#it was very difficult to put the manga down last time I was reading it but I really want to spread out my reading experience

[thelastunison]

forgot to mention it before but hi I finally started reading Dungeon Meshi like a week ago and now I decided to color in one of my favorite pages so far

#dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi fanart #falin touden #manga panel coloring #Bennett's Drawings #Chimera Falin's design is so fucking cool. I really wanted to do something to give it some appreciation #the wings were quite fun to shade #took a while for Dunmeshi to really grow on me- I actually started reading it months ago but forgot to continue reading. As I usually do #I think it was somewhere around the point where falin gets resurrected that it really clicked for me #I'm like at chapter 77 now btw #it was very difficult to put the manga down last time I was reading it but I really want to spread out my reading experience #so I actually like. Remember what happens in the story. Instead of binging it and immediately forgetting everything

[popopretty]

[Translation] Asagiri Kafka's afterwords for The Day I Picked up Dazai novel

Normally, afterwords would be the last thing I read in a novel, but as there are not many changes to the published novel this time compared to the movie bonus version, I was able to skim through the text quickly and get to this. And to be honest, despite not being a writer myself, I was so moved by Asagiri's views about writing and his characters that he shared in the afterwords, that I had to sit down and translate it right away.

This is just my crappy translation, as usual, but I hope it gave you a short, interesting look into the author and the characters. And please do not forget to buy the novel if you have the chance.

The translation is under the cut, thank you!

It has been a while. This is Asagiri Kafka.

Have you been enjoying Bungou Stray Dogs?

This novel, “The Day I Picked up Dazai”, is a compilation of the first week’s bonus novel “The Day I Picked up Dazai – Side A” and the second week’s bonus novel “The Day I Picked up Dazai – Side B” for the screening of “Bungou Stray Dogs BEAST” movie (hereinafter referred to as “BEAST”).

Normally, it is difficult to publish a bonus like this, but since "BEAST” and “Fifteen” that were published earlier by BEANS Bunko were originally bonus novels too, "The Day I Picked up Dazai” was also published in the same way, thanks to the efforts of all parties involved in the Bungou Stray Dogs series.

It is the story of Dazai and Odasaku’s first meeting, where Dazai who wants to die, collapsed in front of Odasaku’s place, who is neither a mafioso nor a hit man.

Why are there two different stores, Side A and Sode B? Regarding this question, please read the novel and see for yourself. If you keep in mind that this is the bonus for the BEAST movie, I think you will be able to understand it better.

Let me reminisce a little bit here.

This story was actually suggested to me by Igarashi Takuya, Director of the Bungou Stray Dogs anime.

Shortly before BEAST movie premiered, I was struggling. It was because I was asked to write a bonus novel for movie-goers again. I said “again” because, as I mentioned earlier, BEAST itself was a bonus novel for the Bungou Stray Dogs DEAD APPLE movie. I remembered having a hard time writing it, because I let myself run wild and wrote a total of 190 pages instead of 50 pages as requested.

But I had learnt my lesson after the last rampage. I can’t just write whatever I want anymore. I have to wrap the story in a reasonable length, like a pro should do.

A proper, professional story.

Huh?

My pen stopped right there. I stopped, looked around, feeling lost.

What is a proper story?

The act of writing novel is quite different in character compared to other types of media such as writing manga, anime scripts, or game scenarios. You can say it is almost a different thing. Writing novels, rather than narrating an event, is more like putting the flow of emotions into specific sentences. You use the sequence of letters to create rhythms, create flows, and create emotions. If anything, it might be closer to composing a song than writing a story.

Therefore, you have to decide “what kind of emotion will be put in this novel” from the very beginning, or you can’t start writing. That is the only and absolute rule.

Now, however, that is where the condition of a “proper story” hung over me.

A proper novel, of a proper volume, with a proper content for a bonus.

In other words, a proper emotion.

I searched through the drawers inside my head. For a proper emotion that is waiting to be brought out.

There was nothing but emptiness there.

A professional story teller is one with the skill to move the readers’ emotions. When people find the chance to move their own emotions, they will happily be paying for it. Human-being is that kind of creature.

And writers are ones who create and sell those kinds of emotions: the fear, the excitement, the heart throb etc., those that make you think. It is that kind of job.

It is supposed to be that kind of job.

Yet I became unable to move forward.

A good story is a story that moves people. I know that. Then what kind of emotion I should put in the story to make it "proper"?

How do I find that emotion?

I mean, how did I even write novels until now?

I stood still. My legs stiffened, my knees froze, unable to take even a step forward.

I then tried to at least pretend that I was moving forward, by listening to music, by taking a walk around the neighborhood at night. But as good as the night breeze felt, I didn’t manage to reach a single story that I needed to write.

What if I stayed like this forever, what would I do?

I felt a chill plunging into my back.

Then I realized, that stories, or probably emotions too, are not things you can search for or come up with. You have no choice but to patiently wait for it to come your way. You have no choice but to humbly and earnestly sit and wait for the story’s visit.

I got that, but the "proper 50-page story” still refused to come.

It was not long before one week passed. Then two weeks.

I was doing other work, while keeping my heart’s door open, waiting for the story to come to me.

At that time, I had an online meeting with the anime staff. I casually asked Director Igarashi, “Do you have any story you want to see?”

The Director gave it a little thought then told me, "I want to see the story of Dazai and Oda’s encounter”.

At that very moment, the story rushed in through my door, like a bang. I could hear that sound very clearly.

Two stories. Odasaku, and the two Dazais. A story where they met, and a story where they couldn’t meet. A story of gain and a story of loss. If I can portray the gain and loss side by side, the amplitude of the heart will be doubled and rise up in front of us.

That was a momentary event. Rather than pushing my way forward, I felt as if something was pulling my hand. Before I noticed, I have already finished the stories.

I came to realize.

It is not the writer who searches for the story. It is the story that chooses its writer, and at some point it will come our way. A professional writer is no more than someone with the ability to catch that call.

Also, this is the most important thing: there is no such thing as a “proper emotion”. Because after all, the feelings of other people belong to them only. That is why there is no guarantee that a novel can move others “properly”. However, you can move your own emotions. You know what kind of novel can and how it will move you. If you do, you can write just that. That’s the only way. That is the truly professional attitude. That’s what I thought.

Well then.

It is a little bit off topic, but as we are talking about “stories that come our way”, let’s talk about Odasaku’s first-person narrative.

Odasaku is a special character. For me, he is exclusively a novel character, and I have never portrayed him in the manga.

He first appeared as the narrator in “Dazai Osamu and The Dark Era”, then “BEAST” and now this “The Day I Picked up Dazai”. All are novels. That’s why for me, Odasaku doesn’t live inside the pictures, he lives inside the first-person narrative passages.

He is an eccentric guy. Even if you prepare the place and tell him to speak, he won’t speak to you that easily. His way of thinking is rather unique, that if I write his narrative after writing other characters’ first-person narrative, I would stumble for sure. Odasaku doesn’t speak. He just sits there in silence, while I can do nothing but sitting in front of my blank manuscript paper, trying to talk to him, like “What’s up?”, “Here, here”. However, he is a guy who won’t speak when it is not necessary. Sometimes it goes days or even weeks without him saying a word. Why did such a character come to me...?

During such time, there is only one thing I can do. That is, of course, to stay with him, sit patiently, and simply wait.

Finally he will start speaking. In his unique rhythm, word by word. His words have the power to cut through the world from a certain angle. That special cross-section is full of things I have never seen before and it never fails to surprise me.

And then when he finishes telling his story, he will swiftly disappear. To a dark and quiet place somewhere – probably, I can only imagine, somewhere like a bar. He will sit there calmly and keep his own time to himself. After that, it will be hard to call him again. It is a backbreaking task to me, but in the end, that is the type of guy Odasaku is, and if I am allowed to sound self-conscious, that is Odasaku's charm.

This story was written in such a way. There is a chance that he will come back again. And when he does, I will patiently listen to his voice again.

This story was completed and published thanks to the help of many people: in the Bungou Stray Dogs BEAST movie’s Production Committee, the anime staff, Young Ace’s Editorial Department, BEANS Bunko’s Editorial Department, and the many people who were involved in the publication of the book. Thank you very much. It is all thanks to you that the book was published without any problem this time as well.

Well then, see you in the next story.

Asagiri Kafka.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #the day i picked up dazai #traánlation

[itjazzbicch]

Let Me Love You

Pairing:  Manjiro Sano (Bonten Mikey) x Fem Reader 

(Every time I see Bonten Mikey, I'm just like damn this man needs some love lol so here we are! Hope you all enjoy!)

Warnings: MANGA SPOILERS! If you haven't read the manga and don't want spoilers, heres your warning now!

Smut! (18+ Only!)(Mentions of alcohol, unprotected sex, gets a little rough, creampie)

Summary: Following her skills in life much like the rest of her friends, the reader who loves music, becomes a professional singer and artist, not having much time to come home, but when she does come home, preparing for Pah's wedding the following day, she has an unexpected guest...

Word Count: 2.1k 

Life never goes as expected and knowing that I made the best out of it! I decided to follow my heart, do what I was good at, and ended up becoming an international singer and artist!

Never in a million years did I expect my life to turn out so good like this, although, traveling all around the world made it difficult to stay close to my best friends, I always stayed in touch, gave them tickets to shows when I could, and always made sure to see everyone when I was home.

I also had to make some things work, clearing out a week of my schedule to come home for Pah's wedding and stay for a bit, I needed the break. It was a great feeling being in my hometown, in the home where my heart was.

There was no escaping a little work, sitting at the computer in my office, sending out emails, and organizing things with the help of my assistant. I felt a bit guilty because this was supposed to be a break for him too, but everything was put to the side whenever he brought me water like I asked, sitting it down next to my mouse on the desk, nervous as he said:

"Also, Ms. Y/N, uh- there's someone at the door? He said that he was an old friend?"

Must've been one of the guys, thinking so, I took a quick sip, rushing, "Bring him in for me, would you?"

"Of course," He was so kind and obedient, heading out to grab my guest while I hurried to finish my last email, freezing in my seat when I heard, "Here he is. I'll be on my way now, so you can have time to yourself."

I was so shocked that I was shaking. It had been twelve years since I'd seen him with my own two eyes.

Mikey.

Draken and Mitsuya had mentioned to me before that he was still participating in gang-related activities, which wasn't a surprise. I didn't know extensive details of what Mikey had been up to and part of me didn't want to know.

"T-Thank you, dear. Get home safe," I swallowed down as my assistant left, standing up slowly, whispering while connecting gazes with him, "M-Mikey?"

"Long time no see, Y/N," It looked like Mikey surely needed a good night's sleep, but he put on the tiniest smile for me.

I thought I was seeing a ghost. Mikey and I were inseparable once upon a time, some could agree that I was closer to him than Draken used to be. Emotions from so long ago started rising, taking slow steps, needing to know that this was all real, hugging him and tightly.

No one has seen Mikey at all these past twelve years, and he came to see me? Why me? I had a lot of questions, but at the same time, I felt so relieved, hopeful that maybe this was the beginning of him coming back home and staying home. Letting things be like how they used to be.

The entire old gang was still together, he was the only missing piece.

It wasn't very much, but he did hug me back, patting my back softly, eyes glistening at me when I picked up my head, eyes full of tears:

"I'm sorry that I'm crying, I just-; I can't believe this!"

Those tears were happy ones mostly, beginning to smile at his little smirk:

"I know it's been a long time, and this was so sudden, but I wanted to see you."

"It's fine!" I assured, cleaning myself up, getting the door, and leading him out to the room where I entertained guests, guiding him to a chair, then to the bar, "You want a drink? I have just about anything you can think of."

"I'm sure you know what I like," He murmured while sitting back, eyes exploring his surroundings, "Nice house you have."

"Why thank you," I was getting myself some wine, a glass of authentic whiskey that I got from Europe on the rocks for him, "Music has brought me a long way."

"I've seen," In the corner of my eye, I could see him smiling at me. Mikey was the one person who could do the tiniest thing and I'd get flustered by it, even after twelve years that hasn't changed.

Distracting myself, I started singing to myself softly, finishing up the drinks and putting things away, and before I could turn back to him, I felt his arms wrapping around my waist, keeping me in a light embrace, whispering in my ear:

"I haven't heard your voice in person for so long. It's just as beautiful as I remember."

"It makes me happy that you think so," I smiled nervously, cheeks filling with heat, but paying close attention when he went on:

"I had been wondering about your songs lately, how many love songs you've made. Do you have some special in your life?"

I had no clue why he asked or how to answer because I didn't, thinking off the top of my head, "No, uh-, people are just suckers for love songs, you know? And a lot of my fanbase is young girls so-"

"Your nervous laughs and stuttering make me think otherwise," Mikey knew when I was lying, if I wasn't already horrible at it, he just knew, "But one particular song, I remember one of your lines, where you said they'll never know how good it feels to have your affection, never get to experience your love."

Despite all this time apart, he still paid attention to what I was doing, my music, and could still read me like a book, laying his head on my shoulder, mentioning:

"You haven't changed a bit, Y/N."

"It's not too late to get to know, Mikey," I whispered ghostly, holding his arms tight, feeling how he squeezed me tighter too, trying to get over all the emotions that were holding me back, letting Mikey know that he was the one who I wrote all my songs about, "It sure as hell looks like you need it too."

"Look at me," Guiding me around to face him, I was just trying to read him, remembering how he was holding me, then the darkness in his eyes.

All of that showed me exactly why he was here and now, I was more relieved that he was here. Before he could say more, I moved a strand of hair away from his face, holding his cheek:

"It's never too late and you're right, those songs are about someone special. It's you and I'm not afraid anymore to tell you that I love you. Despite everything, I love you, Mikey."

How the look in his eyes changed, you'd think no one had ever told them that they loved him before. He kept his composure, but I could see it in his eyes, then this snap.

I see that his speed never changed, reeling me in so quickly, his lips smacked into mine, so hungry and in need. It almost felt like he needed to be saved, just needed to know that someone loved him, and I was more than willing to be that person.

Kissing back and glancing for just a moment, his liveliness was coming back which made me smile against his lips, whispering:

"You don't have any other plans tonight, do you?"

"No," He huffed out quickly, hands latched to me, and with that green light, I sped up and there was no slowing down.

Not letting my lips leave for more than a second down the hall to my room. He had already shown me with his ways that he had experience, but this was different. Sitting him on my bed before straddling him, laying him back while kissing his neck, and letting his hand wander across my skin as clothes began to disappear.

It had been a long twelve years, filled with worrying about him so much, missing him horribly. I knew that he was no angel, but just him showing up, let alone this? My Mikey was still in there. Just buried deep and I was going to dig him out.

Both of us in just our skin, the hand he had on my hip began to push a little, ready to have me be the one on my back, earning a curious glare when I took his wrist, pinning him softly.

There was a slight tear in my eye staring down at him, but a soft smile on my face, positioning myself and kissing with a whisper:

"Just let me love you, Mikey."

Small gasps were against our lips while I sat on his cock, slow and steady till I had every inch, hands sliding from his wrists to his chest and pressing down, beginning to roll my hips, his hands finding my hips again, digging into its meaty side, hearing under his breath:

"You're so soft, warm-"

"And you feel amazing, Mikey," I moaned down into his ear, head resting on his shoulder, the desire for pleasure growing even stronger, making my hips rock quicker instinctively.

His silence made me wonder briefly, till I noticed how his legs shift, picking up his hips, thrusts matching my speed for a moment before going faster, how the tip of his cock was smacking my sweet spot, making my walls clench tighter, my moans louder, body beginning to squirm and nails sinking into his shoulders.

I saw the little smile on his face, when I picked my head up, flipping some hair away from my face because of the small sweats on my forehead, gasping for air, "M-Mikey-"

"Let me feel it," Holding the back of my head, forehead to forehead, his thrusts started coming even quicker, "Cum for me. I don't care if you make a mess."

"I'm right there, Mikey!" The second my walls pulsated; he kissed me with an animalistic side that I'd never really seen, even with all my moans and whines, kept going and dragging out the extreme high.

It was too good, making us both want more, so gone and lost in another world that I lost track of time. Just looking out the window at times, it was easy to tell that it was dead in the night.

I never knew I had this much in me, but knew I was reaching my limit.

Mikey had us on our sides, kept in a tight hug with one of my legs trapped in it, giving him the room, he needed to drill away inside of me. My head kept falling back with breathless moans, I was sure that I was barely breathing, a swirl in my head, the pleasure had turned me into a cock-drunk mess.

"Think you can give it to me just one last time?" I heard Mikey, but couldn't respond, having to hold my head up to ensure I was paying attention, "Come on love."

"I can," I breathed out hollowly, nearly crying at the tensity in my body from head to toe, squeezing his cock so hard that it ached some, begging him, "Make me cum, Mikey!"

I thought his grip was strong before till he showed me a whole new level, in a grip so tight that my whole body felt as if it had its own heartbeat, all the air I tried taking in stuck in my chest, able to hear the gush and slick against his cock, his voice nearly echoing to me:

"F-Fuck, Y/N. S-So damn tight. It's so good."

His hold on me loosened up and relaxing my leg on the side of his hip, nearly limp against his body, but still feeling everything, how his thrusts began to slow, hugging him and whispering with my head against his neck:

"C-Cum in me. I want to know how good it feels."

"Tell me then," He whispered back, pinning his hips against mine, moaning against the skin of his neck, feeling even hotter than I already did when his seed flooded my walls, so warm and deep, gasping but letting him know:

"It's the best feeling I've ever felt, Mikey."

"The best, hm?" He hummed, fixing my head so we could look into each other's eyes.

The longer I looked, even with tired eyes, I could tell something was different than when he first came, and that change was for the better. All I could do was smile, getting a real one in return, something I feared that I'd never see again.

I never felt so happy, knowing he wasn't leaving by how he laid back, keeping me to his chest and helping me with the blanket. All those hours together surely wore me out, yawning from the exhaustion, cooing before drifting off:

"The best feeling ever." 

#tokyo revengers fic #tokyo revengers imagine #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers smut #tokyo rev fic #tokyo rev imagine #tokyo rev smut #tokyo rev x reader #manjiro sano #manjiro sano x reader #manjiro sano x y/n #manjiro sano imagine #manjiro sano fic #manjiro sano smut #manjiro sano oneshot #tokyo rev oneshot #read and enjoy #Tokyo Revengers

[missyasf]

Game Of Hearts

| 5 |

↳ Summary: Your life is in monotonous tones of grey, day in, day out. Nothing matters besides your sister, the only thing you remember is seeing fireworks before waking up to Tokyo abandoned . Soon enough you are properly introduced to the deadly Borderlands where you must fight for your life in Games to survive. When things can’t possibly get worse soon division arises and rivalries are made. No matter what though, you are constantly plagued by a blonde who, no matter how hard you try, just can’t seem to go too far without.

↳ Pairing: Chishiya/Reader

↳ Genre: Angst, smut, thriller

Word Count: 9k

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Trigger Warning: ⚠️ much like the manga/Netflix adaptation this will be a dark fic which includes mentions of prostitution, attempted murder, child ab*se, sexual harassment, heavy grief and attempted suic*de among other things. Additional warnings will be added for chapters when triggers are brought up. Please read with caution if these are triggers for you or just skip all together!

Note: guess who's back bitches??? it only took a year and season 2 coming out for me to come back but here I am with chapter 5! please leave some comments and tell me how yall feel about the chapter! Shits about to go down in chapter 6

  ……

You couldn’t quite remember everything that happened, one moment you were facing the sky’s bright hue and for a moment you wondered if your soul was ascending. What you noticed however was a lack thereof, when it came to ascension at least. Then you became aware that you very much were not going up, but falling down. 

And falling and falling. The only thing you could think about however was Nanami, your dad, your mother....The empty bottle of pills, the write up of OD even though everyone knew it was suicide. Was this what everyone meant by life flashing before your eyes. 

You couldn’t think as your stomach did waves as your body bounced harshly, your gaze now upside down and feeling admittedly nausea at the sight of the unruly ocean beneath you. Oh...oh god…you were alive. Your body hung as you heaving a breath, closing your eyes before they ripped open. Oh god the game! The game! They probably didn’t have much time. You frantically tried to pull yourself up, but again, you hadn’t exactly been fit. 

Suddenly you heard the sound of metal clashing and you could hardly realize you were not falling once more until your body crashed into the water, salt burning your eyes and water entering your lungs as you fought to reach the surface for air, the water was fairly calm given but it was difficult to keep your head up as you pushed yourself to the ground at the front of the bridge. Your limbs ached and you could still feel the scorch of the flames licking at your skin as frustration filtered your body, why couldn’t you swim faster!? 

Every muscle in your body ached and the adrenaline you felt had left you, leaving your body feeling heavier and heavier until you reached the prickly green grass that you on any other day would have complained about. 

Laying against the ground you collapsed as you closed your eyes, god being alive sucked. But you weren’t going to die in this godforsaken place. Your fingers curled against the ground as you forced yourself to crawl up the hill, slowly pushing yourself to stand up, as you groaned, rubbing your hand against your head before fumbling a little with your footing. The hill was admittedly steep and your sneakers weren’ exactly built for walking. 

After a certain amount of struggle you had made it to the top, your legs aching and trembling and your body felt sluggish. They better disarm that last car…You took a seat on top of the table that had the screen set put on, looking at the gate that had closed the bridge down. 

You could only imagine the chaos of arguing between the other three right now as you dimly squeezed the water from your shirt, spitting out what saliva you had at the sharp taste of salt. Everything hurt and you really just wanted to lay down. You jumped at the sound of a sirening setting before you leaned back on the table enough to see the table once more. 

Game Cleared

You didn’t have any doubts but still...it was good to know they didn’t lose their shit after hearing an explosion, you expected nothing less. The gates slowly slid back open and you could see two distinct figures. 

“Well shit, she actually survived!” Kuina whistled out a snarky grin on her face as she jogged over to your battered figure, looking extremely tired and also in pain for that matter, “Damn, you look busted though.” 

You looked between them both, Chishiya looked nonpulse but there was something about his demeanor, you weren’t sure what, and you weren’t sure if you’d go out of your way to say he looked relieved but...Maybe that was it? 

“I’m staying with Chishiya next time.” You sighed and much to your distaste Chishiya had that snide, smug smile curl on is face as if he totally enjoyed watching you admit that, “Stop looking like that, it’s annoying.” Your lips were pouty and you glared down at him before you heard something pop. 

Jumping a little your eyes flashed to the disc holder of the laptop which had popped open, scoffing you leaned down, grabbing the playing card. They had anticipated someone doing that drop, obviously, “Can we go? I think I have whiplash in my neck.” You whined as you rubbed the back of your neck which dully ached.

Chishiya rolled his eyes, “Then stop being useless and sitting around.” He swung the keys on his finger as he walked back to the car, Kuina’s gaze had flashed between you both, taken aback at the car being started as you offered a lucrative smile. 

“You should really check out the Beach sometime. I think you’d be a really good fit. See you around Kuina.” You waved her off who probably had plenty of questions as you got into the car.

Collapsing as you closed your eyes, “I think…” You paused, making Chishiya look at you briefly, “I’m gonna relax on games. I don’t need to play anyways.” You had never not once in your life, thought bungee jumping, would in any way, shape or form, be cool. And honestly, you felt like every ounce of energy had been sucked out of your body. 

“You’ll need too,” Chishiya snorted making you frown as you looked at him, his eyebrow lifting a little before he rolled his eyes, “You look like shit.” 

“Thanks.” You laid back in your seat, closing your eyes. You were alive...somehow…

Staring in the mirror you winced, damn he wasn’t kidding, the whole side of your neck had been burned, it wasn’t too severe but it was going to be a pain in the ass to try and sleep against. 

Your nose wrinkled as you winced once more, biting down on your lip harshly at the attempt to put the cool cloth against the burn, there was a few burns scattered across your body as well, one of your forearm from where you had presumably protected your face from the blast and one against your shin which was the most painful. 

“They already have three other five of spades. Another card gone to waste.” You rolled your eyes at the sing-song tone of Chishiya who made no effort in announcing his entrance into the bathroom, his hands stuffed into his pockets as he leaned the wall. 

“Yeah well, I’m not exactly surprised. It’s been crossed out on the wall since before we even got here.” You winced again, your nose crinkling a little at the initial pain that throbbed as you pressed the wet rag back against your neck, the heat temporarily being absorbed, “What are they even missing besides heart cards?” 

Chishiya didn’t reply, making you turn to look at him, his eyes were narrowed on your neck- your hand to be precise as you frowned, “What…?” Feeling only a tad under the microscope by him as he still didn’t speak. 

Finally he sighed as if he was both exasperated and annoyed, “You’re going to irritate the burn even more using cloth, once all the liquid is dried from the rag it’ll just stick to your skin,” He scoffed suddenly pulling the rag off your neck making you whine, the immediate burn returning as you let out a squeak in pain, “They’re only missing high value cards and a few offshoot of low cards.” Chishiya spoke as his eyes narrowed around the room, “Makes you wonder what they do with all the spare decks though hm?” Your eyes followed his figure, why was he letting his words linger like that...it made it sound like he was plotting something and the last thing you wanted was a bullet in your head for conspiracy, “Not really…?” You tilted your head a little, “I mean, Hiroko mentioned they’re collecting other decks for the next in line and so forth, so once Hatter goes everything just gets easier.” 

“You actually believe that bullshit?” Chishiya scoffed, looking almost offended at you as you lifted your chin, a snarky smile on your face as you shook your head. 

“Do I look like I believe it?” It was quiet as Chishiya snatched something off one of the shelves you hadn’t bothered to look in though it admittedly looked like it held a first aid of sorts, huffing you sighed looking back in the mirror as you tilted your head a little to look at the large burn, “I mean, what choice do we have Chi? Seriously, you know just as well as I do it’s all bullshit here just under the guise of hope to keep everyone going for Hatter’s gain. Anyone with a functioning brain knows that, we all know that.” 

That was right, anyone who didn’t know that was either truly naive or simply chose to be ignorant, the only problem was any discussion of the truth would be labeled as conspiracy and possibly killed. Nobody wanted that in the end. 

Your eyes lingered on the door that was closed, but well aware there wasn’t a lock, anyone could walk in at any time. But surely everyone thought the same as you, right? “But that’s how things work here, and I mean, it’s a trade off.” 

Chishiya appeared in the mirror, his eyes lifeless as ever as he spoke, “...Don’t call me that again,” You snorted at the way his nose wrinkled, “And not necessarily.” His words made you twist around, looking up at him in confusion, what did he mean, not necessarily…? He puffed a breath, for a brief second almost looking amused at your bewilderment as he spoke, “Things are changing, we’re gaining a higher rank with each game,” He shrugged cryptically a certain smug look on his face, “I have plans to make use of this place.” 

Your expression twisted a little warily as you turned back to face the mirror, “Well I’m sure you do, otherwise you wouldn’t be here and you wouldn’t have come with us if you didn’t see some sort of benefit.” 

If you had learned anything about Chishiya in your time together, it would be that he didn’t put any effort into anything he thought wouldn’t be beneficial to him. You had never pointed this out to him mainly because you thought it was best he assumed you didn’t know this. Or maybe he did? There wasn't any reason to overthink things now, especially if Chishiya wasn’t your enemy. 

You often found yourself walking a delicate line when it came to Chishiya, because he was very unsuspecting to many people, and in some ways, you assumed he did this on purpose, he was a master at disguising his intentions with people.

You didn’t want to be a piece just in the grand scheme of things...You looked in the mirror as you watched him carefully pour a gel onto a cotton round. Why…? Perhaps because, if this was a game, you were too prideful to be a loser. 

And Chishiya using you would be a game over. 

“If not for gain then everything else would be a waste of resources and energy.” Chishiya finally spoke, that look on his face which meant he was definitely planning something and you knew it would only be a matter of time before he set things into motion, whatever it was he had in mind. 

You said no more, allowing him to carefully tend to the large burn on your neck as you thought about his words, it was true, not many people volunteered to do games nightly, or even weekly unless it was needed for them to keep staying in the Borderlands. 

It was few and far in between such as yourself that did them as often you did, Chishiya carefully placed a gauze barrier on your neck as he tutted, “Now don’t go ripping this off otherwise it’ll tear at the layer of protection your skin will make to keep any bacteria out. Oh...by the way, Mira was asking for you.” 

You blinked several times rapidly before twisting around at such a drastic change in topic, “...Mira…? Like Kano Mira? Number 9?” You tilted your head a little, you had seen all of the council members yes but you hadn’t met let alone talked to any of them.

Mira, was by rumor, a hearts player despite having little to no hearts still on the wall, a few had appeared here and there but a lot had yet to be gained, or those who went out and never came back, experienced games as such, but didn’t win. 

Chishiya raised a brow but said nothing, as if in silent ask, just as clueless as you were, “She passed by in the hall and asked me to mention she wanted to see you.” You could tell he was waiting for an explanation you didn’t have. 

“I’ve never even talked to her before.” You frowned a little as you shrugged, “If you’re looking for an answer, then I don’t know. Where would she be? Up in the meeting room or wherever the top ten go to brood?” You expression twisted as you quirked a brow. 

Chishia hummed, “She said she’d be getting tea.” Why did this woman sound so weird? You couldn’t shake the vague feeling you had as you shrugged, your interest now piqued to see what one of the top ten wanted with you. 

After Chishiya had tended to the rest of your burns he didn’t linger for long and you had settled to find Mira wherever she was at now curious as to why she wanted to speak to you. The top ten kept to themselves at the Beach or brooded together on occasion whenever something called for it. It was rare to see them actually mingling with the masses aside from Hatter who was almost always seen prowling around with women and Aguni who was always brooding with the militant sect. 

Wandering through the halls your thoughts buzzed as you looked around, getting tea...the only place you could assume was the kitchen but you weren’t surprised that not only was she not there but you were kicked out due to a restock in alcohol and some assuming you were a user looking to get first dibs. Which you were not but understood well enough, not giving them any grief over finding Mira you left without a fight.

Walking through the dining room you paid no mind to the few people who were quietly eating, this was by far one of the calmest rooms in the Beach and that was during the day, during the night however nearly everything was used for a party room, “Y/n! I’m so happy you made it!” You jumped at the fairy-like voice that called out to you, whirling around you turned only to be met with the very woman you had been looking for. 

Kano Mira. 

You had seen her around few and far in between but she always seemed ethereal with layers of long black hair and delicate lace dresses, sometimes even carrying a parasol on warm days when she took strolls. Come to think of it, that was where you had seen her, you had been going on a run when you had seen her stray from the walking path to water what looked to be flowers. You had never talked to her before but you had made eye contact a few times, and maybe that was what had piqued her interest in the first place. Deciding to not jump to conclusions you offered a weak smile as you walked closer to the table she sat at, a teacup and saucer in hand, “I was told you were asking for me?” 

Mira’s smile widened only a little as she softly waved a hand for you to sit across from her, a teacup placed on the opposite side of the table as if she had anticipated you finding her, taking a seat you shuffled a little feeling mildly uncomfortable being put under the gaze of her wide eyes.

You couldn’t read Mira, now this wasn’t a super power persay, but you breezed through life being able to read the majority of people, they’d never have to say a word but their thoughts easily came alive through the pitch of their voice, the short pause in a sentence or their posture stiffening. You could simply just tell how someone felt. There was always an exception to this, Chishiya was one of them, and it seemed Mira was as well. 

She looked perfectly calm and the only thing you could see in her expression was pure curiosity. It sparkled across her eyes and she seemed so enamored with you despite having not said a word, as if you were a book and she’d love nothing more than to read you on a sunny warm afternoon.

It was in some ways warm and welcoming, and in others odd and alienating, “I’ve heard you’re relatively new to the Beach and yet you’re already playing many games?” She quirked an eyebrow before offering a soft laugh, “It’s fascinating to me! Especially hearing all this chatter about you possibly being a hearts player! Would you agree…? That you could be a hearts player?”

You looked away from the table briefly before offering a weak smile, deciding that while Mira had an odd energy, she was clearly harmless, “Well…” You sat for a moment gathering your thoughts at her loaded question before you carefully spoke, “I’d rather keep myself busy, then sit and waste away here. Even if it means possible death. I don’t have a specialty yet, so I don’t feel I’m qualified to really answer your question regarding that.” 

Mira sipped on her tea, a thin smile tugging on her lips as she ever so slightly tilted her head in curiosity, blinking as she gracefully set her cup and saucer down, “Even if it meant possible death…?” She recited your words once more before asking, “That’s odd.” It was a simple statement that made you raise your brows a little at making her giggle, “It’s odd because most are quite terrified when they first come here. But you aren’t, in fact, I heard you haven't been scared not once since coming here. Even amongst the face of death. Most typically fear death, it’s thought because nobody knows what’s beyond the point of life, thus the irrational fear of the unknown.” 

You were now mirroring her once expression of curiosity as she spoke delicately, “But recent studies show that the stimulation of adrenaline when put in life threatening situations can become addictive. For how can we truly appreciate life if we have never been put in a position where it could be taken from us? Do you agree with that sentiment Y/n? I think it’s quite poetic.” Staring down into the deep warm liquid in your teacup, it was lukewarm at best meaning Mira must have been here for a long while now, wordlessly you took a sip as your eyes stayed on the glass. Life threatening situations could become addictive huh…? You thought back to your feelings about the games, how for a brief period of time you didn’t have any thoughts or qualms with going night after night just...just because. Just for the thrill. Because why not? Perhaps her

words did ring some truth. 

“I think...people don’t know what they’re capable of until they’re pushed beyond their limits. And when they find that part of themselves, they don’t want to let it go. They can’t,” You spoke thoughtfully, thinking back to a paper you had written in your freshman year of university about the theory of behavioral development, “Because if they only found it- via a life threatening situation, they don’t know how to gain that part of themselves back in a safe and controlled environment. So instead, they seek those uncontrollable situations again to regain that part of themselves.” 

Mira’s smile slowly widened as if she was thoroughly fascinated and impressed by your words as she leaned in a little, picking up her teacup once more, a ruby red lip stain printed on the side of the cup as she spoke, “So you believe it’s a loss of identity, and a sense of need for it, that keep them going?” 

“It’s not that simple,” You replied as you curved a brow, to say you knew what propelled people- even yourself into why the seek of games was addictive would be presumptuous, “Placing a wide variety of people, with various personalities, flaws, coping mechanisms, home lives, education into one singular lense, would be naive if not arrogant to assume that's what keeps them seeking a thrill. That may be one of many motives for someone to do it, but for some, it’s a sense of power and control, for some it’s the primitive nature of finding themselves, proving their worth, every motive and every person is different.” 

Mira’s smile slowly turned into a lopsided smirk as she lowered her teacup down from one last sip as she let it sit clasped in her hands against her lap gently, “By this definition, then what are yours Y/n?” 

You frowned a little before you looked down at the table, why did you...in some morbid way enjoy games? “I don’t know.” you softly admitted, your smile was weak as you looked up at Mira once more, “I do them, simply because I can, because it passes the time, because maybe, there’s a grand scheme in the making here, and participating in games leads me one step closer to what it is.” 

“And what if there isn’t?” Mira asked, some could take it for a counter, a challenge, but not you, there was nothing but sincerity in Mira’s eyes, as if consciously fascinated in each of your answers, as if she memorized them word for word with each passing second, “What if these games are here simply because they can be? What then?” 

You sat quietly for what seemed like a long time, and Mira was in no hurry for your answer, a patient smile on her lips as she returned her teacup to the table to pour in fresh hot water from the porcelain teapot she had set out on the table. You sat and thought about your life before these games, back to when you were a little girl and you sat on your mothers lap when she’d read you a story just at night fall. 

Back when you found her body slumped in her bed and an empty bottle of pills on the ground next to her laid out hand that was above it. The cap was still on the sheets next to her pale face and no matter how many times you shook her, hugged her, begged for her to open her eyes, she never woke up. You could narrow it down a little past that event, not her death, but the funeral was when something ached inside you. 

Why?

It wasn’t that you had wished for a different outcome at the tender age of five. You simply just wanted to know why? Why did she do it? What was her reason, what was the motive, what did she have to gain? And what did she have to lose? And could have been done to prevent it?

Why?

Why? 

Why?

It seeped into every part of your life, why had your dad gone to shark loans? Why did he choose alcohol instead of a phone call to someone who could help? Why did it have to be you who he took his anger out on? Why did the teacher at your school who saw the bruises you tried to hide simply ignore it? Why did the manager at the only job that would accept a highschooler interview you just to see if you were willing to be filmed on a couch? Why did the people involved not help? Why…?

It’s all you ever wanted to know. Why...? 

Your mind drifted to the games, why had the dealers chosen Chishiya, of all people to be your partner? Why did Ryu decide to mention the beach to you? You had so many questions, not to find the reason for the ultimate goal of the borderlands, but the complexities that ran them. 

“If this is truly just a game,” You finally spoke, thinking back to earlier when you had been silently letting Chishiya, a man of absolutes who held no regret in anything he did, how your mind had thought in that moment, “With no other high reason to be here, other than to simply be a game. If there is no ‘why’ to that reason other than simply because, then I’d just enjoy myself and win.” You offered a resolved smile. 

You hadn’t taken the time to unpack the large umbrella of possibilities as to why you all were in the Borderlands playing games of life or death and fearing for your lives day in and out. Purely because it already took a lot of energy to simply exist here, contemplation on the meaning of it all seemed draining, hence you hadn’t thought too hard about it. 

Mira leaned back in her seat as she smiled brightly, the happiest you had seen her the whole conversation as she nodded her head in understanding, “Thank you for that! I think...I understand for now. I’m sure you have things you need to do, don’t let me keep you. Let's talk again though soon, yeah?” 

“Of course...um…” You paused, setting down your teacup as Mira tilted her head, as if waiting for you to finish what you were getting ready to ask,”...May I ask what you did before all of this?” 

Mira’s smile was bright and bubbly as she let out a little laugh, “Of course, I was a psychiatrist ♡ "

25th Day Sojourn 

The past few weeks had remained relatively inactive and you had spent them strictly to your word in not participating in games and letting your burns heal. Which had come a very long way from where they had started- probably thanks to Chishiya who kept you on a very strict regime of maintenance care with them. 

You were currently reading sitting on one of the high top tables that was set out on the pool patio, a multitude of people splashing around and Hiroko who was severely mad at Ryu for throwing her into the pool had just stalked up and sat beside you, arms crossed as she huffed, “You okay?” You offered a tiny smile at her disturbed expression as she let out a noise of complaint but said nothing, “...My visa expires in 2 days.” You hummed out, flipping the page of your book, resolving to set it face down on the glass table so you wouldn’t lose your spot. 

“So you’re saying you wanna play a game tonight?” Hiroko quirked a brow at your words making you shrug with a lopsided smile, it wasn’t that you were bored but you would preferably like to get back into the groove of playing games again, not that your position on the board mattered but you did get knocked back several positions behind from where you last left off. That and you’d rather at least die in a game than death by laser from the sky. 

“Why not? A little birdy told me you weren’t playing tonight though.” You lifted the solo cup up to your lips, the warm trill of tequila and mixer that no amount of ice could make cold. You weren’t really into day drinking but it was difficult to not be at the Beach where it felt like a summer vacation in hell constantly.

Hiroko wrinkled her nose as she shrugged, “I’ve been feeling kind of under the weather, we did get caught up in some cold rain a few days ago. Think it’s a cold. I have more than plenty of time on my visa so it’ll be fine to go a few days without. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend?” 

You would’ve asked in more concern for her possibly being sick had she not added that last word making you sputter in confusion, “Boyfriend?” 

“Why are you outside? You know that’s just gonna damage the burns even more. You truly are an idiot.” Your lips twisted in annoyance at the exasperated sigh of a new voice that entered the conversation, Chishiya standing before you both, black aviators on and his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. 

“I’m in the shade!” You complained waving your hand at the umbrella stand that had been opened in the middle of the table keeping you from the warm rays of light, most of your burns had healed but Chishiya had told you, in quotes ‘to stay out of the sun since you were probably too dumb to understand it would inflame your burns further’

“Just because there’s shade doesn’t mean ultraviolet rays don’t reach you.” Chishiya spoke in a sing-song tone, “But you don’t care right? Because you’re dumb? A dumbass that doesn’t understand basic meteorology?” 

Hiroko stayed silent, in fact, her gaze was an act as if she had proved whatever point she made, sipping on her drink as your lips futilely opened and closed, unsure of how to even respond. Yes, this had been going on for the past few days now, where Chishiya would harshly reprimand you when you wouldn’t listen to him. 

“I’m just having a drink, why are you attacking me?” You sounded like a puppy, lips quirking into a pitiful pout at his sharp tongued words, “And just because I call myself dumb doesn’t mean you can!” You hissed out directly afterwards, your eyes cutting into his but he only triumphantly smirked. 

“That doesn’t change the truth though, does it?” He egged you on making you roll your eyes as you deflated into your chair, crossing your arms as you both silently stared at each other and with each passing second staring at that cocky expression on his face was becoming more annoying by the second. 

“Anyways.” You coughed harshly, your nose wrinkling a little as you sent one last glare at Chishiya before turning back to Hiroko, “It’s fine, I understand, I’ll just find someone else to go with tonight.” Your eyes trailed back to the pool where Nanami was at, her back directly turned to you where she was crowded around her friends, all talking in what looked semi serious, or possibly just gossip. 

You hadn’t talked to her...at all these days, she had become more distant from you and in some ways you felt incredibly helpless, as if your relationship with her was fading altogether and no matter what you did, leave her alone, attempt to talk, it only resulted in her anger sparking that much more. You couldn’t do anything right, or so it felt like.

“Well be careful while you’re out…” You were taken away by your thoughts at Hiroko’s careful words, Chishiya had leaned against your chair, observing the conversation though it felt like he was just here to strictly annoy you further now. Unless he wanted to discuss something that he couldn’t in the realms of Hiroko. Which you didn’t understand either as it wasn’t like she was into the front of what the beach stood for regardless, “You really think I’m that bad at games?” You remarked weakly, not used to her care in this way being shown. And it wasn’t that Hiroko didn’t care, she just knew the risks of games just as everyone else did. There was no need for sentimental care here. 

“Of course not,” Hiroko rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, giving you a reprimanding look that made you feel slightly dumb, “It’s just…” She rubbed her neck as she sighed, looking around somewhat apprehensive as she lowered her voice, “...We haven’t told any of the regulars here at the Beach but...there’s another group out playing games.” 

Your brows furrowed before you looked to your side where Chishiya stood, one elbow leaned on the back of your chair, he exchanged looks with you but he remained neutral as you frowned, “Like...group as in, like the Beach?” 

Hiroko slowly nodded, ‘Something like that, run more like the militant sect though from the sounds of it. They aren’t a big group but they’re pretty violent from what I heard. Hatter apparently had a run in with them during his last game. It sounds like they got word of our operation here and mean business.” 

Hiroko was talking in a veiled tone that left you mildly confused but you could at least read between the lines, “Like...raid business…?” Your nose wrinkled further as she frowned with a nod, saying nothing else as she looked away briefly, concern filling her features as her eyes washed over the scene of everyone happily enjoying themselves. 

“We already have to deal with the militant sect pushing boundaries constantly for more control of the Beach...the last thing we need is outsiders finding our home base and ruining everything. People are horrible.” She sighed wistfully as she rested her chin on her hand. 

“Things are getting interesting,” Chishiya’s lips twisted into a smirk with that annoying sing-song tone of his, “It’s about time entertainment found this place. Just when I thought it was getting boring.” 

“Do you even have a heart?” Hiroko sneered as she glared at him, his expression didn’t change though, in fact he looked even more amused at getting under not only your skin but Hiroko’s as well. 

“A heart isn’t needed in the Borderlands, so I’d say no, I guess?” Chishiya shrugged illusively as you rolled your eyes, finally leaning on the other side of your chair so you could get a proper look at the smug bastard, he seemed in a relatively good mood today all things considered. 

“Let’s do a game with Kuina tonight! I haven’t gotten to play a game with her since she got here, I think it’d be pretty fun.” You smiled enthusiastically, Kuina had immediately become a part of the group the moment she had discovered the Beach and you were thrilled for her company as you got along great together.

Not only thing but much to your surprise it seemed Chishiya also enjoyed her company- though he would never willingly admit to that, you could still sense it though, Chishiya’s expression didn’t change drastically but it was distinct, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly and his lips twisting just by a hair, “Don’t look like that!” You whined, kicking your legs in your chair, “It can’t just always be us playing games. Besides, you enjoy Kuina’s company.” 

“I’m not interested in doing a game tonight.” Chishiya replied curtly, his gaze looked near feline as you snorted with a raised eyebrow, Chishiya, not in the mood for a game? In what world? 

“What plans do you have- besides brooding in your room the whole day or being a menace to society? You should consider lying out in the sun a little, your ultraviolet rays aren’t making it to your ghost legs.” You waved at him and you could hear Hiroko snort.

Chishiya’s pupils narrowed as he spoke, “Ultraviolet rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation- meaning they’re most prominent during cloudy days, it doesn’t visibly tan skin but can still leave you with sunburn.” You nearly yelped at cold slim fingers suddenly grabbing your chin, forcefully making you crane your head to stare at those cold eyes as you squirmed, “But I’m sure your little brain can’t understand that concept, can it? Hm? Because you’re an idiot?” He spat out though it really didn’t hold a bite to it. 

That’s kinda hot.

Your face felt like it was burning and it was absolutely not the ultraviolet rays doing that as you shoved Chishiya’s hand away from you face, thoroughly embarrassed at the intrusive thought that had entered the back of your head, “You’re such a fucking nerd! Jesus, I’m- I’m gonna go find Kuina!” You fumbled out of your chair creating as much distance from Chishiya as possible as you rubbed your neck, “Asshole.” You hurriedly called out for good measure as you began walking into the hotel. Your face felt like it had been lit on fire the whole walk back and you didn’t even want to start unpacking what you had thought because…! It was just an intrusive thought! It happens all the time, no reason to make a big deal out of it…! It happens…! All of the time! “Are you good?” You hadn’t even realized you had found Kuina until she spoke to you, her eyebrow cocked as she snorted, “You seem flustered.” 

“I’m fine!” You spoke sharply, crossing your arms, well aware of the broody pout you sported and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t make it go away, “...My-...” You sighed, taking a breath to regather yourself, “My visa ends in two days so I was wondering if you wanted to help me with a game tonight?” 

Kuina’s lips suddenly twisted into a grin as she puffed her chest a little, “Hell yeah! We’ll be the power duo of the night!” She wrapped an arm around your neck pulling you way too close to her- “Meanwhile let’s enjoy ourselves, I was just playing poker if you wanna join in?” You frowned, unfamiliar with the rules but you figured why not? 

Midday turned into the afternoon and the afternoon soon turned into nightfall where you and Kuina began to prep to go out. Stepping outside the gates of the Beach though you wanted to snort at the sight ahead of you, “Shouldn’t you be in your room brooding?” 

“Oh? Shouldn’t you be groveling at my feet in thanks for helping your stupidity?” Chishiya replied, his hood was pulled up and one earbud was dangling against his jacket, he had actually gotten dressed out beach attire today much to your surprise. 

At least you weren’t the only one who didn’t care for the beach attire rule. Everyone else just kept making fun of you for it until now, Kuina was still in her beach top but had a cropped jean jacket to go with it and hey, it’s not like her style had changed much up until this point. 

You sighed exasperatedly and decided the battle just wasn’t worth it at the moment with him, but granted was it ever? Chishiya was someone who, in his own mind, never lost an argument. But maybe, it wasn’t so much you were looking to win the argument as you were just more times then less, enjoyed dicking around with him and watching him get increasingly annoyed at whatever bullshit flew out of your mouth. 

The drive to a venue was unshockingly filled with bickering that never ceased between you both except now- somehow even worse with the addition of Kuina who was more then happy to shove her input into the conversation, which almost always made the chaos even worse. 

It was good short trip though altogether, “Uh, is this even a venue?” You frowned at the starlight hotel that was dazzling, obviously it was but…”I dunno about this guys.” You didn’t have a good feeling about this venue. It just seemed way too big. 

Chishiya curved a brow as he snorted, “The worst that could happen is your death- which at this point you beg for every other second of the day. Doesn’t seem like a bad trade off to me.” 

“Where’s the trade off in that?” Kuina chimed in, walking beside you both as you approached the large building, cars were piled up making the street hard to even get across leaving you all on the side walk with the car a little ways back and you spotted someone already entering the venue. It was probably packed with people given it was such a big venue.

Stuff like this always attracts newcomers too. 

“The trade off is Y/n finally dies and I’m rid of her insufferable presence.” Chishiya answered with that stupid thin smile of his making you huff as you crossed your arms, pausing as you watched them both walk ahead before stopping to look at you, who was dramatically puffing your cheeks, “Insufferable yet you only do games with me? Okay. You know, is this some new found kink you have or something? Where you have to remind me every two seconds of how dumb I am or that you don’t like me when you do?” A smile curled on your lips as you leaned forward a little, admittedly feeling a little cocky on calling him out on his bullshit. 

Kuina’s eyebrows raised as she turned to look at Chishiya, looking mildly conflicted between suddenly being a third wheel but also too invested to not see how Chishiya would reply. He only puffed an amused breath, as if whatever you said sounded stupid to him, probably did, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He let out a sing-song tone that nearly had steam coming out of your ears as you stomped your foot….This…! This absolute-

You weren't able to retaliate, cut off by a strangled yelp that escaped you at being ripped into the alleyway by your hair, it was dark compared the well light walkway from the venue, hands were all over you trying to get a good grip on you as you squirmed and yelped once more as being slammed into the wall, “We got one! Let's go!” You could distinctly make out the sound of Kuina’s voice but everything sounded muffled and you were acutely aware of a cloth bag being out over your head and being jostled around. It was only another minute before you were shoved somewhere hard and small- presumably a trunk and then, nothing. 

The light was bright in stark contrast to the black tote bag- yes black tote bag- because apparently just using a plastic bag and ending your miserable fucking existence was too much to ask at this point- they had used to cover your head, your lips curled a little and your eyes squinted at the gritty space that looked a lot like a car parking building. What you didn’t like about this, were your hands being tied behind your back and the fact that you were surrounded by men.

Oh, you really didn’t like this. It was clear the whole place had been turned into a raunchy hang out place for all kinds of bad and you could only assume this was the group Hiroko had warned you about. 

“There’s our Cinderella!”  Your lips twitched and slowly turned into a frown as you heard multiple hollars at the sound of the voice that approached you, the man who was clearly in charge around here couldn’t have been any older than you by the looks of it. In fact...why did he look so familiar…?

He stood in front of you, a smirk plastered on his lips that made your frown further before he grabbed your chin, “Just look at that pretty face, if it weren’t for that little wristband of yours we’d let you stay for free, yeah?” He turned over his shoulder to what you could only assume was his friend and then it hit you. 

Kamei Rin, that’s who this was, it nearly made you want to laugh. He was a psychology major just like you and you often shared lectures together- except you were positive he didn’t recognize you the way you did him and his friend was Ichikawa Hikaru, was a major in law. They went to your campus and were pretty heavily known due to being popular and in one of the best fraternities there. 

The mention of a wristband made you frown however, he was talking about your room number key, the one everyone wore which had their board number on it. If you moved up on the board you changed out rooms, it was a simple concept but this just confirmed that they indeed, caught on to everyone at the Beach wearing one. Which meant this was why they captured you, you expected no less but still the idea made your stomach churn ever so slightly. 

You said nothing, unsure of what to say or how to present yourself in this situation to these two men and all of their cronies that stared down at you, Rin’s hand squeezed your chin harshly as you looked up at him wordlessly, “Obedient are we?” He teased lightly and the words made you want to roll your eyes but you refrained, “Since you’re so slow, allow me to explain everything.” 

Your lips twitched a little, now fully resisting a snarky reply as Rin released your chin from his grip, “We’re the Alpha Makeup, our group is small and based around the best of the best, we have our spade team,” he nodded over to one group which seemed to be rough housing with one another, “The diamonds.” He nodded the other way to a more reclusive group and you could’ve deduced that much without his introduction, “The clubs here.” He waved around himself towards the others the piled around you, “And of course us, Hearts players. If you couldn’t tell.” He sent you a charming smile, yes, this was absolutely Rin, you’d remember those pearly white teeth from anywhere, “I’m Kamei Rin, the leader around here.” 

“Oh? But you never explained why I’m here…?” Your lips tugged into a helpless pout, your eyes immediately dropping a little and your shoulders curling as best they could. Yes…within those seconds you decided what you’d do, easily.

You could hear a warm chuckle sound throughout the room before Rin kneeled down to make eye contact with you, an amused expression in his face- presumably at your timid reaction, “Well sweetheart allow me to explain- you see you have a wristband which lets us know you’re from another group. A bigger group yeah? The Beach, was it?” Your lips quivered a little as you frowned, at his words, “That’s your group isn’t it? Don’t lie. Even a pretty face doesn’t suit a liar.”

Matsuda Rin was an excellent psych student, he tutored in his spare time, took extra credit, volunteered hours to help programs, but he was also a notorious heartbreaker and was well known for some considerably toxic habits which came to you as ironic, after all, why go into the world of psychology if one doesn’t even want to start with the first change- themselves? 

This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence of course, you had run into many people who were in the same major as you and yet they were the ones that genuinely needed someone to tell them the truth about major red flags they exuded. 

You wouldn’t dub Rin one of these people back before the Borderlands, he wasn’t the greatest guy, but you had always felt- from what you heard down the line- that he knew what he was doing was wrong and was attempting to make a change. Failing yeah, but it was the thought and attempt that count, but given the state he was in now you could only assume currently that much like many others, he had crumbled to the Borderlands.

“Well...yeah I guess,” You mumbled, your bottom lip jutting slightly as your eyes downcasted, shifted a little uncomfortable due to the restraints that were tight on your wrists, “It’s not an actual beach though…” This made all the men around you laugh, not just laugh, but directly at what you said, as if you had said something insanely stupid.

If it wasn’t for this being an act, you would’ve actually felt self conscious but the more they assumed you a ditz the better of a position you were in when it came to the long run of this situation, you were well aware this situation wasn’t to your advantage, lying wasn’t an option- at least out right and resisting would only end you in murky water- possibly death. They couldn’t begrudge you too much if you simply just couldn’t be blamed for not knowing anything. 

Or in your care, pretending you were too much of a ditz to properly answer a question. 

“We know that sweetheart,” Rin’s smile was charming but his voice dripped with condescension as he pouted his lips somewhat mockingly, “All you have to tell us is where the location is at hm? Then we’ll take you right back.” 

You forced your lips to tremble a little and your eyes darting away from his, making your eyes blur a little with watery eyes as you mumbled, “...Well...I know it’s beyond water...um...I don’t...I don’t drive when we go out for games…” The only reason you felt so warm was probably because of how much of an idiot you felt like at the moment suddenly hearing them all begin to snicker at your obvious daftness. 

“I told you we should’ve went for the taller one,” Hikaru tutted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he looked down at you suspectedly, “ You can never rely on women like this to know anything.”

Rin sighed exasperatedly as he closed his eyes, “All in good time Hikaru, just because she doesn’t know exactly doesn’t mean she can’t give us details in good time, right sweetheart?” His fingers trailed down your jawline making your lips come close to twitching but you managed to keep a doe like expression on your face. 

“I...I guess I don’t have much of a choice…” You mumbled once more, frowning as you gently tugged out of his grip though your resistance was weak against the force of his hand. Rin’s smile was thin as he looked down at you, “Don’t act all put out, I know just how you’ll fit in around here until that ditzy little memory of yours is working again princess.” 

“...We should get back to the Beach and get help, I don’t think this is a good idea...I mean, there’s two of us, and a lot of them…” Kuina walked up to the large building, a car lot building to be precise, in fact, it was so large, she was surprised it wasn’t a game venue as it looked like the definition of a perfect place for one. 

Chishiya had been silent the majority of the time, hands stuffed in his pockets and his hoodie covering the upper part of his face, shadowing out the deep set glare he had on the building, “Oh? What’s the most they’ll do to two willing captives hm?” Finally a sinister smirk crawled on his lips, “Just when I thought things were getting a little boring.” 

Kuina twisted a little to look down at the feline eyes that bore into the building before he strode up to it, shaking her head she sighed, deciding to not argue with him after all, what was the use? For two people who weren’t into each other at all, Kuina had a difficult time believing the fact that Chishiya had instantly tracked down their headquarters within an hour and was now ready to face whatever they wanted- was strictly platonic.

But whatever. 

She strode a little behind him as they entered the first lot which was unsurprisingly empty and there their journey up the staircase began. It wasn’t until the seventh level that they began to hear distant laughter from above alerting them that they were getting closer to their destination. 

Kuina was nearly wiped, her hand gripping the handrail for dear life as she wheezed to get her breath back, “So what’s the plan to get your girlfriend back? We just waltz in and demand they give her back?”

Chishiya scoffed a little, side eyeing her briefly as he leisurely stepped up the stairs, “Precisely what I’ll do, I don’t make exceptions for idiots that don’t even try to cover their tracks.” It was truly a pathetic attempt in kidnap, not only did they burn rubber tracks into the ground halfway through the ride but they had made a pitiful mess on the sidewalk they used to get past all the traffic of cars, and of course the trash they blew past might as well have left a trail, even a child could have found this poor attempt at a hideout. 

It didn’t take long for them to be spotted by a few of the guards, granted Chishiya made no attempt at any point to try and hide, after all there was no point in drawing this out any longer then purely necessary, your visa only had two days left on it and wasting tonight was not on the to do list. 

“Well look here, two more members of the Beach.” One guard stated with a smug look, peering at both of their bracelets, “Arms up where we can see them.” 

“Chishiya…” Kuina glanced at him pointedly but he said nothing, a haughty look on his face as he held up his hands. 

“Two more? Then that means you already have one of us here, I guess?" 

Kuina glanced not at Chishiya but at the guards in concern, his expression was wickedly sinister, a haughty smirk coiled on his face but his glare looked like it could kill instantly.

Both of the guards however didn’t seem to realize what kind of danger they were in, “Oh yeah we got one of your members already,” The guard snorted as they dragged them both along, “The only thing she’s proven good at is having a nice pair of tits to look at though.” 

Kuina’s glare sharpened at the blatant sexualization but before she could respectfully kick both of their asses they entered the top of the stairwell into the main floor of the parking garage, presumably where everyone resided as people crowded up here. 

“Well, it must be our lucky day,” A man called out, sitting in a chair, a leg propped over it’s arm rest, “You know these two doll?” He glanced down. 

And you were certainly a sight to see, having been forced to change into a pair of cut off high waisted shorts and stripped of your shirt, wearing only the bikini top you had on beneath it. That wasn’t what Chishiya’s eyes had focused on though. No it was the dog collar around your neck, a chain leash attached to it as the man yanked it, make forcing you closer to him where you had been kneeled on the ground. And even more shockingly you didn’t resist, rather the opposite. 

You laid your arms over his lap as you looked up at him with mistakenly innocent eyes, “They seem a little familiar, what are you gonna do Rin?” 

The man, Rin only grinned, grabbing your chin with a squeeze, “Don’t worry sweetheart, it just means you get to stay with us that much longer.”

Chishiya hadn’t even realized how hard his hand had coiled until a warm sticky liquid slowly dripped into his palm from where his nails dug too deep into his skin. 

If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he would make sure this man had an excruciatingly painful death. He would make sure of it.

#alice in borderland x reader #alice in borderland #aib #aib x reader #chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntaro #alice in borderland chishiya #aib imagine

[the-yuri-librarian]

Review: Qualia the Purple by Hisamitsu Ueo and Shirou Tsunashima

Summary: Hatou "Gaku" Manabu is just an ordinary high school student when her life is changed forever by meeting Yukari. Originally strangers, they become fast friends after Yukari crashes into Gaku in the hallway of their high school, leading to an unexpected kiss. Gaku quickly learns that Yukari is far from ordinary; her bright purple eyes are extremely special, as they cause her to see all humans as nothing more than robots. This ability allows grants her many talents, including the ability to fix anything, but it also makes her valuable to all kinds of people. When Yukari goes away to join a secret organization, Gaku goes on a deadly mission to bring her back, and she will do anything to achieve that goal.

Review beneath the cut

The Good: Qualia the Purple is undeniably original and steeped in philosophy and allegory. The narrative takes its audience to places they would never expect, and with each turn, this manga gets weirder and weirder in the best possible ways. This makes it enjoyable from the get go and very difficult to put down. However, the value of Qualia goes much deeper than being a wholly original work. As the story develops, this manga subtly transforms from a quirky work about a girl with strange powers, to quite possibly the most poignant and powerful allegory for grief that I have ever experienced. The heartache the characters feel is visceral, and as you watch the characters struggle, you can't help but see the natural conclusion of their actions: a hopeless and futile struggle that only leads to more loss.

The Bad: This story relies on very complicated concepts from both quantum physics and philosophy, which leads to the characters lecturing -- internally and externally -- for pages at a time in order to provide exposition and definitions that the audience needs to understand the events of the story. Unfortunately, due to the contents of these speeches, the lectures themselves are difficult to follow, sometimes bordering on nonsensical, and interferes with the pacing of the story.

Overview: Qualia the Purple is a must read manga. it is weird, and gut-wrenching, and dense, making it not only entertaining, but also uniquely memorable and long-lasting. Gaku is an excellent protagonist; it is through her eyes and thoughts that allows the reader to lose themselves in this story and experience this wonderful tragedy that will keep you guessing to the final page.

Rating: A

#qualia the purple #yuri #girls love #manga #manga review

[kassymalone]

Your plots and characters are so engaging, how do you do it? Where there any books or book series that may have helped shape your style of writing, or did you just keep writing fanfics until your writing kept improving and you developed your own style?

Hello, quiet one! Thanks for the compliment, and the question!

I wouldn't say there's one particular book or series that inspired me. Last time I moved house, over 20 of the boxes were just my books! Not even kidding... I've got horror, I've got romance, I've got sci-fi, dragons, LGBT+, bildungsroman, thrillers, manga, high fantasy, reference books... it's a lot. Variety is the spice of life!

I think understanding why you do or don't like what you're reading is very important to engagement. The last book I remember absolutely hating was something I thought I would enjoy (haunted castle in Japan? Yes please!), but the writing was so verbose and the characters so flat, their actions made no sense in reality and there was a subplot about suicidal depression that seemed to disappear after the first chapter...? It was frustrating to finish, and I've always thought that a bad example can be an excellent teacher.

I was always called a daydreamer as a kid, not paying attention and 'away with the fairies' (which was completely true), but I was always thinking of stories. Even to this day, on the bus to and from work I'm thinking of the next chapters, playing it out twelve different ways before picking the one I like the most to actually write down. The second I don't need to be paying attention to the real world, I'm off with my characters seeing what would happen if things went this way this time...

God, this sounds pretentious. Sorry.

As for characters... what makes a character engaging is very difficult and highly subjective. My personal rule is 'it has to make sense'. For example, using Sun and Moon in the fic I'm currently writing, if I randomly put in that they enjoyed making bread, that would make no sense. They're robots, they can't eat, they hate mess, they don't like any humans enough to make the effort anyway, Sun doesn't have the patience for baking and Moon would just point out that there's sliced bread in the kitchen l already. Could there be another story where them baking bread does make sense? Sure, but the way I've written this one!

And finally, you've kind of hit the nail on the head - I have A LOT of experience in this. The first story I finished writing was 80 pages long, and I was very proud of it, but I was 11 so it was probably pretty bad XD I seem to recall there was a dragon involved? I've been writing ever since, both fanficiton and original stuff. I put it aside for a few years in my early twenties during those horrible years I was trying to be 'normal' (because none of the adults I knew at the time had any hobbies, so I thought it was something I had to grow out of, but that's another story...), and the second I picked it up again my mental health improved so much, I can't even tell you.

While my life-long dream of actually being published may never come true (turns out it's really fucking hard, who knew?), just being able to write makes me incredibly happy. I think wanting to do something really shines through in the end result, and if you're really engaged with what you're writing then the reader will be able to tell.

Plus, y'know... practice, practice, practice.

[the-friendliest-freak]

Scene that just came to mind for that one au where the The Narrator ends up adopting the girls from ddlc (which I should rlly think of a name for, does anyone have any suggestions?):

Natsuki gets really into reading her manga but ends up losing track of time. The Narrator finds her in the employee lounge at midnight, barely keeping her eyes open as she tries to finish ‘one last chapter’.

“Goodness, you’ve been busy haven’t you? Come on now, you can read the rest tomorrow.”

He walks back to the door and opens it, waiting for her. A moment goes by without any noise so he looks back to where she’s sitting…and she’s fallen asleep. Still holding the book.

He chuckles to himself, and figuring it would be less difficult than waking her, picks her up and takes her to where the rest of the girls are sleeping.

He lays her down on one of the beds and very carefully puts the blanket over, and quietly says goodnight - it’s mostly for his own humour, since he figures she can’t hear him.

“…g’night, dad…” she sleepily murmurs, before turning in her sleep.

#The narrator aggressively tapping away at a keyboard: “how the fuck do I download adoption papers” #the stanley parable #the stanley parable ultra deluxe #tsp #tspud #tsp au #tspud au #tsp the narrator #tsp narrator #tspud narrator #ddlc #ddlc au #ddlc natsuki #doki doki plus #doki doki natsuki #doki doki #doki doki literature club

[cyrilvows]

Wizard Dad AU 101!

it occurred to me recently I should probably explain what's going on here, shouldn't I? this is going to cover approximately where everything is when the manga begins with some extra details here and there! it is, of course, an OC thing, so prepare for mild confusion in case I miss some things (despite there only being a couple OCs to speak of so y'know. I've got one job) but please don't be afraid to ask about anything if you're interested! everything here is subject to change thanks to this AU being very much a work in progress but with a bit of luck I'll remember to update it. now, on with the show!

basics!

the Wizard Dad AU, a.k.a WDAU, is probably the closest Black Butler can come to a "good end" and that's simply because the Kids™ encounter an adult who cares who won't go evil or like. die

to address the elephant in the room, the demons are around... just strictly forbidden from interacting with the kids. by demons, I mean Sebastian and Hannah, known in this AU as Crow and Bluebell. Claude fucked around and found out what happens when you test a mage.

as you could probably tell, the real Ciel is alive here! as such, he and his twin brother are gonna act a little different from what you would expect from canon! in a lot of feel-good ways but also lots of sad ways, we all know what they went through after all.

Mey-Rin, Bard, Finny, Tanaka, gang's all still here! I'm far enough in the manga to know of all the blue cult and revenge stuff but I haven't actually read it yet... I do tend to spoil myself with wikis though, so I like to think I have a decent grasp on how they all came into the picture, barring Tanaka of course.

I think that's all the basics... onto the boys!

Casimir Phantomhive

Casimir, the youngest I suppose, Our Ciel! I gave him my own name because I Wanted To. it was almost Renard or Octavius. *shivers.* might give him his eyepatch back idk

he's still the protagonist, he's just sharing that spot with his brothers now! I'll do my best to divvy up the story between them evenly while keeping them all involved but Casi's still going to get his moments to shine, as always.

Casi's the main operator of Funtom and the most aggressive of the two Watchdogs. having his brother cannot quell his need for revenge alone, especially not when Ciel's bloodlust isn't that different... I say "most aggressive" but they're both pretty brutal little buggers - they may not have a demon butler but by God they'll still mess you up and you can't do SHIT because their dad is over their shoulder at all times when they're on the Watchdog clock.

he still tries to keep a lid on the fact he struggled with asthma as a child (and may still) but it's very difficult to keep secrets from your guardian when you have two protective and nosy brothers.

honest to god he WILL kill you if you come near Ciel with a sharp object. Casi doesn't hesitate.

he's all around average with the magic lent to him and his brothers by their father. he has potential, he just needs to mature and "sit with it" for a bit longer.

when he met Alois he honestly didn't expect to feel such familial affection for him, but they share some trauma they found; they may not be as tight knit as Casimir and Ciel, but that's to be expected. Casimir and Alois could easily fool anyone that they had always been brothers.

he took the longest to acclimate to him and Ciel being home and having a new guardian. however, he puts deep trust in the man he was the last to call "father" - he may still be unlearning a lot of Victorian ideals about family and blood but he's comfortable saying they have a solid father-son bond by now.

Ciel Phantomhive

the real Ciel Phantomhive who managed to dodge the grave thanks to a last minute magical intervention! while he does officially hold the titles "Earl of Phantomhive" and "Queen's Watchdog", he and Casimir split all their work down the middle for the most part, including managing Funtom.

he's probably the most deprogrammed from his Victorian noble upbringing. not to say his father taught him to abide by some variation of "live like you won't see tomorrow", but hey, no matter what time period you're from, if you were to look death in the eye like he did, would it be at all shocking if you developed such a philosophy? that said, he still plays his cards right in front of the other nobles! he saves his more "unsavoury" (by Victorian standards, y'know, like abandoning your manners in the company of others) urges for when he's working as the Watchdog.

he's similarly protective of Casimir as Casi is of him. he may not be a sharpshooter but he's found himself quite gifted with the magic his father lent to them all! basic or not, it's still enough to scar a grown man for life when used right.

I know I said Casimir was the last to call their father "father" but technically it was Ciel. Ciel already thought of their father as such but waited for Casimir to say it first because he didn't want him to think he'd just moved on from their biological parents like that. they did end up talking about it after months of the man's insistence that "communication is key", a little after which Casimir uttered his first "good morning father", which told Ciel he was okay to do the same.

his relationship with his father is similar to Casi's in that he trusts him as much as an ordinary son trusts his loving father, but he finds himself unwilling to rely on him too much because of his upbringing. though, unlike Casimir, he's good at acknowledging when he truly needs help and will allow himself to be looked after when necessary. after all, what good is he to the Queen and his family if he runs himself out of commission? his words, not mine.

oh right and there's no marriage happening. father spooked him and Lizzy out of it with a lesson on the Hapsburgs.

Alois Trancy

Alois. dear sweet Alois. his separation anxiety with their father is something else. he can usually be found hanging off his arm with big eyes that say "if you hurt me papa will GET you". though he was the last of these three to come into the picture, he's attached to their father at the hip most hours like they had been together his whole life.

he has a monthly budget cap on how much he can give to charity. his father and brothers love him very much, but after the incident where he set a foundation for the next year with a single cheque, they decided it best he be limited. he whines about it sometimes but has seen his generosity spread to his brothers; their father always put a bit aside every month for some charity work anyway, so he's happy either way.

he's awful at like... noble-ing. he has to keep it polite for the sake of his family but he hates it. however, he's allowed to let his true colours fly when dealing with criminals and "undesirables" of london! despite being the most blasé with violence and colourful language, he's also the most merciful. if ever there are children involved in a case, he's usually the first out the door when it comes time to move out.

yes, much to the annoyance of the twins, he more often than not accompanies them on their missions - how couldn't he?! he is looking out for his little brothers and they will like it! if they don't want him watching over them then they would do best to keep themselves out of trouble, but they can't do that, now can they? now stop whining Casimir.

his weapon of choice is a sword, something that has inexplicably made him friends with dear Lizzy! it's a true spectacle watching the two of them practice together. he's no whizz with his magic but he makes good use of it to say it's only meant to bring him to the level of the average mage, power-wise. excessive use tends to tire him out quickly because his body isn't built for it, but who is he to ignore an excuse to have their father pay some special attention to him?

he wasn't in his contract with Claude for very long and doesn't exactly know what happened to him, so he tends to just go with what father said. "he was a demon after all, a sated one at that. he was in no desperate struggle for souls and must have seen no use in chasing yours. for the better, really."

a feature of his bedroom is... I won't call it a nightlight, it's a projection of the night sky on the cover/roof bit of his bed. it's not the brightest thing but it does let him see in what would otherwise be complete darkness. for this reason no one but the people who know that his father's a mage are allowed in his room.

he's in charge of teaching the twins how to just be kids and play and have fun without scrutiny. he was shocked when he found out what a noble upbringing was really like, so he's doing his best to wedge the silver spoons out, little by little... this does occasionally get them all in trouble, but what fun is it if you're not being a bit naughty, hm?

The Wizard Dad

the man, the myth, the wizard, this is our Wizard Dad; one Finnegan Haresfoot, a High Nature Mage! you know that trope of someone going back in time and dating some historical figure that they maybe gazed at some portraiture of with some longing intrigue in a museum or something, or perhaps studied as their specialised field of history? that's him except he adopted the historical figure(s) and irreparably screwed up the timeline out of inexplicable paternal instinct. normal gay wizard things.

he about fills in Sebastian's role but also not? like he fills in the blanks where Sebastian's demonic abilities once filled, such as collecting documents or ferrying the boys around by means other than horseback, carriage or boat.

he's running on about 3 hours of sleep and a prayer at all times, please bear with him. he loves his sons very much, more than he ever thought possible for a man who had never desired to have children in his life and with such ferocity that it's... almost concerning. Viscount Druitt will never escape what he did to Casimir and Ciel and Finn takes great pleasure in stopping the clock to slap him in the middle of a function, just to carry on whistling innocently while the Viscount nurses the giant red palm mark on his face, utterly confused as to what just happened.

he's gifted with woodcarving and sculpture and started a figurine business soon after his arrival in the victorian era. his pieces are made from anything from maple and pine to marble and quartz and their price tags are enough to make the average working man gag. they usually only depict a few figures, occasionally in a scene, though he does do the odd private commission for the other nobles because they pay well. he has a few throughout the manor of scenes depicting his sons going about their daily lives - profoundly unremarkable moments to them most of the time but all precious memories to him.

Lizzy's parents aren't very fond of him, specifically Francis. his hair might as well be a bird nest to her, he ended their children's engagement and looks at her like she's the crazy one when it comes up! safe to say neither of them look forward to interacting with each other but Finn maintains a veil of friendliness for the sake of his sons (and for Lizzy, quite frankly). he did take a lot of her criticism to heart towards the start of his time here, after all, he's hardly noble by birth like her or their children, so what better way to learn how to be a proper victorian noble than from a real victorian noble?

she isn't his love interest but he's a bit of a wife guy with Grelle - in his time, Grim Reapers are hardly seen at all! she's a truly rare specimen to him, a beautiful one at that. she may have tried to kill him a few times but that's just water under the bridge to him! his sons are thoroughly fed up with their theatrics when they're let loose together.

on that note, he is married! no, his wife isn't his love interest either and the marriage was very much advantageous, you see Delilah and her girlfriend were getting dangerously close to being found out by Delilah's family, a fact Finn managed to weasel out of her at a party after letting her know as discreetly as possible that he's also a fruit. a few letter exchanges and a visit to her parents to introduce himself and his sons (much to their dismay) later, the church bells rang and Delilah moved into the Phantomhive Manor, safe to continue her relationship in secret. she's not "mother" to the boys, she's more of a cool lesbian aunt who happens to live with them, you feel? she and Finn are excellent at fooling the rest of high society into thinking they're actually in love because of how close they are, they're glad to have found each other in the hell that is victorian high society.

Finn is a man of weak will but great power. he cannot tell his sons "no" if they want some sweets but he can and will turn you inside out if you say something wrong in front of him, especially if it's about his boys.

he is trans AND autistic

finally, he ended up in the victorian era purely by accident, but if he could go back and do it again... he would. he's no ideal parent by the standards of the time, nor will he ever be a perfect dad, but he does his best for his boys and makes a good effort to keep them safe from what perils he can. be it an injury (big or small), struggles with documents or just a nightmare, they all know they can go to him when they need him and he'll be there for them, no matter what they need. there's a lot of love and laughs in the Phantomhive Manor in this AU.

WOOOOO THAT GOT LONG!!! thank you so much for reading that behemoth and reaching the end! uhhhh closing thoughts: I love my sons and though they will face many trials and tribulations they now have a dad. he's really bad at not adopting every disenfranchised child he meets but shh shhh... I'd say Book of Circus is probably one of if not the most important arc in this one? idk maybe I'm biased because the kids get a sister and a second dad (they just won't know it until it descends upon them). I have listened to Whisper by Burn The Ballroom too many times because of this AU. what started as a coping and comfort thing for me has evolved into like. an actual Thing good heavens. originally there was a lot more backstory in this but I've decided to save it for a separate post because it's just long. but anyway, I hope you enjoy my silly little AU and have a nice day <3

#cyrille scribbles #black butler #kuroshitsuji #wizard dad au #alois trancy #ciel phantomhive #casimir phantomhive #real ciel #our ciel #finn haresfoot #this took me like #3 days #*collapses* #whisper is like the anthem of this AU #along with light in the hallway by pentatonix #isabella's lullaby. Finn does actually sing that to them sometimes. #and that one fuckin song from inuyasha fuckinnn #ok i can't find a title but inuyasha's lullaby you know the one #YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART. CELTIC WOMAN. YES #i need to shut up and make a playlist #the actual Kid Tally™ is 6 now. the Phantomhive Manor is very full #Casimir Ciel and Alois all feel very loved and adored #even if they have maybe beaten up a few of their siblings a few times #no word on Sascha bc I'm not that far yet but Freckles we know what happened in BoC #Joanne is the wet towel cringe fail child but he's also the only normal one #snowball fights are like actual wars #my friends have almost universally called Finn a dilf so I'm just running with that #anyway #END POST

[gamesception]

lets read rgu chapter 17

So, after a fun filler side story, we're back to the main plot. Last time we left off with Utena answering a letter from EotW asking to meet her personally in the greenhouse, but when she went there it was Touga instead, claiming to be her prince. Manga Utena has been /all about/ finding her prince, so this is a fairly significant turn, even if I think Touga forged the letter.

Utena doubts just like I do, but Touga has an answer for everything, including my old questions about how Touga being the prince from Utena's childhood would even fit the timeline, specifically:

A convincing answer indeed.

Self professed groomer Touga. Gross. What did Utena call her prince in the prologue? Mr. Licky-Licky? Yeah. Gross, Touga. Go to jail.

Touga goes in for another kiss, but Utena pushes him away. Despite his clever deployment of the Wizard card, Utena can still feel that something is different. Touga isn't her prince.

But just then Anthy walks in. Awkward!

And Touga then proceeds to talk about Anthy like she isn't right fucking there and it's extremely uncool.

Fuck you, Touga.

Oh, we're doing this bit, where Utena basically tells Anthy to say she doesn't want to be the Rose Bride, and she does so, and Utena doesn't get that Anthy is just doing what she says rather than answering honestly, because honest expression is way too difficult and painful, and part of what Anthy gets out of being the Rose Bride - one of the very few benefits of the nightmare she's trapped in - is that she never, ever has to sincerely confront who she is or what she wants or what she's done or what's been done to her. And Utena doesn't even begin to get that - even when Touga spells it out to her, until after she's lost Anthy in a duel.

Or, at least, anime Utena doesn't get it. Manga Utena is either a bit more aware of her surroundings or at least a bit more open to what Touga is telling her.

But just because she gets it doesn't mean she has to like it, or not try to change it, so Utena storms out with Anthy.

So Utena is determined to get Anthy to be a normal girl. Which is definitely something Utena knows all about how to do!

Only not really, so Utena asks Wakaba to be Anthy's 'normal girl' mentor. That's a fun idea, and I like Wakaba, but, uh, the manga's been pretty clear that this version of Wakaba Does Not like Anthy.

1) that's a bit over the top and 2) I thought we already established that Anthy Can't Cook.

Yay! Chuchu is here.

Boo! Touga is here.

Wakaba it's been 15 seconds. You didn't even try.

Manga Anthy is a fellow practitioner of the 'If negative emotions feel so bad then just don't have them!' discipline of mental health. Just put the feelings in the bottle and lock the bottle in the cabinet and shut the cabinet in the basement and then you just don't go down there! Never ever!

That night Utena has a nightmare about it, and wakes up to Anthy missing and Chuchu crying and then the next morning...

Jesus Christ. Man the battle stations, we are entering Akio territory.

And this is, iirc, an even sadder and more unsettling way to build it up, starting here before we even know who Akio is. Iirc by the time the anime did this we had already met Akio and learned or at least suspected that he was in charge of the duels and was the main villain. This is just WARNING SOMETHINGS WRONG alarms blaring with little to no clue what it is because of how manga Anthy is somehow even more closed off than anime Anthy, and everything we know about her so far is that she is fully committed to being the Rose Bride and obeying the champion duelist and only now she's hiding something from the champion duelist? And right before this page she comments on Utena being up 20 minutes earlier than usual like she tracks when Utena gets up implying that whatever she's hiding, she's been actively hiding it for a while, possibly longer than Utena's known her?

And the only other time something even vaguely like this happened, was when she mentioned that she had a brother.

So the next night Chuchu wakes Utena up again, this time deliberately, so she's able to follow Anthy and see where she's going...

To the Chairman's residence

And the Planetarium. And the Couch.

And Anthy's Brother.

Looks like we're skipping the Black Rose arc after all.

#revolutionary girl utena #sception reads rgu #rgu

[aeoki]

Grand Slam - The Blood-Vomiting Beast: Chapter 7

Location: Yumenosaki Grounds (Sports Festival) Characters: Tsukasa, Ritsu, Arashi, Sora & Natsume

< At that time. At the waiting place for “Team NewDi”. >

Tsukasa: Let’s review the situation at hand.

Currently, it seems we have been forced to fight a rather unexpectedly difficult battle.

Natsume: RigHT. Everyone is saying that it’ll be an easy win, but it appears that won’t be the caSE.

Ritsu: Yeah. But even so, “Team NewDi” is in the lead at the moment. Umm, one, two, three – After finishing the nine morning events from the first day, we’re now at 1092 points.

Arashi: The number of points you can get from each event were way too different…

We might need to strategise and take part in some events with the assumption of losing from the very beginning, so we can preserve our main forces.

Oh gosh, now I’m also influenced by the bloodthirsty atmosphere.

Ritsu: Compared to “Tanabata Fest”, you’re pretty peaceful right now, though, Nacchan.

In any case, that’s why’re we’re temporarily in first place.

“Team RhyLin” has put up a pretty good fight with 989 points. Next is “Team StarPro” with a small marginal difference at 972 points.

Natsume: And last in place is “Team CosPro” with a mediocre score of 602 poinTS. They’re already out of the picture when it comes to fighting for victoRY.

If they have landed themselves that score despite having “2wink” – supposedly the ones with the best physical abilities – then, the gap will only get bigger and bigger from now oN.

Arashi: Yeah. I feel bad for them but they don’t have a chance of winning with just “2wink”. Mika-chan is also unusually enthusiastic, but it’s just a waste of time.

Ritsu: Yeah. But we can’t let our guard down. Other than “Team CosPro”, the numbers look different so it seems we’re in the lead, but there isn’t that much difference in score between the other two teams.

Natsume: Originally, they were supposed to be the team that was way ahead of everyone else, thouGH. There are more events in the afternoon, so if there are losses mixed in, they could totally make a turnarouND.

It won’t even be a dramatic turn of tablES, but they might just gradually catch up to uS.

Ritsu: Hmm~ I wonder about that. Both “Team RhyLin” and “Team StarPro” are recruiting more and more outstanding idols.

They’ve gotten some good results thanks to that, but there’s no way their members won’t be feeling fatigued after participating in all those events.

If they’re going to be using the same tactic, then their output should gradually start falling.

Arashi: Yeah… There are a lot of events I’ve never heard of in the “Old-Fashioned Sports Festival”, so it definitely has to be more tiring than just exercising normally. Both our brains and bodies have been overused.

We’re made to do things we don’t normally do so it just makes us even more tired.

Ritsu: Seeing as it’s the “Sky Category”, we’ve really been sent flying ever since the first day, huh. I wondered what on earth they could mean by events that have to do with the sky, but they just kept coming one after the other.

Arashi: Like crossing an invisible bridge without a safety rope. I’ve read about that in a manga once.

Ritsu: Manga? Are you saying my Maa-kun is cheating on me with you?

Arashi: How did you reach that conclusion?

Natsume: Fufu. We get to see events we’ve never seen before one after the othER, so from the "audience's" point of view, it must be intriguing and a lot of fUN.

Arashi: Really? Won’t they be taken aback and think, “Hey, this isn’t the sports festival I imagined!”?

Natsume: That would be a different opiniON. If a school for training idols from another dimension were to have a normal sports festival, that would just be boring, rigHT?

Arashi: You’ve jumped a little too much there, I didn’t understand what you were trying to say, Natsume-chan.

Tsukasa: Let’s wrap things up here. There’s no point in discussing the details of the “Old-Fashioned Sports Festival” at this point in time.

The “Old-Fashioned Sports Festival” has already begun. All we can do is do our best to not fall off the horse that has already started running.

And, if possible, gloriously take hold of victory with our own hands.

Sora: *Munch munch munch*

Tsukasa: Harukawa-kun. No, I should call you “Leader” instead. I’m making a speech about something very serious right now, so please don’t make those munching noises that would ruin the mood right next to me.

Sora: HaHa~♪ Sorry! Sora always get scolded because he doesn’t have good manners~

Tsukasa: My intentions were not to criticise you or anything. That’s, uhh, more like a beast – no, should I say a small animal? Those sounds are like from a small animal so it’s rather adorable, no?

But you can’t survive just by being cute. If you’d like, I can teach you everything to do with good manners.

Arashi: Ufufu. Tsukasa-chan, I see you’re quite kind to Sora-chan ♪

Ritsu: Apparently, it’s his first friend ♪

Tsukasa: You two! Stop grinning this instant! It’s unpleasant!

Sora: HiHi~♪ Yeah! Tsuka-chan and Sora are best friends…☆

Tsukasa: It’s an honour. I’m very glad you’re not an enemy this time, Harukawa-kun.

If my opponent were someone like Touri-kun, then I would be able to defeat them with no restraint, but if it were a friend, then even I would take it easy on them.

Natsume: Fufu. That’s Sora’s magIC. In that sense, it’s a good thing he’s the leader oF “Team NewDi”.

No one can come to hate this chiLD. That’s because even if it was once or just a little, this child has lightened the hearts of many others, especially the hearts of Yumenosaki studenTS.

Everyone is healed by him, saved by him and a smile is put on our faces thanks to hIM.

It’s our instinct to not hate such a lovable creatuRE.

Sora: HuHu~♪ That’s the first magic I learnt from Master~!

That magic makes everyone around us a little bit kinder and also makes it easier to breathe!

A lovely barrier that all baby animals have! A defence-type of magic!...☆

Tsukasa: When you throw the word magic into the mix, it immediately sounds fishy.

Sora: Huh~? How come? Tsuka-chan, do you hate magic…?

Tsukasa: Uuu! I-It wasn’t my intention to deny what you “like”!

Sora: Yes! That’s very important~♪

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

#grand slam

[blouptalking]

The Liminal Zone

Genkai Chitai

Junji Ito

4 chapters (completed)

horror

“After abruptly departing from a train in a small town, a couple encounters a “weeping woman”—a professional mourner—sobbing inconsolably at a funeral. Mako changes afterward—she can’t stop crying! In another tale, having decided to die together, a couple enters Aokigahara, the infamous suicide forest. What is the shocking otherworldly torrent that they discover there?”

(resume from VIZ Media)

Story: 6/10

The Liminal Zone was a compilation of four short stories. It is difficult to give a note since the intrigue were different, but I will say that I enjoyed most of them. The four stories were very different from one another and did not seem at all repetitive. The stories were the perfect size, nor too long nor too short. Although I do feel like the last story “Slumber” was a bit short and could have been more developed, it was still a very good read.

Art: 10/10

Junji Ito killed it once again. I have a review about Gyo sitting in my draft since august... I talk about his art style and maybe I’ll just post the review so I don’t have to repeat myself but the drawings did not disappoint this time! I even feel like he got better at drawing faces or maybe it’s just my impression. The faces feels cleaner if that makes sense?

Cast: 6/10

Just like for the story, it's hard to put a note for the cast when each main character and secondary characters are different for each story. On the whole, I would say they were rather average, neither evil nor particularly good.

Enjoyment: 7/10

I loved it hihi. I finished the four stories in one session, just before I went to school. I wasn't planning on reading the whole manga, as I'm reading/watching other stuff right now, but I couldn't put my phone down.

Overall: 7/10

#The Liminal Zone #Genkai Chitai #manga review #manga recommendation #book recommendations #manga #horror #seinen #junji ito #bloup review

[birdiereviews]

Number Call by Nagisa Furuya, reviewed by Jay Sapinski

Nagisa Furuya’s newest manga volume, Number Call (Kodansha Comics, 2024) is a sweet high school meet-cute romance.  The story centers around Eito Tachibana who despises how his name is associated with the number eight meeting Tomoya Hatta whose nickname is Hachi, the Japanese word for the number eight.  Initially drawn together by their names having a connection, they eventually find themselves chasing after each other.  The story is certainly cute and heartwarming, but the plot delivers the elements of a romance in a way that is almost too straightforward.  Although there is romantic tension between Eito and Hachi, it never really felt like there was a threat to their bond.  Even in a wholesome story, there should still be stakes for the choices that the characters make.  Nevertheless, I found myself turning to the next page to discover how they would grow closer.

Additionally, unlike many other BL manga, this one features a story that stays far from depicting toxic relationships and the fetishization of gay people that plague the genre.  Eito and Hachi meet when Eito’s test papers are knocked out of his hand and float out the window where Hachi picks them up.  After Eito runs down to get them, they have a short exchange:

Hachi: You got an 88 in Japanese history.  Eito Tachibana. Eito (thinking): Why’d he read that out loud? Hachi: Haha.  You got an 88 and you’re [sic] name’s Eito?  It’s like a pun. Eito: I guess… Eito (thinking): Uh, did he stick around to just say that?  Is he making fun of me? Hachi: I thought it might blow away again if I put it down. Eito: Okay… Hachi: Plus, I can kind of relate.

From chapter 1: Call 1

The interaction between the two sounds completely natural for two high schoolers who don’t really know each other.  There is no stalker behavior, coercion, or bizarre pairings for the sake of reader fetishes.  It’s all very cute, wholesome, and heartwarming.  It’s great to see more BL manga representing gay love as being completely normal.

That being said, the story would have been taken to the next level had there been more build towards their relationship.  It’s difficult to tell why Eito or Hachi hold affection for each other or how their shared experiences contribute to them liking each other.  Show us a date, a stolen moment in a classroom—anything that would solidify the reasons why they like each other beyond their names relate to the number eight.  The times when they are alone together don’t give readers enough information about what makes Eito or Hachi interesting and attractive in the eyes of the other.

Number Call is an excellent addition to BL manga as a whole.  Steering away from the problems of the BL genre, it highlights how cute and sweet romance can be.  Hopefully, this isn’t the last wholesome BL meet-cute to grace our shelves.

An advance copy of this volume was provided in return for an honest review.

Number Call becomes available on March 12th, 2024.  Pre-order Number Call here.

~

Jay Sapinski (they/them) is a college student studying English. They are an editor of their college's literary magazine as well as a fiction editor of miniskirt magazine. Jay loves Japanese culture and Japanese style media and consumes it whenever possible.

#reviews #number call #nagisa furuya #manga #recommended #review #jay sapinski #slice of life #romance #school life #stories #story #completed #one shot

[mohg-lover]

top 3 animated things

loved by @mohg-lover

my name is elias g. i'm a big fan of mohg,

but also a lot of animated media.

3.

coming in at number 3 i have to pay respects to a new classic, i'm talking about team cherry's, hollow knight! releasing in 2017 it's hard to pick this game over the animated marvel that is cuphead, which spent years in the oven to perfectly bake a platforming action game with the style calling back to the rubber-hose animations of the last century. for me though, i'm picking hollow knight over cuphead due to its world having a much more seamless atmosphere. it's not as much of a technical achievement but ari gibson's art direction completely makes up for it, creating a desolate underground haven of mystery and danger. the game is also very fun too!

2.

in second place i have to pay respects to one of the classics, hirohiko araki is one of the greatest mangakas of all time and the adaptions of his works to anime do jojo's bizarre adventure true justice. a lot of animes these days just aren't worth your time especially when you compare them to their manga counterparts. it can be difficult to compress or stretch out the content of a serialized story to fit into the rigid structure of television programming, which leads to a lot of adaptations either cutting story beats or slowing down the pacing to a crawl. the dilemma becomes: why am i wasting my time watching something for so long when i could read it in a quarter of that time and witness the author's vision in full? already out the gate jojo avoids both these problems, not only is the pacing of the first two parts kept razor-tight by putting both in one season, the art direction takes araki's unique artistic quirks and brings them to life in a flashy, colourful, over-dramatization that just can't be found in the pages of a book! Instead of one being obviously superior, the anime is on equal ground when it comes to experiencing araki's work.

1.

and for my favourite piece of animated media, i chose secret of kells, directed by tomm moore and nora twomey. i have a lot of bias towards this irish-french-belgain classic, as it is one of the films i saw at a very young age that made me fall in love with animation and film. being of irish blood myself and having spent a lot of time visiting the united kingdom, i have a huge appreciation for this film's ability to truly bring classical european art to life. like my number 3 pick, this pick is somewhat tied with another animated film that really influenced me, the iron giant. the secret of kells comes out on top for me though because of its more abstract themes in its story and unique style.

this concludes my favourite animated things, thank you for reading!

[dereksmcgrath]

After technical difficulties last weekend, I’m (hopefully?) back online for another Sunday stream!

Today is a shorter stream, reflecting on personal setbacks, my new free online class starting Tuesday, and a live-reaction to Aliens Area!

An initial script for today's stream is below.

Intro

Let’s get started. Today is September 11, 2022. This is Sunday Morning Manga. I am Derek S. McGrath, my pronouns are he/him/his. I’m here every Sunday, 11 AM EDT on Twitch and YouTube. You can read my writing on Tumblr and WordPress, @dereksmcgrath, and email me at [email protected]. 

If you like what you’re hearing, consider a monetary contribution. Putting together this stream takes a bit of work, and your tips help pay down costs for setup for this livestream–including computer repair necessities, which I’ll get to in a moment. You can donate on my Ko-Fi, ko-fi.com/dereksmcgrath. Thank you for your consideration.

Today’s Topics

On today’s stream: 

A shorter livestream

Talking about some personal setbacks–and the new course I’m teaching free online starting Tuesday

And a live-reading of the newest chapter of Aliens Area! If you would like to read along, open up the chapter on the Viz web site. You can find this and other links on my WordPress, @dereksmcgrath.

Personal Life

Let’s start with some personal stuff going on. Each week, I give a rapid-fire list of stuff I’ve been working on since the last stream. 

And while this part of the stream is usually a bit more detailed, I have to be more vague on certain things, because this past week was pretty disappointing and not one I want to dwell on more than I need to. I don’t want to go through everything, but as was evident in the last stream, my computer was pretty much broken, failing to record the entire stream and failing to broadcast for longer than 20 or so minutes. 

The good news is that I have a new computer, so let’s see whether this new setup works. I did just learn that it’s easier to recover lost recordings if you use OBS Studios to record as a MKV file, whereas I was recording as MP4 files and hence lost last week’s recording. So, small victory. 

But if I did have two major updates to offer: 

First off, I want to share again my remarks from last week’s stream, this time in writing. Last weekend was Labor Day, and a lot of what I discussed weighed on my mind a bit, between what that means for people working in animation and voice acting, and more personally for me for those of us working in education. You can read more about my thoughts on what academic unions need to do to protect their employees–that post is available on my WordPress, @dereksmcgrath. But as I said, that topic weighed heavily on me, opened some old wounds, and coupled with what I’m working on to teach a free online course starting Tuesday, then the computer stops working and further delays prep work, that was a number of setbacks that inspired a lot of disappointment this week–along with bills. 

Which leads to my second update: Ko-fi. Due to expenses, between the new computer and some medical expenses, those expenses were a lot. I apologize for not providing more written content on my blog this past week, and a lack of a very long stream last weekend–and not enough prep work this week to prepare a longer stream today. Things have been rough the past year, and these expenses and a lack of more work opportunities, especially remote work opportunities during this ongoing pandemic, are difficult to pay. 

So, if you like what I’m producing in content, your contributions on Ko-fi would be appreciated: your contributions at ko-fi.com/dereksmcgrath are appreciated. And if you have contributed, please let me know what you think of the stream and anything you want me to check out–anyone who contributes any dollar amount on my Ko-fi gets to submit a recommendation for content for me to talk about, such as what I do each week live-reacting to a new manga chapter, or if you have a film, TV show, book, video game, or other content that you think ties into something I’ve talked about. 

And I mentioned this above, but Tuesday at 11 AM EDT is the start of my American Literature I survey, covering literature from the Puritans to the United States Civil War. All readings for the class are available free and legally at links included on my WordPress, @dereksmcgrath. Check out the reading list and the schedule for the class on my WordPress. We meet twice per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 AM EDT, on my YouTube and Twitch channels, username dereksmcgrath. Feel free to read along and join the hour-long chat starting this Tuesday at 11 AM EDT–I hope to see you there! 

Live-Reading: Aliens Area Chapter 14

Like I said, this week’s livestream is going to be shorter, so I will be skipping some other content and jumping right into this week’s livestream! Each week on Sunday Morning Manga, I do a live-reaction to a new chapter just released that day. And the choice today is the new manga series, Aliens Area!

But to talk about Aliens Area, we have to talk about two things: September 11, 2001, and Men in Black. 

Weird combo, right? 

Well, not entirely. 

Think about how much our immigration system in the United States has become worse not only for people coming to the United States, but for all of us. Think about what peace of mind we sacrifice for a system that is supposed to make us safer–and instead is used to target the most vulnerable and the most marginalized. A few weeks ago, The Verge did a story about two decades of TSA policies and whether those post-9/11 measures, including taking off your shoes, has done anything to make us safer. The story starts with the TSA insisting that the corpse of a person being brought onto the plane must have a death certificate to prove their death, and they were an international traveler without such a certificate, so TSA was going to have to do a pat-down on a corpse. A pat-down, on a corpse. 

All of this is on my mind this weekend, because this post-9/11 society persists with a demonizing, a fearmongering, of the other, as someone who cannot be trusted, not on the basis of evidence in front of you, but assumptions based on the person’s identity. This is not an equal application of the law on all people, it’s not even on a basis of evidence in front of you–it is on an assumption that somehow this person is more likely to be more of a threat. We don’t ignore that, yes, an airplane can be used to create significant damage, and can happen again, however much we want to believe that no one would try that attack again. But the solutions are to make sure we are regulating guns, that we are regulating weapons, that security measures like pat-downs and x-rays are effective and not simply to be weaponized against people who, sorry, don’t look like a cishet white man like me. I have heard enough stories from immediate friends and colleagues about pat-downs due to their disability, or attire especially on their head, or their skin color, or their accent and language. 

And a lot of this followed something as seemingly innocuous as Men in Black. 

You know how you can enjoy something on one level for entertainment, while also look at it as problematic? Welcome to being an academic. 

I loved Men in Black when it first came out. I still enjoy the animated series. The mythos is fun and intriguing. But it’s another cop story. And it’s an immigration story at that. The crimes of most of the aliens rounded up by the Men in Black are the equivalent of immigration violations. They’re an extraterrestrial version of ICE–the same ICE that still harasses immigrants, the children of immigrants, a legacy of kids in cages thanks to that orange dipshit whose shitty wife and her shitty parents only got into the United States due to the same immigration policies that orange shithead tried to get rid of and will probably remove if he manages to steal another election to waltz back into the White House in January 2025. 

But there I go being political again…

Add to it some bad timing: as Disney continues to monopolize business and pop culture, I am afraid whether the MCU will regurgitate the xenophobic underpinnings to the Secret Invasion storyline, or whether it can adhere to what works about writing the Skrulls as refugees, as was present in the first Captain Marvel film. 

It’s hard not to have all of that on my mind when reading Aliens Area, which, not to denigrate the series too much as too derivative, is pretty much “manga Men in Black.” 

But enough of all of that. Let’s actually talk about this series. 

Beginning publication earlier this year in June, Aliens Area is about high schooler Tatsumi Tatsunami, having to work numerous part-time jobs to take care of his two siblings after their parents die. But when he is confronted by extraterrestrials, he learns he has alien bio-technology inside his body–literally extraterrestrial cells in his body. A secret government agent named Hajime Sharaku also has these cells in his body–and invites Tatsumi to join his Earth protection force, in exchange for financial support for his family. 

You see why this all seems sketchy? “I can help your family, if you agree to help me export aliens. You can profit off of law enforcement directed towards marginalized people!”

The series is written and illustrated by Fusai Naba, translated into English by John Werry with lettering by Brandon Bovia and published on the Viz Shonen Jump web site.

I can’t say that much in the first twelve chapters has really leapt out to me, as so far the story has been just setting up the location, technology, and characters. Chapter 12 is where we kind of get a plot going–and it’s when we see a victim harmed by an opponent. Think of it like Soul Eater, where you got to get through the first seven episodes before you get to the major fight against Crona and really kick off the plot. (Just a coincidence that we’re getting into Chapter 14 this week, and Soul Eater took seven episodes to get somewhere. If you adapt two chapters per episode, that fits my Episode 7 rule–which you can read more about on my WordPress.)

While the story isn’t much to write about, so to speak, the artwork by Naba is quite good. And surprising me at least, it does have a quality similar to Soul Eater, or, rather, Atsushi Ohkubo’s later, cleaner–and more boring–character design style, with thick line art, very expressive faces, but nothing that is really that iconic and memorable. Plus, comparing Chapters 12 and 13 of Aliens Area to one of Fusai Naba’s earlier works, the one-shot manga Apollo, this art is not as impressive. I only checked out Apollo recently, but that one-shot is so much more visually impressive than what I have here. Apollo likely benefited from its one-shot nature, while Aliens Area was competent and well enough in Chapters 12 and 13. But Apollo had atmosphere, effective use of white blank space and black blank space to emphasize characters’ anxieties and paranoia, as well as more impressive use of paneling and two-page spreads. Naba has the goods when it comes to impressive artwork; I hope Aliens Area has more opportunities to show off that talent beyond what Chapters 12 and 13 offered. 

We’re getting into Chapter 14 this week, which continues an arc that started two chapters ago. The current arc for Aliens Area started with Chapter 12, where our boys Tatsumi and Hajime track who they anticipate is an alien in human disguise. Following the supposed alien to a karaoke bar, they find three of them, refugees from a wartorn planet, along with the human proprietor running the bar. She name is Akina. The arc introduces a bit of exposition about a group called Polaris, seemingly a group letting humans helping aliens settle on Earth–but according to Hajime, they are “shady.” Put a pin in that, as I’m sure Hajime’s bias towards governmental oversight compared to technically illegal humanitarian aid–or, extraterrestian aid–is going to make the government’s side look like the bad guys more than Polaris will. That Hajime makes sure to say in Chapter 12 that the government pretty much lets his alien police division do whatever it wants is going to be hard to make sympathetic, not just to a Japanese audience but a post-Black Lives Matter United States and a post-”kids in cages” United States–hell, to a post-Rodney King United States. 

After a lot of exposition in Chapter 12 about the ethics of rounding up undocumented immigrants and the policies of this Earth police unit, Chapter 13 drops a vague bit of information that surprise government agent Hajime: the karaoke bar proprietor Akina reveals she was with A3, the Anti-Aliens Alliance. If Hajime is with the government that wants to arrest and deport aliens, A3 is a group that thinks it is protecting the Earth from an invasion. Akina reveals that A3 stole aliens’ bodily cells to implant into humans to cure them of diseases. 

I haven’t talked much about Tatsumi yet, so let’s get to him. The character is your standard lunkhead: think Itadori from Jujutsu Kaisen, only really out of his league logically. He hears all of this about A3, that they take aliens’ cells to cure people, and assumes, “Oh, those are good people!” He isn’t genre savvy about what kind of a story he is in. While I sit here not confident in Hajime and the Earth government group’s rounding up of extraterrestrial immigrants, a group that somehow got its hands on aliens’ cells is all kinds of black market stuff. 

Not that the black market stuff helped the humans, though: Akina explains that the cells actually killed the humans before they healed. This is concerning for both Tatsumi and Hajime, as they have those cells in their bodies. For this and many reasons, Akina concludes, A3 wants to eliminate all aliens from this planet. 

So, if she wanted to get rid of aliens, why is she now serving food to those three that came into her bar? (I’ll say more about my complaints about this narrative structure in a moment, but that I lose track that the aliens were there the entire time is not helping the story.) Anyway, Hajime asks why she had the change of heart–and is shocked when she says she fell in love with an alien. That’s…kind of corny and cliche, but whatever, I had some optimism this could work…but given how this chapter ends, that hope was dashed. 

Continuing with this chapter, the three aliens are here because Akina’s alien lover, Shogo, was supposed to come back today but he hasn’t. Hajime toys with arresting her and the aliens before she offers up information on another member of A3 that is a bigger threat. Hajime gives up, deciding the three aliens aren’t a big enough threat, but he promises to return for Akina to wipe her memories. 

Our two boys leave with some free snacks offered by Akina. But once they are back outside on the sidewalk, they bump into some person heading into Akina’s bar–and neither one finds this odd, not until it’s too late, when a bomb goes off in the bar. Amidst what look to be the charred remains of Akina and her alien friends, sits this bomber. 

And that’s where unlucky Chapter 13 ends. So let’s pick up where things go in Chapter 14!

[A transcript to the live-reaction will be included here]

Contact (and Hire) Me!

Thanks for listening to this week’s stream of Sunday Morning Manga! Did you enjoy this new chapter of Aliens Area? Do you think I’m onto something reading into the immigration allegory and Men in Black immigration policing? Or do you have other remarks? Please add them to the comments section–I will respond to whichever ones I can.  

And if you did like what you heard, then all I can say is: hire me! Borrowing a line from The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal, this is not only something I want to do, I consider it a job. I work in teaching and conference organizing, a decade or close to a decade of experience in both. I am currently seeking work in teaching, copyediting, research assistance, writing, or conference organizing. Job leads are welcome: please email them to [email protected]. 

And Ko-Fi tips are appreciated: feel free to kick in a few bucks at my Ko-Fi–the web address is ko-fi.com/dereksmcgrath–no spaces or periods or underscores in my name. 

You can also watch my livestream course, the American Literature I survey, covering major literary works from the Puritans to the United States Civil War. We meet on Twitch and YouTube, username dereksmcgrath, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 AM. The schedule of readings is on my WordPress, @dereksmcgrath, and all readings for the class are available free and legally online. I hope to see you there!

Next Time

And thanks again for joining this stream, and if all works on my end, I will now direct you to another stream, the Black Comics Chat on Twitch. I’ll be back next Sunday for another Morning Manga edition, where we’ll cover yet another manga about supernatural interspecies romance and arranged marriages–I’ll be looking at a pretty new series, Chapter 3 of Tokyo Demon Bride Story. I’ve been Derek S. McGrath. You have a good afternoon. Bye. 

Links from Today’s Stream

My Links

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WordPress

Ko-fi

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Series Discussed

Aliens Area

Soul Eater

My Shameless Plugs

Academic Unions Are Needed–and Can Do More

My American Literature I survey course schedule with links to readings

The Episode 7 Rule and Soul Eater

Other People’s Awesome Stuff

The Verge: “The Humiliating History of the TSA”

Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal

Black Comics Chat

#aliens area #livestream #manga #fusai naba #Youtube

[chickenandwafflesandtv]

Cherry Blossoms After Winter Season 1

Introducing a week of switching things up! Not anime today, but rather a k-drama!

Welcome back to another show review! Today, I watched my first ever k-drama (also known as Korean Drama)!

CHERRY BLOSSOMS AFTER WINTER SEASON 1

This show is actually based on a Manhwa (Korean manga) of the same name. I read it earlier this year/late last year and really enjoyed it; it was probably one of the first manga/manhwa I ever read. The story was really enjoyable and I love seeing book to screen adaptations and how they change, it's a big passion of mine!

BACKGROUND

Orphaned as a young child, Haebom is taken in by the mother of his friend Taesong. The two were best friends as children, but as they grew up, a misunderstanding led the two to grow apart. Their final year of highschool, they are placed in the same class. Finally bearing witness to the bullying that Haebom faces everyday, Taesong works to become a friend and ally to Haebom once again. They grow closer and feelings arise. Issues both within the family and at school make their relationship difficult, but will they be able to stay together?

REVIEW

It was okay. That's it. Not amazing, not awful, just average. Let me put my Film and Media Studies major to good use real quick. I think this show just had a lower production value than what I was expecting. Being adapted from a manhwa as well as focusing on LGBT+ topics (which isn't as widely accepted in Korea and is often censored to some extent), it makes sense that the budget wasn't very high, which just caused some scenes to feel a little off. Many scenes felt empty, with not enough extras, and some of the shots seemed a bit lackluster. The acting was very well done though, and the actors portrayed the characters very well in my opinion. From what I remember from the manhwa, everything seemed to have been adapted fairly well, but its been a while since I read it so I don't remember every detail. It was a good show. Just good.

SIGN OFF

Not to shabby for my first k-drama! Watching TV in different languages can be a bit hard for me sometimes, as I love to play sudoku on my phone while I watch, but this show was easy to follow and I was entertained enough to where I would put my phone down and focus my full attention onto the show. Well done!

Well, I'm off to go reread the manhwa! See you next time!

9/6/22 10:01pm

#manhwa #cherry blossoms after winter #anime #kdrama #review #tv series

[heyiwrotesomethings]

I really love reading your stories, there ready amazing and I enjoy them very much. I was hoping you could do one with Shinobu? The reader is she/her and oneshort.

The reader and shinobu living a peaceful married life with children of their own and one day they ask if reader could tell them the story of the last battle.

The reader was the dragon pillar and dating shinobu at the time, she never told us about her plans against the demon that took her sister’s life but we secretly knew. So during the moment shinobu was about to be eaten, the reader saves her and convincing her there is another way.

At the end, the reader was able to cut halfway through the demon’s neck and before it could regenerate, shinobu stole our other sword and finished him off before stabbing her sword and the reader’s sword on the ground and broke down while the reader comfort her.

After the story, the kids were amused by their parents and teased shinobu as shinobu playful scolded us about telling them the crying part.

The Tale of the Final Battle

Shinobu Kochou x She/Her Reader

A/N: Thank you, here you go and I hope you like it! Fight scenes are not my strong suit, but this turned out pretty good I think. Warning: Naturally, this request overlaps some events from the manga that have not yet been animated. Read at your discretion! Word Count: 3,272

“Kaasan, Kaasan!”

“Hm?” (Y/n) looked up from her book and looked at her three children questioningly.

They had been unusually quiet this afternoon, going through the storage room after Shinobu had gone in looking for something. Shinobu had allowed them to look around so long as they promised to be on their best behavior.

“What’s all this?” They asked, each holding a lovingly wrapped sword, for which (Y/n) was extremely glad they had not opened on their own.

“Hand those to me darlings, you really shouldn’t be touching those.” She asked safely taking each wrapped sword from her pouting children’s arms.

“But they were in the storage room.” The eldest, Kanae, said defensively.

“Okaasan said we could be in there and look around.” The middle child, Mitsuri, assured.

“What’s in those bags?” The youngest, Gyomei, asked.

“I’ll show you, but only if you promise me that once I find a safer place for them, you won’t go looking for them again.”

“We promise!”

With great care and an almost reverent respect, (Y/n) unfurled the unique, purple wrapping first, revealing the hilt and scabbard of her wife’s nichirin blade. Seeing the familiar blade again after so long gave her goosebumps. It almost felt like several life times ago since this blade was used, but in reality it was only a short fifteen years ago. Her children gasped and murmured with amazement as she lovingly bared the narrow blade for them to see.

“This belongs to your Okaasan. You remember the stories we’ve told you about the Demon Slayers, right? Well, this was the blade she used to fight all the bad demons away.”

“Okaasan did? Really?” Mitsuri gushed.

“Why is it so… small?” Gyomei asked.

“Thin?” Kanae supplied helpfully, making Gyomei nod.

“Right. Your Okaasan specialized in poisons. The shape of the blade helped assure a swift end to her foes. The scabbard, here, is where the poison was stored. You can understand why it is dangerous and not a toy, yes?”

(Y/n) waited until all of her children nodded and smiled. With the same love and care as she presented thus far, she sheathed the sword and wrapped it up in the purple bag once more and set in gently upon the floor.

Next brought the two gold colored bags to her lap and handled them as if she was greeting old friends. She revealed the two identical hilts and accompanying scabbards as one.

“These, were mine.” She said simply. She hadn’t expected to feel so emotional. She supposed it was because once she had put these blades to rest, she hadn’t expected nor wanted to touch them again. The Demon Slayers were a big part of her life, but it was difficult think back on those times for long. It was bittersweet. There was plenty of good back then, but a lot of evil looming overhead as well.

“Did you use poison too, Kaasan?” Mitsuri asked.

“No, no, nothing special like that. I just sent heads rolling… Sorry, that probably sounded scary, didn’t it?”

“No, it’s okay Kaasan. We aren’t babies.” Gyomei said, puffing out his chest. The others nodded in agreement.

“Of course. My brave children.” (Y/n) chuckled. She began putting her swords away and was met with another question from her oldest.

“Kaasan, could you tell us about the Final Battle? You were there, right? You and Okaasan?”

“Among many others.” (Y/n) nodded sadly. “It is a rather complex story… there is a lot I hadn’t personally seen.”

“You could just tell us about you and Okaasan. That would make it easier right?” Mitsuri piped up excitedly, making (Y/n) laugh.

Easier in length, not so much to talk about perhaps. It was the scariest night of her life. Many comrades were lost. Most of the Hashira who she had loved so dearly were gone save for a handful of them. Still, these stories were important. She should be thankful her children were so eager to listen and perhaps one day, they would share these stories with their own children, should they have any.

“I will tell you then,“ she nodded, “I will tell you about the Insect and Dragon Hashira’s battle against the Demon known as Upper Moon Two.”

***

“How are you feeling today?” (Y/n) asked Shinobu as she walked into her lab. She had found a smidge of free time between Hashira training groups so naturally she came to check up on Shinobu’s health.

“You seem to ask me that a lot these days.” Shinobu giggled. “Why is that?”

“Isn’t that what lovers do? Check in on each other?” (Y/n) kissed Shinobu’s forehead, before sliding down a bit to knock her forehead against Shinobu’s in an attempt to subtly check her temperature.

She knew what Shinobu was doing while everyone else was training. It was painfully obvious to her, but if Shinobu didn’t want to tell her, that was fine. She didn’t want to antagonize her so close to the climax of this war. She kept an appropriate distance, stood where Shinobu wanted her, but she was going to be there for her when she was needed her, no matter what.

“I suppose that is true.” Shinobu murmured, pecking (Y/n) sweetly on the lips in an attempt to deflect attentions from herself. It didn’t really work how she wanted. (Y/n) could taste the faint wisteria on her lips. “How are you then? I’m sorry our schedules are such a mess as of late.”

“I know. It’s hard being away from you for so long. Besides the fact that I miss you, I’m doing well. Training is running smoothly.”

“I’m glad your program is doing well. I miss you too.”

And (Y/n) could feel just how much those last four words rang true with the way Shinobu’s cheek sunk into her chest. She could tell she was listening to the beat of her heart, committing the rhythm to memory so she could think back on it when she inevitably went to sleep alone.

(Y/n) wanted nothing more than to brake down, tell Shinobu she knew everything about the poison, but she knew she couldn’t. Instead she held Shinobu tight, hoping that she would subconsciously know that whatever she had planned for the demon that killed Kanae, she wouldn’t have to face it alone. Where Shinobu was stubborn, (Y/n) was more malleable, a problem solver. There was always another way.

~~~

(Y/n) ran through the twisted mansion in a blaze of fury befitting the Dragon Hashira. She had to find Shinobu, and quick. She knew it was selfish, that she shouldn’t be choosing her lover over all the other people who could have needed her help, but she made a promise to herself and Kanae’s memory that she wouldn’t let Shinobu die like this.

The halls grew colder and colder with each turn and the hair of the back of (Y/n)’s neck rose to attention.

Here, she had to be here!

(Y/n) withdrew her swords and knocked down the door with a mighty kick. She saw Shinobu, hanging limply from the demon’s arms, but she did not falter. In an incredible burst of speed, thanks to the Demon Slayer Mark she was sporting, she hacked through the demon’s arms and pulled Shinobu away.

“(Y/n), you—“ Shinobu cut herself off with a gurgling cough, a fresh streak of blood fell from her lips.

“Shhh, I’m here. You’ll be okay. Just focus on breathing, I know it’s hard, but you can do it.” It took everything (Y/n) had not to start crying right then and there.

Shinobu was really beaten up. Frostbite, an awful gash across her chest that surely pierced a lung… she needed treatment soon or she would die.

“That was some strike, girl.”

(Y/n) turned to the demon who had clearly been watching them like they were some kind of play. His arms had probably regenerated before (Y/n) even hit the ground. He was playing with her.

“Can’t you see that girl in your arms is in pain? Had you just let me absorb her, she wouldn’t be feeling a thing right now.” He taunted, hiding his hollow smile behind a golden fan.

“Because she would be dead, you sick fuck.” (Y/n) growled, helping Shinobu to her feet. She had given Shinobu an injection she had received from a strange cat on her mad dash here. She wasn’t sure what it was for, but with the shape Shinobu was in, it certainly wouldn’t make her worse.

“Not dead! She would live within me as a part of my being for all eternity! And a lovely lady such as yourself is more than welcome to join her.”

“Upper Moon Two,” (Y/n) spat, “tonight you will breathe your last breath!”

“Please dear, call me Douma. We are going to be well aquatinted very soon.”

“(Y/n),” Shinobu gasped, “my sword, it’s somewhere over there.”

“I see, take this is the meantime then.” (Y/n) handed one of her swords to Shinobu, “I know it’s heavy, please bear with it for a little while.”

“You shouldn’t have come.” Shinobu’s breaths rattled, and fresh tears collected at the corners of her eyes. “This is the only way, (Y/n)! I have to do this!”

“There is always another way, Shinobu.” (Y/n) said, flashing Shinobu a smile over her shoulder though she was terrified. “You’re always thinking inside the box. That’s why we’re such a good match. You reign me in when I need to be and when you get too stuck in your own head I pull you out, right?”

“…Yeah.” Shinobu readied the sword in her hand. “Yeah, I hope you’re right. We’ve never really had such a dire situation to put it to the test though.”

“No better time to test it.”

“You two are cute. What are you planning, hmm?” Douma asked, a faux pout upon his lips.

“Putting you out of your misery, you worthless bastard.” Shinobu hissed through a mouthful of blood. The medicine (Y/n) had given her, she had recognized it as something of Tamayo’s invention. It was working wonders for her body, but she was still in bad shape. Her body temperature was skyrocketing.

“Hmmm, I’d like to see you try little girl~!”

Douma released a frigid wind and Shinobu hastily pulled (Y/n) back, warning her of the freezing air’s affect on her lungs. They hardly had time to talk before the Demon split between them, throwing them to opposite sides of the room. He left Shinobu, believing in her weakened state that he should focus more on the other Hashira. His icy attacks split the air and (Y/n) narrowly dodged each gust while trying to find an opening to counter.

Shinobu did her best to keep up. Her injuries and the weight of (Y/n)’s blade in her hands making it hard. Still she made sure to make Douma not count her out just yet.

“You two move well together.” Douma praised. “You don’t even need to communicate verbally to know what the other is going to do. It’s quite impressive.”

It was then that Douma decided to change tactics. Shinobu was almost slashed again, but (Y/n) dashed and pulled her back, slicing her shoulder open.

“(Y/n)!”

“Isn’t it difficult trying to protect each other? You think you outnumber me, but without one willing to sacrifice the other… I do believe you are wasting your time.”

“We’re stronger together. It’s not a failing to look out for the people you love. Of course a monster like you could never understand something like that though, right?” (Y/n) jeered, gripping her shoulder tightly.

Douma’s fake smile twitched and without warning another icy attack was unleashed, forcing (Y/n) and Shinobu back once more. His merciless attacks kept coming, barely giving Shinobu and (Y/n) time to think, he rose his fan again and—

“Kanao!” Shinobu gasped. She watched her Tsuguko, her sister, rocket into the room and slice Douma’s arm before skittering to a halt between (Y/n) and Shinobu.

Kanao’s heart soared despite the danger. She had made it. Shinobu was still alive. They could still see a world without demons together.

“Oh? Another pretty little girl to add to the set. Though I must say, I’m growing tired of you all buzzing around me like flies—“

“Outta my way! Lord Inosuke is coming through!” A familiar voice cackled, inosuke came in like a whirlwind and struck Douma low, severing his Achilles’ tendons and spinning to stand beside Kanao, blades still at the ready.

“I’m starting to like our odds.” (Y/n) grinned.

“Come on, come on! Go my underlings!” Inosuke crowed.

“It got really noisy all of the sudden.” Douma frowned. He swiped at the slayers with his fans as they darted around him. “I think I’ll take my leave and let my ice clones play with you for awhile.”

The temperature in the room dropped significantly, making the icy air even harder to breathe. While Kanao and Inosuke were busied with the clones, (Y/n) and Shinobu refused to let the demon get away.

(Y/n) roared with effort, her Demon Slayer Mark shifting under her skin with growing power. Soon she was matching Douma in speed, cutting him several times but never quite able to connect with his neck. She and Shinobu danced around him, earning a slight edge on him.

If they just had a little more!

“I’m tired of this!” Inosuke yelled, shattering another ice clone before turning onto Douma. “Gotta kill the main beast otherwise what’s the point!”

He swooped in low and stabbed through Douma’s feet, keeping him in place. Before Douma could slice into him with his fans, Kanao came barreling in, her eyes were a vibrant shade of vermillion as she blocked the attack and every subsequent attack that followed. It was like she could see the attacks before Douma even moved. With Douma busy, (Y/n) made her move.

“RAAHHH!” With her most powerful Dragon Breathing technique, her blade sliced through half of Douma’s neck, but she struggled to go further. “Shinobu!”

“HAAAAH!” Shinobu swung (Y/n)’s other blade with all of her might, maybe making it about an inch before the blade would move no further.

“She can’t cut me that deeply.” Douma giggled. “You should know better, she hasn’t the arm strength. Those nasty injuries too.”

“Ignore him, keep pushing!” (Y/n) encouraged while Inosuke and Kanao kept up their assault and kept the ice clones at bay while also trying to hold Douma in position.

Shinobu’s arms ached from holding their position and she could feel blood vessels popping under her skin, but she did not yield. She felt so hot, she thought she might burst, but still she persisted. She was feeling a change within her, some kind of power boiling through her veins.

“Kochou Shinobu, fight!” A voice carried on the wind. A familiar lilt that Shinobu could only recognize as Kanae’s.

The blade was moving.

On Shinobu’s cheek, an inky black shape was taking form, finally settling into the shape of a butterfly.

Douma felt the movement and attempted to grab at Shinobu’s arm, but Kanao was right there with him, stabbing through his arm and pinning it to his chest. Douma felt exhilarated, he’d never experienced such emotion, looking over Shinobu’s furious face he shuddered.

“Will you go to hell with me?” He asked breathlessly.

“Go fuck yourself.” Shinobu growled.

The borrowed blade suddenly slipped through the rest of Douma’s neck like butter and clanked against its twin before subducting and scraping against it with such force that it created sparks.

Douma’s head thunked against the boardwalk before splashing into the shallow water below. He appeared to be speaking, but only bubbles left his submerged mouth. His body collapsed with a heavy thud and everyone collapsed around it, breathing heavily.

Shinobu watched everyone with disbelieving eyes. She couldn’t believe she was still here. There wasn’t supposed to be an after for her. This was supposed to be it. Yet she was still here. Breathing. It was almost scarier than dying.

She stabbed (Y/n)’s sword into Douma’s slowly disintegrating corpse and used it as leverage to stand. Then she started limping away in the direction of her long discarded sword.

“Shinobu, lay down.” (Y/n) winced as she got to her own feet. “You have a punctured lung.”

Shinobu kept walking until her sword was back in her hand. (Y/n) had followed her and gave Shinobu a support on her walk back. Shinobu stared down at the the torso that remained and stabbed her own sword in beside (Y/n)’s before collapsing back to the ground. (Y/n) follows her down and gathered her into her arms, rocking her and whispering soft affirmations into her ear as she cried into her chest.

“What’s this? A display of dominance? I want in!” Inosuke stabbed his own swords harshly into the torso and Kanao silently followed suit, going as far as to twist it in.

Kanao then stepped on the demon’s chest and knelt beside her adoptive sister, hugging her from the other side. Inosuke, not one to be left out, latched onto Shinobu’s back and knocked heads with (Y/n).

Shinobu can’t see Kanae cheering her on anymore, but she can feel the warmth of her smile shining down on them. She knows she’s at peace.

“Let’s patch you up now, okay?” (Y/n) murmured, kissing Shinobu’s tears away. “Kanao, help me.”

Without the proper tools, it hurt, but Shinobu didn’t let it bother her. As (Y/n) and Kanao worked on her, she listened to the thunk of every blade falling to the ground as the last of Douma’s body disintegrated into nothing.

***

“Then we carried on to the next task to be set before us.” (Y/n) told the children, taking in their wide-eyes stares with mild amusement.

“Wait, you went through all of that and you still needed to keep fighting?” Kanae blanched.

“That was the plan. However, by the time we got there, Muzan was dead. Your Aunt Kanao did play another crucial role… Perhaps you could ask her and Tanjirou-kun about it when they visit next.” (Y/n) laughed softly at the disappointed noises her children made.

“But that’s too long!” Kanae groaned.

“I want to hear about it now!” Mitsuri whined.

“But that was a really good story, Kaasan.” Gyomei assured. “Did Okaasan really cry?”

“Okaasan never cries.” Kanae shook her head.

“There you all are. What’s going on in here?” Shinobu found herself suddenly swarmed with children and she chuckled, hugging them all close.

“Kaasan was telling us about your fight with Upper Moon Two.” Kanae informed before pointing at Shinobu’s chest, indicating the long scar peeking out of her clothes. “Is that how you got that big scar?”

“Oh, what a fun story to tell young children.” Shinobu said sarcastically, though she still smiled earnestly. “Yes, honey. That’s correct.”

“And you really cried?” Mitsuri asked.

“(Y/n), really?” Shinobu sighed, a faint blush rising against her cheeks. “Did you really need to go into that much detail?”

(Y/n) shrugged and blew her wife a kiss while the children giggled and teased their mother about how pink she was.

“(Y/n), make them stop.” Shinobu pleaded.

“Hey, they learned that behavior from you. You’re on your own.” She laughed. However, she did end up coming to her wife’s aid, slinging Kanae and Mitsuri over her shoulders and spinning around while Shinobu tickled Gyomei until he screamed for mercy.

When they were tired, they all laid in a breathless heap on the tatami floor. While their children cuddled them and giggled, (Y/n) and Shinobu gazed at each other lovingly, so very thankful for the life they never dared to dream they would have only a short fifteen years before.

#demon slayer oneshots #kny oneshots #demon slayer x reader #kny x reader #shinobu kochou x reader #shinobu kocho x reader #shinobu x reader #shinobu kocho #shinobu kochou #requests #anonymous