#{ mika ; closed starter } — life is nothing.

[vilecovet]

“ you look like trouble. what are you here for at this time of night? ” as per usual, he's stuck playing bouncer for his boss' club, and while most faces are familiar, he's required to pull any unknowns aside.

/ closed starter @vulpesse!

#vulpesse #{ mika ; ic } — focus on what is real. leave me. #{ v ; current } — stay one step ahead of death. #{ mika ; closed starter } — life is nothing. #/ hope this is okay!! #/ i proudly present mika as a sacrifice for her ladyship

[herehavesomeheadcanons]

hi! could you write cute relationship headcanons with ferid bathory? tyy!

Inside me are two wolves: one of them wants to stick to canon, and the other wants to fulfill requests to the letter. I am the mediator in their bloody battle as I try to find out how the actual fuck to write sweet fluff about a psycho vampire who murders orphans for fun and threatens to molest children. You guys just love to make me think, don't you?

Tw: Suggestive content. Listen, Ferid is Ferid.

Fluff with Ferid Bathory~

Same as usual, snatched the images off Pinterest.

🤍♦️ Well, for starters he is always clinging to you. He seems to always need to be touching you at every second. Doesn't matter what you're doing, he's gonna wrap his arms around you, drape himself over you, and kiss every inch of exposed skin. He especially loves to distract you from doing any projects or work you're trying to finish.

🤍♦️ Ferid is nothing if not playful. That being said, his version of 'play' might be a little different from yours. It's really him just trying his absolute best to get on your nerves and get you to react. He'll chase you around with a spider dangling from his fingertips to get a good reaction out of you. He also enjoys fun games such as tag, hide-and-seek, and play-wrestling. He knows he's going to win easily, but it's fun to see just how long he can keep the game going. Literally every game is cat and mouse for him. I think you know who's who.

🤍♦️ The best way to get him to be somewhat more soft with you is to make him actually love you. How do you do that? The answer is much more simple than you realize: beg for his attention. That's right, you heard me. Ferid has this desperate, subconscious need to feel wanted. That's why he has such a strong begging kink. Letting him know that you like his attention and want more fills that empty hole inside him, and he gets addicted quickly. He might not realize it at first, but eventually he'll come to the conclusion that he cannot live without you, and he will act accordingly.

🤍♦️ He will spoil you even more than he already does. Your life will very suddenly get a whole lot better, and it might make you a little suspicious at first. This is Ferid trying to impress you. He's basically making the statement that he can provide for you much better than anyone else can, so clearly he's the best and you should stay with him. Sure, he could just keep you hostage like he's basically already doing, but he's smarter than that. He knows that if you actually want to stay with him, then that decreases the chances of someone trying to 'save' you from him. He wants you to choose him over potential freedom.

🤍♦️ He will become even more possessive of you, and PDA will increase dramatically. He needs to let everyone know who you belong to. If he feels like someone is getting a little bit too close to you, he might stage a scenario where they 'accidentally' catch you two having a bit of fun (poor Mika has been the victim of this several times, because he feels sorry for you and keeps trying to talk to you). He simply cannot risk someone taking you away from him, and will do whatever it takes to keep you by his side.

🤍♦️ He will begin to take an active interest in pleasing you, both in the bedroom and out of it. And suddenly, he cares about giving you aftercare. Again, this is him saying that he's the best partner for you. Surely no other human could please you the way he can! He isn't wrong, of course. This bastard is extremely clever and observant, and a very quick learner. He knows what you like. (He'll also get a lot more needy, so watch out for that.)

🤍♦️ He will, in fact, attempt to join in any activities you enjoy. He'll watch TV with you, play games, learn how to sing, dance, paint, literally anything just to spend as much time as possible with you. He might never figure out why, but you are the one thing he'll never get bored of and he NEEDS your attention. Just give it to him, it's not like you can avoid him.

🤍♦️ Soft cuddles will become a thing. He loves to hold you and kiss you, and it makes his heart melt when you relax into his arms. It makes him feel so loved when you show him that you trust him and are comfortable enough to let your guard down around him, and he is shamelessly addicted to the feeling. And if you decide to turn the tables and spoil him with affection? You're going to be stuck with him forever.

🤍♦️ He will stay in bed with you all night, every night, even though he doesn't sleep. The fact that you are comfortable enough with him to fall asleep in his arms, even when he hasn't thoroughly exhausted you, has him almost in tears. He'll wake you up in the morning by covering your face in kisses!

🤍♦️ Ferid is capable of being a fantastic romantic partner, but it takes a special kind of person to be able to draw it out of him, and then to be able to handle how needy he gets when you finally do manage it. But chances are, if you're the kind of person that would willingly beg for his attention, you're the kind of person that can handle it!

#owari no seraph x reader #seraph of the end x reader #ferid bathory #ferid bathory x reader #ons ferid x reader #ons ferid

[jewwyfeesh]

To The Gentle You 3

Writer: Mitsuki

Character(s): Kagehira Mika, Hakaze Kaoru, Aoba Tsumugi

Translated by: stcrfeesh

CN Proof by: jewwyfeesh

Tsumugi: Ahaha ♪ Well, it’s not like I could have heard something that you’ve never really said, no~?

Please read the translator notes at the end!

Season: Summer

Location: Seishou Hall Common Room

Mika: (Ugh… the hell was I even on about, tellin’ Tsumu-chan-senpai I’d make a design so perfect it’d impress Naru-chan…)

(I kept thinkin’ ‘bout what Naru-chan might like while designin’ and ended up drawin’ a whole buncha drafts. Now I dunno which one ‘ta choose.)

(Back when I took on a jewellery designin’ gig, I got Naru-chan ‘ta model fer me and successfully designed a necklace that everyone liked.)

(Or maybe it's ‘cause this time ‘round, t’was only outta my personal desire ‘ta gift Naru-chan a brooch that's uniquely fer her and her alone, an’ not for anyone else. So now……)

???: Kagehira-kun, are you currently struggling with something very important?

Mika: Nnah~ bingo…

???: If that's the case, do you need this kind and considerate nii-san to give you some advice~?

Mika: That’ll do me a world of good— hold up, who the hell are ya?!

Kaoru: Ah, sorry, my bad. Did I interrupt your musings?

Mika: Eh?! Ha-Hakaze-senpai?! How long have ‘ya been standin’ there?! Have I been unconsciously sayin’ my thoughts out loud?

Kaoru: Ahaha, it’s nothing like that~ It’s just because your thoughts are clearly written on your face. I’m free right now, so you can talk to me if you have any worries.

Mika: Sorry ya had ta see me so unkempt… I actually wanted ta make a unique brooch as a gift, but I just ended up gettin’ stuck with the design.

When it comes ta usin’ cute elements as the design’s main theme, I just kept thinkin’ how all of them suit each other — I couldn’t pick. So now I’m here, mullin’ over the design drafts.

Kaoru: Huh… if you don’t mind, could you show me those design drafts?

(Hm… looking at it, it seems that most of these brooches have flowers, bows, hearts, and the like as the design’s core, which is rather cute. It’s definitely something a girl would like—)

(Wait, didn’t Kagehira-kun say he wanted to hand make a brooch as a gift? Is he going to give it to a girl?)

(For him to go to such lengths, then it must certainly be for someone who’s important to him, right…?)

Mika: …Hakaze-senpai? I see yer lookin’ like ya’ve got some stuff ya wanna ask me?

Kaoru: Ah, well, you see… What I'm trying to say is that, if you’re aiming for a design that’s more intimate, why not try getting inspiration from the mundanes of their everyday life?

For starters, you can go with how they dress — whether their usual style is more suitable for simpler or fancier jewellery, and identify colour palettes that would act as a complement to them. Just things like that.

Oh, yeah! How about using your outfits during your date as a starting point? It’ll be something rather memorable ♪

Mika: Woah… as expected of senpai who’s a part of the “Date Plan” project [1], ya really know a lot ‘bout these type of things.

Hmm~ If I were ta look at it from an everyday-life perspective, then I do wanna make this brooch suitable for goin’ out on dates too. I’ll trash these, then.

But it’s so hard to choose the best one among the bunch, and I keep thinkin’ how it could be way better… Could I ask for yer help with this again?

Kaoru: Ahaha, no worries~ I’ve got you covered ♪

(…I was just testing the waters by mentioning the word “date” earlier, and he didn’t even try denying it? Could it really be that he actually came looking for me to ask about relationship advice?!)

(Now that I think about it, other than Anzu-chan, who else would he be close with that isn’t also a guy…?)

(………)

(N-N-Nah, it can’t be. It’s probably just a misunderstanding cause I care too much about Anzu-chan… it’s nothing, let’s calm down. My priority now is to help Kagehira-kun with his troubles.)

Location: Seishou Hall Library

(And so I ended up accompanying Kagehira-kun to look for info at the library. I’m a member of “Biblion” [2], so the library here at Seisou Hall isn’t really new to me.)

I remember seeing it here… Woah?!

Aoba-kun, what are you doing just standing behind the shelf and not saying a word? You scared me…

Tsumugi: Oh, it’s Kaoru-kun and Mika-kun~ Apologies, I’ve been so into arranging these books over here that I hadn’t noticed someone entering. 

Oh, I see. So you guys are looking for reference materials on jewellery making. You should find them on those shelves in the back row.

Kaoru: Uhh… about jewellery… not this one… not this either…

Aha~ found it! “Classic Jewellery Illustration and Design” and “A Selection of a Hundred Brooches”. Both books don't seem too shabby  ♪

Mika: You have a good eye for things, Hakaze-senpai~ I only found one, “A Manual on Jewellery Making”.

Tsumugi: Ah, Kaoru-kun just reminded me. There are a few brooch designs in that “Classic Jewellery Illustration and Design” book that are quite similar to Mika’s ideas for his design drafts. He could check those out…

Kaoru: Eh? You’ve already seen Kagehira-kun’s design drafts?

Mika: Uh-huh~senpai even gave me some real helpful advice. Both of ya are such reliable senpais ♪

Tsumugi: Ahaha, you flatter me too much, Mika-kun~ I’m also an amateur when it comes to designing jewellery, so I decided to skim through some of the books while I was rearranging the bookshelves today.

I was planning on recommending these books that would be useful to you, Mika-kun. Let’s take a look at them now, shall we ♪

Take the design on this page for example. A technique that can be used to convey the delicacy and elegance of flowers could be adding ribbons to a fretwork.

Or perhaps these types of simple yet stylish designs over here aren’t too bad either. I think it would go well with everyday wear.

Mika: Hmm…

Kaoru: …How about we approach it like this — Kagehira-kun, what do you think about going over the person’s likes and dislikes with us? This way, if it’s someone we know, it’ll be easier for us to help you narrow down those ideas.

Tsumugi: (Huh? Does Kaoru-kun not know for whom Mika is making the brooch?)

(He’s been uneasy since earlier, could it be that he’s misunderstood something…?)

Mika: Nnah… when it comes to the things Naru-chan likes, it should be anythin’ that’s beautiful ‘n cute—things that’re called “Pretty”, y’know?

Kaoru: I see I see, so it’s someone named Naru-chan and not Anzu-chan. That sounds like a really cute name too~

Mika: — Naru-chan’s style seems to be more handsome rather than cute when she’s doin’ idol jobs with Knights, but no matter how ya look at it, she’s still very charmin’ either way~ ♪

Kaoru: (Eh…? This “Naru-chan” is a member of Knights…? So are you telling me that I… I’ve been under the wrong impression about this whole situation the entire time?!)

Mika: Hmm? Were ya sayin’ somethin’, Hakaze-senpai? Sorry, I was talkin’ to myself earlier, so I missed what’cha said~

Kaoru: I-I didn’t, though? Haha, I didn’t say anything earlier, I prommy! Cross my heart and hope to die!

Tsumugi: Ahaha ♪ Well, it’s not like I could have heard something that you’ve never really said, no~?

(But there’s something about this recklessness that makes you feel like you’re reliving a spring from once upon a time… ♪)

Translator's notes:

[1]: Mika is referring to Kaoru’s shuffle unit project, √AtoZ. 

[2]: Biblion is an existing ES archive circle composed of the following members: Hajime, Kaoru, Nagisa, Tsukasa, and Tsumugi. The members gather out of their love for books of all genres.

← Chapter 2 | ES x LC Masterlist | Chapter 4 →

#enstars translation #fragments of light and shadow #kagehira mika #hakaze kaoru #aoba tsumugi #to the gentle you

[predannost]

@secondtrumphet​ / valentine’s day with the café boys! ♥ | closed starter.

Mikaela had spent an afternoon late at the teahouse before Valentine’s, concocting a gift for the boy he’d grown excessively fond of---in brief terms, he was going to go nuts if he didn’t end up telling Yuu how he had really felt. After their rather frantic reunion in Italy, that is, after Yuu’s usurped attempt to get back home to scout land for the café, the state of their working relationship had been at the forefront of his mind since then.

( and if he tried hard enough to remember much of their drunken conversation, he knew he had expressed himself.. at least it was probably mutual? it’d help if he remembered even a quarter of what yuu had said in return, but they had sure woken up very comfortable the next morning )

The blond gave a wistful sigh as he glanced at the box of chocolates in his hands, a nice red heart-shaped tray containing all handcrafted truffles---coffee, raspberry, and caramel chocolate ganache-filled little heart pieces. Milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The whole gift had taken quite some time after he was done with his main responsibilities for the teahouse, and he had been incredibly grateful the owners let him borrow the kitchen in order to keep his gifts a secret from his lucky recipient ( and, admittedly, they had all the tools he needed to make his confections as best as he could ). It was hilarious how much stress he had put himself under over these than he did when came to the apprenticeship that was paying him to begin with. 

( i’m sure he’ll love these.. it’s chocolate after all... i just need to know his answer, minus the wine... )

Was he getting worked up over nothing? Absolutely. But it was definitely something. Something big. Actually, it might rank up there on the biggest things of his life! ( okay, okay mikaela, calm down, you’ve got this... ah, crap, i’ve gone and worked myself up more ) What did he have to be afraid of? This was Yuu--and if he believed what he could read between the lines, the other had been at least receptive to all of his slip-ups and sometimes even more brutally honest commentary. Then there was Yuu’s equally brutal commentary ( read: the two of them might as well have been flirting for the past... few months... ), essentially proving just how well they got along.

Maybe somewhere in Italy, something had clicked, and Mikaela had rather not let Yuu become the one that got away. The thought of that stirred something surprisingly possessive. For a reclusive individual such as Mikaela, it was foreign, but he had since come to learn that the other man had uncovered straights the blond didn’t even know he had. Maybe it was as simple as finding the right person to enable one’s passions. He was great at that, wasn’t he?

( okay. you got this. he’s still home i think... yeah.. the light’s on )

He managed to find some courage buried in a mental closet, likely full of skeletons, giving a breath, and finally making the last leg of his walk back to his apartment. Upon making his way in, he beeline’d it to Yuu, offering out his gift of heart chocolates ( cheeks perhaps rivaling the color of the cute bow that kept the box closed ). “Take these because I hopelessly have a huge crush on you!” he rushed out, very much ungracefully pressing the box right in his face.

Smooth, Mika. Smooth.

#secondtrumphet #「 » 08: caffeinated. 」 #mikaela. you're a disaster. i lowe you. but you're a disaster. #anyhoowey discord thread context yuu got his belongings swiped so he was MIA for a month. #cue mika just :_) i've been bamboozled he's ghosted me for a month #sike! your mans got robbed.

[actuallyrandomperson]

I wanna ramble about how I experience dysphoria as a genderfluid person for a bit, and my identity in general, so I figured Tumblr was a good place to do it.

So, for starters, I should probably clarify how I'm fluid, as all of us are a little different in how we experience gender. I was assigned female at birth, and, to be completely honest, I wish I was amab. This shocks some people, especially as I tend to sit on the female/demigirl/nonbinary side of things, but it's true. Realistically, I know my life would be a lot different if I had been, and I would have experienced a different set of struggles, but in an idealistic world, where nothing would change about me except the way my body looked and what pronouns were used for me, I'd want to be assigned male. I could not care less what genitals I have, especially since I'm ace so it has no real effect on how I'm gonna live my life, this relates back to the two other most obvious issues with being afab: Periods, and boobs.

I hate getting my period. As most people do. I don't even have particularly painful ones, just some semi-bad cramps on the first day or two, but I hate it anyway. 9 times out of 10 I'm non-binary on the first day of my period. Whether that's related to hormone levels or some subconscious part of my brain whispering "hey periods suck being a girl sucks why were u born a girl", I do not know. I just know it happens.

I also hate my boobs whenever I'm not female. Including when I'm demigirl. I don't hate the idea of boobs in general when I'm demigirl, and don’t think I need to be completely flat-chested to feel happy when I’m non-binary (but that could come back to me doubting I’ll get fully flat without surgery), I just hate my boobs. That is because I am incredibly busty, especially for someone who is 5'1/155 cm tall. I'm an Aus 10G/US 32I, I have small shoulders (my straps slip down no matter how tight we pull them), and a large part of what made figuring out my gender identity hell was the constant question of whether me hating my boobs was an ace thing (not wanting to be constantly sexualised) or a gender thing. My best fitting bra actually helped me figure that out, as reportedly it made me look smaller (i.e. technically less likely to be sexualised) but it had the side benefit of making my boobs, well, actually look like boobs, and when I looked at myself in the mirror I wanted to claw my eyes out. So. 90% of the time I hate my boobs because they're so big, and 100% of the time I hate my period.

You might be sitting here, reading this, and going "but Em, are you sure you're genderfluid? Not just demigirl or nonbinary or agender or any of the other non-binary identities?" My answer to that is, well, sorta no. And sorta yes. No, in the fact that I've never been sure about anything in my life. Maybe time will go on, and I'll begin to identify with some other label, or no labels at all. Yes, in the fact that genderfluid feels right right now, and that's all that matters. Humans change. In turn, labels can change too. Hell, as a genderfluid person, my labels technically change on almost a day to day basis! That doesn't make my feelings and my identity at any single moment any less valid. It also doesn't mean that long term, I'll wake up one day and realise that I actually just identify with x gender. It just means that it could happen, and that’s ok, just as it's okay that my identity is changing constantly at the moment. Side note, while we're talking about labels- you also don't need to identify with one! I personally like to use them, as they bring me comfort, but everyone is different, and y'all who choose not to use labels for whatever reasons are entirely valid.

I have 4 main types of day, gender-wise. Days where I feel like a girl, days where I feel kinda like a girl, days where I feel non-binary, and days where my gender is that 'women' shrugging emoji (that I use all the time because long hair babeyyyy also their shirt is purple on iOS and purple rules). Day 4 I mostly lump under demigirl, as with day 2. Day 3 could probably be most accurately described with agender, or a similar identity label, but I find it personally easiest to just refer to myself as non-binary on said days.

In a hard to explain way, I feel as though I experience less dysphoria on days where I am demigirl than on days where I am fully female. This is not entirely accurate, and is almost certainly as a result of me having unintentionally put in place coping mechanisms for said days in terms of how I present myself for years now, and probably isn’t the right terms for me to use, but it's true.

You see, I dress in a fairly gender-neutral way. My presentation has still always come off as feminine, as I love my long hair and enjoy nail polish, but I've always hated shaving, and I avoid wearing dresses and skirts as much as possible in my day-to-day. I don't mind wearing dresses etc when I'm demigirl, I just don't gravitate towards them, and when I'm demigirl I generally present as a not-overly feminine girl whose a little uncomfortable with their body shape and likes to be comfy, and wears heels in an effort to be taller rather than as a fashion statement.

But when I'm fully a girl, I often love being feminine. I usually want to wear dresses/skirts, and jewellery, and lipstick (not any other makeup though, years of dance and stage makeup ruined me- if someone puts it on for me and it's not heavy/powdery I'm not actively adverse, though), and have my hair braided, and generally just to Get Prettied Up. But that’s not 'me' to other people. That’s not the person I've presented myself as for years. I've spent my entire life catering to my demigirl and non-binary days because they're more common, and whenever I do lean into my feminine self on girl days my family and a lot of my friends are kinda surprised. I wore lipstick and nice clothes to two separate movie hangouts with two different friends, and one of them (who I hadn't seen in a while, to be fair) commented on how it was unusual for me while the other looked visibly surprised. It's not a coincidence that the two irl people I'm out to outside of my schools lgbt+ club are my brother and my best friend- both of whom complimented me (in a non-creepy way with my brother slvjfk) when they saw me wear lipstick for simple things last year, without making a big deal out of it. My mum still acts shocked and gets excited about me being feminine when I express an interest into buying clothes from a particular brand (Princess Highway/Dangerfield in general, for my fellow Aussies, as I don’t think they exist in the US) even though I've been getting presents from there for a few years now. She's talked about slowly starting to replace my clothes with 'fashionable stuff' from places like Dangerfield as the years go on now that I've 'expressed an interest in nice clothes' and I feel anxiety start to ball up in my stomach, because I don't want to wear fashionable clothes all the time, because fashionable for me, closeted and big-chested as I am, means feminine. When I present or show interest in presenting in a more feminine way on my female days, my mother and a few people I'm surrounded by unintentionally make me feel guilty about not wishing to present like that all the time, make my dysphoric for my future and past self, and make me doubt myself as a genderfluid person because I wish to present as my birth gender on one day.

So rather than dealing with all that, I don't present in a more feminine way unless I'm going out, and even then, avoid wearing lipstick if my mum is home, or coming with me. If I can, I'll stick a tube into my bag to apply when I get to wherever I'm going, but it's not always possible. I have Safiya Nygaard’s colourpop collection hidden away in my room. I continue to present myself in a way that aligns more closely in my mind to my demigirl days, with the slight change of being able to actually look at myself in the mirror for extended periods of time, being ok with my slightly more tight-fitting tops, and being chill with wearing my best bra. And I feel, as a whole, dysphoric on these days. I am not happy with how my gender presentation is, because it does not reflect how I want to present. Dysphoria is probably not the exact right term to use to describe these feelings, given I'm afab but it is the easiest way for me to put it, as it most closely reflects the unhappiness I feel with my presentation on my non-binary days, it's just my non-binary days come with a whole lot more body-related dysphoria piled on top. A song I like to listen to on female days is Platform Ballerinas, by MIKA, as it helps remind me that I am a girl, and the way I'm presenting as a girl is valid even if it's not exactly how I want to (it doesn't actually fully come back to societal expectations placed on women because I might shave my armpits but my leg hair still stays, and I genuinely want to get prettied up rather than feeling like I should to be seen as a girl, it's just something I want to do and not being able to makes me feel whack, but the song is definitely more focused on the whole 'societal expectations suck y'all are all valid' thing).

Non-binary days suck in the same way I've heard a lot of trans people of all varieties discuss. I hate walking past mirrors, if I have to wear feminine clothing for whatever reason I feel like I'm going to cry, she/her pronouns kinda make me want to die (generally I'm chill with she/they, and on female days they/them is okay, but she/her on nonbinary days makes my dysphoric as hell), and I generally Do Not Have A Great Time dysphoria wise. But hey, one day I’ll have enough money for a binder. Eventually. I always feel weird about entering giveaways given there are people who experience extreme dysphoria around their chest every day, I can deal on my demigirl days and survive on my non-binary ones.

So, that’s been me rambling into the void about gender for almost 2000 words, how are y’all doing? Also, if anyone actually read all of this I’d appreciate like,,, a like. Or something. I kinda want to know if people have actually seen and read this.

#genderfluid #gender fluid #lgbt #lgbt+ #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #lgbtqia #lgbtqia+ #lgbtqa #lgbtqa+ #trans #dysphoria #tw: dysphoria #tw: period talk #period talk #my experiences #rambling #demigirl #demi-girl #nonbinary #non-binary #gender identity #gender presentation

[medea10]

My Review of If It’s For My Daughter I’d Defeat the Demon Lord

How…?! *stares at the title*

Am I watching one of those Isekais that are everywhere nowadays? Oh, no I’m not. Then this must be one hell of a light novel for it to have this long of a title name. Yeah, like a lot of other folks, I got intrigued by the title. Actually, my first thought was if Maes Hughes from Full Metal Alchemist died his usual death and instead of staying dead, he went to another world and must defeat a demon lord in order to go back to be with his beloved daughter. Medea…what the flying hell was that? Come on, tell me I’m not the only one who thought that! The story is about a young male named Dale who happens to be a skilled adventurer. During one of his outings, he comes across a young girl. But this young girl is not like a regular human girl. As she has horns on her head, she’s known as a devil. But one of her horns is chipped which means she committed some sort of crime. But just look at this little girl!

Her only crime is looking so adorable! I mean come on, look at her. What crimes could she have possibly committed? Regardless, Dale just couldn’t leave her alone in the forest. By the looks of it, the girl’s father might have died protecting her so she’s all by herself. So Dale takes in the girl (who is named Latina). And now they’re living upstairs to a bar headed by Dale’s friends, Kenneth and Rita. Now being a sudden single parent is not going to be easy for Dale. For starters, Latina can only speak the language of devils. And secondly, what’ll happen if her devil side emerges or if certain groups find her offensive?! Well Dale is going to tackle this head on! Because for Latina, he would do anything, even defeat a demon lord! BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: As of the moment, Crunchyroll has streamed this. And seeing as this now officially has an English dub, it’s safe to say Crunchyroll has licensed it. As of today (11/24/2019), only two episodes are out. So far I have no issues with the dub. As for the sub, this is my first time listening to Latina’s seiyuu. And Dale…holy crap, this is a first in a long time! Nobuhiko Okamoto is playing someone who’s not a screaming psychopath! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Dale is played by Nobuhiko Okamoto (known for Gladion on Pokemon SM, Accelerator on Index, Karma on Assassination Classroom, Rin on Blue Exorcist, Ryou on Food Wars, Usui on Maid-sama, and Bakugou on My Hero Academia) *Latina is played by Kanon Takao ENGLISH CAST: *Dale is played by Brandon Winckler (known for Eugeo on SAO: Alicization) *Latina is played by Ryan Bartley (known for Ram on Re:Zero, Gilda on The Promised Neverland, Mika on Love Live, Nina on Berserk 2016, and Rei on Evangelion [redub]) DISLIKED CHARACTER: Um…whoever caused Latina to be horribly depressed!

We’re supposed to protect this little girl’s smile. Devil or not, Latina caused pain to nobody! She did not need to have that psycho teacher chastise her in front of her classmates and cause her to almost commit suicide.

SHIPPING: I can’t say that there’s really anything ship-worthy here. I mean, there’s Latina’s classmate Rudy who seems to get all blushy around her. But they’re children, it’s cute. It almost reminds me of Hiro and Kisa from Fruits Basket. But I don’t think there’s anything else for me to mention here for…

…The love of God, please don’t do this! Yeah, we see this cute father/daughter relationship between Dale and Latina that many of us fear that this sweet little relationship is going to turn into something more…and go down a rather disgusting route. Obviously, this shouldn’t be taboo. Latina is NOT Dale’s real daughter, he just merely adopted her and took her in. It’s just that after the manga ending to Usagi Drop, many folks such as myself look at Dale and Latina and think, “For the love of God Dale, do not marry your devil daughter!” And now I’m just gonna look at some spoilers to hopefully debunk that horrible image in my head that is escalating into the anime version of Woody Allen and Soon-Yi.

He did it. Fuck. This cute anime is ruined. Dale x Latina. I’m a hard NO on that. ENDING: Halfway into the series, Dale and Latina go on a journey to Dale’s hometown to gather a few supplies and give Latina an opportunity to meet his parents, grandmother, and other family members. Several of the episodes, we get to see Latina at her utmost cutest hanging with doggy hybrids, wearing cute outfits, and learning many new things. After a few months away, Latina and Dale return to their home. And aside from Rita on the verge of giving birth, everything seems to be the same. Latina seems to have grown a lot during her trip. I sure hope the final episode wraps things up nicely…Eh!

In the final episode, Dale is visited by another traveler (and his ex), Helmine. Up to this point, we’ve only seen her in one episode and approximately 2 seconds in the opening theme. So she must be up to no good. Actually, she wants Dale to go with her on a mission to the royal capital (which we will not see because it’s the final episode). And then we get this dilemma that Latina notices, breast-size. Because Slutty McBigTits here makes Latina feel inferior. This is why we get a pouting face from Latina for some of the episode. I do give this moment some credit as we learn a little something about Latina’s mother because up to this moment we only know something about her father figure before he died. However, Latina’s mother is only brought up because Latina feels inferior knowing her mother has a petite frame and fears she’s going to be flat as an ironing board when she grows up. And then thinks that Dale has a thing for women like Busty McFlauntsItAll. Well it all gets resolved with some cute moment between Dale and Latina. Latina will be there waiting for Dale to return and Dale will be happy as hell to just hug his sweet Latina. So Dale leaves with Titty-Titty Bang-Bang (sorry, I had to get one more out)! We then see some random moments while Dale is away including some doggy hybrids coming to visit Latina and Rita going into labor and giving birth to…I don’t know what she had, I just know her baby came out healthy and happy. And we close with Dale coming home and Latina greeting him. This anime was just…okay. When I heard about this anime, I seriously wasn’t expecting a story like this. For one thing, I thought there would be more action, particularly involving a demon lord. I mean, the words “Demon Lord” are in the title. You’d think we get something like that happening! Like in the final two episodes we learn that there’s really a demon lord out there and he was the reason why he killed Latina’s father and banished her. In fact, we only hear about demon lords once in a while and then we stuff that to the side for more cutesy moments between Dale and his adopted devil daughter.

In fact, we rarely get any dramatic moments happening that much. The fourth episode however felt like a turning point in the show. And because of the dramatic moments surrounding Latina with her devil heritage, I thought there was going to be a major shift to more dramatic situations after Latina broke off her remaining horn and almost bled to death. Instead we are treated to more cutesy moments in another episode of, “My Little Demon Daughter Can’t Be This Cute”. Don’t get me wrong, there were some pretty serious moments like when Latina learns of human mortality compared to devils due to devils having twice the life-span of humans. But nothing as chilling as when a teacher called out Latina for being a devil and scaring the shit out of her.

I would say watch this anime just to see cute little devil girl, Latina. But 2019 has given us a boat-load of cute anime lolitas to fawn over like Filo and Raphtalia from Shield Hero, that fox Senko-san, and then absolute fan-favorite Nezuko from Demon Slayer. Yeah, Latina is probably bottom of that list now! For what it’s worth, it was an okay show. Not my favorite, but good to watch a cutesy devil girl. And an actual anime where Nobuhiko Okamoto is not a screaming hygena!

If you want to watch this anime, Crunchyroll has all 12 episodes available for streaming. The dub is slowly coming out Sunday mornings.

Reviews coming soon:

*Little Witch Academia

*Pokemon: Sun & Moon

They're coming. They're coming. I'm a lazy-ass. But they're still coming soon.

#if it's for my daughter i'd even defeat a demon lord #dale #latina #rita #kenneth

[animefandomshipper]

hey babe! for the suggestive sentence starters could you maybe do, “i can tell you’re hot and bothered from all the way over here.”

@catwoman10001

Suggestive Starters Meme (NSFW)• I can tell you’re hot and bothered from all the way over there •

I decided to make second chapter (which is why I stubbornly refused to not post this until it was done) so those who are interested for what happens after can find it on ao3.

*

There were eyes everywhere here, bolted to the windows of their soul inside out, their stories behind, beyond his understanding. Such as to them in this dimly lit, shallowly depressed room, him the same.

The ice sunk to the bottom, bubbles rising to the surface to take one last breath.

He huffed a laugh, the ends of its tune crackling with a dryness that was once foreign.

They didn’t know, they didn’t know a damn thing.

The drink sloshed slowly with nimble fingers, a smile no longer true crawling to the corners like pinned needles, stuck in place and in no favor of delicacy. He briefly pondered his appearance as he downs the liquid down, the mirrors in his flat no longer in use. Was it as bad as how he felt? Even so, it didn’t matter. Nothing did.

His smile widened, so bitterly and big, he could feel the old bigoted man inching to him in the last few minutes recoil backwards. The thick odor of cigarettes and rat shit whifting away from him. Good, his claws are no longer in his control.

Wordlessly, he gestures the man behind the bar for another refill, a bitter eagerness for his one and only welcomed company. The sweet formula for another ten minutes of forgotten pain.

He situates himself comfortably in his seat, his bottom long going numb and now, with the drink slid into his view, so will his heart’s heartbreak.

With enclosed precision, the burn meeting the back of his throat is a divine poison so sweetly spiced, the flickering image of a face is gone for a for a few eternally grateful, silenced seconds.

But never is time ever so kind to stop its race with pain.

He’s back with another pulse of quickened breath, memories he thought he burned in the fire of hatred and betrayal coming back in form of whispering ashes. In a single moment, everything they had was gone. And for what? A night with the bitch he’d been eyeing.

Oh, Mikaela. Why oh why had you not seen it? Their growing distance in the many months before the cheating bastard’s departure was now, through the new Mikaela’s eyes as clear as day. His boyfriend’s disinterest in him batted away for tiredness of a long day as he unknowingly veiled himself from the many clues littering their home. Now dubbed his home once again after he kicked him out.

His hand cradled his face, the other dug into a fist. ’Do you miss him?’ His mind coldly inquired, forcefully wisened to a fault.

’No,’ he reminds himself, ’I no longer miss him, I merely miss every moment with the me I no longer remember.’

The one he loved to be. The one that stood so strong and unreachable for the hands of mortals with lecherous intentions. He had fallen from that height, and now his wings have singed to dust. How dare he take that Mikaela away, leaving only a bleeding heart and a crippled stranger in his own skin?

A stranger, left behind and unsatisfied with every moment after.

He clamps his quivering mouth shut at the thought, the curled fist dropping into his lap to swipe softly yet unsatisfactory to his shaking thighs.

Unsatisfied. What a lenient description.

As much as he wants to deny it, he’s grown desperate. Desperate for a caring hand ready to please, a hot mouth worshipping his starving body with praises. Of soft kisses not asked to be given, gifted by their own will.

Is that so wrong to want? A passionate lover who he could trust his frail heart with, no worries for it to be thrown back, disinterested and one only capable of loving it as strongly as he?

Passion fueled nights died as quickly as it started. And him with it.

But that might not be the case anymore.

”Another drink for the beautiful blond, on me.” He perks in suspicion, discreetly narrowing into defense as a man plops into the seat beside him.

His muscles simultaneously bunch in tension and soften to quiver when those bewildering and gorgeous green eyes lock onto his in a dominating stare. A gasp, so frail and small is stolen from his lips.

Who is this beautiful man?

He’s convinced the second those dazzling emeralds lid over dark lashes he’s been put under a spell.

”Please,” he grips his thighs helplessly together, that purring voice a baritoned choir, ”a gift, take it.”

He’s defenseless, shaking a small thank you passed surprisingly in a steady voice, ”I appreciate it.”

The mysterious man grins brightly and Mikaela internally swoons, why did he look so accomplished? His gratefulness was expected, it would be rude to not say a thing.

”I’m glad. Oh!” He chuckles, white teeth reflecting another perfect aspect of him, ”my apologies, my name is Yuuichirou but you can call me Yuu.”

”Ah um… my name’s Mikaela…” he chided himself, was it wise to tell this gorgeous- though still unknown- man his name?

”Angelic.”

”What?” He jumped, uncharacteristically blushful at the strange word, even more so at his unwavering stare, his soul bared for him to see. What was angelic precisely?

”Your name.” He explains. ”I’ve never heard such a beautiful name.”

”Th-thank you,” he stutters, the steadiness from before waining the more he interacted with the man- Yuu, he corrected.

”I can’t help but notice that you’ve always come here alone.” He carefully treads to the topic Mikaela would rather forget about, his reasoning for being here. To drown his sorrows like the coward he’s associated himself with.

”Oh.” He dipped his head to his lap, lips scrunched and hands nervously playing with each other.

”No it’s alright you don’t have to elaborate.” He hurries to clarify, ”wrong conversation starter huh?” He chuckles and Mika can’t help but appreciate his turn of humor.

He shifts the conversation to talk about himself, Mika leaning more and more interested the more he rants and jokes.

Strange. He can’t help but sober up and join in, the aching that persisted his heart for month tampering down with every new piece of information Yuu allows himself to give.

He laugh, loud and strained with unuse as Yuu accidentally spills a drink to his attire and all he does is curse, never chastising Mika for laughing and joining in just as easily after grabbing a handful of napkins given to him by the bartender.

He’s free or whatever is close to that and lets himself go with Yuu and comes to a decision when he sees the raven struggle to find something else to talk about. He squashes the buzzling echoes of warnings away and began to retell his story, catching him of guard to quiet down.

He’d be a fool and a liar to not notice his predatory eyes when he mentions the unveiling attraction that led to him here.

”It’s his loss.” He spears his opinion out of clenched teeth so strongly Mika is left breathless by its unquestioned honesty, ”if he let go of such an angel of a person so willingly then I can’t help but think there’s something wrong with him.”

They’ve gotten closer somehow in the past hour, their legs touching and hands briefly coming to connect only to separate with the territory unknown just yet. But now, Mika wants nothing more than to drown in his arms and cry, those words having never been spit so strongly and venomously before in any situation in his twenty-two years of life.

He almost can’t take it.

”Yuu-chan…”

”No wonder I could tell you were all hot and bothered from all the way over there. You haven’t been taken care of like you should have been.”

He freezes and so does Yuu, him in a bashful liquid of embarrassment and Yuu, like he’s just been cornered by a pack of lions.

”Oh God tell me I didn’t say that out loud.” He stumbles out with a hand suspended in mid-air to his horrified face, shooting daggers at the silently dying pink-haired bartender kneeling down the floor.

Mika can’t compute, ”what?”

”Forget it forget everything I said-”

”No no no,” his heart hammers against his ribcage, something foreign squeezing inside that wills him to catch Yuuichirou’s shoulder. ”What did you mean by that? ’Haven’t been taken care of like you should have been?’” he hastily requotes, a moan pressing his tongue as he does.

”I…” he sees his chances of bolting away has lessened with the pale hand gripping his still, ”I just mean that…” he doesn’t want to say it if it causes Mika to run away, that wasn’t his intention.

”Its okay, you can tell me.” Mika softly runs his tongue to swipe at his quickly chapping lips, ”I won’t be mad.” No, he won’t, and the coiling embers so close to the match agrees.

”I wanted to take my chances with you when I saw you all those weeks ago but never had the courage until now and all that time you looked so sad and needy and I… I don’t know I just really wanted to talk to you?? I don’t know you’re pretty and I can’t think right now with you so close.” Yuu gasps out every word and Mika can’t say he isn’t flattered.

Mika blinks and snorts, ”you’re secretly a dork.”

”Is that a bad thing?” He twiddles his thumbs without looking back to Mika, ashamed and more than a little embarrassed.

”No,” he breathily rasps, shuffling his legs to make contact with Yuu’s, ”it’s not a bad thing at all.”

Yuu catches on and slithers a hand to his leg. ”Careful Mika,” that tone ripples a tremor, rapidly smoothing him into an addiction with how he practically purrs his name, ”I’m still a hunter.”

”From what I got I don’t have to worry,” Mika chuckles, a mischievous smile (true and real he can’t believe-) coming to tempt his hand to discover new places, loving the bewitched effect he seems to have on Yuu. ”Would you really let me go?”

”That’s the last thing I want to do.” His growl is low-pitched and Mika instinctively offers his unmarked canvas of a neck as a peace offering. And he doesn’t have to wonder if it works, Yuuichirou’s pupils dilating into black rings brimming with unquenched lust.

”Mika, let’s go.”

With a smirk of triumph, he does as told and when he leaves the bar with a hot mouth chasing his, and the next time he walks in here, he will no longer be alone.

#yuumika #mikayuu #owari no seraph #seraph of the end #inbox meme #askbox meme #ask box meme #prompt

[rebel-band]

Track 1. Into the Light

On a January evening, a week after his seventeenth birthday, Ko Yoo-mi set his foot in Tokyo for the second time in his life, and this time with the intention of staying for good. With a guitar case on his back, 100 000 yen in his wallet, a gym bag light with just a couple of thrift clothes, and a heart half full of apprehension and half of assurance, he stood in front of a two storied white building that he never had expected would turn out to be a café.

After checking the address again in his wreck of a phone, and realizing the battery had way too little power left in case this plan fell through tonight, he knew the only way was to go in, and hope for the best. With a deep breath he pulled the glass door open.

Blackbird, as was the café called judging by the minimalist logo on the door, was full and hot like an overflowing cup, steaming with conversations, coffee scent, and a feeling of companionship. The merry patrons were sitting at two tables by the full length display window in the front, as well as by a long wooden counter, attended by two baristas - a pink-haired woman, and a man. Before Yoo-mi even considered finding a spot for himself, the man behind the counter gestured to him and then to the door over the heads of the customers.

"Sorry kid. It's past 7 PM, and a bar night, so adults only."

He was a man nearing his thirties, of a rather muscular stance, with stubble and a no-nonsense expression on his face. Under a barista apron he was wearing some band t-shirt.

Yoo-mi straightened up, chest out, confident look on his face. "I'm twenty," he lied. But the man was not having it. "Can I see some ID?"

"I don't have it with me," he shrugged in reply.

"Then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

As the man crossed his arms over the chest in a no-joke manner, Yoo-mi noticed a sleeve kind of tattoo of what looked like a bird in a branch on his right arm. Somehow the sight gave him a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm looking for Mika," he got himself to say. "Does she work here?"

The bartender shifted in place, arms still crossed, eyes narrowed and scrutinising Yoo-mi from head to toe.

"She's out for a while." His tone was sharp if informative.

"Look, can I just get a coffee. I'll wait outside." Yoo-mi tried to excuse himself from the man's company, and the man agreed, still closely scanning his appearance.

"Black?"

"Sure," he replied absentmindedly, looking around while the man tended to the coffee machine.

The chatter at the counter made it hard to focus but he managed to notice a black iron shelf full of hard liquor on the white painted wall of exposed brick behind the baristas (so it was a bar after all), and a door frame just opposite the main entrance at the far end of the room, leading to what looked like a stage in the back of the venue, with a band setting up for the night.

The barman handed him a black paper cup with a lid in exchange for cash, and politely but firmly nodded towards the door again.

Outside, the sun was already gone, and the white stucco of the building turned grey with the twilight. Yoo-mi moved sideways from the well lit entrance under a wooden pergola, which in the summer must have served as a small outdoor sitting space for the guests. It looked eerily abandoned now.

As a train rattled on the tracks somewhere close-by, he startled, and suddenly noticed he's been clutching the handles of his bag way tighter than necessary with a nervous grip.

This was a mistake. What was he thinking coming over? Old man Kobayashi said she'd be waiting but, honestly, why would she bother with someone she'd never even met.

He took a deep breath, and then a sip.

The coffee had a rich flavour, unlike the ones he knew from the vending machines and 7elevens. But for that price, he'd be surprised if it tasted bad.

Checking the battery on his phone again, he thought about his options.

Without an ID, he'd have to find a manga cafe, and soon, to get a spot for the night. It didn't look like the kind of neighbourhood to have any, so he needed to get closer to Akihabara. The sounds of the trains nearby gave him some hope to get there in time. Then in the morning, he'd try to find her again. Maybe.

Just as he threw the paper cup away into a nearby bin, and leaned out of the pergola to look around for some signage directing to the nearest station, he heard two women walking by.

"I tell you, if he keeps spoiling her like that she'll be too jealous of the baby," one of them nagged with an exaggerated sigh.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be a good big sister anyway," the other simply laughed, as they moved towards the cafe entrance.

"Sorry, are you Mika?" Yoo-mi followed them into the lit area in front of the display window, addressing any of them really, clinging to some last hope.

The woman in a grey hoodie over a long dark dress gasped as he appeared in view, and nearly dropped a Family Mart bag full of groceries.

Yoo-mi paused in his steps and straightened up. As she eyed him carefully he became painfully aware of his appearance. 

Shoulder length black hair. A mildly irritated face expression that seemed to be almost permanent. Tall and skinny frame in black jeans and an olive green parka. Chucks. A guitar on his back.

"Ah! You must be Ko-kun!" she perked up surprised.

He simply nodded.

"Why aren't you inside? He didn't let you in, did he?" she answered herself not even waiting for him to speak. "I'm going to have a serious talk with that man, I swear."

"Well, I'm going in," the other woman gestured at the door. "Let's see if this band's any good." She sent a small smile to Yoo-mi as she excused herself.

"So, I'm Yamaguchi Mika, nice to meet you" the woman bowed slightly with a smile.

"Ko Yoo-mi, likewise."

Not much of a talker, huh, she noted to herself. "How was the journey?"

"Fine. Came by coach."

"A coach, huh? But that's so long."

"It's a lot cheaper though," he shrugged.

Mika sighed, knowing that all too well.

"OK, let's get you settled then" she smiled at him, and moving back towards the pergola gestured for him to follow. Only then Yoo-mi noticed, there was actually a fence with a gate there, and a very narrow garden path by the side of a neighbouring building. It led to an iron wrought staircase attached to the side of the building. He followed her up.

"This used to be my parents' house." There was a hint of nostalgia and affection in her voice. "Then we converted it to a business with my husband. It's not much really, but we got to live here, the three of us, till our daughter needed more space." She fidgeted with the key in the lock. "So I think you'll be pretty comfortable here on your own."

She opened the door to what turned out to be a studio flat right above the café.

"We took almost all of our stuff out already, there's two more boxes in the kitchen by the window. Kotarō promised to take them tomorrow." She took her shoes off and stepped right in, then placed the bag of groceries on a wooden kitchen cart that doubled as a kitchen island and table.

Yoo-mi stepped into the genkan, and looked around the flat.

Just opposite the step up, there was a door which probably led to a small bath unit. On his left, over a half wall stood a kitchen counter with a portable counter top cooker visible, a small sink nearby it. He glimpsed a window at the far end of the room, it was probably overlooking the cafe entrance.

"Come on, shoes off, what are you waiting for?" She laughed, rushing him in.

He untied the chucks and stepped slowly over the genkan step. "Sorry for the intrusion." he said, head bowed down and avoiding her eyes.

"Now I know what gramps meant saying you're a bit...feral," she said amused, but with arms crossed all the same. "You're not intruding, for god's sake. This is your home now, right? So what do you say in a home?"

He shifted in place. "I'm...home."

How strange that word still was, Yoo-mi thought.

"Welcome then!" She gestured with open arms, happy to show him around. "This floor is soundproof so nothing coming from below will bother you. There's a new futon for you in the corner. Also, a welcome gift," she pointed to a nearby guitar stand, then moved to getting the groceries into a small fridge under the kitchen counter. "I brought you something for starters, but you can easily find a konbini around if you need more. There were no bentos left, though, they sell out pretty quickly after six because students live around here. It's quite close to the campus."

He looked around uncertain, not moving from his place, as she continued bustling around the kitchen.

"There's no washing machine, but a coin laundry is around the corner as well. Sorry there's no real balcony, we had to remove it when we extended the venue into the garden for the stage downstairs. The view wasn't that great anyway because of the train line behind the house. But the door still opens, and you can use the roof to chill." She smiled, then looked at him again.

He still had the parka and guitar case on, gym bag in hand, as if ready to leave any second.

"Here's the keys" she handed him a lanyard but it took him a moment to reach out for it and accept it.

"Thanks," he muttered in reply.

"I know it's a lot to process but remember, I'm here to help." She smiled a reassuring smile. "Now get yourself settled, and then come down to us once you feel like it, OK?"

For a second, Yoo-mi thought she wanted to give him a hug, but stopped herself at the last moment. With a wave instead, she said she'd see him later.

Once the door closed after her, Yoo-mi let out a deep breath and sat on the floor. With the keys heavy in his hand he suddenly felt the weight of the journey behind him.

It took him about an hour to get back downstairs. He didn't really have to unpack, there was not much in his bag anyway. But he took the time to carefully check the locks, and the balcony door leading to the roof of the building extension below. The building, he noted, was not high enough to give him full vertigo but it was probably too high to jump off safely if needed. As he was going back inside, he felt the roof vibrate slightly with the sound of the band playing below.

He plugged the phone to charge, checked the fridge stocked by the woman with food, and took a bite of a spicy tuna mayo onigiri, only then realizing how hungry he had been. It disappeared in one go. Before getting into the shower to get rid of the traveling fatigue, out of habit, he checked the locks again.

When he entered the café, most of the patrons had cleared into the second room to listen to the band play but the bar still seemed crowded for his taste. No longer in the grey hoodie, Mika was sitting by the counter between the customers, soda can and glass beside her.

"You never listen to me," she raised her voice but clearly only teased the man Yoo-mi has already seen behind the counter tonight.

"I do, it's just you never said it'd be today," the man laughed back.

"I didn't say? You forgot, that's what it is. Honestly, I don't know how you still manage to run this business." She rolled her eyes, finishing her drink.

"We all know it's you who runs the place, Missus," one of the customers butted in, hearty laugh from the other patrons following his statement. "He's just here to serve the coffee."

"And play your music, mind you," the bartender pointed a finger at the customer in a half-joking, half-warning kind of way.

"I'm sorry! Please let us play here again soon!" As the man pleaded, everyone erupted in laughter again.

"Hey Ko-kun!" Mika gestured to him smiling, while a large group of people entering the cafe, clearly late to the concert, pushed Yoo-mi further inside. "This is my husband, that rude man, who didn't let you in," she grinned at the man.

"Nice to meet you, Yamaguchi Kotarō." He bowed to Yoo-mi with an apologetic smile. "Sorry for the trouble before."

"Ko Yoo-mi. No problem. The coffee was great."

As another group came back to the bar from the other room to get drinks and swiped passed him, Yoo-mi felt his body tense up and stuck closer to the wall, trying to lean away from the coming crowd.

This was the most people he's been around since last summer.

"Too crowded for you?" Yamaguchi asked, seeing his reaction. "You want to hop onto this side of the counter to help out?"

Though surprised at first, Yoo-mi did a mental headcount, then quickly exchanged his parka for the apron the man handed him, and got behind the counter through a latch door for employees. With only three people on this side, it felt better already.

"Ever worked in a café?" Yamaguchi asked, as Yoo-mi pulled his hair up and tied it with a hairband from his wrist.

"No, but I'm a fast learner."

"You can't just ask people to work for you like that," Mika objected, but the man just hushed her with a wave.

"Hey, that's how I got the job and I'm not complaining," the pink-haired barista moved closer towards Yoo-mi. "I'm Kate, by the way." He noticed her Japanese was great, even though she was a foreigner.

Mika was still not pleased, a frown visible under her evenly cut bangs.

"I'm fine." Yoo-mi simply moved to the sink as instructed by Kate to wash hands. "I don't mind working."

"See?" Yamaguchi smiled at his wife. "It's always a good idea."

Was it a good idea? That Yoo-mi wasn't entirely sure. What he was sure of was you didn't really say no to a man with that many tattoos where he was from. He also felt it a fairly easy way to return a favour. After all, it was their hospitality he was relying on, and he was painfully aware of the fact.

The band played in the background while Kate, bouncing from foot to foot to the tune, explained to him the basics of adjusting the grinder, tamping the grounds, and making an "excellent espresso" which he was sure won't happen on his first try.

"Here you go, boss," she offered the first of Yoo-mi's attempts to Yamaguchi who was observing Kate's teaching and Yoo-mi's progress with a wide grin. He took the small cup, he took a sip, then finally bent almost in half and grimaced.

"That under-extracted, huh?" Mika laughed at his reaction. She knew her husband much preferred his coffee dark and sweet.

Kate snickered, and Yoo-mi's eyes darted from one to the other, a frown on his face.

"It's too sour," Yamaguchi explained, "But some twenty dozens more and I'll say you learned how to pull a passable shot. It's a painful learning curve, much like with the guitar," he added. Yoo-mi relaxed his expression slightly.

"Oh yea, gramps mentioned you taught yourself how to play," Mika remembered all of a sudden. "You even did some gigs back in town, I heard."

Yoo-mi immediately stood taller, a small yet knowing smile on his face. "Some."

"When did you start?" Yamaguchi asked, passing the unfinished espresso back to Kate who tossed it into the drain and the cup to the dishwasher.

"Fourteen."

"When I started drums at fourteen, my parents wanted to kill me," he laughed in response, and for just a moment Yoo-mi thought he wished he had that problem at the time. "What's your gear?"

"J45."

"Favourite axeman?"

"The Samurai."

"He plays a Taylor T5, right?"

Yoo-mi nodded. "What do you play?" he asked the man.

"Good ol' Yamaha. You can check it out in the back later." He gestured with the head towards the end of the room. "The band's using it now."

"Yamaguchi-san lets people borrow it for gigs sometimes," one of the customers added to the conversation.

"Not every indie band can afford to bring their own kit."

"Not every band should". The woman Yoo-mi had seen heading to the cafe with Mika before sat down at the bar, resting her head on the left arm. She was wearing a deep sea green blazer over a white shirt, and a tired expression on her face.

"Come on, they're not that bad." Kate rolled her eyes at her, and asked Yoo-mi to pass the Hendricks gin bottle from the iron shelf above his head. He reached for it without a problem, while she would definitely need a step ladder to do so.

The woman at the counter happily accepted the gin and tonic that Kate served her without even being asked. 

"Well all in all, no. Just their guitar sucks." She tapped the side of the glass before having a sip. "I mean, what's with the volume war? You can't hear the goddamn vocals, or bass for that matter, over how loud he's playing there. Why do so many goddamn guitarists have to show they think they're better than the rest of the band?" she addressed one of the patrons, who simply put his hands up in a defensive gesture.

"This guy here plays guitar too. Why don't you ask him," the man pointed at Yoo-mi.

The woman eyed him with a slow building up smile, and leaned in forward on the counter.

"So what do you think, newcomer?" Her green eyes flickered with a playful gaze.

Yoo-mi gave her a half smirk. "Nothing wrong with showing you're good at something."

"When you're flying solo," she replied without hesitation. "See, that's the thing. It's different in a group of people, in a band. You can't really show off all the time. You need something else, like a connection."

"I think you need more than that."

"Chemistry?"

He shook his head.

"Trust and respect."

She raised one eyebrow at his statement over the glass pressed to her lips.

"They probably don't trust his skills, and he doesn't care enough to respect theirs." Yoo-mi gestured with the head towards the stage room.

"Oh, interesting. So you don't think a good band needs chemistry?"

"Take away the tinsel, it's just another day to day job."

She blinked twice, forgetting what she wanted to say.

"So show up, apply yourself 100%. Trust others do the same, and respect the work they put in. That's what you need."

He saw Mika smile to herself seeing her friend’s bewildered gaze, and realized he must have sounded pretty much like Kobayashi right now.

"Good work ethics, I like that," Nanami smiled at him. "Oh, I don't think I've introduced myself. Miwa Nanami, Hex Records." She handed him a business card promptly. "Now all I need is to hear you play."

Yoo-mi looked at the cream cardboard card with a black logo showing two female hands holding what looked like a half moon, half vinyl record. He smirked.

"I'm not looking for fame."

"Well then, just give me a call if it finds you," she grinned.

After paying for the drink, Kate charging Nanami’s card and showing Yoo-mi how to use the point of sale system, the woman put on her black coat.

"See you next weekend, guys." She waved a goodbye to the group at the counter.

The band finished the set at 11 pm and came down to the bar for drinks and friendly banter. Yoo-mi busied himself with cleaning the glassware Kate collected from the patrons from the stage room, and was carefully loading the dishwasher in a small kitchen nook to the side of the counter.

From there he had a good view of the guitarist who, though seemingly engaged in the same small talk, kept a distance from the rest of his group. Seeing him react with impatient snorts and grumbling at what the others were saying only made Yoo-mi certain he was right about the dynamic in the band. And sure enough, the man left with his guitar case without even saying goodbye to his mates.

Last call came and went, and so finally did all the patrons. When the café emptied, it felt to Yoo-mi as if it suddenly contracted cooling down. He couldn't really believe how many people had come and gone through the door in the couple of hours he was there.

While Kate tried to go over the cleaning and maintenance of the coffee machines with him, Mika was looking into transactions in the POS on a tablet, and Yamaguchi disappeared to the stage room.

Kate soon dismissed Yoo-mi, seeing how he wasn't really paying much attention, his mind already way too tired to register all the details, and simply gave him a broom to sweep the floors. That he could do, even if tired.

First thing he did, he walked over to the other room, the broom a good excuse to take a look. It was wider than the bar room, with wooden parquet on the floor and wooden custom looking acoustic panels on the walls. A small ledge ran around the wall, probably for patrons to leave their empty glasses safe during a gig. On the far right, a black sturdy fire door led outside to the area under the pergola. The room only had artificial lightning, no windows in sight. He thought the acoustics here must be pretty great.

Right opposite the door frame, there was a low stage, stocked with mic stands and amps, a vintage looking carpet underneath the equipment. The amber coloured Yamaha stood in the right corner of the stage, Yamaguchi busy with giving it a thorough clean.

As Yoo-mi moved across the room with the broom, the man moved methodically from polishing the rims, cymbals, and metal hardware, finally to the wooden parts of the set. The wood conditioner he used was, unmistakably, lemon oil. Yoo-mi smiled to himself at the smell triggering a fond memory.

He didn't know much about drum set maintenance but the attention with which Yamaguchi treated the kit was similar to how Yoo-mi treated his own guitar. The appreciation for the craft and the love for it was almost palpable.

"Ko-kun, come down here when you're done!"

He startled hearing his name coming from the bar room. Mika had a surprisingly strong voice for someone of her posture.

He quickly swiped the dust into the dustpan and returned to the front of the café, evading Kate who was sweeping the floor here with another broom. She took the dustpan from him, while Mika patted the bar stool next to her for him to sit.

"I've got something for you," she said, handing him a white envelope. Inside, Yoo-mi found, was a stack of papers with the title "Tenancy agreement".

"You don't have to look into it now, I'm sure you're tired," she added seeing him shift uncomfortably on the chair. "But it's something we could go over tomorrow."

"Sure," he answered, looking down at the envelope clutched in his hands rather than at her.

"There's also your paperwork to discuss. I asked a colleague to help sort things out for you. We've been working on similar cases of...unaccompanied minors before," she looked for a good way to put it. "Did gramps mention it to you?"

"Yes."

She crossed her arms with a worried look on her face, yet she didn’t comment further. "We're opening at 10:30 to customers, so if you could be down here at 9 that would be perfect. Bring anything you think may help."

He only nodded in reply.

Kate said her goodbyes and hurried home, and shortly after Yoo-mi excused himself from the Yamaguchis too. Envelope in hand, he climbed the iron wrought staircase and opened the door.

Inside, he kicked off the chucks, and closed all locks carefully. He grabbed another onigiri from the fridge and sat down by the kitchen island with the stack of papers but it was no use, they'd have to wait until morning. With a tired sigh he trailed to the bathroom to have another quick shower after the work done tonight.

Boxers and tee on, he assembled the futon mattress and covered it with the new sheets. Sitting on the ready made bed he took another look at the studio.

This was a good place, he knew deep inside, better than anything he's ever had for himself. Maybe that was part why it felt so weird.

As he swept his eyes through the items in the room, his phone charging, gym bag still packed, parka neatly folded by its side, the guitar case in his immediate vicinity, he noticed the guitar stand that Mika mentioned casually during the home tour.

It was the fold away, simple ‘A’ frame type but it had nice padding for support and a safety strap attached. Naturally, Yoo-mi reached to open his guitar case.

The vintage sunburst of his guitar stood heavily out against the red lining inside. He carefully picked the instrument and stood up in front of the stand.Hesitating for a moment, he decided against using it after all.

"Sorry to keep you waiting so long," he thought, sitting down on the futon to tune the guitar after the journey today.

Strumming the strings, Yoo-mi felt a wave of comfort come. He could only think of one song to play after tonight at the café.

Just before 2 AM, he put the guitar back into the case, and heard the black metal shutters fall down outside on the display window and the glass door like heavy eyelids. And just like that, Blackbird was finally silent in the darkness of the night.

#original story #original writing #oc #fiction #dawntotheinkblacknight #love #music #bands #friendship #family #goals #dreams #identity #belonging #lgbt #coming of age #japan-based #tokyo

[vilecovet]

mika tags. 

#{ mika ; open starter } — try not to waste my time. #{ mika ; closed starter } — life is nothing. #{ mika ; answered } — keep your pity. #{ mika ; drabble } — what determines real is unnatural. #{ mika ; study } — stop staring. #{ mika ; aesthetic } — live fast. burn faster. #{ mika ; musings } — stupid. just stop already. #{ mika ; ic } — focus on what is real. leave me. #{ v ; current } — stay one step ahead of death.