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obey-me-headquarters · 1 year

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Because I'm currently dealing my own case of insomnia these last few days, I give you:

How the demon brothers deal with an insomniac Mc.

Lucifer:

• Ah, he knows exactly what that's like....

• Even though he's also a terrible insomniac on account of how little he sleeps, he still scolds you when he sees that you're still up.

• What a hypocrite.

• After he scolds you he's still making you tea or something else soothing if you don't like tea.

• He'll push his work to the side for now as he puts on one of his relaxing records.

• The two of you can sit in silence and listen or talk about RAD.

• When you finally do fall asleep he gently carries you to his bed.

• If you're unable to fall asleep he makes sure that no one bugs you at breakfast and tells you that if you're feeling tired at RAD you can go home and rest.

Mammon:

• He's actually a bit of an insomniac himself.

• When his mind starts to race with money making schemes he can find it difficult to sleep.

• Hence his habit of hitting up the casino late at night.

• When he notices you're up late he scolds you (Big Brother instincts popping up).

• But he still leads you into his room for a movie night.

• Picks out movies that are slow paced in the hopes that it'll lull you to sleep.

• If they do then he quietly turns off the TV and drapes a blanket over you.

• Whispers "Good night Mc" before cuddling up on the other side of the couch and going to sleep.

• If you don't and you're still awake come morning, you'll probably have to wake him up for breakfast.

• He definitely fell asleep during the movies lol. He tried to stay up for you but couldn't.

• Asks if you were able to fall asleep and when you say you couldn't he makes sure no one bothers you during breakfast or at RAD.

• He wakes down the hallways demanding that people be quiet and get out of your way.

Levi:

• Has a terrible sleep schedule himself.

• Since he does online school he can do his schoolwork whenever. So it doesn't matter if he wakes up at 8am or 8pm.

• He often tries to force himself to stay awake so he can continue to watch anime/play games even though his eyes are burning.

• But when you are unable to sleep he suggests reading manga because blue light can make it harder to fall asleep.

• The two of you end up reading mange together while watching Henry swim around in his tank.

• It's actually really relaxing and has a good chance of lulling you to sleep.

• If you're able to fall asleep Levi will verrrrrrry carefully wrap a blanket around you. He's terrified of accidentally waking you up.

• If you stay awake he tries to convince Lucifer to let you say home. Saying that he'll make you two will do schoolwork together.

• (You two don't to schoolwork, you two game instead.)

Satan:

• Ah, he read how to cure insomnia in this book! Let him just find it!

• ..... it's somewhere around here....

• .... no matter, he memorized what was in that book anyway!

• He makes you tea and other home remedies to help you fall asleep.

• He also heard reading to someone can help them asleep - it's not like he wants to read to you with your head in his lap! He's just trying to help!

• Yes, Satan will read you a bedtime story.

• Yes, he will tuck you into bed too.

• Satan actually picks out a mystery to read to you before bed, so now you don't actually want to fall asleep. You want to know what happens.

• The two of you spend the night on the edges of your seats as Satan reads you the novel.

• When your alarm for RAD goes off you two realize that you spent the night reading and not sleeping.

• ....oops.

• Now you're both dead tired going to RAD.

• At least Satan keeps anyone from bothering you, as he snarls at anyone who gets too close to him when he's cranky.

Asmo:

• Oh no, don't you know lack of sleep is terrible for your skin!

• It's not like you chose to be an insomniac, Asmo.

• He fully believes that a lack of a proper nightly routine is what's causing your insomnia.

• Prepares a full nighty routine for you, from drinking relaxing tea to a bath to face masks Asmo prepares it all.

• Does not allow you to use your phone an hour before bed as bluelight is bad for you.

• You two end up chatting as he puts skincare products on you.

• He definitely has a whitenoise machine. He says it helps "block out the chaos" (aka his chaotic brothers) before bed.

• If you're still unable to sleep Asmo is willing to stay up and chat.

• But Asmo does need his beauty sleep so he ends up falling asleep pretty quickly.

• When he wakes up he asks you if you were able to fall asleep last night.

• If you did then congratulations! You now have a new nighty routine that Asmo insists you do every night!

• Good habits create good skin!

• If you didn't then he'll pout, but say that nobody finds their perfect shade on the first try!

• He's willing to try out a new routine tonight! He heard all about this new trend where people work up a sweat before going to bed...

• .... oh no, you may have created a monster. Good luck trying to fall asleep normally now.

Beel:

• Pouts when you tell him that you're an insomniac and sometimes can't sleep no matter how hard you try.

• He understands, sometimes he gets so hungry that he finds it hard to sleep.

• Suggest eating before going to bed with a full stomach as he always feels sleepy after eating a big meal.

• Thank Diavolo Asmo didn't overhear this, you're not supposed to eat before bed!

• After raiding Hell's Kitchen (Thank Diavolo it's open 24/7) you two lay down in Beel's bed and try to sleep.

• But the food doesn't exactly help with falling asleep, and Beel notices that.

• He offers to go on a run because he always feels tired after exercising!

• Yeah, so now you're running around the Devildom while Beel leisurely jogs next to you.

• When you return to the House of Lamentation you can't feel your legs anymore.

• If you pass out from exhaustion Beel counts this as a success. Until you tell him you're unable to walk when you wake up because your legs are too sore.

• Well, now you'll get a lot of rest?

• If you're still unable to fall asleep when you return from your run Beel offers to stay awake to keep you company.

• But you shoe him into bed because both of don't need to go to RAD exhausted tomorrow.

• At RAD he offers to carry you around everywhere and glares at anyone whose being too loud.

Belphie:

• I headcanon Belphie as being able to magically put people to sleep because he's the Avatar of Sloth so your sleep problem gets fixed pretty uneventfully.

• But if he can't do that Belphie will try to get you to sleep by taking out his most comfy bedding and offers to sleep next to you.

• Body warmth is supposed to lull people into sleep, don't you know? So why don't you two cuddle up together?

• Trust him, he's the Avatar of Sloth, he knows what he's talking about.

• If you're still unable to sleep he'll talk to you about stars and constellations, hopefully, that his calm and steady voice will lull you into sleep.

• If it does then he's extremely smug and wraps an arm around you before going to sleep himself.

• If you don't? Well....

• .... snore, mimimi

• Yeah sorry, but Belphie accidentally falls asleep. Hey, don't blame him! The bedding he picked out is really comfy!

• He was genuinely trying to stay up to keep you company but after a while his own voice lulls him into sleep.

• When you wake him up for RAD and he finds that you couldn't sleep he suggests pretending that he fell asleep on top of you and wouldn't wake up. So you're forced to stay home from RAD.

#obey me #obey me nb #obey me nightbringer #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #i cant believe i didnt make a counting sheep joke in this lol

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room-surprise · 3 months

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Dungeon Meshi Season 1 EP 5 review

Episode 5 of the anime came out and we got to see Kabru!!! My boy Kabru!!! Oh right there was other stuff after the first five minutes.

KABRU THOUGH!!!

I don't actually have a lot to say about this episode. I thought it was competent, although as always characters standing around and talking, or doing simple tasks like eating, are just not Trigger's strong point.

Has anybody deciphered the language that Kui is using in the backgrounds? SO HAPPY that her glyphs are here now, instead of the Japanese in the first episode. I've tried to figure out what they are, but I'm honestly stumped. Seems like a combination of Norse runes, Greek letters, Cuneiform and Sanskrit...

Was NOT a fan of the way they overdid Kabru scaring Mikbell. It's really not a joke that's even that funny, so I think the lighting change and drama of it was really overselling it. Would have been much better if it was like in the manga, some childish, light-hearted ribbing between friends while they get ready to leave.

Although it was VERY VERY funny, I was also not a fan of the youtube-poop-esque zoom out on Marcille when she sees the treasure bugs. Like Laios' galaxy brain moment, comedic edits like this remind me that I'm watching a TV show, instead of allowing me to be immersed in the historical fantasy world. If I wanted modern jokes I'd be watching an Isekai where the characters are in a video game, not Dungeon Meshi.

I think they could have gotten an equally good laugh just from doing a simple zoom out.

I love the way they're depicting Laios. You can clearly see all the red flags his friends are picking up on and how he might be scary to others, but he's also very sympathetic and sweet.

All the Japanese VA's are doing a great job. I liked Kabru's Japanese voice a little better than his English voice just because I think he did a better job capturing Kabru's dual nature - he started out very sweet and cute, and then dropped his timbre noticeably once he was no longer sweet-talking someone. The English voice actor meanwhile felt like their voice basically stayed the same the entire episode.

THE DUB

This is still the better way to watch the show, the subtitles are SO lacking that they make the story harder to follow. The dub script, meanwhile, does a much better job. I wonder if there's a way to watch it with Japanese audio and the English dub subtitles?

BangZoom continues to make interesting casting decisions that make me VERY curious to see how they're going to handle the elves when they finally arrive.

Kabru, Daya and Kuro are all voiced by black voice actors! Rin's voice actress is Asian American, and Namari's voice actress is nonbinary. They all sound fantastic and I'm excited to hear them develop their characters as the series progresses.

Obviously Kabru isn't black, he's Indian, but Zon also isn't black, so I appreciate casting people of color to play characters of color (?) or at least, characters that are minorities? It feels like that's what they're trying to do.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Daya is very much not a minority or a character of color... I suppose that would be a case of race-blind casting? Which is also a good practice, getting new, underutilized talent into the industry... But obviously not a part of the previous point. Regardless, she sounds great.

Again, REALLY wonder how this will influence their casting decisions with the elves. Wonder if any of this was done with instruction from Trigger or Kui, or if it's 100% BangZoom operating on their own.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dunmeshi #my stuff #review #spoilers #dungeon meshi anime #dungeon meshi anime spoilers

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formulaorange · 4 months

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2024 Winter Anime

It's here! It's finally here!!! Solo Leveling comes out this season! There's definitely a few others to keep an eye out for but this is the star of the winter season:

Solo Leveling One of my most anticipated series. I'm caught up on the english light novels (8 volumes) and I'm honestly so invested in this story. In a way it gives the same impact as One Punch Man but if the story progressed a little faster toward fame and growth in his power. Easily the best of the season. Noteworthy On Going Shows: Frieren - Episodes 17-28 One of the most mesmerizing and well paced fantasies I've seen. Also one of my 10/10s of all time. Worth looking into if you remotely like fantasy. Shangri La Frontier - Episodes 14-25 Another fantasy game series that honestly just looks like it's a fun game. Explores a lot of game mechanics within this full-dive VR type game that almost puts SAO to shame. Fun action, fantasy and fun for game lovers. Apothecary Diaries - Episodes 13-24 My current favourite drama/romance/medical mystery series. The characters are simple but the show highlights the different dynamics and almost feels like an enemies to lovers plot. New Seasons:

Blue Exorcist - Season 3 This is one of the og shows I watched growing up. It's a mythology school themed show that I loved. It's been 13 years since season 1 aired and I'm stoked to see it come back. It's being done by a different studio since A-1 is busy with solo leveling, so I'm not sure if it'll hit the same but I'll still check it out at least for the nostalgia.

Mashle - Season 2 The funniest anime I've seen in a while. Man muscle brains his way through magic school and the whole show is a meme of harry potter and other magic series. Truly entertaining. Can't wait for this season

Delicious In Dungeon This is a series I've wanted to pick up the manga for for a while. It's about dealing with food and hunger when these adventurers are deep in a dungeon and learn to start cooking and eating what they can find down there. Funny concept but honestly looks like a lot of fun.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer I read this manga and light novel so long ago. (Literal years - link to my manga thoughts and summary). I'm looking forward to the adaptation. I think nowadays this kind of story doesn't catch nearly as much attention as it did a few years ago. An adventurer dies in a dungeon and is reborn as an undead who can evolve as he kills other monsters and he deals with trying to fit in with the human realm again and evolving. I'm still looking forward to it after keeping an ear our for so long!

Mr. Villain's Day Off I recently heard about this series and thought it was such a cute concept. Us with all our villain complexes with enjoy this one. Will likely be a background show for me as there won't be a huge plot, regardless, still fun to watch. Burn the Witch - #0.8 - 30 min Special I think this won't be as exciting now that Bleach has come back and we aren't as depraved of Tite Kubo's work but I really enjoyed the original short series. Hoping for more of this world in the future. Sequels: Classroom of the Elite - Season 3 Tsukimichi - Season 2 (Link to review of season 1) The Dangers in My Heart - Season 2 More Continuations: Undead Unluck Ragna Crimson After going through 20+ shows every season, many with sub-par animations and the same fantasy twists, I've become real picky about which series are even worth trying to watch these days. Here are the ones that deserve at least 2 episodes in order: A Sign of Affection - Gets a special spot since it's incredibly rare to see disability representation in anime and it looks like it's done quite well- A romance between a guy and a deaf girl. Looks super sweet Bucchigiri?! - I honestly can't say this looks appealing to me personally but I've hear the name before and well it's MAPPA. (Give em a break) 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess - looks well animated and just a fun watch Metallic Rouge - The sci-fi series for this season. I'm not sure I have it in me to watch something heavy like this this season but it looks decent. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic The Witch and the Beast - Here for manga readers - lowkey looks like the manga will be much better and this might be a skip for me. Hokkaido Gyaru's are super Adorable (Ecchi) ALSO - Big reminder: Haikyu!! and Demon Slayer have their movies coming out this season as well (both theatrical releases so keep an eye out!!!) Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training - Feb 2nd 2024 Haikyu!! - The Dumpster Battle - Feb 16th 2024

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cursedvibes · 4 months

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I found this by one of my (ex) moots who have unfollow me, cause now they're anti -JJK :

"JJK really went from a loved manga to a mid-to-bad story with insufferable fans 🙏 may more of us hate it in the future. It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated".

I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game. And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya, im glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore"

Do you think Culling game is hard to understand, cause several of my (ex) moots also start dislike JJK after that arc?

I can't speak for everyone who dislikes jjk, but I think for most people who dislike the Culling Games, it's a sort of recency bias (except in the opposite way it's usually used). Many criticisms levied against the Culling Game were also said during the Shibuya arc as it was coming out and are showing up again, now that it has been animated. Things like "too many fights", "I don't care about these new characters", "the pacing is shit", "killing too many main characters makes deaths meaningless", "Yuuji isn't even the main character anymore" are often said for the Culling Game arcs, but also something I now see a lot from anime-onlys for the Shibuya arc. It's just how Gege writes and either you like it or you don't. A lot has also to do with binge-reading something and reading it weekly (especially if you don't reread chapters). The flow of action and payoffs are much more apparent when you binge something than when you have to wait for little titbits of the story to come out and stew for weeks over setups for later plot points. Any minor grievances you have are also easier forgotten when you read the full story. Problems like "I don't know what's going on or who these characters are and therefore I don't care" show up a lot when you aren't used to or don't like reading something weekly. There are people who complain that they don't know who Higuruma or Kashimo are, when it is very easy to remember that if you just keep the story in mind, reread past chapters or only read full arcs. They certainly don't lack characterization. Gege's writing definitely has flaws, especially recently, but we got to know plenty about Higuruma, Kashimo, Takaba etc.. Someone might not like them or isn't interested in their stories because of personal taste, but that's not Gege's fault. I for example like the Culling Game much more than Shibuya or Hidden Inventory and I think Shibuya can drag a lot at certain parts, but the highlights still make it a good arc. Perfect Preparation and Culling Game just has more to offer to me because it focuses on different characters and I like the new ones generally much more than say the Kyoto school group. Each of the new characters have tons more depth than any of the curse users that worked for Kenjaku previously and thereby liven things up a lot. Not to mention more lore. Thing is, if your favourite characters appear less and you don't like the new ones much, that will inevitably turn you off the story. That's valid, but personal taste is subjective, it's not what makes the story bad.

There are plenty criticisms to be made and you can clearly tell that Gege is rushing some parts of the story now, so I can understand if people stop reading because of that, but it's a matter of if the highs outweigh the lows. As whole arcs, I definitely don't think Culling Game is any worse than Shibuya. Or that Perfect Preparation is worse than Hidden Inventory (I think those are better to compare, since HI has a very different focus and is much shorter than Shibuya or CG). I'm a bit sceptical about the final fight against Sukuna in Shinjuku (excluding Kenjaku's part and Hakari vs Uraume from this for now, I liked those), but there's enough there to keep me invested and continue reading. I can understand though if that's not the case for others. Similar for the controversial timeskip and don't even get me started on Sukuna vs Gojo. Some criticism I don't agree with (sorry but Takaba vs Kenjaku was actually good), but there are other valid points to be made. For example, I recently saw a discussion on twt about how we are barely shown Gojo interacting with the students he supposedly cares about. I can totally understand that, especially when we are given more flashbacks to what happened during the timeskip and Gojo isn't in any of them and apparently not invested in what his students and friends are gonna do in case he dies. It does give the impression that he just doesn't give a shit about any of them anymore and it doesn't help his lack of characterization and character development post-unsealing.

Generally, I think it's best for these people who are "anti-jjk" to just drop the show if they can't enjoy anything about it at all. There are many more mangas, animes or other stories out there they could read/watch, instead of forcing themselves through something they don't like. I do that with plenty of stories as well. So if your ex moot decides to drop the manga and anime because they don't like it anymore, good. Find something else.

I think their criticism that jjk "snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows" makes no sense though. That isn't even the case within the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. If something is good, people will read it. Look at the boom for Kagurabachi, a series that just started and is already loved and continuously in the top 10 of the Jump App. People can read multiple stories at the same time, that's the whole reason these magazines don't just feature one manga. Sure, some really good stories out there are less popular, but that's not because of jjk. JJK being popular doesn't stop me from reading Houseki no Kuni or Monster, mangas that aren't as well known. One Piece or Pokemon aren't stealing anything from jjk, so why would that be the case for jjk and some lesser known manga. There are more complicated reasons for why something is getting less traction than just "series x has gained popularity". And I don't like powerscalers or your average blue checkmark anime fan on twt either, but then just ignore them. They are in every shonen fandom (and seinen and shoujo, although in case of shoujo it's a little different but not less obnoxious). Other fans having shit tastes isn't new or unique to jjk. That's just fandom.

Either way, glad this person moved on to another series, may they be happier there.

#asks #jujutsu kaisen

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nanjokei · 8 months

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same anon here, incredibly interested in the history from someone who lived through it

ok!

here's my own rundown on why the vocaloid bubble burst in the mid 2010s!

almost irreversibly! (don't worry— this story has a happy ending)

if anyone is wondering, yes, you can reblog this! i only say this because this took a lot of work to write so if anyone feels compelled, yes, stroke my ego a bit, i allow such a thing. now, i might get snippy here and there, but i'm not serious at all. my sense of humor is pretty tsukkomi-ish and it shows up in how i describe things. <-disclaimer for if this post breaks containment because i know fandom types don't like my sense of humor if they're not given the context that i LOVE what i'm talking about and rib on it out of utmost adoration

as a disclaimer, i do lightly look things up to check on stuff timeline wise and its validity, but this is from my own point of view and memory and a personal retelling, so if you have a different take on it then i'm sure our viewpoints can co-exist. also, i speak about utaite from the point of view of someone who respects their existence but does not participate. so if a few facts are off... i am speaking only from the aspect of what relates to what i'm talking about. also if there are any typos i stopped being thorough with my checking and editing like 4k words in since i am not being paid to write this, it is just for fun. anyways~

so where we wanna start here is before the big bubble era. i think most people would agree that it was in full swing around mid 2012, but i'll set the date at september 23, 2011. the posting of the song kagerou daze (by the way, as a testament to how much of a boomer i am, despite being an kagepro fan from the start i find myself still using the "kagerou days" romanization by accident every time). by the way, senbonzakura, one of the biggest vocaloid songs ever for the longest time, was posted only a few days earlier. just to paint a picture. but that's not the only thing... i think what we want to look at especially is the end of the vocaloid2 era and what was going on during and before. the final vocaloid2 product, vy2, was released on april 25th, 2011. in this timeline, there are a few angles i wanna focus on. the state of the culture, its spread, utaite and producers. by the way, if i had to date when i met vocaloid, it was around 2008. right before gakupo came out, maybe.

around this time, the culture of vocaloid-ke (vocaloid family) type secondary works were falling out of fashion. 2010 and before, i feel that vocaloid had a strong image of nico nico douga especially— not that it didn't during the bubble era. but i mean the people participating. when miku came out, people viewed her as a novelty while still thinking to themselves they had stumbled across something special. there was no subculture like that before, and the closest counterpart to this was idolmaster. now, many know this is the origin of the -P suffix came from. it's a tossed around factoid now but people should know that it was certainly a phenomena back then. and a LOT of early miku adopters (like 80% were either already in the doujin music scene, the DTM (desktop music) scene, trained musicians or even some industry pros. and a lot of these people were nerdy and geeky and loved anime and games and manga so of course their first point of reference for building vocaloid's identity was idolmaster. touhou, idolmaster's next door neighbor, also had a lot of influence given many of the music people in its scene dabbled in vocaloid early on. so naturally the fans that were attracted to vocaloid were also nerds. at first there were only cryptonloids, but gakupo quickly followed (and continuing in the trend of heavy nnd association— kentaro miura (RIP), a big fan of nnd and especially idolmaster— designed and drew his art 100% pro bono out of love for the site and its culture). luka came out... i think gumi was the first shift. gumi just felt, different. i personally owe it to her being modeled after ranka lee, the iconic role of her voice provider, megumi nakajima— ranka lee was the underdog character in her source macross frontier's love triangle. so i feel like that image somewhat imprinted itself on gumi. gumi was not popular at first at all. her release came and went with not much fanfare. ironically the aspect of rivalry would come back under stuff like the miku vs gumi debate. this is probably the first real demonstration of "it doesn't matter how good the voice is, it matters who uses it and how that propagates the voice".

and so i arrive at the producers of the time, maybe late 2008 early to mid 2009, the newcomers. the ones that weren't necessarily otaku through and through, but more on the "teenagers who like vocaloid and/or don't have a singer to sing for them, and want to make music". i will be specific and say it is people like wowaka (RIP), deco*27 and hachi/kenshi yonezu specifically. wowaka for example had a very fresh take— his pvs deemphasized the vocaloid, but it also inspired many fan pvs because of it. i will not go into how it became ironic that he quit due to the attribution to the voice. but his moody lyrics captured a lot of hearts and his style carried a youth to it. hachi did a lot of his own artsy pvs. deco*27 was very unpolished and amateur but his music was VERY of the times. the synths, the guitar, very youthful. aside from wowaka, whose comeup immediately led to him getting signed quickly (and the guy himself just walked and i don't blame him) i think what made these guys (deco and hachi) stand out from the rest in the end is one thing: they picked up gumi. and this set them apart from the old and dusted otaku who didn't pick gumi up, or those who picked her up thinking of her only as ranka lee. mozaik role (still deco's most viewed song on nnd btw, with no sign of stopping. and he is clearly PISSED about it). matryoshka. all that kibs of noise. by the way, matryoshka's stint in the vocaloid rankings went unchallenged until it was finally killed by senbonzakura. that's a good two years of dominance!! a lot of the breakout stars or people who got more popular during 2010 used gumi, i'm talking your 40mPs, your sasakure.UKs, your buzzGs. incidentally, a lot of these people got signed... most for their vocaloid stuff. 40mP, sasakure, deco, kous and others were signed under label split-offs like U/M/A/A. wowaka and hachi... were signed for themselves. specifically, wowaka and his band hitorie, and hachi as himself kenshi yonezu.

but producers were not the only ones being signed. utaite, who had been a thing before even vocaloid was a thing, found themselves growing rapidly due to them increasingly participating in the culture as both fans and beneficiaries. personally, i split off utaites eras as "before piko and akiakane" and "after piko and akiakane". the before era included people who either started very early on when vocaloid became a thing on nnd, or started before it (participating in chorus medleys or posting utattemita videos of anison for example, like gero). it was all amateur and everyone was doing it for fun... but the record companies doth lurk around the vocaloid scene at this rate. akiakane and piko i pick specifically because they were the first utaite who were very publically signed. piko was signed under sony's ki/oon records! akiakane had two or three big albums under the subsidary of VAP, toy's factory (if you wanna have fun take a look at the list of talent they rep). piko is especially important— as he had a vocaloid made of him. this marked first big interest of corporations and large record companies to actually enter the vocaloid space— in the most direct way possible. btw, the reason piko the vocaloid is dead is because piko the person is no longer signed under sony. it's not outright confirmed, but piko the guy stopped tweeting about utatane piko the second he transferred labels. he is stuck in a weird catch 22 he probably will never be free of, though yamaha is doing some insane moves lately, i wonder if they'd ever try to buy the character out and revive him as a stunt. (they are doing many funny stunts lately. but a subject for another time.)

finally, my last point in this preamble is the interest in telling stories through vocaloid had only continued to grow. i think the two biggest early examples were the prisoner series by shujinP and the ever so infamous evillious chronicles by mothy. their explosive popularity is wholeheartedly owed to rin and len— ok this is a tangent but this is the genius of the rin and len package, that to this day was never replicated, they come together as you know and since they are male and female with no set setting, they are an easy buy and you can make a story because you can do two points of view across several songs... like literally. its paperplane vs prisoner. daughter of evil vs servant of evil. and their fans were and continue to be super passionate. it's great, we would be missing a huge chunk of what makes vocaloid subculture what it is without them. of course, shujinP's series (plural because they had several) is less known these days but it was probably the first series to get plays and novels and all that. quickly followed by EC. later came series like sasakure's doomsday series, stuck in a limbo between old and new era (most of the songs released in the old era but the novelization and such came out during the new), and a few "outsider" series like numtack05/putinP's series (the reasons this never got popular is because it was absurdist and shitpost-y and involved too much political imagery, not only that but also because putinP used a lot of copyright samples (most famously ronald mcdonald and sazae-san clips)— the freely distributed album vers omit these samples entirely and i can confirm the songs are worse for it)

so to give a summary of the above section

the tastes of fans were maturing

there was a shift in how vocaloid was perceived

the growing influence of utaite

the growing interest of big corpos in the scene

the growing interest in storytelling using vocaloid as a medium

anyway, here comes the real deal. and... it's gonna be a mess. just like the era itself was. i hope you're ready, at least.

even the very first echo of vocaloid3 felt kinda corpo-y. it wasn't, but.. looking back. it kind of felt like it. the first time we ever found out about v3 was through a leak of seeU's demo— but it was a work in progress leak, so it had the voice of her provider dahee kim singing along. people had no idea so they assumed this was the capability of the software. it was exciting! kpop was just starting to get popular, and we were getting a new vocaloid software, with korean capability!!!

anyway. we're not talking about the can of worms that was seeU.

not just because of dahee kim. but because it's not related beyond this. also the fact that korean fans were heavily and horribly mistreated by the majority japanese fandom for obvious reasons. i do not have the depths to speak on that stuff, but it says a lot that the software's first big swing ended up like that.

but i wanted to illustrate the mood of the fans going into this era. it was full of hopes and dreams. now, i don't want any wannabe know-it-alls wagging their fingers at me and checking the wikia going "b-but cullen, mew also came out!! at the same time!!" the seeU leak came out first. i remember there were fights over whether or not that demo was real. it was a cultural shift like no other. who the fuck cares about mew? literally her only legacy is one really amazing ezfg song. i will not debate anyone on this btw. i try to be objective but i'm allowed to inject a bit of my own opinion here too. you know who were also full of hopes and dreams? the companies. not your internetcos and your ahsofts, no, i'm talking publicly traded shits and record companies. look... i'm coming off harsh. i actually don't hold that much animosity, but you're gonna see why this was the first huge misstep of the era.

nice picture, right? this was the kind of optimism we started off this era on. but, i'll break down the picture for you in a way that helps illustrate a point somewhat:

your girlies from V2 like gumi (who was this era's it girl), lily, galaco (even if her shitty V2 version is contest only)

your earnest newcomers mew (look, even yamaha girlies count), cul, aoki lapis, seeU (one could argue.), IA (one could argue...)

tone rion of dear stage (who represented dempagumi inc., the group her voice provider came from, though this was a myth for years until it was proven... also it was clear they wanted to make the rest of dempagumi into vocaloids but rion flopped at the time. there was even a picture of her friends floating around. astoundingly embarrassing confidence. one billion dead vocaloids.)

akikoloid-chan of lawsons (yes, the convenience store! she is a vocaloidification of their mascot and i would argue the poster child of the modern brand private vocaloid. she was retired in uh.. 2019 i wanna say? though she was dormant for a long time anyway)

ring suzune, the aborted failure of minna no vocalo keikaku (everyone's vocalo-project)... this one involves a lot of otona no jijou AKA adult circumstances (japanese corpo's favorite excuse. you will now notice this phrase every time you hear it oooo). just unfortunate all around

yuzuki yukari of vocalomakets, i put her in a separate category because she really is a girlie of her own. a vocal born from producers being dissatisfied that their wants weren't being answered and no company was taking them up, they just went "fuck it" and produced yukari on their own. a huge outlier in this era of vanity projects and companies using the scene for their own crap.

not pictured, but i have to mention her due to her complicated position in this era, but mayu of exit tunes. exit tunes is a record label that heavily supported vocaloid and utaite during this era, signing both producers and utaite, and making compilation cds of popular vocaloid hits. and probably saw to it that due to their dominance in the area of compilation cds (and they still dominate, even if their releases are sparse these days their cds still top oricon without effort), them sneaking mayu into the tracklists would work... my thoughts on this? my position has softened a lot over the years. and i've always thought "they gave up right before she organically caught on, they should have kept pushing. so what a shame".

now you may notice i bolded a few of these and made special mention of the companies behind them. you probably already figured it out, but this era had heavy investment from parties who had only to gain from a rapidly growing niche subculture. see, unlike the other two of nnd's big three idolmaster and touhou, who are IPs where you need some kind of cooperation to officially get in on, vocaloid... is incredibly free, so laissez faire in comparison. you buy a 9,000 dollar dev kit and get to work making your mascot. it was... so easy. so free. so sweet. but real life is not so easy, or free, or sweet. you actually had to be accepted by the fans, and like i said before... the voice does not matter. what matters is who uses it, and how that propagate the voice. this is true time and time again. it is the ultimate "how many times do i have to teach you this lesson, old man?!" of the scene from a commercial standpoint. no matter how many years pass. ergo, one billion dead vocaloids. corpo vocaloids were releasing and they flopped immediately. earnest products from newcomers were dropping and struggling, though def doing better than the corpo ones (like lapis, lapis did ok). existing "in crowd" companies were vomiting out new vocals and not even promoting them. it was a disgusting era of excess and death and bile and plague and war and and and. it's astounding that it is hard carried by the art that came out of it. because if you only look at the commercial side of things, it is fucking disgusting.

now, onto the fan aspect. remember when i said this era truly kicked off when kagerou daze came out? yup. here it comes. so, anyone lived through this era remembers the cambrian explosion of original projects that did not make use of vocaloid mascots— arguably the final death knell of vocaloid-ke secondary works being the mainstream.

now, i'm planting my flag in the ground here very firmly— i do not ride the bandwagon of the people who erroneously attribute the near death of the scene to kagepro. it's just not true. personally i have a very complicated (bordering on near sort of but not quite negative, depending on how nostalgic i feel that day) relationship with the series, but to blame it is incredibly narrowminded and ignorant of the actual reasons the bubble burst, and not to mention unfair. if you find it annoying, fine. but just say you don't like the series and move on. and really, for better or for worse, mekakucity days and mekakucity records are unironically god tier vocaloid albums that will be remembered for years to come. i just have to say this because i see a lot of people blame jin for very flimsy reasons... SHUT UP!!! anyway.

i think one of the issues with the whole project culture that flourished during this era was simply the fact that since they were multimedia projects (whether by accident like kagepro or intentionally from the get), fans were coming from all angles, and even those who got into it through vocaloid eventually became super mega invested in them as separate IPs. which is... unfortunately an issue. so when these properties eventually spun off into manga, light novels, covers with real seiyuu, merch and ultimately some even netting anime projects... once those projects either abruptly ended (lol, lmao, this will come back later) or reached their natural conclusion, inevitably a lot of those fans either leave with it or found themselves burned out on vocaloid itself, or perhaps even think they've outgrown it.

next, utaite. now i mentioned a bit earlier about how the first batch of utaite were amateurs who didn't expect anything out of it and did it just cause, and how exit tunes signed a lot of them in this era. now, comes the time i speak about utaite "after piko and akiakane". i believe due to a generational gap and subconsciously perhaps due to the signing of a few utaite from the old guard at this point, the nu utaite of the 2010s had a sort of individuality to them... this isn't an insult, and a large part of their popularity actually came from them always collaborating and a lot of them ending up befriending each other. again, i'm an outsider, but i understand this much. but this era for utaite was the beginning of the idea that an utaite can become a superstar. in the end, very few of them did become superstars.

a lot of them naturally returned to a normal level of popularity after the bubble. there aren't a lot of your AtRs or your amatsukis and such. the smart ones became vtubers before being a vtuber was cool. to give an example: un:c and hashiyan who are arguably oldheads more than nu era became anjo and kosaka of monsterz mate. this isn't a doxx btw, this is publically available information, and un:c often credits himself as a mixer under projects he does as anjo. also, a certain duo of female utaite whose names i will not mention went on to form the super popular vtuber duo himehima. there are other early adopters like kano and god knows who else that i don't feel like mentioning. anyway, if your utaite did it after 2018 and under their own identity it is a desperate plea for attention. sorry but it's just the objective truth. tangent over... did you think i wasn't gonna shoehorn vtubers into this somehow?! anyway.

even sutopuri who got mega popular, only really formed after the vocaloid bubble burst, perhaps even as a result of it. utaite had a positive effect on the vocaloid scene and still do. but at the time, i think it was at its strongest. utaite NEEDED vocaloid, and vocaloid benefitted greatly from their continued patronage and love for it. i for one will not be caught slandering utaite and their relationship with vocaloid even if i will always prefer the vocaloid versions. the issue here comes from the fact that way too many were signed without much star factor (i'm not disparaging them, i'm just saying they did not hold their audience across the mediums), and even at that their fans splintered off into many tribes and many weren't really into vocaloid in the first place and were more into the livestreams and twitter banter. that's just how things shook out. you even have your reols and such, as reol was the face but in a sense her, gigaP and okiku were a set and gigaP left the scene to focus on commercial work with those two. too many of them got signed and splintered off into their own little fandoms before THOSE fandoms kind of died out. so this is another part where fans disappear and lose interest. you're starting to see the pattern here, right?

there's so much stuff i thought i would touch on, like how gumi was the undisputed it girl of the scene at this time, and how kagepro rose IA to prominence (all because jin wanted to buy gumi but didn't find her in the store) and how IA's people 1st place locked certain producers in their basement (like jin, yasuhiro, ishifuro etc) and... now this is a conspiracy on my part but prevented them from working on anything else, so that drew more talent away from the scene... but i realized it's tangential and belongs to other parts in this conversation. i want to reiterate here though before we go on to the biggest elephant in the room of all which would be the point of no return... there is more to the vocaloid bubble era of 2012-2015 than projects, than corpo and record company bullshit, than utaite fans. and there is more to the era before that than the top brass producers i mentioned earlier. i really... really lament how so much of early vocaloid reuploads are gone from youtube. there's a whole world just gone. so, anyway, are you ready?

the final block in this weird jenga of a story.

the producer, suzumu, and his unfortunate associates.

i will cut to the chase because it's easier to explain who was involved once i say what happened. to put it shortly... suzumu "stole" his songs. this is weird and vague and i always hated the way people used polite euphemisms to explain it because it made the situation way more confusing than it had to be— he used his producer friends as ghostwriters to compose songs for him, basically. and was very not nice about it according to one of the people involved. now i will probably adopt a somewhat sympathetic angle that people who have previously heard of this case may have not encountered before. not because i feel bad for that fuck, but because it seems like at least one of the people impacted has forgiven him, and others have moved on in less obvious ways. he's also professionally making music in the industry now. as much as i want to keep up the act of disliking him, i don't care anymore. i still dislike what he did immensely because it impacts producers i love to this day. but the man came forth about it himself and those involved forgave him. it's been almost a decade now... man!

suzumu, before getting into posting songs (who knows how many were actually his and which were ghostwritten), was a prolific lyric writer who worked with some of the trendiest vocaloid producers around. i'll cross gigaP out, since he was not involved in the incident, but almost every single person involved in this had worked with him in a lyric or story writing capacity (for 150P and komine specifically). here are the involved parties as i recall, bolded are people who he "stole" from

mafumafu, the person who spoke the most about it post suzumu's confession and the most vocal, and likely the person who was used as a ghostwriter the most (i don't recall if he actually alludes to this or not but people commonly think this). mafumafu had a series of vocaloid songs that told a story, but stopped using vocaloid after the incident for a while and songs that were going to get pvs from his first vocaloid album were not posted. he contributed a song called machigai sagashi for the vocaloid flavored moba #compass in 2015, but it seems like that song was probably in the works since before the incident for reasons i will highlight in a moment. suzumu wrote the lyrics for only one of the songs. iirc, mafumafu's song berserk is about suzumu. don't remember if this is confirmed or not. btw, the album of those songs, meikyou shisui, is really underrated and you should check it out. im not a mafu guy but that album is great

kemu, the person who is arguably closest to suzumu and the one who most publicly supported suzumu (albeit wordlessly) in later years by working with him professionally. when i mention someone forgiving suzumu, i mean him. suzumu wrote the lyrics for most of his kemu voxx songs, a famous multimedia project kemu was on the helm of along with hatsuko as the main illustrator. since kemu no longer had a lyricist, the project stalled for years until he posted a song suddenly in 2017 (with self written lyrics). it seems like the series is continuing still, but with a different direction

150P, who worked with suzumu heavily for his shuuen no shiori (bookmark of demise) project, a project that was conceived from the start to be a story. this part makes me really mad, guys!! i'll try to keep calm about it. 150P wrote over 50 songs (idk if this is an actual number but he wrote a lot. at least 40.) for the series, with suzumu writing the story and lyrics. the character designs were done by saine (who dodged a bullet all things considered.) and the art was done by komine. 150P was already doing crazy things before shuuenpro, his most popular song is still his insane 12-len classical metal chorus song lost destination. now shuuenpro caught on slower than its peers and was an underdog. i LOVE shuuenpro to this day. you know what? right when it was finally getting its first W, when the album that had seiyuu covers at come out on oricon in third place, suzumu dropped his confession. what a slap to the fucking face!! the manga of the series hastily wrapped up after that. 150P and komine disappeared and no longer did stuff ever. 150P recently appeared for a mafumafu anniversary thing so i'm glad he's still alive. but, komine...

komine, the only non-producer, an artist with the worst luck. she was slowly rising to prominence doing pv art for a lot of popular producers, and was the main artist of shuuenpro most prominently. during the initial release of the first few shuuenpro songs, she was accused of tracing, and the art of the pv of sarumane isutori game had to be done by someone else. komine stopped using social media at that point, but continued to make art for the project quietly and quite prolifically. so she was already on some kind of fraught standing even though the tracing allegations were disproven. fast forward to the suzumu blowup, komine packed up her bags and disappeared forever. if she had become disillusioned, i do not blame her. her final public contribution was the design of jeanne d'arc from #compass, the character who was paired with the mafumafu song. all subsequent artworks of jeanne were done by different artists. i suspect the reason the vocaloid version of machigai sagashi did not have a proper pv was due to komine quitting. i can only imagine what that pv looked like! if you're wondering why i mention a pv, it's cuz compass fans got mad at mafu for having a fancy pv for his self cover but not for the original. but otona no jijou, you know? and where is that energy for eve who still hasn't released a pv for mistletoe publicly and only put it on his kuso app and with 0 compass association? who let that wishy washy fuck do an anniversary song? ...im not gonna go on a compass tangent. anyway.

so... why does this matter?

it matters because people became disillusioned due to this drama. it matters because suzumu took out some very popular and prolific people from the scene during what one could argue was a transitional phase. the fans of all those people, including suzumu's... gone. if you weren't there, you may not understand the cult of personality suzumu had. he had his name on everything and was friends with all the right people. when i heard about this incident... i just closed my eyes and sighed lol. it hurt and it hit when the scene was at its weakest. and was the final blow, almost. and it impacted the way people saw and talked about vocaloid for years. miku became "owakon" for a time. people thought kizuna ai was gonna replace her as a cultural touchstone (lol, lmao, it is proven time and time again that the big three cannot die). kenshi yonezu, in all his detached glory, came down from his jeweled encrusted throne to compose a song for miku's 10th birthday that he smugly thought was the death knell of nico nico douga.... which even at the time of its release was contested by even people who were on the same miku anniversary project and, whether you wanna acknowledge it or not, is still mocked to this day by several producers. magical mirai's theme this year even does it. there is no respect for sand planet or anything kenshi yonezu stood for in that song. what an asshole move no matter how you see it. argue with the wall if you don't agree, i don't want to hear it. the scene survived because there were producers and artists and fans who still loved it. not because of some sardonic fuckoff song by a guy so detached he'd write a funeral march for a birthday.

these days, i feel like the community is incredibly conscious of what happened. there are wanton community led events that encourage not only the creation of songs, covers, art and secondary creations but also the discovery of new producers— the biggest of which being vocaloid collection, which happens three times a year and has many categories, but most importantly the top ranking (producers active for 3+ years) and the rookie ranking. i once read a japanese article that said proseka brought new fans hungry for something beyond the music presented in the game, and vocacolle and other community led events and song posting festivals supplied the works. the average age of the new vocaloid producer is— and this is my own estimate based on how many heart attacks i've been given the past 3 or 4 years— 17~19 years old. they say things like "i know of kagepro but i wasn't there"!! should i get my cane out!! who's driving me to the retirement home?!

even companies involved in the product end are more savvy these days.... (holding my tongue about a certain company of a popular synth software and its ceo because i have nothing nice to say). i think they realized that you can't clap with one hand and that appealing to the end user and fans is a necessity. honestly, i can only be excited for what comes next. we're never going back to that dark age, i can say this with utmost confidence. do i miss the past of the times before the bubble, back when vocaloid was a smidge more geeky? sure. but we can only really move forward, so why not enjoy it

#ask #anonymous #it came up to over 5k after all #idk how i clocked that.#im so scared to post this but i cant even read words anymore so if it still has typos then so be it

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kozachenko · 2 days

Text

I've crawled out of my cave after playing Final Fantasy IX for a long ass time what have I missed?

Artist's Notes:

I'M BACK BABY! A while back I made a post with a new style experimentation thingy but I ended up deleting it because it was just kind of a boring face thing, I was planning on doing more art but then I started playing Final Fantasy IX and uhhhh yeah so that game has kind of taken of my brain for the past two weeks and I am 20 hours into the game because I love it so much. I wanted to draw Vivi because Vivi is just really fun to draw ok? I've kinda been feeling really burnt out with my lineless style, mainly because of how hard it was to do lighting. I'll show one of my initial art style tests on the bottom of this post. Again, used to have it be an individual post but it was just one face so it was kinda boring, so might as well include with this one on the subject of art styles. I wanted to kinda mix some aspects of my older style with the sketchy shading lines with a more painterly way of doing the lighting (mainly in the shadows). All in all, I think that's my favourite part about this drawing, it feels nice to finally be able to do some proper lighting again, and I want to experiment even more with my lighting and rendering in future pieces. Also, part of the pant shading got kinda lost in the sketchiness, so for next time I'll probably focus on the clarity of the more sketchy parts of the drawing, since I did go with my initial sketch for the final drawing. I also gave up on the background since I had no idea what to do for it, and I didn't put too much detail into the staff as I forgot which one I gave him in my current playthrough and I didn't want to risk spoiling myself via looking up references, but that's ok I like how the singular yellow circle on it matches Vivi's eyes. Also I was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to draw his body and how to pose him, but I like how the pose turned out a lot. It was inspired by his idle animation when in a battle in game where he does a little shimmy.

Ok I need to talk about Vivi's design because I love it so fucking much oh my god-

I absolutely love how his face is just in complete shadow and only his eyes stand out, it's so cool and unique and I love how they recontextualized the original black mage design from the classic Final Fantasy games. How they did it I won't say because I don't wanna spoil the game, but someone give this poor baby a therapist because he goes through a lot. Actually, same can be said for all of the FFIX cast, they all need therapy (again, I won't spoil anything, please go play the game for yourself).

While I do love almost all the characters in the game, even though Vivi is most fun to draw, my favourite character has to be Zidane (the main protagonist of the game). He's a really fun protagonist, and they could have easily written him as a misogynistic jerk who doesn't respect women but they didn't, and I really appreciate that. He's just an overall cool dude who's a really nice older brother figure to Vivi and also just has a cool character design (who I also want to draw eventually). Initially in the game I was planning on grinding levels for Vivi to make him the tactical nuke of the party, but then that title went to a different character (who was initially multiple levels behind the group since I grinded the party in the starting area way to much before they joined, but now they are two levels ahead of everyone and have pulled the team through a lot of tough battles, again I won't say who it is because it is kind of a spoiler and the way the gameplay actually ties into their character arc is just so good omfg). Once I eventually finish the game I'll probably write a full review on here, so no spoilers until then lol

Also, I've kinda been burning out a bit with making Touhou art, which also made me a bit burnt out with Touhou stuff in general (although I will continue keeping up with the manga) so getting into other things (i.e. Final Fantasy and even Fallout since I've watched the first season of the TV show which is a whole other post for another day) has helped me refresh and given me something new to think about. I've ended up in the exact place I feared ending up, where I would start drawing fanart for it not because I wanted to but because I felt like I had to, so I'm taking a bit of a break. When I do draw Touhou fanart again I'll try to draw for the sake of myself, and to all the other artists and fanartists on this platform (and on any social media for that matter), take care of yourself and don't forget to take breaks when you need to!

(Ok part of that last paragraph was definitley influenced by the good ol' "it's 9:00pm and I need sleeb, but the message at the end still holds up, always take care of yourself)

Oh yeah, and here is that one style experiment I did btw

Man I really fell down the "Yoshitaka Amano art enjoyer" to "Final Fantasy fan" pipe line didn't I?

#art #fanart #final fantasy ix #vivi final fantasy #ff9 #vivi ff9 #final fantasy #final fantasy fanart

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anime-fan-05 · 12 days

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Hello!

Can you please do headcanons of Yuji, Megumi, Toge, Satoru, Suguru and Yuta and the male versions of Nobara, Maki and Mai (I saw you did them for "Code Geass", if you don't want to do them, don't worry) being called 'darling' from their crush (who they aren't together with yet)?

I was thinking maybe the reader could be in a store and she then gets hassled by someone, sees the character and calls him 'darling' to ward off the harasser, but if you've a better idea, you can use that.

Then I've another request: the same characters whose hair the reader plays with.

Please, take your time to make my requests and sorry if there are two.

Thank you very much!

Jujutsu Kaisen ~Being called 'darling' by their crush 1st part~

Manga/anime: Jujutsu Kaisen

Warnings: nothing

(Y/N): your name

As always, I divided the first headcanon into two parts. Second part is here. The two parts of the second headcanon are here (1st) and here (2nd). Furthermore, I leave you the photos of Nobara, Maki and Mai in their male version (they're really handsome!). I'll keep your idea because it's really good!

Premise

(Y/N) is walking through the shops in her city's shopping center. First she was in the company of her friend, but the two separated because he wanted to go to a different store from the one where she wanted to shop.

However, as she walks, she notices a boy is following her, continuing to stare at her, so she decides to return to her friend.

Her walk, which has turned into a run, ends when she finally sees her friend. She approaches him, greeting him and motioning to the boy behind her, who was continuing to follow her, and she tells him: "Darling, here I am!".

Itadori Y.

At first he won't realize what you called him: he'll play your game and pretend to be your boyfriend

When he realizes the nickname, he'll have a huge smile on his face and slightly blushed cheeks

For a few minutes he'll continue to hear your voice calling him 'darling' in his head and he won't listen to anything

Once he calms down, he'll ask you the reason for the nickname ignoring the fact you called him that to probably make your farce true

Sukuna will probably tease him for a long time due to his reaction

Fushiguro M.

He'll freeze

He'll be so still you'll have to check if he'll be breathing, since he won't move a muscle for a few minutes

After he recovers, he'll roughly chase away the harasser (if he wouldn't have already left), but he won't dare look at your face

He won't show you his face during your entire walk back to your house (he'll have insisted on taking you home), because he'll be terribly red up to his ears

He'll probably remember that event for his whole life and, every time he thinks about it, he'll still be blushing

Kugisaki N.

Cheeky as he's, as soon as he sees you running towards him and hears you call him 'darling', a cheeky smirk will appear on his face

He'll play along with your charade, and he'll distance you two from the harasser

After you two get far enough away, he'll start talking, or rather making fun of you a little ("So I'm your boyfriend now?")

However, if he'll notice you're upset, he'll immediately become concerned and start asking if you're okay

He'll want to stay with you until you'll have to go home (know he'll force you to let him accompany you): he'll take you shopping and buy you everything you want or he'll invite you to an arcade to cheer up your spirits

Inumaki T.

At first he'll look at you questioningly, not understanding the reason for the nickname you used

Nevertheless, he'll immediately understand your situation and take you by the hand, either moving you away from the harasser or making him leave

Afterwards, he'll ask you if you're okay, not totally realizing the nickname

After making sure of your well-being, the nickname you used will hit him hard like a brick, and he'll blush heavily and cover the blush with his uniform's collar

As soon as he arrives at his house, he'll send you a message telling you he would like to be called 'darling', but as your boyfriend and not friend

Okkotsu Y.

Poor boy, you'll kill him if you call him that

The only thing that comes out of his lips will be a continuous stammer, and he'll blush and start shaking, not looking neither you nor the harasser in the eye; so, the boy won't likely believe your lie due to that and he'll try to pull you towards him by your wrist

That will be when he'll wake up from his trance: he'll gently grab you by your wrist and waist and pull you against his chest, telling the harasser to leave his girlfriend alone

Then, he'll return to his shy behavior and ask you if you're okay, worried about having hurt you

You'll never have to remind him of that event: he'll blush furiously, even if years will have passed since that day

💮 Rules 💮 Masterlist 💮

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everlasting-rainfall · 7 days

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I really like your One Piece Crossing Au, could I request more from that Au? Any character or characters would do. I'm just having fun reading what you come up with.

Any character, eh? Well you did say any of them so I’m going to give you a random one that will probably be unexpected but fun nonetheless

Or at least I hope that it will be as much fun for you as it is for me and honestly I am glad that you like the One Piece Crosskng AU, it is quite fun to write for!

Now then before we get into things, I did pick a character that is SPOILER WARNING territory if you are not caught up with One Piece. I won’t say who it is just yet though

I will however warn you that YOU SHOULD NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE ANIME OR MANGA

SPOILER WARNING!!! I’M SERIOUS!!

Okay now that that’s out of the way… Let’s get into it, shall we?

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

Sentient Video Games, Writing Heavily Reminiscent of Old Creepypasta, Stalking, Heavy Manipulation, SPOILER WARNING, Destruction

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

Saying it again just to hammer it home… DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE ANIME OR MANGA

Also… I WILL NEVER AND HAVE NEVER CONDONED THE ACTIONS OFN ANY CELESTIAL DRAGON, THEY ARE ALL DISGUSTING IN THEIR ACTIONS

Okay so imagine that you managed to get your hands on the One Piece Crossing game and how you got your hands on it is irrelevant but when you open up the case

There’s a little piece of paper inside telling you to input a certain code at the character select screen for a secret villager who can only be unlocked with that code, the name of the villager wasn’t on the paper but hey. It’s interesting and you’re curious

So you boot up the game. You make your character and pick your island then you’re brought to the screen that will help you choose what villagers you get, you hit randomize a few times to see if there’s anyone that you’d prefer over this secret character

And although characters like Akainu, Kizaru, Fujitora, Smoker, Tashigi, Sengoku, Garp among others are tempting to take. Curiousity gets the better of you and you input the code causing a text box to pop up once the screen fades to black

“Oh! You’re with them? Why didn’t you say so? They’ve been waiting for you!”

So when the screen fades back in, you’re on the island with an odd looking character as their body is completely blacked out and is only present in silhouette if you could even call it that. The character is downright unnerving too with those big red eyes

Like you’ve heard about what the tutorial is supposed to be but instead of fun little characters telling you how to play in a wholesome little setting, you have a text box telling you exactly what to do which wouldn’t be so unnerving if this weird villager would stop following you

You tried talking to them but the only thing that shows up in their text box is “…” with maybe the occasional “…?” if you keep trying. This is of course too weird and creepy so you turn off the game without saving in hopes of starting a new file without them

But when you reloaded the game, you were right back where you left off with your character laying on the ground like you had fallen unconscious. The character was still there too sitting by you and watching over you with those unblinking red eyes

You tried a few more times but no result so this was your game now… And what were you gonna do? Not play it?

So you continued on with the tutorial going through everything and learning everything until you set down a place for your home, it turned out to be much more extravagant than you expected because as soon as you confirmed that’s where you wanted it to go. The screen faded to black and when it came back in, it was like some kind of mansion

Thinking you would finally be able to get away from this character, you went inside only for them to follow you in and a text box to pop up at the bottom of the screen with your character doing a little animation to show happiness

“Hooray! A new life started with your best friend, Imu! This is gonna be great!”

So Imu was this characters name, at least you knew what to call them and at least they weren’t following you around anymore as they proceeded to make themselves comfortable in your new shared home

Honestly the game wasn’t too bad after that as although it was far from what your friends had told you what their Animal Crossing games were like

Like they had a museum where they would donate their caught fish and bugs to be shown off usually doing a nice animation of some kind to indicate that they were alive while you got a journal to log everything that you found and a wing of the home to show off your findings more like trophies as they would be hung on the walls in frames and placards

Their villagers were friendly and would clap for them when they caught something while you had Imu who needs no explanation further than that and would only acknowledge your catches with a glance in your direction unless you caught a butterfly which appeared to make them mad

They had a shop or two where they could buy things from the cute little NPC’s that ran it while you eventually did unlock a shop but the little NPC’s who ran it seemed more serious and formal like seriously, they would bow to you like you were royalty whenever you entered

They even let you take a sweater for free once saying that Imu told them to allow you to have it… Of course you couldn’t ask them why as any dialogue option that you picked with Imu always resulted in “…” even if it was so much as “Hello!”

It was incredibly different from how your game was and whenever you tried to show your friends just how things were, the battery for your console was always conveniently dead or it just wouldn’t turn on if One Piece Crossing was the game inside of it

As time progressed in the game and you had multiple new villagers move onto your island, which were five old men, you found yourself actually unlocking a few interactions with Imu as you would always talk to them at least once or twice just to see if anything new had occurred in the game

These interactions was the ability to ask if they wanted to do something with you, it would bring up a little menu of “Do you want to fish with me?” or “Do you want to go on a walk with me?” or something to that extent

Typically Imu would follow your character to do whatever you wanted and despite their character model never changing… You could feel an almost… happiness in the air? It was weird as Imu was a video game character…

But regardless, you hung out with Imu now that you had unlocked this but they never did any of the activities with you besides walking or sitting like if you were fishing then Imu would simply stand by you and watch without speaking a word

It was creepy but at least they weren’t just in your house or wandering around your island like a ghost

Plus you weren’t gonna lie, they were turning out to be much better company than the old men who had moved onto your island earlier as lord almighty… They were serious about just about everything…

Imu was creepy and weird but it was better than listening to five old men talk about what sounded like fictional politics…

Eventually when hanging out with your friend one day in real life, they had the suggestion to see if you could visit each others islands in game as the games were incredibly similar

You had a bad feeling about it but you decided to go along with it so when you got home, you booted up your game and headed to the dock. You talked to the NPC there and they seemed reluctant to take you off the island

Asking you so many times if you were sure about this and if Imu knew but eventually they gave in and you were soon heading off

Hanging out with your friend on their island was great fun! Their villagers were cute and friendly, they didn’t even look anything like yours as they were sweet colorful animals. The NPC’s were even way more fun too

You adventured around your friends island together and generally had a great time but all good things must come to an end as suddenly, both of your characters stopped and a notification rolled by saying “Someone has come to visit!”

Asking your friend if they invited someone else turned up nothing but soon you found out who was here as it was NPC’s from your island… Saying that they had come to retrieve you…

Shock went through you and they asked you to cooperate as otherwise they would have to take you by force so seeing no other option, you selected the option to return home and you left your friends island

Upon getting back, you were escorted right back to you and Imu’s home where they were waiting for you. You were left with them and honestly you’ve never felt like your character was in so much danger than they were in that moment

Imu got up and started moving to your character, you had a bad feeling so you made your character rush upstairs and go to sleep. Saving the game and turning it off

A few days later, your friend called you in a frenzy as the island that they had spent so much time building and decorating had been destroyed. They couldn’t load their game and every time that they tried, the game would tell them that their save file was corrupted and they needed to delete the entire game and try again

You tried to comfort them over the phone and get your friend to hopefully calm down but as you were doing that, a thought went through your head. Could it have been…?

No, no, no… That would be ridiculous… Imu was a video game character…

Regardless you booted up your game later in the day when you had time and decided to at least try to figure out what happened and if Imu really did have something to do with it

They weren’t home when your character got out of bed so you went outside deciding to ask the villagers as you were sure that heading to the docks would be a bad decision. Plus they were quite knowledgeable about just about everything

you would select the option to ask them a question but when you typed it in. You didn’t get the response of “I’m not sure how to answer that” but instead…

“That island? I’ve never heard of it…”

“Are you feeling alright? Who are you talking about? What friend?”

“You never left this island… We would have known about it…”

“I think you just had a dream… You never visited a place like that…”

It was like the island just stopped existing to them which you supposed it did because your friends save data was corrupted but surely they should remember something… Right?

It wasn’t until you asked the very last member that they sighed and told you something that sent a chill down your spine as the speakers spoke with a voice instead of the typical sound that it usually made when they spoke…

“Stop asking about that island… It never existed… Do you hear me? It never existed, your supposed friend never existed, you never went anywhere… Stop asking questions and go home… Get some rest… You clearly aren’t feeling well…”

Your hands were honestly shaking as you stared at the screen… It almost felt like the character was speaking to you directly, not your character but you like they had finally gotten tired of this…

Your blood ran cold when suddenly the character model looked up at the screen and you could feel cold eyes staring directly into your soul, it made you lean back and you could practically feel your heart stop

“Besides… Imu-sama is looking for you… You shouldn’t worry them so much… They care for you deeply…”

It was after that is when you yelped and shut off the power to your console effectively ending your play session, you threw the console away from you like it had caught fire and stared at it like it was a demon that just crawled up through your floorboards

Honestly you weren’t sure how long you sat there but when you finally moved, you put the console away. Unplugged so it wouldn’t charge and out of sight until you could figure out what to do with the damn thing

You tried to live your life for about a month after that, you told all of your friends exactly what you had seen when they asked to play games with you but they didn’t believe you. “Nice creepypasta!” they would say and “Come on, quit messing around!” was another

Even your friend who had gotten their save file corrupted didn’t seem to quite believe you like they did at least agree that your game was weird but didn’t believe the game was sentient and speaking to you

It wasn’t like you didn’t want to play games with them so after an entire month of being unable to play any games with your friends, you decided that you had to do something

You took the console from where you had put it one night and tried to eject the game from its slot but it wouldn’t come out so you decided on the next best thing besides just buying a new console, you went on your computer and looked up how to completely delete your save file

Chances are with how similar it was to animal crossing, the same rules must apply… Right? That had to be the case

So once you knew exactly how to do it, you booted up your console and took a deep breath to ready yourself before starting the game to completely delete your save and be rid of whatever was going on in there once and for all

It took a long time to load but once it did, your screen turned white and the console sparked in your hands causing you to drop it from surprise

The second that it collided with your lap, a bright was released and once it cleared. You felt so much different, the room that you were in was dark but you were laying on something soft regardless

Your clothes had even felt like they had changed so you opened your eyes and looked about, you saw the shape of a lamp in the room and flicked it on with a click only to immediately wish you hadn’t

You were in your in-game home sitting on the bed underneath the covers except it was different as the bed was bigger and Imu’s bed which would be on the opposite side of the room was gone

Of course you tried to wake yourself up but it wasn’t a dream, you were here for real and it was horrible

Considering the feeling of dread about Imu that you got when the NPC’s dragged you home from your friend’s island, you decided that you needed to find a way off of the island. Maybe you could head to the docks and input a random code to get away?

It was safe enough to say that you were panicking and desperate so you slipped out of bed and carefully walked downstairs, the house looked much different indicating that Imu had redecorated which made you uneasy

You snuck out of the house and ran to the docks as fast as your legs would carry you, you ran past about two of the old men villagers who attempted to stop you. Calling out your name when they saw you, your real name

Once you had made it to the docks, you were panting and out of breath. The NPC there looked shocked to see you as “You’re supposed to be in bed! Imu-sama told us you weren’t feeling well!”

Despite your attempts to demand to be taken off of the island and away from here, the NPC didn’t listen and kept refusing until “I think that you need some rest… You really aren’t feeling well… Don’t worry, we’ll get you home…”

When you tried to ask why they wouldn’t let you leave, they informed you that Imu was in charge of the island now and that they decided everything for it. Who left, who came, how it looked, what it was named, etc, etc

You didn’t need to worry about a single thing anymore as Imu would take care of absolutely everything allowing you to get better and relax! Besides they had been great while you were resting!

Upon returning you home, they stood in front of the door so you couldn’t leave before announcing that they returned you. Imu quickly appeared from one of the rooms and you couldn’t stop the feeling of dread that came over you when you saw them as they were far scarier in person

They dismissed the guards standing behind you and approached you, they took you by the arm with a cold hand and dragged you upstairs

They forced you to sit on the bed all the while remaining completely silent, they laid down next to you and held you close to them almost as if they were trying to cuddle you

The rest of your life would be spent in the game with Imu as despite your many, many escape attempts. None of them worked and when one managed to get you off the island, it wasn’t long before you found yourself being chased down by what reminded you of an Umi Bozu

Imu would force you to remain within the house usually in what you had come to find out was your now shared bed, no one was allowed to see you or speak to you

Not even the five old men living on the island as whenever Imu needed to meet with them, you were locked in the bedroom and forced to listen to them talk downstairs about things that you didn’t entirely understand

And no matter how much you screamed and pleaded to be let go, to please return to your normal life. Imu would simply stare at you like they had always done with the most response that they ever gave you was to get down to your level and look you directly in the eye

Eventually as time passed as well, you began to accept that this was your life. There was no escape from this game, this was your new home and this is where you were going to grow old and eventually die

But of course, this is a video game and no one ages inside of a video game… The years would pass by but you would never change, Imu would never change, the five old men would never change… The only thing that ever changed was the scenery…

The constant isolation and lack of change started to get to you and slowly you started believing… Maybe you were a video game character and maybe you truly weren’t feeling well so that’s why you believed otherwise

This was your home… Right? You had never lived in the real world that you remembered because this was the real world… This is where you belonged… With Imu…

The one who had been so nice and caring to you as they made absolutely sure that you would recover…

Yes… You were sick… And you had been so ungrateful to Imu…

The next time that Imu came to check on you, they were pleasantly surprised to see you in bed for once instead of trying to wander about…

They came over and sat on the edge of the bed to look at you, you looked back at them and an apology escaped your lips…

An apology for trying to leave them, an apology for not believing that this was the real world, an apology for having been so ungrateful to them, an apology for not realizing how unwell you truly were to believe that you were someone else

They actually reacted to this as they extended a hand that no longer felt cold yet oddly warm as it took yours, they gently lifted your hand and began to slide something onto your finger. It was a ring

You should be grateful you know… Imu forgave you and loves you…

It was after admiring the ring for a bit, the blacked out figure leaned in and pressed their lips onto yours in a kiss that you happily returned and when Imu pulled away, you heard them speak for the first time

“You are mine, my love…”

“I am yours…”

It was after that, that Imu held you close and rested with you on the bed… Meanwhile in the real world, you were slowly erased from existence…

All of your friends forgot about you, they didn’t remember a single thing about you let alone your name and every missing persons poster faded away into nothing

It was truly like you were never even a real person in the first place as everything about you vanished except for one thing… Your old console was left sitting on the floor of what used to be your home with the game cartridge disappearing to find its way into some other poor souls possession

You would never know this of course, you were completely under the impression that you were simply a person living your sweet and caring partner on a nice island where no one ever aged

You would never even entertain the thought that you were a real person stuck inside of a video game and if you did then Imu would shoot those ideas down as soon as they sprung up

And as the days passed by living with you as their spouse, Imu honestly knew that leaving that code for you to find was a good decision

(Couldn’t find any good gifs of Imu that weren’t really jittery or had heavy spoilers, sorry…)

#minors dni #the rain talks back #yandere #yandere one piece #reader insert #read the trigger warnings #Yandere Imu #One Piece Crossing AU

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stillness-in-green · 4 months

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Favorite Characters of 2023

Saw this meme template by @limayde and had to drop anything more productive because I Love Character Memes. I tried to focus on characters who particularly signified 2023 in fandom for me, not necessarily just my favorites in any given fandom, and certainly not my favorites of all time! So consider it a reasonable representation of what I read/was reading/was still thinking about last year.

(I'm also relatively sure I could fill this out entirely with BNHA characters, but if I were to do that, it would be with the goal of representing how much I was thinking about said characters in terms of Fix-It Fic(s) Brainstorming, rather than simply how much I like them. Yoichi would be prominent in the former and not present at all in the latter, for example.)

Anyway, after much painstaking cropping, here it is!

(A full list of who all these people are and a blurb apiece of my thoughts on them, as well as the meme template, can be found beneath the cut!)

Most Favorite Blorbo(s) of 2023

Lord Glück and Macht of El Dorado (Sousou no Frieren) – Macht's was the arc that turned me around on Frieren's treatment of demons—he’s so interesting, and so tragic, totally set in his ways while also yearning to change them. Glück, meanwhile, is so devoted to his word, blunt in his assessment of Macht’s character but wholly sincere about trying to give him the knowledge and environment he needs to change. My BF asked me for the spoiler-free version of what I liked about them, and the best I can sum it up as is, “A mutual acceptance despite the parts of each other they can’t understand,” and, “They’ve made each other promises that go all the way to end, to the goddamn end.” Thirty years of that! I am once again begging on my hands and knees for Frieren to get a second season, and also, if the universe really loves me, to end the first season with a tease for the Golden City.[1]

(I cheated a bit here; the central square is intended for a single supreme fave, not center-mounting one's OTP. I am, however, entirely incapable of picking one of those two above the other. Also, putting them both there does bring the character count to a nice even 50.}

1: A second tease. There’s actually been one already, a reference to Macht’s enchanted jewelry, squirreled away in some on-screen text—one of the anime’s many additions to the background detail compared to the manga.

12 Characters vs. 12 Months In A Year. Coincidence? Probably!

(Starting at the top left corner and moving clockwise.)

Shigaraki Tomura (BNHA) – 2023 was the year Shigaraki Tomura got his groove back, thank heavens. While he didn’t get much material in which to speak his own mind—really just Chapters 379 and 411, a full year apart (the latter didn’t officially come out until just a few days ago; we just got the leaks a week early). We’ll see how he holds up going forward, but even those few scenes effortlessly demonstrate just how profound a waste of time handing AFO the reins to the end game was. Here’s to not letting Heroes off the hook in the new year!

Iguchi Shuuichi/Spinner (BNHA) – Spent a lot of 2023 worrying about this guy. Still am worried about this guy. But him turning the tides of the war at the end of 2022 shifted the whole course of the battle, and new we’ve got Shigaraki invoking The Horizon to finally give us incontrovertible evidence that Shigaraki and Spinner have talked about more than just video games! 2024 is shaping up Spinaraki!

Yotsubashi Rikiya/Re-Destro (BNHA) – I provide fanart for this man because, of course, he was in the actual canon not at all last year, absent a single flashback panel from Hose Face, not at all making up for what a caricature that character was otherwise. All the good Re-Destro content I was getting last year was thanks to @nickfoo’s wonderful, wonderful fanart of him. Thanks for continuing to give this guy love, foo! (full art here)

Geten (BNHA) – Himura backstory reveal! And that revelation accounted for the only fanfic I posted last year at all, as well as being super satisfying in terms of largely clearing Todoroki Enji of the responsibility for the heteromorphobic microaggressions perpetrated by certain of his children, as well as giving us some more hints about Geten and Re-Destro’s relationship. Exquisite. (Now just let him have something to say that isn’t mostly there to Contextualize Dabi.)

Vamirio/Anne from Management (Helck) – I reread Helck last year in celebration of its anime, and just to reiterate this again, Vamirio and her determination lead her to make firm stands and fiery declarations about her combat role and priorities that Deku has never even fuckin’ thought about. Vamirio a best; vote Vamirio for Head of Management.

Samuel Murphy +Hal and Nobu (Canis: The Speaker) – Sam’s my favorite of another inseparable trio, probably because, at least as an adult, he’s the most vulnerable—not simply because he lacks the firearms or goons that his partners’ positions allow them to call to hand, but also because of his struggles with insomnia. Whip-smart, observant, and well-spoken, and I always have had a preference for the smart ones.

Jasper (Steven Universe) – I started reading @faelapis’s post-canon Jasper exploration fic Something Better last year and absolutely fell in love with it. It reminded me all over again how much I love Jasper, and how much I wanted a story that gave her all the time she needed to change.

Somei Yoshino (Yakuza Fiancée) – Last year saw the anime announcement and Yoshino’s totally amazing bathtub fight with Azami, which I guess there are cowards out there who didn’t like? RIP to them but I’m different, I guess! I’ll watch Yoshino break her terrible suitors’ fingers any time!

Wolfgang Grimmer (Monster) – Reread the back half of Monster last year solely because I love Grimmer and wanted to read his material again. A perennial favorite, manga and character alike. I love a man held together with scotch tape, stitches and good intentions.

Boutarou the Pirate (Golden Kamuy) – Probably not my actual favorite character in the series, but I finally got to see him in anime form last year after a maddening wait thanks to the delay in 2022. Shiraishi’s best ship and a feral merman (look at the way he uses his hair and tell me I'm wrong) that someone unaccountably let walk around on dry land. A+ character.

Sailor Cosmos (Sailor Moon) – Speaking of characters with a huge wait on seeing them in the anime..! God, I’ve wanted anime Sailor Cosmos since high school, and I’m thrilled to finally get her (and the merch that would accompany her).

Mitaka Asa (Chainsaw Man) – I read the first half of Chainsaw Man a while back, largely on the basis of @robotlesbianjavert’s enthusiasm, and while I enjoyed it well enough, particularly Denji’s assorted travails, I never got super invested in it because, not having to wait week to week for releases, there was never really enough time to get attached to most characters before they got unceremoniously offed. Whether it’s the week-to-week wait or just that I like Asa as a character more, she’s really done the job of getting me interested in the series. I love this loser failgirl and I want only the best for her; while I doubt that’s what she’ll get, at least I can watch her torture logic to make sick weapons and have affecting scenes about her own crippling inadequacy issues in the meantime.

36 Others

(As before, starting on the top left and moving clockwise through the BNHA Zone.)

Scarecrow/Spinner’s Number 2 (BNHA) – Scarecrow’s big speechifying moments would have been back in autumn of 2022, but I still loved him more than enough in 2023 for him to make this grid. He was reduced to a shallow caricature and still had to get knocked off a roof because no one could actually out-argue him, and through all of that unendurable authorial laziness, his potential still shines through for me. Stan the MLA, MLA 5Evah.

Toga Himiko (BNHA) – The only Villain whose Hero foil plotline is working for me on any level, though a lot is hanging on whether or not she, y’know, lives. She definitely should have gotten to stab the bejeezus out of Hawks, and Ochaco should definitely go on the run with her once Apple Cheeks realizes that the HeroAca justice system could not possibly be relied upon to do anything other than throw Toga in a hole for a few years before executing her.

Gentle Criminal (BNHA) – The only redeemed villain whose regard for Deku functions at all thematically. Lady N’s return is hogswash on multiple levels, but I will defend Gentle’s without reservation.

Kunieda + Aoyama Yuuga (BNHA) – Consider these two to be a stand-in for all the thinking I did last year about Fix-It Fic scenarios for this whole final arc. For example, Kunieda in the canon speaks far too knowledgeably both about and to Aoyama for them to be total strangers, so why not plant some seeds for their confrontations earlier? I ask the reader to consider this:

In a version of the Edgy Deku arc that allowed the rest of 1-A to get out into the world to help out with relocation efforts, they one day come across a scene of dread: a neighborhood full of corpses and Kunieda’s flowers. Aoyama has a noticeably shaken reaction, which he plays off as just horror to his similarly horrified classmates, but the truth is that he’s got prior history with Kunieda—AFO didn’t plop corpses in front of his parents to intimidate them (because that’s ham-handed and silly), but bodies were still involved. They’d turn up buried in the family's fancy gardens sometimes, always heralded by those vivid red-black flowers…

Frieren (Sousou no Frieren) – I was relatively neutral on the title character until the anime came out and I had to suffer through The Discourse about her attitude towards demons (arguments on both sides tending to be poorly considered and ignorant, both of canonical details and real-world relevance). That made me a bit more defensive of her, but even setting my contrarianism aside, I was also very pleased with how she navigated the manga’s most recent arc.[2] She’s maybe the first character I can think of who I have actively wanted to write Asexual Representation fic for, if only because my answer to, “Does she Romantically Love Himmel?” is much more complex than just saying, “No, she only saw him as a friend,” or, “Yes, and now she’s going to be sad about her Tragically Lost Love for the rest of her life and we need to write all the fix-it fics about that.”

2: She wants to go home! Her feelings for Himmel, whatever they are, are of less importance to her than going home! Despite everything we know about how she perceives time, she still values her “now” more than her lost “then”! My gloating aside, though, I was far more affected by the sword scene than I was the wedding attire or the near kiss. Being trapped in a wedding illusion? Trite, overplayed. Being trapped in a wedding illusion yet still being able to wrap your hands around your partner’s arm and faithfully guide them into drawing the sword neither of you can perceive? Now that’s intimacy!

Heiter (Sousou no Frieren) – While I had little overall use for the aforementioned most recent arc of Frieren, I did very much enjoy my favorite member of the Hero Party getting a moment to demonstrate what being The Priest Of The Party That Defeated The Demon King actually means in practice. Grausam being unable to put him down with an illusion? Being the only one who could defend his downed companions? The sheer level of trust he has in Himmel? A little bit of vulnerability where he’s bare seconds away from getting gibbed by Grausam? Heiter is the member of the party that we get the least amount of in on: Sein didn’t stay with the party long enough to serve as a point of comparison, and despite Heiter raising Fern, she didn’t assume his role in the new group, like Stark did Eisen’s, nor do her reminiscences about him get anywhere near the amount of screentime that Frieren’s do of Himmel. So for real, you guys, Chapter 118 was so good.

Edward (Shadows House) – *bangs fists on table* WORST BOY WORST BOY WORST BOY!! Anime Edward is pants, but Manga Edward is where it’s at, always keeping Kate scrambling, always coming out on top of his maneuverings against his peer group rivals, just flappable enough that his victories doesn’t look effortless, and engaging enough that his smugness feels earned rather than intended to turn the reader against him. I have no idea how the story is going to deal with the adult shadows, who are after all still just as brainwashed and wronged by Grandfather’s workings as the kids are! If anything, they’re worse off, having already been manipulated into losing the “faces” they must once have loved dearly. Thus, while Kate and her allies certainly approach the conflict with a very Us vs. Them, Adults=The Enemy mentality, the screentime Edward’s own affairs get, fully independent of how they intersect with Kate’s, along with an avowed desire to improve the House that parallels Kate’s, make me hopeful that the authors have something a little more nuanced in mind than, “Free the current victims by wiping out all the previous ones.”

Melinda Desmond (Spy x Family) – The main cast are all perfectly fine, but Melinda is interesting. Super curious to find out more about the Desmond family dynamics, and I love Melinda bouncing around with Yor. (I swear, though, judging by the collective response to the most recent chapter, the fandom is going to turn me into a Donovan Apologist yet. Only one member of that family has visible scars suggesting brain surgery, folks!!)

Anti/Knight/Gridknight (Gridman Universe) – Always my favorite single character from both Gridman and Dynazenon, and he was characteristically great in the movie as well. His scene with Akane at the end was only my second favorite beat because, while it’s wonderful emotionally cathartic (more fanservice like this, please!), it’s also kind of muddled thanks to the idea of Gridman!Anti and Dynazenon!Knight being two separate entities. Churlish to hold that against it, though, when it's so heartfelt.

Minami Yume + Asanaka Yomogi (Gridman Universe) – Such a great pairing in their own show—I once saw someone call them forced, which has always struck me as just being too high on Bashing The Hets to see that Yomogi and Yume have a great arc towards getting together, actually. Seeing them be unabashedly together and happy about it in the film was 100% delightful and deserved. Yume swooping down out of the sky on Dynarex to scoop up her wifeguy boyfriend is my actual favorite beat in the movie.

Hyura (Helck) – Firstly, the dry humor around Hyura is fantastic. (“Something like an arm grows back simply enough. That’s just common sense.” “It doesn’t, right?” “It does not.”) Secondly, she’s the biggest badass in the secondary cast. Thirdly, she and Edil have the designated rival ship dynamic (incredibly rare to see across gender lines in shounen manga), and Hyura holds her own all the way to the end. Hyura is great.

Mikaros (Helck) – “Yes, we may have lost some assets and I personally shattered the mind of one of our strongest soldiers, removing him from the playing field. But the important thing is that I personally overcame my trauma, so overall it’s a win.” What a slimeball. What a total heap. And what an excellent example of the end-stage stakes driving the title character's choice in the epilogue! I love Mikaros unreservedly.

Harold Aldo Hughes and Iwaki Tadanobu + Sam (Canis: The Speaker) – Transformation, reinvention, the fierceness of devotion and the ruthlessness of rebirth—I don’t love them quite as much as I do Sam, but they’re also both great.

Hera (Lore Olympus) – Lore Olympus is one of those series I read more because it’s interesting enough while also being blisteringly gorgeous than because I’m deeply invested in the characters, but the plotline about Hera and Kronos really has pulled me all the way into active, character-specific interest. Great, tense, painful stuff. Can’t wait to see where she goes following recent events.

Redcloak (Order of the Stick) – His last really insightful and heartwrenching scene was in the year before last—that fantastic exchange with Oona!—but for as long as I’m reading OOTS, Redcloak is going to be a favorite. God, the Law Elemental summoning is so funny.

Hyness (Kirby franchise) – This one’s entirely on my sis-in-law—like another character further down the list, I am not remotely “in” the Kirby fandom. But what can I say—tell me about a warped cult leader who started in a bad place and only got worse who still managed to get saved by the Hero taking a leap of faith that paid off, and tell me the fandom calls him a horrible abuser? Sorry, but I Have No Choice But To Stan. (full art here)

Lafcadio Boone (The Sexy Brutale) – Replayed this again last year, and it’s still great. In a sense, despite its sizeable named cast, it really only has the one character, and his story is such that I want to make every single person on tumblr that gets hyperbolic about the forgiveness and redemption of fictional wrongdoers play this game. “Time to move on, old man,” indeed.

Sissel (Ghost Trick) – Finally got the remaster of this and replayed it, and it’s also still great. Knowing The Spoilers about Sissel seriously make replays such a scream, but also man is this game really sitting on some completely over-the-top darkness not at all far beneath its candy apple red and Matrix-text green surface.

Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Across the Spider-Verse) – Strictly in terms of character writing, he’s very fun, but I don’t think he’s as strong as Spider-Punk or Miguel O'Hara, but on the other hand, he’s so much fun, especially to simply watch in motion. Most of the rest of the leads, however varied their artstyles might be, still feel like they move in basically the same ways, just with varying levels of grace vs. power, intent vs. controlled collapse, but because of the way Pavitr uses his thread, he moves completely differently, and it’s just a ton of fun to watch. The first character I went hunting for fanart of when I got out of the movie theater.

Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Across the Spider-Verse) – I have outstanding affection for Spider-Gwen from reading her comics back when, but that opening Vulture fight, the fantastic look of her dimension, and all the trans signaling kept her right at the top, too.

Brutha (Discworld: Small Gods) – @codenamesazanka read this and a few of the Watch books last year, prompting me to do some rereads as well, and Brutha and Small Gods remain very dear to me. I only wish more artists would draw versions of him that remotely resemble “fat, simple-looking young man from a desert country in fantasy!expy!Middle East” rather than “suspiciously trim and Benedictine.”

Sam Vimes (Discworld series) – Ditto on Nal’s read above, but also chatted with foo a lot about this guy, and he’s been my favorite single character in the series since high school. It takes very little to prompt me to reread his books generally, but last year was the first time I’ve had it in me to reread Snuff, as it was previously a little too tied up in my feelings about the last few books prior to Pratchett’s death. Regardless of anything else, though, Snuff is the book for Sam/Sybil.

Mina Murray (#DRCL: Midnight Children) – Discovered this lush chonk of horror phantasmagoria last year and I’m kind of in love with it. Its take on Mina anchors it well—she’s smart and fiery but up against ingrained sexism and classism in her setting, and not too Anachronistic Grrl Power to not be hurt by that sometimes; she’s stubborn, but vulnerable to the supernatural horrors in the way any child would be. An unreliable but intriguing and sympathetic narrator.

Capone Bege (One Piece) – The other character I got onto largely without getting into the series he hails from, nickfoo—whose art I again use to illustrate—does great work with this guy, a once-jovial monster shocked back from that moral brink by marriage and fatherhood. Still gets a bit Into It at work, but tries not to bring it home, at least as much as that can be avoided when carrying both family and crew around in the same heart/sub-dimensional space. (Also, foo’s version of Bege is great, but her rendition of Chiffon is—speaking as someone who doesn’t read the series and can only gauge by image search or skimming the wiki—borderline miraculous, accurate to Oda’s lively caricature design, but so much more sensitive, expressive and human.)

Prince Kazu/Lady Chikako (Ooku: The Inner Chambers) – On the occasion of the Netflix anime, I finally tracked down and finished Ooku last year, and when I tell you that I laughed more and harder in the final arc than I did through the entire rest of the series combined… The Kyoto cast members are a big part of why,[3] and none more delightful than the stuffy, prideful, possessive, and deeply impetuous Chikako, one of the most singularly human characters in the whole 19-volume melodrama.

3: Catty ex-male prostitute turned head of the Inner Chambers Takiyama is the other part of this equation, by the way.

Gao Shun (The Apothecary Diaries) – Long-suffering stoics are my absolute favorite type, and that holds true even though Gao Shun's stoicism has been largely a humorous beat thus far. I want this guy to get more attention, but until then, I will continue to enjoy his weary exasperation every time he has to deal with Mao Mao’s eccentricities/Jinshi’s enthusiasm about same.

Mao Mao (The Apothecary Diaries) – Best female character of the season, for sure, but I’ve been reading one of the manga for a while now, and she’s a regular delight. Eccentric and ruthless by turns, painfully aware of the limitations of her position and yet wholly willing to make her own decisions and exert her own agency within those limitations without ever concerning herself with whether she should ask permission from or report to someone above her rank. Mao Mao’s mercy takes the form of knowing when to speak and when to demure, and every time I see some stuck-in-their-own-ethical-framework commenter complain about her moral compass, I appreciate it harder.

Accustomizer Stud/Tiffany (Angelic Acceptor Alouette) – Enthusiastically resourceful teenage girl who would probably be super into transhumanism if she hadn’t fallen in with angels (sic) instead, transforming into the gloriously nonbinary pile of muscles and amazing hair that is Accustomizer Stud, Tiffany’s ultimate expression of her inner self. Stud is magnanimous, gracious, and well-spoken, and they are also VERY LOUD AND FIGHTY. My absolute favorite character in a game wall-to-wall with great characters.

Yuunagi Tsubasa/Cure Wing (Hirogaru Sky PreCure) – The first Official Boy Cure with absolutely no provisos or qualifications or ways to wiggle out of it, and the show gets him just right by playing him basically completely straight. Has a costume no one would look twice at in a magical girl line-up, wastes no time on masculine embarrassment at his frills, with the only nod he/the show make towards his gender at all being to frame his role as being a knight to a princess, rather than simply a guardian to one, but it’s not really what he’s about. His actual character is driven by knowledge, studiousness, and a desire to overcome the limitations placed on him by being a human/pudgy flightless bird fairy.

Kei Miyama (Go With the Clouds, North By Northwest) – Something of a stand-in for his series generally, which I read the two most recent volumes of last year and fell in love with all over again—particularly the most recent one, which switches deftly between depictions of shattering, world-hollowing grief and the beguiling intimacy of the rhythms of life and nature. But my love for the manga itself aside, Kei’s a great protagonist, full of little contradictions and snags that make him feel much more fleshed out and grounded than your average animanga male lead, even as he’s running around doing very Animanga Male Lead Things, like solving mysteries by using his Strange Power to get information a normal person could not.

Lord El-Melloi II/Waver Velvet (Fate franchise) – Waver is possibly my favorite character of all time in any medium, so it takes very little to rekindle the love. In last year's case, it took the Fate/strange Fake special! Love to see my boy continue to wrest more narrative space for himself than he was originally allotted by virtue of being a run-away audience favorite of the Fate/Zero anime!

Ivan (Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still) – Got the remastered Blu-ray last year as a gift, and guess what? I still love Ivan in all his cartoonish mini-boss villainy layered over the pathos of tragic loss and resentment. Honestly, I can only assume he’s as well-adjusted as he is because Alberto is so inspiring to work in close quarters with (mood), because otherwise I’d think it pretty unfair that the sole surviving Bashtarle national in the story gets so little to say about/to the people who blew it up.

Isurugi Camice (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) – I was a bit too preoccupied with BNHA meta last year to think much about my prior fandom phase, but I still made time to rotate Isurugi in my mind from time to time. As one of my beloved long-suffering stoics, I can always make that kind of time for him. (Image source is from the cover of a doujinshi I have, because melancholy BL doujinshi is definitely more the kind of tonal zone my mental rotations were occupying than they were canon’s!)

And, finally, the blank

(If anyone reading this wants to give it a whirl, I reccommend blowing it up to x2 size; makes the small squares easier to work with.)

#memes #MEEEEEEEEMES #bnha #sousou no frieren #helck #magical girls and sundry shounen #small nonweeb corner #gundam ibo #fate whatever #sorry to the non-mutuals for the random tag-in #thank you for your fic/your meme grid and have an amazing new year

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