#hiyori extremely based for this

[strawberricakeandpie]

Tonight I am once again thinking about Klapollo cameo in Lucky Star

[chocokayke]

Here's Alkaloid for my Splatoon/Enstars AU! All weapons are referring to their Splatoon 3 kits, because that's what I'm most familiar with. I wanna give a shout out to @mdkm444 for making this fanart that inspired this whole AU in the first place. : )

More info on each character below the cut.⬇️

Hiiro

I'm giving him the highest honor I could bestow on a character... My main.

I think Splatana Deco fits him, and how he sees himself at the beginning. It's a very mobile weapon and aggro with a supportive kit. He can easily strife with opponents to draw fire from his teammates, while also setting up beacons, and setting of tentamissles to displace enemies.

The idea is that he mostly sees himself as his brother's "shield" at the beginning, and I feel like having a weapon that supports and takes fire suits that role.

As he grows and gets more comfortable with his place in Alkaloid, he would pick up more aggressive weapons. I just really like the idea of him with dualies. I think he has a lot of fun zipping around with dodge rolls. : )

He runs a lot of Quick Respawn abilities.

I think his backstory would stay mostly the same, actually.

Aira

He's 100% that guy who draws hearts in the enemy base.

He strikes me as the type of person who would play weapons that are meta without fully understanding WHY they're so good.

He started out playing vanilla Splash-o-matic, but he sucks so bad at Crab Tank. Mayoi thought something more mobile would suit Aira, so he recommended Inkbrush and Carbon Roller to him.

Hiyori wears his eye makeup the same way. This is a very important piece of Aira lore.

Mayoi

Mayoi has the biggest change to his backstory out of Alkaloid. He was originally an Octarian Soldier under DJ Octavio.

He was there for the Splat1 final boss and the Calamari Inkantation. He is NOT Agent 8, to be clear. He escaped after Marina, but before Agent 8. He wasn't in the subway. (But the idea of him in the subway is very fun, and that might be something to explore in an AU of this AU.)

He's a huge Squid Sisters fan.

He first escaped to Inkopolis, but it was too overwhelming for him, and he ended up traveling a lot before settling down in ES.

He plays a lot of weapons, and at knows a lot about the weapons he doesn't play. He's extremely skilled and knowledgeable. He's a fantastic coach, and everyone wants them to coach their teams! (Help him.)

Unfortunately, he is still Mayoi and still has severe anxiety! Despite how skilled he is, he's too scared to play alone and is pretty low ranked. That's why he got his status as an "underachiever."

Generally plays a lot of long ranged weapons to stay as far away from the action as he can. Snipewriter is his main, but E-Liter deserves an honorable mention.

Any closer ranged weapons he plays are more supportive than aggressive. This bad boy can pop out so many Inkstorms and Tacticoolers.

I probably should have added Hydra Splatling to his list instead of Heavy Edit tbh? But, eh, he can play both.

I think Snipewriter fits his main really well due to the fact that it has super long range, paints well, and has a supportive kit. At the time I'm writing this, it's also the best competitive weapon in Splatoon 3.

Tatsumi

His backstory is also similar to his canon one.

His leg got damaged and wouldn't repair itself when he respawned, so he had to get it removed it let it regrow naturally. Squids can do that, don't worry about it. : )

The guy who makes sure your base is 100% inked during Turf War.

Me and my friend both agreed it is extremely funny for Tatsumi to run around with his beginner weapon going like ^_^: so that's what he mains.

Then my other friend recommended me what they call "noob trap" weapons, which is mostly short ranged shooters (Sploosh and Aerospray) so I immediately added those to the list. I feel like they suit Tatsumi, and kind of mirror how inept he is with technology in canon.

Despite that, he's actually quite skilled! He does pretty well with short ranged shooters and has fun playing with them. They're his go to choice, but he's experienced in a lot of different weapon classes.

Anyway, you know how the Sunken Scrolls in Splatoon 3 introduced Squid Jesus--

[chynandri]

Additional Thoughts About Ibara & Aesthetics

Using this image to indicate to you that I'm gonna be mentioning Rouge&Ruby a LOT.

Writing this post on Ibara and Tsumugi's dorm room, it reminded me of some more thoughts I’ve been microwaving in my brain for a while. From the dorm post we’ve pretty clearly established that Ibara… doesn’t express much of a personality in his sense of style 😂 he was born in a wet cardboard box all alone ok

HOWEVER… what I’ve found really intriguing about him (besides everything.) is that despite that lack of self expression in a personal space, he does have a strong sense for art and aesthetics in what he creates.

What tipped me off on this was actually his in-game office interaction with the whiteboard. He has the ‘good’ result of drawing a cute bird, saying he ‘knows a little about the arts’ (which probably means he knows a lot, he’s just being fake humble). When I first saw this, I was a little bit surprised.

So later on, when Rouge&Ruby confirmed that he does do costume designs and storyboards himself, I was pretty excited to see his artistic skills a little bit expanded upon.

And actually, he has said this interesting thing in relation to art:

Translation by Land of Zero

So clearly, Ibara has a sense for the value of art and thinks it’s important.

And it aligns with how he intended for Adam to focus on the art of performance (compared to Eve which is more popular and takes on more entertainment jobs).

What I’m trying to say is that while he obviously loves making money and business domination, he also has an understanding and skill for art and design. Business, art, aesthetics often come hand in hand I think, as having a good concept and attractive visuals is essential to selling anything...

Translation by Land of Zero

Considering he designed every part of Melting Rouge Soul + Ruby Love himself and contacted Hiyori for his connections to chocolate designers so that Eden's chocolates stand out, I feel his consideration for making something with 'artistic and financial value' really comes through in Rouge&Ruby.

Translation by Land of Zero

I think the whole point of that event is that within Ibara there is a passionate burning soul bursting with expression and creativity (even love) in pursuit of his ambitions, and it comes through so so much in those songs and his own performance. He’ll prove Eden’s superiority in every avenue possible, not just monetarily but also artistically.

Although all this is only applied to his work, which is what he’s most passionate about. To Ibara, his work IS him:

Translation by Land of Zero

Additionally, Rinne notes Ibara’s more 'poetic' (and nerdy 🤓) side with how the Minotaurs Labyrinth is designed in Ariadne (variety show Ibara traps Crazy:b in):

Not only do things have to look good, they have to be quite meaningful and conceptual too. I mean, this IS coming from the guy who bases his whole personality and image on one (1) book he read as a sad little kid (Art of War btw) and inserts very unsubtle Bible references everywhere.

And Ibara putting the most effort into his chocolates despite being annoyed at having to make chocolates past Valentine's Day and it having no relation to work:

Translation by Land of Zero. He loves to succeed and be impressive for the sake of it.

So where he doesn’t put much effort into his personal spaces or appearance outside of work, it’s all because Ibara’s personality is just one that’s extremely singularly focused on one thing - his passion and work. I think this creates another interesting and lovely paradox to his personality, just one of the many this guy has. It’s what makes Ibara so delightful as a character.

Tl;dr - Ibara is actually quite into art and aesthetics, and even artistically inclined himself.

[yuukei-yikes]

care for my kagepro au inspired by phineas and ferb across the 2nd dimension where they hang out in a dark undisclosed location and they all have knives

this is extremely over the top and supposed to be funny btw. ayano's plot hole plan that makes no sense doesn't work but from another angle. she gets spit back from the daze in the same way it doesn't make sense for her to stay in there and she's still in THE AIR FROM JUMPING so erm she shatters a leg and maybe her spine too. fun times. she walks with a limp now

ayano in the daze's like. but i wanted this -> i deserved this -> im guilty i got what i wanted though -> i deserve punishment -> this IS punishment -> but i wanted this (restart) SO in this scenario where she survived she's still struggling with guilt because she DARED try to take the easy way out when she knew her siblings needed her. so now she's edgelord I must protect my siblings i dont deserve my cape (edgily puts scarf away) also the eyepatch is for extra edgelord vibes but i think it'd be cool if she can't control favoring because she's so all over the place so it's always active, and since she feels so much regret she can only project that one memory of her jumping to ppl. sad. so she covers it for the sake of everyone.

because of ayano's survival it's evident kenjirou is posessed so ayano+mekatrio move out immediately and are in actual hiding from him. that's why they're at undisclosed location. seto brings mary with them. so ayano's like ok, saeru wants all the snakes together, they're all gonna gather anyway it's better to have them all in one place and have eyes on them. so she starts the gathering process herself. in this saeru is extremely just Out There cartoonishly taking over the city style i told you this is based on phineas and ferb. i told you. btw the joke is that it's insanely over the top. i just find it episodic and joyful.

also ayano's cold to shintaro because she can't afford to have her feelings for him distract her, she has no right to normal teenage girl feelings like a CRUSH. but shintaro still believes kano as ayano saying IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT was the real ayano which matches with her new behaviour towards him so he's extremely pathetic about it. he's with her through her entire recovery and becomes her right hand man which the trio HAAATE bc ayano doesn't let them do anything but shintaro can always come<3 their missions go from buying groceries to saving haruka and takane from the evil lab to kidnapping hibiya and hiyori. shit like that.

they get hibiya and hiyori and it's their BIGGEST PRIORITY to protect them because they're saeru's next target and if they can avoid having all snakes out it's by making sure these 2 stay alive. erm they don't wanna be there though. it's dark in here and you're all weird as hell. momo is tasked with babysitting them. she's not happy about it.

momo never gets her money controlled, dropped out from school since day 1 and the fame got to her head so she's kinda awful. she's the only one allowed out of wherever the fuck they are because of work she's literally the one paying 4 everything. toxic yuri situation with kido who has one side of their head shaved. you know how it goes. also kido acts rly tough like they're out there killing thugs and goons but mostly they just make food

takane is the medic in the same way barbers used to be surgeons in the middle age which means everyone tries really hard not to get hurt so they don't have to go to her. also saeru's whole Experiments on haruka and takane thing is a lot more evil and ermmm she has one less leg and she's permanently connected to a reactor thing of sorts so she's also the team's tech! woohoo!! it's unknown whether she got opening eyes or not because she has no idea how to activate it which makes ayano rly frustrated. same goes for haruka who has not woken up since aug 15. which is the main reason takane started watching youtube tutorials on medicine. get you a girl who will take care of you if you're in a coma and there is no access to a hospital.

seto and mary wield weapons for one reason or another. kano is extremely guilty about shintaro's guilt but also hates him more than ever bc ayano won't trust him anymore and now shintaro's the one knowing everything. probably some doomed yaoi in there somewhere. this is my evil kagepro au

[gallusrostromegalus]

do you have plan for pairings in the fic? ichiruki and ichihime are fine imo(ichitatsu is superior fight me). asking cause ive seen some mentions of unoken and rangin in your posts

A couple people have asked me this and I've kind of held back because I don't know what's actually going to make it onto the page from my notes, and ngl, because she shipping discourse on this site is insane, but some general notes:

Some of the teenagers have crushes and kiss each other, but nothing more.

Only the adults are having sex

The fic is rated E for a lot of reasons (torture, endoparasitism, extreme mental anguish, Body horror, medical horror, warfare, really bizarre theology etc.), but one of the main reasons is that the Adults are having A LOT of Sex.

It's important character-building!

Also fun to write.

But relationships I have notes for include, but are not limited to:

Soi Fon/The Butch I Made Specifically For Her

Yamamoto/The Ex-Wife I Made As A Joke But Then She Made Entirely Too Much Sense To NOT Exist

Yamamoto/Some Bavarian Guy :)

T4T Urahara/Yoruichi

The Greater Unohana-based Polycule

The Lesser and Overlapping Ukitake-based Polycule

Rukia/Renji (and the secret conspiracy behind their relationship)

Hinamori Momo/Hiyori Sarugaki because it's cute AF

The Isshin/Masaki/Ryukken/Kanae Fucktangle

Yushiro Shihoin/Grimmjow because it's HILARIOUS

Whatever the hell is going on with the Visoreds

Aizen/Aizen's idea of himself

The 'After Dark' cohort of the Shingami Women's Association

Don Kanonji/James Du Fanboy

Rose/Kira, because it's cute

Whatever the hell is going on in the 11th Division

Not A Ship Per Se, but Lisa Yadomaru's Celebrity Real Person Fic from her academy Days deserves a mention

Unohana/The Personification of Mystery Flesh Pit Island

Mayuri/Szayzel... Kinda.

Whatever the hell is going on in Las Noches

[a-wild-julibean]

Blue Lock Is Well Written, Actually (Part 1)

All Blue Lock fans know that this series is over the top, ridiculous, and completely unrealistic--we don't need to be told that. In fact, for me at least, the stupidly cringy dialogue, the extreme situations, the over exaggeration of it all is what makes this silly little series so enjoyable and fun. But I'm here to tell you that yeah, BLLK is good because it's cringe and dramatic, but it's also a well written series in multiple key aspects, the most important of which are its pacing/story structure, theming, and of course, character writing.

Warning: This is going to be long and is also text heavy. This is part one, covering pacing/story structure. Also, this is my opinion haha so you don't have to 100% agree. Spoilers ahead!

Let's begin with the pacing of the story! One thing I admire writers of all good stories for, from "trashy" isekai to million word philosophical novels, is the ability to identify the goal of the story and pace it accordingly.

Take Solo Leveling vs. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, two action manhwa that both use an RPG-themed setting and have a very strong main character:

Solo Leveling's goal is the be an exciting and hype action power fantasy about an underdog who grows to become grossly overpowered.

Knowing this, the story is extremely fast paced, going from one major battle and victory to the next with little to no downtime. This helps to deliver the energy needed for a series that lives and dies on its hype. 

In contrast, ORV looks more to tell a thematically potent story through complex characters. To do so, it chooses a slow burn pace and gives plenty of time for less frantic moments to aid development. Switch these two paces around and both stories would be far worse off.

Let’s bring this point back to BLLK. Its goal is an exciting story full of hype, but also one that provides some thematic lessons and builds strong characters, a sort of middle ground between the two previously mentioned series. Thus, it’s face paced, yet also has much down time–a choice that is vital to its enjoyment.

Down time provides two key things to the series:

A break from the action. Too much action can lead to almost a feeling of burnout in the reader, where they feel overwhelmed by the constant high stakes and tension. I personally have had to drop multiple series for long periods of time due to this type of stress/exhaustion. The break helps to build excitement between high points, the rising action after the fall. A recent example in BLLK would be the couple of chapters in between the end of the Manshine City vs. Bastard Munchen match and the beginning of the one against Ubers.

Exploration of characters. Exploring how characters act in more mundane situations helps build who they are and adds to their humanity. Small choices like their choice of dress, what they like to do in their free time, and other such details are imperative to creating compelling characters. Down time is also the perfect time for flashbacks, as seen often in BLLK (ex. Rin and Sae’s backstory in the middle of the U20 game, Hiyori’s right before the Ubers game). 

All in all, though readers might think getting straight back into the action would be their preferred structure, down time is a kinda “you’ll thank me later” type addition that enhances the action by both preparing readers for more excitement and helping to make readers more invested through character development.

It’s a bit of an obvious addition, but one that BLLK actually uses very well. None of the down time ever feels wasted or out of nowhere. Every flashback is implied to be needed based on previous moments. Rin and Sae’s isn’t dropped right after Rin is introduced or even after Isagi gets closer to Rin. Instead, it’s inserted when it's most important to the story so its existence can be justified. Hiyori’s flashback has much less leading up to its reveal, but Hiyori’s commentary on Isagi reveals some of his character that gets followed up on in his flashback; the flashback also gives some excitement for what Hiyori might do in the future. 

Again, this feels like an obvious requirement for writing flashbacks but oh boy is it sometimes completely disregarded (and in two very popular series that I shall not name but both essentially contain a long flashback about a side character’s history that is not set up very clearly beforehand, leaving them feeling awkwardly placed and accidentally pointing out the author’s hand).

The other way BLLK uses down time is character exploration, the clearest example of which are the day out chapters following the U20 match. Did we absolutely need to see the cast’s shenanigans at karaoke and bowling? No. Did it add much to the story to love? Absolutely. 

This was actually a very vital time to place some silly team bonding, as a ton of new characters were introduced in the arc, but only through their playstyles. Giving them time out in the city as regular teenagers helps to cement their characters and add some quirky habits and traits that are more relatable or down to earth. Karasu, for example, is now characterized as the mature and responsible one in the group and not just “the assassin one I guess.”

On top of the fun stuff, we also do get some character introspection during the days out for Isagi and Rin. Isagi meets up with Tada and reflects on what’s happened so far plus goes into a bit of theming while Rin contemplates the U20 match, and narratively, his further growth in the story is set up. Clearly, the author knows that down time is not exclusively for sweet fluff. 

That’s basically all I got on down time writing. Finally, to wrap up this post on pacing and structure, let’s talk about stakes and promises for the future. 

Stakes in stories need to keep increasing or at least remain generally equivalent to the previous situation’s stakes in order to keep interest. In BLLK, the stakes in stages 1, 2, and 3 were essentially equivalent as they were all just normal tests; however, the U20 match is a large jump in stakes as a loss means the total dissolution of the facility, but a win would give them the U20 spots. 

If the series had returned to regular tests after the match, it would not have felt as interesting as before the match because now the readers have been encouraged to dream beyond the facility. However, the author knows this and chooses to go with the Neo Egoist league, bringing out world class strikers and foreign players. Sure, losing a match won’t cause the entire story to end now, but the difficulty and excitement of the current arc is about the same as the U20 arc.  

On top of the current arc, the author also makes sure to state what the future plans of the story are: the world U20 tournament. By showing the audience what the path to something vague is, the plot is tightened and you can feel comforted by the fact that the series knows where it's going. “Becoming the best striker in the world” seems unrealistic at first, but now the steps to reach that position have been revealed. Together, this retains audience investment.

To summarize, Blue Lock keeps a fast pace, strategically interspersed by points of down time that prevent tension burnout and add more character details. Additionally, the stakes and future plan of the series are consistently building and clear to help ground its vague goal. Though these aspects may seem obvious or simple, the difficulty of their execution is not so. It requires planning and effort to keep a series on a smooth ramp up and going at a quick but not blazing speed. Many, many, many series can only dream of the quality of Blue Lock’s steady pacing that almost never feels too slow or too fast, especially when read all at once rather than week to week. 

Pacing and structure are some of the aspects of writing that are at their best when you can barely notice their presence at all: only a series that struggles with them will remind readers of their existence and importance. Blue Lock succeeds at keeping both under the radar.

[rosehippiefield]

Shin AI's words can't be taken at face value considering the only cg we have of Shin and Midori under an objective light is of Shin looking incredibly relaxed, on top of all the pictures Midori seemed to take of him being of him smiling in a way that Kanna is mournful of. Regarding his behavior in the death game, Shin says that he looked up to Midori specifically as an anti-hero, and when he took on his Sou Hiyori persona, he used that to justify treating others the way he did. But comparing the words Midori gave him in the past, of not putting himself down and relying on his own power, to how Shin treated Kanna at present, undermining her perception of her own capabilities and attempting to distance her from the group, all so she could keep working with him under the excuse of him protecting her, it's much more apparent that the persona Shin used embodied his anti-hero ideal of Midori rather than any actual traits that could be observed from Midori during their time together. Also it seems like a far reach to consider Shin keeping things like his mecha builds- extremely delicate items that would take an immense amount of trust to keep in somebody else's space- in Midori's house to be a result of Midori pressuring him into it. Especially since, again, the only interaction we see between them was of Midori encouraging Shin to become the kind of person who can meet his younger sibling proudly,

As per usual, long post, and I repeat myself on some occasions

First of all, I wouldn't dismiss AI's experiences so easily. While it's true he could differ from real Shin, in theory he has same memories of events so his feelings about the matter could be taken into consideration.

As to that CG and how peaceful Shin looked, I admit he could feel some level of comfort, he did consider Midori a friend after all. But while we have one flashback with them and happy photos, I think it's not right to base everything on it. Moreover, at that moment Midori was likely exploiting Shin's feeling to get him sign consent form, which lessens level of wholesomeness. If we are talking exclusively about how Shin himself viewed that scene, yes, he could appreciate having such brother figure at that point of life. But upon reconcideration and reflection he could change his mind. The fact that his photos show him genuinely smiling and not sweating bullets are primary because:

Midori was the one deciding when to take a photo. He only took photos of what he liked, that doesn't strictly mean Shin only was happy and comfortable even if physical evidence doesn't cover it.

Shin indeed felt comfortable at times, because he did trust Midori after all.

Nevertheless, I still think that during their relationship Shin had double impression of Midori. While liking support, he disliked other sides of their friendship, for example being caught on camera or being afraid in general. It is something Shin tells Sara, so I take this into account, I believe his reactions display what he thought all that time ago. If their relationship could be summarised by that one lone flashback, I don't see how Midori could be considered anti-hero and not hero by Shin. Yes, his actions came from his perception of what Sou-Midori would do. But as far as I can tell, it is not that different from reality. That fleeting moment of kindness is not the only thing that happened. Even in toxic or abusive relationship there are moments of peace, they are the reason why victims give another chance, they still see the best, trying to disregard all red flags. Perhaps that's what happened to Shin. He still cherished his friend despite being uncomfortable (I think he did feel uneasy due to his memories where he says he was afraid of Midori and, once again, his AI. Not to mention his reactions now, but it is also due to Midori being with kidnapppers). But, as I mentioned in previous posts, then he potentially learned more about how suspicious it all was and grew distrustful.

Also, about toy robot, I admit my assumption is far-fetched, though we know quite little about their actual relationship, so I could picture Midori telling something along the lines "Come on, aren't we best buds, let's put your mega-robot in my house". Not the highest probability, but still. Or Shin indeed could do it of his own volution, but it doesn't cancel out all red flags.

In conclusion, I still stand by my opinion that Midori had negative impact on Shin, and I am not persuaded by Midori supporting Shin as I don't believe it was truly genuine or that Midori was exclusively kind and caring.

It seems we keep discarding evidence of one another as unreliable enough, so I suggest to stop this discussion altogether. I liked reflecting on their friendship with you, but I think there's no point of continuing as we just end up in a stalemate.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter though!

[hyenahunt]

Bankara Graffiti: We Who Never Learn - 3

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Characters: Kohaku, Hiyori, Tatsumi, Jun

Proofreading: Remy (JP) & honeyspades (ENG)

Translation: hyenahunt

Jun: The reason we jumped you just now was also 'cause we had to enact "getting the transfer student's cocky ass".

Kohaku: I see, I see. Alright, reckon I've 'bout gotten it all down now.

Hiyori: Really? Well, aren’t you clever, Kohaku-kun! What a good boy you are ♪

Kohaku: Lay off the hair pettin'. I may be small but I ain't a kid, y'know.

Hiyori: Aha, but the more you say you aren’t a child, the more you seem like one! Jun-kun was just like you when we first met —

Kohaku: This ain't quite the place to be waxin' poetic 'bout yer past. I mean, we're still in the middle of filmin', right?

Tatsumi: Indeed. From what I heard, there are around a dozen concealed cameras installed in this classroom alone.

Kohaku: Aw maaan, I don't wanna be in this kinda school.

It's a world away from the sort of thing I was expectin'... Plus I feel on edge bein' filmed the whole time. It's hard ta relax.

Hiyori: Well, isn't it for the best that we maintain this air of tension?

Since you're a beginner at this kind of work, Kohaku-kun, the pressure is sure to help you deliver a better performance.

Kohaku: 'S that right... Puttin' that aside, we just gotta earn as much MP as we can in this Bankara Academy, yeah?

Jun: Yep, you got it. Every now and then some kinda typical school life event's gonna crop up, and we gotta take part in 'em each time while acting as manly as possible.

By doing that, we'll earn Manliness Points — or MP.

Kohaku: Even if we get 'em, what're they good for?

Tatsumi: Every round, you'll earn cash or prizes in accordance to how much MP you have.

Haha, perhaps if I strike it rich, I'll treat everyone in ALKALOID to some souvenirs.

Jun: Oh, and MP decreases at set intervals, so if you don't keep earning 'em you'll get kicked out of school, got it~?

Kohaku: Aw maaan, I don't wanna be in a school with this kinda system~

Tatsumi: Haha. It's just like the system at ES, isn't it?

Kohaku: Can't argue with that... I presume it ain’t no laughin’ matter fer us nor you ALKALOID fellas, huh?

Tatsumi: Indeed. We'd certainly like an end to being at the mercy of numbers, wouldn't we, Crazy:B?

Kohaku: Hm. Speaking of which, how d'ya earn MP in the first place?

Tatsumi: Well, the manlier you act, the more you earn.

Incidentally, you can get a vague idea of what exactly counts as manly for these circumstances by reading the seventy-four volumes of the original Bankara Academy manga.

Kohaku: Wha — Bankara Academy's based on an original work!?

Tatsumi: Yes. It seems that the original manga was extremely popular, so its setting served as the inspiration for this Bankara Academy show.

Of course, the original serialisation ended a long time ago. At one point in time, its name was synonymous with delinquent manga — that's the level of fame it had.

Jun: Ah, and there’s even a spinoff series going on too, y'know? Or maybe it's more of a remake — it's a series called Haikara Academy, and it's set in a girls' high school.

Seems like the reason the Bankara Academy show got revived in the first place is 'cause that’s gotten so popular.

Kohaku: Hmm~... I had no idea, not that I really care fer that kinda thing.

Jun: Since you're so internet-savvy, Sakura-kun, I thought you'd be more into what kids these days usually like. You mean you're not a big fan of manga?

Kohaku: Well, it's not like I dislike it. I just don't wanna hafta deal with violence and bloodshed even when I’m lookin’ at fictional stuff, see.

But anyway, are we just here t' earn MP? What about normal classes or club activities? Ain't we gonna do any of that?

Jun: Ahh, I think some of the regular events we're gonna have to do'll be something along those lines~

Stuff like "run away from the disciplinary officer", or "break up a fight between the soccer and baseball clubs".

The reason we jumped you just now was also 'cause we had to enact "getting the transfer student's cocky ass".

Kohaku: Aw maaan, I don't wanna be in a school like this.

Hiyori: Well, it wouldn't be quite accurate to describe this as entirely staged, but it's not real, either, so you don't have to be on guard to this extent.

Just treat it as an attraction where you get to experience a delinquent manga, and have some fun ♪

Kohaku: But I don't wanna have that kinda experience... Honest to God I don't...

Well, I guess things’ll be okay. I'll be able to do all that proper school life stuff once I start attendin' a real high school, I reckon.

Tatsumi: Oh? In other words, do you mean everyone in Crazy:B will be returning to school?

I did hear from HiMERU-san while working together in COMP that he'd be returning to his studies as well.

Kohaku: Well, fer now it's gonna jus' be me an' Himeru-han.

Rinne-han's already a geezer gettin' on in his years, and I dunno if Niki-han even wants to go to school — since there's the issue of both his academic ability an' his constitution, right?

Anyhow, t'was with that in mind I took on this job, thinkin' it could be somethin' of a rehearsal fer it... but who'd have thought it'd actually be chock full of such no-brained nonsense.

Tatsumi: Haha. It seems to me that once you get used to it, you'll have more fun than you expect.

Jun: Right? Personally, I prefer this by a long shot to the usual pain-in-the-ass studying.

Kohaku: Don'cha go to school because you wanna study?

Hiyori: That may be true, but that's not all there is to them. And I believe that's precisely the aspect of this that our audience will want to see.

Kohaku: Philosophisin' away 'bout life, are ya? Well, I don't really get it, but alright.

After all, if any of us in Crazy:B make a mess outta anythin' again, that'll be the end of us even thinking 'bout going back to school...

So I'm gonna put my whole heart in an' give it my best shot.

Hiyori: That's the spirit! Go, go, Transfer Student-kun, you can do it... ♪

Jun: Ah, looks like we've got the next event on our hands~! There's the sound of bikes roaring outside the window — who knows, maybe some thugs from another school are gatecrashin' in to raid us!?

Kohaku: Aw maaan, this school's seriously the last place I ever wanna be!

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

[thedeliverygod]

Repostober: Day 30

A short fic/drabble based on a future where Hiyori and Yato decide to "cut ties" but... in actuality, they really don't. So they meet in secret every so often for brief moments of what they desperately wish they could have. It's a bit spicy because it was my intention to make it fully spicy but I can never go through with it lmao

I Can't Quit You

It’d been four years since she had cut ties with Yato, at least to everyone else’s knowledge. Of course, neither of them could keep their word. They were soulmates after all, their emas still bound together in Takamagahara. It only took a few months before she came home to find Yato in her apartment looking just as forlorn and broken as they day they’d parted. Hiyori, feeling much the same, didn’t have the heart to turn him away.

And so their routine began, Yato showing up unannounced every so often and never more for a day or so. The others took it as him needing to be alone and grieve the loss of Hiyori, but it didn’t take long for Yukine to figure out what was going on. He didn’t approve, but he also couldn’t bring himself to be angry with either of them.

So when Hiyori came home after a long and grueling day of classes, her heart jumped in surprise as she saw a figure stand up in her living room.

He shouldn’t be here.

The feeling in her stomach shifted from fear to excitement as she recognized his black track suit and violet hair and her favorite scent filled her lungs, “Yato.” She abandoned her backpack by the front door, rushing over to him and immediately collapsing against him in a tight hug.

“I missed you.” She felt his fingers move through the back of her hair, his head leaning down to rest on top of hers.

She sighed against his scarf and let herself sink even more into him, “I missed you too.” Her eyes watered and she gripped the fabric of his jersey even tighter; every time it was a mixture of elation and heartbreak.

He continued to stroke her hair, bending down just a bit more to kiss the small corner of her forehead that wasn’t pressed against his shoulder.

After she had relatively regained her composure, she pressed her lips lightly against the skin just above the collar of his jersey. His hand froze in her hair temporarily but returned to twirling it until she pressed a few more kisses against him, moving up his neck until she couldn’t reach any higher.

Yato swiftly moved his hand to cup her chin, angling her head back and kissing her eagerly. It was still soft and gentle, but she could feel just exactly how much he had missed her. The kiss deepened quickly and Hiyori sighed happily against him as she parted her lips for him.

But who could refuse the love of a god?

Her hands moved to unzip his jacket and his scarf effortlessly, her fingers slowly trailing down the front of his shirt once his other clothes had fallen to the floor. Yato made a soft grunt in response, his fingers moving down to play with the hem of her shirt in response; sometimes slipping underneath and touching her bare skin. He was extremely cautious every single time, never wanting to push any farther than Hiyori wanted to go.

So she reached down, touching his hands first before moving out of his grasp and pulling the shirt up and over her head. His eyes flashed a bit of surprise before quickly switching over into admiration, a small grin pulling at his lips as she pressed back against him.

She could feel the goosebumps on his skin as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and she got her own when she felt his hands at her bare waist, holding her loosely. Hiyori leaned in to kiss him eagerly and his grip immediately tightened, pulling her in even closer to him.

Hiyori followed suite, pressing herself against him as much as she could, quickly adding fire to the kiss. As soon as her hands dipped back down towards his chest, his hands started to wander across her as well, his palms lightly brushing over the fabric of her bra. She gasped into his mouth, her hand fisting his white t-shirt.

He kissed her lips a few more times before moving downward, lightly nipping at the skin on her neck as his one hand moved to her side to keep her pinned against the wall. She’d frozen entirely as his kisses made the slow torturous path down to her collarbone, pausing there to suck and nip at her skin until he had her gasping again.

Yato lifted his head to peer up at her with a smug expression, knowing that she was blushing at her own sounds, and she returned his look with an annoyed huff. Though just as she was about to make a comment, he lowered his head to start kissing her just above the barrier that her bra created and she immediately took a few shallow breaths.

He always knew how to completely make her come undone.

 “How’ve you been?” He asked against her skin, his hand reaching up to slowly slide the bra strap down her left arm, massaging her arm with his thumb as he went.

“Really?” She asked in disbelief, biting her lip to hold in a moan as his tongue moved ever so slightly further down as her bra became more loose, “Small talk? Right now?”

“Mhm.” He hummed, starting to work on the other bra strap.

“I’ve—” She started to lose her train of thought as he pulled her middle closer to him enough that he could reach behind her to undo the clasp, “I’ve... been okay.” She tried to ignore the pang in her chest as she asked back, “…How’s the Tsukuyomi gig going?”

Yato paused, though he still lingered close, “I’m starting to think fame is a bit overrated.” His tongue darted beneath the gap her loose bra had created and she bit her lip as her body jerked at the sensation, “I mostly just want to see my most devoted follower.”

“A—ah…” She could hardly breathe as he continued to nip and lick at her skin, “Out of every one, am I still really the most devoted?” She tugged on his t-shirt again.

He pulled away from her entirely this time, his bright blue eyes shining in disbelief as he looked up at her, “Of course.”

She didn’t have the chance to apologize before he was kissing her again, starting off gentle and slow but gradually moving more desperately, especially once she had bunched up his shirt and started to explore the planes of his stomach. When he stopped to lift his shirt over his head, she let her bra slide off to the floor as well.

Wrapping his arms around her tightly and pressing them together, he whispered just below her ear, “If you want to put it this way, there’s definitely no one who worships me the way you do.”

“I don’t know if I would consider this worship.” She laughed sheepishly, his voice tickling her ear.

“I would.” He answered immediately, his hands beginning to wander again, “And I do; on top of everything else you do for me.”

She hummed happily before answering, “You do just as much for me, you know.”

“Human or not, you’re my goddess.” He suckled against her neck and she shut her eyes in pleasure, “So of course I do.”

“When you put it that way…” Hiyori exhaled sharply, reaching up to blindly grasp for his hair.

Yato pulled away and stared until she looked up to meet his eyes, “I mean it, Hiyori.” He returned to her skin, kissing a trail from between her breasts to her bellybutton, practically leaving her panting, “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

“I—I know you mean it.” She said breathlessly, stroking his hair before leaning his head back to look up at her. “If you had it your way, I’m pretty sure you’d try to convince me that I’m the god and you’re the human and that there was some kind of mix up.”

He raised his eyebrows, “I mean, I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.”

“Your friends only say things like that when they’re annoyed with you.” She moved her hands down to his waist and coaxed him back upward, embracing him tightly, “You’re definitely a god. You’re good at too many things, it’s almost infuriating.” She mumbled against his shoulder.

He leaned in to speak against her ear, smirking eagerly, “Wanna fill me in on what those things are?”

Hiyori stepped away and gave a sigh, leaving him a bit confused as she answered, “I have to be very careful with how much I inflate your ego.” She reached behind her back to unzip her skirt, letting it fall to the floor before she moved towards her bedroom, “I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to guess, but maybe I’ll tell you some once we’re out of the living room.”

His grin quickly returned as he followed after her. Not expecting Hiyori to turn around as she reached the bed, he accidentally collided into her and knocked both of them backwards on to it. “Sorry!” He immediately apologized as he looked over to her, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She winced a bit but smiled and laughed a bit in response as she pushed herself up onto the bed.

He gave a sigh of relief before he moved up onto the bed as well, leaning over her and holding both sides of her face gently, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She smiled widely, nudging him downward to meet his lips.

I can’t quit you.

[tsunflowers]

au where the ensemble square is a loose federation of spacefaring groups who all extremely want to absorb the others and steal their resources but they’re bound by a treaty

starting with cospro

obviously mika is a robot shu rescued from the trash and rebuilt to his specifications. it’s shu’s fault mika has odd eyes bc one of mika’s eyes was damaged and shu couldn’t find a replacement in the same color that was of sufficiently high quality. everyone is like “it’s so gross that shu made this robot boyfriend who’s obsessed with him” but actually mika is fully jailbroken and thinks for himself and is still obsessed with shu which is maybe even grosser

the twins are from an alien species that reproduces by mitosis so they used to be one being and then split into two. they’re always threatening that they could do it again and ibara wouldn’t be able to tell them what to do bc they would outnumber him. actually they can’t do this bc the first division took so much out of them and it was hard for them to establish their separate personalities at first but no one else needs to know that. probably close with rei bc he was one of the first nonhuman aliens they saw live comfortably among humans

nagisa was genetically engineered by godfather to be his successor and grown in a vat. potentially godfather was going to upload his brain into nagisa’s body when he died but that didn’t happen. he was fed a lot of knowledge in the vat but has very little practical experience bc he grew to adulthood in there. ibara is basically the same but he wears glasses with mini computer screens in them. hiyori is still old money. the spaceships they use were probably built by the tomoe corporation. cospro is based out of a space station and its people rarely go planetside but hiyori is one of the exceptions, he grew up on a planet and frequently returns there. jun I don’t know about. I think maybe he was an enhanced person who dropped out of the training program but hiyori picked him up bc hiyori liked him even though he wasn’t a perfect military fighting machine

rinne’s basically the same but instead of a village the amagis control an entire planetoid. probably they were the type you see in scifi where early settlers get cut off from other space exploration efforts and develop their own culture that people who reconnect with them find regressive. nikis dad was experimenting with nanobots for waste removal but he had a big oopsie and the bots went in niki so if he doesn’t consume enough they start eating him from the inside. he can even eat things that aren’t food as long as he can swallow them. theoretically his parents are searching for a cure but they mostly just want to escape this huge fuckup. himeru is a shapeshifting alien and he hates tatsumi bc tatsumi was part of a peaceful exploration team that visited his planet for the first time and accidentally brought a pathogen that got his brother sick. he’s not pretending to be his brother he’s just pretending to be human. but his universal translator device doesn’t work and it makes him always refer to himself in the third person. instead of the suou family using the oukawas as assassins they sent them to colonize a planet first so kohaku has spent his life breathing limited oxygen and fighting space beasts. he still met aira online by sneaking out to the one computer in the base camp every night

oh crazy:b are basically space pirates that ibara hired and he’s like “it doesn’t violate the treaty bc none of them are official cospro residents :)”

[chiroptaro]

Ok so! Since you weren’t aware Nazuna was Ra*bits’ leader. Here are all the leaders!

fine’s leader is Eichi, ofc

Trickstar’s leader is Hokuto, but like. I had to Google it. P sure they’re all /pretty/ much on equal footing? Considering they’re all the same age. But Hokuto’s the leader

Ryuseitai’s leader is Chiaki, except the school division (Ryuseitai-N) which is led by Tetora. But i think they might have dissolved ryst-n? Idk I haven’t gotten that far in the main story it’s complicated. Anyways Chiaki is the leader

Hiiro is the leader of ALKALOID

Eden is led by Nagisa- Eve is led by Hiyori and Adam is led by Nagisa

Valkyrie is led by Shuu

2Wink is led by Hinata, since he’s the older twin

Crazy:B’s leader is Rinne

Rei is UNDEAD’s leader

Nazuna leads Ra*bits

Keito is Akatsuki’s leader

Knights was originally led by Leo but he graduated and stepped down to pursue his composer career so now Tsukasa is the king. But Leo is still like. The center for a lot of songs? And people still consider him the king? Idk man. Tsukasa has the five star tho

Switch is led by Natsume, which is funny, because Tsumugi is older than him

MaM is led by. You’ll never guess who

Double Face is led by Madara

okok yeah all of these make sense. it's just based on the eldest member then i guess? in the case of switch natsume was just too slay to NOT be the leader. altho sora and tsumugi are also extremely slay.

obviously shinobu is leader of MaM

is madara being leader of double face also based on age? or is there some assassin caste thing?

[chynandri]

Why Ibara Would Pretend to Pick Up If a Toddler Handed Him a Fake Phone

So you may have read my two previous posts about Ibara: An Analysis on Whose Bed is Whose in the Tsumugi and Ibara Section of their Dorm and Additional Thoughts About Ibara & Aesthetics (You don't need to read those to understand this one. Just thought I'd plug them in 🙂) This post is a bit sillier. As if the two other posts weren't silly enough as it is, I'm going even sillier - so this one is definitely not meant to be taken as seriously. The title is another random thing I saw going around on Twitter months ago where people claimed their fave character would pretend to pick up the phone or not if a toddler handed them a fake phone. Frontline Watchdogs came out on Engstars recently and I believe it is very relevant to this question!

Ibara WOULD pretend to pick up the phone if a toddler gave him one and this is WHY!!

One of the many great scenes from Frontline Watchdogs that stood out to me is after Ibara pushes Mary too hard by exercising her too much and she ends up needing an IV. He intended to let Mary rest in Hiyori's dorm as the scent of her owner would be comforting.

However, Kanata and Rinne (Hiyori's dormmates) prove to be chaotic presences in the dorm: Kanata wants to feed Mary raw fish, and Rinne wants to use a giant isopod plushie to play with her. Needless to say Ibara does not deem this a suitable place for Mary to rest properly! And how does Ibara choose to get out of this situation??

...by pretending Mary TALKS to him. The cartoon-like comedy of this gets to me every time... just WHAT was Ibara's thought process?? It's like saying 'oops, I left the oven on at home'?

Surprisingly, this works and Ibara saves Mary from Rinne and Kanata. I'm mentioning all this because the next image below is extremely relevant.

What's this? It's Ibara petting the stuffed Daikichi toy in office mode. Let me emphasize PETTING. He crouches down and PETS him. As if he were a REAL DOG...

There's actually two different interactions the idols will have with Daikichi (and most plushies in general, it seems). There's the idols who crouch down and pet the plushie, and - as Tomoya is demonstrating here - there's idols who lift the plushie. You could say... he holds it like a toy, in comparison to Ibara's petting. It's my hc that the idols who pet the plushie like to pretend that the plushie is a real representation of Daikichi and treat it as such. The idols who lift the plushie, they see and treat it as it is: a toy.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── (Optional thoughts: Another aspect is my personal interpretation that Ibara simply cannot be evil to people who are smaller than him. There's him feeling bad about potentially ruining Hajime's reputation in Bogie Time, being a nice teacher in Ibara Lecture, helping Mitsuru find the bread flavoured soda ((despite how weird it is that he wants... Bread flavoured soda)), and helping Tori calm down when they were stuck in an elevator.

Notably most of the people I listed are shorter and younger than him. He is a nice senpai overall. Kohaku... well... Kohaku is not like other kids... lol??)

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── Anyway… this is the insane and extremely Ibara-biased, probably not strongly informed connection and conclusion I'm making: Ibara is willing to pretend that Mary can talk, and he can pretend that the Daikichi plushie is real - therefore, the answer to the age old question!

Would he pretend to pick up if a toddler handed him a fake phone?

I believe he would based on the 'evidence' I've laid out!!!! 🫵 I think this is a good opportunity to segway into other instances of Ibara's absurd and imaginative self, such as his literal mice-shaped drones in Vagabond that scurry around in the walls spying for him. He even uses one of them to exercise Mary. What sort of cartoon villain nonsense... And one of my fave quotes ever from his silly, silly mouth:

I am endlessly in awe of Ibara's mind. As this post hopefully highlights, Ibara is so un-normal in ways that are so delightfully unexpected and he expresses it in full seriousness.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── Anyway, I guess the meaningful conclusion I can make from all this for you to all think about is that - as is mentioned here and there by other characters - Ibara has his moments that really reflect his age. Underneath the business man, 'adult' persona he uses to survive in the adult world, he can be an extremely silly teenager who pretends dogs can talk to get out of an awkward situation, mouse shaped drones are a good idea, that making people dress up as cows is a hilarious punishment, and was so upset at Nagisa not telling him about a toothache he wanted to brush his teeth for him. Although the damage has already been done with his awful childhood (or lack of), and with him being 18 he doesn't have many years left of being a teen anymore - I really enjoy the moments where he acts his age. It would do so much good for him to be able to be a kid, when he had little chance to be one at all.

[inkyara-blog1]

“Beanie-Man” Sou Hiyori from Your Turn to Die - Death Game by Majority

A canny, perceptive hacker and computer nerd with soft pinchable cheeks. He uses an alias and the impersonation is based off of his cruel and mischievous lost friend, Sou Hiyori. He has grown bitter and conflicted over his real name, and denies it as if his life depends on it. It actually does.

He is a young man in his early twenties. He's old enough to legally consume alcohol.

Lies a lot and seems suspicious, but he’s just a guy. He's a really bad liar sometimes, others he makes it by the skin of his teeth. Sometimes he's so bad at it he will admit it outright without thinking. How did he make it so long? How? LMFAO. Anyway, just 'cause he's bad at it sometimes doesn't mean he can't make a bold faced one through pure spite and stubbornness.

Prone to panic attacks and fainting suddenly. He is so frail he can't open a sliding cabinet by himself. I'm /srs.

He is socially stunted due to his sickly upbringing and distant, spoiling parents. He's totally not an e-catboy.

He is always cold due to autoimmune issues and lack of body fat.

He is worryingly thin and pale. He alleges he cannot eat cold or solid foods. He tends to overcook his food until there’s nothing but broth. It's his favorite (cursed) way to eat curry.

He is a dead man walking. He can’t even cool down his scalding ramen by blowing air on it without help. He's easy to tease and bully, so much so an eight year old could do it.

He has a friendly facade he puts up due to self-policing against his dispirited sad wet-cat energies. He is extremely insecure about his introversion.

Autistic but thinks he’s not. Massive food sensitivities. Compulsively washes his hands and dislikes excessive physical touch. Ironically touch-starved, but won't admit it easily.

Chronically ill. Anemic, fibromyalgia-haver.

Prone to hallucinations, paranoia, and mania. At least his beanie can stretch several feet (gag).

I took him from a canon point where he's already died! Yay, more trauma! Good for him! *party popper noises* /j

!!! See his stats and more in-depth profile via /app! Beware of spoilers and potentially sensitive content. YTtD is not for the faint of heart. Other mobile links: :3 rules :3 isola stats :3 threads :3 fondness :3

[maddgical-boy]

☠️💚☠️ — ASUNAROLAND

a fictparacosm based on the visual novel horror game your turn to die. (link takes you to its english page, where you can view content warnings and play on your browser for free! you can also buy it on steam with bonus content)

this post is also totally my time to be a very big nerd

‼️ reminder that this is a madd blog! fandom interaction is ok but please be respectful ‼️

BELOW THE CUT: -> the world -> the paras

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ THE WORLD

in the world of YTTD, a death game takes place, where the participants must solve puzzles and determine who among them deserves to die.

the game is run by an organization called ASU-NARO, which poses as a nice medical company on the surface (and also seems to run some orphanages) but is secretly connected to shady businesses and apparently performs inhumane experiments. the organization has kept a close eye on the participants for years, perfecting artificial intelligences and dolls (perfect visual replicas, only lacking blood) of them. this is useful in the case of the dummies, aka participants who died in their first trial puzzles before they could meet the others, and were "revived" using dolls and AIs of them.

in order to lure the participants into the game, they are offered a form that is said to grant a wish of theirs if they sign it. they are told they are signing the "asunaro vow" — "who i want to be today, tomorrow i will be." in reality, they are signing a form that says they will devote their life to the organization.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ THE PARAS

pretty much all of the characters show up at some point, some more frequently than others. these main 4 paras all work at ASU-NARO. in this paracosm, they are an extremely close found family :> and they are very unethical. tee hee

below you will see a cropped in-game sprite of them, as well as a CG!

SOU HIYORI / MIDORI | 24 | he/him

one of the ugliest color schemes in the game <3 he is called midori in the paracosm, as it is his default name when he gets renamed by the player. his role at ASU-NARO is to recruit the participants into the game.

midori is an extremely sadistic and cruel man, often finding it funny when others are in distress, and deliberately plays with the participants' minds to harm them. he is also not above physically harming himself, and much of his body has been replaced with doll parts. the only thing he fears is his own death. however, he is extremely protective of his family, and loves them genuinely, but puts on a more obsessive facade about it for the participants in order to mess with their minds more.

EMIRI HARAI / SUE MILEY | 25 | she/her

emiri is a researcher that, in canon, had ASU-NARO recruite her by driving her fiancé insane. in this paracosm, she works for them willingly, with her fiancé blissfully unaware. her fiancé is one of the participants in the game, named shunsuke hayasaka (link to his wiki). he is a more minor para, but that does not change how incredibly important he is to her even when he's not around. (this is actually because of a theory i have that i wrote down here :)) when disguised as a doll, aka a floor master, her name is sue miley, the laughing doll.

she is a bit hotheaded, and is often at odds with midori, who is more cheerful and snarky. with her loved ones (especially her fiancé) she is more sweet and excitable, and getting it pointed out by the others embarrasses her.

MICHIRU NAMIDA / TIA SAFALIN | 24 | she/her

michiru is a researcher that came to work at ASU-NARO because her old workplace treated her poorly. when disguised as a doll, her name is tia safalin, the crying doll.

she works with the participant dolls and AIs the most. although her work is pretty unethical, she gets very upset when called a "mad scientist" because she genuinely believes in her work. although she does not cry as much as her alternate role implies, she often looks miserable. according to midori, "if you put a puppy in her arms, she would act as if it had died there!"

HINA / HINAKO MISHUKU | 14 | she/her

hina was abandoned as a child and lived in ASU-NARO's orphanages until she was 13, when the organization as a whole decided to adopt her because of her maturity (she has an "adult-like personality") and possible usefulness. in the death game, she is disguised as hinako mishuku, one of the dummies, and is the only dummy who is a real human.

she secretly doesn't care much for ASU-NARO, and was a bit disappointed when she was adopted by an organization rather than a real family. she pretends to not care about the other three, but it's a sort of unspoken understanding that it's a facade. she's the baby of the family and they love her and she loves them. she has a sort of april ludgate vibe.

[head-in-the-clouds-babey]

Midori Backstory HC

I have a detailed backstory headcanon for Midori that I am considering turning into a fic. It's a bit graphic so here are the content warnings: medical malpractice, drug abuse, torture, self-harm.

Asunaro was never exactly safe and sane regarding their medical practices and tests. In October 1992, three women were artificially insemenated in order to test the effects that various drugs would have on the resulting children. Each woman was given different amounts of various opioids, Midori and his mother receiving the least. This drug use caused abnormal brain development in Midori. The other two women were unable to carry their baby to term and miscarried, but on June 15th, 1993, Sou Hiyori was born.

Sou was born intersex, he has Klinefelter syndrome. Asunaro took this as an opportunity to further abuse him medically. With a damaged ventromedial prefrontal cortex, Sou experienced less empathy than most people in his childhood. Due to the number of drugs involved in his development, he was an addict at birth. He was very dependent on Asunaro, as they would supply him with the drugs he needed. Throughout his childhood, he was Asunaro's guinea pig for drug experiments. He did not verbalize until age 4 when he began speaking in full sentences whenever he chose to. he was extremely intelligent, a prodigy. During withdrawals, he would regress and act like a fussy toddler, as opposed to his usual quiet, calm, acute demeanor.

The older Sou grew, the tests ran on him became crueler and crueler, and his behavior became more reckless. Starting at age 13, Asunaro would place Sou into a "break room" if he misbehaved. This room was really just solitary confinement until he would exhaust himself to the point of passing out or get his act together and obey. Sometimes he would be put into this room for a few days without his medication and Asunaro would observe the withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms consisted of paranoia, pain, sweating, migraines, and would even bring Sou to tears. During these withdrawal days, Sou developed an intense fear of death due to horrific hallucinations. Although he doesn't have a very strong memory of this time, his PTSD was triggered when he lost Russian roulette.

During his teenage years, he began self-harming to ease the boredom that comes with a lack of a full set of emotions. He tested his pain limits out of curiosity, biting and cutting himself frequently. He didn't really take care of his appearance much, his hair grew out long and he had dark eye circles due to insomnia. When he wasn't being punished, he was subjected to various intelligence and social tests. He was highly skilled in mirroring, pattern recognition, manipulation, and calculating outcome chances. He became fascinated by the human psyche and learned how to appeal to people to get whatever he desired. Sou was allowed to go out in public by himself at age 16 when he was fully obedient and trained for Asunaro. Sou loved being able to interact with real people who weren't just using him for tests. He decided that he wanted to be more than a test subject, he wanted to have the power that was used against him all his life.

When Sou turned 18, the death game plans were introduced to him and he was given his assignment to collect consent form signatures. Asunaro offered him more power if he would allow them to modify his body and turn part of him into a doll. He enthusiastically agreed and slowly gave up the majority of his human parts over the course of six years. Sou learned how to manufacture AIs quickly as Gashu's apprentice. He was a major influence on the development of the participant AIs. He began developing Maple, an AI based upon a girl who had a crush on Sou while he spent his time gaining the trust of the death game participants. He took elements from that girl and twisted them into a sad, naive doll who was torn between her command to kill Sou and her feelings for him.

By age 23, Sou's human body had been reduced to a torso with many organs removed or replaced. His dissected remains were preserved for other freakish experiments performed during the death game. He planned to get some form of sick revenge on the people who put him through his hellish upbringing after the death game, but to his dismay, was killed before he had the chance.

If anyone has any questions about extra details, please reply with them, and I will answer! I have a lot of headcanons for him :)

[mmikmmik2]

WormWatch 2022

Little bit of a variant this time. So, we're past episode 24. We know Sasword is a worm. It seems very clearly signposted that Hiyori is a worm. (Though hilariously I think the last few episodes actually imply a slight possibility she isn't? Like, if the magic space rock fixed up Tendou's belt because she happened to be carrying it? I don't think that's it, but the idea of her being a human after all this time is pretty funny.) Who knows, in-universe?

I... could see Sasword's butler knowing. They're such a pathetic duo, honestly - the old man sabotaging both of them by trying to enable Sasword in living a complete fantasy world, desperately trying to cobble together a functional value system based on shitty rich boy traditions, like trying to build a statue out of mashed potatoes. I could see the butler knowing Sasword as a worm and trying to carry on like normal as like, the greatest extreme of this behavior. I could also see realizing Sasword is a worm as like a dark mirror to their whole thing of trying to keep up the pretense of the family having retained its ancient wealth and traditions - a shocking, horrible mockery. I think I'm leaning more towards the latter right now - the butler doesn't know, and it's going to be rough when he finds out.

(One of my pet theories is that Sasword is a scorpion-themed Rider because of the scorpion and the frog. Watch your back, old man.) (For real, though - I am kind of fond of Sasword. He's gone beyond moe through helplessness and straight into moe through pathetic. Rooting for things to work out for this shitty little rich broke boy somehow.)

I feel pretty sure Tendou has to know, or at least strongly suspect, that Hiyori is a worm. If it were just like "your parents are bad people" or something... idk, I'm not sure that would be something Tendou would be so desperate to hide. He's not really one to keep difficult truths from people. On the other hand, since it seems like he was there when they died, and was pretty young at the time... he could have his own trauma around the situation that's clouding his judgment.