#and i imagine akira just looks like. this for all of it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

haikyu-mp4 · 6 days

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Saving up

word count; 2761 – f!reader, this is not my best writing but I got the idea and just had to write it

Ever since your first year in high school, you thought Kunimi Akira was shy. He didn’t interact with many people and you could barely imagine what his voice sounded like if you tried to. Then you became desk mates for your second year and you weren’t so sure anymore, because now you heard his voice all the time.

The volleyball player would rest his elbow on his desk and lean a cheek on his hand so he could look over at you, who diligently tried taking notes. Your class had a study hour halfway through the day to ensure your notes were up to date before going to lunch, but Kunimi often used it to sleep. Often, but less frequently this year.

When he didn’t sleep, he was watching you. Now and then, he would reach over with a pencil in his hand to draw something stupid that messed up your perfect notes. Sometimes it was just a line across the page and other times it was simple drawings.

You would glare sideways at him, holding your pen up like it was a weapon and it never failed to make him smile. “Sorry, I thought those were my notes.” he would say, so shamelessly teasing you and sticking his tongue out.

People in your class had noticed how the two of you started spending time together even when you didn’t have to, like how you would come over at lunch to give him the juice box he ‘accidentally’ left behind on his desk. Or how he would come slightly late to practice because you asked him to help with a subject he was better at.

A couple of friends started teasing you about it, mentioning how the two of you kept acting all cute and how disgusting it was. You laughed with them, but you weren’t sure if you should. Was this anything more than Kunimi distracting himself from boredom? You couldn’t call what you had very romantic yet, which it didn’t have to be, but you had hope brewing in your stomach that this might turn into something. You’re quite the hopeless romantic.

“Speaking of dating, what’s you guys’ dream date?” one of your friends asked before scooping a spoon of yoghurt into her mouth. “Because I would love a romantic picnic in my near future.”

Your friends all pitched in as the conversation focused on one person at a time until it ended up on you. Unbeknownst to you, Kunimi strained every muscle to hear your answer from where he sat just a few tables away. “I think an art museum would be cute. You can take nice pictures and either make fun of the paintings or appreciate them. Then maybe go for hot chocolate after.” you explained, fiddling with your fingers as your eyes lit up from imagining it. That was your style. Kunimi nodded to himself and mentally pressed save on the information.

When the volleyball tournament started, your friends asked to go see the school’s team in action, and you perked up when you remembered Kunimi was on the team. You nodded eagerly and all of you made plans to go after school. It was lonely during the school day as you kept glancing at the empty desk beside you. Somewhere out there Kunimi was playing volleyball while you were stuck here without him.

All of you rushed out of the classroom as soon as classes ended, switching into outdoor shoes before making your way to the bus stop. You could definitely be accused of looking a bit too excited.

It wasn’t the most crowded game, so you found some good seats and the team was already playing. Your cheers blended into the classic school cheer, filling you with school spirit. There was no use denying that your eyes were stuck on Kunimi, but you noticed how he wasn’t giving it his all. This made you frown, curious as to why when you knew how much he liked the sport.

It was the third set and all the other players were getting visibly tired as their legs fought against them and their sweat seemed to be flying.

But not Kunimi. You watched as Yahaba, the setter, started setting up even more attacks for Kunimi. Subconsciously, you started leaning forward in your seat and got even more engaged, excitedly yelling his name whenever he scored a point. When his teammates patted him on the back, you finally saw that smile. The smile he would give you when he seemed proud of your reaction to his teasing. An excited smile.

“That’s typical Kunimi,” one of your friends said. She had been following the volleyball team closely because of her interest in the sport. Despite getting rejected from the manager position, she still came to watch, which you admired greatly. The hope of Aoba Johsai going to nationals didn’t end with Oikawa.

“How so?” you asked, hoping she could hear you over the crowd.

“He always saves his energy, acting all lazy for the first sets and then using that energy when everyone else gets tired.”

“Oh, how interesting.”

When the games finished for the day, Aoba Johsai had still not lost. You and your friends were walking out of the building and you listened with a grin as they kept excitedly discussing the highlights of the last game until you heard someone calling your name.

You turned around, eyes scanning the area until they settled on Kunimi. Your face lit up and your guy friend made kissy noises before one of the girls hit him over the head. Agreeing with on where to meet them later, you met Kunimi halfway. “Hi,” he breathed out.

“Hey. You were great!” was all you mustered to say, feeling a bit shy even though he didn’t know how hard you had been staring at him earlier.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said, squinting at you accusingly.

“We decided on it earlier today,” you told him, looking to the side for a second as you hesitated. “I got lonely without my deskmate.”

Kunimi cursed his ears which suddenly felt a bit too warm. Is there a chance you came to see him? He knew he had to go back to the team any second now, so he cleared his throat to break the spell you put him in. “I’ll be back to bother you soon,” he assured you, making you chuckle.

“Hopefully not too soon, you guys need to go to nationals!” you said encouragingly, leaning on the pads of your feet.

He nodded, glancing over his shoulder and back at you. “Fine, but I miss you too.” You hadn’t even said you missed him, but the sentiment was there. Hearing him say it so directly made your heartbeat quicken and you weren’t sure what to say.

A silence fell over you as you leaned a bit closer. Kunimi slowly put his arms around your back and yours went around his neck as you pulled each other in for a soft hug. It recharged your battery and you could swear you heard him take in a deep breath before you pulled away. A bit awkwardly, you stepped back from each other.

“Good luck tomorrow, Kunimi.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

Kunimi had the faintest thought that he might have jinxed it as they were on the bus back to the school. They lost in the second game of the day, not even making it to the finals. He should be frustrated. He should be so angry that they were defeated, but he wasn’t. Because the next school day, he could meet up for class and see you.

You didn’t mention their loss, which he appreciated since he wasn’t sure how to explain that it didn’t bother him that much. It did irk him how your smile still seemed a bit more pitiful than sweet, so Kunimi tried to do everything like you always did. Draw in your book, bump your arm and steal sips from your iced tea. Thankfully, it seemed to work, as you gradually got back to your normal teasing and Kunimi could hear your laugh again.

At some point, the doodles he left in your book moved from where they ruined your notes to where there was still space left as if he wanted you to leave them there. You paused for a second instead of pretending to attack him. Then Kunimi would watch with interest as you started adding to his drawings, making them more detailed or into something completely different. It was fun, knowing he could steal your attention away like that. Maybe this is working out.

“Would you teach me to play volleyball?” you asked him one day, quite suddenly, which made him choke on the iced tea because he tried to speak at the same time. “Karma,” you mumble, smirking and taking your bottle back.

“You want to learn volleyball?”

”That’s what I said.” He stared at you for a moment before shrugging.

That’s how you ended up outside of the gym before his practice. He told you someone was using the gym for extra practice, so you just asked to borrow a ball and went outside instead. The weather was quite nice, and you were not that used to seeing Kunimi with the sun on his face. It suited him.

He showed you how to receive, telling you to squat a bit with the ball instead of flailing your arms too much. It kind of worked out. The ball eventually started moving back towards him after a lot of laughter and attempts. Yahaba walked past at some point and did a dramatic double-take when he saw who was spending extra time practising. And with a girl, nonetheless. He totally took a picture for the group chat that Kunimi would shamelessly save later.

After doing this for a while, he asked you to try and bump it a bit higher. You tried with a focused look on your face and it went off a bit to the side, so he moved to catch it. “If you get it up above my head,” he gestured where his arm to show you. “I can set it up for you. Then you hit it with your palm like bam to spike it back,” he instructed, demonstrating with the ball.

You nodded, still unsure if you would be able to, but you were a bit excited to try. Using some beginner’s luck, you managed to bump it up high enough for him to set. Your eyes were glued to the ball as it came back towards you. You lifted your arm and hit your palm against it, watching it fly sharply back at Kunimi.

“Grea-” Right into his forehead. You covered your mouth with a gasp, running over to where he was now holding his head.

“I’m so sorry, Kunimi!” you yelled, holding his shoulders to make him look at you as you begged for forgiveness. “I didn’t even think I would hit it.”

“I didn’t think you would either,” Kunimi teased with a slight strain in his voice from the pain, naturally resting his free hand on your hip. When he finally removed the hand from his face, you winced at the red mark on his forehead. He was moving his face weirdly as if checking all the parts were still there, and it was so cute that you weren’t sure if you were breathing at that moment. “At least you didn’t get my nose,” he said, laughing a bit which made you smile, relieved.

“I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he assured you, suddenly very aware of how close you stood and how you were holding each other. He stuttered and you noticed at the same time, making the both of you take a step away from each other. Your cheeks were burning from the embarrassment of hitting him with the ball like that and then this. “I have practice now, though. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll see you.”

Once again, your friends were teasing you relentlessly. “You hit him in the face?” Their cackles rang through the air and you hid your face in your hands.

“I forced him to teach me just so I could spend time with him and then I bruised his perfect forehead, what’s wrong with me?” you complained, definitely feeling a tad dramatic.

“Shut up. He was probably thrilled that you took the initiative, that lazy bastard.” someone said, and you lifted your head to glare at him for the comment. Taking in a deep breath, you cross your arms on the table and lean on them.

“I want to kiss his pretty lips so bad but I’m not even sure he likes me like that,” you mumbled.

“Now that is just pathetic,” another friend answered. Brutal. “He obviously likes you, now stop talking to us about your dreams and start chasing them.”

You looked across the cafeteria, finding the guy with the middle part who looked bored as he listened to a friend talking. “I just want that little bit of extra effort, you know?”

“Why haven’t you asked her out? I’m pretty sure she would say yes,” Kindaichi wondered as the two were getting ready for another practice.

“It’s not the right time yet,” Kunimi answered, not sparing his friend a glance.

“Don’t tell me you’re saving your energy until the last round for dating, too,” Kindaichi said, some disbelief painted between the words because he hoped that wasn’t the truth. He thought you deserved better than that, but then again, who was he to judge?

Kunimi frowned, mumbling something under his breath and putting his jersey on. “Not really, I was saving up money.”

Kindaichi looked confused. “How’s that relevant?”

“She told her friends she wanted to go to an art museum,” he said under his breath because he didn’t want anyone to overhear. “If I went all out and asked her out right away, we couldn’t go where she wanted.”

Now Kindaichi was glad he wasn’t currently dating anyone, because how could he compare to this? He didn’t think Kunimi would ever beat him in effort. “So, you’re still saving up for the first date?” he asked, checking if he heard him correctly.

Kunimi finally smiled a bit, lifting two pieces of paper, tickets, to show them off. “Just got them, now I just need to ask.”

“I was wondering if you would like to go with me to the art museum tomorrow,” he asked, holding out two tickets for you to see. It was for the best museum you could go to from where you were, which you had been eyeing and wondering if you should go to even if you had to go alone. You looked at the tickets in his hand and then back up at him with the most entrancing sparkly eyes he had ever seen. That’s what gave him the guts to add “As a date.”

“That sounds perfect, Kunimi.” You slung your arms around his waist in a hug and he hugged you back, making his soft chuckles ring in your ear while his breath hit your neck. It gave you goosebumps and you stayed in the hug for a second longer than necessary just to enjoy it.

Indeed, it was perfect. The two of you took lots of pictures, getting all the best angles for Instagram and laughing at the bad ones. Kunimi wasn’t the most educated on art, but he liked hearing you talk about it. You were watching a particularly grand painting, giving him your thoughts on the artist’s mindset while painting it. When you looked over to see if he was following, he was already looking at you like you were the one who painted it. He laced his fingers with yours, holding your hand through the whole thing and sometimes making funny comments when the artworks were especially difficult to defend. When you were done, you could truly say it was everything you imagined and more. Kunimi could confidently admit he never spent his money on anything better.

And after you treated the two of you to hot cocoa, he followed you home. At your door, he reached around your back like he had done before, but instead of tucking his head in your neck, he put his lips on yours. What a sweet kiss it was, satisfying every dream you had about it.

Kunimi was never shy or too lazy. He just saved up to get you what you deserved.

masterlist

#haikyu #haikyuu #haikyu x reader #hq x reader #fanfiction #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x you #hq #haikyu fluff #kunimi akira #kunimi x reader #aoba johsai #seijoh

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morkitten · 2 months

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Akira Toriyama really is a master of so many things. Panelling, line of action, character design, cartooning, expression, posing, vehicle design. I don't think there's another manga artist that comes within swinging distance of the raw appeal that some of his best art has.

Dragon Ball is a joy to read not because the story is so deep and interesting, but because the characters look so fun, all the time. You just want to keep seeing pictures of them. The action is so clear and clean and easy to read, the panelling is super great and highlights the motion of the action and gags, it's hard to stop.

This one expression. One eye bugged out, the other one squinting. Every time he does this expression it's a delight. Piccolo Daimao's entire face is molded to this expression. The way his mouth is melting down to his chin, too. I feel like I've been chasing the high of looking at Toriyama's expressions nearly all my life I've been drawing.

To the left is Yuji Horii, director of Dragon Quest's sketches of his initial ideas of these monsters, to the right is Toriyama taking those little sketches and then turning them into character designs. It's really incredible that he came up with the iconic Dragon Quest Slime from just a sketch of a gooey mess.

It's hard to even imagine a world without his incredible influence. I started drawing by looking at Dragon Ball pictures on magazines. Magazines I bought so I could look at his art. All the games and anime and manga I enjoy have clear, direct links to Toriyama, and wouldn't exist without them. Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, obviously, he worked on them. Sonic the Hedgehog, yep, there's a *lot* of Dragon Ball in there. Super Mario? There's Dr. Slump. You really cannot escape the influence of his art. There really isn't a modern illustrator that you can remotely compare to - not just because he's so popular, but because the best qualities of his art are, I think, unmatched. So, take this opportunity to learn and appreciate what he does that's so good. Thank you so much to your contributions, birdman.

#akira toriyama #dragon ball #dragon quest #chrono trigger #dr. slump

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ymguchis · 9 months

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23 : 39 — thinking of... kunimi fingering you ˙˖𓏲 ִֶָ

the idea of him doing this makes me go feral fr. just imagine this...

him sitting on the couch, exhausted from today's practice and with a face of disgust and annoyance (although we all know how much he likes to see you squirm when he has his fingers deep inside your wet pussy) and you sitting on his lap, your hands gripping his shoulders to steady yourself and have a ground wire. your legs would be trembling slightly from the agile and fast way in which his fingers move inside you, sharply hitting that point inside you that makes you see stars and roll your eyes. his other hand has a stern death grip on your hip, trying to hold you in place.

his movements would definitely be sloppy and lazy, almost as if he didn't feel like doing what he's doing right now, but you both know that he just wants you to cum to make himself proud and that he likes nothing more than to watch your face distorted by pleasure. kunimi for sure would snort angrily and roll his eyes at how loud your moans are or because you're moving on top of him too much, but you can't help it. His eyes look at you as if judging you but you couldn't care less 'cause, girl, you're having what you wanted!!

all that would come out of his mouth would be demeaning and mean words, growls and taunts about how needy you are for him. his deep and low tone of voice due to exhaustion all it does is turn you on even more. His brow furrows when your fingers tangle in his hair, pulling it hard, or when your panting grows louder by the second. but he really makes that face to hide that he actually thinks you look beautiful on top of him, lost in the pleasure he's offering you with just his fingers.

his fingers come out and enter your pussy with carelessness and speed. the splash of your wet pussy and your moans fill the room and you can't think about anything but cum. your whole body is on fire with pleasure, shivers run down your spine from how good it feels. your face is hidden in kunimi's neck. you can feel how your orgasm is growing little by little and suddenly, Akira's thumb starts caressing your clitoris with caressy circles. waves and waves of pleasure spread through your trembling body and moans leave your mouth like a mantra, your arousal wetting all over kunimi's hand. he doesn't stop his assault on your clit until you reach down to grab his wrist and pull him away.

you move a few inches away from him to look into his eyes. Kunimi looks at his hand and fingers filled with your essence for a few seconds and then looks at you while he wipes his hand on your shirt. You can't help but let out a laugh when you see what he does. then, a satisfied smile appears on your face when you see his brows still slightly furrowed. you spread kisses along his face in thanks and you can feel his expression soften little by little. the corners of his lips lift in a small smile. you can tell he has something on his mind.

"I'm already sleepy, but you could help me feel even more tired" kunimi says with a suggestive tone. his eyes looking at the ground briefly with implicit but clear intentions. let's say that you're immediately on your knees yk.

THIS MAN MAKES ME CRAZY. I love him sm

this is not well narrated at all but I wanted to share this thought with you guys. reblogs and comments are welcome <3

#⊹ ࣪˖⁩ writes !!#↺thoughts #spicy content🌡️#⌦haikyuu!!#haikyuu!!#haikyuu smut #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #kunimi akira smut #kunimi smut #kunimi x reader #kunimi akira x reader

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vashtijoy · 3 months

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Hi! Pre-emptive sorry for the long ask- I don't know if you've answered this before but I was scrolling through your blog and in one of your posts you note that the brief bit we see of Akira's hometown has high rise buildings, which implies it's a city. I could've sworn there was in game dialogue calling him a country boy though or referencing him being from a rural area? Is there something in the Japanese text to suggest these are meant to be taken as jokes (I.E. protag is from a city, but it's not as big as Tokyo so he's playfully considered 'rural') or is this a case of the game devs simply not considering what buildings they had in the background of that scene?

Hello! First of all, I think it's insanely unlikely that the game devs just forgot Joker was meant to be from a shack on top of a mountain and accidentally put him in a city. Maybe they didn't have time to design a farm and shoved him in a random cityscape instead? Well, maybe. I would at least have pasted in a couple more trees.

So what do we know about this?

Sojiro calls Joker 田舎もん inakamon, short for 田舎者 inakamono—someone from the countryside; someone provincial. This is what's translated as "country boy", or "country bumpkin". Chihaya uses it about herself, and Chihaya I think is certainly meant to be very rural. The Adorable Woman and Rural Young Man in Shibuya Station use inaka a lot:

His name did not originally use inakamono or similar, by the way—he's the 上京してきた青年 joukyou shite kita seinen, "the young man who's moved to Tokyo". Note the moving-up kanji there, 上, lol—this is not a sideways move, it's a definite move up.

so what is the inaka?

In short, the inaka can be the remote countryside—but it can also just be your hometown, of any description. It can be legit anywhere that isn't Tokyo. Here's Tofugu:

My mouth was hanging open and I know I was being rude, but it was really hard to pull myself together. The woman I was speaking with was from one of the top Japanese Universities. She has had international relationships, traveled the world, and done work that most foreign anime fans would kill to see. Someone with her experiences, to me, should be open-minded about other cultures and lifestyles. Just the same, I can't help but to be bothered by what she said: "I feel like anything outside Tokyo's 23 wards is inaka." [...] Often, people usually just use what they read in the dictionary, but I learned fast that "countryside" in American English is much different than in Japanese English. For me, countryside means farms. Countryside is driving to see your closest neighbor, riding tractors for work and pleasure, and being able to immediately tell who's from your town just by looking at them. When I say this to Japanese people and ask them to explain inaka, the joke is always the same: "Inaka is anything outside of Tokyo." Osaka and Kyoto, for many, aren't inaka, but Sapporo, which is one of the few parts of the country where this legendary thing called "insulated housing" exists, is inaka. [...] So you might be wondering how "bad" it really is out here. Truthfully, I'm living in a city, at least by American standards. Great bus and train systems, tons of malls and movie theaters, some of the major stores people visit Tokyo to see, game centers, golfing… and a few rice paddies. Not many, but there are some. Imagine a fashionable mall, famous manga store, well-respected school with a strong baseball team, and major supermarket, all within walking distance, with maybe one field of rice. Honestly, the place is so city that I don't think I would willingly eat any rice that grew in that field. I swear, it's in front of a bus stop.

So, tl;dr: if you aren't in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, you're probably in the inaka—at least to someone's mind. You can be somewhere that looks to us in every way like a city, and be in the inaka. And if you pick up sticks and move to Tokyo? Then you have a good chance of being jibed about being a "country boy".

so what is joker's inaka like?

[Joker] 田舎に帰りたい inaka ni kaeritai I miss the country... [lit. I want to go back to the inaka.] Ryuji ハハ、都会の洗礼ってか? haha, tokai no senrei tte ka? Hah. Not used to the big city yet, huh? [lit. Haha, so this is your first time in the city?]

We don't get a huge amount of detail in-game about Joker's home. Besides Sojiro's "country boy", Ryuji has a couple of comments. Here's another:

Ryuji あれ? お前ン家ってわりと田舎? are? omae n uchi tte wari to inaka? Wait a sec, your hometown isn't near the countryside, is it? [lit. isn't your place relatively countrified?] Ryuji いや、大自然でランニング練習とか気持ち良さそうだなーって。 iya, daishizen de ranningu renshuu to ka kimochi yasasou da naa tte I was just thinkin' it'd be great to run an' train somewhere out where it's all big, naturey open space. [lit. no, I thought it seemed like it'd feel great to train in the great outdoors and stuff.]

(I think something may be off here with that translation of daishizen, which seems to connote "the great outdoors", "a vast wilderness", etc, as well as just meaning "nature" (the sort you get out into) more generally". The word has been split up as if Ryuji was just saying "big nature" for some reason, like if you thought "the great outdoors" meant "the outdoors is great :D".)

But we can see from Ryuji's statement that Joker's home is wari to inaka, "relatively countrified", "kind of countrified"—it's more the country than Tokyo is, but it's probably not the ass end of nowhere, either. It's somewhere Ryuji pictures getting out into nature—but even if that's accurate and not just in Ryuji's city-boy head, that again doesn't connote "ass end of nowhere"; a lot of very built-up places are startlingly close to farmland or to nature, as with the putative rice field at the bus stop that we read about earlier.

the artbook picture

There is, of course, a picture of Joker's home in the artbook:

That doesn't scream "rural" to me—though it's also not the built-up area we see him in with Shido. It backs onto a cliff, it's very green. It's clearly a row of houses on a street, maybe in a fancy suburb on the edge of the city?

It's a nice house, at any rate. Joker moving into Sojiro's attic, with his clothes in a box, will have been a harsh step down.

Another detail from this image before we move on:

Look at this board. We can make out what it says. We can even, just possibly, make out a town name there...

日立自治会掲示板 hitachi jichikai keijiban Hitachi Neighbourhood Association noticeboard

自治会 jichikai—neighbourhood associations. As you'd expect, they tend to be organised at the very local level—so Hitachi is likely to be a small district within a larger city, rather than (say) the city of Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture.

his city has a name guys i can't believe it lmao

the coup de grace

But there's one question I think really puts the nail in the coffin here: WTF was Shido doing in the middle of nowhere?

It's totally plausible that Joker came from a remote farm in the country, or a tiny village in far northern Honshu. But what is there in that to attract Shido? Like... Shido seems kind of an indoor guy, y'know?

He goes where his business is. He goes where the money is. It's difficult for me to picture him going to random rural areas with nobody to schmooze, with what I'm sure he'd consider to be poor facilities and shitty hotels.

Even if he did stoop to visit somewhere like that, by the time he was on his off hours getting pissed (in both senses) and attacking women, wouldn't he have gone back to civilisation?—back to the city?

conclusion??

This place Joker is wandering after dark doesn't look like The Country. It looks quite built up. I'd say it's the centre of a regional city or large town—with those nice houses we just looked at set off in suburbs along its edge. Look at this place:

It really does look like a less cramped version of Yongen-jaya, down to the trees. I don't think they spent too long on this area, but I also don't think it's inaccurate.

By the way, that "Hometown Neighbourhood" was originally 実家近くの住宅地 jikka chikaku no juutakuchi—"residential area near home". So this is not where Joker lived with his parents; it's an area close by. Like he says, he's on his way home late.

Where was he? We never find out. He has what looks like a school bag, well before his nasty crime days. Maybe he was visiting a friend we never hear about again. Maybe he was at cram school. But he's gone to this built-up part of town to do something there.

My guess would be that he lived in some prefectural capital or other. That's why Shido is there. I'd also guess that it's one of the Kanto prefectures, since the further you go from Tokyo, the less likely it becomes that Joker would have been sent to Tokyo for his probation, whether Sojiro was a friend of a friend or not.

As ever, all of this is for information only, and if you want to do something else superior in every way, you definitely should. At the end of the day Joker's a silent protagonist player insert, who can be from absolutely anywhere and as gay as you like. Let a thousand Jokers bloom.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2024/01/17)—first posted.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #look at that y'all a totally goro-free post #i have ascended

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sophie-frm-mars · 8 days

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Into the projected corn field

I dunno I just feel like before I can even form an opinion on the Fallout TV series I have to do something to try and get through the haze of disgust, emptiness, anger, nausea and desperation that I feel sitting at home alone watching a TV show based on the insipid corporatised franchise that was based on the highly original and artful world in which one of the (and then two of the, and then New Vegas of the) best games ever made were set in. I'm not feeling any of those feelings at the show, I just have to feel all those feelings before I can feel any feelings about the show, because everything being made is Intellectual Property instead of art, and we've spent all this time discussing AI art when everything being made is already being made by the algorithmic logics of capital. All the same things we find troubling in the idea of inhuman heuristics deciding what art is produced and how and by who are already true - we aren't watching a show about the hubris of our society and nuclear annihilation because someone (anyone) thought there would be something poignant to say in it, something to explore in our moment, we're watching it because Amazon executives knew that if they made it we'd watch and go "look, ghouls! like in the thing! and mutants! like the thing from the thing!"

The original Fallout games were made in and around and after the neoliberal end of history, the ultimate period of peace and prosperity in western capitalist society and imagined an absurd world based on the penultimate period of american imperialist peace and prosperity playing out into an almost inevitable post-apocalyptic nightmare world where the same rubrick of control and domination that led to the destruction of society in the first place constantly tries to reassert itself over a hobbesian wasteland full of strange, silly, kind, funny, odd people whose human tendency towards care and altruism makes an endless mockery of the kill-or-be-killed nature of the wasteland that mocks it right back.

In the first episode the vault dwellers gather in a simulated corn field. It's an actual corn field, they're growing actual corn in it, but the horizon and sky are projected onto the vault walls to create the only wider world the subterranean human beings will ever see, and I just... hope that someone gets what I hope anyone ever gets out of art no matter how it's produced. I hope it makes you realise that love and the revolution are the only meanings in being alive, and I hope you get that from Rothko and I hope you get that from EpicLlama's Midjourney feature film sponsored by Dogecoin, and I hope you get that from Akira and I hope you get that from Spy Kids 3D. I just think about being in a moment right between the pandemic and the collapse of the conglomerate capitalist empire watching people on a screen seeing a better world projected on a screen and I feel gut wrenchingly alienated from other human beings, but I acknowledge that could just be me.

How am I supposed to feel about Walton Goggins' performance as a half rotted rubber cowboy man? I don't fucking know man. My opinion is this show is making me derealise.

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hold-your-applause · 2 years

Note

Hi! I love your work, i was wondering if i could request a childhood friend! reader with akira from persona 5? they're visiting him in the city while he's on probation

Thank you for your patience, my love

Spontaneous

The man at the counter had told you it was alright to head up the stairs at the back of the café, but he didn't mention that there would be a group of people waiting for you when you got to the top of them.

The sudden silence had stopped you in your tracks. You weren't prepared for so many extra eyes to be on you, suddenly feeling like you had walked in on something much more intimate than you could probably imagine.

You had been in Shibuya for only an hour and you had already overstepped somehow.

You swallowed the lump in your throat, nobody else showing any intention of breaking the silence.

"Surprise..?"

All eyes were suddenly off you as they shifted to the person you came all this way to see in the first place. He was still staring at you, clearly still in shock at your sudden arrival in his room.

The cat sitting on the table meowed rather loudly, snapping your friend out of his stupor.

You couldn't hide your smile at the sound of your name slipping past his lips.

"Hi, Ren."

None of the other people in the room spoke a word as he rose from his seat, stepping away from it to approach you slowly.

"What are you doing in Shibuya?"

You only smiled wider.

"It's summer break! I thought I'd surprise you by coming in to visit you. I was thinking you might be feeling a bit homesick, so I wanted to check on you." You explained, watching him finally stop moving when he was standing right in front of you.

It had only been a few months, but you could have sworn he had grown taller since the last time you saw him.

The look on his face could only be explained as one of wonder, though you didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

It made you nervous, so you continued on.

"Besides, you haven't missed a single one of my birthdays, and I didn't think you'd want to start now." You said quietly.

You saw recognition cross his face, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

You peeked around his frame to eye the group of teenagers watching the two of you. "But it seems like I'm interrupting something important, so I can just go back downstairs until you're finished here." You said, looking back up at him. "Unless you'd like to introduce me to everyone?"

His head whipped around to look at them for only a brief moment before he was looking at you again, suddenly grabbing your shoulders and turning you completely around to face the stairs.

"They're nobody."

"Huh?" You blinked, squeaking when he suddenly started pushing you towards the stairs. "Nobody? But--"

"That's right."

"They're in your room--"

"Lost tourists."

"Wh-- For real?!" You heard one of the boys shout from behind you. "Who's gonna believe--"

"Ren, stop pushing, I'm going to trip down the stairs!" You griped as he kept pushing you forward, doing your best not to slip as you grabbed hold of the railing. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to show you around." He reached for his bag that was on the table by the stairs, quickly leading you downstairs.

You frowned. Why was he being so pushy about getting you away from his friends? Did he not want to see you as much as you wanted to see him? You had been inseparable since before either of you could walk. Why was he suddenly so eager to rush you away like this?

Were you... embarrassing him somehow?

"We're going to be out until closing."

You blinked, not realizing he had moved you halfway across the café floor by now.

"Just don't cause any trouble." The man from before replied, offering you a short wave before you were suddenly out the door, the bustling of the people walking down the street hitting your ears.

You frowned again as you watched him sling his bag over his shoulder. "Are you mad at me?" You asked him.

He shook his head, motioning in the direction he wanted you two to walk, and despite your sunken mood, you walked beside him. "No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

That couldn't be a serious question, could it?

"What was all that back there?" You crossed your arms, ignoring the yowling of the cat that had followed you both out of the café. "You had guests, Ren, I'm not stupid. Why didn't you want me to meet them?"

This was never something that had been an issue before.

He seemed less than concerned as you two continued your walk to, you assumed, the station. "It's not that I don't want you to meet them." He said.

"Then why were you in such a hurry to get me out of there?"

He looked at you as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Because you're here."

You shook your head, confused. "So?"

He reached over, draping his arm over your shoulder to pull you in close to his side as you both continued walking, his breath on your ear.

"So nothing else in the world matters."

#ren amamiya x reader #ren amamiya imagine #ren amamiya #akira kurusu x reader #akira kurusu imagine #akira kurusu #joker x reader #joker imagine #joker #persona 5 x reader #persona 5 imagine #persona 5 #fluff #scenario #director fugue

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itz-wanderer · 1 year

Text

Love Language Headcanons (Kiryu, Majima, Nishiki)

Kiryu Kazuma

- He’s the type to show his love by spending quality time with his s/o, just talking to each other and sharing how the day went for both of you or it doesn’t even have to be. Talking nonstop to each other, you can just cuddle up with him on the couch, watching movies, feeling each other’s warmth, that way he can learn more about you and have a deeper connection with you.

- He may not show it but he secretly wishes that when you are watching a scary movie, you would jump and bury your face in his arms making him feel like he is a strong dependable man, which of course he already was.

- He has a hard time complimenting you considering how he does not show his feelings but his cute efforts are what melts your heart. A strong, dangerous man trying to impress you with his clumsier side… What could be more adorable and impressive than that?

- No words to be spoken, it was a mutual understanding. Even though he’s a busy man, he tries to find time for you. Call or text you during the day. There’s no single day where he doesn’t think of you.

- He may not be good with words but he sure will show his affection through gifts which he gets recommended by Reina considering she was the only close female friend he had. Reina, being a woman who was always well-informed about all the current fashion and accessory affairs, made sure to help out poor Kiryu choose gifts for you!

Majima Goro

- Majima is the kind of person who would like surprising you more rather than gifting you things right away. He likes to do things when you least expect it and when it happens, it just leaves you blown away!

- He loves being a mystery and figuring him out is one hell of a task for you too. Maybe this was the thrill of being in love with a man like him? After all, who does not like a mysterious man who intensely loves you but does not show it all the way either.

- He will most likely be the silent one and will only respond back with a hug when you give it to him first. He knows you like holding hands when you walk but he wont straight away say it to you. He would just take all his stuff from the hand that is on your side and slightly cough, signaling “my hands are now empty and you could hold my hand if you want to”. You sure did find that hella cute and his unspoken offer was never refused.

- Even though he’s now an old man he always has that child-like kindred spirit in him which just glows up when you surprise him with food you had practiced. He surely would worry about the cuts on your fingers but he never let your efforts go to waste.

- As much as he loved loving and pampering you, he was genuinely glad that he had someone who reciprocated just as intensely as he did. He loved having his hair played with while he just sat on the floor and watched Tv while you massaged his head. You always found him asleep by the time you finished and you would just cuddle up to him sharing a blanket and doze the night away.

- He would often surprise you with Post-It notes with compliments written on them in all the places which he knows you would look at when you first wake up. This mostly happened when he needed to wake up early in the morning to go out to another town for work.

- He made sure that he tucked the blanket in properly just so you wouldn't catch a cold and leave a cup of coffee by the table along with an ugly selfie he took while you were asleep. This never failed to bring a smile to your face and all you could think to yourself was “what did i deserve such a charming man?”

Akira Nishikiyama

- He’s another person who prefers giving gifts to show his affection toward his s/o. Even if there’s no special occasion, he’ll still buy you gifts now and then, especially when he sees a nice necklace on display in some sweet jewelry store walking down the street. Just imagining how that necklace would beautifully wrap around your neck enhancing your beauty even more, it’s enough reason for him to instantly buy it for you.

- It’s shopping trip time! Since he has a great sense of fashion himself, he’ll help you out in choosing outfits which are gonna look perfectly pretty on you and his choice is never wrong so you can trust him. Unlike that one time when he selected a white suit for Kiryu. :”)

- While he likes giving gifts to his s/o, he’d prefer to have an s/o who’s always there for him, supporting him when he’s down and in his worst state. He needs someone who knows their way with words, tell him how much he means to you, how precious he is, that’ll remind him to stay strong no matter how hard his day can be.

- He is super affectionate to physical touch, he’d like to come home from his rough day, having to deal with all the other higher-ups by cuddling with you. When you kiss him every time before he goes to work, he’ll have that stupid smirk the whole day leaving Kiryu in confusion as to what good thing had just happened.

Note :

Feel free to send requests! 💛

#yakuza #fanfics #kiryu kazuma #majima goro #majima goro x reader #kiryu kazuma x reader #akira nishikiyama #akira nishikiyama x reader #yakuza x reader #majima x reader #nishiki x reader #kiryu x reader #rgg #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza kiwami

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drac-onion · 6 months

Text

It's kind of upsetting how much Akira appears to miss Morgana when he leaves the party for a while. I believe that Morgana and Akira are genuinely very good friends, especially since they spend practically every waking (and unwaking, I guess) moment together.

It's nice to see some of Akira's inner voice come out, especially since Morgana is usually the one talking for him. I imagine that in his hometown, Akira was very isolated and lonely, so he was able to easily welcome Morgana into his life. I'm sure he found it comforting having someone to look after him and keep him out of his head, at least in my opinion.

I think that if Morgana had stayed gone for any longer, Akira's mental health would have begun to seriously decline, not having someone around to care about him and make sure he's staying on track. At least, that's what I think. It's been a while since I played the beginning parts of P5, but it reminds me of when Yu first shows up in Inaba in P4TA. He's very closed off, not really willing to open up until he makes friends and discovers his powers. He just wants to keep his head down and let the year pass by without incident.

Ah, I'm rambling again. I just really think this part is interesting. I don't think it was handled properly, storywise, since it basically all hinged on the shit way Atlus characterized Ryuji and Morgana's relationship, but it is what it is. There's not even any closure or anything. Just this throwaway line in a safe room:

Like come ON JUST TALK. Oh well. In my heart, they're buddies that happen to butt heads a lot without really meaning anything. Except here it did? I dunno.

#persona 5 #rambles

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williamshamspeare · 5 months

Note

You like all the Papa Louie customers eh? Name one good thing about every customer (currently)/lh

*slicks back hair* It's showtime.

Akari - Her coolness factor is unreal. Love the motorcycle, love her whole biker getup, and it's reasonably possible she might be a reference to that Akira anime thing. Which would be pretty sweet

Alberto - BRASILERIO NUMERO UNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Also him hating dentist appointments is quite the amusing fun fact. I like how his favorite holidays have had a general consistent pattern in all the games (favor SJ in the sweet games, SL in the savories)

Allan - Love his pompadour! Also glad that Flipline wasn't ever afraid of keeping his unibrow and missing tooth throughout the years... Also that one Brody's Gallery fanart probably awakened something within me. Sideburns are hot, y'all

Ally Kabam - They just revealed her so we don't really know all too much about her, but that doesn't mean I can't sing her praises! And by design alone, I can tell you that she's a STRONG customer: Brimming with both style and personality! Definitely setting the tone for the rest of the lineup, let's hope the rest of 'em live up to the hype

Amiria - They did throw quite a curveball revealing her to be a Tacodale local, but I dig it! Also great to have an official dental worker around! Designwise I absolutely adore her coat in the Style B, fuzzy thing that it is

Amy - That color scheme is a real treat, I say I say. And she's something of a fine art appreciator according to the little info snippet we got out of her creator on the forum, love that for her too... Plus the whole romance novel aspect adds to it quite well!

Austin - His design is straight up just a bottle of awesome sauce and I love that for him. Also shoutouts to him being autism rep, even if it was an obscure post from Tony... He's got that sauced up special interest swag

Bertha - Underrated queen. The fact that she's umpired 856 consecutive games calls to mind the image of her personally swimming to the mainland and back during the events of Freezeria Deluxe so as to not break the record, that's entirely headcanon but still it counts! It counts. And her Halloween costume is BOTH Jason Voorhes and Freddy Krueger at the same time, which is just. LOL

Big Pauly - An icon! His golden confidence as a salesman shines bright as the sun, and he's one of the very few characters to appear in every Papa Louie game/platformer if that means anything. I like to imagine he's one of those fast-talking infomercial type salesmen, the Billy Mays of the Flipverse. Can you imagine, in-universe Big Pauly YTPs

Boomer - Her entire design screams "America" but America doesn't exist in the Flipverse so she straight up came up with all that by herself. Amazing. Plus you gotta love how she lets all her hair down in the Style B

Boopsy & Bill - They absolutely SELL the ventriloquist gimmick. Y'know, to this day I still wonder how they managed to get the mouth animations to work... Also the style swap they do is a wonderful visual gag. They've got a boatload of personality

Brody - A greasy disheveled mess of a man. Everyone's favorite character archetype! Kinda crazy how active his flipdeck details him to be: Switched majors multiple times, an active caricature artist in Powder Point, lover of cult classic movies and friend of Skyler... He's a lot to work off of, he is

Bruna Romano - Looking at her orders over the games, you notice she tends to order dark rich flavors more often than not. Rather interesting... Also I love that she manages the band on top on playing in it, not something you see characters do every day

Budwin - Honestly kind of surprising how quickly his flipdeck made me feel for him. Suffering from chronic drowsiness, had to drop out of college, barely even making a living... And he still manages to make it to the Papa's establishments with a smile on his face

C.J. Friskins - What a weird little man (affectionate). Bro straight up wears a cat tail on his BUM at all times and made his debut as the Lunar New Year guy (a holiday which has yet to reappear), he's got this really offbeat, perhaps even offputting charm to him

Cameo - Or DrydenTH3Cultivar, as you know him online. The man is a VIGILANTE GAMER what's not to love about that!!! Also his whole outfit is kind of ridiculous in its own beautiful way, what with the whole peanut necklace & wristband combo. And the Crocs! Oh, the Crocs

Captain Cori - I do wish we got a little more info out of her flipdeck, but what we have to work paints a hell of a vivid picture! With her Pirate Bash getup and her wonderful new Halloween costume, she's just brimming with what I can only describe as "tough girl swag" (also she has popeye arms and that's amazing)

Carlo Romano - The fandom's favorite twink. Most people don't seem to talk about how he jumpstarted Marty's career in SatS, which is honestly kind of incredible to me... Also his Mocharia order was freaking hilarious with how much he hates coffee

Cecilia - There's just something about the way she existed for 11 whole gamerias without any info, then Matt & Tony basically building her entire backstory into the Bakeria plot (or vice versa, who knows what order it happened in)... She really is the flagship Bakeria character. And that's not bad at all

Chase - Has got to have had one of the most incredible flipdecks of all time. I think about the Oilseed Springs Reptile Extravaganza and Petting Zoo a whole lot more than I bet most people do, especially what the pyrotechincs and stunts entail... Also Smokie's one of the cutest pets I have ever laid eyes upon

Cherissa - Finally, an essential oil saleswoman who's trustworthy! Her whole cherry theme is honestly rather captivating, 'specially how the Style B transforms her into a cordial-based entity. I can tell they had fun designing her! I also adore the way they did her hair

Chester - There's something about this old man I can't help but find as a guilty pleasure. He's cranky, he's a gossip, he hoards doomsday supplies and has a permanent expression of contempt... Irresistible!

Chuck - I used to think that he was a Calypso Island local, kind of hilarious to think that's he's just a model (a stock photo model even) who happens to be associated with the island's trademark Surf Shack. Nearly all his outfits so far have been Hawaiian shirts, I wonder what they'll do for his Halloween costume

Clair - Love the family dynamic, but this is about each character as an individual. So! Clair's really fun to imagine and build headcanons around. Her being a physician with hectic hours, on top of being a loving mother... There's like so much you can do with a character base like hers! Plus her Style A is as classy as it gets. I've always been just a little curious about that button belt-thing she wears

Cletus - People seem to find him off-putting at best, with the whole sleeveless look and the bunny costume, but frankly I don't care. Let the old farmer man have weird eccentricities! He loves going antiquing at auctions! He operates a scrapyard where people can pay to find goodies! He's one of the most interesting characters in the whole cast if people just care to look into him deeper!

Clover - The back of her hair kinda looks like an explosion, which you gotta admit is pretty badass. Putting that aside, the checkerboard fit really suits her! Puts the ska into the ska-punk that is Scarlett and the Shakers, heh. I also like how she always carries drumsticks in her dress like a prop, more customers should carry props as part of their outfit honestly

Connor - The people of the forum really like to dunk on him, but frankly there's no one as much of an underdog as he is! I gotta hand it to Maz for helping me find the potential within him, there's so much that can be done with his character if you just look. I also really enjoy his orders in savory gamerias, that chicken sandwich would be LEGENDARY

Cooper - Sometimes being basic can be a good thing, and I think nobody else displays this as well as Cooper does. He's a simple man! Cooks his pancakes in the morning, looks out for his brother in the afternoon, he loves his family & his cat, and most importantly he's HAPPY. He is content with life!

Crystal - Oh how fabulous! Oh how decadent! Crystal is one of those customers that truly lives up to their name, I simply adore her gaudy aesthetic. Especially that sparkly texture on her shirt! Love it when they go for that kind of shading. Gotta give a shoutout to Cannoli too, love how he's like a cross between a mink and a feather boa (no limbs in sight)

Daniela - The theorizing about her military-based design choices was WILD before her flipdeck came out. Even afterwards, Daniela has always been something special! I do like the way she's consistenly ordered caramel & chocolate, and she's a top contender for the most GORGEOUS hair in the whole Flipverse when she takes down the bun

Deano - He's always been one of my favorite customers, really. Hell, I wear my own boater at an angle because of him! I also do like the hints towards him having some kind of connection with space, what with dressing up as an astronaut for Halloween and favoring Comet Con a couple times. Subtext is awesome!

Didar - Hell yeah! I loved his connected design with Simone from the get-go, but he really came into his own after the flipdeck came out. An amateur filmmaker, sasSugarsquatch hunter, AND a Maple Mountain resident all at once! Like I said with Brody, I love when characters are multiple different things at once. And there's the fun fact about his name translating to vision in Hindi, genuinely nice touch from the boys at Flipline

Doan - I don't know why people use the "exists in real life" excuse to leave out customers who are as much a part of this universe as any other character. Doan's got a pretty good deal going for him! I love the fact that he's canonically the artist behind Papa's branding and his posters, which means he's likely the one responsible for that Mousse poster in Mocharia (lmao)

Drakson - I've posted about it before, but the most charming part about him has to be the contrast between his dark and brooding design & his colorful cheery Hello Kitty-esque orders. Flipline knows how to implement a hilarious gag here and there! And as it stands right now, I really like how mysterious and edgy the band itself seems to be. I mean, on-stage argument and offstage fights? Sign me up!

Duke Gotcha - The face of Nowtime News has been getting a lot more popular as of late, and honestly it's all deserved! The Breaking News segments in the new games are probably my favorite new feature of the post-Flash era, and his expressions are a huge part of what sell 'em, so good on him for that! Duke... Gotchaaaaaah

Edna - She's like the patron saint of the X-Zone, if you think about it. Seriously though, I really find it interesting how she was tied to the X twins and the overarching lore of the Flipverse (properly honored in her fantastic Style B)! And her being an old seamstress gives her a great pinch of flavor on top of that

Elle - We may not know anything about her or even who her creator really was, so there's not much to go off with her... But that's kind of her charm, in a way. She could be anything! She's a mystery about herself, and that's pretty cool if you ask me

Ember - Spicy one! People don't really talk about her also being a scoutmaster, which is a shame because that's one of my favorite aspects of her character. Every day I pray Camping Season becomes a holiday just so we can get her in her official scoutmaster uniform

Emmlette - She's a drama teacher, how can I not love her? Being a student of the performing arts myself, I really do see a lot of my past acting teachers in her. They really did do their research when they made her! Also if you don't love her egg motif, you're just lying to yourself

Evelyn - Every time I think of her, I think of that one fanfic that accurately predicted her to be a retired movie star. Like it actually blew my mind when they revealed her flipdeck, that was a crazy day in Flipline history if you ask me. And they did hint that she'd be Olivia's grandma with those black olive wristbands, I always like to see design hints like that!

Fernanda - I often think about how she's the one who convinced Franco to take the risk and start Fernaco Architecture. There's something frankly so sweet about how the name of the company would also be their ship name. Plus, everyone loves a good poncho! And her jewelry's pretty great too

Foodini - Showing up at the end of every ingame day, it's probably safe to say Foodini's one of the most iconic characters to the whole franchise, up there with the ranks of Papa Louie himself! I really dig the whole game show host aesthetic, sometimes wonder if the hat design choice was a reference to the late Chuck Barris

Franco - He's absolutely rich with lore. Moving to Burgerburgh for his architecture job, starting a family there, then moving back to his hometown to chase his dreams and become an architecture magnate... He's made a veritable mark on the Flipverse as a whole! Also he has a really fun bodytype

Georgito - Honestly, Tony was goddamn hilarious for this one. Imagine being the original George friend who was insistent on being added as a specifically wealthy customer, and then getting depicted as the leprechaun of the Flipverse. Godspeed, Tony! Georgito himself is a rather dapper individual on his own, and I will say he's probably one of the very few cases where "smooth shading" hair has looked genuinely good

Gino Romano - My favorite Romano! I always do love an underdog. The way that he's a repeat fan of St. Paddy's Day and Bavariafest does paint quite a vivid picture of his flavorly tastes, and the fact that he was one of the founding members of the band is an interesting tidbit! And one more thing, I think it's pretty heavily implied that he has gigantism—making him another member of the disability rep crew

Greg - Kids usually hate tomatoes, so it's refreshing to see one that can't get enough of them! Also the fact that the sentient tomatoes from the platformers became one of his core personality traits. lol

Gremmie - The classic Freezeria closers have a soft spot in my heart, and Gremmie's no exception! There's plenty to be said about his uniquely crooked posture and his face-covering hair, but what I really like about him is how threatening his general vibe is. Wish he was a closer more often...

Hacky Zak - Yeah yeah, his old hair wasn't any good at all. But it does go to show that Matt & Tony listen to the fans, I really started to like Hacky once they changed it up! He rocks that hoodie, you have to admit

Hank - As short of a flipdeck that he has, Hank's definitely made his mark as a remarkable customer. I enjoy the way he's had very brief moments of being a closer, and the fact he hates night shifts does stir the imagination quite nicely. Plus, it's kinda funny how they always reach for him when they need a policeman character even though he's literally just a highway patrolman

Hope - There's something about her that's particularly unique. I think it's the unnaturally wide eyes, the resting grin, and how messed up some of her orders can get (WHAT was that BTC Freezeria order??) that makes her come off as vaguely unsettling... And I wouldn't want to have it any other way. Honestly it's great that they can go so wild on a KCP customer, goes to show that everyone has a place and a personality in this universe

Hugo - DJ Honey Buster is in the house! Him and his Warped Records record store have quite the history in the Flipverse, what with that one Travel Trout post designating it as the last of its kind. Hugo's a fighter! I also love how he modeled his DJ persona after his favorite kind of sauce. You'll never catch him eatin a burger with no honey mustard

Iggy - Every series with an ensemble cast of characters has to have at least ONE nerd, let's be real. Iggy sure does deliver! I love his color scheme, the way the highlights of yellow contrast the purple is really striking! And his flipdeck info is a lovely window into the in-universe sci-fi situation, I wonder what a show based off of Meteor Blaster could possibly look like

Indigo - Lots of forum FCs fall into the "fashionista" category, but frankly I don't think anyone does it like Indigo does! She absolutely KILLED it with Volcano Gala, I imagine that it was her and her alone who designed all those special outfits (even Pally's). And we love her for it!

Isadora - If you read between the lines of her flipdeck, it seems that she's another member of the implied disability crew! Honestly her flipdeck info pretty accurately aligns with the experience I had in middle school, so I did find the thing personally relatable for what it's worth. Also I like to imagine she made her Style A by cutting up the school uniform that was her Style B and turning it into a brand new outfit

Ivy - She's really so much more than a funny hairdo, if it weren't for her we wouldn't have Travel Trout! And who doesn't love her outfit? I've seen plenty of people lobby for her scarf in PLP and I couldn't agree more, she's fashion

James - Don't be grossed out that he uses a plunger as a weapon, it's clearly a drain plunger and not a toilet plunger. He's not swinging around a toilet pooper or anything. I'm getting off track, James is great! Love that he's one of the few customers to tout a name tag, and his unique facial proportions leave quite the impression

Janana - They literally couldn't have exaggerated the banana motif more. And that's what I love about her! On the other hand, I like how her flipdeck info couldn't have less to do with bananas. Most of the outsiders seem to be surprised when I tell 'em she's actually a music agent. I also like how the bands she manages have slowly started to show up more in the games lately

Johnny - Another character who has a whole lot going on under the surface. Behind the whole "attractive werewolf lumberjack" thing that most people fixate on, the man sells Christmas trees he chopped himself & consistently earns medals in the annual Woodchop Show! More people should talk about the Maple Mountain Woodchop Show if you ask me, tbh

Jojo - What can't be said about Jojo? In terms of gameplay, he's probably the most unique customer in the series! And there's the mystery on whether he's balding or has a luscious head of hair, since we never see him without some kind of head covering—I love seeing everyone's different takes (I'm a balding truther myself)

Julep - She comes packaged with some fantastic lore about Cornelius Poweder and the history of Powder point, and that flower dress in her Style B is frankly gorgeous. Also her whole name/design is a play on mint juleps, which is great

Kahuna - He's got a great contrast with Gremmie as the island's two surfer dudes, him being the native Hawaiian to Grem's Californian surfer dude, but he's also very much a force to be reckoned with by his own merits. Like his surfboard craftsmanship and surfing prowess! By all means, Kahuna is indeed the best surfer on Calypso Island at any given time! That's just canon, we all know Gremmie's an amateur at best...

Kaleb - I liked him ever since I laid eyes on him, the mystery behind what his deal is was probably his biggest draw at the time. And they revealed him to be the Hot Topic manager Funko Pop collector... I can earnestly say I did NOT see that one coming. Also his familial relationship with Trishna is pretty cute!

Kasey O - For some reason she's also one of the less popular customers, which is frankly a crime because good GOD she's badass. Like, she straight up leads a wrestling stable! She WON the Women's World Championship!! She has a charity and visits kids in hospitals in her own time!!! And to think that some people are so shallow to relegate her to the "dorito girl" with unconventional facial proportions, god knows how that's measured... Sometimes the fans disappoint me beyond what words can describe

Kayla - Whatta lady. There's something about her rise in the acting world that I aspire to achieve, rising from commercial work to Windie acclaim... That's how my wildest fantasies play out, isn't it the way. There's also something to be said about her fantastic choice in jewelry! I always prefer to keep her in her Style A because I love that bracelet so very much

Kenji - Another underrated customer to shine a light on! While his flipdeck info practically boils down to "he eats (wow!)", there's some hidden depths in his goofy little alternate outfits and the fact that he hates dining etiquette more than anything else. Man does NOT bother with the cutlery I can tell you that much

Kenton - A character created by someone I'm acquainted with, that's a first for this list! I was very hyped to see Kenton rise up to the top, all the way down to seeing his Style B be designed before it made its appearance ingame. Did you know that according to his creator-made bio, he didn't see his parents hardly ever growing up? (just his dad specifically, mom died at age 7)

Kingsley - Hail to the king baby! This guy's been through a lot of different suits throughout his career (I specifically remember him touting the all-yellow suit throughout my whole childhood), and every time he serves it on a golden platter. Even without the Customerpalooza thing in his name, the man is one of the most iconic characters of the franchise, and a solid character in his own right! He doesn't like hecklers, which I find amusing

Koilee - That koi dress seriously BLOWS ME AWAY, I cannot get over how good it looks with that scale detail. Like genuinely, the way they drew that blows me away... Peak Flipline artstyle. And as a character, I love how she lives so peacefully in Sakura Bay while balancing a job over in Oniontown. I like to imagine there's a sophisticated train system that gets her there, and that she got fired from the aquarium before vacationing in Oniontown to get her mind off of things

LePete - The first of the three baddie fans, LePete definitely stands out in the trio. He comes off as more serious than the other two, which I really like to lean into in my ongoing Life in the Flipverse comic... And also he wears a COCONUT on his HEAD that's amazing come on! I do like how he's the only one to never have actually been to Munchmore before, at least canonically speaking

Liezel - WOohoo! People have sung her praises plenty before, so I'll take the time to appreciate the lesser-pronounced aspects of her character, like how she didn't favor the same holiday twice until Mocharia or her undying dedication to spumoni. Spumoni's great! Wish it was more widely available... Also the whole "parmesan kiwi" thing in sushiria was one of her more memorable moments, especially before her flipdeck reveal

Lisa - A fantastic Burgeria era customer, one of the best even! That unique hairstyle really makes her stand out in the grand scheme of customers, and I find that they did a really good job establishing her role in the Fernaco family while making sure she was her own person as well.

Little Edoardo - It's definitely easy to see why he is (or was) Tony's favorite character! The elder of the Romano Family Quartet, this man is a notably unique addition to the family in multiple ways. His early streak of having weird gameria orders was fun, even if that title was later relegated to Xandra and Xolo. And of course, the Pastaria story was really adorable to see unfold! Edoardo and Olga make such a cute couple, which I know is something of an unpopular opinion but it's my opinion nonetheless

Lloyd - FINALLY, they let an old man be athletic for once! Lloyd's one of the characters that admittedly weirded me out the first time I saw him, but ultimately grew on me as the time went on. And it's also pretty neat how they let us have a centenarian customer on the official payroll, too

Maggie - From aimlessly drifting through life to Taco Mia worker to accomplished politician, Maggie's got one of the most comprehensive character arcs in the whole series! There's also something to be said about her representation of Cinco de Mayo, which I'm hoping to see possibly return in Paleteria (I know it'll go hard in this game I just KNOW it)

Makaila - Well, there's always gonna be one character you struggle with... She may be a landlord who rubbed capitalism all over the shores of Calypso island, but I do have to admit that her hexagon motif & Style B dress-coat combo really do strike a fantastic design! And I guess that in a meta sense, it is nice to have a more morally ambiguous customer in the mix

Mandi - I'll admit it's a bit harder to distinguish where the line is between real life and in-universe for Mandi, even more so than with other IRL customers, but nonetheless she makes it work! The owl motif is really really cute, especially with that Wendy's Wheels kart! Wouldn't be surprised if she dresses up as an owl for Halloween, heh.

Marty - Scarlett and the Shakers just wouldn't be the same without him! Marty's diamond motif doesn't come up as much as the other members' respective suits do, but I think that kind of adds to his own offbeat style in a way. He's definitely more of a free spirit with the burguitar and all, I just know he brings a unique flavor to the band. Outside of that, I like how one of his more noteworthy traits is having a beloved hatchback

Mary - MarySue is one of the fandom's most decorated ships, and for good reason! Mary is one of those characters who is completely brimming with personality, from her flipdeck all the way down to the design of her kart. Painter by day, bagpiper by night, full-time pug enjoyer! She's like the sun to Sue's moon in that sense, with her enthusiasm for life meshing with Sue's hard-working demeanor

Matt - While I know this is about the customers as characters and not real individuals, I have to give a shoutout to Matt for being one of the most genuinely pleasant people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. As a customer, I really dig how he goes full sports fan in his Style B! And for one of the hockey teams no less, you don't see those get much rep in the Flipverse

Mayor Mallow - As far as politician characters go, you have to admit this guy's inherently one of the funnier ones. I mean just look at him! The way is posture tilts so far back, the rosy cheeks he always has, having a big letter M for a belt buckle... I can just tell they were having so much fun when they designed him. Also he loves parades and hates debates, lmao

Mesa - Another no-info KCP winner, so we have to go on design alone for her. And her design really carries her far! She just oozes style, from the top of her mini top hat to the bottom of her fiery patterned dress! And the color orange really elevates the red-black color scheme of her outfit! Dare I say it, her design is strong enough to rival those of the official customers. She deserved her KCP win through and through

Mindy - She's quirkyyy. Love her evolving look throughout the years & how her hair color is always fluid... I wonder if she's ever experimented with being a redhead. Wonder what other hair experiments she's done on herself and her boyfriend, I bet that man's mop was nasty before he met her (honestly the more I think about their dynamic the more I realize just how fun it can get)

Mitch - The funny man!!! Mitch and his messy mess!!! Big fan of how he contrasts with his coworker Maggie, while she's made big things of herself and is very accomplished all Mitch wants to do is eat food like Kenji and go outside. And eat hot chip and lie. The outdoorsman aspect is something I realize I kinda gloss over in my head more often than not

Moe/The Dynamoe - Again, fan favorite characters! I already posted that long and comprehensive speculation on Moe's possible Moe-tivations and the creation of the alter ego Dynamoe, so let's focus more on his design: It was a real stroke of genius to have him turn the color scheme on his head between outfits! Compare that to Joy/Ninjoy, where the red/blue of her work outfit can combine to be the purple of her hero costume... Neat stuff innit? Love his spiffy white gloves too

Mousse - Oniontown's definitely one of the more dingy locations in the Flipverse, and Mousse provides a pretty comprehensive window into that seedy underbelly that hides under the surface of tourism and history. I'd do anything to get official backdrops of the Gingersnap Lounge... The twins also really make themselves known in their orders, always keeping the light/dark food theme consistent between games. Or is it whipped cream/choco mousse theme? Hm

Mr. Bombolony - His name is DOB for crying out loud... He writes PARODY SONGS and SINGS THEM for the morning announcements... And even just his design, that goofy oversized shirt he proudly wears... There isn't a single aspect about this man that isn't absurdly hilarious, and I completely adore him for it. A walking legend. Dob Bombolony, destroyer of worlds and purveyor of DadCringe

Nevada - If I were a member of the Flipverse, I would ABSOLUTELY stop by her storefront and grab me some genuine ocean jewelry. One of the things that I've always liked about Nevada is the way she accessorizes her head specifically—the feathered hairpiece, those tinted glasses, and the double braid of her hair are what make her an icon!

Nick - I've always had a soft spot for Nick. He's just a sorta clumsy kid who loves life on the rapids, sometimes he wears his safety gear and sometimes he doesn't. What you see is what you get with Nick, and that's what I like about him! Also I wonder how he ended up being friends with Mitch, though the two of them being outdoorsy types seems to lead to an obvious conclusion

Ninjoy/Joy - Ahh, what would the Flipverse be without her? I always found it downright fascinating that the vigilante hero of the Flipverse is related to Papa himself by blood. And her distaste for Nowtime News is incredibly interesting too, for all the questions it raises about what the tension is like: Do Duke Gotcha and Shannon have the same beef as the rest of the corporation? How does Nowtime depict The Dynamoe? And what does Joy think about the corporation when she's not busy being Ninjoy? All very intriguing questions that just wouldn't be possible without her, you go girl

Nye - He canonically has a sugar daddy. Straight up, his creator has confirmed that he has a sugar daddy & has created a design for said sugar daddy. That is INSANE especially for what this series is... But enough about that, Nye stands quite well on his own even without that aspect of his character. The Style B he wears does an incredibly excellent job of balancing two different patterns without it becoming overbearing on the design, which is pretty tough to pull off well!

Okalani - Even after the hotbed of controversy that was her flipdeck, I find that Okalani's really a great customer through and through. I just know she has the most wonderful friendship with the other island locals... And you can't deny that her hairstyle is beautiful

Olga - Like I said with Little Ed, the marriage and relationship has gotta be one of the cutest things Flipline's done! And the fact she still wears that wedding dress as her Style B outfit is both amusing and adorable, if I do say so myself

Olivia - They managed to strike a beautiful compromise between goofy and stylish in her design, a trait befitting of her status as the party girl! She's also quite a shining example of how to properly execute an offbeat color scheme, everything comes together really well in both her outfits (and the holiday ones too, but those ones switch the colors up)

Pally - Never gonna be able to forgive the fans for how they treated Pally at first. There isn't a better representative for PLP out there! The gimmick of having outfits from the ingame holiday clothes selection was great at displaying the lesser-used items, but I think Pally really found her true potential when the flipdeck hit the pages—she might just be the most powerful optimist in the whole Flipverse! And I mean the WHOLE Flipverse, across every dimension they have

Papa Louie - The man himself. The FACE of the series. The Italian mustache monopoly man with the pizza procuring prowess... And we really do owe it all to him, Flipline Studios wouldn't be what it is today without him! As a character, I have to say that he's surprisingly versatile. Some depict him as the friendly lovable chef that the universe paints him as, some show him as a despicable greedy crook who throws anyone under the bus at the drop of a hat... And frankly I'm glad that he gets this much variance

Peggy - Country girls make do. Peggy's design might not be the flashiest, but she really does feel authentic as a cowgirl. And it's quite charming how she's like the flagship character for spicy foods, even more so than Ember the firefighter and Mesa the, uh... Fire motif! On top of that, her hairstyle is an interesting one to pick apart as well. I always imagined that her cowgirl activities kick up enough dust to make her hair go stiff, which is why it curls up against gravity like that

Penny - Love her or hate her... Who am I kidding, why would anyone hate her! Even the most jaded of us have to admit that the whole flower motif she has is adorable. And there's also something impressive about her being present in every game in the franchise, all the way back to the original WPA! I wish some of the Youtubers were more normal about her, though... But bemoaning the weirdos isn't what this list is about

Perri - I must say it's quite bold for a cyclist character to never be seen wearing a real helmet, but there's so much more to Perri than just her looks. She lives in a WINDMILL! She bought a windmill and turned it into her HOME! One can only imagine the whimsy that she lives through every day

Petrona - If anyone in this universe deserves the title of girlboss, it's Petrona without a doubt. Her flipdeck may not have been the longest, but it got the job done quickly and efficiently. Much like herself! I like how even her design reflects her no-nonsense attitude and determined work ethic

Pinch Hitwell - Sometimes I think about how the only named baseball player we know of so far is a substitute batter. And how he's apparently a good enough substitute batter to appear on a poster for oatmeal cookies... Also how he doesn't even order oatmeal cookies in that game, despite being on THE POSTER FOR IT alright enough of that tangent. I have to be genuine here, I really consider Pinch one of my favorite customers! There's just something so charming about his looks, his new outfits for each town, and the way he always keeps finding new ways to surprise us

Professor Fitz - Again, no ensemble cast of characters is complete without at least one eccentric scientist! Professor Fitz delivers on every front, from his bow tie to his lightning bolt hair, and the notable tinge of green in his outfit really helps him stand out in the realm of scientist characters. And we can't forget that his title of professor isn't just as a scientist, but as an academic too!

Prudence - People rag on Flipline for having weirder names as the games went on, but she goes to show that odd names have always been at the heart of the series. Her relationship with Pickle is really nice too, very fun to see someone who carries a dog in a bag! For some reason I've always associated her with Elle Woods of Legally Blonde (and vice versa)

Quinn - And here she is, the reigning queen of the closer lineup! Her constant presence as a closer marks her as a familiar face to even the most fledgling greenhorns of the franchise. The vast amount of differing headcanons I've seen for her do well to stimulate the imagination, from the divorce scenarios of the forum to the rom-com fanworks this site has to offer! Whether they revolve around Timm or not, it's always a pleasure to see people's takeaways on such a unique customer

Radlynn - Radish girl radish girl radish girl. As far as the baddie fans trio goes, her position is unique in that she personally MET Radley, and that iconic knit hat was a gift from him to her! There's also something special about how her Style B is literally Radley's very own outfit from his own debut appearance, down to that wide brimmed hat and goggles. That's dedication

Rhonda - Glad to have a real trucker on the character lineup, and as far as trucker characters go, I don't think I've ever seen any quite like her! I don't express it often, but she's definitely one of the higher tier customers in my personal rankings. And her relationship with Rico is by far my favorite official canon pairing!

Rico - Byeah incarnate. His character arc happened humourously quick, with him being a rough biker in his intro and then immediately mellowing out once he hit the shores of Calypso. The chili arc was a great one too, with his recipe making it all the way into the ranks of Papa's very own restaurants! His chili even gets served up at the Pastaria, and they're a very high class establishment so you KNOW his chili is god tier

Ripley - We have a customer directly tied to Munchmore! Hell yeah! Her expeditions were by far one of the most interesting things to happen to the blog since, well... Ever! I really do miss those posts, they were a great way to get a better look at that dimension & Ripley's quirky way of speaking was a sight to behold too

Rita - The forumers have a bad tendency to sell Rita short. While her Burgeria job may be a noted part of her personality, she's also got some extra depths of her own! Like how she straight up moved to Burgerburgh when she won her job, or the way her outfit's slowly evolved over the years. I'm not kidding, that outfit progression is genuinely a sight to behold! And of course how can I not mention the film buff aspect of her personality, considering she's basically the FACE of Sugarplex Film Fest

Robby - This man was stranded on an island for 3 years. It's highly likely he was the only survivor of the shrimp boat capsizing... And how did he emerge from this experience? As a PIRATE! I dare say that's one of my favorite takes I've ever seen on a castaway story

Rollie - Oh, how I love him. There's just something I personally find so charming about Rollie... It might be his outfit, maybe it's his detailed backstory, the Halloween costume definitely factors into it... But one thing is for certain: His status as my all-time favorite customer isn't going anywhere! Keep rollin' on, you magnificent man

Roy - I'd argue he's just as important to the series as Papa is, if not more (at least for the mainline gamerias). The perpetually exhausted heir to the franchise's name, Roy really is much more than a mere delivery boy—he's the wheels that keep the original Pizzeria moving! And I really like how much of his personality comes out in the Style B, he clearly knows how to rock outside of work

Rudy - He's definitely the one who keeps the punk in ska-punk, that's a given. And he also goes to show how even a bassist can be a standout member of a band! Even outside of Scarlett and the Shakers, he's got quite a unique set of circumstances. His flipdeck establishes his deep connection to Powder Point as a town, as well as showing how much he absolutely despises Guy Mortadello above anything or anyone else... It's always funny when a flipdeck lists a character's hates as another established character

Santa - Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Figy Pudding! While it's incredibly funny on its own that Santa is real and casually eats at restaurants in broad daylight in this universe, it's also really funny how his existence means that every customer in this series now has a Ryu number of 2, if you're familiar with that at all. I've known people who want Santa Claus carnally

Sarge Fan - What I find fun about him is that while the other two baddie fans at least have some connection to their respective bosses, Sarge Fan kinda... Doesn't. Radlynn met Radley when she was young, LePete found a crumpled poster of his hero, and Sarge Fan... Nothing happened, he's just like that for some reason! Love a guy who's just an inexplicable little freak. Also he runs the Pop Dart stand in Powder Point when Foodini's off the clock, which is its own little mystery in itself

Sasha - She's part of the school's marching band and debate team, she's an apprentice cheesemaker, she's always got a loving family to fall back on... We have a pretty clear picture of what Sasha's life is like, don't we? And of course there's her notable obsession with the creatures of Munchmore, which seems to imply that her memories from her time there were deeply cherished, formative even

Scarlett - And of course, the face of Scarlett and the Shakers! I really like how it's listed that she hates Pop Music (girl would NEVER be a Swiftie, in fact I bet none of the SatS members are) and how she wears so many different hats as a member of the band, metaphorically. She's the lead singer, she writes all the songs, and she'll even bust out extra instruments when the show calls for them! Talk about a renaissance gal!

Scooter - I remember back when playing the platformers in my youth, she became my go-to character pick because the skateboard was just THAT fun. And I also really groove with her cherrybomb motif! Plus, she's a strong contender for the hardest pose anyone's ever hit in a flipdeck

Shannon - She was Nowtime News before Nowtime News was even a fleshed-out thing! I've always been fond of her eclectic style. Especially how her sweater used to have a mismatched button, I wish they didn't patch that out... Team Gotcha just wouldn't be Team Gotcha without her

Sienna - She is REALLY dedicated to autumn! Even if Thanksgiving gets replaced someday (hopefully), I'll never be able to see her favor any holiday outside of that three-month bracket... She just straight-up is the season of fall incarnate, see? Anyways she's also got quite a backstory on her back, having grown up in Toastwood only to find a new beautiful home in Portallini! Something about the detail that she's struggling to make friends also makes me feel for her, like a window into her personal life

Simone - She's THE lo-fi girl and don't you forget it! One thing I always liked about her is how her outfit and hairstyle look like something straight out of the Sims future expansion pack, if that's anything to go off of. Gives her a really pointed vibe, it does! And let's not forget how the meaning of her name is "listening", to go alongside Didar's meaning of sight and vision—they did their name research!

Skip - There's a lot of things I like about Skip. His ever-present love for pistachios, his trait of being a tailgating football fan, heck even the way they designed his stubble... But above it all, what I really think is the best part of Skip is the tenderness that he has deep down, shown by his care of Pastrami. Rat owners tend to be mistreated by their peers, just as the animal itself is strongly associated as being a pest to be eraticated, so the fact that he proudly carries Pastrami everywhere shows that Skip has true compassion that shines beyond the hatred and intolerance of the world around him... And for that, I can't help but love him

Skyler - Remnants of Skystone may be long lost media at this point, but I'm glad that we got Skyler out of it! On top of being references to the now-gone MMO, her outfits are absolutely stunning on their own, quite unlike anything any of the other customers have. There's also the touch of her being a jewelry student who uses her talents for steampunk cosplay, which is a fabulous way of making it make sense in-universe!

Sprinks the Clown - I've always had something of a deep respect for those who pursue a career in clown performance, even having dreamed of such a thing as a youth myself. So I may have something of a soft spot for a working clown like Sprinks, sue me. I quite like how they explained her Style B as her dedication to the craft even on her worst days, which I also find really admirable! You have to be strong to be a clown, and she's certainly stronger than I could ever be

Steven - While his looks are deceivingly simple, his creator left a paragraph that really defined how I perceive the man. I believe it was implied that he plays in a punk-metal band at night, which is already pretty badass on its own! Seems to be supported by his consistent favoring of Groovstock, which is pretty good attention to detail from Matt and Tony. Steven's bio also mentioned that he has a "hot chest" multiple times, for whatever that's worth...

Sue - The second half of the whole that is MarySue, Sue is a true powerhouse of a character. I have to compliment how well they work as a couples dynamic, with Sue's irritability and Mary's general exuberance, I can easily imagine how Mary helps to relieve the daily stress that Sue endures while Sue helps keep Mary grounded in reality... Even if we don't explicitly see it, they really do have great chemistry!

Taylor - Taylor's probaly one of the best classic customers in the set, franky speaking. I do appreciate how his outfits contain remnants of bygone eras, such as his walkman in the Style A and the power glove in the Style B... Really goes to show how long this series has been around, hm? And I really love how they accomplished the earbud effect by utilizing the back hair sprites!

Timm - I'll be damned, he's fantastic! He's definitely made his mark around here, what with the association with Quinn & all the baggage that comes with that. And I do often think about his "very manly perm" alongside his prominently displayed chest hair... Put that in your pipe and smoke it, eh?

Tohru - While I may have had my qualms with her general reception, I cannot deny that Tohru is a very solid character in her own right. I gotta respect the fact that she's a stage crew member, of course, and her being a let's player opens up a world of possibilities for fun gaming scenarios to put her in. And her design, of course! I really do adore the button motif they gave her in the Bakeria refresh, and her updated pigtails are honestly a real treat to look at. And the color scheme's great too

Tony - Aside from being the creative genius behind all these characters, Tony's a pretty fun customer to have around himself! Love love LOVE that Mothman costume, and how it pushes the boundaries of what can be done in the Flipline artstyle. I also find it fun how you can customize the length of his hair once you unlock both his styles

Treble - They were a star ever since they first appeared! Gotta say that them receiving their flipdeck in the eleventh hour of pride month was one hell of a clutch. Flipline did a really good job on the characterization front, I don't think any of us were expecting them to be an auto shop high schooler but I'm not complaining! Only makes the alt-punk outfit more poignant, really

Trishna - Fashionista! As a customer, she adds distinct flavor to the Whiskview Mall employee lineup while still managing to fit in with the general vibe. She also absolutely nails the fashionista angle, from the casual Style A to her over-the-top elegant Style B! And you gotta love that custom phone case she touts in that flipdeck pic

Utah - Being the only non-closer Calypso Island native in the original Freezeria, Utah definitely had an important impact in her debut appearance. I theorize that's how she became such a popular customer in the first place... One thing I like is how pink lemonade quickly became one of her defining characteristics, I mean just look at her Wendy's Wheels kart! Oh, and she absolutely killed it in her Summer Luau exclusive outfit... I dare say it's even better than her regular styles

Vicky - It's been said before but I have to reiterate it, Vicky haters are the weakest link. She's got impeccable style, she's got mom cred with Mindy, and she maaay not have that much talent as a makeup artist but we still love her just the same! I really do find it wholesome how she and her daughter both run the salon, a true family business that it is

Vincent - And speaking of family business! Always ready with the customer coupon and Style B deliveries, it's easy to get familiar with his recurring face. And apparently vice versa, considering he goes all across the globe for his deliveries & remembers EVERYONE'S name that he meets... Honestly that's kind of insane when you wrap your head around it! One thing I found surprising is that the bag he wears is entirely removable with the right tools, and doing so reveals that his jacket had a secret zipper all along... The intricacies of the character models never cease to amaze

Wally - The Mayonnaise Man himself, where do we even begin... Well, how about his fishing history? Ever since his debut, he's always had an association with fish, with the whole anchovy thing kind of being the entire basis of his flipdeck. Fishing is clearly in his blood, with what we see in his Style B alluding to either a hobby or a history as a fisherman, probably both... Yeah yeah I know, I've said it a thousand times already, but the hidden depths of these characters really do go a very long way.

Wendy - She's so cool! Even the two-tone plastic frame glasses start looking a little badass when she sports 'em, not easy to do that! And we gotta give her the respect she deserves for being the driving force behind all these Wendy's Wheels updates, which remain to this day the greatest ongoing blog feature (not counting sneak peeks)

Whiff - He may have bad posture and an odd expression, but that shouldn't get in the way of his worth as a customer, should it? For what it's worth, the man's outfit really compliments his character, and you're just flat-out lying if you deny how hard he rocks the tattoos! Like come on, they're gummeels! And considering the artstyle, you have to admit that it's pretty funny that he hates leg day when nobody has any legs

Whippa - The other Oniontown twin, let's see. I talked about the twins' info with Mousse, so let's shine more of a spotlight on their designs this time. Love 'em! Love how their opaque shades build them up as threatening people from the get-go, love how their outfit patterns are shared between styles, and it's quite good how they're both essentially the skinniest twigs to walk the Flipverse so far. Whippa in particular really goes above and beyond with her outfit, that slick white hairstyle absolutely slams down! And the Style B, oh good LORD that is one hell of a slick Style B

Willow - There's always gotta be a goth girl, hum? As far as goths go, I appreciate the unique angle they went for with Willow! They weren't afraid to go all out with the teal, and her Style B only goes farther with the bright colors! Her flipdeck info serves a good deal too, she's a very shy poet and she cares for her pet tarantula Jackie very dearly. Speaking of, Jackie! The greatest pet in the whole Flipverse, bar none, even past the likes of Smokie and Pastrami

Wylan B - Y'know, there's some kind of subtle nuance in the way both he and his dad try a little too hard to be seen as "cool" that comes back around to being cringe, but both in generationally different ways. A neat touch all things considered... Also that Style B goes absolutely INSANE

Xandra - Weirdgirl representation! While there's plenty to be said about her and her brother's place in the universe, this is still about their strengths as indiviuals. One thing Xandra has over her brother is her fabulous tutu and the makeup to match! Plus, her clown costume is kind of just generally better than Xolo's

Xolo - As for things that Xolo leads the race in, one need not look farther than his magical fantabulous scarf! Really, I think that it's one of his best features, alongside those rockstar-like torn sleeves. Definitely paints him as the rougher, tougher side of the family... Also, his pants being all patched up with patches connects him to his foster mother Edna in a really cute way

Yippy - Cookie Scouts! We know about them thanks to her. She's really a lot more hardworking than she seems on the surface, given how she somehow makes enough money as a cookie scout to visit the restaurants as often as the grown-up regulars do. And her Creameo belt buckle wass a very inspired choicie to go along her cookie theme

Yui - I'm not entirely sure what official information for her is out there to be honest, but even without it, she's a very strong customer! Her orders certainly make a strong impression, and that Style B of hers might just be one of the greatest Style Bs ever put to a KCP contestant!

Yuko - Hey, the first customer to carry around a prop! That parasol of hers is probably one of my favorite design decisions done to a recent customer, especially how it makes her Style B shine like the sun! Her info was also quite full of surprises, such as how she's the mother of Prudence and how she was one of the original Pizzeria apartment residents. Can't wait to meet Espen!

Zoe - Last but certainly not least, my favorite hippie! Speaking of props, I really love the way that she always has her guitar on her. And that beautiful paisley pattern that decorates her outfit really adds to her design too! I do like how her dream in life isn't anything overly ambitious or grandiose, she just wants to own a coffee shop and support the arts with it. Truly a good person to the core, she is! And her fear of heights is a very interesting cherry on top

That took a couple days, but it was fun! Really worth the effort. Can you tell how passionate about this series and all its characters

#papa louie #flipline studios #flipline #papa's pizzeria #I really hope I didn't miss anyone #also I intend to share this to the forum too so I had to pull the reins on the swearing a little #also the keep reading cutoff goes down a paragraph every time I edit this. I have to readjust it

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sketchy--akechi · 4 months

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Shuake Tangled AU has taken over my brain and I need to share it before I combust

So listen - Goro as Repunzel and Akira as Eugene,

I think Akira other than just being a thief, fits the whole being a thief but also wanting something *more* fits very well and also I think him breaking into a tower and immediately flirting with the hot guy who lives there is a very Akira thing to do

Goro's backstory isn't really consistent? I've thought of several different ones but I know Shido is mother Gothel for sure and I kinda want Mamakechi to live because Goro deserves a little bit of happiness in his life god damnit.

And I

Also also, the snuggly ducklings is ran by Sojiro and all the other PT's just hang out there and when Akira brings goro there they all start asking questions and stuff because Akira very messily stole the lost prince's crown And also brought in a very attractive young man he found in a tower in the middle of the forest with subtle homicidal tendencies and not so subtle daddy issues that looks suspiciously like someone copy pasted the Queen

PT's are like "We left you alone for ONE DAY."

I also imagine that the Phantom Thieves are well known in the kingdom for a. Exposing different schemes Shido has tried to get to the throne (good) and b. Stealing various valuables in the process (not good)

OH OH AND the 'Repunzel knows best' part with Shido trying to manipulate Goro into coming back to the tower because he needs Goro's power for whatever plan he's come up with to off the Queen and steal the throne

This all started because I heard 'See the light' randomly and immediately went "Oh my god it's Shuake" now I've wrote several little drabbles about it and I can't escape also, Goro with ridiculously long hair and constantly threatening anything and everything with a frying pan and Akira realizing he might have a thing for pretty boys threatening to murder him with a cooking utensil

(this is so long I'm sorry, but do you see the vision?)

NO ANON I SEE THE VISION I HAD A WHOLE TANGLED AU ON MY OWN

i wanted to draw a short comic thats like

"something brought you here. fate. destiny"

"a monabus"

#txt #asks

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katsona-the-katsequel · 10 days

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I imagine all the protags being friends tbh, like all of them, give me two and i can make a way i can see them interacting, but i really think Makoto and Yu would get along so so well, same with Kotone and Akira

Give them some time and they'll be some of the closest friends you'll see. Really helps that four of them made it their mission to befriend at least 19 people in a year. Naoya, Tatsuya, and Maya never stood a chance against their combined Max Charm. Naoya got that next-door, cheeky, pretty boy aura going on for him. He clicked with Akira right away, though surprisingly he found himself playing the straight man in Akira's jokes.

Naoya saw Yu taking charge once (1) and happily delegated all the leader duties to him. Minato followed suit. Yu offered the leadership duties to Maya (because oldest in the group should know best, right?) but she said "No, thank you :)". Yu glanced at Tatsuya, who just shook his head. Akira made a playful grab for the leadership position, but Yu believed he was joking and took it back (they didn't trust each other yet). Kotone ended up leading and ran everyone ragged. Naoya is scared. Maya is dead again. Tatsuya is reevaluating his initial impression of the little girl with the red bow. Minato seems barely phased, but if looks could kill... Yu and Akira are mentally taking notes for their respective teams.

Kotone and Akira are the type of people Tatsuya would be attracted to (Platonic! I mean, romantically too if you want to). They're the most vocal about their ideals and beliefs. If Naoya, Minato and Yu opened up more to talk about more personal stuff, he would like them as well.

Maya thinks they're all cute. Especially Minato. The kind to cover him with a blanket whenever he falls asleep. Akira is also on permanent coffee duty for Maya now. Yu discovered he had Mommy IssuesTM when Maya began to look after him. Aside from those uncovered feelings that he still needs to process, Yu found himself connecting the best with Minato and Akira. They relate to each other and don't find the occasional long silences nor the unprompted strange commentaries as offputting as other people. Those three are in the same wavelength, with Kotone occasionally joining them.

If someone asked Kotone, she would say Yu is her favorite because he feeds her. But honestly? Its Minato. They just get each other. True, that might lead to some frustrated arguments you can only have with someone who's too much like you, but its good to do or say something without having to explain herself. Minato thinks Maya, Kotone and Akira are a bit too much sometimes (where do they get all that energy from?), but he really likes them. Good luck making him admit it, tho.

Now that I think about it, Akira might be the most charismatic of the group. Huh.

#persona 1 #persona 2 #persona 3 #persona 4 #persona 5 #ranted again #oh well #naoya toudou #tatsuya suou #maya amano #minato arisato #makoto yuki #yu narukami #souji seta #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #welcome to chili's #i have connected the dots

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catbountry · 4 days

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It's been a year since the premiere of Trigun: Stampede. The series, despite the fears of the fans of the '98 anime, actually turned out really good; Yasuhiro Nightow is a big superhero comics nerd, and wanted to have this new anime adaption be an adaption similar to the adaptions of the MCU, back when those movies were consistently enjoyable, and I daresay a bunch of the people watched Trigun probably were either already anime fans, or they were nomad fans who may have been really into the MCU at one point.

I have a lot of thoughts on an American perspective on Vash the Stampede as a character, with a lot of comparisons to American comic book superheroes. And while Trigun wasn't my first anime, I was hooked on it, as someone who grew up around Batman and Spawn's 90's popularity. During my first Otakon in 2001, I must have seen a dozen Vash's and Wolfwoods. I remember the year there was a Wolfwood cosplayer whose Punisher gun was shaped like the Star of David instead of a cross, making him a rabbi. That shit was amazing. The larger point is that I've loved this character for more than half of my entire time being alive, and I haven't seen a lot of discussion of Trigun viewed from a more political lens, and why it resonates so much with Americans (or at least me, who is an American) in particular

Buckle up, kids, this is gonna be long and rambly.

There was a period of time where I watched nearly every single new MCU movie in the theater. It was exciting seeing adaptions of comic books that would have probably never gotten a movie before the success of The Avengers. And I don't think it's a mistake that the most comic book-y of the movies are usually the best; Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel remain as probably my favorite MCU movies. Nightow was working directly with the studio making a new Trigun anime and reportedly got the crew to watch a bunch of Marvel movies to set the tone for the anime as an adaption; it's why Vash got a completely new redesign that freaked all us old fans the fuck out. Though it appears that once again, Trigun tried and failed to get that massive Japanese audience that most successful anime have. But boy, oh boy, do us westerners fucking love Trigun, especially us Americans. Nightow's love of superhero comics bled into Trigun, and it just so happened that he was incredibly influenced by Spawn, Hellboy and Batman as much as he was influenced by Akira Toriyama and mechanical art. McFarlane Toys released a Vash figure that is McFarlane'd the fuck up. Nightow loves all superhero comics but especially the Blade trilogy.

Just look at this and imagine being 13 years old and seeing this on a screen for the first time with the instrumental hard rock opening.

Also, I wouldn't actually get around to reading Spawn until I was an adult, but you know what? It's pretty good. The writing is definitely weaker than the art, but holy shit, that art goes hard and I still think that shit's cool as fuck.

As stated before, around the early 2000's Trigun was considered peak anime, though it's been more overlooked in recent years in favor of Cowboy Bebop, an anime that has aged gracefully by comparison. But while Bebop has that sort of timeless cool and level of quality that drew the attention of filmmakers like the Wachoski sisters, Trigun has that very specific kind of adolescent sense of coolness that comic book fans get, especially back in the 90's before this sort of thing would be smothered to death by MCU's Joss Whedoning of superheroes. Spawn, Hellboy and Batman are still cool. And Trigun also has a shitton of guns, obviously, given that Vash being an incredibly OP gunslinger in a world where everybody has guns.

And America loves guns.

I think the contrast of Vash's pacifism while still wielding a gun is extremely interesting because it's not something you see very much (I bet if I watched more westerns, I'd have a better idea if this is a trope in them at all). Batman does not use guns and doesn't kill people, which is why there's still discourse around Tim Burton's Batman films to this day still; I don't think Kevin Smith has budged on this. Other more morally grey superheroes will use guns (by this definition I'm counting The Punisher even if he doesn't have any superpowers, unless you count severe PTSD as a superpower). And a lot of them had huge surges in popularity in the 90's around the time Nightow was making Trigun. Vash posed like Batman or Spider-Man looking brooding (like the gif above) happens a lot in the earlier issues even though that's not really his character.

Several years ago, there was an attempt by a conservative thinktank to discredit a bunch of Hollywood actors saying that gun violence in America is a serious issue and contrasted their statements scenes of them shooting guns in movies, but if we're being real here, gunplay in movies can be really fucking cool. Again I invoke The Matrix, or movies by Robert Rodriguez and John Woo. Look at video games, and compare the decline in violent crime that's been happening here since the 70's and 80's, as culture warriors bemoan movies and video games for becoming more violent. Remember when Wayne LaPierre, vice president of the NRA, brought up fucking Splatterhouse as a reason why Sandy Hook happened? Do you know what Splatterhouse looks like?

It looks like this.

You know how these guys constantly say the only way to counter a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun? Usually, the inference is that if the "good guy" with a gun shoots, he's shooting to kill. Deadpool and the Punisher would shoot to kill. But Vash is constantly trying to avoid it. And I remember as a teenager finding that really cool? And the manga and anime don't shy away from how impractical Vash's pacifism is. It's a bit more realistic than Steven Universe's ending, but also Steven Universe was made for children.

I know Avatar: The Last Airbender is often invoked when criticizing Steven Universe's philosophy, but I haven't really seen Vash's similar philosophy criticized in the same way, and I think a lot of that has to do with the presence of Wolfwood, who is the "I think we're gonna have to kill this guy" guy. I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen art of this yet. I may have to get on that. I already drew Vash horrified at the Trolley Problem.

Vash is a character designed with maximum coolness in mind, but also an overpowered being who is capable of killing millions, and in the anime, he somehow destroys July City without killing anyone directly, but the destruction of the city led to a bunch of people dying. He's so deeply committed to not wanting to kill anyone that he's probably killed more people than he would have if he just shot Knives. The best Batman stories acknowledge that Batman's refusal to kill Joker has similarly results in the deaths of people Batman could have prevented if he killed one guy, and this could also apply to Vash's relationship with his brother Knives, who was kind of destined to be a mass murderer with a name like that, let's be real.

Online, we tend to joke about bringing out the guillotines, or justify not feeling an sympathy for billionaires who die in a sub trying to view the Titanic. But if you were given a gun and a real human person begging for their life, what would you actually do? Do you honestly think that you would be the ethical Death Note user?

Vash has guns but he chooses not to kill people; he prefers to not even use them unless he has to, instead opting to run away and look cool doing it somehow.

He really, really doesn't want to kill people. He doesn't become numb to people dying. It hurts him every single time he watches someone get killed. In reality, most of us that aren't sociopaths would be distressed at the thought of killing someone. The only reason armies in real life work is that they become inoculated to the idea of violence and dehumanize the enemy. Vash is no soldier. He is idealistic, he is empathetic, and he sees every human being as a person worthy of life. Batman refuses to use guns, as that's how his parents were killed in front of him. Vash has to use guns in order to protect people from getting killed. He has the ethics of Superman but the tools of a comic book antihero. He's the logical conclusion of an shonen anime protagonist in a world that chews up anyone with that kind of optimism and hope and spits them out. And yet... he still keeps going. He remains committed. He's still cheery, goofy, lovable Vash.

Batman used to kill people, in the earliest comics. With the Comics Code Authority, no superheroes could kill people. In the 80's, comics were getting darker and edgier, taken more seriously. While Alan Moore's Watchmen delved into the moral complexities in a world with superheroes that was similar to ours, Frank Miller was keeping Batman consistent, even as Gotham got darker and uglier.

Batman is a vigilante. The police can be helpful or they can fuck up everything, depending on what's needed for the story. In Batman Year One, there's a scene where Batman crashes a party attended by the elites of Gotham, politicians and mobsters mingling.

Seeing this during the Bush presidency blew my mind. I don't want to get into just how perfectly the members of his administration seemed to resemble a rogue's gallery of sorts with the shared goals of making a lot of money and bombing the shit out of Iraq and Afghanistan. I was extremely anti-war even before the 2000 election as a very opinionated 14 year-old watching, Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and feeling relieved that a grown-up was able to see through all the bullshit; it helps when the guy who's against the war and killing people is funny. I remember writing in my diary at 12 years old after Columbine happened that I wanted to take all of the guns and melt them down in a pot, similarly to that scene in Superman IV where he throws the entire world's nuclear arsenal into the sun. But also that same year I would fall in love with The Matrix... and not long after that, Trigun.

Again, we come back to the idea of someone using a gun, a weapon designed to kill people, and using it in pursuit of the exact opposite. That resonated with me. I myself was very idealistic, and the political climate of my teenage years seemed to do almost everything to stamp that out of me. Things feel just as fraught two decades later, but in slightly different ways. Pacifism is looked down upon, as indicated by the backlash to the ending of Steven Universe, and how one crazy lady called Rebecca Sugar, a Jewish person, a Nazi for writing it that way. But for Steven, things worked out. For Vash? Well, he still has hope somehow, despite everything. I think the fact that he strives to protect human life, even when someone is a complete monster, is admirable in that it cuts to the very basic desire to not see people hurt. But we're also selfish, and scared, and sometimes it's hard to conceive of a solution to a problem that doesn't involve violence. Seeing dead bodies on TV or the internet upsets us, but we're often paralyzed by feeling like we can't do anything, and even if we tried, we'd likely perish in the attempt. We desire revenge, punishment for those who transgress by inflicting violence, and we can rationalize using it against the right targets. Vash the Stampede would have a fucking breakdown dealing with the state-backed violence that's been a part of geopolitics pretty much as long as there have been states and geopolitics. Vash would try and solve the bombings of Gaza with an impassioned plea for both sides to stop fighting before he would somehow wind up making things worse and it would eat away at him inside, no matter how brave a face he puts on as he tries to find some kind of hope in a hopeless situation. And... you know what? I kind of wish more people would be like that. Maybe if there were enough people like that, these sorts of things wouldn't happen in the first place. I wish more people could look at human suffering and feel compelled to try and stop it, not discriminating against one side or the other, trying to understand why people are doing what they do. Seeing anti-war protestors in Tel Aviv brings back memories of protests against the start of the War on Terror, and how hated America was internationally during those years, even when most Americans approved of the war. Michael Moore was booed at the Oscars for condemning George W. Bush and the War on Terror. It's terrifying that those in power want us killing each other and have conditioned us to support it. I want so badly for human beings to come together to just stop the violence, but it feels impossible, like we're destined for failure, like we might somehow make things worse or become worse versions of ourselves full of hatred and ugliness. But we should want to try, even if it's hard or unprofitable or we have no idea how to even do it. Somebody actually dedicating themselves to trying to fight our violent impulses out of love is appealing, and if they're more powerful than use, and can do more... well, I want the biblically accurate angel with every mental illness willing to martyr himself over and over again. But it is more fun when he's Bugs Bunny about it.

#political bullshit #trigun #comics #tl;dr #not fanfiction #I am high right now I hope this still makes sense when I'm sober

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