#oda hates ladies

[snezhnayansnow]

More One Piece!

Watching Dressrosa now...

I'm sure my husband is getting hella sick of me lmfao

But in all seriousness... One piece's number one rule: women are useless!

It doesn't matter how cool, how op, what the power is, how strong, how hyped up they are...

Women

Are

Useless

And it's killing me!

I won't even talk about the designs of the ladies but let's list our Dressrosa beauties:

Violet (Princess Viola) - to save her father she becomes an assassin for the Donquixote Pirates. That's so rad! She ate the Glare-Glare fruit (now the ocean hates her) which gives her these amazing clairvoyance powers and shit. She was going to fight Sanji till she was moved by his dedication and ability to see through her. She didn't want to work as an assassin, she wants to save her Kingdom! What a total badass! And then as soon as she joins the Strawhats... Useless. A man had to remind her to use her powers to locate the Tontatta Princess, Mansherry... And now she's nothing more than a pair of binoculars to watch the split up Strawhats. After she FOUGHT SANJI and FOUGHT TO SAVE SANJI! Did we forget about the whale tears? What the fuck!?

Rebecca - What a woman! Even though the whole country hated her, she entered the colosseum. This woman wanted to win to save her country so she could live peacefully with her dad friend! And even though I hated the fact here's a girl that's gonna fight but doesn't wanna hurt people... This bitch stuck to her guns like a fucking champ! She didn't hurt shit and is such a good dex fighter! Holy fuck!!! Of course she lost to Sabo because ya know...... But she joins forces with the Strawhats to save her Kingdom from the Donquixote family. And since she doesn't fight she's now useless........... Will we see more of her? Can she keep rolling those saving throws? Who cares! We'll know she's gonna be useless till one of the men comes along to save her...

Kuween (The Manager) - Here is a woman dedicated to her job! She is THE MOTHER FUCKING MANAGER of the smile factory. And she takes her shit seriously! Her weapon of choice is a... Vacuum? Okay... Um... Vacuums are cool I guess. She can suck up all the escaped rebellious Tontattas, who are slaves at the factory. Yeah she's a bad guy but what a girlboss taking so much responsibility and pride in her work! SUPER!!! Oh no, yeah wait, my boi Franky took her out with a hug and a kiss. Lowly virgin Kuween got played at the absolute MAN POWER of the pervs, Franky and Senor Pink. And is now useless... Like a Hallmark channel movie lead roll, giving up her job because of some useless man. Smh.

Giolla - a super scary art teacher looking mf with a passion for the avant-garde! This lady farts art with the power of the Art-Art fruit (and now the ocean hates her). She turned Chopper into a Minecraft character lmfao. Hilarious! The fact fluffy Doflamingo trusted this old woman enough to get on the Sunny and take the kid and the scientist is amazing! Mango do be trusting his crew! And she would have gotten away with it too... if she wasn't so full of artistic passion and let Brook sweet talk her into art... It do be like that. How come this ugly old broad was the best one yet!?

Baby 5 - yes that's her name, Baby 5. Why? Idk yet, probably some dumb backstory like abandoned by family or something (just finished episode 692: The Struggle with Pica — Zoro's One Finishing Move). However, look at her badass devil fruit... She can turn any part of her body into any kind of weapon using the Arm-Arm fruit (and now the ocean hates her). This bitch turned into a bomb, a fucking bomb, exploded and put herself back together. Fucking rad! So we know she can nuke a place and live. Her downside- she is a female Sanji. Some guy says something and she has to help him... It's sweet. Probably linked to that backstory and wanting to prove she's useful or something... Idk. I know a lot of ladies dream of being a bride and wife one day. So we're really playing this up, but this is totally screwing with her badass abilities. Another Hallmark movie lead roll syndrome claims another op woman... I also wanted to point out, when she fought Franky on punk hazard, changing her upper torso into a gun... She looked like a gun, but last episode fighting another character she changed into a rifle with tits. Are you fucking with me? The gun had to have tits suddenly. I fucking hate this show!

Sugar - the most useful one here, and here's my theory: she's not a woman "yet" but a child. So since since we can't slap tits on her to make her useless, she's more useful. Even though her devil fruit powers stops her body growth so she'll always be stuck with a physical appearance of a child, she's still not perceived as a woman, aka not perceived as useless! With the Hobby-Hobby fruit (and the ocean hating her) she's been turning all the citizens, not citizens, Navy/Marines, and anyone one else that gets in floofer Mango's way into toys, which some how also makes people forget about them. Weird flex, I still don't get it, but okay. She's only stopped by Ussop trying the spicy grape challenge... Which I would have been too. Ussop was fucking terrifying (get that man some milk). But just how useful is she? Well since we saw her freaking out from dudes with long noses and long noses shaped hot dogs... She got some PTSD. So even though this bitch can fight the Tontattas by matching their speed, which is crazy, and can literally make the world forget about you and turn you into a slave for the Donquixote Pirate family, we know how this is gonna end. She'll be rendered useless by some stupid Ussop long nose face thing before she can do any damage to the Strawhats.

Princess Mansherry - Who the fuck spelt her name? Idk, she's in the next episode so I got nothing on her yet except she's crying in the time-out room. Tontatta Princess, Mansherry, who Leo said was "selfish, mean, capricious, and short-tempered" and based on how she was crying for him to save her- bet this girl got a crush on that dude... Boys are dumb (but at least they're useful...)

Wicca - this Tontatta stole Zoro's sword! What a bad ass! We see the Tontatta's strength when she throws a tantrum while arguing with Zoro. And she has the balls to call Luffy, Zoro, and Kin'emon names, cuz they allllllll a special kind of stupid. And she had to put up with all 3 of them at once. Damn girl... And with all that strength what do we see her do? Absolutely nothing. She's become just another background Tontatta... Sad. After she had to do all that work to get Zoro to run in a straight line. She deserves better!

Bian (Pink Bee Squad Leader) - Yes, the Pink Bee herself. Why is she a bee? I'm not sure, I honestly can't remember if the anime said anything about devil fruit or something. Even though she has a title and a whole squadron bee-hind her, what has she actually done? She uhhhhh raided a ship to cause a distraction... And ummmmmmm spelt out some words to start a revolution in the smile factory so her Tontatta friends finally understood they've been tricked. But seriously, what has she done? We see more of that ugly ass beetle man, Kabu, the other squadron leader.

Acilia - omfg I forgot about her! I'm sorry QUEEN! A gladiator at the Corrida Colosseum and like one of 5 people that like Rebecca, this absolute unit of a woman throws her whole pussy into it every time. Honestly, barbarian to barbarian, this bitch serves cunt. She's strong AF and isn't afraid to show off some girly flair with all the cute hearts on her shield. She was fending off that Rolling Logan fool till Cabbage had to ruin it. And of course because Rebecca had to win (her saving throws are too good damn) our barbarian queen fell... But without her help, Rebecca wouldn't have survived. She was useful for one whole episode and that was pretty much it. You go QUEEN! I hope we'll see her again, but since she's such a side character I doubt she'll be showing up ever. You deserve better too, Acilia!

[signalburst]

Shōgun Historical Shallow-Dive: Part 2 - Heir Crash Investigations

What happened to Ochiba no kata and Yaechiyo, the Heir, in history? This was the most requested topic for part two. Get ready for failson psych-outs, drag-king, diss-track action. None of that is a joke.

There is a very simple version of this story, and a very complicated version of this story. I'll try and split the difference, but again, if you're interested, best English-language high level overview of the period that is not horribly out of date.

Again! Not a professional historian, never did my PhD, so my opinion is going to colour this.

The simple version: Ochiba no kata in the Shōgun show is quite a departure from the historical Yodo-dono or Chacha. She did a lot of political manouvreing to try and get her son to regain the pre-eminent position in Japan, but ultimately lost out to Tokugawa's overwhelming political and military strength. Nobody knows if she died or escaped at the end of the siege of Osaka castle in 1615 (15 years after the show), so there are lots of cool folk tales about her.

The more complicated version:

Ochiba is depicted as a sneaky, conniving, scary lady who scratches out fate's eyes. Why? Short version, whilst she was a major magnate and power player during the period of the show and after, she was not a brilliant schemer. She also wasn't crazy malicious - she was trying to keep her son alive. Most of her plans came undone because of incompetence, not being a puppet master who bent men to her will with veiled seduction and threats. That's a later invention. (We'll come back to it at the end).

She was the dictator Koroda's (Oda Nobunaga's) niece, not his daughter. As far as is known, her and Mariko's real life counterpart, Hosokowa Gracia, did not hang out.

The real life Ochiba, Yodo-dono, became a nun after the Taiko (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) died. So... less sultry and cat-like, more pious, still an excellent political operator.

She stayed out of the war between the Regents and Toranaga/Tokugawa, and did send a letter to Toranaga/Tokugawa saying the Heir would remain neutral. This allowed the Eastern forces under Toranaga/Tokugawa to present Ishido/Ishida's mobilisation and war footing as rebellion against the Heir, and the Taiko's wishes.

After Sekigahara, Tokugawa (we're past the book now) claimed that he would be 'as a father' to the Heir - real name, Toyotomi Hideyori. Most of the Heir's former fervent supporters embraced the Tokugawa reign.

He didn't hate the Heir or want to knife him in his sleep. 'It must be emphasised that Ieyasu himself bore Hideyori no personal ill will. Although he had once been enemies with Hideyori's father, Ieyasu was sensible enough to acknowledge Hideyoshi's [the Taiko's] unique genius. He acted kindly towards the late Taiko's child.' (Chaplin, 511).

So how did they end up coming to blows? Ochiba no kata's real-life inspiration, Yodo-dono, was deeply suspicious of Toranaga/Tokugawa. She had her pride - expecting her son to inherit the Realm and all - and she was an excellent political operator in her own right. She wouldn't roll over and let Toranaga/Tokugawa throw all these plans away because of one battle between Regents. She stayed out of it to keep her options open.

Tokugawa was well on his way to implementing his unification of the realm plans, post-Sekigahara. He demanded that she and her son go to Kyoto to show they were good and loyal vassals. Yodo-dono refused on behalf of her, and her son, intuiting (correctly) that the Heir paying homage to Tokugawa would ruin what was left of the family claim. This certainly raised an eyebrow amongst the magnates who'd survived the civil war. To Tokugawa, this woman needed watching, as she was clearly not going to just accept that her son was just another daimyo now.

Once Tokugawa was made Shōgun, he installed one of his lackeys in Osaka castle to keep an eye on Yodo-dono/Ochiba, and the Heir. The lackey reported for a decade that the Heir was essentially 'effeminate' (his words) and a failson.

Tokugawa was fine with this. He was busy building a unified empire. He'd married his granddaughter-in-law to the Heir, and given away most of the Toyotomi (ex-Taiko) lands after the battle to lords that flipped to his side.

As far as Osaka went- Yodo-dono and the Heir - Tokugawa was, characteristically, waiting to see what would happen. He was hoping the whole Toyotomi 'remember how the Heir's dad was Taiko?!' thing would fade with time. Wishful thinking, but maybe the son of his late master would accept the way things were now.

Between 1601-1611, Tokugawa Ieyasu hadn't made up his mind to destroy the Toyotomi. After all, most of his ex-rivals were now scrambling to impress him by contributing the most money to ruinous castle-building programs he ordered, in order to keep them broke and squabbling amongst each other. Maybe Yodo-dono would guide the Heir to do the same?

Ding dong, daddy wants to check on his main political rival's kid! Tokugawa Ieyasu eventually remembered the Heir was still alive, and requested a meeting. Yodo-dono requested three Tokugawa hostages (three of Ieyasu's own sons!) before she'd agree to the meeting. She knew who he was, and she knew now what he was capable of.

Uh oh! In 1611, Tokugawa met the now 18-year-old Heir at a neutral castle and found him strapping, manly, and charismatic. His lackey had been lying to him! It turns out, the lackey keeping watch on Yodo-dono and the Heir had a soft spot for the Taiko, and had been deliberately telling Tokugawa not to worry about his son to try and prevent conflict. But this kid was dangerous. Dangerously awesome. If he impressed Tokugawa, there was a good chance he'd impress other busho and daimyo, drawing them to a faction to oppose the new Tokugawa rule.

Rulers hate him! This little moron used time shut away in a castle to develop into a political threat!

It was at this point Tokugawa made up his mind to destroy Yodo-dono (her son's chief counsellor, and the political force behind a growing anti-Tokugawa movement), as well as the Heir. If you've read any history, a leader cementing power can't let remnants of the old regime hang around to act as a magnet for opposition. Especially if they are impressive and cool - Tokugawa was blown away by the boy's charisma and charm. So Tokugawa needed an excuse to take out the Heir. Any old excuse would do.

The excuse was lame, and arcane. The Heir's dad was famous for a sword hunt. Basically, the Taiko was a peasant who became a general who became a samurai, and wanted to pull the ladder up behind him. No non-samurai would be allowed weapons. No one was allowed class mobility anymore. You were what you were born, suck it, and a big part of that was confiscating weapons to ensure no more uprisings... like the Taiko had been a part of.

But because the Taiko was all about glitz, glamour, and what we'd now call virtue signalling, he was going to melt all of these swords down into a giant Buddha! It was a pious thing, honest! This buddha would be located at a temple called Hoko-ji.

It's 1614, and Yodo-dono has gathered a network of anti-Tokugawa daimyo, busho, and - importantly - samurai. Many samurai had been left masterless (ronin) after Sekigahara. Even those with lords had been transformed overnight from professional warriors to bureaucrats (we'll get to this in a later part). They were restless, out of work, and they flocked to her banner for the chance to get paid for their skills again, and lose the stigma of being masterless. With his ranks swelling, the Heir looked more and more like a viable political contender.

The Toyotomi, under Yodo-dono, with Hideyori as the pretty dashing figurehead, began to throw their weight around. They rebuilt Osaka castle's fortifications, and they forged a bell at Hoko-ji temple funded by the proceeds of Father's Great Sword Hunt. It wasn't any old bell though. It was a diss bell. Read in a certain way, the kanji inscription on the bell could be interpreted as breaking the Tokugawa in two, and 'may the Toyotomi rise... again?'

Tokugawa sent an envoy to Yodo-dono, asking that, given this insult, she and the Heir might consider relocating to another province. Say, a less central, less jewel-in-the-crown-with-an-impregnable-castle province. It'd help make up for the insulting bell, after all. The veiled threat was not very veiled. 'Leave while I give you the chance.'

This drew the battle-lines between those who still held out loyalty to the Taiko's clan (or who just hated the Tokugawa), and the Shōgun's forces. The former flocked to Osaka Castle and dug in.

That was enough for Tokugawa, who laid siege to Osaka Castle. Well, he was very old now, so he let his son - the Shōgun whose dad told him what to do - lead the siege. Assaulting the castle was a logistical nightmare, but luckily for Tokugawa and his fledgling Shōgunate, they outsourced much of the work to the lords who had pledged allegiance to the new regime (read: almost all of them). Keeping these lords poor - say, through funding hugely expensive military endeavours - was one of the ways Tokugawa Ieyasu and heirs exerted control. Ieyasu sat on a hill in a comfy tent while others bled gold (and blood) to build the expensive siege works and start the assault.

There were two sieges. One kinda worked, the second wasn't really a siege, but that's what they're called in the sources 🤷

The first siege was very much carrot-and-the-stick. Archers would loose arrows into the castle, with scrolls wrapped around the shafts, requesting the Toyotomi surrender. Politely. Poetically. It didn't work.

Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga) tried bribing famous commanders inside the castle, including famed hunk-hero and coverboy of the Samurai Warriors games, Sanada Yukimura. He told Tokugawa to go fuck himself. Tokugawa tried bribing another general, who considered it, was discovered, and beheaded in Osaka Castle to encourage the others. 🙃

Yodo-dono started dressing up in samurai armor and walking the walls, in full view of the besieging armies. Her son's forces found this 'both unnerving... and condescending.' She was acting like a general, which pissed the generals off. She was also accidentally undermining her now-adult son, and sapping confidence from those who'd pledged to his banner. Read the room, lady. This doesn't seem to be malicious - this was just her first experience actually wielding power in an armed conflict. 'Although she feigned the image of a warlike Virago, she was in fact a cloistered and rather narrow-minded woman who understood little of what went on outside of her castle. As such, Ieyasu knew that she could be manipulated when the time came.'

What's the best way to manipulate someone? Fire cannon at them!

'And now for my most cunning plan. Blowing her up.'

Tokugawa ordered his son to focus cannon fire on the living quarters of Osaka Castle. Yodo-dono's quarters. Twice a day, every day. They were using cannon seized from Portuguese ships, and the gun-crews are likely to have been using training manuals originally drawn up by our old friend, the English pilot. He was off living his best life in Edo at the time. But he trained accurate gunners - one round shot hit Yodo-dono's quarters and nearly killed her. While she and her ladies were having tea. The gall.

This was enough for her. She ordered her son to make terms with the Tokugawa. This wasn't worth dying for.

'Ugh, stop wrecking all my shit you fucking swine. That teapot was from Muji!' - Yodo-dono, 1615

Siege over! Can we be friends? Well, it's hard to go back from that. Tokugawa Ieyasu offered Hideyori/the Heir (well, really, his mom) two options: either Yodo-dono goes to Edo as a hostage to their family's good behaviour, or they agree to fill in the moat of Osaka Castle, making it less a fortress and more of a nice, big, open-plan house.

Option 2 was agreed, and Ieyasu issued a treaty document sealed with his own blood. The very obvious implication - don't fucking break it.

The Heir and Yodo-dono fucking broke it.

Urged on by his mother, Hideyori began to gather ronin (masterless samurai) back to his banner, re-dig the filled in moats, and gathered 120,000 fighting men to Osaka Castle. I forgot to mention how big this siege was, sorry. It was huge. And wouldn't you know it, many of these fighters were būsho, samurai, and ashigaru who were Christian. They saw the way the wind was blowing, and that the Tokugawa were getting wise to Portuguese intentions towards Japan. This might be their last chance (spoiler: it was).

The second siege (called the Summer Siege) began. From the Heir's side, it was much more ambitious than the first. The boy general, son of the Taiko, wanted to seize Kyoto, declare Tokugawa a traitor to the Emperor, and go on the offensive.

Unfortunately, like Sekigahara, many of the forces gathered in Osaka were there to oppose Tokugawa, rather than fight for one unified purpose. The war councils generally ended with disunity, and Yodo-dono kept interfering, which really, really was starting to wear thin with the Heir's vassals and allies. And the Heir himself. Imagine your mom turning up to work every day after you'd got a big promotion (Leader of the Western Armies). Not only that, your mom is literally coming to work in cosplay. The poor kid.

Long story short - Hideyori, the Heir, had no military experience. In a much-mythologised, last-of-its-kind battle between actual samurai - before they hung up their swords and became indentured bureaucrats - the Heir risked it all. His plan to sally forth and fight the armies of the Shōgun failed. They were beaten back by a contingent of 150,000 warriors under the Shōgunate, commanded by Ieyasu's son, Hidetada.

Key commanders were killed during the offensive, the Osaka forces lacked unity and cohesion (Sekigahara called, it wants its overarching lesson back). The Heir retreated back into Osaka Castle, but they didn't have a contingency plan and had few defences and obstacles established. The castle came under massive bombardment and constant infantry assault. The entire castle caught fire.

(Side note: a primary source written by a Dutch trader at the time said that generals loyal to the Heir set the castle on fire themselves, hoping to win favour with the Shōgun. Apparently, Hideyori discovered this and threw them off the ramparts into the flames. We'll probably never know whether that was true, but it's at least plausible.)

The Heir, Toyotomi Hideyori, and his mother, Yodo-dono - niece of Oda Nobunaga, most powerful concubine to the Taiko, most powerful woman in Japan - committed seppuku in the flames.

His body was found. Hers wasn't. You know what happens when this arises in history. There are folk legends that Yodo-dono escaped and lived a happy life in another province, but, hey, we all like a happy ending.

So if the inspiration for Ochiba no kata was a bit of a tone-deaf aristocrat nun who, whilst politically powerful, was not really a sexy, scary woman, how did we end up with Ochiba in the show?

After the Tokugawa defeated the Heir's forces, they had control of everything - eeeverything, including history books, plays, the works. What makes for a better story if you're on the winning side?

A mother was put in a terrible position when her husband, the ruler of the country, died. A group of men promised her husband they would place her son on the throne. One of them lied, stole the throne through force of arms and political savvy, and disinherited the son, despite the mother's best attempts. Her cause failed because she lacked the skills and authority to unify a movement, and her son was an untested youth who, in the end, just didn't have it.

The Heir's mother was an evil, scheming, sexually wanton (!) woman who destabilised the realm and got her son killed. She led them to disaster and without her, Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Heir would have gotten along fine! Her cause failed because she was a malicious harpy.

The Shōgunate chose option 2, and that's mostly the version we get in popular culture. It's hard to undo 260 years worth of character portrayal. Don't get me wrong, she was scheming, she was self-interested, but so was every major player in the period. She used her influence to gather support for her son, tried her best to overcome Toranaga/Tokugawa once she realised what he was, and she failed. To really send the moral message home, the Shōgunate cast her as a wicked woman, making her wickedness the reason she failed, not the complex factors that contributed to the downfall of the Taiko's clan.

So that's the story of Ochiba no kata's real life insiration, and what happened to the Heir - by far the most requested Part 2, and probably a bit depressing for Ochiba fans, unfortunately.

In Part 3, if there's any interest, we could look at the Dictator, the Taiko, and Toranaga and how they unified Japan, or we could look at a really interested question - what the hell happened for the 260 years of Tokugawa rule? How does it live on today (in some pretty dark ways) in the popular imagination? Your call.

[akutasoda]

Yay! You made a Natsume masterlist!

May I please request Natsume with an s/o who is also a catshifter and who hangs out with him wherever he goes. Like, one day, during the dark era, the Buraiha trio are hanging out and 'Sensei' brings a lady cat with him :>

feline fancies

synopsis - when natsume meets someone just like him

includes - natsume

warnings - gn!reader, cat-shifter reader, fluff, slight angst, wc - 574

a/n: always happy to write for my beloved cat man!

it was extremely uncommon for two person to possess the same ability, but it wasn't entirely impossible. and meeting someone who shared the same ability as you was even rarer. so when natsume met you he believed more than anything that this was fate.

out of all abilities, the last one he'd expect to see two of was his. and maybe it was the fact you both were 'cat-shifters' that made you instantly click with one another - but whatever it was, you two got along almost too well.

the perks of sharing the same ability with your lover were endless. you both had the same level of power, one that allowed you two to spend time wandering around yokohama, taking in the stunning sights in the night time glow completely uninterrupted, just the two of you. and it made it all the much easier for natsume to be with you without putting your life in danger.

he had many people after him and anyone seen associated with him would surely become targeted. and he'd hate for you to be caught in his issues, especially if you were a civilian. but who would think to suspect a calico and his accompanying feline?

but maybe he did like to take you with him to keep an eye on some people, he did enjoy your company after all. you found the small bar quite charming. sure the alleyway outside was a little off putting but the bar had a charm to it. natsume had given you a quick run down about the people he was looking out for, and he told you to avoid the younger one for he had a nullification ability and that'd surely be awkward.

when you two first arrived, the bar was empty apart from the bartender who recognised your lover's cat form and simply offered you a slight smile. not too long after you both had gotten comfied on one of the bar stools, the young boy he had told you about walked in. he seemed rather somber but warmed up slightly upon seeing the familiar calico.

he sat down a few stools away before turning his gaze toward your feline form. he smiled before commenting 'sensei mind introducing your 'friend' here?'. your lover simply pressed his forehead to yours in response. before dazai had the choice to say anything else, he heard the familiar footfall of oda approaching.

as soon as oda reached his view, he spun round with a big smile and said 'sensei has someone special with him today! best leave them be yeah?'. oda only smiled and gave a quick nod before sitting beside dazai. ango was greeted with a familiar warning and too chose to sat farther away from the sensei and his new 'friend'.

the trio would come to greet you with the same greeting they gave your lover - afterall you had become a regular appearance alongside the calico now. and everytime without fail, one of them would ask you two how things were going even though each time was met with silence - mainly dazai to no ones surprise.

and even in the future, if dazai ever decided to reminisce at the old bar he'd sometimes be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the calico and the very same feline companion. a lasting sense of familiarity for him, something that hasn't changed. and even when he saw you two elsewhere he couldn't help but smile.

[redsamuraiii]

Shogun (2024) / Awaiting Kirin (2020)

There will always be war between good and evil. The evil will forever want to dominate, abuse and exploit others. The good will always want to fight back, demand justice and protect their families.

Akechi Mitsuhide (the man that inspires the character of Mariko's father) used to believe Oda Nobunaga to be the one to unify the warring states and usher an era of peace but Oda got greedy.

Akechi began to plot against Oda after he ordered the killings of monks, peasants, women and children on Mount Hiei, to send a message to his enemies of the consequences of their defiance.

At the time, Akechi was in contact with Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga). When Akechi knew that Tokugawa would be the one to unify Japan, Akechi risk his own life to remove Oda to clear the path for him.

Tokugawa laid low when Akechi overthrew Oda. When Hideyoshi (Taiko) returns to avenge Oda, he kills everyone except Tokugawa who was "neutral" when in fact he was bidding his time to take over.

Which is why in the show, Shogun, Toranaga is close to Mariko (Akechi's daughter) and is growing impatient as he wants to remove the remnants of the Taiko and Oda as quickly as possible.

Lady Ochiba (Taiko's Consort) knows of Toranaga's true intentions, which is why she fully distrust and hate him, that she could not wait any longer and push Ishido and the Council to move quickly.

[You know, it would've been cool if they got Hiroki Hasegawa to play Akechi in Shogun! I've watched several actors playing Akechi, but Hiroki Hasegawa managed to nail the conflicted character nicely!)

[tittysuckersworld]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAAASE!!!!! tell me about your huhhhhh fem skk au .... actor dazai.. band chuuya. idk where the post went i think it was you, i beg, on my hands and knees i love them. plzplzplz (agree with ur tags btw me2:(( )

I AMMM THE PERSON WITH AUU THANK YOU FOR ENABLING MEEEEEE- ehem hi hallo i am yes hi sudhsudjs okay ya uhhhhh hm im not sure where to start from where left off- rant got long so under cut is more :>

but pretty much soukoku as an idol group til the photographer/aspireing writer oda somehow gets in a scandle and has his parental rights to his kids taken away. before was shared custody but now is.. not.

at this point dazai was already very ready to quit being an idol. so to try and cover up the oda scandal she leaks some pictures of her kissing some people earlier in her career and some mysterious ginger lady....... she also sets up a bomb under one of the agencys cars to really blow everything over.

chuuya is not happy with this. very not happy with this.

but, now she has the freedom to do whatever she wants with her music. so she gose full pop-punk rock<3<3<3<3 and also this is where stupid animatic make their way into my plan. remember the song black sheep cover by lady in schot pilgram, this is one song chuuya makes when she hits it off on her own. she also gets really popular when she moves to pop punk rock

okay dont actually have much else planned with this- just that 2-3 years later dazai publishes a book and its a crazy best seller. talking about the inner workings of the industry and is working on her next books. mabey publishes another in like a year. i am not fully sure timeline-

the dazai leaving the agensy and car bomb really give off breaking up vibes to chuuya til a hose soaked dazai is in front of her door. not even fake rain just blondie(kunikida) got mad at her plan and desided to try soaking the prick. i dont think they immediately start dating again, but they do at some point. and is secret dating ya.

dazai just shows up to some of chuuyas shows? its a running gag that dazai will somehow get on stage and fuck with chuuya. or mess with the lights. or just anything to make a lil ruckus. the media has no clue how dazai keeps ending up at them at the right place and right time.

so! one time 4-5-6 years after dazai leaves the company and a few years of them dating again, dazai sorta.. stops coming to the shows for a little? like seems to be super busy with new book or smth.

animatic timee

then on anniversary chuuya desides to sing one of her old songs. and dazai is sitting in the croud. and is so so much. at the end the light moves over to dazai in the croud as she walks tword the stage. then the lights shut off when shes on the stage. just those two, heres their dialog have thought up, will be little janky not best but im trying. pls change if want.

Ch: "oh so right here-"

D: "Chuuya Nakahara. that first day i met you. that was begrudgingly one of the best days of my life. you were one of the best things in my life. you are one of the best things in my sorry life."

*the sprinklers to the concert all go off*

Ch: "DAZAI?!!?!"

D:"Remember that first arcade date? it was raining so hard we got instantly soaked. got sick for a week with our managers yelling at us. i hated it, but i hated it with you."

D:"or how we snuck out durring that one stop in paris? i was able to get that shitty corner store wine and a day old baguette and you smiled so wide. it was like the sun opened up in front of me."

D:"Mabey instead you could think of that one time, after that accident at that one fan meet. where you slowly unwound and rewound my bandages. kissing each little thing. had to drag you off before you tryed kissing every molecule of my arms."

Ch, wispering: "Osamu.."

D:"Chuuya Nakahara. i am sick of telling lies to the world. im sick of hiding how my eyes can light up hearing your snorts. im sick of hiding the butterflys in my stomach whenever we brush hands on the sidewalk. im sick of not being able to say and shout to the world im yours. so today, no more hiding."

by this point any audience people that stayed are using the flash on their cameras to take pictures, and dazai had bent down to one knee.

D:"Insted, how about we be Chuuya Nakahara-Dazai and Osamu Dazai-Nakahara? from today to death do us part, will you marry me?"

and yada yada ruegfuejhrbe okay yup not sure thats any good- half tempted to have chuuya take the knee here but i think she dose her own cute more private proposal for her engagement back. but yee thats all i got planned!! thank you so much for enabling me and pls pls pls if wanna talk more about this me dms are so so so so open and so is my ask box please begging

[solunstell]

Notes I've taken from the Beast light novel:

Right off the bat, Akutagawa's autism is showing lmao. He just like me fr

Akutagawa was already known as the "Silent Mad Dog" or "Heartless Dog" pre-mafia

Describing akutagawa's ability in combat: "as if he were mowing grass with a scythe." Atsushi was right, he is a lawn mower.

Akutagawa bit through an enemy's neck. Insert vampire comparison

I'd love to see an analysis of the parallels between chuuya and akutagawa. Both were in a group in the slums that relied on their ability, both were taken into the mafia by dazai, both have abilities that have an incredible destructive potential but can also make then near-invincible...

"Akutagawa glared at his foe - one of the men responsible for his friends' deaths - then smiled with evident satisfaction...and collapsed face forward." Insert comparison to his death

I think there can also be a comparison In this whole fight to avenge his dead friends to Oda's death. Both were orchestrated, both knew that they were probably going to die, and both were at peace after defeating the enemy.

DAZAI HAS BLACK HAIR?!?!

Okay adjusting mental image I always saw it as dark brown (yes the anime is brown canonical but in my heart I hold priority to the manga and novels. Same reason I draw the hat chain on chuuya and red eyes on dazai)

Dazai points out how akutagawa's foolish death would leave behind his little sister. This also reminds me of oda leaving dazai and ango behind.

Akutagawa is really out here saying stuff like ergo lmao

Akutagawa's skill evolved into the beast-like form when Dazai mentions his sister coming to harm

Dazai quote as he decides not to take in akutagawa: "I think I'll go with that other guy for my right-hand man." Does this mean that main timeline dazai saw akutagawa as his right hand man?

Things akutagawa is called or compared to in this novel: Silent Mad Dog, Heartless Dog, Cerberus, a slide (by the orphan kids), Former Disciplinarian and Current Ambassador of Paper Shredding

Naomi calls Junichiro "Jun"

Kunikida and Junichiro communicating through looks

Canon bitch face

Oda is described as unpredictable and he is late. Ty asagiri for more blorbo characterization crumbs

Akutagawa: king of purple prose

Atsushi is afraid to die

Even in the Mafia, atsushi is described as innocent looking, not sadistic, and respectful

Kyouka is extremely pale, and has a childish voice

Chuuya still wants to kill dazai, and won't let anyone else do it

Dazai is still cracking jokes!

The Port Mafia is more successful under dazai, and there are so many assassination attempts against dazai that he never even uses the windows in his office.

Akutagawa grew potatoes behind his home in the slums

I love that akutagawa's first choice when embarrassed is always denial. "No. No. No."

Akutagawa is a light sleeper and a morning person

"Oda, who was always late because some lady in the neighborhood stopped him for a chat..."

"...destruction was (Akutagawa's) go-to answer for everything."

Akutagawa. Ate. Paper (probably in the slums but it doesn't say so explicitly)

"Akutagawa is supposed to be filing paperwork right now, but he's nowhere to be found! He must have used his skill to remove the restraints around his wrists and ankles, then ran away..." kunikida, did you tie him up?!?!

Oda just kept collecting kids in beast! I love that

"It's your job to look after the kids, as the oldest one there." Oda also collected akutagawa

"It was Parent's day at one of the orphan's schools, so Akutagawa participated on behalf of the child's guardian." So normally, oda would go?

Another parent said he looks like a hitman. Boy do I have news about the kids actual guardian!

Akutagawa raised Sakura's hand cuz she's shy and was proud when she got the question right

Akutagawa hates guns

Akutagawa has been using lots of farming metaphors

Atsushi puts three sugars in his coffee, and akutagawa put four in his tea

Akutagawa saved up 300 chocolate bars, ate them for days on end, and collapsed of malnutrition

I really like the emphasis in this novel that they're really just kids who grew up too fast

"...but a vermillion line appeared on his throat..." ch88 flashbacks

Gin spends every waking moment with dazai. I want to know abt their relationship more. Does dazai treat her like he does the agency in the main universe? Or like chuuya, perhaps? How does gin see him? I wanna know more abt them in beast and the main timeline.

About akutagawa: "'I can't believe such a powerful skill user has gone undetected by our network for so long.'" That definitely has to be due to inside interference. Was it Dazai? Gin?

Apparently, Demon Snow wears a mask, and that isn't actually her face

Dazai is now using his windows.

Oda in this universe joined the agency in the place of dazai, solving solving azure messenger/apostle case. However, he doesn't see himself as a detective. Tanizaki told akutagawa a few pages ago that you become a detective the moment you believe it.

Oda gambles

Apparently the headmaster abused all of the kids, not just atsushi. He didn't even let them have clocks.

The scene between atsushi and the headmaster here is so phenomenal. The way asagiri portrays trauma is *chefs kiss*. A normal interaction from the outside, but with context and with atsushi as the narrator, it's completely different. It's very similiar to the headmaster death in the main timeline

Atsushi looks up to the headmaster in a similiar way akutagawa looks up to dazai. And in beast, he has both of them as negative influences in his head

"There was a researcher who came to the orphanage to secretly investigate the tiger, but it killed him. He had long hair the color of white mist and eyes as red as apples. Had his death gone public, the military police would've intervened and killed the dangerous tiger - me. / But the director covered up the accident. He threw the researcher's body into a river and burned his belongings. He then got the teachers together so they could coordinate their story: "No researcher ever came here." Then, after checking if I had any memory of what happened when I was a tiger, the director locked me in a basement cell. He continued handling the aftermath every time the tiger went berserk going forward. He locked me in the basement in seclusion so there wouldn't be any victims - so I wouldn't hurt anyone." Dead apple makes much more sense now.

The jazz playing in Lupin is a about "a heartbreaking farewell."

Oda sits one seat away from where dazai gestures.

Dazai excitedly informs Oda that he finally defused a bomb and had been waiting to tell oda. In the Dark Era novel, Dazai says he's jealous of oda cuz oda gets to do cool stuff at work. On that day, oda had defused a bomb, which he mentioned to dazai, prompting dazai to say he was jealous. My heart can't take this.

Next thing dazai informs him is that he's perfected his hard tofu recipe. Another throwback to dark era, where the hard tofu was going to be a suicide attempt, but ended up only cutting his cheek.

Oda about dazai: "He may have been an adult, but his boyish voice made him sound far younger. He smiled like a lost child who had finally found his house."

Dazai has crystal clear eyes when speaking with oda here. Reminds me of when he was fighting with chuuya against rimbaud in fifteen

Dazai looks like he about to cry when oda mentions they've just met

Dazai really seems to want to tell oda the truth about the world. But he can't.

Akutagawas skill can keep going after he loses consciousness

Akutagawa really likes going on revenge-suicide charges huh

"'You're not evil... you just don't know who you are yet.'" Common kunikida w

Akutagawa saying to atsushi "'My job at the detective agency does not include helping those with a death wish.'" Two things this illustrates: one, akutagawa doesn't hold vengeance above his morals anymore. Two, akutagawa isn't like atsushi in this way. Atsushi would help people escape their death wish, such as with kyouka and sigma.

Dazai says abt this fight between sskk, "That was just as good as match fight on the ship..." This is a reference to the main timeline

Dazai tells atsushi to go with kyouka to a "world of light."

The fact that dazai dies even though three people can know the truth abt the world makes me think he plans for them to tell someone else

"'From now on, allow me to handle any job that involves soothing children.'" Stark contrast to the beginning of the novel, where he threatens a child about a kidnapping

Akutagawa still helps kenji w the farm

"Whenever a document needed to be shredded, he gave it to Akutagawa, who would shout with a bit more cheer than usual, 'I will tear you to pieces!' before reducing the paper into fine scraps." And does he make a salad with it afterwards?

Elise is a beautiful woman of about twenty years old in Beast, which means she either was never a girl here or she was turned into a woman at some point. If the latter, I imagine it would be when mori is put in charge of the orphanage

Atsushi aimlessly wandered the country side after dazais death. I want an au where he finds kenjis village instead

Dazai saved moris life four years ago

This breaking the watch scene is just as good as the killing the headmaster scene

Mori, here, understands that using violence and fear to teach is wrong

Mori wishes he could have save dazai

In mainline, atsushi challenges akutagawa not to kill anyone and then they'll fight. In beast, akutagawa challenges atsushi to move forward

"'Until then, you can live here as my student - no, as my son.'" ILL CRY

I like the side theme of akutagawa being assigned as evil by not only the enemy, atsushi, but by gin as well. I think the way the ending wrapped it up was perfect, by having him decide to prove to *himself* that he is not evil.

[oigimi]

. a little friend .

. nobunaga x reader . 1.2k words . fluff .

Everything that came with my life in the Sengoku had been pretty great so far. I had everything that anyone could ever ask for: Plenty of food, soft cushions to sleep on, luxurious clothes, friends who loved me, ladies in waiting who cared about me, and of course, the strongest, most handsome boyfriend in the world. Dating Oda Nobunaga was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. His love for me ran deeper than anyone could ever truly understand; ourselves included. Nobunaga would move heaven and earth if it meant bringing a smile to my face.

But he still had to leave often, and I hated it when he had to leave.

Being the legendary conqueror he was, Nobunaga was quite busy. He had battles to fight (that left me worried sick, even if I knew he wouldn’t get hurt), paperwork to read up on (that bored me), and councils to hold (that also bored me).

As I stood on the balcony of the tenshu, overlooking the area we ruled together, I found myself sighing. I missed him. I missed him a lot. And I knew he missed me too. These periods when Nobunaga was out left me cold and lonely, especially because most of the other vassals would usually accompany him. The ladies in waiting and the other seamstresses were quite nice, and I loved spending time with them, but it just wasn’t the same as being in the strong arms of my lover, or sneaking off with him for sweets in the middle of the night, or being in an onsen with him, in my most vulnerable state. Nobunaga brought out something in me that no one else ever had been able to before. And that’s why it was all the more painful when he was gone.

I did sign up for this, I told myself. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to stay in the Sengoku. As I changed into my pajamas, I got into the futon I usually shared with Nobunaga. If only there was a way to hold him even though he’s gone…

Wait. That’s it!

I looked across the room over at Bearsace. He wasn’t mine anymore, but I still made him. I could make something similar, and be able to hug him while Nobunaga was gone! It was a genius idea, I thought. As I laid my head back down, I began crafting what kind of stuffed toy I would craft. Something big, or something small? Elaborate or simple? What kind of clothes would it wear? What fabric would I use? How would I stuff it? Did stuffed animals even exist in this time? Oh, it didn’t matter. Once I was awake, all my questions would answer themselves.

---------

The first and most important question was what kind of animal to make. Fortunately for myself, that was clear from the beginning. I swiped some soft black fabric and began working on a pattern for a little black cat with white paws, and a white-tipped tail. I giggled to myself, imagining Nobunaga as a cat. He’d be the kind to knock everything off tables, and swat at a sleeping human to wake up and feed him. He’d be a big cat too, one with lots of fluffy fur, especially on his tail.

Next was the cat’s clothes. I could try Nobunaga’s regular clothing, but since this cat would likely be in bed with me, he should probably be wearing something comfortable. With some different fabric, I made the cat a yukata similar to one my lover would wear in bed. It fit perfectly, and I even made it so I could take the yukata off if I wanted to try more outfits.

The whole project took a few short days, and with the passage of time came the safe return of the Oda forces. As soon as word hit my ears that they were back, I was down from my work room, front and center to greet everyone. The first person to return, obviously being Nobunaga himself.

“You’re back! Welcome home, Nobu!” I exclaimed, practically leaping into his arms. Nobunaga laughed, hugging me tightly and kissing me. He rubbed my back and squeezed me as if we’d been apart for years.

“It’s good to be back, and it’s good to see you,” he replied. Nobunaga slung me over his shoulder and carried me back up to our room, eager to make up for lost time together. As he went to set me down in the futon, something quickly caught his eye.

“Y/N, what is that?” He pointed to the cat plush seated on the pillow.

“Oh, that! Yeah, I made him over the week, see?” I grabbed the plush and showed Nobunaga. “He’s really soft and cuddly, and he kinda looks like someone we know, don’t you think?”

He narrowed his eyes, taking the cat from me. Nobunaga inspected it closer, moving its arms around. “He’s cute. Is he a friend of Bearsace’s?”

“Mmm, no. Not exactly. They’re unrelated. He’s more like a friend of mine.”

“A friend of yours? Are the people here not enough for you?” he teased, gently tugging on the cat’s ears.

I shrugged. “Well… that’s kind of it. You guys are all so great, I always miss you when you’re gone. Especially you, Nobu. I wanted a little friend to remind me of you when you’re away. In my time, people cuddle with these stuffed toys all the time. I thought that if I had something soft and cute to have when you’re gone, I’d feel a bit better about it.”

“Really?” Nobunaga’s face softened. He looked back down at the cat, and then at me. “Do you get that lonely when I’m gone?”

“It’s whatever, I mean… I’ll always miss you when you leave! I can handle it, it’s just the longer trips that are harder.”

“I see.” He put the cat down and hugged me tightly again. “Well you have no need for this cat now. I’m here.” As he rubbed my back and sighed, he added, “I always miss you too, you know. I don’t like being away from my lucky charm.”

I giggled. I had known he meant it, but something about hearing my boyfriend tell me outright that he missed me made my heart pound harder.

“Then I’ll only cuddle the cat when you’re gone. I prefer the real you anyway. You’re much cuter.”

“Cute? No. You’re the cute one. Not me.”

“Okay.” We met each other with a kiss, followed by a few more. It was nice to have Nobunaga back. Everything just felt normal again. Being loved and cherished and kissed and held like I was always meant to felt better than anything in the world. Nobunaga smiled at me, and leaned in to kiss my forehead afterward.

“Does he have a name?”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that. I haven’t named him yet.” I pulled away and looked at the cat. “Wait, I’ve got it! This little guy’s name is… Nobunyaga! Cuz he looks like you, and he’s a cat!”

“What?”

“Nobunapaw also works.”

My lover just shook his head, laughing some more. “Let’s go with the first option. Oda Nobunyaga it is.”

[hyperfreaksating]

So you mentioned Skye having an affinity for swords and also admiring sword users themself

… so what exactly would she think of my main girl Tashigi? (Except “If I had a berry for every sword wielder I ever had a childhood crush on-“?)

Ohhhh that's a tough one.

In one hand, OBVIOUSLY Skye would have a childhood crush on her. She's hot. She uses swords. She lead a team that follow every single of her moves. Like. Totally what Skye dreams to be as an adult.

In the other hand she's a marine, and not just any marine, but a member of G-5. Everything that Skye was told to despise since her birth, since Marine... well, marine purpose is basically to either kill or put in jail every person important in her life. Not a great base.

Following the AU timeline (that I'm still working on) where time go slower than in the anime (no I can't believe that those 500 episodes happened in three month Oda), if I believe her wiki page (I didn't catch up the first arcs yet), Skye and her could meet three time : in Loguetown/Alabast, at Impel Down/Marineford and post timeskip, at three stages of Skye's life.

At Loguetown (where mugiwaras click that Red' is Buggy's partner and that they have three kids together), Skye is 11-13 years old, and she's just in admiration seeing this lady extremly talented with swords.

At Impel Down / Marineford, Skye is 15-16 years old, and as the brat teenager she is, she just hates all marines and is kinda embarassed when she thinks about her first meeting with Tashigi. She's just... angry at her, and probably would try to fight against her - swords users and their egos y'know

After timeskip, Skye matured a lot, and would saw in her a woman she respects & admire, even if they are following opposite paths, and Tashigi being a marine / member of G5 would just make her a natural ennemy to Skye.

[zombiemackerel]

about music rn.

I'm here with a challenge

Assign every bsd character with a song

Every.

Every bad character in the main series who has enough dialogue or background to explain

Go

Dude I just cackled so maniacally you have no idea what you've just done

[Some of these have actual thought behind them and some of them are based purely on vibes so keep that in mind, also I only did the ADA, PM, and Sheep because I got lazy </3 might add to this later for the others, apologies if I've forgotten anyone else 😭]

ADA members

Fukuzawa - I have no clue to be honest, so I'm gonna give him Cats by The Living Tombstone because I think it's funny

Yosano - Just Dance by Lady Gaga

Atsushi - Advice by Alex G

Dazai - Alien by Lebanon Hanover

Kunikida - Too Close by Sir Chloe

Ranpo - Lotta True Crime by Penelope Scott

Jun'ichiro - Custer by Slipknot

Naomi - Vivica by Jack Off Jill

Kyouka - Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart by Mitski

Kenji - Lemon Boy by Cavetown

Katai - don't know enough about katai to give him anything [yes I know he's a former member but I wanted to put him on the list anyways]

Haruno - same applies to haruno </3

PM members

Mori - I don't know about him either I'm sorry 😭

Kouyou - Should've Been Me by Mitski

Chuuya - Hate Yourself by TV Girl

Akutagawa - Gallowdance by Lebanon Hanover

Gin - In the Dark You Die by Dark

Tachihara - Over & Over by Rio Romeo

Higuchi - It's Never Enough by we are the dirt

Hirotsu - It's Called: Freefall by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

Elise [idk if she counts but she's getting added anyways] by Who Is She by I Monster

Q - Cry Babies by Crystal Castles

Kaiji - Thermodynamic Lawyer Esq, G.F.D. by Will Wood and the Tapeworms

Oda - Parallel Universe by Mysteron

Ango [he counted at one point so we're putting him here as well because I know virtually nothing about the rest of the Special Divisions Unit] - Saddest Smile by Lebanon Hanover

Sheep members

Shirase - Things to Do by Alex G

Yuan - Japan by Yot Club

The rest of the sheep aren't really touched on so I can't get anything for each member specifically, but Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana gives me Sheep vibes

[boysplanetrecaps]

Produce 48 Recaps: Auditions Begin (episode 1)

When we left off in my probably-unnecessary-but-still-necessary Rewatch Recap of Produce 48, the 96 girls had made their entrance into the huge studio, and the judges were just about to reveal themselves. Let's get to it!

The judges come out!

First, it’s Lee Hong Ki, a powerful vocalist, here to teach them to sing. He’s from FT Island, and amazingly, was in the *second* K-drama I ever watched, You’re Beautiful, which was fun at the time, but which I cannot actually recommend. I will say that Hong-ki is the best part of it despite his, let’s say, broad acting choices. 

The character he played on You’re Beautiful was named Jeremy, and I can’t help but think of him as Jeremy. So just understand that I will be calling him Jeremy for the duration of these recaps. Thank you. 

Here he is as Jeremy. He’s ACTING! 

Next, it’s Soyou, from Sistar. She was overshadowed by Hyolyn but is an excellent vocalist in her own right. She’s here to be the other vocal trainer. 

It wouldn’t be an MNET show without this asshole:

I don’t want to learn his name but he’s that choreographer/dance teacher/ sociopath who always makes sure that all of the trainees’ mental health is hanging on by the merest of threads. I’m going to call him Psychopath. Seriously, fuck this guy. I’ll note that he comes across as sweet and loveable in this episode but I can’t forgive him for the shit he pulled during Boys Planet. Nope. Never. He has earned my undying hatred. To be clear, I do not support sending him hate messages or harming him in any way. I will just quietly, and personally, hate him on my Tumblr which gets maybe 5 or 10 readers. 

And then there’s her:

Bae Yoon Jung! She’s also pretty intense, and I know she’s mean to them on the first day, but she has the capacity for normal human empathy, as I recall. I’m going to call her Dance Bae. That doesn’t mean that I co-sign on her casual cruelty. It’s just that it’s literally her name and it’s easy to remember.

I don’t remember this lady:

Her name is May J Lee and she’s also a dance trainer. She’s cute. Here’s to hoping she understands that the trainees are human beings!

It’s Cheetah, here to be the rap trainer! God, I love her song Villain so damn much. The video is great, too, but trigger warning for violence. “I could fix you, but I won’t.” HECK yeah. 

And special one-day trainer, Kahi, who was the dance trainer for PD101 Season 2.

Kahi was in After School, then “graduated” in June 2012, right around the same time that Gaeun joined. They undoubtedly have spent time together, so it’ll be interesting to see if they interact much in this episode. (Maybe Gaeun being on the show this season meant that Kahi couldn’t really be the judge for the whole time?) 

The judges glare holes into the trainees while explaining that they’ll be sorting them into groups -- A, B, C, D, and F -- based on skill level, with the ultimate goal of bringing them all up to A-grade. And now it’s time for these would-be performers to perform, and of course, they don’t want to actually perform. 

41:50 The Auditions Begin

The girls are nervous. Yoon Hae Sol (윤해솔), 20, former member of Aqua, lets out a gusty breath. And this girl is nervous too, whoever the heck she is. 

Kim Chaewon, it says on her nametag. Well, she’s cute. Meanwhile I’m fascinated by the shoe behind her. WHOSE SHOE IS THAT? WHAT IS THIS SHOE? 

The AKB-48 girls are even more nervous. Oda Erina, 21, in a stylish bob and a blue, yellow and white jacket is intimidated by the Korean girls. Mogi Shinobu, also 21, a living meme with blue furry sleeves, is so nervous she looks like she might cry. We love you, Shinobu.

Time for the first audition! Or at least, the audition that the editors have moved to the beginning of the episode, even though it was probably not the first one to happen in real time! Because they wanted to front-load excellent Korean auditions to emphasize the skill gap between the Korean and Japanese contestants! 

Audition 1: Yuehua

Kim Si Hyeon (김시현), age 18, in the long sleeved shirt, now a member of Everglow. 

Choi Ye Na (최예나), age 18, with her hair in a ponytail.

Wang Yi Ren (왕이런), age 17, pink shirt with black edges. She’s Chinese and is now a member of Everglow. 

We see a clip of the Yuehua girls back stage, where Choi Yena accidentally draws on the camera with red marker and then apologizes profusely. AND SHE NEVER WORKED IN KPOP AGAIN!!

Then we get a flashback of Gross Guy personally watching the auditions of all 96 girls prior to the filming of the first episode. He’s so gross. Ugh. He makes JYP seem like a sweet, safe guy. Anyway we find out that after Choi Yena performed her song, she asked to do an extra performance. She begins speaking in what sounds like decent Japanese and does a little miming routine with sound effects. She’s pretty charming, actually. 

Cut back to audition day. The Woolim girls are backstage waiting for their turn when they recognize Sihyeon from her time on PD101, Season 1. Sihyeon interviews that she’s embarrassed when she looks back at herself on PD101 and that she’s gotten a lot better since then. In fact, as we find out later, she got an F in that season. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Move by Little Mix 

My Thoughts: They do great, in my opinion. Siyheon has a great clear, strong voice and her English pronunciation is mostly pretty good. Yena and Yiren don’t sing as clearly, but their dancing is great and they have a lot of presence. God, Yiren sparkles so much! I feel like she’s getting bad advice from whoever is around her now, because in more recent Everglow performances she always seems so muted. Seeing this, I can see she’s capable of great stage presence -- I hope she finds her way back to this. I dig Everglow and just want them to keep living up to their potential. I would have given Siyheon an A and the other two Bs, I think, though it’s hard without seeing the other trainees to compare. 

The MNET Edit: The editing emphasizes Yiren and Yena more, but overall the editing is kind to all three. We see some of the Japanese girls saying “why is everyone so good”, almost as if this ISN’T the first team to go up. (Also, we see that other girls are already wearing their grade name tag, though they’re blurred out.) The judges give Yena an A and the other two get Bs, which I guess reminds us that as long as you *kind* of sing while you also dance a lot and are very charming, then…. you get an A. Anyway, A and B are fine.

The editors really want us to know that the Japanese girls are very worried about their auditions. It is true that they generally don’t have the training the Korean girls have -- I’m not commenting on their inherent worthiness, just their preparation. But the show really, really focuses on that. I’m sure at least some of the Korean girls were nervous too, but we don’t seem to be seeing clips of that on the show.

Auditions 2 and 3: Woolim and WM Entertainment

Next, the MNET editors decided to further confuse anyone who has previously confused WM Entertainment with Woolim Entertainment by overlapping these two agency’s auditions, same as they did when the girls entered the auditorium. Thanks, MNET editors! Thmeditors. We learn that Woolim manages Lovelyz, while WM manages Oh My Girl (their rivals), though now in 2023 I think we all know that Oh My Girl kind of won that particular fight. Apparently the girls view each other as rivals? ...? But do they, though?

Woolim is up first. They take a moment finding their places, and we learn that Eunbi is their leader/mom who brought them medicine and Japanese phrase books. What a good unnie! 

Left to right: Suyun, Eunbi, Sohee, Chaewon

Kim Chae Won (김채원), age 17   now: Le Sserafim   wearing a short sleeved white top, tie Kim So Hee (김소희), age 14  now: Rocket Punch  wearing pigtails Kim Su Yun (김수윤), age 17  now: Rocket Punch   wearing short sleeved black top Kwon Eun Bi (권은비), age 22   now: soloist wearing a tie, cardigan

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Ah-Choo by Lovelyz / Bad by Infinite

My thoughts: It’s always awkward when you have one member who’s 14 (and looks 12) and one who is 22 (and looks 25) -- they’re always going to sort of make one another look bad. But overall, this is actually a really good audition.  I watched it multiple times and didn’t pick up on any mistakes or bad moments. All four of them had kpop acceptable vocals that didn’t stand out as fantastic or terrible. Chaewon’s a tiny bit shaky on the high notes, but they are really high notes. Little Sohee’s dancing was less powerful than the others’, even during Ah-Choo, but that’s fine considering she’s so much younger. I did think they looked a tiny bit silly doing that super powerful choreography to Bad while still dressed to perform Ah-Choo, but the goal was to display different skills and they did that. Knowing how deep the hole can go, I think I would have given all these girls As or Bs, maybe a C for little Sohee. It’s hard to know for sure since it’s not always clear what is live singing and what’s the backup track. 

The MNET Edit is fair. The rest of the trainees appreciate their performance. 

Backstage, Lee Chaeyeon says Eun Bi caught her eye the most. I actually noticed Suyun a lot too, but her time will come later. 

The judges compliment their synchronization and ask to see them perform something else. They launch into a second performance, which seems equally well rehearsed. I don’t recognize the song off hand (if any of you do, feel free to let me know!) but they do a great job with it. Dance Bae says, in an almost irritated way, “why haven’t you debuted yet? You seem ready to me.” I think she’s speaking mainly to Eunbi, who smiles wide at the compliment. We won’t hear their grades until later, but I’ll tell you their grades now, because I just love subverting the MNET editing monkeys. Kwon Eun Bi gets an A, ChaeWon gets a B, and the other two get Cs. Maybe I’m just biased toward Suyun from knowing her now? It’s hard to say. But I still think a B would have been fairer for her. 

Next, WM Entertainment. The girls come out on stage and the judges immediately tell Chaeyeon she looks familiar. She acknowledges having been on Sixteen with Somi (2015) and on Kpop Star 3 (2013). She says that this time she really wants to show us what she’s got. The other girls are excited to see her dance.

Trainees: 

Lee Seung Hyeon (이승현), 17 now known as Riina in H1-Key, in the black shirt Lee Chae Yeon (이채연), 18, currently a soloist, in the pink shirt  Cho Yeong In (조영인), 16, in the white Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Shower, originally by Becky G

My thoughts: All three of them do well dancing wise. It’s not surprise that Chaeyeon would dance well, and she certainly outshines the other two, but Seunghyeon holds her own and Yeongin doesn’t look bad. I think vocally, Seunghyeon does the best job, but Chae’s belted note sounded good. Yeongin’s vocals were noticeably shaky compared to the other two’s. I think I would have given Yeongin a B or C, Chae would get an A, and Seunghyeon an A or a B depending on what the dance teachers said. Overall though it was a good audition. 

The MNET edit is again pretty kind. Everyone focuses on Chaeyeon, of course. When they’re done, the judges ask her to freestyle to Instruction by Jax Jones featuring Demi Lovato, and she dances in a style that’s really appropriate to the song. Everyone’s impressed. The judges announces the grades. Chaeyeon gets an A, which seems completely correct. The other two get Bs, which is ok. 

The editing is setting Kwon Eun Bi and Lee Chaeyeon up to be rivals. Surely, they must hate each other, if they’re both good dancers and their agencies are on the same street in Seoul! 

In the audience, Kojima Mako says to her friend, “It’s so amazing that I’m not even nervous anymore. Our friend Juri says to Shinozaki Ayana,  “I feel like I’m just watching a TV show.” Me too, Juri! We stan a relatable queen. But yeah, it’s more of the whole “the terrible, silly, weak Japanese girls are in awe of the mighty, powerful Korean girls” narrative that MNET’s editing monkeys keep pushing. 

Auditions 4 and 5: The Very Pretty Girls

Next, we have the introduction of two Very Pretty Girls:  Kim Min Ju (김민주), age 17 from Urban Works, in her colorful striped shirt, and Kang Hye Won (강혜원), age 18,  from 8D Creative in a blue mini dress with a big pink and white collar. The other trainees think that these two girls look like actresses, so maybe it’s no surprise that now (2023), they are in fact both actresses. I renew my complaint from earlier that I don’t understand why certain girls are considered prettier than the others, and remind you that this isn’t an insult to them, as they are certainly very pretty, but more of a compliment to the others, who I view as equally pretty. Isn’t Kwon Eun Bi just as pretty? Is she not? I don’t understand. I will be saying that a lot in these recaps so I guess I’ll just call it my Particularly Pretty Problem (PPP) and leave it at that. 

Agency:  8D Creative

Trainee: Kang Hye Won

In a pre-show interview, they ask her such questions as “were you always pretty?” and she says that yes, she is. This is the part of kpop I like least. She says that the position she wants is 청정 or purity. I guess I understand that -- there is usually a sexy member of a given group (see: Kai in Exo, Hyunjin in SKZ, Joy in Red Velvet, Soojin in G-Idle) and there’s usually a funny or approachable one (see: Chanyeol, Changbin, Wendy, Yuqi), so I could see there being a sort of pure or extra cute one. It’s not as crazy as it might sound.

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: You and I by IU (2011)

My Thoughts: Well, that was pretty terrible. There’s room at the bottom, but she barely dances and she only kind of sings. The singing is breathy, faint, and pitchy. The dancing is half hearted and my grandma could have done this choreo even after her stroke. She has negative stage presence. Also, to me, she always looks confused. There’s something about either her facial features or her expression that make her look bewildered. I’m sorry if she’s your favorite. She may have charming personality traits that I don’t know about yet. She’s just not particularly skilled in either singing or dancing. She should get an F. 

If you can’t handle me saying that about this audition, then I really suggest that you just not read any more of my recaps because I’m going to say stuff like this about bad auditions. I don’t care if she’s “pretty”. I don’t care if she has gone on to be successful. Other people -- Eun Bi, for example -- are pretty and they can also sing and dance. I believe that if you make your living as a singer and/or dancer, you should be able to sing and/or dance. 

The MNET edit:They don’t do her any favors, zooming in on her non-dancing and focusing on the judges’ reactions to her shaky high notes and nearly stationary body. When she’s done, she stands there with this look on her face, which is the way I always remember this girl looking and how I recognize her in her more recent endeavors. 

Dance Bae says, “Purity is all you have. F.”  Done and done. 

Agency:  Urban Works

Trainee:  Kim Min Ju 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song:  No Matter What by BoA

My Thoughts: This was so much better than Hyewon’s audition. For one thing, she actually danced. She showed a variety of different actual dance steps, including legs, body, arms, head, face. She danced! The singing was extremely faint and I think a lot of it was the backing track, but this was leagues ahead. Without being able to clearly discern her singing, it’s so hard to tell, but I think I’d put her in C territory. 

The MNET edit:They show the judges adjusting their ear buds and looking bored or put off, and focused on a part where she dropped into a squat and looked a little awkward. But that was just the dance move! This was originally done as a partner dance and it was adapted for a single person (I think? Unless it was just made new, whole cloth?), so maybe they should have just cut that squatting part out -- it’s not her fault. They also show a girl in the audience looking bored (maybe cut in from a totally different performance). It’s not kind. Minju, you deserved better. 

They give her a D. I don’t know. Seems like they’re punishing her for being pretty. But maybe the singing was worse than I thought. 

I’m not going to comment on it every single time it happens, but just assume that after every performance there will be a reaction/voice over from a Japanese girl saying, “If that didn’t get an A, I’m going to get an F for sure” or “the Korean girls are so much better than me” or something like that. It’s constant. 

Auditions 6 and 7: The Punching Bags

These next two auditions are shown mainly to mock these trainees. Neither of them do a stellar job, but both deserved a little better than what they got.

We see a scrap of  the audition from Shin Su Hyun (신수현), a 22 year old represented by FAVE Entertainment. 

She’s performing Playing with Fire by Blackpink. I watched her full audition, but we only see a little bit of it in the actual show. She started off with rapping, which the edit doesn’t show; I think she’s going for a rap position, not a singing one, which helps excuse why her singing was weak. The dancing wasn’t great -- she was a beat or two ahead of the choreography (something I only noticed because I know the song so well). But I thought she at least had charisma. I think a C wouldn’t have been out of line, but I don’t know the rubric. The edit replays a part where she sort of does a chicken-dance wiggle during the chorus when that’s not quite what the choreo is like, but I had to go back and rewatch the original to see that the original choreo is different. The PWF choreography is kind of weird -- I’ve always thought so. What’s with the dogpaddling in the chorus, or that weird “drawing a line with your finger” at the end? Anyway, my point is that the edit makes her look even worse than she actually did. 

They intersperse her audition with the audition of Cube’s Han Cho Won -- she’s only 15 here, but you may now know her as one of the most popular members of Cube’s youngest girl group,  Lightsum. The edit here make her look like a complete idiot. If you watch her full audition, you’ll see that, yeah, it’s not great, but there are some extenuating circumstances.

The biggest problem is that the song was a poor choice. Red by Hyuna is a HYUNA song. Like a third of the lyrics are “red is Hyuna”, and there’s a whole 10 second segment where Hyuna just sits on the ground and flirts with the camera. It’s all about being sexy and having a nice body, specifically a nice butt, and the choreography is very core/waist/butt centered. It seems that Chowon just can’t quite move her body that way, and at 15, maybe just isn’t up the task of embodying the universal sex symbol that is a full-grown Hyuna. I don’t know who is! 

Anyway, I think Chowon should have done Pepe by CLC, assuming she was going to stick to a song by a Cube artist. The song has a fun retro feel and it would have been more appropriate for a 15 year old who doesn’t know how to twerk yet. Or maybe Pretty Pretty by Pentagon -- I bet Hui would have helped her remix something for the show if the agency had asked him to -- he's a good sunbae -- and the song has quirky, funny choreography that might have made the judges smile. Sigh. 

Poor Chowon -- it wasn’t a great audition, but I blame whoever either told her to do this song, or allowed her to do it if it was her choice. The whole point of having management is to get smart people to help you make decisions like this, especially when you’re fifteen. But that’s asking too much from Cube, I guess. Kahi even says that she had been at Cube briefly and that they don’t teach you anything, which checks out. Cube is just the WORST. 

Both Chowon and Suhyun get a lecture on needing to learn (or review) the basics and both get a D. It’s not totally unfair -- it’s just that I know that there is so much worse to come. 

More discussion about how the Japanese girls aren’t really given any training and just learn to perform by watching their sempai/sunbae/seniors. Dance Bae says it’ll be fun to watch them grow. 

And now it’s time to see the AKB48 girls perform. We see that they’ve changed out of their entrance outfits -- those plaid monstrosities -- into different outfits, most of which are also monstrosities. 

Audition 8: Get You!

See, it's a play on words because the song is called Get You and also MNET wants to get them

Agency:  AKB48

Trainees: Oda Erina 21, and Nakano Ikumi 17

Erina, left, with the shorter hair and Ikumi, right, in the blue shorts.

The judges comment that Erina is known for her singing and Ikumi for her dancing. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Get You! by Morning Musume (a different J-pop idol group)

My Thoughts: Well, this wasn’t terrible. They do sort of take turns either singing or dancing, and rarely do both at the same time. The choreography they do is mostly extremely simple and not super well synced, but they do throw themselves into it. They have a lot of energy, which I know is important in J-pop. If you asked me, “which of these is the singer and which of these is the dancer?” I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But neither of them assaulted my ears. Judged by J-pop standards, this was great. By K-pop standards, not great. I’d give them a C and see how they do learning the choreography for the signal song.

The MNET edit: The edit makes it seem much worse than it really was. Honestly, it wasn’t that horrific. They were more fun to watch than Kang Hye Won for sure. 

The judges ask Ikumi to freestyle dance, which she agrees to with an English “Yes!” They play “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift. She tries to do a sort of interpretive dance thing, and I appreciate that she at least tried. She has lovely body lines and seems to understand rhythm and tone, anyway. They keep showing her trip a little on her platform sneakers. God, those things look hard to dance in. After a bit she seems to give up, pulling her hair over her face, and the judges call it. Her AKB-mates are impressed, but the judges aren’t. 

Dance Bae compliments her on her energy, but says she seems to not know what to do with it. “I’m not sure that the fact that you danced to the beat warrants you having won first place in a large competition,” Dance Bae scolds. “If you keep continuing like this, you won’t ever be able to perform on stage.” 

Ikumi gets a D, and Erina gets a C. We don’t actually see that, though -- I had to look it up. It’s not part of the narrative to see that neither of them got an F, I guess.

Next, we have a mini montage of various girls, especially Japanese girls, saying that Dance Bae is the scariest judge, known for her terrifying line: “You really want to be a singer?!?” Which I think is a fair question! So many people get into the Idol Biz because they want to be actors or tv hosts -- I wish there was a pipeline to celebrity for people like that that didn’t involve them humiliating themselves on a show like this. 

Auditions 9 and 10: What’s Your Name and Knock Knock

We cut to another audition, in progress, with a caption that seems to imply that this is just a preview (“Coming up…”) but no, this is the actual audition, as much of it as we’re going to see.

AKB: What’s Your Name?

Here’s the original song being performed by 4Minute. Things were different in 2013 -- this was before Catch Me If You Can by SNSD came out so nobody yet knew that women were actually able to do intense choreo, I guess. But even for 2013 standards, What’s Your Name has easy choreo. I mean, it barely has choreo aside from just sort of bending over and displaying your butt. Also, the lyrics are three quarters “what’s your name/ ireumi mwoyeyo?” So it’s a really good choice for a rookie group!

Here’s their audition.

Left to right: Manami, Ayana, Chiyori, Miho, Shinobu

Ichikawa Manami, 18, in the blue top, red skirt Shinozaki Ayana, 22, in the light blue skirt Nakanishi Chiyori, 23, in the pink fluffy skirt Miyazaki Miho, 24, in the sparkly top, navy skirt Mogi Shinobu, 21, in the turquoise skirt, fluffy blue sleeves

We just met Shinobu earlier, when she was talking about how scary Dance Bae is, got her name wrong, an apologized profusely. She's our living meme and we love her. We also almost met Miho; she was the one who knows how to write in Korean.

My thoughts: Oh no. There’s something so incongruous about someone in a sparkly cupcake skirt and Mary Jane shoes doing a pelvic thrust. These outfits look like… Ok maybe this is a deep cut but do you know those fashion plate toys? I had my cousin’s old one and I was obsessed. It was like stencils, but you had a head and a top part and a bottom part, and you’d choose one of each and then stencil over it to make a picture you could color.

That’s what these outfits look like. Like someone went nuts with a fashion plate and glitter glue and then just brought it to life.

Left to right: Shinobu, Chiyori, Ayana, Manami, Miho

It’s so hard to pay attention to their performance in those outfits. And the shoes! Those shoes I noticed behind Chaewon earlier are Shonbu's! And I’m obsessed with Ayana’s red-shoe-and-patterned-socks combo.

Also Miho’s and Shinobu’s… furry… peplums? And the quilted skirts? And how none of the tops seem to go with any of the bottoms, even though they appear to be dresses? Question Mark? It’s so bizarre to me. What. Is. Happening. Each dress is awful alone, they’re worse together, they're even worse with the shoes, and they’re the worst in the context of this particular song, which is meant to be sort of swaggy hiphop. 

When I try to focus on the actual singing and dancing, there isn’t much there to judge. The song itself is kind of a nothing-burger tune wise and there’s hardly any choreo to speak of. They have energy, I’ll give them that. No one strikes an obviously horrendously bad note or falls over. They manage to do what they’re doing in some reasonably high heeled shoes, and they’re singing a song that is at least mostly in Korean. It’s clearly not up to the standard expected from debuted Kpop artists. I feel like I’d have to see them in normal clothes to be able to really judge. None of them stands out as better or worse than the rest. I give them an E for effort and I’d probably give them all Ds. They were still better than Hyewon. 

Dance Bae gives Chiyori and Miho both Ds, and the rest get Fs. (We hear Dance Bae saying that they all get Ds, but the on screen caption says otherwise, and my internet sleuthing agrees with the on screen caption.) I think, watching it back, that Chiyori and Miho got Ds for just taking on a big role in the performance and trying that little bit harder. Miho seemed to be the main vocal, sort of, and Chiyori was the center. 

Ok, let’s take a peek at some of the youngest -48 girls, singing the Japanese version of Knock Knock by Twice.

Asai Yuka is 14 and from SKE48.  We met her earlier when she walked in with Jurina. Umeyama Cocona is also 14 and is from NMB48. 

Left to right: Cocona with the big bow, Yuka with the blue ribbon

My thoughts: Aww, they just little babies! They probably practiced by themselves in a hallway or something for a few hours with no help. There’s not much to judge here. They’re obviously underskilled for this show and would have to be given Fs but it’s not their fault. I’m not going to make fun of a couple of 14 year olds who signed up for an adventure, not knowing how hard it would be. I sense tears in the future. 

I wrote that, and then watched Dance Bae give them both Fs and say, at a pre-show meeting, “I think these girls will cry a lot while they’re here.” Perhaps she’d be pleased to know that poor Cocona withdrew from the show before the second evaluation even took place! There's also some potential back story here. Per reddit:

From what I’ve heard (and I’m not sure how credible it is), Jurina and Yuuka planned to perform together for the first evaluation, but the producers wanted Jurina to do a solo, so Cocona got pulled from the NMB group [that performs Funny People] and her and Yuuka did this. That may explain why they did…particularly bad, to the point where it looks like they don’t even know the song.

That does sound like something MNET would do, and it also would explain how these two girls ended up in a performance together despite being in different groups (SKE48 and NMB48), giving it the ring of truth. So I'm going to be even more sparing of my criticism of the girls. They do come across as unprepared, but I think that's just because.... well, they were, through no fault of their own.

In any case, Cocona is one of the Japanese trainees who withdraws early in the process. It's probably for the reasons we'd imagine -- flying back and forth from Japan is taxing, and she's young enough to need to go to school still. She probably just wanted to go through so much stress just to get insulted and yelled at. Can't blame her!

Since we’re not going to see much of Cocona again, let’s find out what happened to her after she withdrew from the show. She went back to NMB48 and continued performing with them for a few more years, graduating at a special concert on March 26, 2022. She did some modeling for magazines in 2020, so she might still be pursuing that. Here’s her instagram -- she has 95,000 followers and seems to post influencer-esque content with lots of hashtags.

 Ganbatte, Cocona! Happy trails and much success to you!

10 auditions down, about 30 to go! Thanks for reading so far -- feel free to do all the things: like, reblog, comment, share, blah blah blah. Tune in next time when we continue the auditions, and stay warm, my friends!

[variety-of-hugs]

My Thoughts on Doc Q’s “Disease”

I understand why folks can take the recent chapter to mean Oda is making a commentary on the nature of being a woman or that being a woman is a negative thing or “illness.” However, I think it’s important to remember that 1. A character’s thoughts or opinions don’t necessarily reflect that of their creator 2. This perspective on the “disease of womanhood” is presented from that of an indisputable villain 3. There are a lot of characters with a lot of opinions peppered throughout all of One Piece 

I think more than anything, Oda is continuing to solidify Blackbeard and his crew as undoubtedly, irrefutably Bad Guys. In classic Oda fashion, he also does this by weaving in humor and fanservice. CW: There will be one mention of sexual assault in this discussion, as implied by the character Vasco Shot (ch1059, pg 9) Let me start back on Wano, during the bathhouse scene. Here (ch1052, pg13) Kiku and Yamato are both stating in their own way, that they identify as the gender opposite of what they were born with. What do Straw Hat and friends do?

They accept it. This scene is a mixture of humor, fan service, and different character reactions. The pervier men like Sanji and Brook look on this as a golden opportunity, and it reflects their values (and provides a moment of humor). The other men have fun and celebrate without care that Yamato has boobs, because he has indicated that he is a man. The same goes for Kiku, as she identifies as a woman and the op ladies accept it and move on to have a relaxing, well-earned bath. (ch1052, pg14)

I bring up the bathhouse scene, because while it is a humorous and fanservice-laden scene, it is also a positive message presented from the perspective of our “heroes”, our protagonists or “role models” of the series.  Meanwhile, we get a reintroduction of Blackbeard and his crew. Now, in general, the audience knows who Blackbeard is. We know he is a bad person, and we still feel the effects of his actions and resent him for it. We are happily awaiting his defeat at Luffy’s hands. When presenting Blackbeard and his crew in the story, Oda takes every opportunity to characterize these people as awful human beings. 

CW: Here, in chapter 1059 (pg9), when Blackbeard and crew lay siege to Amazon Lily, Vasco Shot (Left) expresses excitement at the idea of assaulting Boa Hancock. We as the audience know this is disgusting and amoral, and don’t come away from this panel assuming Oda condones this type of behavior. We instead come away with the understanding that Vasco, and subsequently his captain and peers, at the worst support and at the best are indifferent to this behavior. (CW end)

I think Oda is doing the same thing in chapter 1063 (pg12) with Doc Q. Doc Q is the one speaking, not a character that has been presented to us as a protagonist or “hero”. Doc Q is the one calling feminization an “infection” or “disease”. I think it can be read that he’s potentially underestimating Law and his crew, that he would think to pull something like this vs something actually deadly (as well as setting up the fanservice and the “Malady/M’Lady” joke that was lost in the official translation--Oda can never resist fanservice or a pun). This scene also offers further insight into the type of people that make up Blackbeard’s crew.

Another brief example that comes immediately to mind is this guy: 

No one looks at Arlong and thinks Oda is the racist.

As for the reaction of Law’s crew (ch1063, pg11), I think more than anything the chaos of the attack and their bodies changing against their will is disorienting them to the situation. Doc Q could have made them spit bees or sweat chocolate syrup and the reaction would be the same. They are experiencing loss of agency and it’s not fun.

Oda is really good at allowing gray area into the events and morality of his characters. There are a lot of villains or antagonists that we love (or love to hate) throughout the series. But like, Akainu, I think Oda is trying to really drive home that Blackbeard and his crew have no room to be loved by the audience; they are indisputable villains and their only fate is to be taken down by our heroes. 

Blackbeard and his crew are filled with Bad People, and Oda wants to make that stick, while also sticking to his prerogative of telling a story with humor (and fanservice) and depth. We know Oda can’t pass up on any of these, and at this point in the story we also know he’s packing in A LOT of information in preparation for the end of the series, so naturally he will combine elements where he can. 

It’s also possible that the relative light-hearted nature of this encounter tells us that Law will be okay. Or it’s a moment for a laugh before shit goes tits up (hehe.) for our favorite gremlin Heart Pirate. 

[yandere-romanticaa]

wait wait wait !! i love your take on how dazai can't love anyone in a romantic way. i love that so much. you're such a real one for saying that.

Bless! Some people asked me why I bother writing Dazai x reader scenarios if I think like this but the short answer is because I can and if I wanted to I could make him dance around in a ballerina dress while clucking like a chicken because fanfiction is fun like that.

The short answer would be (and I'm doing my best to follow canon here) is that I don't think Dazai is in the right mental state to be in a romantic relationship. This man has seen and done awful things and we all know it. I'm pretty sure the guy hates himself and the only reason why he wants to commit double suicide with a beautiful woman is not because she is a woman or beautiful, but rather because he does not want to be alone. Women are generally a lot more sympathetic than men and we've seen Dazai charm the ladies (I'M AFTER THAT NURSE-!!!) and I'm positive that some poor soul out there would commit suicide with him because people do stupid things when they're in love. That's just my own personal take though.

Something to note though is that it's nice to see his character progress. I love how when they're in prison and when he's chatting with Fyodor, Dazai said "Demons first" which implies that he no longer sees himself as a demon and is on the right path to becoming a good person, thus fulfilling Oda's wish. (don't forget that he was literally called a demonic mafia prodigy, that's quite the character development!)

[wavytam]

The Culmination of Future Island Arc: Sanji - Part 2

In the first part of this theory I brought up every element I could find about what might be important for the conclusion of Future Island Arc and how Nami and Franky (especially) might play out a major role in it.

In this post, I will talk about Sanji specifically, what he might do in this arc, and what his power-ups could be.

You don't need necessarily to read the first part to understand this one.

So, these are the things I will talk about that caught my attention as I reread the Future Island chapters.

Neo MADs/Clash of Science

Sanji has been quietly gathering information given to him and might come up with a plan

Sanji once again promised to protect Robin

Lineage factor

Colorspread 1: Impact Bubbles, CoCking and Drawing People in

The CP agents stuck in Egghead

Colorspread 2: Two Birds with One Cat (Stone) and One Step Ahead

After I talk about these topics, I will end the post with my theory as to what I think Sanji's role will be.

Hope you enjoy!

Sanji's role in Future Island Arc

Neo MADS/ Clash of Science

Oda himself stated how important the connection Sanji has with Science and technology is, so I think it's almost impossible to believe that the Straw Hat's cook will not get a major power up/psychological development in this arc (along with Franky! Please, Oda, Franky needs it too!! And Nami!!)

Not just that, but the one responsible for Sanji's connection with science, Judge Vinsmoke, has just made an alliance with Caesar during the colorspread adventures.

After their encounter, they reminisced their hate for Vegapunk and are probably going to hunt him down together.

If they do that, they will probably arrive in Future Island during the culmination of the Egghead Incident, or maybe clash/meet with the Straw Hats in the next arc of One Piece (since they will probably bring Vegapunk with them). My bet is more on the first since this arc is heavily focused on science and technology and a lot of characters connected to that (Saturn, Vegapunk, Franky) are already located in the center of technological achievement.

To sumarize: Egghead will be the center of the clash of the biggest scientists and geniuses in the world, so I don't think Oda will let Judge and Caesar out of such huge event.

Sanji has been quietly gathering information given to him and might come up with a plan

Before you say that it's reaching since we only saw two panels and it didn't seem that he was doing anything different than the other Straw Hats, I'd like to point out how smart and perceptive Sanji actually is even when it looks like he is just goofing off. A great example is how he recognized Stussy from two arcs ago.

She had appeared in WCI during a time when Sanji was going through one of the worst moments of his life. He was emotionally stressed, trying to deal with his own problems, and most of the times he was sulking in a corner. Even with that, he remembered Stussy's presence and knew who she was by sight. Sure, she was a pretty lady, and we know how he is with pretty ladies... BUT he now knows that she is Vegapunk's spy and might persuade her to share knowledge of CP0 and even of Big News Morgans (maybe she knows about Vivi too!)

Okay, so a lot of people have already pointed this out, but Sanji is up to something. We have seen two panels of him seeming to be in deep thought, and he probably realised things that he is keeping for himself but plans to use later. I will get to what it might be in later topics.

Sanji once again promised to protect Robin

Self-explanatory. It appears that Oda is leaving small hints of how Sanji will help Robin. There are interesting panels of him already assisting her in various situations, promising to keep her safe (look how cute he is shielding her), and, ever since Wano, he KNOWS that someone is after Robin specifically.

He was important in rescuing her during Water 7 and might do it again in this arc. Not only that, but Robin's biggest enemy is now CP0 (who are worse than CP9), which means that Sanji might clash against the secret organization again (in a spy/James Bond kind of way).

Lineage factor

One of the panels that Sanji appears to be tense is when Vegapunk is explaining how he used his discoveries about the Lineage Factor to create the Seraphim.

Ever since WCI, Sanji knows exactly the importance of those discoveries because it's what Judge used to temper with his children's DNA.

Later, Sanji makes a rather blunt remark that, in the end, the World Government is using the Lineage Factor to create weapons, which is... EXACTLY what Judge wanted to do with him and his siblings.

If I remember correctly, too, in the very next chapter, we see Sanji smoking, and we know he does that every time he is under stress. So, all of that information might have taken a huge toll on him.

The other information that Vegapunk shares through Shaka, and Sanji seems to be suspicious of, is when the shields were "malfunctioning" and CP0 (who is trying to eliminate Vegapunk and the Satelites) was able to get inside Egghead.

We now know that it was York who sabotaged the shields, but no one was aware that there was even a traitor at the time. Sanji, however, noticed that the Seraphim suspiciously used the shields malfunction to their advantage.

We also know now that the Seraphim are following York's orders.

Now, my theory is that he might realise that there is someone sabotaging Vegapunk's plans and will figure out who this person is. Once he does it, he will be one step ahead (hold that thought) of the traitor and use that information to his advantage.

Colorspread: Impact Bubbles, CoCking and Drawing People in

Now, let's get to some of the latest colorspreads, which have been the topic of a lot of discussions. The first one I want to talk about is this:

This colorspread just tells us so much, and although I will talk about the most obvious hint that Oda dropped in it, I'd like to also point out that it's curious how he decided to put bubbles in this specific spread (I know it's coming from the boys' noses, but maybe it was just an excuse Oda used to justify why they are there) when, in this very arc, Vegapunk shows a weapon that weakens devil fruit users through bubbles.

The other interesting element Oda used for Sanji in this specific spread is the fact that, while the rest of the boys are with one squirrel with them, Sanji is the only one who has multiple squirrels moving towards him.

In this part I will say something really far-fatched (that not even I believe in much), but might be worth pointing out: maybe this is an indicative that he will lead a group that will help the Straw Hats in Future Island.

Why?

You see, Sanji is the type of character that has the ability to draw others to his side. However, it's he pretty clear that he does not have the interest, nor intention to become a leader. It still doesn't take away the fact that he has leader qualities - I think that people tend to forget that most of the time competent leaders don't usually want to become leaders because they know how draining it can be.

Even so, when his captain is out, or he is in solo missions, Sanji sometimes ends up leading a group of people or inspiring people to change sides without even really trying.

He does those things with no real intention, but his personality and the way he stands up to his ideals draws people to him naturally. He is a very inspiring person. Examples? Viola, Pudding, the Marines in Punk Hazard, his sister... even Judge sided with him for a while. And let's not forget that Sanji's first arc dealt exactly with that. To me, this is going to play a huge role in the last Arc of One Piece as well.

Anyway, as I said this side of Sanji appears when he is either by himself or when Luffy is incapacitated or not around... and what is Luffy doing in this spread? Sleeping.

It's no secret that Luffy wastes a lot of energy when he uses his gears, and in a lot of situations, he needs a few minutes to recover himself before going back to a fight. So this color spread is giving me a huge feeling that, in Egghead, there will be a moment when Luffy is incapacitated along with the rest of the crew, and Sanji will have to operate on his own and get help from other people to protect his nakama.

Whose help do you think he will have?

Well, we are still in the far-fetched part of this post, okay? So bear with me for a second...

Let's go to the next topic, but keep in mind that I will still bring back something important from this colorspread.

The CP agents stuck in Egghead

For some reason, York has been holding world government agents inside a room, and they have been starving for two months.

This was a little strange to me because I can't really see a reason for Oda to write York and make them starve when she seems to need them alive. Maybe she is trying to keep them weak?

The point is, they haven't eaten for two months, and Oda emphasized that a lot.

So what if... in one moment during the Arc, Sanji finds them and decides to feed them, even though he knows they are his enemies ? Maybe they have a similar reaction to what Gin had way back in the Baratie arc and, as retribution, they end up helping the Straw Hats?

Okay! End of the far-fetched part! I thought it would be interesting to it bring up even if I think it's unlikely.

Back to the colorspread, let's talk about the most important detail in it: the CoCking book.

A lot of people have discussed that this is not an indicative of Sanji having Conqueror's Haki and that he doesn't have a Conqueror's quality, but if you read my post up until this part you will have already concluded that not only do I think he has Conqueror's, but I also think that he will unlock it in a moment that will be of extreme importance to his crew's survival.

If you notice, when it comes to himself, Sanji is the type of guy who would take the blow for the team. He is very self-sacrificial (although he is not being as extreme as he was before, since he is seeing his self worth) and would tolerate being hit (emotionally and physically) if it meant someone he cares about didn't get hurt (especially women).

HOWEVER, when someone else is in danger, mainly the people he loves or are too weak to defend themselves, he would do anything to protect them and would not tolerate mistreatment. What I mean is... when it comes to protecting others, Sanji shows a more aggressive, protective side of his that he would not show for himself. Example?

I still have another opinion about this panel alone (specially now that Sanji is becoming more... confident in his own worth) but we do know that this protective side of Sanji has always existed.

So what I am saying here is Sanji's conquerors qualities are more evident when he is standing up for others, just like Luffy and Zoro.

As I was writing this theory, one of the best videos talking exactly about Sanji and his Conqueror nature was posted on youtube. Link is here. Please watch it!! It's amazing!!

Basically, people need to understand that having King's quality does not aways means they have the will to lead or to be aggressive and imposing. Most of the time, the quality of a king has to do with care for others and put yourself in the line for those who can't stand up to themselves. Sanji and Luffy do that all the time, and this alone makes people want to follow them. They don't conquer lands but people's hearts.

Colorspread 2: Two Birds with One Stone (Cat) and One Step Ahead

Alright, to end this list, we have to talk about the other colorspread where Sanji seems to have the spotlight. In it, there is something interesting in his shirt which is the old saying "Kill two birds with one stone". However, in the image we cannot read the end of the phrase and weirdly, it has a cat. I think that this could imply that instead of "stone" it's saying "cat".

Now, why am I bringing this up all of a sudden?

Because, curiously there is a panel where CP0 is talking about Vegapunk and they refer to him with a Japanese saying that compares Vegapunk with a cat.

In the translation itself they refer to him as a beaver, but the translator has explained that in the original saying in Japanese the animal used is a cat.

So, what is my guess with this?

My guess is: Sanji will solve two problems that the Sraw Hats will have to deal with using Vegapunk. Remember what I said about him probably figuring out that there is someone sabotaging Egghead? Maybe he will look for who it is on his own and later use that information to his advantage.

Something worth noticing, but that I think it's more of a coincidence than planned, is that the cat weirdly resembles York's expression.

So maybe Sanji will really use her in some way to execute his plans.

Another thing to notice in the colorspread (it'salso a bit farfetched), is that the only character who seems to be walking/moving is Sanji. Maybe this symbolizes how he will be one step ahead of his enemies in the Arc.

Now, tô finally end this:

What will Sanji do in Future Island?

I think that Sanji's role will have to do with sabotage and dealing with CP0 and the World Government under wraps.

I think that, because of his promise to protect Robin, he will keep an eye on CP0 and will be investigating things on his own during the Straw Hats fights against the Marines and World Government.

And because he is also mad over the Seraphim attacking Nami he will try to find out what is wrong with them and consequently find out who the traitor is and what she is up to.

Maybe he bumps into the captured CP agents and Vegapunk and they end up helping him and the Straw Hats escape? (As I said, I think this is very hard to happen, but who knows)

Through CP I think he will help sabotage their defenses and ships. Maybe with Nami's help as she controls Vegapunk weather technology, she will l create a route for the Straw Hats to run away once all of the battles are over.

During this arc, I also think that there will be a moment where most of the Straw Hats will be incapacitated and to protect them, Sanji will unlock his Conqueror's Haki.

You may think I am being way too specific without any evidence to back this up, but don't forget that Sanji did something VERY similar in Water 7 and Enies Lobby:

Because of Robin he went on a solo mission to locate her

He infiltrated a CP9 train and incapacitated most of its agents

He opened the way for the other Straw Hats to know what to do and where to go

In Ennies Lobby, after all the fights and power ups and rescuing Robin, Sanji also made sure that they had a escape route and in the processo destroyed a lot of Marine ships

The only difference I think we will have in the conclusion of this arc that differs from Ennies Lobby is that, this time, the Marines will recognize how threatening Sanji really is, and his bounty will increase. Thus fullfiling the promise he made to Kuma.

Well, that's it!

Let's finish this thread by saying that Oda himself told us to keep an eye on Sanji.

Obviously not everything in here I will get right (and I don't really mind being wrong, since the fun part is to speculate and discuss about our favorite characters), but one thing we can be sure of is that Sanji will do something that will be essential to the Straw Hats' survival. He has done that countless times, and he will do more even after this arc.

Let me know what you think and what your theories are as well!!

[ccarrot]

O and N but apply them to your bsd aus specifically! I'll like to know what you jam to/what headcanons you'll like to include more of in your stuff

O - i have several

bitch: something about the lyrics "i'm your bitch, you're my bitch, boom boom" really resonates with skk in general.

golden light: reversezaicore. idk how to explain it, Moody but relaxing. reversezai isn't quite as *crazy* as canonzai.

i hate the world and everyone in it: really moody emo edgy song that appeared in my spotify mix (when i sadly didn't have access to the premium acct) think of this as the background track for an analog au scene, where chuuya, tsujimura, ayatsuji and the special division are on the hunt for verlaine. incidentally it's chuuya's debut scene. analog au is really cinematic in my mind I JUST GOTTA DRAW IT ghhh

sit next to me: reverse chuuya. He's got this energetic supportive big brother vibe alll the time. yes! sit next to chuuya! he'll put an arm around your shoulder!

back to the cave: from the moominvalley soundtrack (album full of total BANGERS btw) specifically for analog atsushi. Trying to get to the bottom of the mystery but make little progress and getting more and more questions! set to the soundtrack of snufkin's nightmare sequence!

N -

chuuya not suffering -> well he has a terrible time in reverse au but at least he has an (alive) found family! And him and dazai are DEFINITELY DATING i've decided. they have an actual meet cute romance arc instead of fifteen. (sorry though daz you need to go through a little bit of self-imposed misery). actually reverse chuuya is like if you got regular chuuya but his energy, general smiliness, and big brother levels skyrocked out of his body.

barely any females focus -> reverse au isn't really FULL reverse au (where the mafia and ada fully switch) and is SORTA a reverse SKK au (bc dazai starts in the ada and leaves to the mafia, and chuuya stays with the ada from the 'start'). It's really reverse FUKUMORI au and all the characters are shuffled around accordingly. Kouyou and Hirotsu are in the mafia because that's where they were b4 the change in leadership, Tachihara's with the mafia bc he's a spy for the hunting dogs - he's part of a completely separate equation. Yosano stays with Mori bc Mori is a good person, Ranpo and Fukuzawa are disillusioned and take over the criminal underworld together. etc etc. WHAT i meant to say was, reverse ADA ladies lineup is Yosano, Kyouka, Higuchi, Gin (who is more of a clerk), which balances out the guys a little more, Mori, Chuuya, Akutagawa, Kenji. (dazai and oda's spirit dancing in the bg, nearly out of frame). AND Higuchi's the lead ideally if i wasn't stuck making 15 skk doodles.

Gaiden duo! -> They play the leads in the analog b-side. Chuuya + Rimlaine are the big focus but most of the story is told with Tsujimura and Ayatsuji. They'd really work as a good story leads (especially if they were depowerd, they'd be a really buddy cop duo)

[theclearblue]

Have you ever had hard time to enter a fandom that is your whole world in your childhood? So I first watch One Piece when I was 6 about 20 years ago, and I really love it (have the tshirt, shoes, manga, etc). And I followed it until I finished high school. But then I suddenly lose interest. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, just don't want to enter to that fandom again. My anime/manga moots now, don't even know that I used to love One Piece.

What do you think is wrong with me? I still watch the new movie if it came out in the cinema and I don't mind to know the update or spoiler of the story, I just don't want to watch the series or read the manga again. I'm weird, right?

I found your blog because of your JJK posts (now I'm into JJK and have at least 4 ships that I really love) also from you I know that Law got turned to a woman (like really)...

And if you aks me, I have ships (mostly mlm and wlw) from any fandom of manga and anime that I consume, except if those series are from my childhood. Like, I can't seem to ship Zoro and Sanji or any other character from OP because in my mind they are all platonic. But you gave me anime/manga that have a little bit bromance, and I'll ship them of course.

After talk it out, I must look really strange to you right? Sorry for this silly ask. Thanks for your blog, I love them. Also, thank you for your anime/manga recs. As BokuAka shipper that last ask of yours really made me happy that they are at least canon-ish....

I don't really think this is weird at all because this happened to me with a different fandom lol. It wasn't a show, but from ages 11-18/19 I was OBSESSED with kpop. I bought the albums and the merch when I could, my original tumblr blog was an Exo blog with about 900ish followers, it was all I listened to for years. And then one day I just stopped. I certainly was sick of kpop fans but nothing major happened for me to lose interest, I just kind of moved on. It happens. And while I still listen to some kpop, it's all the old stuff that I used to like, I don't go and venture out for new music or interact with any fandom with it now. It's the exact same situation you described I think, I don't hate it! But I have zero interest to rejoin the fandom because I do have issues with it and any kind of interaction is just for me at this point. (The next part is about One Piece specifically so I'm gonna put a cut here cause I wrote a lot lmao)

In regards to One Piece specifically, I think I understand where you're coming from. One, it seems like a lot of fans have lost interest at some point (usually between Fishman Island-Dressrosa, or maybe even up to WCI) and some pick it back up, and some don't. And I get that! I think I came into it at the perfect time where even if there is an arc I don't like as much, I always had Wano and Egghead to look forward to, and the end is now in sight. And reading week to week is always going to be a different experience than blitzing through the series like I did. Fortunately Egghead is amazing week to week, this is some of Oda's best work, but if I had to read week to week during, say, Punk Hazard or Dressrosa, yeah I would have complaints and most likely lose interest lmao. I don't know if this was your experience, but you definitely aren't the only one to have lost interest.

The fandom...yeah I have issues lol, particularly with fans from the West. I went to Japan this summer (before starting One Piece) and looking back it stood out to me that One Piece is EVERYWHERE and it's something that everyone loves regardless of age and gender. There were One Piece themed stores I went into where old ladies and middle aged men and little girls were all clearly invested in this series, and from what I've heard the consensus in Japan is that this series is enjoyed by families. I bring that up because the conversation around One Piece is OVERWHELMINGLY dominated by cishet men, usually in their mid 20s to mid 30s, and it shows. I think it is starting to shift to where there's more diversity in the fandom (or at least seen diversity) but man does it have a long way to go. I'm not impressed by how the fandom has reacted to trans characters, in particular Yamato, a trans male character in Wano where you have people still to this day scream about how he is a woman and will die on that hill. I think the whitewashing should of started being a conversation ten years ago instead of the last year or two. I think the issue of sexism within One Piece is complex, and it's not afforded the nuance it deserves from either side. I've stated multiple times I'm not a fan of powerscaling, but oh god is it terrible here, where it has somehow become prioritized for so many fans, even if it doesn't make sense from a narrative or character perspective. And maybe it's an overall media literacy problem, and I really don't mean to come off as a snob here because I certainly don't pick up on everything, but it's insane how many fans do not pick up on the core themes of the series, and just like it for...the fights. All of this to say, I have frustration as well with this fandom.

With the shipping, just always remember that they are ultimately headcanons, and you never have to agree with a headcanon to enjoy something, even if the headcanon is popular. One Piece can be tricky because I very much understand the desire to view things strictly as platonic, and in fact in canon this is what I want, I don't want any of my ships to be confirmed lmao. Where I get hung up a little bit though is that I think multiple characters in the series are queer coded, whether intentional or not. Of course there are the intentional ones like Iva and Bon Clay and Kiku, but I do genuinely believe a lot of the strawhats are queer coded as well, in particular Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Franky. I would be happy to expand on that more in another ask if you would like. But with these characters being queer coded, or at the very least they can be read that way, shipping seems like a natural progression for many fans, even if there is no romantic subtext to speak of. So all in all, I totally understand why shipping is a no go for you with One Piece, but this is my general thought process as I do ship some characters in the series.

TLDR anon is that I don't think you're strange at all, we gain and lose interest in things all of the time, and your concerns with the fandom and the series as a whole are valid I think, I've thought about a lot of the same stuff you have listed here even though I am a big fan.

[writingwhimsey]

A Mermaid Princess and A Pirate King

A Healer’s Work

Over the next two weeks, anywhere I went, I had a shadow. My regular stops in town, “Don’t forget to take Shojumaru with you.” It was really starting to grate on my nerves. However, I had things to do. I still had my duties as a healer and as chatelaine. I wouldn’t let him stop me from doing those.

I was working in the new healers’ quarters, putting up the new stores of medicinal herbs that Motonari had delivered…the man watching me all the while. “You know, there’s really no need to guard me while in the castle, Shojumaru.” I said, as I was putting away some of the herbs…after thoroughly testing them to make sure they weren’t poisoned.

Motonari grinned. “Oh, but you never know when danger may strike, my lady. I only wish to protect you as well as get to know you better.” He replied, keeping up the act just in case any of the other healers happened to come by. “Besides, my motives for guarding you are entirely selfish ones.”

“Oh yes, your grand confession to Nobunaga.” I replied, recalling his love confession. I rolled my eyes as I turned my back to him once again, focusing my efforts on organizing the medicines.

Motonari was moving closer to me then so that he could speak to me so only I could hear. His mouth right next to my ear, though he still did not touch me. “Yer sure feisty. Ya know I’m just makin’ sure my investment pays off. Just remember ta keep playin’ along fish girl. Pretend ta like me even just a little bit fer savin’ ya.”

I hate admitting this, but my body didn’t seem to entirely hate how close he was. It took all of my willpower to keep the shiver from running down my spine. I wasn’t about to let him think he could get anything over on me. I turned and looked directly into those blood red eyes…which were much closer than I anticipated. Once again I fought with my own body…okay yes he’s attractive, but he’s a dick.

“Would you rather I fall all over myself when I look at you?” I replied. I then put on the fakest voice I could, raising my voice a couple of octaves. “Oh Shojumaru, thank you so much for saving me. You’re my hero! So big and strong! I can’t get enough of you protecting me! Why don’t you just take me right here and now?”

Motonari was quickly backing up and glaring at me. “You…”

“Hey, sorry were we interrupting something?” called a familiar voice.

Both Motonari and I turned to see Keiji coming in with one of the new recruits leaning on him for support. I smiled at Keiji. “Not a thing. Are you still giving the new recruits a beating?” I asked, going into healer mode, as Keiji was bringing the soldier over to sit on the bed.

“Heh, it’s not like I’m trying to hurt anyone.” Keiji replied.

“More that I still have a lot to learn, Princess.” the soldier said.

“Where’s your injury?” I asked, giving the man a kind smile.

“It’s my ankle…did something to it when Lord Keiji took me down.” He answered.

“I see.” I replied, grabbing the supplies I would need anticipating a sprain. He didn’t seem to be in enough pain for it to be broken. I was then kneeling on the floor in front of him and examining his ankle.

“There’s…uh…no need for you to kneel down like that…Princess…” The soldier said, his cheeks reddening. “You…you don’t have to treat me. I’m sure one of the other healers would be just fine.”

“Nonsense.” I replied. “I’m here and I’m perfectly capable of treating you.” I assured him.

“I-I…I didn’t mean to imply that…I just meant there’s no need for someone of your station to be treating me…”

“Then don’t think of me as an Oda Princess. Just think of me as another healer and member of the Oda forces.” I replied. “And just Ava is fine.” His ankle was indeed sprained. 

“Well…okay…I think I can do that.” He replied, smiling back at me.

I was then wrapping his ankle and applying some healing herbs…as well as sending a bit of my healing magic his way. My powers were weakened by the bracelet, but at least I was able to continue to use them a bit to help others. Of course, the main purpose of the bracelet was to control me and keep me from using my powers on Motonari.

“Alright, you’re all set. It’s just a sprain. Stay off of it for a few days, keep it elevated and take this medicine to reduce the swelling and you should be back to training in no time.” I told him, as I handed him some medicine and a makeshift crutch.

“Thank you Prin…I mean Ava.” He said bowing his head before leaving.

“You know Keiji, injuries have been up since you’ve been put in charge of training.” I told him with a teasing smile.

“I think they’re getting injured on purpose.” Keiji told me, grinning. “I think they come to see your smile.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are so full if shit, Keiji.”

Keiji laughed. “Hey, I’m just sayin’ they wanna come see and be treated by a beautiful woman.”

“I’d say Lord Keiji is right.” Motonari spoke up for the first time in a while. “Can’t say that I blame them really.”

Keiji laughed heartily. “See, Shojumaru knows where it’s at. Of course, he knows better since he’s in love with you, too.”

“Yeah…” I said with a laugh, I hope didn’t sound as forced as it felt.

Keiji ended up bringing in a few more guys with injuries before I was trading out shifts with another healer. I headed into town…Motonari as my shadow once again. I was making my usual stops, when the owner of a local tea house was running up to me. “My lady, please you have to help?” He asked me, his desperation clear on his face.

“Of course, what is it?” I asked.

“It’s my…my daughter…she’s so sick…so small…”

“Say no more. Just lead the way.” I replied.

He nodded and then started leading me through the streets. I followed not caring if Motonari followed or not, but knowing he would. We were soon arriving at the man’s home and he was dipping inside. Motonari was grabbing my sleeve. “Could be a trap, ya know.” He told me, glaring at me.

“Well, then it’s a good thing I have my faithful guard dog, Shojumaru with me.” I replied, glaring back at him just as hard. I was then ripping my sleeve from his grasp and heading in.

I heard him let out a groan and then a few minutes later was following me in, a cloth held over his nose and mouth. It struck me as odd, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to him as I was turning to the situation in front of me. A girl, she couldn’t have been more than three or four was lying on the floor, wrapped in blankets and coated in sweat. There was a cloth on her head and the child was so pale..so fragile looking.

I quickly knelt down. Her breathing was shallow and she was hot to the touch as I began my examination. If I didn’t act quickly, she was sure to die. I administered medicines. As I held her head up to give her the medicine, I let me healing power flow through me and into her. “Everything is going to be alright, child.” I whispered to her.

Within moments her fever broke and her eyes were opening. “Mama…Papa…” She said, looking around the room.

I stepped out of the way as the happy family moved around her, tears filling their eyes as they hugged their daughter. I smiled as I watched them and turned to leave. The tea house owner was looking at me. “Wait, my lady, how much do we owe you?”

“Not a thing.” I answered with a warm smile. “Just love and cherish her and your time together.”

He smiled. “Thank you, my lady.”

“It was my pleasure.” I replied, turning to leave.

“W-wait…” The little girl called.

I turned and she smiled at me. “Thank you…lady.”

I smiled. “I am just happy to see you better. Rest and take care.” 

As I left Motonari had already gone outside, he was wiping himself down with a clean white cloth. Someone has a problem with germs, perhaps? I thought to myself.

“What are ya lookin’ at, fish girl?” He asked, glaring at me.

“Nothing.” I answered, not ready to voice my thoughts to him.

“We should head back to the damn castle.” He said, his Shijumaru act clearly dropped. “Ya should get cleaned up.”

“And I assume you want to as well?” I asked.

“Just make sure ya keep yer distance.” He said, glaring at me as he began to take long strides back to the castle.

Clearly, the man had more issues than I initially thought. What else was there to Motonari? If he had an issue with germs…that would make sense with some of the other things I had observed of him. Perhaps he even had a condition? One that would not be recognized or diagnosed in this time. The gloves would make sense then…so would him not eating at the banquet. It made me wonder, what else I might be able to find out…and how could I use that to help me get out of this mess?

After we returned to the castle, Motonari immediately headed to get cleaned up. He spent quite a while washing up before returning to my side in fresh clothes. We joined the Oda for another feast…Motonari once again not eating nor drinking. Though that didn’t seem to dampen the mood for anyone else.

I decided to turn in early, giving the excuse that I’d had a long a busy day. Motonari, escorted me to my chambers. “You really that worried that you have to follow me to my room? You know I CAN’T tell anyone anything or do you not believe in the power you hold because of this damn shackle you put on me?”

“I don’t trust nothin’ fish girl. Nothin’ but my own plans.” Motonari answered.

“Nothing and no one.” I replied. “That must get lonely.”

“It ain’t lonely.” Motonari replied. “Besides, you’re too trustin’ and look what it got you.”

“That I may be in this predicament now, doesn’t mean I regret my choices.” I replied, glaring at him defiantly. “No matter the cost to me, I will never regret helping those in need…now good night.” I said, slamming my door closed. I crossed my arms over my chest as I sank to the floor in frustration.

How could one man drive me so absolutely mad? He got under my skin like no other. I was too frustrated to even think of sleeping. I needed something…I sighed as I fell back on the floor. I needed to feel something different. It was then that an idea struck me. I waited till I thought Motonari had left and then I began to sneak out of my room, heading out through the garden.

I had made it to the wall, when I became aware of a presence behind me. “Where ya think yer goin’?”

I suppressed a groan as I turned to Motonari. “You wanna find out? Just keep following me. Not like I can stop you if I wanted to anyways.”

“But I could stop you.” Motonari countered.

I glared at him. “It’s no secret meeting to spill all your secrets.” I told him. “Just need to go get out all of this frustration.”

Motonari quirked a brow at me. “Alright.” He said after a moment. “Lead the way.”

I continued on my little walk, Motonari following me, until we were on the banks of the nearby lake. I looked at the reflection of the moon on the water, thinking how beautiful it looked. I sighed feeling a bit more at peace already. 

I began lifting my hands to my obi, undoing my sash. “What the hell ya doin’?” Motonari asked, his red eyes wide.

“What do you think?” I replied.

He grinned. “Heh, well if ya wanted ta work yer frustrations off, why didn’t ya tell me this was what ya had in mind? We coulda taken care o’ this back in yer room, fish girl.”

“Oh, if that’s what I had in mind, I don’t think you could handle it, ya damn pirate.” I replied as I removed my sash. “You’re the one who keeps calling me fish girl. You’re aware of my people, then you must know what I’m really up to.” I continued to remove my layers.

“Late night skinny dippin’ beforehand then?” Motonari asked, leaning in.

I rolled my eyes as I stripped myself of my kimono, soon completely naked. “Think whatever you want, but you ain’t getting this.” I told him before jumping into the water. Once I was completely submerged, my legs were melding together as my scales began to cover them, my transformation taking place. By the time I resurfaced, my tail was fully in place. I looked back at the shore where Motonari stood, looking at me dumbfounded. I grinned. “Sometimes a girl just has to stretch her fins.”