#rin azuma

[surprise-its-polls]

Best Brown Themed Magical Girl - Round 1

[hitomikisugi]

[choujinx]

YAKITATE!! JAPAN (2002-2007) by hashiguchi takashi

[friends-to-lovers-tournament]

Friends to Lovers Tournament: Round 2, Side A, Match 4

propaganda under the cut!

Fuyupoly:

Submission 1:

they're from the winter troupe of the mankai company, and unlike the other troupes they're all adults. that said, they all have varying degrees of trauma and emotional stuntedness. it takes them some time to fully open up to each other bc they're all very cautious of each other's boundaries and don't want to cross any lines which initially led to some issues in the group's formation. over time they've learned to bridge the gap while still being mindful of hard boundaries. at one point they have a discussion about what exactly their relationship is (gay) cuz they were talking about how the other troupes have clearly defined dynamics (spring=family, summer=besties, autumn=rivals & teammates) but they don't,, and homare deadass says they're "people bound by a common destiny" which in and of itself sounds very Gay (like why are you as a man bound to other men by a common destiny), but it goes even further because homare starts spouting WEDDING VOWS: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE GAME AND THE MC EVEN REMARKS "i can already hear wedding bells in the distance..." 

gradually they become closer, in individual sub-units based on who's paired up as co-leads for a play, and as a troupe overall. also two of its members are childhood friends who had a messy 'divorce' in their young adulthood and it took the game breaking its genre to introduce a timeloop for them to finally make up if that means anything to you. one of their troupe songs "precious to us ~bokura no kisetsu" has some pretty beautiful and fruity lines: "The many kindnesses born in me here / Never fail to breathe life into my chest / Even all the pain and bitterness / Have now become dear to me (Ah…Stay with me)", "No matter how many times our season passes / Let us keep living together / Holding our hands, without ever letting go / Let us open up the curtain of tomorrow", "There is no need for words, because once our gazes meet / Joy sparks a light in your eyes", "Our journey, may it be a brilliant one / As our breaths overlap as one"

a lot of their plays has a LOT of homoerotic tension between the two leads too. their first play has tsumugi and tasuku play angels, and it's heavily implied that tasuku's character has an unrequited crush on tsumugi's character. their third play has azuma play a vampire and tasuku play Just Some Guy and it's generally agreed in the fandom to be one of the gayest, if not THE gayest, play A3 has ever written. obviously the vampire thing is very fruity, but there's also how the vampire was longing to bite the human but was holding himself back, and when the vampire left the human in the end, the human was absolutely HEARTBROKEN over it and was swearing they would reunite one day. the stage play of this takes it even further by having the vampire embrace the human from behind and BITE his neck. the fourth play is a watered-down adaptation of Phantom of the Opera where they genderbend Christine into Chris among other things and change the relationship between Chris and the Phantom to one of friendship.... ostensibly so, because there's still a lot of homoerotic undertones in their interactions. i could go on but this should be enough of a sampling taste 

Submission 2:

the writers rlly said "let's take 2 normal guys who are childhood friends and have been into theatre since their school days and have them go through a pre-canon messy divorce, an eccentric poet with a potentially controversial haircut, an amnesiac sleepyhead who can only be awoken with marshmallows but is also somehow extremely athletic despite doing nothing but sleeping and eating marshmallows all day, a man who is so beautiful and mysterious he breaks gender, and a supposed android from a fictional south asian country, and throw them into a blender, oh and for good measure let's throw in some theatre and angst and gay and angst and gay" and the end result was marriage. i mean it took them a lot of awkward fumbling around and conflicts to get there but they got there and thats what matters. ok *technically* in-text they're all rlly good friends and kinda found family BUT they are found family via marriage papers i do not make the rules chief

Submission 3:

The reason why they are so friends-to-lovers to me is because their relationship is founded on quiet and unconditional acceptance of each other—regardless of how flawed they may be or how heavy their burdens and trauma may be. When the troupe first formed (sans Guy who was in another country at the time), they didn’t have any major clashing personalities at the very beginning and generally they were mindful of each other’s boundaries, unlike the other troupes that came before them. However, it’s BECAUSE they were too mindful of said boundaries that it was difficult for them to break down their walls and bond as a team—and there were a LOT of walls to break down, as all of them had varying degrees of emotional baggage and trauma.

In fact, it’s only three plays in that they finally truly start opening up to each other, with Azuma getting the ball rolling by opening up about the deep loneliness that haunted him ever since his childhood. It’s during this conversation that they also discuss what their relationship as a troupe is, because the other troupes have defined their relationship as a team (Spring is family, Summer is best friends, Autumn is rivals & teammates), and Homare goes on to declare that they’re “people bound by a common destiny” and goes on to spew wedding vows: "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!" I mean… it can’t get any more obvious than this, really. They are married.

But anyway, Tsumugi says he wants their relationship to be one where while they respect each other’s need for space, they’ll also be there for each other and share their pains and burdens—or in his words: “supporting each other when our burdens become too heavy to bear on our own”—which I think is really sweet because it carries this idea of quiet, unconditional acceptance; they don’t push each other to share more than they’re comfortable with sharing, but with whatever they ARE comfortable with sharing everyone carries the load and pain because pain is easier to bear when you’re not bearing it alone <3 

A later part of the story focuses on Hisoka, a mysterious amnesiac, being terrified of regaining his memories and facing some “sin” from his past that has led to another character, Chikage, trying to take revenge on him. When he confesses this to the rest of the Winter troupe, Homare asks, “How heavy is this sin you bear?” and Azuma suggests, “Perhaps it’s just heavy enough for the five of us to carry together.” (at this point Guy hasn’t joined yet). The stage play adapts this scene into a song called Key to Memory. The key (pun unintended) part is 1:27 where there’s a back-and-forth between Hisoka and the other Winter troupe members (sans Tasuku because he wasn’t in that particular play)

Hisoka: “I’m scared…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s okay.”

Hisoka: “My unforgivable sin…”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “Let’s carry it together.”

Hisoka: “I might not be me anymore.”

Tsumugi, Homare, Azuma: “It’s all right. We understand and we accept you, so let’s go together.”

And it ends with Hisoka singing: “I was afraid to open the door of my locked memories. But if everyone is here, I believe I can do it.”  In both the game and stage play, Hisoka fully regains his memories and reconciles with Chikage (long story). He tells Fuyupoly he can’t go into detail about his past with Chikage because it’s dangerous but he’ll tell them when the time is right, and they accept this saying that no matter what his past is, they know and love him as their Hisoka which obviously is a very sweet thing for friends to say, but it’s also very Marriage-coded to me.

Later, Guy is introduced as an android from Zahra (a fictional South Asian country) and joins the Winter troupe as a temporary member—because he’s stuck in Japan for the foreseeable future—until they find a permanent member to replace him. The other Winter members have a conversation among themselves and agree that regardless of whether he’s really an android or a human they’ll accept Guy for who he is and help him improve his acting, which again harkens back to the idea of ‘unconditional acceptance’. Eventually it’s revealed that Guy is in fact a human who has forgotten his memories of the past and his emotions. He recovers his memories all at once which shocks his system and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up in his room, he finds the rest of the Winter Troupe asleep around the room—which I believe is symbolic of their whole theme of “quiet acceptance”: they don’t want to push Guy to share beyond what he’s comfortable with, but they’re always there to listen to him and share his load if that’s what he wants. He opens up about the memories he recovered, and they don’t treat him with pity like he’s a lost child, but still extend gentle empathy and understanding. They also emphasise that it genuinely doesn’t matter to them whether he’s human or android because he’s Guy first and foremost. It’s at this point that Guy truly lets himself become part of the Winter troupe/Fuyupoly and not just as a temporary stand-in member, because he’s found a place where he’s found himself again and people who will accept who this “himself” is, whether that be an android devoid of emotions or a human brimming with vivid beautiful emotions.[Mod note: There’s a LOT more but we’re afraid of crashing the post. I (Deli) summarised it the best I can since I’m familiar with A3, but if you want to read the full thing you can check it out on this google doc)

Sourin:

okay so i have a picture to crack explain the sourin supremacy

but i also have legitimate reasons lmao

1. sousuke and rin both GET what it's like to want something so bad but not be able to achieve it. they know each other's pain so well, and they know just how much effort the other person puts into swimming. AND THAT MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING STRENGTHENS THEIR BOND SO MUCH!!! this is also the reason why they are each others' comfort person because the other just GETS it, no need for any explanations

2. they're passionate as fuck about the same thing (swimming) and they help each other train harder and swim better,,, like get you a couple with the same obsessions as you!!!

3. THEY SWAM A RELAY TOGETHER and that means a lot in swimming because IT'S BASICALLY SMTH A TEAM DOES WHEN THEY HAVE ABSOLUTE TRUST IN EACH OTHER AND THEY DEPEND ON EACH OTHER AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER AND IT'S BASICALLY THE SWIMMING ANIME EQUIVALENT OF I LOVE YOU

4. when sousuke told rin about the shoulder injury he was literally so devastated because his love couldn't follow his passions anymore,, AND WHEN SOUSUKE RECOVERED FROM THE SURGERY RIN LEGIT CRIED HAPPY TEARS!!! and sousuke was always there for rin w/e he had a slump bc he compared himself too much to haru and others,,, like gods they care so much for each other

5. sousuke is the earth and rin is the fire,,, AND RIN LIGHTS A FIRE IN SOUSUKE WHILE SOUSUKE GROUNDS RIN LIKE PLEASE THE MOTIFS ARE LITERALLY RIGHT THERE EVEN IN THEIR COLOUR SCHEMES (teal + maroon) 

in short: sourin supremacy because these two bois are so perfect for each other"

[haru-se]

Medley Relay Win P.2 🏅

[badpostureart]

Message in a Bottle (pt. 2)

For anon, who asked my thoughts about secondary characters in Free! (continued).

I like Natsuya, I really do, but the guy needs to smarten up! While it’s totally understandable that he wanted his little brother to step out from his shadow and become his own person, I think it’s unwise to just throw Ikuya in the proverbial deep end, watch him almost drown himself, and refuse to help him. It’s obvious that Natsuya cares a lot about Ikuya, but he seems to struggle with actually being there for him. I don’t know why as an older brother, knowing your baby brother is shy, you wouldn’t try and introduce him to other kids or offer to do things together. It sounds like he just stopped showing up for Ikuya and didn’t explain to him why. Now, it isn’t Natsuya’s fault that Ikuya became a moody son-of-a-bitch as he got older, but he made it so that Ikuya didn’t feel comfortable confiding in him anymore. There would be no need to strap Hiyori with the responsibility of looking out for Ikuya and giving him updates about how he’s doing if Natsuya would just show up. Then again, it wasn’t until recently that Natsuya even considered showing up for himself and thinking seriously about what he wants to do with his life…maybe he thinks commitment is scary, hm?

I don’t think Natsuya purposely withheld love/affirmation from his brother. Maybe he just underestimated how badly he needed it or felt too awkward to say how proud of him he was. How all of this became Haru’s fault of all people is beyond me, and maybe that’s why seeing the Kirishimas actually reconcile and start to communicate felt…just meh. I’m not sure Natsuya understood the gravity of what he did, nor do I think Ikuya directed his hurt at the right person. They’re in a much better place than they were, but I’m not sure either brother fully owned up to anything, does that make sense?

Which segways to Ikuya himself. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that some of my frustrations with this kid may simply be due to projection. I too was once a moody son-of-a-bitch, so I get it, I do. And because I get it, I know that at a certain point, you gotta own up to it. You gotta say, “My attitude is shit. Yeah, people have let me down, and I feel lonely and angry, but I can’t keep holding onto all this shit and being miserable. I have to do something about it.”

In Dive to the Future, Ikuya expressed wanting to be a hero like Haru: “Not a hero that fights evil and stuff, but the kind that everyone looks up to. The kind that helps out whenever someone is lost or stuck.” But the only “heroic” thing Ikuya seemed to have done since smiling at another kid in kindergarten was convincing his university team captain to put Hiyori on the relay team with him at regionals—which they should have been doing together the whole time anyway! Then in the Final Stroke, Ikuya tells Rin, “Back then, I looked at the stars with Haru like this…as I made a wish to be able to swim faster.” So, was he just saying that “hero” stuff to look good? Or does he think that people admire Haru simply because he is a fast swimmer?! See, here I go getting pissed off again!

This is perhaps a bit off-topic, but something that both frustrated and interested me was Ikuya’s curiosity about the nature of Haru’s relationship with Rin. He’s straightforward in asking Rin if he’s happy to see Haru win or finds it frustrating, he tags along with them to see the venue in Sydney despite being “well aware…that this is an important place to you [two],” and asks Rin if he was okay not being in the room with Haru after he collapsed for the nth time. It seems as though the primary reason Ikuya wanted to start spending time with Rin was to try and sus out why he’s so important to Haru. On the one hand, it feels like he’s intruding and being nosy. But on the other hand, the more he pries, the more Rin talks about how much he adores Haru and the more it’s made plain that Haru feels the same way…and as a member of the Rinharu propaganda department, I hoard those moments like treasure! 

Ikuya certainly pisses me off, but he’s not a bad person, y’know? Just dramatic! But so am I for getting so worked up over his shenanigans!!

For someone who has always been “mature for his age,” Hiyori has a really warped understanding of how friendships work. Ikuya was patient and reached out to Hiyori when nobody else seemed to give him the time of day and from thenceforth, he became this glorified hero figure in Hiyori’s eyes that he wanted to hoard for himself. He actively chased away people who tried to get close to Ikuya, dubbing them unworthy of being his friend, even though those people would probably become his friends too if he wasn’t such a territorial weirdo. Even after Ikuya reconciles with his old relay team (despite Hiyori’s attempts at preventing this), Hiyori remains weirdly possessive over Ikuya. When Sousuke compliments Ikuya’s strength as a swimmer in light of Sydney’s prelims, Hiyori thanks him. Sousuke, reasonably enough, wonders why he’s saying thank you. I don’t think it was because Hiyori was trying to take credit for Ikuya’s strength or to thank Sousuke on his behalf, but more likely that he means to say thanks for complimenting his Ikuya. Hiyori seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Also, I still can’t believe he got away without so much as a bloody nose after telling Haru that “everyone who swims with you ends up suffering somehow, huh?” The sheer audacity is baffling!

Ryuuji, much like Haru, has unorthodox methods and is a bit of a weirdo, so I think he’s a good fit as his coach. However, I also think he’s sometimes too hard on Haru and his advice that he should “throw things away” to become a better swimmer is fucking awful. I won’t go as far as saying that Haru’s falling out with Rin after Sydney is Ryuuji’s fault, and I don’t think he was wrong to tell Rin that he needed to fix things himself, but Ryuuji was the one to tell Haru that “the only ones who make it are the ones who don’t waver an inch, even if something happens to someone they care about.” Or in other words, one shouldn’t let things in their personal life affect their swimming, no matter how dear or important. This logic operates under the assumption that swimming is (and should be) completely divorced from everything and everyone else, which is directly contrarian to how Haru swims! It’s literally what sets Haru apart from someone like Albert! Moreover, if your athlete calls you in the middle of the night out in the pouring rain and tells you he’s ready to sacrifice everything to improve despite explicitly saying previously that he won’t do that, you’d probably think something must’ve happened, right? Then you watch him over-exert himself because he’s in a hurry against his own anatomy and your solution is to shove Rin against a wall and tell him that it’s his responsibility to fix things with Haru?

I’ve never been in sports myself, so I can’t say for sure to what degree a good coach should be involved in their athlete’s personal life when it’s clearly affecting how they perform. Still, I don’t know how realistic it is to expect Haru to just forget everything while he swims—because on the one hand, it’s important to focus on himself as he is instead of pushing himself too hard in order to surpass others, but on the other, distancing himself from the people that he cares about so he can spend all his time and energy training is counterintuitive because his bonds are where he draws his strength from. I suppose this is why the expression “don’t mix business and pleasure” exists because swimming simply isn’t “just a job” for Haru, nor is it separate from everything else he cares about. This is his life we’re talking about here! I hate the idea that life is supposed to stop just because a person has a job to do!

And hell, maybe I’m misinterpreting things and Ryuuji’s stupid advice to Haru had no impact on his decision to throw himself into a self-destructive spiral. But if Ryuuji wants Haru to avoid the mistakes he once made, I think it's unwise to advise him to stop concerning himself with people he cares about. Y’know that shit Ryuuji told Rin? That he needs to “grab on to what’s important” to him “and not let it go”? That’s the advice he needs to give Haru too. He doesn’t need to give up anything—all he’s ever had to be is himself. Wait, shut up. Just as I’m typing this out, I realized that Rin pulling Haru into an embrace in the night pool is literally grabbing on to what’s important and not letting go. Oh! I’m gonna make myself cry! GOD, I LOVE RINHARU! Much like Haru’s personal life being intertwined with swimming, BadPosture’s Free!meta is never without Rinharu!

Kinjou is an arrogant son-of-a-bitch with a history with Ikuya and Hiyori that I am completely oblivious to. I’m seriously wondering if there was another movie or something that I missed because I don’t know what’s going on with them. He shows up for the first time at the end of Road to the World to tell Hiyori that he thinks he’s worse off being friends with Ikuya and to call him “Hiyori Crybaby.” I don’t remember Hiyori’s character ever being established as a crybaby, so I’m not sure where this nickname came from. Then in the first part of the Final Stroke, we see that Hiyori and Kinjou met as kids, but something else must’ve happened between then and university because kid-Hiyori moving away suddenly doesn’t explain Kinjou’s animosity towards Ikuya.

At the prelims, Kinjou calls Ikuya “Mermaid Princess Hero,” which means he’s probably heard Ikuya’s claim that he “gave up his heart in order to get stronger,” but “couldn’t become human.” Who’s to say if he knows anything about Haru? Anyway, he also brought over another breaststroke swimmer named Kotetsu Sudou to intimidate Ikuya, saying, “You might always be pushing Hiyori and your brother around…but don’t get full of yourself.” So…Kinjou bullies Ikuya because he doesn’t want him going around thinking he’s hot shit? I was gonna say that this is pretty unnecessary, but I just remembered the whole “Bullying Ikuya For Sport” thing, so I guess I’m not one to talk… Anyway, he goes on to say something rather curious about Ikuya’s performance at prelims: “Don’t show me such mediocre swimming. There’s too big of a gap between you and Sudou…even though there’s someone rooting for you.” Does he think that Ikuya’s performance should be enhanced knowing that he has Hiyori back home rooting for him? While that’s an awfully romantic statement, it’s not exactly realistic! Then later, Kinjou confides to Hiyori that he’s jealous of Ikuya because he’s “blessed” …presumedly in the form of cheerleaders Natsuya and Hiyori. Perhaps knowing that Ikuya takes his support system for granted is what makes Kinjou dislike him. (And perhaps he and I have more in common than I thought!) Then again, in the second part of the Final Stroke, Kinjou apologizes to Ikuya for “always lashing out” at him and Hiyori, effectively resolving the matter less than two minutes into the movie. So…that’s that?  

Then there’s the business with Kinjou’s cousin, Kiyo. What the hell happened to him? Is he even still alive? Because I know next to nothing about this mystery relative, Kinjou’s conversation with Ryuuji about him “going through a lot” is really confusing! And then in the next movie, Ryuuji says to Kinjou, “I’ll save you someday, too!” LIKE I’M SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. (And in case you forgot, Ryuuji, your only charge ends up in rehab after one season of you coaching him! You aren’t in any position to be saving anybody, bitch!!) Anyway, it’s obvious that Kinjou’s arrogance is his way of overcompensating for the fact that he’s a lot more sensitive and cares more than he wants to let on. He’s something of a tsundere whose actions run contrarian to his words—because while he keeps saying that he’s only swimming for himself, he joins the Haru protection squad and swims to give Haru a chance at competing in the final. So, in short, I think Kinjou is alright, but I haven’t spent enough time with him to get to know him, y’know?

Albert is something of an enigma, but mostly because I have no idea what his motivations are. He’s an ominous figure in the world of swimming, with the nickname “Odin” instead of the usual animal motif. Mikhail cautions Rin that his swimming is “out of this world” and Isuzu says there are rumours that anyone who swims with him “feels their mind being torn apart.” But when he meets Haru, he seems…nice? He’s not arrogant like Kinjou and he actually seemed to be kind of free-spirited. We see that he’s an exceptionally quick learner and he acknowledges Haru as a swimmer. Nevertheless, competing against Albert disrupted Haru’s subconsciousness (in that the answer to the big “why do you swim” question gets fuzzy in his mind) …but I’m not exactly sure why. Mind you, Albert’s interactions with Haru after they met are just downright bizarre. He says such cryptic shit like, “The water favours you, I can tell,” but he seemed so genuinely pleased that I can’t get a proper read on him at all!

It’s my understanding that Albert’s team manager is living vicariously through him, and so Albert has been strapped with the expectations and dreams of someone else. I can understand why he’s a clinical swimmer because the only things that matter to his team are his appearances and results. With that all said, I wonder if Albert chose to miss the finals in Sydney partly as an act of defiance against his manager and partly to fuck with the psyche of other swimmers—especially after dismissing Kinjou completely before the semi-finals and telling Haru that he’s “not swimming for fun today. I’m just going out there to do my job.”

Feeling as though he had to take on Albert alone is what made Haru “throw everything away” (in the form of a dissociative episode where he breaks things off with Rin), and then launch himself into self-destructive training under Ryuuji. The second part of the Final Stroke is all about Haru recanting that idea and accepting the support of others. Meanwhile, Albert is hardly in this movie at all! I think my biggest question is whether or not Albert likes or wants to break the spirits of other swimmers. I honestly don’t think he does, so I can’t help but feel bad for him. Still, his general cadence is so fucking weird! I have no clue what he’s thinking at all!

[reikunrei]

sleepy bc I accidentally stayed up late monologuing to myself about how free! really should have ended for the nth time 🥴

[good-memories-found-here]

Free! - Dive to the Future

[polahusband]

Thank you for the tag, hubby !! I'm totally not late to this what do you mean haha... I've been so burnout lately oopsies but anyways this is the last line I have written:  “They used to skate together, I was even from the same team as them. The thing is, as everyone grew up, our focuses turned to getting better and better at what we do. Haru and I were intent on getting into international competitions, meanwhile Makoto was just trailing behind. He didn’t seem to be too passionate about it. Haru and I managed to make it big pretty quickly, but Makoto didn’t. He still participated in a lot of big competitions and got good results, don’t get me wrong, plus he built a fanbase for himself. Still, one day he decided to retire, saying it wasn’t what he was looking for as a career. Eventually he got into university and took a sports coach course and now he is a figure skating coach. Though he isn’t training anyone at the moment, at least I don’t think so. Haru trains under Azuma, you know him, he’s my coach as well.” I'm tagging @ash-the-emo, @ghostyr-el, @hikarry and anyone who wants to join !! No pressure of course :]

Last line tag! Ty @thekuraning 🩵🩵

Rules: Share the last line you've written in your WIP

I just finished a long nasty WIP and (temporarily) abandoned my 2 other WIPs and haven't gotten around to writing anything for my newest plot bunny, so here's a line I'm planning on putting in it:

In fact, I find this piece unbearably twee, not to mention derivative and self-referential (one has to wonder if Brassius' next piece will simply be a self-portrait, his belief in his own superiority writ large in steel and aluminum). Upon gazing at it, one has to wonder: so what?

I taaaag... *frantically tries to remember which mutuals write fic* @oftincturedwords @infawrit10 umm... anyone else who wants to

[partrin]

so i missed rinharu but had no time to rewatch the franchise or final stroke movies.

luckily for my depraved ass, someone compiled all the rinharu scenes from both the final stroke movies and i watched it, only to notice so much shit that i didn't notice the first time i watched the last two movies.

so many of rin's—yes, specifically rin's—lines in the movies point at something brewing deeper than the surface.

him constantly pointing out that his relationship with haru "isn't that simple" when asked about it by ikuya or anyone else,

him fighting with azuma and azuma practically screaming in his face to get his shit together if he really cares about haru that much,

both haru and rin constantly thinking back on how they both needed each other to get to where they are,

all the scenes of rin's reflection in haru's eyes,

haru looking so depressed while sousuke is driving him around in his car (and haru's weak "i hope so" after sousuke tells him he and rin will be fine),

rin being so worried about his relationship with haru and asking asahi if haru really would ask about him if haru knew rin was hurting like this,

rin's monologue where he goes, "that's right. i'm always selfish. i pretend i don't notice how you feel. i took advantage of your strength" as he runs through the city desperately searching for haru (where there's also rinharu-centric flashbacks, in particular that scene from the special ES episode where both the samezuka and iwatobi teams are drying their clothes over a bonfire, rin is laughing and haru looks at him gently, smiling—yes, this confirms that it was rin haru had been looking at; not anyone else like people were insisting)

...and so much more.

what does all of this insinuate? you be the judge.

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

nyla. the people (me) are begging for your 2024 animanga wrapped

1) right wrapped: the several series you've spent the most time reading/watching/thinking about, etc, and/or

2) list wrapped: what you've read and watched, like all of it, and/or

3) anything you want

I'll wait

hey hazel! i gotta think back here...

1) some anime series i've watched this year:

started my grand one piece rewatch (and truly at the right time considering the hiatus). tried black clover again. it didn't work out/the series just isn't for me. dandadan. enjoying so far. kaiju no. 8 enjoyed. heroines run the show. cute. frieren. loved it. blue lock. png lock lmao.

2) ngl making a list of everything i read is gonna be impossible to remember, so imma just list the highlights

manga/manhwa: pink (okazaki kyoko), one piece (oda eiichirou), skip & loafer (takamatsu misaki), chi no wadachi (oshimi shuuzou), wind breaker (nii satoru), maria no danzai (kazuki), chainsaw man + look back (fujimoto tatsuki), kaoru hana wa rin to saku (mikami saka), witch hat atelier (shirahama kamome), love bullet (inee), yubisaki to renren (morishita suu), villains are destined to die (grown gyeoeul + soul), your majesty please spare me this time (eclair/hyeyong + hayeon), cassmire the loyal sword (sumda/see-on + ilye), yotsuba&! (azuma kiyohiko), jujutsu kaisen (akutami gege), please don't come to the villainess' stationary store (???)

3) manga/manhwa i don't think get recommend enough list (please check them out they're all so good):

children of the sea (igarashi daisuke), debu to love to ayamachi to (mamakari), concubine walkthrough (bongbong), a wicked tale of cinderella's stepmother (kiarne, sunset), pink (okazaki kyoko)

3.5) underrated anime bonus:

recent series: dororo

shit i watched as a kid and rewatched as an adult: NANA, aria the animation ojamajo doremi, my hime, my otome, princess tutu, bottle fairy, michiko and hatchin, air gear, ashita no nadja

4) webtoons with black/latine/poc leads i've enjoyed this year (or has a black author):

the blind prince (cozycroww), 23:4 (terraterrific), high spirits neoma (oroor0), moonlight star (skeleson), dark zone (micah_ers), daybreak (moosopp), love and other wicked things (dominique riley + thabfu), 21st century knights (plastic bottru), when jasy whistles (cibeles), cupid 101 (taenaeart)

alright this got long-winded enough as it is fjdnkjdsfn

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Created a big tier list featuring every Red\Blue themed ship I could find :)

Only criteria was that they had to match the color scheme, if the characters were more orange/pink/purple/black I left them for another time. If I missed one of your favorites let me know and I can add them, I don't actually know all the pairings here personally, I just tried to include the major ones I've seen.

Ships featured (In order of appearance):

-Karma Akabane\Nagisa Shiota from Assassination Classroom

-Amber\Eula Lawrence from Genshin Impact

-Tokaku Azuma\Haru Ichinose from Riddle Story of Devil

-Kazuma Asogi\Ryuunosuke Naruhodo from The Great Ace Attorney

-Jeremey Here\Michael Mell from Be More Chill

-Violet (Vi)\Caitlyn Kiramman from Arcane

-Carmen Sandiego\Julia Argent from Carmen Sandiego

-Trevor Belmont\Sypha Belnades from Castlevania

-Cinnabar\Phosphophyllite from Land of the Lustrous

-Daisuke Niwa\Satoshi Hiwatari from DNAngel

-Edelgard von Hresvelg\Byleth Eisner from Fire Emblem Three Houses

-Ember Lumen\Wade Ripple from Elemental

-Fireboy\Watergirl from Fireboy and Watergirl

-Rin Matsuoka\Haruka Nanase from Free!

-Yunan Longclaw\Lady Olivia from Amphibia

-Erza Scarlet\Jellal Fernandes from Fairy Tail

-Soma Yukihara\Megumi Tadokoro from Food Wars!

-Ruby\Sapphire from Steven Universe

-Yoko Littner\Kamina from Gurren Lagann

-Veronica Sawyer\Heather Chandler from Heathers

-Haruka Amami\Chihaya Kisaragi from The iDOLM@ster

-Ryan Akagi\Min-Gi Park from Infinity Train

-Inosuke Hashibira\Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer

-Ameri Azazel\Iruma Suzuki from Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun

-Jedediah\Octavius from Night at the Musuem

-John Egbert\Dave Strider from Homestuck

-Mikotoh Suoh\Reisi Munakata from K Project

-KAITO\MEIKO from VOCALOID

-Kaeya Alberich\Diluc Ragnvindr from Genshin Impact

-Misaki Yata\Saruhiko Fushimi from K Project

-Lance McClain\Keith Kogane from Voltron

-Kuroko Tetsuya\Kagami Taiga from Kuroko no Basket

-Korra\Asami Sato from Avatar: The Legend of Korra

-Sayaka Miki\Kyoko Sakura from Madoka Magica

-Chisato Nishikigi\Takina Inoue from Lycoris Recoil

-Kaguya Shinomiya\Miyuki Shirogane from Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

-Shiki Wakana\Mei Yoneme from Love Live! Superstar!!

-Megamind\Roxanne Ritchi from Megamind

-Melissa Foddebrat\Nine Forton from Beware of the Villainess!

-Arthur Pendragon\Merlin from Merlin

-Miguel\Tulio from The Road to El Dorado

-Rise Kujikawa\Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4

-Phoenix Wright\Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney

-Aqua Hoshino\Kana Arima from Oshi no Ko

-Archie\Maxie from Pokemon

-Ittoki Otoya\Ichinose Tokiya from Uta no Prince Sama

-Akane Tendo\Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2

-Asuka Soryuu\Rei Ayanami from Evangelion

-Langa Hasegawa\Reki Kyan from Sk8 the Infinity

-Jesse\James from Pokemon

-Ryuko Matoi\Mako Mankanshoku from Kill la Kill

-Mugen\Jin from Samurai Champloo

-Yukimura Sanda\Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara

-Kate\Emilico from Shadows House

-Sherlock Holmes\William Moriarty from Moriarty the Patriot

-Garrus Vakarian\Commander Shepard from Mass Effect

-Sidon\Link from The Ledgend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

-BLU Soldier\RED Demoman from Team Fortress

-Sonic\Shadow from Sonic the Hesgehog

-Sora\Riku from Kingdom Hearts

-Karen Aijo\Hikari Kagura from Revue Starlight

-Steve Rogers\Tony Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

-Sharkboy\Lavagirl from Sharkboy and Lavagirl

-Felix Fraldarius\Sylvain Gautier from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

-Red\Blue from This is How You Lose the Time War

-Ryuuji Takasu\Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!

-Wei Wuxian\Lan Wangji from Mo Dao Zu Shi

-Yona\Son Hak from Yona of the Red Dawn

-Zagreus\Megaera from Hades

-Zuko\Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender

This was fun, might do some more lists like this - I'm thinking White/Black, Pink/Blue, Orange/Black, or Green/Red for next time.

[hitomikisugi]

[choujinx]

YAKITATE!! JAPAN (2002-2007) by hashiguchi takashi

[moontheoretist]

(Screenshots are from anime: Kyou kara Maou!)

If only modern anime had the same approach to pairings as the old ones, some of those anime would be so much better. I have no idea why isekai became synonymous with female harem, but sometimes those harems are so out of the blue there, just for the sake of being there, that you get the feeling that they serve no other purpose than to pander to young men, while the story suffers, because some male character has more chemistry with the protagonist but will never be allowed to be seen as proper possible love interest for no reason.

People who know me will probably know what I will say now. Yes, Tate no Yuusha is one of those stories. That story is so much better when the protagonist either doesn't have any love interest, or they're from a different world than the one Naofumi was summoned to, as the huge part of Tate no Yuusha story is the fight between worlds for survival that creates a perfect simulation of Romeo & Juliet trope. Especially if you look at L'Arc the disaster bi who couldn't even fulfil the one and only objective he was sent to Raphtalia's world for: killing Naofumi.

Naofumi's harem is so out there, that it could as well just not exist. It seriously works thematically better as a father with a bunch of kids trope rather than harem, especially now in season 3 when Naofumi literally has a gaggle of children in his village that he basically raises.

Raphtalia then fulfills the typical trope of a daughter that idolized her father so much that she wanted to marry him. Her infatuation didn't truly disappear when she grew up, mostly due to the fact that she did grow up so quickly as a demihuman that her feelings didn't have time to fade. Most little girls at some point grow out of idolizing their dad, but Raphtalia as a demihuman didn't have the same chance. And I'm not saying it to dig at Naofumi x Raphtalia shippers. I don't condemn any ship and never will. I'm just stating how I see the story and what I feel would work better for this particular setting than forced harem.

Second on my list of possible suitors for Naofumi, when we assume that he wants any suitors at all or is not aromantic (as aro protagonist is also something that I'd want to see more often) is Therese. Hell, it'd be great to see a canon polyamorous triad in an isekai setting tbh.

Another good example is Isekai Cheat Magician, where one of the protagonists - Rin Azuma has more chemistry with Myura than with the second protagonist that she supposedly has a crush on. And ok, sure, she was in love with him for years, so maybe it's not fair to take it away, but at the same time the romance seems unlikely as Taichi doesn't seem to harbor the same feelings and treats Rin more as if she was his sister than a possible girlfriend. Even if I created a poly couple here, it'd always feel to me as if Taichi was a third wheel.

More obvious example is SAO, where love between Kirito and Eugeo is expressed in symbols as well as Kirito's heartbreak at the end of the Alicization Arc, but doesn't strike the audience hard enough to admit that Kirito is truly bisexual and that he loved both Asuna and Eugeo. It's there if you look at it closely, but people still deny it and call me names when I bring up that both Asuna and Kirito are bisexual and that both loved a same-sex character that ultimately died later on. I feel that the story hits harder when you say it was about queer love, especially in Alicization, because then it'd mean that there was huge romance drama going on (Kirito > Eugeo > Alice > Kirito), where all protagonists' love is unrequited. It's the most tragic love triangle.

I also mentioned a manga before that I feel would benefit from it too. Hero in that story is just such a worrywart in regard to the protag.

I'm seriously starved for some good modern isekai with homo or bi male protagonist. I'm getting some w|w recently, but I feel like m|m will never come, as if w|w were easier to get than actual m|m here.

I'm not complaining. I just have this feeling that isekai is avoiding true m|m and instead is only providing us w|w, which tbh we were starved for and want more obviously, but give us some m|m too if you please.

[chiefatticcreator]

List of characters i'll roleplay

Lilith verse:

Taimanin Asagi: Igawa Asagi, Igawa Sakura, Mizuki Yukikaze, Mizuki Shiranui, Oboro, Ingrid, Felicia, Rinko Akyiyama, Aina Winchester, Annerose Vajra, Emily Simmons Yatsu Murasaki, Su Jinglei, Kurenai Shinganji, Asuka Koukawa, Kirara Onisaki, Noah Brown, Tokiko Fuuma, Shizuru Kousaka, Maika Kamimura, Rin Uehara, Sora Kannazuki, Nagi momochi, Saika Fuuma, Shisui Amamiya, Eleonor, Masked Taimanin, Spinel

Cara the Blood Lord: Cara Cromwell, Uehara kitae, Kamimura Azuma, Marika Krishna

Witch of steel Annerose: Annerose Vajra, Lee Mayfeng, Mitiko Fleuretty and Aishwarya Lai

Kangoku Senkan/prison battleship: Rieri Bishop, Naomi Evans, Alicia Viewstream, Maya Cordelia, Beatrice Kushan, Kila Kushan, Kilia Jech (Kangoku Senkan)

Overwatch:

Every single character (generally all as hyper-curvy women serving Jack Morrison's harem, but that will vary depending on asks, jack can be ignored for asks if you really want)

Lynn Morisson: Jack's sister, whom he fucked as soon as he could.

Laura and Mary: Jack and Lynn's twin daughters, born to be their father's fucktoys, and loving it.

Amanda: UN's liaison to Overwatch, initially sckeptical, but was subject to sexual torture from everyone present until she broke and is now a fellow fucktoy, helping jack.

Pria: Amanda's assisstant, former lesbian that was recruited for Jack to break.

Jessica: Sniper, extremely submissive and into pain. Serves as the base's fucktoy when not used by jack.

Jackie: female clone of jack made by talon to kill him, only to be tamed by his cock

teacher AU: Uses the same characters as Overwatch, but soem differences: Amanda is a fellow teacher, Mercy is a biology teacher and headmistress, Jack is the only male teacher (and only male in the school), which basically revolves around him and worshiping him, modifying girls' bodies to be bimboes.

vampire/count AU: Loosely inspired by Junkenstein's revenge, an AU where Jack is a vampire lord ruling over a small land. gothic-themed

hormonal!jack AU: Similar to the teacher AU, but Jack is a horny teen that fucks his classmates, his teachers, his friends and family...

Mass Effect: Every character in the first three games

Warcraft/World Of Warcraft: Every character that I remember

Final Fantasy VII: Tifa, Aerith, Jessie, Scarlet

Dragon Age: Every character of the first two games (haven't played Inquisition)

One Piece: Every single character

Naruto/Boruto: Tsunade, Sakura, Shizune, temari, Ino, Mei Terumi, Naruto/Naruko, Sasuke, Sasuki, Sarada... everyone you want me to write about.

Dragon ball: Android 21, Bulma

Zenless Zone Zero: Zhu Yuan, Jane Doe, Nicole demara, Ellen Joe, grace Howard, Burnice White, Seth Lowell, Von Lycan

Bleach: Matsumoto rangiku, orihime, Yoruichi, isane, Rukia, Unohana, Harribel... any hottie you want. toshiro as the main "harem master"

Pokemon: Cynthia, Lusamine, dawn, Gardevoir, May, Lillie... any girl that can be fucked will be.

Miraculous Ladybug: Every character (with the girls as Adrien's harem)

Warhammer Fantasy: Every character appearing in the Total War: Warhammer games

Skyrim: mostly everyone, i guess.

The Witcher: Geralt, Ciri, Triss, yennefer, Chloe Metz... all sorceresses, all female characters

RWBY: Any girl that i remember/know of, with Jaune and/or Oscar as the lucky guy.

Random characters from various things: Bowsette, Wii Fit Trainer, Samus Aran, Rosalina, Peach, Daisy, Bayonetta, Zelda, Link (Nintendo), Aphrodite/Venus, Jessica Rabbit, Harley Quinn, Pacifica Northwest (Gravity Falls), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), A2 and 2B (Nier: Automata), Eve (Stellar Blade)