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aitaikimochi · 3 years

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BNHA Team Up Mission Spin-Off Manga Chapter 9 Summary Translation

The Boku No Hero Academia TEAM UP MISSION manga Chapter 9 follows Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima as they team up with Shiketsu's Camie to act in a stage play at a theme park. The chapter is really hilarious and lighthearted.

The title of the chapter is “That’s Totally Overdoing the Illusion!”

Here's the entire chapter summary! Enjoy~

Boku No Hero Academia TEAM UP MISSION

By Akiyama Youkou

Chapter 9 That’s Totally Overdoing the Illusion!

The chapter starts off with Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki on a Team Up Mission at a theme park called “Future World.” They arrive at the theme park and Kirishima says the theme park is amazing. Todoroki notes that it’s really big, and Bakugou says, “Whatever, it’s just for kids.” They then are approached by Camie, who says, “Omg no way! U.A. is like, here too??”

Camie says “I’m like so totally excited to be meeting up with some hotties again, like woah!”

Bakugou says he has no idea what the hell Camie is saying, and Kirishima exclaims, “Oh! It’s a Shiketsu student from the Provisional Hero License Exam!” Kirishima proceeds to introduce himself in his intense manner, and Camie says that he kinda acts like Inasa.

It turns out that the Team Up Mission requires U.A. Academy to team up with Shiketsu at the amusement park to assist the staff with something. They meet up with the CEO of the park to figure out what exactly he needs help on. The CEO is a tiny man with a large mustache dressed up like a jester.

The CEO asks them to follow him to another side of the park, called Retro Land. This theme park is a run-down and old looking traditional theme park with barely any customers. The CEO of the theme park says that he brought them here to take part in a stage play to attract more customers.

He hands them a script, which is about a town being attacked by villains. The heroes show up and fight the villains, and the heroes end up in a pinch. However, with the help of the citizens cheering them on, the heroes are able to restore peace back to the city.

Kirishima hears the outline of the play and gets excited, saying it’s such an awesome mainstream story. Bakugou scoffs and says, “but it’s damn basic.” Kirishima then says, “Nah, I like it!”

The students then go into a rehearsal of the scene where the heroes are in a pinch. One of the professional actresses, a Dog Lady wearing a skull choker, low v-neck vest, studded belt, and long pants, says, “Oh you guys are actually heroes? Then you probably haven’t acted before?”

Kirishima then tries to do his best acting, saying “Gahh…I’m…strong….guhhh I won’t…fall down…I’ll never turn my back…because I….I….!!!” and overdoes his acting.

Camie then says “Like holy crap the Villain blindsided me, and now I’m on the floor like discarded bubble tea!”

Todoroki just falls onto the floor silently. Bakugou tries acting, screaming “I WILL NEVER FALL TO THE LIKES OF A VILLAIN!” The Dog Lady actress asks them if they were actually even trying to act, and they all say they were doing their best. The Dog Lady says she’s a bit worried about how this will go.

In either case, they need to decide which role everyone will be taking part. The Dog Lady instructs them to decide among themselves who will get what role.

Bakugou and Camie both say at the same time they want to be the lead Hero role. Camie says, “Wait, but I’m older than you so I totally should be the lead Hero role!” Bakugou gets mad and screams, “BUT I AM THE STRONGEST ONE HERE. BESIDES, I AM Q.E.D.!**”

Camie says “Damn yo, that’s the lowest of the low” and Bakugou yells, “Shut the hell up and speak your mother tongue, damnit!”

Kirishima tries to calm him saying, “Calm down guys, Camie-senpai too…!” He then notices that Todoroki is looking at a child’s playground bear spring rider, and Kirishima asks, “Oh, do you want to ride it? The staff did say we could enjoy the park as much as we’d like!” Kirishima mentions that they never really had a chance to go to a theme park ever since entering High School, and being at a theme park feels nostalgic as it brings back memories of his childhoold.

Todoroki then says, “No…I don’t have any memories of ever going to a theme park.”

Camie looks at Todoroki and says, “Uh, like no way?”

Kirishima then grabs Todoroki and says, “WELL IF THAT’S THE CASE…JUST PRACTICING OUR LINES WILL GET STALE, SO LET’S ENJOY THE THEME PARK!” and rides the bear spring rider together with Todoroki.

Camie wants to join them too, and she, Kirishima, and Todoroki go on a carousel while Bakugou gets irritated. Camie is taking a picture for Kirishima and Todoroki on her cellphone while Kirishima calls out to Bakugou saying, “Heeyyy! Bakugou, come join us!”

Bakugou scoffs, “Hmph, waste of time.”

Kirishima, Todoroki, and Camie then ride a roller coaster together and Kirishima shouts, “It’s fun you know!”

Bakugou says, “This is no time to be playing with these stupid toys…!”

Kirishima then grins and says to Bakugou “All right then, if that’s the case, let’s decide who gets the lead Hero hero role by seeing who can get the least dizzy from the tea cup ride!” This piques Bakugou’s interest, and Kirishima further taunts him saying, “If you’re not confident about it, then you don’t gotta force yourself!”

This gets Bakugou fired up and he says, “I’m going to spin this shit and kill all of you guys!!!!!!!” He sits in the tea cup next to Kirishima, Camie, and Todoroki and spins it like crazy. Camie looks like she’s going to throw up and says, “Wait…Bakugou…you’re like, turning it way too fast!”

Bakugou looks at Kirishima and taunts, “HOW IS IT!? YOU DON’T LOOK SO GOOD. GONNA GIVE UP YET!?” and Kirishima yells back, “YOU MUST BE JOKING! NOT EVEN CLOSE! TURN IT UP!!”

Bakugou then screams, “PLUS ULTRAAAAAA!!!” as he spins the cup so fast it looks as if they are not moving at all. Camie squeaks “Helllaaaaaaa…”

After they get off the ride, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Camie are wobbling around and walking unevenly, with Kirishima accidentally heading towards the direction of the girl’s bathroom in his dizzy state and Camie about to throw up on the floor. Bakugou sways and proudly points at no one, saying “You bastard, you’re all dizzy!”

Kirishima says, “Guh…did…didja see that, Bakug….erghh!” Camie says she’s going to hurl. Todoroki asks, “Uh, where are you guys even going?”

Kirishima then notices that Todoroki is completely unphased, and he asks “Todoroki…you’re okay!?” Todoroki responds, “I feel a bit uneasy…”

With that, it’s decided that Todoroki gets the lead Hero role. They then head back to the stage, and there’s a few people in the audience already as well as two camera men who will be filming this performance and uploading it online later.

All the students are ready for their performance, and as they act out the first scene, a group of people corner the CEO and threaten him. The group are land developers who tell the CEO to give up Retro Land since it’s going out of business anyway. He grabs the CEO in a chokehold, but the CEO says he won’t hand over the park to these people.

As this is happening, Camie, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima go backstage after their first act. Camie says they can take a short break until the next scene. Kirishima remarks that the camera was focused a lot on him, but Bakugou says he’s pretty damn sure he was the one getting more spotlight.

As they walk backstage, they see the group of people threatening the CEO. Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugou easily take out these villains, but the villain tells the CEO that they had planted a trap at the roller coaster in Retro Land where a part of the roller coaster tracks were destroyed. The ride operators did not know this, and there’s currently a cart that will be falling off the roller coaster tracks soon. The villain mentions that no one would want to go to a theme park after hearing of such a bad accident. Kirishima realizes this and rushes first to the roller coaster ride.

Meanwhile, Camie is wondering what to do because their break is over, and they’re due to be on stage again. Since the boys are dealing with the villains, she decides to create illusions of all of them and wing the performance off script with her illusion versions of Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima.

She recreates the pretty boy Todoroki illusion, who turns to the Dog Lady, who’s playing the role of the villain, and says, “Won’t you…please stop being a villain? You should become a Hero instead!” and the Dog Lady blushes and immediately falls for it, saying “YES…!”

Since Camie can’t access the script right now, she just decides to ad lib everything and make up a new story. She makes the Illusion Kirishima turn out to be the actual villain of the story, and the camera men who are in the audience wonder what happened to the original script.

On the other side of the park, Kirishima is already on top of the roller coaster tracks and uses his hardening to stop the oncoming roller coaster cart. He tries to stop it but the cart still keeps going.

Bakugou then comes behind him and steps on his back, and Kirishima looks back and says “Bakugou!”

The guy on the front seat of the ride screams “Why are there two people [on the tracks]!?”

Bakugou says that there’s not enough manpower to stop the roller coaster. He places one hand on Kirishima’s back to support him while using his other hand to set off a huge explosion, propelling them forward to nullify the movement of the roller coaster cart.

Back at the stage, Camie is doing her best trying to improv the play. Her Illusion Villain Kirishima gloats that he will fulfill his revenge. The Illusion Todoroki cries out, “No! Please stop this fight!” while a very quiet and calm looking Bakugou places his hand on Illusion Todoroki’s shoulder.

The real Bakugou and Kirishima are still trying to stop the roller coaster cart from going further, and Kirishima hugs the front of the roller coaster as Bakugou continues to use his explosion to stop the cart. They finally successfully stop the coaster, and Kirishima falls back in relief, showing a dent in the front of the roller coaster cart in the shape of his body.

Just as they saved the roller coaster cart, Camie was finished with the play as well. The two camera men who were filming the play were so moved they started crying at how good the play was. One of the camera men mentions that he wants to bring this Hero Stage play around the entire country because it was so moving.

The resolution scene shows the Illusion Villain Kirishima shaking hands with the Illusion Quiet Bakugou with the closing line, “And with that, the hero that looked the most like a Villain was able to open the actual Villain’s heart and let him turn a new leaf.”

The crowd cheers as Illusion Bakugou and Illusion Villain Kirishima continue to shake hands.

At the roller coaster, Todoroki assists the people in the roller coaster cart off the tracks by using his ice to create an emergency ladder. Kirishima then smiles at Camie and says, “Good work Camie-senpai! You did it!” Camie looks like she’s going to hurl again since she overused her quirk, saying “I feel hella sick…I like, overdid the illusions…hella…”

With that, the four students finish their training at the amusement park together. Later that week, the Retro Land Stage Play was uploaded onto a video streaming site, and the video got 1,200 likes and counting. The show was a hit online, and because of that, Retro Land’s popularity bounced back and more people started going to the theme park.

However, because of the stage play, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Todoroki also gained some new fans.

The last scene shows the two camera men hiding in the bushes with cameras while Bakugou, Todoroki, and Kirishima are walking.

Kirishima ask them, “Hey uh…do you guys get the feeling we’re being watched…?”

THE END!

#boku no hero academia #bnha #bakugou #bakugou katsuki #todoroki #todoroki shouto #kirishima #kirishima eijirou #camie utsushimi #my translations #this chapter was super funny especially the part where they get off the tea cups and walk all wobbly lol

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natsu-tte-noodle · 2 years

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手紙 (Letters) - To Kumon

(Cross Posted on AO3)

Words: 1324 Warnings: None

Kumon,

Congrats on a successful Summer this year. Now that Autumn is in full force, it’s break time for us. Luckily, my schedule’s also pretty empty right now aside from classes, so I was actually able to join everyone for this trip for sweet potatoes. It’s good to be out with friends again after a few months of being so busy.

It’s also a little weird because I’m sitting right next to you, but I couldn’t really refuse to come along or you might have figured out I was writing your letter. But you also keep trying to sneak peaks at all of our letters, and I’m trying my best to hide your own name from you but you’re making it really hard. I guess what I’m saying is, I hope you’re still surprised when you get this.

Not to mention, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to come, so I figured I’d just do my best to make sure you can’t see this until you’re supposed to.

In case you can see this right now, hi Kumon stop looking at my paper.

I don’t know if Izumi meant for anyone to get someone within their own troupe, but it’s not like there’s much that could have stopped this from happening at least once. It is what it is, I guess, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to look back on the past six months we’ve had you in the Summer Troupe.

Can you believe it’s been six months already? It feels like you barged into the dorms demanding to join the Autumn Troupe and bashing comedy just yesterday. For someone who was so against our concept at the beginning, you were surprisingly easy to work with once you decided to give it a chance. Way easier than most of the other guys, at least. Yuki was so bad at taking advice back then. Thanks for gracefully accepting help when it’s offered.

I guess if I had to use one word to describe your acting back then, it’d be “eager.” I don’t think it’ll be a surprise to you if I say it wasn’t exactly great back then, but you wanted to learn so badly that it basically completely made up for it. I know a lot of that was because you wanted to be like your brother, but I remember Juza being the same way when he was starting out. So you did reach that goal, more or less.

That said, you’re developing your own acting style that’s distinct from his. Which, no matter what your first instinct might be, is a good thing.

Juza has an acting style that you could call “subtle yet strong,” I think. His characters might grab attention in the world of the play, but I don’t think I can say Juza really does anything on purpose to make that happen. It kind of just ends up happening, because he carries himself in a way that demands the audience’s attention when he’s on stage. Since he was basically curled in on himself at first, it’s been fun to see his growth there.

On the other hand, and this might come from the nature of our plays too, your presence on stage is a lot louder than his. It demands attention more directly. We’ve only done two plays together at this point, but it was noticeable with Akiyama, and it sure as hell was noticeable with the young lord.

At the same time, I feel like there’s something about your acting that grounds the ridiculous worlds we find ourselves in. Surrounded by teammates blinded by love, Akiyama was a kid who wanted to play baseball, and that’s how you played him. And in a world of ninja clans and warring castles, you played the young lord as an idiot who cared too much about himself. I can’t imagine meeting a lot of our characters on the street, but I can imagine running into someone like yours.

In that sense, a good way to describe your acting now might be “bold yet stable.” You do a lot to help our play worlds feel like they exist beyond what happens on stage.

It feels kind of shallow to only talk about the stage when I talk about your place in the Summer Troupe, though. Our troupe doesn’t stop existing when we aren’t in the practice room. So.

To be honest, that was my transition into what I really wanted to put down here. When I saw your name on that little slip of paper the director left in my envelope, I thought it would be a good chance to maybe say some stuff that I don’t think I’d be able to get myself to say out loud. But even with this letter, it’s harder than I thought it’d be. That’s why I’ve sort of been stalling with theater talk. Everything I said above is true, though. I’m stalling, but I’m not lying or anything.

Anyway.

I don’t think it’s really a secret anymore that I didn’t really have friends before coming to the MANKAI Company. I was always busy with work, so I couldn’t do school events or have birthday parties or anything. I don’t regret dedicating myself to acting at all, but it’s pretty safe to say that I didn’t have the time or chances to make a connection with anyone, my age or not.

I know I’m really bad at showing it, or saying it, or whatever, but I really do feel grateful to have friends like you guys here. In MANKAI as a whole, but especially you and everyone else in the Summer Troupe. The stuff we do together is a lot of fun. And even if Yuki and Kazunari make fun of tease me for having never done some things before, I’m glad to finally be able to actually do them with people I care about.

You’re a huge part of that, too. Whether it’s practicing lines or going to a local ball game, I don’t want to downplay how much fun I have just doing things with you. I’m grateful for our lunch runs, sharing media recs with Muku, getting random triangles from Misumi… honestly I’m even grateful for being dragged around by Kazunari and having someone to argue with in Yuki.

And to loop it back around to acting for a second, it’s always great to see how much you’ve all grown and improved from when you first started out. I can confidently say you’re good actors now. I would’ve never even thought of wanting to say that when the troupe was first formed, but you’ve all helped me learn and grow too. For the past year and a half, we’ve supported each other. I’m pretty proud of all of us for that.

Listen, nobody else can ever know what I wrote in here, got it? They’ll never let me live this down and they’ll make a huge deal out of it and it’ll be super embarrassing. This letter’s gonna be worth a fortune since my name is on it, but seriously. Don’t sell it, alright? I really don’t need other eyes seeing this.

But yeah. That’s basically what I wanted to say. Thanks for joining our company and our troupe, and thanks for being part of the group I consider my favorite people in the world.

If you have been sneaking peaks this whole time, do me a favor and at least act surprised when you get this.

From,

Tenma

---

I saw the hack rewriting this at his desk last night. He wouldn’t say why but I bet he had so many spelling mistakes that he wrote a whole second copy. The contents are probably exactly the same so it’s not like it really matters, and I’m not gonna check because I’m not a snoop, but I’m still gonna rat him out lol I bet it was totally unreadable

- Yuki

[Top] [Back - To Hisoka] [Next - To Tsumugi]

#kumon literally just sent his and now he gets one too lol #a3!#a3 fanfiction #kumon hyodo #a3! kumon #tenma sumeragi #a3! tenma #I forgot tumblr can't underline so I just bolded those words instead #also yeah that's not how you use gracefully he meant graciously

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shihalyfie · 3 years

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If there’s ever a character in a series I like who made mistakes and hurt people but were clearly capable of making up for them but then died before being given that second chance, that character will instantly be my favorite character and I will make AUs where they live. So it’s not really a surprise that I latched onto Osamu. However, I’m kind of struggling with:

It feels like cheating somehow, to imagine a universe where a dead character is alive, despite the entire situation being fictional to begin with. As a result, I end up putting Osamu through a lot more suffering than is probably necessary in order to “make up for” it.

Because of various headcanons I won’t get into (since your area of expertise is analyzing actual canon) Osamu being alive means Ken can’t become the Kaiser. Usually I have someone else become the Kaiser, but it always just feels like a rehash of Zero Two with roles shuffled around.

So my questions are how to reign in this temptation to torment Osamu pointlessly out of some weird sense of guilt, and what kinds of themes or ideas from Zero Two could I maybe take in a different direction so this AU feels less pointless?

Also, what kind of character arc do you think makes the most sense for Osamu if he’s made a protagonist, or a deuteragonist with Ken? (Becoming kinder is obvious but also fairly broad.) And what about Ken, if he didn’t have this backstory of his brother dying and feeling irrationally responsible for it?

(Disclaimer before we continue: I'm tagging this with #shihafic because it's my catch-all tag for "I make things up wholesale for fun instead of making any real attempt at sticking to the spirit of canon," and I by no means am attempting to claim your fic ideas or write it myself.)

I think Osamu has perplexed a lot of people for quite a while and, indeed, the AU of him living has crossed quite a few people's minds, but as you said, the plot of 02 itself so heavily relies on what happened between the two in the exact way it did to the point where making even a small adjustment causes everything to fall apart like a series of dominoes.

I think the best way to go here (if both brothers are meant to be left alive) is to explore the fact that the gap was widening between them even before a single thing happened -- my meta on Osamu dealt with the idea that Osamu was fostering his own jealousy of Ken for having something closer to a "happy normal life" of having fun that he himself was being deprived of through all of the expectations being put on him. Moreover, it's also implied that he knew he was losing his grip on his ability to be kind and didn't like this about himself (whether he knew this consciously might be up for debate, but in any case, he wasn't happy this way). So while of course an AU where he was alive still gives him a better opportunity to make reparations between himself and Ken, you still have a lot of questions remaining about what Osamu thinks about the person he's turning into, how the gulf between him and his own younger brother is widening, and whether he enjoys doing all of this. (For instance, knowing that Osamu's probably not very happy about his own emotional descent, you can potentially imagine himself having regrets about his behavior towards Ken -- canon even somewhat supports this, with Ken saying that Osamu being in a "bad mood and cold to him" was his seemingly normal behavior, yet he still wanted to make sure he was warm at night under the blankets.)

The bubble metaphor in 02 episode 23 has Osamu imply that Ken is more fundamentally inclined to be kind than he is, but the question is, was this something that just came up "naturally" because of how each brother is, or did this happen because they were raised with a gap between them and Ken was allowed to have more freedom while Osamu's sense of empathy was dulled? I feel like either interpretation is valid here, and so a potential character arc for him could deal with that question of recognizing this in himself. Regarding friends or deuteragonists, unfortunately, since the Ichijouji brothers' backstory relies so heavily on them being isolated, the only canon-compliant recourse is probably Akiyama Ryou, and since we know so little about him (especially due to Tag Tamers not smoothly fitting in 02's timeline without modification) that's where things had to be made up, but I think it's reasonable to assume Ken must have enjoyed his presence as a friend, and I imagine he must have been at least somewhat acquainted with Osamu as well. The way things went, it's unlikely he was emotionally involved with them enough to help solve their problems, but nevertheless, in canon he disappeared right when Ken needed support most, and in an AU where this doesn't happen, well...?

My personal impression of the Dark Seed (no basis in canon) is that it actually does very little with the person in question other than dulling their ability to feel empathy or self-restraint (so for instance, that whole part about being good at academics or sports actually still uses the person's natural abilities, but it'll push them to spend all of their time and energy focusing on those things and to the level of self-harm and exhaustion). So I think the point here is that either of the Ichijouji brothers had the potential to lose grip on themselves like this with the right combination of pressure and such -- of course, going all the way to being the Kaiser and trying a massive takeover would still require that "push", but even if left by itself, that gap would keep widening and Ken would be very confused as to why his brother is like this, as long as they're not communicating properly. Osamu's death made Ken take the responsibility for assuming Osamu’s role in the family and forcing himself into the role of the "perfect person" he thought Osamu was (especially since he thought of himself as personally responsible for it by latently wishing for him to be out of the picture), but even had Osamu not died, Ken's feelings of paradoxical resentment versus seeing Osamu as a "perfect person" and "strong" role model would probably be there, as he's unaware that Osamu's behavior isn't from being "strong" but by slowly having his emotions eaten away.

#shihafic #shiha's ask box #ree-fireparrot

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khtrinityftw · 3 years

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Honest KH2 Critique

I wanna talk about Kingdom Hearts II since we're quickly approaching it's 15th anniversary. Ever since it was released, it's become a game that people irritatingly refuse to be moderate over, or at least when it comes to the vocal fans online. People who love it don't love it so much as worship it, while people who hate it don't hate it so much as despise it with every fiber of their being. I may technically fall into the "love" category (I share the majority fan and critic view that KH2, especially it's Final Mix edition, is the best game in the series), but I'm also willing to look at both its good and its bad, and do so in moderation rather than hyperbolically.

And I know, without a doubt - Kingdom Hearts II...has the absolute worst-written story out of the KH Trinity!

OK, that was said hyperbolically, but I did so as a joke!

It's so weird that the original Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories have narratives that are deeply and thoughtfully structured with such care and consistency, and then the trilogy is rounded out by such a messily-written rollercoaster of quality!

.....Well, all right, maybe not that weird.

When interviewed shortly after KH2's first public reveal at the 2003 Tokyo Game Show, this is how Tetsuya Nomura described the process for writing the game's story: "I'm writing the plot, the main story of Sora and co. Other people are in charge of the plots for the events that will happen in each Disney world. Combining that with Nojima, we're completing one scenario."

The "other people" in question are the Event team: Masaru Oka, Ryo Tsurumaki, Michio Matsuura, Atsuko Ishikura, Yukari Ishida, and Kumiko Takahashi. Daisuke Watanabe and Harunori Sakemi also assisted Nojima with scenario writing whenever the need arose.

The problem that this process caused isn't apparent at first glance, but it's actually right there in that interview excerpt: "I'm writing the plot". In KH and CoM, Nomura only wrote the initial plot outlines, which were very simple and ripe for being fleshed out by the actual scenario writer. There's a big difference between that and writing a full-fledged plot the way he did here.

Nomura wrote the story for what transpires in the KH-original worlds: Twilight Town, Hollow Bastion, the World That Never Was and Destiny Islands. It goes like this:

As far as plots go, I actually really like this one. It's a strong plot.

It's also convoluted as Hell.

I made a post saying the three one-word convoluted elements of KH2's plot are "Nobodies", "Data", and "Ansem". All three of those are literally the cornerstones of this plot that Nomura cooked up: they play a huge role through the beginning, middle and end! Because Nomura had more power with making this game, none of the more...out-there stuff that these concepts created could be curbed or removed. Which means that the scenario writer had better be in tune with Nomura when it comes to presenting them in a coherent way.

For the most part, Kazushige Nojima was....not.

Here is a tell-tale sign that Nomura and Nojima were not in sync. When asked if he planned from the start to make Kingdom Hearts be the heart-shaped moon seen on the cover of the original game, Nomura replied "No, I didn't. I asked Nojima-san to write the scenario and in his scenario it was written that the Kingdom Hearts Xemnas created is 'like a moon that floats in the World that Never Was'. When I read that, I thought ‘’Oh, this can be connected!’’"

Nomura just admitted that Nojima essentially had to make up how to convey Xemnas harnessing and trying to complete Kingdom Hearts, because Nomura's plot did nothing to convey it. It was a "wait, how the fuck is he doing that!?" detail. And you really get the sense all throughout the scenario that Nojima is struggling with trying to convey Nomura's stuff, and he has said as much in interviews: Nomura's plot and concepts confused him.

It also doesn't help that Nojima was the least major scenario writer on the original KH, mainly limited to the co-creation of Ansem with Nomura and writing the entire End of the World section. This is probably why Xemnas and Ansem the Wise are clearly the KH-original characters with the most confidence and complexity behind their writing in KH2's scenario. Nojima writes Sora, Kairi, their Nobodies Roxas and Namine, and Riku far more simplistically and trope-y, and the other Organization members and trio of Hayner, Pence and Olette are side characters so naturally they don't get much depth.

Then there's Masaru Oka and his Event Team. First off, while Masaru Oka is definitely on Nomura's wavelength and understands his vision to a fault, as Event Director he is superbly mediocre at presenting that vision, or Nojima's for that matter. He just isn't cinematically inclined the way Jun Akiyama was in the original KH, and that leads to the event scenes usually being the barest minimum of adequate at best, and laughably awkward at worst.

Secondly, Oka and his team were responsible for creating the plots in the Disney worlds (hence Oka's credit alongside Nomura under "Base Story"). But not only were they frequently lazy and just directly rehashed the movie's story but with Sora, Donald, Goofy and the Heartless shoved in, but half of the time they didn't even bother connecting the world plots to Nomura's main plot in any meaningful way beyond thematically ala CoM, and neither Nomura nor Nojima seemed keen on correcting this even when they really should have.

Here is a chart displaying the game's flow, stage by stage as set by world battle level. Stages where the main plot is progressed in some way are bolded, and stages of the main plot as created by Nomura have red borders around them:

Aside from Space Paranoids which was part of Nomura's plot from the get-go, the only time where correlation with the main plot occurs without any side factor to note is Beast's Castle, where both visits feature the machinations of Organization member Xaldin and culminates in the boss battle against him that leads to his demise.

Olympus Coliseum correlates to the main plot in the first visit but not the second, although the second visit is now made plot-relevant due to tying up loose ends from the first. Port Royal correlates to the main plot in the second visit but not the first, although the first visit is now made plot-relevant due to setting the stage for the second (it also has Larxene's Absent Silhouette in FM). There is technically a main plot correlation in the second visits to the Land of Dragons and Agrabah (the latter of which has Vexen's Absent Silhouette in FM), but Nojima botched the writing of them to the point where there may as well not have been, especially in the case of Agrabah’s which is "oh btw, an Organization XIII member came by off-screen".

And then there's the case of Disney Castle / Timeless River, which only acquires relevance to the main plot because it was decided that Maleficent should be resurrected and be Pete's boss in the present time. And unlike her appearance in Halloween Town, her role in this stage correlates directly to her role in the main story, revealing her resurrection to the heroes and establishing that she seeks a new evil stronghold from which to advance her return to power. Pete's backstory and connection to King Mickey shown here also receives a direct reference toward the climax of the World That Never Was.

While it could be argued that there's additional value in the first visits to Port Royal, Agrabah, Halloween Town and Pride Land due to the presence of Pete (Maleficent when it comes to Halloween Town), I would have to disagree because nothing they actually do in these stages end up mattering to the main story whatsoever - especially in Pride Land, where Pete just shows up in lion form to say “Ooga Booga Booga!”. Their presence alone just ain't enough.

The consequence here is that for the continuous stretch of Port Royal in the first go-round, Olympus Coliseum in the second, and Agrabah, Halloween Town and Pride Land in both go-rounds, it feels like nothing is advancing. And as bad as that sounds on paper, it's even worse when applied to gameplay because it means this lasts for several hours straight! The only main plot event that happens in either cycles is Kairi going to Twilight Town, which happens in a sudden cutscene between Agrabah and Halloween Town and is thus totally out of the player's control!

To sum things up, Nomura wrote a main plot that was good but too overwrought with confusing and complicated details. Nojima is a highly talented writer, but he didn't fully get Nomura's vision. Oka gets Nomura's vision, but he isn't a highly talented Event Director (and as seen in later games, he has even less talent as a writer) and often portrayed scenes that Nomura or Nojima came up with flatly. And none of these men were in sync when it came to how the Disney world plots and the main plot would connect, often simply not caring or else just not trying hard enough.

That is why KH2 has the weakest writing in the KH Trinity: the primary creative voices that shaped the story were completely out of sync with one another on a regular basis. You could say that their hearts just didn't connect on this project. And as a result, we have blatant inconsistences, bad edit jobs, pacing problems, mood whiplashes, missed opportunities, and dumbass moments galore.

However, on the occasions where things between them did manage to sync up, we were given some of the highest points in not only the KH Trinity but the entire KH series, and the input that was given from Daisuke Watanabe, Harunori Sakemi, and others like production assistant (and major Disney fanatic) Eri Morimoto surely helped the messy story become not quite as big a mess as it could have been otherwise. And that story still stayed true to the series' roots as a whimsical Disney/FF crossover project driven by relatable characters and emotional resonance, as opposed to a vanity project for Nomura that is driven by perplexing lore, plot twists and mystery boxes.

And that's why I and so many others love KH2, warts and all, and would gladly take dozens more narrative messes just like it over the different, far less enjoyable kinds of narrative messes that we've been getting afterward.

#Kingdom Hearts II #Anti-Nomura #Anti-Series Beyond

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nextgentaimanins · 3 years

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Sakura’s Birthday

Today was the birthday of one of their teachers of Gosha Academy, the one known as Sakura Igawa who is the younger sister of the headmaster and Strongest Taimanin, Asagi Igawa. Each of the three got her a small gift, Yukikaze got her a replica Ninjato from some anime she saw on TV, Rinko made her some fresh sweets as it may not be much from an ordinary person but Rinko’s sweets are top-notch and Tatsurou got Sakura a visual novel that recently came out. Once the three were ready they went to visit Sakura who ‘voluntarily‘ was doing paperwork in her main classroom until three students entered.

With a smile, Sakura addresses the three younger Taimanin. “Oh, well if it isn’t Rinko-chan, Yuki, and Tatsurou-kun why are you three doing here so late?”

Yukikaze being the aggressive one places down her gift first with an expression wondering if she would actually like what she got. “For you Sakura-sensei!”

“A gift for me?!” Sakura said as she wasn’t expecting a gift from the students. She opens the box and looks at the Ninjato. “Oooh! I know the looks of this, it’s from one of my favorite animes!”

“Thank you, Yuki~” She said with a bright smile and soon it was Rinko’s turn who places a plate of cookies on Sakura’s desk with an expression that seems embarrassed with the gift she had given her teacher as it was just so simple and made by her own two hands.

“It’s not much Sakura-sensei as I was very busy training my students that I didn’t have much time to go out and do any shopping.”

Sakura had soft tears watering up as she munches on one of those perfectly crafted cookies. “Rinko-chan’s cookies. . . I’m so touched! These are perfect like always Rinko-chan!”

“Sakura-sensei, you’re being too kind.” Rinko said with an embarrassed smile not really confident in her own cooking and baking skills as she mainly does so for Yukikaze and Tatsurou. In all honestly, it was all part of her hobby that she has which was taking care of those two. Soon enough it was Tatsurou’s turn placing down his gift on Sakura’s desk. “I heard around that you like certain types of anime games and thought this may work for you Sakura-Sensei.”

“Oh, what do we have here Tatsurou-kun? I wonder, I wonder~” Sakura effortlessly opens the gift and her eyes widen with excitement as if it was something she has been eyeing on.

“Woah! I was going to buy this yesterday but onee-ch- I mean Asagi-sensei force me to go straight home! Now I can finally play it when I have some free time! How did you-” She stopped as she remembered when the Younger Akiyama used his wind arts to eavesdropped on her and her older sister. It was for a good reason but still!

“Hey. . .Did you happen to eavesdrop on me again or something? To think the Little Heir of the Ittou-Ryou would stoop so low. . .” “E-EH?! N-No I. . . I didn’t eavesdropped I just happen to get this because it was the newest-”

Without letting him explain himself or really listening to him she looks as pleased as ever. “Whatever! I can’t wait to play this and stay up all night long because-. . .” She gasped as she just remembered something very important.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!! TODAY’S MY BIRTHDAY!!! I COMPLETELY FORGOT BECAUSE OF THIS PAPERWORK THAT- ONEE-CHAN YOU CLEVER GIRL! YOU CAN’T FOOL ME!!” She spoke out so loud if anyone else was in the nearby classrooms they would hear their teacher yelling in her loud surprised tone. She quickly stood up and walked up to the three, giving each one a hug in appreciation for their gifts.

“Thank you! Thank you! You three are great students and Rinko-chan being a dear friend as well! I better go. . . Onee-chan- I mean Asagi-sensei must be throwing me a surprise party! That has to be it. . . OH! OH! You three should come soon! Don’t be shy! Asagi-sensei and everyone who may be there would be delighted! I’ll see you three later! Bye-bye~!” and like that Sakura rushes out of the classroom determined to make it home just to think she’s going to get a surprise once she enters the house. All the while the three Taimanins were left speechless as their teacher just quickly leaves the room but hey. . . At least they made their teacher REALLY happy although they are a bit worried about what they unintentionally had done.

Yukikaze has an embarrassed face that was mixed with worry. “Do you think we may have done something bad?”

Rinko on the other hand kept a calm smile on her face, perhaps she was used to Sakura’s antics and personality. “It’ll be fine although I do suggest we make a visit just in case. It would make Sakura-sensei happy if we were there if the thought of a surprise birthday party becomes all for not. Tatsurou gave a simple nod as he looks upon the presents the Shadow Taimanin had forgotten in her excitement. “We have to bring those to her. . .” Rinko nods in response to her brother’s words as if the Akiyama Siblings were in sync although the Slashing Taimanin gives a suspicious look to her younger brother.

“Tatsurou. . . What did Sakura-sensei mean when she said, “did you happen to eavesdrop on me again or something?“? Are you doing what I think you are doing with your wind arts?” “E-EEEH?! OF COURSE NOT!” Tatsurou took a stance as he looks at his older sister. “Rinko-ane I didn’t do anything! if she mentions that it must be when-” and like that Yukikaze cuts him off.

“Tatsurou is being suspicious towards Sakura-sensei! How could you?! Do you have no shame?! Dirty!” She shouted at the Wind Taimanin with her usual aggressive tone. “I’m telling you! I have not she most likely be referencing to what I’ve already spoken to you both about! That’s it! You two have to believe me!” Tatsurou spoke with as much confidence he could muster up trying to prove his innocents. As for Sakura returning home, well. . . It may not have been a surprise birthday party when she entered the door but that was okay as there were people that were there to celebrate it with her. Her sister, Murasaki. . .That Asagi had to tell her to be good, and the three students that bought her gifts to the Igawa household making Sakura’s birthday actually pretty worth it and kept a smile on the Younger Igawa sister.

THE END

#thought it be nice #and an anon wanted it #so I thought why not give a chance to have this kind of interaction #and cute #besides sakura deserves happiness #sorry for late

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chilly-territory · 5 years

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K Case Files of Blue 2, chapter 4 (part 1 out of 2)

Continuing with this, and the end is in sight! (one more part + epilogue is all that’s left)

Case Files of Blue 2 by Miyazawa Tatsuki

Chapter 4 (part 1/2) (volume 2, pages 197- 224) The Blues Rally

Dark clouds hang in the sky. The wind whistled. The door rattled noisily.

It was early morning, and Kamo Ryuuhou stood in the entryway to "Chuubairo". To make up at least a little for his stay, he decided to do a thorough cleanup of the kitchen. He'd finished sharpening knives and polished pots, then buying more of the condiments that were about to run out, doing grocery shopping and cleaning everything from drainage to ventilation fans - it was no exaggeration to say that the kitchen was licked squeaky clean.

His handpicked successor was scheduled to start tomorrow. It was a lady chef who Kamo had complete trust in to take good care of this eatery's future. She had studied under Kamo's father, which made her Kamo's fellow disciple. Having a frank and spirited personality, she was very kind and also a skilled chef at the same time. Kamo had specifically pulled 2 all-nighters to write down the recipes for her. If she had those, she could get to work without any delay tomorrow.

Kamo still stood in the doorway when a voice came.

"You're leaving?"

He turned to the source of the voice. In the darkness of the corridor there stood the young proprietress of this eatery. She wore a thin sleepwear that left her neck and both arms exposed, and their whiteness was starkly visible even without turning the lights on, as if the darkness was erased in those spots. Moist eyes and disheveled hair were strangely captivating. Kamo averted his eyes as if assaulted by the feelings of guilt.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Having gotten no reply from Kamo, the proprietress repeated her inquiry.

But she had already understood. Kamo's white apron, his trademark as a chef, was gone, replaced by the blue uniform of the protector of order. Which could only mean that he'd been already done steeling his resolve.

Kamo's expression warped, as if in pain.

"To be honest, a part of me wished I could stay. But there are people out there who need me." "But so do I!" the woman suddenly cried out forcefully. Tears in her eyes, she implored, "I, too, need you!" She ran towards him with small steps and clang to his back. Pressing her cheek to his shoulder, she squeezed out in a whisper, "Can't it be me?"

Kamo shut his eyes, overcome with sadness.

"Sorry, but the cause..." He squeezed his fists tight. "I have a greater cause that I must protect."

He then bodily pulled away from the woman.

"A big storm is coming, so make sure to lock up the door. So long." He smiled. "Take care."

The woman broke down crying. Kamo purposefully pretended not to notice the hand she was reaching out towards him.

He opened the door, stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him, letting that banging sound sever all the lingering attachments for him. The last sight his eyes caught was that of the woman crumbled down on the floor, weeping.

Kamo started running through the incessant rain.

†

As he changed trains, heading towards the Scepter 4 HQ, all kinds of musings ran through Kamo's head - thoughts on what happiness was, and what it was that he must do.

But it was undeniable that the sense of duty made his hear tremble with exaltation. He'd heard that several members of the special ops squad were put out of commission, including Awashima. Scepter 4 would be hard pressed to function without him, no doubt.

Getting off at the nearest station and not bothering about opening an umbrella, Kamo broke into a run. It would be faster this way. And he wanted to be back at Scepter 4 as fast as possible and to do everything in his power.

According to Hidaka, even the electrical system of the HQ had started acting up.

Resolved to see the building sinking in the dark, Kamo couldn't help doubting his eyes when he finally arrived to stand in front of the entrance gates.

Every window was lit up with light. What's more, lively talk filled the front yard. Three special ops vehicles were parked there with engines running.

"Hurry up with the trucks' check! Once the Captain gives the order, all the vehicles will be deployed!"

The one to motivate the mechanics with those words in a taunt tone was none other than Awashima Seri wearing a blue raincoat.

'Eh, huh?' Kamo then thought. 'Wasn't she supposed to be MIA?'

As he stood there dumbstruck, the person in question noticed him and called out to him with a smile.

"Oh, Kamo. You're back."

Although she wore no makeup and was getting beaten by the rain, it took nothing away from her beautiful looks. If anything, she looked even more elegant, standing there coldly amidst the raging bad weather.

"Hurry up and go check in with the Captain. He's inside." "Ah, yeah," Kamo managed listlessly as he passed through the entrance after being prompted. Once he did, he ran into Gotou on the other side.

"Oh, Kamo-san. Welcome back~" Gotou passed him with those carefree words and an accompanying smile.

Without registering it, Kamo followed him with his eyes.

"Oh, Kamo-san. Welcome back. Sorry, but please make way for the dolly!" Hidaka was pushing a dolly with a floodlight mounted on it. The way he said those words couldn't be anymore routine.

Kamo proceeded forward giddily.

On the way, he passed Doumyouji who energetically raced somewhere - Kamo wasn't sure where.

"Oh, good to have ya back! And see ya later!"

As Doumyouji raised a hand in greeting, Kamo found himself doing the same. Although the return gesture on his part lacked energy.

Walking along the hallway, Kamo found the door to the data processing room opened, and through it the form of Enomoto animatedly working his computer could be glimpsed. Kamo wanted to call out to him, but then thought better of it. Somehow, he got a feeling that it wasn't the right time to bother the bespectacled man.

There was also Fuse who was talking to someone through the transmitter.

When Kamo had finally reached the Captain's office, he encountered the duo of Akiyama and Benzai there.

"Oh." "Glad to have you back with us."

Akiyama was the same as always, while Benzai gave him a slight bow and a smile. But that was all there was to it. The two then walked away at a quick pace as they were exchanging opinions on some subject or other on the way. By no means was this reunion especially moving or emotional.

For a while, Kamo just stared at their retreating backs.

Indistinct feelings started bothering him. Somehow... he couldn't accept what was happening.

And then, at last, Kamo managed to define them with a description which sounded suspiciously like 'What the heck, everyone's going around their business like usual!'

No, it didn't mean it was a bad thing per se, but...

Knocking on the door to the Captain's office that was left open, he entered.

"Ohh, welcome back, Kamo-kun." Munakata raised his face from the tablet he was reading reports on and smiled at the new arrival. "How was your time off?"

Kamo clamped down on the words welling up inside him, then straightened his back properly and saluted to his superior.

"Kamo Ryuuhou, returning to the assigned unit!"

His expression was a bit like laughter through tears.

Munakata smiled gently and nodded.

†

About the time Kamo was knocking on the door of the Captain's office, Fushimi had finally made a short while in his busy work schedule to take a break. Although it was called a break, it didn't really amount to much more than sipping canned coffee in the shadow of a pillar in a corridor that didn't see much traffic and fiddling with his PDA.

As he was doing precisely that, a new message dropped to his work address' inbox.

With a sigh, Fushimi opened it. And then...

"Huh?"

Without his intention, his expression turned grim.

It was from someone Fushimi had least expected to be getting mail from.

'Hello, Fushimi. How are you? It's Totsuka.'

Totsuka Tatara, one of the leaders of the Red clan Homura. That was who the message was from.

Fushimi clicked his tongue and muttered in a tone that was in equal parts fed up and impressed, "...How the hell does that guy know my work address?"

It went without saying that Fushimi would sooner die than tell it to anyone from the place he was affiliated with in the past. But he had to admit it was just like Totsuka having a grasp on things like this despite being an absent-minded oddball about everything else.

When Fushimi looked through the message, he found it was a letter of thanks for letting Totsuka peruse Scepter 4's documents the other day.

'Please give my thanks to Munakata Reishi-san and Zenjou-san who treated me extremely kindly.'

"I respectfully refuse. I'm not your messenger boy," Fushimi muttered his thoughts aloud.

Clicking his tongue once again, he was about to delete the message altogether when he found a postscript at the end of it.

'By the way, I have a message from Yata.'

Since that was what it said, he looked through the rest of it just in case.

'"The guy we met was the bad sort. He tried to kill Mikoto-san, and it turned into a full scale battle. So a warning for you. A huge storm is coming to Japan. Be careful," is what he says.'

"A huge storm is coming, eh?" Fushimi raised his head and snorted. "Well, duh, I can see that, moron."

The windowpanes rattled, shaken by the heavy rain and gales outside. The sky peeking through looked completely covered with leaden clouds.

Still, along with Yata's words, it was Totsuka's last remark that got Fushimi bothered. It read as follows: 'That storm Yata mentioned might be related to your case.'

For a while, Fushimi was deep in thought.

Seriously, what the hell had happened in Las Vegas?

†

In the Captain's office that Kamo had already left, Munakata was reading through a multitude of reports at an astounding pace. He would read anything written at a speed unthinkable for ordinary human on a regular basis, but today he increased that already amazing reading speed even more. It took him literally only a second to look through a report, memorize it, parse it, make a connection with other reports and reach a conclusion.

In other words...

'Looks like everything is going just the way I predicted, eh?'

Even to Munakata it was amusing, and his lips curved up a little in a tiny smile.

The reports covered quite a few areas. There was a message from Scepter 4 operatives about the seizure of a vehicle that Kounomura Zen'ichi had allegedly used, Japan Coast Guard's data on comings and goings to and from the harbor, information on the production of a certain construction that Munakata had ordered, and also news from Japanese Meteorological Agency.

Among them, there was a message from the young and capable attorney that had assisted Scepter 4 in the matters of Akiyama's defense, lawsuits against them and the mass media countermeasures.

The gist of his message was basically this: 'The moment Akiyama-san was found not guilty was when the tides had completely changed.'

It looked like by leaving that matter entirely to him and his trusted team of lawyers everything would be settled with no further trouble.

The message also contained the following bit: 'A few words about Doumyouji-san that you had put in charge of these matters. At first I wasn't sure it was a good choice, but surprisingly, it appears he really is equipped with the aptitude required to handle these kinds of matters. His grasp on what is vital is excellent. Truth be told, there is no pressing need for us specialists to keep an eye on the practical side of things when we handle the details of the judicial process. So in these types of cases, it is necessary for the client to understand what is important and what is not. And that is where Doumyouji-san left nothing to be desired. I daresay that is not something many youths can do. Moreover, his ever sincere attitude of an innocent child when dealing with the media apparently made a very favorable impression on them and won him a lot of sympathy.'

In a sense, it was high praise.

Munakata let out a tiny sigh. Actually, among all the personnel assignments this time, this was the one appointment he felt a little insecure about.

"Oh well, looking at the results, everything ended well, I suppose. If possible, I'd like for Doumyouji-kun to broaden his knowledge in this field from now on." But then Munakata reconsidered. "Although he's sure to go off the rails before he can apply it." He snickered.

In that sense, Doumyouji, perhaps, wasn't so well-suited to that kind of job. In Scepter 4, there were people with all kinds of personalities and all kinds of abilities. And bringing them together and giving them a direction to move in was Munakata's job.

It was at that time that his PDA emitted a beep to signal the arrival of a message. Munakata had already guessed what it was. A glance at the display confirmed his guess.

'Analysis complete. The location of Kounomura Zen'ichi identified with 92.978% probability,' the message from Tokijikuin read.

Although he half-forced them into allowing him to use their super computer, they didn't let it impact their job, doing it perfectly.

Munakata smiled.

"It's time at last, Kounomura-san." It was a truly refined smile without a speck of fighting mood. "I'm looking forward to seeing your face."

And so, he started towards the door out of his office to give the entire Scepter 4 move-out orders.

†

About the time Munakata received the message from Tokijikuin, Kounomura was on the top floor of a high class hotel that was still under construction.

He had a wearable PDA on him in the shape of a visor, reading thoroughly every piece of intelligence that was being sent him.

His reading speed was every bit as astounding as Munakata Reishi's. Piece after piece, he memorized and analyzed all the information the volume of which would be way too much for a regular person to process, which allowed him to grasp the situation accurately. That had become something of a daily routine to him since he'd initiated the confrontation with Scepter 4.

Reports from the observers dedicatedly watching Scepter 4's HQ, transmissions from the local police radio he'd wiretapped, communication records of the port facilities, the trains service information - all that and more formed innumerable informational fragments of the bigger picture. When he pieced all of them together in his head, Kounomura felt a sense of unity with the world.

Once Munakata got hold of required information, from there on out his thinking processes would unfold in a comparatively logical fashion, but in Kounomura's case, his perception was more ambiguous and more intuitive. As such, he let himself steep in the informational flood absentmindedly until the complete picture showed through it.

And then he burst into laughter. "Munakata-kun really is something. I should've known." His voice was slightly higher pitched than usual.

"Did you figure something out, Zen'ichi?"

Nakamura Gouki and Marumoto Keiji who had joined them at some point watched Kounomura seated in an armchair. Gouki looked composed, as usual, but Marumoto was somewhat nervous.

"Yeah. They've laid almost my every trick bare. I assume all the members of the special ops squad are back by now, too. Oh, and Kamo-kun seems to have returned as well. That's impressive, really, because in his case, pure coincidence was responsible for the turn of events so convenient to us, so all I did was simply watch it unfold without doing much, and yet he's still back at the most crucial time for them, just like that. Ah, and Munakata-kun sure acts quickly, so very quickly. He's making his moves one after another as we speak!"

Kounomura positively looked to be overjoyed. It was hard to believe that this was the same man who only recently represented gloom and doom.

Gouki smiled lopsidedly. "Zen'ichi, taking delight in your opponents' powerups is a bad habit, you know."

Meanwhile, Marumoto's expression turned openly anxious. "So what does that mean for us?"

It was Gouki who answered his question in place of Kounomura who was being wrapped tighter and tighter in the net of information galore.

"Well, I guess it's just a matter of time now before this hideout is found out." "Eh?" "Don't worry. You know how fast Zen'ichi is when he runs away, and you think he didn't take any measures? He's got dozens of countermoves at the tips of his fingers at any time." "Ah, I see. Great, then."

Marumoto Keiji had barely had any time to feel relieved when Kounomura spoke up in a stiff voice. "No."

Kounomura was shaken - a state that even his long time friend Gouki had seen only rarely, while Marumoto saw it for the first time.

"Huh? Eh? Wait a second." Kounomura rose, reading through the information changing on his wearable PDA with an incredible speed. "That's weird, what the hell?" "What's wrong, Kounomura-san?"

Marumoto tried to press for an answer, but Gouki's hand stopped him, demanding he let Kounomura concentrate.

When Kounomura spoke up, his lips were pressed together tight. "It can't be. Ah, I see. That's how it is. I can't believe it." He gave a laugh. "Out of 12 shelters here in Japan, 11 have already been cordoned off by the police and Scepter 4." "Eh?" "What?"

Marumoto and Gouki were reasonably shocked.

"Ah, and they've found my remaining shelter just now. Also, out of 24 routes out of the country that I had prepared, 22 are no longer usable. Oh, I get it." A shiver ran through his body. "Munakata-kun went and used the Coin Toss theory on me. Plans I'm likely to devise, actions I'm likely to take - he's analyzed it all and is now shutting them out one by one."

Gouki was speechless, Marumoto was dumbfounded.

Kounomura was getting covered with cold sweat as he went on, "What a pickle. There's still a move left up my sleeve that hasn't been predicted yet and another one that's probably impossible to even predict, but this bad weather renders them both effectively unusable."

"How is it possible?" After a long sigh, Gouki rolled his shoulders and giggled. "Oh well. Zen'ichi. I can't believe there was someone else who could use moves even craftier than you." "You said it. Ah," Kounomura opened his mouth. "This is not good. I'd say everything points to them having already figured out our location by now. They're massing the troops in front of their HQ. The dispatch orders are about to be given." "Eh? Eh?" Marumoto flapped about in confusion unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events. "What will become of us?"

Gouki gave him a wry smile. "We'll be arrested, I guess. After all, they mean business." "Ehhh?" "It's a given," Gouki added maliciously, "after how we've messed with them. Better prepare yourself while you can. If you're lucky, they'll only sock you a couple of times."

Hearing that, Marumoto's face fell, on the verge of weeping.

Just then...

"Agh!" Kounomura suddenly tore off his wearable PDA. He stood there in dazed amazement - something that even Gouki saw for the first time.

Looking at Gouki and Marumoto with an expression that was hard to describe but that could, perhaps, be that of rapture or of shivers-inducing fear, he muttered just one word, "Unbelievable."

"What happened, Zen'ichi?" That was enough to make even the ever composed Gouki worry.

"Munakata-kun has completely ignored us in favor of deploying the troops he'd gathered for arresting us to assist in relief and rescue instead." "Eh?" voiced Gouki. "Huh?" uttered Marumoto.

Both of them had their eyes opened wide in disbelief.

Kounomura shook his head with nakedly heartfelt delight, "What a man! What a man with a cause Munakata Reishi is!"

And then he burst into a loud laughter seemingly coming from the very bottom of his heart.

Gouki and Marumoto could only watch him, speechless.

†

Munakata, wearing a cobalt blue raincoat under the incessant rain, stood on the roof of a truck with a voice amplifier in hand.

Before him, there lined up in neat rows the members of the special operations squad in the raincoats of the same color worn over the head.

Akiyama Himori, Benzai Yuujirou, Kamo Ryuuhou, Doumyouji Andy, Enomoto Tatsuya, Fuse Daiki, Gotou Ren, Hidaka Akira - with the exception of Fushimi who was on a separate mission they all had assembled there, none of them missing anymore.

Awashima Seri also stood there, by Munakata's side, facing them.

Even beaten by large droplets of the rain and harassed by the blasts of the ceaseless wind, they all were showing elation on their faces. Fighting spirit and determination burned in their eyes. They finally knew the whereabout of Kounomura Zen'ichi - the man who dared make sport of them. Once they had the orders from their superior, they were willing and ready to hunt him down like hounds and aprehend him. Doumyouji and Fuse were especially eager, for all intents and purposes looking like they'd take off running any moment now.

"Ehem. Gentlemen," Munakata began speaking so calmly that his manner might be more fittingly described as carefree. Waiting when the static noise died out, he continued, "We have finally pinned down the location of Kounomura-shi. As such, I intended to go catch him, but..." His tone was completely devoid of any urgency. "Let's put that on hold for now."

That declaration threw several members of the special ops squad quite literally off balance. They all were single-mindedly prepared to hunt, and being denied it robbed them of their bearings or left them struck dumb.

Munakata went on indifferently. "I saw the Meteorological Agency's data, you see. A big tempest that might even be called unprecedented is on the way to this city. A rainstorm with wind speeds of 40 meters is expected to rampage throughout the area, with thunderbolts and heavy rain paralyzing most urban functions. Needless to say," suddenly he looked very serious, "that will put quite a few people in danger."

The faces of the special ops squad members tightened in response.

Munakata continued in an intense tone. "I dispatched Fushimi-kun earlier, and he's already finished making necessary arrangements. So gentlemen, during the time this storm rages, I want each and every of you to cooperate with the Fire Defense and Police Agencies and local autonomous units and do what you must do as members of Scepter 4!" His features then softened. "That said, this sort of matter is outside of our area of expertise. That's why we must always keep in mind to be humble when requesting to let us help and to respect and listen to the opinion of the professionals in those areas. If we do that," he asserted in no uncertain terms, "our super power will become the shield that defends the innocent citizens, no doubt." With that, he smiled. "Compared to this duty, the matter of Kounomura-shi is but trifle. We can easily postpone it and work something out later, at any time."

Those words were bound to send a shiver running down the spines of those listening. Their king had just called the possessor of talents that could only be described as abnormal who gunned for his throne nothing more than 'trifle'. Each of the Scepter 4 troops felt a surge of strong emotion, moving their hearts and making them straighten up with pride.

What was the greater cause?

To this king, it wasn't simply a figure of speech, he held to it steadfastly as one would to a belief or conviction.

Nevertheless, Akiyama still found it necessary to ask something.

"It is a reasonable to fear that Kounomura would flee his hideout in the meantime. Is it okay with you, sir?"

He just wanted to confirm it for himself.

"Let me think. If some of us find themselves free after fulfilling their duty by assisting the government agencies in relief and rescue, let's arrest him while we're at it."

The instructions Munakata had issued concerning that matter were quite vague. But the special ops squad members answered him with a 'Yes, sir!' regardless.

Munakata smiled.

"Well then, gentlemen, let us move out. Only, this time there is no need for us to draw our swords." Raising his voice, he declared, "For our cause is pure!"

His catchword was suddenly answered by Akiyama. "Akiyama, dispatching!" Making motions as if he was drawing his sword, he took his leave.

Benzai followed suit with a chuckle. "Benzai, dispatching!"

Kamo smiled. "Kamo, dispatching!"

"Doumyouji, dispatching! Here I go!" Doumyouji shouted gleefully as he raced off.

Enomoto and Fuse exchanged a glance. "Enomoto, dispatching!" "Fuse, dispatching!"

With that, Enomoto headed towards the command vehicle to devote himself to performing the operator job, while Fuse, as a field agent, sped off in the opposite direction to be on the scene of the disaster.

Gotou and Hidaka repeated the same stately motion of drawing their sword in turn. "Gotou, dispatching!" "Hidaka, dispatching!" They, too, then went off.

Awashima was the last one to fluidly unsheathe her invisible sword. "Awashima, dispatching... Captain," she smiled charmingly, "off I go then, sir."

Munakata's lips curved up in an answering smile as he watched her go.

"Our cause may be pure, but the same could not be said about the sky," he pointed out. Luckily there was no one around anymore to hear him make that silly remark.

†

Majority of the general public closed their doors tightly, took cover under their futons and then dozed off while listening to the updates on weather and disaster reports on the TV news or the internet. With modern disaster prevention technology, impossible a few dozens years back, one's safety was more or less guaranteed unless one decided to venture outside. However, the residents of old wooden houses and those who had to go outside due to the nature of their work still had a very good reason to worry.

Also, in some areas power cables got severed, which caused blackouts, and even fires resulting from ensuing short-circuiting. So the fire and police stations were pressed to operate at full capacity even at times such as this. And in the thick of it, a group in blue uniforms could be found cooperating with the public agencies.

They helped local crews repair embankments in places where they were likely to burst, freed ambulances with emergency patients from mud traps and did everything they could to protect the city against the disaster, like silent shadows. The police, the fire deparment and other pertinent agencies were greatly helped by those wielders of supernatural powers beyond common sense.

As were ordinary people living in the city such as the lady owner of a small eatery who had a little son.

In all honesty, she didn't think any harm would come to them because of this storm. But misfortune had paid them a sudden visit. An election advertisement board got launched by a blast of the gale, smashing the windows of the second floor and letting in heavy rain and wind. The child had started to cry, and the woman, holding him in her arms, found herself at a loss. She couldn't think of anything one woman entirely on her own could do.

As she was puzzling, a dashing young man she knew very well clad in a blue uniform appeared. He and a few of his colleagues rushed to the house and quickly completed stop-gap repairs. It appeared the gales so mighty they could send even an adult flying if one was not careful and the torrential downpour that beat down anything in its path with violence had no effect on them.

"Are you okay?" The man she once idolized as 'onii-chan' worried about her. He wore a dignified face resolute in a way different from when he stood in the kitchen. "Thank you," she said. "I'm okay now." "I'm sorry," said the man apologetically. "But there are still other places I have to go to." "Then, go," she replied in a flash.

She hugged the baby closer to her chest. Protecting this child was her job, while this man had a different job he needed to do, she realized.

After a while of silence, the man said, "Thank you. See you again sometime." "Yeah. Take care," she replied with a smile.

And so, he threw himself into the raging storm once again in order to help more people.

Having watched him go, she shed a single tear and decided to get stronger.

Her face was that of a mother who had overcome a difficulty.

†

In the dead of night, in the lobby of a certain hotel still under construction, there stood Fushimi Saruhiko. The result of the analysis stated that this was where Kounomura Zen'ichi and several of his followers hid themselves. Fushimi had completed his duty for the time being and, thus, was free to go after Kounomura's group faster than anyone else in Scepter 4. To be precise, he had provided necessary relief and rescue assistance in the area he had been assigned to and urgently contacted the relevant authorities, and somehow or other he'd been done with that in about 30 minutes. He had a plan worked out.

'I alone will be more than enough.'

Now that Munakata Reishi had seen through his opponent's every possible trick and stratagem, the Kounomura Zen'ichi faction had become nothing more than a paper tiger. There were presumably three of them hiding in here: Kounomura Zen'ichi himself, Nakamura Gouki and Marumoto Keiji. Among them, only Nakamura Gouki, a strain with a power that gave him herculean strength, could be considered formidable, but by Fushimi's estimations, even he couldn't be much more than Fushimi's own abilities allowed him to handle.

Fushimi was advancing further into the lobby of the first floor.

The opening ceremony for this hotel had been pushed back a month, but the interior of the building was pretty much already complete. The lights on the ceiling were on, and movables like sofas and tables had already been brought in.

Sweeping his wet bangs that clung to his forehead back, Fushimi muttered, "I see, it makes sense."

This hotel was perfectly ready for living even at this stage. Despite the fact, its name had yet to be added to digital maps. Kounomura had probably been moving from one such place to another all this time. It was also safe to assume that he was involved with the construction company or the hotel's management in some way.

Just as Fushimi thought that...

"Oh, Fushimi-kun, that was quite fast," his superior appeared from a shadow of the hallway and addressed him.

Fushimi very nearly clicked his tongue at him but managed to suppress the urge just barely.

"You're here, too, Captain," he muttered vacantly.

It was probably just Munakata being Munakata. Having finished everything that his duty demanded him to do with that ever nonchalant air, he'd arrived here even faster than Fushimi himself. Those ridiculously high capabilities were what made him Fushimi's boss alright, but sometimes it was just so very annoying.

"Fushimi-kun," Munakata inquired, "how much time do you think you can spare for this?" "From half an hour to an hour, I estimate. Then I'll go back to my assigned area." "I see. It's about the same for me, too. The storm has yet to show any signs of passing, after all." Munakata then smiled. "Well then, let's go, shall we?" "..." Fushimi only nodded wordlessly.

"Captain! Please wait!"

It was then that the automatic doors to the lobby opened, letting in a sprinting Awashima. She was soaked to the bone and dripping water, and she also was breathing hard, but still she lifted her head almost immediately.

"I'm going, too. Please let me accompany you!"

She, too, made some time for this somehow or other.

For a while, Munakata gazed at her gently before finally saying, "Alright. Since there is not much time to spare, let's split the workload. Each of us will take care of one of the opponents. Is that alright with you?" "Yes, sir!" Awashima's reply was loud and clear. "...Roger." Fushimi quietly nodded his agreement as well.

And then, the trio split up, each heading to the elevator, the staircase or the emergency stairs respectively.

#k case files of blue #k project #project k #k translation

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ridiasfangirlings · 5 years

Note

Fushimi getting news in the middle of the night about a close relative to him is in critical condition, he can’t go to the hospital because its far and he is injured and he really can’t sleep and ends up sitting in the headquarters alone in the dark .How will S4 try to comfort

….Okay but the problem here is Fushimi hates all his relatives and would probably be happy if he heard one of them was in the hospital XD Maybe it’s Aya who ends up in the hospital and that gives him all kinds of conflicted feelings because he doesn’t exactly hate her and she was like one of the only relatives that he ever had any contact with but he also isn’t sure if he would want to visit her either. Like say Fushimi himself has been injured in a Strain incident and he’s in the Scepter 4 infirmary, in the middle of the night he gets a call on his PDA. He was having trouble sleeping anyway, kept awake by the beeping of machines around him and maybe he’s got some breathing tubes in his nose that are pissing him off. He reaches over for the PDA and it’s a message telling him about Aya. I feel like this would have to probably come from Yata, like I doubt Kisa even has Fushimi’s number and I don’t see any of the other relatives having it either. Maybe Aya got hit by a car or something in the city and as it happened Yata was skateboarding by and recognized her. He was the one who called the ambulance but he’s not able to get any more information on her condition since he’s not family or anything, he identified her for the hospital so they could call her parents and then left since there wasn’t much else he could do and he figured Aya’s parents would wonder why this delinquent kid who knew their daughter in middle school is here. He felt like he should let Fushimi know as family at least, Yata being unaware of Fushimi’s injury because no one had bothered to let him know yet. (Also the text is probably like ‘I guess you won’t see this until tomorrow unless you’re still awake at this time and if you are GO TO SLEEP Saru you can check on her in the morning I’ll see you then k’)

Fushimi stares down at the text, maybe about to reply but then he just sets the PDA down and quietly clicks his tongue. He leans back on the bed and tries to sleep again but he finds himself staring up at the ceiling, not able to keep his mind quiet at all. He’s still awake when Hidaka sticks his head in, it’s his turn to check on Fushimi and he’s surprised to find Fushimi still awake. Fushimi just clicks his tongue again as Hidaka says Fushimi needs rest, he really took a bad hit and he won’t heal well without sleep. As he’s going to check on Fushimi’s vitals the way Munakata showed him he happens to spot the PDA sitting on the table next to the bed. He’s like 'Aya…?’ Fushimi grimaces and mutters that it’s just a cousin of his and it isn’t important. He’s surprised when Hidaka gets all passionate about it, like one of your family members is hurt so of course that’s important. Fushimi says that’s stupid and he isn’t worried anyway, Hidaka gets a concerned face as he says that if that’s the case why is Fushimi still awake. Fushimi denies the text having anything to do with his inability to sleep and says Hidaka can leave if he’s just going to be annoying.

Eventually Hidaka leaves, looking concerned, and Fushimi ends up sitting there in the dark again. He hasn’t been by himself long when Akiyama shows up with a cup of tea, asking how Fushimi’s feeling. Fushimi complains about no one leaving him alone and Akiyama gives him this pleasant smile as he apologizes and says he just wanted to check on how Fushimi’s doing, he heard one of Fushimi’s relatives was in the hospital. Fushimi mutters something about Hidaka not being able to mind his own business and Akiyama hands him the tea as he says that it’s all right to share his burdens with other people sometimes, that sharing a worry helps to ease it. Fushimi again says he isn’t worried, that they weren’t close, but he gets a far away thoughtful look in his eyes as he sips the tea. Akiyama just gives him a soft smile and Fushimi looks away and keeps drinking. After this every time one alphabet boy leaves another quickly shows up, with tea or warm milk until Fushimi finally falls asleep. The next morning he wakes up to find Munakata by his bedside bearing the good news that it seems Oogai Aya has been stabilized and will be fine, Fushimi says he didn’t ask and doesn’t care and Munakata just smiles indulgently as he says he only thought Fushimi would like to know.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #Saru hates all his relatives this was hard XD #like normally he would hear about that and probably be either 'good' or 'who is that person and how are we related'#Aya he might feel a little conflicted on #like he wants to say he hates her but he doesn't #and if this is post-ROK he may be a bit more aware that she got the same shitty family hand he did

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yeonchi · 6 years

Text

Doctor Who Series 11 Review Part 2/10: The Ghost Monument

Air date: 14 October 2018

The second episode of Doctor Who Series 11 is here and I have to say, I’m liking the Thirteenth Doctor already. Most of the negative pre-series thoughts I have on her are out of the way for now, but I’ll keep a look out for anything strange in that regard.

I am aiming to get each review out during the middle of the week, preferably on Wednesdays, but since I am usually pre-occupied (or distracted) with other things, this isn’t a guarantee.

This week’s spoiler-free thought is not really that spoiler-free, but whether you’ve watched this episode or not, you’ll probably get this reference if you’ve watched a certain tokusatsu series - “This is all Tim Shaw’s fault!”

Regardless, this review will contain spoilers if you keep on reading.

New titles

There were no opening titles in last week’s season opener, but the new titles made their debut in this week’s episode.

The new titles for this series aren’t as dynamic compared to those of previous series. They just feel like they’re over and done quickly. There’s an obvious mirroring effect this time around, which is similar to some Classic Series openers, specifically those of the First and Second Doctors. Like the theme, it’s pretty obvious that the inspiration for the titles has been taken from the Classic Series. They’re not bad, in my opinion.

Where we left off and some background to this episode

We last left off in the last scene of the previous episode, where the Doctor accidentally teleports herself, Graham, Ryan and Yaz into space. They are then picked up by two ships, piloted by Angstrom (Susan Lynch) and Epzo (Shaun Dooley), who are heading to a planet that is apparently named “Desolation” - the closest to a name that anyone knows.

While Angstrom lands on the planet with Graham and Ryan, Yaz finds herself witness to the Doctor bickering with Epzo (like an old married couple, as they say, but not quite) as his ship crashes onto the same planet.

This planet is the final stage for the final Rally of the Twelve Galaxies, a race that the Doctor compares to the Paris-Dakar Rally, hosted by Ilin. With Angstrom and Epzo being the Rally’s finalists, their target is to get to something called the “Ghost Monument”, which has been appearing in the same place every thousand solar rotations. This “monument” is revealed to be the TARDIS, which was originally at the location where the Doctor and her friends were found; the planet had fell out of its original orbit.

“This is all Decade’s fault...”

I’ve found Epzo’s character in this episode to be similar to the main character of Kamen Rider Decade, Tsukasa Kadoya. From my observation, Epzo seems to be a more cynical version of Tsukasa, considering his cocky and apathetic attitude in this episode.

Where Tsukasa was teaching aesops to the AR World Riders in Decade, Epzo has become the one who learns these lessons himself. He gradually becomes a bit nicer towards the end of the episode, but I don’t know if he’ll take the lessons he learnt to heart considering that he suddenly disappears at the end of the episode. However, if it’s any consolation, Angstrom and Epzo learn a bit about sharing, given that it was Epzo’s cigar that saved them from the Remnants.

Ilin’s character also reflects Tsukasa, but more during his time as the Great Leader of Dai-Shocker. The way in how he treats the participants of the Rally comes towards Tsukasa’s unforgiving nature. Eventually, the two characters are “put in their place”, though in Ilin’s case, it was a case of Angstrom and Epzo wanting him to recognise the two as equal winners of the Rally, while in Tsukasa’s case, he was betrayed by the true enemy of the All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker movie.

“...or is it Tim Shaw’s fault?”

Given Epzo’s bickering with Angstrom, you would have thought that either they or their races, the Muxterans and Albarians, were in a feud, but it turns out to be even deeper than that, because we learn in this episode that half of Angstrom’s family were killed by the Stenza in a systematic cleansing, including her wife (did I mention that she’s also lesbian? At least she doesn’t repeat that fact throughout the episode), with the rest of her family driven into hiding on the planet Albar. This parallels Kamen Rider Ryuki’s Ren Akiyama in that their characters are fighting for their loved ones, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here.

In fact, what I really wanted to say was this: “Curse you, Tim Shaw! This world was destroyed because of you and your people!”

I get the feeling that the Stenza are part of this series’ story arc - that gives me more excuses to ironically blame Tim Shaw whenever they’ve done something bad to some people. This is going to be the running gag of this review series now and the even funnier thing is that I’m doing this while Kamen Rider Zi-O is airing in Japan - a series that has been lauded by fans as “Decade 2.0″. No, I’m not sorry for bringing Japanese tokusatsu into this and I don’t regret it.

In addition to this, the planet Desolation was also conquered by the Stenza, who used others to create and test many weapons, including the Remnants and SniperBots that are seen in this episode.

During the scene where the Doctor and the others are confronting the Remnants, we hear a mention of “the Timeless Child” when one of the Remnants extracted it from the Doctor’s memories. If this is going to be another thing like “the Hybrid” in Series 9, then I’m probably going to be disappointed. Regardless, the story arcs in this episode were introduced subtly; until this week, you wouldn’t have thought that the Stenza would have something else to do in this episode.

Anyway, I’m honestly hoping that Tim Shaw will become the leader of the Stenza by the finale, provided that the DNA bombs haven’t destroyed him by that point; although a few contrivances may have to be made in that regard. If that happens, then my running gag for this review series will have reached its peak - Decade 2.5, anyone?

With regards to Ryan and the theme of family

Ryan’s character development has been demoted to having a minor part in this episode. This time, we additionally focus on his relationship with his step-grandfather, Graham, who he still doesn’t seem to recognise as a proper family member. Ryan’s grandmother, Grace, is also mentioned in this episode as they reflect on her death towards the end of the previous episode. The funny thing is that according to the Doctor Who Wiki (TARDIS Data Core), Grace’s actor, Sharon D Clarke, has been listed as a recurring character for Series 11, which means that there is a chance that we will be seeing her again in this series, whether it be in flashbacks or something much more serious.

Ryan’s dyspraxia is also briefly repeated in this episode in the form of a slight dread of ladders. It’s great to see the Doctor encouraging Ryan to overcome his condition (by having him remember facts about acetylene) and I hope that we can see some improvement in this situation by the end of this series.

Imagine unironically thinking that every video game skill works in life-or-death situations. When the Doctor and the others are confronted by the SniperBots, Ryan takes a gun from a fallen SniperBot and uses his “skills” in Call of Duty to shoot down the robots, only for them to get back up right after. His shouting during this scene is reminiscent of raging kids in the voice chat of FPS games, while the scene overall is a good premise for the Doctor to teach the others about her “no guns” policy.

The theme of family is an underlying theme in this episode, just as it was (albeit more subtly) in the last. Aside from the relationship between Ryan and Graham, we hear about Epzo’s “tough love” relationship with his mother, Angstrom’s motivations for joining the Rally (which I explained earlier) and a bit about Yaz’s family, to which Angstrom tells her that she should never take them for granted.

The new TARDIS

Like with everything else, I’ve steered away from any leaked materials, so this is the first time that I’m seeing the new TARDIS for myself.

The new console room’s lighting resembles that shown in Series 1 and 2, albeit orange. The “round things” are now hexagonal things in honeycomb formations while the beams are reminiscent of the old coral console room used during the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ runs. The time rotor in the centre column does not go up to the ceiling and is no longer transparent, so no moving parts can be seen inside it. Also, there is a food dispenser now - a custard cream dispenser, in fact, if the Doctor Who Wiki is to be believed. The sign on the door of the TARDIS is now white text on black, the St John Ambulance badge is gone and there are slight shade modifications on the exterior.

I think the new TARDIS is alright; once again, it’s a significant deviation from previous TARDISes. Not the best in my opinion, but not the worst either (I don’t really have a place for “worst TARDIS console room” in my head).

Other general thoughts

You know the Venusian aikido the Doctor does in this episode? Yeah, to me, that’s more like an intergalactic Wuxi Finger Hold (though not really). I honestly doubted that it was a real technique until I did a quick search and found this clip from the Third Doctor’s era. Until now, I thought Venusian aikido was more like this; I guess I was mistaken.

The way Ilin mentioned not to touch the water, I thought something like the Flood from The Waters of Mars was in it. In actuality, there were flesh-eating microbes in it, so it’s similar to the Flood, but not the same.

Some things I missed in the last episode

After looking at a few things, I realised that there were a few things I had to address. However, I don’t want to edit the previous post because either then I would need to post the link to my pages again or you would miss out on what I had left out. Therefore, if there is anything I’ve missed in one episode, it will be briefly covered in the review for the next.

So I’ve learnt that this series has been filmed in a 2:1 (18:9) aspect ratio, also known as Univisium, using anamorphic lenses. The inventors, namely Vittorio and Fabrizio Storaro, created it in 1998 to unify all future TV and cinema movies into the one aspect ratio. In the linked Wikipedia link, you can see what movies and TV dramas have been filmed in this format.

There was also “Salad Guy” throwing bits of his salad at Tim Shaw, as some people have pointed out, so that’s a thing.

With the “no guns” scene in this episode, I should have also pointed out this line from the Doctor: “Only idiots carry knives”. This episode and the last reinforced the Doctor’s values so that the audience is reminded of them as she gradually tells her new companions/friends about them.

Summary and verdict

We are likely heading into a story arc involving the Stenza and “the Timeless Child”. This will probably be something to look forward to, whether they are resolved in this series or the next.

I think there were other things I wanted to write about, whether they were from this episode or the last, but I might have forgotten about them since I took too much time to write this. Oh well, no need to worry.

This is another good episode overall, which introduces what the first episode left out. The red flag situation is the same as last week - they’re most likely throwaway lines.

Rating: 7/10

We’ll be heading into history next week as I review the third episode, Rosa. Stay tuned!

#doctor who #doctor who series 11 #thirteenth doctor #doctor who series 11 review #thirteenth doctor review

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rawbiredbest · 7 years

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The Lifeline of Tsukuyomi

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of Amrita Memories, a collection of crossover vignettes between the Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) series and the game Nioh, re-imagining your favorite professional criminals as 17th Century samurai, ninjas, and mages, with a dash of demonic invasion and protective spirits.

IN THIS EPISODE: Saejima's found something precious, and could use some assistance.

WARNING: contains graphic, canon-typical depictions of violence, body horror, the supernatural, and war flashbacks.

Shoutouts to @taiga-saejima for putting up with me brainstorming this universe.

Read here or on AO3!

- - -

“You a magic man?”

Akiyama looks up from the pot of boiling broth. The new arrival almost fills the cave mouth entirely. Only the barest light, already filtered by the gloom of the storm raging outside, squeezes past his bulk. The ring of fur around his neck has long since drowned; rain drips from every channel of his armor plates.

“I prefer the term yamabushi,” Akiyama says, shifting to face the stranger, “But yes, I’ve been known to write the odd spell or two. That what you here for?” He suddenly chuckles, flashing a grin. “Sorry, sorry. I forget myself, it’s become so routine. Please, come in.”

The arrival stoops to fit inside the cave, tracking mud and wet behind him. Something nudges Akiyama’s hand. He looks down. It’s the white twin of his tonfa set. Hana, sitting nearby, pushes it closer. Shun gives her a comforting smile. He’s dealt with oni before.

The newcomer drops to the ground and Akiyama flinches, half-expecting the whole mountain to quake under his weight. By the campfire’s light, he can tell he’s a samurai. Was, at least. His garb is battered and broken in places, stained with the toils of a journey. What could be dirt is more likely blood. The enormous hammer on his back looks like it’s heavier than he is. Shun is glad it either hasn’t been used recently, or has been washed clean from the deluge. He doesn’t like the sight of brains.

“I have soup coming up in a second,” Akiyama says, “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

The stranger hesitates, grappling with his own thoughts. He climbed a mountain for this. Might as well trust the so-called yamabushi. “My name is Saejima Taiga,” he finally says, “I need your help.”

Akiyama glances at Hana. See? his look says, You were scared for nothing.

She shoots him a frown right back. The moment yokai know we’re up here, we're ruined, it replies.

“What kind of help? I have charms for money, luck, clarity of mind. I’ll tell you now, they’re not guaranteed to work. You can’t slap them on your head for an instant fix. You have to want them to work.”

Saejima shakes his head, spilling droplets across the cave. “Nothing like that. You can get crap like that from anybody.”

Akiyama’s eyebrow twitches. “I like to think they’re not cra--”

The samurai lifts his breastplate. Sitting inside, sheltered from the storm, is a spirit. The smallest one Akiyama’s ever seen, it could fit in his palm. Just a fuzzy ball of nigitama -- positive energy.

“How do I care for him?” Saejima asks.

Shun swallows his heart. “Put it back,” he says, nodding when Taiga tucks his armor back into place, “How long have you had it?”

“A day. Bad things were picking on him. That wasn’t right, so I stopped them.”

The yamabushi glances at the hammer.

“Couldn’t leave him behind,” Saejima continues, “He’s so little, you know? So I picked him up. Put him somewhere safe. Heard rumors you could help, so I came here. Can you?”

Akiyama touches his chest. “Did you know to put it there?”

“No. Seemed like a good idea.”

Shun thinks for a moment. Extracting three cups, he ladles soup into each. “Tell you what. Let’s sleep on this. I’ll have a better idea what to do in the morning.” He gives a cup to Hana and offers one to Saejima.

The samurai takes it, looks at the contents. Pieces of rabbit, plant roots, a few vegetables. He can’t be picky. Few people are willing to lend even wilted greens to a wandering disgrace.

“Cheers,” Akiyama exclaims. Everyone drinks. He spoons seconds and thirds for Taiga before he subjects himself to the shame of asking for more.

- - -

Hours later, when the storm has calmed and Saejima is twitching on a bed of straw, Akiyama goes to work. He feels a tad wretched for drugging his pilgrims, but how else can he judge them at their most sincere?

Tasogare bumps his fingers. Shun interprets it as comfort instead of the common sleepy wobble the baku calls a gait. He strokes down the pillars of stardust along its spine and feels the simultaneous sensation in the back of his mind. Touching his spirit is like putting his hand to a mirror and sinking into it like the surface of a pond. Touching himself and, at the same time, not.

Tasogare knows the drill. Despite the glow from its fur that paints the cave walls in shades of galactic violet, Saejima doesn’t stir as it approaches. It sniffs his skin, ox tail sashaying, and places the end of its trunk over his ear, mindful of its tusks.

Akiyama watches a bulge travel up its length. When Tasogare has collected enough, it slips its trunk into its mouth and swallows deeply. When it reaches for more, Shun kneels, extracting three talismans from inside his joi.

The first is for divination, for the wisdom and empathy. The second is for healing, for apologizing for what he has to do. The third is for protection, for a suit of armor around his mind. Just in case. They are far more potent than anything he gives his visitors, and he feels their effects the instant he casts them on himself. He is within and above his consciousness, watching it expand and drop roots, the cave and the mountain beyond coming into hyper-focus.

“Ready when you are,” he murmurs.

Tasogare turns to its host. Not a hint of a sway in its step this time. This is their duty, solemn and sacred. Akiyama gives the spirit’s paws a gentle squeeze. I’ll be fine.

The eye on the baku’s forehead opens and the cave is obliterated with consuming light.

- - -

It’s a battlefield. Akiyama has seen them before. A musket round sails past his face slow enough for him to spot the gases it trails from exploding gunpowder. He lets it pass, and wanders on.

Dreams are always slippery. A combination of his self-protective onmyo magic and the simple fact that the dream isn’t his makes them liquid and loose. This one is made worse from the smoke in the air, belched from cannons and untamed fires. Deep gouges made from stomping hoof and sprinting boot rake the earth into ash-topped waves. Men hide behind barricades, peeking out to raise their rifles. The bodies -- piles of corpses everywhere, thrown together to make way for soldiers soon to join the ranks of the dead.

Movement ahead. It’s Saejima.

He is fury incarnate. Swarmed by infantry, he pays no heed to the swords and spears clanging off his armor. Men fly with each swing of his hammer -- ribs crushed, limbs smashed, blood spilled. A soldier rushes in with his blade. Taiga knocks it up and brings the hammer down on his head. Red mud conceals the worst of the pulped skull.

Eighteen. Eighteen men destroyed for the sake of Lord Sakon, who doesn’t know he exists.

Saejima is on number nineteen when it happens, almost too fast for Akiyama to see. It comes from behind the yamabushi, the sound of flesh splitting open giving it away. He turns to face it. There’s no mistaking what it is. A snake the color of gore, tearing through the smog, whipping from one haggard soldier to another, bashing through their chests with jaws wide open, no hesitation, no remorse.

A spirit.

Akiyama raises his arms, braces himself, staring as the serpent barrels down on him with rows of fangs and a ravenous maw--

It blasts past him.

Shame flares hot in Shun’s chest. A novice mistake. This isn’t his dream. He isn’t here.

But Saejima--

The snake makes a lightning-fast revolution around Taiga, plowing through the men surrounding him, and it is out of sight, slashing over the battlefield for more prey. Ankle deep in the dead, Saejima tries to take hold of his thundering heart. He looks toward Sakon’s camp, toward some sign of order.

The ground jolts beneath their feet as huge crystalline spikes erupt from the earth. Akiyama stumbles to a knee and dirt grits against his palm. His breath catches in his throat -- if he can feel the dream, the protection talisman has worn off.

The sky turns crimson. From a crevasse in the earth the demon rises, bones from countless dead creeping together to form its six arms, its whip-like tail. Amrita lies caged in its chest and embedded in its skull. Two-thousand feet tall, born from hatred and magic blacker than midnight, the gasha-dokuro roars its rage.

Saejima flees.

Akiyama, shocked to his core, almost doesn’t notice. He turns and Saejima is gone. The pile of bodies shifts. It’s victim nineteen. Miasma pours from the ground, seeping into the gaping wound the snake spirit left in his chest. He looks at his fallen comrades even as aratama consumes him, swallowing his humanity in a thick case of orange hide, bristling horns, and jagged fangs. The newborn yokai bellows and lifts its blade.

Akiyama runs.

All around him, monsters are arriving. Soldiers rise to their feet, flesh sloughing off in thick, gray sheets until they are no more than skeletal wraiths. A one-eyed giant wrenches itself through a swirl of darkness. From the corner of his eye, Shun spots a heap of deceased mold themselves into an oni larger than a house. He tries to ignore the fire in his lungs. This isn’t really happening. He isn’t here.

Saejima--

He almost passes him. Taiga hasn’t found shelter -- the charred wood of a fallen tree is no barrier against devils. Still, he hides behind it as well as he can, curled into a ball. Akiyama kneels, reaching for him while around them the twilight of humankind looms.

Cannons blast from the Tokugawa camp. Saejima clasps his ears as four shots fly overhead. Three miss their target. The gasha-dokuro bats the fourth one out of the air. The round explodes uselessly against its hand. Shrieking, the demon counterattacks, spitting a volley of ghostly energy. Saejima bolts, scrambling as the air itself seems to harden around his feet.

Akiyama’s talismans splinter like twigs. He has no idea what will happen -- if the nightmare is so potent it will chew him up, if the underworld will rot him from the inside out. He bares his teeth, hands balling into fists. So be it, he thinks, If I die, I die helping my fellow man.

Golden eyes open as the the gasha-dokuro’s attack rains around him -- Tasogare’s eyes--

He’s in a forest. A dirt road. A decaying sign, nearly impossible to read in the mist that clings to his clothes and drips from the trees, points the way to the nearest towns.The only sound is wind through the leaves. It smells pungent with new, fresh growth.

Ten years have passed.

Shun breathes deep, reaching out with his mind for Tasogare’s presence. Cut it a bit closer next time, won’t you? he thinks. The baku stays hidden, but he feels it turn. He follows its gaze.

Saejima, walking through the undergrowth. Armor beaten and bashed, black hair slipping out from beneath his kabuto, the old soldier moves without destination, hammer leaving a furrow in the dirt as he drags it behind him. Anything to stay away from the aratama hounding him. Wriggling legs and a core of yellow energy propel them through the air. There are eighteen in total. One scurries ahead of Taiga, brushes against his cheek. Flinching with disgust, he slaps it away, and it joins the rest of the pack.

Lord Mitsunari is dead. Lord Sakon has vanished. Saejima is a ronin.

Akiyama follows him.

Emboldened, the aratama stage another offense. Weaving under and around each other, they nip at Taiga’s ankles, his fingers -- digging into gaps in iron plate and sinking needle teeth into his skin. “Enough,” he grunts, “Leave me be.”

We will never have enough, one of them whispers.

We had wives, another murmurs, We had children.

We became monsters, they say, So monsters we become.

Jaws find a tendon. Saejima chokes on a cry, crashing to the ground.

He imagines he will lie here forever. Perish and sink into the earth. He knows he is bound for the depths of the Sanzu River, for the cold waters to trap him for eternity. He deserves his fate, and so he stills, face in the mud, and waits.

Something growls.

Saejima knows he’s going to die, but he isn’t interested in being eaten alive. He lifts his head and sees a small shrine carved into a tree.

Within shines the prettiest light he’s ever seen.

A group of foxes circle the tree. The once holy creatures are shot through with amrita. The stones jut from their bodies like tumors. Their muzzles are coated in dry blood. Two of them are small, but the third is huge, easily the size of a bear. They snap their fangs and pant and whine, purple tongues swollen and hungry.

He reaches for his hammer. An aratama breaks a tooth through his fingernail.

Cringing, Saejima staggers to his feet. He’s already cursed. Nothing can worsen his situation. “Hey!”

The foxes turn toward him, hackles raised.

The ronin holds his hammer. “Pick on someone your own size!”

It’s over shockingly fast. Something activates in Saejima, a conduit wide open between his weapon and his soul, so blinding in its brutality that the foxes are defenseless. One catches a hammer to the back, spine broken backwards. Another is smashed upside the jaw, sending it crashing into a log. The third, the largest, spits an orb of foxfire.

Saejima reaches through it, oblivious to the heat splashing against his chest, grabs the fox’s throat, and slams the steel-hard horns of his kabuto onto its head, caving in its skull.

The corpses dissolve into shards of amrita and noxious gas.

Taiga slings the hammer onto his back. The little light in the shrine is unharmed. It’s truly beautiful, a pearlescent egg of a substance he can’t identify. Otherworldly and terrified.

“Sorry you had to see that,” he mutters, “That’s how it is.”

Realization hits him like a rock slide. He hasn’t felt this good in a decade. Even the blood dripping from his ruined nail isn’t painful. He looks over his shoulder. The eighteen aratama are staying away. Milling around each other in restless channels, and keeping their distance.

The light. They hate the light.

Saejima makes a decision before it even occurs to him to do so.

“Um,” he starts, unsure how exactly to speak to, quite frankly, the supernatural, “Listen. It ain’t safe here. You got lucky this time, but I have to keep moving. You want to come with me? If not, uh, smite me. Or something.”

He scoops the light into his palms. No bolts of lightning, no chasms opening beneath his feet. It weighs nothing and everything simultaneously. He slips it under his breastplate beside his heart.

If there’s a shrine out here, he thinks, there must be a village nearby. Somewhere to beg for a meal and pray no one recognizes an old enemy. He finds the dirt road, aratama trailing behind him.

“You have a name?”

No response.

“That’s fine. I don’t talk much either.”

Akiyama watches the reincarnated soldier until he fades into the murk of the dream. The forest comes undone. Trees and grass and ground meld into a hazy slime. Tasogare wraps its trunk around his hand, and as its third eye shuts, Shun knows what he has to do.

- - -

By morning, the rain has stopped. Saejima awakens to sunlight and clean air. He sits up and yawns, stretches his legs. Hana sits nearby, boiling water for tea.

“Mornin’,” he says. A hint of a smile twitches his lip. “Maybe there’s something to being a weird recluse. I haven’t slept that well in years.”

He turns deeper into the cave. Akiyama leans against a wall. The yamabushi’s face is pale, his eyes hang with shadows, and his clothes are covered in dust. His fingers are red and sore.

Taiga scowls. “What’s wrong with him? Get into some bad mushrooms?”

Hana purses her lips. “No, not this time. Must’ve been something he ate.”

The ronin stares at her, a hand touching his chest. Reacting to his heartbeat, the spirit pulses against his plate. “So now what? I came up here for noth--”

Akiyama startles awake with a cry. Hana nearly topples over. Saejima grabs for his hammer. They left it within my reach last night, it occurs to him.

Shun rubs his eyes, groaning. “Sorry, sorry. I...didn’t get much rest last night. Wanted to catch you before you left though.” He shifts to his knees, reaches into his joi.

The magatama is sunset orange. Though in the proper teardrop shape, its edges are rough and sharp. Freshly chiseled. There is a leather string through its hole.

“You don’t need my help,” Akiyama says, offering the charm with both hands, “You’re doing just fine. This is my gift to you. It’s a ward against evil, an enduring shield, and fuel for growth.” He bows his head. “And it will work, whether you believe me or not. Always. You have my word.”

Saejima hesitates. A purple thing sits behind Akiyama. Although it’s almost too sleepy to stand, tilting on its striped paws, the gleam in its eyes, open just a crack, is knowing. Taiga knows it’s a baku. And it’s been in his head.

He could kill them. They know who he is. If they squeal to Tokugawa’s forces, he’s as good as dead. He could kill them and throw the bodies to the crows and keep the cave as his lair.

Tiny mouths gnaw at his flesh.

He takes the magatama and slips it around his neck. It might be his imagination, but did the spirit kick against his chest? “Thanks.”

Shun looks up and smiles. “Don’t mention it. If you need anything else, you can always ask.”

“Yeah. How do I get out of here?”

The yamabushi explains. Turn right at that rock, make due west at that bush, mind the sheer cliffs and loose gravel. When he’s confident Saejima can make it off the mountain, he bows until the ronin leaves.

Then collapses face first to the ground.

A tug on his shoulder helps him sit up. “Nightmare?” Hana asks.

Akiyama sighs, pinching his brow. “The worst I’ve ever seen.” He stares at the ceiling. “I saw Sekigahara, Hana. The rumors are true. For a brief time, the yokai realm conquered ours. What does this mean about our shogunate? They’ve covered it up for years.”

“Is that a bad thing? Most people think yokai are just superstition.”

Until they turn up at their front door, he thinks. After a moment, he says, “Hana, would you hate me if I became a member of polite society again? Just for a while?”

Hana smiles, petting Tasogare’s trunk. The spirit leans into her touch. Akiyama feels it too, both as a comforting hand on his cheek, and a kind push to follow his dreams. “Only if you forget to bring me back a souvenir.”

#rawbi's writes #fic: amrita memories #yakuza #ryu ga gotoku #nioh #saejima taiga #akiyama shun #hana #a purple tapir elephant tiger...thing

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wispyrainbow · 5 years

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Can You Help Me with These Chocolates?

"Ugh, another day, another few hours being counted down until I can go home," Dylan said, sighing as he got off the bus and headed towards his workplace: Pageview. It was one of those rare days where Dylan was called into work, regardless of him being able to just work at home. Stifling a yawn, Dylan soon made his way, spotting one of his coworker, Alicja, dressed as a mascot(A strange creature with mannerisms and looks identical to a fox decorated in hearts with a large clown-like noise, x eyes and an axe;located in its head) promoting one of their new comics "Everlasting Love... Not really". As soon as Dylan passed by her, Alicja waved. "Hey, Dylan! Another day, another few hours of fun, wouldn't you say?!" "Yea, sure. Personally, I can't wait to leave...," Dylan mumbled to her. "Oh yeah, I know. I can't wait to go home so that I can go to sleep and wake up tomorrow for the Valentines Day Party!!" "Oh yeah, that event... Sounds kinda like fun. I probably won't be there long, but sounds fun." "Uh huh! Oh, and before I forget, I have a birthday gift for you on my desk! Don't open it until tomorrow though! But if you simply can't wait, you can open it today!!" "Oh ok, you didn't have to though." "Nonsense! Anything for a coworker!! Have a wonderful Dylan, and see you at the party tomorrow!!" "Yea, you too," Dylan said, before walking inside, leaving Alicja outside to keep on promoting. Once inside the small building, Dylan passed by several decorations of hearts and kisses on the windows and some more decorated on the small, sitting area, computers, and desks. Dylan couldn't help but admire the few decorations strewn about before locating Alicja's desk and picking up the medium-sized red-wrapped package with a small piece of a folded tag on top. "Hey, Iggy Akiyama!" Dylan groaned a bit as he noticed George, his other coworker(who he couldn't really tolerate with blonde, short hair), walking towards him. He was wearing a red vest with a pale pink tie, a white button-up long-sleeve shirt, a pair of black work pants and dark grey shoes. "Oh... hey George. Nice...outfit?" Dylan said, trying not to sound bored/disgusted by him. "Ah thank you. But, you have no need to tell me though. I KNOW I look good," George said, posing a bit, which caused Dylan to roll his eyes "Yea...sure." "And you have a... nice outfit as well. And by nice, I mean the same outfit you've been wearing since you started working here. Couldn't find anything with red and pink huh?" Dylan looked down at his outfit: a blue and black striped sweater over a black tie and white buttoned shirt, with black loose, ripped jeans and blue and white sneakers. He looked back up at George and gave a slight glare. "No... I didn't. But that shouldn't be a problem though...." Dylan said, obviously trying hard not to get annoyed at his co-workers' dumb comments. "Eh sure, I guess its not a problem for you. But, that's not what I came over to talk to you about." "Than what are you here to talk to me about?" "Mr. Agnew wanted me to tell you that he wants to speak to you about something important." "What's so important that he just couldn't come out to tell me?" "I don't know. But he says to just come anyway." "Ugh, fine." Dylan soon passed George and made his way towards where his boss was, a small door with a cheaply made sign that said: "Boss Agnew: Come in of your Admission... Or If You Still Want To Come In, That's Fine Too ". Dylan soon grabbed the doorknob and opened it up... Only to be met with some resistance from the other side. "What the... Agnew? Hey Agnew!" "Huh? Dylan is that you?! Uh, hold on a minute!! I just got to move some boxes!!" Dylan paused, hearing the noises of boxes being placed in different parts before the door finally opened all the way, causing Dylan to fall forward and down on the floor. "Oh shit Dylan! You ok?" "Y-yea just tripped a bi..." Dylan started saying before trailing off as he took in the sight of his boss's office. Now, even though Agnew's office had always been a less than pleasant clean, it seemed to be way more cluttered than before. There were about 40 heart-shaped boxes strewn about on the desk, floor and some of the shelves. Each of them was decorated with several different colored bows, and several tags attached to them. His boss was on one knee looking at Dylan with one hand extended, looking quite disheveled. Agnew's hair was a greying mess, hair not in its usual ponytail and hanging off his sides and back. His outfit was even more messy than usual, his red Hawaiian shirt half-tucked in and unbuttoned at the top while his pants were more dirty and raggedy, and the only thing that didn't seem off on him was his sandals. "Uh, Agnew... What's with all the boxes?" Dylan asked, taking Agnew's hand in order to be lifted back onto his feet as he kept looking around, all the while Agnew rubbed the back of his head with one hand as he looked sheepishly at Dylan. "Heh, o-oh yeah... Wellllllll, they're all from... my wife. You remember, Florence? She came here a couple of times?" "Oh, yea. I remember her. Wasn't she the one who brought in that giant, 3-foot cake celebrating the anniversary of you starting Pageview?" "Yea, such a beautiful cake," Agnew said, a loving smile on his face as he remembered his wife's proud look as she bought it in, before snapping back to reality to share the same sheepish discomfort from before. "Y-yep, the same. She's a baker, part of one of the small chain of bakeries scattered around NewDugWood and for Valentines Day, she decided that she wanted to give me more than just a card. So she decided to spice up by making me different-shaped/colored chocolates with different fillings." "Wait, that's what's in all these boxes?!" "Yea... Florence can get a little crazy when she starts baking, but she definitely means well. However, that's where the problem lies." "Problem? What problem?" "Well, you see... I have the suspicion that Florence may have filled up some of the chocolates with nougat. And if you don't know, my digestion system and nougat... Are not friends. Even the taste of it is enough to cause my taste buds to recoil. And since I don't know which box contains the confectionaries in question, and taste testing them is not an option, I'm afraid my wife's treats might have to be forced to melt in order to understand which is which." "Ah, I see... Well, if that's the case, why do you need me exactly?" Dylan asked, to which Agnew looked at Dylan with a bit of a sparkle in his eyes as he clasped his hand on Dylan's shoulders and looked at him with a smile. "Well, that is where you come in! You see Dylan, I need you to taste the chocolates in each of the boxes and tell me if any of them contains nougat!" "Oh... wait, what?! You want me to taste all the chocolates in all of these boxes?!" "Not all the boxes, just until you get to one that doesn't contain nougat! This will make it easier for me cause than that will mean I won't have to watch Florence's beautiful creations melt and I won't have to tell her I wasn't able to eat any of them, risking to see her disappointed reaction!" "Ok, that's good for you... But not for me! What's the point of eating all these anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to just save these until later on in life?" "Noooo, that is not an option here! That's essentially deeming these sweets as just leftovers, and no one wants to eat the leftovers that someone else had!" "...That makes no sense Agnew..." Dylan said, to which Agnew soon took Dylan's hands into his own and started pleading with him down on the ground on his knees. "Please, Dylan! If you help me with this, I promise I'll give you the rest of the day off!" "I-I don't know..." Dylan said, despite the promise of being able to go home seemly a wish come true. Agnew didn't say anything but simply looked with eyes glistening(looking like he'll cry) and small whimpers seemly emanating from his mouth. Dylan tried looking away but ultimately failed as his shoulders slacked and he sighed. "... 2 days..." "Huh?" "Two days off from work. You agree to that, and I'll help you with your chocolate situation." "Uh, s-sure! Ok!" Agnew said, a bright smile on his face as he got up, grabbed a box of chocolates and gave it to Dylan as if to say "Start!" Dylan gulped and opened the box up. Each of the chocolates was shaped differently, with the top row square shaped, the middle row heart-shaped, and the bottom row in oval shaped with lines of white and dark chocolate decorated on top. Dylan couldn't help but admire the carefulness and decoration that was put on, that he almost felt bad about eating it. Almost, as he picked up a piece and placed it in his mouth. His teeth soon bit on to the shell as he chewed before swallowing, noting the taste of something that was a mix of honey and sugar which Dylan recognized as... "Taste like nougat." "Ah ok... So then that means that box might have fillings of nougat in each piece, so... Can you please eat the rest of them?" Dylan rolled his eyes but complied, eating and swallowed the rest of the pieces before placing the box down. Just as quickly as he was done finishing the box, another was plopped in his hands. Dylan opened it up and admire the now just milk chocolate triangle-shaped chocolates with different messages of "I Love You", "Be My Valentine", and other cheesy, loving messages, before picking up a piece and chewed. The first piece was a little hard to tell, so Dylan popped in a couple more, which raised Agnew's hopes up that maybe this box contained non-nougat, until... "Hmmm... this one also has nougat in it," Dylan said, mouth still chewing the pieces. "Damn! Alright, you can finish the pieces..." Agnew said, disappointed. Dylan complied and went ahead, finishing the box just a bit faster before the next one was popped into his hands. The process continued with at least 4 more boxes, with the 5th one... "Oh hey, I think this one has cherry filling in it..." "Really?! Ah yes!!" Agnew said as Dylan handed him the box as he chewed on the first piece before swallowing, a small burp erupting from his mouth as a feeling of fullness started in his stomach. Unfortunately, he was far from done as Agnew soon gave him another box. "Ah, Agnew... I don't think I can eat another box, I'm already kinda full..." "Noooo! Please don't stop now Dylan! Just try a few more boxes for me please!!!" "Ummm..." "Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee?" "...'Sigh' Ok." Agnew let out a bit of a squeal before giving him another box, the process picking up again. At least 10 of the boxes contained nougat, while about 5 more contained other fillings like hot fudge, blueberry(which Dylan took two pieces from them to chew, much to Agnew's dismay), marshmallow(another two pieces eaten by Dylan), etc. During that time, about 20 boxes were inspected, and during that time Dylan was starting to go from being full to slight discomfort. His stomach was now started to try and make some form of room for the pieces, and in the end, was starting to push out more from underneath his shirt. Soon Box number 21 was finished(another nougat) and Dylan was trying hard not to let loose any more prolonged burps and ignoring his pants now starting to cut into his expanding flesh. Box 22 was placed in his hands and Dylan had to stifle a groan. "Huh? Is something wrong Dylan?" Agnew asked, a bit of concern on his face. "Ugghh... Its n-nothing Agnew... 'Burp!'" "You sure?" Dylan just nodded as he opened the box and picked up a piece, sighing as that one was proven to be nougat too. His stomach gurgled and groaned as more pieces were digested and it started pushing out again, raising the hem of his sweater up to where slivers of his white buttoned up shirt could be seen. "Ah, that was all nougat huh?" "Yep...'BRAP!' Excuse me..." Dylan felt sick. His stomach felt heavy, the button cutting into it as Dylan's hand tried unconsciously to rub it in order to make it better. It was at this point that another box was given to him and Dylan took slowly. While that box proved different flavors(one was raspberry cream), the next few were, as expected nougat. Dylan could feel his stomach painfully stretch out, the buttons now starting to strain against. By the time, the number had dwindled down to a reasonable amount, Dylan was now starting to consider unbuttoning his pants button in front of his boss, but decided not to. Soon there were only 5 boxes left. Dylan groaned, one box already in his hands as he opened it up slowly and chewed. Nougat, Nougat, Nougat, Buttercream. And all the while Dylan's stomach was at this point begging him to stop as his sweater now sat on top of his shirt. "Ok, Dylan... Just one more box, than you can go home for at least two days," Agnew said, worried about what might happen to Dylan, considering he was starting to look sick. Dylan didn't say anything but took the box, and opened it, not caring about what they look like, just that he wanted to finish. He picked up a piece and plopped it in his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. It took a while before he finally said... "This one is... Pistachio..." "Pis-PISTACHIO?! Oh, I LOVE pistachio!!! Alright, great job Dylan," Agnew said as he gave Dylan a nice pat on the back, all the while Dylan was busy burping and holding his stomach tightly, feeling sluggish and like a rock. Though Agnew, if he could, hardly noticed. "Alright, Dylan! Thanks for your help!" "N-No problem..." Dylan burped out before finally walking away, closing the door behind him as he leaned back against and rubbed his stomach, moaning as more burps erupted from his mouth. Examining his gut, it was struggling against the buttons on both his white shirt and the button/belt of his pants. He held his stomach close and prayed that he would get home before his stomach would immediately pop off the buttons in question. "Iggy Akiyama! What did the boss want you to do," George called out, oblivious to Dylan's discomfort. "Uggh..'BURP!' Nothing... L-listen, I'm going home right now... And don't even bother asking why cause I'm just going..." Dylan said quickly before rushing towards the door before George could say anything else, hoping to take the bus as a quicker way home in order to relax and hopefully sleep off the pieces before vomiting. At the least, he wouldn't have to worry for two more days of work to come, though it was going to be anything but relaxing. "Uggh... Note of advice, never do anything for your bo- 'BURRRP' boss... Ever again..." Dylan said to himself, hoping that in the future this would stick... But probably not...

#a short story #slight weight gain #pretty shitty story #male oc #wish I wrote this a lot better #eh #maybe next year #also I got Dylan's last name wrong all this time #changed it

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lisatelramor · 7 years

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Run, Hide (It’s Dark Outside)

Y'know, 90% of these random kiss stories involve detective conan or magic kaito characters. Luck of the draw I guess? Either way, they're fun. There's still a few more coming. I just want to space them out.

For the prompt: Heiji – Kurama: Creepy

The body in front of him had, so far as Heiji could see, the right number of limbs and all the internal organs one would expect to find in an eviscerated corpse. Said organs gaped like the spilled guts of a fish onto the grass, adding to the scent of blood with the noxious smell of open bowels. The corpse had two blank eyes, and a mouth open in a death snarl. Two arms, two legs. The general shape was right, but that was as close to human as the body got. Reddish brown skin was flecked with stiff hairs like a boar, and the jaw of it had tusks. The nose shape was too flat, the rest of the teeth too sharp, and its hands had what appeared to be claws.

This was only the second time Heiji had ever run across something like this (and boy had he tried to forget the first time). The last time he’d been in middle school, and he’d been firmly removed from the case as a special police unit took over.

Unlike that time, this corpse was fresh. He didn’t have the slightest clue who else might be in this woods. Heiji had just come here for a vacation. Camping was supposed to be fun.

There’s signs of a fight—scarred trees, a few gauges in the ground, a clear line of blood spatter, bits missing where something had been in the way. Or was it someone? Heiji couldn’t tell what exactly cut the body. It was sharp, but not sharp like a blade. He gave the body one more look. In a pants pocket was an ID. Despite his appearance in death, Akiyama Inozu looked human enough on his ID. Ugly as heck with a smushed looking face, but not someone Heiji would have given a second glance if he ran into him on the street, and well within the normal range of Asian skin and hair color.

Who did you call with shit like this? Police? A priest? Regardless, someone was dead. There was an old guy who owned the camp ground, Heiji supposed, but he’d left two days ago with some sort of family emergency, so Heiji could probably rule him out as both a suspect and someone to call.

Heiji snapped some pictures with his cell phone on the off chance that he would have to call this in to the police. There was a lot of chances evidence could get lost when you were in the middle of a woods. And since he was in the middle of the woods with a fresh corpse, he had to wonder where the killer had gone. Another camp site? Back to a car and driven away by now? The blood was so fresh it hadn’t even fully congealed. No, this had to have happened very recently. So recently that it was a miracle Heiji hadn’t heard the fight while wandering around.

“If I was a killer, where would I go next?” he muttered. Well, if he was a killer who quite possibly just got sprayed with blood and bits of entrails after disemboweling an opponent, he’d probably want to get clean before someone noticed. Showers were less than fifteen minutes of walking away.

Heiji tucked his phone away and edged around the gore radius of Akiyama’s body. He wasn’t going to be hungry any time soon, that was for sure… There was an uncomfortable feeling settled in his hindbrain as he walked, like he was being watched. If he was being watched, Heiji couldn’t figure out where from. Not a pleasant feeling in the middle of the woods with a dead body. And a murderer somewhere who might or might not be human. He might mock Kazuha’s charms, but that was only because he really didn’t’ want to think about the whole other realm of who knows what going on right under his nose. Yeah. Not fun thoughts.

It didn’t help that it was getting dark.

He had to squint a bit in the forest gloom where it was all shadows now that the sun had slipped behind a hillside. He kept a flashlight on his keychain though, and that helped. At least it did until he swung it up and the iridescent glow of eyes scared him half to death.

“Shit!” The glow, there and gone, was probably an animal. Probably. Heiji was never going camping alone again. Hell, dragging Kudo and his group of kids with him would have been better. Even with Kudo’s karma from hell, they’d at least have company. He could make out the edge of the trees and the showers beyond that. Thank goodness.

He didn’t make it to the clearing. Something tripped him—or he tripped on something, it was a bit unclear. Heiji fell hard face first into a bush. Twigs snagged at his skin and clothing as he tried to get out of it. There was something wrapped around his ankle though, and when he raised the flashlight again, there were the same glowing eyes from before, only there was a face with them and silver hair topped by two pointy dog-like ears. “Fuuuuuck fuck fuck fuck….” He was dead. Kitsune. Was it the evil kind or one of Inari’s? Stupid question since it was probably what took out the other guy. Heiji tugged at his trapped foot. There was a root wrapped around his ankle which shouldn’t even have been possible. Not going anywhere then…

Heiji gave as much of a bow as he could considering he was seated and still half in a bush. You were supposed to be polite to supernatural creatures, right? “Hello kitsune-san. I hope I’m not trespassin’ on yer territory or anythin’…”

The kitsune didn’t answer. Its ears pricked forward and its bright gold eyes never left Heiji though. …was it nine tailed foxes that turned silver? And it was a male fox. The stories mostly had pretty fox women or creepy old men, not scary-pretty demon men. It crept closer. There was something coiled at its waist. A whip? Could a whip eviscerate a boar demon? Or had it been those long claws? Hell, it was probably a magic whip to go with the magic creature in front of him.

“Just a harmless camper here, sir, didn’t know ya had claim a the woods. Uh. Was that guy yer prey earlier?” Woah, it was pretty big up close. Taller than Heiji with way wider shoulders and hell, even free Heiji wouldn’t be able to fight against a demon. Its face looked close. Even prettier close up if you were into sharp eyes, fox ears and fangs. “Uh. Please don’t eat me.”

The kitsune either smirked or it was flashing some fang for threat effect, but it had Heiji’s heart rabbiting faster either way.

“It’s considered a bad idea to take a walk at twilight,” the kitsune said. It crouched over Heiji, its face close enough that Heiji could have touched it if he wanted to. Which considering it meant it was closer in the off chance the demon wanted to rip his throat out, Heiji really would have preferred it further away.

“Y’don’t say,” Heiji said weakly. He inched back as far as he could with his leg trapped.

“Yes,” the kitsune said conversationally, “you end to see things that’s best left to the imagination.”

“Y’know, I don’t usually imagine corpses. Not without bein’ able to catch who killed ‘em.”

“A bit of a detective, hmm?” The kitsune makes a sound that kind of sounds like a laugh. “Then you’ll sleep easier knowing the demon you found earlier had a death sentence for eating children.”

Heiji’s eyes widened. That whip at the demon’s waist was made of some kind of vine. Hoo boy. He used plants. Heiji was in a fricking forest. If a vine whip could disembowel someone, he hated to know what the guy could do with a tree. “Y’know, not sure if that helps or not,” Heiji admitted.

“He’ll get a trial in the afterlife if that helps.”

Yeeeeah, still not making the murder better. After this Heiji was going to start carrying a sword. Or something. Something that let him feel a little less helpless in this sort of situation. Cary ofuda charms even. Hell, if Kazuha could make omamori that worked, maybe she would have a talent with demon repelling and he should just drag her along if anything gave him the heebie jeebies like he was getting now. Like spiders running up his spine as predatory gold eyes seemed to pick him apart.

For a demon killer, there wasn’t a speck of blood on him. He didn’t smell like blood or death either. If anything he smelled like roses, and wasn’t that a head trip. Heiji couldn’t get any further back or flatter to the ground. He realized there was one kind of kitsune mythos he hadn’t thought of earlier. He swallowed hard as silver hair slid along the hollow of his throat. Gold eyes remained amused right up until Heiji couldn’t see them clearly anymore because his eyes were crossing.

“Detective,” the kitsune said, now all but covering Heiji’s body with his own.

“Yeah?” Heiji squeaked.

“Be more careful what you charge into.”

There was a press of lips against his own, the sensation of fangs hidden behind them, and the world spun out of focus. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a gravelly voice and the kitsune’s responding laughter.

“Was that really necessary?” Hiei said.

Kurama laughed. “No, but it was pretty fun.” He let Yoko drain away back into his regular human body. The teenager beneath him was unconscious, knocked out by a toxin Kurama had coated his lips with. He could have taken the ‘innocent human’ approach and knocked the teenager out while he was caught off guard, but it had been infinitely more amusing to pull a prank instead. Kurama was feeling a bit whimsical today; it was nice to be out of the city and surrounded by an old growth forest.

“You shouldn’t have had to catch him in the first place,” Hiei said. “You’re getting sloppy.”

Kurama shrugged. “You were the one who was supposed to dispose of the body.”

“Why burn it if you can feed it to your plants?” Hiei’s eyes flicked away from Kurama’s smirk. He’d probably let the human stumble upon the body in the first place. He resettled his gaze on the teenager in question. “Should we kill him too?”

“Hiei,” Kurama said drily, “that would only lead to more time on our sentences.” He stood, brushing bits of leaf mold off his clothing. “He handled running into a demon pretty well.”

Hiei snorted. “If you call being scared witless handling it well.”

“There was no screaming,” Kurama pointed out. “Not when he saw the body and not when I came out of the trees. I wonder if he’s run into demons before?”

“He has to have some ability if he could tell what you were,” Hiei said. “Am I wiping his memory or are you?”

“Your methods are more precise,” Kurama said.

“Lazy fox.”

Kurama stood aside and let Hiei at it.

“Hmm,” Hiei muttered as he reached out. “He’s got a luck charm on him.”

“Strong?”

“Strong for an amateur,” Hiei said. He put a hand on the teenager’s head. Behind its wrappings, the Jagan eye opened and glowed violet. “All done. He won’t remember anything.”

“I’ll take him to his campsite, you take care of the body?” Kurama suggested.

“Fine, but you have to do the report to Koenma.”

“Fair enough.”

Heiji woke with a bad enough headache that he wondered if he’d raided his dad’s liquor stash again. He was face down on his sleeping bag with no recollection of how he’d gotten there. He could have sworn he’d gone for a walk…

Ugh, next time he felt like escaping the world for a bit he’d escape a little less. Maybe bring someone along. Like Kazuha. That seemed like a really good idea for some reason. He had the strangest feeling he should apologize to her about something. He rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head to block out the sunlight glowing through the tent walls. He’d get up when his head stopped throbbing.

(Later Heiji found some alarming photos on his phone and felt very glad to be alive and even more terrified at his memory gap. He was never going to say a bad word toward superstitions again and he totally owed Kazuha an apology. And maybe a gift because her luck charm seemed to have pulled another miracle.)

#detective conan #Yu Yu Hakusho #fanfiction #my writing #heiji/kurama #yes you read that right #who better than heiji to deal with something supernatural?#hope people are liking these random fics

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