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magicpotatoobsession · 2 years

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GIVEN | The PECULIAR link between Paternal Idolisation and Music

I have noticed a peculiar link between a Given character's mental health and their relationship with their father, or lack thereof, and how that directly impact their approaches towards music and ability to bond with other people.

Within Given, three character tropes seem to apply:

1. Characters with a musical father tend to follow the path of music because some part of them idolised their father.

2. Characters without a father tend to idolise another male figure, regardless of whether it is appropriate to do so or not.

3. Given characters who have displayed an overt depression from a young age tend to use music as their only form of expression and emotional outlet for their pain.

I'll be referring to these throughout this blog so please keep them in mind!

For this meta, I'll be looking at specifically Ugetsu and Yuki.

But these tropes seem to apply to all the other characters as well so I’ll be sure to touch on them in future metas.

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Ugetsu

Let's start with Ugetsu since we have more concrete knowledge on his character. So the first bit of family background we get about Ugetsu is through the metadata Chapter 21.5.

Although Ugetsu's father is alive and presumably well, his father is a diplomat and doesn't seem to be very present in Ugetsu's life at all. We also get a sense that from a very young age, due to growing up in a cold familial environment without tender-loving-care (TLC) from his parents, Ugetsu already had the early signs of depression, like what kind of kid "wants to die" and "was already chasing the feeling of dying"???!! From the looks of it, Ugetsu couldn't be more than 6-7 and he was already having thoughts like this???!! MY GOODNESS that poor child. 😭😭😭

So in according with Point 3 of the character tropes,

Ugetsu's depression and paternal abandonment was an overwhelming pain he had to deal with since he was a kid and it was through this Paul Simon's song that he discovered music. It was through the violin that he was able to admit to himself that

"wow, I want to die."

he is really depressed.

This directly parallels Mafuyu's experience of him not being able to admit to himself that he is lonely but only when he's finally on stage and singing, he was finally able to say to himself "I am lonely." Music is an emotional outlet for both Ugetsu and Mafuyu where they can be honest with themselves. This is actually a good thing though!

Being honest with oneself is actually the first step to healing!

Even though it took me a second to understand what was going on in that panel, it made me realise that the fact that Ugetsu is able to express his pain through music is how he has kept himself from going off the rails!

While music is essential to Ugetsu's survival, I'm almost certain that

Ugetsu picked music as his career as some form of a rebellion against his father as well.

Actually, it was @a-voice-of-my-own who brought this to my attention with his meta on Akigetsu. One clear sign is considering how Ugetsu comes from generational wealth, he absolutely doesn't have to live in his parent's basement, BUT HE CHOSE to do so as if to spite his father and grandfather for abandoning him.

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I previously said in my Mirrors in Given Headcanons EXPLAINED blog that Ugetsu didn't idolize Akihiko but is just emotionally enmeshed with him. I'd like to retract that statement. Upon further revision, I actually think Ugetsu did in fact idolize Akihiko because

Ugetsu not only saw Akihiko as a lover but also as a paternal figure.

The moment Akihiko did this, Ugetsu felt this overwhelming love that he has NEVER EVER, presumably, received from his father or grandfather before. So not only did he seek a romantic love from Akihiko, he also started to become spoilt in the TLC that Akihiko provided for him.

You gotta realise that Akihiko and Ugetsu were both teenagers when they started dating. So Akihiko also being essentially a kid, enabled that behaviour and didn't call Ugetsu out because he also idolized Ugetsu. So even after they broke up, these old habits just kept carrying on into their "situationship".

According to our current frameworks of psychology, The Child-Parent Role partnership is incredibly toxic for relationships because there is an IMBALANCE OF POWER. For a relationship to work, both individuals have to have a good sense-of-self and be able to function independently as healthy adults while also be able to rely on each in times of need. Prolonged power-imbalance dynamic can lead to resentment from both partners. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.

So in relation to my Point 1 and Point 2,

Ugetsu took on the role of the child while Akihiko took on Paternal Figure even though they are both the same age.

Ugetsu's idolisation of Akihiko took form in the sense that he held Akihiko to an inappropriately high standard as a partner.

Ugetsu wanted to receive an unreasonable amount of TLC while he also wanted Akihiko to measure up to his violin skills so that Akihiko could truly understand Ugetsu and receive Ugetsu's expressions of love through music. But poor Akihiko was dealing with his own demons and suffocating under all of this pressure. Akihiko was just a kid.

Ugetsu, being incredibly enmeshed with Akihiko, seeing how much Akihiko was suffering, then in turn couldn't freely express himself in his music, having to hold back. That's why he says

"I want to be with him, I want to be with him, I want to be with him, but I'm in love with music."

From my standpoint as a musician, it's this loop of wanting Akihiko's TLC so bad but knowing how toxic his musical standards are for Akihiko are but also feeling suffocated by Akihiko's love for him. He was afraid of being loved by someone with such intensity because Ugetsu has been alone for so long, that's why he said in Chapter 16, "I should have just said I was happy." He also knew how much Akihiko was suffocating in their relationship cocoon now that Akihiko was completely dedicating himself to Ugetsu whilst also feeling inferior to Ugetsu. He himself was suffocating without being able to let out his emotions freely through music because he was enmeshed with Akihiko's negative emotions. I go into more detail about this toxic cycle and music in this meta about Akigetsu and Thaikovsky's Concerto in D.

So he tried to break up, he really did but ultimately couldn't because in a way for Ugetsu, pushing away Akihiko is akin to a child forcing himself to reject his loving father. And the pain Ugetsu felt was just too much so the toxic cycle began when from time to time, he couldn't help but come crawling back to seek Akihiko's comfort. Isn't it funny how the way Ugetsu behaved in the "situationship" were similar to repetitive rounds of childlike tantrums? Ugetsu was trying to do something that meant well for Akihiko, but he was never taught HOW to securely attach or detach from another human being. T_T

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Many studies have shown the detrimental impacts on the absence of paternal figures and TLC in a child's life. Psychologist Edward Kruk Ph.D. summarises some keypoints and I think it'll be interesting to check that with Ugetsu's attributes:

Diminished self-concept and compromised physical and emotional security: constantly feeling abandoned, episodic bouts of self-loathing. - Ugetsu is completely in disarray without Akihiko Ugetsu overtly says how much he hates himself ✅

Behavioural problems: a persona to disguise their underlying fears, resentments, anxieties and unhappiness - Ugetsu is literally facade on top of facade ✅ Once again, he was putting Akihiko down to get Akihiko to hate him and leave, but deep in his heart he totally thinks very well of him.

Promiscuity: early sexual maturity - using sex as a way to feel needed by others, even after "breakup" with Akihiko ✅

Drug and alcohol abuse: Fatherless children are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, and abuse drugs in childhood and adulthood - ??? unsure about this one but he definitely smokes and drinks, not sure if he abuses them

Mental health disorders: anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. - duh ✅

Future relationships: Father-absent children tend to enter partnerships earlier, are more likely to divorce or dissolve their cohabiting unions - Ugetsu has anxious-attachment style where he feels abandoned but is also afraid of people getting close to him. Akigetsu literally moved in together straight out of highschool which is crazy early. ✅

Also this is very interesting, Akihiko and Ugetsu actually recall different versions of events. Ugetsu said this in Chapter 17 implying that Akihiko initiated the cohabitation arrangement:

It's not about who's version of events are right, but I found it interesting that both perhaps did not want to admit that they were so incredibly enmeshed with each other and toxic for each other, both idolising but also wanting to blame one another for how things turned out at this point in the story. There was a lot of love-hate. This is why by Chapter 27, I am so incredibly proud of them because they were finally able to let each other go. Akihiko said sorry and thank you while Ugetsu decided not to grab Akihiko, not to give into his own toxic reflexes (grabbing him then throwing him away), Ugetsu let him go for good.

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Yuki

We actually know very little about Yuki's actual persona because as I mentioned in post about why the Given fandom is hung up about MafuYuki, the majority of the information we receive are second-hand recounts from other people of Yuki. (we probably won't know for certain until the Yuki-Ueno song). However, it's no coincidence that Ugetsu and Yuki are musical mirrors and foils of one another.

-> Of course, from here onwards in the meta, please be aware that what you will be reading is what I believe went on Yuki's head. These are MY INTERPRETATIONS based on the clues that Kizu has left us in the manga. <-

Yuki is actually fatherless and it's heavily implied that his father died at the hands of depression and suicide in Strawberry Swing Chapter 02 (ch 32.9),

Yuki's mother seem to imply that Yuki suffered from some sort of intergenerational transmission of depression. This is a real thing! Recently, more medical studies have shown that genetically, you can actually pass on depression and children of depressed parents are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders.

Cup Ramen 🍜 and Yuki's family circumstances

Both Yuki and his mother must have been relying on her single-parent income since Yuki's father died. We don't exactly know when it happened but from what I gathered, it must have been earliest before Yuki was born, latest when Yuki was still in primary. Since Mafuyu and Yuki have a very similar family set-up and according to Mafuyu's meta-data, he is from lower-middle class income family, I am assuming that Yuki is also around the same social-economic circumstances. I don't think it was a coincidence that Kizu had Yuki's mother mentioning that the day after he passed, Yuki's cup ramen orders came through. I think Kizu meant for the cup ramen to symbolise this 1) inexplicable weird sense of normalcy when one's dealing with grief while simultaneously showing 2) how frugal of a lifestyle Yuki and his mum led.

We gotta realise that not only was Yuki dealing with his own depression, but the moment that his father died,

Yuki felt like he had to step-up and become the man of the household for his mum.

In Chapter 7, while it may seem like he was just investing to buy a guitar (to Hiiragi and everyone else), I think the moment Yuki reached an appropriate working age, he was trying to help his mum pay the bills.

*Isn't it so interesting that in Strawberry String 03 (Ch 33.9), we see the cup ramen 🍜 getting referenced again. Of course, most people would make the instant connection to Yuki,

and that 1) connection is the most obvious one that Kizu wanted us to pick up. We could even take it a step further that because both mums, as Hiiragi said in Chapter 6, acknowledged MafuYuki's relationship, it could have been something that Mafuyu's mum and Yuki bonded over. In addition to that, I truly think it was also Kizu's subtle way of 2) highlighting the parallels between the two families' lower-middle income backgrounds.

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Now, referring to Point 1 and Point 2 of the character tropes, I theorise that

Yuki idolized Mafuyu and may have seen Mafuyu as a paternal figure!

Let's refresh Point 1, Characters with a musical father and tend to follow the path of music because some part of them idolised their father. Point 2, Characters without a father tend to idolise another male figure, regardless of whether it is appropriate to do so or not.

Of course, Mafuyu and Yuki are the same age, so it is inappropriate for Yuki to see Mafuyu as a paternal figure. But Yuki couldn't help it. It was Mafuyu who started randomly humming tunes.

"You were often humming songs. That guy was always paying attention."

The flashback showed that the childhood squad were still in their middle-school uniforms when Hiiragi recalled this quote! And then Hiiragi in Chapter 9 pointed that it was only when they entered highschool that himself, Yuki and Shizu officially started to play music.

So I honestly believe Yuki decided to learn music literally for Mafuyu! 🤯🤯🤯

Fuck I'm gonna cry T_T

While Ugetsu's harsh, ironclad facade in the "situationship" was to instigate Akihiko to leave him, Yuki's facade was different. Yuki knew that Mafuyu has dealt with an abusive father so Yuki's paternal idolisation and enmeshment with Mafuyu comes in the form of

wanting to keep up a perfect facade for Mafuyu and those around him.

Yuki probably didn't want Mafuyu or anyone to worry about him so he felt like he HAD to be strong for everyone, including Hiiragi and Shizu.

In reference to Point 3,

Yuki, just like Ugetsu, uses music as a form of expression. Through being part of the band, he discovered that he can process his depression through his music and that's when Hiiragi became enamoured by Yuki's musical abilities. But of course, paired with the need to uphold a facade, he couldn't share his songwriting processes with Mafuyu. It's not finished, it's a vulnerable part of him, he couldn't show someone he idolised and loved so much something imperfect, something flawed.

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Now let's talk about something interesting. What causes Yuki and Ugetsu to uphold a facade for different reasons and act differently towards their respective partner is actually because of one key thing.

💰MONEY💰

Kizu is so fucking brilliant.

She constantly highlights how social-economic circumstances of Given characters affect the way they behave.

Ugetsu comes from generational wealth. Ugetsu kept up a cheerful, nonchalant and ironclad facade to everyone else because he didn't want anyone, especially his father as an act of rebellion for abandoning him since he was kid, to find out how depressed he actually was. Then Akihiko saw through that facade. Ugetsu then couldn't help but seek Akihiko's TLC because literally money can buy everything else.

Yuki's facade came from wanting to be the pillar of social and familial environment he operated in. He wanted to provide the best, first experiences for Mafuyu. His lower social-economical background meant that he had to mature and take care of himself a lot quicker than most kids while his mum had to go to work. But the poor thing, Yuki is taking on a lot for a kid! Also notice these Yuki parallels with Akihiko? They are both kids having to assume too much financial responsibility from an early age, having to mature too fast, too soon.

Of course, Yuki the moment he entered high school, became more absent because of work and the band, and this caused Mafuyu to feel an incredible sense of abandonment. It was further exacerbated by Yuki, Hiiragi and Shizu being in a different school and being in a band together and it festered until Mafuyu snapped.

Mafuyu asking for more time together of course meant Yuki couldn't stop working because presumably he still had to help out with the bills so music's got to give.......

When Mafuyu said those angry words,

"Would you die for me then?"

For literally anyone else with a clear head, they would have known that those were angry words and not something that Mafuyu actually meant. However, Yuki's paternal idolisation of Mafuyu + his ongoing pressure uphold a perfect facade + with his own depression + a toxic amount of alcohol -> his thoughts processes might have been:

Yuki started music to impress Mafuyu

Music became Yuki's only emotional outlet for depression

Then Yuki, amidst his depression interpreted Mafuyu's angry words as having to "choose" between Mafuyu and music.

But the thing is it's always been Mafuyu. He started music for Mafuyu.

Yuki couldn't believe that all he worked for in music made Mafuyu wish he were dead so if Mafuyu was happier with him dead, then so be it. It was like Mafuyu finally gave him permission to go through with the suicidal thoughts he had always had for a very long time....

I honestly believe this is what went on in his head. 😭😭😭I think in due time, it'll be interesting to see what more Kizu will reveal to us about Yuki and I'm keen to see how much of my interpretation will match up to what Yuki's actually like.

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Can I just say that I am not the biggest fan of Saeko-san, Yuki's mum..... It's a lot of pressure to put on a back then, 15-16 year-old Mafuyu to be Yuki's anchor like my goodness....But ok ok, Saeko did admit her mistakes and you just never know with these things so I'm gonna try and not blame anyone.....Depression is hard to navigate.....

Let's check Yuki's attributes with Psychologist Edward Kruk Ph.D's summary points....oh wow he fits like a glove T_T:

Diminished self-concept and compromised physical and emotional security: most likely ✅

Behavioural problems: a persona to disguise their underlying fears, resentments, anxieties and unhappiness - facade city for sure ✅

Promiscuity: having intercourse before the age of 16, early sexual maturity - Kizu strongly hints MafuYuki began a sexual relationship in early middle school ✅

Drug and alcohol abuse - sobbbs ✅

Mental health disorders: depression, and suicide - sobbbss ✅

Future relationships: Father-absent children tend to enter partnerships earlier - MafuYuki definitely had some sort of a relationship really early perhaps as early as when they were 12-13 I reckon. They couldn't help but search comfort in each other. ✅

In Conclusion,

1. Ugetsu idolized Akihiko and wanted Akihiko to desperately be on par with his violin skills. Yuki Idolized Mafuyu and I honestly believe started music to try and impress Mafuyu.

2. Their idolisations of their partners are inappropriate because they are basically kids who are all the same age and it created a power imbalance in both relationships, causing all parties to feel disconnected, suffocated and or abandoned. But it's not like something that they themselves were aware that they were doing. The lack of paternal presence paired with early onset depression caused them to project this idolisation onto their respective partners.

3. Ugetsu and Yuki both used music as their only form of emotional outlet. In front of basically anyone else, they upheld a facade. But they upheld a facade for different reasons and the way they bonded with their partner is also different because of their different social-economic circumstances.

@morievna also wrote a great comparison between Yuki and Ugetsu, it is totally worth checking out!

So now knowing all this, I have a theory...

Did Hiiragi perhaps see Yuki as a paternal figure?

more on that another time!

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If you like what you read, all I post is basically Given analysis content. Give my blog a follow to be notified of future posts! #metapotato

Masterlist of my Given metas

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italeean · 2 years

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A peculiar melody

After a tiring afternoon, Mafuyu and Uenoyama are chilling together. The quiet atmosphere, however, lasts only until an interesting discovery is made

NOTE: Ehilà, Spero siate tutti bene! 💚🤍❤️ (Hey there, I hope you’re all fine!) Today I wanted to write for Given, another one of my favorites. I swear, it’s so beautiful that I finished it in 2 days. I hope you like this work, too; suggestions and support are always appreciated. Have a good day!! ^_^

DISCLAIMER: This is a tickle fic, if it’s not to your taste I don’t suggest you read it

“Hahahahahahaha stahahahap it” a giggling sound could be heard from Mafuyu’s living room, where he and his boyfriend were having a little misunderstanding about practicing.

“Just promise me that we’ll start practicing right now and I’ll stop” Uenoyama whispered very, very close to his lover’s ear, which was being gently assaulted with soft kisses and nibbles. “I dohohohon’t wannahahah hehehehahah” that day Mafuyu was really impossible, so the blue-haired guy decided to go straight for the kill.

He blew a big raspberry on the tiny guy’s neck, right where he knew from experience he was the most sensitive. “HYAHAHAHA NAHAHAHHAHA IHIHIHI GIHIHHIHIVEHEHEHEEHE” after that final blow, Mafuyu’s resolve crumbled definitely and he gave into his boyfriend’s requests.

“Jeez, finally, come on, we’ve already lost like... WHAT?! 15 minutes?! Hurry up, it’s already awfully lat-” Uenoyama was stopped by a very cute Mafuyu, who decided to grip his shirt and say “Can we practice tomorrow? I’m tired...”

The taller one thought that his ears had deceived him for an instant; they had gone through the whole ordeal to start practicing and now he wanted to postpone it? However, the odds were in the lazy one’s favor. In fact, the orange-haired guy had the unfair idea of giving his lover his brightest, widest, cutest puppy-dog eyes, which were always able to let him get away with everything.

“Ugh! Fine... just stop looking at me like that...” said Uenoyama with a faint blush on his cheeks “and don’t look so smug! You knew exactly what you were doing, giving me that expression” honestly, since he was certain that his lover wasn’t really mad, Mafuyu couldn’t care less about his expression. On the other hand, he wanted, no, he needed his boyfriend to lay close to him, so that they could cuddle.

Luckily he didn’t have to wait too much for his wish to be granted. Uenoyama got comfortable on the couch and, before he could even turn around to face his partner, Mafuyu had already clung onto him like a baby koala. The guitarist chuckled, pulling a fuzzy blanket over them to make it more comfortable.

The atmosphere was calm and relaxing; the orange-haired guy, in pure bliss, nuzzled his face in Uenoyama’s back, right between the shoulder blades. The silence was suddenly broken by a giggle. “What was that?” Mafuyu was seriously confused. “U-ummm... nothing... i-it just felt weird... you know, what you just did” the taller guy was more than embarrassed already.

“You mean it tickled? But you said you weren’t... you lied to me!” even with such an advantage, the singer couldn’t bring himself to be playfully mad or smirk evilly; he looked more like an excited puppy ready to play. Without wasting a single second, he tightened the grip on his lover and started digging in his waist.

“Mmmmmhhh... hahhahaha noho stop it” clearly Uenoyama chose to hold his laughter in, hoping that his boyfriend would get bored and eventually stop. What he ignored was that his behavior pushed said boyfriend to try harder. He had already heard a giggle and he wanted to listen to the melodious sound again, so he had absolutely no intention of giving up.

With a bit of perseverance, the tough facade of his lover started to crumble bit by bit. “Nahahahahaah stop pleheheheehehase heheheehhe” “So cute...” Mafuyu had the great gift of being honest and straight-forward and right now his partner didn’t know if it was a bless or a curse. “Nahahahaht cutehehehehe” the poor guy tried to say between his adorable giggles. “Liar” did he really have to sound so objective while calling him out?

After a while, the tiny guy decided to move from the waist, going to town everywhere he could reach. When he reached the very middle of the guitarist’s ribcage, the dam broke. “Hahahahahaehehheha Mahahahahfuhuyhuhuhu nahahhahahah” while Uenoyama’s giggles were deep, his laughter was high-pitched and a bit squeaky. To Mafuyu it was the suavest, most harmonious sound in the whole universe. Okay, he was probably biased, but still!

“Wahahahahah stahahahahahap ihihihihit dohoho- EEP!” a single finger swirling around and inside his belly button elicited the cutest squeal Mafuyu had ever heard. His eyes widened, as if he was witnessing some kind of miracle. “You’re adorable...” was all he could say, but he added a sweet kiss on his lover’s cheek, which made the taller boy’s face go crimson red.

“Pleheheahahahse nohoho morehehehe” hearing him beg, the tickler stopped immediately and wrapped his lover in a warm hug, resuming the cuddling right where they’d left off.

Unfortunately for the guitarist, a new discovery got him right into a new, and much worse, predicament. Mafuyu’s hands were getting cold, so he had the idea to intertwine his fingers with his lover’s to get some warmth. However doing that he scratched a few spots that made the guy howl!

“No way... your worst spot isn’t your belly button, it’s your hands!” poor Uenoyama could literally see the tiny stars sparkling around his happy partner’s aura.

“No, wait nonono Mafuyu wahahAHAHAHAAHIHIHIT NAHAHAHAHAHA” too late. Mafuyu, who was finally discovering the joy of being the tickler for once, had already begun scribbling all over Uenoyama’s backs and palms of his hands, making him go totally berserk. “WAHAHAHAHAHAHA NAYAHEHEHEHAHAHHA STYAHAHEHYAHAP” of all the possible options, why did his death spot have to be his hands?

At a certain point the orange-haired started to laugh along with the guitarist, he was simply too cute and ticklish for his own good, despite the tough side he always tried to show. “WHYHEHEHEHEAHAH AHAHAREHEH YOHOHOU LAHAHAHAHUGHIHIHIHING?” poor Uenoyama was seriously confused. “Because I’m having fun and you’re cute” was the totally not flustering reply he received. “PLEHEHEHAHAHAHSEHEHEH STHAHAHAHHAHAP NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHORHEHEHEYEHYHHAHAH”

When the blue-haired guy’s laughter became silent, Mafuyu thought it was his cue to stop, and so he did. “Yohohou’re the wohorst hehe...” he didn’t actually mean it and they were both fully aware of that. “You liked it just as much as you love doing it to me” oh God, why did that tiny guy always have to be so sincere?!

“S-shut up and cuddle me...” Uenoyama replied, his face going beet red again. His lover was more than glad to fulfill that request, so cuddling the couple did.

Not even two minutes later, the taller guy was slowly falling asleep. The singer chuckled, gave him a forehead kiss and admired him finally all peaceful and relaxed. In that perfect moment he could only think about one thing

He was the luckiest guy in the world for being with a cute lover like him, whose laughter was the best sound ever.

#given #lee!uenoyama #uenoyama x mafuyu #uenoyama ritsuka #mafuyu sato #ler!mafuyu #ticklish!uenoyama

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catrillion · 2 years

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For the ask meme how about sekai project!

Yaaay! Ok this is exciting, I'm going to have to THINK...

Blorbo: Mizuki! This one is easy, cuz I love love love love them so much, they are fun and cute and just make me so happy every time I see them, and I legit started CRYING the moment I realized they were trans/gnc, cuz I had already decided they had my favorite singing voice of anyone in the entire game and I already liked them, and then finding out they were nb like me on top of it? Truly the greatest feeling

Scrunkly: probably Emu! She's just so sweet and makes me giggle, and I want to protect her so bad!! (In a close second place is Kohane, btw)

Scrimblo Bimblo: Luka- she has always been one of my favorite vocaloids virtual singers and I don't think people use her enough/appreciate her voice enough. It's probably because so many newer vocaloids are bilingual, so the fact that she's the first one that could sing in Japanese and in English is kind of not special anymore. But she'll still always have a place in my heart

Glup Shitto: she may never come back again, idk, I avoid spoilers from the JP server and am only up to date on that last Christmas event we just had on the EN server, but I enjoyed Sakurako! She was so mean but like... I appreciate that she went out of her way to still praise Rui and Nene? Like she didn't have to do that, she coulda just pretended she hated their show and nobody would have known otherwise, so I respect it

Poor Little Meow Meow: This is SO hard cuz I really don't know which character(s) people think are problematic/unpopular lol... Maybe Akito, cuz he's mean lol? Idk, I like him anyway haha

Horse Plinko: Tsukasa lol. I really enjoy him so much- like every time he talks he makes me smile. But also I'm evil and it makes me laugh when he gets dunked on or thrown off a roof or whatever else Rui puts him through

Eeby Deeby: the easy answer would be like ... Mafuyu's mom or something, but honestly I feel more white hot rage from Ena. She is soooo mean to Mafuyu and I get why she's like that so like, no hate to people who like her, and honestly I do love her and Mizuki together- it's a top-tier ship- but I just get so angry every time she's mean to Mafuyu which is like aaaalll the time haha (and yes, I feel her basically being like "kys" to Mafuyu is worse than anything Akito put Kohane through, so I'm not being hypocritical hahaha)

#project sekai #thank you for asking meeeee

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pocket-luv101 · 3 years

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Heartstrings || Chapter 3

Fandom: Servamp Ship: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side), Tetsono (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht, Tetsu, Misono

Summary: Kuro goes to take a nap in the staircase behind the school and sees Mahiru holding a broken guitar. After he helps him repair the guitar string, Mahiru asks him to teach him how to play. (Given AU/Band AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || (Ch.3) ||

“Are you okay, Kuro? You seem distracted.” Hyde asked his brother. Due to Kuro’s personality, others wouldn’t question why he was silent throughout most of their rehearsal. He could sense that there was something on his brother’s mind though. Kuro didn’t immediately answer him so Hyde thought he could teasingly joke with him. “Did you get rejected by someone?”

“Something like that.” He didn’t take his eyes off his guitar as he absentmindedly answered Hyde. Kuro played a few random notes and tried to match them to the song he would often hear Mahiru hum. After he listened to him sing in the staircase, he asked him if he wanted to join his band. They needed a vocalist and his alluring voice would fit their sound well.

He hadn’t expected him to say no. He thought of how persistent and passionate Mahiru was whenever he asked him how to play the guitar. Kuro assumed that he was interested in music. He was more surprised by the rejection he felt by his answer. He only joined the band as a favour for his brother but he didn’t care about success. Something about Mahiru’s song struck him though.

He wondered if he would see him in the staircase on Monday. What would he say if he was there? The first day he met Mahiru in the staircase, Kuro was disappointed that he couldn’t sleep in his hiding place. He found himself looking forward to their short meetings now. He wanted to know more about Mahiru and to hear the song he constantly hummed.

“Nii-san!” Hyde’s voice overpowered his guitar and pulled Kuro out of his thoughts. He stood behind Kuro and shook his shoulders. “I’ve been calling your name for the last five minutes but you wouldn’t answer me! I thought Tetsu was the one with his head constantly in the clouds. Oh, never mind that. You said you were rejected! By who? I didn’t know you were interested in someone. Tell me who.”

“Shut up, Shit Rat. I can’t hear my piano when you’re yelling like that. This is supposed to be a rehearsal so gossip after we’re done.” Licht kicked Hyde to stop him from bombarding him with more questions. Admittedly, he was also a little curious about who Kuro had confessed to. He had joined the band only a month before but he saw how he acted uninterested towards most things.

When Hyde first asked if they could join the band, Licht was against it. The brothers were clearly talented but they played half-heartedly. He started the band because Misono told him about his childhood friend and he wanted to help him reconnect to music. Such half-hearted feelings wouldn’t reach his friend. In the end, Misono invited them to join the band and Licht could only accept his decision.

“I didn’t ask anyone on a date. I only asked Mahiru to become our vocalist.” He insisted. He was being truthful but a part of Kuro felt as if there was something he was hiding from his brother. Pushing aside the confusing feeling, he added: “Mahiru sang a little bit for me and his voice was beautiful. He’s always asking me about music so I thought I would be interested in joining. He said no.”

“Is this the Mahiru that Tetsu told me about? He watched your rehearsal last week.” Misono hadn’t spoken with his friend since he moved to a new school. Despite how often Mahiru helped him when they were children, he wasn’t able to do the same for him. He held the guilt for years but he told himself that he would face him again after he created a band.

When Tetsu told him that Mahiru watched their band and how he wanted to learn how to play the guitar. He thought that he might’ve moved on. Yet, it was clearly more complicated. Music was important to Mahiru and Misono didn’t want to see him give it up.

“Big Brother Neko, this article might help you. I searched up what you should do.” Tetsu held out his phone to Kuro so he could read the screen. He read the title and his face became bright red.

“This is an article about how to ask out a girl after she rejects you. I said that isn’t what happened at all. Can’t deal.” Kuro pushed the phone back into Tetsu’s hand. He doubted the tall student had intended to tease him with the article but he couldn’t stop himself from bushing. He didn’t understand why he would feel so flustered over the misunderstanding.

“Maybe you should actually take the article’s advice and ask Mahiru on another date to see our band. I want to hear him sing.” His brother was an introvert and he didn’t have a lot of friends. Hyde was curious about Mahiru and what made his brother interested in him. He appeared to be a simple student when they met at the rehearsal last week.

“You give terrible dating advice, Shit Rat. Mahiru will think Kuro’s annoying if he keeps asking him out even though he already said no. I don’t know how you’re able to find a new girlfriend each week.” Licht rolled his eyes at the brothers. “You’re half-hearted with romance, music and school. Is there anything that you’re actually interested in?”

A devilish smile spread across Hyde’s face and he winked at him. He didn’t say a single word and that irritated Licht more than any answer he could give. He jumped to his feet and his hand slammed on his electric keyboard harder than he intended. A cluster of angry notes echoed around the room. The sound reminded Licht that he shouldn’t fight Hyde with so many delicate instruments around them.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” Licht said and walked out of the studio room. The others could see that he was angry and they thought it would be pointless to talk to him before he calmed down. The only one who chased after him was Hyde.

Kuro watched them leave and shook his head. While the two would often argue with each other and have their disagreements, they didn’t appear to hate each other. “Those two need to be better at communicating with each other.”

“Speaking of communicating,” Misono said to Kuro. “Did you ask Mahiru why he doesn’t want to be our vocalist? Maybe you should talk to him about it without pushing.”

The lunch bell rang and Mahiru put away his books into his backpack. His eyes drifted to Kuro who sat a few desks in front of him. He was sleeping at his desk with his hood over his head. They texted each other over the weekend but their conversations had been short. He wanted to talk with him more but he was afraid he would become awkward if their conversation drifted to the topic of music.

Mahiru had planned to wait to see whether Kuro would go to talk with him again but it appeared that he would spend his lunch sleeping at his desk. Kuro had complimented his voice and asked him to be the singer of his band. His words made Mahiru’s heart flutter and tighten at the same time. He was happy that Kuro liked his singing yet he always felt sad when someone asked him to sing. He couldn’t have known the effect his request would have and Mahiru didn’t want to lose their new friendship over the question.

Mahiru took a deep breath before he crossed the room to Kuro’s desk. He lightly tapped on his shoulder to wake him and he groaned in response. The yawn he made sounded like a grumpy cat and laughter escaped Mahiru. His voice woke Kuro and he turned his head from where it was hidden in his arm. He was surprised to find Mahiru kneeling next to his desk.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in class, Kuro. The teacher has given up on waking you up every few minutes but that’s not a good thing.” Mahiru lectured him and leaned against his desk. “During lunch, my friends on the soccer team will be running around the track to improve their endurance during lunch. He invited me to join him and hang out. I was hoping you’ll come with me. You slept for a good hour so you must have a lot of energy.”

Kuro hadn’t expected him to invite him to spend time with him outside of the staircase. He would only ask him to teach him how to play the guitar. Even though he didn’t like sports or exercise, Kuro nodded and stood from his desk. His silent answer made Mahiru’s face beam with a smile. The moment he put on his guitar case and stood next to him, he took Kuro’s hand and pulled him out of the classroom.

“I’m glad that you agreed so quickly, Kuro. I thought I would have to bribe you into exercising with food or something. Since I always pack too much food for myself, I’ll still share some with you. I like to cook but I rarely have a chance to share it with someone.” Mahiru led him down the hall. “Do you want to race to see who’s faster?”

“We both know that you’ll win. Please, don’t make this poor kitty run, Mahiru. I would rather just walk around the track with you anyways.” He said casually but Mahiru’s eyes widened slightly. Then, his expression softened and he nodded with a laugh. “After I spend the lunch period running, I’ll sleep through the rest of school. I hope you’re ready to take responsibility for that.”

“I don’t mind if it’s you.” He knew that Kuro was only joking with him so he flirted back. Mahiru doubted he had expected him to do so from the blush that rose onto Kuro’s neck. He chuckled lightly and then walked to the doors leading outside.

They walked outside and Mahiru enjoyed the cool breeze. He liked spending time with him in the staircase but going outside was a fun change of pace. He spotted his friend on the track field and he waved to him. Kuro saw the amount of people on the field and he hesitated slightly. Even though he was accustomed to crowds when his bands played at venues, he wasn’t the best with people.

Mahiru noticed how Kuro’s steps slowed slightly and looked up at him. He took his large hand into his and squeezed it lightly. He could feel the calluses on his fingers. “Mafuyu and the others are really nice and I’m sure you’ll get along with them. Don’t worry about feeling awkward. You don’t have any trouble talking with me so focus on that.”

“I wasn’t afraid of talking with people but the running. The track field is bigger than I thought it would be.” He said and shrugged. Mahiru’s reassurance made him feel more comfortable. He had a lot of fun simple talking with him and his presence could make running the track bearable. Kuro wondered how his siblings would react if they saw him with the soccer team.

They crossed the school yard together and Mahiru introduced him to his friends. Kuro put down his bag on the ground and leaned his guitar case against it so people wouldn’t step on it accidentally. He expected Mahiru to place his own guitar in the pile of bags. Instead, he walked onto the track and motioned for him to run with him. The guitar wasn’t heavy but it would be tiring to carry it everywhere.

He could guess that Mahiru had his reasons to keep the guitar so close to him. He didn’t want to push him by asking him why. Kuro joined him on the track field and they began to run side by side. The guitar on his back would make the jog difficult so he matched his pace with Mahiru’s. The soccer team quickly passed them and a gap formed between them.

“I’m really happy that you came with me today.” Mahiru told Kuro and smiled up at him. “For a minute, I was worried that you wouldn’t. Your band needs a singer but I said no to your invitation. You even offered to teach me how to play the guitar in exchange. I don’t think I’ll be the right person for your band though Can we still be friends? We can hang out on the track field like this.”

“I’m not upset that you said no.” He said and Mahiru let out a breath of relief. “But I don’t know if I can survive running around the track every day. Maybe we can do something more relaxing instead. I’ll teach you how to play your guitar after school. That’s less troublesome than running.”

Mahiru stopped and frowned at him. “I said I didn’t want to be a singer.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll still teach you. Playing the guitar is important to you and that’s something a friend should support.” Kuro faced him and said, “You can pay me for the lesson with food. You’re always talking about how you’re a good cook and I’m a little curious.”

He was almost knocked off his feet when Mahiru threw his arms around his neck. Kuro wrapped his arms around his waist and he managed to keep them from falling to the ground. He looked down at Mahiru and their eyes met. His brown eyes were overflowing with happiness and he never thought a sight could make his heart race. They were so close and he worried he would be able to hear his heartbeat. Mahiru cupped his face and smiled. “Thank you, Kuro.”

Kuro and Mahiru would meet in the staircase to play their guitars. He had told him that he wanted to play a particular song so he taught him how to read music sheets. The song he wanted to play didn’t have music sheets for him to reference but it helped structure the song in his head. Over the past few days, he learned so much from Kuro.

Mahiru sat on a park bench and waited for Kuro to arrive. Since it was Friday and he needed to practise with his band after school, they agreed to meet in the nearby park around eight. There were a few minutes before he should arrive so he decided to practise the chords he showed him the previous day. He took out the notes Kuro had made for him.

Kuro gave him a notebook filled with drawings of the finger position to play each note. The notebook also held other advice to help him practise while he was home. Mahiru could tell that the notebook was new and the pages warmed his heart. He acted reluctant to teach him but it was clear he cared from the effort he put into the notebook.

“Sorry, I’m late.” He heard Kuro’s voice across the park and he looked up to see him. He was out of breath when he collapsed onto the bench next to him. “I agreed to teach you how to play the guitar so I could avoid exercising but I ended up running a mile anyways. Can’t deal. Our rehearsal ended up longer than usual because Tetsu broke his guitar stick. That kid is too strong.”

“I can picture something like that.” Mahiru laughed at the image. He considered waiting at the music shop but he didn’t want to distract the band while they practised. He handed a water bottle to Kuro and said, “You didn’t need to run. I wasn’t waiting here for long. Do you think we should go to the music shop to practise? It looks like the sun will be setting sooner than usual.”

Kuro tilted his head back to the side where the sun was slowly descending from the sky. “We should have an hour before it gets too dark to play. I showed you a few chords yesterday. When I started teaching myself how to play the guitar, I just memorized the chords and went from there. I don’t know if you’ll be the same as me though. Are there any that you’re having trouble with any of them?”

“The drawings you gave me have been helpful but I’m having trouble with his one chord. My hands feel uncomfortable when I play it and it doesn’t sound right.” Mahiru adjusted his position on the park bench so he was facing Kuro. He placed his fingers on the strings where he had marked in the notebook and strummed the guitar. “It sounds flat, doesn’t it?”

“Don’t place your finger directly on the fret but behind it a little. You’ll probably be more comfortable if you use your ring finger and middle finger here instead. Hold still.” He slowly moved his fingers into the correct position. Kuro noticed how small and soft his hands were. Without thinking, he stroked his thumb over Mahiru’s fingers. “You haven’t built up any callouses yet so playing will hurt for a while. It’ll eventually get better though. If you start bleeding, I have bandages.”

His fingers were a little swollen from the metal strings but Mahiru didn’t feel the dull pain. His focus was on Kuro’s tender touch running over his fingers. Mahiru noticed that Kuro’s hands were slightly larger than his and he wondered what would happen if he held it. He knew that Kuro was only sitting close to him to help him with his technique but there was a small flutter in his stomach.

“Try playing the chord now and see if it feels better.” His voice pulled Mahiru out of his thoughts and he nodded to hide that he was distracted. He strummed the strings and watched for Kuro’s reaction in the corner of his gaze. He had a subtle smile as he ruffled his brown hair. “That sounds better. Once you feel comfortable with all of the chords, we can work on putting them together to play a song.”

“Will you stop playing with my hair, Kuro?” Mahiru pouted and smoothed his hair back into place.

They returned to playing the guitar and Kuro would give him advice occasionally. He had given him a few lessons over the week and he was surprised by how quickly he had progressed. Kuro sat back and watched Mahiru repeat the same chord. He wasn’t bored because he enjoyed watching the joy in Mahiru’s face as he played.

A string of claps broke through the moment and Kuro turned towards the person. He didn’t recognize the brunette man but there was something familiar about him. The man seemed to know Mahiru though. “I was going to surprise you by coming home early but you’re the one who surprised me. I never thought I would see that guitar again.”

Mahiru nodded and then he hastily placed the guitar back into its case as if he was hiding a secret. “I thought you were out of town with work, Uncle. You should’ve texted me if you were going to come back early. I made plans to eat at a restaurant with Kuro. I would’ve cooked something if I knew we could have a family dinner.”

“It’s okay, Mahiru. I already had dinner with my co-workers so you don’t need to worry about your old man.” He said. Kuro watched the two interact and he reasoned that the man was Mahiru’s uncle. He had told him of how he was adopted. “I know boys probably don’t want to hear something like this but you look just like your mother. You both have the same smile when you play the guitar. I’m glad that I could see it again. Why didn’t you tell me you were learning how to play?”

“I’m sorry, Uncle. I can’t talk about it right now.” Mahiru whispered. Before anyone could react, Mahiru jumped to his feet and dashed away from them. Kuro was confused by the way he suddenly ran away but he immediately ran after him.

Mahiru ran blindly through the sparse street without a destination in mind. He couldn’t face his uncle after he saw him with the guitar that didn’t belong to him. He was in a desperate haze and he didn’t hear Kuro call his name behind him. The only thing that forced him to stop was his legs giving way under him. He didn’t know how long or far he ran but the weight of emotions made him exhausted.

He thought he would fall forward but then strong arms wrapped around him from behind. Kuro’s embrace kept him from falling. Mahiru turned his face slightly to Kuro but he couldn’t see his expression because his forehead was leaned against his shoulder. He could feel his heavy breathing against his neck. He was afraid that Kuro would judge him for his reaction to his uncle’s innocent question. Others would call him emotional or dramatic for running away.

“Are you okay?” Kuro whispered against his skin and it sent a warm shiver throughout Mahiru. He leaned back against his chest and absentmindedly plucked at his guitar string. He moved out of his arms and turned around. Mahiru’s gaze didn’t leave the ground and Kuro leaned down to see his face better. His lips were pressed into a stiff line and his brown eyes were filled with sorrow. “Mahiru?”

The moment their eyes met, Mahiru faked a smile and said: “I’m sorry I made you run after you said these lessons are to avoid exercising.”

“I complain about running but I don’t really mind a little exercise.” Kuro wanted to lighten the mood with the joke but Mahiru’s expression didn’t change. The smile he wore now didn’t hold the sunlight he came to know. His heart felt uneasy and he wondered when Mahiru’s smile became so important to him. “Did you want to keep our guitar lessons a secret from your uncle?”

Mahiru bit his lip and debated if he should tell Kuro about the reason that he wanted to learn the guitar. They only met recently and his problems could be too burdensome for him. He felt Kuro’s fingers brush through his bangs and he finally looked up at him. Kuro asked, “Is it something you can’t tell me about?”

Mahiru shook his head and told him: “I don’t know how to tell people what I’m feeling. I always worry that my feelings would burden people. No one wants a boy who won’t stop crying. Other people have their own problems and it’ll be easier for everyone if I show people the reaction that they want me to see. Instead of crying, people will be more at ease if I put on a brave smile.”

Even as Mahiru smiled reassuringly to Kuro, his fingers were trembling over his guitar. “It was really sweet of you to invite me to your band but I won’t fit in, Kuro. I should’ve explained my reason the first time you asked me. For a band to succeed, you need to communicate your song’s meaning to the audience. Any song I sing will sound shallow because I’m terrible at expressing my honest feelings.”

Kuro could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He wanted to hold Mahiru in his arms and comfort him but he gripped his jacket at his side to stop himself. At the same time, he thought of their past interactions. The determination he had each time he asked him how to play the guitar. The wonder in his eyes as he listened to his band. The pain Mahiru couldn’t hide whenever he avoided Kuro’s questions about his guitar. Those were Mahiru’s honest feelings yet he belittled himself.

“You can’t express your feelings? How can you say something so stupid while smiling?” Kuro yelled without thinking and surprised them both. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from pouring out. “I could hear your feelings when you sang and it moved me. That’s the reason I invited you to the band!”

More emotions clouded Mahiru’s face: confusion, shock and uncertainty. Lastly, hope softened his eyes and overpowered the past emotions. He parted his lips slightly but the words he wanted to say didn’t leave his mouth. He felt as if there was something gripping his lungs. Kuro touched his neck and Mahiru wondered if he was still able to understand him.

“You don’t have to join the band if singing makes you feel vulnerable.” He patted his head. “We should head back to your park or else your uncle will worry. Do you want to buy a soda on the way? I’ll pay.”

“Kuro,” Mahiru whispered his name. He stepped closer to him until their toes touched and the only thing between them was his guitar. They were so close that he could count Kuro’s long eyelashes. He hadn’t noticed how beautiful his eyes were. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against his broad chest. In a soft voice, Mahiru began to sing. His song didn’t have any words but Kuro understood it’s meaning.

I’m a little uncertain but I feel safe with you. I want to try singing with your band, Kuro.

#servamp #kuromahi #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #lawlicht #greed pair #servamp hyde #licht jekylland todoroki #tetsono #tetsu sendagaya #misono alicein #fanfiction

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ragewerthers · 4 years

Text

Movie Nights And Songbirds

Summary: All they had wanted was a nice, quiet movie night, but Mafuyu decided he had other plans. Sadly, their songbird is about to learn the consequences of his sassy actions!

A/n: Hello!!! I'm excited to finally share this prompt with the world!

It came from an anon on Tumblr asking:

'ot3 mafuyu, uenoyama, and Yuki are having a movie night and mafuyu makes a few too many smarta*s comments (like he does to Hiiragi lol) so Yuki and uenoyama team up and tickle the hell out of him. Thus missing some of the movie... 👏🏼👍🏼👏🏼'

And it was just so gosh darn cute!!! I never thought of these three together, but I love it so much and I hope I did the prompt justice!

You can also read on AO3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249288

Enjoy! :) Word Count: 1893 ----------------------------------

“Can you please pass the popcorn, Uenoyama-kun?” Mafuyu asked sweetly, the little smile on his face making the darker haired musician blush a bit as he passed over the bowl of snacks.

“Hey! Why do you always ask him so nicely and then you just steal it from me?” Yuki asked as he came into the living room, taking a seat on Mafuyu’s other side and setting down their drinks on the table.

Mafuyu couldn’t help a little smile tugging at his lips as he took a piece of popcorn and popped it into his mouth. “Because he blushes really sweetly when I do,” he said honestly, only making Ritsuka’s blush deepen.

“No I don’t!” Uenoyama argued, making Yuki snort as he reached over and gave one of his pink cheeks a soft little pat.

“Oh heartstring, you really do,” he murmured softly and now Ritsuka was positive that he was just scarlet.

“See? It’s adorable,” Mafuyu murmured softly as he passed the popcorn to Yuki. Meanwhile Rituska wondered if there was any way for him to just bury himself in the couch cushions for the rest of forever to hide his embarrassment.

“I think you broke him, songbird,” Yuki teased, leaning forward to grab the remote. His arm wrapped around Mafuyu’s shoulders, as he let his hand rest against Uenoyama’s shoulder. He gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to calm their blushing darling.

Ritsuka glanced over and caught Yuki’s soft smile and even though he knew he looked like a tomato he couldn’t help returning the warmth from it. “I-It’s okay. Besides… it was both of you who did this to me,” he teased back, giving a little squeak as Yuki lightly tugged on his ear.

Mafuyu couldn’t help giggling at that and shook his head as Yuki finally stopped his teasing and clicked the remote to finally start their movie.

It wasn’t long before they all finally started to settle down into the film, Mafuyu snuggling more comfortably between Yuki and Ritsuka. He always enjoyed being cuddled between the two, turning a little so that his back rested against Yuki’s side and letting his legs rest over Ritsuka’s lap. Yuki kept his arm around Mafuyu, but kept his hand gently resting on Uenoyama’s shoulder, thumb lightly soothing over him.

Uenoyama melted at the soft touch, his own hands soothing over Mafuyu’s ankles.

It had become a habit for the three of them to settle in on the weekends to enjoy a little movie marathon. Yuki always picked scary films because he loved getting to cuddle his partners closer. Ritsuka was a fan of mysteries and tried to puzzle out who the murderer or the con artist was. Mafuyu enjoyed the softer films and was always a sucker for romances. Tonight was Ritsuka’s night so they were watching the newest mystery spy film and honestly he was so excited to just relax and watch this movie with his two boyfriends.

However… something else always occurred during these nights.

Mafuyu was more than content to stay quiet while his own movie choices played. But when it was Yuki or Uenoyama’s night…

“Why do these movies always have to be so dark? It’s like the camera has sunglasses on it.”

Mafuyu… had a horrible habit of talking.

“Why is the bad guy always bald?”

“Do you think she knows that she is going to be murdered soon? I know it so she has to.”

“Where are all these weapons coming from?! He doesn’t even have that many pockets!”

They were only fifteen minutes into the movie and already Uenoyama could feel his normal patience starting to wane. Judging by the twitching of Yuki’s hand on his shoulder, the songwriter's own patience was being tested.

“Mafuyu,” Yuki whispered gently, his smile a little strained. “My sweet songbird… please… please just enjoy the movie? Maybe if you watch for a moment your questions will be answered?”

Glancing up at Yuki, Mafuyu put on a little pout before turning his gaze back to the action happening on screen. Apparently getting the gentle reprimand was the last thing he had wanted to hear. However, it did seem to work and Uenoyama settled back into watching his movie in peace… for about another five minutes.

“There’s no way he would be able to jump off a building like that and make it to the other one. This movie is unbelievable and ridihihi-ah! Yuki stahahap!”

Uenoyama only had a second to think before Mafuyu’s legs kicked out in his lap, his arms instinctively going to wrap around Mafuyu’s shins to protect his stomach and tender bits from a stray kick. Glancing over to see what was happening, he felt his cheeks flush up once more as he watched Yuki unleashing a devastating tickle attack on Mafuyu’s sides. He knew from experience that there was nothing worse than being on the receiving end of a tickle attack from a musician who played a stringed instrument. Every tickle was precise and lethal and made to draw out the most ridiculous laughter from you.

Currently, Mafuyu was getting a reminder of this.

“I warned you didn’t I? All you had to do was watch the film that Uenoyama-kun picked and this could’ve been avoided,” Yuki teased, his fingers latching onto Mafuyu’s lower ribs, wriggling deeply against the sensitive bones and making Mafuyu arch and curl reflexively to try and get away from the horribly ticklish sensation.

“B-But ihihihit doesn’t mahahahake sehehense!” Mafuyu tried to argue through his manic giggling, his arms tucked close to his sides as he tried to squirm his way free.

“That doesn’t mean that you have to nitpick the whole thing! And look! Now we’re missing more of the movie and disturbing poor Ritsuka’s movie night!” Yuki continued to tease, flashing the guitarist a bright and teasing smile. “How rude of him, right? Perhaps Uenoyama-kun would care to join me?”

“N-Nohohoho! You’re b-bahahahad enough!” Mafuyu tried to argue through his ridiculous giggling, attempting to roll away onto the floor, but Yuki was too quick. Instantly he wrapped his arms around his smaller boyfriends torso, hugging him close, looking back to Uenoyama.

“I think it’s only fair since this is his movie that you so rudely interrupted with your sassy comments,” Yuki growled playfully, giving a little wink to Ritsuka which instantly made the poor guitar prodigy flush to his ears. “Go on, heartstring. You know you want to,” Yuki chuckled as Mafuyu caught his breath and narrowed his eyes at Ritsuka.

“Uenoyama wouldn’t do that to me! He may have an awful, awful, awful taste in movies, but he wo-AHAHAGAHAHAD!”

Mafuyu’s words were instantly cut off as his unrestrained laughter echoed through the apartment. Ritsuka’s arm was still latched around his partners shins, but his free hand was busy teasing Mafuyu’s feet, lightly tracing over his soles and finding this to be a rather effective weak spot against his darling.

“What do you mean awful taste in movies ?!?! These are amazing! And you’re just being a butt!” Uenoyama countered, trying to scowl at his laughing sweetheart, but even he wasn’t immune to the adorable sound.

Mafuyu was shaking his head and trying to get away, his laughter rising all the more as Yuki once again joined in on the torment. The feeling of Uenoyama’s fingers teasing against his feet and Yuki’s fingers once more attacking his ribs was driving him crazy! “I’m sahahaharry! I’m sorryehehehehahaha!” Mafuyu cried out as Yuki shook his head with a light smile.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like you really mean it. What do you think, Ritsuka?” he asked lightly as the dark-haired guitarist glanced up and the two shared a playfully evil smile.

“No. I don’t think he’s really truly sorry yet. But he will be!” Uenoyama teased before hanging onto Mafuyu’s shins a little tighter with one hand as the other reached up to attack a spot he knew and loved so well.

“NO! No, Uenoyama-kun not my tum-MEHEHEHEHAHAHAGAHAHAD!”

As soon as Ritsuka’s fingers snuck under his shirt, Mafuyu knew he was a goner! His stomach had always been one of his weakest spots and now to have it under attack along with Yuki’s continued teases against his ribs… he was going to go crazy with laughter!

“Where are those smart comments now, songbird?” Yuki teased against his ear, blowing a few soft raspberries against the side of his flushed neck as he let his fingers vibrate in between his ribs where he still hugged him close.

“Not such a big talker now are you?” Uenoyama teased, his fingers spidering all over his poor partner's tummy and focusing on those extra sensitive spots that drew out the adorable snorts and squeaks he loved so much.

Mafuyu realized that with these two tickle monsters… he wasn’t getting away this time.

“I’M SAHAHAHARRY! I’LL BEHEHEHAHAHAVE! PLEHEHEHEHEASE!” he cackled, his head tossed back on Yuki’s shoulder as he let out the most ridiculously hysterical laughter he knew he’d ever produced.

Apparently it was also too much for Yuki and Ritsuka as their tickle attack slowly started to calm down as their own laughter took over.

“Oh m-my gahahad! Did you hear that?!” Ritsuka giggled, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth as he giggled.

Yuki was no better, hiding his face against Mafuyu’s shoulder and chuckling softly, his own fingers stopping their torment. “Oh, songbird. You are far too adorable, you know that?” he cooed, eyes sparkling as he pressed a few soft kisses against his partners flushed cheek.

Residual giggles were still bubbling up from the young singer, but the smile on Mafuyu’s face showed that this had been just as fun for him as it had for the others. “You… you two ahahare… terrible!” he giggled.

“But you love us anyway,” Yuki pressed gently, a warm smile on his face as he kissed Mafuyu’s red cheek one more time, making it flush for a whole other reason.

“Yeah… I do,” Mafuyu murmured softly, turning to look at Yuki before glancing down at Ritsuka with that same soft smile. “I love you both and I’m… sorry for talking so much through your movie night, Uenoyama-kun.”

The gentle expressions he was getting from both of his boyfriends was already making Ritsuka turn all sorts of shades of red, but even he couldn’t stop the warm smile on his face.

“It’s okay. I think you more than made up for it with your laughter,” he teased lightly, giving his shin a soft pat as Mafuyu giggled before yawning against his hand.

“Oh?” Yuki cooed, hugging Mafuyu a little closer. “Did we wear out the songbird?”

“I think we might’ve,” Ritsuka murmured softly, his hands moving once more so that they could just soothe against Mafuyu’s legs, watching as the singers eyes slowly started to close. Glancing up at the tv he could see that the movie was well over halfway done now, but he found he didn’t really mind. He would gladly allow any of his movie nights to end up this way. It wasn’t about the movie they watched or the plot of the film. The best part of these nights was simply being with those he loved and getting to share in silly, fun and sweet moments with them.

So really, it had been the perfect movie night all the way around.

#Given #Satou Mafuyu #uenoyama ritsuka #yuki yoshida #the ultimate ot3 #my fics #tickling #cuteness #I loved this prompt #thank you for sending it!#I hope I did it justice for you!#tickle fic

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medea10 · 5 years

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My Review of Given

*this exists* Huh? Fuck Isekai shit! GIMME SOME BL LIKE YESTERDAY! Yes, I know what I said before but…it’s an anime with boys and music! Could this be the next Gravitation that many of us have waited for?

Ritsuka Uenoyama on the outside has always seemed listless when it comes to many things and can’t be bothered with most people or demands. One day, he was about to take a nap in a stairwell when he comes across another student by the name of Mafuyu Satou. At first glance he’s pretty aloof, but the second Mafuyu met Uenoyama he couldn’t stop hanging around him. After having quite the hard past, Mafuyu took to Uenoyama’s kindness (or whatever you call it) and took a fascination with him. He even managed to join the band Uenoyama was in. While Uenoyama had his reservations over this sudden change, he finds himself dealing with feelings he’s never felt before.

Is this love that he’s feeling? God, I hope so! BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: At the moment, no licensors have taken this anime and it’s only available through Crunchyroll. I swear Yuuma Uchida is having one hell of a year in the anime voice world. I know he’s been around for a couple of years and really hit it off with roles on Banana Fish and ReLIFE. But this year with his main roles on Kono Oto Tomare and the Fruits Basket reboot have really given him quite the boost. Give this boy a Seiyuu Award! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. *Uenoyama is played by Yuuma Uchida (known for Kyo on Fruits Basket 2019, Eiji Ootori on UtaPri, Chika on Kono Oto Tomare, Ash on Banana Fish, Ooga on ReLIFE, and Shirazu on Tokyo Ghoul :re) *Mafuyu is played by Shougo Yano (known for Nanao on Tsurune) DISLIKED CHARACTER: In a yaoi-esque series, what is the one element I despise more than life itself? The cock-blocker! Actually, this is a trait I see in other genres of animes. Simply put, these are the characters who think they know one character better than anybody else and have this aura of jealousy because some new guy is in the picture. But when I see an annoying bitch hanging around a potentially cute ship and cock-blocking the cuteness, I lose my shit!

Fuck is this lady’s name? Kasai?! Whatever, cock-blocks like you need to go away! Though I will give her some leeway as she does apologize later in the series! It’s just that I found what she did to Uenoyama to be a bit of a “dick-move”. I’ll just be happy if I don’t see her in any upcoming projects this series has. SHIPPING: I knew I was expecting something to eventually happen with the Uenoyama x Satou ship. But I didn’t expect much from Haruki x Aki! Let’s get crackin’!

*Uenoyama x Mafuyu: From the beginning, I'm like, I want this to happen one day…but I know Mafuyu is still in pain after losing the love of his life. For the majority of this series, I see Mafuyu being aloof and depressed. The only exception is when he’s playing the guitar with Uenoyama (at least at the beginning). As we all know, Mafuyu has been in pain ever since losing his best friend and boyfriend, Yuki a year prior. As for Uenoyama, feelings started to develop once he spent a lot more time with Mafuyu. We even get a realization for Uenoyama when he learned about Mafuyu’s love, he got jealous. Aw, our boy loves Mafuyu! I’ll delve deeper into what happens after a certain point in the ending.

*Haruki x Aki: So I didn’t expect any kind of chemistry with these two outside of the band. But it turns out Haruki has had a crush on Aki since meeting him at college. Their friendship and becoming bandmates kind of came without any kind of super drama. And Haruki has been able to keep his feelings in check when he’s playing in the band with Aki. I mean, Haruki is pretty strict about dipping your pen in the company ink (if you get my meaning). It’s just that he does get blushy when he’s super close to him. Like when he’s being pinned down on the bed because Aki had a few too many beers and Haruki is just embarrassed. Unfortunately for this ship and for Haruki…Aki has a boyfriend!

I don’t like Aki’s boyfriend. No way, no way, I think he needs a new one! *sighs* …Yeah, I gotta talk about it…

*Mafuyu x Yuki: So Yuki’s reveal was building throughout the series that made the audience wonder if this was an unrequited love of Mafuyu’s, a sensei who can’t love him now, or someone who is no longer with us. But once you understood that Mafuyu and Yuki’s relationship dates back to when they were children and they have such a history, you can feel that pain Mafuyu carries with him everyday. Yuki would be there for him during tough times, including dealing with an abusive father, yeah, our boy had some issues. Yuki was a seemingly good friend and lover to Mafuyu. There was even a cute moment when Yuki takes him to the ocean, saying he wants Mafuyu to remember this moment. But what happened to Yuki? Unfortunately after the boys began high school and went to different schools, their relationship strained. And then one day Yuki was found dead due to alcohol poisoning (weird, I would have guessed suicide). Yes, Yuki’s death was freakin’ traumatic for Mafuyu. This was a big enough shock to the system to cause him to not be social and to carry around his dead lover’s guitar everywhere (even though he doesn’t know how to play it). And yes, in that song the group sang in the 9th episode, Mafuyu went the extra mile to express his feelings to his long-lost love. I would have to wonder a bunch of ‘what ifs’ with Yuki. Because poor Uenoyama is fighting against a dead guy. MAFUYU’S SONG: Just watch.

youtube

My boy Mafuyu here is giving me some super feels with this song!

EPISODE TITLES: Ever notice how all the episode titles are named after famous songs. Let’s just say I was thrown off when the episodes were named Creep (song by Radiohead), The Reason (song by Hoobastank), and Wonderwall (song by Oasis). God only knows what the name of the movie will be! I’ll laugh if it’s The Dope Show, Bittersweet Symphony, or I Alone. ENDING: So Haruki, Aki, and Uenoyama were given the opportunity to perform in front of an audience. Now the big question is if Mafuyu is up to the challenge of performing with the rest of the group. He only just recently joined the group and isn’t that great playing on the guitar. But the boys have hope with his vocals. He does have a good voice. It’s just that up until the night of the performance, Mafuyu hadn’t written down any lyrics. No question this boy has something to get off his chest, it’s just that Mafuyu was conflicted moments until they go on stage. It wasn’t until they were on stage where Mafuyu let out everything in their opening song. That heartbreak of losing the person you loved just shook the audience to its core and hit every single person there. Mafuyu’s friends were happy that he finally released all that pain he’s been holding in. Uenoyama’s classmates were inspired to hold onto the person they love tightly. And after the performance, we got our moment we fangirls have waited for since episode 1…

A MOTHER-FLIPPIN’ KISSUUU! Although this kiss (while passionate), was kind of forgotten on Uenoyama’s side as he forgot what he did and Mafuyu caught a fever shortly after the performance. I know Uenoyama has been wanting to do this because throughout the series, we kept seeing the boy conflicted over him liking Mafuyu. He even got jealous over a dead guy! We know he likes Mafuyu and we know that kiss after Mafuyu's performance was more than just a "Good job, mate" kiss. So will Uenoyama's feelings be returned? After Uenoyama came to terms over what he did and Mafuyu recovered from his fever, Mafuyu took Uenoyama to the ocean. I know this was a little symbolic for Mafuyu as Yuki brought him there when they were dating. And while there, Mafuyu told Uenoyama that he liked him. And Uenoyama noticed that...

IT’S MUTUAL! HIS LOVE IS MUTUAL! But then, Uenoyama remembers an ugly reality. Long before Mafuyu joined the band, the other guys were talking about a band breaking up over two of the bandmates getting involved with each other (romantically) and Uenoyama said some pretty…well, hypocritical things. That’s why many folks try to steer away from dating someone who’s a co-worker, a co-star, and in this case, bandmate. This is also a driving factor why Aki will never be the one to step up and tell Haruki he loves him. Haruki’s gotta be the one to leave that dickhead boyfriend of his. LEAVE HIM ALREADY! Regardless, Haruki and Aki are both happy for Uenoyama and Mafuyu’s new love. And now the boys feel refreshed in trying to come up with a second song, do a photo shoot, and even come up with a steady band name, “Given”. And so we get this cute end with a lingering hope that a season two will come and… Or a movie! Damn, that was fast, guys! Okay Crunchyroll, when this comes out, I want you guys to hop on it and get this movie in theaters. I don’t care if it’s in Seattle, just get it shown in WA. The ball is in your court now, don’t fuck this up! Also...

Uenoyama, please protect this boy's smile. I like this anime! I have such a weakness for animes involving characters in bands. And believe it or not, it was not because of Gravitation. For me, it was because of NANA. I fell in love with the songs and the characters and the simple story. Now of course this anime fell way too close to Gravitation’s orbit and that’s because of the yaoi aspect. My only gripe is that we really only got one memorable song (aside from the opening and ending theme). But it’s only the beginning the way I see it. I hope that Mafuyu is able to sing some more. And with a new movie on the horizon, I’m severely hoping for a soundtrack filled with awesome music. Seriously, I will laugh if the title of the movie really is, Given: Bittersweet Symphony. I give a recommendation to those who love musical animes or those of you into Shounen-Ai. I’m into both and I don’t judge. Currently, Crunchyroll has all 11 episodes available for streaming.

#anime review #given #mafuyu satou #ritsuka uenoyama #yuki yoshida #haruki nakayama #akihiko kaji

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deltaengineering · 5 years

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Summer Anime 2019 Part 3: comic relief

7seeds

❓ Some terrible people wake up in the post-apocalypse, having been apparently selected for the survivor job without being told so. They do stupid things and are mean to each other for no reason.

❌❌ This is apparently based on a respected manga. I’ll guess the adaptation is not doing it right because nothing makes sense and every character is either a jerk or a blob that keeps getting picked on by jerks. Character drama, you see.

❌❌ The pacing is completely shot both ways, because this rushes through all explanations for anything and still barely has anything happening. I am informed this has to do with cramming ~18 volumes of manga in 12 episodes, which would explain it.

❌❌ Netflix sure knows how to pick ‘em, because apart from being nonsense, this also looks like a moderate production disaster right at episode 1. If you want more, you can watch the rest right now. Well apart from the other half of the manga, which they’re apparently banking on a sequel for. Now that’s comedy.

❌ Apparently this only gets worse as it goes along, which may be at least a bit more funny. I doubt it’s worth it.

Bem

❓ A tough cop starts getting into supernatural troubles. Meanwhile some supernaturals get into cop troubles.

✅ This actually does mostly fine as far as the cop procedural end of it is concerned. It has a nice, moody atmosphere and particularly good music.

❌❌ However, the rest of it is a remake of a 60s supernatural shounen and boy is that obvious. It’s like someone crammed a (bad) episode of Gegege no Kitarou into the middle of an episode of The Wire, and it shouldn’t be a shock that this does no positive things to the tonal consistency.

❌ Not to mention that I don’t want to watch a (bad) episode of Gegege no Kitarou to begin with.

♎ It doesn’t look very good either, though that doesn’t really matter. It would be fine if the rest was fine, and as it is it barely registers as a problem compared to the other ones.

❌ Even if you’re interested in a moody cop procedural just for the rarity of it, you can just watch Cop Craft this season instead.

Given

❓ A rock band meets a creepy stalker that can’t play guitar. Naturally, he joins in short order.

♎ This is very much a BL show, so it’s pretty neat to see that nobody’s raping anyone in the first episode. Lack of being terrible is not exactly a positive, but hey. I’ll take it.

❌ The problem is just that this is a romance and I don’t like Mafuyu, the spectrum-tastic creepy stalker who’s described as a “puppy”, which seems somewhat charitable. The rest of the characters are honestly fine, but that’s a big minus.

❌ It also already has a tendency to oversell its big emotional moments and impending backstory drama.

♎ So yeah, it’s the rare BL TV show that’s only on the level of a regularly bad anime romance. Knock yourself out if you must.

💩 Cheat Magician

❓ 💩

♎ For something that is textbook 💩, I’ll admit that this at least has a somewhat agreeable tone. Not that “everyone is super nice” is a selling point, but it lacks the sour whining of an Arifureta or Shield Hero. Dude also brings his osananajimi along for the ride, which is ultra lame but preferable to quite a few of the alternatives.

💩💩 Well, given the extremely clumsy writing that makes up this first episode, I’ll just assume that this is due the author being too amateurish to suck properly. There is no flair to anything and every sentence is a flat statement of exposition. The pacing is awful too.

💩💩 Fundamentally still of its genre, which means it’s a pure power fantasy with tons of lampshading of its own terrible nature. Hax powers and lots of barely clothed natives confirmed.

💩 Looks are as thoroughly uninspired as everything else.

Machikado Mazoku

❓ Poor (as in not wealthy) and dim (as in not bright) demon girl gets tasked to defeat a magical girl. Local magical girl would rather be friends.

✅ Hey, this is a pretty funny concept and it gets a lot of mileage out of this odd-couple pairing too. It has snappy pacing and while a lot of the jokes don’t land, the majority do.

♎ Leans a bit too hard into repetitive jokes, in particular the ones about not having any money. That’s just not where the funny is in this setup. Overall it just shows its 4koma nature a little bit too much.

✅ The main character is voiced by Kaguya-sama’s Chika and this show can get quite a lot of second-hand awesome from that. She does it less in episode 2, though.

♎ It’s probably the best purely cute&comfy blob show of the season, because Dumbbells didn’t manage to stand the 3-ep test for me (short version: it didn’t actually develop a story and is just a series of fundamentally boring tutorials)

Your Mom Online

❓ 💩

✅ I can’t pretend that a 💩 is not a 💩, but as far as clowning on the genre goes, this is pretty good. The idea that your overbearing mom came along for your ride and is hogging all the glory is properly terrifying, especially for the target audience.

✅ This is probably the funniest isekai spoof, which just means it’s better than Konosuba (which seemed to do very little to question its subject and basically just was a standard isekai where everyone is really stupid). In particular it shows a healthy disregard for worldbuilding and logic, which is a godsend (in a comedy).

💩 Still, it’s an anime comedy which means that a lot of the jokes just don’t land. Especially the fanservice-based ones are more cringeworthy than hilarious.

💩 This seems to have some designs on being more profound in the long run, which i find questionable on principle.

♎ What can I say, it’s the first isekai-related thing in a long time I didn’t completely hate and I’ll give it a chance based on that alone.

a certain edgy meme

❓ I’M ACCELERATOR / NICE TO MEET YA

❌ So the Raildex universe’s premier edgelord got himself his own show, and it’s quite shocking to see that he’s only the second most annoying thing in it.

❌❌ That crown would go to Misaka Misaka or Last Order or whatever the fuck, a tiny Misaka that narrates her own lines. Please.

❌ Apart from that it seems to be Railgun, which means it’s a lot of wacky goings-on, a lot of bizarre characters of very uneven quality, a lot of desperate sciencebabble, and a lot of action that’s not quite as cool as it wants to be.

❌ If I ever wanted to get into Raildex, I’d start with Railgun. If you already like Railgun, I suppose you’d like this too.

#anime #impressions #summer2019 #7seeds #bem #given #isekai cheat #machikado mazoku #okaasan online #a certain scientific accelerator

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sybariticnomad · 5 years

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BNHA Prompts I want to read/write

>Ghibli AUs- literally any of them would be great but especially Princess Mononoke rn

>Rival School Gang AU- Bakusquad gang vs Dekusquad gang. Don't fuck with Uraraka bc she’ll wreck you w a smile. also Deku totally is one of those people who angry cries. Drama ensue when canon villains are really just out of town school gang that tries to take over their town and squads gotta unite whether they like it or nah. Featuring all might, Aizawa, and co as concerned teachers, detectives and whatnot that just wanna see these kids safe and sound

>Uraraka grew up on wrong side of the tracks AU- doesn’t necessarily have to be completely au, just that Uraraka growing up poor incorporating some of the less glamorous parts of being poor so she’s seen shit and done shit and wants to do good for the world now so no one else has to go through what she went through. I just want this to be a part of her character background so bad. Just scenes with her encountering villains or smalltime gangs and being like “dude we were neighbors I went through the same shit you did fam. Don't do this.”

>Uraraka using her anti-gravity quirk to do what hulk did to Loki in the first avengers movie and everyone being fuckin SHOOK. (can you tell who one of my main faves is yet? lol)

>A fic about ua kids literally being that, Kids. Shenanigans, Movie nights to binge the Rocky series only to end up too pumped to sleep so they all start training like crazy(Bakubro included), youtube channels, Todoroki secretly being messy af and joining the Tea Party where the ladies plus Todoroki spill tea and throw shade EVERYWHERE (all the best news comes from there), Bakugo growing and awkwardly trying to show his appreciation for his classmates and also awkwardly trying to mend his relationship with Deku (teen angst at it’s best and Deku is unsure of how to handle it but Uraraka and Kirishima help the dumbasses), Mina and Uraraka explore their sexuality together bc fuck you if they aint bisexual queens at the very least, Uraraka being one of the few willing to back talk Bakugo so she passive aggressively gives him nicknames like he gives her until he starts calling people by their names(like sweetie bc his sweat smells like burnt caramel, he calls her peaches sometimes bc of her country accent and a couple of other things if ya know what I mean) and eventually the whole class gets in on the nicknaming stuff and Bakugo is Sick Of People Stealing His Shit, Urarakas twang and Todoroki’s education in modern slang because explaining to him what being messy means and spilling tea is funny af (he starts using it all the time in a super awkward way “I believe that this situation calls for some messy retaliation” with long deadpan stares), how many of these kids can't wink and just give you long awkward blinks, teacher appreciation day gifts that get all the way out of hand (Aizawa gets the benign noise cancelling headphones and death wish coffee and then someone sends him a bottle of tequila and he wants to know which fucking child got a hold of alcohol to both admonish and thank them. Poor all might gets all the medicine, who’s idea was it to give present mic a loud mic and youtube channel why he’s already too loud please make it stop), someone gives Bakugo spicy chocolate cookies for valentines day and he doesn't want the sentiment but hot damn those cookies are fucking delicious, the kids get into American music because present mic recommends it to help with learning English and that's all fine and dandy until the kids start hosting death matches with Denzel curry’s Ultimate as the match song and wow how many of these songs have so much profanity please stop (just because you’re swearing in English kids doesn't mean some people still won’t know you’re swearing), Sex Ed Class for the kids (wow what trauma, what drama, Aizawa you are not giving the sex ed seminar they will get too scared. you will monitor Midnight as she gives the lesson. All might go have a cup of tea and try not to think of the kids having sex because golly they’re all still wee babes), Teachers shipping students and other staff lounge gossip, Spin the bottle truth or dare where the dare is always make out with the people you want to fight, Momo is cleaning out her closet and giving away clothes so please let the mad fight over who can get more clothes from her giveaway ensue(Uraraka is poor and on a mission, who know when she’ll be able to get clothes as nice as these again? she might enlist the help of some of her guy friends and she might also float all the clothes she wants to the ceiling out of reach of anyone else), BNHA girls using snapchat and momo’s closet to recreate Beyonce music videos and killing it (I really just want to see 7/11, the suck on my balls shtick, and Sorry because it’s a whole lotta friends hangin out and being sassy), WHO LET THESE KIDS WATCH South Park. y’know. Shit like that. Wow this bullet point got way out of hand.

>Night Vale AU 1- Fuck you it’s Tododeku. Todoroki is obviously Carlos with his perfect hair and perfect teeth. Uraraka is totally dana, Deku is of course Cecil, Aizawa might be station management? Might be old man Jenkins. Whatever it is I'm here for it.

>Night Vale AU 2-Alternatively its the cast of bnha just in the wtnv universe and their day to day lives dealing with night vales weirdness. do as you please.

>Underground Fighting/Fight Club AU- What It Says On The Tin. BNHA kids doing illegal underground fighting stuff and do with it what you will.

>Oresama Teacher AU- I know I keep being super aggresive but still fuck you I think mafuyu and Uraraka would be able to flip flop each other or alternatively, mafuyu is urarakas grandmother and she taught Uraraka all the ways of badassery minus the fighting stuff bc she old

>Fantasy AU where for once Uraraka actually is the badass witch and not just the confused amnesiac- also What It Says On the Tin. Bitch can kick some ass.

>Adventure Time AU- For shits and giggles bc I said so I suppose. I think the bnha characters in that universe would be funny af with just the right dash of angst/drama.

>Assassination classroom au- what it says on the tin.

>The Myth Of Hades and Persephone AU- featuring your chosen bnha ship. Imma leave mine out of it because the one I would prefer to put in would probably yield a lot of hate and I don't want my preferred ship to get in the way of anyone ignoring these prompts and not writing them? idk imma leave mine out but y'all get it.

More to be added at a later date bye lmao

#bnha #fic prompts #uraraka ochako #mha #midoriya izuku #deku #katsuki bakugou #kirishima eijirou #mina ashido #todoroki shouto #wtnv #studio ghibli #midnight #all might #south park #rocky #adventure time #mezo shoji #i'll add more as i think of them

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 3/7/20

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 9 | By Io Sakisaka | VIZ Media – Ao Haru Ride is probably the most straight-up dramatic shoujo that I am reading at the moment, and though it relies largely on story beats that would usually annoy me—like misunderstandings and poor communication—I still really enjoy it. Kou and Futaba have feelings for each other, but Kou’s misguided decision to reject Futaba in favor of hanging out with a sad former classmate kept them apart. Now, Futaba believes Kou and said classmate are a couple, so she’s trying to move on with Kikuchi, a very nice boy whom she’s trying her best to fall for. I love that Kou’s actions have consequences and also that we see their friends discussing the situation and deciding that they can’t fix things for him; this time he has to be the one to act. I also note that Kikuchi is especially likable for a romantic rival, which is kind of rare. Recommened! – Michelle Smith

Given, Vol. 1 | By Natsuki Kizu | SuBLime – Ritsuka Uenohara got so good at playing the guitar that he started to find it boring. That changes when he meets a mysterious classmate named Mafuyu Sato, who is carrying around a very nice guitar yet has no idea how to play it. Mafuyu sings for Uenohara the melody that keeps running through his head, which proves to be the spark that gets Uenohara excited about music again. Mafuyu joins Uenohara’s band as their new singer—the other members are two college guys who seem poised to have a love story of their own—and they’re quickly gearing up for their first live show. Meanwhile, Uenohara’s confused about just how he feels about Mafuyu. Given already has a lot to love: the band dynamics, the relationship between the two leads, the mystery of Mafuyu’s past… I’m eager for more! – Michelle Smith

Komi Can’t Commmunicate, Vol. 5 | By Tomohito Oda | VIZ Media – Komi Can’t Communicate is a very charming series with likable characters. (The exception, of course, is Yamai, who continues to be thoroughly gross.) In this volume, the gang patronizes a run-down restaurant whose proprietors think Komi is a famous reviewer, meets a couple of new characters (Komi is up to 13 friends now!), and plans/executes a maid café for the cultural festival. What I really like is that though there are many comedic moments, Komi continues to make genuine progress in overcoming her communication difficulties. Her mom is shocked and happy to see her talking on the phone, she’s able to say something when out shopping with the two new characters, and she even manages a brief solo dance with Tadano before Najimi turns it into a group thing. This series is sixteen volumes and counting so far and I am definitely here for the long haul. – Michelle Smith

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – A flat-faced exotic shorthair keeps getting passed over at the pet store until a kind older gentleman arrives to take him home. Through a series of short chapters, they get to know each other. The human (Kanda) names the kitty Fukumaru, and it soon becomes apparent that he has lost his beloved wife, who had spoken of the possibility of getting a cat when their children were grown. This is an extremely sweet series about two beings who need each other, with dashes of humor provided by typical cat behaviors. I laughed out loud at a particularly evocative panel depicting what happens when Kanda removes an offending cover from Fukumaru’s litter box. I also appreciated seeing the pair through the eyes of Kanda’s long-time friend, who hasn’t seen him smile this much in ages. I’m looking forward to volume two! – Michelle Smith

My Androgynous Boyfriend, Vol. 1 | By Tamekou | Seven Seas – There’s a certain type of advertising line that goes “come for the _________, stay for the _________,” and I definitely feel that this works with My Androgynous Boyfriend. The androgyny is definitely a strong part of the title, such as needing to hide Meguru’s relationship with Wako to avoid fan rage, and pairing him up with another pretty boy model, Kira (which goes south fast when both disagree with the idea). But mostly I loved the simple loving relationship between Wako and Meguru, which is strong, sexy, and not something I was expecting in this sort of series. Wako also gets a lot to do, as well as some of the best lines. It’s a series where I come away going “is the next volume out already?” – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 3 | By Hirofumi Neda and Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – Smash!! continues to be pretty fun, though there seemed to be an inordinate amount of Mineta in this particular volume. True, much of that consists of the girls orchestrating his punishment for being such a total creep, which I guess is better than it could’ve been. Story-wise, volume three takes readers through the League of Villains’ attack on the training camp, but there are many diversions prior to that, including summer vacation hijinks, rescue drills, Halloween, etc. What I like best are things I’d never had reason to think of before, like Tokoyami’s inability to perform CPR, or just completely absurd visuals like Todoroki being depicted in a poodle costume or Aizawa playing the victim in a rescue scenario. I don’t know how much reread potential this series has, but… well, “pretty fun” about sums it up. – Michelle Smith

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, Vol. 6 | By Natsuya Semikawa and Virginia Nitouhei | Udon Entertainment – This is still, for the most part, a lighthearted series about people enjoying delicious pub food, but there is an ominous undercurrent to the whole thing that implies that the conservative forces are starting to rally against the izakaya as being a den of witches and that things may not be bright and sunny for long. Till then, there’s omelettes, and Hamburg Steak, and any number of tasty food that the customers, even if they may be reluctant at first, come to love. The question is whether that love of food can enter the hearts of the Church, which is very much in a “everything progressive and non-traditional must go into the fire” frame of mind. – Sean Gaffney

Scarlet, Vol. 1 | By Chiri Yuino | Seven Seas – This proved to be a lot darker and less fanservice-filled than I expected given the cover… and yes, I know the cover shows a vampire and her (rather happy) victim. But the vampire’s not all that happy, and in the end this is a book about the horrors of drug addiction, albeit one coached in the language of fairy tales and legends. Fine is a tragic vampire who wants to be human again, and Iris Redblood gets to be Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf at the same time. Together, they do indeed fight crime, but they don’t always win the day—sometimes the cute little girl ends up dying. And yes, there’s more than a tinge of yuri to this, which is why I suspect folks here will pick it up. It’s pretty good, but not sure if I need more of it. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 13 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Another unbalanced volume, this is definitely front-loaded, with the first half having some of the best material in the entire series, as Takane and Hana open up to each other in a private moment (that turns out to be a little less than private) and admit their feelings. The second half shows them trying to negotiate this thing they now have, going on a date (well, more of an endurance hike), and a trip to Okinawa, where they run into another annoying little problem—they still have to hide things, so she’s the “kid sister,” which irritates Takane no end. And, well, there’s also the problem if Hana lacking a certain sense of shame—fortunately Takane has it for her. The first half, though? Magnificent. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 8 | By Maybe | Yen Press – I enjoy the art and characters, but the series does love its one plot, which is “make it look like sex will be happening any day now but never actually have it occur.” Yes, they figure out a way to get out of the “bone or die” space without actually boning, and are able to move on with the fantasy part of the plot. Which actually involves the somewhat unwieldy party splitting up, so the next book should at least try to move away from will-they-or-won’t-they? a bit. In the meantime, this is another one where there’s no real conflict between the girls (as opposed to the previous generation of ring bearers). Even Saphir, seemingly the one who cares the least, is more a jerk with a heart of gold. Getting sort of trying. – Sean Gaffney

Umma’s Table | By Yeon-sik Hong | Drawn and Quarterly – Having greatly appreciated Uncomfortably Happily, I was excited that Drawn and Quarterly would be releasing another of Hong’s manhwa in translation, Umma’s Table. The narrative follows a cartoonist named Madang and his struggle to balance (and to some extent keep separate) his life as a new parent and his life as a caregiver for his ailing mother and father. Although shadowed by his father’s alcoholism and the lasting impact it has on multiple generations, some of Madang’s happiest and most nostalgic memories are those of family meals and his mother’s food. Overall, Umma’s Table is a bittersweet, wrenching work, but it’s not without moments of hope as Madang reflects on the complexities and parallels of his experiences both as a father and as a son. While not as explicitly autobiographical as Uncomfortably Happily, elements from Hong’s life are present in Umma’s Table as well, providing a sense of visceral honesty. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 5 years

Text

Rolling out the tags soon.

Sacred Beasts 2

“Sissy” always pissed me off as a nickname for your sister. It’s clearly meant as a term of endearment in some cases, but it also is the equivalent of “wuss”, y’know???

I’ve seen mushroom soup out of a tin…that don’t look like mushroom soup in that case.

Uh, random question…she has th same surname as Will, but is Schaal herself adopted???

Y’should’ve followed Hank, Nancy…(is her name Nancy or Schaal? Schaal is her middle name, yet she seems more commonly referred to as Schaal…hmm.)

*sees synopsis* - No one mentioned Nancy’s hometown was called Livletwood Village…

I pause my shows a lot to get down these notes…then Crunchyroll or my internet (or both!) cursed me with regular buffering (that can sometimes play video and subs through it, but generally sets down a few seconds after unpausing and lasts for a minute) and made it a pain in the butt to make these notes. But you do realise I basically have notes for almost every show I’ve ever watched under this system? These notes are special to me, which is why I put up with the buffering. It also means impactful scenes lose their impact, meaning well-paced shows get favoured in my picking process on CR these days.

Astra 2

Yup, the 2nd time we talk about how to scavenge for food this season – gotta remember this…in case I ever get into a situation like that. You never know! (creates “The More You Know” star with hands)

I-awwwwwww…I never thought I’d see the day where the Luca Javelin would get animated, much less Astra as a series. Dang, is this a dream???

Eyyyyy. Nothing like endangering your little sister to really understand why you love her…much less understand that you love her in the first place. (partially sarcastic)

Given 1

This is my second rodeo with BL anime (I’ve only read one BL manga and it was pretty darn mediocre, but the one BL game I tried was okay)…hopefully it’s good.

Was there the ticking of a clock in the background???

…and cut to OP. Yay! I can predict when the OP happens now…(It only took me years of training…okay, I’m kidding.)

I think this OP is like a music video…and I think that’s the point.

Kaji??? Is this Eva (LOL)?

I’m no band person – I was merely a solo pianist in my time with music, although notably I did have to sing for one of the musical pieces – but “Thom Yorke” and “Keith Richards” sound familiar. Why???...Okay, so it seems Thom Yorke is part of Radiohead and Keith Richards is part of the Rolling Stones. I’m familiar with those bands by name, at least.

Lemme guess…this guy (Ritsuka) sucks at improv.

I had to go back and find out what Yayoi said a few lines ago…and love her already because she’s like “You suck”…she’s just like me, to be honest.

Early husbando predictions say Haruki is my dude of the season.

Seeing manly dudes act like blushing schoolgirls is great…!

Yushiro-who???...Okay, Yushiro Ishihara is apparently that’s a singer that’s already passed away, but has a bit of a rep behind him.

Is it just me, or is Ritsuka basically a lesser Bakugo…?

Come to think of it, it would be hard for me to teach someone piano now that I haven’t properly played since the end of 2014…almost 5 years. Geesh, that’s a long time.

Welp, that was…actually pretty good. The only thing that sucks is that this ED isn’t rock, to go with the rest of the show.

DanMachi II 1

Another counterintuitive name for a sequel anime season…this is my last premiere before I wrap them up, or at least until Machikado Mazoku (or whatever) land on CR.

…and of course, it’s back to Big Boobies (aka Hestia). She’s probably the worst part of the show for me.

Why does Bell need an advisor anyway…? I never thought about it when watching s1.

Who’s this Naza-sama, anyway…?...Okay, it seems she’s a doctor from the Miach Familia. I don’t remember her from s1, really.

I’ve forgotten who Asfi is as well…Oh yeah, that blue-haired woman from the Hermes Famlia. Hermes seems like a bit of a loose cannon – the sort who wouldn’t have a Familia if given the chance – though.

I think we saw Freya in s1…just scheming behind the scenes…

Hermes looks like a sleazebag half the time he’s on screen…

I forgot how much I loved Miach’s character design in s1...and to a lesser extent, Takemikazuchi.

Demon Slayer 15

…Zenitsu is annoying again.

I didn’t think Tanjiro was scared of anything…excpt maybe losing Nezuko again.

Oh! I just realised Natagumo has a hint in its name…The “gumo” can be read “kumo”…as in cloud or spider, but it’s given with the kanji for spider so it can only be a spider-related problem on Mt Natagumo.

I’d hate to have Smellovision on this show…(What’s Smellovision, you ask??? Here, read up on it…at least, I was thinking of the Google variant, so read up on the Google version.)

Ukogi appears to be a type of plant known as eleutherococcus and ukogi rice is rice with ukogi leaves.

Dr Stone 2

Episode 3’s title is like “Weapons…of SCIENCE! *cue Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song*”

Ooh, nice angle! (on Senku and petrified!Yuzuriha being protected by Taiju…and not just because Yuzuriha’s butt is showing…)

“You can eat lion?” – No duh, Taiju!

“I want to give thanks to the circle of life…” – Sorry, but can I interrupt with a meme here? *cue ululations that ae meant to imitate the iconic song from The Lion King, y’know, the one that goes “Ahhhhhhh zee bun yah… (etc.)”*

Tsukasa’s frickin’ tall, man! Look at him tower over Taiju and Senku…

Having read the manga before, I just realised Tsukasa is mighty suspicious when he says Senku could be able to rebuild civilisation from scratch. That was harder to recognise in manga format though, I think.

I also didn’t realise, but the shell tale is talking about Tsukasa! Hmm…interesting.

Dr Stone’s ED…never in my life did I think it was going to be a rap song. Unless, of course, it’s a science rap…(There’s hydrogen and helium and lithium, berrylium…uh, I don’t remember the words after that…)

Oh, that next-ep font takes me back…it reminds me of the 90s, where terrible WordArt font like that was everywhere and I had to get by on Lucida Calligraphy.

Fruits Basket 14

Oh, crab meat…these CGI cars look absolutely terrible…

Pay attention to the relationship between Kyo and Kyoko…you people who don’t know about manga!Furuba are in for a real revelation on that front.

Wow, the effects on the flowers are really pretty for the ED…

Cop Craft 2

That OP is just so good…*swoon*

Well…they spelt “Unknown” wrong…on Kei’s phone.

Hmm…I think the insert song was in English.

Astra 3

Oh…something didn’t make sense. It turns out the word the subber is using is “attitude” when it should actually be altitude…

Given 2

Ooh, Haruki does coffee in the OP! I didn’t notice that, since I had to skip it…there’s some kinda suckish buffering on CR, which is why I have to skip as much as I can.

Welp, I’m a pianist. I’m as clueless as any other non-guitar player when it comes to guitars, so I don’t mind the lesson but also don’t need it.

Given this is a BL/yaoi (no pun intended), I think Akihiko and Haruki should pair up…but maybe I’m just going nuts with the shipper glasses here.

“You’re going to have to do something about that soon.”

Aye…I relate, Mafuyu. When you’re younger, you can beg your parents for money, but equipment, books etc. really costs some hard cash. I remember having to go to Hong Kong to find a pearl pink metronome on the cheap…the poor thing isn’t getting much use now. (But still, I think the more I watch and see Haruki in action, the more I like him. Not necessarily as a husbando, but more in the sense of that one cool dude you gravitate towards.)

It randomly cut to Salon Harusame…don’t tell me this is how Haruki gets his money???

I think the comment that said “lolol” actually had 超 in front of it, so that would be “super lololol” or, in my personal way of saying it, “major lololol”.

Oh, so that’s what was in the OP!

I swear Uesama (LOL) should just get a job as a guitar tutor to little kids…well, that would work if he were in college/uni, maybe.

Hey, a girl! Didn’t expect one in a BL work…(LOL, my standards are so low for BL/yaoi, eh?)

Hmm…I get the feeling amateurs get their hands on acoustic models instead. I know a guitar player, y’know (although again, that doesn’t mean I know the first thing about playing a guitar).

I love how the show turned green all of a sudden. The colours match the mood, basically.

Demon Slayer 16

This episode’s titlecard only has a wave pattern…I probably know what the pattern is called, but I’ve…probably forgotten that name.

Hey, a Demon Slayer girl! (My standards seem to have been lowered in regards to seeing gals in leading or even supporting roles…It’s more acceptable for Demon Slayer, given its historical setting, but still, how sad it is to not see many girls…)

(TW: abuse) Why…for some reason, this feels like an abusive household, specifically where the father does evil things to the mother…but this time, the son’s part of the problem.

I find it funny Zenitsu just calls Inosuke “Wild Boar”. To be fair though, I don’t think Inosuke introduced himself to Zenitsu, way back when they were meant to.

This scene where Zenitsu is crying and has his back turned to the “camera”…they clearly used a CGI model for him.

It’s a BODY! Holy s(BLEEP)!

“Chu-Chu chuuuuun!” Oh my glob, Ukogi is so adorable~!

Hey…where was Ukogi hiding before he chose to come out again?

Another CGI model when Zenitsu walks away from the camera. It’s so dark, nobody can see Ukogi…I don’t think he has a CGI model and that’s good.

I had a weird thought, but…I think Tanjiro would be a good breakdancer, if he were living in 2019.

Inosuke, you did it! But I wonder if those stats are correct and Inosuke’s going to call his name properly at climactic moments…?

Cop Craft 3

Brother Kenny…you’re just lewd.

“…O or V or A.” – Aside from OVAs, hmm…O would be (CENSORED), V I don’t know about and A…I don’t know either, but I guess it’s (CENSORED).

Kei Manoba (sic).

Doreany seems to be humanity…Did they already introduce that? I forget.

This show looks pretty bad, but the story makes the stay worth it.

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