#idk how good he is a written japanese exactly though i’ll have to look at his wiki

[plague-of-insomnia]

what kind of accents do you think the cast has? im a dub main for various reasons (one of my friends had a reading/memory disability so i ended up watching dub w them) so im kinda used to everyones dub accents.

but bards defo got an american accent right? (not in the dub, but im thinking manga terms?)

and ik soma & agni have barely a trace of an accent but does that mean they sound basically british?

and does finny have a german accent? sieglinde? diedrich?

idk food for thought?

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

(Sorry it’s been a rough couple days and I didn’t realize I hadn’t published this yet.)

Hey anon… so I’m a bit confused as to if you’re asking about the Japanese accents in the various anime, the English dub accents (or some other dub), or just my thoughts on what their various accents would be like based on the manga and independent of the anime.

Now I have only watched Kuro in English bc that’s the only thing that was available/that’s available on what I have at the moment (though I’m finally getting the blu rays for BoM and BoA so I’m hoping they’ll have the Japanese to try that out for once), so I can’t make judgements based on that. (And I’m not a good one to ask about Japanese accents anyway, lol.)

I also favor dubs bc of my disability. I love hearing the Japanese but it can be hard for me to follow sometimes, and even english alone without captions I can struggle with (please fix this, CR!!! Grr), so I feel you there.

Also not sure which characters you had in mind with this ask (other than the ones you specifically mentioned). Since kuro has so many, I guess I’ll just focus on a few. I want to make clear I am American and Latine, so I am not an expert on British regional accents by any stretch, or the historical accents of the Victorian period, so I’ll just do my best. Some may be partly inspired by how the characters are written in Japanese, since there’s a bit more… complexity to the Japanese language in regards to things like formality, rudeness, etc, that may not convert into English when translated in writing.

This is a long post so I’ll use a readmore to keep it a bit less chaotic. Below the break I’ve broken down my hypotheses on how some of the major players might talk:

Sebastian

As a high-ranking servant who regularly interacts with the nobility, Sebastian would have a high-class accent, and it is reflected in how his Japanese (and even his English) is written. It is a fairly neutral, polite manner of speaking. I’m sure the Victorians probably had a term for this accent (a high-class servant accent), but if they did, I don’t know it lol.

Ciel

Most nobles like him would be educated in a public school like Weston, like his father was, and those schools taught a standard accent that often varied slightly from school to school. So everyone who went to Weston would have a similar manner of speech. Ciel has been “home schooled” his entire life, aside from a short time at Weston for the investigation, so his accent might have been slightly different than his father’s. Nevertheless, especially under Sebastian’s tutelage, he would have learned how to speak properly (if he didn’t already). Still, unless Sebastian intentionally had him learn the Weston/public school accent, anyone who speaks to him would know he did not go to school, but was taught by tutors/governesses instead.

Bard

Yes, Bard is American despite his dub accent. We don’t know where he’s from exactly, but we can assume it was probably somewhere west of the Mississippi (that’s about 1/3 of the way west if you’re looking at the US map, going east to West, if you’re not familiar with our Geography).

I say that bc the river was the first real demarcation of the frontier. It’s likely he was living somewhere like Texas or Oklahoma. Ofc where he’s from would affect his accent, but I imagine it as a kind of cross between a more neutral southern midwestern accent (“no accent”) and a subtle Texas or OK one. Which that’s hard to explain unless you really know regional US accents, bc most of Texas doesn’t sound like most people think it does. The accents really change depending on what part of the state you’re in, since it’s such a big place. But basically not too heavy an accent but a bit lazy, definitely coarse and brutish since he was a soldier and a farmer. Lots of slang and not big on politeness. (Which he definitely is in Japanese.)

Mey Rin

She’s interesting because she’s one of the few characters who has a couple different ways of speaking. She has her “maid” voice and her “assassin” voice. The first one stutters a lot and uses imperfect grammar, as reflected in the English translation when she repeats things, like “I’m not one to talk badly about my betters, I am.” The second does not have this quirk. Not sure if the first is meant as an affectation as part of her idea of what a maid is, or if she just has such a divide he her personality/personas that she speaks differently when she’s wielding a gun. Since that wasn’t really mentioned in her subarc, I doubt we’ll get an explanation. We do know she was likely a child of immigrants from China, but not whether she was born there or in England before she was orphaned. But it is unlikely she has any hint of a Chinese accent since she was orphaned so young. She definitely has more of a working class accent, especially when compared to someone like Sebastian.

Finny

I had momentarily forgotten that Finny didn’t speak English when he first came to the manor. It’s likely that he would have had some kind of German accent, but I expect that Sebastian would have drilled it out of him, considering how strict he was with Sieglinde and Wolf, and Ciel didn’t blink an eye.

Finny’s accent in English never struck me as particularly high class, either in the manga or anime, but in one of the recent chapters, Theo makes a point to compliment his “upper-class accent.” It does seem highly probable that Sebastian played a hand in how he speaks, since he probably was the one who taught him English.

However, the fact that it came up in this sub arc could indicate his way of speaking is significant, somehow tying into what’s going on with Undertaker and the orphanage. Either way, his accent is apparently closer to Ciel than Mey.

Snake

Snake is tricky, because he almost never speaks as himself (I’m still not 100% sure what pronoun he would use for himself in Japanese, and even he doesn’t seem sure lol). He speaks via his snakes, and they all have different ways of speaking (which I think the dub does a decent job of, personally). So I can’t really say, but for the most part I would probably say his accent(s) would be closer to working-class, but he might have gotten some lessons on speaking from Sebastian, since, as a footman, he would have been expected to speak at a higher-class level than other, below-stairs servants would.

Undertaker

Like Mey, UT has two manners of speaking. He has his “humble old undertaker” accent, which is Cockney-esque (I don’t wanna do a disservice by saying it IS that), definitely a lower class accent. Then he has his “revealed” voice, or how he speaks after he reveals himself on the Campania. I have not read this arc in Japanese so I cannot base this judgement on how this shift is portrayed by Yana, only based on the translation. But it definitely seems to be a higher-class accent than the other one. It’s likely that it’s his “real” accent, while the other is part of his cover persona. However, we don’t know anything about him or his background from when he was alive, or even how old he is. For all we know, that accent could be an affectation too.

Agni & Soma

I know their dub accents annoy a lot of people, since Yana specifically mentions how they don’t have an Indian accent. I expect both of them would speak with a British accent, probably something close to how Ciel speaks, most likely, since Soma would have been educated by tutors and Agni probably was as well, since he came from a very high-caste family. I would expect that if their dub accents has been closer to Yana’s intent, they would sound more like Hakim in the dub of the anime Emma. That’s how I imagine them, anyway.

Sieglinde & Wolfram

I expect both would have German accents when they speak English, especially Wolf. Sieglinde might do a better job of working to improve and lose it, but I don’t think Wolf would, partly because of his animosity toward Sebastian. I like to imagine he sounds like Hans in the English dub of the anime Emma, and I really hope we eventually get the Green Witch Arc animated and dubbed so we can get a hot German English accent 🥺.

Diedrich

Dee, on the other hand, I think would not have a German accent in English, especially not in the present. I think he probably was educated in English before he went to Weston, likely by a private tutor, probably someone British, and then when he went there would have acclimated to the public school assent there. So probably he would sound like Vincent did, but I expect he’d throw in some German every now and then, especially when he gets irritated, lol.

Lau

Lau is originally from China, and his accent (as far as I know?) has never been remarked upon in the manga. We also know nothing about his background except that he rose quickly and at a young age to be head of Quin-Bang. I would assume that he speaks English very well, and the only hint at his origin that I’m aware of in the Japanese is the kanji (character) for the pronoun “I” he uses, though he doesn’t pronounce it as it’s normally done in Japanese nor does he with a Chinese pronunciation. I would take this to mean he probably has little if any hint of a Chinese accent when he speaks English, and since he keeps company with nobles and was able to pass as a doctor, he likely speaks in a high-class accent.

I hope that satisfied, anon. This was a fun and different ask. I apologize I didn’t publish it sooner.

#黒執事 #black butler #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #bardroy #diedrich #undertaker #wolfram #sieglinde sullivan #agni #soma #finny #snake #lau #mey rin #bard #poi answers #poi og #anon #english accents #headcanon

[wahbegan]

A Brief Review of the Silent Hill Transmission

Silent Hill Ascension: So straight off the bat, this is the only one i think is going to be unambiguously bad based on what little we have. It appears to be y’know less game and more “interactive story”, promising YOU the players can help SHAPE SILENT HILL CANON, but also being a multiplayer online thing that releases incrementally, being by the creators of Dead by Daylight. The way they talked about the exact logistics of this wasssss non-existent, but the way they were hyping it up made it essentially sound like an MMO version of a Supermassive game and/or a democratic version of Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch. I love new ideas. I love new ways of approaching games. It’s just that this particular approach happens to be fucking stupid. Also the brief look at the monster looks like a Dead by Daylight killer, and I don’t mean that in a good way. ALSO J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot are involved, and J.J. Abrams has not done a single good thing since idk Cloverfield? So we’re gonna put together the formula of The Dark Anthology Pictures games, Live Service games, and J.J. “The Mystery Box Man” Abrams in a blender and see what happens. That sounds for......a really funny news cycle if nothing else.NEEEEXT Silent Hill Townfall:  Interesting company behind it, made some fun and unique little indie story-based horror, so i’m told. Unfortunately, this was by far the least helpful trailer, and all i really got from it was the talking heads on the radio....tv....thing talking about how they were there to be punished in a way that, maybe I’m misinterpreting, but maaaaybe was veering a little too tongue-in-cheek meta for me. I don’t know though. I’m mostly indifferent, the trailer showed nothing, I cannot stress enough. Did not work up my feelings one way or another Silent Hill f (Silent Hill forte?): This is the only one i’m actually really fucking pumped for. Masahiro Ito is back, but actually going in a direction with his art that he really wants to be going and is creatively interested in, the world and art design look incredibly unique, it looks unsettling as fuck, it doesn’t capitalize on ANY previous Silent Hill iconography or indeed, even the town itself, seeming like it’s set in some rural and possibly in the past Japanese town, and it’s written by a guy who apparently writes quite disturbing shit. Apparently. Iiiiii can’t really get past the art style or genre of his previous work sorry so i’ll take people’s word for it. I’m glad they ended on this, because it gave me a lil note of hope to take away from the whole thing Various Silent Hill 2 announcements: I knew a remake of Silent Hill 2 a la the REmakes was coming, and i was fine with it, cautiously optimistic about it, even....even though they really should remake Silent Hill first since that’s the one in significantly more dire need of a re-imagining a la the first Resident Evil, but i digress. Footage looks pretty good, even though they inexplicably made James Sunderland ugly but honestly that’s kind of hilarious, my only real gripe is that it’s being developed by Bloober Team. You know, the Blair Witch Layers of Fear lads, the ones who take to plots about mental illness with all the subtlety and nuance of a napalm enema and are most widely (in)famous for making walking simulators. But, I’m willing to give them and Konami the benefit of the doubt. After all, if Capcom can do it

Then came the announcement of the movie. Another Christophe Gans joint, and all right, that’s fine the first Silent Hill movie wasn’t....well it wasn’t exactly great, but it wasn’t terrible either, i liked bits of it.

The movie is an adaptation of Silent Hill 2. Oh, fuck me jogging, here we go. Now look, some of the storyboards looked very promising and as with the remake, Christophe was swearing up one wall and down another that he’d suck the original’s dick with proper reverence and cradle the balls and everything, but that’s not really my main concern, my main concern is-

Huh? What’s that? Silent Hill 2 statuettes? Yeah, I mean I guess that’s-

A Pyramid Head skateboard? I mean....all right, yeah it-

What? The dog? The dog from the dog ending? A stuffed animal AND a figurine complete with control panel?

SIGH.

Yes, unfortunately, Konami are officially milking Silent Hill 2 until the sad bastard’s udders bleed. Part of me can’t help but wonder if this isn’t Konami’s fucked up Wishmaster, Calypso from Twisted Metal, Monkey’s Paw interpretation of the backlash they kept getting from just slapping the iconic images from Silent Hill 2 on everything divorced of context.

But no, more likely they just keep hearing the way people bang on and on about Silent Hill 2 as one of the greatest games of all time (which it is) and are cynically trying to re-capture lightning in a bottle in their never-ending quest for profit, somehow forever blind to the fact that if they just give passionate artists money and let them do whatever the fuck they want like they did with the original Team Silent, new lightning might strike; comparatively, sitting around all day trying to force the exact same lightning bolt from two decades ago into various newer and shinier bottles will never EVER reproduce the same effect, only ghosts of it with various degrees of success. 

This is the same thing every media company everywhere in the fucking world is doing right now, but especially horror, so it’s hardly surprising, but it is....depressing. Ten years after they cancelled a truly original Silent Hill game that also would have made them more money than God with the P.T. stunt Kojima pulled in the most baffling financial decision in human history, the fact that most of what they have to show is  THE SILENT HILL 2 SHOWWWW and an “interactive community experience” chasing modern trends is fucking depressing.

But like i said Silent Hill f i’m actually happy about and Silent Hill Townfall, goofy name aside, has Schrodinger’s quality going for it right now, it literally could be anything so fingers crossed for that

#Silent Hill

[sposca]

he’s doing his best ok

#sk8 #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #renga #sk8 the infinity #skate the infinity #sposca art #i can’t believe he’s canonically almost illiterate in japanese #someone please help him #idk how good he is a written japanese exactly though i’ll have to look at his wiki #update: the wiki does not mention his illiteracy but the first episode hints at it. also his wiki page is hilarious #the way i have a whole bulleted list in my notes app for sk8 characters as vines as drawing ideas #i spent way more time than i’m comfortable with doing the backgrounds in this HDJDJSJSKA #also tumblr please dont nuke the quality of these thank you

[ryuichirou]

“Please, ask me about my favorite manga...”

Okay, then. What’s your favorite manga, Ryu-san? 👀

+Anonymous said:

What’re some of your favourite manga? :)

 ----------------------------------------------

I love you guys… :”3 You always make my dreams come true haha. I hope I’m not forgetting anything, these are the ones that come to mind first:

Shingeki no Kyojin by Isayama Hajime – the most obvious thing in the world lol Of course, it’s a very dear manga to us, but even if we forget all the sentimental value it has, it’s still an amazing manga both story-wise and art-wise. For some reason Isayama is still considered a bad artist, which is a shame, because not only has he gotten much better with time, he also does the thing that I love very much: he draws whatever he wants even if he isn’t sure how to draw it. The very first chapters are so bold in that regard. And the way Isayama draws expressions is amazing: he draws faces that I’ve never seen in any other manga.

Do I even need to talk about story and characters after all the meta posts we’ve written over the past year… And the fact that we haven’t gotten tired of it despite the fact that we’ve reread it 1000 times already is very telling. There’s just so much stuff going on, so many details and elements that you can miss when you read it for the first time… rereadability is one of the greatest things about SnK.

Litchi Hikari Club (and Bokura no Hikari Club) by Furuya Usamaru  – another favourite of ours and an obsession of mine. I have volumes both in English and Russian, some Japanese magazines with chapters/mangaka’s art and artbooks… LHC is such a bleak story. It’s dark and messed-up just for the sake of being dark and messed-up, and I love it: it’s theatrical and morbid. It also manages to still be comedic and entertaining. Plus, the story behind the manga creation fascinates me (it was based on a stage play from an underground theatre ok I won’t go into details now lol), it’s like an entire phenomenon for me haha. I think this manga started my obsession with gakuran uniforms and student caps.

Uzumaki and Tomie by Ito Junji – I genuinely enjoy all of Junji Ito’s work whenever we reread them, but Uzumaki and Tomie are my faves. It’s very fun to watch how Ito-sensei takes one simple concept (spirals in “Uzumaki” and ehhh idk a beautiful but deadly girl in “Tomie”) and takes it further and further with every chapter, making it more and more creepy and grotesque. He’s extremely creative.

Berserk (Golden Age Arc) by Miura Kentarou – not to spit on everything that went before and after the Golden Age, but let’s be real: the Golden Age is special. The art of Berserk is absolutely stunning. It’s one of those mangas that belongs to museums honestly: every page is worth looking at for hours. The level of details and design of characters and the world… unreal.

The relationships between Guts and Griffith are also so beautifully written, we didn’t expect them to be this painful and deep. Talk about misunderstandings and breakups with consequences, geez. Griffith’s story build-up is just... amazing. The whole eclipse thing is wow, and the events that happen before it are as well. It’s like its own story within the whole story.

I also want to mention Maruo Suehiro, because he is another horror/guro author we like a lot, but I can’t pinpoint one manga of his that could count as a favourite just yet…

Hetalia by Himaruya Hidekaz – it’s stupid, it’s funny, it’s educational (in “it makes you interested in history and politics” way, not in the “it tells you what exactly happened” way). It doesn’t take itself seriously, it’s here to have fun and make its character as gay as possible, which I appreciate a lot. I feel like Hetalia influenced the way I draw comic strips and my humor in general. But maybe I’m just imagining it lol, it’s hard to tell at this point.

Gravitation by Murakami Maki – I’m forever obsessed with Gravi. Of course, a portion of it is just out of nostalgia, but we actually read the manga fully a couple of years ago, and god it was much better than we anticipated. It’s extremely stupid and fun (how many BL mangas have tom and jerry style slapstick comedy??), but at the same time sometimes the jokes are surprisingly clever. Nothing is too serious though, every character is a clown to some extent, and this is exactly why all of them are so fun to watch. The relationships are also… surprisingly well-written in my opinion.

It’s an old school BL, but I still think it’s a bit different from other BL mangas from 90s-early 00s… Also the fact that Murakami-sensei draws smutty doujins of her own manga under a different pseudonym is still the most awesome thing I’ve ever heard; I’ll forever respect her for that.

And ofc Yuki Eiri is a bottom for us, like... duh.

Otome no Teikoku by Kishi Torajirou – it just makes me a bit happier when I don’t want to think and just want to look at girls having crushes on each other. I usually hate yuri manga with school setting, but this one slaps me in the face with how good the cast is and how unusual some of the themes in it are for a yuri manga. I feel like the author actually wants his characters to be interesting and not just gushes over how pure and innocent they look when they hold hands, and it makes a huge difference.

#replies

[aceofshitposts]

I saw that you like CATS the musical. What are your thoughts on the movie?

AAAAH AHHAHA oh man oh boy y'all should BUCKLE IN cuz it's a ride

my simple thoughts? it's entertaining if only because it butchered the stage show so badly in an attempt to idk modernize it? Well, modernization is one part of it I think. The other part I'll go into below lol. I don't necessarily hate some of the more modern renditions of the songs (mostly the ensemble sets like Jellicle Song for Jellicle Cats) but then others are just... so poorly done it's insulting.

I've said this at the end of this whole rant too but I'm gonna put it up here in case people don't (justifiably) wanna see me go on and on about it:

The movie wasn't made for fans of the musical. It was made to make money and I believe they choose, at least partially, to do that through making it the weirdest and worst possible adaptation they could so that people would want to go see the train wreck. Which, really, worked! It was all people could talk about for a good while so like... Goal achieved, I guess.

A MUCH MORE COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS UNDER THE CUT cuz i don't wanna. flood your dash with... this

ALRIGHT SO. Most of my friends know I'm actually a huge fan of new adaptations of things. I love remakes (provided the people making it are coming at it with some form of heart and not just... cash grabbing which is more often the case) I love seeing other peoples interpretations of characters, or changing settings. It's one of the reasons I like American comics so much, getting to see different writers takes is fascinating.

I think musical movies can be wonderful ways to introduce people to a stage show that might have been unavailable to them otherwise! Chicago, for example, is one of the BEST musical to movie adaptations in my opinion. It kept the heart of the show, it's funny and the song numbers are done really well.

There are of course other famous examples, such as Grease or Bye Bye Birdie. Hairspray was also a wonderful take. These are simply off the top of my head, there are of course more.

CATS in particular has a history. If you go through my CATS tag you may see a few posts from @catsnonreplica which posts photos from non broadway productions of CATS! It's a fascinating read and I love, love, love looking at the other interpretations of the characters! CATS is a musical full of fun and wonderful characters if you take the time to see past the ridiculousness haha and the Korean and Japanese runs of CATS especially have some of my favourites.

How does this relate to the movie, I hear you say well. As you might has noticed the movie's interpretations of the characters is........ lackluster at best and downright uncanny valley at best.

CATS is, at its core, a ridiculous thing. I will fully admit that! But it's fun, it's entertaining and if you pay a little attention you can actually get the plot. (Honestly I don't understand when people complain it has no plot but that's a whole other rant for another day)

The movie was... obsessed with this idea of like... semi realism? Like obviously, as a fan, I think they should have leaned into the over the top character designs but instead we got...w ell:

Bombalurina:

Demeter left and Bomba right. Demeter was actually cut! From the movie which is. upsetting lmao.

Macavity is one of the worst offenders for me:

Macavity was... I wish I could know what the hell they were thinking there cuz it's even in his song? Ginger cat??? THAT IS NOT... A GINGER CAT...... but I digress. I would show more examples but I think you get the point.

So. We've butchered the characters appearances. Okay that's fine but what about their personalities?

ALSO BUTCHERED.

There's... there's a lot to unpack here. Just for context: the Jellicle Ball happens once a year and the Jellicle leader chooses a single cat to be reborn into a new life. In the stage play all the cats who are nominated for this honour are on the older side (Jenny-Any-Dots, Bustopher Jones, Skimbleshanks, Gus The Theatre Cat, and eventually Grizzabella) AND are always nominated by another cat. Not themself, unlike the movie where they all seem to nominate themselves.

Jenny-Any-Dots went from a doting grandmother figure who's celebrated for her selfless volunteering and tireless work into a conceited, vain younger cat who is obsessed with fame.

It's an incredibly strange dichotomy. I don't doubt some of it isn't the result of the uh people playing the characters honestly. I do think some of them did the best they could! I don't really blame Jason Derulo, for example, for Tugger. And honestly, Tugger was probably closest to his stage version (while being a trouble maker, he's shown to show Deuteronomy an immense amount of respect)

Speaking of Tugger! This will bring us to one of the biggest grievances with the movie and that is how they handled Mr Mistoffelees.

So... Ugh. So. We have Victoria as the pov character, which imo is like whatever in the grand scheme of things, and then we have Misto who they have decided will be get live interest cuz... Of course. Misto is shown throughout the musical to be awkward, unsure of himself and well. Really, kinda incompetent. Which is Wild cuz in the stage show he might be aloof but he's fairly confident in his powers.

So, Old Deuts gets kidnapped. In the stage show Tugger is the one to bring Misto forward! It's really quite sweet, imo, and I'm showing myself as a Tuggoffelees shipper here, but again Tugger is previously shown to be pretty conceited but then here he is boosting and hyping up Misto to bring Deuteronomy back. My friends and I have lovingly dubbed this the boyfriend hype song.

SOMEHOW. The movie manages to make this, easily, the MOST BORING number in the whole thing. Which, again, WILD. Misto awkwardly stumbles through his whole song, which again is... Boasting of his supreme magical powers which movie Misto clearly. Does not have or believe to have. The song, to me, feels super awkward and unnecessarily drawn out in the movie which sucks cuz it's one of my favourites in the show.

The declawing (heh) of Mr Mistoffelees actually reminds me strongly of how they changed Gaston in the live action Beauty and the Beast movie. He's gone from a beloved figure in the animated movie to someone so disliked in the town that Le Fou has to pay people off to say nice things about him. It's just. Wild character choices were made!!

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat is probably my favourite in movie non ensemble number. It feels the most... Genuine? Compared to the other nomination songs.

Other problems include but are not limited to:

The inconsistent size scale of the CATS which throws me off constantly.

The weirdly overt sexual overtones added to MANY of the songs (Jenny and Bustopher being the worst)

This is just a personal gripe and opinion but I don't like that they used the UK version of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. The American version is both better known and tbh way more fun. Teazer's giggle? Adds ten years to my life every time.

Victoria's added solo song, Beautiful Ghosts, while I like the song as a song it doesn't fit the style of message of the musical. In the movie she's singing directly to Grizzabella who's being an outcast for years that she should be grateful she even has memories of being part of the tribe?? What?? But I know they had to add an original song to be able to be nominated for awards in like the Grammys n shit (which is why all musical movies will have an original song, fun fact!!) kinda funny they went to the effort though considering........... I don't think anyone could have genuinely believed CATS 2019 was gonna win anything but golden rhaspberries.

Movie Mr Mistoffelees has made repeated appearances as my sleep paralysis demon

The various cut characters, shout outs to Jemima, Demeter and Jellylorum especially

Bombalurina being a henchman to Macavity rubs me the wrong way

God I've written... So much. You probably get it by now haha. Like I said at the beginning, I try to go into any adaptation with an open mind but... Let's be honest, this movie wasn't marketed to people who are fans of the musical.

It was marketed, and made, to make money. And they choose to do that through, I think, intentionally making the worst possible version ever. Bad press is still press and the more outrageous people said the movie was the more people wanted to go see exactly what kind of train wreck it was.

Which is a disservice to the stage show, honestly, and all the people who've worked on it over the years.

But what can we do, right?

And besides all that, I do... Still own the movie version and I do still rewatch it on occasion. It is entertaining even if it's in a train wreck kind of way. I usually end up watching the 1998 version, then 2019 and then various tour runs that are on YouTube. (I highly recommend the 2016 tour, it's very good)

So in conclusion. It's fun (?) to watch. I enjoy picking things apart and doing analysis (if you couldn't tell!) so like... I don't hate it?

It did what it set out to do, I guess, and I can't fault it for that but. It's not a fair metre with which to judge the stage show imo. But I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, haha.

Jazz hands. I'm more than happy to elaborate or just chat about CATS if anyone wants! I grew up listening to the Broadway CD since I was a toddler so it's been! A very long standing obsession haha. Probably the only other thing on par with CATS is my obsession with Jurassic Park which I've also been a fan of since I was 3 (but that's a whole story in and of itself)

#astrix thoughts #cats the musical #Thanks for the opportunity to talk about one of my hyperfixations anon! #And to anyone who reads this whole mess lmao

[oveliagirlhaditright]

What are your favorite KH headcanons? Just in general, nothing specific :)

It’s funny... I can think of headcanons when I’m writing or whatever--or just at the spur of the moment--but when asked for them, they all disappear from my mind. Uhh... let’s see what I can come up with.

Because Kairi has had a different hairstyle that every year that we see her, I headcanon that she changes her hair every year.

I also headcanon her birthday is September 17th (the day KH1 was released in the U.S. This is also SoKai Day), since Sora’s birthday is the day of the Japanese release and because it makes Kairi a Virgo. She somewhat reminds me of a Virgo. And apparently an Virgos and Aries (which Sora is) can be good together, so...

I imagine that Riku is rich, just because he has a balcony in the KH manga. So is Kairi, for being the adopted daughter of the mayor in my mind (I get into that just below). Sora, however, is probably middle class. For this reason, hangouts with the three usually happen at Kairi or Riku’s house. But sometimes Sora’s still... And these three totally snuck into each other’s houses after dark--through bedroom windows--all the time, and no one can tell me any differently.

And, like most of the fandom does, I headcanon that Destiny Islands’ mayor is Kairi’s adopted father... even though that’s never exactly said. It’s said that the girl who arrived during the meteor shower was at the mayor’s house, but that could have just been for the time and she eventually got relocated somewhere else. But nah. I also headcanon that the mayor adopted her.

I like my headcanon of Xion liking doilies for some reason.

And my one about Roxas being able to cook, too.

For some reason, I adore the idea that Riku can’t cook to save his life.

I also don’t think that Sora is dumb, and I’ll fight people on this. And at this point, I’m kind of stealing another’s headcanon... but I like the idea that Donald and Goofy teach Sora school things he’s missing on their travels together.

I can also get into the headcanon that Sora’s dad passed when he was young (sadly). Since we hear him mentioned in BbS, but don’t hear him calling Sora to dinner alongside Sora’s mother in KH1 or anything like that. 

I definitely headcanon that there are a few islands on Destiny Islands--since it’s Destiny Islands plural--but that they’re probably small, so that the kids still feel “trapped there”.

I imagine that Sora and Riku’s parents put up some of the Play Island stuff absent in Dark Road.

Until proven otherwise, because of the character files, I’m headcanoning that Roxas, Lea, Xion, Isa, and Naminé are all living together now (with Lea and Isa acting as their parents). Probably in the Old Mansion that they fixed up. But on the flip-side of that, I think that Sora and Kairi’s parents accepted their kids’ Nobodies and Replicas as their own, and they sometimes stay there.

I also want to pretend that Isa made a bigger effort to make things up to Roxas and Xion.

I actually don’t think Naminé would jump on the drawing train as most fans seem to think she would. Rather... since drawing is actually tied to traumatic memories for her, I think she’d want to get as far away from it as she could at first. And it would take her friends showing her that she could make good memories with it too, that would finally make her an artist.

Terra and Aqua came from other worlds than the Land of Departure (and how I wish we’d get information on that!). Right now--even though it’ll never happen in a million years, since this series isn’t even Disney--I’m writing that Aqua is originally from “Antar” from the Roswell series, but that’s more fanfiction territory. More likely than not, I want to believe that Terra and Aqua are from worlds that fit their names.

Strelitzia is bisexual. I don’t care that Player canonically is a guy at this point, thus probably making her het. Shh.

Speaking of bisexuality... I think that Sora is. I could maybe even headcanon Riku as that now.

Naminé would totally wear baby blue, if Nomura ever lets her get another outfit.

Xion probably eventually picks up some artsy thing that she can do too, to better fit in with Kairi, Naminé, and Aqua. In the novels, she wanted to make a lucky charm but didn’t know how to. So I can see it.

I don’t think this is a headcanon, so much as it is canon that we haven’t seen yet (since Nomura has slightly talked about this in interviews, even if he’s never going to do anything with it now). Rinoa exists in the KH universe. And it’s because something happened to her during the fall of Radiant Garden--that Leon really is beating himself up about--that he changed his name. And it’ll only seeing her alive and well again, that will get him to change his name back. And he eventually will (or maybe even has in my headcanon). And, yes: the letter he got in the KHII credits was totally from her, telling him that she was alright. Rinoa is also why he has wings on the back of his jacket.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine aren’t actually tiny fairies, but Maleficent turned them into that... And this is so I can ship KH Tidus and Yuna, yeah. But I swear if you listen to one of Rikku’s lines, it sounds like she might be implying this.

While I think originally, it was Aerith that Cloud was trying to save in KH1 (...for some reason. Since she’s fine in the KH verse), fans have now convinced me that it was actually Zack, so I hope we eventually get the FFVII characters in KH’s story eventually resolved.

Some people argue that all of Traverse Town with the TWEWY characters was a dream--or maybe it’s that they argue Joshua saving his friends through Sora and Riku’s help was the dream--but in my book, it totally happened.

Naminé is an honorary member of the Destiny Trio and Sea Salt Trio.

Kairi and Naminé see each other as sisters, and Sora, Roxas, and Ventus (and Vanitas, if he ever comes back and is redeemed) see each other as brothers. But Sora and Roxas miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight slightly see themselves as more closely linked brothers, and same thing with Ventus and Vanitas.

I also see Xion as a third sister for Kairi and Naminé. Most of the fandom disagrees with this. And I understand why. Most of the fandom sees her as Sora’s sister (and maybe even then sistered to the other boys. And sometimes I now do this--sort of because of peer pressure--but I’ll also have her be a shared sister between the boys and Kairi and Naminé, even though Sora and Kairi themselves aren’t “related”. But I hate that when I do this, it ruins my RokuShi dreams. So it’s probably part of the reason that I usually don’t). But I still see Xion as closer to Kairi than Sora. I know she was supposed to be a Sora clone (but it didn’t really work and she was a failed clone of him), but she mostly defined by his memories of Kairi. And that’s who she chooses to be and how she sees herself. But people then argue that it’s Sora’s memories of Kairi, though, not Kairi herself. And I get that.... But I still think she’s closer to Kairi. Why? Because Sora was actively trying to make her Kairi. And I’m sure some of himself slipped into there, as parts of a writer--so to speak--shows up in all their work, whether they intended it or not. But for example... let’s say that Sora hates chocolate and Kairi loves it. Since he was trying to make Xion like Kairi, he would therefore have her like chocolate, even though he hated it. So that’s one more point for Xion moreso being like Kairi in my book. I also... when I first played Days, she reminded me a lot of Kairi, partly because of some of her snarky lines. It’s only recently that I’ve looked at Days and seen some Sora in her--and realized that also could have partly come from him--but I still stand by what I said.

And while we’re on the subject... after everyone got their own hearts and bodies at the end of KHIII, I don’t think pairings like RokuShi or RokuNami, or whatever else would be insert of self-cest at all. Really, I don’t ever think it was. Because KH rules state that it’s your heart and how you see yourself that governs everything around you... but especially not after KHIII resolved this. So it kind of ticks me off when people still bring up this argument.

Because this plot hole bothers me... Kairi totally remembered Merlin when she trained with him in KHIII.

Most the rest of these will probably be about Kairi. Since you all know she’s my girl, and I think about her a lot.

I pretend that Kairi did somewhat have an edgy stage, and still somewhat is. Maybe because I somehow combine that with tomboy in my head. IDK. Speaking of--though not that this is really “edgy”--I’ve written that Kairi likes Queen at least twice. Just pretend that Destiny Islands has Queen. Haha.

I also believe that even after Kairi became more girly in KHII, she still has some tomboy to her: like how even though she wears a dress in KHII, she still has sneakers on, and how her school bag isn’t decorated at all when Selphie’s is. She’s also a fighter, of course (not that that necessarily makes a girl a tomboy -looks at Buffy-). I imagine out of the three, Naminé is the girliest, Kairi is a mix of tomboy and girly-girl, and Xion is a tomboy. 

I think Kairi, Naminé, and Xion would all have great relationships with each other. Naminé and Xion, because they both know what it’s like to be “Nobodies” , told they shouldn’t exist, and forgotten (Kairi knows this, too), and have suffered (though Kairi has too, of course). They’re also both slightly shier. Kairi and Xion because they both can be snarky (though Xion not as much), are more outgoing and both fight, and are maybe pretty evenly matched right now (they’d probably spar a lot). And Kairi and Naminé, because they’re like the extroverted and introverted version of each other. And I imagine Kairi could convince Kairi to try things more, while Naminé would get her to chill the F out about things.

Kairi and Xion are probably both protective of Naminé, since she’s been so abused and they can fight and she can’t.

Sora, Roxas, and Ventus might be protective of Xion. But for me, Roxas is because of shipping reasons.

Back to the girly-girl Kairi thing... While pink probably is for sure her favorite color now, she still likes purple and other colors. And will use them.

I also just... don’t see her wearing makeup. I know other fans do, and that’s fine. But I don’t. Mainly because it doesn't look like she ever is in the game. I think that’s part of her tomboy coming through still. She cares about her hair, her clothes, perfume and whatever else, but she doesn’t care about makeup.

I used to headcanon that Aqua and Xion would become best friends--and they still could--but Melody of Memory maybe hinted at something else.

...I think this is everything right now.

Edit: And pretty much every headcanon that bluerosesburnblue comes up with for the KHUX world is right up my alley.

Edit 2: Destiny Islands maybe isn’t as technologically un-advanced as I and some had originally thought, but it’s still not modern day Shibuya or anything like that.

Edit 3: A lot of Destiny Islands’ culture is based on Japan.

Edit 4: This isn’t a “headcanon” at all. But I love to joke with the fandom, that Naminé and Xion might as well be Sora and Kairi’s daughters. LOL

Edit 5: And because of that one scene in KHII, where Kairi, arguably, hits Riku in the arm, if you look close enough--and that one translation of the KHII manga, where Kairi tells Riku not to be such sourpuss--I headcanon that these two somewhat play off just how much they mean to each other. But really, they love each other of course. I mean that platonically.

Edit 6: And I want to believe Minnie and Daisy could eventually go on an adventure with Kairi or something. I like the headcanon that Daisy’s a magician, too--since Minnie is strong with light magic--even though it’s not true. Haha.

Edit 7: Sora says Kairi’s name over and over again at the end of KHI and tells her “I love you” at the end of KHIII.

Edit 8: Riku is Sora’s best man at Sora and Kairi’s wedding. He’s also the “uncle” and godfather of their kids. 

Edit 9: Speaking of, Sora and Kairi have a daughter named “Sakura”. But it’s pronounced like how you would say “Sum” (but drop the “M”, of course) and then “Cora”. “Sumcora” (but without the “M”).

Edit 10: Kairi’s a Disney princess.

Edit 11: Max Goof exists in the KH universe, as do the Three Caballeros, who Donald is friends with.

Edit 12: Terra and Naminé are friends.

Edit 13: This is completely unoriginal--and just “Riku” backwards--but in fics, I often call Riku Replica “Ukir” (I pronounce it “You-Kai-Err”, because I’m too lazy to come up with anything else and don’t want to steal other people’s ideas. And Repliku probably did want to be the opposite of Riku, so... -shrugs-

#Kairi was also probably a popular girl and maybe a cheerleader. I also bet aqua was acheerleader #and aqua is a tomboy too of course with some girly qualities. probably more than lionand less than kairi #I don't think any of the kh girls wear makeup usually. maaaaaaaaaaaybe Namine. but I'm not even sure about her #and I headcanon that a lot of the novel stuff is true. like terra whittling wood. and him liking nuts. and aqua loving to bake #and this is more a ship than a headcanon... but I weirdly kind of ot3 Xehanort Eraqus and vor now

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #361

“the world is a vampire, sent to drain”

Have you ever been through a phase of thinking emo guys were hot? A phase? Hunny, they're still hot lmao. Have you ever dated someone that could play an instrument? Yeah. Juan could play guitar, and Girt played I think the tuba in band. What’s so horrible about wearing leggings like pants? I've actually never understood why people freak about this. Like so long as they're not sheer and fit you fine, why exactly is this a problem...? Weirdest picture you’ve ever taken of yourself? Oh dear. When someone claims to be suicidal, do you take them seriously? FUCK you if you don't. Honest to god, fuck you. This is NOT something you just don't even blink at. Even if it's surprising to hear from that person, you take that shit seriously and try to talk to them about it. Ever been kicked out of anywhere? Colleen's house. Ever had Skittles vodka? No, but that shit sounds good. Ever punched someone in the face? No. If you haven’t, do you want to now? Uh, I'll pass. Do you truly HATE anyone? No one I know personally, but people like rapists, pedophiles, etc., I sure as hell do hate them. Most historical/famous landmark/building you’ve been to in your country? No clue. Favorite flavor for most things? Strawberry, watermelon, or blue raspberry, depending on what the thing is. Ever taken pictures in a photobooth? Who with? Yeah: Summer, Jason, and I'm pretty sure Sara and I did? What is the closest book to you? It's a full collection of Poe's poetry that Mom got me. Are you reading it or someone else? I'm not right now. I may eventually. Milkshakes or Sundaes? Hm, I gotta go with milkshakes. Do you like watermelons more or cherries? I'm not a fan of either, but I'd definitely pick watermelons over cherries. Who was the last person you ate with? My family and I went to Ichiban (a Japanese steakhouse that we have here where they cook directly in front of you) yesterday to celebrate Nicole's graduation. Do you prefer broccoli or asparagus? Broccoli. I hate asparagus. Do you have any bug bites? No. Do you have any flowers in your room? No. Do you know anyone that owns horses? Loosely, anyway. It's a family I took pictures for, and I still have the mother on Facebook. When you were little, did you ever go to feed the ducks? Yes, I LOVED doing that. Don't feed ducks bread, by the way. Have you seen any of the seven wonders of the world in person? No. Have you ever won anything out of one of those crane machines? Yeah. Can you remember being taught how to ride a bike? Was it hard for you? Yeah. I don't THINK it was too hard. Did you get carded the last time you ordered an alcoholic drink? No. Do you know anyone who uses medical marijuana? No, it's not legal here. Do you know anyone who’s died in childbirth? No. Which was the worst phase in your life? 2016 was. Towards the end of '15 was the breakup, and through aaaaaaall of 2016, I was just dead inside and totally useless. Every day I wanted to be dead. Can you remember your last dream? I had a nightmare some stupid kids were fucking with my snake Venus, so I was trying to protect her. Do you ever use Snapchat? No, I don't have one. What’s your favorite musical? I don't like musicals. What happened at the last party you went to? Summer prepared some little Halloween treat bags for us guests, we watched a horror movie, and everyone but me smoked some weed. Are you more comfortable sitting or lying down? I would assume everyone is more comfortable lying down... Have you ever been a fan of N*Sync? Yeah, as a kiddo. Favorite kind of cake: Red velvet, yum yum. What is your middle name? Marie. TV shows and anime you watch regularly: None. Do you want to have a big family in the future? Just a big family of pets with a spouse. What was the last thing you did that gave you a rush? Oh boy, I couldn't tell ya. Is Vegas one of your must-see places? No. Pet rat: yay or nay? YAY!! I've had many, but I don't think I'll get any more. I've just had bad luck with them, save for one that died of cancer at an old age. Would you call yourself a writer? Written any stories lately? Yeah. I haven't really written any big RP posts of the late, but I did recently write a poem. Are needles something that you’re afraid of? Okay, so this is super weird. Tattoos and piercings? No problem. Little prick, getting blood drawn, that sorta little stuff, no problem. I am, however, NOT a fan of big needles, which used to not be an issue. It's actually kinda recent, and it's why I'm nervous about my second Covid shot coming up, aha... What was the last unexpected hug you gave/received? I really haven't had an unexpected hug since Jason asked for one before he left my house after our final talk. Who was the last person you held hands with? Either my niece or nephew. Have you ever been in a parade before? If so, was it on TV? No. Do you have a fear of rollercoasters? If so, were you ever forced to go on one? If you don’t, what is your favorite rollercoaster? I have a big fear of them, yeah. Post a picture of you from a recent time. Don't feel like it. Who was the last person to give you some of their food? Miss Tobey let me try one of her dumplings yesterday when we were at Ichiban for dinner. The last person you met, what was your first impression of them? I actually didn't quite like her. Have you ever been to a football game? Yeah, because my sister was a cheerleader. Do you like the snow or rain better? Snowwww. Have you ever faked sick? Yeah. What is your blood-type? A-. Have you ever eaten a bug? Not knowingly. The last time you were in the fridge, what were you looking for? Salsa. Mom got these veggie chips at the store and they apparently taste better with salsa, which it did. They weren't great, though. Are you listening to anything at the moment? It's Gab Smolders' turn for me to watch her Resident Evil 8 upload, haha. I'm literally watching three different people (Mark, John Wolfe, and her) play it. Can you take a bra off with one hand? I haven't tried, I think? I doubt I could, given that I'm not exactly small. Do you have an innie or an outie bellybutton? Innie. Can you crack your neck? NOOOOO AND DO NOT DO IT AROUND ME YOURSELF. Are you donating your organs? Yeah; what am I gonna use 'em for? It just seems like a waste otherwise. They're just gonna decay. When was the last time you talked to you mom? Before she left with Tobey to go to the store. Do you like pumpkin pie? NO. I don't like pie, and I hate pumpkin. Do you own your own computer? Yeah. Did you ever have to share a room with one of your siblings? Yeah; growing up, my little sister and I did. Is there any piece of technology you want to buy? I REALLY want a PS4. Did you ever have a night light when you were a kid? Yeah. What TV show had you hooked from the very first episode? Meerkat Manor, 100%. I had to know that Shakespeare was okay. What is your least favorite Sour Patch Kids color? Orange or red, can't pick. Have you ever seen the movie Matilda? YES! I love that movie. What is the weirdest chant you have ever heard? Uh, idk. How are you feeling? Annoyed and hurt as fuck because shit Miss Tobey says without thinking for a single goddamn second. I'm honestly beyond sick of this woman. Do you know anyone with a unibrow? I don't think so. Doughy or saucy pizza? Doughy. Do you have anything that’s limited edition? Yeah. Do you have an air freshener in your bathroom? If so, what scent? I... think we do? If so though, I just don't notice it. The bathroom doesn't smell like anything in particular. Do you like Jalapeno Cheetos? Oh man, I forgot about those! Love 'em. Are you a fan of salads? Yeah, they're fine. I have to be in the mood for one, though. What’s one random thing that you don’t like? Uhhh carrots. What’s one random thing that you like? Shrimp. Do you like chicken noodle soup? I don't. Is it easy for you to accept loss? NOPE. I'm the absolute worst with it. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? I really wanna see Sara, so take me to Illinois. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? No, but a former best friend had her birthday the day before mine. Is there someone you just can’t imagine your life without? Not anymore, honestly. After Jason, I stopped that "I can't live without you" mindset. Truth is I'm going to lose people through life, and I'm not attaching my ability to happily exist to anyone. Are you wearing a ring? Two. Have your friends ever stopped by your house just to say hi? In the past, yeah. Do you like Chinese food? Not really. I only ever get pork fried rice and eggrolls from Chinese restaurants. Have you done any shopping for something in specific recently? No. Do you still live in your hometown? No. What was the reason behind the last time you stayed up all night? I don't recall, honestly. I haven't done that in a very long time. Have you ever had a UFO sighting or a sighting of strange lights in the sky? A very strange light, yes. Have you ever seen your mom or dad drunk? Yes to both. Seeing Mom drunk is very, very rare though. My dad was an alcoholic when I was growing up, so I saw him drunk plenty. Do your parents vote? Mom does, idk about Dad. Who’s the most romantic person you ever went out with? Jason. What restaurant has the best fries? Nowhere has anything on Bojangle's, y'all. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? No.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''bullet with butterfly wings'' by the smashing pumpkins

[syncopatedid]

Kazetsuyo Novel Translation: Excerpt from Chapter 4: Track Meet

(Pages 170-173):

As the Tokyo Sports U track meet drew close, Kakeru’s mood was steadily rising in anticipation.

It’s been a while since he had competed in a real race. But even though Kakeru was confident he had covered his training very thoroughly, his mind would start to wander every night before falling asleep: Would running into a former acquaintance unsettle him and affect his concentration during the race? Had his race instincts gotten dull that he’d miscalculate his strategies? Could his time record which had gained him much attention back on his high school track team even pass for a college-level standard?

As soon as he closed his eyes, negative thoughts would surface one after another. Restless, Kakeru threw his blanket aside and sat up on his futon. 

Suppressing his urge to immediately get out of bed to go jogging, he adjusted his breathing in the darkness of his room.

“Be patient… be patient…”  Kakeru told himself.

Don’t think about anything else. Just picture yourself running. Feel the movement of your muscles throughout your body. Keep moving forward… 

Rekindling that fire, his doubts evaporated into thin air. Like Nira waiting to be taken for its walks, Kakeru was feeling eager again.

Aside from practice, Kakeru was also properly attending his lectures at the university. Kiyose had rationalised that “one cannot possibly produce results in running if they can’t even fulfil their credits”, but because Kakeru was fully committed to his training, he had been repeatedly turning down invites to mixers and gatherings. As for Chikusei-so’s other occupants, they were making a concerted effort to hit the qualifying time as well; as soon as school was done for the day, they would all head back to the apartment without delay to work on their runs.

So it didn’t take long before word of their activity started to spread—not only was the shopping street abuzz with chatter, even the students at the university got to talking: “It seems that those guys from that run-down apartment are training very hard for a race.”

The day before the Tokyo Sports U track meet, Kakeru had asked a favour of a friend who was in the same foreign language studies class to answer roll call on his behalf. 

“What, you’re taking a break tomorrow, Kurahara?”

"I’ll be running in the track meet, so…”

“Ah… speaking of that, I hear you’re aiming for the marathon, right?”

“It’s not a marathon…”

The ekiden is what I’m aiming for, and tomorrow’s track meet is the 5000-metre run, Kakeru thought to himself, but did not bother to clarify. 

Kakeru had come to realise a fact when he started university, that those who have no ties to track and field wouldn’t know the difference between a marathon and an ekiden. And when it came to the track meet, some would even look surprised and laugh it off as a joke. “5000 metres? Isn’t that just running in circles around the track?” they’d tease, as if it were some sort of bizarre ritual.

To Kakeru, track is life. To most others, however, a track meet is just another boring race.

The truth was a harsh reality, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a little complacent.

I guess not everyone can understand how big a deal it is and why we’ve been training so hard every day…

Hence with the present conversation, Kakeru was able to smile and casually gloss over the details. 

“Well… think of it as a condensed version of a marathon. Anyway, I’m counting on you, thanks.” 

“Just leave it to me!  Go get ‘em, champ!”

His friend had the sincerest expression on his face. Even though he might not understand Kakeru’s ambitions, Kakeru could tell he was cheering him on from the bottom of his heart.

That night, Kakeru could barely fall asleep. His rest was shallow, and his mind, sharp and alert. This is fine, Kakeru thought as he drifted in and out of sleep, sensing the last of his lingering doubts dissipating. After tonight, his transformation will be complete, and his body and mind will be in a state that is ready to run. 

He was feeling it—that feeling he had pretended he’d forgotten all this time—his fighting spirit before a race. 

————————————————–

Footnotes:

- And Kakeru’s uni friend makes his cameo! I’ve mentioned in this post before, I was really quite heartened to read that Kakeru seems to have other friends aside from the Aotake squad (he does get invited along to mixers and parties after all), so I do read novel Kakeru as someone who’s less emo than anime! Kakeru, and radiates a kind of “sports jock” vibe that draws people to him even if he’s not exactly proactive at making friends. Besides, he was asking this friend to help him tell a white lie, so I guess that takes a certain level of established trust?

The exact word they used in the original was “Yuujin” (友情), which is a formal word for “friend”, but even though this friend isn’t written as a “Nakama” (仲間) or even has a name to his credit, I do feel the choice of words over “classmate”( クラスメイト ) or “acquaintance”（知り合い… which, btw, was the word used in this excerpt in reference to Sakaki), hints that this guy could still be a good friend despite them not being on a first-name basis. I am reminded of the “Yuujin” in Natsume Yuujinchou and I draw the impression from Takashi’s close friendships with his normie friends, despite all of them still addressing one another by their family names. So let me just have this nice little headcanon that Kakeru sees this friend the same way as well, okay? :*)  

-  I’m also pretty delighted to learn that Kakeru takes a class in foreign language studies! Since he’s in the Sociology department, I would assume the guy could be taking (cross-faculty?) modules from the linguistics department that are relevant to his area of study, maybe Language & Culture? The question is, are we talking foreign languages in general, or is his module more focused on a particular language? If it’s the latter, my headcanon would default to the English language, since that seems like the most “useful” language for a Japanese to study, and Kakeru feels like the type who would opt for practical subjects that would be more applicable to the working world, compared to say, maybe Haiji or Akane, who might have deeper appreciation for languages as lit majors (or maybe Kakeru does appreciate them to a small extent, but they are secondary compared to his overwhelming love for track, idk.) But anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself here cuz the modules you take as a first-year are mostly introduction modules and are pretty rudimentary, lol. Freshman year is still the honeymoon period, you know.

- p.s: Haiji says to attend your lectures properly so you can win all the races, m’kay? #ThisHasBeenAPSA 

#kaze novel translations #Kaze novel things #Kazetsuyo #Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru #Run with the wind #Kakeru Kurahara #Woke up this morning and screamed at my grammar #Finally some *quality content* lololol #One backlog down and sdfghjk to go #I may or may not be just a tad bit over-invested in my imaginary son's education

[luckyspike]

Adventures in America, Ch. 4 - In which Crowley makes a friend and the guardian goobers receive some unexpected news

Chapter 4 is Crowley and Aziraphale centric so enjoy because we probably won’t really see them for a while after this. Maybe. IDK I haven’t written much beyond this.

Not on AO3 yet in case I decide I want to change major plot points later I guess or something lmao and also i dont want to disappoint anybody in case i never finish this

I really like this story leave me alone

Ch 1/Ch2/Ch3

-

“You really think sushi is a good idea?” Aziraphale asked Crowley, while he watched the demon fiddle with his jacket collar in the hotel mirror. “We are in America, Crowley, and you know I did think we should try to get a bit of the local flavor while we’re here.” He gave up dragging the brush through his hair, still damp from the shower, and turned his attention to his shirt cuffs instead.

Crowley considered this, pulling his t-shirt down and then back up again. “Right. Well, angel, I’m not opposed to anywhere else but let’s put it like this.” He turned to Aziraphale, hands spread. “It’s supposed to be a great sushi place and we’re about to embark on at least 6 weeks of hauling up and down the American midwest, which isn’t exactly known for its sushi. Roadside barbecue? Yeah. Terrible fast food? Absolutely. Hole-in-the-wall diners with great desserts? Undoubtedly. Fresh sushi? Probably not. And if the goal is to minimize miracles during this thing, if you get a bit peckish for some sake nigiri then you’re just going to have to wait until we’re back in civilization.”

Aziraphale hummed. “Well. When you put it that way. I hardly think the American midwest is uncivilized, though.”

“We’ll see about that.” He turned back to the mirror and re-folded his collar once more, flipping it back up and looking satisfied, although Aziraphale would have been hard-pressed to describe what, exactly, he’d changed. “Definitely not known for its sushi.”

“No. No, I suppose not.”

Crowley turned, and then raised an eyebrow. “No waistcoat?”

“It’s hot out.” He frowned as Crowley grinned. “Don’t start with the whole ‘this is nothing compared to Hell’ nonsense, dear, I know that but not all of us struggle with thermoregulation.”

“Fair enough. It’s more casual, too. Very … American.” He offered his arm. “Shall we?”

Aziraphale couldn’t help but smile a little as he took the offered elbow. “I think we shall, Crowley dear.”

Dinner was delicious, and Aziraphale had to hand it to Crowley - sushi was really a good idea. Especially if he was going to be at least 6 weeks without. The demon didn’t eat, not unusual, but he seemed to appreciate the wine well enough, and when Aziraphale took the opportunity to compliment the chef (in Japanese, naturally), Crowley chipped in that he thought the restaurant was quite nice, too*. They tipped the waitress generously, and took their leave, Crowley begrudgingly sobering up before they clambered into the massive vehicle to start combing the city for any signs of Adam and the other storm chasers.

[* Crowley did not speak Japanese particularly well, and Aziraphale had tried for years to help him with grammar, syntax, and pronunciation, without much success. Still, he had mastered a few phrases, and ‘very nice establishment’ was one of the more socially-acceptable ones he’d grasped.]

“How do they know where the storms are?” Aziraphale asked, as they cruised down a side-road, Crowley looking sharply into the parking lot of a low-cost hotel. “It’s not as if they’re scheduled occurrences.”

“They’ve got laptops and the like in the car,” he replied, distracted. “Radar and GPS and all that. They follow the storms that way and go to the ones that look most promising.”

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows, and turned to scan the parking lot of a Red Roof Inn. “Quite technological.”

“Yeah, it’s a whole thing.” Crowley slowed to study a truck in another parking lot, and then shook his head and pulled away. “I brought the stuff to do the same thing, s’back in the room.”

“So that’s what was in that bag.” Aziraphale considered this for a minute. “And, ah, who are you expecting to use said equipment, Crowley?” The SUV stopped at a red light, and Crowley suddenly looked thoughtful.

“Huh. Didn’t think about that.” He shrugged, and looked over to the car next to them idly. Aziraphale, focused on the topic at hand, didn’t notice the revving of the other car’s engine. “You could learn,” Crowley said. Aziraphale, lost in thought about technological advancements in meteorology, didn’t register the distraction and, under that, the devilish glee. 

“I’m not much good with computers.” He sighed. “I do have the old accounting machine, but -” He stopped, because the 4-Runner’s engine revved rather loudly. Alarmingly. He looked over to the demon. “Crowley?” Something caught his eye. “Crowley, this car wasn’t … I’m certain this wasn’t a manual transmission when we picked it up yesterday.”

“Wasn’t it?” Another hum of the engine. The radio crackled, and songs shuffled through the speakers, seconds at a time, as the SUV cast around for something that would suit. It paused on a song by - who else? Aziraphale thought - Queen, but then moved on, searching through a few more before settling on something with a heavy bassline, electric guitars, and a prominent drum piece. It was bebop, and Aziraphale didn’t like it. Crowley looked thoughtful. “It’s better.”

Aziraphale did have to hand it to the car: the vocalist’s shouted “Go!” coordinated perfectly with the light changing from red to green and Crowley, predictably, slamming the gas. Relatedly, it also coordinated with Aziraphale’s rhyming yelp of “No!”

Tires shrieked and the SUV roared forward, while Crowley laughed maniacally as he shifted through the gears and wove around slower traffic down the long street. The other car - the instigator, Aziraphale tried to assure himself, although he knew Crowley had probably tempted them into it without even trying that hard, the old snake - was a smaller outfit, two doors and sleek, with an iridescent paint job and chrome flashing on the tires. It was also, to Aziraphale’s horror, keeping pace, roaring along beside their car, in spite of surrounding traffic and Crowley’s absolutely death-defying steering. 

“Crowley, what are you doing?” he half-yelled, half-groaned. “You’re going to get us killed! Or arrested!”

The demon whooped. “Just a bit of fun, angel. Hang on!” Another gear shift, and the car accelerated, hitting a highway on-ramp and roaring onto the freeway. The other car, momentarily behind, followed suit. 

“We’re supposed to be looking for Adam,” he reminded Crowley, right hand with a white-knuckle grip on the ceiling handle and the left with an equally tight grip on the center console. “Crowley, please -”

“We have all night to find him.” Crowley glanced to the left, and caught sight of the other car, prompting him to accelerate. The dashboard in this vehicle was much larger than the Bentley’s vast even, and although Aziraphale was moderately terrified for the state of his corporation - he couldn’t imagine Heaven being inclined to give him a new body these days - he did risk a lean over to check the speedometer.

Ah. That was a mistake. He sat back, and pressed himself against the seat. Silently, as they wove through other cars and played leapfrog with the other racer, Aziraphale prayed. Crowley, for his part, laughed over the song blaring from the speakers, and drove, only ever taking his eyes off the freeway ahead to check the progress of the challenging vehicle. The 4-Runner groaned in protest as Crowley quickly changed gears to slow down, swerve around a box truck on the right shoulder, and then speed back up again, rocking back into the lane in front of the truck and taking off. The other car, slowed by a vehicle only going about 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in the passing lane, had to brake hard, and for a few blessed moments, Aziraphale thought it was over. Crowley would slow down now, surely.

Instead, the demon leaned out of the window to better make a rude gesture at the other car. There was a blaring of a horn, and in the rearview mirror, Aziraphale saw the other car break free of the traffic and start to catch up. He groaned, hand over his eyes, prepared for another round of acceleration, but was surprised to hear, over the rushing wind of Crowley’s open window, someone yelling, “Hey, man, get off next exit!” Crowley yelled something in response - very rude, Aziraphale thought - but slowed down anyway, guiding the car off the freeway, tailed by the other car.

“What are they doing?” he asked, cautiously, as Crowley braked again, and turned hard into the parking lot of an International House of Pancakes. The car lurched into park, and Crowley hopped out. The 4-Runner, relieved, shut itself off without any miraculous input at all. 

“Probably looking to fight. Don’t worry, angel, I’ll handle it.”

“Fi - Fight? Crowley, this is America, they probably have guns!” He jumped out too, half-jogging around the back of the massive vehicle until he fell into step beside Crowley. The other car, glimmering under the fluorescent lights of the parking lot, shut off, and two young women stepped out. Yes, definitely American, Aziraphale thought, with a disapproving look toward the ripped jeans and artfully torn t-shirts. The woman who had been driving had a baseball hat on. Backwards. Aziraphale rolled his eyes. Americans.

“Dude,” the driver said. “No joke, man!” To Aziraphale’s surprise, when she reached for Crowley, she didn’t attempt a stab or a punch, but rather grabbed his outstretched hand and shook it enthusiastically. She looked to her companion, laughing. “Told you this guy’s like my dad’s age! The fuck you learn to drive like that, man? You drive like a bat outta hell!”

Crowley smirked. “Bat out of London, actually - way harder driving there.” 

The other woman crossed her arms, her expression one of pleasant surprise. “Shit, dude, you’re British, too?” She flipped her long braid back over her shoulder and smoothed a lock of dirty blonde hair down. “Now I’m really impressed - you stayed on the right side of the road and everything.”

The driver rolled her eyes. “Shut up Leanne, it’s not that hard to remember after like, a week. This your ride?” She approached the SUV, hands on her hips. “Don’t see too many of these that can race like that, you know.”

Crowley winked to Aziraphale, and then sauntered up behind the driver, hands in his pockets. “It’s a rental. We just flew in this afternoon. Sorry, didn’t catch your name.”

“Call me Mary. Who are you, dude?”

“Good name, Mary,” Crowley said, grinning over his shoulder back at Aziraphale, who scowled. “Used to know a Mary. Great lady. You can call me Crowley.”

“It’s short for Mariel. Mind if I look under the hood?”

“Be my guest.” He followed her to the front of the car and Aziraphale and Leanne followed behind, Leanne studying Aziraphale and Aziraphale still glaring at Crowley. The hood of the car popped up, and Mary whistled.

“How’d you end up with a rental with a manual and a V8?”

Crowley leaned a hip against the bumper, arms crossed. “Oh, you know, only the finest Enterprise rentals had to offer.” If Mary found that suspicious, she didn’t remark on it, save to nod approvingly and slam the hood of the car shut.

“Well, anyway, thanks for the race. Super fun. Don’t think I’ve pushed Bella up past 110 in a while.” She shook her head at this appalling state of affairs. “Everybody else around here knows me and backs off before we hit the highway. Poor girl never gets room to run.”

“Tragic. Mustang, is she?”

“Yeah, had her from new,” Mary said, smiling fondly back at her car. Aziraphale could see Crowley soften to that. “Leanne and I have put all kinds of work into her - if we hadn’t got stuck in traffic she would’ve had this thing on the straightaway for sure,” she added, patting the hood of the rental. “You got me with the traffic, though.”

“It’s an art.”

Leanne had since circled around to the front of the car with the rest of them, and gently slid her hand into Mary’s. She looked to Aziraphale, head cocked. “Who’s your friend?”

“Ah, Azir - er, Ezra,” he corrected quickly.

“Nice.” Leanne looked from Aziraphale back to Crowley. “Are you guys -”

“What do you drive back home?” Mary asked, ignoring Leanne’s line of questioning, for which Aziraphale felt he should probably owe her a debt. 

“The Bentley. It’s a coupe - vintage.” Crowley added.

Mary’s mouth opened a little. “Woah, no joke? Shit, dude. You got pictures?” His phone was already clearing his pocket before she’d finished the question. Aziraphale shook his head.

“It’s cool,” Leanne commiserated, patting Aziraphale on the shoulder as Mary stepped away, the better to look at probably all of the photos of the Bentley Crowley kept on his phone. She was already marveling at the condition - “I’ve looked after it,” Crowley said proudly - and Leanne went on, “She’s got like four thousand pictures of her car on her phone, too.” She shook her head, and then brightened up. “So what’re you guys doing in Texas? You come in for a festival or something?”

“Oh, no, no, we’re here on holiday. Vacation,” he added, in case she hadn’t understood. She giggled.

“Yeah, I got it. That’s cool. Why Texas?”

He thought about it for a second. “Just seems very American. I’ve never been, and it’s been years since Crowley last left England. Thought we would mix it up a bit.”

Leanne nodded solemnly. “Greatest state in the nation. Well, Mary’s partial to Nevada, but she’s wrong. Anyway, that’s cool. So you just driving around, checking out the night life?”

“Something like that,” he lied. 

“You should try Rain on 4th,” Leanne suggested. “I think you’d like it. Great music, really great drinks and uh, I think you guys would fit in with the crowd there.”

Aziraphale pretended to think it over. “Rain on 4th. I’ll say something to Crowley. We were just thinking of turning in, though, finding somewhere to stay.”

“That’s why you kept slowing down in front of hotels.” Leanne, suddenly, sounded relieved. “We were wondering about that. Like, Mary thought you were looking for a race, obviously, but I was like ‘what if they’re murderers stalking their next victim’?” She laughed. “That’s a relief, anyway!”

“Oh!” Aziraphale forced a laugh, but he was sure he hadn’t been able to hide the shock on his face before she noticed. Murderers? “Oh, my dear, no, no definitely not murderers. No. But, ah, would you have any recommendations? For places to stay, I mean.”

Leanne put her head to the side. “What kind of place you guys looking for?” She looked from Aziraphale, back to Crowley, and then to Aziraphale again. “I mean, the nicest chain place is going to be the Marriott, probably, or the Westin, but like, there’s the Omni and -”

Aziraphale held up a hand, and resisted saying that yes, the Omni was very nice, pity they wouldn’t actually be using the room. “We’re looking for something a little more … economical. But clean,” he added.

“Oh, okay.” She thought about it. “Well, steer clear of Red Roofs and Motel 6’s, then. I found blood in the bathroom of a Red Roof one time**, and like, they totally acted like I should be cool with it. Super weird.” She shrugged. “Microtels are usually pretty clean and super cheap. Uh, I dunno, the chain places. Hiltons or Doubletrees or whatever.”

[** Author’s note: True story, I totally did. Stayed in a Red Roof the night before I flew to Austin to stay at the aforementioned Westin for a conference (all expenses paid, hell yeah) and boy those could not have been two more polar opposite experiences. From bloody bathroom tiles to five-star service BOY did I get some whiplash.]

“Microtel,” Aziraphale said thoughtfully. “Cheap and clean, you said?” He glanced over to Crowley, and found that he and Mary had left to discuss Bella’s engine in more detail. 

“Yeah, over by the airport.” Aziraphale started walking leisurely back towards the Mustang and his demon, Leanne falling into step beside him. “You going to be in Austin the whole time?”

“Hm? Oh, no.” He shook his head. “No, we rented the vehicle for easier travel - we’ll be moving around for a few weeks, seeing the sights, you know.” He nodded his head toward Crowley. “He loves a good, ah, road trip.” He raised his eyebrows as Mary and Crowley started crouching down in front of the car, obviously considering sliding underneath it to get a better look, right there in the International House of Pancakes parking lot. Mary even had her phone out to use the flashlight, but Aziraphale pointedly cleared his throat. Crowley paused.

“What, angel?”

“Aw,” Leanne whispered, exchanging an affectionate glance with Mary. 

“Hotel, remember?” he said, jerking his head back toward the car, hands folded behind his back. “We were looking -”

“Yeah, I remember. We’ve got a minute.”

“I’m quite tired.”

Crowley was looking at him flatly. Had there not been unfamiliar humans around, he probably would have lowered his sunglasses to really fix Aziraphale with a look. “You’re tired?”

“Yes,” he replied primly. “Miss Leanne was kind enough to recommend some reasonably-priced hotels that will be clean. By the airport.” He raised his eyebrows significantly. Crowley continued staring. “With excellent freeway access.”

The demon groaned. “Yeah, alright. Alright, I get the point.” He held up a hand. “Five minutes?”

Aziraphale sighed. “Very well. Five minutes.” Crowley nodded, enthusiastically, and then he and Mary slid under the Mustang, Mary talking excitedly as the flashlight beam flickered from one mechanical piece to another. Aziraphale sighed. “At least he’s having fun.”

Leanne laughed. “Hey, mind if I ask about your coat?” When Aziraphale looked confused, she went on, “I do some costume design on the side for a little theater company, and that’s a really neat coat. Like, looks like it could have been straight out of the nineteenth century.”

“I suppose it does, yes,” Aziraphale laughed. “I have had it for quite a while.” He shrugged, grinning, and parroted Crowley’s earlier assertion. “I’ve looked after it.”

“So what’s it made of? Was it custom or - ?”

In reality, it was probably more than five minutes, but Aziraphale was more than happy to discuss his coat with a young woman who appreciated good tailoring. Eventually, when Crowley and Mary emerged from under the car, brushing themselves off, it was Crowley who reminded Aziraphale that they really ought to be going, but only after he and Mary had exchanged numbers***. Leanne had been highly appalled at Aziraphale’s statement that he didn’t actually have a cell phone, but he assured her she was welcome to text Crowley any time she might have questions about period clothing, and Crowley only grumbled about it a little. 

[*** When Mary had expressed concern that texting or calls wouldn’t work with an international number, Crowley assured her that his cell carrier was very accessible worldwide, and could pick up messages from anywhere she could think of, and probably a few places beyond that.]

“Hey, enjoy America though, alright?” Leanne added, as the two pairs started to draw apart, backing away toward their respective vehicles. “You guys ever have any questions or whatever, you can hit this girl up!”

Mary looked at her disapprovingly across the hood of their car as she opened the driver’s door. “What, you’re a tour guide now?”

“No, but like, they’re in a strange country, I’m just being nice.” Leanne stuck her tongue out at Mary. “I’m allowed to be nice if I want to.”

Mary snorted. “Yeah, I guess.” They smiled fondly at one another, and then, as one, turned and waved at Aziraphale and Crowley. “Anyway, bye guys! Nice to meet you. Thanks for the race!”

Once back in the 4-Runner, with the roar of the Mustang fading behind them, Aziraphale settled in, pulled his seatbelt on, and smiled happily. “What nice young ladies. Miss Leanne was quite helpful with local hot-spots, too.”

“Yeah.” The key turned in the ignition without Crowley’s input, as the car grumbled to life. Hesitantly, the radio flickered on, the volume so low as to be almost inaudible, and Aziraphale clicked it off. “Good catch on that hotel tip, by the way.”

“You know, if we find Adam,” Aziraphale said, as Crowley steered back onto the freeway, following signs to the airport, “and there’s enough time, she did tell me a nice place to get a drink, if you’d like.” Crowley hummed in noncommittal acknowledgement. “Rain on 4th, she said. She was very complimentary - what are you laughing about?”

“Oh, angel.” Crowley shook his head, and tossed his sunglasses into Aziraphale’s lap. “Never change.”

“You know the place? I thought you said you haven’t been to America -”

“I have Twitter. And the internet. You read things.” He glanced sidelong at the angel. “Bit like your club you went to at the end of the nineteenth century.”

Aziraphale’s eyes widened. “A gentlemens’ club? Oh, it’s been years since I’ve been to one.”

Crowley was looking at him. “Do you -” He trailed off and looked back to the road, fingers drumming pensively on the steering wheel.

“Do I what, dear?”

“Never mind.”  He jerked the wheel to the right and swerved from the left lane and onto the exit ramp, while the horn of a car he’d cut off blared behind them. “You do know what a gentlemens’ club is, right?”

Aziraphale chuckled. “Of course I do, dear. I rather liked spending time with those lovely men - we all really did have similar tastes.”

“Ungh?” Crowley said, hastily looking out the window and into the first parking lot they came across - it was for a Jiffy Lube, which was most definitely not where Adam was staying. 

“Of course,” Aziraphale went on, “they also used it as a cover to engage in their sadly-taboo love affairs. I didn’t partake in that, but the dancing was nice all the same.” He reached across the console, which was so broad that it made what would normally be a comfortable gesture physically impractical and somewhat awkward, and rested his hand on Crowley’s leg. Crowley made one of his little noises, still looking out of the window, and Aziraphale smiled. “I think you would have liked it, if you hadn’t decided to sleep through that portion of history. I am rather sorry about that.”

“Ngh, I know, angel.” Suddenly, the car lurched, as Crowley slammed on the brakes. “Hang on.” He squinted. “What’s it say on the side of that red truck?”

“Dear, you stopped in the middle of an intersection.” When Crowley glared at him and failed to move, in spite of Aziraphale’s pursed lips and the honking of various cars cautiously steering around them in the middle of the intersection, he sighed. “Get closer, I can’t read the front from here.”

“Right, fine.” Crowley pulled forward, drove across the sidewalk, and pulled up alongside the truck. “S’that it? Says it’s it, right?”

“It says ‘Big Sky Severe Storm Spotters’ just there.” Aziraphale indicated the front of the truck, where a small decal had been placed. “Is that them?” He looked up to the hotel, while Crowley nodded. “Oh, Microtel.” He smiled. “She does work in mysterious ways.”

“Huh?” Crowley slung his arm across Aziraphale’s shoulders, the better to look behind them as he reversed back over the sidewalk. “Who?”

Aziraphale considered it. “Leanne,” he settled on. “This establishment was her first suggestion when I asked for a hotel recommendation.” Crowley snorted. “I know, quite the coincidence, wasn’t it?” He frowned, as Crowley pulled back onto the freeway. “Why are we leaving?”

“Gotta get our stuff, don’t we? Don’t!” He reached over and grabbed Aziraphale’s hand as the angel lifted it to snap his fingers. “No magic, if we can help it. Don’t want him to know we’re here. And we’ve got time to grab our stuff before we stake them out.”

“Ah.” Aziraphale nodded, and didn’t say anything when Crowley relaxed and let his arm fall to the console, his fingers still wrapped around Aziraphale’s. “That does make sense.” He settled back into his seat, more comfortable, breathing a small sigh of relief when he saw that Crowley was barely going over 90. 

It was the work of an hour to pick up their bags, load back into the car, and return to the Microtel where the truck was still parked. Crowley pulled into a parking lot across the street, with a good view of the hotel entrance as well as the truck, killed the lights, and hissed something to the car. The engine, to the car’s great surprise, idled more quietly. Crowley nodded, approving, pulled his phone out, and tilted the seat back, his heels propped up on the steering wheel. 

“So now we wait?”

“Now we wait,” Crowley agreed, scrolling through something. He paused, squinting at the phone, and zoomed in on something. “Oh, hey, wait a second before you start in on whatever book you’ve got.” Aziraphale stopped moving, his hand halfway to his briefcase. “Got an email from Lucky.”

“Oh!” Aziraphale stopped, and held out his hand. Crowley dropped the phone into it. “Here, I’ll read it. Oh, bother.” He puzzled over the phone for a minute, taking a moment to zoom back out and then a further minute to actually open the email. Crowley remained silent, eyes closed but a small smirk on his lips. “Don’t look so smug, Crowley, it’s unbecoming.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Very well, here it is. It reads:

“‘Hi, Nanny,

‘Wow, sounds like you and Brother Francis have had a nice spring! Glad to hear you had an okay time at the flower show, even if you didn’t win anything. Hah, I’m sure Francis reminded you winning isn’t everything but whatever, it is kind of great to win sometimes -’”

Crowley sighed fondly. “He’s always been so competitive.”

“‘ - but having fun is cool too, I guess. Anyway, I graduated from high school! I attached a few pictures of my graduation - the cool cat next to me in most of the pictures that isn’t my mom or dad is my friend Hal, I think I’ve told you about them before. Wish you could have come to meet everybody, but I get that traveling trans-Atlantic is rough, especially if you don’t like flying.

‘Are you guys doing anything this summer? I’m super excited - I told you I’m starting college for climatology in the fall, but I didn’t know until a week or two ago that before I do that, I get to go on a road trip this summer! Sort of road trip. Like, weather-related road trip. I’ll be’ ….” Aziraphale trailed off, blinking at the text on the screen, before he swallowed, his mouth suddenly very dry, and continued, “‘ I’ll be storm chasing across the midwest this summer. I’m really excited to see some severe weather close-up, and I’ll be working with a couple of researchers so hopefully I’ll learn a lot, too.’”

Aziraphale looked to Crowley, who was staring at him. “You’re kidding,” Crowley said, eyes wide. Aziraphale shook his head, and bent back over the phone, picking up the tempo as he read. 

“‘Although I’m sure you’re probably super excited about me chasing the hellish fury of a vengeful God, just in case Brother Francis is worried please let him know that it really is very safe, and the researchers I’ll be working with often take meteorology and climatology students on storm tours, to teach them - me, I guess! - about severe weather patterns, how to spot developing dangerous weather, and other stuff like that. I mean, I know you’re probably all about widespread destruction or whatever, but sorry to disappoint you since I guess I’m hoping to learn how to prevent casualties and warn people to get to safety! Brother Francis is super proud, I’m sure!

‘Anyway, I’ll email or text you from the road if you want. I can even send videos and pictures! I’m sure you’ll get stuff on snapchat too. Plus, the researchers - Rachael and Noel - update their Facebook page with events from the road during chasing season too, if you want to see their videos and stuff, which’ll probably be way better than anything I take on my phone. You might even see me in a cameo haha! I’ll be internet famous. Discovery Channel, here I come! Their company is called ‘Big Sky Severe Storm Spotters’, they’re the only one on Facebook I think.

‘So that’s the update! Hear from you soon!

‘Infernally missing you guys or whatever,

Lucky’”

Silence permeated the interior of the car for a few minutes. The engine, embarrassed, idled more quietly still. Wordlessly, Aziraphale handed Crowley’s phone back to him, the two of them staring fixedly out of the windshield for a long, long time. Across the street, the red truck sat in the parking lot lights, and somewhere in the hotel, two anti-Christs^ were sleeping soundly.

^ Sort of.

 Crowley was the first to break the silence, reaching his hand up slowly to cover his eyes, and pulling his knees in closer to his chest. He sighed. “Well, shit.”

-

Now with Chapter 5!

#good omens #good omens fanfiction #crowley #aziraphale #adam young #warlock dowling #he goes by lucky now in case you missed chapter 3 #i wish i didn't enjoy fanfiction so much #the one where they go to america

[echodrops]

I just found your opinions about BNHA`s league of villain redemption possibilities and I agree 100%. I was wondering if you could do the same with the 8PoD? I know they will probably never appear again in the manga but idk, hypothetically speaking. You can make it general if you don't wanna go analysing one by one. Just ignore this if you don't feel like it or hate their guts. Bye! - @lovehatinganime

Let’s see if I remember them all. XDDD

Setsuno, Hojo, Tabe: For one-off villains who are not likely to appear again, they got a surprising amount of their backstories/motivations revealed, and they’re all suitably tragic–Tabe’s quirk resulted in him being ostracized, Setsuno’s suicide was prevented against his will, and Hojo was kept essentially as a slave until whoever had control of his realized he couldn’t profit off Hojo. Furthermore, they fought honorably with no tricks and even told their enemies that they shouldn’t leave Tamaki alone to fight three-on-one. They showed good team work, didn’t resort to any dirty tricks, and accepted their loss fairly. Their loyalty to each other and Chisaki is emphasized. A little respect from heroes and help getting back on their feet and these guys could probably make it back into everyday society. 9/10 redemption potential.

Rappa: If you can get past the fact that he wants to battle everyone he meets to the literal death, Rappa’s not so bad a guy. He doesn’t stand by Tengai’s cheap trick of shielding their team with the barrier, and he respects both Fat Gum and Kirishima as opponents. He fights fair and square and has a clearly defined set of morals, even if his morality is a little more blue and orange than black and white. All Rappa wants to do is fight to the greatest extent possible, and he’ll treat everyone who comes at him equally. He’s honest and helpful to Fat Gum, and helps get Kirishima patched up after their battle. Get this man an indestructible hero soulmate and he’ll be set for life. 7/10 redemption potential, 10/10 token evil teammate potential. Jesus Christ keep him away from Gigantomachia though.

Tengai: Yo forget this guy. Putting up a shield when your opponents don’t have one? Lammmeee. Trying to keep Rappa from spilling the beans about Chisaki? Lame. Being a yakuza when you’re clearly level-headed and responsible enough to get a real job? LAME. That said, he is loyal to his boss and practical in battle, which is a rare trait in the BNHA world. Would be useful to have on the heroes side–alas, probably too useful for the plot to ever let him get a redemption arc. I’d be careful sending this guy to prison–he’s a smart one; I feel like I’d trust him to coordinate my next prison break. Too bad his idea of teamwork boils down to “Obey my orders.” Most likely to end up bought off by another evil team somewhere down the road. 5/10 redemption potential.

Irinaka: Cute! The little angry plague doctor doll is cute! I want the League to get a mascot character… Too bad the little doll isn’t Irinaka’s real body, because his creepy disembodied face peeping on people from the ceiling is a big turn off. Too eager to help Overhaul and with too hasty of a temper, he’s a yappy little dog that bites your ankles and the owner just stands by acting like it’s your fault this whole thing is happening. He’s too cowardly to come out and fight himself, and resorting to drugs to make up for not being strong on his own is no good for any possibility of a future in heroics. 3/10 redemption potential, but if someone’s quirk got this guy permanently struck in the plague doctor doll, I’d pay money for one of the heroes to get saddled with an angry, shit-talking muppet for the rest of the series.

Deidoro: I… like… have no memory of this guy. He was in what… a grand total of five panels? But I just Googled him and good god, those soulless, bulging eyeballs, like someone slapped evil googly eyes on the abyss as it stares back at me… That’s gonna have to a hardddd pass from me! Don’t become alcoholics, kids, you’ll end up in the Japanese mafia! 4/10 redemption potential.

Rikiya: Tried to touch Nejire, the queen. Calls women bitches. Wears a codpiece. Absolutely no chance of redemption. 0/10.

Nemoto: You know who’s not getting a redemption arc? This guy! Why? ‘Cause he’s a dick! Forcing people to speak against their will? Dick move. Describing yourself as “special” and treating everyone else in the Precepts like they’re beneath you? Dick. Exploiting Mirio’s guilt over being unable to save Eri? Dickkkk. Taking away Mirio’s quirk? I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF, SIR. How did this guy avoid being killed off in the actual series by laser-guided karma? I’m calling bullshit. There’s being loyal, and then there’s just being obsessed, and this guy has definitely crossed the line twice. Do you think Chisaki knows that half the people in his organization follow him just ‘cause they want to jump his bones? This guy was a con artist before he joined the Yazuka, and since there are multiple people on the heroes’ side who can tell when someone is lying, I don’t buy into this “I became disenchanted by all the liars of the world” backstory. Not tragic enough–do not pass go, do not get collected by Chisaki. 0/10 redemption potential.

Chrono Trigger: You know how there are some villain characters who just look like they have “redemption arc” stamped on their forehead, by virtue of somehow being more lovingly drawn and given unnecessary personal touches like calling the other baddy by first name? Yeah, Chrono is That Guy™. Like, he’s a cold-hearted jerk, but he’s not THAT much of a cold-hearted jerk. Like, he’s the childhood friend, but he didn’t stop his friend from literally plotting to end the world. He’s more down to earth and realistic than Chisaki, thinking the dream of restoring the Underworld with the Yakuza is unrealistic, but he goes along with it anyway because fuck if he has anything better to do. He’s got the obsessive loyalty of the others but in a saner manner, and since he never does anything particularly evil directly–he’s stopped before he can permanently damage Aizawa–he comes across as relatively redeemable. Could probably be convinced to work with the heroes, if given sufficient motivation. 8/10 redemption potential, regardless of the fact that he hasn’t shown much of anything to deserve it.

Chisaki: Okay guys. LOOK. Imma be real honest here. Chisaki is a whole ass mood. Plague Doctor aesthetic? Mobster lingo? Old school Godfather vibes? Literally the coolest quirk in the series? No morality to speak of, zero Friendship Power, an utterly unsympathetic background for a villain? The most emotionally trying and best written battle in the series to date? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. It’s rare for me to cheer whole-heartedly for the heroes, but DAMN if Chisaki’s fight and defeat wasn’t a hell of a satisfying ride. As a villain, everything about Chisaki was done so goddamn well that I just ate it up like a kid in a candy store. Using his underlings like tools instead of fellow human beings? How evil! Mentally and physically torturing a beautiful sunshine child? HOW EVIL! Killing Nighteye? HoW eViL!! Overhaul was frightening and threatening from start to finish and hit every note exactly as a early-to-mid-series climax boss. A++ villain and A+++ arc. 99/10 villain of the year potential Tomura is the only 100 in this house.

…But you’re kidding yourself if you think this guy’s got even one ounce of good guy potential in him. Redemption actively RUNS from this man. For the pain he brought to Eri, Mirio, Deku, and everyone involved in the Yakuza raid, there’s no way in hell Kai Chisaki will ever be able to morally redeem himself, even if his hatred of Tomura leads him to give useful info to the heroes. -1,000,000/10 redemption potential.

#boku no hero academia #kai chisaki #overhaul #eight precepts of death #shie hassaikai #rappa #rikiya #shin nemoto #hari chrono #bnha spoilers #villains are so fun #bnha

[eyedelater]

chapter 100.11 translation notes and other notes

i’ll mark translation notes with a * at the start of the note so you can read just those if you want. also these notes are pretty rambling jsyk

*i was torn as to whether to continue the "translate 'nii-san' as 'brother'" tradition set forth by the prior scanlator or to continue my own habit of littering the text with "nii-san"s left and right to reflect the fact that ritsu doesn't really ever use actual second-person pronouns when addressing his brother, but rather sticks to referring to him as "nii-san" even to his face. because of course the "brother" option would make for a more immersive english language reading experience, you know. but i guess as just an editorial choice, i've decided to stick with the somewhat incongruous combination of having ritsu call mob "nii-san" and keeping honorifics attached to names but translating "shishou" as "master." except for that one omake where i needed it for the joke. well, if i were going for an archival-quality translation, i would probably change some things, but this is fine for now

so it's only the wrapping of the bouquet that's been damaged over the course of this whole ordeal... he's been keeping a perfect barrier on the flowers themselves... ;_;

ritsu is killing me here, and yet in retrospect his actions are the option that makes the most narrative sense. like, if he had instead straight-up tried to challenge ???% and aggressively attempt to stop it, that might move the plot along quickly, but it would neglect all the character building we see here. if he had addressed ???% as Not his brother, with a colder and less self-endangering attitude, mob wouldn't be so emotionally affected by ritsu's speech (and it's clear that mob being emotionally affected is going to make a big difference in whatever happens next, since we're shown his percentage meter seven (7) times in this chapter). but this sweet, understanding, brotherly speech that strongly echoes mob's anipeko speech... accepting ???% as one more nii-san in his life, erroneously or not... and showing that ritsu has been paying this much attention to his brother's well-being, and that he noticed how much mob's been holding himself back... this pure-hearted desire to just Help mob with his inner torment, completely lacking the fear of his brother that plagued him for years.... ritsu's so good TToTT

*when ritsu says "the truth is... i wanted you to talk it out with me," i wasn't entirely sure whether that meant something like "i was the one who wanted to come to you for advice," or if it was like "i really did just want you to open up to me so i could help." i've settled on the latter, given the context of the lines that follow it, but yeah, the grammar of the sentence still confuses me just a little. (the raw sentence is like "hontou ha... nii-san ni soudan ni notte hoshikatta" [can't be bothered to go type that in kanji and kana] and the "soudan ni noru" part translates more literally to, like, "to counsel" or "to take part in a consultation" and i spent a long time puzzling over whether that meant ritsu wanted his brother to consult with him [i.e. mob is still the one whose problems will be discussed and solved during their consultation] or whether ritsu was the one who wanted to consult with his brother [i.e. talk to his brother about his own problems]. like, i was having a hard time grasping whether the verb was transitive or intransitive or what.) either way i left the translation intentionally somewhat vague (in that "talking it out" doesn't indicate whether "it" refers to mob's worries or ritsu's worries) to account for this slight uncertainty... i hope that doesn't make it more confusing to read... 

also i don’t quite understand the difference in connotation between “hontou ha” and “jitsu ha” so i translated the former in the same way i’ve translated the latter in the past... which bristles me a little.

also i can’t decide whether to transliterate the syllable pronounced as “wa” but written as “ha” as “wa” or “ha”

two things i think i can say concretely:

mob's emotional percentage meter operates separately from ???% (despite the nomenclature i've decided to use for that latter entity)

[hunter x hunter warning] ritsu's interpretation of the relationship between mob and ???% is like, an alluka/nanika thing. like, killua had to recognize that nanika is his sister too, a bonus sister within his usual sister, and that's pretty much what ritsu has recognized here, seeing ???% as a bonus brother within his usual brother... erroneous as that conclusion may or may not be.

*the lid analogy is translated pretty much literally even though i think it sounds kinda lame. there’s just nothing badass about lids. however, when ritsu says that This nii-san is "lifting the lid and rearing his head," what he literally says is "opening the lid and coming out," which as a literal translation struck me as sounding criminally lame... so i gave it the old razzle dazzle... just giving y’all full transparency here.

*i was conflicted about possibly putting a sound effect footnote below the last panel of the chapter, because before i learned any japanese i remember being very upset about a certain sound effect in a certain chapter of a certain manga that i couldn't read to interpret what exactly was happening in that scene, which was a cliffhanger and thus especially wanting my desperate interpretation. so now i try especially to annotate any sound effects that might be instrumental in helping the reader understand cliffhanger-type scenes. but in this case, idk, it wasn't too much of a cliffhanger, plus it's a syllable that's hard for me to transliterate hyper-accurately like i like to... but anyway i Am making a translation note of it, if not a marginal footnote in the chapter itself, to note that the sound effect in the last panel of chapter 100.11 is "pi;!" like, the "pi" in "pizza" but shortened and staccato as though interrupted by a glottal stop. yeah. hard to transliterate. so that "pi" sound effect is probably shortened from "pika" which is the sound effect for a flash, which makes sense because there's a flash in that panel. that brings us to the other reason i didn't annotate that sound effect in the chapter, which is that this sound effect isn't especially easy to interpret. it doesn't really give us any good hints as to what is happening to make that sound. really it seems to just be the sound ("sound") of an abrupt flash, in a panel that shows an abrupt flash. so it doesn't give us much new information, but i wanted to clarify what information it does give us, i guess. (the sound effects in the penultimate panel are just “gi gi” which are jaw-clenched struggle noises as mob... struggles. such non-instrumental sound effects are the ones i don’t feel bad not annotating.)

i say [sound (”sound”) of an abrupt flash] because "pika” is not the kind of sound effect that’s meant to illustrate a literal sound. like, you and i know that a flash of light doesn’t sound like “pika.” it doesn’t sound like anything. it’s just light. but there’s just some japanese sound effects that are like that, describing a phenomenon or mood that doesn’t actually make a sound. i find such onomatopoeia/ideophones to be useful and intriguing. here. also, note that i could be mistaken in my interpretation and the “pi” in that panel could be representing an actual sound (like a beep or something) that just happens to coincide with a flash. 

NOW, as for the accuracy of ritsu’s interpretation of mob’s situation with ???%... i’ll address that in more detail in a separate post. but i do think that it makes sense to put more stock in mob’s declaration that “this isn’t me” than in ritsu’s interpretation from the outside looking in. i’ll also note that ritsu’s interpretation doesn’t align perfectly with my main ???% hypothesis (since my main hypothesis doesn’t really describe an alluka/nanika situation). but that doesn’t mean i’m discounting ritsu’s interpretation right off the bat, nor do i plan to stick with my hypothesis irrespective of canon developments.

BUT WHETHER OR NOT I AGREE WITH HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE MOB + ???% SITUATION, I CAN FIRMLY DISAGREE WITH HIS DECISION TO TRY TO CONFISCATE THE BOUQUET

#mob psycho 100 spoilers #mp100 spoilers #MOB BLOG MOB LOG

[plumtreeforest]

OiIwa Rec List

So, @exella​ kindly asked me for a rec list of exclusive Bottom!Iwa fics and yes I am only far too happy to comply.

(this only contains English fics bc even though the Japanese OiIwa fandom is ripe and live with Top!Oikawa/Bottom!Iwaizumi fics and headcanons I am too lazy to translate and a lot of the authors I follow are already inactive so idk if they’d even respond if I ask)

(also I guess it should go without saying that a lot of these fics are either M or E rated bc...uhh...penetrative sex. Also if there are any broken links just tell me this was dizzying to make haha)

Without any further ado *jazz hands*

Assume the Position by troublebuster

If there's two things Oikawa likes, it's getting his own way and being nasty.

salt on caramel by ohhotlamb

“I swear, they wanna kill me by the time I’m thirty. My stress level is too high for someone so beautiful. I’ll get wrinkles.”

Iwaizumi grunts around his mouthful. “’s this about the butt thing? And the pizza party?”

“Oh, great, even different departments have heard about it. Just great.”

Item of Immense Power by iwaizumemes

He could smell the dirt and mixture of sap where his face was pushed against the ground. It took him more than a few seconds to remember where he was, or at least where he thought he was. The bright flash, so blinding he thought he’d gone blind, and then the aching twisting sensation, his bones bending like copper wires, but there was no pain, just compression, and then there was nothing.

[Iwaizumi finds himself in an alternate universe with no way to get home.]

Salted by orphan_account

Looking back on it, Shigeru didn’t really mean to watch it play out before his eyes like a late night, guilt-ridden porno.

It just… happened.

Close Your Eyes by kingiwaizumi

"Eh?! Iwa-chan?!" Oikawa squeaked as he was suddenly slammed down onto the bed.

"Shut up," Iwaizumi muttered, straddling Oikawa.

"You're gonna beat me up again?! How cruel! What did I do?!" Oikawa lifted his arms in self defense.

"I said shut up!"

Oikawa immediately went silent, lowering his arms and staring at Iwaizumi's expression. It was distant and unreadable.

"Close your eyes," Iwaizumi instructed, his voice quiet and slightly shaky.

"If you're gonna kill me-"

"Close your eyes, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi glared sharply at Oikawa, a warning clear in his eyes.

Laws of Attraction by notmykink

“What—what do you want from me, then?” Iwaizumi asks warily.

“I don’t want anything from you,” Oikawa walks over, pressing his pointer finger against Iwaizumi’s chest pocket, hooking it into the pocket as he leans in. “I want you."

Don’t Forget to Breathe by notmykink

"Iwaizumi, this is Oikawa Tooru, a hypnotist," Hanamaki says as the stranger joins them by the table, eyes fixed on Iwaizumi.

[Iwaizumi gets a lesson on erotic hypnotism and has the best/worst night of his life.]

Fixation by notmykink

Hajime has always had a thing for Tooru’s fingers.

fucking strangers by notmykink

He hates the guy. Hates his guts. He’d never fall for a guy like that. And that’s exactly the reason he decides to reach out for the glass, raising it and clinking it against the stranger’s. His smirk widens, different than the one he gave the bartender or the women from earlier, the one he had attempted to use on Iwaizumi at first. This one isn’t feigning innocence; it’s predatory and dangerous, ravenous. Iwaizumi wants to wipe that smirk off his face.

“I’m Oikawa; Oikawa Tooru,” the stranger says, reaching his hand out for Iwaizumi to take it.

“Iwaizumi,” he replies, shaking his hand before lifting the glass to his lips again, emptying it.

close to your heart by notmykink

Their last night together before Iwaizumi leaves his king and his castle behind to join the hero team and defeat him.

Plead by catayoyo

"Oikawa buries his face between Iwaizumi's shoulder blades and exhales deeply. "I want to fuck you against the mirror, would you like that? Would you beg for me?"

There's a slow, horrifying realisation that it's not just a mood he's in, it's one of those moods where Oikawa even pulls him apart. Even tries to work him at the seams to make him crumble into a pile of nothing until his body is raw and he really doesn't have time for it today."

Pretty much just PWP with Oikawa topping

plaisir by aischolatry

“Be polite, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says, and smiles. It is thin-lipped, narrow-eyed, and vicious. “Say please, won’t you?”

all night long by Authoress

“I don’t beg,” Iwaizumi growls.

“I never said you had to,” Oikawa points out.

Wreck a Temple, Forge a Promise by Authoress

Tooru finally brings him to Seijou after Hajime’s first winter in the little village and on the mountain, when the flora and fauna of the green mountain shake off the last frost of the season and the spirits sing in time with the babbling of the streams.

It is in the midst of all that new life that Tooru takes him for the first time, and makes him a promise.

[SEQUEL TO 'BUILD A TEMPLE IN ME']

Maid Iwaizumi by blandvole

Maid Iwaizumi is sent to work for the sadistic Princes Kageyama and Oikawa.

Locker Room Punishment by blandvole

Oikawa spanks Iwaizumi in the locker room in front of the whole team.

Kissmarked by Moami

There’s a beat of silence. Inoue stares at him. “You don’t know? Uhm.” He laughs nervously, and then points to his own neck. “Your nape is full of blue marks. Looks like you were bitten or someone tried to strangle you. I hope it’s not the latter.”

Fucking hell.

“Actually,” Inoue mumbles, “they kind of look like an O. But whatever floats your boat, I suppose.”

Murder, Hajime thinks. I’m going to fucking kill him.

The Secret Omega by AllTheAspects

Now, staring down at the cheery label which promises no regrets, Iwaizumi ironically but sincerely regrets every decision which lead him here.

In particular, his annoying as fuck best friend. Who absolutely, definitely, no matter what, cannot find out that Iwaizumi is an omega.

exit wounds by riseelectric

We break before we build.

WARNING: Rape/Non-Con

Your First and Your Last by mean_whale

One day Iwaizumi leads Oikawa away from the rest of the pack to talk. What does he want to talk about, and is this a sign that Oikawa's unrequited love isn't quite so unrequited after all?

Home by Frenchibi

Tooru can’t help but giggle, curling in over him and threading his hand into Hajime’s hair, gently massaging his scalp.

Hajime presses a kiss to that strip of skin in response, breath tickling him a little, before he pulls back slightly and settles into a more comfortable position, curling closer and letting his eyes fall shut.

“…love you, Iwa-chan,” Tooru whispers, and he sees a soft smile tug at the corner of Hajime’s lips.

Everything With You by Ellessey

‘Hajime still loves Oikawa, but he understands now. Oikawa can't look at him and see someone he could potentially date.

And that makes it easier to not focus on the little things that used to drive him crazy—Oikawa's long legs, the way he's always hanging off of Hajime, how his whole face changes when he gets ready for a jump serve, and he looks like he could take on the entire world and win.

This new arrangement though, this living together situation, is presenting a new set of variables that must be adjusted to, and the nakedness is one of them.’

--

For years, being Oikawa’s best friend has worked out fine. Hajime is hopelessly in love with him, but it’s enough. Then Oikawa—who, by all accounts, has never been anything but determinedly, assuredly straight—gets a boyfriend. Or a boy friend-with-benefits. Hajime doesn’t know, and he doesn’t give a shit about the definition.

What he knows is that remaining best friends is starting to seem a bit too painful (way too painful) to be considered a solid option.

Adjustments by dicie

[Iwaizumi Hajime, a knight in shining armour, has found a dragon that needs seeing to. But the dragon has a different idea about what that seeing to entails.]

Hajime's day is not going how he imagined. There are various things he thought it might entail: falling off his horse, getting charred by a dragon, or skewered by talons all promising possibilities. He grunts and shifts his his angle. Getting fucked by his mission wasn't an option he had considered.

Show Me You Own Me by AcceleOrder

It's Oikawa's idea, of course. But Iwaizumi finds himself loving the way Ushijima has Oikawa wrapped around his fingers, and before long they're both moaning at the hands of Ushijima.

aka the kinkiest shit I've ever written in my life.

Until It Breaks by SuggestiveScribe

"We could get caught."

Oikawa just hummed, fingers sliding around the front of Iwaizumi's hips and slipping up under the hem of his work shirt. "But we're closed," he cooed.

Say It by someonestolemyshoes

"They should not be doing this. They should absolutely, one hundred per cent not be doing this.

Iwaizumi had been stupid, maybe, to give Oikawa the benefit of the doubt as he’d crawled into his futon, crooning about the cold and the quiet and the comfort of Iwaizumi’s sheets compared to his own, and he’d been so especially stupid to think things wouldn’t go far, even as Oikawa had flattened his palm against Iwaizumi’s stomach and dug his fingers beneath the waistband of his shorts."

Or: Oikawa gives Iwaizumi a sneaky hand job one night during a training camp and Iwaizumi is horribly weak to Oikawa's will.

Stardust by kiyala

It's the most powerful feeling in the world, Oikawa thinks with a smile, to be able to give the person you love most exactly what they need.

rationed breaths by wetbreadstick

Iwaizumi knows the arch of Oikawa's back when he stretches, knows the smooth muscles of his thighs, knows how his shirt sticks to him after a long summer practice: he knows it all. He thinks about it a lot. More than he should, probably.

There's power in his body, and Iwaizumi curses himself for forgetting it.

Hungry by SuggestiveScribe

"You've been so good lately." Iwa-chan clenched his jaw and Oikawa leaned closer to him, whispering low and hoarse against his blood matted skin, "Let Oikawa-san take care of you."

Kindle by Akira_kun

kindle transitive verb 1: to start (a fire) burning : light 2a : to stir up : arouse 2b : to bring into being : start 3: to cause to glow : illuminate

Or

Not so lazy morning pwp sex.

Slap or Kiss? by BlackKite7

Without any warning though, the kiss came to an abrupt halt as Oikawa leaned away and settled himself back down beside him, his face bright red as he refused to look in Iwaizumi’s direction and insisted that the game continue.

As the game resumed, Iwaizumi looked on with half-hearted interest, realising that his imagination was fatally flawed.

Terpsichore by LordessMeep

Noun: Terpsichore (turp’si-ku-ree) Taking a series of rhythmical steps (and movements) in time to music They’d ended up going to different universities, Tooru and he. The distance was good for them. The confession Hajime dropped in both their laps wasn’t.

That’s how it’d ended – a lifetime of friendship crumbled to dust in the space of five minutes.

(Or, a lesson in learning to move on from things you can't have, in finding old loves in new ways and in understanding that life is never truly simple... till it is.)

Only You. by jckwng

Iwaizumi was not a weak man. He had refused to back down against even the toughest of opponents (whether that be during a volleyball match or in a fist fight with someone who insulted Oikawa). He was a tough nut to crack, a locked door with a misplaced key. Iwaizumi was a lot of things.

But he was not a weak man.

Which is why Oikawa took great pleasure in being able to reduce him to a whimpering mess with two fingers

I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor by weebshit

This couldn’t even be considered dancing - the way this man seemed to just cut through the crowd of dancers, hunting down his desired prey as his hips gyrated to the beat and his lips parted and turned up in a way that made Hajime realize he knew exactly how alluring he was. It was almost frustrating to watch, the way he could so easily pull anyone under his spell and then just walk away moments later, already onto his next victim.

Alternatively, Iwaizumi is having a shitty time at a club and Oikawa makes his night a little better.

Hot Mess by kagseyamas

Gotta make sure your ace gets what he deserves on his birthday. In this case, it's letting Oikawa try something new.

Or, Iwaizumi discovers the beauty of rimming.

In Between by kiyala

Tooru's transformation feels a little like shedding skin. It happens in bits and pieces at first, before Tooru is ready to shift out of his human form entirely and turn into a dragon.

He's always so incredibly sensitive to everything in between, though, and Hajime's smell hangs in the air distractingly. Tooru feels like he can taste Hajime on his tongue. Right now, there's nothing he wants more in the world than that.

One for the Team by kingiwaizumi

The Aoba Johsai volleyball club is running low on money, so what better way to raise money than a maid café?

Of course, it's Oikawa's brilliant idea, and Hanamaki can't bring himself to complain.

(Iwaizumi in a maid uniform, need I say more?)

with HanaIwa

Pull Me Closer and Kiss Me Hard by Souliebird

Iwaizumi had made the grave mistake of telling Oikawa he had no idea how to proposition Kyoutani.

The very next day his boyfriend had walked up to the man he had been having wet dreams about for almost three months, in the middle of free practice, and had simply gone, “Would you like to fuck Iwa-chan?”

More KyouIwa than OiIwa

Worth A Try by Tent

Iwaizumi wasn't quite sure what's happening. Oikawa definitely does not like what's happening. Ushijima is the cause of what's happening.

or

I tried to write smut.

More UshiIwa than OiIwa

What Happens at Parties by sushibomb

Hajime and Kuroo get to know each other a little better at a party and Tooru gets to watch.

More KuroIwa than OiIwa

And because I like to toot my own horn: my AO3 has a shitton of Bottom!Iwa, feel free to browse. I’m also about to upload nother Botom!Iwa fic, which is my last ever Haikyuu fic:

#oiiwa #haikyuu #fic rec #iwaoi #iwaizumi hajime #oikawa tooru