#reblog to save a Yuzu

[yuzukimist]

Yuzu in Distress

Greetings and salutations, my beloved internet friends!

I am here to do something I don't think I've ever done before (something that quite honestly makes me very uncomfortable): asking for a little bit of financial assistance.

Due to some unforeseen and ill-timed expenses that coincided with some bills that could not be postponed, my budget this week is looking distressingly thin (to the point that I am anxious about being able to commute to and from work until my next pay day).

I commute mostly via a combination of public transit (nice and affordable) and Lyft/Uber (not always as affordable when one has to commute significant distances).

I should be fine when it comes to buying food and such, but I'm extremely stressed about not having enough to afford my Lyft rides (particularly those later on in the week, which are late at night). As such, I've posted a temporary goal on my Ko-fi page. [Direct URL here: https://ko-fi.com/yuzukimist/goal?g=0 ]

I truly hate to ask for anything like this, it makes me feel terrible... But any donations at all would be tremendously appreciated. My current goal is set to $50, because after brutally crunching the numbers I'm pretty sure that's all I should need to bridge the gap until I get paid again.

A huge heartfelt thank you in advance to anyone who donates. <3

[pfpanimes]

⌕ yugioh · yuya x yuzu.

like or reblog if you save/use.

[osakiiz]

⟡ yuzu hiragi - yugioh arc-v

like/reblog if you save/use

[ramblingkat]

Fic: Death Collector

Major Character  Death

AU, Not a normal AU, But close to Normal AU, Seriously there is character death, The worst day possible, Everyone Needs A Hug

Kurosaki Ichigo Urahara Kisuke Kurosaki Isshin Kurosaki Karin Kurosaki Yuzu Ishida Ryuuken

All likes and reblogs are loved and appreciated. 

Fic found on AO3 here

Death Collector

Ichigo was hovering, dazed and confused, trying to soothe the poor kid that was sobbing in front of him. “Hey, hey,” he tried to calm the child, hearing yelling and fussing. But his attention was on the little girl. Who was sobbing hysterically, tears and snot running down her face, legs and hands scraped red where she had hit the ground after Ichigo shoved her out of the way of the car. He heard the calls to get an ambulance and thought it was a good idea. The little girl looked like she needed to be looked at.

Then a woman, looking frantic, scooped the girl up. She held the girl close, tucking the child’s face against her shoulder. “Don’t look,” she murmured, clinging tight. “Don’t look.” 

The woman was looking past Ichigo, eyes wide with horror, and Ichigo started to turn.

Only for a hand to fall on his shoulder, firm enough to stop his motion.

“Don’t,” said a solemn voice. “You shouldn’t look either.”

Ichigo tried to twitch away from the sudden and unexpected contact, but the hand stayed tight on his shoulder. Looking up, Ichigo found himself looking at a pale man, who looked calm but sad. “Trust me, you don’t want to look.”

“What’s back there?” Because the noises behind Ichigo were suddenly muffled, but he heard the increasing frantic tone.

The man was quiet for a moment. “You did a good thing, saving that little girl. I would not have the last memory of yourself be something so sad.”

“What do you….” Ichigo flinched as butterflies seemed to explode all around them. Black and violet filled his vision, the brush of their wings tickled against his skin. Then they fluttered away, other than one that fluttered to rest on the blond man’s hair. 

They were also not where they had been. Instead, they were outside of the clinic, and Ichigo could hear Karin and Yuzu yelling as they played something inside the house.

“How?” Ichigo tensed, ripping himself away from the man. This time, the hand let go, and he was able to look at the other face to face. 

The man was only a little taller than him, dressed in black and white robes. He looked calm, if sad, though whatever dignity he might have was lost to the butterfly flapping its wings slowly on his head. 

“You did do a very good thing. But….” The man sighed. “I’m Kisuke. I’m here to help you move on, Ichigo-san.”

Ichigo felt his brows rise up. “Pretty familiar there,” he said drily. Not that Ichigo usually cared about manners, but that was a bit of a surprise. Someone with such traditional gear tended to be more formal.

“Well, as the shinigami here to help you, we have one of the most intimate relationships you can have. Soul to soul is hard to beat.”  Then Kisuke sighed. “But I thought you’d like to visit your family. To say goodbye.”

Shaking his head, Ichigo took a step back. “No,” he protested, hands raised as if to ward the man off. Then he darted around Kisuke and ran into his house. “Karin! Yuzu!”

Neither of the girls reacted to his yelling, and Ichigo froze. That couldn’t be right. He reached out, reaching out to Karin’s shoulder, the girl grinning as she was focused on doing something with the controller. 

His fingers rested on his shoulder, but nothing happened other than the girl shivering, goosebumps rising on her skin. After a moment, she looked around, and Ichigo’s heart dropped as she looked right through him. 

“They can’t see you now,” came Kisuke’s voice behind him. It was softer now, quiet. “Tonight, when they sleep, I can help you talk to them. They’ll know, by then. They’ll need to say goodbye to you. Your father as well, if you like.”

“I…. Why?” Ichigo felt his heart ache, his eyes burn. “We lost Mom already, so why…?”

Kisuke was quiet for a moment. “Because life is not fair. It takes and takes, and death is no better. But you have done many things that your sisters will always remember. Just like your mother did things for you that you never forgot.” He was quiet. “You will start again. Because death isn’t the end.”

He looked to Ichigo, standing just off to the side, giving Ichigo his space. “Once we get there, you’ll have a choice to make. To stay dead and rest for as long as needed, to go ahead and move on and enter the cycle to be reborn right away, or to become something like me.”

“Like you?” Ichigo needed the distraction, because as much as he was drinking in the view of his sisters, the fact they couldn’t see him was painful. 

“I go out and collect souls, those who have passed. Usually the ones who have more to cling to, who hesitated on actually leaving the world.”

Ichigo, still watching his sisters, wanting to burn every bit into his mind, made a curious sound. “What happens to those who don’t want to go?” Because Ichigo didn’t. He wanted to stay, watch over his sisters. 

“They end up killing their attachments,” Kisuke said, tone flat. “It’s not pretty, and then they keep killing. A soul only has so much energy, so they pull it from those they love. Even those like me can only stay so long. We’re…changed, able to hold our own power so we can move in the living world without harming the beings here.”

He hummed. “I’m sure you’ve heard stories of places where the earth itself seems to drain the life from things that live there. Haunted woods, battlefields that the dead seem to linger, that sort of thing? Places like that attract souls that linger eventually. Each one just adds to the power that drains things. Eventually, they just become a sink of hunger. Another job shinigami have is to clean those spots, purging and clearing the power.”

Kisuke went quiet for a moment. “Enjoy this time, Ichigo-san. Depending on your choice now and their choice later, you may not see them again.”

That hurt more than Ichigo wanted to admit, and so he settled to watch. 

Which hurt more than he could have imagined. He watched as there was a knock on the door, of his dad stepping into the clinic with them. Watched as his dad broke down when the police told them about Ichigo. 

That hurt, watching him break down. His dad just wilted, the police taking the time to comfort him as best they could. One of them helped by contacting Uncle Ryuuken for Isshin. That was something. Ichigo knew that his dad would need someone else. Uncle Ryuuken did the same when Mom had died. 

He had to watch his dad tell his sisters, face still wet with tears. 

That would haunt Ichigo for as long as he had his memories, he knew it. Watching the way Karin’s eyes went wide, Yuzu clutching her mouth to strangle a cry. Both of them were stunned into stillness until small sounds of pain began to escape from Yuzu, and Karin started to shake. 

Isshin wrapped them into a hug, and both girls began to sob.

There was guilt burning in Ichigo’s gut. He never wanted to make them cry like this. Never wanted to see that hollow look in his dad’s eyes again. When Mom had died, the girls had been a little too young to really understand.

Now they could.

If he had known what would happen, Ichigo wasn’t sure he would have saved that little girl. But, she had just run into traffic, and he…. He just couldn’t watch her die.

Beside him, Kisuke was a quiet presence, there as silent support as Ichigo found himself crying with his family. He tried to offer comfort, even if they couldn’t tell he was there. But all it did was make him hurt more. 

Finally, the girls cried themselves to sleep, and Isshin and Ryuuken carried each of them upstairs. Isshin made sure to tuck them into the same bed, which made Ichigo feel better. The man lingered, watching his girls with a tear stained face. 

Eventually, Ryuuken pulled him out of the room, and Ichigo heard his father start crying again. 

“Your sisters first. Then your father,” Kisuke said. 

Ichigo wiped his tears away, then nodded. “I have to talk to them,” he insisted. 

“I know,” Kisuke said with a smile. Then he offered his hand to Ichigo. Fingers still wet with tears, Ichigo took it. Then he watched Kisuke reach out and rest a hand where Karin and Yuzu’s arms overlapped, allowing him to touch both.

Then he was kind enough to let Ichigo speak to them alone.

Slipping out of their dreams, Ichigo had to wipe tears away again, and allowed Kisuke to guide him to where his father finally slept. The way that went left Ichigo in tears and fond annoyance. 

But now, watching his dad sleep, fitful as he clung to Ryuuken’s waist, the white haired man a silent guard over the man’s sleep, Ichigo mourned.

There was so much he wanted to do. To see. 

“What’s it like being a shinigami?” he asked, voice rough from all the sobbing he had been doing. 

“It’s almost like life,” Kisuke said, once again to the side and one step behind Ichigo. “There are enough of us to interact with, to make friends with. We have duty, but we also have friendship, and family of choice.” He made a low sound, considering. “You’ll have time to consider. We aren’t quite so cruel as to make you choose so soon after such a change.”

He gave Ichigo a smile, and Ichigo dragged up the strength to give a weak smile back. He looked at his dad again. The urge to go back and look at his sisters again struck, but Ichigo made himself stand firm.

Then he offered his hand to Kisuke. “Let’s go.”

Because Ichigo knew he had to go. If he let himself give in, he’d never want to leave. 

“It hurts, I know,” Kisuke said, taking Ichigo’s hand.

Butterflies swarmed over them again, and Ichigo closed his eyes.

He was going to miss everyone.

[bo9osl]

could you do users with Yuzu?

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏   ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏random users with yuzu

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏i2yuzu  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  ity2uzu  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  gcfyuzu

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏oursyuzu ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ yuzudol  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ yuzucupid

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ abtyuzu  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ yu28zu  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  yuz7u

here !! fav or reblog if u saved / used tysm > <

[ilhoonftw]

2022 World Chocolate Masters: #SHARED dessert assignment:

(all photos and info sourced from WCM website)

1. Belgium - Togo Matsudo

Japanese finalist Togo Matsudo representing Belgium will show whales swimming freely. He says: “The assembly of the small flats pieces like a puzzle reminds me of waves and adds volume to the composition. By eating all the different parts together, our taste buds reconstitute flavors similar to the lemon pie”. Flavours to watch out for mango, passion fruit and Cacao Barry Zephyr.

2. Poland - Igor Zaritskyi

Chocolate Cells are organic, yet 3D printed! Igor brings tomorrow to live in his #SHARE dessert. Filled with uplifting tropical and citrus flavours it’s made to invigorate every party. Made with a base of hazelnut-almond-guarana praline, Cacao Barry Madirofolo and Lactée Supérieure.

3. Hungary - Attila Menyhart

Hungary is famous for sweet aszú wine which gives the base of his dessert. Tokaj is the place where it comes from. Attila will be pairing it with exceptional ingredients from this region, like walnut and fig. Madirofolo and Zephyr chocolates go well with this trio while they create a smooth yet exciting balance with a little kick.

4. UAE - Dilip Kumara

Dilip’s dessert looks amazing. It’s filled with the exotic flavours of mango and calamansi. These are made to stand out even more thanks to the chocolate crémeux made with 5 spices. We hope the jury is ready for this little boost.

5. Finland - Eero Paulamäki

Eero’s #SHARED dessert is called Mist. The Finnish chef hopes to wow the jury with his main theme of water. It’s all about purity and renewability for him. This world is all we have. We must cherish it and help it restore itself. Flavours to watch out for are arctic bramble, lemongrass and caramelised cinnamon cookie.

6. Canada - Nishant Amin

Nishant’s #SHARE dessert is all about careless summers spent at the beach. But it also has a deeper meaning. To save those memories, we need to save the beaches ourselves. The snail shells we used to hunt there, can help us do that. They are full of nutrients our planet needs. The key flavours with which Nishant wants to impress are apricot, hazelnut and Cacao Barry Alunga Milk Chocolate.

7. Italy - Anna Gerasi

Italian finalist Anna Gerasi is looking to impress the jury with a #SHARE dish that is meant to speak to the playful soul of GenZ. Flavours to look out for are Cacao Barry Fleur De Cao, Blackcurrant, Mascarpone, vanilla and jasmine.

8. Great China - Jacky Lung

Jacky believes the greatest gift of all, is the gift of sharing. He is using ingredients which you can easily access from all over the world. Of course, this dessert is made to be enjoyed over some delicious cocoa tea. It’s not only made to look great; it is made to taste great, too. Filled with the flavours of yuzu, orange, strawberries, caramelised pecans and Cacao Barry Saint-Dominique.

9. Japan - Jiro Tana

Japanese finalist Jiro Tana is of the firm belief that everyone knows at least someone with a food allergy. That’s why he made his #SHARE assignment without any of the world’s most known food allergens. The jury can expect to taste raspberries, caramel corn, and allergy-free dark chocolate ice cream.

[Part 2 reblog with the other 9 desserts]

[cyandesu]

൭˙ ˖🍊 — Mei Aihara x Yuzu Aihara

൭˙ ˖🍊 — Citrus

൭˙ ˖🍊 — Match Icons

♡ like or reblog if you save/use ♡

[fofurinhaz]

*ೃ ☆ﾟ mei x yuzu icons ~ .･｡ﾟ

✦ ۰ do not repost pls (personal use only)

✦ ۰ like / reblog if u save or use

[animiconz]

yuzu aihara | citrus icons (300x300)

→ like/reblog if you use/save ♡

[fectless]

(This is technically in response to the post right below this one, as world building totally counts for it, right?)

Anywho, more fandom thoughts, but for BLEACH this time. I recently started rewatching the anime again for the nth time as part of my language practice (and having the Japanese subtitles on while watching it in Japanese is an experience) and reached that episode where Aizen and co. get rescued by Menos Grande after declaring their intentions to Soul Society. And then a few things hit me.

The first: Rukia says, the first time Ichigo sees her sending someone on via Soul Burial, that one neither feels hunger nor gets sick in Soul Society. We know that this is false for a few reasons.

Those who can become shinigami definitely need to eat and all souls need water which implies that they can suffer from thirst (and perhaps heat exhaustion).

Captain Ukitake is suffering from an unknown disease that makes him literally cough out his lungs. I’ve read something about it being a defect in the make up of his soul that is only not killing him because of the pact with the Soul King’s arm, but I cannot recall if this was canon or fanon (as the Blood War arc was just like that). If so, does this mean that sickness does occur in Soul Society, but so rarely as to not be mentioned? Or does it occur more in the outer districts? Why does it occur?

Hisana died from a sickness as well. Yes, it’s stated to be exhaustion, but I feel like that doesn’t make sense? Like, the flashback in the anime has her abandoning Rukia after she collapses while carrying her around. And she collapses later when she regrets this and goes to look for her sister. And then she dies.

Seriously, why does it occur? It’s weird. And it cannot be an Aizen thing as I’m pretty sure Aizen is younger than Ukitake. Is it because of what happened to the soul king? Does it have something to do with when people get sent on (like if they were close to being a hollow)? Is it because they died while sick? Is it because of their resolve?

...Do we never see sick souls in Soul Society other than them because they usually just. Die pretty soon after arriving?

And if spiritual power leaking is what causes spiritual pressure, and the “vents” can be closed... do people in the districts sometimes close them by mistake and then blow up? Is spontaneous combustion a thing in the afterlife?

The second: I’m pretty sure “Ichirin no Hana” is a love song that Byakuya is singing to Hisana’s memory.

Someone has probably stated this before, but the lyrics of the song literally say how some one, a “single flower,” is precious and can’t be replaced. How that flower bloomed despite being stuck somewhere dark and how they looked lovely but like they were about to wither away. And that the singer would accept all of their pain if only that person would smile and stay with them...

The title of the song also matches the title of the chapter in which Byakuya reveals to Rukia the secrets he’d been keeping from her about Hisana. He uses the same words, “ichirin no hana” to describe the season in which she died

Literally his whole dilema during this arc, the entire way he interacted with Rukia up to this point, was that he was conflicted between his sense of duty (to his parents, his wife and keeping his word) and his feelings for his beloved Hisana. Rukia’s physical resemblance to her sister is almost uncanny and the lie she is told when she asks why she was adopted was, “You look like Byakuya’s late wife.” How much must he have hated that? A person whom he had sworn to protect that, had she arrived two years earlier might have saved his wife’s (after)life? A person that looks just like his beloved, who reminds him of her every time he sees her (for those first 50 years), but is not and never will be Hisana. And then. To know that she’s going to be executed for crimes, that she felt she could not rely upon him enough to even let him know she’d encountered trouble in the human world when he’s been doing his best to ensure she’s safe (because that is one of the few reasonable explanations for why Rukia hadn’t been promoted yet, and then was promoted during the 3 year gap)? To see her stripped of her rank, her strength even (with that collar and the stone of the prison tower). To see a small form who so resembles his beloved all listless and soon to die, wearing a white yukata like his wife had in her last days...

Watching it again made me feel things, okay? Like yeah, it seems like it’s a stupid dilema from some perspectives. Especially considering Central 46 had a run in with Aizen by then, but. Byakuya was raised in the Seireitei. He was raised knowing that his life was the Seireitei’s tool. That his duty, his reason for existing was for the sake of his family’s honor, so he must be composed, must act as the family and Soul Society bid him. That’s some mighty powerful brainwashing/indoctrination right there. And he broke it once already to marry some nobody from the slums. He did something not only against the norms, but something selfish. Maybe if she’d had high spiritual power this would have been accepted, but she was sickly and likely did not. He went against the clan elders who had probably instilled obedience in him since birth and was afraid of doing it again.

(And if you count the filler arcs, you can bet that they held that one Kuchiki who went traitor against him too. Like: “he married that Hisana girl against our orders? What next? Will he betray Soul Society too?”)

And maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of his upbringing than I need to. Maybe it wasn’t really like this. But I feel like it really was. (Moreso with the filler arcs and what I’ve heard of the light novels.)

Also, this song and the way that the opening animation fit together really solidifies the whole “Ichigo and Rukia were always meant to have a tragic romance” vibe that I kept getting the first time I encountered this series.

The third: Rukia was likely younger than six months (physically) when she was abandoned, but I’m pretty sure that she was older than three months when she and Hisana died.

Her blanket was pink in the flashback.

Sure, the above might not seem to have much significance but it’s been proven in canon that clothes are part of oneself. I reblogged a post a while ago that went into detail, but to sum it up, clothes are part of your self image and your self image determines a bit about what you look like when you die.

Babies are usually no longer swaddled by the time they’re six months old, and some places recommend that you stop by the end of their second month.

Babies have pretty bad vision when they’re born. They take four to six months to reliably track objects in motion and use binocular vision decently. They take about four months to see across a room, and about two months to see farther than maybe 30 cm away. And around the three month mark, they start having decent color vision. Around then is when babies supposedly start showing color preference.

Babies tend to have poor long term memory. (To be fair, they’ve got a lot going on compared to being in the womb and sensory overload sucks.) Their memory by the age of six months is only a few weeks. Two months old had a memory span of a few days.

If she’s been consistently wrapped in a pink blanket, then by the time she’s old enough to see color, she would be old enough to remember what color her blanket usually is— or if it was a different color that particular day.

The fourth: when Gin raises his spiritual pressure on Aizen’s orders, Chad remains standing. This raised a bunch of questions as Gin is stronger than Yammy (to the best of my memory).

Chad remained standing. Yes, his whole fight with Captain Kyouraku was about his resolve and how he would stand by his friends and fight for their safety/ideals but. Like. Earlier that year, his spiritual strength was on par with Yuzu. He’d been friends with Ichigo for years which was why he was even that strong. He’d been in a Hollow attack maybe three times before Rukia was arrested and could only barely see them the time Ishida pulled a stupid and used Hollow Bait. Sure, he has experience fighting and he’d trained under Yoruichi, but it feels sus considering how the others fared.

Orihime fell to her knees pretty quickly after Gin turned up the pressure. She’d also fought against high-ranking shinigami at that point, and trained under Yoruichi, and fought off Hollow (alone even! And she was the reason why Sora moved on, despite Ichigo’s Blade purifying him) before. And yet... It could just be a lack of resolve, as that had come up in earlier chapters but it doesn’t feel right.

Ishida is excused from this due to circumstances.

Tatsuki has been friends with him for ages. Sure, it seems like they weren’t as close after his Mom’s passing, but by then they’d already known each other for quite some time. I’m pretty sure that they were hanging out semi-regularly through junior high/middle school, at which point he got close with Chad and she got close with Orihime. She also has experience fighting (admittedly in martial arts rather than the street fights Ichigo and Chad get dragged into). She experienced at least one hollow attack during Ishida’s Stupid Day. But she collapses as soon as Yammy shows up? That feels off.

In contrast, Ganju was struggling about the same amount. He was born to a noble family— who are known to typically have decently high spiritual power, like his older brother Kaien and his cousin/uncle Issin. He was raised in the Rukongai, meaning he likely came across Hollow attacks. (And those definitely occur.)

Makes me wonder things about Karin’s strength. Like, she managed to escape from the hollow who attacked their house to run for Ichigo’s help (manga) or lived long enough while alone with it that Ichigo and Rukia could come save her (anime), both of which are quite impressive for an eleven year old. She also kept up with Hitsugaya when they played soccer and he’s a captain. Based on Ichigo’s experience, it’s likely that she too will become stronger as she grows up. And does she have an inner hollow too, or is that Ichigo only? If White was simply a parasite and decided to stick to Ichigo I could accept it. But as a hollow Ichigo is a Vast Lorde, and hollows of that level can split into parts (like Starrk and Lilynette).

Does Yuzu not really have any spiritual strength because she inherited more of the Quincy genes from her mom and the hollow genes she inherited don’t balance out that same way it does in her siblings...? Food for thought.

TLDR: how and why is sickness as thing in Soul Society? Byakuya listens to rock music and I’m p. sure the third opening song is him angsting over his wife’s death; it also gave me strong feelings about how he was prolly brainwashed growing up so his angst over Rukia’s fate is not actually stupid. I continue to have IchiRuki feels. Rukia and Hisana died when Rukia was about 3 months old. And I am more confused now about how spiritual power works than I was before I started rewatching the anime for language practice. Also, more questions have arisen about hollows.

[osakiiz]

⟡ yuzu hiragi - yugioh arc-v

like/reblog if you save/use

[sugar-petals]

I see that lately you’ve been reblogging the ice skating guy. Could you introduce him to us in the caro way??👀

i see, i see. you are falling for the beautiful ice skating guy. with delight do i talk about him. ♥︎ who are you asking about, then?

shōma uno (22) of nagoya, japan, the dreamiest ice angel you will ever see:

lucky newcomer stans: shoma is extremely easy to spot. 5′2, soulful, sparkly, and always headed for the podium because his artistry fucking slaps. this angel is the latest olympic silver medalist ✨

if you see a petite, serious-looking guy with thighs for the gods and impossibly elegant upper body work, you can be sure it’s him.

off the ice, look for this: the supreme doe face. dark uwu eyes, wide baby cheeks, 100% shook. needless to say: it’s over when he looks at you like that. 

something else to watch for when you want to spot the angel. his primary hobby is sleeping lmao! shoma naps everywhere. once, he was so exhausted, he was found cutely slumbering before his olympic press conference. 

meanwhile, his presence on the ice? expressive, alluring, aptly sensual start to finish. sometimes feisty, even. he saves all his energy and then delivers. it’s ballet on blades. the guy puts so much passion into his choreo. 

most well-known are the moments when he ends his program and switches back to his normal cute mode. that’s when you see the puppy gaze return.

bc the thing is: you won’t see shoma’s feistiness elsewhere. the japanese are already very reserved and shy, but he’s made an art form of it. his voice is quite light and high, that contributes to the effect. i have not seen one interview where he tries to stand out or embellish his answers. shoma stays true to his unobtrusive character, you’ll see him spaced out 90% of the time.

shoma is often freightened by social settings and fan service. if you didn’t know how he’s on the ice, you can easily get the impression that he’s avoidant or insecure. but it’s just this: he’d rather be gaming or eating than get animated and play celebrity. you have a cozy introvert here. he’s in the game since he’s 5 years old but still doesn’t show himself off, he’s in his own sphere. 

you might see him look overwhelmed pretty often, but the flipside of the coin is, shoma is humble and doesn’t act out of arrogance. for a skater this great, his ego is minimum inflated. he doesn’t like putting himself in the center. legend has it he could always win gold but takes default silver out of politeness 😂

what he does like and respond to is getting direct praise. shoma lives for encouragement. that shit flusters him immensely, and it’s something he accepts. when he’s uneasy in crowds he doesn’t smile very often. but to this day, fans shouting ‘shoma, you’re so cute’ before he starts to skate has proven to lift his spirits effortlessly. last time it happened, he immediately cracked a smile:

now, there is plenty to compliment. 

i mean, look. the sheer athleticism of this man. god knows how high he jumps.

from facial expressions to hand postures, everything captures the music. he looks fantastic. 

shoma has great sense of dramatism. what you’re seeing is always art. 

shoma’s infamous signature move is the cantilever. you can see why. the audience is losing their minds every time.

what else to praise? the absolutely beautiful costumes. 

shoutout to satomi ito who designs these.

the #1 shoma praise bot is skating god yuzuru hanyu (aka current reigning olympic gold medalist) himself. imagine this: a baby is babied by a fellow but slightly older baby. yuzu said this about shoma: “he is like a puppy!” what you see is what you get, shoma is as adorable as he looks. 

so, yuzu takes good care of him and makes sure smol shoma is always included even if he’s getting shy. even since the early days:

if you ask me, team japan couldn’t be any more handsome and princely. the sheer combined power of cuteness and skill. you’ll hear from these lovelies.

shoma and his younger brother itsuki are also pretty much inseparable. goals, this is the softest sibling insta you will ever see. once again, with sleepy shoma.

baby photos included. faith in humanity restored. 

he also has wholesome interactions with his idol and fellow skater daisuke takahashi. dai is a funky, bubbly personality and complements shoma’s introversion really well. 

another important person to shoma, if not the most decisive recently, is retired world champion stéphane lambiel. yes, this handsome swiss glamazon.

shoma went through a highly distressing period of being coachless last year. he parted ways with machiko yamada and mihoko higuchi (below) who were his coaches for 16 (!) years. they were a dream team.

so that he decided to go for something new ended up as the most heartbreaking shit. he lost his inspiration and will for skating and kept dropping to lower rankings. he broke down in competitions because his fans were cheering for him even if his skating deteriorated and he felt undeserving. 2019 was shoma’s existential crisis. he went to several camps to try out coaches, to no avail.

enter coach stéphane! who started to work with him last winter. oh thank god. lo and behold, shooms has been consistently improving and getting very smiley (!) ever since. these two go together like fries and ketchup. 

so, guess who is currently training in switzerland now. whole new world for the little guy 💕

stéphane is eccentric, cheeky, and bold enough to uplift and inspire him but also “so��friendly!” as shoma described him. he praises genuinely and knows how to foster shoma’s talent. their language barrier is also no problem, lambiel is a polyglot. i think that stéphane is off ice what shoma is on ice, this is the perfect exchange. i love this song. 

the ice angel has quickly recovered from his misery thanks to the amount of positive feedback. on youtube, you find multiple fancams of stéphane getting very invested in uno’s performance from the sidelines 😄 shoma adores him and stéphane is a protective ice dad. just look at these two.

there’s no better coach he could have. stéphane’s choreographies perfectly cater to shoma’s poetic interpretation. so satisfying. so impeccable. as dostoevsky said, beauty will save the world.

last japanese nationals in december, shoma even took gold and cried from relief on the podium. he’s improved so much. stéphane will make him go far. 

what convinced him to coach uno was simply this: “his eyes sparkled!”. and yes, there’s hardly anyone who won’t be impacted by this.

this puppy has all of our hearts so let’s send out compliments to him. fingers crossed for shoma’s upcoming competitions and the next olympics where i am sure he will stun the world. i mean, he won gold in the baby boy hall of fame already. he’s a really great artist and soft person who deserves everything. thank you for attending my ted talk.

[nousicons]

Yuzu Aihara, icons

like / reblog if you save. 

[loplih]

🍓✨ Some Ichihime Headcanons that I wrote some time ago, but never got the courage to publish 🍓✨

(Chronologically)

After Ichigo asked Orihime to make some time for him, she only could think about him. Orihime couldn't wait to hear what he wanted to say to her.

Ichigo took 2 weeks thinking about how he would confess.

During that time his family notice it was something going on. He seemed out of this world, looking tense and nervous.

Finally he made the decision and went after her. Surprisingly, when he opens the door Orihime was outside with some bread to give.

Orihime thought "since he has not said anything after that day, I'm going there by myself bringing some bread to see if he says something".

For both surprises they saw each other at the same time and it was awkward. Ichigo almost fainted. But made a appointment with her, next day.

The confession was late in the afternoon by the river.

The sky was the exact same pantone color as Ichigo’s hair that day. Orihime noticed that and she will never forget. It almost looked like a piece of art: Them & the sky.

They were both surprised that they were in love with each other. It was hard to believe.

Secretly he loves when Orihime blushes. She was blushing during the (confession) date day. He thinks this shows how pure and beautiful she is.

In the beginning they didn't tell about their relationship to anyone, they wanted to take it slowly. But it didn't last that long when people started to notice they had something more.

Keigo got upset with Ichigo because he was the first one to have a girlfriend.

Tatsuki just shouted a big loud ‘’FINALLY THAT BASTARD…!’’ when Orihime told her they where dating.

Ichigo’s sisters sees Orihime as a bigger sister. They want their brother to marry Orihime because they believe they will be again a happy family (like old times) since she reminds Masaki.

But Ichigo just gets nervous and super red about it when his sisters says that. But secretly he already dreams about marrying Orihime.

Prety much everyone in soul society didn't get surprised by their relationship, since they were kinda obvious during the war.

The first date was romantic. They had dinner together at a local restaurant and in the end they stayed outside at Orihime’s apartment watching the stars in the sky. In the beginning they were both shy and nervous, but they quickly forgot about that.

After the first date Ichigo started saving money to by her a ring. Just in case.

The last dates they had before marriage, weren't that "romantic". They usually stayed at Ichigo’s house reading and commenting manga together, watching movies or just laid down on his bedroom talking.

They always forget about time when they are together. And time runs fast when they are having fun.

They started spending summer together like full time. Ichigo having driver license made things easier. They usually do family and friend trips.

But as normal, they always like to be alone sometimes. When they go out alone by car, the Kurosaki’s loves to make speculations. Ichigo gets super annoyed, ‘’as if something more than a little trip is going to happen’’.

They had problems conciling time for being together. But they always got to see each other when they had some time free.

Sometimes at night, on those impossible weeks, just to see each other for a minute, Ichigo goes to her apartment as a shinigami because it's more faster.

One time Ichigo said without noticing " but when we get married we will definitly have more time to be together..." Orihime didn’t know Ichigo wanted to marry her. She cried a little.

Ichigo waited to end university to marry Orihime. That was his plan.

If you think Orihime is a cry baby, imagine how her face whent when Ichigo oficial asked her to marry him.

They wanted a simple wedding, but everyone decided to help and it tourned out much beautiful that they were expecting.

Ichigo changed his haircut days before the wedding. ''oh m-my...! You look so good!'' ''Really??'' ''Yeah, you look more mature, I like it... kinda shock because I thought my future husband couldn't even be more handsome then before...and the better part is that now I can see that scowling face even better...'' ‘’ uh-huh I already knew you'd say that!‘’ ‘’that scowling face that I love! Come on!’’  Orihime said with her hands on the back of his neck, hugging him.

She thought the possibility of seeing a emotional Ichigo was low...But he tried so hard not to cry when he saw orihime in her wedding dress. His face reaction was the cuttest.

Their kiss at the cerimony was one of the few times they were kissing. They were always too shy about it, and respected mostly each other to do it in the right time.

After honeymoon their number of kisses were uncountable.

Their honeymoon was on a paradisic place.

They went to the beach a lot and they got sun burn. Ichigo tourned out looking like a lobster. "WHATS NEW? IM ALL ORANGE NOW, GOD DAM IT".

Ichigo is still the one who takes pictures. He loves to take pictures to his wife when she is distracted doing something. Sometimes she looks at him and starts to smile because she already knows him. Smiling just makes the picture even more beautiful and consequently, that’s what he wants.

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he felt that way: relaxed and happy.

After intimacy they felt a bigger connection with eachother and they weren't shy about anything anymore.

This is true because: 1) Orihime feels really comfortable being naked in their hotel room and Ichigo doesn't say nothing about it. 2) They both like to...

After returning home Yuzu and Karin couldn't believe the way Ichigo was different. Just like the old times, when their mother was alive, but at the same time wasn't the same feeling. It was a better feeling.

They discovered she was pregnant because Orihime was always feeling sick, and Ichigo said " ...m-maybe you are... pregnant" with a kinda happy and questionable/nervous expression. "I-I don't know...!"

She made a test while Ichigo waited for the result next to her. While that, both nervous in the Kurosaki Clinic, they started talking about the possibility of being pregnant or not.

When they saw the result they hugged each other crying with happiness. ‘‘I can't believe this is really going to happen ...we will be parents’‘, ‘’ Yeah...I’m so proud of us’’.

The Kurosaki's had a lot of fighting about the baby gender... Men's wanted a baby boy because it's already too many woman in the house. Yuzu and Orihime wanted a baby girl because they love the idea of dressing her. Karin just stays away from the scene. She just wants the baby to love playing sports like her, so she can teach everything.

Orihime and Ichigo lying on the couch seeing how big her belly is getting and starting to make future plans about Kazui. ‘‘he is getting bigger and bigger, yes, that’s my boy!’‘.

Orihime suffered from back pains. To help her, Ichigo massages her back and gives her hot water baths to minimise the pain.

Its also a fact that: ‘’I love you’’ ‘’...is that for me or for the toilet’’ Orihime in the bathroom feeling really sick vomiting and Ichigo by her side holding her hair.

Ichigo cried when he saw Kazui for the first time.

Karin and Yuzu taking care of Baby Kazui to give some time to Ichigo and Orihime. They needed to rest and stay together alone for a bit.

They do have a dog. Every happy family has a dogo. Or a cato.

@loplih

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🍓 I challenge you to reblog and ADD your own headcanon to this post!

If so, don't forget to mencion yourself "@namehere" under it, if you want to be credited!

🍓 Let's make this fandom alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[aqvarius]

[WALKTHROUGH + REVIEW] Masquerade Kiss: Yuzuru Shiba Season 2

Expectations:

I just want to start off by saying that the prologue is absolutely outrageous. There are probably so many targets that hang around the EAC headquarters, especially since HQ is presumably 3 miles within the UN Headquarters and let’s not pretend that there isn’t at least one target going to work there everyday. I actually spent 30 mins on google maps street view trying to find exactly where this location is supposed to be modelled after so I could find all the companies and buildings that have potential targets and then just gave up lol. BUT either way, I refuse to believe that a top international intelligence agency would just go WARNING WARNING and go into emergency lockdown because a target entered a 3 mile radius of HQ. Ridiculous. Also, the letter from the EAC even in the Yuzuru prologue also calls her Arisa Mifune which is her Kazuomi alias lol.

EDIT: I found the location of that background which implies that EAC HQ is modelled after 2 Hammarskjold Plaza or somewhere near (which is right next to the British Consulate btw, how did MC not see that on her way to the building. Also conveniently near something called Japan Society.). Note the octagonal-roofed thing on the bottom left, the general shape of the building, the covered part of the building lobby, the blue sign (afaik street signs in NYC are green) and the position and shape of the building down the road. And I know I’m taking this whole thing way too seriously, but Jeffrey Epstein had a mansion about 2 miles away from here so this whole 3 mile emergency alert thing is just ridiculous. Sure, Epstein probably never existed in the world of Masquerade Kiss but come on, it is highly unlikely that not a single target lives, works or passes by for a kebab within a 3 mile radius of the EAC HQ.

With that out of the way, let’s talk Yuzuru. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even play Masquerade Kiss ever again. I like most things about the game but Love Choice is honestly just a turn off and the only LC game that I am genuinely drawn to is actually Destind. But then I had 287 unused hearts because I bought a bunch of hearts with the intent of playing Kyogoku’s route in Romance MD (and then I didn’t because I actually just don’t like that game) so I decided to give it a shot. I actually (surprisingly?) prefer Kazuomi to Yuzuru as a character, but I like Yuzuru’s MC more than Kazuomi’s MC and I was intrigued that Voltage would push this whole love quadrangle thing. We’ve seen hyper-jealous Yuzuru before in a substory so I think I went into this route more interested in the plot aspect and to see how they would develop the kind of strange relationship between Yuzuru and his MC. I genuinely enjoyed Yuzuru’s S1 MS a lot and wanted to see how he and his MC would grow as a couple. Also I wanted to play it in order to write a review to bring some traffic back to my semi-hiatus stagnant blog lol. Please give this a like/reblog please I’m begging you please :’(

Keep reading to the walkthrough and review. I’ve calculated a way for you to get to EE with all CGs (50 hearts saved), SHE with CGs (83 hearts saved), or a cheapest overall option to SHE (107 hearts saved).

Stop scrolling after the walkthrough and guide if you haven’t yet played and don’t want the route to be spoiled.

Walkthrough:

Story 1:

Yes, we should keep an eye on him.

No, it’s not necessary

Story 2:

“You came to be with me.” (Love Meter +1) (6 hearts)

I can’t say.

Story 3:

I sign without hesitating.

I hesitate for a moment.

Story 4:

Text Yuzuru.

Don’t text him.

Story 5:

I’ll sign it. (Love Meter +1, CG) (13 hearts)

I’m not going to sign a New York contract.

 Story 6:

Casually intervene. (Love Meter +2) (11 hearts)

Pretend not to notice.

Story 7:

See him out without asking what’s wrong.

Ask what’s going on.

Story 8:

It’s payback time. (Love Meter +1, CG) (16 hearts)

Don’t do anything.

Story 9:

Start touching him. (Love Meter +2) (12 hearts)

I can’t interrupt.

Story 10:

Seduce the info out of him. (Love Meter +1) (8 hearts)

Try to force it out of him.

Story 11: (second chance)

Gently ask about it. (Love Meter +3) (18 hearts)

Now is not the time.

Story 12:

“I’m thinking about you.” (Love Meter +3) (13 hearts)

“Nothin’.”

Story 13:

“It was fun.”

“It was relaxing.”

 Story 14:

Apologize and keep talking. (Love Meter +1) (7 hearts)

Ouch. I have nothing to say for myself…

Story 15:

Play dumb: “What are you talking about?”

Ask: “What if I am?”

Story 16:

Find out if he’s jealous. (Love Meter +2) (18 hearts)

Don’t ask any questions.

Story 17:

“I’ll stay ten more minutes.” (Love Meter +2) (14 hearts)

I have nothing to say.

Story 18:

Ask about his Texas accent.

Don’t ask about it now.

Story 19:

Call out to Yuzuru.

Let him go.

Story 20:

Put up a strong front: “I’m okay.”

Tell the truth: “I’m not okay.”

Story 21: (second chance)

Ask Yuzuru why he did it. (Love Meter +3, CG) (25 hearts)

Don’t ask any questions.

Story 22:

“Not as stubborn as you.”

“You already knew that.”

Story 23 (useless):

Trust Yuzuru and don’t go. (Love Meter +1) (13 hearts)

Right now, I have to go to Jeremy.

Story 24: (second chance but she saves him either way)

Rush over to protect Yuzuru. (Love Meter +3) (19 hearts)

I can’t get there quickly enough.

Guides:

I calculated the cheapest ways to get to Eden End and Super Happy End with CGs and without CGs. Just opt for the heart scenes that I’ve highlighted in each guide below.

Click the read more below for my review. Stop here if you haven’t yet read the route because there are spoilers galore.

Review:

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this route. As I read through, I thought the pacing was excellent and I was really drawn in by everything about it, especially the relationship between Yuzuru and his MC. It has definitely been a while since a LC route really captured my full attention. However, upon rereading my notes and writing this review, I do have quite a few issues with it, particularly the plot. I’ll go through the things I enjoyed about the route first and then discuss what I find to be its limitations.  

So Yuzuru is great in this route. We get a far more expressive and soft Yuzuru. We get to see the most charming side of Yuzuru again, his childlike passion for engineering and innovation. This, in my opinion, is Yuzuru at his softest and most appealing, when he is genuinely passionate and not just doing the hyper-organised scheduling thing (although naturally most of this is hidden behind a heart scene). Sometimes it’s nice to remember that Yuzuru is human.

He’s definitely more playful with his MC in this route, even going as far as to blur the lines between work and personal life a little bit in a way that I found quite unexpected. There’s a lot of flirty banter between them, as well as just little suggestions of flirtations here and there in their body language – in front of people too! Scandalous. It almost reminds me a bit of Kazuomi and his MC, which is definitely a pleasant surprise. A lot of these scenes are hidden behind heart scenes, which I’ll get into later, but I will say that these cute and suggestive moments between the two are probably some of the best moments of the route, and part of the reason why it was so easy to keep reading.

I’ve mentioned this before but Yuzuru’s MC is my favourite version of the Masquerade Kiss MC. She’s great in this route too – cool, calm, great at her job. I also love that she likes Night at the Museum? Lmao me too girl. She has such trashy taste in movies and it’s a cute quirk that definitely makes her more relatable within the sensational premise of the game. Personality-wise, I think they did a good job at bridging the professional and personal aspects of her personality too, making her read like someone who has different personas that are different aspects of the same person. You definitely get a sense of the conflict within the MC when she has to extract information by using her sExUaLiTy when her boyfriend is watching on lol, even when they kind of make it out like a game. It is interesting and quite novel to see a Voltage MC successfully pull off a honey trap on a guy who kind of repulses her. We get snippets of it in other games such as Her Love in the Force but HLITF MC is always careful to keep boundaries so we never get to explore the full potential of the jealousy that can crop up in such situations. MK MC goes above and beyond to give us (and Yuzuru) a show. With that being said, I do feel like they kind of drew back from it a little by having Jeremy be super forward with his affection so the MC just has to respond, keep him on the hook and pull back every now and again, rather than actively needing to pursue someone to obtain information.

I also really enjoyed that moment when Yuzuru tells her to shower before going to his bed to wash off “Mia.” It solidifies that he’s really in love with her and not her charismatic, flirtatious hostess alias. Throughout the route, the blurring of the personal and the professional is definitely a theme that we see cropping up in the lives of both the MC and Yuzuru. It’s something that I find particularly interesting and I’m glad they picked this developmental direction since both Yuzuru and his MC are notoriously bad at mixing those two worlds, with both of them consistently and repeatedly picking work over love. We also get to see Yuruzu and his MC almost working together at times, which I adored. At times, they feel like a team. As always, they have tons of sexual and physical chemistry but they are slowly building up on the emotional chemistry and communication issues which is so crucial for character and relationship development. 

The SHE and EE in particular has some incredibly cute moments. Yuzu’s MC describing them as part of a machine is *chefs kiss* incredible. Their sex scenes are intimate, loving and incredibly romantic. Yuzu preparing his NYC home for MC? Adorable. And, most importantly, him not only tolerating but welcoming his MC’s “bugs” in their relationship? That’s character growth babey. 

With super long LC routes, I always get tired about 7 chapters in and give up and then have to come back and finish it later. However, this route sped along. The pacing of this route is pretty quick and snappy – in fact, I wouldn’t have minded if it was actually longer? Developments tend to happen pretty quickly, there are plenty of moments between Yuzuru and the MC that keep the story moving, and there’s basically very little, if any, ‘downtime’ in this route. Because they are constantly in the club or at Yuzuru’s place lol.

The writing/language quality is great. I felt genuinely tense every time Yuzuru and the MC almost got caught in the club and even more so when the MC went to Jeremy’s home. I couldn’t spot any significant typos or coding errors. The readability of this route is definitely top quality.

Moving onto my gripes with this route, I would say that they have to do mostly with flimsy plot, characters being reduced to plot devices, and lack of relationship conflict.

Firstly, something that I always find a bit off about the premise of EAC is how public their relationships sometimes are and how the MC’s private life even works. Yuzuru literally gets swarmed with people in the prologue asking for autographs and photos and yet later in the route can somehow go on a public date to busy tourist spots in central NYC with a spy? (That being said, I refuse to take that prologue as canon because of how sensationally ridiculous it is.) Let’s not pretend the EAC isn’t watching them lol (they even imply multiple times that this is the case). Is she not worried that Jeremy or Grace or any SHIBA or Space Crystal employees or any of the numerous powerful and dangerous people who frequent Freja will spot them together? There is no way she looks significantly different as Mia than as herself unless she’s wearing prosthetics or can turn off her star aura like Britney Spears can.  Also, is the MC supposed to be mixed? No one has any questions about how a native Japanese woman can get away with being called Mia Knightley?

They also set up this tension of something happening to the MC without Yuzuru ever knowing which never really plays out. There’s a brief callback to it but it’s more about the MC finding an excuse to see Yuzu. I thought the drama would have more to do with the MC having to keep secrets from Yuzu and disappearing but that never happens and so the repeated mentions of this particular source of anxiety don’t really amount to anything. I also wish they made better use of the stun bracelet! I think it would have been cool if that was what took Jeremy out. Symbolically, it could have worked as a physical manifestation of Yuzu’s trust and support of his MC and her job helping to protect her against the Big Bad.

Okay so my main issue is about the villains and the flimsy plot. Jeremy and Grace were such wasted villains!! If this guy went crazy and murdered 3 people… how did he manage to not only reinvent himself but in fact become a very high profile tech executive with more or less the same name? Imagine if Elon Musk was actually a crazy murderer who used to be called Elon Avrevic… there’s no way that he would be able to bury this, especially if he came from nothing and had no connections during the time in his life when he committed these murders. If there are actual criminal reports about his crimes that can be accessed by the EAC and SHIBA, how did he not get taken in for life after murdering 3 people? Why is he even free in the world? It’s such a big plot hole to me… doesn’t have the same fingerprints? Did he get such extensive plastic surgery that he’s not recognisable and also burn off his fingerprints? Evidently not, since the MC can recognise both him and Grace from childhood photos!

I also didn’t think his motivations were really that convincing. We get a throwaway line about his alcoholic father killing his mother because she tried to leave him, but in general they set Jeremy up with so much potential as this psychopath who hunts a very specific type of woman but then they just kind of throw it away with him just going crazy and shooting people because he just wants “girls and money”. Nooo Jeremy they did you so dirty!!!

I just think they built him up as this incredibly dangerous and manipulative predator but then just made him a standard alcoholic incel. He could have been such a good villain. He could have maybe drawn the MC in with sob stories about his mother and actually made her doubt her instincts with his charisma and vulnerability, with it turning out that the whole time he was just luring her in, instead of just relentlessly hitting on her and then getting carelessly drunk and going crazy. He spends so much of the route attempting to play and get with the MC and then just throws it all away by getting pissed and letting her basically have free reign of his apartment? I just don’t buy that a co-founder of Space Crystal would get to the top without being more clever, suspicious and manipulative – especially since he murdered 3 women and still is somehow a free man, ‘disguised’ as a very successful CEO?  Also, if he really just wanted girls and money, there were a thousand other ways of doing it. He could have been so clever and instead they just made him have occasional psychotic breaks with no discernible trigger. Disappointing.

(On a side note, they made his house look weirdly similar to Epstein’s manor. Or maybe all Upper East Side homes look like this, I have no idea. I did look around on Google Maps and I guess a lot of the homes in this area are kind of similar.)

Grace is also a wasted character. She kind of feels like a MacGuffin just to have this love quadrangle in order to play out the jealousy plot but ultimately plays no significant role. Actually, both Grace and Jeremy basically just act as jealousy plot devices, only the jealousy plot isn’t strong enough to actually threaten Yuzu and his MC’s relationship (except for one moment which to be honest doesn’t even play out like that because of jealousy and rather because Yuzu is trying to protect his girl).

Speaking of that moment, I thought that Yuzuru’s “push the MC away plan” could have been stronger. I feel like it’s not like him to do make such a basic attempt at fooling his MC. It might have worked in a different game but all of the MK guys usually know that they can’t trick their MC with cheap Harry and the Hendersons plots and they tend to not disrespect her enough to try. I know that as readers, we enjoy not knowing what the love interest is up to because it ups the tension and drama but I feel like there was a way of having that insecurity and conflict play out while keeping everything a mystery and making better use of the characters. Like maybe it could seem like Yuzuru is running into Grace’s arms after finding his MC in a compromising position with Jeremy when he’s actually doing his own covert investigations and making plans to foil their ultimate plans. Or maybe even working with Grace to take Jeremy’s wild country-bombing plans out. That way, we would prolong the jealousy/love quadrangle plot with the MC stressing about Yuzuru and Grace’s relationship, especially when she already doesn’t trust Grace. It would also make better use of Grace as a character and her position as both someone with a ginormous crush on Yuzuru and as Jeremy’s ‘partner’. If Grace also ended up betraying Jeremy to help Yuzuru and the MC, we could also have had some extra heartbreak about Grace having to betray the one person she has always had in her life (and maybe some extra backstory about Jeremy going nuts as part of having to protect himself and Grace from their parents and the world). #voltagehireme lol. I also find it highly unlikely that Jeremy managed to set up this whole missile-launching phone app business under Grace’s nose, especially when Yuzuru knew about it. Also, the idea of an American attempting to launch a missile to destroy the whole of Japan is a bit… on the nose lol.

The season isn’t really driven by relationship conflict even though they were pushing the whole jealousy line in the marketing. In the end, I don’t think the route is as much about jealousy as it is about trust – but then again, Yuzuru has always placed ultimate trust in his MC even in S1. I can see this being an issue for people who went into this route wanting genuine conflict in their relationship so that they can overcome and work through it to develop. There’s only a little bit of conflict towards the end when the MC goes to Jeremy’s home, and then that kind of gets discarded pretty quickly anyway. They just happen to be better at communication this season, and a lot of that is because of Yuzuru going out of his way to keep tabs on his MC. This is probably what makes the route so easy to read, because Yuzu is more open. However, because of this, while it is great that their communication as a couple improves, it may not necessarily feel that earned? With that said, credit to the writers for making Yuzu more open without making it feel jarring or like he’s had a sudden personality change.

And on another note entirely, I wish there was a bit more detail about the three “S”es and more involvement from Kazu and Kei, who basically just make gratuitous appearances in this route. Learning about them making Takoyaki together at Oxford is such a cute detail and also such an international student in the UK thing to do. Find me one Asian student studying abroad in the UK who hasn’t collectively cooked home food in halls with friends from their country (it’s always hotpot for me lol). I wish there were more moment with them actively involved in helping the MC.

Finally, I have my usual issues about the Love Choice system. If you play the route for free, you get very few cute scenes between Yuzu and his MC, miss out on some major character development moments (esp that planetarium scene) and you get a fade to black ending in the Normal End. Personally, I started playing Voltage in the early 2010s so I don’t mind fade to black endings, but I think the mature/sex scenes are what a lot of MK readers are here for, so it’s a shame that there isn’t even a kiss scene in the NE.

Overall, I would say that the chemistry between Yuzuru and his MC is what keeps this route going and flowing. I would recommend it if you just adore Yuzuru, want to maximise time with him and don’t really care much about plot. Otherwise, while their relationship is brought to new levels, it does not happen because of the plot as much as Yuzu’s response to events we don’t necessarily see, and it does not necessarily feel that earned because the plot doesn’t really put their relationship in that much jeopardy.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed reading this route – I found it super easy to keep reading, and Yuzu kept me hooked. I also love Yuzu more than ever. I think it’s a similar situation to Takane’s route, where the route made me love the love interest more, but has an average/flimsy plot. I imagine that his PoV will reveal more about those events that make him go out of his way to keep an eye on his MC, but as a standalone route, I wish there was more actual relationship conflict leading to more development.

[annicon]

↠     yuzu icons  ~♡

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