#kiryu standing literally right in front of them:

[stunie]

Zevie it is I, the maid cafe anon once again coming to you to request more cute(or lewd, it’s your choice like fr) maid cafe content.

Maybe they show up when it’s like a day for a different costume(OH MY GOD A PLAYBOY BUNNY OUTFIT DAY??? A CUTSIE ANIMAL ONESIE DAY??? CHEONGSAM DAY??? MAGICAL GIRL DAY???????) or literally ANYTHING, whatever inspires you.

The only characters I’ll specifically ask for are kiryu, suo, and Kaji if possible!!!!!

ANYWAYS REMEMBER TO TAKE IT EASY AND HAVE A SNACK AND REST MWAH MWAH -🐌

WELCOMMEEE !! u r now snail anon and no longer maid cafe anon !! i hope u and the others r comfy here ໒꒰ྀི ˃ ∩∩ ˂ ꒱ྀི১ <3 i made this sfw <: also pls im gonna share my snack with you (it’s a mango roll cake!)

hayato suo, kiryu mitsuki, & kaji ren x maid cafe!f!reader

sfw. ft. costumes (animal onesies), you call them ‘master’

HAYATO SUO gives you an all-too-warm smile when you’re shyly handing him a menu, tensing when his fingers briefly brush over the paws of your onesie.

“a kitten? how cute,” he teases, hand coming to cheerfully rub at the top of your head. it was only your second week since you’ve started your job here, and yet he’s made it very clear that he’d be paying you a visit every single shift.

a part of you wishes he had never found your cafe’s instagram, where they uploaded each week’s theme on sundays without fail. you can only imagine how ecstatic suo must’ve been when he saw what was scheduled for today— because he was stepping through the door only fifteen minutes into the start of your shift.

“c-can i get you anything else, master..?” you stammer, eyebrows deeply furrowed in embarrassment as you hug the extra menus to your chest. he’s only chuckling at your nerves, back of his hand coming to mask his laugh as you give him your best attempt at a glare. “you’re not supposed to laugh,” you whisper through your teeth, “stop being like that..!”

“oh, sorry,” your shoulders relax a bit when his laughter dies down, and he’s smiling back at you all over again. “then i’ll just have you stay beside me until i’m done with my tea. that won’t be a problem, right?”

KIRYU MITSUKI’s mouth parts open in surprise when you come to serve him his food, cute little bear ears sticking out from the hood as you set down his plate in front of him.

“this is your omelette, master!”

“oh, thank you,” his voice comes out soft, but he’s tugging you by the little bear tail at the back of your outfit as soon as you turn to check on your next table, “but don’t leave just yet.”

your head turns back, gaze shifting back and forth between his hand and his face. “..is something wrong?”

he doesn’t respond.

you sigh when he still doesn’t let go of your tail, not even looking at you as his free hand comes to click at his screen. “wait just a couple more seconds…” he says, scrolling through his apps. “ah..! here it is. okay~”

some of the other visitors are turning their heads to look at you as soon as they hear his chair abruptly scooting backwards, body leaning back a bit to angle his phone’s camera towards you with a content hum.

“k-kiryu!” you huff under your breath when you realize exactly what he’s doing, “that’s so embarrassing..!”

he only chuckles in response. “but you look so cute,” he coos, “smile nice and big for me, okay?”

KAJI REN’s lollipop falls out of his mouth as soon as he sees you dressed up in a bunny onesie, one ear flopping over your face when you do a little bow to greet him and the two standing behind him.

“oh, it’s kaji’s girl working today! what a nice surprise, huh kaji?” you hear enomoto’s voice loud and clear, followed by a loud ‘tch’ from your boyfriend.

those two— enomoto and kusumi— didn’t say a single word about this. he was wondering just exactly what they were snickering about so loudly earlier before they were suddenly at his side to ask if they could stop by your cafe before heading home.

something about a deal on coffee? he can’t believe he actually fell for that.

“oh, kaji!” you gleam, lips tugging into a huge smile. “oops— i meant master. your table is over here. follow me.”

he’s clenching his jaw in place of his lollipop, eyes narrowed into a deep scowl in his attempt to dissipate the blush rising to his cheeks. you looked cute, big ears flopping up and down with each step you take, and you’re practically drowning in the excess fabric.

did they not have your size?

“oh,” enomoto interrupts his train of thought, and he turns to see him and kusumi are suddenly checking their phones, the weather app- specifically. “we gotta leave, actually. we’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

and they’re gone just like that.

[collectorcookie]

YEAH, I think people forget that Subaru can be unapologetically mean (most of the time he doesn't do it to hurt people though) and it makes his dynamic with Natsume soo.. so nice.

You. You ask me this knowing fully well i won't shut up about subaru once i start talking. Well. Long post ahead.

But i agree. I think most people won't know much about him besides the kira-kira front he keeps putting out (unless they actually read some other trickstar stories). And i mean, yeah he's super adorable and cute and energetic but he's been through A LOT. And that energetic front is some sort of a weapon for him.

Like, he's not pretending to be happy, he IS MAKING himself happy despite all. Despite all his anger at the injustices that took away his father's life and his mother's happiness. Despite all the suffering he endured from the press that kept harassing him and his mom after his father's death. Despite the industry that covered up his father's death as a mere scandal rather than facing the uncomfortable truths and corruption within the industry. And the ungodly anxiety always surrounding him because all people think about when they see him is "son of a murderer"

And where does that lead subaru? Nowhere, really. All alone with no one beside him and nobody to guide him anymore, he just clings to memories of the past for guidance and tries to follow in the steps of his dad.

Which is i feel like why natsume reached out to subaru in the first place. Subaru is a natural genius but unfortunately a weirdo loner at a corrupted high school, natsume is also a weirdo loner genius at a corrupted high school. And unlike subaru, natsume is not traumatised and really likes helping people and making them happy (he will never admit to this, the tsundere tendencies are off the charts), so naturally he reaches out to subaru.

AND THEIR FIRST MEETING IN ROCKET START IS JUST AKSHDGSKAVVDKFKSJDV

it's like.... natsume starts talking to subaru, subaru automatically puts out this positive attitude regardless of who is talking with him, right. natsume cares about subaru but god forbid anyone knows that natsume has feelings and cares about people, so he starts talking aaaall mysterious wizard stuff. Subaru immediately notices something is up with natsume, he's not sure what, but this guy is not to be underestimated and there's something this guy knows about him, and he instantly drops his happy facade and gets serious. The more subaru talks to natsume the more he realizes that natsume...is actually really nice. And so he goes back to his positive attitude. And it pisses natsume off, tsuntsun is not pleased lmao.

But their first meeting is so wiiild to me. Like imagine meeting someone for the first time and immediately they metaphorically strip you off and leave you naked and vulnerable. Like literally your first conversation with this person. And then you do the exact same thing to them. And now you're friends???? Profit.

You know those videos of cats snuggling their sad owners and then their owner happily tries to kiss it and now suddenly the cat is pissed that the affection gets returned? Subanatsu. With natsume being the cat.

But yeah sometimes people forget that subaru has years upon years of anger that he never really had an outlet for and that's probably why he likes violence so much. Like the one thing that got changed in the anime is the fact that when anzu went to meet kiryu (famed strongest most violent guy in the whole school), the anime portrayed subaru going in with anzu to meet kiryu to protect her. This literally doesn't happen in the main story at all. Don't get me wrong, subaru IS overprotective of anzu, like everyone else in trickstar. But he didn't go with her, he sent her there on her own and then was like "ok, if anything happens to you, scream, and then i'll come in and ambush kiryu with a bat". I want you to imagine that. This dude was standing outside with a bat fully prepared and thrilled to hit the academy's strongest guy. He literally sent anzu as bait.

And then there's that one time he wanted to bomb the student council (jokingly). And that one time he took a hammer in front of rinne out pretending that he's going to hit him. And like. Every time he fights with hokuto. I genuinely have no idea how these two HAVEN'T physically hit each other yet considering that hokke also seems quite fond of violence. And also how unabashedly confrontative he was when he met eichi at the council for the first time. And please never forget the time he meets nagisa for the first time and immediately calls poor baby nagisa a bastard in a very happy tone.

Nagisa. You know. Godfather's legal successor. Leader of adam. Leader of eden. The top unit at that time. Subaru has Zero Fears. I love he

And honestly seeing how often natsume hits tsumugi for fun i can see why subanatsu get along

subaru 🤝violence🤝 natsume

[tsukimino]

Kenzan Substory: The Yamato-e Painter

Below the cut is a translation of Kenzan substory #45, “The Yamato-e Painter.”

Please be warned that this story contains an incident of sexual harassment that’s played for laughs in a homophobic manner. This writing is very much in line with the kinds of storytelling choices that RGG Studio has made in the past and has since disavowed through disclaimers or even outright cuts in their remastered games and remakes. 

Yamato-e is a genre of painting that (as the name – literally “Japanese painting” – suggests) takes specifically Japanese people, places, and themes as its subject matter. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s page on yamato-e provides a helpful summary of the genre’s history. Most relevantly, by the early 14th century, artists working in this genre had begun to produce realistic portraits of subjects such as poets, courtiers, military heroes… and perhaps, in Kenzan, a certain wandering swordsman. 

[Kiryu is wandering about in Kawara when he runs into a man dressed in a white kimono with a pink-ish overcoat. The man – identified in the text box as “Ranzan” – waves him down.]

Ranzan: Excuse me, sir, do you have a moment? Where on earth did you train that magnificent body of yours? You’re not like all those other meatheads…

Kiryu: …

Ranzan: Ah, my name is Ranzan. I’m a traditional Japanese painter. Surely you’ve heard of me? 

Kiryu: …

Ranzan: My specialty is warrior portraits. If I may impose, would you be willing to let me paint you? If I were to depict that figure of yours, I’m certain that it would be a most wonderful piece: a work to be handed down through the ages! This is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter – I can’t just let this opportunity pass me by! Please, I’m begging you! I’m prepared to offer you a most handsome reward… 

[Kiryu is presented with a choice to accept or refuse Ranzan’s request; we choose to accept.] 

Kiryu: Uh, yeah… I’ll think about it. 

Ranzan: Yes, I would be most grateful if you would! This must be fate! 

[Ranzan wipes his forehead, then points off into the distance.]

Ranzan: Well then, let’s go to my studio right away. Please follow me. 

[The screen fades to black. When we return, Kiryu is standing in front of Ranzan in the middle of his studio. Various paintings are on display, and there's one in progress on the table to Ranzan’s left. The painter faces Kiryu and mops his brow again.]

Ranzan: Ah! How wonderful! A magnificent physique, like a rock that’s stood since time immemorial! Eyes like a tiger’s that peer into the very depths of one’s heart! Hmm… Hmm, hmm… Yes, that’s it! 

[Ranzan leans in and nods at Kiryu.]

Ranzan: Pardon me, but would you mind removing your clothes, please? Just your upper body is fine! I, Ranzan, am prepared to give this painting everything I’ve got…! 

[Once again, Kiryu is presented with a choice to agree to his request or refuse. Naturally, he agrees.]

Kiryu: Okay, got it. 

Ranzan: Yes, oh yes!  

[The scene fades to black. When we return, Kiryu has stripped down to his fundoshi.]

Ranzan: Ah! How beautiful…. Those burgeoning muscles – they bring to mind a cascade of cool snowmelt… The more I look at them, the more breathtaking they become… 

[The camera pans slowly down to Kiryu’s junk.]

Ranzan: Hmm… Hmm… Hmm, yes, I have it! Just one more thing, if you please: would you be so kind as to remove your underwear? 

Kiryu: …No way! 

Ranzan: Really, now… We’ve come this far and now you’re hesitating!? I’ll get that thing off even if I have to do it by force!

[Still in his fundoshi, Kiryu gives Ranzan – identified as an “Excited Guy” in the splash screen – a thrashing. Note that this title is probably a pun: the verb that the writers use to describe Ranzan – “tatsu” (たつ) – can also refer to getting an erection. After the fight, Ranzan falls to his knees at Kiryu’s feet.]

Ranzan: Ohh… The pen is weaker than the sword. 

Kiryu: What the hell do you think you’re doing?! 

Ranzan: From the moment I saw you, I was smitten! And what’s more, it was no mere fluttering of the heart… Yes, this is what they call love…!  

Kiryu: …

Ranzan: I’m so terribly sorry! Please don’t think ill of me… I want to make amends somehow… But at the moment, I have nothing of value. The only things here that are worth anything are these paintings – but I still need to eat. You can take whichever one you like, but please be merciful and just take the one.  

[A text box pops up and asks which one you’ll take (and adds: please show mercy and choose only one). The options are a painting of a warrior, a painting of an actor, or a painting of a famous place. The outcome of the story isn’t affected by the painting that you choose here, but the warrior and actor paintings sell for 10,000 mon, whereas the scenery sells for one single mon. In any case, once Kiryu picks a painting, the scene fades to black again, and we return to the street where Kiryu first encountered Ranzan.]

Ranzan: It pains me to part ways… I look forward to the day we meet again. Farewell…

[The screen fades to black, and with that, Ranzan is gone. A box pops up informing us that Kiryu has received 1000 EXP.]

[wil-is-done]

Floral Circlet - Chapter 1: when the sun and the moon hate each other veeeery much...

Summary: There are three universal truths everyone agrees with about the all-female Hololive Academy. One, everyone who goes there is a fucking weirdo. Two, everyone who goes there is incredibly talented and unquestionably deserves their place in the academy, and let nobody fucking say otherwise. Three, everyone who goes there is at least a little bit gay for each other.

Word Count: 1.793

-

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a repost.

“Gooooood morning, motherfuckers. Kiryu Coco here to bring you some announcements, as per usual. First up, the cover festival at the end of the month is still looking for more performers, so if that’s your thing then step right up. Signups are in the east wing, second floor. Next iiiiis, ah! To whoever’s been streaking near the computer room, I just got passed a message from the student council: they’re closing in on your ass. Also PPT wants me to say something something something, rules rules rules, yadda yadda yadda, bleh. And to Mori Calliope and Airani Iofifteen, can you come to the fountain on the northwest garden, please? Your wives are about to beat the shit out of each other.”

Calli shoots up from her seat faster than a bullet. “She’s not-!”

“Last and actually kinda least, Aqua’s back trying to sell her riceballs again, so if you’re a fan of bland and undercooked food, you can find her wandering the halls, begging people to buy her cooking. That’ll be all for now from your host and friendly neighborhood trader of the good stuff, Kiryu Coco. Hope y’all have a gooooood morning, motherfuckers!”

A jaunty tune obnoxiously jingles as the announcement ends, but it’s barely heard over the groan leaving Calli. “We make out once. Once. As if that’s a big deal.” Elsewhere, maybe, but not in this academy. Everyone’s smooched everyone around here. 

It wouldn’t be so embarrassing if Amelia’s not smirking at her from across the table. “You’re still going, right?”

Calli eyes Amelia, then the door, then the half-eaten Whopper in front of her, then Amelia again. “You touch my breakfast, Watson, and it’s off with your head.”

Amelia settles into a look dangerously close to bedroom eyes and purrs, “Yes, daddy.”

Calli is out the door before Amelia can see how red her face got. 

-

When Calli arrives, she thought the situation had already resolved itself, because from where she’s standing it honestly looked like Kiara and Moona are making out. But as she gets closer she realizes, no, there’s no lip contact, they’re just eye-hatefucking each other really hard. Iofi shows up from the opposite side of the garden, and to her credit moves a lot faster than Calli to break the two apart. 

“Moon, Moon, come on,” Iofi coos, arms wrapped around Moona’s waist from behind to pull her away. “Let’s calm down. Let’s take it easy. Ini kamu bikin malu aja, ih.”

Calli steps in between them and puts a firm hand on Kiara’s shoulder before she can re-close the gap. “Sorry to cut the staring contest short, but what happened?”

Kiara’s glare can melt steel beams, and Calli’s presence does nothing to douse its heat. “This little schlampe thinks she can cut into my alone time with Pekora.”

But Moona doesn’t so much as flinch. “My vocal lesson got rescheduled so I missed my time with Pekora last week, and I know you swooped in to take advantage of it, ayam bangsat,” she seethes. Her eyes are ice cold, and her words are dripping with venom.

Kiara sneers. “Sounds like a you problem! You missed your chance, you wait till next week!” 

Calli is in disbelief, and it takes a full second to really sink in that the root of the problem is, “Pekora? Of all people, you’re fighting over Pekora?”

Iofi peeks out from behind Moona, and is miles better than Calli at hiding exactly how dumb she finds this situation is. “Moon, Pekora’s not worth fighting over, is she?”

“She is!” 

The way Kiara and Moona’s voices nearly match and harmonize would have been really funny and kind of impressive if it happened under literally any other circumstances.

“Fuck’s sake. For a sec, I thought this was important.” Calli pinches the bridge of her nose, futilely massaging the coming headache. “Pekora’s not even here.”

There’s a second where Kiara and Moona goes very, very still.

Moona breaks the silence first, hissing, “What?”

“Where’d she go?!” Kiara’s screech pitches higher in the last syllable in a way that makes Calli cringe.

There’s suddenly a lot of flailing, a lot of heads whipping about trying to find the mug of the smuggest comedian this side of the planet. Calli hoped the realization of a lack of Pekora would knock some sense into them, but no. The moment their eyes meet again, the posturing is back on. 

“You scared her off!”

“Me? I’m not the one who squawks like a chicken with rabies.”

“Call me ‘chicken’ again.” Kiara’s voice nosedives into a growl, while the temperature skyrockets, the nearby fountain instantly steaming, boiling, leaves of perfectly trimmed topiaries turning ashen and black. “I dare you.”

Moona smirks, her eyes glowing, her hair beginning to levitate behind her, the starlit yellow creeping up to overtake the deep purple, some primal, cosmic energy rising from the depths of her soul. “Chi-”

“Did someone order a war criminal?!” 

The temperature drops, the energy falls, and Calli - one twitch away from pulling her scythe from the shadows - breathes a silent sigh. Heads turn to the garden’s entrance, to see a grinning Miko, grin cranked all the way up to shit-eating territory, and a bound Pekora, looking desperate to be anywhere but here, but held in place by a leash looped around Miko’s hand. 

“Oi, ya bastard! Pek go of me!” Pekora tugs and pulls, but Miko doesn’t so much as budge. Hell, looks like she’s making a point of ignoring Pekora.

“Caught her trying to weasel her way off campus, but you really can’t mask the smell of war crimes in the morning,” Miko sings haughtily.

Pekora can only growl. “You can’t link anything back to me! There’s no evidence! I made sure of it!”

Calli is starting to think her relief over their arrival is going to be short-lived. But at least now she’s comfortable with taking her hands off of Kiara. “This might be a redundant question - I’m sure the answer’s a yes - but this is Pekora’s fault?”

“A thousand percent.” With a tug, Miko pulls Pekora in close and cups her chin. “You do remember things tend to get ugly between Kiara and Moona when you get involved, yeah? I hope you do. It leveled half the campus last time. So what’s the big idea inviting both of ‘em to meet you at the same place, at the same time?”

Pekora sucks in a breath, leaning away from Miko’s grip, pupils darting at anything that’s not her, and shrieks, “I plead the fifth!”

“The fifth don’t work here, dumbass!” Miko smushes Pekora’s cheeks and gives it a good shake. “Now shut your trap. Betcha don’t want to spend a week in juvie again, yeah?”

Pekora gasps. “You fuckin’ narc, you’re snitching on me?!” Then her eyes narrow. “You’re bluffing. You don’t have dirt on me.”

Miko’s grin ascends shit-eating and enters a realm of smug unknown to man. “Bayside fair. Last week of February.”

The way the colors drain from Pekora’s face is a thing of beauty - a visage of raw, genuine panic that Calli feels blessed to see. The next switch to pathetic groveling is the next best thing. “Now, Miko, my amazing senpai, beautiful, kind, way-better-at-Minecraft-than-me senpai, there’s no need to do anything rash. I peckon we can all come to an-”

“Nope!” Miko shoves Pekora forward, not even pretending to be nice about it. “You opened the can of worms. Now lay in it!”

Pekora stumbles, and just barely avoids eating shit on the pavement. But something tells Calli, with Kiara and Moona looming over her, a face full of concrete is the least of Pekora’s problems. “Oh, heeeey, Kiara, Moona…” she starts, meek and high-pitched. “You know your senpai didn’t really mean to run off like that, right? I just, uh, had first shift on the cafeteria! Yeah! And- I share the shift with Shion and you know she’s gonna show up late, so, y’know, gotta go track her down first, yep.” 

The dead silence, the cold stares from Kiara and Moona are the actual worst, and Calli’s not even their target. Then, by some terrible miracle, it gets worse; as a smile slowly cracks across both Kiara and Moona’s lips. 

“Of course we believe you, Pekora,” Kiara coos, grabbing Pekora by her bound arms and hauling her up to her feet.

“But the fact is, Prez, we agreed today is our quality time with you. That’s the rule. Intentional or not, you broke that rule.” Moona’s voice lowers, rumbles dangerously, and it’s suddenly clear that this is Hoshinova talking. She takes Pekora’s leash, rolls it around her hand, and pulls it taut, until her nose and Pekora’s are only an inch apart. “And when someone breaks the rules, they need to be… disciplined.” 

Pekora whimpers. Iofi makes an interesting noise. Calli keeps her thoughts pointedly out of the gutter.

Hoshinova leads the way, pulling the bound, petrified Pekora along, and Kiara takes the rear, hands firmly on Pekora’s shoulder in case the rascal tries anything funny. The convoy marches away from the garden and out of sight, to the tune of Miko’s delighted cackling. 

Calli suddenly becomes very aware of how little her being here affected what happened, and that she basically left breakfast for nothing. 

But that’s a day in the Hololive Academy for you; bizarre, uncontrollable, a bit horny, and starts way too fucking early.

Iofi watches the convoy leave with something like satisfaction on her face, then glances at Calli. “Girlfriends, am I right?” she quips, knowing and wry.

Calli grits her teeth behind closed lips. “Kiara. Is not. My girlfriend.”

Iofi snickers. “Halu.”

-

what if, you wanna write something serious

but your brain said, no make a funny

[chrispychrisalis]

ageism and night thoughts

I realise now why I used to feel a sense of uneasiness when I first watched Bojack Horseman a few years back. I’ve finally watched more of the show than I did back then, but I always had this feeling when I watched a show with an older character who didnt seem to have their life together.

It was because I thought: “Why are they like this? They’re old, gritty, almost about to die yet they still act this way. Why are they so shitty even after their entire lives and what they’ve been through?”.

Bojack is a bad person, for sure, but why did he never ‘wake up’ from what he was doing and stared himself in the face? I felt that older people should be better, but whenever I saw these characters in their 50s, 60s, it seemed like they had so little time left to fix all their mistakes and make up to everyone in their lives. They have so little time to get back on the right track, back onto a standard career path that promises success and money. And I think I felt uneasy, because I never grew up with people like that around me. I’ve always been fed a dose of the prescribed Chinese success and pathways that seeing such flawed, seemingly unfixable characters made me feel a sense of unfamiliarity, uneasiness, and also the fear at the back of my mind where I ask myself: “Will I ever become like this? Where I hit an age where it feels like it doesn’t matter what I do anymore because I’ve had so many year behind me with mistakes piling on top of one another, so the remaining don’t actually matter in the grand scheme of things?”.

Another character I’ve thought about regarding this ‘getting old’ issue is Kiryu from Yakuza. I was so caught up in his age and the idea that he only got out of prison at 39 because I thought that he woukd have nothing else to live for in front of him. That he was now one old man with limited physical strength and everything he ever worked for is now gone, and he’s also broke. I didn’t like seeing such a likable character that way, and I think it also stems from an innate belief that getting older until a certain point equates to the inability to do anything substantial with your life. And I think that’s what also paralyses me to stay in a rational, practical course because if not now, then when? When will I be able to be in a position where the future seems so bright and the modules I study are so useful? I should just stick with status quo because its so promising, yet I don’t think about the boundless opportunities out there and other paths I can take if my passion can’t fuel me.

Yet I have also thought about alternative paths but I’ve never thought about them seriously. Because if I really want to switch my major now, I need to think about the backups I could possibly have in order to move forward if my degree can’t cut it. I never thought seriously about alternative paths because these thoughts only served as a comfort, like “if I end up doing real badly for this module and course then there’s other things I could do like being an influencer and I could also make big bucks in other ways”. It sort of serves as an escapism and also an attempt in taking the enormous weight of the impending doom of not doing well in my studies when all I pride myself in is being good at studying.

Then that begs the question, am I tying all my self-worth in my ability to do something that literally anyone with an ounce of diligence and or innate genius could do so easily? Why are my grades equal to me? But at the same time I just feel that I need to get good grades, because I need to stand out because I have nothing else going for me because who really cares about some 20 year old undergraduate who has shitty langauge skills and the hobby of crocheting and playing games? What worth do I have to the corporate out there other than me summarised in a piece of paper? What good am I out there?

Where do I really stand? 

This grade thing won’t change even if I switch majors. I know that I am just trying to escape the plight I put myself in, but even the major that I feel a semblance of passion in is considered useless because its not vocational.

Its important to think about the career paths out there but what if I dont know what career I want topursure and I just know Im interested in the topic and the research that goes into it?

Is it really wrong of me to want to spend my early 20s on something I like, rather than placing emphasis on the career pathways I will embark in in my late 20s? Career changes happen all the time and interests change, but my 4 years of studying and health are now. I’m just really stressed. 

To be honest, I just wish that I could be somebody that people can rely on and talk to about their feelings. Maybe I want to be a counsellor, but I haven’t even solved my own issues. But maybe this may lead me to a job I’m interested in. I hope so. Perhaps all I want is some sort of legacy and to be remembered. I want to put good out into the world rather than being some corporate slave doing international trading.

Welp good night.

[askrockandfriends]

Japan vs USA, continued.

"USA got off to an early lead thanks to the seemingly indestructible Goh Yamashita, who barreled through defenders en route to 2 early goals for the red white and blue!"

"But that wouldn't last long, as Team USA would comp*uurp*letely waste the early lead thanks to some clever trickery by Japan and in part to Team USA's own arrogance... but wh*uurp*at do you expect from a country that can't even get fo*urp*otball right?"

"Goalie Darth Vader proved a hassle for Team Japan to deal with, Force blocking every ball that came his way. But, as Team USA racked up more and more penalties due to Goh and a select few players like Wario and King K. Rool literally barreling through players-"

"Not to mention Byakuya Togami literally trying to BUY the game for Team USA! Who even does that?"

"And then there was Dr. Eggman's penalty for trying to use an illegally modified robotic ball when Japan's front four - Zoro, Byleth, Kiryu, and K1-B0 - proved a defensive powerhouse too difficult for them to deal with. However, with every penalty, Japan got another chance to get past Darth Vader's seemingly impossible defensive strategy."

"And get past it, they did, when Naruto used a stone cleverly disguised as a ball to trick Vader into using his Force ability on it, allowing Naruto to sneak in with the real ball and cut Japan's deficit to 2-1."

"Not long after that, Jotaro tied the game up using his time stop ability and gently inching the ball into the goal while Vader was suspended in stopped time. At the last moment, he allowed time to resume and kicked the ball in before Vader had a chance to react."

"But, the game-winning goal, of course, came for Raisuke 'Rock' Fukumoto, who cleverly used Goh's own grudge against him, dribbling the ball up and down the field and allowing Goh to chase him down relentlessly, before turning just at the goal and causing Goh to run right into his team's own goalie! From there, it was just an easy kick to get the victory for Team Japan!"

"And good riddance, too! I couldn't stand another minute of Guzma's boasting and bragging about how Team USA is the best and Team Japan is gonna get destroyed! That guy didn't even do much in the end - just ran his mouth all damn game, almost even getting into it with a referee at one point! If this is how America is, then I'm glad someone finally put you in your place! You all think you're better than every other country with your "freedom" and "democracy" - which you don't even get right, might I add - and all that other bullshit, but it's nice finally seeing you get completely and utterly humiliated by a real freaking country! Sanchez out!"

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

“Uhhm..guys.”

One of those moments where I *wish* we could respond to the NPC’s.

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

Oh gosh i literally LOVE your analysis thank you. And what about Majima??

Awww, thank you very much ^^; I’ve been having a good time writing these, I”m glad people are enjoying them. And everybody’s free to ask for seconds too, if interested. *breathes deep* Hoo boy, you pulling out the big guns there. Okay lads, settle down, it’ll be awhile. 

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

I would give my life for Majima Goro. But I won’t because that would trigger him to fuck and back. Best boy, golden son, I am mad fucked up about him. I don’t even have time to explain all my feelings about Majima fucking Goro. You can tell because I can’t go a single fucking post without mentioning him. *whispers* I love him. 

ship with: Y’know how sometimes things are popular and you don’t get why? This is not one of those times. It’s cliche, but Kiryu Kazuma is the popular option here For A Reason. Like, I started Zero not knowing a fucking thing about Yakuza, as I think many do. And I wasn’t at all sure how Majima and Kiryu were going to be with each other, I had heard that they were the going ship and that seemed legit enough. Kiryu’s a nice boy, Majima’s a nice boy, they’d probably get on. But you make it through Zero and they don’t meet, not even once. They vaguely hear about each other and if they thought enough about it, they’d probably figure out that each other was holding the other half of their story, but there’s only that 5 second meeting in the epilogue, after the entire game is already fucking over and... Oh Shit. 

That, my many gendered gentry, was an imprinting in live time. 

But first, let’s back up a second, because I bet you’re all wondering about the Other important love in Majima’s life. So Makoto, Makoto... As I discussed in my Saejima post, after Anagura, Majima is living to die. That’s it, that’s his only goal in life, to get back into Tojo and wait there so his brother knows where to find him when he comes to kill him. He’s not looking for any other attachments in life. Because that’s the way Majima loves, body and soul, his whole existence dedicated around one thing. And he’s already signed himself up for sacrificing himself as repayment for Saejima’s sins and wasted years in prison. But then this... tragedy happens. This hit that isn’t a hit, this villain that’s really a victim. Everything goes wrong and Majima is left with do I commit the unthinkable to shorten my wait for my brother or do I forgo my brother’s rightful revenge to save this innocent? And Majima can’t. He can’t. 

He could never kill and he can’t turn his back on someone who needs help. And she does need him, specifically, there’s no one else. Anyone else couldn’t be trusted, or if they can be trusted, they’re dead. Majima is the only person he and Makoto can trust so he’s just here, doing his best, trying to keep her alive in the face of everything he wants and all the power and hate the underworld of Japan can offer. He would sacrifice his one goal of staying alive for his brother if it means keeping Makoto safe. Is that love? Oh yes, but not the livable kind. You don’t come back from that kind of dedication. Majima loves Makoto as gods love: completely. It is without judgment and without reason. That’s not the love of one finite person to another finite person, admitting, exploring, and cherishing all the flaws and limits therein, it’s not even the love of a parent to a child or vice versa. It is infinite love, all-consuming and all-destroying. It is not cognizant of personality, worthiness, or risk. It just is. In many ways, Majima does not know Makoto, he doesn’t see her, neither, ironically, does she see him. These are not two equals of mutual interest enjoying who each other is. This is a far less personal and far more profound experience. It’s like a calling, a quest. And it’s not something a stable relationship can be built on because it doesn’t actually have anything to do with who Makoto is in her day-to-day life or who Majima is in his embodied, finite experience. This is love as a philosophical point, as a moral decision. 

It is the greatest thing I’ve seen in my life that he lets her go. That sort of love will destroy you if you let it, it crushes your existence, your personality and sense of self, entirely into that of another. And you can’t live as a part of someone else, you cannot actually live for someone else, not sustainably, no matter how badly you want to. It’s the strongest thing I’ve ever seen done that Majima has the power to walk away from her and walk away from that sweet, blinding death. To choose a finite, flawed, embodied, but his own individual existence rather than let himself be consumed in an idea. And that they walk away from each other where they can both survive it. Where the idea of what was and what might have been doesn’t drive them into despair of all earthly, finite joys. Because who would choose to have a normal, dirty, working life where you are required each day to be an individual with your own wants and desires that are spurned and rewarded by turns of luck rather than the pure, golden existence of perfect moral agape? And I’m so glad that they walked away before they could be blinded by it, again, ironically enough. 

But the fact that Majima is capable of that level of love is truly terrifying. And then how fascinating that he walks away from it. That he chooses a harder, darker life that will have the normal range of joys and disappointments. The restraint it takes. The incredible, unbending sense of self and to decide that there are selfish, individual things worth caring about, even if you had the chance to become selfless for the rest of your life. I don’t think we talk about or think about that Majima walking away there was a moral choice. He wasn’t walking away from happiness, he was walking towards a different happiness. And, most importantly of all, even though he is still waiting to be killed by his brother, the fact that he walked away means that Majima is much healthier and much less self-destructive than he was at the beginning of Zero. He could have escaped it all if he went with her. But he doesn’t. And that fucking blows my mind.

I love that Majima grows after Zero. That his absolute nihilism changes as he allows himself to care about people again, maybe even care about himself again. Especially after Shimano’s death, he starts to develop relationships and things that he cares about as soon as it is safe to do so. He decides that he isn’t going to waste away waiting for his brother, he will live in this time, even if it has an expiration date. He will build something he cares about. And I think, in no small part, knowing Kiryu gives him the courage and the will to do so.

Because Kiryu is this shooting star in the dark night of Majima’s world. He is this mighty pillar standing amidst slag and waste. Kiryu does things that are right because they are right, with no thought to his own gain or risk. Kiryu does things that are right at tremendous personal risk and will fight through people trying to stop him. And Kiryu will win. Not only does Kiryu agree with the way Majima thinks and feels but, mother of god, eh actually has the power and strength to survive. 

Think about that. You’re Majima Goro and every day since you became yakuza, you have been kicked down, tortured, and abused just because you wanted to do the right thing. You have watched countless friends, allies, and enemies be shot and killed in front of you because they were trying to do the right thing. You have no choice but to do right in the secret places of your heart, to do good only in ways that can never be traced back to you, in ways no one would confuse for being good, kind things. Because it will get you killed, or worse, it will get the people around you killed. It’s not paranoia, you’ve seen it happen, your nightmares are filled to the brim with the blood and horror or good people dying just because they were good and it’s your fault, it’s all your fault because you didn’t warn them, you let them get close, you let them see you were a good person and you can NEVER. EVER. let that happen to anyone again. 

And then there’s Kiryu. Stupid, mutton-headed freak with the arms of a lumberjack and a heart as white as lilies. He’ll be dead tomorrow, you know it. He’s too good, he’s too kind, and he’s not afraid. He’s not damn near afraid enough. He has no idea what’s waiting out there to snap him to pieces. But he’s there tomorrow. Not even a scratch on him, still standing, still strong. You try to warn him, you try to beat him in a way he can survive so that he learns to never try to be good again. But he beats you. He actually fucking beats you and what the fuck are you supposed to do with that? He’ll still die anyway, there’s no way he’ll live where so many have been slaughtered. And he’s still there tomorrow. You pester him, you follow him, you watch him closely, to see what he does, who he is, how is it he’s still alive? It must be some trick, he’s either not as good as you think he is or not as strong or, or... something! Because it’s impossible, it’s impossible that anyone could, that anyone could... 

And he smiles. He smiles at you, like he can see right down to that tiny, beating, pure heart you’re trying every second to wrap in barbed wire. And you’re done. You’re fucking done for. He smiles and... it’s all fucking over. Whatever happens now, whether he dies or lives, it’s too late. He’s everything you ever wanted and it breaks you that he, somehow, wants you too. Because who would smile at you if they didn’t know you? Oh, he’s dumb as rocks still, but... the way he looks at you, in those moments when you fuck up, in those moments that if someone was watching, they would see you. And he sees you. And worse, he thinks he likes it. And... oh god. You love him. This will all end in tears. 

But it doesn’t. Kiryu’s alive and the same and that’s... that’s wonderful. And that’s the love of two people, two people who see each other and know each other and, god help them, like each other. Despite it all, the risk and worry and the problems, they just... get along. That’s why I ship it. 

(I also ship Kiryu/Majima/Tachibana sometimes and we’ll save my essay on that for an entirely different post.)

brotp: Saejima Taiga, obvs. I will not repeat my sentiments on why that’s the brotp here, there’s the Saejima post for that. But I also put Nishida and Kage right up there as Majima’s best bros. You got Nishida out here doing his best to keep his boss from dying and facilitating Majima’s ridiculous courtship ploys and trying to articulate Majima’s feelings for him when Majima Won’t because Nishida cares So Fucking Much about Majima. And he knows that Mjima hates it when people care about him, he knows Majima actively does tno want you to like him but... Nishida’ worked with him for too long not to know what a good, kind person Majima really sis, even if he’s trying his best not to show it. And god damn it, but Nishida’s not going to let him live in misery when he’s got a heart of gold like that. 

And Kage too, he and Majima look out for each other. They enjoy the odd cage match and a morose drink of fine liquor. They’ve both seen tragedy in their lives and Kage tries his best to convince Majima not to give up all hope. That Kiryu boy, he really likes him. Even Kage can see it. He’d be happy to... no, no, alright. Just thought he’d say. 

Because Majima has that effect on people. He makes friends wherever he goes because he’s a good time, he’s generous and kind and has a knack for picking up people who are down. And he’d do anything for you if you didn’t have a friend in the world. He has so much love to gives and slowly, slowly, with time and healing, with the death of Shimano and the return of his brother, slowly Majima is allowed to feel safe in loving people once more. And it warms everyone’s heart to see him happy and whole with a family and friends. Everyone he’s touched just wants him to be okay, after all he’s done for the world, please, just give him this little bit. It’s all he ever wanted.

general opinions: I Am Love. I LOvE HiM. I lOVe. I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE. I Love HIm. *sobs*

[subasekabang]

Long Dream –Live Remix– (A Side)

Title: Long Dream –Live Remix– (A Side)

Rating: T

Word Count: 7598 total, 3758 this chapter

Characters: Coco, Joshua, Neku, Beat, OMC, OFC

Warnings: Major character death

Summary: Her Magnum Opus nears completion, and as her audience approaches, she hurriedly arranges one final rehearsal.  Elaboration on a pet theory of mine, built out of Final Remix spoilers.

Every day streets are crowded with people

Every night streets are jammed with these noises

Things are so strange, are they real or a dream?

Where am I now, trapped in this city of illusion?

***

Neku surveyed his surroundings.  It didn’t take him long to recognize them.

“This is Cat Street…”

“Yo, finally!” Beat said, running a few steps ahead.  “We can get outta Shibuya from here!  I’m so ready to be done with this crappy Game!”

Neku looked up the street, murmuring, “Unless the way ahead has been rearranged too…”

He tensed a bit as Coco stepped up behind him, the tiny Reaper saying, “No worries fam!  See, the way ahead looks, like, totez clear!  That super tough wall you guys just made it past must’ve been the last challenge!”

Neku’s eyes caught on the café just ahead.  Even in this situation, it still sparked a very complicated emotion in his heart.

“Yo, whatchu waitin’ for,” Beat said, “an engaged invitation?  Le’s go, man!”

Beat took off.  Neku followed at a slower pace, saying, “Hold on!  While we’re here, shouldn’t we ask Mr. H what’s going on?”

The other boy skidded to a halt.  “Huh?  You think the H-Man’s gonna tell us anything?”

“He might.  We have time to spare—it can’t hurt to ask.”

Coco made a face as she walked up next to him.  “Uuuuh, source?  That guy, like, oozes bad vibes.  You should totez just finish the Game!  That’s all that matters, yeah?”

Neku shook his head.  “I still want to know what’s going on.  Out of the people who might actually know, Mr. H is the only one with an address.  We might not get another chance.”

The Reaper rolled her eyes and shrugged.  “I mean, I guess, but like, why risk it?  The finish line is literally right in front of y’all—just cross it and end the Game.  Then if you still wanna talk to Coffee Weirdo, just walk right back in and do it then!  It’ll totez be less stressful once we’re off the clock!”

Beat nodded.  “Yeah, man!  We gotta get this over with either way.  Plus we might get an explanation jus’ for winnin’!  We’ll keep the H-Man as a back-up plan, aight?”

Neku crossed his arms.  “I still feel like this would be less risky.”

“Aw c’mon!” Coco said, skipping down the sidewalk.  “You srsly need to chill, Neku!  Let’s just finish the Game already.  Besidez…while we stand here chatting, the other Players are still fighting Noise and stuff.  Like, uh, Shiki?  Do it for her!”

“Right: Shiki and Rhyme is still out there, Phones!” Beat said.  “We gotta end the Game now!”

With a sigh, Neku grumbled, “…Alright, I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting.  But soon as we’re done, I’m coming back to get answers.”

The three of them ran down Cat Street, with Coco trailing farther and farther behind.  Eventually she came to a stop, and just watched the boys continue with a wide grin on her face.

“Ugh, finally,” she said to herself.  “This pair was WAY more stubborn than the last, 7.8/10 too much effort.”

Neku noticed they had lost her just as he and Beat ran over the city limits.  The next thing he noticed was pain.  Intense, searing pain, like his entire body was on fire.  Judging by the way Beat had toppled over on the ground, the same thing was happening to him.  Neku fell to his knees as the agony worsened.

“What’s…happening…?!”

Coco slowly approached them, taking care to not actually cross the limits.  “This is fine!  All according to keikaku.  Congratz on winning the Reaper’s Game: Expert Mode!  Oh btw, keikaku means plan.”

Beat cried out suddenly.  Black and red flames consumed him, burning brightly for a few seconds before vanishing, leaving not even ashes in their wake.  Neku’s eyes widened in horror.

“What did you do to him?!” Neku demanded.

“Erased him, duh,” Coco said.  “Though technically wasn’t me, actually my baby that did it.”

“What?!”

“He needs loads of food to grow up big and strong.  I’ve tried, like, a gazillion different things, and the Soul of super tough Players like you two is what works the best by far!  ty so much!”

The pain only grew.  Neku screamed, doing all he could to endure it despite knowing he was failing.

Coco put a hand to her ear.  “Mmmm whatcha say?  Couldn’t make that out.”

It wasn’t long before the flames consumed Neku as well, and then he too was gone.  Coco put her hands on her hips and smiled.  The world around her shifted, wavering like a mirage until it all melted into one swirling void of bluish clouds.  Before her spawned a massive creature: a tapir with purple skin and six tusks, yellow tattoo-like protrusions in the shape of flames erupting all across its form.  Its red eyes focused squarely on Coco.

“Yay!  Look at you, you absolute unit!  You’re, like, so strong now you could body anyone!”

Coco threw herself onto the tapir’s trunk, hugging it tightly—the creature gave a guttural rumble in response.  She could sense its power increasing, and giggled happily as she took a step back.  The tapir lowered its head and nudged her gently.

“Okay, okay.”

Reaching up, she scratched the tapir’s trunk.  It tilted its head and squeaked.

“Aw, who’s a good boy?”

Coco hopped up to the top of its head, lying down so she could reach far enough to scratch behind its ear.  The tapir lifted its trunk and trumpeted happily, then floated up and down in place, jostling Coco only the smallest amount.

“Haha, very good, such cute, wow!”

Soon it settled down.  Coco propped up her head with one hand, continuing to slowly pet the tapir with the other, and let out a long sigh.

“Tapez my dude, I’m, like, so glad I have you.  ngl you’re kinda my bff.”

The tapir grunted, swinging its trunk slightly.  Coco swayed along.

“I dunno when it’s going down…but I’mma make sure you get through it.  You’re one of my peeps too now!  So it’s a legit promise!”

Coco extended her pinky.  The tapir inclined its head a little and flexed its claws.

“Oooooh right.  Well, still totez binding lol.”

She pressed her face against the tapir’s skin, letting her eyes close.

“Aaaaaah, we’re almost there, Tapez.  Should just need, like, another few rounds and you’ll be a prime example of the ideal Noise body!  Though tbh if the next pair is as annoying as this one, totez just gonna yeet them straight into your stomach.”

Her phone chimed.  She opened one eye to look at the screen, and then rolled onto her back and groaned loudly, kicking her legs about in frustration.

“Uuuugh for real?  Fine, whatevs.”  She paused to pet the tapir one more time.  “Sorry Tapez, I gotta bounce.  brb and then we’ll go find you some more treats!”

The tapir squeaked a farewell, and then Coco stood up and shut her eyes again.  Focusing her power, she elevated her Vibe and reached out with her mind to feel for the world she wanted to travel to; after so many times, it was easy for her, and in mere seconds she had concrete beneath her feet.  Opening her eyes, Coco looked up at the skyline of Shinjuku and smiled brightly.

I love my city tbh.

***

Feel the people, hear the voices

They are reaching out to catch you

Feel the rhythms, hear the noises

You are beating all the visions

***

Coco moved through the city at a slow pace.  Shinjuku was a travel hub, a place that was purely transient for most: each moment was fleeting, but each brought something new, something different, and that everlasting tumultuous tide of life fascinated Coco in a way nothing ever had before.  Each second was something wholly unique, and she never wanted to miss even one of them.  She spun around on a corner, taking it all in, and just laughed to herself.

“Having fun, Atarashi?”

Her good mood was spoiled instantly.  She grimaced over her shoulder to see Joshua standing there, looking every bit as smug as she remembered him.

“fml what are you even doing here Kiryu?” she asked, turning around and crossing her arms in a huff.  “Can’t you, like, take a hint?”

“Nice to see you too.”  He raised a hand to his chin.  “Hm.  I’m curious: why is it you hold onto your wings even in the RG?”

Gesturing to them, Coco said, “Aesthetic.”

“…And what aesthetic would that be, exactly?”

“fyi I’m headed to a super important meeting rn so unless you’re finally ready to fite me irl then I, like, don’t even want to hear it.”

Joshua chuckled and brushed aside a lock of hair, which only made him seem even more smug and made Coco even angrier.  “Stimulating as that has the potential to be, we’d both be in quite a bit of trouble with the folks upstairs if we were to have a skirmish.”

“Oooooh good point,” she said as she turned away.  “And I bet you’re, like, already in hot water after the way you went off.”

“Nothing to worry about on that front.  I’ve spoken with my Producer and he assures me the matter has been put to bed.  Things in Shibuya will be staying the way they are.”

Coco spun around.  “WTF?!  You two are out of trouble just like that?  I literally have no words!”

“Hm?  Why, I would assume your Producer has been apprised of the details as well.  Has he not passed them along to you yet?”

There was a short delay, and then Coco glanced aside and grumbled, “That must be why he sent me that txt…”

“I take it you’ve been too busy with your side project to stay on top of the paperwork.”

Coco locked eyes with Joshua.  He was still smug, that would never change, but now there was a deadly undercurrent to his words that demanded Coco’s attention.

“tf are you even talking about?” Coco asked.  “You really need to stay in your lane, Kiryu.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Explain.”

“Well for starters, I know you’ve been poking around my city.”

“omg!  Tourism is a crime now?”

“Considering our circumstances I believe it falls more under ‘corporate espionage’.”

“It’s totez hilair to me that you consider the UG a corporation.”

“Setting that aside for the moment, there’s also the fact that you’ve been shirking your duties as Composer to jaunt off to an alarming number of parallel worlds as of late.”

Coco smirked.  “Aw, u just jelly I can travel between worlds without needing to call an Uber to get back.”

Joshua shrugged.  “I admit, it’s a skill I’ve yet to master—even my alternate selves seem to have difficulty with it.  One came to call on me recently, you know.  Said something about a bizarre Noise erasing two former Players in his world.”

Yawning loudly, Coco said, “Kiryu can I, like, get a tl;dr?”

Joshua’s face began to darken, the undercurrent gradually rising towards the surface.  “Well Atarashi, it certainly sounds like you’ve been attacking alternate Shibuyas.  If so, that’s something I believe qualifies as ‘in my lane’.  Wouldn’t you agree?”

Coco cackled.  “Pffft omg are u srs?  I am DECEASED y’all, the guy who just tried to wipe his whole city is acting protective up in this bitch!  lmaoooooo!”

Joshua stared hard at her.  “Coco, do think for a moment: how do you suppose the Higher Plane would react to this news?”

“What, are you, like, planning to tell them?  If you’ve got some proof then hmu.”

Joshua didn’t answer.

“lol that’s what I thought, smdh you better sit down Kiryu.  Even if I were, like, messing with parallel worlds or whatevs, why would the Higher Plane even care?  Angels from this world have no jurisdiction there.  It’s free real estate.”

Slowly, Joshua nodded.  “…Alright.  Perhaps you have a point.  Let’s leave the Higher Plane out of this hypothetical.  The only one you need to be concerned with…is me.”

The air suddenly felt very heavy.  Coco actually needed to remind herself to breathe, but she made sure her reaction wasn’t obvious.

“So, Atarashi.  Explain to me why you’ve been killing Neku in so many parallel worlds.  And, do try your best to make it a very good explanation.”

Coco brought her hands up to her face, twisting slightly away.  “lololol I’m confused.  Mad cuz I beat your record?  Or want to make sure I don’t off this world’s copy of Edge Head before you can tell him he’s worthy of your grace?  Honestly?  I ship it.”

Joshua paused.  “Neku himself isn’t the issue here.  But if you’re making a move into my territory—“

“Yeah yeah yeah, cuz you care, like, SO much about your territory!  I am SHOOK seeing you come in here acting like the authority on protecting your peeps!  I could learn so much about my job from watching you!”

“I’m feeling a bit of déjà vu.  I could have sworn I’ve already told you that a Composer’s job is simply to judge their people, and that it is only the existence and boundaries of their respective UG that require protection.”

Coco covered her mouth.  “omg!  Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?”  She dropped her hands and stuck out her tongue.  “jk obv you’re full of it.”

“I don’t see why I should need to divulge my motivations to you of all people,” Joshua mumbled, “but if you must know…I was under the impression that Shibuya was not worth keeping around.  Now that I’ve seen it still holds potential, I of course have every intention of preserving the seeds that I’ve sown.”

Coco scowled at him, but didn’t speak at first.  Nearly a minute passed before she said, “Then tbh?   I’m not your enemy.”

Joshua’s eyebrows went up.

“It’s, like, only a matter of time before a new kind of Game starts up Kiryu.  Their Game.  And I’m gonna be mad prepared when it does.  If you had literally a single brain cell you’d totez be doing the same thing.”

By the time she was done, Joshua’s eyes had narrowed down to a suspicious glare.  “Surely you’re not referring to the party I’m assuming?”

“Like, who else?”

Joshua stared down his nose at Coco as he considered his next move.  Coco grunted, drew out her phone, and checked her messages.

“My, you truly are impossible to figure out,” Joshua sighed.

Coco gave her best Clearly Fake Smile and replied, “Because you’re an expert at that lol.  I’m nothing compared to your galaxy brain.”

“I think I could do it if not for that absurd…shall we call it a dialect?”

“Uh, this is how people talk now?  Hello?  If you knew anything about people, then like, you’d already know that, but as always you have 0 friends so buh-bye.”

“…Hm.  And, exactly how many friends do you have, Atarashi?”

Coco frowned.

Joshua turned.  “But, alright.  If this is some plan to deal with the Inferno, then I’ll drop the matter for now.  But, one thing I’d like to make clear before I go.”  He took one last glance back at her, eyes full of ice.  “I will not tolerate any interference in this world’s Shibuya.”

He was off without another word.  Coco suppressed the urge to shudder, turning back to her phone and mumbling half-formed syllables as she made herself look busy.  She looked back up to be sure that he was gone, and then sighed and tucked her phone away, gazing over Shinjuku once more as she waited for the tension to leave her body.  It was immediately replaced by joy.

“omg whoops.  Rōjin is totez still waiting orz.”

***

Is it angels?  Is it devils?

Whispering in my ears

Is it emotions?  Is it illusions?

I need to be with you

***

Coco poked her head through the shrine’s gate.  Looking up the path, she could see a bald, tan-skinned man with a stoic face sitting at the building’s entrance, his eyes already locked onto her.  She flinched.

“Uuuuh what’s up gamers?” she blurted as she stumbled forward.  “I know I’m, like, totez late, but I have a tru legit reason for it, get a load of this!”

The man was Seiji Rōjin, owner of the shrine and also Shinjuku’s Producer.  He offered not a single word as Coco hurriedly explained her encounter with Joshua to him.  When she was done, he nodded and closed his eyes; Coco looked around awkwardly for a few seconds, and then took a seat next to him.

“You must leave your Opus be,” he ultimately said.

Coco started.  “Uh, excuse me?  Abandon all my hard work just because that nerd doesn’t want me near his bf?  I think the heck not!”

Rōjin opened his eyes to look at her.

“…Um?  Something else?”

“The Higher Plane demands a Game.”

Coco blinked.  Then she rolled back, digging her fingers into her scalp and shouting, “AAAAAAARGH, srsly?!  I know I haven’t held a Game in, like, forev, but can’t they just let me handle thingz down here?  Please say sike!”

Rōjin said nothing.  As she accepted the reality of the situation, Coco’s heart sank.

“But…Tapez…”  She groaned.  “…Is, like, a teeny bit of faith in me too much to ask?  They know I’ve got mad skillz!  When you taught me how to make Tapez, you said I was one of only, like, three Composers whomst’ve ever been able to control Magnum Opus Noise—they should be totez impressed with me already!”

“The Higher Plane demands more of your position than mere talent,” Rōjin said.  “It demands discipline.”

Coco pulled herself back into a sitting position.  “I am, like, sooo disciplined!  I legit wanted to tear Kiryu’s face off, but I didn’t!”  She got back on her feet as she went on, “Like, sure, this is about Shinjuku, but the whole reason I’m working on Tapez is so he can protect my peeps!  Making sure he’s bad enough to dunk on anyone is literally The Best Thing I can be doing rn!  The Inferno is out there, you know, somewhere, and we dunno when they’re gonna throw hands!  And now I have to take time out of my counterattack schedule to run some basic-ass Game?”

She whirled back to face Rōjin.  He didn’t say anything.  Coco stared at him for a few moments, realizing she was getting a headache.

“…heck.  We don’t really have much of a choice, do we?  If the Higher Plane wants a Game so bad, then like, we gotta pull together a Game.  Tapez will just have to chill for a week I guess.”

Coco put a hand to her head as she trudged past Rōjin for the door.

“Ugh, lemme see, the Conductor obvs needs to show, and we should probably @ all the Officers too.  idk who’s gonna be the GM this week but they—“

The pain in her head suddenly turned sharp.  She paused mid-step.

“…they…”

Her vision blurred, then went dark.  And then she saw Shinjuku again, but it was…different, somehow.  As if viewed through some sort of filter.  She saw the streets, the people, and then a glowing red symbol up in the sky—and then the streets were empty.  Not a single soul was left in Shinjuku.  No, not quite, next she saw one person: a girl who slowly walked forward with a blank look in her eyes.  The girl stared straight ahead, but couldn’t see Coco.  Still, she opened her mouth to speak.

“All that’s left in the world is me.”

Coco gasped as the shrine came back into focus.  At first she was too surprised to make any sense of the event.  But as she breathed, she processed it, and her eyes shot wide as pure dread came over her.

“Uh…a-ah…I…”

Rōjin stood, watching her with furrowed brow.  Coco’s entire body shook as she turned to face him.

“I…I saw it again…!”

She jumped forward and grabbed Rōjin’s shirt.

“It was the same vision!  You remember, right?  From, like, WAY back when I first asked you about Magnum Opus Noise?  I saw it again!  Shinjuku was erased—it was an Inversion!  I-I…”  She looked down as tears started to form in her eyes.  “I haven’t seen anything since that day…why now?  Is…is the Inferno about to attack Shinjuku?  Is that what this means?!  Are we out of time?!”

She felt a hand on her head.  Looking up, she saw Rōjin staring back at her, his face as calm and stoic as ever.  Coco swallowed hard, and then exhaled slowly.

“R-Right…right.”  She managed a chuckle.  “Like, look at me, crying in the club like a little bitch!  Thanks bunchez, Rōjin.”

She stepped away and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.  Coco found herself looking up at the sky, as if to verify what she had seen hadn’t actually come true…at least, not yet.  The same skyline greeted her.  But this time, she just couldn’t feel happy about it.  This time, it made her feel resolute.  She turned back to Rōjin.

“Sorry fam.  But I, like, can’t just sit on my ass and play a Game rn.  The Higher Plane might not be convinced, but I just know the Inferno’s on their way to end my whole career, and I’m not about to take that.”

Rōjin paused.  Then, with a single nod, he said, “Mood.”

Coco giggled.  “omg, you’re, like, literally the worst!”

She left the shrine and made her way back up the street, thinking, Dunno how much more time I have to beef up Tapez.  My boi’s totez strong, but I can’t be too careful, and probs don’t have much time for last minute boosts.  I need to, like, think of how else I can improve his chances…

Her feet slowed, and she looked back at the shrine.

…Hm.  I wonder what she would think?

Coco crossed her arms.

I mean, she’s gonna be totez disappointed there’s no Game.  But like, she’s still my Conductor, yeah?  If I can’t trust her to back me up, then who can I trust?

She turned and got moving again.

At the v least I gotta ask.  Whatever it takes…my Shinjuku is going to survive.

***

Every day noises are killing these people

Every night noises are waiting for me but

Don’t run away, we’ve got no time left to fear

Where are you now, still it’s showing me illusions

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

oh oh, I feel like this could be a fun one: 22. the one where it’s impossible to lie to your soulmate. Perhaps Kiryu and Majima? However, any is fun, whatever you're in the mood for! :D

I’ve got two requests for 22, so you’re in luck, you’ll get to see this at least two ways XP (Btdubs, for anyone who doesn’t know, An Invitation to Dinner is updated. You should... you should maybe look at it if you like my writing or something.)

***I spent an EMBARRASSINGLY long time on this trying to decide how it should go. But I got there in the end! Apologies for the epic delay. 

22. the one where it’s impossible to lie to your soulmate 

“I saw that shit, Kiryu-chan.” 

Kiryu turned his head up from the punk he was beating into the dirt to find, who else, but Majima Goro striding down the alleyway. Kiryu’s snarl quickly relaxed with recognition.

“Majima-onii-san,” he inclined his head, “what’re you doing here?”

“Just enjoying myself watching ya beat on this piece of trash,” Majima answered promptly, then paused, his eyebrows contracting slightly. 

“You were watching?” Kiryu frowned, turning fully towards his superior. 

The gutter trash took the opportunity in the lapse of attention to scurry out of the way, muttering, “Nuh-uh, I seen this shit before.”

“Sure, I was, can never get enough of watching ya fight!” The answer was fast and easy and Majima’s grin was almost that. 

“Oh!” Kiryu shuffled a little, darting his eyes away. “Um, thank you? Was there uh something you wanted to say about it?” 

“Yes, actually! I wanted to tell ya-” Majima slapped a hand over his mouth and bent over, forcing a cough through his lips violently. He lowered his hand. “I wanted to tell ya that yer-” He squeezed his hand tight over his mouth again, almost puking with the force of his coughs this time. 

“Majima-onii-san? Are you alright? Should I get someone?” Kiryu reached out a hand, concerned. 

Majima straightened, panting. “No need, Kiryu-chan!” He smiled over at him, although Kiryu wasn’t quite reassured by it. “Let's try this again. How’re ya doing tonight?”

Kiryu shrugged. “A bit bored really, but now you’re here. You’re usually not boring.” Kiryu stopped. Why the fuck had he just said that? 

Majima’s eye widened. “Oh? Really? Ya think I’m interestin’?” His lips curled, stepping a little closer to Kiryu. 

“Interesting is one word for it,” Kiryu muttered in reply, backing up a step. 

Majima’s eye glittered. “Mmm, then tell me what you would say to describe me,” he murmured, stepping directly in front of Kiryu. 

Kiryu swallowed. “I’d rather not.” 

Majima tsked. “That won’t do. Now go on, how would you describe me, Kiryu-chan?”

Kiryu bit down, but the words burbled up his throat and spilled out like water from a well-oiled pump. “You’re crazy, but not the way everyone says you are. I can never get a read on you because sometimes you’ll act the way everyone expects you to act and sometimes you’ll be honest. You’re incredibly frustrating because I can’t rely on which version of you I’ll get at any given time,” he finished.

Majima’s jaw fell, stunned. “Well...” He blinked rapidly, “That uh wasn’t what I was expecting.” He stood back, rubbing his neck. “Damn.” 

Kiryu squirmed, feeling like all of his secrets were being laid bare. He hadn’t even said anything embarrassing really, it was just... true. Horrifyingly true. It felt weird, somehow, to be so brutally honest unprompted. “I didn’t... I didn’t mean to say that.” He frowned at the ground. 

Majima raised an eyebrow at him. “Haw?”

“That stuff, that... wasn’t what I meant to say.” 

“So you were lying?” Majima blinked at him. 

Kiryu shook his head, finally looking up at him. “No. All of that was true. I just... wouldn’t have told you.” 

Majima’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair. “Oh...” There was only a second’s pause, then he shook himself, turning away briskly. “Well, I asked ya what ya thought, Kiryu-chan,” he turned back, grinning, “only natural that ya wouldn’t lie.” 

“Yeah, but-”

“Don’t worry, ya didn’t say nuthin that offended me,” Majima overrode him, smiling sweetly.

“Seemed like I did,” Kiryu muttered back, watching him. 

Majima waved his hand, shaking his head. “Never mind all that. What’cha doin with the rest of ya night?”

“I was going to stop any more street thugs I saw, maybe do a round of karaoke, then go to bed,” Kiryu listed like the words were written in front of him. The puzzling sensation of having the truth pulled out of him was still there. Kiryu shook himself, trying to feel more comfortable. 

“Karaoke!” Majima squealed, “That’s it, ya coming with me and we’re doing karaoke!” Majima grabbed his hand and pulled him down the alleyway. 

“You like karaoke?” Kiryu frowned, stumbling after him.

“Sure do! Karaoke’s gotten me through some rough times!” Majima explained with a pained smile. 

Kiryu’s eyes widened. “You wanna talk about it?”

“No! As a matter of fact, I would love to forget that shit ever happened to me, but I can’t!” Majima responded quickly, then broke away, turning to him with an expression of horror. 

Kiryu stopped, staring at Majima as people moved around them down the street. “Majima?”

“Could ya... not ask me about my past, please?” Majima said eventually, voice shaky. “Just... c’mon, let’s get drunk, let’s fight, that’ll be much more fun than this.” He reached for Kiryu, grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him along again. 

“I’m not sure that’s the best call,” Kiryu hesitated, resisting the arm tugging, “Shouldn’t we figure out what’s going on first?”

“I already know what’s going on!” Majima snapped, immediately regretting it, hiding his face in his hands. 

Kiryu just stood there awkwardly, watching Majima crumple a little. “C-Can you tell me?” he asked hopefully. 

Majima’s eye peeked out over his fingers, cringing. “Yes, but please don’t ask me to.” 

“Why not?”

Majima heaved a sigh and pulled his arms down. “Because... I can’t lie to ya.” His voice was resigned as he stared at the busy passers-by. 

Kiryu cocked his head. “I appreciate the honesty?”

“No, musclehead, I mean I literally cannot lie to ya,” Majima clarified, “And ya can’t either.” 

Kiryu blinked. “I’m confused, I can’t lie?” 

“Not to me,” Majima shook his head, “We’re just... we can’t lie to each other.” 

Kiryu frowned. “Are ya sure?”

Majima groaned, throwing his head back. “Would I be standing in the street having a meltdown if I wasn’t fucking sure?!”

Kiryu shrugged. 

“Yes, I’m fucking sure!” 

Kiryu retreated a little. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Well, what do we do?”

“I dunno. Avoid asking each other any questions we don’t want the answers to.” Majima folded his arms, starting to pout as he looked at the ground.

“Okay,” Kiryu nodded, watching Majima’s body language swing from depression to frustration, “You seem disappointed.”

“Too fucking right, I just wanted to have a fun night and instead I have ta avoid these deep personal truths every time I wanna talk to ya.” He sighed.

Kiryu grimaced in sympathy. “I didn’t know you just wanted to talk to me,” he mumbled, “Makes a nice change from trying to fight me.”

Majima snorted, looking up at him and smiling a little. “I still wanna fight ya, Kiryu-chan. Hardly anyone around here is up to my level and it’s nice to get a stretch of the legs every once in a while.” He winked. 

Kiryu looked away.

“But yer such a goober, I can’t help wanting ta just talk to ya sometimes too,” Majima sighed, looking the opposite way, “Shit… I’m fucked.” 

“Mmm, you sound better as we talk,” Kiryu considered, “Maybe we can keep talking? Maybe it won’t be so bad.” He smiled hopefully. 

Majima raised an eyebrow and stepped in next to Kiryu so they could walk down the street together. “Maybe. Why ya bein so nice t’me, Kiryu-chan?”

“You seem worth being nice to,” Kiryu responded and the truth wasn’t quite so awkward this time. 

Majima turned a little pink. “Well, fuck me, Kiryu-chan,” he muttered. 

Kiryu turned pink. “Th-That’s not a question, right?”