#most of my other socials are pretty dead tbh

[maplesyrupsainz]

˖⁺｡˚⋆˙love language | CL16 LN4˖⁺｡˚⋆˙

pairing: charles leclerc x reader y/n (she/her) x lando norris

genre: social media au, polyamorous relationship

warnings: polyamory, dates on tweets make no sense to the story lol ignore them im srsly lazy & idc tbh

summary: in which your boyfriends love languages seem to be polar opposites

a/n: ur wish is my command also im fr running out of plot ideas on my own for the poly reqs LOLL so if u got any ideas then spam my inbox bbyyy

request!!!: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more poly lando and charles (and kika)

fc: jules leblanc

my masterlist

twitter ->

instagram ->

francisca.cgomes

liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc, and 414,789 others

francisca.cgomes ☕️ yum

view all 12,053 comments

user2 kikayn my favourite bffs 😻

user3 waiting for lando & charles to comment

user4 charles lando come get ur girl

pierregasly that girl is a bad influence on you babe

yourusername i know ur not talking about me

francisca.cgomes crickets...

yourusername he's scared of me. iktr

francisca.gomes as he should be

landonorris next time i will succeed.

user5 LANDO

pierregasly in what exactly 🤨

francisca.cgomes he wants me dead

landonorris never said that

yourusername you kind of did

landonorris not explicitly

charles_leclerc lando stop causing fights

pierregasly yea lando.

yourusername he's all talk dw

francisca.cgomes yea keyboard warrior much

landonorris pipe down

charles_leclerc my girl so pretty

yourusername 🥰🥰🥰

francisca.cgomes this is why ur my favourite charles

charles_leclerc ❤️

user6 the difference in replies between charles & lando 😂

user7 most chaotic comment section award goes to...

yourusername

liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, and 216,823 others

yourusername ...fourple?

tagged: francisca.cgomes, charles_leclerc, landonorris

view all 4,270 comments

pierregasly leaving me out why?

yourusername u hate me i fear 😔

francisca.cgomes not true he's just intimidated by u

user8 justice for y/n

user9 they do poly so naturally

user10 the third pic omggggg y/n & her boys

liked by yourusername, landonorris, charles_leclerc

user11 she's so gorgeous

francisca.cgomes no just ditch them both for me actually!

yourusername well..... actually yes

francisca.cgomes YESSSS i wonnnn

landonorris 🤨

pierregasly 😤

charles_leclerc 😢

landonorris ilyyy hot girl

charles_leclerc mon amour ❤️

user12 i'll never get over lando & charles' completely opposite love languages 😂

liked by yourusername

user13 they r so real i luv them

yourusername posted a story

liked by pierregasly, francisca.cgomes, and 113,077 others

user14 "double" date or third wheel y/n?

user15 CUTIES

user16 kika my 2nd fav wag after u ofc

user17 oh to be a fly on the wallllllll

oscarpiastri are you holding him hostage

yourusername dont you start too

oscarpiastri 🤐

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris, and 301,185 others

yourusername home alone for a week 🏝️

view all 3,747 comments

user18 AWWWW home alone no charlandoyn content

user19 aww lonely girl

francisca.cgomes this is why u need me

yourusername im actually independent

landonorris kika ur obsessed with my gf it's weird

pierregasly bro ur gf is obsessed with my gf too...

francisca.cgomes it's called love. obviously

charles_leclerc i support it 😊

landonorris stfu

pierregasly be quiet charles

yourusername we love charlie <3

charles_leclerc 🥰

user20 will their comment sections ever be normal

user21 i jus know they miss her sm

user22 she's too cool

messages ->

instagram ->

charles_leclerc posted a story

liked by francisca.cgomes, landonorris, and 427,911 others

user23 OMGGG UR WITH Y/N

user24 favs omg

user25 aesthetic affff

user26 perfect couple (should i say throuple?)

francisca.cgomes ugh you guys are back stealing her from me

charles_leclerc you snooze you lose

yourusername posted a story

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, and 88,283 others

user27 love language strikes again

user28 he's soo sweet and attentive

user29 i want what they have

user30 lomls

charles_leclerc i love you

yourusername ❤️ love you

yourusername posted a story

liked by landonorris, oscarpiastri, and 95,162 others

user31 LANDOOOO

user32 LOL this is sooo lando i love him

user33 obsessed with him

user34 i am once again saying opposite love languages

user35 he loves u so much

oscarpiastri i wish my boyfriend would do this!

yourusername hands off, piastri

oscarpiastri 😂

carlossainz55 he is so expressive

liked by yourusername

twitter ->

instagram ->

charles_leclerc

liked by yourusername, landonorris, and 826,103 others

charles_leclerc happy to be home 🏡

tagged: yourusername, landonorris

view all 11,426 comments

user43 omg the last pic HAHAHA

user44 is that lando with the bows 😂

landonorris no comment

user45 obsessed with this

user46 y/n reveal charles' love language immediately

user47 TELL USSSS @.yourusername

yourusername words of affirmation of course!

user48 im in love w all 3 of them

francisca.cgomes the third pic awwww cuties

yourusername 😘

landonorris being nice all of a sudden?

charles_leclerc don't question it just be happy!

yourusername i love you!!!

charles_leclerc i love you our girl

landonorris 🧡🧡🧡

user49 charlandoyn you will always be famous

landonorris

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, and 782,538 others

landonorris back where i belong

tagged: charles_leclerc, yourusername

view all 14,402 comments

user50 AWWW

user51 they love y/n sm it's so cute

user52 omg lando being sincere & sweet :))

user53 in his charles era

yourusername aww my sweetest boyy

user54 lando love language reveal y/n!!!

yourusername acts of service ofc 😊

user55 omg🥹🥹🥹🥹

user56 y/n is so gorgeous in the second pic

user57 literally majestic

user58 charles & y/n in the third pic omg me when

user59 i want what they have

charles_leclerc perfect perfect boy

yourusername in every way :)))

landonorris stop it guys im blushing......

THE END ❤️🧡

[landoslvr]

MRS TELEVISION | a. frederick

summary: a scroll through your internet presence as 'mrs television'. [social media AU.]

pairing: fem!reader x arthur frederick (arthurtv)

faceclaim: bri kerr

notes: first piece for mrs television out of the wag universe. bri is gonna be the main fc I use for mrs television, hopefully you like it!

liked by arthurtv, arthurfhill and 1,129 others

yourinstagram helped out on someone else's video for once, chris finally let me leave the dungeon!!!

view all 92 comments

user she kills me

user hottest producer award goes to...

chrismd_10 drinking on the job?

yourinstagram constantly

user she looks peppered in the 3rd slide

user first risky pic from y/n ever on the 6th slide

georgeclarkey thanks for the candid of me and my man 😌😌

arthurtv please someone get him away from me

user y/n's friend is inhaling that guinness 🫢

arthurtv great photography for the 1st and 3rd pictures, big fan!

yourinstagram humble as ever mr television

liked by georgeclarkey, wroetoshaw and 1,398 others

yourinstagram lots of fun at work recently, constantly mixing business and pleasure 🥂 chrismd thanks for keeping me employed even if I drink at work

view all 120 comments

user I can't tell if shes joking about drinking at work 😭

user its definitely a joke, most bts has y/n yelling at chris to pull his head in lol

user she keeps him in line!

yourinstagram have been going on 15 years

user we thank you for your service 🫡

arthurtv no jerseys at the match???

yourinstagram the nerve!

chrismd_10 who's that handsome fella in the last slide?

miniminter leave the md clutches and come to sidemen

yourinstagram throw in talia and you have a deal

georgeclarkey you drunk

yourinstagram seems to be the new normal now, just embracing my new brand (like you and your Invisalign ads)

georgeclarkey too far

liked by callux, arthurtv and 1,781 others

yourinstagram more of a traveller atm than a producer! enjoyed spain very very much, definitely swipe to the 8th slide to see what arthur classifies as a front flip

view all 328 comments

arthurtv it's called being flexible, you wouldn't know anything about it

yourinstagram your six-year-old sister does a better front flip than you

arthurtv leave flora out of this

user guys stop flirting in front of us 😭😭 the false hope hurts

georgeclarkey always appreciate meeting a fan

yourinstagram die

calfreezy that photo was sacred y/n

chrismd_10 I feel ashamed, embarrassed

willne the absolute cheek

user why is no one talking about how good y/n looks in these pictures??

faithlouisak Im thinking the same thing?

user literal island princess

user is that danny aarons in the 5th picture 😭😭

yourinstagram dont even ask how he got the invite

chrismd_10 we're still not sure tbh

liked by callux, arthurtv and 1,901 others

yourinstagram filmed a very *cool* video this week 🌨️

view all 234 comments

arthurtv again, who is your photographer???? such raw talent is exquisite

yourinstagram im very close to letting him go actually, you can have him!

user arthur being the first to comment on her posts fuels my mrs television heart really, give us something guys

user I love them at my core I can't lie

user she is just so pretty

chrismd_10 get back to work

yourinstagram I literally just want to breathe chris

user someone make chris let y/n go, she needs to be a free woman

bezhinga faiths phone is dead but she says 'u look leng'

yourinstagram I love you faith kelly x

liked by callux, arthurtv and 2,193 others

yourinstagram very good friends! (happy one year doofus)

view all 401 comments

user A WHOLE ASS YEAR???????

user who even are they????????

user I feel like I have been swindled here miss l/n

user can we finally call her mrs television??? shes more than chris' producer now, she's one of us

arthurtv best friends for life! (I love you very much)

user I can't tell if im going to cry or faint tbh

user why is he always playing chess, arthur PLEASE

yourinstagram I'm asking this question all the time?

chrismd_10 I take credit for this relationship btw

yourinstagram how so?

chrismd_10 if I hadn't sat with arthur in class and then dragged you into our group project, I like to think this wouldn't have happened

georgeclarkey I love all of the fans so much but please stop sending me these pictures of my fiancé wrapped around another woman

user GEORGE PLEASE

[zxombii]

💉🫀🦴 ︵ " Ticcin' Time Bomb! "

( ♡,, › ｏ‹ ,, ) — ❝ was inspired to make this eheheh (mix of headcanons and just yapping) ❞ mimi says.

︶︶ . ˚ ticci toby headcanons ⑅

— gender non-specified, reader not really mentioned. warning for an animal death, wounds, and unhealthy obsessions.

— contains ticci toby, mentions of others.

to silly for his own good and gets into mischief occasionally, but if he is having extra aggressive tics or just them happening more then usual, bpd acting out, etc.: he usually opts out and becomes that midwest emo (whos kinda mean) we all love and adore once more.

gay in denial. “i wish u were a female..” type thing. wompwomp for him👎

^^ as he has gotten older, i think he has hesitantly come to the fact that he is bisexual. possibly pansexual. he doesnt know how to feel about all this lgbtqia+ stuff.

he stole a golden retriever from someone and had it as a pet but was like, really bad at taking care of it. the dog died in under a month and the stench of dead dog stayed in his room for a good while (gross..)

when he loves someone, he Loves someone. like, his love gets to the point of an unhealthy obsession😕 he never felt love truly when a kid so he seeks it out from those around him (usually from older ppl aswell).

only numb to pain, not numb to both pain and weather. he overheats easily as he dislikes taking off his face wear cause of his scars,,, although since he is numb to pain—as long as he doesnt look in a mirror—he kinda forgets its even there, including the other gashes he has contained that covered his skin. face color drains immediately when he remembers the scars he has obtained. poor little guy☹️

goes from listening to washing machine heart to listening to the most country music ever. lowkey weird music taste. up for anything anyways. (<- self indulgent)

kinda dumb lowkey👎 dont ask toby for help on anything school related that needs genuine brain power. he can do addition, subtraction, times, dividing (barely).. and thats all he really remembers (BOOO SLENDERMAN TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO /j). will send the person to someone else if he doesnt know tbh😭

kinda brain rot talk. BEN somehow roped him into speaking like that and does say alpha sometimes as a joke to the others. EX: “oh a-alpha,” he would say in a dreamy voice with a sigh, stifling back a laugh as he continued his jittery speech, “thank u ss-sso much for healing—stupid!—my wuh-wounds.”

really bad sleep schedule. with his tics and major ptsd, he struggles at night to sleep– like, fully struggles. twisting and turning in hopes that he would just go slumpt in just the right position, but ofc it was a no. stares up at the roof, rethinking his entire life.. and before he knows it, it had already became morning!! time really passes when u r just trauma dumping to urself.

remember when i said he was kinda dumb? yeah, uh, he is Not with mythology. bro is a total nerd on it cause one day he delved to deep into the internet, leaving the laptop happier then the average person would after going deep into the web of safari or google. warning for all: dont ask him anything mythology related, dont speak about anything mythology related.. yeah. yk. if u do, u have just set off a yapping man who wont stop for a good while. leaves when he gets hungry (which isnt often), so i advise u to sit tight and try not to fall asleep cause he will shake u awake with a side eye afterwards before continuing his rambling.

bro is mean if he doesnt get his way and will throw a tantrum. not a pretty tantrum will be thrown!!!

actually likes the tea parties sally does. usually only the girls like it, but he genuinely enjoys dressing up and all the socialization he can get into (certified yapperton citizen). like yeah, its childish, but he loves sally, so it flies right past his head as smth weird.

absolute loser☠️ little crybaby most likely over the dumbest stuff. definitely cried over his ice cream dropping to the floor (as if he was a little kid). grown man or not, he has the mindset of a angsty teen. atleast the mental age of a 16-17 year old who is kinda immature😭🙏

— i do not allow my work to be translated, stolen, or anything similar. everything i write is made by me and only me unless i say differently on that post. credits to zxombii on tumblr. i have no side blogs.

[beatrixstonehill2]

Soooo this rich photographer flew me out to his waterfront penthouse overlooking the city..... You know, he did what photographers do and filmed me, took pics, got me nice and drunk. He showed me his place, mind you he's in a fancy suit and I'm in this bikini, my cock is basically falling out of it and I'm rock hard the whole time I'm there. He shows me this gorgeous portfolio of other trans girls he's worked with, mostly videos on his computer, and oh my god..... I started fondling my cock as he kept showing me some of the prettiest girls I've ever seen, huge breasts, curvy asses, perfect smile, juicy cocks.... But every video ended with a shirtless man. I didn't get it and he told me not to worry, so I kept playing with my cock, sipping my wine as he showed me more.....

The videos always ended the same. Some handsome guy flexing his muscles, looking really hot tbh, most of them had beards or well-groomed facial hair, none were shaven. They all exuded the kind of masculinity I find super hot, def the kind of guys I love my plump ass to be fucked by. The photographer finally turned to me and told me the men were all the very same people as the sexy girls he showed me. He had a really big kink for convincing trans girls to detrans. I was floored, but kept jerking my cock..... He saw this and smiled. He told me he'd happily pay me 100K to detransition. I jerked super fast and nutted, drooling like a good little whore, eyes rolling back......

"100K? You want to see me become a boy that badly???" I panted, jerking my flaccid cock as it drooled more cum, soon getting erect again.....

"Just look at you, already a machine. Imagine what that cock could do on testosterone. I'd love to see you give up becoming a girl for good. Embrace being a guy, which is what you really are, princess.

I bit my lip, my cock responding so well to his words, nice and full again. "Please..... I like being a girl but I mean.... You really really wanna see me detrans, I can tell!"

"I do. I want to see you get muscular, pumped full of so much T and steroids nobody would ever know you were living as such a pretty girl, or at least a decent imitation, not that you pass, darling. You're hot but that cock is a dead give away, and you still look like a boy, but you already knew that, didn't you?" He stroked my chin.

I nodded softly. "I don't pass at all, do I?"

"Not in the slightest, you poor misguided fakegirl. I'm surprised anyone even thinks to gender you correctly. It definitely doesn't help that you're so proud of your cock and flaunt it all over social media, walking around in dresses with a full erection. You can just see people roll their eyes forcing themselves to call you a girl to be nice. But like I said, your face is still very masculine, totally a dead give away. Are you sure you aren't already growing facial hair? I swear I see a shadow."

I was blushing so hard, fully erect and jerking super hard again. "I mean, estrogen only helps so much, I started transitioning at fourteen! But by then..... and sometimes I forget to take my hormones and, ummmmm...... soooo, this is how deep my voice actually is." I used my real voice, sounding pretty much like a guy.

"Wow, I mean you still sounded like a boy pretending to be a girl before but I had no idea you basically already went through male puberty..... that explains why your cock is so huge. You you're pretty much not even a trans girl, you're a femboy with implants?"

I nodded, cumming again, shooting rope after rope. "Mmmmm, maybe? Sorry I don't pass very well..... I hope you still find me sexy...."

"Oh, all the sexier, in fact I'm going to take that fat ass of yours for a nice ride in a moment..... just after I give you your first official T-shot, so let's celebrate you no longer pretending to be a girl. From now on you'll be a good boy and masculinize yourself as much as possible, OK?"

"Yes..... sir..... anything else before you have your way with me?"

"I want you to post a video of yourself to your Instagram, talking in your real voice, that you're detransitioning and getting your DD implants yanked out next week."

"OK..... whatever you like. ❤️ I need to give up playing pretend..... thank you for helping me!"

"It's my pleasure, helping boys like you is my greatest passion."

Needless to say..... I won't be looking back, and I have a few more fakegirl friends I think I'll send his way....

[balletdolls]

Things I do when I’m not girlblogging

+ some questions for u guys to leave in the comments!

I spend a lot of time away from social media because I am very big on consuming my time with hobbies. The only social apps I use are tumblr and Pinterest. So here are some things that I really enjoy doing:

1. Painting!!! Ever since I was little I’ve found that not only am I pretty good at painting but it’s also very therapeutic. My favorite type of paint to use is oil although it is expensive.

2. Reading. I will not be caught dead without a book in my purse. My current read is “the sun also rises” by Ernest Hemingway.

Q#1: what kind of books do you like to read?

3. Sewing. I recently been into sewing and I’ve been learning from a private teacher. My current project is a dark blue gown.

4. Writing. My diary is my most prized possession. I write about my day, dreams I have, feelings, and even some poetry

5. Exercising. I have a peloton and a Pilates machine which I use A LOT. but exercising doesn’t require expensive equipment there are tons of videos online! other than that I love to go for walks. I cannot go a day without any sort of physical activity.

Q#2: what’s your favorite form of exercise?

6. Sleeping. I LOOVE to sleep. My favorite hobby tbh. I go to bed around 10:00pm. I cannot stay up late. I also frequently take long naps.

7. Music!!!!! I’m always listening to something and I looove making playlist.

Q#3: do u have any themed playlist? Any very specific playlist? I’d love to hear

That’s all I can think of! Please answer the questions!! i would love to hear back from some of my mutuals or any followers who would like to be friends🎀🌷

^ song of the day 😊

[spidergutz-writes]

HCS ABOUT PEEPAW GOING TO PLACES WITH READER. it can be anything. like say he’s really clingy the day reader has so much to do and he’s like nahh imma go with you if you won’t stay here. im just a sucker for him being all silent and moody while his s/o does things with friends or whatever idk

hUFUFUUFUFUFUF-

Your just blessing me with all these FABULOUS ideas!!!!

Peepaw Myers x reader

BROODING 1000%

he’s gonna be glaring at EVERYONE, and everyone else is gonna be steering clear of his deadly gaze.

stands behind you and just looking over your shoulder at whoever your talking to with like 👁️👁️. He’s just gonna be heavily breathing while staring them down.

Occasionally he’ll put a hand on your shoulder to try and get your attention, wether it be so he can silently whisper something in your ear, or if he just wants to see you look at him.

he is most certainly more laid back than OG Mikey, so he won’t kill everyone you talk to, but he will glower at others.

Although he is scowling at everyone and huffing every now and then, he is pretty content with you doing all the socializing, cause like. It’s not like he’s gonna do it.

he’s very fond of watching you doing anything tbh, so seeing you interact with others does allow his cold, dead, and unforgiving heart to warm a little (a lot. He’s a sucker for you)

if your out and about and he’s not wanting to be seen, he’s gonna be sitting in the bushes sulking and brooking but like, times 1000.

how dare you be so far away from him! Your practically declaring how much you hate him /j 😤😤

your friends will ask why your constantly looking over your shoulder and waving at that alleyway near the cafe Yall are chillin at and you have to just be like “oh, i was just saying hi to my boyfriend. Yeah he stops by every now and then” and you’ll just have to live with the weird stares you get.

will get sad if you don’t look back at him enough :((((

but that’s all okay, because when you have to excuse yourself to go to the bathroom or something, micheal will be right there to snatch you up and have a…heated session with you, before your allowed to go back to your friends :3

[wooahaes]

we won’t change (because we’re engraved in each other’s hearts)

pairing: non-idol!joshua x fem!reader

genre: fluff. sappy, sappy fluff.

word count: 0.7k~

warnings: alcohol mentions/drunk shua + reader. one mentioned rebuff towards sex. a very not-sober shua being the sappiest man in the world for readers bday.

daisy’s notes: tbh i should rank the group based on how fun i think itd be to get drunk w them. my lil wooahae man made it easy for me to say someones dead last bc he doesnt rly drink since it makes him sick, so thank u jihoonie

All you had wanted for your birthday was a nice night together with your boyfriend, and Joshua was going to ensure you got it.

Most days, Joshua doted on you, and today had been no different. From the second opinion he gave when you asked for it (which pair of heels to wear tonight, did your eyeliner look alright...), to the way he slowly zipped you into your dress before planting a chaste kiss against your neck, and the way his hand found yours on the trip to and from the restaurant. The first time had been his way of holding onto you, just to keep himself tethered to you with a subtle smile and a question about how the rest of your day had gone. The second was to keep himself close to you while he nearly stumbled over himself at times, the alcohol in his system making his steps a little less certain than before--but with your hand in his, he could at least make sure that you didn’t trip up anywhere.

Which brought him to now. He was lying in bed, having changed out of his nicer clothes, and waiting for the very-exhausted you to make your way from the bathroom back into your shared bedroom. Even if his teasing kisses down your neck had been met with a “not tonight, Joshy, I’m sleepy,” he was still excited to see your pretty face when all was said and done. His face was illuminated by his phone as he scrolled through social media, a pillow in his arms as he waited for you to come and take its place.

“Shua,” you had dragged out his name as you stumbled back into the room. How much did the two of you drink again? Joshua wasn’t sure, but he was already clicking his phone off. “Move over.”

“This is my side,” he teased.

A groan. “So mean.... And on my birthday, too...” But he watched you make your way to his side anyway, and he slid over to give you room to nearly face-plant into the mattress.

From there, he could see how your face was still slightly wet from going through your cleansing routine. He could smell the moisturizer you used, too--fruity, because you always preferred those scents. He reached out, tugging at you slightly as he shoved the pillow back into its proper place.

“Pillow’s gone,” he said. “I’m here.”

Without answering, you moved, crawling into his arms and settling there. He held you against his chest, moving to press a tiny kiss against your neck.

“Josh--” You mumbled, only to burst into quiet giggles as he continued to press quick peck after peck against your skin, “that tickles.”

“I love you,” he said, smiling softly. He could feel himself already starting to drift off, and he stifled a yawn before planting another sleepy kiss against your neck. “Thank you for looking after me,” he squeezed around your stomach a little. “And for loving me.”

Your head dipped back, bumping against him. ���You’re sappy tonight, huh...”

He chuckled against your neck, hot breath fanning your skin. “I mean it. Thank you,” another gentle squeeze, “for being a part of my life. And for saying yes when I asked you to be my girlfriend...” He paused, stifling another yawn. “Even though Jeonghan asked you out five minutes earlier to make me jealous...”

“I don’t like Jeonghan like that, silly.” With a few taps against his arms, he let you go. You turned over to face him, one hand reaching up to hold his face. “Josh. I think you drank too much, honey.”

Again, he just laughed softly. “I mean it!” He leaned in, planting one final kiss against your lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, you sap.” You snuggled in closer, legs intertwining with his.

With one hand curled around your back, he’d begun to trace hearts with his fingers. “Thank you for being born,” he said softly. “I think... I think we’re soulmates.”

“Joshua...” You squeezed him gently. “Go to sleep, honey.”

“I mean it,” he said again, softer this time. “Happy birthday.” He nuzzled his head closer to your own, eyes fluttering shut. “Thank you for finding me.”

taglist: @twancingyunhao​ @wonuziex​ @synthetickitsune​ @cinnamoroxie​

[hurpdurpburps]

My Comprehensive Otherside Picnic Pilgrimage Destination List Pt. 1

This is by no means a complete collection but rather something I put together out of curiosity/an investigative itch, so feel free to add your thoughts or personal findings in the replies/reblogs. I'll be returning to Tokyo in January for a couple weeks and might cut out a few days to do an OP pilgrimage of sorts, so this is mostly for my own purposes that I'm happy to share with whoever's interested. I should note here that a good number of these places have closed for good, but I decided to keep them in the list for documentation.

Hunger Warning: There's a lot of food mentioned.

Spoiler Warning: Events up to Vol 8 are mentioned.

Word Count Warning: Some parts contain pretty lengthy commentary, mainly from my personal observations and experiences.

1. Saitama University

To be fair, Sorawo's college has only been referred to as "a university in Saitama" but I think Saitama University is undeniably the most obvious candidate.

Descriptions of the university's distance from the area's major train station (Omiya) and the one closest to it (Minami-Yono) are a dead giveaway, but the anime also did a cheeky wordplay (埼玉大学 > 犀玉大学, but both are read as Saitama University).

Unlike the real Saitama University cafeteria, however, the anime added more colour to its version because the all-white of the IRL place makes it feel like a depressing hospital food court more than anything.

2. Sophia University While not explicitly named as such, it's clear that Toriko attends Sophia University from the description that Sorawo gave in Vol 5. Even the description of the Yotsuya campus facilities on the official website fits to a tee:

The university Toriko attended was right by Yotsuya Station on the Chuo Line.

I’d read up on places to eat on campus during the train ride here. Two cafeterias, and two cafés, I think? Oh, and a convenience store too.

The cafeteria I was heading to was on the fifth floor.

When I was leaving the cafeteria, I spotted some stairs off to the side. It looked like there was outdoor seating. The building was L-shaped, and the five-story section that jutted out from the rest had terrace seating on the roof.

Ngl, I'm feeling a little cheated of my college experience... My alma mater is of a similar ranking (if not even higher) to Sophia but our campus had pretty terrible food options. Four years of 7-11/Family Mart because I was too lazy to exit my faculty building for lunch break, but also partly because the one time I went all the way to my campus cafeteria at the begging of my then-crush and I thought the food was pretty lame (or at least not worth the cross-campus trek). We also don't have a terrace T-T

Also here, I just want to make a personal note on how fitting it feels to me for Toriko to be attending Sophia, and studying English Literature no less. Tokyo has no lack of famous 'elite' or 'fashionable' universities but each has its own unique sort of branding/stereotype and tbh I can't see someone like her fitting in any of the others. Not to mention the fact that she's already silently drowning at Sophia (socially, at least).

The gate that led on to the main street was wide open and no one asked to see student ID at the entrance.

It was Tuesday. Just a perfectly ordinary day of the week. It was almost noon, so there were a lot of people walking around. I blended into the crowd, effortlessly infiltrating the campus.

Japanese schools are so notorious for their lack of security, perhaps due to complacency from the general safety. My university had closed twice during my years as a student due to bomb threat emails (both times conveniently around finals lol). Depending on what's going on in the world or country, there'd also be a wave of annoying crazies yelling into their megaphones around campus campaigning for God-knows-what from time to time.

3. KOGA Seibu Ikebukuro (皇雅西武池袋店)

This is the Chinese congee restaurant our Troubled Trio visited in Vol 3 after the events of the Kotoribako. Unfortunately it seems to have closed for good but you can still see old reviews and photos on their Tablelog page.

We talked it over, and came to the conclusion that rice porridge might be good, so Toriko, Kozakura, and I had come to a Chinese rice porridge place inside the Ikebukuro Seibu department store.

I kinda laughed imagining 2 college kids and an early-30s tiny woman sticking out like a sore thumb among all the other tables:

It was afternoon on a weekday, the place was at maybe 40% of capacity, and everyone there but us were old ladies.

Discovered thanks to this guy on Twitter (also Miyazawa follows him so he might be somebody...?)

Feeling a little sad because I used to live in Toshima-ku. If I'd discovered OP a couple years earlier I could've tried out their food. I'm kinda picky about Chinese food in Japan but this place looks pretty good.

Some language and culture trivia:

We had come on the simple idea that you eat rice porridge when your stomach’s not doing so well, but this place had a food therapy menu managed by the traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy next door, so it felt like it might really work for us.

薬膳 (yakuzen, or yao shan in Mandarin) is the term used in the Japanese version of the novel, referring to medicinal cuisine. The more general idea of food therapy (食疗) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concept dating back to probably the beginning of Chinese civilisation.

The TLDR of TCM principles is the belief in healing/nourishing of the body through naturally imbuing herbs and hence their medicinal properties in one's regular diet. Probably also where the Chinese belief of "以形补形" (nourishing what you eat) comes from, such as eating some kinda tendon stew if you sprained an ankle to make it heal faster, or whatever.

Figuring I should take the opportunity to try a type of tea I hadn’t drank before, I ordered kantoucha. Toriko went for sanzacha, and Kozakura had maikacha.

せっかくなので飲んだことのないお茶を頼んでみようと思って、私は冠藤茶にした。鳥子は山査茶、小桜は玫瑰茶。

Sorawo and gang probably didn't know what these plants were because Chinese hanzi were used for the menu names instead of their Japanese counterparts. I've omitted the "-cha" suffix below as it simply means "tea" and is pronounced the same way in both Mandarin and Japanese:

Kantou/冠藤 = "Crown Vine" (hanyu pinyin: guan teng).

As a Chinese kid who grew up surrounded by TCM, even I had to scratch my head for this one and boy, researching it was a hell of a rabbit hole. Apparently "Crown Vine" is the polite name for "Chicken Blood Vine" (鸡血藤), which not only sounds nasty but looks nasty (risky click - don't say I didn't warn you).

Here's what Wikipedia says about this peculiar plant's medicinal properties:

有行血补血，调经，舒经活络的功效，其药用来源为豆科植物密花豆的藤茎。本品苦、微甘，温。归肝、肾经。

"It has the effects of promoting blood circulation, replenishing blood, regulating menstruation, and relaxing meridians. This herb is sourced from the vine stem of the legume Spatholobus Suberectus. It is bitter, slightly sweet, and warm in nature. It belongs to the liver and kidney meridians."

Meridians (经络) are a pseudo-scientific concept that still holds a lot of weight in the TCM world, and also popularly butchered in historical/wuxia (武俠) pop media. You can read the Wikipedia page here for more information.

As for my kantoucha, it had a light flavor, and was surprisingly easy to drink.

Yeah buddy... Hope you liked it at least. Sounds a bit too wild for me.

Sanza/山査 = Hawthorn (hanyu pinyin: shan zha).

The Japanese language does not have a kanji for hawthorn, and the plant is instead represented by a katakana reading of the Mandarin pronunciation (サンザ).

Toriko took a sip of her sanzacha, which turned out to be bittersweet.

Not sure why hawthorn tea is bitter. Never had it myself but I ate a lot of candied hawthorn and hawthorn flakes as a kid and it's pretty sour-ish before being processed with sugar.

Maika/玫瑰 = Rose (hanyu pinyin: mei gui).

The Japanese word for rose is most commonly バラ in katakana, or very rarely 薔薇 in kanji.

You might notice that the Japanese and Mandarin readings of these words sound somewhat similar - that is due to the on'yomi. On'yomi is partly the reason why native Chinese speakers (like myself) pick up Japanese more easily than other language speakers (barring Korean).

Due to the long history of cross-cultural exchanges within Asia, many regional languages have, to a certain extent, Sino-roots. Verbally, Korean and Japanese share many similarities with older, southeastern Chinese dialects Cantonese and Hokkien, due to Guangdong and Fujian being bustling ports/trade hubs of the past. Knowledge of Cantonese helped me greatly when I was taking Korean classes taught in Japanese (my 6th and very new language at the time - like I barely knew how to ask for the nearest restroom kinda new).

It's also why we have the hanzi (汉字) - kanji (漢字) - hanja (한자) trifecta - all three mean "Chinese characters", denoting their written linguistic legacy from imperial Han China through the centuries.

Mine was the two-color rice porridge set with crab rice porridge and chicken rice porridge. Mmm, it had a gentle flavor. The salt was used sparingly, so I was grateful that it came with ebi chili and pickled Sichuan vegetables on a separate plate.

Toriko, perhaps wanting something meatier, had gone for the kakuni pork rice porridge set. The big bowl of rice porridge with kakuni pork, bok choy, and goji berry came with a separate bowl of wonton soup. Kozakura had the yamucha set, which came in a bamboo basket, and the boiled gyoza and shumai were letting off steam.

"Yamucha" here is the incorrect katakana-derived romanisation of "飲茶" (lit. "drink tea"). Pronounced as "yum cha" in Cantonese, the term simply means "going for dim sum". You might be wondering - what's the difference between dim sum and yum cha then? Dim sum is a noun referring to food specifically, while yum cha is a verb/event/action.

Eg. You can say "Let's go yum cha" or "Let's eat dim sum" but you don't say "Let's eat yum cha".

Also I love how Toriko manages to piss off Kozakura every time she opens her mouth so effortlessly lmao.

“What is maikacha? I can’t even imagine.” “I don’t know, either, but it said it was supposed to help suppress irritation.” “That certainly does seem like a good fit for you, Kozakura.” “Yeah, I’m feeling irritated at this very moment. I hope it comes soon.”

4. JUNKUDO Ikebukuro (ジュンク堂書店 池袋本店)

The bookstore frequently visited by Sorawo, and also the IRL collaboration partner of the series. Miyazawa recently held an in-person interview and livestream session at the Ikebukuro flagship store with his editor for the launch of Vol 9, where they also shared a lot of unpublished/uncommissioned art by Shirakaba (see this amazing post for screenshots).

It's also the only place I know of that carries signed copies of the novels. As of yesterday (5th July 2024), signed copies are still available at Shelf 41 (the Hayakawa section) on the 3rd floor. How do I know this? Because I begged my friend to pop by Ikebukuro and pick up a couple for me ;___;

Phone and online reservations for the signed copies are not allowed, and it's limited to one book per volume per person. Go get it while it's hot.

I recorded the livestream as Junkudo's archives were only up for like a week. I can share the recording if anyone asks me for it but the livestream is entirely in Japanese so YMMV.

5. Cafe Pause Ikebukuro

The cafe where Sorawo and Toriko had their first falling out over the search for Satsuki (File 4 - Time, Space, and a Middle-Aged Man).

Miyazawa even made an acknowledgement tweet.

I guess the business really liked being featured in this series because the anime replaced a bunch of other locations in the other files with this one place.

The cafe also hosted an 8-part promotional series featuring the two main voice actors called Otherside Special Activity Report (裏世界トクベツ活動報告) where they did some light meta-commentary and even tried holding guns featured in the series.

It's also right behind Junkudo so I guess it's a great pilgrimage combo if you're in the neighbourhood.

"We were in the cafe behind the Junkudo bookstore in Ikebukuro, where we’d gone after meeting up. Toriko was enthusiastically trying to discuss plans for our next expedition when I spoke up."

Here's their website and Instagram if you're interested.

6. Italian Tomato Café Jr. Ikebukuro West Entrance (イタリアン・トマト Café Jr. 池袋西口店)

This is where Sorawo, Toriko and Akari had a little chat before getting ambushed by feline assassins (File 7 - Attack of the Ninja Cats). There's a few Italian Tomato Cafes in the area, but this best matches what the novel says:

When I headed for the underground plaza by the Metropolitan entrance of JR Ikebukuro Station, Akari Seto spotted me first and was waving her arms.

Together with Toriko, who protested, Why not? Isn’t that kinda mean?, we got aboard the elevator that went above ground.

A standard chain cafe/restaurant type of thing, convenient for when you're peckish, if nothing else. NGL tho I am a big fan of Japanese family-restaurant style pasta.

Website here if you wish to know more about the chain.

7. Bali-An Resort Shinjuku (ホテルバリアンリゾート新宿)

Ah yes, the fabled love hotel in the lore of OP (File 16 - Pontianak Hotel). A quick Google search for "Kabukicho Bali love hotel" gives you not one but four results in Kabukicho alone. I guess business is booming.

Unfortunately, none of their exteriors matches the novel's description:

The facade of the building was stone (or aesthetic paneling designed to look like it, maybe) and used spotlights to give it a high-class image. The building was surrounded with greenery, exotic sculptures, and flowers, along with architecture that evoked the southern seas.

The walls shielding the entrance from view were the barely love hotel-y thing about it, but even those walls were gaudy, covered as they were in ivy and colorful flowers.

However, Bali-An Resort Shinjuku (the first one) has a word-for-word match with the interior description for one of its rooms. There's even a dedicated section for girls' party (女子会) packages on their website.

Here's a 360-degree view of the Royal Garden room (ロイヤルガーデンタイプ).

The first thing to catch my eye inside this room that was decorated in earthy tones were two canopied double beds in the back. Hibiscus petals were scattered over the top of their white blankets. Next to the wall there were two black leather massage chairs. In the front of the room was an L-shaped sofa and a wooden table. The table had a silver bucket of ice placed on top of it with a bottle of wine sticking out. Along the wall there was a mini-fridge, and a shelf with a microwave, and on top of that shelf was a large TV surrounded by a bamboo frame. It currently showed nature footage from Bali. There was the sound of the waves rolling in and out, and gamelan music played at a subdued volume.

“Lookie, lookie! There’s a sauna!” Akari shouted, looking through the door to the side of us that she had opened. Beyond it was a washroom with a selection of amenities including face wash, face lotion, and face masks. Across from the sink was a large dry sauna that had room for two.

Toriko walked in, pushing the bathroom door open. The tub was made of black stone, and was an almost round heart-shape, or maybe more of a peach-shape, and it was large enough it seemed to cry out “get in me together.”

None of the lobbies match the novel's description, but here it is anyway:

There were couches scattered around a lobby with dark-colored flooring, and lines of decorative plants as tall as a person. The space was softly illuminated with spotlights and indirect lighting, and a languid Balinese gamelan piece served as background music interspersed with the sounds of water and birdsong. Was this aroma foreign incense, perhaps?

For a gigantic room with two beds, massage chairs, room service, a huge ass bathtub, large couch + TV area, sauna and free amenities, 26,800 yen is honestly a steal, especially when you consider it's right smackdab in the heart of Shinjuku. I'd totally stay at this place bruh.

8. Jimbōchō Book Town (神田神保町古書街)

Jinbocho is the neighbourhood that houses the building with the elevator that leads to the skeletal building entrance on Otherside. The area is served by a couple of stations but Sorawo and Toriko reached via Ochanomizu station.

Book Town is one of the more classic 'old school Tokyo' locations favoured by fans of literature. It's a treasure trove for people who love hunting for secondhand books. It's no wonder why Sorawo is familiar with the area.

I have no idea which specific building that houses the elevator is supposed to be, but my guess is this one - it's the only one I could find that appears to match the description in Vol 1.

"The place Toriko led me to was a building in Jinbouchou. It was a tall, thin building with a bunch of shops in the back of Book Town. Ten floors in total."

If I'm right then it would be really funny as the building is literally called Jinbocho building (神保町ビル) lmao.

Book Town used to be a pretty lively (or as lively as a secondhand book district could be anyways) locale but COVID-19 unfortunately caused many of these legacy businesses to shut down, so now it's a lot quieter. I'm not sure how long this street will last so if you ever visit Tokyo I do strongly recommend visiting it, if only for the vibes.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the rich history of this area.

Book Town also has its own website that carries a great deal of information if you're planning on visiting.

9. Shosen Grande (書泉グランデ)

The flagship store of the Shosen bookstore chain, located near Jinbocho station. Sorawo waited here for Toriko before their second venture into the Otherside together (File 2 - Hasshaku-sama Survival).

It's hella huge with seven floors - and apparently also a popular shopping location for weeb/otaku merch. This is the official floor guide on their website.

10. Maison c

The quaint little wine bar near Junkudo Ikebukuro where Sorawo and Toriko had a rather gloomy dinner after the Ninja Cat saga (File 8 - Little Bird in a Box).

We were at a wine bar near the Junkudo in Ikebukuro. It was the middle of the week, but the dimly lit establishment was filled with customers. In one corner of a place where there were young couples having a lively time, we were having a quiet after-party of our own.

Definitely a cosy little spot, if their Instagram is anything to go by.

11. Meat Bar Modavaca (ニクバル モダ・バッカ)

The steak place near Shakujii-kōen station where Kozakura brought Toriko and Sorawo to shortly after events of the kidnapping (File 12 - The Matter of that Farm).

Unfortunately it seems this place has also closed for good, but the location, menu, prices and other information from their Tablelog page and Instagram perfectly matches the description given in Vol 4:

We entered a bar and grill that was conveniently open all day and started off with rosé wine, even though it was still bright out. I’d never thought of rosé as anything more than “that kinda pinkish sweet stuff,” but the taste of it was crisper than I had expected, and I liked it. Next, we ordered prosciutto, flame-seared meat sushi, and red wine. We had the staff cook us some expensive meat that cost 2,000 yen per hundred grams, and devoured the steaks after watching them sizzle on a hot iron grill.

It was already evening outside. As I watched the people being spewed out of the station one after another, I caught myself unconsciously searching for that woman in the crowd.

12. Kitchen Nankai Jinbocho (キッチン南海 神保町店)

The "Western food" (洋食) place Sorawo and Toriko visited for a quick builder's lunch in Vol 6 (File 20 - T is for Templeborn).

This is actually a pretty famous spot, so much so that it even has its own page as a Chiyoda-ku attraction. Most famous for their black curry.

Settling on a place that served Western-style dishes, we joined the salarymen and construction workers for a hearty meal.

I should note that there's a bit of missing nuance here. The original Japanese text is as such:

あんまり気取らない感じの洋食屋を選んで、スーツ姿のサラリーマンや工事の作業員に交ざって、がっつりボリュームのある定食を食べた。

The bolded part roughly translates to "We chose a rather unpretentious Western restaurant...", with 'unpretentious' in this context referring to a place that doesn't feel very conscious/fussy about attire/appearance. This part is entirely omitted in the English version.

I don't think it's a big deal per se, but it's the inclusion of small details like that which adds flourish to Miyazawa's writing, and it's kind of a pity when they get missed out like that.

There's also a slight mistranslation here:

I ordered tonkatsu curry with a black roux and lots of cheese, while Toriko had roasted flounder with ginger. We scarfed down a whole bunch of chopped cabbage and white rice on top of that and headed back to the elevator with our bellies full.

The corresponding Japanese text is as follows:

私は真っ黒なルーにチーズのたっぷりかかったカツカレー、鳥子はヒラメのカツと生姜焼き。キャベツの千切りと白いご飯をわしわし搔き込んで、お腹パンパンでエレベーターに乗った。

The bolded part states "flounder katsu and shougayaki", which actually means a piece of breaded, deep fried flounder, with pork stir-fried in ginger sauce on the side.

True enough, there is a dish called "fried flounder shougayaki rice" (ひらめフライ生姜焼きライス) according to the real restaurant's Tablelog page. Here's a review of the restaurant featuring multiple photos of the dish.

13. Keio Plaza Hotel Shinjuku

Explicitly stated as the location of the First Anniversary Dinner in Vol 7 (File 22 - Toilet Paper Moon).

The buffet that our fav girls stuffed their faces at is the Glass Court Super Buffet, located on the 2nd floor. Looks pretty spankin' and swanky if you ask me.

“The buffet here’s on the second floor. I told you, you don’t need to get all worked up about this.”

I'm omitting the novel's lengthy descriptions of the food out of mercy to us all.

The second half of the night takes place at the Aurora Sky Lounge on the 45th floor.

Fun fact: I ran into a bit of confusion looking up this place due to a translation error in the English version lol.

“I hear there’s a lounge on the fourth floor here.” “A lounge…?” “It’s got a night view and you can drink there.”

There's a Cocktail & Tea Lounge on the 3rd floor but I'm not sure what kinda night view you can get apart from dirty concrete in a city jam-packed with skyscrapers lol. A quick check against the original proved my hunch about the mistranslation was right.

「ここ、四十五階にラウンジがあるんだって」 「……ラウンジ？」 「夜景が見えて、お酒が飲めるとこ」

14. Charcoal-Grill Yakiniku Gyurakutei (炭火焼肉 牛楽亭)

In the anime-special episode 10, our little gang went for some good ol' grilled beef.

It's a little up in the air about how accurate this one is. There is only one place called 韓国炭火焼肉 牛楽亭 (lit. "Korean Charcoal-Grill Yakiniku Gyurakutei") in Tokyo, located in the Shinjuku section of Iidabashi that has since shut down.

The restaurant name might be an off-brand reference to Anrakutei (安楽亭), which is an affordable yakiniku chain around Tokyo. There's one in Ikebukuro and another in Shinjuku. But cheap places tend to use electric grills instead of charcoal, so... idk bro.

15. Omiya Ichibangai (大宮一番街)

The place where it all started - when Sorawo discovered a gate to the Otherside on a random day in April.

In contrast to the west side of the station, where further development had yielded large buildings, the east side was still a sprawling town of small buildings and multi-tenant buildings, the same as it had ever been. It was on the east side, on the corner where two narrow streets met, that I came to a stop. Pachinko parlors, ramen restaurants, taverns, parking lots… In between the various assorted buildings of the shopping arcade, there were many shops with their shutters lowered. Their signs had been taken down, and nothing was posted out front, so you couldn’t even tell what kind of businesses they had been.

I've been to Omiya station once, but that was before I knew about OP and it was on a blitzy winter day in mid-January. The station is pretty big and the immediate surrounding area is bustling, but everything looks just so slightly dated compared to downtown Tokyo, like a time capsule from early 2000s IT-bubble era Japan, which is wild because it's technically only 20-something km away from Ikebukuro. I was only there to meet a friend and didn't get a glimpse of the rest of the area outside of the passing "car passenger POV", so I didn't really feel the "forgotten suburban Showa town" vibes from the novel when I read it but YMMV.

A quick Google search for "大宮商店街" shows a shopping street called Ichibangai to the immediate east of the station, and street view images match up the screenshot from the anime, so this specific area's your best bet.

I casually approached the building and slipped into the gap between it and the neighboring one. The lock on the side door was broken, so I knew I should be able to get in. I’d been able to do so the last time I was here, at least. Turning my body sideways as I proceeded down the gap, I put my hand on the sliding door. It got caught if you tried to move it normally, but if I put in some force, and lifted it up a little—there, it moved.

The back room of a shop that had gone under. The ceiling and wallpaper were in poor shape and the sink and gas stove against the wall were dark with grime. There were chairs and a table in the center of the room, covered in dust.

I crossed the room and approached the back door.

I pushed the door open with trepidation, and on the side was just the back alleyway, as I’d expected. There was a puddle on the bare concrete surface fed by runoff from the external portion of an air conditioner.

I took a step out into the alley and looked towards the arcade. It was blocked off with an iron bar gate and a padlock. Turning the other direction, the alleyway came to an immediate dead end with the back doors of some other buildings. Oh, I guess it had never been possible to come in through here before.

Omiya might be in Saitama but it's still a pretty urban area, so don't go breaking into empty shops or whatever... Still, taking a walk around the vicinity would be a good experience I think.

16. Yamaguchi Mansion (山口マンション)

Toriko's supposed apartment building near Nippori station - as deduced by this extremely detailed post. There's no need for me to repeat what's already been said so I'm just gonna add my own two cents for this section:

It wasn’t a particularly new building, but it still looked expensive. I hated that my reflexive reaction was—Little Miss Moneybags sure lives in a nice place, doesn’t she?

Definitely looks old - records I could find on Google show that it was built in 1985.

Also definitely expensive - apart from being so close to a Yamanote line station, it's got elevators! Japanese law doesn't require elevators to be installed for buildings shorter than 5 floors, so cheap developers often cap at 4 floors and call it a day. How do I know this? I used to live on the 4th floor apartment of a 4-storey building (also next to a major Yamanote line station), and let's just say every day was leg day.

I should add that it's an actual residential building located at the end of a street so I wouldn't recommend lingering, because that's pretty sus behaviour to anyone living nearby. I suggest maybe just a quick glance and move on to explore the rest of the neighbourhood.

Also if you're wondering why it's called a "mansion" - it's the Japlish term for a condo.

17. Casa N.Y Apartment Ginowan (宜野湾市Casa N.Yアパートメント)

The closest thing I could find to anything remotely New York-related on Okinawa…

Looks like a slightly old run-of-the-mill Japanese Airbnb though. My best guess is Miyazawa saw the name and decided to embellish things a little bit...

The location and exterior somewhat barely match up at least...?

Calling it a pension made it sound like some kind of resort, but this place was smack-dab in the middle of the city. It was a wooden penthouse on top of a three-story building, and right outside our window, across a street lined with palm trees, was a big billboard for a consumer finance company.

We were some distance from the center of Naha, so no matter where we planned to go, we were going to need a car.

Ngl, this is probably the wonkiest entry on the list.

18. ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort

Expensive rates? Check. Poolside bar? Check. Taxi distance from downtown restaurants? Check. Credit cards sure are convenient eh.

We stayed in a super expensive room at same-day arrival pricing, swam in the pool, ordered cocktails by the poolside, and went beach-combing for bits of coral. Then we took a taxi into town at night to eat Ishigaki beef and locally caught fish, then send Kozakura pictures of all the tasty food and alcohol.

Now I'm tempted to do this myself... Girl math is best math...

Fun fact: spamming someone with food photos (or on social media in general) is called 飯テロ (lit. "food terrorism"). And this post is starting to feel like it.

19. Chichibu Waraji Katsu Tei (秩父わらじかつ亭)

In Vol 4 (File 14 - The Inviting Hot Springs), Sorawo and Toriko mentioned that they ate a place called Golden Waraji Katsu (黄金わらじカツ) located within Seibu-Chichibu station after escaping Hasshaku-sama for the first time back in Vol 1 (File 2 - Hasshaku-sama Survival).

“Oh! That was here! I remember now. We caught a taxi on a mountain road, came back here… ate some katsudon at the station, and went home, right? It had a gaudy name. What was it again?” “Golden Waraji Katsu.”

While there isn't any shop of that name IRL or within the station proper, there is indeed one waraji katsu shop located within the food court of a hot spring facility called Matsuri No Yu (祭の湯), which in turn is directly connected to Seibu-Chichibu station (wth that's so nice???).

The facility is mentioned in the novel as well:

There was a building with a number of facilities, including a hot spring for people making day trips to the area, as well as a food court, attached to the station building.

Waraji katsu-don is a specialty dish of Chichibu. "Waraji" (草鞋) refers to Japanese sandals made from rice straw, although I'm not sure what is the special relation between this footwear and Chichibu, or what makes this katsu-don so different from the standard variation.

20a. Nipponichi Ikebukuro (にっぽん市 池袋)

The Ikebukuro private room izakaya that Sorawo booked in Vol 8 to celebrate Toriko's birthday. I did a Google search in Japanese for "Ikebukuro izakaya Japanese-style private room" and this seems to fit the bill off the bat. The entire izakaya is split into private rooms that can seat anywhere between 2 - 20.

I lacked the guts to book dinner for us at a hotel, so instead I chose as nice a drinking establishment as I could: a Japanese-style tavern in Ikebukuro with private rooms that was reasonably priced, and had good reviews for both the alcohol and seafood.

The indirect lighting of the private room shone softly on her golden locks and indigo irises.

Today she was wearing a relaxed, sky-blue dress, not something showy like when we went for dinner at the hotel. She was probably matching the vibe of the tavern.

Seems like a bingo. Pretty intimate interior, if you ask me... Maybe that's why Toriko finally mustered the courage to confess formally later that night lol.

We got more drinks, trying out some unfamiliar Japanese sake.

Their menu also has a dedicated fresh fish section, along with a very extensive sake list... which is a double wham in my books.

20b. Oto-Oto Ikebukuro (音音 池袋店)

There's another private room-only izakaya in Ikebukuro that also fits the description in the novel both in terms of food and interior, but I'm placing this as Option No. 2 because I think Sorawo at this point would rather stab herself in the eye than book the Couple's Room (right pic):

Like literally I would call this the sort of place you bring a girl to get laid after, you know???

Anyways, for those of my pals here who do want to get laid, you can check out the place on Tablelog here.

The Rest (???)

So, that's a cool 20.

There are some locations that have too few details to be narrowed down, such as the DS Labs building, the Shinjuku izakaya where Toriko donned Hasshaku-sama's hat (File 3 - Station February), or the yakitori place near Shakujii-kōen station that they settled at to escape the stalking cats (File 7 - Attack of the Ninja Cats).

Meanwhile, others, like the Chichibu hot springs inn they visited in Vol 4 carry too many research details for me to fit properly in the remaining space left in this post.

I'm sure there's also a bunch of locations/clues that I've forgotten that were visited throughout the 9 volumes, so I'll make a sequel if I come across any new clues/locations as I re-read Vol 1 - 9 in my sparse free time.

I might also do a post casually comparing the JP vs EN (and even CH) versions of the novels, since there were certain parts of the localisation that I felt made characters come off a bit too strong compared to the original.

[sharpth1ng]

do u think randy and billy would actually be friends and like each other if billy wasn’t a murdering misogynistic sociopathic all of the above

I mean honestly no? Randy hates Billy before he knows all of that stuff so I don’t think it would make much of a difference. From what we see in the movie Randy mostly hates Billy because he’s dating Sidney.

Billy barely expresses any aggression towards Randy until the videostore scene, and in that instance Randy has literally just accused him of murder. Like to be fair if I was Billy in that moment and I was innocent I’d be pretty fucking pissed at Randy too, esp if I had just spent the night in jail.

Most of what we see in the interactions between Billy and Randy it’s Randy starting shit tbh, and I’m not saying Billy is blameless, he’s obviously an asshole but from what we see in the movie this isn’t a situation where he’s bullying Randy. He mostly seems to ignore him.

And honestly, one of my pet peeves in this is the way Randy’s misogyny is ignored. He’s honestly got some real incel vibes to me- I know it’s a slasher trope but he’s the mouthpiece for tropes in this movie and he literally says ‘sex equals death’.

He’s also equally insensitive as Billy and Stu after Casey and Steve die. He knows Sid is scared and he still says the “slice and dice” shit and the stuff about the liver in the mailbox. That liver belonged to his now dead female classmate and he’s grinning when he talks about it.

But it’s the stuff he says about Sidney that’s the worst to me: “now that Billy tried to mutilate her do you think Sid would go out with me?” This doesn’t feel like he’s seeing her as her own person with her own agency, he’s not even centering her trauma like he cares about her. 

A good friend would be focused on making sure she’s ok if her boyfriend “just tried to mutilate her”, dating her would not be the priority, but Randy skips over whatever she might be experiencing because he’s more interested in the possibility of getting with her.

The other moment that bothers me most is when he sees Sidney going upstairs with Billy and says “there goes my chance with Sid” as if he only wanted her when she was a virgin, like she’s somehow less desirable if she has sex with Billy.

I think all of this stuff is pretty par-for the course in 1995, like this is Randy being a pretty typical 90s man here. But it’s still misogyny. I still think Randy is an interesting and well written character, but it does feel like his “nice guy” archetype gets taken at face value and there’s not a lot of discussion of the real flaws that he has.

You can still like him btw this is not a callout post, and I think he’s a very entertaining character. I write stuilly, I’m not judging anyone for an attachment to morally questionable characters and I don’t think a character needs to be a good person for you to like them. That said I think it’s also important to recognize the flaws a character does have.

All this is to say that I don’t think Billy is the reason that Billy and Randy don’t get along. If Billy wasn’t a mysoginistic murderer (I’m not going to call him a sociopath as that term usually refers to anti-social personality disorder) but he was still dating Sidney I think Randy would still hate him.

[mbat]

hey guys, remember to stay skeptical of random messages on discord, or any social media tbh.

i was already suspicious when i got a random dm from someone i barely knew who i havent talked to since 2021 saying 'i need to talk about something serious' like... ??

but also the shit they were saying was dumb as fuck. first of all, over 300$ on nitro?? not to mention the ultra specific number of 362, like, thats just weird to me. also 'mess with your ip and stuff' how. how though.

also the weird implication that somehow my friends or family could also have hacked this person. my family who barely use discord/know how to use discord, and my toootally real irl friends that i have that got on my computer, right....

but also like i say in the screenshots, they were avoiding all of my questions asking for clarification, including me rightfully asking how this person would even be thinking of me after 3 years of not talking, not to mention we werent even friends, we just sent a few dms to eachother... but most of all how theyd remember me based on a pfp i drew after i stopped talking to them, or how someone would have a similar pfp to the one i drew myself of my own OC. yeah, sure buddy.

and most of all how dumb it is to be like 'oh noo, the person who i reported you to wont listen to me, please can you, the person whos account is at stake for actions you may or may not have taken, please go beg for your account for me?' like... that doesnt make sense. on no level does that make sense.

i took the picture they sent me, erased specific details like their username and my name and pfp, and reverse image searched it

and every single result was how its a scam.

and like i said, naming yourself that on discord, also that pfp?? thats cop shit. thats some cop shit. fuck no.

they prey on your fear of losing your account. the realistic idea that many people get hacked all the time from suspicious links, so that you feel bad for this person and are more likely to listen to them. they obviously go through peoples friends lists or dm lists so that its someone they might know, or previously knew, so that youre less likely to be like 'hey, fuck off.'

and they send a screenshot that is actually fairly convincing at first but its also like... bruh. cause im pretty sure ive reported some accounts in recent months and never got that image, though i didnt report them on the discord website because discord has a built in report button in app. and honestly whos gonna bother going to the website unless its like, extremely serious, like the time someone sent me images of fucking dead bodies on discord. thats what you go directly to the website for.

anyway, other people online have said that the person they attempt to send you to is the real hacker trying to steal your shit, if that wasnt already obvious by this persons insistence... so yeah. dont fall for scammers bullshit, guys.

if youre wondering why im even bothering posting this and saying so much shit, im just hoping if other people reverse search the image people send them that they get informational posts like this, cause its important people dont fall for this garbage

[occasionalincorrectquotes]

Cells at work manga masterlist

(Fun Fact did you know: Cells at Work has a 2nd season, and although there will be no more new episodes, spinoffs are constantly releasing, so you can still enjoy fresh new cell content even now!)

✓: Completed

*: ongoing

X: not officially translated as of November 2022

Cells at Work (the original) ✓

Cells at Work: Code Black ✓

Platelets at Work ✓

Cells at Work and Friends ✓

Cells at work Baby ✓

Bacteria at Work ✓

Cells Not at Work ✓

Cells at Work Lady ✓ X

White Blood Cells at Work / Cells at Work White Brigade ✓

Cells at Work Illegal * X

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't know what to read/start with? Recommendations and trigger warnings under the cut!

Cells at Work (The original manga): A nice series that teaches you the basics of cells, mostly immune cells but they do include some gut immunity in the 2nd season, filled with a nice balance of angst and fluff, includes a prominent ship although it isn't the main point of the series and they don't actually say out loud if they like each other romantically or anything.

TWs: Includes a lot of blood, slicing of knives/violence in general, cancer (anthropomorphized, but they do say the word a lot of course), violently biting things until they gush out blood/whatever they're made from

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells at Work: Code Black: An angsty series, a lot of sadness in general, although it looks like a gender swap of the original, the contents are also very opposite to the original. This series takes place in a different host body. Not fluffy, bad work environments, cells suffering in general. If you love seeing little fictional people suffering or want a reason to take better care of your body, this is the series for you!

TWs: Blood, violence, actual bazookas/guns, nsfw topics like unsafe sex and others, major and minor character deaths, drug mention both beneficial and unbeneficial, attempted suicide, ACTUAL suicide, depression, cancer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Platelets at Work: A very nice and fluffy series about the children of Cells at Work, takes place in the body of the original CaW manga, features the platelet team we all love and their master Megakaryocyte. It's a very nice slice of life series that talks about the platelets doing their best and being children, very cute 10/10.

TWs: Tbh, I'm not sure, maybe i can reread it and see, but i don't think there's anything worth a warning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells at Work and Friends: My personal favorite, features a Killer T cell with social anxiety as it's protagonist. A great slice of life that doesn't have much about education of biology. A lot of misunderstandings, a lot of funny and relatable moments, I'm sure all of us can relate to at least 1 of the chapters.

TWs: Blood, slicing and dicing and violence, eating and dead bacteria/viruses that would usually be very gorey are censored, depression and suicide mention (from one specific character, you can avoid him if you like and still enjoy the series), sewing needles on specific chapters, mention of nsfw

Reply if you'd want me to reference which chapters have the trigger so you can avoid it while still enjoying most of it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells at Work Baby: Much like the original, featuring 2 red blood cells as the main character instead of a white blood cell, just as educational as the original and all the characters are in a cute chibi style.

TWs: Blood, slicing, a little violence but it isn't as bad as the original, character death

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bacteria At Work: I have yet to read this fully, but i have read the first chapter, full of pretty men and talks about gut bacteria and dietary stuff.

TWs: Unknown (to me)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells NOT At Work: More of a slice of life compared to the original, it is quite educational on the development of red blood cells. Real LGBT rep, a wide range of characters and dynamics, made me very emotional, though i haven't read the last volume.

TWs: Mention of death/character death, and maybe slicing and killing in the last volume

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells At Work Lady: Because this manga has yet to be translated officially, i have yet to read it, but it talks about the anatomy of women, from periods to pregnancy, there is quite a lot. They also include pretty men!

TWs: NSFW mention, slicing and dicing of various things, potentially more that i am unaware of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cells At Work Illegal: Lastest CaW manga spinoff to be released as of writing, the name speaks for itself. Usage of drugs, smoking, drinking, and potentially many more. It is untranslated, so I cannot truly understand what it is about, but thats the gist of it. Also the main characters might be potentially a little gay

TWs: Drug usage, a lot of slicing and dicing and blood, NSFW (not just mention I'm pretty sure)

[slotumn]

My favorite house are the Deer and my OTP are both GD, so I tend to write most of my fics in VW, but I think the scenario I actually find the most fascinating in terms of... character exploration potential? is actually Silver Snow. Because there, all three lords lose, and the only person who remains to do the hard (and ungrateful) work of rebuilding is Byleth.

(And tbh even if it's not SS specifically I just really like any kind of scenario where all three lords lose miserably. I love good whump and I really love stuff that leans into despair of "everything I did and everything I lived for all amounted to nothing," that's the good shit)

For Dimitri and Edelgard, I think it's fitting and poignant if they both die in scenarios where they don't win; for Claude, though, I really like the idea of him being alive in SS or any "all three lose" scenario, but never getting to yield political power again.

And because he survived, he doesn't even get to be heroized or romanticized like Edelgard and Dimitri. Maybe if he had good results with his schemes, he'd be a genius and the Master Tactician, but he didn't, so now he's just a lying backstabbing piece of shit, as far as public opinion is concerned, and it's extremely humiliating. Of course Claude would rather be alive and humiliated than dead and valorized, but that doesn't mean it's fun!

Plus there's the great irony of how he'd go from being unfairly hated because of his heritage, of being an outsider... to being pretty fairly hated. Like not only is he a war criminal, he is a war criminal who lost. And even before he lost he was already contentious within his own faction. His PR is not recovering.

I'm rambling here but one of my favorite aspects of Claude's character is how he holds a philosophy along the lines of "it's not the strong who survive, it's those who survive that are strong." That as long as you're breathing, there's another chance. It's a very appropriate blend of pragmatic and optimistic for someone with his background.

At the same time, that just makes me wonder how he'd react if he's killed in all ways but physical. For how laid back he acts, he's still a prince, and a politician through and through. So what's it going to be like, once he's breathing but socially and politically dead, with the blood of thousands on his hands?

What's it going to be like, once he'd outlived the two others who'd understand?

Tl;dr I love the idea of "if nothing else I'll outlive them" becoming a monkey's paw for Claude, him surviving as a pathetic cowardly loser (the exact thing he must have been accused of being since childhood) instead of a leader in a new era

[ca-suffit]

How do you rationalize the violence of the characters on this show? Imo, it's easier when it's self defense or when they're just killing to feed, specially the latter since most are just extras and we don't get to know or be attached to those characters. But there are more complicated cases, including physical and psychological abuse and literally everybody has been the abused and the abuser at some point. Not to/with each other, but definitely other people. There is power imbalance in all of the dynamics. Some may forget that since they keep jumping through timelines where things are perfectly okay or they're closer to making amends and making up. And also because the actors are friends and have chemistry on screen (speaking about the whole cast, not any duo in particular). But technically all main characters have abused each other. Nobody is "safe". So, where to draw the line? Psychological abuse? Physical abuse? The severity of the action (like continuously torturing someone who can't respond or match your strength is definitely worse than one punch, for example)? The frequency of the action, like, as long as it happened once it's okay? When a character is still redeemable/forgivable giving the fact they are immortals, so, in theory, they have eternity to better themselves and see if they can make it work? Or should they all be narratively punished (end up alone, suffering, locked up, dead etc)? What are your thoughts? Btw, I'm genuinely asking. I've become obsessed with this show recently and I haven't been able to talk about it with a lot of people, but I have these questions in my mind. Personally, the more I think about it, the less I know, tbh. It's part of why I love the show and I'm asking, btw. I want to see if I reach some conclusion lol. P.S. I understand if you can't/don't want to answer and I'm sorry this got too long. And if you do answer, feel free to make it long as well if you want, even if you want to make comparisons, add interviews etc. I love reading people's takes hehe. Anywa, thanks!

I don't try to rationalize it tbh. I think that's a goal of the show and the original books as well. What are u supposed to do if u have to "endure" each other forever? What still holds meaning if ur all immortal, how do u have relationships, hobbies, not get bored? Especially when everyone is born from trauma and sometimes that trauma was yesterday and sometimes it was 1000 years ago or 5000 years ago from a society u don't understand at all. How do u bring together so many ppl like that and not erupt on each other?

Trauma and mental illness and whatever else is not always pretty. Violent reactions to things are common and, at least in a society where punitive justice is the norm, we get used to putting these things in these boxes. "u did this bad thing so now ur going to jail / hell." The eternal question of the VC books is where do vampires belong, anyway? Where do they go when they die and for what reasons? Anne Rice never gives a v clear answer on this and it's not just bcuz she wasn't a good writer, the point rly is to just ask the questions. We don't have these answers as humans now, we can't confirm or deny if there's an afterlife and whether these things we do matter for a "soul" or not. We create social rules for many reasons but even those are not actually built on the back of "justice" the way ppl are made to think they are.

I don't think these stories are asking u to find a true "good" or "bad" character or characters. I think we're just meant to watch their choices and reflect on them, reflect on our reactions to them. The fandom's desire for Louis to have done something to "deserve" the drop is all about racism and nothing else. They blame Claudia for "manipulating" Louis into killing Lestat bcuz a black girl is never allowed to be a victim either. She's not even a girl to them anyway, adultification of black girls is another angle they use all the time ("she doesn't look 14 to me!"). They'll say look what Louis did to goad Lestat into fighting him more but they'll never say look what Lestat did to hurt Claudia and push her to that point, as someone who was acting as her parent for most of their lives together. That's always "ooc Lestat." What's happening on screen is a rorschach test for us as the audience and as individuals.

Like I wrote, I don't believe in punitive justice, so I don't think long term these stories are going to focus on that much. The trial was a sham to begin with and Lestat was never "rly" dead or meant to be gone forever. They're going to hurt each other and isolate each other in different ways, but if the show wants to focus on any real character growth, it needs to focus on ways the characters can learn to understand each other instead of banishing / killing each other. Relationships take real work like this too. Anne Rice could never write any of this but I'm hoping the show does. Seeing Lestat have awareness of the pain he caused Louis and the reasons he did it fr was a step in the direction I was hoping the show would go. The big question *is* how does a relationship recover from that? For immortals? How will it make others feel too, particularly Armand, if Louis and Lestat get back together? Will Armand reflect on his own abuse too? They all have a lot in common and they all want to be loved. If that's brought out into the open and treated with kindness and understanding, then the desire to maim and kill each other will greatly diminish tbh. Everything these vampires do to each other originates from a place of personal pain, feeling unlovable. "love is a monster" is one of the taglines for a reason.

[dolokhoded]

You're easily the person who cares the most about Simon Z I've ever seen, so I thought I'd share smt

A few days ago I saw the current dutch tour of jcs and simon z definitely seemed to have smt going on. First of all his look reminded me of your apostle designs (/pos!), but he also kinda looked like he eats trash lol. So in poor Jerusalem, Jesus hugged him and held him close, but simon pushed him away and ran off, trying to hide his face. Then during the last supper, after Jesus prophesized the denial and betrayal, simon gets in an argument with a few other apostles. He was standing apart from them, they pointed at Jesus and he seemed to get defensive about something. (to me it almost seemed he was like 'idk what he's got going on/why he's acting like that/he's been weird' idk tho just the vibe I got). And then, during Judas and Jesus' argument he sits at the edge of the stage with his back turned away from them and the rest of the apostles, as he drowns a bottle of wine. So yeah anyway, wonder what that was all about

Oh also! Mary stands up for herself in strange thing mystifying, which i thought you also might appreciate! ('who are you to criticise me/who are you to despise me! leave me, leave me! let me be now!' after which jesus continues as usual)

i hope you understand i went oh HELL yes immediately when i saw this ask in my inbox i'm really living up to my blog title and my reputation here. #1 zimon enthusiast if he has zero fans i am dead.

first of all i take great offense at the implication that my simon design doesn't look like he eats trash (/lh).

this characterization is incredible i love it that's pretty much simon tbh. sitting back during the main character drama and stirring up more, unnecessary background drama. idk what's wrong with him but it's very wrong hope he goes to therapy soon, i admittedly love when productions do these little things to give background characters more of an arc or a personality even when they're sometimes unnecessary, do i get where simon's whole thing fits in in the story, no, do i care, also no.

(and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter ! cause that's life ! there's constantly shit going on with everyone around you, it's realistic ! and that's why i love jcs productions that utilize their ensembles well and create solid dynamics between the characters, it even helps highlight the main characters' dynamics to each other cause now there's context to the group ! there's context to the story ! this is a social setting !)

i also like mary getting those lines :) get his ass. i think mary should either not acknowledge judas' existence at all arena 2012 style or absolutely get his ass.

[graffitistars]

OOh I'd love to see more of your OCs!! Do you have a tag for them so that I can peruse what's there? 👀 And also which of your OCs have you been paying the most attention to as of late?

I usually just tag them as "ocs" or their names tbh

My new vampire (who is yet to be given a name) is who I've been paying the most attention to behind the scenes, recently. They're very much inspired by wwdits; being very much out of the times and still dressing like it's the 18th century. I'm still building on their backstory and personality, so I won't ramble about them just yet.

However!

These four are probably the ones I give the most attention to on here!

More info about them under cut because idw spam dash

I could talk a lot about all four of these fools. Maybe I'll try and tag them more in things and draw/talk about them more often in the open, but usually with my ocs, most of their development comes from rps with friends. Still, I'm always down to ramble if anyone ever asks :'))

--

Mena and Kayden

Kayden and Mena are both devils, or demons, whatever you prefer to call them. They make formal/informal contracts with people to reap their souls, sort of like a business for Hell. The more souls they reap, the higher their social status in Hell gets.

A bit of a backstory ramble:

Mena has been around on Earth for a fair few centuries and is quite high in the business at this point. They're siblings with Kayden who they adopted back when he was but a poor little orphan boy wandering the streets, after losing their own baby brother under unfortunate circumstances.

The two of them were pretty inseparable in their youth until Kayden was grown up and Mena decided to move abroad, which caused a little bitterness between the two.

Tbf Kayden has always been quite independent, but sees the world and everyone in it quite narrow mindedly. Growing up, his whole world was himself and Mena and so that's all he cared about; no one else mattered to him. Mena, being broken over the loss of their previous brother and in a very toxic mindset, encouraged this behaviour in Kayden. They didn't want Kayden to trust others in case it led him to harm.

When Mena left, Kayden changed his name to get more with the modern age, he was on his own now and so his world became that little bit colder - but it's okay because he has hellfire in his blood to keep him warm :)

After a century or so, Mena returns, but the two of them are very different people now and Kayden has little interest in reigniting the past. His bad habits have gotten worse and he's not the most honest when it comes to contracts; he'll find a loophole to get what he wants without having to wait it out, so people need to be very careful with what they sign with him.

Mena, on the other hand, has gone up in the world(s)! They've seen more of Earth and have learnt to find love in the smaller things. They're now actually higher than ever in devil society, only taking contracts from those who have something to give aside from their soul. Mena is living the high life; having bought themself a penthouse apartment in a nice part of town and got engaged to their rekindled ex-lover, Rosie. However, that's not to say they're perfect and wonderful now. They can still bring out some nasty claws when they're pushed to a limit.

But yeah, that's the general gist of Mena and Kayden's backstory together. I have aus where the two of them are human, but their story together stays surprisingly fairly similar.

I'm currently working on another plot with Kayden, where he's unwillingly helping out a girl who summoned him to bring back the soul of her dead brother. It's pretty fun!

--

Radio and Alistair

More siblings! I'll spare you another detailed backstory with these two though.

So this version of Radio is deoncelerised from 2016 Weehawken. He's in his mid-twenties and, despite being deoncelerised, is still tormented by his mother. He's the middle child and very much a people-pleaser. His nickname comes from high school, where he did the school announcement and ran his own little school radio show over lunch; he was "the radio station kid", which eventually just turned into "Radio" for short.

He's a good lad. Runs his own independent show in his free time and works at the local radio station, working his way up the ladder. He's surprisingly anxious for a guy who speaks to hundreds of people, but I guess it's easier to talk when you haven't got all those eyes staring at you. He'd probably do himself a favour if he didn't drink so much coffee in a day, but he's gotta keep chugging by somehow!

His hair is in a constant state of needing a trim and brush, but it was the only thing about his appearance he had control over when he was still living at home, because he grew too tall for his mother to reach with a pair of scissors. He'll give himself a sensible haircut one day.

Alistair is Radio's older brother. He originated from an uncomfortable au, back in the days of SSU blog rps, which is why he's so edgy. Now he's the ex-prodigy eldest son with too short of a fuse to stick with being told what to do.

Alistair's around 5 years older than Radio and despite the two being like chalk and cheese in many ways, they get along quite well! Alistair looks out for his little brother and encouraged the rebel in him when Radio was still living with his mother. He's had his own obstacles to overcome in life, but he's come far and in most universes has his partner, Garrick, by his side.

The universe that the brothers are most developed in is one where they're werewolves! Alistair loves being a werewolf, Radio not so much, but they live together in a pack, inside a big old gothic mansion in that universe. It's actually the same universe that Mena and Kayden come from, so I guess that's why I end up talking about the four of them more than most of my other ocs.

Rosie belongs to Litzi

Garrick belongs to Casey

[monstrousproductions]

[warning: transphobia, specifically from parents. seriously. take care of yourself i mean it.]

hiya dad, it was my 17th birthday today (technically yesterday, since it's past midnight, but i digress). i'm writing in cause it kinda sucked and most of the other adults who i'm out to (and are supportive) are my teachers and i don't really want to bare my heart over school email. i came out as trans (ftm) to my family a skosh over 2 years ago, and my parents still haven't accepted it. they're the sort that think that trans people exist, but *you* (that is, i) can't possibly be one of them. my mom's been trying to use fully neutral language and avoid using any names, which is... technically better than misgendering me, i suppose. my dad told me i was "full of shit" when i came out and has no hesitation about deadnaming me since them. there's lots of very sad specific anecdotes about the various responses they've had to me trying to assert that i'm a guy, but this is gonna be pretty long as is, so just take my word for it. i also came out to my older brother at the same time, and he's been hesitant, but willing to try about it.

all of us were busy during the day today, but we were going to open presents tonight, and my mom made a birthday cake for us to have afterwards. the first half of that went okay, though my dad was fully sullen--this isn't unusual; there's a whole lot else going on with my dad but getting into it would require a laundry list of warnings. anyway, after the presents my mom said that she wanted to consult me about decorating tomorrow's cake (i'm hanging out with some friends and will be having a larger cake due to the number of people). however, this was apparently a subtle way to get me out of earshot of my dad, since my mom wanted to know what i wanted to do about singing "happy birthday," since singing it with my actual name would send my dad "over the edge" (to be clear, this was almost certainly an accurate assessment). the options were to either a) sing happy birthday with 1. my actual name (horrible social repercussions for days if not weeks) 2. my dead name (i don't like being a doormat) or 3. a childhood nickname (which, while theoretically better than option 2, still implies that there's something wrong with my actual name), or to b) skip having cake as a family and not sing.

i chose b, for reasons obvious--my brother was also the only one who was hungry for cake, so it hopefully didn't seem weird. my mom said that it was my choice, but she wanted to sing me happy birthday and would use whichever name i picked, even if she didn't do it with the rest of the family. i agreed to this, and my mom said that she'd tell my older brother where i was (my brother and i are fairly close, and he's in college and usually living on-campus, so i was supportive of this). our conversation had gone on for long enough at that point that my dad and brother were having a full conversation, so i went up to my room to do homework that's due tonight. my brother came up a little later with cake (he says that cutting into a fresh birthday cake that wasn't his felt like thieving, which was sweet--all puns intended--of him), and we had cake before he needed to head back to campus. i started on my assignments, and after a bit my mom came in. i asked if she wanted to sing happy birthday then, and she said that she didn't think she'd be able to get the words out bc she'd be crying too much. rn i think she's on a walk or something.

that's pretty much the whole saga. as i said, i'm hanging out with some of my friends tomorrow, and i'm out to them (and tbh most of them are queer and/or trans) so that should be good, and my mom said that she'll sing the version with my actual name (though she didn't phrase it like that) with them, which will be a first. i'm not physically unsafe, and my parents would be fine if i weren't trans (like, in most regards they're good parents, they're just bad at not being transphobic). but i've also had a really shitty birthday and i didn't even get to be sung happy birthday with my actual name, and i'm really tired of getting hurt.

i'm not exactly sure if i have a question or not. i think most of the decisions i'll really want a second opinion on are gonna start being made when i turn 18 and can medically and legally transition, and right now i'm mostly waiting and trying to take care of myself as best as i can. still, if you have any sage advice i'll certainly take it. anyway, my name's Julian and if you could wish me a happy, albeit belated, birthday i'd really appreciate it.

Oh, kiddo! This sounds really, really tough xxxx

First of all, thank you for having the consideration to add a content warning - I appreciate, it not just for myself but for everyone else on the blog.

I wouldn't usually weigh in on people's personal problems (at least, the ones that aren't about ghosts and ghouls...) because it can be hard to maintain healthy boundaries around this stuff - at the end of the day, I am still a stranger on the internet!

As such, my first piece of dadly advice for you is to talk about this with people who know you and love you and who can support you in a more direct, ongoing way.

That said, of course I can wish you a very, very happy birthday, lovely Julian! I'm sorry the day itself was a bit shit, and I hope your friends can help you celebrate the way you'd like to. I had a pretty remarkably shitty 16th birthday, and can certainly sympathise.

Obviously I can't weigh in on any of the big decisions in your future (taps the 'stranger on the internet' sign again 😅) but I hope it's some reassurance to know that adulthood is on the horizon. As you get older, you'll be better placed to advocate for your own autonomy and to set and maintain the boundaries that make sense to you.

Until then, taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do. It's hard, and it sucks, but you're worth every ounce of love and care you can give yourself. Stick with it, sweet Julian, and here's to a happier year ahead! 💕