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sparklelight3 · 3 years

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Hypothesis idea thingy for how Ash and Gou could get together (quickly dissolves into a poorly written fanfic because I’m a disaster)

So, I had a mental image of like a 2-3 ep. mini arc thing that ends with the two getting together. I apologize in advance for the fact that this gets progressively more and more detailed and eventually just becomes a semi fanfic. This is unedited btw, so enjoy that as well.

Episode 1: Starts off with the two out on a mission like usual. Then we have another scene like in ep 3 where Ash just does something that completely astonishes Gou. They resolve the issue like they always do, but Gou is overall very flustered, even more so then usual. Ash could have like a dense Ash moment where he asks if Gou feels sick or something, Gou quickly denying it. Since it’s post ep 36, Ash takes note and dawns a concerned expression. Skip ahead a day or two, and Ash needs to go on a solo trip to Pallet Town for his mom’s birthday. This leaves Gou alone with his feelings for the first time in months. He has time to think about what happened on the last trip, and a couple other moments from past episodes might come up in his head as well. In this time, he fully realize that he’s in love. Koharu, who I image figured this out after her comment in ep 40 about Gou “becoming more and more like Ash”, notices that Gou’s been off. Prof. Sakuragi suddenly receives a big mission and informs Gou on it. Gou at first declines it since Ash isn’t here, but Koharu pipes in and volunteers to take Ash’s place. Gou’s thrown off by this, but accepts her request anyway. When asked, Koharu states that this mission interests her. The two have some small talk on the way there, leading up to Koharu asking Gou if he wants to talk about something, in which he denies. Koharu drops it for now, but picks it up later once they arrive. She eventually drives it out of him, and encourages Gou to tell Ash how he feels. After a bit more back and forth she comes up with a plan: once they get home, she’d have her dad find a local mission for him and Ash to go on alone. When Ash gets back, they go on said mission and Gou confesses to him. Flustered and annoyed, Gou agrees. They take care of the mission and head back. Ash hasn’t returned yet, giving them plenty of time to prepare.

Ep 2 (technically optional, but not rlly fdgfdh): We get Ash’s side of the story. He heads out to Pallet Town solo to visit his mom for a few days for her birthday. Prof. Oak picks him up, and they drive through the country side. Ash looks longingly back as the city skyline vanishes behind the hilltops. Pikachu comes in for a nuzzle, which cheers him up. Oak drops him off at his house, in which Ash is greeted warmly by Delia. He hands her the gift he bought her. A flashback/ mental image could play of Gou leading him through a shopping mall said gift, making sure he doesn’t get lost or distracted. Pans back to Ash letting out a small giggle, dawning the same longing expression as before. Delia asks him what’s wrong, in which Ash breaks out of his gay daze and goes back to his chipper self. He enters the house exclaiming something along the lines of his mom’s cooking, or being excited about sleeping in his own bed again. Delia is still in the doorway, shooting a concerned/curious glance at her son. The entire episode contains moments like this where Ash recalls a moment with Gou, or expresses how his wishes Gou was there, and just thinking about him in general a lot.

Side note: I believe this is the same mindset that he had when he and Gou split up in the Darkest Day Arc. The difference here being that he’s in no immediate danger, distracting him from these thoughts. Anyway, I will now continue with my rambling esdtgdf.

Ash then goes around the town, heading up to Prof. Oak’s lab. He passes by some neighbors, waving hello here and there, possibly running into Gary as well. Gary might pick up on the gayness Ash is unknowingly producing, but says nothing on the matter; maybe a chuckle before heading off. Ash reunites with all his Pokemon. Once again, he starts to think about Gou and how much he’d enjoy meeting his Pokemon. At dinner that night, Delia asks him about his recent adventures. As Ash describes them, Delia picks up on how much he’s talking about Gou. She asks how Gou’s doing, in which Ash starts going off about how many Pokemon he’s caught and how much he has improved in battling. He possibly mentions the events in ep 40, once again dawning a face of longing. Delia notices and points out how much Ash cares about him, leading into a mom-tangent about how she hopes Gou’s keeping up his promise to look after him and that Ash better be taking care of himself and not getting into too much trouble, etc. The next couple days Ash spends more time with his Pokemon; battling with them, introducing his new ones to them, and telling them stories. Prof. Oak comes out to tell him that he’s getting a call from Prof. Kukui. The Alola gang give their greetings as they chat for a bit. Kiawe brings up Gou, asking if he’s stayed true to the claims he made during their battle. Ash once again goes off about Gou, expressing stuff like how Gou technically caught Eternatus, along with the whole Zacian and Zamazenta thing. The ep ends with Ash saying goodbye to his mom and heading back to the city. On the car ride, he makes claims of excitement over going back to the lab. They arrive at the bottom of the lab near the steps. Prof. Oak drops Ash off and says goodbye before heading back to Pallet. Ash enthusiastically runs up the stairs and slams open the door to the main lab area. He’s greeted by Prof. Sakuragi along with the lab staff.

Ep 3: Ep 3 picks up right off from the last ep. After saying hello to the Prof. and the staff, Ash quickly asks where Gou is. The Prof. informs him that Gou’s with the Pokemon, then proceeds to stop Ash as he instantly tries to run off. The Prof. explains to Ash the mission that Koharu had him find, stating that it’s heavily preferred if they could address it as soon as possible. THEN Ash runs off. We cut to Gou and Koharu in the Pokemon garden area (idk what that place is technically called). Koharu is reassuring Gou while they feed the Pokemon their morning meal. Ash soon comes running in, spots them, and waves them down. He mentions the mission and the two just about leave before Koharu stops them and goes inside to get something. She comes back out with a picnic basket, stating that they’ll be gone most of the day and they need to eat. She gives Gou a smug look. He blushes in both an embarrassed and flustered manner. We then get a couple scenes of them traveling out of the city and into the hillside. These would be similar scenes as in ep 46 where they’re traveling on the island, creating silly and gay moments in the process. Gou would naturally be very nervous and easily flustered. This catches Ash’s attention, harboring some concern on his end. Ash therefore becomes visibly more protective. The two eventually reach a clearing, an area they instantly recognize. They find themselves standing in a field of vibrant flowers, the same area that Lugia had dropped them off when they first met. Ash takes the picnic basket from Gou, stating that this was good a place as any for lunch. They setup the picnic that Koharu had put together, or at least, the best that these two idiots could manage on their own. Ash starts going in on the sandwiches that were packed. A flashback plays of Koharu suggesting that Gou should confess when they stopped for lunch. They release their Pokemon to wonder about as they eat; Lucario and Cinderace join them at the picnic. Cinderace (who’s in on this) notices how nervous Gou is and goes in for a hug to reassure him. He returns the hug and whispers a very quiet “thank you”. After letting go, Cinderace would motion for Lucario to follow. The two Pokemon walk out into the forest, leaving Ash and Gou alone. Gou asks him about his trip to try and ease into a conversation. Ash would briefly tell him about it, and ends stating that he’ll take Gou along with him next time. At that, he stares caringly into Gou’s eyes, dawning a smile. Gou then starts the beginning of a sentence, starting to heavily blush similarly to how he did at the end of ep 3. His words begin to stutter and his hands start to stim nervously. He finally gets it out, confessing his feelings. Ash is clearly taken aback, but not in a bad way. Then a wave of realization washes over him. He laughs softly under his breath, having a similar reaction as THAT scene in ep.40 where the clouds clear away from behind Gou, you know what I mean. Still paralleling that scene, Ash makes a similar statement along the lines of, “I really am an idiot, aren’t I? I mean, it took you telling me that for me to even realize that I have feelings for you,”. Something like that. Gou, who has been a mess this whole time, freezes at this and looks up at Ash. After a few moments of eye contact, they both burst into laughter over how big of a dumbass they each are. They calm down, Gou gently grabs onto Ash’s hand, and goes in for a quick and nervous pec on the lips. Ash doesn’t expect this, but accepts it happily; he gives Gou a big, caring smile of reassurance. Cinderace comes bolting in, tackling Gou to the ground in a big, prideful hug. Lucario walks in from behind them, giving Ash a sly little grin. A montage plays of them finishing up the mission, displaying their new habit of frequently holding hands and overall being very adorable. We then cut to the lab. It’s going on to twilight, and Koharu’s just getting home from school. She walks in and puts her stuff down before exclaiming how Ash and Gou aren’t back yet. Not having the chance to do so until now, Prof. Sakuragi asks her what this whole arranged mission thing was about anyways. Shortly after a quick explanation, Wanpachi/Yamper is heard barking outside the front door. Koharu jolts up, telling everyone to stay calm and to be supportive. The two boys walk through the door with a noisy Wanpachi barking and running around their legs. The first thing Koharu notices is the fact that their hands are intertwined. Glancing up, she’s met with a grinning Ash and a very exhausted but very happy Gou; he looks as if he could burst out crying at any moment. She lets out a sigh of relief, stating that she had told him he had nothing to worry about. The staff and Prof. start clapping and cheering in congratulations. The narrator starts talking, stating something along the lines of “they became boyfriends” as the show freezeframes on Ash giving Gou a kiss on the cheek. AND THERE THAT IS. I apologize once again for the poorly written fanfic this became.

#satogou #firstfriendshipping #journeyshipping #ash x gou #pokeani #pokemon #I'VE BEEN WRITING NON STOP FOR HOURS #I am an actual disaster #I'm so sorry for how messy this is #AAAAA #I swear to god I can actually write #This isn't one of those times where I can actually write

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dangerouscommiesubversive · 4 years

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A senpai Rider/s interacting with their kouhai Rider/s, M (Battlefield by SVRCINA)?

M is for music, and “Battlefield,” by SVRCINA, can be found on Spotify and YouTube.

Restaurant Agito, a neighborhood institution for over a decade--

No. Not eye-catching enough.

Once nothing more than a well-loved neighborhood institution, Restaurant Agito has been launched to new heights with the receipt of their first Michelin star--

No, not complimentary enough, it’s a nice restaurant.

Restaurant Agito_

Transcript first. The introduction will come to me once I’m looking at the whole thing.

[New: blank document]

[Open: agitointerview.mp3]

Notes to myself: Tsugami Shouichi--friendly, big smile. Intense eye contact, felt like I was staring at the sun. Wears a lapel pin with the restaurant’s little alpha-omega logo, it’s cute. Maybe not the most handsome guy but wow what a smile, hopefully he’s making some girl very happy. Or guy, who knows, it’s 2015. Insisted on bringing out a tasting plate of some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes to snack on while we talked. We sat in the restaurant, mid-afternoon, not a lot of customers. Sous chef was handling things in the kitchen.

Begin transcript.

[Play]

Kido Shinji: I hope you don’t mind if I, uh, if I record?

Tsugami Shouichi: Oh, no, not at all! I wouldn’t expect you to just remember everything, right? I mean I guess you could write it down but that seems like it’d be difficult.

KS: It’s definitely not easy, that’s for sure.

*laughter*

KS: So, uh, if you don’t mind, let’s start with the basics, just so I can have them on record. I’m Kido Shinji--

TS: It’s great to meet you!

KS: Um, likewise, thanks.

Note: strong handshake, damn, I think my hand actually aches still

TS: And I’m Tsugami Shouichi.

KS: Right, wonderful--it’s spelled like--

TS: Yeah, that looks right. Although I’m not exactly the best person to ask, my spelling’s terrible.

KS: Mine too, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without spell-check.

*more laughter*

KS: So you’re the proprietor of Restaurant Agito, correct?

TS: That’s me! Owner, head chef, uh, I actually grow most of the vegetables myself, I do a lot of stuff here.

KS: Oh wow, you have a vegetable garden?

TS: Up on the roof! I can show you after we’re done talking if you like.

KS: That’d be great, I’d love to take a few photos if you don’t mind.

TS: Oh sure! Oh, ask anyone who knows me, I love showing off my garden, it’s my pride and joy. I mean, apart from the restaurant. I had a garden before I had a restaurant, I’ve been doing that longer. Although I guess you’re not here to talk about gardening really--

KS: No no, it’s fine, I like hearing about this sort of thing, it’s, um, human interest. Everyone’s into eating local these days, right?

TS: Right!

KS: So, uh. You’ve got a Michelin-starred restaurant at--you’re 35, right? I think you mentioned that on the phone.

TS: Yeah, 35, that’s right.

KS: That’s pretty impressive, that kind of success at 35.

TS: I mean I don’t know that it’s that impressive, I’ve just, I’ve worked really hard, yeah? I don’t like to brag.

KS: No, of course not, that’s what I’m here for. I’m going to brag for you.

TS: Well, when you put it like that--here, try some of this, this is the squash quiche, it’s one of my specialties.

KS: I bet it’s from squash you grow yourself?

TS: Of course!

KS: I’m almost expecting you to say you keep the chickens too.

TS: Oh, no, uh, birds make me nervous, I went to a farm once and a rooster sort of landed on my shoulder and crowed in my ear the whole time, it was bad. Seriously, though, try a bite, please.

Note: fucking spectacular quiche, holy shit

*chewing noises*

KS: Oh wow. That is. Amazing. That might be one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

TS: You’re making me blush.

KS: No, really, this is really really good. I could just keep eating only I don’t want to keep you, so we should--we should get back to the interview. So you’ve got a Michelin-starred restaurant at 35. When did you open it?

TS: Um, when I was 21, 22 maybe? Right out of culinary school. Well, not right out, there was a, uh, a gap, I wasn’t doing much of anything for a while.

KS: Illness?

TS: Sort of. I mean, you’re probably not going to believe this, but I had amnesia?

KS: Oh my god.

TS: Yeah, I was in a boating accident--you remember the Akatsuki-gou?

KS: Do I remember--that was the biggest news story going when I was fresh out of college, of course I remember that. You were on the Akatsuki-gou?

TS: Yeah, I was on there, and there was the, the incident, and I was pretty badly injured and lost my memory for a while. But once I got better I opened the restaurant.

KS: Wow, I’m even more impressed now.

Note: pull up some of the news stories about the Akatsuki-gou. Add some extra interest there, that’s a lot. There was some hero cop who saved everyone on there, maybe I could look him up for another article, do a retrospective.

KS: Um, what made you want to open a restaurant? After all that happened?

TS: I mean, I guess it was to honor my sister? She was the one who put me through culinary school, and she, uh, she died. Not long before the accident.

KS: Oh my god, I’m so sorry to hear that. Was she unwell?

TS: Not really? I mean. Uh. She killed herself. I’d rather not talk about it.

KS: Of, of course not, I’m so sorry. That’ll, I’ll leave that out of the article, of course.

TS: Thanks, I’d appreciate that. Anyway, uh, I mean, she died, and then I was in this accident, and kind of a lot of stuff happened, but when I’d gotten my memory back I ran into an old professor of mine from culinary school and I had money from, um, my inheritance? He’d tried running the restaurant but decided he wanted to go back to teaching, and I had the money to buy it from him. So I bought it, and, um, redecorated it and gave it the new name and everything and there you go. Restaurant Agito.

KS: That’s amazing.

TS: Thanks!

KS: Actually I’ve been meaning to ask about the name, what does Agito mean? Is it, um, is it a family name, or something personal, or--I feel like I’ve heard the word before.

TS: Oh. Oh, uh. Have you? *nervous laughter, not sure why* It’s sort of, it’s just sort of...it’s got. A personal meaning--are you all right?

KS: I’m fine, I’m fine, sorry, just--just a headache. Anyway, Agito. I remember that word, there was something years ago...did it have to do with...mirrors? I feel like I remember mirrors...

TS: Mirrors? No, nothing like that--are you sure you’re ok?

KS: I’m fine. Sorry. A personal meaning?

TS: Well, it’d be really hard to explain. It was...it’s from something a couple of friends and I did together, we had sort of a club.

Note: I think he’s hiding something here. He looked really nervous, and I’m not sure why. Need to look into that word. Agito. I’m sure I’ve heard it before.

KS: Really? A club? What did you guys do?

TS: Oh it’s--it’s complicated.

KS: I--I’m sorry, who’s that who just came in?

TS: Oh, that’s Tezuka, he’s a regular, he runs sort of a fortune-telling business near here. Nice guy. Why?

KS: I...feel like I recognize him.

TS: Well, he does get everywhere, sometimes he just sets up on the street in the weirdest places to tell fortunes. Maybe you’ve seen him before.

KS: I’m sure that’s it, yeah. So, uh, it’s always just been you? No, no business partners or co-owners or anything?

TS: Yeah, just me. Well, and Mana, she’s an old friend, she helped me out a lot when I was having those memory problems? She works here now, you met her when you came in. And there’s another old friend, Ryou, he was in that club I mentioned, he does deliveries for us sometimes when he’s in the area. But he travels a lot.

KS: He does--what? I’m sorry, could you repeat that last part? I’ve got this...ringing...in my ears, I missed the last bit.

TS: Oh, just. My friend Ryou delivers for us occasionally. He’s a great guy. *rustling* You know what, I’m going to get you a glass of water.

KS: That’s really not necess--actually, you know what, I’d appreciate a glass of water, thank you.

TS: No problem! Um, Mana, could you--

*woman’s voice in background, not loud enough to be understandable*

TS: Thanks, Mana! Look, Mr. Kido--

KS: You...you can call me Shinji, that’s fine.

TS: Ok, Shinji, are you sure you’re all right? You’re not, uh...feeling things?

KS: Feeling things? What do you mean?

Note: What a strange way of putting it. Am I feeling things. There’s definitely something going on with that guy.

TS: Oh, you know, uh, other people’s thoughts. Or like...moving stuff with your mind?

KS: No, why would I--I’m not sure what you mean, I--

*startled noise*

TS: Oh, oh, what’s wrong?

KS: I--nothing. There’s a, a mirror over there, I just saw my reflection, it startled me.

TS: It, uh, it was definitely your regular face you saw, right?

KS: No, I, uh, I’m just, not a big fan of mirrors.

TS: Oh! Then that’s, that’s all right.

*clinking glass*

KS: Thank you.

TS: Thanks so much, Mana! Anyway, uh, never mind that, forget I said any of that. But...also, if you keep getting headaches--actually, just. You should come by here to eat whenever you like, I think. If you need to talk about stuff.

KS: Um. Thanks? I’m sorry, I’ve got aspirin in my jacket, I just need this ringing to stop--you’re sure Agito doesn’t have anything to do with mirrors?

TS: Definitely sure.

*sound of someone drinking water*

Note: not sure what got into me here. My reflection startled me really badly, I guess. I don’t think “Agito” actually has anything to do with mirrors, but when I think back 14 years or so I just think, “mirrors,” not sure why, and with all that talk about the Akatsuki-gou it brought that up.

I should cover that mirror on the wall over there. It keeps reflecting the light from the window into my eyes.

KS: So, uh. On to the menu! We’ve got this amazing tasting plate, I’d love to write a bit about the food you make here.

TS: Right, yeah! So you had some of the quiche, and then this here is a vegetarian lasagna that I’ve really perfected over the past few years--

[Pause agitointerview.mp3]

Head hurts again. It’s probably the glare. Definitely need to cover that mirror. Wish that ringing sound would stop.

Tsugami seems like a nice guy. Wonder what he and his friends were up to that he’s so afraid to talk about.

Restaurant Agito is a well-loved neighborhood institution, entirely free of the world within the mirrors--

The world within the mirrors? What the hell?

Restaurant Agito_

Why won’t my ears stop ringing?

Click.

[Are you sure you want to delete this file permanently?]

#tsugami shouichi #kido shinji #fanfiction #anonamouse

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lori-hime · 4 years

Text

I haven't written much about what I've been up to lately, so here's some word salad updates~ 🥗

NijiGaku Anime

So I started watching the new LL. I hadn't been keeping up with SIFAS' story, but I did read some of it when it first came out. I gotta say, I'm really enjoying all of the changes they decided to make for the anime version of the story, to both the characters and story. It's starting to feel like something coherent. The story in the game was ok, but the main thing that interested me was the interactions with Muse and Aqours, overshadowing the actual "plot" and even Nijigasaki themselves. But the anime really made me interested and excited about the story and characters again. I would be a little annoyed about the personality and dynamic changes, but honestly, I'm used to it by now. LL always ends up doing this sort of thing, and the personalities only seem to become solidified after the anime airs.

A little disappointed in Kasumi's change in some vague ways I don't really feel like describing, but honestly it balances out because Ayumu is fantastic now (previously one of my least cared for of the group.) Yu's personality is surprisingly super gay fun and I'm really excited for her and Ayumu's dynamic in particular. They're so cute. Seriously feel like I'm gonna ship them hard.

I also really like Rina's initial personality in this. Not only is she bad at expressing emotions through her face, but she also seems bad at expressing them through words too. I feel like this is gonna be much more interesting than her already being cutesy and genki like in the promo stuff and SIFAS.

When Karin was first shown, I had mixed feelings. At first I was like oh god I'm gay and she's beautiful. But the whole sexuality flaunting thing kind of put me off for several reasons I don't really wanna get into explaining. I really didn't know how to feel. I started liking her a little more during SIFAS, when she competed against Muse in DDR and lost... started feeling like I was getting a glimpse of her real personality without the whole sexy idol persona. Although not much has happened in the anime with her yet, she's giving me Nozomi vibes and I love it. I actually think if I had gone into this without previous knowledge of the characters, I'd be betting she'd become my fave for sure.

My list has gone from Kasumi > Rina > Kanata / Emma > Karin > Ai > Setsuna > Ayumu > Shizuku to Yuu > Ayumu > Kasumi / Karin > Rina > Kanata / Emma > Ai > Setsuna > Shizuku

Still biased a bit towards characters that have shown up more in the first two eps, so it'll undoubtedly change. But It's really interesting how much the characters I already felt I had good placements for changed so much.

Edit for episode 3, because I didn't post this fast enough. Student council speedrun was fantastic. Yu continues to be incredibly gay. I wonder how this episode will affect the ships people will gravitate towards. LL has always been a fairly monoship fandom, heavily gravitating towards specific pairs. Of course that's largely the fault of canon itself, often pushing and developing single ships. Well, I suppose we saw a big change with Aqours, though, especially with season two. But even then, the ships tended to stay at least between girls of the same year (aside from my rarepair, shout-out to YohaRiko.) Now, I wonder. From the very beginning, before Yu even had a name, it felt like they were really pushing the shippy stuff @ the viewer. I wonder if that’s still gonna be the angle. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet. I really want to see more YuAyu rather than YuSetsu, but I can't really be mad at more gay content unless they try to make it a DEEP story and then fail to resolve it but haha they'd NEVER do that, I'm sure!!

As for the others... I'm guessing they're gonna push RinAi, KarinEmma, YuuKasu, and maybe YuuShizu? My original guesses were that AiKarin would be a thing, evoking NozoEli v3. But I guess that'd be too predictable a third time. KarinEmma sounds like it could be cute and sweet, RinAi feels like it has adorable potential, and YuKasu vs. YuAyu sounds like it could have some good comedic rival-y potential, given they don't make Kasumi super serious about it and make it really angsty. Not that a cute idol show would ever do such a thing haha!!!!!

Higurashi Gou

Also started Higurashi. I doubt many people know this, but I used to be a major Higurashi fan before I got into Touhou. It was my main "fandom" I guess, even though there wasn't really that much of a fandom to interact with comparatively. Anyway, despite that, I didn't think I'd get into this remake super hard... but I'm really loving it so far. The art style is really pretty and eye candy, and it turns out it's a direct continuation of the story rather than a remake. Very excited to see where it's going, and also to see a lot of my baby Rena again.

An interesting difference to me as I'm rewatching are my feelings for Keiichi. While I don't hate him, over the years I've really grown tired of the generic male leads (especially in harem anime) like him. Of course, he's definitely not AS generic as they come, or maybe perhaps that's just my bias from when I used to really like him. The me back then found him unique enough to stand beside the girls. Nowadays, I definitely can't say the same. At least he doesn't grate on my nerves as much as most other harem anime protags do, however. I feel like despite lacking the quirks that make the girls so likeable and unique, he still has something going for him... perhaps the fact he's framed as inherently different from everyone else, because he comes from the city, and the way he acts a bit more realistically to the scary things that are happening. Although those things are obviously explained away later, at least for now I still accept him for what he is, old bias or not.

Genshin Impact

Been playing Genshin Impact religiously and loved every second of it. Though I've caught up with the main story content, so sadly it's slowed down. I'd never heard of this game before it came out, so I was absolutely wowed that such a game was f2p. I've heard a lot of people criticizing it because they added gacha in at the last minute, and I definitely understand being annoyed through the pov of someone who was anticipating it. But part of me is still really thankful that the game is free at all. I suppose that full but paid 60 dollar game would still be a better experience, but because of my non-existent budget situation, I may not have ended up playing it at all.

Aside from the arguably shitty monetization practices, however, the game is fantastic. It really is as similar to BoTW as people have mentioned, and I really appreciate that. BoTW, from a gameplay standpoint, is absolutely my favorite game. It's exactly what I want from any given game. So I really appreciated this. The story and characters of Genshin are also really interesting. I really like Qiqi, Venti, Fischl, and Xingqiu, among others. I spent a while rerolling for Qiqi or Venti 5*s, and eventually got an account with Qiqi. Venti on the other hand I've been trying to roll for but sadly haven't gotten. I have 1 roll left before the banner ends, so hopefully.. My friends whaled him for me. I swear I tried to stop them! I owe them my soul...

HoloLive, Pikamee & Vtubing

I briefly started getting into HoloLive a little while ago. After the Aloe stuff, I started worrying a bit about how the company handles these situations as well as the girls' freedoms and how much of their donation money they actually get.. (I made a post about it a while back.) After a while my worries died down a bit, but then came back full force with the Coco and Haachama situation. After that and one too many uncomfortable sexual jokes, I decided to just distance myself from HL. It's a shame, because I really enjoyed their personalities, but it was making me feel uncomfortable more often than not.

I told myself it’s fine, I’ve got Pikamee if I ever feel like watching vtubers again. And then like a week later... Well, it’s not really something I wanna talk about here, but she made some posts on twitter that made me too uncomfortable to continue watching her either.

On a much lighter note... A friend of mine showed us how to use prprlive and facerig to use the Touhou CB Live2D models, and Asa and I played around with Mokou, Kaguya, and Lyrica’s. It was quite fun, and I do look forward to using the Kaguya one for private streams on one of my servers. I’ve actually always wanted to try out vtubing stuff myself, but not really publicly. Of course, the costs for getting a model drawn and made specifically for me are too much for something I’m not really committing to, so this is perfect. I’m excited~

Touhou Cannonball & Kagura Thoughts

It’s been a long time since I talked about Touhou CB on my blog, and I’m pretty sure I left things on a pretty bad note. Mainly dissatisfied with Mokou’s portrayal for pretty shallow reasons on my part, despite they game having just started and having a lot of room to grow. And grow it did. While I quit pretty early in because of that, Asa decided to take over my account. She realized that it was pretty easy to upgrade any given character you had to a 5* without having to rely much on the gacha. She ended up playing a lot with the goal of upgrading everyone we had. I came back to it around July and actually had a lot of fun with it. The cast had gotten much bigger and we really enjoyed playing on multiplayer. It wasn't the best game ever from a gameplay standpoint, but it definitely had it's charm. The announcement of its death, although unsurprising, came at the worst time. Asa and I actually cried a little when we saw the announcement, ngl. The game had such good, wholesome, Touhouy vibes to it. Nonetheless, we made the most out of the last month or so after the announcement. We played a LOT of multiplayer and had a lot of really cute and good interactions with other players. Near the end, we realized that Lyrica was the only character from the normal banner we were missing, so we grinded like crazy (mostly Asa) to try to get her... we ended up getting a number of 5*s but none Lyrica... she eluded us to the very end. It was quite sad, but how hard we worked for it still felt satisfying somehow. We were able to max out our multiplayer level and complete a ton of goals we wouldn’t have otherwise.

So after this bittersweet experience with Touhou gacha, and all the scummy things I've been hearing about Lost Word, I've been thinking like... I'm done with Touhou gacha, at least for now. Don't wanna hear anything else about it for a good while. And then the 25th anniversary hits and they announce Kagura. Ugh. Please, give me a break. Needless to say, I'm gonna have to give it a try. Touhou is my life, I love rhythm games, I love Touhou music, and I love character collecting games. And I've been waiting for something to replace SIF gameplay in my heart for a long time. I'd banked my hopes on SIFAS but it's really barely a rhythm game so.... at least now that I've gone through CB's death and seen how cruddy LW is, I'll have lower standards and not get my hopes up too high.

If you got this far, thanks for reading my rambles and have a good day~

#loritalk #super long im sorry #there's even more stuff i wanted to talk about but it was already long enough as it is

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553butterfly553 · 6 years

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Haruka x Makoto - Stopped Clocks 1

Questions

It was a normal high school day for Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana. They walked to school together, attended class together and now they were swimming together, and odds are, they would be walking home together as well. The only difference currently was that there were other people they were interacting with now. Nagisa and Rei were there, along with Gou and Miss Amakata. It was just like every other day until they took a break. “So, all the guys here have stopped clocks, but only Rei and I know who our soulmate is.” It was a random comment from Nagisa. None of the friends were even sure where it'd come from since they were just talking about their swim times, but randomness was to be expected with the blond haired boy. You see, everyone has a clock on their dominant hand's wrist. It counts down until your eyes lock with your soulmate's eyes. Rei and Nagisa know because theirs stopped when they met eyes for the first time. That event, among others, has led them to now be in a romantic relationship. However, for as long as Haru and Makoto remember, theirs have been at 0. They have no idea who stopped their clocks or when exactly it actually happened. “Nagisa, leave them be. I'm sure they'll find out who their soulmate is someday.” Rei muttered, trying but failing to help the situation. He didn't want anyone to get hurt over Nagisa's comment. “It's alright Rei,” Makoto spoke up, trying to show that it was fine. The brown-haired male was actually a little upset he didn't know who his soulmate is. He always wanted to find them and it was important to him to find his other half. Haru, on the other hand, didn't care at all. He couldn't care any less about it. “What if you and Haru are each other's soulmates? It would make a lot of sense you know.” The blond boy wasn't wrong. It would make sense for the two best friends to be that way, but neither had thought about it before. They never really thought too hard on the fact both their clocks were stopped. “Nagisa, I don't think that's a possibility. I mean, if it was, wouldn't our parents have told us?” “Have you ever asked them?” “Well...not really. Haru, have you?” Attention was turned to the black-haired boy, but he just stared at his friends. It was obvious that he never had, nor did he ever have any intention of doing so. “Mako, you should ask your parents about it and tell us tomorrow!” “Uh, sure.” Makoto wasn't too sure about it though. He wanted to know, but if Haru wasn't his soulmate, he could be hurt. There were many reasons to why he'd be hurt, but he chose to not think too hard about them. “Let's get back to practice.” With that, the topic of soulmates was pushed away in favor of swimming. It was mostly forgotten, but Makoto just couldn't stop thinking about it. He wanted to find his soulmate more than anything, and if it was Haru, then that'd be even better. That night, as soon as Makoto got home, he went to question his parents about his stopped clock. “Mom, Dad... can I ask you something?” Makoto started hesitantly. He was a bit nervous to ask about soulmates. He never had talked to them about the topic before. It just wasn't something that ever came up randomly in conversations before. “What is it, Makoto?” His mother replied gently. “You can ask us anything.” His father noted, just as gently as his mother. Makoto worried his parents by how he started the conversation so hesitantly. They were expecting Makoto to ask them something bad. “Do you guys remember when my clock stopped?” “Of course we do, it was a great day. Don't you remember?” “No. Neither Haru or I can remember our clocks stopping... Is... Is Haru my soulmate?” As his parents looked at each other in question, Makoto felt like he'd pass out. This one answer would change it all for him. It could start something, or end it just as fast. “Yes Makoto, you and Haru are soulmates.” It was his father who finally had answered, causing the male to sigh due to being relieved. “I remember how happy you were when you first met Haru. Even though you two had no idea what the stopped clocks meant, you two instantly became attached to each other.” His mother was smiling fondly at the memory. Even though he remembered that day, he couldn't remember all of it, leaving a blank in his memory. That must have been when his clock stopped and his child mind just didn't find it interesting enough to remember. “Thank you.” With those words, Makoto ran off to his room. He needed some time to think about the information he'd just learned. The boy was happy but worried. 'How will Haru react?' Makoto couldn't help but think to himself. He was worried about a few things, but the main thing he was worried about was Haru's reaction. He didn't think it'd be bad, but he also didn't expect it to be good. So, not wanting to risk his friendship with Haru, the tall boy decided to keep it all to himself. He wouldn't tell anyone that he and Haru were soulmates. Not yet at least, he needed to be sure of Haru's feelings before revealing such a thing. ~ On the way to school the following day, Makoto decided to ask Haru about soulmates. He wanted to know how the other boy truly felt about finding his other half. “Hey Haru, what do you really think about finding your soulmate?” It seemed almost random for Makoto to bring the topic up to Haru. He never spoke about it to Haru before since he knew the black-haired male didn't care about it. Still, though, he needed to know to what extent Haru didn't care about the topic of soulmates. “...Whether I find them or not doesn't matter to me...” It took a minute, but that was Haru's unintentionally harsh response. His face was the same neutral face he always had, with a bit of disinterest and annoyance thrown in there. “How come?” “I have no interest in being in a relationship. I am free. Soulmate or not, it doesn't matter.” Being free seemed to apply to this as well, much to Makoto's dismay. “I see...” Of course, Haru noticed something off with Makoto, but the taller man said nothing more about the topic. So Haru let it go as well. Actually, the taller male said nothing more the rest of the day. Makoto wasn't sure why, but he had pain in his chest. Haru hadn't said anything too hurtful, but the rejection from his soulmate seemed to cause Makoto a lot of pain. There was more of it, but Makoto didn't want to think too deeply into it while at school. “Mako, is everything okay?” Nagisa had cornered the brown-haired male as he was changing to get ready for swimming. “You weren't at lunch today.” “Sorry about that. I had to do some homework I didn't get to do last night.” That was a lie, and since he didn't lie often, it was clear to all in the room. However, none of the boys decided to mention it. They all figured it was nothing to worry about. That was, until days passed with Makoto obviously avoiding Haru. He would come up with reasons to not walk to and from school together and even skip lunch or eat alone in the classroom. Haru was the first to start to worry, but after a week of Makoto distancing himself, all the club members began to worry as well. Makoto knew he was worrying his friends, but he couldn't let himself be bothered by it. He needed to stay away from Haru. The reason was simple. The tall boy had been in love with him since they met, but now that he knew they were soulmates, it made the feelings stronger. It made being around Haru difficult, not only because he wanted to always be with Haru in more than a friendly way, but because he was ashamed of it. He was ashamed he was in love with his best friend. He wasn't actually sure why though. Haru was annoyed that Makoto was avoiding him, but he wasn't sure what to do about it, so he decided to call someone for help. That someone was his shark-toothed rival/friend. “Ha-Haru? You never call me, is everything okay?” Rin was instantly concerned when his phone rang and it said Haru's name. It wasn't normal for the black-haired male to call anyone, let alone Rin. “Makoto is avoiding me.” Haru decided to just get right to the point. He didn't want to be on the phone any longer than necessary. “What? Why?” Rin was surprised and it showed in his voice. It was clearly not a normal thing for the gentle boy to do. “It started after Nagisa said he and I could be soulmates. The next day he was acting weird.” “Well... If he won't talk to you, I'd say ask his parents. It isn't very Makoto-like to be avoiding anyone, most of all, you. So something might be wrong.” Rin's suggestion was one Haru himself was thinking of as well. He just hadn't been sure if it was right or not. “I'll do that.” Haru finally decided out loud. He didn't really want to, but he needed to know what was going on with his best friend. “You're welc-” Haru hung up. He didn't need to hear Rin anymore. He knew it was rude, but he just didn't particularly care at the moment. He'd thank Rin later anyway... through a text. So, with his plan set, Haru headed out to Makoto's house just down the path from his own home. On his way, he stopped to pat the cats along the way. Part of it was just being kind to them, but another was him stalling. After a few minutes, Haru was knocking on the door of his best friend's home. He hoped Makoto wouldn't be the one who answered. He didn't want to be turned away before he even got in the house. He needed to learn the truth. “Haru!” Two higher pitched voices ran out as the door opened. The boy looked down to see the two younger siblings of Makoto, Ran, and Ren. “Are you here to see our brother?” The little girl asked nicely. “No, I wanted to talk to your parents.” The little children felt that was a good enough reason and let Haru in before leading him to their parents. “Oh, Haruka, hello.” Mrs. Tachibana spoke when she saw the black-haired boy. “He's here to talk to you.” The young ones informed

their parents before running off. “What's wrong?” Mr. Tachibana questioned, giving Haru his full attention. “Makoto has been acting weird for a few days. I was...wondering why.” “Oh dear, maybe telling him was too soon... We noticed how he seemed off since we told him about his soulmate.” Makoto's mother spoke softly with a sad tone to it. “Am...am I...” Haru wasn't sure what to ask, or how to ask it. For once, he was feeling a little nervous. “Yes, Haruka. You and our son are soulmates.” It hit Haru hard. Even though he didn't care about soulmates, he cared about Makoto. Hearing the truth made him realize he actually did care about the soulmate topic because now he knew his closest friend was his soulmate. It changed his viewpoint on soulmates in an instance. “...Thank you for telling me... Is Makoto here? I'd like to talk to him.” “Of course, he's in his room.” With that, Haru headed to the familiar room of Makoto. He knew the way well, due to the number of times he'd spent in this home. However, this was different. He wasn't going to see Makoto for a friendly reason or to just hang out. He needed to talk about how Makoto feels about the whole soulmate thing. Instead of knocking, Haru walked right in. Makoto was at his desk studying with his glasses on. He hadn't even noticed that Haru entered the room. That was until the black-haired male spoke up. “Makoto, we need to talk.”

#makoto #makoto tachibana #haru #haruka #haruka nanase #haru nanase #free! iwatobi swim club

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erazos · 7 years

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Era’s Anime Corner - Free! (Overall Thoughts)

Free! Eternal Summer has come to an end and so has a very anime filled week for me. Four episodes a day was probably too much. I consistently caught myself paying less attention when the fourth episode came along each day. I’ll probably stick to three a day in the future.

Anyway, I thought I’d talk about Free! as a whole now that I’ve seen both seasons. Some spoiler free thoughts first.

If you like anime buff boys then this is the show for you. The main characters are shirtless for most of this show so if that’s your thing, go for it.

The story is fairly typical for a sport anime so if you’re not a fan of the tropes, this might not be your thing. On the other hand, if you are a fan of sport anime then this is a good example of one. There’s a good mix of comedy and seriousness so that you believe the characters’ struggles but you’re also having a good time watching them work through them.

I’m not a pro swimmer by any imagining so the parts where they get technical might be obvious to people who know their stuff but I feel like I’ve learned more about swimming through this anime.

Okay, some more in-depth thoughts beyond the break. Spoilers aplenty.

Like I said before, the plot is pretty typical for a sport anime. The group meets, they encounter their rival team, they lose their first competition, they reassess why they want to do the sport, then they come back for a dramatic victory. Repeat a second time for the second season and sprinkle a few episodes focused on character building and we have the show.

That said, they executed it quite well. The second season escalated the stakes by moving up from the Provisionals to the Nationals, and they showed that by everyone except Rin losing their individual races simply because the competition was fiercer. The addition of Rin’s team in the second season kept things interesting as well. It added a bunch of new dynamics which allowed the show to stay fresh.

I also feel the need to take some time to express how much I liked the Australia episode. The artists did a great job in making it feel like a foreign country and the fact that they had actual English speakers doing the voices added to that as well. Even though I understood what the Australians were saying, it was weird hearing perfect English in an anime. It’s like I heard what English sounds like to people who can’t speak it or something. Or maybe I’m just reacting to the Australian accents, I don’t know.

Now, some thoughts about each of the main characters.

Haru took some time to grow on me. He didn’t seem that interesting at first, just a quiet guy who is obsessed with swimming. It wasn’t really until he started helping Rei learn to swim that I saw that he did care about his friends, he just wasn’t good at showing it.

I liked his main issue during Eternal Summer. He swims because he wants to but he’s also so talented at it that everyone expects him to go pro whether he wants to or not. His natural reaction to these expectations is to try and distance himself and free himself from these expectations. It isn’t until Rin drags him all the way to Australia that Haru realizes that he DOES want to swim professionally regardless of other people wanting him to. It’s a good conflict to have and one I imagine a lot of talented teenagers deal with as they approach graduating.

Makoto is adorable. I loved him from episode 1 and that didn’t change. He’s just so kind and he trys so hard to make his friends happy. He became captain of the team so that Haru could focus on swimming. He agreed to the island training despite his fear of the ocean because everyone was so excited for it. He helped out as a coach because Sasabe was so overworked on his own. I was so giddy when he said he was going to study to become a proper coach. It’s a perfect fit for him.

Nagisa’s probably my least favorite of the main characters but only because everyone else is really good in some way or another. Nagisa is very energetic and happy, and that’s all he really is for most of the show. I didn’t like him at first because of his constant pestering of Rei to join the swim team. Yes, Rei did eventually join and had a great time but, not to bring darker topics into this discussion, twenty no’s followed by a begrudging yes doesn’t really count as fair consent, does it?

Regardless, he did get better in the second season. I’d say the most annoying he was to anyone was his comments to Ai during their races but that seemed like he was just being friendly. The episode where he ran away from home was his shining moment for me. The cracks showed in his happy go-lucky demeanor and we saw his serious side which I really liked. Plus, I liked the touch of showing him studying with Rei in a future episode to show that he was taking his studies seriously again now that he knew what was on the line if he continued to fail.

Rei was a character I was surprised to like. His overconfidence always led to good comedy and the fact that he started from not being able to swim to swimming on a national level was beautiful to witness. I felt so proud of him when he won the Provisionals in Eternal Summer. His determination to keep up with his teammates who had been swimming for at least ten more years than him was admirable, even though he was an idiot some times. Seriously, this guy went swimming alone, in the ocean, at night, with a storm on the horizon!

Gou I feel was the least utilized of the main characters. Makes sense I guess, if this were a harem anime, she’d be the bland main character trying to get in the boys’ swim shorts. The whole thing with her trying to get everyone to call her Kou was completely dropped in Eternal Summer. If she didn’t care anymore it would have been nice just to have a line of her saying so, because without that I get the impression that she just got tired of correcting people which is kind of sad.

Rin changed completely between seasons. In Iwatobi Swim Club he was the antagonistic rival which I wasn’t a fan of. Him declaring that he’d quit when he lost just came across like a petulant child. Luckily he became a lot better in Eternal Summer. I guess being forced into a leadership position and making up with his childhood friends softened him up a bit. He helped Rei learnt to swim better and he brought Haru with him to Australia. That’s a mate, right there. I don’t think I’d take my friend on holiday with me if they were having a rough time. Flights are expensive. Still no answer to the shark teeth but also no word on his mother so I’m sticking with my ‘his mum was a shark’ theory.

Both openings and endings are great. I think I’d pick Eternal Summer for the best of both. The ending in particular has become a new favorite after this week.

So… yeah. I think that’s all I have to say about Free! This was pretty fun so I’ll keep Era’s Anime Corner going. When the new season starts I’ll do reactions to what I’m watching. Reacting to one episode at a time should keep them pretty short so I hope you’ll join me for that.

That’s all I have to say. See you next anime time!

#free! iwatobi swim club #free! eternal summer #anime #era's anime corner

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