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senjutobiirama · 4 years

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BokuAka fic recs

@lnsouke asked for some BokuAka recs, so here’s a list of some of my favorite BokuAka fics!

♥ = personal favorite

First of all, literally anything by norio, who’s like THE BokuAka author, but my favorites so far are:

if kisses were fishes, then i'd be an ocean (G | 4.600)

notice me kouhai (G | 4.400)

nine hundred lies (G | 8.400)

the volleyball is beautiful tonight (G | 2.400)

one in a hundred (G | 4.000)

apowlogize (G | 2.300)

Fight! The Exciting Adventures of a High School Girl! The Fire Will Never Die! (G | 1.900 | Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun AU)

i put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight by carafin G | 3.700

In which Bokuto Kotarou is woefully inept at conveying his feelings, and Akaashi Keiji has a sort-of superpower. Sort of. Next to him, Komi is chewing his cupcake dutifully, albeit with obvious effort. Washio has assumed a completely neutral expression on his face, although Akaashi thinks that his eyes might be watering. Sarukui, having seemingly demolished the entire thing out of sheer willpower alone, looks like he deeply regrets every single choice that has led to this precise moment in his life. ‘It isn’t too bad, huh?’ Bokuto says, grinning. ‘I made them in our school colours, so they’re like, marbled black and white chocolate swirls! Do you guys want more?’ Sarukui looks like he might pass out at the thought alone. Komi pauses mid-chew to shake his head weakly. ‘I’ll have more,’ Akaashi says, to the general astonishment of everyone.

From the text logs of Bokuto Koutarou by koikawa T | 2.800

(To: Keiji) akaashi!!!!! I got a new phone!!! (From: Keiji) Who is this (To: Keiji) it’s your best friend in the whole world!!!! (From: Keiji) Konoha-san?

legs killed the owl by dalyeau T | 1.900

He's not smiling anymore an hour later, after he's fucked up four perfect spikes that Akaashi tossed carefully for him because he's too distracted by the lean, elegant line of Akaashi's legs, kneepads dark against the white of Fukurodani's gym.

third wheel by arsenicjay T | 4.500

"So you and Bokuto, huh?" Akaashi's attention snaps back to Kuroo and he gives the other boy a blank stare. "What about us?" Or, Kuroo figures out that Bokuto is interested in Akaashi long before Bokuto does himself and being the kind friend that he is, tries to help them along.

pink roses for the couple at the back by orphan_account T | 4.800

The first-year, who Kuroo assumed to be Akaashi, seemed to grow more dead inside as the two approached them, and Kuroo couldn’t help the smirk on his face as Fukurodani’s setter patted Akaashi’s shoulder and departed with a pitying, “Good luck, Akaashi-kun.” Akaashi barely looked at him as he dryly said, “Thank you, Uchido-san.” “AGHASHEE!” Kuroo briefly wondered if that was how Bokuto always pronounced his name, then snorted when he saw the first-year close his eyes and mutter a bitter, “Fuck you, Uchido-san.” alternatively: bokuaka is in love but in kuroo's point of view.

our destiny, in ourselves by drifloon G | 6.600

Akaashi was probably thinking about how stupid he was for having said yes to this, a day at the zoo when it wasn’t even that warm yet, March air keeping everyone on their toes. But the sun was out and shining, and for a first date, the weather was good. Not that this was a date, Koutarou quickly corrected himself. Just a last hurrah while they were still teammates. A last chance to see each other before it was all over.

5 tips to get your guy by Mizaaistom G | 5.900 | ♥

Second-year Bokuto gets fantastic dating advice from his sister’s magazines.

Something good can work by choir T | 3.700

“Do you want to date, Akaashi?” The serve that Keiji is about to hit curves and hits Konoha in the back of the head.

idyll by mutterandmumble T | 6.600

In which a risk is taken, a list is made, there’s a piano, and somehow Akaashi gets a boyfriend out of all of it.

Victory Will Be Mine by spadebrigade T | 4.000

"Bokuto-san," Akaashi found himself saying, sweat dripping down his forehead. "If we win this match, I’ll give you a kiss."

Sphoeroides maculatus by himbokuto (hibouu) G | 1.100

Akaashi's plan to boost Bokuto's confidence has unexpected results, but he's not complaining.

desire as your holy fire by blushytobio (blanketkicks) G | 4.900

The five times Bokuto calls Akaashi by his first name. (alternate description: Akaashi’s weaknesses are Bokuto, Bokuto, and Bokuto.)

Red Reed by yuuki T | 5.200

It's Aka-ashi, Keiji wants to say every time Bokuto says his name wrong, not Ah-kashi. He never corrects him. It's easier to study if you don't talk and actually study, Keiji wants to tell Bokuto every time he fails a test. He never tells him. Everything Bokuto does makes Keiji fall in love with him, and there's a lot that Keiji doesn't tell him.

Something to Look Forward To by mousapelli T | 500

Bokuto's a bit clingy, which makes Akaashi curious what he did the whole of his first year.

Right Outside Your Window by hokshi G | 2.100

Akaashi has a frequent visitor in his classroom.

Principles by timkons G | 2.800

Akaashi has a list of Bokuto's weaknesses. Bokuto has a list of Akaashi's principles.

Observing You Observing Me by undercovermartian G | 2.700

Bokuto realizes that he doesn't know Akaashi as much as Akaashi knows him. Bokuto comes to the conclusion that this will not do so he vows to learn everything about Akaashi that he can, using his powers of observation alone. Akaashi is a weirdo and a worrywart.

soft blue by groaninlynch G | 6.000

Koutarou finds a sketchbook that he's never seen before.

Owl Notes by orphan_account T | 8.800 | Bullying and implied self-harm

Bokuto has brought an owl plushie with him to school every day since junior high. One day, while running down the hall, he crashes into someone, and loses it. It makes its way back with a note under its wing, and prompts him to search for the owl's rescuer.

Flaws Upon Your Sleeve by downtownfishies G | 9.400

First Akaashi fell hard for volleyball, which was fine. Then he made the questionable decision of falling for his team's ace.

Lumos of my Life by DeathBelle T | 6.700 | Hogwarts AU

Bokuto knows who Akaashi Keiji is. Everyone knows who Akaashi Keiji is. Bokuto has never spoken to him, but that's by personal choice. He doesn't fancy making a fool of himself. When he and Kuroo get caught sneaking out past curfew by Akaashi himself, who is a fifth-year prefect, Bokuto has no choice but to speak to him. As expected, he kind of makes a fool of himself.

Thermodynamic by Telenovela G | 5.000 | ♥

Heat can be transferred from place to place in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.

Noctua by Telenovela G | 2.200

Every night before official matches, Bokuto and Akaashi lie side by side on the roof of Akaashi's apartment building and watch the stars together.

Maybe We're Airborne, Baby by fathomfive T | 3.100

Realizing he's got it bad for his setter is the easy part. Getting his feelings across might be the hardest thing Bokuto's ever done, not counting his literature final or putting out the flames on that birthday cake he tried to bake for Akaashi last year, or—or a lot of things, actually. But the point still stands. Reaching out to Akaashi is a leap in the dark, and he wants it more than he's ever wanted anything. He's an expert at seizing his perfect moment, at bringing victory home against the odds. So he's got this, right? It's gonna go great, right? Right? (After all, it's what you attempt with your own two hands that matters.)

wonders that remain by shizuoh T | 2.900

The door swings right open, like Akaashi had been standing there, waiting for him. He hasn't even knocked yet. Oh, jeez. He's going to die. (or: bokuto goes on his first date with the one and only akaashi keiji.)

bitter by silvercistern G | 14.000 | ♥

He accepted his classmate's chocolates gracefully, then declared his lack of interest with as much dignity as he could muster. She deserved the courtesy. At least she'd acknowledged that Valentine's Day was all about her, and not about him in the slightest. Because if any of these girls had taken the time to actually get to know him, they’d quickly realize something even more important than his lack of interest in girls. And that was that Akaashi hated sweets.

Kissing Ace by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor) G | 2.400

It happens right after training camp. Akaashi Keiji has a secret he has guarded since he was a child. He won’t go so far as to call it a fear, but more of an aspect of himself of which he is horribly mortified. No one on the team knows about it, and Akaashi does his best to keep it that way. But years of dodging hugs and casual contact come to naught in the blink of an eye and the swipe of a hand.

A Lesson In Anatomy by Zillyhoo T | 830

Bokuto gets his hands on a label maker, and after filling the dorm with them, he decides to get a little creative with where he starts to place them.

Notes: Bokuto Koutarou by dgalerab T | 8.700 | ♥

Bokuto knows he's a hassle, but he likes to think that Akaashi likes him. Sometimes, he even shows it. Or: 5 times Akaashi showed that he thought highly of Bokuto and 1 time that Bokuto proved he thought just as highly of Akaashi.

Karma by dgalerab T | 9.000

Akaashi pulls a muscle and Bokuto offers to help him with yoga. Akaashi knows a bad idea when he sees it, and he really only agrees because he's suddenly acquired a deeply rooted desire to see Bokuto do yoga. For multiple reasons.

#Haikyuu!!#Haikyuu fic recs #BokuAka #Bokuto Koutarou #Akaashi Keiji #fic recs

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sparklyjojos · 5 years

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[THE CHILDISH DARKNESS Recaps, Chapter 8]

[tw: gore, adult-minor relationship, a bundle of homophobia / biphobia / transphobia]

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EIGHT

Saburou always told Kaede that she should find a honest, loyal and benevolent man, even if he himself wasn’t really any of these things. Every man Kaede tried to date sooner or later turned out to be awful, which inevitably led to a break up, sadness and – on a surprisingly large number of occassions – Saburou beating up the boyfriend of the week.

Nobody, not a single one of these men believed in becoming or having a partner whose love is honest, loyal and benevolent. But what about Saburou himself? He certainly believed there could exist a woman that had all these qualities. Just like all the girlfriends and wives of his friends: honest (not mentioning something to their partners technically wasn’t lying!), loyal (it’s not like they wanted to leave their husbands!), and benevolent (they forgave Saburou a lot!).

“I wouldn’t say that’s love,” Kaede said. “That’s something you understand when you get there. You never actually were in love, right?” Well, not really. “How about with me?” Idiot.

That being said, he cherished Kaede. He got angry at her good for nothing boyfriends and let her cry on his shoulder. In turn, Kaede forgave his flaws and kept hanging out with him. But that had to be only because they were good friends. Besides, his body never responded with arousal when in physical contact with her, so clearly that wasn’t love, right?

The love he felt for Yurio was different, but… she was thirteen, he twenty-nine. Just thirteen! This wasn’t something considered to be normal, and he definitely didn’t have a lolita complex or something! He’d really have to start dating single adult women from now on! Yurio should live her own life, get a boyfriend her age and grow up normally. He cared about her and so never attempted to kiss her or have intercourse, even if it was tempting.

When she told Kaede about his Yurio problem, Kaede called him a lolicon, reminded him that he’s an owner of a cram school filled with minors, overall questioned his morality and proposed giving himself up to the police.

Around the time Saburou had finished writing the third Runbaba novel, Kaede for whatever reason married their childhood friend Okamoto Yasuhiro (But really, with Okachi? Was he maybe not as strictly into guys as he had thought as a child?). The reaction of Saburou’s brothers and father to this news was to tell Saburou that he’s an idiot for passing the occasion to marry a good woman like her. Shirou – who knew about his many sexcapades -- told him without any qualms that maybe he should just cut his dick off. In hindsight, maybe it really would be better if he’d done that before it showed interest in a thirteen-year-old.

Saburou’s mother didn’t say anything back then, but he knew she was disappointed too. Kaede had often visited their house and earned the favor of the entire family. Even Maruo’s election committee member Mitamura Hidenori had said that Saburou found himself a nice girlfriend, and that she looked amusingly similar to Saburou’s mother in her youth. Maruo’s secretary Kato Satoshi replied that Saburou was still young and would surely meet a lot of nice women later (little knowing that Saburou had surely had a fruitful meeting with his granddaughter once).

What would Jirou say about it if he was still there? Back when Kaede had been in middle school and Jirou’s companion Kawai Kazuhiro attempted to date her, he got punched by Jirou so hard he flew a few meters away. Then Jirou used a cigarette to give him several burns on his right hand, arranging them in the shape of Cassiopeia (at that time burning constellations into people was his big ‘interest’). He also had Kazuhiro wear female underwear, knowing that when Kazuhiro and his twin brother Youji had been children, they were often made fun of for wearing cute feminine clothes and hairstyles their parents loved.

Jirou repeated all of the above later with Youji who had attempted to get revenge for his brother. Youji’s constellation of choice was the Big Dipper.

Without a doubt Jirou had some interest in Kaede. He never hurt her and she was about the only person in the entire prefecture who didn’t show fear in his presence. He never looked as relaxed as when talking with her.

Have Saburou married Kaede, maybe Jirou (if he was there) would beat him up too and burn Orion or something into his hand.

But hey, it’s not like Saburou’s relationship with Kaede was Like That.

Was it?

Even if Yurio still occasionally showed up in Saburou’s bedroom with a knife asking him to stab her and he had to fling the knife out the window and chant “It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright”, these outbursts became much rarer. Things were going good.

Then Saburou got a call from Atena, who told him in tears that Shirou was currently fighting for his life after he’d been hit by a runaway driver in the hospital’s parking lot.

Saburou made sure that Yurio would be fine staying alone in the house and that she had her phone nearby (pink with a sticker saying ‘love’ and their tiny photo), and left to drive to the hospital. It seemed Shirou had borrowed his BMW in the morning, so Saburou had to use Ichirou’s Bentz instead.

A traffic officer called Aoyama told him that right when Shirou had been leaving the building, he got hit by a car so hard he bounced a few times between the car’s roof and the porch ceiling. Hardly an ‘accident’. Fortunately Shirou could be taken to ER immediately afterwards, but the outcome of surgery was uncertain. It wasn’t the first time in the span of not even three months that Shirou had been seriously injured in a car accident.

Who would be trying to take Shirou out? Some sort of gang? Saburou called a yakuza member he'd met once when he’d been hanging out with Jirou, Tsuji Yutaka (first lieutenant of Furutaka-gumi related to Hoshino-kai). But before he could really ask about anything, Tsuji shot his own question at him:

“Is is true that Mr. Jirou returned? A whole lot of rumours is flying around claiming that he showed his face in Fukui lately.”

Apparently, somebody had seen Jirou in the Palace Hotel in Fukui, assisted by a woman, and now various group were trying to find him. Was that just innocent Kawaji Natsurou being mistaken for Jirou? Were the two men one? Was that someone else? And who was that woman? No, there’s no way that…

Could Jirou be trying to murder Shirou? He shouldn’t have any reasons to pick him as a victim over Maruo or Saburou, but maybe he changed his approach somehow. Saburou remembered a piece of dialogue from Thomas Harris once again.

“Do you spook easily, Starling?”

“Not yet.”

Jirou / Natsurou had showed up in his dreams as Hannibal Lecter. Would Clarice “Saburou” Starling be able to put him behind bars?

Saburou decided to check who that woman was first and thought about Jirou’s old followers he could ask about her. Maybe Kawai Kazuhiro? Saburou found his number in the phone book, but was told that Kazuhiro and his twin Youji had gone missing fourteen years earlier in December 1986.

Exactly when Jirou vanished. Did he take the twins with him for some reason? As a mystery writer Saburou instantly reacted to the twins being involved by thinking of some complicated body switch trick. That would be ridiculous. But Saburou couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of Jirou running away with someone and soon realized just why he felt so bitter about it.

Why hadn’t Jirou taken him along?

No, he had to resume thinking about the case at hand. He had to finally become useful. Or was he really that stupid and good for nothing?

Upon getting to the hospital, Saburou first went to visit Maruo in his room overcrowded with political partners (the news spread fast about his son possibly being targeted) and was startled to find Maruo crying. He took Ichirou’s secretary Hasegawa Katsuyuki aside.

“Hey, why is Maruo crying?” he asked.

“What do you mean ‘why’, Mr. Saburou? Mr. Shirou got hit by a car!”

But Shirou was still alive, and when Saburou had called Maruo earlier the man sounded unfazed.

“He wiped his tears and took a few deep breaths before getting the call,” Hasegawa said. “He didn’t want to show you his panic. That’s what parents do.” Hasegawa added that they had tried to contact Ichirou in vain. He must have still been searching for their mother.

Maruo thanked Saburou for coming, and Saburou knew that he meant “thank you for being here at this time”. Ever since Nozaki’s attack Maruo got a lot more timid. Shirou would claim that looking death in the eyes had changed him.

“What do you think, Saburou?” Maruo asked after a brief exchange about the accident / attempted murder. “Why did that happen?”

“I wonder if there’s someone who holds resentment towards him.”

“Do you think it’s my fault?” A wry smile. “You too think that all these things happening to my family is my fault?”

How could one respond to such a question? Deep inside, Saburou felt like Maruo really was the cause of all their problems, but of course a whole lot of other people were at fault. Maybe they -- the brothers as well as their mother -- could have done better instead of giving up on Jirou. Maybe Maruo and Jirou should have tried better for the sake of each other.

“Everyone’s gone already,” Maruo continued. “Everyone’s leaving the Natsukawa house.”

“Maybe it’s better if they did,” Saburou replied, “if they can do what they want. Even if split up, family is still family, right? Everyone would be able to finally solve the problems they couldn’t tackle while staying in that house.”

Maruo certainly feared losing the family he kept around him. When his wife had been attacked and fell into coma, he slept an entire day long as if trying to escape intense grief. He’d always been a weaker man than he looked.

“That’s not possible,” Maruo said after some thought. “The family must stay together until the end.”

Saburou didn’t plan on screaming, but he couldn’t help yelling through sudden tears about how Maruo is always saying things like that and making everyone miserable, that this fixation on keeping them together is ruining everything, that it’d be best to finally let everyone go and live separately!

Maruo looked shocked, but clearly not believing in anything he’d just heard. “You’re going to leave too, aren’t you? Then leave!”

Saburou hadn’t said that, but he was already sobbing like a little boy and couldn’t voice his arguments well. Surely Maruo just spoke brashly in an attempt to hide weakness, but Saburou still felt hurt. Leaving the room, Saburou heard one more thing behind his back.

“You’re not my child anymore!”

Saburou broke down crying in the hallway.

Natsukawa Saburou, abandoned by both his parents. No, that last name wasn’t even his anymore. His house wasn’t his house anymore.

Hasegawa walked out after him and told him not to run away, that Maruo surely understood what Saburou had meant, and that he needed just a little more patience and some more calm talking.

But it was always the same! They just always returned to the starting point, and no one ever seemed to grow the fuck up!

Hasegawa didn’t agree with that, and told him that Shirou had decided to become a candidate in the summer election to replace the still hospitalized Ichirou and Maruo. In fact he only showed up at the hospital that day because they were talking politics. Even despite his own job back in the USA, Shirou was more than ready to do something like this for the good of the family.

Saburou yelled at Hasegawa to shut up and ran away. Who he was running away from? Hasegawa, Maruo, Shirou? Himself? He hadn’t done anything useful like Shirou, and even if he intended to help Yurio, in the end it was Shirou who really took care of her and her mental health.

Waiting in front of the operating theater, Saburou talked with a man called Fukushima Manabu, who until pretty recently had owned a convenience store, but was now Shirou’s secretary. He also happened to be a son of one of Nozaki’s victims, who had died after a long coma. Fukushima wondered if it had been the right choice to try keeping her alive for that long.

“I don’t really understand it myself,” he said, “but I often saw my mother’s ghost when doing laundry. Or rather her soul, seeing as she hadn’t died yet at the time. Her face showed up in the water inside the washing machine, looking at me without a word, expression hard to read. But when I’d push the button to have the water drain out, she’d look at peace. I thought that maybe this was her way of asking me to finally let her go. But I was too afraid to do so, and I liked our little meetings. I couldn’t kill my mother. Eventually she died and never again showed up in the laundry water.”

Saburou didn’t know what his own reaction would be if the one in the coma was one of his brothers or father -- would he be able to cut off their life support, snip!, goodbye? -- but shuddered to even think about killing any of them. Besides, he wanted to show them that he’s worth something. No matter how horribly they’d suffer, he would stand his ground and refuse to kill them.

Just to what extent could egoism born from love be forgiven?

Saburou realized that not only had Shirou borrowed his car that day, he was also wearing his clothes, as he usually did because of how little baggage he had taken with him from the US. Whoever the runaway driver was, his intention wasn’t to kill Shirou, but Saburou.

Saburou thought that he really should have been the one to get hurt.

In the end, the doctors said that Shirou would survive. Around that time news surfaced about a car with a busted front window found near the hospital. The driver thought to be the one who had attacked Shirou was still sitting inside. The problem was, said driver was found with all the skin of his head and limbs peeled off, and all the teeth pulled out. Despite that he was still alive and said his name was Okamoto Yasuhiro. Okachi.

Saburou called Yurio and learned that Kaede had come by earlier asking to see him.

A little later Saburou arrived at the Mouryou Pond and found crying Kaede. He was afraid – because of Okachi’s attempt to kill him, because of Kaede waiting here for him with unknown intentions – but then again, the entire world held nothing but fear for him now. He’d been thrown out of the family, Shirou was injured, and his mother, Ichirou, Jirou were all far away.

But Yurio was still there. He had to put this mess in order and return to her.

Kaede said that she’d been in love with Saburou for a long time, and no matter how much she tried to date others, it just wouldn’t work. She had no idea that things would lead to this awful situation. She had thought that maybe getting together with Okachi would be fine, that he’d have no interest in her. But lately he had seemed to have grown more at ease with touching and kissing her. They had a lot of long conversations about it.

Saburou remembered the note that had been found by Okachi’s body.

Saburou, I’m glad you’re still alive. Even though a lot of time had passed, do you continue doing what’s right? Just by observing you a little I was able to make sure. You’re a honest and docile person. (...)

Do you still read mystery novels? Do you remember the title of the book that I, you and Shirou read together and liked a lot? ‘Red Dragon’ by Thomas Harris. Have you read its sequel, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’? I did. If you’ve read it, but can’t remember the details, you can check it for yourself later: the thing that Lecter tells Clarice about Buffalo Bill:

“Billy’s not a transsexual, Clarice, but he thinks he is, he tries to be.”

Saburou, this man just like Buffalo Bill is trying to deceive himself. This statement should be enough for you to understand the meaning of what I did. Observe the scene from all sides, try out all ideas. When constantly looked at by a new pair of eyes and in a different light, everything will certainly reveal itself.

This is a simple, maybe a little flashy work of art made to show you just that. I hesitated a little over whether or not to use novocain, but this indecision was swept away when I heard that Shirou had been saved. The point in the first place wasn’t to give this creation suffering. I chose the song “I will survive”, as this man’s self-deception was just that persistent.

You see, flaying alive is a popular execution method in the East and in the West both, but in the Sixteen Kingdoms period particularly, skinning the person’s face was followed by making them sing and dance for everyone’s amusement. I’m sure you would enjoy it too. His rendition of “I will survive”.

The above note had been put into Okachi’s mouth together with a giant pink dildo signed by “Death God Jawakutora”. The handwriting style of the note without a doubt belonged to Jirou. Saburou had no intention of ever showing that note to Kaede.

Okachi had felt jealous about Saburou and Kaede. Had he been just faking it like Jirou implied, or was he actually bisexual like Kaede thought? When he’d once said that Kaede had been the first woman he’d ever fell in love with, was it true? Maybe his talk about how the border between gay and straight is hard to see was born from his experience of not falling squarely on one of these sides. Was his murderous intent towards Saburou true jealousy or somehow born from false emotions?

Saburou’s thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from Yurio, who gasped and hanged up as soon as he mentioned he and Kaede were at the Mouryou Pond. Since he and Yurio had first met here, she probably considered it a special place.

When he turned to face Kaede again, she was holding a knife, but didn’t make a move, crying that she didn’t understand anything anymore. Saburou had a feeling that the situation couldn’t be resolved other than by having someone be stabbed.

“Stab me, Kaede,” he said knowing well that she wouldn’t. She wasn’t Yurio. Her love was different. But maybe it’d be better if she did stab him. Everything was his fault, his and his love’s. “I have loved you all along, Kaede. That’s why it’s better if you stab me.” He both didn’t actually want to die and thought that it’d really be a better option.

All of this was the fault of the egoism of his love. He had known about Kaede’s suffering, but refused to disconnect her life support. Disconnect himself from her. He stubbornly stayed near her as she hovered at the faint line between life and death, not really falling on either side.

He kept telling her to stab him, she kept saying she can’t and at last dropped the knife, and he embraced her.

Maybe her inability to kill him was also the effect of egoism born from love.

In the end, Kaede said she’d go to the police and tell them about Okachi, but that she wanted to stay alone at the lake for a little while. Only when walking down the mountain did Saburou realize that she still had the knife, but highly doubted that Kaede would hurt herself. He considered turning around, but if he wanted to support her, the right choice was probably to just leave. To cut the line of the life support.

Goodbye, Kaede. Snip! Goodbye.

When Saburou returned home, he found a headless corpse in the garden, and the ID revealed the dead to be Yurio’s father. A knife – the same that Saburou had thrown out the window -- lied discarded to the side. Yurio must have used it.

But the one she should have killed wasn’t her father. After Yurio cut his father’s head off, she carved a (still bleeding) “LOVE ME TENDER” into his chest and put Saburou’s pants on him.

The one lying dead on the ground should be Saburou.

Without even trying to find Yurio or taking care of the corpse Saburou entered the underground storage and closed himself in the darkness, exhausted from everything that happened lately.

He heard footsteps again, heard them stop abruptly over his head again, but this time someone opened the trapdoor. It wasn’t the pale ghost of a little girl.

“Found you!” laughed Kawaji Natsurou.

He looked an awful lot like Jirou -- made himself look like Jirou -- but his hand bore several scars arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. Kawai Youji.

“Long time no see,” Saburou answered. “You seem to have found a really good mask.” A spitting image of Jirou. Wait, if Jirou had peeled off the skin from Okachi’s face, did Youji do the same to Jirou and wore it like his own?

Saburou tried to fight, but Youji managed to inject him a knockout drug.

As if whatever god there was had finally gave up on him and decided to cut off his life support after seeing him return to that same small darkness under the floor over and over again.

Snip! Goodbye, Saburou.

[>>>NEXT>>>]

#sparkly reads tcd #maijo and jdc stuff

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 5/7/20

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 12 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – As much as I continue to love this series overall, this particular volume had some highs and lows for me. When Chise’s new classmates are in a scene with her, I find them interesting (particularly her prickly roommate, Lucy) and enjoy seeing Chise successfully interact with peers when just a couple of volumes ago she had doubts about her ability to do so. That said, the conversations these characters have amongst themselves about their pureblood alchemical family drama are unimaginably boring. At the same time, there’s an important conversation between the leads in which Elias tries to clarify what he meant by “bride” and an eventful camping trip to Scotland at the end of the volume that sees Lucy in peril, both of which I greatly enjoyed. In the end, I’m as eager for the next installment as ever. – Michelle Smith

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 9 | By Matoba | Yen Press – It would appear that the manga author is well aware that Eurydice is not the most popular character in this book, as the first part of it deals with her getting amnesia and forgetting she’s a shotacon… and having people reluctant to cure her. Big same. Elsewhere, it’s all about the three “main” couples in the series, none of whom are official but all of whom are teased to death. Astaroth and Sacchan are stuck on a seemingly deserted island, and both are feeling very awkward around each other. Beelzebub and Mullin are a couple but don’t actually seem to realize it, much to the frustration of others. Most importantly, Azazel and Belphegor hold a real conversation! It’s good setup for the final volume next time. Fluffy fun. – Sean Gaffney

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!, Vol. 1 | By Yuu Toyota | Square Enix – The title of this one gave me the impression that it was going to be smutty, but the reality is anything but (at least so far). Kiyoshi Adachi is a gloomy, average, thirty-year-old virgin who has just discovered he can read the minds of the people he touches. When Adachi decides to see whether his seemingly perfect coworker, Kurosawa, has a secret nasty personality, he instead discovers that Kurosawa is romantically interested in him. As Adachi accesses more of Kurosawa’s thoughts throughout the volume, he realizes that he’s a genuinely good person and wants to get to know him better, but his lack of romantic experience means he gets overwhelmed easily. I think these guys make a cute couple and look forward to continuing the series. I also really enjoyed the bonus stories, especially the one about Adachi’s equally virginal friend and a delivery guy who bond over a kitty. – Michelle Smith

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 8 | By Ukami |Yen Press – The main thrust of this volume is the arrival of Gabriel’s big sister Zeruel, who (as Gabriel knows) will flip her shit when she sees her behaving like a sloppy otaku, and (as Gabriel doesn’t know) has a massive sister complex about her. This amusingly leads to Gabriel acting like a perfect little angel and creeping everyone out. Fortunately, in a “who knows Gabriel best” trivia competition, Vignette’s knowledge of present Gabriel trumps Zaruel’s past knowledge. Speaking of Vignette, her demonic tendencies take another beating when another demon in the group refuses to see her as anything but an angel because she can’t be mean. Basically, be they angel or demon, everyone in this cast is a flake, so it’s all good. – Sean Gaffney

Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition, Vol. 2 | By Kouji Kumeta | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This series continues to be the sweeter, more optimistic version of Zetsubou-sensei, and I’m OK with that. This is not to say that the author does not get a bit bitter about things that are in his wheelhouse, such as constant editor turnover (his current editor, who is a bit of a loser, is there because no one else will have Kakushi) and having to judge new entries in a manga competition (Kakushi judges fine, but is undercut by the stupid editor adding (lol) after every entry). Biting the hand that feeds him has always been Kouji Kumeta’s top skill. That said, it almost seems tempered by age and maturity here, particularly in the scenes with the father and daughter simply being a good family. Ominous future, though… – Sean Gaffney

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 11 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Yen Press – Sometimes it happens that I just don’t have much to say about a volume of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. I like it best when some modicum of progress is made in one of the core relationships in the series, and for the most part (and despite the claim on the back cover that Wakamatsu finally learns Lorelai’s true identity) we don’t get that this time. Mostly it’s gags about otome games and hypnosis and what if Nozaki did a book signing. That said, there is a very nice tidbit at the end where Hori sincerely tells Kashima that he likes everything about her, and I hope that isn’t forgotten though I realize it’s extremely likely that nothing will come of it. In summation, I think I’m kind of reading this wrong, but ultimately I still enjoy it. – Michelle Smith

Prince Freya, Vol. 1 | By Keiko Ishihara | Viz Media – While several of Ishihara’s manga have now been released in English, Prince Freya is the first I’ve read. But I’m always happy to see more shoujo fantasy released, so I was looking forward to giving the series a try. The premise of the manga is pretty solid if not particularly innovative—Freya is a young woman who, due to unusual and deadly circumstances, is required to pose as Prince Edvard, the leader of her country. Ishihara has also laid the groundwork for some excellent court politics and intrigue. The pacing, however, especially in the introductory chapter, is extraordinarily fast. In addition, time and distance seem to have frustratingly little meaning in the series. And unless there’s some sort of spirit possession going on (which admittedly would be an interesting twist), Freya’s “becoming” Edvard in the first volume strains belief. But even considering its flaws, Prince Freya continues to intrigue me. – Ash Brown

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro Side Story: Nostalgic Travelogue | By Satoko Kiyuduki | Yen Press – This is nothing more than a series of short stories set during and after the main series, but if it allows us to spend more time with Kuro and friends, I’m 100% down with it. There’s moments of bittersweet tragedy in a story of a princess who sacrifices her life for the sake of her country. There’s amusing moments, such as Kuro and Sen having to play chess to escape a king’s wrath… a very strange game of chess. And there’s heartwarming, such as a young boy who grows older as he hears the stories of the travelers (including Kuro) who pass through his inn, eventually finding himself involved with some of the people he heard about. I love this series; it’s gorgeous and poignant. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 2 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Now that our main couple has gotten together, it’s time to bring in some things to cause potential drama. The cute underling at work that’s in Kotaro’s department (and clearly has a crush on him) tries to uncover if he and Asako are dating… but fails. Also, he sees her like a little sister. Asako tells her mother she’s dating a guy… and she’s thrilled. The biggest issue in this volume may be Asako’s little brother Keita, who had to defend her from bullies as a kid and thus doesn’t trust anyone who might date his big sister. That said, a nice dinner at Keita’s restaurant (he’s a budding chef) does the trick, with Kotaro winning him over by simply being sincere. Both the sweat and the sex have lessened in this book, leaving pure sweetness. – Sean Gaffney

A Witch’s Printing Office, Vol. 2 | By Mochinchi and Yasuhiro Miyama | Yen Press – This started badly, with an entirely gratuitous boob shot distracting me from what turned out to be a pretty good plotline of a cooped-up rich kid wanting to get out into the world and read more… even if it turns out she might be reading her mom’s doujinshi. The basic premise of this series is that anyone and everyone can be happy buying and reading doujinshi, even if it’s monster guides or magic spellbooks. Yes, even the demon lord, who turns out to be quite nice. In fact, the real danger in this book is a natural one, as there’s a huge typhoon that threatens to take out the island that not-Comiket is held on. And there’s even a cliffhanger… is there another Japanese person trapped here? Aside from one bad bit of fanservice, still very good. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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kaye-scheidsblogs · 6 years

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Legal and Illegal Streaming (anime and manga)

Disclaimer

Pirating anime and manga is and always will be something that happens in this community. There isn’t a single person I can think of that has never pirated anime or manga before. I’ve done it and everyone reading this blog has done it. I understand that extenuating circumstances can prevent some people from legally watching anime. I am not writing this blog to demonize or antagonize those people. But instead I want to express my own thoughts on the matter and also offer other resources for watching anime and reading manga legally that some may not know of.

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Illegal Streaming

Tons of people have already researched and proved that illegal streaming does negatively affect the anime and manga industries. So, I’m not going to parrot that information here since most of you probably know the gist of it. Illegal streaming is not okay and if you want the links to all the people who have done the research, here you go:

"Being an Animator in Japan is Brutal"-first hand experience from an animator working in Japan

"There's no Good reason to pirate anime"-Mother's Basement video breakdown

"How much money you cost the anime industry when you illegally stream"

"Crunchyroll contributes $100 Million to the Anime Industry"

[C]Side Note: that last link is for the people that think they’re “voting with their wallets” when they pirate anime because they think Crunchyroll and every other legal streaming site has a bad business model. That last link and basic business principles disprove that train of thought immediately.

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Legal Anime Streaming

There are two reasons that I hear most often when people explain why they pirate: “I don’t have the money!” and “It’s not legally available in my country.” For the latter, I believe it is 100% okay to illegally watch anime. If a company does not allow you to watch an anime or read a manga, then that’s on them. I’ll talk a bit more about a website that is good for watching anime illegally as it doesn’t make any money off of pirating and you may also be able to watch some anime legally on it too. As for the former, with a bit of searching and the help of Because.moe the first reason doesn’t hold much weight if you’re just looking to watch a completed series that is legally available in your country. For seasonal fans, I understand the dilemma of having to wait a week to catch up because part of being a seasonal fan means having up to date discussions with people in the community. And since all anime streaming platforms require a Premium fee to watch seasonal anime the day they come out in Japan, I understand how money can come into play and push someone to pirate.

But before you go to That One Pirating Website That Everyone Knows, please check out this and any other pirating website first. Because as one of the links from the beginning of the blog explains, the amount of money This Website makes is stupid. And that website is: YouTube. Believe it or not, there are tons and tons of anime available on YouTube. Some legal and most illegal. But it’s great because YouTube only puts like one or two ads on their videos that can be skipped. And illegal anime on there don’t have ads, so no one is making money off of the stolen content. Now you may be asking, “where on YouTube is there legal anime?” Well, the Funimation YouTube channel actually has a lot of full subbed series on there. Some of which were anime I watched back when I was getting into anime and only used YouTube. Nozomi Entertainment also has a YouTube channel that has a few older anime available legally and for free. Including but not limited to, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Emma: A Victorian Romance and Space Adventure Cobra. Even Crunchyroll puts out the first few episodes of some popular series like Yuri On Ice. So yeah. YouTube is a really big option available that a lot of people don’t even bother to think about. So before you go and risk giving your computer a virus (adblock doesn’t guarantee your computer’s safety from ads on pirating sites; I speak from personal experience) , check YouTube for the anime you want to watch.

Despite what many seem to think, a free account on Funimation and Crunchyroll will let you watch all of the series they have to offer. It costs you zero dollars to watch anime on these websites. “How?” you may ask? Because each episode will also play commercials, similar to TV but much shorter. I’m calling them calling them commercials because in this context that is exactly what they are; breaks in the program for a scheduled advertisement. Commercials longer than 30 seconds are usually skippable after 15 seconds. And unlike TV, you only get 3 or 4 commercials each break. Episodes typically have 4 breaks, one at the beginning, two in the middle and one after the outro song, so really on 3 if you don’t want to watch the episode to the end. And that goes for Crunchyroll, Funimation and Yahoo. Yes you read right, Yahoo.

Because.moe is a site where you can insert your country and then the title of the anime and it’ll show where you can watch that anime legally. For America the legal streaming websites that I know of are Crunchyroll, Funimation, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HiDive and Yahoo. I was incredibly surprised that Yahoo had licensed anime available for streaming. Which includes but is most certainly not limited to, Seirei no Moribito, My Hero Academia, and Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun. I always check this website first if I’m not sure if an anime is available legally or not.

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Manga

Before I wrap this up, I need to address the problem of illegally reading manga because it’s not as easy a fix as the anime streaming problem. There is no digital, free and legal manga reading platform. There is the somewhat inexpensive option (compared to overseas print prices) in BookWalker, which I have been using recently. But BookWalker doesn’t even offer SimulPub. You have to pay for each volume individually and some manga are priced by the chapter. Which I will be the first to say is complete bullshit. Now, with the limited resources on manga licensing, I have found that it is generally more expensive to license manga than it is to license anime. Why this is, I don’t know. And I can’t say for certain that there is a way for Manga licensing companies to follow the Crunchyroll and Funimation models of having a premium monthly subscription But for the time being it looks like all that is available to us is the expensive translated print manga and a bit less expensive eBooks through websites like BookWalker.

This is actually a problem that I want to fix in the future. It has become my goal to expand the manga licensing industry for the betterment of our community and the amazing people that create these stories. I’ll be studying abroad in Japan for a year starting in September to further my Japanese language skills and maybe gain some sort of insight on the state of the manga licensing business. I have a vague idea of how I’m going to do it, but at least it’s a start.

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TL;DR

There is only one (1) 100% good reason for streaming anime illegally: it is not legally available in your country. If money is short for you, then there are plenty of free ways for you to legally watch anime which were listed and discussed in this blog. Illegal streaming is not okay. And lastly, you have more options than you think when it comes to watching anime legally.

#anime #manga #pirating anime #legal and illegal streaming (anime and manga)#Crunchyroll #BookWalker #Funimation #YouTube

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sweettsubaki · 7 years

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When I read what Geoff Johns said about how they were going through the planning for rebirth,New 52 Green Arrow was specifically not supposed to have a goatee or black canary, so then he ask for goatee and black canary this time- I think superficial traits really is what they're working from. They want the characters to /visually/ resemble their old selves but they don't really care about anything more deeply analytical than a level 2 reading learner book. So for Tim: Steph, Staff, done.

About This

That’s true but….

Ollie in Rebirth actually DOES feel more like an AU version of his old self in that they didn’t just add symbols of his “old self” simply as a “Nostalgia Factor” but rather as actual symbols, reminders of how he could be and Then actually writes him getting into that but still following his own development. The current writer actually did manage to reconciliate his N52 self (If I remember correctly he started working on it in N52) to his preboot self and while it’s not perfect, it’s not amazing, it’s also far from bad. (Though I stopped a few issues ago I think it was issue #10 or #11). Not having the goatee at the time was because he was young again and in a different time and they wanted to use it as an excuse for a new image...My main issue is with how fast his and Black Canary’s relationship went…Other than that, they (even Emiko and Shado) still have a better development in those 10 issues than Tim, Steph and Cass have in Batman & Robin Eternal and ‘Tec Rebirth (Batman Eternal too but I stopped at issue #19 so I don’t feel comfortable judging it since it’s over now).

As for Tim… It’s long so read it under the cut

It’s sad because they actually HAD a way out. Lobdell, despite all his misgivings as a writer, literally wrote in Teen Titans #0 that Tim Drake was not his real name, without specifying what it was, gave him circumstances that made sure it could not be the same character (in addition to a vastly different Behavior/Personality). I’ve said it before and I will say it again, but I actually like the TT#0 Origin story (I mean this Tim’s an idiot but there was actual potential to develop him as a character which was lost in trying to give him Tim Drake props). While I still think that him becoming Bruce Wayne’s ward when under Witness Protection Program is kinda stupid, the ‘hiding in plain sight’ factor can still slightly work if he makes sure to not appear much.This was their way out and, while it’s not that good, it was still coherent (much more than whatever they’re trying right now, seriously Nozaki’s ideas are better options than what they’re giving us now in terms of Tim Drake) and Tynion deliberately chose to ignore it.Really, if they go with their “connections” thing, Tim had so many connections that he was kinda reconstructing, he had a pretty special place in the DC Universe (and I’m not just saying that as a fan, he was literally an oddball who got along with pretty much everyone EVEN when they thought he was crazy), it would have totally made sense for Oz to prevent Tim from jeopardizing anything by making sure he couldn’t form or help others form those bonds and have him captured or misplaced somewhere BEFORE N52. (Also I’m sorry, but out of all ‘Tec Rebirth characters, if they really wanted a symbolic relationship for Tim CASS IS THE ONE THEY SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN DAMMIT, not Steph)But then they retconned his Origin Story so that it’d “make him more like preboot!Tim” except that,as you said, they only changed a few details on a very superficial level. But, to be fair I partly blame the fans for that, because the fans mostly complained about the superficial parts. I remember it was always, “but Tim’s the Detective, not the Tec Support” or “Tim Drake has to be his real name”. But, while those can be valid points, those are details, and changing them didn’t make N52/Rebirth Tim more like preboot!Tim, on the contrary, it actually got N52/R further away from Pre-N52.For one simple thing, why did Tim become Robin ? There are 3 reasons that have to come together for it to happen, you take one away and then Tim has literally no reason to become a vigilante. 1. He has to be neglected by his parents : it gives him the time, but more than that it gives him the need, the want for a family and projecting this on Batman and Robin, making him care about them. 2. He has to have met Dick, be hugged by him and then see Dick’s parents die in front of him : While only seeing his parents die would still traumatize him for years, it’s having been hugged by Dick before hand that made it so personal for Tim (which I kinda tie to his emotional neglect), it’s what started his ‘obsession’, that’s how he recognized Dick as Robin, that’s how he started projecting on Batman & Robin.3. Jason Todd has to die (well really , Batman has to become reckless and Violent) : Because Bruce being violent is what coerced him into seeking Dick, but not only, it’s because he cared for them, they’re the people he projected his “family feels” on.And they’re all linked. You take one away, you take Tim’s reason to be a vigilante away. “Strangely” two of them, the ones that directly concern Tim (both things that gave him a “trauma”) are the ones that Lobdell took away. I don’t know if it was really done on purpose to show it’s a different character but it was there.And in the retconning those thing stayed the same. They just changed the few superficial details (and even then, because even if they made Tim do some detective work, it was still mostly as ‘the tech guy’). So now Tim Drake’s his real name only Drake was his mother’s name (seriously how stupid can they get for their WPP….Also how dumb is the Penguin ? That’s not hiding in palin sight anymore).

But this symbol thing is…They didn’t even chose the best symbol to represent him, because :1. it’s not his relationship with Steph that stands out, it’s his relationship with EVERYONE, Tim’s the one who was on good terms with most non-Batman approved vigilantes (and even some rogues). Because Tim was the Heart of the Batfam & Friends. Steph and Tim only got along for 2 years at most (and in a relationship for 1 year counting only their ‘on’ times)in his 5 years of knowing Bruce until the end of the preboot. They spent as much time not talking to each other since she first appeared than they did getting along.Anyway, Steph was kind of an example of all those relationships Tim made with the “non approved” AND the “approved”. But just having him date Steph ? Without the rest of the background ? It makes no sense as a characteristic other than “Bad TimSteph AU Fanfiction”.(Also there was no build up, when Tim was alive it was mostly a prop to sho how great he is and now it’s only for “feels”, there’s no substance and it’s so obvious I just can’t care about it, like Tim & Cassie in the Young Justice Cartoon have a better build up and their build up is just to stand next to each other for the few episodes they’re in)2. As for the weapon characteristic….Wouldn’t the redbird make more sense ? Tim fanboying over cars and bikes ?, Because those were pretty much the love of his life in the preboot, AND you don’t actually need a history for that choice (it probably still wouldn’t be well written because Tynion’s as bad of a writer as Lobdell to me…in a way even worse) which is not the case for the Staff which only make sense in a certain context but has no place with N52/Rebirth Tim’s history.

And I just….Even in their “superficial” character traits they’re so far from the character….

#DC Comics #Tim Drake #Stephanie #Brown #Tim Drake Meta #It's very hard to focus since I'm watching Hero Corp at the same time (I wrote 3 weird paragraphs before realizing they made no sense)#Anonymous

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