#and indulge in anime/manga pretty consistently

[shitpostdevil]

watching this blog come together is kind of wild

like I would actually perish at this point if it disappeared bc I've put so much work into it

[bootyyy-shaker9000]

random TMNT headcanons that I conjured up while on sick-brain

notes and contents: for any/all iterations, non specific. a lot of self indulgence (Gender-Neutral! Reader), relationship is intended to be platonic, but it's pretty much up to interpretation. physical affection. mentions of turtle biology.

MASTERLIST, RULES FOR REQUESTS

• Being friends with the turtles consists of sending them a message while you're up late at night asking if they wanna grab some food, drive around aimlessly or somewhere specific that sounds unheard of at such a late hour, and them saying "aw hells yeah" and meeting up with you as soon as possible.

• It's more often than not that his mattress breaks and tears from the blunt edges of his shell digging into the material. Or if he lays on his back more, there'll be sagging depending on where he lays the most that will be bigger than the average butt dip. Basically, sleeping in his bed means you'll get the occasional spring jabbing into your ribs or end up rolling into a dip whenever he moves. It isn't exactly easy for him to get a top notch mattress in the first place so good luck with that.

• If you're a manga/anime geek looking for which guys to geek out to then Leo and Mikey are your guys. They have a handful of volumes from different manga that they found from rummaging up top, but none that are from the same series so they have a lot of mismatched knowledge on them. Casey is the one that indulges them in all the anime that he loves and it isn't uncommon to find the three gushing about the respective shows they're watching together. If you're into that, they'll let you get in on the action! But you're only gonna be watching it in sub. None of them will budge for dub, soz bro (unless you have an impairment that requires otherwise, then they'll make the exception for you obvs).

• Heavens hope that you're a human radiator because these guys Need That. He will be clinging to you the majority of the time if you give him the permission to. He'll even do the cricket thing and rub his legs and feet against yours to build up some of that cozy-cozy heat. And if you're not naturally warm-bodied? Then expect to be bombarded by plenty layers of blankets if you're hoping to cuddle with him man, you're going to have to make up for the loss of heat somehow. He might get a little petty about it, might not. I mean, you humans ARE supposed to be warm-blooded but whatever 🙄

• He's almost always cold to the touch (tends to be worse during colder months), but if you've had physical contact with him for long enough, e.g. you had a hand resting on his thigh or face pressed to his plastron, the spot warms up under your touch easily and lingers for a while after pulling away. So if you've been cuddling with him for long enough under a bundle of covers, you're eventually gonna have a toasty turtle (fat chance of you getting up for whatever reason now pal, rip to your bladder).

• The guys don't get the proper amount of exposure to light as they should do for turtles, as they require appropriate levels of vitamin D to allow the absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract. Calcium is the most important mineral in a reptile’s body and Donnie knows this, has done for ages. One day he confided in April about it and now, to this day, April buys them all vitamin supplement gummies that she's adamant about them keeping up with. Fuck knows how they managed to make it this far without them man.

↳ Eventually, April invested in getting them an appropriate basking lamp fitting for the four of them because she was seriously concerned over them never having one in the first place. (Fact: UVB (Ultraviolet B) is crucially essential for turtles because the lack there of can disrupt proper shell and bone growth, as well as making them ill and die long, slow, painful deaths from metabolic bone disease. Seriously I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY MANAGED SO LONG WITHOUT IT). After being educated by Donnie and doing her own research on testudine biology, she became greatly paranoid over their health for the long-term and still is to be honest. She just really wants her boys to be okay and properly looked after :/

• Hugs are really appreciated amongst the four. They're nice, loving and Warm. Whether it's a quick side hug or a long embrace, he's ecstatic enough just to have his cheek nuzzled against your warm one and you encased in his arms.

• With nerves in their shells that lead back to their nervous system, the guys can feel their carapace and plastron being stroked, scratched, tapped, or otherwise touched, and let me tell you each and every one of them would be oh so grateful if you gently did as such. It's less likely you'll have him asking for it, but he definitely wouldn't complain if you casually start stroking over the scutes in his carapace. Scritch scritch a little bit too, that'll definitely hit the spot. Get a body scrubber and some skin-sensitive soap, scrubbadubdub on that shell and you'll get a happy (and partially clean!) turtle.

↳ Linking back to the cuddling, he definitely wouldn't mind being a little spoon. The warmth of your body seeping through his carapace is the quickest way to getting him settled, cozy and maintaining his general body temperature. 

• Occasionally, if they're feeling too cramped in their shells, they'll exhale air out of their lungs which makes a noticeable hissing sound. It'll happen at any time, any place. Don't be too spooked when you witness this for the first time, you'll get used to it. Eventually.

• Kind of expected, but Leo will make brews for everyone often if you're all hanging out together in the lair. He'll only make tea, and if you wanna keep your cards right - and be a nice enough friend - you'll accept it every time. He'll jazz it up with different flavours that they've got in store so it isn't the same drink every time, but if you're in the mood for something more caffinated, you're looking at the wrong guy to make it. He just doesn't think coffee's all that great and subtly tries to urge those around him to avoid it because he cares :) don't take it personally :)

• They have a massive intrigue towards hair - because they don't have any! Yeah sure, dad has fur, but there's something different about their human friends having hair long enough to play with. Dude, if you have hair and are comfortable with others touching it, the turtles'll play with it all the time. Just sit yourself in front of him on the floor while he's on the settee and just let his fingers roam the surface area of your head. Got a buzz cut? He'll run his palm across it over and over again 'cause Woah it tickles. With hair that's any longer, he'll card his fingers through it, tussle it, lift it up just to let it run over his hand and/or braid it if he's been doing it for long enough to learn how. He'll honestly have a blast with it and so will you. Trust me on this, I'm doing you a favour here (they've already been doing this with April and Casey for years, it won't take them long to rope you into it too).

• Cuddle piles?? Hello??? Dude, huddling together during a movie night with the gang just to finish it off with falling asleep holding onto one another because you're all close enough and shameless towards being that affectionate with each other?? Catch me joining in on that shit.

[lilcindy]

Yandere Tolys Laurinaitis

Warning: obsessive behaviors, Poland is mentioned, mentions of wars, mentions of Word War II, historical events

Disclaimer: This can be cringe-worthy since this is the personification of a country, reduced to some anime trope, what I am indulging in can be harmful. Also, I go after comic events in the manga, not historical

━ A healthy relationship consists of two healthy individuals who acknowledge and accept responsibility for themselves, and Lithuania is a magnet for toxic ones.

━ His victim must be a nation, It takes a lot of time for Tolys to get used to someone, he's even willing to ignore the people who actually respect and appreciate him ( Estonia & Latvia) for his longer relationships.

━ Tries to be helpful to everyone, especially to his victim. Like helping them with legal issues, and giving them food and protection, If Lithuanian is not the official language of the Nation! darling, if we can say that, he will translate his most famous books, into their official language(s), which will be in vain since he never asked your permission in the first place. It doesn't matter, he LOVES helping/working for you.

━ As a yandere, Lithuania feels pretty threatened by his victim's independence, mainly due to a lack of security within himself, but doesn't really do anything about it. Finds it embarrassing to feel that way and he hates embarrassing stuff! ( attempts to restrict your choices many times)

━ He always overthinks his relationships with his obsession.

━ He is genuinely a kind person, unlike the average Yandere, he wouldn't wish to harm his love rivals. 

━ Too infatuated with his obsession that he can't see their flaws.

Before the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth:  

━ He used to control Middle and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages. He's a great leader and will always give you his best strategies. Since you're a Nation, he's not that overprotective despite being a Yandere but if you clearly are in danger, he won't hesitate to cut some throats.

 ━ It says that 'he used to be awesome before but he hasn't been blessed by his bosses'. I think Lithuania is willing to joke around, however, I don't think he will actively seek a romantic relationship with them. 

━ Why? He's born in the middle of a war, and as I said, he always overthinks his relationships with you, It may sound awful, but if you're not Poland, he will often hyperventilate when he puts scenarios in mind, where you and he had to war with each other.

━  Poland often calls him out for his obsession, calling it creepy, and weird as hell. Though,

After the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth:  

━  The time when he was taken by Russia, well...he gets less time to be with you since Mother Russia overworks him to the point of exhaustion, Don't worry, he is Russia's favorite!

━  That is why Russia overworks him to the point of exhaustion. If You had bad blood with Russia in the past or currently, he will ask, in a forceful way, Lithuania to stop his yandere tenancies, after all, he is his property. ♡

━ If not, he still doesn't have time for you...he always sheers a tear while thinking about you. Lithuania will ask Poland for his news about you while drowning in alcohol. 

 ━ If you are also Russia's subordinate. He will always be concerned for you, like extremely, literally handed three handmade documents that tell how to please the Great Fearful Russia with being bullied.

━ While hesitated to cut some throats, since over time he developed a weak stomach, and couldn't handle the gore too much. 

Modern Days:

━ Now that Mother Russia is gone.  

━ If he was asked oh-so-aggressively by Russia to stop his obsession, he would immediately rush to your house, clean it, and cook for you, as I said before he loves working for you.

━ If you guys are both subordinates of Ivan, he will boldly ask you to get rid of stuff that reminds you of him. He will NOT insist if you rightly so refuse.

━ He has a better relationship with Poland, and this one doesn't approve of this relationship and constantly reminds Liet that his obsession isn't normal.

━ He will never let go of his unhealthy crush.

[mtdthoughts]

(Rough) Script of Migi & Dali Sequel Manga

Harta, the magazine that serialized Migi & Dali, released in its 110th issue (Dec 2023) a short booklet containing some artwork from Migi & Dali as well as a short 4-page sequel manga that takes place after the final chapter of the manga or final episode of the anime.

I won't be putting up the manga in this post, but if you look hard enough I'm sure you'll be able to find it somewhere. It was a fun read, and here I'll put a translated script of what happens and what is said, which includes some of my own observations and notes.

Of course, *spoiler warning* below.

PAGE 1

Migi is at his desk writing a letter to Dali, and is struggling as he has already trashed several drafts. He has the same haircut at the end of the story and is wearing a hoodie. Also, some of his artwork is on display. The window is open, and it is a bit windy, and leaves can be seen falling. It's likely that this manga takes place during the fall/autumn.

First letter: To Dali: Dear Dali, How are you doing in this season when potatoes are delicious? (*Note: This might be a mistranslation as Migi likely introduced grammatical errors. Regardless, this can be roughly interpreted as a "How are you doing?" to Dali. The potato remark is consistent with the earlier observation that the manga takes place during autumn.)

Second letter: To the arrogant jerk: Hey! Why haven't you written to me in half a year!? (*Note: This manga likely takes place roughly six months after Dali left in March 1993, which is consistent with the earlier observation that it takes place in autumn.)

Third letter(?): I'm lonely. (*Note: He writes "さびしい" or "sabishii" which could be interpreted as "I miss you" or "I'm lonely because you're not here." It's pretty sweet that despite being confident that their hearts were always connected, Migi still wants to see Dali and misses him, even though Migi was the one who stayed behind with his friends and family. I guess Dali was more confident than Migi about the claim they've made.)

Migi is visibly frustrated with his tongue out, leaning back while ripping up the letter. Migi: "Agh I can't get it out!!" (*Note: It's funny how surprisingly shy Migi is when it comes to just writing a letter to his brother)

Migi notices something. Migi: "Huh?"

PAGE 2

Sardine is at the door. Migi: "What is it Beast? There aren't any sardines here."

Migi has an idea. Migi: "Ah."

Cuts to Dali's dormitory. His roommate(?) comes in with a letter in his hand. Dali is reading a book which seems to be titled "ふたりの証拠" (roughly translated as "The Proof of Two People") Roommate: "Dali, there's a letter for you." Dali: "!"

Dali has the letter in his hand. Dali has the same hairstyle at the end of the story and is wearing glasses and his school uniform. Dali: "Huh?"

The envelope says: "From: Golden Beast"

PAGE 3

Dali reads the letter with a warm smile on his face, knowing it's from Migi and is able to read Migi's feelings through this coded language. The letter says: Dear sir: It's the season for delicious sardines right now! That's right, it's me, Sardine! Are you doing well? My hair is still soft and fluffy! Well, now that you're gone, the house is a bit emptier now… (*Note: There is a wet spot and is labeled by Migi as dog drool. I wonder if it's actually dog drool.)

Cuts back to the Sonoyama house. The phone rings. Youko: "Hello?"

Youko answers the phone. Youko: "Oh, Dali!? How have you been!? Uh huh… uh huh. How about I put Migi on the phone for now… huh?"

Youko looks surprised. Youko: "You want to talk to Sardine!?"

PAGE 4

Youko puts the phone over Sardine. Dali: "How have you been, Beast?" (*Note: It's funny and heartwarming to see Dali indulging Migi's silliness by playing along with his Sardine act)

Migi suddenly appears, kneeling and with his hand over Sardine's mouth, and pretends to be Sardine. He is now wearing a sweater and has a playful look on his face. Migi: "Woof!" (*My interpretation: "Great!")

Dali responds. Dali: "I see, I see. You aren't causing any trouble for Mom and Dad, are you?" (*Note: it's heartwarming to see Dali acknowledge the Sonoyamas as his parents)

Migi answers, with another playful look on his face. Migi: "Ahnn!" (*My interpretation: "No!")

Dali answers, and Migi continues to answer like a dog. Dali: "I see, I see." Migi: *More dog noises and panting* (*Note: I have no idea how to interpret this. I guess Migi's conveying his joy and excitement at talking to Dali)

Dali, who clearly knows he's talking to Migi, reciprocates Migi's feelings by saying that he misses Migi too. Migi is surprised, and his eyes are wide open. Dali: "I miss you too, Migi." (*Note: He uses "会いたい" which can be translated to, "I REALLY miss you" or "I want to meet/see you." Given his use of "too," Dali knows that the feeling is mutual. Migi seems to be surprised that Dali not only has completely read his feelings but also stated his own feelings directly over the phone. This isn't surprising to me since Dali was always perceptive, especially to Migi, and this shows that Dali has always been and still is the big bro)

The whole Sonoyama family is here, including Osamu and Fidelite. Osamu smiles and Youko chuckles, while Migi is frozen, visibly flustered and blushing. Sardine: "Woof!" (*Note: It's pretty cute that Migi gets bashful when it comes to his brother, like he was with Sali. This goes to show that Migi has always been and still is the little bro.)

Final thoughts: It was very heartwarming to see that even though the twins were confident that they would remain connected even when apart, they still craved interaction and company from each other, which shows that their love hasn't waned one bit.

It was interesting to see the differences in how the twins conveyed their feelings, and it really highlights the older/younger brother dynamic. Migi is the first to convey these emotions, albeit in a bit of an awkward and indirect way by pretending to be Sardine. He also chose a letter maybe because he felt a bit insecure or awkward about saying "I miss you" to Dali and perhaps was afraid of being seen as a baby. Meanwhile, Dali is more reserved but clearly feels the same way as Migi given his reaction to the letter, and is able to return these feelings directly to him via phone. Unlike Migi, Dali has no fear or shame whatsoever and is far more confident in conveying his feelings to him.

Hopefully, Dali will actually come home sometime, maybe during Christmas for example. That'd be something that I would love to see written, drawn, and/or animated.

[det395]

det395 2023 fic recap

this year i wrote 172,177 words in total across approximately 19 WIPS (15 fic, 4 original) and i posted 12 fics amounting to 205,547 words

first of all, my favourites, my children, my pride and joys...

A place you can never go (85k words, fandom: Hannibal)

(and its informal prequel and alternate pov companion piece)

this fic was my #1 pride and joy of the year, and likely will be for a long time to come. i started writing this fic in August, 2022 and it became a whole different creature from my original idea but i am beyond happy with how it turned out. i think it is the best thing ive ever written. i have a really warm and fuzzy feeling looking back on it, despite the angsty concept lol

Put a little love here in my void (53k, fandom: Interview with the Vampire)

I posted this fic as i wrote it not expecting it to get much attention, which made this one a bit overwhelming and confirmed to me that i much prefer to have my fics totally pre-written before posting. that being said, it was one of the most satisfying stories to write! almost every chapter gave me trouble and almost every time i figured it out in the end in a way that just felt right. i fell off of this universe a bit before i could add more to it, but i suspect season 2 of iwtv might be motivating...

and onto the rest:

The Locked Tomb

Place me in my casket tonight - Harrowhark-centred with a lot of angst

The princess with a sword - 10k words of just messy lesbian sex

Interview with the Vampire

Don't be shy, go on ahead and take the whole set - short little Claudia exploration, the poor girl

Hannibal

To build a fire - cozy yet sinister bedsharing wip, man i should really try to finish this fic while the chilly weather is here

The killing moon - sex, violence, and body horror oh my! i finished this up from the previous halloween and im glad i went all the way with it

Black Butler / Kuroshitsuji

Ascend and try again - a silly, indulgent fic based on an anime episode. miscommunication with these 2 is so fun

The moon's a skull, I think it's grinning - a more plot-driven 'case' fic with lots of trauma exploration. i am so drawn in by the dark themes in the manga and i really enjoyed researching for and writing this one

The Last of Us

A rotten summer, a rotten hope, dear - being emotional about Ellie & Joel 🥺

Black sails

Regardez-moi - Max and Eleanor my beloveds. a preview into what my ao3 might look like in 2024. black sails has taken over my mind and heart...

i wrote rather sporadically this year, falling off of things when life got busy. for this next year (which i know will be busy) my goal is to write more consistently, even if each daily word count is pretty low

[ladyloveandjustice]

Fall 2022 Anime Overview: Five Anime!

I’ve done a lengthier review of Mobile Suit Gundam:The Witch from Mercury you can read here and now it’s time to tackle the five other anime I watched last season!

There’s some anime I chose to save for later, like Bocchi the Rock! (which I’m watching now and enjoying) and Raven of the Inner Palace, though I’ve heard great things about it and it’s a rare shoujosei adaptation so definitely go check it out! I might do a review of that when I do get to watch it, since it’s been overlooked this season with so many heavy hitters.

But onto what I did watch!

Akiba Maid War

This jaw-dropping genre pastiche takes the tropes of yakuza cinema and applies them to early 2000′s maid cafes in Akihabara locked in bloody war. Young Nagomi dreams of working in a maid cafe, only to find when she goes to work for the Oinky-Doink cafe (yes, they’re pig themed) that the cafe is heavily in debt and rival maid cafes are gunning to take it down. She’s protected by the deadly 35 year-old maid Ranko, who has a dark past.

Akiba Maid War is wild from start to finish. It starts up with shootout where Ranko kills a ton of maids perfectly timed to a cutesy maid cafe music performance and doesn’t let up from there. There’s a side-splitting bloody baseball episode, a deadly boxing match, and more. The comedy is endlessly entertaining- the way the maids continue to use their stupid animal puns even as they engage in yakuza style violence kills me- but it also has quite a few dark twists in line with its inspiration. This a show that could have easily come off as making fun of conventional femininity or indulged in tons of fanservice, but it doesn’t do either of those things. It’s just women in ridiculous outfits fighting each other and getting into ridiculous situations. It’s just utterly committed to its bit in a way that’s admirable.

I wouldn’t saw this a show with many big themes- though there’s the expected “can we stop the cycle of violence” one that comes up later. But there are some smaller things it’s very consistent about, and one of them is the message that if you want to be a cute, you are, and fuck anyone who says otherwise. Ranko is 35 (later 36) and is also utterly terrifying with a deep voice, but she repeatedly states that age has nothing to do with being cute or a maid, and when rival maids shit-talk her for being older than them they’re always framed as villains and shut down. The series coda especially hammers in it’s message of ‘women in their 30s are cute and can be whatever they want’. This shouldn’t be notable, but anime is well known for acting like any woman over 22 is a hideous old...maid, so it’s actually pretty refreshing. Ranko is fantastic.

If you can stomach exaggerated violence (I would call it an anime that revels in gore and the violence is cartoonish half the time, but lots of folks get shot), I definitely recommend this one. It’s a fun (and occasionally heartbreaking) ride. Definitely in my top 5 for the year.

Chainsaw Man

After being exploited by the yakuza ,the teenaged Denji gains the ability to turn into a ‘chainsaw devil” and is recruited by a shady government organization. He’s told that if he doesn’t work for them to kill other devils, he’ll be killed himself. Denji’s perfectly happy with this, because after a hard life he’s only interested in a warm bed, three meals a day, and his dream of touching a boob. Teamed up with a blood-crazed demon girl and babysat by a tired veteran demon hunter, Denji doesn’t realize the ominous machinations closing in on him...

I enjoyed this anime, and it inspired me to read the manga, which I enjoyed even more. It’s a fun time full of monsters and weirdos and there are themes of being exploited by your workplace and all that good stuff. But I’m not going to count it among my favorites, because honestly, the early Chainsaw Man material isn’t the strongest. Though a good deal of it is needed to build up what the manga does later, a lot of it feels meandering.

Denji is also a bit repetitively horny in the early chapter/episodes (though he at least hops the bar-in-hell most horny anime boys don’t manage to slither over and doesn’t violate consent). Unlike most horny anime guys, his immature attitude is a little understandable as he grew up isolated from other people with little education, this is all new to him. He does develop as a character (shocking twist, I know) as he slowly gains more of an understanding of how to approach the idea of sex in a way that works for him. But it takes 5 episodes to get him on that track. I don’t blame the anime for this like most. They definitely added a few sequences to stretch things out, but it does adapt roughly three chapters per episode, which isn’t a bad pace (and is pretty much needed to fit the first arcs into a 12 episode space). And if they cut anything out, fans would be throwing an even bigger fit than they already are. (It’s very funny to see the same fans that complain about the slow pacing turn around and complain about a small sequence cut out of the second episode. WHICH IS IT GUYS, THEY CAN’T DO BOTH).

I think Chainsaw Man fans need to acknowledge the early material just isn’t as as good as the later stuff, and being able to binge-read it in manga form just helps. The anime can’t do much about that, and it’s clearly a cinematic all-star production, with lovingly animated new ending credits and songs for each individual episode, so I don’t have a lot of sympathy for complaining fans when I had to endure Sailor Moon Crystal and a million yuri adaptations kneecapped by production woes. It’s a good anime doing what it can with the material it has, y’all try having real anime problems for once.

Rant aside, Chainsaw Man has a lot of good action, and importantly to me, a fun range of fucked up women. It’s also the rare anime that plays into the horror of an adult woman grooming a teenage boy. The anime does a good job of throwing up the red flags for Makima, yet she’s so good at what she does you almost fall for her alongside Denji. There’s also the loveable, feral demon-girl Power, who hits a lot of my adoration buttons. I do love that for once, the guy and girl teen leads of a shonen manga are truly just buddies, she and Denji have a fun vitriolic friendship. Because of the themes of the story,  there’s an unlikely confluence most of the women Denji meets manipulating him by offering sexual favors, which is unfortunate if you read into it. But I honestly just think the author just likes terrible women, which hey, same. Overall, the anime got me to read the manga, and now that I’ve devoured it all, I’ll be happy to consume next season at whatever pace it goes. I just hope those unfortunate animators at Mappa get some rest.

Do it Yourself!

Teenager Yua Serufu (yes that’s a pun and it is bought up) is separated by the best friend who gets into a fancy tech school. Yua is endlessly clumsy, but when she runs into a cool girl, she becomes interested in joining the Do It Yourself! club and do some carpentry and crafting. The club quickly grows, but can Yua lure her estranged bff into the fold?

This is just a cute show with cute animation about girls working with power tools. It’s relaxing and sweet and there’s not much else to say about it. It’s set five minutes into the future, but it did handle it’s themes of tech vs analogue well, with the ultimate message being “now that we have all this cool tech, we should focus on doing what we want, like working with our hands”, which is nice in these troubled times. The characters are very archetypal- Yua’s friend is a sympathetic tsundere, there’s a girl who says ‘nya’ a lot, etc. It’s a little noticeable that the American exchange student is way more fleshed out than the South-Asian one (we don’t even get her country of origin stated in the show) and there’s a weird moment with the little robot watching the girls bathing. Other than that, not much to warn for. It’s a sweet show, but it likely won’t set your world on fire.

Spy x Family Season 2

More Spy x Family, and it continues to be a lot of fun! I enjoyed season 1 a  lot, but unfortunately this season covers some of the weaker material in the manga, where the story seemed to be spinning its wheels with a lot of one shots. Because of how the seasons are separated, it’s also incredibly noticeable how underutilized Yor (assassin mom) is in this one and how little we know about her job. Honestly, I don’t think that’s entirely down to sexism or anything, I wonder if the writer was just struggling with how to make readers root for Yor hunting down and killing a man- it’s a pretty big ask for that to be the main focus of an arc in a family-friendly comedy. But fortunately, he does eventually figure it out, and there’s a good Yor arc full of strong material coming up right where this season cuts off, so look forward to that.

For some reason, they also cut out one of my favorite sidestory chapters with Yor. Considering that they adapted all the other sidestories and even added material this season, I wonder if they’re just saving it for the next one? They better be. Anyway, Anya’s still great, there’s a cute dog, it’s still a fun anime, but not as strong as the first season. Fortunately, there’s good stuff coming up.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3

It’s the final season of Mob Psycho! This is a quieter season than Season 2, but the show’s themes of identity and accepting oneself remain strong. Episode 6 made me emotional about a character I’d never had any emotions about before, there’s a cute little mini-arc focusing on everyone’s favorite weird alien-obsessed girl and the finale is a perfect cap on both Mob and Reigen’s development. It’s a beautiful culmination of all the growth we’ve seen in the  relationship that’s the heart of the show. I appreciated that, as small as they were, we got some glimpses of the real, grounded girl that exists behind Mob’s idolization of his crush Tsubomi. It was a nice touch that she lost her sparkly anime eyes and she got plainer ones like the other characters as it was impressed on us she doesn’t exist on a pedestal. It’s just all around solid material. I’ll miss this show a lot.

[chattegeorgiana]

Just wanted to say congratulations on Kaika Sasei. Just read chapter 2 and I'm hooked.

I have to admit it to you, I'm a loyal and devoted sasusaku. But that's not an impediment to read your story, you guys are really talented and you deserve recognition.

What I'm most interested about is your view of Sakura, I noticed the little hint about her promotion and I loved it, I missed moments like those from Kishimoto really.

So my question is, can you indulge me a little? Will you respect some canon events? One of my favorite things is inosakutema, I'm pretty sure you don't follow Boruto but they're an awesome trio! I was hoping you kept that? Haha sorry.

Another thing, one of my favorite things about narusaku (as my brotp of Naruto, otp for you) is their jobs. Hokage is the most important person of Konoha and the Head Medic is the boss of the most important Konoha department. Will you keep it that way? They're the most valuable and important duo, as friends in Boruto (or barely friends?😭) but a couple in Kaika Sasei.

Hope you cover Sakura's clinic too, her job in Cypher Corps too with Shikamaru (another brotp of mine) and Tsunade with Sakura in the clinic's creation. I need Sakura Hiden to get animated.

I'm so hooked about the kunoichis too. What will you do to Ino? Please don't do like Boruto and put her in Sensory she's awfully useless. Maybe follow her father's steps? I always thought she was a nepo but I can't help it because she's Sakura's best friend. Temari the Ambassador is great too. I don't care about Hinata though, Hanabi head of her clan?

I'm so excited to read more of Kaika Sasei💗

Hi there, fellow Sakura fan! :D

Also, like I always said, you guys ship whatever the hell you want to. Just because I don't like the writing because I have certain views and preferences, doesn't mean YOU should do the same.

Plus, as I said, I USED to be a multishipper, and it includes shipping SS too.

But anyway, let's get to the point.

First of all, thank you for your kind words for Kaika Saisei. Glad to see you enjoyed the little nuggets, hahah. I'm trying my best to stay as close as possible to Kishi's writing style. :D

Also lol, don't apologize for asking those questions. Now, I don't think I'll do a 1:1 on the canon events, but there might be some similarities?

I'm not familiar with Ino/Saku/Tema dynamics too in depth, but Ino is Sakura's best friend after all and I've already started writing more on the dynamics of those two in the written version of Kaika.

As for Temari, I also have a Sakura-Temari thing in mind given that there is something specific I want to do with Sakura in Suna, or better said in the whole wide shinobi world, and given that I will go the ShikaTema route, too, you'll probably end-up with a similarity in that sense.

However, I also have an adjacent development that includes logistics so to speaks, with Karin, as well as a certain aspect with Hinata as part of the Hyugas subplot.

I'm trying my best to keep this as original as possible because I've had with people accusing us of copying Boruto, when certain important elements in Boruto have been concepts that were first created by NaruSaku fans, but alas.

As for Naruto & Sakura, OF COURSE I'm going to keep that going on for them. I cannot see them as anything else besides Hokage/Head of the medical department. I like to keep consistency.

As for the clinic thing, well, we as fans of NaruSaku been talking about this idea of clinics for children years before the ending, so I'm going to have that one as well, just under a different route, maybe? I already started this in the written version of Kaika Saisei.

I have 11 chapters of Kaika Saisei written already, the manga is barely catching-up to the written version haha.

As for the kunoichis, I do have certain paths mapped out for them, especially for Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Karin and I have something in mind for Tenten too!

For Temari I admit I didn't give it so much thought because she had her fair share of spotlight that gives her proper treatment, so I focused more on the areas that I thought are lacking.

As for reading more of Kaika, well, there's always the written version if you want to read. Because the translation from written version into manga is quite different from what I've learned.

So it'll take a little while until I get to all the things in manga format that I have already written.

Besides, not even the written version is yet ready lol. I barely have just begun.

Anyway, hope I clarified these things for you.

Thank you for such a thoughtful question and for your interest in Kaika!

All the best, Chatte

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (17/09/23)

turns out we actually got jump today after all let's go babyyyyyy also one more new series in this serialization round next week but it's about ice skating so not super interested, but we'll see how it is

blue - finale/completed green - new series/new to me

Anime

Atelier Ryza Ep12 (Finale)

nice and chill finale for a chill anime. no sequel announced or hinted at so I guess that was the point of them adding that plotline with empel and lila hunting down the philuscha monster thing. anime was nothing to write home about, the animation was serviceable and never really dipped in quality because of that, the music was from the game so it was good and the voice acting was good as well. some episodes felt really slow but it just be like that when you're adapting a JRPG let alone an atelier one lol. I enjoyed it overall anyway, ryza is super cute and I love her so this anime was basically just an excuse for me to indulge myself in her cuteness for 20 minutes. they also had a lot of klaudia ryza moments which I greatly appreciate. if you've never played the game and want to know if this is a good introduction/starting point.. you should just play the game. you don't really get anything out of this you wouldn't out of the game and you get the whole story instead of just like half of it.

Pokemon Horizons Ep22

nice and action filled episode for once with the return of the original villains and the appearance of this pink chicken. I thought it was p funny moltres is another of the ancient party members since the other is shiny ray and the arboliva which isn't legendary but we'll see how the rest of the party is. also the episode ended on a cliffhanger and I thought that was fucked up since the anime is gonna be on break 2 weeks between cours but that's apparently only next week tehe

Manga

Do Retry Ch19 (Finale)

nice final chapter for do retry, 18 felt a lot like a finale too but this one was a timeskip, all the way to present day, following aozora's grandkid, him going to his funeral and learning about his past. as for the series overall it was...ok. it started with a good impression with some strong art fruit of the author's previous assistant work for matsui but the quality wasn't consistent. the story felt alright at first but as soon as MMA entered the magazine you could really see the gap in their quality. ofc it's not that fair to compare a newcomer to a veteran but still. and then came the cancelation which made the story speed up even more which didn't help it either making it end up as a pretty weak series. I'd say the author could do a better job on their next series but I think they'd be better suit to do some more assistant work for a bit before trying again, but hey I'd rather read another do retry than ichinose so it's not all bad.

Kagurabachi Ch1

hey that was pretty good, I liked it a lot more than mamayuyu last week. the art looked serviceable during the downtime scenes but I really liked how the action looked. also, as is known, I'm a huge slut for swords so having a katana based series like this is like a treat, just for me :). not much to say about the story since they didn't really reveal much either, seems like a standard fare revenge story but we'll see how it goes.

Kaiju 8 Ch93

the hoshina fight is finally over, it was a lot longer than I expected considering the others but it was VERY cool I've always liked hoshina since he's a Swordsman™ and this fight really showed how cool he is. was pogging out my gourd when he went santouryuu. only 2 more fights left now til we get the big climax one with hibino

MamaYuyu Ch2

oh hey would you look at that, I guessed it right last week and their world is getting invaded by demons. we'll see next week how the action goes cause it'll be mc's first time fighting. also gonna take some more time to get used to the weird paneling but it had some neat ones like chap 1 again

Blue Box Ch117

great chap, not only did taiki get his first major w but we also had this cute moment with him saying natsu's name without the honorific

Martial Master Asumi Ch13

great chap too, nito's first official fight started off with a bang and we finally got to see his long teased super move. ofc the next fights won't be so easy but that makes me look forward to them more

[hanabeeri]

i have a lot on my mind. well it isn't a lot it's just two thoughts that are spiraling TT

I. i don't like the way my sisters husband (and she herself too) restrict my nieces usage of media and the internet in general. the day before yesterday she asked me whether i could give her extra lessons in english because she failed her exam and needs to pass in order to be able to attend the next grade. and i wholeheartedly believe that she wouldn't have failed her exam if her parents would have allowed her to browse the web where she be confronted with english pretty much everywhere. or even play games! my other niece and nephew learned english by playing minecraft! i personally learned english by watching pewdiepie and scrolling through tumblr. besides we're not living in the 90s anymore where the internet was just a nice thing to have, we are living in the 20s of the 21st century and people rely on the internet a lot more and incorporate it more into daily activities! how do they think she will manage in the future? she once came to me because she didn't even have a clue on how to make a powerpoint. i mean yeah at her age i didn't know how to make complex and pretty looking ones either, but most could do a simple one: black text on white slides, consisting of either way too many bullet notes or walls of text. it's so frustrating. also i gave her my phone number and told her to please read the books that i gave her and if she needed any help to ask me. and she still didn't text me. girl, i know you are struggling i tested you two days ago and skfkskdksks anyways. i hope she will pass despite her parents being too restrictive. i'm pretty sure my niece in 2nd grade knows more on how to navigate media.

II. recently i was talking about bl and gl anime and manga with my friend from university, but i was so tired that day that i couldn't properly explain myself. and since i had a small breakdown over it at breakfast earlier i will try to explain myself now. it's not that i don't like to watch anime or read manga (i wish there would be a word like kana, hiragana&katakana but for anime&manga) that have bl/gl couples inside, it's just that i don't like it when shows are reduced to just that when they have a complex story or at best an entertaining one. i also don't like joining fandoms anymore for the very same reason, because everywhere you go there are only ships, and while it's fun to indulge yourself sometimes i'm not that big of a fan of it anymore; i used to be but nowadays i prefer to watch the series and discuss the lore or characters. another reason why i don't like to watch bl/gl anime is because more than not it's bl, and even more often than not they aren't even canon, which usually leads to the creation of a fandom that solely builds its likes and dislikes on fetishes. sometimes it's not even the fandom per se, sometimes it's the mentality of so many people that see two guys hugging each other and immediately stamping them off as gay. people however do not do the same to girls. this just shows how messed up some beliefs still are. i would like to enjoy series without being shoved pornographic art or written work in my face that scream 'i don't care about the series i'm a porn addict that found a bl ship and will not use it to let my mind go wild', good for u, but i personally don't want to engage with that. at least make it worthwhile and have an interesting plot. when im watching or reading a shounen or seinen im there for the series, not the ships, it's just so tiring for me. if there is some bl romance involved (eg banana fish) i don't mind, i like it, too. but again, more often than not those series get reduced to traumatic romances and people forget the rest. (i will continue later i have to catch my bus)

i'm back. anyways. continuing. not every series will obviously be about romance which is why it's of course not necessary that relationships are explicitly made canon. i'm fine with that, but i don't like bait. and yes i do think of many things as bait. i don't care if japan has a different society and culture because YoI was still published and the relationship between yuri and viktor has been so wonderfully displayed and showed even without direct kisses or proclamations of love. i'm just not the biggest fan when a series has a male cast only and fans reduce it to: yeah they're all gay. all of them. they fuck and friendships suddenly aren't a thing anymore. i'm the embodiment of yes i'm gay yes i'm homophobic. that's that. during the discussion with my friend i brought up LOTR because i had no clue that people even shipped sam/frodo or aragorn/legolas until i dipped my toe in the fandom. and then i ran. aragorn has the most gorgeous wife so, no. and sam and frodo wouldn't have been shipped as much if they were female. let's be honest, people ship them because they are male. even in fetishes women or female presenting people are not welcome. i'm not crying about it btw i'm glad gl isn't fetishized to the point where it's uncomfortable, it's usually very childish sjfksksks. i'm simply putting it in perspective. and that's where i will draw the line, and my conclusion is: i will watch the great pretender but i doubt i will see anything more than two guys that are close.

do not mind the text below because i came back to finish my thoughts. my train is late and i don't want to wait until the next class starts so i'm just going home, i'll revise the material on my own sifksksksk

ok nevermind im tired of this discussion with myself maybe i'm just a hater. just kidding i'm simply not in the mood to write out my thoughts anymore. here are the vibes do what u want with them. i was bothered but i found my inner peace again and now i'm unbothered again.

[iciousill]

Hayashi Yuu Interview

Original article: Yahoo!

Over 70 million copies of Tokyo Revengers (manga) have sold so far, and the 2nd season of its anime version is currently airing in Japan.

An unofficial translation of Shuukan The Television's interview with Hayashi Yuu, the voice actor for Sano Manjirou (Mikey). Note that since the interview concerns the upcoming Tokyo Revengers: Seiya Kessen-hen, this may contain some spoilers for the storyline up until then.

── Here we have Mikey's voice actor dressed in tokkoufuku (long biker gang jacket, in this case the Toman uniform) for this special collaboration with Shuukan The Television. As this interview's held prior to the airing of the new season, how are you feeling about it?

The release of Seiya Kessen-hen is just around the corner, and I'm filling up with various emotions. Gratefulness, for instance of the rapidly increasing popularity of the series, which also means more opportunities for me to appear in photoshoots and events. I also feel like I'm very used to wearing this long jacket. Putting the jacket on and naturally feeling myself brace up, that too.

── Like the feeling of taking up Mikey's aura when putting it on?

Yeah. Personally being viewed like I'm one of the gang isn't that bad (laugh), but on top of carrying him as his voice, I also get the feeling of eagerly wanting to respond to requests! Then again one of the common requests I get asked for is Mikey's high kick, and unfortunately my legs can't go any higher than about half the angle of his (laugh).

── Mikey's physical ability is just too great, right?

Right! While Mikey can lift his legs pretty much vertically, in my case I've got to start with some stretching exercises first, otherwise I can't do it (laugh). And when Mikey does it, there's the pose with his jacket fluttering from his shoulders. The other characters' jackets are short, while he as the leader is the only one with a longer jacket so you can see how imposing he looks from his silhouette. Getting to indulge in this feeling of superiority kind of feels like a perk (laugh).

── Talking about the feeling of specialness, maybe that could be the reason for Mikey's popularity.

I've seen Twitter accounts with Mikey as their profile icons, and I've had people become my fans ever since the anime started. Even though the series' themes involve biker gangs that disturb the public order, I've actually seen primary school-aged kids watch it too.

Even friends from my hometown that I haven't interacted with in a long time approached me with, 'Hey, I watched Tokyo Revengers! All the best!' I've been getting that kind of messages more often, leading to further interactions that I'm very thankful for!

── You can feel the impact of the anime series' influence on your surrounding too, right?

I'm sure that 2023 too will be a year of more Tokyo Revengers. On top of this interview, there's also the ongoing stamp rally, and the upcoming real escape game 'Tokyo Manjikai Daikousou kara no Dasshutsu' in January. Not only events, we can also see the coactive spread of Tokyo Revengers-related visuals filling up the streets due to the new Seiya Kessen-hen series.

── Even those who weren't aware of the existence of Tokyo Revengers can now get to know about it.

Right. I think it brings in those who have been following the manga, those who learnt of the series from the anime, and among them those who got interested from participating in the events. There are various avenues that you can 'pick up' the series from, which seem to have factored into how influential it has become.

── Mikey is 'charismatic', 'cool', 'kiddy', a character with multifaceted appealing points. Even through this interview I can see the hard work put into it as a voice actor, so conversely is there any trait that is consistent?

Actually not really (laugh). Since the traits keep flip flopping after all, we can instead consider the possibility that maybe it's the inconsistency that is consistent. Breaking Mikey's character down in my own way, even if there's no answer that I can give from it, I guess all I can do is to sincerely try to face the character.

The part that I'm most frustrated about is probably the same as what's frustrating for both the director and sound director too. But rather than settling myself in my own ways, I think I should work with everyone to figure out the optimal solution together, where possible.

── From your view, what do you think of the atmosphere of the recording sessions? It's been said to be pretty full of encouragement, according to Shin Yuuki who voiced Hanagaki Takemichi and Karino Sho who voiced Matsuno Chifuyu.

Shin-kun got praised so much anyway! (laugh) He was perfect, it's as if Takemichi really existed there and then rather than as a performance. I should be stricter on him as my junior from the same agency so he doesn't become too smug! ...well, I'm actually still pretty lenient on him (laugh). From time to time I would tell him, 'Don't get carried away!' but I guess it's just my personal frustration (laugh).

── You still feel frustrations in your career?

It's not only towards Shin-kun. No matter if they're a senior or a junior, if there's an actor performing brilliantly around me I respect them, but at the same time it bugs me out a bit! At least in my case, my feelings are on the lines of, 'Though our roles differ, I should also produce this level of quality!' That kind of competitive feeling in me habitually pops up.

── It seems that you as Mikey also get plenty of praises from fellow staff and actors.

Well, better not praise me too much (laugh). Ah, but in the sound director Iida Satoki's interview, he seemed to have said that I've 'got the grasp of being Mikey so (he) could trust that there'll be no problem with the performance plans' (laugh). I was truly happy about that.

I did feel a bit hesitant up until the Bloody Halloween segment even as I was standing on the recording spot, but if it's as Iida said in his interview, I think my performance didn't fail expectations so I'm happy. That's why I seriously read fellow staff's interviews (laugh).

To be frank, until the role was firmly set there had been a lot of concerning parts, so I'm really thankful to the various staff members for letting us retake the scenes. There were moments where I felt like 'there's no point to keep retaking this', but fault-finding isn't going to fix things without action. At the risk of sounding like a priestly proverbial, 'it's a blessing to be able to receive critiques'. I hope that the newer generations that tend to shy away from critiques will also feel this way!

── The ending of Bloody Halloween had been a sensational topic. With Seiya Kessen-hen as its continuation, we want to know about Mikey's actions too.

About Mikey, let's start with the part where Baji died. His mental state became fragile right... through his relations with fellow members surrounding him, I wonder how is this going to go.

── The loss of Baji, it had a really great impact on Mikey.

Yes. In the atmosphere during the recording session too. While it usually would be chill, on that day there was instead a distinctly tense atmosphere. From when Baji got done in, to Mikey's sudden change, the scene where he lost control left a strong impression on me as a voice actor.

Though I have had 34 years of experience in the acting world, it was recently that I started to realise, it's like I entered an enigmatic mode of heightened concentration towards my performance. It's probably something like an athlete's 'zone' of focus.

I was able to hear the voices around me, but the words that were spoken eluded me in my brink of focus as I linked to the character. It's like I got into some kind of monomania. The scene where Mikey went out of control basically went like that.

── As you got into the 'zone', was it like a so-called one-shot, a smooth take without needing any retakes?

Above handling it in Japanese, expressing that kind of state should have been difficult, but it might've been because I was honing my concentration in the task, it was indeed just a single take at one go! Man, having mentioned it up until this point, it would've been awkward if I didn't remember it (laugh).

My performance as Mikey has boosted me, which for me is like the culmination of my acting life. Having joined Gekidan Himawari when I was 5 years old, I developed the 'bratty act' from being casted as kid characters, and with the recent opportunities I've had to act as characters that exhibit leadership qualities, both sides are contained in the characteristics of Mikey. It was by fully drawing out these parts in me that I could tackle this challenge. I think I am a really blessed person for being able to be in that situation.

── In the recording sessions of Tokyo Revengers, was there any actor with interesting approaches to their character portrayal?

It felt like many of the actors were synchronised with their characters. For example, Karino's friendliness and cuteness was entirely like Chifuyu. On the service-oriented spirit, you can also get a glimpse of the reliable Chifuyu-like aspect of him during events.

Shin-kun too, though his acting was good he still seemed modestly-mannered like Takemichi (laugh). But like Takemichi, I think that there is an unseen side of him too. It's a good aspect!

On the other hand, there were also those with personality gaps from their characters. Talking about Seiya Kessen-hen, Sugita Tomokazu's Shiba Taiju is remarkable. Taiju's unnerving vibe was truly amplified in Sugita's performance. It wasn't just simple violence, but you can feel that it was in the realm of maniacal violence, and with that I was personally in awe of Sugita.

── We're all anticipating Taiju's part in Seiya Kessen-hen.

Also, in my opinion Mitsuya is worth keeping an eye on. When you watch Seiya Kessen-hen, I think you'll definitely fall for Mitsuya! First of all, he's part of a biker gang with an overwhelmingly terrifying emblem, but then he's also the captain of his school's handicraft club too. Not only the captain thing, there is also a scene where he can be seen getting told off by a junior, like he's completely blended in with regular school life... it's like he has moments of being off-guard, so to speak (laugh). In Seiya Kessen-hen, there will be scenes where Mitsuya's humanity shines, and it's really admirable!

── I can already feel the love for Mitsuya from your dedicated speech (laugh).

'It's better not to be a person who's too perfect,' might be a saying, but from a male gaze the too-perfect Mitsuya just seems so admirable! And he's voiced by Matsuoka (Yoshitsugu) right? I've been able to act alongside Matsuoka-kun in various scenes, and his acting's just so outstandingly and consistently good it's frustrating. The range of his acting roles is extremely wide, as such he just seems perfect! (laugh)

Also not to forget, the protagonist Takemichi's pretty cool too. The other characters appear extraordinarily cool, but you'll see that Takemichi too will have his rising share of coolness in Seiya Kessen-hen. Even though he's not really strong, his earnestness in risking his own life is so cool. I've unintentionally pent up these feelings for so long as there had been so many evocative moments... Well, but if you ask me which character's my foremost favourite, it's definitely Mitsuya though (laugh).

--- What do you think of Mikey?

Mikey is someone I definitely don't want to get involved with! (laugh) Of course, I get that he has his charismatic appeal, 'but is it really good to mingle with this kind of guy?' is also a thought that has crossed my mind-- someone who can in a blink of an eye leap from his friends' side to take down enemies in an intense brawl.

He's someone who at first glance seems to be unassuming, but that he hides extremely sharp fangs underneath is an appealing part of him I suppose. And the gap in character between him 'switching on and off' is probably a factor in his charisma.

Objectively looking at the character, he's really a messed up dude though (laugh). I don't know why but I just see it that way.

── That's just the thing. It seems to line up with the dangerous appeal of being in a former biker gang.

If I'm just looking at him I get it, but there's still the feel of not wanting to hang out with him (laugh). Biker gangs used to be common around me long ago, so the 'yankee' genre of manga felt familiar for me. The era has significantly changed, you don't really see much of those kind of people these days.

The interesting aspect of Tokyo Revengers is that using the theme of 'timeslipping' it's possible to weave between eras to naturally bring back and rekindle a point in yankee culture. The amalgamation of these two themes is really a creative genius of Wakui-sensei, but how is Takemichi returning to the past going to change the future? It's this point that's simply fascinating!

On top of that, in returning to the past, the awesome aspects of each character are depicted altogether as the epitome of fervent friendship, so it's really tear-inducing. It's a really moving series, so I'm really delighted that one person could make such a series that really connects with many people.

──────

If there are mistakes or better ways to phrase certain parts you can reach out and message me if you'd like to.

(RIP I'm sorry Takemichi I kept misreading your name as martial arts)

[the-nysh]

Why do people say Murata is thirsty for Garou? Doesn’t he do that for every character?

Hohum~ :3c Looks like someone's new around here. Because it's been pretty obvious to those familiar with Murata's no-chill behavior since his streaming days. (No one is as thirsty as Murata when it comes to Garou, but Aoki the s2 animator is also very thirsty for Garou too~)

I've already compiled a Murata's Garou thirst alignment chart just to illustrate how extensive it is~ Because there's probably no other character who can fill it (with plenty more gratuitous examples to spare) all by himself. Likewise, Garou can also complete the 'shirt cut meme' all on his own with official content too; the range of his power! 8'D

In general, Murata may be quite equal opportunity when it comes to lavishly rendering every character's appeal, but when given the chance to indulge in more fanservice (or draw more panels, because of course), it's consistently been Garou & Fubuki who are Murata's go-to favorite poster boy & girl (respectively) in that department. (See: “Murata’s Garou pinups look like magazine covers.”)

See also the back muscle compilation: Murata hyper-rendering Garou's back (modeled after Bruce Lee) was a common early manga staple, until his tastes evolved and drifted lower to include Garou's other assets of his entire backside showcased from head to literal toe. :P You can see where some of Murata's current tastes reside by how conspicuously curvaceous (in the hips & thighs) he tends to draw him, enough to rival Murata's best girls! (Plot twist: maybe Garou is Murata's best girl?! *pretends to be shocked*)

Garou vs Darkshine was probably the peak (imo) of Murata's h0rnyness for him however; did you know Murata went back to edit round 2 soon after it released to be even steamier? :P Heh. Honestly, I've never seen a male mangaka want to f*ck his own male character design this badly before. (Right down to all the suggestively prone shots & angles.) Like geezus Murata, calm down!

Murata's not shy about being thirsty for Garou on main either, where in preparation for the Garou chapters he'd be working on (like those Darkshine chs), he'd often psych himself up by spam retweeting some of his thirstiest Garou arts in the meantime. Murata's even self-aware enough to caption his posts with ガロ肉 (Garou meat). :P Classic Murata; like I say, this man just cannot be stopped! He's just way too excited to get to draw him~

Anyway, the list continues on, but you're more than welcome to check out my archives for more examples from some of Murata's thirstiest Garou eras you may have missed~

[human-enthusiast]

Absurd Person #1 - Monkey D. Luffy (kid)

 Let’s start with not only the main protagonist of One Piece but also the first character to give Luffy any sort of injury...

...his dumb, seven-year-old self...

*Disclaimer: I don’t own this image - screenshot from Episode of East Blue

The last time I wrote this, I forgot to hit save and my browser just reloaded the page and lost everything. After that I just went “I’m done” and rage quit Tumblr for the night (which I normally don’t do). That’s how my Sundays usually go😒🥴

Now Onward!

Basic Classifications

Real World Ethnicity/Nationality: Brazilian

Class: farm / country / lower class

Culture (the one he grew up around): Dawn Island - Sea-side village

Fishing community

Farming / Ranching community

Hard work ethic

Small and close community members; relatively friendly; little to non-existent conflict

Selective mix of being open towards strangers (especially with merchant vessels for better trading opportunities) and weariness towards those they expect to be harmful (likes Pirates; I’d imagine the people of Windmill Village were understandably unnerved with the Red-Haired Pirates first showing up).

Core values (personal to Luffy): pride, physical strength, adventures on and outside his home village,

Relation to authority: neutral - shifting slightly towards negative (no clear basis of opinion; can only go off on Luffy’s fascination with pirates as the main viewpoint)

(The added information feels a little scatter-shot but figured I give it a try based on little information from the manga panels and how it lines up with real-world similarities. Most information is based on logical speculation and could change with new information in later chapters.)

I know that the Romance Dawn arc consists of the chapters up until he meets Coby and Alvida (I think...), but the depiction of Luffy’s character in the first chapter seems different from when he is seventeen and setting out to sea. So, I’ll treat kid Luffy as a separate character for the first analysis.

First Impressions and Introduction

Now, I am an anime watcher, first and foremost, so my first impression of this character stems from the Anime. My introduction towards this ball of chaos was when he popped out of a barrel, that he put himself into after realizing that a whirlpool suddenly appeared (how he missed it? - It’s Luffy), and then inexplicably took a nap in. That was the absurd reason I was able to stick with One Piece in the first few arcs (until Baratie became one of the major reasons I stuck with it - I’ll explain why when we get there).

And since the first chapter was used for episode four in the anime, I was already somewhat familiar with how the story started and who Luffy was as a kid. However, reading the first chapter felt....different than what I would’ve expected. And because the anime cut out a few details from the chapter, there definitely are some things to take from kid Luffy at that point.

So my first impression was, as follows:

The kid is unhinged...That explains some things...

Complete wild child of a backwater village from Day 1. 

LIKE-- The anime episode DID NOT explain how he got that scar and the guy didn’t bring it up ever. To be fair, that wasn’t a big focus because the anime didn’t make it a focus. Reading that part though did more for his character and a little of his upbringing, through speculation, making it a rather slow-building but also fascinating introduction into this series.

Just a bit of an add-on, but if the manga introduced Luffy in the same level of neutrality as what the Anime did, It may not have fully made it clear if Luffy was going to be the main protagonist. Then again, it’s a shounen manga, maybe it was rather obvious to everyone else. Regardless, his introduction served to 

(1) Make his entrance memorable

(2) Establish his character that could either compare or set him apart from his teen self.

(3) Act as a sort of precursor towards the introduction of Luffy’s world and upbringing (which isn’t completely established until the last few arcs of Pre-Time Skip)

Personality

The best way I could describe Luffy at this point is a stereotypical kid...

Energetic, short-tempered, adventure-seeking, easily impressed, and ignorant...

That last description is actually something I brought up in a separate post about the “Fluid themes” of One Piece. Because I found that a small but overarching part in many (almost all) themes and world issues that One Piece reflects has some level of unawareness or apathy. Jimbe put it best during the Fishman Island Flashback when they found Koala (paraphrasing)

“They are afraid of us because they don’t know us.”

Know us referring to acknowledging them as people on the same level as humans.

Because of that and plenty of other instances from the East Blue, it can be a potential center for many characters who go up against or wish to explore the world and find that they are a frog in a well.

And that’s what kid Luffy represents. A rather aggressive frog in a well that wants out.

Granted, he is a seven-year-old, whose schooling has a closer equivalent to the 16th and 17th centuries of our world, living in what appears to be a farming community, so I’d imagine his education only focuses on at least the basic levels of reading/writing, mathematics, etc. A small, unexciting farming village probably has more concerns over their melon crops rather than what the world has going on. Adding in Luffy, you get a kid who dreams about being a pirate and adventuring outside the isolated village, making him avidly interested in a world he has no experience with. Or in a world he thinks is all fun and games.

That’s pretty standard for any child that has a mild and peaceful life. No doubt Shanks and his crew would tell him stories about their adventures. Not as a sort of attempt to make him a pirate, but because he was easily entertained by it, building up this expectation with stereotypical pirate personas. And whether he has his “destructive” tendencies before they became a fixture in Windmill Village, they definitely seemed to amp it up enough for Luffy to try and prove he was “man enough” to be a pirate at seven years old.

Then when you add in this idealistic expectation with the selfishness of a young child, it creates an opportunity to learn. Because, as any kid may go through, will find that their fantasy of the world won’t be what they expected, and will often react negatively. Luffy’s expectation of Shanks is that he is the strongest man worthy enough to be a pirate.

Now, Luffy’s view of a “real man” stems a lot from this stereotype of men solving their problems through fighting only. Which also embodies this rather damaging philosophy of never running away or backing down from a fight (which I refer to as stupid bravery - something that comes up in a certain other character).

The amazing thing about all the combined aspects of this kid is the ability to create a learning lesson for Luffy. Which can become a motivational factor in his pursuit as a pirate.

His easily impressed nature makes it known both when the Red-Haired Pirates talk positively about piracy adventures and when Shanks leaves the village. The difference between the moments can be showcased by the difference in determination and will to make an effort to achieve his dream. As he declared he wants to be King of The Pirates, he sets himself to work at it, rather than try and go with others.

How He Shapes the Story / World Around Them

I don’t know if anybody else made a similar connection (I wanna say someone DID but I can’t remember where) but in combination with Luffy’s general enthusiasm growing up hearing wild stories, his narrative reminds me so much of Don Quixote De La Mancha.

It’s been a while since I last read that story-- and by read I mean translate some paragraphs from Spanish to English during my Spanish I class in freshman year of high school. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Part I entails an old man who, after indulging himself with various stories of knights and valor, decides he wants to partake in his own adventures. Under various delusions and misadventures, his story becomes a rather well-known one.

Don Quixote was called the first “modern book”. That was something my Spanish teacher mentioned regarding its acknowledgment by the world and always stuck with me. It was one of the first stories of the early medieval period to focus on a regular man. Other stories before this tended to be about legends, gods, demigods-- individuals who often were referred to as legends because they were born into high status (often above humans). Either through original texts (often for religious purposes) and then through varying interpretations (such as the Arthurian Legends), these tales were a part of the status quo.

Kid Luffy is a person that reflects so much of the Don Quixote story (And not just because his village has windmills-- the most iconic scene about the knight’s story). He is that simple, normal boy that longs for his own adventures when there seemingly is already a well-talked-about story about someone who achieved infamy. In place of that is a man named Gold Roger whose execution we see in the manga’s opening. At this point, we don’t have much understanding about how it impacts the world as of yet, we just know it is setting up for something significant to the story.

Luffy becomes that “regular” person from a small-town with big expectations for a grand adventure.

That perspective can slowly build into the story by starting in a simple setting with a character going through one of the first dynamic changes in his life. Luffy’s experience with Shanks’s sacrifice sets a course in his own adventure. A story that trails into a rather bonkers adventure at the end of chapter 1.

His development is what shaped his world. It’s the way he learns when as it stems from the consequences of his actions. Especially ones where the smaller ones turn out to be very costly, making it a hard lesson that ingrains into the young kid. His actions created by his old ideologies sparked an intense reaction in the people around him. Especially Shanks, who felt he was worth losing an arm towards.

How The WORLD Shapes HIM

So, for the sake of the fact that kid Luffy’s “World” in Chapter 1 mostly consists of Windmill Village, I’m adding in Shank’s and his crew’s influence to extend and further give credence to his influence. Because, as of this point, Shanks represents a glimpse into the life of a pirate that Luffy strives for.

With Luffy being in a quiet environment all seven years of life, there is growth through basic schooling and healthy child development (theoretically since Makino seems to be the most likely one acting as his guardian), instead of doing things outside that norm. Now Shanks is the odd factor that creates new development into Luffy’s dreams and future ambitions. 

The crew’s stories, charisma, and connection towards the kid actively (and probably unintentionally) created a positive expectation if he chose to pursue his dream. While that sounds inspiring, there were also negative aspects. Such as driving his ignorance and impatient nature to seek it out too early in his life.

Shanks then became a mediator. Luffy often has mixed feelings with Shanks as the man begets a level of encouragement while verbally making fun of Luffy for being a kid constantly. Despite that, it doesn’t completely deter Luffy’s ambitions. All it does is slowly drop his high expectations in Shanks after the first bar incident. This is again done by his childish outlook of physical strength and bravery equating to his ideal of a real man.

With Higama, Luffy learns about real-world dangers, and how bravery won’t always be enough to win battles. The same can be said for physical strength but at that moment it doesn’t apply to Luffy. 

Shanks’ and the crew’s involvement helped Luffy’s views change. His expectations are fulfilled, which in turn reveal that he was wrong about them.

Finally, seeing Shanks’ sacrifice unfold drove Luffy into a pang of newfound guilt. By then, he was able to change one part of his world views from a childish fantasy into the beginnings of a mature way of thinking. 

He gains some level of patience. Along with a set goal to work with. Attributes which are identifiable with Luffy in the chapters last few panels.

Patience = Luffy took time to train and learn to set sail at age seventeen.

Set goal = Be King of the Pirates

Add-Ons

When I say that kid Luffy, after Shanks’ sacrifice, gained a level of patience, it is meant as a deduction during that chapter. By no means am I insinuating that it became a permanent trait for his character. Because as of chapter 1, all of Luffy’s personality has yet to be revealed.

And this will apply to other posts for various characters. They may behave in ways during or in response to a particular event but it doesn’t necessarily equate to that becoming a whole personality trait. Calling Luffy patient, with having full acknowledgment of his personality during the bulk of One Piece, is completely off. But, there can and will be moments where Luffy will act patient when he deems it necessary.

This is a little hard to articulate but I hope it makes enough sense.

🏴‍☠️🐒

After-Notes

Here’s my first attempt at this analysis. It felt scattered even after editing everything. Breaking down characters sounds easy (and most times it is) but articulating and connecting things takes a lot of work.

Here's to hoping it gets easier with the next character. And maybe shorter paragraphs.

Up Next: Shanks (East Blue)

[ichigo-daifuku]

Harbor

Obey Me! Fanfiction [Read on AO3]

Leviathan/Female!MC

In true normie fashion, she convinces Leviathan to be her date on the anniversary celebration in honor of the Hell's Navy.

Explicit | Fluff and Smut, Clothed Sex, Cosplay (...Kind Of), Uniform Kink

It's Leviathan Loving Hours, what else can I say? 💙

Word Count: 5.2k

If there was one thing she has learned over her multiple playthroughs of Dogi✩Magi✩Memorium with her boyfriend, it would be the importance of setting the mood when asking someone for a favor. Once the target was locked, every interaction with them bore a significant weight, including physical touch, if there should be any. Words uttered to them must be chosen with utmost care. Gifts, when presented to the target, in particular, those items in line with their preferences, would give higher chances of a positive outcome: intimacy up.

The front door clicked shut. She navigated through the hallways of the House of Lamentation with a purpose. An opportunity presented itself to her, and she was on her way to seize it. Once she reached the location of her target, who was none other than Leviathan, she halted, raised her occupied hand carefully, and knocked three times on his door.

“It is I,” she announced. “I come bearing gifts.”

There was a shuffling sound from the inside. After a few seconds, Leviathan answered, his voice in proximity, just behind the wood. “What’s the secret phrase?”

Three options flashed inside her mind, and though the secret phrase changed from one to another every single time she dropped by, she has been in the same situation numerous times. It was easy to decide which option was the correct one: the catchphrase in the transformation sequence of The Magical Mysterious Jane: Peony Phantom, one of Leviathan’s most recent anime obsessions. She began, “‘Lunaria.’”

“‘Wisteria.’”

“‘Primrose.’ ”

“‘Peony.’ ”

“‘Through the power of the flower, I’m as pretty as I can be.’”

“‘I’m the magical, mysterious Levi!’ Secret phrase authenticated. You may enter.” Leviathan unlocked the door and revealed himself. He wore a grave expression as he nodded and continued, “Welcome to Castle Leviathan.”

“Hold on, there’s a final line. ‘And I might just steal your heart, so watch out!’ There!” She laughed, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting. “Hi, Levi. I missed you.” 

Leviathan froze, the brief brush of her lips causing his skin to redden, but he shook his head and intercepted her entrance with his body when she moved to enter the room. “Where are those gifts you speak of?”

“Oh, my apologies.” She chuckled and cleared her throat, showing him the packages she was carrying with her two hands. “I present to you… Spicy Rainbow Pizza and Café Lament’s Bufo Egg Milk Tea!”

“OMG! Sweet! I was just getting hungry,” he enthused but regained his composure in a second. After shifting his facial expression and tone of voice back into serious mode, he continued, “I mean, your humble offerings are most appreciated.”

With the first phase of her plan successful, she entered Leviathan’s room, one of the most unique living spaces she has ever visited. An eclectic assortment of posters and merchandise of Ruri-chan and Sucre Frenzy decorating the walls and shelves welcomed her inside. A bathtub served as his bed, which she found odd during the first time she noticed it. The gigantic aquariums inside reminded her of oceanariums in the human world. The floor was cluttered with a few empty sports drink bottles and the like, but everything else he prized—from his books, manga, CDs, anime figurines—were organized in their rightful areas.

Light radiated from his computer screens as Leviathan made his way to the nearby table and set the pizza box down. He poked the straw through the cap of the Bufo Egg Milk Tea, grabbed a slice from the box, and strode to the direction of his computer while indulging in his snacks. In a good mood, he plopped down on his gaming chair and spun it in the opposite direction of his set-up.

Meanwhile, she had gone to the fishbowl where Leviathan’s beloved goldfish took his residence. “How are you doing, Henry?”

Henry circled the space, leaving bubbles in his wake, and bumped onto the glass as if to say hi.

She concluded that things were going swimmingly with Henry and turned to Leviathan. “Have you fed him yet?”

Leviathan observed the interaction with curiosity and finished his slice of pizza, grabbing a sheet of tissue paper from his desk and wiping his hand with it before throwing it into the wastebasket. He took a long sip of his Bufo Egg Milk Tea and replied, “Nope. It’s almost time for his meal, though. Do you wanna do the honors?”

“Sure,” she responded with a smile and took the goldfish food container near the fishbowl. Henry chased after the pellets she sprinkled inside, delighted. Once she was satisfied with the amount of food she had given Henry, she dusted her hands and strode to Leviathan’s direction. 

Although they had been in the same position many times before, the moment she sat on his lap, Leviathan looked away and blushed, taking the straw away from his lips and coughing. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing…” she answered coyly and turned the gaming chair toward the screen. “So, what were you doing before I got here?”

“Uh, nothing.”

True enough, the screen indicated an open tab on Deviltube, an adorable cat video on pause. She clicked play and watched the clip of a cat kneading its paws against a soft blanket. When it ended, Deviltube offered more cat videos as recommendations, but she found no interest in them at the moment, her gut telling her that it was the right time to broach the subject she had been itching to ask him since yesterday. “By the way, I got invited to a party a few days ago. It’s going to be in two weeks... Can we please come together?”

“Is that social interaction I hear? No, thanks.”

She pouted and turned to him. “But Levi…”

“Besides, I have to attend something in two weeks as well. Too much social interaction for a shut-in like me is unhealthy.”

“Aww, okay.” She let out a dramatic sigh and revealed her trump card. “I guess I’ll have to extend an invitation to someone else to be my plus-one, after all… because the Grand Admiral refused to be my date on the anniversary of the Hell’s Navy.”

There was a moment of silence as he put two and two together. “What the—? Let me guess, you received an invitation from Lord Diavolo?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “He was the one who told me I can bring a plus-one.”

“I can, too, but I didn’t think you’d be interested.” Leviathan averted his eyes and took another sip of his drink. “It’s not a super big deal, you know? And it can get kinda boring. Like, really boring.”

“I’m definitely interested. I already said that I’d go, so… do you wanna go together?”

“You really mean that? Um, like a date?”

“That’s right!”

“Ugh, fine...” he sighed in resignation, the blush coloring his face growing fiercer. “It’s not like I wanna go or anything—I have to, either way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about how boring it is, okay?”

“Yay!” She threw her arms around him, making him yelp. “If the event ends early, let’s go home right away and check out the newest update of Mononoke Land. Just the two of us.”

Though caught off-guard, his hand that had been resting on the armrest snaked around the curve of her waist to pull her closer. He shook his head. “I should’ve known you were up to something the moment you walked in with those snacks. I can’t believe I fell for your normie tactics.”

Mission accomplished! “Normie - 1, Leviachan - 0.”

“I’ll get you next time!”

“Best of luck with that,” she replied and blinked at him suggestively. “Now, how about we watch something more... interesting?”

Alarm and anticipation caused his eyes to widen and flicker from her face to the screen, his throat bobbing as he gulped. “Huh? L-Like what?”

“Hmm…” She turned away from him, clicked on the search bar, and pressed a certain letter on the keyboard: H.

Leviathan’s lips parted to say something, yet even the sound of the letter, its implications and all, failed to escape from them.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “That’s right, Levi. It begins with the letter H, do you know what it is?”

The tip of his tongue darted to wet his lips, and his fingers stiffened around his drink, slightly tremulous. A silent groan escaped his mouth as he fidgeted in his seat and halted the movement a second after, becoming extremely conscious that she was perched on his lap. With the space between them close to none, she could feel every detail of the rising tension in his body. Between ragged breaths, he murmured, “Y-Yes…”

Victoriously, she smiled and leaned back, turning away to finish typing the rest of the title while announcing it to him, “Harrison Porter and the World of Wizards!”

The anniversary celebration of the Hell’s Navy would be held at the Demon Lord’s Castle. Being the only two humans currently in the Devildom, Diavolo decided that it would be great as part of the cultural exchange to introduce her and Solomon to a branch of the Devildom’s military. According to the invitation, the Hell’s Navy would be presenting its newest members which not only included demons but also sea monsters joining the fleet in its endeavors. Everyone invited was instructed to adhere to the nautical dress code, and so the day after she convinced Leviathan to be her date, she visited Majolish and searched for something suitable for the event.

After making final adjustments to her ensemble, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, happy that she was able to find something in line with the theme. Her navy blue dress sported a sailor collar, a white necktie, and a skirt adorned with two stripes at the bottom. On top of her head, a matching sailor hat rested while her footwear consisted of plain white ankle boots. 

Satisfied, she sent Leviathan a text message to inform him that she would be making a stop at his room. When she received a reply that he would leave his door unlocked for her, she opened her bedroom door and peeked outside, not wanting to risk running into the other brothers in the hallway. As silly as it was, she wanted Leviathan to be the first one to see her in this outfit. The coast was clear. She stealthily made her way to Leviathan’s room, knocked, and entered, making sure to shut the door as quickly as she could.

Leviathan stood near his closet, facing away from her. She figured out that her entrance had gone unnoticed as he continued fumbling over his sleeve and adjusting his collar.

“This could’ve been the perfect time to show off my skills and cosplay a sea spirit from Mononoke Land, but no, I have to be in this uniform,” he whispered to himself and sighed. “Henry’s going to be there with the other sea monsters. I’m so proud of him… I wish Lotan was present as well. He’d have so much fun…”

“Levi?” she called.

“Oh, hey,” he said and turned around, the words dying in his throat as he took in her appearance. “You’re… here…”

The sight of Leviathan in his Hell’s Navy uniform rendered her speechless. Even though he has yet to wear his cap and gloves, he looked entirely formal and professional, a stark contrast to the image of him she viewed every day. His uniform suited him, and he looked stunning. Her heart hammering in her chest at the heat of his gaze, she gave him a twirl and asked him with a nervous smile, “Ta-da! Is it okay?”

For a while, he didn’t speak. He only gave her a wide-eyed stare before blurting out, “Are you… real?”

“Huh? Of course, I am.”

“3D…?”

“Um, yes.”

He gulped. “If you’re telling the truth, what was the item you borrowed from me after we made a pact?”

“What’s with the pop quiz?” she fired back. “Anyway, it was the cursed vinyl edition of The Tale of the Seven Lords soundtrack. How could I forget?”

“Easy enough,” he said. “How about this? Do you remember the first phone call we had?”

“Yeah, I do. You told me that you dialed the wrong number, right?”

His cheeks pinked. “I didn’t just tell you that—I actually did, okay? Who was I trying to call, then?”

“Ultrawitch✩Rainbow-chan. Luminous-chan.”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “What was the last movie we watched together when we were in this room?”

“The one which begins with the letter H,” she responded with an amused giggle, remembering the way he squirmed in his seat. “Harrison Porter and the World of Wizards. Seriously, Levi, what is going on?”

“WHOA! It really IS you,” he confirmed enthusiastically. “I can only imagine you doing all the magical girl transformation poses! I... I never thought—I mean, okay, yeah, I’ve thought about it—but I never thought the day would come when my fantasy would turn into reality… I can’t even look—it’s too much for my heart to take! I-I think I’m going to have a heart attack!”

Sure, Leviathan adored two-dimensional girls dressed in schoolgirl uniforms which were mostly in the style of a sailor’s, but what she wore right now wasn’t that; this was as close as she could get to the human world’s navy uniform which, from the details of Leviathan’s current attire, was similar to the Devildom’s. “So, it’s alright? You like it?”

“Do I like it? I love it! Of course, I love it…” He blushed and averted his gaze with a frown. “Those other guys in the navy, they’re going to approach you like a school of fish… I can’t have that… but how am I going to keep you in sight and stay away from you at the same time?”

She took a moment to process what he said and cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? What are you talking about? Why would you do that?”

“Look at me! Look at you! You’re so cute and perfect… I’m just a gross and icky shut-in otaku with zero social skills. I’m not worthy to stand beside you…”

“What? No!”

“Why did I have to be like this? A loser! It’s so not fair!” he cried out and covered his face with his hands, his shoulders slumped in sadness, on the verge of bursting into tears. 

Self-deprecation rolled off him in waves, and though the declaration he made about himself was the most ridiculous thing she has ever heard, she understood where he was coming from. This was Leviathan, after all. A lot of times, he didn’t give himself enough credit. He was unaware of it, but he was popular with the Devildom community, especially to the succubi. There was an instance when Mammon sneaked a photo of a freshly bathed Leviathan coming out of the shower and sold it online, much to the succubi’s delight. Too bad for them, though, she was already dating him.

“Levi.”

“Maybe it’s better for me not to go…”

“Levi.”

“I guess I can try to fake sickness or something…”

“Leviathan.”

The resolute tone of her voice as she called him by his full name drew his attention. He removed his hands from his face, turned his gaze on her for a second with difficulty, and looked away again. “Um, what?”

“Change into your demon form.”

“Huh? But why…?”

“Do it, please.”

“O-Okay… If you say so…”

Leviathan shifted into his demon form. Her footsteps echoed through the silence as she made her way to him, and though he still refused to look at her, she didn’t hesitate and wrapped him in her embrace. “I didn’t slip and hug you by accident, just so you know.”

It took him by surprise, but he held his tears back and sniffled, placing his arms around her waist in return. The calming fragrance of the sea enveloped her, making her close her eyes and sigh contentedly. 

They remained in the same position until, slowly, she led them to the giant aquarium that served as a wall in his room. Her back turned from the glass, she stood on her tiptoes, skimmed his horn soothingly with a fingertip, and whispered in his ear, “Do you see that? Look at him… That’s Leviathan, the Avatar of Envy, one of the Seven Rulers of Hell, one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom.”

She kissed the visible markings on his neck one by one and lingered her lips on his collarbone, waiting for the tension caused by his moment of insecurity to alleviate, even fractionally. Once he calmed down, she looked behind her and found him staring at their reflection, a sense of shyness and wonder within his gaze. Determined, she faced him again and tugged his sleeve. “Will you change back for me, please?”

Wordlessly, he did as she requested. Light surrounded his body for a second, and he returned into his human-like form, still staring at their figures on the glass, entranced. 

“And, right there, is no ordinary demon. That’s Leviathan, the Grand Admiral of the Hell’s Navy, the one who wields power over a multitude of sea monsters.” Softly, she traced the badges embroidered on his uniform, the pins indicating his rank and power, and the stripes on his sleeves. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them before continuing, “Anyone would be jealous of whoever is standing beside him. In fact, am I—a human and a normie at that—worthy of being his date?”

His eyes flitted from their reflection to her face, worry making his brows furrow. He grabbed her by the shoulders and answered without an ounce of hesitation, “Of course, you are! There’s no one else who can keep up with me as you do... You’re my True Friend as well as... m-my… g-g-girlfriend! You’re the only one for me!”

This was supposed to be her reminding him of his worth, but how the tides had turned. Overcome with deep affection for him, her eyes watered, but she blinked her tears away with a serene smile and touched his cheek. “And this… This is Leviathan: an otaku, a gamer, the biggest TSL nerd there is, a Ruri-chan and Sucre Frenzy fanboy—he’s passionate about many things. On top of it all, he’s so handsome and amazing… but he doesn’t seem to know that. Not on my watch, though, I’ll remind him of those as many times as I have to.”

“Why are you telling me these?”

“Because they’re true,” she told him. “All of those incredible qualities, they’re you, Levi, and I love you.”

He buried his face on her shoulder, his voice muffled as he replied, “I love you, too.”

She chuckled and gently nudged him, loosening herself from his embrace and facing forward. Hand in hand, the two of them stared at their reflection contrasted by the aquamarine water beyond the glass. “See? We look perfect for each other, don’t we? Actually, scratch that, we are perfect for each other, aren’t we?”

“Yes… Yes, we are,” Leviathan agreed with a bashful nod and turned to her. “GAH! How do you always know just what to say? What are you doing to me?”

“It’s one of my normie tactics, nothing new about that.” She laughed and expected him to tease her about being a normie like he always did.

Instead, he stared at her seriously and exclaimed, “I can’t take it anymore!”

“What do you mean?”

“How could you show up looking so cute, say cute things like those, and expect me not to get all… UGH!”

The next thing she knew, her back leaned against the cool glass, her hat falling to the floor at the suddenness of the motion. A faint thud resounded from Leviathan’s hands as he placed them beside her head. He bent down and captured her lips in a hungry kiss, shifting closer to her until she was flush against his torso—until they could feel the warmth emanating from each other’s bodies. His tongue lapped at the seam of her lips and slid inside, meeting hers and exploring her mouth. The rapid succession of events caused her mind to go hazy, but she found her bearings and reciprocated his advances eagerly, the desire for him thrumming through her body in clarity.

When they parted to breathe, she bent her leg upward to confirm her suspicion. “You… Are you excited right now?”

“Yeah, totally. So, you’ve noticed.” He hovered over her throat, softly kissed the sensitive skin, and pressed his forehead on the crook of her neck. “I can’t help it. Is it okay if I… I-I mean, can we…?”

She swallowed hard and brushed his hair with her fingers. “Of course, Levi. I’m all yours.”

He lifted his head and met her gaze. “All mine...”

“But we have to be quick about it, okay? We can’t have you being late.”

She grasped Leviathan’s shoulders, tilted her head, and initiated the kiss this time. It started as a tender brushing of their lips and turned into deep, lingering caresses as he responded heatedly, neither of them requiring any form of coaxing. While one of his hands moved to cup her cheek, the other grazed her shoulder and made its way downward, fondling her breast along the way and making her moan. He teased the hem of her skirt and slowly made his way underneath it, stroking her thighs and squeezing lightly at the flesh. Groans fell past his lips in between kisses, his hand wandering dangerously close to the apex of her thighs. In a surge of boldness, he cupped her sex and hooked the fabric covering it aside. She leaned back with her eyes closed and parted her legs to give him further access, the back of her head resting against the glass. Her breath hitched, and her body quivered as he began teasing her entrance, the pad of his thumb stroking her clit before his forefinger glided in and out of her in shallow and languid motions, providing relief to the aching emptiness inside of her.

“That feels so good, Levi,” she murmured and moaned. He stared as he added another finger, eager to memorize every detail of her reaction. She admired the way the light and reflection of the water from the aquarium illuminated his face and whispered, “You’re the only one who can make me feel this way.”

“R-Really?”

“Really.” She captured his lips in a quick kiss. “Only you, Levi. Only you.”

The expression on her face, the pleasured noises coming from her lips, and the way she bit back another moan led his ministrations to grow more frenzied by the second, his dexterous fingers plunging in and out of her entrance relentlessly. Eager to please him in the same way, her hand shifted from clutching his shoulder to seeking the button and fly of his pants. She tugged on his waistband and slipped her hand inside. Fingers closing around his stiffening length, she released him from the confines of his underwear and stroked him from base to tip. 

“Ah, fuck,” Leviathan hissed and grit his teeth. He pressed his forehead on hers and shut his eyes, the steady pace of his fingers growing erratic as hers found her rhythm. Despite this, her legs grew unsteady, and her knees threatened to buckle, her climax in reach. This didn’t escape him, and he responded to her need by pumping his digits in and out of her entrance frantically, determined to make her come undone.

“Open your eyes, Levi,” she breathed. “Look what you do to me.” 

Leviathan’s eyes fluttered open and watched as the pleasure building up in her abdomen uncoiled. Her body trembled, and her muscles clenched around his fingers as he let her ride out her climax. Warm puffs of her breath teased the skin underneath the fabric of his uniform as she collapsed against him and panted. 

He withdrew his fingers from her folds, and with his other hand, he grabbed her wrist and released his length from her grasp. Firmly, he wrapped her arms around his neck and slid a palm down to her thigh, hooking her leg around his waist. The head of his cock brushed her clit, and she shuddered, still sensitive from her previous climax. “I’m going to put it in, okay? I wanna see that expression on your face again, the one when you come for me.”

Still breathing heavily, she nodded against him and said, “Y-Yes.”

He eased himself inside her, stilling halfway through to allow her to adjust to him. To his astonishment and gratification, it was she who inclined her hips and took all of him the next second, impatient. Inhaling sharply, he unsheathed himself and pushed inside her again, searching for any discomfort on her end but finding nothing.

“Faster,” she urged.

Leviathan was more than happy to oblige. One of his hands gripped her hip while the other clutched the leg around his waist, holding her steady as he sank inside her in one fluid motion, the movement followed by a series of equally desperate thrusts. The strands of his hair swayed at the swiftness and steadiness of the pounding of his hips. Her fingers carded through his hair and nudged his head down, connecting her lips to his in a feverish kiss. Leviathan poured his need for her through every stroke of his tongue and only broke away once he sensed her tensing, her walls squeezing around his length.

The heat of his embrace, the need in his voice as he groaned in pleasure, the feeling of him inside her—at that moment, everything in her world revolved around Leviathan. Although she had climaxed only moments ago, it didn’t take long for her back to arch and for tremors to ripple all over her body again. A thin sheen of sweat coated her forehead, her eyebrows knit in pleasure, and she closed her eyes and parted her lips, her voice echoing across the room as she cried out, “Levi!”

As she drowned in bliss, he continued thrusting into her, chasing the powerful current of pleasure sweeping over every part of his body. He chanted her name in the same way she did with his, his cock throbbing inside her with his release.

Leviathan’s breathing came out in heavy huffs, exhausted. Still, he stood and held her, his tone laced with concern as he murmured, “Your dress… I ruined it, didn’t I? Sorry.”

Aside from the skirt of her dress being a little rumpled, her attire looked fine. It was nothing compared to the happiness that bubbled in her heart at that moment. She shook her head with a shy smile. “No, you didn’t. Definitely not.”

“Oh, okay…” After a moment of hesitation, he continued, “It was good for you, too, right? Because it was, for me.”

She nodded with a laugh. Dressing up was always fun with Leviathan, and needless to say, she loved it as much as he did. “Of course, it was. In fact, I think we should try that again sometime… and you know, do more.”

“So do I.” A spark of excitement laced his tone as he suggested, “Like, later?”

“Later.”

After making themselves presentable again, Leviathan accompanied her to her bedroom where she remedied the rumpled state of her dress. True to her assurance that everything was fine, the matter required a few minutes, and then, her outfit was as good as new. A while ago, on the way out of his room, she had almost forgotten to bring her hat, but to her surprise, Leviathan already picked it up and held it out to her. That made her smile. She set her hat back on her head, turned from the mirror, and began making her way to Leviathan, who was sitting on the sofa and fiddling with his D.D.D.. As she opened her mouth to ask him if he was ready to leave, a thought struck her and made her stop in her tracks. She strode to her desk and rummaged inside her school backpack. “I can’t believe I almost forgot!”

“Forgot what?” Leviathan lifted his head and watched her with interest.

She waltzed to his direction, sat beside him, and handed him a tiny box. “Here’s a little gift. Happy anniversary to the Hell’s Navy!”

“F-For me?”

“Yes.”

Leviathan opened the box, starry-eyed at the unexpected item inside: a metallic goldfish pin resting on the velvet cushion. “NO WAY? IT’S HENRY?”

“Yes! Isn’t he cute? I have one, too. See?” She outstretched her hand and showed him an identical goldfish pin in the hollow of her palm. On the day when she went shopping for an outfit in Majolish, she happened to pass by an accessories boutique that offered customized items. As soon as she could, she entered the establishment and placed an order with the thought that it would be right up Leviathan’s alley. She was worried that her gift wouldn’t make it in time, but fortunately, she was able to pick up her order yesterday. From the joyful look on his face right now, it was worth the wait.

“Whoa! It’s like Henry fan merch!” he said excitedly. Without preamble, he placed the Henry pin in its rightful spot next to his badges. “T-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You should wear yours, too,” he told her. “Here, I’ll put it.”

“Okay,” she replied and handed him the pin.

Leviathan placed it on the fabric of her tie and leaned backward to have a better look, blushing at the realization. “Huh. We match.”

“We do.”

He paused, contemplating on something. With a genuine, earnest look on his face, he said, “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I love you more than anyone else in the world.”

His statement reminded her of a fond memory when Belphegor sent those exact words as a message for her using Leviathan’s phone. She had to admit that it was nice hearing it in person, and even nicer that she knew the words truly came from him this time. She stifled a laugh and teased, “Hey, is that supposed to be cheesy or funny?”

He covered his face with his hands, embarrassed. “I tried, okay? Come to think of it, I sounded like a normie. Yikes.”

“That’s okay.” She removed his hands from his face and looked him in the eyes. “I love you more than anyone else in the three worlds.”

“Ugh… Must you really one-up me every single time?”

“Normie - 100, Leviachan - 0.” She smiled and stood, righting her hat that had become askew before holding out a hand for him to take. “You ready?”

“Yep.” Leviathan nodded and took her hand in his. “Let’s go!”

And so, together, like two ships sailing across the vast and endless seas, another adventure awaited them.

(⋆❛ ہ ❛⋆)⊃▂✫⌒*･ﾟ✲

Thank you for reading! ♡

Obey Me! Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[madame-fouquet]

2020 Anime Retrospective

With the end of the year here, and all the anime that came with it now behind us, I feel like looking back and reminiscing on it. So, following the style of ANN's own yearly retrospectives, may I present my 2020 anime in review! Enjoy.

Best of the year: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken

    This is actually not the first time Yuasa and his crew of, let's be honest, visionaries have rolled something special out right at the beginning of the year in some weird power move against everything else that has to follow it. They did it back in 2018 with Devilman Crybaby, and then they hit us this year with Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken.     You ever have one of those shows where you're just constantly in awe of everything it does? Where you never found yourself chasing merch or hunting after content based off it online, but you consistently find yourself thinking about it? Yeah, that's what Eizouken did to my brain after I watched it. It was such an earnest love letter to anime and anime production, to animation in general, that I couldn't help but get sucked into its imagination and enthusiasm. The way it was able to so perfectly illustrate that pure, boundless, childlike joy that one can derive from the simple act of creating, I'd be lying if I didn't say that it had a powerful effect on my own desire to continue creating. (Corny as that sounds, it's true.) The sheer amount of love it contains, and the equal amount it puts out into the world make it so I know I am going to be thinking about it again and again for a long long time.

Runner-up: Akudama Drive

    I don't know if it's really quite a matter of my two favorites being opposites, but there are definitely some pretty sharp stylistic and tonal differences between my two top shows this year. Akudama Drive's cocaine-fueled bender of an intro episode made it very clear what it's intentions were and what it wanted us to be prepared for. That doesn't mean I had ANY idea of where it was headed narratively, but I did know I was in for one hell of a ride. And it delivered is spades on that promise.     The twists and turns, no matter how insane, illogical, or steeped in tropes they were, were all such a colorful energetic spectacle that it would be hard to hold anything against the series. Every character was such a force that I didn't really consider any of them a weak point. Yeah, some of them were more or less cardboard cut-outs of antagonistic elements, but when the cardboard cutout looks REALLY FREAKING COOL, it's hard to get too torn up over the details. It's a show that oozes style and knew EXACTLY what it wanted to do and be, and I have to respect that.

Runner-up-up: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun

    The next few entries aren't really in any sort of order, I actually found it near impossible to sort anything below my top two. Hanako-kun however does hold a bit of a special place for me though because, at least from a stylistic standpoint, it hits so many of my buttons. Just visually this show is the exact kind of thing my younger self would have latched onto immediately, even before knowing anything about the actual content. I suppose not much has really changed though.     I'm absolutely in love with the animation style of Hanako-kun, and I got really lucky that there is an interesting story and delightful cast of characters underneath that visual splendor. Along with the sharp lines, intense colors, and soft characters, I'm also a sucker for contemporary supernatural mysteries. That's a fancy way of saying one of my favorite shows as a kid was The X-files, but both make the point pretty well. The world of Hanako-kun has a lot to offer, and I can only hope it gets a second season so we can continue to delve into it's beautiful and terrifying mysteries.

Runner-up-up: Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2

    I know a lot of people will be talking about this one when it comes to “Best of” lists. I know a lot of people were talking about the first season when it reminded us just how funny anime can be back in 2018. Absurd high school comedies (Is that a genre?) could definitely be considered my favorite. Hell, of my top five favorite anime of all time, THREE of them fall under that category. So believe me when I say Kaguya-sama absolutely deserves the deluge of praise it receives. For what describing something as “laugh out loud” is worth, this show had me constantly needing to pause it just so I could finish laughing at whatever ludicrously funny misfortune had just befallen it's cast of lovable morons.     The thing is though, Kaguya-sama understands that you can't just earn love and goodwill on laughs alone, there needs to be a beating heart at the center of all the shenanigans. And when this season had me actually cheering on and feeling sorry for Ishigami of all people, I knew that beating heart was present and accounted for. Look, the cast are all self-centered idiots, but I'll be damned if they aren't also my dear children who I delight in watching slowly grow and become slightly less self-centered idiots.

Runner-up-up: Dorohedoro

    When the Dorohedoro anime was first announced, a lot of my experience was watching a group of people online scream about how they were so pumped that it was finally getting an anime. I had never heard of it before, but the excitement was very real and tangible. And I gotta say, sometimes you need to believe the hype.     I've never been one to shirk a series just because it was CG animation, (Watch ID-0 dammit!) but Dorohedoro makes a strong case for why people shouldn't sleep on something based solely on it's animation. The dirty, grease-encrusted world of Hole is brought to life with plenty of flair and style that, I feel, the CG didn't hold back at all. What I had seen said was that for a long time Dorohedoro was kinda considered “unanimateable” but I think MAPPA did the iconic manga a fair amount of justice. Even if pulpy ultra-violence isn't normally your thing, I still highly recommend giving Dorohedoro a look, it might just end up being a hole worth going down.

Honorable Mention: Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!

    I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. The first Show By Rock!! was definitely an indulgence for me. While not something I considered a high level series by any stretch: messy plotting, shallow characters, a weird isekai angle, a lackluster finale, and an even MORE lackluster second season, it still got is hooks into me with its sheer energy and fluffy charm. So despite the, as mentioned, rough second season, I was more than happy to check out the new series in the franchise. And boy was I glad I did.     Mashumairesh!! takes all the heart and sweetness that worked for the first series and dials it up. It then took a hard look at a lot of what DIDN'T work in the first series, and manages to fix most of the issues. Removing the isekai angle and the whole existential threat thing, and just letting the series be a “slice-of-life but in an electric animal filled music world” did wonders for the direction and consistency. Add to that more properly fleshed out characters, and you get a series that is far stronger than it's progenitor.     The next series, Show By Rock!! Stars!!, will be adding back the cast from the first series, and that could very well be a sign that it will be falling back into its old habits, but the presence of the Mahumairesh!! girls gives me hope that it might have a chance of staying the new, far better course.

Worst of the Year: Digimon Adventure:

    This one really hurts to say. What hurt more was how quickly I knew what show I'd be electing for this position. One thing to clarify is that I would not nominate a series that I'd only watched one or two episodes of, that's just not fair. So the award was bound to go to something I had at least dedicated a decent amount of my time too. And in any other year this may have gone to something that was more my “least favorite” or had an ending that disappointed me. But unfortunately I have to be honest and sit here and tell you that the newest entry in the Digimon franchise was easily the worst thing I watched this year.      I have been a long time Digimon fan. Ever since I was but a wee lass watching the original Digimon Adventure premiere on Fox Kids at a family reunion, I have always considered the franchise a sort of cornerstone of my anime fandom. So please understand the excitement I had felt when I found out they were doing a full on remake of that flagship series. Imagine how absolutely pumped I was when the bombastic movie-like premiere of Digimon Adventure: wowed us with everything it delivered, and all the promises of what was to come. And then imagine my disappointment, my despair as the show devolved until it showed us what it really was during the finale of the Fake Tokyo arc.     I would call it a production meltdown, but considering the precedent that got set back in episode 10 during the already shaky Ultimate Evolution arc, has been so clearly informing everything up to the current episodes in the early 30s, I have to be honest with myself and admit: this is what we were going to get all along from day one.     All of the heart that had made the original series so endearing, despite its own flaws, just isn't present here. What you get here is just a non-stop (and I mean non-stop) string of barely related fights with poorly-defined stakes, or sometimes no real stakes at all. It's just one ugly set piece fight after another as the children chase after vaguely implied evils. I think the most damning thing is how much more I could say about just how much this series has let me down. Like I said, this one hurts.

Best Theme-Song of the Year: Night Running (BNA)

     My opinion of BNA as a series is complex. But my opinion of its ED, Night Running, is simple: Its a god-damned bop! I could spend this whole section talking about the artistry of the ED animation itself, its fun and creative use of color, the slight variations for certain episodes, the focus on character, or the fact that it was done by an American animation team. I could even talk about the song's importance to the series as a whole and its place in the narrative. I won't though. The fact of the matter is that even without all that, I STILL probably would've picked Night Running as my best of the year because as a song it is just that much my jam. This is the kind of shit I could listen to on repeat for hours, days, weeks, and still keep coming back to it. Don't get me wrong, Ready To is a damn powerful and catchy tune that goes hard, but at the end of the day, I'm a sucker for a soulful pop tune like Night Running. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTFfEnMCCc

Best Character: Sayaka Kanamori

    This was actually probably the hardest category for me to decide on. It was stuck hard between Eizoken's Kanamori and Akudama Drive's Doctor. I know those are a powerfully different pair in basically every way, but it was specifically for their startling differences that both characters stuck out to me so much. In the end though, it was the poignant rounding out of, and emotional hooks of Kanamori's character that let her triumph over her delightfully two-dimensional opposition.     Kanamori already had me from episode one. In a show that I wasn't really worried about the usual diversions of anime ingestion like picking a favorite character, Kanamori sealed herself as “Best-girl” from the word go. I have mad respect for a girl who knows what she wants, and has a clear idea of how she's going to go about getting it (See also: Doctor.) But Kanamori was more than a driving desire for success and money. Underneath her unstoppable ambition there was a very real, very relatable driving impetus. She stood apart, and yet still believably vulnerable and invested in the people she associated with. It was always a blast watching her suffer as the only thing keeping the more creative minds on track, and yet she was never reduced to a simple task master; her love and respect for her friends was always clearly visible. I could go on and on about how Kanamori is a nearly perfect character, but I hope I've said enough already without having to resort to senseless rambling.

Best Moment: Howan confesses her feeling to Himeko (Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!)

    By the time episode six rolled around, Mashumairesh!! had already shown marked improvements over its progenitor in basically every area. Not only was the story in a better place by focusing on what had worked in the original series, (Ya know the BAND part of this show about bands) but the cast was also doing a good job of standing out from their seniors and feeling more equally rounded out. Where the original series had just kinda been the Cyan show with guest stars, I felt like I had an actual grip on all four of the main girls now.     There were however the usual issues that come with a cute-girls-doing-cute-things series, chief among them the “ambiguously gay member of the group who constantly reacts with clear romantic interest towards the main protagonist but the writing will never actually do anything with those feelings” trope. Retoree had spent the better part of the first two seasons fawning over Cyan only for nothing to come of it and, despite the increased focus on all of the girls this time around, it looked like we were going to get the same old song and dance with Himeko's feelings towards Howan.     But then the climax of episode six hit and, midst a really intense subplot about Himeko's abandonment complex, Howan comes out with a straight up love confession. And I kept waiting for the usual dead-ends these moments always seem to have. The “I love you! I love the girls too! I love the band!” Or a “I love being with you.” and the dreaded, “I love having you as my most precious friend.” But none of that happened. It was a full on heart-felt, “I love you, Himeko. I want to stay with you forever!” I'm just not used to getting that sort of straightforwardness from my silly little band shows, so I was shocked, but also completely overjoyed. And frankly the series just kept getting better from there.     The evolution of their relationship built off that moment, no dreaded resetting of the status quo. I daresay it was on the power of this moment alone that I wanted to include this series in my top five at all. If there was anything I would want other anime to take from Mashumairesh!! it's that it's okay to introduce radical changes to character relationships partway through a season, and it's okay to let characters unequivocally state their feelings for each other. People will respond positively to that earnestness, I promise.

[earthlyyan]

could you do the yandere alphabet with Ferid or Homura? (I never see female yandere writing, let alone madoka magica)

Hya anon! Ferid is best boy, and personally, he seems more fun to write a yandere alphabet for! As for looking for female yandere scenarios, I kinda agree? Easy to find in fiction, but hard to find in the yandere Tumblr ask community. I’ll try to change that, as your local lesbian ;) but Homu-homu seems a bit too young to be thinking about some of the things on this list. So Ferid, as an old ass vampire man, seems less morally ambiguous to do this with. 

SO! Here’s ferid instead!

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Ferid is totally one for showering their darling in expensive foods, because not only is he a noble and has easy access for such things, he certainly doesn’t want them getting sick like many others in Sanguinem. So, if he’s going to shower them, he’s going to make sure they’re healthy. He probably wouldn’t hesitate to get them nice personal care products. He needs to look beautiful and well presented, his darling shouldn’t be held to a lower standard than him, he’s got a reputation to uphold after all.

 Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Ferid himself isn’t one to care about other’s unless he finds them interesting. Even if he does find them interesting, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt them. (See the very first chapter of the manga and “The Story of Vampire Michaela” novels for example) Even though he has a reputation to uphold, he can be quite savage. So, expect close friends and loved ones to go missing… But we all know he indulged himself in their blood.

 Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

Ferid would not abduct their darling. I feel like that’s a bit too… uncouth for him. Ferid would lure them into a false sense of security, get them hooked on his venom (yes, believe it or not, it’s canon vampires in Seraph happen to have venom) and have them so unable to function without withdrawal that they’d give themselves up to them. Their personality and ability to fight back verbally and physically depends on whether or not he’s gotten them… tamed or groomed by the point of addiction.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

Ferid is one to not care about other people’s feelings. He’s quite selfish. So, if his darling is against a suggestion or request Ferid has, Ferid wouldn’t care and do it anyway. Or maybe he’d badger them until they cave, though I feel it varies on requests.

He wouldn’t refrain from continuing to feed off his darling after their pretty little pleas start. He wouldn’t stop until they’re barely hanging onto consciousness and then coo and coddle them once they can’t fight him, whispering words of praise and telling them how well they were for him.

 Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

Ferid is a very secretive man. So secretive in fact that the vampires closest to him don’t know how he ticks. The only man who has come close is Saito, being his sire after all. If Ferid was to be vulnerable to his darling he would most likely do it if they were in a state where they couldn’t interrupt him or remember the conversation. If his darling was heavily sedated, asleep, or feverish. That way, if they did happen to remember any of the vulnerable bits of himself, he could deny any truth, saying that it was them being out of it.

 Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

I suppose it depends on the kind of attitude his darling happened to be displaying before. If they were known for being brash and spunky, this fight would be nothing new, but I doubt he’d be upset. He’s interested in seeing how his darling reacts to his advances. And if he happens to get hit? He��d be so excited to try out his darlings limits.

On the other hand, however, if his darling was known for being polite and timid? Oh boy he’d be ecstatic. His little lamb? Doing something he’d never expect? He’d be so happy he wouldn’t care about the harsh words or punches they’d be throwing. He’d just be happy to see their hidden side’s no one else sees.

 Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

He saw the children’s escape attempts as games, is this any different? Well, I think so, believe it or not. He’d want to be his lamb’s shepherd and wouldn’t want his precious sheep straying far from him. Though parts of me wants to think he’d let them leave for a little while, make them think that they’ve achieved freedom, only to be hit with the worst pangs of withdrawal and watch them crawling back to him, begging him to aid in scratching the itch, only for Ferid to deny it. After all, they needed punishment. And it only seems fitting enough for them to not get the fix they crave so badly.

 Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Progenitor parties or punishments, most likely. Being around several vampires and having to be glued to Ferid’s side the entire time would be humiliating to say the least. Being forced to follow Ferid around a party like a lost puppy while feeling the judgmental gazes of other humans, disgusted that one of their own would stoop so low for survival, the fact that they can’t even go to explain themselves without Ferid embarrassing them would only make it far more difficult. Their pride would take a gruesome blow.

Ferid’s punishments aren’t nearly as sadistic as one might be led to think. It’s more psychological than outright cutting or hitting his darling. They’d be kept in a dark room, only given a small IV for basic sustenance. They wouldn’t know how long they were there and after a few hours or days Ferid would open the door and have his darling run and cling to him.

 Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

He wants a playful lamb he can coddle and fawn over. He isn’t one to plan ahead unless he has a motive to do so. Ferid is more likely to plan things out with his darling as he goes with a vague idea of what he wants. The vague idea is having his darling rely on him and only him.

 Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Ferid might see his friends or lower ranking vampires interact with you. That much wouldn’t be the issue, the issue is that they would either make Ferid’s intentions clear or try to insert themselves into the picture. Of course, it’s nice to see his little lamb get along with others, but not before Ferid’s groomed them to what he craves.

 Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

He wouldn’t change his actions for the most part. Ferid is already a social butterfly with a polite but friendly nature, though we all know he’s a sadist. Again, it depends on how his darling acts already. If they’re more brash, then he’s more jovial and joking. If his darling is more timid and shy, then he’s polite and soothing. He has many faces, not only being of a noble status, but as a person.

 Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Ferid would watch them from afar at first, learning their mannerisms and routine. He’d then send his favorite lambs to spread the rumors of him around her area. It’s best if they were to go to him first. If they didn’t then he’d sabotage their current living situation to force their hand. For example: Significantly lowering their rations, making house inspections more intrusive and separating them from their current house mates. He’s got connections and status. All he’d have to promise is a little fresh blood to a few lucky guards. If they still didn’t come to him, he’d go to them himself, saying a lamb told him about their situation and how he can help.

 Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

Oh definitely. He’s far more manipulative and lays it on THICK. He needs them to know that they’re his. They’re nothing without him. He is the sole reason for their current wellbeing. And if they try to turn it on him saying that they aren’t happy? Oh boy, they think that they aren’t happy NOW? All the nice little things they have to fall back on are gone. No books, no nice foods, no candles in their room. Nothing. He will be the only presence in their life that is consistent. He is the only thing that they can be sure to see every day.

 Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

Sensory overload or sensory deprivation. It would depend if his darling is an introvert or an extrovert. Their darling is a social butterfly? He’d lock them in a dark room with an IV drip for hours or days depending on the severity of the offense. His darling is scared of copious amounts of social interaction? Drag them to a party and allow anyone to do whatever they please, though if it gets too personal, Ferid would swoop in and take them elsewhere.  

 Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Oh please, they’re in Sanguinem, if anything Ferid would give them a few more rights than they had access to. If they were to overstep, he’d take them away and remind them of truly how much he does for them. However, if they were taken from the above world, he’d slowly strip them. So slowly they’ll barely realize they’re gone. He’ll let them wander to the point that they’ve seen everything, have them grow bored, and then they’ll never see the light (though artificial) of day again. “Oh, not today.” He’ll say. Slowly stripping them of the ability to interact with anyone he doesn’t hand pick, himself.

 Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Over the course of the manga and anime, we don’t often see Ferid lose his patience. It would take a lot for Ferid to lose his footing. If his darling were to bring up something he can’t deny or if they were to find out about the several murders and happen to try to bring them up to someone else? He’d lose his cool. Subtly, though, of course. He would have to take them aside and whisper a cold threat or a promise of later punishment.

 Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Certainly. He’s lost many partners over the years. But if he becomes particularly attached to his darling, he’d hunt them down and pull some strings to get them back to him. Or turn them into a vampire if a situation got particularly hairy. Through he’d turn them to a full vampire by forcing them to drink human blood, he wouldn’t let them have a taste of human blood after that. Only his. He needed them to be reliant only on him.

 Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

No to both. He would take pride in his work. He wouldn’t feel guilty about it. Ferid doesn’t often feel guilty. It takes a lot to make that vampire think twice on an action. He made his darling cry? He’d comfort them but not feel slightly bad about his actions at all. Even if his darling wanted to be let go, he knows they wouldn’t be gone for long. They would come back to him eventually. All he’d have to do is wait.

 Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc.)?

Boredom. Being a vampire has led him to have a bored outlook on everything. He’s seeking entertainment for his long, endless, life. Any sort of entertainment and hyper-fixation is welcome, even if the poor soul doesn’t want to be the vampire’s entertainment. If they resist Ferid’s boredom will be further postponed, after all, it’s hard to be bored with a job to do.  

 Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

Depending on the circumstances and if his darling has seen his true intentions, he would either be extremely gentle about it, taking their hand in his and playing with his darlings hair, telling them all will be okay if they just let him handle everything, that he’s there for them. However, if his darling knows Ferid’s true intentions, Ferid won’t hold back from being a sadistic, condescending bastard. He’d tell his darling that all of this was their fault, and if they hadn’t trusted him so easily, then they would still have the freedom they crave so much.

 Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

I don’t think Ferid is capable of love, meaning that his “love” for his darling is more of a ruse he puts up to make his motivations a bit more understandable to his darling. He want’s a companion. He want’s someone he can mold and create how he wants. He doesn’t want a lover. He wants a toy. And I think that’s far different than the staple “I love you stay with me forever” yandere we’re used to seeing.

 Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

His schedule. Ferid is a very busy man with a lot on his plate. He is a progenitor after all, meaning he has meeting to go to and battles to oversee. While he’s away his darling can probably snoop around and find things Ferid wouldn’t think of locking. Like a balcony door or a high up window.

 Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Ferid wouldn’t hesitate. If his darling has made him bored, he can kill them if necessary. Ferid has many possible pawns at his disposal. Though it would be more of a last resort. He’d most likely force himself on their neck and refuse to numb the bite. He’d be more rough and tear at the skin. If they pass out he’ll bandage it and leave water and an iron supplement by their bed, making sure to give them an hour or so before communicating again.

 Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

He wouldn’t worship his darling per se, he would be more likely to pamper them while being fully aware that he’s the one in charge here. He would go to somewhat extreme lengths. But nothing to jarring that would catch you off guard. Nicer foods and desserts, nicer clothes, medicine and first aid, all the stuff that would usually be very hard to get ahold of. It would be material things at first, then more intimate things like sharing “secrets” (though most of Ferid’s “secrets” would be fabrications used to replicate human intimacy)

 Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Most of Ferid’s actions are spur of the moment, or extremely thought out. There is no in-between. The most he would “pine” (if you can even call it that) would be about two months. Just enough to establish a friendly relationship with his darling and have them addicted to his venom by that point. Just enough to have the starting stages of his plan and guarantee his darlings mutual friendship

 Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Oh definitely. He would take pride in it too. If he finally got his darling under his thumb, they best be expecting company to come over more often. He’d show them off like a prize he had won. “Look at this little lamb, look at how well behaved they are?” And continue to flaunt them. Maybe even take them outside with him if he knows that they aren’t going to escape from him.

[charmspoint]

Got tagged by @autumn-foxfire to do this ask game :3c

Name your top 5 favorite anime/manga! (or cartoons/shows if you’re not into anime and manga)

Here we go!

 1.      Beastars – Haru is right there in my profile pic you can't expect anything else. The anime is perfectly fine and I adore the op and the ed but it’s the manga where it’s really at. It remains one of the only manga where I could consistently keep up despite not being hugely involved with the fandom and I adore the world, I adore the characters and most of all I adore the expressions. The anime really suffers from having to be pretty and not allowing for the amount of stupid goat faces Louis makes, or Legosi’s puppy excitability or Haru just being a fucking wierdo. The only complaint I have is that I wish the girls got more screen time, they are amazing every time they appear I just wish they had more of a chance to. Especially Juno, Juno really suffered from being just dropped out of the plot. Also one of the lions’ should have been Louis’ age so they could have been gay together, like ye Louis’s ending makes sense but you will never be able to take away ‘I feel more at ease surrounded by male carnivores then with a female herbivore’, just let Louis be gay oh my god, even his fucking dad saw it. Anyway Beastars is great and I love it very much and I am very sad it’s done ;-;

 2.      Re: Creators – I have very conflicted opinions about this one, despite it being number two. I really owe it an objective rewatch because the second part of it really slapped me in the face with the sudden boatload of fanservice so much that it soured my opinion on it through the rest of the show. Paired with both of my favs getting the short end of the stick in two different ways, by the end of Re Creators I was left with a rather bitter taste in my mouth so I really want to see how it holds up once I know what will happen. So why is it so high up if all I do is complain about it? The first part was just that amazing. It was the first and only time I watched an anime and felt ‘wow this was written for ME, this was written with someone like me in mind’. A story has never felt so personal and so lovingly crafted and I just adored every bit of it and god every time I think about the good aspects of it I want to sit down and rewatch it again to reevaluate the bad. In the end it felt personal, it felt like it was speaking to me and it felt heartfelt and cared for and that for me is something special. Also Magane really needs her own show, like I remember thinking ‘shes izaya but better’ and if that doesn’t scream she needs her own show I don’t know what does. Still bitter at the way they just dropped her at the end my god.

 3.      Durarara – This one has been a giant in my fandom experience. I wrote my first fanfiction for Durarara and one of very indulgent self-insert stories lead to me roleplaying in private for the first time and the person I roleplayed with eventually introduced me to group roleplay (Blu if ur reading this I love u <3) so it kinda lead to the way I’m mostly active in fandom today and some of my favorite OC’s originated from making Durarara OC’s not to mention Izaya remaining one of my favorite characters ever and someone who I look to whenever I want to make a fun villain. Durarara is a show that is filled with complex human interactions and at some points it really seems like a love letter to humanity. We are all weird, we all have our rich inner lives, even people who look ordinary get up to some stuff you would never have guessed, that’s what it feels like it’s saying. I don’t know there is no objective way to talk about it because it’s been so ingrained in my fandom experience it will simply always remain one of my favorites, no two ways about it. The fics I wrote for Durarara when I was a teen were cringy af and horribly planned but I received so much positive comments and support and I think that always remained a big part of why I kept on writing and why I felt that writing is something that I’m good at. Even now, knowing how bad they were it just motivates me more to keep on improving and whenever I feel down about my writing I always think ‘well people liked that trash and this is better so some people will like this too’. It’s also the reason why I can’t stand cringe culture, honestly I think I’m even more grateful to all the people who saw my baby fics went ‘yikes that’s edgy’ and then didn’t comment, those guys were the real troopers.

  4.      Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki- Kun – number four is where the going gets tough because of my poor memory and differentiating shows I watched, remembered and liked, from shows that left some kind of impact. Nozaki-kun is a dumbass comedy anime/manga and it’s the only manga I can remember ever making me consistently laugh at loud and I feel that that earns it number four spot well enough. The characters are all just lovable and stupid and lovably stupid, and I honestly can’t say there is a pair I dislike. Like it never feels like ‘oh its x character chapter yawn’ it’s always a fun time no matter what the matchup is. I don’t have anything smart to say about it, it makes me laugh, it’s a good time, it doesn’t take itself seriously I love it.

 5.      Servamp – this really shouldn’t be here because I stopped halfway through the manga and STILL haven’t caught up. But Servamp is the manga that’s constantly on my mind and I never stop thinking ‘man I really should catch up’. The only reason I haven’t is cuz I’m so terribly bad at reading stuff online even though the arc I left off was tense and I really want to know what happened with Tsurugi and Wrath was just given a time to shine and aaaaa one day I’ll catch up. There’s really nothing to say about this show, it’s dumbass vampire shonen and I’m really not sure why I like it so much. The character designs are fun and on point and anime is kinda horrible CUZ THEY DIDN’T PUT IN A WHOLE ARC WHO DOES THAT, but the op is delightfully edgy and the ed is a shameless high school theater style rip off of the kekkai sensen sen ed which is just amazing in how bad and awkward it is. This ed is such awkward dumb trash and I somehow just love it more for it, like it’s so bold about being a trashy rip off, bby what is you doing. Honestly I can’t say anything objective about this series cuz it’s been so long since I actually read it but it lives in my head rent free and that must count for something. Slaps gold star on.

I feel like I should also mention Bnha cuz its the fandom I’m most active in but hvhjvj I mostly like the fanside of BNHA rather than the show itself. For the show itself i think its good with some great moments but that’s about it. I’m just here for fan shit cuz hori made such a wonderful sandbox.

Imma tag @megacarapa @prince-liest @viiyverns-den @livie-stark @lanamnesis and honestly whoever else wants to do this because i dont feel like doing so many tags anymore, i just have a lot of people whos answers i’m interested in uwu