#I was like What bullshit happened now in Noragami???

[soul-dwelling]

I admit, I want to see a new series by Okhubo just because of morbid curiosity lol. Like to find out how low can he go, will he repeat the same tropes again, will it be a whole story of him rationalising drawing underage charachters in a sexualised way? Will it ruin soul eater retroactivly even more? The sky is the limit

At least when I read the first chapter of Fire Force, it wasn't morbid curiosity--it was, "let's see what the follow up was"...and it was Iris and Maki bathing and Akitaru mocking Shinra for seeing down Maki's tank top. So, if I was to read whatever follow up he had next, now _that_ would be morbid curiosity, because I would be wondering, "How many pages before the smut kicks in?"

(Why was I surprised? The first three chapters of Soul Eater were Blair, Tsubaki, and the Thompsons. But then again, B Ichi largely avoided that stuff...at the beginning.)

Also, if anyone is going to ruin Soul Eater more, I want that to be fans that just make the most bizarre plots, that stretch the logic of being a weapon and living in this world to the nth degree. I want to see fans just wreck this series with the most asinine assumptions, headcanons, and utter bullshit that finally flushes all continuity down the toilet.

What can the Black Blood do? Buddy, what _can't_ it do?! It dices, it slices, it can clean your sofa or your car's engine! And it also traumatizes a small child!

Just how long has Excalibur been alive? Yes.

Can Black Star beat Saitama? Probably--his power level seems to be diametrically opposed to his realization that he shouldn't be able to do those things. (...No, that plot detail didn't work with Arthur Boyle--that was just dumb.)

And if Soul Eater can be in the same continuity as Fire Force, and since we've had collaborative work between Ohkubo and the creators of Fullmetal Alchemist and Fairy Tail, then I guess that means Silver Spoon and "Fairy Tail, but IN SPACE!!1" are now also in continuity with Soul Eater! Oh, and also Jojo, Bungo Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia, Noragami, and Cells at Work, because same animation studios.

Heck, I've seen fans put in more effort figuring out, "Okay, but what happens when a weapon transforms the wrong parts at the most inopportune time?" than I ever saw in the original manga. (I know that Soul Eater NOT tackled this topic already, but when I see fan art of Soul turning everything but his arms and legs into his scythe form, I feel like we as a society missed out. Forget Chainsaw Man, I want my eldritch abomination Scythe Man!)

... ... ...

I think this post may have broken me.

[echodrops]

Noragami 78 Notes

Okay, I put this off long enough (I was busy grading; life is hard).

Here are just a few brief ha ha almost fooled you into thinking I could be brief for a second there thoughts on Noragami chapter 78 under a cut to avoid spoilers.

95% of what I have to say boils down to:

Calm down.

Hey remember that time Yato went off a life-threatening journey and the only thing that saved him was us NOT sitting around waiting for him to come back?

...Yeah, me either. HE’S EVEN WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT AS BACK THEN.

I don’t want to say that Yukine has whatever is coming coming... But when this is how he responds to threats, he sort of has whatever is coming coming. Yukine knows for a fact that Yato’s life is constantly in danger, that he has dangerous enemies, that he gets into trouble at the damn drop of a hat... And he’s still being lax here. This is a prime example of not learning from past mistakes, and that classic Noragami karma is about to smack him hard as hell for it. The manga is literally sending glaring warning signs: You should be with Yato. WHY aren’t you with Yato? What happens after this is going to absolutely be a product of the failure on both sides--Yato’s failure to stay with those who are important to him, and Yukine’s failure for not fighting harder to stay with Yato. Hiyori got smacked already at the end of this chapter for forgetting Yukine and going off on her own to chase Yato, a selfish decision that she paid for with her happiness.

The manga is setting up a very purposeful parallel here, I think:

Just as Bishamon and Kazuma become lost the moment they are separated from each other, Yato’s sense goes out the window the moment he’s separated from Yukine and Hiyori. Noragami repeats this lesson over and over again: We need each other. We need to rely on others. We need to have guidance, and trust, and support.

And Yukine and Hiyori’s failure to do that over the last couple chapters--as well as Yato’s failure to accept their closeness--is going to send them all straight into another crisis. I’ll eat my own post if things aren’t about to go from bad to downright terrible again, with this issue of failing to rely on each other at the very heart.

How much of Nora’s “emotionlessness” is a result of this line of thinking? If she doesn’t think that she should behave like a living girl, does that allow her to think and act in ways that other shinki, who cling to their human lives, can not? Is her ability to transform potentially linked to her casting aside humanity? I am interested to see how far this dismissal of being alive impacts a shinki’s abilities.

Iwami and Kiun are other shinki who might share this mindset to a certain extent, and we certainly know that Kiun is powerful...

Is it just me, or doesn’t this scenery looks very similar to:

The scenery we saw on the page where Father was holding his dead lover/wife/whoever Freckle Girl was to him?

Is it possible that that’s her body? That he didn’t even bury her but went right on living right next to her corpse? JUST HOW MESSED UP IS FATHER? Veryyyy interesting.

Also, the fact that Mizuchi says there were only three people in the beginning implies that she never met the Freckle Girl and that Freckle Girl was not around at the time that she and Yato existed.

Father was only “playing house”--to replace the real home and happiness he lost?

The concept of “playing house” in Noragami is very interesting. It only comes up in the context of gods and humans; we’ve seen it three now in the context of (what is likely) a god playing house with a human: Kofuku hurt Daikoku by trying to “play house” and raise a child; Bishamon hurt her shinki (and was hurt by her shinki) for trying to foster a motherly relationship with them; and Father pretended at kindness and care for his “children” while they were all aware of the real truth.

You could argue that one of these things is not like the other--both Kofuku and Bishamon did what they did out of love, while Father is evil--but I wonder if the third case is really that much different than the first two. Why did Father raise Mizuchi and Yato like his children? Was this a one-sided endeavor in which he bought their loyalty with occasional moments of kindness? Is that all there is to it? Or is there something else going on here?

How much of Father’s “playing house” was pure cruelty... and how much of it might stem for a desire for the very thing Heaven denied him?

Let’s see where this goes, hmmm!

It might be too early to call it, but I’m going to put this out there right now: Mizuchi is a child who died without ever being named.

She’s not affected by god’s greatest secret because she has no human name to remember. Father never said that she knew her name, only that she knew her own last moments. This is why she acted so surprised when revealing Sakura’s name turned her into an ayakashi--Hiiro did not understand the power of names back then because she had no human name of her own for reference. Her power to inflict Liberation on others stems from the fact that she has nothing to tie herself to the Near Shore. She was an unwanted child in her human life and continues to feel like an unwanted child in her life as a shinki.

Holy shit Adachitoka, COULD YOU NOT??? I mean, I don’t know if this is right but it FEELS right and nnnnnnnnnnnhhhhhh I don’t want this; it hurts.

(By the way, the top two leaves fluttering in the wind appear to be gingko leaves, a powerful symbol of endurance and duality in Japan.)

An innocent symbol of child-like play with three people in the boat to represent the family she longs to have but never will? Just kill me now, okay? Just kill me now.

Although this is interesting because we see her first boat fall apart and the people tumble away as she’s talking about playing house. So either this is a second boat, or she put the first one back together sometime during her talk with Yukine. So perhaps this second boat represents a new bond, such as between she, Yukine, and Yato? Mmmmm, who knows???

I’m glad that I was right and Yato chose not to name Kazuma. It was the right choice, even though I’m sad we didn’t get to see what Kazuma would look like as Yato’s shinki. (Well, then again, there’s still time, isn’t there?) We got trolled hard by Scissors-kun, lol.

The line up there is very interesting, isn’t it--because it’s such a Father way of thinking! This is Father’s exact ideology, that humans have no reason for loving the gods and yet they do anyway, accepting the cruelty and abuse of Heaven without question. Kazuma is tripping over the same issue from a different perspective--instead of having something taken from him by Heaven, he’s suffering because of something Heaven is not capable (or perhaps willing) to give. It’s a dangerous line of thought that leads down a dark path. This is honestly the scariest thing Kazuma did all chapter to me!

Is he thinking of Hiyori when he says “people like me” here? Or is he implying that Yato has hurt him in ways similar to Bishamon? The ambiguity of the references here is worth noting. Also worth noting: Yato has no idea what Kazuma is talking about here. Yato doesn’t share his father’s mindset and he doesn’t share Kazuma’s either. I don’t think that Yato sees a huge divide between the love gods can give and the love humans long to receive. He knows they’re not the same (maybe they’re not the same), but I don’t think he would let the issues that Kazuma is dealing with separate him and Hiyori... Or perhaps I’m just too hopeful. XD

All right, all right, now to the thing everyone is freaking out about...

Why are y’all so anti-Kazuma??? He’s not attacking Hiyori out of cruelty--he’s trying to protect her.

He even says it himself--he recognizes the signs of Hiyori’s infatuation. He sees her inability to avoid getting tangled up in the calamity that surrounds Yato. Who the hell do you think he’s really talking about here? He’s not just talking about Hiyori--he’s talking about himself.

The suffering that he has felt from loving Bishamon and not having that love returned is a pain akin to a curse. It’s enough to drive him to want to die, to fill him with such deep despair that he is willing to forsake all of his morals, his name, his “life”‘s meaning, everything he stands for. Since falling in love with Bishamon, he’s faced catastrophe after catastrophe, seen and dealt with things no human should ever have to face--witnessed friends murdered and murdered a friend, betrayed Heaven, turned his power on literal gods... There is NO DEPTH Kazuma will not sink to out of love for Bishamon, and that’s agonizing. He’s in pain, guys.

And he sees the whole damn cycle about to start again. He sees Hiyori’s feelings. He sees her love... And he sees how much Yato is ruining her life. He sees her forgetting her human family, ignoring their concerns, ignoring day-to-day human activities, being exposed to all the risks that Yato brings along with him, actively suffering at Father’s hand because of her involvement with Yato...

Kazuma sees that Hiyori is going down the exact same path of suffering, of “playing house” that he’s been on for hundreds of years, and so he does the only thing he can do to try and dissuade her: he tells it exactly like he thinks it is. He’s not lying to her here. He genuinely thinks what he’s saying is the truth. He genuinely believes that gods cannot return human feelings in the way that he and Hiyori desire, and that her pursuing Yato will only end in sadness and pain for everyone involved. He’s not wrong to want to stop that by separating them from each other forever.

The problem is, Kazuma STILL thinks that he’s always in the right. He only confessed with “vague words” and yet seems perfectly certain that Bishamon--who has never exactly been a pro at picking up signals from others--totally understood him and rejected his feelings of amorous love.

It hasn’t occurred to him that perhaps his vague words just didn’t reach Bishamon the way he wanted them to, and that she doesn’t understand that he loves her in a way different from just a normal god and shinki loving comradeship. That perhaps all this time she did have more love she could have given, if only she’d known it was needed or wanted. He’s her guidepost, but in this he didn’t guide her.

Maybe Bishamon does know, and maybe she did reject his romantic feelings. Maybe he’s right and gods really can’t love humans. (Kofuku and Daikoku are over here in the corner waving frantically though.) OR... MAYBE Kazuma is being a giant freaking idiot like always and leaping to conclusions he should never have drawn based on incomplete information and “vague words,” and passing his pain and suffering on to others, mistakenly believing he’s doing the right thing while actually just screwing everyone else over hardcore.

One of these two things somehow seems more likely than the other...

Not sure why anyone is freaking out about Hiyori’s tail? He missed (he was only trying to scare her anyway, it seems pretty clear, because if Kazuma can hit lightning in the sky, I think he could hit a target five feet in front of him)--the white stuff around her tail is snow spraying off the roof.

ANDDDDD here we go!!

So Hiyori admits she’s in love with Yato, finally. AT WHAT COST. I hope this didn’t really take anyone by surprise, since it really has been in the works for some time now.

I actually discussed how I felt Hiyori’s feelings were changing and how she was slowly coming to accept her feelings for Yato more than a year ago, in this post: http://echodrops.tumblr.com/post/164900791646/ive-read-different-opinions-on-whether-yatos

Adachitoka did a fabulous job of building up to this moment, very slow, incremental changes in Yato and Hiyori’s relationship. From the moment that Hiyori flashes back to here, where she told Yato she wanted to spend more time with him, to the Capyperland crisis where she envisioned Yato beside her instead of Fujisaki, then actually going to Capyperland and telling Yato that she wanted to be with him longer, to the scene where she allows Yato into her room while she’s undressed, to calling Yato her family to Fujisaki’s face, to seeing her plaque tied to Yato’s--making them soulmates--and NOT rejecting that or demanding Kofuku untie them... I mean, especially that last one.

Like I mentioned last year, Hiyori has spent at least a couple in-series weeks now living under the impression that she and Yato are now soulmates, and the moment she didn’t freak out about that and demand to be set free from that just screamed it to me that, deep down, she was okay with the idea of being in a relationship with Yato, even if she wasn’t quite willing to express her feelings out loud yet.

But now she’s over it. And theoretically, things should get better from here.

EXCEPT LOL JK, IT’S NORAGAMI; NOTHING’S EASY.

Yato and Hiyori are gonna have to WORK for their happy ending.

But you know what? I think it’s coming. Now, more than ever, I think a happy ending is coming.

Calm down. Deep breaths. Have faith.

[ragingstillness]

Describe anime badly

Bungo Stray Dogs: Famous Authors are all Gay and we been knew

Fullmetal Alchemist: Smol Amputee accidentally takes down the government

xxxholic: Yuuko’s legs are longer than Watanuki’s tolerance for bullshit

Code Geass: Boy with eye transplant takes down the government, on purpose this time, becomes the government, then takes down the government again

Mob Psycho 100: Quest for self improvement goes horribly wrong

The Promised Neverland: If you do not have trauma some will be provided for you

One Punch Man: depressed adult adopts a robot 

Attack on titan: you wanted nudity but not this

Tokyo Ghoul: coffee is the food of monsters

Food Wars: rt if you like being hungry and uncomfortable at the same time

Bleach: large groups of men have sword measuring contests

One Piece: what if the preacher kid from the fourth pirates movie was the captain of the black pearl?

Death note: teenagers scare the living shit out of me

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun: real life self insert

Pokemon: what if you could take your pets with you everywhere

Soul eater: teens bond over worshipping death

Little Witch Academia: Harry Potter for adorable girls 

Baccano: Doctor Who with mafiosos

Durarara: city so filled with crime it’s amazing people still live there

Hellsing: Ever wondered if Dracula was antifa? Turns out, he is. 

Fairy Tail: Friendship! Dead Parents! Dragons! Boobs! More friendship! 

Kimi ni Todoke: Having a crush in high school simulator 

Free!: swim team described by someone who’s never been on a swim team

Yuri On Ice: gay seratonin on ice 

Noragami: God is a homeless bum

Ao no exorcist: teenage rebellion might not have been a good idea 

Another: the hunger games for middle schoolers

Death Parade: you can drink in purgatory 

Assassination classroom: never thought a tentacle monster would make you cry did you?

Deadman wonderland: wrongful imprisonment 

Overlord: gamer boy dedicates his life to topping the leaderboards...oh and mercilessly killing people

Black Butler: since when can twelve year olds sign legally binding contracts?

Ouran High School host club: smooth genderfluid protagonist has their choice of the handsomest men and the prettiest women and somehow gets both

Black Lagoon: male Elizabeth Swan meets female Barbossa 

Dangonronpa the animation: it’s really not worth it to leave school early

Mushishi: fall asleep to people being dumb about magic

Ben-to: ever wanted to fist fight someone in a grocery store? Now you can

Classicaloid: man discovers cloning only to use for stupidest reason ever

Steins;gate: Groundhog Day but somehow more fucked up

Castlevania, the animation: fantasy throuple goals

Akikan: congrats, you no longer have to choose between your girlfriend and your love for a cold one

Erased: childhood take two somehow more traumatic than the first

Grand Blue Dreaming: fish-scented hijinks

Demon slayer: traveling with children in suitcases

Serial experiments lain: the evil baby of a physics degree and a computer science degree with some philosophy for flavor

Cardcaptor Sakura: who gave this child a job?

K-ON!: if band kids were cool

D N Angel: must be gay to play

Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE: the clamp cinematic universe

Skip Beat!: what people who don’t live in LA think LA is

Maid-sama!: blackmail + frills = love?

Baka and Test: an arcade game but make it anime

The Devil is a Part-Timer: I think this title explains itself

Angelic Layer: Lego League on steroids

Princess Jellyfish: what happens when you let only autistic people rent apartments

Prince of Tennis: it’s middle school tennis, chill out

Yu-Gi-Oh (4Kids version): watch as I point my finger at you aggressively

Yu-Gi-Oh zero: the Saw franchise but make it Squid Game

Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon?: yes.

Arakawa under the bridge: trendy homelessness

The Way of the Househusband: male-wife has never been so accurate

Library Wars: if ardent readers formed a militia

Shaman King: I see dead people

Rave Master: that sword is taller than you are son

Magic Knight Rayearth: magical girls with galactic stakes

Rosen Maiden: Victorian Chucky

Shugo Chara: childhood development simulator, also eggs

Vampire Game: genderfluidity off its fucking rocker

Two Flowers for the Dragon: Love Triangle but your gf might eat you

My Next Life as a Villainess: the dictionary entry for ‘clueless bisexual’

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches: kiss kiss turn into a witch

Violet Evergarden: cyborgs can get ptsd too

Moriarty the Patriot: the gayest Sherlock Holmes adaptation you’ve ever seen and that’s saying something

Cells at Work: we finally did it, we anthropomorphized the human body

Don’t Mess with Eizoken: if only entry level jobs were this easy to find

+anima: trauma, but at least you get to be part bird now

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: high school surprisingly cool with kid with antennae on his head

D.Gray-man: the exorcist but cool

Tegami Bachi: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Blood Lad: the resurrection of Christ vampire edition

Kitchen Princess: 2000s rom-com that also makes you hungry

Kamisama Kiss: god is a homeless bum take two

Teasing Master Takagi-San: puppy love simulator

Pandora Hearts: Alice in Wonderland but no fun at all

The Earl and the Fairy: Rudolph but people

Lovely complex: we stan short kings in this house

[oikaw-ugh]

Haikyuu but Noragami AU (not acurr8 but really self-indulging)

a/n: Recently just finished Noragami S2 and am now currently reading the manga and I just can’t get enough so... 

Bokuto x Akashi

Bokuto is definitely a shrineless god before he met Akaashi.

Like Yato's case, he shifted from one regalia to another because divine instruments couldn't handle how laid back of a god he is.

Akaashi, however, is a new spirit and was found by Bokuto (like Yukine) & BOY, IDK HOW AKAASHI ENDURED IT.

He's so laid back that Akaashi's human name and vessel name are both Akaashi (since Bokuto does not stick to one clan name) but just with different pronunciations.

Anyhow, w/ Akaashi's guidance, Bokuto slowly gets recognized by people and the other gods, eventually owning a shrine.

Although prosperous, Akaashi is actually burned out from carrying Bokuto's ass from time to time. As his exemplar and the only regalia, he manages the shrine, checks the wishes, maintains his god's image, keeps in contact with other gods occasionally.

As an easy-going god, oftentimes Bokuto accepts shady or weird mortal wishes in which Akaashi suffers a lot. Although he manages the wishes, odd wishes slips from his sight from time to time.

"Bokuto-kami, how many times did I tell you that we don't take cooking wishes?"

Bokuto: "But she paid for it..." 👉👈

"Bokuto-kami, we don't cook."

Bokuto: 🥺

That damn look of his does not work at Akaashi anymore. It used to when he was still new but NOPE, he's not taking any of his whining stares.

To be fair, Bokuto is a pretty decent god. Happiness of his worshippers matters to him the most (hence, why he accepts wishes no matter how odd they could be).

One time someone wished for him to search for their lost sparrow and this got Akaashi going weak because HOW UNIQUE DOES A SPARROW LOOK FROM ONE ANOTHER?!

As for Bokuto's relationship with Akaashi, it's doing good. Akaashi knows his limits as a spirit, keeping Bokuto healthy.

Bokuto does not forget to check on Akaashi from time to time as well. He believes that telling everything to the master you serve makes a god-regalia relationship very healthy.

Akaashi begs to disagree though (Bokuto once insisted Akaashi to tell him how he poops-)

Kuroo x Kenma x Lev

Why Kenma and Lev? For no particular reason. I just like it.

Well, Kuroo has been a god for the longest time and knows his shit well in contrast with Bokuto.

He's cool and easy-going. Not to mention, he is also a god you can rely on when you need to get rid with Ayakashis (phantoms).

Kenma has been his regalia and exemplar for the longest time as well and is as cool as his god.

Kuroo is usually laid back and at the same time, very serious (depending upon the situation). He can be very cheeky at times and corny with his words.

Kenma is oftentimes composed. Although lazy, he is actually very organized and logical.

Kuroo, being the cool god that he is, thought to his self one day: "Ah, I should probably get another regalia."

Kenma: ??? Excuse me?

The reason why we have Lev!

VERY CHAOTIC. Totally clashes with Kuroo and Kenma's attitude which makes Kenma scowl from time to time.

Kuroo is rather amused though and has decided to keep Lev with his side.

Lev is a new spirit they found in the streets during a request.

He's very energetic and active for a spirit, honestly.

He loves to pester Kenma. He treats him as his senpai which makes Kenma pissed most of the time.

Lev: "Kenma-san, please teach me how to create a borderline-"

Kenma, with fingers pointed at Lev: "Restrain!"

But despite of that, Lev is very useful when it comes to fighting. He's a very strong regalia that compliments well with Kenma.

As for their god-regalia relationship, it's fine. As their god, Kuroo can immediately sense if something is off with his divine instruments and he does not hesitate to confront them about it.

Which does not happen all the time, though. Kenma knows his limits and he teaches Lev all the things he must remember as Kuroo's divine instrument.

But even when it's not needed, Kuroo insists on having this corny open forum where he, Kenma, and Lev share their sentiments with one another.

Kenma calls bullshit. Lev thinks it's actually important for his growth.

Kuroo before starting the open forum: "Remember that we are like blood in our veins, we must-"

Kenma: "This is stupid."

Lev: "INSPIRING, SHOW STOPPING, JAW DROPPING!"

Oikawa x Iwaizumi

God's divine instrument? More like baby sitter.

Oikawa's regalia, Iwaizumi, has been Oikawa's babysitter regalia for the longest of time.

Oikawa, let me tell you, IS A VERY BITCHY GOD.

High maintenance and is consistently attracting drama from time to time!

Oikawa: "Iwa-chan, did you hear what that child said?"

Iwaizumi: "No."

Oikawa: "He said MY HAIR LOOKS NORMAL!"

Iwaizumi: "... because it is?"

Oikawa: "NO!"

Oikawa throws tantrums from time to time, whining about how the flowers didn't bloom at the date their supposed to bloom, how he woke up with his hair ugly, how the worshippers are not praising his beauty, ANYTHING THAT HE SEES, HE SAYS SOMETHING.

This is really stressful for Iwaizumi, honestly. He's been receiving complaints from other gods about how Oikawa bothers them.

Not to mention, some of his worshippers are declining because of rumors.

Worshipper 1: "I heard if Oikawa-kami is not in the mood when you pray, you'd actually get bad luck instead!"

WHICH IS NOT TRUE in most cases

And his approaches with his worshippers wishes could only be lazy or DRAMATIC.

One time, a worshipper asked for his guidance on his first date, Oikawa and Iwaizumi actually tailed that person on his actual date.

Oikawa: "Iwa-chan, they're walking on the street. Push that boy towards his date!"

Iwaizumi: "What? Why?"

Oikawa: KABEDON!

But on a serious note, Oikawa can be very serious when needed and that gives Iwaizumi the chills because who would expect that from a dramatic god?

Iwaizumi at times like that would either keep his mouth shut or just constantly stare at Oikawa, thinking he's sick or something.

Like, Iwaizumi: "Oikawa-kami?"

Oikawa, looking at Iwaizumi with a serious stare: "What is it?"

Iwaizumi: Nothing 👀

As for their god-regalia relationship, it's normal. They're more of like buddies.

Oikawa would surprise Iwaizumi occasionally, asking him to go out of the shrine at night to drink sake he received as a gift at their roof, looking at the stars.

How dramatic

And he occasionally gives advices to Iwaizumi, in which surprises Iwa since Oikawa doesn't really strike as someone who can give decent advices, really.

Oikawa, drinking his sake: "People can be fleeting for us spirits and gods. But you know what's something that will never leave you?"

Iwaizumi: "What?"

Oikawa: "My beauty."

Kageyama x Hinata

PRIDEFUL. PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE.

Kageyama as a god is really prideful to the point that his regalias give up on him.

And even though he has grown attached, his pride forbids him to ask them to stay.

"Fine! It's not like I needed you that much, anyway!"

Kageyama on the outside: 🤬😈💢

Kageyama in the inside: 😭🥺👉👈

And this is where Hinata comes in.

Desperate, Kageyama had no choice but find any spirit he could see to make as his regalia.

He finds Hinata one day just lingering outside his shrine, took him in because he needs one he was an understanding god.

His relationship with Hinata is CHAOTIC.

They just clash all the time! Somehow, the energetic, cheeky, helpful personality of Hinata just don't fit with Kageyama's indifferent, logical, rational personality!

Hinata: Kageyama-kami, it says don't step on the grass!

Kageyama: Nobody's gonna see us. What's your point? It's fastest if we walk here!

Hinata: It says DON'T. STEP. ON. THE. GRASS.

Kageyama: I said WHAT'S. YOUR. POINT?

Hinata just really knows which buttons to press to make Kageyama angry, you know?

He made him so angry that he was glad he made his vessel name 'BOKE' (take note with the caps please) since he accidentally named him BOKE.

Their bickering just don't stop. They keep on fighting that the neighboring gods just decided to nickname them as 'cat and dog'.

On requests, they don't get along as well! Hinata hates how Kageyama deals with wishes which affects his performance as a weapon.

Kageyama: What are you doing? Don't go dull on me.

Hinata: Not until you tell me you won't kill that butterfly!

Kageyama: It's not a butterfly, it's a phantom!

Sadly, their contradiction also affects their relationship. Hinata, feeling oppressed and contradicted from time to time, would unconsciously sting Kageyama.

Even knowing that it's basically an abomination to sting your master, Kageyama still decides to keep him and would talk it out with Hinata.

He'd approach Hinata when he's doing nothing, sitting beside him but still making sure he's meters apart from him, looking somewhere (definitely not Hinata's face)

Kageyama: Tell me what you're feeling... (he says that in a low tone, too embarassed to hear himself talking in this way with Kageyama.)

Hinata would roll his eyes and admit what's it that's bugging him anyway and Kageyama would low key work on it the next day (getting stung is no joke)

That basically explains their god-regalia relationship.

[millicent231-watt]

(Noragami) - God!Reader x Yato

Anime / Crossover: Noragami

Songs: None

Request: No

Modern AU or just AU: No

NSFW/R-18: No

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SOME STORY SPOILERS INCLUDED THROUGHOUT THIS STORY

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Sasaki (Weapon: Saki)

"Sasaki, let's go." I tell my Regalia as she turns back into her human form. "Hai!" She says happily as she skips next to me, making our way back to our Shrine. I wasn't a well-known goddess, but good enough to get a simple shrine to spend our nights. "Huh? Why's he here?" She asks and I look to where she was pointing. My eyes widen slightly and my breathe hitches before I click my tongue. "Oi! What do you think you're doing here Yato?" I yell as I walk closer. "Ah! You're here!" He says as he runs at me with open arms. I step to the side as he launches himself at me, letting him faceplate into the ground. "I...i...i...itai!" He says as he rubs his head. "Serves you right. What do you want?" I ask as I help him up. "I wanted you to meet my new friends!" He says happily, causing me to chuckle. "Alright, where are they?" I ask and he drags me away. "Saki!" I yell and my weapon flies to my hand. I run alongside Yato and as we approach one of Tenjin-sama's temples.

"Guys, guys! I found her!" Yato yells and I see a girl and boy, who look around the same age...teenagers. "Oh, you must be Y/N-sama." The girl says before bowing. "A half-phantom?" I ask as I see her 'tail'. "Yeah! And this is Yukine!" He says as he pulls the young boy in front of me. "N...nice to meet you!" He says with a bow. "GAH! Yukine, you perv! You're stinging me!" Yato says and the two start arguing. I chuckle a little and let Sasaki out of her weapon form. "He never changes does he?" She asks with a smile. "Nope, not at all." I say, chuckling at the two. "Ano..." I hear the girl say as she walks closer. "Yes?" I ask as I look at her. "How did you meet Yato?" She asks and I smile. "It's a long story." I say. "Y/N-san made him the man he is today." Sasaki says with a smile. "The man he is today...does that mean you changed him from the scary, mean god he used to be?" The girl asks and I nod.

"If you mean back when he back when he fought alongside Rabo, then yes." I say and she smiles before bowing. "Thank you!" She says. "Huh? What for?" I ask. "For making him nice...I've seen him angry and I wouldn't want to live in a world with a god like that." She says. "What's your name?" I ask. "Hiyori. Hiyori Iki." She says. "Rise." I say to her and she gets up from her bow. "Hiyori-chan, if you believe the person you loved was or could be good, would you help them?" I ask and she thinks for a second. "Yes, of course!" She says. "Exactly, so what I did shouldn't be anything worth thanking me for. I did it because he was the man I fell for and I knew he could do god." I smile at the two boys continuing to bicker.

"Y/N! Make Yukine stop calling me lame and stupid!" Yato says as he fake cries and runs to me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. "It's your fault, BAKA!" Yukine says. "What are you two fighting about?" I ask as I pat Yato's head. "He said I was a lame, stupid, puny, jersey-wearing god who takes stupid cleaning jobs and doesn't even have a temple!" Yato cries and I rub his head. "Calm down Yato...I'm sure he didn't really mean it. He'll apologise." I say with a soft smile before changing my smile into a threatening glare towards Yukine. "Won't you Yukine?" I ask and he apologises to his master. "See?" I say to Yato. "WAHHH! Y/N, you're so cool!" He says as he rubs his head in a 'no' manner against my stomach.

"So what's your deal? What're you the goddess of?" Yukine asks. "I am Y/N, goddess of children." I say. "Ah! I've heard of you! My mother used to read me and my brother stories about you when we were little." Hiyori says. "That's my job. To protect the children, animal or human, from the corrupted phantoms. I'm sure Yato told you that only animals, children and people like you and me can see them." I say and she nods. "So how did you two meet?" Hiyori asks and I freeze for a second. "I...it's a long story, one I'd rather not talk about." I say as I tighten my hug slightly on Yato and look away.

Sasaki's POV

I watch my master sadly. "Y/N-san..." I say to myself. "Well, since it's been SOOOOO long since we've seen each other, how about you treat us to sleeping at your shrine?" Yato asks her, causing her to giggle and smile a little. "Sure, I don't see why not." She says and he puts and arm around her shoulders. "Let us move forward! Toward warmth and food!" He yells happily before walking with master towards our shrine. I sigh and follow behind them with the other two.

Time Skip (Your POV)

"Ah! It's so nice to finally have a warm meal!" Yukine says as he puts down his drink. "You're still a good cook Y/N!" Yato says as he finishes his meal. "That's a good thing for you, huh?" I say as I get one of the shrine girls I had to show Yukine and Hiyori to their room. "What about meeeeee?" Yato whines. "Well, I've run out of space, guess you'll have to sleep outside." I say. "WHAT?! Nooooo!" Yato says as he grabs onto my arm and begs for me to let him stay. I laugh a little. "Don't worry Yato, I was just joking. You can stay in my room for tonight." I say. "Pardon me milady, but there are some more spare rooms left if Yato-sama would prefer one of them." I turn to the shrine girl that had proposed that offer. "I said he could stay in my room, no discussion. Go tend to the garden with Tonyu and Miyu." I say. "Yes milady. Please forgive me for interfering." She says before bowing and walking off.

"Why are you so set on me staying in your room?" Yato asks as I walk him into my room. "It's been a long time Yato...I missed you." I say with a slight blush. I hear him chuckle slightly as I let go of his hand and close the door behind us. "I missed you to Y/N..." He whispers as his arms find their way around my waist. "Bullshit...you left me behind and....and I didn't see you since." I say. "Yeah, I know and I'm really sorry about that." He walks me over to the bed and sits me down. "2000. It's been 2000 years since I saw you last...you couldn't have missed me..." I say. "Come on, don't say that. I missed you a lot." He says as he pulls some hair out of my face. "How about we just get to sleep? You must be tired." I nod my head and take off the kimono I wore inside my shrine. I hang it up, ready to be worn the next day before turning around and seeing Yato folding his tracksuit and placing it on my dresser. "Yato, let's sleep...I want you to hold me like you once did." I tell him as I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his chest. "Alright, I will." He says as he walks me to the bed and lays me down next to him.

Time Skip (Sasaki's POV)

"Sasaki-san, could you please inform lady Y/N that the garden has been tended to?" Miyu asks. "Hai." I say before she bows and I walk off. I knock on Y/N's door. "Y/N-san? I have a message from Miyu." I say. No response. "Y/N-san?" I ask as I open the door. I carefully walk into her bedroom and see her curled up next to Yato. He places a finger to his lips. "Shh." He says and I nod. This is the most peaceful I've seen Y/N-san... "Sasaki, was it?" Yato asks and I nod. "U...un." I stutter quietly. "Did Y/N ever tell you, or anyone else here about what happened when we were last together?" He asks. "N...no, she never says much about it and always says it's something she'd rather not talk about." I say as he gestures me into a chair. "Well there's a reason for that...but you and her other Regalia's should know about it." He says.

FLASHBACK (Yato's POV)

It was back when I was known as 'The Evil God'. I was taking out yet another selfish request from someone who wanted their family dead. What this person hated was that their parents, grandparents, basically everyone was fawning over a new baby boy who was brought into this world. The mother had given birth just 3 months prior to this request. Anyway, when I got there someone was blocking the whole village with a barrier. Y/N walked out of the borderline and towards me. "Who are you and what do you want with these people?" She asked me. I told her it was a job, one I would carry out. She sighed heavily and called "SEKKI!" Her weapon flew to her hand, a beautiful katana. I could tell just by looking at it it would be powerful, that's why Yukine's weapon name is the same, I could tell he was powerful. One of the children behind her, one that couldn't have been more than the age of 6, begged her not to hurt me or kill me. Y/N just smiled, called back her weapon and turned to the children. "Alright." Is all she said before my weapon, who is now a Nora, flew out of my hand and towards her. It was the first time I felt remorse and sadness, so all I could do was watch as Nora stabbed her repeatedly. Nora stabbed her once more before I called her back and Y/N fell to her knees. I pushed Nora away and ran up to Y/N, hoping she would still be alive. "Aw, I was having so much fun. Why'd you stop me?" Nora asked. I told her to get away, to never come near me again. To this day I regret ever making her one of my Regalia. I tried my best to help Y/N, so we got to know each other pretty well. Once I told her who I was, she wasn't scared or shocked or even the least bit unhappy. She just smiled, placed her hand on my cheek and said: "Not any more." She told me if I really was 'evil' than I wouldn't have helped her when I did. Soon after she got a shrine and we entered a relationship. It was good but...

END OF FLASHBACK

"But you were complete polar opposites." Sasaki says and I nod sadly. "I left shortly after realising how different we were. I left for 2000 years, without ever letting her know why...But now that we're more similar, I'm hoping to rekindle our relationship..." I say as I brush Y/N's hair with my fingers. "Yato...stop boring Sasaki with a history lesson." She says as she looks up at me. "Y/N!" Sasaki says hastily as she stands up quickly and bows. "Calm down Sasaki, I'm not mad. But tell the others about this for me, an official statement from me." She says and Sasaki nods, bows again and runs out the room. "Uh, how much of that story did you hear?" I ask nervously. "Enough." She says before closing her eyes again. "Thank you for coming back." She says with a soft smile.

[skadventuretime]

fic writer appreciation day

sliding in real late to throw some love to the writers whose work has touched or otherwise influenced me these past two years. thank you, thank you for sharing your words with us. 

if you check any of these out, please leave them a nice comment and tell them i sent you! 

Soul Eater:

Fire and Light by @adulterclavis If we have ever exchanged polite greetings, you have heard me yell about how much I love this fic. It’s got action, high fantasy, and that enemies to friends to lovers vibe soaked in blood that I absolutely cannot get enough of. Check this art I commissioned for it, too, and know that my inbox is always open for F&L yodeling. While you’re at it, binge the rest of her fics because they have some of the best writing around, and nowhere else will you get to read such prime AU mashups as Ocean’s 11/Fast and the Furious and Mean Girls/Jennifer’s Body. 

Quantum Entanglement by @marshofsleep Marsh is another one where it’s like you read one thing, and then another, and then suddenly it’s 4:27 AM and you had last looked at the clock at 6:15 PM and you’re laughing but just finished crying??? This one has a soft spot in my heart for how natural all the relationships feel and the way Marsh’s minimalist-fuck-you-up style has you laughing at how useless Soul is one moment and then crying about existential family relationship bullshit the next. Oh, and please read her Princess Mononoke AU thank u goodnight.

Lethal Weapon by @victoriapyrrhi A fandom classic, and rightly so. Action, mutual pining, and UST you might actually choke on, LW will keep you up all night because you just need to know what happens next.

NOT LOVERS by @makapedia This is a big comfort fic for me. There is such a nice domesticity going on with these absolutely useless nerds, and I love every tortuous moment of ‘oh my god will they FINALLY talk about their feel--oop, nope, there they go off into the emotional woods.’ And if you’re a thirsty ho like me, Kat also p much supplies like 75% of the fandom’s smut, so.

and to what thoughts by @myrkks SO. I love love loved this because as someone who also struggles with OCD, it was a literal cloud-parting, angels-singing moment to see Kid written this way. Someone else gets it, and gets him, and it has stuck with me ever since. The imagery throughout is gorgeous and haunting, too. EDIT: haHA I just reread it and now I’m crying, so, yeah.

The Hybrid Theory by @silly-twin-stars Silfic heals my soul. This is her ongoing longfic and I love everything about the banter, the mutual pining, the drama. Also check out her past two Resbangs because they have that same lighthearted, uplifting feel.

Misc

you and me and the ocean by @scarfblogs (Noragami) /sweats so the real problem here is that I have not read nearly enough of my fandom wife’s works, but this one has always stuck with me for its poetic phrasing and bittersweet tone. Anyway, go mine her entire AO3 page, she is a work of art.

Boys by @caseyvalhalla (Kingdom Hearts) KH1&2 were formative games for middle and high school Madi, but they came at a time when I thought I had to be an Adult™ and do the Adult Thing of looking down on all forms of online fandom and fanfiction and of course *I* could never allow myself to produce such content, either. You cannot imagine the amount of retroactive shoulder shaking I wish I could inflict on past me. ANYWAY, this fic smacked me in the face with all of the feelings for these kids I so foolishly thought I had ‘’’’’outgrown’’’’’ and it’s so incredibly situated in time and place. I suggest you do what I did and, immediately after binging this, go through the rest of her KH fics and cry strangely cathartic tears.

Deceitful Above All Things by Quillslinger (Kingdom Hearts) This one is Bones’s fault. After I finished crying to her about Casey’s stuff, she was like ‘here, take this’ and then sat back and smirked at my increasingly distressed keysmashes. Anyway, just....if you like gut-punchy bittersweet Akuroku, this is your jam.

But That Was In Another Country by Guardian1 (Kingdom Hearts) Confession: I haven’t finished this yet. In fact, I haven’t even made it past the first chapter. But the writing and the content has already made me cry and need to stop and walk around, so it deserves its place here. I intend to finish it soon so I can then finish FFIX so Bones can sic this person’s apparently devastating FFIX fic on me.

L’appel du Vide by Xov (Persona 5) I’m just....so incredibly invested in Akeshu, and I really like how this writer gets their neuroses and I love how much of a fucking mess my boy Goro is and just, it’s another comfort/catharsis fic.

[nako-doodles]

OMG YOU WATCH C&T TOOOOO👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼??????? YOURE TASTES ARE *chefs kiss* 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 what's your favorite songs off the show? what about the ending? thoughts of the overall show?????💫💫💫💫

BRO listen as soon as I heard studio bones and FUCKING WATANABE SHINICHIRO COLLABED ON AN ANIME YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS I STARTED WATCHING AND WHAT A JOURNEY ITS BEEN!!!!!! like @ my followers if y'all love cowboy bebop and noragami and ouran host club and eureka 7 and my hero academia and full metal alchemist and soul eater yall gotta watch this its So Good

my fave songs are def the slower more, soulful songs and i literally CANNOT wait for second part of the OST to drop later this month!!!!! since i have a feeling some people would look up the songs when some of them are kinda spoiler-y, ill leave everything after the cut so CONSIDER THAT YOUR SPOILER ALERT

loneliest girl (I know, super cliche, but its SUCH A GOOD SONG U GH)

lay it all on me

give you the world (flora version)

love yourself

light a fire

galactic mermaid (something about a trio singing ‘FUCKING BULLSHIT’ is so soothing bro. we all need that in our lives)

dance tonight

after the fire

not afraid

army of two

i definitely like the songs from the second half better than the first, and i can't wait to see how the OG/full versions of the songs sound like. round & laundry and someday ill find my way sounded incredibly different (still good) than what was shown in the anime, and i wanna hear what other songs sound different

with that being said, this show is incredibly both completely different and yet exactly the same as the works made by bones and director watanabe. both creators are exceptionally good and drawing out stories from current events and creating whole universes around universal human experiences (even tho c&t is set on terraformed mars) and you can tell. i won't spoil anything here bc i hate it when other people spoil the show in their reviews, but the entire second arc is incredibly on the head with the political atmosphere right now. the tonal shift happened rather abruptly too. but that also mirrors how many people felt towards the end of 2015 and realizing how the past years since 2015 have sucked. this story is a story of love and care, and you can tell in the way its world and characters and story was crafted. the creators also uploaded a lot of bts of how they animated a lot of the singing sections and thats really cool to see. in my experience, good stories are the ones that burrow into your heart without you noticing, and irrevocably changes your worldview in some way. this anime is definitely one of those stories. it may not become a classic, but it will definitely be well loved. 

my one complaint, however, is that the anime ends rather abruptly. i realize its made rather open ended on purpose (as is the style of both creators), but the way they tied up all their ends within the first half of ep when the climax hit literally at the tail end 2 eps ago, esp when the climax hit such a height, feels...not enough. it was also super rude that they teased us at the ending card...like the CHEEK to put these at the tail end when its so open-ended:

i've been reading a lot of complaints over how this anime is so idealistic and incredibly blasé about the True Real Life Struggles(tm), but like.....fam...........arent you tired of real life? don't you just want SOMETHING to go right for once? just have ‘miraculous’ happy ending where everything works out, the good prevails, everyone got what they want? like hold on your suspension of belief just this once. this anime is incredibly empowering and uplifting, and i wouldn't want this anime to be any other way. 

tldr; yes i love this anime and will be binge watching this show soon. as soon as i stop crying.

[ais-n]

some random updates and manga commentary

I read more manga than books usually, but then don’t always say much about it because idk, usually I just have a thought or two and then move on. Sometimes I do these posts where I mention a bunch of series in one place in passing. If that sounds interesting, read on. 

But first:

I’m fucking obsessed lately with One Piece Treasure Cruise somebody stop me I have problems I already spent $10 on it help

Ok, now onto manga mentions, commentary, etc:

I bought the latest Livingstone volume (4) and was all excited to continue reading that series only to realize unexpectedly the other night that it was the end of the series. MAN. It’s been awhile since I watched Deadman Wonderland but I seem to recall feeling the same way about that as Livingstone, only maybe less dramatically so, and that’s this: the creator is the same for both series, and comes up with really interesting ideas and throws in some interesting characters. But then the story itself feels like it ends before it explores the concept as deeply as it could or should. It’s not that I recall Deadman Wonderland’s ending being terrible, and it’s not that Livingstone necessarily had a bad ending either; it’s just that I feel like it ends right as it’s developing, so some of the impact is lost on me because I feel like so much more story still should have been told.

Finally got caught up (again) on Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler and D.Gray-Man. I’m seriously getting worried about Hoshino’s health for DGM :( I’m so worried something will happen to her that is more permanent even than has happened already, and I’m also worried the series will not be able to end properly as a result. Which is really sad to me because I want Hoshino to be okay, and I want her and her readers to not have any regrets about the series itself. I wish she would get an assistant to draw for her while she dictates the story, if for no other reason than to preserve her health more, but I imagine she is hesitant to do so because she has such a beautiful art style and it has to be incredibly difficult to struggle against health issues when you know once upon a time you easily could do far more than now you struggle to achieve. It’s so sad :( I don’t want her to push her health beyond its limits. Ganbatte, Hoshino! :( As for Kuroshitsuji, I swear to god that series is simultaneously the most ridiculous and sometimes most amazing thing XD I’ve been pretty embarrassed by the whole pop star thing because idk lots of reasons, but that’s happened for me before on other arcs that have happened and it always swings its way back. Anyway regardless I love Ciel and Sebastian and everyone and YES UNDERTAKER YESSSSS. Also, it’s been cracking me up seeing how much Soma seems to be having a ball in the latest arc XD

Just realized I’m a couple chapters behind on Magi, that’s the next thing I need to catch up on. Also I need to check on Love Stage!! because it’s been months since I last looked. Yotsuba&! came out with a new chapter too! But I need to read it still. Same with a few BL manga I’m following whose names I’ve managed to briefly forget so I have to track that down to look for updates ugggh I’m real good at this lol

btw did I mention I watched the Seven Days live action movie awhile ago? Because I did. I liked it! I was worried I wouldn’t but I did. I mean, I fucking love Seven Days so that’s probably no surprise, I just rarely watch live action of manga or anime, especially BL, so that’s why I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. But oh my god they paid so much attention even to little idiosyncrasies and movements! Good job, guys, good job

I still need to read Haikyuu!!, I don’t know why I haven’t yet. It’s my goal to do so at some point, because so far I’ve only seen the anime and read the first 2 volumes, and I want to read everything and be up to date with others! 

I started Black Clover and was pretty excited about it but then it started pulling full on bullshit fanservice moves in the 3rd volume or something and it annoyed me so much I stopped reading... I should probably start up again but ugh, so sick of unnecessary fanservice 

WAIT have I read the latest Noragami?? ....Shit yes I did I FORGOT ok so that series THAT SERIES goddamnit I love that series...

Same with Natsume Yuujinchou like goddamn, just as soon as you think surely you won’t cry at some new story in it because surely you’re immune by now, the series is like “So anyway here’s this really bittersweet or heartwarming-slash-heartrending story I’ll casually throw out there and Bee-Tee-Dubs, just a reminder that as nice as Natsume is, his life will probably always be a pretty sad and precarious mess because he cares too much about both humans and Ayakashi”

which now that I’m thinking about it is a bit Allen Walker-like.... no wonder I love both Natsume and Allen; they both are stuck in between all these other things but don’t use it as an excuse to hurt or hate others; if anything, they hurt themselves while trying not to hurt others. I just really love characters and people who don’t use misfortune as an excuse for harming others

There’s probably more but I’m getting so distracted by this gif faded in the background on tumblr that I can’t focus omg wut

Oh right, I hope Gangsta comes back sometime in the future. They have some spin off out I think, right? Based on Marco Adriano, called Cursed? I’m debating if I should give it a try.... Actually I don’t remember, maybe I bought the first volume and haven’t read it yet lolz0r Anyway if anyone’s read it, is it as good as Gangsta? The thing is, I don’t really care about Marco, so that’s why I haven’t read it yet. Not that I hate him or anything but I feel pretty meh about reading something solely based on him so I’ve hesitated. I mostly like Gangsta primarily for Worick and secondarily for Nicolas, and then I liked others like Doug, and it’s not like I hate the rest of the characters but they work best for me as the background to Worick and Nicolas’ story. So idk.

Similarly, I gave up on Dogs! Bullets & Carnage around volume 9 mostly because I love one character (Badou all the way, motherfuckers!) and am mostly ambivalent or not in love with the rest. Badou totally carried the series for me in the beginning, when he and Heine had all those great interactions, but now Naoto’s more prominent with Heine and I’m like bleggggh not a fan of Naoto almost at all, and Heine’s okay but I feel like he’s kind of a non-character so he doesn’t really work as the primary MC for me. The pacing of the story is not the best so it makes it harder for me to care about what’s going on. Basically I just want the series to follow Badou around and tell me occasionally about the crazy shit the others are getting up to. Give me a spin off on Badou and I’ll buy that any day! Come on! Anyway so if anyone is still reading that, I’m just curious if I should keep going... I’m a little curious about what the hell is even going on with the plot and background and etc but mostly I just want more Badou :( ...wait a second, I just saw there’s a prequel called just Dogs, that may be more along the lines of the story I want to read. I want just Dogs, man! Did I read it already years ago? Fuck if I can remember...

I also gave up on Tokyo Ghoul:re after it was so incredibly different from Tokyo Ghoul and the pacing and just everything kind of fucked around with what I was hoping to read as a continuation of that series, and in particular with me wanting to see more of Kaneki. I’m months behind at this point and idk man. I will probably read further at some point because I do think it’s an interesting world and I liked a number of characters in Tokyo Ghoul quite a lot, especially Kaneki. But :re has just been... I’m trying not to say mean things lol it’s just that I guess the pacing and style and story and character designs and just everything is basically like a whole different series. Which would be fine, if that was what I wanted. But what I wanted was more Tokyo Ghoul, so I’m disappointed so far. idk. I don’t think I’ve given up completely on it. I just think I have to wait until I’m in the right mood...

That just randomly reminded me I never finished Claymore. That was another series that started out interesting but then idk. The pacing or story or what just dragged a lot after a while, or made it difficult to follow. I should finish it sometime I guess. I think I probably only have a few dozen chapters to read to end it. 

I did the same thing with Shingeki no Kyoujin/Attack on Titan... I was pretty obsessed with it when I first started reading it, then the story/style started wavering around the same time I got caught up with Japan and had to wait for new chapters, I read as chapters released for a few months, and then idk. At one point I just got too annoyed/frustrated with the series and stopped reading. I guess that’s another series where maybe I should wait until it’s ended and then read it all at once. I’m curious about some of the plot lines but I really only liked one or two characters pretty well and the rest I was ambivalent about or my feelings on them varied too much, and since I’m so character-driven as a reader/viewer I just can’t stick with series that don’t have strong and consistent plots while also having strong and consistent characters and character development. At least not week by week or month by month, one chapter at a time. It doesn’t seem to work for my attention span.

In anime news, I wish we’d get some sequels of some series like re:Zero or K Project or my god wouldn’t No. 6 be nice?? But these are all light novel based so my hopes are probably for naught. Actually, I take that back. K wasn’t based on LN, it just has novels in addition to the anime. But now I’m realizing, maybe I missed some things. That series is kind of weird with stuff all over the place and individualized outside of the anime itself so I probably missed things. Unsurprisingly, I’m sure, Shiro is my favorite, Kuro secondarily. But I primarily watched for Shiro lolz

Wow ok I just managed to use up all my time on StayFocusd rambling on all this shit so there you go, there’s a bunch of random thoughts about a bunch of random series, and I didn’t even cover everything but I had to stop somewhere I guess.

Probably no one even read this far but that’s fine; sometimes I write this even just to remember later my thoughts on some things. Like I said earlier in the year, I wanted to do Voice as my word for 2017, which means not silencing myself on stuff unnecessarily, so for things like this where I want to write a post talking about a bunch of different stuff just touching on them it’s silly to not do it if it’s something I want to do. If that makes sense.

Anyway if you are reading this, I hope you have a lovely day/night/whatever it is for you! And hey, let me know if you have thoughts on any of the series I mentioned or I guess if you want me to go more in depth on something if it was of interest to you. idk, just whatever.

Hmm maybe I’ll make a tag for these kind of posts so I can find them later... I think I’ll do “ais manga ramblings” hmmmm

[salty-dracon]

lily’s vlogs: sleepover at laurie’s

Lily: Sooooo, the richest girl in town invited pretty much everyone in her school to go. We thought it would be a great place to hang out, so here we are. 

August: Do you even know how bad Laurie is?

Lily: Honey, we’re about to find out. 

(AN: For anyone not familiar with my older OCs, Laurie is basically one of those ultra rich popular girls that just acts like an asshole all the time. She’s also homophobic and a micromanager and no one likes her, except for Narcissa, Ivy, Paley, and Damian.)

-----

Lily: So, we’re here... inside this big mansion... god, you have no idea how big this place is. I’m gonna go find a TV, and then ask everyone else if they’re here. 

Laurie: (from the distance) Okay! Some rules! Guys! 

Lily: (whispering) There’s like fifty people here, holy shit! 

Laurie: Okay, so, some ground rules! I have lots of drinks available for you guys, but you have to throw out your own trash, don’t spill stuff, no sex, no swearing, no political talk... 

Lily: One out of three. 

Someone: When’s dinner? 

Laurie: Uh... whenever I want it. Yeah, I’ll have everyone let you know. Okay, have fun! Shoo! Out of the main hall... don’t touch the statues and the paintings... 

-----

Lily: So, I found my friends! 

Brid: Hey! 

Val: Sup.

Arthur: *just waves* 

Lily: So, we’re gonna stick together all night, maybe watch some hardcore anime? How does that sound? 

Val: Yeah. Uh, what should we watch? 

Brid: Hmm... One Punch Man? 

Lily: Seen it. 

Val: Same. 

Arthur: Watched it already. 

Brid: Okay... 

-----

(They’re hanging out in a room with a large TV. Arthur’s sitting on the floor, Val’s sitting on the couch next to Lily, and Brid’s sitting on a chair a short distance away.)

Lily: Okay, so, we’re taking turns showing the others our favorite anime. Brid’s showing us Noragami, Val’s showing off Soul Eater, and I’m doing my favorite episode of AssClass. Arthur’s still deciding.

Arthur: No, I decided. I’m doing Food Wars.

Lily: Nice. 

Brid: Shougeki no Soma? Really? 

Arthur: I know it’s a bit weird, but anime food. You like anime food, right?

Brid: *squishfaces*

-----

(Noragami s1 intro)

Lily: This intro is bangin’. Val, you hearin’ this? 

Val: He looks just like me! Lookit’em!

Brid: Yukine looks just like Arthur, too. 

Lily: Now I see why you like this one. 

Brid: Yeah. Okay but seriously, they actually treat Hiyori- that’s the cat girl- really well. She’s not a big-boobed sex object, she’s actually a person and it’s super nice. 

Lily: You had me at “treat cat girl really well”. 

----

Arthur: I changed my mind. I’m doing Magus Bride now. 

Lily: Oh, nice! I was planning to watch that one, actually! 

Val: I heard it’s really good. 

Brid: I’ve seen the reviews. Let’s do it. 

----

(A butler walks into the room while the three of them are mesmerized by the Soul Eater intro)

Butler: Dinner is ready. 

Val: Oh, thank god, I’m starving. 

Lily: Yeah, what’s the WiFi password, anyway? 

Butler: Laurie told us not to give it to you. 

August: That’s Laurie for you. 

Lily: Augie, what the hell?! How’d you get in here?

August: The door was open. 

Val: Like, without us noticing. 

August: I’m just that fly, baby. 

----

(After dinner, Lily’s lying on the couch again and Val is booting up Soul Eater again)

Lily: God, I couldn’t eat another bite... 

Val: Back to Soul Eater. 

Lily: Fuck yeah, back to Soul Eater! *tired* Whoooooooo. 

Brooke: *also tired* Oh my god, you guys watch some fucking kiddy bullshit. 

Lily: *tired* You wanna go, bitch? 

Brooke: *still tired* Fuck yeah I do! 

Brid: Calm down, both of you. Brooke, fuck off. 

Brooke: Well, fuck you too. *middle fingers Brid and then walks away* 

Val: Oh, that goddamn cunt. 

Lily: SOUL EATER

Val: Right.

----

(Baseball episode of AssClass)

Brid: Um... what? 

Lily: Uh, you’d need to watch it from the beginning, but basically, Koro Sensei, that’s the big yellow octopus thing, is their teacher, and is gonna destroy the Earth if the kids don’t kill him. And the teacher and some assassins and government agents teach them how. And then they use those skills to own the shit out of the rest of their school, which is 90% assholes. It’s great. 

Val: She showed me episode 1. I put it on my watch list. 

Brid: That good, huh?

Val: Very low priority.

Lily: It’s really good, though. Trust me. Er, maybe this is just my taste. 

Arthur: No, I like it. 

Lily: At some point Mida Rana the dude is gonna walk in and Val’s gonna punch me. 

Val: What? Wait. Wait. Lily, did you just-

Lily: Keep watching. 

Val: No. No, what’cha say? I’m gonna punch you? Why? Why am I gonna punch you? 

Lily: *snort*

Val: Arthur, what did she say?!

Arthur: At some point someone was going to walk in and you’d punch her. That being said, please don’t. 

Val: ........?

----

(A few minutes later) 

Val: YOU FUCKING SAID MIDO RANA DIDN’T YOU YOU LITTLE SHIT

Brid: I thought we collectively decided not to-

Lily: No seriously, they’re the same fucking design. Aren’t they? 

Val: LILY I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU ONLY CHOSE THIS ANIME IN PARTICULAR TO FUCK WITH ME

Lily: No, I’m serious. This is my favorite one-shot episode of my favorite anime. 

Val: .... Tell me if he gets his face smashed in. 

Lily: No...? But he’s cooler? And not a pedophile? 

Val: Does. He. Get-

Lily: If he smashes faces in himself, does it count? 

Val: ... fuck yeah, it does. 

----

(First episode of Magus Bride)

Val: Don’t get me wrong, Arthur, I really like this anime, but I’m getting flashbacks to Code Geass and Yu-Gi-Oh with that art style.

Brid: Thanks for ruining the show for me, asshole. 

Lily: Holy fuck, you’re right. It’s seriously a good anime though. And it only gets better? 

Arthur: I’m pretty sure. 

Lily: You’re pretty sure. 

Arthur: I haven’t seen all of it. 

(The others are just silent)

Val: So what have you seen?

Arthur: Well, my mum doesn’t exactly let me watch anime on the computer... or use Netflix... so I’ve only seen some Yu-Gi-Oh, and the stuff that I’ve watched with you guys.

Lily: Who the hell does your mom think she is, jesus christ? 

----

Lily: You wanna watch something cringey? 

Brid: No. 

Lily: Lots of weird shit? 

Val: It better not be Pop Team Epic. 

Lily: That’s not even on Netflix yet. 

Arthur: Oh, I know! Let’s watch Little Witch Academia!

Brid: Good idea. 

(Laurie walks in)

Laurie: Have you guys been here this entire time? 

Val: Yep. 

Lily: Anime watch party. 

Laurie: No no no. This is my birthday party. Anyway, it’s late. Go to sleep. Ugh, why did I even invite you guys? At least Brid, I thought would be cool. And Val actually likes her? That makes no effing sense. Anyway, every boy has to kiss me goodnight, okay? 

----

Lily: Should I tell Laurie that you’re gay? 

Val: Don’t. You’ll start the apocalypse. Besides, you know I’m ace and even if I were straight, I wouldn’t kiss that piece of shit.

----

(Under a sleeping bag with Brid) 

Lily: So, how do we fuck with her? 

Aditi: Already done, I’m afraid. 

Lily: What the fuck? Holy shit, what happened?!

Aditi: Someone- I think it was Narin- figured out the WiFi password and hooked herself up to the house speakers. She has them all turned on full volume. And she’s going to play something. 

Lily: wha-

(Turn Down for What starts playing all over the house)

Lily: FIRE UP THAT LOUD ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOTS

Half of the room: TURN DOWN FOR WHAT

----

(Everything is quiet) 

Lily: Laurie was so fucking mad, holy shit. She lost her shit at literally everyone at the same time. Oh my god, she was so mad at me too. It was crazy. Because she thought I did it for whatever reason. And then she began yelling at Brid. And then Lumi and Kat defended her- Kat’s like this super butch girl that Brid hangs out with- and holy shit! Like, Laurie was legit scared. And then, she called Kat- and I kid you not- a homosexual. Like, you don’t just call someone a homosexual. And Kat just... man, she was inches away from decking her. Holy shit, dude. 

Lily: We are so doing this again next year. 

[echodrops]

I don't know if you are still in Noragami but I want to know something. How do you think that Take's new shinkis would react if they know the truth behind their master"s behavior and past? (Yes the published manga are in chapter 66 in France, so I'm in Take's hell again)

Yes! I am still in the Noragami fandom; it’s just been a bit hard to focus on the series with how long the hiatus has been. D;

This is actually a really awesome question, and I’ll answer it under this cut:

In terms of the new shinki, I assume we’re only talking about Miun, Kaun, and Saiun, aka the non-elder shinki that we’ve seen so far.

I talked about this a bit before, but one thought I had as I reading the Takemikazuchi arc for the first time was that all of Take’s new shinki have something distinct in common (and no, I don’t just mean their hairstyle): they are all generally mild, soft-spoken, and even somewhat timid men. Maybe this is just coincidence…

Or maybe Takemikazuchi has, since his forced reincarnation, deliberately been picking shinki who he thinks he can overpower, shinki he could defeat in battle if he needs to, shinki who seem extremely unlikely to stand up for themselves or ever attack their master, even in self-defense… Whether this is conscious or subconscious, I don’t know, but if it is conscious, that means Takemikazuchi has spent his whole reincarnated life assuming that one day his shinki are going to turn on him again, and that he has to prepare for that by carefully selecting only those shinki which he can, for sure, control.

All of which I’m saying to get to the idea that Saiun, Kaun, and Miun probably see Takemikazuchi as a very, very different type of master and man than Kiun does. Kiun serves Takemikazuchi with a sense of sympathy, with foreknowledge of the betrayal, suffering, and cruelty Take faced as he grew up after being reincarnated. He serves Takemikazuchi knowing that, deep down, there is a young man who is justifiably angry, lonely, and miserably afraid to be himself or express any of his real thoughts or feelings. Kiun at least marginally understands why Takemikazuchi mistreats and mistrusts his own shinki. 

My impression of Saiun, Kaun, and Miun is–like you–that they do not understand why their master acts the way he does, and therefore it is extremely likely that they do not know anything about his past or the way that he was raised by the elders–even though it seems like the elders themselves are still around, and you’d think those elders would be “warning” the new guys of how horrible their master can get and how much they had to “put up with” in the past, insert-bullshit-here, etc. etc.

So how would the new shinki react to learning the truth of what happened to Takemikazuchi?

I think the first reaction would be disbelief. As I just mentioned, I think the new shinki see Takemikazuchi in a very different way from Kiun: to them, he’s an unfair tyrant, an uncaring master who uses them like tools without seeming to care for their well-being in the slightest. They serve him, but they also seem to be, in some ways, afraid of him and genuinely put down by his insults. I imagine that, to his new shinki, Takemikazuchi comes across a lot like he first did the Noragami fandom before we learned about his past: an absolute pompous asshole who delights in bloodshed and lives to fight–a larger-than-life war god who is totally uncontrollable and very self-centered.

Suddenly learning the dark truth about their master’s past would completely shatter that image of him for the new shinki, and leave them completely adrift and confused–I think it would definitely take them some time to process, reflect, and start to realize that their master’s actions maybe can’t be taken at face value and that he’s not the unshakable, all-confident war god they’ve built up in their heads…

But once they processed, thought back, and started to look at the things he’s doing and saying? Once they realize where his suspicion and coldness really comes from–that he keeps his distance not because he thinks they’re weak disappointments but because he’s actively afraid of his own shinki and what they might do to him–I’d personally like to believe that Saiun, Kaun, and Miun would choose to stand faithfully at Takemikazuchi’s side and support him.

Maybe this is just wishful thinking or my natural bias toward beautiful dark-haired boys, but I definitely choose to believe that the 11 elders are outliers, and that not all human beings would treat Takemikazuchi so cruelly–I definitely choose not to believe that Take is just inherently an awful god who can’t change, grow, and show kindness and love to those who deserve it from him. 

So, ultimately: I personally think that if the new shinki were told what happened in Takemikazuchi’s past, once they overcame their doubt and disbelief, they would do everything in their power to show their master their loyalty is genuine and that they mean him no harm and will never betray him–but then of course they would have to stick around long enough to prove that to Takemikazuchi, to overcome his deep-seated suspicions and crushed faith in humanity, so that he could start to heal–and, in turn, heal their bond as master and shinki too.

That’s why I was hopeful at the end of the Takemikazuchi arc that we would still see more of Take-chan, Kiun, and the others, that they would become somewhat like Bishamon and company, reluctant but also grateful parts of Yato’s group whose lives are transformed for the better through their continued contact with our most beloved “god of calamity”… I have no doubts that, if Noragami had continued as scheduled for these all last months, right now we would be seeing a very different Takemikazuchi and crew (even if just in the background), with at least a few hints that Take-chan is starting to soften up and his bond with his shinki is starting to grow. At the very least, we know that something more was planned with Takemikazuchi, since Nora is still one of his shinki and that plot bomb has not, up to now, been fully detonated. I think Adachitoka definitely had plans to keep Takemikazuchi and his adorable shinki in the story!

…Which of course just makes the hiatus all the more painful, as I imagine the many things I think we could have seen…

RIP my heart!