#Kazuki loves drunk Rei | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

formerlyz · 1 year

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Hii I reblogged smth of yours just a while ago so I’m here to make requests! (Idk how)

Kazuki going to drinks with Dorothy and Carol and having a good time while Rei is absolutely dying with Miri at home then Kazuki gets a little too drunk so one of the girls calls the first number on his phone (he left it unlocked) to pick him up and it’s Rei you can choose what happens next anyway sorry for the long ask byeee

Hi Anon so this isn’t *exactly* what you asked for but I was already like 90% of the way thru this fanfic so I hope it’s close enough! Posting to celebrate the English dub coming out and making it CANON that Kazuki was just out for a girl night.

I might do one from Drunk Kazuki’s POV at some point as well.

Kazuki’s Girl’s Night

Word Count: 3178

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol Use, Drunk character

Other Notes: Established Relationship (Kazurei), Kazuki is very much an I love you drunk

For those who prefer to read on Ao3

Rei had just finished closing the diner, and was heading back upstairs when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and read the text as he opened the door to their apartment.

“Can u come get me pleeaaase?” The text said, accompanied by a string of emojis that made no sense. Rei rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, knowing by now that Kazuki was probably drunk. He had left shortly after the dinner rush to meet up with some friends.

Even though they moved out of the city when they bought the diner, Kazuki still kept in touch with a few of the moms from Miri’s old daycare. About once a month, they would meet up for coffee or drinks and catch up. Rei was also always invited, but someone had to run the restaurant when Kazuki was gone, and he didn’t mind having time to himself once in a while. He did know most of Kazuki’s friends, but the only one Rei was really friends with was Anna, Miri’s former daycare teacher. She had helped them a lot in their first few years with Miri, so Rei had gotten to know her fairly well.

Rei responded asking where to get Kazuki before going to knock on Miri’s door.

“Come in!” Rei opened the door to find her sitting at her desk, writing in her journal. Her short brown hair was tied back in a messy bun and she sat with her long legs crossed under her in her desk chair. It was hard for Rei to believe she was starting high school tomorrow, it seemed like just yesterday she was a toddler running around their apartment in the city. So much had changed, and yet she still had the same big smile.

“Hi Papa! What’s up?” She said, turning to face Rei.

“I’m going to pick up Kazuki. Do you want to come along?” He said, leaning against the doorframe. She thought about it for a second before responding.

“That’s okay, I still gotta shower and figure out what I’m wearing tomorrow.”

“I thought you had a uniform?”

“I do, but I gotta figure out what I’m doing with my hair and what earrings and shoes I’m gonna wear and stuff. I want to look nice for my first day of school!” She said. Rei smiled, he never went to school, so he didn’t really understand a lot of this stuff, but he was happy he had the chance to learn through Miri.

“That’s fine, hopefully I won’t be gone too long.”

“Where is Dad anyway? He’s out for a ladies night right?” Right on cue, Rei felt his phone vibrate in his pocket again. He took it out to see that Kazuki had sent him a pin with his location on it.

“1 Star Saloon…that sounds familiar?” He said, showing his phone to Miri.

“Oh! That’s right by the Boba place we go to. You know that place with all the neon signs in the window.” Miri said, standing up and taking Rei’s phone. She zoomed out on the map and turned it back to him.

“Well at least it’s closeby.” His phone buzzed again as another text from Kazuki came in, Miri turned it back around and quickly read it.

“Pfffft he’s definitely drunk” She said with a giggle as she handed the phone back to Rei.

“I lobve youuuuu so much thank you your my Rey of Sunshine you make me sohappyyyyyy” the text read. Another text came through that was just a bunch of hearts. Rei smirked and shook his head.

“I better go get him.” He sighed. He knew Miri was definitely going to tease Kazuki about that in the morning, but Rei was just thankful he hadn’t sent anything worse.

“Drive safe. Say hi to Auntie Anna for me if you see her!” Miri said, going to sit back down at her desk.

“Will do.” Rei said as he closed the door behind him. He texted Kazuki that he was on his way as he walked downstairs to their car.

It was only about a 10 minute drive to the bar. Even though they drove by the place all the time, he had never actually been inside.

Rei walked past the bouncer and immediately surveyed his surroundings. It was a pretty standard looking bar as far as he could tell. There were a decent amount of people there for a Sunday night, but the place definitely wasn’t full. He saw a group standing at a big round table towards the back corner and recognized the messy blonde hair of his partner. He slunk through the tables and chairs towards the back.

Anna saw Rei approach first, waving cheerfully to him. This got Kazuki’s attention and he turned around, gasping dramatically when he saw Rei.

“REI!!” He said, practically tackling him. After steadying himself, Rei waved awkwardly to Kazuki’s friends over his shoulder.

“I missed you!” Kazuki said, clumsily giving Rei a big kiss on the lips before moving to the side to kiss him multiple times on the cheek.

“Hey! Quit it!” Rei said, feeling his face getting hot. He tried to push away, but Kazuki had one arm tightly wrapped around his waist, while the other held Rei’s face in place as he continued to pepper kisses all over it.

“You two are so cute,” Dorothy cooed, the other women at the table laughed and nodded in agreement. Dorothy and Carol had both settled down and were part of the group as well. Dorothy had gone back to school and become a teacher, while Carol had a toddler of her own that attended the daycare Miri used to go too. They had gotten back in touch with Kazuki a couple years ago.

“Thanks for picking him up Rei.” Anna said as the rest of the women giggled at them. Other than Anna, they all seemed fairly tipsy.

“No problem. Miri says hi” Rei said. Thankfully, Kazuki had stopped his onslaught and now just had his face burrowed in Rei’s neck. “Are you okay to drive Anna?”

“Oh yeah!” Anna held up her soda. “I’m taking everyone else home too, I would have taken Kazuki but your place is in the opposite direction and I have to be at work early tomorrow.” She added apologetically.

“That’s totally fair” Rei looked back down to Kazuki, who had been resting his chin on his shoulder and staring at him.“You ready to go?” Rei asked, ignoring the sappy grin Kazuki was giving him.

“Mmmhmm! Lemme just say bye.” Kazuki said. He pulled himself off of Rei and clumsily gave each of his friends a hug. “Oh shit! My drink!” He said after he was done.

“Kazuki don’t! Oh geez…” Rei sighed as Kazuki chugged the rest of his cocktail.

“Text me when you get home.” Anna said, giving Rei an amused look.

“You too” Rei said as he wrapped an arm around Kazuki’s waist, Kazuki responded by slinging his arm over Rei’s shoulders. Rei gave the other women a polite wave as he led his drunk partner out of the bar.

Kazuki was giggling as they stumbled outside. “What’s so funny?” Rei asked.

“You’re really cute” Kazuki said, pulling Rei tightly against him for a kiss that only half landed on his lips. It was clear that he was trying to take it further, but Rei dodged his other attempts.

“And you’re really drunk. Let’s get you home. Rei responded with an embarrassed chuckle. He glanced back at the bouncer as he helped Kazuki into the car. The large man didn’t even seem to register Kazuki’s drunken makeout attempt, which Rei was grateful for. The guy probably saw worse on a daily basis.

“Drink” Rei ordered, shoving a water bottle into Kazuki’s hand as he started the car. Kazuki stared at the bottle for a moment before taking a large swig.

“Dude…this water is soooo good” he said, sounding amazed.

“I know. You should keep drinking it” Rei coaxed, trying to keep himself laughing so that Kazuki would do it. Kazuki downed more of the water as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road back to the diner.

“So. How was your night?” Rei asked once Kazuki had drunk a decent amount of water.

“It was fun! We did Karaoke and caught up and — Oh my god! Dude! Dorothy and Carol are dating now!”

“Really?” Rei was genuinely surprised. Rei was initially a bit suspicious of them, as their whole job at Fairy Lips was essentially to flirt with Kazuki and other men, but it quickly became clear that they treated the flirting as nothing more than a job and just saw Kazuki as a friend.

“Mmhmm, about damn time.” Kazuki said, taking another sip of water.

“Really? I didn’t see that one coming,” Rei said quietly. Kazuki giggled again. “What?”

“You’re SO bad at picking up signals,” Kazuki teased.

“Says the guy who took like 6 months to kiss me” Rei retorted.

“Hey! In my defense! Your signals used to be a lot harder to read.”

“I literally told you I wanted to spend my life with you and raise a kid with you.” Rei said, “and you still only did it because Miri kept asking”

“…okay fair. He said sheepishly. Rei reached over and squeezed his hand briefly to let him know he was just teasing.

“How’s everyone else doing?” Rei asked. Kazuki perked up and launched into a drunken explanation of his other friend’s life updates. Even when Kazuki was sober, Rei couldn’t really keep track of all the gossip, so he only half paid attention. He mostly just liked listening to the sound of Kazuki’s voice.

On the drive home Kazuki had sobered up enough that he could at least make it up the stairs on his own, though Rei still kept a hand on his back just in case. Once they were inside, Rei led Kazuki to the couch, where he plopped down.

“C’mere” He said, trying to pull Rei into his lap.

“In a minute, I’m gonna get you something to eat.”

“But I wanna cuddle.” As nice as that sounded, Rei knew if he didn’t get some food into Kazuki that he would be extremely hungover the next morning.

“Later. Alright?”

“Please. Just for a minute” Kazuki begged, giving Rei sad puppy dog eyes. Rei sighed and was about to relent when Miri came out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing behind her. She was wearing her pajamas and had a towel wrapped around her shoulders that she was drying her hair with.

“MIRI!! Kazuki cried. Launching himself off the couch to throw his arms around her.

“Hi Dad! How was—Bleghh! You smell like booze!” she said with a laugh, hugging Kazuki back. Rei took the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, trying and failing to sound sober.

“Oh my god you’re totally drunk.” She teased.

“Your Dad doesn’t get drunk, he just has fun” He said indignantly. This caused Rei to snort and Miri to start giggling.

“Mmmhmmm” she said, Kazuki didn’t seem to pick up on her sarcasm. “How is everyone?”

“Good! Anna says hi and that she wants you to visit her soon. She has to work tomorrow”

“Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense that tomorrow would be her first day of school too” Miri said. Kazuki threw his arms around her again.

“I can’t believe tomorrow is my baby girl’s first day of high school. You’re growing up so fast!” Kazuki started tearing up.

“Aw Dad, I’m only 14.” Miri gave him a pat on the back to comfort him. Rei shook his head and gave her an apologetic look, but she was amused by Kazuki’s dramatics.

“Still! It seems like just yesterday you were this big” he said, pulling apart and putting his hands super close together.

“She was never that small Kazuki” Rei said.

“It’s a metaphor!” Kazuki said angrily. This caused both Rei and Miri to laugh again.

“I should probably start heading to bed. I wanna get a good night's sleep before the first day of school”

“Ah! And you’re so responsible! I’m so glad you didn’t break bad” Kazuki said, hugging Miri again.

“What does that even mean?”

“He used to be afraid you would turn bad once you got older. Like that you would ditch school and shoplift and stuff like that.” Rei clarified over his shoulder. “For some reason the bad version of you has a Texas accent” Rei was never sure where that one came from, but whenever Kazuki impersonated ‘bad Miri’ he did it with the accent.

“Like this?” Miri said in her best southern drawl.

“Miri no!!” Kazuki cried, hugging her tighter as she and Rei laughed at him.

“I’m kidding, I'm kidding. Goodnight Dad” she said, hugging him back.

“I love you so much,” Kazuki said, giving her a big kiss on the cheek before he reluctantly let her go.

“Love you too.” She said sweetly as she popped over to the kitchen. “Night Papa” she stood on her tiptoes to give Rei a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck”, she whispered with a smirk

“Don’t worry, I can handle him.” Rei chuckled before giving Miri a kiss on the forehead. She turned around, giving Kazuki one last wave before she closed her door behind her.

As soon as Miri was back in her room, Kazuki sauntered over to Rei in the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Rei’s waist from behind.

“Whatcha doin??” Kazuki asked, resting his chin on Rei’s shoulder.

“Making you food so you sober up” Kazuki hummed appreciatively and began kissing Rei on the neck. “That tickles,” Rei said. It felt really nice, but was making it incredibly hard to focus. Kazuki responded by rubbing his goatee aggressively against Rei’s neck.

“Stop!” Rei hissed, gently elbowing him in the ribs. “I’m gonna shave that thing off in your sleep one night” He was only half joking.

“Aw. But I like it!”

“That makes one of us” Rei turned around in Kazuki’s arms. Kazuki tried to lean in and kiss him, but Rei blocked him by holding up a rice ball in between their lips.

“Eat first.” He said. Kazuki ate the entire rice ball in one comically large bite, his cheeks puffing out as he chewed. “Not like that. You’re gonna choke.” Rei said, exasperated. Kazuki laughed through the mouthful of food before stepping back and taking another swig from the water bottle to wash it down.

“That’s really good,” Kazuki said once he could talk again. His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to figure out what the filling was. “Did you make these?”

“I did, I just took some of the leftover chicken and added some seasonings to it.” Rei said, proud of himself that Kazuki liked it. “I put on some lemon pepper seasoning and rosemary.

“I’m so proud” Kazuki beamed. Rei had learned a lot about how to cook from Kazuki over the years. He still didn’t really know enough to come up with his own recipes, but he had come a long way from the days where he could only cook ramen.

Rei handed him the plate with the rest of the rice balls on it and they both went to the couch. Rei relaxed for the first time that day, playing video games while Kazuki sat next to him and enjoyed his food. Once he had finished, he placed the plate on the coffee table and turned around to lay his head in Rei’s lap.

“How are you doing?” Rei paused his game and began stroking Kazuki’s hair.

“I think I’m starting to sober up.” Kazuki said with a yawn.

“Wanna start going to bed?”

“Finish your level first, I’m enjoying watching you”

“Okay” Rei certainly wasn’t complaining about that, though he didn’t always have time to play video games nowadays, he did still find that they helped him unwind at the end of a long day. He ruffled Kazuki’s hair before unpausing his game.

About an hour later Rei finally got to a checkpoint. Kazuki had dozed off about halfway through. Rei wasn’t expecting it to take him that long, but Kazuki seemed perfectly comfortable where he was.

“Hey.” Rei whispered, putting a hand on Kazuki’s shoulder and shifting his legs a bit. Kazuki’s eyes cracked open.

“Hmm?” He mumbled.

“Bed?”

“Mmhmm” Kazuki swayed slightly as he sat up. Both of them were pretty heavy sleepers, but Kazuki usually took a bit longer to wake up once he was out. Rei chuckled and gave Kazuki a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Mmmm” Kazuki exhaled, putting his hand on the back of Rei’s neck and pulling him closer. It was a sweet and chaste kiss.

“Come on” Rei coaxed Kazuki off the couch and led him into the bedroom. Kazuki had woken up enough to change into pajamas and brush his teeth as Rei did the same.

“Thanks for taking care of me” Kazuki said when they got into bed.

“You take care of me all the time.” Rei said matter of factly. “Besides, we can’t have you too hungover for Miri’s first day of high school.

“God, I can’t believe that’s tomorrow. She’s growing up so fast.” Kazuki sighed. “I feel old”

“I mean, you still go out drinking with your friends and I still play video games whenever I get the chance, so we can’t be that old.” Rei reasoned, knowing aging was something that gave Kazuki anxiety.

“I guess that’s true, the only real difference is we get random aches and pains now.”

“To be fair, I don’t think our previous career did us any favors in that department.”

“Yeah…” Kazuki reached out and stroked Rei’s arm. “Thank you again”

“Of course” Rei said, knowing Kazuki meant to thank him for both tonight and for standing up to his father all those years ago. He gave Kazuki a peck on the lips.

“Lucky for you you’re pretty entertaining when you’re drunk.” Rei said with a chuckle.

“Well at least I’m not annoying”

“Oh no you’re definitely annoying” Rei teased, causing Kazuki to pout. “But you’re also funny. And kinda sweet.” he admitted, moving in to kiss Kazuki again. Kazuki’s hand moved to the small of Rei’s back and pulled him closer.

After a few minutes of lazily kissing, Kazuki broke away to yawn, which caused Rei to yawn as well. Kazuki gave him one last kiss on the cheek.

“Goodnight. Love ya” He mumbled, already falling asleep.

“Night. Love you too” Rei turned around and made sure his phone alarm was set before settling into bed with Kazuki’s arm slung over his waist.

Thanks to Rei’s efforts, Kazuki was only a little hungover the next morning, and was pretty much fine after a cup of coffee and a shower. Miri, predictably, made fun of him for his drunken antics the next day.

#buddy daddies #kazurei #buddy daddies fanfic #reikazu #buddy daddies Friday #kazuki x rei #kazuki buddy daddies #Rei buddy daddies #Rei suwa #kazuki kurusu #kazuki is so stupid i love him #z tries to write #my writing #my stuff

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muwi-translates · 4 years

Text

Collar x Malice Producer’s Secrets

These were comments made by the producer Shima Reiko mentioned an interview in the Official Fanbook about original concepts during drafting, things she had to cut, and changes.

The TL quality of some of these are splotchy because I’m not as good with JP>EN, and some parts are also missing because I felt they were irrelevant (was doing this live in a chat for fun), they are definitely not an 100% accurate representation of the interview. But I wanted to keep this somewhere since they’re fun to read.

Some have spoilers so under the cut they go:

Ichika: Originally, Adonis was involved in the reasoning as to why she became an officer. in the earlier stage, there was a draft where she was supposed to speak in dialect when she got angry.

Yanagi: The mastermind originally had a deep involvement in his youth. The mastermind ended up going through changes, so there's only "remnants" of the original idea in the final product.

Kei: Originally just a member of the detective agency who was there to protect and monitor them while protecting their identities.

Mineo: In the beginning he was supposed to have met her at the police station, fell in love with her at first sight and had a unrequited crush on her.

Takeru: Was originally going to have a scene where he shoots at the end, but it was cut.

Shiraishi: Was originally a clean-freak and "kept a human (like a pet) to observe them", this was ultimately changed to his current more 'pure' depiction.

Sakuragawa: I think it says that she was supposed to originally be Ichika's friend in the first place, but this made Ichika seem less 'lonely', so it was cut.

Yoshinari: Originally had a scene where he and Yanagi bonded when they were in low spirits at some point. Also, his original name was 'Araki'.

Mukai: From the beginning she was supposed to be a little ladylike. producer remembers asking others for help on how to properly use "~desuwa".

Satake: Originally had more scenes in Mineo's route, but producer had to sadly cut them. She wanted to leave one where Mineo and Satake got drunk.

Morioka: He was meant to be way scarier at the start of writing. Also, he's divorced.

Minegishi: Originally more sarcastic with a personality to suit his 'blackbelly' (cruel) position, was supposed to be a spy for National Police Agency and there was supposed to be some sort of betrayal.

Police Chief Dude: Written as a "easy to understand low life character", originally messed around in the headquarters and also used Ichika's collar when it was exposed.

Saeki: The conversation at the shooting range at the start of the game was meant to be way longer, but it was ultimately cut because it made him way too suspicious.

Mochida: Originally had some scenes where he was being suspicious to mislead the player, but it felt too forced so she cut it.

Rei: Originally had a lot more screen time. From the moment they met until the moment they fought each other, the plan was to spend some time digging into the character. This is in her top 5 biggest regrets. There was also a development where the protagonist was introduced independently from the mastermind side of things.

Suzune: Originally had a scene where she was going Feral, and they were meant to be drawn. Cut because they were too gorey.

Shion: Originally didn't have a soft expression (this was later added to the scenario) and was going to first appear with a murderous/dangerous expression instead.

Souda: Originally planned a scene for him to "fight with weapons" but then considered his viewpoint and decided it would probably just be a fashion thing. The game he was into was originally an FPS but became a smartphone game.

Rika: Originally had a scene where she planned to kill Zero, but then the point that "Executors don’t ever meet Zero" came up and it was an important plot point, so she dropped it.

Kazuki: Came up with a concept where they weren't related from the beginning. When coming up with reasons why he became rebellious, one of them was "because the pudding I was looking forward to got eaten".

Akito: Wanted to create more scenes that focused on his composition hobby, felt that it was relatable.

Ogata: Originally a lawyer, but then this posed problems when he was in trial so she changed it. After Mikuni he was gonna be the second most important character in Adonis but then he would need to appear in all the routes, so they adjusted him to meet the themes of Mineo's route.

Hana: Was supposed to do weird shit in all routes except Mineo's, but producer ended up just picking one and adjusted it.

Isshiki: Wanted a scene where he was actually singing.

#otome #otomate #collar x malice #cxm #mytranslations #raw

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aqvarius · 4 years

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What are your top 5 worst voltage routes?

oh damn this is a tough one haha. i’ve definitely played routes that i find average/forgettable but it’s hard to think of 5 routes that i thought were actually bad. except for one which i’m sure anyone who has followed me for a few years knows about lmao

i was just gonna give brief reasons but then as i was typing this out i couldn’t stop my loudass brain from rambling so... sorry for all the commentary lol. i do want to preface this by saying that these are more critiques of the writing than the characters (except shinobu haha i despise him). i love many of these characters and have enjoyed their epilogues/sequels/substories. my main gripe with most of these is just underdeveloped, jarring or flimsy character and relationship development, which to me makes the process of falling in mutual love unconvincing. that’s why all of these are main stories because they are about the critical moments of falling in love (rather than future developments such as tackling conflicts together) which i think are the foundation to any further growth. so please don’t take any of this personally if any of the guys i’ve mentioned here are characters that you love!

5. main story: takane momochi - destind: mr almost right

so this is more a case of “love the guy, don’t love the route��. i have to admit that i really wasn’t big on takane at first and then i got to the end of the route and realised that i actually didn’t love the mc. i actually quite like the destind mc in rei and araya’s routes but omg takane’s route is weird. i have no problem with takane kind of being a jerk and i actually really like him but i have a couple of issues with this route. the first is that i don’t really understand nor buy into the reason that they keep seeing each other. the mc learns about takane’s true nature and finds him kind of despicable but then decides that she’s definitely gonna make him fall in love with her, which as a plot point on its own i’m fine with but the way thy go into that discussion is really weird because it arises from the mc being appalled that takane had an affair with some teacher when he was a teenager and somehow leads into that discussion. basically i don’t think that the whole “i’m gonna make you fall in love with me” vs “i’m gonna make you sleep with me” challenge is set up particularly organically.

it also occurs about halfway through the route which i don’t really think works in term of the pacing because within the shape of the narrative i would call it the end of act 1. act 2 would be them genuinely getting closer and then act 3 would be the conflict that develops between them which results in their breakup. with the structure of takane’s route, acts 2 and 3 essentially become crammed into the remaining half of the chapters, which makes the conflict in act 3 feel confusing and abrupt. i think it would have been more effective if they had set up the personality reveal earlier on in the route and then spent more time developing the budding incompatibilities which lead to the breakup-inducing argument.

the second issue that i have with this route is the mc’s lack of development/not addressing the actual mistakes that she makes with regards to how she sees takane. the mc suffers from idolising syndrome because she’s built takane up into this perfect prince in her mind (i guess kind of like with hiroki from mlfk) even though he’s a regular old (substantially) flawed dude who struggles with the pressure of external expectations bc people don’t see the ~real him~. this is all well and good and is set up to allow the mc to accept his flaws and see him as a real human being but instead she’s just like “your flaws aren’t really flaws, they’re just another example of why you’re perfect bc you engage with them!” SIS. he’s not a character that needs validation in that way bc everyone already thinks he’s perfect. he needs someone who can see that he’s FAULTY and help him through it, not just pass off his flaws and the way he deals with them as another point of admiration. destind mc isn’t even like old school perma-optimistic voltage mcs either, she’s a little more prone to judgement so i wish she (and the writing) engaged a little more with takane’s flaws and accepting them rather than just jumping straight to YOU’RE MY HERO.

as a character i actually prefer him to araya but the fact that i was more convinced to love araya aka mr possessive liar himself is saying something about the story.

4. main story: genji higashiyama - in your arms tonight

i don’t have much to say in detail because it’s been like 6+ years since i played his route and frankly i don’t remember the details, but i just remember that he was kind of a jackass and i expected better. i love ex-boyfriend/hatsukoi love interests but just didn’t really like his route.

to quote from an old comment i once made:

“omg i thought genji had so much potential bc hot exboyf soccer player hellooooo but he was just such a jerk, he really p-ed me off :<”

“i kind of don’t like genji because he is a bit of a doucheypants and like really arrogant and a bit of a bully :/”

i remember the mc slapped him once after they made out which i don’t remember the context for but he probably deserved it. i was extra sad because i actually really liked him in soji’s route but he’s the team B guy in that one so......... thanks voltage. also he was a dick to everyone’s sweetheart aiba. i actually like him way more after his ms lol? conceptually i love him but his main story made me sad.

3. main story: satoru kamagiri - 10 days with my devil

i mean this one was bad but i’m weirdly fond of satoru? i have no issues with sadists and i kind of like him (after having read substories). but this route was weird and the pacing felt a bit off to me. basically i have no idea what made him fall in love with the mc?

because i guess he starts being nice to you when he has to nurse you when you get sick and he genuinely feels bad and cares about you but do you really expect me to believe he was already in love with you when he made a date with you but decided to go hang out with other women leaving you standing in the rain for 6 hours? nah fam.

i also don’t remember what the climax of the story even is because i’m still hung up on being left waiting for him in the rain for 6 hours while he goes other women so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. main story: seiji goto - my sweet bodyguard

i’ve talked a lot about the issues i have with this route (including a couple thousand words of review here) but i’ll just summarise. this is definitely another case of love the guy, don’t love the route. in the GREE version, you meet him from the first time at the beginning of his route and gradually learn about his past, but in the standalone app version, you basically get thrown into the route with no exposition, meaning that you have to already have prior knowledge of goto and his backstory. i had known about it so it wasn’t as confusing as it could have been, but you really just get tossed into the mix expecting to already know about kazuki (goto’s dead ex). plus he’s already nice to you from the start because you’ve known each other for a while so there’s less of the actual seeing his behaviour change bit (which is my favourite part of all main stories - in case you couldn’t tell because all of my criticisms about routes are about lack of proper relationship development). kazuki and goto’s relationship is basically the thing that underpins the entire narrative of the route which is why i find it an issue that you don’t get much insight into it going into the route blind.

it’s difficult to feel like goto and the mc are actually gradually getting closer in the route because it doesn’t feel like there’s one narrative line that’s building throughout the entire route as much as separate events, more or less. she just... looks after goto a lot? also basically goto is interested in you because you remind him of kazuki and when he starts to like you, it’s not actually very evident in his actions - you find this out because kurosawa basically tells you lmao.

i actually wanted to leave him and date subaru because honestly subaru in goto’s route especially reads like a much healthier relationship option, but then goto runs in and interrupts a date with subaru and drags you straight off to kazuki’s tombstone and then... it’s a happy ending? his confession feels like it comes out of nowhere because his behaviour towards you doesn’t explicitly change but you just have to believe he likes you now as he confesses in front of his ex-gf’s grave and tells her he’ll see her soon. come on bruv you can do better than this lol.

1. main story: shinobu narita - serendipity next door

this guy fucking sucks, dude. i can’t think of even one single redeeming quality he has. he’s the reason i stopped playing voltage games for like years and went on hiatus and more or less abandoned my blog until i discovered scm. i know there was a lot of controversy about whether or not he could be considered abusive and i threw that word around a lot back in the day when i liveblogged his route but DAMN at the very least he is just the WORST. the mc wakes up in his bed after getting wasted at a rooftop party and he convinces her that they had sex when she was drunk and then blackmails her into being his girlfriend by threatening to tell the entire apartment block that they slept together. he proceeds to snoop around in all her business, maliciously making fun of her and her work at every single chance he gets (he literally RIFLES THROUGH HER BAG to find her work and mock her about it) and then she looks at one document or picture of his and he gets all uppity about it because he’s a big ol hypocrite. basically he hates the mc because she’s so pure and he’s jaded because one time he confessed to someone and she ghosted him? so he deliberately acts nice to her sometimes so she’ll let her guard down and then follows it up with a common or action so malicious i wanted to choke him. all i’m saying is that there are a number of relationships that i never got closure on and it’s never made me want to blackmail a drunk person into dating me so i can mess them up emotionally ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the thing is, i have played other guys who are a bag of suck at first and then get so much better because of character development. and this is what is totally lacking in shinobu’s route. the mc falls in love with him bc of stockholm syndrome... and basically bc omg he’s so sad and damaged and she wants to heal him i guess? it sucks. they literally have no bonding moments where they genuinely connect except for the times when he’s super mean and manipulative to her and and she’s like omg but he’s so saaaaaad uwu. throughout the route, there is absolutely no character development on shinobu’s part, he’s just the same sadistic bastard who enjoys seeing his mc being hurt the whole way through lol but SUDDENLY you guys are in love? but literally at the end the mc tries to escape from him by moving out and instead of letting her go because he’s the worst, he chases her moving truck down? also he’s weirdly possessive even by voltage standards.

btw this isn’t even just sadists not being my type - you know i adore kaga and eduardo and even people who take ages to warm up (cough shinonome). and you know i love men who tease and manipulate you a bit (because they’re doing it out of a d o r a t i o n not spite) . i also have no problem with outright assholes as long as we see them change, develop and genuinely fall in love. my biggest issue with this route is that i don’t think pity is the same thing as love, or that someone with his personality can get his happy ending without genuinely changing and redeeming himself in some way. i’m not a fan of romanticising guys who are mean to you because they’re so dAmAgEd and want to take it out on you. (the reason i love people like hue is because even though they’re riddled with grief and trauma, they’re mature enough to handle their emotions and you don’t need to fix them!!!) i genuinely think voltage bombed it with this route lol. it almost makes me want to go back and replay it just to see if it was really as bad as i remember but (1) i never transferred it to love 365 (2) it was on my old iphone and i use android now (3) i don’t want to spend money repurchasing a route that i’m 85% sure i’ll feel is a waste of money (4) i spent £2.49 on the route back in the day when voltage was cheaper and i don’t want to spend almost double that now lol.

also the last time i read his route i abandoned this blog and stopped playing all otome games for a really long time lmao so................................

#Anonymous #snow answers #takane momochi #destind: mr. almost right #dmar #genji higashiyama #in your arms tonight #iyat #satoru kamagiri #10 days with my devil #10dwmd #seiji goto #my sweet bodyguard #msb #shinobu narita #serendipity next door #snd #voltage inc

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recentanimenews · 7 years

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Bookshelf Overload: June 2017

After the ridiculousness of May’s Bookshelf Overload, the number of manga, comics, and other books that I picked up in June seems completely reasonable. But even though it was a small month, it was still a great month. First of all, one of the manga I was most looking forward to this year was released–Kabi Nagata’s My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. (Although the work is more than deserving of it, I won’t be doing a formal, in-depth review, but I did write a Quick Take of it a few weeks ago.) I was also particularly excited for the debut of Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy and the continuation of Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga in June. Hirohiko Araki’s Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga should also present an interesting read once I finally get the chance to get around to it. Currently, though, I’m reading Kazuki Sakuraba’s novel A Small Charred Face. It isn’t due to be released until September, but the folks at Haikasoru were kind enough to send me an advanced copy. I really enjoyed Sakuraba’s Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas and have been looking forward to the translation of A Small Charred Face for quite some time. So far, it’s been fantastic; look for a review to come soon!

Manga! After Hours, Volume 1 by Yuhta Nishio Dorohedoro, Volume 21 by Q Hayashida Erased, Omnibus 2 by Kei Sanbe Golden Kamuy, Volume 1 by Satoru Noda Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 6 by Inio Asano Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Volumes 1-3 by Natsuki Takaya My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata Pet Shop of Horrors, Volume 9 by Matsuri Akino Prison School, Omnibus 7 by Akira Hiramoto The Royal Tutor, Volume 1 by Higasa Akai Sweetness and Lightning, Volume 5 by Gido Amagakure Ten Count, Volume 4 by Rihito Takarai Vagabond, Omnibuses 10-12 by Takehiko Inoue Vinland Saga, Omnibus 9 by Makoto Yukimura The Water Dragon’s Bride, Volume 1 by Rei Toma

Comics! Bara Emergency, Collection 1 by Nero O’Reilly Boundless by Jillian Tamaki Boy, I Love You edited by Kou Chen, Emily Forster, and Eric Alexander Arroyo. Combed Clap of Thunder by Zach Hazard Vaupen Cosmic Commandos by Chris Eliopoulos Deanthology: Collected Works of Dechanique, 1995-2016 by Deanna Echanique Destiny, NY, Volume 1 written by Pat Shand, illustrated by Manuel Preitano Let’s Speak English by Mary Cagle Not Drunk Enough, Volume 1 by Tessa Stone Siegfried, Volume 3 by Alex Alice Space Battle Lunchtime, Volume 2 by Natalie Riess Steam Clean by Laura Kenins

Novels! The Great Passage by Shion Miura The Sacred Era by Aramaki Yoshio Slow Boat by Hideo Furukawa A Small Charred Face by Kazuki Sakuraba Sound! Euphonium by Ayano Takeda

Nonfiction! The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962―1976 by Frank Dikötter Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga by Hirohiko Araki

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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formerlyz · 1 year

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It’s a little late but here’s my contribution for day 3 of Kazuki week! This is also based on an anonymous fic request I got a while ago.

Kazuki’s throat burned as the threw back yet another shot of liquor. It was his 5th…no…6th? Ah, who cares. He was having fun, he deserved this.

“Having a fun time babe?” Kazuki spun around in his seat.

“Dorothy! It’s been like a million years!” He threw his arms around her.

“Sweetie, it’s only been about an hour.” She said with a laugh.

“Oh no…” Kazuki began giggling.

“What’s wrong?” Dorothy asked, sounding concerned. Kazuki pulled himself off her and looked side to side, not wanting anyone else to hear him. He motioned for her to lean closer.

“I am…very drunk” He whispered. Dorothy laughed again and playfully shoved his shoulder.

“I can see that. Do you have someone to walk you home?”

“Mmhm!” Kazuki pulled out his phone, but the letters on the screen kept jumping around.

“Dorothyyyyy? Can you help me? Words are hard.” She giggled and took his phone.

“Who should I text?”

“Rei. He’s at the top of my contacts.” Kazuki said proudly. Dorothy smirked and quickly typed out a message.

“Aw! Is this him?” Dorothy turned Kazuki’s phone back to him, it was now on the Home Screen, which was a picture of Miri passed out on the floor. Rei was curled up next to her asleep, she was using his arm as a pillow.

“Yeah! That’s him” Kazuki took his phone back and stared at the photo for a moment. It was one of his favorites.

He realized he hadn’t thanked Dorothy for helping him. “Lemme buy you a drink” Kazuki said as he waved down the bartender. “Two vodka sodas please and thank you!” He requested.

She took a seat at the bar next to Kazuki as the bartender handed them their sodas. They clinked their glasses together before taking a sip.

“So…you didn’t tell me you had a sweetheart,” Kazuki choked on his drink.

“I don’t!” He sputtered. He felt arms wrap around his neck from behind.

“Kazukiii! Hi! Are you having a good time?” Carol said. She seemed a little buzzed.

“We were just talking about Kazu’s boyfriend.” Dorothy answered for him. Carol gasped dramatically and let go of him.

“Boyfriend?! You have a boyfriend?!”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Kazuki insisted, feeling his face getting hotter and hotter. “We’re just friends!!”

“Look at how cute he is!” Kazuki was too drunk to stop Dorothy from grabbing his phone.

“Aww! And you have a daughter together? So cute”

“No! I mean…yes— we have a daughter together but were not like…together“ He was interrupted by his phone making a dinging noise.

“Oh! Guess who responded” Dorothy said in a sing songy voice. She handed the phone back to Kazuki.

Be there in 20. Was all the message said.

“Do we get to meet him?!” Carol squealed with delight.

“Yeah. But he’s NOT my boyfriend you guys.” Kazuki once again insisted. He looked back down at the photo on his Home Screen. He had set the photo because Miri was really cute in it, but now he took the time to look at Rei in the photo too. His bangs were covering his eyes. His mouth hung slightly open as he slept peacefully on the floor next to Miri. His t shirt had ridden up, exposing the bottom part of his waist…

No. No no no. This was Rei. he couldn’t have a thing for Rei. No way.

“So…you have a daughter together…but you’re not romantically involved?” Dorothy said.

“Right…” Kazuki said, still looking down at the photo. He had a strange feeling in his chest. What was going on? He must have been more drunk than he thought.

“Come on Kazu, I know that look. You’re in love” Dorothy teased.

“Am not!” Kazuki finally tore away his eyes from the picture. He took another big sip of his drink.

“Do you like spending time together?” Carol asked.

“I mean…yeah”

“Can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with him.”

“Absolutely.” That wasn’t even a question.

“Do you think he’s attractive?” Kazuki paused for a moment and looked back down at the photo. He stared at the way Rei’s hair fell just so. He stared at Rei’s slightly parted lips, wondering what they felt like. He stared at Rei’s waist, thinking about how nice it would probably feel to hold…

“…Yeah…” he admitted. Both to them and to himself.

“That sure sounds like a boyfriend.” Dorothy insisted. Kazuki ran his hands down his face. She had a point.

“Oops! We gotta go. Come find us when he gets here!” Carol said, their boss was waving them over. They left Kazuki sitting there with his mind racing. In order to calm himself down, he chugged the rest of his drink and waved down the bartender for another. He asked for something strong and was handed some kind of blue drink. It tasted like fruit. It was definitely something Rei would like, very sugary, like candy. He wished Rei was there right now.

“Hey Kazuki” Rei was suddenly right next to him. Did him wishing Rei was at the bar bring him there? Wait…no…he said he would be here in 20 minutes. Had it been 20 minutes? Either way Kazuki was happy to see him.

“Hi! I was just thinking about you!” Kazuki threw his arm around Rei and dragged him into sitting down at the stool next to him.

“Uh…why?”

“Cause I think you’d like this drink. Try it!” He pushed it over in front of Rei, who looked suspicious. Kazuki only remembered having a sip, but when he looked in the cup around ½ of it was gone.

“What is it?”

“Dunno! It’s good though!” Rei put his lips on the straw and took a tiny taste. His eyes lit up and he took a bigger, more confident sip.

“Hey…that’s really good” He said excitedly. Kazuki liked his excited voice.

“You can have the rest if you want”

“You sure?”

“Yeah!” He watched Rei take a few more big sips of the cocktail with a little smile on his face. His hair was down, and some pieces were still a little wavy from the braids Miri had put in them earlier. He was wearing a blue flannel and a cat t shirt Miri had picked out for his birthday.

“Why are you staring at me?” Rei sounded more genuinely curious than judgemental.

“Huh? No reason.” Kazuki was staring? How long had he been staring? Rei finished off the drink.

“You ready to go?” Kazuki poked Rei on the corner of his mouth in response.

“Your lips are blue” he giggled. Rei rolled his eyes.

“Yep, you’re ready to go. Come on” Rei stood up and swayed a little bit. “Huh…that drink was stronger than I thought” His brows furrowed at the empty glass of their shared drink. He shook the tipsiness off and pulled Kazuki up. They started to make their way towards the door when Kazuki suddenly remembered his promise to Dorothy and Carol.

“Wait! My friends wanna meet you” he grabbed Rei’s forearm and dragged him along as he scanned the room.

“What? Why?” Kazuki didn’t answer, instead focusing on making his way towards the faded blue hair of his friend.

“Yo Dorothy!” She turned to him and he made a big gesture to Rei.

“Carol! Rei’s here.” She called. “Hi. I’m Dorothy, I’m the one who texted you.” She said with a nice wave.

“Oh…yeah…uh hi” Rei said, clearly very awkward. Carol came running up.

“Hi Rei! I’m Carol!” Before he could react she hugged him. He froze completely, but she pulled back unfazed. You and Kazuki are soooo cute together!! Don’t worry. He’s all yours, Kazu’s just a friend!”

“Why would I-“ Rei stammered. Kazuki realized he recognized the song playing over the club’s speakers.

“Ooooh! I love this song!” Kazuki grabbed Rei’s hand and pulled him onto the dance floor, leaving Carol and Dorothy giggling knowingly at them.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing now?”

“Come dance with me!”

“Miri’s home alone, we need to get back.”

“Aww come on, just one song.” Kazuki pleaded. He grabbed Rei’s other hand and starting pushing their arms back and forth together. Rei stood there stiffly for a moment before sighing in defeat. He began to let his body ever move so slightly to the upbeat pop song, following Kazuki’s lead. A huge smile broke out on Kazuki’s face. He was having a fantastic time now that Rei was here.

He had only recognized the song halfway through, so it ended about one minute later. The Dj transitioned into a slower, more romantic sounding song. Instead of separating, Kazuki instinctively pulled Rei closer to him.

“You said one song” Rei said, though he didn’t resist Kazuki’s embrace.

“That didn’t count, it was almost over” Kazuki dropped one of Rei’s hands to hold his waist.

“Fine” Rei‘s free hand came to rest between Kazuki’s shoulder blades. They were so close that the sides of their faces were brushing against each other as they slowly swayed from side to side. Kazuki relaxed as he felt Rei’s body heat seeping into him. He leaned down and rested his chin on Rei’s shoulder. His shampoo smelled good, like vanilla with a hint of coconut. Kazuki liked being this close to Rei. He wanted to be this close to him all the time. Maybe he did have a thing for Rei…Liquid courage surged through his veins.

“Hey Rei?”

“Hmm?” surprisingly, Rei sounded relaxed too. That drink must have been pretty strong.

“I…think I like you.”

“We’ve been friends for years. I know you like me”

“That’s not what I mean.” Kazuki gave an exasperated sigh. “I like you”

“Okay?”. Rei clearly didn’t get what Kazuki was implying.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Kazuki blurted out. Rei was quiet for a moment.

“What does that mean?” Rei stiffened slightly, but didn’t let go. They had been referring to each other as ‘Partners’ for years, which was arguably a more serious label, but it was also more ambiguous. Kazuki tried to think of another way to articulate what he was hoping for.

“I mean. I want to still be your partner. But I also want to be your boyfriend... I mean that I like spending time with you, and I like your laugh and your smile. I mean I find you attractive. Like you have pretty eyes and a sexy waist and are just all around cute. I want to kiss you. I want to wake up and go to sleep with you. I mean I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone but you.” The words tumbled out of Kazuki’s mouth before he could stop it. He was vaguely aware of his words slurring together a bit.

Rei was silent. The song ended, but neither of them let go.

“Kazuki…How drunk are you?” He finally asked in a quiet voice.

“Pretty drunk,” he admitted. The room was spinning a little, though that could have also been from nerves. “If you don’t feel the same way that’s okay. I just—“ Kazuki's train of thought screeched to a halt when he felt soft lips, Rei’s lips, brushing against his cheek for an instant.

“We need to get home.” Rei pulled back and looped his arm through Kazuki’s. Kazuki followed him, trying to process what was going on while the room spun around him.

Once they were outside, the fresh air and quiet of the alleyway they walked down helped Kazuki get his bearings again. At some point, Rei had wrapped his arm under Kazuki’s shoulders, so that he could support and guide him in a relatively straight line.

“You never answered my question,”

“Ask me again tomorrow”

“Huh. Why?”

“Because you’re very drunk and I want to make sure you’re serious,” Rei said firmly.

“So if I ask you tomorrow…is that a yes?” Kazuki said slowly.

“You’ll just have to ask me to find out.” Rei gave him a teasing smirk, in the pale light of the moon Kazuki could make out an ever so slight dusting of pink on Rei’s cheekbones.

“Okay.” Kazuki said, his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest with joy.

When they got back to the apartment, the first thing they did was check on Miri. She was completely knocked out in bed. Rei had left her home alone for less than an hour, but their first instinct was always to make sure she was okay first.

“Goodnight Kazuki” Rei started to head towards the bathroom when Kazuki somehow managed to catch his arm.

“Wait! Rei. Can we sleep together?” Kazuki said, a little louder than he meant too. Rei turned back to him, eyebrows raised. “I just wanna cuddle.” Kazuki clarified. Rei relaxed a bit and nodded. Kazuki cautiously intertwined his fingers with Rei’s before tugging him along towards his bedroom. They would occasionally sleep in the same bed nowadays, mostly when one of them had a nightmare or a flashback and needed comfort from the other, so cuddling wasn’t something out of the ordinary for them.

As soon as Kazuki’s head hit the pillow, his eyes got heavy. Rei climbed into bed next to him. He laid on his back and stretched his arm out. Kazuki snuggled up to him and nestled in the crook of his neck, breathing him in.

“Goodnight.” He mumbled before passing out.

Kazuki’s phone alarm sent searing pain through his skull. He groaned as he rolled over to shut it off. Did Miri have daycare today? No no…it was Saturday. He had just forgotten to turn off the alarm. Sun was streaming in through the blinds. His head ached, he felt like he desperately needed a shower, and he was still exhausted. He prayed Miri would want to sleep in today.

He rolled back over. Rei was still fast asleep next to him, curled up in a loose fetal position. His bangs were hanging in his face, some hairs catching on his long eyelashes. His undercut was peeking out just a bit. His chest rose and fell with tiny snores that were barely audible. Despite the fact that Kazuki felt like shit, he couldn’t help but admire how beautiful Rei looked in the early morning light. He brushed the hair out of Rei’s eyes and gently stroked his cheek.

It definitely wasn’t the alcohol talking last night.

Kazuki pulled Rei into his chest and rested his chin on the top of his head. Rei made a small noise in his sleep and hugged Kazuki back, burrowing his face into Kazuki’s chest. He was so warm, so comfortable. Kazuki began to feel his eyelids getting heavy again.

Yeah…this feels right. He thought to himself as he fell back asleep.

#buddy daddies #kazurei #kazukiweek2023 #I’m very tired so apologies for typos #it’s been a day #writing this was a good coping mechanism tho #buddy daddies fanfic #buddy daddies fic #z tries to write #my stuff

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