#which is what momiji does!!!

[applejuicewerewolf]

Just watched M27 (in cinema! That was cool!!) And oh boy, thoughts!

First of all, I was sooo excited to watch this anime movie in an actual cinema, with other people who were also there to watch an anime movie (in an actual real cinema). Idk, I often still feel like liking anime is something embarrassing, even tho it becomes more and more mainstream, so seeing 20 or so people who also openly announced that they liked it was amazing.

Now, to the actual content of the film:

Love Love LOVE Heiji and Kaito's dynamic here. He was so angry that he drove his fucking motorbike through a window!!

The fact that the KaiShin same face thing is something Heiji is surprised by is very weird, considering that he knew that Kaito always disguises as Shinichi in movies (and yes, the movies have their own continuity, see the fireworks-soccer-ball!!)

Additionally, I watched this film in the German dub. In German, Conan and Shinichi have the same VA, and Ksito has a different one. Still, Heiji makes a note of Kaito sounding similar to Conan (their German VAs do NOT sound similar!!!)

(On that note, they replaced the German VA for Kogoro and I am scared to google why :(( )

Also in the German introduction, Conan LITERALLY calls Kaito his "fated rival" ("schicksalhafter Gegenspieler"), which is very gay for the movie that completely reveals them as cousins.

Kaito feeding seagulls. Just that. It was funny. This is what happens when he has to leave his doves at home. He is a disney princess but only for birds.

Loved the scene where Kaito was attacked while on the ground and was shown to be out of his depth. Catch him on the ground and he is a wingless bird.

Additionally loved that scene because Heiji and Conan jumped in to save him. Their dynamic was so good, with Heiji attacking front and center, Kaito trying to shoot the attacker, and Conan coming clutch with his soccer ball. These three are so much fun together, and I love how throughout the movie they hunt Kaito in one scene, and work with him in the next.

They also alway immediately recognize his disguises??? That was hilarious. These three are one the same wavelenght and I'm all for it.

Oh speaking of disguises, I am VERY surprised nobody even mentioned Okita being the third same face triplet. Would've probably taken away from the KaiShin cousins reveal, I guess?

Minor mention: idgaf about Momiji and I never will. Useless character. Why does she even exist at all. Focus on the main characters...

Okay, I cannot keep quiet about it anymore. The entire "Ginzo gets shot" scene was THE BEST THING EVER. Kaito literally reliving the trauma of losing his parental figure again, and being unable to even SHOW IT OR VISIT HIM? Him having to silently watch as Aoko (MY GIRL IS ON THE BIG SCREEN I ALMOST CHEERED) is going through this all alone??? She probably was still in Ekoda. Did she get a phone call and was flown in to Hokkaido? WHERE THE FUCK IS MIDORIKO IN THIS?!?!?! GOD. This scene. I want 500 character studies of this scene on my desk by tomorrow morning.

That being said, with the Toichi reveal at the end, NOT ONLY did Kaito hide his emotions as he visited his mortally injured father figure in the hospital, his actual father was RIGHT THERE??? TOICHIIII YOU RAT BASTARD I WILL KILL YOU!

Why even WAS Toichi there. Legit. Ugh, I wanna do this in chronological order.

Anyways, AOKO SCREENTIME MY BELOVEEEEED

I feel like she was underused tho. Her only contribution was calling Conan Kaito's twin, and that was it. Feel like that's a running theme with DetCo focusing too much on random murder of the day and not its actual characters (something that also HIGHLY annoyed me during the Scarlet Schooltrip >_<)

Speaking of, that plotpoint was also kinda never mentioned again after the half point of the movie?

Coming towards the end of the story, the car chase with like 5 different parties through the city was hilarious. This is the stupid Shounen action I expect from DetCo movies (but not the stupidest Shounen action we'll get!)

As for the actual plot, I don't really care for that in DetCo movies, I'm more interested in the established characters doing fun and wacky shit.

Also so not a fan of the "murderer misunderstands or misreads a situation, making their murders pointless" storylines in DetCo. Tho M19 was probably the worst one in that reguard (girl what!)

Okay, so the Kendo guy. His mother died to a bombstrike, so he wants to blow up a mountain with lots of civillians on it. Because he's anti war. Girl what.

And now to the peak of Stupid Shounen Battles: swordfight atop a flying airplane, one of the combattants wears no shoes.

Absolutely LOVED Kaito catching Heiji midair. He does it with Conan, he did it with Heiji. Hakuba, you're next.

Sure, Iori just randomly DROPPED A FLASHBANG right in front of Heiji and Kazuha. Tho shout out to my girl Kazuha who was quick and smart enough to cover Heiji's ears as she "Get down Mr President"ed him.

At this point, shoutout to Ran. She gives it her all to make this Ship a thing. Loved her "casually but ominously deduce Heiji's true intentions" thing she did. Go be a love detective, honey!

Okay, the after credit scene. VERY NATURAL REVEAL you guys did there. Just casually have Yusaku suddenly say "yes, my wife whom I have been married to for at least 18 years, I have a twin brother i haven't seen in 2 decades." Wow.

HE REGULARLY TEXTS TOICHI??? TOICHI WHO FAKED HIS DEATH. THEY TEXT! THEY! TEXT!

YOUR SON BELIEVES YOU DEAD AND WANTS TO AVENGE YOU YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE

WHY WERE YOU THERE! WHY WERE YOU IN DIGUISE THIS ENTIRE TIME!

I HATE TOICHI EVEN MORE NOW WTF

Conan kill your uncle with a soccer ball please.

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Shigure's relationship with Kyo drives me crazy. he doesn't hate Kyo in the slightest - in fact, he pities Kyo, and not in the condescending "oh you poor little boy, cursed to be a horrible, disgusting monster" sort of way that everyone else does. Shigure pities Kyo for the reason he should be pitied: he's just a kid caught up in a system so inhumane it can't possibly be survived without some seriously unhealthy coping mechanisms.

and it drives me crazy because - listen, Shigure is the only zodiac member who's emotionally aware enough to see the other zodiac members as exactly what they are. he knows Yuki is a severely traumatized kid who projects all of his self-hatred on a single convenient target. he knows Akito is really a scared little girl with a raging god complex (literally) and no concept of a healthy relationship. and he knows Kyo is a regular-ass human being who doesn't deserve to be locked up for the rest of his life just because some arbitrary system says so. he KNOWS it's stupid. he KNOWS it's ridiculous and unfair. and he has to share a house with Kyo knowing that Kyo is living with a sword over his head, hating himself and hating others in perfect tandem because he has no other way of coping with the insane amounts of negativity he's had to deal with his entire life.

but the thing about Shigure is that he KNOWS all of this, and the same time he doesn't really CARE. he feels sorry for Kyo, but an apathetic sort of pity, a disinterested "this is how it is. such a shame." sort of pity. in some ways he's worse than the other zodiacs because he DOES see Kyo as a person, someone he likes being around even, but he still considers Kyo below his attention because all his focus is on Akito and breaking the curse. and sure, once the curse is broken Kyo will theoretically be set free with the rest of them, but that's more of a coincidental side effect than anything. despite being in a much more dangerous and precarious mental space AND comfortably in Shigure's reach, Kyo is about as much a priority for Shigure as Ritsu or Momiji.

and it drives me CRAZY because i think Shigure does start actively caring about Kyo as the series goes on, but it's hard to tell when that happens and to what extent. when Kazuma told Shigure he planned to reveal Kyo's true form and Shigure said he was going too far - whose sake was it for? was Shigure trying to protect Kyo, who would be hideously traumatized/emotionally scarred by such a cruel betrayal? was he trying to protect Kyo and Tohru's relationship, which was still formulating and might, under such severe testing, ultimately end up damaged beyond repair? was he only trying to protect Tohru, who wasn't ready to be burdened by such a horrible aspect of the curse so soon, or perhaps simply didn't deserve it? or was it all for the sake of himself, trying to protect his still-forming plans of using Tohru's positive effect on the Sohmas to break the curse?

Shigure cares about Kyo, but they're not close and Kyo clearly isn't a priority. he treats Kyo like a person - offering him genuine advice, teasing him like he teases anyone else, even speaking up on his behalf once or twice - and yet he's too entrenched in the long game to spare much active interest in Kyo. for a very long time, he doesn't care about Kyo the way he cares about Yuki or Tohru, and it's never made clear when exactly that changed. and the thing that gets me about this whole situation is that right from the start, Shigure is in a position where he can meet Kyo at his level - as equals, just one human being to another - but he doesn't, because Shigure is a chessmaster, Shigure is someone who observes and calculates, Shigure never steps in unless one of his chess pieces makes a wrong move and he absolutely has to.

it drives me crazy. Shigure drives me crazy. this series drives me so so crazy.

[true-blue-sonic]

🤎 + Espilver

🤎 multiple kisses / kisses all over / kiss after kiss

"Espio, wake up," fills Espio's world, as it has so often these past few minutes.

Yet, the chameleon stoically remains laying, eyes shut and hands clasped over his stomach. The ninja is timely and rises earlier than anyone else... except for Silver, clearly and unfortunately, as the hedgehog decided to go be a ninja-waking nag just shortly after six in the morning. And the ninja's timeliness stretches itself to getting up at six thirty sharp, and not a moment prior. "Espio," Silver grumbles at him, a cold wet nose prodding Espio's cheek in a most irking matter. "You know I know you're awake, right?"

Also that Espio does not grace with a response, or even a twitch of his facial features. Charmy would already have lost patience and buzzed off to go bother the next inhabitant of the house; surely if he waits long enough, Silver will do the same-

Though, the grunt as Silver's full weight crashes right onto his chest is not swallowed down in time.

"Ah-hah!" a most victorious crooning comes. "Gave yourself away, Espio!"

...Oh well. He can humour Silver for a bit, the chameleon decides, and thus he twists his features into a look of such stoic unnatural intense seriousness anyone can see he is faking it. Indeed, a snicker follows, as does...

Tender lips pressing against his brow.

"Don't frown like that. With how you're laying, you look like I should carry you right into the grave," Silver's unfiltered judgement comes. "So serious. Do allow me to help with that."

One eye shooting open before he can help it Espio huffs a breath into his heavy chest. "What are you-?! Oh."

"Gotcha," Silver smirks in victory.

Another kiss presses against Espio's brow... before Silver's lips shoot to his forehead, and then to the side, and then to his cheeks, left and right and up and down, so hectic and promptly that the chameleon can only yelp before snickering at the sensation. "Tenshi!" he protests, though Silver merely huffs a breath against his muzzle. That gets kissed next, and then his lips do in a rapid peck that goes by far too fast for Espio to return it, because Silver's already nuzzling all over his crest. Which feels nice, except then the hedgehog leans down again, mischief glowing in golden eyes, and-!

"Don't you dare," is what Espio wanted to say... except then a kiss gets pressed against the rim where his horn meets his muzzle and he very promptly sneezes.

"Good morning," Silver deadpans over the loud achoo! slipping past Espio's lips, pushing himself into the air and giving Espio space to draw a coveted deep breath with his chest free again. "Took you long enough to wake up. Jeez."

"...Rude." Sniffling loudly to clear the nasty sensation from his airways Espio shakes his head. "I do not need a personal alarm clock, momiji. I can tell the time plenty well by myself."

"I was going to make waffles. Guess you just have to miss out if you want to stay in bed till six thirty sharp, because I'll have eaten all of them already," gets callously shrugged back. That does catch Espio's attention, the chameleon raising an eyebrow. The ninja also doesn't say no to a tasty breakfast... but the ninja does object to coercion from beloved hedgehogs like that.

"In a second," Espio speaks up, and as Silver hums in confusion it's his turn to grin: strong arms shoot up to wrap around the other's body and pull him right into the mattress, and Silver squeaks before laughing and fussing at all the kisses getting pressed all over his head next.

A perfectly sweet revenge as appetiser for his waffles, Espio grins, and it's well after six thirty that they finally make their way downstairs to work on breakfast.

[cinderella-ish]

Fic Recs: My Favorite Yukeru Fics

Short Stories

and sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live, by DoctorBlazeIt T | Short Story | pining & romance For Yuki, growing older meant collecting some bad habits, like smoking, or falling in love with your best friend.

august, by reconquer M | Short Story | smut “I’m hungry,” Kakeru says. “What about you?” “I guess I could eat,” Yuki mutters. “Well, good,” Kakeru grins. “Because it’s your turn to cook.”

did you know that frogs don't have ribs or diaphragms, by yunsohno E | Short Story | smut Yuki and Kakeru have sex. And then they talk about frogs.

if i do anything i regret tonight, no i didn't, by sacrificialParsnip T | Short Story | romance In which Momiji orchestrates a situation that involves 2 beers, a shot, and 2 cocktails.

If I Ever Feel Better, by reconquer M | Short Story | slice of life & smut “You can crash here, it’s not a big deal.” “You seem too happy about this,” Yuki mutters. “Of course! I get to have a sleepover with my best buddy.” Kakeru winks at him and Yuki kicks the inside of his thigh again. Like he said. Hell

i wanna ruin our friendship (we should be lovers instead) by bloodyhalefire T | Short Story | romance Kakeru isn’t an idiot. Sure, he’s awful at some things and is occasionally a bit slow on the uptake, but he isn’t an idiot; he knows what touch starved looks like, and Yuki is the fucking blueprint. So he sets out to fix it.

Kisses Like Pink Cotton Candy (Talking To Everyone But Me) by yukiawison T | Short Story | romance “I’m sorry,” Kakeru mumbled. Yuki blinked. He’d expected him to laugh and tell him he was being stupid. “What for?” Yuki said, keeping his voice carefully even. “You know what for,” Kakeru said, which reduced the apology, perhaps, to half an apology.

laughing til our ribs get tough, by a-bigail T | Short Story | pining & romance Yuki and Kakeru have a long night. Yuki relearns what it means to want.

Mood Ring, by reconquer G | Short Story | romance Just like everything else, it starts in the student council room.

Open Season, by reconquer T | Short Story | fluff yuki gets trashed and spills the beans

say it again and again (tomorrow i'll hear it) by eurydicees T | Short Story | hurt/comfort & romance Kakeru confesses. Yuki misunderstands. Ayame's advice actually turns out to be… pretty useful.

student council naptime blues, by a-bigail T | Short Story | pining Kakeru, for once, isn't very tired. Yuki is strangely exhausted. Kakeru tries to help, and is faced with some wayward feelings.

tears falling like snow, by sunflowerstarfruit G | Short Story | hurt/comfort & pining Yuki has a panic attack at school. Kakeru finds him.

Tell Me Something, Tell Me What You Like, by yukiawison G | Short Story | romance He was always off balance. If someone ever wanted to kiss him, Yuki figured they’d sense this imbalance and give up before anything began.

We Go On Walks, by yukiawison G | Short Story | romance Kakeru thinks he’s cursed, sometimes. He’s cursed to keep wanting things he can’t have. He wants Machi to say more than four words to him at a time. He wants his mother to stop pestering him about college. And he wants Yuki.

Longer Fics

at least i got you in my head, by yunsohno E | Novelette | angst & smut Yuki and Kakeru go to a party. Yuki wants things to be a bit more.

desiderium, by tessohma M | WIP | hurt/comfort, romance, & smut desiderium - an ardent longing or desire. A Yukeru friends with benefits AU.

Does it Come as a Surprise? (Language of Averted Eyes) by yukiawison G | Novelette | romance Part of Yuki was convinced that Kakeru was making fun of him. He never knew when jokes went too far. He never knew when to stop pushing Yuki’s buttons. And he knew he was good at teasing him. Part of him hated Kakeru for that, for being so easy with his touches, for hitting him where it hurt.

fit back in, by luftballons99 T | Novelette | romance Crushes, curses, and contemporary literary theory: Halloween provides the opportunity to confront fear in all its shapes.

i wanna be dyed with your colours, by halfhope T | Novelette, background Tohru/Kyo | romance Sohma Yuki gay panics his way to self-actualization.

Like Fireworks in the Night Sky, by Princely_Hairdos T | WIP | pining & romance Yuki starts winter break in a relationship he feels unhappy in. He doesn’t know why, only knowing that he needs to get his act together and quick. Somewhere along the way, he falls madly in love with his best friend. Watch him throughout the year as he tries to reign in these feelings only to find out he might not actually need to.

On Different Pages, by TurnUps G | Novelette | romance Yuki thinks Manabe's teasing him about going on a 'date' with him, and calls his bluff. Manabe is not teasing.

The Other Side of Paradise, by reconquer T | Novelette | angst & romance Uotani points out that Kakeru and Yuki are always touching each other. Yuki panics and realizes some things about himself.

President Perfect, by draebelle T | Novelette | angst & romance Kakeru goes on a wild goose chase to find the forgotten love of his life.

Set it Free, by TurnUps T | Novelette | romance The fanclub girls are annoying Machi about being on the student council. Kakeru has a plan to divert their attention. It's a fake dating AU.

tongue tied, by b_o_i E | Novelette | dark & romance A brief history of boys that Sohma Yuki has kissed.

Here's a link to all my bookmarks tagged with Kakeru/Yuki! It'll include more than are listed here, since authors sometimes tag background/implied relationships.

[autumn-foxfire]

Heiji looks so annoyed that Kazuha invited Ran along, which means Shinichi will join and he can't confess in private.

And Shinichi is already teasing him about what he plans to do 'cause he's a gremlin like that.

It's always so funny that Ran is so invested in Kazuha's relationship when she hasn't even responded to Shinichi yet. She's definitely avoiding the mess that her own relationship is while hyperfixing on one that isn't so awful (not that they can't have their really bad moments).

Heiji: You went all the way to London to confess to Ran

Shinichi: Actually she found me out and got angry at me so to make her shut up I "confessed" instead.

God rewatching the scene it's still so goddamn disgusting. It's just Shinichi screaming at her that he doesn't understand her emotions even though she's literally crying from feeling so used and unwanted by him.

Heiji. You really, really, shouldn't copy Shinichi.

"He always glares at me when I flirt with you," and the fliritng he was speaking about was skirt flipping. Gosho that isn't flirting, it is called harrassment. You're from a country that has to have the shutter noise on permanently because of sexual harrassment of women, get with the fucking times you gross old man. These were made in 2017, for fuck sake.

Oh no, skirt flipper died. I am so upset about this. You can read it in my text.

Damn it. Skirt flipper didn't die.

Shinichi, you have NO ROOM, to call someone cursed when solving tricks like this has been your bread and butter for 880 episodes.

Why is Heiji lying to Kazuha? He doesn't need too. I guess he doesn't want to get in trouble with her for solving a murder over seeing the lights but staying to watch a movie being filmed isn't better of an excuse??? If anything, saying you're an important witness to a murder attempt and so it's best to stay there until it's solved than saying you're ditching to watch a movie be filmed and you'll catch up?!

Gosho really does want Heiji to copy Shinichi perfectly, even how he lies to his "love interest" when he doesn't need to.

Does Amuro have super hearing? Because he reacted at the best time to Heiji asking Shinichi who he was. Does that mean he just heard Heiji call Shinichi, Kudo?

Well if Amuro didn't hear he definitely knows now <.<

And you're terrible at protecting them. Except when it comes to gaslighting Ran and then you're sadly amazing.

Does Ran know how cute but very gay of her to tell Ran she loves her to try and cheer her up. This gal loves gals and couldn't stand her gal being upset because her love interest didn't join them. And now she knows that he lied to her <.<

The most unbelievable part is putting the carboard role back inside the toilet roll. Ah they acknowledged it was hard to do it.

They're half siblings. And Gosho had the guy flip this women's skirt. I have half siblings, they've never flipped my skirt.

Gosho really likes incest.

And miscommunication strikes again. Heiji has no right to lecture someone about this though.

I wonder what they're going to do with Momiji.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

We have Academy Episode 44 and I already want more. So we do resolve the stuff with Corazon, he's fine and after a couple of days to heal we get everyone together to debrief. (Can I see them? Yohohohoho) Seriously though, we do get an update on the Oni Middle Recon Team. Not too much though because they couldn't hear over Queen's Zoomin-Zoomin-Zoomin. Y'all should know by now I'm being serious when I say things like that. Sadly no Kiku, the mention Yamato not being there briefly, but it is very similar to the scene where we came back from Wano setting up there was stuff with Kiku we didn't see. Very short recap.

They saw a meeting with the Tobi Roppo assembled where Vergo shows up. Keeping up this trend of a jumbled New World Saga plotline. What I do find legitimately interesting is how we put the uniform game on display here. You can see Ulti very visibly in the very different Oni girls' uniform. Vergo also has a scene of switching them. Recall that was the fun little "read between the lines" thing with Kiku when this started. We had no way of knowing they were different yet, but she was wearing a New World Middle uniform which makes sense through context we cement in all this with Law/Cora. We've seen Izo a few times, people tend to live with their first family in this verse. Ergo, Kiku & Izo might still be like, at a dance school and it wouldn't be unrealistic for Kiku to be in a situation like Brook studying abroad at a music school. Working part-time as a model or something. There's one more thing here that makes me think of that even if she's not in this chapter directly:

I'm as incredulous as Luffy is to see Cora without his hat. So he can take it off...

This conversation is all about big brothers, weirdly enough it's Luffy who has the most faith in Doffy to do the right thing. But Cora goes off on a tangent during about how he's coming back to school and you can think of him as a 2.5 year student because does anyone actually care about the school part of this? That does actually play well with how Yamato described Oden & the Akazaya several chapters ago. That they were students in the past but delinquents who hopped between Oni/New World. All that to say we got our update on the Oni Recon team, it played back into making sense of our Marine side ventures, and just so happens to do it in a way that plays nice with our girl's cryptic shit in the background. All set up to come to a head with a promise Doffy will show up in time if Kaido attacks...

Well damn, that was fast. So we gonna get Monet in here or are we being exclusive with the big brothers theming? Her and Sugar finally getting to be together would be a treat. Check Dellinger's outfit, lil psycho Momiji Sohma over here. Baby 5 is one of my absolute favorite designs in this series. The headband and extra frills on her skirt. I assume the flames on Doffy's pants make him go faster.

Uh yeah...looks like this may be all coming to a head soon! Academy has really matured into telling a compelling narrative in its own right on top of making excellent use of a known cast in a different setting.

[momoliee]

Watching, fruits basket, i surprisingly didnt have a favorite ship or care for the romance at all.

rather, i was more invested in the toxic abusive family and all the ways the characters dealt with their trauma and how they’ve overcome it at the end.

starting with the more ‘obvious’ trauma, aka kyo, basically being the black sheep of the family and dealing with it by becoming someone who constantly runs away, only sees himself, and whose whole survival revolves around protecting himself first and foremost even if his methods were harmful to others. which is, obviously, understandable and valid considering how no one was there for him and everyone was against him, so whom does he have but himself? if he wont fight tooth and nail to protect himself then who will?

then there’s yuki, whose trauma was on the very opposite extreme end of the scale. he was placed at higher threshold than anyone; however, he enjoyed none of the supposed benefits as he was isolated and abused and tortured in private without anyone knowing. he wasnt allowed to have any friends, he wasnt allowed to associate with anyone, and he was the one closest to the abuser and was the abuser’s main vessel of venting, a literal punching bag. he bore most of the bruises in the family, and as a result, became distant and cold and a bit dissociated. his healing arc honestly healed me personally, seeing him get comfortable with being vulnerable, opening up, reaching out and most importantly, forming meaningful bonds with those around him. it was very precious.

there were characters like rin, who couldnt handle any of it and crumbled more easily than the rest of the characters, who at the end, wasnt able to forgive their abuser even when everyone else did. and there were characters like momiji, who were stronger than the rest, who bared with it all head on and as bravely as possible, who broke away first with their strong will and resilience, who forgave fastest too. there were characters like a-ya, who just wanted to escape and leave and be free even if it came at the expanse of others, even if someone else had to take their place and suffer in their stead. which again, is valid, but i loved that he grew stronger and felt guilty with time, and made sure to come back and atone for his actions even if it was too late, he still wanted to give it a go. and of course, there were characters like haru, who were the naturally kind and noble heros, ready to suffer at other people’s stead, ready to fight for others even if they’ll receive a backlash, ready to take care of others even when they’re receiving the same abuse. there were characters like hatori, who became totally apathetic and uncaring, easily accepting and passive, and on the opposite end there were characters like shigure, who developed a fucked up complex and codependent attachment to their abuser. there were characters like kureno, whom even tho they had the choice to leave, they still stayed out of pity and kindness, and characters like hiro, who gave no fucks from the beginning and wanted to leave cause what’s wrong is wrong, pity or no pity.

what im trying to say is, they were all stuck in the same abusive family, they were all VICTIMS of domestic violence and terror, yet they all took it differently, coped with it differently, and healed from it differently. and what makes this even more interesting, is how accurate each character depiction was, and how all these personas really do exist in real life. other than haru, none of them helped each other or stood up for the other, but then again, they were all victims doing their best to survive a terrifying environment. they were all very brave for doing so.

im happy that torhu gave them a healthier home where the idea of family was safer and more fun, where they could have fun together instead of dreading seeing each other. i do believe that each and every single one of them saved their own self, but tohru definitely gave them the space and place to do so, which was exactly what they needed

[sklives]

Some SK HeadCannon 🤩

Comission by Iluhscat on Instagram 💕

Well, I've always thought how Karin would confess to him. Just like Sasuke, she never would speak out lout, her character don't know how express this love she fell for him... Actually, when she try to do it, it's when she go all the way to hit on him.😅

So after all the cannon events on manga, team taka will travel together and after a while, each of them will follow their own journey. Juugo would go to kumokagure village, Suigetsu will find again his roots in the mist country an Karin returns to otokahure, join Orochimaru to find some cure for Juugo's curse.

The team will travel together until only Sasuke's journey left, but before that, in the last night they spent as a duo, Karin will have the courage to say, not with all the words, but she will tell 'The moon is beautiful, isn't?'

Seems weird, right? 🤭

Well, I studied Japanese for some time and in the Meiji era, the writer Natsume Soseki, when debating with some students at the time, suggested the phrase '月がきれいですね' which means 'the moon is beautiful, isn't it?' as a way of declaring to someone, a poetic way to say I love you (愛している). Why? Because in japanese culture it's not comum say 'I love you' directly.

I read recently other explanation that 月(tsuki) is phonologically similar to 好き(suki, another way to say 'I love you'), so it's almost like saying 好きがきれいですね。(loving you is beautiful, isn't it?)

Soooo, I wonder how Sasuke would react towards this confession and spontaneous momento of her. Sasuke seems clueless every time she hit on him, so here he would be somehow confused and after realizing what she does, Karin blushes and turn aways. In my mind Sasuke would confess with a gesture, so this can be way to a second part? 🤭

I like this idea because Sasuke is the representation of the moon in manga, and even if it hasn't been shown in the canonical work, Karin can be a representations for Maple trees.

That's just amazing because it's another contrast with NaruSaku. In Japan, just as the spring brings cherry blossom and hanami (flower-viewing) fastivals, the autumn welcomes moon viewing and momiji (maple) leaves, especially memorable when lit up at night.

It wouldn't be beautiful something like that?

A funny thing that I've thinking with this role HeadCannon history is a interaction between Sasuke and Sai. Before leaving konoha with Taka, Sai give a book for him as a gift to help him with his new emotions 😬 and it would be a really nice interaction between them.

[ivory-lamps]

A12: Traces of Family

Characters: Toi, Nagi & Akuta Location: Hama Summary: Nagi and Toi are asked by the protagonist to talk about the destination of their research trip. Nagi listens attentively to Toi speak about his missing brother… Proofreader: Shay

ㅤ

Translator’s Notes ☽.‎˖

Stye: This is a painful lump near the edge of your eyelid which looks similar to an acne pimple.

Momiji / Kaede: Oh, when you sent me a message asking if you could come over, I also called Toi-kun since I figured he should be here.

Toi: Thanks for having me…

Momiji / Kaede: As you can see, it looks like he’s just woken up, though.

Nagi: I see. Okay.

Momiji / Kaede: Alright, I’ll get to the main topic right away, then.

Nagi: You wanted to talk about the destination for the research trip, right?

Momiji / Kaede: Yeah but there’s something you need to know beforehand…

I need to tell you about Toi-kun’s older twin brother first. That’s why I called Toi-kun over.

Toi: ! You’re talking about Ani-sama!

Nagi: …You have an older twin brother?

Toi: Yes! He’s the greatest big brother in the world. He’s always thinking of me first and foremost, protects me all the time, always gives me the strawberry on his cake and when I get bitten by a mosquito, he’ll kindly use his nails to draw an X on the place I was bitten.

Nagi: An X…?

Momiji / Kaede: It’s that thing people do to get rid of the itchiness, right? They press their nails against the skin to make an X…

Toi: And Ani-sama will beat the heck out of the mosquito that bit me! And, and if I get a hangnail then–

Momiji / Kaede: Uhh, you lost contact with your brother, right?

Toi: Yes… He went missing… I tried using my divination to find him but it wouldn’t work properly…

Nagi: …”Missing”.

Nagi: (It’s just like what happened… to that person.)

…Can you give me the details? When did you last see him? Did he act strangely?

Momiji / Kaede: (Nagi-kun is proactively asking questions… Anyone would be worried when a family member is missing, huh.)

Toi: The last time I saw him was around three weeks ago. Ani-sama hasn’t been coming home even before that, but we would chat every day all the time on PeChat and would almost always meet outside the manor.

Momiji / Kaede: (Come to think of it, Toi-kun mentioned that his brother isn’t on good terms with their family…)

Toi: Then, one day, when I woke up at night, he was right beside me and told me that he wanted to see me.

I couldn’t tell if it was real or a dream since I fell back asleep right away… But I still remember how warm his hand felt when he patted my head…

Nagi: ……

Momiji / Kaede: If he came to see you before he went missing, then does that mean he made up his mind to go off somewhere…?

Nagi: Anything else that seemed strange?

Toi: Something else…

Ah!

Momiji / Kaede & Nagi: !

Toi: He had a cool eyepatch on! He said he got a [*]stye.

Momiji / Kaede & Nagi: ……

Momiji / Kaede: …That’s an important piece of information.

Nagi: Yeah. It'll be helpful in our search.

Momiji / Kaede: I ended up explaining things afterwards, but actually, I promised Toi-kun I would search for his brother if he agreed to work at HAMA Tours.

Of course, I’d still help even if I didn’t make that promise, though.

Toi: Thank you so much…! My divination told me that I’ll need the guidance of all the Night Group members in order to find my brother.

Momiji / Kaede: And you found a clue that may lead us to his whereabouts yesterday, right?

Toi: Yes. I usually perform the divination by borrowing a certain being’s power, but after doing the divination on my own, I finally managed to slightly “see” something.

Nagi: ……

Toi: He’s in the far, far north.

A town with a large hill lined with several trees. A seaside town and a red-brick warehouse.

That’s where I foresaw myself meeting my brother in the future.

Nagi: ……!

Momiji / Kaede: According to Toi-kun’s divination, it seems that’s the sort of place we’ll need to visit.

I did some research and found out that the only place that matches those descriptions is Hakodate.

Nagi: Hakodate… Hokkaido, huh.

Oh, so that’s why you want the destination of the research trip to be Hakodate?

Momiji / Kaede: Yeah. I was thinking of choosing it so we could look for Toi-kun’s brother too but… what do you think?

I’d love to hear your opinion as the leader, Nagi-kun.

Nagi: ……

……………

Momiji / Kaede: …… Nagi-kun?

Nagi: Oh… Sorry.

That’s fine, of course.

Actually…

Momiji / Kaede: Yeah?

Nagi: ……

Momiji / Kaede: ……?

Nagi: Well, family’s important, after all.

Momiji / Kaede: Yeah! Right? Okay, then the destination for our research trip will be Hakodate!

Toi: Thank you two so much!

*Sounds of knocking*

Wha! That gave me a fright…!

Momiji / Kaede: Judging by that knock, it sounds like Akuta-kun.

Akuta: It’s time for the Friday Film Show~!

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[beesonhoneytoast]

FruBa Music Tastes Headcanons

a/n: been wanting to do this kind of post again for awhile now, and i finally got the inspiration to do it! enjoy! :3

🍙Tohru Honda🍙

A lot of lofi/instrumental stuff. Usually for when she’s cleaning or doing some chores around the house. Otherwise it’s Taylor Swift (don’t look at me! The Kyoru edits made me do it)

🐈Kyo Sohma🐈

To be honest I think he listens to whatever Tohru likes (god he’s hopelessly in love with her it’s pathetic)

🐀Yuki Sohma🐀

I honestly don’t know what Yuki would listen to, he’d probably have a little bit of everything?

👘Akito Sohma👘

Probably traditional Biwa music, idk. Akito is a tricky one.

🐕Shigure Sohma🐕

Like Kyo to Tohru, I feel like Shigure would listen to whatever Akito would like.

🐇Momiji Sohma🐇

Now from my chat with my Momiji bot on c.ai, it mentioned it liked Hozier. And I can see it to be honest. Hozier makes a lot of R&B and blues, and I can honestly see Momiji vibing with that. 

🐉Hatori Sohma🐉

Jazz. I don’t make the rules (but I do) mans likes his jazz cos he’s a very sophisticated guy. 

🐄Hatsuharu Sohma🐄

Metal. No elaboration will be made

❤️‍🩹Arisa Uotani❤️‍🩹

It’s a tie between either girl in red or Conan Gray. Perhaps both. Both is good.

🖤Saki Hanajima🖤

She listens to Phantom of the Opera on loop like me. No elaboration. Moving on. 

🐍Ayame Sohma🐍

Todrick Hall and any other queer musician that has walked the earth.

🐗Kagura Sohma🐗

Definitely listens to Vocaloid. Oh and those cutesy songs you find on playlists for relaxing. She scours the internet for every last song on them.

🐒Ritsu Sohma🐒

MY BABYYYYYY AGHHHHH

Now for those who haven’t read My Girl (which you definitely should), I stated that Ritsu is a girl in red fan. She also likes Taylor Swift, Halsey, and AURORA, though. Also Madonna and ABBA, Blondie, maybe Joan Jett when she’s feeling daring.

Def would apologize for her music taste if you don’t like it like no bby it’s okay 🥺🥺🥺

🐅Kisa Sohma🐅

Baby Shark /j

🐏Hiro Sohma🐏

Would sing Baby Shark with Kisa cos he loves her 🥹

🐎Rin/Isuzu Sohma🐎

Marina and the Diamonds, and also Mitski. 

🐓Kureno Sohma🐓

I feel like he listens to Michael Bublé. No reason why, he just does and that’s on my headcanon.

[masterdetectivexx]

Hey bro, any thoughts on the latest files with Heiji and the monks? What about that easter egg for the next case, regarding that long lost detective that will be back, is Gosho hinting at Saguru? Or just Shinichi? Do you think the next files could be Rum arc resolution?

File 1116-1118 Review

I enjoyed the case a lot overall. Already starting from File 1116, Ran was getting a proactive role in the Heizuha romance plot, which I found so refreshing and endearing (since Ran has gotten so sidelined lately).

The whole monk themed case was a such a nostalgia trip as well, and I love how Gosho also gave our other Mouri, Kogoro, a proactive role in the case, showcasing once again his judo moves.

As for the Heizuha confession build up, that started since File 1113 (Muga shinkansen case), contrary to my expectations, it still didn't pay off in any way, as Heiji once again failed due to forgetfullness (File 118), despite Ran's efforts.

What however made this quite disappointing was that even the Hyakunin isshu tournament setup from the previous case was also resolved off-screen and didn't remain as a potential plot-thread to a future official confession case setting. However, that very same Momiji scene that resolved the tournament setup also gave a teaser/foreshadowing to Momiji potentially starting to act more actively towards her romantic goals with Heiji. She referenced a Hyakunin isshu poem that bears a similar message to "time is money", where she mentions that time can easily pass by in the blink of an eye if one keeps acting indecisive (File 1118), as if she is planning on officially making her move soon.

This could be Gosho still building on the confession-anticipation momentum from the this and the previous case, and that the next upcoming case could still tie into the Ōoka/Heizuha subplot in some way as the official confession case approaches. If not, then it will truly feel like Gosho wasted an actual opportunity of building up tension towards an eventual confession.

As for the teaser of a long lost detective finally reappearing in the next case, it does fit with the idea of it being Hakuba Saguru (who fans have kept nagging Gosho about when he will return in DC). This also fits with the AC teaser that he will be drawing a vertical double-spread magazine cover featuring Kid.

While this may seem as an immediate confirmation that it will be a Kid case and that there will be no further Heizuha/Ooka material in the next case, there is still potential that Gosho is actually planning on intertwining them again, like in Fairy's lips case (File 1018-1021) & Queen's bangs case (If the falcon elder is Former prime minister [FPM] Ōoka). This is due to Gosho also promoting M27, which is a Heizuha-Kid Movie, in the same magazine as the double-spread, and he also teased in another AC that he will be drawing the Naniwa (Osaka) duo in the poster art for M27.

In other words, there is still hope that Momiji's teaser in the latest chapter bares importance in the following Kid case. Also, if the ongoing speculation that the falcon motif seen with the Falcon elder belongs to the Ōoka family and that they are related to Hakuba Saguru (who has his own Falcon pet) is true, then this upcoming Kid/Hakuba case would further be inviting more Ōoka/Heizuha material (that potentially keeps the Heizuha plot streak going).

While not impossible, these AC teasers does lessen the chance of us getting Rum climax in the upcoming case, unless the teased detective was meant to be Shinichi all along (which I currently feel is unlikely, since Crimson School Trip did not happen too long ago).

[herrscher-of-binding]

flamechasers highschool au pt. 2!

highschool au headcanons, reader is a transfer student! g/n reader x flamechasers 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐒𝐮, 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥-𝐕, 𝐊𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧 & 𝐒𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚

one / two / three

Author's Note: Little reminder that these personalities i'm writing are the flamechasers before MOTH, when they were actually in highschool, save for a few of them (i'd base their personalities off the golden courtyard anime instead) Also, sorry that it's a little short this time! I'm really busy right now rip Sorry for the awkward Kevin hcs too, i'm a big fan of Kevin x MEI so it feels weird to write hcs for him and reader

• Su would be the one to greet you first. He's studying to be a doctor so asian parents all around the world would be very pleased- Anyway, he often applies his medical knowledge to almost everything he does, which makes him somewhat odd compared to others (what can i say? he loves his field of study). He'd definitely be in the gardening club. Su often makes lunch for you and leaves it on your desk. You would sometimes eat lunch with him on the rooftop, the cool wind there is refreshing, he says. • Vill-V would make herself known by showcasing...whatever crazy machine she had come up with that day. Every day your stationery would slowly one-by-one turn into some fancy gadget like an eraser that can shave your pencil or a pencil case that can extend into a bag...more often than not, these inventions end up in failure and well, malfunction jusssssttt a bit. Like that time your pencil started eating the table... uhm, yeah. Yet always, you would be supportive of her inventions, willing to be the "scapegoat" for the lack of a better word. Would any club accept her? Robotics perhaps. • Kevin would not make the first interaction, he's far too shy for that. In fact, you would most likely only get to know him through others. He doesn't talk much but when he opens up, he does feel a lot warmer. He would take you to concerts or movies for dates, he doesn't really know what suitable places for dates are so he usually just does what he sees other couples are doing. He often tries to cook for you, but the food ends up tasting...a little less than satisfactory. You still eat it though, so that he's more encouraged to do what he likes. • Sakura would greet you in a more formal way, most of her speech is like that. She'd definitely be in the Kendo club, can't see her anywhere else. Sakura often accompanies you to school and spends her free time with you. Dates with Sakura include but are not limited to fancy dinners or even a cafe every now and then. She'd also watch movies with you in the comfort of your own home, with homemade snacks and drinks in hand. During school, Sakura would eat lunch with you in the school courtyard, under the pretty cherry blossom trees when they're in full bloom. Otherwise, the two of you would be in the garden, with the Momiji trees instead.

[cinderella-ish]

5, 8 through 13, and 18 + 20 for the Furuba asks!

Woohoo! Thank you for sending this! (ask game here)

5. not at all! I was born in the year of the horse, so maybe that's part of why I felt such a disconnect with Rin at first.

8. I have to go with Chapter 88 (the Cinderella-ish play)! I know I already gave the corresponding episode as my favorite, but it's just SO GOOD! It's hilarious and heartbreaking and has beautiful character moments for much of the main cast. It's almost a credo statement for the series. And Hiroshi's brilliant narration is the cherry on top!

Question 9 answered here | Question 10 answered here

11. Yuchi is my OTP ❤️

12. The fabulous Yukeru writers on Ao3 have me shipping them. Same for the YukiKyo (? what's their ship name?) writers. And I've really come to love some of the rarepairs I'm writing for my longfic Bloom Within Us. I'll put them under a cut down below for those curious.

13. Ooh, this is such a good question! Right now, I think my answer would be Momiji & Kyo because of the series I just finished writing. I have a soft spot for Yuki & Kakeru, of course, and Yuki & Haru, as well as Tohru & Arisa & Saki. I also really enjoy Kyo's sibling-esque dynamic with Arisa.

18. Ok, to combine 18 and 20, here are two hot takes that sort of deal with character headcanons. Let me know if you want to hear headcanons for someone else, or more fleshed out hc for these characters.

I think my hottest take is that Tohru needed Kyo more than he needed her. I don't think she had anyone she let her walls down for beyond him; not even her best friends. Kyo at least had Kazuma, and he was pretty candid with Momiji, too. Tohru regularly refused to let people take care of her (except for Kyo), and she would've been trapped in her grief & unable to move forward without him. Kyo would've struggled, and he may not have survived, but while they both would've had friends, he would've at least had a loving parent who would've done anything for him.

While Bloom Within Us ultimately has a positive outcome for Kyo after Tohru dies, I've been thinking about writing a sort of companion piece where Kyo dies and Tohru has to grieve him. I believe that would be a much sadder story, especially with the timing related to her processing her grief for her mother and choosing to move forward with Kyo. We saw in the hospital arc how hard of a time she was having just thinking he rejected her. She'd also struggle with how the other cursed Sohmas - some of her dearest friends - treated/viewed him, and that might create a rift between her and her new found family. If he disappeared, I just don't think she'd be able to cope.

It's also probably a hot take that Shigure only gets as much hate as he does because a) people take aspects of the manga seriously that Takaya never intended us to take seriously (like his "high school girls" song. Creepy, yes, but that's a Takaya problem, not a Shigure problem.) and b) he's so full of self-loathing that he says he's not "kind" and "the worst kind of man" and people take him seriously for some reason. If you actually look at his "unkind" actions, they consist of a) speaking honestly and directly to Akito without first fawning over her, b) actually trying to break the curse (sure, he and Hatori and others refer to it as "using" Tohru, but the way he was "using" her was to try and help the younger Zodiacs form strong bonds outside the curse and to house a lonely, homeless teen), and c) sometimes asking insensitive questions or speaking uncomfortable truths. And yes, he was cold to Mayu, and yes, he slept with Ren (which is maybe the most bananas thing that happens in Furuba), and yes, he fucks with people for his entertainment (especially Mitsuru and Mayu, though, again, Takaya signals we're not supposed to take that seriously). But then we see him trying to cheer Hatori up by bringing him to the lake house, or giving Kyo guidance (and a place to live) from the day he appears, or removing Yuki from Akito's abuse, or using his cunning to get Tohru to relax and have fun, or at least stop stressing so much.

I truly think his speech about kindness came from self-hatred and not from some deeply-held belief about the meaninglessness of things like kindness. I think his speech about being the worst kind of man was again from self-loathing and not something he was proud of. And when he provoked Tohru about Kyo, I also think that was borne of his self-loathing and guilt over how the Zodiac viewed the cat.

Anyway, I know you aren't a Shigure hater, so this probably isn't terribly controversial to you. 😅

Oh, also, I read Arisa as straight. She totally gives me queer vibes, but the fact that she likes Kureno because he reminds her of Tohru, yet she doesn't like Tohru that way... I see that as confirming her straightness, tbh. (I still love AUs where she and Saki are together! They're cute!)

Rarepairs in Bloom Within Us below the cut! (These could be read as answers to 18/20, too!)

Yusuke and Kagura get together in chapter 32, and Hiroshi and Momiji finally get together in chapter 67. In Bloom Within Us, mourners sort of converge around Kyo due to his closeness to Tohru and help him through his initial grieving period. This leads to a situation where Kyo kind of slowly becomes the center of the Sohma family, hosting regular group dinners at the dojo and becoming close (to a degree) with all the formerly cursed Sohmas. Since he always was close with Momiji and Kagura, it made sense to me that he might connect them with Hiroshi and Yusuke. I don't give Yusuke and Kagura a lot of focus, but Hiroshi is basically the second protagonist of my story, and the relationship between him and Momiji (and Hiroshi's development to be ready for a relationship with Momiji) is one of the most important subplots. I've really grown to love them, and might write some more content with them just because I adore them so much. (And Yusuke and Kagura are cute together! But I'm not really interested in exploring them any more.)

I haven't written the chapter where Kyo and Saki get together, but yeah, Kyo ends up with Saki.

I always read Saki as having repressed romantic feelings for Tohru. Due to her extreme loyalty and her powerful wave-reading abilities, I think she'd catch Tohru's message to Kyo (to keep moving forward) and ensure she passed it on first opportunity, thus saving his life. And I think Kyo, with his people skills and unfortunate familiarity with grief, would be the one to figure out how Saki felt about Tohru.

In my story, Kyo has to first decide to live. Once he truly does that, he starts pursuing a future as a karate instructor, realizes blaming himself for everything only hurts the people who care about him, and finally decides to allow himself to fall in love again. He's already in love with Saki by this point, and has been for a while, but he's a dumbass about love and it takes him a while longer to realize how he feels, and even longer to decide to do anything about it.

I think it's possible to read Kyo and Saki as having sexual tension in canon. That plus them playing the prince and Cinderella in Cinderella-ish makes them a fun couple to explore.

Anyway, I think there's a strong case these couples would get together in a universe where Tohru dies, but not in any other universe.

Thank you for asking! This was fun!

[nuri148]

Unpopular Opinions game: ❤️💚💖

Ooooh let's see! As you probably know, my current brainrot is AoT, so I'm focusing on that for this dissertation 😆

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

I'll admit that, while I'm open to various ships, probably over 90% of what I read is rivamika and so my picture is pretty cropped. Also, I'm not afraid of the back button. But there are versions of Levi I've read that make you go "who is this character and why's he named as my blorbo?" It's worse in the few self-ships I've read (make him look more babygirl than Momiji Sohma) but he tends to be portrayed way, waaay more sweet and articulate than he is in canon. I can sort of forgive that up to some point, however, bc it's fanfic and it's self indulgent and we like to idealize our blorbos. I guess if my fave was Erwin, or Jean, or whoever, I'd tend to see their mischaracterizations more. However, the mischaracterization that stood out to me the most was in a rm fic where Mikasa acted the absolute opposite of herself. It was a modern AU, but it wasn't a case of different setting-different life-different traits (like, say, an articulate Levi in AUs where he had a good upbringing). She was downright vindictive, manipulative and conniving in that one. I recall I left a kudos after the first chapter because it had started well enough, but by the time I finished I couldn't bring myself to leave a comment. The story itself was interesting, but it was so far removed from her character that I just couldn't.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

Age.

I've laid my case here. (and rb and linked ad nauseam)

And was very glad that an actual psychologist recently argued in a similar note.

💖: What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

This is a hard one as I don't go around making popularity contests. One might be Levi's age, as still most fics make him 15+ years older than the 104th.

But the one I think is the most unppopular is that Eren can't possibly know what percentage of humanity he destroys in the Rumbling. He can't, NO ONE can at that point, because the actual extent of the damage and body count can't be known until weeks, if not months, after the Rumbling stops (they don't have internet or satellite phones so data assessment and communication takes time), and because the titans are no more after his death, he cannot remember this info from the future Attack titan (it's a closed time loop, so they can't see things in paths from after the time loop). It's just a silly thing, if you ask me, it's just an oversight from Isayama, who has proven to be shit with numbers, and he could have just said he wiped out "most of humanity", with Armin confirming the number in the epilogue. But people won't hear any of it.

(on a side note, 80% of humanity does not mean 80% of territory, as people are distributed unevenly across the globe)

Thank you so much for your ask! And sorry it took me so long to answer. These questions are food for thought and I've been so busy I've had little time for that!

[ultraericthered]

One Villainous Scene: Evoking The Wrath Of God

We're two for two on creepy scenes of evil anime girls revealing that they're akin to God to good anime girls, and this one's even creepier!

Like, what can I even say to this one? It sort of speaks for itself. It's smack in the middle of the whole story, by which point we've already seen enough of Akito Sohma to know what a menace she is, and in this mini-arc in particular we've spent more time with her than we'd normally be comfortable with. Each time Akito and Tohru Honda share a scene and interact with each other, there's another layer of Akito pulled back for Tohru and the audience to see. This is their second meeting, and it's when Akito pulls down the facade of "man" to reveal the thicker layer of protective armor she keeps underneath - the monster. Or as she would rather call it, the God of the Zodiac.

Coming to Momiji in her normal calm, calculating, precise and polite mood, Akito, in the blink of an eye, switches to screaming rage as she strikes Momiji across the face, but then just as fast switches back to her earlier mood the second Tohru is on the scene and she's heard her voice. But then Akito's wrath returns, only this time she keeps it reigned in. She's not flying off the handle, she's in control of the spite and rage bubbling inside of her, the words she chooses to say and the actions she opts to take in accordance to it, and that is honestly far, far more frightening that petulant, screamy Akito. When Akito's off the handle, you can never quite predict what she'll do. But when she's like this, you're aware that she knows in her head exactly what she's going to do, but you're locked out of that head and kept in dread guessing what it is she'll do and how it'll effect the person she's interacting with in the moment and possibly long-term. And for the remainder of her time on-screen here, what Akito projects is nothing short of a tranquil yet toxic threat, not just to Tohru, but to everyone. She tells Tohru that no matter how many bonding experiences she has with the Zodiacs of the Sohma family, no matter how deeply she grows to care for them, no matter if she loves Yuki and/or Kyo, in the end nothing she says or does will matter to the lives and fates of these people. Because it's all been pre-ordained. Been "promised". The bonds tying the Zodiacs to their God since the God's birth shall ensure that they can all enjoy freedom for a finite period, make their own choices and live their own lives doing whatever, but eventually, once all the young ones have come of age and the fated time comes, they will all return to Akito and the main Sohma Estate, will live to serve and pleasure only Akito, from then until their dying days, after which the animal spirits and the bonds of God will reincarnate and the cycle will begin anew for the Sohma family. An "eternal banquet", Akito calls it. One that an outsider like Tohru is not to be invited to. This is the true nature of the Zodiac Curse. Akito's a victim of it as much as any of the other Sohmas, but she's come to feel she has no other choice but to play along and perpetuate that Curse upon the others, to terrorize, torture, and even break them with her tyrannical abuse whenever she sees fit, since they could never hold it against her or defy her. After all, she's their God. They were all born to make her happy just as she was born to lead all of them. They all "love" her, and she "loves" all of them, right?

After scratching Tohru's cheek in an eerily steady and gentle fashion, introducing her special cohort Kureno, the Zodiac Rooster, and once more getting up in Tohru's personal space and tugging at her hair locks as she tells her to "be a good girl and mind her own business from now on", Akito departs, leaving the lingering mood as cold, harsh, unnerving and ultimately empty and hurt as she herself is, with Tohru and the viewer still recoiling from the horror of what just transpired. And I think I'll let this post do the final sum-up for me:

It is hard to effectively write a truly loathsome villain. Go too light on making them hateable and they won’t come off as a serious threat. Go too heavy and they’ll seem so overbearingly cruel as to be unrealistic. Go too far in either way and you’re left with an extremely annoying character who sucks all the fun out of the show whenever they’re on screen. That’s why most writers default to comedic bad guys or glorious bastards who chew all the scenery; it’s easier to make those kinds of characters compelling. It takes skill to write a detestable bad guy who doesn’t just drag the story down with how much of a bastard they are.

I have never despised a villain- really, truly despised- as much as I have Akito Sohma.

And I consider that my highest possible compliment.

[throwaway-yandere]

Dearest Penpal,

How are you enjoying the festivities? I myself couldn't attend due to personal matters I have to resolve in my home nation. I terribly miss the scent of inazuman blossoms and their cuisine.

I wish I had more interesting things to say, I hope you don't find this letter a little lackluster than the previous one as I've already told you almost my entire life! How funny.

Liyue is peaceful yet bustling with activity as always. I find myself daydreaming about quitting my job and traveling like I hear a lot of travelers do. Perhaps I'll entertain the thought more if the heavens decide I'm worthy of a vision.

Looking forward to your response,

from Starlight.

a/n: sorry life is a mess, i hilariously got sick (still am, my head hURTS) and everything is a mess. from school, to genshin pulls (calamity!mika.), to my pentab not working, to idek anymore lololol anyways, incredibly sorry for the delay in letters! none of you deserve to be left hanging like that T_T. i'll just blame thoma in the lore-

From this yandere genshin secret pen pal event

✥ YOU GOT A LETTER FROM YOUR SECRET PEN PAL!!!

"Are y-you sure you didn't make this letter up?" Beidou asked, clutching the paper you handed out to her. The normally confident captain looked pale as her eyes trailed to read the passages repeatedly. You can only nod in sheer reluctance and stand like a good child waiting for a scolding.

"Yes, which is why I wanted to meet the Inazuman man you have boarding your ship..."

Beidou waved the letter in the air.

"KAZUHA! YOU MIGHT WANNA READ THIS, KID!!!"

Kazuha leaped down, landing with his anemo vision as support. Familiar maple leaves surrounded his fall— leaves you had seen attached to Widower Momiji's letters. You strike him as the man you were looking for, and knowing how Widower Momiji did not lack friends from well-raised circles, this "Kazuha" must be a fine gentleman as well.

"What's wrong, Beidou?"

She shoved the letter against his chest.

"Does this handwriting look familiar to you?"

Kazuha didn't even see the letter before he jolted and stilled.

"There's a familiar scent mixed in these pen strokes, a scent that should no longer exist..."

The man whom you assumed to be a wandering samurai unfolded the parchment, vaguely skimming through the contents. Despite how almost slapdash he read the letter, he craved the tenderness of your pen pal's handwriting. Some loops he traces with his thumb, while some he was too afraid to smudge. 

"It's been years since I last exchanged epistles with him," Kazuha spoke with no rancor or jealousy whatsoever. "

You could only blink. It appears you'd be dealing with constant flowery honesty should you also befriend him, but you don't seem to mind it. 

"So, do you think it's him?"

"There is no doubt about it," Kazuha answered his captain. "But that doesn't mean his way of communication isn't limited. If anything, this might just be Lady Guuji's way of rewarding him for his past heroics."

You grabbed the letter the samurai reluctantly returned, "huh? Forgive me for asking, but is my secret pen pal some sort of criminal or a government official? Because based on how you talk about him, he comes off as someone significant."

Beidou smiled awkwardly.

"The truth is, your pen pal is dea—"

"Is an honest man," Kazuha butted in. "Don't worry, I can vouch for him. He's the most resilient and bravest man I've met and I'm lucky to have had the privilege to call him my friend."

"Then why do I feel like you're hiding a crucial detail from me?"

Kazuha chuckled.

"Because he's your secret pen pal, and based on his current situation, he must be incredibly lonely and you're the only one he can talk to."

... A fair point. It wouldn't be right if you knew his identity while he doesn't have a sliver of an idea who you are in return.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Say, why don't ya share a drink with us? My treat, of course," Beidou proudly bumped her fist against her chest. "Oh, and by the way, this kid here is Kazuha. Kazuha, this is (Y/n)."

"Nice to meet you."

"You as well."

"Now that we've had our introductions, would I be able to partake in some sake, captain?" Kazuha teased, but his tone doesn't quite match his somber expression.

Beidou sighed.

"Just this once, I'll forget about your height and let you drink. You deserve it after reading that letter."

"Thank you, Beidou."

Kazuha turned to look at you, a gentle smile resting on his face.

"And Mx. (Y/n)? When you write a letter back, tell him that Kaedehara Kazuha received his greetings."