times) Japan always goes kinky. And you know what, I loved it.

3 Restart After Come Back Home

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Japan 2020

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy, grumpy/sunshine. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth the patience, low heat, low angst, and stunning.

4 His

Japan 2020

His is about being a grown adult and still struggling with coming out. It addresses the consequences choosing a life disingenuous to identity. Nagisa turns up on Shun’s doorstep with his precocious daughter in tow. This is a touch confusing to Shun since they were each others first love and Nagisa broke his heart. Shun has retreated from society, rejecting the world before it can reject him because without Nagisa he never had a reason to fight. Nagisa went the opposite, pretending to be something he was not, ending up with a daughter he adores and a wife who hates him. This movie is beautiful and the setting is unique and interesting but I'm not wild about the ending, it's HFN (happy for now). Honestly, I think I mostly liked this because I have a mad crush on Miyazawa Hio (Shun).

5 After Sundown

AKA Saengrawi

Thailand 2023

It's from Mandee and horror (neither really my thing), yet I liked it. It's oddly sweet and wholesome, for a ghost story. Phloeng and Rawee enter into an arranged marriage for confusing prophetic reasons. Twists of fate demand that they solve the mystery of a past that is haunting Phloeng's family and harming Rawee. Honestly, it makes no actual sense, but it's kinda historical, and very pretty, so I enjoyed it more than I should.

Korean BL that aired as shows but are cut together as movies & great

In some of these cases the movies are better than the originals, in some they are exactly the same.

6 Color Rush

2021

A unique paranormal twist elevates this classic high school drama into a pitch-perfect allegory for the queer coming out experience and one of the best BLs of all time (I will fight you on this).

7 Semantic Error

2022

The ultimate enemies to lovers, also the prettiest. Sexy older boy discovers pouty younger boy has outed him as a slacker, starts out bullying him, accidentally falls madly in love instead. Korea hits it entirely out of the Parks by doing a university BL with everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. Korea's signature quality executed perfectly with added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL.

8 To My Star

2021

Hwang Da Seul directing this show about a neurotic actor (actual puppy) who takes refuge with a grumpy chef resulting in sparks, cooking lessons, and LOVE! It’s is a touch quirky to get into, but utterly charming once it hits its stride. This is the ultimate grumpy/sunshine pairing plus the most appealing light-filled kitchen of our dreams. I adore this show so much. Limited use of BL tropes makes this feel more of a sweet contemporary gay romance between an actor plagued by scandal and the chef who accidentally adopts him, but the gentleness will appeal to fans of the BL genre.

9 Long Time No See

2017

This originally aired as a series but I have only ever seen it as a movie. So I'm counting it.

Catfishing assassins on either side of a turf war fall in love not knowing they are on opposite sides. Or do they? Suspenseful plot, good fight sequences, mature characters, hot sexitimes, and even hotter beating the shit out of each other and kissing while covered in blood (this came from KOREA?), plus an HEA. One of the greatest hidden gems of the BL genre.

10 Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart

2020

Set in the music industry featuring a talented singer and the pianist who falls in love with him (and his music), this is subtle and achingly adorable. High production, low heat, short run, very tame, and Korea, so all the pretty. Slow burn and lots of pining.

(source)

[knightyoomyoui]

Mina x M/F Reader - "Need You Now"

One of my shortest one-shots in the book. Sorry if this is unlike most of my longer fics, unfortunately I have to say that due to how busy I am in my life right now, I can still insert wriing stories in my free time, but not as long as I use to do anymore. Probably my one-shots from now on will be like less than 3 or 5k word count. This fic is inspired from one of my favorite songs of all time, "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. The structure of this story is in a music video-type narrative, so while reading this you can just imagine this as an alternative MV with the song in the background. I may have done the ending a little bit longer for the final chorus but I needed to add atleast more dialogue so yeah, just skip any unneccesary parts in your mind to fit it in the song haha. Lastly, I don't accept any commissions for now but I'm very open to accept any donations for you kind readers as another way of appreciation for my works. I can use this for my upcoming on-the-job training so please if you can spare some, I would be highly grateful. ko-fi.com/knightyoomyoui Enjoy reading!

It is nighttime of a random day in the 1700s in Japan, and Myoui Mina is currently living alone in her house. She is standing in front of the window as she views the townscape of Kobe with all the illuminated lights coming from the houses and posts. While her eyes are fixed on the scenery, her mind is busy projecting an image of a certain person to cope with the sadness she’s feeling.

Picture perfect memories with you is what she has been replaying on her mind again and again, in which she won’t stop or get tired at all, just like she can do with just being around you. All she feels is joy and tranquility within your presence, and although she needed it right now, it makes her disappointingly wonder why this day is just going to end up unlike what she had with you before.

Her almost-a-month of longing for you has already reached its breaking point, not for the idea of only meeting you in her dreams but to the annoying fact that you had to disappear without leaving any trace for her to follow or indication to be relieved that you’re doing well on wherever you may be at right now.

She reached for the telegraph in her table and tries to contact you until she realizes that she never had your contact with him and it will rather end up being pointless, just like as her search around the town that she has done few days ago, inquiring for your whereabouts.

Slamming the telegraph back into its place, Mina groaned and sighed heavily with a frown on her face. She sat on the bed, her energy deteriorating as the likelihood of receiving a response or an update about you increased. It’s already a wasted 49th attempt at reaching back to you, and she wondered how long it would take to be ignored like this.

Mina then started to question you by herself: did you ever become happy with her and do you even still think about her even when you're not around to spend time together with her? She knows that you already knew that she hates feeling abandoned anymore, and now that you act like you are unaware of it, Mina is now wondering twice if you even listened or understood why she said that and especially

when she told you how much you mean for her.

If she'll be the one to ask the same, she admits that she is and she does it always until now. She won’t be this determinated to find and learn any news about what you may be doing if you’re just somebody that she’s close with. No, for Mina… you turned out to be the only person that holds special purpose in her life.

And not having you anymore will make Mina lose interest or simply, a reason to continue living again. Twice is enough if the pain will just be doubled, she believes.

Mina has checked the time and realizes it's been already quarter after 1 AM that she remained awake. It made her broke down in tears, knowing that this isn't like her who waits for this long and the fear to be alone again is eating her up inside more in which you once helped her to fight it since the first time she met you.

Looking at the telegraph again, she said to herself that she won't call anymore, thinking that she might probably be disturbing you or becoming strange with her frantic efforts of searching for you, but Mina has already lost control, and she doesn't care anymore if she has become this desperate.

She just needs you tonight, and now that you’re gone after showing her how it feels to have someone by her side after living most of her life without a family, relative, or even friends, she doesn't know how she can manage without having you again in her life.

Meanwhile, not so far away from your hometown and from Mina’s sanctuary, you were cleaning your weapons until it got interrupted when your concentration vanished again just by the memory of Mina affecting your heart and mind.

You looked out the window, reflecting the dark sky and atmosphere outside. A sudden concern about how she may be doing had obliged your body to react. Letting out a huge exhale, you stood up and proceeded to your brewery to grab another bottle of whiskey.

Pouring one into the glass and taking it as medicine for missing Mina a lot again alleviates the loneliness from the state you are in. You kept your composure; you know the time is running out, and you just had to remain still and focus on the plan.

The more you keep remembering Mina, the more you have begun to appreciate every aspect of her, even more than you have ever crossed your mind. But then you have seemed to notice that whenever you have an episode of this, a strange feeling is lingering inside your heart.

Which led you to speculate if maybe you are now enjoying the existence of Mina like, way more or far away from just being a friend or a companion that you met when you were alone strolling through the forest. The thoughts of her being actually deadly gorgeous in a way that is obviously not a normal compliment anymore and her admiring personality have captured your attention further to how she really is as a mesmerizing woman.

You looked at the door shut, missing those moments where Mina would just freely sweep open through it and greet you with her gummy smile and her adorable cheeks that puff whenever she’s happy. If only she can visit you again, it will not be the same exchange that you’ll definitely do for her this time.

You owe her one that is more than that, that’s why. But then you took note that you'd save it for later as the perfect time is about to arrive soon nonetheless.

You checked the time and it's been quarter to 1 AM already. You also became aware that you’re starting to get drunk now. The alcohol increased the emotions you’ve been caging up inside, causing you to lose control that results to your tears containing the minimum of what you’re entirely feeling right now that’s making you obvious that you simply want to see Mina again.

You swore that you wouldn't call for her to keep your focus on the plan but at your drunken state, you have gotten lost out of your control, betraying your very own words.

You kept on mentioning Mina's name as you promised to yourself that you’ll come find and save her because if you don’t, you aren’t sure at all on what you can do without her.

And at the same time as when Mina declares to herself that she needs you, it wasn’t coincidental that you share the same sentiment.

Timeskip to 4AM early in the morning, Mina was peacefully sleeping on her bed when her enhanced senses had her alerted back to conscience. She rose from the bed and noticed some flashing lights and growing silhouettes coming from outside the window. It should’ve been dark and quiet during this time since it was still too early.

Checking out to gain a better glimpse of what source its coming from, she observed that the townspeople are marching into her house all bringing their tall torches and knives with them.

“Is there a ceremony being performed today? W-why are they making their way through here?” Mina then watched them seperate, in a form that they’re surrounding her house.

“D-do they know already?” Getting the hint that they all are now aware of her true nature, based on the knives and torches they brough with them, she became scared that this will be the time that she'll die.

They all began to yell and some went on to bump the front door repeatedly. Mina rushes to close the door of her bedroom. Hearing the door collapse from outside, footsteps and chatters came near towards her hiding place.

Mina started to block the door with her body as the townspeople banged through her door again, their intentions come full obvious that they came here with one objective, and that is to eliminate the impostor that has been living with them all along.

“Ah! P-please, stop!” she yelps and cries for mercy as she remains to secure all the doors for her safety while they barge into her place, she wishes for you to come for the last time

until she heard series of growls, curses, and screams from outside.

She tried to take a peek through the little gap that she made by opening the door a little. “YN!!!!!!!” Mina became horrified to witness you getting teamed up by your fellow townspeople with some dead people lying around as they bathe in their own blood along with some scattered through the walls because of what you did.

With your bloody huge knife, she realized that you came all around here to rescue Mina only to get outnumbered because of the ampunt of townspeople gathered to hunt and kill her kind.

“MINA!!! RUNNNN!!!!!” She heard you yell for her name while being battered and dominated by your monstrous townsmen. They all looked around to find her, and they spotted Mina peeking through the door.

She closed it again and barricaded it with her body. Their more aggressive bumps and your wails with your brutally awful state had Mina whimpering and crying poorly.

The pity she feels for you however loaded her infuriation. Every second her eyes blink, her pupils flicker into a purplish color. As she gritted her teeth, her hands clawed with some bio-kinetic energy forming like a ball through her grasp.

Her hair floats at the intense air caused by her transformation, and suddenly her witch powers awakened. She points her hands at the door and blast through it, sending all the townspeople back. The rest looked at her horrifyingly as Mina steps out of the shadows with her figure beaming in all purplish magic.

“KILL THE WITCH!!!” The all roared but Mina used her magic to dismantle every townspeople who go against her and YN, all in brutal fashion.

After she splits a woman in half in mid air with her innards and blood splattered across the room and into her face, she then got caught by the last three men by firing bullets at her, making her groan in pain.

They were about to do a double tap when you quickly stood back up despite being wrapped around in ropes. You attacked them by tackling and headbutting them away from Mina before you leave them for her to finish them all by exploding their brains out.

As she slowly calmed down and degenerates her magic, she breathe heavily and saw you staring at her in awe, speechless at her true identity as a witch. You know who she really is, but this is the first time you’ve seen her in her full potential.

Mina got afraid of how you will but in her surprise, you ran through her and reconciled with her in an embrace.

“A-aren’t you scared of me?”

“Of who you really are? I have accepted you since the beginning, I’m rather scared of what they might do to you.”

She immediately broke down in tears around your arms. “W-where have you’ve been all time? I thought you’ll leave me forever.”

“I’m sorry, Mina. I know, it’s all my fault that I didn’t inform you at all, but its all according to my plan and it has to be done.”

“So you knew about this?”

“I did. I overheard my tutors that one of them discovered your background of being a Myoui, a well-known family came from a coven of witches that they’ve… k-killed years ago. And since they knew me being close to you, I hide and there, I began making my plan to rescue you with the help of an informant.” You revealed the reason to your disappearance.

“Y-you did that f-for me? B-but you hurt yourself came all the way back here because of me… and you killed your-”

“Ofcourse and I don’t care about it, I rather can’t consume the guilt more of having you harmed than killing others who dares to lay their abusive hands at you. Y-you’re… you’re the only person I care… and love the most than anyone, Mina. You’re the only one I have left as much as you have me only in your life. I came here not just because I have to save you. I need you now, Mina. I can’t wait any longer again to see you.”

Mina cried again and buried her head deeper in your chest. “I need you now too, YN. And always. I’ve waited for you to come back.”

“And I’m here now, Mina. I’m never going away anymore. Whoever come across against us, we’ll face them together.”

You kissed her on the lips after breaking your hug with her. She was shocked at your action but it didn’t took her more time to catch up with your movement. As you and Mina stare at each other, both then smiled at this new found relationship that grew within your bond.

You helped Mina stand up and covered all her gunshot wounds, not minding your own evidence of violence through your beaten body. “I think we should go now, others will start coming here and they won’t like what they’re gonna see.”

You offered her hand at her and she looked at it before she returned her gaze at your face. “Should we run away from here?”

“I’ll follow you wherever we go.” Mina accepted, holding your hand with firm grip, enough to consider that she’ll forever stay by your side.

You nodded at her. Pulling her along with you, both left her house and all the deceased fellow townspeople inside as you escape the grotesque scene with Mina.

[noroi1000]

can i order something satosugu with a girlfriend who is very air-headed and incredibly strong, as if she is a special grade sorceress, but despite her strength, she is very affectionate with her boyfriends

Strength is not everything

SatoSugu x reader

Summary: You are not strong without them. Despite being a special grade sorcerer. You are weak without them. Without them, your strength is meaningless.

"What are you doing there?"

You looked at your boyfriends who were standing in the bedroom doorway staring at you.

"You were supposed to leave... Did something happen?" Suguru asked you, watching your face.

You were going abroad.

Because according to the superiors, it doesn't make sense that three special grade sorcerers are in Japan, in the same place in Tokyo.

While Okkotsu and Tsukumo were traveling around the world, you were in Japan. And sometimes you just went on missions abroad. But then you went home.

However, you were to leave for Europe forever. To take over missions there. So that there are not so many powerful sorcerers in Japan.

You were supposed to fly there today.

They took you on the last stationary date before you left.

Because once you leave, you'll never live with them again. The only contact you will have with them is the Internet.

Nothing more...

That's why you were sad...

You were a very confident person. Your superiors didn't like you because you were too brazen with your strength.

You thought they wanted to get rid of you.

And it hurt you that they hate you so much that they want you to leave the country.

Once you're gone, the only time you'll be able to meet them live is when you're in Europe, and so are they.

However, neither they nor you can take a long leave of absence. Because they can't do it without you...

That's why your life was bad in that sense.

You didn't have much free time. The Missions and Teaching of Students...

If you were to leave, you'd lose a part of you...

You couldn't smile without them.

You're really attached to them... You can't live without them.

Would you just go away and leave them?

You don't want to live a life where you have them far away from you.

It would be the most painful time for you and them.

You've been with them all day. All night. To give them one last evening with you.

Without them, it doesn't matter how strong you are...

You cried in the night knowing it was the last time you could cuddle with them for so long.

You cried when you didn't want to let them go at the airport.

You cried when you knew what you had with them would never happen again. Because you'll have to have a different life.

But how were you supposed to give up loving them? How could you stop wanting to live without them? How

How?

You couldn't. You're too used to their presence.

You're too used to them being there all the time.

You loved them too much.

You couldn't live without them in another country. On another continent. It pained you to know that you would be alone in your new home. And they won't come home from work to lie down next to you.

You will never live in Japan again. You will never live the way you used to live.

Since your home will be in another country...

Maybe you were brazen with your strength... But when it came to them, you were so weak with them...

They were stronger than you. It is obvious. But you were still strong.

And their presence made you even stronger...

How could you just give up your happiness because others told you to...?

Would you rather have them than this strength...

You preferred to have their love forever ... And not to sit in another country and see them only via the Internet.

You want skin to skin contact. With them. You don't want to sleep alone in bed.

You want to sleep in your big bed where the three of you sleep.

Because of this bond with them. Because of this attachment. You wouldn't be able to live normally without them.

Before you got on the plane, you ran out of there.

You escaped and returned home on your own.

So that later when they come home they see you on your bed with tears on your cheeks.

You pulled them both to you, not caring that they both fell on top of you, crushing you on the bed.

You cried holding their bodies.

"Baby-." Satoru started. But before he could finish, you started sobbing the words into their bodies.

"I do not want! I do not want to leave! I want to stay with you!" you moaned.

You were so strong. But they're so weak. So weak without them.

You couldn't be strong when you were taken from them.

You could never be powerful when you were separated from them.

It was such a cruel and horrible feeling... But it was real.

Every strong man has his weakness.

They are your weakness.

Because without them you can't be strong...

"You don't have to leave if you don't want to..." said the White Haired Man as they climbed off of you, laying on either side of you.

They wiped your tears.

"You never have to leave us. You know very well that we love you."

You smiled slightly at their words.

So nice and comforting.

You are so strong. But without them you can't use your strength.

You've become too attached to them to leave now. Nothing would be the same without them.

That's why you want to stay forever with the two men you love so much.

"If I was without you, my strength doesn't matter."

[tonberry-yoda]

Yours - Satoru Gojo

notes - OMFG IM ALIVE !! I have been both reading and watching JJK and have a full on brainrot for all of the men. Something struck me and I just felt the need to write fanfic again. I don't know how often I will be here, but I am thinking about doing more comfort fics and just stuff I wanna write. AUs, stories, just all the fun stuff. If any of you have ideas, I will take them, but no requests :) Thank you all for being so patient with me, I love you all so so so so much <3 word count - 596 summary - your life as a jujutsu sorcerer and the future with Satoru

You loved the sound of cicadas. It meant summer. It meant freedom. It meant all that work through the school year was over and you could finally have some time to yourself.

That’s what it meant when you were a kid at least.

The argument that Satoru and Suguru had was bad. There was no coming back from something like that. You didn’t want to pick sides, but you promised Satoru you would always be with him. You remembered him crying after the fight. How he regretted what he said. How he wished he could just run back, but ultimately knew that he wouldn’t.

You stopped talking to Suguru. You two weren’t ever really close to tell the truth. You just happened to know him because of Satoru.

But something was different. It was like the entire world was different. Satoru killed a man, got himself killed (and then came back to life), and was now taking care of a child. You knew you two never truly had a childhood, but how did it ever get to this?

The sound of cicadas meant nothing to you now. As you were trying to teach Megumi English with the windows closed, there wasn’t any more time for goofing off in Japan. You and Satoru were two grown sorcerers in a difficult world, and it just had to be that way. It’s not something you could argue against, it’s simply the hand that life dealt you.

You didn’t mind though. You couldn’t. You got to spend all of your time with two lovely boys in a beautiful home. You never really felt sad. Or maybe you didn’t notice it.

Megumi didn’t call you mom, but you never asked him to. You just knew he was your everything and he knew it too.

Satoru eventually called you his wife. He told you he never wanted to lose you and that he was scared. His hand was shaking while he proposed. You told him you would lever leave and that you were always going to be there for him. You two kissed in the sunset, the sound of cicadas drowning out everything.

“I have to fight Suguru Geto.” Those words that came out of Satoru’s mouth made your heart stop. You knew it would happen, but so soon? It was inevitable, but now? You tried to stop him, tried to tell him that someone else could deal with it, but you both knew that wasn’t true.

You kissed him when he came home in tears. He killed his best friend. His only friend.

“I don’t want to lose you too.” he cried in your arms.

You promised nothing would happen. That you would never leave him.

He spent the rest of the night alone, thinking. You watched the stars. It smelled sweet outside, like summer and spring colliding in the night sky. The sound of crickets comforted you.

You didn’t want to lose Satoru.

You ran upstairs and knocked on your own bedroom door. The door opened and a tear covered Satoru opened the door. You held him in your arms. You told him that you never wanted him to leave. That even though everything felt painful and tiring, you liked the life you lived. You loved your husband and your son, and nothing could take that away from you.

Tears felt warm, but Satoru’s arms were warmer. Cool breeze came in through the window to dry your face and your husband kissed your earlobes and promised that this life would stay yours.

“I love you, Satoru.”

“I love you too.”

~~~~~

jjk masterlist | pinned post

2024 @tonberry-yoda – do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

~~~~~

[thetruearchmagos]

Probably the only two things I didn't like in Blue Eye Samurai were how 'exoticised' the guns were, and the whole castle assault thing.

The last one is probably self explanatory considering how particular I can be about screwing up military 'activities' in media, but the first one might need some explanation.

Ya see, I don't actually care about whether the gun models were historically accurate, or their effectiveness, or anything like that. What I care about is how alien they seem to have been made to appear to the 'Japanese' side of the story. Like, this is Edo Japan, they have guns, and used guns back in the day to unify the country.

While I can kinda understand them not appearing in most parts of the setting, I'm kinda ticked off at the fact that the guard of the Shogun himself, being presumably some of the best in Japan, don't either?!? In fact, they act like they've never seen a gun in their life, but that gets into the battle side of things and I don't wanna go further than drawing that connection.

Nonetheless, I think there's something more to this utterly odd portrayal of firearms here at stake. The great, long lived, and stupid myth / legend that 'Samurai don't use guns', which has existed well before BES, is itself just one facet of the common trope that 'oriental' societies are hopelessly and actively backwards in their rejection of modernity, to their ruin at the hands of those who do.

And I don't want to blame this show or anyone connected to it for the fact that this trope exists, because I don't think they mean to trade in that sorta thing. There is a genuine narrative impact achieved through so thoroughly overstating the resistance to modernity that these 'old elites' embody, but at the same time it's hard to overstate how much the zeitgeist / public 'knowledge' that surrounds foreign societies and times is shaped by the media that portrays them, 'knowledge' that sometimes leaks into perceptions of actual, current societies, though I don't consider that fact a necessary addition to justify criticism.

I guess I wanted to say that I, for one, just don't think that a good story is worth misrepresenting the actual sentiments and beliefs of times long past. It's sad to see it happen.

[yridenergyridenergy]

Hi hope you doing well I wanted you to help me if you can cause it is beyond my power,I'm so sorry for making trouble for you and thanks anyway

Hello everybody, wish great things for all of you

I don't know how many people will read this ,I think nobody care about what I think and what i want so I thought that this place is good to talk,I'm actually don't like to talk I always think I will take people time

I live in a small town in iran ,well I think having dreams for me was always sin japanese rock really changed my life, I had goal after that but it seems I'm always so weak for having dream ,I really liked buck-tick songs their songs was really life saver I really liked atsushi voice after that I listened to dir en grey songs it was very special and different also seeing people like me for the first time made me really happy cause toshiya's personality was really same as me ,after few weeks I watched Nippon budokan dir en grey 2014 at YouTube and I saw fans happiness at the live and from that day I think that I want to be a rock star at japan and wanted to see all of them ,I told my parents that I want to play electric guitar but they didn't allowed me at first and I was so sad after 6 months they told me that if you want to learn first you should learn classic guitar so I went for two years and now after two years I found that at the beginning they just wanted to play with me and they didn't wanted me to play guitar and didn't want to let me go to japan ,now the only think I have is my tears ,when I talk about rock that makes them angry I wrote this to ask you fans if you can tell the dir en grey that there was a girl that wanted to be a guitarist I really want to be a guitarist and I need help ,I am very limited, so I ask for your help

Hello! I sincerely apologize for the delay.

I've been pondering over this ever since you sent me this plea. It would be odd for someone else to send your message to Dir en grey, because then it's more like hearsay and it could seem like a story.

Your best option would be to communicate with Kaoru via TheTheDay, I think. Because he is a guitarist, but also because I think he's more likely to read fan messages and maybe respond. Shinya is guaranteed to read such communications too, but he might not reply seeing as it is a personal message rather than a question, and he's a drummer.

TheTheDay is run through the co-yomi platform, so I don't think overseas fans had as much difficulty registering on that than with the freewill-online sites.

Being a rock star is quite the dream to have! Few people make it into a band, and even fewer actually taste popularity and success. It's never too late - you can at least keep it as a hobby and explore your avenues. Good luck!

[cherrylng]

Matthew Bellamy & Dominic Howard & Chris Wolstenholme interview - Muse [ROCKIN'ON (May 2000)]

"I think we're more honest about the times we live in than Radiohead."

Face this irreverent ‘beautiful mess’! While roaring demons and falsetto angels make a secret pact, Muse recaptures the physicality of rock with their superb technique and excessive staging, and even celebrates despair with all their might. There is no blind spot for these guys!!

Interview: Naoya Kida / Interpretation: Noboru Takami / Photography: DAISKE

Muse's showcase in Japan was a spectacular show that relentlessly hit the ‘sound of the times’. Matthew Bellamy's vocals, which utilise an idea that no one had thought of before - alternating between an effects-processed microphone and a normal microphone - attempt to represent all inner "voices" such as sadness, loneliness, joy, and madness, as well as his excessive performance in which he wields a modified guitar like a sword and his insane, virtuoso technique. He stepped through the dirt board that was placed on top of progressive rock and stole the techniques, mastered the sad melodies and flamenco rhythms in Spain, and possessed the "miraculous falsetto" of Jeff Buckley, who was supposed to be dead - I could only laugh and surrender to the possibilities of such outrageous rock.

Far from the objectivity of Radiohead, who reflect the world as it is, Muse lives in chaos. Now they stand on stage as if they are celebrating the story of despair that once ended with the death of Kurt Cobain. There is nothing to fear, despair openly, and cry out. If there is no hope in reality, you are the one who is beautiful and interesting, and that is the kind of fresh courage that resides in them. They have the overwhelming power to do justice to the jokey band name ‘Goddess’. In the 90s, rock music has been reduced to a struggle with self-consciousness, but these guys easily love and release their confused selves, and say that they are the right ones. And the moment this becomes possible, all hatred of the world, despair and everything else vanishes. Muse is a reckless narcissist who is heading for the extreme value of such catharsis.

In Melody Maker magazine, Matthew told us that his mother was a medium, that he too was interested in ouija boards as a child (his distrust of religion probably developed after he realised their falsehood), and the disappointment of his parents' divorce. I found their upbringing enigmatic and interesting, but this interview focused on what they wanted to achieve and how they wanted to provoke the world. Matthew's soul despairs of society (‘showbiz’) and religion, where even death is commodified in the capitalist system. I want you to feel the passion of his ascension with no place to go.

"Bands that used to be involved in the evolution of rock have been derailed into an ideological dimension. We're trying to get it back on track."

● I saw you live last night and thought your technique was so incredible that it was going to be amazing. Do you have any ambitions to drag down other British bands who can't even play rock music? M (Matthew, Vo&G): 「(laughs). I mean, in terms of the amount of touring we do and the quality of the music we make, I think Muse are better than most of the UK bands right now. For example, Senseless Things…… Sultans of Ping FC, ehehe.」

● (laughs) Don't be shy, but who would be your ideal artist, for example? M: ‘For me personally, the Tom Waits concert I saw in New York was the best concert of my life. There's no other show where you can experience so many different moods. It was like watching a play, there was so much atmosphere, I'd never seen anything like it. I'm not sure if that influence shows up in our live shows though. Also, the best rock band for me is probably Rage Against The Machine. That release of energy is extraordinary. It never stops from the beginning to the end.」 D (Dominic, Dr): 「Yeah, I guess so. Come to think of it, we used to like dressing up like girls too (laughs). I mean when we were much younger.」 M: 「We still do that sometimes. We didn't do it yesterday in Tokyo, but it happens sometimes. We started out under the name Muse when we were 16, and then we changed it to Rocket Baby Dolls for a couple of weeks, but then we put on a lot of make-up and we were like, ‘Oh my god’ (laughs).」

● Hahaha. M: 「I've always had this side to me. Deep down inside, I have a desire to be a 'whore', and that desire sometimes comes out (laughs).」

● (laughs) I see. What you said earlier about Tom Waits, Matthew used to do theatre. You did some weird pantomime-like moves on stage sometimes, but dare I say what do you think you're performing on stage? M: 「Hmmm, well…… It's like an excuse to let myself go (laughs). On stage, I can dress up like a twat and sing and express myself freely. In fact, if I started doing the same thing on the street, people would look at me with a scowl and say, "What's wrong with this guy?" But if you put a band together and do it on stage, they'll let you do it. It's like I'm going back and forth between two personalities, depending on the song. Some songs are so personal that you have to close your eyes to play them because you can't stand the way the audience looks at you, while others are the complete opposite, where you stare at the audience and point and make silly gestures. It's like, "Look at me!" I guess I go back and forth between the two during the gig.」

● Including this kind of live movement, I thought that you were conscious of wanting to restore something like human physicality in your music. I think guitar bands, especially after Radiohead, tend to go in an idealistic direction, but Muse are moving in a more physical direction, which I felt was very new. Is that something you are conscious of? C (Chris, B): 「No, it just happens naturally while we play. The way you express a song, the way you sing it, comes naturally as you play it.」 D: 「In fact, if you saw us at a gig, you wouldn't think there was any reasoning going on on stage. It doesn't seem like we're playing with anything in mind. It's like when you're reading a porno magazine, if you think too much you can't even stand up (laughs).」

● Hahaha. Well, that's true. M: 「But yeah, I've always tried to be physical. Not only live, but also on the album. In fact, a lot of people marvel at it. They expect it to be conceptual, as you say, but it's because our music is heavier, more direct, more open, more physical than you'd expect. But I think people are starting to realise, "This is what rock music has evolved into". "This is what rock music is like now". I think some of the bands that used to be involved in the ‘evolution’ of rock music, like Radiohead and Metallica*, have somehow strayed from the heavy, straight rock of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to a more conceptual, abstract dimension. We've (and then he wiggles his hand) - yeah, we've got it back on track.」

● I see. Did you have this vision from when you started the band? On the other hand, were there any frustrations, such as being in a very tight situation in real life? M: 「First of all, there was nothing else to do in the town where we grew up. Everyone who grew up in towns away from the big cities like London and Manchester is like that to some extent. So anyway, the main reason we started the band was to find something to do. And not something negative, but something positive. In fact, in a town like that, a lot of young people are going in a negative direction. They're so bored that they end up committing crimes. Drugs and things like that, even when they're just kids. There's really nothing to do. That's why for us the band is…… It was a prescription for not turning to crime.」

● So you were inspired by rock music in the first place because you were driven by the environment rather than the music itself? M: 「Yeah, I suppose it was the environment. But it's true that I started playing music because I was bored, but it wasn't because I was bored that I continued to pursue music without quitting. I think that's the biggest difference between me and the rest of the gang…… Hmmm…… I guess you could say that…… There's more than one reason why we started the band in the first place. There are so many reasons. So you have to be very careful when you use just one example. Because people might assume, "Oh, that's the reason?" For example, "When I was 17, just looking at all the people around me playing on computers all day and not doing anything else was enough to make me want to quit school", or "There's nothing more embarrassing than the apathy technology brings to people"……」 C&D: 「What's that (laughs)?」 M: 「But that's just one of the problems. There were also questions about the school education system itself…… The system says that "the schooling system makes the state as an organisation more powerful", but in my opinion it only makes the country richer, takes our eyes off the problems of the third world and makes the world a worse place. That's why I rejected schooling. So that was one of the issues that turned me towards rock music. The other issue is, yes, women. There are endless problems with women (laughs). So there are all sorts of reasons. And as I got older, I started expressing different feelings about different issues in my songs.」

● I think there are very few bands in the UK that have a critical perspective on society, do you have that kind of conviction? D: 「Certainly, I don't think there are many British bands doing the kind of music we do. We're often compared to Radiohead.」

● But when I saw you live, I thought that your guitar phrasing was completely different from Radiohead's. Why do you think people compare you to them? D: 「I mean, I think Radiohead are the only band other than us who are honest about the current situation in the UK. We and Radiohead are very much influenced by the country where we were born and raised. A lot of the negativity in our music comes from our feelings about the UK we grew up in. I can't think of many British bands that are doing anything remotely substantial.」 M: 「If you're talking about veterans as well as new bands, I think U2 are unique. I don't know about it musically, but in terms of the concept of the band and the way they look at things, I think they have a lot in common with what we're trying to say. But, for example, what Radiohead is doing now and what we're doing are completely different. They're about ten years older than us and I think the times themselves have changed since they were our age. So I guess you could say we're similar in the sense that Muse are doing music that's as much about ‘now’ as Radiohead were ten years ago, but these days Radiohead are making music about what's happening now for a 30-year-old, and we're making music about what's happening now for a 24-year-old. So in that sense we're different from them. I think we're more of a band of the current era, in the sense that we're honest about the times we're living in. But when I say ‘singing about the times’, I don't pretend to be singing about other people's relationships to the times. I'm just singing about our own relationship with our times. When you go into it and in the process of growing up, you create your own world, your own reality. You learn things, you experience things, and you form your own worldview that you think, "This is the world". It's completely different from what other people think of the world. So I'm just singing about the world I've shaped. It's my own view of the world, my own view of the times, and no one else is singing it. The other people are singing their own view of the times.」

● Yes. But you could say that although the perspective of the era they're singing about is different, they're targeting the same era. M: 「Oh, I see, yes, yes.」

● So, do you take pride in being a pioneering artist who correctly understands the ‘now’ and expresses it in your music? M: 「I'd like to be by the time we release our third album, though. I don't know. We've only released our first album. It's still more of a ‘goal’ at the moment. So we might fail.」

"I think life is a journey to find the right equilibrium of things. But I'm oscillating between two extremes. On the one hand I hate society and reject my audience, and on the other hand I embrace them."

● No, I'm hoping, really. So are there any bands or artists in the US that you feel empathy for? There are a lot of bands, including Rage, that use social stress as a source of energy. D: 「In America, it's…… Slipknot!」 C: 「(laughs)」 M: 「No, I seriously think so. I can relate to their music and I think they are similar to us in the way they focus on the zeitgeist. I mean, I think both Muse and Slipknot express honestly in their music how they relate to the times we're living in right now.」

● In the case of Slipknot, one of their messages is that they live in an era that has the potential for extreme and excessive heaviness, and they do it in a very pop way, which I think applies to you as well. Is it something you can relate to? M: 「Yes. So the problem is that I could easily go for the kind of music they're doing. But I think life is a journey of finding the right equilibrium of things. I'm only about 20 years old and I'm constantly going back and forth between the two extremes. I'm on a journey. It's hard to find a place of balance. So it's easy to settle on one extreme or the other. And the extreme point is Slipknot. So if you're not careful, you can easily end up with extremely reactionary music that's all about hate and anger. I think that side of me is always there. I feel like I'm always oscillating between the two extremes. On the one hand, you have bands that hate and reject society and reject their audience, or are almost hostile to them. And on the other side is a band that shares with the audience, loves and embraces the audience. And we're the ones who move back and forth between the two.」

● Indeed. So, you said before that you wanted to leave a mark that you are here, but behind such thoughts, is there an obsession that you might be an invisible man? M: 「No, I don't think there is such a thing as an invisible man. I think all human beings are equal. In the sense that we are all part of one big system that binds us all together. Whether you are a scientist trying to invent something for the future or just an office worker, you are all important. Because we all function together…… Hopefully.」

● That's a slightly cynical view of humanity. M: 「…… And I personally don't find it hard to be in a situation where I'm an invisible man. That's why I've always wanted to do music, and I have the most fun when I'm doing it, that's all. I think I'm basically very adaptable to different situations. I've been in a lot of different situations myself. For example, before I started this band I was doing manual labour, painting, and decorating. I've had some pretty hard jobs. But my workmates were all good guys and I adapted to the situation. And then all of a sudden this band started. So I think it's fair to say I didn't feel any fear at all.」

● So you were quite happy with the situation at that time? M: 「Um…… Well…… I wasn't (laughs).」

● Right? There was a kind of frustration, wasn't there? M: 「But even now, I'm not satisfied with it. I'm not sitting back and thinking, "We did it!" I still feel the same dissatisfaction as I did when I was doing that kind of work. I think all sorts of mental problems prevalent in western society contribute to my dissatisfaction.」

● David Bowie, for example, has said that he switched between different personas because he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't invisible, but you don't make music out of that distorted impulse. If that's the case, what do you think fuels your work? M: 「……Because we're a three-piece band.」

● Hey. M: 「No, seriously, it's because we're just three people. I mean, with three people, there's a lot of room left for each of us to do what we want. The proof is that the music we make is just as powerful and loud as music made by bigger bands, like a five-piece band. Do you understand what I mean? I don't know how to explain it, but I was in four bands before Muse, and when I was in the first one, I felt like I lost myself, like I was lost, like I was just a part of something bigger. But now I'm completely guaranteed room to do whatever I want to do. There's room in the band now for my ‘whole personality’ on stage, not just on guitar. There's no one to clash with me.」 C: 「There's no chance of anyone being swallowed up by anyone else.」

● In other words, you've created this band form in order to fully open yourself up to the fact that you're not invisible, whether that's sad or melancholic. M: 「Yeah. For the time being we'll stay like this. I'm not going to say we're going to stay a three-piece band forever. You never know what the future holds.」

"I think we want to speak for the emotions of people in the social system. We're also emotionally driven and we're still confused."

● Understood. You said that "'Sunburn' is about a moth that hits a lightbulb when it thinks it's flying towards the sun", but I think a lot of your lyrics are about the disillusionment that comes when ideals are betrayed. Is this a reflection of your attitude towards the times you grew up in, your view of the times and the world that you talked about earlier? M: 「You're saying that 'Sunburn' sums up the era I live in?」

● Yes. I was wondering if it was a metaphor for how you feel, that your ideals have been betrayed. M: 「Yeah. But there were never any ideals to begin with. Ideals get broken as you get older, you know. That's why most people try to live a safe life, to stop their ideals from being destroyed. They fear the truth and want to turn away from it. And so they live a modest life in a modest town, in a modest family. They don't want to look at what's happening on the other side of it, they don't try hard to learn. Well, a lot of people don't want to talk about issues that challenge their reality…… People only want to talk about things that they feel comfortable talking about - things they don't want to destroy, things they've built up, and things they believe in. Anyway, I think I'm at the stage now where I'm trying to be as objective about things as possible. Because I think that's the best solution.」

● Do you think young British people of your generation are basically similarly disillusioned? M: 「I think they might hold it, yes. I think it's the same in a lot of countries, not just in the UK. I think people don't think about things as much as they used to. I mean, I suppose in terms of technology we're more advanced now than we were a few hundred years ago, but I think that a few hundred years ago people were thinking about a lot more things. About religion, about people. But these days, people think mostly about wasting money. They rarely think about anything else. I think that the media, especially television, has largely fostered this generation. For example, by the time I was born, computers were already part of the social system that brought me up. But as I've grown older, I've come to realise that these things are not really made for people's benefit. We humans have been bought up by these luxuries. I think that's where the disillusionment came from. In short, we don't feel a spiritual connection with other people anymore. It's called ‘apathy’ or ‘not feeling anything’. At least I think that's how I was brought up. And now that I'm doing music, I'm able to detach myself from those feelings, and I'm able to look at things and think about things objectively, and I think that's a big thing.」

● Radiohead's 'OK Computer', for example, was an album that played the role of a cold-hearted portrait of the modern social system itself. Do you want Muse to be a mirror to portray society in the same way? Or is it to liberate the emotions of the people in it? M: 「'OK Computer' is certainly that…… Hmmm…… I think it's an album that ‘describes’ things in detail. But the music we make is not that clear-cut. It's obviously the difference in age (laughs). So it's more like the inhabitants depicted in 'OK Computer'.」

● If 'OK Computer' was an album that objectively observed a certain system, then you guys are actually living in that system, feeling various things and expressing those feelings? M: 「Yes.」

● So, do you think it is your mission to break within the social system, or to be a voice for those who are going through similar experiences, or to speak for them and liberate them? M: 「Ah, yeah, I think I want to speak for them. At the moment, yes. I think we still tend to get carried away with our emotions, and I think we're still confused in many areas. I mean I always take the stance that "I don't really know". I haven't reached the point where I can express in my music what is right and what is wrong, or what this is all about. I'm not confident enough yet to sing something so direct, so black and white. I'm still confused.」

● I see. Now for the last question. From the passion and almost perfectionist performance you showed at last night's show, I felt your determination that if there is no ideal in the world and there is only confusion, then you have to create your own ideal world. What are your last remaining ideals, if any? M: 「Ideals……. I don't know, I don't know. I mean, isn't it the job of scientists to prove that the ideals we humans create are wrong? It's like no matter how idealistic we are, scientists will disprove everything one after another…… In the end, people either repeat the usual pattern of having their ideals shattered, meeting tragedy and dying (laughs), or they get through it, trying to keep the balance in their boring lives. So the most important thing is…… is to not be afraid of anything. I think if you accept fear, you can leave this world and move on to the next stage of your existence. It's fear that stops us from moving forward. Fear that you will lose everything you have built up in your life, all your ideals. So, on the other hand, you have to try not to create too many different ideals. I think it's important to always be aware that everything is just a figment of your imagination, an illusion. You have to accept that fact. And physical pain is one of the causes of imagination. So I think if you're willing to accept death, you're not afraid of it. No matter how you die. Then everyone will realise that death is only one step. Why should we be hesitant or afraid, if we're not going to move on anyway?」

Translator’s Note: Hey, Matt from the year 2000, what do you mean by that you still sometimes dress up like a girl? What do you mean you have a desire to be a ‘whore’ deep down??? Hello??????

Given that quote alone, even though this is an in-depth interview, I think this interview will be remembered in another way thanks to the “I have a desire to be a 'whore'” quote alone.

* For this part, admittedly I had no idea which band had the short form named of Medaru/メダル, as no band had such a name. The closest that I could guess, based on reading up on rock music history, is that this could be Metallica that Matt was referring to.

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Naoki Urasawa's manga "Monster" Interview;

Naoki Urasawa is one of the most successful manga artists in Japan, having not only been awarded the most important prizes in Japan, but also in Germany. He celebrated his international breakthrough with the thriller series "Monster", which he drew in the 90s. It's about a Japanese neurosurgeon in Düsseldorf who saves the life of a boy and gives up his career to do it - actually he should have operated on the mayor instead of the boy - and then gets into real trouble because he is involved in a series of serial murders and a conspiracy device. Andrea Heinze : How did you come up with the idea for the series? Naoki Urasawa: The drama “Monster” was created because I really liked the novel “Frankenstein”. That really interested me and I thought about whether I could bring the story into today. The second aspect was that at that time in the USA there was this film with Harrison Ford, “The Fugitive”. It was about a doctor whose wife was killed and I really liked it. And then I thought, I have to do something that involves a doctor who is being chased and has to solve a mystery. And then I was interested in “Frankenstein,” this old Gothic landscape, and I wanted to bring the two together somehow. And then we somehow came across Germany. Blonde boy as a contrast to evil Germany

I heard that people saying Johan was inspired by Hannibal and other psychopathic characters etc but it never make sense to me. (Maybe some characteristic sides makes sense but generally no, he is different). It makes sense that Monster is inspired by Frankenstein story because Johan is portrayed as more like someone who became the way he is because of his past. He is the monster created by the real monster. (Mostly its Franz Bonaparta who stole his and many others name, biggest sin a person can do). Its really combined between two stories because Tenma wasnt/isnt wrong to save Johan.

Heinze: And what does Germany have to do with it? Urasawa: I wanted to do something dark. And I don't want to say that Germany is the root of all evil. But if you look at the Second World War - and this is present in Japan, also because Japan was an ally of Germany at the time - there were a lot of dark stories in Germany and also in Japan. A lot has been clarified. But some things don't. I also came up with this beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed boy as a character. I think that's a good contrast to contrast with this dark, bad thing. And the more you delve into history, the more clear it becomes that the roots of the conflicts lie in the Second World War. If you add all of that up, the manga could only take place in Germany.

I am glad that real life stories was brought up but its really sad that this actually happenned somewhere.

Heinze: How did you research the story for “Monster”? Urasawa : I watched a lot of documentaries. In the 1990s there were also reports of neo-Nazi attacks on houses where Turks lived. I've seen things like that and they've also found their way into my story. I made up the rest. For example, the boy, Johann. He is raised in a children's home where many human experiments take place. And shortly before I finished my work "Monster," there was a documentary on Japanese television about the end of the Nazi era, and it also reported on a camp in which blonde, blue-eyed young people were herded together and essentially had to undergo elite training . And this boy who was depicted there was also called Johannes. I was then asked if I had known all of this before - but that wasn't true, it was all in my imagination. A person becomes a monster

This is insane....chills. Its so ironic that a lot of people remember Johan's character as some evil psychopath but not only he isnt written that way in story but also, his origin is literally coming from actual victim, a child. Intentional or unconciously or maybe coincidence but still, wow.

Heinze: How is it that Prague also became the setting for the story? Urasawa: Because everything that was east of Germany, all the Eastern European countries, was not even known in Japan in the 1990s. It's completely different today, but back then people hardly knew everything that lay east of Germany. While on the other hand, Germany and everything further west was already developed for tourism. And Eastern Europe had never been featured in the manga until then. It also fascinated and really attracted me as an illustrator. If you go to Germany or France, it is much brighter in the evenings. But if you go further east, in my case it was Prague, it was much darker on the streets in the evenings in the mid-90s. And I wanted to explore this darkness, this night, for myself.

No wonder story feels so real, with both its characters and places.

Heinze: What does the manga “Monster” have to do with Mary Shelly’s novel “Frankenstein”? Urasawa : Frankenstein is about a scientist who created a monster, and it's also about human responsibility. There are certainly things that humans are allowed to do and that they perhaps shouldn't be able to do. These thoughts can certainly be taken further, and that's what I did in the "Monster" series. It's about the Japanese doctor who saved a boy, and later the boy becomes a monster, a murderer. And then the doctor asks himself whether he is not responsible for the fact that this boy has become a murderer. This is a different conflict than in "Frankenstein", but the question of responsibility for one's own actions is also an issue in "Monster". Dostoyevsky novel using the means of manga

Though, story is inspired by Frankeinstein, Tenma is clearly right to save kid's life. He isnt the 'evil' doctor who is responsible for the monster. He is the real doctor who saves this boy from destruction at the end.

Heinze : For me, this doctor is an ideal example of the good in people. He even saves this boy against the wishes of the clinic management, who would much rather use their best surgeon to operate on the mayor. Urasawa: Every good person has places somewhere in their hearts that are perhaps not so good, and it was the same with Doctor Hämmer - in the hospital there were also some disagreements with the management, where he also thought: "Preferably I would like it if everyone were dead." And later Johann also tells him: "I have fulfilled what you wished for." Then the idea came to him that he had also caused all of this and was to blame for it. And I wanted to show in my work that there is something good and something bad in every person, and that is just human nature. Also, what I didn't mention: There is the classic manga "Astroboy" by Osamu Tezuka in Japan. There is a scientist whose son died and he then creates a robot that looks like his son and that also has feelings. But somehow he says: "You are not my son." At some point he neglects this robot. This scientist is basically Doctor Tenma. So “Frankenstein” and “Astro Boy” are the two sides that belong closely together. I especially consider the artist Tezuka with his classic “Astro Boy” to be my roots.

Here's the real message of Monster, that noone is just a monster and every person has monster in them and that story, Tenma is being parallels with father who neglects his son...I wonder is it him realizing that he was never supposed to kill Johan (the son), he was right to save him, trying to kill him is the neglect/him failing to understand him and end up saving him. Maybe i am reaching but its makes more sense that way. Btw i love how Tenma visits Johan even at the end. Despite everything, they really give that father-son energy.

Heinze: Osamu Tezuka is considered the founder of modern manga, what do you like about him? Urasawa: It's hard to say in one word. Maybe you can describe it like this: The manga were initially comics for children. But Tezuka did it differently, he practically wrote something like a Dostoyevsky novel, but using the means of manga. Something much deeper, and ultimately it's not about justice winning, but it goes even deeper, practically conveying the feeling that even winning can bring with it something sad and empty. This is something deeper. And he was able to convey that in the beginning of the manga. Statements made by our conversation partners reflect their own views. Deutschlandfunk does not adopt statements made by its interlocutors in interviews and discussions.

Its really deep story.

This is the source of this interview, i really wanted to make comment/analyze about it.

[cinderkaliningrad]

Imperfect Mask. - BNHA fanfic.

We all know the story of My Hero Academia: a perfect façade society in which good always wins, but which fades and falls over the course of the series. But what if there was someone in class 1A from the beginning. Someone who would challenge each and every one of their beliefs. It is well known that their society is far from perfect:

Racism towards those who are mutants.

Fear of quirks that are randomly associated with potentially evil and villainous activities.

Social exclusion of those without powers.

Blind faith in the protection provided by heroes.

A society of extremes: black or white and nothing in between. What if there was a grey person?

WARNINGS: distress, sadness, mention of war, mention of murder, betrayal, non-explicit PTSD, human trafficking.

Theme: Sixth season, battle against the PLF, human rights, rebellion against society.

Context: The protagonist is an AU student specifically trained to terminate individuals who pose a threat to society. His/her quirk is related to firearms control. The protagonist is a European trafficked person who has been kept in secret by Japan to use his/her quirk to the government advantage. However, when he/she is ordered to kill Geten as he's living danger, he/she refuses and challenges the heroes openly.

There is a phrase that keeps repeating in your head: "It is monsters that create wars or wars that create monsters". You don't know it, all the monsters are dead, caged or hidden under your bed waiting for their moment. You look around you and, although all is chaos, for the first time you feel at peace. The flames of a fire never felt so familiar. You look up at the sky and sigh, close your eyes as the raindrops wash the blood and ashes from your cheeks. You never wanted to be part of all this. For you, the conflict between heroes and villains was nonsense, however real it was. Like all wars, isn't it? Something completely avoidable, something that could be stopped but didn't pay off. The permanent threat of evil in the world. If there were so many heroes, why not eradicate it with everyone's strength? You had lost interest in that endless struggle a long time ago. Everyone wanted to be a hero and you wanted to be normal, no matter how powerful your quirk was. If it only served to create more suffering and perpetrate the senselessness that claimed thousands of lives year after year, you didn't want to use it. Not for good, but not for evil either. Weapons had never brought peace, only fear.

WARFARE, that was your quirk: the power to control the war machine, potent and terrifying like no other. What was the use of a war quirk? To kill. Or so everyone had told you. A living weapon. A child soldier. Another life lost in a sea of tears and blood. For you being a hero was the same as being a slave: bound by expectations, laws, pressure, the yoke of a responsibility too great even for a large group of people. And you found yourself breaking those chains. Your peers, teachers and superiors looking at you with astonishment, as if they were not to blame for everything. You had been sold on the black market, brought from a small country far away to Japan. So far away that none of those heroic prodigies could tell you where you were. And you had been saved by the heroes of the Public Safety Commission, trained as an annihilator. You had been forced to pull the trigger on people, no matter if they were villains. They were people! And you were a little girl. Every time you looked at your hands, they were dripping with blood that you yourself had spilled.

How many people had you killed? You were supposed to be a heroine, but when you looked in the mirror you were just a disgusting murderer. And the best thing is that you didn't get a penny for all that. "Too small to have a dream." But apparently not too small to be a life reaper. - You thought with disgust and spat on the ground at the feet of one of your mentors. I hate myself, I hate you all.

"We have to fulfill the mission." Hawks said to you, his sword-feathers stained with Twice's blood. "I'm not going to do it." You said clutching the magazine of your rifle. Meanwhile, behind you was an unconscious bluecoat buried under the rubble of Gunga. "Not another one. Are your lives worth more than theirs?" Your eyes burned with your powers and your blood boiled as if you had a fever. "It's one life for thousands." Hawks snapped at you. "It's your mission to end him." He pointed to the ice villian trapped in the ruins. "Then shoot yourself." You threw a gun at his feet with a single bullet. "Because you've killed one person today and I know you've killed more. You, me and all of our kind. If the reasoning is one life for thousands: end your life and let live the hundreds of villains whose lives are threatened because of us." Your classmate Tokoyami, who came to help you in the worst moment posible, looked at you in disbelief, his good heart preventing him from believing what you had just said. Killing people? Eliminating villains? No. That was impossible, wasn't it? "Stop looking at me like that, nothing is black and white." You snorted tiredly, lossing your papers. "It's stupid to think that a thing as complex as society can be perfect." "Things don't have to be that way." Tokoyami tried to reason with you. "This is not a good moment to doubt." "But they are, and no one has done anything to change it." You rebutted him, ignoring the last sentence. The voices of your friends and teachers began to shout over the communicator as they knew that something was wrong with you. Annoyed, you grabbed it with your hands, threw it to the ground and shot the device, scaring the nearby heroes. What was happening to you?

"…" You heard your name being shouted around you and your grip on your rifle tightened to white knuckles. "You wanted war didn't you? You wanted to exterminate the villains? You think that we worth more than then." You felt your sanity slowly slipping away, or rather, that mask of normality falling off your face with every step you took. Years of leaving dead villains on street corners and passing it off as a gangland shootout had sapped your sanity like a 7 grit sandpaper. Not knowing what the hell you were doing with your hands, you raised your rifle to your former comrades and allies. You had 5 other rifles floating around you which you were controlling with your quirk. When a random hero tried to knock you unconscious it was the final straw. Because in that world you are either with the heroes or with the villains and doubt is not allowed. "Welcome to hell." Regardless of the consequences you pulled the trigger as if firing into a set of memories you wanted to erase: all the fake smiles, the helplessness of not being able to tell the truth, the incomprehension,... The feeling of being a puppet or a slave and the horrible and lonely nights crying out of guilt. From the beginning you had always been the odd one out: a war quirk, a non-normative appearance, strange ideals for heroes, an attitude that didn't fit with the pink and flowers of their perfect world. Stop pretending, stop being hypocrites, stop hiding things. Start actually helping people. You thought harshly. Every human has the right to be free. And I want to be free.

You didn't notice that the heroes had retreated or that you were crying until the rifle you were holding had overheated, forcing you to drop it, and a cold hand touched your shoulder. Strong arms wrapped around your shoulders. "There, now. It's over, it's over." Geten's deep voice whispered on your ear.

That voice had comforted you before. Or rather you had comforted him. How things have changed since then, right? Because you were both little when you met in that dark place where human traffickers had locked you up: both children sold by their families. It had been so long that you both thought the other was dead. But then you saw each other on the battlefield. He, powerful and free, from the heights of his floating ice platform. And you, an enslaved force of nature, tied to the ground. The joy you felt when you saw him was immense, you both had recognized each other instantly. "You can be free! Come with me! You're in time!" I had yelled at you. And there you were, the two of you together again.

"I missed you." You weren't sure if that was your voice or his.

Note: Sorry if there are holes in the script. It's the first fanfic I've written in English and in public. If I see that I like it, I will make a second part delving into this character who is the protagonist.

[allwormdiet]

Insinuation 2.2

Time for another day of learning and adventure at Winslow High

That does have to be weird, though, right? Like "I fought a big badass villain last night and survived, my whole world has been changed by this encounter, I stared death in the face, what do you mean I still have to go to class and act like nothing changed?" Massive whiplash, I'd imagine.

Mrs. Knott gives the impression of being... better, at least, than Gladly. She's putting the effort in if nothing else, even if she has to leave the better-performing students alone in order to handle the rest of them, but that feels more like a matter of understaffing than any personal failure on her part.

God it's still messed up that Taylor has such little respite from bullying. This poor girl.

...I think this is the first time I've ever seen anything about Taylor knowing basic computer programming. Wonder if that ever comes back around.

And yeah Taylor, of course you have a geeky reputation, you're a fucking geek. Even setting aside the stuff with the bullying, like c'mon.

I saw a shitpost about how the single reason that Earth Bet is a dystopia is that Reddit is the number one news source in the world and there's something really funny about that idea.

Okay real quick the screenshot would be too small for me to add alt text, but “This article is a stub. Be a hero and help us expand it.” is an objectively hilarious line

And here we get the most information on any given Undersider, and it's immediately clear that Rachel has had a hard fucking life, like hell. Living on the streets as a teenage parahuman must be rough as hell, it's like living on the streets as a normal teenager except people want to recruit or imprison you while wearing stupid costumes instead of just police uniforms

(I would follow a Bitch fansite though, for real)

That's not how gangs work but whatever

So the ABB has a dragon man with dragon tattoos who uses the Chinese word for dragon as his cape name while being from Japan, a suicide bomber who dresses like a ninja, and a bomb Tinker. I don't know enough about Bakuda to really say but Lung and Oni Lee's gimmicks feel... mm. Lazy isn't the right word. Let's just stick with "racist" and move on so it stops bugging me

This is cute actually. She did a good job and she wants to like, celebrate that... and the only problem is that there's nobody she can celebrate with. I just made myself sad thinking about that.

And now she's basically Googling herself, which is also somehow cute.

There's something really funny about the idea that like. Taylor gets in touch with the Undersiders through a fucking Missed Connections post on a superhero message board. Like it's almost certainly the safest and most reliable way to get that message out, but that doesn't make it less comical.

And it looks like that's where we're leaving things.

Current Thoughts

Hit some highs and lows with this chapter honestly. Learning a little bit more about Taylor (swear to god I've never heard the programming thing come up before) and getting more of a breakdown on the Undersiders is all well and good, plus developments from the events of the night before, but again the whole Deal of the ABB grates pretty harshly. Like you don't need goddamn Edward Said to tell you that's all crap, it's just crap, and I don't think it reflects well on the author for putting that crap out there instead of thinking about it for maybe another thirty minutes first.

I gotta run some errands, 2.3 after that, God willing I don't have to read about the ABB for a while longer

[knbposting]

kagz shows clear signs of being totally avoidant about his own emotional or mental health issues to the point that when he does have to confront something emotionally challenging, he cuts everyone off around him so that he can process everything by himself. in complete isolation. that's sad as HELL like ?? i don't really get why more people don't talk about how sad kagami's past is

exhibit A: losing in the inter-high and cutting himself off from his team, basically shutting down while he reassess what losing meant for him in the long run (as basketball has always been his lifeline, and it's viewed as the only thing he's good at)

exhibit B: never ever talking about his parents at all. he mentions that his dad was never around (having to have nannies), and that they were MEANT to live in japan again together but dad bailed last minute. he brushes it off and slots this into "things i dont want to think too much about"

[leggerefiore]

Back in your inbox to discuss Cyrus bullshit again lmfao. I am normal. Totally normal.

So media literacy decline aside (no really, the reports are scary, less people can interpret nuance and hints), I blame 1) how young most of us were when we first played the games, 2) the OG Diamond and Pearl characterization (because it was a little different than Platinum's) and 3) the Pokemon Anime.

Largely skipping over the age thing because it speaks for itself. A good number of players were probably too young to catch all of the hints or grasp how irrational and emotionally driven Cyrus really was. Like, a legit Trauma Meter for our age group (20s) would be to ask if Cyrus freaked them out, or if they thought he had a point. Whatever the collective's first impression was would've colored YEARS of discussion and content. And I'm pretty sure I remember his reception being negative. Of course, the theory that he wrote the old notebook and that the old man was his Grandpa (meaning Cyrus was an abuse/neglect survivor) always existed. But before USUM and PokeMas added more implications, they were treated as "Just Theories" or after Platinum, retcons. Likewise, I think a good number of the older players WANTED Cyrus to be evil, so they kinda ignored it. Though there was an equal faction WISHING for a well written Sympathetic Villian. They missed Giovanni and had little hope GameFreak could write a worthwhile sympathetic villian because while Maxie and Archie weren't evil, their plan was just so stupid? Maybe it's because I grew up in a rural area at the start of the Going Green era, but I can remember being taught basic ecosystems in like 3rd or 4th Grade Science and learning that major changes to the environment were bad? And they were supposed to be super smart scientists?

On to game characterization, D/P Cyrus and Platinum Cyrus were portrayed slightly differently and I don't know if it was intentional or not, given how subtle the changes in the overall story were. But it boils down to a matter of A Means to an End, where D/P Cyrus seemed like he was changing the world to become a God, while Platinum Cyrus wanted to change the world and has to become a God to do so. Likewise, I don't think the implications that Cyrus was the abused/neglected grandson of that Old Man and the author of the old notebook were as strong. Also every scene with Cyrus in the Distortion World didn't exist in D/P so you didn't witness his breakdown or him admitting to his own faults. Charon/Pluto also wasn't in D/P, nor was the Rotom Room which was the first thing to give the "Cyrus wrote the Old Notebook Theory" any credibility.

My last reason was the Poke Anime and I talked a bit about it in a comment the other day. I have since looked it up and the D/P Anime aired the same day as the D/P Game Release, in Japan at least. So the 2nd most prevalent and remembered version of Cyrus is an ASS. The Anime did a great job of showing us the double life he was living, smiling and dressing/acting normal, albiet hammy, in front of Cynthia and that one old lady. But for a cold, stoic villian, he was super agressive, loud, short-tempered and dismissive in the anime. In that clip you shared, he wasn't calmly explaining why fighting was useless, he was about to snap on his admins. He yelled at someone else to (Ash I think). So it didn't even do a good job of portraying him as the kind of villian he was supposed to be, though this may have been because the series ended in 2011, so it may have been affected by the Platinum retcons.

But yeah, I'm also kinda sad about how people see Cyrus, but it isn't surprising. For everyone who "grew out of" pokemon or just never played Platinum, USUM, PokeMas or BDSP, they have to go back and relearn everything and not everyone does that. Nor will everyone want to because again, some people wanted Cyrus to be genuinely evil. And even if they do want to learn what changed and are open to it, they have to sift through years of content saying he was actually that bad.

It was a nightmare explaining to two of my homies why I was suddenly trying to write fanfic and draw fanart of him because they didn't get the memo.

Quick correction - It is not a theory that the old man is Cyrus's grandpa. It's confirmed from my understanding. Which it means Cyrus is likely an abuse victim (though, what Cyrus was going through was never entirely specified. Just that it was bad enough to concern his grandfather.)

I will note that his characterisation did change between Diamond-Pearl and Platinum (and now BDSP has introduced younger people to the pre-Platinum story), so I will give them that. But specifically, I was on the USUM battle theme still seeing it. (Interestingly, not at all on the BDSP rendition, though. Maybe because it's just Sinnoh fans who already know everything.) One of the top comments was ironically a joke about him seeing the Rotom Dex and wanting to kill everyone.

I think his character is really just generally misunderstood because of how subtle everything was is what I was originally trying to say. Like you said, some of it is general literacy issues. It just makes me sad to see him so misunderstood... I think Game Freak did a really good job writing him. Though, he does clearly read as emotional in both Diamond-Pearl and Platinum. At least, seeing his little chibi march up to you in BDSP after you ruin his plans really shows how emotional he truly is. While the Rotom Room journal is clearly only a theory, I do truly think he is the only logical character who fills that role so well. (Charon 100% would use Cyrus's childhood trauma journal for its precious Rotom research without a doubt seeing how quick he was to try to take over Team Galactic.)

I am glad that they gave him depth rather than just making him a generic bad guy... Actually, considering that Platinum was just before BW (well, a few years but development wise, I mean), I think it might have been their first steps into more character driven plots. I do hope people end up looking more into Cyrus, but I know he isn't the most popular villain at all. (I believe that crown goes to either Archie or Guzma. Or. Well. Lusamine, actually, probably.)

I convinced my friend by telling her about the Rotom Room stuff, actually. She already liked Cyrus since she is super into Sinnoh, but apparently, learning that he was besties with Rotom when he was a child sold her. Now she bravely helps me write for him sometimes lmao. My other friend, however... She still doesn't believe that he's actually 27.

Granted. Youtube comment section opinions should probably always be discarded.

Except maybe... This one. This is the only good and acceptable one lmao