#yeah i know the manga anniversary was a few years ago already but i still haven't read the manga so THIS one is special to ME

[varilien]

happy 25th anniversary to my favorite brainrot in the whole wide world :) <3

[video ID: a music video comprised of clips from the 1998 trigun anime, primarily scenes about vash, knives and rem. it’s set to the robin skouteris remix ‘crucify my enemy’, a mashup of songs by muse and within temptation. end ID.]

[chidoroki]

ahh i’m so mad for forgetting it was tpn’s 6th anniversary today.. i dunno how i can never remember that date. i don’t have anything planned though, which sucks because it’s kinda the most important day of the series ya know?? HOWEVER! i already finished my edit for emma’s birthday last week, so that’s pretty darn early for me! okay so it’s like 99% done, i gotta figure out one final touch, but yeah. and then isabella’s should be next but that’s not til september anyways. i remember very few birthdays..still upset i forgot about today though! i know i can always post something later this week but then it’s late! and that’s even if i get an idea in the first place hhmmm..

but in my defense it was an important day for me for a completely different reason though.. little Kona turned one today!!! love her. she’s too cute. she actually shares a birthday with my late great grandmother so that’s kinda sweet. (maybe now i won’f forget tpn’s anniversary either)

aside from that i feel like last week was real busy/eventful. dad had actually tested positive for covid tuesday so since we had dinner together the day before i worked from home all last week just to make sure i was okay (which i am thankfully). i don’t mind working from home, it allows me to sleep in a bit but having two screens instead of three is always a troublesome adjustment, and annoying if things get too stressful. every now and then there’s also some nights where i can’t even fall asleep and just feel incredible anxious..why i dunno. it feels random honestly.

it hasn’t been all bad though. i decided to read ahead with the paripi koumei manga and oh my god, the love i have for eiko is IMMENSE!! i honestly wasn’t expecting to get more of her backstory, but i’m so happy we did. i thought we were just gonna focus on the summer sonia concert stuff next, but it seems that is gonna be the final goal. so i’m really loving the direction the manga is going now with creating more songs and learning more of eiko’s past/family. it just makes sense. i debated in writing a whole post on it but idk yet, we’ll see. i dunno how often the manga updates, but i’ve only seen sites have up to ch49? but aahh i want her to succeed so badly! i really hope we get another season because i need to hear more of her lovely voice! THEN i forget what day i read ch113 of ft 100yq but MMHHMM that gruvia body swap! their reactions were great and i loved every moment and of course i’m looking forward to see how gray fights with juvia’s magic. i’m eagerly waiting for the day we get a trailer for the anime too.

then finally.. FINALLY the black clover manga is back! and i still think it’s hilarious that the three month hiatus started right as i finished the anime, like of course that’s just my luck! i think i caught up for just two new chapters then poof! break time! my friend has been begging me to watch since the anime started so i pushed it off for years, til something just.. clicked within me? i remember the movie trailer was announced months ago and friend was excited about it and naturally tried to convince me to start the series once more and i dunno exact words, but i’m pretty sure he compared it to fairy tail (which i sorta figured from the start anyways) but then said everyone from the squad got more focus/backstory, and i was like.. oh? so, that kinda did it for me. and damn it, i ended up loving the series. a lot. but better late than never i suppose! (and he totally has the right to say “told you so,” he deserved it. he even predicted that vanessa would end up as my favorite. so he’s right. again.) so sorry not sorry for all the spam. my queue was filled over 250+ at one point and stayed like that for weeks because i just kept adding more to it. it’s finally back around 50ish now because i FINALLY gone through the whole anime yet again (why do i queue all the gifs chronologically? i dunno!! i forget which series i started doing this with but now it feels necessary for me to do so! lowkey kinda hate it, makes it seem like i’m insane ahaaa. but now all that’s left is artwork that i can fangirl over, thank god!)

but now that the manga is back i’m debating on writing chapter reviews for it, though i doubt they’ll be as long as those i’ve done for tpn, but hhmmm. it’s just funny how i decide on doing such a thing whenever a series enters their final arcs. well, i say that but i haven’t done any for mha in.. years. probably won’t start those up though. i still read it sure but the story is meh to me sometimes. i enjoy the characters more and unfortunately those i really love don’t get much spotlight, maybe just a moment or two recently. always debating on reading ahead for no guns life too since i have no clue if the anime is gonna continue, but i definitely won’t for fire force since season3 has at least been confirmed, whenever.. same with tokyo revengers even though i’m getting real tempted with that one. and for the love of god i have to remember to read the psycho pass manga still! or however much i can find of it anyways!

what else is happening in my world right now, umm. almost a month away from splatoon3 thank god. i haven’t played my switch in a hot minute but once i got that then mmmhmm it’s over. then. scarlet & violet a couple months after too. OH! pokemon.. the masters 8 tournament has been bittersweet for me. the battles are rushed, even most take one episode, some of the moves and outcomes are just.. upsetting and strange. like i’ll never get over how dirty the writing handled the leon vs alain match. my boy deserved so much better. lance vs diantha was okay i guess and ya knew cynthia was gonna win against iris no problem. but then that battle with steven and ash.. idc what people say but there’s no way he should’ve won. after all that damage pikachu took from mega-metagross, he wins by one z-move and an iron tail of all things?? what?? (i think? i dont remember, i was annoyed). only bright side are all the cameos we’ve been getting. they only last a few seconds but they grant me SO MUCH happiness! seeing mairin, the johto trio, drew AND harley?? my heart was ecstatic! and i’m sure they’ll save all of ash’s traveling companions for his final match with leon, or at least i’m hoping so. i better see may and serena again darn it!

oh, and no joke but i swear i actually had a fucking contestshipping dream last night, which isn’t too surprising since i do indeed love them very much, but it was just randomly timed? like why now and not last month around their actual day when i rewatched all their episodes ya know?? but whatever. all it was was drew calling up may after some contest lose (in johto im assuming) to cheer her up. then some light teasing of course. that’s all i needed.

sometime during my incoherent rambling i did get an idea for an tpn anniversary edit. so i’ll definitely start on something for it tonight or tomorrow, unless i get caught up playing more pmd sky.. i started a randomizer yesterday and i’m enjoying myself. nostalgia hitting hard. but i would seriously love a new mystery dungeon.

[cynthiaandsamus]

[Can you give me the latest on Toonami? How is that block doing?]

(They've been a little rough lately, they finished Assassination Classroom and a bunch of other shows lately so right now the block is Reruns of the first season of Primal, the new Lupin the Third part, and double helpings of One Piece and Naruto Shippuden before we get into Shenmue and Attack on Titan reruns, so we really only have one 'new' anime on the block and premiere episodes of old shows most people have already seen while the rest is reruns.

Now they have announced they're going to be showing rerun episodes of the Season 2 premiere for Primal when that comes out next week and Yashahime Season 2 is coming shortly after that so we do have some things in the pipeline but it seems they've been having trouble getting ahold of existing new shows because most of these things are either seasons of shows they've already shown or things Adult Swim already has the rights to that they're able to jump on with, they had a similar problem when Covid hit and they weren't sure what to do with the block for a while and bounced back pretty strong so it's not unprecedented and kinda happens sometimes.

The good news though is they have numerous new shows they're creating or co-creating that they're putting out over the next year or so, they seem to really want to be in on the production end of things which may help them get a cut if anything does well and offset the cost which may be why they haven't been grabbing new series up as frequently. So far they've had a hand in FLCL Progressive/Alternative, Fena Pirate Princess, Blade Runner Black Lotus, and the Shenmue anime. Personally all of these have been kind of lacking in one way or another, FLCL Progressive was a confusing fanservice laden show that was kind of fine if you don't think too hard, FLCL Alternative was kind of genuinely good but not as amazing as the original, Fena was REALLY good except the last two episodes kind of botched the ending, Black Lotus was okay but hit during a time when they were short on shows so they kept dropping marathons for it and playing the first few episodes over and over and it got really old and the story was kind of unremarkable at the end of the day. Shenmue I can't tell if it's a boring terrible anime or a genius anime that accurately adapts a boring and terrible game series.

So yeah, the Toonami-created anime have kinda had a rough time with it but that seems to be where they're focusing a decent amount of attention at the moment. ATM they have two Horror anime, the Manga-style adaptation of Uzumaki and a new thing called Housing Complex C which both look pretty interesting despite Uzumaki going through like two years of delays but I think they're really trying to nail the style which I'd rather them work hard on it and have it be good than rush it and be bad but at the same time idk how the animated manga look is going to translate since we have a few series like the Netflix Way of the Househusband anime that don't exactly get great reviews for the same style. They also have two MORE FLCL series coming in the form of FLCL Shoegaze and Grunge and who fucking knows what that'll be like since FLCL is a series of wildly varying quality now.

But yeah, TLDR they've gone through periods of experimentation and are currently a bit light on stuff to watch but it's happened before and they come back so it's nothing to worry about too much and they do seem to have more stuff planned they just have a habit of not telling the public until right before it drops for some reason. They recently had an anniversary special a few months ago that saw TOM and SARA board a futuristic version of the original Absolution ship which was pretty cool so it's still doing well just hitting a few bumps here and there.

[zaptap]

ive made a few of these bingo sheets and theyre fun so i decided to make one not just for e3 but also JUST for splatoon 3 (not just for e3 but for like the whole lifetime of the game). also heres my updated list of characters id like to see in smash, ordered generally by which id like more and/or think are the most realistic

since min min got in i took out helix, and since i couldnt decide whether to add in waluigi or madeline i added another row (realistically i dont think any indies are getting in but i threw some in anyway). also i was like “oh yeah maybe theyd put in a gen viii pokemon” so i threw in hatterene since thats one of my favorites.

also as for waluigi (and shovel knight for that matter) i think it would be nice to see an assist trophy get in just to break that rule. also i remember being super surprised he wasnt in brawl (back then i thought he and wario were equally important) and even though that was based on a wrong impression ive still felt like he should be in there ever since

notes about the bingos under the cut

really is about time for those n64 games, especially now that mario is dead so theyre free to release sm64 on it. game boy games would be nice sometime too

would also make sense to include banjo-kazooie in that, nintendos had a good relationship with microsoft lately and the total absence of anything banjo-kazooie on the switch is odd since it’s a dlc character (every other one has a game on switch they can use for cross-marketing, even if joker’s took a while) and i think the best explanation for that would be that theyre holding off for the nso n64 app (this is easiest from a technical standpoint because all they have to do is make a deal to use the roms)

when are they putting octolings in mk8d

xenoblade chronicles x is one of the only wii u games left that they could port (aside from ones that wouldnt make much sense like splatoon and ssb4) so i guess that might as well happen sometime. also monolith soft might be doing something else besides helping with splatoon 3

im not ready for metroid prime 4 (im over halfway through mp2 and therefore the trilogy as a whole) but it’s been a while, they might show it and it could even come out this year

hal apparently recently hinted at a new kirby game or something

the upgraded switch is obviously going to be called the Nintendo Switch ͥ  since they already did the ds lite so theyre clearly naming everything in the family after the ds family, theres absolutely no flaw in this logic. idk if theyre showing it, but unlike 2019 they didnt say they werent showing new hardware (just that they were showing software, which could be taken as denying rumors, but they sometimes specify when certain things arent being shown)

metroid prime trilogy also might come this year. would make sense to release it before mp4 since not everyone is going to buy a wii u to get it (and at this point that doesnt get nintendo any money since they stopped making them)

where is detective pikachu 2. i hope it has the blue pikachu from that first tease they gave us in like 2014 (2013? that was a loooong time ago idk)

they said this was MOSTLY 2021 so i am absolutely getting my hopes up for splatoon 2

the two sinnoh games could likely be there

would be super cool if oddity came to switch. and almost as ironic as megalovania getting into smash

we havent seen the botw sequel for a couple years so we’re kind of due for an update on that

it’s ace attorney’s 20th anniversary this year so maybe theyre doing something. theyre already porting those games though so idk. maybe he’s getting in smash

whats with that watermelon mario render

i held off on watching a playthrough for ndrv3 on the off chance it came to switch and i could play a dangan ronpa game for real for once but it’s now been 4 years and we just passed the 10th anniversary of the series (albeit during a pandemic when i wouldnt expect them to have done anything) so it would be cool to see the series come to switch. i think if it still doesnt after this though i’ll just watch the playthrough, 4 years is long enough. amazed ive avoided spoilers this long, i still know next to nothing about the game

im about done with acnh but im still waiting on those splatoon items. and i ran out of storage in february so i need more of that too

nintendo did stuff for zelda’s 30th anniversary so i doubt theyre forgetting the 35th. maybe wwhd/tphd ports, idk

been a couple years since fire emblem, intelligent systems is probably up to something besides planning yet another paper mario spinoff

miyamoto forgot pikmin 4 in the oven 6 years ago and it got burnt to a crisp and thats why it hasnt come out yet because he had to start over

and splatoon

the inklings scared daft punk into quitting so now that theres no competition in the robot musician scene they should have a daft punk style group

i waited and waited and neither of my top two splatoon stages (flounder and d’alfonsino) came back in splatoon 2 so i hope just because splatoon 3 isnt in inkopolis doesnt mean they still wont return

would be sick as hell if there was a real hide and seek mode instead of just sticking to your own rules in private battles. havent played that since 2015 but it was super fun

show us the effects of the chaos world

i wanted mc craig to have a song in octo expansion and they didnt deliver. heres another chance

splatnet 3 baby

cant wait for nogami to do a funny 3 pose

abxy came back for splatoon 2.... am i gonna be that lucky again...?

salmon run doesnt make sense if youre friends with a smallfry but they could either change the story context (you just fight “evil” salmonids?) or replace it with an equally fun co-op mode

amiibo!!! i think i said this before but they should label them by weapons if these cephalopods dont have genders, would make more sense (the gendered ones had different weapons anyway)

returning characters!!!! would like to see everyone have a role of some kind

maybe #GearForAll wasnt successful in getting the emperor/spy/mecha gear, but perhaps theyll at least consider not making that stuff exclusive this time around

squid girl gear should be back. and they should call it a dress instead of a tunic because its a dress. and theres no gender now anyway

as ive said before... TRIPLIES!! you hold one in each hand and another in your mouth. and you can spin around like the tasmanian devil

remove splatfest tee annoyances: you should have a prompt at the end of a splatfest to pay to scrub your tee (to make sure you get the chunks) also it should be on a neutral brand so you dont end up with an overabundance of ink resistance up (or whatever else)

better online and cloud saves would certainly justify having a second splatoon game on the same console, as much as im loving that it exists

hopefully theres a global testfire again

sooner or later the workers will rise up and kill mr grizz

remember in splatoon 1 where if you had squid beatz (via the amiibo) you could “play” it in the lobby and change the music? then you were stuck listening to only bubble bath in splatoon 2? why did they take that option away they should bring it back

looking at those apartment buildings in the trailer i think it would be cool if you had your own room and could decorate it

an octavio redemption arc would be fun to see. in the manga he stole the zapfish because the octarians had an energy crisis, and in the end they worked out a deal to share the electricity

[cryoculus]

More love for Semi please? Anything will do, your writing is exquisite in any form anyway :D

» Word Count: 1,857 wordsCross-posted on AO3

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE :(( I actually wrote three chapters’ worth of content for him already and you can read the whole thing on the ao3 link.(NOTE: This is based on the current events of the final arc of the Haikyuu manga. I tagged it as a spoiler but I won’t really go into the specifics of what’s going on. Semi is our main focus here ^__^)

—

“Please?”

“No,” was your flat reply.

Semi heaved a long sigh, mouth twitching into an irritated grimace. You returned his reaction with a sassy look of your own—one, finely penciled brow quirked as bright, red lips rivalled the adamance that Semi brought about. While you were in no position to tell him to just go back to his cubicle and get today’s work done (you, sadly, held the same position in office), you at least had the right to turn him down. Your department had a monthly financial report coming up. Why on Earth did he want your help writing a song?

“Come on,” he groaned. “You know I’d eat my fist first before asking for your help, but our manager really digs your old pieces from college.”

Your eye twitched.

“Way to beg for someone’s aid in a time of dire need,” you bit back sarcastically. “Go do it then.”

“What?”

“Eat your whole fist.” You gave him a pointed look, even making a show of paying attention by putting your pen down.

Your co-worker let out a frustrated groan, fingers carding through his messy, ashen hair. The gesture made the tattoos on his chest visible for a second, before disappearing again behind his barely done button-up. It was a mystery, how a man like him made it as a public servant—with his flamboyant piercings and tip-dyed hair—but you supposed you should learn to look past physical appearances. The agency allowed it, so why should you make a fuss?

Ah, right. Semi Eita was the most hot-headed man in your department, and he had a knack for picking fights with you.

“If you get the balance sheet done by five o'clock, I might reconsider,” you told him, not really meaning the words, as you directed your attention back at the paperwork on your desk. Balance sheets are the toughest to fill out, since the data needed had to be collated from different sectors of the city. You highly doubted that Semi, with his thinner-than-a-strand-of-hair patience, could finish it in one sitting.

“Deal.”

Your gaze hardened as you looked back up at him. “Come again?”

“Are you deaf?” he asked, folding lean arms across his chest. “I said it’s a deal.”

You couldn’t help the snort that made its way past your lips. Whatever his reasons may be, it was painfully obvious that he was desperate. But still. You knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry out the deed in your given deadline, but instead of talking him out of his own agreement, you merely shook your head in acceptance.

Semi eventually stalked off to his cubicle; the one just in front of yours. There was a divider that separated each employee’s workspace from the others, and it at least granted some semblance of privacy from outside gazes. You’ve been to Semi’s cubicle a couple of times—more to coordinate paperwork than engage in conversation, really—and he decorated his personal space exactly how a part-time rock band vocalist would. Though he didn’t exactly put up posters and painted the walls black, he added his own flair to his desk with guitar figurines, neon stickers on his desktop, and a photo of his bandmates enclosed in a sparkly picture frame.

The only reason you bothered looking so closely was the fact that you also went to the same university together (under the same degree, too!) You’ve always been keen around him, with his loud way of living, as opposed to you, who’s always chosen to live simply and without pretentiousness. Sure, the disparity between your lifestyles had caused you to be at each other’s throats since freshman year, but it was still a surprise that your synergy was top notch. You would, as Semi put it so delicately, eat your fist first before admitting to the fact, but it’s a given that you preferred to work with him instead of other, unfamiliar people.

You sighed, brandishing a bored look at the bleak document in front of you. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to help him out…

But when you recalled every time he’s talked over you during board meetings, sneered at you when he got a higher score during exams, and his distateful behavior in general, you steeled your resolve.

Either he’s going to get that balance sheet over with or he’ll keel over. If he wanted your help, he’s going to have to work for it.

—

You were in the middle of fixing your belongings when the sound of a stack of papers hitting your desk rang in your ears.

“There,” Semi said breathlessly, making you look up at him in surprise. He even tossed a flash drive on top of the papers he deposited, where you saw the city hall’s heading printed in full color. You reluctantly checked your phone for the time. 16:57, it said, in a mockingly bold typeface before shoving it in your pocket.

The damn guy really did get it done before five.

“The electronic document is saved in there, in case you lose the print.” He was panting at this point, and you had a vague idea as to why he looked like he just ran a marathon. The one printer in your department (this year’s budget was cut) broke down a few days ago, and the nearest functional one was at the Logistics office three floors down.

Still refusing to believe it, you peered at the documents he just brought in. You scanned each of the entries printed on each page. That’s when you realized that Sendai City’s expenses have skyrocketed since the new year because the list of expenses occupied a whole page alone. A worried sigh made its way past your lips, but at least the liabilities were cut down to a minimum. You heard that the governor of Miyagi was going to pledge a few hundred thousand yen for the city’s founding anniversary, too.

You paused. Blinking, you rearranged the papers neatly back into its pile—biting back the urge to clutch your wounded pride. Semi was looking at you expectantly, like he wanted you to praise his flawless bookkeeping.

In actuality, his determination was beginning to freak you out.

“Why do you want me to help you so badly?” you asked, voice almost trembling. “Seriously, dude. I thought we hated each other. Quit acting out of character.”

“I told you, our manager really liked the songs you composed back in senior year,” he drawled, tired of having to repeat himself.

Your face twisted in confusion. “Who even is this manager of yours?”

There was a half-second delay in his response, but before you could paint a reason for his hesitation, he immediately replied with, “Saito. Saito Makoto.”

You stiffened, gaze going rigid at the mention of that name. “Oh.”

“Yeah. If I manage to give him a piece by the end of the month, he’ll help us sign a contract with a big-shot record label,” Semi explained, oblivious to your discomfort.

“But haven’t you been writing songs since high school?” you wondered aloud. “That’s what you said during our Pol-Gov class ice breaker.”

He frowned. “You still remember that?”

Okay. You kept forgetting that your sharp memory wasn’t always a praiseworthy thing. You gulped, feeling the heat creep up your face. “Um, anyway, the point still stands. You’ve been writing songs for God-knows-how-long, and while I’m not one to dish out compliments especially to you, I’m pretty sure they’re okay if you managed to gather a decent fanbase.”

He rolled his eyes, leaning against the divider of your cubicle. “We’re a rock band. I write rock songs, but Saito wants me to write a goddamn love song.”

Typical Saito. Though he looked like a rugged high school delinquent, he was awfully sentimental when it came to music. He was the one who inspired you to write the songs Semi was pestering you about all day after all…

“Fine,” you relented. “I never go back on my word and since you did a…good job with this, I’ll help you out.”

His light brown eyes lit up for a moment, but Semi managed to mask his relief in a split second—containing his excitement in a single nod. “Are you free this Saturday? You can come by my place and we could start getting to work.”

Well, that was forward of him. You expected to work on the song in a coffee shop or something, but he went on ahead and invited you to his own humble abode anyway. You parsed through your weekend plans in your mind, and once you confirmed that you were free, you scribbled down your phone number on a sticky note. Almost five years of acquaintance and you’d never bothered giving it to him. Huh.

“Just text me the time and place,” you told him, pocketing the flash drive as you slipped the balance sheet in one of the empty folders in your organizer. “You better not pull anything funny and lead me to a secluded alley or something.”

Semi scoffed, folding the piece of paper and sticking it inside his trousers. “As if.”

You then slung your bag across your shoulders, grinning insincerely. “Glad we’re on the same page, then.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

With that, Semi exited your cubicle, leaving you no room to wonder why he didn’t even spare a quick ‘thank you’.

Just as you were smoothing out the creases on your pencil skirt, your phone began buzzing in the pocket of your blazer. Brows raised, you fished it out and unlocked it.

From: Makohey, wanna grab some dinner? its on me :3

Speak of the devil. You swallowed the lump in your throat, fingers shakily managing to type a coherent reply.

To: MakoYeah sure. Where to tho

From: Makocan we get some italian? ik u love the udon place across the street but akane’s having dinner w her friends there

From: Makocant have her seeing us together now do we

The way he put that so casually made your chest constrict with a too-familiar sensation. You heaved a deep breath, pursing your lips into a thin line as you sent a quick “Ok” text to end your conversation. Saito replied with those iffy heart-eyed emojis that he only ever used when he wanted something from you, and you had to compose yourself so you wouldn’t burst into tears right there.

“Oi.”

You almost jumped at the sound of Semi’s voice as he peered inside your cubicle once more. He clutched his suitcase in one hand, eyeing you curiously.

“What do you want?”

“You’re headed uptown, too, right?” he asked, and you nodded reluctantly. “Thought you’d want a lift.”

“Semi, just because I’m helping you achieve your dreams, doesn’t mean you have to be nice to me.” You laughed softly, tension easing from his uncalled for kindness.

He, however, looked unconvinced. “Do you want a ride or not?”

You raised your hands in defeat, managing a genuine smile. “Alright, fine. It’ll be a hellish commute anyway.”

You liked to think that that’s how you started becoming friends with your odd, hot-headed co-worker.

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Recap of #Nightmare25

So, October 29th, 2018 was the official 25th anniversary of The Nightmare Before Christmas! I figure since it’s nearing Christmas and it’ll be the end of the year before we know it, this is an appropriate time to recap just how important 2018 was for NBC and how many new things have come for this cherished Henry Selick/Tim Burton creation.

Zero’s Journey

2018 was God’s gift to all Nightmare fans alike. Because not only did we get another “sequel”, in a sense, but it was through a comic book that was focused on Zero! The art is adorable and the story is good. We got a glimpse into more of what Christmas Town is like nowadays and their thoughts on Halloween - a perspective I would’ve adored having many years ago.

Unfortunately, there are still fans out there who don’t know about this or haven’t read it yet. If you haven’t, definitely pick it up somewhere! TOKYOPOP really improved themselves from their Nightmare Before Christmas “manga”....

Journey to Halloweentown

Journey to Halloweentown is the pinnacle of potential Nightmare has for entertainment. In Hong Kong, Disneyland, there was a walk-through event where guests “journey to Halloween Town” and get to watch both face actors and animatronics perform a small but enjoyable show where they listen to Jack give a speech, help Sally make a treat, and watch Oogie Boogie try to torment a guest.

This celebration went unnoticed because it wasn’t in the United States. Regardless, find some more videos of the event and relish in what they’ve done with the movie. There are really amazing props and specially-designed animatronics you have just GOT to see.

Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl 2018

Surprisingly, Danny Elfman agreed to return to the “Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl” celebration for The Nightmare Before Christmas -- on October 26th and 27th, he was joined by Catherine O’Hara and Ken Page to reprise their singing roles and were joined by an orchestra conducted by no other than John Mauceri, along with a screening of Nightmare.

I consider this year’s event to be special because, besides missing Paul Reubens, they had a screen specially lit up with Nightmare designs and Danny actually agreed to come back! He doesn’t visit his role as Jack again very often and even hesitated doing Halloween at the Hollywood Bowl again. If you didn’t attend, then you should watch it online. It’s not worth it to miss it - any of these could be the last.

"Pocket Pop-Up” Experience

On July 21st, there was an artistic celebration at the Horton House in San Diego where they had a Christmas Door replicating the one in Nightmare that had a small version of Christmas Town inside. The event also hosted a collection where artists transformed Jack’s head with a theme to celebrate Nightmare’s 25th anniversary. They gave away lots of free merchandise, too(one being Zero’s Journey).

Did I mention Henry Selick showed up there, too??? He took a look inside the Christmas Door and posed with all the artwork. Definitely an awesome and noteworthy celebration.

D23 Comic Con Panel

Also in San Diego on July 21st, D23 hosted a retroactive behind-the-scenes panel that featured Henry Selick, Anthony Scott, Kelly Asbury, and Edie Ichioka.These members were able to share their experience with Nightmare, what it meant to them, and how the movie was completed. They even brought out concept art, photographs, and a miniature set-up mocking the film. They spoke a lot of animation, animators, and a lot of movie-related subjects.

The event was moderated(surprisingly) by the legendary Neil Gaiman! This event was SO incredibly important because we haven’t heard much from this set of cast. As Henry Selick ended the panel, “ …the pleasure and joy of everyone who worked on the film came into it and made it better, and I think that’s a big part of why it’s lasted, and why everyone here tonight has held onto it and welcomed it.”

Merchandise

Obviously Nightmare returned to debut a lot of new merchandise, toys, collectibles, games, etc. to celebrate their 25th anniversary. There were new animatronics sold by Spirit Halloween, special edition board games, FUNKO/VINYL pops, action figures, special edition DVD...you name it. If it wasn’t already over-commercialized by Hot Topic, it really took off this year.

There are some cool new things you should consider getting if you���re a big fan. I personally recommend a comic that came out this year, The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Story of the Movie in Comics by Joe Books LTD.

Game Appearances

It may not directly correlate to the 25th anniversary, but Nightmare characters have notably been introduced into Disney games as of late...For example, Disney Magic Kingdoms introduced the Mayor to their Nightmare character lineup, and Disney Heroes: Battle Mode recently brought Jack Skellington and Sally into their game to fight with other heroes.

It may be small, but it’s a serious step considering we have very few, if any, Nightmare-related games. The last time we had anything major was when Jack was introduced to Disney Infinity, so let’s hope these steps are leading to something similar in the future.

So, yeah, these were mostly the major events celebrating Nightmare’s 25th anniversary in 2018. There was news of a “Nightmare Before Christmas: Visual Companion” book to release this year but I haven’t heard any news of it. If any of you have, please let me know. I’d love to get it.

Overall, this was a VERY important year to mark for TNBC. There was a lot to celebrate, we got new information and appearances/interviews from the cast, and we even have new material for the movie. It’s been a very long time since the early 2000′s since Nightmare has gotten something as similar to this.

I’m very proud of you, 2018, and happy 25 to my favorite movie of all time.

[mechamark]

S2E7 “On Top of the Hill”

Imagine a city. It is a perfect blend of modern architecture and natural beauty. Its small streets pool into spacious town squares, all full of local shops and room to relax. 

As you venture further away from the train station that brought you here, you are chaperoned up an incline.

It might look something like this:

You aren’t sure what is at the top of the hill, but everywhere you look you see it; all of these roads around lead there. 

You continue on. As you are walking, you start to notice the calm all around you. It’s rush hour in the morning, and you are in a city after all. Yet, things are peaceful. 

Further on, you look to your left and see another side road that veers off to its own destination. 

You aren’t sure if it will bring you to where you want to go, so you decide to keep going up.

Just as you start to wonder how long this will last, you find yourself at the top. Looking back, you can see how it winds all the way down and also what is still in front of you.

To the right is a sign and you realize that you’ve made it.

This city is Minato. This is where your new job is.

A few days ago was a new start. Both the city and school are beautiful locations. The ride to get there, however, is what I imagine is someone’s very depiction of hell.

It is a fairly straightforward ride. Take my bike to Kokubunji station and park it. Ride the Chuo line about a half hour to Yotsuya station and transfer to the Namboku line. Ride that for four stops and arrive in Azabu-juban station. Walk ten minutes and you are at the school.

The hell part comes in when you get on that first stop. To understand why, a brief geography lesson. We live in Kodaira city. Located in Western Tokyo, the only way to get to the place that most people consider “Tokyo” is to go East. 

As “East” is where the major arteries of Tokyo business are (like Shinjuku), you are riding with e v e r y o n e. 

It’s basically like riding 495 North and heading into DC at 8AM on any given day. Except there aren’t traffic jams (yay!). There are people jams. In trains (...yeah?)

All of this to say, if I leave the house at a reasonable time I can expect to be literally pushed up against at best a door or at worst between two people. For about a half hour at one time. Once we pass Shinjuku it lets off a lot of passengers, but by then I’m only one stop away from my transfer.

My best shot is leaving the house around 6:45AM, arriving in Minato around 7:35, and using the hour before work starts to enjoy breakfast and coffee at a cafe. Even better is this gives me time to study and wake up for the day.

To celebrate my first week of being back at work, Yuka and I decided today to go see the Shonen Jump 50th Anniversary Museum. Incidentally enough, the Museum is located in the same city as my job. So it doubled as a minor to Yuka. To our luck, Minato was in the middle of having a Matsuri. 

As always, the food, music, and atmosphere were all amazing.

Once we made our way to the massive Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, it was a short elevator ride to the 52nd floor. We stepped out and knew it on sight.

All this year, the museum has been doing a showcase on the history of Shonen Jump magazine. Every couple of months they celebrate a different decade and the titles that comprised it. 

For the uninitiated: Shonen jump is a weekly magazine from Japan that is an anthology of Japanese comics (manga) aimed at an audience that is mostly aimed at boys aged 12-18. 

If you’ve ever heard of anime or manga, it is probably one of the heavy hitters from this magazine. 

For our time, we are in the window of “the 2000′s”. Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Haikyu!!, Kuroko’s Basketball, and My Hero Academia are the standouts. 

For Yuka and I this was damn near perfect. The museum has exhibits of original art work from the creators that is either displayed traditionally on the walls or given its own room to be creative with. 

Due to the time we went, pictures were only allowed in some rooms. Sadly this means I didn’t get any of the Naruto or Hero Aca sections but believe me when I say that we both legitimately got goosebumps. 

Most people who know Yuka might not assume she is a gigantic One Piece fan. They would be mistaken. 

It’s blurry because she was visibly shaking with excitement. 

First up was the One Piece room. Adorned with the iconic characters and their most famous moments, this is more than we could have dreamed.

We made our way through the rest of the exhibit and rightly geeked out over specific moments highlighted by frame. To our fellow nerdy friends, special mention goes to a few spots.

The Naruto/Shippuden/Boruto room had a floor to ceiling ninja scroll. It unfurled on the walls with original art of Team 7 summoning during the Third Ninja War, Naruto and Sasuke getting ready to fight Kaguya, and of course the pair laying down after their final fight.

The My Hero Academia room had 10ft tall portraits of the main heroes, their quirks, and a collage of their greatest hits. As usual, All Might in his glory is breathtaking. 

Finally, Haikyu!!. The wall was a full color splash page of the whole team. Their biggest matches each had a section with the team banner hanging above. Our personal favorite had its own spot. Tsukishima’s moment of triumph when he blocked Ushijima.

Before we knew it we were already at the end and towards a convenient gift shop. We felt like little kids again.

Before we left I had one last thing to do, though. Being 52 floors up in the middle of Tokyo, I had to get that view. 

Between being up here and my new surroundings at work, I feel more lucky than ever. 

Five years ago I was working overnight and stocking grocery shelves. Yuka was an hour away and we saw each other once a week. Today I found myself with my wonderful wife looking out at Tokyo and taking everything in. 

We worked hard to get this. We cut out toxic people from our lives. We stayed positive. But we also didn’t do any of it alone. We had our friends and family every step and every moment.

I cannot express my gratitude enough, but know that I love all of you who are in our lives. Truly, thank you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See You Next Week!

[karamessyart]

( Most of you do not know polish so I will translate : Achi : If I didn’t wake up you know what happend. Kokkuri: Inka, do not cry! Inka: But... Fucking Bifrost?! Achi: What??  Kokkuri : But you always wanted Bifrost. Inka: But I wanted to do it after Nevermore. Kokkuri: So you do one more! Achi: So you do one more! For me! ( obviously laughing while Inka cry ). You don’t need to do whole Bifrost for me. The Legend will be fine. Inka : Well fuck. Achi : You still love us, don’t you? Inka : Stop recording or your phone will learn to fly.)

To tell this story I need to start long before Guild Wars 2.

A teenager with no knowledge of English was playing Guild Wars 1 and this teenager was me that got so hooked up on this game like an adult me on a chocolate cake. But thanks to my fellow Polish-English dictionary I was able to understand English and game itself, discovering it every time I was doing any story or just talking with NPC. In same time I was playing some RPG website game that based on role-playing. Thanks to another player in that time I meet Achi. And we went together throughout quite a few games and a lot of fun.

And so years passed and Guild Wars 2 was coming in big steps, I was blabbing to her that ' HEY WE SHOULD PLAY TOGETHER!' but she was more sceptic about this game. So I waited. And waited. And thanks, God, Guild Wars 2 went free to play with Heart of Thorns! I made her like 'Try! You will like it! ' In that time I already made her join our guild team speak and slowly meet people on it. After 2 weeks of playing or even shorter, she bought Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns. That way I got one more person that I knew in game. But time was passing. I need to mention also another person Kokkuri. He is really important in that story too!

So with time flowing I made Achi go with me on her first guild meeting in Toruń, Poland about 2 years ago, she and I met our guild members and we had a lot of fun. Making jokes about the members and situations that were made. With time I wanted to give her something special and Kokkuri in same time wanted to make something for Fenus (another guild member) and Achi as they became friend really fast. In the end we got agreement. I am making Bifrost (at that stage I made one Bifrost back in the days when to get precursor you had to sit in the toilet and wish for the best) for Fenus and Kokkuri is making The Dreamer for Achi. I can tell you guys that road was full of plotting and instances of not saying what we are doing. We prepared everything with sending Legendaries as gifts and preparing small notes for them which both got really unexpected but hilarious results.

I can say that Achi reaction was the best thing ever the amount of O K*rwa and I will kill you was unreal.

But IF I KNEW WHAT KOKKURI AND ACZI DECIDED I WOULD THINK ONCE MORE ABOUT MY LIFE DECISIONS

After that or even in meantime I was already struggling with collecting stuff for Nevermore. I was crying on Teamspeak that I need to collect all the wood and I have enough of collecting it. Sometimes Achi sent me a little bit of elderwood like it was fine, I didn't suspect anything. After our guild anniversary 10th meeting in Gdańsk, Poland we had small like 'gathering' between me, Kokkuri, Robin(yet another guildmate) in Aczi place on Festival of Celtic Music in Będzin.

Normal day. We open our laptops to show what we gathered around ( I have a 5-year-old laptop so he is slow ) and Kokkuri was lecturing me and Aczik what we should sell out of our banks to have gold where my collector soul was like ' Noooo I need it for Nevermore '. Those two made me create GW2 Efficiency. Because my laptop told me that he can't open gw2 I borrowed Kokkuri laptop. I open up my dear account on his laptop and I needed to leave room to go get Robin who just arrived downstairs.

I am not sure how to... Describe it. I love them. I really love those two

TL;DR Yes. My two friends made me next Bifrost. I was crying when I saw it. I love those two people but sometimes I want to struggle them. Right now I am making The Bifrost for Aczi! Also do not worry Kokkuri ( I know you will read that ) I have something for you in making too!

Muhahahahaha She didn't expect me to be here, Hi guys I'm Kokkuri.

So she did say her part of this story so I guess I should tell you how it looked from our side of this small adventure. So let me now start from the beginning. I meet Inka through the guild wars 2 somewhere around 2014 and became friends quite fast, we played a lot together and she was always mentioning her best friend Achi so I became interested who's she is. Eventually, she joined our Teamspeak server and oh boy was I not prepared for her. She is one of the most amazing, loving and caring people I ever meet, and we became best friends in like matter of weeks which was strange and exciting to get soooooo attached to someone so fast. And so all three of us became very very close friends, sharing our crushes, seeking help and eventually meeting in person which to the outside it might have looked like were siblings because I was only like 17 at the time I first time meet Achik which is older by couple of years but to hell in our guild we have people over 50, bellow 16, female, male and no one give a damn because over internet it doesen't matter who you are because if your decent person with who you can lough, play and overally have a greate time then why not call them friends?

So back to the Bifrost story. It was somewhere around early January 2017 that I told myself I will get Legendary Armour and started collecting everything, Riding hard and overall farming so much to get everything before it will be dropped into the game. At around the same time, I finally learned the birthday date of the Fenus and smart me decided oh yeah let make him a legendary he would never ever get because he hates all of them. At the same time, Inka was saying that she wants to create a Legendary for Achik because of Inka (you do not question Inka logic because you will fall into such deep hole that even tangle depths would be looking like a Mount Everest).

So trolling me (muhahahahahaha) decided to troll Inka and at the same time create a gift for Achik and Fenus. The trolling was easy I knew Inka hated making Bifrost and that after she crafter her's and had what we called a curse of legendary (basically you don't want to play the game because you just don't, your too tired), and so I made her craft Bifrost but I was doing the collection for it and I would craft the Daydreamer and she would do the collection for it. I could hear her being frustrated and annoyed every time I mention her crafting the Bifrost (despite that we collected the materials together for both legendaries).

And so we did it somewhere in late April it was completed plus we also got enough gems to buy both of them an outfit to match the new weapons. Inka was worried how would we give them those items because if we sent the mail they will return it or sell the weapons and buy us something in return.

But I had a plan. It was simple I usually help my guildies in equipment management, doing the hardest achievement for people with too weak laptops (not looking in direction of Inka and Achi whose laptops are secretly calculators) and overall being a decent friend. I promised Achi to sort her equipment, sell the overflowing materials and make her life a bit easier, and when the time came I told her I will do it and I did !!! I managed to get her over 1000g by just selling excess materials. In Fenus case I just simply promised him to do one of the LS3 achievement he was struggling with and again I did it but also left something purple and account-bound.

And so the next day I got a message Kokkuri you d*ck, Twice!

Oh boy, that's a long story so I can just get into explaining the Bifrost for the Inka. A week or so after finishing the two legendaries Achi said to me that she wants to repay Inka by making something special for her and so I was in it again. Achi wanted to make her a focus or a sceptre dunno really but I had a plan, I always have a PLAN. There is this achievement in the game for account-binding two legendaries and I knew Inka was making Nevermore and I knew that Achi would help her collect the materials for it so I decided to make with Achi Bifrost. It was hilarious because whenever Inka was struggling with collecting the wood we would be sending between each other stacks of wood for collection, and then I would be hinting to her that were making Bifrost and that she should dismantle it for Nevermore. And so then Gdansk happened, That day was crucial, as it was supposed to be "revenge day" for legendaries. Achik bought Inka a birthday present and she packed it into layers and layers of bubble wrap, plastic wrapping and wrapping paper. I also did something like that but on a much smaller scale, but when Achik present was useful my how to say it lightly was in the wrong language... I bought her a manga and thought it was in English but apparently, it was in French so she had a hard time finding the proper translation.

SO yeah this gave us few more month of time to work on the Bifrost because she didn't have a clue that the birthday present wasn't a revenge but just a decoy. But this time we had a proper deadline, Achi told me that we have to have the Bifrost done before Festival of Celtic Music as she wants to surprise her and see her reaction in person. And again back to me with my plan, because I always have a PLAN. I decided that we won't raise her suspicion by trying to get an access to her account but by simply doing it when she will be occupied, but for this to succeed, there is someone else we need: Robin. Robin is our very quiet friend that promised to show up and we told him all about our plan and he had a simple job of distracting her long enough for us to mail the presents, account-bind and hide it.

The last step was for Inka to actually notice and so we made her make a gw2efficiency account so she would see a big spike and be like what the hell is happening. and the rest of the story you know from our friend Inka. Because it's in our guild spirit to gift each other some small or big presents to make the other one happy even if that means to craft of 3 legendary weapons in the span of nearly 6 months.

TL;DR I'm Kokkuri and after meeting Inka and Achi in Guild Wars 2 I became really good friends and became a mastermind behind 2 Bifrost and 1 Deydrimer because Kokkuri has a plan, he always has a PLAN.  

Ps. Oh Inka I know you will read it so be prepared because when I come back from the curse of the legendary I will start crafting a full bank tab of Bifrosts just for you and if your thinking I'm joking remember this Kokkuri has a plan, he always has a PLAN.  

// Kokkuri gave me permission to post it. IF not ask on Grzechu.2564 in GW2//

[tokikurp]

Even Then

Summary: Five years. That's how long it's been since Ushijima and Semi last saw each other. Five years later, their feelings still remain the same as it did the day of graduation.

I apologize in advance, this was rushed because I failed to realize it was UshiSemi Day (1/3) until about three hours before January 4th  (╥﹏╥) I blame the holidays. But better late than never right ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ?

Happy late UshiSemi Day (((o(*°▽°*)o)))

Enjoy!

AO3

It’s been five years since Ushijima and the other third years graduated from Shiratorizawa. He hasn’t heard much from all of them. He kept in touch with Tendou, actually scratch that, him and Tendou dormed together at university. Even after graduating, they still kept in contact and frequently met for lunch, sometimes dinner. The redhead was very busy, he went after his dream of being a mangaka and managed to achieve it. The former middle blocker kept a busy schedule with his manga as it started to get it’s name out. But that didn’t mean Tendou cut out all socializing, oh no! Ushijima and him met up for lunch when they were both free and Tendou even attended some of the professional volleyball player’s games, when he had time.

As for the others, he hadn’t heard much of. While meeting Tendou for lunch, the wing spiker asked about their former teammates and asked if he’s heard from them. Tendou stopped and thought about that before kind of nodding.

“Sort of, but I hear they’re all doing great! Hey you know what we should do, Wakatoshi? We should get everyone together again for a little reunion! Just me, you, Reon, Hayato and SemiSemi! It’s been too far long since we all saw each other!” Tendou suggested.

“Hmm, well you are right. It’s been five years since we all last saw each other. Though I’m sure timing will be our main problem. Do you know where everyone lives?” Ushijima asked as the redhead nodded.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m pretty sure Reon and Hayato live in Miyagi.”

“And Eita?”

“Hmm, actually  I’m not quite sure. I don’t remember if he said Miyagi or Tokyo. Well anyway! I have his number so I can call him and ask! Man, this is going to be awesome! Oh maybe a weekend here in Tokyo! I can take the weekend off, I’m already ahead on the next few chapters! Let me call the others now!” Tendou exclaimed all excited as he pulled out his phone.

The wing spiker watched as Tendou began to call everyone, asking how they’ve been and getting straight to the point. While listening to Tendou go on and on about the weekend trip to Reon, Ushijima looked out at the busy streets of Tokyo. He looked forward to seeing the others and how they’ve been doing. What they’re doing now, if they’re in relationships, if they were happy.

He was especially interested in one of them. He looked to the sky, wondering how he had been.

Everyone was able to take a weekend off to come to Tokyo. Ushijima booked their hotel rooms as a gift so they wouldn’t have to worry about getting different hotels. Tendou was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to see everyone, he even made a little memory board from when they were at Shiratorizawa. The pictures were very embarrassing and Tendou couldn't wait to reshare those memories.

Their weekend started on Friday, but Ushijima had training and Tendou had a meeting with his editor. They couldn’t be there to pick up the other three, but they had directions to the hotel and a time when dinner would start.

Ushijima was the last to arrive to the hotel, he had an unexpected meeting with the coach about the next big game and wanted to make sure their lineup was in order. When that was over, he texted Tendou and said he was on his way. The former middle blocker replied saying everyone was waiting for him in the private dinning hall and also sent a picture showing, that they even had a balcony all to themselves.

After checking in, he showered and changed quickly, before he headed out to meet the others. As he came closer and closer, he could obviously hear Tendou’s loud laughing, but other familiar laughs too. It was nice to hear those familiar laughs as he entered the room.

“AY WAKATOSHI! YOU MADE IT!” Tendou exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. In the room, Ushijima saw Reon and Yamagata sitting across from the former middle blocker. Not much has changed about them. Reon no longer had an undercut, while Yamagata still had his.

“Yo Wakatoshi! Long time no see!” Yamagata greeted as him and Reon got up to greet their former captain.

“Reon. Hayato. It’s good to see you both.” Ushijima greeted as they sat down. “How have you two been?”

“We’ve been doing well.” The former libero chuckled as he looked over to the former wing spiker. “You’ve been doing well too we’ve heard, Mr. Professional Volleyball Player.”

“Ah yes. It has been keeping me busy. What do you two do now?”

“I’m a pediatrician and Hayato is an engineer and both of our jobs have been keeping us busy.” Reon answered.

“Oh, oh, oh! Tell him the news!” Tendou exclaimed with a slight squeal. Ushijima blinked as Reon shook his head and Yamagata rolled his eyes.

“Fine, fine, fine! Reon and I are engaged.” The former libero answered as he held his hand up, showing off his engagement ring, a simple silver band with a diamond in the middle.

“Really now?” Ushijima’s eyes widened at the news. He had no idea his former teammates were even dating.

“Yes, I proposed on our anniversary.” Reon said as the engaged couple smiled at one another. “We haven’t picked a date yet, but we’ll send you an invitation.”

“I’d be honored to attend your special day. Congratulations.” The wing spiker answered as he looked around the room. Someone was missing. Where was Semi? “Has Eita arrived yet?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, SemiSemi’s already here! He stepped outside on the balcony about ten minutes ago to take a phone call. Guess it has to do something with work.” Tendou looked up as he answered the curious wing spiker, before pulling the engaged couple back into an embarrassing story.

“Oh god, I remember that!” Yamagata laughed as Ushijima got up and went outside to greet Semi.

“Yes, I left the case report on my desk. It’s in a green folder with the case number on it.” Ushijima heard as he walked onto the balcony, seeing Semi on the phone with his back toward the wing spiker. “It should be next to a group picture. Ugh, it’s the picture of when I was back in high school...Yes, that one. Yes, the picture of when I was on the volleyball team, did you find the folder?”

Semi kept a picture of their volleyball group on his desk? Ushijima had a copy somewhere in his apartment. He needs to put it on his desk when he’s doing things for the national team at home. He watched as Semi hung up and let a sigh out, before turning around only to see he wasn’t alone anymore.

“Wakatoshi?”

“Eita.” Semi hadn’t changed much either, but his hair was longer; just hanging off his shoulders a tad bit, and the color was an ombre style; black tips that flowed up to his ash blond hair. That was a style he wasn’t expecting to see the former setter have, but it looked good on him. He watched as Semi leaned against the balcony railing smiling.

“About time you showed up. How have you been?” Semi asked as the wing spiker walked over and stood next to him.

“I apologize. The coach held me back to talk about our lineup for the next game, but I’ve been well. How about you? I didn’t expect you to grow your hair out.” Ushijima answered as Semi chuckled, wrapping some hair around his finger and twirling it.

“That’s what those three said.” He chuckled before letting out a sigh. “I’ve been busy, that’s how I’ve been.”

“I see, we’re all busy nowadays.” Ushijima agreed. “Do you not live in Miyagi or Tokyo?”

“No, I live in Kyoto now.”

Kyoto? Now that was something he wasn’t expecting. He expected either Miyagi or Tokyo, but Kyoto?

“I like it there, though...I do miss home. But my main job and side job keep me busy.”

“Side job? You have two jobs?”

“Hm? Yeah, I do, but it’s not like I’m struggling money wise. I just do it for fun.” Semi chuckled as he crossed his arms and looked up to his former captain. “Would you believe it if I said my main job was being a psychologist, but I’m a cosmetologist during weekends?”

“Really now? I’ll be quite honest, I thought you’d be a full time cosmetologist.”

“Tck. It’s because Satori wouldn’t shut up about that in high school.” Semi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Those were days. Not having a care in the world about anything.”

“Yes, I agree.”

It was silent between the two of them, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable or awkward kind of silence. It was nice to see each other after so long, seeing how they’re both successful in their own worlds.

“You know,” Semi spoke after a while. “There wasn’t a day you didn’t come to my mind. I always thought about what you were doing and how your training was going. When I’m home and doing reports for work, I always watch your games. We knew you’d become a professional player.”

Ushijima looked down, seeing Semi looking down toward the ground but had a small smile on his face. “Really now? I didn’t expect to get the call, my final year playing in university didn’t go so well. But the coach looked passed that and now here I am.”

“Well you’re playing and blowing everyone away.” Semi looked up this time. “Reminds me of when we were in high school.”

“Does it now? Do you miss playing volleyball?”

“I do at times.”

“I see. We enjoyed our time at Shiratorizawa.”

“Even if coach was a demon.” Semi chuckled. Ushijima had to admit, there were times where they thought Washijo was a demon.

Again, they were silent, but Ushijima looked at the former setter before speaking up. “I never forgot about you. I always wondered what you were doing and if you’re happy.”

“...I guess I’m happy. I’m happy right now, being here with you, Satori, Hayato and Reon. It’s been too long since we’ve all been together.” ‘Since we were last alone like this.’

“Yes, but I never forgot what happened on graduation night.”

“...You mean the kiss I gave you?” Semi asked, slightly embarrassed at the memory. It was a quick kiss, something Semi had wanted to give to Ushijima before he left for university. A ‘I have no idea if I’ll ever see you again so here’s a kiss because I’ve always liked you’ kiss.

“Yes.”

“Oh...well uh about that-” Semi was cut off when he felt the other’s lips on his. It was short and quick, Ushijima drew back and took Semi’s hands into his.

“I was never able to return it.”

“...huh?” Semi blinked. Did he mean what he thought he meant? “W-what do you mean?”

“The five years we didn’t see each other and the kiss made me realize something about you.” Ushijima started as he rubbed his thumbs over Semi’s hand gently. “That I couldn’t stop thinking about you and wished I knew sooner.”

“I...I wish I told you sooner than just running off like that.” The former setter admitted as he lightly squeezed Ushijima’s hands, they felt rough but they felt strong. “I think those five years made us both realize something.”

“Yes, it appears so.” The wing spiker smiled softly  at him, a rare smile that Semi loved to see.

“So, should we, give it a chance? Us being in a relationship?” The ash blond asked as he looked back up to the wing spiker.

“Only if you want too. I won’t force you into anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“It’s just...we’d be three hours away from each other and we’re both busy. Can we really make it work?” Semi asked as Ushijima put a hand on the other’s cheek.

“It’ll be difficult in the beginning, but I think we can work through it, if it would be okay with you.” Ushijima replied as Semi couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You haven’t changed about making sure one of us was comfortable. But...yeah we can give this a shot.” The ash blond replied as Ushijima nodded and leaned his forehead against’s Semi’s.

“Even now, you’re as beautiful as I remember you to be.” The wing spiker spoke softly, making Semi blush.

“OH FOR GOD’S SAKE! WILL YOU TWO KISS ALREADY!” A new voice came. The two looked and saw Yamagata, Tendou and Reon in the doorway of the balcony.

“Says the one who hasn’t been kissed since university.” Semi smirked at Tendou as he walked back over to the others, Ushijima right behind him, who still held onto his hand. This time, the wing spiker had no plans on letting him go.