#some young 20 somethings meeting their first opponent like: ?????

[rockingbytheseaside]

Hi! It's me again! I'm here hoping to inspire you or simply share some thoughts and ideas!

1. What if we knew the harbingers before they became harbingers. For example when piętro was still studying to become a court mage.(At least I think that he was a court mage), or when Capitano was training to become a soldier and we were a doctor or a nurse, we knew dottore when he was a kid and so on and so forth. They believe we are long dead but surprise bitch we are still kicking. I thought that maybe in Dottores and Pantalones part we were an adeptai or simply something that lives a lot longer than humans. And surprise bitch number two we were looking for them the entire time because you know we love them. The moment they see us they think they see a ghost or something that came back to hunt them for their mistakes.

2. And my second idea is much more wholesome. We are simply a kid that adopted them as our fathers/uncles. And they don't want to get rid of us because we remind them of well them when they were kids. Imagine one day they come to a meeting with a kid hiding under there Coat and when ask they are like the meme with Spencer from Icarly with the smoothie and the ostrich.

So yeah these are my brain dead ideas and if they are interesting or something you would like to read more of I would be happy to send more

But anyway remember to take care of yourself first!

(Wha- You said piętro! The keyboard said piętro!!! Only I am allowed to misspel Pierro's name as piętro 20 times a day, dlaczego masz polską klawiaturę?!!)

✧ I always kind of headcannoned Reader as a person capable of living many years - either because they are Khaenri'ahn, another species, or an Adeptus; it's not really up to me. Whatever intricate details people like to imagine are up to them. ✧ Imagine knowing a Harbinger centuries before they were a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps you and Pierro were apprentices to the higher sages in Khaenri'ah, spending countless times sharing secret vows before the Cataclysm separated you. Perhaps you were Capitano's first-ever formidable opponent, one who held immense respect for you as a warrior and admired your enigmatic capabilities, yearning for another battle with you. Perhaps, you knew the young boy Zandik way back in Sumeru and you are the only being left who remembers the ruby-red eyes staring at you with determined wonder. ✧ No matter the backstory or origins of the past, this Harbinger never forgot you, and despite the 500 years of separation, this person would now use all his power and intel to seek you out. Clinging to ancient memories of the past, he still yearns to see a glimpse of you. Even if it means to reach the Abyss and back, he is still seeking.

That, in my opinion, is the best trope for the Fatui fics. Even when I write about different scenarios.

✧ A wholesome Father/Uncle/Teacher Harbinger to smaller reader is just a recipe for comic chaos. You have this high and mighty Fatuus, who with a single gaze can deep his subordinates into silence, yet now this same man is running around the Zapolyarny Palace, trying to catch you because you refuse to do your homework. You will either exhaust him to death, or he will exhaust you from running away and causing shenanigans.

One way or another it ends with both of you dozing off an armchair later that evening. The Harbinger holding you in his arms, wrapped up in a comfy blanket, while he rest his weary head on his knuckles, the fireplace crackling nearby. <3 ✧ As always, lovely suggestions, my friend! I will tag you if I manifest them into fully-fledged fics. Thank you, and hope you're doing well

[rainstormcolors]

1, 10, 20, 25, and 26 for Seto Kaiba ;)

Thank you for the ask. I love this problematic boy very much.

1. My first impression of them

I began with the DM anime’s version of the character. It had been maybe the first time I felt invested in a fictional character at all if I’m honest. (The autistic alexithymia is probably part of my more muted emotional reactions to media.) (Ken from Digimon 02 may have been near the first time for feeling invested in fiction as well but I can’t recall exactly.) I recall being moved by Seto’s hallucinatory breakdown on the castle top and then him stepping backwards to the ledge.

And I read the manga later, as it was first being released in the states, and I liked the manga. I liked Manga Seto and as the volumes came out I was invested in him. But the anime was what I knew first and initially cared for more. But over time the manga version became more and more important to me.

10. Describe the character in one sentence

He doesn’t know if he can be saved, and part of him wanted to be ruined, and it was like everything he touched he destroyed, and he wanted to be alone and he hated being alone, and he wanted to reach the stars and he wanted to shine, and he could create things, and he didn’t ever know what he felt.

20. A weird headcanon

Seto also likes the little wild tadpoles that appear in the manor’s fountain and will watch them sometimes. (Mokuba liked the tadpoles first. Seto is also more secretive about liking them.)

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

There are differences between the Seto Kaibas of different canons, and they can feel OOC if compared directly to each other but I think it’s more fair to view them as their own characters in these cases and to understand what you and others want from canon.

But as I’ve mentioned on this blog before, Seto’s writing at the end of Noa Arc as he learns Gozaburo is still alive, as he meets with this man who he called father and who hurt him and who he thought was dead, as he defeats him again and watches the man distort into some inhuman creature who is destroyed again… Seto’s written in a pretty basic way in response to all this. Noa’s response to Gozaburo is much more emotional in contrast (which to me does signal the arc is ultimately about Noa’s story I suppose). I think we all know I like themes of feeling haunted by grief and the dead, so I do find this to be a weakness in the DM anime’s writing of Seto even if overall I enjoy the Noa Arc and think it offers a lot in itself and also understand it as something like a metaphorical haunted house for Seto. I do honestly very much enjoy the final three episodes of the arc.

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

I feel that Seto doesn’t really know who he is while at the same time insisting inwardly and outwardly that he does know who he is, and there’s a lot of insecurity. I think, as KT even said, that Seto does want and enjoy having an opponent. I think Seto can be genuinely enthralled by it. The way this desire plays out in canon is very complex and at times is self-destructive and devastating, but Seto also at times feels alive and connected through these face-offs and he seeks that feeling and connection and purpose. Seto is young and he’s been through a lot of turmoil and I do feel it’s complicated. But I think Seto felt alive and could feel like himself -- in the present, as he is for who he is -- when he dueled.

[sojirosteacup]

Years ago, the kbs website used to have character profiles for the bof kdrama characters (the links don't work anymore, but you can still read them through wayback machine). These profiles mostly had stuff we already know about them, maybe with some extra details from the manga that didn't get mentioned in the drama but are easy to guess.

But Woobin's profile is the surprising thing here. It's very detailed considering he has barely any lines in the episodes. And it gives us a lot of insight about his characterization (or what it could have been if he had more screen time):

I'm gonna start by saying that I used google translator bc my korean skills are far from fluent. lol So blame any mistakes on google.

So let's go to the text. Parts of the profile are in italics and the my comments are normal text.

The first part of his description are just stuff that are mentioned or implied in the k-drama (In one line! But it is!):

"He is the hidden leader of F4 and the successor to Ilsim Construction, an emerging blue-chip company in the real estate industry. It is a long-established boss family that has led the traditional violent organization Ilsimpa for generations. In Woo Bin's father's generation, elite management was advocated. By legally diversifying its business, it proudly joined the ranks of emerging conglomerates. However, excellent personal network management that can be mobilized in case of emergency."

Hidden leader doesn't mean leader. The leader is still Junpyo, it's just that Woobin is the only sane man in the group lol.

But at least this part gives us a name for his mafia. I like how his family didn't bother to give the company a different name from it

"Its ability and ability to quickly and powerfully mobilize cash are its secret weapons that even Shinhwa Group cannot ignore."

This is interesting because it implies Junpyo's family keeps Woobin close because of this, which answers the question of why Junpyo's mother lets him be friends with the heir of a criminal organization. And I have no doubt she is interested in the criminal connections too. Let's be honest, that woman is probably involved in a lot of corruption.

"He lives with his mother, who gave birth to him when she was 20, and his twin sisters who were born late."

Whoa, that's a lot of information here. So his little sisters from the manga are canon in this adaptation.

which gives a new meaning to Junpyo's line in episode 16:

He wasn't talking about Woobin's girlfriends, he was talking about Woobin's sisters and maybe mother too.

"This may be the reason why he only meets older people and feels attracted only to older people. Rather than taking care of something, he often find comfort in the love he receives and can rely on. Sometimes, he seduces married women who have husbands without hesitation, but while they are dating, he is a pure romantic who only devotes his sincerity to the other person, showing off his undiminished popularity."

This is manga stuff too and none of this was mentioned in the kdrama. I imagine they thought it would be too controversial to include him having affairs with married women which is fair enough, but I wish they had done something to at least imply it.

"He has a soft charisma that leads his opponents regardless of his young age. His sense of humor has become more savory thanks to the bad hip hop English he learned while studying abroad for a short time as a getaway."

HE STUDIED ABROAD????????? WHY WASN'T THIS MENTIONED IN ANY EPISODE??????? THIS MAKES HIS ENGLISH ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE

And "as a getaway" implies he did that to escape from his life. It goes hand in hand with his manga characterization of the stressed friend.

"He has an innate sense of economics and a spicy fist, which is revealed in various odds and figures in gambling, investment, and securities."

i dunno what a spicy fist is but most of this is just obvious stuff. It's funny to imagine him gambling, though.

"He hates his father who passed on the complex and responsibility of his origins. In the end, they are the most similar."

This is the only thing shown in the kdrama. It's during that scene when he and Yijung are talking in ep 18, when Woobin was threatening to jump off the bridge.

But that's also one of the most interesting thing about this profile.

The mafia thing is not in the manga. There is not a single scene where this is implied and we don't even know what Akira's family does besides "they own a company". I think the first version to include the mafia thing was the Jdrama? Correct me if I'm wrong.

So it's interesting to see that the kdrama actually had plans to do something with it besides "he is a mafia heir look how dangerous and cool he is". And they mixed this with Akira's low self steem from the manga to make him hate himself for his mafia heritage!!! And if we take his F4 after story MV into account, he also seems to have the same not-mafia-related low self esteem from his manga counterpart. This makes it a very interesting characterization.

And then they used it in only one scene.

(sorry Akira)

[robotkiyoomi]

Reverse Timelines - SakuOi

Unrequited love w/ SakuAtsu and IwaOi | Olympics Angsttt

Or Oikawa meets Kiyoomi on a balcony at the Olympics after party and gives some advice from one person who had been in the same situation to another and an odd friendship/connection forms.

==

“Kusa-kun,” a voice calls. Confused, Kiyoomi slowly turns towards the approaching stranger.

“Oikawa Toru,” He replies, brow furrowed. At a party like this, he can easily say that Oikawa is one of the last people he expected to see here.

“I hope you don't mind me stealing this hiding spot too for a bit,” Oikawa says, flashing a smile. Kiyoomi raises an eyebrow in question but lets the man join him at the railing. From what he can observe of the setter, something’s off. His usual ‘at ease’ mannerisms seem tense and forced, something Kiyoomi is all too familiar with in social situations. He also has to admit he is curious about the larger than life opponent.

“Congratulations on the win,” Kiyoomi says, if only to be polite.

“Thank you,” Oikawa responds, nodding and giving a tired smile. Kiyoomi can tell they are carefully studying each other even in this casual conversation, and significantly more so than the average person. Despite their opposite nature, they are both meticulously and silently observant of others. Oikawa is the type of setter to carefully assess everyone on and off the court. Setters, such as Kageyama, tend to lose all their attentiveness the moment they leave the court.

A familiar loud and bellowing laugh snags Kiyoomi’s attention and he looks back over his shoulder at Atsumu briefly before remembering his company. Oikawa’s watching him intently, head cocked slightly to the side, as Kiyoomi awkwardly clears his throat and returns his gaze forward. Neither of them speak for several seconds, and he’s starting to plot how he can leave this interaction ASAP, when Oikawa breaks the silence,

“I used to be like Atsumu-kun, and,” Oikawa starts, a sad tight smile on his face as he looks out at the skyline. Kiyoomi had honestly never given the setter much thought beyond his first outward appearance. Seeing Oikawa now, voice scratchy and hollow, as he tries to hold himself together, it makes a part of Kiyoomi’s heart hurt too. Feels himself reflected in Oikawa’s mannerisms right now a little too much. So, he lets the setter continue on whatever sudden story he has.

“You know, I always thought it would be Hajime and I in the end. That no matter what happened, or how much time passed, we were always meant to be it,” Oikawa pauses for a long moment, eyes closed as he composes himself before continuing.

“It seems so fucking stupid now.” Kiyoomi doesn’t know why he has the urge to deny that, he only officially met the man today and god knows he is not the comforting type.

“I was young and dumb. The world seemed so big and I was selfish, wanting it all. Wanting the most fame, the parties, the hook ups, everything. I felt fucking invincible in my early 20s.” Oikawa straightens and turns to look into the sea of people in the venue. Music, voices, and the occasional laugh can still be heard softly on the balcony. Kiyoomi follows Oikawa’s gaze and despite the crowd, knows exactly what it lands on. Who it lands on. Iwaizumi Hajime, who has his arm wrapped around his partner's waist and is smiling while talking to a group of people who look vaguely familiar.

“I ran out of time.” Oikawa says, and his voice sounds the most empty it's been all night.

“I got my shit together and worked on things and was planning to come back to confess again, make up for everything. But I was too late, he’d moved on long ago and is thinking about marriage with someone else.”

That was the thing about life, you couldn’t ever get time back or properly make up for it. We are always running out of time, chasing it until we die.

“So as someone who was Atsumu, the dopamine rushes don’t last. And the people like Iwaizumi,” Oikawa glances over and smiles. Kiyoomi is frozen in the story, his feelings a jumbled horrifying mess.

“They end up alright eventually. So it hurts like hell now, but there is a better future ahead.”

Oikawa Toru talked about what shattered him, something that he wasn’t sure that he would ever heal from without letting a single tear fall from his eyes.

“You’ll have a better future,” Kiyoomi says a bit awkwardly. Oikawa looked stunned for a moment at his words. He had never been great at deep conversations or emotions, and all this with a near stranger was an added challenge.

“You deserve that too.” Kiyoomi adds, finding his stride more.

“We are humans and make mistakes, especially growing up. It is so shitty that growth made the timelines not align with Iwaizumi-san but the growth is something to be proud of. I am someone who has had to go through a lot to grow and become the person I am today and it was fucking hard, but I’m proud of it,” Kiyoomi had been looking out at the stars while talking. The unspoken but understood default location to avoid eye contact when it was too hard to bear. His eyes met Oikawa’s now.

“I get the feeling you’re the same way.” Oikawa bites his bottom lip and tilts his head up to the sky in response to the words.

“Don’t punish yourself or your process for it. You made a mistake when you were young and hurt someone, we all do. But it’s just accepting the hard truth that life sucks sometimes.”

“Are you suggesting nihilism?” Oikawa says, breaking into his first smirk. Kiyoomi dead pans.

“No, idiot. I’m suggesting that you don’t blame yourself for everything and work with the shitty things to find the good.” Kiyoomi says. He’s talking instinctively, a very unnatural thing for him, and the words feel like a rant that has been shimmering inside. Oikawa, he decides, makes him entirely too rambly.

“Huh, when did you become so wise?” Oikawa asks, a teasing lilt to his tone. Kiyoomi shakes his head and goes back to lean against the railing.

“You’re the old one that came out here sharing the introspective wisdom,” He prods back.

“Losing the love of your life, does that to a person.” Oikawa responds, nudging his shoulder. The words stab him deeper than expected.

“I’m sorry,” Kiyoomi says quietly, unsure what prompts him to voice this.

“For what it’s worth, you seem like someone worth the wait. He’s missing out.”

Oikawa and Kiyoomi, both leaning against the railing in almost the same situation, feeling the same thing, but in opposite roles and inverse positions. As if picking up on this thought Oikawa says,

“It’s a little ironic and cruel that given the situation and timing, still neither of us is happy now.” Kiyoomi chuckles, but there's no humor in it. If history repeated itself, there would be no happy endings for everyone. Both pairs were all they would ever be to each other, and nothing more.

“It almost feels like a time travel movie, where I’m the old sad person coming to talk to you from the past to make sure you don’t hurt from my mistakes,” Oikawa says, eyes glinting suddenly. Kiyoomi wasn’t following.

“What?” He says, completely lost.

“I like aliens and outer space a lot. Time travels up there too.” Oikawa clarifies as if they’re casual friends hanging out and not spilling deep vulnerabilities after having just met. Kiyoomi stares at Oikawa blankly.

“After everything tonight, this is what you look at me like I’m crazy for?!” Oikawa exclaims, outraged. Kiyoomi can see the similarities in personality between Oikawa and Atsumu, so much so that they would either be best friends or despise each other with no inbetween. He can see how Oikawa carries himself with a more mature perspective, coming out here (away from the party and spotlight) to comfort a stranger.

Kiyoomi glances back to the party where he can instantly spot Atsumu. His hair is ruffled and his button up has been undone a few more buttons. Atsumu is in the center of the dance floor, where the most eyes are, pressed up behind a girl with a drink in one hand and his other on her waist. He’s peppering kisses up and down her neck as she moves her hips to the beat against his crotch. Atsumu’s cackle at the thought of being in a relationship with Kiyoomi plays in his mind and he looks away.

“Omg no, Omi and I would be a train wreck. Aren’t things supposed ta be fun and easy? Why would you want to force difficulty?” Atsumu had said, like Kiyoomi wasn’t also in the room and a human being.

“Does it really have to suck for both of us?” Kiyoomi asks, studying the side of Oikawa’s face. The setter's features look hauntingly majestic in the moonlight. He was truly gorgeous, there was no doubt about that.

“What do you mean?” Oikawa asks, brown eyes, a shade slightly lighter than the ones Kiyoomi was used to, meeting his own. The two setters were unnervingly similar, but Oikawa had years of growth that was noticeable if you looked carefully. Why couldn’t they all get happy endings? Oikawa certainly deserved one, and Kiyoomi desperately wanted to be put out of his misery too.

“Can I propose something that might sound insane?” Oikawa raised an eyebrow in confusion but gestured for Kiyoomi to continue. “Can I kiss you? Just once. Just to see if maybe, in this hell we’re both living in, there’s something there.” Kiyoomi asks. He knows this idea is dumb and probably unhealthy but there’s a tug he can’t deny to Oikawa. A connection he doesn’t feel with, really anyone.

Kiyoomi is 24, at the after part of his first olympics, and just spilled more information to a stranger than most of his friends in the last 15 minutes. So yeah, he was willing to take a crazy leap of faith for Oikawa Toru. The setter laughed, and it was an easy sound that Kiyoomi knew made others stop and stare.

“Yeah, you know what? I’m in.” Oikawa says, straightening up from the railing, still chuckling.

“I’m starting to think I make poor decisions around you,” Kiyoomi says, suppressing a smile and shaking his head in disapproval.

“Huh, you haven’t been the first to tell me that actually?” Oikawa says, carefully wrapping his arms around Kiyoomi’s neck, eyes looking for any sight of discomfort.

“Have you ever thought that you may be the problem then?” Kiyoomi prods, if only to calm the fluttering in his body. Oikawa turns his head in mock consideration.

“No, honestly, I don’t think that’s it.” He responds, shrugging. Kiyoomi laughs and tilts his head to brush their noses together. It could be so easy like this. It feels so easy like this.

“You sure?” Kiyoomi murmurs, one hand coming up to cup Oikawa’s cheek gently. Oikawa nods, the gesture making their lips brush momentarily.

“Never took you for a wimp,” Oikawa replies. Kiyoomi shakes his head with a mumbled ‘idiot’ before leaning in to the kiss.

There are many different types of kisses that happen at a party like this and Kiyoomi didn’t quite know what to expect from this one. He knew it wouldn’t be a sloppy makeout. After spilling depressing life stories he didn’t think either of them were in the mood for that. It could’ve been just a quick peck but ultimately that wouldn’t have been very telling. In reality the kiss felt so deeply intimate and vulnerable Kiyoomi wasn’t sure he had ever experienced something like this before. The feeling wasn’t in a way that was scary. No, it felt like being able to finally rest.

Kiyoomi caressed the brunette’s cheek one last time before pulling away. Oikawa made people feel at home but,

“I’m sorry, I can’t be Atsumu,” Oikawa says, shrugging. The kiss was objectively good, both in sync and skilled, but still not quite right.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Kiyoomi says honestly, and means it. There is no reason for him to be sorry at all.

“I know I can never be Iwaizumi for you,” Oikawa smiles softly and Kiyoomi smiles back.

“I think we’re going to be great friends Kiyo-kun,” Oikawa says, with no room for argument in his tone.

“We went from Kusa-kun to Kiyo-kun?” He asks.

“Yes, I think after everything I get the first name privilege,” Kiyoomi thought it might be weird after but they stood there with their foreheads pressed against each other, both laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Just being together rather than alone made the weight they carried a little easier for a moment.

In his element, like this, honest, kind, and sincere Oikawa was someone you were safe with. While Atsumu’s life was full of precarious and uncertain circumstances, Oikawa was a solid force that showed up. Kiyoomi needed consistency in his life, he thrived off of that. So why couldn’t he separate Atsumu from the idea of Atsumu in his head even when faced with someone so clearly better for him?

“We are clearly both going through shit and I haven’t been to many places in Tokyo, you wanna get outta here and you can show me around?” Oikawa asks, eyes narrowing as if he could tell the direction the spikers' thoughts had gone.

“Yeah, why not.” Kiyoomi agrees, because not only one but two perfect men were put in his life but placed just out of reach.

—

Atsumu goes to take a sip of his drink and comes back empty. He’s sweating from all the bodies pressed together, so he excuses himself to get a refill from the bar.

“I’m going to get another drink,” He says, in the girl's ear as he brushes her hair back.

“Come back after,” she says as she grinds her ass back hard on all the right places.

“Of course babygirl,” Atsumu says, meeting her motions to seek out friction for a moment before weaving his way out of the crowd. Damn he loved the Olympics. A get together of horny athletes happy to never see each other again.

While the bartender makes his drink he leans his back against the bar, looking out at the sea of faces. He notices a balcony he didn't see before and spots a familiar figure looking out at the night sky. Sakusa. Unsurprising as this event sounds like his personal hell. Sakusa turns so his back is no longer toward Atsumu and his lips are moving. Atsumu moves a few steps to the left to get a better view of the balcony and is surprised to see someone who looks like Oikawa Toru in conversation with Sakusa. Unlike Sakusa, Oikawa seems like someone who would be at the party flaunting the medal and not hidden away outside.

Atsumu hates surprises, hates not knowing things, that’s why it feels like a kick to the gut when he sees Sakusa and Oikawa kiss. The kiss isn’t a heated or sloppy make out; it's meaningful and intimate. Touch adverse Sakusa has Oikawa’s cheek cupped with one hand, his thumb stroking gently. Oikawa has both arms wrapped around Omi’s neck, fingers playing with the black curls idly. The kiss hasn’t stopped. Omi allowed it, and was continuing it. Something akin to heartburn makes Atsumu feel physically sick, his body rejecting what he’s experiencing.

When the kiss finally stops, they pull back to rest their foreheads against each other. Something about the sincerity of their actions paralyzes Atsumu. Neither have drinks, they are purposely and consciously choosing this. Laughing like the party isn’t there.

“Miya-san,” A voice says, breaking Atsumu from his thoughts. He turns to see the bartender holding out a drink

—

Hajime honestly had no clue what the group's conversation was currently about. His eyes scanned the crowd looking for Oikawa. Not that he would admit it, but he had thought the setter would be hovering around like he used to. Secretly Hajime’s heart was so full with pride for his best friend’s win today. Secretly, the lack of appearances had him aimlessly looking around all night.

“Isn’t that right Hajime,” Akira says next to him, placing a wet kiss on his cheek. Snapping back into the conversation he nods, in agreement to who knows what. He can see the tight lipped smile she shoots him, telling him that his zone out isn't as subtle as he thought. Hajime gives an apologetic smile and fixes his sagging arm around her waist.

“Sorry, have you seen Oikawa?” Hajime asks the first teammate of his he spots. The middle block takes a moment to understand his poor pronunciation.

“No, last I heard he had gone out to get some air about 40 minutes ago.” Emil responds, thankfully in english.

Hajime halts in time to see Oikawa kiss Sakusa Kiyoomi. At first Hajime squints to make sure he isn’t seeing things because that combination doesn’t make sense in the best of times let alone a party where they gravitate towards polar opposites. Oikawa has had partners in the past, Hajime has met a fair few of them, but none of them had been serious. Volleyball had captured Oikawa’s heart since he was a kid and no one and nothing else could compete. His friend had never seemed too bummed about the short flings and hookups and Hajime had assumed that was all he wanted. This kiss was different. He had seen enough kisses, kissed enough people, and more importantly knew Oikawa Toru enough to see the gentle intimacy in the exchange. It wasn’t a sloppy party make out, Oikawa had calculated every outcome like he does with volleyball and chose to kiss Sakusa. Chose to wrap his arms around the taller spiker and smile in between the kisses. Sakusa’s hands came up to cup both of the setters' cheeks so carefully.

Hajime watched them laugh, foreheads pressed together, exchanging whispered words. Oikawa was like a star, so fucking bright and streaking across the galaxy. He couldn’t be contained, kept, or had. He was brilliant, annoying, cocky, loyal, and kind. No one got to be with Toru, he would only slip through your fingers; but here was Sakusa, physically holding Oikawa, and Oikawa was looking at him like no one else.

Iwaizumi Hajime knew he would never be able to keep up with Oikawa Toru, that eventually he’d slip out of reach, and he was okay with that because he’s been able to run beside him for over 2 decades. He’ll continue to run with everything in him to stay there until his lungs give out. Yet he thought that the transition would be slow, like the sand falling in an hourglass. Oikawa would drift away and Hajime would get used to this – be able to prepare himself for this. He didn’t get to in the end.

—

Tbc? Fin? That’s up to you.

[adore-gregor]

Seeing your posts really motivates me to try taking up tennis 😊😊 But the truth is, it's a bit intimidating for me. I have no idea where I'm supposed to start. I'm also not a very athletic person either :( And I don't know if I can afford private "lessons" with a tennis coach. Can you tell me about your own experience with taking up tennis? And some basic first things to know? Like do i have to sign up for a club? How do i find one? Do i need to buy my own equipment and such?

This makes me so happy to hear! 😁😊

I get that, but i feel like trying sth. for the first time is intimidating for everyone. :)

Well I don't think that's a problem when you just start playing tennis as a beginner. At first the bigger challenge will be to be able to hit the ball accross the net with some control a couple of times, rather than your endurance. Rallies won't last long and with most beginners their shots are still slow, therefore it won't be that taxing. :) I'd say by improving your tennis skills and simply playing so will your fitness level. But you could also go running or do something on the side like biking to help with that if you want to.

Also let me tell you I even have some teammates who are not that athletic who play in the league so it's really not that much of a problem. In tennis it's a lot about how well you can move the ball to make your opponent run more, so if you have the skill you often can get away with it. Of course it's more difficult against someone very athletic and fast but for the start definitely not an issue and definetly not if you just play for fun. 🙈

A private coach is very recommendable but not necessarily a must. You could also ask some higher level tennis players who play for a club/compete, if you know any, if they could teach you for free as they usually have good technique and hopefully are also alright at teaching.

I would also be happy to help with that but i'm just assuming you probably live somewhere far away so.😅 I mean it's definetly helpful to get the technique right from the beginning but you also learn from playing or instruction videos can be helpful too ig.

My experience:

I started playing when I was 14 years old, with coaching lessons right away. I got into the sport as a friend of mine played and at first we always used to play in the garden without a net 😆 and yeah i found it fun so I gave it a go. I joined the club in my town (the only one) as there was no other and no free option. About two year after I was invited in the women's team as they thought I was somewhat talented ig and by now I have been playing tennis for almost 10 years and i'm competing for my club.

And yeah my parents payed for my lessons as I was still very young back then. That my mom also picked up tennis shortly after certainly helped with her supporting my love for the sport. She is actually good at tennis herself and also plays for the team, she also always gets quite a few points of me, which many of my other teammates can't. My dad also played tennis.😄

But yeah I finance my private lessons partly with my own money from summer jobs and my parents support. The coach I regulary play with charges 20€ an hour and another coach who trained us as a team 40€. The 2nd one is like a really well known and highly valued one in my area and trained with some atp players when he was younger, so like a really good player but didn't quite cut it to become pro. So yeah it isn't cheap.

But what I would advice take group lessons, it's much more affordable as the price is split. So I would recommend this to save money.😊

I usually have team training once a week for the most part of the year and I used to take individual lessons once a week on top of that. But not right now because i'm busy.

Regarding clubs: it's helpful to meet people to play with because it can be difficult to find someone. Also it's much cheaper to pay a yearly fee for a club if you pay regulary than pay extra each time. But if you live in a city there might be free courts, idk this is at least the case where i live and maybe also some networks for tennis players to connect, i think there are apps for that. You can find clubs on the internet.

Equipment: you can rent but again buying is cheaper in the long term. But ofc if you know someone you could also borrow equipment. With rackets I would recommend buying them somewhere you can first try them and with knowledgable consultants. So they can recommend you the right racket because tbh i don't even know see through all the technical aspects of a tennis racket.😅 It's the most expensive piece of equipment and it would suck to get it wrong, some rackets could even lead to overuse pain if they're too heavy for example.

Just some general advice:

Most important is to enjoy playing.^^

I would recommend you to also play matches early on, just for fun. It helps you improve a lot and get used to the nerves of competing. (if you ever want to try that) I wish I had done it way sooner.😅

You will loose a lot at first, I also did but don't let it discourage you. 😇 Tennis is a sport where differences in skill are very clearly visible. Focus more on the improvements you can see in yourself. Results will catch up at some point.

Hope this is helpful and feel free to ask if you have any more questions 🤗🤗 and i hope I didn't discourage you in any way because tennis is a beautiful sport 😉

[uldren-sov]

call it a draw

It’s certainly been a while! I’d just like to thank @cytharat for allowing me to borrow the absolutely lovely and stunning Nioven for this!!! For what’s the start of a certainly interesting and long standing friendship rivalry

Little skirmish in the streets of Nar Shaddaa with some young bloods trying to figure out just how really handle the realities of their parts in the cold war. And finding the reality is a bit more complicated than what they might have been told.

SWTOR

Elora is my OC

Nioven is @cytharat ‘s

For all of its lessons of brutality, Korriban never teaches young Sith how to kill a Jedi. 

The basics of the act were all there, the steps in order to do so. Murder was as familiar as the death it caused in the red sands of Korriban. However any Jedi captured, tortured, and released  into the unforgiving lands there, were like only so many mice that scrambled around a snakes cage. Yes, there was a chance for the mouse to hurt the snake, and there was always a chance for a hunt to go wrong, but the most dangerous things about the hunt were the other snakes in the cage. 

Elora knows how to kill a Sith – has killed Sith, with the very lightsabers that hummed and burned in her hands. The unfamiliar young woman before her, menacing her now as a white saber ignites, and spins into a familiar guard however, is no Sith.

Cutting her teeth on Nar Shaddaa has been difficult in more ways than one, but Jedi involvement has always been one of the more serious threats. A neutral planet during a cold war was normally anything but; part balancing act of foreign policy and part seeing which side blinked first. This was just one more encounter, a fight over resources between the Empire, and the Republic. Though, this being Nar Shaddaa, the Hutts always loomed in their garish, grandiose, background, waiting for the chance to capture it for themselves without repercussion and sell it all back to the highest bidder.

This time, the Empire simply wasn't willing to pay. 

So they sent a Sith to put an end to negotiations and take back what the Hutts “recovered” for themselves – tracked down to a surprisingly incognito warehouse along a back street.

Seems the Republic had similar thinking.

"Stand down, Sith," the clear ring of her order echoes down the debris riddled street. The dark browns and greens of her leathers played off the light green of her skin, the light brown of her hair. Her kind are called “Mirialan,” Elora recalls, as tens of data entries roll through her mind recalling the study of what they are. Nothing to be worried over, just another human-like species with a propensity for force-sensitivity. “Leave this place now, or I’ll be forced to remove you.” She states with all the stale conviction of someone who’s been told to say that towards The Enemy. 

“Is that all?” she shoots back. From behind the full mask, her voice comes out with a sinister electric undercurrent and if they were posturing, she can play along. A flip open of the heavy black robe covering the heavy, black, if standard, armor and she points through the bright red of her blade at the Jedi, her other at rest at her side. “Leave now, and I may yet let you.” The weight on her arm from this damned heavy armor already has her arm starting to waver as she keeps her blade extended.

She watches the Jedi’s grip tighten around her saber, her features sharpen into a severe grimace of finality as she just shakes her head. “So be it, then. Know that it gives me no pleasure to do this,” she calls out across the way, “but I’m not about to let you slaughter the people inside for the sake of the Empire.” 

“Banal, banausic, and presumptuous to a fault. Good to know that the stereotypes about you lot are correct,” she says, moving as the punctuation to her conclusion. The power surges to within her as she dashes forward in a flurry of fury and light. She twists and springs forth, both sabers held poised to strike. 

A half a second is all that separates the two of them from lethality, from the inevitable perpetuation of the oldest standing war, that spanned beyond the existence of the Republic and the Empire, the fight of Light versus Dark. The Jedi rushed in to meet her and their lightsabers clashed in the blinding spark of light. 

The Jedi catches both of Elora’s sabers, crashing onto her own in a rain of sparks as she strikes them to the side, only to follo up with a quick strike toward the body, just as Elora’s feet find ground. A quick block with one blade is enough to deflect the strike, but not enough to keep her from blocking her second follow through, as Elora dodges off to the side. She growls as she surges again against the Jedi with another series of strikes. For Elora’s part, her best defense is a relentless offense, and it seems as though the Jedi’s was similar. Exchanging strike for strike, blow for blow, she finds herself defending a strike as often as she tries to take advantage of an opening. Though she was able to push the Jedi back, all her efforts only culminate in a tight turn to connect her instep to the side of the Jedi’s face as her sabers are once more buffeted. The momentary stun of the hit sends the Jedi reeling back, as Elora closes the distance and leaps off the debris to deliver the coup de grace, striking down at her with both blades. Time seems to slow a moment, and as her sabers cut through the outer layer of armor and tails of the Jedi’s robes, there’s a sudden blinding light that emerges just before her eyes; her head moves back on instinct and it’s enough for the Jedi to take off half of her mask, rather than half of her face. 

In the very next moment, and without the filter from her visor, Elora spies the sudden flat palm that blasts her back with a mere gesture; a reverberating a wave of power that sends her flying back, connecting hard onto the pavement, and spinning over herself as she skidding across the dank street. She has the barest sense to extinguish her lightsabers and keep them in her grip as she finally finds her hands and knees beneath her.

Her body is alight with ache, pain, and the searing burn of use as she takes a moment to find herself. She knows the pain, the anguish is all the fuel she needs to push past her boundaries, and worry about the repercussions after. Panting now, she can feel the coat of sweat cooling in the artificial air of Nar Shaddaa against her face as she glares her murderous intent at the Jedi. She tears the rest of the damn thing off, and the heavy black robe as well, as she regards her opponent anew. This fucking armor, designed to be simply one Sith peon amidst the rest, to be one uniform pawn in her Lord’s greater game to be sacrificed along with the rest – it was about to get her killed. She wouldn’t give the Jedi the satisfaction to think it was her own doing. Grappling for breath Elora draws herself back up to her full measure, and is at least pleased to see her opponent push the fair hair from her own sweat-streaked brow as her shoulders sag with every breath she takes. While she ignores the spike of surprise she feels from the Jedi an the subtle tell of it in her facade as her mask comes off, she cannot ignore the moment which writes itself in the distance between them, recognizing the weight in the air, writing the words: what now? 

Her burning gaze meets the Jedi’s steely blue one and in a moment the grim reality answers the question, engulfing them and this street both. One of them leaves this. They raise their hilts back up, en garde and to the ready once more, but both heads turn towards the warehouse, the writing spells out a sudden warning instead, as a machine begins to spin up. 

A hail of blaster fire bursts from the entrance to the warehouse, blasts kick through the rubble in the street like it was sand in a wide arc of destruction. The two of them don’t even share a glance as they run towards the skeleton of a speeder car, leaping over and skidding beside it to take cover just as the repeating rounds rip through the windows and lighter parts of the frame. 

“Can always trust the Republic and Empire to take each other out and do all the work!” A gruff, scratching, deep voice yells over the blasts from the heavy repeater in Huttese. Huddled together now there’s only a beat shared between them of wide-eyed tension, a moment, a chance, to take advantage of the situation as they stare each other down once more. To prove the apparent Hutt enforcer right. The Jedi is the one to blink first and she dares to peek out over the torn wreckage. 

“I saw movement inside, probably more enforcers,” and she’s the one to offer the information up first with all the implication of the peace offering that it was. But for Elora’s part, the rage yet tears at her, gnashing at the cages of her control, to use this advantage for her own sake, screaming in her ears to take the life that is so deserved while her pride whispers in the space between that she, and she alone, would somehow manage to survive this. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes closed with the effort, to close her fist around her emotions and wrestle them into submission with as much ruthlessness as she would her enemies. She controls her emotions, they do not control her. 

An exhale. Elora dares to glance at the Jedi, as even she manages to drop her her shoulders, her guard, and push her hair back out of her face in relief as Elora drops flat onto the ground to surveil for herself to the side of the wreckage as, indeed, five additional guards with rifles pour out of the front door. 

“Seems you are correct about that,” she confirms, “but the gunner is being fairly liberal with his shots. Should not be long at all until that heat sink is at capacity.” 

“Then that’s our moment,” the Jedi says, “we’re just going to have to deal with the other gunners.” 

“I would take five gunners over that repeater, so when that happens? We make our move,” she states and gets a resolute nod from the Mirialan as a reply. 

“I’ll go first,” they both state at the same time. Their eyes meet one more time in a shock of audacity and outrage before staring each other down. The only thing that broke it was the sudden blaster fire ripping through the main part of the speeder and breaking their eye contact. 

Until it doesnt. Until the unmistakable hiss of tibaana gas escapes from the heavy repeater. Once more, the two don’t need a shared glance to act. In a flash of browns, dark green, and white, the Jedi is first to leap over their cover as the rifles now open fire. 

A clean reflection sends the first blast directly back at the gunner who spirals back, no doubt dead on impact. With the other four guards opening fire, the Jedi moves like water, like a dance in managing to contend with the four red volleys. It’s mesmerizing as the white of her saber flows around her, but Elora is not one to allow the other to take all the glory. Despite her sore limbs she too vaults over their cover, drawing only one of her two sabers to do similarly, as they both approach them now. As much as there was a time limit – they only had until the heat sink cooled once again in order to make this work – there still had to be patience in getting close enough to striking range. They approached, step by step over the pock-marked ground and forgotten debris, until they could make those steps faster, and faster, approaching like inevitability itself as some of the blasts catching the guards in their armor before they were close enough now to do some real damage. 

As the white blade cut through the first of the rifles, a red one skewered into one of the guard’s chests. At that point, it was too late for whatever poor company were hired by the Hutts. They all fell in a matter of moments, the two of them together quickly dispatches the entourage with lethal precision. And then there was silence. There was stillness. There was finally a moment to breathe. 

A click, combined with a soft beeping broke the silence before they could think of what happens next, as well as a second hiss of gas venting violently. There were only moments to act as the first guard, with the failing strength of a dying man, lobs the small explosive into the air as the main gunner squeezes the trigger. 

The Force is gathered to two separate hands, with two very different intents. Rage and serenity in equal measure are summoned and brought to bear on their targets. Lightning manifest splits through the air as it immobilizes the hand on the trigger and tears through the gun, and the unseen wave of sheer power made real propels the explosive to safety, deep within the warehouse. The tibanna gas ignites at about the same time the explosive does as it engulfs the area in a torrent of flame. The two are blown off their feet and now both are left skidding across the street in a rag doll of limbs before sliding onto their backs as their quarry lands in fiery pieces around them. 

For a long time they lay there quiet, limbs heavy, and simply catching their breath. She’s grateful for the bun in her hair if only to provide for the smallest amount of cushioning to stave off a concussion, but as she looks over to her temporary – ally? She finds that clear blue gaze staring right back at her. She begins to draw herself up, with all the grit and grimace and determination that pain can bring, a green hand holding at her ribs as she manages to get a foot underneath her. 

Shit. Elora can barely move as it is, the technique of her form was hard enough on her body without all this extra weight. Yet, now? Now it may be for the sake of survival. They both get to their feet in a chorus of aching groans, and panting moans, before they face each other, once again, hunched, harried, and off balance. The jet wash from a speeder bike could probably knock them over, yet it’s the Jedi who just shrugs her shoulder. 

“Well … it could have gone worse,” she says as both of them look slowly to the still burning wreckage of their goal. 

“About that slaughtering of everyone inside,” Elora can’t help but snipe as she’s rewarded with a stern grimace, but nothing more. The Jedi returns the lightsaber to the belt around her white armor and begins to leave. “I’m not through with you yet!” Her ego says before her mind and body can possibly stop her, as the Jedi slowly turns back towards her. 

“You really think you can fight in this state?” She fires right back and Elora has to wince at the truth of it. She just shakes her head, “it’s not in my nature, nor in the Code, to execute someone when they’re no longer a threat. And really, I’m not sure I could, anyways.” A deep breath is all the tell she gives to show where her wince comes from, but the most Elora could offer was a glare. She could barely raise her arms let alone try and strike at her, stars, she doubts she can even connect a punch. So she stands there as the Jedi manages to straighten her spine and regard her instead. 

“Goodbye, Sith. Here’s hoping I never see you again,” she states and warns in equal measure before walking – no, slightly limping, away down the street. 

Elora waits there, seething with her own dissatisfaction, yet with the undeniable triumph that somehow she still has her life. And as the Jedi turns a corner out of sight, she finally allows herself to fall back into a heap, sprawled out and staring up at the perpetual night sky as she wonders just what exactly happened, and what happens next.

[imaginationlover101]

Runaway Bride

Tommy Shelby imagine

Summary: Being best friends with the Shebly family means making many sacrifices throughout your life. Unfortunately for you the sacrifice that was made now is a little different.

Inspired by one of my favorites "Runaway Bride"

♡------------------♡-------------------♡-----------------♡

One of the consequences that came with being family friends with the Shelbys, was the favors that were made. Being family friends with the Shebly clan and living next door to each other made it very easy to become involved in the Shelby company. From a young age I could remember playing with Ada while both of our family's would talk business, and now instead of sitting and playing with Ada, here I am becoming part of a deal.

It all started about a month ago when Tommy had a new business opponent who happend to have a son named Domenick. Who coincidently was looking to find a wife, and of course Arthur had to put his big mouth in about little ole me. Then of course John, Arthur, and Tommy decided that if Dom and I were to ever wed the feud that once went on between the two companies would end. You can only imagine how much fighting there was at the dinner table that night.

From the minute Tommy brought up the word weding eveything went out the window. From Pollys contents curses at the boys to Adas very loud screaming, I was the only one who remained quiet for my mind was on a train that kept going and going.

After about an 20 minutes the loudness suddenly stopped and the heads were turned toward me. Only then I was in complety shock and the started to scream at the boys.

It finally came to the decision that I would met with this Dom boy and see is he was a decent man. I had to admit I was looking for a parneter but definitely not this way. If I truly liked this boy I would go on with marriage, and if not marriage still with a divorce slowly after, or so I thought.

After meeting Domenick for the first time things were not how I quite expected. He was much nicer that I thought and more respectable than any guy I've ever met. He was smart, witty and not to mention incredibly handsome. But there was just one thing that didn't seem right. One thing that in the back of my head pocked out and wouldnt stop itching. And that itch was named Thomas Shelby.

But the show still went on. From the amazing propasale on the top of a valley. To the gorgeous ginormous engagement ring, the beautiful dress and the church that was finally found. Everything was soonly coming into plan. I would of never thought that this would be the outcome of how I would be getting married but here I am. The day of my wedding standing in front of the mirror panicking.

The past 2 days had started off great. I had made my departure with Domenick 2 days ago because according to old legends it was bad luck to see your bride. So to the old traditions that I so blindly listen to we remained almost unknown to each other.

For 2 whole days before my wedding the boys would go to the farm house and the girls and I would be staying in the city. Besides from the broken heels and the many Martinis that were being passed out through and the nights something didnt seem right. It took quite some time, but Polly ended up being that missing piece.

Whenever anyone ever has a problem, or a vison they go to Polly. But it only ever rare for Polly to come to us. So you could only see the shock on my face when I knew something was wrong when Polly woke up looking in almost fear this moring.

I hadn't fully found out what bad happend to Polly until this moring when Ada came up to me and asked me if Polly told her the vison. Ada already knew she was too late and had to admit what the vison was of I would keep pestering her all afternoon.

Supposedly last night Polly have had a dream that instead of Donenick and I getting married it was me and Tommy, and Dom didnt love me. Well I could definitely say that the news really shocked me, and now I was re thinking everything.

So flashback to now my beautiful wedding day, where the weather and the sun were shinning so brightly and the clouds were evenly parted. Except for the fact that I could be creating a black hole in the sky If i would keep on walking back and forth. How could I possibly marry Domenick now? Did he ever really love me? Was it all a game? Do I even love him?

The endless questions kept me running as I thought of all the possible things that were going wrong, and I knew there was only one family who could stop it. "Ada call for an emergency family meeting now!"

After the 10 minutes of nervously pacing I was faced with the people who I was most scared to talk to. "What was the point of this meeting?" Linda said looking around questionably. "No one asked you Linda did they?" Polly shut her down rather quickly while rolling her eyes.

Just the scene its shelf scared you a bit, which was suprsing seeing as you've done much worse than have a meeting with a family that was close to you almost all your life. The sight of Thomas sitting head at the short squared table rolling a cigar through his mouth, while Arthur rolled his eyes at Polly for insulting his wife. The sight of John looking off into the air just wondering when he could start drinking, Ada, Polly, my mother, and father all sitting in suspense waiting for my next move. But even though the white fuzzy robe I was wearing felt like it was suffocating me, nothing compared to the nerves I was feeling at this moment.

"I cant marry Domenick!" I hastily said fast trying to get the words out of my mouth quickly. Father gets out of his chair faster than light and looks at me. "What do you mean you cant marry him?" "I'm sorry but I cant marry the man who doesnt love me and try to look at him the same?"

"I hate to break it to you but you ARE marrying Domenick Y/N L/N, I dont care if we have to drag you we made a deal with this man." I definitely suspected a diffrent awnser then the one I got, but as weird as it sounds I could almost see a sigh of relive go through Thomas face.

Before I could argue anymore Finn came reusing through the door. "It almost time, the guest are getting impatient." Finn said rushing out of breath. "Alright boys I think that was enough for now, why dont you let Y/N finish." Somehow my mom always knew how to take care of things. "That didn't include you Tommy." The girls all said looking at each other. "Say girls how bout we see how the church looks." Then with those words everyone was gone, leaving me with the one person who I was most scared to face.

"I dont want to go through with this Tommy it isnt fair." I looked at him whispering. "I know I made a deal but if he doesnt love me and made our love out of lies what's the point." I gazed out the window looking at sun finally making its way through the clouds. I was almost waiting for him to say no, to confess his undying love for me and for everything to be alright but it never came. He just stood there looking at me with his big blue eyes in wonder, about to open his mouth until nothing came out.

It felt like a while eternity had gone by before either of of us had said anything. The only sound that could be heard was the church bells and laughter coming from the outside. Fiddling with with the bracelet I had on, Tommy took out a cigarette and began to sigh.

Scolding him for the smoke smell that began to spread through the room he looked at me with a different face then before. One that screamed the cold business man, not the soft Tommy I've had always known.

Standing up from his seat Tommy begins to come closer near me making the window seat I was sitting on alot smaller then before. Exhaling the smoke from out of mouth his mouth he sighs deciding on what to say. "From a business view I would say get on with the wedding. Hes a rich man who would make you very happy and if all goes down bad you could think about it differently in a few months."

Looking at the clock that sat above us I knew that the conversation that Tommy and I were having would be interrupted in quite some time. Speaking up from my state I look at Tommy once again. "Yes, but what do you think from a Tommy view?"

"Well from a Tommy point of view-" Thomas says taking the piece of hair away from my face, "I think you should run." Thomas looks at me questioning what I was going to say next. "Well I get that Tommy but what would happen after I run, what would I do next?" Smiling with the smirk I haven't seen in quite some time Thomas looked as me and smiles. "Well that's simple darling you'd be with me."

♡------------------♡-------------------♡-----------------♡

From those few words it was safe to say that Y/N and Domenicks Wedding was rather shorter then most expected. After the talk between Thomas and Y/N, Finn came into the bridal rom to say how the guest were waiting and the rest was history. From the minute the music for the bride started instead of walking to Domenick down the aisle Y/N made a detour to the nearest exit of the church. Only to run into the infamous getaway car that belonged to the only and only Thomas Shleby.

It didnt take long for all the guest to notice the two most important people to be missing, and it took quite some time for Polly to fix the pieces that the two adults made.

Placing her hand out the window, Y/N was already in love with the new ring on her finger. The simple gold band was much more preferred then the shiny diamonds that held no love with it. Looking towards the drives seat Y/N was finally happy to see who she'd be with for the rest of her life, and as long as it was Thomas Shelby she would be okay.

[sawam0chi]

What is Love?

pairing: miyuki kazuya x gn!reader

words: 1.3k

warnings: fluff, fluff and romantic sappy words that im surprised i wrote down! and miyuki being a love sick fool for you. also, no editing! i did my best editing it myself and besties, i hope that it's okay. oh and it's all in lowercase ehehe.

notes: idea came out of nowhere to be honest. it was in my writing folder for daiya for so long and i finally finished it! it definitely took awhile for me to finish it because i kept deleting everything but here is the final product! this honestly was a challenge for me because i was trying to be more... descriptive about love while still keeping his personality in mind so i hope you guys like it! it's my first piece in a while and i have plenty of more things coming up that hopefully i'll have the courage to post. anywho, i hope you enjoy this piece just as much as i loved writing it!

what exactly is love?

what a great question.

if you were asking teenager or early 20’s miyuki, he couldn’t and wouldn’t give you an answer. matter of fact, he might tell you to bother someone else about it. the only thing that was on his mind constantly was, not surprisingly, baseball.

he wasn’t called a baseball psycho for nothing back then. he would watch and analyze opponents games, make up a game plan as he was the main catcher for his team, and even on his day off he would go and watch baseball games, workout, or even do practice batting swings or go hit some balls from the pitching machine. even when he was invited to go out and party with his old teammates from high school or his current teammates from his current professional team, he wouldn’t get near anyone that was interested in him nor was he interested in anyone as well. he was fine with chilling in the private booth or near the bar, nursing his drink in his hand and just hanging out with his friends.

the one type of love he was comfortable with was and is familial love. he got all of that from his dad since his mom died when he was young. his dad may have had a hard time being a single parent, but he understood that his dad did everything within his ability to make sure that miyuki was loved. the long hours at the steel factory they own was his dad's way of saying he’s supporting him. baseball is expensive, the equipment, the shoes, the clubs he joined, all of that piled up together to become an expensive bill. but his dad would always make sure he was supported through everything he did, even when he decided to move away to go to seidou, to achieve his dreams. that type of love was something that he could never forget.

with his friends, that type of platonic love was something he learned gradually and now cherishes. he knows he’s not an easy person to be friends with. yes, he doesn’t care about not being liked, but having his friends and teammates understand him? and meet his energy with the same energy without backing down? that…that is nice to have in one’s life. he’s just like his father, he speaks his affections through his actions. when it’s with his friends, he cooks for them whenever he’s in the mood, or he invites others to come over to his apartment when he’s watching upcoming or past games. with his teammates, he speaks through his plays, his leadership on the diamond as the main catcher, and through his guidance when at practice. he wouldn’t admit it to them, never in his life would he dare do that, but he’s thankful that all of them understand that he is truly grateful to have them in his life.

now ask that same question to 30 year old miyuki kazuya. and it would be an entirely different scenario to years prior.

it’s already been rumored that miyuki kazuya is a taken man. he was already pretty tight-lipped about his personal life ever since highschool so it wasn’t a surprise to everyone that he kept his relationship a secret, even if there was no relationship to be talked about. everytime someone were to interview him about his personal life, more like love life, all one would get out of him was a simple answer with a small smile, “it’s going great, that’s all.”

rumors continued to spark when paparazzi photos would come out of miyuki driving his car with someone in the passenger seat but their face hidden. videos by his fans show him picking up bouquets of flowers, going in shops and coming out with a small dainty bag, and even videos of him on the phone with a small, affectionate smile as he listens to whoever is talking on the other side of the line. yet, with all of these rumors and multiple people asking if he’s truly taken or not, not one word would come out of his mouth.

what the public didn’t know was that the reason on why he never confirmed the rumors was that he was selfish. he didn’t want to share you with the entire world for you were his world. if you were to disappear from his side, he wouldn’t know how else to love another just as strong as he loves you now.

but slowly, he was opening up more about you to his current teammates. they had suspicions of you considering he did talk to you the minute practice ended or when he was on the bus after a game. at first this was the weirdest thing known to man in their eyes, miyuki in love? that’s funny because this man could marry baseball if baseball was an actual person. but when they met you in person, they could tell that this cocky, cheeky man was truly in love.

his sharp, calculating amber eyes that could send shivers down the spines of batters and pitchers when they made eye contact with him were reduced to a soft, honey glow when he looked at you. one hand always touching your shoulder, your waist, and even holding your hand, there was always one hand on you at all times as if he’s afraid to lose you in such a small crowd. his voice no longer carried a sarcastic tone to it, more of a soft, cheeky tone which did take some getting used to in the beginning. this man, who only thought of baseball and baseball only, was reduced to a lovesick fool and he would proudly shout it out to the entire world if needed.

so, what is love, miyuki kazuya?

love to miyuki would be coming home to a warm, home cooked meal after a tough day at practice. it’s being held in your arms that no matter how many times he pushed you away at first, you would never let him go. it is the feeling of waking up early in the morning and listening to your heartbeat as he rested his head on your chest. love is also seen through little random gifts that reminded him of you, whether it be perfume, bouquet of flowers, or even a funny, little stuffed animal. love is the joy that shows on your face that he never got sick of and wanted to see as he grows older with you.

love is the tight feeling in his chest during a fight with you, not knowing whether that would be the last time he would see you after walking out of his apartment. it is the cry of relief to see you safe and sound at midnight, falling to his knees and apologizing for everything he said and to promise to never leave his side even when he said hurtful words. it is the feeling of terror in his mind knowing that you could find someone that was entirely better than him but soon replaced with adoration when hearing just how much you love and adore him just as much as he does.

what is love?

love is when the sun rays hit your face at every single angle, allowing your entire being to be engulfed in the sunlight as if you were the sun itself. something that crawled over the tall, sturdy walls that protected his heart that crumbled to millions of pieces by just the sound of your voice. it’s something that is as strong as a blackhole, always sucking him in when he least expects it and swallowing his entire being with no consequences.

to miyuki, there were no singular words to describe love. words failed to describe how much he loves you and he could go on and on about how deep his love for you goes. the poets and historians could write about his love for you in plenty of ways but no one could explain it perfectly.

for miyuki kazuya, love started and ended with you and only you. for the both of you were connected at the beginning of the universe who continued to travel through space to find one another again as fate would have it.

[rcksmith]

Geniuses — Five Hargreeves

Request: “Hi! I am just the annon that recently sent the request 3,11,16 and 22. You asked what I wanted, I forgot to put that I got them from the “fluff” prompt list. I am so sorry!! And don’t worry! It’s not your fault I didn’t see the list 😂😂 but thank you so much! I really like your fics and your writing style so much! 🥺🥺💖💖”

Fluff prompts:

3“You’re staring again.”

11. “Wow- you look…amazing.”

16. “I love you. You enormously stubborn pain in the ass.” 16. “I heard that!” 1 .“You were supposed to!”

22. “well the probability of that is 0, but you go ahead”

A/N: We not tolerate any pedophilia here !!

I write about Five with their 20s. I write the same about the characters of Harry Potter.

Haha love, it’s okay💖💖 i hope you like, because I really like to writing tis. Thank you for resquest. Love u❤️

English is not my first language, so I so sorry if have a mistake.

Requests are open. Love you ❤️

Couple: Five Hargreeves/Fem! Reader.

Warnings: nothing, just bad words and fluff.

(gif not mine)

— — — — —

It was fun to think that Five never had an equal opponent, someone as smart, canny, sarcastic and ironic as he. Five Hargreeves was always used to being the smartest person in the room, always being the one with the quickest response on the tip of his tongue.

And, well, it was fun to think that it all went up in the air when you showed up.

You were cruelly intelligent, able to correct errors in Five's math equations, sarcastic and always had a cheeky smile on your face. You weren't used to being underneath, which is why when Five wanted to show that he was better than you, well, you wouldn't give up.

But unlike the time traveler, you didn't have super powers, you weren't extraordinary, you didn't have any skills, but that didn't stop you from being equal to him in every other way.

Whenever Five wanted to come out on top with the argument that he had powers and you didn’t, you raised an eyebrow, looked at him as if he had made a basic math mistake, and said: “I don’t need powers, I’m a genius, you should try to be one too.” And it made him furious, and, truth be told, you just liked to tease him too.

But just as the two of you had personality differences, the ability to handle emotions and people well was different from Five. You were kind, funny and wanted to make people comfortable around you. Being a genius didn't mean you shouldn't be a nice person, and Five usually forgot about it.

As you and Five spent more time together, it became clear that you two were no longer able to stay away from each other. Five liked (secretly) to have someone to really talk to. Someone that understood and followed his line of reasoning, that understood the equations he did, and that considered him a genius instead of crazy with some reasoning.

Being with you was like, for Five, meeting another human being in a dog-only world, and when he kind of told you that in other words, you laughed out loud and said: “Or how to find an equal sign in an equation.” And that's when he felt his heart pounding for you.

Five remembered when you beat him in chess for the first time, no one had ever done it before, and he agreed to play with the full awareness that he was going to win again. Well, that is not what happened.

When you checkmate his king, Five was stunned. He leaned over the board, looking at the pieces as if they had created a head. And you laughed, leaned back in your chair in a victorious smile.

“This is impossible.”

“it's actually just intelligence, why don't you use it now and then?” You were kidding, it was obvious, you couldn't stand hurting people and Five knew it. The dynamics of the two of you who were exchanging barbs.

“You must have stolen or something, this is very much your style” He returned, eyes on you as you laughed “Let's play again and I will give you a the most brutal defeat.”

“Well the probability of that is 0, but you go ahead” You accepted, first because you wanted to show that you would beat him as many times as possible, and second because there was nothing you liked more than spending time with Five.

The matches started, and you won every time. And when the sunset and the breeze was cold, you and Five looked at each other, with the peach rays of the sun illuminating their faces, and the mutual smile they gave out sweetly.

He were really enjoy the game and you knew that, and he knew you not just want the victory. You two know Just more matches would make you spend more time together. And... Five didn't remember if anyone ever really engaged in a game just to want to be around him.

But things really got more real and serious when Vayna asked you to go to one of her violin performances too. And, well, you wore a long, red dress, firm in all the right places, and Five couldn't get his eyes off you just one second.

It was as if, when he saw you, all the equations in his life had been solved. And a single thought rang in his mind: “I want her”

And the certainty of that was absolute. He wanted you as an overwhelming force, which shook his whole body. He needed you like needed oxygen. And there was no way to deny that anymore.

But it all happened in a fraction of a second, and you had just chosen that moment to approach him and ask:

“So, how am I look? Are you going to make a little joke about berries or something?” You laughed.

But Five could think of nothing but that if there were the personification of sin and perfection, it would be you. He looked at you as a whole, a fucking beautiful woman with a fucking brilliant mind. You are incredible and he had no other adjectives for you.

“Wow- you look… amazing.” You felt all the intensity and truth in that sentence, and your heart pounded in your chest.

For, truth be revealed, you had dressed up for him. Because wanted him to think you were beautiful. Because you thinking him were a young God with all the vigor and beauty.

Five really wanted to focus on anything but you. Not In the swing of your body, in the outline of your lips, in how he wanted to put you out of that dress. He really tried. But his eyes were always drawn to you at the end of the effort, as if you were the only thing worth seeing.

“You’re staring again.” Luther whispered in his right ear, while Five kept his eyes on you for a moment that seemed to him seconds, but to Luther it was hours.

But who could blame him? You looked like a mirage, too beautiful to be true. And Five wanted to record every detail of it in memory.

“Take care of your life!” He replied, taking his eyes off you.

After that night, Five already knew that he could no longer keep his hands off you. He couldn't just look at you anymore when the hunger to touch you started to hurt physically. As soon as you got back to the mansion, he grabbed you by the wrist, in a strong, firm grip, and pulled you with him as he climbed the stairs towards his own room.

Five needed you. A kiss, a caress, a body-to-body contact, anything, he just needed it. And it had to be now, he not wait for you to go home and come back later, he couldn't wait days...damn it! He couldn't wait seconds!

Then he knocked and locked the door behind you when you entered the his room.

“What the hell?” You rubbed your wrist that he must not have measured how much firmly him hold you “You're acting like a nut and I thin ...”

But Five didn't give you time to continue. He couldn't give you time. He could not explain something that for him was still a mess. So he showed you.

Five came to you in big, determined steps, and he fit your face in his hands before tilting and sticking his lips to yours. And then the world seemed to make sense for the first time.

Everything was suspended. The people, the rotation of the earth, the wind, the noise of the streets. Everything went into a black hole and was no longer important. The only thing that really mattered was you. And Five kissed you until the oxygen was strictly necessary.

“I have been waiting for this for some time.” You confessed, and Five blew out a low laugh, answering you with another kiss that ended up taking you to a bed and messy sheets.

After that night, Five became more attached to you, and the relationship grew stronger over the weeks.

“You know this is wrong, right?” You said as you took a look at the equations he had made that afternoon.

Five looked at you with a frown, irritation in his eyes, but you were trying to contain your laughter.

“You have nothing else to do no?”

“Besides seeing your accounts wrong? No.” You had fun, taking one of the white chalk Five was using and erasing an equation from it, redoing it in the right way.

You could feel his gaze on your back, but you did your best not to laugh and return the chalk complacently.

“Now it's right.”

Five looked at the account you redid, and gave you an expression of so few friends that you couldn't control your laughter anymore.

And his expression closed even more. You shook your head and were already on your way to the door when when you heard him mumbling:

“I love you. You enormously stubborn pain in the ass.”

Then you laughed even harder and turned to Five, who had been doing his math again on the walls of his room.

“I heard that!”

“You were supposed to!” He countered without even waiting a second, and then you came back towards him, the laughter still present in your voice, your eyes full of play and love.

You put your arms behind his waist, still with the remnants of laughter coming from yours lips, and leaned your head against his broad back.

Five felt and heard your laughter, and then controlled himself not to laugh too, before giving yours hands that were hugging his waist a few gentle pats.

“You are unbearable.” You mumbled, but full of love overflowing with the words “But I love you.”

Then Five laugh came and he exchanged pats for an affectionate affection on yours hand, signaling that he also found you unbearable, but that he loves you.

[mikkomacko]

Sweet As Honey 18

Hello everyone! Here she is! Thank you all so much for being so patient with me and this chapter. I hope it lives up to the hype and the wait lol. I'd also like to say that I will still be writing and finishing this series as well as my other in progress ones. However, I'm currently feeling like I'm not that interested in Harry right now and I feel like it's mostly all the drama and everything going on with him right now so updates will be slow. Also I've changed my theme to a Marvel x One Direction theme because I've decided to take one of my Bucky Barnes plot and actually publish it. I'll still post Harry because of course I love him but he won't be the main focus of this blog anymore.

Thanks for waiting and reading. Hope you enjoy the chapter! X

Harry's good under pressure. At least looking from the outside in, he is. It's a skills he's picked up from boxing. Always pretend you know what's going on. No surprises, no shocks. If he's in a fight and his opponent is stronger or faster than he originally thought, he doesn't show it. Acting like it was expected, like he planned it rattles others and helps him maintain his grace.

He keeps that same approach when it comes to interviews.

Liam meets him outside the gym, waving with a bright smile that Harry just smiles at, shocked to find his trainer in the parking garage rather than the ring.

"What's going on mate?" Harry greets, trying to step around him to get to the stairs but Liam halts him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Gotta reporter here who wants to chat with you about recovering from your concussion and reaching the finals."

His tone is laced with hesitance, lips pursed in suppressed grimace and Harry doesn't blame him. Liam knows how much Harry hates interviews. They're his least favorite part of the job. He's here to box and get paid, to provide for his family, not to tell the world every detail of his life.

"Oh," Harry mumbles, shrugging and stepping up to the door. "Alright. Only for a few minutes though, wanna get home a little early today."

If Liam is surprised by Harry's ease he doesn't show it. "Got something going on?"

Harry follows Liam inside, nodding to Mark at the front desk. "Y/n has just been exhausted lately and Arlo can't spend a second alone without screaming bloody murder. Just want to be there to make sure she's resting and Arlo's not being a pest."

"He's your son, of course he's being in a pest."

The comment leaves too much pride in Harry's chest for him to even care that Liam just insisted he himself is a pest. Besides, Harry knows he's clingy and a little too attached but that's just how his relationship with y/n is, and they love it.

In his private locker room,Harry finds the reporter, a young girl who can't be too far out of undergrad with dark hair and a bright red lips. She's sat on the bench, a notepad on her thigh and her phone resting next to it.

"Hello Mr. Styles." She greets, shaking his hand when he approaches her. "I'm Rebecca Weese."

Harry takes a seat next to her, nodding. "Nice to meet you. I don't have a lot of time today but I can answer a few of your questions if we can make it quick." He smiles guiltily, hoping to not come off as rude.

She nods, immediately glancing down at her notepad and crossing some things out. Harry assumes they're questions she's decided aren't important enough. "Is it ok if I record this? Just sound of course."

Again, he nods, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie as he waits for her to begin. Tapping at her phone, she places it between them to catch both voices and then scans her notes again.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but you've only been boxing for a few years, right?"

Harry shrugs. "I trained a lot when I was teenager, worked under Ted until he decided to bring me up to the pros. Was about 20 I think when that happened." He tries to stay vague, knowing he can't tell the public that his "training" was an illegal boxing ring.

"Five-Six years is a short amount of time to be included in a tournament like this one. Most contenders are well into their careers before being qualified to participate. What do you think has been the main factor in your success?"

Routine question, and he's got a routine answer. "I was fortunate enough to figure out early on that boxing is what I wanted to do and I think that helped out a lot. I also got a very good team behind me. My trainer, manager, my wife, they're all the main factors in my success. I'm very grateful to have them."

Rebecca smiles a bit, jotting down a few words. "Does your wife work in the industry?"

It's her casual tone, as if she were a friend just wanting to hear him brag about his lover that has him answering so honestly.

"No she works in design but I met her early in my career and she's always supported me. Takes care of me after bad matches and whatnot, always comes to my fights even if it means being on her feet for hours. Which isn't exactly her favorite thing at the moment with the baby-"

Harry stops, eyes widening a bit at what he's just revealed. Part of him wishes desperately that Rebecca didn't hear him but he knows that's impossible.

"I didn't know you're a father," she says kindly, sensing his panic. "Do you want to talk about it more or should I scratch that part?"

He doesn't know what makes him say it. A year ago he'd have fled the room if he were questioned about his family. Harry likes to keep them separate, to keep his kids away from his boxing. It's possibly a small part of him that's conditioned to keep his work a secret from his family even if he doesn't have to. But Rebecca's offer to drop the whole topic is what breaks him.

"S'ok," he says "I've got a son that's about a year old and another on the way."

Her eyes light up, beaming at him and he grins shyly but somehow proudly at the same time. "That's awesome. Congrats. I know your son's young but does he have any part in your career? Influence maybe?"

"He doesn't watch any of my fights or anything. Too young to be around violence like that but he does affect my fighting in a way. I used to go into boxing with just the mentality that I'm doing something I love, but now I've got the added success. A win means more support for my family and I want them to always have what they need so I've got sort of an edge there."

"Like having something to fight for?" She confirms, and Harry nods immediately.

"Yeah. I'd do anything for them and I think that makes me a bit dangerous in the ring."

No matter what, he'll always be fighting for them. Everything he does is for y/n and his boys.

~

The house smalls of tomato sauce and pasta when Harry walks in, mouth instantly watering and stomach rumbling. He had a light breakfast this morning before going to the gym and now that's he burnt off all that energy he reckons he could eat a horse. Dropping his keys on the table in the entryway, toeing off his sneakers, and dropping his gym bag to the floor, Harry makes a beeline for the kitchen. He's so caught up in wanting to eat he doesn't notice the TV playing a Disney movie or the two figures sprawled out on the couch until one of them is calling for him.

"Daddy!" Arlo's head pops up over the cushions, dimples sunk into his cheeks and eyes bright. Harry immediately changes course, coming up behind the couch and meeting Arlo's outstretched arms.

"'Ello bug," Harry greets, smacking a kiss to his cheek. Arlo coos happily, curling up against Harry's shoulder. Y/n is watching them with a small smile, a hand resting easily over the stretched fabric of his tee-shirt she's wearing. "And hello darling." He leans over the back of the couch to press a crooked kiss to her lips.

"Hi baby," she sits up, smiling dreamily at him. "How was the gym?"

Harry shrugs, adjusting Arlo on his hip. "Was good. I had an interview today about finals and....stuff." Her eyebrow quirks up at his hesitancy to continue.

"What stuff?"

Gnawing on his bottom lip, Harry drops his gaze to Arlo. "You, Arlo, the baby." She doesn't respond immediately and he knows it’s because she’s trying to analyze him. He's fairly private about his family, especially his children and the only reason he'd informed the world of Arlo was to get people off his back about leaving y/n, so he knows she's probably confused by his ease with talking about the new baby.

"How'd it go?" She asks, pushing herself up from the couch with a hand on her belly. Without hesitation Harry reaches out to place his free hand over hers, moving her with him towards the kitchen. "Where are we going?"

"M'starving darling," he says and his stomach grumbles in agreement, making Arlo gurgling back and nudge his foot into Harry's tummy. "But interview went well. Announced the pregnancy."

"You did?" She questions, perching herself on the counter stool with wide eyes. "Seems a bit early compared to Arlo's announcement."

Managing as best he can with one free hand, Harry retrieves a bowl from the cabinet and serves himself a heaping mountain of spaghetti. "Just came out if m'being honest," he shrugs, settling into the stool next to her with Arlo still glued to his lap. "'sides it's different this time. He was my first baby and I was scared."

He doesn't realize that she's fallen silent until he's slurping back noodles and she doesn't scold him. Curiously, Harry rotates just enough to look at her. Y/n is staring at him, eyes big and moony when he mumbles a suspicious "wha'?"

"You were scared?"

Swallowing down his food, he nods. Her intent gaze brings a blush to his cheeks and he has to drop his eyes to peer down at Arlo. "Y-yeah. Didn't know if he'd like me as his dad, ya know?"

Harry's never said those words out loud, now that he's come to think of it. Whenever something's pertained to Arlo, Harry was always the positive reinforcement, the one reassuring y/n about them stepping into parenthood. He never really told her how much it scared him because he didn't want to scare her.

"I-I didn't know that," she mumbles. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugs, lifting his gaze from Arlo to y/n. "Because I wanted to be a good dad. Ya know, like the kind that can kill spiders and scare aware bad dreams.....Just wanted to be strong I guess."

He doesn't say it, but he knows she's picked up the fear he won't acknowledge. He doesn't want to be his dad. His father was great but the sad thing is, everything great about him was brought out by alcohol. Des needed that poison to combat his own fears and insecurities, and Harry doesn't want to be like that too. He doesn't want to leave his kids the same way he was left.

"Being scared doesn't make you weak Harry."

She leans over to press a tender kiss to his jaw, belly brushing against his side, and he thinks about those words for the remainder of the day.

~

Crouched down, Harry steers the shopping cart with one hand and guides Arlo along with the other one. By the way he's trudging along, Harry knows Arlo is getting tired of walking. It's good for him to practice though, so Harry leads him along for another few minutes before scooping him up in one arm.

"Did so well bug." Harry compliments, pecking Arlo's cheek. The toddler curls up into his chest, yawning. It's a bit difficult steering the cart with one hand but Harry manages, steadily making his way up and down each aisle. He gets baby cereal for Arlo, a couple bags of puffy hot Cheetos to stash in the cabinets, and he's stocking up on y/n's latest craving (spaghetti-o's and meatballs) when a familiar face rounds the corner.

Zayn is pushing a cart filled groceries, eyes scanning up and down the shelves and Harry curses under his breath. The last person he wants to see right now is Zayn. Last time they had a run in he said something that bothered y/n and Harry never wants anything to bother his girl.

In an attempt to hide, Harry pulls his hood up over his head, shrinking into his pullover and craning his neck to not make eye contact with his old friend. Grabbing a few cans of the fake pasta y/n is living off of, Harry sets them in the cart and quickly walks down the aisle. A man who looks a few years older than Harry moves towards him, stepping around Zayn and in front of Harry's cart.

"Excuse me," the man stops him, gaze dropping to the boy against his chest for half a second before regretfully meeting Harry's eyes. "m'so sorry to bother, didn't notice the little one-"

"It's fine." Harry cuts off, glancing at Zayn to make sure his back is still to them. It is and Harry relaxes a bit at that, but his curiosity grows. "How can I help you sir?"

The man smiles, grateful. "I just wanted to tell you that m'son and I are big fans and we're excited for your fight this weekend."

Harry knows he has fans, he's run into a few around the city but they're usually teens and kids that want an autograph. He's never had a grown man approach him about his career and it's odd. Flattering, but odd.

"Thanks man. I really appreciate your support." Harry says sincerely, smiling. The man nods in response, taking a step away from Harry. He moves to leave but stops last minute, turning back to Harry.

"Congrats on the baby news too." He says quickly, almost shy or embarrassed. Before Harry can even thank him, the man is rushing out a "have a good day" and then he's moving down the aisle.

Confused, Harry stands there for a moment trying to figure out what happened. He knew announcing the new baby would bring more attention to him in the media and he's not surprised that that man, who's clearly a fan, had already heard it. He is surprised that the man seemed almost scared to admit to Harry that he knows.

"Harry?"

Fuck.

He looks up, meeting the golden eyes that could only belong to Zayn. Harry doesn't even bother trying to smile at his old friend as he stands in front of Harry's cart. A lady maneuvers around them, murmuring a soft "excuse me sir." Harry scoots his cart over, smiling apologetically.

"How have you been man?"

Harry's gaze returns to it's impassive expression, glancing over Zayn's too-bright presence. "I've been good." Harry responds, moving Arlo to his other arm when he starts to lose feeling in his fingers. The movement draws Arlo out of his nap-like state, the toddler now noticing Zayn standing in front of them. Immediately his face scrunches into a look of annoyance.

If Zayn notices, he must not care because he smiles at Arlo, teeth dazzling. "That's good to hear. Congratulations on the baby, by the way! Saw the article up front. S'amazing!"

Article? Harry lips are just starting to form his question when his phone rings, the tune specific to y/n. "Sorry, gotta take this." Harry says in Zayn's direction, digging into his pocket and retrieving his phone. He hits answer before Zayn can even respond.

"Hi darling."

Harry wiggles Arlo into the basket. "Hi H. You still at the store?"

He pushes the cart down the aisle, not caring that he's left his old friend hanging. "Yeah I am. What's up"

The sound of a running faucet comes through the speaker. "Forgot to add yogurt bites to the list. Arlo ate the last of 'em last night and ya know how he is if he doesn't have any before bed."

Harry snorts, steering towards the baby food aisle. Arlo has fallen in love with yogurt bites and they've become his snack before bed. Harry thinks he shouldn't be having them every night and he'd tried to tell Arlo that two nights ago, but Arlo is a stubborn thing. He screamed his head off, ignored Harry's attempts at giving him fresh fruit instead, and then only calmed down after y/n nursed him.

"I'll grab 'em darling. No worries." He assures, tossing a couple bags of the bites into the cart. "Anything else?"

"Do we still have the old flower vases from our wedding in the garage?" She asks.

"Umm, I think so. You expecting flowers from a secret lover or something?" Harry jokes, eyes catching on a pack of bibs hanging in the aisle.

"Not unless you've got a trick up your sleeve Styles." She retorts.

He tosses a pack into the basket. "Buy you a whole flower shop if that's what ya want darling." Arlo grumbles from the baby seat of the cart, tiny fingers coming up to play with the rings on Harry's fingers that are locked around the steering bar.

"Don't worry about that, we've got enough flowers." Y/n laughs and he can hear her moving around the house. "Three bouquets just arrived with congratulations cards."

"What?"

"Guess the baby announcement was well accepted." She says. "We're getting lots of flowers for it."

Pushing towards the checkout, Harry frowns in confusion. "Got stopped by a fan today for the same thing. Can't believe it's such a big deal."

"Well you're more known now than when we were having Arlo." She reasons, and Harry hums his agreement. He passes the self checkouts, freezing when he spots numerous copies of his face on the ends of the aisle.

"Holy shit," he breathes, not even thinking about the innocent ears before him. Y/n gasps through the phone, scolding him for his language. "Sorry darling, s'just I'm bloody plastered all over the grocery store."

He reads over the cover of the sports magazine. It's got a big photo of him in the ring, gloves held up to his chin and jaw tight around his mouth guard. Next to it is a photo of him and y/n leaving a big fight awhile back. She's got her head down, hand snug in his as he leads her along. And written in bold yellows is "Harry Styles Expecting Baby #2 As He Prepares for Biggest Fight Yet!"

"They put me on the front page." He tells her, not bothering to flip open the article before he's quickly moving away from the display. "Why would they do that?"

When he did that interview, he thought it'd be a small, breezy section in the magazine. If he had known he'd be getting stopped in the grocery store and flowers sent to his house he wouldn't have said anything. As previously mentioned, he's a private guy, so having this detail projected in a way he wasn't warned about makes his stomach twist uncomfortably.

"It's alright Harry," y/n says reassuringly, knowing that he's become anxious at the publicity. "No harm done. It's just flowers bub and as long as we've got those vases in the garage, everyone will survive."

He chuckle weakly at her joke, picking an aisle so he can quickly checkout and go home. "Don't go digging around for them by yourself, don't need ya falling and getting hurt. I'll help ya when I get home."

"Aw my hero." She coos, and he knows she's teasing but it still makes him blush. God he loves her.

~

"Those bloody things are making my nose itch." Harry grumbles, aggressively rubbing the palm of his hand into his burning nostrils. He glares at the bouquet of peonies on the dresser, a gift from y/n's co-workers, and moves towards the bed.

Y/n is propped up against the headboard, a pair of his pajama bottoms on her legs but her shirt has been abandoned on the carpet by the bed. Arlo is attached to her hip, mouth latched to her nipple and she's stroking through his soft hair while he breastfeeds. Harry's heart throbs in his chest, warmed by the sight of his wife coddling their baby, and he's so fucking in love with her he's anxious to get Arlo into bed so he can have his way with her.

"I can't just throw them out, H." She sighs, pulling her gaze from the television to his pouty face. He huffs, running the damp towel in his hand through his hair one last time before haphazardly tossing it towards the closet. Kneeing his way up the bed, he curls into y/n's side and smiles when she tucks her arm around him.

"Stroke my hair too?" He mumbles, peering up with puppy eyes and she giggles before threading her fingers through his hair too. Arlo gurgles around a mouthful, bright green eyes opening to look at Harry. He worries for a moment that Arlo is going to get fussy and kick him away, but the toddler just blinks at him sleepily.

"Tha's ma boy." He coos fondly, squirming a hand over to pat Arlo's full tummy. Y/n giggles and continues to stroke his hair, Harry watching Arlo slowly be soothed to sleep. "Lemme get him to bed darling."

Grunting, he pushes himself up from the mattress and too his feet. Y/n transfers Arlo to his awaiting arms, swiping at the milk that dribbled out of his snoring lips and onto her skin. Harry leans down, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"Wanna have a shag when I get back?"

A shocked laugh bursts out of her, Harry's face lighting up at the sound as his heart swells. He was trying to be a bit silly, not enough to have her eyes crinkling like that, but he's happy she finds him funny.

"Sure baby." She breathes, still grinning. His stomach flutters, excitement bubbling in his belly and he nods quickly before moving across the room.

Arlo stays cuddled into Harry's neck as he flicks on the nightlight in the nursery and adjusts the blankets in the crib. Theo watched Harry from his bed in the corner, sleepy puppy eyes following his every move. He lays Arlo down, gently shushing him when he store and tucks Bunny into his side. With a peck to his head and a quiet "good night bug," Harry partially shuts the bedroom door and rushes back into the bedroom.

Y/n has already kicked off her bottoms, leaving her naked on their sheets and Harry groans as he works to catch up with her. His shirt is playfully tossed at y/n's grinning face, Harry laughing as he wiggles out of his sweats. Naked as the day he was born, Harry jumps onto his knees at the bottom of the bed.

A laugh bubbles out of y/n when the whole bed shakes under his weight, clearly amused at how excited he is. She must be just as excited though because she quickly leans forward to cup his face, attaching their lips and bringing him back down to the pillows with her.

"Wanna be on top," he mutters into her mouth, ghosting his hand down her tummy and tickling his thumb over her clit. "f'that's ok?"

"Mmm," she hums, happily "too tired to top anyway."

Harry seals their lips together again, using his knees to spread her thighs a bit further apart for him. Her palms smooth down his sides and around to his back, a breathy moan interrupting their kiss courtesy of his fingers. Harry utilizes the chance to break away and snag a pillow from his side of the bed, urging her hips up by tapping the fluffy thing against her side. She lifts, and he settles it under her lower back and bum to prop her up. Luckily for him, he's had a lot of practice getting around a baby bump for a shag.

Settling between her thighs, Harry giggles when she wraps her legs around his hips and tugs him closer. His body hovers over hers, love-sick smiles a breath away from meeting each other, and he drags his fingers through her folds, groaning at how slick she's become.

"Don't even have to try anymore do I?" He teases with a wolfish smile, capturing her lips just as she rolls her eyes. Giggling, he leaves soft kisses across her cheek, heading towards the base of her jaw.

"S'the baby's fault honestly." She argues, her fingers disappearing into the damp locks sticking to the back of his neck.

He hums, smirking against her skin. "Is it?"

With a small tug she's pulling him back up to her mouth. "Yeah. Gets me revved up all the bloody time. I don't know what you're putting in there mister but it's exhausting."

Harry laughs quietly, nipping at her bottom lip. "Don't worry baby, I'm gonna take care of ya. S'my problem after all, isn't it?"

Y/n nods, biting back a grin as Harry grips his cock with the fingers that had previously been fondling her. Chest to chest, Harry smiles at the feeling of their stomachs pressed together as he guides the head of him into her slit.

The sigh that puffs out of her chest sends a zip of pleasure up his spine, as if she'd been partial without him and the pure relief of just having him in her is all she could ever want. Harry hums appreciatively, eyes fluttering shut as he basks in how warm and gooey she is for him. He'd almost forgotten how it felt to have her this desperate for him and his touch.

"Oh it's so good darling," he mumbles to her, dropping his head into the crook of her neck. He pulls his hips back, breath stuttering when he easily slips forward again.

Y/n moans softly, dropping one hand to the small of his back as if guiding him. "So so good H." She confirms in a whisper, her voice tickling his ear and he squirms with a small laugh at the sensation.

Harry's soft with his movements, cautious of the baby between them and the one sleeping down the hall. Even the kisses he places on her jaw and lips are tender, small brushes between their confirmations that he "feels so good" inside her and she was "made for being wrapped me huh?" And Harry thinks nothing ever been truer. Her arms were made to hold him, her hands were made for pulling him closer and closer, and her heart was made to completely consume his.

Y/n reaches her high before him, rolling her hips up to try and quicken his but he maintains his sensual thrusts, stroking her temple as she trembles and gasps, clinging to him in every way possible. There's something about how quick she falls apart for him when she's pregnant and how utterly earth shattering it is for her, that it completely obliterates any sense of stamina Harry's ever had. He couldn't care less when he follows shortly after, grinding down into her heat as his cock twitches and buries deep in her walls. She's the one stroking his temple this time, and he knows she's watching his eyes scrunch shut and his gaping mouth curl into a breathy laugh as he comes.

Maybe it's the lingering anxiety that washed over him at the grocery store, but when y/n kisses him and gently nudges him off of her so she can go pee, Harry's desperate as he grips her hand and pouts, practically begging when he asks "can I get back in ya after? Just to fall asleep darling?"

Of course she nods, brushing sweaty curls from his forehead to soothe him and just like that he already feels lighter. He never has to sorry with her, because they were made for loving each other.

~

"Oh fuck!"

"Would you stop being so loud! It's 8 in the morning!"

"Can't help it, darling."

Harry tightens his hold around y/n's thighs, dipping his tongue back into her slit and groaning loudly despite the warning she's already given him this morning. She tugs on his hair scoldingly, drawing a pained hiss out of him. Harry brings his teeth up to her clit, nibbling in retaliation. A pained hiss of her own leaves her lips, cut off by a soft moan as he soothes his tongue over the spot.

Grinding her hips up into his mouth, Harry can't help but push his own into the mattress and a deep groan escapes him as he does so. Huffing, y/n scolds him again for being too loud when they've got a sleeping child one room over.

"Stop yelling at me so I can make you cum." He purrs, lips brushing over her clit. Their eyes meet over the curves and dips of her body, Harry smirking when she raises a prodding eyebrow at him. He kisses her thigh just once, lapping his tongue through her slit and he's just reaching her most sensitive spot when the beginning stirs of Arlo waking up break through the baby monitor.

Simultaneous groans leave both their mouths, this time of frustration. Harry pouts, knocking his forehead on y/n's hip bone and shaking his head.

"I told you Styles." Y/n teases, stroking through his hair for a second. He can't even think of a rebuttal before Arlo is calling out softly for her, and she's pushing up from the bed to get dressed.

"Take care of that while I take care of this." She calls as she disappears through the door, snickering softly and leaving him there desperate for her. But then again, when is he not desperate for her?

~

Hey man, hope I'm not being a bother. I was just wondering if you wanted to go out for a drink Friday or something?

-Z

Harry stares at the message, wondering why Zayn would sign it when the Instagram handle is clearly him. He also wonders why the hell Zayn is trying to hang out with him now.

It's a sunny day, the air outside relatively warm for March so Harry slipped a sweater on Arlo and brought him out to the backyard to play. They're sat in the grass, Arlo between his legs as they teach Theo to play fetch. Arlo's gotten good at tossing the chew toy himself, so Harry used the free time to start clearing out the congratulations messages he's received on Instagram.

"What's the matter H?"

Harry locks his phone, tilting his head up and squinting into the sun as y/n stands over them. She's got a bowl of puffy hot Cheetos in her hand, cradling them as if they were a precious gem as she settles into the grass with them.

"Nothing," he mumbles, pecking her temple when she leans into his side. "just got a weird text from Zayn. He wants to hang out."

Crunching through a chip, she hums. "Did you know he lives here?"

She lifts up a Cheeto, offering it to him. Harry gladly takes it between his teeth, pulling it from her fingertips and crunching down on the puffy chip. Swallowing, he shakes his head.

"Ran into him at the store once around Valentine's Day," she says, eyes watching Arlo dig his stubby fingers into the dry grass. "Was trying to talk to me about you I think but your son threw a fit and I was too busy to care honestly."

"Really?" Harry asks, perking up at the idea of Arlo throwing a tantrum to keep people away from y/n. That's the only time he'll agree with such actions. "Taught him well then haven't I?"

Rolling her eyes, she elbows him. "If you're son grows up to be rude I'm going to kick your ass Harry Styles."

Laughing, he steals a chip from her, locking his phone and dropping it to the grass. Arlo, interested in the device, crawls over to pick it up.

"Wouldn't expect anything less darling." He says, reaching over to swipe his phone to the camera so Arlo can snap random pictures.

"What are you going to do about Zayn then?"

"Suppose I should see what he wants, yeah?"

Y/n shrugs but Harry can read the look on her face easily. She's always silently encouraged him to face things that need mending or fixing, and his past with Zayn is one of those things.

"S'done then," he laughs, pinching her side affectionately. "I'll figure out why he's so obsessed with me."

She laughs, throwing her head back and scrunching her nose in the way makes him want to stare at her forever. "Think it's that one he's obsessed with. Look how cute he is."

Harry follows her line of sight, smile growing at the sight of Arlo making faces at himself in Harry's camera.

So bloody cute.

~

"Are we gonna be besties? I think we're gonna be besties." Niall states, swinging an arm around y/n's shoulders. He's on his third beer of the night already and Harry hasn't even made it to the ring yet. Y/n just laughs, continuing to maneuver tape around Harry's fingers but he's not as kind.

Casting a glare at the Irish man, Harry calls out to Gemma. "Get your leprechaun off of my girl before I use him to warm up."

Niall isn't really phased by the words, only pouting softly at Harry's steel gaze but Gemma is quick to rush over and pull Niall up from the couch by his hand.

"Come on babe, let's go find our seats." She coos to him, sending Harry an apologetic smile. He waits for her and Niall to turn their backs before chuckling softly. Y/n pinches at his wrist.

"Be nice to Niall. I really like him."

"Oh you really like him, huh?" Harry huffs, nudging his knee against hers. She rolls her eyes, giggling when he slips his free hand around her waist and pulls her into his lap. "Please tell me how much you really like Niall darling." He requests, shoving his face in her neck and playfully biting at her throat and shoulder. Just as he'd expected, she giggles and squirms, Harry having to wrap her up in a bear hug to keep her from sliding right off his thigh.

"Harry! Stop!"

He laughs with her, moving up to bite at the apples of her cheeks and her nose, growling as if he were a rabid beast. His freshly taped knuckles ache under the tightness of the wrap as he grips her flailing legs but he ignores it in favor of listening to her laugh.

"I like you more! I swear!" She shouts between laughs, wiggling a hand free and gripping the back of his neck. Pleased with her words, Harry pants out a laugh before sealing his mouth to hers.

"Tha's good because I like you more than Niall too." He mumbles into her lips.

"You like me more than you like everyone." She chuckles, stroking her thumb along his jawline. Harry's eyes shine with delight, proud that she knows her place in his heart, but he still teases.

"Mmm almost darling. Quite like my son, ya know that?"

She rolls her eyes but looks at him fondly, pinching the meat of his cheek. "Cute," she murmurs, "now go get ready for your fight baby. Want everyone to see my husband's gonna be the national champion."

Her words bring a rush of blood to his cheeks (and his cock if he's being honest), but he nudges her onto the couch next to him. "Just need two more wins." He whispers in her ear, pecking her temple.

Just two more wins.

~

There's good fights and there's bad fights. Everyone knows that. But not everyone knows that there's good wins and bad wins. Harry's experienced a few of those bad ones. Wins that he probably shouldn't have gotten because he certain his opponent had landed more punches and the judges miscounted. Or it was clear the other fighter wasn't into it and let him win.

Harry thinks tonight is his worst win ever.

The fight had been good. Trinsky, tonight's opponent from New Jersey, was short and stocky but strong. Harry was quicker than him though so they'd gone back and forth for a few rounds. Nothing two rough, just enough punches to have bright red welts on his torso and an ache in his jaw.

He fought through it though, fueled by the sounds of y/n and Niall cheering for him. Win this fight and he's onto the championship match. So he went at it with all he had left, charging Trinsky just as the man knocked his fist into Harry's temple.

It felt like a lightning bolt of pain zapped through his brain, shaking his core and causing his feet to stumble. Trinsky slid to the right as Harry crashed into the ropes, blinking furiously as the room around him spun. He was still in a daze as his body moved on its own, quick enough to uppercut his left fist into Trinsky's chin. The man crumbled to the mat, out cold, and Harry's dizzy head brought him down as well.

There's cheering and an announcement of his name, declaring Harry the winner but he can't seem to focus on it. Trinsky is being moved from the ring by his team, Harry falling to his bum on the mat as he rips at the velcro of his gloves with his teeth.

The room is coming back into focus, someone is calling him from the side of the ring but he doesn't recognize the voice so it goes ignored. He gets his hands free, rubbing his fingers into the tender spot on his head and wincing. He needs to take some Advil and ice it.

Harry climbs to his feet, a bit disoriented as he ducks under the ropes to leave. He knows he's got a team here somewhere but his mind can't seem to recognize what they look like or how to find them.

"Man, what are you doing?"

He turns, confused to find two men watching him like he's grown a second head. Harry feels like he knows the warm brown eyes of the taller man but he's not sure from where. Smiling uncomfortably, he motions behind him.

"I n-need ice or something." He says, excusing himself with a shrug and turning back to the locker room. He doesn't like the way his stomach twists or how his chest is telling him he knows those men when he couldn't even tell you there names right now. His heart thunders in his chest, panic seeping in and he's desperate to find something or someone that'll just help him out.

"Harry baby," she says calmly, a hand rubbing up his bare back comfortingly. "you okay?"

Y/n appears at his side, head tilted so she can meet his nervous gaze. Almost immediately he latches onto her hand, shaking his head. Her eyebrows crease, lips frowning as she reaches to cup his cheek.

"What's going on H? What's the matter?"

"M'head hurts," he answers immediately. "I-I think I forgot my team."

A trembling breath leaves his lips, tears stinging behind his eyes when he sees the concern on his wife's face. She brushes her thumb over his temple, the one she knows got hit the hardest, and then brushes a sweaty strand of hair off his forehead to place a tender kiss there.

"Let's get you to the locker room babe."

He follows like a lost puppy, trailing behind her through the back hallway and into his locker room. Y/n closes the door behind him before anyone else can enter, twisting the lock. Harry sits in the closest chair, fiddling with the tape on his fingers as he tries to calm down.

"Do you want to talk to me bub?" Y/n asks quietly, pulling up a seat directly in front of him. He nods, lifting his gaze from his hands to her face.

"I don't know what happened. It's like I got hit in the head and everything got shook up." He explains, frowning. He hates the way this feels. Hates that his body is screaming at him to just remember but his brain refuses to accept the message. "I know them, I know I do but s'like their names and stuff are just gone."

Y/n inhales sharply, biting nervously at her bottom lip. Harry's not even sure what to say and that makes him feel so much worse. He doesn't even feel like he has a concussion, not really. Everything else is still there, still in the forefront of his mind. His wife, his boys, Anne and Gemma. And he faintly remembers sitting at bars with one of the men from his team, remembers crashing on his couch late at night. But the soul of those memories are gone.

"I'm gonna get you some painkillers and water okay babe? Then we'll figure out what to do."

He nods, smiling wetly when she kisses his forehead. Watching her move around the room to gather water and whatnot, Harry wills himself to just think. He knows these men, he's just gotta focus on it. A memory stands out, one of the three of them in a car on a road trip. His trainer is driving, his manager in the passenger seat and he knows this is a trip for a match. A recent match too because he remembers saying goodbye to Arlo and y/n, kissing her swollen belly before he went.

Y/n returns to him with a bottle of water and a couple pills, watching him cautiously as he squeezes his eyes shut and forces himself to just think. Recalling conversations from the car, remembering the screen in the front of the vehicle that reads Connected to Liam's iPhone. Liam. Almost instantly Nick's name floods his brain again and he feels his whole body tremble with relief.

Harry takes the medicine, gulping it down and slumping into his seat. "Nick and Liam," he finally murmurs, voice thick. "I couldn't remember darling. They were right in front of me and I couldn't remember their fucking names."

A silent tear trails down his cheek, Harry sniffling as y/n wipes it away with a tender touch he's only felt from her. "Its ok Harry. We'll figure out what happened. At least you remember now baby." She tried to comfort, but Harry's heart still aches.

"What if-" he peers up at her through wet eyelashes. "what if it had been you? Or Arlo? Or all three of you? What if I-"

He can't even finish the thought before he's shaking his head, more tears slipping down his cheeks and jaw. What would he have done if he'd looked at y/n and not remembered her name? Not remembered the beautiful son they created? Or the one she's growing now?

"It wasn't Harry," she stays sternly, cutting into his spiralling thoughts. "it wasn't and even if it did happen, it wouldn't change a thing. You're not getting rid of us."

Trying to smile, he nods and takes a deep breath. He trusts her, more than anyone, and he's never known someone that fights as much as she does. He knows, no matter what, that she'll always have his back.

[twentytarot]

wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? sorry that i kinda dropped off the map there, but you know how it is. life calls when it does. anyway, today we’re doing a reading on your next five years. for this reading in particular, if you’re drawn to more than one group then i’d suggest you read them both, because 5 years is a long time and it’s definitely possible for bits and pieces of your prediction to be scattered around this reading. devise a strategy that works for you even, for example, if i’m drawn to pile 1 first and then 4, maybe the beginning of pile 1 is more relevant to me but the end of pile 4 will resonate more. enough of my rambling, on to the reading!

*year 1 means from now till year from now, year 2 1-2 years from now, and etc.

PILE ONE: GLASS PANELS

overall, the next five years has you waiting for the right moment to begin living. currently you are stuck in a place where you’ve been hurt and betrayed— yet you cannot leave yet. you’re probably trying to plan a way out, but perhaps, surrounded by the unbreakable glass panels in your life, you’ve come to the same conclusion as me: it’s not going to be any time soon. for the next two years, you will have no way out. however, you will become much more resilient so that 3 years from now, you have the power and strength to break out of your current situation and build your dream life. it seems that there will be a lot of movement leading up to this event; perhaps you will be moving house and leaving most of the people around you now behind. whatever the case, in year 3, you will be building a new foundation for yourself. if there are responsibilities and duties you cannot fully leave behind from your past, you will learn to balance them in year 4. in year 5, you’re building up your finances, having found your footing at home and at work. finally, five years from now, you will finally feel like you are in a place where you can feel stable and secure financially and emotionally.

in other words, the main message for you is “one step at a time”. you will have the life you want, but it will take a while. for now, you will have to heal your inner wounds and learn to brave the coldest of storms on your own. then, the next step will be to gain the courage to forge ahead and create a foundation that will allow you to build your life the way you want, away from the toxic people that you have had to rely on. once you have found your own independent footing, then the next step will be to go after you want, especially in career and life purpose. don’t be afraid if things start coming down, almost no one goes through their 20s and 30s without having to destroy something fundamental. finally, once you have learned to juggle all of this alone, the final piece will fall into place, and that is the rest of the world. friends, a new family, and days that make you so excited you want to sleep early so that the sun rises faster tomorrow. this is a long journey, but i’m confident it’s worth it. you got this! :)

PILE TWO: APPLE PASTRIES

for the next five years, you will ride a wave that brings you to the top of the world, and then you’ll prepare for the next chapter in life. we start off in year 1 with you being a little unsure of what it is you want to do long-term— perhaps you’re aware that it’s about time you start settling on a path with how responsibilities are piling up, but you’re also rather reluctant to let go of all your ideas and inspiration. that’s alright, you don’t have to decide just yet. in year 2, things get a little more exciting in the personal department: you might meet your future spouse, get engaged, get married, or even have a kid, depending on where you are in personal life right now. i’m leaning towards you being pretty young and just beginning to entertain the idea of marrying your special someone. whether it’s navigating a new relationship or wedding planning, you’ll be pretty caught up in it in year 2, and your work life will naturally fall into the background. not for long, though, because someone enters your life in year 3 and they don’t have your best interests in mind. they’re not out to get you, but they also don’t care if they had to step on you to get higher. this person brings you a whole lot of clarity on your life purpose and career, though, and so you transform your life quite rapidly, especially in view of the fact that you’re getting older and it can’t be helped, you’re going to have to start making some commitments. the transition is very successful and in year 4 you reap all the benefits. you are like water, you balance the push and pull effortlessly like the waves, you bring energy wherever you go, you complete the cycle and finish what you start. you’re in a position to give advice now, and people begin to look up to you. life’s... well, it’s actually pretty good.

year 5 is whole new chapter, likely on patience. the bliss of making it through one chapter in life never lasts long enough, and it is time for your life to move on. take care of yourself and always be open to growth. take the people that will betray you as lessons on how to better watch out for and protect yourself. wield the sword of clarity with conviction. before you know it, everything else will follow.

PILE THREE: FLAT WHITE

your next five years is about breaking free. you are often harshly judged by the people around you, and it’s like you can never catch a break. you wished for a peaceful getaway, and your wish is only partially granted. let me stop for a second and explain. for example, if you’re harshly judged at work, you might be able to get out of working with the particular team that makes your life difficult, but you won’t be able to leave the company entirely. something like that. you’ll have to do more than what you’re doing right now to truly get out of this situation. thankfully, towards the end of year 2, your heart hardens. enough is enough, you decide, and with your sharpened sword, you go after what you want.

the battle in year 3 is ugly. you say things you wish you didn’t have to, you do things in ways that keep you up at night. sometimes we don’t have a choice, though, because it was the only way you would be able to take what is yours and run. just in time, too, because in year 4, you will realise the stability you thought you were being offered was as strong as a house of cards. by defying expectations and going out on your own, you have nudged this house and cause it to topple. you get to watch from somewhere a little further away, but it’s still hard to deal with the questioning, the anxiety, the wondering whether you shouldn’t have left in the first place. no, darling, of course you should have left. year 5 is a year filled with so much more stability and happiness, it’s like you can’t recognise the person you used to be, the world you used to live in. if you thought that you will never truly make it out of there, my cards are here to tell you that there is a day where you will stop wanting to cry before you go to sleep, there is a day where the demons will shut up for good. so don’t give up! you’ll make it out of there if it’s the last thing you do, because that’s you: strong, persistent, and forever optimistic in your heart. and this personality of yours is what makes you lucky. when you want something with all of your heart, the universe can’t help but want to give it to you.

PILE FOUR: NIGHT

pile four, your reading is all about finding love! things are about to slow down for you now, and it looks like it will continue to be slow for awhile. and honestly, for you i don’t think that’s a bad thing at all, seeing as you are just coming out of having had to make difficult choices and work hard for what you want. for the next year or so, you’ll simply be continuing what you’ve started and letting the payoff roll in. in year 2, however, you’ll begin to look around at your life again and find out what is it you want next. at that point, perhaps you will come to the conclusion that it is love you’re looking for. or maybe it’s just excitement, since you’re pretty collected yourself. you’re the kind to meditate and sleep on things before you decide, and the person you meet in year 3 is decisively... not that kind of person. they’re hardworking, smart, funny and honest, but they’re also rather blunt and impatient. they’ll jump from one thing to the next without thought; they’ll argue with you through the walls of your room is it means they’ll win. you may wonder if this person is going to force you become their parent. well, no. this person has entered your life to show you that the world has so much more to offer if your just take the leap and jump. this person is here to show you that sometimes, you don’t sleep on decisions. you just go for it. once you begin to see the charm of this person, they will light up your life as a friend, a listening ear, then a worthy partner, then a worthy opponent, and then finally, in year 4... a worthy soulmate. and you will realise that taking risks is actually not as scary as it seemed, because this person is right next to you, and will be there to help you pick up the pieces should you fall. this might be a new feeling for you, because you come from a background of having to watch your own back all the time. being able to take calculated risks is what pushes one up from being a prince to a king. it pushes you and your life purpose to its full potential, and even if the ride of taking risks and forging ahead is rocky with this person in year 5, you will come out hardships closer than ever, stronger than ever.

[ayuuria]

Yashahime Translation: Animage Magazine September 2021 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

Smash It!

Under the blazing midsummer sun, the Yashahimes are fully in the middle of enjoying watermelon breaking. In ‘The Second Chapter’ that will broadcast this fall, will the harsh destiny surrounding the girls also get smashed like a watermelon!?

It’s summer! Leisure! Watermelon breaking! The Yashahimes normally face off against atrocious demons, but their opponent today is a large watermelon. Before the juicy fresh taste, Moroha’s fired up swordsmanship looks even clearer than usual♪

Just as exciting as the fever surrounding the three princess is the arrival of new information regarding ‘Hanyō no Yashahime’ The Second Chapter! There are a lot of things of interest like what will happen to Setsuna who lost her life in the battle with Kirinmaru, the true intent behind Sesshōmaru’s actions, and the whereabouts of Kirinmaru and Zero. But right now, everyone is probably curious about the new character, Rion. It seems she is Kirinmaru’s daughter but why hasn’t she appeared on the center stage before? Also, going forward, how will she affect the story of Towa and the other Yashahimes?

Regarding the growing anticipation of ‘The Second Chapter’, according to the newly appointed director, Hishida Masukazu-san, he is currently working in earnest while placing importance on “How to produce the three Yashahimes so that they are awesome and cute”. We now can’t wait for the day when we get to see the three princesses once again running around powerfully in the Feudal world!

Character Bios

Takechiyo

A young tanuki (racoon dog) demon who works at the “Shikabaneya” which deals in demon bounties. He’s always tough towards Moroha, but he can’t but be surprised by the quickness of her stick!

Moroha

A quarter-demon girl born between Inuyasha and Kagome. Making a living as a bounty hunter and having plenty of experience in battle, breaking watermelons is a piece of cake?

Higurashi Towa

A half-demon girl with Sesshōmaru as her father. She treasures her younger twin sister, Setsuna, more than anything else. She seems like she would happily share the broken watermelon with Setsuna.

What Will Happen to Setsuna’s Life!?

Setsuna

A half-demon girl with Sesshōmaru as her father and Towa’s younger twin sister. She is normally cool, but it seems she can’t help but smile seeing Moroha and the others having fun.

In the final episode of the First Chapter, Setsuna lost her life in the battle with Kirinmaru. Sesshōmaru entrusts a broken Tenseiga to a despairing Towa, as if to tell her to revive Setsuna with the sword. Tenseiga is a sword that can revive a dead person just once but is it still possible with it being broken?

What About the Reunion with Parents!?

“Towa, Setsuna, Sesshōmaru, and Rin” and “Moroha, Inuyasha, and Kagome”, whether each family be able to safely meet or not is one of the biggest points of interest in ‘The Second Chapter’. Rin sleeping within the Tree of Ages with her fate still tied to Zero and the safety of Inuyasha and Kagome who have been imprisoned in the black pearl is of interest.

Kirinmaru’s Daughter Makes Her Appearance!

One of the key people in ‘The Second Chapter’ is Kirinmaru’s daughter, Rion. According to Director Hishida “While Rion was raised properly, the parent-child relationship between her and Kirinmaru has become quite complicated”. We want to hurry and find out the parent-child back story between Kirinmaru and Rion!

— There is a feeling of ‘Who would’ve thought Director Hishida’ but please tell us the details of how you were appointed as director.

The Three Girls Will Grow Up Little by Little

Director Hishida Masukazu

Hishida: Since the announcing of the ‘Hanyō no Yashahime’ project, it seems there was a large echo to “create ‘The Second Chapter’ as quickly as possible”. It’s just that the previous Teruo-san (Director Satō Teruo) already had his next assignment set so they reached out to me to be his successor. Producer Naka Hisakazu-kun joined Sunrise when I was directing my first work “Onmyō Taisenki” and he oversaw production; it seems he remembered my name in the corner of his mind. For me, I made my production debut with ‘Inuyasha’ so when I received talks of this work that has gathered everyone I’m indebted to, I thought “I absolutely cannot refuse this job and it’s my destiny to accept it!”

— It has been roughly 20 years but please tell us some of your memorable moments from back when you were working on ‘Inuyasha’.

Hishida: Not only was I in the production rotation, but I was also a production assistant, so I think I was involved in all the episodes in some way in the first year. I remember back then my senior (senpai) producers pushed a lot of things onto me *laughs*. The flash of Tessaiga’s “Wind Scar” turning up boulders and the effects of Miroku’s “Wind Tunnel” were things I came up with after receiving the unreasonable request of “You think of something” from my senior producers. At the time, it was a cell animation only anime, so I remember struggling quite a bit to produce something flashy with only a limited number of moves.

Also, I created the sequence flow of Sesshōmaru (destroying) countless demons into little pieces. At the time, I had only just started doing digital drawing but because I went overboard with it, the CG person got angry with me like “Because you made such a difficult thing (it became the standard), it’s gotten rough for me!” *laughs*. However, those materials were used as *bank shots for ‘Inuyasha, The Final Act’ and the current ‘The Second Chapter’. No one else will say it so I will, but I was quite involved in building the foundation for ‘Inuyasha’!

*Translator’s Note: Reusable shots (helps to save time and cost)

— That is quite the meritorious deed. Regarding work on ‘The Second Chapter’, what sort of plan do you have?

Hishida: In terms of art creation, continuing Teruo-san’s direction is the foundation. Also, an important aspect is how much will we be able to produce the three Yashahimes in way that makes them awesome and cute.

This time, I told everyone in the production/storyboard team “In ‘Hanyō no Yashahime”, the girls are the stars, so I want you to think about how to make them shine on screen”. With Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru, I think it’s fine to just have them stand in a savage wasteland, but we specially have girls, so I wanted to be a little conscious of the showy aspect. I separated from Sunrise after ‘Inuyasha’ and created anime that was geared towards primary school girls at other studios, so while utilizing that experience, I want to depict the courageous Yashahimes.

— What are some overall highlights for ‘The Second Chapter’?

Hishida: The process of the three girls slowly growing up will be depicted, so I think that’s a point worth noting. For those with children, I would certainly like for them to watch from a parental point-of-view. Also, in ‘The Second Chapter’ all of them will get new weapons. On the point of getting stronger both physically and psychologically, the flow will inherit from ‘Inuyasha’, and will have not just a shōnen manga component but also a fun factor that I think is possible with ‘Hanyō no Yashahime’. By all means, please watch over the development of the three (girls).

— Thank you very much. In the next issue, we will be asking about the highlights for each character as it pertains to ‘The Second Chapter’!

[tobinheath]

Leah Williamson and Keira Walsh have shared enough “written in the stars” moments in their 23 years to make them feel that they were fated to be best friends. Since meeting on an England Under-15s camp, their football careers have played out with a striking, almost eerie, similarity. They each play for their childhood clubs — Williamson for Arsenal, Walsh for Manchester City — and have a knack of picking up the same injuries at the same time.

They both received their first senior call-up on the same day in 2017. The 2019 World Cup was their first senior England tournament: they called each other to celebrate even before they called their parents, which resulted in Williamson shrieking “bloody hell — what have we done here?” in tears outside a London branch of Nando’s.

Most memorably, Williamson made her England debut coming on for Walsh, in the final six minutes of a World Cup qualifier against Russia in 2018. “My mum’s just framing my shirt, pestering me for that picture,” Williamson says.

Walsh interrupts, giddily. “I think that’s the only time I’ve actually done a full-teeth smile. I was so buzzing.”

“Yeah,” remembers Williamson, “because I was game faced, and you proper smiled at me and I went…” before jerking her mouth into a tight-lipped, nervous smile, chuckling.

“If it was anyone else,” Walsh picks up, “I’d have been, like: ‘I don’t want to come off’. But as soon as I saw it was Leah, I was buzzing.”

This is life at the top for two of England’s most talented young players: phenomenal success and too many good memories to count.

Today, best friends will turn opponent and they will face each other in the Women’s Super League (WSL) for the first time this season — hosts Manchester City are fourth, four points behind second-placed Arsenal — with Williamson pointing out that in a pre-COVID-19 world, she would have stayed after the match with Walsh’s family in Rochdale, where Walsh’s mother Tracy is “just like my mum”.

Over the hour they spent together on Zoom, they are gloriously good fun: warm, ebullient and habitually careering into laughter. They balance each other out, Walsh says: she is “shy and awkward” — though you would not know it here — and Williamson is the “buffer” in certain situations, and the more “logical” one of the two. Williamson views Walsh as the honest one, sometimes brutally so. “I have to step in sometimes and give it a smile and keep it balanced,” she says. “If I play a game and I’m not actually sure how it went, I would text Keira, because I know I’d get the most honest answer from anybody, even if that means it’s not what I want to hear. I think that is where the respect comes from.”

To track the pair’s football careers has been to often forget how young they are. Walsh made her City debut a few months after her 17th birthday and in November this year, Williamson played her 150th game for Arsenal. It is common for those in women’s football to grow up fast but in conversation, one is reminded of the duo’s gleeful, wonderful youth. There was the time, for instance, they rented electric scooters one afternoon at the World Cup in France to explore with Walsh’s Manchester City team-mate Georgia Stanway. The room-mates — Stanway with Williamson, Walsh with Lucy Bronze — had a group chat titled “The three best friends and Lucy”. Stanway, the youngest England player at the tournament, sped ahead on her scooter and they had to “rein her back in”, Williamson says.

“You were being a bit of a Cautious Claire, weren’t you?” teases Walsh, turning to Williamson, “probably as you should do at a World Cup. I think we were just enjoying being kids, weren’t we? Obviously, we were playing, and the reason we were there was to win, but we have so much free time that we were just enjoying being the younger ones.”

“All the older ones… that’s what they kept saying to us,” says Williamson. “Kaz Carney was like: ‘Make sure you enjoy your time now, because hopefully one day you will be the senior ones and there’ll be a lot more pressure on you. Just have the best time ever, make as many memories as possible. Jill Scott — I mean, she was a bit more wild than we are — said she’s got some of the best memories ever from those early tournaments and she wished she could do it again. I don’t think we wanted to waste a second.”

Do not presume, though, that the pair are anything other than serious competitors. By 20, Walsh had won every domestic title going: the WSL, FA Cup and League Cup. Williamson has won the league once, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup twice, finishing as runner-up in the latter to Walsh’s City in 2019. Walsh, an artful holding midfielder in the mould of Sergio Busquets — she grew up watching clips of him and David Silva with her father — will be among the most important players in the England squad moving forward and Williamson, capped 17 times, is touted as a future England captain.

It has not always been easy, though. An early test came in the form of Williamson’s ankle injury, sustained playing for Arsenal against Walsh’s Blackburn Rovers in the FA Youth Cup final. It was so traumatic Walsh admits there are still occasions she will search for Williamson’s results, see her friend has come off and think, “Please tell me it’s not her ankles again. My mum mentions it to me. She’ll say: ‘Did you see Leah came off?’” She addresses Williamson. “Because I’ve seen you in person do it, I feel like I automatically panic. When I see you at camp two weeks later, you’re like: ‘Maybe I was being a bit soft when I came off — it’s nothing to do with my ankles’. But I know what you’ve been through with them, so it is the first thing I think about.”

Williamson, in her own words, “basically just snapped my ankle and everything in it” after misplanting her foot. Stretcher, gas and air, a wheelchair, a doctor advising her to go straight to hospital. “I’m trying to fight back the tears and she’s nearly crying looking at me as well,” Williamson remembers. She stayed at the game because Arsenal had lost the season prior and she wanted to collect her winner’s medal.

“I think I played most of the game thinking, ‘I just hope she’s OK’,” says Walsh. “The only thing I actually remember from that game — not the goals or anything — was afterwards, I saw Leah on the side in a wheelchair with an Arsenal bobble hat on, having to wheel herself on to get her winner’s medal.”

A few months on from Williamson’s injury, Walsh damaged her ankle ligaments — it was an impact injury, and on her laptop, Williamson has pictures of her and Walsh “in wheelchairs at different times”. Walsh collected her second ankle injury at a training camp in La Manga, by which point Williamson’s ankles had betrayed her again. “We were both sat on the bench laughing because it was just crazy luck that we’d both done it again,” Walsh smiles. “I knew I couldn’t sit there feeling sorry for myself next to you.”

During their separate rehabilitation processes, they maintained the habit of visiting each other as often as they could. Their close friendship meant they were never allowed to share a room on international duty to ensure they didn’t isolate themselves from the rest of the group. Walsh was the class clown and Williamson the captain, meaning that “Leah would always get told off for me. They’d always be like: ‘Leah! You need to tell Keira she needs to be a bit more professional!’”

What it all meant was they had lost time to make up elsewhere. Each Christmas, Walsh would come to London from Rochdale and Williamson’s mother Amanda “would treat us to something from Jack Wills. That was like an annual little thing that we did, because I don’t think that I’d ever heard of Jack Wills, being from the north, until I met all these southerners at camp that used to wear it. I think I actually used to go down to see Amanda more than you, to be honest.”

What did they think of each other when they first met?

“You first,” says Williamson.

“No — you go,” Walsh replies.

“I’m going to big you up here,” Williamson begins. “Keira’s always been… she was always one of the best there, and you always want to be mates with the good ones.”

Walsh returns the favour: “I think I was quite jealous of you when you first came because everyone was like: ‘She’s amazing. I was thinking, I want to be amazing, as well, so I want to be friends with her.”

“That’s good, that we both thought the same thing.”

“There you go, then. That’s why we’re friends.”

“I’d say I’m your fangirl, Keira. I’m your hype man.”

Walsh has always been Williamson’s biggest supporter — “when you scored your first goal for England, I think I was happier for you than I would have been if I’d scored” — but probably has good reason to worry about Williamson calling herself a hype man. Before the World Cup, Williamson visited Cex, the second-hand goods chain, and spent £50 on some DJ decks to master during downtime at the tournament.

“I just looked across the corridor and I was like, ‘What is that noise? I’m sure that’s Leah’s room’,” Walsh recalls. “I opened the door and you had these big headphones on, mixing the decks. I saw Georgia just lying on the bed and I was like, ‘What is going on in here?’ They had the balcony door open and you were like: ‘Wait for the drop. Wait for the drop’. I was like: ‘OK – I’ll wait for the drop. You like your music, you are good with music and you actually might be very good. I trust you’. And the drop just never came.”

Williamson hoots with laughter. “Never came. I thought it would be so much easier than it was. It was so hard.” She shakes her head, jokingly rueful. “Massive flop. Massive flop.”

“I feel like you just try your hand at loads of random stuff,” continues Walsh. “I see you on camp and you’re like: ‘I’m doing the harmonica now’.”

Williamson says she has “found her calling” playing the piano in lockdown, but Walsh is unimpressed. “It’s just you try to give off this cool vibe and I feel like people don’t really know you. It just makes me laugh. What have you got — a lightsaber pen? And Star Wars pyjamas? People would just not think that. When you see the exterior of Leah, you would just think, ‘No – not Star Wars’. She’s done all these photoshoots, she’s dead cool, and then she just whacks out the craziest stuff and just makes me laugh.”

Williamson holds up her hands. “It’s true. I can’t deny it.”

The World Cup was particularly testing for Walsh, for whom fierce social media criticism left her questioning whether she wanted to continue to play football. Walsh has spoken numerous times about the impact on her confidence, but what was it like for Williamson, who did not feature as much as Walsh, to witness? She pauses. “I think it’s hard,” she begins, “because you just feel so powerless when you’re not playing. It’s not even like I can go on the pitch and have a shocker to save her from the criticism,” she laughs. “If I tell Keira she’s great, there’s a slight bit of her that’s… I’m her best mate, so I’m going to try and pick her up as much as possible.

“The main thing, especially from a squad perspective, is that we all know how valuable Keira is to us and how — I’m bigging you up here — she’s the centre of what we’re doing as a team. It just annoys me. I wish I could eradicate all those other people because we, as a team, appreciate her so much. That’s all I ever said to Keira – if anybody was picking a team, you’d be the first name on the teamsheet. But it’s hard to get… like I say, I’m her best mate, so I’m honest with her, but at the same time, she probably needed to hear that a little bit more.”

They didn’t talk about it so much, Walsh says. “Because you weren’t playing, I didn’t want to put that on you because I felt like it would be selfish,” she adds. “I thought, at the time: you know what? We’ll just make the best of it off the pitch, and I think that’s why we had such a good time.” Williamson’s first appearance, from the bench in the round-of-16 match against Cameroon, changed Walsh’s perspective “because I was just so happy for you that I didn’t care what people would say about me at that moment. People could say whatever they wanted because I’ve just played in a World Cup with my best friend. Not many people can say that.”

To be best friends, as professional athletes, is a balancing act: in any other walk of life, they would — could — rage at each other, moan, weep, get angry. As professional footballers, they are wary of distracting the other. “I know what you want to achieve, so my problems taking a back seat is fine with me if I know you’re going on to achieve what you want to achieve,” Walsh tells Williamson.

To Sunday, then, and what will happen when two best friends turn competitors for 90 minutes. Walsh smirks. “I feel like you try and keep a really focused head, and then I’ll just be like…” she cups her hands for a high-pitched whisper and springs up like a Jack in a box. “’Leah!’” Williamson rollicks back with laughter. “Then she’ll turn around and she’ll start laughing, but I do it because I know she’s going to laugh and I know that she’s trying to focus. I feel like I’m a lot more relaxed than you. You’re like, ‘Game face, game head, here we go’, and you just have that annoying friend in the background.”

Stanway is the worst, apparently, to the point where Walsh and Williamson will intervene — Williamson with a stern “we’re not having that today” when Stanway inevitably flattens her early doors. “We always text each other a couple of days, speak to each other earlier on in the week before we play each other,” says Williamson of her and Walsh.

“In the game and stuff, we have our little tiffs, and if I say something and she doesn’t agree with it, we’re both playing for the win, and we both understand that,” Walsh concludes, “but then afterwards, we’re straight over to each other.”

She starts to sign off, but Williamson beats her to it. “See you Sunday,” they chorus, in unison.

[nurvuss]

I Watched the First Episode of Every New Spring 2021 Anime Airing on Crunchyroll

Hey, are you like me, and feeling like you're not getting the most out of your Crunchyroll subscription? Sure, there's stuff on there that you know you like. But whenever I look at the big long list of simulcasting shows, my eyes glaze over and I don't even know where to begin.

I wanted to change my habits and see if there were any shining gems that I should be watching. So, as per the title, I watched the first episode of every new Spring 2021 anime on Crunchyroll. And guess what? There’s a lot of crap! But indeed, there’s some stuff that’s worth your time.

Some clarification: I've only watched shows that began their first season in April 2021.

Backflip!!

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The Lowdown

As Futaba Shotaro comes to the end of middle school, his interest in baseball has begun to wane. Soon he notices the Ao High Boys Gymnastic Club and becomes enthralled, especially after seeing them perform. Once he learns they're down two members, he chooses to sign up and pursue the art of gymnastics. The club is also joined by Misato Ryoya, a star solo gymnast looking to expand his technique through teamwork.

Our Thoughts

Pretty formulaic shoujo sports anime: you've got your himbo, your thug, your ladies' man, your stoic guy, with Shotaro rounding out the cast as the shy and awkward audience surrogate. It looks wholesome enough, and the choreographed routines employ CG in a way that's quite convincing without being hideous.

Who It's For

Fans of  FREE, or Yuri!!! on Ice, or any similar shows about cute boys who succeed at athletic feats. 

Borscht Rating

Burning Kabaddi

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The Lowdown

Legendary high school soccer star Yoigoshi Tatsuya has given up on sports! That is, until he's blackmailed to join the high school kabaddi team, under threat of his online persona being leaked to the entire school. Although Tatsuya initially writes kabaddi off as stupid, the unexpected happens as he begins to have fun.

Our Thoughts

Kabaddi is kinda like competitive tag, or dodgeball but with your body instead of a ball. Burning Kabaddi is basically the shounen alternative to Backflip!! above, replete with nosebleeds, pratfalls, and dudes punching each other. The main cast don't seem to like each other very much; that probably changes as the show goes on but at first blush it's a dynamic I always find annoying.

Who it's For

Fans of Haikyuu!!? Maybe?

Borscht Rating

CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD overDress

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The Lowdown

The newest series based on Bushiroad's collectible card game, featuring character designs by the beloved collective CLAMP. Petit middle schooler Yu-Yu just doesn't know how to say no. As his older students dress him in drag to use as live makeup practice, he suffers a panic attack and flees into the streets. After being accosted by a pickup artist, he's befriended by Megumi, who invites him to witness a Cardfight match at the local abandoned amusement park. However, Yu-yu is too shy to tell Megumi he's actually a boy…

Our Thoughts

What an unexpectedly weird concept for a show about a card game. Our hero spends the whole episode in drag, whimpering and simpering at the sight of any conflict. Then they show off the latest series of cards, which all seem to be giant buff knights with names like "Bad Steve" and "Violent Bruce". Your guess is as good as mine.

Who it's For

Cardfight!! lovers, Japanese gender studies majors, or the most desperate fujoshi. 

Borscht Rating

Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

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The Lowdown

The year is 54AD, and Nero has taken the throne as the youngest emperor of Rome. At the bottom of the population, Cestvs is a young slave training to be a colosseum boxer. Reluctant, his only choice is to fight or die.

Our Thoughts

Seeing Nero depicted as a gentle little twink is pretty funny. It's also pretty funny that the central character is named after a Roman boxing glove. The animation style transitions to some very uncanny CG when a major fight takes place, and I didn't like that one bit! This seems like a pretty average tournament anime but with a historical setting. It's currently unknown if any of these dudes are fucking each other. I'm gonna say probably.

Who It's For

The venn-diagram of Greco-Roman history buffs and lovers of tournament series?

Borscht Rating

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro!

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The Lowdown:

Hachioji Naoto is a nerdy, introverted student who spends his time studying and avoiding socialising. When pages from the fantasy manga he's drawing fall out of his bookbag, they catch the attention of a younger student named Nagatoro Hayase. Nagatoro begins to tease Naoto for his otaku interests and awkward demeanour, peppered with some suggestive flirting.

Our Thoughts:

What would you do if a younger girl flirted with you? Would you cry? Piss your pants maybe? Maybe shit and cum? Don't Toy With Me… attempts to barely conceal its BDSM fantasy with its comedic elements, but it's incredibly apparent as Nagatoro always wipes away Naoto's tears as a sort of aftercare. It's like a lighter, comedic version of Aku no Hana, but lacking any of the ponderings or danger that made that work so special.

Who It's For: 

People who search Pornhub for "bratty sister femdom".

Borscht Rating:

86 Eighty-Six

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The Lowdown

The Republic of San Magnolia and the Giad Empire, have been at war for nearly a decade. Using advanced military technology, the frontlines are fought by giant mecha drones called Juggernauts, controlled remotely by Handlers. Major Vladilena Mirizé is one of the military's most talented Handlers in the 1st District, and one who is constantly teased by her peers for the humanity and empathy she shows her squadron. The government line is that drone warfare has kept casualties to zero, but unbeknownst to the public these "drones'' are piloted by 86ers—the lowest class of citizens, forced to live in military internment camps in San Magnolia's 86th District.

Our Thoughts

This is incredibly my kind of thing. We've got a dual narrative being set up here: Vladilena as the kind, reluctant officer of a fascist regime, and the Bad Company-esque antics of her new ragtag squad, Spearhead. The first episode is split pretty evenly between the two, with each story converging at the end as Vladilena "meets" Spearhead for the first time through her comms station. It's an explosive and enticing first episode, and I can't wait to watch more of it.

Who It's For

Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist, Psycho-Pass, Gundam, or any number of anti-imperialist war stories.

Borscht Rating

Fairy Ranmaru

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The Lowdown

In a quiet corner of the city sits Bar F, a modest drinking establishment staffed entirely by five hot young men. Unbeknownst to the general population, these men are a crack team of fairies sent to the human world to gather the latent energy of "attachment". They do this by solving the problems of young women, taking their hearts in the process.

Our Thoughts

Hubba hubba, a little something for the ladies! It's Weiẞ Kreuz with a bar instead of a flower shop, fairies instead of assassins, and some pretty revealing outfits. There's definitely a little Persona 5 inspiration here too, from the punctuating phrase "Take your Heart!" to many of the visual cues. Make of that what you will.

Who It's For

Fans of Weiẞ Kreuz, slash fic authors.

Borscht Rating

Farewell, My Dear Cramer

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The Lowdown

Onda Nozomi was once the star player of her middle school football team. Completely unmatched, she no longer plays as there's no opponent she deems to be on her level. Meanwhile Suou Sumire far outpaces her teammates, causing her frustration. By a twist of fate, these two girls find themselves joining the scrappy Warabi Seinan High School FC as they begin to learn the value of teamwork and friendship.

Our Thoughts

I don't know sports. And I really don't know football. I had to look up what the title meant, and now I barely know who Dettmar Cramer is. I'm really not the best person to judge this, but it seems like a pretty good female-driven sports anime. 

Who It's For

Fans of Ace o Nerae! or other sports manga/anime about those ever burning bonds between young teammates.

Borscht Rating

Gloomy, the Naughty Grizzly

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The Lowdown:

Pitty lives with his pet Gloomy, a massive pink bear. Can a boy and a bear truly get along?

Our Thoughts:

This is a series of minute-long gag episodes in which Gloomy mauls Pitty and blood squirts everywhere. It's definitely meant to be a morbid parody of Sanrio or San-X; it might be a Rilakkuma parody in particular? Gloomy is the kind of thing you might laugh at if it came on in between shows, but it's pretty slight to go through the trouble of putting on.

Who It's For:

Gag anime fans with one minute to spare.

Borscht Rating:

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway

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The Lowdown

After a night of drinking in Tokyo, slovenly salaryman Yoshida encounters a teenage runaway sitting under a lamppost. She offers to sleep with him in return for letting her spend the night in his apartment. Yoshida refuses her offer but allows her to stay. The next morning the girl, Sayu, reveals she's travelled all the way from Hokkaido, sleeping with random men in return for lodging and money. Feeling responsible for her safety, Yoshida agrees for Sayu to stay indefinitely in return for handling household chores.

Our Thoughts

This is kind of the inverse of Koikimo (see below), but without a scumbag character and from a male perspective. It's not nearly as nauseating as that show, but it's still a fantasy about living with a busty teenage girl.

Who It's For

Libertarians.

Borscht Rating

I've Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level

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The Lowdown: 

Office lady Aizawa Azusa dies of overwork in her early 20s, and finds herself standing before a lecherous goddess. Allowed a wish as compensation for her untimely demise, Azusa wishes for an endless life of leisure. The goddess reincarnates her as a 17-year-old immortal witch in an RPG-coded fantasy world. Thrilled, Azusa lazes about, brewing potions for her neighbouring villagers, and kills a small amount of slimes each day to supplement her income. After doing this every day for 300 years, she inadvertently finds herself at Level 99. Her peaceful life is soon upended as adventurers and dragons come from miles around to challenge the legendary witch.

Our Thoughts:

I'm not really an isekai fan, and that goes double for series which aren't set in an RPG, yet use RPG mechanics. Levelling up, grinding stats, min-maxing, as if it's a part of the fabric of the setting. I don't get it. I like watching numbers go up as much as the next dork, but I don't need to watch numbers go up in absolutely every piece of media I consume. Just play a fucking video game, Jesus Christ almighty.

I thought this might be setting up a fun series in which a layabout is reluctantly called upon to undertake a dangerous quest, but I don't think that's what's going on at all. When the red dragon Laika wrecks Azusa's house, she transforms into a cute young girl and the two begin living together, teaching each other the pros and cons of hard work and slothfulness respectively. The trajectory of the series might be as laid back as its protagonist in the end, which, ultimately, would be fitting.

Who It's For:

Isekai fans, slice-of-life fans. The twain have met!

Borscht Rating:

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

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The Lowdown

In alternative history Japan the Meiji Period continued well into the 1930s, and the ongoing Tokugawa Shogunate has brought technological prosperity to the nation through a magical energy source called the Dragon's Vein. Sawa Yukimura runs a bookshop where she lives with her little sister by day, but by night she's an assassin for Nue, the shogunate's secret police. As the terrorist group Kuchinawa deploys transforming beasts in an attempt to topple the shogunate, Nue springs into action with their own abilities.

Our Thoughts

There are a lot of concepts competing here, and a few too many flashy transformation sequences for my taste, but I'm really into it! Nue are made up of sex workers and street musicians, often overlooked and therefore easily able to blend in. There's a supernatural Standalone Complex vibe to how the team operates, and they're almost assuredly on the wrong side. Worth a shot!

Who It's For

Fans of alternate history science fiction, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Demon Slayer.

Borscht Rating

Koikimo: Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui ("It's Disgusting to Call This Love")

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The Lowdown

Amakusa Ryo is a womanizing salaryman concerned with nothing but his own base desires. As he slips on the train station stairs one morning, he's saved by the swift action of Arima Ichika, a kind-hearted high schooler. When it turns out Ichika is friends with Ryo's younger sister Riou, he decides she's his soulmate, and begins to pursue her no matter how many times she refuses him. Comedy ensues!

Our Thoughts

Yeah, OK groomer.

Alright look, Korikimo is written by a woman and told from Ichika's perspective, so this is obviously meant to be a lighthearted "older man" shoujou romance. As an older man, all I saw were the adventures of a paedophile and the teenager he's stalking. Fuck off.

Who it's For

There's probably other stuff like this, right? If you like that, here you go.

Borscht Rating

Let's Make a Mug, Too

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The Lowdown

After the death of her mother, Himeno and her father relocate from bustling Tokyo to quiet Tajimi City in Gifu Prefecture. The former salaryman opens a quiet cafe using the remarkable mugs made by his late wife, while Himeno follows in her mother's footsteps and joins the school pottery club. Although her first project ends in disaster, Himeno makes fast friends with the eccentric pottery enthusiasts who make up the club.

Our Thoughts

It's no Eizouken, but I guess it's probably not meant to be. I'm not a big iyashikei genre fan, but if that's your thing, you might enjoy the wholesome non-adventures of three girls trying to make a mug. It's worth noting these episodes are only about 12 minutes long, with the remaining runtime segmented into live action episodes where the voice actresses tour Tajimi and unconvincingly pretend to be interested in Gifu's famous mino-yaki pottery. I think this must be a tie-in with a local tourist board. 

Who It's For

People who enjoy stuff like Aria, actually.

Borscht Rating

OddTaxi

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The Lowdown

In a Tokyo populated by anthropomorphic animals, a solemn walrus named Odokawa spends his nights driving his cab around the bustling metropolis, spending his free time drinking with his pals. Odokawa soon finds his quiet life disrupted by a caper involving a missing girl, some crooked cops, and the animal yakuza. 

Our Thoughts

A deft blend of working class slice-of-life with mystery, cute animals, and striking visual design. OddTaxi might be the sleeper hit of Spring 2021.

Who It's For

Fans of existentialist film noir with absurdist comedy, Polar Bear Cafe, walrus lovers.

Borscht Rating

Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose

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The Lowdown

Suehiro Maruo Sueharu Maru has his heart set on Shirokusa Kachi, the hottest girl in school. When she begins dating a young actor, Sueharu confides in his childhood friend Kuroha Shida, who's openly in love with him and he rejected in the past. Kuroha suggests the two get revenge on Shirokusa by pretending to be in love. Will Sueharu fall in love with Kuroha for real, making her dreams come true?

Our Thoughts

Give me a fucking break.

Who It's For

I don't know and I don't care.

Borscht Rating

SD Gundam World Heroes

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The Lowdown

The newest instalment of the SD Gundam media-mix franchise. In a world populated by super deform mecha, a burning meteor lands in the middle of Captain City. From it launches a terrible mechanized beast: Naughty Lion. When the police are powerless to stop it, a crack team led by Zhuge Liang Gundam and Liu Bei Gundam sorties to bring Naughty Lion to justice. When the beast stops rampaging, it transforms into Sun Wukong Gundam, a youthful amnesiac mecha horrified at the destruction he wrought. The Three Kingdoms Gundams welcome Sun Wukong into the fold to make sense of this mysterious event.

Our Thoughts

I'm an 80s kid, I know a 30-minute toy commercial when I see one.

No, seriously though, I'm aware of SD Gundam's merchandising—they're cute designs, and I even used to have a bunch of the gum rubber mini figurines. I've played the SD Great War Super Famicom games, they're fun! This is a vehicle to get kids hyped up about the latest toys, which are...based on  a hodgepodge of Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms this year? There's even a little SD Guan Yu Gundam with a big long beard!

I kinda wanted to like the idea of a bearded robot, but the mechas are super busy and overdesigned. I guess there's only so much you can do to make your next series of toys bigger and better, so these guys are all decked out in gold accents, capes, horns, and antlers, and half the time I couldn't parse what I was seeing.

I'm so glad I don't have to watch any more of this. 

Who It's For

Very, *very* young mecha fans.

Borscht Rating

Seven Knights Revolution: Hero Successor

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The Lowdown

Long ago, the Dark God Nestra ruled the world through fear. Standing against him were the Seven Knights, seven brave warriors chosen by the Light Goddess Serrass. With their powers combined, Nestra was defeated and the lands returned to peace. Hundreds of years later the wicked Physis Cult seeks to revive Nestra, summoning undead beasts to ravage the countryside. With the Seven Knights long dead, the Granseed Academy has risen to train the next wave of heroes to combat this threat. Using special cards, the students of Granseed are able to call upon the power of the Seven Knights to guide them in battle.

Our Thoughts

As soon as the opening started with its transforming heroes and lovingly depicted weapon cards, I realised this must be based on a mobile game. Indeed, this is based on a free-to-play gacha from Korean developer Netmarble. Even before I was able to confirm this, Hero Successor failed to draw me in, eschewing details on the nature of its world in lieu of a glamourised marketing push for its source material. What's here is incredibly slight, and likely to be of little interest to anyone who isn't deep into this game.

Who It's For

Seven Knights whales, I guess.

Borscht Rating

Those Snow White Notes

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The Lowdown

Sawamura Setsu mourns the death of his grandfather Matsugorou, a talented shamisen player who refused to pass his secrets on. Not knowing what else to do, he leaves his remote village for Tokyo, taking nothing but his shamisen along with him. Soon he finds himself wrapped up in the complicated life of aspiring actress Yuna and her scuzzy rockstar boyfriend Taketo. When Setsu opens for Taketo's band, he stuns the audience with the raw emotion of his playing. However, his heart is still tumultuous. 

Our Thoughts

An entertaining first episode of a speciality music series, which is the kind of thing I have a place in my heart for. I couldn't shake the feeling of some latent misogyny that suggested the role of a woman is to inspire a tortured artist, but I might be wrong. The final few minutes take a twist by introducing Setsu's weird, horny mother who seems to have her own personal SWAT team, and it looks like the series becomes a more conventional high school anime from episode 2 onwards. Don't know about that!

Who It's For

Fans of Kids on the Slope, Sound of the Sky.

Borscht Rating

Tokyo Revengers

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The Lowdown

Former delinquent Takemichi is unsatisfied with the way his life turned out, living alone in a paper-thin apartment and working a minimum wage job under a boss who doesn't respect him. When watching the news one evening, he learns that his highschool sweetheart Hinata was killed, alongside her little brother. On the way to work the next morning, Takemichi falls in front of an oncoming train and wakes up 12 years in the past. Armed with foreknowledge, he attempts to turn his life around and save his onetime lover.

Our Thoughts

This is drawing from a lot of sources; the whole train sequence is lifted straight from Gantz, while the story itself initially seems like a Life on Mars kind of deal. In fact, Tokyo Revengers sees Takemichi jump back and forth between the present and the past, seemingly making small changes until he achieves his desired outcome. It feels like a very video gamey depiction of time travel, and one that's not super interesting.

Who It's For

Steins;Gate fans, maybe? Delinquent manga (Shonan Junai Gumi, Crows, etc.) fans, maybe? It's pretty self-serious compared to any of those.

Borscht Rating

To Your Eternity

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The Lowdown

An immortal being in the form of an orb falls to earth and becomes a stone. Years pass, an ice age sets in, and a white wolf stumbles onto the tundra and dies. The orb, able to take the form of anything that leaves a strong impression on it, transforms into the wolf and slowly learns how to use its newfound ambulatory body. The creature treks back through the tundra where it meets a boy living alone, after the rest of his village left in search of a better life. The boy recognises the wolf as his beloved pet, Johann, and the two begin living together in the harsh, lonely wastes.

Our Thoughts

I'm being a little coy with the synopsis here, and there's a major shake-up at the end of this debut episode. This one's based on a manga by the critically acclaimed Yoshitoki Ooima (A Silent Voice), and it's a depressing, compelling, and exciting start to a series. Lots of potential here!

Who It's For

Fans of NieR, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, Last Exile, Kino's Journey.

Borscht Rating

So, there you have it. I'm hoping this will be of use to anyone who experiences a similar sense of dread when faced with so many choices. Maybe we’ll do this again during the Summer 2021 anime season.

Also, please don't get mad at me if I'm snarky about your new favourite show! It’s just TV and I'm a big idiot anyway.

[the-acid-pear]

I did my homework and i did my chores, time to tackle on the third book of this series, Son of Ogre

Chapter 1

Okay but the fuck is Baki planning to do if he stops fighting? That's literally all he has, he's not smart

WOOH THATS A BIT REALISTIC

PREHISTORIC ELEPHANT?!

King just went to have a snack. Also FUCK does that meat look tasty FUCKKK

This baby so cute 🥺

I'm so glad Yuji is doing stupid hilarious shit again it had been a while

Congrats on Baki for that mantis

Chapter 2

Who tf is this kid?

Poor kid lmao, i assume he will meet Baki

Look at my boyyy

HSTSRFAYDF DON'T CALL HIM A MANLET

Imagine Baki actually kills this kid HSJDYSSHCBT

Third comment with a ton of likes is "we do not condone child violence. We do, however, find it hilarious"

Chapter 3

AH SHUT UPPP KIDDO

But i like Baki memeing a round a lil

Chapter 4

🥺🥺 that's so sweet...

HELLOOOO STRYDUM MY GOD YOUR TITS GOT FATTER SIR 😳😳

Yujiro is such a fucking threat to society lmao

I love seeing Baki with his eyes open, he's looking more like his old self

Oh, shadow boxing incoming, alright

Chapter 5

Yuri? 🥺 /j

THE RETURN OF IRON MICHAEL?!

Chapter 6

I love how there's our silly little mains after every cover LUV em <33

Baki just dissociating his ass out and using it on his favor, the king

Why is Baki eating sour prunes aren't those meant to be sweet?

We all salivating

Chapter 7

Love to see there are even more swears there now

I can put my face next to my foot too tho

FAGDRJSEHARD YUJIRO CAN BEAT THE CANCER HOW ICONIC 😍

Also i would LOVE to see Yuji fight an Orca

WHAT?!

I love how everyone in the comments is calling out Rumina for not seeing issue going down to a dark hidden basement with a shirtless man older than him

Chapter 8

"piggy back me" USHSYFLFUDSY

This fight is going to be good

Chapter 9

Imagine Baki dies right here right know against an imaginary mantis lmao

Okay Baki getting damaged makes sense but the WALL?

Baki's dead (GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT)

Ffs it's true Baki COULD create himself a stand 😰

Chapter 10

OH FUCK IT'S TRUE

Chapter 11

This fight is so boring i had to take a 6 hour break

Baki just can't win against nature eh

This reminds me of Garland pulling a suplex on that Anaconda

Chapter 12

I can't wait for the main cast to ACTUALLY appear, instead of just, you know, them in the covers

This fight is slow but cool but slow

To fight a mantis you must think like a mantis ����

Though it's true in this manga you will most likely win if you steal your opponent techniques so

Chapter 13

I MISS IGARI FUCKKK

This is so dumb i luv it

That mantis be swearing lmao

Love it when Baki goes full Yujiro

Chapter 14

TOBA...

Holy fuck do mantis fly?

Secret Chapter?

Is this how Yujiro got born?

Idk girl i would have killed him if i was you

WHAT.

I KNOW THOSE FROGS THEY ARE FROM PUERTO RICO I THINK

I might just be sleepy but this is so confusing

AKSHSKGSKSGSJSG JUST KILL THE BABY IT AINT THAT HARD

Chapter 15

GAIA...

Why is he like this?

Is "he" with us right now?

...gotta admit that IS true...

I love Strydum sksgwhwg

Yujiro really went XD

I don't think my man Arun in the comments is aware how gay what he said is, though maybe I'm wrong

Chapter 16

GOD THESE FUCKING COVERS MAKING ME SO NOSTALGIC, LOOK AT SPEC!

ANIME KENNEDY?!

I can't believe Bush is dead

AN ASIAN BOY HAS JUST KIDNAPPED THE PRESIDENT...

8 of January? My god he's a Capricorn

I'm sorry, what?

LAHQIGWKQFWKSFWIWG 😭😭

I love Baki so much, THIS IS THE KID THAT I MISSED SO MUCH

This explains why Baki was in prison clothes in the anime teaser

Chapter 17

BIG NUMBER

That one mf like 😐

Glad Baki is 18 now at least 😌

Love to see Oliva back

Chapter 18

This page not even bothering to charge the pages anymore

I'm sure there were better ways to go to jail, well, actually, no, but still

Toba used to just chew that off

Baki did that mantis hit you in the head too hard?

I. I watched way too many prison movies and shows. I don't like seeing someone as young and pretty as Baki in such a place. I rlly don't.

Chapter 19

Yanagi baby i miss you...

IRON MICHAEL?!

Mfkhsjsys 😳🥴

Eh got my hopes too high

CHE BAKI PIBE... LA PUTA MADRE NI ACA ME ESCAPO DE MIS COMPATRIOTAS

I hope he swears too i want to see a boludo o pelotudo PLEASE

I mean para pelotudos lo veo a Yujiro todo el tiempo pero igual JSGWKEGWG me pone bien argento ver al Che carajo

Chapter 20

HE SAID BOLUDO SUAHWKWGAKSGSKSGSKGD

I can't take this omfg new fav I'm sorry Doppo but he just said boludo 😭

Pendejo is more used as pibe here but i will let it pass bc idk the lingo in Cuba and he spent some time there so

Why don't i speak like this too ffs? All i do is say eh and call it a day

He's cocky enough to call anybody any age pibe so I'll let that pass too

Por favor no lo hagas che sksgwj

Chapter 21

Che, pibe, it's a good day to die...

Chapter 22

GSHAGSTSG he should have said "no boludo"

I'm falling in love with this boludo myself

That's talented and brutal

OH RIGHT YOU LOSE YOUR BALANCE WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THAT

Chapter 23

Hm that's, cringe

YESSS HE SAID PELOTUDO

OAHWLGWKQFSKSGSJS SIII ROMPELO TODO CHE, ROMPELO TODO POR DECIRTE YANKEE KSGSSJGS

Honestly i too get pissed off when called American or European, though i won't throw shit to Baki, he's some random 18 yo japanese boy, no way he would recognize latinoamerican lingo lmao

King shit Baki boy

Chapter 24

Oh that's why he's called Jun Guevara, that's fair

I like how they are mixing a bit of truth and a bit of lie it's fun at least

Chapter 25

I like how they are drawing nipples now, occasionally

I can't wait for Viêt to complain about propaganda in the comments

OH SHIT

😳 :Y

He's sooo nice 😍

Chapter 26

Only three? You mean the third is... 👁️👁️

HAHA YEAH YUJI-CHAN <3

I can't believe he works for the USA I'm crying and shaking rn

What a progressive manga, the three strongest and most dangerous men and none of them are white 😍

GET HIS ASS BAKI

Chapter 27

Why is this guy sweating sm?

LDYDYSUGFUDT BAKI PLS

I like how the only time Baki was willing to kill a person was when he thought Sikorsky had hurt his girl

Chapter 28

I feel like Ian will die

Man i love how Baki is drawn in this book

Ffs i called it, i have watched way too many prison things to know how shit goes down

I have seen these three before in fanart but I'm curious to see what they can do

Chapter 29

Their faces remind me of Doyle

OH I CANT WAIT TO SEE EM IN THE ANIME

ASSHOLE DON'T CALL ME STUPID 😢💔

I'm gonna struggle to tell em apart but i think I'll manage

Okay I'm not the only one who thinks they look like Doyle, fair

Chapter 30

The mouth vs Yujiro when?

Someone mentioned the have the same vibe as the dudes that worked with Gaia and like 👁️👁️

Chapter 31

Lmao someone in the comments recommended the same thing

These three must be great at sex (sorry)

KSHALDHDKD NEW FAV COMMENT: "go to Japan and look for the word "defeat". That way you won't feel cocky anymore"

Chapter 32

Hehe hello Junnn~

KSHAKDHKWGS

La luna

Chapter 33

LOS TRES...

Okay that's funny, hocico instead of mouth (hocico is used for animal mouths)

I'm so glad i know Spanish

The two things that drive me insane and make me ramble are Doppo's beauty and this stupid argentinian

OSHSKWGSKSG

Chapter 34

Imagine he's doing that illusion thing Dorian did

With his own blood, that's so cool...

Hoho...!

I did that once when i had a terrible nose bleed, didn't go well

Chapter 35

This book is fucking boring NGL

"now that you got no more urine left in you"

AH.

GAHDYR LMAO

Chapter 36

HO THAT TITLE, PLEEEASE I NEED SOMETHING, ANYTHING, TO HAPPEN

HHH he kinda cute...

Oww :(

JDJSJFRGAJ

God piantao is an old word i had never heard it before

AND he took a piss.

LOCO NO SEAS HOMOFÓBICO NINGUNA MINA ACA ES MEJOR QUE ESTE PIBITO TE LO ASEGURO SKSGSKGSJAAGS

Se me cayó un ídolo y yo que le quería dar 😔

ÑSHWQLSGOSGDKW

Let's see if he lied to Baki about just liking eh /j

Chapter 37

I luv Oliva lol

AJSGSKSLAGHS BAKI SNAPPED

I too wonder where the fuck Kozue is

Chapter 38

LSHSLDGSLSGSIEG

He is jealous of what you two have, it's normal, el Che just rejected his love after all ;/

Oliva is a king

OH A HANKERCHIEF I THOUGHT THAT WAS UNDERWEAR SHSGS-

Oh shit Oliva is like 45?! He looked so young

Te fuiste a la mierda, Che, el chabón estaba siendo re bueno con vos

Baki is just dead

Chapter 39

I love how realistic Che's fear is, he's rather smart, though not this time

POOR GUY AJSGSWJW

I didn't realize Che said "what more, it may be a woman!" but to be fair they ARE in jail so

Chapter 40

I'm feeling kinda bad for him ngl

I feel happy for him tho 🥺

Bruh they added one page after the ending of some naked anime girl tf 😐

Chapter 41

These prisoners having fun is kinda sweet

YO INSANE

Bitches be complaining about Maria's looks are just jealous 🥰

Chapter 42

Damn she lorge

He loves fighting naked eh

Only valid person is the one saying Oliva deserves better treatment which tbh true

Chapter 43

Fun fact i wear my jacket like El Che too, unless it's too cold

El che with the hair lose is so cute bro,,,

Something something fingering joke

Sikorski could fold a coin too

I bet the bandana will break

Chapter 44

I would have just fallen on top of him, how is he gonna counter that, eh?

Oh that super fun to know!

Oh the good ol dirty technique, i have seen this one before!

Chapter 45

NOOO MARIA DON'T DO THIS TO HIM

This fight is super cool tho i love these two characters

Chapter 46

They just keep changing the rules i think Itagaki is just flexing at this point

LAAOSFKAGSKAGSKAF???

Baki wants his protagonism back

I'm getting pissed off they keep putting semi naked underaged girls at the end of every chapter 😐

Chapter 47

Bruh just realized, the mouth got so hyped as this new cool villain and they died in their first appearance 😭

His damn bandana...

[kangaroo-sniper-imagine]

Mercs who didn’t pay attention to their family trees

-I’m only doing a few mercs, cuz otherwise this would be huge-

Scout and Spy

When Miss Pauling introduced their newest recruit, The Thief, everyone was at least interested with the new blood. They were useful on the field; fast, silent, deadly, quickly able to steal the info case and dashing back to safety in record time. They were closed off at first, like many are in a new environment, but quickly opened up as soon as they were settled in.

The only person who didn’t quite connect with them was Spy (shocker). There was something about the new recruit that stuck him odd, something familiar about them that he couldn’t just put his finger on. The Frenchman’s son felt similarly.

“It’s like I already know ‘em; which is weird ‘cuz I’m dead certain we’ve never met before.”

It wasn’t until several weeks later, as the ten of you all were joined in the rec room, just enjoying each other’s company after a successful match. Jacque sat in the corner with Mick {not to derail but I totally think that they’re secret best friends who roast each other on the field}, both sipping at their drinks and idly talking as Jeremey sat with them, having a loud conversation with Jane from across the room.

Then they heard it. A deep, throaty chortle that was extremely unattractive, coming from across the room, coming from you

Both Jacque and Jeremy froze, the sound too familiar for it to be comfortable, eyes snapping to you, where you were wildly laughing with Travish. The Scotsman was sloshed and laughed along with your, his thundering laughter almost drowning out your own. Almost.

The sniper took a slow sip of his beer as he as well looked upon the commotion. He hummed in thought, and turned to the frozen spy. “Izzit jus’ me,” he drawled, gesturing with is beer can to you, “or do their laugh sound a lot like yours?”

Scout slowly turned to his father, rage in his eyes, but all Spy could do was watch you laugh that awful laugh. His brain slowly connected the evidence, memories of 20+ years ago invaded his mind, a dalliance with a woman who looks shockingly like you, the nose that you share with him and Jeremy, your strange obsession with your appearance, and most damning of all; the shitty laugh that you’ve seem to inherit from Jacque.

With a deep breath, the Frenchman stood up, determined to get out of the room and hide in his abode so he could scream in peace, but the sudden influx of the realization, rather, caused him to faint.

He awoke, what he assumed, several hours later, in a familiar camper bed. In his peripheral, Jacque could see Mick smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper with one hand, a mug of coffee in the other. Without even looking up to confirm that the Frenchman was awake, the sniper spoke.

“Your kids are right pissed at you, mate.”

Jacque cursed.

Heavy and Soldier

Pauling was ecstatic to introduce more help, probably under the impression that this person to pick up the slack the other leaves so that her evenings won’t be filled with killing and covering up murders and thefts. Some young thing with a thick, almost indiscernible accent who spoke rarely and quietly. You were called the Electrician, for your… odd choice of weaponry.

Your gun was one of your own design, one you were very proud of, that rather than bullets shot out electrical charges, either stunning your opponent to help assist another teammate in a kill or give off a charge so intense it kills. You spent most of your free time in your assigned work shop improving your gun’s design and creating new weapons.

More than once, the team would hear a loud scream and the sound of a loud thud, only to come and find your door blown wide open and you stuck in the adjacent wall, hair shocked to stiffness and a new white streak added to your hair. Needless to say, you kept the team on their toes with your eccentricities. For some reason, your antics made Mikhail exceptionally worried. It was a weird knee jerk reaction he had, something that hadn’t flared up since he was younger, watching over his sisters.

About a month after your arrival, Jane caught you in his raccoon infantry pen, cooing over the animals that flocked to you. It was the first time he saw you smile since you’ve gotten there, and the first time he’s seen you out of your combat gear, now you wore a too large tee shirt and denim shorts, toes in the Arizona sand, scratching the chins of the furry animals. Deciding to try his luck, Jane approached you with a bellowing welcome, startling you, but you greeted him back regardless.

Jane noticed how much you liked watching the raccoons play with each other, but noticed you looked sad too.

“What’s the long face for, private?”

Your face pinched. When you spoke your words were slow, not used to English. “They have… family. I do not.” With a heavy sigh, you tried to elaborate. Jane didn’t mind waiting for you to collect your thoughts or your thick accent. Years of hanging out with Travish and Ludwig extremely sloshed had taught Jane patience in regards to others when they’re trying to speak an unfamiliar language.

“Mother was from… Russia? But father was from Norway, and mother went to there with him. When mother and father… died,” Jane’s heart twinged at the way your face fell, “I do not know how to find mother’s family in Russia, and father had no family in Norway. So I stay in Norway.” A beat of silence passed as you scratched the head of a curious baby raccoon that strayed closed to you. “I stay alone.”

Jane busted out crying, pulling you into a bear hug and vowing to be your surrogate family for as long as you want. He made it his mission to figure out who your family is. The first thing he did was write down the name of your parents, fully planning on hunting down your relatives after some good old fashioned American bonding.

Just as he was about to reunite with you after grabbing a baseball form his room, the American ran into Mikhail, who seemed pissed off

“You touch Sasha?” He accused, one large finger jabbing into the soldier’s chest. Jane couldn’t find it in himself to get mad at the accusation, he was a man on a mission to cheer up a sad kid and no angry Red was gonna stop him.

“No time,Sputnik! There’s a sad private who needs a moral boost and a good old game of catch!”

Rage quickly turned to confusion, then mild understanding. “Electrician is sad?”

Soldier gave a speedrun version of your sad backstory, even going as far to show the names of your parents to the Heavy. The Russian surveyed the sheet and he sighed. “That is not how name of mother is spelled.” He informed.

Jane scoffed. “And how would you know?”

Mikhail threw the American an unimpressed look. “Because family name is mother’s name before marriage.”

There was a second of realization.

“... is it a common last name?”

“... nyet.”

“... you might want to call your mother to confirm something.”

“... Heavy just might.”

—-

The next morning, Mikhail knocked on Jane’s door so early in the morning, the vet wasn’t even awake yet already doing his morning exercises.

The American looked up blearily to the Russian, one hand scratching his buzz cut head.

Mikhail looked grim. “Heavy call mother. Mother says that Electrician’s mother is cousin to her.”

Soldier mulled over the information. “So… your mama’s cousin is Private Zappy’s mama, so that makes us-

“Makes ME second cousin.” Mikhail insisted.

With an air of smugness, Jane flashed his left hand, displaying a wedding band. “Then I’m their second cousin in-law.”

Mikhail grumbled in annoyance and rolled his eyes, complaining in Russian. “Right. Sister Zhanna’s big mistake.”

With a sense of new found energy, Soldier stuck his chin up high and began marching towards your room, seemingly not aware that he was in only a pair of his tighty whiteys.

Mikhail sighed again but followed Jane regardless to tell you the news of your newfound family.

Medic (italics is German cuz lets be honest, who wants to translate all that)

After months of complaining to Pauling, asking for more on field medical help, upper management finally relented and hired a new mercenary, some bright young thing going by The Nurse.

You were studious, and compared to Ludwig you were very tamed. You saw this opportunity as a job to perform and not a way to finally experiment legally on people without getting arrested the way Ludwig does. You took your work seriously, dutifully dressing every wound, handing out pain medication, assisting Ludwig in his surgeries. You certainly helped lessen his work load during battle, helping with minor injuries so that the doctor could focus on his Ubercharge and on more serious injuries.

You two were professional to each other; despite showing you weren’t exactly sadistic you never chastised Ludwig for his somewhat cruel experiments, and you were always respectful to him and everyone else around you, which is something that impressed him (considering how noting the rest of the team is).

One day while experimenting on Heavy, you solemnly standing next to the doctor with your face covered like the good little health professional you were, the Medic fuzzed in German, adding, “I need a bone saw.”

Without him translating, you turned to your side and snatched the instrument off the tray, passing it to the doctor.

After a moment of thought, Ludwig spoke again. “You speak German?”

“Ja, I am from Germany after all.”

The russain’s rib finally took the blade and now was slicing easily. “What a coincidence. Which part?”

“Munich, but I left while I was very young when my family moved.” After another brief pause, you add, “I actually wanted to become a nurse because of Munich.

Ludwig didn’t mention that he, as well, came from the same city, rather, he decided to prod you and learn more. It was so rare to meet someone he could have a conversation in his mother tongue with.

“What in Munich made you want to become a nurse?” Reaching into Heavy’s chest with a scalpel, Ludwig began to sever the arteries attached to the heart.

“The University. My family lived nearby, and seeing the students come and go made me want to join them… actually a relative went there. My family was very proud of him and I wanted to go with him, but, ah, I was only a child.” Without being asked, you held out a silver pan that Ludwig deposited the heart.

The doctor started the timer, watching the mutilated chest cavity, waiting for the oregano to regrow due to his most recent experimental ‘medicine’. “Hmm, which relative?”

“Oh, my father’s brother’s wife’s…. something.” You replied idly, fetching a notebook and pencil to record the time. “Nephew or cousin’s nephew or something. It is a distant relation. Lost his license though.”

“Really? How?”

“He removed someone’s skeleton if you can believe it.”

Ludwig’s fist clenched so hard that the stopwatch broke. Dammit, now he has to start the experiment all over again.