#totally out of the blue hoshino what are you getting at

[kandayuu]

going through vol 28's q&a section again and like

what the fuck did he mean by that what's suspicious about lenalee's records i was under the impression that everyone knew about her order origin story like is her past just a secret to the people in universe or is there something else about her files that's odd that we the audience don't know about yet what's in them that's got lavi suspicious in the same way that he was about kanda's

which by the way makes total sense that the order would cover that up in kanda's files they were committing crimes against humanity in a very literal way but last time i checked there wasn't anything of that sort in lenalee's past unless we just don't have the full picture

which leads me to my next thought of like. if we're getting this hinted at now. does that mean we're going to be seeing more of best girl lenalee. does she have an upcoming arc. that would be nice ;;v;;

[undercooked-spaghetti]

Okay, I liked the Saori parts of Judgment and Lost Judgment and all (the whole "LOOK AT HOW BYUUTEEFULL YOU ARE, MEN ARE STARING" part from Mari was WHATEVER because the feeling of beauty should come from within and NOT how men perceive you, plus catcalling is SO UNCOMFORTABLE), but we NEED a Tsukumo dress up part if there's EVER a third judgment.

Let us dress him up, do his hair, let us see the handsome devil behind the big brains and glasses! I think he's cute and would love to see a part for HIM to really shine! If the game wants us to pretend Saori, who doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in her beauty as a woman, can practically become the BEST HOSTESS EVA in Kamurocho just with ONE NIGHT of work without prior research into anything, I believe Tsukumo, who researches EVERYTHING can be the number one host. Give us DLC to have Yagami walk around with him! Tsukumo would totally gas him up and cheer in battle because the man loves Yagami. COME ON!

I think Lost Judgment did a great job in Tsukumo's character development. He's quiet and helpful in Judgment and I think his small role created a nice dynamic and his evolution in Lost Judgment was a surprise, but I'm glad a character like Tsukumo wasn't just made for laughs because "haha, weird awkward otaku." He comes out of his shell in the three years between the games and we even see him leaving the office here and there! He tries so hard to remain useful to Yagami, is heavily inspired by all the good he's done, but at the same time isn't mega dependent on him (but still wants senpai to notice him).

I'd love to see how exactly Yagami and he met. Tsukumo hired him for a case, but what did he NEED? What drove Yagami to help Tsukumo get out of his situation, which it seemed like he'd been in for quite some time? Hoshino mentions Tsukumo completed high school via distance learning, so it implies he was a shut-in even at a young age. It's small bits, but it made me curious and built more on Tsukumo as a person, tying into the evolution I mentioned before. I know it won't happen, but I can dream.

I prod at the Kaito Files DLC here and there, mostly because RGG established vague backstory for other characters that I would love to see more thoroughly explored, yet instead of going for any of that, they introduce new backstory out of the blue for Kaito with no real way of establishing it prior (at most they have Kaito mention his animal senses when he and Yagami return to Kamurocho in Lost Judgment). It came off as lazy and awkward because for me, they created a decent bit of backstory for Kaito in the two games, yet being engaged just never comes up once nor does it seem to influence his character despite the DLC trying to show us how hard it seemed to hit him? It seemed so out of place and didn't motivate me to care, really.

Long story short, free our mans from the confines of Yokohama 99 and do more with him! Hell, give us outfit changes for premium adventure similarly to Yakuza!!! Let us go play games and have fun with Tsukumo!

[draayder]

Omi Pins Tojo Pins

okay onto the final part: everyone else! as with the previous two, mild spoilers across all the games

Atobe Family

Do you remember these guys? no you don’t. if you said yes you’re lying. This is a family from Asakusa who shows up for approximately 10 minutes, has their name mentioned once, and you see their pin once. That’s right, this is the family involved with that part in Y1 where you gotta deal with the Florist’s shitty kid. A really great pin, shockingly, very striking and good use of silver black and grey as well as breaking the circle. I would have expected this to be from a major player

Ryudo Family

Not to be confused with the Omi Ryudo, this is the Okinawan family from 3 featuring Nakahara, Mikio, and of course Rikiya. I.............. don’t think any of them actually wear it though, so you only see it as fight intros. A stellar pin, the use of the shisa is great even if it is a little hard to read. The way it encircles the family kanji really gives off the protective vibe of the shisa

Ueno Seiwa Family

so normally I complain about gold on gold being hard to read, which is true, but the shape of this is so different than anyone elses’ that you can tell at a glance exactly what family you’re dealing with. A good pin

Yamagasa Family

This pin has always slapped. It’s bold and geometric, easy to read, and looks great on a formal hakata. It’s very sleek and modern imo, which is once again funny for a very traditional family like the Yamagasa out in Nagasugai, but overall just a top tier pin

Yahata Family

It makes sense that the direct subordinates would just tweak the design, but adding in the calligraphy 八 clashes a little with the nice geometry, making this a worse pin. It’s also extremely hard to tell from a Yamagasa pin, but that’s fine since they’re part of it and they benefit from people thinking they’re higher up than they actually are. Still a pretty good pin

Kitakata Family

Y5 really went off on its pins, this one’s for those guys up in Tsukimino. It’s bold and easy to read, but not quite as good as the Yamagasa pin. Very effective still though

Yomei Alliance

Time for these assholes out in Onomichi. So obv we got that rising sun iconography kind of going on which is Not Great but does tie thematically with what that family was founded on. Definitely very good at conveyance, you’re not going to mistake it for anyone else in the area

Masuzoe Family

Remember this dude? I sure didn’t. The Yomei guys don’t really stick to a theme, which is fine, and this pin is pretty good. It’s a little busy, I think the center kanji could use a little more room to breathe and feels slightly off center due to how the line on the left almost touches the edges unlike every other part of it

Koshimizu Family

Remember this guy? Maybe you do, he was a lot more memorable than Masuzoe. His pin is actually really great. I love the evocation of a sword hilt and how the scalloped edges are cut out internally to slot in the calligraphy, it gives a very nice organis flow to the whole thing. The color balance is also very good. 10/10 pin, one of the best in the series imo

Hirose Family

Simple, effective, unmistakable. Hirose has a good pin. The edges remind me of a government organization, which gives it a nice sense of authority despite being a tiny little group. The use of the grass lines helps break up the space so it’s not just a boring circle and draws the eye up to the top kanji, which has the lines to draw the eye back down. A good pin

Kyorei Clan

An Osaka based group that isn’t Omi! It’s from judgment and most famously Shioya is a member. Really cool pin! I like the angles a lot, and it’s a very unique shape! very cool, great pin

Seiryu Clan

what no I totally didn’t forget this one the first time. shut up. So this pin has a lot going for it. The swirling waves leading the eye in, and the fact that it has the full family name + clan sets it apart. A fun fact on this one is that the patriarch is  星野 龍平 (Hoshino Ryuhei) and this family takes the first kanji from his family and given name to make  星龍 (seiryu) which is a homophone with  青龍 (seiryu), the blue dragon of the four legendary beasts (also the one Kiryu is represented by!). However while the blue dragon’s kanji is literally blue+dragon, this family is star+dragon, which is fucking baller as hell. A great pin on that aspect alone, and a solid design to back it up

Non-Yakuza Organizations

Peace Finance

Okay so all the non-yakuza “pins” are out of Y1 (with 2 exceptions), because they just fucking loved making pins and icons and shit during that game. No one actually wears this one, it just flashes during one of the very early fights in Y1 when Kiryu helps Shinji deal with some shitty loan sharks. It kind of reminds me of a cult? It’s definitely trying too hard to be non-threatening, which ends up making it threatening, which is perfect for the organization it’s used for

Purgatory

Damn do I fucking love ho-o’s. Nagoshi please put a ho-o on someone’s back. You can have my oc. Please. This isn’t a pin, it’s the floor of the colosseum, and it looks great

Snake Flower Triad

Another one that no one wears, it’s very effective. You got snakes. You got a flower. There’s three things. Got it in one, everyone go home. The shape is unique enough that even being the worse kind of gold on gold you can tell whose it is

MIA

This one does get worn! It’s effective as a weird government shadow group, with the military look to it alongside the divine looking wings/halo/rays of light. It’s super hard to read from a distance, but that’s okay for a group that isn’t trying to advertise itself to anyone who doesn’t already know them

Jingu

Jingu’s personal pin. It’s very government-y, being not far off from the royal family’s pin or a lawyer’s badge, and the kind of purpley look is really nice. A good pin for an awful guy

Dragon Heat

This is from Kurohyou, and like the Purgatory design it’s what’s on the colosseum ring. It’s got two dragons fighting each other, what more could you want for a bloodsport? It’s scuffed and faded, showing that this place either gets a lot of use or isn’t making that much cash, which is some nice environmental storytelling

Ashura

Same deal as before but this time it’s for Kurohyou 2. Another fighting ring, another scuffed up floor, this time featuring an asura, beings in a state of constant battle with the devas of hinduism, which is fitting for a fighting ring that’s supposed to be even more brutal. a good design, though I wish it had a little more of the depth that the dragon heat one had

and that’s all of them! except for whichever ones I missed! But we can ignore those!! I’m sure they’re not important

[the-voltage-diaries]

I’m only one call away, I’ll be there to save the day - Daisuke Kambe x Haru Katou

AO3 link

This is the literal definition of self indulgence I’m not even kidding you.

And I totally did not write the last 1/3rd of it in a car because I didn’t have the patience to get home.

And this is unedited. So if you find errors please spare my humble life. I LITERALLY WROTE THIS ENTIRE THING TODAY. The inspiration istg.

Summary:

Daisuke Kambe doesn't get nervous. He doesn't overthink. He doesn't doubt anything he does, or any decision he makes. Except when he's in the dressing room, waiting for Hoshino to come and escort him to his soon-to-be husband. 'Cold feet' is the farthest term one would use to describe Daisuke, yet here he stands in front of the large mirror, wondering if he's good enough for the man whose eyes shine brighter than any star he's seen.

All it takes is one call.

And before he knows it, Haru right there in front of him.

He needs his hero, and Haru is there.

TW: Panic Word count: 3136 (woohoo)

Special tag: @akaiiro-yume​ for being my ultimate simp buddy. I told her this whole thing as just an idea and she said she felt like crying and I was like FUCK IT IM GONNA WRITE IT. So here we are. Thank you. 

“Daisuke Kambe,” Haru called his name, his voice so gentle it almost got drowned by the waves as he looked straight ahead at them with Kambe by his side. The serene way his lips curved into a peace smile hid with such grace the nervousness shooting up his spine. 

“Mm?�� Daisuke glanced at his boyfriend, wondering why the inspector suddenly chose to call him by his full name instead of the usual ‘bastard’, ‘pain in the ass’, ‘idiot’, or just ‘Kambe’.

‘Am I doing the right thing? Are we ready for this?’

“What is it, Haru?”

“Marry me.”

Daisuke’s eyes widened, and he stared at Haru without blinking even once. “... What?”

“I said,” Haru turned to look at him, giving him an awkward little grin before grabbing Daisuke’s hands in his own and slowly going on one knee, “Marry me, ‘Suke.”

That was all it took. That nickname.

Daisuke felt every tense nerve in his body relax almost immediately as the answer came as naturally to him as breathing.

“Okay.”

Daisuke’s gloved hand wraps around the glass, his soft lips placing themselves on its rim to take another sip of water. It’s probably his tenth sip in the last two minutes (and counting).

“Lord Daisuke, you look incredible!” Suzue remarks, and he sees her smile at him through the mirror.

“Mm.”

“I can’t believe you and Katou-sama are finally getting married.” Suzue steps up behind Daisuke to smoothen the non-existent wrinkles on the thick piece of blue fabric covering his shoulders.

‘I can’t either.’

“It feels like just yesterday when you came back to Japan,” she continues, not noticing the way Daisuke’s nervous fingers fiddle with his cufflinks, “And now it’s already been six years… time passed by too quickly, didn’t it?”

“It has.”

Silence descends over them like a calm cloud while Suzue busies herself by fussing around with his three-piece suit, straightening it more than it already is, rubbing off any invisible lints, fixing his already perfect tie - a crisp, sophisticated taupe - and Daisuke lets his mind wander off once again.

He thinks about the six years he’s spent in Japan. But more specifically, he thinks about the time he spent by his side.

He thinks of all their firsts; their first meeting, their first argument, the first time he let Haru fall (not for him, but off the bridge), their first show of trust, first confessions, first kisses, first everything.

He thinks of their life after they decided to become more than just friends or colleagues. All of the small ways in which Haru reminded him, every day, just how much he adored him. Daisuke thinks of all those cuddles, all the nuzzles, all the intertwining of fingers.

And before he can stop it, a smile - albeit small but so full of love you could feel it radiating off of him - is gracing his lips.

‘Thank you.’ He finds himself thanking Haru in both his mind and heart… for just about everything. 

“Lord Daisuke, are you okay?” Suzue asks, snapping him out of his heartwarming walk down the memory lane.

“Yes, why?”

“Your eyes…” she trails off, and Daisuke’s gaze shifts from looking at her through the mirror to himself. A small gasp leaves his lips when he sees what’s got Suzue so worried about his eyes.

Tears.

A thin layer of unshed tears coats those calm eyes, and Daisuke feels his heart clench with absolute adoration when he realises the meaning behind such a blatant show of emotions.

These tears aren’t of pain. Or of agony. Or of suffering.

There are tears of gratitude. Of love. Of unrestrained joy at the mere thought of the wonderful man waiting for him at the same beach where he proposed.

“I’m fine, Suzue.” Daisuke says, his eyes never leaving the ones in the mirror. “I’m just… overwhelmed,” he admits, taking a deep breath in.

Suzue smiles. “I can understand. It IS a big day, after all.” She turns around, walking towards the door. “I’ll be outside.”

“Thank you,” he says, and he means it. He couldn’t be more grateful to have a sister who understood him so well that they didn’t need words to get their message across.

And with that, Suzue steps out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Daisuke alone with his thoughts.

His eyes travel to the clock on one of the walls of the gigantic room, and he sees that he’s still got some time before Hoshino would come by to escort him to his lover. And his fiance.

Daisuke feels another smile tugging at his lips at the word, and he briefly thinks about how he’s been smiling too much today before his mind again wanders off to the man responsible for making him smile so much.

‘He’s too good to me,’ Daisuke thinks, sighing fondly. ‘He makes me believe that it’s okay to feel this… that it’s okay to feel happy. Sometimes it feels like it’s too good to be true.’

And that’s when it strikes him. The one thought which makes his shoulders go stiff, and his lips press themselves together in a stiff line.

‘But… What if it IS too good to be true?’

Daisuke’s mind decides to take another walk down the memory lane, but this time the road isn’t filled with Haru’s smile, or his warmth. This time, the road is dark, cold, unwelcoming. It’s filled with every memory of each time things felt too good to be true… and they were.

‘What if… what if this doesn’t last?’ He thinks, the pictures of his own parents clouding every space they could find in his head.

Haru and him wouldn’t end the same way… right?

‘Would I be able to make Haru happy?’

… As happy as Haru made him?

‘Everything I ever cared for in my life was ripped away from me… Will Haru and I be the same way?’

He notices as his chest starts rising and falling at a faster pace, but he doesn’t pay it any mind.

‘Is it because I’ve been weak? I haven’t been able to protect the people important to me. I-I’ve never been good enough. What if… I still am not good enough?’ 

Daisuke’s eyes widen, terror seeping into them as his mind chooses to project a mental image of Haru walking, but not towards him. It’s an image of Haru having his back turned towards Daisuke, and he is walking away.

‘Am I even worthy of being loved?’

Daisuke thinks back on all the warm, loving moments that he thought of not even five minutes ago, but this time his mind focuses on his own actions instead of Haru’s

‘Haru has done so much to show me he loves me. How many times have I done the same?’

The back of his eyes burn so hard it feels like they’re on fire, and he finds it harder to breathe; he feels as if someone’s just wrapped their fingers around the base of his throat and is squeezing, hard. 

‘Is Haru happy with me? WILL he be happy with me?’

His own fingers come up to his throat, as if trying to replace the invisible ones.

‘Should we even be getting married? What if he realises I’m not worth it?’

‘Where are you, Haru?’ is what his heart screams instead, but he doesn’t hear it.

‘O-oh god, I cannot be forcing him to marry me.’

‘I need you, Haru. Find me. Please, find me.’

‘He doesn’t love me. He shouldn’t be marrying me.’

‘Haru, please. Save me.’

I’m only one call away.

He doesn’t even notice his fingers finding the surface of his phone and he is too busy letting himself fall down the dark spiral his mind lay out for him to bother seeing what his fingers are doing with the phone.

Daisuke feels his feet give away, and he slowly slides down to the floor. His body trembles, his breathing continues to quicken, and he feels something dark crawl up his spine.

It’s something he can’t describe, but it’s so dark and so… consuming. He feels like his mind is being ripped into shreds, as if someone is slowly claiming their control over it.

“H-Haru…” He whimpers and looks up, closing his eyes. He feels the thick layer of tears forming beyond his lids collapse as silent tears stream down his face. He opens his mouth to breathe, but the inhale turns into a choked sob.

He wasn’t good enough. He isn’t good enough. And he never will be good enough.

Daisuke bites his trembling lips and brings his knees closer to his body in an attempt to hide away from himself. 

Hah. What a pitiful sight. And Haru thought THIS weak little boy would be good enough for him? He should leave him while he still has time.

“Haru… please. I need you. Pl-Please don’t leave m-”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

I’ll be there to save the day.

Daisuke’s head snaps in the direction of the voice; a voice powerful enough to break the hold of what was slowly crawling through his mind, consuming him whole.

“Haru…” he whispers, blinking the tears away in an attempt to clear his vision.

The attempt is futile anyway, because the moment his sight comes into focus, he feels a pair of all too familiar arms pull him into a strong chest. “I’m right here,” Haru murmurs, pressing a kiss to his forehead before sitting down in front of him and pulling Daisuke between his legs.

“I-” Daisuke’s eyes widen, confusion slowly colouring over every other thought for the moment. “Wasn’t it Hoshino who was supposed to come?”

“You really expect me to ask Hoshino to check in on you when you call my number and then say my name the way you said it?”

‘I called him?’

“You sounded like someone was forcefully pulling every ounce of life out of you.”

“... I did?”

‘Yes, you bastard. You scared the living fucks out of me, y’know?’ Haru thinks, but instead of saying anything, he only pulls Daisuke closer to him.

He smiles when he feels Daisuke return the gesture.

Daisuke’s arms wrap around Haru’s neck and he places his face in the crook of his neck, taking a deep sniff of the latter’s scent. He feels his panic flow out of his body as the warmth of the man himself washes over his entire being.

“H-Haru-” the millionaire stutters, tears again filling his eyes, now that he’s had a moment for everything to catch up to him. Haru’s arms only pull him closer, as close as physically possible, and that’s when Daisuke notices some things he didn’t see earlier.

“You’re safe. I’m here. I’m with you. And I’m not going anywhere.” Haru speaks in between pants, his forehead covered with a thin, barely there layer of sweat.

‘He RAN all the way here?’ Daisuke thinks, taking in every bit of whatever Haru offered him; his love, his warmth, his confidence, his belief in them.

Superman got nothin’ on me.

“Haru.” Daisuke pulls his head back to look at the taupe-haired man.

“What?” Haru replies, his head still facing down. He doesn’t look up, and Daisuke can only wonder why.

“Look at me.”

“No.”

“Haru.”

“No.” “I love you.”

Haru’s head snaps up at the speed of light, his eyes so wide Daisuke fears his eyeballs might pop out of their sockets.

But now that Haru’s finally looking at him, Daisuke takes the opportunity to find out for himself why the man absolutely refused to look up at him just moments ago.

He feels all the air drain out from his lungs at the findings of his inspection.

‘He’s trembling.’

“I was so scared, Kambe,” Haru whispers, his head dropping on Daisuke’s shoulder. “I was so scared when I heard you sound so… weak.” 

“I love you.” Daisuke repeats, and this time it’s him who places a kiss on the other man’s forehead.

“I love you too.”

Haru looks up, and their lips come together so naturally and so perfectly, one would think it was meant to be. And maybe it was. 

And just like that, they sit there for a few minutes, wrapped up in their own warm little bubble, the world forgotten.

“Oi, Kambe,” Haru murmurs into Daisuke’s shoulder, successfully catching the attention of the shorter man. “What really happened?”

Daisuke sucks in a sharp breath, knowing exactly what Haru was talking about. The fingers holding on to Haru tighten a little more as he opens his mouth, and begins explaining what actually went down.

Daisuke speaks, and speaks. He expresses every minute detail, because he knows Haru is listening. Haru always listens. And he doesn’t just listen, he makes sure the other knows that he is there for him no matter what.

I’m only one call away.

Once he is done telling Haru everything, he looks at him with baited breath, trying to gauge Haru’s reaction. The only answer he gets is utter confusion as Haru pulls back from their embrace and stands up, brushing the barely-there dust off his suit. He looks down at his lover and extends a hand out to him.

But instead of grabbing that hand, Daisuke’s eyes get lost in the very gorgeousness of sight Haru Katou presents. Haru’s dressed in a three-piece suit, just like Daisuke himself, but it’s taupe in colour. His tie is the same blue as Daisuke’s suit, and he looks downright ravishing.

“We haven’t got all day, idiot.”

Haru sighs, grabbing Daisuke by the hand and pulling him up. He quickly wipes Daisuke’s tears and makes him look presentable (as if he wasn’t already) before dragging him to the door.

Haru opens the door to the dressing room, but before they can step out, Daisuke stops him.

“What are you doing?” Daisuke asks, his brows furrowed and the usual disinterest back on his face.

“Walking down the aisle with my bride.”

“You do know that you’re not supposed to be the one escorting me.”

“Yeah, and what about it?”

“Katou Haru. Are you joking with me?”

Haru turns around to meet Daisuke’s eyes and pulls the shorter man to him with one tug on his arm. He bends his head, giving Daisuke a quick kiss before pulling back and whispering, “Why? Is there a problem?”

Daisuke isn’t even given the time to blush, because Haru is already turning on his feet and walking down the hallway, pulling the millionaire behind him. They keep walking for a short while, even after they leave the building and step onto the beach, before Haru finally comes to a stop.

“We’re here.” 

Daisuke pokes his head from behind Haru’s back to see where exactly they are. “Oh my sweet bleeding heart.”

“Of all things in the world, that’s the first thing you say, rascal?”

“Haru, I-” Daisuke is quite literally at a loss for words, because right now, in this very moment, in front of him is a low stage setup with curtains falling around it in a circular fashion, and tiny fairy lights giving it it’s very own magical glow. It’s like a world within a world. A world away from everyone, from everything - a world for just the two of them.

“Come on, you and make it anywhere. But for now… we can stay here for a while.” Haru mutters, glancing at Daisuke, “'Cause you know, I just wanna see you smile.”

“Very cheesy, I’ll give you that,” Daisuke chuckles, stepping on to the stage. “So…” he turns to look at Haru, “What now?”

“Dance with me.” Haru says, and then there is no going back.

All it takes is a nod from Daisuke and Haru steps closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“What is it?” Haru asks, noticing the furrow of Daisuke’s brows.

“We have no music.”

“I got it covered,” is all Haru says before snapping his fingers, and almost immediately, music fills the space around them. 

“What song is this?” Daisuke asks, letting Haru pull him in by the waist and following his lead.

“Doesn’t matter. Focus on the lyrics. Oh, and me, of course.”

And so Daisuke does.

I'm only one call away I'll be there to save the day

Daisuke’s eyes stare into Haru’s as their feet move together, and he smiles at the lyrics, letting the other man know just how much he loves him. And this. Just how grateful he is for it all.

Superman got nothin' on me

And Daisuke can’t help but agree with that. His fingers gip Haru’s a little tighter as he sighs, his head coming to rest on the other’s shoulder.

I'm only one call away

Call me, baby, if you need a friend I just wanna give you love

“I love you,” Daisuke whispers at that, pressing a kiss to where his forehead rested just a moment ago. 

Come on, come on, come on Reachin' out to you, so take a chance

Daisuke pulls back a couple of steps, only to have Haru reach his arm out. He grabs it, doing a slow spin and falling into the arms of the man he loves more than his life could possibly define.

No matter where you go You know you're not alone

“I love you too.”

Silence soon falls between them and they both close their eyes, letting the music be their voice.

Come along with me and don't be scared I just wanna set you free

Come on, come on, come on You and me can make it anywhere

Realisation finally dawns on Daisuke as he realises where Haru’s words from earlier really came from. He smirks.

But for now, we can stay here for a while, ayy 'Cause you know, I just wanna see you smile

“You’re just a giant ball of sap, aren’t you?” He retorts, looking up at Haru. He might be smirking, but even he can’t hide the affection that swells up in his eyes as his hands reach up to wrap around Haru’s neck, allowing the latter to snake both his arms around Daisuke’s waist.

“Shut up.”

And when you're weak, I'll be strong I'm gonna keep holdin' on

“I’ll never let you go, Katou.”

Now don't you worry, it won't be long, darlin' And when you feel like hope is gone

Haru smiles, pulling Daisuke closer to him.

Just run into my arms

“Funny, because I don’t plan to let you go either, bastard.”

I'm only one call away I'll be there to save the day

“You really are a hero, you know, Haru?”

Superman got nothin' on me

“Just yours, ‘Suke. Just yours.” Haru murmurs, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against Daisuke’s.

I'm only one, I'm only one call away

“Forever.” Daisuke replies, his own eyes slowly shutting.

“And ever.”

Fin.

DONTCHA WORRY THEY DID GET MARRIED IN THE END THEY DIDNT FORGET ABOUT IT

[writer-and-artist27]

After Snow Comes Spring

Theme is here. Or here’s a piano alternative. The song’s what gave this oneshot thingie its name, really. 

This was originally written as a way to help better utilize my social anxiety in a productive manner, and now that it’s here, I’m going with it. Studying can suck, but it’s necessary and to be honest, I’d rather not sulk all day. So, writing. Here you go. Briefly inspired by Shell Game Chapter 25 from Lang and Silent Feathers Chapter 18 from Os.  

Very distant sequel to this thingie, I suppose. Everyone’s 18. It makes the post-writing embarrassment more bearable.

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

Crane would sometimes stop by the Nagareboshi Café and find himself peering past the veranda a bit longer than he should. Even if Crane couldn’t be his Uchiha self right now, he still kept that part of him around, as miniscule as it was when the mask was on, just for one person.

Someone would probably call this activity “stalking,” but to be honest, Crane couldn’t care less.

Especially when it came to her. 

The rain was cold and unbearable, but Hoshino Tomoko was still standing underneath the patio of Nagareboshi Café to stare up at the cloudy sky with darkened eyes. Even after half an hour of being alone, away from all the hubbub of her home, she hadn’t twitched aside from the usual heaves of her chest telling of breathing. Even when her café had already announced its closing time, she still stood there, watching the rain and barely moving from her spot near one of the windows.

In fact, even from his vantage point, Crane could see how her blue eyes were uncharacteristically dim to match the silence. The red hoodie on her black kimono dress helped with the cold, not to mention the veranda, but it still seemed like she was close to crying.

Something was screaming inside him as he continued to watch.

Tomoko continued to stay silent the entire time he sat there on his electric pole watching. Her eyebrows then furrowed as she gently brought her hands to her mouth, breathing warm air onto her whitened fingers. “Another day,” she exhaled softly, shaking her head. Her gaze was sad as she glanced back towards the dark clouds. “It’s been years.”

Years since what? 

“…What would you think of me now, Ty? Have I become ‘worthy’ in your eyes? Or am I still pathetic to you?” 

Crane froze.

A chilling, sad, and broken laugh reached his ears even through the rain. It was hard to believe that it was Tomoko’s voice. “Who am I to know? You’re gone. Yet why do I miss you?” She shook her head again, bitterly. “There’s no way to get an answer now. Not after so long.” Then there was a sniffle. Tomoko wiped at one of her eyes with her kimono sleeve, the black cloth coming back wet. “I’m horrible, huh, Ty?”

Crane’s fingers twitched through his armor.

“Crane,” the voice echoed forebodingly into his ear from his neckpiece. 

Crane paused, barely noticing his voice having deepened from the lack of breathing and the sudden surge of anger flowing through his veins until he spoke. “Yeah?”

“We have to go soon.”

Crane sighed, adjusting the volume of his voice with a turn of the dial around his choker. The mission. Right. “I know, Turtle, give me a minute.” His heart was pounding again, like his Uchiha self. The self that was yearning to be at Tomoko’s side, to hold her hand and hug her and tell her she wasn’t alone. “…She’s out in the cold again.”

“She’s what?” A pause. Turtle inhaled. “Again, huh?” A sigh then rang through his eardrums. “Star’s sads are horrible.” 

“K—Turtle. Can’t we do anything?” 

“Crane—”

“Listen to yourself, Crane.” Wolf’s voice this time crackled through his other ear. Jackass professional. “You know we don’t have time. As much as you want to, Hokage-sama’s orders are absolute. Dry up and get going.” 

“Do you even hear yourself?” Crane snapped, trying to hold back an exasperated huff to not alert anyone nearby of his presence. “It’s Star. She doesn’t stand out in the cold as fuck rain unless something’s wrong. And Moon’s on hospital shift today. For all that we know, Star’s alone.”

A pause followed again.

“She was talking about that guy again, Turtle,” Crane pleaded. “We have to do something.”

“…Wolf,” Turtle said finally, a tiny hitch in her voice, “I think we can spare a few minutes.”

There was a clicking of a tongue. “Five minutes,” Wolf acquiesced quietly, rustling over the line. “No more than that, Crane.”

“Thank you,” Crane huffed irritably, and his hands twitched while fumbling with his mask. Darn the rain for making everything slippery. “At least you’re not a total jackass.”

“I have my priorities straight,” Wolf interjected dryly, more rustling to signal a shake of his head. He paused, exhaling before admitting, “but you’re right. When the mission is done, we can all comfort Star if she needs it.”

“Good,” Turtle finished, a bit of pride leaking into her voice, “Crane, do your thing.”

The single crackle over his headset signaled the end of that conversation and Crane was left by himself on top of the electric pole again.

Tomoko sighed softly, closing her eyes and he took his chance. 

A single leap was all it took to stand in front of her, shielded from the rain by the awning, and years of chakra control training softened his step enough for her to not notice him. Instead, Tomoko kept her eyes closed as she pressed her hands together in front of her chest. 

“Mirror,” she sang quietly to herself, “tell me something. Tell me who’s the loneliest of them all.” 

The last bit of Crane’s reasoning finally snapped. 

He nearly threw off his mask when stepping forward, but he clasped onto whatever common sense was left inside to speak. “You’re not the loneliest of all.”

Tomoko’s eyes flew open and those soft pink lips opened to gape. Her big blue eyes were wide enough to reflect his image in the irises. “E-Eh?!” her voice shook, echoing in the quiet with that familiar high pitch of hers that spoke of her turbulent emotions. And indeed, there was no mistaking the hint of fear lacing her words. Of course. She hadn’t recognized him. “A-ANBU-san? When did you—” 

Crane shook his head, cutting her off while loosening the straps of his mask. “I’ve been here the entire time. And normally, I’d be Operative Crane, a ninja who can’t even talk with civilians. But I would’ve thought you’d know who it is behind the facade, considering you’re not running away.” 

Once the straps were off, he let the darn thing fall to the ground and Tomoko’s cheeks flushed pink from surprise. 

With Crane gone, Uchiha Obito grinned wryly in his place. “You make it really hard to go without worrying about you, Tomo-chan.”

“O-Obi?!” 

Obito couldn’t help himself. He only had five minutes after all. 

A single squeak was the last thing left between them as Obito lurched forward and captured Tomoko’s lips in a searing kiss. He didn’t even care that his armor was soaked through, that the wind was cold and that people could be staring. All that mattered was pushing that scum’s name out of his girlfriend’s mind, to erase whatever scars Tai left, even if it meant compromising his security. 

Obito had a promise to keep and he couldn’t do it as Crane. 

A moment passed and once the oxygen was running low, Obito gently nipped at Tomo-chan’s bottom lip in a quiet reprimand. It was enough to startle another, smaller squeak from her mouth as he pulled back. 

“O…Obito?” Tomo-chan inhaled shakily, cheeks flushed and lips now somewhat swollen from the kiss. Her red hoodie had long since fallen back to rest against her neck, probably from the force Obito used to push her back. Oops. He got too into it. “Don’t you have to go on a mission?” 

Awwww. Wait, no. 

She yelped once he leaned back in for a quick peck, her resolve wavering as fast as it came. “H-Hey!” 

Obito could faintly hear his headset crackle from microphone static in the back of his mind. Probably Turtle or Wolf. But that was Crane’s responsibility. Right now… 

“I do have to go, probably in the next minute or so,” he mumbled, a smile barely hanging onto his face. But Tomo-chan was still in his line of sight, looking up at him with those cute big blue eyes of hers, so Obito couldn’t help himself. He pressed a hand against the window to lean in, pressing a softer kiss to her forehead. “But don’t think you’re ever unworthy and horrible, Tomo-chan. You’re cute and I love you, so at least remember me before Tai.”

“Oh.” Tomoko’s eyes narrowed weakly at him in spite of the dark red staining her cheeks, her breath coming out in shaky puffs. “Y-You’re not going to bother remembering his name, are you?”

Obito grinned. “Nope!” He pressed one last lingering kiss to her lips. “I love you, Tomo-chan. Not him. He doesn’t deserve anything. And if you believe otherwise, I’ll come back and make sure you remember that.”

Tomoko could have easily resembled a tomato with how red she had turned in the span of a moment. She opened her mouth, letting out a funny noise akin to a small horse before nodding to herself and taking a breath. “G-Got it. Okay.” 

“Crane.” Wolf’s voice interrupted him through the intercom. “It’s time to go.”

Of course. Goddammit.

The moment Tomoko took to reorient herself was enough to give Obito time to take a step back to pick up his mask, snapping the straps back onto his head. Once he did, Tomoko raised her hand to gently wave at him. “I-I love you too, Mr. Crane.” Her smile was definitely exasperated but still all the more real. “Be safe.”

“The same to you, Ms. Star,” Crane said in Obito’s place, hiding his matching smile behind the white mask as he stepped out and back into the cold downpour. “Expect a visitor in the near future.”

A single leap and the pole was back underneath the soles of his sandals. Crane inhaled.

Obito could still feel his lips tingle from the moment.

“Mr. Crane?”

Crane paused. He swiveled his head back, and Tomoko was still smiling. “Do you and your guest like the piano?”

Crane tilted his head at her. “What do you think, Ms. Star?”

With that line said, he leapt away and the moment was over. It was time to get to work again.

By the time he reached the village gates where Wolf and Turtle were, Crane could’ve sworn he saw a twinkle in the sky. 

[sparklyjojos]

Let’s Read & Suffer: Tsukumojuku by Maijō Ōtarō [part 19]

Today`s recap: In which Tsukumojuku finally enters the Illusionary Castle, reunites with a character that I honestly forgot existed, discovers a very convoluted serial killer puzzle, and then things once more get pretty damn meta. [tw: gore]

STORY 4 PART 3

After Tsukumojuku discovered her crime, Serika and Seshiru had to escape once more. They both looked very hurt, with Serika crying and saying that she didn’t want to get separated from Tsukumojuku again, even if she understood that he had his own life now, what with his marriage and kids. [No, I don’t know how he can get married at like 16 either.]

(Love was a memory kept by the whole body. Made in the brain, spread with the blood throughout one’s entire being, and would never cease. ...and the love he once held for Serika was nothing more but a distant memory, he realized.)

When the twins fled Chofu, they left two disembodied hands of a man in the hidden room. According to Serika, that man’s name was Okubo Kengo. Well, that's proof enough. Tsukumojuku returned Ryouko's hollowed-out body to the police, and said that the criminal was Seshiru, leaving out the truth about Serika. A lot of bodies were later pulled out of the river, among them Okubo Kengo.

Tsukumojuku got the 10 million yen prize, transferred half of it to the twins' bank account, bought the magazines for his mother-in-law, and returned home in time. Whew! The mother-in-law questioned why he only got half the money, and he couldn't thought of a reason other than “er, must have dropped it on the way here?”, but it seemed they believed him.

He then learned that since Yanbe Tetsuo, the Illusionary Castle's owner, was quite rich, a prize for solving the Castle case had been funded: 30 million yen, which was something they could definitely use.

–

That night Tsukumojuku read the Third Story. Apparently Okubo Kengo was a serial killer there. In reality... well, you could say a lot of killing was done by his hands. [*rimshot*] In the Third Story, Seiryoin Ryusui was trapped in the Castle... maybe that meant they’d meet tomorrow, once Tsukumojuku got through the underground waterway. (The Castle’s underground... wasn’t that where the monster Gajobun was supposed to live?...) Maybe him thinking about the flag of Gibraltar, showing a key under a castle, really did make sense after all. Did the cross and the crown mean something too?

When he went to the park next morning, there was still a lot of policemen in there, investigating the terrain around the hidden room. A journalist came up to him like “Oh, so you're that Great Detective Tsukumojuku”. Since Tsukumojuku was afraid Ms Suzuki or Tsutomu would learn from the media where he is, he made the journalist faint before he could get any material. The police warned him against more noisy reporters, and didn’t say anything as he entered a manhole, although they looked a bit confused as to why he was doing that. Tsukumojuku went some distance underground, turned on the flashlight he'd brought with him, and looked around.

The waterway was full of ghosts.

STORY 4 PART 4

Of course the waterway was full of ghosts, their faces twisted in sadness or anger; lots of people had died in the Castle. Maybe they were trying to look for their way back? As he walked forward, their numbers increased, until he had to practically squeeze between them to proceed. Finally, he found the place where all the souls were looking up at the same spot. A hole in the ceiling. It seemed no soul could pass through it: a lot of them were frozen in mid-air reaching for it, and Tsukumojuku used that fact to climb them like a makeshift ladder. [Sure.]

Once he climbed out, he noticed a rope ladder, that this “Seiryoin” had probably been using to exit the Castle. If he really was the culprit of the Geneijo case, and these souls were the victims, then it’s kinda weird they didn’t do anything to him.

Tsukumojuku wandered the Castle’s cramped passages for some time before hearing upset voices:

“...I don't knoooow! This makes no sense! Enough! Enough!” “Calm down, Abe.” “I'm serious! I want out of here, right now!” “Stop crying, it's annoying! There's no reason for it! We're fine! Your assistant should be able to do something...” “He’s not my assistant, he’s more like a little brother to me...”

Following the voices, Tsukumojuku opened the door to what looked like a giant chapel, with stone pillars and stained-glass windows. Above the altar, maybe 15m above the ground, a giant crucifix with a figure of Christ was suspended. There were about 20 men and women in the chapel, and one of them was someone very familiar to Tsukumojuku: Abe Atsushi, or Daibakusho Happy. (安倍敦, or 大爆笑ハッピ)

[If just like me you have already forgotten who the hell was that -- it’s that private tutor from the First Story who couldn’t teach for shit, constantly repeated the rakugo “Dowry”, and hanged out with little Tsutomu a lot.]

Tsukumojuku followed Abe’s horrified sight to see what this was all about. On the altar, there was a box with a woman's head inside. Her pale face had a red circle painted on the right cheek, and a blue circle on the left cheek. Her eyes were open, dark eyeliner and fake eyelashes applied. On the box’s inner side was written the name “Geneijo” in red, and the number “5” in blue. On the head's right side somebody had put a clown doll dressed in black.

Oh, and there were 42 other boxes.

Small or large, all rectangular, sometimes containing a head and sometimes half a body. All were decorated with colors, had some kind of toys inside, and were numbered.

Three boxes didn't have bodies: one was numbered “7″ (seventh column from the left) that happened to be next to another “7″. “5″ (tenth column) was empty too, and also had another “5″ as a neighbour. A “1″ (2nd column) also had another “1″ next to it, but instead of being empty, it contained a hand made of clay. So, a double box number would distinguish the empty ones?

The 43 boxes all symbolized individual covers of the 1975-1999 issues of Geneijo, a detective novel magazine. The empty boxes corresponded to '75 July Extra Issue (with Edogawa Ranpo on the cover), and '76 May Special Issue (with Yokomizo Seishi). The box with black clay hands was the '78 New Year Special Issue.

[The next four pages are Tsukumojuku’s drawings of the boxes -- don’t worry, you don’t actually have to pay any attention to these for the plot, but I’m putting them here just because. 

Columns 1-2:

Columns 3-5:

Columns 6-8:

Columns 9-11:

–

Among them Tsukumojuku found Ryouko’s head, wrapped in pink scarf, with lips painted pink. (He hoped the white rose in the box would be, as stupid as it sounded, a bit of a comfort to her lost soul... though her soul was still stuck behind that bookshelf.) 

He quickly understood the reason why the criminal had used 12 bodies from outside the Castle. During its first year being in circulation, the Geneijo magazine was published by a company called Geneisha, which eventually bankrupted. The magazine was from then on published by a new company called just Geneijo. So the first year issues, from February '75 to January '76, were “from outside Geneijo” -- from outside the Castle. And so were the victims.

- - -

Tsukumojuku approached the group of people, and told Abe that he was Tsutomu's older brother. Abe recognized him (“Oh, it’s you! You alright? How did you get here? Does Tsutomu know you’re here?”) Tsukumojuku told them about the waterway entrance, and everyone cheered, for some reason shouting “Kick-kick-kick, four-dimensional kick” in happiness. A tall man thanked Tsukumojuku for coming, said that everyone in the chapel was an entertainment group [as in actors] called the Angel Bunnies, and asked for his name.

“I’m the Great Detective Tsukumojuku.”

The cheering stopped abruptly.

"What the fuck?!” Abe yelled in tears. “That's already the third Great Detective Tsukumojuku! I don't understand anything! Is the world made out of Tsukumojukus?!”

The tall man tried to console Abe saying that it was all fine, they could leave now -- but Tsukumojuku quickly said that actually, they couldn't leave yet, since the criminal may be among them.

“But,” he said, “I can guarantee that the case will be solved in the next 30 minutes!” Just in time to get back home for lunch. “So please be patient and--”

“But that's exactly what the other Tsukumojuku sa-a-aid...!” Abe was completely hysterical, so Tsukumojuku asked everyone else to look away and took off the sunglasses. Now that the nuisance was temporarily gone (along with two other people too curious for their own good who also had looked his way), he put the glasses back on.

The tall man was like “oh shit, that really is the Great Detective Tsukumojuku, what's with the unnatural beauty and all”. Huh? So that other “Tsukumojuku” was just as beautiful as him?

- - -

The Angel Bunnies introduced themselves to Tsukumojuku. [You don’t have to remember these names at all, don’t worry.]

The name of the tall man was Fukushima Manabu (福島学). People who had fainted alongside Abe were Kawabe Keisuke (河辺恵介) and Nakai Sayaka (中井紗也香).

Other members, men: Kawai Kazuhiro (河合一洋), Hongou Takeshi (本郷雄士), Tanaka Masatsugu (田中正嗣), Kumono Takuya (雲野巧也), Hoshino Masato (星野真人), Aoyama Gen (青山元), Furutaka Masayuki (古高雅之).

Other members, women: Mizoroki Fumie (溝呂木文枝), Kajiwara Ayako (梶原亜矢子), Nomura Rie (野村りえ), Obata Aki (尾畑亜紀), Nonaka Mami (野中麻美), Yoshida Yukino (吉田由貴乃), Iwai Yumi (岩井ゆみ).

A total of 19 people. There were 20 of them once, but unfortunately Higashimoto Mika (東元美佳) was currently stuffed in the box symbolizing the November '76 issue of Geneijo.

As for what they were doing there: apparently Tsutomu (now Great Detective Daibakusho Curry) had been invited to the Castle party. He and Abe were a part of the Angel Bunnies, so when he got the invitation to the Castle, everyone went together with him to have some fun.

Needless to say, it wasn’t fun. Among other casualties, Seiryoin Ryusui vanished without a trace the very first day. Other weird shit was going on too. Apparently some actual JDC members had appeared out of nowhere: Ajiro Souji, Hikimiya Yuuya (氷姫宮幽弥), and the Detective God Tsukumo Juku himself. The rumor was that they had come to protest the publishing of Seiryoin's JDC books, and that Tsutomu / Daibakusho Curry was secretly cooperating with them.

Three JDC detectives... each with his own method of reasoning. Ajiro Souji would ponder the topic endlessly, Detective God would wait patiently and gather evidence that showed up with time, and Hikimiya was mostly there to write the data down. Apparently this now meant that Ajiro was worrying himself with Geneijo on a break from his usual telephone detective stuff. Detective God mostly closed himself in his room and napped [probably because why bother when the evidence hadn’t showed up yet?]. Hikimiya was running around and calculate many weird things like how many chairs and bed there was on the first floor (the same that the number of pages in Seiryoin’s Cosmic, apparently), the number of windows (99, like the number of chapters in Joker), and how much space the carpet took (the same as all the illustrations, table of contents etc. in Carnival.)

Hikimiya was now busy reading through the entirety of the library, counting how many times individual characters show up, or some weird specific shit like that. (...Tsutomu’s cooperation probably meant he was taking care of poor Hikimiya while he was working. Tsutomu was just the kind of person who’d want to take care of others.)

- - -

Since the Angel Bunnies had no idea what the hell the Geneijo magazine even was, Tsukumojuku explained.

Geneijo was called that after Edogawa Ranpo's famous essay. The same essay’s name was also given to the mysterious castle showing up in Seiryoin's book -- in these books, the Castle’s owner was even called Hirai Tarou, which happens to be Edogawa Ranpo's true name. In Joker, a serial killer called the Artist killed a whole lot of people in Geneijo, and the JDC detectives had to stop him... but of course, that was just a story. To make things even more meta, in the JDC books there actually appeared a character called “Seiryoin Ryusui” who was simultaneously writing the JDC books.

Just a story... But the JDC detectives had appeared in reality now, as the Angel Bunnies pointed out. But maybe they were just cosplayers, who would made up things using words and numbers -- anagrams, math puzzles, word plays and so on. If you kept doing this long enough, one thing would always lead to another. For example,let’s say we want to connect “words” and “numbers”. If you moved the voiced consonant in “kotoba” (word) from end to beginning you'd get “gotoha” which you can write down as “五とは” which has the number 5 in it, isn’t it just amazing?

Or that the word “suuji” (numbers, 数字) would also be read “suuji” when written as 崇辞, and if you now swapped the second kanji in that for same-reading 詞, you'd get 崇高な詞 (a sublime word?) which are 本物の言葉 (real words). Words within words. Words without unnecessary decorations. (余計な装飾のない言葉). Words by themselves, to sum it up.

[I’m equally confused by the word play onslaught, don’t worry.]

There were a whole lot of these word games, and obviously some common theme would always crop up if you banged one concept into the other hard enough. These puns and anagrams were the essence of the JDC series, so naturally, it wouldn’t be strange that these “hardcore JDC cosplayers” would also love them.

- - -

In an attempt to solve the mystery, Tsukumojuku then took Ryouko’s head out of her box and using a knife carefully cut off her face to make a mask, which caused the horrified Angel Bunnies to run away to the other side of the chapel because what the actual fuck, dude. Tsukumojuku put the makeshift mask on, and just like when putting on her skin, Ryouko’s memories instantly attacked his brain. They were so strong he fell on the floor in convulsions, and actually broke three ribs in the proccess. Too many memories, way too much information, too great of an impact, and then suddenly – the memory from just before death.

Chofu, near the river, late at night. Somebody trying to catch Ryouko – it's Serika, wearing Okubo's hands like gloves. Ryouko ran, but was caught and tackled to the ground. Serika sat on her chest, and yelled for someone to keep her legs down!”. A man with long black hair and glasses -- Seiryoin.

Mystery solved. In Geneijo, Seiryoin was God.

And as he took the mask off, that God’s “Angels” -- Ajiro, Hikimiya and JDC’s own Tsukumo Juku -- entered the chapel along with Tsutomu.

- - -

IMPRESSIONS:

*Maijo voice* how many layers of meta are you on? you’re like a little baby, watch this

Jesus, just how many tiny kanji can you fit on all these diagrams, Tsukumojuku? Good thing the details don’t really seem to matter in the grand scheme of things, at least as far as I’ve read, so I don’t have to translate this mess.

I love the scene with the ghosts. The soul ladder reminded me of the Kars ladder from Jorge Joestar, for some reason.

I don’t know if this is the intentional reading here, but I love the idea that the Detective God would just chill out in his room while shit is going on because he knows how mystery novels work and that the case’s not gonna get solved before the writer wills it. “Gonna take a nap, wake me up once the scared witness gets shot just before revealing the killer’s name.”

In the JDC series, Hikimiya Yuuya specializes in crime statistics and such, which requires him to always carry a laptop he can calculate data with. He loves quoting mystery novels whenever he can. While working as an assisstant to such great detectives like the Detective God or Ryuuguu Jounosuke, he has some complexes about his own power of reasoning. Not a very remarkable guy, at least on first sight.

>>>>NEXT PART>>>>

[taptroupe]

evergrace novel update oh god it’s been a bit too long

it’s the combination of forever kingdom making me cry, starting japanese evergrace, and also reading the novel that stopped me from. well writing about the novel

we are now at abandoned road and it’s hot and sweaty. for some reason we are here. there might have been some door at the human experimentation lab that led here so yadda yadda lava hot they gotta be careful

for some great foreshadowing they start talking about the legendary mercenary, red breeze, and how he did... legendary killing stuff. i forget. 

the bigger point i wanted to mention here is that his visual design is 100% indigenous stereotypes, he looks like one of those designs you see in classic north american cartoons, but... it’s evergrace. i mean, america and japan shared a lot of cartoons so i can see how those stereotypes were also shared, the whole feather spiel and nobility can be seen in plenty of manga and anime. 

this really neat person i follow on twitter recently made a thread about indigenous appropriation in animanga, which you should totally go check out. it is very very informative!

there’s also more i wanted to say about kota hoshino’s inspiration for the evergrace OST, but i went into detail bout that on twitter so you can look there. 

case in point: it’s not some fantastical VGM popping out of the blue, he specifically said he was inspired by “ethnic” sounds and used a sample CD of “indigenous sounds” that was actually made. BY A WHITE GUY. appropriation upon appropriation, it’s kinda wild man. so please bring that up if you wanna analyze the intense music that is evergrace ost. it’s not just fever dream drugs, yeah i am picking apart a 20 year old game for its audio/visual stereotypes but it’s just good to be aware of what makes up the games you love, i’d think. 

i wanted to get that off my chest and write it up better than what i did on twitter so thanks tumblr dot cock. by the way darius turns into a god but this post is already long i’ll do it next post

[writer-and-artist27]

Testing the Waters Through Text

Inspired by some of the first conversations I had with Leo during the early stages of our relationship. Pre-first kiss. :p Self-care means writing things like this, people! @langwrites​, you’re amazing at encouraging me before finals in relaxing. Thankie.

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

Purble: Wh— What is this. LittleKey: ? Purble: I thought that the names were just with Kei-san Purble: Hoshino why do u have them?? LittleKey: … LittleKey: Is it bad for me to admit that I have no clue??? LittleKey: I got this handle from Kei because Nii calls me “little sis” all the time, and since I apparently “unlock” hearts, it worked… LittleKey: I think it’s a pun on how I’m the shortest out of the family LittleKey: I barely reach Hika-chan’s nose, so…  LittleKey: I don’t know how it spread to my phone and our talk right now.

Purble: …I cant even LittleKey: On a lighter note? Purble: yeah? LittleKey: It’s good to hear from you. :)  LittleKey: How are you doing??

Purble: A little peachy from name things, but I’m fine. Purble: What about you? LittleKey: ｜−・;） LittleKey: Tempted to hide??? Purble: why LittleKey: …bc it still feels like a dream Purble: whats “it”? LittleKey: That you’re my boyfriend now

Purble: … 

LittleKey: I-I get it, it’s only been a couple days, we still see each other at school, but you’re really good to me and it’s hard to believe LittleKey: A-And it’s not because of quirk things or anything, it’s just, it’s you, Hitoshi-kun — you’re amazing and I don’t know what to do when standing next to you LittleKey: (〃ー〃) LittleKey: L-Like, what is a good girlfriend supposed to do???

Purble: ……  Purble: Tomo. Purble: Being in a relationship is not a job. LittleKey: O-Oh LittleKey: It still takes work, though, and I wanna treat you right LittleKey: Especially after everything you’ve told me about people in the past LittleKey: You deserve better

Purble: Not that I’m not happy, but hey Purble: We deserve each other, Tomo, get it through your head LittleKey: o-oh Purble: Relationships aren’t supposed to go at full-throttle speed Purble: I’m just surprised you’re not reacting to the nickname LittleKey: W-WAIT a second! LittleKey: (⊙ᗜ⊙) LittleKey: I-I had to go read the backlog for a minute, but but LittleKey: You used my nickname!!! Purble: Is there a problem with that? LittleKey: N-No, nononono, I just had an idea with that!!

*Purble has been changed to Hii-kun*

Hii-kun: …What is this? LittleKey: I… kinda shorten all my loved ones’ names to make nicknames and just came up with that for you? LittleKey: If you don’t like it, I can change it back!

Hii-kun: … Hii-kun: youre hopeless, you know that, right? LittleKey: Um Hii-kun: I’m still surprised it took you so long to notice I changed the way I call you Hii-kun: Just like your brother LittleKey: I dunno what to make of that… LittleKey: I wanna ask what Nii did to you, but anywho LittleKey: did you want me to change the name back?

Hii-kun: Nah LittleKey: E-Eh? Hii-kun: Hii-kun is fine. Hii-kun: Makes me feel closer to you 

LittleKey: (⊙ᗜ⊙) LittleKey: (*≧▽≦) LittleKey: we’re total dorks!! Hii-kun: yep

LittleKey: Hey, Hii-kun? Hii-kun: yeah? LittleKey: Thank you. LittleKey: For being with me, for liking me, for staying with me. LittleKey: ( 〃．．) LittleKey: Just wanted to say that.

Hii-kun: ( ￣ー￣)σ Hii-kun: Doofus.  Hii-kun: Save that for when we see each other again LittleKey: ♡＾▽＾♡ LittleKey: Aye aye, Hii-kun! LittleKey: ⊂(・﹏・⊂)

Hii-kun: Are you seriously asking for a hug in text form? LittleKey: ⊂(・▽・⊂) LittleKey: Aye! Hii-kun: Please do not reference that blue flying cat. LittleKey: Eh— Hii-kun: (っ⇀`皿′↼)っ LittleKey: (゜ロ゜) LittleKey: ヽ(o♡o)/ LittleKey: I’ll bring cookies for your lunch tomorrow! Hii-kun: Tomo. GO TO SLEEP. LittleKey: …Whoops

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Chargebolt: Congrats on the relationship, Shinsō! Chargebolt: Have you two kissed yet? MindBlank: …why is it your business to ask, Kaminari? Chargebolt: Hey! Bros over hoes, so I can ask!   MindBlank: Please do not call Tomo a “hoe” ever again MindBlank: And it’s a “no” to your q

Chargebolt: Shit. Chargebolt: Sorry bro MindBlank: It’s fine. I can take something in my life slow, it’s just not my Hero life Chargebolt: tots valid

RedRiot: when was i invited?? Chargebolt: just now MindBlank: hey Kirishima RedRiot: hey Shinsō! hey Kaminari! RedRiot: congrats on the relationship!! MindBlank: you’re the second person from our class to tell me that, but thanks Chargebolt: (^_<)～☆

Chargebolt: Soooo Chargebolt: any thoughts on how you’re gonna initiate that first kiss??? RedRiot: Uh RedRiot: is that necessary to think about? MindBlank: that’s my question MindBlank: why

Chargebolt: ohmigod Chargebolt: I know two out of the three people in this chat are single, but still Chargebolt: you both do realize that first kisses really decide how relationships go, right? MindBlank: aside from setting up boundaries? RedRiot: yeaaaaaaah MindBlank: but seriously MindBlank: why

Chargebolt: girls swoon with the right kiss! RedRiot: uh MindBlank: ఠ ͟ಠ MindBlank: I’m out