#Yusuke was just built different I guess | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fighting-these-demons · 7 days

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Bucch*g*ri liveblog ep1

Alright let's start Bucchigiri!

I'll Tag it .... " Magic Carpet Slide " for now. I may change it later.

Alright let's jump in!

I would LOVE to have gyoza for breakfast! 😢

My instincts are to call MC Yusuke-lite but from the 1 review I watched the only thing that stuck in my mind is that he's not much like Yusuke despite looking so similar. So I'll just call him MC until I have his name.

Oooooooooo haunted shrine! Better run boys! Also are they skipping class after drinking all night? And sleeping in the shrine? I wonder if these two will be important? They're certainly silly! 😂

I like the OP! I like how Kazuma-lite's trio have matching hair and eye colors! Depending on how things go I may root for them as an ot3. 💖

Blonde is certainly giving off sweet sunshine with a dark side vibes and Blue is giving irritated and short fuse tsun! Very Kurahi-esque!

Idk how I feel about the main female character's design. It's a bit much for me but I may love her idk. She's certainly precious.

If character design is anything to go by then I'll be rooting for Dark Blue Buzzcut. He's got The Vibes

The teacher/Principal/Business man has a Cat Ear Butler Friend?????????

Ok that's what I'm Invested In! 💖💖💖💖 I hope Neko-mimi Butler Guy is an adult chasing after Business/Teacher/Principal guy!

It could be funny if he's like a younger sibling trying to ruin his career via family shame though. 😂

Big Blue Man with intense beard is looking like my biggest crush actually but poor MC is terrified of him.

Oof MC needs an adult! 😨😱

AAAAAAAAA NOOOOOOO!!!!!! NOT KAZUMA-LITE SLEEPING OUTSIDE ON A FLOOR SOMEWHERE NOOOOOO!!!! 😭😭😭💔💔💔

SAVE HIM MC!!!!!

Oh dang he looks completely different when his hair isn't curled and gelled. I like his curled and gelled hair better though I think.

I didn't see the two from earlier in the OP so I guess they're not in the show much.

Are they really having some Brick House 3rd year fight Kazuma-lite who is apparently a 1st year???

Kazuma-Lite is on the Minato Kai team.

This school looks like its crumbling apart? There's holes in the roof and windows? (Also there's a dome and spire roof?) Why are they allowing classes in a building that can't withstand weather?

There's a big ttity redhead in a tank top (that's gotta be against dress code) and wearing the boys uniform (based), a big guy with a purple perm, and a guy wearing a keffiyah AND a cross around his neck? Confusing.

I'm just guessing that no one in this series gives a single damn about dress code.

Kazuma-Lite is named Matakara.

Lmao MC is NOT impressed by this fighting BS. Damn why does the school look so dilapidated? That's a ton of graffiti.

The business man must be a teacher or principal.

There's garbage and toys in the high school hallway???

Clearly this man isn't paid enough and he seems like a wreck. Love him. (Hope he doesn't turn out to be a creep)

Oh hey it's just like Wind Breaker! 😂👍

Those two guys in the center seem like they've been held back for 9 years!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Oh dude that one guy with the cool undercut and ponytail though! 💖💖💖

Sjsjsjsjsjsbs

LMAO hes the prettiest boy in class good for him! 😂

I saw 2 girls!

MC is Arajin

3 girls! (Yeah uniforms seem optional or the dress code just isn't enforced)

4 girls! There's the main female character.

Dang I can tell the other girls will be non-existant. 😭

Love that in his mind He would be taking Her name lmao. Wonder why?

Blondies skirt is cute!

Matakara's shirt has a built in tramp stamp in the shape of a heart God Bless! 🤣

Oof. The other team has SS initials and their logo looks like the Nazi SS lightningbolt. 😬😞 well. That's shitty.

That unintentionally turns this guy into a skinhead.

This must be in the south of Japan to grow palm trees like that.

Aw good for Arajin! He got a girl on the first day!

DUDE YOUR EXPENSIVE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT!!!!!

You're leaving it in a room full of guys that would absolutely sell it?????

Hiei-lite tripped him and wears orange shoes. Good choice fir his teal hair.

What is at the end of blondies pigtails? It can't be his hair because it can't be locced at the end like that and flowing at the top so it's sort of like pom poms?

I can't believe that worked! 😂

Run Arajin run!

Sjeisjsj ahahahahahahahahaha lost his glasses and ran into Matakara to boot. 😂

Oh wow what a look! Work boots with thay kilt/skirt/what have you is such A Look! Love it! 💖

They're bith shocked that he knows him! CHILDHOOD FRIENDS!!!!! AAAAAAAAA

Well. Its over. That's The Ship!

Aaaaaaaaa they were PRECIOUS!!!!!!! 💖💖💖

Wait a second. His hair is NATURALLY curly. So why was it straight like that during the OP?

Does he have a Secret Twin that perms his hair straight?

Poor Arajin is in Shock from the reversed height difference. 😂😂😂😂

Blondie us now curious and Teal Terror is looking upset and insecure. Matakara is SO EXCITED!!!! Aaaaaaw! 💖 He's been hoping to see him again for years!

He introduces him as his childhood friend aw! 💖💖

Ehsidnsjsjshsisb Blondie is shocked and bewildered and curious and passive aggressive and Teal Terror is full jealous/bitter! Love it! 💖 I may root for the ot3 anyway because I bet they're cute and have middle school history!

Aw! I can't tell if he's just insecure that Matakara is so much bigger and more masculine than him now or if they parted ways on bad terms. That definitely hurt and disappointed Matakara though! :(

Hmmm he moved away for a while and considers the town bad luck. Surely if he moved away and then moved back other people should recognize him too right?

He didn't look too much when he got to the gate. It also didn't take long to get to the gate. What happened to her? I hope she's ok.

Oh no! He didn't go back for his bass/cello?????? Damn that thing is long gone. His mom is so cute! I love her!

Lmao that looks like the kind of drama I'd watch too if it existed! 😂 what corruption leads to this nun breaking her vow of celibacy? Find out next week!

I hope that wasn't him calling his mom an old hag. 😕

This nazi hideout looks so dumb. They stole playground teeter totter spring rides and put them on the roof with Buggy The Clown and a stolen McDonald's playplace slide.

Lmao it actually has either Hazi or Nazi on it are you kidding????

Counter faith man stands out front to confuse people entering

They stole a jungle gym and broke the floor with it and the word gym is spray painted on the wall.

What an interesting voice for this guy. I'd have chosen differently but. Well. He is the head of the nazi group so like. I'm not invested.

Oh he got confused and put the Butterfly on his Left Shoulder instead of his Right. Kagamine Instructions Unclear.

Oh man Skinhead was about to be saved by the power of love and a crush on Matakara before he took that boot to the face. Hopefully he'll get another chance!

SHWIENEBDUDHEBSISSUSHBSJSJS

I love this fictional sacrilegious drama! They ought to make it it's own anime!

Damn that must have been hard on both of them.

Theory that will likely be debunked:

Arajin has this guilt about not standing up for his friend and likely stopped talking to him because avoiding him was the only way to avoid his own cowardice. Meanwhile I bet Matakara feels like he lost his best friend because he was too weak that day and trained for years to be string enough to protect himself so that Arajin doesn't leave him behind out of embarrassment again. Since he's convinced that Arajin is awesome.

IT WAS ARAJIN THAT SAID THAT TO HIS MOM! HOW DARE!!!!

The background shots are getting funnier because today 7 background guys decided to get the same haircut.

Absolutely no one is paying attention to this poor frail man! 😭😭😭😭💔💔💔 Poor Teach!

Oh no! She's missing! What happened to her yesterday????

Teal Terror is BIG MAD that Matakara thinks so highly of this new guy and that the new guy blew Matakara off.

Oh thank goodness she was just skipping class.

She's gonna absolutely shake him down for cash. Go girl go!!!! Take him for all he's worth! (That or because she lives here and she's used to the guys here she must think he's gay and a twink on sight alone lmao)

Mahoro is her name!

lmao Matakara what timing! Teal Terror is so jealous lol.

Aw Blondie wants to do the right thing and Teal Terror said "Nah, Fuck 'im!"

They really made him go to an arcade? How do they even still have an arcade?

He's so fucking fake! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Oh No it's Creep from the OP's underlings. 😨

TEAL TERROR LIVES UP TO HIS TITLE DAMN!!! Just left him out to dry like that on purpose because he's so bitter! 😂

Aw dang the teacher isn't dating the greeter. 😭 Jasmine must be cute.

Oh hey what are the chances that that's where Matakara has been sleeping?

A flintlock? Oh damn a kid with a gun. OH SHIT

I wonder how they saw it? They wouldn't have been scandalized by him ending up on the ground so I wonder if it looked like he really shot himself?

The dumbest horniest teenage wish possible.

Is this gonna be a western interpretation "Be Careful What You Wish For" sort of thing where his wish is twisted into something he didn't expect? Or will his mind be read and will he end up with the girl?

Don't they have extremely strict public decency laws? How has he not been caught by a cop yet?

Why is Blondie fully naked in front of a window???????

Damn Teal Terror came by specifically to talk shit and try to take Arajin down a few pegs. 😂 Damn dude is down bad!

He didn't know just how much Matakara apparently idolizes Arajin.

All that effort and fun wasted. o7 Better luck next time my guy.

While Arajin's looking up info on if he's going crazy he doesn't question why this genie looks so similar to Matakara physique-wise? Not even for a second?

Oh his hobby is stamps. Neat.

FLEECE HIM GIRL!!! TAKE HIM FOR ALL HES WORTH! WALK OUT WITH THE BAG!!!

Oh man he didn't think to practice ignoring him and not responding before the date??? 😂 maybe he thought he'd be gone before then.

Why did they choose ice cream when statistically that would be a terrible idea? Shouldn't he know by 16 that he doesn't tolerate dairy?

Damn girl just leave. This amount of secondhand embarrassment isn't worth it.

Shsusjsjsusjsh she says the meanest shit in the sweetest voice. Love it.

Also I like that they have her in accurate Lolita worn in an Otome style with a more casual petticoat and less accessories. Although I think her look could have used wrist cuffs.

Ahahahahahahahahahahagagaga

Dude on the first date?????????? He's insane.

Wow they're really leaning into that SS lightning bolt huh?

😬😞

Oh are he and her working together or enemies that try to fleece the same targets? That was some look.

Why are they after Arajin? What could he possibly have done? He's some frail transfer student

WHSUSBSJSJANS

Well. That's certainly a reason to fight him. It also makes me look at her shenanigans less favorably for sure.

Oh damn Teal Terror really fucked up his chances with Matakara! Matakara is massively pissed and disappointed. He's off to save the day!

Go Matakara go!!!!! 💖💖💖👍

He Jingles and he Jangles as he kicks the shit out of people. All those chains. -20 to stealth

😱🤢

AW HELL!!!!!!!!!!!

REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

NAH Y'ALL I HATE IT HERE!!!!!!

😫😭

youtube

Look. I stand for people's right to ship whatever they want for fictional ships.

That being said Incest will make me sick every single time. 🤮

Man I wanted to like her too! This sucks!

Anyway

35th victim? What is wrong with the both of them????

Also he's clearly some kinda queer because before he knew Arajin was on a date with his little sister he was Making Tongue at him like......😐

Aw dude dont say it. 😣

He's gotta scream it every time in order to fight doesn't he? Aw man. I gotta get used to this quick. 😩

Man I LOVE the way they animated Head Honcho Nazi flying off though that was sick.

The ED.....

The cast likes her???? When she wants to fuck her brother???? They're into that?????

There were 3 whole other girls? Are the rest of them all lesbians exclusively?

What is going on????? What'd she do? Drink Love Potion #9????

The ED would be really cute without context. With context I kinda hate it right now.

I do like how its animated though. And the song is cute.

This is gonna be one of those 3 episodes to give it a shot type deals.

#Oof. There were great parts for sure but the last 10 minutes were rough #I don't like that they went with the SS initials and motif. That's was supremely shitty.#I want to like long green haired guy so hopefully despite all the awful imagery and framing they'll do something cool with him #His aesthtic is so great it would be a waste to make him garbage! 😭#Youtube #Magic Carpet Slide

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cynthiaandsamus · 3 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 84 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch, Suzaku, C.C. and Lelouch’s oddly bubbly mom confront Charles in the Human Instrumentality Machine where Charles and Marianne reveal that VV murdered Marianne because he thought she was trying to Yoko Ono Charles and distracting him from the whole human instrumentality project with her bubbly free spirit despite her being just as down for murdering everyone into one human blob of peace as they were, so idk where that’s coming from. She injects herself into Anya who’s there for… reasons I guess, and can communicate with C.C. So now Lelouch knows his parents threw him and Nunally under the bus for… reasons idk this part is really confusing and I don’t understand the details of this plan and I don’t think I’m supposed to. Lelouch’s whole vengeance ploy was a lie built by his parents as a tertiary part of their Human Instrumentality project. Lelouch is just like “Fuck it, using my geass” and uses his geass on FUCKING GOD to request that the entirety of human consciousness reject the idea of stripping away identities and ambition to live in peace in a static world. Man the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion is a lot different than I remember, though still ends with someone getting choked oddly enough. After Marianne and Charles get yeeted out of existence by the entirety of human consciousness, Lelouch and Suzkau stand off and we just kind cut to a month later where Lelouch waltzes in and claims the throne in his school uniform like it’s no big deal and Suzaku kicks everyone ass who objects before Lelouch Geass’s the whole royal family to just let him be Emperor, that’s one way of doing things I guess.

Inuyasha: Kino’s Journey, I mean Kikyo’s Lonely Journey. This is a neat little filler episode for Kikyo to get some screentime and tells a sad story about an aging bandit that just wants his twisted soul to be redeemed. So in the manga Kikyo just meets this guy and he’s like “Hey Mt. Hakurei’s pretty cool, can you bury my hair there so I can be saved?” and she goes there to do it. The anime has this guy be the impetius for Narkau has he was Onigumo’s rival and apparently Onigumo was already throwing other people in to fight his enemies for him before he became Naraku (which is weird because Onigumo also has the Spider Burn Scar already and idk how that’d work since the series implied the burn mark was the only part of Onigumo’s burns that wouldn’t heal but he has the scar BEFORE this guy burns his whole body for revenge) other than that it’s a decent origin story and fleshes out some stuff that we were only vaguely aware of before. It’s neat to see Kikyo in this somber tale of a dying man’s last wish even if most of it is filler and there’s a random hair eyeball demon out of nowhere.

Yu Yu Hakusho: We have a bit of a breather episode with Hiei’s arm still fucked up and Yusuke exhausted and drained and unable to use his spirit gun. Meanwhile the guys actually do something people should do in tournament arcs more often ACTUALLY FUCKING WATCH THE OTHER TEAMS FIGHT. They only watch their next opponents and the final boss so it’s not full points but at least they’re trying to get some intel so they’re not floored by surprise techniques later on. Keiko says she doesn’t want to see Yusuke yet because somehow he looks more weirdly at home fighting for his life against demons than he did in high school, which is a life choice I guess. Yusuke fights a hilariously over the top sports-themed demon for a bit until the team leader goes and kills him for jumping the gun. Then we get the fight of their next opponents’ zombie Frankenstein team beating some mooks and Toguro OHKs all the guys from Rugby man’s team to literally flex on everyone.

Fate Zero: We interrupt the current Holy Grail war to bring you this flashback already in progress. Kerrygitsu Emiya is an average boy that no one understands, except his dad and is making zombies in his basement and his childhood crush is patient zero and now he feels nothing about murdering anyone and female Dante kills all the zombies and everyone’s just kinda dead inside and magic fucking sucks like who wants to be immortal anyway. This episode was basically like a short movie and that was pretty neat, didn’t expect Dead Island to invade Fate but it IS a neat change of pace to see what kind of natural horrors mages can get into without the help of impossibly beautiful historical figures and what the M(age)IB has to clean up.

Konosuba: Kazuma’s still throwing around the possibility of getting rich by selling modern inventions with the masked dude’s handicrafts so he’s in a ridiculously good mood but since Konosuba works on Everybody Hates Chris logic there’s just this unnerving tension that we all know this won’t work out because comedy protagonists demand misery (which always kinda makes me uncomfortable when we never get a break from their suffering) but for now things are good, nobody’s trying to kill them and they’ve paid off their student loans so it’s time for a hot springs episode… except this is Konosuba so we’re not going to do a hot springs episode, we’re going to do a whole fucking hot springs ARC. So this episode is just the trip there and it’s kinda funny that monsters that just fucking yeet themselves into the hardest thing around attacks and Kazuma’s dumb enough to think Darkness’s body is harder than her magic adamantium armor, usually he’d be right that the dumb character quirks are the answer but this is just physics dude.

Sailor Moon Crystal: Okay so this time we have another “kidnap a Sailor Guardian” episode except we break from the formula a bit this time. For some reason it’s not really focused on Venus this time, man for someone that was active before Sailor Moon and built up a whole cover story about being Serenity we have just not focused on Venus at all, like she just kinda went “Nah I’m not the princess, just got my own cat and being batman in a skirt” and there was absolutely no fallout from that. But the people that the other Guardians connected with in their episodes notice their disappearances and the Black Moon peeps are like “Hey a lot of our dudes are fucking dying and it sucks” and their Sage is like “Nah this is cool bro, kill Sailor Moon” and their prince is like “Do what the mysterious man in the black cloak that came out of nowhere and I unquestioningly obey says” and everyone just kinda does. Chibi-Usa steals the Legendary Silver Crystal which… that was fucking easy, a small powerless child just did what these guys fucking couldn’t. Like Rubeus fucking recognizes Usagi out of her disguise, they have to know where she lives, why didn’t they just take it while she was sleeping too? Seems like Chibi did it like it was no big deal idfk. Mamoru meets with the council of Crystal Gems and is like “Man being a dude in a Shojo sucks, I got no powers” and they’re like “Nah bro, shojo’s all about emotions, just feel shit real hard and you’ll get powers my dude” which turns out is true because he has a fucking Tuxedo Mask Kamehameha which is pretty dope. Honestly I think Mamoru’s my favorite character just as far as depth is concerned, there’s a lot of different sides to him which may be a side effect of him being an archtype of an idealized boyfriend but hey, results is results and we got a good character somehow. Anyway the other thing that’s different from the formula is that Venus actually doesn’t get kidnapped this time so that’s pretty dope. Also Chibi-Usa admits she’s from 1000 years in the future which I feel like was a huge thing at the time but at this point either Sailor Moon’s been around long enough that you just straight up know that or the tropes have been around long enough that you’ll have figured it out from the clues. Not taking away from the reveal just it got less shocking with age. Anyway we get Sailor Pluto next time, feel like that’s out of planetary order but okay.

Durarara!!: This is basically the big shit hitting the fan episode. Celty tells Mikado about Masaomi and Anri’s secret identities because he’s the only one that doesn’t know at this point. Feel like Anri’s takes a little more explanation, Mikado being the leader of the yellow scarves is relatively straightforward but “Anri’s the Slasher” doesn’t really get across the whole scope of her role as the queen of a hive mind of zombie mind slaves laying dormant in society. Also Shizuo’s been shot twice and he’s just like “eh I’ve had worse” and is kinda pissy about it but overall fine. Masaomi’s basically ready to throw his life away as the coup of the Yellow Scarves is complete and wants to face his cowardly past by dying “bravely” by charging into a huge crowd of people that want him dead. Horada has basically made the yellow scarves into the new blue squares and Masaomi kicks a lot of ass trying to get to him but almost dies before Anri saves him and Mikado busts in on Celty’s bike and now three rival gang lords have lot of ‘splaining to do.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

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kazimakuwabara · 4 years

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Twenty-six Reasons to You

Summary: Time passes, feelings grow, and, with it, understanding starts to take place. It's a slow journey to getting to a place you never knew you wanted to be, but perhaps it's worth all the effort. Kuwabara is finding that out. (about 3500+ words. I wanted to do an abc type of story to my fav ship Yusuke/Kuwabara and i think it’s just gonna be a chill journey story. I don’t know if I’ll post all the chapters here, but it will be on my Ao3.)

****

A·wak·en·ing

2. an act or moment of becoming suddenly aware of something.

No one told Kazuma Kuwabara, that love could be slow.

He had been told, by everyone, since he was little, love was at first sight. You looked someone in the eyes... and boom! There it was. Instant love, instantly. The stars spun; the air changed; all in the wake of this new love, the true love you got when you met your other half. All the books, fairy tales, and movies he had seen growing up declared it: True love, it happens fast!

Even Shizuru Kuwabara, who Kazuma thought was the smartest person in the world as a kid, had said to him that finding your soul mate was like a punch to your gut. It struck hard, fast, and left you breathless.

In light of Kuwabara's new feelings, he wonders if he missed the hint of falling in love, because he was actually getting punched in the gut when he met Yusuke Urameshi.

Yusuke Urameshi, who had once been his greatest rival, his greatest goal, who then turned into, his greatest friend.

And apparently things hadn't stopped changing, because today, Kuwabara had looked at his best friend, and a voice in his head, very certainly told him, 'I love him.' The voice was his own, as the voices in his head tended to be, though Shizuru's voice had been in his head before when he was about to do something stupid. Warning him against whatever fool thing he was about to do.

But it was not her voice telling him, he loved Yusuke.

It was Kuwabara's very own voice, quietly stating the fact.

The voice was so certain, so sure, that it stunned Kuwabara. He'd never heard his own voice telling him, that this was it. This was love.

Kuwabara had instead always followed the criteria he had been warned about, a racing pulse, instant attraction, and a pure-hearted other, who he could put those feelings on. He hadn't always understood if he was acting right, but naively he had thought all the media about love as a kid, was a guide. His personal guide, that would explain it all to him. And because of those "instructions," Kuwabara had thought he'd known what love was.

Kuwabara could think of three times that he thought he'd felt love, or at least had come face to face with what love could be like.

The very first time, he had mistaken his racing heart for love, or something like that, was with Keiko. He'd suddenly come aware, with a girl hugging him, gently crying against his chest. Not the type of anguished cheers that would make one feel awkward, but the soft gentle happy tears of a reunion. It felt like he had woken up to a fairy tale ending, and his heart had picked up as this beautiful girl-Keiko, he would learn later-hugged him. He would learn even later, he was hugging her, because Yusuke had been possessing him; something that still embarrassed both him and Keiko to this day.

It's hard to start a friendship based off a slap to the face.

It was some time after she slapped him that he realized, that it hadn't been love he felt, but perhaps attraction or rather... just lust.

Teenage hormones were a bitch after all.

The second time Kuwabara thought he was in love, was after he'd looked Botan in the eye. He met all the parameters he'd always been told about, a racing heartbeat, a fluttering in his stomach, sweating palms... but then again, Kuwabara was often stunned by beauty, something he didn't realize until he was older. And although he'd taken Botan's hands and tried to declare his love, something hadn't felt just right. And no, it wasn't just the burning cigarette that Genkai had thrown on his shoulder.

As quick as it started, the romantic feelings for Botan pittered out, and perhaps that was because Botan was well... so fun! So fun, and full of life, and extremely capable. As a teen, he had built girls up to be princesses in his head, things that needed protection. But Botan didn't need all that, and she was probably the first beautiful girl he had seen as a person.

He wished someone had explained to him when he was younger, that girls were really not all that different from guys... everyone was a person. And all people were more than their genders or looks. It would have made his younger years so much easier, especially the part about realizing men were attractive too... but that was growing up for you he guessed. Everything had to be figured out, and sometimes it just had to be difficult.

The third time... the third time Kuwabara really thought he got it right.

It was with Yukina. She was a figure of beauty; otherworldly and inhuman beauty-literally and figuratively. Her sad eyes had called to him, filling his head with all the dreams that had been put in his head about being a knight saving a damsel, and then riding off into the sunset. And unlike with Botan and Keiko, this feeling did not pitter out.

It stayed, and he relished in this heart-racing experience, his first brush with love. Real love.

And it had hit him fast and hard, just like he had always been told.

Too fast, and too hard.

He had neglected to see her for who she really was. A lonely girl looking for herself, as well as a long lost brother. Someone who had been in a toxic environment, who had left it of their own accord, and then was captured and put in an even more terrible situation. He had felt bad for everything Yukina had gone through, but had not understood the depth of her personal suffering and pain. So caught up in his fairy tale ideals of love, he was missing the real struggles Yukina was going through.

And because he didn't look or understand, he missed out on all the growing she did. In the years he had known her, she had grown into a strong woman, who was determined to make a life for herself, and get the things she wanted. And the things she wanted was to find out who she was as a person, and find her brother. Rather politely, and with the patience of a good friend, she explained to him her desires and that, unfortunately, she did not want a lover to interrupt that journey. She wanted to be someone that she loved first, before she could ever offer her heart to another. And the only love she wanted to give out, was that familial love she was hoping to pour on her brother.

Kuwabara would not lie, and say he wasn't jealous when he found out her brother was Hiei, but that was a whole other ordeal...

It had been hard to hear, and Kuwabara wondered privately, that if he had actually looked at Yukina as more than an idol or an ideal, if he could have grown with her, and been at her side.

But there was no use wondering now.

When Yukina gave him her polite and firm rejection, Kuwabara was old enough and mature enough to understand what she wanted, and still reach out to hold her hand in friendship. She had held his hand back, and he was truly grateful. He still loved Yukina, it was just different now, and better if you asked him. Her friendship was... was everything. He needed her in his life, and he thinks she needed him, but as her friend.

Growing up was a whirlwind of learning, and the thing Kuwabara felt threw him off the most, was love. Love was hard to understand, and with his minimal experiences, he was sure the hard and fast quick love didn't exist. At least not for him. Perhaps there were a lucky few who looked at someone and felt that instant spark of knowing: this is it. But that wasn't for Kuwabara as it turned out, and not for most people he assumed.

And that was okay.

Still, at almost thirty, Kuwabara found himself surprised to realize love could come slow. Slowly, like an ember being coaxed back into life. But when it was lit... it roared. And his love was roaring now, and that trigger was looking at his best friend's smiling face. Yusuke always smiled, and he smiled often at him, but today Yusuke's smiles had sewn together all the small moments of their lives and turned it into an answer, and that answer was Kuwabara loved him.

It was not a sudden revelation.

Yes, his brain had supplied the thought, you love him, but the rest of him had known. It had been blooming in him since they first met. Since Kuwabara had first been compelled to challenge Yusuke, over and over to fight. Since they became rivals. Since Yusuke helped him from beyond the grave, and Kuwabara returned the favor. Since their first mission together, their first laugh, their first tears... There were all these moments that had slowly turned from rivalry to a true friendship, to the one thing Kuwabara had always wanted to find: love.

He was in love with Yusuke.

Strange that he was figuring it out now, right now, as Yusuke did what he normally did on a Thursday morning. Jog by his school, and shout out an embarrassing catcall, to make all his students laugh, often at his expense.

Kuwabara had gone into teaching, determined to do better for people like him, kids who had a rough bringing and struggled with learning. He wanted to treat them better than, he had been treated. Kuwabara typically taught English, but on Thursday mornings, he had agreed to help out with a few younger students who wished to run laps or use the gym equipment to get a workout. This had started in Kuwabara's first year of teaching, and he saw no problem with being there to help the kids, he even wound up showing the students how to work out safely rather than going too hard and too fast.

A year later, the next batch of students came, and with it more interested students in learning how to work out. And so a club was formed, the 'Workout Gang' a terrible name coined by a student, and it had stuck for some Godawful reason. But on Thursday mornings, the Workout Gang met an hour earlier on Thursday, and Kuwabara guided them through the school's equipment, and helped them work out. He even found he could help the more sports inclined students with their studies if he applied the knowledge they struggled with, to something physical. Soon Kuwabara was even getting praised by other teachers for how the workouts were improving the kids in their interpersonal relationships, or in a sport they had elected, or even a subject that they had been struggling with before.

Kuwabara was given all the credit for that, his hard work and dedication being cited as the difference the kids had needed.

And now in his eighth year of teaching, Kuwabara had an assistant, Honda Toko, the new coach who taught track and hurdling, who helped him out on Thursday mornings. He seemed to look up at Kuwabara with some shining admiration, and often wanted tricks on how to better his own workout. As far as people went he was okay, though Kuwabara had often clashed with him in the beginning, on how he treated the students. Honda was a little too rough. The kids needed patience and not someone who would scream at them when they failed.

Kuwabara had challenged the coach after seeing the other man's temperament. Kuwabara worked out with the coach, until Honda could barely stand, and Kuwabara was merely winded. He had then lectured the man, laying on the guilt until Honda looked defeated. Then gently, Kuwabara had stopped speaking, and knelt before the exhausted man, "When you yell at your students after they are already enduring a lot of other heavy burdens, you don't help them, you hurt them. Do you feel how I just made you feel? This is what you were doing to your kids. I don't want that for these kids, and if you expect to help me out in the mornings, I expect you to treat everyone with the respect they deserve. In turn, they will respect us."

Kuwabara had let his words sink in, and when Honda Toko joined them next time, it seemed he had understood Kuwabara's lesson. He stopped shouting, and he tried to be more patient. There were small slip-ups, but Kuwabara was there to patiently try and guide this man through his blunders. Kuwabara had gained an assistant, and the kids gained someone who was trying to listen better, but Kuwabara had also gained this man's admiration and idolization.

What had meant to be a simple club had grown into something complicated. There was probably another life lesson in there, but Kuwabara was already tired. The popularity of Kuwabara's club, was not just from Kuwabara's hard work-but also Yusuke.

When Kuwabara first agreed to this club, he had, of course, told Yusuke his new routine, they both cracked a few jokes, and that should have been it.

Kuwabara had underestimated Yusuke Urameshi, a thing he would have thought he'd known not to do by now.

The very first Thursday Kuwabara opened the school early, there came Yusuke jogging by. He normally jogged in the mornings, a habit Yusuke had picked up to burn off his excessive demon energy, but he didn't normally jog by Kuwabara's school. But he did that day, greeted Kuwabara, who greeted his friend back-and then Yusuke looked directly at Kuwabara's students and asked them, "look after this giant Himbo okay? He's big, dumb, and lovable. Keep an eye on him."

Kuwabara's jaw dropped with mortification, Yusuke winked at him, and he jogged his happy ass on bye, leaving him alone to endure his student's laugher.

Yusuke had the nerve to make it a tradition, a tradition he had done every Thursday, for eight years.

If you asked Kuwabara why his club had succeeded initially, it was because of Yusuke's cracks. Of course, his students were delighted to see Yusuke mock their well built and intimidating teacher. When word got out about Yusuke's actions, more kids came, just to see Kuwabara left sputtering by some sly comment Yusuke made. And worse, sometimes Yusuke just would sack Kuwabara, begin an impromptu sparring match, kick his ass, and leave Kuwabara to deal with his students howling laughter as he jogged on by.

And as much as Kuwabara complained, it let Kuwabara connect with his students. To also teach that someone's size didn't determine their strength. He had to admit, getting his ass kicked and mocked by his best friend, had been a good way to really get the kids to open up to him. There were even times when students had leaped to Kuwabara's defense, booing at Yusuke like he was some evil villain. It was... really fun.

So on Thursdays, all of Kuwabara's Workout Gang members, expected to see Yusuke jog by, sling some comment about their teacher, or sack the man into the dirt, or do whatever silly idea that popped in Yusuke's head, and then jog on by laughing as Kuwabara blushed and shouted insults at him. Yusuke never missed a Thursday, and neither did Kuwabara. There were days Kuwabara opened the school, and he didn't need to be there. But he had just shown up anyway, so that Yusuke could jog by, and make his snide little remark.

Much like today.

Kuwabara had a cold. His body ached. His nose was stopped up. The very air around him, was a pain. He really, really, really wanted to be in his bed.

He should be in bed. But three of his students were training as much as possible for the big track race coming up in another week. He couldn't deny them their precious time to see each other and cheer each other on as they raced. Any additional practice was good right now, and he wanted to be there in case they needed some guidance. Or for him to secretly heal up a sprain they caused from overwork, them being none the wiser. (Hey if no one caught him, it wasn't cheating! It's not like he was gifting the kids extra strength or something.)

The point was, Kuwabara and Yusuke hadn't missed each other on Thursday morning for eight years, and Kuwabara didn't plan to miss out now, cold or not.

So Kuwabara had arrived at school, an hour early as planned, and opened the gates, his students commenting in his pale skin, and the bags under his eyes. Kuwabara waved them inside, and stood against the open gate of the school, waiting for Yusuke to show up. Once he was here, Kuwabara would receive the snarky little comment, and then go home. Honda Toko arrived a little after Kuwabara, a little late as per usual, and glanced at Kuwabara. He frowned and had tried to shoo Kuwabara away, but Kuwabara leaned against the gate, stubbornly waiting for Yusuke.

"Are you waiting for your friend to jog by?" Honda asked, arching a thick eyebrow. He scrunched up his nose, and asked, "Don't you see him every day at his ramen cart?"

And yes. Kuwabara did. But that was in the evening and it wasn't every day... but a lot of them. But Thursday... Thursday morning was special.

Kuwabara had almost figured it out just then. That thought of realizing how important Thursday had become, it had almost hit him then, almost exploded and revealed itself in a rude waking shock, with his coworker as an unwitting witness. But Kuwabara had started to cough and sneeze, his cold reminding him of its ugly presence. Kuwabara had turned to cough into his arm, Honda stepping back, not too keen to stand next to the germ ridden English teacher.

Kuwabara was righting himself up, and that was when he spotted Yusuke, jogging towards him from across the street. Yusuke arched a brow at Kuwabara's state, shook his head, and then punched Kuwabara in the arm, "Hey, stupid! Go home!"

Yusuke nodded at Honda, who frowned at Yusuke's presence. They had never really got on since Kuwabara first told Yusuke about Honda. And then later when the two met, there had been Honda's inferiority complex rearing its ugly head. He was a big guy, similar to Kuwabara's build and he just hated being weaker than anyone, especially to someone like Yusuke who was much smaller than him. The two just weren't meant to be friends, which was fine. Kuwabara really only tolerated Honda anyway, he didn't necessarily want to share his friends with someone like Honda.

Yusuke caught Honda's disdainful frown, and slid a cheeky look at Kuwabara, one side of his mouth quirked up along with a matching eyebrow. His eyes were fixed on Kuwabara's, a little mischievous twinkle in their depths asking: can you believe this guy? It was such a cocky look, such a Yusuke expression. One Kuwabara had seen almost every day since he was fourteen, and one that Kuwabara had always looked forward to seeing.

And that was it. Kuwabara's revelation.

Yusuke smiled at Kuwabara, the same way he always had, and all the little pieces Kuwabara had been missing over the years fell into place, and his inner voice finished the final blow of, 'I love him.'

He was in love, and it had bloomed within him slowly, only to be fully awakened by such a mundane event as Yusuke smiling at him, the same smile he had seen for years.

As Kuwabara's heart raced, and Yusuke jogged away, shouting again, "Got home!" Kuwabara wondered if love had always been meant to be this slow waking revelation.

Now, the panic that came after, that... that was fast.

#kazi fanfic #yyh #kuwameshi #kuwabara #yusuke #kazuma kuwabara #yusuke urameshi #romance #friendship #friends to lovers

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princekirijo · 4 years

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so fandom, persona in general and go wild, character mitsuru and ship yukamitsu for teh ask game

Hoo boy strap in folks this is gonna be a long one.

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Persona:

Favorite character: Mitsuru Kirijo (wow really? no way..)

Least Favorite character: It’s a tie between Granddaddy Kirijo and Shuji Ikutski. I despise them with every fiber of my being and I will go to hell itself to fight them.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Yukamitsu, Shihoann, Akimina (male protag), Mitsuham, and Pegoryu.

Character I find most attractive: Mitsuru Kirijo....

Character I would marry: Once again Mitsuru Kirijo

Character I would be best friends with: Ann Takamaki. That girl is my spirit animal. Although I could also see myself being friends with Yusuke too!

A random thought: I know Atlus couldn’t do this because they want to keep the games separate but I can’t not imagine the Shadow Operatives not looking into the Phantom Thieves. Like I hardly think Mitsuru would ignore all the mental shutdowns and stuff, especially because the shutdowns are very similar to apathy syndrome.

An unpopular opinion: OK I mentioned this in a previous ask but I hate when people compare Mitsuru and Makoto (I might make a post about this idk). It just really bothers me.

My Canon OTP: Junpei/Chidori. It’s so sweet and I love how it affects both of them and they both grow from it.

My Non-canon OTP: Yukamitsu it is canon but oh well.

Most Badass Character: OK I’ve said Mitsuru like 5 times so instead I’ll say Joker! Some of the stunts he pulls off are super impressive!

Most Epic Villain: I hate his guts but Kamoshida. The way they built him up was incredible and I don’t think they did it as well with any other P5 villain.

Pairing I am not a fan of: There’s a few but I think my least favorite is Minako/Ken. Atlus really fucked up there.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Half of the P5 cast OK but if I had to pick one probably Makoto Niijima.

Favorite Friendship: Akihiko and Mitsuru. One of the best friendships in the series, I love my senpai.

Character I most identify with: I feel like there’s three I identify with the most, Mitsuru, Akihiko and Yusuke all for different reasons. But mostly Yusuke I think.

Character I wish I could be: Oh um not sure. I guess Ann actually because she’s super nice and has so much compassion and confidence. I love her.

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

Yukamitsu:

When I started shipping them: When I first played Persona 3. I think it was during the love hotel mission, I was playing as FeMC and me and Akihiko ended up in the room together and Yukari and Mitsuru in the other room. Then it just kept growing from there. By the Kyoto scene I knew they were my favorite ship of all time.

My thoughts: Oh god where to begin. I just love everything about this ship. Like it is a beautiful example of enemies to friends to lovers. Their mutual distrust that was born from completely different scenarios. The briefing after the full moon mission when Yukari confronts Mitsuru and that tension between them. The Yakushima scene which builds on this tension. Then that subtle warming up to each other. Yukari becomes less hostile and Mitsuru opens up more. Then bam Mitsuru’s dad dies and Yukari gets the true recording of her own father. Yukari understands what Mitsuru’s going through but in true Mitsuru fashion she’s putting up her walls again. And then the climax. The Kyoto scene. Yukari is once again confronting a hopeless Mitsuru. Helping her realize she still has things to live for. And then Mitsuru and Yukari pledging themselves to fight alongside each other and to stay by each others side. And then every other little scene after that. It’s just beautiful and I can’t even do it justice fuck did I just make myself cry writing this maybe.

What makes me happy about them: The fact that they are willing to stick with each other no matter what. They’ve pledged to fight by each others side. And Mitsuru sticking by Yukari in the Answer even though she didn’t agree with her. Beautiful.

What makes me sad about them: Honestly that these two have been through so much shit. They both lost their dads and have the burden of trying to save the world when they’re not even adults yet. Also it’s very difficult watching them at the start of the game when Yukari is hostile towards Mitsuru.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Um I don’t think there is anything I can think of honestly.

Things I look for in fanfic: Actual fanfics of these two that isn’t just porn. There’s not enough out there well then add to it prince, I know I’m trying :(

My wishlist: Atlus make them canon. Damn cowards.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: For both of them Minako actually lol.

My happily ever after for them: They get married and live happily ever after with a kid of their own who I may or may not have a whole concept and au for.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

Mitsuru:

How I feel about this character: OK I talk way too much about this woman because I love her so much. I would take a bullet for her. She’s helped me with so much, which sounds weird, but whenever I’m sad I’ll just drown myself in the Mitsuru tag and it makes me feel so much better. I love her story, her persona, her personality just everything. She also helped me accept the fact that I’m gay which I am so grateful for.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Yukamitsu and Mitsuham are my favorites.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Akihiko/Mitsuru. Ultimately it’s a BROTP for me. I live for my senpai, Momsuru and Daddyhiko no I’m not sorry about calling them that lmao.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I mentioned this earlier but she should not be compared to Makoto. You know what I think I will make a post about this cause I keep saying it.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: She’s dating Yukari in Arena. No I don’t take criticism.

Favorite friendship for this character: So I’ve talked about Akihiko/Mitsuru a lot but I think one we don’t talk about enough is Aigis and Mitsuru. I think they have a really awesome dynamic and I love the way they’re working together in Arena! They’re so funny together.

My crossover ship: Not sure if this counts but Sae/Mitsuru. It’s a wlw ship too powerful for this world and I live for it.

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takamakisu · 5 years

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『♥🖤Akira X Ann: Why I Support It.🖤♥』

In honor of the upcoming ShuAnn week, I have decided to contribute by writing a long post about why I love these dorks so much. I haven't seen a meta for them yet, so I figured I'd try my hand at it. (Which will be updated and expanded as I find more content) Without further ado, let us begin! Tagging the wonderful @shuann-week for this one.

1. The first encounter.

In media, the first interaction that two characters have with one another, regardless of relationship; lays the groundwork for said relationship and therefore is absolutely vital. When Akira first meets Ann, he's casually texting away on his phone and not really paying attention to much, but when she walks by he looks up. Already his curiosity is piqued, as is the player's; and then when she removes her hood, even then we don't get to see her face. But we DO see Akira's reaction, and he seems absolutely dumbstruck.

This is when things get interesting. Ann takes a few moments and sort of surveys her surroundings, and then she senses Akira's eyes and turns to him. And he doesn't look away, or get flustered; Akira keeps looking at her with that flabbergasted expression. He doesn't even blink. He is so taken aback by her he can't even greet her, and Ann just smiles at him and looks away- but even then, he doesn't break his gaze, and he never does until she actually leaves: Ann leaves him absolutely spellbound. And the music that plays during this encounter is exclusive to this encounter and this encounter alone. It never plays before this scene, nor does it ever play again after. There are heavy romantic undertones in this encounter, from the body language to the background music, and only Ann receives this treatment. It screams "attraction at first sight", and now with the groundwork laid, the relationship can begin to blossom.

This is very important. Even before we get to see Ann's face, we already know from Akira's viewpoint that she must be pretty, at least in his eyes. And when we finally do get to see her face, she is indeed beautiful.

2. Her closeness to him.

First off, she's with you from essentially the beginning of the game, so you get a lot of time to get to know her and become closer to her. Ann is the third member to join your party and the first female member and therefore the first available romance option as well! (That's pretty big.) She's also your classmate, so you get to see her literally every day and there's a sense of familiarity that is built on from the beginning.

Ann was the first to see Akira for who he truly was, and she looked past the rumors of him and got to know him for herself. Because she understands being an outsider and being mistreated, there's a level of understanding Ann has with you that the other girls simply do not. That's not to say they're bad, but Ann just connects better with the protagonist on that level. Let it also be remembered that before she met Akira, and by association the rest of the Phantom Thieves; Ann didn't have any friends, besides Shiho. Due to being a foreigner (and a very pretty one, at that) and the rumors surrounding her with Kamoshida, no one talks to her. While having a two-parent household, they are rarely home; and so Ann's lonely as well as bullied. Akira saving her from Kamoshida and then giving his genuine friendship then allows her to open up and be vulnerable to other people and that's very healthy.

Another interesting interaction is during the Kamoshida arc, Makoto will ask you in essence what's the relationship between you and Ann, if there's something between you. If you say "there's nothing", her reply is "Didn't seem that way yesterday" and if you tell her you're classmates she'll say "But do friends get that close?"

3. How she falls for him.

For these reasons, I support these two. Lemme know in the comments what won you over to this pairing and any other moments that get your heart warm and fuzzy!

In addition, Ann gets an on-screen kiss with the protagonist; a luxury only two other Persona girls have received (from 3-5, Maki kisses Naoya in P1): Margaret and Marie from Persona 4. The fact that Ann gets an explicit kiss (and possibly an implicit one as well because in Rank 9 her reaction to Joker hugging her hints he MIGHT have kissed her too) screams that while she's not 'canon' (nobody is) it sure does seem Atlus is sneakily pushing her towards Joker. They even match costumes in the dancing games! Oh yes, and Ann doesn't go home on Valentine's Day + Sojiro literally just "ayyyy" when she walks in- XD

Her Confidant has the protagonist and Ann getting closer as friends and also helping Shiho recover and you get to be a part of a few of Ann's interpersonal relationships. Shiho, as stated before, was Ann's closest and only friend before she met the player; and so earning her trust and helping her heal is significant. Suzui also hints to the player Ann seems to be attracted to them, talking about how her best friend talks highly of you and then the blonde gets flustered.

Her confession shot me through the heart. With Ann you don't have to increase your Knowledge or your Guts; just Kindness. To her, it doesn't matter if you get the best grades in the class or how brave you are, she just wants a friend who'll be there for her when she needs them, and that's what Ann falls for in the protagonist: his genuineness and his willingness to stick by her side. She falls in love with you for who you are and it feels the most natural and realistic. Something that's also very interesting about Ann's rank 9 event in Japanese is instead of saying “I guess we’re more than friends now...” she actually says, “I just realized it,” referring to her feelings for him (when she said “I love you”) in the original dialogue. And this is so so important. This hints at a love that developed slowly over a friendship and Ann wasn't even really aware it was there at first, until the only friend she'd had moved away and she felt alone and abandoned again. Akira being her pillar in that moment was the paradigm shift from platonic feelings to romantic ones and that is absolutely beautiful. But she ALREADY loved him, did you catch it? She just realized and became aware of it in that situation. Ann's been in love with the protagonist for who knows how long before she even confesses. And at the end of her confidant she calls you her light.. that just speaks volumes to me. The protagonist basically saved her, and because of that she wants to become stronger and encourage other people as well. It's beautiful.

5. Other characters reactions to them.

There's a specific scene where the protagonist is in the bathhouse with Ryuji and Yusuke, and Ryuji will ask you what you think of Ann. If you admit you think she's pretty, he gets extremely excited ("Ooh, you straight up said it!")

Another very interesting thing that's different in the original language is when Akira gets home from interrogation. In English, Ann just chirps "Hey there!" No big deal, right? But in Japanese, she says, “okaeri”, which means “welcome home”. This greeting is said amongst family or couples in Japan, hinting a deeper level of closeness than the translation.

(It's also something of note that when Ann got locked out of her room in Hawaii she went to Akira's room first. )

Additionally, after the school festival; Ann will talk to you about how she thinks about your future together! And if you tell her in another instance that you'd like to get married, she gets extremely excited whereas some of the other romance options become all flustered and blushy; a cute and interesting contrast.

A Mementos conversation also has Ann absentmindedly talking about how coffee goes well with sweets, to which Ryuji immediately replies 'Joker always smells like coffee, doesn't he?'

Now, I may be looking too deeply into this, but this could possibly be Ryuji "hint hint-ing" he thinks Akira and Ann are a good pair for each other. Ryuji also flat out refuses to date Ann during a scene in the gym when she offers to let him take her out. I don't know about you, but if I had a crush on somebody and they offered to let me go out with them, I don't think I'd turn it down as quickly and explicitly as Ryuji did (He tells her 'hell no, quit acting like you're some sexy anime character'). Personally I think Ryuji supports Ann with Akira and so he tries to gently nudge her over like "Okay, this guy? He's a good fit for you." Sakamoto's a great friend for Ann but I personally believe he's better as just that: a friend.

4. Their personalities blend well.

Ann's bubbly personality contrasts wonderfully with the protagonist's more introverted, reserved side. They're sort of like Robin and Starfire, just to less extremes. Ann is very pleasant and tender and she's got a big heart and it shows; consistently. She's a great friend to Ryuji and Shiho and big sister to Futaba, while at the same time tolerating nonsense from absolutely no one, regardless of status. I now want to cast attention to Meyer-Brigg's personality types. These are headcanons, but after analyzing Akira and Ann's characters Joker seems to be an ISTJ, while Panther is an ENFP. These are abbreviations for Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ) and Extroversion, Intuition, Feeling, Percieving (ENFP) respectfully. Ann, at her core; is the heart of the Phantom Thieves honestly. She is very sensitive to others' emotions and feelings, and very emotionally intelligent. Being an extrovert, Ann also needs interaction and validation from other people: it energizes her and fufills her. And, in return she's a caregiver; Ann wants to support others and help them become stronger. She's a wonderful sister figure and just a comforter in general, and very amiable and chirpy. Contrast that with Akira, who makes decisions based on facts and logic rather than feelings and intuition (although in the Metaverse he seems to throw caution to the wind, quite frankly) and analyzes situations from a logical rather than emotional angle; (and there are exceptions to this like helping the woman Shido was assaulting and chasing Ann down to talk to her) and they seem on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. However, their differing personalities balance one another. While Akira keeps Ann grounded logically, she keeps him grounded emotionally and the bounce off is extremely healthy.

In Yusuke's Confidant, saying Ann is the definition of beauty nets the most points.

Atlus seems to like putting these two together as well, from giving them matching songs and outfits in the dancing games to putting them together in advertisements. It's pretty cute and though it's subtle, it's a nice little nod.

#✨; otp; you are my light (akirann)#shuann week

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supergenial · 4 years

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The Most Dangerous Predator in P5

Recently I came across some mildly spicy twitter mini-drama regarding the character Kawakami from Persona 5. On one hand you had people saying she's bad because she's a predator, and on the other you had people saying she's good because she's a depressed mommy gf with feet or whatever. Seeing as I previously took an extensive dump on another famous jrpg teacher, I found it rather interesting and thought I might as well chime in on this one too, so let's dive a bit into it.

For starters, I am generally ok with people hating Kawakami, as personally I'm more of a Makoto man myself (though there's way more reasons to hate her considering her career choice). I am also ok with people despising fictional characters for basically any reason, as I think hatred towards fictional characters isn't a particularly big deal or anything to get riled up about. What I find particular about this particular case with Kawakami is the idea that she is the exact same as Kamoshida, the other pedophilic teacher in the game, because if anything I find that she is the opposite

1) The role of Power in Persona 5

Persona 5 entirely revolves around the idea of Palaces, manifestations on a different plane of the psychological state of people in the regular plane of existence. These palaces spring up mainly because of the Power people hold over other people. Kamoshida holds absolute power over his students and the school, Madarame holds power over Yusuke and his disciples, that boring Yakuza guy had power over the entire city, Haru's dad has power over a billion dollar conglomerate, Sae has power over the court system and Bald Man has power over the country's politics. (Sorry, I played this when it came out and can’t be bothered to look up the names.)

The whole idea of palaces is to manifest that awful situation when someone holds absolute power over a certain place or a certain group of people with little to no consequence to keep their true nature in check. Now, the reason why pedophilia is wrong is very self-evident to anyone not residing in the bottom-right partition of the political compass, but it's fair to say that a big factor of why we find it so infuriating is how unjust and despicable it is due the sheer Power an adult can have over a minor, being able to physically overpower them in some cases, or psychologically manipulate them ("grooming") in others.

Hence it is a bit ridiculous to say this is Joker's relationship with Kawakami. Their relationship starts with Joker finding out about her embarrasing secret job. At this very moment a power relationship is built as Joker can easily ruin her entire life by simultaneously destroying her social standing while also taking away her already slim sources of income. It is because she understands this that Kawakami decides to follow along with whatever Joker says, as she literally has surrendered all power to him in this unfortunate twist of fate.

This can be clearly observed in the gameplay as the progression of her social link results in all sorts of perks that obviously have very little to no benefit for her. She cooks, makes tools, coffee, laundry, and even lets Joker slack off in class, oftentimes seeming rather bothered by having to be stuck doing these tasks. A further point can be made that their relationship of power is further exacerbated by their economical standing, as Joker (through the player's gameplay input) quickly becomes rich and one of her most reliant sources of income. He is not only blackmailing her, but is also taking advantage of how poor she is to coerce her into following his word. What a gem of a capitalist we have in our hands here.

Even if their relationship may possibly end in a lovers relationship, it is somewhat fair to assume that the start of this relationship was irreparably tainted. She absolutely had to be subservient to the guy because she had no other option, even if she does develop legitimate feelings eventually, you could still say that Joker has effectively groomed her into being his partner

If she was merely trying to get closer to him and groom him into his personal sex pet, her preferential treatment towards him would've started significantly earlier in the game as opposed to her openly showing disdain towards his presence, yet it is by Joker's action that any of these developments can be achieved for he holds all the power. This comes as no surprise for as I have previously stated elsewhere:

2) Player avatars are inherently creepy

If you've read my Byleth diatribe you already know where I'm coming from. There I argued that Byleth was creepy not by nature of being a teacher who can date their students, but rather because they are a player avatar with no personality who can mind control other characters into liking them. This is no different from Joker.

Merely by choosing to spend time with other characters these will inherently feel indebted to Joker, eventually unlocking social links that are merely soliloquys by the subjects in which the whole notion that they are multidimensional and interesting characters falls apart once you see them pour their soul out for someone whose reply will merely amount to two or three words, yet somehow will gain their utmost respect by uttering these generic replies.

So yeah, basically I just found it interesting because this is exactly the example that I mentioned on that one occasion, I said Byleth would be creepy even if they were a student who's dating a teacher, and this is exactly that same case, but they just had to double down on it and write an explicitly exploitative relationship where the player character acts in the exact same way that the game's villains do, but I guess without the framing of the palace and the magical monster fights Persona fans just get confused as to who's the good or the bad guy. Bravo Atlus, looking forward to SMTV in 2030!

Some additional less relevant points:

-Kawakami’s still a pedophile! Perfectly valid to hate her for that imo, personally I won’t because of the above, but you do you.

-I’m aware it’s a very small twitter poll and that at large the fanbase is much more likely to defend her than to attack her, hell I only found this one out because someone was dunking on it and had way more retweets than the original

-Again, I don’t think you’re inherently creepy for playing these games, they’re ultimately good fun and they’re in fashion, just keep a critical eye out for why words are bad, rather than obsessing over the actual words.

-What the actual fuck, how was Morgana that low? Even on a rigged poll they should be second place at best, no excuses.

#persona 5 #deep analysis #lmao imagine talking about persona 5 in 2020 the year of our lord jesus christ #tw: grooming and stuff that's adjacent to grooming

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maiji · 6 years

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Process and wip images for A House That Holds Long Limbs (Part 8)

Previous process and wip documentation: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Parts 6 and 7

Read the pages here: Part 8 (full complete version will be linked from YYH North Bound master post)

I personally love exploring character dynamics and character interaction! It's definitely what I tend to focus on in comics and stories. Plus you get to draw lots of closeups of people's faces and have a lot of fun with expressions. And that's what Part 8 is full of.

IN THIS EDITION, after the usual script and thumbnails, I'll take a bit of time to talk about expressions and characterization (my thoughts on Raizen and Hokushin specifically, but also some general thoughts on how I approach writing characters and character interactions). More details of some of the panels from part 8 so you can see the faces better!

Script and thumbnails

(If you look closely at the top of pg 2, you can see the page behind was where I started drawing my random dream sequence hahahah)

It’s always kind of funny to look back at the script and see my rushed typing (or texting on my phone, since I’m often doing this on mobile...) - odd typos and dangling/incomplete thoughts like ”my blodd” (lol).

Part 8 was one of the first sequences conceived in the development of this story. As a result, the script and the thumbnails both line up very closely to the final, because I’d already been thinking about it for so long and playing the scene out repeatedly in my head. I had a very concrete sense of how I wanted to direct it, unlike many of the action sequences from previous parts. The main areas I struggled with were historical details (the karaginu was originally labelled “tarp” in the script as a placeholder until I decided what it would be), and the biggest pagination change was probably moving Raizen’s “Maybe you just didn’t take enough off lol!” to the previous page so that Hokushin’s (literal) punchline would be at the beginning of the next.

Expressions

I have a huuuuge soft spot for subtle expressions - the kind where just a bit of extra line or texture around the eyes or the mouth, plus the dialogue or context of the scene, adds nuance to an expression. Especially ones that otherwise can read as relatively neutral. Even a very simple expression that’s just dots for eyes and straight lines for the upper/lower lids and eyebrows can have a lot of variation in how you interpret them, simply based on context and slight adjustments. Here are some examples with Raizen, where his face is super basic:

A: pretending nothing is wrong, calmly answering question

B: pleased with self for being smart - clearly a happer expression than A

C: similar to A, chillaxing and answering question

D: no big smiling mouth so he looks more like he’s focused on intensely sniffing the air

E: same as B basically, but a bigger smile of “everything’s fine!” (when you read the text)

F: extra thickness for his upper lid gives the sense that he’s in the middle of his casual sexy/chivalrous how ya doin’ expression

G: ... which changes in this panel to be more a realization (“oh shit I’m on fire”)

Actually, Raizen and Hokushin are both pretty difficult face types for me, being more “mature” looking male faces with stronger features/jawlines and narrower eyes. Hokushin especially has been challenging because his design has really low eyebrows which result in a default glare. Togashi still manages to make him fairly expressive and not look like he's glowering all the time. With my more limited art skill and lack of confidence, I tend to soften his expressions by really laying on the top line of his eye (this sounds like I'm putting mascara on him or something lmao), and also adjusting the size of his pupils (within reason or it starts to look even less like how I draw him normally, which is a big problem since his shaved head is a defining aspect of his series character design so he already looks pretty different). Here are some comparisons of his face - bearing in mind I had to keep his eyes wide open because of the seals in the story:

A: crying/relief

B: this one here is supposed to be a bit miserable/self-loathing because he really didn’t think Raizen was going to look for him

C: shock, unexpected

D: thinking + “ugh plan B”

E: worried/apologetic and then “OOF/URK”

F and G: a progression to show the differences in rendering the eye. First is a bit angry because he’s realizing where all the blood for the seals came from, then he notices Raizen’s hands, and G is that example of softened expression (more lines on the top eye, larger pupil) to show how bad he feels about Raizen’s injury.

One last thought on expressions. They can easily lose their nuance when inking (the slightest shift to a line can change the expression completely), and especially for someone like me who has unsteady hands it can be a bit of a nightmare. The nice thing about ballpoints is that they can retain a bit of the pencil sketch quality, which helped me freak out less when inking the last page with Hokushin’s glare. Here’s a comparison of the progress:

Though this particular expression isn’t that subtle, you can still see some differences as the drawing gets built up. When the pencil lines are gone and the drawing gets rendered in bw only, a lot of shading is lost. The messy lines can be interpreted more flexibly by your brain since they’re less defined and you haven’t “committed”, so the final version looks and feels less expressive. (This is why a lot of artists prefer their sketches to the finished piece, myself included...) Characterization This will get very specific to this comic, obviously, but hopefully my approach (and biases haha) will come through. With something like a fancomic, there are obviously existing expectations around the characters, but the benefit of working with these guys is that they’re not as prominent in the story or the fandom, so I feel more comfortable playing around and filling in the gaps. (This is probably why I like minor characters so much.)

In the case of Raizen and Hokushin, we know these two have a close relationship and history only through assumption and insinuation. We never see them interacting directly in the series at all. Actually, we don't see Raizen interact with anyone except Yusuke in non-flashback sequences (aside from the kudakusushi. In the anime, more scenes were added with his estranged friends, mostly their fond memories of him beating them up lmao). But it's very clear that they're extremely important to each other. Hokushin obviously speaks of his king in an exceedingly respectful fashion. Meanwhile, Hokushin is actually the last name Raizen says before he dies - his second last line, to Yusuke, is "Take care of Hokushin and the others" - or in my Taiwanese edition, "I leave Hokushin and the others to you". (Lol “the others”. Also I need to draw a comic about this at some point.) Despite this zero actual interaction, it's still extremely easy to imagine it because their characters are so clearly defined. In fact, they're both such consistent archetypes with enough particular quirks that they practically write themselves. So it wasn't difficult to extrapolate and imagine much younger versions of them, and how they may have interacted if they had only just met, which is the foundation of North Bound. Archetypes and stereotypes walk a fine line together, but they do serve as really useful building blocks for sketching characters quickly. This is why I really enjoy symbolic systems like astrology (or some of the the modern incarnations - personality assessment frameworks) because of all the character sketching it helps you do really quickly. Astrology in particular because, without even caring about birth dates or charts or whether astrology is "real" or not, the basic idea of a sign and its bucket of traits and symbols is simply a great resource when you want fleshed out character archetypes to build off of. I talked a bit about this in my Lenormand post, but I think of zodiac signs as one of the many games humans have developed in our attempts to categorize our world into recognizable patterns, and since we've been at it for thousands of years, there's a wealth of reference material, scenarios, analyses not only of the individual archetypes, but for all sorts of combinations and relationships. Some of it very well-thought out, and some of it just lots of fun to read. For my purposes, applying this to North Bound, Raizen is basically a Leo. He's dramatic, positive, powerful, passionate, a straight-shooter. Not only does he embody its main traits, he's literally a king (or eventually one in this story, I guess). And he even has a mane, for crying out loud. Meanwhile, Hokushin is a solid depiction of a quintessential Virgo - hardworking, practical, analytical, stoic, kind - and literally the loyal servant that typifies the Virgo paradigm. The Leo/Virgo duo is a classic partnership, and at the point where we meet them in the series, the relationship we can see has stabilized to exactly that. At the same time, there's tons of potential for a hilarious dynamic as well, especially imagining how they got to that point. (If you wanna have a laugh, look up some analyses of Leo and Virgo relationships and you'll see what I mean.) His freakouts next to Raizen's "hahhaa everything's fine!" carry most of the humour (similar to how his freakout at Yusuke's vandalism of the rurimaru stones carried a ton of the humour in that episode lol). Obviously there are other things that further finetune their characters so that they're more than bland cookie cutter personalities (Raizen's deep thinking about the future of the Demon World, for example, and Hokushin's sense of humour and appreciation/enjoyment of fighting), but in broad brushstrokes, these archetypes work incredibly well, and make it so easy to come up with scenarios and write interaction to the point that I'm now ridiculously behind in actually turning them into comics ahhhhh...

#yu yu hakusho #raizen #hokushin #comics #fanart #process #wip #swearing #profanity #character analysis #character thoughts #expressions #art by Maiji/Mary Huang

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skittidyne · 6 years

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Hey skitty!! How r u? I hope this doesn't bother you but I'm just so curious on the 'behind the scenes' making of ptf, it's just so much and I love it a lot, were there other mythologies you considered besides Babylonian? Is there a specific place in Japan where ptf takes place ? How on earth did u come up with the lovable disaster that is yuri seriously I love him so much ? Were there characters who initially had different tarot cards associated with them than the canon ones ? I

ptf questions are the OPPOSITE OF BOTHERING ME. plus i’m doing super great because i received this ask! thank you!

so for the making of ptf, we really started with hisako and built up around her. only p3 & p4 were out at the time, and neither @tarotdactyl nor myself had played p1/p2 when we began planning ptf, so we focused on the build of the latter two. both 3 &4 use the same hero archetype for the persona - hero goes down into hell to rescue a lover, fucks up, hero escapes but lover does not - so we looked around for different myths to match that. (curse you, p3, for taking both orpheus and psyche from us!)

we really lucked out in finding inanna. she doesn’t go down into the underworld to rescue her lover, but instead her twin sister, and we were definitely into that. (plus, obv we wanted a goddess, not a god.) p3 solely uses greek stuff, and p4 solely uses japanese stuff, at least for the main cast, so we wanted to keep it centric to that mythology. so once we found inanna, there wasn’t really anything else we considered!

we’re being vague with where ptf actually takes place, because we didn’t want to either under-research or over-research locations in japan, but rest assured that she’s in a pretty big city, full of weirdos to befriend and make apparently useless social links with.

yuri was a treat to come up with. we knew going into it that the magician would be a very important character, and like hisako being specifically crafted to both fit the mold and break stereotypes of a persona protagonist, we very much had junpei & yosuke in mind. (sorry kenji! we liked playing hamuko way more...) the magician is the best friend, supportive but not afraid to say what needs to be said, the guiding light at times, tragic romances, etc. we love magicians a lot ;o;

so we wanted someone who was pretty rough around the edges, maybe not that great at people, but someone who would get along with hisako against all odds. they’re both sort of social outcasts, and they both have some pretty weird hangups when it comes to dealing with other people, and as we all know, he doesn’t have the best track record with girls or speaking properly. but we love platonic m/f friendships to death, so we knew we had to go for it.

(but know that i wept when i first saw yusuke in the p5 trailers. i had the tall pretty painter boy first, atlus.)

we wanted all of the social links’ arcs to have their own feeling and complexity, of course, but yuri’s ended up being largely an inward arc, and that matches hisako’s the closest. they just get along weirdly! i guess hisako’s really determined to be his friend, and yuri is really touched by that.

i don’t think we changed arcana too much, truth be told. we mostly came up with a rough idea for a character first, then tried to assign arcana to them, and then crafted their arcs. we again paid pretty close attention to 3 & 4, but for the rest of the cast, we purposefully bucked trends. that’s why a lot of the main party are arcana not usually seen in the main party*, and why a lot of the characters might seem weird with their arcana at first, such as the social butterfly being the hermit or, y’know, a parrot.

*except the lovers, because we knew we had to have the lovers there. we like the lovers archetypes a lot, too. (we also knew we had to make the lovers a dude since it’s always ladies. C’MON ATLUS BRANCH OUT A BIT.)

thank you so much for this ask! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° i hope your favorite weather happens today

#operation: poison tree feels #i wish i could talk about the Actual Plot of the story but we wouldn't hit it for another dungeon #it might seem like the story is half over but trust me it's not #we gotta get into that missing wild card after all #anonymous #ask

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