#thinking about everyone who started it thinking it was just a typical reverse harem anime

[bellflowergarden]

i forgot how good fruits basket is. i’d put this on undertale level impact in my development

[cartoonfuel]

Cookie Dough Ice Cream — Chapter 1

First Post (includes actual writing lol) — Multifandom x Reader/Reverse Harem

BEFORE YOU READ: I have some explaining to do. 🥴

So my buddy @lou-struck and I created harems for each made up of anime characters from literally aaaaalllll over the board (at random!). For my Ouran High School Host Club fans out there: You may get a kick outta this!

@lou-struck’s harem includes:

Tooru Oikawa - Haikyuu!! (Playing the Perfect/Princely One)

Edward Elric - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Tsundere)

Shoto Todoroki - My Hero Academia (Strong Silent Type)

Ayato Sakamaki - Diabolik Lovers…unfortunately (Badass)

Armin Arlert - Attack on Titan (Best Friend)

Denki Kaminari - My Hero Academia (Pervert)

Zenitsu Agatsuma - Demon Slayer (Comedian/Comedic Relief)

Kusuo Saiki - The Disastrous Life of Saiki K (Enemy…I’d be terrified if I were @lou-struck)

Pretty loaded roster, amiright? >:D

Please note that this is purely FOR FUN and nowhere near as detailed as my typical projects. But…it definitely has a lot of personality! 🫠

** Written in active voice second person POV (I usually do not write using active voice).

And uhh…college au was literally the only way to make this work lol

If all that makes sense…then let’s begin Chapter One. Enjoy!

~~~~~

Cookie Dough Ice Cream — Chapter 1

Word Count: 1K

TW: None

- One - Two -

~~~~~

Every Tuesday after class, you and your best friend Armin go to get ice cream together at the local Baskin-Robbins. You catch up, talk about your week, complain about the people in your social circle. Sure, it’s a little bit toxic, but it’s harmless for the most part.

“The guy won’t leave me alone,” you explain to Armin after shoving a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream into your mouth. “I don’t know what to do anymore!”

Armin sighs. “You have to stop leading him on.”

“But I swear I’m not!”

“You have to tell him to his face that’s he’s not welcome—no tiptoeing around it.”

“Are you actually Armin in there? Or did a ghost possess you?”

“I’m being serious! This guy’s trouble and you know it and now I’m starting to get concerned.”

You collapse face-first onto the table and sigh. “I know…” You pause. “I mean, he’s just a creep more than anything.”

“A strong attractive creep that everyone seems to like despite the weird aura he gives off.” Armin crosses his arms. “I still can’t get over the time he sniffed the back of your neck.”

“Can we not talk about that please?” You try to hide your blush though fail miserably. Suddenly, your eyes go big. “You think he’s a vampire?!”

“Ayato Sakamaki is not a vampire,” Armin replies, clearly used to the silly conclusions you would often jump to.

“A girl can dream, can’t she?”

“You girls always fantasize about that stuff. I don’t get it.”

“Eh, we may think we like that stuff but it’s probably pretty scary in real life.”

“Speaking from experience, are you?”

“Definitely not, and thank god for that.”

All of a sudden, Armin’s eyes widen for just a moment, peaking your interest. You hesitate to glance over your shoulder and determine what it was that distracted your friend.

“Don’t look now,” he says quietly. “Your boyfriend is here.”

You knew exactly what he meant by that. “Oh? You mean the delusional college volleyball player who misunderstands the undeniable fact that I am not his girlfriend?”

Out of nowhere, a powerful hand clamps down on your shoulder and startles you. “Look who it is! Good to see you! Seems like Baskin-Robbins is the place to be, eh?”

“Unfortunately,” you growl, turning and glaring at the man standing above you.

“Yikes! What’s with the nasty scowl?”

“You’re interrupting my ice cream date, Oikawa.”

Tooru Oikawa. He’s not the worst scum bag on the planet, but definitely one you didn’t want to get involved with. The way girls would drool all over him always bothered you. However, part of you wondered what was actually going on inside that fat head of his as you never shot down the possibility of his arrogant attitude simply being a front.

“Oh, well my sincerest apologies!” He leaned towards you, now resting his hands on the back of your seat. “It won’t happen again, honest! Because next time, it’ll be our own little outing.” The hairs on your arms stood up. “Can’t interrupt a date you’re already on, can you?”

You roll your eyes. “If that’s your way of asking me out—for the sixth time this month—it’s a bit aggressive, don’t you think?”

“Aggressive is the only way I play, honey!” Armin started chuckling. Oikawa turned to look at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Aggressive?” Armin replied. “More like desperate. But I’ll be nice and assume you meant you play aggressively on the court and not in the dating world.”

Oikawa gave you some room to breathe, pulling up a chair next to you and your best friend. “Listen, I could have any girl I want. HOWEVER! I realize how special your friend is.”

Armin shrugged. “Well, you’re not wrong. She is pretty damn special. Which is exactly why you aren’t good enough for her. Don’t you have some lame sport to go play?”

Now it was your turn to notice some idiot wandering into the ice cream shop. This time, it was your mortal enemy: Kusuo Saiki. Realizing he was here, you immediately stood up and got your things together.

“Whoa, everything okay?” Oikawa asked you.

“Nope!” You said in a hurry. “Gotta go. Armin, I’ll fill you in later.”

However, in order to leave the Baskin-Robbins, you’d have to pass by Saiki, currently standing in line for his ice cream. You desperately hoped being fast alone would be enough for him to ignore you.

“Oh,” Saiki said as soon as he saw you. “Just my luck. Thought I’d get to catch a break for once and be able to enjoy Baskin-Robbins’ new coffee jelly flavored ice cream in peace.”

You started to panic. “And you will! I was just on my way out.”

The scariest part was, you knew Kusuo Saiki was a psychic. You were one of the few people who did, and the day you found out his secret was hands down the worst day of his life—and you’re sure he’s had a lot of worst days! That day is probably why he has such a strong distaste towards you. You’re afraid in the future he might internally explode from all the turmoil he deals with on a daily basis and possibly take it out on you.

“Stop acting so terrified, I’m not going to hurt you,” Saiki snapped.

“You could,” you chuckled anxiously. “Really, I was leaving, so I’ll see you around! You don’t need to worry about seeing this ugly mass of bones and muscle! Bye!”

And with that, you darted out of the shop, leaving Saiki to silently pray that you never discover the true reason as to why he passionately hates your guts so much.

~~~~~

Alright! So that showcases SOME of the fandoms I’m familiar with at least. Bro, I’m scared for MY harem…pretty sure that consisted of Light Yagami (yikes already), Mikey from Tokyo Revengers, Kyo (Fruits Basket), Katsuki Bakugou…yeah, I’m dead.

Anyway, thanks for reading! This was a fun concept to carry out and I look forward to updating it sometime soon.

Oh! And I’ll add this to my welcome post, but it is worth noting I actually am a volleyball coach/player. So any Haikyuu I write…I try to make fairly accurate! ☺️ Again, thanks for reading and see ya later!

[every1studio]

“kiss, kiss fall in love” [ateez]

genre: FLUFF + reverse harem + female reader 

ficstyle: bulletpoints + reactions 

prompt: inspired by OURAN HIGH SCHOOL + what kind of hosts would they be?

note: I know I said I wasn’t inspired to write but I was inspired after I listened to “SAKURA KISS” by Chieco Kawabe

HONGJOONG

the club president 

known for his smile

being overly cheery

also a bit on the flirty side

would make sure that you were having a good time; will not leave your side until you are

“subconsciously” runs his tongue along his teeth; used to have a tongue piercing

used to be a bad boy; multiple piercings, had to take some out to get into this prestigious school, has hidden tattoos

personality-wise; fairly similar to Tamaki from OURAN HS and Terushima from HAIKYUU

small boy but is a full package

gives off a tough heartbreaker vibe, but is truly a kindhearted prince who wants everyone to be happy 

the members of the club always clown him and he doesn’t know what to do but smile in sad despair 

if you really get his attention, he’ll always be around you; trying to get your full, undivided attention 

if you aren’t his favorite/go-to host, he’ll charm his way into your heart

I mean with a smile like his, he’s going to be your favorite in a heart beat 

SEONGHWA

the vice president 

Hongjoong’s childhood friend; Hongjoong BEGGED him to join the club

deals with the logistics of the club 

has a stern demeanor like KYOYA from OURAN HS but has personality like SUGAWARA from HAIKYUU 

at first glance, he has an icy vibe about him that would make everyone think that he was one of the typical cold rich kids

but he was always taking care of everyone 

legit the mother of every situation 

always makes sure that everyone is comfortable 

everyone thinks that he follows Hongjoong when Hongjoong follows him 

Hongjoong really can’t live without Seonghwa, because Hongjoong can’t take care of himself 

Seonghwa is pretty tsundere towards Hongjoong but is so loving to everyone else 

if he’s interested in you, he’ll take care of you like a PRINCESS/PRINCE; legit ROYALTY

refers you as “princess/prince” or “queen/king”

he might be petty when he finds out that he isn’t your favorite or go-to; he’ll be obviously jealous and would straight up tell his members to back off (he would tell them nicely without you around)

he’ll make sure that you’ll soon only be looking at him 

YUNHO

everyone’s boyfriend

is made of the highest and finest quality of boyfriend material 

joined the club after Hongjoong told him that he NEEDED Yunho to be in the club or he would cry 

Yunho’s such an angel, he joined right away 

this boy is the sweetest and genuinely tries so hard to make sure everyone is having a good time 

in the fictional anime world, he’s like SHOUTA from KIMI NI TODOKE 

he’s an obliviously innocent personality  

AND he has a class clown goofiness to him 

literally the perfect guy to fall in love with 

although he’s fairly popular, he is VERY humble

he’s a hopeless romantic but he hasn’t fallen in love yet

not until he saw you

would be absolutely shy and wouldn’t know how to even talk to you 

but when he saw you blushing at other member’s attempt to woo you, he started to make his way over to you

he’s nice 

but not nice enough to have another member have a chance with you 

for you, he’ll step out of his comfort zone to win your heart

or your smile, at least

YEOSANG

the lovely prince

a literally walking statue of a GREEK GOD

Hongjoong knew that he had to get him into the club 

Yeosang was reluctant at first but being as shy as he is, he was just happy to make friends

the more he’s with the club, the more he opens up

turns out he is this adorably, quirky guy who’s more than just a stone-faced thing of beauty 

he would remind me of TADASE from SHUGO CHARA and KENMA from HAIKYUU

when he lays his eyes on you, just know that he’ll never make the first move

it’s not because he’s prideful but he’s just EXTREMELY shy 

but maybe after your first couple of visits, he’ll be confident enough to even say “hello”

he’s the type of guy that would look at you and if you made eye-contact with him, he’d fake-yawn and look the other way to hide his blushing face away from you 

WOULD prefer it if you requested for him because it’s gonna take a while for him to come up to you 

SAN

the flirty tease

would remind me of USUI from KAICHOW WA MAID-SAMA and NISHINOYA from HAIKYUU (fun fact: they are voiced by the same actor)

two peas in a pod with Wooyoung; like HIKARU and KAORU from OURAN

Hongjoong saw how him and Wooyoung and saw their dynamic as a duo and knew he had to swoop them into the club

loves to tease his guest

it’s so compelling; how he can look so-absolutely sweet like and angel and yet he can be such a little devil 

he likes to do a push-pull effect with his guests 

if you spark his attention, he teased you more than any other guest 

even jokes around with you like he wants to get to know you more 

he’ll give you more attention than it is actually wanted of 

I mean not that anyone would really complain

San would really go out of his way to make sure that you know that he is interested in you 

and only you

brings over his favorite snacks to you 

puts his arm over your seat to get as close as he can to you; he’d put them over your shoulder if you let him 

he’ll spend every day just thinking of you

hoping that one day, he’ll be your go-to; he would literally throw tantrums if he sees you with another member 

ESPECIALY Wooyoung 

MINGI

tough man; soft boy

everyone gets an intimidating bad boy vibe from him

but once he smiles, he’s the sweetest and softest boy 

Mingi actually looked up to Hongjoong; so when Hongjoong approached Mingi, he couldn’t help but fanboy 

he looks like MORI from OURAN but acts like HINATA from HAIKYUU 

he makes everyone feel like how they giggle when their crush is around but like the whole time that he’s with them 

he does an amazing job at making everyone feel welcomed and heard; like he’s been your best friend since forever 

he’s an honest and confident guy 

so if he’s interested, you’ll know 

he’ll straight up tell you 

if you tell him that he’s not your favorite, he’ll bother you everyday 

more like a friend because he doesn’t want to force you either

but it would make him all pouty and sad if you don’t give him any attention 

would also do ANYTHING to make you smile 

doesn’t mind if he’s in the friendzone for a while 

WOOYOUNG

the OTHER tease

he didn’t think he would stay in the club 

but the more he got to know the members and the more he used his flirty antics, the more he grew attached 

he reminds me of OIKAWA from HAIKYUU and HARU from TONARI NO KAIBUTSU-KUN 

can be sexy 

can be cute

can be a mix of both 

seriously DANGEROUS 

other guests cannot get enough of him 

everyday is a surprise with Wooyoung; one day he wants to be a spoiled baby, on other days he wants to slam his hand against the wall and stare into his guests’ eyes 

he will NOT let you out of his sight if you catch his eyes

he’ll use pick up lines with you; and maybe it’s because it’s coming from him but it works 

you’d be flattered by his attempts; but if he knows that he isn’t your fave, he’ll glare at you 

add in a little pout

he gives you the silent treatment until he can’t handle it anymore and will hold your hand and swing it as he throws a tantrum about why he isn’t your fave  

JONGHO

the strong baby boy 

Hongjoong was fascinated by Jongho’s strength and saw that he had a couple of fangirls so that’s how he got into the club 

Jongho is a hinedere; which someone who comes off as a little cold-hearted but has the best intentions and is actually a soft boy 

he’ll do little acts of strengths; like breaking apples and his guests just watch him in awe like they’ve never seen it before 

he has this super gentle smile that all of his guests swoon over 

reminds me of HONEY from OURAN and IWAIZUMI from HAIKYUU

gets super shy when he sees you 

gets even MORE shy when he sees how close you are to him 

might offer you snacks or tea; but wouldn’t do anything more than that

because he’s younger, he’s not confident with you 

Jongho wants to win you over like a man

his members would help him out if they knew that Jongho was interested in you

even if he’s the strongest, he’s still the club’s baby 

[ masterlist + guidelines ]

[love-sapphirerose]

5 Terrible Anime Couples (& 5 Everyone Was Rooting For)

https://www.cbr.com/anime-couples-best-worst-all-time/

Anime is absolutely littered with every kind of romance from the most toxic to the most romantic. Sometimes the toxic relationships are even trying to pass as romantic, and that gets a lot of fans talking. Some of the most memorable relationships are not even from romance-based shows, but the characters are so interesting together that they get a lot of fans.

So there are some anime relationships we consider terrible and others that we love. Obviously, this list could be a whole lot longer but here are some that first come to mind for various reasons which we will explain.

10. (Terrible) Miroku And Sango From Inuyasha

For Inuyasha fans, this not liking this relationship could be considered a hot take. Miroku and Sango are both heroes who do a lot of good, but that does not necessarily mean that they are good for each other. Miroku is a character who plays as a pervert for comedy, and for some reason gets involved in a serious romance at the same time. Sango is constantly steaming with jealously as he flirts with every another woman they meet. He also constantly asks the same question, "Will you bear my children?" Well, that is very forward!

We never really see Miroku change except for seeming a little more devote when he asks Sango to marry him. For an anime that is over one hundred episodes though, rooting for this relationship is hard.

9. (Rooting For) Takeo And Rinko From My Love Story!!

This romance anime is unique in that its male protagonist is typically the figure you expect out of a villain. However, he is a total sweetheart. Despite this, he has no luck in the dating scene. This is especially due to his pretty-boy best friend who every girl seems to have a crush on. Then the protagonist meets Rinko, a very small and cute girl who absolutely loves him.

You have to be a monster to not cheer for this unlikely pairing. They may look different, but they are totally ga-ga over each other.

8. (Terrible) Light And Misa From Deathnote

It should be no mystery why Misa and Light are a terrible couple. First of all, the love is absolutely one-sided. Light is just using Misa for his own master plans. Misa is obsessed with Light to the point where she does not care for her own well being and lets him use her. 

Also, they kill a lot of people together. When they were separate, they were already bad people. Together, they are even worse.

7. (Rooting For) Vegeta And Bulma From Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z is a far cry from a show that focuses on romance, but Bulma and Vegeta still happened. Despite starting out as a villain, Vegeta was a character who changed a whole lot and started to help protect the Earth with Goku and the others. He even settled down and started a family with Bulma.

Bulma is not a fighter, but she is not afraid to stand up to Vegeta. He is definitely not the romantic type, but he does have little ways to show that he cares that keeps their relationship interesting to watch.

6. (Terrible) Sakura And Sasuke From Naruto

This pairing is kind of popular, which makes those who hate it despise it all the more. From the beginning of the show, Sakura has a crush on Sasuke. He displayed time and time again that he did not care about her or her feelings. The worst part was there was even a point at which Sasuke wanted to kill Sakura. Despite this, she still loved him. 

They even get married and have a child together. Sakura becomes a housewife despite her amazing skills, and Sasuke continues on with his lone wolf lifestyle that he loves.

5. (Rooting For) Tomoya And Nagisa From Clannad

Tomoya is a high school boy with little cares. He is pretty dull and emotionless but Nagisa slowly breaks that shell and it is a delight to see Tomoya change. While Clannad is mostly focused on school life, the drama gets very heated in the sequel, After Story. We won't spoil anything, but Tomoya really gets emotional in a good way.

Nagisa is very sweet, shy, and polite. Watching the two of them interact is adorable.

4. (Terrible) Erika And Kyouya From Wolf Girl And Black Prince

This anime has been criticized many times over about its relationship. It calls itself a romance anime, and has a ton of fans who find it romantic, but its actually kind of disturbing.

Erika tricks her friends into believing she is dating a pretty man, Kyouya, from their school. He says that he will pretend to date her, as long as she is basically his pet and will do anything he says. So he is a total jerk to her and the show tries to make its audience like him despite how he treats her.

3. (Rooting For) Kyo And Tohru From Fruits Basket

Fans who read the manga are still waiting for the next season of Fruits Basket with great excitement. Already in the first season, we have seen Torhu witness Kyo's true form and love him all the same anyway. It was very sweet and if the show keeps following the manga like is has, there is more sweetness to come. 

Kyo, like most of his family, is abused and finds it really hard to trust others. Tohru is a character whose two greatest assets are love and kindness. She does not just change her love interest, but everyone around her. However, its especially sweet to watch her interactions with Kyo. 

2. (Terrible) Sawa And Takao From The Flowers Of Evil

This is the least well known anime on this list, mostly because the animation is pretty different and can be a little hard to get used to. Also, all the characters are unlikable. However, that seems to be the point in this show. Takao gets blackmailed by a rebellious and frightening girl from his class, and she makes him do some crazy stuff that is utterly embarrassing.

However, the two start to have a romance. It seems to bud by the fact that they both hate society and just want to see it crumble. Overall, their relationship is actually kind of hard to watch.

1. (Rooting For) Haruhi And Tamaki From Ouran High School Host Club

This romance comedy is a reverse harem. Haruhi is mistaken for a man and joins the local host club to pay off debt for breaking one of their vases. However, it is discovered that she is a girl and the host club decides to keep her as one of them and keep her identity secret.

Tamaki, the leader of the group and the most popular host, begins to fall for Haruhi. Its very cute since they are both opposites. She comes from a poor family and cares little for rich things while he was raised in a mansion and always had everything he could want. Haruhi makes him think more, and he makes Haruhi have more fun.

[petri808]

Renewal

@zenoobsessed  I’m mostly a Hakyona fic writer but I hope you like it ^^  Happy Easter!

As the group begins to pack up their belongings, the village elder walks into the hut that had been provided for them that winter.  Yona looks up, welcoming the man.

“Huizong, is there something you needed help with before we leave?”

“No, no,” he waves a hand, “you and your friends have done so much for us already.  I’ve come instead to request you stay another day.”  As the dragons, Hak, and Yun gather behind Yona, intrigued by this sudden request, the man continues on.  “Each spring when the flowers bloom once more, we celebrate it with the Haru Saku Matsuri taking place tomorrow.”

Everyone turns to Hak for a response, but it is Yona who speaks up, “we would be honored to stay,” her eyes crinkling in a smile.  “Huizong, if there is anything we can do to help prepare, please let us know.”

“I wouldn’t have it,” the man responds.  “It was a blessing that you came to our village this winter.  Had it not been for Yun’s medicines and warming techniques, we would have lost several children to illness and for that we owe a great debt. Please, as our guests of honor, I simply ask you to enjoy yourselves.”

“As you wish,” Yona bows lightly.

As soon as the village elder leaves the hut, everyone starts talking excitedly about what they are looking forward to at the festival.  Zeno and Shin-ah, well mostly Zeno, raves about all the wonderful foods they’ll probably be serving.  Yun and Kija wonder what kind of amusements, maybe dancing or music that might be performed. Hak and Jae-ha hope to get their hands on some fine baijiu’s or soju’s, maybe the elders secret stash.  But Yona carries on like nothing special had just happened, grabbing her bathing supplies, ready to make the short trek to the natural hot springs that drew them to this village in the first place.

Ever the faithful and observant guardian, Hak follows behind at a slight distance to make sure no one bothered her or dared to take a peak.  He settles on some nearby boulders with his back to the pond and waits.  

Yona lets out an exhale the moment her body submerges and the balmy waters, warm her through and through. The last 3 months have been like a dream she didn’t want to wake up from.  So peaceful, just living the life of a normal villager, well as normal as it could get being surrounded constantly by an entourage of six guys. She chuckles inwardly, yes, it was always the odd spectacle to many a passerby of the lone young girl with a reverse harem.    

Some days she almost forgot she was once the Princess of this Kingdom.  Too caught up in just surviving or just too busy to remember.  It wasn’t that Yona didn’t want to stay in the village, of course she wanted to stay.  It was just the idea of a spring festival brought back memories of Hiryuu Castle that could just as easily stay buried right now.

“Is everything okay Princess?” Hak opened his eyes as Yona came closer and turned to look at her. He made no immediate move to get off the boulder, choosing to stay seated with his arms lightly crossed as if he had just awoken from a nap.  

Yona stops walking, “mmhmm,” she hugs her supplies to her chest, “why do you ask?”

“You didn’t seem so excited to stick around.”  Hak finally stands up and jumps down next to her.  “If you want to go, we can go.  We don’t have to stay.”

“No, it’s okay I want to stay,” she smiles a little forlornly, “it’s just, Hak do you remember the cherry blossom festival back home?”  He nods.  “Those were some of my fondest memories growing up each spring.”

“I used to pick you up and carry you on my shoulders so you could reach the higher blossoms,” he chuckles at his own memories.  Yona nods, a slight smile upon her lips, but averting her eyes to the ground to hide some of the moisture developing in them.  “Hey,” Hak steps closer, tilting her face back up, “you’ll see it again someday, I promise you that.”

“Will you…” a slight rouge tinting her cheeks, “will you carry me on your shoulders again too?”

Hak smiles, “I’ll make sure you can reach the best of the blossoms.”  He sticks out his hand, “come on, we should get back to the hut before it gets too dark.  Yun probably has dinner made by now.”  With a nod, she takes his hand and lets him lead.

~~~~~~

It was as if the village had timed it to perfection or that maybe the Gods really favored them for the morning of the festival, all the trees in the area were covered in flowers! Her eyes scanned the area hoping that there would be a cherry blossom in the scatter but no such luck.  ‘Oh well,’ she takes a deep breath as her sadness withers away.  This may not be Hiryuu Castle…  she watches her friends, so animated and alive as they rush to all the different booths.  But this, she smiled, was even better.

“Princess?!”  Yona turns to the voice of Kija waiving her down. “Let’s go see, they’re about to perform a skit!”

“Sure,” she beams.

Yun and Zeno join them and the four make their way over to a makeshift stage area.  As they walk, Kija fills them in about what the locals have told him about the story.  Typical bad guys versus good guy story line where the hero defended the townsfolk from invaders.  But there were a few strange details that weren’t so common.

“That sounds ridiculous,” Yun crosses his arms and rolls his eyes, “whoever heard of a caped crusader running around with a mask and no pants?”

“I think it sounds like a fun outfit!” Zeno claps his hands together and begins to bounce up and down excitedly.  “Can we wear masks too?!”

“No,” Yoon shakes his head, “I am not making you a mask.”

Zeno pouts, “Aww!”

“We’ve already got one guy in a mask and one that wears a cape in our strange bunch, that’s enough.”

Yona mumbles under her breath, “Well I wouldn’t mind seeing one of this bunch in no pants…”

“Did you say something miss?” Zeno and Yun look at her with curiosity.

“Huh?”  She waves her arms, “no, no, I didn’t.”  Pushing them along and changing the subject, “oh look, there’s a lot of people, we should find a seat quickly and I see Shin-ah’s already here.”

A few of the townsfolk upon seeing Yun and the others arrive, hustle them to the front by the stage. The group does their best to politely decline, wanting to simply watch from the back but the villagers insist.  Just as the others settle down ready for the play, Yona sees Hak standing near the edge motioning to her with his finger.  She huffs a little annoyed but stands up and goes over to him.  

“The play is about to start Hak…”

“I know but you’ll like this better I promise.  Besides, you live in a hero story already, isn’t that enough?”

Well hell, he was right about that.  She rolls her eyes exaggeratedly anyways, “it’s still fun to watch a play.”

Hak takes her hand, “if we hurry you can still see the end.”  

He takes Yona below the village, not far, maybe a 5-minute walk just through the forests borderline when he stops and crouches down.  Yona looks down at him confused.  “What are you doing?”

Wrapping his arms around her legs, “lifting you up,” and hefting her onto his right shoulder before she can respond.  “Just look up Princess.”

Yona gasps, how did she not notice this?!  “Cherry Blossoms!”

“Told you, you’d like it.”

It had to be an older tree, tall with a trunk slightly gnarled and twisted.  Cherry blossom season was barely beginning and this one only had a spattering of blossoms along its branches.  But it was still beautiful to her, as a few rays shone through, bouncing off of the light pink blooms.  She reaches out to the nearest branch, running her ringers over the delicate petals. It was one of her mother’s favorite flowers and her father had made sure to have them growing around the castle grounds.

“How did you find this tree Hak?”

“I mentioned how much you loved cherry blossoms to the elder and he told me where to find it.  Pick a couple if you like, for your hair.”

“Mmm,” Yona shakes her head, “I think it’s pretty just where it is.  You know, after the harsh winters,” she touches another bloom, “it’s amazing how life just renews itself.”  Smiling down at Hak, “don’t you think?”

He laughs, smiling back at her, “whatever you say Princess.”    

A loud scream rings out from the direction of the village snapping them both to attention.  “Was that Kija?  Put me down Hak,” she taps his head, “we should go back.”

He does as he’s told, grumbling under his breath about how that idiot ruined a moment.  Sure enough, two minutes later after they’d run back to the scene of the play, they find Kija bawling and being consoled by Zeno and Yun.  Shin-ah and Jae-ha are attending to another man in a costume.

“What happened?” Hak and Yona both speak at the same time though in opposite tones.  She emphatic, and he annoyed.  

“Kija panicked when he saw the guy in the costume over there,” Yun answers, pointing towards where Jae-ha and Shin-ah are standing.  “The actor guy is fine, just in shock from Kija freaking out and screaming like he’d seen a ghost.”

“Spider!” Kija perks up, waving his arms.  “It was a spider!  I thought he had a huge spider crawling on his chest!”  

“Oh, brother,” Hak rolls his eyes, “bugs, we ran back here because you thought you saw a bug.  We were having such a... ahh!  Never mind.”  

“It was just a symbol on the guys costume,” Yun explains, “remember the hero stuff, it’s like the villager’s mascot or something.”

“I…” running a hand down his face, “I need a drink,” Hak walks away from the group towards their hut.

Yona calls out several times at his retreating image but the young man never turns around.  “Maybe I should go check on him?”  Why was Hak so upset?  The whole thing with Kija was funnier than upsetting, and kind of odd.  Or maybe he was mad because he had wanted to spend more time at the tree?  She had to admit, sharing those peaceful moments with him alone were always nice.

“Yona…  Yona…”  

Yun shakes her again. “Yona?”

She opens her eyes, “Yes Yun?”

“You should get up already, it’s time for breakfast.”

“Breakfast?”  Yona sits up confused for a moment when she realizes she’s back in the hut on her sleeping roll.  “Did I fall asleep at the festival?  H-How did I get back here?”

Yun places the back of his hand against her forehead.  “You don’t have a fever, don’t seem sick.  I’m not sure what you’re talking about Yona, cause it’s the morning of the festival.”

Yona blinks, “so we didn’t go to it yet?”

“No,” the young boy smiles.

She plops back onto her bedroll, “wow, that was all just a dream…”

lol I think the Easter eggs are kinda easy to figure out, but I had fun writing it in to the story :)    

Haru Saku Matsuri (Spring Blooming Festival) 

Baiju- an ancient Chinese alcoholic drink

Soju- Korean or Japanese alcoholic drink

[megatentious]

My lengthy defense of the most hated Persona game

Here’s my grand defense for the most hated game in the series: Persona 1, AKA Revelations: Persona. I know it’s too late to try and rehabilitate the game’s reputation on the internet, but I’m hoping that by rambling in modestly structured form for a bit, at least some folks might be able to look at Persona with a fresh perspective. It would be cool if everyone could try to understand what the game did so well and why it resonated so strongly with me and 2 or so other people. If you are the kind of person that thinks games age and become archaic, then I probably don’t have any hope of reaching you, but still, try to put yourself in the right mindset and approach the game on its own terms, and maybe you’ll discover something quite special.

So, Persona. Persona does very interesting things with choice. As the first Megaten rpg released in America, the negotiation system was a revelation (har har), providing the choice to talk your way out of battles and into rewards is a natural D&D element that never got a foothold in countless videogame conversions of the game, and in the first Persona these elements are at their peak. With every demon having four moods, four series of animation and four sets of voiced sound effects, the expanded options really let you get into the headspace of the demons you’re conversing with, unlike traditional SMT’s more spare binary system. Getting into the thick of things with complex sets of reactions (Joy + Interest, that’s what’s up) makes for a fun simulation.

The theme of choice is also really built into the game’s fabric, it’s the reason why in old usenet postings, Persona was recommended to folks who were fans of Gold Box games, during a time when RPG labels were more porous and that sneaky “J” hadn’t yet latched itself omnipresently to the term. Choice here also extends to the fifth character in your party, a friendly way to promote replay value without new game plus, and certain choices locking you out of giant chunks of the game, an unfriendly way of getting you through the game again. In a world though where developers are desperate to ensure that gamers experience all content (so many buzzwords!), the chutzpah of Persona being willing to lock you out of huge swathes of the game is something I actually admire.

It’s easy to underestimate the impact of the modern day setting in a post Persona 3/TWEWY/Alpha Protocol world, but dungeons that were hospitals and police stations and high school students snarling “EAT THIS” with MIGs in pitched street battles felt revelatory. Exploring the comically low-rent polygonal city (is this another reference to the abstracted icons of SMT1 and 2 world maps?) was actually fun, as ridiculous as waiting for traffic to pass might seem. There are also many complaints about the first person perspective dungeons, even though the rest of the game is third person, but the setting variety is nice and many of the wall patterns are quite evocative (Deva Yuga looks like Persepolis!)

The game also does PSX-era philosophizing in a tasteful and generally thoughtful way, while contemporaries were drawing from Evangelion, Persona looked to Zhuangzi and Jung. Not very high-falutin, true, but at least middle brow enough such that my 14 year old Sophie’s World reading self was entranced. The game has something neat to say about loneliness and identity and the way we construct the world around ourselves (all hinted at in the moody intro. The story is very nice and very Kaneko, even if he’s overestimating the literary quality in this interview, I’m very fond of it and it is my franchise favorite.

Here’s where I alienate the remaining people who might have been on board with me so far: if you ignore the loss of the Snow Queen Quest, a 20 hour alternate version of the story that takes place in a series of SMT:If... like towers, Revelations: Persona is actually the superior game. “Lunarvale,” a hodgepodge of America and Japan cobbled together by localizers attempting to mask the game’s origins, is actually more weird and interesting than the Mikage-cho that appears in Persona PSP. This bizarre mashup, combined with a nonsense translation attempt, somehow manages to better fit the lurid dreamscape vibe the original developers were going for. I can’t undersell how one-of-a-kind and wonderfully unsettling the game’s atmosphere is in the PSX version, and this is helped along of course by the sound.

Here are excerpts from some things I wrote on the music in this game:

Revelations: Persona has the best soundtrack in the franchise, possibly the best soundtrack ever made. In raw quantitative terms it's ridiculous, 113 songs and 3 hours of music without being looped, and all without doing Persona 2's trick of repeated (but still awesome!) remixes. Two majorly sweet leitmotifs for the two major quests, employed creatively and thoughtfully, four fantastic composers on four discs, cohesive and thematically coherent when by all rights it should feel disjointed as fuck, this is a generous OST!

Hidehito Aoki (R.I.P.) composed the dungeon music, which is exquisite. Lengthy songs that are moody, elegant, just plain beautiful and get you PUMPED! The iconic Deva Yuga Monochrome: School Revisited Dream-like, synthy, catchy, beautiful, quintessential Persona sound. Pandora's Den (Deepmost Area): The climax at 1:12! Ice Castle/Black Snow The twists and turns in this one, so effing good. Sebek Music, Karma Palace 90's music is the best!!! Misaki Okibe's range is ridiculous, she composed some of the most memorable, interesting tracks in the whole game. Reverse Dream World: You think you have this song figured out in the first few seconds, but stick around to see where it suddenly veers off to around :30, hilarious and awesome. Theme of Nemurin's Love: The intro! The power of a simple lovely melody, a little Uematsu-esque. Augustia's Wood: The save music, so memorable, I love the grumbling. City 2 Accident: Do you remember wandering the streets in the town, disoriented, listening to this gorgeousness, thinking about how Lunarvale suddenly seemed so scary, like an unsettling dream? Bar Attacked by Harem Queen: A bit of jazzy beauty. And most important of all of course, Misaki Okibe is the composer of the Pharmacy Music, featuring vocals by one Hidehito Aoki of all people. Satomi Tadashi Drugstore Song In our heads forever, teaching us about item use since 1996. 

More alienating for readers who have gotten this far: the “whitewashing” character designs were all improvements, Kazuma Kaneko redrew everything himself and it’s easy to tell that a lot of thought was put into the redesigns. Finally, Mark is also >>>> Masao, everyone’s always yelling about the jive-talking but to me he came across as quite smart and savvy. I dunno, maybe this is just a Flavor of Love/Outsourced minorities just wanna see themselves effect operating here, leave me alone you guys! So yes, the franchise’s current fanbase might not be fond of them, but the cast is comprised of characters that are meant to be iconic and not friends you wish you had in real life, a cast that, FFVI-like, is meant to evoke broader themes and not follow the typical arcs of many RPGs these days. Check out the classiness of Yuki’s design, and allow me to quote some more stuff on how Tsuchiya, master of the character theme, nails it for each party member.

The sign of a good character theme is when you can extrapolate from instrument choice and melody to personality. Here Tsuchiya is the man, no one does it better this side of Uematsu. I hear these songs and I've got a perfect picture in my mind of each cast member. It's what I think of when I think of "videogame music" ha, here are my personal favorites, I could listen to these endlessly. Mary/Maki: Cheerful, just a hint of melancholy in the notes, love that slap bass. Yuki: Starts a bit slow, but soon we learn that Yuki's cool but determined. Alana: The song tells me she's brassy, energetic, fun. Chris/Reiji: Dangerous, exciting, a bad-ass delinquent. Ellen/Elly: Classy, elegant, confident.

Some also rag on the dungeon design, but it seems unfair to expect centerpiece labyrinths along the lines of Strange Journey or Etrian Odyssey in a game going for something completely different. Nevertheless, you’ve got tricky mazes with dead ends that test resource allocation skills and provide a sense of accomplishment. Encounters are tough and require thought, careful consideration of when to flee and negotiate is imperative for dungeon survival. This is something that gets lost a bit in the PSP remake as the encounter rate is increased but battles are a bit easier. Exploiting elemental weaknesses isn’t as elegant as in later games, but with a ludicrously high 14 damage types breadth supersedes depth. And there’s even a positioning system to consider that the developers decided to drop from later games rather than refine. In the end, surviving the dungeon and beating the boss is an RPG staple that just plain works, although yes you will probably grit your teeth at some of the loading times.

And finally, you don’t have to take my random word for it. Parish really liked it too! How’s that for an appeal to authority?

For series buffs, it’s fun to trace this game’s historical lineage, as one of the earlier spinoffs of Shin Megami Tensei, it's easy to spot the mainline series influence: the occultism of the opening ritual, the hospital as first dungeon, the first person perspective for dungeon travel, BLUE POINTER MAN, and the omnipresent danger of demons in town and dungeon alike. Revelations: Persona is drawing from a rich and storied history, but manages to recast SMT traditions in interesting new directions. Again, the atmosphere is really unbelievable and something I haven’t come across in other games. It’s more than a simple curiosity and it doesn’t deserve dumb dismissal or sneering derision for its flaws. Revelations: Persona is a real marvel, modern games ought to draw more inspiration from its lessons, and the game belongs in the RPG canon, there I said it!

[otakween]

I'm Standing on a Million Lives - Volume 1

Hurray! Moving on from 100% Pascal Sensei, this is the next series on MAL alphabetically due to its Japanese title (100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru). I'm excited to be catching up on something so recent as season 2 for the anime is actually coming out this month! I'm going in 100% blind so, I guess we'll just see where this goes. Chapter breakdown after the "read more."

Ch. 1

-Well, this was really awkwardly paced and written, not a promising start if I'm honest. I hate it when people are isekai'd and barely react, it's so jarring.

-Protag-kun is an edgelord who "hates Tokyo and all the people in it," has no friends, and just wants to play video games. Of course his video game skills are rewarded in isekai-land. Typical cliché BS so far. At least he had a self-aware "oh wait, I'm being a self-centered prick" moment.

-The art isn't hideous, but I don't sense any creativity here. Everyone looks very generic, including the monsters. At least the two-page spreads look nice on my new e-reader

-I feel like this would read as batshit to people who aren't familiar with the isekai genre. They just assume that people are so used to these tropes that they don't need to explain anything. I would have liked it if they showed us more of the "normal" world so that the isekai moment would be more of a shock and we could get a better feel for the characters/setting.

-Game master dude is really annoying. I hope they explain why he speaks in partial sentences. None of the characters even acknowledged it which was really weird.

-Kinda dumb how Kusue saying "I want to be useful to people!" just completely blew Protag-kun's mind and changed his whole world view. First of all: can we save epiphanies like that for at least the end of volume 1?? Second: how easily swayed is this man!? He felt like he went through the entire A Silent Voice MC's character arc in 2 seconds.

-I feel like the level of gore doesn't fit the tone they're going for. It just feels out of place and gratuitous. Like, this isn't Attack on Titan, this is more of an adventure series (I think)

Ch. 2

-The characterization in this is really annoying. So far the characters don't feel like real people, they're just assigned archetypes. Yuka is an otaku, Kusue is the "frail girl," etc. I think one thing that's lacking is the girls barely get a chance to speak and we're stuck with Yotsuya's incel monologues. Hopefully this improves.

-Real convenient that all the chosen party members are girls so far. The setting/make up of the party reminds me of Konosuba a lot.

-Why are bullying scenes in manga always so over the top? I'm pretty sure bullies don't typically go the sexual assault route. Similar to the gore feeling out of place, that felt unnecessarily dark. The character's also reacted to it as if it wasn't a big deal (???)

-Today in "fancy words used in manga": polyandric. Apparently it means an animal that mates with multiple males.

-I was honestly triggered by the centipede monsters. I have house centipedes in my apartment and they're horrifying. The thought of one wrapping around my head...-shudder-

-The bullying rescue scene was interesting. I feel like normally it would be a big, heroic moment, but instead they chose to show how all the girls (bullies and victim) were afraid of Yotsuya for suddenly showing up and acting like a maniac. It was kinda nice to see his "you love me now, right?" rejected lol.

-The self-aware anime stuff is obnoxious. MC being like "woah this is a harem situation" and the girls being like "gap moe!?" at the end of the chapter. It's jarring when characters that aren't supposed to be otaku bring up otaku things.

-Game Master showing up on Yotsuya's phone was pretty funny lol. I liked his selfie.

Ch. 3

-Shindo's backstory was so weirdly written and awkward: she was a bad kid, made friends with an older girl who taught her to be good, and then that older girl killed herself. She then overheard her family members being like "lol that dead girl was ugly" so...she vowed to protect the weak...or something? I dunno it was confusing. Also, more needlessly grimdark content with Shindo's parents basically saying that girl deserved to die because she was ugly.

-I don't think this mangaka understands anatomy, the abs on the male characters look...off

-Interesting rule where they lose EXP for fighting humans. Although, that does make me wonder about the cover art for this volume. Are the "million lives" supposed to represent all the times the characters die and are revived or...?

-Yuka being like "I don't think Shindo's a good person because she's got pretty privilege." Rubbed me the wrong way. She reeks of the "not like other girls" trope

-When Yotsuya said he's "not like other boys" because he'll listen to your tragic backstory and Shindo reacts "are you gay or something?" That felt like a mix of casual homophobia and toxic masculinity, not cute.

Ch. 4

-We get a new harem addition and her stupid quirk is that she likes cutting people up. I dunno, something about the way she robotically announced that while fighting felt so unnatural and forced. This manga is anything but subtle.

-Only now realizing that the artist and the author are two separate people. Honestly, I was surprised to find out that this is just a manga and it doesn't have a corresponding light novel. It really feels like it's being adapted from something, but maybe that has to do with the writer and artist being separate?

-Every time they mention a new fantasy name it kinda seems like the author just threw scrabble letters at the wall.

-The design of the bipedal steeds wheel attachment looked like it wouldn't work. Like, how do those things walk with a big giant wheel right in front of their feet? I guess I'll find out in the anime lol

-Very, very confused about Yotsuya's "career." When he became a chef he dressed as a chef, but now that he's a wizard he's back to dressing like a farmer and using a hoe? That seems like a continuity error. Either that or they didn't explain how things work very well. Can you switch between your past careers?

-They reveal that they only feel 1/36 of normal pain in this world, which would have been nice to know in chapter 1 when people were being torn apart, but okay.

-One of Yotsuya's new skills is "the ability to raise or lower the persuasiveness of your words." Immediately I was like, "wtf? In what situation would you want to lower your persuasiveness?" Maybe if you're using reverse psychology? -shrug-

-I enjoyed the author's mini essay at the end about stories standing the test of time. I guess this is their first serialization so now I kinda feel bad for trashing it so much lol. Oh well, gotta be honest in my reactions...