#ahh... sports anime

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Most sports anime have a much bigger recurring cast, since they tend to be structured as tournaments between school sports teams, so you’ll have the main cast team, and then a bunch of other schools’ teams. And the main cast will have their “best friend” pairs and then each newly introduced school team will have a whole team but also at least one main duo who will sort of be bigger characters than the rest of their team and pretty much represent them. Sk8 meanwhile has a much smaller cast than most sports anime, so they get a lot more focus, and it’s not a tournament structure or taking place in school. The only other sports anime I’d say even comes close to the amount of gay Sk8 exudes is Free!, and even then Sk8 still has that scene which the official Crunchyroll Dubs YouTube channel labeled “Langa Has “The Talk” With His Mom” so. How else are we supposed to read that

Wait scratch that about Free! being the only sports anime anywhere near as gay as Sk8, that’s factually incorrect because I just remembered Yuri on Ice exists. But still

Ohhh right, Yuri on Ice!!! You know, I still haven't watched it but again, I think I've absorbed some of it by some kind of anime cultural osmosis. That one is... actually explicitly gay though, instead of just having undertones. Like outright there was a kiss scene right? That really sweet one where Victor kind of runs at Yuri and hugs him and they fall onto the ice? They got married too, or something? There's rings, I know that much. It was a big deal; I remember when people were freaking out about it when it was airing. :D

But yeah it makes sense they were able to focus a bit more on relationship development with a smaller cast in Sk8. I did not know that's what they called that clip; that's hilarious. I can't wait for season 2. I don't know what's going to happen but I miss these goofs.

I haven't seen Free either! Darn! But again, I recognize it from its popularity. What else do I know... Kuroko no Basket (I know very little about this one tbh), Haikyuu (volleyball! so many people at my high school were obsessed with it), and I see Blue Lock a lot right now. I have no desire to watch it atm but a certain mutual makes memes sometimes that make me laugh all the harder with no context. Looks wild.

[damnedreams]

Okay finally watched Chainsaw Man. c:

Saw Blue Lock too ( im a sucker sport anime plus got to see bk's twin lmao).

[icanseethefuture333]

How to gain followers as an influencer according to your Midheaven

Aries MC:

These influencers are blunt and say whatever that comes to mind. They have a confident aura to themselves and a lot of people gravitate towards them because of how infectious their personality is. Aries MC as influencers are competitive, bold, and outgoing. They also can have a cute and bubbly nature due to Aries being the youngest of the zodiac signs. In order to gain followers or success an influencer - speak your mind. Post pictures of yourself in the gym, dancing, or playing sports, Aries are known for their athleticism and people admire the amount of energy they possess. Aries MC do best in their career as an influencer when they are energetic and thriving in life. Their following might go down if they talk about losing or show a significant change of attitude in their content such as accepting defeat. Fans can emphasize with them if they open up about trauma and abuse.

Loren Gray’s most viral video is when she transitioned from blonde to brown hair. Making bold choices such as a change in hair color, makeup, or fashion style will attract more attention.

(Ex: Tana Mongeau, Loren Gray, Lisa)

Taurus MC:

The misconception of Taurus MCs is that they are always perceived as classy or being “refined” in their aesthetic. When the most famous Taurus MCs influencers are the exact opposite. They have this “untouchable” essence to them (“Yo voy voy voy”). Like those cool girls you pass by in the mall and never see again. They live a life of fun and luxury, their stories you always want to tune in because they’re always doing something interesting. Taurus MCs need to give little by little, share your interests while also keep an air of mystery to yourself. They are the life of the party and you can often see them enjoying good food, alcohol, and/or on vacation. Taurus MCs can pull off slick buns, gold hoops, glossy lips, and tight clothing like no other as well. Unless they are showing off their riches and bragging, people will get bored of them. They don’t want someone they can relate to, so these people often get put on a pedestal or people look up to them for motivation. Most likely to be the ones on somebody's vision board. People are turned off when they display arrogance and envy out of insecurity.

Alex Consani’s most viral video of her is at a fancy restaurant singing “Lifestyle” by Young Thug.

(Ex: Alex Consani, Alexa Demie, Selena Gomez)

Gemini MC:

These girlies are some chatterboxes. They are similar to Aries MCs in a way when it comes to saying whatever they want but what they say often… doesn’t make sense but also totally makes sense, yk? The girls that get it, get it, and the girls that don’t, don’t! Queens/kings of musically fr. Gemini MCs are good at being animated and cunning when creating content. They act really ditsy and lost but they are secretly very intelligent. To gain followers, just be WEIRD, but not weird as in it being forced to be unique and different. I mean weird as just being yourself - unfiltered. Imagine yourself at 10 years old and how annoying but funny they were then letting it out as an adult now that you have control of your life. Give your inner child that space to be creative and humorous without overthinking.

Trisha Paytas being a Gemini MC in her most viral videos. That is all.

(Ex: Trisha Paytas, Liza Koshy, Bella Hadid)

Cancer MC:

Ahh Cancer MCs, they just give mother, ykwim? Something about them is just so feminine and nurturing. If they are young in age, people are drawn to their girl/boy next door vibes. They often fit the beauty standard and are praised for their youthful features. They are way over romanticized sometimes and people have an unhealthy obsession with them. People often see Cancer MCs as overrated but honestly who cares? You are capable of gaining followers by making content with family members, at home, or honestly doing the bare minimum (this placement doesn’t require much effort).

Ari Fletcher is famous for being the girlfriend of rapper G Herbo and mother of their son, Yosohn, she often posts videos of her and their son together.

(Ex: Charli D’amelio, Ari Fletcher, Zoë Kravitz)

Leo MC:

Divaaaas. Leo MCs just give celebrity through and through. They are probably some of the youngest influencers out there. These are the people who were in their bathroom making YouTube videos at 11 and getting over millions of views just for talking about their day at school. They could talk a lot of shit and people would just tune in for the gossip. They are hilarious and entertaining to watch. Always hated but could never be imitated. They are just that it girl/boy. Leo MCs gain attention for their voluminous hair, balanced features, and radiant style. The more they shine, the better. These people gain followers when they look the most glamorous and behave unapologetically themselves. Fun to hear them talk while drunk too. Might have to make a few apologies throughout their career but their fans are loyal and would never turn their back on them lol. “They could never make me hate you ahhh😝”. Leo MCs live by the saying “only god could cancel me”, the feline that got 9 lives. Haters would even miss them if they died.

Bretman Rock’s viral contour video that’s … dare I say chaotic.

(Ex: Justine Skye, Bretman Rock, Doja Cat)

Virgo MC:

True natural beauty. These people probably started the “clean girl” trend, they are so effortlessly perfect at everything they do. Top student of their class, successful in their career, etc. You name it. Virgo MCs are admired for their good reputation and clean image (or in another case, when their reputation goes to shit, they can salvage it by being clever and profiting it off themselves. Kim Kardashian became famous for being in a sex tape and ever since then she’s been one of the biggest influencers in the entertainment industry). They gain followers for posting content of their everyday routine, cleaning habits, and comfortable but stylish wardrobe. These people lose attention when they are looking messy and dirty. Sometimes engaging in reckless behavior and not always being the “perfect” girl people perceive them as can gain attention - good or bad. These people may have a harder time keeping up with the standards people enforce onto them and often face criticism more than others which could impact their mental as well as physical health.

(Ex: Yara Shahidi, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, Maya Jama)

Libra MC:

The ultimate beauty gurus omg! These are the best people to receive beauty tips from. Unfortunately, people could never look as pretty as them but they could at least learn tips that would help them enhance their appearance with makeup, skincare, etc. Libra MCs are the embodiment of beauty and style, they make the perfect influencers and a lot of them are very popular on social media. They know how to balance humor while being serious when giving advice, giving off big sister/brother vibes. The beauty standards they present could be unattainable, so they could receive both love and hate from others because they are not able to replicate them. These influencers are the type to set trends such as “#wonyoungism” and what not. Wearing pink, using your artistic skills, and being an advocate for a cause you care about could attract more followers.

Jenna Marbles most famous video is ironically about “how to trick people into thinking you’re good looking”.

(Ex: Jenna Marbles, Kylie Jenner, Michelle Phan)

Scorpio MC:

Sexy spooky gals. Scorpio MCs possess a beauty that is haunting to the mind, they are the bad girls/boys. They are daring by nature and their quirky personalities contrast with their sensual appearance. These placements could be former porn stars or be very popular on onlyfans (*cough cough* Mia Khalifa). They are often involved in scandals, dating rumors, and people view them as dramatic. Indulge in people’s fantasies and feed into others illusions. Emphasize your eyes by doing a smoker eyeliner look, contour your cheeks, and wearing a nude lip is a signature look for the Scorpio MCs. Wearing leather, revealing, or stripper type clothing and having tattoos is part of their grand appeal as well. Entertain your fans by engaging in harmless flirting and venting about your emotions.

Quenlin has been gaining popularity recently for being involved in a dating rumor that her, Billie Ellish, and Odessa are in a throuple after making a video together.

(Ex: Emma Chamberlain, Quenlin Blackwell, India Love)

Sagittarius MC:

The one everyone wishes to find. These people become the most searched in a matter of seconds. Everyone wants to know who they are, what’s their name, and where are they from. Sagittarius MCs could be praised for their “exotic” look or extravagant style. Wear clothing and jewelry from foreign countries, these people have to give off the vibe they just came back from vacation. They are often seen sporting tans and look good in “airport fashion". To gain followers, post content of videos of yourself talking in the car, traveling, going to the airport, being on vacation, driving to your favorite places, and/or speaking in foreign languages. Sagittarius MCs become famous “unintentionally” and they experience a lot of luck and success within their career. Being too stagnant could harm their success.

Cindy Kimberly went viral after Justin Bieber posted her on his instagram asking people who she was.

(Ex: Cindy Kimberly, Khloe Kardashian, Jenna Ortega)

Capricorn MC:

These mfers are always mewing. Patrick Bateman core. These are the business moguls, supermodels, and professional gamers. They are competitive and efficient when it comes to their work. They look great in black and have noticeable tattoos. Similar to Scorpio MCs with having a baddie image but instead of being just “bad”, they give off mafia vibes. The sexy super villain that’s hard to resist and secretly rooting for. People want to know how much money they make and what they did to achieve being rich (“sprinkle sprinkle”). Capricorn MCs are appreciated for their dedication and hard work. People admire them most when they talk about their struggles and how they overcame obstacles to become successful. Although, if they are someone who benefits from nepotism, people could really despise them. Be the unbothered queen/king you’re meant to be and invest in yourself, remember your time and energy is valuable.

Rihanna’s most viral video is of her saying “she could beat me but she could not beat my outfit” during a speech.

(Ex: Vinnie Hacker, Rihanna, Kendall Jenner)

Aquarius MC:

The definition of social media stars. These are the innovators and trend starters. They are the reason influencers are so big now on the internet. Aquarius MCs gain popularity for their unique perspective and usage of technology (cameras, editing content, etc). They could post about tech, talking about interests from their fandom, doing Q&As, and having a close relationship with their fans. People admire how friendly and down to earth they are. Aquarius MCs lose followers when they are cold and distant. These people could wear just about anything but look best in a hoodie, sunglasses, and jeans. They are oh so casual chic.

Madison Beer went viral in her cover of Etta James when she was only 13, she showed gratitude to her fans in the comment section and was praised by Justin Bieber as well.

(Ex: Madison Beer, Jackie Aina, Dixie D’amelio)

Pisces MC:

These people just spawned into existence. They are otherworldly in terms of appearance. Pisces MCs are quite strange when it comes to how they express themselves and people who are often misunderstood find comfort in these public figures. As influencers, their style has spiritual or mystical elements. They look like a fantasy character come to life and their makeup style can be quite bizarre. These people lose followers when they try to fit in and dim their light. They make a positive impact on others when they talk about acceptance and self love. Pisces MCs’ sexuality could be a hot topic as well and they might be very progressive with their views. These people could be psychic and are very intuitive in terms of the future.

Julia Fox’s most popular video is about how her son was born the same day her best friend who died (she also talked about how she came to her in a dream to tell her she was having a boy!)

(Ex: Julia Fox, Addison Rae, James Charles)

[techs-ass]

Shark Sundays: Epaulette Shark

Hello, hello! Welcome to my Shark Sundays post where every week I let people pick a shark that I then just kind of info dump about on Sundays. This week's shark winner is the Epaulette shark!

Now, please remain seated for the whole ride and try not to throw popcorn at the narrator, they're very sensitive.

Conservation Status: Least Concerned

This adorable little sea pup is the Epaulette shark or Hemiscyllium ocellatum! Their base body color is a creamy or slightly brownish hue and marked with widely spaced dark brown spots. The Epaulette shark gets its name from the very large, white-margined black spot behind each pectoral fin, which kinda looks like decorative military epaulettes. These little guys are one of the smaller species of sharks growing at a maximum of 27 to 35 inches long (70-90 cm) and living for around 20 to 25 years. They can be found in shallow tropical water at around the depth of 131 ft. (40 m) in the western Pacific Ocean usually near New Guinea and Australia.

The Epaulette shark feeds at low tide and is most active during dusk and dawn. They hunt for food by pushing their snout into the sand and shuffling around, once the prey is located they will thrash their body around to catch it. The way they chew their food is actually kinda cute as they'll chew it with little bits sticking out of their mouth. Speaking of prey and eating, these guys eat things that are somehow tinier than they are, mostly feeding on crustaceans, small fish, and polychaete worms. The adults will usually eat shrimp and crabs while the juveniles will mostly eat worms and fish. Though both of them use suction feeding!

Now because these little cuties are usually found in warm, shallow waters they regularly interact with humans. If you happen to see one in the water, don't panic! The most these guys might do is nip at your toes if you wiggle 'em too much but otherwise, they're completely harmless and have no recorded attacks on humans.

Fun Fact: Some Epaulettes are actually kept as pets. They thrive pretty well in smaller environments and are relatively docile besides the occasional little bite to their caretakers.

Now that we've gotten past the basics now I can tell you about the most fascinating thing about Epaulettes. Are you ready? Cause you gotta be ready for this fact. It's a really cool fact. Are you sitting down? Not drinking anything? Ok, ok here it is:

Epaulette sharks can walk on dry land for up to 98 ft. (30 m) and survive hypoxia - a deficiency of oxygen- for two. whole. hours.

Yeah, you read that correctly. The Epaulette SHARK can walk!!! on land!!! Look at this gif and tell me it's not the coolest shit you've ever seen.

Look at him go!! AHH!! *shakes you aggressively* WE ARE LITERALLY WATCHING A MARINE ANIMAL GO THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNING TO WALK ON LAND!!! IT COULD POSSIBLY EVOLVE TO BE A FULL LAND ANIMAL WITHIN 30 TO 40 YEARS!!!!

*ahem* Now you may be asking, "But Mal, why are they walking on land?" Well, there are multiple answers to this question. The main one is that they do this to get from tide pool to tide pool allowing them to access new pools to forage for food, or tidepools with better-oxygenated water. They also use this little talent to evade predators! As y'know, other sharks and large fish can't walk on land like this absolute Chad. Scientists believe that with the effects of climate change, this ability will help them to survive drastic changes to their environments.

Speaking of survival, let's talk about the Epaulette's conservation status. Thankfully for these little guys, the IUCN Red List has them as a species under "least concern" This means that there's nothing that really poses any major risk to their species and they're relatively abundant. They do, of course, have natural predators but because it has no value as a commercial food fish and is not considered a sport fish, the Epaulette isn't really targeted by humans except for the aquarium trade. So if you're favorite shark is the Epaulette then you've got pretty much nothing to worry about as the Epaulette's are happy and thriving!

This doesn't mean that humans pose no threat to the Epaulette. Our actions still have a huge impact on their lives! From overfishing to reef destruction, and how toxic the exotic trade can be, we still have to be careful. It's important that we recognize our actions have consequences and not just on us. It's our job to spread awareness and hold each other accountable (especially big corporations who cause most of the damage.)

Aaaand this concludes this week, Shark Sundays! I do hope you enjoyed reading about this cute shark and I hope you learned something new! Thank you so much for stopping by <3 If you want to be put on the tag list for Shark Sundays (including the polls to vote for which shark you want to read about next!) then just let me know in the comments or reblogs!

Tgalist:

[gimmethatagustd]

the heart nebula (2) | kth + pjm

♡ Summary: It has been a year since Jimin and Taehyung started dating, and they still haven't slept together. Jimin thinks they haven't because Taehyung doesn't want him; Taehyung thinks Jimin won't want him if they do. (Or, the one where Jimin is Taehyung's moon, and Taehyung is from the stars.)

♡ Pairing: Taehyung x Jimin

♡ Words: 3,387

♡ Rating: Explicit

♡ Genre: Science fiction, established relationship, angst, smut, fluff

♡ Warnings: They're cute but it's vmin and i wrote them so that's to be expected, groping, the tentacles are back or whateva, we're learning all about alien culture

♡ Post Date: September 23, 2024

♡ Notes: I'm probably on a plane rn~ Maybe? Idk how time zones work.

♡ Masterlist ♡ AO3 Crosspost 

♡ series masterlist ♡

“Tae.”

“Hmm?”

Taehyung lifts his chin to look at Jimin. They’re in their living room, taking advantage of a stormy Saturday evening, the thunderstorm outside competing with the TV playing softly in the background. Jimin sits on the couch with his back against the arm and his legs sprawled out. Between Jimin’s legs, Taehyung lies on his stomach, his arms wrapped around Jimin’s waist and his head resting on Jimin’s abdomen.

An educational docuseries about sharks plays on the TV, but Jimin is busy reading a book he recently borrowed from the library. He put on the docuseries for Taehyung, anyway, since Taehyung has decided that sharks are his favorite Earth animal species.

When Jimin mentioned assuming Taehyung would have picked the octopus, Taehyung almost threw him onto the floor.

“What did you like to do for fun back home?” Jimin asks, closing his book and carefully setting it on the coffee table without jostling Taehyung too much.

Two of Taehyung’s tentacles are playing in Jimin’s hair at the back of his head. When Jimin reaches up to touch them, he realizes the tentacles have been braiding his hair — and rather well, all things considered. Sometimes, Jimin wonders if Taehyung even notices when he does these little affectionate gestures with his tentacles or if they simply come naturally to him.

“I liked to read, too,” Taehyung speaks slowly while he thinks, his words weaving through the air like his tentacles weave through Jimin’s hair. “Mysteries, mostly. And I enjoyed athletics.”

“Sports like ours?”

Taehyung grins when he uses another tentacle to flick the underside of Jimin’s chin.

“Do you think humans are the most interesting creatures in the universe, little moon? Because, unfortunately, I have news for you.”

“Ahh, Taehyung, quit it,” Jimin groans and tries to shoo away the tentacle at his chin. Instead, he ends up tickling it back with his fingers when the tentacle curls against his collarbone. “I don’t know anything about all that.”

Jimin waves his hand at the ceiling as if gesturing to the universe above, and Taehyung laughs.

“We have our own games but adopted some human customs, too. And I am fantastic at playing basketball,” Taehyung is smug, and it makes Jimin smile.

“That’s just because you have more limbs than a normal person.”

“I have the same number of limbs as the rest of my people,” Taehyung points out.

Thinking about a world where tentacles are a regular part of life is fascinating. Jimin wonders what he would look like if he had them. Would they be as troublesome as Taehyung’s? Jimin has yet to understand Taehyung’s relationship with his tentacles. He can tell when Taehyung is controlling them, but he hasn’t figured out why they behave the way they do when Taehyung lets them “roam” — as he calls it. Taehyung is a very composed person, even when he’s being cheeky. His tentacles must be the parts of his personality he has to be more intentional about controlling.

“I wish I had tentacles,” Jimin confesses with a sigh.

One of Taehyung’s tentacles wiggles out from the collar of his t-shirt. He uses it to boop Jimin on the nose. That action was definitely intentional from Taehyung, not just “roaming” behavior. Such a little shit.

Taehyung grins, boxy and bright. It seems that all Jimin and Taehyung do these days is smile, laugh, and look at each other with so much love that it’s sickening.

“You would look cute with them.”

“Really?” Jimin asks shyly. He tries ducking his head to look away from Taehyung, but the tentacle that had booped him in the nose grabs his chin and pulls him back to face Taehyung again.

“Little moon,” Taehyung adjusts his position to be level with Jimin so he can get closer, “I bet they would be small and sneaky, just like you.”

“Oh, whatever.” Jimin rolls his eyes, but his stomach flutters at the thought. Magically growing tentacles could never happen; that doesn’t mean he can’t dream about it.

Based on what Taehyung has said about his tentacles in the past, Jimin infers that he is Taehyung’s first relationship with a human. He wonders if that is meaningful in any way. There seem to be so many similarities between humans and Taehyung’s people that Jimin wonders if relationships and physical intimacy are the same, too. He certainly hopes so. Jimin doesn’t want to think about the possibility that he can’t give Taehyung everything he wants, needs, and deserves, all because Jimin is a human.

“You’ve become so pensive,” Taehyung murmurs. He brushes the tip of his nose against Jimin’s, forcing out a huff of playful irritation from Jimin’s parted lips.

“Are you saying I normally don’t think?”

Taehyung raises his eyebrows — a silent response that rings loud and clear.

“Watch your show!” Jimin scolds Taehyung’s snarky behavior and snatches his book from the coffee table.

Although they got through one intense conversation about their relationship, Jimin isn’t quite ready to start addressing all of them. He’s still a bit of a coward, so he lets Taehyung settle back down to learn about sharks and tells himself he doesn’t need to worry and rush so much anymore.

Unfortunately, Jimin doesn’t overcome his insecurities about his humanity as quickly as Taehyung overcomes his insecurities about his extraterrestrial status.

There are undoubtedly many downsides to being human, now that Jimin knows there is an alternative species to have been born into. Taehyung greatly enjoys pointing out such downsides. Apparently, these thoughts were hidden away in the past, and Taehyung is taking full advantage of Jimin’s new knowledge of extraterrestrial life to tease the fuck out of him. 

For one, grocery shopping has become a whole production, with Taehyung playing a little game of risk and reward. He lets Jimin wobble on his tiptoes as he tries to reach a jar of gochujang on a grocery shelf just high enough that his little fingers slip against the edge. 

“Shut up,” Jimin huffs over his shoulder at Taehyung’s giggling.  

“You look so cute!” 

Jimin gives Taehyung his middle finger.

“Grumpy little moon, aren’t you?” Taehyung murmurs more of the same questions he always asks Jimin, pondering what he should do with such a troublesome creature – as though Jimin is the only one causing trouble in their household! 

Jimin can count five other things that cause worse trouble than he does. One of those things slips out from the hem of Taehyung’s t-shirt. He watches the tentacle extend long enough to curl around the jar and bring it down to place it into the grocery cart. 

“It’s not fair,” Jimin huffs again and grabs the handle of the grocery cart to push it down the narrow aisle. “You’re lucky no one is around to see that.” 

Taehyung trails behind him, with his tentacle put away and more giggles on his lips. Jimin swears his heart swells with affection, knowing Taehyung is comfortable, even when his confidence could get him into trouble.

Over time, their comfort with each other deepens, moving beyond just Taehyung’s playful antics during grocery shopping and his love for intergalactic sports. The changes come slowly. After Jimin and Taehyung's intense conversation, it takes Taehyung nearly a week before he finally lets his tentacles free when he’s at home. Even though Jimin said they were cool, he understood why Taehyung was still insecure.

Taehyung’s confidence in being himself around Jimin is growing now. It started off subtle, mostly evident in the little details of their domesticity — the light press of Taehyung’s fingers against Jimin’s waist as he steps past him in the kitchen, hugs from behind while Jimin brushes his teeth in the bathroom, and the gentle kiss against the side of his neck that comes with them, the casualness of Taehyung’s demeanor when Jimin video calls his parents.

Taehyung has always made Jimin feel loved and adored, but being loved by Taehyung when Taehyung is in a headspace where he is also giving himself love is an entirely different experience. Love like that reaches deeper. It means something more because it goes beyond just Jimin.

Watching Taehyung learn to love himself in an environment where he can’t even be himself without fear of getting caught by the government or being hurt by a human is enough to make Jimin cry. Even though they’d be mostly happy tears, he keeps them at bay so he doesn’t worry Taehyung.

They’d always been drawn to each other in a way Jimin had never experienced with anyone else, but this new chapter in their relationship goes far beyond what they had once shared. 

Ever since the big reveal, Jimin feels like he’s having a sleepover with his best friend every night again.

At night, Taehyung stands beside Jimin in the bathroom. Through the mirror, Jimin watches Taehyung’s eyes crinkle in a smile as he tries not to laugh while brushing his teeth. Whereas Taehyung brushes his teeth with his hand holding his toothbrush, Jimin grins as one of Taehyung’s smaller tentacles holds Jimin’s toothbrush and brushes his teeth for him. It’s messier than Jimin would like, Taehyung’s tentacle far more uncoordinated than a human hand for a task like this.

The toothpaste foam dribbles down Jimin’s chin, making him step back with his hands under his face to prevent any from getting on the floor while Taehyung giggles so hard he almost chokes. 

Looking back, it seems impossible that Taehyung could have imagined that Jimin wouldn’t still adore him once he learned the truth. Jimin loves Taehyung, and he loves his tentacles, too. They’re fun! Jimin insists that they are, though Taehyung is still working on trusting the adoration Jimin gives him. 

They have all the time in the world to figure things out. Considering how far they’ve come in just a little over a year, Jimin isn’t worried.

“I forgot to tell you about Soomin’s party,” Jimin calls out to Taehyung once they brush their teeth. He gets settled in bed and waits for Taehyung to finish changing into his pajamas in the bathroom. 

Taehyung still won’t get naked in front of Jimin. It has only been a few weeks since Taehyung shared his secret; Jimin understands if Taehyung still isn’t ready to cross that boundary. Although Taehyung said his tentacles are the only visible difference between himself and humans, Jimin wonders if there’s more to it than that. 

Either way, he won’t rush Taehyung. Trust takes time, especially in a relationship like theirs. 

“Did you guys dare each other to kiss?” Taehyung waggles his eyebrows once he emerges from the bathroom. He's shirtless to let his tentacles freely move around, and he's wearing loose plaid pajama pants.

Jimin does appreciate at least admiring the top half of Taehyung, and he has found the swell of Taehyung’s muscular pecs to be a lovely pair of pillows.

“What?!” Jimin looks up from his phone to narrow his eyes at Taehyung as he slips under the covers beside him. 

“Isn’t that what humans do at parties? Play sexual dare games?” 

Jimin snorts. He puts his phone away to charge on his nightstand and wonders where in the hell Taehyung got such an idea. Really, where are aliens getting their information?

“Maybe teenagers, but we’re too old for that. Unless we were, I don’t know, swingers or something.” 

Taehyung snuggles against his pillow with wide, curious eyes and gazes up at Jimin.

"I've never heard of swingers," Taehyung says.

“They’re usually a married couple that likes to have sex with other married couples, sometimes together but sometimes… like, swapping each other’s spouses out.” 

Jimin must visibly cringe because Taehyung bursts into laughter and flops onto his back. His tentacles slither out of the way to avoid being crushed underneath him.

“That would never happen in my culture.” Taehyung wipes tears from his eyes, and Jimin complains that it wasn’t that funny. “We are strictly monogamous.” 

One of Taehyung’s tentacles flicks the underside of Jimin’s chin, and Jimin knows it’s Taehyung trying to be cheeky. His suspicion is confirmed when Taehyung turns his head to the side and winks.

“Good to know,” Jimin says with another snort to mask how flustered Taehyung makes him.

“The unity between couples is important to us,” Taehyung says thoughtfully after a moment of comfortable silence. “I suppose it’s because it goes beyond merely… saying I love you and living together or getting married. We connect on a spiritual level.” 

Jimin closes his eyes as one of Taehyung’s tentacles gently brushes his hair away from his face. It lingers for a moment before ruffling his hair.

“What do you mean?” Jimin asks, barely getting the words out. There’s a reason why he hasn’t asked Taehyung about relationship dynamics on his home planet. 

“When we mate, we create a bond. It’s hard to explain, but in a way, we can understand each other’s thoughts and sense each other’s feelings. There is no greater connection, no relationship as deep, even between family – it just isn’t the same.”

Taehyung speaks as though he knows what it feels like. 

Jimin inhales slowly and opens his eyes. He doesn’t look at Taehyung, afraid of what his expression may be. Instead, he sinks deeper into the bed, lying on his back, with his eyes fixated on the ceiling.

“Do you have a mate? Back home?” Jimin whispers despite the unease churning in the pit of his stomach. 

If monogamy is so important, Taehyung shouldn’t be with Jimin if he has a mate. But maybe Jimin doesn’t count—maybe humans are just throwaways, little things to play with before returning home. They haven’t discussed that either—whether Taehyung plans to go home. There are so many things they haven’t talked about.

Another tentacle wraps around Jimin's wrist and lightly tugs on it to stop him from chewing on a hangnail.

“Of course, I don’t,” Taehyung's tone is soft, but Jimin knows he's reprimanding him in his own gentle way.

“Just asking.” 

“That was a silly thing to ask.” 

Jimin glares at the ceiling, suddenly irritated. “I don’t know, Taehyung. There are a lot of things I feel like I need to ask you.” 

The tentacle around Jimin’s wrist lets go and slides along his arm to eventually rest on his shoulder. It curls against his collarbone, warm and not too heavy, a comforting weight that grounds him.

“My lovely moon may ask me anything he wants.” Taehyung always knows how to speak gently to Jimin.

Sometimes, Jimin wonders if some kind of cosmic magic gives Taehyung's voice the power to calm him down. His brain tells him he’s just in love. With a sigh, he reaches for Taehyung’s hand under the covers. Taehyung's tentacles are definitely cool, but Jimin likes his hands the most. They feel nice engulfing Jimin’s. 

“Let’s play twenty questions in the morning,” Jimin offers with a yawn. “I’m tired.” 

“You didn’t even tell me about the party!” 

Jimin closes his eyes and waves his free hand at Taehyung as though to shoo him away.

“Sleep.” 

He thinks maybe, for once, Taehyung will listen to him. But then the tentacle at his collarbone lightly brushes against the side of Jimin’s neck. 

Twitching his shoulder, Jimin brings it to his ear to block the tentacle from accessing his neck, but the sneaky thing slips over to the other side and tickles him there. 

“Taehyung,” Jimin hisses, but the only response he gets is the sound of muffled giggles. 

He tries to scrunch both shoulders. He’s like a little turtle retreating into his shell, neck shrinking into itself. Yet the tentacle slithers its way in. 

Fed up with Taehyung’s too many limbs, Jimin grabs the tentacle, still tickling his neck, and pulls it off. When he does, he slides his fist from the tapered tip down to the thicker part of the tentacle, making it easier to get a good grip on it as it wiggles. It’s a quick movement, and he doesn’t think much of it until Taehyung lets out a low moan.

The sound makes Jimin’s entire body shiver as a spike of heat shoots through him. His eyes fly open, and he immediately turns his head to look at Taehyung. More heat stirs within him when he sees the expression on Taehyung’s face.

Taehyung lies on his back with his fingers gripping the strands of his hair at the back of his head, elbow bent and resting against his pillow. His eyes are squeezed shut, and his other tentacles are wrapped around his bicep and slipped beneath the covers — Jimin assumes to wrap around his waist or legs.

Biting his bottom lip, Jimin slowly drags his hand up the tentacle he’s still holding. He watches Taehyung inhale; the sound is soft and easy to miss.

When Jimin keeps his fist around the tentacle and slides it down again, Taehyung’s mouth falls open with another quiet moan that goes straight to the heat growing in Jimin’s shorts.

“Moon.” Taehyung opens his eyes and slowly turns to look at Jimin. “What are you doing?”

The tentacle pulses in Jimin’s hand. He lets go of it and watches in awe as it quickly shrinks back until it’s practically hiding against Taehyung’s body, though it doesn’t completely retract.

“I… don’t know.”

“They’re really sensitive,” Taehyung explains quietly. He holds out his hand and lets the tentacle Jimin had touched wrap around his wrist. “Especially this one.”

“Why that one?” Jimin doesn’t see anything different about this tentacle aside from it being slightly thicker than the others.

For only the second time since Jimin has known him, Taehyung's ears and cheeks flush pink with embarrassment. It makes Jimin perk up, shifting on the bed and turning onto his side to prop himself up on his forearm, eager to get a better look at Taehyung.

“Why that one, Tae?” Jimin’s eyes sparkle in the white light of the bedside lamp.

Taehyung closes his eyes when Jimin reaches out to touch the tentacle again. Rather than shrink back even further, the tentacle seeks out Jimin’s touch, wrapping around his wrist to press against the inside. Almost immediately, the tentacle begins to pulse, mimicking Jimin’s heartbeat, even as it quickens.

“That’s the one for mating,” Taehyung’s whisper is shaky.

“Oh!” Jimin quickly pulls back his arm, forcing the tentacle to let go. “Taehyung, I’m so sorry.”

Opening his eyes, Taehyung gives Jimin a small smile.

“You didn’t know; it’s okay. It’s not that big of a deal, I promise.”

Jimin eyes Taehyung skeptically. He wants to say that Taehyung moaning kind of made it seem like a big deal, but he keeps quiet. It might be that Taehyung wants to brush off the situation to ease his embarrassment. Jimin decides to be merciful tonight despite his desire to tease Taehyung further.

Well, maybe. 

“Does that mean you don’t have a…” Jimin makes it obvious that he’s looking down at what’s between Taehyung’s legs under the covers. “But, I have definitely felt something down there before…”

“Jimin-ah,” Taehyung whines, rolling over so his back faces Jimin. By now, his tentacles have all disappeared. 

“I’m just asking! If the one tentacle is for mating, I mean, in humans, it’s… well, you know!” 

Taehyung lets out an exaggerated sigh. “I have a penis, Jimin, that looks pretty much like yours. Its purpose is solely for pleasure, not reproduction.” 

“Ew, don’t call it that.” 

“That’s what it’s called,” Taehyung looks over his shoulder to narrow his eyes at Jimin. 

“It’s not sexy.” 

“It’s anatomy, Jimin. It isn’t meant to be sexy.” 

“Hmph.” 

Taehyung laughs, and Jimin knows he has no other choice because Jimin has given him the poutiest expression he has ever contorted his face into. 

“Go to bed, little moon. We can talk about penises in the morning.” 

It’s strange how flat and smooth Taehyung’s back is when Jimin shoves it with his hands splayed out against his warm skin. It’s as if there were never any tentacles at all. Alien biology is too much for Jimin to wrap his head around, though it makes sense that he wouldn’t understand. Taehyung isn’t of this world; why should his body have to conform to its rules?

“Goodnight,” Jimin huffs. 

He falls asleep to Taehyung still giggling, and that’s just fine by him.

♡ series masterlist ♡

My fanfiction works are created for entertainment purposes only and do not represent real individuals or events. My content is exclusively posted on Tumblr (gimmethatagustd) and AO3 (gimmethatagustd, daddytaehyungie). Copying, reposting, modifying, translating, or using my content for AI purposes is strictly prohibited. All rights are reserved.

[thesouthparkmisfits]

"May not be the first ask, but that's fine. Is there any activity that makes you happy, like drawing, sports, etc? (Trixie)"

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG AHH

As stressful as this was, I had a blast creating this animation for the ask! Looking forward to making more! :D

[textmel8r]

I HAVE A QUESTION AND I WANNA HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS OH GREAT ONE‼️🙌

So you know how most people draw or write Nanami (from JJK) as someone who wears those stereotypical "HOT MEN" type of clothes? (Nothing wrong with that) Well...Me personally, I think he doesn't--- That man for sure wear those cringey ahh animal prints when he's at home and am sure he has like a few animal printed underwear in his dresser somewhere. I just wanna know if am the only thinking like this so I wanna hear your thoughts on this😞

-👹Anon

i am GEEKING over this because i’ve never put thought into it before but now that i am,, i totally agree😭😭

of course when he’s at work or corporate related events, nanami keeps his appearances up. but the rare occasions he has downtime and lounges around the house, i can totally see him just sporting a goofy ass pair of boxers and a plain white tee all day while he goes through the motions of his day. i can picture this so vividly: kento sitting alone at his kitchen table with a mug of coffee and a bowl of cereal, messy hair, a worn white shirt, COW PRINT boxers, and ugly plaid socks while he reads the paper😭😭😭 I NEED HIM AND I NEED HIM NOW he reeks of “comfort over style”

[trademarkedandpatented]

Itadori Yuji was one Track and Field event away from making Jujutsu Kaisen a Sports Anime, ahh how peaceful life would’ve been then 😮‍💨

[taxkha]

I absolutely ADORE your art you are so talented!!! The way you draw people / characters has really incredible emotion and like a sense of character omg I really enjoy your work. can I ask a q about reccomendations, you can do one or the other or both or absolutely neither LOL up to you and just for fun!!! Do you have any favorite sports animes and/or klapollo fics??? I was CRAZY into klapollo a while ago and I miss them sm! Also was looking at ur posts and saw your bday was on May 15, mine is May 18 .so happy belated bday and let's celebrate being Taurus (sorry not to have stalkerish vibe LMAO) have an awesome day!!!

ahh thank you so much!! <3 this makes me so happy to hear! Regarding sports anime, I mostly watched the most popular sports anime but nothing too niche. I used to be a HUGE Haikyuu fan and drew a shit ton of fanart for it. If you havent watched/read it yet I recommend this one. I also like Kuroko no basuke a lot but its been so long since I watched it. I have a soft spot for Free! still and while I didnt enjoy yuri on ice when it came out I recently rewatched it to see if I would like it more now and I do! I watched Yowamushi Pedal up to a certain point and I liked it but I dropped it for some reason and I cant remember why. Knowing me, probably because I'm bad at watching shows :"D And for Klapollo fics: I actually made a big list a while ago here ! I have since then read a few more fics, a recent fave of mine is this one ! I have a lot of Klapollo fics in my bookmarks on Ao3, my username is Taxkha so if you feel like it you can browse through my bookmarks, I think. The recent 10+?? pages are all Klapollo fics lol

And hell yes, happy late bday to you too fellow Taurus! Also no worries, its not stalker behavior to scroll through my very public blog 8"D <3 Thank you for taking the time to send this ask and have an awesome day too!

[galaxynajma]

Can I ask from this ask game : https://www.tumblr.com/toomanyfandomsthings/749729499738996736/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-tell-you?source=share

No. 2, 10, 11, 12, 15 for SatoSugu, KaiSagi and KaiNess.....(sorry, I ask 2 Kaiser ships because all I know is that you love Kaiser ships and SatoSugu, feel free if you want to replace either Kaiser ship with whatever other ship you love). Thanks 🌻

Ahh okay

Satosugu:

2. What their love letters look like: I think during the decade that they were apart they would send each other letters and flowers to each other anonymously on their birthdays

10. What TV shows they watch together, and which ones they hide from the other: Shonen anime rewatches . I don’t think they would hide any shows from each other they probably have shared taste in TV shows

11. What their first impression was of each other: I think Gege said somewhere that Gojo’s first impression of Geto was his bangs . Geto’s first was probably something to do with Gojo’s eyes or how much of a dickhead he is

12. What they do for their anniversary: go somewhere abroad since as jujutsu sorcerers they don’t really have the chance to do that often

15. What they would change about each other: Geto would change Gojo’s mindset on non sorcerers and vice versa

Kaisagi:

2. What their love letters look like: I don’t think they would send love letters to each other lol being realistic here kiis has a very long distance relationship

10. What TV shows they watch together, and which ones they hide from the other: probably shitty romcons as for ones they would hide from each other. Hmm for isagi probably corny sports animes and for Kaiser anything that has his mother in it

11. What their first impression was of each other:Well we saw Isagi’s in the manga

Yeah .. it’s not so good

As for Kaiser’s .. it seems like he was somewhat interested in Isagi when watching the U20 match and wanted to see Isagi for himself

12. What they do for their anniversary: if we’re going with the assumption that Isagi lives in Germany with Kaiser because of his career then they’ll go to Japan

15. What they would change about each: a lot lol with Isagi he’ll probably wanna change Kaiser’s rudeness and the same probably goes vice versa

Kainess:

2. What their love letters look like: Ness would put his heart and soul in making love letters for Kaiser . With little smiley faces and hearts saying every complement there is in German .. and while Kaiser probably loves them to a degree I don’t think he would go out of his way to make one for ness lol 

10. What TV shows they watch together, and which ones they hide from the other: animal documentaries. Idk I just get that vibe. As for ones they hide ahh same answer with Kaiser and with Ness anything to do with Harry Potter

11. What their first impression was of each other: I mean we already saw their first impressions in chapter 243

Ness’s was probably grateful that this beautiful stranger ( Kaiser ) saved his ass at the tryouts and was thankful for it

And Kaiser might have saw himself in Ness . Seeing him that hopeless

12. What they do for their anniversary: in the countryside of Switzerland

15. What they would change about each other: Ness would change how close off Kaiser is and how verbally abusive he can be ( and yk the whole hair pulling thing ) 

Idk if Kaiser would wanna change anything about Ness since deep down he’s probably scared of the change of Ness leaving him:

[zephyrine-gale]

Hi! Popping in with a totally unrelated non-shop question!

Is there anything you're currently super enjoying? Like an anime, game, show etc. Something you want an excuse to gush over?

ahh good question!! one is buddy daddies i am not normal abt them if they have 1 fan I am the fan if they have 0 fans then I am ded I want to draw art of them!!! so bad!!! but are the art brain cells aren't clicking so :'> they live rent free in my mind tho I think if I had my yoi era stamina, they'd both be getting art after every new ep aadjfgjkjh

I will make merch of them tho I need them in my hands

and then other is blue lock!! bachira my beloved,,,,,,, I think I looped the op so much last year that it made it to my song of the year on spotify akjdfjh I didn't even notice,,, anyway I want to draw soccer boys,,,,,,,,,,, I am not immune to sports anime

and honkai!! I love honkai sm I don't draw it as much as genshin but kiana is best girl I love her shes such a wonderful protag part 1 of honkai just ended and while there were some weird writing choices, the cgs always make me cry so it's still a 10/10 for emotional damage in my heart ;v; also kiamei slay

[crehador]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

ahh this is such a fun question, thanks so much for the ask! a difficult question as well lol, i am very indecisive so a top 10 anything is... tough

i'll limit myself to animanga only, aaand lump some characters in under the same banner so there's definitely going to be more than 10 here. i'm also prohibiting myself from giving more than one slot to hpmi characters or that would just be the whole list

anyway:

ICHISAMA (package deal, do not separate)

this is probably obvious (or should be obvious) from my pinned but in first place are of course my forever blorbos (and forever otp) ichiro and samatoki of hypnosis mic

it's hard to say what i like about them besides "literally everything" which is kind of funny because for like the first year-ish of me being into hpmi neither of them were my top favorites lol

and now i genuinely have to say i like them both equally, and like them both the most. out of any characters of anything ever. i typed a bunch of paragraphs after this but think i'll actually just stop here because nothing really does justice to how they make me feel (unwell, in a good way)

this post is already getting long so everything else will go under a cut! and besides ichisama in first, none of the other characters will be strictly ranked in order. mostly just listed as i think of them

2. bon my beloved, of showa genroku rakugo shinju

this is my favorite anime of all time, and what i would personally consider the best anime of all time, and bon is perhaps the single most beautiful character with the single most beautiful story i've consumed ever. i never feel any urge to make or consume fanworks of this series because it's just so mind-blowingly perfect and complete to me

i won't spoil too much about the series, but it's a tragedy, and that's something i don't read or watch much of. so it's truly exception for this to be my favorite, but it was just that good

bon is in so many ways a tragic character, and the series allows you to see him through his whole life. he's tragic in such a hauntingly beautiful way, though, and i left the series feeling like he now lives in my bones

this is probably also my favorite ishida akira role ever, which is saying a lot because he's always great. i love the anime because it gives such life to the rakugo performed in the series, and though i'm not an expert on rakugo, i felt like the performances were top-tier. and it always impresses me when voice actors take on roles that require them to perform a whole ass other art form (like rakugo or rap)

3. aomine (knb) AND grimmjow (bleach)

these are the same goddamn man i'm putting them together no one can stop me. they are a) blue b) panther-coded c) very aggro d) very aggro at a ginger mc specifically e) DEPRESSED and f) voiced by suwabe

(though honestly grimmjow's just here because they're too similar to separate, aomine's the real favorite here)

the thing with aomine is basically—

—and that paired with his tough guy/badass/fuckface manner is very appealing to me. i don't think it's even remotely possible for me to be brief in why he's so dear to me, but the short version is he's a deeply traumatized asshole and i'm into that

4. KIYOSE HAIJI RUN WITH THE WIND GUY OF ALL TIME (and various other sports guys who are single mothers)

i may have a lot of guys of all times but haiji is for real. before ichiro he was my favorite character of anything ever for a while, and he is definitely my favorite type of sports guy (so a lot of other sports guys are going to be lumped into this category with him lol)

he has an infectious passion for running and he will infect you. whether you let him or not. it's not negotiable. you will run. no matter what

i think he brings out the best in those around him, sometimes at a detrimental cost to himself. he pushes his team hard but pushes himself even harder. we stan a self-destructive king

and i'm putting natsusa number24 right in this rank with him

because while number24 is objectively Not a good anime, it's easily one of my favorite sports series and i sincerely love natsusa just as much as i love haiji. natsusa is like if someone made haiji but cranked the bitch factor up to one billion, he is the most gaslit gatekeep girlboss guy in all of sports anime and i love him for that

bonus shoutout to iura kei of shakunetsu kabaddi, usui yuuta of days, and sugawara koushi of haikyuu. gotta be my favorite flavor of sports guy

(ok this is not even fully true because i think my days favorite did ultimately end up being mizuki because he's just so fucking stupid BUT usui i still love you.........)

5. kaworu and all his ridiculously many expies (aka the "and then a weird guy appear" category)

basically i'm talking about these fucks

they show up, sometimes not even for very long, and all they do is cause problems (ok victor probably doesn't really belong here but he honestly does fit the mold and i'm too lazy to crop him out from this old graphic i made lol) and love another weird guy so catastrophically that it alters the course of the story

the way kaworu loves shinji the way komaeda loves hinata the way zashunina…… obsesses over shindo. like fine wine to me, chef's kiss. tbh that's why victor fits the mold for me, his and yuuri's love is less the "People Will Die" type of catastrophic but it's still life-changing, life-saving, for them both

ironically even though kaworu is a ryo expy himself i'm not. i'm not that big on ryo, i'll be honest. maybe it's because i wasn't the biggest of netflix devilman in general. i should probably read the manga sometime, might change my mind

6. SOFT BOYS natsume and rei

putting them together in part because lol look at them making the same pose on their anime covers even

these are both (natumse's book of friends and march comes in like a lion) two of my favorite series, and two of my favorite protagonists. they're soft but not weak, hurt but not broken. it just feels comfortable to spend time with them, to follow them even when they're hurting

7. CELTY MY BELOVED, of durarara

honestly celty is just cool as fuck. there are lots and lots of reasons to love her but i get so incoherent about it. it's really strange because i feel like the way narita writes women is not great in many ways, and yet... he always fucking... writes the hottest fucking women goddamn, i can't be mad about that

i always liked shinra too. because of how relatable he was lmao. i would be a weird little man about celty too i'm sorry

8. sir integra fairbrook wingates hellsing, of hellsing

god. yet another. she's just so fucking cool. massively obsessed with her. it's been too long since i've watched hellsing (and durarara for that matter) for me to remember a ton of details but her whole personality is just so appealing to me

you know the way people like fma olivier armstrong. sir integra's my armstrong

9. hei, of darker than black

once again he's just cool as fuck, also i'm chinese and it's rare to see a really good chinese character in anime, much less as a main character. darker than black is an older series at this point, but it remains one of my old favorites. second season was a bit questionable but honestly i didn't hate it. my boy got fuucked uuupppppp (said with delight)

funny story about hei is when i first started watching the show there was this moment where i thought "this is a weird detail to notice but something about his collarbones look really nice to me? they're just two lines but idk they're lovely"

THEN LATER IN THE SERIES on at least two other occasions that i can remember, maybe more, actual characters in canon commented on THIS SPECIFIC THING. HIS COLLARBONES. so what do i like about hei? what does anyone like about hei? apparently it's his collarbones lmao

10. nooooo i'm running out of space now and there are so many more blorbso i would talk about i can't choose who to put here but but but closing my eyes and picking the first name that comes to mind MIKOTO SUOH K PROJECT

part of me thinks i shouldn't actually put him here because he's, like, red samatoki lmao but no he deserves a spot. i think. idk. that's what i'm going with for now but, you know, indecisive

anyway. love a tragic mfer with one dead boyfriend who haunts the narrative and another ex who [redacted idk if anyone is going to be reading this far but just in case no one wants k spoilers i want say anything but you know this show is old as balls by now]

i actually love both of the factions in k (there are more factions later but i'm focusing on red and blue) because they're both families in different ways, and mikoto and munakata both care about their families in different ways (yes i love that bitch munakata too)

and the way they care for their people while failing to fully let their people care for them in return is sooooo delicious as a character trait to me

so that's the end of this enormous post i guess! there are approximately a billion other characters i love that i didn't get to mention but i will do my best to shut up now lmao

thank you again for the ask, very fun exercise to think about!

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Vol:19 - Watching Hanshin vs. Chunichi

*Long post!

To summarize:

•Kaoru enjoying talking about baseball

•The announcement of the mug winners

•Eating Nagoya foods

•Trying to guess pro-baseball players' annual salaries

•Hating on the Yomiuri Giants

•Kaoru-toriko research

•Modelling the happi coat*

*All three watching the game and hitting plastic bats in support*

J: Can he manage this? What do you think?

K: Hm, I'm not sure.

J: Oi..oi..oi....What's this batter's name?

K: Hosokawa. He is good.

J: Who is the pitcher?

K: Otake

J: Otake!

T: He gave away two points already!

J: Whats going on, Otake?? He is the starter, isn't he? They haven't changed him yet?

K: No, not yet.

J:...What's that? We're already on-air?? Didn't you know that, Leader?! The broadcast has already started!

K: Haha, oh, thats tiresome.

J: I'm getting cues in my ear, haha.

T: Oh, Joe.

J: Well, this is what I'm like before I start drinking.

K: You'll just get more eccentric once you start drinking, won't you?

J: I will, yes. I don't think it will get much more complex though, haha. Ok, Leader! Today is the live broadcast of the Hanshin vs. Chunichi game!

K: Yep

*applause*

T: I've really been looking forward to this.

J: Yeh, Tasai, your syle of support is a bit different from everyone else here. You've brought like a baseball directory with you.

T: Yeah, this book is a baseball directory put out by Spo-nichi (Sports Nippon).

K: Tokyo Sports hasn't done one of these?

T: No, we are not good with details.

J, K: Hahaha

J: Right? Data is not Tokyo Sports' strong point.

T: Yeah. Spo-nichi and Nikkan (Nikkan Sports) are the leaders in this field.

J: Ahh. Yeah, you wouldn't believe anything written in a directory by Tokyo Sports.

T: Haha, right?

K: I wanna see that now, haha.

J: Haha, right? You'd be like, 'Hang on a minute!!'

T: A while ago we put out an article about that famous left-handed player Randy Johnson saying he was right-handed.

K: Haha

T: We are in no place to put out a directory.

J: Haha, thats bad. Getting left-handed and right-handed mixed up. Sports newspaper do that a lot, don't they? haha. Someone just asked in the comments if we are gonna drink. Well, later on...actually, are we gonna continue till the game ends?

Staff: We have a set time.

J: Ah, ok, a set time today. Till about 9o'clock?

K: Well, its already the 4th innings.

J: Oh, already? Ok, well, today we are broadcasting while watching the game between Hanshin and Chunichi. You guys can watch with us. We'll have a drink during the course of the game too, so please stay with us.

T: Kaoru, you haven't introduced yourself yet.

K: Eh?

T: You haven't introduced yourself.

K: I'm Kaoru!

T, J: Haha

T: Im Tasai!

J: Im Joe!

*applause, Joe carries on clapping with the bats*

J: This is great. I'm just cheering on my own here. Its the first time for me to ever do this kinda thing. I love these bats.

K: Yeh, but even if you speak through them, it just makes your voice muffled.

J: What if I put it near your mic? Well, we've got a lot planned today...Hey, what was that? Some kind of anime or something just appeared on the screen.

K: Huh? Nothing appeared...Anime??

T: Were you talking about the comments?

J: Was it? No, I mean these days, compared to in the past, the stadiums and teams are doing a lot more things so that you can easily watch the game. Its fun.

K: Yeah, but Hanshin hardley ever do stuff like that.

J: Really?

K: If I had to say, they are the type to not do that...I mean, they started doing it a bit before, but hardley ever now. Other teams are much more advanced with this stuff.

J: Which teams?

K: Like, Yokohama.

T: Yeah, and Manager Okada was saying that kind of thing takes too long.

K: Yeah, if you do it every time, it gets disruptive.

J: Ahh, I see. So Okada thinks that doing some kind of performance or show whenever anything eventful happens will disrupt the flow of the game. Uh, ok, so I have a very basic question, but..

K: No.

T: Haha, that was fast.

J: Ehhh?! What position are Hanshin in at the moment?

K: Top spot.

J: Ohhh!

K: But...but I was saying last month that they were too strong, right?

J: Yes. Have they remained that way since then?

K: They went down to 2nd place for a while yesterday. They got chased.

J: Ahh!

T: The interleage games have been a bit sketchy.

K: Yeah, they have been bad.

T: I think they had 3 games under .500.

K: We just can't win at Yokohama stadium for some reason. We lost all three games recently. At Yokohama stadium itself, we've lost 13 in a row.

T: Wow, really?!

K: Yeah.

J: Maybe its just not compatible...I wonder what it is?

K: It used to be really compatible! I used to think Hanshin should make Yokohama their home stadium.

J: Haha, that was your thought?

K: Yeh, but we can't win there recently for some reason.

J: Ehh, 13 losses in a row at Yokohama? And three losses there recently? Ahh, what about yesterday? Yesterday was against Chunichi?

K: Yeah, well, today is the second match.

J: How was yesterday?

K: Well, yesterday we got so many hits, it feels like there will be none left for today.

J: Ahh, I see, yesterday was that good.

T: A comment says 'Joe, that pink shirt makes you look so shady, its good'.

J: Oh, come on, haha. I cant help it, Tasai got the yellow one, I got pink.

K: Yeah, but you were already wearing it when I arrived.

J: Yeah, cause it was hanging behind my seat, so I thought I have to wear this. So, it looks shady? There are people who dress like this, right?

T: Yes, there are.

J: Aren't there a lot of older women in Osaka who dress like this?

K: If anything, you look more like a Giants fan.

J: Haha, of course.

K: You look like the type of old guy who has a favourite salesgirl at the stadium.

J: Ahh, I didn't know about this, but I was just looking in this players directory, and it says in here that there are Tiger Girls! I'm more interested in this! I wanna do the show with the Tiger girls instead of baseball!

T: Tiger girls? Let me see. Its Tigers girls, not Tiger girls.

J: Oh, who cares! Tokyo Sports isn't supposed to care about the details! You can even get right and left correct.

T: Haha, yeh.

K: Hahaha

J: Ok, whats next..?

K: Oh, the mugs! The ones we got in Fussa.

J: Ah yes. Do you remember when we went to Base Side Street in Fussa? The winners of the mugs have been decided. So Leader is going to announce them now.

*applause*

K: 'Guest' from Miyagi. This person didn't write their name. 'Mari' from Tokyo...*applauds with bats* Oh, it broke! 'Ponta' from Aichi. *applauds with a bat in each hand* Oh, maybe this way is better. 'Chi' from Hiroshima, and 'Popon' from Okinawa.

T: Thank you! Have they already recieved them?

K: Yeah, it looks like they have.

J: Congratulations!

T: Ah, someone wrote, 'I won, thank you!'

J: Ah, there are a lot of benefits to watching this show, right? Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who took part.

T: 'So jealous!'

J: Ah, yeah. Ok, so we are still taking your questions and comments during the show..

K: Hurry up with this! We can't get the drinks until you read this.

J: Ah, we can't do kanpai?

T: Read it quickly, Joe.

J: Ah, ok...*speed reading* So we are taking questions and comments about the show, support for Hanshin, anything is ok. People using twitter can use the tag TFOE. We just have one request about the comments. There is probably a bit of a time lag between our screen with the baseball and this show's comment section, so if you comment on the score etc, we might know it before we have seen it, so please do not comment on the status of the game!

K: Haha

J: No spoilers! haha. So the first half of the show is free for anyone, but the second part is for members only. If you join, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for free for a year, and we also have videos for members only. So please join using the link at the top of the screen. Leader is pointing to it. Please enjoy the show to the end!! *applause* Oh! Mine broke too!

T: Ok, now that we've done that, lets get the drinks out!

J: Everyone, get ready for kanpai too!

K: This is kinda noisy, haha.

J: Yeah, its tough for the sound guy.

*They all get their drinks*

J: Ugh, ok..

K: You sound tired already! haha

T: Tired out in 10 minutes.

J: Yes, ugh, Im tired *from too much cheering etc*. Well, it's cause I don't really understand much of the talk when it comes to baseball. But anyway, do you all have your drinks ready at home? Lets have a toast and a short speech from Leader for our first drink.

K: A short speech?

T: Oh, that reminds me, well done on finishing the last tour.

J: Joe said he was gonna come to one of the dates, but he never did.

J: Yeh, I didn't.

T: ???

J: No, no, it was just my schedule, my schedule clashed.

K: Haha

J: I wanted to go, honestly, haha.

K: Oh, look, look! *points to baseball game on screen*

J: Ah, its Mie! Mie-chan! You know, I had thought that baseball players these days have less personality than before, like in terms of their hairstyles or stances, but this guy here is easily noticable. His name is Mie-chan, right?

K: He has a cute pose. *Does V sign next to his eyes*

T: Do you know what that is, Joe?

J: Eh?

T: Mie-peace sign.

J: Oh man. Now that I know this, I can use that pose next time I go drinking in Kansai, right?

K: Hahaha....Ok, kanpai!!

J, T: Kanpai!!

J: Everyone, do kanpai at home too.

T: Ah, delicious. Send lots of alcohol emojis, everyone.

J: Ok, so we have lots of snacks here in front of us. As today's game is against Chunichi (*Nagoya's team*), we have a variety of Nagoya foods here, with a view to eating Chunichi into oblivion. We are gonna eat Chunichi up!

K: Are you gonna shout, 'I love Nagoya!'?

J: Haha, no, Osaka is the best. But this is a good idea from the staff, right? Eating up the opposition.

T: Also, look at this, Tigers fried cutlet.

K: Actually, that and these bats were a gift from a fan. At first I wondered why so many were included, there were three pairs.

J: Oh, for this show?!

K: Yeah.

T: Really?! Oh wow, thank you!

K: Yeah, probably.

T: Thank you! That makes me so happy. Apologies for using them so roughly.

J: Oh, yes, a comment asks, 'Can you eat the tenmusu with shrimp in it?'

K: I can tolerate shrimp now.

J: Oh, great!!!

T: Big news! Kaoru can tolerate shrimp now! Haha, what kind of news is that?

J: You overcame it?

K: Well, I can eat it at least.

J: Can you eat it today?

K: Yeah.

T: Ok, you gotta eat one in the second part. Haha

J: Yes, you can eat one for the members only content.

K: I can eat it now even.

J: Ah, someone said they wanna see you eating shrimp! Thats for members only though, right?

T: This is crazy, haha. Leader just eating a shrimp is members only standard now. Wow! haha

K: Hahaha

J: Haha, of course. Thats for members only. 'A shrimp tasting'. That's right. Everyone, please make sure you are a member so you can watch it. So, I just want to touch on the game for a minute. We are finished the 3rd innings now, right?

K: No, we are finished the 4th innings.

J: Oh that was quick!

K: It was 0-0, wasn't it? *writing score on whiteboard*

J: I feel like the game is lacking momentum, right, Kaoru?

K: I wanna make this 2 into 0 too. (*Chunichi scored the only two points so far, earlier in the game*)

J: Should we?? Well, it wont make any difference if we do.

K: Haha.

J: So, overall, its 2-0.

T: Kaoru, tell us about your happi coat.

K: Oh, I bought this a long time ago. I went to watch them play and wore this before too.

T: Stand up and show us.

J: Ohh, what about the back? Oh, amazing! Was this just sold like normal?

K: Yeah, just like normal. I bought it.

J: The ones me and Tasai are wearing must be like the basics...or thereabouts.

K: Or thereabouts? haha, what on earth do you mean?

T: It doesn't mean they are worse.

J: Yeah, but pink might be for women, I'm not sure. Oh, comments saying, 'Leader is so cool!', and 'I want it!'. Can't you buy this these days?

K: Oh yeh, it was a long time ago when I bought this.

T: Having this shows you are a long time fan.

J: Well, yeh I guess so....*responding to a comment* No, it wasn't just dropped by the wayside, haha. Anyway, as for the game today, who are the two starters?

K: Uh, for Hanshin its Otake.

J: What kind of player is he?

K: Uh, in the players draft he came to us from Softbank.

T: He has been really active. His ERA is probably in the 0s since before the interleague games...even though he just gave away 2 points.

J: Ehh. And what about Chunichi?

K: Takahashi

J: Who is Takahashi?

K: Well, he is a Chunichi player.

J: I know that! What kind of person is he?

K: I don't know anything else about him, haha.

T: Joe, I'll check the directory....It says, 'After his experience with the national team, he has scaled up another level. He is a pillar of the Dragons. He is a treasured pitcher within the team'.

K: He is young, isn't he?

T: Yeah, he is 21, in his third year.

K: Yeah, cause during the WBC he wasn't allowed to drink alcohol.

T: Ahh, he was underage?

K: What is it over there again?

T: In America, the legal age to drink is 21...or is it 22?

K: Yeah, so when they were all celebrating, he couldn't drink alcohol. You know with that big champagne bottle? He couldn't have any of it.

J: Ahhh, he might be bitter about it still.

T: No, no, he won't be.

K: He probably hates Hanshin more.

J: Yeah, he might hate the American laws too.

K: No, but Hanshin have taken practically a clean sweep with the All Stars vote.

T: Oh yeh!

J: Eh, whats this about?

K: The fan vote for the All Star team.

J: The results were announced today?? Oh, what kind of positions did Hanshin get? All number 1?

K: Yeah, but I think Akiyama might have gotten center.

T: I'll just check.

K: But otherwise, its all Hanshin. The fans votes are ????, so its not very interesting in the end.

J: Well, yeh, but its resulted like this naturally, right?

K: Well, yeh, cause its a fan vote. It just means they have a lot of fans.

J: No Giants players there. You know, when I was young, the All Stars team was almost always exclusively Giants players. Times have changed!

T: Yeah, Joe, Hanshin are really popular these days.

K: Well, they've been a strong team, I mean, up until last month, haha.

J: Ha, using the past tense I see.

T Yeah, I remember Kaoru saying last month it was tough to handle the success.

K: That feeling is at max level now.

J: Ah, talking about it will jinx it.

K: Yeah, but then again, Joe was talking up that curry so much last time, and we got it again today!

J: Yes, see! Wasn't it good?!

K: Yeah, haha.

J: You know, we had that curry earlier, so we aren't getting through any of these snacks at all. I guess we will get hungry eventually. Someone asked, 'Kaoru, when did you go to Koshien?' You bought that happi coat quite a while ago?

K: This? Yeah, it was a long time ago. I think the last time I went was about 5 years ago. I filmed a video there for my blog.

T: Someone said, 'Hanshin fans have strong personality, they are easy to spot'.

J: Like me?

K: Nah, you definitely have a Yomiuri look.

J: I look like.a Giants fan?

K: You have a kind of pretentious look about you.

T: Ahh, I see it.

J: Like a Tokyoite?

K: Like the type of person who would bring a really fancy bento to eat. All show, but nothing on the inside, haha.

J: No way!

T: Don't eat that kind of thing at Koshien! Haha, look at that comment, 'I can't believe this prejudice against the Giants!'

K: Hahaha

J: Well, that can't be helped today.

T: Yeah, its a Tigers day

today. Forgive us just for today.

J: Yeah, and keep writing comments. Actually, about the score, I didn't see the moment when these two points were scored. What actually happened there? Don't either of you know?

K: Oh, but they just showed a replay of it earlier.

J: Ah, they did.

K: Yeah, but we weren't watching. Its ok though, they'll probably show it again.

J: So, this is obviously a pitching duel at the moment?

K: Yes.

J: Both aces are ???

K: Well, not really, but its kinda like that.

T: This kinda situation is no problem for an ace.

J: Well, what I really wanna know is what the aces' annual salary is? Tasai. Its written in the directory, right?

T: Yep, it is. Who do you want to start with?

J: Oh, the young Chunichi guy who couldn't do kanpai.

T: Ok, so Joe, can you guess the salary of Takahashi, who is in his third year of play?

J: Uh, 3rd year..so 30 million yen?

K: He's only 21.

J: Ah, ok, 20 million.

T: Haha, why?

J: Well, he's still young, so he doesn't have the experience.

T: Incidentally, in total he has 6 wins and 7 losses....up until this season.

J: Ahh, well probably 20 million then.

T: 20 million? Kaoru, what do you think?

K: Hm, maybe 15 million?

T: The correct answer is..35 million!

J: Ahhhh, so we have a 35 million yen pitcher against Hanshin's...?

T: Shall we check?

J: 35 million yen...how much is that per throw?

K: I don't know, I can't work it out, haha.

J: But how many games would he have per season?

K: Hmm, about 15?

J: And about 100 throws? Someone work it out. 15 games × 100 throws.

K: 1500 throws. I dunno, probably about 2000 yen per throw. Haha

J: 2000 yen! Thats more expensive than curry!

T: Ok next is Otake Kotaro, who transferred from Softbank.

J: That means he must have had some achievements for Hanshin to want him?

K: No, it wasnt like that. He wasn't chosen in the initial draft...

J: Oh, so he was a spare?

K: Yeah, so he was available for transfer.

J: Ahh, so like, he wasn't that active in his previous team?

K: Yeah.

J: Oh, well in that case, it might be lower, if he is not highly rated.

T: His stats are 10 wins 9 losses.

J: Oh, 10 wins is not bad...I'll say 25 million.

K: What year of play is he in?

T: His 6th year. He is 28.

J: Ok, 25 million.

T: You think?

J: Yeah, he previous team let him go. What do you think, Leader?

K: About 20 million.

J: What's the correct answer?

T: Ohh! One of you got it right! The correct answer is 20 million! Kaoru, thats amazing! You can even guess Hanshin players' annual salaries!

K: Haha.

J: Have you memorized them all?

K: No, haha.

T: You just guessed, 'Its probably around this amount', and got it right.

J: So today, 35 million and 20 million are up against each other. Thats a 15 million difference.

T: This is all research for us.

J: Yeah...Ah, research, research! Lets carry out research on the viewers.

T: Yes, Joe, can you explain the plan for today?

J: Oh yes, sorry, I forgot about this.

K: Haha.

J: Ok, lets get on with our plan for today, which is...Kaoru toriko research!

*applause*

J: We are gonna find out what kind of people you all are, by using surveys. What kinds of thing will we ask you? Well, firstly, lets go with ' Where are you watching from?' Should we start there? From which region are you watching this broadcast? A survey will pop up on your screens, so please choose your region from the options.

T: Oh wow, 8 options! I thought we could only do 4!

J: Yep, we can do 8. Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu/Okinawa. There might be people watching from overseas too, right? Sorry about that! We cant fit any more options on. So you have to choose from these.

T: Should we see the results?

J: Ok, here are the results. Ahh, overwhelmingly Kanto, at 42.9%. Next is Kinki with 26.4%. Chubu is 8.8%, thank you! Tohoku and Hokkaido are 5.5% each. Chugoku is 3.3%, Kyushu/Okinawa is 5.5%, and Shikoku is 2.2%. So, overwhelmingly Kanto and Kinki, about 70% are in those regions. Oh, someone said 'Not many from Kinki!'. Yeah.

T: Haha, someone said, 'Im watching from the store staffroom on my break'. Thank you!

J: Well, we will be asking you more surveys from here on. Leader, is there anything you want to ask? Anything is ok.

T: Let's ask this...Which team do you support?

K: Eh? But there are only eight spaces.

T: From the Central League, I mean. Ok, time to make tough choices.

J: At this rate its gonna be Hanshin, right? But there are a lot of viewers in Kanto, I guess. So there may be a few votes for the Giants, Yokohama, and Yakult too. Are you eating onigiri already, Tasai?

K: Tenmusu, you mean?

J: Yeah, Tenmusu. He had curry earlier too.

T: It tastes good.

J: I couldn't believe Tasai earlier. When he was eating curry, he broke his spoon!

K: Oh, mine broke too!

J: Really?? I thought it was just Tasai.

K: It was tough curry.

T: The spoon broke when I ate the potato.

K: For me it broke when I just put it in the curry sauce.

T: Ehhh? Haha

K: I was trying to scoop up a piece of beef, and it broke.

J: What kind of power are you guys using to eat?? I've never seen anyone break a spoon eating curry before! haha. Which player just came on?

T: Oh, there's the survey.

J: Which player is number 12?

K: Sakamoto.

J: Sakamoto is the batter, the pitcher throws.... speed 142km.

K: Your commentary is nostalgic.

J: Like Showa?

T: Yeah, like old radio commentary.

J: Right, the survey now. Which team do you support? Tigers, Giants, Baystars, Carps, Dragons, Swallows. Ahh, I see, people refer to the teams like this these days. Not like 'Hanshin' etc.

K: No, but people still say 'Hanshin' a lot.

J: Oh, the score. The 5th innings finished again with 0-0? Its already the 6th innings?? That was quick!

T: Write it on the board, Joe.

K: No, we are still only half way through the 5th.

J: Oh, ok. So Chunichi were 0.

K: Yeah.

J: Ah, sorry. Ok, lets see your favourite teams. No worries if you don't have a fave. Oh someone said they support the Pacific League. Ah, we can ask that too. Just choose one from the central league for now. Ok, lets see the results. Its gotta be Hanshin, right?.....Oh, its quite split.

T: But look, the Tigers are top.

J: Yeah, Hanshin have 51.9% . The Giants have 14.3%. Same for the Carps. Then, the Dragons have 11.7%, there are a few Dragons fans watching this then.

T: Sorry!

J: Baystars have 5.2%, and the Swallows have the least with 2.6%. What is the actual league board like currently?

K: Its, (1)Tigers, (2)Baystars, (3)Carps, (4)Giants, (5)Dragons, (6)Swallows.

J: Ah, so the Swallows are having no luck?

T: Not really this year.

K: Their pitchers are struggling.

J: Ahh, I see. Ok, so we discovered the majority are Hanshin fans. Kaoru, do you want to ask anything?

K: Ok, What do you like best? Tenmusu, Tebasaki, Misokatsu, Doteni.

J: These are the snacks we have in front of us, right?

K: Yeah

J: Eating Nagoya to defeat. Which do you like best from these snacks? Someone said, 'I like Kaoru'.

T: We know that.

K: Hm, maybe not 'which do you like best?'....hmm, ok, maybe 'which do you like best?' is ok.

J: Ahh, this tebasaki is great! So good with beer! People are saying they like them all.

T: Someone said they are a Nippon Ham supporting Kaoru fan, but they can support Hanshin too.

J: Yeah. Ok, so Tenmusu, Miso katsu, Doteni, Tebasaki. Which do you like? Well, they are all delicious though.

T: Ahh, Im sleepy, haha.

K: Huh, you're tired?

T: No, no, Im having fun, haha.

J: Kaoru, which one of these snacks do you recommend?

K: I've only had Tebasaki and Misokatsu out of these.

J: Yeah, the tenmusu is for the paid contents. Do you like them all?

K: Well, I guess I often eat tebasaki when I go to Nagoya.

J: That might be the most popular. You can get it anywhere in Nagoya, right?

T: I used to go to this one tebasaki restaurant quite often.

K: Yama chan? Furaibo?

T: Yeah, Furaibo. Yeh, for work stuff.

J: Ok, lets see the results. Which one do you like best? Sorry, Im doing this while im eating....Ohh, Tebasaki 40.4%!

K: Ok, next question! This is about the menu at Koshien, so out of Koshien Curry, Yakitori, shell fish skewers...

J: They havd shellfish??

K: Yes, and...grilled squid....which one do you wanna make me eat? I mean three of them skewered, but..I.wanna eat them, haha.

J: You want them to make you eat one of them?

K: Yeah

J: How about instead of that, you get them to send you it.

K: Well, thats later, haha.

J: Oh, look, there's the action replay. This this is the moment they entered ????]

K: They haven't entered yet, its still Hanshin's turn.

J: Oh, right, I see. Yeah. This could be a chance, the runner is out. Oh I see, the points were scored in the second innings.

T: Yeh, it just showed up.

K: A home run? Ah, no. But he's doing well.

J: He hit, and made it to third base. Was it a sacrifice fly? Oh, no. Ahh, look at the pitcher. There goes the runner....Ahhhh.

K: Yeah.

T: That guy on the left is a bit scary.

K: Mie-chan, right?

J: Well, its not a catastrophic lead.

T: Its only 2 points.

K: Yeah, there is still time....but we are still kinda getting beaten.

J: Its about time Hanshin start to get serious.

K: Well, actually, their winning pattern so far this year has been to start scoring in the later parts of the game.

J: Ohh, the later half, I see. Ah, high hopes from now then. Ok, lets see the results of this survey. Koshien curry, Yakitori, Shellfish skewers, and Squid skewers. Which do you wanna make Kaoru eat? Here are the results.

T: Koshien Curry! But its still quite a split result.

J: Hang on. Whats special about Koshien Curry? How is it different from regular curry?

*K looks at J incredulously*

J: Haha, don't look at me like that.

K: *To T* What is he talking about??

J: No no, from the point of view of an outsider like me...

T: Its Koshien curry!

J: But what about the taste? Isn't there anything special about it? Anything Tigers related? You don't need to just stare at me like that!

K: Haha

J: Is it sweet? Or is it really meaty? Or anything like that?

K: Its regular curry.

J: Ehh? I bet the viewers know what its like!.....Ehh?!...Our kind director is trying to show me a picture of it, but I can't see it at all.

K: Haha, its just regular curry!

J: But does it taste good?

K: Yeah, it does. Its even sold as retort.

J: I see, its very ordinary. Can we even buy it up here?

K: Yeah, probably.

J: I wanna try it.

K: Yeah, but its better to have it with some other food, like these snacks.

T: You'd get the feeling of being at Koshien.

K: Its won't break your spoon.

J: Haha, you guys are breaking too many spoons when you eat curry! Well, we'll have some more surveys later in the show. Ok, its coming to the end of the free part now.

T: That was fast!

J: Well, there is still another 90mins to go, so we can watch the game together while doing more surveys, and also part of the members only content will be Kaoru eating a shrimp. So you can look forward to that. Here's how you can watch the second part. The first part of the show is free for anyone, but the second part is for members only, so you have to be a member if you want to watch to the end. If you become a member, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for one year, and we also have members only video, where we do lots of stuff. So you can enjoy those too. Here's how to join. There should be a blue link at the top of your screens now. Leader is pointing to it with his fan. Please use this link to register. If you click the link a screen will appear asking you to choose your payment method.

T: Oh, ARE! (*THAT*)

J: Ah, yes, its an 'ARE' fan. Ok, choose your preferred method and click proceed, enter your details, and you're done. If you haven't yet registered, please do so to enjoy the show to the end. Ok, Leader, do you have any announcements?

K: Uh, our 25th anniversary tour Bluray/DVD will be released next moth (*July*)

T, J: Ohhh.

K: And the vinyl version of Phalaris will also be released. Thats next month too.

T: Oh, great! Comments saying they reserved it already.

K: Apparently, its already sold out on Amazon etc, just with reservations.

J: Eh? The DVD and LP?

K: The LP.

J: Ahhh

T: I'm looking forward to it.

J: Yeah, but people should be able to still find it somewhere if they look, right? Like CD stores or something?

K: I think so, yeah.

J: Ahh, someone said its their first time buying a record. Dir haven't done this much before have you?

K: We've made records as special bonuses etc, but its the first time for us to actually sell one.

J: Oh, I see.

T: What is the cover jacket gonna be like?

K: Well, its a head-on close-up of the Phalaris bull.

J: You can buy record players quite cheaply these days, right? For like ¥10,000.

K: Yeah.

J: This could be a good reason for people to buy a record player. Oh, a comment saying, 'My first ever record is DIR EN GREY!' The sound is good on analog, right? And its fun going to second-hand record stores. This will open new doors for people.

K: Lets go to a record store! We went to second-hand clothes stores already, so...

J: Ah, going to a record store would be fun!

K: Right?

J: There are some in Shimokitazawa, and also in Shinjuku. Lets do this, people wanna learn about records! Record store visit! (*J sounds as if he said rekōdo-myan instead of rekōdo-ya for 'record store'*)

T: Myan??

J: Did I say that? I meant 'ya'! Its cauae I've been drinking! Ok, we will pause here, and the screen will change for a moment, but we will be right back with the members only content, so just wait there. Ok, see you in the next part!

[romirola]

for the WIP game, lets seeee… can you tell us what inspired you most during the writing process, like maybe a certain song or Redacted video?

by the way I’ve got to tell you how much I admire you conviction I deeply envy your ability to have one WIP and fuckin knock that shit out the park my undiagnosed ADHD could literally not fathom it you beautiful mythical creature

-Lexi Sun ☀️

From this ask game!

@weightedblanketjoyfriend, thank you so much for this ask! It's always a joy to talk about fics, and to talk about the process of a fic!? You spoil me!! (And that's why you get a few short snippets!) Thank you for those kind words, but honestly, forcing myself to work on one WIP is less about conviction and more about my own sanity. It's too hard for me to keep all the plots in my head. I just gotta get my head down and focus on the one, or else I'll feel too pressured to make progress on everything and make progress on nothing, not to mention suck all the fun out of something I find to be so, so enjoyable. Onto my writing process for Balancing Act:

Most of my fics start with a bit of dialogue that I hear inside my head and really, really like. So much so, that I get obsessed with it. From there, I start to construct the immediate scene/context of that dialogue. Who said it? Why? To whom? What's happening to prompt that speech/situation? (Fun fact, I can point out the "starter" dialogue snippet of every fic I have written, because it just turns over and over and over again in my head before I even start drafting.) In the case of Balancing Act, the starter bit of dialogue was:

“It… It hurts!” they half-cried, half growled. Sharp teeth pushed up from out of their gums, shooting lightning bolts through their jowls. Angel sputtered and choked, overwhelmed with the onslaught of stretching and expanding every part of their body somehow experienced all at once. “Hurts bad… Make it stop! Please, I can’t…” They wrestled out of David’s arms, rolling over to the other corner of the bed. They teetered near the edge before toppling onto the ground in a wriggling heap. “Ahh!” David vaulted after them. “Angel!” He quickly ran to his whimpering mate. When David stepped to the side to reach Angel on the floor, he gasped sharply.  An enormous black wolf lay sprawled out on the ground, awkwardly trying to balance on massive paws and twisting their sleek head in every direction to get a good look at their furry, beastly body.

Yeah, 9.9/10 times, my starter dialogue is hurt/comfort... Very predictable Romi behavior right there...

Eventually, a story starts to form around the moment, and I follow that story backwards and forewords. If I'm lucky, more "starter moments" form in my head and the connections between moments becomes clearer. For example, once I realized Angel struggled with a spontaneous shift, and that their instinctual confusion with experiencing the process would probably lead to the shift causing them immense pain, I also realized I'd love to see Angel thrive as alpha, which led to me to hear this little bit of dialogue:

Janelle’s smug grin faltered. She flinched away from Angel, her pegasus suddenly wanting to flee from the predator before her. “I…” “And say that breach happened in front of an unempowered human who decided to go hunting shifters for sport, trying to bring home a mythical pelt, thinking they’re going to be the one to show the world Bigfoot exists,” Angel pressed. “What then, if shifters were compromised? If bounties were put out on our heads by unempowered people who see shifters as animals? If shifters were hunted for sport, maybe legally, if the unempowered government were afraid of the half-monster things they'd fear you to be? Or, maybe instead, you want shifters all to be rounded up and caged like animals by some amatuer-wanna-biologists? Is that how you want to live? Trapped? Experimented on? Always tranqued out your mind? Kept as someone’s pet, with an electric collar to keep you on your best behavior?”  Angel felt the wolf within howl and groan at the mere thought of the pack being subjected to such cruelty. <em>Pack. Protect. Threat. Shift. Shift now. Attack.</em> Their need to take down the pegasus and punish her for her insubordination was growing into a painful ache. How dare this woman be so cavalier about covert? Didn’t she understand the stakes? Didn’t she realize how brutally and power-hungry the unempowered part of society could be?  Angel did.

Or sometimes, the moments are totally unrelated! And that's a fun part of the process, too, because it means I have to get creative to see how the moments lead into each other. For example one has nothing to do with alpha!Angel, but it wouldn't leave me alone until I figured out how to include it:

“Watch yourself,” Sweetheart warned though their yawn undercut the normal edge with which they spoke. “Because that cute little girl is going to grow up to be the strongest stealth anyone has ever seen.” They held out a threatening finger. “And if anyone tries to deter her from that path in any way, shape, or form, I'll rip their guts with my bare hands and cloak the evidence before they even knew they were missing organs.” Milo shuddered at the graphic imagery Sweetheart used. “Okay, okay.” He wiggled Sweetheart over so that they were tucked in close to his body, turned inward so that their head could rest on his chest. “I think someone is up way past their bedtime, and their exhaustion is once again making them a little bit too vengeful for their own good.” He brushed a hand across Sweetheart’s forehead, letting his fingers linger on their temple until Sweetheart's blinks began to slow. “You are so hot when you're violent,” he whispered softly enough so that only Sweetheart would hear. “I love you.” 

It's the *moments*, Lexi! For me, the *moments* make the process. I am not one to draw inspiration from songs, though if there are any songs that you felt resonated with the fic, I would be very excited to hear your thoughts!

This was a long-winded answer to your question, so thank you for indulging me.

[rocketturtle4]

Get To Know Me tag!

Tagged by both @ranchthoughts and @twig-tea Thankyou both for the tag, I am technically alive and am delighted to be tagged even if it seems to take me an age to get to them these days

do you make your bed?

errr define "make" I have a loft bed and there's rails on the side so like, I pull my sheets and duna up and tuck them in at the bottom? ...sometimes

what's your favourite number?

4

what is your job?

Full time PhD student studying Palaeontology

+ work as a primary school relief teacher

+ work as an regular cleaner/occasional gardener for my parents business

(this is why I am never around)

if you could go back to school, would you?

Ahh yes hence PhD. Technically I'm 8 years out of high school and I haven't stopped being a full time student yet.

can you parallel park?

Yes? Not on a busy road because I get way too stressed about traffic but I am capable of the physical act of parallel parking and do it if the road is empty.

a job you had that would surprise people?

are people surprised by the cleaner/gardener thing? I think people would be surprised by how confident I am with some power tools related to gardening?

do you think aliens are real?

Yes, because space is vast and we are small. Though I have read and been interested in several compelling arguments why that would not be the case around the likelyhood and development of multicellular life...but like, space is biiiiig.

can you drive a manual car?

Yep but I'm not a fan

what's your guilty pleasure?

no guilt about my pleasures over here

tattoos?

I am too much of a spendthrift and I don't want to go by myself

favorite color?

Purple

favorite type of music?

errr multi, I just like music really but I know nothing about it. Maybe Country or Pop?? But I listen to a lot of different stuff outside of those genres too.

do you like puzzles?

Love 'em

any phobias?

Spiders, Bees/Wasps and Falling specifically, I love heights 🤷‍♀️.

favorite childhood sport?

To play? Dance

To watch? Gymnastics

To play now? Tennis

do you talk to yourself?

Absolutely and with great frequency, normally my half of a conversation I am having in my head but sometimes both halves. It normally spills out without me noticing, but almost never in public, sometimes people get confused by it cause it sounds like I am talking to someone who isn't there.

what movies do you adore?

Fantasy and/or Animated

..wait is this specific movies?

My stand alone favs are Stardust (2007) and The Three Muskateers (1993). And I like alllll the Pixar movies too.

coffee or tea?

Neither but I'll take a hot chocolate

first thing you wanted to be growing up?

Palaeontologist lol, apparently I decided to figure out what ancient stuff was in the dirt at about 3 years old

Tagging some people though I am super late to the party

@visualtaehyun @plantsarepeopletoo @shouldiusemyname @thegalwhorants

[noxsoulmate]

9 people you want to get to know better!!

Thank you for the tag @shadesofdeviant - I'm also always so happy to be tagged in these, even if it sometimes takes a while until I get to them 😅

3 Ships: Tarlos... uhm 🤔 ... Destiel, I guess... oh and I recently found my love for Stucky. (And I bet once the 2nd Old Guard movie finally gets released, I'll be fully back in Joe/Nicky-land...)

1st Ship:

Without being aware of what "shipping" and "fandom" even were: Ranger/Charmer from that old kid's show The Animals of Farthing Wood (I had it all, the books, the comics, the whole TV show, all of it!)

Being aware of actually "shipping" them: Dramione

Last Song: The Story by Brandi Carlile (thanks, Grey's Anatomy)

Last Movie:

Cinema: Top Gun: Maverick (a special showing a few months ago)

Streaming: Elemental (sooo cute!!)

TV: Prince of Persia (one of my favs, I always watch it when it's on TV again)

Currently Reading: Ahh, too many fics all at once, trying to get a few more tasks in for the @fanfic-reading-challenge before the end of the year 🥰

Currently Watching: Right now, nothing, but in the middle of binging Grey's Anatomy, soon starting on Station 19. Also following the Rugby World Cup and I love watching American Football - sports on TV are the perfect background for writing!

Currently Consuming: lots of water, as I'm having a headache

Currently Craving: Tea. I always crave my black tea... but it's past 11pm and I will just be wide awake again if I drink it now 😭

I'm once again late to the party, I think, so just some no-pressure tagging: @detective-giggles, @sgirl18, @firstprince-history-huh, @beautifulhigh, @wtfuckevenknows, @actuallysara, @carlos-in-glasses, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @lightningboltreader, @meditating-honey-badger, @bonheur-cafe, @heartstringsduet, @catanisspicy, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @whatsintheboxmh