#this and noragami spoilers on the same day

[elibean]

Dazai ain’t deaaaaaad no one in this damn series ever stays dead

[h0estar]

Yukine's journey toward acceptance of the life that was robbed of him, this time with finality, exemplifies the emotional and beautifully rendered arc that has defined his character.

Yukine finally accepting the reality of his death. Yukine stepping out from the fridge that contained memories of what was once his life. Yukine freeing himself from the shackles of his trauma. Yukine running to protect the person who cherished him the most in the world. Yukine standing up to an abusive father. Yukine wholeheartedly apologizing. Yukine's growth, and Yato tearing up as he stretches his little arms to pull him for an embrace.

Yukine's gratitude for what Yato did for him is evident throughout the series. He was given a name more precious than any other. He was treated like a human--an ordinary teenage boy. And life after that was one exciting journey after another. Now, Yukine can no longer be entirely consumed by the horrors of his past because he knows that his reality with Yato is so much brighter. Far brighter.

Yukine could break out from that refrigerator because of the true, sincere, and nurturing love shown by the only father figure in his life. Yato has said multiple times throughout the series that Yukine was his priority above all else, and Yukine was the only person he swore to protect the most. Hell, he even went straight to hug him after Yukine apologized for turning into that form! Yato did not need to summon Yukine. Yukine came to protect Yato on his own decision. As he always did.

The journey to their healing will be painful, and this chapter shows that Yato and Yukine will face it together. No more secrets and no more miscommunications. They will help and be by each other's side as they always have, not only as god and shinki but, this time, as family.

"I will not let him die. Not Yato. No matter what happens... I swear I won't let anyone take him from me!" -Yukine, Noragami Vol. 17 Chapter 67.

[chibitorra]

Gah! I can't wait for the chapter to come out to share my thoughts on Noragami 108.2...

Of course, this may change depending on what actually happens, but I'll put it under the cut for spoilers.

So I've seen some people say that in the one image we have, Yato is saying something about giving his life to save Hiyori.

And sadly, that course of action seems to make the most sense.

It would grant her original wish for him to fix her, well this one is assuming she won't fall out of her body anymore.

She would keep her promise to not forget him, again assuming that is the case here

And it would be befitting of Yato's character development. This vagrant god who used to not be able to think about anyone but himself, now giving his life to save the one person he loved most. The ultimate sacrifice.

Now, that's not to say there's not still hope for a happy ending. I really think there is.

After all, Gods are born from powerful wishes of humans, are they not?

What if... Hiyori keeps his shrine (we know she's going to) and on a whim one day, when she really misses him, she leaves a 5 yen coin on it and wishes to see him again.

And then, there he is.

The very same Yato she loved so dearly, only this time, he actually is a God of Fortune, reborn.

I've made a post about this before, I think(I'm too lazy to find it rn.) But the title of this series always had me thinking. Within the context of this universe, a Stray is a Regalia that was named by more than 1 God.

So, what does that mean for a Stray God?

A God born from the wish of more than one human, I'd wager.

Of course, this is all speculation on my part... grasping desperately at any straws I can to find a happy ending because god DAMN it they deserve it.

Besides, didn't Yato promise to make her next birthday special since he missed her last one? (or something like that, my memory is fuzzy) It would be extra special if he was able to come back on her next birthday, like seeing him again is her birthday wish and that's the wish that brings him home.

[bicheetopuff]

I saw you commenting on the anime's decisions on how to characterize Bakugo. I get the anger, but my usual problem is I've seen this type of anger across several manga fandoms when anime studios change things unnecessarily, and the result is always the same. The anime studios keep doing whatever they are doing. I'm not saying the anger in invalid, just that I'm all out of craps to give about it because usually anime studios make whatever decisions they want. While Bones does seem to have a need to add filler and humor in where it isn't needed, they are more faithful than some anime studios I've seen. They at least keep to major plot points and don't try to entirely rewrite the tone of the series, which is a level of disrespect I've heard of happening before. Or worse, adding entire arcs and seasons that weren't originally there. So, I'm at least thankful that Bones mostly follows the manga, even if it does add filler. There are many other mangas that have gotten treated way worse XD. I'm not saying people can't complain about it btw, but I just think that Bones is far from the worst or even a particularly noteworthy offender as far as anime studios go.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Bones as a studio. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood was a masterpiece from start to finish. Noragami was also great in my opinion, although I’m not sure how faithful to the manga they were cuz I haven’t read it. I’ve also heard really great things about Mob Psycho 100 although I haven’t read or watched it.

And yea they stay pretty faithful to mha as well but it’s just the small random things they choose to change that just adds up and makes me not want to watch the anime. And their filler/movies aren’t great because they’re not faithful to characterization specifically. No offense to anyone that likes the first movie specifically but, that movie was written like poorly written fanfiction. The characterization was awful.

But you’re right, there’s not much use in caring about the dumb things anime studios do especially when other great mangas were adapted far worse on screen, mainly in the seinen genre (Tokyo ghoul, The Promised Neverland and Berserk is what came to mind for me).

It’s just frustrating to see one of the best written characters in the story get completely undermined by the anime studio. Not even the anime studio, more so the directors most likely. There’s still plenty of anime only watchers that like bakugo but most of the time it’s cuz he’s “strong, loud, and tough,” not because of his actual development as a character because the anime doesn’t show his development well. Which it’s fine for the studio to continue to cater to the side of the audience that only cares about his brawn but I feel like there’s ways to do that without going backwards in his character development. But they just kinda keep doing it and it’s gonna make the more obvious parts of his development not make sense and considering how many more people watch the anime over reading the manga, mha in general might come across as poorly written and that generalization is gonna fall onto hori by the number of fans that only watch the anime.

Luckily though hori only really cares about his Japanese audience and I think a majority of fans there keep up with mha manga as much as they do the anime thanks to shonenjump so I’m not really worried. I’m just slightly frustrated and a little disappointed by how they’re handling his character so far this season (mainly cuz I know my irl friends are gonna talk mad shit about how much they hate him and I can’t say anything cuz manga spoilers) but at the end of the day I have no control of what the anime studio decides to do. If they fuck up, they fuck up and in Japan that’s gonna reflect more on them than it’ll reflect on hori so🤷🏽‍♀️

[solarsavoy]

WIP Titles game

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Secretly tagged by tuuli. ^^

Okay, so I'm going to start out by explaining my WIP a bit. WIPs to me are absolutely anything I am working on in any way shape or form, which means finished items that need editing or simply haven't been published all the way down to things still in the conceptual stage. And, uh, my WIP folder is *huge*, so big that I've made a folder outside of it for my Krystar stuff, which is all technically WIPs, so... Here we go.

Note: Anything with an asterisk [*] means it's not the title.

Krystar:

First Fragment - rewriting/editing

Second Fragment - finished/editing

Third Fragment - finished/editing

Fourth Fragment - about 60% through

Fifth Fragment - conceptual stage/notes

Lost Echoes part 1: Stag - about 85% through

Lost Echoes part 2: Peace Bringer - conceptual stage/notes

Lost Echoes part 2: Mythren - 2% maybe

Lost Echoes part 2: Gerit - finished and partially published on AO3, not officially published

Echoes of Stag - finished/editing

Echoes of Taki - conceptual stage, may have a paragraph or two of this

Echoes of ___ - conceptual stage, may have a paragraph or two of this (not releasing the name because spoilers, which is the same for the next two)

Echoes of ___ - conceptual stage

Echoes of ___ - conceptual stage, may have a paragraph or two of this

Reign of Mynt - conceptual stage

Next is the actual WIP folder which is a mix of a lot of different things. I'll sort this one differently from how it is in the folder though or it's just gonna be a chaotic mess. 😅

Webtoons, no art done, all conceptual but a summary and/or notes may exist

Hidden Gems

The Harem Interviews

Frenz

Granny and the Apocalypse

My Comic Life

*dream comic idea

Original book ideas, some may have snippets but are otherwise conceptual at this stage

Nameless

*band

The Endless (working title, may change)

*Little Mermaid, my version of the old tale

Partially published on AO3

Assassin Skills Requires Bonus Round

Loving Against the Law

Zodiac Killers

Nagisa Shiota

Kristmas Karma II

Life in Retail

Magic Shuu

Large writing projects (aka multiple works included)

Pandora's Box (7 works)

The Great Danny Isekai (10 works)

The Shuffle (2 or 3 series, 10 works each)

Karmagisa Week 2024 (7 works, not as large as the other projects because they'll be one-shots)

Magic Shuu (9 works, first listed above)

Multi-chapter projects

KKIII - conceptual stage/notes

Life in Retail II - snippets written, otherwise conceptual

Life in Retail III - conceptual stage

The Guardian - partial first chapter written, otherwise lots and lots of notes...

*Halloween 2023 - conceptual stage, lots of notes

Other

*Angel Beats fanfic, couple chapters written

*Noragami fanfic, conceptual

*AC-MHA, notes/conceptual

*Catboy notes/conceptual/OG

*DR 6th Day, (wtf do these notes even mean??? May delete this...)

*DR ASR Death Note

*DR Replays

Geode, short story/notes/conceptual

*GakuRen

*god boy dream, this is really just a character that I may insert somewhere, but who knows

*haunted place, based on a dream/notes/conceptual/OG

*Karma as Asano, notes/conceptual

*Karma demon prank idea, literally just an idea I had that one time

*Karmakuda idea, notes/conceptual

*magic girl ghost story, based on a dream/notes/conceptual/OG

*OHSHC fic idea

Operation: Cheer Up Algebro Asano, mostly done (cowriting with Hailey)

Role Call, conceptual

Second Chances, about 60% done

*short fic idea, conceptual

*space idea, conceptual/based on a dream

*Stag Tentacles

*story idea 102321

*UAAC, notes/conceptual (cowriting with tuuli)

Welcome to Jamville, conceptual, may change title

Okay, so uh, that's everything. Not gonna tag anyone though. I'm not even sure I know that many people tbh...

[shima-draws]

Uhh forgot to mention this earlier but I can’t believe Yatori AND Kazubisha got confirmed in the same chapter. Wow. We really be gettin everything we asked for, it’s like early Christmas in the Noragami fandom

[akascow]

My sister and I were watching noragami the other day and when they talked about how "to" and "boku" could be the same sign I said that the person's name (not gonna spoiler) is bokuto as a joke and she just said "no obviously not" and brushed it off, but when we talked about it later, she said "bokuto, isn't that the son of Naruto?" and I can't stop thinking about that

Made fun of her for hours

Oh and we did watch haikyuu together, so she should know, but somehow she still said that lmao

oh my god what

[miniaturestitches]

30 day seiyuu challenge Week 2

Hello~ This post is for the 2nd week of the ongoing seiyuu challenge (or should I say Seiyuu appreciation?)

click here for week 1

Due to the nature of questions, there might be a bunch of minor spoilers here (in GIF or video form) for various anime (like Robotics;Notes, Nanbaka, Assassination Classroom, Danshi Koukouse no Nichijou, Psycho-pass 3, Kuroko no Basuke, Tada-kun wa Koi Wo Shinai, etc).  If you absolutely hate spoilers, you may want to skip or proceed with caution.

If you don't particularly care about minor spoilers and have nothing better to do, you are most welcome to take a plunge in this long post filled with my opinions and fangirling.    

8. Seiyuu with most impressive range (character types)

Fukuyama Jun

I was debating whether I should swap my answers for number 7 and 8.  Ishida Akira and Fukuyama Jun both have impressive ranges in terms of pitch and character types.  I just decided to go with my original answers.

You can tell that he is an experienced voice actor.^^  He has a variety of characters that'll make you go: "Wait, that was HIM?"  "How can these two characters have the same voice actor?!"

I remember laughing so hard when I learned that Kazuma's(Noragami) seiyuu is the same as Lelouch's(Code Geass)…and then I saw Assassination Classroom.

Now I don't get too shocked.  My reactions are more on the lines of…"Oh? Cool! As expected of Fukuyama Jun.”

9. Seiyuu with best character singing voice

Toyonaga Toshiyuki

Toyonaga Toshiyuki already has a nice singing voice.  It is even more amazing that he can sing in different voices.  

It's no surprise if a seiyuu can sing well.  Sometimes, though, in character songs, I tend to hear the seiyuu rather than the character.  [Hmm…I can't find the right words to explain this…It is like…Say for example I listened to Seiyuu A's character songs from various anime, it would sound like it came from the same person--which is understandable, since it is much harder to voice act while singing (Don't get me wrong please, I'm not trying to criticizes other seiyuus.  I'm just trying to show better what I admire about Toyonaga-san.  I'm also no authority on voice acting/singing.)]

What makes Toyonaga Toshiyuki's singing special is that even when singing, his characters sound different from each other.  Other seiyuus are able to do this too, but I think that Toyonaga Toshiyuki's range is much wider.  

Note: I do have a video compilation of Toyonaga Toshiyuki's character songs, but it might take me a while to post it.  Stay tuned~

In the meantime, here is a nice compilation I found on Youtube:

Can we admire how he can change his tone & voice quality and still sound good?  

   10. Seiyuu with best inside voice

I couldn't think of the right word then, but what I meant was inner monologue.

Sugita Tomokazu

Need I explain this?  

THIS IS just one of the reasons  WHY:

This is just a fraction of his voice acting prowess.  But I just love the contrast between the character's inside voice and speaking voice.

11. Seiyuu with best drama/ crying

Nakamura Yuuchi

When his character cries, you'll want to cry to.  Personally, I don’t react much when watching anime (I usually watch with someone else).  But Nakamura Yuuchi's powers are too strong. And it's not even the strong emotional outbursts/bawling yet.  

Maybe the reason why it's so effective is because he usually gets casted as a tough character.  So when his character cries, you know that it’s really serious.

How can he express so much sadness with minimal crying noises?

12. Seiyuu with best laugh

I know some seiyuu are known for their unique, contagious laughter (like Shimono Hiro).  I decided to focus on voice acting laughter^^

I never gave much thought to how much information about a character’s personality is communicated just by the way he laughs.  Seiyuus are amazing. 

Kakihara Tetsuya

His character laughs are just lighthearted, pleasant to listen to AND contagious. even when it’s supposed to be annoying  

He also does great creepy evil laughs.

Special mention: Nakamura Yuuchi

His laughs sound different for each character, and they never sound awkward.

13. Seiyuu with best scream

Kimura Ryohei

Similar to Okamoto Nobuhiko, Kimura Ryohei's screams sound controlled and real.  Plus, he also delivers the necessary emotions.

Can we please appreciate how Kimura Ryohei delivered this scream of shock and anguish? (in Robotics;Notes)

I like how “carefully measured” his screams/shouts/miscellaneous noises sound.  No matter how loud/emotional, it doesn't hurt my eardrums.  He is so good in controlling the intensity of his voice.

PS. His voice sounds really good when you listen through headphones.

Special mention: Uemura Yuuto

Impressive performance as Yuliy Jirov, Jyugo, and Atsushi Nakajima.  (He is really good with calm characters that are part beast :P) 

14. Seiyuu with best English

Miyano Mamoru

It is expected that seiyuus who spent years outside Japan would have much better English pronunciation (seiyuus like Ayumu Murase, Hino Satoshi, Wataru Komada etc).  But I chose Miyano Mamoru for biased other reasons.

For a non-native English speaker, Mamo-chan's English is pretty good.  It's not perfect, but it does sound that much effort was put behind it.   Have you heard him speak English as Asano Gakushu (in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, the sports festival episode)?  That really got my attention.

Or as Rin Matsuoka in Free! Eternal Summer? 

Please appreciate his clear pronunciations and proper pauses.

And he also knows enough English that he can intentionally sound bad at it.

[arigatouiris]

the ghosthunter of nekoma // kenma kozume — 02

Author’s Note: Oof thanks for the response on the previous chapter! I’m loving it so pls tell me what you think of this? The whole ghost/hanyou thing here is something I made up and just gave it a story on my own, so it might definitely be different from Noragami and Shintoism that I’ve just brushed up on! Let me know what you think!

Word count: 2k

Pairing: Ghosthunter! Kenma Kozume x Hanyou! Reader

Summary: Ever since you were born, things weren’t going your way. Being able to jump in and out of your body as a spirit might have sounded cool in theory, but in reality, you were just target practice for other spirits to take advantage of. Just when you thought you could get accustomed to living a regular life, meeting the ghosthunter of Nekoma turned your life around to a complete 360.

Warnings: unrequited love, slow burn, one-sided crush, slight angst, pining, crackhead reader, ghosts, supernatural stuff, alternate universe, haikyuu manga spoilers, fluff

c h a p t e r - t w o  dishonest words are poison.

The nurse ended up giving you an entire bottle of electrolytes. The only reason you could lose consciousness from a volleyball hitting you on your head was simply because you were apparently not eating right, which you only ended up agreeing with despite knowing the actual reason. Mimi's crying face was a bit funny, but you weren't going to laugh at her. You stared at your now empty wrist before feeling dread settle in your lower stomach. You felt nauseous now when you thought of the trek that led to your grandmother's shrine, but it wasn't your grandmother that scared you.

It was the other maiden from the shrine; the one who had given you the magatama in the first place.

Sato Fujie was a good friend of your grandmother's, old enough to be your grandmother too, but she didn't really like being called that. As one of the oldest Miko in the shrine, she had every right to order you around because you were hanyou.

    "I was so scared!" Mimi most definitely was. You didn't doubt that.

All you could do was offer her a helpless smile before muttering to her that you needed to head home. She understood right away and some of the boys from the club suggested that they'd even walk you home, but no, you weren't that exhausted. You could walk home yourself and you wanted the fresh air and the alone time. You looked toward the boys and noticed that the ghosthunter wasn't around, which meant that he hadn't left the gym at all ever since your departure. You didn't know if he spared your life or if he had left you off on a warning; what was your modus operandi now? What were you to do? Did you have to tell your grandmother that there's a ghosthunter in Nekoma?

*

    "There are ghosthunters everywhere, you bird brain!" Sato screamed into your ear as she pinched at the end of it.

You had tears leaking out of your eyes now with how forceful she was being. Making a magatama that could keep your soul intact took days, and in those days, you were just as helpless as a newly born fawn in a field full of hungry lions. Her metaphors always did manage to scare you beyond the actual facts that were being presented, but you turned to your grandmother who watched solemnly. Sato and your grandmother were both Miko, and they wore the traditional attire that included a red hakama, a white kimono robe, and their hair tied with red hair ribbons. Sato particularly took more caution with her appearance, dying her hair black almost every week and attempting to look younger than she was. Your grandmother, on the other hand, embraced her age.

It was then the ghosthunter's voice rang in your head. His words had confused you, and now you couldn't hold back anymore.

    "He told me that it's not safe for me the way I am. It's not like I can do anything about it, right?"

Sato and your grandmother both didn't answer. This proved that they knew something you didn't, or that there was something there that they were not telling you. This hesitance made you want to press on. You narrowed your eyes before looking Sato straight in the eye.

    "Sato-sama," You said carefully, "What happens if a ghosthunter severs my ties with the spirit world?"

    "We told you already! They sever your ties with the spirit world, and that's it." Sato said, aggressively.

What...? Something definitely didn't feel right.

    "Will that kill me?"

Your grandmother's look hardened. Your heart dropped, and you were confused with what they were not telling you.

    "He didn't do it," You pressed on, "He let me go and just told me it isn't safe for me the way I am. If he had used his tanto on me, what would have happened?"

    "(y/n)," It was your grandmother who spoke this time, "Let it go."

No, you thought but Sato was already getting up to go make the magatama. You looked at Sato's back as she walked away, almost helplessly, before turning to your grandmother and giving her a pleading look. Your grandmother sighed before running her hand through your hair and placing the same hand against your cheek. You could feel how wrinkled she was, and you wanted to understand if keeping this a secret even had a reason at all.

    "I know there's something else there, obaa-san," You said, pressing your lips together in the end, "Please, tell me so I won't make mistakes after finding out."

    "(y/n)," You were hoping she'd say something related to the issue at hand, "The magatama will be ready in a few days. Please, do not remove it this time."

Your heart dropped in the blatant way your grandmother ignored you. You held your breath before picking up your things and just leaving the shrine. You didn't bother to give your grandmother another look, you were angry that they were keeping you in the dark, you were angry because it felt wrong wanting to go look for answers elsewhere. The only choice you had was the ghosthunter whose name you didn't even know.

The next day in school, you wanted to find out where the ghosthunter was. You knew that he wasn't a third-year, and you knew that he wasn't a first-year, which meant he was a second-year. You also knew that Mimi knew some of the second years from the team, and it would rather easy for her to find out who the pudding head was. However, your sudden curiosity might trigger something else in her head and you desperately wanted to avoid that. Therefore, the best way you could find out his name without involving anyone else was by taking a risk.

You knew that the fourth period, right before lunch was a relatively free hour. Students in your class were allowed to do anything—complete homework, talk to one another by keeping their voices low or even take a nap. It was a strange thing to let students do, but you were grateful for the free hour now more than ever before. Whispering to Mimi that you were going to take a long nap and that you didn't want to be woken up, she nodded furiously before giving you a fake salute.

Taking a deep breath, you exited your body.

As a hanyou, you always knew that exiting your body was the easiest. Getting back in was the tough part, but that wasn't in your head right then. You took a deep breath before moving through the corridors, checking through each door where the second-year classes were, and trying to spot a familiar ghosthunter. It was in the third class, a rather sharp 2-3, did you spot him.

His eyes immediately caught hold of your form before glaring at you, and you waved helplessly before quietly walking in. The boy straightened his back from suddenly slouching, and he looked rather anxious as you approached him. You peered into his notebook and noticed that his name was Kenma Kozume, and you grinned to yourself at how your plan had actually worked.

You shoot him a thumbs up a second later, before whispering, "Thank you, Kozume-kun!"

You heard him let out a groan before you skipped out of class, just going through the door.

Luckily for you, you could get back into your body without a hassle. Mimi apparently hadn't even tried to wake you up, and that had taken just ten minutes so the short nap worked as a perfect excuse. When the class took a break for lunch, you and Mimi walked out casually, with you being personally satisfied over a rather big win. However, you spotted Kenma Kozume, standing ahead of you two, a strange look in his eye.

    "Need to talk." Was all he said, avoiding your gaze.

Mimi narrowed her eyes together before murmuring, "Why does Kozume-senpai want to talk to you?"

You shrugged before following Kenma, but secretly feeling your stomach drop at the anticipation. Kenma led you toward a corridor in the school where there were relatively fewer people, and he shot you a threatening look.

    "You pull that move once again and I'll definitely end you."

You grin helplessly before rubbing the back of your neck, "Sorry. Does it really bother you that much?"

His expression didn't change, "I'm supposed to be hunting ghosts."

That's where you knew your cue was to ask him a question, "Yeah, see, now... That's what I don't understand."

Kenma blinked at you, "What?"

    "I'm a hanyou, not a ghost. I can get in and out whenever I want, and it's rather convenient sometimes. I understand that other ghosts can enter my body while I'm away, and that's a legitimate thing to fear, but how am I a threat?"

Kenma looked at you like you were an idiot. You were almost appalled at the gaze he was giving you.

    "Didn't anyone tell you that spirits can kill one another?"

What?

Your eyes widened at his sudden exclamation, which sounded like he was saying the most casual thing ever. Kenma's face didn't reveal what he was feeling, and if it did, then that meant he was feeling nothing. There was not a tinge of emotion on his face and you didn't know whether to feel worried or relieved that he was looking that way.

    "What... I mean... I'm... safe inside my body, right?"

Kenma sighed. He licked his lips before thinking to himself if telling you what he was about to would be the right thing to do. Contemplating his own conflicts on speaking to someone like you, Kenma decided against it.

    "It's not my job to educate you."

You were nearly close to pleading. You suddenly grabbed his wrist, shocking him and not noticing the rapid growth of red on his cheeks.

    "Please, Kozume-kun," You said, "I know there's something wrong with what my grandmother and the Miko are hiding from me. I need to know what I am. I need to know why this is happening to me and why I feel so... so different."

Kenma could have empathized with you, he definitely could have. But he was trained to study the various types of ways that ghosts could manipulate people. The first method that ghosts usually used was to get the person to empathize. Strikingly similar to what you were doing right then. He brushed your hand away harshly before clicking his tongue at you.

    "If you pull that stunt again," He warned you, "And there's a ghost nearby, I won't be responsible for what happens to you."

    "Kozume-kun, I... If you sever my ties to the spirit world, will I die?"

He paused before his expression changed. He blinked at you as he raised his eyebrows. Clearly, whoever raised you had done a brilliant job in keeping you in the dark. Not only did they avoid telling you how much you were in danger, but they also refused to be honest with you about your own nature.

    "Hanyou are the way they are because they almost died at some point. If you were born like this then you weren't even supposed to be alive," Kenma's words reverberated in your mind, "Think about that, and maybe you'll get your answer."

    "Not supposed to be alive?" Your voice was barely a whisper.

Kenma turned away to leave before letting you rot in your own thoughts.

Not supposed to be alive.

Not supposed to be alive.

Then, you turned to walk away but the shaking of your hands was too severe for you to even take another step forward, Why am I alive at all?

[365days365movies]

March 13, 2021: Kwaidan: The Black Hair (1963)

Three hours of Japanese ghost stories. OK. How do I do?

Time is always a complicated mistress for me, so I really have to plan this accordingly. OK, let’s see, what do I know about Kwaidan? Well, it’s a Japanese anthology film...ahhhhhhhh, there it is!

OK, solution discovered! This film is broken up into four disparate short stories, so we’ll be tackling each one one at a time. Four shorter posts, one full movie! Nice. Now, normally, I’d go through a bit of an introduction, but I don’t know much about this film, or the short movies contained within. So, instead, let’s talk Japanese mythology.

Hate to admit it, but basically all of my knowledge of Japanese gods and folklore comes from anime. Which isn’t the worst source, necessarily...but it’s definitely not the actual source. I’ve seen Noragami Season One, I’ve watched a button of other slice-of-life and folklore-based anime, so I know a little bit. The GF is far more adept (she’s the one who got me into Noragami, amongst other things), and she’ll be watching this movie as well, when she can.

So, I’m a relative novice when it comes to these things. What makes this more interesting is the fact that these stories are based on somewhat more contemporary sources, which means that they may not borrow from Japanese mythology much at all, outside of shared themes and morality. Sound familiar?

Yeah, that basically describes Ugetsu Monogatari, which I covered a few days ago (here, here, and here, in that order). While it’s based off of a book, it shares elements seen in a lot of old Japanese folklore and traditional beliefs. Don’t needlessly pursue material goods and fame over happiness, and don’t fuck ghosts. Yeah, that’s mostly what I learned from that one.

Kwaidan, which literally means “ghost stories” in Japanese, came out over a decade later, is in color, as was directed by Masaki Kobayashi, and this is the only movie of his that I’ve ever heard of, so that’s something. In any case, I’m excited for this one! As excited as I am...worried. Because I have absolutely no idea what I’m in for. LET THE THREE HOURS COMMENCE (broken up into four palatable pieces).

The movie segments are as follows:

The Black Hair (黒髪, Kurokami)

The Woman of the Snow (雪女, Yukionna)

Hoichi the Earless (耳無し芳一の話, Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi)

In A Cup of Tea (茶碗の中, Chawan no Naka)

We’ll start with The Black Hair, which is giving major “The Ring” vibes, just as a name. We’ll see if I’m right about that, I guess! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/4)

We start it all off with the Criterion Collection logo, and then...ink.

Ink of black, red, and blue, dropped into water set against a white background, is seen cascading down the screen over the opening credits. The titles of the four short films are also introduced, as the ink colors are mixed over a mostly silent background. And once the end, we begin with our first story.

The Black Hair

There’s a dilapidated estate, and as we travel through it, all of the background noises are amplified, and a set of doors opens, seemingly with the breeze. We enter, and a narrator tells us that there was a samurai that lived in old Kyoto, brought to financial ruin by the workings of his former master. To regain financial and social status, he’s decided to leave his wife behind. We join them now.

The samurai (Rentarō Mikuni) leaves his sobbing wife (Michiyo Aratama), refusing to rot away in the estate, no longer dilapidated, as we’ve clearly gone back in time. Despite the desperate pleading of his wife, the samurai leaves Kyoto, and cruelly shoves his wife aside, hitting her with his sheathed sword at one point. So, yeah, he’s a dick. And his quest for fortune will almost certainly be his ruination. Like I said, certain shared themes.

That’s made even clearer by the next scene, in which the samurai is now married to a wealthy woman (Misako Watanabe) that looks very much like the woman from Ugetsu, smudgebrows and...impressively long hair, GODDAMN!

The wealthy family of said daughter welcomes the samurai into the family, and he provides for her while also enjoying a higher social status as a result of the marriage. One day, he brings her to his post, and we clearly see that she’s in love with material possessions, moreso than her husband. Which, yeah, sounds familiar.

Looks like the samurai’s also starting to realize this, and he reminisces about his first wife, presumably still Kyoto. Yeah, bud, ya fucked up, don’t be a dick. Also, I assume that it attracts ghosts, since...you know, this is a ghost story. But yeah, he realizes that he still loves his first wife, patient and loving, as opposed to his cold and selfish second wife.

And so, in his heart and mind, the samurai returns to see his first wife. Meanwhile, in his new life, the samurai is constantly haunted by memories of his first wife. It interferes with his archery on horseback during an exhibition with a competitor. Dude’s fucked up.

Meanwhile, the spoiled second wife is bored, coldly dismissing her handmaidens while waiting for her new husband to attend to her. She happens upon him, asleep next to a scroll. She tries to kiss him, but the great idiot turns her away. She slaps him, upset at both his own selfish ways, and his still-lasting devotion to his wife.

He gives up on pleasing her after this, and decides to officially return to his first wife to make amends for not appreciating her in the first place. However, despite this, his duty as a samurai in the region still lasts a few years, and he’s unable to return to his first wife until that point. And when he does, the place is mostly still OK, but somewhat wrecked on the outside.

Yet, despite this, there she is, working at her loom and spinning wheel. The two are happy to see each other, and the samurai notes that she hasn’t left his mind, and apologizes for being a dick. He also notes that she hasn’t aged a day. Yeah, she’s 100% a ghost, fuck.

Anyway, he begs his definitely ghost-wife for forgiveness, which she quickly and enthusiastically gives. She even says that she never felt worthy for being his wife, and that she doesn’t deserve love from someone of his station, as compared to her own. Goddamn, dude really is a dick for leaving this ACTUAL SAINT of a woman.

He pledges to make amends, and that nothing will ever separate them again. He notes that her hair smells the same as it did before. The same glossy black hair, he notes. He compliments her looks as they kiss. And yeah, real talk, she is a GORGEOUS woman. Again, dude’s a dick. But whatever, at least they’re together again.

And the samurai’s love QUICKLY gives way to horniness, as they make their bed in the room that they “first made love in”, according to him. They pledge to be together for the present and the future, and the swordsman falls asleep with his wide watching over him.

The sun rises the next day, and the samurai wakes up next to his wife, and sees her long black hair...

AAAAAAAAAND it’s a corpse. It’s her dead fuckin’ body, and the hair’s still attached. Saw that coming...although I didn’t think my whole “don’t fuck ghosts” joke would come true that quickly.

AND THEN THE HAIR FUCKING ATTACKS HIM AND DRAINS HIS LIFE FORCE, WHAT IN THE NINE FUCKS

Yeah, no, he’s rapidly aging, and he tries to escape the estate, now obviously completely dilapidated. The now elderly samurai does get out of the estate...but he doesn’t escape.

Damn. Story Number One concluded. 

Weird-ass story, in a way, but very well-shot. as it finishes, the GF begins to elucidate on the actual cultural relationship of this story. Here she is now, actually.

Iridescent. Anyway, she told me about onryō (怨霊), vengeful spirits that come to exact revenge on those who committed wrongs on them or in general, taking their spirits from their dying bodies. Apparently, husbands wronging their wives and getting fucked over by the spirits is a common occurrance. Neat.

It’s also possibly a reference to the yōkai called the futakuchi-onna (二口女). That one, I already knew about. She’s the two-faced woman with her second face hidden behind her long hair, draped and kept down. Said hair is also prehensile! And for the record, I only knew about her because of this:

Yup, Mawile is a Steel/Fairy type Pokémon based on the futakuchi-onna. Neat, huh?

Anyway, that’s the end of the first story...shall we move on to the second one? Next up, Kwaidan: The Snow Woman! See you there!

[dropintomanga]

Behind the Blog - 20 Years in the Making

5 years ago, I wrote “Behind the Blog - 15 Years in the Making.” It was a post detailing how I was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2000 and the experiences that led to me starting this blog. 

Now it’s 5 years later and I want to look back at that post a bit. I’m also going to discuss further insights about my past that I remembered and recent thoughts learned over time.

In my recent post about Komi Can’t Communicate, I mentioned my parents being worried about me having a possible communication disorder at the age of 2 and their decision to put me through special education classes. I joke that my life was doomed from the start even though it turned out I was alright. My father recently told me that when I was in pre-kindergaren, he was stalked by two men who wanted to rob him. After going on a school trip, I was dropped off by the special education class at a certain spot and my father went to pick me up. Once he did, he realized he was being followed while taking me home. Thankfully, he went inside a store with a security guard at the front door and nothing happened.

I’m really glad that nothing bad happened in front of my eyes. I don’t know how I would have processed it all. My parents have told me stories of how bad New York City was back in the 1970s’-1980s’. They have been robbed several times when they first moved to America. Before I was born, my mother was pregnant and was chased by three men who wanted to rape her. She got away, but fell down to the ground while escaping. My mother had a miscarriage as a result. The funny thing is that a few months later, she was pregnant with me.

It’s so freaking surreal to me whenever I think about that. I would not be here if it weren’t for that incident.

I also think back to that time in 2001 when I decided to be hospitalized. I told a college guidance counselor back in 2000 that I was hearing voices. That was a big reason why I stayed at the hospital. In hindsight, I was faking it. I think I just wanted attention and did it in a way that hurt everyone around me. I never heard voices at all. A thing that people with mental illness sometimes like to do is to dramatize things to get the attention of those around them. While it’s important to address their concerns, caregivers aren’t gods. They’re human beings with boundaries. Caregivers are placed with unfair expectations on handling mental illness in their loved ones. Now that I look back at the situation, I wished someone was there to shut me up in a compassionate way.

Speaking of college, there was one guidance counselor who I spoke with before I dropped out that said something that resonated with me. She said, “You know, I can see you being famous one day.” I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn’t pay much attention. After starting the blog, I went back to that college to attend an anime convention there and hoped to speak with that counselor again. I wanted to thank her because at the time, I felt that she was right in some way as I was going up the ranks in the manga blogging community. Unfortunately, she wasn’t working there anymore.

It’s funny because I’m not interested in chasing fame much anymore. I’m content with where I’m at.

I now want to think back to this passage I wrote in the 15-year post.

“But I’ve gone on to stay in good shape and I’m healthier than almost all of my relatives. I think it’s because deep down, I really wanted to live despite those dark desires. That or those good habits provided some physiological relief. I don’t think I’ll ever try to commit suicide. I’m too much of a coward for that. I’ve only just started to “live” a normal life honestly.

I was reading Noragami Volume 7 and it highlighted an important note about the main character, Yato. He is afraid of being forgotten. I think almost all depressed individuals have some fear of that. We want to be validated and we want people to let us know that they care. I also remember Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 17, where one of my favorite characters, Urumi Kanzaki, was going to commit suicide despite all pleas by her teacher, Onizuka, to stop doing so.

He went to great lengths to save Urumi and she realized how much he cared about her well-being. Do I want someone to sacrifice their own lives to save me? I don’t know, but I feel that I want to know that even in the darkest of moments, someone would come and physically stop me from going down a path where I never come back. In Noragami Volume 7, there was a moment where Yato saved a suicidal student and told him to never kill himself in front of him. I want to be the person to stop someone from ending their life.

It’s funny, right? I have thoughts about dying several times throughout my life, but I don’t want anyone to end their lives in front of me or other people. Maybe it’s because I don’t want them to understand how I felt. No one should. The thoughts I have can be warped and frightening to many.”

Here’s the sad thing - I considered suicide a year later after this post. I felt someone wanted me to go away for good. Someone did save me though. And then stuff happened that led me to question relationships (which thankfully got a lot better as the years went on). 

But after it was said and done, starting around 2017, I began to stop hating myself. I still have doubts from time to time and I realize that it’s okay to think about them. The world still treats people with mental illness and mental health problems like crap, so I decided to be more forward in learning how to best fight that kind of discrimination. I practiced self-compassion over self-esteem. That was the start of limiting my social media presence in an attempt to not feel pressured by external validation. This year, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I also stopped attending therapy with mutual agreement from my social worker and psychiatrist. I felt like I can finally start to manage things on my own. 

It took 20 years to reach that point and I have felt some shame that I’m not at the level of my peers that are the same age as me. I’m getting close to 40, but feel like a 30 year old. I try not to compare too much with other people because honestly, they probably have gone through tough times as much as I have. Maybe not to the extent of a mental illness, but certainly stuff that makes them question life.

Compared to how I was 5 years ago, I’m more reflective and compassionate. I’ve embraced all parts of my humanity. While people believe I’m a good person, I know I can be capable of hurting people in terrible ways in times of duress. I don’t have this highly inflated positive view of myself. In a way, that’s kept me grounded. I dislike it when people say that they’ll never be this way or feel that way. The blunt truth is that life will test you in so many ways and you’re going to make mistakes (sometimes horrible ones) whether you like it or not. Admitting that you’re wrong about certain things is something I wish more people were receptive to doing. Humility is truly a mind healer when cultivated properly.

I’ll end this with some lines from the video game NieR: Automata. I finally played it this year and the game left such a grand impression on me. I loved its emphasis on trying to find meaning even when everything about the world is questionable. NieR: Automata reminded me why and so many fans LOVE Japanese pop culture media. The game gets very depressing, but I found out that the game’s creator, Yoko Taro, received messages from fans who wanted to kill themselves, saying that NieR: Automata gave them hope to live. In the true ending and without giving out heavy spoilers, one character poses a question to another about the cycle of trauma happening again for a certain group of characters that went through so much due to story events, the responding character said this,

“I cannot deny the possibility. However, the possibility of a different future also exists. A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.”

I now feel that I got some strength to take a future for myself and hopefully people I care about. I finally understand what it means to take care of myself compared to 5 years ago. My “manga series” may end one day, but I’m glad to spend a good part of it writing here. I look forward to exploring myself further on this blog, thanks to you all.

[emilyrhymeswithfelony]

Koi No Yokan

This is a Noragami Historical AU I adopted from @bloodredrubymoon and @watchmist1412 with Miko!Hiyori and God of Calamity!Yato based on events during the Hogen Disturbance of 1156. You can always read it on AO3 but I’m still learning to format there, and structure is rather important to my storytelling.

Rated T+ due to death and some adult situations. Historical and A/N at end of each chapter. Musical references will be noted before (if any).

**SPOILERS FOR MANGA CH 47 ON**

The guilt of just a thought can break your heart.

My Heart Got Caught on Your Sleeve by Lucius

Chapter 3

Immortality was never so cruel as when you carried terrible regret. Memories plagued Yato’s mind as he absently ambled through the years.  What a god does is always right, yet he bore the guilt of that night, regardless.  He had contradicted his instincts, the same ones that told him how to name a vessel, when he revealed her true name. They had said it was going to be okay, but that was a lie. They knew. She was a lesson. He had been punished for taking a new toy, and had to break it as penance. He had only a memory of spring blossoms now, and that wasn’t enough. 

He felt cherished with Sakura, and as if someone actually cared what he became. She had asked him to name her, to allow her to serve him. She guided him towards a lighter future and purpose, one not rank with the smell of blood and decaying flesh. Through her memories, he saw pain that didn’t match the glowing smile she gave him. And through revealing her true name, he saw anguish he had never understood before. Sakura taught him so many things, and Yato would never be able to thank her for them.

It had been two centuries since that incident, but the memory remained as raw as the day it was burned into his mind. She had made one final wish, and he would fulfil it. He would make sure that she saw justice, and every person after that.  He refused to fulfill wishes of thoughtless bloodshed anymore, taking instead ones of vengeance. As cruel as he may be, his father taught him a few valuable lessons: the Heavens are full of fools, and gods cannot change their nature.  If all he was good for was taking, then he would take the lives of everyone heaven forgot to punish. 

The Old Man was manipulating him, he knew. Half the jobs he threw Yato’s way were a confusing mixture of half-truths to fit a narrative of revenge, but he couldn’t refuse. He raised a sword to Father once, and it did not end well. Yato would always be outnumbered when it came to his family.  And what's more, for all the good deeds he did in between slayings, no one seemed to remember his name. Begrudgingly, he did what he was told. Yato was a god forgotten by all, and would do anything to continue to exist.

Yato kept his eyes down as he walked through the villages, aided by his wide brimmed hat.  He preferred to see, rather than be seen these days. He’d learned so much over the last two centuries, and held the sins of his ignorance in the forefront of his mind. From time to time, he would find himself indulging in lunacy, dancing with people at festivals, and singing with the drunk samurai in taverns. Yato would be nothing more than a vague memory in their minds come the next morning.  He learned what motivated people, and what feelings looked like when expressed.  He watched lovers embrace, and friends play. He saw sisters and brothers, fathers and sons--loving families. He saw what love was, but also what it wasn’t. And so he learned that his father did not love him, and his sister would never choose him over the Old Man.  

Children are so quick to find what others have that they don’t.¹  

The Old Man was becoming restless again, cloistered up in a palace in the capitol. It wouldn’t be long before Yato was called back to him for more seedy work.  No matter where he wandered, Father always knew where he was headed. Hiiro, his sister in name only now, would show up silently, her placid smile mocking his conflicted heart. 

He would enjoy slipping past the sights of one last town before her inevitable return, and made his way into the small village just outside the capitol walls.  Yato had a feeling he would be seeing her that night, and his intuitions were hardly wrong. Regardless, he would try to fulfill a few bloodless wishes while still free.  His hand reached up to the brim of his hat, tugging it down, so as to not make eye contact with anyone as he passed through Ryujin’s village.

................................................................................................................................

A/N: ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST 

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve already wrote through chapter 8, so I’m just posting for slow tease effect now. 

[kurisus]

#that last point YES i was thinking that. but running into yato seems redundant and i think hiyori is too fat away so idk what to think.#very good as always#noragami spoilers

@coo-new-phone Good point that we pretty much already had Yukine running into Yato! My last braincell is on leave so I forgot that that wasn’t even very long ago. I think Hiyori is more likely then--last we saw her she was at his actual death site so it can’t be toooo far from his house, right?

It’s beyond my pay grade to do actual math but I feel like what with the travel times (a day of walking vs a bike followed by a short cab ride and a hike on foot), the two distances wouldn’t necessarily be too far apart if they were heading in the same direction. Would also explain how Yato was able to get there in the early parts of the story.

[millicent231-watt]

(Noragami) - God!Reader x Yato

Anime / Crossover: Noragami

Songs: None

Request: No

Modern AU or just AU: No

NSFW/R-18: No

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOME STORY SPOILERS INCLUDED THROUGHOUT THIS STORY

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasaki (Weapon: Saki)

"Sasaki, let's go." I tell my Regalia as she turns back into her human form. "Hai!" She says happily as she skips next to me, making our way back to our Shrine. I wasn't a well-known goddess, but good enough to get a simple shrine to spend our nights. "Huh? Why's he here?" She asks and I look to where she was pointing. My eyes widen slightly and my breathe hitches before I click my tongue. "Oi! What do you think you're doing here Yato?" I yell as I walk closer. "Ah! You're here!" He says as he runs at me with open arms. I step to the side as he launches himself at me, letting him faceplate into the ground. "I...i...i...itai!" He says as he rubs his head. "Serves you right. What do you want?" I ask as I help him up. "I wanted you to meet my new friends!" He says happily, causing me to chuckle. "Alright, where are they?" I ask and he drags me away. "Saki!" I yell and my weapon flies to my hand. I run alongside Yato and as we approach one of Tenjin-sama's temples.

"Guys, guys! I found her!" Yato yells and I see a girl and boy, who look around the same age...teenagers. "Oh, you must be Y/N-sama." The girl says before bowing. "A half-phantom?" I ask as I see her 'tail'. "Yeah! And this is Yukine!" He says as he pulls the young boy in front of me. "N...nice to meet you!" He says with a bow. "GAH! Yukine, you perv! You're stinging me!" Yato says and the two start arguing. I chuckle a little and let Sasaki out of her weapon form. "He never changes does he?" She asks with a smile. "Nope, not at all." I say, chuckling at the two. "Ano..." I hear the girl say as she walks closer. "Yes?" I ask as I look at her. "How did you meet Yato?" She asks and I smile. "It's a long story." I say. "Y/N-san made him the man he is today." Sasaki says with a smile. "The man he is today...does that mean you changed him from the scary, mean god he used to be?" The girl asks and I nod.

"If you mean back when he back when he fought alongside Rabo, then yes." I say and she smiles before bowing. "Thank you!" She says. "Huh? What for?" I ask. "For making him nice...I've seen him angry and I wouldn't want to live in a world with a god like that." She says. "What's your name?" I ask. "Hiyori. Hiyori Iki." She says. "Rise." I say to her and she gets up from her bow. "Hiyori-chan, if you believe the person you loved was or could be good, would you help them?" I ask and she thinks for a second. "Yes, of course!" She says. "Exactly, so what I did shouldn't be anything worth thanking me for. I did it because he was the man I fell for and I knew he could do god." I smile at the two boys continuing to bicker.

"Y/N! Make Yukine stop calling me lame and stupid!" Yato says as he fake cries and runs to me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. "It's your fault, BAKA!" Yukine says. "What are you two fighting about?" I ask as I pat Yato's head. "He said I was a lame, stupid, puny, jersey-wearing god who takes stupid cleaning jobs and doesn't even have a temple!" Yato cries and I rub his head. "Calm down Yato...I'm sure he didn't really mean it. He'll apologise." I say with a soft smile before changing my smile into a threatening glare towards Yukine. "Won't you Yukine?" I ask and he apologises to his master. "See?" I say to Yato. "WAHHH! Y/N, you're so cool!" He says as he rubs his head in a 'no' manner against my stomach.

"So what's your deal? What're you the goddess of?" Yukine asks. "I am Y/N, goddess of children." I say. "Ah! I've heard of you! My mother used to read me and my brother stories about you when we were little." Hiyori says. "That's my job. To protect the children, animal or human, from the corrupted phantoms. I'm sure Yato told you that only animals, children and people like you and me can see them." I say and she nods. "So how did you two meet?" Hiyori asks and I freeze for a second. "I...it's a long story, one I'd rather not talk about." I say as I tighten my hug slightly on Yato and look away.

Sasaki's POV

I watch my master sadly. "Y/N-san..." I say to myself. "Well, since it's been SOOOOO long since we've seen each other, how about you treat us to sleeping at your shrine?" Yato asks her, causing her to giggle and smile a little. "Sure, I don't see why not." She says and he puts and arm around her shoulders. "Let us move forward! Toward warmth and food!" He yells happily before walking with master towards our shrine. I sigh and follow behind them with the other two.

Time Skip (Your POV)

"Ah! It's so nice to finally have a warm meal!" Yukine says as he puts down his drink. "You're still a good cook Y/N!" Yato says as he finishes his meal. "That's a good thing for you, huh?" I say as I get one of the shrine girls I had to show Yukine and Hiyori to their room. "What about meeeeee?" Yato whines. "Well, I've run out of space, guess you'll have to sleep outside." I say. "WHAT?! Nooooo!" Yato says as he grabs onto my arm and begs for me to let him stay. I laugh a little. "Don't worry Yato, I was just joking. You can stay in my room for tonight." I say. "Pardon me milady, but there are some more spare rooms left if Yato-sama would prefer one of them." I turn to the shrine girl that had proposed that offer. "I said he could stay in my room, no discussion. Go tend to the garden with Tonyu and Miyu." I say. "Yes milady. Please forgive me for interfering." She says before bowing and walking off.

"Why are you so set on me staying in your room?" Yato asks as I walk him into my room. "It's been a long time Yato...I missed you." I say with a slight blush. I hear him chuckle slightly as I let go of his hand and close the door behind us. "I missed you to Y/N..." He whispers as his arms find their way around my waist. "Bullshit...you left me behind and....and I didn't see you since." I say. "Yeah, I know and I'm really sorry about that." He walks me over to the bed and sits me down. "2000. It's been 2000 years since I saw you last...you couldn't have missed me..." I say. "Come on, don't say that. I missed you a lot." He says as he pulls some hair out of my face. "How about we just get to sleep? You must be tired." I nod my head and take off the kimono I wore inside my shrine. I hang it up, ready to be worn the next day before turning around and seeing Yato folding his tracksuit and placing it on my dresser. "Yato, let's sleep...I want you to hold me like you once did." I tell him as I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his chest. "Alright, I will." He says as he walks me to the bed and lays me down next to him.

Time Skip (Sasaki's POV)

"Sasaki-san, could you please inform lady Y/N that the garden has been tended to?" Miyu asks. "Hai." I say before she bows and I walk off. I knock on Y/N's door. "Y/N-san? I have a message from Miyu." I say. No response. "Y/N-san?" I ask as I open the door. I carefully walk into her bedroom and see her curled up next to Yato. He places a finger to his lips. "Shh." He says and I nod. This is the most peaceful I've seen Y/N-san... "Sasaki, was it?" Yato asks and I nod. "U...un." I stutter quietly. "Did Y/N ever tell you, or anyone else here about what happened when we were last together?" He asks. "N...no, she never says much about it and always says it's something she'd rather not talk about." I say as he gestures me into a chair. "Well there's a reason for that...but you and her other Regalia's should know about it." He says.

FLASHBACK (Yato's POV)

It was back when I was known as 'The Evil God'. I was taking out yet another selfish request from someone who wanted their family dead. What this person hated was that their parents, grandparents, basically everyone was fawning over a new baby boy who was brought into this world. The mother had given birth just 3 months prior to this request. Anyway, when I got there someone was blocking the whole village with a barrier. Y/N walked out of the borderline and towards me. "Who are you and what do you want with these people?" She asked me. I told her it was a job, one I would carry out. She sighed heavily and called "SEKKI!" Her weapon flew to her hand, a beautiful katana. I could tell just by looking at it it would be powerful, that's why Yukine's weapon name is the same, I could tell he was powerful. One of the children behind her, one that couldn't have been more than the age of 6, begged her not to hurt me or kill me. Y/N just smiled, called back her weapon and turned to the children. "Alright." Is all she said before my weapon, who is now a Nora, flew out of my hand and towards her. It was the first time I felt remorse and sadness, so all I could do was watch as Nora stabbed her repeatedly. Nora stabbed her once more before I called her back and Y/N fell to her knees. I pushed Nora away and ran up to Y/N, hoping she would still be alive. "Aw, I was having so much fun. Why'd you stop me?" Nora asked. I told her to get away, to never come near me again. To this day I regret ever making her one of my Regalia. I tried my best to help Y/N, so we got to know each other pretty well. Once I told her who I was, she wasn't scared or shocked or even the least bit unhappy. She just smiled, placed her hand on my cheek and said: "Not any more." She told me if I really was 'evil' than I wouldn't have helped her when I did. Soon after she got a shrine and we entered a relationship. It was good but...

END OF FLASHBACK

"But you were complete polar opposites." Sasaki says and I nod sadly. "I left shortly after realising how different we were. I left for 2000 years, without ever letting her know why...But now that we're more similar, I'm hoping to rekindle our relationship..." I say as I brush Y/N's hair with my fingers. "Yato...stop boring Sasaki with a history lesson." She says as she looks up at me. "Y/N!" Sasaki says hastily as she stands up quickly and bows. "Calm down Sasaki, I'm not mad. But tell the others about this for me, an official statement from me." She says and Sasaki nods, bows again and runs out the room. "Uh, how much of that story did you hear?" I ask nervously. "Enough." She says before closing her eyes again. "Thank you for coming back." She says with a soft smile.

[nurinuu]

⚠️Noragami and Snk spoilers ⚠️

I got this in the same day:

...

In summary:

Ty for your attention.

[echodrops]

Noragami 78 Notes

Okay, I put this off long enough (I was busy grading; life is hard).

Here are just a few brief ha ha almost fooled you into thinking I could be brief for a second there thoughts on Noragami chapter 78 under a cut to avoid spoilers.

95% of what I have to say boils down to:

Calm down.

Hey remember that time Yato went off a life-threatening journey and the only thing that saved him was us NOT sitting around waiting for him to come back?

...Yeah, me either. HE’S EVEN WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT AS BACK THEN.

I don’t want to say that Yukine has whatever is coming coming... But when this is how he responds to threats, he sort of has whatever is coming coming. Yukine knows for a fact that Yato’s life is constantly in danger, that he has dangerous enemies, that he gets into trouble at the damn drop of a hat... And he’s still being lax here. This is a prime example of not learning from past mistakes, and that classic Noragami karma is about to smack him hard as hell for it. The manga is literally sending glaring warning signs: You should be with Yato. WHY aren’t you with Yato? What happens after this is going to absolutely be a product of the failure on both sides--Yato’s failure to stay with those who are important to him, and Yukine’s failure for not fighting harder to stay with Yato. Hiyori got smacked already at the end of this chapter for forgetting Yukine and going off on her own to chase Yato, a selfish decision that she paid for with her happiness.

The manga is setting up a very purposeful parallel here, I think:

Just as Bishamon and Kazuma become lost the moment they are separated from each other, Yato’s sense goes out the window the moment he’s separated from Yukine and Hiyori. Noragami repeats this lesson over and over again: We need each other. We need to rely on others. We need to have guidance, and trust, and support.

And Yukine and Hiyori’s failure to do that over the last couple chapters--as well as Yato’s failure to accept their closeness--is going to send them all straight into another crisis. I’ll eat my own post if things aren’t about to go from bad to downright terrible again, with this issue of failing to rely on each other at the very heart.

How much of Nora’s “emotionlessness” is a result of this line of thinking? If she doesn’t think that she should behave like a living girl, does that allow her to think and act in ways that other shinki, who cling to their human lives, can not? Is her ability to transform potentially linked to her casting aside humanity? I am interested to see how far this dismissal of being alive impacts a shinki’s abilities.

Iwami and Kiun are other shinki who might share this mindset to a certain extent, and we certainly know that Kiun is powerful...

Is it just me, or doesn’t this scenery looks very similar to:

The scenery we saw on the page where Father was holding his dead lover/wife/whoever Freckle Girl was to him?

Is it possible that that’s her body? That he didn’t even bury her but went right on living right next to her corpse? JUST HOW MESSED UP IS FATHER? Veryyyy interesting.

Also, the fact that Mizuchi says there were only three people in the beginning implies that she never met the Freckle Girl and that Freckle Girl was not around at the time that she and Yato existed.

Father was only “playing house”--to replace the real home and happiness he lost?

The concept of “playing house” in Noragami is very interesting. It only comes up in the context of gods and humans; we’ve seen it three now in the context of (what is likely) a god playing house with a human: Kofuku hurt Daikoku by trying to “play house” and raise a child; Bishamon hurt her shinki (and was hurt by her shinki) for trying to foster a motherly relationship with them; and Father pretended at kindness and care for his “children” while they were all aware of the real truth.

You could argue that one of these things is not like the other--both Kofuku and Bishamon did what they did out of love, while Father is evil--but I wonder if the third case is really that much different than the first two. Why did Father raise Mizuchi and Yato like his children? Was this a one-sided endeavor in which he bought their loyalty with occasional moments of kindness? Is that all there is to it? Or is there something else going on here?

How much of Father’s “playing house” was pure cruelty... and how much of it might stem for a desire for the very thing Heaven denied him?

Let’s see where this goes, hmmm!

It might be too early to call it, but I’m going to put this out there right now: Mizuchi is a child who died without ever being named.

She’s not affected by god’s greatest secret because she has no human name to remember. Father never said that she knew her name, only that she knew her own last moments. This is why she acted so surprised when revealing Sakura’s name turned her into an ayakashi--Hiiro did not understand the power of names back then because she had no human name of her own for reference. Her power to inflict Liberation on others stems from the fact that she has nothing to tie herself to the Near Shore. She was an unwanted child in her human life and continues to feel like an unwanted child in her life as a shinki.

Holy shit Adachitoka, COULD YOU NOT??? I mean, I don’t know if this is right but it FEELS right and nnnnnnnnnnnhhhhhh I don’t want this; it hurts.

(By the way, the top two leaves fluttering in the wind appear to be gingko leaves, a powerful symbol of endurance and duality in Japan.)

An innocent symbol of child-like play with three people in the boat to represent the family she longs to have but never will? Just kill me now, okay? Just kill me now.

Although this is interesting because we see her first boat fall apart and the people tumble away as she’s talking about playing house. So either this is a second boat, or she put the first one back together sometime during her talk with Yukine. So perhaps this second boat represents a new bond, such as between she, Yukine, and Yato? Mmmmm, who knows???

I’m glad that I was right and Yato chose not to name Kazuma. It was the right choice, even though I’m sad we didn’t get to see what Kazuma would look like as Yato’s shinki. (Well, then again, there’s still time, isn’t there?) We got trolled hard by Scissors-kun, lol.

The line up there is very interesting, isn’t it--because it’s such a Father way of thinking! This is Father’s exact ideology, that humans have no reason for loving the gods and yet they do anyway, accepting the cruelty and abuse of Heaven without question. Kazuma is tripping over the same issue from a different perspective--instead of having something taken from him by Heaven, he’s suffering because of something Heaven is not capable (or perhaps willing) to give. It’s a dangerous line of thought that leads down a dark path. This is honestly the scariest thing Kazuma did all chapter to me!

Is he thinking of Hiyori when he says “people like me” here? Or is he implying that Yato has hurt him in ways similar to Bishamon? The ambiguity of the references here is worth noting. Also worth noting: Yato has no idea what Kazuma is talking about here. Yato doesn’t share his father’s mindset and he doesn’t share Kazuma’s either. I don’t think that Yato sees a huge divide between the love gods can give and the love humans long to receive. He knows they’re not the same (maybe they’re not the same), but I don’t think he would let the issues that Kazuma is dealing with separate him and Hiyori... Or perhaps I’m just too hopeful. XD

All right, all right, now to the thing everyone is freaking out about...

Why are y’all so anti-Kazuma??? He’s not attacking Hiyori out of cruelty--he’s trying to protect her.

He even says it himself--he recognizes the signs of Hiyori’s infatuation. He sees her inability to avoid getting tangled up in the calamity that surrounds Yato. Who the hell do you think he’s really talking about here? He’s not just talking about Hiyori--he’s talking about himself.

The suffering that he has felt from loving Bishamon and not having that love returned is a pain akin to a curse. It’s enough to drive him to want to die, to fill him with such deep despair that he is willing to forsake all of his morals, his name, his “life”‘s meaning, everything he stands for. Since falling in love with Bishamon, he’s faced catastrophe after catastrophe, seen and dealt with things no human should ever have to face--witnessed friends murdered and murdered a friend, betrayed Heaven, turned his power on literal gods... There is NO DEPTH Kazuma will not sink to out of love for Bishamon, and that’s agonizing. He’s in pain, guys.

And he sees the whole damn cycle about to start again. He sees Hiyori’s feelings. He sees her love... And he sees how much Yato is ruining her life. He sees her forgetting her human family, ignoring their concerns, ignoring day-to-day human activities, being exposed to all the risks that Yato brings along with him, actively suffering at Father’s hand because of her involvement with Yato...

Kazuma sees that Hiyori is going down the exact same path of suffering, of “playing house” that he’s been on for hundreds of years, and so he does the only thing he can do to try and dissuade her: he tells it exactly like he thinks it is. He’s not lying to her here. He genuinely thinks what he’s saying is the truth. He genuinely believes that gods cannot return human feelings in the way that he and Hiyori desire, and that her pursuing Yato will only end in sadness and pain for everyone involved. He’s not wrong to want to stop that by separating them from each other forever.

The problem is, Kazuma STILL thinks that he’s always in the right. He only confessed with “vague words” and yet seems perfectly certain that Bishamon--who has never exactly been a pro at picking up signals from others--totally understood him and rejected his feelings of amorous love.

It hasn’t occurred to him that perhaps his vague words just didn’t reach Bishamon the way he wanted them to, and that she doesn’t understand that he loves her in a way different from just a normal god and shinki loving comradeship. That perhaps all this time she did have more love she could have given, if only she’d known it was needed or wanted. He’s her guidepost, but in this he didn’t guide her.

Maybe Bishamon does know, and maybe she did reject his romantic feelings. Maybe he’s right and gods really can’t love humans. (Kofuku and Daikoku are over here in the corner waving frantically though.) OR... MAYBE Kazuma is being a giant freaking idiot like always and leaping to conclusions he should never have drawn based on incomplete information and “vague words,” and passing his pain and suffering on to others, mistakenly believing he’s doing the right thing while actually just screwing everyone else over hardcore.

One of these two things somehow seems more likely than the other...

Not sure why anyone is freaking out about Hiyori’s tail? He missed (he was only trying to scare her anyway, it seems pretty clear, because if Kazuma can hit lightning in the sky, I think he could hit a target five feet in front of him)--the white stuff around her tail is snow spraying off the roof.

ANDDDDD here we go!!

So Hiyori admits she’s in love with Yato, finally. AT WHAT COST. I hope this didn’t really take anyone by surprise, since it really has been in the works for some time now.

I actually discussed how I felt Hiyori’s feelings were changing and how she was slowly coming to accept her feelings for Yato more than a year ago, in this post: http://echodrops.tumblr.com/post/164900791646/ive-read-different-opinions-on-whether-yatos

Adachitoka did a fabulous job of building up to this moment, very slow, incremental changes in Yato and Hiyori’s relationship. From the moment that Hiyori flashes back to here, where she told Yato she wanted to spend more time with him, to the Capyperland crisis where she envisioned Yato beside her instead of Fujisaki, then actually going to Capyperland and telling Yato that she wanted to be with him longer, to the scene where she allows Yato into her room while she’s undressed, to calling Yato her family to Fujisaki’s face, to seeing her plaque tied to Yato’s--making them soulmates--and NOT rejecting that or demanding Kofuku untie them... I mean, especially that last one.

Like I mentioned last year, Hiyori has spent at least a couple in-series weeks now living under the impression that she and Yato are now soulmates, and the moment she didn’t freak out about that and demand to be set free from that just screamed it to me that, deep down, she was okay with the idea of being in a relationship with Yato, even if she wasn’t quite willing to express her feelings out loud yet.

But now she’s over it. And theoretically, things should get better from here.

EXCEPT LOL JK, IT’S NORAGAMI; NOTHING’S EASY.

Yato and Hiyori are gonna have to WORK for their happy ending.

But you know what? I think it’s coming. Now, more than ever, I think a happy ending is coming.

Calm down. Deep breaths. Have faith.