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cheri-translates · 3 years

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[CN] Victor’s Business Exhibition Date

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date, 企展之约, which has not been released in EN 🍒

[ This date was released on 16 July 2021 ]

After a meal on this weekend afternoon, I’m nestled on the sofa, watching a new episode of an anime.

MC: Hahahaha!

Watching the comical antics of the main character on-screen, I can’t help but laugh out loud.

“Whoosh--”

Hearing the rustling of papers from behind, I subconsciously shut my mouth, my line of sight flitting past the sofa and landing on Victor.

He’s sitting at the dining table, a look of concentration on his face while he reads a report. The small dining table is full of documents.

I had initially planned to watch movies with Victor at my place today. I didn’t expect him to be so bogged down with work lately, and unable to relax over the weekend.

MC: Victor, am I disturbing you? Why don’t you use the study room or my bedroom instead?

Without lifting his head, he props up the spectacles on the bridge of his nose.

Victor: Who was the one who wanted to “stick” together with me over the weekend?

MC: ...that’s true, but you’re focusing on work now.

He has no intention of continuing the conversation. Rubbing my nose guiltily, I head into the kitchen quietly. After cutting some fruits, I bring them over to the dining table.

MC: In that case, I’ll apologise to CEO Victor~

Sticking a toothpick into an apple slice, I bring it to him. He tilts his head up slightly, taking a bite from the apple in my hand.

From my peripheral vision, I spot an invitation card with the words “Elementary and Middle School Students” on it. Curious, I take a closer look.

MC: “Corporate Culture Exhibition for Elementary and Middle School Students”? Is LFG participating in the Corporate Culture Exhibition?

Victor: We received the invitation and haven’t decided if we’re participating.

MC: I see... I’ve never heard of this exhibition.

Victor: The government organised it this year.

Victor: The officials said that it’s meant to introduce elementary and middle school students to outstanding occupations and various career paths to help them establish their aspirations.

MC: This exhibition seems pretty meaningful. It’s beneficial to LFG’s business image too.

MC: Come to think of it, I wonder if little kids have an understanding of LFG, and what kind of impression they have of LFG?

MC: Oh yes! There was a news report on elementary and middle schoolers going on company tours. Does LFG want to organise a similar activity?

Ideas come one after another in my mind. I rattle on about my opinions, but Victor doesn’t express anything.

When I start making an inventory of the company tour for students, the pen in his hand pauses, and he lifts his eyes slowly.

Victor: I can consider the exhibition, but not the company tour.

MC: Why not?

His deep eyes sweep over the anime on the television screen before landing on me.

Victor: There’s already one very noisy kid in LFG.

In the end, Victor accepts the invitation to the Corporate Culture Exhibition. The exhibition commences as scheduled.

Out of interest, I offer my services to Victor. I become a volunteer responsible for decorations at the venue.

Seeing the detailed and vivid posters introducing various occupations in the exhibition hall, the LFG employees next to me are slightly awed.

LFG Employee A: It’s really nice that we have the chance to understand different occupations. When I was young, I thought there were only astronauts and scientists in the world.

LFG Employee B: Even if you only knew of those careers when you were young and decided on an aspiration, it might not become reality when you grow up. I wanted to be a dancer, but I’m doing something completely unrelated to the arts now.

LFG Employee A: That’s true. If it weren’t for the excellent pay in LFG, I’d probably be at my old home opening a second-hand bookshop and retiring early. Oh yes, MC, what did you want to do when you were young?

Getting pointed out suddenly while engrossed in their discussion causes me to be stunned momentarily.

MC: When I was young...

I blink, recalling somewhat faraway memories. Before I can ponder deeply, my phone rings - it’s a call from Victor.

Victor: Come to the café near the entrance of the exhibition hall.

MC: Now? What for?

Victor: ...what else can you do in a café? Play golf, amend proposals, go horse riding, drink coffee - which one do you think is the most suitable?

MC: ...to be honest, I can’t decide between the two options of “amend proposals” and “drink coffee”.

Victor: I ordered a custard cake. If you don’t come over, I’ll take it that you’re not interested.

MC: I’ll be there immediately!

After notifying those LFG employees, I turn around and head towards the café.

MC: Is this really okay? The others are still busy.

Victor: When did you have such a high sense of awareness? Who was the person who painstakingly learnt “Slacking Hacks” on the internet a few days ago?

MC: I was reading that for fun... I wasn’t planning to put it into practice.

Lifting my phone as I squeeze into the packed café, I notice that most of the people here are parents who are preparing to accompany their kids to the exhibition.

Victor: There’s still an hour till the exhibition begins. I’ve already told Goldman to inform everyone to take a break. In short, there’s no need to feel guilty, because...

Taking two steps into the café, I spot Victor at a glance as he sits at a table near the window calmly.

Seeing that I’m walking towards him, he puts down his phone gently, lifting his head to meet my eyes.

Victor: Aside from you, there’s another person who’s “slacking”.

Taken aback for a moment, I quickly react to the meaning in his words. My brows arch upwards as I take a seat.

MC: I didn’t expect to ever “slack” together with CEO Victor.

Elated, I pick up a fork and try a bite of the dessert in front of me. The custard melts in my mouth instantly, and it’s sweet and smooth.

MC: Delicious! As expected of CEO Victor’s pick~

Victor: Even delicious food can’t stop you from being talkative.

Right after saying this, he seems to stare at me fixedly, his expression slightly strange.

Just as I’m about to ask why he’s looking at me that way, he lifts up his coffee, his lowered eyelashes covering the smile in his eyes.

...am I overthinking things? Why do I feel as if he’s making a joke out of me?

Feeling puzzled, I notice a pen and a post-it booklet at the edge of the table.

MC: This is...?

A staff who is passing by takes a step forward, smiling as he explains.

Staff: This is a small event by our shop. You can write your hopes or suggestions for the children, then hang it on the “Hope Tree” near the door of the shop.

Struck with an idea, I pick up the pen and a post-it note.

MC: Victor, shall we write a few suggestions for the children too?

I tear a post-it note and give it to him. After staring at me in silence for a while, he suddenly reaches out his hand.

Victor: Give me one more.

MC: ?

MC: Does CEO Victor want to write a mini essay?

Ignoring my joke, he writes a sentence on each of the two post-it notes. He hands one to the staff, and stuffs the other one to me.

Bewildered, I sweep a glance at the post-it note given to the staff. The words “You only have one life” are written on it.

Lowering my head, I stare at the post-it note in my own hand. In an instant, I realise why he displayed such a strange smile earlier. There’s a short sentence written on the post-it note:

“Dummy, there’s custard on your cheek.”

??: Hello, could I trouble the two of you to help me with something?

My face reddens. After wiping the custard off my cheek with a tissue, I hear an unfamiliar female voice next to me.

Turning towards the sound, I see a lady standing beside me with two small boys.

Woman: I need to use the washroom, but bringing two boys with me isn’t really convenient. Could I trouble the both of you to take care of them for a while?

I ask for Victor’s opinion with my gaze, and he responds with a slight nod. Understanding this, I nod at the mother.

MC: Of course we can.

While thanking us, she gets the two children to sit at both ends of the table before hurrying off.

The table now comprises of the four of us - two adults and two children. The air gets filled with an inexplicable, thick awkwardness.

Victor looks at me. I look at the kids. The kids look at Victor... Clearing my throat, I decide to break this strange atmosphere.

MC: Kids, how old are the both of you?

Kid A: Mommy said that we can’t give personal information to strangers!

MC: ...

I didn’t expect to be given the cold shoulder the moment I opened my mouth. I release an embarrassed laugh.

MC: Personal information... You can use such advanced terms. You’re so smart haha.

A soft and low chuckle drifts to my ears. I glance at Victor as he picks up his coffee with a blank expression, staying uninvolved in the matter.

The other boy suddenly widens his eyes and leans towards me, pointing at my volunteer name tag and reading it aloud.

Kid B: L! F! G! Do you two work in LFG?

MC: Well...

I ponder over this. LFG is the investor of my company, and Victor is the CEO of LFG. So...

MC: I guess so.

Kid B: In that case, what are the two of you doing here? Did you sneak away?

MC: ...

Although these are unintentional words from a child, I avert my eyes guiltily. At this point, the kid who behaves like an adult speaks loudly.

Kid A: That’s impossible! Mommy said that everyone who works at LFG are really incredible people! They won’t sneak away!

Victor: Cough...

Victor pauses his sampling of the coffee. As though he choked on something, he clears his throat.

Kid B: Really?

The kid blinks his eyes as he waits for our response.

Victor’s expression is a little unnatural. He picks up a newspaper from a rack near the window, immersing himself in it.

Seeing him like this, he probably recalled the earlier conversation we had on “slacking” as well.

It’s rare to see Victor being choked up by someone. A little demon with horns suddenly appears in my heart.

I can’t help but laugh inwardly while turning to the kids.

MC: You’re correct. The employees from LFG never sneak away. We were talking about work-

MC: Right, Vic?

[Note] In CN, MC calls Victor “小李” (“xiao li”, which translates directly to Little Li).

Saying this, I wink at the person opposite me.

Victor arches his brows, astonishment in his eyes. Without waiting for him to speak, I immediately do a “stop” gesture with my hands.

MC: The previous proposal for the show is too conservative. There aren’t any highlights, and it isn’t clear who the target audience is. It might be a waste to show it during prime time.

Adjusting my posture, I clasp my fingers on the table, mimicking VIctor’s tone and expression.

MC: When will you be submitting the new proposal? Tomorrow is the deadline.

Kid A and B: Wow...

Awed gasps from the kids drift to my ears. I straighten up with pride, tilting my chin towards Victor.

He stares at me with a calm gaze, his eyes gradually illuminated with an unreadable, dense light.

He lowers the newspaper slightly, blowing the coffee in his hand gently and unhurriedly.

Victor: Are you sure these are the only problems, Miss CEO?

Victor: I've also “reflected” much on that proposal, and there are some problems I haven’t had the chance to tell you about.

Victor: Since you brought it up, I have no choice but to do a “self-reflection” here.

Victor’s tone is composed, and there isn’t a ripple in his expression. As compared to my pretentious posture, he’s laid-back and natural.

Victor: The theme of the show is too general and lacks a segment which stirs the audience.

Victor: The structure also has the shadow of previous shows. A change in form but not substance - it’s a little unoriginal.

Victor: A scandal broke out yesterday involving one of the guests for the show. A replacement guest has not been decided upon.

Victor: Also...

MC: Stop! I... I get it!

He leans against the back of the chair, a teasing glint in the depths of his eyes.

Victor: When will you be submitting the new proposal? Tomorrow is the deadline.

MC Tonight, tonight! I’ll definitely submit it tonight!

I reply instantly, my voice carrying with it some alarm. The corners of his lips hook upwards, and he retracts his “overbearing” aura.

Victor: I’ll wait and see.

I heave a sigh of relief, then feel a dryness in my mouth. Lowering my head to take a sip of coffee, I see the disappointed gazes of the two kids.

My cheeks flush. Just as I’m about to say something to salvage some pride, their mother returns, thanking us while taking them away.

I glare at Victor indignantly. He chuckles softly, then clasps his fingers together on the table just like I did earlier.

Victor: I look forward to your next “challenge”.

After the exhibition ends, Victor and I leave work early.

The weather is really nice today. We pick a restaurant nearby, planning to head there on foot.

Dusk hangs low, and a misty pink evening mist smudges the sky.

Perhaps due to how smoothly the exhibition went, little emotions surface in my heart.

Beneath this beautiful sky, how many young aspirations and lives took flight earlier?

Victor: Why are you just standing there in a silly daze? Aren’t you hungry?

Retracting my thoughts, I see that Victor has stopped in front of me, his body turned to the side as he looks at me.

I hurriedly catch up to him, pulling on his arm.

MC: Victor, why did you write “You only have one life” on the post-it note today?

Victor: It’s true that you only have one life. Even an elementary student knows this principle.

MC: ...that’s not what I meant. I’m asking about what’s implied in it. For instance, are you asking the kids to seize the day and work their hardest?

His gaze lands on me. Seeing how serious I look, he slows down his pace slightly.

Victor: If you were to meet your childhood self, would you tell her to work her hardest?

MC: Mm... it’s difficult to say. I might tell her what to do in order for the current me to be even happier?

Victor: And that the reason why you can’t use an overly objective and rational principle to teach others.

Victor: It’s a desirable trait to work their hardest so that there won't be any excuses to stop in their footsteps.

Victor: But this doesn’t mean that everyone must have the goal of working their hardest.

Victor: After all, every person expects different things from themselves.

Victor: Not everyone wants to stand at the peak.

Victor: As compared to looking down from a mountaintop, there are some people who wish to happily and simply appreciate the scenery along the way.

Victor: This might sound simple, but being an ordinary person isn’t easy.

Victor: “You only have one life” - this phrase has many meanings in different contexts.

I’m stunned for a moment. I initially thought that Victor’s words were meant to be a motivational quote, and didn’t expect for him to have such thoughts.

Even when he’s faced with young children, he doesn’t wish to give a fixed answer on the basis that he’s a mature adult.

My lips curl upwards, and I can’t help but stick a little closer to him.

MC: You’re right. After all, aside from people who stand at the peak, there are even more ordinary people.

MC: Ordinary people have one life too. They need to cherish it properly, and do what they want to do.

MC: CEO Victor, I’ve learnt something from you!

Clasping my hands together, I bow in mock seriousness. An almost indiscernible smile lifts the corners of his lips.

MC: Come to think of it, I had so many aspirations when I was young. Lawyer, teacher, police officer, judge... I didn’t expect to become a producer in the end. Perhaps in a parallel universe, there’s a me who became a lawyer, teacher or judge!

The scene from the café flashes across my mind, and I burst into laughter.

MC: I might even be a CEO! What do you think?

After I say this, Victor turns his head and gives me an amused glance.

Victor: I think you do behave like a CEO.

MC: It’s because I’ve been influenced after spending such a long time by your side~ Returning to the topic - what was your aspiration when you were young? To become a powerful business tycoon?

Victor: ...have you ever heard of a child having such a pragmatic dream?

MC: In that case, tell me about it?

He doesn’t respond, and simply keeps his eyes faced front. No matter how much I probe, he doesn’t speak.

The sweet fragrance of desserts wafts into my nose. Following the scent and turning to the bakery near the roadside, I’m struck with an idea.

Since I can’t crack this difficult question in a straightforward manner, I decide to adopt the process of elimination.

MC: A baker?

Victor: ...

A signboard with the words “Watchmaker Shop” enters my vision, and I immediately look at him.

MC: A watchmaker?

MC: The boss of a lottery shop?

MC: ...director of a zoo?

Throughout the journey, I rack my brain and ask him about all sorts of occupations. However, it’s clear that none of them are correct.

Finally, we stop in front of a crosswalk, waiting for the red light.

Looks like I won’t be able to get any answers from him today. Disappointed, I let go of Victor’s arm, releasing a soft “hmph”.

MC: Aren’t you curious if there was a choice and you weren’t the CEO of LFG, and if I weren’t a producer...

MC: What would our identities be? Would we meet? And what kind of a relationship would we have?

The red man at the other end of the road suddenly turns green, signalling for us to move forward.

My hand, which had drooped to the side, is lifted up gently by someone. His broad palm conveys a comforting temperature.

Victor: There’s nothing to be curious about.

The crowd flows past in an endless stream on the crosswalk. Their footsteps are hurried, and the tips of their feet point in different directions.

I look at the person beside me. His gaze is resolute as he holds my hand, taking large strides towards the restless crowd.

He seems to sense my gaze. Lowering his head slightly, the light in his eyes is deep and scorching.

Victor: The life that I want to choose most is already in my hand.

[ MOMENTS ]

Victor's Post: Turns out someone could still go to work normally after staying up to watch anime last night.

MC: Could we cancel tonight’s reservation at the restaurant? I really want to go straight home to sleep...

Victor: Eating is a necessity. The location will be changed to your home.

Victor's Post: Turns out someone could still go to work normally after staying up to watch anime last night.

MC: As long as I’m hardworking enough, nothing’s impossible!

Victor: Working hard to make yourself even more stupid?

Victor's Post: Turns out someone could still go to work normally after staying up to watch anime last night.

MC: I solemnly vow not to do such things again.

Victor: This vow better count before you start on the next anime.

🍰 Call: here

#mlqc #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc victor #hNNGHGH MY HEART

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animebw · 4 years

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Binge-Reading: Fate/Stay Night VN, Fate Route Day 13

Hooooooooooly shit, a lot went down here. There’s a heck of a lot to talk about but be aware, HUGE Not Safe for Work warning below the cut. You read this in public, you’ll probably regret it.

Stopping Point: Dawn after the mana transfer

Crisis Point

Well shit, it looks like I was dead on the money about the domino effect shifting into overdrive in the back half of the Fate route. Ever since Shinji and Shirou has their first big scuff-up at the school, the plot’s abandoned the previous long, slow build-up in favor of breakneck, explosive action, with a million different things happening at once. Long-gestating conflicts have exploded into open warfare, characters are dropping left and right, and not a day goes by when the plot doesn’t make significant, sometimes catastrophic strides forward. From here on, it’s gonna be nothing but a downward spiral of escalating climaxes as Shirou, Saber, and Rin fight their way to the end of the Holy Grail War, one desperate escape at a time. The brakes are officially off this train, and I couldn’t be more happy about it. The more this franchise can keep from getting bogged down in its tendency toward bloat, the more its strengths are gonna be able to shine through. So let’s talk about this crazy, crazy day, and how its craziness is beginning to reshape the battlefield in significant ways.

First and foremost, Ilya’s back on the offensive! It was only a matter of time before the innocent little girl Shirou saw her as turned around and bit him in the ass. But honestly, unlike with Shinji, I completely understand why he was so resistant to the idea of thinking of her as an enemy. I mean, she’s a kid! And after their initial battle, she didn’t even seem that evil. She could easily be just another elementary schooler, wide-eyed and naive and oblivious to the realities of the world in the way only kids can be. But not only does her innocence not make her less evil, it may well be the source of it. She’s the naivite of childhood taken to its darkest possible extreme, so blissfully self-obsessed and ignorant that it doesn’t even register to her that the things she’s doing are bad. She approaches murder and kidnapping with the same eagerness she does making new friends, or playing on the swings, because they’re all the same thing to her. She’s not a hero or villain, she’s just a kid who was raised without a moral compass to guide her. All she knows is what she likes and wants, and god help anyone who stands in the way of that. So when she finds out one of her opponents is the son of the father who abandoned her? Of course she’d be obsessed with him. Of course she’d relish the chance to make his suffering as exquisite and giddy as possible. Kiritsugu hurt her, so why shouldn’t she be allowed to hurt the closest representation of him he left behind in turn?

There’s a real tragedy in Ilya, the tragedy of someone who was never allowed a chance to really live a decent life. She’s a half-homonculus made to be useful in the Holy Grail War, but once that last war was over, she had nothing. Her father left her to give his guidance and support to an entirely different kid, and she spent ten years growing up with nothing but other homonculi as guardians. She’s alone, lost with no one but herself for company, and it’s left her completely incapable of processing the world in a healthy fashion. She doesn’t even seem all that happy about turning Shirou into her puppet in the bad ends; deep down, some part of her knows this isn’t going to make her happy, but she doesn’t have the real-world context to even begin to figure out what would. Yes, she’s an amoral psychopath and she needs to be stopped, but who would she be if she had even the slightest bit of genuine companionship growing up? If she had a parent to teach her right from wrong? If she was given the slightest chance to be anything instead of left adrift to stumble through life completely alone? Sure, Shirou doesn’t even know half of this context about his half-sister, but it’s no wonder he wanted to try and save her regardless. Even he could tell there was something really sorrowful going on with her. But whatever chances Ilya might have had, she lost them all long ago, and all that’s left is a girl whose innocent laugh is no different from her merciless laugh. Second thoughts and regrets can come later; right now, she and her Berserker have to go down.

A Hero’s Farewell

Of course, taking down the greatest hero of Greek legends is far easier said than done. Hercules is Dark Souls Boss levels of ridiculously overpowered, and Shirou doesn’t have the luxury of infinite lives to waste bashing his head against that brick wall until he finally figures out his weak points. He’s still just a human, a poor man’s excuse for a mage, currently running on fumes and beset by ten bajillion different emotional and physical burdens. And Saber’s not faring much better after pushing her mana pool to the breaking point with her Excalibur gambit against Rider. Our gang is at the end of their rope and going up against one of the most intimidating Servants in the entire Fate roster. What chance in hell could they possibly have to win?

At least, that would be the case if there wasn’t one last trump card they could play.

Have I spent enough words yet on how great Archer is? In all Shirou’s darkest hours, it’s none other than his own jaded future self who’s able to give him the criticism he needs to hear. Even as disillusioned as Archer is with his former dream of heroism, he just can’t keep himself from trying to give Shirou a better future than the one he ended up in himself. More than anyone else, he understands the paralyzing cocktail of self-loathing and stubbornness that drives Shirou to push himself so far. More than anyone else, he understands that Shirou’s greatest enemy is himself. So when the chips are down and he realizes they’re about to never see each other again, he gives Shirou the best advice he could possibly give; they’re not fighters. They’re makers. Their strength comes not from battle and destruction, but from bringing things into the world that can carry them when they fall short themselves. Their strength isn’t the strength to fight tooth and nail against impossibly dangerous opponents, but the strength to literally make their ideals into reality. Shirou’s already dancing right on the edge of what this revelation means; now, all he needs is a push to awaken the power he truly holds within. And as Archer sends him off with one last farewell, refusing to give in even to an opponent he stands no chance against, he carries the strength of that conviction to never give in, a spark of the same stubborn, hopeful idealist he could never quite leave behind:

”Buying you some time is fine, but you won’t mind if I beat this thing, right?’

God. Just, god. Is there anything more quintessentially Archer than this iron wall of courage, refusing to surrender his greatest hopes no matter how deeply he tries to bury them? Shirou’s greatest enemy is himself, but as it turns out, so is his greatest ally. And if he can triumph over the image he has of himself, if he can find the courage to trust his abilities and refuse to give in to despair, then perhaps he can become the hero his future self once dreamed of being. Godspeed, Archer, you wonderful bastard. Our time together in this route was short, but it was worth every second.

Give and Take

But with Archer once again shuffling off the mortal coil, it’s gonna be up to Shirou to justify the trust he placed in him. Not to fight hard and save everyone, but to figure out how conquer his own worst impulses so he can begin to fight with eyes unclouded. And once again, it’s a damn good thing he’s got a companion who throws those worst impulses right back in his face. I mentioned this before, but it’s really uncanny how similar Shirou and Saber can be. Saber’s just as self-sacrificing and, dare I say, masochistic as her master; even Archer points out that Saber’s unleashing of Excalibur was a choice to put Shirou’s protection over her own existence. And how many times has Shirou done the exact same thing in reverse? He’s spent his whole life literally putting his very body on the line to make everyone else happy, with no regard for himself, and now the person he has to most rely on is someone who’s exactly the same way. For the first time, he’s beginning to see what it looks like on the other side of that kind of deprivation, what it’s like to see someone you care about push themselves too far for your sake and put themselves on the chopping block because their self-preservation instincts come second to their desperate altruism. His anger at Saber’s martyr complex isn’t just anger at her, it’s anger at how much of himself he recognizes in her. And it’s a realization that if he wants to have any chance of success, neither of them can afford to do it alone.

It’s a good thing, then, that both of them are stubborn enough to prevent the other from truly going over the edge. It’s like the most high-stakes game of tug-of-war imaginable; Shirou pushes against Saber, Saber pushes right back, and they both keep each other from pushing so far they go over the edge. Shirou refuses to betray Saber’s ideals by making her kill people to keep herself alive. Saber swoops in to rescue Shirou from his imprisonment at Ilya’s castle, and Shirou responds by carrying her through the forest when her strength gives out. And then she responds by stopping him from driving himself into the ground when his own strength begins to crumble. They’re exhausted, weary, on the verge of collapse, and both utterly spent, but if there’s one thing they both still have enough energy for, it’s stopping each other from completely breaking themselves apart. And Shirou handily summarizes this newfound wisdom with a single phrase: Give and Take. Neither he nor Saber are strong enough to fight this battle alone, but if they can keep propping each other up, returning good deeds with good deeds, they might just be able to cross the finish line. After all, putting aside Master and Servant and gender and royalty, they’re both just human in the end. And there’s nothing more human than needing someone to lean on every once in a while.

However.

Perhaps they didn’t need to lean on each other quite so hard.

The Bone of my Sword

Yes, in case my warning at the top didn’t tip you off, I’ve finally reached the single most infamous aspect of the entire Fate franchise: the sex scenes. This VN was written back in 2003, in a time when the market for VNs was almost entirely dominated by hentai and other such erotic stuff. So Nasu was pressured by his higher-ups to write some sex scenes to throw in, and man, it is so freaking apparent it wasn’t his choice to put this in. Even the concept of sticking a gratuitous threesome in the middle of an otherwise serious heroic dark fantasy story is enough to trigger the bullshit alarm, but this is just shockingly ill-suited to the material. It comes right the fuck out of nowhere, with no previous foreshadowing to suggest mana transfer by mutual orgasm was even a thing in this world; if I wasn’t aware it was coming, I would have been completely blindsided. And it’s flat-out embarrassing how it contorts the characters and writing to justify such a brazenly bad idea. In what universe would the composed, articulate Saber be reduced to a lump of moaning flesh? In what universe would the determined, straightforward Rin turn into such an uncomfortably domineering slut (although her line ”I didn’t think I swung that way” did get a chuckle out of me)? These aren’t the characters of Fate/Stay Night, these are stock hentai archetypes with the skins of Saber and Rin haphazardly sewn on top of them. Were it not for Shirou’s agonizingly relatable inner monologue, you could easily mistake this as its own doujin knock-off.

And that’s what really makes this such a horror show. The idea itself was bad enough, but Nasu’s so clearly uncomfortable writing it that he just defaults to all the stock lines and situations I’ve seen in too many hentai to count, and it’s just... creepy. It’s really fucking creepy and gross and uncomfortable, to the point where it almost feels like Saber’s being assaulted. It revels in her discomfort with the situation, leering fetishistically over passages of her crying or gasping and squirming in pain. It completely shreds any and all respect for these characters and treats them like utter dogshit, all for the sake of a token, shoehorned-in wank. It’s not even bad in a fun way, it’s just absolutely wretched. If I wanted to look at bad Fate hentai, I’d just go do that. I didn’t need it to invade the fucking source material itself. Thank god it’s over now and I never have to deal with it in this route again, and at least they had the decency not to voice it so it could pass in silence. Let this be an object lesson folks; don’t blindly chase trends just because that’s what everyone else in your field is doing. You don’t want to look back on your work a decade into the future and consider jumping off a building to escape the shame.

Odds and Ends

-”You can say I’m fascinated by swords.” SHIROU NO THAT’S NOT WHAT THEY MEAN BY THE BONE OF YOUR SWORD

-”Well, the H scene was discarded, though.” I really don’t like the sexual undertones between Ilya and Shirou. The other girls are one thing, but a ten-year-old? Blegh.

-”What are you playing around for, Shirou?” aksjdhaskd OKAY WASN’T EXPECTING THAT

-”If I was the enemy, I would have cut you in half.” This was the best possible option I could have picked Jesus wept

-aksdhgaksdhasdh why is Rin always just right out of sight

-”NO FLIRTING ON MY WATCH!” -Rin, probably

-”He... was arrogant to the very end.” NO IT’S FINE I DIDN’T NEED MY HEART AT ALL WHY DO YOU ASK

-And yet Rin is STILL the first person Shirou actually kisses Jesus wept

-Cripes, I forgot how potent Berserker’s inner life actually was. He’s not just a mindless killing machine.

Alright, thank god that’s over and done with. Here’s hoping for better things next time, yeah? See you then!

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #Fate/stay night #fate vn #shirou emiya #rin tohsaka #sakura matou #saber

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honeybammie · 5 years

Text

burn › hwang hyunjin

↳ all you’ve been able to think about for weeks is your drunken kiss with hyunjin, but he doesn’t even remember that it happened. ↳ i guess this is fluff? it’s basically just,,heavy making out with jinnie ↳ wc: 3,751 ↳ hyunjin has been wrecking my bias list lately (sorry felix) and i rlly just wanted to write about making out with him so enjoy if ur thirsty like me

I have been avoiding Hyunjin for three weeks minus one day, which is the longest we’ve gone without talking since we were elementary schoolers, but after what happened last time we were alone, I can no longer look him in the eye without blushing a furious red and sputtering on my words. The easiest way to keep myself from turning into a fool is to avoid him entirely—not the best method, but it’s all I can think of.

Chan is having a party, like he does every so often, and there are enough people around that I think I can continue to avoid Hyunjin, since I know he’ll be there, too. He never misses the opportunity to mingle amongst friends and friends-of-friends. Part of his charm is being able to whisk people away with his easy, comforting smile and breezy laugh, and it works on everyone. Including me.

I attend because I know my best friends will be there and drinks won’t be far out of sight and I have to uphold my tipsy solitaire record. I haven’t lost a game in months, but for the past few weeks I’ve barely been drinking anyway, afraid of letting myself go and losing my senses like I did so recently.

I’m sure Hyunjin notices that I’ve disappeared. At first, he continued texting me as normal, but after I failed to reply to half a dozen messages, he stopped trying to get a hold of me. If he does see me at parties, he doesn’t approach. When I see him, I turn the other direction and distract myself with something else.

Unfortunately, whether or not Hyunjin realizes, someone else does. Jisung corners me in the kitchen as I’m sitting on the countertop, slice of pizza in one hand and plastic cup full of juice and rum in the other. Minho is trying to tell me a story, but he’s already had a few drinks and can’t keep his wires straight.

When Minho sees Jisung, he forgets his story entirely and throws his arm around his friend. “Jisung!” he exclaims. To me, he says: “Look, Jisung’s here.”

“I noticed,” I say, lips quirking into a smile.

Jisung is less concerned with Minho than he is with me, looking straight into me as he asks, “Can I talk to you? Alone?”

I raise my eyebrows, ready to object or ask why, but there’s a clear intent in his eyes that makes me realize he wasn’t really asking me to join him, but telling me to.

“Alone? Without me?” Minho gasps. “We’re not supposed to keep secrets!”

“It’s not a secret, it’s just…something important.” Jisung tries to come up with an excuse, but it still sounds like he’s talking about a secret. “Will you come with me?”

“Sure,” I agree, taking one last bite of my pizza and throwing the crust in the trash. I bring my cup with me, but on my way through the threshold I cast another glance at Minho. “Take it easy, alright? Drink a water or something,” I instruct, which he replies to with an enthusiastic thumbs up. I don’t know if he’s going to listen or not, but I don’t have time to confirm because Jisung grabs my wrist and leads me out onto the front porch, where no one is because everyone is either crammed into the living room or hanging out on the back patio or in the swimming pool.

“What is it?” I ask when Jisung releases my wrist. I take a sip from my cup. It’s still my first drink, despite the fact that the party is entering its third hour.

“Why are you avoiding Hyunjin?” Jisung demands.

I almost choke on the alcohol, and it burns hotter in my throat than usual. “What?” I feign ignorance, like I can somehow lie my way out of this one, but I already know I’m being backed into a corner.

“He’s been saying for weeks that you won’t speak to him. At first he thought maybe you were busy, and I told him to wait it out, but this is week three and it’s getting out of control. He says he can’t even find you when you’re both at the same party, so what the Hell is wrong?” Jisung is demanding, defensive, and I imagine the pitiful look in Hyunjin’s face, wondering what he did to upset me.

I bite my lip, pondering my next words carefully. “He really doesn’t know?” I ask Jisung. “Why I’ve been avoiding him…he has no idea?”

“Should he?” Jisung pressed. “All he remembers is that a few weeks ago, we were all at a party like this, and we were all pretty drunk hanging out on the couch, and then suddenly morning comes and you won’t even look at him.”

I had considered that Hyunjin might be avoiding me, too, but Jisung only proves that Hyunjin has no idea what happened, which should make it easier for me to go forward in our friendship, but the fluttering pit of my stomach forbids it.

“We kissed,” I admit, and it’s the first time I’m saying the truth out loud. I expected to feel like a weight was lifted, but the two words sit heavy on my chest. Jisung’s stare does nothing to help.

“You what?” He gathers himself after a few moments. “There’s no way. He’d remember.”

I shrug, trying to be nonchalant, but I’m almost certain my face is a half-dozen shades of pink. I can only hope Jisung doesn’t notice in the dim lighting of the porch lamp.

“Clearly he doesn’t, and I’d kind of like to keep it that way, but I can’t hold a conversation with him without thinking about…yeah.”

Kissing is an understatement, actually, but I don’t tell Jisung that.

Three weeks ago, ten of us were crammed on seven seat cushions, watching the newest episode of a shitty reality TV show we all liked despite being too drunk to follow along properly. Hyunjin had been next to me all evening, and I was quickly noticing that he was twice as affectionate when he was drunk, which was saying something considering how often he clung onto us in his everyday life.

I wasn’t sure if Hyunjin was doing it on purpose—laughing into my neck so that his lips grazed my skin, splaying his palm across my thigh and lingering there far too long for me not to notice, leaning into me so that I could smell his cologne and feel his taut figure underneath his shirt. I tried to credit all of these things to our close proximity on the couch, but that didn’t change the way my breath hitched every time he brushed close enough.

I excused myself to the bathroom, half because I actually had to go and half because I needed to clear my head of all of Hyunjin’s little touches. He did this all the time, I told myself. He was known for his constant want for physical contact, and he would’ve done the same things to any of the other guys if he had been next to them. Right?

The bathroom was attached to Chan’s bedroom. When I opened the door to return to the group downstairs, I found Hyunjin sitting on Chan’s bed, glassy-eyed and swaying a little bit, his center of gravity thrown off. He was completely harmless, but I almost screamed at the surprise, clinging onto the doorframe to keep my balance.

“You scared me,” I hiccuped. His attention was locked on me, eyes slightly hooded. I assumed he was tired, dazed, lost in a world of his own intoxication. “What’re you doing here?”

“This is the line for the bathroom, right?” He asked. The sentence came out in a singular word, spaces blended together, and he stood, stumbling towards me on unsteady feet, all of his dancer’s grace gone.

I don’t remember whether I answered or not. I tried to step out of his way, make room, but he stilled me by placing one hand over mine on the doorframe, his palm warm against the back of my hand. He was only steadying himself, I thought. If he didn’t hold onto something, he’d fall.

I meant to say something, but whatever it was left me when I looked up at him. Bottom lip caught in his teeth. Eyes scanning my face. I flinched when his other hand came to rest on my jaw, my pulse thick underneath, pumping blood and alcohol and maybe a flicker of courage.

He was staring with an intensity usually reserved for longtime lovers. That much I remembered, since it was my last thought before leaning forward and closing my eyes, welcoming him, silently begging, and he pressed his lips to mine and his fingertips held deeper into my jaw. He tasted like fruit, like alcohol diluted with pineapple juice because he didn’t like the burn. But I wanted the burn to swallow me whole.

I reached for the back of his neck, running a hand through the silky wisps at his nape, and for a moment I felt myself falling forward before I realized he was stepping backwards. Not pulling away, but pulling me along until we fell together. His back hit the springs of Chan’s bed with a dull thud, forcing us apart for a brief second. His chest was solid underneath mine, his body as intoxicating as the liquor coursing through both of us.

“Was that okay?” he asked, raspy. His eyes were still barely open, but he must’ve noticed when I gave a slight nod. “Can I do it again?”

“Please,” I mumbled, my mouth already aching to meet his again.

The coolness of his rings made me realize that he had worked his hands under my shirt, not yet roaming, but gripping my waist in silent need. When he pulled away to catch his breath, his lips ghosted against my collarbones, nose nudging the side of my neck. “You taste like cherries,” he said, and I sighed in response to him digging his nails so gently into the flesh of my sides.

When he readjusted his hands a couple inches to find the hem of my shirt, he looked me in the eye again, brown eyes almost black with the dilation of his pupils. “Can I take this off?”

I almost said yes, almost let him devour me. A million thoughts of drunken bravery flashed through my mind at once, all of them filthy. His chest and his lips and his hands and his—

And then clarity, just enough for me to push myself up, opening up a canyon between the two of us. We were in Chan’s bedroom, with all eight boys waiting for us downstairs, and we were in no condition for sex. Hyunjin sat up, vaguely confused, but already he looked like he had no idea what had happened. He needed to sleep, or drink some water, and in any case kissing me or sleeping with me should be at the bottom of his to-do list.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, fixing my shirt and running a hand through my hair so no one would notice what we had done. I gave no more comment, still running through the last couple minutes as I hurried out the door and back to the living room, completely oblivious to what was happening on TV.

“Took you long enough,” Changbin teased.

“I was fixing my makeup,” I lied, but no one would’ve suspected as such. None of them could’ve guessed on their own what had just happened, and they were so entranced by the show or by their drinks that I doubted any of them noticed I was gone a moment too long. And when Hyunjin returned a couple minutes later, I was the only one who looked at him, desperate for him to return my gaze, but he didn’t even sit next to me.

Now, with Jisung burning a hole into my head, I shrink into myself, all of the confidence from a few weeks ago gone. When I think of Hyunjin, all I can remember is his body beneath mine and his lips on the edge of exploring every inch of me, but he has no idea. He was probably off in the pool flirting with someone else while I was with Jisung.

“Do you…like him?” Jisung ventured when it was clear I wouldn’t give more details on my own.

“I…I’ve been trying not to think about it. We’ve all been friends since we were kids, and I can’t imagine ruining that. Maybe it’s best that I don’t tell him, you know?”

“And avoid him forever?” Jisung scoffed. “He deserves to know what happened so the two of you can work it out.”

“He was probably just pent-up and I was the closest person available. It probably doesn’t even matter,” I argued, but in honesty, I was terrified of telling Hyunjin the truth, terrified of him brushing that night off like dust. He had looked at me like kissing me meant something—like it meant everything—and having him forget was bad enough without him telling me that it was a mistake, that he hadn’t really wanted to.

“If you don’t tell him the truth, I will,” Jisung said. “He’s distraught that you won’t say anything, and you can’t lie to him. This is serious, and—”

“Fine, okay. I’ll do it.” I couldn’t stand listening anymore, and if anything was worse than Hyunjin telling me that kissing me was a mistake, it was losing him entirely. “Do you know where he is?”

“Out back. I’ll show you.” Jisung doesn’t drag me this time, but leads me through the house and to the stone patio in the backyard, lit up by string lights, and when I find Hyunjin amongst Woojin and a couple girls I vaguely know, he knocks the wind out of me.

“Wait, I changed my mind,” I blurt out, turning away to go back inside, but Jisung is too fast and grabs my arm.

“Hyunjin, over here!” Jisung calls, waving his hand. I despise him, but to keep unwanted attention off of me, I don’t struggle against him.

Hyunjin’s whole group glances over, and I hold my breath as he meets my eyes. His expression is unreadable, a far cry from his usual transparency. There’s no drink in his hand, I notice, and I wonder if both of us have been avoiding alcohol these past weeks.

He says something to the other three that I can’t hear, and Woojin pats him on the back as he goes. Hyunjin’s looking only at Jisung now, expression unchanging

“What’s up?” he asks, showing a faint smile, but it’s so forced I can’t stand it.

“We…need to talk,” I say because Jisung has gotten us this far and I know he’s not going to help any longer. “Can we go somewhere?”

I don’t want to be alone with Hyunjin, but having to explain in front of anyone else might turn me into ashes, so it’s my only option.

Hyunjin casts a wary glance at Jisung, as if asking if this is a trap, but Jisung nods toward the house, earning me a short, “Sure,” from Hyunjin. “Should we go upstairs?”

“That’s fine,” I say, but already I’m sweating. As I wind through the house again, I barely check over my shoulder to see if he’s following, and part of me wishes he wasn’t. I don’t know if I’m ready to be in Chan’s room with Hyunjin again, but I don’t have much of a choice and can’t think of another plan before we’re exactly where we were three weeks ago.

Hyunjin sits on the bed, waiting, just like before, but this time he’s waiting for me instead of the bathroom, and all I can do is pace the carpet.

“Are you going to explain why you haven’t spoken to me at all in almost a month?” Hyunjin asks, and I can’t tell if his tone is demanding or desperate.

“Are you mad at me?” is my first question. It’s the one that burns most in my head and if he’s already mad, I’m scared that the truth will anger him more.

“I’m…” he starts confident but trails off, his exterior starting to melt as his eyebrows crease together. “I’m confused. One night we’re best friends, and the next morning you refuse to talk to me, or look at me, or even be near me. I just…did I hurt you? Did I say something, or—”

There’s a fear in his eyes that has me standing in front of him in a heartbeat, anxious pacing forgotten. “No, no, Jinnie. You would never,” I cut him off, half-whispering. “You didn’t do anything wrong. We just…”

“We?” he asks, something new crossing his face, like his fear has met curiosity.

“We kissed,” I say, which is all I told Jisung, but I realize this is going to require the full story and I spit out words faster than I think of them. “When we were all watching that show, you kept touching me, and I tried to tell myself that you’re just clingy, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I came up here to go to the bathroom. When I came back out, you were sitting on the bed, and then you stood up and—” My voice catches. It’s only a memory, but in all of its shrouded haze, his eyes are still clear as day, and his lips soft and satin.

“And?” Hyunjin presses, reminding me what we’re here for.

“You kissed me. Or I kissed you. And you pulled me back to the bed, or I pushed you back to the bed, and you asked to kiss me again and I said please and we kept on kissing for…forever, probably. I don’t remember how long, and you asked if you could take off my shirt but then I remembered this is Chan’s room and we were so drunk, and I ran out and…yeah.”

“And yeah,” he echoes, and I step away to brace myself. I wish I had a way inside his thoughts so I would know what he intended to say before he said it. As things are, waiting is torture and stretches to infinity.

“I’m sorry,” I say even before he gets angry. “Neither of us knew what we were doing, but it’s okay if you’re upset or don’t want to talk to me.”

He runs his hands over his face once and stands, like his body is made of lead. “I can’t believe this,” he says, and I shuffle backwards one more step. I think I’m going to cry, a decade of friendship ruined by one mistake that I could’ve avoided. I was more sober. I should’ve stopped him before he had the chance to kiss me.

“I’m sorry,” I repeat, resisting the urge to run out again. I have to face whatever happens.

“Sorry?” he whispers. With every step backward I take, he follows, and I’m the one this time who can’t look him in the eye until he cups my chin with both hands and makes me. He doesn’t look angry, at least not with me. His eyebrows are creased and his mouth hangs a little lax and—don’t look at his lips.

“The first time I got to kiss you…and I don’t even remember it.”

I watch him harder, search deeper, and notice that he looks like he’s reaching for a memory that’s just out of grasp, and he can’t stand it.

“I’m so sorry.” It’s his turn to apologize, and I can’t figure out why. He lets go of my chin to reach for my hand, and I don’t look away, nor do I move when the tips of his fingers nervously brush mine. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long, and I wasted our first kiss when I was drunk.”

I barely understand what he’s implying. I’m not even sure he’s real until I reach my other hand to the back of his neck, a vaguely familiar territory. “Are you drunk now?” I ask because I’m afraid that the same thing will happen twice, that he will only want me when he can’t think straight.

“No.” He shakes his head. “I haven’t had anything since that night.”

So these are his sober thoughts. Part of me doesn’t believe him, but I have to. His regret at having forgotten makes me feel almost as bad as his anger would’ve. He’ll never remember our first kiss.

But he’s still looking at me with those eyes that remind me of lovers and I know that this is real and I have been holding my breath for three weeks while waiting for another chance.

“You can do it again,” I whisper in a voice barely my own.

I think he’s about to ask twice, but I don’t let him. Still holding the base of his neck, I bring him back to me, remind him how our lips fit together, and even if he doesn’t remember, his subconscious does, somewhere deep down, because he picks up where we left off, all needy hands and tongues and breathless sighs into my neck that prick my skin and send jolts through my spine.

I’m backed against a wall, hardly aware of how I got there, and Hyunjin is talking again.

“If we hadn’t been so drunk, and if we hadn’t been in Chan’s room, what would you have said?” he asks, balling the front of my shirt in his hand. The bigger question makes me dizzy, all of the blood in my head draining elsewhere.

“We’re still in Chan’s room.” I gasp when he presses a grasping palm against my hip. His face is disguised in the crook of my neck. His open mouth leaves a trail on my exposed throat, my collarbones, my shoulder.

He stops, briefly, to say, “Entertain me. If we weren’t in Chan’s room, what would you say?”

I didn’t realize before, but my hands are no less guilty than his. They have wandered from his neck to his jaw, down his torso so that I, too, am holding onto flimsy fabric, sinuous body underneath, one I have been picturing every day for weeks and dying to discover.

He’s patient as he watches, waiting for my decision.

“I’d say yes,” I tell him, burning all over, just how I want to be. “Please.”

#i wrote this in like 2 hours last night so if it's awful im sorry but i feel better now #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids drabbles #stray kids #stray kids oneshot #stray kids fluff #stray kids au #stray kids hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #hwang hyunjin imagines #kpop imagines #kpop fluff #kpop scenarios #kpop drabbles #kpop oneshot #kpop au #kpop fanfiction #stray kids fanfiction

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1-mini-1 · 5 years

Text

Orangestar- The Middle of Summer and the Boy’s Milky Way War (Manatsu to Shounen no Ama no Gawa Sensou / 真夏と少年の天ノ川戦争) English Lyrics

If you’re squeamish, I would probably be careful with this song btw (there’s also animal abuse)... This was a really interesting song to translate though. Not only is it the longest one I’ve done so far, but the formatting is really interesting and there are a lot of words that are made up (?). My translation may have oversimplified things (because it’s English, what can you do when we have fewer writing systems lol), but there’s a lot of hidden meanings that I'm sure even native speakers aren't 100% positive of. Good reminder of what old Vocaloid songs were like though haha

真夏の坂を駆ける自転車の背景のお社のすぐそばでらんランドセル放り投げそこで蹲る少女を僕は見つけてしまったんだ。

Right next to the shrine in the background of

A bike running uphill in the middle of summer,

A back-backpack1 was thrown to the side and there

I found a girl crouching.

七月五日高一生の夏部活帰りの夕暮れにのまれて消えてしまいそうなほど小さな少女に話しかけてみたんだ。

July 5th, the summer of my first year of high school

In the dusk on my way home from my club

I tried talking to a small girl

Who looked so overwhelmed, it seemed like she would disappear

「どうしたの？」って。

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

黙秘権の行使は全国民に約束されてるけどやっぱこうも鮮やかにね無視られると正直くるもんがあるんで。orz

The right to remain silent

Is promised to all citizens but

This is also brilliant, huh

There’s something that comes across honestly when you’re ignored. orz

なんてごちゃごちゃと呟いたって相変わらず黙り込んでた少女が、何の拍子にか立ち上がって叫ぶ

Even when she mumbled incoherently

The girl that was keeping quiet as usual

At a random moment stood up and yelled

うっせーロリコン！

Shut up, lolicon!

「くーちゃん（仏Cou）を返せって腐れ童が！」「どこにいるのか答えろ！」って、飛び出した妄言　罵詈雑言うわ、なんかまた泣きだしちゃった…

“They said give back Kuu-chan (dear God), the rotten children did!”

“Tell me where he is!” She said,

The rash and abusive words that jumped out, the vituperation

Ugh, she started crying again…

「いや、僕は青春バカです。ハイ。」いや何言ってんだボクは！　僕は！動揺でもしてんですか？ホントさあ、もう… 何なんだってんだ！

“No, I’m an adolescent idiot. Yes.”

No, what am I saying! Me!

Am I shaken up or something? Gosh, really…

What the heck is going on!

日はもう沈んじゃって世界は少し蒼くなって泣き疲れた少女は冷静を取り戻して

The sun already set

And the world turned a little blue

The girl was tired out from crying

And regained her composure

『くーちゃん（仏cou）は猫です。　この辺に住んでんです。』『でも、今日は何故かいないんです。　どこへ行ったのでしょうか？』

“Kuu-chan (dear God) is a cat.

He lives around here.”

“But, for some reason he’s not here today.

I wonder where he went?”

『よし、じゃあ明日探しに行こうか！』って僕は少女に提議したんだ。そしたら一瞬驚いて、照れくさそうに笑った。

“Ok, then let’s go look for him tomorrow!”

I proposed to the girl.

She was then surprised for a moment,

And awkwardly laughed.

サンキューロリコン

Thank you, lolicon

僕の夏よ爆ぜろ旦明の一等星よ追い風を感ぜよ来世よ応答せよ

My summer, burst open

The first star of the dawn,

Feel the tailwind,

The next world, answer me

終盤戦争大成功大誓文大計早々僕らはただこの場所に居たかったんだ…

The endgame’s war was huge success

Right after the big written oath’s long-term plan

We just

Wanted to be at this place…

翌日は結局ドンマイで何の収穫も得られなくてもうどうすりゃ良いかわかんないや！心で叫んでも空しくて。

Not minding the end result the next day

Without having anything gained

I don’t know what I should do anymore!

Even if my yelled that in my heart, it was empty.

僕は現実を振り払って『明日にはきっと見つかるさ！』って。そんな僕に応えるように笑う少女の笑顔が悲しくて…。（悲しくて…）

Shaking off reality,

“We’ll definitely find him tomorrow!” I said.

As if responding to me

The laughing girl’s smile was sad….

(Sad…)

太陽が頭上を通り過ぎた部活帰りの昼下がり僕は昨日と同じ場所へ自転車漕いで向かっていた。

The sun passed over our heads.

The early afternoon on my way home from my club,

To the same place as yesterday,

I headed over, pedaling my bike.

眼前にその社がある森が見える坂を下る途上で僕は二、三人、いや三、四人の中学生とその手にある袋が何故か気がかりで。

As I descended the hill where I could see

A certain forest from that shrine, before my eyes there were

Two, three, no three, four middle schoolers and

In their hands a certain bag that for some reason made me anxious.

＜サア、本題ダ。＞

<Now, let’s get down to business.>

取り敢えず僕は　少女の待つそこへ到着はしたが　果たしてそこにはいつかの様子で　塞ぎ込む少女の足元辺りに　猫くらいの獣の

At once, I went to where the girl was waiting

I arrived but, sure enough, there

Like on the 5th, the moping girl,

At the area by her feet, was an animal that was like a cat

首の無いぐちゃぐちゃの亡骸が落ちていて。

With no head, sloppy and pulpy

Remains fell.

「狂ってんな…」

“They’re crazy…”

大破した　感情制限爆声音　我を忘れて走り出した狂犬の背中を見たんだ

It did serious damage to me. I restricted my feelings

A voice that sounded like an explosion, forgetting me

I watched the back of

A mad dog that started running

駆け上がった先に群れる中坊兵を殴り倒して叫ぶんだ「わからねぇよっ！」

Ahead where it ran off

Was the crowd of middle schoolers

And I kicked them down screaming

“I don’t understand!”

吐いて　吐いて　吐いて　吐いて泣いて　掴み取ったもんはこんなくだらない現実でしかないんだろうか！？

Spitting, vomiting, breathing out, confessing,

Crying, what I grasped was

Is there nothing else besides this stupid reality!?

絶え間ない殴撃と痛痒の終末に突き落とされてこの坂を転がってく

At the end of the incessant kicking

And mental anguish

I’m pushed off

And tumbling down the hill

落ちてゆく

I’m falling

目を開ければそこは星の巴僕の手を掴み離さない今は二人目を合わせないでただ空を眺めていた。

When I opened my eyes, there was a tomoe of stars

Take my hand and don’t let go

Not having our eyes meet,

We just looked up at the sky.

Translator’s Notes:

1. ランドセル (Ransel)- This is a specific backpack used by Japanese elementary school students

#orangestar #vocaloid #Mikansei Eightbeats #translations #sorry that the opening was kinda long orz

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alargebear · 6 years

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There Is No Luck In Love

Summary: Questions, but not fears, lead Umi to an important talk.

Word count: 1.7k

Pairing: HonoKotoUmi

Links: AO3 FFnet

Note: A gift for @jeremydoolzey for the Love Live Secret Santa 2017. I saw you liked HonoKotoUmi and domestic fluff so I tried running with that. Though I’m not all to sure about the domestic part. The title sounds a bit sad but I promise it isn’t. I really hope you like it and that you had a very happy holiday and will have a wonderful New year.

At first, Umi wondered if they were moving at too quick a pace. There was never a set time frame for these types of things, Honoka and Kotori always made sure she knew that. But, going from childhood friends to roommates, and eventually becoming some odd combination of love they called a healthy relationship seemed so strange. Umi would be the first to admit that she didn’t have a single clue when it came to real-world romance, but what exactly the three had, she had a much harder time pinning down. An odd thought that she couldn’t escape, often wondering if Honoka and Kotori ever thought the same.

It was never a doubt of what they had together. Umi loved Kotori and Honoka more than she could ever come to articulate. That was never the question. Just the odd thought about how they could be so lucky, and what allowed them to live such a blissful life together. She could hear them now, calling her a big sap. Maybe she was.

The tv droned on with some new romance that Honoka and Kotori had gotten wrapped up in. Umi sat comfortably warm in the middle of their sofa, a single blanket large enough for the three of them allowed her to relish in the intimate contact with her two friends.

No. Girlfriends. Umi still had to correct herself at times. A lifetime of friendship would do that to a person.

Uninterested in the show, Umi stole a quick glance toward Honoka. Their faces only a few inches apart, and the first thing Umi could make out, like always, was that exuberant smile. Even in the heat of some drama filled scene, Honoka looked on like she was filled pure joy. None of that was anything new to Umi’s eyes. Honoka always smiled, and when Umi was able to get caught up in that smile like she was, it reminded her of that first moment of realization.

It was one of Honoka’s smiles that was just for her that made Umi’s heart speed up a hair more than usual. That moment a handful of years ago that sparked a desire she didn’t know she had. A love that Umi had been so sure would never come to fruition. It was one of the very few times that she would say she was wrong with so much pride. Being able to see that smile so intimately every single day was a blessing that Umi was so thankful for.

“Are you alright, Umi?” Honoka turned her head and whispered.

Umi tensed and eyes shot back toward the screen. A blush on her cheeks so bright it could be picked out in the glow of the tv. “Everything’s fine.”

Honoka stared for a moment longer but didn’t press. Instead, pressing her weight further into Umi. “If you say so, but you should really be watching the show. This part is super intense.”

Umi couldn’t focus on anything but her warm cheeks and thudding heart. Embarrassment so strong she felt like a high-schooler again. A gentle hand on her back kept her from slipping too far into that embarrassment. She knew from the touch and gentle knowingness that it was Kotori’s. Gentle fingers rubbed up and down in a specific motion only known after years together. A calm that she was sure could never be rivaled.

If Honoka was the brightness that pulled Umi’s feelings out than Kotori was the reassurance that things could turn out alright. That moment in their third year where Umi accidentally spilled her newfound love of Honoka, and it was met with nothing but a smile and encouragement. A moment that could never be forgotten, and so vivid it could be recalled without the slightest hint of hesitation. The moment Umi understood that her love wasn’t, and couldn't be, limited to Honoka.

What made her so lucky that things turned out so right? Umi knew she may never get an answer, or at least one that stopped those thoughts. Never negative, but always filling her with a sense of strange wonder.

“You’re so tense, Umi.” Kotori kept her fingers sliding up and down as the credits started to roll. “What’s wrong.”

Umi kept her head down. Even being squished between two bodies of pure love wasn’t enough to break those habits. The embarrassment came much too easy, and that may never change.

“So something is wrong,” Honoka said, head resting on Umi’s shoulder. “You said everything was okay a minute ago.”

“Everything is okay.” Umi choked out an excuse. “I've just been thinking about us.”

“That’s never good.” Honoka didn’t waste a second.

“Honoka.” Kotori looked to the other end of the sofa before looking back to Umi. “Umi is this about what it was last time.”

Umi sighed, nodding. Nothing ever got past Kotori, and hiding things from Honoka’s smile was a crime.

“I still don’t get what you meant last time you talked about it.” Honoka picked her head up, facing Umi. “You kept asking why we’re so lucky to be together, but I don’t think we’re lucky. I think we love each other a whole bunch and that’s why we’re together.”

“I know that.” Umi’s voice leveled out, the tremble from earlier fading as she could always find courage in being close to Kotori and Honoka. “We all l-love each other and that’s why we are together like this.”

“Than what’s the problem?” Kotori asked. “Because I didn’t get it too much either.”

Vocalizing her concerns was hard, and Umi took a second before continuing. “I don’t understand why we get to be so lucky. Not just two of us, but all three of us got to be with the people we love. How often does something like that happen?”

Kotori kept her hand still on Umi’s back. “Not very often.”

“That’s what I mean.” Umi looked between her girlfriends. “We’re so lucky. I don’t want to take all this for granted. We have a house together and now we spend time together as lovers. It’s all very amazing.”

“It is.” Kotori pushed her shoulder closer into Umi’s, tugging the blanket in tighter.

“But do you really think it was lucky?” Honoka asked.

:”How couldn’t it be?” Umi’s voice was more frantic, less composed. “So many people don’t ever get to be with the one they love, let alone two, and you guys are my oldest and most precious friends to boot. I can’t think of anything other than luck that lead to this moment.”

“Well, then what about that time in elementary school when we climbed that tree and saw the sunset?” Honoka’s smile went from a pure joy to a rare subdued love. “That was amazing.”

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with what I’m saying?” Umi asked.

“Oh, or what about that time in middle school when we all had a secret sleepover at Umi’s because Honoka failed a test and didn’t want to go home?” Kotori spoke up, ignoring Umi. “That was the first time Umi ever called her best friends to our face.”

“Or what about when Umi confessed to both of us at the same time with letters even though we lived in the same house?” Honoka chuckled. “I don’t think luck had a whole lot to do with that.”

“What about how she always watches all these shows with us even though we know she doesn't like them at all.” Kotori didn’t miss a beat. “That sounds more like dedication than luck.”

“I don’t get you two.” Umi huffed, tugging the blanket in closer. “What does any of this have to do with what I was talking about.”

“What we’re trying to say,” Honoka said. “Is that none of this was luck.”

“Yeah, Honoka’s right on this one, Umi,” Kotori said.

“How? I don’t get any of this at all.” Frustration took the place of embarrassment in Umi’s voice. Getting outsmarted by Honoka was always a foreign feeling. “You don’t think we’re lucky to have what we do?”

“Nope.” Kotori and Honoka said in unison.

“And you think that because of some random stuff we did when we were younger and that I watch stuff with you guys even though I don’t want to?”

“Yup.” Another group answer.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Umi sighed. “Could you please explain it a bit easier for me, than? Because I never do like having these thoughts.”

“We’re childhood friends who fell in love and do whatever we can to make sure everyone’s happy. We have a history of deep friendship, and now we all try as hard as we can to make our relationship work.” Kotori explained with a self-satisfied smirk. “How’s that for an answer?”

“That doesn't sound like luck to me.” Honoka slid an arm around Umi’s waist. “You always talk about hard work, Umi. Well, doesn't that go for relationships, too? If we all try to make things work, there isn't any luck involved. Because I love you, and I love Kotori, and I want things to stay that way.”

Umi sniffled. All it feeling dumb in retrospect. She could picture all those moments of trying so well. Those handwritten letters that were agonized over for months, all the corny romances she sat through to have something to talk about later, and those late night dinners she’d make when Kotori and Honoka worked late never sounded like work toward making their relationship stable. But, with Kotori and Honoka’s words swirling in her mind, that effort was just that, effort. Years of friendship and months of making their relationship work didn’t sound all that much like luck.

“I love you two.” Umi’s voice was a near whisper as she leaned back, two arms around her waist and heads on each of her shoulders.

Kotori and Honoka shared a look. “And we love you, too.”

There was something odd in the pit of Umi’s stomach as the next episode started. It was full as if things had finally fallen into place. As if she’d found the place she wanted to spend the rest of her life. A tough to describe feeling she would make a reality.

#honokotoumi #kotohonoumi #honoka kousaka #love live secret santa 2017 #umi sonoda #kotori minami #love live #love live fanfiction

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hibisha · 7 years

Text

Wishes I Made Are Too Vicious To Tell

Chapters: 4/5

Fandom: K (Anime)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death

Relationships: Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki

Characters: Fushimi Saruhiko, Yata Misaki

Additional Tags: Strain AU, Romance, a bit of humor, Angst, Character Death

Summary:

Misaki remembers what both forgot.

Mirrors:

Fanfiction

AO3

Chapter 04 - Desperate

Misaki stared at his friend with wide eyes and a slackened jaw only for Kamamoto to nod in the direction of a nearby cafe.

"Let's go and sit there." he suggested, walking towards it. Misaki only nodded and followed silently behind him, his mind a whirlpool of jumbled thoughts and unasked questions. Saruhiko...odd as it seemed, had sacrificed himself for Kamamoto. Putting aside the fact that this definitely topped the ‘What the fuck’ charts of this reality, Misaki was confounded when it had happened. And how. When he was back to his rightful timeline, Misaki wasn't going to lose an opportunity like this to tease the younger into oblivion.

Not when, his mind traitorously whispered, If. If you go back.

His heart squeezed painfully but he pushed the feeling back, trying to focus on the matter at hand.

When they were both settled, a waiter came to take their order and since it would look really rude, they each ordered a glass of juice. A quick glance around showed that the café didn’t have much of a clientele, just an odds customer here and there. Misaki fidgeted in his seat and faced Kamamoto squarely only to have him sigh and slouch into his seat.

"Mi-Yata-san," a wave of relief and familiarity washed over him as he stared back at the taller man in front of him, listening intently "Do you remember the time...back in elementary school, when I was in the second grade - do you remember when we went all the way over to that rich ass neighborhood?" Misaki frowned, trying to comb through his jumbled mess of memories, sorting them out until his eyes brightened.

That day.

"Oh yeah!" he called out excitedly, "It's that day with the bus incident right?" Kamamoto gave him a small wry smile before his eyes focused on the glass of juice that had been set in front of him, all traces of that smile wiped from his face.

"Yeah," he said, slouching even lower, "It's the day you told me to go get a bus ride home because you were just gonna call your mom so she could pick you up along with your bike."

What?

Misaki stared at Kamamoto, puzzled.

"No, that's not what happened." he said slowly, trying to not sound accusing, "I did get onto that bus with you remember?" It was Kamamoto's turn to look baffled.

"No, you didn't." the other insisted, eyes narrowing slightly as he frowned, "I remember because-" the rest of his words trailed off as his eyes became a bit unfocused and his mouth curved downwards. "I will always remember..." Kamamoto said, whispering now - it's a good thing Misaki inherited his hearing powers from his mother. Misaki waited but the older boy said nothing more, his eyes staring at nothing at all.

Misaki was confused.

So he hadn't ever gotten on that bus with Kamamoto? Why? It wasn't anything special - nothing to do with this messed up world.

"The reason I joined HOMRA was so I could be as strong as Yata-san back then. You were so cool standing up to that gunman."

Right. So that's why Kamamoto wasn't a part of HOMRA. And Misaki had always thought Kamamoto was lying just to make him happy. Of course, that didn't explain why Kamamoto had brought up the incident in the first place.

And why hadn't Misaki been on the bus? He should have been. His mother was right; he had been missing something. Something in his gut told him that he was close to the answer he was looking for - he just needed to probe in the right direction.

"Oh yeah, I forgot..." he lied, rubbing the back of his head, laughing nervously, eyes trained on the silent hunched figure before him, "So what happened then?" Kamamoto's gaze snapped back at his face and Misaki had to make a conscious effort not to reel back in shock.

Kamamoto's eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"I never told you...because I thought you'd feel guilty or something because of your stupid hero-complex," Kamamoto said, hands gripping the glass so tightly, Misaki feared it would break, "But that bus - that bus was hijacked."

No shit. Misaki thought, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. Externally, he widened his hazel orbs, pretending to be shocked.

"What, no way!" And if he sounded anything less than surprised than he was sort of glad Kamamoto was in no state to notice. The older man nodded.

"Yeah, sorry I never told you." Misaki waved his hand impatiently.

"Irrelevant. Get back to what happened next." He urged, wanting to know what happened.

"Yeah, so when I got onto the bus, this guy, he randomly grabbed me and this one silent brooding kid from the back. You know, to hold us hostage." Kamamoto's hands were shaking very badly now, his entire body sitting stiff, "He took us to the b-back of the bus."

In his mind, Misaki could still see that day clearly. The way that bastard had grabbed Kamamoto, when he had hauled him at the back, with a gun pressed against his temple. He remembered feeling cold and scared and angry at his helplessness.

"And then-then the other kid pulled out some fireworks from his bag and handed them to me."

That brave smart kid. Misaki didn't remember his face all that well, just that he had dark hair and wore spectacles.

"He barely managed to pass me the lighter when the gunman caught us."

Misaki remembered forgetting his fear and being consumed in a state of desperateness when he saw the man pick up the kid by his collar, pointing the gun at him. At that moment, nothing had mattered except getting him away from danger.

"And then-" Kamamoto's voice cracked, before he took a giant gulp of air, trying to steady himself. A single tear ran down his face. "Then he told me to light them up and throw them at the bastard."

And Kamamoto never got to do it. Because at that moment, Misaki had come barreling in, tackling the bad guy, freeing that kid so he could throw the fireworks himself.

Misaki had come...

But Misaki hadn't been on the bus.

Something began to coil up inside the redhead, dark and cold.

Misaki hadn't been on the bus.

He missed what Kamamoto said next, not entirely sure why his body was trembling.

Misaki hadn't saved that boy.

Black hair.

Spectacles.

Remember Misaki....

Black hair that swept across messily against his forehead.

Remember...

Blue eyes and a small hesitant smile.

Misaki...

"Saruhiko." the words sounded foreign in his mouth. Kamamoto was saying something but Misaki didn't care - didn't care because he remembered.

Misaki must be missing something important.

Tears filled his eyes and Misaki had to blink fervently to keep them from falling down his cheeks. No, he couldn't cry in front of Kamamoto. He had to stay strong. He had to.

"And that's how I found out his name was Fushimi Saruhiko." Kamamoto finished, looking pale and distraught, "I just wish- I just wish I had been strong enough to do something you know." He gulped and shot Misaki and teary grin, "I bet if Misaki had been there, he'd have been so cool and would have been able to save everyone. Even Saruhiko. And then we would have all been friends." No. This time, it was Misaki's body that shook with emotions. They wouldn't have been. Because they would both walk away, not knowing, not remembering.

A bitter taste had settled in his mouth.

He needed to get away.

"I need to go." he said thickly, getting to his feet, swaying a bit. Ignoring Kamamoto’s worried calls, he swiftly made his way out of the café, gritting his teeth tightly, hoping he wouldn’t cry. He didn’t even have a destination in mind but kept walking, not knowing how to handle the load of information that had been dumped on him.

Saruhiko was dead.

He was dead because Misaki hadn’t been there to save him.

He was dead because Misaki made a stupid wish.

Coming to halt, he stared at the building in front of him.

Broken, run down.

Definitely not where two middle schoolers should have been squatting. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he fiddled with the handle a bit and entered the tiny place he had rented with Saruhiko all those years ago. Crossing the threshold, he looked around, suddenly lost in the thought that this place had never seen any of his and Saruhiko’s memories. These walls had never been covered in posters. The loft above had never been occupied by a sulky teen who shared his dreams of taking down the world. Tears pooled in his eyes once more as he collapsed to his knees, just staring at the place which held everything and nothing at the same time.

Sorry – I am so sorry.

Saruhiko – despite constantly believing that they didn’t exit – had died a hero. He had done what he himself had refused to believe in and helped someone while being genuinely concerned for someone else’s well-being.

The irony of it wanted to make Misaki laugh but the tears wouldn’t stop and the pain wouldn’t go away. Dragging himself to and upright position against the wall, he stared ahead blankly.

So what now.

He had the answers. Now what was he supposed to do with them?

Where are you Saruhiko, you bastard! I need your help!

Except, he knew exactly where Saruhiko was.

Buried six feet under the ground.

You should visit him.

He didn’t know who whispered that in his ear – or who’s voice it was he heard. But it made him slowly get to his feet and make his way to the outside world again. Casting one last look at his old – their old home, he closed the door firmly behind him.

For the second time in his life, their small world held inside shattered into a million pieces behind that closed door.

“I need to know where he’s buried.”

Standing before the Blue King, awkwardly shifting from one foot to another, he stared resolutely at the bespectacled man, who was watching him with unblinking eyes. Munakata Reisi tilted his head.

“You wish for me to disclose an information you shouldn’t be privy to?” Misaki gulped. He had known this was coming. For one he should have considered himself very lucky that the blue king had even granted him an audience – what was he, if not the HOMRA vanguard or Saruhiko’s best friend.

You are worth so much more Misaki.

And he believed that. He had a high school diploma. He had a stable job, was working to save up for a college. His family loved him, he had friends.

Mikoto san and Totsuka san were alive.

But –

“You…you probably have heard the story from Kusanagi san.” Misaki said, looking at the other man in the eyes, not balking under the scrutinizing gaze. Munakata nodded.

“I have indeed been in contact with the HOMRA bar tender. Though it confuses me why your story seems to have affected the outcome of a certain Red King.” Misaki looked away.

“I have a theory about that…”

“Oya?” Misaki blinked at the realization that the Blue King looked intrigued. “Do share.”

“Well, Totsuka san died because Kusanagi san wasn’t there to protect him. And that’s really because Kusanagi san believed no one would harm him because HOMRA had grown so much. But-“ he gulped, continuing on, trying to not show how his hands were shaking. “But with Kamamoto – without some of the founding members – without shit even me or Saruhiko, Kusanagi san would have never let down his defenses like that. He’d be on the constant look out. That’s – that’s what I believe.” Violet eyes studied him for a long while before sharply turning to look at the puzzle that was spread out before him.

“That is quite the deduction Yata Misaki kun.” He said finally, after what seemed like the longest pause recorded inhuman history. “Personally I believe that there might be some involvement from the Green clan as well, but we may never know.” Misaki nodded, not sure where the conversation was going. Mentally deciding to go to Fushimi’s old house and search for clues, he began to say good bye to the Blue King.

“Farewell Yata Misaki kun. And it might interest you to know, I cannot give out a private detail of someone else’s life.” Misaki nodded once more as the other continued on. “One of my subordinates almost died when I became the Blue King. I always thought that if he had, I would have buried him in the cemetery near the south side of the city.”

“What are you-“ All the pieces fell into place as he bowed low before rushing out of the doors, almost running into the blonde woman coming inside, startling her greatly.

“I won’t forget this you shitty four eyed bastard!”

“Fufufu~ Awashima kun, I think I like that boy.”

“Captain, please don’t say such absurd things.”

Fushimi, Saruhiko.

Misaki blinked at the empty grave stone. No words of how he was a loved son. Nothing. The grave was unkempt and uncared for. The area around it was overgrown with weeds and it had been hard for him to locate the grave in the first place. Moments before giving up and angrily cursing the blue king in his head, Misaki had nearly walked off but a small hint of gray had caught his eye and he had followed it to the most miserable excuse for a grave ever.

If not for a single dead rose on it, Misaki would have assumed no one had visited for over a decade.

Saruhiko…

Rage Misaki hadn’t felt in ages against his best friend’s parents surfaced once more and he clenched his teeth together, tears once more blinding his vision, falling like rain over his cheeks.

Saruhiko…

Those bastards.

How dare they.

How dare they leave the greatest person on this planet leave as if he wasn’t loved.

Goddamit, Saru was loved!

Maybe not by his parents. But Saruhiko had proved a very long time ago he did not need the people who created him – he was quite capable of surviving – well not on his own, but without the, at the very least. And he had so many other people in his life now.

He had his clan and King! And Anna and Kusanagi san! And him!

Saruhiko always, always had him.

“I love you Saruhiko.”

The words slipped out of his lips with such ease that he started. Love. He didn’t really love Saruhiko did he? A small feeling began to grow in his chest as he stared at the grave stone in front of him, a heavy blush staining his cheeks. Before he could even try to talk himself out of it, the realization hit him with a force of a thousand ton of bricks. Oh God – this was just –

Tell the truth.

Is this what the strain was talking about? Was he supposed to confess? Getting redder and redder at the thought, he coughed. Here goes nothing…

“Saruhiko!” he said out loud, facing the gravestone, “I love you!”

“Who on earth are you?” Whirling around, his eyes widened at the figure standing there, eyebrow raised at him.

“Y-y-you!”

Aya Oogai frowned at him, holding up a bouquet of roses.

#fic #K anime #sarumi fest 2017 #I finally updated this piece of trash #I'm in shock myself

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warlordgab · 7 years

Text

Analysis: Romance in One Piece

Note: I’ll be posting condensed versions of this analysis in other sites

A) Relevance of plot and characterization AKA Unbiased Readers Vs. Delusional Shippers “Who lives on illusions dies from disappointment” – An old Puerto Rican saying Most of us know One Piece is a very popular manga. Its high quality and popularity depend on several factors, among them we could name memorable and likable characters along a deep, compelling, fun and action-packed story. The One Piece many know and love wouldn’t exist without the balance between these factors When talking to at least 3 different One Piece fans, each of them non-shippers who analyzed the manga they all enjoy, I found interesting and pretty sound perspectives of the One Piece story and its nature. All of them value characters, story, development, consistency, and logic; something I can totally relate to But I also found a pattern; these 3 guys shared one single outlook on the very same subject: shipping. Regardless of their expectations, all of them expressed distaste for shippers’ general mindset and “odd” viewpoint: One of them called shippers out for ignoring characterization and very clear and direct statements made in the manga. His attention was centered on a Luffy pairing and how it contradicts his own character. Oda once explained that he writes Luffy as someone pretty straightforward when it comes to expressing his thoughts and feelings, and this non-shipper said with brutal honesty that for the discussed ship to happen we would need to disregard and/or discard the very core of Luffy’s character. Meaning Oda would need to stop being consistent and faithful to his own story and characters The next one explained how shippers tend to turn a characters’ relationship into a sappy teen love fantasy that doesn’t match One Piece at all. His analysis also exposed how integrating this kind of underdeveloped “love” into the story would severely damage One Piece originality, ruin the series and needless to say destroy the likable dynamics between several characters as well as their own development. This fantasy, this so-called “love”, is what the vast majority of shippers support and defend. The same kind of “love” most non-shippers, fans, and critics dread The third non-shipper gave me a more detailed explanation: this is even more rough than the other two as he describes that the common shipper mentality of “he/she likes her/him so they should be together” can “only be likened to that of elementary schoolers”. And how shippers take every little meaningless detail and blow it out of proportion with no regard for context, legitimate bonding or the canon story! But we can’t put all the blame on shippers. Many manga authors seem to have no idea how to write a character-driven series or complex character relationships. In fact, mainstream shonen writers have their fair share of guilt into promoting this common shipping mindset by being notoriously bad at writing romance. Which results in underveloped premises that leave your average fan skeptical, and your average critic disappointed at a poor portrayal of emotional bonding and a severe lack of cohesive narrative in the "romantic love" department This is the reason why many fans, critics and non-shippers hold the shippers’ perspective in a very low regard. Just like the third non-shipper states: “The blushing, longing stares, corny ass lines etc. That kind of poorly portrayed romance is the kind of thing dreaded by the average fan because it reduces the quality of One Piece to the level of such poorly written series” So an author needs to build a relationship the same way one person would construct a building: stablishing a strong foundation on companionship, respect, trust, signifcant moments, and emotional bonding. All of this must come before reaching the status of “romantic interest". In relation to this subject, there’s a trope called “First Girl Wins”, a portion of its description truly fits this criteria: “From a [extradiegetic] point of view, the Law of Conservation of Detail suggests introducing the Love Interest early. An early introduction allows you to get the audience interested in her and rooting for her, gives you space for Character Development, and gives her relationship with her (eventual) partner the most time to develop organically. And with all that said, it's such a common device that in all likelihood, it sometimes gets played for its own sake.” – tvtropes.org, 2017 Notice this isn’t a cliché, this is a literary device to enhance the story. Pairing up two characters without meaningful moments, emotional build-up and development, is the equivalent to lazy writing. Having such elements firmly stablished for two characters and then deciding to go for a different “route”, pretty much wasting a well-developed relationship for the sake of a “weaker” premise, would be the equivalent to bad writing Is Oda, the man who’s willing to die for One Piece, a lazy writer? Of course not! Is he, a man who planned the ending years ago and is still sticking to said ending, a bad writer? Being number 1 in Japan and having such a loyal fanbase all around the world prove he’s not! Do shippers want Oda to be a lazy/bad writer? Facts already answered this question as many (although not all) fans value their own fantasies and delusions over the manga canon and/or the author’s take on the characters and their relationships Many (but not all) shippers now have a war. Not only against rival ships but mainly against One Piece story and consistent development. Yet as the old saying goes, those who live on delusions will have to eventually face reality and disappointment, because Oda is not a lazy/bad writer like some people here would want him to be

B) Romance Dawn AKA The not so secret origins of One Piece “If we don't know where we are going, it can be helpful to know where we come from” – Jostein Gaarder When debating posible outcomes, fans rarely look back at the time when One Piecewas a still a work in progress. Taking a look at Romance Dawn V.1 and Romance Dawn V.2 helps us to see there are constants present in all versions of these Works that made it into what would later become the most popular manga in Japan But before discussing those constants I would like to clarify the meaning of the word: “Romance”. There are people who doesn’t really grasp the concept of “Romance” both One Piece and Oda work with. Luckily the first two non-shippers I meantioned shed some light on this subject: Romance: "A mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful" "A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place" "A narrative in verse or prose, written in a vernacular language in the Middle Ages, dealing with strange and exciting adventures of chivalrous heroes" – thefreedictionary.com, 2016 "A prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious" – Merriam Webster, 2016 Romantic: "Marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized" "Having an inclination for romance: responsive to the appeal of what is idealized, heroic, or adventurous" – Merriam Webster, 2016 These definitions match pretty well One Piece and Oda outlook on this concept. Even Oda lampshaped this by giving his own translation to the title: 冒険の夜明け (“Bōken no Yoake”, “Dawn of the Adventure”) So Oda’s “romance” covers a wide variety of themes: Adventure, heroism, mystery, virtue, idealism… we can find comedy and tragedy, happiness and sadness. And among the virtues and the idealism we find companionship and love. As the second non-shipper I mentioned explained One Piece is pretty much like an “Adventure novel”, which is why we’ll find in One Piece many of the tropes commonly used in those books Among those tropes, we find a couple of constants in all versions of “Romance Dawn”

The golden-hearted protagonist and the “First Girl” who doubles as a female lead. Think about this "what if" scenario: If things would’ve played different back then and One Piece never went beyond “Romance Dawn V.1”. If that story were to be elaborated futher, which two characters would had shared the most moments to become endgame? The answer is pretty simple: The golden-hearted protagonist and the female lead! But when debating, the weight of the argument depends on edvidence so we need to rely on what we can confirm. And we confirm this, what’s the constant in Luffy’s story in all versions of Romance Dawn? a Nami-like character

This becomes even more interesting when we discover that at an interview at “Manga no Chikara” and others, Nami was supposed to be the first one to join Luffy but her debut was postponed by Oda’s editor at that time. Edvidence of this being a last minute decision remains on the first color cover:

Yet as the second non-shipper noted: “her role as secondary protagonist was not altered” for “Nami shares with Luffy the largest character development in the entire series”. And as explained here we already know how the trope goes when someone seeks to write a natural growth for an emotional connection between two characters

In fact, the relevance of Nami to Luffy’s story is implied in what Oda himself said about Strong World: “I really wanted to make a ‘hero saves the heroine’ story (ヒロインを助けるヒーローを描きたい the japanese sentence). [....]. You might think otherwise, but I had no intention of bringing in someone new to fill that [heroine] role. So when I had to think about whom to use for it amongst the straw hats of course that meant Nami”

In Oda’s mind, Luffy is the hero and Nami is the heorine! We can tell that the hero and the heroine are meant to be the driving forces of the series, and therefore putting them together makes the most sense from a storytelling perspective

C) LuffyxNami AKA LuNa/LuNami “Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men” – Thomas Huxley

Many shippers tend to ignore and disregard the importance of staying faithful to the canon story, and the author’s take on the characters and their relationships

To makes matters worst some of them even deem as illogical any argument solidly based on these factors. While considering stuff like lines, frogs, sweat, fire, nonexistent sexual tension, assumption of sexuality, and even assumptions of pregnancy, as legitimate proofs of a plausible outcome! In fact they even value comparisons to other series with a different tone, themes, and characters over anything that the One Piece author conveys through his work There’s even people who goes as far as editing the wiki as if that would change the story to match their preferred pairing! But in order to reach a conclusion that remains true to One Piece and its nature we have to rely on the very same foundation that was already described several times: mutual trust/respect, faith on one another, significant moments, stress in their relationship and emotional development. If the story doesn’t let you build your premises on these elements, the conclusion you’ll reach will obviously be flawed and stray away from what One Piece really is So here I’m not only defending the premise I strongly support; I’m defending the very same story and build-up that contributes to this bond’s natural growth: As explained before there’s nothing explicitly romantic about major interactions. But given we’re dealing with a good and dilligent writer, what we’ll get to see is how big to small moments stablish an emotional connection between two characters, and how that becomes the base for a even greater growth First we have the themes of trust and faith: At first Nami doesn’t trust Luffy very much, out of her clear distate for pirates, until witnessing how far was Luffy willing to go to selflessly help others. Even then Nami treated their relationship as a mere business and later betrayed the crew Still Luffy always trusted Nami to the point of putting blind faith in her. Even when given reasons not to do so. One remarkable example is when Luffy was informed by someone trustworthy (Johnny) that Nami apparently “killed” to Usopp, and Luffy not only kept holding onto his blind faith in Nami but he also threatened Johnny for saying such things about her

This becomes something remarkable when we take into consideration that Zoro quickly gave up on Nami and later tried to attack her without even a second thought! While Usopp just wanted the Merry back…

And it would later become even more impressive in the Whiskey Peak Arc when Luffy came to doubt Zoro because of the words of wounded man he didn't even know, and even doubted Robin during Water 7 until Nami told him and the crew the truth behind Robin's desertion:

But what else makes this situation with Nami any different from others we see in the manga? Some might point to the saga where rescuing Robin was the primary objective; but in Robin's case Luffy knew her life was in danger for Robin was planning to die for the crew, and he got the resolve to save her only after learning the truth. Others might point to the current arc, but he saw right through Sanji's act and got desperate to rescue him only after hearing his life is in danger. Here, Nami’s life wasn't in danger as far as Luffy knew. And he constantly try to reach out to her despite her harsh attitude and the fact he knew next to nothing about her past and her current circumstances. It was only when he saw her cry he got enough motivation to beat Arlong, and it was only when he got a small glimpse of what she went through that he lost it! How does Nami respond to this? Initially she wanted to get Luffy out of her villaje and her life. While Nami indeed grew fond of Luffy and the others she wasn't willing to bond with any of them; she held on her distrust of others. But that changed when she finally hitted her lowest point, when she finally lost all hope. Then it comes Nami's first major development as character: she realized she needed to rely on someone else, she realized Luffy was her only hope Nami decided to rely on him. The following scene marks the first time of many when Nami relied on Luffy to a emotional level. And the first of two times when Luffy entrusted his treasure to her in a touching gesture to provide comfort and hope:

From the very beginning the emotional build-up between Luffy and Nami was a key factor for one of the most meaningful and memorable moments in One Piece. The moment when Luffy becomes Nami’s “emotional anchor” The effect Luffy had on her character was also quite powerful as we could see during the 2nd pass of the hat: back then at Skypiea arc Nami could still panic at dreadful situations:

But as soon as Luffy gave her his treasure, the panic stopped and when he was later removed from the battle field, Nami was capable of drawing enough courage from Luffy to face the big bad from that arc:

Not to mention Luffy’s final move against Enel was combined effort of the two as well as an impressive display of mutual trust/faith We can continue to appreciate their development even futher as the story goes on. As someone already pointed out, Nami during Water 7 displayed an impressive resolve and determination, but as soon as she got the chance to explain Luffy their situation she opened her heart to express how she felt, her anguish and her distress. When Luffy reassures her that he will save Robin, she doesn’t cry anymore until she reunites with Robin Their bonding is even futher explored in the only One Piece movie fully written by Oda: Strong World. As this is the author’s take on their relationship is still a valid argument to support Luffy/Nami development: We already considered how impressive Luffy’s blind faith in Nami can be. So after listening to most of Nami's recorded message, Luffy gets enraged! Why?

Well, after all that time Luffy relied on his navigator without ever doubting her. He was likely expecting all his trust and faith in Nami to be reciprocated Turns out Nami does return that feeling! And why can we say that? Remember the movie's ending: Nami finds out everyone in the crew got her hidden "save me" at the end of her message... everyone but Luffy. Then when Luffy is about to play the recorded proof of Nami's unwavering faith in him, what does she do? She tries to get rid of the "edvidence" out of embarrassment

It’s easy to see then why Nami seeked out Luffy for hope and comfort during Zou. And how she did something similar to what happened in Water 7: she opened up to Luffy

I said it before, since Luffy is Nami’s “emotional anchor”, it makes sense for her to keep strengthening her bond with Luffy. And given Luffy needs a guide to new adventures and someone “mature” enough to sometimes keep him in line, it makes sense for Luffy to grow closer to Nami She once summed it up pretty well: "He always talks big, but when it comes down to it, he knows nothing about the sea! He's severely lacking in the 'sense of danger' area! And he always overdoes it...if I left him alone, he'd die. And he's stupid, so I have to take care of him. That's why I'm gonna help him!" - Nami, chapter 596 Still, none of this is explicitly romantic in the traditional sense of the word. But just like someone who’s constructing a building, we start dealing with the foundations to then proceed to make a solid structure: a well-written relationship that enhances the story As someone once reviewed, Luffy and Nami dynamic doesn’t need to change for them to become endgame for they already have anything they need to finish that “building”. And that’s what’s being a potent pairing means: having everything to your favor for further development and growth. Luffy and Nami definitively have the major moments and the emotional bonding while remaining consistent to the One Piece canon to be considered a Potent Pairing

Bonus:

It's interesting we find other interaction that proves how comfortable is Nami around Luffy:

She doesn't mind having Luffy around her, what she really minds is Luffy wanting to go to dangerous places But why is this relevant? In Thriller Bark we had a clear showing of how she reacts to pervs trying to accomplish what Luffy did here. She electrocutes them. We can confirm she haven't changed in this regard because at the end of Fishman Island arc Nami electrocutes a perv for trying to peek at her while she was taking a bath Another interesting detail about Nami's attitude toward Luffy is a change we see in WCI. Of course, we have the remarkable faith and trust Nami puts on Luffy by even boasting how him being the future Pirate King ensures their victory over Cracker's ability.

But the real change is when Sanji brutalizes Luffy. Nami already stated she felt guilty for what happened when Sanji got taken. But when Sanji did his "little" number on Luffy her attitude changed, she not only begged him to stop but was also promising they'll leave if he did (Luffy clearly disagreed on that)

After seeing the way Sanji treated her captain, Nami did something the could seem pretty justified because of what happened: she slapped Sanji and then sarcastically played along Sanji's "royal" act. When she goes to Luffy and finds out her captain is not relenting on his effort to get Sanji back, she gives us this little gem:

The Japanese text for Nami's dialogue reads: "Luffy!! Why?! No matter what his reasons are, after he did all that to you…" The term she used here for the line in bold conveys the idea of severe mistreatment. She was obviously mad at the way Sanji attacked and badmouthed Luffy and his dream. Ironically Luffy is the one who shows far more emotion to the prospect of getting Sanji back than Nami, she kept displaying far more concern for Luffy as the chapters went on Nami is now showing, little by little, more of an emotional attachment to Luffy. Which makes a lot of sense given what we saw in their story

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serahne · 7 years

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What am I doing with my life ? This is it, folks, I promised and now I deliver, here comes the Hajime Hinata analysis, since after months in the fandom, I’ve decided to write something about one of my favorite - and probably one of the most complex - character in the serie, Hajime Hinata. His complexity is often ignored by the fandom, and he is often characterized as the ‘protagonist with inferiority complex, but still nice’ which is a very superficial analysis for a character we spend so much time with. But that may be part of the problem : everyone has the feeling he knows Hajime Hinata, also because we see so much of him, while we have to gather the scratch from the other characters.

With the approaching release of Sdr2.5, and unless we get a big surprise from the upcoming game, we’ve now seen everything about Hajime Hinata in canon material. I will use both Sdr2 and Dr3 for this analysis. My goal is to paint a consistent picture of Hinata through it, one that could help to understand how his character evolved the way it did and what set this - apparently average boy - apart from the rest of the world.

Fasten your safety bells, please, we’re going into Hinata’s ( intact, for now ) brain. It’s going to be fun.

PART I - HINATA BEFORE HOPE’S PEAK ACADEMY

Who was Hajime Hinata before going to Hope’s Peak ? Well, from the flashback we had in the third chapter… not a very happy person. He doesn’t have friends, the whole class is talking behind his back while he is trying to not listen or understand what they are saying, and he talks about Hope’s Peak as a place where he could finally be proud of himself. I almost can understand the ‘Hinata has an inferiority complex’ theory but…

That doesn’t sound at all like an inferiority complex. Hinata isn’t alone because he considers himself inferior to the rest of the class, he is alone because he choses to be, because he thinks that he deserves better than what he got, and this includes the people around him as well as his school. Also, having an inferiority complex is not something that will motivate you to pursue higher goals/status, for you will think that you aren’t good enough for them. This is even more obvious since there is in canon someone who really has an inferiority complex.

That’s a pretty different stance on the matter.

If he doesn’t have an inferiority complex, then why is he so unhappy ? Because unfortunately what we aspire to be isn’t always what we are in reality.

To be more specific, the Japanese school system is extremely selective, with an incredible pressure put on kid’s shoulder to success : between 3 and 5 years, many pre-school will prepare children to enter a good ( private ) elementary school, which will prepare them to enter a good ( private ) middle school. After middle school, the exam that will determine which High school you’re allowed to enter is pretty much the moment that your future is traced : if you are accepted into a very good high-school, you’ll be ready to go into a very college and you’ll end up having a successful life and if you don’t… well.

I’m absolutely not saying that the socio-economical situation of a family has no role into a kid’s success : if you are from a rich/high middle class family, chances are your mother doesn’t work and can help you with your homework, your parents can pay for additional classes, for the best textbook and educational tools, and for the school fees themselves etc… but having money is definitely not enough to buy your way into the school system.

Do you know which High-School isn’t like that ? Which High-School doesn’t ask for a lot of work, doesn’t ask you to destroy yourself trying to learn things in the hope to succeed ? Which high-school will scout people who spend their time being themselves, playing video games or drawing animes, or playing poker, or drawing doujinshis and won’t bend them to fit into the society but will instead move the society around them ? Hope’s Peak Academy.

And this is the main reason he decided to enter Hope’s Peak Academy, which means that this line :

Is a lie. And we are proved how much a lie it is at the very beginning, when Hinata happens to meet someone who is a Hope’s Peak enthusiast.

Hinata pretends that his childhood dream was to enter Hope’s Peak Academy, that it was an accomplishment for him to finally get in there, and he didn’t even bother to google it ? We saw from Dr1 that there were forums where people talked about the Academy, even when they weren’t chosen to attend it. Hinata never even heard of them. He also doesn’t know the ‘lucky student’ system, even though, again, we can wonder how many students prayed to be picked up by the school this way.

And finally, he has a very relaxed behaviour when it comes to talking with the Ultimates, saying how weird or annoying he thinks they are while Komaeda is gushing about their amazing talents. Here are a few examples, even if he has some snarky comment to say about everyone, including about their talent itself.

Which is why this is a lie when he equates his admiration for Hope’s Peak with the admiration a kid who is passionate about baseball has for the major league. Hope’s Peak isn’t the accomplishment of his dream, it’s his escape to a life and a system he feels stuck in. Hinata entering Hope’s Peak is incredibly hopeful because he thinks that he has finally found out the ‘more’ he has been looking for.

But if his goal was really entering the Reserve Course in Hope’s Peak, why does he look like that a couple of weeks after the beginning of his classes :

Yes, it’s pretty obvious that Hinata doesn’t care about Hope’s Peak for what it is, but for what he expected to find in the ‘most prestigious school of the world’. And that he didn’t find. Because what he wanted was a way to escape the tyrannic school system, and the only thing he found out was something even more oppressive and unfair toward the less gifted.

But this points out another trait in Hinata, something that is very important for the way he acts in Sdr2, especially : Hinata is incredibly skilled to avoid to face the truth, because facing the truth means suffering the consequences of it and having to take action. When confronted to the school system, Hinata had two possibilities : he could submit himself to the school system, by either working even harder, trying to succeed according to the rules but having to accept the potential failures and the consequences, or fighting the system which… would basically mean dropping out, and, again accepting the consequences. And Hinata managed to find in Hope’s Peak a way to avoid this dilemma.

This is only the first time we see it do it in canon. Sheltering himself from the truth, lying to himself, running away, ignoring deliberately the truth is almost Hinata’s default mode, and we’ll definitely come back to it.

On a not-very-happy point, I tried to think about Hinata’s choice if he had not bought his way into Hope’s Peak Academy, and the first and main theory I have is pretty depressing. I honestly don’t think Hinata would have accepted to submit himself to the school system and accepted who he is and how his life was going to be. But I don’t think he would have refused the system either and dropped out, he seemed way too distressed to take that kind of action.

I obviously cannot prove anything with absolute certainty, but I think that Hinata would have been part of these alarming high statistics about High-schoolers committing suicide because of the pressure they put on themselves that the japanese government is trying to reduce. If we think that the next time he feels ‘stuck’ into the school system he willingly chooses to go rhough a possibly-brain damaging operation, that doesn’t seem impossible to me. Hinata doesn’t have a death wish, he is just ready to do anything to make a change and stop to feel so crushed by the rest of the world, and that may occasionally lead to destructive/suicidal behaviour.

That’s not such surprise if his parents were willing to ruin themselves to pay Hope’s Peak’s fees. I think they may had that in mind too.

By the way we don’t know much about Hinata’s parents, but the idea that they are ‘uncaring parents who sold their son against money’ doesn’t really hold waters They had no way to know about the Kamukura project before Hinata enters Hope’s Peak, and they still decided to put their son there, even if it was too expensive for them.

Unfortunately, I think that knowing that his parents gave so much money to Hope’s Peak put even more pressure on Hinata to find some sort of accomplishment there, and added to his frustration. But just like when they gave agreed with the Kamukura project, it was probably for the same reason : helping their son, without realizing that it would create some feeling of expectations on Hinata, the same he is always trying to escape.

We are done for this first part, but here is a summary of main idea here

-> His parents aren’t terrible people they just wanted the best for their son

-> Hajime doesn’t have an inferiority complex but is unsatisfied with his life

-> He wanted to go to Hope’s Peak as a way to escape the tyrannic school system, not because he admired Hope and Talents.

#hajime hinata #sdr2 #dr3 #dangan ronpa #analysis

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creativitytoexplore · 3 years

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[FN] Warning! This Post is The Product of a Spatial Anomaly. Please Ignore it and go Back to Scrolling https://ift.tt/3x1fFDj

It’s been two years since the discovery of magic, and frankly, I’m sick of it. Now you might read this and have had a few different reactions. Maybe “Greg? What are you talking about? We’ve known about Magic since the dawn of time?” or just as likely “Greg, what have you been smoking? Magic is just a bunch of guys with big hats pulling stupid card tricks on kids” or like a million different in-betweens. Let me go ahead and explain. I’m using an App, made by some wizard dude, called Way Sender. You write a message, hit send, and boom, your message is sent out into the multiverse and pops up on some social media, or blog post, or whatever in some reality where the cognitive barrier is low enough for it to get through. Pretty nifty stuff, right? Yeah, I’m tired of it, I just need somewhere to rant. But I guess I should start from the beginning.

So, on May 24th, 2019, some dude muttered an incantation on Wall Street and literally summoned a stone giant in front of everyone. So yeah, that was crazy, and me, a big ass fantasy nerd, was pretty excited. This excitement lasted for maybe a year, then sadly I realized that magic doesn’t make the world any better, it just kinda augments all the problems I had with it.

For starters, I didn’t get to go to any of the magic collages, I don’t have the spark to work spells I guess, but my high school crush, who turned me down because I was “A loser who read books about wizards”, did and now she’s posting selfies, duck facing on top of her pet dragon. To be fair, the dragon makes her even hotter. But yeah, surprise, surprise, you give a bunch of twenty somethin year-olds the power to bend the fabric of reality with their words and they get pretty self-absorbed. I mean, when this all started, and Markiplier and Jacksepticeye live-streamed a wizard duel that was pretty awesome, but slowly wizards just became influencers and duchetubers posting videos of themselves doing magics tricks with their shirts off to get likes. And you wouldn’t believe how much 3 AM challenge videos have taken off now that you can call real demons and the like. And for some reason, YouTube Kids is perfectly fine with videos featuring the actual Beelzebub talking to some fidget spinner sage over the phone.

Porn was also really shaken up by magic…not that I would know from experience or anything, just hearsay and all that. Magical creatures have taken over the erotic film industry, and you think elves would have been in the forefront, being eternally beautiful and all, but turns out that’s just too vanilla for us. But if you look up mermaids, vampires, fairies, kitsune’s, trolls, jorōgumos, etc., etc., you better not do it in public. You’d think that the connection between our porn desensitization and the magical world would end there, but apparently, you’d be wrong. Succubae and Inccubae have formed a union because their magical seduction no longer works on us. This union has declared a lawsuit on the porn industry for “For crimes against demanity”, and despite it being an uphill battle, it seems to be going in their favor. The forces of Hell have surprisingly good lawyers.

And speaking of Hell, you might be wondering how magic affected Religion. Would it unify us as a people by providing us with a universal truth? Would it maybe chill out the zealots and the really hateful bunch? Nope, providing a little proof to everyone’s faith has made the zealots stick to their beliefs even more rigidly, and hate everyone who’s not the exact same as them even more intensely. The only unification it has created is a surprising union of the most extreme supporters of the largest religions, calling themselves the “Workers Against the Supernatural”, who are attempting to outlaw any kind of magic and get all inherently magical creatures deported to Antarctica. Of course, their goals put them in direct opposition with monsters, demons, gods, and wizards with an army of elementary schooler fans who are willing to steal their mom's credit cards, so they haven’t gotten much accomplished.

But do you want to know the worst part of this? The thing that in the midst of all this all too familiar chaos that somehow sucks the most? Ironic as it may sound, magic killed the fantasy genre. In the pre-magic world, there were all kinds of amazing fantasy writers. Sanderson, Gaiman, Martin, Rothfuss, and this one guy who went by the pin name Cold Coffee Man who was like a true master of his craft. But when magic was proven to be real, it turned out that they all had it wrong. Reading them now is like reading a sports novel written by someone who’s never even read the rule book. And now that the fantastical has become “tastical”, the genre has become pointless, obsolete, who wants to read about Harry Potter when the Prime Minister of Japan and the Queen of England are having what is essential a Pokémon battle with a summoned Thunderbird and Hydra?

And the loss of Fantasy may have been more bearable if magic was what made the genre fantastic in the first place, but it’s not. Those stories that I loved, they were never about the spells, and the monsters, Dungeons, and Dragons was way more than just dungeons and dragons. It was a world where things worked differently, where the world wasn’t ruled by obnoxious celebrities with egos the size of planets, a world where your life couldn’t be summarized with the word “pointless”. It gave us a world full of purpose, a world where you meant something. A world where if some great evil showed its ugly head to try and destroy what you loved, you could destroy it right back, a world where hardship and pain, built friendships and change, not exhaustion and clinical depression. But then magic had to come along and kill that fantasy.

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#June 04 #2021 at 05:38AM

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