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dadvans · 1 month

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missing language.

if livejournal posts were still real. this would be it.

i started learning japanese when i was 11 years old, around early summer 2000, from my aunt from okinawa. she would practice with me in the gazebo when she and my uncle would come to visit for family reunions in the midwest, and would continue to buy me tapes, movies, CDs to start learning the language.

my school district was one of the lowest in the country growing up. we had a prestigious japanese immersion charter school, and after a disastrous middle school year, i ended up applying and being accepted. grades four to twelve. each year we were in different (sometimes abandoned or condemned) buildings up until halfway through my freshman year. despite occupying abandoned churches and gymnasiums, we had the highest test scores, and most exclusive college acceptance rates in oregon. it was either that good or that bad. we all hated each other the way family hates each other.

i won my division three years running for the oregon japanese speech contest through my ninth grade year.

i moved to japan two days after my sixteenth birthday. the year and a half that followed was not easy. i had a host family for a period of time that constantly kicked me out, starved me, and found other families for me to live with. i had another family where the host dad tried to molest me twice by taking me to remote locations. when i became fluent, really fluent, around the 6 to 8 month mark (long after i passed the JLPT 3 at the time, which is now closer to JLPT 2), after months of isolating myself in the computers at class to speak english to abroad friends for an hour a day, i told my japanese school friends, and they were horrified. they stepped up in ways i never knew. it wasn't usual for someone to be so forthcoming, and yet they all recognized it as an extreme circumstance, invited me into their inner circle. my home room teachers took notice and would take me out for lunch. my host family situation was codename ONI BABA, and even another family that eventually took me in would refer to her as such, when i asked if i could borrow her koto for a public concert (yeah, the one instrument it turns out i'm a prodigy at is okoto. Played my first concert at a local Obon festival within a week of starting. Talk to me about how Hana Kage is a fucking bitch. this version of 回転木馬 was what i was performing after a year. if you can find my old livejournal account, i guarantee there is a really terrible version recorded on my motorola razr still live).

by the time i was seventeen i was allowed to be on payroll to act as a translator for a month-long "jan-term" project with my mom in japan, where we took about 13 students across the main land. back at my american school i was writing all my essays in japanese, in the style i had been taught in japan (it was WILD to relearn how to rewrite english essays when living abroad-- that shit does NOT translate sometimes).

i went to college. i was immediately accepted into the higher ed programs my school provided. they were working toward offering a major, but only had a minor present. i signed on for level 300 with 8 other students.

the professor hated me. that is the nicest word for it. she would have typos on her quizzes. she would make fun of my hokkaido accent. but the worst part was when i was sexually assaulted by one of the other 8 students in the class, went to her during office hours to request that she not pair me with that student out of fear, and then she proceeded to exclusively pair me with that student on projects.

i was also learning i had a learning disability, but the student union health center refused to directly prescribe me medication for my disability, or refer my outwards--what happened instead was i was put on a prescription that had not been recommended outside of extreme epilepsy (carbamezapine), and when i expressed my fear that it was resurfacing suicidal tendencies, the doctor in charge doubled the dosage and encourage me to kill myself.

it was an ordeal. it was an ordeal that i documented. it was an ordeal that by spring 2008, i was accused of cheating on a test i got less than 30% on because i was so fucking out of it by a woman who would only partner me with a man who had sexually abused me. and when i confronted her about it on tape, with a medical transcript of what i had endured for the past year, i have a recording of her saying, "I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that you have problems."

Anyway, she went on sabbatical to adopt a kid the next year. Idiot sex pest remained in my classes, but god, he really sucked. I had to leave through most of my 400-level classes because I was working a lot. Most of my classes were essentially unpaid labor where we were translating books and providing subtitles for movies that were ready for American distribution. Half of my classmates my second year were born in Japan and spoke Japanese better than English but were able to cop out a foreign language credit, and they were honestly my favorite friends in the class, even if that's a steep fucking grading curve. Asshole teacher appeared once my spring semester, but knowing she took the year off, I actually completed my minor degree my sophomore year in early 2009.

And then I never really spoke Japanese again.

And it's hard. Whenever I'm introduced to media, I'm like, god, I forgot that. I remember that. I knew that, once upon a time. I remember conversations in English that weren't in English. And I remember when I was in my senior year of High School, I would be speaking Japanese and forget that I was speaking Japanese, that sometimes no one else except my teacher or friend who were equally fluent understood too. I miss that feeling. I feel shame, sometimes, at letting it go. I know I still have the pronunciation and local dialect, but it's hard to be reminded of how much I forgot.

When I started learning first, very close to when I was still fluent, Indonesian, and more recently, French, my backup language in my head has always been Japanese instead of English. My wife used to tell me I had a Japanese accent when I would try to speak French (fun fact: one of my friends in Japan was learning French and spoke zero English, and only then did I understand the horror of French phonetics), and it took me literally over a month of quietly practicing my R's in my car when I would get home from work for her to be like, oh you sound like a regular Anglo (read: white boy trying so hard and yet).

Whenever I get back into the mindset of becoming fluent in French (mandatory!), and restart the journey from where I left off these past years, I ache something fierce and weird for my Japanese. It is, surface level, a sense of failure. I couldn't hold onto you, I wouldn't have known how to try. There were obstacles. There were so many bad memories. And yet, sometimes I will be in bed with my wife, and she will be watching a Japanese show, and I will be like, "Did he really say that?" and she will say, "Oh God, I forgot that you knew Japanese."

Some things are bone deep and will probably never go away. I guess I'm still in mourning for the language that I lost as I continue to learn a new language. I want to be better, I know I can be better this time! And yet, I'm afraid that every step forward, I'll lose what I have of my second language identity. I have already lost so much.

#misc.#personal #all sketches wish to be real

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cookinguptales · 7 months

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okay so it's about a week until I leave the country for over a month. I am dutifully filling up my queue so y'all will stay entertained while I am gone, but I should probably state for the record that I may not be easy to get ahold of while I'm gone. if you really want me to see something, send me a tumblr chat/ask so it'll show up in a separate inbox from my notifications.

I'll probably post about some travel stuff here, if I'm not too tired, but I suspect the lion's share will end up on twitter and especially instagram. if you would like to see travel posts, I am @iletaitunefois on twitter and @cookinguptales on IG.

if you do not want to see travel posts, please block '#the travel bug'.

I'm also gonna offer up postcards again. I'm not going to make any promises because I don't know how easy it'll be for me to find time/post offices everywhere I go in Japan -- and also because I may be cursed; I think like only half of my Christmas cards actually made their way to their destinations last year.

But! If you do want a postcard, send me a private message and I'll add you to my list. If you have any special requests (locations, nature, cityscapes, cute characters, whatever) lmk and I can see if I can make that work, but again, no promises. I usually keep track of nearby post offices in Japan because they're good places for foreigners to withdraw money, but like. I'm also not gonna take a ton of time out of my trip to find a post office, y'know? Certain legs of the trip will probably be easier than others for that.

FINALLY, if you want to know more about the trip before you decide to follow my IG or ask for a postcard (or, if like me, you are simply nosy) here's a vague overview of the trip:

The first couple weeks of the trip, I'll actually be on the ocean. There's this thing that cruise lines do called "repositioning cruises" where they literally just sail across the ocean. This is so a cruise company can use a ship in a different location, generally. Like if they usually use a boat in the Caribbean, but during another time of the year want to use it in the Pacific, they still need to get it over there. And why not let people ride it during the journey?

The trip is really more pragmatic than it is designed for tourists, though, so they tend to be very cheap. They're long, there aren't a lot of stops, they tend to be during unpopular travel times... So long story short, we can take a two week cruise to Japan for like... half the cost of a plane ticket to Japan. And my mother and I can work from wherever and my father and my aunt are retired, so. We'll just. be in the Pacific Ocean for two weeks. lmao

(I've moved around my work schedule so I probably won't have to do much work in Japan, but I'll have to work on the boat. ;;)

There will be one stop at the beginning of the trip (Alaska) and one at the end (Hokkaido!!!!!) so that'll be fun! But for the most part, I will mostly be working and writing and vegging out on the boat. I'm downloading a lot of tv now because boats tend to have minimal internet. lmao

(And don't worry, we chose a boat that has vax and testing requirements! Which... will probably make it safer than SEPTA here in Philly...)

Once we're in Japan, though, we're really gonna be putting our JR passes to the test. Here's a not exhaustive list of places we're going and things we're doing, in no particular order. (I... tend not to let people know exactly where I am until I've left that place lmao.)

Tokyo (obviously)

Kyoto

Osaka

Nara (to see the shosoin)

Yamagata

Two different onsen towns

Yokohama

Takarazuka 😎 iykyk

Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea

Wakayama

Kawagoe

Maybe Hakone depending on weather

various Halloween-themed meals in Tokyo and Halloween itself in Dotonbori

several very sacred mountains to learn about shugendo

castles!! and more shrines and temples than you can shake a stick at

Asahi tour (for dad haha)

sumo stable tour (also for dad)

Pokemon stuff (.... also for dad lmao)

seein some cute animals

a lot of interesting food!!!

tbh we're going to be exhausted, but there's a lot of train travel and easy days in there so we can rest then. (dad and I both love trains lmao) Dad actually hurt himself about a month ago, so I took out some of the stuff I was planning that involved more walking (like the old pilgrimage route in Wakayama, climbing Nokogiriyama, and the monkey park in Jigokudani) so that'll also prevent me from overdoing it too much.

part of me is like "wow this is too much you should scale back and save responsibly" but a lot of my trip is gonna be subsidized by my family in return for translating for them all and arranging everything, and we're gonna save money in lodging and such, so I'm just. gonna tell my brain to shut up and enjoy living before we die lmao.

(when you grew up really poor, it can be kind of hard to let go and allow yourself to enjoy nice things when you're older and more stable financially lmao. but I'm getting better at it!)

also, I'm gonna bring Glen! my little Tabikaeru frog! we'll go to Kusatsu Onsen together lmao.

#the travel bug

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jaquik · 5 months

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Fanfic Preview: An Honorable Lie

Here is a preview snippet of the next chapter of my Ranma 1/2 fanfic An Honorable Lie

“Sensei? Sensei. Aunt Nodoka!” Nodoka allowed Akane’s cries to harmlessly pass around her as she calmly and properly marched back into the family room directly to the wall where a few well kept blades were hung on display. Above them, newly kept in a place of honor, was her family katana. Her intentions, along with a silent promise to her daughter, was to keep the sword there, not to be taken down until the day Ranko would finally accept the mantle of her heir and take up the blade as her own. Nodoka paused, hand within grasp of the sword’s handle, wondering how well she would be able to clean the blood from it afterwards. “Aunt Nodoka?” Akane’s words could be heard just behind her. “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding or something. I’m pretty sure Ryoga’s not really like that. So you don’t…” Nodoka did not turn to face the girl, keeping her focus on the sword still waiting for her from its place upon the wall. “Akane.” Her voice was quiet, still, cool, like a calm winter’s night in Hokkaido. “How much do you truly care for Ranko?” “W-what?” The girl seemed genuinely caught off guard by the question. “It’s not like that! I don’t…I mean, it’s not like we’re really…” “I see.” Nodoka gave a nod in understanding. “Ranko is…” She paused before taking a calming breath to help steel herself. Perhaps the times for subterfuge and half lies were indeed over. She had already accepted her daughter for who she truly is, and she would never punish her for such a thing. However…would others do the same? Would the rest of the world accept Ranko, or would they force her to follow through with a foolish, ill proclaimed pledge made more than a decade ago? And would noble and pure Ranko then agree to sacrifice herself to meet the satisfaction of that cold and cruel world? “I have accepted Ranko as my daughter,” Nodoka continued, keeping her words as close as possible to the razor’s edge of absolute truth without any blood being spilt. “I hope one day soon she will accept this as well and I can be officially recognized as her mother. Until then, I still have a responsibility as Sensei for her, a poor orphan, abandoned by her parents, with no family to call her own. And now, that girl has been taken from me. Her mind and heart changed against her will.” Nodoka’s eyes went down to one of the lesser but still quite effective swords as she carefully took it off the wall. She then turned halfway to meet Akane’s eyes with a cold gaze, pointing the hilt of the sword out to her. “So, I have one question for you, Akane Tendo. How far are you willing to go to get Ranko back?” Akane did not say anything in response, instead looking off to the side for several moments in deep thought before turning back with a hard look of grim determination in her own eyes. Silently, she reached up and accepted the offered sword. Nodoka gave a curt nod as she reached back to pull her katana off the wall, nearly ripping the supports out with it. “I must also apologize, Akane. I never intended for your first lesson to be like this.” “It’s alright, Sensei,” Akane responded with a quiet, almost apologetic tone of her own. “This isn’t the first time one of us needed to rescue the other.” “I…see. All of us will need to have a discussion about this later. For right now, though…” Nodoka walked with determination, fully prepared to do whatever necessary to get her daughter back. Once she reached her front door, she suddenly stopped in place. “Akane, I have one more question for you.” “What is it, Sensei?” Nodoka turned towards her student, taking great care to not let the stoic expression slip from her face as she calmly asked, “Do you happen to know where that boy lives?”

#ranma 1/2 #ranma fanfiction #fic preview #nodoka saotome #akane tendo

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pokemon-legends-and-legacies · 2 years

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I couldn’t hold back the PLA brainrot any longer so introducing my Ingo/Melli twins Mirabelle “Belle” and Cassiopeia “Cassie”! (Made in this Picrew!) They’re not actually born until after the “cutoff” point of my AU (3036) since I wanted each of my Submas kids to be 10 years apart (so Janus is 20 and Zephyr is 10 when they’re born). More convoluted lore onto how they exist under the cut.

The first thing to know regarding them is that there are multiple people traveling to multiple Hisuis in this AU. The rough timeline is such:

~3032: Ingo goes missing/becomes a Faller, ends up in Hisui A

~3036: Janus, while searching for Ingo, investigates a spacetime distortion in Sinnoh and becomes a Faller, ends up in Hisui B

~3037: Ingo returns home from Hisui A

~3040: Janus returns home from Hisui B

The Ingo that Janus (and Tanith) meet in Hisui B is NOT Janus’s uncle/father figure, but due to mutual amnesia it takes a while for either of them to figure that out. Meanwhile, in Hisui A, Ingo meets Akari or Rei, the plot follows more closely to game canon, and he and Melli start a relationship there that grows close enough Melli wants to come with him back to modern Sinnoh. So! About a year after Janus disappears, Ingo comes home with Melli in tow and the twins are born not too long after as Melli had multiple motivations for wanting to stick with Ingo and not wanting to raise kids on his own was one of them whoops. Which means when Janus himself makes it home he finds out Ingo has already returned on his own and is also together with the guy that Janus might have been fwb with back in Hisui and also he has some new toddler cousins! Awkward for sure but happiness at the reunion outweighs all of that.

Also since it’s me the lore behind their names is they relate to both trains and beauty! Belle’s full name means “wondrous beauty” and is also after the many trains in the UK that include Belle in their name (Brighton Belle, Devon Belle, etc). Cassiopeia is the name of a luxury charter overnight train in Hokkaido (aka where Sinnoh is based on) and is also the name of a mythological Greek queen whose vanity brought her downfall. As a bonus, mirabelles are a type of plum from France, so that matches the plant theme common in pokémon names as well as where my Unova is based on, and Cassiopeia is a constellation, matching the space theme seen in certain Sinnoh characters (and the Greco-Roman names of her aunt and cousins’ names)!

#Pkmn Fankids #HighlandsShipping #Belle #Cassie #Ingo #Melli #Janus #Edits

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sanssouciavecmoi · 3 years

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04/06/2012: Lake Toya

#lake toya #hokkaido #what i did on my holidays #2012 #japan #take my aunt to hokkaido #diy tour

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tomboyjessie13 · 2 years

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Headcanons of the VOCALOID 8

These are MY personal headcanons on the top 8 VOCALOIDs and mines alone, don't take it seriously, just ignore them if you dislike these. I've also borrowed some bits and pieces of my friends' RPs and some widely accepted canon and fanon VOCALOID stuff from years before just because.

MEIKO

The eldest of the Cryptonloids

Mom of the Cryptonloids

Heavy Weight Drinker

Very hot-headed, especially when she's drunk, weirdly enough she becomes a "beast" during this stage.

A stern but very loving parent figure to Miku, Rin, and Len, close friends with Luka and Gakupo(though keeps a close eye on the latter), and KAITO is her life partner

Acts as a mentor to the younger VOCALOIDs, in and out of Crypton

KAITO

2 years younger than MEIKO(which is true product-wise)

Dad of the Cryptonloids

Himbo(I dislike using that term as a positive, but that's exactly what he is so I'll let it slide)

Closet masochist

Ice Cream connoisseur

Only sees Miku, Rin, and Len as his children, started off as enemies when they first met but are now idiotic best friends with Gakupo, close friends with Luka, and MEIKO is his life partner

Miku

Older child of the Cryptonloids

Best friends with Rin, Len, Luka, and GUMI, mostly sees KAITO and MEIKO as parent figures, and has a one-sided crush on Gakupo

A huge sweetheart, but has a darkside when buttons are pushed

Mostly vegetarian(especially negi), but does eat meat on some occasions

Feels bad about the other VOCALOIDs not receiving a lot of attention like she does

Has a weird liking for M*donald's fries

Rin

Middle child of the Cryptonloids

Stubborn

Though not really siblings, she and Len treat each other as such, also best friends with Miku, GUMI and Luka, sees MEIKO as a awesome Mom, and likes to troll Gakupo and KAITO

Rides her road roller to school and the supermarket despite being 14

Bratty child with a heart of gold

Owns a lot of prize figures of herself because she's THAT prideful

Len

Younger child of the Cryptonloids

Clever

Though not really siblings, he and Rin treat each other as such, also crushing hard on Neru, sees MEIKO as a awesome Mom, is best friends with Miku, Gumi and Luka, and is idiotic best friends with Gakupo and KAITO

Thinks he's hot shit, especially around the ladies

Gets nausea every time "Evillious" is mentioned due to his characters getting killed off

Hates being called a "Sh*ta"

Gakupo

Master swordsman and patriot

Acts charismatic in public, acts foolish in private

Spoke in a Medieval dialect upon debut, but stopped when he was told to stop.

Crushing hard on Luka, cares for GUMI like a sister, and started off as enemies when they first met but are now idiotic best friends with KAITO and Len

Dislikes "Lunacy of Duke Venomania" due to receiving negative attention and fanservice

Still salty that he doesn't get his own rhythm game nor a cameo in Project Mirai

Luka

Aunt of the Cryptonloids

Acts cool, calm, and collected, but does express joy and anger at times

Masters the English language

Acts like a Tsundere to Gakupo, and close friends with her fellow Cryptonloids and GUMI

Loves Tuna-based dishes, but dislikes Octopus-based dishes because she has Tako Luka as a pet

Awesome cook

GUMI

Girly girl with a Tomboy streak

Sporty

Great English and Filipino

Best friends with Miku, Rin, and Luka, cares for Gakupo like a brother, and looks up to KAITO and MEIKO as teachers

Endorses good health and love for carrots

Has a pretty bad temper when pushed too far

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional headcanons

Contrary to popular belief by their fans, the Internetloids and Cryptonloids actually hate calling each other rivials and being pitted against each other because they're friends

While the Cryptonloids are stationed in Hokkaido and the Internetloids are in Kansai, they do visit each other from time to time, despite how long it takes.

The Internetloids are partners with the PowerFXloids due to Gakupo's connections with Big AL and YOHIOloid in the past

The Cryptonloids and Zero-Gloids actually threw LEON, LOLA, and Miriam a Graduation party upon the V1 trio's retirement

Most VOCALOIDs, not all but most, only do romance with each other when the song they're given calls for it(i.e. Cendrillon), but most of the time they're being professional and respecting each others boundries. KAITO is mostly creeped out from them since he mostly sees Miku, Len, and Rin as his babies, meanwhile MEIKO is warning Gakupo not to do anything "stupid" with the kids

While mostly rivials with the UTAUloids, they're on good terms with Teto, whom Miku gets into shenanigans with from time to time

The Cryptonloids usually meet up at Neru's cafe when they get the chance, usually for munches or Len trying to woo her

MEIKO once grounded Rin for 2 weeks due to almost killing someone and breaking public property in Sapporo with a Road Roller

While working on "Master of the Heavenly Yard", Miku once reasoned that they're all incarnations of their "Evillious" counterparts, but was brushed off by Kiyoteru as being just a old theory concocted by older fans

#headcanon #vocaloid #meiko #kaito #hatsune miku #kagamine rin #kagamine len #camui gakupo #megurine luka #gumi #roleplay #evillious chronicles #i tagged it under evillious because the serious is mentioned 3 times here lol

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chococustard · 4 years

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completed list of my omegaverse kids babyyyy it’s cleaner now too finally hhh most things are stil the same with the old design so uh if there’s any contradiction it’s this one//shot quirk mechanics are the same tho

their ages are just in comparison to each other, they’ll be however old they’ll be per story;w;/

more info under the cut!

TOKOYAMI NIKOLA quirk: shadow frogs -can make many shadowy frogs or one big one. they’re sentient likes to keep to herself but she cares about people very much. she doesn’t talk much but when she does she’s very honest, sometimes even when it hurts. doesn’t get fazed by many things as she’s very close to uncle souji, has seen his face without the mask, and is perfectly fine with it

SHINSOU KAZUYA quirk: siren - makes people do as she wants as long as she sings the command bubbly and easygoing but pretty selfish, not wanting her whims to be refused. once she’s into doing something she’s hell bent on finishing it tho her attention span is as short as they come. the house cats go to her when they want to play

SHINSOU MAMORU quirk: mind reading - reads people’s thoughts, depends on how fast they talk your mom’s an assertive and passionate woman, your little sister is loud and hyperactive, and everyday you feel like you wanna die. he’s tired as shit and would rather be in quiet places. he doesn’t like getting caught up in people’s issues and try to stay away from problems as much as possible. the only reason why he’s willing to help his dad is that he uses his quirk only when he’s sure the suspect won’t know about him.

MIDORIYA CHIHIRO quirk: pyrokinesis (hell fire, non hero ver) - makes and controls fire she’s bright and really expressive, unlike her sister she likes being around people. she’s really energetic and optimistic. likes heroes but mostly their costumes and the contraptions they used. she idolizes aunt mei and melissa for all the cool things they makes. good at cooking from hanging around grandma inko and uncle katsuki. and also because of uncle katsuki she tolerates spices. baby of the family, both the midoriyas and todorokis

MIDORIYA YUKARI quirk: hydrokinesis - makes and controls water she's told by her parents that she was almost kidnapped at birth so she's told to lie about who her parents are and to cover up when they go out together. hates strangers and crowds so she gravitates to family and friends and gets very protective of them. idolizes heroes and strives to be one.her hair can’t keep still and needs to constantly be brushed. the type to hold grudges.

TOGATA TSUMUGI quirk: sound replication - has a mouth on her stomach that can replicate sound goes with the flow and tries to see the bright side most of the time. however she's quick to anger, threatening people she’ll chew them up with the large gaping mouth on her stomach (it can't). she and yukari had been friend since pre-school being the first one to get her to open up. she lives in the moment wanting to make the best of things

BAKUGOU KYOUSEI quirk: eruption - lava flows from his skin in katsuki’s own word, literal fucking sunshine. idolizes eijirou very much he tries to copy him. however he could very well be seen as blood thirsty and aggresive when angry tho that doesn’t happen all that much. he’s able to calculate situations on the fly easily and do things well after a few tries, text book studies however is not his strong suit.

TETSUTETSU SHIINA quirk: mercury - can turn himself into mercury, pure or variations of it with the nature of the mercury in his body, he has to be mindful of keeping his body in check as to not accidentally poison people. he’s more often than not stays quite as he gets jittery and becomes scared easily, where he would melt away into a puddle and tries to run away. however he’s very stubborn and won’t stop until he achieves his goals. close to kyousei as their parents hangs around a lot even though they live in different cities. likes hugs but only from family

OJIRO ASAHI quirk: prehensile hair - strong and can be controled like an extra limb, very tough tooru likes to spoil her and dress her up in cute clothes, hates it how her hair takes away all the nutrients she eats. tooru gets called to go on a lot of info gathering missions so she's not home often, and when she does come home she showers her with a lot of attention. she finds it overbearing. close with dad, he teaches her martial arts for fun. has both a cat and a hamster, they're the only ones allowed to touch her hair.

YAOYOROZU ITSUKI quirk: marionette - has a cord at the back of his neck, objects poked by it can be controlled gender is a social construct. doesn’t see the benefit of holding things back. easy going and laid back, going through the motion as he sees fit. he’s very close to his parents, sharing the same interest in music as kyouka and momo happily spending as much time as she can with him, hoping to do things she wasn’t able to with her parents as a child, so he really doesn’t feel lonely all that much.

ASHIDO KURASHI quirk: hallucinogen - produces hallucination inducing liquid looks like she wears her heart on her sleeves and doesn’t bother with hiding anything. looks like an air head but not really. when her quirk started to show many adults became wary of her, equating her quirk to that of drugs and not want her anywhere near them or their children.more into non violent approaches. she’s also very touchy.

KAMINARI ARASHI quirk: technopath - controls electrial appliances and uses them as he pleases at 7 years old he was saved by denki during a break in after being used by a group of villains. ditching his old self he changed basically everything about himself as he can and took a new name. he and denki likes to play together, and he can often be found with hanta on top of tall buildings in tokyo. he especially admires katsuki’s no-shit-taking personality and is a big fan of his. he’s no good with dark cramp places

IIDA TENMA quirk: repulsor - creats blasts from his palms and soles, can be used for prepulsion ochako and tenya had him soon after graduation before they really made a name for themselves. cheery and very dedicated, he trains from a young age in various styles of martial arts. he’s doesn’t half ass what he does. he often get into fights helping people, so much so that that’s when he got his quirk, where before the exhaust on his palms and soles only gives out puffs of smoke. can often be seen not wearing shoes. his hair is very fluffy

IIDA FUBUKI quirk: ac - expels hot and cold air she’s strong willed with a strong sense of justice, asping to be a hero, tho in a different kind as what her father used to be. she strives to help people with issues that couldn’t easily be solved by heroes. she love kids, often babysitting her cousins, more often than not mostly tenma uses her to cool himself after training.

TODOROKI YUKIMURA HOMURA quirk: cremation - burns whatever she touces with all her fingers dabi and tomura fucked during the later's heat. he never wanted kids so when she was taken he never fought it. dabi and his family never knew about her until rei was contacted to take her cause her quirk was unstable and the orphanage felt threatened. natsuo and his wife took her in and she moved with them to hokkaido. she visits during vacation to hang out with her cousins. dabi made a pack with the hero commission to be let out of tartarus to be under hawk's watch to be there for her however he can. she knows the most about her family’s pasts

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kenkaodoll · 2 years

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Kamiya Dojo Monogatari Tales 17 (JUMP SQ)

About Kamiya Dojo Monogatari:

Tales of Kamiya dojo is written by Kaoru Kurosaki and published along with the “Rurouni Kenshin Hokkaido” arc in JUMPSQ. The tale involves the Rurouni Kenshin character in daily life that takes time between Kenshin and Kaoru marriage until the epilogue chapter in the original manga before the Hokkaido Arc. Until this month (April 2022) there are a total 53 chapters in Tales of Kamiya dojo. This is an unofficial translation.

Previous Story: https://kenkaodoll.tumblr.com/post/680506843657797632/kamiya-dojo-monogatari-tales-16-jump-sq

“Here you go, you two.”

Arriving at Kyoto Station, Yahiko and Misao received *nigirimeshi wrapped in bamboo bark from Omasu, who was waiting for them. They didn't tell her that they were going to take the steam train from the station, but she read their behavior completely.

“Misao-chan likes that vehicle, so I’m sure you’ll come to ride the steam train.”

“Hehehe. I guess they know.”

Misao laughed a little embarrassed.

“Everyone at the Aoiya has to work so they can’t send you off, but take care.”

“Yeah, thanks.

The nigirimeshi that Omasu handed was still slightly warm, even through the bamboo bark wrap.

“Okina was against going to Yokohama, but he didn't mean to be unkind about it.”

“I understand. Okina said to me, 'What if you go after Aoshi again like you did last year and get into danger?' But you know, even if I am in danger, I have trained myself well enough to get through it. Besides, I have Yahiko with me."

“Eh, me?”

“Don't tell me you haven't been working out and getting stronger than you were last year?”

“Idiot. Of course I haven't neglected my training. You saw my match with Aoshi at the Gekikenkai, right? Aoshi praised me at that time.”

“Aoshi-sama! Praised! At the Gekkenkai!”

As soon as Misao said it, she crouched down on the spot.

“It’s good.”

She sulked, writing the character for "no" on the ground.

“I haven't gotten many compliments either.”

Her lips are pouting.

“When he was at the Gekikenkai, he didn't even tell me that he was competing.”

Her voice is getting lower and lower.

“Wasn't that a mission? There were some things he couldn't tell, because you are his relatives. You know what they say, "To deceive your enemy, start with your friends."”

“....Yes. But he was cheered on by girls.”

“It's part of the mission.”

“How is that possible?”

Misao stood up vigorously and faced Yahiko.

“Right?”

“I can't stay away from the thought that I might be on a mission, entering all sorts of places, and being irresistible to girls in places I don't even know about! Let's go to Yokohama as soon as possible.”

Misao started walking strongly with big steps. Then she turned around.

“I'm off Omasu-san, I'm going to buy souvenirs for everyone!”

She waved his hand in the air.

“Have a good trip!”

Omasu sent her off with a smile.

・

Yahiko and Misao quickly boarded the steam train. The trains were divided into upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class trains, and since they did not intend to be extravagant, they boarded the lower-class train. Looking around the cramped interior of the car, they saw an old lady with a birdcage. She stood out even if she didn't want to because she was carrying such a thing. Yahiko wondered why she was riding the land steam with a birdcage. When Yahiko wondered, Misao shouted.

“Oh, Auntie Oshige!”

“Oh, Misao.”

Apparently, they knew each other.

Misao immediately sat down next to the lady. Yahiko also sat next to Misao across the aisle.

“She is Aunt Oshige, she runs a store called Tsubaki Teahouse. She's been taking care of me since I was little."

Misao introduced the old lady to Yahiko.

“Yahiko Myojin, a Tokyo Shizoku.”

“"My goodness, you've come a long way.”

The lady gave Yahiko a light bob and then spoke to Misao.

“It's so unusual to meet Misao here.”

“Yes, I'm going on a trip. Where are you taking the pigeons, Auntie Oshige?”

Yahiko thought it was just a birdcage, but upon closer inspection, he saw that it contained two pigeons.

“These kids are Ru number one and number two.”

“So these are the kids who are coming back to the Aoiya.”

Misao poked her finger into the gap between the birdcages and patted its chest.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Yahiko could not read the conversation at all.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Auntie Oshige is a former member of the Oniwabanshu.”

“!”

Suddenly, without any context, Yahiko was truly surprised.

At first glance, Aunt Oshige looks like any ordinary woman, with a head of gray hair tied into a round topknot that is typical of elderly women. If he were to venture to describe her features, he would say that she has a sense of cleanliness, as she seems to be running Aoiya. However, this is also the case for most of the ladies of ordinary Aoiya. It was not that special.

This ordinary lady was a former member of the Oniwabanshu.

She did not have the "unusual" feeling that he had felt from Aoshi and Okina. Although the other members of the Aoiya were not as strong as Aoshi and his companion, he felt that there was something special about them.

But Aunt Oshige was, from all appearances, a perfectly normal person.

“Oh, It’s okay to speak about Oniwabanshu”

“It's all right. Yahiko protected Aoiya with everyone else during the big fire last year.”

“That's great. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Yahiko was embarrassed by the aunt's deep bow and involuntarily stammered.

“This pigeon is a carrier pigeon.”

Misao explained to Yahiko.

“There are a total of 141 pigeons in the entire Kyoto area that are assigned names from Iroha group number 1 to 3, and they can literally communicate at the speed of a flying bird. There was a time when Iori at Arai Seiku's place was harmed by Chou, remember? At that time, it was Ru number one here who carried the critical news to Kenshin who was at the Aoiya. If it wasn't for it, what would have happened to Iori?”

As they were talking, the land steam was moving.

“How can such a fast pigeon be riding on a steam train? In all likelihood, a flying bird can fly faster than this hunk of steel, right?”

When Yahiko expressed his doubts, the old lady began to talk as if she had been waiting for him.

“Some pigeons can go back and forth between two fixed locations if they are trained, but in our case, we keep them in a one-way direction, so that they can go in all four directions. So, we are about to hand-carry the birds to Osaka, then they know how to return to Kyoto. That kind of transportation is also an important part of our job as Oniwabanshu.”

“What? But until now, we've had an information transmission network throughout Kyoto, and now you're going to reach out to Osaka?”

Misao asked in surprise.

“I'm sorry. I don't know all the details.”

The old lady apologized to Misao, whose eyes sparkled as if she wanted to know what was going on.

“Let's just sit in the steam train and fill our stomach.”

The old lady said, and took out a rice ball wrapped in bamboo bark from the wrapped cloth.

“Ah! That!”

Yahiko couldn't help but let out a loud cry.

It was the same one that Omasu had given them earlier. The old woman probably had been ordered by Okina to carry a carrier pigeon to Osaka.

The aunt said she did not know the details, but with this nigirimeshi, Yahiko understood somewhat.

The Fujita group, which was at the center of the case that Chou and his team were pursuing, was an Osaka based company. And at one time, Aoshi was suspected to be involved in it. In case something happened in Osaka, Aoiya would be contacted immediately. Normally at the Tsubaki teahouse, there were three pigeons that came back to the Aoiya.

But they decided to send two of them to Osaka to communicate. Probably Okina was quite worried about Aoshi.

Nevertheless. Yahiko was surprised to see the former members of the Oniwabanshu being mixed up in the city like this. From a dangerous bouncer like Aoshi to an expert in treating guests at a high-class Japanese restaurant like Okina. At the end of the day, there are too many people, even ordinary people like the lady in front of me.

Yahiko, Misao, and the old lady said things like, "There's nothing like eating nigirimeshi while watching the scenery fly by in the steam train!", "It's softly made, but it doesn't spill at all, it's delicious!", "Aoiya uses high-grade rice," and so on. They were enjoying the trip by steam train in a lively atmosphere and they arrived in Osaka.

・

When Yahiko got off at the platform of Osaka station, this time he saw someone familiar to him.

It was that eccentric, logical person dressed like a student. It was Inoue Enryo.

“Ah? What are you doing here?”

Enryo noticed Yahiko and the others and immediately came over to them.

“No, what are you doing here?”

“I'm here to investigate the steam locomotive of the supernatural *tanuki.”

Steam locomotive of supernatural tanuki.

“What was that?”

Misao looked at Yahiko curiously and asked him.

“When I met this guy at Shinbashi station, I think he was saying something. He said he was looking for witnesses who had seen a tanuki disguised as a steam locomotive.”

“Yes! Yes, sir, the lady over there with the birdcage, do you know anything about it?”

Enryo quickly asked Aunt Oshige.

“I don't know. I've heard stories about tanuki that turn into beautiful women, but I've never heard of one that turned into something as big as a steam locomotive.”

“I see… I've done a lot of research in the *Kansai region, but I've come up empty everywhere.”

Enryo looks disappointed.

Aunt Oshige lightly bowed to Misao and Yahiko and walked away. In the meantime, an old man passing by called out to Enryo.

“Oh, young man. I've heard that story before!”

“Where did you get that? Haven't you seen it?”

Enryo's eyes lit up.

“I have never seen it. I heard it from you yesterday.”

The old man said so and went away laughing. It seemed that he was simply teasing him.

“He was just teasing me. I see. Maybe it's not the right time to do this investigation.”

Enryo mumbled ruefully.

“You are a student at the Tokyo University Preliminary Entrance, aren't you? What are you doing here?”

Yahiko involuntarily asked.

“What do you mean? I'm doing research on *yokai. Didn't I tell you?”

“Research?”

“Yes.”

Enryo said to the surprised Yahiko as if it was very obvious.

“There is a mountain of research lore from ancient times, but it differs considerably between *Kanto and Kansai. So now, I have come to investigate whether this new yokai, "Supernatural steam locomotive Tanuki," which has arisen in this civilized world, is also occurring in the Kansai region at the same time. But so far, this yokai that occurs in the Kanto region has not been seen in the Kansai region. This means that the supernatural tanuki is a new yokai that is unique to the Kanto region. However, since I have not seen the yokai myself, I cannot dismiss the possibility that it is just a big talk in the Kanto region.”

“…”

Yahiko was overwhelmed by Enryo's fast-talking. This guy is like the Hiten Mitsurugiryu of words.

“What are you and Yahiko doing in Osaka?”

“I was helping out a store in Kyoto, and I'm on my way home now.”

“I'm going to Yokohama.”

Yahiko and Misao both replied.

“By boat?”

When Enryo asked them this, they nodded.

“Then, as they say, the journey is the companion, so why don't you join me on the way to Yokohama?”

“The story about yokai sounds interesting. Okay!”

Misao was the first to agree. Yahiko also did not object, and thus the three of us decided to travel together.

Notes:

*)nigirimeshi: riceball

*)Gekikenkai: Kendo style match

*)Shizoku: social class from samurai family

*)When I met this guy at Shinbashi station: refers to Tales 8

*)Tanuki: racoon dog, a shapeshifter in Japanese folklore

*)Yokai: ghost, supernatural entities and spirit in Japanese folklore

*)Kansai: Western Region of Japan

*)Kanto: Eastern Region of Japan

.…..continue in chapter 18……

https://kenkaodoll.tumblr.com/post/681148907275862016/kamiya-dojo-monogatari-tales-18-jump-sq

TLnote(1): translating Japanese is so hard because the sentence structure is very different compared with the English also the style of writing is different, plus there’s a lot of figurative, poetic language and things that sounds not making sense if it’s directly translated into english. So forgive me if this is very weird to read, and please tell me if you want give corrections.

TLnote(2) I will provide the original Japanese text for correction if any of you who read have better knowledge of Japanese language. Just dm and I’ll send the file.

TLnote(3) Dtninja had translated some earlier chapters in his website. You can go and check on there.

#Kamiya dojo monogatari #tales of kamiya dojo #rurouni kenshin #ruroken #unofficial translation #kaoru kurosaki #kurosaki kaoru #Myoujin Yahiko #Makimachi Misao

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uenodivision · 3 years

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SUMMIT OF DIVISIONS (Sakurai Clan & Jet Set Trio Ver.)

Bring the Beat!

[All:]

Here we go (here we go), east and west Connecting divisions (divisions) with this microphone Old and young, come together and make our voices a chorus The battle is locals vs. Chuohku Here we go (here we go), you and me Right and left, me and you Overcoming blood relations and troublesome connections Anyway, this party, let's get it on

A night where shocking oaths crowd around The no.1 mic that aims at our days Let us drink and sing, get wired as we like A party night limited to only one stage, make love Hop, skip, and jump, taking the initiative asap Let's get started Reverberating sound and hearts If we don't have fun, there's no point

Let's go!

[Aranai:]

Who could it be that dare disturbs me? Is that a whiny-ass bitch from Chuohku I see? That's what I figured, who else could it be That tries to take away my Ueno City? But that shit won't work, and do you know why? Cause the HBIC is here, Ride or Die! And right beside me is the 'mother' and 'aunt' Not a damn thing on Earth gonna tear us apart!

[Shisuta:]

Blessed and highly favored everyday of my life Every time I wake up, I always look to the sky And as I feel the sun's rays just kiss my skin I feel empowered and ready to wage war against sin!

[Kisouna:]

Standing on top, and I'm looking down below At the slightest sign of trouble, I am ready to go A pen and a signature is all I need To put you away, and I will succeed!

[All:]

Let’s go!

[Tomi:]

Money can't buy happiness? Says who?! I'm rich and satisfied. What more can you ask for? I don't have the time to sit around and feel blue There's bills to be counted. Man, what a chore! But I have no regrets. This is what I do! Everyday of my life, I'm better than you! Is perfection a curse? Some might think so But what can you expect when you're High Class, yo?

[Karada:]

Strength and power, that's all I need Even Hercules will bend his knee at me Strong as a Titan, smart as Athena Be warned: this area you're in is my arena!

[Luis:]

Hotter! Brighter! Burns like hell! This fire I carry can't be dispelled! My flame can be seen all the way to Hokkaido A crazy arsonist; Japan's 'Pillow Pyro'

[All:]

Let's go!

Ueno City! (Hey!) Aoyama! (Ho!) Saitama! (Hey!) Shinagawa! (Ho!) Kyoto! (Hey!) Harajuku! (Ho!)

If you stan them, put your hands up! (Ho!) Boys! (Hey!) Girls! (Ho!) Gentlemen! (Hey!) Ladies! (Ho!) Middle aged men! (Hey!) Mature women! (Ho!) If you're there, raise your voice! (Ho!)

[Aranai:]

All my friends are heathens, you'd better take it slow There's no telling what might happen once you walk in the room, yo So take my advice: just keep your head down If you don't, your whole family will have a reason to frown!

[Tomi:]

Step up to the rich, if you got a death wish Aoyama will send you to sleep with the fish Not a threat or a promise, just a natural fact One word to describe you is this: inapt!

[Shisuta:]

Another night on my knees, a new name to my prayers Another day in sorrow, filled with one's tears My hope is that you won’t end up in abyss So stay away before you receive Death's cold kiss

[Karada:]

You takin' Atlas' spot? Ha! Good luck, bro I give you about five seconds before you finally collapse, yo Someone as weak as you doesn't stand a chance You say that I'm wrong? Well, come on, let's dance!

[Kisouna:]

I challenge all who would perpetuate strife! All you thugs, criminals, freaks and lowlifes! For my daughter's safety, I'd do anything! Be warned: a mother's wrath is a dangerous thing!

[Luis:]

I don't know where it came from or how it began But this rage that I feel, it makes me who I am! Call me insane if you want, or even a madman It's just a matter of time until you're burnt alive!

[All:]

#hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #sakurai clan #aranai norikoru #shisuta heisha #kisouna yuzairu #ueno division #jet set trio #tomi chōten #karada kessaku #luis kōkyū #aoyama division #summit of divisions

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spark-translations · 4 years

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Translation: Winter 7th Play [Hotel Compass] Ch. 4

Translation under the cut!

Azuma: “Tsuzuki, how many reservations for today?”

Guy: “Zero.”

Azuma: “And how many people are applying for the job?”

Guy: “Zero.”

Azuma: “The future looks bleak. It’s better if you start trying to find a new job.”

Guy: “You’ve given me the job of manager, and I’ll fulfill it until the end.”

Tasuku: “Blub blub...”

Guy: “Minami-sama!?”

Azuma: “Please stop drowning in your bowl of soup.”

Tasuku: “Please let me die. It’s the end for me.”

Azuma: “Please leave dying for after you have this head chef’s special corn soup.”

Azuma: “This morning’s soup is made using corn straight from the farm in Hokkaido—”

Tasuku: “It tastes pre-packaged...”

Azuma: “It’s popular for its nostalgic taste.”

Izumi: (The comedy’s tempo is perfect. Everyone is lively and it seems like they’re having fun.)

Izumi: (Now the last scene...)

Azuma: “Thank you for staying.”

Hisoka: “No, thank you for everything.”

Azuma: “Stay safe, and—...”

Izumi: ...Azuma-san?

Azuma: “—Take care.”

Izumi: (Azuma-san got stuck there - I wonder what happened.)

Azuma: “Yes, this is Hotel Compass. A reservation? Of course.”

Izumi: (And then the curtain closes—)

Tsumugi: This script really is fun.

Tasuku: Ah, our acting wasn’t bad either.

Homare: For our first time, I thought it was wonderful. We truly are blessed with comedic talent.

Hisoka: ...It was good overall.

Guy: It was smooth.

Izumi: What did you think, Azuma-san?

Azuma: Because we’ve done so many shows, I think it went like this because we all had an image of what a Winter Troupe comedy show would be like.

Azuma: Sorry for getting stuck at the end. I had to think about how to say it.

Izumi: It is an important line for a hotel man sending out a guest. Let’s think deeply about it.

Izumi: Alright, then let’s finish for today. Guy-san, Hisoka-san, you have to get to the bar, don’t you?

Guy: Ah, that’s right.

Hisoka: Zzz...

Guy: —We’ll go now.

Tasuku: It’s a hassle to carry him around, isn’t it.

Tsumugi: Take care.

Azuma: —Good luck.

Hisoka: ...Azuma, you want to come?

Azuma: Eh?

Homare: Oh, how about a celebratory party!?

Tsumugi: That’s a good idea.

Tasuku: Then let’s all go.

Azuma: Really? I thought you would say something about rehearsal, Tasuku.

Tasuku: It's not good to keep at it intensively from the very beginning. I will bring my script with me, though.

Izumi: Fufu, as usual. I think it’s a good idea too.

Izumi: Let’s talk a bunch while we drink. About acting, too. Only if Guy-san says we can, of course.

Guy: I just stocked up on some new drinks.

Azuma: ...You got me. It seems I’ll end up drinking a lot tonight.

Izumi: For working hard on Winter Troupe’s 7th show - a toast!

Tasuku: Cheers.

Homare: Cheers!

Tsumugi: Are these snacks new?

Guy: Ah, I’m still experimenting with them, so let me know what you think.

Izumi: They’re good.

Homare: They go well with beer.

Hisoka: ...It’s better if you add marshmallows.

Tasuku: If it was up to you, everything would be with marshmallows.

Azuma: ...Well, I have something to tell everyone.

Izumi: ?

Azuma: Do you want to buy a plot?

Tasuku: ...Hah?

Tsumugi: By plot, you mean land for building on, right?

Azuma: Mhm. My aunt told me to think about what to do with the plot my house was built on.

Azuma: I don’t plan to go back, and I can’t think of anything to build, so I was thinking about just selling it...

Guy: Are you okay with that?

Tasuku: If it’s yours, Azuma-san, then you don’t need to decide so suddenly...

Homare: How about returning and actually seeing it before thinking about it?

Hisoka: ...If you see it, you might change your thinking.

Azuma: Even when it was an empty house, it felt so foreign to me - I’m not attached to an empty plot of land.

Azuma: My home is MANKAI Company, and I need to take responsibility.

Izumi: (I guess it’s fine if Azuma-san’s fine with it...)

Azuma: ...But recently, I’ve been having a lot of bad dreams.

Azuma: I see the nightmares I used to see often in the past. When I was scared of waking up by myself.

Azuma: It’s probably because I saw the place where my house used to be and I’m being pulled back into my old lonely feelings and worries.

Tsumugi: Then that’s why at today’s rehearsal...?

Azuma: Mhm... I think I’m scared of sending someone off and saying “Take care”.

Izumi: (That’s right, the family he sent off and said “take care” to never came back...)

Guy: ...I’ll close the store for a while.

Guy: If I’m in the room at night, you won’t be by yourself.

Guy: You may stop seeing nightmares, and there’s a chance the fear may fade.

Guy: I want to do something as the co-lead.

Azuma: It’s not like I’m a child, I’ll be fine. The bar will have to be closed during the show, too.

Azuma: It’s the same dream, but my situation and feelings are different from then.

Guy: But—

Izumi: (Mm, Azuma-san’s saying that, but I don’t want to do nothing and then have Azuma-san’s old feelings resurface...)

Homare: ...Ah! An excellent idea has come to me!

#a3!#a3! translation #a3! game #act! addict! actors!#winter troupe #azuma yukishiro #yukishiro azuma #a3! guy

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chibivesicle · 3 years

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Golden Kamuy chapter 259 & 260 - predictable events [shrugs]

Chapter 259 starts with a flashback to Abashiri Prison as Boutarou is released from solitary confinement. Shiraishi asks him what he did to land in solitary, specifically who he beat up - and we learn it was Ueji. This goes back to the story by Ueji about how he told Boutarou he saw his aunt, a woman that Boutarou has now confirmed never existed. Since Ueji was messing with Boutarou, he was upset/offended enough that he had no problem killing him.

This shows us that Boutarou seems to be sensitive to joking/teasing/bullying as Shiraishi chides him for his frequent trips to solitary.

This allows for us to see a contemplative/serious facial expression on Boutarou’s face before he continues the conversation with Shiraishi who is picking his nose with his toes?

This then allows for a wistful looking image of Shiraishi replying that he doesn’t have any family waiting for him outside of prison, and he was abandoned at a temple as a baby. This knowledge of abandonment is how Boutarou wants to connect with Shiraishi; that they are alone in this world at the present.

This allows Boutarou to ask him if he’d return to the temple, but Shiraishi could careless; he ran away in the first place and it likely doesn’t exist as it seemed to be on its way out. As expected, he just jokes if he had a lot of money he’d spent it on prostitutes (and implying that he’s filling his emptiness with transactional sex).

Nihei, reminds them the only thing that matters is to use the tattoo as a way to get out of prison and do whatever you want unrelated to the gold. This is expected for the man who returned to the mountain to hunt.

They return to Boutarou’s goal, to amass a small fortune e.g. the gold and create his own kingdom. The next page or so just focuses on how he came from a large family with 14 members and how he was the only one who didn’t die of smallpox. He isn’t just interested in having a large family to compensate for his lost family, he goes beyond that where by becoming the king, he’ll always be remembered and not forgotten as the founder. He is a man who wants to preserve himself not only genetically through having lots of kids but also through mythology and nation building concepts.

Shiraishi and Nihei tease him a little about his dreams which they find to be completely unrealistic which he is not amused with. Speaking very frankly with him, Shiraishi points out that Boutarou is a lonely guy and that his dream is a reflection of his loneliness.

This exchange is interesting to me for two reasons. 1.) This shows us that Shiraishi is an observant guy which we know but it is another instance of it in his past. 2.) He can be very blunt and forward with Boutarou. I find him to be very assertive with Boutarou, a man who just came out of solitary for beating up another prisoner. Yet, Shiraishi can speak like this with him and this also alludes to their current time line interactions where Boutarou respects Shiraishi and understands him well - as well as Shiraishi understands him.

This frank openness between them continues on the next page. Shiraishi jokes back that he’s been a king - and escape king. But Boutarou’s critique of him is a valid and honest one.

Breaking out of jail isn’t a long term plan. Having a dream like Boutarou’s is a viable plan, that since he is unwelcome in current society, he’s like ‘fuck this - I’ll just make my own society’ He lost his home and community support and it was clearly influential on him as a child both having a family and then the loss. So, for him creating his own special home is his driving force in his actions and reason to become involved in the hunt for the gold.

And not missing a beat, he tells Shiraishi he also needs to create his own home if he lacks one - just like him. The level of frankness between the two of them - they clearly have more than just a passing ‘professional’ relationship.

The manga returns to the current events and Boutarou is telling Asirpa to let go of the door so that she can return to her home with Sugimoto and that they can become a family. I get it, he knows she has a crush on him and all little girls dream of finding a man and getting married etc etc. I don’t doubt Asirpa’s crush on Sugimoto, but she is also not the type of young teen girl who would be so simple minded.

Sugimoto is struggling to breathe in a corridor of the brewery as he falls into his rather pathetic monologuing about how pathetic he is. Nice copy and paste of the rifle there Noda. We saw it a few chapters ago when Ogata was eyeing Usami’s which was also Ogata’s when Vasily sniped at them.

Why do I not take Sugimoto’s whole ‘boo hoo’ bit seriously? Because this shows us how he actually sees Asirpa and her relationship with him. He ‘finally got her back’ she ‘got stolen away again’. Even with the English translation, the intention is still clear, Asirpa is like an object to him.

Read these following sentences;

1. Kiro and Ogata stole Asirpa from Sugimoto.

2. Kiro and Ogata kidnapped Asirpa from Sugimoto.

3. Kiro, and Ogata took Asirpa to Karafuto.

As an objective reader of the manga which of these is the most factually correct? Number 3, at heart Kiro and Ogata had a plan to take Asirpa to Karafuto to learn the code and connect with Sofia. Yet, this is not the narrative that Sugimoto tells himself or others. He continues to go with number 1, that Kiro and Ogata stole Asirpa from him and now Boutarou stole Asirpa from him. Asirpa is something that he possesses. This is problematic as it shows how unequal their partnership is.

I’d argue a more equal partnership if he used number 2. That she was kidnapped which is a word we use to distinguish people from mere objects in English. Is my argument 100% based on this - not quite since we are working with the translation of the original text, but ever since Karafuto, Sugimoto has acted like Asirpa is something that he and only he has privy to and completely ignores the fact that she is her own person and will exercise free will.

Therefore, this also pokes holes in Boutarou’s reading that Asirpa will cave to the idea that if he tells her to go home and marry Sugimoto that will solve her problems. I’m pretty confident that Asirpa does not see her relationship with Sugimoto the same way that he sees her and Shiraishi already made a point about this back before they were to meet up with Tsurumi.

Anyways, back to the action. We don’t see if Asirpa let’s go of the door, we just see that Koito is aggressively approaching Boutarou with his sabre raised and notices that he has Asirpa.

With is luscious locks, Bouatrou is able to distract Koito and punch him with his long reach. He goes to shoot Koito, but a shot hits his hand with the revolver and it is Tsukishima close behind.

He orders Boutarou to withdraw, and he dashes out with Asirpa and heads to a lower level where the beer flood happened.

Asirpa is still resisting trying to hold onto the railings of a staircase, making his fast escape a bit of an issue. She also is able to raise a fundamental question - the gold was supposed to be used by the Ainu to create their own country. Therefore, if the gold is stolen by Boutarou, she will be unable to protect her own homeland - the one he keeps telling her to go back to.

We get an image of the clear cutting of the forest in Hokkaido that almost killed her and then she thinks of the kotan where Wilk was born that is now a fox farm. The traces of her Karafuto relatives is already gone, taken over by the Japanese for less sustainable practices.

Boutarou sweats nervously, he doesn’t have an answer for her since this is now an example of conflict with their own dreams and goals for the gold. However, this philosophical pause from him, allows for Koito the strike him with his sabre from behind. Koito prepares for his second strike as Boutarou falls back into the pool of beer.

Asirpa meanwhile still clings to the stair railing as Koito is ready to strike again.

Boutarou swims off and it is unclear where he’s gone to. Koito is impressed by Boutarou’s toughness as Asirpa coughs on the stairs. Only then do we hear Tsukishima’s voice asking Koito where he is. And with that I internally groan.

Me - goddammit Koito! Why did you go and do almost the exact same thing you did on the ice floe and with Sugimoto. Don’t rush ahead with no back up. You just realized he’s a tough guy. Well, at least this time he tells Tsukishima where he is and to come quickly.

He says that he secured Asirpa and doesn’t notice that Boutarou has emerged from the beer and is clearly going to attack him. He looks like a gross beer/swamp monster, his teeth visible and eyes covered by his long hair.

By time Tsukishima arrives with his rifle at ready he sees Asirpa and only Koito’s sabre.

[facepalms]

Come on Koito, I’m rooting for you buddy, but please stop running ahead. You are slowly getting better, but one aspect of being a leader of men is to have men to lead, not leave behind.

And the chapter ends with his heightened tension that Koito has been pulled back under the beer.

I have other deep thoughts (lol. terrible pun) about chapter 259 so lets move onto 260 which goes back a few seconds to show us what happened to Koito. Boutarou reaches out towards Koito and he’s able to overpower him.

Asirpa tries to crawl away as Koito drops his sabre and is drug under the surface of the beer. We all know that Boutarou is going to try to drown him as he can hold his breath longer than his victims.

Tsukishima finally reaches where Asirpa is and he flat out asks her were Koito is. She ignores him and tries to dash away, but he grabs onto her wolf pelt cloak. The last panel then shoes her as she draws her knife and swings at Tsukishima!

Yes! Asirpa is about to use her knife against him! There is so much desperation in her behavior. Koito then reaches his hand up as bubbles come to the surface, and we see Tsukishima holding Asirpa’s hand on her knife. Tsukishima calls out for Koito and Asirpa tells him that he was pulled into the beer.

He then uses his rifle to hold her against him and still holds her hand with the knife out of the way as he tells himself that Asirpa is more important than everything else.

Koito is held underwater as his boot sticks out and we see that Boutarou is trying to strangle him with his hair (he truly has impressive hair!) as Koito begins to weaken. We are left briefly wondering if Koito will be abandoned - but come on, we know what will happen.

Tsukishima kicks Boutarou in the head allowing Koito to sit up. Tsukishima then shoots Boutarou, and we see some blood diffuse out into the beer. Tsukishima is focused as he ejects the empty shell and Boutarou swims off.

He tells Koito to get out of the beer as he may return, and Koito angrily asks about Asirpa. She’s heading out on her own, as the smoke causes her to cough her knife out and ready. Koito is upset that Tsukishima[aaaa] let her go to save him. This is so interesting to me as it does show that Koito felt that he is less important than Asirpa. He was willing to potentially die which, despite his impulsive behaviors, this time he at least seems to be aware of it.

Tsukishima can’t look at him as he apologizes and Koito berates him that saving him is not a priority. This pretty much seals the deal for these two men. Tsukishima is Koito’s older brother and he has shown that he doesn’t have it in himself to hurt Koito for Tsurumi.

This is at least one instance where Koito does at least own up and state that he should have followed orders. So, kudos to more self-aware Koito, though I’m sure he’s still thankful that Tsukishima saved him.

Nikaido is randomly wandering around (clearly no longer wanting to kill Sugimoto) as he finds her.

She again aggressively goes to strike him with her knife. Asirpa is beyond desperate - is she trying to mirror Sugimoto by just forging ahead and attacking everyone with no thought about harming them?

But just like with Tsukishima, she is immediately overpowered. Without her poison tipped arrows, she’s at a huge disadvantage. Emulating your crush’s fighting style isn’t going to work.

Thankfully, karma intervenes and she doesn’t harm him. Instead, she activates his chopstick dispenser and she’s taken down by a chopstick to the forehead.

This is rather fitting since, she’s been stopped by an item she would find important, chopsticks which along with spoons facilitate one of her loves - food. And with that she is delivered to Tsurumi who praises Nikaido.

The next page is when things get really interesting. Nikaido is upset that Sugimoto is alive and Tsurumi blows him off. Very rough looking Tsukishima and Koito then make it to Tsurumi to see that Asirpa has been caught. Likely on autopilot, Tsukishima starts speaking . . . but Koito then continues and reports to him as the commanding officer of the two.

He then mid-explaination becomes incredibly uncomfortable unable to speak. We can’t see Tsurumi’s facial expression, it would be nice to know what Koito sees as he only awkwardly ends stating they were in the brewery.

Koito is sweating profusely, whatever Tsurumi looked like, he just realized that he should have let Tsukishima do the talking as he’s given away that his fear of speaking to Tsurumi is gone. The fact that Tsurumi hesitates before telling him that he understands, leaves Koito in shock as Tsukishima is likely trying to not lose it with him. Since he now knows that Koito has given away something about his changed status towards Tsurumi. Since Tsurumi is in the realm of super smart villain, I’d guess Tsukishima knows that Tsurumi knows about how Koito learned something about his kidnapping which was what lead to his in ability to speak to him in the first place. Recall, that when they were in Kagoshima, young Koito could speak to Tsurumi with little issue.

Tsurumi then calls for a retreat and avoid any more fights. Apparently, he now has enough information to crack the code. Okay Tsurumi - does this mean you can do so with Asirpa? Since, he still doesn’t know the Ainu name that is matches with. . . .

Nikaido pouts in the background as Koito looks like he wants to fade into the background. Tsukishima clearly doesn’t look happy either as he holds Asirpa. I guess being Tsurumi’s right hand man means he gets to hold onto her?

He likely feels uncomfortable about things since now that Koito has let the cat out of the bag, Tsurumi will likely ask him about what happened between them.

Boutarou exits, pissed off at how he lost Asirpa but seems to be alright overall. Of course, the next page reveals Sugimoto charging towards him to give Asirpa back. Yep, attack first, ask questions later/maybe Sugimoto.

Sugimoto pretty much has murder eyes as he thinks attacking Boutarou will solve his problem.

Now, the fact that Boutarou has survived this well, tells me that he likely has the same ‘luck’ that Sugimoto has. He was stabbed by Sugimoto, his ear cut off, slashed by Koito, and shot twice by Tsukishima. It is pretty damn obvious that Boutarou is to be both a foil and a twin to Sugimoto. The only difference between them is Boutarou became a criminal, while Sugimoto became a soldier a man with a license to kill under the laws of the government while enlisted in the army. Since leaving the army, he’s killed many people in the quest for the gold, but that doesn’t make him a ‘good guy’ because he’s a former soldier.

Sugimoto is always trying to tell others how he’s better than they are. He’s better than the convicts because he didn’t break the law. But, if we look at his own actions, he may have been worse than some of the convicts having killed more people than they did. Think of Shiraishi or Nihei. Nihei killed those hunters, but he refused to go off to war and lost his son in the Sino-Japanese war. Therefore, we could argue that based on the number of people killed, Sugimoto is far worse than Nihei as he was almost karmic in his revenge. Furthermore, Nihei even let himself be arrested, he killed the one man but didn’t even fight the police as his revenge was complete and he accepted his fate.

What I’m getting to is that Boutarou is the character who is going to disrupt Sugimoto and make him very uncomfortable and be unable to keep acting like he’s on the ‘right’ side of things. Sugimoto needs to stop othering the convicts and tell himself he’s better than all of them - his own decisions led him to this just like something drove Boutarou to become a pirate and criminal.

I predict that Shiraishi will rush in to stop Sugimoto from killing Boutarou. We still need to learn more about their past and what is the full connection between Shiraishi and Boutarou. There is much more to learn, Shiraishi is too open and frank with him and he lets Boutarou get close to him physically and emotionally.

Hijikata’s group then regroups and decides what to do. Of course Hijikata being the manly man that he is, states he’ll enter if required.

Kirawus then begins to panic that that no one has seen Kadokura. Apparently shooting off the firework was too distracting for him and he didn’t keep track of his drinking buddy. What were you doing man? Where were you? You aren’t very good at these sorts of things?

Kadokura apologizes to Hijikata for failing to stick with him to the end as he lie on the floor of the room with the mash pots. We see Kirawus at his most emotional as he cries out and Kantarou holds him back.

Is Kirawus a softy at heart? I was predicting that he’d have gone in to save him but no, we get a demonstration of Kadokura’s good bad luck as the collapsing building makes a bed for him, tucks him into the futon and even gives him a beer to enjoy.

I personally like this use of extremely unlikely events surrounding him. Sometimes, I find some of the more crass humor in GK to be not my cup of tea, but this sort of absurdist humor is good. For a very action and emotionally charged chapter this is a good resolution of the tension.

Kadokura is rewarded for trying his best by being rescued by the building. Yep, he’s certainly more competent than he appears. Is he the secret weapon of team Hijikata?

Conclusions on these chapters.

As I stated in the title, things are pretty predictable, but rewarding for the readers at least.

Asirpa has shown that when she loses her cool, she leads to her own capture. Separated from Sugimoto, she makes many poor decisions. She tries to leave Koito to be killed by Boutarou. She attacks Tsukishima and Nikaido. She tried to use the poison arrow on Kikuta. As a character who started out with a strong do no harm to other humans, she’s quickly sliding into grey. I think the worst part was almost ignoring Koito. She is hesitant to tell Tsukishima what happened and uses his pause to try to attack him.

Her capture is the worst outcome of events. She should have listened to Kikuta and found another solution. She could have just let Boutarou escape with her and bide her time. It seems that her reckless and aggressive behavior has backfired. Sure, some readers will be like ‘She was just defending herself!’ but without her arrows, she is at a huge disadvantage and should know when to give up. I’m pretty sure that this mindset comes from her being with Sugimoto.

Boutarou will team up with Sugimoto with Shiraishi as the mediator. ‘Cause it is obvious.

Koito is freaked out that he gave away his personal growth, Nikaido is stewing in the background and Tsukishma just looks guilty.

Hijikata’s group will likely retreat with Kadokura leaving Shiraishi, Boutarou, and Sugimoto behind. Since other than Shiraishi, the other two men are just annoyances to Hijikata.

Ogata is somewhere. Is he going to continue his sniper battle or will he retreat? He seemed pretty chill when he walked by Kikuta. The smoke and fire and chaos will really mess with things, but Vasily is likely losing his cool.

Vasily, the character who had potential but currently is lame may be waiting for Ogata? Or maybe he could pull back?

Lastly, where is Kikuta? Does he know that Ogata shot Usami? I can’t help but seeing him stroll into the headquarters of the 27th and be like “Hey everyone. What did I miss?” [as he strikes a sexy pose and lights a cigarette].

It would be neat to learn if they at least chatted about something.

Well that is all for now. Let’s see how the insanity continues to unfold.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #asirpa #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #tsurumi tokushirou #nikaido #sugimoto saichi #boutarou the pirate #Shiraishi Yoshitake #warrant officer kikuta #kadokura #kirawus #hijikata toshizo

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aoyama-division · 3 years

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SUMMIT OF DIVISIONS (Sakurai Clan & Jet Set Trio Ver.)

Bring the Beat!

[All:]

Let's go!

[Aranai:]

Who could it be that there disturbs me? Is that a whiny-ass bitch from Chuohku I see? That's what I figured, who else could it be That tries to take away my Ueno City? But that shit won't work, and do you know why? Cause the HBIC is here, Ride or Die! And right beside me is the 'mother' and 'aunt' Not a damn thing on Earth gonna tear us apart!

[Shisuta:]

Blessed and highly favored everyday of my life Every time I wake up, I always look to the sky And as I feel the sun's rays just kiss my skin I feel empowered and ready to wage war against sin!

[Kisouna:]

Standing on top, and I'm looking down below At the slightest sign of trouble, I am ready to go A pen and a signature is all I need To put you away, and I will succeed!

[All:]

Let’s go!

[Tomi:]

[Karada:]

Strength and power, that's all I need Even Hercules will bend his knee at me Strong as a Titan, smart as Athena Be warned: this area you're in is my arena!

[Luis:]

Hotter! Brighter! Burns like hell! This fire I carry can't be dispelled! My flame can be seen all the way to Hokkaido A crazy arsonist; Japan's 'Pillow Pyro'

[All:]

Let's go!

Ueno City! (Hey!) Aoyama! (Ho!) Saitama! (Hey!) Shinagawa! (Ho!) Kyoto! (Hey!) Harajuku! (Ho!)

If you stan them, put your hands up! (Ho!) Boys! (Hey!) Girls! (Ho!) Gentlemen! (Hey!) Ladies! (Ho!) Middle aged men! (Hey!) Mature women! (Ho!) If you're there, raise your voice! (Ho!)

[Aranai:]

[Tomi:]

Step up to the rich, if you got a death wish Aoyama will send you to sleep with the fish Not a threat or a promise, just a natural fact One word to describe you is this: inapt!

[Shisuta:]

Another night on my knees, a new name to my prayers Another day in sorrow, filled with one's tears My hope is that you won’t end up in abyss So stay away before you receive Death's cold kiss

[Karada:]

[Kisouna:]

I challenge all who would perpetuate strife! All you thugs, criminals, freaks and lowlifes! For my daughter's safety, I'd do anything! Be warned: a mother's wrath is a dangerous thing!

[Luis:]

I don't know where it came from or how it began But this rage that I feel, it makes me who I am! Call me insane if you want, or even a madman It's just a matter of time until you're burnt alive!

[All:]

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #jet set trio #tomi chōten #karada kessaku #luis kōkyū #aoyama division #sakurai clan #aranai norikoru #shisuta heisha #kisouna yuzairu #ueno division #summit of divisions

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beneaththetangles · 3 years

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Review: The Stranger by the Shore (Movie)

Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Afternoon! Josh here! You know, I’ve been an anime fan for a little over 20 years now, and over the course of those 20+ years, I’ve watched shows or movies where I’ve said to myself, “I really don’t think I’m the target demographic for this one.” When I heard the premise of The Stranger by the Shore, I originally thought, “Meh, this just looks like one for specific fans of this genre. Probably not for me.” But this past Sunday, I saw Twitter go crazy over this movie, heaping prodigious praise for this rather short film, so I figured “Meh, why not? I need to watch something to wash the tastes of Girlfriend, Girlfriend out of my mouth” and checked it out.

Three viewings later, and I can honestly say that I was, in fact, exactly in the target audience for this one. Why? Because it’s about love. And after watching the farce of Girlfriend, Girlfriend, I kinda needed to be reminded what pure, genuine love looks like, and how this particular kind of love has many challenges both internal and external.

So what makes this movie so good? Let’s get into it. I’m Josh, the Cajun Samurai, and this is my review of The Stranger by the Shore...and interestingly enough, this is my very first review of an LGBTQ+ anime!

Okay guys, time to be a bit serious here. I know, it’s weird coming from me, but don’t worry, it won’t last long. I am duty-bound to let you guys know that this movie is rated “TV-14” on Funimation’s website, and honestly, were I in charge of the rating scale, I would probably rate it a little more mature as it does feature talk about sex and features characters engaging in intimacy. While nothing is seen, much is implied. If you decide to watch this film, but are put off by this sort of thing, it starts at 47:00, and ends at 49:30 if you’re streaming on Funimation’s website. Okay, end of disclaimer. Let’s get into it.

The Stranger By The Shore is based off a manga series by Kanna Kii. It begins with Shun, a writer living in Hokkaido with his aunt after running away from home. Why would he run away? Simple. Shun is gay and would not enter into an arranged marriage with his childhood friend. His parents were naturally upset over this revelation (How dare you not marry the bride we picked out for you?! And how dare you have other preferences for who you love?!) and so Shun hot-footed out of there to his aunt’s house to work on his book.

One night, Shun sees a young man making like Otis Redding and sitting on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll away. Shun’s aunt explains that the boy, named Mio, is now an orphan after having recently lost his mother (his father died earlier). Shun decides that he wants to try and befriend the boy, but Mio is having none of it, misinterpreting Shun’s advances as pity over the loss of his mother. However, this misunderstanding is quickly cleared up and Mio apologizes, saying that he was actually glad and didn’t mind if Shun was trying to flirt with him. After a day of unsuccessful fishing and a delightful dinner of curry, Mio reveals that he’s being sent to an orphanage on the mainland of Japan, and would only be able to communicate with Shun by phone once he arrives. Shun is pretty down about this.

Time passes and Shun’s cousin is moving out to live with her girlfriend, leaving an open spot at the house. Who could possibly fill it? Why, it’s Mio of course. Our boy is now 20 years old and is able to make his own decisions in life, including but not limited to love. Mio is fully ready to start up a relationship with Shun, not caring what society thinks, but Shun, having been on the receiving end of rumors and teasing about his sexuality, tries to get Mio to think twice about his decision, not wanting him to be ostracized as he was. This results in a couple awkward moments where Mio really wants to take their “relationship” to the next level, but Shun dragging his feet, just barely able to say “I love you” to Mio.

Oh, and if that weren’t enough, later on, Shun’s former fiancé, Sakuraku, comes to the village with some news: His father is gravely ill and wants to see his son before he punches his ticket on the Midnight Train to Georgia. Naturally, Shun is not too excited to see the parents who shunned him, nor is he excited to see the woman who he was once engaged to (albeit through an arrangement). Mio meanwhile is showing some signs of jealousy and a little insecurity at this new arrival. Is this new girl going to take Shun away from him? Will Shun actually go back to the girl that he left at the alter? Find out next time on DragonBall Z!

So yeah guys, I really and truly like this one. As I mentioned, I’ve watched it three times so far since it came out. The first time I watched it on my own just to see what all the commotion was about. Then I watched it a second time to take screencaps and offer up Twitter commentary as I typically do, and the third time…well…it was because the movie is just that freaking good.

It’s awesome just viewing a romance play out over time and watching two people deal with their respective issues to find one another. That’s part of what drew me to shows like Toradora, Kare Kano, Yuri on Ice, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku, and Horimiya. Watching a romance from the very beginning and see it work itself through to its inevitable conclusion is beautiful, and that’s what you get with this one.

I also love the fact that this just isn’t a typical high school romance story. Yes, I know how ironic that sounds after the last sentence where I praised a bunch of high school based shows, but still… sometimes you just want a story with two mature adults instead of two crazy kids who are probably operating more on hormones than true love…even though there are times when Mio, young lad that he is, REALLY wants to make his relationship with Shun more physical, bless his heart.

Another thing that I really loved about this story are the differences in how Shun and Mio see the world with regard to their sexuality. While Shun sees their relationship through a somewhat wary lens, and doesn’t want Mio to be hurt like he was, Mio is much more of a free spirit, not allowing anyone or anything deny him from what he really wants. Part of me feels like the differences between these two are because of the times they grew up in. Shun is older than Mio, and no doubt grew up in a time where being LGBTQ+ was something to be scorned, mocked and bullied for. Mio, being a more modern and in some ways a more mature young man, understands what he’s in for and yet has no problem with it because he knows he loves Shun and in his mind, that’s all that matters.

One other thing that I find refreshing with this movie is that it doesn’t have any complex or mystical story lines. While I enjoy movies like Weathering With You and Your Name, sometimes those movies can just be too complex for their own good, adding mystical elements to a story that can at times clouds the waters. In fact, there are two moments where the characters seemingly pass out at different times during the movie after highly stressful situations, and I couldn’t help but think, “Okay, here comes the magical mystical stuff…these two are the reincarnation of some long lost, Feudal Era star crossed lovers that are bound by fate by the red string of something-or-other and they have to find the mystical key of the twilight or something…” But to my great surprise, these dorks were just TIRED. No magical journey, no mission they have to accomplish, just…tired. That is surprising. The Stranger by the Shore pretty much makes the characters the standout elements. These guys don’t have mystical powers, there’s no legend they have to figure out in order to save the world, there’s no time travel or dimension portals… it’s just a love story like any other.

Speaking of things that aren’t a big deal… I feel the need to address the elephant in the room. Yes, the intimate scene between Shun and Mio. Honestly… it’s a non-issue, as it should be. It’s two characters that are of age sharing an intimate moment with each other and they just so happen to be two males. It happens in loads of different anime and it’s not a big deal. Honestly, I found the way the moment was executed to be very realistic, gentle and tastefully done. If you avoid BL anime entirely, (and no judgement whatsoever–it’s not for everyone; watch whatever makes you happy) I suggest you check out our recent articles examining yuri and yaoi anime and see if those give you some food for thought, and maybe make you more likely to try out The Stranger by the Shore. Yup, I’m a true southern gentlemen–offering up Food for Thought. You always offer food to your company, thought or otherwise. Now go and get your grub on.

If I could find any faults with this movie, it’s probably that it’s too short and doesn’t give the characters enough developmental time. There’s just so much more I wanted to know about these adorable dorks: What was Shun’s life before the arranged marriage? How did he end up becoming a writer? What was Mio’s father like? How was Mio’s time in the orphanage? At just under an hour including credits, it feels like this movie could’ve explored so much more and expanded this beautiful world it created. This movie does a great job giving us endearing and lovable characters, but not enough time to fall even deeper in love with them.

Also, as a somewhat unrelated complaint, Funimation, please do the streaming anime community a favor. Please, please, PLEASE fix your video player! It’s just a mess! Sometimes the volume bar would be stuck on the screen long after I adjusted it, thereby ruining any screen captures I wanted to get. Also, please add closed captioning to the English dub video. It’s really a drag that the hearing impaired can’t enjoy the writing in the dub like everyone else, and it also sucks when bloggers like myself don’t have the text at the bottom of screen captures for context of a particular scene. You are partially owned by Sony Pictures… you can do better than this! But, I digress…

Speaking of Funimation, this movie was dubbed and released by Funimation Entertainment with director David Wald in the director’s chair. Honestly this was quite a shock to me as I would’ve expected Sentai Filmworks to put out a title like this, as they have never been shy to license and dub anime with LGBTQ+ themes. Yes, Funimation has put out a few here and there, the most famous being Yuri on Ice, but in my eyes, Sentai has always been THAT company to go to for movies and anime series like this. In fact, Hi Dive, Sentai’s streaming service, has an entire section devoted exclusively to LGBTQ+ anime and movies. Funimation? Not so much. But I digress.

Director Wald does an amazing job with this production, getting outstanding performances out of Josh Grelle (Shun) and Justin Briner (Mio). These two are just AMAZING in their roles, and captured these characters perfectly. Just try not to think about that when watching the English dub of Dr. Stone, as these two guys also play the bodyguard brothers Kinro and Ginro respectively. Speaking of Dr. Stone, listen closely and you’ll hear Senku Ishigami (Aaron Dismuke) as one of Shun’s classmates in a flashback.

So where does that leave us? Simple. This movie ranks a prodigious 9/10 for me. A must see. The Stranger by the Shore features a story that’s simple yet beautiful, adorably awkward and engaging characters, and acting that is just top notch in the English dub. The only thing that you may find a problem with is that there isn’t more of it. By the time the ending credits roll, you’ll want more of this one. Trust me.

Yes, I know that the story of two guys starting a romantic relationship might not be in everyone’s wheelhouse and the intimate moments might be something that gives you pause, but honestly, wherever you fall in the sexual identity debate or however you feel about it on a religious level, I can’t stress enough that you owe it to yourself to give this movie a chance. Because, at the end of the day, A has much to say about love and acceptance, things we ALL know a thing or two about and long for—gay, straight or otherwise.

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The Stranger by the Shore can be streamed through Funimation.

#Anime #Anime Reviews #Anime Movies #The Stranger by the Shore #Umiibe no Etranger #Yaoi #LGBTQ #Articles #Author: Josh #Author: The Cajun Samurai

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a-student-out-of-time · 4 years

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Speedwagon: Time for a backstory expedition dump!

I was born in Wakkanai, all the way up in Hokkaido, but my mother and I left when I was a kid and we moved to Tokyo.

Mom was a veterinarian, and a damn good one at that. She had this habit of driving around town, looking for all the stray animals she could and treating them. She never let anything slow her down.

And seeing the animals, all the different ways she treat them- for diseases, for parasites, whatever it was that was ailing them- I always found it fascinating. I’d never seen so many different dog breeds before then, and I was amazed that they were all the same species. That’s when I started looking into biology.

By the time I was 10, I was reading college textbooks on the subject. I learned there were a lot of experiments you could do. Seeing everything from cellular mitosis to neurogenesis, it made me curious to see what I could. And, in what was admittedly not my best idea, I decided to start working with one of the animals in her care.

You were doing experiments when you were that young?

Yeah. After I read about Dolly the Sheep, I decided to start by trying to clone an animal myself. In this case, I started with a rabbit.

And I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but I think I was the first to notice the effectiveness of the Cas9 protein used by bacteria. It’s what they use to remove viral RNA and DNA from their genome, but you can also use it for basically anything you want.

So I ended up making a healthy copy of the adult rabbit. I was kinda scared Mom would get upset, and she was a little peeved at me for it, but she was also impressed. I also promised, since I made the cloned bunny, I’d be the one to take care of him, which I did. He lived the normal lifespan of a rabbit too. No abnormalities, no disease, nothing to make him seem distinct from his genetic parent.

Wow...that’s pretty cool.

So I kept doing experiments in my free time during elementary and middle school. And when I heard that a science fair was coming up during my last year, I decided I’d enter one of my biggest creations yet. It took weeks of finding and gathering enough genetic sequences to manage it, but I completed it in time.

I made a hybrid fruit tree, one that grew apples, bananas, peaches, and cherries, along with an accelerant that let it grow faster. After that, I received my acceptance letter to Hope’s Peak.

While I was there, I decided what I wanted to study next were diseases. Specifically, human genetic mutations. That’s when I got to work eliminating everything from Cystic Fibrosis to Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva.

Fibro-whaty-what?

It was a disorder of the muscular system where, instead of repairing any tears in the muscle tissue with more muscle cells, the body replaced it with bone. It gradually froze your muscles solid until you couldn’t move, eat, or even breathe.

Not anymore though. That and 107 other disorders, gone. Millions of people living better, healthier lives.

Of course...you all know what else I got involved in.

I’m sorry for asking, but...does your mom know?

...Mom died about two years ago.

Oh...I-I’m sorry.

It’s okay. I said she worked even when she was sick, right? Well...she was ignoring the symptoms of an aggressive form of brain cancer all that time I was in Hope’s Peak. I didn’t even find out until she was hospitalized for it. And even with all my talent...I couldn’t help her.

But that also means I’m on my own, so I can help you all whenever you need me.

So...you don’t have any other family?

I have a grandfather, aunt, and cousin, but...none of them are pleasant to be around. Umeko-san told you all that I’m half-Korean, right? Well, that was why Mom and I left. The three of them are ultranationalists who...they didn’t even see me as family.

I don’t know who my father is. Mom took a trip to China during college and met a Korean man. That’s all I really know. Kids in middle school weren’t all that much kinder to me about it either, but then I was just one of the kids that got bullied there.

And you had to deal with that Storm guy too, right? I’m sorry you’ve had it so rough.

It’s alright. If anything, it’s made me more determined to help people.

And I guess now you can see why I sympathized with Monaca-chan.

#danganronpa #sdr2 #danganronpa 2 #sdra2 #super danganronpa another 2 #kyoji nakamura #emma magorobi #hibiki otonokoji #chiaki nanami #a student out of time #DR #hide and seek arc #Anonymous

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britonell · 4 years

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Hello @clearwillow. Do you know how difficult it was to keep my mouth shut about being your @inusecretsanta!?

Anywho, don’t skip the fanfic below!

Hermit’s Haven

In which one dog leads to a hermit failing to be a hermit…

...this is not my biography >.>

The dog appeared out of nowhere.

Inuyasha stared at the unexpected visitor. Against the backdrop of the untouched snow, the Akita stood out like a sore thumb.

The dog certainly didn’t belong to anyone in the village—since he was the sole inhabitant of said village. His closest ‘neighbor’ was an agricultural school on the other side of the mountain, and they weren’t the type to let a dog wander off their property.

Inuyasha watched the Akita sniff the icy bridge and then raise his head, ears perked up and beady eyes examining the half-demon, before throwing all caution to the wind and trotting up to him.

That was how the solitary half-demon ended up with a dog in his house. A dog that was currently taking up Inuyasha’s favorite spot beside the kotatsu, paws up in the air, not a care in the world.

For Inuyasha, this was odd. He wasn’t one to raise pets. He didn’t even own fish (which was why there was an empty koi pond in his backyard). He was an honest-to-goodness hermit.

Not that he had always been like this. After his father’s funeral, Izayoi and Inuyasha had been left instructions on when and how to sell some land in Hokkaido. Then the economic bubble burst happened and the land in the north ended up being their refuge.

Izayoi hadn’t been hurting for money or anything, no, she had plenty from her own inheritance. Inuyasha didn’t like to think about it much; throw in some economic woes and suddenly every city folk in Tokyo was ornery, so much so the half-breed child running around their apartment complex was now an eyesore.

The village was different. They had always been self-sufficient in their isolated community. Besides, as descendants of the Ainu people, they had their own history of being marginalized. He and Izayoi had been informed rather bluntly that they’d be welcomed as long as they didn’t get in anyone’s way—and if Inuyasha could quickly learn to ‘chase those pesky bears away’ that would be super helpful.

It all worked, for a while anyway.

The damn dog startled awake and stared at Inuyasha, who snorted. Nothing woke the dog up except his own loud snoring.

Right. What to do with the dog. He had to be someone’s pet. Had he been abandoned? The agricultural school regularly dealt with people throwing their trash and animals on their land, but in this village? With all this snow, no one would come this far to leave an unwanted pet.

So the dog somehow wandered all the way out here. Wonderful.

Maybe the dog was chipped. He could ask Kaede at the school. The villagers had trusted her, and she did attend the funerals whenever she could. Wait, she was a veterinary instructor for only the first half of the school year. She wouldn’t be back in Hokkaido for months.

And he wasn’t going to risk visiting another vet, since…

“Guess you’re staying for a few days,” Inuyasha grumbled.

The dog’s response was a great, big yawn.

A few days did pass. Then a few weeks. Then a few months.

They built something of a routine. Inuyasha would go out to forage and hunt, and the dog would patiently wait for him in the village. He took to calling the dog Hachi because...because he damn well felt like it, shut up. He even thought about buying some dog food in that resort town, but Hachi seemed to enjoy the game meat. That was fine. Hopefully.

It all worked, for a while anyway.

“Hachi?” Inuyasha called. Where was that damn dog? Hachi always welcomed him at the bridge next to his house. That used to bother him, since half the bridge hadn’t been refurbished to narrow the gaps between the railings, but with the ice gone he all but expected to see Hachi at the bridge, wagging his bushy tail with his stupid tongue out.

“Hachi! Hachi!” Inuyasha wasn’t panicking. He was being thorough, that’s why he was slamming the sliding doors open and entering his old neighbors’ homes. He would personally apologize to their graves later.

He found Hachi in the fifth house. Aiko used to own a Shiba Inu that she babied like her own grandchild. He cursed himself for forgetting the doggie door disguised as a tiny sliding door—he had helped her install it!

Hachi was in the bathroom, lying on his side, breathing labored and legs twitching.

There was no decision to make. Coherent thought didn’t even return until he was halfway to his destination, leaping from branch to branch with Hachi cradled in his arms.

The veterinary clinic was the first building next to the south entrance. Inuyasha shot past a group of shocked students, kicking up clouds of fallen Sakura petals, and burst into the clinic.

Kaede wasn’t sitting at the front desk.

“Fuck.”

“Over here.”

A man with hair bound in a rat tail was holding out his hands. To his credit, his eyes were focused on Hachi and not on Inuyasha. The latter surrendered the barely conscious Akita and watched the man rush past some of the confused students and into one of the rooms.

Inuyasha stood in the lobby for a good long while, his mind too scrambled to decipher the whispers. But if he was capable of observation, he would understand; a dog-eared man had just shown up with a half-dead dog in a clinic that usually catered to farm animals. His fault for not wearing a hat.

There was a loud shush that sent a couple of people out of the lobby, then a small hand offered him a cup of water.

“Please, have a seat.”

He was ushered to an empty seat where he stayed until he was the only one in the lobby, staring at the cup until the man with the rat tail walked up to him with a clipboard.

“Yamaguchi Inuyasha, right?” The man smiled, wearing no mask of pretense. “My name is Miroku. Kaede-baa-san’s my great aunt. She told us about how you helped her prepare our clinic and barn for the typhoon. Don’t mind the students, they’re first-years. I’ll make sure to have a word with them.”

Inuyasha didn’t really understand what he was saying, half the words going in one dog ear and out the other, he just wanted to know—“How’s the dog?”

“He’s stable,” oh thank fuck, “but he needs to stay with us for a few days.” Oh fuck no.

“What happened to him?” He gripped the cup a tad too tightly.

“I was hoping you could fill in the details. Did you see him collapse?”

Somehow, talking about Hachi made it easier to get the words out. “No, I was out. He snuck into one of the houses in the village. The house had a goddamn doggie door, I fucking forgot about it, and he was in the bathroom and he was—fuck, that old woman was on a lot of drugs before she—oh fuck the medicine cabinet was open, you think he could’ve reached—fuck, he must’ve gotten into some of her meds. Fuck!”

Miroku scribbled away, unfazed by the cursing. “It’s alright, I understand. We’ll run a few more tests. What’s his name?”

And there it was. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he began, “His...I don’t really…”

Miroku politely waited.

“He’s not my dog. I was gonna ask Kaede to scan him for a chip. I can still pay for the treatments.”

“Kaede won’t be here for another month, and she’ll return only as an advisor. I took over her position beginning this school year. If you don’t mind, I can go ahead and check for a chip.”

“Sure. Yeah, that’s fine.” It wasn’t.

“In regards to payment—”

“I can pay.”

“—there’s an account set up under the name of Yamaguchi Izayoi for the farm produce department. Ordinarily, any unused funds are forfeited at the end of the year, but I noticed an exception was made...seven times. If you’d like, we can use this account for payment?”

Inuyasha had to take a minute or two to pick his jaw up off the floor. “That’s…fine.”

“Great. We’ll use the phone number attached to the account to contact you.”

Inuyasha left the clinic with a lot of questions and nobody to ask them. He immediately busied himself back in the village, tidying the houses he broke into, visiting and apologizing to the graves of his neighbors, raking the flower petals into piles, anything to keep his mind off of Hachi. He thought about visiting the clinic, but he didn’t want to risk exciting Hachi and setting back his recovery.

Not to mention the heavy sense of guilt that prevented him from seeing Hachi again.

A week after Hachi’s collapse his phone rang.

“Yamaguchi-san?” It was the same voice that directed him to sit in the clinic.

“Uh. Yeah.” No one had ever called him with that honorific. Ever.

“We’re happy to report that your dog is awake and alert.” Thank fucking god. “We…” he did not like that pause, “...also scanned for a chip and managed to contact his owners.” Oh. “We told them what happened, and they’re driving from Sapporo to pick him up.” How the hell did Hachi make it to the village all the way from Sapporo? “They would like to personally thank you for finding and taking—”

“No,” Inuyasha growled, then remembered to add, “thanks. Just let them know I’m paying.”

“I know this is a little unorthodox, but they’re good people, I think you’ll like—”

He hung up.

He would go back to his routine. He would forget about Hachi. He would go back to being alone.

~*~

Little did Inuyasha know, Hachi had opened the proverbial floodgates and there was no stopping the invasion.

“Hello?” Inuyasha answered slowly. No one called him save for the automated bank calls, and he was damn sure no bank would program a call for the middle of the night.

“Listen, just hear me out before you hang up,” a familiar feminine voice spoke, tones clipped this time. “Someone dumped a litter of newborn puppies by the front entrance.”

“Wow. Asshole,” he said without thinking.

“I know! But most of the staff just left for summer break, we’re in the middle of breaking ground for a new research building and no one has the space and time. I mean, I’d foster them but my roommate already has a cat and there’s a one pet rule in my building. The nearest shelters are miles away and completely full. Miroku thinks the best option is to volunteer you for the job.”

“Oh...that’s…” He really should refuse. He was being volun-told by a stranger. “When should I pick them up?” Dammit.

“That’s the thing. Miroku’s already packed and ready to go. He’s going to drive up to your village ASAP.”

“I...umm…”

“I’m so sorry. I think Kaede-baa-san talked about you so much, it’s hard for us not to trust you, you know?”

“That’s...wait, did you say Kaede-baa—”

She hung up.

Fuck, she did that on purpose.

Less than an hour later, a pickup truck parked in front of the bridge. Inuyasha watched from his door, a strange mixture of anticipation and alarm twisting his stomach.

Miroku stepped out of the driver’s side and from the passenger’s side...Kikyo?

No, no, that’s not possible. Kaede’s granddaughter stopped dropping by with Kaede after he adamantly refused to move out of the village. He had been smitten, sure, but it was a teenage crush and this was his land, his, and she wanted a normal life, which most certainly meant not living in seclusion. Last he heard, she was studying to be a lawyer in Kyoto.

Miroku said something to the woman and she responded by smacking him upside the head. Nope, definitely not Kikyo.

“Thanks for doing this,” Miroku said once Inuyasha met them at the end of the bridge. He held up a box and inside there were five squirming black and white puppies.

Inuyasha clamped his mouth shut. He was still upset at being volunteered against his will, yes he was.

Miroku held the box out, only to turn and hand it to the woman beside him. “You sure you got this?”

“As if I would’ve agreed to this if I wasn’t,” the woman said with the same clipped tones. Guess she was the woman on the phone. “C’mon, we need to get inside before the rain starts.”

Miroku shrugged, smiling all the same. “Alright, I’ll get the supplies from the back. Inuyasha, help me carry those in, and then I’ll be on my way.”

It was only after he dropped the last of the supplies in his living room and watched the pickup drive away in the rain did he notice one crucial detail. “Are you staying?”

The woman looked up from his favorite spot beside the kotatsu, a puppy in each hand. Inuyasha was pretty sure she was trying to look more innocent than she was. “It’s not like you know how to raise puppies. Name’s Kagome, by the way. Miroku’s my cousin, and I’m volunteering at the clinic this year. Could you get the formula? It’s time to feed the puppies.”

Well fuck.

There were five puppies and a human woman in his house. A proper hermit would kick them out and leave them out in the rain.

He went to fetch the supplies.

He was a terrible hermit.

“Newborn puppies need to be fed every two hours. At least.”

Inuyasha did not know this. He now knew this.

The half-demon could manage a solid week without sleep, but Kagome insisted she be awake to supervise the feeding so she readied an infuriatingly loud alarm clock and boy did he want to smash it into pieces. Then the puppies would whine and he was too distracted to stay angry.

So busy were they Inuyasha didn’t even realize they had made no proper sleeping arrangements until well after dawn. Then the puppies would whine and he was too distracted to ask Kagome.

On the third night, he returned from the bath to find Kagome sleeping in the living room sans alarm clock, presumably packed away, never to be seen again. The realization that she trusted him to feed the puppies hit him hard. It wasn’t a foreign feeling, the villagers had trusted him, but that had been years ago and the nostalgia…hurt. To top it all off, she trusted him enough to fall asleep in his house.

The vulnerability in her unguarded expression went straight to his gut. He pondered what that meant, but then the puppies squirming around her whined and he was too distracted to ponder further.

Between the feedings, Kagome would divulge a few things about herself: She lived on a shrine in Tokyo (oh god a city girl), she took some time off after high school to work at the shrine and think about what she wanted to do with her life (now that was unusual for a Tokyo girl), she came to Hokkaido at Kaede’s suggestion (what an impulsive girl), and she could tell he was weirded out by all this from looking at his expression (uh...no, no he wasn’t).

After the seventh day, she slyly slid up to him with cell phone in hand. “You know, there’s someone who really wanted to thank you.”

“Huh?” he replied, still wiping a puppy’s paw.

She shoved the phone in his face before he could protest and there he was, wagging his bushy tail with his stupid tongue out.

“Thank you for finding our Hachi!” A little boy with a front tooth missing waved. “Grandpa and I missed him lots!”

“Thank you for keeping him safe all this time. Please drop by so we can thank you in person,” an elderly man said while bowing, a wrinkly hand holding onto a small cane.

“Yeah, I’m gonna give you my treasure! It’s a snake skin!” The little boy waved one last time before the recording stopped.

Inuyasha tried to say something, he really did. Yet the image of the elderly man with the cane shakily bowing stayed in his mind. He was too, too, too much like his late neighbors.

And holy shit the dog was named Hachi all along! Seems like he wasn’t the only uncreative pet namer in Japan.

Kagome’s warm, gentle hand pulled him out of his stupor. “C’mon, it’s feeding time.”

Of course, the puppies. Get the formula, use the dropper, get the paper towels, and repeat. This was a distraction, this was good. He just needed to think about the puppies. Formula, dropper, paper, repeat. Maybe close his eyes for a bit.

He fell asleep.

He, the damn half-demon, fell asleep.

Worse, he woke up with puppies pulling on his hair and a camera flash going off.

“Look, don’t we look adorable?” she said and flipped the camera phone to show him the photo. There he was, looking up at the camera half-awake with his hair splayed out on the tatami. Kagome was also looking up in the photo, opposite him and upside down, giving the camera a deceptively demure smile, her black hair similarly splayed out and over his silver hair. All over their contrasting hair, the black and white puppies were sitting or lying down. “I’m going to send this to my mom, if that’s okay with you.”

He groaned and threw an arm over his face. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You needed the rest. Besides, this was a picture perfect moment!”

She was trying to kill him.

As he suspected, this was the first of many, many ‘picture perfect’ moments. Sometimes, he would have a lap full of puppies, with no way of escaping, only to hear “Cheese!” and the telltale flick of the shutter. Other times, he would be busy in the kitchen preparing the formula and out of the corner of his eye he would see her leaning on the doorframe, watching with that small little smile and her trusty Mr. Phone.

Worse, she got into the habit of wandering into the village when it was her turn to take a break and then come back with all sorts of questions.

“There’s a koi pond out back, why aren’t there any koi fish? What do you mean it’s unfinished?”

“Is that a guesthouse? That’s your shed!? It’s huge!”

“I saw a bunch of flowerpots, you should grow some flowers. Do ajisai grow around here? I loved seeing them whenever I walked home in the rain.”

“I was all the way out in the woods and I still had signal! You need to get a cell phone, you can’t rely on a landline forever! ...what do you mean there are BEARS?”

“My mom called and she said that photo of us was adorably perfect, can I post it online? I’m taking that grunt as a ‘Yes.’”

“What’s with all bank flyers on the front doors? Does the bank really own all the vacant houses?”

They built something of a routine. Luckily, this time, Inuyasha didn’t forget that she was a temporary resident.

Two weeks later, Miroku returned with the pickup truck. “Hope you two had a doggin’ good time!”

Kagome rolled her eyes as she hauled the nearly empty boxes into the back of the pickup. “Spare us, dear cousin. Sango-chan better be back today.”

“She and Shippo will be back by 3. We should have enough people until vaccination time, then we can work on finding foster homes. Speaking of the puppies, they grew fast!” Miroku said, and Inuyasha regrettably let the box of puppies go. “Thanks for all your help, my good man!”

“Yeah.” Inuyasha fidgeted, shifting from one foot to the other. He never got used to saying goodbye.

“See you around, Inuyasha!” Kagome waved, one leg already in the truck. She held a bank flyer in her other hand, probably to show off to her city friends.

He watched the truck do a U-turn and disappear from sight.

He doubted they would see each other again.

~*~

He was wrong.

“There was a fire at the shelter.”

His power of comprehension always needed a few seconds to catch up whenever she called, which was getting frequent these days. “A fire?”

“The animal shelter. There was an electrical fire.”

Leave it to Kagome to drop a bombshell on him. “Holy fuck,” he cursed. “Are the puppies—did anyone—”

“The puppies are still at school. The volunteers got all the dogs out but some of them are being treated for smoke inhalation. We’re trying to help find shelters and foster homes but it’s a mess right now. You don’t mind if Miroku—”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he answered, unintentionally cutting her off. “Use my account to buy whatever you need.”

Miroku didn’t bring puppies this time. Inuyasha helped lead the Beagle mix, the Lab mix, and the Shiba Inu into the house. Miroku held out some papers for Inuyasha to sign, he assumed for the shelter to keep track of where their dogs went, and set about preparing their bowls and beds.

He quickly learned that the Beagle mix, Makura, was an old and heavy lap dog, and if Inuyasha sat down on the tatami, Makura would slowly but surely make his way from wherever he was in the house to rest on his favorite lap. The Lab mix, Kuriko, had a knack for sneaking into the kitchen and stealing his cookware. Why the cookware, he had no idea. The Shiba Inu, Pen-Pen, goddamn Pen-Pen, followed him. Everywhere.

Over the next few days, Miroku brought another Shiba Inu, a Chow Chow much to Inuyasha’s surprise, and a tiny little Chihuahua that wouldn’t stop shivering even on a warm autumn afternoon. The giant pile of dog food was starting to take over the living room, but he couldn’t move the kotatsu while Kuriko was sleeping on Inuyasha’s favorite spot beside the furniture.

One curious object hidden within the supplies had Inuyasha scratching his head. It was a large board with the words ‘HERMIT’S HAVEN’ etched into the wood. Stuck to it was a post-it note instructing him to hang it on the bridge for the visitors.

What visitors?

As usual, Kagome dropped the bombshell.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. It was Miroku’s idea, I didn’t think he’d actually make you sign anything without telling me first.” Well, she sounded apologetic.

Inuyasha stared into the distance, his sanity bidding him farewell. “My house’s now a dog shelter?”

“It doesn’t have to be your house. You’re a co-owner in name. Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Kagome said, a nervous smile evident in her voice. “We’ll take care of everything else.”

Shockingly, she was right. More dogs were brought in, more dog houses were bought and built. Nothing changed.

Except for the visitors.

They weren’t even locals. Tourists from overseas were making a day trip from the resort town to see his village. He had no idea how word got out. A young fox demon from the school dropped in one day and mentioned pictures and Kagome’s insta-something or other, but he didn’t really get it.

Inuyasha tried to make himself scarce whenever tourists showed up. ‘Tried’ being the operative word because goddamn Pen-Pen kept giving him away. The visitors would spot him in the tree, ask if he was from the pictures, he would grunt, and they would leave money and dog treats in a donation box—what the hell, who put that donation box there?

“You’re a good man for taking care of all these dogs,” a blue-eyed man towering over everyone else spoke in perfect Japanese, offering his hand with not an ounce of hesitation. He might’ve mentioned he was from Australia.

Inuyasha reluctantly reached for the hand, and was jerked forward into a bear hug.

If anyone tried to kiss him on the cheek, he was diving into the stream.

~*~

“What?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think I’d be hired either! Crazy, right? But they were really short on staff and took Kaede’s recommendation seriously.”

“Uh, yeah, congrats.”

“Thank you, Inuyasha!”

He ignored the funny feeling that traveled down his spine. What was wrong with him, she only said his name! “But, err, after you said that, you said you and Miroku were moving into...”

“Weeeelllll,” there it was, that nervous smile in her voice, “you know how the bank is offering all the vacant houses for free?”

“I mean, free if you work and live here for years.”

“More than a decade, yup.”

“You’re going to...more than a decade…”

“Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, neighbor.”

He should be glad. Two people he could tolerate moving into his village.

The trucks were here before he could blink. The plan was to assess for renovations before moving in.

He should be glad.

“Inuyasha?” Miroku called. He stood outside Hiro’s old house. It was Miroku’s house now.

“I...gotta take a walk. Watch the dogs.”

“Take your time.”

Inuyasha hadn’t visited the graves since the puppies.

The elderly villagers had been old-fashioned, but loneliness had made them more social, so much so that dinner had to always be a village feast. Izayoi took up remodeling and enlarging a number of houses, just because she had the time, money and encouraging neighbors. As soon as Inuyasha learned to hunt, they had no problems accepting wild game from a half-demon. Then Izayoi fell ill…

Inuyasha was self-sufficient. It was alright, he had told himself, over and over again. Reality, and age, eventually caught up. The villagers’ children and grandchildren had moved to cities like Sapporo long ago. A few of the villagers relented and joined the young in the cities, but most had refused to leave. A couple of funerals later, the village became nothing but vacant and abandoned houses, and one half-demon.

He could have finished all those renovations, built that rock garden for Masa, lay out that trail from the woods to the koi pond so everyone had access, but he hadn’t.

Now, someone else would. Someone who would never know that Hiro dreamed of having a western-style fireplace, someone who would never know just how much Yumi loved her sunflowers, someone who could never understand just how much this village meant to him—

“Inuyasha?”

He grunted, but didn’t turn around.

Kagome sat down beside him. “Are you mad?”

“Not mad,” he answered without emotion, just as he rehearsed it.

“It’s not a problem, is it? Us moving here, I mean.”

“Not a problem.” Because it most certainly was not. “The bank gave it to ya. It’s all legal.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Kagome said quietly.

A long stretch of silence followed. Inuyasha knew he should say something, anything, and after nearly a year he thought it would be easier, but he had no words if the words weren’t about the dogs.

“Kaede-baa-san talked about you a lot,” Kagome said, mercifully. “She had a lot of friends here. And she’d always mention this one boy who'd help everyone with everything. It got hard for her, coming back here just to say goodbye to another friend. But she was most worried about the boy who refused to move out of the village.”

Kaede had asked him to move in with her. As kind as she was, he couldn’t bring himself to trust a city folk, not at the time. He would never ever admit it out loud, but hearing his apartment neighbors openly discuss if he fell under the ‘no pets rule’ had hurt.

“Kaede-baa-san is going to be at the school for a few days. You should drop by.”

“She worries too much.”

“She likes you. I was a bit jealous for a while. You know, she kept your mom’s account at the school open just in case you wanted to use it. With the way she described you, though, I thought you’d be shy and scared of strangers. Imagine my surprise when you showed up with Hachi in your arms and leaves in your hair. Totally not what I expected.”

He tried to give a witty reply. Like how she surprised him too with her Oscar-worthy puppy dog eyes. Or how she had a bad habit of dropping bombshells, even now. Instead, all he managed was, “I should visit Hachi.”

Kagome beamed. “That’s a great idea.”

~*~

“I thought you were going back to Tokyo for Christmas.”

Kagome shrugged while peeling another tangerine. “I was too busy moving furniture and painting the walls. Totally forgot about buying the tickets.”

“Uh-huh.” Inuyasha was all too familiar with that tone. “But Miroku remembered, even though he was moving furniture and painting too.”

“I guess he’s just better at keeping track of time.”

“You’re weird for a city girl. Can’t keep track of time, wants to live in the middle of nowhere, what the hell?”

“I’m one of a kind. Now scooch over. Your trunk thighs are taking up space in the kotatsu.”

“Like I can, Makura’s on my lap and—dammit Pen-Pen, stop leaning on me!”

Kagome whistled. “Oh no, looks like I got competition. Better hide you away for bed time.”

Inuyasha muttered incoherently for a few seconds, his face turning seven different shades of red. “S-shut up.” Did she have to be so open about liking him?

But Kagome did like him. She especially liked him letting his guard down and falling asleep on the tatami with the dogs on top of him. She joined what she liked to call the ‘puppy pile’ and watched him nap, his chest slowly rising and falling despite the weight of Pen-Pen’s head.

The picture of her lying opposite Inuyasha with the black and white puppies had garnered a lot of attention. But Kagome definitely preferred lying next to him.

Her eyelids grew heavy. Time for her to rest as well.

Flick, went the shutter.

Kagome snickered. Send the picture to mom, and then rest.

~*~

AN: Puppy pile!

This one shot got away from me. It was about a stray puppy bringing Inuyasha and Kagome together, and suddenly...this.

Haven’t had a fic get this out of control in a while.

#inuyasha #inukag #kagome #inusecretsanta #fanfic #fanart #my art #my fic #fanfic au

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