#she's having a shoujo manga moment

[mistypluie]

binghe... ur boobies 😳 part 2

[ssruis]

Realized I can use offscreen moments in events for my own agenda (cheering)

[jessica-problems]

Mahoako Propaganda

This is the post where I try to convince you that Gushing Over Magical Girls(aka Mahou Shoujo Ni Akogarete aka Mahoako) is actually a wholesome sex positive story about young lesbians exploring their feelings for one another in a world without homophobia. (and I'm serious.) If you are a fan of yuri or magical girls, who dismissed mahoako as being horrible exploitative garbage, this post is me trying to convince you to give it a chance. It's not some horrible male gaze rape fest.

These characters are explicitly, canonically lesbians, who are in love. They're women who love women, and aren't afraid to show it.

This is a story where a girl struggles with whether she's being a creep by thinking her girlfriend smells nice.

They talk frankly about their anxieties about kink.

there's pining childhood friends. (who actually get together.)

There's all sorts of lesbians, from wholesome uwu schoolgirl crushes, to weird traumatized alt girls making each other worse.

Also, a character looks directly at the camera and reminds people that consent is important and you shouldn't touch someone without their permission. Basically, the story uses magical girl tropes as a framing device for the 'magic circle' of kink. In the same way that people use bdsm is a safe space to explore their feelings in new ways, the characters use magical girl battles, which are kind of treated as 'not real' in a similar way. But of course there's the elephant in the room. It's an extremely horny manga, and most of the characters are minors. These are high schoolers who touch each other's boobs. I totally understand if that alone is enough to put you off it, but I will say, these are horny teenagers getting weird feelings about each other and figuring themselves out. They're not powerless victims being exploited. For one thing, there's literally no men in this entire show. Not even a single background character. They're all women. If you're on board with a story about 14 year old girls having funny feelings about their classmates, I'd say give it a shot.

If you're *almost* on board, but the objectification still makes you a little uncomfortable, I can assure you, the story consistently focuses on how the girls feel as people, and goes far beyond simply objectifying them in a sexy pose. The kinks serve a purpose in the plot, and to enhance characterization, so if you do read it, don't completely skip past the kink scenes.

Also, if you're actually curious the kink, I should mention, it's not just bondage and spanking. in the first season alone, they've done waxplay, giantesses, abdl, exhibitionism, electroplay, tentacles, and "the room you can't leave until you fuck" among others. There is a smorgasbord of perversion here, but it's balanced out and contrasted against a bunch of really cute little character moments, especially in the manga.

[susansontag]

my guide to lesbian anime both canonic and subtextual

(won’t include every lesbian anime ever, this is a personal list)

the canonic-gay section:

revolutionary girl utena

nothing before or since has ever done it like this. trigger warnings for everything imaginable. loads of homosexuals in this one. gender commentary, fairytale allusions, a lot of kids who are having a hard time growing up and moving beyond their pasts. sword lesbians.

flip flappers

the problematic favourite, in that there’s at least one uncomfortable sexualised shot each episode (roughly speaking; some have none and one has even more, unfortunately), so be warned. but at its heart flipflap is about repressed cocona going on adventures with outgoing and expressive papika, and their exploration of various fantastical lands/inner worlds of people they meet. hugely inventive and pretty, and a core thread is cocona discovering she’s gay.

aoi hana (‘sweet blue flowers’)

the comfort lesbian show, with not a romantic relationship at its heart, but a friendship between two childhood friends who meet again, both of whom are gay (though only one realises this during the show’s run, as it’s based on a manga). one of them dates an upperclassman at her school, and there’s various gay and bi side characters. it’s just very wholesome, lovingly animated, sweet and sometimes painful stuff.

bloom into you

I controversially do not care that much for bloom into you, but as the best, high-production, non-skeevy yuri show in years - that is based on a manga by a woman - it’s worth mentioning. late-bloomer girl dreams of romance, though has never felt it, and finds affinity with a girl who similarly is disinclined to date. that is, until said girl says she fancies her. genuinely moving exploration of developing gay identity at times, only downside is my personal disinterest in the black haired girl. some weird ‘heightened’ moments that feel inauthentic and titillating do arise, but it’s very few - to the point where some would disagree with me on my reading of it, I’d imagine.

sailor moon

the bits which the lesbians are in, etc. it’s a classic. I haven’t watched all of it myself because I don’t care much nor do I have nostalgia for sailor moon, but it’s one of the most notable examples of a butch/masc lesbian in anime, so that’s nice.

o maidens in your savage season

nerdy teenage girls who are part of a literature club make it their quest to discover sex and dating, in various ways (unfortunately, not all of them dealt with well… teacher/student foolery that is fortunately abandoned before it gets worse but is nonetheless handled with mixed results, imo). mostly though it’s hilarious, sweet, silly, and there’s a gay girl in it, but I won’t spoil which one. adults predating on children is also handled much, much better in another of the show’s storylines, and I do appreciate it for trying to tackle that difficult subject matter.

oniisama e (‘dear brother’)

an oldie, based off a shoujo manga by one of the greatest (riyoko ikeda). there’s a central relationship to root for (better articulated in the manga), but it’s mostly just what if we were messy depressed lesbians at an all-girls school and we were also melodramatic and mean as hell.

revue starlight

what if we were at an all-girls dramatic arts school and engaged in utena-like duels to become the top performer? main implicitly gay couple with canonic side gay couples. it’s quite cute. also worth watching if you like takarazuka in any way (prestigious all-female japanese theatre troupe), because the main conceit of the school is very much based on that idea.

the gay-themes section:

sound! euphonium (season one)

in which director naoko yamada’s awesome legacy of writing lesbians and then saying “who’s to say though, ha ha” continued (she did it already with a side character in tamako market). this one is known as the gaybait to end all gaybait, but hear me out: the first, and best, season, is not only a fantastic self-contained story with many great characters and plot points, but it’s main character is undoubtedly lesbian-coded and even has a love interest you can argue about. frankly I think she’s gay-coded throughout the whole show (even when she dates a guy for two minutes), but this feels very “I wanted to focus on this compelling relationship between two female characters but the adaptation’s success meant we had to revert back to the source material in later seasons”. what we got from this is perhaps my favourite lesbian anime of all-time, following utena.

a place further than the universe

this show is about four girls who join an expedition to antarctica, and what if I told you they’re all great, believable dorky teenage characters, and they exist in a well-written and thematically satisfying show… and there’s nice lesbian implication between one of our adult female protagonists and her old (deceased; not a spoiler) friend who was the main teen girl’s mother. there’s some sad here, obviously.

puella magi madoka magica

the well-known, much beloved deconstruction of the magical girl genre is also pretty gay, as it happens (so gay in fact it started a trend of gay-coded pink+black magical girls). it’s not a particular favourite of mine, but it’s visually one of the most notable anime productions ever, so it’s well worth seeing just for that.

NANA

the 2000s manga+show about the two twenty-year-olds who meet on a train and discover they’re both called nana is also pretty gay! to the point where there are heated fandom debates about nana komatsu’s (pink one) possibly being a lesbian. they both have many relationships with guys, but it’s their bond that forms the heart of the show, and the bisexuality (or, who knows, homosexuality) of the leads is pretty undeniable. to the point where you’ll get blasted on the nana subreddit if you try and suggest otherwise.

the wild-card section:

keep your hands off eizouken!

this is a show about three oddball girls who start a club to create anime, but have to pose as the film club instead for various reasons. it’s not even subtextually gay, I just personally think that all three of the leads are gay and the whole thing feels like a very female-centred creative endeavour. hugely fun watch, and very high production values. you wouldn’t regret seeing it.

skip & loafer

these two you see here are side characters. this show is actually about mitsumi, the greatest female protagonist of this kind of shoujo-esque slice of life show, who moves from the countryside to tokyo for high school. here she meets many a misfit, including the pretty blonde and the nerd girl who have undeniable chemistry and form one of the most popular pairings in the show. it’s just a good time.

chihayafuru

I’d get in trouble for this, because the primary romance factor in the show is a famed heterosexual love triangle with chihaya at its centre and her two male childhood friends at the side. but go with me on this. chihaya is oblivious to romance and feminine socialisation, she is obsessed with a card game and with her equally dorky dark-haired rival… she’s anime’s greatest autistic lesbian lead. and you get more than what you pay for, because the two boys I mentioned? a lot of gay stuff going on there too.

the big-screen-cinematic section:

the adolescence of utena

revolutionary girl returns in the sequel of a lifetime, slightly older (sixteen, say) and gayer than ever, to escape this place with the love of her life. cue the impromptu dance sequence (with stars and rose petals)!

liz and the blue bird

the naoko yamada directed gay cinematic universe continues with a gorgeous film starring two of the side characters from sound! euphonium’s second season (not necessary to watch beforehand). that means it has plausible deniability whilst being so crazily gay it’s almost some kind of joke. this is a highly detailed, laser-focused character study of two girls in their high school band club and their ever more strained relationship. yamada never misses.

the summer

this is korean! it’s about two girls who meet at school and start dating in secret, what happens as they grow up and move to seoul, and how their relationship changes and strains when met with the conservatism of contemporary korean society. it was sweet and like aoi hana above for japanese girls, felt pretty frank to the experiences I’d imagine young korean lesbians might have.

puella magi madoka magica: rebellion

if you’re a fan of the show, you probably don’t talk about this movie. sure, it’s a visual feat, sure, it’s insanely entertaining, but it’s also frustrating and upsetting and potentially undermines the neatness of the original as a perfectly-crafted story. BUT. kyouko/sayaka becomes all but canon in it, and everything else aside, that’s all that really matters. but you should definitely watch the show beforehand.

[itgirl-111]

Embodiment of love

She looks just like a dream.....

I am literally the prettiest dream girl ever. Looking at my face means instantly getting serotonin and adrenaline, dopamine rush. Just being in my presence is itself a present. My presence alone has value in it, feels like a literal nostalgic Deja Vu like dream you never want to wake up from. I embody love and beauty, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, energetically.

The prettiest stars in the world.....

My beauty is unrivaled, I look like the prettiest angels and stars of the galaxies. I am simply so breathtaking, irresistible, and unforgettable. I embody the prettiest sunsets, prettiest stars, prettiest skies, prettiest oceans, and prettiest art. My beauty is otherworldly, the one that you'd want to capture it so badly. Even the camera couldn't capture a tenth of my beauty, because I'm just way too beautiful. I am a living, breathing work of art. I am so mesmerizing it's insane. Every single day I wake up looking a billion times prettier than I was yesterday. My beauty knows no limits. I am just naturally and effortlessly beautiful. My beauty is the one that is once in a blue moon, it's rare, it's too precious. The moment you lay your eyes on me the only thing on your mind is "wow". Seriously, how is it even possible for someone to look this pretty that you'd take their breath away? But it is possible for me, yes, because I'm the ultimate dream girl.

Embodiment of love.....

I am the embodiment of love itself, you don't know true love until you see me. One look is enough for you to fall utterly in love with me. I am the first love, I am the definition of love. I'm the embodiment of love in the purest form. If love was a person it would be me. I'm immensely in love with myself inside out, and this love only keeps increasing. I act, walk, talk, like I'm a blessing because I literally am!!. There's something so lovely, adorable, otherworldly, ethereal, magical and angelic about my aura that people simply cannot help but to fall in love with. I have 0 haters, I mean come on, I'm literally the best of the best. I'm simply loved, respected and admired by everyone. I am everyones favourite everything. I am the dream girl, the one that you dream of. I'm the typa girl you wish you had. I'm the typa girl you wish you would become. I'm the typa girl who you see once and never forget. I'm the typa girl who you can't help but to love and adore. I'm the typa girl you want to protect and cherish with all your heart. I'm the typa girl you wanna see win. I'm the typa girl that takes your breath away. Im the typa girl that makes your heart race. I'm the typa girl who reminds you of everything. I'm the typa girl who reminds you of love songs. I'm the typa girl you miss when I'm not around. I'm the typa girl you wanna spoil. I'm the typa girl who brings the soft side out of you. The only one.

A dream....

I would just be sitting there and doing nothing and everyone would go crazy over me. Everything about me, my aura prompts people to smile uncontrollably like an idiot in love. Even the coldest of people turn soft for me. It's like everything around me just turns into that one romantic and dreamy shoujo manga. Being in my presence is strangely addicting yet comforting. The world is literally a happy, ethereal and magical dream when I am in it. People automatically feel better in my heavenly presence. I literally embody makoto shinkai's movies, so breathtakingly beautiful, dreamy and the literal embodiment of love. I embody all the majestic love songs. My beauty, presence, aura, vibe, personality, mindset, my voice, literally everything about me is so dreamy, perfect and lovable. It's like I walked right out of a love struck, euphoric dream. That's right I'm a dream you never want to wake up from.

[umeumeumee]

𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧

summary: after one fateful conversation with gojo-sensei, itadori finally realized the importance of his feelings for you.

warnings: fluff!

authors note: this was so cute and so fun to write! enjoy!

windy afternoons were always the most troublesome.

especially in spring, between the brink of winter and summer, when the temperature is warm but the breeze is oh so cold, leaving someone who was minding their business to be left as victim of the weather, not sure what emotion it might be feeling that day.

unfortunately, itadori was one of those said people. so he found himself lounging inside Jujutsu high instead of his usual hobbies he took part of outside, instead occupying himself with manga he’d found lying on the couch side table.

he chewed on a strawberry pocky as he read, awfully invested in the story of the book in his arms, even though it was the third volume. who knew he would be so invested in a shoujo manga?

“hm? you’re here too?” Gojo’s voice rang playfully across the walls of the lounge, causing the pink haired boy to jerk his head to the side to meet the teasing gaze of his teacher.

“ooh, gojo-sensei,” he greeted, watching as his teacher lazily took a seat beside him on the couch, relaxing in the soft cushions.

“why’re you here? i thought you usually get lunch out.” he rose brow at his teacher, who’s smirk failed to fade. “same reason as you. it’s too windy!” he whined, scratching his head as his head pointed upward, only to pause for a moment before turning to face yuji.

Itadori couldn’t see his teachers eyes, but knew they were on him. “where’s y/n-chan? you two are always together.” satoru’s tone had a hint of something yuji couldn’t quite place his finger on, and so he decided to ignore it. “She’s with kugisaki. they went shopping.” he grinned at the thought, unaware of the absolute teasing eyes that were trained on the glint in his own eyes.

“ah, girls,” Gojo tsked, crossing his arms, looking straight ahead. “especially nobara.” he hummed, pausing a few before turning back to his student.

Satoru smirked and scooted closer, Yuji side glancing him at the mischievous smile on his face. “so, itadori-kun,” gojo mused, “what’s your relationship with y/n-chan?” the white haired man almost laughed at the confused expression on itadori’s face, he swore he saw question marks on either side of his head

“huh? what do you mean?” his head tilted to the left a little, “we’re friends.”

gojo hummed, nodding his head as if he understood. “really? i wouldn’t have thought that.” he put a lengthy finger to his chin, holding in his amusement. sometimes his student was so oblivious.

“hah? why?” itadori nudged, looking more and more confused as the seconds continued. his sensei shrugged, “i guess because you two always seem so close, i mean— i would’ve thought you two were boyfriend and girlfriend!” satoru said those two words loudly, quickly looking to yuji in excitement to see the absolutely bewildered look that was likely to be on his face, but was only met with a neutral one. gojo’s joy fell. damn kids.

"oh. well, we're just friends, it's not like that with me and her, you know?" he said back, his eyes glistening over as they usually do when he talks about someone he cares for, but his were extra bright when talking about you.

"Why not?" gojo mused, continuing to milk the subject.

Itadori shrugged, “We just.. we've known each other too long, I think." his reply came with a low tone to it as he flipped to the next page of the shoujo in his lap, unaware of the buzzing man beside him.

Satoru hummed again, silence followed for a moment before he spoke, putting his hand to his chin. "So, you wouldn't go out with her if she asked?"

"I didn't say that.”

yuji’s response came as natural as a human breathes, his voice was smooth and steady— almost like he’d wanted to say it. ah, satoru was right once again, utahime ows him 500 yen for sure.

with that, he stood up, and Yuji’s eyes moved to the menacing smirk on his teachers face. “Ah, well, you should ask her out.” he said with a laugh, “i’m sure she’ll say yes!” he slapped the top of itadori’s head before he dashed out the open door, leaving the boy to ponder.

though, sometimes yuji wasn’t the smartest boy.

but… he did wonder what his teachers goal was. Yuji didn’t like you like that… did he?

you were his friend, someone he loved, so much.

someone he loved.

he loved.

loved.

you.

he loved you.

with the realization, the shoujo he had in his lap was long forgotten as he walked out of the room.

♡︎☆♡︎☆

you sighed, placing a few of Nobara’s shopping bags on the table. really, where does she get the money for all this?

“ah, finally,” kugisaki kicked off her shoes, plopping on the couch of the lounging room with an exasperated sigh. You sat down at the table, flopping your arms over the wood and placing your head down, cheek on the side as you shut your eyes. shopping was exasperating.

“have fun, n/n-chan?” Nobara teased a little, knowing that you were exhausted. you nod, a little laugh left your throat as you did so.

you shut your eyes, breathing slowly. as you began to drift off, the shoji door suddenly slid open to reveal Itadori, who scanned the room.

“Ah! Itadori-kun, you should’ve gone with us, you— hey!” Nobara was cut off when he suddenly reached for you, hauling you to your feet. You blinked away, gasping as you were pulled out of the room. “Hey! get back here! where are you taking her, hah?!” Nobara’s calls were left to deaf ears as your friend dragged you down the hall, “Itadori-kun! what’s going on?” you yawned a little, eyes watering some at the end, as you waited for his reply. but it never came.

you couldn’t see his face, but you could tell he was in thought. he suddenly pulled you behind a wall, releasing your wrist from his grasp and letting out a deep exhale. you rose a brow.

“Yuji, what’s all this?” you cross your arms, looking at his face. His eyes were looking at your own, yet they seemed so far away, so distant. “i need to say something.” his reply came out as his usual voice does, but it was different.

"What? What's so important you couldn't say it infront of kugisa-" you were cut off when his lips met yours, a sqeak left your mouth with the sudden action, eyes widening at the unexpected moment. your cheeks heated wildly when he pulled back, but he seemed just as shocked as you.

“I just kissed you." he breathed out, almost like he couldn’t believe it himself.

“You just kissed me..." your voice came out hoarse, and your throat was as dry as it sounded.

"I just kissed you." he says again, looking at your lips, dazed.

"Why did you just kiss me?" you stutter out, heart racing inside your chest wildly, suffocating you.

"I just wanted to try it once to know what it felt like, and it felt...good. really good. I'm gonna kiss you again." he announced, looking determined as he met your eye. you absolutely exploded into different shades of red, breath hitching as you saw him step closer, your hands coming to grip the end of your skirt for support.

"o-okay!" you shut your eyes, missing the pink that dusted yuji’s cheeks as well.

"okay!" he mirrored, and his lips met yours again.

[s-aint-elmo]

*twirling my hair* do you have some good yuri manga recs?

(lying on my stomach and kicking my feet) i'm SO glad you asked!

to preface this i'll be excluding better-known yuri or yuri that's recently gotten its flowers (whether thru virality or adaptations) (e.g. in love with the villainess, love bullet, bloom into you, etc. etc.) and will instead be recc'ing works i don't often encounter in the wild. some will be more well-known than others, but all of these i've enjoyed and would encourage others to check out! under the cut because. this got. so long. i heart yuri <3

multi-chapter

the princess of sylph (ongoing; self-publishing): plot-heavy fantasy yuri between a bereaved princess with the aura of a thousand sad hamsters and a persistent nun whose silliness conceals a deep well of trauma. gushed about it plenty here. i recommend starting with the serialized version, the proceeding to the twitter version + extras. cw: blood, violence, dismemberment (nothing too graphic, more standard monster-fighting fare).

i love amy (completed): school loner strikes an unlikely friendship with the girl known (and feared) for her violent tendencies and single-minded obsession with the school prince. cute but striking and skilled art with a surprisingly nuanced handling of trauma and neurodivergence. cw: attempted child murder, animal death (non-graphic). there are also depictions of standard yandere fare (kidnapping, torture basements) but they're always presented comedically.

i see you, aizawa-san! (ongoing): girl who steadfastly pretends not to see ghosts meets one she just can't seem to ignore: a deceased classmate and former j-pop idol, who has taken to haunting their classroom. ft. art that harkens back to classic shoujo and a supernatural mystery centred on the relationship between the two leads--that one of them can't seem to remember. cw: blood, body horror.

school zone girls (on hiatus): slice of life yuri comedy ft. a massive interconnected web of girls spanning at least three schools. it juggles gut-busting comedy with genuine heartfelt moments of character growth and connection and expresses it all through a solid, dynamic art style. the sprawling cast also makes for incredible outsider pov moments that lets us really appreciate how far some characters have gotten. this genuinely motivated me to revamp how i approached ensemble casts for my ocs.

brides of iberis (completed): wedding planner unenthusiastic about her engagement falls in love with a bride she's taken as a client. bittersweet but deeply loving; and so compassionate to each and every character, even the men the female leads have relationships with. cw: infidelity.

destroy it all and love me in hell! (ongoing): model student finds her miserable, tightly controlled life unraveling after being blackmailed by the class truant into indulging her ugliest impulses. toxic yuri extravaganza eleganza between two girls desperate for escape and the catharsis of fucking! shit! up!!! also hits that sweet sweet "love triangle as a conflict of ideals" beat. cw: blackmail, coercion, bullying, violence, emotional abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, adult/minor relationship.

yuri is forbidden for the yuri otaku (completed): passionate himejoshi enrolls in an all-girls private school to observe class s yuri in action, but never to engage in it herself--at least, until a misunderstanding wins her the resident gyaru's heart. a surprisingly poignant exploration of being queer in a repressive society and experiencing your queerness through the safety of unobtainable fantasy.

the superstar idol crushes on me today too (ongoing): failed idol-slash-middling radio personality finds an unwanted superfan in the country's biggest superstar. explores the merit of pursuing your artistic passions in the face of repeated failure, and what makes an emotional anchor in the fraught seas of showbiz. they are also just so so funny. what if i emphatically declare you my rival in show business but you've been in love with me since you saw me in a cooking show as a child actor and you take any excuse to spend time with me and have my attention with blinding enthusiasm

normality and monsters (ongoing): outcast weirdo witnesses the class idol devour their homeroom teacher in one bite and begs to be trained in the art of appearing normal. the art is snappy and charismatic, the monster design is properly grotesque, and the friendship of convenience between the two leads teeters between overcoming the monster's nature and just being a prelude to the monster acquiring a new meatsuit. cw: blood, gore, death, body horror.

a monster wants to eat me (ongoing): suicidal girl meets carnivore mermaid who promises to eat her if she develops a desire to live. it's been a while since i read this one, but the monster designs are once again sick as fuck and the drama of being cared for by a creature that finds you tantalizing is sooo juicy. cw: suicidal ideation, blood, gore, violence, body horror.

liar satsuki can see death (completed): high schooler who can see corpses before the death occurs strives to save as many lives as possible despite being branded a liar by the entire student body. this and ryouko's other manga, a walk to death, are pretty banging declarations on the value of living ironically (or maybe aptly) wrapped in so much death. blanket cw for blood, gore and death bc i tell you every mini-arc somebody dies in a fun new way and we'd be here all day if we listed them out.

anthology:

i'm the villainess but i'm being captured by the heroine?!: an anthology featuring heroines of otome games swerving hard and sweeping the villainess off her feet. i am such a sucker for villainess yuri. mean women forever. my favourite chapters are vol. 1 ch.1 and vol. 2 chs. 1 and 4.

honourable mentions:

my idol sits the next desk over! (completed): loner idol otaku ends up deskmates with her oshi and between jealous sabotage from a rival stan and the herculean task of acting normal around your fave, lands herself in the first and closest friend group of her life. one girl does explicitly have romantic feelings for another girl, but i bumped it down here because it isn't explored to the extent it could have been. it felt like it was setting up a slow burn only to end abruptly. do not recommend if you want a love story, do recommend if you want lonely people forging deep and enduring bonds of friendship.

the one within the villainess (ongoing): the villainess of an otome game reawakens for her condemnation and sets off on a path of vengeance for the sake of the beloved transmigrator who's occupied her body for years. it's ostensibly het, but to hear the way that the villainess speaks of her transmigrator, the first person to love her wholeheartedly and wish for her happiness and so inadvertently prevent her from becoming the hollow bitter woman she originally grew into...... like. that is yuri. like what if i knew your life in its entirety and loved you for it and i found myself in the position to give you the happiness i always wished for you to have. what if we wrote fix-it fic for each other on the fabric of the universe. what if we never even had a conversation but we knew each other the best and loved each other most. and we were both girls. do you understand why i'm insane about them. cw: blood, gore, violence.

[dnsleif]

itoshi rin x reader. hurt/comfort, valentines day in may 😵‍💫this was supposed to be way more silly but i got carried away. also didn’t really know how to end it lolol but rin is cute and a little dumb. this is so dramatic dhdbdbdn just read it as if its a shoujo romance manga tbh

it was almost like you could hear your heart shattering into little pieces and falling onto the cold, hard floor below you.

your heart was breaking because before you stood itoshi rin and some girl you’d only seen in passing. her cheeks were flushed as she held a box of chocolates in front of her. a big, red, heart-shaped box, embellished with a sparkly bow on top.

they were your favorite chocolates, how cruel.

you could see the way her hands shook a little, even from the distance you were watching from.

it wasn’t like you meant to watch. no, you thought you were quite unfortunate to have stumbled across this scene on your way out of school for the day.

but you continued to stare, despite your anguish at what could come. it felt as though your feet were glued to the ground, your eyes stuck onto rin’s figure, awaiting his response to what was obviously a confession.

the girl was pretty. you could tell even from the side view of her that you had currently. you couldn’t imagine how much prettier she looked to rin right now, face to face.

the scene before you seemed to be playing out in slow-motion. it felt like centuries since you had first laid eyes on that strikingly red box in front of the striker.

but, finally, someone seemed to have pressed play on the remote, for all your fears came true as itoshi rin took the box from the girl’s hand.

oh.

in all honesty, you hadn’t expected that. you knew rin, you were friends, best friends in your eyes. he had always said he rejects every chocolate he receives on valentines day (and it’s always a lot). he had always said he wasn’t interested in a lukewarm relationship with the people who confessed to him, as he never even knew who the majority of them were.

itoshi rin was not interested in relationships. it hurt, sure, but that fact also meant that you were safe from seeing him ever enter a relationship with anyone that wasn’t you. you were sure it would forever be an unrequited love, but he’s your best friend and there’s no one that will steal his heart, so that’s enough for you.

but why… why is that box of chocolates in his hands now?

you can’t hear the words he says and you don’t want to, lest they break your heart more. suddenly, the glue on your shoes dissolves and you can move again. move. away from this moment, away from the pieces of your heart beneath your feet, away from the itoshi rin who you could no longer keep to yourself.

your feet moved before your mind completely caught up. before you knew it, you were running. running to where? you didn’t think about that. rather you couldn’t think of anything besides rin’s hands holding those chocolates and the terribly pretty girl he took them from.

as you ran, and ran, and ran, you didn’t notice, you couldn’t notice—not in your current state—that your sudden movement had caused rin to become aware of your presence. all he saw was your sad face and your hair blowing in the wind before you were completely out of his sight.

you couldn’t see how rin didn’t spare one last glance at the confessing girl before he ran towards your back.

itoshi rin was now chasing you with a stupidly big and red box of chocolates in his hands.

he couldn’t get the look in your eyes out of his head. why did you look so sad? were you looking at him? did he cause that look in your eyes?

that last thought caused him to speed up.

rin was a soccer player, after all. when being chased by soccer prodigy, you can’t expect to win in speed. but he doesn’t expect you to be so fast. what was making you run away like this?

before he can muster up an answer to his own question, he reaches you. his hand is grabbing your wrist before you can run any farther.

you stopped. you’re panting. he expects you to look back at him but you don’t.

and of course you know. you know that it’s rin whose grip is on your wrist. you think you could sense his presence always.

but you can’t turn around. you can’t turn around or rin will see the tears staining your face and you’ll see that obnoxious red box in his hands. you can’t bring yourself to do it, but your feet are once again glued to the ground. maybe rin’s presence has the ability to do that to you.

before long he speaks up, “look at me.” ah, you swore that phrase and his voice, directed at you, made your heartbeat increase a tenfold.

and so you did, because who were you to deny him when he asks like that? your self-restraint and respect is really at zero when it comes to him.

you look at him and his eyes widen at the tracks of tears running down your face. he unconsciously steps closer, the hand that was previously on your wrist reaching out to your face, yet he abruptly pulls it away before it makes contact.

“what’s wrong?”

at his words, your eyes momentarily drift to the box of chocolates in his hands. rin is observant by nature, as the striker he is, and he doesn’t miss the fleeting glance you give to his hand.

his hand that is holding the box of chocolates that he forgot about in the chaos of running after you and seeing your tear-stained face.

but this realization is a welcome one to him as he extends the hand that’s holding the chocolates towards you. “for you,” he doesn’t give anything away from his voice and his eyes are boring into your own, although no outward expression is present.

“what?” it came out weak, far weaker than you’d like to be in front of rin but you suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. for one he’s seeing the complete mess you are right now and for two you no longer have any hope for a chance with him.

his words didn’t even really register in your head. all you saw were his eyes that looked to be in as much pain as you were. why is he sad? did you cause that look in his eyes?

“they’re your favorite,” his brows are furrowed now, he doesn’t know the right thing to say, or the right thing to do, not when you’re staring between him and the box of chocolates looking so incredibly hurt.

“rin, wh-“

he cuts you off, “that girl… i was going to let her keep these before i actually looked at them and realized they were your favorite kind,” he stopped for a moment to look at you. “i took the chocolates then said i didn’t return her feelings.” rin’s seemingly done with his explanation and he’s staring at you, awaiting your response.

and you laughed. laughed at the absurdity of it all and the completely serious look that rin has on his face, box of chocolates still outstretched towards you in his hands. “rin, don’t you think that’s a little rude?”

“no. they were for me either way?” he’s so nonchalant you can’t help but burst into another fit of giggles.

you’re laughing and realizing your chest doesn’t hurt anymore. you don’t feel the sharp shards of your broken heart stabbing your insides any longer, but instead a light fluttering in your stomach.

rin is so unintentionally funny, and cute, and not at all good with words but somehow everything he says leaves you like this.

you take the chocolates from his hands (finally). “so you took these from some poor girl who was confessing to you?” he nods. “for me?” he nods. “why?”

“because they’re your favorite.”

[manikas-whims]

Do you know any mangas that have that Gojohime couple dynamic?

sorry for such a late response anon..i’m not even sure if you check my blog these days but here's some mangas that remind me of GojoHime arranged in the order of most to least similar:

♡ Namaikizakari

• Similarity: its quite like GojoHime in that the female lead is older than the male lead. They are senpai-kouhai just like Gojo and Utahime.

• This is a Sports Shoujo Manga. There's gonna be a lot about basketball as the male lead is a basketball player at his school and the female lead works as a manager for the team.

• Boy likes the girl and decides to pursue her.

♡ The Apothecary Diaries

• Similarity: LITERALLY GOJOHIME IN A HISTORICAL SETTING. the amount of times I've heard people call them gjhm coded. Plus all the crossover fanarts I've seen as well as the fact that Gojo’s ENG VA also voices Jinshi.

• This is a historical, seinen drama. It will revolve around the concubines of the emperor and the royal court politics and conspiracies a lot. Female lead is an apothecary and the male lead’s position in the royal court is somewhat ambiguous but he definitely holds a high position. (DO WATCH THE ANIME)

• Boy develops an interest and later on, a crush on the girl. She dgaf about him. She's very much like Utahime in that 😆. The girl realises her own like for him slightly later. “Hissing Black Cat GF + Happy Golden Retriever BF”

♡ Kaichou wa Maid-sama

• Similarity: very similar because the male lead seems to be good at (and better) at everything, and is quite insufferable. Female lead does not bother with his shit 😆 “the one who easily gets Annoyed + the one who loves to Annoy” dynamic.

• This is a famous classic Shoujo and it’d be surprising if you don't know it already. High School Romance with a lot of comedy, and the occasional heavy moments. The development of the female lead and male lead, and the conclusion is one of my favs.

• Boy develops an interest in the Girl and slowly falls for her. Girl too, slowly begins to see the better sides of him and begins falling for him.

♡ The Script

• Similarity: the hair color? lol the hair colors are similar but aside from that the male lead and the female lead have similar dynamics as the above mentioned.

• Fantasy Romance Manhwa. It also has a light novel (right cover pic) which imo is better. The male lead shape-shifts into a white tiger. The female lead is a shaman and an exorcist. She helps undo curses on people. Love the plot!

• Boy fell first when they met during their childhood. The girl has forgotten him but soon remembers and her feelings reignite as well.

♡ Dreaming Freedom

• Similarity: just like the rest above. Sly Guy and Naive Girl who slowly becomes equally sly 🤭

• ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING: Yandere Male Lead, Toxic Relationship, Self Harm, Physical & Emotional Harm to others. This is a psychological, sorta surreal manhwa. It's about lucid dreaming and it's long term effects with a magical twist added so please do look that up if you don't know already.

• Boy fell first is obsessed with the Girl. Boy is possessive and jealous. The Girl becomes equally jealous and possessive of him so if you're into that you'll enjoy.

Hope at least one of these recommendations is to your liking and you have a great time reading! 🥰

[skania]

OnK Chapter 159 Thoughts

It's been 159 chapters and Akane is still unrivaled as the best thing about this trainwreck of a manga 😭

My hopes for this chapter were:

For once I got pretty much everything I wanted, so I should be counting my blessings.

In an unexpected turn of events, I even more or less managed to call the Nino/Ryousuke twist 😂

I was so ready to dive into this chapter, but...

I just can't take that expression seriously 😭 How am I supposed to sit here and try to write a worthwhile post about this chapter when Mengo drew Kamiki making such a ridiculous face.

There's so much wrong with Aka's writing that I don't even know where to begin, but I think the core of it is that this man deliberately withholds information in order to artificially create a sense of "mystery" and "twists". We can sit here all day dissecting everything about this chapter, but what it comes down to is that Aka can completely change contexts by simply revealing any of the stuff he has off-paneled.

Take the Kamiki "Twist" for example. When the text leaks originally dropped, there were no dialogues and no expressions, so I thought that maybe the twist would be that Kamiki doesn't intend to turn himself into the police and that he just wants to die instead.

With the full context however, everything points towards Kamiki being the big bad after all. So we got a two-chapter long twist involving Nino only to reveal that... no, actually, we're going back to Kamiki.

And it could have been good. Kamiki potentially managing to fool both, Aqua and Akane into thinking that he was innocent could have been great. There certainly are certain moments that only make sense if Kamiki isn't as innocent and as regretful as he pretended to be.

The problem is that it was so incredibly rushed that the detour feels rather... pointless? It's like Aka's main objective was to surprise the audience. But the audience wouldn't have been surprised if we had had any insight into Aqua's and Akane's research up to this point, so it's once again just Aka off-paneling stuff instead of writing things organically.

Another good example is the Kana graduation. Yeah, okay, she's graduating and Aqua isn't at the concert. That should be the last nail in that coffin, but Aka could just say that Aqua saw her before the concert. Or that he will somehow manage to see her after the concert. Anything to fulfill whatever it is that he wants to write, really.

So I'm going to leave Aka's lousy writing aside and focus on what I, personally, I'm hoping to see.

The Nino/Ryousuke thing showed just how flawed Kana's line of thinking is. You aren't supposed to be the Oshi of your special someone, you're supposed to be their partner. Admiration is the furthest thing from understanding, and this chapter got that across very well.

While Kana was off dreaming of her shoujo romance with Aqua, Akane and Aqua were planning how to gather proof against the people who ruined Aqua's family. Akane's out there wearing an anti-stab vest to protect Ruby and bring Nino to justice, Aqua is out there facing Kamiki.

If Kana has had no contact with Aqua at all and only finds out the reason for his absence later, I'm hoping that this will help her realize that they're in two different worlds. That there's an entire side to Aqua, a very complex side, that she has absolutely no idea about. Because all this time, she's been so busy dreaming of him that she has never taken the time to actually know him.

Another thing I'm wondering about is: if neither Aqua nor Akane expected this Kamiki twist, then where was Aqua during the beginning of the chapter? Could it be that he was tailing Kamiki because he already had an inkling about his true nature? If so, could it also be that whatever plan Kamiki was going to put in motion has already been stopped by the AquaKane + helpers tagteam?

I could go on all day, but I can't help but feel like the writing just hasn't earned being given that much thought. So I'm just not going to theorize anything and I'll simply read whatever Aka writes next week lol

I'm looking forward to seeing Kamiki's truth next chapter, and I'm also hoping that Akane will end up joining Aqua because I'd love to see her properly interact with Kamiki. But not going to lie, now more than ever I'm really only reading so I can see Akane be the amazing woman that she is and so I can hopefully see Aqua and Akane get back together so that at least the romance is salvageable, because everything else is a trainwreck.

[seravphs]

beating hearts promised to bared teeth — part one: “The God Finds A Familiar” 

KITSUNE! GOJO x GOD! FEM READER; KAMISAMA HAJIMEMASHITA AU

When a kind stranger offers you his home because your gambling addict of a father can’t pay rent, you’re left in charge of a shrine - with a catch. Once you arrive at your new home, you learn a crucial fact that he conveniently left out. You’re the new god in charge, and his familiar, who now belongs to you, does not like you. What’s a new god to do, especially when she finds herself slowly falling for the fox spirit?

wc — 10k

tags — enemies to lovers, shoujo manga heroine type reader, Japanese mythology/yokai, age gap (1000 year old fox and high school girl), slowburn, cameo from Sukuna, Toji, and Nanami, cameo from original Kamisama Hajimemashita cast

part two — “The God Finds A Husband” (coming soon)

shoujo series masterlist

If your stomach growls any louder, you’ll scare off the squirrels fighting over the end of a baguette loaf by the park bench you’re sitting on. 

You’re currently in the middle of what others might describe as very hard times. To be honest, your very hard times have been going on for a while now - they just culminated at this specific moment. Regardless, these days are only temporary. You’ve promised yourself that one day, you’ll be able to smile from the bottom of your heart. 

It’s just that it was easier said than done when you weren’t homeless. Your father has never been the most reliable of men. You had to take over the household finances by the time you were eight, so you’ve always been accustomed to his lack of responsibility, but today really solidified his status in your mind as an absolutely useless, no good man. It’s unfathomable cruelty to have left his only daughter with no money, no relatives, and no home. 

You don’t want to call it cruel. For all of his faults, you still love your father. And it’s because you love him that you know this wasn’t a cruel act. Cruelty is intentional. It’s malicious. It comes from a desire to hurt. Your father has never wanted to hurt you. It’s just a byproduct of his gambling addiction. You’re collateral damage in his quest for the jackpot that would solve all his problems. 

You double over in agony at the renewed complaints from your stomach. At least you’ve gone from scaring mere squirrels to scaring passersby. That’s an upgrade, right? 

One woman clutches her purse closer as she walks past you as briskly as possible. You get it, you look bad. 

But there’s no use being resentful. Your father has been barely one step above a deadbeat all your life. At the very least, you’re used to fending for yourself. Your stomach growls again, but you’re determined to ignore it. You need a plan of action. One step after another, you’ll make it out of these troublesome times. 

Before you can start to plot, a loud cry for help catches your attention. It sounds like someone else is in even more dire straits than you are, which is saying a lot. 

The squirrels have long since scattered, run off not by the scary noises coming from your famished stomach, but a pack of dogs. Somehow, a man has climbed several feet into the tree next to the trash can, and now perched precariously in its branches. Below him, curious dogs tilt their heads and give cautious barks. 

“Aw, hello there, cuties,” you coo, rubbing behind their ears. They yip at you enthusiastically. One sets to chasing his own tail around the tree. They seem friendly enough, but you suppose one can’t help their phobias. A little regretfully, you chase them off. 

“Go on now,” you tell the last one, leading him away. He whines, but does as you say. What a good boy. 

“Thank you,” says the stranger stranded in the tree. He slides down the trunk, face slowly regaining color. “I owe you my life.” 

“It was nothing!” You smile, but he won’t let you brush off your good deed. 

“You’re a good kid,” he nods approvingly. “Gotta reward that. Is there anything you want?” 

A home. 

Not just the house you shared with your father, but somewhere warm to return to. A person who waits to see you safely inside the threshold. 

But you know a stranger can’t give you that, so you shake your head and smile. “Really, it was nothing. You don’t owe me anything.” 

As if he had heard your inner monologue, the stranger raises an eyebrow. “A home, hm? I might be able to help with that.” 

Before you can react, he leans in and kisses your forehead. Where his lips touched your skin feels faintly warm and tingly, almost like the sensation of your leg going numb, before you recoil from him in shock. 

He presses a map into your hand and tells you, “Go to this address. Tell them Yaga sent you, and you’ll be welcomed with open arms.” 

With that, he runs off. 

What a strange man. 

Well, you’ve had a strange life, taking care of your hopeless father and all. Perhaps these things really did happen. It wasn’t so impossible for strangers to appear out of nowhere and reward you for good deeds. Maybe all the fairytales your father had read to you back when he hadn’t been so terrible were true. 

Or maybe that was the wishful thinking of an optimistically delusional girl who needed somewhere to stay desperately.

The address is located on the outskirts of town. Pushing deeper into foliage and closer to forest than civilization, you find the location you had been sent to. 

It’s a shrine. 

A run-down shrine, of all places. 

Are you on a comedy show? Should you start checking for cameras? 

Against your will, you feel your eyes grow hot. That was a cruel trick to play. He had gotten your hopes up for nothing. 

It’s not just your eyes. Your entire body starts to feel warm. The world around you erupts into blue flame. Heat licks at your shins as you scramble towards safety, closer to the center of the circle that has formed around you. 

When the flames suddenly leap, as if they’ll consume the entire sky, you scream and drop to your knees, covering your head like it’s a bomb threat. Two childish voices ring in your head, as clear and crisp as bells. 

Welcome home, Yaga-sama. 

It’s a shrine. There’s only one logical conclusion. 

This is a haunting. 

There’s only one safe path out of the ring of fire, and it’s towards the building you’ve now concluded is the site of paranormal activity. Between being actively burned alive or facing spirits though, you know which one you’ll choose. 

Your frantic fingers fumble over the latch on the shrine’s red doors as the fire inches closer and closer until you can feel its heat on your back. Finally, you throw open the doors and all but launch yourself inside. The heat recedes, but the voices do not. 

“Back already, Yaga?” A male voice drawls. “I thought your pilgrimage would’ve taken longer. After leaving me to maintain the shrine by myself for sixty years -“

You shriek as an enormous, clawed hand comes down towards your face. Your eyes squeeze shut, waiting for the end. 

“I’m not Yaga,” you wail, hoping it will save you. 

“You have a lot of nerve?” The voice finishes, more uncertainly than before. When you deem it safe to open your eyes once more, what stands before is a young man dressed in all white. White hair and blue eyes make for a staring constraint, but his coloring isn’t what’s strange about him. 

It’s his clawed hands and the equally white fox tail behind him. 

“Megumi, Tsumiki,” he says authoritatively. “This isn’t Yaga.” 

A shining ball of fire comes forward, speaking in the little girl’s voice you heard earlier. “That can’t be right! Look, she has the mark of the god on her forehead.” 

You touch your forehead, remembering the warm tingly sensation you had felt when that man kissed you. Feeling slightly delirious, you start to laugh, only to grow alarmed when you find you can’t stop. You’re growing out of breath from your near hysterical laughing, tears streaming out of the corners of your eyes. 

“Oh, great,” says the fox spirit. “She’s crazy.” 

“She’s the one with the mark,” the other ball of fire, Megumi, says. “That means she’s the god whether you like it or not, Gojo.” 

Tsumiki darts over to you, but halfway through her journey, she goes from fire to a little child just under 2 feet tall. She’s wearing a mask and plain blue yukata. 

“We have to celebrate!” She claps her hands together in excitement. “Our god has finally returned!”

Gojo looks dismissively down on you. Your laughing fit is finally starting to die down, but he doesn’t seem impressed regardless. “What god? I won’t accept a little human girl as my master. She couldn’t handle the strength of a familiar like me.”  

His condescension only makes you giggle harder. You can’t help it. Something about the fluffy fox ears protruding out of his head makes it hard to take him seriously. 

“What strength?” You laugh in his face. “This shrine is so dilapidated, I doubt you’re anything special.” 

Gojo looks away. “If she stays, I’m leaving. I won’t serve this kind of pathetic god.”

He disappears in a cloud of white smoke before Tsumiki can finish saying, “Don’t be like that!”

The will-o-wisp children introduce themselves to you as shrine spirits who look after the building. It takes a while, but by the time they kindly show you to the room where you’ll be staying, you can distinguish Tsumiki from Megumi by the differences in the masks they never take off. 

Your room is simple and threadbare. The walls are paneled bamboo and the only furnishing is an old futon. Still, you’re grateful. It’s leagues better than sleeping in the woods, which is what you started this day fearing you would have to resort to. You’ve never been the type to complain, and you won’t start now, no matter how strange your life has gotten. 

Fox spirits and will-o-wisp children don’t exist. They’re the stuff of myths. Maybe you’re just seeing things because you’re tired, you muse as you drift off to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning after a nice, long rest. The events of today will feel so far away, and you’ll be able to start over. 

Or maybe you’re dead already, and you’re wandering in the Netherworld. Perhaps the reason you can see spirits is because you’re currently residing in their land. Your entire body seizes up as you jolt yourself back to wakefulness. 

“Kamisama,” Tsumiki has crept back into your room. “Are you alright?” 

You tell her to call you by her name. Calling you god just doesn’t feel right. 

Gently, she nestles down by your pillow and puts her cold little hands on your forehead. Rather than shocking to your senses, it feels pleasant. When you were a little girl and got sick, your father used to let you stay home from school. He’d pack a towel with ice cubes and place it on your overheated forehead, staying up with you all night just to chat. It’s a good memory. 

“It’ll be alright,” Tsumiki tells you in her gentle voice. “You’ll see.” 

For spirits that supposedly take care of the shrine, you have a suspicion that Tsumiki and Megumi are pushing their work onto you when they brief you on your chores the next morning. It turns out godhood is a lot less summoning storms and a lot more doing yard work. 

Tsumiki insists that keeping the shrine pure is important for keeping evil spirits away. For some reason, that means cleaning. When you ask about calling lightning or summoning lions, Megumi laughs at you. 

“That’s Getou-sama’s job,” he says. “Your specialty is marriage. Yaga was very good at tying peoples’ fates together. You will be, too.”

He has more faith than you do in that regard. When it comes to chores, however, you’re more certain of your abilities. Busy work keeps the absurdity of your situation from sinking in, and you’re good at running the household from years of dealing with your father. You’re grateful for something to do. If you think about the past day too hard, you might break down into shocked laughter and never get back up. 

Besides, even if you don’t feel particularly ready to be a god, Tsumiki and Megumi are letting you stay in the shrine. You have to earn your keep. Soon, you settle into the process of cleaning, letting the methodical, rhythmic nature of your movements erase any doubts in your mind. You think of nothing but the cooling sensation of the water when you dip your rag into the bucket and the clean, woody scent of the shrine as you scrub the wood. 

“Ooh,” Tsumiki says approvingly when she appears. “It looks better already! Can you do the lawn next?” 

Plucking weeds is notably less soothing than cleaning. With no gloves, you’re careful to avoid hurting yourself as you tug on spiky vines and knotted twigs, but it’s no use. Eventually, you lose focus and a sharp sting graces your finger. Blood drips down your hand. You hiss in pain. 

A hand with white claws instead of nails grabs your wrist. You yelp in shock as Gojo brings your finger to his mouth and laps at the blood. It stains his lips slightly red. He worries at the cut with his tongue, making your wound ache. You try to pull back, but he holds on. 

To your amazement, the cut closes before your eyes. You’re just about to thank him when he ruins the moment. 

“You really are useless,” he says. “You can’t even pluck grass?”

You yank your hand out of his grip as hard as you can, sending yourself tumbling back against the grass. You hate how it must make yourself seem even more human in his eyes, a weak, fragile thing. 

“Give up,” he says, and it’s almost gentle, the way his claws graze your chin as he holds your face in one hand. “You’re not suited to be a god.” 

You turn away, unwilling to let him see any more of your vulnerability. “You don’t know anything about me.” 

“Suit yourself,” he says with a noise of annoyance. “Brats who run away from home aren’t my problem.” 

“I didn’t run away!” You snap, whirling on him. “My dad was the one who ran! I don’t have anywhere else to go!” 

But he’s gone.

At least Megumi and Tsumiki are nice to you. Megumi takes the bucket of weeds you deposit at the front door and whisks it somewhere out of your sight, while Tsumiki prepares a nice, hot bath for you. Exhausted, you collapse onto the bamboo floor spread eagle. 

God, a voice murmurs in your head.

Not again. You don’t want any more spirits to deal with. When you raise your head, instead of another yokai, there’s an old woman standing in front of the shrine. Her head is bowed and her hands are clasped in prayer. 

Please bless my daughter’s marriage so that she will enjoy a long and fruitful life with her partner. 

Her voice is coming from some place inside your head. It resonates like a bell, ringing crisp and clear. You stretch out your hands wonderingly. You don’t look any different. 

“You see?” Tsumiki says approvingly. “You’re a god.”’ 

But you don’t feel like one. You feel just like a normal person. 

“A god needs a familiar.” You can’t see Megumi’s face behind his mask as he speaks, but you can imagine the solemn little boy he must be. “You need to bind Gojo to you.”

“How do I do that?” 

“You have to kiss him.” 

You wait for them to tell you they’re joking. 

“What? I can’t kiss him! Is there-” 

Megumi cuts in. “It’s just the traditional way to seal the contract. Don’t think too much of it.” 

The fact that neither of them are bothered makes you feel like the ridiculous one for being off put by this, but you’re sure you’re not. Still, if you’re a god now, you have to put all of your mortal sensibilities aside. It’s like another culture, you tell yourself. Like how Europeans kiss each other on the cheek to say hello. Even if you can’t convince yourself, Megumi and Tsumiki are insistent. 

You were so fired up just a second ago, but now your head is filled with doubts. If such a simple matter can sway you, are you really meant to be a god after all? Maybe Gojo is right. Maybe you should just leave. 

“Please,” Tsumiki says. She looks distraught. “Don’t abandon us. Please don’t leave.” 

Megumi doesn’t say anything, but his silence is enough. 

“Okay,” you say, feeling defeated. “I’ll give it a shot.” 

You’ve always been good at chores. If taming Gojo is just another part of your new job, it sounds like it's time to get serious. 

“Take me to him.” 

Megumi and Tsumiki balk. 

“Right now?”

“Why not? The sooner I get it over with, the better, right?”

“He’s...indisposed at the moment,” Tsumiki says carefully. 

“Indisposed? Is he sick?” 

“Not quite,” Megumi says. He’s very expressive for a spirit. You can practically imagine him grimacing. 

“Then it’s fine!” 

You would soon come to regret your words. 

Megumi and Tsumiki lead you out of the shrine. They show you where to find the path that can lead you to the land of spirits and demons. Your entire body rebels at the feeling of being in this other world, but at the same time, you feel at home here. The god and the girl that coexist inside of you are mutually repelled by and attracted to this place. 

Even though you know Megumi and Tsumiki aren’t really children, or at least children in the way mortals think of them, you’re still concerned about letting them traipse around this dangerous place. However, they seem more used to this world than you are. That energy is better devoted to fending for yourself. 

They lead you under bridges where the running water smells like flowers and women’s voices hiss in the babble of the current. Tree leaves rustle with hands that disappear into darkness. You follow them through dark alleyways lined with red paper blessings, and doorsteps encircled with salt. Eyes follow you, leaving your skin crawling. 

You’re so focused on keeping your head down and staying out of danger that you almost don’t notice when they stop. You nearly run Megumi over. 

“He’s inside here,” Tsumiki says. 

Is it just you, or does she seem nervous? 

The lanterns inside this establishment are turned down to a dimness that barely illuminates the corridors. Sweet smelling smoke writhes around your feet from some unknown source as you head deeper and deeper into the maze of hallways, following the pair of shrine spirits. You pass women wearing fox masks, dressed in luxurious kimonos. Their hair towers over their head in elaborate updos, held in place with beautiful pins inlaid with chartreuse and gold. 

Megumi stops before a folding screen door. Like all things within this building, it’s beautiful. The silk screen is painted with images of flowers and more gruesome scenes as well, but somehow, it’s still breath-taking. A little like Gojo, in that regard. 

You hear the voices of women behind the screen, flattering Gojo. The light of a single candle illuminates the dim room, imprinting his silhouette against it, as well as that of the two women with him. They’re draped over him, hands roaming his body as they purr their compliments. Your face burns with embarrassment. 

“What are you doing?” Megumi demands of Gojo. “How can you parade around the red-light district like this? You’re the familiar of a god, not some common demon! If Yaga knew, it’d break his poor heart.” 

Behind the screen, Gojo merely brushes him off. “Yaga’s been replaced by some little human worm. Why should I care what he thinks now?”

“What about the shrine? Don’t you care about that, at least?” Tsumiki's voice is thick with reproach. 

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I do,” he says. “Ha! You know what? Maybe I should thank that girl. Now that I’m free, I can do whatever I want.” 

“Gojo-“ 

“I’ll can indulge in every little vice Yaga never allowed me to touch before. Who would want to be a familiar when I can have all of this?” 

“Gojo, our god is here.” 

“What?” 

He leaps up and pushes the screen aside, coming face to face with you. He looks startled to see you, though you don’t see why he should care, since he so desires to lead a life of sin. 

You look upon him with disgust. You might want a familiar, but you’re not so desperate you’d stoop as low as this. Gojo cares so little for anyone but himself. If you’re going to be a god, you’re going to do it right. You’ll pick a good familiar, one who will genuinely love the shrine as much as it deserves. 

You turn and leave as he, half-clothed, frantically starts pulling on the outer layers of his kimono. 

“Wait,” he calls after you. “Tsumiki! Megumi! Why would you bring her here?”

“She wanted to see you,” Megumi retorts. 

“This isn’t the place for a human,” he says. “She’s going to get eaten!” 

The faster Gojo follows you, the faster you run from him. By the time you’re out of what you’ve come to realize is a brothel, you’re sprinting. Your legs carry you right into someone else as your face slams against a broad, muscled chest. 

“Oh,” says a voice above your head. “How pretty.” 

A hand caresses your face. This spirit has tattoo marks across his face and body. More interestingly, he has multiple arms. 

You’re frozen in place by fear as he brings his mouth closer and closer to your face. He’s close enough to kiss, but this is a spirit, which means he’s more likely to eat you. 

“Be good for me now,” he purrs in your ear. “Fear makes flesh all the sweeter.” 

Three of his six arms are consumed by fire. He pushes you away from him in favor of batting out the flame. 

Gojo pulls you towards him, hiding you in the folds of his billowing kimono. You press your face against his shoulder, swallowing back the tears of fear from nearly being eaten. Somehow, he feels safe, even though he’s been nothing but antagonistic towards you. He feels almost protective as he shields your body with his, securing you under one arm. 

“Scram,” he tells the other demon. “She’s mine, Sukuna.” 

Sukuna rolls his pairs of eyes. “You weren’t with her when I caught her. She’s fair game.” 

Fox fire flickers in Gojo’s hand. His white talons seem to elongate before your eyes. 

“If you want to fight over her, then by all means,” he says with a dangerous smile. “But we both know I’d win.” 

“Maybe later then,” Sukuna says, lazily as if Gojo isn’t threatening him. “Once I’ve eaten my fill.” 

He stalks off into the night in search of more prey. 

“This is why I told you to wait,” Gojo says, running his hand over his face. “You’re practically bait in this world. Come on, I’ll take you home.” 

You nod, not trusting your voice, but he catches on anyways. 

“Don’t cry,” he says, his face twisted in a grimace. “I won’t know what to do if you cry. Look, this is just your life now, okay? You’ll have to get used to it.” 

On impulse, you press your face into his shoulder again, still sniffling. You want to be comforted, even though you know he won’t give it to you. 

“Ugh,” he says, true to form. “Quit that.” 

By the time you’ve calmed down, Gojo has already escorted you back to the shrine. 

“Don’t come back,” he tells you. 

Of course, you can’t listen to him. On your second night in the land of the dead and monsters, not only do you have to hide from beasts who would devour you the moment they found out what you were, you also have to hide from Gojo. You’re wearing a disguise, courtesy of Tsumiki and Megumi. 

In your defense, it’s not like you want to be here. You need a familiar, and it’s clearly not going to be Gojo. 

According to Tsumiki, Gojo’s the strongest, but there are other familiars who would be willing to serve you. They’re all in the Netherworld, however, and you have to find them before you can contract them. 

You pull the curtain of the hat shielding your face a little closer around you as you peer at the faces surrounding you, trying to gauge who looks friendly. None of them do. You’ve been wandering around for hours, but not a single spirit has stood out to you. 

In the end, you don’t find him. He finds you. 

“A human god?” A hand grasps your wrist loosely. “That’s rare. Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be here?” 

The man in front of you looks normal by any standards - but you know better than to trust your gut in the netherworld. Still, he’s the closest thing to a human you’ve seen in a while. Surrounded by a maelstrom of monsters, he feels like the eye of the storm. There’s a quiet and a calm surrounding him, even as you walk among noderabo with withered, leathery skin and scaly yajo. 

It’s not like he’s in his own little pocket of the world, you realize. He is. Everyone is purposefully giving him a wide berth. 

“Who are you?”  

“I asked first,” he says. 

“You know who I am! You just said so - I’m the human god.” 

His eyes rake over you. “So you are. But what are you doing here, girl?” 

You throw his words back in his face obstinately. “You first.”

“I’m Toji.” That doesn’t tell you anything, but he’s clearly unwilling to divulge more. “Your turn.”

“I’m looking for a familiar.” 

“What about your familiar? I heard that Gojo-sama isn’t keen on sharing.” 

Somehow, the way he says Gojo-sama sounds derisive, even with the respectful honorific. 

“He doesn’t want to be my familiar.” 

The rejection stings coming out of your own mouth. 

“Sounds like him. Haughty bastard, he couldn’t stand to serve a human girl, could he?” 

“Yeah! He’s an asshole,” you say, feeling validated. 

When Toji laughs, the scar over his lip tugs one side of his mouth down. You kind of like it. And he must be strong, just looking at him. He’s well muscled and covered in scars. Of course, there’s the little matter of the reverence everyone around you is offering him. Tsumiki and Megumi had told you to just go out and find one. Could it be that easy?

“Are you interested?” 

He gives you a look of barely concealed amusement. “You’re funny, girl. I don’t think Gojo would like that very much, though.” 

“I don’t care what Gojo thinks.” 

“Oh, here he comes now. Don’t go running too far - you’ll worry him,” he says, slow and easy. His confidence is absurd - it reminds you of Gojo, actually. He must be strong. “If you’re really serious about wanting me as a familiar, why don’t you meet me here again in three days?”

“What are you doing?” Gojo snarls at you. His teeth match the rest of his fox physique. With wonder, you realize that his pearly canines are pointed beyond what’s normal. “I told you not to come back!” 

“But- He-” You turn around to point Toji out, but he’s gone. 

“Who?” Gojo says. 

“He was right there!” 

“You’re so annoying,” Gojo bites out. “I don’t care what happens to you, but if you die, Megumi and Tsumiki will cry, so stop wandering off on your own. You’re lucky you didn’t get devoured on the spot.” 

He’s starting to get really irritating. You shove his hands off. 

“You know it’s actually your fault I’m here, right? If you didn’t reject me, I wouldn’t have to scour the Netherworld for a familiar.” 

Gojo scoffs. “My fault? Maybe you should take a look at yourself. If you were less weak, I wouldn’t have a problem serving you!” 

“That’s- You’re impossible!” You splutter. “I can’t help being weak! I was born this way! Not everyone is so lucky to be born a kitsune, oh-so-great-Gojo-sama.” 

“Enough,” he sighs. Taking you by your wrist, he forcibly drags you through the streets back in the direction you came. 

“Ow! You’re hurting me!” 

“Gojo!” Megumi’s reproving voice breaks the argument up before it can begin again. 

He lets go of you almost guiltily, if you thought he could feel guilt. 

“I’ll take her home,” Megumi says. 

Gojo’s tail lashes behind him angrily, but Megumi doesn’t spare him a second glance as he ushers you away. 

“Thank you,” you tell him in relief. “What are you doing here?” 

“You were taking a long time,” he says. “Tsumiki and I were getting worried. Did you find anyone?” 

You think of Toji. “No,” you say. “No one.” 

The next day, while Megumi and Tsumiki dress you for your trip through the Netherworld again, Megumi presses three slips of white paper into your hands. 

“We should’ve taught you this sooner,” he says. “One of the powers of a god is to transform objects. Whatever you write on this charm will become true - within the scope of your power. Be safe.”  

Armed with your paper slips, you feel like a real god. Tsumiki pushes you out the door with a prayer for good luck, though you’re not sure you can grant prayers to yourself for yourself.

Outside the door, something whines by your feet.

“Gojo?” 

Or is that a regular white fox? 

It snaps its teeth at you. 

Definitely Gojo.

“I don’t need an escort,” you tell him, making shooing motions at him with your hands. “Go away!” 

He rolls over and yips at you, his tail wagging. 

“I can’t understand you like this!” 

“I said,” a cloud of smoke reveals him, mostly humanoid once again, except for his ears and tail. “I don’t want to do this either. It’s for Megumi and Tsumiki.” 

Toji doesn’t seem to like him, so you don’t want to risk bringing him with you. Despite your best attempts to shake him, Gojo follows you as you retrace your steps back into the spirit world. You’re just starting to despair when you spot a bigger reason to be upset. 

“Hello, delicious,” Sukuna says. “Ready for round two?” 

Why does he look even more terrifying? Did he get bigger? 

“Leave her alone,” Gojo says, almost bored. “It’s pathetic. You can only bully things weaker than you, huh?” 

“I’m not afraid to fight you,” Sukuna tells him. 

You’re panicking. They both look serious. You don’t want to be caught between these two forces of nature. 

“You should be,” Gojo says, and steps in front of you. Over his shoulder, he tells you, “Run. You’re in my way.” 

This is the chance you were waiting for. 

Toji’s dressed differently when you find him again. Last night, he was wearing a casual black kimono. Tonight, he’s dressed in a tight fitting black shirt and loose white pants. 

“You look nice,” you tell him, feeling anxious. Your mind keeps going back to Gojo. You’re sure he can hold his own, but you’re still worried for him. As you are, however, you’re of no help to him. The only way you’d be able to rescue him if he actually was in danger is by making a contract with a powerful familiar. 

“It’s for work,” he says. “Follow me.” 

“We can’t do it here?” 

“Do you want to kiss me in front of everyone?” He shrugs and reaches for you. “I mean, I’m down if you are, but I figured-” 

“No,” you squeak and dart away. “Privacy is good!” 

He laughs. “You’re as funny as ever, huh? C’mere.” 

Toji leads you off the beaten path and further into the woods. The only thing that keeps you from feeling more nervous is the moon shining overhead, illuminating your path. It feels almost like a friend is with you.

“Here is good,” Toji says, stopping at a clearing. 

“It’s so pretty,” you breathe out, dazzled. This deep into the woods, fireflies are lighting your way. Beneath your feet, a springy bed of flowers and moss covers the floor. 

“What can I say? I’m a romantic.” 

“Yeah, right,” you laugh at him, but you draw closer. You think you could trust him. You think you could be partners with him. 

Then Toji grabs you by the shoulders and dangles you off the edge of the clearing, over a steep drop you hadn’t noticed. The sharp cut off had been hidden by flowers, danger painted over with beauty. 

“Sorry, kid,” Toji says. “No hard feelings, right?” 

“Why?” You whisper. Gojo had been right. 

“There’s a bounty on your head,” he says. “Getou has offered to grant the wish of anyone who kills you.”

His eyes turn wistful. “I have a kid. Haven’t seen him in years. You understand, right? It’s not personal.” 

The fall is brutal. The wind whips tears into your eyes, if you weren’t already crying from the fear of falling to your death. You have to do something, anything. Above your head, something white flutters. 

A dove? 

Then another. 

It’s one of the paper ofuda Megumi had given you before you left, caught in the updraft of you rushing down to earth. You snatch it out of the air. You can’t reach the pen in your pocket. With increasing desperation, you bite down on your finger hard enough to draw blood and trace the characters for a tree branch onto it. Holding it aloft, you pray. 

Between your hands, wood solidifies. You’re clinging to a scrap of a twig sprouting from the rocky cliffside. Megumi’s words echo in your head - only within the scope of your power. 

So this is it, huh?

That’s all there is of your godly strength. 

“Looks like you’re in trouble,” Gojo says. He has no problem balancing on the sheer cliff. His appearance is impeccable, completely unscathed from his fight with Sukuna. He perches like a bird, as comfortable as if he were standing on solid ground. “Do you need help?”

Thank god. He’s here to save you! You nod, turning teary eyes on him. You were wrong about him. Gojo really is a good guy, deep down. 

“If you say, ‘Please save me, Gojo-sama, I was stupid.’ I’ll help you. Throw in some crying and begging, too.” 

Your eyes dry up instantly. He’s a total bastard. You clutch onto the branch tighter. There’s no way you’ll give him the satisfaction of groveling for help. 

Your resolve weakens when you hear the first snap. 

“Time’s ticking,” Gojo calls in a sing-song voice. “What will it be?” 

The harder you hold on, the more your flimsy branch breaks. 

“Come on,” Gojo says. “It’s not that hard. It’s just seven little words. Isn’t that worth your life?”

“Go fuck yourself,” you tell him, and the branch finally snaps. 

Falling for the second time is just as bad as the first time. The icy wind snatches at you like claws, tearing at your clothes. 

To your surprise, Gojo leaps after you. He makes free-fall look elegant - surely a far cry from whatever you’re doing. 

“Just say it,” he yells, within arm’s reach. He’s so close he could snag you by the shirt and haul you to safety, but you know he won’t. Not without getting what he wants. “Would you rather die than just apologize?” 

You have an answer prepared. 

His eyes widen in shock when you press your palms to his cheek, pull him closer, and kiss him. 

You barely have time to register the taste of him, sake and something sweet, before the reality of falling to your death rushes in again. 

“Gojo, save me!” 

As if his body is piloted by someone else, Gojo catches you. For him, it’s a short leap back up to the top of the clearing, where Toji has disappeared. 

You climb down from his hold once you’re certain you’re safe. You never thought you’d miss the feeling of solid ground beneath your feet this much, but at the moment, you’re willing to kiss the earth. 

Gojo seems much worse off. He’s frozen in shock, muttering the same refrain to himself under his breath. “Me? Bound to her? Impossible.” 

“Let’s go home,” you tell him. He doesn’t seem to get it until you tug him towards the path, and then he leads the way wordlessly. . 

You wake to Megumi and Tsumiki weeping over you. 

“I’m alright!”

They freeze, then burst into fresh tears. 

“We thought you would never wake up! Your first time using ofuda must have been too much for you,” Megumi gets out through his sobs. 

You feel sore all over. You can barely recall the events of the previous night, only that you kissed- 

“Finally up?” 

Gojo’s tapping his foot as he waits for you to get up. He looks furious. There’s an unmistakeable tick in his jaw that spells trouble for you. 

It’s too early to deal with him. You duck back under the covers. 

“Oh no you don’t,” he growls out as he seizes your wrist and bodily hauls you out of your warm cocoon of blankets. “You wanted to be a god, you’re going to be a god. It’s time for some training.” 

You shiver pathetically in the cold morning air. If you had known helping a stranger would lead to be harassed by a fox spirit, you would’ve never done it in the first place. 

“Try harder,” Gojo says at your sixth failed attempt to turn water into wine. 

“It smells alcoholic,” Megumi offers loyally. 

“I am trying!” You insist. 

“Harder,” Gojo snarls. 

The seventh attempt doesn’t change. Gojo throws up his arms and stalks out of the shrine, declaring the need to cool his head. Tsumiki frantically trails him, not trusting him to not attempt to run away again. 

Megumi tries to assure you that you’re doing well, but honestly, you need to leave too. The shrine feels too stuffy. A change of scenery will do you good. Sitting alone in the woods just behind the shrine, you try to focus. Slowly, stacks of ofuda disappear from your hands as you paste them to trees, willing them to blossom. Wilt. Do anything, anything at all. 

You’re out cold when Gojo finds you. 

“Divine power takes time,” he says as he prepares dinner. “Use too many talismans at once and you’ll pass out.” 

You drink a spoonful of soup morosely. “How do I get stronger?” 

“You’ll get stronger if you grant prayers.” 

Tsumiki perks up. “One just came in!” 

“I already looked at it,” Gojo says dismissively. “Not that one.” 

“Everyone’s wishes deserve to be looked at,” you argue. 

Gojo scoffs, “Not this one.” 

“Don’t be rude! A god can’t pick and choose.” 

He tosses the prayer at you. 

Morimoto Rika’s request touches your heart. She’s the spirit of a nearby lake - not just any spirit, as Megumi helpfully clarifies, but another owner of a shrine. A human boy visits her waters nightly. By the light of the moonlight, she fell in love with him, but she can’t meet him because they live in two separate worlds. 

And to think that you would’ve never known to help her if Gojo had continued keeping this from you. 

“This sounds like the perfect job for me,” you argue. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Yokai can’t fall in love with humans.” 

You narrow your eyes at him. “Aren’t you bound to do as I say? Take me to her.” 

Against his will, Gojo summons what’s called a ‘night fog coach’. Only operable at night, as the name suggests, it’s a tall black carriage truly made for a god. You’re just wondering how Gojo expects you to climb aboard when he effortlessly lifts you by the waist. 

“You’re the one who wanted to go meet her,” he sneers. “Chop-chop.” 

Your supplicant looks like a fish if it were a girl. She has pale green skin and large, black eyes, with overly large teeth for her mouth. Black hair frames a heart shaped face. She’s cute, in her own monstrous way. And she’s desperately in love with a human boy. 

Gojo helps you transform her into a human body and make her over into a normal teenage girl. For a prayer granted, it feels like nothing more than dressing your friend up for a date. 

You’re even as nosy as you would be in that situation. It’s the first prayer you’ve ever granted. You know you shouldn’t, but you and Gojo watch the burgeoning romance from a distance. Of course, he’s completely disapproving, but you have high hopes for them - until Rika pulls out a ring. 

Aren’t they moving a little too fast? 

It only gets worse when Rika confesses that she’s been stalking him - sort of. Keeping tabs on him for his safety by following him around town is a little too close to the other, for your liking. Your head drops into your hands. 

But Yuta takes it surprisingly well. A little too well, in fact. It only seems to infatuate him even more. You knew there were certain types of men out there who loved crazy, but you had never seen it in real life - until now. 

Could this even be counted as a success? 

You’re happy for Rika and Yuta, as happy as you can be for their twisted little union, but you’re just waiting for Gojo to bite your head off for bringing a (real) monster and a human together as soon as you get back home. At least they’re happy, you think ruefully. Worse things could happen. Your first union as a marriage god didn’t fail. In fact, of all people, Yuta seemed the most likely in the world to accept Rika as she was, human or not. 

To your surprise, returning to the shrine, Gojo begrudgingly says, “You did well.” 

Any warm feelings you have for him the next day are replaced when he barges into your room and demands you strip. 

“You have guests,” he says. “Messengers from Toji-sama, the god of the wind.” 

Your eyes grow wide. You hadn’t known Toji was a god. Come to think of it, did Gojo even know the reason why you had been falling from that cliff? You weren’t sure if he had come in time to see who had pushed you. 

“What are you worried about? I’ll be at your side the whole time.” 

You’ll tell him later. Right now, you have a serious matter to prepare for. 

You tried not to discriminate on the basis of his master, but it’s not that at all. Toji’s familiar, Naoya, is simply annoying on his own terms. 

“So you’re the new god of this ramshackle little shrine,” he sniffs. “God, it’s disgusting. How poor are you?” 

“You must be the thirteenth familiar Toji’s owned. He goes through you like toys, doesn’t he? Of course you wouldn’t know that he used to live in worse conditions before. Deplorable.” Gojo laughs in his face. 

Naoya grits his teeth. “I’m surprised your little human dared to show her face. I thought she’d be terrified after what Toji did to her. They’re such weak little things.” 

Gojo looks at the other demon with a calm that worries you. As human as he is, there are moments when you can catch the monster lurking within. He’s like the sea, deceptively calm until you remember the threat of an unseen riptide. 

“If you insult my master again,” he says carefully, enunciating every word like he’s stabbing at them with a knife, “I will take your head and deliver it to your master as a present.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re happy to be serving a mortal girl,” Naoya laughs. “Not someone like you, Satoru. How the mighty have fallen.” 

Gojo looks at him for a long moment, then he ignores him completely and walks to your side. The most painful part of Naoya’s digs at you is knowing he’s right. Gojo doesn’t like this. How could he? He went from being the strongest to being commanded by some powerless girl. Still, Gojo gazes at you with his inscrutable eyes. You can’t read him at all. 

Slowly, he sinks to his knees next to you. 

With a gentleness you can hardly bear, he lays his head in your lap, as gentle and docile as a puppy. His neck is bared as if for an executioner’s axe, the delicate pulse of his heart open to you. He closes his eyes. His breath is shallow. He stays there, and says no more. 

“Oh, Satoru,” Naoya says in delight. “You really have become a tamed thing.” 

With an uncertainty you’re trying to hide, you lift your hands to Gojo’s head. His hair is sinfully soft. You’re almost scared he’ll try to take your hands off for it, but when you start to gently pet his hair, he almost purrs. His eyes close, half-lidded in pleasure. 

“I serve who I want to serve,” Gojo says. His tail lashes behind him. “Who are you to tell me my master is unworthy?” 

Naoya shrugs, clearly disbelieving. “Sure, Satoru. Keep telling yourself that. I’m just here to deliver a gift.” 

He tosses you a package wrapped carefully in beautiful, ornate wrapping paper. You’re sure it’s not Toji’s doing. He’s not the type. 

As soon as he leaves, Gojo pushes himself away from you. It leaves you a little sorrowful, the speed with which he tries to get away. He only did it for your sake, you know. He wanted to protect your honor in front of Naoya because you’re his master. But it must have disgusted him, to get on his knees for a human, if he recoiled so fast. 

“What did he mean, what Toji did to you?” Gojo asks over dinner. 

You know instantly that you’ll only draw his ire if you try to play dumb. 

“Toji pushed me off that cliff the day you found me.” 

Gojo’s eyes darken. The next time Naoya returns, he promises you, he’d set his tail on fire. No one besmirches his master’s honor like that. 

It’s about honor, of course. You’d be a fool to think otherwise. 

Alone in your chambers, you unwrap the package Naoya gave you. It’s an incense burner, beautiful and silver. As apology presents go, it’s a decent one. You set it aside for use at a later time. 

Naoya’s visit only makes Gojo’s training worse, but these days, you’ve grown used to him and his harsh words. The more that he yells at you for being weak, the more you can brush it off as Gojo just being Gojo. That only irritates him more, of course. 

But nothing pisses him off as much as you claiming that you’re returning to school. Gojo thinks that you have no need for school as a god. There’s nothing the humans can teach you that he can’t. 

In your eyes, Gojo is a kitsune. That means he’ll never understand a teenage girl’s heart. School isn’t about learning, it’s about the experience! You’ll never be in high school again - there are so many things you still haven’t experienced, like school trips. You only have one youth - you have to seize it in the moment! 

Gojo isn’t convinced. 

Like an overbearing parent, he nags you all day and night until finally, you strike a deal. He’ll let you go to school, but only as long as you cover up the god-mark on your head. Gojo is never one to make things easy for you. The hat he bestows you with is an ugly grandma print with faux fox ears. You’ll be the laughingstock of the school!

“It’s dangerous,” he says. “Who knows what wild beasts will be lurking about?” 

“You’re the wild beast,” you say. “I can’t wear that!” 

“I guess you can’t go to school then,” he sighs. “What a pity.” 

It’s all for show, of course. You know what he’s really like. There’s no use in arguing - either you agree to his compromise or you stay here, stuck in the temple for the rest of your life. You’ll miss out on all the joys of youth, never growing old in your cloistered shrine. The thought is unbearable. 

You snatch the hat from him in indignation. Putting it on before you leave the next day makes you cringe, but as long as you avoid mirrors, you can almost forget that it’s there - if not for your classmates staring at you. You can feel their judging eyes everywhere you go, and the whispers. 

You can’t even say you don’t care - you do care. You only have one high school life, and Gojo is ruining it. During lunch, you escape into the bathroom to mope and avoid all of your classmates. 

“Are you getting bullied?” Gojo’s voice is too bright and cheery for your dark mood right now. You can’t promise to remain calm if he stays here. 

“This is the girl’s bathroom, Gojo.” 

“Don’t be like that. I’m just worried about my master,” he says. “Well? How is it? Do you want to go home now?” 

He’s lying. You know he’s not worried about you at all, but you should be used to it. You don’t know why it stings as much as it does. 

You’re hurt even though you know this is just how Gojo is. Of course he’d be happy to see you miserable - he hadn’t even wanted you for a god in the first place. He’s bound to you by obligation, and nothing more. You had known from the start that he didn’t care about you, so why does it hurt that he won’t comfort you? It’s just like those nights in the demon world that seem so long ago now. He hasn’t changed at all. 

Gojo isn’t as shocked by your outburst as he is by the tears slowly welling up in your eyes. He stands stunned as you rush out of him and back into the hallway. 

Tsumiki appears next to him out of thin air, completely unimpressed. 

“You did a terrible job on that one, Gojo.” 

As if in a daze, he lifts his hand, where the crystal of one teardrop shines. He’d tried to reach for you at the last moment, but you were already gone. “I made her cry...” 

Megumi appears next to Tsumiki, his face red. “What’s taking so long? Hurry up and leave! We’re in the girl’s bathroom!” 

“Gojo was bullying our master,” Tsumiki announces. 

“I wasn’t bullying her!” 

“He made her cry.” 

Gojo winces. “Okay, yeah. I did do that.”

Megumi kicks him in the leg, which amounts to almost nothing. “Take responsibility, then!” 

When you return home, Gojo is waiting by the shrine door with an almost offensively polite smile on his face. “Let me take your coat, master.” 

Him being kind gives you the creeps. You can’t help but feel like he’s planning something, especially when he shows you the lavish dinner he prepared for you with all of your favorites. 

“What’s with the look?” He says, annoyed at your accusing eyes peering at him over your bowl. “I do something nice for you and this is how you treat me?” 

“This is really just for me? No ulterior motives?” 

“None,” he promises. 

The smile that breaks over your face is like the sun through rain clouds - sudden, dramatic, and almost painfully bright after a period of gray skies. 

“Thanks, Gojo!” 

The look in his eyes is unreadable as he reaches to spoon more food onto your plate. 

You don’t have anyone else in this world. Besides the shrine spirits, Gojo might be the only person in the world who will take care of you. For some reason, the thought doesn’t sting as much as it did this morning. 

The second day of school starts with pouring rain, as if it’s a direct reaction to your foul mood earlier. Gojo pulls you back when you try to leave. 

“It’s a bad omen,” he says. “Stay home with me today. I’ll worry about you if you go.” 

Normally, such sweet words might bring a blush to your face, but you can read between the lines. 

Stay home with me today so I can keep you out of trouble, you brat. 

I’ll worry about you if you go because you’re weaker than a worm. 

“Stop trying to keep me from going to school! I thought we got over this yesterday,” you huff. “I’m going to be late for the bus!” 

You leave Gojo with a handful of air as you dart under his outstretched arm and out the door. 

In school, all your classmates are listless. 

You’ve never been so unhappy to not be the subject of attention. What is wrong with everyone? Even the teacher doesn’t reprimand anyone for sleeping in class, half-asleep herself. You’re the only one who doesn’t seem to be caught in this spell of drowsiness, which insinuates paranormal origins. 

As you’re sweeping the classroom after class, one of your classmates lets out a disgruntled noise. 

“It’s a snake,” she says, not at all with the intonation of someone who’s just discovered a snake. Ami’s the type to go apoplectic at the sight of a fly, much less an actual snake, so you don’t pay much mind until you hear Kurama go, “Huh, she wasn’t kidding.” 

There’s a little yellow snake in the classroom. In their stupor, none of your classmates seem to care all that much about it. They just continue going about their chores. You feel bad for it. It’s such a small, fragile little creature. In their state, they might accidentally end up crushing it. 

With gentle murmurs of encouragement, you coax it into your hand. It’s surprisingly docile and twines itself readily around your wrist before you set it outside the window to be set free. 

Gojo doesn’t praise you for your act of heroism on the behalf of his fellow yokai, as you remind him. You saved his compatriots! Where’s the gratitude? 

He calls you a stupid little girl. “I don’t care about them, I care about you!” 

Your face warms with embarrassment against your will even though you know he doesn’t mean it like that. Time and time again, Gojo has stressed that he will never see yokai and humans as even remotely on the same playing field, much less capable of being romantic partners. 

“You’re my master,” he says. There’s your call back to reality. “Look at this mark on your wrist.” 

It appears like a normal bruise to you, though you’re not sure how it could’ve happened. Your new snake friend was very gentle when he was coiled around your wrist. He must have been someone’s escaped pet. You hope he found his way back home. 

Gojo’s mad. He’s enunciating every word. 

“This is exactly why I have to keep such a close eye on you. That’s no ordinary bruise. That is an engagement mark. Care to explain to me how I left you alone for one second and you got yourself engaged to a divine beast?” 

Your face pales. “Excuse me?” 

“That snake is going to come and claim you as his bride.” 

“As a bride?” Your head spins and you have to sit down. You’re too young to get married. You look up at Gojo, teary-eyed. You don’t want this. 

“Stop making that face,” he snaps, pushing a hand over your face to hide it. “As if I would let that happen. The master of the Yaga shrine, my master, could never be wed to a mere snake.” 

If Gojo says he won’t let it happen, you can put your faith in him. You breathe a little easier. As mean as he can be, Megumi and Tsumiki weren’t lying when they called him the best familiar. He’s the strongest and most capable person or rather, yokai, that you know. There’s not a single task you set for him that he hasn’t been able to complete. 

It’s still raining when you go outside to practice your talisman making. 

You find the weather quite pleasant, even though it’s a little damp. The chill in the air cuts through the muggy feeling of summer, and the raindrops cool your cheeks. When you turn your face up to the sky, you can taste ozone in the little drops that pelt your face. 

“You’re very beautiful, kamisama,” says a voice. 

There's a man waiting just outside the red gates. A supplicant? In this weather? You better get him inside in a hurry. You dash over to him. 

“What are you doing? Come inside, you’ll get wet!” 

Just as you reach him, he lifts his face. He looks like a statue, with high cheekbones, and solemn eyes. His hair is the same pale yellow as the snake you saw earlier that day-

“Gojo!” 

But it’s too late. 

The snake has a hold on your wrist, right above the engagement mark. He takes you away. 

One moment, you’re standing in your own backyard, the next, you’re surrounded by almost-familiar bamboo walls. It looks like your shrine but for little distinguishing touches. That makes you uncomfortable. 

“This is Haibara shrine,” the snake says. “I’m Nanami, the familiar of Haibara-sama. I’ve taken you away to marry you.” 

There’s a curtain over the center of the room. Haibara presumably rests behind it, but something strikes you as off about the whole scenario. That’s not what’s foremost on your mind, however. 

“I don’t want to marry you! You kidnapped me!” 

He tilts his head at you. “I couldn’t have kidnapped you. We’re engaged, you see?” He traces the mark on your wrist with one slim finger. “We’re going to be very happy together.” 

“You’re being creepy,” you push him away. 

At your rejection, something dark crosses over his features - not danger, but pain. He has some nerve feeling upset when you’re the one who should be upset here! 

“That’s alright,” he says, trying to stroke your hair. You won’t let him touch you. “I know it can take some getting used to. Here, let me show you to your room.” 

Nanami has clearly put a lot of thought into decorating for you. It’s beautifully furnished, with rich silk sheets and the fragrant smell of plum blossoms permeating the air. Here, there’s not a single thing you could want but- 

Gojo. 

You miss Gojo and you miss your shrine. 

When Nanami leaves you in your room, it feels like a tomb in the silence. You bury your face in your expensive, hateful sheets and try to resist the urge to sob. You want Gojo to come get you. You want to go home. 

Hours pass, but Gojo doesn’t come. 

Nothing but the sound of your breathing changes, passing from frantic to deeper, slower, steadier. As your head clears, you notice the window. It’s a beautifully ornate design, a red knot of luck. The center is just big enough for a girl to squeeze through, if you try hard. 

Resolve grips you. 

You’re not going to wait for Gojo to rescue you. You’re going to get out of here yourself, find him, and scold him for not coming to get you earlier. Aren’t you his most beloved master, as he so professes? You’re going to make him kneel for at least three hours practicing his apologies! 

Filled with renewed conviction, you hoist yourself onto the window sill and begin the tedious task of shimmying yourself out. Just when you’re nearly there, the sharp edge of the metal scrapes your shin, leaving a long, thin cut. 

The smell of salt replaces the plums immediately. 

“God?” Comes Nanami’s voice. “I smell blood. Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine!” You panic. If he discovers your escape attempt now, he might try to put you in a more secure room, and then you’ll really never see Gojo again. 

The adjacent wall caves in. 

Gojo stands in the rubble, seething, each hand wreathed in blue flame. He doesn’t even notice you, his attention wholly focused on Nanami. “You drew her blood? Are you prepared to face the consequences of hurting my master, snake?” 

You grab his arm just before he attacks. “He didn’t! I hurt myself on the window- oof!” 

Gojo’s so much bigger than you are. When he folds you into his arms, his entire body surrounds you. His chin tucks itself over your head, his large arms wrap around your body. You’ve never felt more secure than you are here, now. “I thought you’d be crying.”

His voice is hoarse. 

You’ve never heard that before. 

“You came,” you whimper, burying your face into his shoulder.  

Nanami’s face is crestfallen. “Are you going to leave me?” 

You grab Gojo’s arm and duck into the other room, where Haibara’s curtain is. 

“Don’t!” Nanami cries. 

When you pull it back, there’s nothing but an old, dusty kimono. 

You were right. 

This place is godless. 

“You’re no familiar,” Gojo snarls, turning on Nanami. “Don’t even think to call yourself that. The difference between you and me is as clear as day, you vile beast. You’ll pay for your insolence with the loss of your shrine.” 

Nanami’s misery is written all over his face. You’ve realized what’s wrong with this shrine. It’s too quiet, as if no one has prayed here for generations. Haibara has been dead for a long, long time.

Nanami must have been lonely. 

“Don’t,” you tell Gojo.

He stares at you, incredulous. “Are you out of your mind?” 

You tug yourself out of Gojo’s arms. Nanami’s crouched on the ground, trying to shield Haibara’s old kimono from Gojo’s foxfire. You kneel to his level. 

“I’m sorry you’ve been lonely for all this time, Nanami. I can’t stay with you, but if you come to my shrine, we can play again.” 

Nanami weeps and reaches for your hand. The mark of the snake dissolves. 

Gojo doesn’t talk to you on the way back to the shrine.

“Don’t be mad,” you say, tugging on the sleeves of his kimono. He gives you a deadpan stare. “Come on! I only did it because-” 

You can’t finish your sentence. 

Of course, that piques Gojo’s interest. He can never resist bullying you. 

“Because? Go on,” he goads you. 

You say it so quietly he can’t hear you, even with his fox ears. He spins around, grabs you by the waist, and hoists you up so you’re face to face. You yelp and scramble to grab onto his shoulders for balance. 

“Louder,” he demands. “I can’t hear you.” 

“I was thinking about what would happen if I died and you were all alone again. I couldn’t leave him alone because I was thinking of you,” you tell him. Thinking of Gojo watching after an empty shrine all alone like Mizuki makes your heart ache for reasons you can’t explain. 

He stiffens. “What a strange thing to worry about. I wouldn’t care.” 

“Ugh,” you smack him in the shoulder. You shouldn't have tried to be kind to him. 

He doesn’t put you down, shifting you into an easier hold. “You’re hurt,” he admonishes when you try to squirm. 

Just before you enter the shrine gates, he has a confession of his own to make. “I’m sorry,” he says. “You got hurt because I wasn’t protecting you.” 

You rub his ears, an indulgence you’re not sure he would’ve allowed if he wasn’t in such a mood. “It’s not your fault!” 

“I’ve never had a human master,” he says. “I have to be careful not to break you. You’re so easily hurt.” 

“You don’t have to say it like that,” you say, and then the shrine spirits are there to welcome you home. 

You hadn’t realized you thought of the shrine as home until today. 

Even though Nanami’s mood isn’t affecting the weather anymore, it’s still raining. Gojo tells you not to mind the weather, even though you’re certain that it’s not from natural causes, which means it is your job. Ever since you came back from Haibara’s shrine, Gojo has been extra protective of you. 

You hadn’t thought Gojo had needed to be protected too, not until the thunder god came. 

The god of storms and lightning is called Getou Suguru. He carries a mallet in one hand that can transform whoever it touches into their younger forms, and he used to be Gojo’s best and only friend. He’s also the one who called a bounty on your head.

[benkyoutobentou]

Beginner Manga Recommendations for Japanese Learners

It's time, you've done your due diligence in studying. Now it's time to jump into native material. But where to start? Here are a few manga series that I've read that I think would be a reasonable place for a Japanese learner to start their immersion journey.

Disclaimer: I haven't read every series, and the manga that's interesting to me might not be interesting to you. We also all encounter different words as we go along our language learning journeys. A series that I find relatively easy might have you looking up every other word. The trick is to not get discouraged and just keep on pushing through! As with everything, it gets easier the more you practice.

消えた初恋 - アルコ＆ひねくれ渡: This BL series follows a group of four friends and their experiences with love in high school (it also has a drama adaptation that I highly recommend! Available to watch for free on Viki). This series is so silly and just a fun time. The art has great visual gags and it's definitely a series where you can sit down and not even realize that suddenly you've gone through an entire volume and why didn't you buy more of this series to start with? It has furigana on everything, but the characters do speak pretty casually, so there's some slang and less standard language. This series is completed with nine volumes.

佐々木と宮野 - 春園ショウ: This is another sweet BL about Miyano, a high school first year, who catches the eye of an upperclassman, Sasaki. After asking to borrow Miyano's book, the two bond over a shared enjoyment of BL manga. The vocabulary is pretty simple in this one as well, but it does use quite a bit of otaku slang, which can be difficult if you've never encountered it before. It has furigana on everything, though! This series is ongoing with nine volumes and also has a spin off series titled 平野と鍵浦 which is also ongoing with four volumes.

月刊少女野崎くん - 椿いづみ: The first manga I ever read in Japanese! This series follows a high schooler, Sakura, as she confesses to her crush and classmate, Nozaki. However, Nozaki thinks that Sakura is just a fan of his shoujo manga series, and recruits her to be his assistant. This series is so enjoyably silly with a wonderful cast of characters that absolutely steal the show. There's a bit of vocabulary specific to the process of making manga, but it isn't too overwhelming. There's also plenty of casual speech and some great moments that can't quite come out in translation (bonus fact: I actually wrote a paper on this series and how humor is translated in one of my university linguistics class). It also has furigana on everything. It's ongoing with fifteen volumes.

加瀬さんシリーズ - 高嶋ひろみ: This adorable little GL series follows two high school aged girls, popular and athletic Kase and the shy gardener Yamada, as their relationship develops over their high school years. The vocabulary in this one is relatively simple with the exception of some more specific words, but those tend to pop up time and time again. This one doesn't have furigana but I think it's a great introduction to readying manga without furigana! This series is completed with five volumes, but there's an ongoing sequel series called　山田と加瀬さん that currently has three volumes released.

ささやくように恋を唄う - 竹嶋えく: This is a music based GL series about a high school first year, Kino, who tells an upperclassman, Nagi, that she loves her music. Nagi, however, misunderstands this as Kino confessing her love for her. The story follows both the relationship between Kino and Nagi as well as the trials and tribulations of Nagi's band. This is another one without furigana, but the vocabulary tends to be simple enough that I think it's still pretty accessible. It's ongoing with eight current volumes.

かけた月とドーナッツ - 雨水汐: Our last GL, this follows two coworkers, Uno and Satou, and their blossoming relationship in a society that pushes conformity and marriage on women. I really loved the way this series depicted coming into one's sexuality as an adult. Another one without furigana, but simple vocabulary regardless. A possible difficulty with this one might be the office vocabulary, though. This series is completed with four volumes.

[chodzacaparodia]

Another reason why Episode Nagi is a shoujo manga

One thing from Episode Nagi chapter 21 hit me hard. I mean the moment when Nagi was thinking about how Reo believed in him.

No one had ever placed hope in Nagi before. He himself has also never shown any initiative before. Nagi didn't seem like a person who would do something or be motivated to act because he believed in himself.

It wasn't until he realized that someone believed in him. Thanks to this faith, he began to act. And when there was no one around who believed in him, he was left with faith in himself.

However, Nagi would never believe in himself unless someone (Reo) believed in him first. Without it, he would still remain passive and do nothing with his life.

When I noticed this dependence, I immediately thought that a similar philosophy was presented in Fruits Basket (shoujo manga).

I'm specifically talking about story of Kisa, who had problems getting along with her classmates. She received a letter from a teacher who briefly advised her to like herself first so that others would like her.

However, Yuki did not agree with this.

When someone likes you, you will like yourself.

When someone believes in you, you will believe in yourself.

In both cases, the entire change depends on the other person. The character won't do much on their own because they need some motivator to influence them.

In Fruits Basket, this should not be surprising, because it is a shoujo manga that will focus on interpersonal relationships.

However, for example, in the main series of Blue Lock, where Isagi is the protagonist, the main character does not really need anyone's help for his development, because he is his own cause. Isagi does everything himself. Yes, he uses the help of others, but it is not perceived that way. He didn't need anyone else to believe in him to believe in himself. (Yes, this could be an example of his initial relationship with Bachira, when Meguru immediately began to have great hopes in Isagi. However, I don't see it as "Oh, Bachira believed in me, now I believe in myself! I wouldn't have gone this far, if it weren't for him.", because Isagi very quickly began to notice his own possibilities, which he was entitled to himself).

But Nagi is not like Isagi. He couldn't do anything on his own. He needed someone who would believe in him. If it weren't for Reo, his life would have come to a standstill. He would have no reason to believe in himself or work on himself.

Nagi is more like a shoujo protagonist who needs the presence of another person to initiate his development. He doesn't necessarily need this person all the time in order to continue to develop, but he certainly wouldn't be able to make any changes in his life without their constant presence in his mind.

And Episode Nagi (compared to Blue Lock) does not focus just on the independent development of the main character, but also devotes a lot of attention to his relationship with another person.

I'm not saying it doesn't exist in Blue Lock. It's just more emphasized in Episode Nagi, in a shoujo manga style.

[stargalaxxy]

𐙚Comic Lover!Lloyd x 𐙚Shoujo Lover!Reader

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ This happens after Skybound, so reader and Lloyd are 17-18??? I need ninjago fans to calculate that for me its been so long since I've actually sat and watched the series from beginning to present and make any senes of it. 𖦹ᯅ𖦹

So to be on the safe side Lloyd and reader are 17-18....

ೀ.⋆⑅˚

˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆Now Playing: Still Into You by, Paramore｡☆

Tw. Protective Lloyd bcs reader get's harassed oml

✧˖° Imagine ✧˖°

Comic lover! Lloyd invites shoujo lover! (y/n) to Doomsday Comix to read the next volume of the new Starfairer comics. 

You go for the new releases of romance manga; you both happily sit together in the aisles as you read quietly enjoying the silent company that you both desperately needed from the countless missions you both are called on. 

Lloyd doesn’t mind your different interests; he likes how you ask if you could read with him. He was happy at how open you were to other genres of reading; in return he’d read any recommendations that you give him.

Your overly imaginative mind would dance with scenarios of you and Lloyd experiencing half of the love stories you read. Those moments when you are alone, you’d play lovecore music on your radio just to enhance your scenarios as you read along the panels imagining you and him together.

You knew you liked Lloyd when you were younger, when you both grew up from the Tomorrow’s Tea your love for him only grew. 

But you put your feelings on hold so that Lloyd can focus on his prophecy, you knew he was dealing with a lot so confessing might not be the best of idea. Advised by Nya who you told your feelings to when it got to be too much to hold in. 

So, you two remain friends as you hide your feelings, you slide your fingers along the spine of the pastel-colored books choosing one last book before leaving back to the Monastery for dinner.

You gasp as you take a book from the shelf flipping it to its back as you hold in a squeal, Sailor V volume 2!! Finding it in shops was hell, you were starting to cave in to buying it online. 

Your smile grows as you move your head to try and find Lloyd to share your excitement, moving from the romance aisle to find the blond. Finding him in the Starfairer section not having moved from his spot as he had a new issue in his hand. 

You happily skip over to him until you feel a hand on your wrist, you jump in shock as you turn around to see a guy your age. You don’t hide your cringe as you huff, it was happening again,

Since your change you’ve noticed how guys would at times come up to you and compliment your looks, it was harmless at first, even making you flustered.  But then it started getting a bit much, some of the flirting turning inappropriate. Pushing for a date even after clear refusal, you bring this up to Nya, who says it’s unfortunately normal for some girls your age to get hit on. She says it’s nothing to worry about when it is harmless giving the advice of saying “thank you” and move on, she then informs of when it isn’t giving advice on what to do.

However, as it keeps happening you find it harder to speak up for yourself, ironic how you can take on armies of serpentine. Come face to face with the Great Devourer, and Lord Garmadon, ghosts a genie and countless other enemies but you can’t tell a powerless guy to buzz off. 

“Hey girl, I just wanted to say how cute you are~” his hand kept on your wrist as you shift your weight to your other foot as you try slipping your hand away. You put on a polite smile, “oh, thanks, I appreciate that” the guy’s hand was still on you.

“Woah there, what’s the rush, pretty girl. Lemme keep looking at you~” you hum in annoyance as you gave a face of wanting him to go, “uhm, n-no thanks, I’m busy right now” you spoke quickly as your stomach starts to knot and hands start to shake. 

The guy in front pay’s no mind as he tries to pull you closer, “c’mon babe, how about this? You come with me, and I show you a good time if you catch my drift~” he winks as you cringe, the guy starts walking with you as you look back to find Lloyd gone.

You start freaking out as you try planting your feet to the ground however his grip tightens, “c’mon, don’t embarrass me you-“ “I think you already accomplished that on your own.” You look over to see Lloyd beside you with his arms crossed his brows connected in a scowl.

The guy in front of you scoffs as his grip tightens hurting you, “dude, back off I called dibs” wow, this guy is a piece of work.

“Excuse me?” Lloyd leans into him as his glare turns threatening, his red eyes shining as he squints at the guy daring him to say it again. 

Okay now it’s time to think of something, you desperately look for something, anything to help you out of the situation. Catching a glimpse of the romance section you thought of an idea from a cover of a book, you act fast as you rip from the guy’s grip.

Lloyd’s shocked expression was evident as you shoved your form into his, wrapping your arms around his torso in a possessive manner blush on your cheeks as you glare at the guy. 

You swallow hard as you commit to the role that you decided to play finally speaking, “h-he’s, my boyfriend! And we’re onna date!” your voice squeaks as the patrons from the shop looks your way embarrassing you even more.

The guy seemed to feel the same way as he looks to the people’s eyes, shoving his hands in his pocket he kicks the ground in frustration, “whatever, you’re annoying anyways, hope you enjoy each other” he rolls his eyes as he shoves his way from the crowd.

Both you and Lloyd stare at the door that the guy walked out from, the crowd soon dispersed as you look to each other. Your faces pink as you look away finally letting go and looking down at the floor, 

“s-sorry-“

“D-don’t worr-“ you both jump at Lloyd’s phone ringing. He struggles to get it out of his pocket, almost dropping it, 

You start moving your foot on the carpet as you awkwardly wait for Lloyd to finish up his phone call, you hear a button assuming he had hung up as you look to Lloyd. “That was Zane saying, dinner was ready, we better head back” Lloyd smiles as you follow him out the door.

There was silence for a couple of blocks before Lloyd breaks it, “so, what was that about?” You look down at your hands as you begin to feel on edge again, “it was nothing, just some guy” you answer as he continues. “Did you know him?” You gave Lloyd an unamused look making him chuckle, “that answers it then.”

You sigh as you two keep walking, “I know none of the guys that walk up to me, yet they seemed to think they do when they call me all these names and try to ask me onna date.” You cross your arms in a huff,

“Woah, wait-what?” Lloyd looks to you flabbergasted having not known that this was a regular thing for you. It made you cringe as you hadn’t meant to say all that, not wanting to worry Lloyd or your brothers you kept this secret. Only confiding in Nya to get some girl advice,

But now Lloyd knows, and he didn’t look happy, “why didn’t you tell us, me?” he looks to your ashamed face trying to make yourself smaller to avoid the conversation.

“I told Nya” you mumble, you knew he could hear you as Lloyd sighs, he looked like a disappointed parent, “I’m sorry” you look away unable to face him as Lloyd looks to you feeling bad for making you feel like you had a apologize to him.

Placing a hand on your head as he glides his hand through your hair affectionately, “you don’t have to apologize, (y/n), especially for this.” Tears start to collect as you hug Lloyd, he pauses for a moment as his heart spikes, he soon shoves his feelings down and hugs you back rubbing your back. 

Lloyd smiles as you look up to him feeling better, you pull away, but your hands stay connected noticing you gush silently. “That was good thinking, telling him I was your boyfriend” Lloyd grins as you blush, likely teasing you bringing back his playful nature. “Whaat? I was rushing to think of something!” you playfully whine as you shove him with your shoulder. 

“No, it was good, the guy really bought it” Lloyd smiles as you smile as well with him, you look to the building to your side as your smile drops. “I was so nervous, I thought you were going to fight him” “I was” Lloyd responds quickly with zero hesitation as you look at him with a shocked expression. 

“Lloyd!” You scold him as Lloyd rolls his eyes, “he totally deserves it anyways, he was a jerk” you huff, “your stronger than him he’s just some guy, what if it went bad and you got in trouble?” you reason with him, you’d feel devastated if Lloyd got in trouble for protecting you.

Lloyd huffs stubbornly as he looks to you, “I don’t care, he hurt you, (y/n)” he points to your wrist a red mark slowly making its way on your body. Not enough to bruise but you knew you would feel it tomorrow. “Still Lloyd, you’re a hero, don’t get in trouble for my sake.” Lloyd looked offended, “don’t talk like you don’t matter (y/n), I will always defend you because your worth the trouble, you’re not just someone you’re my friend.”

The ’friend’ stung you but you appreciated his words feeling Lloyd’s grip tighten it was comforting unlike the guy that grabbed you, “so yea, (y/n), when I see you in trouble or someone talk bad about you, ‘m gonna do everything in my power to protect you.” 

Lloyd stops as you do the same forcing you to look at him, he had a smile as he cups your cheek, something new that made your heart flutter. “You understand?” you stare at him as you swallow hard finding the words, “yea, I do.” You smile as he mirrors yours.

He continues walking with you until you stop making him raise a brow, you then start running in the opposite direction, “Hey! Where are you going?!” Lloyd calls as you look behind still running. “I’ll meet you at home, oki? Save me a plate!” you wink as you continue your track. 

Lloyd stares as you soon leave from his field of vision, his face contorts into confusion at your crypted sentence. He sighs, an amused smile on his face as he starts his walk again fueled by hunger to question you anymore.

Lloyd soon arrives telling the others of your disappearance saying that you’ll be back. That was enough to get the rest to eat as Lloyd makes your plate along with his own.

You arrive a little later as you huffed inside sweating stopping to your room before coming to the table to eat. “fwhere fwr you?” Kai asks as he shovels food in his mouth, “eat more talk less, Kai” Nya rolls her eyes as she takes another bite. 

You giggle as you go to take your regular seat next to Lloyd, he looks to you with food in his mouth as he slides you a plate covered in plastic wrap. You gasp excitedly as you clap your hands unwrapping the plate happily, it was still warm.

“Thank you, Lloyd~” you ruffle his hair as he looks at you, much like when he looks to his mom when she displays affection to him, embarrassed. Everyone chuckles at you display of affection as you start to eat thanking Zane for the food.

“So, where were you?” Lloyd asks having finished the food in his mouth, looking to you the rest wondering as well as you were never late for any meals. Especially made by Zane. Even master Wu looked curiously as he peaked an eye open.

You look away, “oh y’know, just wanted to get something before they ran out in stock~” you wave off the questions as Kai laughs, “probably one of your cute kawaii, Tokyo Mew Mew books” Kai teases as he stuffs food into his mouth much to Nya��s disgust. You gasp offended as you point your chop sticks at Kai, “take that back you hair gel abuser!” you defended your love as master Wu looks to you, “(y/n), chopsticks” you suddenly remember with an oh as you place them down. Kai’s shocked expression at your insult made you laugh, “that’s all you read (y/n), you should broaden your horizon” Kai wags a finger playfully as you snicker, “oh hoho, you mean like your ecchi~” you grinned like a cat blushing as you had the unfortunate encounter of his stash under his bed when you were little.

The table erupts with laughter as Kai’s face turns red, “wh-who told you about that?!” Kai shouts as you laugh harder it was starting to hurt your back. Kai chuckles threateningly taking advantage of your distracted form as his hand mushes the food on his plate.

“Haha, Kai-yo-Ack!!” You instantly fall back as mush from Kai’s plate lands on your face. “That’s it, you perv!” you grin as you grab your own throwing it at him causing the entire table to throw food at each other thanks to a chain reaction. 

Zane sighs as he smiles, master Wu had left a little bit ago quietly, the giggles kept coming as you guys continue to goof off.

Later that night you finished cleaning the kitchen with Kai, masters’ orders, when you both finished you stuck your tongues out at each other before going your separate ways. 

You stop at your room walking over to your desk to switch on your desk lamp.  looking to your chair you grab a bag that rested on the back of it, you open it and pulled out a Starfairer issue that you saw Lloyd reading. You wanted to give it to him as a gift for saving you today, as you knew he probably didn’t get to finish it. 

“Hey” you jump at a voice behind you turning quickly to see Lloyd at your door, a tight fitted black shirt and green plaid pajama pants, oh my goodness that shirt was not helping subdue your feelings for Lloyd at all. Seeing his muscle protrude from inside the shirt, 

“Oh, hey” was all you could say in the moment as you tear your eyes away from his form. You smile as you hide the comic behind you. The lamp light on your desk wasn’t enough to light up the entire room, but it was enough to see your blushing face.

Lloyd smiles as he walks over his back leaning against your desk with his hands holding him up the muscles on his arms showing clear veins run up his forarms.

Forgive me FSM for staring. You force yourself to look away as you chuckle, “uhm, I wanna thank you for helping me today.” You smile as you finally face him, Lloyd held a confused look his smile stays strong, “you don’t have to thank me, I’ll continue to help you out no matter what” you look down bathing in his words as your cheeks turned pink. 

You knew how oblivious Lloyd was of your feeling, however, every time he spoke to you with such care you can’t help but feel like,

Does he only view you as a friend?

You contemplate for a second before shaking your head, no, you had to keep your promise. When everything calms down, then you will tell him your feelings.

But when will that time be? How long can you conceal your feelings?

You look up to find Lloyd had gotten closer to you, you squeak as you took a step back his hand on your forehead. “Are you okay? Your face is red?” you squeak as back away completely flustered. 

“N-no, I-I’m fine really!” your voice squeaks higher as you force your hands in front with the comic in hand, “th-this is for you! I know you didn’t finish it so I bought it so you could!” you look down unable to face him too embarrassed that he’ll see your face.

“Aw, (y/n), thanks! You’re right, I didn’t get to finish it!” Lloyd smiles as he takes the comic completely dismissing your nervous exterior. You hum as he takes your gift, still looking anywhere but him. You fiddle with the ends of your shirt as Lloyd looks at the cover with excitement. 

“W-well, it’s been one busy day, so I should go to bed, see ya on the training mat tomorrow!” you start pushing him out as Lloyd looks back confused. “What, but it’s only 7:30?” Lloyd looks to your digital clock not moving his feet as you huffed, “well y’know Lloyd, early bird gets the worm~” you wink as you finally got him on the other side of the door. Before you could close it though something came into your mind as you look to Lloyd’s confused face.

You lean over and kiss his cheek; it was quick and looked more like a greeting cheek kiss if anything. But your actions made your face explode and seeing that Lloyd’s did the same made you smile like crazy. 

“Yelp! S-see you tomorrow!” and with that you shove the door closed. 

You stand on the other side in a starfish position blocking the door, why did you do that? You place your hand on your lips as you thought about Lloyd’s expression, the accusing thoughts moved to the back of your mind as you started hopping around your room fangirling at your sudden courage and Lloyd’s cute face. 

You fall onto your bed as your heart pounded, it felt like it was dancing along with you. You never felt so happy, as you wiggle in your bed rolling around. You finally rest as your legs were the only thing moving as you swung them back and forth. You were so happy.

Lloyd walks into the gaming room where he could hear curses and his brothers argue with each other, “left hook, LEFT HOOK!” Jay shouts as Lloyd sees him swing the controls in both hands. Cole laughs as he kept his composure, he leaned forward his elbows on his knees.

Kai was the one to notice Lloyd as he silently waves him over, “what’s up” he asks as Lloyd sits next to him. “I-I think, I like someone.” Lloyd finally spoke as he places his hand on his cheek feeling the ghost kiss you left him.

Kai’s jaw drops as Cole pauses the game making Jay groan likely not hearing Lloyd, “woah what, y’gotta crush?!” Cole smiles as Jay snaps his head over his attention finally caught, “for real! Who?” Jay smiles as well leaning over Cole.

Lloyd blushes as he scratches the back of his neck, “(y/n).” the boys gasp as they excitedly look to one another, Cole and Jay then put their hands out in front of Kai making a beckoning motion as Kai scoffs fishing in his pocket pulling two fives. 

“Wha- you betted on that?!” Lloyd looked dumbfounded as Kai rolls his eyes, “yea, and I lost” Kai then waves them off as he continues with Lloyd. “So, how’d it happen, when did you realize?”

“Are you gonna confess?” Jay chimes in as Kai nods his head quickly. Cole just sat as he listened in as well.

“What are you all talking about?” Zane pops into the room as Lloyd thanks the first spinjitsu master for his interruption, “noth-“ “Lloyd hasa crush on (y/n)!” Jay shouts as the rest shush him harshly. 

“Look I’ll tell you just, don’t be weird” Lloyd huffs as they nod their heads, huddling up together like kids ready to hear their grandfathers’ stories. 

After Lloyd explains, the guy’s smile, “aww, that’s so cute” Jay gushes as Kai pats Lloyd’s shoulder. “It’s alright Lloyd you got, four amazing wingmen to help you~” Kai smirks as the boy’s chuckle nodding. “Yea, we’re here to help you man” Cole shrugs as he agrees with Kai.

Lloyd blushes as he looks away, “thanks guys, but don’t do anything dumb” Lloyd threatens as he points his index at them. 

Lloyd had feelings for you since you two were kids, being stubborn he’d always run away from you. Screaming he hated you because you were a girl. As he got to know you more when he joined the team, he started to like you, as you were always with him playing games with him and training alongside him.

After the Tomorrow’s tea incident his feelings grew for you, as he would invite you to come with him on book hunts. Saying it was a benefit for you to get new manga and for him to get the next issue.

But he knew what he wanted, Lloyd just wanted to be close to you, sharing your common interests in reading and have none stop discussions about plots that had you both excited for the next volume or issue. But now his brothers were involved as they talked amongst themselves of how to push you two together. 

He didn't want to loose you as a friend.

But he can't stand just seeing you as a friend, he wants more.

Lloyd sighs as he looks to the guys with a defeated look a smile then finds his lips as he once again presses a hand on his cheek of where you kissed him. Staring at the comic you gifted him for saving you. 

He hoped that getting his brothers involved won’t be a bad idea. Because he really likes you.

Boyfriend? He liked it when you called him your boyfriend….

Okii so I always liked the idea of reader being in love with Lloyd,٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و being a romantic and having interest in shoujo manga while he likes old school comics. I thought it was a cute dynamic and how they would talk to each other. Bcs oml Lloyd is a talker and I think their conversations would be so cute as they would geek out together. ૮⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ ა But when I wrote it I didn't like how short it was so I added a shortishhh protective plot in the beginning.... idk if I like iiit but maybe someone can give me advice idk haha...✿ But I hope you guys like it bcs I really like the concept maybe I'll revisit it for my scenarios.ᯓᡣ𐭩

ೀ.⋆⑅˚

Love, ⋆˚࿔ Karrots 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

[nica-my-beloved]

Things I Love and Dislove About Ikemen Games

These are my opinions!

CONTAINS ADULT CHARACTERS

You don't know how much this means to me because most of the time I try finding shoujo mangas I end up with stories that involve high school kids.

I'm a die heart fan of demon romance but majority of the shoujo manga that explores supernatural beings involves a 1000 year old demon king falling in love with a 16 year old high school girl. This sickens me not only because of the age gap but one of the party is a freaking minor.

As an adult, I'm so happy the Ikemen Games doesn't involve younger characters or at least characters that are 'minor' as a romantic partner.

MC's ONLY JOB IS TO SIMPLYFY THE STORY

I have said this before, MCs are just props to simplify the story and characters to us because the writers think we're too dumb to understand what the character is saying. They're like Paimon so that we don't use our braincells to understand the characters better.

I wish they didn't do that and have MCs backstories that describes their personality. I mean, all the MCs want to 'prove' to the male leads that they wanna be 'strong' but I'm tired of this trope.

Why does MCs have to always be innocent and prove themselves? Why does she always want to 'understand' the male leads? Can't we...for once have a romance that doesn't involve MCs teaching male leads true love?

Also STOP give MCs odd jobs! Book stall employee...letter carrier? I mean who is happy and satisfied doing this? How about giving the high-paying jobs like Auditor or Businesswoman or Scientist or etc etc...I know Mai is a fashion designer and businesswoman and Mitsuki is a travel agent turned maid. Alice is a baker and Yoshino is a pharmacist. The only MCs that continues to follow the path of their dreams is Mai and Yoshino.

MATURE ROMANCE

I enjoy seeing two adults slowly fall in love.

There is something different about teenagers falling in love vs adults falling in love. The romance is more realistic. They don't talk about how they're gonna plan their future together or which college they're going to go instead their chat is much more deep and that's refreshing.

NO BAD ENDINGS

Happy endings are nice. Everyone deserves one! But when there are no bad endings, the story won't have stakes.....and when there are no stakes, I can't take any gunshot sounds, blank screen and MCs saying 'Is this the end?' seriously.

Just stop being cowards writers! Put some bad endings!!

FAIR SHARE OF ROMANCE

Although I have played my fair share of Maiden games, majority of them are not that romantic.

I love cute romance moments to lighten up the mood and I really need them. Ikemen games delivers that too well....way too well...

I do have some criticism for random steamy scenes, I don't mind as long as they have context and mood.

The story is not so story focused all the time and also has time for mischievous romance which I like! It helps in calming me down and enjoy at the same time.

BULLSHIT GACHA SYSTEM AND NON-EXISTING GRINDING SYSTEM (Not very F2P friendly)

Even though Genshin's gacha system is shit (you need mf 90 wishes to get a guaranteed 5 star and 180 wishes to get the limited 5 star you want!) I still think it's ways better than the gacha system of these Ikemen Games.

Yes I agree that both the games are different in genre, one is an open world anime rpg and other is a maiden game with gacha mechanics. But that doesn't mean that I have to always pay to buy limited gacha tickets!! At least genshin gives us an open world to explore and grind primos (even though its time consuming)

Yes they do give limited tickets when you enter an event or complete the mission board but that's only ONE TICKET and you need 50 LIMITED TICKETS to get your guaranteed limited 5 star card. On the other hand, they give out many standard tickets but what am I gonna do with it if they aren't gonna update the standard banner?

These games are NOT F2P friendly and if you wanna...like say, want rank no.1 in an event you'd have to save a lot of items.

Ofc I know about the subscription thing and you do indeed get a lot of items, but the most essential thing for me is limited gacha tickets and diamonds because I wanna collect as many beautiful cards as possible and you don't get them from these monthly subscriptions. It's a waste of $5 very month. I'd rather buy a nice hair care or skin care items from that.

INTERESTING SETTINGS

I have my criticism in some of their stories but I can't deny that I LOVEE their story settings. Their premise for each game is solid to the point it makes me wanna actually try it.

This is something I find very rare in 'shoujo' genre.

For example, I don't like Vampire themed games because they suck! (both figuratively and literally) but Ikemen Vampire interests me because they take real historical figures and makes them vampire, which is a really cool idea! You don't know but I'd die to get myself in situation like that because it would be an honor to meet some great historical figures, chat with them and make them lose all their brain cells just like me. I would die to meet especially Isaac Newton and grill him for making those torturous physics theories that gave me brain tumors in my school.

Very cool setting! I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the future!!!

EVENTS ARE INSANELY BORING

I've never enjoyed a single story event from Ikemen Villains. They are boring and makes me fall asleep immediately at chapter 1. I think that kinda spread to Ikemen Prince because I barely open Ikemen Prince app now.

I honestly don't find the stories of these events interesting at all. It always feels like 'I have seen this before' maybe in some other game or some other manga.

And the Collections events.....yeah, I hate them! I wish they never existed!!! They keep the fan-loved characters at the butt-end of the list where 90% of the players don't even make it unless they burn their whole month's salary. I know that's why they do these anniversary elections because I bet if Sariel was the most voted character, his story would have been the most expensive one to get.

VERY LIKEABLE MALE LEADS

This is a personal thing but I love charismatic male leads a lot! Male leads with a lot of suave and beauty! Yes I care about these things when I play gacha games okay! I play gacha games to look at hot guys (because I know I'm never gonna get one in real life!)

But I also love that the devs puts an effort to make them feel good too. So I wanna give a shoutout to them!!! 'KEEP GOING!!! JUST DON'T MAKE TRIGGERING MEN WHO SAYS 'I'LL KILL YOU'!!!

[ragingstillness]

Second black butler meta I can’t help but post:

I absolutely adore black butler and Yana by association because of how incredibly self-aware it is. You don’t really recognize it on the first watch, especially if you only see the first season (or the forbidden second season), but the minute you reread/rewatch and have a larger context, it immediately becomes clear. I own a copy of the first manga volume and in the author’s note Yana makes a point of saying that her editor practically laughed her out of the room for suggesting a story about a character who is both a demon and a butler. So right off the bat, expectations set: this is going to be weird and wild.

And it is, but it’s also very aware of that. The little nods to historical events and discoveries, the blatant stealing of tropes from shonen and shoujo manga, the narrator-like quality of Sebastian’s cutaways, it’s almost a fourth wall break, an invitation to laugh at things that aren’t necessarily meant to be funny but are funny in larger context. For the most part the characters take their lives seriously and the audience gets the dramatic irony but that’s not always the case, see: Sebastian losing it over Ciel blushing at Lizzie, that stupid Phoenix pose, Ciel barely keeping it together as Lizzy plops a pink bonnet on Sebastian’s head. It’s funny from both a general and ironic perspective.

Within the assumption of the story being weird and wild Yana gets to do a lot of genre shifting and frankly I love it. One minute we’re hunting Jack the Ripper, next we’re training to be pop stars, then we’re fighting werewolves, then we’re navigating a cricket game at boarding school. Not a lot of stories get away with that much genre shifting in quick succession but Black Butler does it effortlessly.

They’re particularly good at catching the reader off guard with a funny moment in a serious scene but even better at turning something fun dark on a dime. This is very very hard to do and Yana gets away with it because of how neatly she’s melded the different aspects of the story much like how she melded Sebastian’s character traits.

Ciel is an emotionally immature 13-year-old boy but he’s also an extremely traumatized orphan with murderous tendencies. Sebastian is both a polished servant and a savage demon. Finny is a happy gardener and a disillusioned former test subject. Mey-Rin is a clumsy maid and a former child soldier. Bard is a useless arrogant cook and a soldier running to and from every battlefield he sees.

The ability of these things to coexist, allows for the side by side existence of Ciel failing to be a circus performer and fighting through a flashback to murder a sadistic serial killer. If the story didn’t embody the complexity of the characters and vice versa, one of the two would feel odd and jarring. It’s a beautiful depiction of the chicken and the egg question of plot being driven by character but also driving character.

The genre switching is also just fun, because it pulls in an element often seen in fanfiction which is the AU (alternate universe). While the different arcs still exist in the same universe, the vital aspect of “how would these characters react in this situation” is maintained.