#yuki goes mobile

[writertothemaximum]

hi i want to request a sfw fic if its okay :3 yuuji with a reader who is anxious at all times and like really easily scared? like huohuo from hsr ( if you play hsr ) headcannons or anything is fine , and male reader please

omg yes it’s very okay!! I do play hsr, huohuo is such a cutie,, (I’m sure you are too anon!) (patpat) Anon, you might really like Kaito Yuki from the jjk mobile game! He has a really cute arc with Yuuji about overcoming his preconceived biases and fear of curses. (i’m really hoping someone translates the main story ;w; but that’s where it is) I hope you enjoy this little story :)

Yuuji x Easily Scared + High Anxiety Reader

// content // sfw, Established relationship, both of you are Juju tech students, reader has compulsive anxiety (thoughts about dying), but it’s okay yuuji will comfort you (and you will comfort him), hurt/comfort, ugly crying, I don't think I actually state the reader's gender anywhere but I was imagining male

-Getting through each day is like a roller coaster for you. Classes are difficult enough, especially when you constantly get compared to your peers, and then missions. Missions are a completely different subject.

-Luckily, your cursed technique isn’t exactly built for combat, but they need your expertise here and there, and every time you’ve gone, you’ve seen your life flash before your eyes. Being a sorcerer isn’t an easy job in any sense of the phrase, but the fact that this is commonplace? That this is normal? You’re saving people. You’re helping people. You’re doing your best, but your best isn’t enough, it never was.

…

You and Yuuji are cuddling on the couch, and a movie plays on the TV. It’s a horror movie that Yuuji’s been begging you to watch with him for a while now, and while horror isn’t your favorite, you’ve had to admit that it’s more enjoyable than you initially expected. A part of it hits too close to home, but there’s also something a bit cathartic about seeing people freak out more than you do. (Well, they are just acting. You’re not.)

Today, though, is a little different. You just knew the moment you got out of bed today that it was going to be a bit of a rough one. There’s just this tension in your fingertips, this rattling in your brain—It’s just not a good day. You’re on edge and you don’t know why. Did you get into an argument with someone? Did you forget to do something? Was it the mission yesterday? Oh god, it has to be the mission yesterday. It wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t your fault.

You could have died. You can die tomorrow. You look right at Yuuji and you feel his heartbeat pumping against you in a steady rhythm. You can lose him. It might even be your fault.

There’s a loud noise on the screen, and the monster jumps up and the screen cuts to red. Somehow, you’re screaming and there’s tears running down your face.

“Hey!” Yuuji shouts out, pausing the movie, turning his attention to you. “Are you alright? What’s up? Hey, come on.”

He’s so sweet, his voice is so sweet you could drown in it. It’s too much. It’s just too much all at once.

You find yourself babbling, tears running down your cheeks. It’s pathetic, god, you’re so fucking pathetic. Yuuji’s looking right at you. What is he thinking? Is he going to hate you? Because you started balling at a stupid fucking jumpscare?

His arms wrap around you, and you sniffle, feeling the soft fabric of his hoodie rub against the back of your neck. “It’s okay. I’m here, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” you mumble out, finally getting a grip on human language.

Yuuji just chuckles. “Why are you apologizing? I should be apologizing, I kept pressuring you to put on the movie.”

You squeeze Yuuji back, and his toned body is so soft, you can just sink in for hours. He’s like a furnace, and everything fills you with warmth. “I’m sorry for being pathetic and crying in front of you.”

“You’re not pathetic,” Yuuji says bluntly, his voice firm. There’s a pause, and Yuuji goes still. You feel him tense up just a bit. “You know,” he starts, taking a breath, “I’ve always admired you. Like a lot.”

You bite your lip. That’s a bit hard to believe. Clearly, Yuuji can tell.

“I mean it! Whenever I get scared, I think about you cheering me on. Whenever I doubt myself, I think about how hard you push yourself, and I just…” He’s sniffling now. “Fuck.”

“Yuuji?” you ask, and you turn to look at his face, but he’s wiping it against his hoodie. When he turns to face you, he smiles weakly, and there’s tears rolling down his face.

“I don’t want to lose you, alright?”

You hug him tighter—tighter than you ever have before. “You get scared? I can’t imagine…”

“I do!” he whines back at you, before rubbing his nose against his sleeve again. “Fuck.”

“Yuuji!” you shout out, and he laughs back at you.

“God, I love you,” he mumbles, before nuzzling the bottom of your chin. “I love how strong you are, I love how hard you work, I love how you push yourself to do your best. I love how much you care, I love how much you want to do the right thing.”

You bunch your shoulders up instinctively, pouting your lips. “It’s not…you don’t think it’s pathetic I’m anxious all the time?”

Yuuji chuckles weakly, and now his face is on your chest. His eyes are closed, and he looks at peace. “If you weren’t, it wouldn’t be you. I wouldn’t want it any other way.��

If you liked this story, please give the post a reblog, or send me another request :)

Thanks for reading!

[p5x-theories]

Do you think some of the Code-names for the phantom idols might change once gone mobile, like alternate names for Mont and Yuki, basically all the phantom idols whose Code-names are a part of their normal names, like Moko; To"moko".

Did you mean "once it goes global"? To be clear, the game is already available on mobile.

Anyway, I honestly don't expect them to change. Oracle's codename may have been changed from "Navi" in the English release of P5, but I think that's only because "Navi" is such a boring codename for the navigator character in English, and it had no real bearing on anything else, so it was an easy change.

Here, however, there are enough characters whose codenames are just parts of, or plays off of, their names, that it feels more intentional. I'm not sure if the point is just that Merope wasn't very good at coming up with codenames at the start, or maybe they were doing a joke that they realized they wanted to branch out from, or something else, but it feels like there at least was a reason behind it (whether that's changed or not since then).

Because of that, I feel like it's more likely that the global will keep these codenames the same. I could be wrong, of course! But that's what my instinct says.

[keep-on-trying]

Alright, my mobile data allowed me to watch WonderPre ep 12 from Crunchyroll without lagging, nice nice!

Couple thoughts on the ep. It seems my mobile data is bad with uploading images so, no images, despite me taking screencaps lol.

The way Satoru reacted to Iroha being happy to see him (because she knows Satoru knows about animals all alike so asking him about Yuki's odd disappearances is perfect!) was really, really cute, but also, the classmates clearly know Satoru has a crush on Iroha because they giggled with Satoru not understanding why lol.

Then, the way Mayu reacts to Iroha saying they're friends. Mayu clearly has some sort of background where either she's been unable to make friends with anyone before, or whenever she's made friends in the past they ended up backstabbing her or smth. I just know I kind of relate to her reaction here? She feels genuine happiness at Iroha being her friend. She even acknowledges her reaction to it is a bit odd and tries to act normal to Iroha.

Also, the episode really showcased cats well imo. They're elusive, able to do all kinds of tricks to get where they want (be it outside or hidden rooms or just out of a room lol), and well, can either be loving or very, well, "staring into your soul because not entirely happy". Yuki mostly seemed low-key pissed in today's ep lol.

Then the scene where Mayu rushed off after Iroha and Komugi because the girls really didn't realise they should have told Mayu to stay put and wait in peace because oh my god she got attacked by Garugaru and was shown to be in genuine horrified fear and my god the animators did an excellent job at that scene! Then Yuki- ahem, mystery Cure comes to save her and only utters same words as the blonde girl last ep did: You mustn't get involved. Yuki cares about Mayu so much fellas-.

Ahem. We also see that right now, Yuki is fighting Garugarus like a traditional Precure would. Physical fighting. It would seem she doesn't consider Garugaru to be corrupted beings, as well, no one has told her so. She thinks they need to be dealt with no matter what. It's only after Cure Friendy goes in front of the Garugaru that she stops attacking. Because Friendy knows it's a corrupted animal. That they don't deserve to be attacked for being corrupted, that deep down they're gentle animals deserving to be rescued. Nyammy's reaction to that says enough. She starts feeling conflicted about that, for sure. We'll see if she starts struggling next ep or whether she's not convinced about the change of battle style to chasing style yet. I guess she'd need to learn more from Friendy and Wonderful. Because those two have been told all the necessary info. While Nyammy is all alone, fighting Garugarus to make sure no harm can come Mayu's way. She's such a loving cat y'all-

So like, considering this ep pretty much aligns with my thoughts on the chasing scene decision and all, I'm quite curious of how things will develop. it is entirely possible the fighting scenes return later with a proper, perfectly reasonable way. Like the big bad wolf that's been teased couple times not being a corrupted being but actual, genuine bad fella who needs to be taught a lesson.

But yeh. For viewers it's clear who Nyammy is, but for the cast it's not yet. I am totally looking forward to seeing how Mayu's precure status comes to play, and how Nyammy ends up joining Wonderful and Friendy. Gosh this series has me hooked so well so far.

[gaiaxygang]

Blorbos From My Games: An Introduction

So you may have seen me talking about EnaMafu from Project Sekai. What the hell is an EnaMafu and why do they remind June Gaiaxygang of seemingly every PerthChimon pair in existence? Since my circle on Tumblr is majority Thai BL fans (unlike Twitter) this felt like a good time to make another Big EnaMafu Post wehehehhehe

Project Sekai: Colourful Stage

First off, what is Project Sekai (PRSK)? Project Sekai: Colourful Stage ft. Hatsune Miku is a Japanese mobile rhythm game launched in September 2020 featuring a cast of 20 original characters and of course, Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid friends. It features rhythm gameplay (obviously) as well as 5 main stories, and ongoing event stories.

We're currently at 3 years of service, and the characters have been aged up by a year! Because I don't read (I HAVE A BAD ATTENTION SPAN) I'll only cover what is neccessary for Ena and Mafuyu, but their stories are heavily linked to every other cast member, especially their unit.

In PRSK, several music-loving teenagers notice an 'Untitled' music file on their devices. Clicking on it transports them to another world, 'SEKAI', where they meet Hatsune Miku. Miku encourages them to pursue their dreams and helps them overcome fears and soar as musicians.

25ji, Nightcord de.

One of 5 units in PRSK is 25ji, Nightcord de. (aka Nightcord at 25 or Niigo!). They're an online music circle who make songs anonymously, communicating via messaging service Nightcord at 25:00, or 1 AM from roughly 2 years before the start of the story.

This unit consists of songwriter Yoisaki Kanade, lyricist Asahina Mafuyu, artist Shinonome Ena, and MV maker Akiyama Mizuki. The 2 I will focus on are Mafuyu and Ena, though I'll be making references to the others (and occasionally characters outside of their unit).

Kanade has loved music since she was young. One day, she writes a song for her father that wins a competition. This causes her father to later overwork himself, unable to live up to Kanade's composition, falling into a coma.

Kanade, blaming herself for this, sets out to write a 'song that can save people'. She posts music online under the alias K, where she eventually meets honour student Mafuyu, going by Yuki. Touched by Kanade's songs, Mafuyu wants to write lyrics alongside her. Soon, they are joined by aspiring artist Ena and social outcast Mizuki.

The 4 of them continue unit activities as usual, Mafuyu offline, until one day a file named 'Untitled' appears on Kanade's computer, together with a white-haired Hatsune Miku that urges her to 'find that girl, before it's too late'. Clicking on 'Untitled', the 3 are transported into an empty 'SEKAI', where the 4 meet for the first time.

Asahina Mafuyu

Asahina Mafuyu is the lyricist of Niigo, who goes by K online. Although she has a friendly exterior, she has long lost sight of herself under the weight of others' expectations.

Throughout her life, Mafuyu has always been pressured to be a perfect 'good kid' by her parents, especially her controlling mother who wants her to be a doctor rather than a nurse, which Mafuyu wanted to be when she was young. Mafuyu strives to meet these expectations, getting perfect grades and even becoming the class president in her second year of high school, and regularly participating in the archery club.

At some point, Mafuyu started to realise that her true 'self' had been lost. For years, she had changed herself over and over to fit into the 'good kid' mold to meet expectations of everyone around her. Unable to feel anything or have preferences of her own, she started wanting to disappear.

Upon hearing Kanade's song, she felt something stirring in her chest. This prompted her to reach out to K, eventually forming a music circle with her. She also writes her own songs under the pseudonym OWN, publishing them and gaining enough views to match Niigo's numbers on her own.

Mafuyu despises her natural talent. It has never been something she has wanted, and has always caused her pain as it led to people expecting more of her over time. She searches for something, anything that will save her to no avail, and her feelings manifest in the form of the Empty SEKAI, a world with nothing.

Shinonome Ena

Shinonome Ena is the artist of Niigo, drawing their thumbnail and MV art. The daughter of a renowned artist, Ena has strived to create art loved by many, often to little success.

Ever since young, Ena has loved art. She looks up to her father, Shinei, a well-known artist. She attended an art class and intended to apply to a high school with a specialised art course.

However, once Ena confides in Shinei about wanting to pursue art as more than a hobby, she is quickly shot down. Shinei tells her that she has no talent and cannot succeed in the world of art. The next day, when she attends her art class, her teacher Yukihira tells her that she won't be able to make it as an artist because she draws for attention from others rather than a love for art. This leads Ena to believe her art is worthless, but at the same time strengthens her resolve to draw and prove everyone wrong.

Ena was touched by Kanade's song. After hearing it, she drew illustrations based off the music. This prompted Mizuki to use her artworks for a fanmade music video of the song, causing Kanade and Mafuyu to reach out to them, officially forming Niigo.

Ena craves acknowledgement and respect. She has always felt inferior to others around her, especially those that she considered 'talented'. These feelings cause her to start to want to disappear, similar to Mafuyu. She wants to try hard, yet her efforts rarely bear fruit and she starts to wonder if it's worth trying at all. To fill the void in her heart, she posts selfies on social media, only to be disappointed when her personal account gets more interaction than her art account.

The Story: EnaMafu Cut

In main story, after finding out about Mafuyu's emptiness, her want to disappear and her activities as OWN, Ena is furious. She doesn't understand why someone like Mafuyu, with talent and recognition would be suffering, as those are things Ena has desired for a very, very long time. She is taken aback when Mafuyu points that Ena, too, wants to disappear and hates that of all people, it's Mafuyu that understands her pain.

Later in main story, Ena yells at Mafuyu, making her true feelings known. Deep down, she loves Mafuyu's music, her lyrics and screams and Mafuyu to not disappear because she has to keep creating on this earth, suffering with everyone who doesn't have the talent she does. Although this is honestly something you should never tell someone on the verge of suicide, it's something Mafuyu needs. Ena's bluntness, together with Kanade's promise to save Mafuyu, is enough to convince her to return to the real world and continue making songs with Niigo.

In the next event story, Imprisoned Marionette, we find out more about Mafuyu's relationship with her mom. Mafuyu's mom (I will call her ASHN Mama because she is unnamed) is controlling as well as verbally abusive, wanting Mafuyu to be nothing short of what she envisions. This makes Mafuyu feel like a puppet in a cage, dancing in her mother's palm. This is where, in my opinion, Ena starts to understand Mafuyu more. She sees for herself why Mafuyu is the way she is, even if she doesn't know what to do with these feelings in her heart, she wants to try to help.

The next event story is Ena's. In Unsatisfied Pale Colour, Ena enters an art contest against Shinei's suggestion. She wants to win it and prove Shinei wrong, but ends up proving him right in a way when she fails to win a single award. This, together with comments that suggest viewers of Niigo songs don't care about Ena's art on its own, lead Ena to start to consider giving up on art entirely.

Ena enters the SEKAI, starting to understand why Mafuyu came to it when she wanted to disappear. It's comfortable and silent, with nothing to disturb her or remind her of things that hurt. When she is found by Niigo, she confesses that she doesn't want to give up on art, but sees no reason to continue because her efforts will never amount to anything.

When Kanade and Mizuki reassure Ena of the importance of her art to Niigo, the blunt Mafuyu tells her something else. She tells Ena that in her eyes, she doesn't have a reason to give up on art. If she wants to be acknowledged by the public and by Shinei, she has no reason to stop drawing now. Niigo has to continue making songs as a unit anyways, so what's the point in quitting?

This. This is such a big moment to me. Although Ena needs reassurance, sometimes it isn't quite enough. And just like how Ena's blunt words got through to Mafuyu in main story, Mafuyu's honest thoughts get to Ena, too. Niigo give Ena support that she's never truly received, causing Ena to become more open about her feelings and concern for others, which is crucial in later parts of the story.

(dangerous romance folks. this is why i say ep 3 is the pale colour of drts. so much of it parallels kanghan's own arc and revelations in the end of ep 3)

As the story continues, EnaMafu takes a backseat. As Mafuyu discovers more about herself, her trauma and starts to feel something like warmth again because of Kanade in Mirage of Lights, Ena is also becoming kinder and softening up to her unitmates. She shows concern for Mizuki, who she notices is distancing herself from Niigo. This is shown best in My Footsteps, Your Destination, where Ena tells Mizuki she'll keep waiting for Mizuki to confide in her. (happy 2 irl years since, btw. no progress has been made!)

Niigo is slowly realising that ASHN Mama is the cause of most of Mafuyu's pain. This becomes more apparent as Mafuyu skips mock exams to spend time with Niigo and her grades in class start dropping, resulting in ASHN Mama trying to isolate Mafuyu further.. After discovering traces of Niigo on Mafuyu's laptop, ASHN Mama suspects there is a music-loving classmate encouraging Mafuyu to do music, distracting her from her studies.

Niigo is, of course, trying their best to support Mafuyu throughout this. It is Ena who takes the first step, in a way, on a rainy day after her art class.

The Big EnaMafu Event

Sorry. Header not necessary but it is my favourite PRSK event of ALL TIME. I was top 3000 I can prove this. Someday, This Wish Will Transcend The Morning Sky is an event that focuses on Ena and Mafuyu. The event title even references Mafuyu's surname (asa, meaning morning in this context)!

In this event, Ena is heading home from her art class (which she has since started attending again, despite quitting after what Yukihira said to her in middle school) when she runs into Mafuyu. It's starting to rain, yet Mafuyu is making no move to get out of the rain. Mafuyu is internally contemplating whether she should go back home immediately or stay outside longer, knowing that there's something about her home that makes her feel uncomfortable.

Ena, noticing this, invites Mafuyu to the Shinonome household. Shinei is currently out on a work trip, so it's only SNNM Mama (again, unnamed) and her younger brother Akito (from another unit, Vivid Bad Squad) at home.

Once they're in Ena's room, they call ASHN Mama, requesting for Mafuyu to stay over. ASHN Mama doesn't know Ena is one of Mafuyu's music friends, of course, but she doesn't want anything distracting Mafuyu from her studies. In response, Ena does the one thing she despises. She uses her father's name, saying that she is the daughter of artist Shinonome Shinei, who wants to draw Mafuyu for a project while Mafuyu helps her study. This works, and although Ena doesn't like it, she's glad Mafuyu is safe.

At dinner, Mafuyu starts to notice something different about the Shinonomes.

The Shinonomes aren't a perfect family, even without Shinei present. The siblings bicker, and SNNM Mama, while loving, sometimes fails to understand Ena (she is implied to have absolutely no idea about Shinei and Ena's fight but that's another topic). But it's warm. Mafuyu can feel the warmth of their family, despite their flaws, so different from her own. Asahina family dinners were always cold, despite them seeming like a perfect, quiet family on the surface.

Ena is the only one that can make Mafuyu realise this. Kanade lives alone as her mother passed when she was young, and her father is in a coma. Mizuki's parents and older sister work overseas, so Mizuki also lives alone. Ena is the only one who is able to show Mafuyu what a warm, somewhat normal family is like.

After dinner, the 2 return to Ena's room. Ena and Mafuyu have a heart-to-heart about what Mafuyu's feelings towards her mother. When Mafuyu expresses how she's afraid of letting down her mother, Ena starts to understand. Ena herself had similar feelings about Shinei, but while Mafuyu has suppressed her true self out of fear, Ena rebels and strives to continue doing what she loves.

This conversation also gets Ena to reflect on her own relationship with Shinei, realising that although their relationship is pretty much unsalvagable, she respects him as an artist and acknowledges that he didn't have bad intentions. Akito had previously talked to Shinei and told Ena that Shinei just didn't want to see Ena fail like several of his artist friends. Ena doesn't forgive him for this, continuing to avoid him as best as she can despite coming to an understanding.

Later at 1 AM, the two log on to Nightcord for their Niigo meeting. As Mafuyu starts to work on lyrics, Ena notices how focused she is. Although Mafuyu claims to have no dreams or aspirations of her own, her expression while she writes tells Ena something else. Seeing this, Ena gains inspiration for her art project and starts to draw.

Silently, Ena prays. Seeing how Mafuyu is like doing what she loves, Ena wishes that someday, Mafuyu will break out of her shell. That one day, Mafuyu will be free of her mother's chains, doing what she loves, no longer suppressing herself to make others happy.

This... this is an incredible event. It reflects EnaMafu's development, especially Ena's. From not being able to understand eachother (something that Marionette's event song, Jackpot Sad Girl highlights) to empathy and concern and even love (of the platonic type! or romantic idk up to you). It highlights why Ena and Mafuyu are important in eachother's lives, and how they have a role no one else can fill.

And that's pretty much all the major EnaMafu stories! Since then, Mafuyu has gotten closer and closer to finally escaping her mother. Some key events are Immiscible Discord, where Kanade reveals herself as Mafuyu's music friend and swears to ASHN Mama that she will never leave Mafuyu's side after realising there is nothing like love in her heart for Mafuyu. Another one is Our Escape for Survival, where Mizuki tells Mafuyu that sometimes, running away from your problems is okay as long as you face them someday.

(i... i really like mafuyu's card in this event. 1. RAIN MOTIF! not posting mizuki's but she's giving mafuyu an umbrella and getting drenched herself in it!!!!!! 2. holy hell that hairstyle and the piercings. i need it to come home during the rerun or i WILL die)

This all culminates in Niigo's final event before 3rd Anniversary, Saying Goodbye to My Persona. Here, Mafuyu finally cuts the strings binding her and admits her true feelings to her mother.

ASHN Mama, of course, rejects this. She is unable to comprehend that Mafuyu has been suffering all this time. She throws Mafuyu's phone into the fish tank and in response, Mafuyu runs out into the rain (!). Niigo search for her, and eventually it is Kanade who finds her. They hug, sharing in eachother's warmth in spite of the cold rain.

And that's where we're at with Niigo! Their next event is in like under a week so we WILL find out where their story goes soon... Ena and Mafuyu are now 3rd years, and Mafuyu is living with Kanade!

Why Ship EnaMafu?

I have been an EnaMafu fanatic since Pale Colour (my PRSK account proves it but I do not currently have screenshots...). They're opposites, yet they complement eachother so well. They're able to relate because they've both been mistreated by their parents, yet unable to comprehend because they reacted so differently to it. Mafuyu hiding away parts of herself and Ena becoming bolder, trying to rebel even if it hurts her.

They're able to see through eachother, and their bluntness (Ena due to her personality, and Mafuyu because she is unable to understand why her words might hurt) is something so unique to Ena And Mafuyu. They've become key parts of eachothers' lives, despite their initial conflict. Although Mafuyu has difficulty showing it (writing issues lol) Ena like all members of Niigo is someone she cares deeply about. And Ena, who has always been stubbornly supporting Niigo, slowly starts to open her heart up to someone she used to hate.

They also have 3 cover songs that highlight their similarities. Hello/How are you, about a lonely girl who just wants her voice to be heard (this is the one i think is kanghansailom). Hurting for a very hurtful pain, a song about, well... pain (i am not a vocaloid expert sorry). And my personal favourite, Love me love me love me which can be interpreted in a number of ways but is mainly about a girl crying out, desperate to be loved.

All of this drives me Up The Wall. I love their dynamic and development over the 3 years I've known them. I may be biased (I own like $100 SGD of Ena merch) but I really, really love EnaMafu!!!

So Why Does This Remind Me Of BL?

(this one is mainly for my bl mutuals you can skip this if you want)

The obvious answer is that I am unwell and like making my interests about eachother.

A slightly more serious answer would be that many have compared EnaMafu's dynamic and tropes to yaoi. Contrary to popular belief I do not read or watch yaoi so I cannot confirm this. But it sounds about right!

The actual answer is that it's because some BL characters have arcs that are similar to this. As I have pointed out many many times, Ena reminds me a LOT of Kanghan (Dangerous Romance). From the dad problems to how they've changed because of Mafuyu and Sailom (on Ena's side it's a group effort! But come on).

They're also very ChopperBen to me in quite a few ways. The obvious one being the parental problems (let's be real here.) but also how to me, ChopperBen have a certain level of... Misunderstanding... between them. They've led different lives and been through different things and have different personalities which is why the Bathroom Fight happens!!! Of course there are more feelings below it but it goes down to their fundamental differences in the end. Which is pretty much early EnaMafu.

(also because i erm. the enamafu fic i wrote from ena's pov is a scrapped ben pov chopperben fic? certain elements of it, not the whole thing lol. i was thinking about how ben likes to play off his very serious wants as jokes and how he can barely speak his honest thoughts, then i went, Wait A Minute. and wrote 500 words. you can read it here)

This is pretty much why my PerthChimon wishlist looks something like,

miserable teenagers (this one is likely knowing GMMTV)

unable to understand eachother for some reason (and its not funny)

burdened by natural talent and fears being untalented (self explanatory)

THANK YOU for reading my absurdly long post. I adore PRSK and EnaMafu and they've been my personality for 3 years and counting (PerthChimon gives them competition). You can listen to Someday, This Wish's event song I Nandesu here!

(and of course thank you @naomi-obsessions for reading and supporting my very unhinged enamafu posting <3_<3)

[remedyhunger]

Pjsk gundam AU ideas

Shinei tried to force Ena to stop painting after Mamanonome died. Telling her she’s not cut out for it and to focus on business. Ena goes against him and continues to paint after she moved out of her family’s home during junior high years in the academy. She paints in her greenhouse. Akito is not the heir of the business so he goes to school at another station, but he visits the academy to see how Ena is…after that one time when she was 14.

In this Au Kanade and Ena were actually friendly in her first year of high school, Kanade even liked her art. However Kanade, due to her secret had broken a promise to Ena and it’s been a little awkward for them. Especially since Kanade doesn’t know what the promise was.

Futaba is a earthian who was adopted. She and Ena met at the galas for the Shinonome group. They both had a love for art, but Futaba despite her ambitions swallowed her pride and instead focused more on business and management, in order to one day take over the branch her father is the CEO of.

Shizuku was known as the best pilot and is somewhat famous within the academy. She is also prideful of her piloting skills and keen senses. Until she first met Mafuyu and her world turned upside down, making all her hard work the past years mean nothing.

Mizuki has a secret and it’s not just that. They walk a fine line of being someone she’s not and wanting to stop the tension between spacians and earthians.

An is Mizuki’s best friend and will sock you if you ever make Mizuki cry. She has one heck of a right hook. She’s a first year at the academy and a pilot.

Mafuyu is not what she seems. All her life she only knew the comforts of Yuki her little sister/gundam and her mom’s mantra. Mafuyu is a little more naive in this au but still a people pleaser and doesn’t think for herself at the beginning. She is drawn to Kanade (El4n) and wants to help her like when she did during her first weeks at the academy. (Despite Ena also helping her while being tsundere about it)

Mafumama is a big spoiler because Elnora.

Yuki is also a spoiler because I still need to work out all the details.

If you guys have any ideas send me some asks. I really need more ideas

Mobile Suits

Gundam Yukionna (Mafuyu’s)

Kyudo (Shizuku’s) her first one is a Dylanza

Gundam Nightcord (Kanade’s)

Dylanza (Airi’s)

Vivid Demi (An’s)

Gundam Leo (Shiho’s) her usual one is a Dylanza

[deathemayor]

gatekeeping in general is annoying but vocaloid gatekeeping in particular gets me riled up because like. i remember when i surfed through the comments of the vocaloid unpopular opinions page on instagram and there would be an occasional Hot Take on these new young vocaloid fans that don't know much about vocaloid and therefore are not reeeaaally vocaloid fans.

which is like... yeah a lot of new fans make a lot of rookie mistakes and have some admittedly dumb misconceptions, but i feel like a LOT of older/veteran vocaloid fans were also like that when they first arrived 😭 vocaloid is a bit different from what a fandom is typically formed around yknow. its a broad category of tools and music and art and such, it's so.. non-central if that makes sense? so of course it would be confusing to a completely fresh new fan. im pretty sure thats why "is vocaloid an anime" is such a common question cuz new fans are trying to figure out What All Of This Is.

one "hot take" that really annoyed me was one that was like, "you're not really a vocaloid fan if you think miku/the six crypton vocaloids are the only ones that exist. you have to know gumi or flower or fukase at the very least!" NO!!! CUT IT OUT!! listen. i feel like the reason why a good chunk of fans might think miku and her friends (or even just miku) are the only vocaloids is because theyre everywhere!!! it goes without saying that miku is the most popular character. so, of course she appears in a lot of official vocaloid media, and CFM would throw in their own characters with her while they're at it. the concerts, merchandise, the games... they get the most cuz theyre the most popular, and probably the main media that new fans are exposed to when getting into vocaloid. im not surprised that it gives them a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to the very wide array of voicebanks and characters in vocaloid alone.

the video games in particular probably served as an introduction to vocaloid for a lot of people, myself included. i watched those project diva mvs soooo much (exposed me to many classic hits, which need i remind you primarily feature miku lol), and the project diva games only had the crypton 6. for a while, because of my exposure to vocaloid through project diva, i also thought the main 6 were the only ones. i remember when i was watching a trailer for project mirari dx on my 3ds, and one of the selling points in the trailer was like, "introducing... gumi!" (in reference to how gumi was a guest character in those games). and from that i genuinely thought gumi was a new vocaloid.

this also translates to how some ppl on that unpopular opinion page would sometimes speak about project sekai fans, aka the youngsters that are getting into vocaloid through the hot new mobile game and are posting about it on tiktok and whatnot. "aaa but they'll probably only think miku and her friends are the only ones!!" the project diva problem repackaged for a new generation i guess. at least project sekai actually includes music that features other voicebanks (gumi, flower, yuki, and ia to name some). sure, theyre not shown outright, but it's a lot better than project diva which exclusively had music with the crypton voicebanks. again, this is not a new problem 😭 (i mean, i guess ive also heard "aaa but some proseka fans think the ocs are vocaloids tooo" ...so?? that can be pretty easily explained away. who cares)

like let's be real... new fans having cringe misconceptions about vocaloid is not new at all. not every fan is going to be equipped with the vocaloid bible when they start investigating what all this hatsune miku business is after playing project sekai. some mistakes feel dumb, but the cool thing about dumb misconceptions is that theyre pretty easy to clear up when you actually explain things rather than shun baby fans completely.

ok im done rambling now. maybe this is a very specific and not at all widespread thought and my brain just got fried from looking at an instagram comment section. it happens sometimes. ive just been thinking about those specific comments and the more i thought about them the more it pissed me off lmao.

if you see this and somehow tolerated to read to the end, share your dumbest vocaloid misconception, if you had any (perhaps there were some fans that got their vocaloid bible upon entering of the fandom. or maybe i was a really stupid kid)

[asknarashikari]

Have you heard about the new Kamen Rider moble game, Ride Kamen?

It is basically pretty boys being able to transform into armours inspired by Kamen Riders or other characters. 16 are available at launch and half are already revealed.

Two of which are based on G3 and the Horse Orphoch.

Tsukasa sends a picture of the armour designs to Shouichi and Takumi. Both of them are blushing at the pictures and are screaming at Tsukasa.

Their husbands find out about the pics. Makoto goes all pouty at Shouichi and Yuki reminds Takumi who is his master.

After sometime, Shouichi and Takumi decide to get payback on Tsukasa.

How would the other rider react to this?

Look, I'm just here wondering why the heck they had to make pretty animated boys for us to simp over... when Kamen Rider already has pretty in-the-flesh boys for us to simp over. For example... why would I want an animated fake Hiromi when I can squeal over real life Hiromi (and also stare at his glorious naked shower pics)

Also, I kinda doubt that they'd really be embarrassed about this if the Kamen Rider Pinup Calendar is a thing (which it is in my hcs lololol) 😝 In that case, they EXPLOIT the fact people simp over them (for charity)... so why would they be opposed to a mobile game creating expies of them for the same reason

[cookiuu]

My Vocaloid High School au - random character layout

I got bored and started imagining. Please excuse any typos, this was typed out on discord mobile LMAO

Yes, I know not all of these are Vocaloids. T_T I usually use Vocaloid as an umbrella term for Vocal Synths in general lolol

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

Meiko - Senior who gave up on school a long time ago. Invites freshmen to parties. Pole dances competitively. Has many fake I.D.’s

Miku - Sophomore. The school idol. Everybody loves her. Will do your homework out of the kindness of her heart. Always gets too much chocolate on Valentine's day and hands them out to people who didn't.

Len and Rin - Middle school kids. Nobody knows how they got into the high school or what they're doing there. The don't go to classes, the just roam the halls every day. Some people say they've seen Len playing Fortnite in the computer lab. Rin is often seen filming a tiktok.

Kaito - Junior. Will do your homework for you out of fear but will do it badly because he's dumb. Wears a scarf 24/7, even in the summer. Seen paying the twins money to get him ice cream during class.How did he pass his classes? He tries his best, and the teachers pity him.

Gakupo- Senior. Flirts with anyone and everyone. Passes his classes effortlessly. Goes to parties but as the designated driver for Meiko. Tries to help Kaito study but you get nothing into that brain. Always seen in the bathroom fixing his hair. Sometimes joins in on Rin’s tiktoks.

 Luka- Junior. Everyone's babysitter and the only real mature one. Teachers assistant in almost every class. Totally overworked. Also tried to help Kaito study but fails. She convinces the teachers to give him extra credit.Meiko tried to teach her how to pole dance once but she fell on her head and passed out.

Teto- Freshman. Tries to be cool but fails miserably. Skateboards down the hallways to class every day. Pays the twins to go into the lunch line for her and get her more bread. 

Neru- sophomore. Would be a junior but got held back a year. Always on her phone. Doesn't really try to interact with people. People argue whether her or Len's hair looks more like a banana. She usually wins.

Fukase- Sophomore. Leaves stickers of Obama's face under the desks. Puts "poke me" stickers on freshman's backs. Has formed somewhat of an alliance with Len. Teachers sometimes mispronounce his name as "fuckass"

Piko- Sophomore. Always has to help the teacher with the projector. Theatre kid. Bros with Fukase. Need a phone charger? No matter what kind, he always seems to have one on him.

Seeu- Senior. Wears cat ears to school every day. If you sit behind her in class her hair will be all over your desk. Nobody has the heart to tell her because she'd be really apologetic. Tries to make freshmen feel included. Sometimes sneaks into the men's bathroom to help Gakupo tie his hair up 

Hime and Mikoto- Freshman. There are many debates as to whether Mikoto is a boy or a girl. Passing their classes. They somehow find a way to work together on solo projects. Always together, never apart. Theatre kids. 

VFlower- Junior. You can hear the rock and metal music loudly from her earbuds when she passes you. Probably deals drugs but doesn't do them herself. Really effortlessly cool. A chill person. Likes music but isn't a part of band. Sometimes seen hanging out with Fukase and Piko. Hacked Len's fortnite account once 

Kaai Yuki- A teachers daughter. Sometimes comes to school with one of the teachers. Everybody loves her. Helps out in the art class by making crafts. For some reason she seems to take a liking to VFlower. Braids Gakupo and Miku's hair. (If you can call it that. She doesn't know how to braid, but they let her anyway)

Gumi- Junior. Skateboards down the hallways but does it better than Teto. Bullies Gakupo relentlessly. Connects to random people's airpods and plays the gummy bear song at full volume.

Uni- Senior. Finished all her classes early and works as a teachers assistant. Does the intercom messages. Has a lot of free time. Always does the decoration for school events. Helps run clubs and plan events. 

Momone- Junior. A kind girl who enjoys cleaning. Often seen serving lunch with the lunch ladies. Organizes the library in her free time. Teachers love her. Often tries to start conversations with Defoko but gets no response. : ( 

Defoko- Library assistant. Has to be somebody's daughter because she's too young to be in highschool but nobody knows who. Doesn't talk much. Always has a bored expression on her face. 

Peke- Junior. Mute. Literally cannot talk even if she wanted too. Uses a notepad to communicate. People have tried learning sign language to talk to her only to realize she doesn't know it either.

(anything I do with this au will be tagged w #cookie's voca hs au)

[yoonxsoftie]

Making it Official

Pairing: Bokuto Koutaro x Reader

Genre: Mainly Fluff, Kinda Crack, Just a Little Spicy

Word Count: 1460

Summary: Y/N goes to a party to hang with her kinda boyfriend. Hijinx ensue.

Or, beer pong and spin the bottle, because why not?

Y/N enters the crowded apartment right behind Yukie. The main areas, living room and dining room, were almost packed wall to wall with drunk or tipsy college students. The lights were off but someone hooked up colored strobe lights, so an array of colors danced around the room. Loud, bass-heavy music pulsed through the space with a sea of bodies grinding and sweating on each other.

Yukie turns to face Y/N. “I’m going to find Eri.” She says, disappearing into the crowd before Y/N can respond.

Y/N scans the room of faces for anyone who looks familiar. She was looking for one person in particular; her almost-boyfriend. And as if the universe was answering her search, a boisterous voice pulls her attention towards the dining room area.

An audience has gathered around a pong table. She used her height advantage to squeeze through the wall of people. The dining room furniture was pushed back against one wall and contained a variety of snacks and alcoholic beverages.

Bokuto and Kuroo stand at one end of the table with Iwaizumi and Oikawa at the opposing end. On Bokutos’ end of the table, they still had eight cups standing. Oikawa’s side, however, only had six. But it was still anybody’s game.

Bokuto, the almost-boyfriend in question, had yet to notice that Y/N joined the audience; which was fine with her. He had a habit of trying to show off (more than usual, which is saying something) whenever she was around, and it never ended well.

“Come on, Oikawa. Show us all why Shoyo calls you the ‘Great King’.” Bokuto taunts, as the setter releases the ball into the air. It bounces off the rim of the front cup and falls down over the edge of the table to the floor. This causes both Bokuto and Kuroo to whoop with cheers of delight. The game continues on for a while, with the two duos trading shots. So long, in fact, that Akaashi and Kenma eventually appear on either side of Y/N.

“So, how long have they been dominating the table?” She asks the two setters.

Kenma sighed, playing a mobile game on his phone. “Since they set up the damn thing.” Akaashi answers. Y/N laughs softly.

Sounds about right. 

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Bokuto cheers after both he and Kuroo sink the pong ball into the final cup of the opposing side. The winning team high-five each other and everyone around them as Iwaizumi ushers a grumbling Oikawa away from the table to a different part of the party.

“Well, since we demolished all of you at pong, who wants to play Spin the Bottle?” Kuroo shouts over the music and chatter.

Kenma huffs beside Y/N. “What? Are we in middle school?” She begins to cackle at the boy’s dry sense of humor and Bokuto finally realizes she’s there. In seconds, he’s standing in front of her.

“Have you been here the whole time?” He asks. She shakes her head. The crowd shifts as new people take over the pong table and onlookers move out of the dining room and into the living room or kitchen. Bokuto helps lead Y/N down the hall to a bedroom, trekking after Kuroo and several others.

“No, I got here during the second half of that round. Yukie dipped as soon as we got in the door. So, I was looking for you. You did really well, by the way.” Her words make a huge grin spread across his face. Y/N glances around the bedroom, taking in the people who had come for a rousing game of Spin the Bottle. From the looks of it, it was five ladies and five guys. Excluding Kenma and Akaashi who made themselves comfortable on the bed; clearly uninterested in playing.

Before Bokuto can continue their conversation, Kuroo is giving everyone directions.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to sit in a circle, alternating genders. I’m allowing everyone one, and only one, respin, just in case you land on someone of the same gender or whatever reason you may have. Make sure to use it wisely.” He explains to the room. Everyone sits down on the floor and gets comfortable, Nishinoya places an empty bottle in the center of the circle.

“You sure you guys don’t want in on the action?” Yamamoto turns to jeer at the two on the bed. Kenma only shakes his head, too immersed in his game. Akaashi waves his hand as if to say, Pass. 

Y/N sits cross legged between Bokuto and Yamamoto. The rest of the circle was Yukie next to Yamamoto, then Kuroo, Misaki, Tanaka, Kyoko, Nishinoya, and lastly, Eri. It wasn’t a big group, but it was enough people for a decent game.

“I will go first!” Tanaka shouts. He spins the bottle and it lands on Eri. He raises a suggestive eyebrow at her and leans forward. She gives him a quick kiss and sits back in her spot, cheeks burning bright pink.

Because he’s next to Eri, it’s Bokuto’s turn to spin. He spins it extremely hard in hopes of it landing on Y/N. It ends up landing on Kuroo instead.

“Hope you’re ready for the smooch of your life, Tetsu!” Bokuto says, laughing. Instead of a kiss, he tackles Kuroo and licks up the side of his face, sending everyone else into a fit of laughter as well. It goes around the circle a few more times before it’s Y/N’s turn, and surprisingly it hasn’t landed on her when someone else spun.

Y/N grabs the neck of the bottle and gives it a good spin. It slows down and for a second, she thinks it’s going to land on Noya, who is grinning devilishly at her already. He celebrates too early, because it creeps slowly onward and stops right in front of Kyoko. The two girls share a wordless conversation with only their eyes. Tanaka’s reaching for the bottle and he doesn’t even get the word ‘respin’ out entirely before Y/N is slipping her jacket off and moving to sit directly in front of Kyoko.

She looks once over her shoulder at Bokuto, looking for a sign of disapproval. His eyes are blown wide open, only staring, as if in curiosity. Y/N turns back to the dark haired girl and leans in. She gently holds the sides of Kyoko’s face and when the girl in glasses nods, she closes the gap and initiates a hot kiss. Y/N runs her tongue across Kyoko’s bottom lip and what starts as a brief closed-mouth kiss, turns into a heavy makeout session.

After a minute, Y/N pulls away and both girls are blushing and out of breath. The entire room is silent and one look around tells her, everyone is in shock. Noya and Tanaka look like they were praying to the heaven's. Even Kenma has looked up from his phone and his mouth is open in confusion. But Bokuto is nowhere to be found. Immediately, Y/N  jumps up, grabs her jacket and dashes out of the bedroom. 

She’s searching the hall as fast as she can, trying to find the black and silver haired boy anywhere. A hand reaches out from a door she didn’t see and pulls her into what looks to be a bathroom. It happens so fast, she doesn’t realize what’s going on until Bokuto has her pressed against the door inside.

His normally golden eyes look darker than usual, sharper.

“Are you okay? Did I upset you?” She asks.

“Not upset. Just...frustrated.” He’s almost panting. “Y/N...that was-” He’s cut off by someone trying to open the bathroom door. His foot kicks out at lightning speed and stops it. He quickly locks the door and then his attention is back on her. 

“I know we haven’t made it official yet, but I would like to. Especially after that.” His thumb catches Y/N’s chin and tilts her face to meet his perfectly. “Don’t get me wrong, it was hot. But I want to be the only person you kiss like that.”

A grin spreads across Y/N’s face and she nods. His dark eyes brighten once more, but they still hold something mischievous.

“Alright then girlfriend.” Bokuto breathes, sliding an arm around the back of her waist. In one swift movement, she’s no longer pressed against the door. She’s now sitting on top of the sink counter. “Hope you don’t mind if I wreck you in the bathroom at this party.”

Y/N is the one left wide-eyed this time. It only lasts for a second before a harsh knocking is heard from the door.

“You better hurry up then.”

A/N: Wow, it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted a one shot or fic on Tumblr, but I’m trying to get back into it. This fic is cross-posted on AO3. I think I’m going to cross-post my old fics from my Masterlist on there as well. So if you see these fics there as well, that is why. Have a wonderful day! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

[p5x-theories]

What We Know About P5X

(updated 1/23/24)

Persona 5: The Phantom X (P5X) has now had three beta tests, the first of which ran from March 29th to 31st 2023, the second of which ran from August 18th to 25th 2023, and the third of which is running from January 16th to 31st 2024. Here’s a summary of what we know about the game itself so far. Hopefully this’ll be useful, whether you're new around here or not!

I also have updated posts about the game's story and playable characters so far, which can be found in this blog's pinned post (along with this post!) once they're all done.

Keeping this as succinct as I can, but it's still a little long, so under the cut it goes.

Overview

P5X is a turn-based RPG mobile game with gacha elements, developed by Black Wings Game Studio and published by Perfect World Games. While not directly creating it, it is officially licensed by Atlus and Sega. Atlus has apparently been very involved in its production, including Shigenori Soejima designing the protagonist and his Persona.

The game's setting has been confirmed to be an alternate/"parallel" world to Persona 5's, though translated promotional information also confirms the plot has something to do with these two worlds interacting through "time and space".

As Perfect World Games and Black Wings Game Studio are Chinese game companies, P5X is produced in Chinese, with no current official English translations, though the third beta had files that possibly indicate future plans to translate the game into English, Spanish, and Japanese, among other languages. The dialogue in-game is voiced in both Japanese and Chinese, with Japanese and Chinese voice actors for the characters.

There are specifically two main gachas in the game- a character gacha for gaining teammates, and a weapons gacha for gaining better weapons for those teammates.

Right now, we know the game will release on both mobile and PC, but it’s unconfirmed whether it will release anywhere outside of China, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, and Korea, and we don’t yet have a release date for even the Chinese version of the full game. All three of the beta tests so far have been closed betas available only in China, Taiwan, Macao, and Hong Kong, where players could sign up for a chance to get in, and actual beta accounts were given out via lottery.

The Characters

So far, there are 16 new Persona users. These characters can be divided into story teammates and "Phantom Idol" (gacha-only) teammates.

The story teammates so far are the protagonist (codename Wonder), an owl named Ruferu in Japanese which has sometimes been translated as "Luffy" by fans (codename Cattle), an athletic classmate of the protagonist's named Motoha Arai (codename Closer), and a boy from another class with an interest in cooking named Shun Kanou (codename Soy). These teammates have all joined as part of the plot of the game.

The "Phantom Idol" teammates ("Kaidoru" in Japanese) are described as being cognitive beings created by Wonder's Velvet Room attendant, Merope, to assist him in the Metaverse, and seem to be based on people Wonder meets, though they are only copies. So far, they include Motoha's friend Tomoko Noge (codename Moko), first year student Kiyoshi Kurotani (codename Key), Wonder's family friend Kayo Tomiyama (codename Okyann), college freshman from China Yaoling Li (codename Rin), an aspiring acting student whose real name may be Reo Kamiyama (codename Leon), a student from Kosei High named Yukimi Fujikawa (codename Yuki), rich high school student Seiji Shiratori (codename Fleuret), a former ice skater whose real name may be Kotone Montagne (codename Mont), an online friend of Wonder's who goes by the name Yui (codename Bui), a children's fashion model whose real name may be Hina Nishimori (codename Riddle), an unemployed fisherman whose real name may be Toshiya Sumi (codename Sepia), and the runaway daughter of a local politician whose real name may be Miyu Sawara (codename Puppet).

The original Phantom Thieves from Persona 5 also appear as Phantom Idols: Joker, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, and Crow. Datamining also found some of Wolf’s battle voice lines from P5S at least in the first beta, and an icon from P5S with Sophie in all three betas, suggesting they may later be added as well. No sign of Violet has been found yet, other than the Faith Arcana card in the files. Joker, at the very least, seems to have some larger role in the plot, as Wonder has a dream about them fighting at the start of the third beta, and later what seems to be a Phantom Idol Joker comes out of nowhere to rescue Wonder and Cattle in Mementos.

Munehisa Iwai, Tae Takemi, and Chihaya Mifune also return in P5X. Iwai runs the weapon gacha, Takemi sells medicine like in P5, and Chihaya tells fortunes. The other original P5 confidants’ portraits and 3D models have been found in all three betas' data, and the Councillor Arcana card was with the other cards in the second and third betas' data specifically, but it’s currently unknown whether they’ll actually return in any capacity.

Music

Several new songs have been heard in P5X, four of which feature vocals by Lyn: "Last Strike", "Wake Up Your Hero", "Shadow", and "Fatal Desire". The new instrumental tracks so far include background music for the first two Palaces, background music for special fights, a new music track for Mementos, and some music for P5X's rhythm minigame, where Wonder plays music with fellow students.

Locations

The majority of P5 and P5R’s locations have been confirmed for P5X, including Yongen-Jaya, Kichijoji, Shibuya, and Shinjuku, but the protagonist lives in a new location called Zoshigaya, and goes to a new school called Kokatsu Academy. Another school named Kiga High School has also been mentioned.

(Note that while Yongen-Jaya exists, Leblanc has been replaced with a generic coffee shop, which is eventually purchased and run by someone other than Sojiro Sakura. Similarly, the Big Bang Burger in Shibuya is now just called Big Burger, with no apparent traces of the space theming, and the Crossroads bar in Shinjuku has also been rebranded.)

Mementos and the concept of Palaces also return in P5X, though there are some differences. At least in the betas, Mementos operates as a sort of hub, with characters entering Palaces through Mementos, from the entrance to each Palace located within the massive floors of Mementos. Mementos also has special battle locations apparently similar to “domains” in other gacha games, where completing the fight gives special items to strengthen characters and weapons, themed after P5′s Palaces (so far Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, and Okumura's Palace-themed "domains" have been found).

Basic Game Mechanics

For the most part, P5X operates extremely similarly to P5, both in and out of the Metaverse. One notable difference is that the calendar isn't progressed by anything but the story- other activities, such as working, crafting infiltration tools, and spending time with Confidants, instead cost hourglasses to do, without being restricted to a single afternoon and nighttime time slot each day, as was the case in P5.

One interesting and more significant change made in this category is that the Confidants have what appears to be a total of 20 ranks, instead of the series-standard 10. They also haven't been associated with any Arcana, though the P5R Arcana cards have all been found in the second beta's data.

The UI elements of combat look a little different (as well as all the skill animations), appearing to be more optimized for mobile play, but otherwise it seems largely the same to P5, though one notable difference is that it seems Navigator skills can be called in at will (and then have a cooldown), rather than occurring randomly. There is a new kind of special attack called a Highlight Attack, which is similar to P5S’s Showtime attacks where the character executes a special attack with their Persona.

The protagonist can gain Personas by talking to shadows, and fuse them in the Velvet Room. Challenge battles in the Velvet Room, like in P5R, are available to attempt. Palace exploration also seems relatively standard, even if the Palace itself and the method of entering it is different. One major change is that several shadow/Persona designs have been censored; this includes Incubus and many others being given shorts, Bugs' stomach being repaired with the blood removed, Mara being given a large hat, Hell Biker and other skeletal Personas having a helmet/mask that obscures the skull, and several female Personas like Lamia being given shirts. However, these changes are purely cosmetic.

Miscellaneous

It’s worth noting that because the game has yet to be officially translated to English in any capacity (outside of a single file confirming its English title as "Persona 5: The Phantom X"), character names can only be absolutely confirmed when they’re either written in Japanese kana (as opposed to the Japanese kanji characters names are typically written in) or spoken aloud in official material, to confirm which reading of the Japanese name is the intended one for this specific character.

The characters do also have Chinese names, of course, but as the voice acting defaults to Japanese, and the game is set in Japan, the names that would most likely be used by an English release (if it ever happens) are their Japanese ones. As such, the Japanese names are the ones presented in the Characters section earlier in this post, and the main ones that this blog uses.

All the codenames, however, are written in English, and thus the most easily confirmed as official.

And just to close this out, keep in mind that the majority of our information about the game contents specifically comes from the beta versions, so things can and have changed between beta playtests, and similarly may change in the actual release of the game.

[candycoatddalek]

Dress to Impress

Word Count: 1757

Warning/s: None

Description: A gig for Wakako involves attending a glitzy party in the city centre with a number of Tyger Claws in attendance, V need to blend in and go about her business unnoticed.

Characters: Fem!V, Johnny Silverhand, Wakako Okada, Tyger Claws.

Pairings: Faint hints of V/Johnny Silverhand.

“I have a gig for you, V”

“Lay it on me, Wakako” V shifted on the stool in her weaponry, the sniper from Panam in bits in front of her on the table.

“I need you to infiltrate a Tyger Claw den and send me the information you find on the computer of a Mr. Yuki Konako”

“Sounds easy enough, klep some info, send it on your way, nothing I haven’t done before for you”

“I had thought you might say that,” The elder woman smiled faintly. “There is a party being held at the location tonight, I have secured you an invitation”

V saw the invite pop up on her Kiroshi. “So, I guess I’m getting dressed up for this gig”

V thumbed through the items in her wardrobe; leather jackets, vests, jeans, sneakers, boots, a random assortment of crop tops and tank tops, before finally coming across one of three dresses she had. Pulling them out she held them up one by one to her frame in front of the mirror, switching back and forth trying to figure out which one would be best in a firefight or give her maximum mobility if she got into trouble.

She heard the rustle of Johnny’s jeans and caught a glimpse of him in the mirror leaning against her desk, dark gaze sweeping down the back of her body as he lounged silently with his arms crossed. She expected some sort of play by play review or some sarcastic comment from the Rockerboy but only received static as she finally chose her outfit and dropped her towel to pull it on.

“What? Got nothing to say about my outfit, Silverhand?”

“Just admiring it from the back, never realised just how much of an ass you had on you before”

She grinned softly glancing over her shoulder at him. “So you’re an ass man, are you?”

“Nah, I like a set of big bouncing titties in my face”

She laughed shaking her head as he mimicked a set of breasts in his face. “Good to know” She went to grab her shoes, simple heels that she hoped would be easy enough to kick off if she needed to run.

“You scrub up well V,” It sounded like a genuine compliment from the Rockerboy. “Your racks not too bad either”

She rolled her eyes shaking her head again as she slipped her heels on and gave one last look in the mirror before heading to the door. “Don’t wait up, Johnny”

He rolled his eyes from against the wall before glitching out of view.

~~~

“They’re all staring at you, V, thought you were supposed to blend in, not draw attention?” Johnny glitched into view at her left side, one elbow on the bar as he leaned back surveying the room beside her.

“Shut up, Johnny, no ones staring”

“Then you haven’t seen that couple over in the booth checking you out, whispering to each other about asking you back to their place for a little bit of midnight fun”

Her cheeks flushed slightly, lip caught between her teeth as her gaze swept towards said couple and then away. “Not my type, I like my men a little less Corpo and a little more filthy... same goes for my women too”

“Don’t know, they could be one of those freaky Corpo couples, like to get down and dirty with whips and chains”

She rolled her eyes taking a sip from her whiskey, the ice clinking the sides of the glass. “What about Mr. Manly Man with the triple XL biceps? He seems to be staring like he’s undressing me”

Johnny laughed. “Yeah, he’s probably fantasying about bending you over the bar top when you’ve had one to many to care whose watching”

“You seem to think this party will turn into one big orgy, something you know that I don’t?”

“Yeah, lots of people in this city are secretly freaky cunts, especially when you dangle as something as tasty as you in front of them”

“Tasty as me?”

“Long legs, short dress, and a nice tight ass being shown off”

She almost choked on her drink and he grinned. “Can we talk about something other than my nice tight ass?” She felt the heat creep up from under her collar.

“Sure, can talk about your sweet rack instead,” He motioned to the top half of her dress. “But that collar doesn’t show those puppies off, not like that Samurai tank you found”

She rolled her eyes downing the last of her drink, the bar tender moving to offer her a top up only for her to place a hand over the top of her glass and shake her head; she was on a gig, no time to get wasted.

“Need to get past the guard near the curtain, it leads up to the offices above, any suggestions?”

“Flash your ass and disappear into the crowd for him to follow”

“That tactic might have worked when Jackie was about but I don’t have a partner to slip up there while I keep him entertained”

Johnny looked over at her, mild surprise in his eyes. “You’ve used that ploy before?”

“Of course I have, what burly man doesn’t like a damsel in distress that can’t figure out how to get her engine to turn over?” An impish grin tugged at her lips. “‘specially when that damsel’s the one that unhooked a sparky” He shook his head with a laugh as she began to move through the crowd closer to the curtain, she stopped near the largest group of people she could and scanned the area for anything to use as a distraction. “Bingo” She grinned spotting a speaker to the left of the bar, a quick hack and a screech of noise drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity, the guard moving to investigate and giving her a window to slip through the beaded curtain and book it up the stairs.

“Smooth, V”

“It has been known to happen”

Creeping up the stairs she scanned the room and hacked each camera disabling them before giving the room one last sweep and standing. She made her way through the small multi-desk office, laptops, chairs, and a few vending machines scattered about but her destination was the office at the back of everything, the semi-transparent door gave her a descent view that no one was in there but unfortunately refused to budge.

“Now what?”

She rolled her eyes at Johnny’s query and forced the door to move, fingers slipping between the crack made before she put all her might into the door and wrenched it open, the gorilla arms Vik had installed for her doing wonders at breaking the lock as she forced the door back.

“Damn...” She heard Johnny’s breathless whisper as she stepped into the doorway and looked up, the camera sweeping the room hadn’t registered her yet, a quick flick of of the power switch underneath it and it deactivated.

V pulled her jack from its port on her wrist and plugged it into the computer, eyes steady on the office door as the transfer of data to Wakako began.

Data Transfer: 20%

She flinched hearing voices outside the office and willed the transfer to hurry up as they lingered, louder than before but not quite at the office door. Her heart jumped into her throat as she saw a man pass by the door talking to another, both stopping just on the other side of the door.

“Where’d Juno leave those pills?”

“Don’t know, I think Yuki had a few stashed away in his office though”

She swore dropping low and activated her scanner searching for anything she could see outside the door to cause a distraction.

Data Transfer: 50%

Fire extinguisher. No, too close.

Disabled Camera. No, reactivating it meant she was still fucked getting out.

Laptop. No, facing the wrong way.

Vending Machine. Bingo.

She grinned sweeping it with her scanner again and activating a quick hack that had it short circuit and began to toss out its contents one after the other.

Data Transfer: 70%

V drummed her fingers against the table top, the transfer was almost complete, just a little more and it was done. She heard the two Tyger Claws grumble about the machine before commenting that they’d have to have someone look at it.

“Lets find those pills and get back before Bunta notices we’re gone”

She bit her lip, the progress bar on her optics creeping along.

Data Transfer: 100%

V pulled her jack as soon as the transfer cleared and dived for the cover of a nearby couch, its curve giving her enough of a space to crawl towards the exit as the office door slid open, two Tyger Claws entering the office engrossed in their conversation.

She watched and waited before targeting the computer to give another distraction as she slipped out the door and crouched low running through the multi-desk office and back towards the stairs. Her heels slapping against the metal as she rushed down and slipped through the curtain and back into the party, thankful that the guard was distracted by a nearby patron throwing up in one of the booths.

“Sneaky bitch” Dear god, if he’d been real she would have rammed her elbow back into Johnny’s face possibly breaking his nose as he whispered into her ear from behind, instead she flinched, a few party goers giving her strange looks as she bypassed them.

“Fuck me, Johnny, don’t fucking do that” She glared at the shit eating grin on his face as she weaved her way towards the exit, heart hammering a million miles a minute against her ribcage as she tried to act natural.

Getting to the street she called for her Hella EC-D and slipped in as soon as the car slowed to a halt, she grinned in the mirror before raising Wakako on the holo.

“V, I have received the data, another job well done”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way”

“Eddies are coming your way and I will be sending another gig your way soon”

“Always a pleasure, Wakako, keep me posted”

The call ended and V tossed the phone back onto her dash. “V,” She glanced over at Johnny in the passengers seat and cocked an eyebrow when he remained facing forward, a faint redness dusting his cheeks. “Keep the dress” Her lips twisted trying to suppress the happy smile that threatened to break out and lowered her head slightly nodding.

Check out more on my other masterlists: Gaming Fanfiction Masterlist|Original Fiction Masterlist|Lovelink Masterlist|Otome Masterlist|TV/Movie Fanfiction Masterlist

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass),  but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work.  -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected. 

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'! 

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people.  -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs.  -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father.  -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough?  In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb."  It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

[prettywarriors]

Ok ill bite whats the worst mg series

alright, whats the worst magical girl series in your opinion?

Thanks you two for letting me do some yelling. The obvious guess would likely be one of the recent edgelord shows right? Magical Girl Site or something similar? But nay I say, for while MGS and Day Break Illusion and such and what not generally tell you what to expect right away. Don't like super violence and suffering? Watch something else is the clear message from the get go. One of the bait and switch series then like Madoka or maybe Yuki Yuna? For what faults they may or may not have, at least these series do something and are interesting, even if you're not huge on what goes down in the series. A parody then? They range from affectionate to banned in New Zealand but regardless of quality and their feelings for MGs, it's a parody. It's a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously (plus they're usually short so you can just forget about them forever).

So what makes a series terrible then, I am sure you are asking. IMO? Setting expectations for an interesting and enjoyable series, and then dashing them to hell.

Come with me below the cut, as I talk about Key Princess Story: Kagihime Eternal Alice Rondo!

Spoilers abound so if you care about those for a 15 year old series, click away.

Background: Kagihime was a 4 volume manga that ran from 2004-2006 that was picked up for a 13 episode anime adaptation near the end of its run. The manga is created by a pair (Kaishaku) who you may know for making Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto. Kannazuki no Miko, and Steel Angel Kurumi, and the anime had a script written by the same writer (Mamiko Ikeda) for Tenshi Ni Narumon who also did some script writing for Princess Tutu and Seven of Seven. The anime also had 6 character music videos which are fairly simple but a nice addition to the series for the main girls. Discotek has been publishing the anime in the states in recent years, and the manga was brought over by *squints at book spine* Dr Master Publications.

The Premise: Girls transform and enter weird outside of reality spaces to fight each other with giant keys to take each other’s stories to create a third Alice In Wonderland story.

Well, an off-brand Alice story written by Alternate L. Takion, rather than Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson, that while the series uses all the aesthetic hallmarks of the tradition Alice, the little we see of the in universe Alice story is clearly different. Which is fine, at the end of the day, it’s still about someone who loves the Alice stories and wishes there was more, and even makes his own fanfiction version. His? Oh yeah, while the girls do all the fighting, the main character is Aruto, a teen boy who loves Alice, and for reasons we don’t know till late game, can enter the liminal spaces that the ‘Alice Users’ fight in. He chases a girl who looks like the Alice he sees in his story, who is named Arisu, and gets roped into this fanfic battle royale. He is also the older brother of the very needy Kirihara, who also ends up being and Alice User. As does Kirihara’s bff Kisa. To round out the group of enemies-turned-friends-who-will-work-together-to-collect-the-Eternal-Alice-without-having-to-fight-eachother group is a young genius researcher Kirika who wants to know more about Aruto’s connection that allows him to enter the spaces where the girls fight.

Then there’s all the other girls, some of whom still have real importance to the story and some who have a few panels or 2 scenes total. But with a whole bunch of girls to design, the creators reached out to a whole lot of other people to have them create designs! Eventually the battle gets down to the last few girls, there’s a confrontation with the guy running the whole thing, and while the anime and manga vary quite a bit the whole time, in both version Aruto ends up with Kirihara. Oh and Arisu was created by Aruto’s super imagination powers.  

The Promise: Here on is subjective, particularly with what I personally saw as potential from this series. because I need you to understand how much I want to like this series. 

~Alice in Wonderland themed: I know some people aren’t alice fans and that’s fine you do you but as a big alice fan this is great. We have a few alice episodes and themed characters amongst series like CCS and MGRP, and even Alice themes in other series like Tweeny Witches and Alice 19th. But damn it I am down for Alice series.

~Giant Keyyyyyyyys: Yeah yeah Kingdom Hearts but these keys are much more staff like for a lot of the characters which ads and air of elegance rather than the KH ones that for me at least feel well designed for big ol props rather than actual weapons. We also get...

~Weapon variety: It counts as a key if it’s a thorn whip that can be shaped like a key right? How about a giant pocket knife? Crossbows can also be keys. Hush. And we have this variety because

~Guest Artists: For magical girl series where we have a variety of outfits designed by different people, we have Kagihime, Uta~Kata, and uhh I guess Magia Record? But that’s a mobile game with a hella number of characters and with how mobile game works I wouldn’t count it just because it’s less the intent of the series to have variety and more the nature of having lots of girls. (Precure doesn’t count because unless I missed a memo each season’s set is still by one designer). If a series isn’t about a team and therefore doesn’t need cohesion, bringing in other artists is a great way for variety and new looks. 

~The long term goal: Fighting with other people who love the same piece of media you do in hopes of creating new material that will be viewed as official? That’s just fandom nowadays. But it’s a legitimate interesting concept, and opens up so many doors for a message for the series, be it ‘what you create is no less valuable than the canon work’ or ‘it’s hard to let go when something you love doesn’t have more to it but you can still love it for what it is’ or ‘bond with the people who like the thing you like ya idiot instead of fighting about it’. The concept is interesting and there are so many narrative ways you can take this.

~Gays: Between the anime and manga, we have at least 5 wlw. Is it a magical girl series without some gays? (side note- the manga had a short thing where the MC wears a girl’s uniform and is pretty comfortable in it and while there is no way this was the intent, between that and the emphasis on the stories that live in girls and how the fight zones have no men, I’m just saying, Trans girl Aruto.)

~Greater Fairy Tale Premise: We meet a Little Match Girl based MG who is obsessed with Andersen rather than the Alice books, and touch on a Sleeping Beauty character in the manga. The manga at least implies that classic stories and fairy tale authors uh. Live on in a liminal space as immortals with world warping powers within that world and there could be opportunities for other girls in the real world to fight for Little Mermaid 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The Good: Everything has positive points, no matter how bad it is.

~Character Designs: Some of those looks slap. As do most of their weapons. 

~Backgrounds: I have a strong opinion on backgrounds in anime that can be easily boiled down to old watercolor backgrounds good, modern filtered photos as background bad, and as a 2006 series, this might not be Memole nice but they’re quite attractive. 

~Splash Pages: Easily my favorite thing after the designs, each chapter’s title page for the manga just has a character standing in a setting. Which is not everyone’s thing I’m sure but it’s a nice simplistic way to let the characters breathe imo. Even if at least some of the settings were deffo traced. But that’s how backgrounds work to some extent? If I ever get to the Met again, I am tracking down this exact photo, but here is a likely candidate for an example.

~Different Versions: I do not understand the need to make an adaptation that tries to be a 1:1. Kagihime had the same ideas and characters and did some of the same beats but very much had a different finale story and a lot of changes in the middle (like the Alice cops in the manga). Again, not something everyone probably wants I’m sure, but I very appreciate this, especially since the Anime kept good pace with the number of Manga chapters (reading the manga again while watching the anime at 3.8x speed just now was very interesting to see the different interpretations of events in a different medium.)

The ‘Fine’: Yeah.

~Anime Visuals: Look 2006 was still early enough into digipaint that I will give it a total pass on these. The colors are too bright but in a very bland way, the lineart is nothing interesting, and the faces are. Iffy. But it’s not total garbage to look at (probably helped by backgrounds and character designs...) it just came out in an era where not enough people knew how to stylize things to account for the weakness of the tools of the time. (It was 4 years earlier but I feel Kagihime is the polar opposite of Chobits with its painfully bland color palette while still being just. Flat. Sorry for the drive by Chii.) 

~Music?: There sure were songs. Obviously, they are nothing to me.

The Bad: CW for.... somehow all the big things to an extent. 

~Fanservice: Look, I am fine with fanservice, especially for a series that’s, ya know, not targeted at kids, big Mai Hime fan here even if I would recommend skipping the panty thief episode. And honestly the series generally isn’t fanservicey, at least by the modern standards of having the camera choosing under the skirt rather than an over the shoulder shot like I’ve seen plenty in other shows. Even the sexier outfits like the rose whip dominatrix aren’t bad BUT. When the girls fight. One takes her phallic key and drives it into another girls chest between the boobs while the loser cries in pain and then her book comes out and when the victor rips out pages, the loser’s clothes also rip. It is very SuperS Amazon Trio assault metaphor-y. There’s also a bit of fanservice with the sister becauseeeee....

~Incest: If you read the premise up there, first wow good job because I’m sure not re-reading that, you might have noticed I said MC ends up with his sister. As someone who is a big mythology fan and watches plenty of anime, I have a decent tolerance for your obligatory ‘oh we’re siblings but actually cousins so our feelings are okay’ or whatever the fuck Citrus has going on I don’t know that series and I don’t vibe BUT. I have limits and boy did this series go beyond that because multiple episodes are dedicated to the sister being in love with the brother? And the brother returns her feelings but knows that they are wrong so he put everything he likes in his sister into his version of Alice who, of course, physically manifests as Arisu who he creates accidentally with his uh. Magic imagination powers. But again in both versions MC still ends up with his sister. Hey, at least the manga eventually said the boy was adopted when the sister was like, 3, so if nothing else no blood relations? The anime did not ad this. -_-

~Under Utilized Characters: Arisu’s gradual revelation that she has no childhood memories because she isn’t a real person is so interesting and they don’t do nothing with it but also? That’s the kind of thing I personally would love to dig into and Kagihime, while touching on this world shattering revelation, easily loops back to So Anyway She Should Fight For The Man and to hell with developing a life or personality outside of what has been written for her. The rest of the main 5 were 2 note characters which. Could be worse? The most interesting character ends up being the child genius who accidentally murdered her childhood bestie (and/or lover? depending on version) and her coming to terms with that (the friend is alive but the version changes how and why she thinks she’s dead). Then the villain has the motivation of ‘i lost my creativity and now have become an immortal living outside of normal space and am getting girls to fight each other because that’s like a story so I’m still relevant right?’. But shoutout to the anime for then taking death of the author literally. The numerous other girls are canon fodder outside of like. The manga version of the dead gf and the little match girl.

~Battle Royale: This is not a thing I have an issue with generally. Again, but Mai Hime fan, I need to read MGRP 11, BUT by not developing the non-main girls there is no emotional connection which makes them just canon fodder and that’s boring as sin for a royale system. The initial main character fights revolve so much around the MC guy being there that they fall flat, and the 2 or 3 final battles in both versions still feel without any stakes. Also for a royale thing most of the characters don’t actually die, which cool! Neat! Except when they do? Some nobodies and a somebody are murdered (at least in the manga) and the tone never feels like it’s supposed to be upping the stakes, it’s just. Some people are dead now. And do you want to guess which of the main characters died?

~Gays: Oh boy the best friend of the brother-complex sister is in love with her and (in the manga) dies. She does apparently get better for the last chapter but the death itself is only felt by the rest of the cast for a page or two before we go back to feeling sad big brother wants to kiss his mentally generated sister clone rather than his actual sister u_u. Bury your gays is nothing new, but I wonder if it was also intended to be justified because Guess Who Is Creepy and a bit Perverted? Oh look the lesbian keeps the used swimsuit of her beloved and manipulates events to get an indirect kiss and when she sees the sister trying to strange Arisu for a moment she decides to do it for the sister? It’s not good. You want bad gay rep in a magical girl series, well here ya go. We also had a nobody in the first(second?) episode whose story pages reveal her having a kiss with a girl, and then we also have the prodigy again and- in the manga- her. Uh. childhood lover who she thought she killed but the girl has been wiping her mind over and over so prodigy remembers ‘killing’ the friend and not the she’s alive so she can keep? fucking with her? Toxic!

~Sexual Content: But wait you say, you already covered fanservice! Ah but that is sexual content for titilation. This is sexual content for dramatic backstory! The red riding hood character was sexually assaulted, another character was manipulated into sex first as a teen and then more often to ‘get into the publishing industry’, and the same writer forces some aggressive kisses on the MC. None of it is gratuitous which is nice, but also, was it necessary? Not making a new point for this but read riding hood’s dog was also murdered so unnecessary animal death gets tossed on in there. 

~Male Lead: You can have a male, non magical character as the main character surrounded by magical girls. This is not how to do it. If I can make a vicious and hopefully not understood reference, Aruto is basically Tate from the Mai Hime Manga. If you understood that, I am so sorry. If you didn’t, congrats! Don’t read the manga. Or do and send me asks about the iconic final page of the first volume (18+). Anyway, this dude is boring, everything revolves around him, BUT I’ll be generous and say at least this isn’t a harem series? It looks like it out of context but it’s just a triangle with a fun attached scientist and token lesbian.

~Premise: They didn’t make good use of it. The initial goals of ‘take other girls pages from their soul books because if we get enough we unlock a third alice book’ is good! And then we add the twist that that was never going to happen and either if we get all the pages we can grant a wish, or these fights are just happening for the amusement of and asshole. Either way, yeah okay I guess. But at no point do we ever achieve this forbidden wish granting book and the asshole just. Lives. Nothing happens to him. His peers don’t even dunk on him. The only real changes from the beginning and the end of the series are: the siblings are now chill with dating, and the scientist lady won’t turn into a child in magical spaces. Oh. Yeah.

~Why did we make this adult a child sometimes?: I think we know why. Stop trying to get those types of folks to watch your already meh series. I also could have sworn at points in the past looking up images for this series I’ve seen extra art for Yuuri the Thumbelina-y Alice User that seemed like it would fit alongside anything by POP. You know, the Moetan guy. If you don’t know, god I wish that were me. 

Wrap Up: I have definitely forgotten some points and am well within my rights to ad to this whenever I remember more points but uh. Yeah.  

Listen you want an alice themed battle royale with nice outfits? Rozen maiden is right there. Battle Royale magical girl series that’s good with fanservice? Mai Hime. Series with different outfits while being based on a classic story? Pretear.

Hope anyone who read all of this at least got what I was saying, even if they don’t agree with it. And thanks for reading because whoops. 

[animatedminds]

Star Wars: Visions - Episode 8: Lop and Ochō

Early reveal for the rest of the review: this is by far my favorite of the films so far (who knows, maybe Episode 9 will extremely wow me, but until then...), for what is actually a variety of reasons that I will probably go into at length. And because there’s nothing I like better than to nerd out at length, there is better time than now to delve into... Episode 8: Lop and Ochō Developed By: Geno Studio Directed By: Yuki Igarashi Another one that uses a brief narration to approximate the opening crawl of the films, again to great thematic effect.

This is also another one with an explicit timeframe. During the rise of the Galactic Empire, we focus on a formerly isolated planet that has reached out to the Galactic Empire in hopes that the Empire’s influence can modernize their society (some very clear Japanese historical subtext here), leading to many aliens immigrating to the planet. This includes Lop, a homeless bunny-girl alien (mildly jarring, since Gamorreans aside animal-people aliens is something you’re more likely to find in Wing Commander) who escaped from captivity and one day bumped into the patriarch of the ruling clan of the planet and his young daughter. The daughter - Ochō - insists on adopting Lop, leading to her father bringing her into the family: and so Lop and Ochō become like sisters.

Years later, strife strikes as the patriarch - Lop and Ocho’s father - realizes that the Empire only intends to exploit their planet and mobilizes a guerilla force to strike back. But Ochō takes the opposite opinion: without the Empire’s influence, their backwards planet is doomed to fall behind no matter how noble their culture is, so they must submit to ensure their own future. This rift explodes as Ochō formally joins the Empire and their father steps up his efforts to fight back, while Lop stops at nothing to stop the fighting and bring her adopted family back together again.

The very first thing I’m going to focus on here is the choice in how the story opts to approach the setting. Here, instead of getting a Jedi who visits this planet, seeing these people as an outsider does in the way most of the other shorts set up narratives of this type, the focus is on this particualr culture and how its individuals see the Empire’s presence. You are immersed into these people and their ideologies, their history and how Lop and Ocho fit into it all as heirs in the next generation. This is a fantastic way of doing this - you may recall that back during my review of The Village Bride, I commended that short for giving the people of that short a distinct means of looking at the Force, but even in that one the people were secondary: objects of the Jedi’s perspective. Here, Lop is technically an outsider, but that only outlines the prominence of the setting and storytelling as she is then raised alongside this new family and world.

The presentation here is very similar to something like Lost Stars, a book in the current canon that I’ve always seen as one of the best Star Wars novels made in the last few decades. Like Lost Stars, this short uses the characters culture to set up their upbringings and situations, and then applies that to the issue of the Empire: Lop chooses to oppose the Empire - or, more accurately, to try and bring Ochō back home - because of how much her adopted people’s attachment to family has shaped her. Ochō chooses to join the Empire because she sees nothing but the big picture, her good intentions leading her down a draconian path, and as the story goes on her conceit as an entitled heir eventually starts to show itself. The conflict does strike similar beats as the one between Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree for similar reasons: the story makes sure we know why these characters are going to split before the split happens.

The characterization is good, is what I’m saying. A great example of doing great, distinctive character work in a short amount of time.

I should also get the visuals. This short combines bright, modern character designs with a very classical, painted aesthetic for the world around the characters. This gives it a very classic animation feel, like watching a Miyazaki movie or Sleeping Beauty: the location art of this episode is among the series’ best, and the action animation manages to combine a fluidity of motion with a simplicity of choreography, in a way not unlike The Ninth Jedi - another of the shorts whose action animation stood out.

Back to the plot with another interesting track: the story makes it unclear how strongly force sensitivity plays a role, which also gives it a good contrast to the others which generally don’t just star Jedi, but are almost exclusively about Jedi intrigue and entanglements: Lop is clearly strong with the force, but she has no context for that and her objectives have nothing to do with being a Jedi - she is centered around her people and her family. The lightsaber we see in the short - fantastically - has a backstory similar to the Darksaber we see throughout The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian: centuries ago, a Jedi was trained from this warrior culture, and instead of passing their saber down to a padawan or giving it back into the Order, this Jedi instead passed the saber down through their family, again cycling back to the way this short uses the characters’ unique perspective and history to approach the setting rather than the other way around. The people in the short only have legends of the Jedi, and the only thing that’s significant here is that the sword featured is the prized possession of their clan.

This gives the story a lot of room for questioning, especially as the ending is open rather than definitive: is Lop going to learn more about the force, and if so will she do through the lens of her people? Who was this old Jedi, and does the sword have a history like the Darksaber does? And most importantly: the war against the Empire does not end with the end of the short: where will it go from here? Will Lop and Ochō ever be reunited? There is a degree to which this short comes off almost like a pilot for a longer story, which would serve me just fine - for the reason I’m about to get into now: As always, a purpose of these reviews is to look at how much potential these shorts - which are currently non-canon - have to some day become canon, or even at least be followed up on by the studios involved. The potential there comes down a few key factors: the major one being the amount of support these shorts get from the fanbase. But another is in how easily or organically these shorts can be incorporated into the framework of the Star Wars universe.

And are the chances for this short’s incorporation good? ABSOLUTELY. I generally judged the other shorts’ potential on how little they contradicted the world and setting around them. With this one, however, its simpler to think of it from the opposite direction: this is exactly the kind of stories that gets told in the Star Wars universe today. There are several stories I can think of just like this in concept that were made within the last few years alone, or even being made right now: the current canon loves its stories about X culture in one corner of the galaxy and how its reacting to the rise of the Empire, which heroes come from there and why. Where those heroes go in the end. The comics, especially, always seem to be on the lookout for more focus characters to play with, but I also mentioned Lost Stars earlier, and that’s a very good point of comparison: for the same reason Lost Stars makes for one of the best prose installments of the current canon, Lop and Ochō has a lot of open real estate it can waltz into to define its own part of the universe.

Besides a couple superficial stylistic things (the symbols on the lightsaber blade, as I mentioned before, Star Wars doesn’t typically do strictly ��animal people” as species - that’s more a Wing Commander thing - but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t if they really wanted to), there’s nothing really stopping this thing from getting canonized. I really hope people make some noise for it, because I’m being serious when I say this of all the films has The Best Chances of being followed up - minus The Duel which, of course, was already getting a followup before the series even released.

All in all, I mean it when I say this was my favorite of all of the shorts. It, pound for pound, has everything that I found enjoyable about this set of films all in one package, ever interesting means of approaching the Star Wars universe that I was looking for, all of the interesting ways of looking at situations we already know that I was hoping for, with a set of endearing characters on top of it.

If we can get more stuff like Lop and Ochō in the future, I would be more than happy. If we can get more Lop and Ochō specifically, all the better for it. I also mean it when I say I hope people make some noise for this one. It’s worth it.

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Phantom Thieves' Roles in Mankai, Post Act 4

For my Literal Theatre Kid AU. I suggest taking a look at that real quick to understand the context behind this!

Ren Amamiya

Part-time Assistant Director, excluding when it comes to Autumn Troupe's performances after their debut.

Member of Autumn Troupe following his release and the end of his probation. He has been adopted as Troupe Brat.

His room is the attic, where he stays with Ryuji and Yusuke.

Morgana

Team Mascot and emotional support cat when needed.

Ren tends to plop Morgana in the lap of whoever is having a rough day. Morgana doesn't mind. He has 80% of Mankai wrapped around his paws.

Ryuji Sakamoto

Gofer, and acts as stage crew most of the time and does general things backstage.

Member of Summer Troupe, having been taken in by Izumi while Ren was in detention. If Autumn got dibs on Ren, then Kazunari and Muku kind of claimed Ryuji.

His room is the attic, where he stays with Yusuke and Ren.

Ann Takamaki

Helps Omi with photography, since she is a model.

Also assists Yuki with wardrobe and Azami with the makeup department. Tends to advertise the shows A LOT on social media.

Kicks Banri's, Citron's and Itaru's butts in their mobile game campaigns under the name "Carmen" alongside Futaba and Haru. The guys have no idea.

Yusuke Kitagawa

Stage crew in his off-seasons. Since he is an artist, he helps Tetsuro with stage design and painting the sets. This arrangement began as his way of paying back Izumi for letting him live at the dorms.

A member of Winter Troupe, having been taken in by them during Ren's stay in detention. He and Homare get along splendidly.

Yusuke's room is the attic, which he shares alongside Ryuji and Ren.

Makoto Niijima

Takes over Ren's assistant director position in the Autumn and helps him during the summer and winter. Why not spring? Because...

Between act 4 and act 5, Makoto accidentally auditions for Spring Troupe. She is still unsure how that happened. She is the first girl to enter Mankai's ranks.

Makoto sleeps in the same room as Izumi in the dorms.

Futaba Isshiki

Thanks to Kazunari's help, Futaba's the one managing the stage lights, audio, all that good stuff in the tech booth.

She is DEFINITELY not the type to step on stage, but she has a lot of fun working behind the scenes. Sumire, Kazunari, Tsuzuru, Morgana and/or Haru often help her in the booth during shows.

If you don't think Futaba will make the actors do the most ridiculous things during tech week, you're wrong. She will.

Haru Okumura

Haru often helps Futaba out in the tech booth, but for the most part she's a support member.

Haru is basically a sponsor for Mankai, helping out with donations when needed (and sometimes to Sakyo's chagrin). She also stops by with snacks and things for the actors during rehearsals.

Her favorite shows are Winter Troupe's, but she loves to see the Summer Troupe's performances.

Goro Akechi

Akechi has had enough of acting like someone else for his whole lifetime. The only way you're going to get him to perform is as an understudy, and that's usually only under desperate measures because of how much he fights it.

Other than that, he does have a role in the stage crew somewhat. He's the one who choreographs the fight scenes, having become adept with multiple weapons over the past few years.

His least favorite member of Mankai to work with is Itaru due to his lack of stamina, along with most of Autumn Troupe for their attitudes (ironically Ren is not among this number). The rest of the troupes are a bit on edge around him. He's intimidating. ...that, and well... the obvious.

Sumire Yoshizawa

Like Akechi, Sumire isn't one to step into the spotlight unless she has to. She's also an understudy, but she goes a bit easier than Akechi will.

And like Akechi, Sumire is also responsible for some of the shows' choreography. While Akechi handles fight scenes, Sumire deals with actual dances and any stunts that need to be done. She makes adjustments where needed for the actors and does her best to make sure that the stunts onstage are done safely.

She and Misumi have become parkour buddies. Taichi can and will get flustered when she adjusts his positioning during rehearsals.

[kurokoros]

cat out of the bag | masterlist

Chapter Two: cat naps

Two teams; one bitter rivalry. As manager of the Karasuno college volleyball team, you probably shouldn’t be seeing Kuroo, the Nekoma captain. How long can you keep the cat in the bag before your team finds out?

AN: Full 1K scene under the cut! 

By the time Kaori finally kicks most of the first years out of Washio’s house and slips into the living room to look for you, there’s already a small crowd of overly-excited volleyball players surrounding the couch. Akaashi and Kenma both glance up when she steps into the room, the latter immediately going back to his mobile game while the former sends her an exasperated look as he tries to yank a snickering Bokuto away from the couch. Nekoma’s libero is trying to do the same to a tall first year that Kaori can’t remember the name of, but the boy won’t budge, and the two delve into hushed bickering.

Electing to ignore the Nekoma trio, Kaori slides up beside Akaashi, visibly relaxing when she sees you asleep, tucked between Kuroo and the back of the couch. “How goes the babysitting?” she jokes, trying not to laugh as Akaashi pulls Bokuto into a headlock before their captain can shove a bendy straw into Kuroo’s ever-present bedhead.

The deadpan stare Akaashi sends her almost has Kaori cackling. “I had to stop Bokuto from drawing cat whiskers on Kuroo,” he admits, ignoring Bokuto’s whining and grabby hands. A heavy sigh. “Twice.”

Kaori snorts. “Oh, only that many? Usually he tries harder than that.”

Akaashi just shrugs. “I think he’s scared of waking her up,” he says, gesturing with his chin to the pair cuddling together on the couch and drawing Kaori’s attention back to them.

It’s almost disgusting how cute you both look. Like something straight out of a cheesy romance movie. You have your face squished against Kuroo’s chest, your legs tangled with his, and Kuroo has his arm draped loosely across your waist. A muffled sound escapes Kuroo as he shifts, burying his face against your hair. There’s barely any space between the two of you because the couch is cramped, but you seem comfortable enough with the tall volleyball player wrapped around you. You’re so disgustingly cute that Kaori is almost tempted to take a picture to show Yukie and Sugawara.

Almost.

Instead, she turns back to Akaashi. “Do they, you know, know?”

“Not that I’m aware.”

Making a face, Kaori crosses her arms, entirely unimpressed with his lackluster response. “You didn’t tell them?”

A shrug. “They didn’t ask,” he says, barely reacting as Bokuto leans in and places a sloppy, wet kiss to his cheek, too drunk to care about the severity of the conversation. When Kaori groans, Akaashi rolls his eyes. “Is it that big of a deal? It’s just a--”

“Lev, don’t even fucking think about it,” Yaku snaps, cutting Akaashi off. Kaori glances at them, eyes widening when she sees the tall, gangly first year--Lev, apparently--practically crawling over the back of the couch, phone in hand and a determined look on his face.

That determination quickly becomes a pout when he’s dragged backwards by his upperclassman. “But, Yaku,” he whines, green eyes big and wide, “they look so cute!”

Akaashi shakes his head and speaks up when Yaku starts to open his mouth. “Are you guys planning to stay the night, or do you need help getting him into a car?” he asks, pointing at Kuroo. He grunts as Bokuto’s arms wrap around his waist, but doesn’t push him away.

It’s Kenma that speaks up. “Kuro can’t drive us back. Neither can Yaku.” He doesn’t bother looking up from his game. 

Kaori sighs. “Don’t you have a license, Kenma?” she asks, setting her hands on her hips and raising a brow at the Nekoma player.

“Too tired.”

Lev perks up on the other side of the couch. “I can do it!” he offers, a little louder than necessary. You stir on the couch, shifting and grumbling something unintelligible against Kuroo’s chest, and Lev lowers his voice, but not by much. “I can totally do it!”

“Have you ever driven a car before?” Akaashi asks him skeptically.

“Well, no, but--oww!” 

Lev rubs his arm when Yaku smacked him, pouting again, and he murmurs something that makes Yaku shoot him an icy look, but the libero turns to Kaori with a tight smile. “We’ll be staying, if that’s okay! Like Kenma said, Kuroo and I can’t drive, and it would be a pain in the ass to get him into his car anyway. Besides--Lev, what are you doing?”

In the two seconds of being left unsupervised, Lev has gone back to leaning over the couch, his phone dangerously close to Kuroo’s face. “I just want one picture to show Yamamoto,” he murmurs, brows furrowed in concentration as he turns his phone to get a better angle of you and Kuroo cuddling. “Just. One. Second.”

The flash goes off, because of course it does.

Kuroo’s eyes snap open at the sudden, bright light in his face, expression groggy and confused. Seeing someone leaning over you and him, he lurches halfway off the couch, one arm raised threateningly--clearly ready to throw hands with the potential danger--and Lev yelps, throwing himself backward off the couch. His foot catches and he slips, hitting the ground hard, nearly taking Yaku down with him.

“What the fuck?” Kuroo murmurs, barely awake. “Lev?”

Kenma sighs again, rolling his eyes as Kaori tries not to burst into laughter. Not nearly as tactful, Bokuto starts to snicker until Akaashi covers his mouth with one hand. “Go back to sleep, Kuro,” Kenma murmurs as Lev pulls himself off the floor.

The man in question squints at Kenma skeptically, bewilderment in his hazel eyes, but then you make another muffled sound and curl against the warm body beside you, and Kuroo relaxes again. He flops down practically on top of you without another word, falling back asleep just as quickly as he woke up.

Lev reaches for his phone again; Yaku slaps his hand.

Everyone stands there in stunned silence until Yaku tugs a blanket off the back of the couch and tosses it over the pair.

And with that, Kaori clears her throat, shooing everyone away from the couch. “All right, if you guys are staying, let’s get you some blankets. You got him?” she asks Akaashi, not waiting for an answer. “Great!” As she herds the volleyball boys out of the room, Kaori glances back at you and Kuroo, smothering a groan.

This is going to be a disaster.