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jtl-fics · 11 months

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Fluent Freshman - Part 23

There were a few reasons that Andrew and Neil could not get past reception to go see FF or get updates on his current condition.

The first reason was that visiting hours were long over by the time they had arrived a little after midnight.

The second reason was that hospitals, in general, don’t just give out information on their patients to any random person that walks in and asks for an update on their condition. They are ESPECIALLY hesitant to give out updates on patients when the people who are asking can’t give you anything other than a first name, general description, and the reason that the patient is in the hospital.

Somehow “Completely average looking guy with the last name Smith who was stabbed in the stomach” is not enough for the receptionist to go off of.

“There are multiple people here that fit that description. I would need at least a first and last name before I could even begin to start seeing if you were someone who we even could give updates to. No, I will not continue to play your fun little game of guess the first name.” She says when Andrew opens his mouth to start listing off names alphabetically again.

So now Andrew and Neil found themselves under the watchful eye of a security guard as they sat in the back corner of the front reception area.

“I can’t believe we still don’t know what Smith’s first name is.” Neil says his face is buried in his hands as he and Andrew sit in the uncomfortable chairs trying to figure out where to go from here.

“I think she knows exactly who we want to see.” Andrew scowls towards the receptionist who, long used to the ire of the public, pays him no mind. Andrew just refused to believe that there were that many brown haired, brown eyed, average height and weight guys who had suffered a stab wound to the stomach that would have been admitted in the last two hours.

“I just hope they actually are looking after him and that no one went and forgot about him in an hallway somewhere.” Neil says hands sliding up into his hair to grip.

“That wouldn’t happen.” Andrew dismisses despite knowing that Wymack had ABSOLUTELY forgotten FF at a stadium once during the period where FF had been low presence to keep his family from bothering him.

The U-turn he had pulled had definitely been illegal when FF called and asked where the bus was when they had been on the road for five minutes. Wymack had felt terrible about it but FF had just seemed relieved that the bus had come back for him.

Wymack.

Andrew pulls out his phone and dials a familiar number. Wymack, reliable as always, picks up on the fourth ring with the sound of cursing as he got the phone up to his ear. “What.” He asks and Andrew can hear the sounds of driving and Kevin’s infamously train-like snoring in the background.

“What’s Smith first name. You know it.” Andrew demands.

“Classified.” Wymack clips back immediately.

“I need to know it so that we can get updates.” Andrew hisses.

“He isn’t interested in people knowing it and you wouldn’t be able to get updates anyways.” Wymack dismisses.

“We want to be able to head back to see him.” Neil tries.

“Visiting hours are long over Josten. You know that I’m not settling that bet that you little fuckers have floating around about this.” Wymack responds back.

Andrew grits his teeth and then forces himself to relax his jaw, “It’s not about the bet.” Andrew shuts his eyes in irritation.

That stupid bet.

The betting culture within the Palmetto State Foxes Exy team that Reynold’s had cultivated held strong even after her graduation with the remaining Foxes. The Bet had started when one of the other freshmen had mentioned that it was funny that FF went around like Cher or Madonna. The realization that none of them knew FF’s first name was one that had them placing bets on a multitude of things. Things like: “Do you wanna bet it’s a super normal boring name?”, “Do you wanna bet that it’s a weird foreign name?”, and “Is FF intentionally not giving it out to people or since he goes by his last name normally he has no idea that anything is amiss?” Had lower pools since you were betting on a spectrum. The bet with the highest pool is: “What is FF’s first name”.

Wymack had categorically refused to answer it and all other attempts to discover FF’s first name had been met with frustration. There was a solemn agreement that no one could just go and outright ask him since that would ruin all of the fun. Andrew had agreed to not ask when the team had collectively filled his freezer with ice cream cake and he was a man of his word.

The general belief (after the revelation of his major and the number of languages FF spoke) was that FF’s name was just not easy to pronounce for English speakers.

Andrew hadn’t participated but he know that the Foxes do have a running list of names they know it’s not. (Greg, Will, Smith (again), Matt, Kevin, Neil, Andrew, Aaron, Nathaniel, Jack, Beyonce (Sheena’s drunken guess), Nicholas, John, Fred, Garfield, Frank, Alfred, Augustus, Adam, etc. (Andrew had been trying to guess with the receptionist for a while))

“You’re coming here aren’t you? We can get updates when you get them.” Neil says.

“He’s in emergency surgery right now and will remain there for the next few hours most likely. There’s not going to be any updates hopefully.” Wymack says with a sigh loud enough that they can hear it over Kevin’s snoring.

“Surgery? He needs surgery?” Neil asks sounding surprised s if FF hadn’t been stabbed to the hilt into his stomach with one of Andrew’s knives. He’s about to give Neil some shit for the question before remembering that if there was any person who would think that a stab wound to the stomach wouldn’t necessitate surgery it would be Neil “I’m Fine” Josten.

“Yes Josten, he needs surgery. They have to stitch up his stomach and the surgeons are also going to be dealing with some of the ulcers that were ruptured by the knife.” Wymack explains likely coming to the same conclusion that Andrew had on Neil’s stupid question. “They were a bit worried about him bleeding out but he stabilized before the surgery.” Wymack sighs.

“I’m going the hospital since I’m Smith’s medical proxy. If anything goes wrong with the surgery I want to be there so I can make an informed decision on his care.” Wymack says and… Andrew figured there’d be surgery but to hear it and the possibility that something could go wrong, that the last thing FF had said to him had been something non-sensical about “Gracie Hart wouldn’t have gotten stabbed. I’m Cheryl at best.”as he’d started succumbing to all the blood loss. “If you could stick around long enough for me to drop Kevin off with you I would appreciate it.” Wymack says.

“What if he needs a blood transfusion?” Andrew says.

“Smith is AB-, it’s the second easiest blood type to transfuse into. Go home Andrew.” Wymack repeats.

Andrew works his jaw irritated that there didn’t seem to be a path to getting his way.

“We’ll stay here until you get here.” Andrew agrees, “But you’ll get an update before we leave.” He adds.

Wymack sighs, “Fair enough.” He says before hanging up.

It’s 45 minutes of waiting and tossing a few more name possibilities at the receptionist who seems more amused than anything at their continued attempts to guess their friend’s first name (Neil goes through the entire list of names that he’s gone by and none of them get the thumbs up).

Wymack comes through the doors with a half awake Kevin Day following his steps. “I have another favor to ask you.” Wymack says instead of any form of greeting.

“I’m not going to leave Kevin in the car overnight again. It was just that one time.” Andrew says with a roll of his eyes and honestly he’d been punished enough listening to Kevin bitch, moan, and sneeze for the following week while talking about all the supplements he was taking.

“Not that,” Wymack pauses, “I have two favors to ask you. First don’t do that. Second, would you be able to pick up Smith’s grandma from the airport tomorrow?” He asks.

Andrew blinks.

“She’s coming here?” He asks.

“I updated her on my way here. She booked a flight and will be arriving around noon tomorrow.” Wymack says and Andrew doesn’t know why he’s confused by this. FF’s grandma got him two still warm pies to cheer him up on Thanksgiving.

He’d stabbed that woman’s grandson.

“I’ll pick her up.” He agrees.

Shorter one today

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242 @whataboutmyfries @sahturnos @pluto-pepsi @dreamerthinker @passinhosdetartaruga @leftunknownheart @aro-manita-muscaria @hologramsaredead @Chaoticgremlinswishtheycouldbeme @tntwme @tayspots @nick-scar @crazy-fangirl2524 @blue-jos10 @stabbyfoxandrew @splishsplashyouropinionistrash @sammichly @the-broken-pen @bitchesdoweknowu @very-small-flower @ghostlyboiii @its-a-paxycab @bisexual-genderfluid-fan @cheesecookie @theoneandonlylostsock @foxsoulcourt @blueleys @adverbialstarlight @elia-nna @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner @nikodiangel @foxandcrow-inatrenchcoat @hallucinatedjosten @satanic-foxhole-court @vexingcosmos @chalilodimun @insectsgetcooked @angry-kid-with-no-money @queer-crows @lillyndra @themundanemudperson @readertodeath @apileofpillows @mortalsbowbeforeme @hellomynameismoo @next-level-mess @youreonlylow @interstellarfig @notprocrastinatingatalltoday @percyjacksonfan3 @queenofcrazy27 @bsmr261 @ghostlyscares @spencellio @adinthedarkroom @harpymoth @sufferingjustalilbit @anxietymoss @oddgreyhound @ohno-myhyperfixation-itsbroken @ken22789 @atiredvampire @isoldescorner @not--a--pipedream @azure-wing @bushbees @roonilwazlib-main @crumplelush @foldedaces-paperbirds @thesenseinnonsense @let-tyrants-fear @ketchupandfries @legowerewolf @deadlydodos @but-we-respect-his-craft @cariniqe @zanypersonapricotbiscuit @lesbian-blackbeard @lesbiansupernatural @silvermasquerade @thepeachfuzz @minniemariex @kazoo-the-demjin @gaypomegranate @ji-nk-ies @neilimfinejosten @omgrubelangel @itsyouitsmeorpheuseurydice

The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

#Fluent Freshman AU #Might be taking a bit of a break after this post #I wanna figure out the overarching joke of the next part #So FF is under the knife getting stitched up so he doesn't make an in person appearance this chapter #Kevin is coming along with Wymack because he wants to figure out the recovery time and PT FF will need #They were planning on having him be the starting Dealer next season #Honestly he can't BELIEVE that Romero would fuck up his line-up like this #Yes Kevin is aware that he is not the Captain #FF never lets anyone forget who the Captain is #It's Captain Neil #Neil and Andrew try to become close to the receptionist so she will release FF's first name #But god they are both super bad at small talk #Andrew and Neil: So...busy day?#Receptionist: Actually considering the fact its Black Friday it wasn't that bad #Neil: Is it...is it that dangerous? (Thinking about FF this morning)#Receptionist: I've seen body builders get their thigh bones snapped in half by exhausted stay at home moms for a blender you tell me #Neil: Anyone from the (location) Target?#Receptionist: Oh that was a bloodbath didn't you see the news?#The misconception that FF is a cool badass guy continues to grow throughout the Foxes #AFTG #AFTG AU #AFTG OC #AFTG Fic #FF - Pt 23

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httpiastri · 14 days

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i'm supposed to be on my break but i couldn't not come on here and post at least something about osc's birthday so

pls have my possibly all time fave oscar pic 💗 happy birthday to the love of my life, so thankful to have him in my life (even though it's just through a screen) 🫶

#i may be mostly an f2 f3 blog these days but yk oscar is still my boy #the reason i started writing for f1 in the first place and quite honestly the reason i even made it through last year #wish i had something bigger planned but unfortunately not #ive been quite busy these last few days and i will continue to be extremely busy next week #but hoping to be back sometime next week anyway :) i miss everyone on here too much #so thankful to read everyone's sweet messages #love u all !! big kisses #don't forget to send osc some extra love today 🩷 and then every day from here on 🩷🩷

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chenziee · 9 months

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A Comprehensive list of my outsider POVs or; a list of people who have Suffered™

NAMI - Good friends (don't) kiss + Revelations (we could do without)

PENGUIN - A Burst of colour (happy birthday)

SMOKER - Just a quick supply run

NPC - Boyfriends (do) kiss

LAW - See no evil (zosan)

BEPO - This is my BDSM dungeon

COBY - Not so bad

USOPP - The (s)we(e)t taste of revenge (lawlu, zosan)

KID - At the bottom of the sea

CAESAR - Minding his own evil business

SHACHI - Please don't ask + The Power of the revolutionary army top executive

ABSALOM - HIRED! (icepaulie), 'WHITE KNIGHT' CAVENDISH IN TROUBLE?! (bartocav)

PEDRO - Bringing dawn

SANJI - Princess Monster

YAMATO - Drastic Measures

BIG NEWS MORGANS - World Economic Journal: Grand Line Edition

ONIGIRI - Hopeless

ACE & SABO - Menace

KOTATSU - The Plight of the (not) house cat

NDA, WIP, planned:

NDA

Tate

Jinbe

Yamato

Sanji

NDA

Honorable mention: not in his POV but SENGOKU suffered the most hands down - Take out as in on a date, right?

#one piece #lawlu #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #luffy #monkey d luffy #opfanfic #lawlu fanfic #outsider pov #zosan #icepaulie #katie pretends to fic #everything is lawlu unless stated otherwise #i honestly thought i did more but then again #i do have a bunch planned and/or ready to go live..#this post will be continually undated btw #three of the NDAs are gonna be revealed pretty soon too #which one is your favourite?#i have a soft spot for the until we drown series so At the Bottom of the sea is like. right there #but i have to admit i might like Take out as in on a date right? the most #tho it's not really outsider pov..#so At the bottom of the sea or The sweet taste of revenge..#tho i do like bringing dawn for different reasons #and Minding his own evil business was so much fun to write #ceasar is so slept on #he was a great crew pet #ahh idk #so glad i can finally say i can't decide which fic i love most instead of 'which one i hate the least' ahahaha

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sleepinglionhearts · 1 year

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Well, looks like I made it to 27!

A big thank you to my friends and family for supporting me with love and kindness, and a lot of patience. A big thank you as well to all my online buddies, though I know many of us only occasionally chat nowadays. Y'all keep me going. ♡

Let's hope I have many more birthdays to come!

#doodles #personal #it has happened! I've turned 27!#ah... 3 years from 30! nice!#what a strange process aging is #i shall continue to be a nuisance about my interests hehe #i shall also hopefully be in better health soon bc guess who's been very vitamins d and b deficient?#it would be nice to have energy to do stuff #anyway i have no big birthday plans this year but i do hope tomorrow is a peaceful day at work #i may have new items to process so that's fun #i do like to stay busy when i can #like if I'm putting aside all my spoons for work I'd better have some Tasks lol

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vermillioncrown · 4 months

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by this point, my frustration is justified--if i have:

1) already mentioned in multiple replies that a fic is on hiatus

2) bolded its status and my reasons in the end note

3) added the status and a warning that i will delete comments of the type in my summary

why do i still get asked whether or not i'll ever update again? and that's all they have to say?

becoming increasingly concerned there's a subset of bil readers that don't know how to read or pay attention in a hobby that requires reading comprehension and an attention span

#opinionated verm #redglyphs #also: not into the weird squicky mean-spirited or performative way that some readers take the humor #(which is 100% not meant to be and it's something i intentionally try to avoid)#or caring about the quips over everything else #it's just off-putting and frustrating to see #bc if they cared that much about the fic it's so easy to find WHY i've been busy #or like. at least drop a line beyond the superficial?? i don't need effusive praise or whatever. but it'd be nice to see signs of life #i legit feel like a dog doing tricks for treats with the general attitude from that fic's readership #there's a fromsoft-like meter that fills up to me deleting bil akin to incurring scarlet rot #it sucks bc i loved writing bil + sharing it + have plans to continue it #but it doesn't feel fun to know that rude and ignorant readers still get to enjoy something they had a part in ruining for me #really sucks. i'm not a popular author by any means but bil is my most popular fic by raw metrics-to-duration of posting #and if this is how it be then i never want to have anything more appealing than bil bc damn i'd lose all my hair lol #on bil

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sexynetra · 4 days

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I’m just over here patiently waiting for you to post Grandekofi ksdjdjfj

I promise it will come I got distracted but I am back 🫡 here’s a tiny snippet for your patience

“That’s… my shirt,” she said dumbly.

Dame ran her fingers along the lightly frayed hem of the shirt, a concert shirt she had bought years and years ago for a band she couldn’t even remember. “Yeah, I borrowed it. I hope you don’t mind.”

#I need to finish that fic I have it all planned out I think #and the first part is mostly done #but I got really bad writers block and my life got crazy busy #but I should continue it you’re right :)#grandekofi will never leave my heart or my fanfiction I promise #ask #asks #sweetestberryofthebunch #grandekofi #my writing

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revelisms · 7 months

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Excerpt: Business is Only Theatre

Little Jinx receives an acting lesson.

From 'like leaves of a lotus,' a oneshot following Silco and Jinx on a Topside errand run. Full story on AO3.

They're buzzed through the gates in a flourish of blue light. He taps the corner of his paperwork along the desk, once, twice. Scrapes it away—thinking, thinking—steps echoing over the cold marble. The burly guard seated at the gate's edge doesn't give them a passing glance, tension curling through his shoulders.

They walk on. Their reflection glints in the wide, gold-paned doors of the ground floor elevator bay. She peeks up at him through her hair. "You didn't make an appointment," she whispers, punching her finger into the button.

"The boy didn't know that," Silco whispers back. His eyes are faraway.

The sterility of the building's dry air heightens the sooty-sweet of the Lanes that sticks to his clothes, the hint of cigar smoke that sits beneath it, the lingering touch of his cologne. It's comforting to her, in this awful space. She clings to the familiarity of it, in the whirring of the elevator: in the white of the halls: through each tick-tack of their shoes across too-clean marble.

They fall still in the threshold of an open door, three rooms down from a sharp corner and a statue depicting the glory of their squashed rebellion—bridge, fire, death, hell—that makes her skin crawl. Inside, a man slumps over a mine of zoning requests in a disorganized room, pen scribbling. It smells of stale cigarettes and antiseptic.

"Marcus." Silco's voice is a satin-cloaked knife.

Their pocketed enforcer flinches; spits, "What—what are you doing here?" with a baffled stare.

Silco steps into the room. Slow, half-minded. She scuttles in behind him.

For a moment, silence clots every breath, sucking out the oxygen by fractions. His fingers tap against the folder of paperwork at his back. "Shut the door, Jinx," he says lowly.

Marcus shoots her a look that stabs with daggered disdain. Any threat in it falls flat. She's faced down too many of those in her short lifetime to care. She glares right back; knocks the door shut behind her with a shove of her foot.

The clap of its hinges echoes. Another breath. The line of Silco's back is still. The silence of the room changes the air: changes him—and though there is nothing noticeable that shifts in the way he carries himself, his presence plummets, like a toxin slow-released.

"You're three days late."

Marcus fumbles, splutters. "I've—I had other commitments."

"Other commitments," Silco echoes, mulled over like a twisting dagger. "Interesting." There's resentment, fear, in Marcus's eyes. "I bought you two weeks," Silco rumbles on, stepping closer, and she flattens herself against the door: watches, in morbid fascination, where Marcus leans back in his seat: squeezes his palm around his pen, with a tense breath. "Are you asking for another?"

"No."

"No?" The repetition boils, like burnt sugar.

Marcus hisses through his teeth. "I'll have it, first thing in the morning."

Silence, for a long moment. She can't imagine what look has passed between them. Something has paled the warmth of Marcus's skin, his eyes frozen upward, a rabbit before a wolf. Silco slips the folder from behind him: tosses it heavily onto the mountain of files already littering the gloss of his desk. "Hudge, Lanceister, and Putnel," he says calmly. "As requested."

Three new-acquired outputs, bought off from the mine operators and a port base down South. She'd seen him pen in profits with enough figures to make her head swim.

A snarl carves minutely through Marcus's mouth, there and gone again. His fingers twist over his pen. His eyes cut up again, a hiss of static.

"First thing in the morning," Silco leaves him with, the water's depths in his voice, "or Sevika will be retrieving it, herself."

The shaky nod given to him is ignored.

Silco turns, back to her—fire, fury, murder in his eye—to the door she quickly pulls creaking open—and they are leaving, before her mind can catch up with the rush of it. She can't remember which turn they took to find Marcus's office. A pen cracks hard to the floor, somewhere behind them. His hand has found the back of her shoulder: steady, guiding.

The elevator is too quiet.

She comes back to herself, gradually, with the soft droning of the cables above them. Lifts a quiet glance towards him, swallows. His brow is furrowed: wrath in his tealish eye, where she can catch sight of it, but simmering down, simmering down; the claw-tipped shadow of his wings tucking back into their chrysalis, unseen: the venom on his tongue fading.

It fascinates her, how quickly he can don those pieces of himself, when the time calls for it. Terrifies her. And, in some small way, turns her envious.

(No, you can't control what they think of you. But you can command it.)

She reaches up for his hand, squeezes it slow in her skinny fingers. He squeezes them back, gently.

(Become what they fear.)

She stares hard at the elevator grates as the doors slink open, at the seamless grouting of the marble as they walk the twenty-two steps that stretch between them and the front entry. The guards and attendants leer as they leave.

Outside, back in the blinding winter sun, the bustle of the busy streets, the strangely clean air, she sucks in a breath for the first time. It's as though a stone has lifted from her chest.

They stand in the cool breeze, for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asks quietly.

Her fingers stutter beneath the loose cradle of his own. "I'm—yeah. I'm fine." She frowns. "I'm fine." A million thoughts simmer freely in her, now that they're out of that horrible place—now that she can think. She presses her thumb into his. "How do you do that?"

He seems perplexed, by that. "Do what?"

"I don't know, you—" She waves her hand, the words struggling to come to her. "You just—you change."

"Ah." He studies the treeline far beyond them: between the towering old buildings, the blue-gray sun. "The world's a stage, little one," he says. "Business is only theatre." He turns a wry glance down at her. "You learn which costumes to put on, over time."

#back at it with the crime family shenanigans #arcane fanfic #fic excerpt #silco #jinx #crime dad daughter duo #marcus #(who i continue to write getting chewed out truly rip this man)#jinx introduces awkward dad silco to the concept of hand holding #they swindle a business deal threaten the cops and make plans for brunch #just a typical saturday #writing

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usps-first-class · 5 months

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HIIII HELLOOO SUPER AWFUL + JOKE SIGNATURE BC I HAVENT DRAWN TRADITIONALLY SINCE... IDK WHEN BUT HERE. THIS MAN WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR ME SO UHHHH YEAH. WORK DOODLE MOMENT!!!!!

LOVE UR AU SM DUDE KEEP FEEDING US POOR KIRBY DARKFIC-STARVED PEOPLE!!!! MUNCH MUNCH CRUNCH >:)))

(there WILL be more... whenever i feel like it kdkdjndg)

HRNEGFJD IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE THE AU <333

#i promise I will continue it #I have alot of it planned #I just need to DRAW it #but im unfortunately busy and also lazy #dmt au #asks

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brickme · 1 year

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if you don’t mind answering what happened in the chapter of hime-chan no ribbon that never got put in the tankobon because readers said it ripped off tokimeki tonight?

Okay, it seems like a few people are interesting in reading about this, so I give in, I'll write a post about how and why (some) fans believe Hime-chan ripped off Tokimeki, and how this is why Mizusawa deleted a big chunk of Hime-chan before it was published in tankobon format. This post will be long, and cover some things that Mizusawa didn't delete, and if anyone reading this don't like to hear negative things about a series they like, please look away.

Disclaimer: it's been a long time since I read Hime-chan in tankobon, so I might make some mistakes regarding what Mizusawa actually deleted or didn't delete, apologies in advance. Some of the things I list as being included in the tankobon might actually have been deleted.

Sources: a Japanese Hime-chan fan has written up every difference between the magazine and tankobon versions of Hime-chan and published them on geocities, and this page in particular sums up the most major differences. You can only read the original Hime-chan chapters by tracking down the original issues of Ribon, but Miss Dream happens to have complete scans of the May 1993 and August 1993 issues of Ribon available if you want to check out two of the majorly-edited chapters.

Basically, an entire subplot and a character called Oda Kazuya were deleted from Hime-chan. The subplot goes like this, with notes about how it's similar to Tokimeki:

Himeko's mother is a novelist and writes a supernatural novel which is turned into a movie (Tokimeki: Ranze's father is a novelist who writes a novel about a superhero which is turned into a movie)

The movie is going to be shot at Himeko's school, and Himeko's friends from the drama club will appear as extras (Tokimeki: the movie is going to be shot at Ranze's school, and Ranze and her classmates will appear as extras)

Hibino shows up at the school and insists on being an extra too, convinced she will be discovered and become a star (Tokimeki: Yoko does the same)

A new character called Oda Kazuya is introduced, who is a huge fan of Himeko's mother and her book (Tokimeki: a new character called Tsutsui Keigo is introduced and cast as the main lead of the movie)

Oda Kazuya sees Himeko-transformed-into-himself and begins to suspect something supernatural is going on (Tsusui Keigo sees Rinze transform into a werewolf and begins to suspect something supernatural is going on, then later sees Ranze transforming back into a human from a dog)

While the characters of Oda and Tsutsui aren't similar, the subplot is honestly entirely the same and Oda and Tsutsui share the role of "shows up in connection to the movie and threatens to find out the heroine's secret". Oda was a casualty of the subplot getting removed, because there was no way to fix this subplot without deleting Oda.

But the things is, this subplot is not the only similarity between Hime-chan and Tokimeki by a long shot. There are major similarities in the basic conceit of the two series, such as the protagonist being able to transform into other people and later also being able to shrink in size, but this is a fairly common premise in manga and anime so I don't think Mizusawa ripped Tokimeki off as such merely by writing a manga about magical transformation. She might have been inspired by Tokimeki, but it's not a ripoff. However, there are so many other things I notice whenever I think of Hime-chan:

Character similarities, such as Hibino being basically Kamiya (the personality, the hair, the role in the story) and Arisaka Sei basically being Aron (a prince from a magical land, silly and pushy personality, falls in unrequited love with the protagonist).

The entire subplot involving Hijiri Yuka: Yuka is an amalgamation of two Tokimeki characters, Sari from the Ranze arc and Futaba from the Narumi arc. Yuka is an idol/actress (Futaba) who transfers to the heroine's school (Sari and Futaba) and turns out to be the hero's childhood friend (Sari) who is in love with the hero and creates tension between the hero and heroine (Sari and Futaba). She then joins the heroine's drama club and goes on stage as an idol to recruit new members, and she gets a role in a school play which she later relinquishes to the heroine (all Futaba). Honestly I think the entire plot surrounding Yuka is as much of a ripoff as the subplot surrounding Oda, and if Mizusawa was going to delete Oda, I'm not sure why she shouldn't also delete Yuka.

A lot of little things! The scene where Himeko-as-Daichi tells Hibino off by saying "I'm a dangerous man" (in Tokimeki Ranze transforms into Shun and does pretty much the same to Yoko). The scene where Himeko asks Danchi to "punch her" because she's been acting like an asshole, and Daichi pretends to punch her but doesn't (Ranze asks Shun to punch her, Shun pretends to but punches a tree instead), and this being a romantic and significant moment between the two. Daichi first learning about the magical world and being awed (very similar to Tsutsui's reaction). The human world and the magical world being connected by a door in an old house. And probably other little things I'm forgetting.

Now you might ask "But do we even know Mizusawa read Tokimeki, or read it closely enough to (intentionally or not) swipe all these things for her own series...?" and the thing is, we do. The funny thing is Mizusawa and Ikeno Koi both had their debut as manga artists in 1979, so they're technically contemporaries, but Mizusawa was still in middle school (!!!) when she debuted while Ikeno was 20 and already a working adult. So naturally it took Mizusawa a longer time to make her mark as a manga artist, and when Ikeno began serializing Tokimeki in 1982 and quickly rose to prominence in the magazine, Mizusawa was still an up and comer who read Ribon just like a million of other fans. She has attested to this herself in the 2000 Tokimeki fanbook, for which she draw a fan letter to Ikeno proclaiming how big of a Tokimeki fan she is and how she'd read the series religiously in Ribon!

So, now you know. I don't think the similarities are a coincidence, and I do think Hime-chan is too similar to Tokimeki for me to be able to appreciate it on its own merits. (I also think it's too highly influenced by the early chapters of Ranma 1/2 but that's a different story...) That doesn't mean I think Mizusawa is a bad manga artist, since I like her pre-Hime-chan series Chime a hell of a lot, but Hime-chan itself... to me, it's a ripoff.

#mizusawa megumi #hime chan no ribbon #text post #long post #replies #anonymous #to me hime-chan is good until the part where himeko can't transform back from being hibino #if mizusawa had only planned to write that far and had to continue the series because of the anime and editorial wishes #then i'm sorry and i get why she might have gone back to tokimeki to rip it off because she was too busy to think of anything #but after the hibino incident i just don't think the series is good #even disregarding the things she stole #thoughts on manga

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