HE HAUNTS ME EVERY FUCKING NIGHT.

I love new yoya card,,,, New toya set,,,, I love him

vivid GAY squad??? 🤨

a silly scenario that popped into my head when i saw the untrained sanrio card :D

my favorite song and boys

i doubt that Arata's going to make any major appearances now, but i think it would be so funny if VBS starts travelling and he is made to supervise them, because Ken is busy and tells the kids, "sorry, i am not trusting you guys by yourselves abroad in a million years." so he calls up Arata, since he's travelled before (to America)

Arata is like "yeah, sure. how hard could it be?"

about everything that could go wrong goes wrong.

in the middle of the night, they were all meant to meet at WEG, from where Ken would drive them to the airport. all of them except Toya forgot at least one thing at home and had to go all the way back to retrieve it.

Arata ordered a cup of strong coffee while they all waited for An to come back after running up to her room for the sixteenth time.

at security, An, Akito and Arata seem to accidentally create a "whose jewellery can set off the metal detector more" competition. Toya is highly disappointed in Akito. and just before the trip, Emu had given Kohane a tiny little robot that has recorded messages from all of W x S, to remember them by while she's away!! so cute!!

it gets Kohane pulled away to be searched.

not even anything dodgy in it, it's just as if the machines could detect the Made In Rui Kamishiro's Room essence. Kohane was terrified. it took Arata, Akito and Toya to hold An back from fighting security and getting them all arrested. Rui woke up at home a few hours later to fifty missed calls from Akito, An and the airline.

Arata bought another coffee at duty free afterwards.

oh, and since i'm silly about my headcanon of Iori and Arata being twins, STANDOUT happens to be doing a world tour at the same time. Arata prayed he would not see his sister at the airport. he is not God's favourite. she sees him struggling with the kids and immediately takes the piss. he retorts that he hopes her plane crashes. nearly gets jumped by the other band members (minus Mio)

he needed two coffees to recover from that.

Kohane is super excited about taking as many photos as she can while in the airport, wanting to capture everything. Arata sees her struggling with holding the camera while dragging her suitcase and decides to be nice, offering to hold it. she accidentally calls him nii-san and he feels joy for the first time, thinking that maybe it's all worth it. which is very quickly dissolved when An takes him holding Kohane's bag as an invitation to drop her bag on him ("cheers, Arata!!"), followed by Akito. Toya tries to scold them and help carry all the things, though sheepishly finds that he does not have the strength to.

"why the fuck do i bother." ~ Arata Tono, 2024, on his fifth coffee.

Arata gets a call from Souma checking up on him and is so relieved that he's positively beaming (and maybe even tearing up) while he walks away to answer.

"ehhh, he hasn't smiled at us like that all night, even though we've been so good!!" ~ An. she and Akito tease the hell out of his relationship with Souma when he returns.

while waiting to board the plane, he has to deal with standing next to a bickering An and Akito, the sleepiness starting to really get to the both of them, making them more snappy. Toya is starting to really realise that flights involve... heights. and is staring into space while having a silent panic attack. Kohane unintentionally wanders off to go take more photos, nearly giving Arata a heart attack when he thinks he's lost her. or that might've just been the caffeine.

he is unable to buy another cup of coffee at this time.

the second Arata gets into his plane seat, he goes "do not talk to me" to all of them and immediately falls asleep. some poor flight attendant has to shake him awake to ask him to put his belt on because he'd forgotten. he starts sobbing right then and there.

he gets to order his now hourly coffee from that same flight attendant a bit later.

he tries to drift off once more, though is awoken again, this time by poor Toya in the middle seat digging his fingernails into both his and Akito's arms from fear, like a cat, while the plane takes off.

Arata downs some more coffee and reflects every one of his life's decisions while his arm is taken hostage.

An, who is much too peppy at this sort of hour, in Arata's opinion, reaches across the aisle every ten minutes to shake his free arm and ask "are we there yet??" so he makes Toya keep an eye on how many exact miles away they are and regularly report it to her, to both distract him from the height and satisfy An's curiosity.

when they arrive at their destination, VBS is ecstatic. Arata promptly goes to his room in the hotel and passes out for about twelve hours.

he gets offered coffee during breakfast and feels sick at the thought... before remembering that he's with this lot for a good few days and quickly accepts.

because im also a pjsekai fan now . have gay orange boy ((and gay blue-gray boy))

18 years of no relationship experience can make you a wizard?!

#im so normal

Fate in Project SEKAI - 1/?

VBS

2.3k

1. An and Kohane

Right from the main story we're introduced to the idea that An and Kohane's first meeting was simply fate. Kohane was just a bypasser overhearing An's singing, hearing An talk about her dreams. It's this that makes Kohane reflect on herself, how she's never been passionate and never had anything she wanted to throw herself into. This girl is everything she isn't and everything she would like to be.

They don't even meet formally, but An's profession of her dream and Kohane's longing for one is what causes their SEKAI to manifest. We know from MEIKO that it's been around for a long time, but it wasn't until Kohane saw An that it revealed itself to its owners. But that could've been anyone. Anyone could've been inspired by An, or Akito and Toya, since they were involved in its creation too. Heck we could've had Kotaro who outright stated was inspired by Akito. But no, it had to be Kohane. Kohane had something she wanted to change about herself, and meeting An is the only way this could happen.

An also needed a partner, and Kohane was the perfect partner. An grew up talented surrounded by talented people. She never had any problems, she'd always been a step above everyone else. Kohane is a total beginner, far, far out of her comfort zone. They compliment each other. Kohane learns from An how to sing, how to be confident, all about her dreams and aspirations. She learns what it's like to be passionate. An learns what it means to rely on someone, what it means to wholly trust someone. A beginner is not to be protected, a beginner is to be taught. She teaches Kohane all these things, and learns what it's like to struggle too. She experiences a sense of weakness for the first time, the fear that someone will surpass her. She's not jealous, she's happy for Kohane, but she's insecure that Kohane will become too good for her, that she'll fall behind and lose the person she loves and trusts more than anyone else. It's these insecurities that push her to become even better, to improve further. She may be naturally talented but that doesn't mean you can't improve.

Kohane's fes card further touches on the idea of An being everything she wanted to be, by literally making her become An. All this time she thought she had to become An, not realising that what she truly needed was to stay being herself. Kohane wanted to change, but to change yourself doesn't mean to become someone else entirely. Kohane is still Kohane. She's still the shy girl who was too scared to do anything, but she left that girl in the past the second she chose to return to An in the main story. It's this idea of a rebirth that is touched on a lot more later on in Nagi and Akito's arcs, and VBS' arc as a whole.

2. Akito and Toya

Was Akito and Toya's meeting just a coincidence, or was it fate? I'll discuss the overlaps between coincidences and fate in this game later, but for now we'll say that yes, Akito and Toya's meeting was also fate. In fact, it's rather similar to An and Kohane's - a parallel, if you will. Not quite the same but not wholly different.

Akito had been fully devoted to soccer for his entire childhood. He was talented, the best player on the team. He put so much time and energy into it. And then he lost, and gave up. Bringing back that idea of rebirth. Akito's passion for soccer burnt out, he was done with it, and not going back. Sure he was good, but he had nothing left in him to care about it anymore. Seeing that concert relit that passion. Made him rediscover himself. Maybe he wasn't made for soccer, but made for music. Music was an opportunity to reinvent himself, much like it was for Kohane.

Toya came from a musical family. Surrounded by professional musicians, tied to the fate of music from birth. His family expected nothing less of him than to follow in their footprints, a fate pushed onto him regardless of whether he wanted it or not. It wasn't right for him and it hurt, his parents hurt him trying to make him into something he wasn't. He may be talented and experienced, but he was willing to run away from it all. The lyrics to RAD DOGS say as much. Classical music was never his real fate, his real fate lied with street music. Even then, street music was just something he chose because it was so different from the path chosen for him. It was an unknown route that he didn't know how to navigate, but nonetheless, he grew to love it. Fate cannot be chosen, so maybe Toya's spontaneous choice was leading him in the right direction.

Akito happened to meet Toya on the street one day, just like how Kohane first encountered An. Akito, who had refused to work with so many people before, immediately chose Toya on his own accord. He recognised Toya's talent, that Toya was new and inexperienced despite all that, and that Toya was someone who needed a guide in this unknown world. Akito and Toya are two sides of the same coin. Akito is bold and brash and two-faced, Toya is calm and reserved and honest. Akito has no background or talent in music, Toya has all of that. Even their colours are complete opposites. But at the end of it all, both of them chose this path as a way to reinvent themselves. Relight a fire that had burnt out within themselves, allow it to burn brighter than before. Relight, restart, reborn. It's all the same. They're one in the same despite all their differences. They compliment each other and it's what allows them to work so well together, to trust and love each other more than anyone else. Aun no Beats' title is derived from the term Aun no Kokyuu/Aun Breathing, when two people act in perfect harmony to the point of breathing the same, being able to understand each other without words. There's a reason they and no one else was chosen to cover that song.

3. Bird lore + Arata and Souma

The Walk on and on event essentially confirms that the meetings of the two pairs were indeed fate, and that they're soulmates. A word that so fully describes exactly what they are. They complete each other, understand each other and trust each other so, so deeply. Kohane would not be who she is now without An, An would not be who she is now without Kohane. The same applies to Akito and Toya, their meeting is essential to who they are now, they wouldn't have navigated this far without standing shoulder to shoulder, back to back. The best way to describe these feelings, these actions, the way they act and the way they complete each other, two halves of a whole, two sides of the same coin, two parts of the same story, would be love. Platonic or romantic, the text supports both. Kohane and An will keep working hard to become the best possible partner for each other. Akito and Toya are still learning too, how to become even better than the best partner anyone could ask for.

The cards for that event contain a few references to the idea of soulmates two. First, the costumes. Toya and Kohane's costumes for the event have a single wing on the back. Their first recolours change the accent colour to their partner's image colour and flip the side of the wing. This alludes to the mythical Hiyoku bird. A bird with only one wing that will not be able to fly until it meets its other half. Akito and Toya would never have been able to fly, to get as far as they have, if it weren't for that chance meeting on the street. The same applies to An and Kohane, if Kohane hadn't run into An she never would've changed, and An never would've had a partner quite like Kohane. The cards also feature crows, a bird that, notably, mates for life. Toya explicitly states in the event that he wants to stay right beside Akito forever. It's a promise, it's not quite fate but it's the closest a person can get to it with their own actions. Toya is never going to leave Akito's side, and in return, Akito will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him. We see this demonstrated in Toya's card, with Akito literally having broken Toya's cage to reach him, and continue to sit beside him.

KAITO's card is particularly interesting, as it suggests that Akito and Toya, and An and Kohane are not the only fated partners on Vivid Street. KAITO's costume notably already has two wings, a completed whole, only one of them is damaged. Whilst not confirmed, it's highly likely that this is meant to represent Arata and Souma. After all, Souma was an important character in Walk on and on, as was his relationship with Arata. Souma and Arata's relationship has been compared to Akito and Toya's multiple times. Both of them wholly care for and love their partners, as outright stated by KAITO in THE POWER OF UNITY. For Toya, Akito is incredibly important to him. Akito taught him to love music again, Akito introduced him to a whole new world that he only entered out of spite but now is devoted to with his entirety. He has nothing but gratitude for Akito, much like how Souma has nothing but gratitude for Arata. Both of them want to give something back, through the medium both they and their partners love and understand more than anything.

Souma's accident may have made him unable to continue to stand by Arata's side, but Arata will continue to carry the dream that once rested on both their shoulders. It's more complicated for Arata though, who is still clinging to the grief of losing a partner who always stood beside him, a wall placed between them against his will, a wing torn from his shoulder. Dreams can't be carried alone, which is why he can't truly ever carry Souma's dream, nor claim it as his own. He's so caught up in his feelings that he can't realise that he wants this too, that it isn't just for Souma. It's in his honour, the memory of a dream that can't be achieved anymore. Arata's inability to realise this brings him so much pain because he loves Souma, so much, and it crushes him to think that he's betrayed him, in a sense. But once again, they truly are two people who complete each other. Souma wouldn't have reached the heights he did reach if Arata wasn't there beside him, and Arata would not still be on this path if it weren't for Souma leading him along for the first part of the journey.

4. Nagi and RAD WEEKEND

If there's one thing known about fate, it's that fate isn't kind to everyone. Fate was cruel to Nagi, it took her life from her. Her dreams were to be left unfulfilled, half complete. She had no choice in the matter, her story was coming to a close, before she could bring it to a proper conclusion. However, even if her fire burnt out, she still had the time to light a fire in a new generation. Her story will never see a proper end, but she can give her story to a new generation, and inspire them to write their own, one that can be truly completed.

Nagi held RAD WEEKEND as a send-off to herself, one last performance that she could put everything that she could into since she wouldn't have another chance. It was also a chance to create a legacy for herself. Whilst she herself would be gone, her impact would be remembered, be seen by many and inspire them to reach for their dreams, or perhaps give them a new dream. As she looks out to the audience whilst putting her legacy and dreams into the world, she sees An and Akito in the audience. While they wouldn't know it for years, Nagi knows, in that moment, mere days before her death, that these are the children she's inspiring, the ones who will remember, the ones who she's lighting a fire for, a fire that will never burn out. It's fate that Akito was there, it's fate that Nagi saw both him and An, and chose to entrust her life's work to them. Without Nagi, there is no Vivid BAD SQUAD. Without Nagi, An and Akito would not be so passionate, for there is no RAD WEEKEND to be passionate about. Akito wouldn't have chosen Toya as the one to run toward his dreams with, because there would be no dream to run towards. Kohane wouldn't have seen that passionate girl on the street and wished she could be just like her, wish she could be more than herself. And without that, there would never be a Vivid BAD SQUAD, never be a SEKAI, never be an Arata who learnt that he's not alone, or a Kotaro who learnt that he's not as talentless and useless as he believes.

Without Nagi, there's nothing. Her fate was not to die before her story was finished, because she finished her story. Her fate was to pass that story on, allow it to be rewritten and adapted by the ones she inspired with it, allow it to continue on. Nagi had more of an impact than she will ever know, but she knew that it's what she wanted, she knew who she was telling her story to, who she hoped would take what she gave them and run and burn brighter than she ever did. For Vivid BAD SQUAD, for Arata and Souma, for Kotaro, and for Tatsuya, Nagi is what guided them to their fate. Even moreso, she may have created it.

uwaaaag,;,, fsh toya my love

mermaid toya

...! Akito, are you okay? Since... ૮ ºﻌºა *********

Huh? Well, you’re right, but... It’s not a problem.

I see. I’m glad. ૮˶ˆﻌˆ˶ა **************************