#Aka ito

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Yuu can do it!

What if all three Yuus (from the novel, manga, and game) were sent to the same world?

Part 8

(Link to previous)

In Grim’s defense, he was left unsupervised.

‘What about Kuroki?’, you may be asking. Well, Kuroki… was also left unsupervised.

‘What about Ito and Enma?’ Yeah… no.

Really, Crowley should have expected something to happen when he sent out three teenagers to be janitors.

Of course, it had started out pretty civil.

Enma and Ito had looked at each other with identical exasperated expressions before getting back to work. And, to be fair, Kuroki had expected Enma’s attention to wane the moment the conversation stopped being interesting to him… but he had thought Ito, at least, would stand up for Grim. Except they didn’t, only bothering to shoot Ace a dirty look before grabbing the power washer they had been trying to figure out for the past hour and starting to mash buttons again.

“Pft! I can’t bear it anymore!” Ace laughed openly at them, leaning back against the statue of the Queen of Hearts and crossing his arms over his chest. “You guys are the ones who went crazy at the entrance ceremony, huh? What’re you still doing here after that? What, did you do too much property damage and now you gotta pay it off? Pathetic!”

“What did you just say?”

The way Grim puffed up was accentuated by the sound of Ito finally figuring out how to turn on the power washer. They gasped a little at harsh blast of water that came from the tool, their eyes lighting up, and then began spraying down the stones at their feet. It was much faster than scrubbing by hand, they were very pleased by this new development.

“You don’t even know who the Great Seven are,” Ace continued to taunt, reaching back to rap his knuckles against the stone rose bushes gathered around the Queen of Heart’s feet. “It’s no surprise you didn’t get into NRC, I mean you couldn’t have even passed kindergarten if you’re that ignorant.”

Enma hummed a little, tipping his head to the side as if making a note of that to look it up later.

There was something dangerous in the cat-like slant of Grim’s eyes, and Kuroki would have been stupid not to notice the fight that was brewing… but, hey, he was a firm believer in the idea that you shouldn’t dish unless you can take – unless your name is Kuroki Yuuya, then it’s totally fine.

(Besides, he may have been a little pissed at Ace as well. Sure, he wasn’t going to go around getting in unnecessary fights – especially when he was at a clear disadvantage, what with his lack of magic – but he understood where Grim was coming from… and, admittedly, he might have been in a bad mood. Getting sent to another world without warning only to nearly get murdered several times in one night, sleep in the world’s most uncomfortable bed, have nightmares about how none of your old classmates will care that you’re gone, and then being forced to wake up early for a terrible janitorial job… well, it tends to be a lot to deal with for the average person. Forgive him for being a little bitter.)

Grim began to make a low growling noise in the back of his throat.

Ace either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “I thought I’d just mess with you a bit, but you really blew my expectations out of the water –.”

He nearly fell over when Ito hit him with their pressure washer. It wasn’t a long blast, and it had been on the lightest setting to make sure that it didn’t hurt, but it was more than enough to thoroughly soak the student.

“What the –?!”

“Ah! Sorry!” Ito said, sounding genuinely apologetic as they stepped forward until they were just barely standing in front of Kuroki… but their eyes flashed strangely in the light as they scratched the back of their neck ‘sheepishly’. “For a second there I thought I saw some grime on the statue!”

Enma leaned against his broom, expression perfectly bored. “I don’t blame you, Ito-san, it’s an easy mistake to make.”

“You –!”

Even Kuroki had to join in from where he was half-hiding behind Ito:

He gasped and snapped his fingers as if he had just gotten an idea. “Don’t worry, I know just how to make it up to you! Hey, Grim-chan, you think you can dry him off for us?”

“Gladly,” said Grim. Blue flames flickered to life in his throat and he sent a blast of fire towards Ace that he barely dodged.

“Hey! Watch out! You could have hit me!”

Kuroki snickered. “Don’t worry, Ace-chan, we’ll do better next time.”

It was funny, really. You could see the exact moment Ace realized he had severely misjudged the situation.

“I’m going to light up that fire-head of yours!” Declared Grim.

All traces of the amusement from earlier had disappeared from Ace’s face as he pulled a pen topped with a brilliant ruby from his chest pocket. “You’ve really got guts to try and fight me. I’m going to turn you into taxidermy, you dumb raccoon!”

The three humans watched on calmly as Ace and Grim fought. Maybe they would have put more effort in but, really, they probably would have gotten in the way more than anything. Besides, Ace was only using wind magic to direct the flames away from himself, so it wasn’t like they were all that concerned about Grim getting hurt.

(They did take turns spraying at Ace with the power washer when he got too close, though. Sometimes this was because he had actually gotten hit by a fireball and, surprisingly, they didn’t want him to die… but mostly it was just for funsies.)

But, apparently, Grim getting hurt shouldn’t have been their priority, they should have been paying more attention to their surroundings.

Because one of the fireballs Ace directed away from himself hit the Queen of Hearts’ statue in its too-smug face.

Enma’s hand flew to his mouth. Kuroki stared, wide-eyed at the statue. Ito made a squeaking sound in the back of their throat.

The two people fighting didn’t even seem to notice until they realized it had been too long since any of the humans had done anything. They followed their shocked gazes to the statue and went still.

It was very quiet for a good minute.

And then Kuroki was gathering Grim into his arms and Ito and Enma were grabbing their supplies and they were all sprinting away at top speed. Maybe they could act like they had been late and had just found the statue that way or something –?

“Whip of love!”

Well, that hope didn’t last long at all.

The four residents of Ramshackle dorm (the living ones… or, at least, they were alive for now, maybe they would join the ghosts that night) were dragged literally kicking and screaming back to the scene of the crime.

“Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit –,” Ace hissed, frantically trying to rub away some of the char with his sleeve.

Grim didn’t know when to be quiet. “This is all your fault! You should have just let me fry you!”

“Who would just let you – you –!” Ace realized who was talking and turned around to glare at Grim, only to find the Headmaster there as well.

And the Headmaster was… well, not happy. The lights in his eyes had winked out again as he looked down at the troublesome group before him. The tendrils of his Whip of love had already sept away, but they were held firmly in place by something else.

Ace, apparently, did know when it was time to shut up. His mouth closed so quickly that his teeth made a loud clicking noise.

Kuroki’s grip tightened on Grim.

“The five of you… you all caused trouble during orientation, and now you’ve charred one of the Great Seven’s statues! You seem pretty eager to be expelled.”

Kuroki very much wanted to argue that they hadn’t chosen to get in trouble during orientation, but he figured now wasn’t the time.

Enma was quick to kneel into a seiza, because he’s a suckup and a nerd. “Sorry, Headmaster. Please don’t kick us out, we have nowhere else to go.”

… okay, maybe Enma was right. (But he was still a suckup and a nerd.) Kuroki dropped into a seiza as well and, after some insistent tugging on a very confused Ito, they mimicked the position that their dormmates were in.

Ace seemed to get the hint, dropping to his knees. But, it seemed that, even now, he couldn’t help himself from being a little cheeky, as he pressed his hands together in an overexaggerated pleading gesture. “Don’t expel us, please, anything but that!”

“My goodness… you, what is your grade and name?”

Ace’s head tipped forward exhaustedly and he sighed. “Ace Trappola. First year.”

“Causing this much trouble on your first day…” Crowley shook his head slowly. “But, I suppose, it wouldn’t do to expel you all this soon… right, the five of you will be tasked with cleaning 100 windows around campus.”

“Eh?! Me too?” Ace said, eyes wide with genuine shock. He gestured at the Ramshackle residents. “I was defending myself! They were trying to kill me!”

“Nah. Talk sh–...” Grim’s eyes flicked to the Headmaster. “... I mean… talk crap, get slapped? Besides, you’re alive, aren’t you?”

“Silence!” Crowley snapped. “You five will meet in the cafeteria after school for your punishment, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!”

~

Apparently, despite the fact that Ace had agreed, it wasn’t clear.

They had waited a while. After all, it was a cafeteria. The four of them were more than happy to fill their plates after an entire day of cleaning. Enma looked up at the chandelier hanging above them with interest, his head resting in his hands as he watched the way the lights glimmered with a pale yellow light. Ito skimmed a book on dimension travel, absently swirling what was left of their coke bottle as they read. Kuroki leaned back against them, stroking a purring Grim on his lap and starting to nod off…

Enma clicked his tongue. “He’s not showing.”

“Oh, yeah, he definitely bailed on us,” Ito said absently, turning the page.

Kuroki’s eyes snapped open and he blinked several times to get his mind working again. “Should we go find him?”

“I mean… it’s only five more windows each,” Ito said slowly.

Grim sat up suddenly and Kuroki flinched. He hadn’t thought that the monster was awake. There went their free will.

As if to confirm this thought, Grim jumped off of Kuroki’s lap and rested his hands on where he would have had hips if he were a human. “I’m not gonna let him get away with putting all the work on us! C’mon, henchmen! Let’s catch that Ace and make him do all of the window-cleaning!”

And then the monster was dashing away before any of them could protest.

Ito sighed deeply and closed their book with a snap.

~

They probably would have exerted less effort if they had just let Ace run off, to be honest. But, hey, they had committed… apparently.

Enma had quickly gotten tired of Kuroki slowing them down – he swears that he used to be better at physical exercise, guys, it was just a bad week for him… or something – and had thrown him over a shoulder so they could have an easier time keeping up with Grim.

Kuroki sighed, propping his arm on Enma’s shoulder and resting his head on his hand to save himself from an aching stomach.

But it was all for naught. They burst into the classroom that a random third year with a diamond on his cheek said they should check if they were looking for Ace, only to find it empty.

Grim huffed, sending a tiny puff of smoke into the air. “There’s nobody here?!”

“No, I’m here,” said…

Kuroki turned his head every which way and found that he couldn’t find where the voice had come from. Unless one of his dormmates had randomly had a huge voice change, it seemed that the voice had come from no one at all.

“Over here.”

Enma (and, by extension, Kuroki) turned to follow the voice, only to find a portrait of a man with a large top hat and an even larger nose… of course, the contents of the portrait weren’t all that interesting when the portrait was talking to them.

Ito murmured something under their breath, Kuroki only caught the words “Potter knockoff”, before they pulled a smile to their face and waved at the portrait. “Hi, sir! We’re looking for someone, could you please help us?”

“The portrait is talking,” said Grim, who had apparently finally processed this.

“Yes, and?” The portrait asked. “I have a mouth, it is only natural that I possess the ability to speak, no?”

Enma smiled weakly. “Uh, back where we’re from, portraits don’t normally speak. Sorry for staring.”

“That’s quite alright, lad,” the portrait said, their lips pulling into a slight smile. “It simply seems that our definitions of ‘normal’ differ. For the record, everyone here can speak, including the Lady on the wall over there and the Gentleman beside me.”

The other two portraits in the room smiled. Only one of them had an arm, though, so only the woman could wave.

Kuroki tried for a smile.

“That aside,” the first portrait said, attention turning back to Ito. “You said you were looking for someone?”

“Mhmm! His name is Ace Trappola,” Ito said. “He’s got… a heart over one of his eyes and this red hair that kinda looks like fire.”

“Ah, one of the freshmen that started today, yes?”

Grim nodded. “He’s skipping out on a punishment!”

“That simply won’t do!” The Lady in a nearby portrait said, looking aghast as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth politely. “I believe I heard him mention that he was going to be heading back to his dormitory.”

Ito hesitated. “Thank you, but where is that?”

“The inner part of the East Wing. It’s a room full of mirrors, you can’t miss it,” said the portrait of the Gentleman.

“Thanks!” Said Grim, already sprinting out the door.

Enma, though, was completely still. His eyes had fixated on the portraits on the wall with the same look he had given the ghosts the night before and oh no they’ll never leave at this rate. Kuroki gently rapped his knuckles on the side of Enma’s had to try and startle him from his stupor.

When that didn’t work, Ito groaned softly and began tugging on Enma’s arm to get him moving. “C’mon. We can come back tomorrow and you can ask questions then, okay? Let’s catch Ace.”

Enma blinked himself back to proper consciousness and, while he seemed a little put out, he allowed Ito to drag him out once he had thanked the portraits for their help.

And then they were running again.

~

They barely managed to catch sight of Ace in time. He was walking towards a mirror decorated with what looked like playing cards, his hands laced behind his head lazily.

“Hey! You!” Grim yelled.

“Eh?!” Ace turned around, looking irritated, only for his eyes to widen as he recognized the group barreling down the hall after him. “Shit!”

“Stop right there!”

Ace scoffed and turned back around to run. “Really, who would stop just because you told me to?”

A boy with dark blue hair and a spade symbol over his right eye stepped out of the mirror – which, for the record, weird – but Kuroki couldn’t think too much about that at the moment.

“Hey! Can you catch him?” He begged, because he didn’t know if they could follow Ace through the portal when they didn’t have magic and Enma looked about ready to run straight at it, and Kuroki did not need to check off ‘running into a mirror headfirst’ to his bucket list (Ito already had that covered for the lot of them, thanks). “He’s trying to skip out on a punishment!”

Those seemed to be the magic words when it came to getting help in this place, because the blue-haired boy gasped.

Ace pushed past him as he drew his pen.

“Um… um… what do I…?!”

“Do something!” Ito yelled.

“Anything!” Agreed Grim.

“Right! Right! Anything! Um…!” He pointed his pen at Ace’s retreating back. “Come out… literally anything! Something heavy!”

Ace was promptly flattened by a cauldron.

~~~

(Link to next)

[basaltbutch]

How do I remotely begin to get into blaseball if it is as I understand over. I am fascinated and confused! <- he has been on firewalker with me lockdown for 48 hrs and don't even have context !

MY DEAREST CONDOLENCES ANON!!!

honestly. getting into blaseball rn is both really easy and really difficult. so much of the gameplay is kinda lost bc of poor management (if i recall correctly?) but the real draw of blaseball was really the incredible collective storytelling we all did over what was basically a series of randomized events. a lot of blaseball fans still exist here on tumblr and continue to make art and works inspired/for blaseball!!

the blaseball wiki is a good place to get an idea of the collective lore, and as im sure you saw, the seattle garages is (was) a collective of people writing in-universe fansongs for their team, the seattle garages, which means some of it makes NO SENSE to newcomers but its also a good place to get a sense of the community's worldbuilding! the DISCIPLINE album for example covers the entire discipline era (seasons 1-11)

additionally theres the official blaseball youtube/blaseball roundup which explains the most important events that occurred through blaseball's lifetime! and the podcast infinite cities blaseball, which covered a lot of the community's thoughts and ideas at the time—if i remember correctly.

there's still a bit of a thriving community on here as well, although its smaller than it used to be. and there's still plenty of music (the garages, last i checked in 2022, had over 72 hours of original music), art, fanfics, and fangames to explore and have fun with! blaseball is gone, but it doesn't mean we can't still have fun with it.

[ktysh]

today i brought you my precious baby

[biffybobs]

Mt. Komorebi meet cute 👀

[feistysugar1]

[cursed-bite]

the cork boards & polaroids are a STAPLE in any bedroom i build. how else would i cry over their prom photo booth pictures???

[riruhappy]

hey do you guys like idol boys? good please enjoy mine

there’s also a discord server where the va casting is going on rn!! plus a ton of other content

[bambiraptorx]

[I.D. Digital Drawing of Mikey from ROTTMNT. He is shown in a 3/4 body shot with one hand on his hip and the other raised in a wave. He grins widely and winks. Above him is written in bold font "Michelangelo, aka Marigold"]

Minor Interference propaganda for @tmntaucompetition, this time about Mikey

asked if shampoo is edible because he genuinely didn't know

technically set Draxum on fire once (only a little bit though)

reorganized about half of Draxum's food by color before deciding to switch it back and then got distracted part of the way through switching it back

had to babysit his three older brothers for several hours because they accidentally magicked themselves into toddlers

can see/sense mystic energies but has very little control over this and easily gets overwhelmed as a result

loves rigging card games so he wins

plays with monopoly pieces like they're dolls (he has decided the hat and the wheelbarrow are married, for example)

previously had a Junji Ito hyperfixation

wins all the family screaming contests based on length of screams (has the lung capacity and control to scream for over four minutes straight)

Draxum, Donnie, Leo, Raph

[indieblueart]

Slugcation (slug vacation!)

Character credit under the cut

Bonnet: @ambassador-blip

Bananacat: @pansear-doodles

The Herbalist: GroveRelic

Alrik, Li, Glowurm: FluffyMothballs

The Courier (+ Snacks); @gloucester-carousel

Aequill: BlasphemyTheeWorm

Strawberry: Corvin-Ito

The Beetlecat: @FrigidCoast

The Revenant: Artist

Seita + Sploinky: LunaCantSpell

Perforator: @mossyflowers

The Mescaline: DD3182

The Abyssal: _Petri

The Fluffball: Sloine

The Wavemaster: @passsionfish

The Muldoze: Dava

Battery Acid: @zeooo-q

Bittersweet: @ayipdoodles

Calder: aryinewoul

The Guide (and co.): @focshi

Yellowleap: H2so4

Flicker + Nettle: @north-winds1

The Preserver: Sugaryveins

The Galaxy: @reveks

Orange + Iridescent: seyriix

Jetcat: Hammy4463

The Bounty Hunter: @grapejuicedragoon

The Gardener + The Firestarter: @caranoelle

The Seafarer: SolarXeno

The Siren: Bluemauller

The Aquatic: Boba_theartist

The Sticker: DiamondzQwQ

The Jolly: @gargecko

The Coward: MarineLaChatto

Dummy: Sadness_Factory

The Caustic + The Bluff: Whispurr

The Chimera: Lakewaltz

The Ruse + The Sightseer: The-Dictators-March

Popcorn: avisqon

Lush: @buggleburger

The Wader: @hiroshotreplica

The Clairvoyant: kaarne

TBN: fiznoodles

404: Waspbee

Sun Shade: @oleandy

The Fool: @stimming4dayz

The Marked: MxZepix

Kip: @dexaroth

Dragon Slayer: @slink-a-dink

The Chimera, the Merchant, The Prophet, The Guard, The Aviator: @ask-sparkling-sea AKA me!!

[absolutebl]

10 High Quality & Cinematic BLs

Ones that are very well made with a tight narrative and no cringey dialogue. For example: Old Fashion Cupcake or His. Japan knows what tf it’s doing, okay? You don’t come from a tradition that gave us Kurosawa and fail at broad scope cinematography. 

High Quality & Cinematic BLs + Comfort & Joy 

These are the ones that I love even though they’re artsy, but they also end happily and didn’t hurt me too much.

1. Old Fashion Cupcake 

(Japan 2022 Viki)

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review.

2. Restart After Come Back Home 

AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de (Japan 2020 grey)

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth your patience. Full review here.

3. Life: Love on the Line 

AKA Life Senjou no Bokura (Japan 2020 Viki) 

This is a beautiful movie and a good BL, if a bit adult and gut wrenching at times. Goes through young love, break up, and reunion - but it’s actually a saga of self acceptance. You want the director’s cut. Like His, LLOTL is an exploration of suppression and the limits we impose on ourselves when we’re dishonest about who we love. In high school, serious and self contained Ito fell in love with Nishi, the manic pixie dream boy of the dream he didn’t know he had. Nishi, emotionally and mentally fragile, struggled to fit into the world. Ito, however, found it all too easy, except for the whole - ya know - gay thing. This movie is about Ito’s willingness to sacrifice not just himself but his love (and even Nishi himself) to social and familial expectations and the misery that results. It has a hard fought happy ending that then follows them through the rest of their lives in a (slightly unnecessary but welcome) epilogue montage.

4. A Tale of Thousand Stars 

(Thai 2021 GMMTV YouTube)

With great casting and cinematography this drama nods at BL tropes but manages to elevate them (and itself) with a strong mature story concept about a spoiled rich kid who gets a heart transplant and becomes a teacher it order to pay out survivor’s guilt. On the way he falls in love with a local park ranger and contends with his own classism and escapist tendencies. Everyone seemed to perfectly suit their roles and GMMTV made the most out of its stable. Combined with excellent production (and post production) values, 1000 Stars is without question GMMTV’s most mature, charming, and smart BL series. I think it should go down as one of the top BLs of all time. I feel safe recommending this one to friends and non BL watchers.

High Quality & Cinematic BLs + Work & Angst 

These are ones that I watched but were really difficult for me for personal reasons. Some may not have happy endings. I tend to call these moody arthouse smackdoodle. They like to pretend that "ambiguous" is somehow unique and special rather than bog standard commonplace for narratives of this type. Hold onto your psyche, these dramas will test you. But they very well done. 

5. His the movie 

(Japan 2020 Viki)

His is about being a grown adult and still struggling with coming out as gay. It addresses the consequences of life choices disingenuous to identity. Nagisa turns up on Shun’s doorstep with his precocious daughter in tow. This is a touch confusing to Shun since they were each others first love. Shun has retreated from society, rejecting the world before it can reject him, already brokenhearted because without Nagisa he never had a reason to fight. Nagisa went the opposite way, tried to pretend to be something he was not and ended up with a daughter he adores and a wife who hates him. This movie is beautiful and the setting is unique and interesting but I'm not wild about the ending.

6. I Told Sunset About You 

(Thai 2020 grey) 

I don’t have a ton to say about ITSAY because I’ve never managed to finished it. This one was too close to my own queer journey and it seriously messed with my head about 2/3 of the way through, so I stopped watching to protect myself. However, I can tell you that the production values are unreal for Thailand, using a soft lens, diffuse lighting, and a nostalgic atmosphere, paying close attention to framing, and forgetting neither background nor close-focus expressive detail. It’s a remarkable piece of work. I caught no mistakes in makeup, wardrobe, body positioning, reflection, or boom mic placement - so they clearly had continuity eyeballs during filming and on final product (which most Thai BLs don’t spring for). So yeah, the filming, directing, and acting is insanly good, but what’s really stand out in ITSAY from a film perspective is their smooth as butter invisibly perfect editing. Post production on this series must have been a BEAST.

7. Your Name Engraved Herein

(Taiwan 2020 Netflix)

This movie is fantastic but it is also seriously depressing, it’s a self acceptance journey, but if you wanna wallow in high quality acting and serious gay drama, this’ll do it. 

8. Goodbye Mother AKA Thua Me Con D 

(Vietnam 2019 Netflix)

Like YNEH or Dew, this is a great movie but it deals openly with homophobia, bashing, family trauma, and social acceptance. 

9. His the series 

AKA His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta AKA I Didn’t Think I Would Fall In Love

(Japan 2019)

Boy goes to visit his absent father, ends up kinda homeless on the beach, gets adopted by local family, falls in love with the boy working and living with them. Lots of long drawn out glances. 

10. I Want to See Only You

AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan 2022 grey)

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). For me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable. Full review here. 

More Like This From Japan 

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru (Japan 2020) - obsession, cheating, breakup, reunion, then break up again, explicit.

Does the Flower Bloom? (Japan 2018) - May/December romance about an artist student, the house he inherits from his dead parents. and all the people around him who are obsessed with him, including an older man.

Junjou: Pure Heart (Japan 2010) - I shoudl probably rewatch this one, it’s been a while. 

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan 2017) - It’s not as good as any of us wanted given the beautiful glory of the original manga (I Hear the Sunspot). Also it doesn’t really end happily. Disappointing. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan 2022 Gaga) - After Mitsuru’s cheerful outgoing boyfriend Koichi is killed but stay’s walking around, everyone else begins to forget about him. Mitsuru recalls their romance while trying to understand what’s going on, hold onto his love, and come to terms with loss and identity. Sad and creepy but somehow still beautiful, Japan spending all its pennies on pain. 

Darker BLs and more thoughts on Moody Arthouse Smackdoodle here. 

Tangential blogs posts:

10 Best Uses of Cinematic Storytelling in BL

Top 10 Highest Production Values in Thai BL  

Some Noodling on BL Production Houses & Studios

This post the result of an ask from @theklutzymaniac, updated end of 2022. 

(source) 

[toastereno]

here's my piano cover of "tree of life - roots" from super mystery dungeon! aka one of the most godlike dungeon themes ever

(didn't have time to draw for this one unfortunately 😔 i might post an art for it sometime later)

[nightfurmoon]

Hiya Night! Quick question: I noticed that in the Spanish version, Flug seems to call Goldheart "doradito". I looked it up and apparently it means "golden brown"? Is Flug calling GH burnt, or am I missing something culturally? XD Thank you for all you do for the English fandom! You're the best!

Hey anon! Thank you for your kind words <3

'Doradito' comes from 'Dorado' which means Golden. The -ito at the end is a diminutive, in this context it's used for mockery. Much like Flug calls BH 'jefecito' aka boss + ito, but in this context the diminutive is more to suck up to him and also Flug just has that way of speaking, much like Ned Flanders in the Simpsons. Dunno if in English he also has a 'peculiar' way to speak but in Spanish he just uses ito all the time for things.

That way of speaking wasn't originally in his script, it was Pepe Toño Macias (his Spanish voice actor) who included it to make him funnier and more likeable.

[tansshoku]

— aka ito loser in love

[silvermoon424]

My manga collection (October 2023)

I did a post detailing my manga collection back in 2021, but it's grown a lot since then so I figured I'd make a new post! It was also a good time to do so because we're repainting my room and while there's usually a ton of anime merch in front of the books on my shelves, now it's all been packed up. So there's a clear look at the books without me having to move anything, lol.

Anyway, without further adieu, here we go! My manga collection is largely shoujo (specifically magical girls) and horror manga.

Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino

Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo by Matsuri Akino

The Clique by Yishan Li

Frozen II manga by Arina Tanemura

Dark Metro by Tokyo Calen and Yoshiken

Yokai Rental Shop by Shin Mashiba

Confidential Confessions by Reiko Momochi

Pichi Pichi Pitch (aka Mermaid Melody) by Michiko Yokote and Pink Hanamori

Magical Girl Site by Kentaro Sato

Reiko the Zombie Shop by Rei Mikamoto

Les Miserables (manga adaptation) by TszMei Lee

Nightmares for Sale by Kaoru Ohashi

Presents by Kanako Inuki

Mail by Housui Yamazaki

Dark Water by Meimu

Tale of a White Night by Tooko Miyagi

Goth by Otsuichi and Kendi Oiwa

Beautiful People by Mitsukazu Mihara

Attack on Titan: No Regrets by Gun Snark and Hikaru Suruga

In Clothes Called Fat by Moyoco Anno

A Girl on the Shore by Inio Asano

Bride of Deimos by Etsuko Ikeda and Yuuho Ashibe

Limit by Keiko Suenobu

Helter Skelter by Kyoko Okazaki

Dolls omnibus (in Japanese) by Yumiko Kawahara

Ibitsu by Haruto Ryo

A God Somewhere (Western comic) by John Arcudi and Peter Snejbjerg

Beauty (Western comic) by Hubert and Kerascoët

Ah! My Goddess by Kōsuke Fujishima

Only One Wish by Mia Ikumi

Higurashi When They Cry: Festival Accompanying Arc by Karin Suzuragi

Chronicles of the Grim Peddler by Lee Jeoun-A

PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama

Elfen Lied by Lynn Okamoto

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit by Motoro Mase

Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood by Hirohiko Araki

An Ojamajo Doremi artbook (in Japanese)

Mermaid Saga by Rumiko Takahashi

Dolls by Yumiko Kawahara

Maid-sama by Hiro Fujiwara

Franken Fran by Katsuhisa Kigitsu

Hell Girl by Miyuki Eto

Gurren Lagann by Kotaro Mori

Doll by Mitsukazu Mihara

Mantis Woman by Senno Knife

Various Sailor Moon artbooks from the anime, manga illustrations by Naoko Takeuchi, and fan artbooks

Sailor Moon Eternal Edition by Naoko Takeuchi

Sailor V Eternal Edition by Naoko Takeuchi

Puella Magi Madoka Magica by Hanokage

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story by Hanokage

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Wraith Arc by Hanokage

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Rebellion Story by Hanokage

Puella Magi Oriko Magica by Kuroe Mura

Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Sadness Prayer by Kuroe Mura

Puella Magi Tart Magica by Golden Pe Done

Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story by Fuji Fujino

Assorted PMMM and Magia Record artbooks

Pokemon Adventures (aka Pokemon Special) by Hidenori Kusaka and Mato/Satoshi Yamamoto. I own the complete set of the RBG, Yellow, GSC, FRLG, Emerald and HGSS arcs as well as a few volumes from the RS, DP, and Black/White arcs.

Various Pokemon 4koma (in Japanese)

Pokemon: I Choose You by Ryo Takamisaki

Phantom Thief Pokemon 7 by Miho Asada

The Rise of Darkrai by Ryo Takamisaki

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure by Shigekatsu Ihara

The Electric Tale of Pikachu by Toshihiro Ono

The Art of Pokemon Adventures by Satoshi Yamamoto (both English and Japanese versions)

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team by Makoto Mizobuchi

Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea by Makoto Mizobuchi

Various Junji Ito Manga:

Dissolving Classroom

Fragments of Horror

The Liminal Zone

Sensor

Black Paradox

Gyo

Uzumaki

Tomie

Deserter

Tombs

Lovesickness

Smashed

Shiver

Frankenstein

Remina

Venus in the Blind Spot

No Longer Human

Twisted Visions (artbook)

Uzumaki coloring book

Uzumaki (original printing) by Junji Ito

Museum of Terror by Junji Ito

Soichi by Junji Ito

The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency by Hirohiko Araki

Orochi by Kazuo Umezu

Be Very Afraid of Kanoko Inuki! by Kanoko Inuki

Wonderland by Yugo Ishikawa

Shadows House by Somato

I Had That Sane Dream Again by Yoru Sumino

Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki

Nightmare Inspector by Shin Mashiba

The Ring by Misao Inagaki

Wonder House of Horrors by Miyako Cojima

Puella Magi Suzune Magica by GAN

Puella Magi Kazumi Magica by Masaki Hiramatsu and Takashi Tensugi

Magia Record: Another Story by U35

I also have some manga in storage like Inuyasha and Kitchen Princess, but that's about it!

[chernobog13]

Yamato no Orochi from the film Yamato Takeru (1994), aka Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon.

Image by Nobuhiko Ito (@itonobuhiko/Twitter/X).

[sarahalainn]

『サガ エメラルド ビヨンド』 SaGa: Emerald Beyond - Diva No.5 - The Songstress Mech

Thrilled to finally share this!

I am Diva No.5

The Songstress Mech 

who has lost her singing voice and body after singing a forbidden song… 🤖🎙️

来たーーー

ディーヴァ ナンバー5

歌姫メカです🤖🎙️

歌は、歌えますか…？

全て失っても、扉を開けて

世界を渡り、失った歌を探す

Hear a snippet of the protagonist's song here:

『扉を超えて』の一部を「ディーヴァ ナンバー5」トレーラーから視聴

Music by the SaGa master Kenji Ito aka Itoken

OST out May 2024!

5月1日リリースのサントラもお楽しみに！

イトケンこと伊藤賢治氏作曲の完全新作『サガ エメラルド ビヨンド』のオリジナル・サウンドトラック

Lots more to reveal...but all in due course!

Stay tuned. And if in doubt, pick Diva No.5! hehe

まだ色々お話ししたいことがあるけど、、また後ほど。

迷ってたら、ディーヴァを選んでね！