#this even goes for samurai rabbit actually

[thefangirl-16-blog]

Stan Sakai let Usagi be fun in tmnt media again challenge

[drawnaghht]

just for the record, for Samurai Rabbit fans who do like the show, objectively, the show is pretty good. What's the objective measure here? for me it's usually just much I can enjoy it while watching, but there's always more to it than that. i was a bit bored with the show the first 2 eps, but then it surprised me with a few elements in ep 3. I slowly understood what it was actually going for with the slowness. I kept watching and found things I liked about it. Got all sorts of theories and connections and story ideas. I started re-reading Usagi Yojimbo and went looking for more crew interviews. Saw how much the cast and crew seemed to like it and I'm convinced that it was a good show to work on. Rewatched it in other dubs to get some other perspective for my theories. But that's just one way I enjoy shows.

Of course, there's no real objectivity when it comes to tastes, so I say, if you like it, like it unabashedly. You never know when a show just ends or you'll look back and might feel sad you didn't really let yourself enjoy it, just because others don't. I've watched much trashier shows before this one, (comparably, Samurai Rabbit isn't even trashy at all), and those have gotten much less hate, for being much much more annoying/bad/low quality as a whole x3 You don't have to feel bad about folks hating on the show online. They just have a different taste than you. But if you like it, that's really the only metric you need to judge it.

(this is specifically a thought bc a younger fan wrote to me that they felt sad that the show got so much hate in reviews/online posts etc)

if the show was truly as bad as some folks say, it probably would not have been made. there are just so many factors at play in making a show, i personally just try to go by my gut feeling at this point abt shows and if they're going to be fun to watch or not.

and lol i don't have the energy to put this into a longer well-articulated post but still wondering i guess why there are so many posts with "oh this show ain't so good, i hate it" etc etc

so????

sorry for sounding harsh or whatever but literally, watch more animation!!!! there are shows worse than this one and if you'd been alive when those aired you would have watched them and remembered them fondly, only to realize one day you were just watching them out of boredom bc there was nothing else animated on

even shows which we lambast as critical darlings within fandoms had their ups and downs during airing

how well a show is received always depends on how much the network loves it, but also a lot of pure luck

or you'd find a good show and see that the network abruptly ended it, not even with a solution or real ending, but just something open bc the creators were hoping the show could come back. or the show would come back, but completely changed, something so unwatchable you wish you could unwatch it

at least, that was my experience watching cartoons as a 20-something or younger, coming back to cartoon-watching because I had time after highschool

maybe the show just came out too late/early, and would have found a different audience if it came out at a different time. I think about how ROTTMNT was received and how now reviewers are coming back to it, with tails between their legs like "UmU this show was not so bad... after all!!!" shut it!!!! i guess compared to how rise was treated by old TMNT fans and critics alike, this one has gone fairly under the radar or remained almost unremarked upon. Well, old UY did complain about it, and youtube reviewers too, so it's sorta the same thing. kids' cartoons will always have adult critics because everyone thinks they know how to run a cartoon/know what a good cartoon is xD

find other things to do!!!! make your own cartoons and see how easy it is. western cartoon/tv is just how it is and it's not bad to expect more of it, but also, it feels weird to go along with hating or reviewbombing etc just because that's become something "in" now. there's worse media than an animated adaptation turned into a kids cartoon, made during the pandemic.

lowkey some of you just seem kind of spoiled with how many good series there are, and you're just putting the bar so high for even shows you like, NOTHING is good for you unless it's extremely perfect or catering to each and every of your expectations xD

yea ok, it's a children's cartoon - whatever! western children's cartoons can run such a wide gamut of quality vs enjoyability, there's so many shows now you can enjoy instead.

if it's good for you, great! if it's not, ok! don't go posting it in the tags as some universal opinion lol xD

again, there are much worse cartoons out there in the past and in other parts of the world. one little animation mistake or even several per episode aren't going to break my enjoyment of the episode or show as a whole xD

the slowness i mentioned experiencing for example, is also subjective. A reviewer on Commonsensemedia, wrote that they found the show too fast-paced, but that their young daugther liked it, and how the messaging came off as good to both them and their child. It's a matter of perspective.

like yeah, it's a bit goofy and dorky at times, I personally do not get some of the jokes (more on that in a proper review) and maybe as an animator, i'm a bit annoyed at some of the things done with the 3D animation specifically. But that's personal! and those are so few things. on the flipside, I was still able to enjoy the rest of the show, because to me it felt like a lot of care and thought was put into it as a whole. Like, many of the visdev team actually asked to be on the show. It can't be that bad if long time professionals around the western animation industry want to work on it.

A show that's truly bad, would not even bother fleshing out some sort of villain or antagonists at all, and mabye would have scrapped Kagehito as a character entirely, when hearing that it was sort of impossible to animate him as intended. But there's a lot of stuff in this show like that. Compromises from the crew, so they could still make the show and focus on aspects of production and story that were more necessary. So for example also, lobbying for more appearances of Miyamoto Usagi, even though Netflix was not on-board with that themselves, the producers and showrunners were.They were pushing for more of him and his backstory in this show.

so eah, idk, this ended up long anyway, but just, if you like it already, it's ok xD you don't have to justify yourself to other fans or people. and honestly, if you dislike it, same thing. you don't have to justify it. you can just dislike things without reason.

[borisnightingale]

I made a TMNT 2012 oc

Main Info: 🐇

- Her name is Usagi Mizuki, she’s a samurai rabbit mutant from Japan, who came to NY to work for the Shredder shortly after her Daimyo (samurai master), Usagi died. She doesn’t like working for Shredder but she doesn’t have many options, since;

a) her master owed the Shredder a debt and couldn’t pay it because he was 💀

b) she is a teenage orphan raised by an old daimyo in a modern world with little need for samurai

c) she’s a mutant

- She works for Shredder for no reason other than to repay her daimyo’s debt, as he was her teacher and only guardian. Eventually she joins forces with the turtles and goes against Shredder after learning of his alliance with the Kraang.

Backstory: 🐇

- She was a homeless orphan in Japan in the streets who was taken and kidnapped by the Kraang (much like how Alopex and Tigerclaw were) and used for experiments, being mutated into rabbit mutant. Eventually she was able to escape from Dimension X, landing back into Japan but now as a monster.

She wonders around the streets, stealing for food and living in abandoned homes and old temples. One night, however, she is found by an old Daimyo named Usagi sleeping in the bushes near an old temple that he was visiting. Seeing her as a sign of good luck and as she is a child, he takes her in as his own and trains her as a samurai. Giving her the name Usagi Mizuki, as he had found her due to the moon shining on her form in the night.

Inspiration: 🐇

- Obviously she is inspired by Usagi Yojimbo from the TMNT franchise, but since he is already in the 2012 universe but in an alternate dimension, I made her sort of like an alternate version of him but not really as she only has the name Usagi because of her Guardian and Daimyo.

- I also took inspiration from Princess Mononoke, Usagi Yojimbo, and Usagi Tsukino for her personality. As a teenage girl wanting to live by her morals and teachings of her Daimyo, and her forgiving and empathetic nature. She puts on a mask of nonchalance and confidence and even some playfulness when fighting in order to not get hurt or be used against her will. But once she gets close to someone she is actually sweet and expressive, not afraid of being herself.

Love Interest: 🐇

- I honestly made her because I wanted Leo to have a love interest that wasn’t his sister 🤢, and almost every Leo was already shipped with Usagi. BUT TMNT 2012 Usagi is a) an adult, and b) in an alternate dimension. And we’ve only ever seen Leo interested in women, unlike Rise Leo and ‘03 Leo.

- So I thought why not and give Leo a mutant rabbit samurai girlfriend. I was thinking enemies to lovers or something along those lines as I thought it would be cute if Leo had to face someone who equally matched or overpowered him in skill when it came to swordsmanship. Idk I thought it was cute ☺️

More Doodles: 🐇

[inmemcrum]

'because you're you...'

The words make Kanda freeze entirely. The hell had that meant? As Lavi goes into explaining his thoughts, the samurai listens. It was strange listening to all of this, hearing how and what was thought of him. What was even stranger was the fact that the dark haired exorcist actually CARED to know. What had been so different with Usagi that others just couldn't quite grasp on to?

'when you're home, it actually feels like home.'

Blue hues would widen slightly at that last statement. Beneath the ivory cage within, his heartbeat increased slightly. Was this what people considered flirting? Or even being honest about their feelings? Kanda had never been so close to anyone, not since...Alma. But the rabbit had somehow learned to break through all of the defenses the taller had put in place to safe-guard himself from the hurt that getting close to someone had often caused.

Lavi had managed to see through to the real Kanda - the real him, sometime ago. Truthfully, it terrified the exorcist. It terrified him beyond anything he thought was being capable of feeling.

Had this been anyone else the katana wielder would have cussed the other out, punched him in the face and turned away. But this wasn't just anyone else. This was Lavi - a Bookman who was talented, irritating and yet devilishly handsome all the same. After Alma, he swore to himself that he would never allow anyone in again, as the hurt then had been too much to handle, and if anything happened now it would hurt just as much.

Or, perhaps much worse.

He hated feeling so much. He hated feeling so damned vulnerable.

A hand slowly raises as fingertips ascend to touch upon a cheek. He was afraid of this, afraid of letting another in. "Do you realize what you are saying - what you're wanting, Usagi?"

lavi watches in silence for a moment as kanda gathers his thoughts. he takes in the man's features; his long hair, the soft slope of his nose, the sharp lines of his cheekbones and jawline. he somehow looks delicate and entirely too powerful all mixed into one. lavi doesn't think he'll ever see somebody look like that again. he doesn't think he wants to either.

but it goes further than looks. lavi doesn't know if they'd be considered actual friends. not in the typical ways like he is with lenalee or even the beansprout. but he does know his life would be different now without kanda's presence. kanda is quiet but steady, easy to go to without expectations. lavi has found himself more often than not lately meditating with the other exorcist. or bumping into the other's space just to read in silence near him. something about kanda quieted the never ending chaos that was lavi's mind. all the logs, all the lectures, all of the impending sense that none of this was worth it because they were all going to die anyway. everything stops when he's near kanda.

" because you're you, " the redhead replies like it's the most obvious reply in the world, and the expression on his face says that he's entirely serious about this. " nobody else --- " he pauses to pull thoughts together because feelings are not something he is allowed to have openly, and they are not something he is any good at expressing. " you make the world stop. everything is too loud when you're away. " he doesn't even know if he's making sense, but he hopes yuu understands it enough. " when you're home, it actually feels like a home. "

[awarmbowlofhomemadesoup]

Leoichi but make it Oblivious x Oblivious part 2

See part 1

Part 3

Leo and Usagi would be insufferable together even if everyone but them had realized that they were into each other. 

The turtle bros are casually physical with each other and Usagi had rubbed off on that with Leo, like grabbing Leo’s arm and dragging Leo’s attention to whatever distracted him this time. 

Leo and Usagi would definitely do victory poses together after defeating a bunch of bad guys (the others could tell they had practiced). 

Since there’s almost a foot of height difference between them, Usagi would sometimes use Leo’s shell as a landing pad or a springboard. Their team-up practices made Leo get used to bracing his feet each time. 

They definitely hype each other up, Mr. Greatest Swordsman Ever and Mr. Greatest Ninja of All Time.

Leo once confided in Usagi that who would want to date him if they found out he almost caused the world to end in the most devastating invasion anyone could ever imagine. 

Usagi immediately jumped to defend him. “That’s not true, Leo! You’re pretty and funny and strong, and you strive to do better! Anyone would be an idiot not to see that.”

Leo blinked before putting a hand over his mouth. But he wasn’t going to be one-upped in such manner. “Aaaw, you’re pretty awesome too, Usagi! Screw your grandfather’s tragic love life! If anyone would choose over you, they’re an idiot when you’re cute and dependable and-”

And because Usagi’s face was cupped by Leo’s hands in Leo’s attempt to drive the point home, Usagi’s voice was muffled when he interjected, “I think you’re handsome too, Leo!”

Gen, who was walking by at that point, aged 10 years in exasperation over the two before continuing on his way. 

Stupid Sparring

Usagi once mentioned the time he defeated a guy with a table. Leo mentioned the time he used two swordfishes to beat up bad guys. 

They ended up in a match against each other with Gen, Kitsune and Chizu cheering Usagi on while he has no weapon but a table, while Raph, Don and Mikey rooted for Leo armed with nothing but a pair of swordfishes. Both parties are waiting to make fun of their champion if they fail spectacularly. Donnie, of course, recorded the whole thing for his Youtube channel. 

Top comment of the YouTube video asked when would the rabbit and the turtle kiss.

How They Actually Spar

At least once a week, their spar would be a serious, learning-from-each-other, battle of skill and strategy. Then Usagi would respectfully thank Leo and Leo would mirror him since the formality is part of Usagi’s culture, and to Leo’s extent, his own. 

The rest of the time, it’s a sort of playful banter and showing-off-to-friends-brothers spar that somehow goes into an escalating self-feeding cycle of rivalry-to-tension-to-more-rivalry-to-more-tension because Usagi always rose to a challenge and Leo was competitive. They would often end up on the floor, too exhausted to even be confused about what the heck was that about.

A Moment in the Minotaur Maze

Leo wanted to go to the Minotaur Maze again to get his face on the wall of champions. Usagi wanted to go too because he, Gen, Kitsune, and Chizu couldn’t reach the maze's center in record time. 

Neither brothers nor friends wanted to go. So it was just Leo and Usagi.

“Good, maybe this time you’ll figure it out,” Kitsune said. “Figure what out?” Usagi asked before being dragged by Leo away to their epic quest. 

Said epic quest ended sourly when Leo had a flashback. They got out of the maze with Leo’s mood in shambles, frustrated at himself for having a flashback and failing at the maze again.

After making sure that Leo was alright, Usagi marched straight back to the maze and cheated.

Leo was flabbergasted out of his funk when Usagi presented his picture next to Leo’s in the Wall of Cheaters.

“I thought samurais are supposed to be honorable,” Leo said.

“An honor that I can regain,” Usagi said with dramatic loftiness, “when we’ll try again next time. But for now,” he gestured at their pictures together, “Anata wa hitori ja nai,” he finished in his native language to let Leo know that he meant it.

Usagi wondered why Leo was looking at him like that. 

The next day, Chizu, Gen and Kitsune stared at Usagi’s picture on the said wall. 

“And I cheated,” Usagi proudly said, “on purpose.” (“That’s the point of cheating, Usagi,” Gen said)

Reflections in the Night

On those nights when insomnia hits and Leo couldn’t distract himself with his family, Leo privately reflects. 

Leo knew that he could be egotistical and Usagi could be too. But that’s the thing. Usagi’s ego is based on valid confidence in his sword skill and a positive aspiration to be like his ancestor. While Leo’s ego comes from a feeling of lack and doubt. 

Leo was very much aware that while Usagi chased aft his ancestor Usagi like a beacon of light, Leo was chasing after the light that was his Usagi. Which was why Leo valued their friendship. A lot. More than he would let on.

He hoped their friendship would last for a long, long time. 

The First Base is Adoption

It was a while before they let Usagi know that Case Jr. was from the future.

When Usagi asked about himself, Junior said he had known Master Leonardo as a single dad his whole life. Usagi wondered what he meant by that. 

Leo happily said that at least they gave Splinter a grandkid in the alternate future timeline.

Usagi was silent as he thought of how isolated the turtles were before they knew of the hidden city, and how Auntie raised him alone on a farm. “Do you want to adopt together someday?” he asked.

Leo gasped, “You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do it for us; besides our friends and your brothers, we’re a team.”

At this rate, Chizu, who was in the same room, threw up her hands before saying, “I can’t.” At this rate, those two would have kids before they’d even start dating. 

The Fell Asleep Together Trope

Leo and Usagi once fell asleep together in the Hidden Lair’s living room. It looked less than a reason to cover Mikey’s eyes and more like the impression of a body dumped on top of another body. Leo’s temperature ran cool, and Usagi’s ran warm. Together they both achieved a perfect balance that conked them out deeper into their sleep. 

They woke up with the worst cricks on their necks.

[annonniiiiieeeee]

Pick your brain with the godsAU.

What if Leo had favorites, including a certain clever but a bit impulsive Samurai. But at he is told that his favorite rabbit is Curse for tragedy ( Watching your teacher/father figure die in front of you, having to decapitate your lord to save his dignity) even and even though he's not supposed to Leo can just sit and do nothing, so he goes down there disguise as a mortal, he's successful in helping out usagi, but surprise he ends up falling in love with him , maybe eloping. But his family finds out he gets pulled back into heaven, and usagi not willing to sit around and do nothing he goes through trials trying to win his love back maybe earn his godhood along the way ( in mythology rabbits are rabbits are considered messenger of the gods and are tied to the moon)

@fatalflawsy and I were just talking about this in the red logs of that post.

I like the idea of Usagi being cursed for tragedy.

The meet cute we came up with was that Leo, frustrated with a lack of worship slipped down to earth and met Usagi in disguise. Usagi was on a mission to deleverage’s a message from his master to someone let’s say Lord Mifune. Leo being the god of travels and strategy guided him their safety while also helping him avoid fights with the Neko.

The two become friends (Usagi has no clue Leo is a god that took favor in him) and Usagi starts having successes on both the battle field and politically.

If Usagi is cursed for tragedy maybe Leo tries to help him avoid it. He can’t tell Usagi what his fate entails but maybe Leo tries to manipulate things to help Usagi not lose the people he cares about.

Changing their fates is how Leo’s family finds out that Leo is interacting with mortals.

They come and take Leo back up to heaven and forbid him from going back down to earth.

The rest of it the trials and how Usagi has to earn his way back to Leo’s side has actually already been fleshed out.

Here

[lordsenorslowmo]

Guess who fell down the Learning With Pibby rabbit hole hard. It just is such an interesting concept with numerous possibilities. What exactly is The Glitch, the internet seen as a corrupting force? The idea of these cartoons being corrupted and lost by the ceaseless march of time? An actual unknowable entity that has no connections to real life and just so happened to appear in their universe?

Pibby is an adorable main lead and part of me feels horrible at the kind of things she'll likely have to endore, but I hope beyond hope she gets a happy ending, as often, with shows like these it focuses too much on how cruel the world really is and that there are no happy endings, especially with characters as initially innocent as Pibby, who is literally a young kid's show main character.

I hope that Learning With Pibby goes far, even if it is a limited series like Over The Garden Wall, or the Samurai Jack final season. I haven't even seen the 3 main leads for more than the length of the trailer and I already want them to succeed. I also want to know what The Glitch is, my money is on the Internet given form.

(And yes, provided it gets a proper release and the story ends, I may or may not do some stories for it. Depending really fingers crossed though it seems like it would be super fun to write for.)

[1358456]

Zelda - LAD Finale

Time to speedrun this as much as possible! ... Unfortunately, I’m also feeling quite sick today, so I can’t actually finish the game.

Oh joy. Nydus Worms in a quicksand pit. ... I totally forgot what the hell I was doing in this game, and why.

... Well... SAMURAI ONDO DE ODORIMASHO!

Gee, I wonder who this man is...

This feels like one of those cheat codes in the old games where you input a series of keys at the start menu or something. In RSE, the Regis had something like this, written in visual braille, with Emerald telling you to do slightly different things. Fly/Flash in the center of the room. Left/Right 2, down 2, then use Strength/Rock Smash. Regice’s one had you just sit there for 2 minutes. And I spent so long trying to decipher that thing, the door opened while I was halfway done.

I... assume the DX version of this game came out after the transition to color.

Thanks for the hint? “Ha, you won’t kill me like that? Here, try doing this! ... Wait a minute...”

Lonk desires power overwhelming. Hm. More and more mini bosses are being added. That does make things interesting, but time consuming.

Not even remotely close! Now give me that fairy! Lonk carefully holds the delicate fairy in his hands. The fairy looks up at him, wondering what he intends to do with her. Lonk digs around his backpack, trying to find a jar, but doesn’t find any. With no options to keep the fairy around for the future, Lonk moves the fairy closer and stuffs her into his mouth. The fairy can only scream as Lonk chews and eats her for HP gain.

I took the blue pill. I don’t give a damn about how deep the rabbit hole goes. If this was an RTS, I absolutely would’ve taken the damage output. Dead enemies don’t deal damage... apart from Banelings. But in this game, with so many respawning enemies, I need the armor upgrade. Can I get +3 Carapace and Chitinous Plating?

Ehh... flowers are expensive, sure, but I don’t think a single flower is worth as much as a full pineapple. Still trading down.

Yay, I got the Dive HM! ... But where’s the Surf HM? Well, fortunately, this item has both abilities. So I can now go underwater! ... Is there a drowning mechanic in this game?

What a sad boss fight. ... Is that a skull down there? Lonk holds the skull in his hands, and realizes that the skull belonged to his cousin Lunk the Drunk. Link warned Lunk repeatedly to not go near the water while drunk as a fish, but it appeared that Lunk only heard the fish part. “Alas, poor Lunk. I knew him, Marin. A fellow of infinite jest.”

... Can I help you? ... And do you mind? Lonk is trying to enjoy a little swim! A little privacy, please? ... Ooh, a heart container!

And that is where I will leave off. I’ll probably continue with the game off-Tumblr at another time. But there is far too much left of this game to finish before the final post goes up, and I don’t want to do it. I’m feeling sick, I have places to go still, and I spent far too much time earlier today watching both ASL and GSL. Oops. Any day I can watch both ASL and GSL is a good day. Would’ve been great if I wasn’t sick. Oh well. So Lonk’s Tumblr journey is officially over. Besides, I don’t think I can stuff in any more goofy Lonk shenanigans, so the rest is just going to be a boring playthrough of a decades old game.

[iaintyourbro]

The Unknown Journey Continues

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.

[elemental-daddy-neos]

What are everyone’s teams in your Pokemon au? Do you have a plot set out or is it a more causal au?

Oooooh this is a fun one

You'd better fucking BELIEVE we have a plot set up, I have poured so much effort into the Pokemon au

Okay, so: when it comes to teams, I decided that everyone should have at least one legendary Pokemon in their party as a way to be faithful to the ace monster concept, but it wasn’t until much later into the au that I realized I’d failed to do that with Sora’s team, which led to a very fun plot point involving his secret 7th Pokemon he keeps in his box

Teams under the cut because it’s gonna be a long one, boys

Yuya has: Groudon, Sandshrew, Popplio, Hippopotas, Aipom, and Ekans

In his box, he’s got Phanphy, Charmander, Politoad, Ducklett, Liepard, Skorupi, and Lycanroc (Midnight form)

I wanted him to have as many Pokemon as he could that reminded me of the monsters in his deck, and since Yuya is a coordinator in this au instead of a regular trainer, it just felt right that he’d have a lot of different partners he could swap out for various contests

Also I’m mad that there isn’t a legendary dragon that looks like Odd Eyes, so I had to give Yuya Groudon instead, making him the only Yu boy in this au to not have a legendary dragon type Pokemon

Yuto has: Eternatus, Bisharp, Aegislash, Aggron, Lucario, and Shadow Rider Calyrex

Okay listen, I know I was supposed to only give everyone One legendary Pokemon, but with Calyrex I feel justified because it looks So Much like it could be one of Yuto’s Phantom Knights, I mean

Just look at it

Yuto gets to have two legendaries to make up for Arc-V killing him off so early into the show

Aside from this guy, the rest of Yuto’s team just felt like it should be comprised of steel types ow the edge so that’s what I gave him. His Pokemon are as edgy as he tries to appear to be and that is enough to amuse me.

There also weren’t exactly many good Pokemon equivalents of his archetype, so I made do with what I had.

Yugo has: Latios, Scizor, Claydol, Porygon 2, Ponyta (Shiny), and Sudowoodo

Yugo was honestly so hard to come up with a team for because all his Speedroid cards are just like... toys and stuff for the most part, so I agonized over what I should pick for him for a Long time. In the end, I feel like I got close enough to his general aesthetic with the Pokemon I picked.

(His Ponyta is there because of Speedroid Horse Stilts, and while it is a shiny, the dumbass has no idea about it, and thinks he just happened to get a special blue horse that was born a little differently- he never claimed to be smart.)

He also deadass thought Sudowoodo was a grass type for the longest time. Rin had to be the one to tell him it wasn’t. 

“Yugo. Sudowoodo? It sounds like pseudo? As in fake wood?”

“Ohhhhh is that what its name means? Wow Rin you’re so smart.”

No Yugo you’re just exceptionally stupid.

Yuri has: Naganadel, Seviper, Victreebel, Toxicroak, Vileplume, and Roserade

For the most toxic of battlers, I felt it only necessary to give Yuri an all poison type team. I included an even mix of plants in there to tie into his Predaplant deck, Seviper for the snake eye vibes, and Toxicroak... just feels right, you know. I couldn’t find any other poison plant themed Pokemon that seemed like they’d fit his vibe, so he gets a poison frog instead.

Yuzu has: Meloetta, Sylveon, Meowstic (Female), Gardevoir, Florges, and Jigglypuff

I tried to stick with Pokemon that had very feminine vibes for Yuzu, since her deck is comprised of pretty singing ladies, so Meloetta and Jigglypuff in particular feel very fitting in that regard.

Serena has: Cresselia, Delcatty, Glameow, Lopunny, Persian, and Pyroar (Female)

The moon vibes with Cresselia felt perfect for Serena, and as for the rest of her team, all cats and a bunny to pay homage to her Lunalight deck ^^

Rin has: Celesteela, Mismagius, Hatterene, Glaceon, Froslass, and Chimecho

Her team vibes with the witch part of her Wind Witch deck, at least for Mismagius and Hatterene. Glaceon, Froslass, and Chimecho are there due to the etymology of her name, where possible meanings of it include “cold” and “bell”, which I thought was pretty cool, no pun intended.

Ruri has: Galarian Articuno, Pidgeot, Noctowl, Chatot, Altaria, and Unfezant (Male)

Some softer birds for the soft bird girl, for the most part. I liked the thought of her team being all birds like her Lyriluscs, and just... yeah. They’re all very friendly birds that Ruri’s bonded pretty closely with. Also I made sure she had Galarian Articuno for no reason other than it is purple like her, and I think that’s all the reason I need.

Gong has: Kartana, Machoke, Samurott, Golisopod, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr

Gong was really easy to assign a team to- just had to find as many samurai themed Pokemon as possible, and fill in the rest with really strong fighting types, like Machoke, Hariyama, and Conkeldurr.

Shingo has: Type: Null, Dusclops, Misdreavus, Spiritomb, Decidueye, and Cramorant

With Shingo, I tried to go for Pokemon that had the same vibes as some of his Abyss Actors, and I think Dusclops is the best example of this. Tbh I am very proud of giving him a Type: Null because Type: Null is an amalgamation of other Pokemon, something that was created in a lab to be a fighting machine. There’s nothing natural about Type: Null, and it’s kind of terrifying to Yuya specifically, who’s always viewed Pokemon as creatures to befriend. This experiment created purely to kill... unnerves him, and serves as a very good foil to his beliefs when it comes to Pokemon.

And they were narrative foils

Oh my god they were narrative foils

On a sillier note, I chose Cramorant purely because of this quote from its bulbapedia page: “Cramorant are also rather unintelligent as they can't remember which Pokémon they fight in mid battle, but never forget Trainers that they trust. However, they try to attack their Trainers if they steal food from them.”

I just thought the idea of Shingo having this dumb bird that occasionally pecks at him over food would be funny tbh, gotta dunk on the rival at least a little bit.

Sora has: Banette, Vanillish, Swirlix, Stufful, Litleo, and Buneary

In his box, he has a Guzzlord

I feel like Sora’s team is very straightforward, as it’s a mix of sweets themed Pokemon, and Pokemon that represent monsters in his deck- Stufful for Flufflal Bear, Litleo for Fluffal Leo, and Buneary for Fluffal Rabbit. Guzzlord... is relevant later on in the plot after shit goes down, that’s all I’ll say for now.

Masumi has: Diancie, Sableye, Corsola, Aurorus, Tyranitar, and Lycanroc (Dusk form)

Gem Knight girl deserved to have a bunch of good rock type Pokemon, and Diancie is like. The best possible legendary I could have given someone like her lol, the crystal aesthetic is just perfect for her. Not much to say here honestly, I just really vibed with these specific rock types and thought they’d make a good team for her.

Yaiba has: Zeraora, Kecleon, Pangoro, Scyther, Purugly, and Stantler

So I actually threw this list together just now because I realized Masumi was the only member of her trio to have a full team, and that just wasn’t right. I tried to base this team off the XX-Sabers as well I could, but it was a little hard with how many humanoid cards Yaiba has. With his legendary, I actually chose it based off this monster right here! 

I think they’ve got similar enough vibes aesthetically for Zeraora to fit him. Scyther is based on Emmersblade, Kecleon on Ragigura, Stantler on Garsem, Purugly on Gardestrike, and Pangoro... Honestly, it just makes me think of Yaiba himself when I look at him. I think they’d get along well.

Hokuto has: Deoxys, Espeon, Grumpig, Starmie, Lunatone, and Malamar

Psychic type Pokemon just sort of felt right for him to have, considering that his deck is based on constellations and has an overall space theme to it. Not sure why that translates over to psychic in my brain, but you know what, it looks right, I love this team for him, and I’m not gonna question it.

I especially think Deoxys makes a good legendary for him considering it is literally a space alien, and Hokuto’s whole thing is space, so yeah, he gets to have the space alien.

Shun has: Galarian Moltres, Skarmory, Fearow, Dodrio, Staraptor, and Talonflame

Pretty straightforward team I feel- it’s all birds of prey for the Raid Raptor boy, and I just thought the Galarian version of Moltres was neat. Makes me think of his Blaze Falcon since they’re both black and red.

Dennis has: Hoopa, Mr. Mime, Delphox, Zoroark, Alakazam, and Hawlucha

Hoopa seemed like a very good legendary for Dennis to have, given his deck archetype and all, he just kind of looks like a little circus dude. Its unbound form makes me think about the swap Dennis has when it gets revealed that he’s actually been a double agent the whole time, and the play gloves finally come off.

The rest of his team... I feel like they speak for themselves. I tried to give him Pokemon that matched up with his deck archetype, so there’s Delphox to rep the fire themed monsters, Mr. Mime because it just fits Dennis’ general personality- and I love the thought of those two being friends and just copying each other’s theatric poses. Chaotic dynamic duo.

(Also: Zoroark's ability letting it disguise itself as another Pokemon is just another parallel to Dennis pretending to be one of the good guys at first, and I love it)

Shinji has: Buzzwole, Beedrill, Vespiquen, Ribombee, Kricketune, and Leavanny

I tried to give the bee man all the bees I could, but there are only so many bee Pokemon out there 😔 I knew the rest of his team had to be insect types to make up for it, so I picked Kricketune because he is just... a friend... a musical buddy who definitely gets along well with the kids. Leavanny is just a bug mom who also helps patch up the kids’ clothing when they get tears in them, which I just love the idea of. Sweet bug mom whose dex entry talks about how they sew for other Pokemon looks after her trainer’s kids when she’s not battling.

Buzzwole: witness the fitness

Throwback to the Smash Bros mains lmao 

Crow has: Murkrow, Braviary, Starly, Swellow, Pikipek, and Corviknight

Bunch of birds for my Blackwing user... This team was partially picked out by June, and it was mostly meant for the Other Pokemon au, but I don’t really see a reason to change his team here. Crow is the one person without a legendary on his team, which makes me sad, but there really isn’t a legendary bird out there that fits his vibes, so as much as I wanna give him a legendary, he will have to make do without one. Sorry Crow.

Hoo... that’s finally all the teams down. Now I can talk about the plot! So, as I briefly mentioned in a previous post (I think), this particular au is inspired by Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum! It’s the era where contests really became a big thing, which is perfect for a lot of these characters because it’s easy to translate dueltaining over to coordinating in this world. Much like in canon, Yuya aspires to be as great a coordinator as his dad was, and strives to entertain people the way Yusho could. He’s not much for battling, and far prefers getting to show off his Pokemon’s talents in contests than anything. 

Academia is going to play the role of Team Galactic in this au, which is incredibly fitting with their mission in canon: to remake the universe in their leader’s image. In this case, with Leo Akaba taking on the role of Cyrus, his intent is, presumably, to either destroy the universe that took his daughter from him, or create a new one where she can live once again, no matter the cost.

Sora being a key member in Team Galactic is a very big part of the plot in this au: his mission was to capture one of the lake legendaries, Uxie, since Leo needed all three of them for his plan to remake the universe, but things don’t exactly go well for him, and he ends up losing his battle against Uxie, resulting in all of his memories being locked away, and essentially making him a blank slate.

Side note: the Galactic grunt haircut reminds me a lot of Sora, I mean just look at it

Practically same bangs as him, just add an upturned ponytail and you’ve got my son.

This post is getting very long... but I will add one last plot related thing to it before I go: Uxie can erase memories, Mesprit can erase emotions, and Azelf can erase willpower. All three of these lake legendaries play a very important role in the plot, due to being the keys to Leo Akaba’s plans to remake the universe. Sora was touched by Uxie, effectively doing away with all memory he has of being in Team Galactic. Yuya ends up touched by Mesprit in an attempt to save them, and subsequently loses his emotions as a result. Riley?

Riley had been affected by all three of them before the plot began, which is why she is the way she’d been in Arc-V: Emotionless, unable to remember anything about her past except for those brief, fleeting flashes of memory when put into certain situations she’d experienced before, and without any will of her own. She’s so dependent on her older brother because she quite literally has no clue what to do with herself without being told to, and needs orders to function.

Hoo, if you’ve made it all the way to the end of the post, congratulations! I think this is the longest one I’ve made... ever lmao. I hope you guys found it enjoyable! If anyone wants to know more about certain aspects of this au, feel free to ask! I look forward to talking about it more c:

[tsushimanoonryo]

Get to know the mun!

I meant to post this yesterday, but I accidentally took a 3 hour nap after my appointment.

name/nickname: Kimi

gender: cis-Female

star sign: In the western zodiac, I’m Aquarius. Growing up, those little placemats at Chinese restaurants said my eastern zodiac animal was Dragon. However, if you look at the dates of the lunar calendar, I missed out by a few days. I’m a Fire Rabbit!

birthday: February 13th (THIS SATURDAY, HOMIES)

favourite bands: The Phenomenauts, Awich, Coeur de Pirate, They Might Be Giants, The Black Keys, Zombina and the Skeletones, Blondie, The Clash, The Go! Team, Reel Big Fish, The Aquabats, She and Him, Shonen Knife, The White Stripes

Song stuck in my head: "Out of my Head” by: Fastball

last movie: My husband and I recently rewatched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

last show: New Girl

when I created this blog:  Summer 2020, shortly before I actually beat Ghost of Tsushima, lol. I couldn’t wait to play my samurai son.

last thing I googled: "yakuza Arai” because he was mentioned in a fic I was reading and I couldn’t remember who he was.

why did I choose this url: It has actually gone through 2 changes. When I started this blog, it was tsushima-no-goryo because goryo was a type of vengeful Japanese ghost that is specifically from the aristocratic class (which Jin, as nephew of the jito, very much is). However, I changed it shortly after because goryo are mostly martyrs and Jin isn’t that. Onryo are the scary, angry ghosts everyone is mostly familiar with (think Sadako from Ringu or Kayako from Ju-on), and I liked the idea of Jin being scary because by the time he goes full ghost mode, he scares the shit out of the Mongols. So I changed it to tsushima-no-onryo to reflect that. And then, like... I think it was last week? I took the dashes out to make it easier for me to track my tag. So I’m settled on tsushimanoonryo and I don’t plan on changing it any time soon.

average hours of sleep: About 7-8. I am a big baby and I need my rest.

lucky number(s): I like even numbers and fives (which somehow count as an even number in my OCD/Tourette’s brain). (Yes, I’ve officially been diagnosed, I’m not just throwing those terms around for funsies).

instruments: I taught myself how to play ukulele and guitar a little. I’m not great at them because I’ll play really intensely for like 2 months at a time, then not touch it for a year. I can also pick out a few songs on piano, but I can’t read sheet music.

what i’m wearing: Black ballet flats, maroon pants, a black undershirt, a grey and black plaid top, a silver watch, silver earrings, my glasses, and a facemask that looks like a 1990s arcade floor.

dream trip: Japan, Japan, Japan!!!!

favourite food: yes

favourite song: Currently it’s “Bad Bad” by: Awich, but I like a lot of music and my favorite song can change depending on my mood.

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: I don’t really like Lord of the Rings that much, but I do want to be a hobbit. So if I could just live in a hobbit hole and not do anything all day, I’d pick that for my number one. I don’t care about elves and orcs and shit. I just want my second breakfast. The second universe I’d like to live in is the Mass Effect universe. I want to meet my true love, Garrus Vakarian and divorce my husband so we can be together. The third one? Uhh....I don’t know. Most of the universes in my fandoms kinda fucking suck and I would not want to live in them. Would it be cheating to pick the weird, fictionalized version of Japan in the Yakuza games? I mean, it’s mostly like ours, but there’s a bunch of weird side story bullshit going on that would be pretty funny to be involved in.

tagged by: @shieldsfilemistress

tagging: @odatodeath​, @akechijubeimitsuhide​, @savageorchids, @hxrbingxr​, literally anyone else who wants to do this who hasn’t already done it.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

HypMic 7 - 9 | Maou-jou 5 - 6 | Akudama Drive 6 - 8 | I7 s2 6 - 9 | Taiso Samurai 5 - 6

HypMic 7

I will never not laugh at the content advisory, haha.

I like Kazuha already. Too bad he’s probably evil…

Oh, is it the day of the DRB in the series already…? Or maybe, because it’s the qualifiers, BB and MTC’s match is on a different day to FP and MTR’s.

Oh? Does Tom know Jakurai well enough to call him “Jakurai-sensei”? (<- middle ground between “Jinguji-sensei/Sensei” and “Jakurai”) Also, Tom uses “ore”.

Ooh, Iris is a motorbike rider, eh? Interesting. I thought they (<- not sure if Iris is a “she” or “he” with a really weird name) were more of a Saburo-type and didn’t bother with things like that, based on their appearance. Update: Someone on Yahoo Answers said based on Iris’s watashi, she is a woman.

Typo fixed! Good job, anime staff! Update: I’m referring to “…darkest hour is just before the down” (sic).

…bukkorosu = “f***in’ slaughter ‘em”. It’s not wrong…it’s just the subbers really like to abuse the F word for MTC. But you knew that already if you got this far…right?

LOL, Ramuda wants to “scratch [Rex’s] back” (figuratively) to…get SNS views? Hahaha.

This Studio Alita is probably a reference to Shinjuku Alta.

Yotsutsuji!!! That was the one big spoiler I got before watching the episode today and I’m so happy I got to see him animated!

(One of) Irihatoma and Degarashi refer to Jakurai as “Jakurai-sensei” as well. Hmm, I never noticed. Update: That’s Degarashi, because Irihatoma speaks to Jakurai alone later this ep.

There’s 50% chance I’m getting this wrong, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kazuha is voiced by a veteran VA…one I already know about.

Doppo calls Kazuha by his first name…That upgrade means their relationship escalated quickly (or this is a quirk of HypMic in general, since I noticed most characters are on first name basis with each other). Also, it’s cute Doppo finally has someone in his corner. No other part of the franchise has one, to my memory. Update: It might actually be “Kazuha-kun”…but I’m still surprised though. Update 2: It’s both, actually.

I’ve listened to the phrase “some random guy” several times from Hifumi’s mouth and all I can figure out is the “yatsu” at the end. (Doesn’t help my ears blocked themselves up again, although it’s less than it used to be.)

Harumi Wharf.

R? On a helicopter landing pad?

…uh oh. I was right when I thought Kazuha was going to be evil. Also, Doppler shift/effect. Update: “Doppler” is clearly a pun on “Doppo”.

Hmm? “Hey, Doppo” from “yaa”…it doesn’t have a name referred in there. It’s a small but odd thing to do. (I remember a professional translator was complaining that people with intermediate Japanese were giving them flak for translating things “wrong”, but what I do here is analysis for my future and edificiation. I’m not here to knock down pro translators’ doors and demand a refund, because I’m trying to go pro to atone for my sins as a scanlator.)

The soundtrack’s slightly sinister tone, plus the fact I figured the culprit well before Doppo did, makes me slightly scared…for MTR.

I realised they skimped on the budget…this “hot off the car chase” line seems more like an MTC line, doesn’t it…?...Yeah, it’s almost word for word for MTC in DRB+. Maybe the subbers rushed and used this translation (this link I put here) rather than their actual lyrics…? I will have to get to the bottom of this. Update: Turns out the translation is slightly different, but…yes, there is reference to a car chase in the start of Shinjuku Style. (Sorry, I don’t know every lyrics of every song off the top of my head.)

…wow, this got really Doppo-centric. I’ve never seen the leader relinquish their position when it comes to “leading into battle” before. It just goes to show the staff really do pay attention to how popular Doppo is.

Note “Doppo” means “walk alone”, roughly speaking, hence the “solitary” line.

This song is very, very faithful to its original lyrics, because I was trying to look at Hifumi’s “mixing paint” line and it pretty much matches.

Hifumi’s “my men”, LOL.

Kazuha = “one leaf”, hence the “leaves” in one of Jakurai’s lines.

I cringe every time I hear screaming coming from this episode, y’know…?

…oh dear. MTC’s plot actually bled into MTR’s.

I already knew from browsing Twitter earlier today that Kizuna was going to become FP’s today, but hearing it is another matter entirely.

Kosuke Miyoshi is Kazuha. Apparently, this guy also voiced Mashirao Ojiro (the tail guy) from BnHA, but that’s his only major role…so I was right in that I knew him, but wrong in that he was, again, a relative rookie in comparison to most.

Apparently FP’s sign is a peace sign sideways to represent an F, but…it’s just a sideways peace sign to me…

…how is Dice’s bead ornament attached to him? Is it on his hair, on his ear, on the skin behind his ear…? I was trying to replicate his outfit and got stuck on how to represent it, so I ended up opting for trying (and failing) to do a small braid on the right side.

IWGP shows up this season…it’s the song with the “hoo!” noise BB perform in this episode.

LOL, “Dead men tell no tales” is a perfect saying for MTC.

Akudama 6

Is there a movie called “Brother”…? There’s apparently one that’s the plural of that, but not that itself.

If HypMic likes the F bomb, then Akudama like the S word.

I-Is it just me or is the choreography sped up at some points in this episode…? It’s a bit disorienting to come back to.

I thought the kid was a robot…but close enough.

Oh no! Why does the teacher always have to die for the student to become stronger???

Kairaku/shugi -> pleasure/doctrine (if I didn’t somehow misunderstand the shark’s kanji combo),

The part after the ED looks a little too long…keep watching.

The Japanese says “Lost Children”, but the English says “The City of Lost Children”, probably referring to this French sci-fi film.

I7 s2 6

I like how Gaku is taking special offence to Yamato’s comments about him being a playboy.

Re:vale-san. I never noticed until now.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” That’s how I would translate Tsumugi’s “I’m already excited”.

“…who could possibly complain?” – I think Mitsuki might.

The pun in the MEZZO show is that tai (group/squad) sounds the same as tai (want to ~). Rabbinsta is obviously Instagram + Rabbit (Chat?).

Oh my gosh! It’s the Yotsuba sister!

Mitsuki’s shopping trip OST is nice, man. This piano.

This episode has a really great sense of danger and foreboding for the future.

I7 s2 7

Perfection Gimmick. Never heard it in the anime before.

Even the ramen house’s name is a play on “Idolish7”.

LOL, Yamato sure turned that comment around.

The sign talking about beer says something about coupons below it. (It went by too fast and my CR app’s kinda fiddly, so I can’t really go back…)

Kimi to Ai na Night (pun on Idolish7, aka “AiNana”, again).

Mitsuki, no one hates you! You’re just imagining it all!

I7 s2 8

Momo hugely resembles Sasara, right down to the highlights on the hair…

“…you’re so handsome…” – I’m dying on the inside here, people! *laps up the BL pandering with a derpy smile on my face*

Banri and Tsumugi haven’t been focussed on lately…they’re clearly doing something regarding Banri’s ties with Re:vale, but I can’t quite figure out what that “something” is.

Why is there a basketball and a football in the back of the Takanashi office…?

Please don’t run in heels, Tsumugi…

“I love Idolish7!” - Ah, despite my quibbles, Tsumugi is good after all.

“making one’s best exertions” – Why do those words on the cup worry me a bit…?

Isn’t “I’m watching you” a creepy statement…?

Apparently Tamaki’s symbol is mp (mezzo pianissimo), hence Sougo’s words.

…my gosh! Aya’s foster father is Kujou?!

I7 s2 9

If I heard it right, Tenn’s line was “I can be your idol”, not “your prince”.

“Older Izumi” - …ah, poor Mitsuki.

“Damn you, sexy beast…” – LOL!

…aw, I think this is the first time my heart has been lightened by Tsunashi’s laugh. He’s a good boy.

The chibis…I’m still trying to get used to them…

As a song once said, “You can’t please everyone so you just gotta please yourself.” (Blah blah blah, something about garden parties…)

Takao what now???...okay, Takao Dayuu.

…You’re lucky that wasn’t Tenn doing Takao Dayuu. It would’ve been very “Gentaro does his courtesan voice” if it was.

Nagi doesn’t overpronounce things as much in this season. It’s…pleasant, actually. Give me more of that.

Nagi’s “Oh my god!” was hilarious.

Taiso 5

Ra (ら) and ro (ろ) look kinda similar in hiragana.

Even without the audio, I can guess the words were “yarubeki koto” (things you should do) -> shachihoko.

The texts are written in gyaru-moji. Gyaru-moji is basically indecipherable to anyone who doesn’t know how it works – kind of like the common teen vernacular, to be honest (LOL…?) – and so the subs actually kind of ruin the confusingness of it all, but they did slightly better when they went “UR”.

Movie shiritori! But…has it really been half a year since Leo started? I feel slightly robbed about that plotline with the Men in Black right now…(then again, HypMic is just as bad about important plotlines, if not worse, so…I’m going to be patient and not complain.)

July 5th…Rei is a Cancer…?

They’re…finally moving on this Men in Black plotline! I only complained two points ago! Thank you, staff, for listening to my complaints (…?).

Moon Land finished recently, so I wonder if I’ll lose interest in this anime from here on out…? There was a Pommel Horse Prince in that.

Moon Land taught me that gymnastics has a lot of skills named after their creators, much like the Aragaki previously. The score is out of 10 for both D (difficulty) and E (execution), meaning a 20 is the best you can do, but the judges can get really picky...

The word for “vault” literally means “leaping/jumping horse”…makes sense.

Some of these names are names I’m familiar with from Moon Land already…but I never remember what the skills look like.

…welp, Leo just proved he really is a ninja after all.

Dr Stone’s s2 had its ED announced to be “Koe?” by Hatena and “Yume?” here really makes a theme…does Hatena give all their song titles question marks on the end?

Taiso 6

Colour gangs? Like in IWGP?

It’s nice to see they’re (Jotaro and Rei) communicating properly for the first time in possibly this entire anime.

On the wall, that thing is an evacuation map…of some sort.

…I’ve always wondered: if a bird eats chicken, does that count as cannibalism?

This is like thw Makkachin incident all over again (in YoI).

“…there’s no reason for you to grin and bear it.”

…Leo and Jotaro, both are so dense! Boys *shakes head*.

BB? More like ET (LOL)!

Maou-jou 5

…I didn’t even notice the cast was all dudes bar the princess at this point.

Tatakau Onnatachi. It could mean “fighting women” or “female warriors”.

I’m still vaguely pissed that Kirito is here under my nose…darn Demon King!!!

One of the harpy’s recent worries was that she wanted to become friends with the princess…That’s kinda cute…

Didn’t Syalis already get the coffin that one time? Or did it get confiscated?

*eyes sparkle* Cloud…I’d like to sleep on a cloud…*dreamy look on face* Cloud.

This is basically Princess, ‘Tis Time for Torture in reverse.

Is it “make do” or “make due”…?

I don’t think I need to explain the joke where the harpy is happy.

Gendo pose!

I wonder if the bed or the sheets will talk to her (Syalis) someday?

Maou-jou 6

The New Gearbolt’s quote is “guruguru dokkan”, which is just a bunch of sound effects. It would translate to something like “whir-whir-thud”.

Underwear episodes are some of the worst episodes ever…they’re so juvenile…I dropped at least one series based on the underwear episode alone.

Ah! The seal on the ice monster’s shoulder! Too cute!

How can a mechanical princess mecha (…thing?) have worries?

LOL, never underestimate the hilarity of the teddy demons ganging up on the Demon King.

I like how the Japanese pointed out the demons only moved the princess.

HypMic 8

I thought the robberies were Kazuha’s doing…? Or is this a separate case?

Samatoki answering his phone with his feet up…LOL, there’s just something funny about it. It shows he’s just so badass, he can get away with it.

Riou’s hacking (?) skills come to the fore again. (Or is that listening to enemy intel?)

Ooh, Iris is sassy. I love her already.

…er, Samatoki? Blowing cigarette smoke into Jyuto’s face is just rude…

“…don’t hang up your gloves.” – Considering Jyuto has his red gloves…LOL.

What the heck is that backing track when the 2nd car moved out? That’s a cool track.

Ah! Iris is a Saburo-type…LOL, Saburo’s fake identity.

“a cop who’s in with the yakuza” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki.

For a guy who was only just in the water, Riou doesn’t even look wet.

“2 DIE 4” – Hmm? So did the anime staff know what Riou’s 2nd round song title was at the time…? Update: Judging by the name “Requiem” dropped in the next episode, I would say yes.

“…f*** the police…” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki. X2

Hmm? In Riou’s rap bit near the end, he goes “mad warrior” and that rhymes (in a very loose way of speaking) with “Mad Trigger”. The English didn’t keep that.

I remember seeing a spoiler which said that line (the one about slaves)…but seriously, Jyuto is such a “sexy revenge cop” (as someone once said – I think it might be Slug, or an anon to Slug) that literally nothing else seems to matter about him.

Why do they subtitle the laughing??? I still have no idea.

“Sgt. Iruma”? The guy just says “Iruma-san”. Is he a sergant or some other rank? Update: Yes. (As in, he is a sergant.)

I’ve never actually seen Ramuda sleep in a bed before, come to think of it. Does he not have a bed?

I would assume Gentaro is going…but he said he won’t be going, then negated that and then negated it again. Unless the 2nd time was him admitting it was a lie the first time…is he going or not???

“shinsetsu no human” – (Spoilers for later on/manga)…Yes, that’s actually what Ramuda says. It’s as if Ramuda subtly admits, right there, he isn’t human.

Nodo = throat…If this were translated more literally, it would sound pretty clunky.

“…rappa no inochi…paa!” – Yep, the subbers got the gist of the joke there.

Dice is basically a worm at this point…He’s squirming like one, anyway.

That “number of pips facing up” thing has got to be foreshadowing for something, y’know? Nothing in a story ever goes to waste. Also, it’s likely the dice are weighted or something…

…yep, there you go.

That voice Gentaro used for “I despise lies” was amusing…because it’s so different to his normal voice, and because Gentaro is a serial liar.

The 2nd song…which I already know is called “JACKPOT” from browsing Twitter earlier today…was a bunch of fun.

Udagawacho.

Hmm…emphasis on the candy. I wonder what that means? (<- already knows, I just want to keep it a secret from you, dear reader, if you don’t know it too)

ANIME SHOP is so clearly a pun on Animate, including the colours, that I can’t even…LOL.

FP’s Kizuna sounds distinctly different to the others…probably because of Ramuda. It’s mostly Ramuda carrying the tune there.

“Life is what you make it.” – Hmm, an interesting quote for sure.

HypMic 9

…welp, they don’t call it Fling Posse for nothin’.

I didn’t believe my ears, so I went and listened to it again. Sure enough, Ichiro calls Jakurai -san, not -sensei.

Ramuda’s normal voice! Things are getting serious~!

“Hifuming”? Is that a deliberate choice on the translators’ part? Or is it a mishearing?

…I’m laughing at how Samatoki called Ichiro a “hypocritical piece of s***”. I know the “s***” part is correct at minimum from the audio.

I believe Samatoki said -san, not -sama when he asked for an honorific. Hmm, interesting.

I knew this would get animated, but…I still can’t believe I’m watching it! Amazing…absolutely amazing.

If you’re wondering…yes, that long thing is her entire title and name. It’s said the name “Kadenokouji” is the longest Japanese surname in existence.

I remember reading a tweet earlier today that said somebody wanted “Altercation! Altercation! Altercation!” as a song title…and now I LOL, because the subbers made Gentaro say the exact same word.

Hmm…I only just noticed BB are the only ones with bags. They probably came last, but who took the others’ bags into Chuoku…? Update: Some of the others did have bags, I just never spotted them. For instance, Riou is carrying a large black rectangular bag, but Samatoki and Jyuto don’t have any. Jakurai has the bag from his TDD days.

The 2nd DRB brackets got announced today. BB vs DH, MTR vs BAT, FP vs MTC, rolling out across Japan (and Japan only due to COVID) in 2021.

“What happened between you and him?” - I was going “who?” in Cantonese (as I sometimes do), but turns out they’re just referring to Samatoki.

This is exactly as it played out in the drama tracks and manga…exactly what I was waiting for all this time! So good, dangit!

LOL, in the future, we will have camera drones working our concerts like they do in the DRBs…I think (?)

I wonder what Dice is thinking right now, seeing Otome on the screen…hmm…

…gah! Airhorn! Airhorn to the ears! *tilts to side due to sound*

I still kind of remember Slug’s take on the final battle…”The popo? More like the poopoo!” (or something like that). *sniggers*

The little barking bit after Jiro’s verse was…kinda cute, actually.

…ow, these are some burn-ass words. See? This is the power of the DRB!

…eh? Riou’s mic has his MC name on it. Don’t think I’ve seen that in any other part of the series.

Hoh, Riou even made references to Saburo’s character songs.

You can see “Hc” on Samatoki’s mic too…probably another case of his MC name, but partially obscured by his hand.

Aw, “Samatoki no sabaku toki” is a good lyric. Why couldn’t you try to keep that, instead of translating it literally to “judgement day for Samatoki”?

You can hear a thumping beat in the background when Samatoki prepares himself. That seems to be a similar way to how ARB treats this stuff.

“I’m THE Samatoki” – “Samatoki-sama da”.

I think it was really cool to show Samatoki handing the song over to Riou, but it also indicates there’s a disjunct in the lyrics that would cause such a thing. From this, maybe Riou is MTC’s weak link…?

Skeletons with katanas! Is that not cool?!?

…hey, that joined words thing Ichiro does…I would assume that’s what Rhyme Strike looks like in the HypMic universe?

Notice Samatoki took the word “signal” from Ichiro’s part and put it into his own one.

“Today is a good day to die.” – *eyes bulge* Oh…gosh. What a quote. Update: Someone theorised Ichijiku wrote these titles (the last 2), but someone else – like me – theorised this quote was what FP and M fans thought for this battle.

Akudama 7

…that’s one twisted kid.

Never threaten to kill a kid who can regenerate far better than you, Hoodlum.

Brawler is still in the OP…it’s kind of saddening to see him now.

I noticed a certain character appears on the Executioners’ hands if you pause at the right moment in the OP. It’s the first character in shori (management).

Bunny: set meal/Shark: roasted meat (yakiniku)

…This sounds a heck of a lot like the genbaku dome (Hiroshima Peace Park).

Bunny and Shark’s shirts together: Idiot -> Shark: Bone

Actually, this also reminds me of the Osaka Expo held in 1970. I loved writing about that event – it was just so fun to write about.

This anime is like Appare-Ranman’s sequel, except without the racing and crazy racial stereotypes (although there are still crazy stereotypes).

…whoa! This scene is going on the end of year list for sure. Just…have to remember this scene, where all the children disappeared, exists.

…”The City of Lost Children” is an apt title for this episode.

(HypMic spoilers!) I wonder if they’ll reveal that Ramuda is a clone in what’s left of the HypMic anime?

…oof, Doctor’s a filthy traitor!

Rule number 1 of fighting: never yell out “Smokescreen!” when the smokescreen is meant to cover you.

…LOL, dark censorship bar. Please wait for the Blu-Rays to see this scene uncensored.

What the heck?! The countdown went from 7 to 0 so fast!

Akudama 8

Black Rain, huh? *checks* It’s a movie about a pair of New York policemen who have to save a Japanese gangster from his death.

…don’t jinx it, Swindler!

Your brother isn’t on the moon, Sister. It’s just your dreams on there.

Notice “Neo Lake Biwa” actually has “Reiku” in its name, as opposed to, say, “mizuumi” or “ike” (the Japanese equivalent).

You can still see where Doctor stitched herself up.

What did Doctor “hold on to”?

Way to monologue through the whole morality thing… (<- not as satisfied as they would like from this scene)

I wonder if the seal is electronically tracked…

Tsubo = pot, vase…*thinks about drugs* (Not that pot.)

“…I’ll make you into a real man.” – More like a eunuch, LOL. (partially sarcastic)

I recall from Sarazanmai that “pair look” is the term for “twinsies” in Japanese.

Oh! Swindler kind of looks like the Executioner Boss now.

…I find it ironic that Swindler had long hair up until not too long ago.

Can to the eye! Ouch! That’s gotta be worse than a lightsaber…er, jitte to the eye!

This makes me wonder…was Courier a rich kid once…?

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 18: 1x15 Shore Leave

Shore Leave tonight! Because I need it. I had a lot of thoughts on this because it’s so ridiculous and wonderful.

That planet looks like a giant green screen. Which is appropriate.

I could watch this back rub scene on a loop all day. Fellas, is it gay to want your First Officer to really dig it in there?

Captain going to his quarters to work from home today.

Oh-ho, what is this, the little seen Sulu & McCoy dynamic.

Plant nerd Sulu wants information on all the greenery.

That rabbit is so great. Fun fact I had an LJ icon with that rabbit back in the day.

Honestly this is such a great concept for an episode. Like I don’t have any really deep notes or feelings about it but both as a sci fi idea (a very high-tech ‘amusement planet’ that uses unseen machines that can read your thoughts to manufacture delightful things for you) and an entertaining yarn, it’s so good. I also think the characters are really on point.

It’s so good that Theodore Sturgeon could put that back rub scene in there and no one even noticed.

“Stardate.... something.....uh, point three.” I laughed, I really did. Stardates do not and never have made sense and I like that even Kirk is so tired at this point he’s like “yeah whatever.” Mood, Sir.

Kirk is canonically a workaholic. He’s the kind of guy who checks his email on vacation. Who answers emails at 11pm. With his husband next to him like to rest is to rest jim!!!

“On my planet, to rest is to rest.”

Kirk thinks he’s so cute. He’s looking really handsome today himself, but Kirk always looks at his best when he’s got his heart eyes face on.

“A crewman’s rights end where the ship’s safety begins.” We need that on a poster today in 2020 for Reasons.

Love how unamused Kirk is and how amused Spock is. Ya got played, son!

Oh, look, it’s a random gun. Too bad Chekov’s not here to claim it. (He’d love this planet btw.)

YFIP: Captain Kirk. Cancels shore leave mere minutes before it’s supposed to start.

Gunshots!! Sulu found the gun! And he’s so excited! And then Kirk takes it away like the Mean Dad he is.

One thing I wonder about this planet is at what point do the objects, people, etc. cease to exist. Do they just eventually wander back to the trapdoors and.... get recycled? Do they have this built in? Is that not... weird? Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: Shore Leave. And do the inanimate objects have to be returned?

I love this Kirk Academy back story and we were robbed--ROBBED--of it in AOS, fight me on this. “I was downright grim.” Bullied by an upperclassman?? Who liked playing dumbass pranks?? Sounds like enemies to lovers, slowburn, 20k, to me.

Love how absolutely deranged Finnegan is though.

Yeoman Barrows’ rape fantasy.

Kirk stops to a pick a flower! To romantic music!! He is so soft and I love him byeeeeeeeee.

And then the flower reminds him of his Academy girlfriend Ruth. Who is uh obviously played by a woman in her 30s and yet hasn’t aged a day in 15 years so 19 year old Kirk with an older lady y/y?

Love his confused face while she’s kissing him though.

He’s so dazed as he calls McCoy and then just kinda... gives up lol.

Bones, too busy flirting to remember the white rabbit he’s supposed to be chasing. Don’t say “a whole army of Don Juans”!!!

His eyeshadow is also on point today. He’s so shameless, trying to not-quite-watch her as she changes into the Princess Costume. No one ever remembers how flirty McCoy is but he IS.

Oh look, a big kitty!!! Very beautiful and nice.

Sulu lol, just casually thinking of samurai. Bet he wishes he still had that gun now.

Spock having a hard time beaming down reminds me of that meme “Now I will always be a child of two worlds.”

Spock’s thought process is hilarious. “Our transporters were about to stop working so I thought, hey, how about I strand myself too--just to be with you, Jim.”

McCoy and Barrows holding hands.

They’re supposed to spread out but Kirk and Spock go together obviously.

Oh no, the knight! I’m sure Kirk told Spock not to shoot bc he knew his phaser didn’t work but it still looks like ‘I got this baby.’

There’s no one to say “He’s dead Jim.” :(

Barrows shouldn’t feel guilty; it was Bones’s fault for conjuring the knight in the first place by saying the word “knight.”

Lol can’t Sulu run the tricorder? Like the obviousness with which they switch out Sulu and Spock so K and S can have their moment is... Something.

“Are you saying that this is a plant, Mr. Spock?”

Lol just poking the dummy in the face.

“Funny air vehicles.” Don’t have planes in the 24th century I guess?

Don’t say strafing run!!

When Kirk thinks of the Academy, he thinks of Finnegan first apparently. And now begins an incredibly long fight sequence. I actually like the TOS fights in general quite a bit because they’re SO choreographed. So for me they are more fun than fights now, which are such a mess I don’t even know what I’m looking at. But even so--this one is VERY long.

And VERY homoerotic.

“Jim baby.” “Sweet Jimmy boy.” Resting on top of that cliff in a ‘draw me like one of your French girls’ pose. Kirk’s shirt just like.... REALLY randomly ripping right the hell off.

“You couldn’t find your head with both hands.” ???

I love this Irish tune. Apparently this was the first ep this composer worked for and I think he did a really good job all around! I rarely notice music but I did in this one and always in a good way.

Spock’s makeup is great as usual. He and Kirk are on the same expository wavelength.

Spock, don’t say the word “tiger”! You can clearly see it is on a leash lol. Lots of gratuitous touching as Kirk and Spock run away. My mom and I agree that Spock liked the tiger, though. He does like cats and big animals like iChaya.

All the crewman line up except for Angela. Really dropping the ball there.

Love how the amusement park manager shows up just after Kirk told everyone not to think about anything. “Okay, who imagined the man in green robes?”

Spock’s posture and expression.... so good. He clearly loves the idea of an amusement park, and, given that he describes it as a place with “many fascinating things” to do/see, I think he would, canonically, love it.

“The more complex the mind, the greater need for the simplicity of play.”

 THE MUSIC WHEN MCCOY SHOWS UP WITH THE GIRLS OMG.

He’s such a slut. One whole love interest plus TWO imaginary showgirls? Tone it down Mister.

I can’t believe one of the girls goes to Spock. He’s like “What do I do with this?” Then hands her off to Sulu because Rodriguez is already helping Angela move on from her dead husband. So now Sulu gets two ladies.

Spock doesn’t need any more shore leave, because he got to spend some time with Kirk, solve a mystery, and see a tiger. That’s all the fun he needs!

The last scene was pretty unnecessary (except that I guess without it, it kinda looks like Kirk is just...leaving the Enterprise for his old girlfriend lol) but at least we get the awkward implication that Kirk, McCoy, and Sulu had a lot of sex, and some random fake laughter.

(Sulu absolutely canonically had a threesome.)

Next up is the Galileo Seven, a Classic TM Spock (and Spock & McCoy) episode.

[rwby-nwbe]

Hello Again!

I know I'm probably jumping the gun a bit, but I'm not an entire newbie to RWBY. It's just my first time running through the series properly.

Why do I bring this up? I uhh... might have already given myself a Semblance and a weapon?

I mean, anyone who's payed any attention to my blog has seen my weapon before, but as for my Semblance... well, then there's also something else I need to address.

Meet Mathewton... and Noilimrev

In case you need a refresher, I'm Mathewton, your standard unorthodox internet nerd and the guy on the left. As you can see, I'm not that impressive. You may be wondering who the guy on my right is. Well, that's Noilimrev Mathewton, but he goes by Rev for short. And before you ask:

Yes, I am aware that his last name is Mathewton. I wasn't in a creative mood at the time, but then I got attached to the name, so it stays.

You probably figured by now that Rev and I share a lot of physical resemblance. Well, let's just say that I was doing a lot of, erm... self-projecting when I was conceptualizing his character.

If you haven't realized by now, there is actually a reason why Rev's actual name is so weird, aside from this being RWBY, where nothing has to make sense so long as it isn't too outlandish. In this case, "Noilimrev" is Vermilion, which is another word for red, in reverse. See where I was going with this?

I won't reveal too much about Rev for now, but as for why he exists? Well...

Noilimrev Mathewton.

Noilimrev. Mathewton.

N.

NWBE.

The whole NWBE thing was meant to just be a fun little joke with RWBY's trademark acronym play, but then my brain went down several rabbit holes and, uh... now Team NWBE is a thing?

Well, will be a thing. Still sketching out the rest of the team... But enough of my rambling. It's about time I told you guys about my... well, OUR... Semblance.

And surprise, it doesn't look like much. Okay, that's probably because it's just a still image. In actuality, our Semblance, Maxstat, is probably on the better end of Semblances, at least in combat terms. Aside from giving off a really cool red glow (and in Rev's case, giving his dye job a surprising glow up), Maxstat increases the user's speed and stamina (aka defense). The kicker is that it does NOT increase strength. You basically become a super speedy iron wall when you use it.

However, the Semblance doesn't make the user invincible. If the user's Aura gets hit with an attack that normally would OHKO their Aura, their Aura won't break, but the Semblance will, and if the Semblance isn't back up in time, a strong enough attack will shatter their Aura. What's more, if a Maxstat user loses their heightened defense, they lose their super speed, too, so even if you can tank through attacks, it isn't always well advised...

Rev tries not to rely on his Semblance too much, anyway, so this wouldn't be a problem for him unless it's a desperate situation. And remember, Maxstat doesn't grant super strength, and you also feel EVERY OUNCE OF PAIN you get inflicted with, even if Maxstat negates it. So is the Semblance convenient? Yes. Is it a God-Tier power up? Not by a long shot.

With that lengthy explanation out of the way, let's talk about our weapon. You recognize what it is if you've seen my first post (or the blog header), so without further ado...

Heh... Blood Lion... I'm clever...

So, in essence, Sangre León is one hell of a combat staff. It can be split into dual batons, and is also equipped with concealed knives and multi-use prongs. By default, the knives are encased in fire dust, and lightning dust is used with the prongs to create tasers. Naturally, however, it can use all kinds of dust for either of these weapons, though that's a story for another time.

Either way, Rev or myself can use Sangre León as a standard whacking stick if we're in the mood. There's also the option of creating a dual bladed baton (or a one bladed naginata if we're in a samurai kind of mood). If you spin around the staff's batons to where the prongs are facing outward, you got yourself the world's most dangerous blaster!

Oh yeah. I should probably mention that because Sangre León doesn't have a standard gun mechanism like other RWBY weapons, it utilizes projectile combat in the form of thin shockwaves from the knives, or concentrated blasts from the prongs. We can't be close combat ALL the time.

Sangre León also has other niche capabilities, but I'll just leave it at that for now. If I actually had Sangre León, I'd need some time to learn how to actually use it, since I'm not proficient in any form of weaponry. Rev, on the other hand, has spent years learning and improving Sangre León to it's current state, so...

...yeah. Just don't square up to him in the middle of the night at a Denny's parking lot.

Welp, I'm just about finished rambling. Thank you for indulging me! Hopefully you'll get to see more of Rev and the other members of Team NWBE soon. Take care!

-Mathewton, the RWBY Newbie (15 March 2020)

[jacscorner]

Quick Review of Super Sentai Shows

I haven't seen a lot of Toku shows, but I've always wanted to get me thoughts out on them. I've seen every Sentai show starting from Gokaiger and after. Even though that's not a lot, these are still gonna be kind of long, so I'll tackle Kamen Rider shows at a later date. Each of these 'reviews' will be a paragraph or two in length, a quick few sentences on each Ranger, and will have a letter grade after it. Maybe someday, I'll go into greater detail, but just not today. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: My opinion on Gokaiger might be a little bias, but this is my favorite series. Gokaiger follows the adventures of a band of pirates as they look for a treasure that can only be found on Earth. Meanwhile, the Earth is being invaded by a Space Empire that has, in one way or the other, screwed them all over. This draws them into the battle as they fight to protect the Earth in order to protect the treasure, slowly growing to like the Earth as we get cameos and guest stars of previous Rangers-I might not be familiar with much of them since I've hardly seen much of the older shows, but I do love the crash course on Sentai Teams. The main gimmick of the show is the ranger's ability to transform into the rangers of previous shows, but when in their main suits, Blue and Green trade their gun and sword respectively to duel wield, Yellow and Pink also pull this. Gokai Red, Captain Marvelous: The fact that might just be his real name is hilarious. Probably, in my biased opinion, the most badass pirate n fictional history and best ranger so far. Gokai Blue, Blue: Cool guy and his personal arc is awesome. Also, there's an episode when he SOMEHOW holds five swords. Suck it, Zoro. Gokai Yellow, Luka: Wannabe Nami from One Piece, but she's still pretty cool. Gokai Green, Doc: Team smart guy and is probably the funniest character. He trips and falls around in the fights and although his own arcs are pretty petty, he's still enjoyable. Gokai Pink, Ahim: A Princess who's both Team Heart and team badass. Thankfully no 'princess laugh' Gokai Silver, Guy: 6th Ranger and a literal Super Sentai fanboy, complete with an autograph book and it's really funny. Gets his own powerup form that's kind of lame, but his gimmick is to transform into other 6th Rangers. Grade: A+ Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters: FBI agents fight Hackers. Okay, no, not quite that: a science institute is dragged into Cyberspace-I mean Hyperspace, with the only ones able to escape being 3 kids. These 3 kids grow up to become the Go-Busters. This is a super serious series-well, as series as these shows can get-and it's everything I could've asked for. Unfortunately, that was also kind of the problem. Anyway, they fight machines that have been infected with a virus by a homicidal computer avatar-even though a lot of these robots are made from machines that aren't electronic in nature. Go-Busters gave the feeling that there was a lot of good ideas going into this, but they weren't taken far enough. Each of the 3 main Go-Busters get a robot partner that is both a helpful side character AND helps them pilot their respective mech. Each of the Go-Busters also has a superpower due to being absorbed into Hyperspace, and a computer-based weakness. Red Buster, Hiromu: The most skilled member of the group, as well as the most socially inept. His super power is to run at super speed, and his weakness is to freeze up...but only when he sees or hears a 'chicken'. His partner, Cheeda Nick, is a humanoid robot that turns into a motorcycle and acts as Hiomu's older brother. Yellow Buster, Yoko: A hotheaded tomboy. Her special power is super-high jumping, and weakness is needing to keep the calories coming-AKA, needing her battery charged. Her partner, Usada Lettuce, is a rabbit-themed robot that part times act as a best friend and part time a nagging parent. Blue Buster, Ryuji: The oldest of the group and the one who has to keep Hiromu and Yoko from pulling each other's hair out. His super power is super strength, but his weakness is overexerting himself-overheating. In which case, he goes berserk and could destroy himself. His partner, Gorisaki Banana, is a gorilla-themed robot that is a doting, overbearing parent 24/7. Beet Buster, Jin: A super genius who was trapped in Hyperspace. He appears as a digital avatar that's remote-controlled by the real Jin who's still trapped. He really lived up this dry show by being funny and he even has a good arc. Unlike the previous 3, his mechs can be piloted without his robot partner. Stag Buster, Beet J. Stag: A humanoid robot that acts as Jin's partner. Unlike the other robots, he actively joins in the fight and is also funny. He constantly steps in front of people and interrupt them while talking. When transforming, it looks like excess parts from him form into Jin's suit, but this could just be cosmetic. Grade: C- Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: According to this show, during the age of dinosaurs, Aliens invaded and tried to take over the Earth, but the Dinosaurs beat them. To get revenge, they caused the ice age. But team mentor, Torin, stored their souls so they could be used again to fight the aliens-as oppose to using them for the other aliens who've surely came from other shows.  Anyway, cut to modern times when the aliens come back and the souls of the dinosaurs must find new wielders of their power to defend the planet. This is the typical goofy nature you should expect from these shows. Each Ranger uses a gun to transform, to fight, and get their own special weapon. Also, a bunch of smaller dinosaur batteries that can turn into upgrades and other tools. Kyoryu Red, 'King': Or Daigo, but almost everyone calls him King. The Fanged Hero who's a hotheaded shonen protagonist-get use to me saying that. His dinosaur is a Tyrannosaurus-because of course it is. If you've seen the last 3 Dinosaur-themed heroes, you should've known. Kyoryu Blue, Nobuharu: Or Nossan. The Armored Hero is literally the best character in this show. He tells bad puns and is a middle aged handyman who helps take care of his niece with his sister. His spirit is a Stegosaurus. Kyoryu Green, Souji: The Slashing Hero, a high school student who studies swordplay from his father, who runs a dojo. His dinosaur is a Velociraptor. Kyoryu Pink, Amy: The Horned Heroine, a high-class sophisticate who is always trying to get away from her fortune and be normal.  Her dinosaur is a Triceratops. Kyoryu Black, Ian: The Bullet Hero, European archaeologist-in the same sense of Indiana Jones, just replace the whip with a gun-who's also a playboy. He gets his own arc with one of the main antagonists. His dinosaur is a Parasaurolophus. Kyoryu Gold, Utsusemimaru: Or just Uchii. The Thunderous Hero is a feudal era Samurai who survived due to one of the main antagonist, Dogold(a living set of armor) taking his body. They have a constant rivalry that is pretty awesome to watch. His dinosaur is a Pteranodon. The next couple of rangers are mostly suplimentary. They won't appear as often as the main team, if at all. Kyoryu Cyan, Ramirez: Another person from an unspecified part of Europe. The Steel Hero is a jolly guy who SOMEHOW slims down when he transforms. He's actually a spirit who assists the rangers from beyond the grave. His dinosaur is a Ankylosaurus. Kyoryu Gray, Tessai: A Chinese Martial Artist and another Spirit. A disciplined warrior. His dinosaur is a Pachycephalosaurus. Kyoryu Violet, Dr. Ulshade: The Marine Hero, an old man scientist who originally built the heroes their transforming gun. He retires from hero duty and his granddaughter, Yayoi, takes after him-both as a scientist and as the Marinte Heroine. Their dinosaur is a Plesiosaurus. Kyoryu Silver, Torin: Torin is actually a defector from the invaders and eventually becomes a ranger himself. His dinosaur should be himself since he's a bird, but no, it's a Deinonychus. Grade: B+ Ressha Sentai ToQger: Thomas the Tank Engine. Okay, no. ToQger follows a group of childhood friends as they find themselves on the Rainbow Line, a train powered by children's imagination. With the Rainbow Line in danger by their counterpart, but the Shadow Line, who's goal is to cover the world in darkness, the ToQger uses their imagination to, well, imagine themselves as rangers to fight the Shadow Line. This series is a mix of a comedy and a drama, slowly growing darker and darker into a rather somber show. It's still a how focused on the power of friendship, but it's kind of deep. The Ranger gimmick this time, aside from trains, is that they switch their colors, and weapons, with each other. ToQ 1gou, Right: The energetic leader of the show, another Shonen-ish main Red. The most imaginative and childish of the group. ToQ 2gou, Tokatti: A Blue klutz, but he has a few endearing moments. ToQ 3gou, Mio: A no-nonsense Yellow ranger. ToQ 4gou, Hikari: The real lancer of this series and the Green Ranger. Is equal to Right, but is also his total opposite. ToQ 5gou, Kagura: The least skilled out of the group, but she's the most imaginative. And here, that's a big deal! ToQ 6gou, Akira: A defect of the Shadow Line, who joined the Rainbow Line to 'protect the rainbow'-cause you can't have a rainbow if the world is in darkness. Best ranger of the series. Grade: B Shuriken Sentai Ninninger: Naruto Sentai! No. Ninninger follows the adventures of five Grandchildren of an incredibly powerful ninja, the Hoka-I mean, the Last Ninja. They fight an army of demons-literally-who were sealed away by the Last Ninja himself. They're heralded by his former student, Izayoi, who aims to collect the 'Power of Fear' in order to resurect the Demon Leader. The monsters are created by Sealing Shuriken, which was what was used to seal him away, and infusing it with his demonic magic, transforming inanimate objects into demons-kind of like how a lot of Japanese Demons, 'Yokai', are made up of inanimate objects. Meanwhile, the ninjas are able to use ninjitsu, literal ninja magic, with the use of special shuriken. Ninninger has a lot going on with its story, to the point where it can feel like there's too much going on. The Wild Brilliance-Aka Ninger, Takaharu: Another Shonen-ish protagonist. He's the red ninja. The Rumbling Cloud-Ao Ninger, Yakumo: The blue ranger, team lancer who grew up in England...and apparntly went to Hogwarts since he can cast normal magic with a wand. The Dazzling Stillness-Ki Ninger, Nagi: Yellow Ranger, would rather work at an office then be a ninja. He's...kind of forgetable, honestly. The Flower in the Wind-Shiro Ninger, Fuka: The White Ranger is sister of Takaharu-everyone else, in relationship to the other, are cousins. The least skilled of the group, but she starts getting into her stride later on. The Shimmering Haze-Momo Ninger, Kasumi: The Smart Girl and the Pink Ranger. Is the best Ranger in a technical sense, since she's easily the smartest member of the team in terms of ninjitsu and is an aspiring scientist. The Shinning Star-Star Ninger, Kinji: An American Ninja/Cowboy...who transforms with a little cheeseburger, as oppose to the sword everyone else use. And he fights with a gun/guitar/sword. HE is best Ranger of the series. (He's the 6th Ranger and the only one not related to the main cast). He pursuited being a ninja after being inspired by the Last Ninja. Grade: C Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger: Power Ranger Furries. No. Well, kind of. In an alternate dimmension, there is a land called Zyuland, home of the Zyumans. In universe, a group of anthropomorphic animal. In reality, a bunch of guys a little too enthusiastic in their cosplay. Our Red Ranger, a Zoologist, while studying animals in a forest, stumbles upon a giant cube, a Link Cube, which transports him to Zyuland. Meanwhile, Earth is attacked by a group of intergalactic aliens, the Dethgalien, who are only invading Earth because it's a literal game for them. In fact, they even have this neat arcade them, with monsters getting an 'extra life' with coins. After four Zyuman end up on Earth after it gets damaged, Yamata and the four of them have to fight to protect the Earth, while also trying to find a way home for the Zyumen. The Zyumen transform using Zyuoh Changers, which are cube cellphones. Monarch of the Skies-Zyuoh Eagle, Yamato: Token Human who prior, was given some Zyuenergy from Bard, an Eagle Zyuman who found Yamato while he was young and got into a serious accident. Thanks to that, Yamato is capable of transforming into the Red Ranger, while also getting Eagle wings. He also gets 2 more transformations. Yamato himself is a little less shonen then the previous two guys, with a strong passion for animals. As an Eagle, he can see great distances. Monarch of the Seas-Zyuoh Shark, Sela: The Blue Ranger and a Shark-Woman. She has super hearing and is serious. Her shark dorsal fin can, apparently, cut people. Monarch of the Savannah-Zyuoh Lion, Leo: This Yellow Ranger picks up the slack for Yamato's lack of shonen conventions. A hot blooded, Lion-Man warrior with a sonic scream...er, roar. Also, Lion Claws. Monarch of the Forest-Zyuoh Elephant, Tusk: This studious young man is the Green Ranger. He's studious and straight forward to a fault. He's an Elephant-Man with a super sense of smell. He can also stomp around with Elephant Feet. Monarch of the Snowfield-Zyuoh Tiger, Amu: The White Ranger, the most easy going of the group. She's a Tiger-Woman and have a super sense of taste. She fights with tiger claws. Monarch of the World, Zyuo The World, Misao: He is the best Ranger, period. Kidnapped by the Dethgalien, he gets forcefully infused with 3 other Zyoumen: a Crocodile, Wolf, and Rhino. What makes him the best is his overall arc as a character, being socially inept and fostering some misplaced guilt on the death of the Zyoumen. Grade: B+ Uchu Sentai Kyuranger: The most recent Sentai Series, following a rebellion group in their attempt to overthrow the evil Jark Matter, an organization that has already taken over the entire universe. The universe's last hope are the prophesied Kyuangers, who transform with the use of Kyutamas-little spheres based off of the constellations that they put into wrist-mounted blasters. By the end of the series, there is a grand total of 12 heroes. Unfortunately, this show REALLY loves caste herds AND is still Red centric, so we won't get much in the way of small groups mix and matching, and more so we'll divide the characters into certain groups or they'll have some kind of chemistry, and they won't interact with other people. (Ex. A and B hand out, A and C hang out, but C and B won't hang out.) To add onto that, the last couple of episodes or so really makes the show drag on, as though the writers struggled to write an ending AND reach the episode quota. But, it does give me a lot of 'favorite rangers', so pros and cons. The Super Star-Shishi Red, Lucky: The shonen protagonist to end the all-at least, as far as I've seen. His whole shtick is that he's lucky and sometimes it comes off as a deus ex machina, and other times it's more of in a symbolic  sense, ala "you make your own luck". His constellation is Leo. The Poison Star-Sasori Orange, Stinger: A mysterious lone wolf from a planet of humanoids with Scorpion tails. Speaking of, his constellation is Scorpius. He has a pretty intricate arc involving his brother, as well as with his partner below. The Ring Star-Oushi Black, Champ: A robot wrestling bull. That alone makes him a canidate for best ranger. He also goes through an arc of his alone, as well as one with Stinger. He's as big of a ham as they come, as he seems fully aware of the show he's in. His constellation is Taurus. The Beast Star-Ookami Blue, Garu: An anthropomorphic Wolf who's constellation is, yes, Lupus, the Wolf. He's another hot head who bonds quickly with Lucky. He might be my favorite ranger purely because of just how endearing he can be, like an actual dog. The Trick Star-Tenbin Gold, Balance: A robot-uh, I mean mechanical lifeform/android who's part of a pair of thieves with the guy below. He can control other pieces of machinery. He is flamboyant as all hell and he's so fun to watch. His constellation is Libra. The Silent Star-Hebitsukai Silver: An emotionless alien who has psychic powers. He follows Balance along in the hopes of achieving emotions, something his species has given up on like the Vulcans from Star Trek. His constellation is Ophiuchus, but he acts less like the Serpent Bearer and more like the Serpent itself. The Shinobi Star-Chameleon Green: A freakin' ninja from a suppose planet of ninjas! She's a sassy tomboy with her constellation is Chamaeleon. The Speed Star-Washi Pink, Raptor 283: A lady robot who was built to helm their speceship, the Orion. She's more or less an otaku, but they do their best to make her come cute and not cringey. Her constellation is Aquila. The Food Mei-Star-Kijika Yellow, Spada. A chef who...I guess comes from Space Spain. His constellation is Dorado. The Dragon Ma-Star-Ryu Commander, Commander Shou: The commander of the Kyurangers and the rebellion. He's eccentric and, although as much of a dork as Raptor, is so cool! His arc is early on in the series and it really shows just how great he is. A definite candidate for best ranger! He's an anthropomorphic dragon, so of course, his constellation would be Draco. The Big Star-Koguma Skyblue, Kotaro: A young Earthling-one of two Earthling Tokens-who joins the resistence and even goes through boot camp! His constellation is Ursa Minor. The reason for being the 'Big Star' is because he has a powerup that lets him grow to a giant size! He ends up looking up to Stinger as an older brother figure. The Space Bu-Star-Houou Soldier, Tsurugi: A Kyuranger who was put into cryogenic sleep. He's a haughty bastard, but considering he was the first president of space, he can kind of get away with it.  You'll either learn to love him or learn to tolerate him since he does get better. His constellation is the Phoenix. Grade: B Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger: Cops and Robbers Sentai, the Sentai. Following Kyuranger, the show follows along the 3-way feud between the Lupinrangers, a group of phantom thief-themed sentai, the Patorangers, a group of cop-themed sentai, and the Ganglers, a Mafia-themed batch of villains. The three groups fight over the Lupin Collection, a group of magical McGuffins that were collected by the Phantom Thief Lupin(yes,that one.) The Lupins want them to get a wish. The Pats want them to fight the Ganglers. And the Ganglers want them cause power. The show LOVES the Lupinranger, with the Patoranger getting much less screen time. At the same time, they also get the most character development. Meanwhile, the Lupinranger get the most screen time and the most upgrades and weapons. Lupin Red, Kairi: UNLIKE the last, like, 3 Sentais, Kairi isn't a Shonen Protagonist (OMFG!). He's a confident and suave guy, but it's a front since his wish is to get back his older brother, who was kidnapped by a Gangler-and they weren't on good terms when he was taken. Lupin Blue, Toma: Cool, collected straight guy of the team. His goal is to get back his fiance. Probably the most interesting of the three thieves since his episodes either push him into VERY uncomfortable places for the character, or draws heavily on the memories of said fiance. Lupin Yellow, Umika: Team Little Sister. Her goal is to get back her friend. She has a romantic subplot with Patren 2gou and it's surprisingly interesting. Her episodes are surprisingly rare, at least, to me they felt rare. Patren Ichigou, Keiichiro: Hard boiled, no-nonsense cop. Comes off as an angry cop in the beginning, but is simply trying to uphold justice and protect people. His a rivalry with Lupin Red, but as Keiichiro, becomes a pseudo-older brother to Kairi. Patren Nigo, Sakuya: Bumbling oaf cop. A rookie who wants to prove his worth and struggles with confidence-but when he does get confident, it goes to his head quickly. Is endearing and honest and his episodes revolve around rising to the occasion. Patren Sangou, Tsukasa: Straight man(woman?) cop. Usually the one who has to rein in her other partners. Doesn't get too much attention. Lupin/Patren X, Noel: Double Agent kind of who works with both Lupins and Patrens. Can be kind of obnoxious and feels superfluous to the plot, but is a fun addition to both sides. Grade: A

[yoolee]

Samurai Love BALLET Party - Ai’s Recital

A crack headcanon, because I CAN. By which I mean, I can’t seem to write anything lately, but I can go down weird rabbit holes still, so, why not drag an unwitting tumblr audience down one with me. OKAY. SO. IT IS DRESS REHEARSAL NIGHT for Ai’s first ever ballet recital.

Kenshin et. all have been expressly forbidden by Kanetsugu from attending the actual recital, but have been begrudgingly allowed to come to the final rehearsal on the condition that they behave

Kanetsugu is not actually optimistic regarding odds of success but it’s better than them trying (TRYING being the operative word) to be sneaky and inadvertently destroying opening night

So anyway he is engaged in the age old struggle of First Time Ballet Parent versus the Bobby Pin Bun, doing his best to put Ai’s hair in a bun that can withstand ballet mistress inspection

Ai is stoically and heroically Enduring

(Father doesn’t mean to stab her skull with bobby pins, she knows)

Kanetsugu runs out of bobby pins

With Immense Trepidation, he sends Yoshichi out for more

He would send Kagetsugu, but Kagetsugu is doing Ai’s stage makeup

(Kanetsugu can't he just can't he would cry, mascara is a Bad Word)

Ai thinks it's super cool that Tsugutsugu knows how to do makeup

His sister taught him, and please stop fidgeting unless you want crooked eyeliner

(Kanetsugu grumbles about eyeliner)

Ai sniffs and insists even if it IS crooked she will rock it - but it had better not be, okay? Please?

(Is that a hint of nerves in her voice?)

(NO NEVER but before Kanetsugu can comfort her)

WHOOSH

OH NO

OH YES

A PERFUMED TORNADO OF FLOWER PETALS

(run, run for your lives!)

(no one does, of course, they are either too busy being Confused, or they know exactly what it is and that there is no escape)

Kagetsugu has to stop applying blush because he's sneezing from pollen allergies

Kanetsugu is considering alternate places to stab bobby pins

You were expressly forbidden from coming back stage, Kenshin

Kenshin stands there, hands clasped, eyes shining.

Ignoring Kanetsugu

Of course

(Yoshichi, off on the Great Bobby Pin Quest, is woefully and completely lost)

Ai looks wonderful! Like a princess!

She raises her eyebrow

He amends, a princess that can strike fear into the conquered hearts of her battered foes

Ai smiles

Kageie is still flinging flower petals as he was instructed to do

Please stop flinging flower petals Kageie

He shrugs and wanders off

(Yoshichi has started leaving a trail of bobby pins in hopes he will find his way back)

Kenshin begins unloading presents

A bouquet of roses!

A bouquet of daisies!

A bouquet of roses AND daisies!

A music box!

(Where did Kageie go, anyway?)

A bracelet with ballet slippers!

A wheel of cheese!

A bolt of la--oh my gosh Kenshin stop she hasn't even danced yet

Kenshin wilts

Ai pats his arm and puts a flower in his hair. There, there, don't be sad

Kenshin blooms, clasps her hands, what a wise, kind young soul she is, what grace, what--

Kanetsugu whaps him with a daisy because he is CAUSING TROUBLE go sit in the audience geeze Kenshin

(Yoshichi doesn't know where he is but it smells like hairspray and tulle)

(He nervously tosses more bobby pins in his wake. Someone will find him)

Kenshin floats away

(Flower petals float in his wake)

(Speaking of, seriously where has Kageie gone)

(Kanetsugu thinks maybe he sees a flash of silver hair by the prima ballerina but surely not)

Kagetsugu shrugs and packs up his makeup, except suddenly there is a line waiting for his assistance because oh god have you tried putting on liquid eyeliner on a preteen it's impossible

Kagetsugu looks pained

There are puppy dog eyes

Kagetsugu sighs and unpacks makeup again

Relieved looks all around

(Hotaru has been dutifully following a trail of scattered bobby pins, politely picking them up as he comes across them)

Kagetsugu and Ai are having a (mercifully Kenshin free) pep talk

She is going to do wonderfully

Omg I know father

He loves her and he's so proud

Omg I know father

If she wants to throw her ballet slippers at Kenshin mid performance he fully supports her

OMG DAD

but awww it's very effective

She's proud of him too

After all her bun is ALMOST passable and only slightly crooked

Gestures for him to lean down

He gets a proud pat on the head

Good job, Papa

WEEP WITH HAPPY TEARS

but no time to linger on lovely emotion PLACES ARE BEING CALLED

Ballerinas slipping on flower petals right and left who covered the place in flower petals

Kagetsugu is like WAIT I HAVE THREE MORE BALLERINAS HERE UGH fine I’ll do it while they’re in line stop fidgeting do you know how hard it is to get a good wing when you’re fidgeting sheesh

(Seriously where did Kageie get off to? Kageie? Hello?)

Hotaru and Yoshichi have about a thousand bobby pins

What were they supposed to do with them again?

Pick locks maybe?

Where would they find locks?

They go look for locks

Kanetsugu debates sitting on the opposite side of the auditorium lest people deduce he knows the crazy man already wiping away tears in the front row

But he realizes he'll probably have to restrain Kenshin from standing ovations or leaping on stage so with a sigh he takes the seat to Kenshin’s left

Kageie slides into the seat on Kenshin’s right

Where have you been bro

He shrugs

“Fixing things”

(Well that's totally not concerning at all)

...where is Yoshichi?

(still lost)

THE LIGHTS DIM

THE CURTAIN OPENS

delicate strains of piano and violins lilt through the air!

A line of ballerinas flutter onto the stage!

(A few stray flower petals follow them)

Kenshin is crying

Kanetsugu is crying

Kageie is yawning

THE STORY UNFOLDS

A queen has been cursed by an evil magician to turn into a swan, returning to human form only during the night - GASP

A prince sees her and falls in love! - GASP

They decide to get married, but first, a ball where he must pick her out of a crowd! - GASP

But what's this, another woman who looks like the first appears and seduces the prince! - GASP

DESPAIR! Now the queen shall forever remain a swan, and--

Wait, wait what's happening

Kageie smiles

OH GOD

THE SWANS

THE SWAAAANS

THE SWANS ARE SWARMING!

They've built an army!

THEY ARE GOING TO FIGHT!

They're descending on the magician, on the ball, on the prince!

With great wallops of their wings, and powerful kicks from their swan legs, they surround the magician!

This is not how this story goes Kageie what did you do

Kageie shrugs.

He fixed it

Get on with your swanself, queenie. 

You don’t need a man you’ve known for one night you’re better than that. You just need to find someone noble and good and strong to follow.

Like Kenshin

There is no Kenshin in the ballet story tho

But before they got that figured out Kageie wandered away

ANYWAY THE SWANS WIN

THE QUEEN STANDS TRIUMPHANTLY CENTER STAGE, WINGS SPREAD

Ai is dancing dutifully with the other young swans

the piano sounds a lil uncertain

like what do I do now?

BANG! CRASH!

Yoshichi and Hotaru stumble on stage

Startled by the bright lights, Hotaru stops

Yoshichi smacks into him

Bobby pins scatter everywhere

That magician gets up, trying to get the story back on track

He slips on the bobby pins

He falls, arms flailing as he pinwheels offstage and smacks into a set piece

It topples

Domino effect

Sets down everywhere

The castle crashes!

The lake teeters!

The forest trees are tumbling!

Feathers are flying!

Swans are leaping!

Princes are panicking!

OH THE HUMANITY

OH GOD, MAKE IT STOP!

Panicked, the stage manager yanks the curtain

FLOWER PETALS EXPLODE FROM THE CEILING

Kenshin pouts

Those were for AI’S dance

Omg Kenshin, please don't embarrass me in front of my swan army comrades

Sets are ruined

Story is derailed

Everyone’s eyeliner is on point

Stage is a hazard zone of petals and pins and scattered sequins

Silence

.

.

.

Too tired to sigh, Kanetsugu stands up

He gives his little girl a bouquet of pink flowers wrapped in a pretty ribbon

She beams

And takes a bow