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ms-indifferwnt · 3 years

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Clouds pt 1

Taeil

Boyfriend!Taeil x genderneutral!Reader

"Its your choice, pretend you don't know or go inside and confront them about this"

Warning: Cursing, Suggestive, Yelling, Angst, mention of mental harm

Word Count: 5.4k

Note: Yayyy!!! 100 followers

Taeil and you probably take the cake for the most Clichè love story. The Best friends to lovers trope. Like seriously, you and Taeil have been friends since birth, technically, Your mom and his mom has been friends since college you see, met and gotten married to the love of their lives a year apart, gotten pregnant almost the same time and have birth a couple of months apart, so in reality, you and Taeil have been fated to be bestfriends

When you were born six months apart after Moon Taeil, he and his family visited you and your mother in the Hospital while your dad was busy running around the hospital telling everyone he was a dad

Ofcourse you and Taeil had no memory of this but your mom’s were more than happy to introduce their children. Shipping the two of you since you were born

You were six years old, that was your first memory of Taeil, maybe because you always thought of him as the annoying kid that lives a block away who loves to pester you, you were playing with other kids when, your neighbor, Doyoungie (who you had affectionally nicknamed, bunnie at the time) had kicked the ball to your face you remembered that you cried as he said sorry. You were angry and hurt and Taeil was the only one who laughed at the scene but upon seeing your crying face he hugs you and holds your hand “Aww don’t cry, Y/n” he says happily “Lets go play more ok?”

Taeil’s first time thinking of you as someone more than the snotty brat he was forced to take care of was when you got lost, he didn’t have to take care of you then, but he thought he’d bring you along, he was five and you were turning four and he wanted to buy ice-cream, you wanted ice-cream, so he took you along to that ice-cream shop by the corner. It wasn’t dangerous his mom was with you

He bought ice cream, two of them, knowing that you won’t be able to finish it so he can eat two ice-creams but the moment he turned he doesn’t see you. He panicked and started looking for you all over the shop, trying not to alert his mom but when all hope seemed lost, he started sobbing, where are they? are they hurt? They’re mom is gonna be so sad-

“Mooooom!” He cries and runs to his mother who holds the boy in her arms

“Why are you crying what happened?”

“Y/n” He looks around “I cant find”

His mom smiles fondly at the boy “Are you worried?”

He nods “I’m supposed to protect them!” He cries and his mom coos gently carrying him and taking him out of the shop, placing him down

“ok, my strong boy” His mom says and kisses the top of his head, “look there” He obeys, with teary eyes only to spot you walking towards them with cotton candy in her hands and he pulled away from his mom to run to you

“Where were you?” He asked and held your face

“Clouds” You claimed happily showing the cotton candy proudly to him

“You should’ve waited” He sniffled and you reached over to wipe his cheeks, he smiles, but didn’t stop you

“Sorry” You whisper and he nods opening his mouth so he can taste the clouds and you happily letting him take a bite

He looks up to see his mom and your dad grinning at the sight “Hi, Y/n’s dad” he waves and looks at you who was playing with the cloud on your hand “No, Y/n.” He takes it and bonks your head making you wince “you’ll get sticky-”

You and Taeil literally grew up side by side, He was there for you back in middle school when this girl bullied you because you and Taeil would always be together.

Taeil wasn’t happy the way that girl treated you but you always ignored her, she was just jealous that you were bestfriends with him, so you had a habit of holding him back whenever he was about to say something to her, or you try to anyway

“Taeil” you hissed and tugged on his shirt again once he stared down at her, of course you know Taeil is a big softie who cries over Hachiko, The dog that waited for his master by the train station despite his master dying, and that dog from I am Legend, so you know he really means no harm, its just, its his big brother instincts that make him fight anyone who attempts to harm you cause as he quotes “You’re an annoying little snot rag I had to take care of, So if anyone has the right to mentally harm you its me” and rewarded him with a kick to the shin “Lets just go, leave her be”

He looks at you and you smiled softly “We can go get clouds before we go home” you offered once he allows you to take him away, he raises an eyebrow at your words

“You’re fourteen and you still call them clouds?”

You roll your eyes “Cotton candy” you said in distaste “That is the most disgusting word I have ever heard of, Clouds on the other hand, sounds more magical”

He laughs “What about I start calling dumplings as meat pockets again?”

You made a face “What are you five?”

“I’m as cute as one”

“I hate Toddlers”

“No you don’t” He says and leads you to his bike, getting on it after handig you his backpack “You love kids”

You sat by the back, sitting on it with your legs to the side while you held on to his waist, pinching his side “No, I don’t”

He flinches and moves to swat your hands “Yes, you do, you love kids, you would play with them at the park whenever their parents are busy,” he points out and starts biking

“I have no idea what you’re taking about-”

“Look its Baby Yuri” he says saying the name of that child you were always so fond of

You perked “Where?” only to see that its an empty road and a laughter coming from him as a reminder that Baby Yuri’s house is far from here “Jerk” you glared at him and pinched him again, he swats your hand away “now hurry up and teach me how to read Morse codes” you said and held on to the back of his shirt

The time Taeil stopped thinking like you were his little sister was when you dated on your second year of high school. Yes, cliché, but, at first he didn't care, he congratulated you and helped look stunning, he wasn't bitter that you were trying to show off for someone else, or that you were nervous to go on a date with someone else (not true, he did care, he was bitter, he hated every minute of it)

Three months into your relationship, you were crying in Taeil's arms, cause, apparently you had a fight, cause you were to close to Taeil and your fight resorted to yelling and you attempting to kick them

So when you called him, but you didn’t speak, he just heard your heavy breathing he knows you were upset, he knows that you’re trying every thing to not cry, he knows that if you speak you just might, so, he spoke first “Yours or mine?” he stops about three seconds after the first choice so you can hum or grunt (whichever you had the energy to do), then he’ll know what your answer is

You grunted at his second offer, and he stands up from his bed to start cleaning up around the house, “Sure, come over, you want me to pick-” He looks at his phone and you declined the call, so you’ll be coming over yourself.

He moves to get to work, cleaning up the mess and getting the snacks you like before you arrive, and when he was finished, there you were, on his porch, looking like you were about to kick his door in

He reaches out to hold your hand which you pulled it away and walked inside. He wasn’t offended, he knows why you don’t like the affection, he knows that you breakdown easily. The fact that you haven’t even teared up yet was amazing, but you aren’t outside, you aren’t alone, It’s Taeil, your bestfriend the boy that has been by your side all your life so he knows, you need a hug

He grabbed you by the arm to pull you into his chest, you gasped and attempted to push him away but he shushes you with a small affectionate kiss on your forehead, “its ok,” he whispers “I know you wanna be strong, so its ok, its just me, you did well, you’ve been so strong up until now” he holds you close that you tightened your grip on his shirt “Its just me, Let me be strong for you”

You cried into his chest that day, after his words. You would never admit it, but Taeil is probably the only one who has seen you cry, he doesn’t mind, he’s your Strength, he knows that, you know that, so when it gets too much Taeil lets you cry on him lets you take it out, he makes you feel taken care off And he wouldn’t have it any other way

He managed to calm you down, petting your hair and then he bonks you, making you look at him, tear stained cheeks, eyes bloodshot, he laughs as you rub your head “Feel better?”

“A bit, yeah”

He hums and pulls away “Go take a shower,” he moved to his cupboards and taking out a fresh towel, handing it to you, well actually he didn’t hand it, he fucking threw it to your face, and yeah it hurt, but it made you laugh and he smiles back “Go clean up, I’ll lend you some of my clothes” he sighs “again. Snotty,” He teases “You gotta return my clothes sometime today, the near future”

You smile “No, I like them, go buy new ones instead”

He laughs “Brat, I need my clothes”

You pout and crossed your arms "You're gonna make me cry again, big brother" you called him that only when you want something, and yeah, it usually works, but something about being referred to as big brother

He rolls his eyes and threw one of his sweatshirts to you making you yelp, “Shut up and go”

You obeyed, smiling softly at him. He stares at his hands, You haven’t called him Big Brother for a very long time and something about that made his blood boil

He just wishes he knows why. He’s been feeling like this for quite sometime, whenever you get to friendly or to close to someone, he has no idea if he should be angry at you or that person your talking to.

He settled on the sofa with a sigh and looked at the tv, where the opening scene of your favorite show was paused, your favorite snacks on the coffee table. His ears perked when he heard the familiar sound of his bathroom door opening, you were done, he turned to see your figure disappear somewhere behind his house, he knows what you’re doing you were gonna hang the towel you borrowed, then you reemerged, hair still obviously wet (you didn’t bother to properly dry it, he guesses, again), leaving wet splotches on his sweatshirt. You went up the stairs, he smiles, he has a feeling you’ll get pillows from his room, he can hear the door of his room open, yup he is right.

He stood up to get the towel you hanged and walked back to the living room to see you eating the snacks while cuddling his pillow, He really does know you now. He throws the towel at you “Dry your hair properly, or shave your head” he points out and you sigh, doing as your told with a playful kick to his thighs

Once you were done he leaves to hang it again, when he returns and sees you, he smiles excitedly sitting beside you, and you play the movie

It was just a random movie that you accidentally started liking (he was ninety-nine percent sure you only like it cause Ewan McGregor, who you think is “surprisingly charismatic”, is in it). He wasn’t watching though, the movie wasn’t interesting, he was watching you, reading you body language and facial expression, checking if you really are feeling better

He didn’t realize how hard he was staring at you, ‘till both of your eyes met, he froze, you were so close, his heart skipped a beat, was it just him? or was your eyes always that sparkly?

You lift your hand and placed the snack against his lips, feeding him “take a bite so you’ll stop looking at me like a lost puppy”

He blushes and nods, taking a bite. Looking away, he held his hands. He is fucking screwed

You on the other hand found out you liked him around college. Unfortunately, you and Taeil have drifted apart over time. You don’t hang out as usual, he is studying a different major than you after all, it was only natural you both have other friends

You didn’t like it

Over time you and Taeil have been going through your own time, like getting your own apartments and campus that we want to be on, It doesn’t change, you and Taeil go to and from the Campus and Your houses around the same time since you are neighbors but when the two of you get to the Campus its like neither of you know each other

Growing up with Taeil means, he was with you every waking moment and all of a sudden its gone, who will get used to that? He has been the person you grew with, who held yo while you were in pain and made you laugh when you were sad

“I miss you” You whispered one time as you sat on to the passengers seat of his car when you both were heading home for the holidays “A lot” you whispered quiet enough so that he won’t hear but you were wrong

Ever since Taeil accepted the fact that he likes you he has become more insightful in things that upset you, and he can see (he doesn’t know why) but he can see how upset you were and hearing you say that, he didn’t mean it, but it gave him hope that you liked him too

That week Taeil climbed your window to wake you up, knocking on your window 'till you eventually woke up

You weren't exactly asleep, you were to busy looking at your hands, thinking about your Christmas dinner at the Moon Household, you and you're family was there except you and Taeil haven't even attempted to try and speak or approach each other and it only hurt you more when neither of you tried. You sat up and froze, seeing a shadowy figure by your window and your instincts went to overdrive and you opened your mouth to scream for your father

Taeil noticed your on guard position and he shakes his head, knocking against your window in a pattern that he wishes to every one holy that you remember

“Da-” you stopped midway once you hear the knocking looking at the figure, you realized it was Morse code, you listened as the figure tapped the glass, long tap, pause, That’s a ‘T’ tap, long tap, pause, And that’s an ‘A’ tap, pause, what is that one again? Tap, Tap, pause, I remember this one its an ‘I’ tap, long tap, tap, tap

You looked at the figure “Taeil?” you asked and opened the window, Taeil climbing in letting out a sigh of relief “What the hell are you doing here?”

He laughs “I was bored,” You frowned and sat on your bed, glaring at the boy making him raise both his hands in defense “I’m kidding, don’t hit me”

You rolled your eyes and lied sown on the bed “Yeah well, leave, I was sleeping” facing away from him

“We both know you weren’t”

“shut up”

He smiles and taps your thigh over the blanket “Scoot over, I had a nightmare, don’t wanna sleep alone”

You turned to look at him “What are you five?”

“Is that a no?” He asks with a sly smile, holding the blanket up so he can join you when you agree

You sighed, scooting to the side and he slides in beside you “Big baby”

He laughs, but covered his mouth to not wake your parents “I didn’t really have a nightmare” he whispered and moves to tuck an arm underneath his head as you copy his movements, the two of you facing each other “You were avoiding the at the party”

You scoffed “No, you were avoiding me” you huffed

“Are you ok?” He asked reaching up to swipe the hair that covers your face “You’ve been extremely quiet”

You yawned, you felt safe I his presence to even fall asleep to it, you couldn’t help but smile softly at the action “I’m ok” you lied, closing your eyes

“Don’t lie to me” he says, he has known you long enough to know when you lie and he won’t let it pass “I wanna help you”

“There’s nothing you can do”

“There will be if you tell me”

“Taeil”

“Y/n”

You opened your eyes only to see him staring at you, with worry and care “I hate you”

He smiles, and you felt your cheeks warm up at the sight “No you don’t” You rolled your eyes and he nods “Tell me when you’re ready, but for now” he takes her free hand in a promise “I won’t leave your side, and don’t leave mine”

You looked at him, the at your hands, before nodding “Promise?”

He nods “Promise” He smiles as he watches you yawn “Get some sleep, ok?”

“Ok” you whisper and start to doze off “That’s all I ever wanted,” you whisper “I miss you” you whisper and fall asleep

Taeil’s heart was beating rapidly against his chest, miss him? what is that supposed to mean? was that even supposed to mean anything? And he was aware that your hands are still intertwined, he blushes, and holds it tighter, afraid of letting go. He watches you sleep this time, glad to see you peaceful, seeing you always made him happy, but sometimes knowing that you will never return these feelings, made him so weak that he wants to do nothing but lie in bed, he closes his eyes, his finger tapping mindlessly on your pillow

L-O-V-E Y-O-U

You and Taeil are still very much a bestfriends. And you two hang out majority of the time since Lee Taeyong, someone from Taeil's group of friends, and Suh Johnny, the American exchange student you became friends with started dating

So bam! You and Taeil were automatically the third wheel, which was fun since you two were already friends, everyone was talking and playing around while you and Taeil were speaking to other people. Taeil looks at you as you fed Jungwoo the tart you ordered and Taeil had to bite his tongue from saying something to the innocent boy

He starts tapping against the table as he looks through his phone, hoping you could understand the Morse code despite how loud the surroundings were

You did. And you couldn’t stop smiling, Fid me 2, He spelled, Feed you? and you understood, you must tease the boy “Ew” you said aloud so he’ll hear and he huffs making you laugh

“Aww I didn’t know you guys can read each other minds” Yuta teases and kicks Taeil under the table

Taeil shrugs “We’re that close”

You roll your eyes, feigning annoyance but you smiled at Taeil as he focuses on other people, joking and playing with them

“I’m hungry” Taeyong says making everybody listen to him, and Johnny nodding

“What do you wanna eat my love?” He asks and you gagged, making him elbow you

Taeyong chuckled and nodded “something sweet” he starts and hums

Johnny looks at everyone as they start suggesting food, Johnny and Taeyong turn down some till Taeil spoke “What about clouds?”

The whole room turned quiet and you stared at the boy in front of you, wide eyed while the room started to rumble with questions

“What the fuck is a cloud?”

“We’re talking about food Taeil”

“Taeil, are you stoned?”

“Since when can you eat clouds?”

You bursted out laughing once he starts to redden from your friends words before glaring at you “Y/n help me” You shake your head still too busy laughing, he growls “Its nothing, its an inside joke, you guys wouldn’t understand!” he huffs and lean against his chair, crossing his arms

Your laughter died sown as you stared at him, his eyes meeting yours and you blushed, taking a bite of your tart, Why are you blushing? you asked yourself, Why is your heart beating so fast? you might pass out if it continues, surely you don't like Taeil, TAEIL of all people, not him

“Y/n did you hear me?” Jungwoo says making you look at him and apologetically shake your head making him chuckle “I asked when you started liking him”

“I don’t”

He raises his eyebrow “Oh really? cool, cause I have this friend who wants me to set them up with Taeil”

You glared at him “Do you wanna die?” you asked annoyed

He laughs and winks “I will once you admit of your feelings”

You kicked him, then you hear the table buzz, looking up to see someone approach Taeil, shyly offering him a box, “I,” They smiles, cheeks painted red and you couldn’t help but glare at the new comer “I got you some chocolates, I hope you like them”

Taeil bows and takes the chocolates, and you look away, while Jungwoo looks at you, with a sly grin, and you point a threatening finger at him “Not a word”

Taeil and you confessed in the least romantic way possible, but you loved it all the same, granted you both fought, but it was cute and emotional all the same

He mindlessly played with the flashlight, switching it on and off against his wall, you were asleep on his bed cause you had a fight with your dad about a boy and you decided that sleeping over at Taeil's for the night wouldn't be that bad, so while you slept you lent hi your phone cause his was broken, why? easy, you threw it against the wall cause he wouldn't turn off his alarm "You dance to this shit Y/n" "I don't mind breaking your arm too"

So there he was switching your phone's flashlight on and off after he got bored spamming your gallery with his face. He was a little out of it, but he knows you're awake "You'll drain my battery" you murmured

"It'll charge" He mutters "My phone on the other hand" he says a bit snappy

You pout "I said I'm sorry, and I'm repairing it ok?"

He shrugs and continued going though your phone

You sat up and leaned your forehead against his back "I'm tired I wanna nap again"

"And I wanna date you, we don't get what we want"

You looked up at him so fast that you thought you'd have whiplash "What?" you’re heart beating against your chest

He smiled slyly, trying his best to not blush and moving away from you “End scene” He laughs and playfully winks at you, he chickened out, he hates how angry he has been these past couple of weeks, he hates seeing other people approach and flirt with you, he hates being the subject when you call someone your bestfriend or your older brother, he hates how he can’t push people who wanna keep you away cause he has no right. He hates that it was starting to hurt to look at you, to think about you, its not fair that he likes you and you’ll never be in his arms the way he wants you to. He hates how you’re seeing someone, and it isn’t him. He hates the fact that he loves you, why out of all people, he could love, why you?

“Taeil!” You raised your eyebrow and your voice “What the heck was that supposed to mean “You were kidding?” you didn’t mean it, but sounded so offended and sad, does Taeil really like you? your heart thumped at a quick pace when he looks at you, searching your face for answer

He gulps “why?” he asks facing you “What if I wasn’t?

You stared at him processing “Well-” He moves to tilt his head waiting for you to answer him, you retaliated by hitting him on the shoulder “You didn’t answer me asshole”

He looks at your phone not answering, not fiddling with anything except the morse code app you had in there, turning the sound and you can hear the message

-.-- . ... / -.-- . ... /-.-- . ...

“What the heck is ‘yes’ supposed to mean?” You started as he starts pressing the app to send you another message and you groaned “just tell me”

.. -- / -.- .. -.. -.. .. -. --. / .. -- / -.- .. -.. -.. -- -. --.

“I’m Kidding?” You read aloud and scrunched your nose “What the heck is that supposed to be? Tell me Taeil!” you yelled and moved slap your phone away from him when he tries to type a new code “Tell me, do you like me or not?” he stares at you “Was it a joke or were you serious?”

He looks at you in shock as you angrily told him those words, why were the you taking this seriously? you don’t like him, right? then why are you so angry? why is it affecting you? “What’s it have to do with you?”

“Taeil just tell me”

“Why do you need to know if its a joke or not?”

“Just tell me”

“Why? You’re dating someone right now right? why do you need to know?”

“Taeil I’m not..”

“No, tell me why” You opened your mouth when your phone on the floor of Taeil’s room started buzzing, speak of the devil, your phone flashed with his name and it mad Taeil’s blood boil even more when you stood up to take your phone, he grabbed it from your hands before you could answer and threw it to the side, grabbing your wrist and pulling you back on the bed, keeping you there, a hand on your wrist and the other on your waist “Tell me”

You glared at him gripping his collar “What the hell is wrong with you?” You asked angrily “You’ve been salty ever since I asked if I could stay over! You don’t want me here? That’s fine, tell me, you don’t need to let me stay when you clearly don’t want me here!” You’re chest heaved and he could tell you’re just starting “you wanna know why I want to know the truth from you? Cause I care for you more then what a friend, a sibling should do. I hate seeing you with Kim Kochan or Lee Robin those two flirt with you on a basis, you know that right? they cling and keep you all for themselves and I hate it! I hate how fast my heart beats when you smile or when you buy me snacks cause they’re my-”

He cuts you off with a swift kiss to your lips. How could he not, you just confessed you liked him albeit angrily, you still confessed. His lips moved slowly against yours and you froze, your mind on hyperdrive, ‘till he pulled away “I like you too but you’re really loud when you’re upset, we shou-”

You rolled your eyes and pulled his collar, making him crash into you, kissing him again, this time you slowly moved your lips against his, his hands snaking around your waist, to pull you closer, your arms wrapping around his neck

He licks your bottom lip, you groaned softly and he happily sticks his tongue in, gently brushing over your tongue, making you slightly whine and he grins, keeping hold of your as you both play tongue-sies

He pulls away, a string of saliva being the only thing connecting you both before he groans softly at the sight “I love you” he breathes before leaning to trail kisses down your jaw and neck making you tilt your head upward giving him more room. He smiles at the shudder before gripping your waist and pulling on it to make you go up and straddle him “Taeil” you gasped at how bold he was being and he chuckles

“Say it” he whispers against your ear licking a stripe on it while a hand travels under your shirt making you gasp at the coldness of his hand and the heat of your body, and he smiles “Please? Need to hear you say it”

“Really at a situation like this?” You huff and he only grins at you making you whine “I’ll tell you later, ok?” You tugged on his shirt, in a silent way to command him to do something, and only met with a shake of his head “Taeil” You whined again “fine, I love you too you big dork”

He smiles and happily kissed you again, holding you close before taking your shirt off and giving you everything you asked, encouraging him with every tug of his hair, a gasp and a moan of his name. He was addicted, he never wanted to stop to make you so whiny and needy and putty in his arms

He was happy that night, well dawn, finally having you in his arms, your neck covered in nothing but his marks, and he can see from his position your bruised waist. Oh and his hair, it was in pain, from the way you would pull and tug on it but he loved it, only reminding him that it was all real, his arms and shoulders were bruised but he just smiles at the slight sting before tightening his hold on your waist and kissing the shell of your ear

“No more” you whined and pouted “Please? I am so tired” you begged cupping his cheeks and he couldn’t help it he kissed your palms

“Stop” he bit his lip and looked at you all wide eyed, seeing your expression, your marks and looking absolutely fucked that he swung his legs over and kissed your nose “Just, just one more, ok? one more round”

“Dad!” Taeil grumbled “Are you serious right now?”

His dad nods “Yes” He points a finger at his chest “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care if you are sleeping around, as long as you don’t get STD’s or have a failing grade” He reminds “But any other than that, you’re free to do anything you want. You’re mother and I back in college, we had out share of fun”

Taeil covers his ears “no! no no, I don’t need to know, I don’t need to know my birth story, I don't need to know how sexy mom was, I am seriously going to run away screaming”

“Stop being a baby” His dad says and hits him upside the head, “I’m just saying, when you would sleep with someone, you stay over their place not the other way around, so I was wondering who is that? My son’s special someone? and also, I heard everything lastnight so I’m pretty sure it is a special person, and I wanted to ask if they’ll stay the morning cause, It’s my turn to make breakfast and I wanna know if I should add one more serving”

All of a sudden an excited squeal leaves his mother’s lips as she excitedly ran down the stairs and tackled Taeil “I am so proud of you” She praises and kisses him on the forehead “So so Proud”

“What happened?” His dad asks and She spins to look at her husband

“It’s Y/n”

He blinks and looks at his son then his wife, around the same time the mom clinged once again to Taeil, “I have been shipping you both since you two were in the womb, I waited twenty one years for the two of you to get together” she squeals and hugs him “Even better you both slept with each other, Honey, cook an extra serving for Y/n. And Taeil good job, satisfying your partners needs in bed is much more important, I approve”

“Mom!” Taeil groans

“Do you think Their parent’s know? we should invite them , lets go invite them!”

Part 2

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hogwarts--imagines · 3 years

Text

History

GIF NOT MINE

Time Set: College

Kenma x F!Reader

Warning: Angst, abusive relationship, talks of trauma, some Fluff.

(A lot of this relates to me and to be honest it hit me close to home, but this inspired me to write about it and talk about it. a lot of my writing is truly personal to me and the only way I can vent that out is to write..)

Summary: After finally breaking free from him, y/n was able to find herself again and make some friends along the way.

This song has been stuck in my head and I had to make a mini series with Kenma because Kenma Would be perfect for this story idea :)

Please watch Yuri on Ice because its a perfect anime and I love it so much

History Maker

Y/n sighed, this café attracted way to many people, more like too many girls. All to meet Kuroo the barista. Even though he looked as if he was the type of guy that would play around with just about any of the girls that constantly came in, he paid no mind to them. Doing his job he just kept a friendly face.

“Ah y/n are you on your way to your evening class?” He greeted you as your approached the counter. Ever since she came to this college Kuroo has gotten to know her favorite drinks and occasional food choices. She came her every day about 2-3 times a day.

“Actually,” She took a deep breath, she hated having to force herself to talk, “I was wondering if there was any job openings.”

“Really?” Kuroo raised his eyebrows in shock, he had mentioned to his boss many times that they need the help and he had been considering asking her and his friend to come work with him. “We actually are in desperate need of more people.”

“Is there a job application I can fill out?” She blushed, she never wanted to work here but with the new changes happening to her, she needed to find a job desperately.

“Give me a moment to grab it!” Kuroo was excited, he was finally going to have extra help here.

After she got her hands on the job application she stayed in the café to fill it out. When she was done she handed it to Kuroo and thanked him.

“Don’t you have classes today?” Kuroo asked a little confused as to why she hadn’t run off to class already, it must’ve started already.

“Oh, um well my professor canceled for the day today and my last class is online.” Something in her voice made her sound hesitant. Kuroo didn’t bother to push since it wasn’t his place.

“Oh okay, well I’ll give your application to my manager and he should give you a call in the next few days.” Kuroo smiled, now he just needed to convince his roommate to come back to this place.

“Thank you” She gave a relieved smile, something was definitely wrong.

“Kenma, I’m back” Kuroo called out.

“mm” Kenma responded, “I’m in the kitchen.”

“You good?” Kuroo walked into the kitchen, seeing his friend leaning over the counter on his phone.

“I'm fine.” He didn’t look up from his phone, “My friend hasn’t been on in a while, normally I get a message from them once a day.”

“Maybe they are busy?” Kuroo asked going to the fridge, “I'm gonna make some dinner.”

“Yeah maybe.” Kenma shrugged,” It’s unlike them though, even if they were really busy they always sent some type of message.”

“You have always worried about your friends.” Kuroo chuckled, “Oh that reminds me, we had someone apply at the café so it won’t be too stressful for you if you decide to come back.”

“I can’t, with my new streaming schedule it’ll be hard to work two jobs and do school.” Kenma shoved his phone into his pocket.

“Oh yeah I didn’t think about that, but you should stop by once she starts her job, she’s cute.” Kuroo smiled brightly.

“Maybe, but only because your café has good coffee.” Kenma walked away towards his room and started up his pc. Once everything turned on he launched Discord and sent his friend a message.

‘Hey N/n, are you busy?’

---

Y/n plopped down on her bed, she was done with the day. She just wanted to sleep and forget about her problems. She sat up and looked around her room, boxes were all over her room and everything was almost packed away.

Thankfully he hasn’t been back. He left for a week vacation back to his hometown and thankfully she wasn’t forced to go. This was her chance to leave and she was going to take it.

*ding*

Her phone went off, the familiar sound of discords notification filled the silent room. She knew who it was right away and smiled. It had been a long few days she forgot to respond to her online friend.

‘Hey N/n, are you busy?’

The discord name KoKen was across her screen above the message. She missed her friend a lot.

‘Hey Ko, sorry, I have been packing a lot this week.’

‘Are you moving?’

‘Yes, I found an apartment closer to my college and I have one roommate and I also got a new job.’

‘Is he still there?’

‘He comes home Friday but I’m leaving tomorrow.’

‘Does he know where your college is?’

‘No, I never told him’

‘I wish I could be there to help you move.’

‘You don’t even know where I live :P’

‘I will if you tell me :)’

‘No :)’

She smiled to herself, KoKen was always worried about her and she always worried about him. They had met through playing Apex Legends, they had played a match on the same duo team and before the match was over she had sent him a friend request through steam and that led them becoming friends on Discord and they would spend hours playing the game while in a voice call.

It annoyed her soon to be Ex boyfriend that she talked to this person she met online but that didn’t stop her. She would just talk to them whenever he wasn’t around.

She sighed and got herself ready, She was going to take all over stuff out of here and be gone by tomorrow.

---

Two weeks had passed since she moved and she felt at ease going home to her own place everyday. Her roommate was pretty loud mostly but he was extremely friendly when she met him. He and his boyfriend helped her move, she had explained her situation to them, without giving them to much information, but enough that they needed to know.

“Well starting today, you will be my roommate and We are going to become best friends!” Oikawa smiled excitedly.

“R-really?” She wanted to cry, it had taken her a long time to find a roommate, it was last minute when she saw a flyer for a roommate in her college that made her give him a call. “

“Do you need help moving?” Iwaizumi stood behind her new roommate, he had his arms resting on Oikawa’s shoulders.

“Um, If it’s not too much trouble.” She felt her cheeks flush.

Since then, Oikawa and Iwaizumi became her friends. It had only been two weeks but she loved hanging out with them.

“I’m off to work boys!” She called out, heading out the door. She adjusted her sweater, covering her arms completely as she headed towards the café.

“Hey y/n!” Kuroo was excited to see her, she had finished her training early and she was already confident enough to take orders and make drinks on her own.

“Hello” She smiled at her now coworker, “How’s business?”

“Slow today,” Kuroo shrugged and watched as she threw on her apron, “So y/n, do you live around here?”

The question shocked her, she kept to herself mostly and all Kuroo knew was she goes to the same college as him.

“I only ask because I noticed you walk here a lot.” Kuroo pointed out, “And I was going to offer you a ride home if you ever knew it.”

“Oh, I live close, my roommates normally meet me here before I head home.” She let herself relax.

She was lost in her thoughts while she was making another pot of coffee. She thought about KoKen, She missed her friend, not being able to play games with then was a struggle. She sent them messages daily but it was hard not being able to hear her friends voice and she just wanted to talk to them again.

“Kuroo” A voice called from the other side of the counter, a voice that sound way too familiar.

“Hey Kenma!” Kuroo was excited, “Hey y/n come meet Kenma!”

“I just want my Coffee.” Kenma sounded annoyed. But why did his voice sound familiar?

“Y/n’s making a fresh pot right now.” Kuroo informed his friend.

“mm, fine.” Kenma shrugged, he just wanted to go back home and try to get his friend to talk to him again. He missed their voice.

“Kuroo can you come here please?” The coworker’s voice called out, a voice that Kenma could recognize from anywhere.

“N/n?” Kenma asked unsure if he heard the voice correctly.

Y/n’s head whipped around quickly, she felt her heart skip a beat there was no way this was-

“KoKen?”

#haikyuu kenma #kenma x reader #kenma x you #kenma kozume #kenma imagine #haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagines #kuroo testuro

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erindoodless · 5 years

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a magical kind of love

CHAPTER 1: A NEW BEGINNING FOR DANIEL HOWELL

author’s note: sorry for taking so long to write this! school is very tiring. i hope to post at least every sunday! let me know if you would like to be on my tag list so you will be notified of future chapters and works.

summary: dan gets accepted into hogwarts and meets a new friend on the hogwarts express.

type: modern phan hogwarts au

wc: 2.3k

honorable mention: to my beta readers for their amazing editing skills and being able to read it very last minute @violetofthesea @some-angelic-flowers @hermit-with-friendz

read on ao3 or continue reading below!

As Dan walked through the train station, he felt nervous butterflies in the pit of his stomach. He never liked normal school so the last place he wanted to go was Hogwarts. The idea of being among loads of obnoxious, magical people his own age stressed him out. All he wanted to do was stay home and go on the internet for the rest of his life because it was the only place he could be himself.

While he strolled into the station, it started to rain. Dan didn’t like the rain very much, so he sped to the entrance of the building. This made him believe that going to a wizardly school was such a terrible idea that the sky started to cry. In reality, it was raining to represent a new phase in his life. A brand new beginning for him.

When Dan first got his letter, both he and his parents were very confused. Although neither of his parents are Muggles, and he had exhibited magic before, he lacked any passion for it. They were sure that Dan wouldn’t get accepted for that reason, but his letter came anyway, and their attitudes changed. They were very excited for the first time in a long time for their son. Even though he didn’t want to leave his bedroom, Dan felt pressured by them to go. His bedroom was the only place he found peace. Yet, despite all his complaints, his irritating parents still made him go.

Dan’s mother took him along to the station on the day he was sent to Hogwarts. Similar to him, his mother had mouse-brown hair and dark brown eyes. Dan imagined that he used to have a more trustworthy relationship with his mother. Unfortunately, that was lost as soon as both of his parents shared their opinions about certain topics that he disagreed with. For being just 11 years old, Dan was intelligent for his age because he was able to form opinionated thoughts about controversial ideas due to his free access to the internet. They walked along with the platform. Dan still felt upset about the whole situation while he pushed his loud trolley. He was glad that his parents let him bring his dog Colin along so he could have some sort of friend. He was happy that Hogwarts updated their policies to allow dogs.

“Oh, don’t look so miserable Daniel. This is an opportunity that most children don’t get! You should feel lucky,” his mother said to him with a disappointing look on her soft face. The only thing that brought Dan ease from his mother is her tendency to feel empathetic for him. But in this circumstance, he didn’t feel any love at all and his mother was just disappointing him. “I’m sure you will meet loads of new friends.”

Dan let out a heavy sigh. He never had good friends at his primary school so he wasn’t sure why his mother believed that Hogwarts would be any different. The one time he had a friend was in his 4th year of primary school. His 8-year-old self tried to kiss him after they had a conversation about kissing, but the boy ran off before anything could happen. He never heard from him again.

As Dan was thinking about his time at primary school and walking through the station, his mother suddenly stopped in front of a pillar while Dan is lost in thoughts about primary school. “You’re supposed to run into the pillar. Didn’t you read the letter at all? The train is at platform 9 and ¾,” his mother asked, annoyed at Dan’s disinterest obvious in her voice.

“No? Why would I read a letter about a place I don’t want to go to? And why do they make you go to a platform that doesn’t exist?” Dan replied, not bothering to hide his misery. “And I’ll probably regret going even though you all think I’ll feel guilty about not going.”

This was a drastic moment when Dan’s awful life was changed forever. Without listening to his mother’s response, he just ran into the stone pole with his trolley and Colin yelped.

And there he was. He was standing right in front of the Hogwarts Express with loads of other wide-eyed children and their supportive families. Since it was 10:55 am, and the train was due to leave at 11 am, he decided to just get on the enchanted train so he could avoid his crazy mother as much as possible.

Fortunately for him, he was able to find a seat in an empty compartment. He sat down with a sigh of relief. The compartment consisted of 4 seats, 2 shelves to put up luggage, and a giant window. The luxurious seats were so squishy that one could easily sink into them.

The brown-eyed boy set his stuff down and let his dog out of that horrid cage. He was fully against putting Colin in a cage because he knew he was perfectly capable of walking to the station, but Dan’s mother and father said he would have to put the dog in a cage or leave him at home. Since he found comfort in Colin, he chose to put him into the confinement even though it made him feel very guilty. When the small dog came out, he did a long stretch and laid down on the comfy seat. Dan began petting him lovingly.

He came prepared for the 9-hour train ride to Scotland with his tablet, earbuds, and downloaded the whole season of Yuri On Ice!!! ‘It took 4 hours to download the episodes so this better be worth it’, Dan thought to himself. Thankfully, he also remembered to bring his portable charger in case his tablet battery got too low.

Just as he was about to start the first episode, he heard a soft knock on the door. Startled, he looked up to see a pale-skinned boy with bright blue eyes and bright ginger hair in the slightly opened doorway. Dan was not expecting to have any visitors so this was quite a surprise for him.

“Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full,” the pale boy stammered out. He had a strong Northern accent and seemed very shy. Dan hesitantly nodded and the boy quickly sat down.

Dan avoided eye contact with the boy as long as he could and took a few glimpses at him while he was looking out the window. He had lots of colors in his eyes. His soft, orange hair was styled in a quiff. And damn, he was pretty. Even though he was just 11, Dan knew that he found boys nicer to look at than girls. This was another part of him that he had never told anyone in fear of rejection besides, of course, the one friend he tried to kiss. Thankfully, his old friend was somewhat a good person and never told anyone about what happened, even if he made a point of not talking to Dan after. The other parts included his Tumblr URL and his love for anime.

A few minutes later, Dan felt light taps on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that the boy was trying to speak to him. He paused his anime and took an earbud out to listen to what he had to say. “Hey, uh… My name is Phil Lester. What’s yours?” The boy, now known as ‘Phil’, questioned, somewhat awkwardly, his face turning even more red than his hair. He had a high pitched voice, though that might’ve just been nerves. Dan thought it was cute.

“Dan,” was all he said while not looking at Phil in the face. He returned to his anime because he knew he would start crushing hard if they began to have a conversation.

In the next hour or so, Dan noticed Phil eyeing Colin while the dog stared right back at him. Dan took his earbud out again and said, “You can pet him if you want.” Phil looked up at Dan surprised while the brown-eyed boy still wasn’t looking at him in the eye. The pale boy timidly placed his small hand on Colin’s head and began gently stroking him. Dan had never seen someone stroke an animal so delicately in his whole 11 years of being alive. The dog was having the time of his life as Phil began petting his belly.

“Wow, he really likes you,” Dan said out of confusion. He was shocked because it usually takes a while for Colin to trust people.

“Well, I guess I do have a way with animals,” Phil replied with a small smile on his face. “I live on a farm with my parents filled with lots of unique creatures. Maybe if I get to know you better, I can bring you home one time! We have thestrals, house cats, thunderbirds, and loads more. My favorite would have to be my own thestral, Henry,” he babbled on. Dan was distracted by when Phil said he could take him home. Does that mean someone finally wanted to befriend Dan?

“Did you bring a pet with you?” asked Dan. He was curious because he was the other way around where his parents never told him much about the magical world. Since they assumed he would never get into Hogwarts, he didn’t have an opportunity to learn much about special creatures.

“Yes! I have my lovely pygmy puff. She’s a bit on the crazy side, especially since a dog is here, so I’m going to leave her in her cage for now. I’ll show you her another time,” Phil smiled while looking at the small cage.

“Anyway, what are you watching on the screen thing? I’ve been curious about it the whole train ride,” the pale boy questioned. Dan wondered why the boy was suddenly being so talkative after sitting for an hour and not doing or saying anything. “Is that Muggle technology? My parents would never let me have technology.”

Dan was astonished to hear this. “You mean you’ve never watched anime, been on Tumblr, read fanfiction…?” Phil shook his head and had a puzzled look on his face. “Alright then. Come over here and we can watch this anime together.”

Phil blushed a bit again and went across to sit next to Dan. He was more fascinated by Dan’s tablet than anything else. He had never seen a piece of technology in this life besides the few times his parents took him out in public. Colin laid between the two boys while the blue-eyed boy was delightfully petting him again. “So, what exactly is an anime?” Phil inquired. Dan was even more shocked to hear this.

“Japanese cartoon. I need to show you everything now,” Dan responded. Phil let out a squeaky giggle and it made Dan’s checks turn deep red because of how angelic it sounded. “This one I download for the train is Yuri On Ice!!! It’s a competitive figure skating anime and it’s super gay.” That was another word Dan had learned from the internet. He had discovered all the different sexualities.

Phil looked even more excited now because if it’s a cheerful story, then it must be a great story. His parents had told him very little about the Muggle world and they didn’t want him to be involved with technology. All they wanted was their little boy to be a happy farmer. He spent the majority of his childhood reading educational magic books on the different creatures and plants on his family’s farm. He remembers reading the word ‘gay’ in one of his books and it was used to describe pure bliss.

“Oh, I love happy stories,” Phil stated with a small grin.

“I mean, this story has some sad bits. What makes you assume it’s a happy story?” Dan asked in a perplexed voice.

“Because it’s gay.”

Dan burst out laughing. “You know what, nevermind. You’ll learn eventually.” This made Phil even more bewildered than ever, but he just went along with it. Dan gave Phil one of his earbuds and showed him where to put it because he was originally trying to put it in his nostrils. Then they finally began watching. It turned out to be very depressing at the beginning. In Phil’s opinion, it wasn’t very gay. However, throughout the 22 minutes, it became quite funny with all the characters’ dramatic reactions.

After watching the first episode, Dan took out his earbud, and Phil did the same. “So, what did you think?” Dan asked in curiosity.

“I thought it was not happy at all. But I like the characters. And the theme song was good,” Phil responded, still unsure of the whole anime thing. They continued to watch the remaining episodes. Phil began obsessing over Yuri because of their similar love for dogs.

About 5 hours had gone by when they finally finished the anime. They had mini discussions between each episode so it took much longer than Dan expected. They still had 3 hours left on the train. The boys were struggling to think of something they could do or talk about because they didn’t want to be bored out of their minds.

While Dan was thinking of what they could do next, he felt something lay onto his shoulder. He looked over at Phil and realized he had fallen asleep with his head on Dan’s shoulder. Dan let out a sigh and accepted that he wouldn’t be able to move for a long time. He was feeling pretty tired as well so he rested his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes.

He slowly fell asleep, happy that he possibly made a new friend.

authors note: please reblog and like if you enjoyed reading! again, let me know if you want on to be the tag list!

#erin writes #phan #dan and phil #daniel howell #amazingphil #dan howell #phil lester #danisnotonfire #phanfiction #phanfic #phanfics #fic #fanfiction #ao3 #fanfic #fanfics #dan

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toonstarterz · 7 years

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BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #117

It’s these sort of vignette-filled chapters that are starting to become my favorite lately. I think that’s because it’s not just a bunch of gags and jokes one after another like you’d find in a 4-koma manga. There’s a definite flow of time and continuity when Nico Tanigawa does these chapters. Not to mention that they still take the time to introduce character dynamics that can be built upon for later chapters/arcs.

In essence, I tend to think of these as “transition” chapters because they provide content that can be used for more self-contained stories, but can still function very well as its own chapter.

Chapter 117: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Greet the End of My Second Year

Have we given her a fanon name yet? Her panel is big enough to warrant one.

I get the feeling that if it had been some random girl pressing against her, this girl wouldn’t have thought much of it, attributing it to just a case of the train being overpacked. But because it’s Tomoko, and Ucchi mostly likely gossiped about how she’s such a creep, that it probably skewed this girl’s perception of what had happened. She was led to believe that Tomoko is some kind of touchy-feely lesbian, so that’s what she’s gonna see.

I’ll admit, I’m not familiar with how the trains work in Japan, so this confused me enough that I didn’t actually get the joke the first time. Perhaps someone can clear it up for me?

But check out Ucchi’s posture here. Sitting upright, knees together, arms out. She clearly readying herself up, and we all know why,

Yuri Tamura shows up = instantly good chapter.

It was around here that everything started to click in my head. Ucchi, in her increasingly stalker ways, was planning to get off on Inage, where she would board the opposite running train and hopefully run into Tomoko. So of course, when Yuri asks her why she’s not getting off, the prideful Ucchi isn’t about to admit that she wants to see Tomoko, so she first gives the excuse that she was sleeping. And when that doesn’t work, Ucchi lies that her legs went numb, but Yuri being the good person she is, helps her off the train.

Better luck next time Emoji Girl.

Gotta say, Yuri’s annoyance here is perfectly justified when you look at it from her perspective. She made sure Ucchi didn’t miss their stop, and even offered to carry her out of the train when Ucchi claimed her legs were numb. I’m sure at some point Yuri realized that it was all BS, and given that Ucchi appeared ungrateful for help she didn’t even need, it must have struck a nerve with her.

I’d really like to see more of these two play off against each other. It’s amusing.

One thing I really like is that Nico Tanigawa doesn’t oversell when they’re introducing new or underused characters. Lots of manga do this by introducing them in a large panel with a text box that tells their name, age, class number, etc. But here, the mangaka is showing us who Itou is in a manner that is very natural. Here, we have a great case of show-not-tell as we learn more about Itou. She plays the trumpet, is part of the band, is a bit of a loner, and is otherwise pretty normal. I’m already awaiting for her focus chapter.

Imagines Komiyama in a cheerleading outfit.

Thankfully, my out-of-character image of Komiyama was proven wrong after a quick Google search, and I realized that they’re talking about an ōendan, which is much more in-character.

So here’s a question: why do you suppose Komiyama quit? It’s probably nothing tragic; perhaps it was just too high-energy for her. But it’s still fun to think about.

But if Tomoki ever joined the baseball team, you know she’d rejoin in a heartbeat.

It’s always nice when Komiyama’s weirdly cute side comes out like this. Even if her impression of Itou changed from something as simple as being able to play some baseball cheer songs, I don’t think it’s a shallow relationship or anything like that. They do seem like genuinely good friends, and I do wonder a bit how they met since they’ve only known each other since high school started. In a way, It kind of parallels the whole Tomoko-Yuri friendship, with the whole creep-and-normie dynamic. I wouldn’t be pretty surprised if they became friends out of “fated” circumstances as well.

Speaking of Tomoko...

She ain’t beauty, she ain’t grace, and she falls on her fuckin’ face.

If she were a typical shoujo manga heroine, her fall would’ve been ladylike, cutesy, and with an adorable squeal to emphasize her cute clumsiness.

Cute shoujo manga heroine Tomoko is not.

Now this is one of those moments in Watamote where I was genuinely surprised. For what little we know about Minami, she seems like a cheerful, genki type who can be just a little insensitive. Too be honest, my first thought when I saw this was that Minami was laughing about something else with the no-eyes girl, and wasn’t actually laughing at Tomoko. But at the same time, I also think that her actually laughing at Tomoko is entirely plausible. It’s hard to tell, but perhaps that ambiguity is what Nico Tanigawa was going for

Damn, kitty-cat Tomoko grew some claws. I love how more open she’s been about expressing her ruder and cruder side.

C’mon, how could I not include this shot?

So it looks like we finally got a taste of Yuri’s sense of humor. And it’s the type of humor, that I, and I’m sure a lot of other people enjoy. The “addressing-the-elephant-in-the-room” kind of humor. The snaggletooth quality we see with Minami is usually something in manga that is only a character aesthetic. Something the readers can see, but is virtually invisible to the other characters. The fact that Tomoko so openly mocks her for something no else seems to have said is probably why Yuri finds it so funny.

It also probably helps that Yuri is not on the best of terms with Minami, so she can probably get on board with teasing her that much easier.

Now this is something I find really interesting. To think that Mako, who’s been Yuri’s friend for years, has never made her laugh out loud, yet Tomoko hasn’t even known her for a year, and she still got her to laugh. What does this say about Yuri’s friendship with Mako and Tomoko? For me, I think Yuri’s friendship with Mako is based on stability. They like each other enough and it’s easy to commit to without much conflict (sans Minami). With Tomoko, while they don’t fully understand each other, they seem to be helping each other break out of their shells, with Tomoko gaining confidence and Yuri being more expressive.

You know how some people were joking on how Tomoko is like a virus bringing down all the other girls to her level? I think with Yuri, Tomoko is actually bringing her up. I honestly predict that Tomoko and Yuri’s relationship will be the strongest by the end of the series.

I know I just poked fun at when manga introduce characters by giving them a panel with text over them, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. In some instances, it can be used as a bit of comedy. For Kiyota, who is so inconsequential, having his name there to remind the audience who he is is a nice touch.

It’s times like this when I realize just how truly passive aggressive Nemoto is towards Tomoko. I can see her thought process here: if she asked about Tomoko, that would imply that she cares about her and that they’re friends, which is something Nemoto doesn’t want her real friends to consider. Nemoto doesn’t mind Tomoko, but she doesn’t want to associate with her any more than she has too. Take of that what you will.

You can literally see her expression fall ten stories to the ground.

Now an impression of Ogino is something I would like to see. I don’t recall Ogino having any sort of obvious mannerism, though. Maybe it’s smiling ignorantly in a way that automatically pisses people off.

Not gonna lie, this right here hit me HARD. You see that crosshatching in the background? Nico Tanigawa usually does that for scenes that are high in tension, and this is no exception. This is the first time we’ve seen the side characters opening mock Tomoko on some level. Sure, it’s not really malicious or hurtful, but it’s still teasing Tomoko for being who she is. The scariest part is, this type of teasing falls into the uncanny valley where it isn’t outright bullying, but very close to it. I’m so glad severe bullying isn’t a part of this manga, or I might not be able to handle it.

One thing I’m sure others have noticed is that Nemoto’s impression isn’t actually Tomoko, but the side of Tomoko they’re used to seeing: the shy, nervous girl who has trouble communicating. It’s the Tomoko from first year, not the new Tomoko who is much more emotionally confident than before.

If I had been drinking something when I first read this, I would’ve most definitely done a spit-take.

With the way Ucchi is describing Tomoko, I realize this is exactly the performance that Izumi Kitta gave Tomoko in the anime (her real voice, not the voice in her head). But the level of detail is so good, that it’s actually kind of scary just how obsessed Ucchi has been. Relatively speaking, Ucchi actually hasn’t had many run-ins with Tomoko, and yet she is able to describe her so correctly and confidently.

And she actually called Tomoko charming.

It’s this line that got to me, because it’s the very first time Ucchi has admitted to liking Tomoko to any sort of degree. There’s no embarrassment, no denial, no hesitation.

If Nico Tanigawa don’t want us to ship them, then they’re sure making it hard not to.

I want to point out the way that Nemoto brought up her impression of Tomoko. She does it in a way that tries to minimize any meanness to it. By saying that her friends were laughing at it, she prevents any accusation of bullying, since it was “all in good fun”. By slouching over her desk like that, Nemoto makes the conversational atmosphere all casual, and by having Makeup-chan hear it, she has someone to potentially back her up should things turn sour.

Damn, she even did the eye thing. Nemo is merciless.

Tomoko.exe stopped working.

I’m sure a thousand thoughts are flooding Tomoko’s mind right now. And from the looks of things, I’m sure Tomoko came to the conclusion that yes, that was Nemoto who she fist-bumped that day. I’m glad that Makeup-chan managed to ease the tension before things got too ugly. And of course Nemoto would laugh it off, like it’s no big deal.

People like to say that Nemoto is shaping up to be the villain in this manga. While I wouldn’t go that far, I do think she has the potential to go there should the manga ever decide to go that route.

Whew! This was a long one! There was so much to unpack this time as opposed to the four pages from the last chapter. That’s no criticism, however, as I would gladly review fifty pages a chapter if they’re all as good as this one. The character dynamics, both new and old, were spot-on and offers many layers to dissect. At this point, there is no character who I don’t like, and that’s the highest compliment I can give. Because even the most disliked characters are as such because you like them that way. The manga has perfected naturalistic awkwardness to a T. I feel like every chapter, Nico Tanigawa sets itself up to a higher standard, that I wonder just how they’ll top the previous chapter.

So, next time Yoshida?

#watamote #watamote review #no matter how i look at it it's you guys' fault i'm not popular!#chapter 117 #tomoko kuroki #ucchi #yuri tamura #kotomi komiyama #itou #minami #mako #hina nemoto #okada #kiyota #katou #review

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 3/7/20

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 9 | By Io Sakisaka | VIZ Media – Ao Haru Ride is probably the most straight-up dramatic shoujo that I am reading at the moment, and though it relies largely on story beats that would usually annoy me—like misunderstandings and poor communication—I still really enjoy it. Kou and Futaba have feelings for each other, but Kou’s misguided decision to reject Futaba in favor of hanging out with a sad former classmate kept them apart. Now, Futaba believes Kou and said classmate are a couple, so she’s trying to move on with Kikuchi, a very nice boy whom she’s trying her best to fall for. I love that Kou’s actions have consequences and also that we see their friends discussing the situation and deciding that they can’t fix things for him; this time he has to be the one to act. I also note that Kikuchi is especially likable for a romantic rival, which is kind of rare. Recommened! – Michelle Smith

Given, Vol. 1 | By Natsuki Kizu | SuBLime – Ritsuka Uenohara got so good at playing the guitar that he started to find it boring. That changes when he meets a mysterious classmate named Mafuyu Sato, who is carrying around a very nice guitar yet has no idea how to play it. Mafuyu sings for Uenohara the melody that keeps running through his head, which proves to be the spark that gets Uenohara excited about music again. Mafuyu joins Uenohara’s band as their new singer—the other members are two college guys who seem poised to have a love story of their own—and they’re quickly gearing up for their first live show. Meanwhile, Uenohara’s confused about just how he feels about Mafuyu. Given already has a lot to love: the band dynamics, the relationship between the two leads, the mystery of Mafuyu’s past… I’m eager for more! – Michelle Smith

Komi Can’t Commmunicate, Vol. 5 | By Tomohito Oda | VIZ Media – Komi Can’t Communicate is a very charming series with likable characters. (The exception, of course, is Yamai, who continues to be thoroughly gross.) In this volume, the gang patronizes a run-down restaurant whose proprietors think Komi is a famous reviewer, meets a couple of new characters (Komi is up to 13 friends now!), and plans/executes a maid café for the cultural festival. What I really like is that though there are many comedic moments, Komi continues to make genuine progress in overcoming her communication difficulties. Her mom is shocked and happy to see her talking on the phone, she’s able to say something when out shopping with the two new characters, and she even manages a brief solo dance with Tadano before Najimi turns it into a group thing. This series is sixteen volumes and counting so far and I am definitely here for the long haul. – Michelle Smith

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – A flat-faced exotic shorthair keeps getting passed over at the pet store until a kind older gentleman arrives to take him home. Through a series of short chapters, they get to know each other. The human (Kanda) names the kitty Fukumaru, and it soon becomes apparent that he has lost his beloved wife, who had spoken of the possibility of getting a cat when their children were grown. This is an extremely sweet series about two beings who need each other, with dashes of humor provided by typical cat behaviors. I laughed out loud at a particularly evocative panel depicting what happens when Kanda removes an offending cover from Fukumaru’s litter box. I also appreciated seeing the pair through the eyes of Kanda’s long-time friend, who hasn’t seen him smile this much in ages. I’m looking forward to volume two! – Michelle Smith

My Androgynous Boyfriend, Vol. 1 | By Tamekou | Seven Seas – There’s a certain type of advertising line that goes “come for the _________, stay for the _________,” and I definitely feel that this works with My Androgynous Boyfriend. The androgyny is definitely a strong part of the title, such as needing to hide Meguru’s relationship with Wako to avoid fan rage, and pairing him up with another pretty boy model, Kira (which goes south fast when both disagree with the idea). But mostly I loved the simple loving relationship between Wako and Meguru, which is strong, sexy, and not something I was expecting in this sort of series. Wako also gets a lot to do, as well as some of the best lines. It’s a series where I come away going “is the next volume out already?” – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 3 | By Hirofumi Neda and Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – Smash!! continues to be pretty fun, though there seemed to be an inordinate amount of Mineta in this particular volume. True, much of that consists of the girls orchestrating his punishment for being such a total creep, which I guess is better than it could’ve been. Story-wise, volume three takes readers through the League of Villains’ attack on the training camp, but there are many diversions prior to that, including summer vacation hijinks, rescue drills, Halloween, etc. What I like best are things I’d never had reason to think of before, like Tokoyami’s inability to perform CPR, or just completely absurd visuals like Todoroki being depicted in a poodle costume or Aizawa playing the victim in a rescue scenario. I don’t know how much reread potential this series has, but… well, “pretty fun” about sums it up. – Michelle Smith

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, Vol. 6 | By Natsuya Semikawa and Virginia Nitouhei | Udon Entertainment – This is still, for the most part, a lighthearted series about people enjoying delicious pub food, but there is an ominous undercurrent to the whole thing that implies that the conservative forces are starting to rally against the izakaya as being a den of witches and that things may not be bright and sunny for long. Till then, there’s omelettes, and Hamburg Steak, and any number of tasty food that the customers, even if they may be reluctant at first, come to love. The question is whether that love of food can enter the hearts of the Church, which is very much in a “everything progressive and non-traditional must go into the fire” frame of mind. – Sean Gaffney

Scarlet, Vol. 1 | By Chiri Yuino | Seven Seas – This proved to be a lot darker and less fanservice-filled than I expected given the cover… and yes, I know the cover shows a vampire and her (rather happy) victim. But the vampire’s not all that happy, and in the end this is a book about the horrors of drug addiction, albeit one coached in the language of fairy tales and legends. Fine is a tragic vampire who wants to be human again, and Iris Redblood gets to be Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf at the same time. Together, they do indeed fight crime, but they don’t always win the day—sometimes the cute little girl ends up dying. And yes, there’s more than a tinge of yuri to this, which is why I suspect folks here will pick it up. It’s pretty good, but not sure if I need more of it. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 13 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Another unbalanced volume, this is definitely front-loaded, with the first half having some of the best material in the entire series, as Takane and Hana open up to each other in a private moment (that turns out to be a little less than private) and admit their feelings. The second half shows them trying to negotiate this thing they now have, going on a date (well, more of an endurance hike), and a trip to Okinawa, where they run into another annoying little problem—they still have to hide things, so she’s the “kid sister,” which irritates Takane no end. And, well, there’s also the problem if Hana lacking a certain sense of shame—fortunately Takane has it for her. The first half, though? Magnificent. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 8 | By Maybe | Yen Press – I enjoy the art and characters, but the series does love its one plot, which is “make it look like sex will be happening any day now but never actually have it occur.” Yes, they figure out a way to get out of the “bone or die” space without actually boning, and are able to move on with the fantasy part of the plot. Which actually involves the somewhat unwieldy party splitting up, so the next book should at least try to move away from will-they-or-won’t-they? a bit. In the meantime, this is another one where there’s no real conflict between the girls (as opposed to the previous generation of ring bearers). Even Saphir, seemingly the one who cares the least, is more a jerk with a heart of gold. Getting sort of trying. – Sean Gaffney

Umma’s Table | By Yeon-sik Hong | Drawn and Quarterly – Having greatly appreciated Uncomfortably Happily, I was excited that Drawn and Quarterly would be releasing another of Hong’s manhwa in translation, Umma’s Table. The narrative follows a cartoonist named Madang and his struggle to balance (and to some extent keep separate) his life as a new parent and his life as a caregiver for his ailing mother and father. Although shadowed by his father’s alcoholism and the lasting impact it has on multiple generations, some of Madang’s happiest and most nostalgic memories are those of family meals and his mother’s food. Overall, Umma’s Table is a bittersweet, wrenching work, but it’s not without moments of hope as Madang reflects on the complexities and parallels of his experiences both as a father and as a son. While not as explicitly autobiographical as Uncomfortably Happily, elements from Hong’s life are present in Umma’s Table as well, providing a sense of visceral honesty. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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beautymouth72-blog · 5 years

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From the Edge of the World: An Interview with Brian Phillips

DECEMBER 9, 2018

HOW DO PEOPLE find meaning — in their history, in their community, in the landscape around them? Brian Phillips has traveled untold distances in search of an answer to this question, but he never quite figures it out. He knows he can’t, and that’s part of the fun. Instead, the essays documenting his journeys embrace the messiness and complexity of this world, and he operates with an enthusiastic resignation to the unknowable.

Phillips is eager to cut into the unknown, not in order to understand it, but rather to arrive at even greater questions and deeper mysteries — the good stuff. The essays in his first collection, Impossible Owls, take him to oddities at the edges of our understanding, as far as Russia and India, and back in time into the archives of his hometown of Ponca City, Oklahoma. Unbeholden to any sort of tidy knowing, Phillips follows the most absurd, tragic, and compelling elements of his subjects wherever they lead. His essays dig their way down determinedly and wind their way unpredictably, like a cross-examination at the hands of a relentlessly curious, self-aware, and hilarious interrogator.

The collection contains eight essays, four of which are previously published but freshly revised. Collections are often called “wide ranging,” but almost never do they span such topics as, among other things, the Iditarod, sumo wrestling, the great Russian animator Yuri Norstein, and the British royal family. Taken together, this energetic and imaginative collection highlights the strange and nonsensical corners of our world that sit beyond our line of sight.

ISAAC LEVY-RUBINETT: The subjects of these essays are all over the place. How do you find topics? At what point does something go from an interesting topic to the focus of an essay?

BRIAN PHILLIPS: That’s probably the hardest part of the whole job for me: knowing what to write about next. Because I do jump all over the place a lot. I find that I have a sort of restless imagination, in the sense that I can get obsessed with a story for a good while but when it’s finished, I don’t want to do more on the same topic. I want to find something entirely different, which is also a virtue I like in essay writing generally. I like essays that go places you aren’t expecting and with spontaneous turns that you didn’t see coming in advance. I really dislike stories that telegraph everything that’s going to happen at the beginning of the piece. So it’s a really unfocused process, of just trying to be open to what comes across my screen.

I got interested in Yuri Norstein, the Russian animator who I wrote about in “The Little Gray Wolf Will Come,” when a friend of mine, who ended up traveling with me to Russia as my translator, sent me a YouTube clip of one of his short films, Hedgehog in the Fog. And I watched it and thought, “That’s cute,” and then didn’t think about him again for two years. And much later, I was on some Wikipedia page about lost movies, movies that had either vanished or never been finished, or might have had canonical importance but that we didn’t have anymore. I was reading through this list and came across Norstein’s “The Overcoat” adaptation, which he’d been working on for 37 years and never managed to finish. And I kind of remembered having seen Hedgehog in the Fog when Alyssa sent it to me a couple of years earlier. And then I just started poking around and reading about him, and it became clear fairly quickly that this was something I wanted to write about. But if I had just clicked three different links that morning, I never would have done the story. I could have gone on to do something completely different. So it’s tenuous. I was speaking to a college class last week, and they asked that question: “How do we find topics?” And I felt really unprepared to advise them on that. I wish I knew, honestly. This is the longest “I don’t know” in the history of interviews.

Most of your essays involve traveling to faraway places and trying to make sense of them. In the final essay, “But Not Like Your Typical Love Story,” you focus your attention on your hometown of Ponca City, Oklahoma. What was it like training your focus on a place to which you have a personal connection?

It was a big change after having done a lot of pieces that involved far-flung travel and immersing myself in worlds that I didn’t know well at all. Like, before I went to Japan, I didn’t really know much about sumo wrestling. So it was definitely a change of mental frame to go into a story where I was partly writing about my own experience and also telling this story of this place that I had known and heard in many iterations since I was a little kid, involving, in some cases, people I had known or seen when I was a child. The main difference was just that I had known about these people for a lot longer and they hit home in a slightly different way for me.

That felt important to me, because the book was about borders and thresholds and places you come to the end of one or another kind of known world. It’s about gaps on the map and boundaries of experience where you don’t know what lies on the other side. So it seems to me that it was necessary to confront my own version of that, which is … instead of going outward, going inward to home and figuring out how history functions in that way.

The Ponca City essay was really important to me for clarifying certain things about the perspective that I brought to other essays in the book. I tend to come at things sideways or from a slightly oblique angle, and a lot of that comes from having grown up in a place that I liked, in many ways, but felt like I didn’t quite fit in. You know, when you grow up in a small town and you feel like you have a different sensibility from the people around you, you are always in a slightly ironic position in your childhood universe. You leave your small town and go to the city, or go somewhere else, trying to find a place where you feel you belong, but then you find that that sideways relationship to things goes with you, and you’re always slightly defining yourself against your surroundings rather than with your surroundings, if that makes sense. This is a common and age-old story, but one that I’ve thought about a lot with respect to my own life. So I felt that going through that Ponca City story was a way to explore that kind of obliquity in a slightly more intimate and personal way than I was able to do when I was in Alaska, or watching The X-Files.

The essays in this collection span six years and two presidencies. What was it like engaging with your older work during our current historical moment?

I certainly wanted the book to speak to the world it was being released in. I wrote my book overlapping the two most recent presidencies, and of course did all of the revising under Trump. I felt, as I went through some of the older essays — this may be sort of writerly thinking, partly because I was writing about small-town Oklahoma and American conspiracy theories, which I’d actually written about under Obama — that they seemed kind of anticipatory. They seemed to fall into the chain of events that ultimately led to Trump. You know, how our dads listened to conspiracy radio in Oklahoma and they played the Rodney King riots on a loop at the pizza place. That was stuff that I’d written about in 2012, but when I was reading it under Trump, it stood out.

When I started revising, I had two options: I could think of these essays as finished works that represented the historical moments when they were published on the internet, or I could think of them as open to revision, and try to shape them for this moment.

From my perspective, it was about trying to make the essays as good as I could, and in some cases that had to do with drawing out some of those trends and parallels. I mostly chose the second course, partly because it’s hard for me not to tinker with my own work if I read something that seems bad. So in some ways I was making this large-scale choice to try to represent the world in 2018 more sagely, but then a lot of it was me being annoyed by stuff I wrote five years ago and wanting to bonk myself in the head because it should sound better.

You often stop short of offering a neat conclusion. Why?

I like things that don’t end in too clean a way. I like essays that leave things a little bit provisional, a little bit more nuanced than they seemed in the beginning. If I write an essay that clearly presents to the reader a situation of incomprehensible complexity, or a situation where knowledge kind of expires in the encounter with complexity, then I feel like that is, for me, often the more valuable kind of writing than essays that explain things, tie things off, and tell you what things mean. I like uncertainty and ambiguity and surprise, as aesthetic features.

I was thinking recently about Montaigne, the French writer who wrote some of the most important early essays. What’s so wonderful about Montaigne’s essays is how spontaneous they are. He’ll be going off on one historical tangent and then pivot halfway through and start talking about something else that seems only distantly connected, and then at the end you get this poetic juxtaposition that is just stunning. And he’ll do that in three pages — very, very briefly. I realized that this arc, in the tendencies of the essay over the last several hundred years, had a lot in common with what I also liked about blogging, when blogging was really a thing, where you felt like you could discover someone’s blog and get these vignettes. Maybe you didn’t know exactly where they were going to go, and they were really free to experiment, and sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn’t. There was a lot of spontaneity, and I found that moment kind of exhilarating. I think if I’ve tried to do anything as a writer of longer essays, it’s to convey those virtues in a longer form.

As a result, your essays often take a kind of winding and unpredictable path. How do you decide which twists and turns to take?

That’s something else that really depends on the story. I mean, the Japan story wasn’t easy to write in a lot of ways, but it was easy to plan because as I was experiencing it, I just knew what the essay was. I didn’t see the end of it until I got to the end of it, but when I got to the end of it in real life, I knew that was the end of the essay, so it was just a matter of coming home and translating that experience into words. In other stories, where the experience is not so conclusive, it can take a lot of feeling and finding my way in. That was the case with “Lost Highway,” where I got back from Area 51 and then couldn’t find my way into the piece, and I moved to Paris for a while. I went to extreme lengths to try and figure out what I was doing, and it really took a lot of additional thinking and feeling and I had to come back and go see the Trinity Site. That piece felt like putting together a jigsaw puzzle blindfolded.

I think I am uncomfortable with the idea of knowing anything. But I am really intrigued by the idea of productive unknowns, or resonant unknowns. If I can get to a place where the unknowns I’m confronting feel irreducible in some way, or feels like I can’t think my way through it or around it, then I feel like I’m in the right place. As I’m writing, I think the in-between process is often the process of trying to outwit the analytical tendency of my own brain to arrive at a conclusion. I want to continue finding my way through the mysteries and ambiguities of everything until I can’t keep going. To me, that’s the story.

Did you have to look hard for the owl references? It’s uncanny.

I added a couple of them, but some of them were always there. And strangely, some of them had been there in cuts and then I just restored the cut. Like, before I knew that owls were one of the key images of the book, I had written the Alaska essay and had ended up cutting from it a section about how people in Nome had seen this image of this snowy owl in their dreams before they reported alien abductions. And then as I was driving to the Trinity Site in New Mexico, I just happened upon this place called the Owl Cafe, which just happened to be where all the guys who were guarding the bomb before the first test and some of the nuclear scientists had lunch. It slowly dawned on me that owls were showing up a lot in some of these stories. So there were a couple places where I had to insert them, but it was never hard to find an owl. I don’t want to sell it as some sort of paranormal or magical event, but it was a little bit uncanny, at least.

They’ll follow you forever now.

And that’s really true. It turns out that when you write a book with owls in a title, people buy owls for you. Like, I’m a little overrun with owls right now. My mom keeps texting me when she finds an owl, and I’m like, “Don’t get it, mom.”

Isaac Levy-Rubinett is an editor and writer in Los Angeles.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/from-the-edge-of-the-world-an-interview-with-brian-phillips/

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 8/14/19

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 15 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – Nino has been struggling for so long against herself, or at the very least against Miou, that it’s worth seeing how she fares against actual professional singer at a concert. We find out here when one of the other bands covers an In No Hurry song and asks Nino to join in—which shows off how far she has to go, but also gives her a bit more drive. Meanwhile rain threatens to dwindle their audience, but also inspires them to bring out an older song—one associated with the band’s first vocalist. It helps tie into the theme of moving on and growing that is in this book. Which is good, as the romance is fairly static, though Kurose looks to be stumbling towards a revelation, at least. Still quite good. – Sean Gaffney

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 4 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – This volume is at its best when the prodigies are not having it quite as easy as they’d like. The local Duke is furious at what they’re trying to achieve, and launches a fearsome weapon that the heroes to eventually stop, but it manages to cause major damage to the city and causes some deaths as well. Thankfully, the Duke is killed off. Yup, totally dead, despite not finding a body. There’s no way he can come back from that. The service is also less in this volume, though it’s still present, especially in the extra chapter which is basically “why am I surrounded by girls with bigger tits than me?” Next volume promises a love triangle. This is OK, but I think I’d like the LN more. – Sean Gaffney

Killing Me!, Vol. 1 | By Akiyama | Yen Press – There were two volumes of yuri released last month, and one was fascinating enough for me to devote a full review to it. This is the other one, which is far less fascinating, though if you like yuri tsunderes it might be for you. A vampire hunter and vampire are both in high school, and the hunter keeps trying—and failing—to kill the vampire, partly as the vampire does things like attempting to seduce her, etc. and partly as she’s clearly in love but unaware of it. What happens is a series of somewhat tedious scenes that show off this love. There’s also age difference at play here, given the vampire tropes present. Not sure if there’s a second volume of this, but I was going to pass anyway. – Sean Gaffney

My Sweet Girl, Vol. 5 | By Rumi Ichinohe | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I’ve been waiting for My Sweet Girl to do something that might distinguish it from the pack. It’s been pleasant and cute, but through volume four, it was sticking to the standard shoujo plot lines. I mean, really, the introduction of Kiyodo, the similarly frail classmate whom Koeda befriended in junior high, is just another example of the childhood friend romantic rival trope. But Kiyodo is an interesting tsundere, and I really appreciated seeing Koeda through his eyes, especially his appreciation of how much she’s changed. I hope we’re not supposed to take him seriously as a threat to Masamune-kun, though. Finally kind of good! – Michelle Smith

One-Punch Man, Vol. 17 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | VIZ Media – Man, it seems like it’s been forever since we’ve seen Saitama show up to a scene and destroy a monster in a single punch, so his arrival at the battle between Genos, two elderly martial arts practitioners, and a nigh indestructable giant centipede—including an epic, eight-page spread for his punch—was immensely gratifying. I’ll just pretend the gag about King pooping his pants didn’t happen. Unfortunately, the arc about the Monster Association is still ongoing, with no end in sight. Hero-hunter Garo I can at least sympathize with a little bit, and now he’s in league with the monsters, so perhaps he’ll make them more interesting by association. This is still a fun title, despite my gripes. – Michelle Smith

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 26 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – Arguably kidnapping Mafuyu and locking her in a mansion was not the best move plot-wise, as it takes us away from the school and devotes too much attention to Miyabi’s sister Toko and our villain of the arc, Mr. Maki. Toko fares better here than she has before, but is no Miyabi, and Maki’s tragic backstory does not really tear at the heartstrings like it should. Fortunately, there is always Mafuyu being an absolutely dense pile of girl, and we get that in spades. Every time I found myself laughing hard it was due to Mafuyu reaching new depths of stupidity that I didn’t think were possible—”You’re telling me to make more friends” had me in hysterics. This needs to end soon, but I still love it. – Sean Gaffney

Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General, Vol. 4 | By jin | Seven Seas – The author almost apologizes for this volume having a plot that runs all the way through it, as it turns out that the heroes organization has been compromised, and after Secretary, of all people, is kidnapped, it’s up to Braveman and Black General to team up and head into the base. This is not to say there’s not a lot of the silly humor that’s the reason to read this—the antagonist realizing how the General had snuck into the hero training course earlier is a great series of “oh crap” images, and while Black General’s solution ended up humiliating her, it also included a very satisfying kick to the groin which was desperately needed. Still more fun than you’d expect. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 10 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – So I put off reviewing this for a long time, and while it’s difficult to do a content warning in a brief, here is one: there’s a non-consensual sex scene in this, and while it’s handled in a way that’s not meant to be titillating but disturbing, it’s still here and did not make me happy. It doesn’t help that Buckingham is sitting there on the cover smiling at the reader as if to say “Yeah, I did that. And?” That said, there is one fantastic reason to read this, and it’s Elizabeth, who, like Margaret before her, is getting more and more furious and unhinged, and the faces that Kanno draws to convey this are first rate. This is not an easy read, but I still want to see how it all plays out. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 17 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – This is at its best when it’s revisiting its past, as with earlier volumes. While fifteen wrapped up Negima and gave us an ultra-happy ending, this is not that universe, and there will be no wedding between Chisame and anyone here, as we discover just how Negi got to be what he is and why Nodoka and Yue are on his side. Less impressive is the resolution of the bomb on the space station plot, which involves one of the characters sacrificing their immortality to save the day ’til an ass pull that’s so out of nowhere that even I, a very forgiving person, can’t accept it. Oh yes, and not a fan of Eva/Touta, so seeing Chachazero (revived briefly) nagging her about it did not thrill me. Sill, the Negima stuff was great. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 19 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – Zeno’s sad backstory has concluded, so volume nineteen is mostly transitional. Still, because this is Yona, it’s still really good. First, the group runs into the former site of a Blue Dragon village, whereupon the spirit of a previous Blue Dragon possesses Sinha. He threatens to use the rest of the party as vessels for the spirits of the bandits with whom he was trapped long ago, but then he meets Yona. I loved the panel where this guy just involuntarily starts weeping from being in her presence. She’s able to soothe him in no time, and then she and the boys end up accompanying Riri on a journey to another country. Or, rather, they *would* if they weren’t ambushed in a pleasant-seeming town on this side of the border. Yona is always fabulous, even when it’s just moving the plot along. – Michelle Smith

Yuri Is My Job!, Vol. 4 | By miman | Kodansha Comics – We finally get the climax of the arc here, and it’s handled pretty well given that this series is reveling in yuri tropes while trying to steer clear of any actual yuri relationships. Sumika’s past shows us that, to my surprise, she was not the one involved in the past “tragedy,” though I did like seeing how said tragedy seems to have merely led to an Important Haircut rather than anything more drastic. Still, it does help Sumika realize that she’s not there to stop Kanoko from confessing—Kanoko’s never going to do that—but to be there when the emotions of burying her love get to be too much. As a result, we get two new soeurs… erm, schwesters, and a final lighter chapter whose plot is “Yano’s large chest is too sexy for our room.” Decently handled. – Sean Gaffney

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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