#souta on the other hand

[eltheabberation]

Messy panel redraw for a crack au I made :> (original panel is from :re chapter 2)

[ms-fandomgirl]

BBHG: Mapo Tofu (Ch. 2)

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Words: 2,565

Summary: A chance encounter in the Shibuya Train Station leaves you with a sore shoulder and a mysterious bento box. You’re willing to write the incident off and move on, otherwise preoccupied with navigating a new city and a new job, but a bombastic blond, meddling friend, and fate itself seem to have other plans.

Genre: Pro Hero AU, fluff, strangers to lovers, medical setting

Links: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist | Cross-posted on Ao3!

Mapo Tofu - Consisting of tofu set in a spicy red sauce with meat, this originally Chinese dish emigrated to Japan in the 1950s where it evolved into sweeter and more mellow flavors popular among Japanese cuisine.

Pale, golden rays of sunlight filtered through the large, double-paned windows, warming the kitchen in a gentle glow. On the windowsill, six houseplants of different varieties sat, basking in the morning light. Sticking out of the soil, small jewel-toned picks proudly displayed their names: Yuki, Kita, Suga, Tohru, Ren, and Souta. In the living room, eight more plants were grouped around the couch, still asleep in the darkness until the afternoon rays helped them rise.

At the doorway, Ibara Shiozaki stood, wringing hands betraying her otherwise stoic expression. “You’ll need to rotate Souta 45 degrees every two days, otherwise he begins to lean too much towards the sun.” She motioned to the last of the plants on the windowsill, small buds covering the plump, green succulent. “And don’t forget that Tohru needs to be watered last, since you also need to mix in her special plant food, but you can’t give it to Kita, otherwise he’ll die.”

You nodded, attempting to shoo her out of the door for the umpteenth time this morning. “Don’t worry Shiozaki, I’ve got this. I promise that I can handle your babies for a week.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking skeptical. “When you first brought your own plants upon move-in, they were in desperate need of attention. For someone with a medical background, I was surprised you didn’t immediately realize that action needed to be taken in order to preserve their life.”

While the words themselves sounded hostile, you simply laughed the comment off, shaking your head. Having Shiozaki as a roommate did nothing to cure the culture shock that came with the big city. Blunt, serious, and downright confusing at times, she had definitely added to the stress at first. However, she did, in fact, save your plants, and there was no way you could afford an apartment as half as nice as this one if you had been living on your own. Therefore, you quickly adjusted to her quirkiness and overall dependability as a roommate.

“My specialty is people, not plants, but I’m an avid learner.” you replied. “That’s where you come in, my incredibly talented, plant-mom teacher.”

Shiozaki scoffed, but a rosy blush crept its way onto her cheeks. She never could take a compliment. “Well, I emailed the instructions to you, just in case. I also–”

“–Left them taped to the fridge,” you finished for her. “Yes, I saw those two weeks ago when you announced that you had this mission. It will be fine, just go. You’re going to be late!”

Shiozaki looked like she wanted to argue more, but closed her mouth when she saw the time, her lips forming a tense line. If there was one thing she possibly valued as much as her plants, it was her punctuality, and right now you had a very good point. If she delayed any further, she would most definitely be late. Giving you a confident nod as you wished for her safe travels, she spun on heel and closed the apartment door, footsteps echoing down the hallway.

You glanced at the time on the microwave, inwardly cursing yourself as you too rushed to get out of the door. It wasn’t until you were at the crosswalk to the station that you realized your hands were too empty. The bento box you had left to dry the night before was still sitting on the rack.

The underground was busy today, although it was considerably louder than yesterday. Normally, the commuting passengers, while many in number, were heard by the sound of their shoes against the worn tile rather than their voices. Early mornings with no coffee and the stress of public transportation rendered them voluntarily mute.

Today, however, everyone had something to say.

Vendors of food stands loudly offered you their freshest pastries, your stomach saying ‘yes’ but your brain and anxiety very much saying ‘no.’ Around you, people clustered in groups, talking about the headlines on the newspapers stacked around the station. The words ‘top heroes’ and ‘tomorrow’ were the only ones to cling to your memory, the others brushed off by your hasty pace. How could anyone think about ‘tomorrow’ when there was still a whole day of ‘today’?

Therefore, it was hardly your fault that you didn’t hear the man at first, brain immediately dismissing his voice as another in the sea of mindless chatter.

“Oi, you there.” A small commotion erupted behind you, the sound of angry huffs increasing in volume as more people were pushed aside. You didn’t turn, anxiously peering down the tracks of the train, as though doing so would make it come faster. “Hey, Bento Box Girl! I’m talking to you.”

You were once again painfully reminded that your own bento box was firmly planted on your kitchen counter. Nonetheless, you did turn, wondering what poor person was being accosted like this so early in the morning. The scent of warm caramel and a familiar cologne crested over you like a wave, so strong you almost stumbled as though physically pushed.

Ah, that poor person was you.

“Me?” You stared at him, too shocked to be polite, not that it mattered. He definitely didn’t seem like the type for pleasantries considering that he had blatantly ignored any pretense of manners with both encounters.

The man in question rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. The white t-shirt he wore stretched tight across his chest at the motion, confirming that the hardness you had felt from your trip the other day was, in fact, all muscle. You were sure the arms which had caught you were similarly structured, but they were currently covered by an oversized letterman, a large, burgundy ‘R’ emblazoned on the front left pocket. Narrowing in on his piercing eyes, more vibrant than the jacket, and sandy hair, you thought that the man looked vaguely familiar, too.

A sudden gust of wind signaled the train’s arrival, breaking your thoughts and stealing your attention away. The stranger didn’t like this, darting in front of you to prevent you from moving toward the opening doors and forcing you to face him again.

“What’s your secret?” His eyes bore into yours with unfettered determination, and a chill ran its way down your spine. You tried to side-step him, but he was obnoxiously quick for someone of his build.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied, meeting his gaze with all of the strength you could muster. You weren’t a villain, but he was certainly making you feel like one.

He scoffed, as though insulted that you could be this clueless. “The curry. What’s the secret to your curry?”

A second passed. Then two.

‘Was this guy serious?’

“Just-” you began, realizing that he wouldn’t leave you in peace until you gave him an answer, “add something sweet, like honey. Yours was way too spicy. You need the balance of both, otherwise one flavor will overpower everything and it won’t taste as good.”

His brows furrowed, a slight nod being the only confirmation that he heard you. He turned to rummage in his own bag, and you considered the conversation over, trying to step past him onto the train.

His arm shot out, and you were once again blocked. In his hand, he held a small box wrapped in a pale orange cloth. A bento box. Your bento box. You looked back up at the man, who was looking at you with an expectant stare.

“I don’t have yours,” you said, shrugging sheepishly. “This morning was super busy and I didn’t even have time to pack my lunch. In fact, I don’t even think I have any leftovers since Shiozaki–”

He cut off your rambling with a wave of his hand. You thought he would be upset at your admission, seeing as his default reaction seemed to be pissed off, but instead, he simply leaned back, hands finding his pockets.

“You better bring me something good tomorrow, then,” he said, a devastating grin slicing across his face.

It was then that you were reminded how handsome this asshole was. That sense of familiarity wormed its way to the front of your brain again, and you wondered if you knew him from the cover of a magazine or on a billboard advertising the latest fashion. He certainly seemed like the type.

The station announcer called for last minute passengers, and you scurried through the open doors, abruptly cutting off any further conversation. However, it seemed as though he had accomplished what he came for. Instead of boarding the train, you watched as his red letterman turned away from the platform and made its way upstairs, melting into the crowd.

‘Maybe tomorrow wouldn’t be such a bad thing to think about after all.’

* * *

“That man is loaded.” Hina leaned back in the hard plastic chair of the break room, hands coming together to form a peak as she began her analysis. “The jacket you’re describing is from the Fatgum Agency x Gucci merch collab for charity. The only pieces of sidekick merch were the letterman jackets, and they sold out in less than five minutes on pre-order.”

You had been giving Hina a dramatic reenactment of your morning events, and when you had mentioned the flashy jacket that the man wore, she had almost fainted. A few months ago, she had come into work with bags under her eyes and looking utterly defeated. When you had asked her what was wrong, fearing the worst, she had tearfully told you about how hard she had tried to get the Tamaki letterman, and how quickly they had sold out. You consoled her with a lunch out and Suneater plushie, but you knew the defeat stung, especially since she owned every other piece of Suneater merch.

“Maybe he’s in the yakuza,” Hina continued. “Besides having money, he must have had connections to score that jacket as well.”

You set your chopsticks down, thoughtfully chewing your tofu. “I doubt that a member of the yakuza would be buying hero merch, much less chasing after me for a curry recipe. Whoever he is though, the man can cook.”

After yesterday’s curry fiasco, you had been hesitant to try whatever he had prepared for you today. However, your curiosity won out, and you had unwrapped the bento to reveal a beautiful meal of mapo tofu. Like his last dish, this one was tongue-numbingly spicy. However, instead of being overwhelming, the different flavors of spice melded together perfectly to create a multi-dimensional flavor that left you craving more.

“So, you don’t think he’s all that bad now?” Hina questioned, leaning forward with her elbows on the table.

“No, he’s definitely still an asshole.” You shook your head as you corrected her. “It’s just annoying that he’s also handsome, cooks well, smells good, and is apparently loaded.”

Hina snickered into her hand. “I don’t know, sounds like he’s still a catch. Maybe you just need to get earplugs so you can’t hear him when he opens his mouth.”

You could easily imagine the stranger’s rage if he realized you weren’t listening to him, giggling at the thought of his face turning red and veins popping out of his neck until steam began to actually pour from his ears. “I would pay money to see his face if he ever found out, but it would probably be the last thing I ever saw.”

Feeling a looming presence over your shoulder, you stopped the conversation short, turning around in your chair to come face to face with a very unhappy looking Gia. Her hands were on her hips, and she made a show of tapping her foot, as though she had been waiting.

“Ah, there you are,” she said to Hina, completely ignoring your existence. “I should have known that you would have been in the break room.”

You suppressed the urge to roll your eyes but couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of your voice as you responded. “Well, it is our lunch break for five more minutes.”  

As expected, she didn’t offer you any form of acknowledgment. Instead, she rounded the table to stand in front of Hina, brushing away the loose strands of hair that framed her face and were one hundred percent breaking the dress code. “Why did you go ahead and draw up Mr. Mori’s charts? I thought I told you to wait for me.”

Hina was handling the situation better than you were, giving Gia a placating smile. “You were busy with other matters at the time, so I went ahead and helped him since he is under my care.”

“But what if you missed something?” Gia scolded.

“I didn’t,” Hina replied. “I had Dr. Hayashi confirm it.”

You thought Gia might cool down after this statement, but if anything, it seemed to make her even more agitated. She sighed loudly, her voice lowering in tone but increasing in vitriol. “But you could have!”

She shook her shoulders, straightening herself back into a somewhat relaxed position. “Next time, please wait for me. As a senior nurse, it is my duty to make sure that our patients receive the most accurate and relevant care.”

Hina nodded in response, obviously wanting the conversation to be over. Thankfully, her wish was granted. Gia turned on heel and walked out of the break room without another word, head held high as though she had saved the day. When the door closed, you scoffed loudly, rubbing your forehead.

“She could have missed something too!” you exclaimed. “Even though her Diagnosis quirk is ‘made’ for the medical field, it’s only accurate 95% of the time. We’ve studied for years to get here. Surely that means we can fill out a chart and give a basic diagnosis based on the readings without her breathing down our necks.”

Hina agreed, groaning as she sunk down into her chair. “I know, but what can we do? She’s in charge of us for now. I’m just glad we’re still in our rotations so we won’t be stuck with her forever.”

You grumbled out an agreement, still unhappy about the entire situation. Someone definitely needed to take her down a peg or two, but you felt as though you had no right to do so. After all, she was your boss, and despite her general arrogance, her quirk really was perfect for this. All she had to do was touch someone, and she was able to give them a complete diagnosis of the patient with at least 95% accuracy if not more. Your quirk, while still being useful, was nowhere near the level that hers was when it came to helping others and saving lives.

A timer on your phone signaled the end of your break, and you carefully packed up the bento before wrapping it in its pale orange cloth. There wasn’t much left of the mapo tofu, and you made a mental note to cook something special for the stranger in gratitude, despite his attitude. Following Hina out of the door and back into the hospital hallway, you realized that for once, you were excited for the next day to come.

A/N: Yay! Second chapter is up! Thank you guys so much for the amazing support and kind words. I am so happy you have been enjoying it so far! My schedule might become a bit disrupted during/after Thanksgiving, but I will update you all if things change. Other than that, looking forward to next week's post! It's a long one.

As always, reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated, but please do not repost here or on other platforms. However, fan arts, edits, or anything like that are beyond amazing and totally welcome! If you have a question about it, just ask me.

Tag List: @lavender99, @gold24fish, @bqkuho3, @satorulicious, @cringeycookies, @summrwalkr, @nyxmania

If you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know in the comments! Also, if the tag list DIDN'T work, please let me know as well. I've never done one before, so I'm not sure I did it right.

[thescreaminghat]

so i watched suzume. . .

And it was good—the animators, vas, musicians, and other talented people who worked on this film deserve so much praise for their work.

On the other hand (and this is a purely personal exercise that isn't meant to detract from Makoto Shinkai's vision for the piece), I think the overall theme of the film might have been better served if the story centered on the ups and downs of Suzume's relationship with her aunt Tamaki, rather than Souta.

Suzume is very much a story about grief—set against the tragedy of the 2011 tohoku earthquake, Suzume's personal struggle with the loss of her mother is arguably our entryway into understanding how this tragedy continues to shape the relationship between Japan’s very geography, its history, and its people.  

I believe that central to this narrative focus is Suzume’s complicated relationship with Tamaki, her mother’s sister, who raised Suzume for much of her life after the loss of Suzume's mother. For me, one of the most important moments of Suzume and Tamaki’s relationship is shown at the climax of their disagreements with each other. After being Suzume's sudden departure from their small town (partially out of that rebellious teenage desire to not be "suffocated" by Tamaki's presence; we'll get to Souta’s role in this later) and Tamaki's understandable worry about Suzume's wellbeing (which leads her to embark on a wild goose chase after Suzume, though we’re not shown much of Tamaki’s personal journey), Tamaki yells at Suzume while the two are at a rest stop with Souta’s friend Serizawa. Tamaki bitterly states that raising Suzume after her sister's death had been a suffocating burden on her as well, as she couldn't find love and live the life that she had wanted because of her responsibility. This leads Suzume to shrink back in disbelief, as she recalls a pivotal memory where, after wandering in a snowstorm in search of her mother (and encountering the Ever After), she is found by Tamaki, who cries and affirms that Suzume will always be her daughter. It's a heartbreaking scene. We can empathize with both characters—Suzume is closer in age to most viewers, and we know that she doesn’t really hate her aunt’s presence, as the stress of her chase after Daijin and Souta’s temporary “demise” has whittled away at her emotions. Similarly, we can imagine that Tamaki herself likely hasn't overcome her grief at losing her sister, and that her outburst wasn’t truly genuine—she does love Suzume, but she wants her adoptive daughter to understand the sacrifices she had made, because she had no one else to confide in or rely on. We anticipate that this is the emotional crux of the movie, showing the relationship of a surrogate mother to a child who has gone through deep, unresolved trauma, now burdened with the consequences arising from the "imbalances" of the spirit world, itself a metaphor for the turbulence of living and of losing.

. . .and then the movie doesn't do anything with this scene. It's suddenly cut short with the random appearance of the keystone Sadaijin, and any lingering tension from that scene is resolved offscreen, with Tamaki and Suzume regaining each other's trust in the next scene. It feels unearned and deeply unsatisfying, especially when the emotional core of the film then gets transplanted onto Suzume's emotional relationship with Souta, a college-aged man whom she has known for less than a week (Suzume, by the way, is in high school, and even if they don’t “get together” in the movie, it makes me a bit uncomfortable seeing someone who is implied to be in their twenties being the implied romantic interest for a seventeen-year-old).

So, I thought, what if the movie kept its cast of characters, and the general sequence of events, but instead of Souta being the one cursed by Daijin to be the keystone (an act that initiates the film's events), it was Tamaki? This is going to be broken up into a few reblogs since it's too long for one post, but here's how I would structure it. (Part 1 of 2, and with a lot of my own hc interactions)

The beginning of the film can stay the same, including Souta's appearance. however, the driving force for Suzume to go to the isolated spot where the first door is located is an argument with Tamaki, rather than her implied curiosity regarding Souta. Perhaps, in this fight, we see bits of Tamaki's personality that may come across as "suffocating" to a teenager, even if she meant well.

Suzume, bothered by Tamaki's presence and the dream that she had of wandering through the Ever After, goes to this isolated spot to get away from everything, which is where she encounters the door and Daijin. Perhaps she's sulking a bit, and makes some sarcastic remark about someone like Souta being able to travel (something that would show her interest in leaving the small town she currently lives in). She then opens the door, Daijin escapes, and she goes about her day as in the film, until the worm appears above the skyline.

She then runs back to the door, where she encounters Souta again. They close the door, and Souta explains what he does and what the door represents. She brings Souta back to their house for medical treatment (except without any of the weird romantic tension between them), and they begin talking about Suzume’s life (perhaps about her room, the chair, and her dreams, as Suzume imagines the kinds of dangers—and thrills—that come with Souta’s position as a Closer).

This is where Tamaki comes back into the story. Tamaki, returning early to check on Suzume and encountering Suzume and Souta together, thinks the worst and begins to berate Suzume. They get into another argument, with Souta trying to calm the two down. Suzume, already stressed from the day's events, wishes that she can be "free" of Tamaki.

This is when Daijin appears on the windowsill, shit-eating grin and all, and says something along the lines of "Ok, Suzume. I can do that—because you're just like me." And then Tamaki is suddenly turned into a chair.

The same chaos ensues, with Tamaki, Souta, and Suzume chasing after Daijin until they get on the ferry. This is where Souta can give some more exposition, saying that he's never encountered this before, while encouraging Tamaki and Suzume to try and come together as he figures the whole thing out. Perhaps this is also the time where we get more information about Souta's personal life (in this version, it is information about his desire to become a teacher, as well as info about his relationship with his own mother, who was killed during a dangerous mission she took on as a Closer.)

The trio continue chasing after Daijin, with the group splitting up by necessity (thus allowing Tamaki and Suzume to have more screentime together). Specifically, Souta finds out that another door is opening off the path of travel they are taking after Daijin, and he instructs Tamaki and Suzume to continue their journey while he takes care of the other door. Before he leaves, he gives Suzume another key he keeps in his possession, which he reveals belonged to his mother.

Suzume and Tamaki continue onwards and meet Chika, the girl on the motorcycle. Suzume and Tamaki then cooperate in closing the door opened by Daijin. In this version, I think it would be interesting if Daijin is actually actively opening doors, not simply leading the pair to doors that are about to open. This serves as a huge bonding moment for Suzume and Tamaki, as they previously couldn’t go a day without arguing over the best way to do things.

Suzume and Tamaki stay at Chika's place (and have the downtime with Chika that is shown in the movie), except Suzume's dialogue with Tamaki consists of her confessing that she is jealous of Chika's independence and the bustling atmosphere at Chika's home. Tamaki is initially angered by this, but gradually calms down in her “chair corner” as she sees Suzume and Chika having fun, perhaps even reminding Tamaki of her own childhood with her sister.

When Tamaki falls asleep, she sees visions of her sister, which both frightens and immobilizes her (i.e. literally her survivor’s guilt “anchoring” her in place). This is meant to replace how Souta gradually descends into his “death” when he sleeps.

Suzume and Tamaki head off and are picked up by Rumi, the mother who works at the hostess bar. Initially, Tamaki whispers to Suzume that she doesn’t want Suzume hitchhiking with a stranger, but Suzume tells her that sometimes they need to rely on others to get by. The same comedy shenanigans with Rumi’s children can be kept in—I think it’s more fitting that Tamaki plays the role of the “toy chair that can speak” in order to keep the children entertained, because she probably, after all, raised Suzume on similar silly stories.

Suzume and Tamaki run to the abandoned fairgrounds to close the other door when the worm appears. I think this scene becomes more impactful when Tamaki is the chair and not Souta, as her decision to save Suzume from falling from the Ferris wheel and letting Daijin go would highlight her parental worry for Suzume, though perhaps this isn’t fully realized by Suzume in the midst of her adrenaline rush. Suzume, however, does look upon the fairground as a place that she wants to go to with Tamaki, when all of this is over, though she keeps this to herself.

Suzume, watching Rumi work her shift as a hostess, comes to appreciate the struggles of being a mother more. Similarly, Tamaki wants to connect with Rumi as a peer, but is limited by her chair form. Seeing Suzume bond with Rumi makes Tamaki want to be there for Suzume, as she sees Suzume slowly maturing into her own person. However, neither Suzume nor Tamaki feel ready to fully open up about these nuanced feelings, as they fall instead into a comical back-and-forth when they’re alone.

Suzume and Tamaki manage to get to Tokyo, where they meet up with Souta. He tells them that he’s been doing whatever research he can to try and figure out how to break Tamaki’s curse. This is where he can explain the keystone lore to Suzume and Tamaki.

The giant worm starts appearing over the city. Tamaki insists that Suzume get out of Tokyo. Souta agrees, and tells Suzume and Tamaki to leave, stating that he can handle the worm himself. Suzume refuses, stating that she’s not going to let anyone else die—the “else” implying that she too still feels survivor’s guilt over her mother’s death.

Despite Souta’s attempts at reasoning with her, Suzume is adamant on staying—Daijin appears and mocks her, telling her that she only knows how to let her aunt dictate how she lives. Suzume rushes ahead without Souta and Tamaki. Tamaki and Souta chase after Suzume, with Tamaki yelling at Suzume again, calling her “rash”, "always making her worry and chase after her," and “thinking and behaving like a child”.

Perhaps Suzume covers her ears, as Tamaki’s words begin to blend into Daijin’s laughter as he scrambles towards the worm. Perhaps Suzume screams out loud, screaming that she felt as though Tamaki had never believed in her, that even when an entire city is threatened, Tamaki cares only about herself, and knows only how to chastise and suffocate Suzume. This shocks Tamaki, but before she can respond, the trio are shot up to the worm’s back, and Souta attempts to seal the worm. However, Daijin interferes and Souta is injured. Suzume then tries to grab Daijin, only for Daijin to purr contentedly and state that he understands what Suzume is feeling—that is why Tamaki will now be the keystone, and both of them can be free.

Suzume turns to Tamaki, only to find that she is unresponsive. Ice is forming around her, as Suzume’s words echo over and over in her mind. Perhaps Tamaki then screams in grief as she sinks deeper into her regret and memories of her sister—that is when we get her screams about how much she had sacrificed for Suzume, and how much happiness Suzume took from her (basically what she said during the rest stop confrontation).

(pt 1 end)

[m1d-45]

the thoma one, god i love him. what a sweetheart :') but like.......what would happen if we went to the kamisato estate with him. and like. the siblings caught us. would they be on our side or would ayato call for our arrest immediately. would thoma still try to help us once he realized or does his loyalty override that. i am dying to know 👀

silent conclusions

summary: the kamisato estate is welcoming, thoma and ayaka are kind, ayato is… ayato.

word count: exactly 4000. very cool

-> warnings: spoilers for inazuma archon quest, exactly one (1) swear word, ayato is a little shit (affectionate), if your name is maple uh… whoops?

-> lowercase intended!

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @genshin-impacts-me || @5sos-wdw

@yoshikuno and @alexteea asked for part threes- sorry if you didn’t wanna be tagged

<<first part || < masterlist >

teleport waypoints, despite being incredibly convenient, take large tolls.

the moment your feet were on solid ground again you reached, latching onto the closest person as your vision swam with vertigo. bile rose in your throat once more, exacerbating your nausea. though you managed to wash out some of the saltwater with the tea—shockingly sweet, from what you remember of green tea—it still soaked your tongue.

two people are talking, voices just out of focus, and the person you grabbed sets their hand over yours.

you’re thankful they give you a moment’s pause, and you take deep breaths. slowly, the stone beneath you is less blinding, and you can see that you’re outside the kamisato estate. the white and purple walls are tall, imposing, two guards stationed in front of the entrance. it looks like light security, but you figure nobody could be bold enough to try anything anyways.

you pull your hand from your support, hoping your gaze show your apology as you look at-

ayato?

he glances at you, eyes flicking over you once before returning to his talk with hisashi.

oh fuck.

thoma appears from your other side and takes you by the arm, walking for the entrance to the estate. “come on, let’s get you inside.”

you follow in a daze, still thrown off by the fact that you grabbed the arm of the yashiro commissioner after teleporting. you’re certain that most people would be knocked off in an instant—or worse—if not by him then by those around. you can’t tell which is more shocking: the fact that he didn’t seem upset afterwards, or that hisashi let you get so close in the first place.

the courtyard is full of life, plants lining the outer edge and the raised patio-like platform in the middle. the various workers around the area stare a little more at you than you’d like, but since thoma is besides you they don’t give you much trouble. the emblem of the kamisatos ripples on the flags they’re printed on, moved by a silent breeze.

the guards in front of the door eye you with more suspicion, and step inwards over the door as you approach, spears crossing in an X. thoma’s steps halt unnaturally, and you can see confusion on his face out of the corner of your eye.

“who is with you, retainer?”

“er…”

right. ayato had directed the conversation at the teahouse to your charges, not to you. you never got a chance to tell your name—not that you would have told the truth, incase history tried to repeat itself.

“the commissioner has employed new help,” he said, wisely keeping back the part where you were being hidden from the shogunate. “i am to show them to their quarters.”

the guard’s eyes narrow further, and you can’t find it in yourself to blame them. you don’t look fit for work by a long shot, let alone for somebody as prestigious as the kamisatos.

“come on souta, when have i ever been untrustworthy? the commissioner himself is just behind us, if you don’t-“

the door behind the guards slid open and they rushed not to block the way, glancing first at each other and then to the open doors.

ayaka is standing in the open doorway, barely-concealed curiosity evident in her eyes. in one hand is a fan that covers the lower half of her face, the carefully painted design matching her eyes.

your mind flashes back to when you were introduced to her, when she was sitting behind a screen and thoma said that that was the traditional way to greet guests, or something similar. sure, you’re less of a guest and more… maybe blackmailed is a little too harsh of a word, perhaps more coerced-

“m- my lady?” thoma steps forward, tugging you behind him, and you can’t tell if it’s meant to be protective towards you or her. “what are you doing out here?”

“indeed, it is rather rare for you to be out. i told you i was bringing home somebody, ayaka.” ayato’s voice once more comes out of nowhere, and you turn to see him and hisashi walking up. the latter looks more tense than you’ve ever seen him, and you don’t blame him. considering ayato gave a… warning..

…wait a minute-

“it’s well past when you said you would return,” ayaka points out, voice far more diplomatic than you’d expect from a conversation between siblings. “is it wrong of me to go for a stroll?”

an odd expression flashes over ayato’s face, but it melts into acceptance quicker than you’d expect. “that is fair. i apologize. negotiations took longer than expected.”

you have to bite your tongue to keep from saying something smart in return. the threat of salt also helps, but not nearly as much as the fear of angering him.

something like a laugh comes from ayaka, but you refrain from turning. even if you’re ‘allowed’ to, it feels polite. also, you really don’t want to upset ayato. after everything he’s done, he feels like the largest threat.

(your mind reminds you of how kind his hand was when it settled over yours outside of the estate. you arrive at the conclusion that ayato is strange.)

“come in, then. hisashi, you are dismissed.”

hisashi bows, then sends a questioning look at ayato. the latter nods, and the former turns neatly on his heel, leaving with barely a sound to his footsteps.

thoma pulls at your hand again and you turn to follow, keeping your eyes on his shoes. you figure it’s better not to snoop or get distracted, and considering thoma’s following ayaka…

ayato’s eyes weigh on your shoulders as you walk.

for the second time today, you’re sat in front of tea you have no intent drinking.

it’s smells a little more flowery, and you think you remember catching the word rose, but that could very well be referring to the flower arrangement in the center of the table.

they’re nice. pale pink, in a soft green vase. they still have their thorns, surprisingly, a detail that distracts you from the conversation happening at the table.

first, ayato filled in ayaka on your conversation at the teahouse. second, ayaka asked for thoma’s recount of how you met. third… third you had zoned out, distracting yourself with the details of rose petals.

“-what do you think?”

you jump slightly at thoma’s voice, the sound closer than before and obviously directed at you. glancing around the table reveals no indication of the former conversation, only two other sets of eyes. soft silver looks with genuine feelings, and pale lavender looks a little too smug for your liking.

the latter picks up his teacup. “we’re assuming you don’t want to reveal your name,” he says, taking a drink. you wish his gaze wasn’t so knowing.

nonetheless, you nod.

“thoma was considering maple, since it’s a pretty neutral name.” wait, what did you just agree to? “it’s not inazuman, but it’s also not anything else either. it’s.. an interesting choice, considering its also the name of a tree common on narukami, but i believe it will hide you nicely.”

oh. that’s better than you thought, considering who it’s coming from.

you give a half-shrug and a nod in response, the pen under your hand not worth picking up for such a simple reply.

“well, maple,” ayaka pauses, but the name doesn’t sound awful, and you let her continue, “thoma can show you around, and you’ll start either tomorrow or the day after, depending on how long it takes you to get used to the place.”

sounds reasonable enough. you nod, and thoma speaks up next, nudging your notepad.

“do you have any preferences for where you’d like to work? i’ll keep you out of anything involving a lot of other people-“ you send him a silent thank you “-but just so i know…”

you pick up the pen and write down your choices, hesitating at the bottom before adding ‘but anything’s fine if you’re there.’ is it cheesy? probably, but he’s the person you’re most comfortable around here. he’s been nothing but open and kind, and doesn’t have a reputation to uphold or an agenda to fulfill.

he reads over the paper when you pass it to him, and a quiet pride comes over you as he flushes a bit at your end comment.

“a- alright then! i’ll show you around today, you can shadow me tomorrow, and the day after we can finalize things. sound good?”

you nod, and neither of the kamisato siblings have anything to add either, both silently showing their approval.

you feel yourself smile.

thoma’s work is surprisingly simple.

not that it was easy, of course, because what else would you expect working for a third of inazuma’s government, but it’s… shockingly simple.

he’d warned you the night before that you’d need to wake early, but he wasn’t angry when you didn’t wake up on time. he seemed upset, almost, regret lacing his words as he tugged you out of bed. even as you delayed him further by struggling with the uniform—the nightclothes were easy enough, but this one had so many folds and ties that you got lost embarrassingly quickly—he wasn’t upset. he just led you to the kitchens, where he explained every step of how the lord and lady liked their teas.

ayato prefers black tea, he says, carefully measuring out loose leaves. he takes it with no sugar, and as hot as it can be.

ayaka has been trying new teas from liyue, he mumbles, voice quieter than he intends to be as he stirs in honey. she’s quite fond of dragon’s well, but anything from there will do. feel free to experiment, just be sure it’s not too sweet.

he shows you their respective offices, and you wince at the amount of paperwork on both of their desks. they both greet you with a smile, but you can see how tired they are. absently, you wonder if that same exhaustion is why ayato likes black tea.

thoma’s interactions with them are short, and you waste no time in following him to his next task.

the day passes by easily, thoma’s easy conversation—despite your hoarse voice—easing the load of the work. floors are swept and shelves are dusted, and when he quizzes you on their tea preferences at dinnertime you get it right on the first try.

he beams from his post at the stovetop, bright green eyes shining in the same way dew does on grass. you feel your own smile form in response, and he makes you sit and wait while he delivers dinner—yes, to their offices—no matter how much you protest. he returns swiftly, pulling over a pot that you didn’t realize wasn’t empty and ladling out two bowls of soup.

he slides one over to you, and together you share dinner.

the next day is much the same, as is the next, and the next, and you slowly fall into a routine.

you wake up, the knots on the uniform more familiar than they were at the start, a simple way to start a simple morning. you tidy yourself up and meet thoma on the way to the kitchens, chatting about a dream you had the night before or a diplomat that had arrived yesterday for a meeting. water bubbles and you share a breakfast, the two of you preparing tea side by side.

today you decide to make ayaka a new king of oolong tea that had just come in a few days prior. after all the various security screenings, you could finally make it!

thoma encourages you to take the large platter this time, and you comply, however nervous. you’re watching it more than you are the hallway, making sure that nothing spills, and it pays off when you make it to ayaka’s office without incident.

she looks up with a smile as you come in, and you flash one of your own as you set down the large plate.

“good morning, lady ayaka.”

“good morning, maple. how did you sleep?”

you eye the bags under her eyes as you push over her teacup. “i should be asking you that, my lady.”

she chuckles, picking up the cup for a smell. “this doesn’t seem familiar.. what kind of tea is this?”

thoma looks to you from where he’s sorting out a stack of scrolls, and you recite the information off the box.

“it’s tieguanyin, also known as iron goddess, and is a type of liyuen oolong. it seemed sweet by the smell, so i didn’t put much honey in.”

her smile turns sweeter, an oddly genuine happiness taking you by surprise. “thank you.”

there’s a weight to her words, some other information tucked between the lines that you can’t reach. with a smile and a nod, you pick up your tray.

ayato’s office is strangely far from his sisters, something that confused you the first day and still does now. the only difference is that now you’re familiar with the sprawling layout of the estate, and you can take the right turn without missing it.

he’s much more tired, evident by the delay between when he sees you and speaks.

“maple, thoma. good morning.”

your hand paused over his teacup. ayaka… she hadn’t greeted thoma, had she?

you’re fairly certain there’s an implication there, something that ties into the heaviness of her voice when she thanked you, but you don’t have time to think it over. thoma nudges your side and you snap out of your thoughts, moving ayato’s tea and breakfast off the tray.

“is something wrong?”

you shake your head. “no. something.. caught my attention. i apologize, my lord.”

he picked up the cup with a grin, “oh? i do hope you’re not trying to pry into any yashiro documents.”

you shake your head and he drinks, but thoma catches your arm as you turn to leave. his lips part, something worried shining in his eyes, but ayato cuts him off.

“what is this?”

oh no.

ayato’s black tea was easy to brew, tea wise, and with thoma watching over your shoulder you had assumed it wasn’t burnt.

the housekeeper seems just as confused, the both of you turning back to ayato’s desk. he’s staring at the tea in his cup thankfully not with disdain, but certainly with confusion.

“it’s wakoucha, my lord,” you say. “no sugar. hot as can be.”

“is it a new kind?”

“it’s from the same box as yesterday’s, and all of last week’s.”

he looks to thoma, who nods. “the only difference is that maple brewed it.”

ayato’s eyes flick between the tea, thoma, and you, still not accusatory, for which you’re grateful. you’re not sure you could hide from poisoning the yashiro commissioner as easily as you could hide in liyue.

“…here.”

the cup is passed to thoma, who hesitates before trying some. he’s easier to read than ayato—most anybody is—and you can pick out the emotions in his eyes clearer. shock, delight, and then a careful sort of confusion.

“it’s very strong, though the flavor is perfectly intact… even without sugar, it’s still sweet.” you don’t know enough about tea to discern what that means. “but how? i was watching you the whole time…”

you’re tempted to say something stupid—‘well, i hear that nightshade can be pretty sweet’—but wisely hold your tongue, watching the cup return back to ayato’s hands. he stares at the rim of it for a moment, then a flicker of a smile crosses his face.

“well done,” is all he says, and after another sip, the cup is set down in favor of his pen, the prior conversation dissolving back into the air with nothing more than a glance. “and if you two are planning on going to the city today, do stay away from the docks.”

“are the tenryou receiving a shipment?”

“nothing of the sort, thoma, what do you mean? what reason would i have for directing you away from them?” ayato looks up from his paper, some stupid little scheme glinting in his eyes. “i’ve just received news from the shuumatsuban that the imposter is likely in the area.”

you can’t help the way your shoulders tighten, the office suddenly seeming smaller. though you had admitted as little as you could about why you were hiding from the shogunate, you had never brought up their accusations on this front. intentionally, too, because you knew that no matter how kind anybody could be, religion was a heavy topic in teyvat, inazuma especially.

and when you were staring down a man that held loyalty in high standard, it was wise not to admit such a thing.

the corner of ayato’s lips twitch into a smile. “do be careful, maple. i’d hate for you to get caught up in another incident.”

you cling closer to thoma’s side than you normally would when you two go into the city, your hand linked with his as he speaks with the various vendors. you’re not sure why you two are even in ritou, honestly, but didn’t bother with asking questions.

he’s speaking with a kanjou officer, which he’d addressed by name, oddly, and you’re standing behind him, looking around the city. the maple trees are a pretty pink for spring, making the island look a lot kinder. sure, the outlander affairs agency likely still has the area in a chokehold, and sure it’s run by a literal puppet government, but something could be said about its beauty.

“what do you think about lunch?” thoma asks, and you look back in alarm only to see the kanjou officer long gone, his eyes focused on you.

ah.

“we’re gonna be out for most of the day, and there’s a little food stall here that i like. granted, we could eat at shimura’s…”

you shake your head, “here’s fine, thanks.”

he brightens, pulling you along once more. “great! ryouko makes the best dry-braised fish, or she has fried tofu in a miso broth, if you’d rather?”

you make and tell him your choice, and he nods as you walk down sets of stairs, making note of it. people wave at you two as you pass, and though it’s mostly at thoma, you do see some smiles directed at you. probably just because you’re with him, though.

thoma leads you to the left of the main courtyard, taking you down another small set of stairs. it’s… familiar, the tree behind the sidewalk reminding you of something you can’t pin.

“hello ryouko!”

“hello, and welcome! care to have some specialty snacks?”

you keep a hand on his as you look around, letting him order for you. the food stall was backed against a wall, in a tucked away corner, near the port… if you turned so that you faced the staircase, it clicked.

this was where you met thoma. it was months later, at a wildly different time of day, and you were in a much better place… but you were back here. back when he held your hand much as he did now, in a drastically different context but for much of the same reasons.

guidance. security. promise.

comfort.

“first time in the city?”

you turned to the close voice, jumping slightly when you see the owner. maroon hair shadows grassy eyes, ones that seem to pick you apart—much like ayato, but a lot less subtle. the blue of an anemo vision shines behind the baton of a doushin, and you can feel your heart stop as you face down the best detective in inazuma.

you tug on thoma’s hand and he turns as well, apparently recognizing him. “doushin shikanoin? what are you doing out here?”

heizou crosses his arms with a heavy sigh, some of the tension in the air fading as his eyes fall to the floor. “on ritou, a failed mission. here in particular… well, ryouko’s one of the only in inazuma that makes a good katsu sandwich, and i’m in the market for a pick-me-up.”

“really? what happened? do you want eat with us and talk about it?”

“no no, please. there’s no need to interrupt your little excursion on behalf of little ol’ me.”

what is it with inazuman men with blue visions that makes them adore implying things most would rather say aloud?

“well we’ve got time while our food’s being made, don’t we?”

“mmm…” one of heizou’s hands comes up to his jaw as he thinks, tapping a steady beat. “i suppose i can tell you. after all, it was your boss that tipped me off.”

oh no. who could have ever seen that coming.

“ay- ah, i mean the commissioner?”

“indeed. you see, he’s been using his connections to keep the tenryou updated as best as he can, something any detective would appreciate, even if sometimes the information can be a bit lackluster. recently, he’s gotten a tip that the imposter was planning to leave inazuma tonight through ritou’s port, and madam sara sent me out to check it out. i, of course, looked over his evidence prior to coming, and though it was a little shaky, it’s the best lead we’ve had so far. i even heard from some fishermen that they saw somebody shady boarding a merchant boat, but… no dice.”

thoma’s grip on your hand adjusts, and he squeezes once. you don’t have much time to think it over. “i’m sorry to hear it. i can promise that we’re putting all of our effort into solving the situation as best as we can, and i regret letting them slip from our grasp.”

his voice lacks the usual depth behind it, like… like it’s rehearsed, almost. like he was prepared for this.

heizou’s eyes flick to you, jade green seeming to cut into your soul. “oh, naturally. this is such a pity, don’t you agree?”

subtext laces his words, and you’re left floating in the pause between his sentences. even as it stretches, his mouth slips up in a suppressed grin.

“after all, weren’t you the one who told him?”

you blink.

you didn’t do that. you didn’t tell ayato anything, you never even left the estate unless thoma—or, on occasion, ayaka—was by your side. you never had time to collect information, and you certainly didn’t give it to ayato- didn’t he say that the shuumatsuban gave it to him? didn’t he…

’i’ve just received news from the shuumatsuban that the imposter is likely in the area.’

’he’s been using his connections to keep the tenryou updated as best as he can, something any detective would appreciate…’

‘after all, weren’t you the one who told him?‘

you can see when heizou notices that you get it, the sharp light to his knowing gaze. he rests his chin in his hand and passes you a cheeky wink, one that makes you laugh.

kamisato ayato.

what did you expect?

[spar-kie]

I was thinking about Melia stuff, and I just had a thought that I wanted to share here. Specifically about her origins and how they're mysterious.

So like, do you guys ever think about how we still don't know where the fuck Melia came from? Or how she came to be? Like for Alice and Allen we know that they were trapped in the Unown dimension until the Puppet Master freed them, and for Erin we know that she was also trapped in there, until she escaped, and taken care of first in the past and then by Souta (apologies if I messed up the specifics of that, but I think I got the gist of it right). Not to mention this leaves Maria as the only child unaccounted for, but Melia has said that she feels deep down that she is not Maria (which I'll take as confirmation that she isn't because why would you include that line just to lie?).

But Melia, the farthest back we know is that she was handed off to Jenner by Team Xen long enough ago that she'd assumed that Professor Jenner was just her biological dad. Nothing more than that, not how Team Xen came to have her to hand off to Jenner. But we know one thing, that she probably came about after Zetta, a failed attempt to clone her, because why would you try to clone what you already have? If they had Melia, who was instrumental to their plans, they wouldn't need Zetta. And they'd have to have Melia's DNA to clone her, so if they have that why not just go with the real deal?

So I thought what if Zetta wasn't necessarily a failed clone of Melia, but rather he and Melia are both clones of the same person? (Probably Maria, if I had to guess), Zetta and Melia were attempts at both recreating someone who held the power of the archetype, Zetta failed because he doesn't manifest those powers, but since Melia does she's considered a success. But she's still imperfect, for one it would explain why she has genesis syndrome while Erin, Allen, and Alice don't, because those three are born of the archetype they can handle its power, but since Melia isn't and was an imperfect replication, her body can't handle it as well. It also explains why she has a harder time harnessing it compared to the others. My friend @pryr also pointed out something related to Melia's archetype form.

That is it would explain why some of her like bits of Arceus' halo, for lack of a better term, are glitchy, because though she's a better clone than Zetta, she's still imperfect, she still isn't the original person who presumably could wield the archetype's power flawlessly, that data loss has caused some corruption.

Anyways tl;dr I'm putting my chips on Melia being a clone of Maria, just based on what little we know of her origins.

P.S. do you ever think about how Zetta has a Type:Null/Silvally, which is arguably an attempt by man to re-create Arceus' power with the type switching, while being an imperfect clone of Melia (or someone else as we've discussed here) who can wield the power of Arceus via the archetype?

[dondake-senpai]

『 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕖 』 ᴾᵃʳᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʷᵒ

ɢᴏᴊᴏ sᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ x ғ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

🄶🄴🄽🅁🄴 Fluff

🄲🄾🄽🅃🄴🄽🅃 🅆🄰🅁🄽🄸🄽🄶 None

🅂🅈🄽🄾🄿🅂🄸🅂 Nobody knew what Gojo Satoru had been doing after his sealing. Nobody knew what had been going inside that Prison Realm. Unknown to others, the Prison Realm had teleported him into a whole new universe where they all were nothing but just some anime characters.

'Oi why are you crying?' Your bestfriend Ume had been grieving from the past few days but today she decided to show it externally.

"It has (fake sniffs) been nearing about 3 years and Gojo Satoru ain't out of the box. That brain rot Kenjaku!!!! I SWEAR TO GOD GETO SHOULD HAVE A FUKING MIND BATTLE WITH HIM AND KILL THAT BASTARD. Moreover FUCK YOU GEGE-"

The few students in the lab who were trying to complete their semester assignments turned their heads to us. Yahiko had been volunteering them all from the past 30 minutes, not a trace of irritation crossed his face untill now.

A heavy sigh escapes Yahiko's lips as his fingers massaged the tensing temples, "You know, Ume, we are not kids anymore and in the coming 6 months we will be out, seeking for a high pay job. There are burdensome of things to worry about rather than crying over some non-existential being."

He got a point. "Just finish off with your assignment before the deadline. I need to report the stats to Professor Souta also." The door bursted open with Yamashita panting hard. His brown eyes were widened with a confused frown on his face. His words slipped in cracking voice.

"She....is no more....d-died...." Slight tears were forming at the corners of his hurtful eyes. Yahiko stiffened a bit. The rest of the students gasped and muttered some words here and there, we were worried for him.

It was known to most people at the campus that Sato Yahiko, son of the most promising Business Man Sato Himura, had been stressing over his mother's illness. Doctor gave a word of consolation that she will live to see her grandchildren but they knew otherwise.

"They....they said....she will live, right?.....The fans"

'Wait what? fans-

"THAT ISAYAMA- YAMASHITA GET THE CAR, WE'RE DRIVING TO KODANSHA TOWER" And he left without further word.

A round bottom flask had rolled and crashed to the ground, spreading its pointed pieces yet no one was bothered to notice it. The room had gone silent.

People arranged their belongings quietly, the poker expression never leaving their faces and slowly everyone filtered out in silence. It's long forgotten that the deadline is in 2 days-

A wave of laughter echoed in the living room as you brewed coffee in loose trousers and a blue t-shirt. You shouldn't have told him the story, he wouldn't stop bragging about how stupid people are at your university.

'Come on Satoru it was not that funny. We knew he had a thing for Hange.' You kept the coffee on the table and prepared yourself for the banters to be thrown. Satoru's long and veiny hands reached for the cup handle, bringing it near his lips to gently blow over the coffee.

"Inside out. Two faced guy, I loved it. Who would've thought that he will go live for throwing his hands on the assistant of Isayama the great." You had face palmed when the news aired live, it was then that Gojo was made aware of the ruckus. God knows how Mr.Sato is going to compensate for the cause.

"And more over- he threw his arm on the back of the couch, crossed his legs and gazed at you with squinted sinister eyes -you haven't told your buddy Ume bout me huh? If she's such a lovesick fan then why not bring her over? Planning to keep me all to yourself?"

It didn't go unnoticed by the almighty Gojo Satoru. It had been over a few weeks, roughly around a month, that he got himself teleported in here. Since time works differently in Prison Realm, everything got mushed up. Maybe it was the effects of space-time that merged with his curse technique which is to alter things at atomic level.

It was like yesterday only he got sealed and today he's here. For others, 3 years have passed but to him it's merely around a month. No matter how much he tried to contain the information from the ongoing jujutsu kaisen manga, his brain refused to remember it. As if some spiritual laws were flouting him from accessing the unknowns.

Your face cringed at his words but internally your heart was drumming against your chest. Your favourite had been Geto over Gojo, tho he got those ocean like blue eyes and charisma in the anime but you fawned over Geto more. To have him sit beside you in black oversized t-shirt and grey trousers that you ordered online, made your mind go crazy.

'You think she would believe something soo impossible? She'd take you for a cosplayer' You had knowledged him nearly about everything related to the otaku world.

He gave you a shit eating grin (cause he knew nobody knows of his reality) before continuing with the coffee. You silently appreciated his presence in your life, although it's momentary. And he is more mature than what is been shown by Gege.

Seems like I am falling for him

You both savoured your coffee with some exchanging words here and there before getting back to complete your assignment. It aches your heart to be around Satoru like this. He was forcing you to wish for something, for something not to end too soon.

It was Sunday and everything felt so refreshing but then, your brain did a flip. Where's Satoru? Yes. He ain't in the house. Not at the terrace also. Dialled for his number (of course you gave him your spare phone) and it ringed in the living room.

Your face twisted as you stood at the middle of your house. Eyes dropping to the floor as you refused to shift your body. Did he returned back to his universe? Everything felt swirling as your body heavily plopped on the couch.

Was it just a dream?

[animehouse-moe]

Jujutsu Kaisen X Souta Yamazaki

This man, hardly what you could call an industry veteran, is carrying my favorite JJK S2 cuts on his back. So I though I'd talk about him a little.

So, what'd Yamazaki do in this episode? Oh, just all the incredibly cool looking Nanami shots.

Yes, I do know and acknowledge the fact that these drawings are pretty far away from Nanami character's design, and that they sorta basterdize his whole sequence. But man, they're so cool? I'm alright with uber angry Nanami rather than cold and deadly Nanami considering what we got from Yamazaki, but I do really wish the other pieces of the fight could have been somewhat better animated.

Anyways, Yamazaki isn't a one hit wonder, he actually did a really great cut on episode 9 as well: Gojo ripping Jogo's arm off. Between those two you can really see the style that Yamazaki has been carving out for themselves as of late, and while with their older work they didn't have quite the same style, the most certainly had the same quality.

Yamazaki would get their start on anime with doing inbetweens on movies, namely Ride Your Wave and Weathering With You. From there they quickly migrated to Cloverworks to do some second key animation on Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia.

It was then that the first of their two home studios was found, followed up by the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen not long after. Since then, Yamazaki has been putting out some really crazy cuts.

Just look at the work they did for Wonder Egg Priority.

Or what they've done with My Dress Up Darling.

It's crazy, but Souta Yamazaki is only 4 years into the industry at this point. But they're delivering cuts like it's been 20, such an insane talent. I can count the number of series they've worked on with my own hands. This is 100% an animator people should be looking for on future projects. Maybe not for their ability to provide incredible adaptations, but to provide insane style and detail in their cuts.

[xoxopandapanda]

InuKag Week 2023: Day 1: Love Language(s)

@inukag-week

Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  Day 4  Day 5  Day 6  Day 7

AO3 

Fanfiction

He hadn’t really dealt with other people in any other capacity than a hostile one for most of his life, so Inuyasha didn’t always know how to read another person in the way someone socialized when young could. He struggled with always feeling as if the people around him were just waiting on baited breath to show him their hostility, and often believed others to be a threat to him when they were perhaps tying to do the right thing by him.

He was quick to snarl and snap at anyone who presented even a mild inconvenience to him, his mind always looking for threats that were not always there.

Kagome had squeezed into his life (starting with being squeezed to him by the madame caterpillar), and was never actually put off by his behavior. He would cut her off, insult her left and right, accuse her of things she didn’t do, and yet she still stuck around.

“Jerk.” His quip about her having slow legs was apparently louder than he intended. “You’re just abnormally fast.” She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “Not everyone is as athletic as you.”

Intended as an insult most likely, her words hit him differently. She thought he was athletic. Not a freak, not an abomination.

Athletic. The word bounced around in his head for the rest of the day.

Souta had told him once that women liked athletic men. He hadn’t really understood what that word was (and honestly still didn’t), but Kagome had used it to describe him.

Did that mean Kagome liked him? Like liked him?

Inuyasha used whatever excuse he could to go see Souta and ask more about what it meant to be athletic, much to Kagome’s dismay.

The two of them had huffed loudly at each other for a few minutes before she ran off to ‘study’ with some friends that Inuyasha had a vague notion existed. He knew they knew he was important to Kagome and that was all that mattered. He had established himself as a part of Kagome’s life and they were friendly to him mostly.

“Souta.” He announced, sitting down next to the boy as he played on the ‘television’. Bright lights and bouncing shapes filled his peripheral, but his focus was on Kagome’s brother.

Souta didn’t look at him. “What’s up?”

“What is an athletic man?”

Souta froze. The bouncing shapes stopped and a descending noise of disappointment left the TV. Inuyasha knew that meant Souta had lost (although what he lost was still a mystery). “What do you mean?” Souta looked at him with the same bewildered look Kagome had given him hundreds of times.

Inuyasha huffed and leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. “You told me women like athletic men. What is an athletic man?”

Souta’s face relaxed as he leaned back on his hands and shrugged. “It’s a guy who is good at sports.”

“Sports?” Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“Yeah, like running, jumping, hitting balls.” Inuyasha’s lean in and further crinkled face told Souta that his explanation was not working. “Using arrows to hit things? Swinging swords? Punching?”

“Fighting?”

Souta pondered for a second before saying, “Yeah, fighting without the killing part.”

Inuyasha nodded fiercely. “I’m good at that.”

Souta wondered if he meant fighting or not killing, but figured he didn’t really want an answer. “Athletic men have muscles and are good at sports.”

“I have muscles. And I’m good at sports.” Inuyasha’s chest puffed out as he sat ramrod straight. “I’m an athletic man.”

Inuyasha stood up abruptly and announced, fist pumping in the air. “I’m an athletic man, and Kagome must LIKE ME.”

Souta didn’t have time to react properly before Inuyasha had vanished from the house. Grandpa walked into the room, confusion drenched across his features. “What was that?” He asked his grandson.

Souta locked eyes with the older man. “I don’t know but I don’t know if it’s a good thing. Something tells me Kagome’s not going to be pleased with it.”

Kagome probably would not have been pleased with Inuyasha’s newly form conclusion that she was all but professing her love by calling him athletic. Instead, she was left in the dark as she, and by proxy the rest of the Inugumi, dealt with Inuyasha’s new found confidence and boldness.

Miroku had to leave Kaede’s hut when Kagome came back from her break in the future as to not insult his friend by accident.

Inuyasha had waited, not patiently but not anxiously either, for Kagome to walk in the door and loudly announce. “Kagome! You are athletic!”

Not expecting any sort of announcement of the kind from her half-demon friend, especially not a nice one, Kagome balked and rolled onto her heels from startlement. “Excuse me?”

“You are athletic!” Inuyasha repeated himself, his face becoming slightly flushed. “Am I athletic?” His voice dropped a bit with this question.

Miroku slunk past the priestess in training, covering his face and clenching his jaw. Whatever was going on was wild at best, and inappropriate at worst. Best to leave before it got worse and he had to mediate a solution.

Kagome moved to the side to the let the monk pass her in the door frame, her eyes still locked on Inuyasha, mind racing to figure out what was going on. If it was anyone else, she would have thought this was a prank happening. But Inuyasha was the most sincere and honest person she had ever met, so what was doing?

Kagome’s mouth opened and closed once, before she agreed. “Yeah, you’re athletic.”

“And that’s good, right?” Inuyasha’s voice was even smaller.

Kagome nodded, slipping her loafers off and stepping into the room. “Of course. It’s a great thing to be athletic.” She avoided making eye contact with anyone as she placed her backpack down and got settled in for the night. Whatever had sparked this outburst was not something she wanted to engage with, and she secretly hoped that by playing along with whatever had just happened would encourage Inuyasha to drop the fixation on being athletic.

Inuyasha let out a loud and pleased huff, squatting down to go through her backpack looking for snacks. Kagome took a chance to look over at Sango, who was sitting down, mouth agape, staring at Inuyasha’s back. At mentally connecting with Kagome, Sango shook her head and Kaede let out an audible snicker, causing Shippo to loudly ask, “What’s athletic?”

No one answered the child’s question, as no one wanted the experience to continue and he was easily distracted by candy.

Kagome would later learn what exactly was going on when Inuyasha told Koga off by shouting “Kagome likes me because I’m athletic! LIKE LIKES ME!”

Apparently, she had found a new love language with him.

[dumplingsjinson]

Found this excerpt for a fic I was gonna write for Ida and Aoki from My Love Mix Up back in 2022 (it's been two years lmao) and Jesus Christ, I think I ate??? I never used it, though, because it seemed a bit too out of character for Souta and was planning on using it for another fic for other characters, but I guess I never did, so here it is.

Kousuke sighs, wrapping gentle fingers around Souta’s wrist, silencing him. “You’re so fucking cute, I genuinely can’t. So cute, but such an idiot. But I guess I am one, too.” He tugs the other over to him in one swift motion and presses their lips together, because Souta looks like he had a question ready on the tip of his tongue, but right now, he wants to do this. He feels the way Souta almost immediately melts into him, a hand coming up to wrap around the nape of his neck to pull him in even closer while one hand presses against his chest, palm splayed directly over his heart, question lost in the midst of a sweet, sweet kiss. 

Then, he’s bunching up the fabric of Kousuke’s sweater in his hand, draws him even closer — impossibly closer — and eventually pulls him down onto the bed with him. 

They’re kissing and kissing and kissing in an almost urgent way, like this is all they’ve ever known; Kousuke’s straddling Souta’s hips, and Souta’s mouth falls open for him, and everything about this feels so different. His mouth moves further south, pressing kisses along his jawline, down his neck, on his exposed collarbones. Soft noises are spilling out of Souta’s mouth and it’s fucking perfect, to the point where Kousuke doesn’t want this to stop — to the point where he wants more than Souta’s probably willing to give. 

He pulls away as that thought hits him with the weight and speed of a freight train, and his heart dives into his stomach when he sees the literal love of his life staring up at him with hooded eyes, lips a swollen red and cheeks a flush. 

His chest is rising and falling with each breath coming in soft gusts, brushing against Kousuke’s cheeks with each exhale. The sun is still spilling into the room, coating his skin golden; it’s almost like he’s glowing and, well, okay. 

O-fucking-kay. 

That’s fine. 

Really, no, it’s fine. 

Kousuke’s not going to go insane over just how pretty Souta is, underneath him, all red cheeks and glowing, warm skin. He’s certainly not feeling all hot and bothered over it. 

He will simply not allow himself—

“Oh wow,” Kousuke breathes out, against his better judgement, eyes roaming Souta’s face. He wants to look away before he does something he regrets but his mouth is moving before his brain can even properly catch up. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something — someone — this badly before.” 

Souta’s staring up at him, eyes wider than before, and Kousuke wonders what’s going through his mind right now. Because there’s a lot going through his, and all of them involve the need for privacy. Which is what they have right now, so… He’ll take of advantage of that, if Souta’s also willing. 

“That’s because you’ve never had anyone else to want before me,” Souta half jokes, voice soft, squeezing a hand around Kousuke’s biceps. This gesture relaxes Kousuke entirely; he didn’t even realise his muscles had tensed until this moment. But then his grip on Kousuke’s neck tightens ever so slightly. “But same,” he adds, this time in a much quieter voice, bringing his thumb up and dragging the pad of it across Kousuke’s bottom lip and, oh— whatever that fucking sound Kousuke makes at the back of his throat, a sound in which he had made so audible to both their ears right about now is definitely going to make it into Souta’s book of ‘things to tease Kousuke about’.

Not the point right now, though. 

“You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” His eyes are boring into Kousuke’s, and Kousuke finds himself unable to look away. His hand makes its way back to Kousuke’s chest, just above his heart. “And I’m quite positive you’ll be the only I want, for as long as I live.” 

Kousuke breathes in. “That’s… In what way?” he asks, heart thundering against his chest. He’s almost sure Souta can feel it beating, hard and fast, under his warm palm.

“I want you in every single way possible; in every way that you’ll let me have you.” 

Kousuke sighs audibly. “God, you’re fucking killing me right now. I hope you know that.”

“I know,” Souta says, grinning softly. “I know, which is why I’m doing this. So what do you say?” 

And, well, who was Kousuke to say no to him?

[eraserisms]

Shota's Parents + End of Life Events

As Shota's parents come into old age, his father ends up losing track track of the time and who he is, but Misako Aizawa would be sharp until the very end. Her ability to keep her mind likely comes from the fact that as far as her career goes, Misako is constantly having to learn new things and keep up with laws that have changed.

Souta on the other hand suffers from quite a bit of memory loss and experiences a lot of regression. Sometimes Souta will mistake Shota for his twin or forget that he has even had children in the first place. Souta isn't particularly violent or aggressive as far as his dementia goes, but he does get upset all over again when he realizes that he is unable to live by himself. Shota mostly just plays along with it for the sake of keeping the peace. It hurts him to see his father have to come to terms again that he has lost his sense of self and that he has been unable to live on his own for some time now. Ultimately, towards the end of his life, Souta ends up living with Shota for a few years.

In times that Souta is feeling irritability or anger, Shota and his mother learned that it was best to give Souta a fake baby for him to take care of. He cuddled babies for over 40 years and it's something that is incredibly familiar to him. Having been a caregiver and pediatric nurse for so long, it's something that brings Souta comfort.

Death is inevitable for everyone. As far as Shota's parents death order go, Misako ends up dying before Souta does. For Misako's sake, it's for the better and she would have died shortly after due to heart break. Sometimes Shota is grateful that his mother died before his father due to the fact that Souta doesn't remember things. Sometimes Souta will forget about Misako and other days he is constantly asking where his wife is. Souta's illness isn't something easy to deal with, but Shota knows that they both can only take things day by day. Shota occasionally even has the mental fortitude to enjoy in the moments that his dad re-discovers that he does have children and is a grandfather. It always brings such a smile to Souta's face and it makes his condition just a little bit easier to bear.

[nugulover69]

What if Sakura and Mira switching team? Or Jou and Masumi? I want Akashi to take care of Taiya's puppies, or maybe train them with his usual tough love.

*Cough*Sakurashouldpunchtheentireboonboomgerteam*cough*

Oooo the situations that could be had

I imagine Sakura would probably be cool with Taiya, bc he is committed to his duties. hell she might even relate to him a lil since he's not the most open emotionally just like her. ISHIRO on the other hand would be soooooo livid with her bc how DARE this WOMAN try to strategize with HIS TAIYA. THATS HIS JOB >:(

Jou is a stupid obedient pubby who clearly needs an authority figure to tell him what to do so he'd LOVE her. she would NOT like Sakito and Byoon D, loiterers not focused on the team's mission. she would be copacetic with Genba and she would likely just go along with Taiya's orders of "let him deal with his problems on his own", even if she doesn't think its right

As for Mira the Boukenger, Akashi would def be fond of her moxie, although her bumbling and lack of dexterity could be worked on. Souta would have similar feelings, plus he'd honestly find Mira's affable and strongly independent self very attractive

Her and Natsuki would get along like gangbusters, genki girlies uniteeeee. Masumi doesn't seem to like women generally AND Mira is the kind to actually snap back when someone is acting up, so there's tussles to be had there

The boons would hate Masumi so bad. him and Ishiro would get into the sissiest slap fight ever seen by man. maybe he'd push Taiya to have one emotion via being such an unrestrained cunt. Sakito and Genba would get big kicks out of teasing him tho

Jou would fit like a glove in the boukens. that boy loves receiving orders and protecting people. he'd be like having a male Natsuki around. Souta takes up Genba's job of lightly razzing him

Regarding Boon!Chief, I think the boons deserve a red that actually cares abt their well being and complements them to their faces. I think Ishiro would be so overwhelmed by the genuine niceness he'd puke. Mira and Jou would just enjoy being directly appreciated at least

I think he could fix Genba actually. like he'd also let Genba go off on his own, maybe to find his own treasure or something like that, BUT he'd be like Mira and Jou and reaffirm how beloved and needed he is and that he can always return to them. also he'd whipped Sakito into shape right quick. he's dealt with a manchild in Masumi before. Sakito's whimsy is helpless in the face of a chad red

I don't think the boukens would like Taiya much. like he'll do his job gladly but he's not much a leader ya know, he's more inclined to let others figure their own strategies out. the boukens are not incapable of doing things w/o Akashi ofc but a detached leader won't instill high morale

[petratherrock]

I think it was Miyazaki or something from Studio Ghibli that said, the presence of two people of different genders in a story don't always have to mean they're romantically involved, or sumn like that i know I'm paraphrasing by a Lot

I was watching Suzume today and yes her bond with Souta is adorable. They bonded with each other thru their journey and there's nothing like it when it's life and death but

The thing I've noticed with both Your Name and Suzume is there's barely any scenes or time for them together to show us that they actually have bonded romantically; Weathering With You on the other hand had plenty of that ig, since the two kids spent a lot of more time together

On the one hand it's funny because the kids in Weathering With You are younger than the characters in the other two movies, but them developing feelings romantically makes more sense

But on the other hand, it feels like it's a little forced for the other couple esp in Your Name; when could they've possibly developed feelings for each other when they've never met, and spoken only thru the limited time they had in each other's bodies? Did they develop feelings because ayyy it's a quirky situation so they've only got each other that understood each other?

Don't get me wrong, I gobble up the romance no matter what. I'm a sucker for that, it's cute and it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, because ig Makoto Shinkai's stories always rely on two people developing feelings when they've been thru the same weird 😆 circumstances--because they depend on each other and see each other a lot and they're very much thrown together to get thru it yada yada

It's just....i wish that the plot makes more space for us audience to believe it, rather than being like, hey ofc they love each other now !!!

Altho as a caveat, I'm not sure if Souta feels the same way for Suzume at the end, I love that Suzume didn't spell out her feelings for him because she's younger and a minor and she's probably shy about it but it's implied that she's become an important person to Souta. Girls get crushes all the time too; having a hot chair guy with a hot voice and hero tendencies is bound to be attractive lol i love Souta, he's s strong contender against movie! Howl hehe

I just wish Taki and Mitsuha's bond is written more like Chihiro and Haku since it wasn't as believable for me that they're romantic. Yes some of us would love it if Chihiro returns to the spirit world when she's older and they get together romantically, but the way it ended in the movie, we know that they had a special bond with each other even if it wasn't romantic; true love doesn't always have to mean it's romantic after all

Just some... thoughts. I could be wrong tho ik

Altho tbh my favourite of the three famous Shinkais by far is Suzume rn heh, with Weathering with You at the bottom lol

I may add, the believability of romance in all Studio Ghibli is quite 💯 to me. It's there. They wrote it in a way we know it is real (except Chihiro and Haku imo) (also someone mentioned that Howl and Sophie also had barely any time to develop feelings and I'm like you're right, it's like a greek tragedy, it's happening back scene???is that what Shinkais are depending on too?lol, and that makes movie!HowlxSophie a little less believable to me since then)

[almostloosingit]

Cry Baby

Sanzu

In this case I just choose a song:

(English isn’t my first language so please tell me if you see any grammar errors 😗✌️)

A/n: I listened to to many songs for this one so. So sorry Sanzu lovers. I promise I will make a better one next time<3

Told you

GN

Tw:Angst, unwanted touching,blood? some fluff at the end

‘Hate at first sight’ was what they called it.

You don’t know what it was. Maybe that stupid smirk and the up and down looks he would give you each time you two would look at each other. Or the fact thats he’s really fucking cocky each time he speaks to you. Maybe that’s the reason why you absolutely hate Sanzu.

Most of your classmates have a crush on him. He is pretty after all. If you didn’t see through his act you would probably have a crush on him too. He’s ‘nice’ and always gives them that fake smile of his. All though the way he interacts with his friends seems genuine.

Now how do you know that? You hate each other yet, you guys have the same friend group. To be more specific is that kind of relationship group that seems like they aren’t in one group literally because they have two different talking circles. Listen, high school can be taught and you don’t want to be a loner so you take whatever you can take. As big as the group was, if you had two people you could always depend on it was Touma and Rindou. Was Rindou also friends with Sanzu? Yes, but that didn’t change that he would always pull on Sanzu’s hair whenever he went too far with his little jokes. Touma on the other hand was your childhood best friend. He wouldn’t stand up to Sanzu because of the strength and size difference, but he would always check up on you. Touma was on the smaller side and he was well aware of it. On top of that you don’t want your best friend to get in trouble with Sanzu. Because at the end of the day it is Sanzu. And from what you heard he did and still does some wild ass shit.

You arrive at school 30 minutes before the first lesson starts. You started to walk in the direction of the place where you and your group normally hangout at. As you were walking you saw Souta laughing with his friends. He saw you. And when he did he gave you a cocky smirk. You made a disgusted face and kept walking.

Ew. you thought

Souta, he’s probably the only person on this earth that Sanzu hates more than you. Can't blame him. Souta was a dick and, unlike Sanzu, he didn't hide it. There was no one that was free from his bullying.

You arrived at the spot where you saw Touma waving at you. Surprisingly there was only him, the brothers and Sanzu.

God, Touma is an angel.

He was the nicest person you met in your life.

You came up to him and you two gave each other a hug.

“So Y/N.” Sanzu started. “How is being a low life going?” He said with that smirk of his.

Already?

“I don’t know, Sanzu. I haven’t reached your level yet.” You said without looking up from your phone. You could hear the brothers snicker.

“Aren’t you a funny one?” He said, walking up to you. He makes sure to look at you without moving his head down. To make sure you know he’s looking down on you.

Asshole

He always does that.

“Someone has to be.” You said looking at him. “And you're clearly not the man for the job.”

“Oh really? So-”

“Sanzu.” Rindou looks at him with a slight glare. He can already see that Sanzu is about to say something that might end bad. Sanzu looks back at Rindou, annoyed.

“Whatever.” He says with a scoff. “I’m going-”

“Aww leaving already? I thought you would spend some time with me.” You turn around to see a tall man walking in the direction of your group. Souta.

“The fuck do you want?” Sanzu looked at him with hooded eyes.

Impressive

And you thought you could piss off Sanzu with just your existence. Yet here is Souta, whole another level.

“Aww what’s wrong? I thought we were friends?”

“You’re delusional. Any sane person would stay away from someone like you.”

“You’re not though.”

“Neither am I delusional.” He said while turning away. “I’m going to the shop.” He said while looking at the brothers. “You two coming?”

And with that they left. So there you were standing with your best friend pretending that the problem person does not exist.

“So your boyfriend left, huh?” Souta scoffed. Who was he talking to? “Are you deaf or something?” He said annoyed. “Oi!” He said while poking, pretty harshly, on the side of your head.

“Excuse me, don’t touch me.” You said, trying to stay polite. You don’t need any trouble with him.

“So you’re not deaf!” He said with excitement.

“No, I’m not. And he’s not my boyfriend.” You said annoyed. “What on earth made you think that?”

“Oh so you're not? Why is he always defending you then?”

“What are you-?”

“So since you're not with him.” He said while getting closer. “Wanna get with me instead?” He said while pulling you by the waist.

Shit.

Too close. You can feel your breathing quickening.and no.. not in a good way.

You felt terrified. Who wouldn’t? Who in the world would like to be pulled in by the waist by someone like him?

“I will pass.” You try to stay calm.

“Oh don’t be that way! Or I may think you acutely like the pinky.” He said smiling.

“I-” You suddenly felt a strong pull. Touma? He pulled you away from that big bitch.

“They said that they will pass.” He said firmly. “Are you deaf?” That’s the most pissed off Touma you ever saw.

“If I were you I would keep my mouth shut.” Souta said and you could see the vein on the forehead.

“Oh please you're just a big bully who-” you put your hand on his mouth. You love Touma you truly do. That’s why you don’t want him to get killed.

“Oh look at the time.” You said nervously. “We should go to the class.”

While you were about to walk past Souta to head to the building you felt a slap. A slap on your ass.

There is no way

“Talk to you later then. I ain’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.” He said while smirking at you through his shoulder.

You froze.

You felt your whole body run cold.

There is no way in hell that that just happened.

“Y/N..?” You hear Touma ask clearly worried. “Are you..?”

“Yeah, let’s just.. go to the class.”

And you did. You sat at your seat and the lesson started. You felt like a shadow of yourself.. if not less. You don’t even know what’s going on in class. You feel disoriented. Lost. Confused. Why did that happen? How did that happen? Are you overreacting? It was just a slap. But was it though? If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be feeling so down right now. You did nothing to deserve someone like that. To be treated that way. No one does.

I’m too deep in my mind.

Are you though?

He said he’s not taking no for an answer. Just thinking about it makes your skin crawl. Makes your heart stop for a second.

Touma looked worried and you bet Sanzu noticed that.

“Hey Y/N?” Touma started. You looked at him. His heart stops. Your eyes.. looked so dull. No life, no light, nothing. “What he did was not right. And it sure wasn’t your fault you know that, right? We can report that.”

Report? Sanzu thinks to himself. Just what in hell happened when he left?

“It was just a slap.”

“It wasn’t! He slapped your ass!What he did was se-”

That’s it

“Who?” Was all Sanzu asked.

“What?” You looked at him confused.

“Who slapped you?” His eyes were hudded, pissed off, he looked like he was ready to kill.

“Why do you care?”

“Y/N I asked who did it.” He said in a still tone in his voice.

“Souta.” Touma answered. “He tried hitting on Y/N after you guys left. He also said that he won’t take a ‘no’ for an answer.”

Sanzu suddenly shot up from his seat.

He saw red.

“I’m going to kill that bastard.” And with that he walked out of the class.

Shit

You never saw Sanzu so pissed off.

What if he actually kills him?

You quickly stood up.

“Find Ran and Rin.” You told Touma then ran after Sanzu.

You can’t let him do something dumb because of you!

You will feel guilty.

“What in the hell are you doing?!” You asked while following him. He was walking so fast you almost had to run.

“I’m going to put that fucker in a grave.” You froze for a second. It scared you. You never heard that much anger in his voice.

“Don’t be fucking stupid! Why do you care about it anyway?!” You yelled. Suddenly he stopped, turned around and grabbed your face with one hand and slightly squeezed your cheeks.

“That son of a bitch put his hands on you. On YOU. That’s fucking not allowed.”

“Wtf do you mean?”

“That means.” He steps closer to you but not close enough to make you uncomfortable. “Bullying you is my job. Anything to do with you has to do with me.”

“What?”

“Oh you’re so clueless.” He let you go and stormed into a classroom. Few seconds later he dragged Souta out by his hair while he was on the floor.

You don’t know what to do. You just stood there

Frozen

Again..

You stood there while Sanzu got on top of Souta and started to throw punches at him. One after another. There was blood and you swear he broke his nose.

You didn’t know what to do. You were scared to move.

“S-Sanzu..” You whispered. Your voice was trembling, your hands were too. Your legs felt weak.

“Y/N!” Suddenly you felt a hand on your shoulder. Touma. Rin and Ran as well. They were pulling Sanzu off of Souta and trying to calm him down.

“Dude chill!” Rin was holding him down with his whole body. While Ran was kneeling in front of him trying to bring him back to his senses, ignoring Souta.

“You're scaring Y/N.” Ran started. “We get it! Okay, you make your point. You almost killed the guy. He deserves it, but you could have done this with no one around.” He scratched the back of his head while explaining. “You just made so much mess.. problem wise and cleaning wise.”

Slowly but surely Sanzu calmed down. The teachers arrived. Everyone told their story. And with that you and the rest went home. And when you did your body felt like a rock. When you laid down on your bed you could not get up. You laid there for hours. To the point the sun was no longer sitting in the sky.

You didn’t know how to feel with anything right now, so many things happened and the worst part was you felt guilty. You knew you shouldn’t.

Knock knock

Huh?

You stand up from your bed with the little energy you had left and look outside of your window.

“What in the fuck are you doing here?” You whispered.

“Visiting.” Sanzu answered. “Move aside and let me in, it's freezing out here.” He said. You moved aside to let him in. “Much better.”

“Why are you here?”

“Too see how you're doing. A lot has happened.” He said sitting down on the floor.

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit. That motherfucker assaulted you. He deserves to be more then beaten up”

“You can’t do that to people just because.”

“Why not?”

“You- I swear.”

“See! Nothing is stopping you!” He said laughing. “Don’t blame yourself for anything that happened today. You did nothing wrong.” He said stand up. He came closer to you and ruffled your hair. “You did nothing wrong.”

“Why did you get so mad for me?” You asked, looking down.

“Isn’t that obvious?” He said, chuckling. “I think it was obvious. I like you.”

“What?”

“So I guess it wasn’t?”

“Why were you always so mean then?”

“To annoy you. You have a pretty face and it looks even cuter when it’s annoyed.” He said and took your hand in his and kissed the top of it. “I will be going then.” He said while getting ready to leave. “Sleep well!” And with that he left.

And you just stood there confused.

[mamabearcatfanfics]

Jumpscare

Inuyasha tucked a dark strand of hair behind his ear, the other hand carefully cradling the large plastic bowl of popcorn on his lap. He didn’t enjoy this snack as much as potato chips, disliking the way it sometimes got stuck in his teeth, but it was still pretty tasty, especially covered in butter and salt the way Kagome made it.

He thrust his hand in to grab another large mouthful, munching as he watched Kagome kneel on the floor nearby, fiddling with the buttons on the box that controlled the sound and pictures of the TV. The other members of her family had all gone to bed, and now it was just them, alone in the dim lighting of the Higurashi’s tv room, getting ready for their monthly ritual.

After a few recent close calls in his time, involving some blood loss and bandages on his part, and lots of tears and worry on Kagome’s, Inuyasha had grudgingly agreed to spend his human nights at her home in the future. The decision was heartily supported by Sango and Miroku, who now looked forward to their regular monthly holiday. Kirrara didn’t seem to mind one way or the other, as long as Sango was close by. Only Shippou had initially been disappointed, feeling like he was missing out in some way, but Kagome usually brought him back extra treats, so he’d come to accept it as just the way things were.

Kagome’s family had also quickly embraced the idea of having both Kagome and Inuyasha home on a day they could plan ahead for. It almost felt like a family celebration, even though Inuyasha himself didn’t feel like celebrating much.

He still disliked his human night, there was no getting around that.

He didn’t like that he couldn’t taste, smell, see or hear as well as he usually could. He’d tried to explain it to Kagome once, and she’d compared it to when humans got a sickness called a cold, which made their head ache and dulled their sense of smell and taste. He guessed it might be like that, he’d never had a cold to compare it to. But he was touched at the Higurashi family’s attempts to make him feel better on a night that was uncomfortable for him, filled with not so pleasant memories.

The night now followed a familiar pattern. Souta eagerly waited for them near the well house, hollering a quick greeting to Kagome before tugging on Inuyasha’s sleeve as soon as they arrived, wanting him to play soccer or computer games with him. Mama would be in the kitchen making one of Inuyasha’s favourite meals, remarking that a young man of his age needed proper nutrition to keep up his strength. Even Grandpa was welcoming in his own gruff fashion, patting him on the shoulder without an ofuda in sight. Kagome would go off to the store for ‘provisions’, but would always return before sunset.

As soon as the sun went down, Mama would call them all to dinner and they would eat together, gathered around the table. Kagome would tell them highly edited stories about their travels. Souta would talk about school, Mama and Grandpa would fill them in with news about the shrine. Inuyasha would eat, pushing his empty plate forwards every now and then for Mama to refill, which she did gladly, beaming at him with a motherly smile.

Everyone would help set the kitchen to rights again after the meal, then Souta would be sent off to bath and bed, grumbling about not being allowed to stay up. Kagome would go and get changed into her night clothes while Grandpa dozed off in his chair, his head nodding until being gently roused by Mama and sent off to his own room to sleep. And then Mama would bid them both goodnight, going off to her own room to read or do whatever she did before bedtime, pausing only to offer a hug and kiss to Kagome and a gentle ear pat to Inuyasha. And if he pushed his head into her hand a little more firmly sometimes, so similar to the gentle touch of his own mother, it was only because she deserved his politeness, nothing more.

Then came Inuyasha’s favourite part of the night. The part that belonged just to him and Kagome. He still didn’t entirely feel comfortable sleeping, even though the future time seemed to be not quite as dangerous. He would have been fine with just sitting up by himself, but Kagome would not allow that. Instead, she had come up with the idea of movie marathons.

As soon as they arrived through the well, she would go to the store, returning before dark with a triumphant smile and a bag that contained ‘movie snacks’ and two or three black boxes that contained the movies themselves, that would somehow be magically transferred to the Higurashi family tv screen. She would set them aside without showing him until the rest of the family went to bed – he never knew what they would be. But that hardly mattered.

Because they would sit on the big soft seat and watch them together.

Sitting close to Kagome in the dark room with only the light from the tv flickering in front of them, laughing and talking and teasing with no one else to interrupt or stare, letting her head rest on his shoulder or lap when she finally succumbed to sleep – that made those new moon nights bearable in a way he didn’t really want to examine too closely. Even though he couldn’t breathe in her nice smell or hear her heart beating with his subdued human senses, she was right where he could see her. And then if he did doze off, waking with a start at sunrise as his youki rushed back to full strength, she was right there beside him, her sleeping form a reward to his senses like a cool glass of water for a man who had been wandering alone in a desert.

“Hey, don’t eat it all before the movie starts Inuyasha!” chided Kagome as she noticed him taking yet another huge handful of popcorn. She pushed the black plastic box into the machine under the TV, pressing a button to make the images move faster, smiling sympathetically at Inuyasha’s scowl of distaste at the annoying noise it made. “I’m just going to fast forward it past all the trailers, and then we can watch the movie.”

“What’s this one about?” asked Inuyasha indistinctly around his mouthful of popcorn. “I hope there’s not going to be lots of singing this time.”

He actually hadn’t minded the movie about the magic blue genie they’d watched last month. It was pretty funny in some spots, but the music had stuck in his head, and made it hard to concentrate, especially as he hadn’t understood what they were singing or saying. Kagome said it was in English. The words had been there on the screen, but they’d moved a little too fast for him, and he didn’t understand all of them. Not that he would have told Kagome that. He didn’t want her to think he was stupid or ungrateful.

Kagome glanced down at the case in front of her.

“No, this one’s not a musical. Eri recommended it. She said she saw it when it came out in the movie theatre and suggested I watch it with you. It’s called Scream.”

Inuyasha huffed.

“Sounds noisy.”

“I think it might be scary”, said Kagome, biting her lip as she read the writing on the plastic cover that the movies came in. “I hope it will be okay.”

“Feh”, Inuyasha snorted, “no movie’s gonna be scarier than stuff we’ve already been through together.” He nodded at the screen. “Put it on.”

He was eager to get their evening moving to the best bit where she sat next to him in the dark.

“I guess so.”

Nodding determinedly, Kagome pushed the button to start the movie and sat next to him, kicking off her house slippers and curling her legs up, reaching across him for her own handful of popcorn. She nudged Inuyasha with her shoulder playfully as the movie started and he grinned, nudging her back.

“Wow, that’s a big house”, Inuyasha commented, watching the blonde girl walk around a kitchen twice the size of the Higurashi’s. “Oh, she’s gonna eat popcorn too!”

The kitchen seemed much shinier than Kagome’s family kitchen, with a lot more fancy things, but not as real or lived in. He stared at the screen in puzzlement as he felt Kagome inch closer to him.

“Why don’t her words match her mouth?”

“It’s dubbed”, she whispered. “It’s an American movie, but they’ve recorded words in Japanese over the top so we can understand it.”

“Okay”, said Inuyasha, not quite understanding what she meant, but not wanting to admit it. “Wait, why does she keep picking up the phone if she don’t wanna talk to this guy?”

“I don’t knooow”, whispered Kagome. She edged a little closer to him, grabbing a pillow and holding it to her chest.

“This girl is dumb. She keeps answering the fucking phone instead of leaving”, grunted Inuyasha.

“Ohh”, moaned Kagome, tucking herself into his side as the girl on the screen flicked on the porch light only to see her boyfriend tied up, tape across his mouth.

“Pathetic”, grunted Inuyasha, munching more popcorn as the boy died a lacklustre death on screen. He hadn’t even put up much of a fight.

Kagome gasped as the girl managed to get away from the black masked figure reaching through the broken glass of the door.

“Oh, now she runs”, he said, rolling his eyes. “Why didn’t you do that earlier woman? Oh, for fucks sake, don’t stop running!” He sighed as the killer caught up with her and stabbed her with a knife, gesturing towards the screen with a popcorn filled fist.

“See, that’s what you get for bein’ stupid”, he commented, then made a disappointed noise as the girl’s parents rushed into the kitchen, pulling the flaming pan of popcorn off the stove.

“Aww, what a waste. She burned it.”

Kagome’s fingers pinched at his arm as the mother screamed at the sight of her dead daughter hanging from a tree, and she jumped, knocking the bowl in Inuyasha’s lap, almost sending it to the floor.

“Hey!” he grinned. He glanced at her face, about to tease her for jumping, but was alarmed at her terrified expression. He picked up the bowl from his lap and put it on the little table nearby, out of the way before it got spilled.

“Kagome, you okay?” he asked quietly, ignoring the movie now and focusing all his attention on her. Stupid human night. With his usual senses, he would have been able to pick up her fear much sooner. Her face was now burrowed into his arm, not even looking at the screen.

“Kagome, look at me. You told me this wasn’t real. It’s all pretend”, he said softly, nudging her gently.                       

“I know”, she whimpered, her voice muffled by his sleeve. “But that was so scary.”

“Turn the movie off then. We can watch something else. Or just talk.”

She shook her head.

“Eri said it was good.”

“It’s not good if it’s scaring you. I don’t want you to be scared.”

Hesitantly, he stroked her hair, remembering another time, earlier in their journey, where she’d sat beside him and done the same, leaning into his side, staring with terrified eyes at a dead girl. But that had been real and this was not.

“She’s not really dead, it’s a movie, just pictures, like you told me. And you would never be as stupid as her. Besides, I would never let anything like that happen to you.”

Greatly daring, he put his arm around her, squeezing her against him, then squawked in sudden surprise as she climbed into his lap, tucking her head on his shoulder.

“Is this okay?” she asked shyly.

“O’course. I’ll protect you from the stupid movie. Nothing’s gonna happen when I’m here Kagome.”

“I know, I always feel safe with you, Inuyasha”, she said with a happy sigh.

He could feel how hard her heart was beating, and now his was beating just as hard. Her hands tucked into his chest, gripping his suikan, and he adjusted her in his lap, his arms going around her to keep her close. Sighing, he nuzzled his nose into her hair, relishing the fact that when she was this close, even without his hanyou senses, he could pick up the scent of the soaps she used in her hair.

They both settled in to continue watching. He was now just as terrified as Kagome, but not because of the moving pictures on the screen. His lap was full of the girl that he would do anything for, the one person in this world he would die for, maybe even live for.

And that thought was scarier than any fucking movie.

[minsarasarahair]

“But love was not a revolution or frustration or catastrophe Love was you” - Kanata Haluka (RADWIMPS)

I also want to talk about how Suzume no Tojimari covers “Self-worth” for their characters. That being simply alive is a form of love. We have Souta who’s self-worth relied in if he live to his grandfather’s expectations. In the beginning, Souta keep refusing Suzume’s help. He’s like “I don’t need the help of teenage girl” but Suzume is like “But you’re a chair...”. Souta refusing to become a door guardian in the ending is his character development. He’s a human first before a closer therefore he realized he still want to live while of course, respecting his duty. In Suzume’s case, her character development is about her handing over the chair to her younger self. That she no longer need it because she’s fine now. That she shouldn’t forgot those who live for her aka her auntie while still respecting those who died. 

My only problem in the movie is probably it didn’t highlight more about Souta but maybe because he’s a chair in 90% of the movie. And being a chair, its hard to see his expression. Compare to other Makoto Shinkai’s heroes, he’s definitely not expressive so yeah its understandable others find it hard to relate with a chair and a handsome guy like him. You can’t really blame him tho because his self-worth is his duty so he’s serious and not expressive enough to show what he actually feel. It still make sense.

[dutchforstrangers]

Digimon Adventure: 2023 - The newborn chronicles 1/?

Since approx three weeks, I'm head deep into diapers, broken nights and feeding sessions, trying to navigate through life with a newborn. All the while, coming here feels like this could be both my escape from and way of dealing with everything. So I might as well throw in some drabbles about my faves during pregnancy/labor and/or with newborns! Don't expect too much shipping or even shipping at all, just these mofos being newborn parents and not knowing sh*t about all of this.

If you have any suggestions or requests for this series (character(s) and/or prompt/idea), please crawl into my ask box and leave a message (: It's great writing exercise for me after being out of it for so long! I'm taking everything on a scale from everyday domestic fluff to drama with a funny twist and from comedy with a serious touch to dark and heavy angsty emotional rollercoaster.

[1/?]

Episode 1: Taichi & newborn Souta, pt. 1

"Well, just kill me now..."

He said as he exhaled loudly, his hands desperately buried in his hair that seemed wilder than ever before. The bags underneath his eyes in combination with the messy hair and stinky boxers indicating the lack of sleep and showering.

A small piece of Taichi hoped his wife would hear him sigh, wake and come to his rescue. The biggest piece, however, wanted to let her have a peaceful night after all the tough ones she already had and show her he could actually do this by himself.

Thing was he wasn't sure how to.

He reached for his phone on top of the dresser, next to his one week old son. Their eyes met, one set of brown eyes expectingly piercing through his own pair.

"I'm sorry I'm letting you wait, I just... I just need to be sure. So stop looking at me like that."

Taichi's eyes quickly moved from the baby to his phone, scrolling through the names in his contacts.

If he'd call Hikari, or Sora, they would immediately mother and scold him for not knowing "anything". They were an easy skip.

He could call Yamato, but the scenario in his head made him skip his friend faster than lightning.*

Jyou could be useful knowledge-wise, but he'd probably be in a night shift and too busy picking up.

Mimi wasn't an option either, feeling she would leave him with unuseful anecdotes about her traveling life and more questions than answers.

Takeru he felt too awkward to call and Daisuke was simply a hard no.

That left him with one last option. And even though Taichi wasn't sure about that person's knowledge regarding this specific topic, he was sure that he would help him in the best way possible.

"Taichi-san?"

Plus, the voice on the other end weirdly soothed him.

With his gaze fixed on his son's overly yellow-brownish body, Taichi started rambling.

"Koushiro, you've got to help me. What do you know about changing diapers and cleaning one week old babies after they covered themselves in their own poop?"

x x x

* The Taichi - Yamato scenario/convo I envisioned:

Y: "Oi, Taichi, why you're calling me in the middle of the night?"

T: "Why are you picking up in the middle of the night?"

Y: "... F*ck you." *hangs up*