#LEAVE YUUSAKU OUT OF THIS

[kakapim]

I've seen people ask "Why didn't Yuusaku investigate his brothers murder" and consider it a plot hole, but after some consideration I think it could be explained. My reasoning is:

1- Yuusaku knew Toichi had beef with other more dangerous criminals

2- If they didn't bother killing a world famous magician, they sure asf wouldn't hesitate to kill an author, too. If he did die, he would leave a very young child and his wife. And nothing would be solved.

3- We don't know how much Yuu knew. Like yeah it was obvious Toichi had beef with other, more dangerous criminals, but there's no guarantee Toichi told him about his night life, if at all. If MK organization wiped out all info about the case and called off the police investigation, it would be very hard to find a lead again. And as I said, doing so would surely bring unwanted attention.

Remember that the first KID was doing it all for shits and giggles before the whole pandora ordeal. Ik Yuu is one of the smartest mfs in Detco, but would he know about the gem? I mean, the only reason we even know about it is because they specifically told Toichi to find it. Otherwise, it would be impossible to know unless he found someone who works for them.

He might know it *now*, since Toichi and him are in contact with eachother, though. But again, we don't know how long Toichi went without telling people he was alive.

He even might have told him to not dig into the case because it would be dangerous to both of em. Unfortunately that DOES bring out the issue of Toichi being a terrible father, because it essentially means he went "don't worry bro, my 17yo traumatized son will solve this 👍" and Yuu was... fine with this ??

Like I understand not opening up an investigation or calling the fbi or whatever, since it would be dangerous to everyone involved- but not telling Kaito his pops is alive is just cruel. Kaitos already in danger anyway, so what's the point?

[raifuujin]

M27 Spoilers

Okay, so. My thoughts.

First off, the cousins thing. I'll be honest, I fully thought the movie was going to go with a common ancestor route instead of the more direct dad's being brothers. Obviously that didn't turn out, but considering they also brought in Okita and his face, it would have made a lot more sense to just go further back and also leave explanation for the other same-face Gosho boys that are scattered around. But I guess that wouldn't have been dramatic enough, so oh well.

I'd still probably ship KaiShin. The cousins thing really doesn't bother me when they don't even know (because nobody in this series talks about any family until it has maximum audience whammy). I see some people who are lamenting, because it makes things uncomfortable for them, and that's fair. I don't see it quite as bad as like. Leia and Luke from Star Wars, or the more personal Layton and Descole from PL, both pairs being direct siblings instead of first cousins, but plenty of people still probably view it as too close. Also, if anyone is familiar with the hiimdaisy Ace Attorney comic with Apollo and Trucy and Phoenix is supposed to tell them they're related and Does Not time it well. -finger guns- It would make a great parody comic idea for this KaiShin situation. (I might do it myself if no one else does, but would Not be soon.)

Other people bring up that Gosho mentioned much, much earlier that there was a reason Kaito and Shinichi look alike. Which I did remember, but the thing about that is. That I don't trust Gosho in the slightest. Like, did he actually plan out Yuusaku and Toichi's separated twins backstory at that time, or did he have a general idea that he'd be making them familial related somewhere in their tree? Some people truly thought Kaito and Shinichi could be the brothers, with the Kuroba's adopting for some various fandom-created reasons. Or other, far more dramatic direct relation. Could Gosho's comment have just been him making a joke that the 'reason' was him thinking about them having the same inspiration? How serious was he meant to be taken 20 years ago?

Many people saying 'of course they're related, they look exactly alike':

1) Sameface syndrome with characters goes well beyond Kaito and Shinichi. There were so many protoypes of characters, or just matching looks to character types, of course not everyone is gonna hop on the 'well duh, they must be related' train. It's nice to feel vindication for headcanoning them as family, but don't make it sound like people are stupid for being upset. There's very little to tell what's lampshading and teasing vs 'no, really, they're gonna be related to each other'.

2) The common ancestor explanation would have worked perfectly fine, and honestly, the fact that Toichi and Yuusaku are twin brothers separated through divorce who happen to both have stayed in the Tokyo area (mostly) while both being internationally famous and maintaining contact with each other and sending gifts even when one of them is publicly dead. Sounds goddamn stupid. (The brothers idea would probably have been fine and plausible, it was all that Extra that pushed it into 'okay just stop, this sounds like a load of contrived bullshit'. How did no one during the 'reveal' of that go 'um, I know this is how you want this connection to go, but can we make it sound more plausible/real?')

Because, Gosho clearly didn't plan on them being related all along. That's probably what actually bothers be about the contrived connection (since the real impact to KaiShin is relatively small). It's very obvious that he just drew his male protags for quite a few stories looking very similar. (Usually in his image, to an extent, though that's usually just mentioned for Kaito, specifically.) It was also clear that when he had Kid make a surprise appearance in DC, there really wasn't supposed to be a connection. Did he come up with it on his own? Only after people asked about it? Did he go 'you know, I might could connect the two for fun'? I don't know. I don't trust a man who created Sera's concept based on a cool female detective and wrapped her up with Akai and made the whole stupid family thing, and who changed Amuro's planned role as a bad guy on a whim because he was too cool to be bad, to have actually planned out this family connection all along.

And even with all that, there's also the issue of revealing this information in a movie. People have had arguments about movie canonicity for years, and yet this all gets mentioned for cinema shock value. I don't mind the using extra characters, or making things more action packed than the manga would allow, or even stupid things like Kidnichi 200 times. But this? This is asking for chaos. It feels like a big clusterfuck of yes, no, maybe, for how important this is going to be going forward, because we don't even know if Gosho means to make use of this info for the mangas at all, or if it's going to remain background information from a movie that may or may not even be relevant to know. Except as a wink to the audience and a middle finger to shippers, I guess.

(There are pluses to this, which is general thinking about the implications of this family dynamic and how chaotic things could actually get or how things got to be how they are already. I'd like to know what exactly Yuusaku knows about his brother's status and if his 'friend from interpol' could be used to connect to Toichi's whole. Legally died but is still alive and being an a-hole to his son by letting him go into the profession that was trying to kill him.) ((Yes, we're still gonna murder Toi, especially since his amnesia out is clearly off the table. We don't know enough about what Yuusaku knows, but I can't even say he's on thin ice because the chances of him knowing a lot about Kaito's situation is too damn high to let him off the hook.))

...Anyway, that's obviously the main drama, but side note that I'm also mad because movie being canon or not aside (I adopt movies as canon, especially newer ones, but people can also ignore them without loosing manga compliance really), the issue I have is the further blurring of MK and DC connection. At this point, it literally is just Akako being the crux of the 'are they the same universe or aren't they' argument, and it's literally never gonna get answered because Gosho refuses to even let her show up in DC for anything. You truly can argue either way when she's just not shown. And even though it won't happen, it's to a point where they feel so obviously the same universe that I hope Gosho just let's Akako do a cameo at the end of DC just to mess with people. But regardless, making MK only characters directly related to DC characters is. Maddening for that whole argument. (Sure, Toichi has appeared in DC before, however, the movie goes out of the way to add that extra 'fuck you' to the audience by revealing not just Toichi being alive and texting Yuusaku casually, but the reveal is in his fucking. Corbeau outfit. Which. Corbeau is 1000% MK only knowledge, so there's not getting around that no one would know that character unless they've read MK.)

And last note, the one other spoiler I've seen mentioned is the failed Heizuha confession and just. The reasons for failing get dumber and dumber and just add to the mess of spoilers coming from this movie. Oh no, Iori, the former government agent dude working for the rich girl love rival for Heiji's affection, dropped a flashbomb at the exact time Heiji confessed, so Kazuha never heard it. I don't think the spoilers I saw ever clarified if he was doing something and it was coincidence, or if it was intentional, but. God the fails being turned into elaborate jokes is getting. Ridiculous. I don't even care if they get together in canon, I'm not super invested in the ship, but I feel like even if I did want them to get together, there's. Literally zero hope for any build ups at this point. You can't keep leading up to it and pulling it away, people are gonna stop caring. At this point, half the people invested are just going to give an exasperated 'finally' when it happens, instead of actually being excited at this point, it's just tiring.

I hope the rest of the movie is at least entertaining. Fun action packed eye-candy fluff to help numb the stupid 'important' scenes. Spoilers might feel ick, but it's in a vacuum of reading words about scenes on their own. (Which probably won't change the Yuusaku scene at all, but Heiji's confession is. Probably an 'okay, here we go, what happens this time' thing that's better if you're already just there for entertainment.)

Edit: Someone has now basically confirmed with their own watch that the movie is fun, and the bombshell of lore is at the very end.

[sagurus]

I had the opportunity to watch the Detective Conan movie while visiting Japan, and it occurs to me that maybe people could be interested in some of the stuff I gleaned! My Japanese was too rough for me to follow a great deal of the plot but I still got a lot out of observing the character interactions.

Movie 27 spoilers below the cut:

So Heiji gets a look at Kaito's face (after slashing his hat and monocle with a sword) and then spends several other moments in the moving comparing Conan's face to his memory of Kaito's face. He (I think) asks Conan about having relatives. Conan is very dismissive about this question.

Kaito experiences a fun chase where multiple different groups are like. Trying to kill him (with guns or with sword).

There's a few really good scenes of Kaito and Conan and Heiji collaborating.

Nakamori gets SHOT. TWICE. Kaito saw the sniper and tried to intervene but couldn't in time. Kaito is consumed with guilt. and then Aoko comes to see her dad in the hospital. And there's a scene where Kaito is disguised as a guard and he's standing near aoko while she's waiting for her dad to wake up. And of course once he does wake up, Kaito makes himself scarce. He looks so somber the entire time, it's heartbreaking to me.

Aoko meets Conan while he's around Heiji and multiple other people, and she immediately makes a point of introducing herself to him specifically. And then later, while Conan and Heiji are talking and she's standing near them, she crouches down, staring at him, and tells him he looks just like her childhood friend when they were little.

Towards the end there's a reveal that Touichi was here in disguise the whole time. He leaves a "signed" note at the scene at one point (it has a top hat and monocle like the normal signature, but no grin. And has a touichi moustache). Kaito... seems to not be fazed by this? But unsure if he realized that the note was a current one or if it was something left sometime long ago? Because the case has history going back a while and a target involved was something Touichi had also stolen before. (I think.)

There's also a reveal that Yuusaku and Touichi are brothers. It's during the post credit scene, with Yukiko seeing a text Yuusaku was writing, and exclaiming 'nii-san?!'. Yuusaku seems very flippant, like 'Oh, you didn't know?' And at the very end of the post credits scene we see Touichi receive the text and send something back. And he's dressed as Corbeau and very ominous dramatic music plays. It actually feels very villainous, though I'm not sure that was the intended takeaway.

I am unsure whether they're twins or not but I've seen other people around mentioning their relation as being twins.

But that's the rough summary of what I gleaned! Sorry I don't really have much on the case plot, I'm often less invested in that than I am in the everything else surrounding it.

[here-lies-golden-kamuy]

NSFW | The Ultimate Golden Kamuy Breast Guide

Yes. You read that right. This came to me in a fever dream.

AKA I was taking a bath and pondered how it was unfair that GK has an official penis and ass chart but not a breast chart…I decided right then and there that I needed to do something for my fellow women lovers

Basically, if the Golden Kamuy universe was genderbent, what would the breast chart look like? 

The only canon woman included in this boobie companion guide is Ienaga because her being a transwoman is important to me. But honestly, I don’t think her cis women self would be any different. ALSO! While some characters have been assigned by me personally, this chart also involved a randomizer. What can I say? Breast sizes are moderately based on genetics, and genetics is a game of probability. So if you’re unsatisfied, don’t blame me, blame probability! /lh 

All just putting it out there, all breasts are beautiful! They’re all gorgeous gorgeous gals, and I love them all <3 

Is your favorite not here? Reblog so I can add them here! 

LET’S START 

BREAST 101: BREAST MORPHOLOGY

For this guide, I’ve chosen three parts of breast morphology: breast shape, breast cup size, and nipple and areolae size and shape. 

ONE: BREAST SHAPE (check the link for reference illustrations on breast shape!)

Round Round breasts have a uniform appearance with roughly equal fullness on the top and bottom

GK GALS WITH ROUND BREASTS: Koito, Ienaga, Kikuta, Tsurumi

Bell-Shaped Bell shaped breasts typically occur in people with larger breasts. These breasts tend to be narrow at the top and full at the bottom

GK GALS WITH BELL-SHAPED BREASTS: Tsukishima, Ushiyama, Tanigaki, Kiroranke

Slender Slender breasts are narrow and long, with nipples pointing downwards

GK GALS WITH SLENDER BREASTS: Boutarou, Toni, Usami, Kantarou

Conical Conical breasts are cone-like in shape: the top of the breasts slope down toward the nipples, which point outward. This shape often occurs in people with smaller breasts 

GK GALS WITH CONICAL BREASTS: Sugimoto, Yuusaku, Kadokura, Nikadous

Relaxed Breasts with looser or thin breast tissue tend to have a relaxed or elongated shape. The nipples typically sit lower on relaxed breasts, and they may or may not point downward

GK GALS WITH RELAXED BREASTS: Shiraishi

East-West East-West breasts are full on the top and bottom, and the nipples point in opposite directions, away from the body’s midline

GK GALS WITH EAST-WEST BREASTS: Ogata, Vasily, Kirawus

Close-set Close-set breasts have little or no space between them. They sit in the center of the chest, which leaves a bigger area between the breasts and the shoulders

GK GALS WITH CLOSE-SET BREASTS: Ariko, Edogai, Nakagura, Hijikata

Asymmetrical Breasts Breast asymmetry occurs when one breast is a different shape or size to the other. Most people have slight breast asymmetry

GK GALS WITH BREAST ASYMMETRY: Ariko, Sugimoto, Edogai, Kantarou, Hijikata, Boutarou, Kiroranke, Yuusaku, Tsukishima, Ushiyama, Ogata, Vasily, Ienaga, Nakagura, Koito

GK GALS WITH NO BREAST ASYMMETRY: Shiraishi, Tanigaki, Nikadous, Toni, Usami, Kirawus, Tsurumi, Kadokura, Kikuta

TWO: BREAST CUP SIZE

There are two parts to breast size: the band size and the cup size. The band size is the number that refers to the circumference of a person’s ribcage (typically measured underneath the breasts). The cup size is the size of the actual bust. All-in-all, breast sizes (and shapes!) are influenced by different factors, such as age, lifestyle, weight, pregnancy or breastfeeding, genetics, etc. 

For this, I followed a Japanese guide for bra sizes (here’s a reference for international conversion of bra sizes) and opted to instead focus on the characters’ cup size rather than the band size (too difficult to think of, because we don’t exactly have their canon measurements). 

JAPANESE A TO B BRA SIZE: Sugimoto, Shiraishi, Kadokura, Ienaga, Tsurumi, Kantarou

JAPANESE C TO D BRA SIZE: Koito, Ogata, Toni, Nikaidous, Edogai, 

JAPANESE E TO F BRA SIZE: Nakagura, Hijikata, Vasily, Usami, Yuusaku

JAPANESE G TO H BRA SIZE: Ariko, Tsukshima, Kikuta, Boutarou

JAPANESE I BRA SIZE: Tanigaki, Ushiyama, Kiroranke

THREE: AREOLAE AND NIPPLE SHAPE AND SIZE

Last but certainly not the least: the areolae and nipples. The nipples are the nubs on each breast that is designed to be where an infant will latch its mouth during the breastfeeding age. On the other head, the areolae are the darker-colored skin surrounding the nipple. All areolae and nipples are unique, hence why I felt like this part also had to be included in this guide. 

A. AREOLAE 

GK GALS WITH LIGHTER COLORED AREOLAE: Nikaidous, Tsukishima, Shiraishi, Vasily, Usami, Kadokura, Edogai, Sugimoto, Kantarou, Ienaga, Ogata, Kirawus

GK GALS WITH DARKER COLORED AREOLAE: Yuusaku, Nakagura, Kiroranke, Hijikata, Kikuta, Toni, Tsurumi, Ushiyama, Ariko, Boutarou, Tanigaki, Koito

GK GALS WITH SMALLER AREOLAE: Kadokura, Boutarou, Ogata, Koito, Kiroranke, Tsukishima, Ariko, Shiraishi, Ushiyama, Usami, Kantarou, Nakagura

GK GALS WITH BIGGER AREOLAE: Tanigaki, Nikadous, Edogai, Vasily, Hijikata, Kirawus, Kikuta, Tsurumi, Yuusaku, Ienaga, Toni, Sugimoto

B. NIPPLES

GK GALS WITH BUMPY NIPPLES: Kiroranke, Kikuta, Nikadous, Toni, Hijikata, Sugimoto, Usami, Vasily

GK GALS WITH SUPERNUMERARY* NIPPLES (EXTRA NIPPLE/S): Ariko, Tanigaki, Ienaga, Ushiyama, Boutarou, Tsurumi

GK GALS WITH EVERTED (ERECT) NIPPLES: Kadokura, Koito, Tanigaki, Ushiyama, Kantarou, Tsukishima, Vasily, Usami

GK GALS WITH FLAT NIPPLES: Ienaga, Yuusaku, Kikuta, Ogata, Sugimoto, Nikaidous, Nakagura, Kirawus

GK GALS WITH PUFFY NIPPLES: Shiraishi, Kiroranke, Edogai, Ariko, Hijikata, Tsurumi, Toni, Boutarou

*It is totally normal to have an extra nipple or two! The extra nipple/s look more like moles than nipples. 

[veiledlinks-vn]

So, VRAINS fandom, I have a surprise in the making! :3c

I’m in the process of creating a visual novel dating simulator, featuring the disaster trio in a high school setting, where the card game isn’t in the focus and only a handful of canon elements have been used.

The game takes place during one year of high school; the first for Yuusaku and Takeru, and the third for Ryouken. You choose to play as either of the three, with each of them having their own unique route. All three have the option during the story to date each other, as well as one more exclusive character each, but it’s possible to play the game without romance at all (no complete escape from the friendships, though, lol).

There are events that overlap between their routes, but they don’t play out the same necessarily, leaving room for new material to discover on replays. Events don’t always play out in the same order, either.

In case it hasn’t been clear, it’s a game for multi-shippers. I wouldn’t recommend it for the ones who might have one or more of the 6 ships presented as their NOTPs, since the options leading up to the ships aren’t always crystal clear.

Also, this will not be a project for profit, and will be available on PC and Mac (hopefully, also on Android, but no promises on that one). Because of some suggestive as well as darker themes, it’ll have a 16+ rating, but proper content warnings will be present at release.

When’s the release, you might ask? Who knows, I rely a lot on public domain assets, but this is still a one person project, meaning I’m alone with the art, script, design, programming and building. With the magnitude of the game’s estimated size, it’ll take time (especially since I’m far from an expert in coding and English isn’t my first language). But at the very least, I hope to release a small demo in a few months.

I hope you’ll enjoy it when it’s finally done! ♥♥♥

See ya in future updates!

/Tara

[famiconblogs]

The Heta-Uma Appeal

Garo 1982 September Issue with cover art by Yumura Teruhiko

Heta-uma. 'Heta' as in 'bad', 'umai' as in 'good'. Not officially recognised as an art movement, the wave of manga/art/illustrations that kicked off in the 70s were seen as being "so bad it's good". There are a number of different ways to describe heta-uma, with terms like "unskilled" and "ugly" being used to categorise the rough look of the art. Check out this highly detailed and informative article from Sabukaru for more on its history!

If you're wondering who pioneered the craze and led the charge, look no further than three artists deemed to be the most influential and notable: Yumura Teruhiko, Ebisu Yoshikazu and Takashi Nemoto. Garo was a platform that allowed these artists to spread the name and fame of their crude and raw drawings, often featuring gritty and vulgar subject matter. Heta-uma is a style that rejects the norm and pushes outside the box for new ways of expression, going against standards to evoke new reactions in readers. It aims to leave you laughing, gagging in disgust and everything in between with its sheer variety of storytelling. You can find gag manga, comedic shorts and satire. You can find political and social commentary veiled underneath raw and seemingly shallow drawings. It's a style that I honestly took me awhile to get into, but my appreciation slowly began to accelerate as I dived into alternative manga, especially mangaka like Ebisu.

Ebisu Yoshikazu: First Exposure

My very first read from Ebisu was a book titled "I Wish I Was Stupid" (Watashi wa Baka ni Naritai), now being released in English by Breakdown Press, an extremely exciting occasion for alternative manga fans. As far as I know, there are few heta-uma mangaka with an official English book, one being Hanakuma Yuusaku with his "Tokyo Zombie" published by Last Gasp in 2008. Takashi Nemoto also had his "Monster Men: Bureiko Lullaby" published in English by Picture Box in 2008. At the moment, Ebisu's "The Pits of Hell" by Breakdown Press is also being reprinted, so I'd hope that demand is high enough for more heta-uma exposure to the English market. There are also alternative manga anthologies like "Ax (Vol 1): A Collection of Alternative Manga", "Sake Jock", and "Comics Underground Japan" that feature heta-uma mangaka and artists like Suzy Amakane and Carol Shimoda amongst others.

But back to Ebisu. I was again exposed to his works via a haul video by Shawn from Japan Book Hunter, and the cover of the manga was enough to get me interested. The book is raw, disgusting, incredibly vulgar and in-your-face with its crazy drawings on confronting subject matter. It blends dark humour with satire on Japanese society extremely well, all supported by rudimentary character designs of salarymen, housewives and naïve children. I loved the weirdly random and surreal settings that feature UFOs flying in the sky, coupled with the desolate backgrounds that emphasise the other-worldliness of Ebisu's work. Its content is extreme, and it left such a lasting impression on me that I had to explore further into the world of heta-uma. I picked up "The Pits of Hell" after that, and am definitely planning to get more Ebisu books in the future.

AX Magazine: A Bigger Picture

Assorted AX issues featuring heta-uma artists Takashi Nemoto, Goto Yuka, Shiriagari Kotobuki, Family Restaurant and Hori Michihiro

After discovering Ebisu, I had bought myself a whole stack of AX issues, opening up a whole new world of more contemporary heta-uma. This is where I became addicted to artists like Goto Yuka, Shiriagari Kotobuki and Family Restaurant, all centred on more a more comedic/gag style of manga. I still have a long way to go in terms of reading up on all the wonderful heta-uma out there, so I would say I'm still only on the first couple of steps in. One of my favourite heta-uma works that I'm still reading at the moment is Goto's "Justice Corps" (Seigitai), a gag manga following a group of vigilantes fighting to protect the city from monsters and villains. It's a pretty simple premise, but the slapstick humour combined with very rudimentary drawings gives off a nostalgic kids-show vibe. Addicting, straightforward and fun.

Justice Corps vol 1 by Goto Yuka

Shiriagari's "Jacaranda" is another amazing story that follows the violent and chaotic destruction of a city and its subsequent rebirth. The manga begins with a woman on a train brutally beating an old man for accidentally leaning on her shoulder as he struggles to stay awake. Nobody tries to do anything to help, a common critique of passivity in Japanese society that you can find in lots of other manga. Over the course of the story, the city is ravaged by a giant Jacaranda tree that sprouts and destroys the entire landscape, massacring the people around it as buildings topple and fires burn. The art is intense and the civilian deaths are brutally depicted through most of the book. Though, the end result is that of a blooming Jacaranda tree that towers over the city, hailed and prayed to by the survivors. There is little dialogue with most of the sound dominated by screams and onomatopoeia, but Shiriagari's raw and rough art style very much lends to a violent story like this. You can interpret the narrative in many ways, with one observing the first event of the woman's violence on the train as a karmic catalyst to the Jacaranda sprouting. This book is a good example of how the heta-uma style can also lean towards quite sincere and more serious works, a great display of versatility.

Jacaranda by Shiragari Kotobuki

Although, I must say that not every heta-uma work I've read is a favourite for me. "Jacaranda" is, in my opinion, an amazingly raw and hard-hitting work, but Shiragari's "Twin Adults" (Futago no Oyaji) series is very much a hit or miss. You can find individual chapters throughout many of AX's early issues, and there are also tankobons that collect all the stories into one book. The series features two twins arguing and playing, both up to whatever antics they may be up to, but not many of them land for me personally. On a different topic, Takashi Nemoto's subject matter is also a bit too raunchy for my tastes. I appreciate his art style as a whole and actually really love some of art that don't feature extremely explicit imagery, but the usual abundance of the dirty stuff isn't for me.

Left: Takashi Nemoto page from Garo 1983 April / Right: "Futago no Oyaji" from AX vol 8

The King Terry Obsession: Present Time

Various 1983 Garo issues featuring cover art by Yumura Teruhiko

Yumura Teruhiko. King Terry. Terry Johnson. Flamingo Terry. My current artist obsession. The artist is a man of many names. King Terry is attributed as the founder and pioneer of the heta-uma movement from the 70s and onwards with his "artfully artless" illustrations, a quote from Ryan Holmberg which I find is an extremely fitting description. You can find his article below!

King Terry mainly drew illustrations and has only put out one manga in his career, "Penguin Rice", where he drew the art for a story written by Itoi Shigesato for Garo in 1976. I haven't found a copy of it yet, but my eyes are always on the lookout for it. But for now, I'm satisfied with the various Garo issues he'd illustrated covers for, all of them addicting to look at. Yumura had illustrated all the covers for Garo's 1977 issues, reappearing and staying as the physical face of the magazine from 1982-87. He's an artist that has grown on me over time, and I can't give a clear reason why, but it's very much tied in with my love for alternative manga.

And that's pretty much my experience with the wonderful world of heta-uma. To conclude, I want to have one last section about an event that I feel was an extremely important one for heta-uma and alternative manga fans outside of Japan.

Heta-Uma Mangaro: Le Dernier Cri Exhibition

Le Dernier Cri, a French publishing house headed by Pakito Bolino, is your one-stop destination for underground and alternative art that thrives outside of the mainstream. They sell high quality silkscreen prints, books and posters from many Japanese artists and mangaka, many of whom I've talked about before. In 2014, Bolino and Taco Che owner Ayumi Nakayama curated an extensive collection of works from Japanese artists in the double exhibition "Heta-uma Mangaro", a gallery of 40 years of Garo and heta-uma history. There was a catalogue book released for the event that is long OOP, but I'm still patiently waiting for one to pop up sometime soon. But having such a large event specifically for alternative manga and heta-uma is an amazing feat that I hope will inspire bigger and more frequent exhibitions like these. Thanks for reading!

[chalkythetalkie]

for the fic asks, BTS but you can choose the fic lol

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

This is from my most recent one, sex karma:

Ogata arrives at the coffee shop with a few minutes to spare, but Yuusaku is already there. He seems to have been waiting for a while, if the amount of twisted and torn paper napkins littering the table is any indicator. [this is a nervous tic i personally have and wanted to bestow upon yuusaku for no reason]

He thought he’d forgotten what Yuusaku's face looks like, but it all comes back to him in an instant. Yuusaku looks the same as he did before Ogata scared him off for good over 5 years ago – the same lively eyes inherited from his mother, the same handsome, boyish face. [i started working on this sequel wayyy before the Yuusaku Face Reveal, so the original draft mentions Yuusaku having the patented Hanazawa Bracket Eyebrows lol. It was a popular headcanon at the time!] The only thing that's different this time around is his hair, which had been completely obscured in the streams – his current neat side part suits him better than the buzz cut he was sporting years ago, Ogata thinks.

However, he looks like shit today – probably from lack of sleep. His eyes are bloodshot, the skin around them rubbed raw as if he’s been crying for hours. He sees Ogata approaching and immediately sits up straighter, looking up at him with a mix of relief and apprehension.

Ogata's never seen Yuusaku like this before. In public, he's always been the perfect picture of the ideal son. Even during the streams, where he let another side of himself turn loose, Yuusaku still kept this general sense of good-naturedness about him.

It seems that the stress of the situation had been enough to peel back that façade. [if you're wondering how horrible Yuusaku's night was, exactly, he made a panicked Reddit post at 2am telling his story and asking for advice from total strangers online but got his post removed from the subreddit bc everyone thought it was bait. all the while trying to frantically call Ogata and picturing himself being disowned by their dad]

“Brother,” Yuusaku says in a tight voice. Ogata can't help grinning as he takes the seat across from him.

“Yuusaku,” he replies nonchalant, reaching for the menu propped up in the middle of the table. Yuusaku visibly freezes when their hands almost touch, remaining tense until Ogata grabs the menu and opens it. “You want to order anything?”

Yuusaku stares at him as if he's gone insane. “Huh?”

“it’s only polite, after all. You did ruin this table's napkin supply, the least you could do is order something.”

Yuusaku looks down at his hands, his surprised expression betraying the fact he hadn’t even realized he'd emptied the napkin dispenser with his fidgeting. [i also do this] He tries to gather the ruined, crumpled bits of paper scattered on the table, but the resulting pile is even more pathetic than a scattered mess. [yes i've also done this]

Ogata skims the menu and calls a waitress over to their table. “Here, I'd like a piece of chocolate cake and an expresso,” he says. She jots down his order while discreetly side-eyeing Ogata's flustered table companion. “Don't you want anything, little brother?”

Yuusaku stares at him wide-eyed, like he's just been punched in the face. [that's the moment when yuusaku's peepee starts to harden btw] He manages to stutter out “w-water, please,” and holds his breath until the slightly baffled waitress leaves. [i didn't actually picture any particular GK character making a cameo as this waitress, but i invite readers to picture the one they personally think would be the funniest]

Ogata is having the time of his life – it’s about time a Hanazawa feels a fraction of the stress he and his mother went through all those years ago.

“Does anyone else know?” Yuusaku sighs, slumping his ridiculously broad shoulders.

“No. Just me.”

“Oh... OK,” Yuusaku blinks, seems to relax a little. “Then what... what do you want, broth—Hyakunosuke?”

“Straight to the point, huh? Didn't think you had it in you.” Ogata sets his elbows on the table and leans closer to Yuusaku. “But then again, you're a smart kid, right? Father made sure to enrol you in the best schools, and then in the best university... Surely an education befitting of the sole Hanazawa heir.” [i really like the bitterness in Ogata's voice here tbh. this is my favorite scene in the whole fic bc i honestly think i did a really good job at the dialogue]

The waitress returns to the table and Ogata leans back to let her set down the beautifully decorated slice of cake, his expresso and Yuusaku's bottled water. She glances at the small pile of ruined napkins and barely contains a sigh before going back to her post by the counter.

“What would the old man say, I wonder,” Ogata continues, “if he found out that the perfect son he’s invested so much time and money into spends his nights showing his ass to degenerates online?” [he wouldn't even get to say anything, bc the sheer stress of hearing the news would've made Mr. Hanazawa pop a brain aneurysm and die immediately]

Ogata takes a sip of his coffee, entertained by the sight of Yuusaku's face being drained of all colour.

“I... I'll do anything you want, Hyakunosuke!” Yuusaku whispers hurriedly. His eyes are welling up with fresh tears – God, how embarrassing is it, seeing a grown man lose his composure in public? “If you keep this secret... Please, I'll do anything.”

“Anything is quite broad, isn't it?” Ogata eats a forkful of cake, savouring the rich sweetness of it and the distress he's managed to cause in Yuusaku. “Anything implies limitlessness. Would you really do anything to keep me quiet?”

“I would!” Ogata raises an eyebrow at his lack of hesitation. “You... You don't know how father is. How he could get if he knew. “ [i headcanon Koujirou as a very emotionally abusive dad, even to (or especially to!) Yuusaku. Like, Ogata might think that Yuusaku got it easy bc blah blah blah blessed child, and in a way he did! but being raised to be a perfect person who always pleases others WILL fuck you up]

He has an idea of how Koujiro Hanazawa could get when his perfect, legitimate family life is disturbed by something (or someone) as scandalous as this. It wouldn’t be a good reaction, that’s for sure. [massive understatement lol]

“It's a deal, then? You'll do anything I want?”

Another sip of coffee as he watches Yuusaku’s throat swallow a silent sob.

“Yes... Anything.”

“I have the whole thing screenshotted, you know,” Ogata grins. “So don't even think that deleting everything will ever get you out of this.”

Yuusaku nods automatically, and after a beat he blushes violently, as if he’s suddenly realizing what the whole thing entails. Ogata wonders if he isn't dizzy already, what with all his blood flushing in and out of his face so quickly. [not pictured: in and out of his dick, too]

He continues to eat his piece of cake leisurely, letting the uncomfortable silence stretch until Yuusaku is squirming in his seat. He looks like he wants to say something, but Ogata doesn't intend to make it too easy for him. He's already been pampered enough in this life. [i just knowww that Ogata has thought Deeply/fantasised about blackmailing Yuusaku to his advantage before. The whole cake bit was mentally rehearsed for years]

“... H-How much did you watch—”

“—you want a bite? This cake is really good,” Ogata bluntly interrupts, pointing at his plate. Yuusaku’s lips tighten, but he eventually gives a hesitant nod. With how nervous he’s looking, it’s safe to assume he didn't eat anything before their meeting. He must be starving.

He makes for the fork, but Ogata pulls it out of his reach at the last second. Yuusaku looks confused as Ogata carves a piece of cake and points the fork at him.

“Open up.”

Yuusaku freezes, looking into Ogata's face, searching for a way out of this. There isn't one. [Yuusaku's boner coming back with a Vengeance at this exact moment]

“B-Brother—”

“Don’t be difficult,” Ogata says coldly.

 Yuusaku hesitates for a moment longer, eyes darting from side to side as he checks if any of the coffee shop's other customers are looking at them. [they aren't. but the waitress is] Finally, he leans forward and bashfully lets Ogata feed him the cake.

“Delicious, isn't it?” Ogata purrs. Yuusaku nods, chewing carefully. Ogata carves another forkful, and Yuusaku takes his second bite with a bit less hesitation. [yuusaku strikes me as the kind of guy who has major sweet tooth]

It's funny, how he seems to have acclimated to the idea of following Ogata's whims so quickly. Such a natural-born doormat.

“Well, then, let's go,” Ogata says. He rises from his chair and Yuusaku looks up at him, dumbfounded. “You'll pay the bill, right?”

“W-What? Where are we going?” he gets up, a bit unsteady on his feet. Ogata’s eyes don't miss how Yuusaku’s hands unconsciously reach down to tug his sweater in place, over his belt. [boner CONFIRMED]

“We've got some shopping to do.” [i was originally going to detail the excruciating shopping torture in its own scene, but i thought better and realized i had already gotten my point across lol]

[froggyogata]

YuusakuOgata text hehe

I decided to bring here my first translated text for my favorite pairing, it's cute and romantic so enjoy!

————————

Returning home.

The week before the project deadline is always horrible because of the amount of work - Ogata leaves so early that the sun has yet to rise, and arrives at midnight. It's still two days until X-Day, it's Wednesday night, and he can barely keep his eyes open, staying in reality solely thanks to his own stubbornness and the five cups of strong coffee he drank during the day. His body is so tired that it no longer even suffers from heartburn - the coffee poured into his empty stomach during the minute breaks has long since replaced his blood. It circulates slowly through his veins, pounding in his temples with a dull familiar pain as he climbs into the back seat of a corporate cab and stares thoughtlessly out the window all the way home. His nervous system, overwhelmed by deadlines and the hundreds of calculations he literally inhales into himself along with oxygen during the work day, won't allow him to pass out from fatigue-he needs a shower, a bed, and Yuusaku to close his eyes and fall into a dead sleep until the next nasty alarm clock rings.

"Two days," the thought swirls smoothly in his emptied head, like a lone fish in a huge aquarium that hasn't been cleaned in a long time. 

When the cab stops at the driveway, Ogata says goodbye to the faceless driver and moves on autopilot, stubbornly shifting his feet forward. Space is fragmented into frames, the film has long been chewed up and torn in places, and if you ask him how he got to the apartment, bypassing the lobby and waiting for the slow-moving elevator, he will not remember. Only the isolated flashes of light from the bright lamps under the ceiling, the quiet trill of the arriving elevator, and the rustle of the carpets underfoot. Before the door to the apartment, he pauses for a moment, panting, waiting for them to part before him-as all the doors in the office do, and his tired brain logically expects the same from the usual doors. Then, after two heavy sighs, Ogata reaches into his pocket and finds the keys, takes a long time to try on the lock, and finally, after opening it, enters the apartment, trying not to make any noise.

He is greeted by darkness and the delicious smells of food from the kitchen - Yuusaku has long been asleep, the door to their bedroom is invitingly ajar, and Ogata catches a long promising glance at the doorway, knowing that he will go in very soon. This knowledge gives him the strength to move - he rambles into the kitchen, picks up a plate wrapped in foil and towel from the table, finds a spoon in the dryer, and eats right there, leaning against the countertop - yesterday he fell asleep right there at the table, and is not going to make such a tactical mistake again. The food - today it's noodles and breaded chicken, still warm and smelling like heaven - melts on his tongue and falls into his stomach so easily, as if Ogata's body were a bottomless abyss filled with fatigue. Trying to chew at least some of the food and feeling even more exhausted from it, he copes in a few minutes and, quietly putting the dishes in the sink, rambles to the shower.

Throwing one last wistful glance at the tub, Ogata quickly rinsed himself under the shower and brushed his teeth - he had neither the energy nor the time for a full bath, but on Saturday... saturday was his long-awaited day off, and he could at least lie in hot water for half a day and recuperate. Yuusaku would probably offer to help him wash his hair, and then something nice and frothy would come out, and he wanted it damn bad. 

"All the more reason to live to see Saturday" - Ogata hummed, turned off the light, slowly pulled on the homemade pants Yuusaku had left in the washing machine. And finally moved towards the bedroom in the dark from memory, without turning on the light.

They live on the penultimate floor and do not use dark curtains in the bedroom - the night light of the city is just enough to see that Yuusaku habitually sleeps on the left side of the bed, leaving the right side by the wall for Ogata. In the last few steps to the bed, Ogata's legs are already beginning to buckle with fatigue, but as he climbs over Yuusaku, Ogata does not allow himself to pile on top of him, and relaxes only the moment his body touches the mattress. 

Yuusaku, who had been breathing deeply and slowly a second before, immediately sighs softly, turns to him, blindly pulls his arms with the blanket wrapped around them toward him, and pulls him into his arms, embracing him. After one long, dark and warm moment, Ogata finds himself somewhere among the folds of the blanket. Now Yuusaku has one arm under his head, the other on his waist, his legs intertwined, and Yuusaku's nose gently tucked into his hair. Muttering an unintelligible greeting, Yuusaku exhales warmly and sleepily, snuggling closer to him for a moment, and Ogata feels the fingers on his waist move several times, stroking his skin. Darkness, soft and silent, envelops them, the room, this tiny world, one for two, hiding everything around them except the bed. Feeling his eyes gradually close, Ogata hugs Yuusaku and whispers contentedly:

- I'm home. Thank you. 

His head finally stops hurting, the pounding in his temples subsides, and Ogata physically feels his body slowly relaxing, soaking up the heat. Yuusaku beside him is big and measured, his soft firm skin under his palms feels so familiar, and Ogata is pleased to press himself against it, exhaling. The last of his strength leaves him, his head empties, even his legs stop humming.

- I will always be waiting for you, ani-sama, - Yuusaku mutters barely audible, without even waking up, runs his nose over her temple, kisses at random with soft dry lips somewhere on her forehead, and Ogata reflexively smiles, burrowing deeper into his arms and squinting happily. There, in the cramped darkness, after a few seconds he finally lets himself fall asleep, slipping into the soft darkness of tired but restful dreams. He knows he will be cuddled until morning, and it makes him sleep peacefully, knowing that nightmares will not disturb him. 

Saturday is still two days away, and he needs the strength to spend the weekend not just trying to get some sleep. Yuusaku, after all, will also have the weekend off, and Ogata intends to return at least some of the care that his brother has surrounded him with throughout this crazy week.

[crowbito]

for microfic: "total control" or "this was a mistake" 👁️

thank you for requesting! kind of tried to fit both in. not sure I was successful... either way, hope you enjoy! <3

this was no accident (940 words, AU, canon-typical violence)

This was a mistake.

Ogata buries the thought as soon as it occurs to him, shoving it into the blank, empty corner of his mind where the rest of the thoughts like this don't exist either.

He hit his target, as he always does. He didn't miss and he never has, not when it mattered. Not that this shot, or this target, is more important than any of the others he's taken over the years.

Hanazawa Yuusaku means nothing to him. Maybe some of the same blood runs within their veins, but that doesn't make them—brothers, or anything like that. They're nothing to each other.

He takes a slow breath, ejects the empty cartridge and cycles the next bullet into the chamber. Takes aim again, with perfectly steady hands, and looks for the next target.

Ogata's in total control, as he always is. It doesn't matter that Yuusaku looked back at him when he never falters, not when he's leading men into battle just as Ogata pulled the trigger. He was too far away to spot Ogata, much less for their eyes to make contact. For anything to pass between them, other than Ogata's bullet.

That still found its mark in Yuusaku's thick skull, and that's the only thing that matters.

Usami finds him, after.

"Haven't you heard the awful news, Hyakunosuke?" he asks, one arm hooking companionably around Ogata's neck, just on the right side of strangling.

"No," he says flatly, shrugging out of Usami's grasp. He can guess, though. The enlisted men loved their blessed flag-bearer so much that they even took his corpse back behind their own lines, though Ogata can't begin to understand why. He didn't miss, so Yuusaku was already dead. What difference does it make at that point? It's not like Yuusaku could complain about the indignity of it; he'd probably approve, somehow, of being treated the same as the thousand other bodies already strewn over the hillside. So what was one more?

Why is Hanazawa Yuusaku always the exception?

"—guess someone got to Second Lieutenant Hanazawa first," Usami's saying, when Ogata buries those thoughts along with the others and finally turns his attention back to the conversation.

"What," Ogata says, too sharply to pass off as casual annoyance.

"Yeah!" Usami smiles, wide and feral. "It was pretty sloppy. Hit the side of his head and lodged there. I guess the Russian sniper had to take any shot he could get."

It was a mistake. No, Usami's the one who's mistaken. "The bullet didn't go through?" Ogata demands.

"Nope~"

Fuck. It's not as if the army bothers examining any of the bodies that this bloody war produces before tossing them in a shallow grave or onto the pyre. But for the only-acknowledged son of Lieutenant General Hanazawa Koujirou, they might make an exception. Even if they find it's a bullet from a Type-30 in his head, that doesn't mean it can be traced back to Ogata, though—

Usami blinks, the wildness receding as his eyes narrow at whatever he sees in Ogata's face. "You seem upset, Hyakunosuke."

Ogata clenches his jaw once, trying to school his expression into blankness. "I'm not," he says.

"Oh, of course not. It's not like you and your little brother were that close, after all. I mean, if you were, you'd already be on your way to visit him."

"I've seen a dead body before." He just has to look over the top of the trench if he wants to see more; besides, Ogata's intimately familiar with what a corpse with its brains blown out looks like. Yuusaku wouldn't look any different.

Ogata could go to view the body, though, under the pretense of their shared blood. He could dig his bullet out of Yuusaku's head, and dispose of it. There might be witnesses though—people would notice that someone had gone rummaging around in Yuusaku's skull, at the very least, and they would wonder why. Better to leave the bullet where it is.

"Dea—Were you even listening to me?" Usami complains.

"What," Ogata says again, voice unforgivably shaken, as the poorly-stifled feelings and thoughts threaten to overwhelm him. Usami—He's messing with Ogata. This is another of his stupid pranks, an attempt to goad a reaction out of him. "There's no way Yuu—Second Lieutenant Hanazawa is still alive."

Usami stares back at him with the same lack of comprehension for a long moment. Then, with a terrible dawning light of realization in his face, he leans in to whisper, "Hyakunosuke, did you miss?"

"I didn't," he snarls, shoving Usami away. "I don't miss."

Usami cackles gleefully. "Did your hands shake at the wrong second?"

"Shut up—"

"Did the thought make you feel guilty?"

Ogata lashes out, catching Usami off guard and silencing his obnoxious laughter with a fist to the face. The upper hand only lasts as long as it takes for Usami to overcome his surprise, so: a second or two, at most.

Tsukishima himself hauls Usami off Ogata a few minutes later. His scowl looks heavier than usual, and he steps bodily between them when Usami makes to lunge at Ogata again.

"Clean yourself up," he says, in that particular tone that combines exhaustion and exasperation.

Ogata sits up, licking at the blood on his lips. "It's just a bloody nose." His teeth feel loose in his mouth when he prods them with his tongue, but they're all still there.

Tsukishima frowns even harder at him. "Second Lieutenant Hanazawa woke up. He's asking for you."

Ogata stares up at Tsukishima, something like panic building back up. Behind him, Usami starts to laugh again.

[howtodestroyacharacter]

MY DARK SIDE

Golden kamuy

 ... apart from the ending,

on which I have already had the opportunity to express my opinion in other posts,

it is a very nice story.

it is a story that encompasses various types of humanity.

Sad and mostly desperate.

in this varied humanity, as has already been noted,

I have a weakness for the character of

Ogata Hyakunosuke.

a figure full of contradictions.

a clinical case on the damages of a missed “attachment”

. On the suffering inner child.

On a world that goes on without understanding the suffering of those around us.

On loneliness.

And on fleeing from oneself to find each time alone with one's pain.

On the need for love, to know how to give it but also to know how to receive it.

and on fear of one's dark side.

Even when we see it in those in front of us. as the law of the mirror says… what bothers us in others, and perhaps even in some fictional characters, is sometimes something about ourselves that we don't want to see.

  How much does the Ogata in us annoy us? What we see and hate in him that we do not want to recognize in us ... his loneliness?

The of him not being loved as a child should have been loved? Is his invisibility our invisibility?

his accepting to do everything for Tsurumi for a modicum of attention ... is it also our entering into bad relationships just because someone paid us a little attention?

 How many times have we accepted to do things to please others ... how much have we succumbed to mistakes for someone's attention?

How many people have had failing parents whose mistakes have fallen on us?

How many times has anger, jealousy, fear, pain led us to pursue bad choices?

  How many times have we had a “foolish” Yuusaku who offered us love without understanding how twisted our soul was and how much a hug from him would have moved?

How many times have we had an Asirpa who believed in us ... and we have deliberately / unconsciously disappointed her

How many times have we felt undeserving of being loved?

How many times have we destroyed those who loved us ... because after all, if we are so monstrous no one can love us.

facing our dark side is sometimes more difficult than we can imagine.

Remembering that we would often need someone and when someone arrived we destroyed, wiped out, kicked them out.

Only the ghosts of our mistakes are left to keep us company ...

and when someone looks at us we are afraid that he will see what we hide from ourselves ...

  The final cut

Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes I can barely define the shape of this moment in time And far from flying high in clear blue skies I’m spiraling down to the hole in the ground where I hide.

If you negotiate the minefield in the drive And beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes And if you make it past the shotgun in the hall, Dial the combination, open the priesthole And if I’m in I’ll tell you what’s behind the wall.

There’s a kid who had a big hallucination Making love to girls in magazines. He wonders if you’re sleeping with your new found faith. Could anybody love him Or is it just a crazy dream?

And if I show you my dark side Will you still hold me tonight? And if I open my heart to you And show you my weak side What would you do? Would you sell your story to Rolling Stone? Would you take the children away And leave me alone? And smile in reassurance As you whisper down the phone? Would you send me packing? Or would you take me home?

Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings, Thought I oughta tear the curtain down. I held the blade in trembling hands Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang I never had the nerve to make the final cut.

“Hello? Listen, I think I’ve got it. Okay, listen its a HaHa!”

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 313 “Last stop”

I thought after giving a warning for two chapters it wasn’t necessary to keep them up but someone proved me wrong so we start with the WARNING again.

If you only want to hear praises for “Golden Kamuy”, the ban button for either the tag ‘Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories’ or myself (I’ll suggest the latter) is the right choice to make my posts disappear from your dashboard.

With a fair warning given, let’s move on.

So we’re almost at the end of the story.

Sugimoto’s strike, as it was easy to predict, cuts away the enamel piece protecting Tsurumi’s forehead as well as the rope of Asirpa’s quiver and part of Tsurumi’s chest.

Asirpa, realizing this will cause the quiver to fall, runs to grab it. However there’s another thing that fall from Tsurumi’s now cut jacket, which are Fina and Olga’s fingerbones.

Now, I’ll do a little jump back at chap 309. In it Tsurumi talks about his plan to join the Kwantung garrison and use the land deed as a bargaining chip. He then touches his chest and says in Manchuria he will build up his strength once more.

The visual put a big emphasis on this by leaving the spot Tsurumi touches white, in contrast to his uniform, as if shining. Back then most of us assumed this meant Tsurumi put the land deed inside his jacket and that it was in the spot he was touching. But what was there wasn’t the land deed, it was Fina and Olga’s bones because when Tsurumi thinks at Manchuria he likely includes in it the Outer Manchuria which included Vladivostok, where his wife and daughter’s bodies rest and of which he planned to take possession.

I personally like a lot this subtle reference to them, to how he includes them in his ambitions, in his plan to rebuild his strength.

Back to 313 we go.

Tsurumi too realizes the quiver is falling but he also notes the bones falling.

He has a moment in which he could decide for which ones to reach out and save, if the quiver with the land deed that would support his ambitions or his wife and child’s finger bones which, he said, were the only and last prove of their existence.

Tsurumi decides to go for the quiver, and we could assume breaking his enamel protector was Noda’s way to tell us this is Tsurumi’s ugly side but actually, the full extent of his wounds remain covered and it’s only when Tsurumi, once grabbed the quiver, turns toward the falling bones, evidently hoping against hope he could retrieve them too and is forced to see them falling and being shattered by the wheels of the train we fully see the extent of his wounds and it’s not his ugly side what we’re seeing but his scarred, wounded side, as his expression is one of pain and loss as he watches those bones shatter and there’s something like light in his eyes, and white lines on the bottom part as if to represent tears.

Now we move to an action scene that I like to believe Noda will expand better in the volume version because it’s a tad too jumpy in the visual, as if it were missing panels. Of course the idea might be also to do so as to give an impression of rushed actions. I don’t know, we’ll see in the volume.

Anyway it turns out Asirpa has pulled out her knife and now she’s cutting the rope Tsurumi is holding, freeing the quiver from his grasp but then… she’s falling off the train.

Sugimoto jumps to grab her but… Tsurumi is already standing and slams him on the ground and steals Hijikata’s katana, which he then uses to impale Sugimoto, the tip of it embedding into the train, all of this under Asirpa’s desperate gaze.

Tsurumi, in full Shinigami mode, fluid starting to drip from his forehead, looking at Asirpa, claims that ‘Everyone that you love will be killed by the Golden Kamuy. You’re responsible for all of this… Wilk!!’

Evidently, if Ogata saw Yuusaku in Asirpa, Tsurumi instead sees Wilk in her and continues in his maladaptive behavior of pushing on him the blame of everything, refusing to take responsibility for anything.

But it turns out when Sugimoto jumped toward Asirpa he managed to grab her hand and, using all his strength, he manages to toss her above her head (and above Tsurumi’s as well) and toward the horse on which Tanigaki and Shiraishi are, his last words for her being ‘he’s Sugimoto the immortal’ with a gentle smile, though his eyes look pretty fatigued.

Tanigaki and Shiraishi grabs Asirpa while the locomotive crashes through the stop of Hakodate station. Tsurumi would like to jump off But Sugimoto manages to grab his hand, the one that’s holding a gun, and, before Tsurumi could use it to shoot at Sugimoto, turn it toward Tsurumi and then pull him close and make him shoot himself.

Tsurumi, now above him, is drawn with his eyes completely black, sclera included and slams his teeth close.

It’s a visual reminder of the promise Tsurumi made to Sugimoto long ago, in reference to his own nickname as Shinigami and Sugimoto’s nickname as immortal. In fact in the Japanese myth Shinigami snuffs the candles representing the life of mortals, and this cause them to die. Since Sugimoto is however immortal Tsurumi told him “Even if your life’s candle is an immortal flame that can never be blown out… all I have to do is bite the candle down to nothing!” and, as he said so, he repeatedly clamped his teeth close as if to imply he’s biting something.

So basically Tsurumi is reminding him of how he’ll kill him.

Meanwhile the locomotive falls into Hakodate bay, dragging them with itself. Sugimoto, for once, loses his hat in the impact, and I’ve no idea if Noda is considering this or not but, since Sugimoto’s right cheek basically doesn’t exist any longer, for him it’s likely not enough to keep his mouth shut to avoid water to enter in it so he’s at an even faster risk of drowning, especially considering the sword is holding him against the locomotive.

Outside Shiraishi, Asirpa and Tanigaki look at the scene worriedly, Shiraishi with a bump on his head and Tanigaki with his left side pretty wounded, which, I guess, is the result of grabbing Asirpa as she fell.

Shiraishi though, is already removing his clothes, ready to jump in the water to save Sugimoto...

...and, in fact, in the last panel, we can see only two dots on the ground and then there’s a third that’s moving toward the water which, I bet, is Shiraishi.

There’s to wonder if this time Sugimoto will want to accept the ‘kiss of life’ or will refuse it like he did when he fought with Boutarou…

...and if it’ll serve something, exactly due to Sugimoto’s damaged cheek (though maybe this time, kissing his cheek might be the right solution to the problem...).

Of course they need to remove the sword to pull him away from the train… but I don’t know how much good this will do to him as the sword might be stopping the blood to fill his lug and drown him in his own blood instead than water.

But whatever, he’s Sugimoto the immortal, so maybe he can survive to this too... or not. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

Now… many stories start with a thesis that they prove or deny.

We can say that “Golden Kamuy” thesis was if Sugimoto really had VIP seats for the train to hell.

He undoubtedly had VIP seats for hell.

Now the question is... will he be saved because the good he did outweight the lives he took? Or will punishment come anyway as the title of the next chapter seems to imply (314 as Kamuycentral found out can be read in Japanese as ‘Saichi dies’)?

We can only wait and see.

Now, in case someone missed it, I overall enjoyed this chapter. The jumps in the actions can be blamed to the short number of pages and easily fixed in the volume or be a wanted choice so as to give a sense of things moving fast. Tsurumi was undoubtedly well handled, Noda humanized him in having him regret briefly the loss of those bones but, at the same time, kept him grounded in his maladaptive copying mechanisms, blaming Wilk for everything refusing to see his own faults, refusing to see how his focus on his own selfish goals lead him to his own loss. In the moment he could have saved the bones, he chose the land deed, he chose his own ambitions, he chose himself. So is now, so was in the past in which it was him who accepted Wilk’s group as students, it was his spy work that lead the police to his house, it was him handing them weapons that lead Wilk’s group to answer the fire so effectively and all this combined lead to Fina and Olga’s death.

Wilk wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t accepted him as a student, Wilk wouldn’t have fired around if his spy work hadn’t drawn the police to his house while they were there, Wilk wouldn’t have managed to get out of the house if Kiro hadn’t covered him with the machine gun Tsurumi provided them.

But Tsurumi can’t accept the part he had in his own tragedy and has to keep on blaming Wilk while, at the same time, he continued to make the same mistakes and losing the people around him due to them.

At the same time, I’m a bit sad that Tsurumi’s past prior to his life as Hasegawa wasn’t explored. What about his disgraced original family? Of course Noda might not have felt the need to develop it because their story might be the same as the story of tons of families and therefore very familiar to Japanese people and my need to have it cleared up might simply be born by how I’m not Japanese and therefore unfamiliar to it.

Another matter I’m not really happy with was how the huge arc for Asirpa to decide to kill someone and go to hell with Sugimoto ended up in nothing. Ultimately my problem isn’t that Asirpa didn’t kill anyone but that she didn’t even try to kill Tsurumi despite Tsurumi being a clear threat to her and Sugimoto. And yeah, I knew we would end up like this, that Noda wouldn’t have let her become a murderer but in the end it’s not that she resolved not to kill him, it’s just… it didn’t happen she did so much as try.

But whatever, this is not a chapter about Asirpa, it’s a chapter about Tsurumi and, from this side, it’s a solid one.

Lastly two words about Sugimoto because I loved how not only he saved Asirpa but tried to comfort her by telling her he’s immortal. I’m pretty sure Sugimoto doesn’t want to die, but still he cared about her to the point he prioritized saving and reassuring her. Next chapter will be probably more centered about him so I’ll save the rest for the next chapter.

[fandomvariousness]

ogata hyakunosuke x secret identity!reader headcanon

request: Yuusaku and Ogata‘s HC of reader that hid her gender (Mulan style?). Can be sfw or nsfw, that’s up to you! Thx!

a/n: i like this idea! i'll kinda leave it on a cliffhanger so that i could have a possibility to follow it up with a blurb or a proper imagine <3

Ogata would always be suspicious about you, feeling that something's not right

Sometimes he'd stare at you, wondering why he feels the hints of attraction towards you, because, well, you're a man, and never before he's caught himself as much as thinking about one

This drove him insane, although he always remained with that poker face of his

You running out of excuses on why you don't want to go and take a quick wash by the river with the rest of the men

You wearing your long hair in a bun, thus it doesn't raise too many questions

Purposely putting some specks of dirt on your face to make it look more ragged and older and to prevent stray eyes from lingering on you too much

Ogata decided to actually investigate you because he couldn't take any more of these speculations

So one night he pretended to sleep and waited for any actions or movements from you

That happened, of course, because you too pretended to sleep so you could wake up and go for a wash, all alone (or so you thought), the moonlight guiding you the way

Ogata followed you and felt his eyes widening in anticipation as you started to undress, even in this extreme cold, letting go your hair and revealing your womanly shape

'Knew it.' Ogata said loud enough for you to hear as you stood knee-deep in the water.

Your whole body went frozen, but not from the cold

You turned around, not minding your nakedness as you faced him. 'What are you going to do about it?'

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - Kikuta really deserved better [part 2] 277-279.

Can you tell by my title that I’m a fan of Kikuta and I have some choice words for Noda?  Chapter 277 starts out with an introduction to the regional politics of Meiji era Japan.  The entire political shift occurred with the marriage of convenience between Choushuu and Satsuma (the Sat-Chou alliance) and how that is playing out in government and the military. With Hanazawa on the Satsuma side a commanding officer is having Tsurumi deal with the damage control.  That being Lt. General Okuda (and Kikuta’s boss)

He discloses how he’s the person who helped to cover up the scandal for Hanazawa and more of the regional politics comes into play as he pulls Tsurumi into this.

Recall that Tsurumi is from Niigata and we know he is from a family that lost power and wealth due to political changes.  He assumes that of course Tsurumi would hold a grudge towards those from the Sat-Chou alliance.  Usami is also from a fallen samurai family in Niigata and we know that Ogata is from Ibaraki and also from a samurai family on the losing side.  Tsukishima is from the island of Sado where unwanted people were dumped in Niigata so he is also an outsider.  We learn of his ‘true’ feelings as the tells his core group his opinion on things.

I love how we get unhinged Tsurumi calling it all a farce and he’s over Central.  But most importantly Okuda confirmed his own intel about the gold he learned while in Russia at some point in time.  His gold plan can slowly move along.  So Tsurumi becomes in the Hanazawa scandal cover up looking for the young 2nd Lt. and Kikuta, working under Okuda’s direct orders.

Despite his best efforts, Kikuta’s plan is revealed by a secretary at the Military Academy, while we know that Sugimoto and Kikuta are en route to the engagement dinner.

Hanazawa panics and sprints out to determine what is happening. Right on his tail is Tsurumi and his key team of Ogata, Tsukishima and Usami.  Clearly this is going to become a huge mess.  The next few pages are amusing, but really don’t add value to the plot.  I am impressed that Kaeko has an excellent plot to get Sugimoto naked and I commend her efforts!  GK is never short of strong female characters.  Who enjoy sex.

This sets up a hilarious moment where he’s naked and trapped in a bedroom while she leverages the potential scandal to her advantage.  By that point Tsurumi has caught up to them.  What is most interesting is when Usami addresses Ogata as Hyakunnosuke and asks him what he thinks about meeting his brother.  It is clear this isn’t out of concern from Usami’s part, we know he hates Ogata to his very core.

But as usual, Ogata doesn’t respond and we just see only a part of his eyes, not even a glance of his lips to give us an idea of what he’s thinking.

Kaeko and Sugimoto continue to talk as she reveals what she knows from Hanazawa Hiro.  She had been a nurse during the first Sino-Japanese war so it has allowed her to reflect on the impact of war on individual soliders.

This tells us a few things;  Hiro’s patriotism is more nuanced.  If she were being selfish and just saying she doesn’t want her son to go off to war without experience it, that would be one thing.  Instead, she knows being a military spouse first hand what happens - no one could say she didn’t do her own duty and go likely above and beyond.  Ultimately, she wants to protect her son from her own experiences and observations and be a mother.

Sugimoto then realizes he needs to bail and leaves poor Kikuta confused.  And then bam! The 27th is there.

Of course this leads to the most Sugimoto situation of all time!  Tsurumi threatens Kaeko with his handgun and Ogata asks where Yuusaku is.  Of course Sugimoto flies out of the bathroom naked sans Kikuta’s hat and Ogata is just amused beyond belief.

This would be complete if he were relaxed eating a box of popcorn or something like that. 278 continues this absolute chaos and lots of fan service for Miss Kaeko!  I really don’t think the fight scene needs much meta.  Ogata just finds it amusing (and btw sucks at hand to hand combat) while Usami rumbles with Sugimoto.  Tsurumi realizes he’s not Yuusaku and Kikuta rushes in and gets shot in the shoulder by Tsukishima.

Somehow, Kikuta is able to get the rest of them to flee but not without running into the actual Hanazawa Yuusaku.  Awkward.  Tsurumi only then realizes that Kikuta was doing his job and they run out into the street.

Kaeko tries her best to convince Sugimoto to marry her.  Granted he is a very heroic figure and he fought to protect her.  However, reality wouldn’t allow that to happen and Sugimoto decides to join the army - thinking he won’t starve that way.

Kikuta looks so sad and disappointed when he hears this.

He’s definitely thinking of his younger brother who died b/c he told him to join the army with him.  I loved the fact that we learn that Kaeko got to be a successful woman who was also compassionate to others. 

There is a quick exchange that shows the first encounter between Ogata and Yuusaku.  Yuusaku notices Ogata and salutes him as a cadet.

Ogata doesn’t even return the salute and he look he gives him out of the corner of his eyes.  What is he thinking?  I’d say Yuusaku doesn’t know who Ogata even is.  But something has him very suspicious to be this leery of him.  This also makes me think of this previous encounter between Koito and Ogata in chapter 200.

This time Ogata is bolder when he walks by Koito who is also currently still in the Army Academy.  Except unlike Yuusaku who doesn’t seem to pick up on Ogata’s vibes, Koito does!  And the two of them stare each other down.  I think that this in part shows that Koito has more innate awareness of things and could be considered more of a ‘natural’ in the military.  Which Yuusaku isn’t.  We have no evidence Yuusaku has any sort of military talent or skills. 

The chapter ends with Kikuta asking Sugimoto if he’s serious about joining the military and how he’s already fated to go to hell based on what he’s done in his life.  279 continues the conversation between Kikuta and Sugimoto and he flat out tells Sugimoto about how his brother died of illness in the army during the Sino-Japanese war.

Sugimoto then becomes Kikuta’s younger brother telling him that it is time to move on.  This continues the trend in GK where a character that is speaking becomes someone else to the listener.

This is most evident with Asirpa when she becomes Yuusaku on more than one occasion to Ogata.

But this facial expression from Kikuta [sobs].

No wonder Kikuta worked so hard to save Ariko’s life!  He can’t just always be responsible for the deaths of others.

Sugimoto convinces Kikuta that he’ll be alright in the army and he relents and lets him keep the cap.  This shows that Kikuta has moved on from the death of his brother - a big deal!  In an unusual way, Sugimoto has helped Kikuta move on and take the next step in the healing process. Kikuta reports to his commander in the 1st.  Okuda wants him to keep an eye on Tsurumi.  Obviously, he knows now that Tsurumi interfered with Kikuta’s plans for Hanazawa rather heavy-handedly so he would need someone else to balance it out.

It then reveals that Ogata is also working for Okuda in the 1st.  This explains why when the two of them crossed paths in the brewery they did not engage but nor did they appear to exchange any information.

I can’t help but feel like something is still off with this.  Ogata does have skills from working in intelligence with Tsurumi.  He’s observant, makes himself invisible and can get others to talk easily.  But Ogata being a 100% willing spy - it seems like he wants something else out of this. Kikuta’s character screams secret agent - but Ogata, he’s something else.  I’m not sure if Ogata’s choice to be a spy on Tsurumi was a real choice.

When Ogata and Tsukishima had their shoot out in Yubari at Edogai’s, Tsukishima told him he was a pet cat for Central.  Ogata replied that they were part of a rebel element.  We know that Ogata was working with Tamai at the beginning of the manga.  I struggle to see how Ogata has loyalty to anyone honestly.  He seems to be moving throughout this game with again his own mysterious objective.  Ogata is cynical and has no belief in the nation state nor does he harbor any sort of deep patriotism towards Imperial Japan.

Since Okuda is friends with Hanazawa and is based in Tokyo, he may have known Ogata since his birth and has kept tabs on him after the Ogata grandparents took him back to Ibaraki with his mom.  Ogata’s existence might be a sort of trump card that Okuda is keeping . . . but others found out as well like Tsurumi.  Did Okuda have Ogata tell or leak information that Ogata is Hanazawa’s first son? The chapter jumps to the 203 meter hill in the war and we see Yuusaku fallen on the battlefield.  Ogata watches from distance, his face cut off while other members of the 27th run out to help Yuusaku.

This finally reveals Yuusaku’s eyes!  Not the anticipated reveal - I kept thinking this was something that Ogata was going to see but it shows us clear eyes.  Which look sort of similar to Asirpa’s eyes.

So many thoughts are jumping around in my brain about this reveal.

1.) These eyes are not the ‘trademark’ Hanazawa eyes.  Dark black orbs with those eyebrows!  This indicates his eyes aren’t from his father.

Seeing this, I can’t help but think that Yuusaku is not Hanazawa’s son.  Instead, Hiro had an affair with someone else.  A major theme in GK is that the children inherit the skills of their parents.  Asirpa is able to do many things as she inherited the intelligence of Wilk.  And that Ogata is the true inheritor of Hanazawa’s military skills.

Recall this from chapter 58.  Ogata leads the crappy local gang against Hijikata and acts like a commander.

We know that Tsurumi’s lie about Ogata wanting to avenge Hanazawa is to keep Nikaido in the dark.

This would also explain why everything we learn about Yuusaku is terrible at military things.  If he also isn’t Hanazawa’s son it would make it even more reason for Hiro to try to prevent him from entering the military since he’s not even genetically related to this great line of Hanazawas.  I wish we knew more about the Ogata side of things - I think we’ll also learn that the Ogata side had competent military men on it as well.  2.) Yuusaku’s eyes are the same as Asirpa’s and indicate their sort of innocence.  In this case, it would perfectly explain why Ogata sees Yuusaku instead of Asirpa when he has the fever and then the melt down on the ice floe.  Yuusaku kept himself naive and innocent to meet his father’s expectations.  A man who I don’t think is even his father at this moment.  Therefore, Ogata’s guilt on killing Yuusaku is tied to his sort of innocence in these situations and why he can’t seem to shake his mental confusion when it comes to Asirpa.  However, unlike Yuusaku, Asirpa has never forced herself on him to do things or guilt tripped him so it leaves things open for him to not link her to Yuusaku.

3.) Yuusaku was going to blow Ogata’s cover working for Okuda.  Now that we know that Ogata was working for Okuda while in the 27th it means he’d have to keep his role quiet.  If Yuusaku found out that Ogata was working for Okuda, I could see him going to Tsurumi and telling him this information.  Therefore, to protect his status, Ogata used this as his rationale to kill Yuusaku on the battle field.  I have never figured out if Ogata was nudged to kill Tsurumi by his ‘don’t kill him right now.’ comment as one of Tsurumi’s backwards motivations that lead Ogata to directly killing him. So many possibilities!  I want more Ogata backstory dammit!

Anyhoo, to not make this meta super long let’s get back to the action. Asirpa begins working out how to try to break the code.  Hijikata notes that Wilk could have used something other than kanji, since he’d know the Latin alphabet for Polish and Cyrillic for Russian.  Shiraishi makes a clear point that this could be a message from Wilk towards her, though it feels like he’s channeling Kiro.  Out of many of the Japanese characters Shiraishi time and time again comes out much more sympathetic to the minorities than others.

Asirpa begins to wonder how the coin is linked to the skins. She’s thinking things through and is on her way to solving the puzzle.

After saving Ariko, Kikuta is returning to Tsurumi’s group in the church.  Oh Roger, this is why I love you so much.

Look at that smirk with a slightly watery eye.  At the same time Tsurumi is also looking at the coin and realizes he’s figured it out.

Kikuta approaches the rest of the group and comments on if he’s found the location.  Tsurumi states that things are just getting started.  He casually pulls out his gun and fires two shots into Kikuta at point blank range.

And with this I am deeply saddened and shocked.  How dare you do that to Kikuta!!!  He was my Kiro replacement and now he’s also going to die.

First Boutarou died and now Kikuta.  [cries].  We know that Tsurumi is a shinigami but this is just brutal.  The bear death trio died early on in the manga.  Ogata escaped.  Kikuta now is the next link to Central that goes down.

[piduai]

i don’t think that what ogata feels towards yuusaku can be called guilt, or rather that he feels anything towards yuusaku at all. don’t get me wrong there are definitely complex feelings involved and i do think that what he’s feeling is close enough to guilt but it’s more than that and less than that at the same time.

people go really deep into analysis of biblical themes in gk while clearly having a christian-influenced perspective. gk does have its share of them obviously, though i think most if not all of them are fake deep and hand-picked for the aesthetic. one of the more obvious biblical themes is that yuusaku was ogata’s sacrificial lamb, therefore he was the perfect, blameless victim. yuusaku’s purity is what drives ogata crazy - a life so innocent even someone who kills with no remorse gets second thoughts. ogata’s slip into insanity started the second he shot yuusaku; we get an objective perspective where he falls down immediately, and we have ogata’s perspective when he turns back and looks at ogata in an accusing, surprised, disappointed way. your sins staring back at you, in a way, accusing you of committing them, accusing you of evil.

yuusaku is not really a person in the narrative, he’s purposefully kept as lacking personality as possible, and without ogata he would be pointless. yuusaku is everything ogata could be. yuusaku is everything ogata hates. 

ogata was never loved. as humans we're all wired to want to connect with others, but because he was never loved, good, healthy bonds are alien to him, so he tries to reach others in the only ways he knows how - through negative bonding. ogata is hyperaware of his inadequacy and the fact that he's severely lacking something as a person, but he prefers to self-sabotage and self-destroy by hurting others. he projects onto people as a way of connecting and as a way of rationalizing his own thoughts and experiences. yuusaku is everything that ogata could have been, he represents everything ogata lacks as a person and is ogata’s antithesis. he is the epitome of the normalcy ogata so craves. i don't think ogata would care much if it wasn't his own flesh and blood, but by being his brother yuusaku basically stole ogata's spot under the sun, the normal life and normal personality ogata could have had, in a way. of course, none of it was yuusaku’s fault, and ogata was aware of that, but bitterness and jealousy are feelings difficult to control just by understanding and acknowledging them.

if yuusaku left him alone ogata would probably leave him mind his own business, but yuusaku pushed his presence on him too - not out of ill intent, he just wanted to get close to his older brother because that’s what normal people do, they value and appreciate family, especially someone who was actually raised with love and care and virtue. he kept rubbing salt into ogata’s wounds by being so painfully normal and pure and idealistic and stupid, and his worst sin was trying to be kind to his brother. trying to see the best in him, telling him that he’ll be by his side no matter what, and showing hope for him. he cried for him. who else cried for ogata? who else disregarded his defenses and embraced him for warmth and compassion? who else accepted him? ogata is so critically not used to being shown normal human kindness that when he gets it he freezes. and it's the worst when it comes from his nemesis. "how dare you look at me from your high position, golden boy? how dare you pity me? how dare you love me?"

and ogata tried his best to tear yuusaku down, to dirty him and soil him and drag him down to his level, but he could not. so he killed him in hopes that his death will prove that ogata also had a chance at normalcy, and that if yuusaku's gone he will become ok. but he didn't. so he hates himself for killing yuusaku without managing to soil him. he realized his own mistake the moment his bullet hit his brother’s head; he realized that this mistake will haunt him to the end of his days, this failure of absolving himself of perceived sin, this acceptance for innocence as the currency for moral corruption. guilt towards other comes with a regret for doing them wrong, guilt towards oneself is often selfish in nature, born out of failure to do the right thing. i don’t think ogata feels regret towards killing yuusaku, but he does feel regret towards killing yuusaku while allowing him to stay pure and failing to tear him and his hypocrisy to shreds. if only yuusaku allowed himself to get corrupted in order to humor his brother - slept with a hooker, murdered an enemy - then these moral qualms on ogata’s side wouldn’t exist; he would have killed someone who is just like him. 

while obviously flawed, ogata’s logic isn’t difficult to follow. both yuusaku and asirpa were innocent if the question is framed in terms of morality, but their innocence comes with a price everyone else has to pay. asirpa is against committing murder for religious reasons; those who kill humans are cursed and will go to hell, but she isn’t necessarily against murder itself if others do it, though she does not condone it. yuusaku was keen on keeping both his virginity and his killing count to 0 because he wanted to fulfill the role his father put on him - bearing the flag, putting yourself in the danger of the front lines and raising morale, what an honor. but ultimately both of them just refused to get their hands dirty while everyone else had to. it comes off as hypocritical and cruel. there is no bloodless revolution and there is no bloodless war.

ogata saw yuusaku in asirpa. he hated her for that. he hated asirpa for holding onto her hypocritical ideals and principles of purity the same way yuusaku did.  he hated asirpa for being kind to him. "people like you and him shouldn't exist in this world" - they crumble his delusion that everyone is inherently rotten. and if people are not inherently rotten, then it means that the problem, indeed, lies within himself.

guilt towards others comes with remorse, wanting their forgiveness and pursuing ways to atone. it is selfless, it is something that is not self-centered. therefore i do not think ogata feels guilt towards yuusaku. even after yuusaku’s murder at his own hands, ogata assumes that he is forgiven - he tells the ghost he hallucinates that his kindness will ruin him. guilt towards himself and his failures though? that’s his cross to bear.

[tosikoarts]

Modern AU Ogata BF HC

Hey-hey! It took some time but there you go, honey ♡ Got carried away thinking about how Ogata feeding stray cats >>> everything else.  Hope you enjoy these headcanons!!  You can check tosikowrites tag for more.

General:

Noda once said that in a modern setting Ogata would be a dentist but let me disagree with him. I can clearly see Ogata as a photographer, a successful one, the one that allows himself to be arrogant without a fear that his client will drop him. Thanks to the unique style and skillful handling of light, Ogata quickly became popular among ordinary photography lovers and pompous snobs and now he does not miss a single opportunity to prick the latter. Knows he is good at what he is doing and takes full advantage of this.

Despite what is written above, Ogata still lives in a small apartment on the outskirts of Sapporo and doesn’t plan to move out in the nearest future. Partially it is due to the feeling of emancipation from beloved father and the sweetest stepbrother who cannot stop prying into his affairs. Last month Yuusaku has sneaked to the private galleries where Ogata was presenting his new photoshoots two times leaving Hyakunosuke in a state of stupid stupor when he was welcomed with a warm brotherly hug.

Still a salty little bitch online. Has few throwaway accounts to start a discourse on any topic that is even minimally discussable. Is immune to death threats at this point. Has met Vasily online and can’t stop discussing Russian politics with him from whatever crazy thing Vladimir Zhirinovsky has said (Ogata loses thousands of brain cells reading articles about him) to the news about the alleged Putin palace. He now knows some Russian too, mostly swear words and basic phrases.

Constantly torn between I don’t need anybody and if I don’t interact with a human being in a less hostile manner I will go apeshit. Meets up with Shiraishi, Sugimoto, Tanigaki, and Kiroranke once in a while to piss off Sugi and teasingly ask Tanigaki if he wants another nude photo shoot. By the way, he lives on black coffee with no sugar or milk so Ogata often runs into Tsukishima when the man orders a triple espresso and teriyaki chicken sandwich. If Koito is not here, they chat for a little secret wish to never meet again. Then they meet next week and the situation repeats itself as in a Groundhog Day.

There is no place for another cat in his apartment but Ogata loves cats and makes sure to feed and pet every one on his street. Once raised a whole litter of kittens whose mother was sadly hit by a car and became an adoptive father for three big bois who visit his apartment complex for free head pats and treats. Doesn’t share this part of his life since Ogata doesn’t want to be seen as a kindhearted person lmao.

BF HC:

Where could you meet Ogata if not on Tinder? The description of his profile was extremely cryptic and consisted only of name, height, and weight, nothing else. The first few days of talking to him feel like you are being looked down on even though Ogata acts pretty friendly and puts some effort into getting to know you out of casual wyd and you up texts. Goes offline for a few days then comes back with no explanations whatsoever. This first stage is a pure test of patience because Ogata knows he is not the best man around and can be a real pain in the ass. The sooner they get to know his bad side the better.

He doesn’t get fancy dates like candlelight dinner or going to the theater. Doesn’t mix work and personal life either so do not expect an exclusive invitation to his personal exhibitions. Ogata prefers hasteless walks along the river, ice-skating under the myriad of holiday garlands, playing mortal combat late at night with empty takeaway boxes chilling on the table. Cheap and comfy. If his newfound partner doesn’t know how to skate or rollerblade, Ogata will be twice as persistent: he likes to see them slowly learning how to skate as much as holding their hand through the night.

Vasily likes to draw. Ogata loves to take photos. For the first anniversary, he has collected a whole ton of photos for a cute collage. He took one when they were spinning in the kitchen like a whirligig making sure soup wasn’t too salty and noodles were just right for adding a sauce. Another one was taken when they both were trying old-fashioned pieces from the thrift shop looking like a modern-day John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They fell asleep right on top of Ogata and he managed to take a selfie kissing them on the top of their head. Put all the pieces together with texts and custom ring and voila – Ogata’s present is ready.

Teasing borders with light insults though he does not always realize it. Calls his partner silly in the sweetest tone before showing how to do the thing right. Pillow fights last until fluff flies from the pillows and Ogata won’t stop tickling them until tears stream down their cheeks. Says fuck me both as call to action and disappointed sigh with the same intonation so have fun figuring this man out. Absolute treasure and curse in one person and he won’t ever admit it but he is trying so hard to suppress the urge to push them away as a defense mechanism. Never apologizes but crawls back to them after every argument.

Speaking of which, arguments are common but rarely end up in loud door slam or hysteria. Usually, it happens when Ogata can’t control himself and pushes too many buttons of theirs so his teasing ends up being too harsh… Anyway, the cat got Ogata’s tongue and he doesn’t know how to use words to ask for forgiveness but! When he feels like it is definitely his fault, Ogata will cook ankonabe as unspoken sorry, I’ve messed up a big time and don’t know how to fix it, please don’t be mad, please talk to me. It’s rare but if he really feels this way Ogata will be stick like glue to them fearing that this time they will definitely leave him and his shitty camera all alone again.

[theobscurepotato]

Y, O, U?

Y: A character you want to protect.

Oh man. I usually want…the opposite? Ha. I suppose if I were to succumb to any of the Golden Kamuy ideas floating in my head, I’d like a different outcome for Yuusaku.

O: How do you begin a story--with the plot, or the characters?

For fic, I usually start with one scene in my head that won’t leave me alone and then I write the story entirely out of order. (And odds are that the scene still ends up being mostly dialogue). That’s one way that fic is so much easier than original writing - I already have a good handle on the characters, and assume the audience does too.

U: A pairing you might like to write for, but haven't tried yet.

Hmmm…Iorveth/Roche has been on my mind again. And Ogata/…multiple options, but I might wait for season 4 to drop first as I haven’t caught up on the manga. (Also putting on clown makeup for Billy Hargrove content in Stranger Things next month so we'll see if the Harringrove bug bites me. Based on my crappy work schedule right now, this one is the least likely).

(ask game here)