#*g: kouta

[ladzwriting]

Honestly, Ladz, I'm scared to read fealty even though I bought it. I feel like I'll become obsessed and then want something similar

I am so flattered by this; thank you so much!!

In terms of becoming obsessed and wanting more, there are minimum 7 more volumes to write (it takes a long time to stop a forever war while preserving a vestigial empire, who knew!). But in the interim of me writing them, I have a carefully curated to-read list for the different aspects of FEALTY that you like most.

NON-FICTION (also featured in the back of the book)

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich (2017)

God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volumes 1 & 2 by Normal Davies (2005)

Revolutionary Russia, 1891 - 1991: A History by Orlando Figes (2015)

Queer Gothic by George Haggerty (2006)

Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith (2016)

VAMPIRES

Hellsing by Kouta Hirano (1997 - 2008)

Monogatari by nisiOisin, illustrated by Vofan (2005 - Present)

Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi, illus. Yoshitaka Amano (2005 - Present in English)

A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante (2023)

Ossuary by T.D. Cloud, illus. by Ambi Sun (2023)

Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante (April 2024)

Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright (August 2024)

SLAVIC POLITICAL FANTASY

Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski (2020 in English)

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (2021)

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector (2022)

SLAVIC FICTION

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin (2011 in English)

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczyk (2022 in English)

GENERAL POLITICAL FANTASY

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (1946)

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (1950)

Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake (1959)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (2001)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth J. Dickinson (2015)

GOTHIC FICTION

tbh Mervyn Peake's books also work for this category

The Monk by Matthew G. Lewis (1796)

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (2022)

The Lord of Astiigos by Soren Häxan (2023); please note: there is an update coming in the next few months

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (2023)

BLURBER BOOKS

(if not in previous sections)

Little Death by Pom Poison (2022 - Present)

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock (2023)

A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert (2023)

All Tomorrow's Photos Duology by S.S. Genesee (2023)

VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

Bloodborne (2015), especially Castle Cainhurst

Fire Emblem Three Houses (2019), the Black Eagles house

I think this is most of it!! I have read and reviewed most of these on my blog, where you will find things like content and trigger warnings.

Hope this answers the questions and please take your time! FEALTY is a dense, gory book with a lot happening both politically and interpersonally, so don't feel bad about taking time to get into it.

It took me a few years from purchase to actually reading Mervyn Peake's work, for example, and it absolutely came at the right time for me.

I hope this answers the ask!

#the fealty of monsters #ladz answers #to read list #book recs #master list #vampires #gothic fiction

[philsmeatylegss]

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#just feel so helpless by how many there are #my heart breaks for every single one #this doesn't include all of them #just scroll and randomly pick one if you can that's what I did #rae’s rambles #palestine #free gaza #current events #gaza #ceasefire #free palestine #gazaunderattack #rafah #save rafah #all eyes on rafah

[alvcrd]

—Did your promises come to pass?     Where’s your GOD?

Where’s your K I N G D O M?       What’s the matter?             Answer me, King?             MAD KING!

ALVCRD !! — — —A study in vampirism, self-hatred, and resilience feat. ALUCARD from Kouta Hirano’s HELLSING !!

18+. Penned adoringly by Luna. promo by @sosordid

#indie rp #anime rp #horror rp #castlevania rp #manga rp

[wind-becomes-lightning]

A Storm for Lunch

(cover art by @kankuroplease)

Finishing up the last dono fics with this great piece for my dear @yamanaka-shin! Thank you for donating and sorry for it taking so long to pin your wild boy down. Love you <3

Pairing: Shin x OC

Rating G

4654 words

Kouta starts a fight and needs to learn a lesson about relationships.

A storm usually starts with a breeze.

Kouta sat on the kitchen table, teeth pressed tightly together, finger tap tap tapping away on the plate like he was a misbehaved bored child. His thoughts were spinning around, face frowned. Maybe if Shin had turned around and looked at him they’d seen the clouds forming over his head. The darkness that had found its way into the usually so bright orange eyes. But Shin had their back turned to their partner, hands happily working on the vegetables for their lunch together, so they missed the signs plastered all over Kouta’s face.

Today during the morning, Kouta had been out, which wasn’t unusual as he still got used to living in Konoha full time and liked wandering around to take a look at the area, familiarise himself with the place he was now going to spend the rest of his life in, but he had come back moody and for once Shin’s friendly touch and encouraging smile hadn’t stopped the mood from festering. Now it was spreading through him like a bitter poison. He pursed his lips and tapped his nails even harsher than before.

A breeze shook the flowers by the window.

“Say,” Kouta said slowly, as if to conclude a thought spiral that had just gotten tighter and tighter in his mind, “Do you even like me being here?” For a moment, nothing happened, Shin continued cutting vegetables and throwing them into a large bowl, hair bound back in a small ponytail like they always did when the hair got too long. They made a questioning “hm?”- sound and Kouta gritted his teeth to repeat the question. “Do - you - even - like - me -being-here?” He said it as if he was talking to a half deaf child.

Shin turned around to look at their partner, one eyebrow raised high in their hair. “Why would you ask me that?” Shin said, laughing a little. The little smile on their face made Kouta feel even more cold anger than he previously had. He tapped his finger harder. “I don’t know? Maybe because you never show it”, Kouta said with an eye roll. As if this should have been obvious.

“I- I do not-” Shin started but Kouta cut them off before they could finish their sentence: “Look, you’re never really affectionate with me. So how should I know if you even want me around?” He was spitting the words out now, the fury in his heart feeling hot. 

Shin, who was still standing with the vegetable knife in hand, looked down to it and back up. They blinked at Kouta and shook their head: “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Sage,” Kouta ignored the question, “Couples show affection. Have you ever heard that before? Because you surely don’t do that to me. So, I have to conclude that you do not actually like me being around, because otherwise you would.”

A gust of wind shook the blinds hanging low to keep the sun out.

They stared at Kouta, a little speechless at the accusation. Shin wondered where it had come from, especially so suddenly. As a couple, the both of them had never been overly affectionate, not like other couples were and they’d been very content with that for the most part. Shin shook their head again: “I don’t know how you got to that conclusion,but-”

Kouta once again cut them off mid sentence, spitting words out as if he had no regard for them: “I see! You don’t even care. I should have known that you actually don’t want me around, I should have known you actually see me as a burden.” 

“Th-That’s not what I-” Shin tried to object, but Kouta pressed on, anger now bubbling over: “You don’t even like me, be honest, you don’t even want me as your partner, in fact, you’d like me gone.”

He breathed out heavily, as if he had just run a mile and watched Shin’s bleak face staring back. It made Kouta weirdly more furious that Shin was stuttering, that they didn’t know how to deal with the situation well enough to say anything back. There was this part of Kouta’s brain that knew he was crossing a line, running into a wall, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. A different, much louder part of his brain spurred him onwards to find out what Kouta perceived as the “truth”. 

Shin bit his lip, now themselves very angry to have to deal with this. “Stop, Kouta..” they tried weakly and opened themselves up to being run over by their partner. Kouta pressed the accelerator pedal even harder, ignoring the warning signs of the wall ahead. He breathed out dramatically and threw his hands into the air: “Well, it was something I should have expected, honestly. That you can’t be honest with your feelings towards me, that you can’t be affectionate.”

“Kouta, don’t-” Shin tried again.

“But maybe that is just how you are, you know? It's not your fault that you never learned how to express love, after all you didn’t have parents” Kouta rambled on, waving a hand through the air. Shin could feel their jaw hanging open. The hand around the knife they were still holding was shaking. They took a moment for the words to get through to their brain. To understand what Kouta was trying to imply.

“Stop,” Shin said, anger cold and vibrating in their voice.

But Kouta did not give them the satisfaction, instead, he decided to just head forward without second thoughts or pleasantries: “I mean, yes, you had step- parents…” He used the word step with air quotes, as if to imply that they didn’t count. “... but they were busy most of the time too with their real children and so you just don’t know. I mean I get it, you don’t love me, you probably never learned how love works. I guess the lessons of that mind control factory you were in are still very prevalent in your head, so you also will never love me. And as such, I’m just a burden to you, because I need you and to you I’m just a waste of-”

“Enough!”

The glass at the open window was ringing as wind pressed against it. The storm was picking up outside, blowing through trees and throwing leaves through the air. Inside the air had become heavy and low hanging, breathing in felt hard to Shin. Still with shaking hands they put the knife behind them on the kitchen counter, looked over the half prepared lunch still waiting to be cooked. They could feel their skin crawl all over, the words burning at the inside of their heads. The implication that Shin wasn’t a real child of his parents, that Shin’s Root past stopped him from feeling affectionate, that all this time, all the days they’d spent together meant nothing to Kouta at all. They turned back to their partner and looked at him. His chest was still heaving from heavy breath, but mercifully, he seemed to be done with his barrage of words.

Shin took a deep breath and put their still shaking hands together in front of them. When they looked up Kouta averted his eyes in embarrassment. Maybe his words had suddenly gotten back to him and now he felt ashamed of having said them, maybe if he had been charitable Shin would have just moved on, made lunch and forgotten about it all, but unfortunately Shin was not. The weight of the accusations were too heavy. They stretched their neck.

“I am here, in our kitchen, making our lunch and you- attack me for no other reason than to look for a way to fight. I will not dignify any of what you accused me of with a response. If you can’t- can’t see how me literally making you lunch has to do with affection and- and love, then maybe, yeah, maybe it would be better if you weren’t here,” Shin said slowly, eyes on Kouta, who was still not looking at them. A red blush ran over his face at the last words, the embarrassment now fully visible on his face. 

“Now if you want to continue your thought spiral about whatever someone has infected your brain,” Shin continued, “You are free to do so, but I will no longer be here to be your punching bag.” With that, they turned on their heels and without washing the rest of the vegetable off their hands they marched to the door, wordlessly put on their shoes and rammed the door shut as they left. All without as much as throwing a quick look at Kouta still seated at the kitchen table.

Outside, Shin suppressed the scream that was forming at the back of their throat and instead pressed their fingers tightly into their arms. They weren’t the confrontational sort, taught not to talk back from a young age, even if they knew that they were in the right. But now they felt drained from trying to contain their calm, when in reality they had wanted to shake Kouta, to air out the empty socket where his brain was supposed to be, but because they were not good at such confrontations, fleeing was the only option. Shin shook their head, smeared the still dirty fingers at their pants and marched on. Away from their own apartment, away from him.

What had even gotten into Kouta? In the morning when they had woken up next to each other he had still seemed absolutely normal. A little teasing, a little moody as he was in the morning, ready to pack up his stuff and explore around. Shin knew that was what Kouta liked doing, that he wanted to learn about every inch of the village, so they had stayed back while their partner had left. Kouta had been short when he made it back and maybe that should have been Shin’s first indication that something was wrong, but they had completely focused on preparing food for both of them. Making sure neither of them was starving, that was a form of showing affection, wasn’t it? Shin scratched their nose. Maybe they really were clueless.

Aimlessly they wandered the streets, eyes open and watching people passing them. There were surprisingly many couples out and about, arms slung around each other, bodies pressed tightly against each other and Shin felt thrown back to the time around Valentine’s Day when they’d wondered what present to get for Kouta. Back then Shin had decided on a whim to do nothing but give Kouta a day to himself (and a little chocolate) and somehow had hit the bullseye. Sure, that hadn’t been overtly couple-y, but didn’t that still show affection? Didn’t affection come in many forms? They pressed their teeth together. He had insulted them, the words still painful in their ears. What if he was right? What if they could not ever have a partner, because they couldn’t understand what love really meant? He hadn’t been wrong in saying that Shin had the principles of Root ingrained in them, but to insinuate that their step-parents hadn’t loved them…

Without noticing they had made a b-line to the hospital, which was buzzing at this time of the afternoon. Many families were coming round to visit patients there and to take them out for late lunches. Shin noticed with surprise that they weren’t hungry, at least not as much as they thought they’d be around this time of day. They stopped for a fragment of a second to let a group of people with a wheelchair pass and then their eyes fell on Kabuto. The medic-nin was sitting back against a concrete wall on the side of the building in the shadows. Kabuto was officially now working in the hospital, but he didn’t really find his way back into the village yet. While younger generations generally enjoyed working with him, older ones, especially the ones that had been around during the Orochimaru assault, distrusted him. So he kept mainly out of everybody’s way- just in case.

Feeling relieved that they had found someone that they trusted, Shin walked over to Kabuto. A friendly face really was the thing they needed right now, someone to talk to that knew Kouta very well too. They said: “Hey,” and sat down cross legged in front of Kabuto. The other man put the book down he had been reading in and fixed the glasses on his face before replying: “Hello, what brings you here?”

It was really easier with Minoru around, mostly because Shin still couldn’t pin down Kabuto correctly. “Passed by and saw you”, Shin replied and leaned back onto his flat hands. “I was out for a walk to clear my head.”

“I see,” Kabuto said, returning his gaze back to the book he was holding. The tone clearly indicated that Kabuto was not interested in knowing what they needed to clear their head about, but Shin told them anyway: “I had a fight with Kouta. Well, not really a fight, he just accused me of things that are not true.”

Kabuto sighed: “I understand that this would trouble you.” Shin closed one eye and looked at the other man with the opened one. Kabuto was still staring into the pages of his book as if he was actually concentrating. 

“He went off on me, you know? He said, because I had no family I can’t love him right,” Shin frowned at the words. The thought alone of the way Kouta had said it felt like ice in their veins. The accusation was so unfair that Shin felt like screaming again, but they weren’t a person to make a public spectacle. Instead, they buried their head in their hands and ruffled their hair a little. Sometimes Kouta really was pushing them to the edge of insanity. Kabuto watched his opposite over the pages of his book, round glasses reflecting the sun. He wasn’t really into therapy, otherwise he might have become a therapist, but clearly Shin needed a little support. Kabuto did a quick cost and result analysis in his mind and decided that yes, the cost was worth the outcome. He closed his book.

“Tell me about it”; Kabuto said, and felt dirty. Therapists were hacks and bookworms that weren’t good enough to learn anything else in medicine. But sometimes apparently even he needed to stoop to this level. “Why would Kouta say such a thing?” 

Shin looked up, thankful that Kabuto was throwing them a lifeline and grabbing it tightly with both hands: “I don’t know! He just - he’s just crazy!” They went on, hands buried in their pants, about how Kouta’s morning had been usual, about how he’d come home apparently moody and then during lunch had unloaded his questioning. How they had been a little aggressive but understandable questions about intimacy at first and then spiralled into an insult that Shin could not take. “He called them my step parents, you know?” Shin said, “He said they had “real” children they loved more than me. It’s insane.”

Kabuto hummed a little and took this all in. “First of all, from the way you have talked about it, it is clear that you know as well as me that you show Kouta intimacy every day.” Shin nodded eagerly, glad someone said out loud what they had already thought. “Kouta needs to understand that making lunch, giving housing and especially sharing a bed, even if it is not sexual, are forms of intimacy.”

“Yes, agreed,” Shin said.

“Secondly, it is moronic of Kouta to take your parents’ parenthood away from them. They adopted you and raised you, as such they chose to love you. There are no real parents or unreal parents. He should have known this”, Kabuto continued, pausing only a little to think of his words, “He has had a good family life as far as i can gather, so it has gone to his head I assume.”  Shin didn’t nod this time and instead tapped their finger onto the concrete ground: “Exactly.”

Kabuto sighed deeply: “Now, I think he clearly was spiralling in his own head and looking for a fight to justify it. Maybe he is insecure about his own way of showing intimacy and is projecting on you? Maybe he is just worried you might not love him at all and so he has put the bug into his mind. Whatever it is, that only explains the things he said. They don’t excuse it.”

Shin stopped their tapping for a second and looked at Kabuto. This thought had not even crossed their mind before, but it was true. Kouta had probably had his reasons to speak as he did, but it was not okay. He clearly had tried to hit Shin where it hurt the most, had brought up family, love and affection, all the things Shin always had issues with. He had even mentioned Root and called them out on their struggles to free themselves from the lesson they'd learnt in that organisation. Someone who loved them should have never put them through that, should have never used their past against them for a petty argument. 

“You think he meant what he said about me not being able to love?” Shin asked, voice a little insecure now with a million thoughts racing through their head all at once. 

Kabuto didn’t hesitate: “No. Not a word, I assume. But that doesn't make it alright.” Shin nodded slowly. “The ball is in your court now,” Kabuto said, opening his book again, “You don’t have to forgive him for what he said. He has insulted you to the core just for the sake of winning an argument he was clearly losing. You don’t have to accept that. You could walk away. But you could also give him a chance to apologise and move on with him.” He opened his book and considered this conversation over.

They didn’t need to forgive Kouta if they didn’t feel like he deserved an apology. Shin let the thought move through their mind. A break up was possible, especially since they’d only been with each other for such a short amount of time. They weren’t bound or married to each other, they could easily move on. But did Shin want a clean cut? They sighed as they got up. “Thanks for your help”, Shin said and Kabuto waved with his hand as if to say “No problem”, eyes never leaving the pages of his book. Shin left the shade of the hospital building and walked back to the streets.

For a while they just walked around Konoha, eyes open and aimed in front of them but not really taking in what was happening. The choice that had been laid before them was not an easy one. It hurt to think of their life without Kouta by their side, but it hurt almost equally as much to think of the words Kouta had said to them. He knew Shin so well at this point that he could quickly think of insults that would inflict lasting pain on them. How many more times would he do this? If they forgave, who was to say Kouta wouldn’t just talk like that again in a week? Shin had their hands in a fist, burying the fingernail deep into the palms. It wasn’t the first time in their live that they wished they’d be someone who was louder, more forceful, who had stopped Kouta before he’d said too much. Then, at least, they wouldn’t have to make such a big decision now.

***

It was five in the afternoon when Shin stood again in front of the door to what used to be their apartment. Kouta had just moved in with them eventually, but it had been theirs originally. Maybe they should have told him to leave, should have taken the time to eat and think everything over, but Shin had left, eaten nothing, and spent his hours thinking in circles. They still weren’t 100% sure what to do with Kouta, so they stood there for a bit, eyes on the locked door and tried to still their breathing. They weren’t a confrontational person and once they’d unlocked this door they would probably need to be one. Deep breath, hand to a fist. Shin turned the doorknob and opened the door.

First there was only quiet and darkness. The light in the hallway was not turned on and since it had no window it was always sparse with natural light. Shin slipped out of their shoes and sat in the entryway for just a moment longer when they heard the sizzling from the kitchen. Something was burning. Their eyes went wide with terror and fear. Had they forgotten to turn the stove off? No- that couldn’t be, they had not even used the stove. Still, fear gripping them tight, they ran through the hallway and pulled the kitchen door open to find Kouta standing over the stove, a panicked look on his face.

“It’s black”, Kouta said, waving a wooden spoon around like a maniac. “I don’t know what's happening, I followed instructions but it is black.” Shin sighed with relief and for a moment forgot their anger. They walked over, took the spoon out of their partner's hand and moved it through the stew in front of them. It smelled like burned wood. “What were you trying to make?” Shin said, a little disgusted.

“Curry”, Kouta pouted. “For you. I mean- for us.”

Shin took the heat down and resisted the urge to dumb the whole thing into the trash right away. They looked over to Kouta who was standing in a corner, fingers smeared with sauce. “You wanted to make us dinner?” Shin asked carefully and looked between the burned curry and their partner. 

“Normally you make food,” Kouta said without looking up.” So I thought - today… I should do it today.” 

Shin pulled a chair from the wall and sat down. They moved their hand to invite Kouta to sit down too. Suddenly Shin remembered again why they had taken so long to come back, why they  had to be a little confrontational with their partner right now. They had been so happy for a second to hear that Kouta had made an effort for the both of them that they had totally forgotten. Kouta sat down, eyes still averted. “So…” Shin said.

Before they could continue with their sentence, Kouta cut in: “I know.” He pulled a string of his hair around his finger. “I know I’ve been an asshole. Earlier. I was… terrible.”

That was definitely one thing Shin had wanted to hear. They laughed a little: “You can say that again.”

“I saw some people outside holding each other and holding hands and I kind of thought that we never did that…” Kouta continued.

“I thought neither of us needed that. Surely not in public,” Shin said.

Kouta looked up: “And I still don’t! I don’t know what really got into me. I thought, since Shin does not do that, surely they don’t love me. And when all I wanted to hear was that you say that you love me even if we aren't - well, a couple that is so close, instead of asking that I just…. you know. You were there.”

Shin nodded: “You insulted me for no reason.”

“I did”, Kouta’s voice was weaker than Shin had ever heard it. “And I’m sorry. I’m sorry alright? I got so angry so suddenly and I couldn’t really stop myself from pushing further. It was like watching myself talk and wondering “what are you doing?” you know? I sat here after you left and realised the words that had come out of my mouth. None of that was something I actually think, I swear, I just. … I don’t know what I was thinking.”

It was somewhat a relief to Shin that they’d been completely right in thinking that Kouta hadn’t tried to insult them on purpose and the apology made their heart a little lighter. This was a good start, but an apology alone was not enough. They bit their lip a little facing their own partner head on. It was time to become just a little confrontational. For both their sakes: 

“I appreciate the apology,” Shin started, fingers in a fist again, “I’m glad you realised that you went too far. I want you to know and understand that what you said to me is unacceptable and that you really did hurt me. I tried to intercept your spiral but you just wouldn't let me.” Kouta averted his eyes again. “Listen, it is okay. I can forgive you this time, but I can’t promise I will forgive you a second time, so make sure it does not happen again.”

They stopped for a second and their eyes found Kouta’s orange ones again. He was visibly relieved, a thankful look on his face. He breathed out as if he had held it in and Shin too felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Breaking up without at least giving Kouta the chance to learn and to improve would have felt too harsh to them, no matter how justified. Now the ball was in his court again and all Shin could do was hope that he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. 

“About the subject of your anger,” Shin started and broke the moment of silence between them, “I am not as intimate as other people, you are right..”

Kouta intercepted immediately: “No, forget that, I was just-”

“No, I want to say something. I thought we had an understanding that said that we weren’t going to be a very public couple. I thought that for both of us it would be enough to love each other in the privacy of our home. In here, I think I show you plenty of intimacy and love. In fact, when you screamed at me I was trying to prepare food for us to eat. That is love language, which you clearly know as you tried to do the same thing just now. So I don’t want to hear stuff like that ever again.”

They looked over to Kouta, who had his head hanging a little like an animal with ears hanging down. He looked almost cute when he was remorseful, and for the first time since the morning Shin couldn’t help but smile. “If you want affirmations about how much I love spending time with you and like you, I can give those to you at every opportunity. Just don’t try to bait them out by yelling at me next time”, Shin finished.

At these words Kouta got up and took a step to stand in front of Shin. For a moment Shin thought he was trying to give them headbutt, but Kouta stopped when their foreheads were softly touching each other. “I really am sorry,” he whispered, moving his head right and left along theirs. Shin searched for his free hand and pressed it: “I know.” They both closed their eyes and remained like that for a moment. 

“I'm an idiot,” Kouta mumbled and Shin laughed: “Couldn’t have said it better.” They opened their eyes again and found their partner’s still closed. They just looked at the face that was so familiar to them and still there was so much to learn about it. Sometimes Kouta was more a wild animal than a young man and Shin liked that, even if it came with obstacles to be overcome. 

“Well, if we have that established, maybe we can see if there is something to salvage from the dinner you tried to make?” Shin knocked their head slightly into their partner’s and Kouta grinned that it showed his canine teeth.

#fanfiction things #oc: kouta #the cover art is so so so so cute and soto is rightfully losing his mind #anyway these donation fics will be over soon because all 3 of us are burning out so i have one more and then im done #just... nobody will read these tags but yea anyway #bb

[asknarashikari]

Mamato and Emu: *Screaming loudly* We are sick of your guy's shit!!!

Chaos is everywhere and they became so angry that the punch a hole into the dimensional gates and drag me out of my nap.

Emu: You... Fix this shit!

Me: *groans* I was right in the middle of...

Mamato: Just do it!

Me: Fine... *claps 3 times and snaps once*

Everyone is shrunk and in tiny prison cages, individually.

Me: Hold on. Let me organize for you guys.

Me: There.

Mamato and Emu: Thank you... *huffs*

Shinnosuke, Takeru, Sougo, Right, Juuru, and Kaito G.: How come...

Me: Can I go now?

Emu: At least there is a reliable person in the multiverse. Because everyone here is unreliable most of the time!

Kouta: Hey guys. Wha.... Oh. *looks and blinks* Pffftt... *lol* Smol.

Mamato: How long does this last?

Me: As long as you need it to be. And here are the magic words for you two. It'll release them one by one or in groups. Easy peasy. Simple instructions, I know.

I leave to go back to sleep.

Mamato and Emu: Now what shall we do with these birds in cages... *evil devious smiles* *evil laughter ensues*

Everyone else that's not in cages: *terrified* We'll leave now.

...Well, that's one way to control the shenanigans, I guess

[museguided]

@secondtrumphet​ sent: [ AWAY ]: the sender, using their fingertips, tenderly sweeps a few strands of hair out of the receiver’s face so as to see them more clearly. (To Mika. ^^)

things done with hair prompts

“Ne, Yuu-chan,” Mika whispered, idly poking at the boy’s ribs, “are you sleeping?”

It shouldn’t be surprising; they had quite the day corralling the kids. What was supposed to be a quick shopping trip turned into an adventure when Kouta wanted to tag along, which prompted Fumie to join, and eventually everyone was invited to go out. Of course, he had to break down and buy candy for Ako when she gave him puppy eyes- which meant candy for everyone to be fair- an act he regretted late in the evening when everyone was hyped on sugar. The director had even stepped in to keep them all in line until it was time to clean up and go to bed.

He remembered Yuu had stayed up with him to ensure that everyone fell asleep and caused no more trouble. He had flopped on his own futon, mumbling incoherently at whatever Yuu was saying, then he was down for the count- only to wake an hour later by some nightmare he couldn’t recall. Of course, Yuu would be asleep and he should just go back to bed, too.

He stopped prodding Yuu and curled his hands in his lap. His eyelids felt heavy as he stared enviously at Yuu’s unbothered expression. All the while, he still felt the cold trembles of his fear wrack his insides and he frowned at himself. Slowly, he lied down on the floor beside him, staring at his profile for any tell that he may actually wake up, silently imploring him to wake on his own. It’s alright if he didn’t, he reasoned with himself, because they’re both the same age and he could take care of his own demons.

Before he knew it, he had fallen back asleep and woke with the sun in his eyes- or more specifically, the brush of a hand across his forehead, pushing blond strands away. “Mmn,” he whined despite himself, usually up and awake early in the morning. He squinted through the light and blinked as he focused on the emerald green of Yuu’s eyes. Still curled up in a ball, Mika slowly reached up and pushed his fingertips into the palm that lingered on his hair, not sure if he wanted to remind Yuu that it was there or if he still sought comfort.

Yuu’s knuckles pressed against his forehead as his other hand slid under his own bangs. Mika watched his brow furrow and blinked slowly, still in a groggy daze. “G-G’ morning, Yuu-”

His mouth snapped shut as Yuu cut him off and told him he was burning up. Oh. Mika rolled to his back and tried to push himself up, feeling his limbs protest. “It was pretty cold last night,” he replied with a grimace, pursing his lips when asked why he slept there to begin with. “Could you help me up?” he asked instead, trusting Yuu with his full weight as he leaned on him.

“I’m sorry.” The words came unbidden as he focused on his feet. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to apologize, but with his arm draped across Yuu’s shoulder, he squeezed him lightly. Reassured himself that Yuu was there. “I mean... I think you’ll have to take care of the kids with Akane for me today. ‘M sorry, Yuu-chan.”

#secondtrumphet #(ask. games) #(ic. Mikaela Hyakuya) #(actual babies~)

[seputarpapuacom]

Tiga Klub Ramaikan Piala Pertiwi Cup Zona Papua

JAYAPURA | Sebanyak tiga klub sepakbola wanita akan berlaga pada Piala Pertiwi Cup tahun 2022 yang dipusatkan di Stadion Mandala Jayapura pada 28 Februari-10 Maret 2023. Ketiga klub sepakbola wanita tersebut, yakni Persidafon Dafonsolo, Persemi Mimika dan Toli FC. Selain memperebutkan kouta tiket ke babak Nasional, kata Ketua Panitia Usman G. Wanimbo sekaligus Ketua Asosiasi Sepak Bola Wanita…

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[cdbrainrecords]

和田弘とマヒナ・スターズ* = Hiroshi Wada & His Mahina Stars* / 松平直樹 / 松尾和子 = Kazuko Matsuo* - お座敷小唄 = Ozashiki Kouta (7")

和田弘とマヒナ・スターズ* = Hiroshi Wada & His Mahina Stars* / 松平直樹 / 松尾和子 = Kazuko Matsuo* – お座敷小唄 = Ozashiki Kouta (7″)

Vinyl(VG) Sleeve(VG+) / コンディション　盤 : Very Good (VG) コンディション　ジャケット : Very Good Plus (VG+) コンディションの表記について　  [ M > M- > VG+ > VG > G+ > G > F > P ] レーベル : Victor – SV-77 フォーマット : Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM, Stereo 生産国 : Japan 発売年 : 1964-08-00 ジャンル : Pop スタイル : Vocal   収録曲 :  A. Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars, 松平直樹, 松尾和子 – お座敷小唄 = Ozashiki Kouta 3:22B. Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars – マヒナのさのさ = Mahina No Sanosa…

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[xglaukoma]

Kouta bebe de luz

*blushes*

—¿G-graciass? —

#;kouta answers #;anon #no está acostumbrado a recibir halagos de desconocidos (?)

[jinjofitzo]

no one’s awake post an art dump

and then i did!!

i surprisingly haven’t made a lot of art recently, i’m planning on drawing after i post this, but yeah.. cool!

#jf.art #art #oc #u_d #untitled_document #jf.tosia #(there’s a lot of . tosia in this. and his personas) #oc: linus #oc: kouta #persona #(everyone else is just. us lol) #g/t #g/t fluff #g/t art #g/t fearplay #oooo #uh… idk what else to tag this #giant/tiny #g/t community

[herosname]

//me: thinks about deku’s fight with muscular

me:

#MY BOY AT THE AGE OF 15 WAS 100% WILLING TO DIE FOR A CHILD HE DIDN'T KNOW #GOD DAMN IZUKU MIDORIYA WAS BORN TO BE A HERO #LIKE HE L E G I T THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE #SAYING SORRY TO HIS MOM AND ALL MIGHT LIKE #FU CK #THAT HUR T S SO MUCH #BUT HE DID IT!!!! #AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS #'someday you'll meet someone who will be-' #cUT TO KOUTA CRYING AND SAYING 'my hero.........' #GETS ME EVERY TI ME SHIT #; ooc

[norihisahyuga-archived]

#kamen rider gaim #kouta kazuraba #kaito kumon #mai takatsukasa #me: i don't care about toku anymore #also me: i need to make this one gaim gifset real quick #*g: mine #*g: krgaim

[alvcrd]

—Did your promises come to pass?     Where’s your GOD?

Where’s your K I N G D O M?       What’s the matter?             Answer me, King?             MAD KING!

ALVCRD !! — — —A study in vampirism, self-hatred, and resilience feat. ALUCARD from Kouta Hirano’s HELLSING !!

18+. Penned adoringly by Luna. promo by @sosordid

#indie rp #anime rp #horror rp #manga rp

[zeldaspeaks]

Hellsing - The Valentine Brothers

#hellsing #jan valentine #luke valentine #kouta hirano #u g h i love them #it's all your fault beezl :p

[asknarashikari]

Me: Welcome to the 18+ side of my place. Today's competition is... Female Fantasy Armor.

Emu: *gulps*

Me: No no... I'll be showing the your AU versions first before you guys can enter. *pops up the Gallery* Here they are.

Everyone: *eyes widen* WTF!

Shinnosuke: Hey. How come...

Me: You're not part of this and so is Kouta because the two of you don't fit into this kind of category. So, Gou and Micchy replaces your spot.

Shinn and Kouta: You got a point.

Touma: 2nd place??? AU Kento and Myself won 2nd place? What's with this get-up?! Really? A g-string attach to the above chest shirt with strings and metal rings? It looks so tight!

Me: They were double trouble. And really made their Ren really... you know what.

Takeru: *mortified* 3rd place... and why is my butt show while wear that?!

Me: Yeah...

Takeru and Touma: *faints*

Aruto: Why is my au a skimpy version of a sailor scout?

Me: That was his Isamu's choice.

Aruto: Huh... Nothing has change from this au.

Emu: I won... I mean my au self won 1st place. I can already guess why.

Me: You're about right. Gamer.

Emu: Yep. 😊

Me: Not only does it had to be lewd and skimpy... it can be designed to be awesome to.

Emu: Hiiro is going to love mines.

Me: Alright that about set... Oh most of you fainted. Those remaining may enter. Not you Tsukasa. Your part of the audience not the dressing room.

Tsukasa: Whatever. *shrugs*

Me, reading the first part: ...Oh dear. Who's going to be subjected to Random's horniness this time?

Me, continuing to read: I shouldn't be surprised, but I am

#kamen rider #ask #i-am-randomtrash00

[magicpotatothoughts]

REVIEW | My Thoughts on Kono Oto Tomare!

MENTIONS: Kono Oto Tomare 1st and 2nd season spoilers, Haikyuu Spoilers, musical analysis in an anime, treatment of music as a storytelling device and music as a non-diegetic device

I don't know why as a musician/composer, I have so many PTW music-themed anime but I always feel to some degree a bit too scared to start them. But somehow after coming across Kono Oto Tomare! on a funny anime moments compilation video on youtube, I decided to give this series a try. I was curious about this series because of a few reasons: 1) I saw a noticeable difference between MAL score for the first and second seasons 2) the art looked so clean and beautiful, similar to that Chihayafuru, one of my favourite josei series. I was so surprised to also find out that Kono Oto Tomare! was in fact labelled as shounen so I was curious as to see how a club-focused anime on a traditional instrument such as the koto would play out. After completing both seasons I have to say, I'm really glad I gave this series a go! But I do have quite a bit of mixed feelings around it. And I think partially that comes from my background in music. I want to talk about music in this anime as three separate things: 1) Music as a plot and thematic device, now be labelled as "Musical Practice" 2) Diegetic music any music that the characters play and hear that are the "Koto music" 3) Non-diegetic music that enhance the drama of the story that the characters can't hear which are the bgm "background music"

THEME - MUSICAL PRACTICE

Musical Practice in this anime is dealt with absolutely fantastically. To be honest, I was nervous for this anime because it is something quite complicated and might not able to be well-illustrated or explained to someone without formal musical training, but this anime actually does this quite well. Kono Oto Tomare! was able to cover quite complex issues such as: a) Teaching and Performing are different things b) trust between duet partners c) watching someone play and explaining music works differently for people (Chika is 100% a visual learner) d) Performance anxiety and how to overcome it e) Ensemble dynamics on and off-stage, how to recover on-stage f) cues (Houzuki giving a louder downbeat and Kouta helping everyone mentally recover g) the importance of focusing on polishing the basics and even one note h) difference between classical and modern repertoires i) difference between what judges value in competitions j) composition and arrangement and the relationship between the creator and performer h) roles within the ensemble and how to bring out the abilities of your other players I am so incredibly impressed at the vastness of issues that the managed to cover in a mere 26 episodes of 2 seasons. I think it was a huge feat that the mangaka/studio tried to incorporate all of that on top of trying to get the audience comfortable with the koto, which I presume alot of people actually won't know much about or even heard about. Tackling Musical Practice and especially one that is instrumental, rather than vocal (like in NANA), without words it's quite hard to explain music. I felt like they managed to explain the key aspects of musical playing and ensemble work quite well. Of course as a composer, I liked the focus on composition and arranging, I wished there was even more of a focus on that, I wished more music anime focused on the art of composition. I also really enjoyed their tackling of the Festival Arc performance, when someone makes a mistake, people spiralling and then them recovering mid-performance and it changes the mood of the performance. That's absolutely something that happens in real life and that Episode 13 Season 1 was really well written. Another highlight was when Touka couldn't understand the upbeats and the club advisor helped him (kinaesthetically) to remove a sticky-note. Changes in ways of teaching really changes the results of how well students receive the knowledge!

PLOT AND CHARACTER

Since the story is so inherently tied to character growth and dynamics, I think it's inevitable that I talk about these two categories together. This is also the section of the blog where my feelings for this anime gets a bit murky. Once again, I wanted to say, I think it's really interesting just how much character development they tried to pack into 26 episodes. Not only did we get background and flashbacks on all of our main characters but also our rival school teams as well as the the teachers and I really liked the consistent highlight of the relationship between the elderly and the youth. It's really adorable that the old grandma and Chika's grandpa made constant appearances and definitely are shown to have had a huge positive impact on Chika and the other characters. I think it's really refreshing to see that in an anime, especially also when dealing with a traditional instrument such as the Koto, the threads between historical and modern worlds are strongly tied. I also enjoyed the foil of Houzuki and Akira, both were in a way rivals to begin with but they were equally sustaining pressures from the older generation and music became less fun. As a musician, I really related to that. I did absolutely adore about the anime are: a) the humour moments between the characters b) THANK GOODNESS, no fan-service! c) The amazing amount of focus on the female characters. I loved the focus on all the main female leads and their struggles. This is why even after watching it, it felt so much like a Josei anime to me. d) the show has amazing dialogue and quotes that were extremely profound and actually However, the focus on the sheer LARGE number of characters and their growth was certainly, at least in my opinion, a double-edged sword for Kono Oto Tomare! Each of the character's focus/flashbacks are episodic and in some ways, heart-felt moments are glossed over too quickly while some moments felt too dramaticised....A whole 10 minutes dedicated to flashbacks feel really off. It maybe got slightly better in the second season but generally speaking, this vast focus on many characters made me feel like I was playing a role-playing game like Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ because there was character growth don't get me wrong, they feel interrupted or could have slowly been revealed over several episodes. I don't know if the studio was trying to take an approach similar to Haikyuu!!, but I think the reason why Haikyuu works well in the later seasons by episodically focusing on the other characters is because the other teams are well assigned in a prescribed role on the court, there are already pre-established lovable foils of them in the Kurasuno team. This is why I think the audience loves them straight away and that small episodic flashback enhances the love that we already feel for them while also highlighting the small quirks that makes them unique. Take Atsumu and Osumu, immediately looking at them for two seconds, their competitiveness feel akeen to Hinata and Kageyama's. Kono Oto Tomare! doesn't quite work because in ensembles, roles change as with each piece and the characters in the rival schools are incredibly different from our Tokise High School. But that's not to say they weren't cool characters, they were, but I wished the studio were more selective about which characters to focus on and TAKE THEIR TIME in allowing us as the audience to form a genuine and strong bond with our characters.

MUSIC

Another incredibly murky category. The thing that frustrates me about this anime is that there are things that are done SO INCREDIBLY WELL and then there are things that are subpar in comparison. The Koto Music in this anime is absolutely stunning. I know nothing about koto music or the instrument.Every single koto piece that was showcased in this anime was so beautiful. It was such a delight for me to find out that actually Migiwa Hashimoto, the sister of the mangaka actually wrote Tenkyu and some of the other pieces. At first, I didn't really care for Tenkyu when I heard the opening, but the arrangement, despite it being similar to a 4-chord modern song, is actually quite complicated and beautiful. I was incredibly impressed at how touching that piece is. I very much enjoyed the wealth of repertoires from the other schools as well as Tenkyu's transformation from a 'desperate scream' into a 'warm-cry'. I loved how each time, I could hear the Koto club levelling up in their skill-level in each subsequent repertoire that they performed.

HOWEVER, the background music....especially for a music anime....was mediocre to say the least and the treatment of it was so disappointing at its worst. I don't really like any of the OP and ED themes, I enjoyed the cool Koto arrangement of the first OP theme and that's it. BUT, the biggest let-down isn't the background music itself, it's the poor placement, editing and directing of the music. Firstly, background music was playing at least 95% of the time. The overuse of music means that the audience don't have enough time to gather their own emotions. Emotions are prescribed to them and they can distract from the wonderful dialogue that we actually have in the show. Secondly, the background music feels like it came straight out of a music library and transitions weren't carefully considered at all. Take for example, in certain scenes, Chika would say something profound that was heartwarming for another character and then all of a sudden it was back to humour but there is literally no fade or anything sort of harmonic transition that made the background music in this anime cohesive at all. But take Made in Abyss where the background music is seamlessly weaved together and the transition from creeping dread to devastating dread is gorgeously illustrated. Or take any episode of Natsume's Book of Friends and listen to how seamless the final piano track melts into the ED credits of each episode. Natsume doesn't even have a mindblowing ost at all but you can definitely tell that the music editting was carefully considered to allow emotions to be paced well and flow comfortably from one scene to another. Kono Oto Tomare! made me disappointed in the music department because for a music-themed anime, I guess my expectations were set higher than most anime when listening out for the music and I feel so conflicted because the standards between the Koto music and the background music are worlds apart. Voice acting was good! I didn't have much to comment about it! I think the female voice actors portrayed the females really well, especially Houzoki slowly becoming less cold and warmer.

ANIMATION

Art style is really clean and beautiful! The colours and really soft and pleasant on the eyes, which is another reason why I thought this anime was josei or shoujo! It kind of makes me wonder why we have these categories in the first place for club-themed/passion-themed animes, I think we shouldn't categorise them based on gendered demographic since they are really similar! So much of the anime kind of reminded of other anime, which I guess is not a good thing or a bad thing, like I think that's why in the first place it sort of drew me to watching the anime. Like the three idiots in this anime reminded of of the three idiots in Maid Sama, some of the character designs reminded of Your Lie in April. However, I feel like the character designs were a bit plain, I wished there were something small aesthetically about them that were added to make them stand out from all the other school-based anime.

The three idiots from this anime and Maid Sama

Kurata and Kazusa from this anime and Your Lie in April MC

I don't know the budget for this anime but I can 100% tell that the studio spent all their budget on Ep 5, Ep 13 S1 and Ep 12 of S2, which are all the main Koto Performances sequences. The animation of the Koto performances are absolutely breathtaking, the camera angles, the smoothness of the hand movements, the vibration of the strings, the body movements of the players, the visualisations of the notes and the score, everything is superbly done. So therefore, it saddens me to say that therefore the other episodes just felt a bit underwhelming because there was a lot of still-pan shots. But I think they got away with a lot of it because of how pretty the colours and the clean look of the art-style is. I wished, and this is in relation to the story, music and animation categories, that they just showed the rehearsal koto pieces for a bit longer. This is what I noticed a lot with other "arts/sports-related" anime, (I also gave Welcome to the Ballroom this feedback) that because I think the studios are scared that showing us the final product multiple times because they think that multiple showings could lose our reaction to the final stage performance, we get like literally 1 second snapshots of characters rehearsing the piece or demonstrating a piece in rehearsals. I don't think so! Academic research shows that familiarity of a piece/work through repetition actually enhances how much we like a work! I don't think they needed to show an entire performance, but literally we got max 10 seconds of a piece during rehearsals and that's simply not enough. An anime I think that does this well to show the evolution of a work improving is Yuri!! on Ice where we see a few repetitions of the same work, Eros, first danced by Victor, then subtle improvements from Yuri as the series progresses. I think that was so superbly well done and one of the most memorable performances according to that anime's fandom. Kono Oto Tomare! is such an interesting anime because I don't think a music anime has really made me think this hard about 'music' in an anime before and how it's treated and utilised or how it's addressed as a story device. All in all, I am really glad I watched it and i want to commend on Platinum Vision for giving this a really good crack! I am aware that this studio has only been operating for 5 years (3 if you consider when this anime was released!) and they decided to take many risks with this anime, they tried to pack so much into 26 episodes. Also LOVE the amount of FEMALE development in this anime! This studio has a lot of potential! I will be expecting a lot more from them in the coming years and I know that they will get up there with the big names like Madhouse and Kyoto Animation and create some truly amazing works!

Final Score: 🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔/10

#anime thoughts #anime analysis #musical analysis #kono oto tomare! #haikyuu!! #ballroom e youkoso #yuri on ice #koto music #koto #ensemble #musical practice #diegetic music #non diegetic music #ensemble skills #performance anxiety