#Bridget: not exactly sister of the year

[littleperilstories]

Fen: 🙉 HEAR-NO-EVIL - what is the worse thing your oc could hear from someone?

Freddie: 📦 PACKAGE - what are some "most likely to..." that can apply to them?

Bridget: 🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

From this ask game.

Fen: 🙉 HEAR-NO-EVIL - what is the worst thing your oc could hear from someone?

"Come quick - something happened to Dad/Mom/Freddie/Bridget."

"Kain Brockhurst escaped / was released from jail."

"Bad news. The Wifi's down." (okay maybe that one's a bit of a joke but the other two felt kind of heavy)

Freddie: 📦 PACKAGE - what are some "most likely to..." that can apply to them?

OMG this one was sooo hard! But fun. :D

Most Likely To:

cry while saying his wedding vows

remember something you said three months ago and use that for the perfect birthday gift

(but also) forget said gift on the kitchen table when heading to your birthday party

drive you home when you've had too much to drink

sprain his ankle on an 'easy' hike

win at a trivia game

Bridget: 🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

Oooh.

"Don't get close to Kain Brockhurst. Actually, don't work at the lab at all. Find another job. Any job! Go work at Walmart! Olive Garden! Tim Hortons! Anywhere!"

"Remember that your family loves you for who you are, flaws and all. Sure, you're gonna fuck up. How are you going to respond and make amends?

I want to add something cute or funny for Bridget but she's so emo anyway I'm just gonna post this

[bellarkeselection]

1 - Long Time No See

Part 2

The Sheriff’s Daughter

Tag list ( send an ask to be added ) @child-of-of-the-sunshine @hcwthewestwaswcn

Pushing the main door opened that belonged to the Sheriff’s department of Montana. I walked past the front desk to my fathers office door lightly kicking it open rather than knocking. “Morning daddy, so what cases do we have to work on today?”

“Nothing too serious for now, honey. I mostly just have paperwork needing to be filled out.” My father said leaning forward in his chair at his wooden desk. A stack of papers was in front of him from previous cases needing to be documented.

I sit down in the seat on the other side of his desk. “Well I can help you with some of the paperwork.”

“You don’t have to do that. Trust me you do enough here already. Much more than your mother or sister care for.” He raised a hand grabbing a pen beginning to fill them out.

From my junior year of high school I knew that I wanted to help my father and be in the police department like he was. My sister Debbie and our mother weren’t big fans of the concept and still aren’t to this day. Only difference is now I am old enough to do whatever I want regardless of their approval. “Daddy, from the day I turned 16 I knew I wanted to be like you. Let me help you please.”

“Honey, I just don’t want you to be missing out on life cause of this job. You’re a great help but remember to live your life outside of work too.” My father removed his hat, sending me a smile.

Sending him a smile back. “I know that, daddy.”

“Excuse me, sir.” We both turned our heads seeing his front desk assistant standing in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt your conversation. But Mr. Dutton is here to pick up his updated gun permit paperwork.”

My father Donnie raised a brow. “John?”

“No, sir. It’s his son Kayce.” She answered his question.

I nearly jumped up where my head hit the ceiling and I knocked the wooden chair down where it clattered to the floor. “Kayce’s back in town.” She stepped out of the way when I bolted past her down the short hallway.

“The boss should have everything already filled out for you.” The other front desk assistant spoke towards someone.

I rounded the corner halting in my tracks and the boots I was wearing shrieked against the ground. I gasped slapping my hands on the sides of my hips not expecting to see him back here. “Well I’ll be. Look who the horses and cattle dragged in.”

“Y/n! Hey, long time no see.” The younger Dutton turned his head in the direction of my voice, noticing me standing there in some ripped blue jeans and a deputy jacket.

I pushed part of the hair of my ponytail out of my line of sight. “I thought you’d skipped town years ago, Dutton.”

“And leave you permanently to entertain yourself, that'd be a crappy friend of me.” Kayce strides over to me holding open his arms and we embrace the other in a warm hug. Kayce and I had been ready close back in school. Not exactly what you would call a best friend but we were almost close to being that until he got a girl pregnant and we lost touch after that.

I remember the last time we were really close with one another…I’ll always remember it.

The school bell rang and everyone came rushing out of the local Montana high school with me heading outside looking for my father’s truck. That afternoon was very important for my father since he would find out if he had become the new sheriff or not. Sitting down on the metal bench outside I put my backpack down at my feet. “Y/n, what are you still doing here?”

“Waitin’ for my father to pick me up.” Whipping my head around I saw Kayce come out of the back door of the school carrying his duffel bag on his left shoulder.

He gestured with his freehand to the side of the bench that I wasn’t using. “Can I sit?”

“Sure.” Scooting over I made room for him where we sat down next to each other.

He leans back on the seat. “I’m surprised to not see Bridget or Marlowe with you.”

“Marlowe is at home sick and Bridget has cheerleading practice. What about you, cowboy. What are you doing?” I asked him with a curious look on my face.

The son of a rancher answered. “I was heading home. My father and I need to talk about something…something that might change quite a few things depending on how he reacts.”

“Hopefully your father won’t be too angry with whatever you did. And don’t worry if things go south I’ll have your back.” I nudged his shoulder with mine chuckling lightly at him.

Kayce ran a hand through his curly brown hair. “So you’re really gonna work for the sheriff’s department?”

“If I’m lucky enough, yes.” Clasping my hands together in front of me, shifting my gaze up to meet his deep brown eyes feeling my face turning red. “Kayce, can I tell you something?”

He nodded his head simply yes. “Anything.”

“Kayce, I have been thinking lately and I…I think I might be starting to have feelings for y-” I get cut off short when a truck horn honked and we both turned our heads towards the sound.

My father’s truck was parked there with him rolling down the window. “Y/n!, are you ready to go?”

“Uh coming dad.” Snatching my bag off the ground and on my back I waved bye to the rancher. “I'll see you later, Dutton.”

Kayce waved bye to me. “Bye Haskell.” Shutting the passenger truck door I slumped down in my seat glancing back at him outside my window as we drove off considering that was the day I realized I should have told him how I felt sooner.

Kayce and I separated from each other still holding the same familiar smile after seeing the other years later. Kayce stared down at me about to say something before someone came around the front desk. “Dad, when are we going back to the ranch?”

“Dad. You have a kid?” Knitting my brows together I couldn't fathom the words.

He nodded seeing a boy that had similar hair color to him but his eyes were a darker brown. “Hi, I’m Tate. What’s your name?” The kid waved standing beside his father’s hip.

“I’m Y/n. It’s nice to meet you.” I waved to the little boy.

Tate moved his head up tugging his father’s sleeve. “Do you want to come see the ranch with us?”

“Oh Tate, I don't think she’s free. She’ll probably have to get back to work.” Kayce trailed off sending me a half smile.

Shrugging my shoulders I cut him off. “I’m not busy at the moment. My father - the sheriff is just filling out paperwork for the afternoon. If he needs me he’ll call me through my radio.”

“Okay then let’s go.” Tate spun around on his feet, he grabbed my wrist trying to drag me outside the door with him.

I gently yanked my wrist from his gesturing my head down the hallway I had come from. “I’ll just double check with my boss and I’ll meet you two out at your dads truck okay.”

“Sounds good. Come on, kid.” Kayce pushed Tate towards the door, sparing a glance at me before I went around the corner back to my father’s office.

Knocking on the sheriff office door, creaking it open slightly, seeing my father was still working on his paperwork. “Dad, I’ll be back later. Heading to the Dutton ranch.”

“Be careful out there. The Dutton’s are known to be trouble.” He sent me a look.

I sent him a military salute without another word to him. “Don’t I know it.” We had to cover up more of their problems then any other ranch family, but I respected what they did to keep their land.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[animalinvestigator]

hey! i havent had tumblr for a while but ive been thinking about cathys eldest sister who wants to run away when she turns 18. is she equipped at all to deal with the outside world? all of the kids seem pretty isolated. ty!

hello anonymous -- first of all let me just say, i am really touched that you remembered my story, and even a pretty minor character in it, and remained so interested that you sent this ask even after being away. really it means a lot more to me than i could ever articulate, i was so stunned and happy that you would. i appreciate it a lot. i really hope someday i can make the story real so that you'll be able to have all these answers without tumblr asks, LOL.

which made me think about -- how mysterious do i want to be to make sure everything still stays fresh if i ever do write it , lol. i thought for a bit about this, and i think i can still say plenty of things without giving away any plot beats or information i havent already shared. espescially about the character youre inquiring on ! so: about bridget.

even though bridget is a side character whose arc plays out largely incidentally in the background of the story, she's definitely the supporting cast member i've thought about most, because she shares a lot in common with catherine, but her motivation to escape is from a completely different perspective, and her approach is entirely different as well because of that.... i'm not sure how much i've talked about catherine's family's history, but they haven't always lived where they live, and they haven't always been as isolated as they are ; bridget is one of the few kids in the family who is old enough to remember a time when she was marginally less secluded from the world, where she was permitted to have relationships among a slightly broader community, instead of having no one and nothing outside of the nuclear family. this, combined with the amount of time she's spent living the way that she does, and the increased responsibility /mistreatment she incurred by being born first, leads her to a feeling that is shared between only her and cathy among her siblings, that something is deeply, implacably wrong with the only world she's ever known, and an abstract need to "run away" as a result.

UNLIKE cathy, bridget has the perspective to know that there does exist a world outside(though she's never been part of it) that she can run away to. because of this, and due to the repertoire she has built up over the years by adequately obeying her parents and avoiding their scrutiny, and her general grew-up-too-fast big sister maturity, she has the increased freedom and general skills she needs to actually enact an escape plan . to get to the meat of your question, though, that definitely does not translate exactly to being able to survive well and easily when she leaves. basically the only thing bridget has ever been is a homemaker, essentially; her days are commanded by the needs of her siblings and the demands of her parents, and there's little room for developing any sense of agency outside of her role as fill-in mother to the younger children in the family. i can't imagine there's anything she even wants to do when she gets out -- she wouldn't have any idea how to want things in the first place -- she has been actively discouraged from learning administrative adult tasks even as mundane as shopping for herself or driving a car out of a desire to keep her subserviant, and she has no safe grown-ups in her life to teach her these skills. she has no education outside of her family's """"homeschooling"""", and when she leaves, she will have no access to her legal paperwork, and no funds or resources whatsoever. which is all to say: bridget knows how to take care of herself and take care of her siblings and take care of her household, but she doesn't know how to be a human being, and she has none of the prerequesites that society would expect from her. even as the /least/ isolated member of the household, she's been completely cut off from any ability to develop as a person, form external relationships, and live without relying on her parents, because that's how catherine's parents maintain their sense of control.

so, the long and short of it is this: the reason that catherine's family is the way it is (and ESPESCIALLY in the case of bridget, whose obedience they rely upon to keep the household running smoothly) is that catherine's parents want to raise adult children, who are simultaneously competent enough to personally benefit the parents in keeping up appearances and in putting in less work themselves, and also so completley reliant on them ideologically, financially, and emotionally that they have no hope of surviving in the outside world. thta's the situation bridget is in when she decides to escape.

that being said, i think she's alright... much like cathy, i try to keep my own ideas for "what happens to this character" private, because i would really like to leave it at "there's no right answer". the main emotion i'm writing this story from is a feeling of lack of closure -- a story where nothing good happens, everyone is worse off at the end, and the main character is left all alone with her memories, wondering for the rest of her life if any of it even happened, not knowing if anything turned out okay, and having to carve out a place to live in that painful ambiguity... that being said, my hope for my own characters is that they'll have a happy ending in the audience's head.. and i feel like i can strongly picture bridget living in a big city somewhere very far away long after catherine's story ends, coming home after work to a tiny , mostly empty apartment, her own space, and thinking for the first time that she can finally breathe.

thank you so much again for your inquiry <3

[gear-project]

HYPOTHETICAL STRIVE WINQUOTES

Remember when I said I was gonna write EVERY POSSIBLE WINQUOTE that characters were missing in GG Strive in classic Guilty Gear win quote fashion...

Well, here's my first attempt:

(I wrote all of these In-Character to the best of my knowledge… you can take them with a grain of salt… but I hope you appreciate the attempt all the same!)

Sol Badguy VERSUS SELF: You're lucky the Bounty on me was fake, I'd have cashed it in myself years ago! VERSUS KY: Just because you can use Dragon Install doesn't mean you're stronger than me… VERSUS AXL: At this point I should be the one with the handicap! VERSUS GIOVANNA: I knew somebody like you in the CIA… she dug too deep though. VERSUS MAY: You've gotten stronger since last we fought… wanna go again? VERSUS CHIPP: I don't actually SMOKE anymore… I quit a long time ago. VERSUS FAUST: PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF! VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I see you've gotten more vicious… but you're kinder underneath. Not bad. VERSUS POTEMKIN: Wait a minute, you're a Pilot? How can you fly when you're THAT big? VERSUS LEO: You've toughened up since last time, huh? Keep working at it. VERSUS ZATO: You and Death just don't get along. Stay out of trouble. VERSUS MILLIA: So you work for the Government, now? Don't dig too deep. VERSUS BAIKEN: You've mellowed out some since last we fought… but your sword is as sharp as ever! VERSUS ANJI: As usual you're a pain in my neck. Stay out of my business! VERSUS BEDMAN?: This hunk of junk is still walking around!? Wait, you're KEEPING IT? VERSUS TESTAMENT: Last time we fought you were on a holy crusade… you've changed a lot. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I'll go back to 'playing dead' soon enough, if it gives YOU less paperwork! VERSUS BRIDGET: You got a patent for that thing? Trust me, the rules are pretty strict nowadays. VERSUS JACK-O': C'mon don't be like that… I'll buy you dinner and roses when we get back. VERSUS I-NO: Even if you're not who you were in the past, you're still FREE. VERSUS SIN: Copying my moves, eh? Well it's better than nothing, I guess. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I never thought a Katana could outpace Gear Cells… guess I've got more to learn. VERSUS CHAOS: Maybe you think the world needs you… But you'd be dead wrong. VERSUS ASUKA#: Why do I have to deal with your leftover crap, anyway? VERSUS ASUKA: After all that's happened between us… I just feel better having punched you in the face.

Ky Kiske VERSUS SELF: You probably don't realise it but my family depends on this sword of mine. VERSUS SOL: Not holding back… I finally understand what you meant. VERSUS AXL: You've got new tricks, I see… I can't tell where you'll appear next! VERSUS GIOVANNA: This is the first time someone has stopped my sword with their foot! You're strong. VERSUS MAY: Once someone figures out who they need to protect… they can only get stronger! VERSUS CHIPP: You used to be so hot tempered, then again, I wasn't much different. VERSUS FAUST: I see you've paid a great price to get stronger… Don't waste it, but take care. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Your style is still much like Sol's but you've refined yourself even more. Impressive! VERSUS POTEMKIN: At this point I can afford to entrust my back to you, that's how strong you've become. VERSUS LEO: I never said I was a genius, or that I was handsome… HEY STOP WRITING STUFF DOWN! VERSUS ZATO: So you've dedicated the remainder of your life to being a Knight. Protect her with your heart, not just your power alone. VERSUS MILLIA: So you've found a place to 'exist'. I'm glad for you. VERSUS BAIKEN: You've matured a lot since last time… I'm glad you have something precious to protect now. VERSUS ANJI: You're still a bit of a mystery to me… How exactly did you get those Zessen OutRage? VERSUS BEDMAN?: The boy who once rode in this monstrosity sacrificed his life to protect his sister… I'll never forget his sacrifice. VERSUS TESTAMENT: I suppose at this point you're like a Brother-in-Law? Or a Sister-in-Law?!? VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: It is my HOPE that Illyria and America can continue to keep the peace of this world. I hope the feelings are mutual. VERSUS BRIDGET: Someday I hope you'll work up the courage to introduce me to your family. VERSUS JACK-O': Even if your past is tied to things you don't connect with, you can still make up the difference by being yourself. VERSUS I-NO: Even if you were given the role of a God… Humanity and Gears still have the freedom to live on their own terms. VERSUS SIN: I noticed you've been trying to copy my techniques too… if you want to practice I'll help you-- (….he got away again…) VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Bushido still has a place in this world for those of us who fight to protect those we care for. VERSUS CHAOS: It's a shame. You were blessed with the world's greatest wisdom but you squandered it. Maybe it's time you sought to atone for your past. VERSUS ASUKA#: I've fought Robot copies of myself, so you'd think I'd be used to these situations… Unfortunately I'm not. VERSUS ASUKA: This is the first time I've exchanged words with someone who knew Sol for far longer than I have. I'm somewhat impressed.

Axl Low VERSUS SELF: I won't be giving Megumi up to you, just to have you know! VERSUS SOL: Chief, I'm just glad you have my back through thick'n'thin… VERSUS KY: Oi-Oi.. This King has a lotta Time on 'is 'ands if he wants to drink Tea with me! VERSUS GIOVANNA: You really need to work on your manners… it's rude to pick a fight you know… VERSUS MAY: I expected Sea World from you, but all that jumpin' makes you an easy target… VERSUS CHIPP: You say you're Japanese but live in AFRICA??? But you're actually a bloody American? You're confusing, mate. VERSUS FAUST: Is it just me or have you gotten even taller? And you can make portals like me now!??? VERSUS RAMLETHAL: So the girl who declared War on the World is now a HERO?? Politics, I tell ya… VERSUS POTEMKIN: I didn't mean nothin' by callin' you a Gorilla… but the similarities are very striking… VERSUS LEO: A SPEEDING TICKET!? FOR TELEPORTING? What kinda bollux speed trap is this??? VERSUS ZATO: So can Eddie do party tricks? Can you make him look like me? VERSUS MILLIA: I almost regret asking Megumi to trim her long hair… almost. VERSUS BAIKEN: Havin' family's important… it gives you a foundation to live. VERSUS ANJI: Been a long while, Mate. I didn't expect you'd figure everything out after the last time we met, but here we are. VERSUS BEDMAN?: I spoke with Romeo, you know. He was dead set on destroying the world if it meant protecting you, Delilah. I just hope you can find peace after all that's happened. VERSUS TESTAMENT: Just how many new hobbies have you GOT, Mate!??? VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: My Chain Sickles are lightweight for a REASON… I'd throw my back out if I swung around something THAT heavy, Mate! VERSUS BRIDGET: Sorry, I don't make it a habit to show the solutions to MY TRICKS! VERSUS JACK-O': Jacky! Do me a favor and keep Chief outta my hair… He's a bit much for me to handle! VERSUS I-NO: It's not like it never occurred to me to ask you out on a Date… I just didn't want to Cheat on my Girlfriend is all! VERSUS SIN: I suppose wielding a flagpole DOES improve your attack range… slightly. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Becoming a Human isn't really that hard… You just gotta trust people a bit more is all. VERSUS CHAOS: You gross me out, Mate… I can't believe I met the "human version" of you in 2192… VERSUS ASUKA#: You mean I could make a COPY with MY powers? Of myself!? That's wild, mate! VERSUS ASUKA: I know you made the Gears, but did you ever expect the world would turn out like this? Amazin' how Humans bounce back, ain't it?!

Giovanna VERSUS SELF: If you can't even tell which of us is real, why'd you even try? VERSUS SOL: Don't even try it. I'll kick you so fast your "Bandit Revolver" will seem like a Squirt Gun. VERSUS KY: You're the type who causes misunderstandings with women, aren't you? VERSUS AXL: You're pretty nosy, butting in to peoples' business… but I'm not too different. VERSUS MAY: Love's important… but so is strength and speed. VERSUS CHIPP: I outran a Cheetah that was faster than you! VERSUS FAUST: Sorry, my insurance doesn't cover kicks to the face… that is your face, right? VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I'm not interested in your past, but you better believe you'll make it up to the future. I'll see to it. VERSUS POTEMKIN: I've heard you're an artist… can you dance, too? VERSUS LEO: Rei, hold him down so I can handcuff him…. He's coming HOME with me! VERSUS ZATO: I'm not really sure if Rei is the same as your Eddie here, but at least he's house-trained! (Thank god…) VERSUS MILLIA: I'm not really the type to hold back towards Secret Agent types, sorry… It's my line of work. VERSUS BAIKEN: The War is in the past, but it's hard for people to forget isn't it? I know. VERSUS ANJI: You're a pretty good dancer, but you get distracted when expecting people to be impressed by it. VERSUS BEDMAN?: In this line of work you never know what you have to face… Sorry, if I damaged it too much. VERSUS TESTAMENT: Your Scythe is pretty scary, but I don't see the point of drinking Tea… I guess it's a culture thing. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Boss… I know what you're gonna say… But, I got my own trail to follow! VERSUS BRIDGET: Being 'yourself' in this world is pretty tough, but hang in there, okay? VERSUS JACK-O': Rei isn't exactly a "ghost" or a "servant" in a traditional sense… No lectures, please… VERSUS I-NO: You cause trouble and expect people to be lenient… We're human, but even WE have LIMITS. VERSUS SIN: You're pretty energetic, kid… But if this were a race, I would have LAPPED you. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: My job involves a lot of things, but it's not like I don't have time to help people like yourself. VERSUS CHAOS: Sorry but… CAN YOU PLEASE GO DOWNWIND? YOU SMELL LIKE A CORPSE… VERSUS ASUKA#: I could actually tell you weren't the real thing, believe it or not you have a different scent. VERSUS ASUKA: You've probably been through a lot, but sorry to tell you, I'm just doing my job here.

May VERSUS SELF: You'll never beat me when it comes to LOVING JOHNNY! VERSUS SOL: You lived a rough life, so I heard. Maybe what you need is a trip to the BEACH! VERSUS KY: You're MARRIED NOW!? Time sure flies… VERSUS AXL: It takes more than Luck to find someone who loves you… You have to work hard. VERSUS GIOVANNA: (Johnny likes cool busty ladies, better make sure he never meets her…) VERSUS CHIPP: If I keep training like this, maybe I'll get to wear cute Ninja clothes too??? VERSUS FAUST: I'm sorry about your past (and misjudging you as just a 'baldy')… I hope things turn out better for you, someday! VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I finally found out the truth, thanks to you, but I'm still glad I heard it, even if it was harsh. VERSUS POTEMKIN: They say you have to be HUGE to be strong, but I'm pretty small and STILL strong. Did I eat something weird? VERSUS LEO: Even though you're a rough guy, you think about others… you're not so bad! VERSUS ZATO: Explaining what 'Love' is is pretty tough, actually… I'm not sure what to tell you… VERSUS MILLIA: You're what they call a "real professional", aren't you? I hope I get to be like that someday… VERSUS BAIKEN: I still haven't found my 'original family' yet, either… but I hope we can both find peace… VERSUS ANJI: You sure know a lot about the past… What other stuff do you know? VERSUS BEDMAN?: (This girl's a little creepy, but I doubt Johnny would be interested…) VERSUS TESTAMENT: I'm not sure if I can give permission for you to join the Jellyfish Crew (Johnny, HELP!!!) VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Whoah… YOU HAVE AN ALIEN IN THERE!??? CAN I SEE IT?? CAN I, PLEASE!??? VERSUS BRIDGET: Your "real family" will always be there for you in a pinch, like me and Johnny! VERSUS JACK-O': These little guys are really cute… can I take one home with me? VERSUS I-NO: Just because you're feeling bored doesn't mean you get to pick on others! VERSUS SIN: Using a flagpole isn't too much different from an anchor… I don't think? VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I can't say I've ever tried Onigiri before… (even if I'm Japanese…) VERSUS CHAOS: ---AND THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE JELLYFISH PIRATES!! (Oops, did I go overboard again…?) VERSUS ASUKA#: This is… totally weird. I half expect to run in to a ROBOT COPY of myself… shivers VERSUS ASUKA: I don't hold grudges for past mistakes… But I hope you'll continue to do good for people…

Chipp Zanuff VERSUS SELF: SHADOW CLONE JUTSU DISPERSE! Huh!? You're NOT part of my Jutsu!???? VERSUS SOL: Maybe you quit Smoking, but you really should work on your Endurance, old man… VERSUS KY: All leaders have a heavy burden… I know that now… Stay cool, though… VERSUS AXL: My armblade isn't quite the same shape as your chain scythe, but if I can move faster than you, it can slay demons! VERSUS GIOVANNA: I sense a spirit possessing you… and… he is a good boy. VERSUS MAY: It takes more than trust to form a bond with your familiar… You gotta keep up with their pace as well… VERSUS FAUST: I didn't realize this before but your techniques are a form of ancient martial arts aren't, aren't they? VERSUS RAMLETHAL: You're still learning how to interact with people, but don't try too hard, it makes them uncomfortable. VERSUS POTEMKIN: As usual, you're a slow-poke… but at least you're good at holding your own pace. VERSUS LEO: You wield those swords almost like Armblades… you've gotten stronger since last time… VERSUS ZATO: I've mastered shadow manipulation now, as well… Can you sense me when I 'disappear completely'? VERSUS MILLIA: You've gotten faster since we last raced… Keeps me on my toes! VERSUS BAIKEN: Okay, I'll admit I was raised in America, but my Master was Japanese… he was like a father to me! VERSUS ANJI: You need to learn your limits against some people… Especially against Demihumans and ME… VERSUS BEDMAN?: I met your brother, once… he didn't say much, but I sensed he had a strong conviction… He has my respect. VERSUS TESTAMENT: It's one thing to be curious, but don't just mess with Humans just for the heck of it! VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Give Erica a message from me: I'm BUSY. SEE YOU! VERSUS BRIDGET: You can use that winch to maintain air in the sky… I might borrow it for a little while… VERSUS JACK-O': I sense two souls in one body… what the heck is this!? VERSUS I-NO: The heart of the Mother of Origin… To think you were someone like that… it's tragic. VERSUS SIN: Using all your energy in one go isn't a good idea… only save it for THE PERFECT MOMENT! VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: My Master taught me everything about Ninjutsu… just who are you to him!? VERSUS CHAOS: Purity and Sinlessness are two different things… I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to STOP you. VERSUS ASUKA#: It takes more than that to form a stable Bunshin, you need more practice! VERSUS ASUKA: Thanks for keeping Erica safe… But don't expect me to vouch for you…

Faust VERSUS SELF: PAST… GONE… NOT… NEEDED… VERSUS SOL: CHANGED… BUT STILL… HOT. VERSUS KY: SAVED… ME… THANK YOU. VERSUS AXL: PORTALS… HARD TO… USE. VERSUS GIOVANNA: DOG… IS… SOFT. VERSUS MAY: ENERGETIC… DOLPHIN… GIRL. VERSUS CHIPP: YOU… TALK… TOO… FAST. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I WILL… SAVE… EVERYONE… VERSUS POTEMKIN: TOO… MUCH… PROTEIN… VERSUS LEO: NEW… DICTIONARY… ENTRY… VERSUS ZATO: HATRED… HASN'T… FADED… VERSUS MILLIA: TRIED TO… SAVE… SORRY… VERSUS BAIKEN: YOUR… HEART… HAS… HEALED. VERSUS ANJI: NO… SHIRT… NO… SERVICE. VERSUS BEDMAN?: SWEET… DREAMS… VERSUS TESTAMENT: RESOLVED… FAMILY… ISSUES… GOOD. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: NOT… A… CRYPTID… VERSUS BRIDGET: CHALLENGE… YOUR… TRUE… SELF. VERSUS JACK-O': ONE… PATIENT… AT A… TIME. VERSUS I-NO: DESIRES… ARE… FLEETING… VERSUS SIN: OVER… EATING… BAD… DIET… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: TOO… MUCH… BLOOD IS… UNHEALTHY… VERSUS CHAOS: TAKING ON… ALL GUILT IS… WRONG… VERSUS ASUKA#: CANNOT… FAKE… INSURANCE CARD… VERSUS ASUKA: MAGIC'S ORIGIN… IS… COMPLICATED…

Ramlethal VERSUS SELF: Understanding the uniqueness of oneself is a lot more complex than I realized… VERSUS SOL: I don't expect you to forgive me, but I will fight for the future… VERSUS KY: You gave me and my sister a home… I will repay this debt… VERSUS AXL: Even you have your own unique struggles… I learned something new today… VERSUS GIOVANNA: You wield a powerful energy in your kicks… I must continue to learn… VERSUS MAY: I explained things because you asked it of me, but I hope you're… feelings… weren't hurt. VERSUS CHIPP: I still don't quite understand what a Hero is… but I am still learning… VERSUS FAUST: Even if your past is a unique burden… it is still your OWN past and not anyone else's… VERSUS POTEMKIN: You've gotten sturdier since we last fought… but I won't lose here… VERSUS LEO: I hope I can wear my Pride on a Belt like you one day… VERSUS ZATO: You lost many things, but still gained insight that few others have… I must learn more… VERSUS MILLIA: Not having a place to be 'human' made you decide to become 'superhuman'… how noble… VERSUS BAIKEN: I'm not sure the swords I wield are strictly Katanas… but I still desire their strength as such… VERSUS ANJI: You dodged my attacks like they were nothing to you… you have a lot of skill… VERSUS BEDMAN?: Your brother taught me the value in being unique… I will never forget that lesson. VERSUS TESTAMENT: I've never encountered a Gear like you before… and you are very mild mannered as well… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I'm aware that some rare humans are blessed with unnatural strength… but you've surpassed that limit, you know. VERSUS BRIDGET: It seems like every day I encounter new and unique people… VERSUS JACK-O': To be like a 'Mother' or 'Sister'… I'm still learning what Family is supposed to be like… VERSUS I-NO: Maybe I'm in no position to say, but: you lost track of what it means to be Human and isolated yourself. VERSUS SIN: It's important to respect peoples' uniqueness, Sin… you can't… "copy people's moves"… (?) VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Friendship involves the strength to support those who cannot support themselves… I am strong enough to support you if you need me. VERSUS CHAOS: Someone irresponsible like you created Mother… it is no wonder she rejected humans… VERSUS ASUKA#: I've been told I am a replica of Justice, but we look nothing alike… how does it feel to look identical yet be different? VERSUS ASUKA: It is not my place to say if your role in history was Divine or not… But if you hadn't I wouldn't have existed, so I offer my thanks.

Potemkin VERSUS SELF: Conviction, Pride, Strength… If you only focused on even two of these concepts it still wouldn't be enough to surpass me. VERSUS SOL: There was a time when I struggled to keep up with you, but it seems that Time has caught up with you at last. VERSUS KY: It is thanks to you in part that I continue to fight the good fight, so I offer my thanks. VERSUS AXL: My simulations can't seem to predict where your portals will appear next. You're an enigma to me. VERSUS GIOVANNA: Despite your hard-tack demeanor, you have the sincerity of a true soldier, it serves you well. VERSUS MAY: It takes a great deal of focus to master Water Magic, you've grown since last we met. VERSUS CHIPP: It's impressive that you've finally begun to take responsibility for your actions… but your personality is still rather abrasive. VERSUS FAUST: I know little about what sort of past you had, but refining yourself to this extent is dangerous… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: You've become someone very significant since last we met… Your strength is comparable to mine now… VERSUS LEO: For a King you are very honest… I can respect that. VERSUS ZATO: Your perception of others has changed a lot… Impressive, even if limited by eyesight. VERSUS MILLIA: I would ask that you maintain your distance from Leon Mining, he has his own agenda as a former Zepp Exile. VERSUS BAIKEN: Forgiving the past is not something easily done, however what you've done is calm the storm in your heart with the feelings of others… Commendable. VERSUS ANJI: You always struck me as unconcerned with others, but in reality you seek the Truth that History has hidden. VERSUS BEDMAN?: The President taught me to grow from my past failings, but I somewhat feel guilty facing them like this… If you need repairs, let me know… I will assist you. VERSUS TESTAMENT: There was a point when both of us fought one another mercilessly, but now you've mellowed out some… The World has become more peaceful, hasn't it? VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I must admit… your strength pushed me back quite a distance… But I won't back down! VERSUS BRIDGET: If you struggle to be acknowledged, simply be yourself… others will see you eventually. VERSUS JACK-O': So the power of your Servants comes from the Backyard… I've learned something new. VERSUS I-NO: There was a time when I lamented being called a "monster", but compared to you… "being human" is a lot more complicated than people think it is. VERSUS SIN: I wield my strength for those who need to be protected by it… Your strength still requires a solid direction. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Fear is the rejection of the unknown, which makes it all more important to gain knowledge of that unknown. You should seek to learn more about the modern world you've found yourself in. VERSUS CHAOS: I suspect you have ulterior motives for doing everything you did, but none of that can truly justify it. VERSUS ASUKA#: At one point I fought Robotic replicas of myself… embarassing as it is to admit, but I still overcame them. VERSUS ASUKA: So you've resolved to clear away all doubts and dangers, sparing no expense… I cannot say I have that kind of fortitude.

Leo Whitefang VERSUS SELF: I've a new ENTRY IN MY DICTIONARY for YOU: A POSER! VERSUS SOL: I took your advice to heart and improved my defenses… but I must say as usual you are hard to talk to during a fight. VERSUS KY: I want EVERY NEWSPAPER IN ILLYRIA to have this Fight on the FRONT PAGE! VERSUS AXL: You might have the ability to Teleport, but that doesn't mean I'll condone you appearing… in my office. VERSUS GIOVANNA: I must admit this is the first time someone has appealed to my ego so passionately… I'm somewhat taken aback! VERSUS MAY: You've a misunderstanding about me… I am NOT HERE to simply "boss people around"… I'm HERE BECAUSE… (She walked away… How RUDE!) VERSUS CHIPP: While it is true your Speed is worthy of Note… where you appear AFTER you've speed up is rather PREDICTABLE. VERSUS FAUST: Are you sure you yourself don't need an Ambulance? You look ready to topple over at any moment! VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I see you've found yourself a good team of subordinates… I hope they serve you well… VERSUS POTEMKIN: I don't actually 'hate' Gears, you know… It's just in my job description to not normally trust them… VERSUS ZATO: Whether you can see me or Not:… I HAVE BOTH MY EYES ON YOU AT ALL TIMES. VERSUS MILLIA: I didn't expect to find such a capable subordinate such as yourself… I look forward to working with you in the future… VERSUS BAIKEN: In truth, Humans nearly created their own demise, as painful and humiliating as that is to point out. VERSUS ANJI: So you've got your own Investigation underway? I'd ask you to show your hand, and if you're lucky, I might just show MINE! VERSUS BEDMAN?: I understand you have complicated circumstances… but there is a LIMIT to how IMPERTINENT one LITTLE GIRL CAN BE! VERSUS TESTAMENT: So it seems you knew Commander Kliff in times past… Maybe we can catch up on old times? VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I've never actually taken stock of all the "unmentionables" that fell in to Area 42… So, how is Area 51 in your country? VERSUS BRIDGET: Dedicating yourself to the Ideals of your Parents, while commendable, should still have its limitations… I hope someday you'll face that fact. VERSUS JACK-O': You're a lot stronger than Frederick gives you credit… Keep him out of trouble for us, please… VERSUS I-NO: Normally I would have Arrested you under normal regulations… But this is FAR from a Normal situation! VERSUS SIN: You're not quite exactly what I'd call a Phalanx Guard, but with some training I hope you'll fit the part! VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I don't think I have an entry on "Bushido" in my Dictionary yet… Let's see: "Doesn't know when to stop". How's that? VERSUS CHAOS: It seems to me I haven't proven how much of a BEAST I can really be… I'll have to make an EXAMPLE out of YOU! VERSUS ASUKA#: In case you didn't know, we have a statute of limitations on cloning… I can STILL ARREST YOU. VERSUS ASUKA: I can't say I'm very fond of Math… or Magic for that matter… BUT I WON AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!

Zato=ONE VERSUS SELF: Even in Eddie's case, he strove to differentiate himself from me and become unique. What about you? VERSUS SOL: Death holds little meaning to someone who has seen Hell multiple times… VERSUS KY: Although my sins have piled up… thanks to you and King Daryl I can at least reduce the stack somewhat. VERSUS AXL: A past long gone and a future that should not be… and yet you continue to support this world after it rejected you… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Eddie is closer to a 'shark' than a Dog, at least by my estimation… he can take any form he likes, after all… VERSUS MAY: Shadows can still exist in the Ocean, so I hope you won't underestimate my abilities… VERSUS CHIPP: It was not my intent to kill your Master Tsuyoshi… I will atone for the rest of my life for it, however… VERSUS FAUST: I sacrificed my eyesight for power… but I see there was even more to sacrifice if I ever wanted more… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Your strength and sense of identity has improved… I hardly recognize you from before. VERSUS POTEMKIN: I must thank you for your President's Hospitality from last time… He saved the world, after all… VERSUS LEO: Even if my life is in your hands… I would have still given it freely… I deserve to die for what I've done. VERSUS MILLIA: Accepting that you can protect your own life has been hard for me… But I hope you'll still accept my intentions. VERSUS BAIKEN: It is a bizarre sensation to be the object of vengeance and yet still not share the desire of revenge myself… VERSUS ANJI: For once you have your own sincere objectives, it goes against your very nature… VERSUS BEDMAN?: Bedman was once one of my greatest enemies… But that conflict was resolved, so I will leave it in the past. VERSUS TESTAMENT: So even a Ghost of the Crusades can still talk of Family and a Future… what a world we now live in. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: So they really DO exist… I had almost given up searching… VERSUS BRIDGET: Your precision and cunning are not to be underestimated, but somehow I doubt a fight is what you wanted. VERSUS JACK-O': Your presence is familiar to me… as if I or Eddie met you in some other lifetime… VERSUS I-NO: I gave up human traits for power because I looked down upon myself… perhaps the same is true in your case. VERSUS SIN: You have an insight that belies your age… But trusting in the darkness is still not without risk. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Lord Slayer taught me Dandyism at a young age, however I must admit you have me at a disadvantage for having practiced the philosophy for much longer… VERSUS CHAOS: It seems you are the foremost authority on Magic despite your reputation. I would talk at length with you about it, not that it matters. VERSUS ASUKA#: Eddie is an approximate copy of my Soul, in case you wondered… not that it actually matters… VERSUS ASUKA: If I had known the true potential of the Tome of Origin, perhaps I would not have been misled by the Conclave for believing in the 666 Arcanum's power… In the end, it no longer matters…

Millia Rage VERSUS SELF: I never asked for this power, but I will take responsibility for it. Can you say the same, yourself? VERSUS SOL: At this point you might as well retire… Don't worry, I'll cover the paperwork… VERSUS KY: So now it's my job to keep you on your toes, is that it? You're pretty easy-going for a King… VERSUS AXL: We've both been through quite a lot, but I would appreciate it if you took this a bit more seriously… VERSUS GIOVANNA: They say meeting new people broadens horizons, but at the very least I expect some manners… VERSUS MAY: So you've begun to work with the Mobile Brigade? We expect big things from you… VERSUS CHIPP: Your insight and instincts still amaze me, but you need to work on your patience with others… VERSUS FAUST: Don't think I've forgotten what you've tried to do to save me… I won't forget my debt. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Your strength and abilities are amazing, but what amazes me more is your current work ethic… looks like I have a new rival now! VERSUS POTEMKIN: We still owe you and Gabriel much for harboring us in our time of need… let's both keep working towards a better future. VERSUS LEO: Even if it's just superficial, I can't imagine you holding back against anyone… then again, I'm like that too. VERSUS ZATO: Protecting someone skilled means covering their blindspots you know… Can you even find mine, I wonder? VERSUS BAIKEN: I have much to make up for in my past, even if it means easing your pain somewhat… I'll do what I can. VERSUS ANJI: You tend to remind me of a certain Dandy Vampire who sticks his nose in other peoples' business… I'd stay out of things if I were you. VERSUS BEDMAN?: After all this time, I finally get to see the monster that Venom destroyed… Don't worry, I'm not here to gloat, just understanding. VERSUS TESTAMENT: So what has living in an ancient forest taught you after all this time? I hope you learned something at least… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: America's Home Security still has a few gaps, but in your hands I'm still somewhat optimistic. VERSUS BRIDGET: The original purpose of the P.W.A.B. was to support Bounty Hunters in their task… I'm looking forward to working with you. VERSUS JACK-O': For someone who hasn't seen much of the world, you're pretty skilled… Have you considered becoming a Bounty Hunter, yourself? VERSUS I-NO: I haven't forgotten how you manipulated Eddie in the past… don't expect any mercy from Angra, either! VERSUS SIN: So you're a Phalanx Guard, now? You really should act the part more… Professionalism is important, you know. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I'm still not all that interested in Dandyism… but I somewhat understand the Romantic appeal Vampires have towards it. VERSUS CHAOS: To think someone could still wield Guns like a Gunslinger in this modern age… Venom would be thrilled if I told him about your skills! VERSUS ASUKA#: At this point you'd think I'd be able to clone myself with my own hair… but I really don't want to think about it. VERSUS ASUKA: So you're the holder of the Tome of Origin… Do you think it's possible to undo the Curse on my Hair?

Baiken VERSUS SELF: I gave up on my journey to Hell recently, thanks to a certain 'mirror'… Can you look at yourself in the mirror and do that too? VERSUS SOL: You'd think I'd be mad after all this time of putting up with you… But right now I'm just disappointed. VERSUS KY: You were always getting in my way whenever it came to vengeance… I suppose I should thank you for that. VERSUS AXL: All the power in the world and you still can't figure out how to fight properly? Keep training… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Looks like I wasn't the only one dealing with poverty and a past I want to forget… VERSUS MAY: Just because I owe you for your help last time, Short-stack, doesn't mean you get a FREE WIN… VERSUS CHIPP: I've lost track:… you're an American Ninja living in Africa… who thinks he's JAPANESE??? VERSUS FAUST: You burned yourself out looking for the perfect balance, eh? Guess I know what to avoid from now on. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: To think just a month ago you were trying to destroy the world… you've changed a lot, kid. VERSUS POTEMKIN: I'm guessing all that heavy armor is meant to help you "hold back your strength"? Can't say I don't sympathize, but I can't hold back, either. VERSUS LEO: I'm used to getting chased around by the Police, but this is the first time someone's asked me to give a consultation? VERSUS ZATO: So even a dead corpse like you can find peace in this world… Guess I should smile more often! VERSUS MILLIA: Your hair's gotten sharper… can't even trim it with my sword… Then again, I'm not a barber… VERSUS ANJI: I suggest you not hold back against me if you want to live… Holding back's not something I'm good at with this sword. VERSUS BEDMAN?: C'mon Delilah… Training Time's over… lets get some Dinner… VERSUS TESTAMENT: I can't say I'm fond of European Tea… I prefer Sake (Rice Wine) to be honest… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I've killed my share of Demons… but you're bigger than most Oni… what'd you eat to grow that huge? VERSUS BRIDGET: Look, kiddo… you're too young to be worrying about such huge problems… relax a little. VERSUS JACK-O': I used to hold a grudge against Justice for taking my family… but now she's gone and there's just you left, hunh… I don't have it in me anymore… VERSUS I-NO: Pain is proof of being human as a survivor… If you can't handle it, you shouldn't be fighting in the first place… VERSUS SIN: You have a WEIRD outlook on life, Sin… But I suppose that's what everyone likes about you. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: My sword's called "Regret" because it'd be regrettable to cut anyone at this point… It's a broken Katana. VERSUS CHAOS: I won't kill you… but that doesn't mean I'll ever Forgive you… and you WILL pay for what you did. VERSUS ASUKA#: So Demons and Shadows walk hand in hand… You seem to have a lot of time on your hands… VERSUS ASUKA: So you had a hard choice to make in the end… If it weren't for Anji and his hard-headedness, I would've cut you down without learning the truth.

Anji Mito VERSUS SELF: I move with the flow of Nature itself… Your dance can barely make the wind blow. VERSUS SOL: You really should get used to hanging around other people… Being that unsociable is unhealthy. VERSUS KY: I used to think of you as uptight and strict, but I guess everyone changes when their priorities do. VERSUS AXL: I used to outpace you in foot-races, but now I can barely keep up… Where'd you even get that power? VERSUS GIOVANNA: You're not the ONLY ONE with God-like Feet, you know… VERSUS MAY: You've gotten even MORE cheerful since last we spoke… I'm glad things are going well for you! VERSUS CHIPP: Boss… now that I've won this match, can I get raise? VERSUS FAUST: Unfortunately, my dance can only calm the spirit, it cannot heal the body. Take care. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: If you're wondering how I dodged your attacks, it's because you kept attacking in the same spot. VERSUS POTEMKIN: So long as I stay outside your main range, I have plenty of chances to fight back… VERSUS LEO: For a King, despite your strength you're pretty sensitive… You should toughen up your Spirit and Heart… VERSUS ZATO: Perhaps I should add "Shadow Dancer" to my list of skills from now on! VERSUS MILLIA: The problem with your attacks is that the opponent just has to guess correctly and counter to win… VERSUS BAIKEN: I promised you I'd find out the Truth… and I mean to keep that promise. VERSUS BEDMAN?: Delilah, you have no idea how much you remind me of Big Sis… it's uncanny… VERSUS TESTAMENT: You've become more Human-like since we last spoke… I'm glad you've lightened up. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I'm gonna find out what they've hidden in Area 51 one day… and I'll let the WORLD KNOW… VERSUS BRIDGET: Dancing and Tricks aren't the only things that bring a smile to someone's face… so does Kindness and Heart. VERSUS JACK-O': You've had to face the world from many angles and still come out as yourself. My condolences. VERSUS I-NO: When you're a victim, that doesn't give you an excuse to do what you want… it means you have to face the truth and keep on moving forward with respect to others. You're not alone. VERSUS SIN: I can't say I agree with the notion of copying others' moves… but if you make it your own style, it might give you a chance to break out and get recognized. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I know I sound like a little kid, but I really DO love Samurai and Bushido… you're just really COOL! VERSUS CHAOS: If you think you can escape, go ahead and try… but no matter what Alias you try to steal, I'll always know it's you… and you won't EVER get away from me. VERSUS ASUKA#: Last time we spoke, I had a feeling I didn't have a good sense of who you were… Was it a Copy I was talking to the whole time? VERSUS ASUKA: I'm actually really glad I finally got to talk with you… It's been an enlightening experience.

Bedman? VERSUS SELF: (Delilah): I can't tell if this is Mine or my Brother's power at work… But you gotta disappear now. VERSUS SOL: (Delilah): My brother actually lectured you!? He always told me he HATED long conversations! VERSUS KY: (Delilah): My brother gave me a chance to live in this world, so I'm gonna make the best of it… Maybe I'll become someone important like you… VERSUS AXL: (Delilah): Thanks for talking with my brother despite his situation… It means a lot. VERSUS GIOVANNA: (Delilah): Look, you got your business I've got mine… I just wanna go home. VERSUS MAY: (Delilah): I'm NOT INTERESTED in being your friend… just leave me alone… VERSUS CHIPP: (Delilah): My brother suggested you were fast enough to keep up with his Teleports, guess not though… VERSUS FAUST: (Delilah): So your Guilty Conscience led you to me… We both got our circumstances, I guess… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: (Delilah): I can see how my Brother entrusted his Bed's fate to you… you were strong enough. VERSUS POTEMKIN: (Delilah): My Brother beat you last time? Well, now I really feel sorry for you. VERSUS LEO: (Delilah): Oh great… now it's destroyed a King… am I gonna get arrested for this??? VERSUS ZATO: (Delilah): I can't picture a deadpan guy like you having a grudge against my Brother… VERSUS MILLIA: (Delilah): I'm not interested in joining your underground clubhouse… I just want to go home! VERSUS BAIKEN: (Delilah): Big Sis, you gotta keep your promise… Dinner is on YOU! VERSUS ANJI: (Delilah): You might not be like my Brother, but, thanks for helping me out… VERSUS TESTAMENT: (Delilah): You love sticking your nose in other peoples' business… how annoying… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: (Delilah): This isn't a UMA… it's just a Bed… No, you can't "collect" it. VERSUS BRIDGET: (Delilah): If the Bed won that means I don't have to pay for your "trick". VERSUS JACK-O': (Delilah): So my Brother "erased his ID" in the Backyard? What else do you know about him? VERSUS I-NO: (Delilah): Maybe you feel like the world owes you something, but the world took MY brother, too! VERSUS SIN: (Delilah): You get along with everybody… I'm just not strong enough to do that… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: (Delilah): This was an accident, I swear… We'll be leaving now… Wait, you want to learn the Bedframe's fighting style? Huh!? VERSUS CHAOS: (Delilah): No matter how many lives you think you'll save… you'll never make up for the lives you TOOK. And I will NEVER… EVER… ACKNOWLEDGE you. VERSUS ASUKA#: (Delilah): You'd think I'd be used to all the weird stuff in this world… Nope… VERSUS ASUKA: (Delilah): So Chaos messed up your life, too, huh? He needs to be stopped…

Testament VERSUS SELF: Have we evolved to the point of being able to replicate ourselves? Gear Cell potential seems limitless! VERSUS SOL: We used to think you had no room for others in your life… But you've changed a lot. VERSUS KY: We still think about Father (Kliff) now and then… He was like a father to you too, wasn't he? VERSUS AXL: We'll confess we still don't like your fighting style and methods, but at least you resemble a true Reaper more… VERSUS GIOVANNA: No time for Tea? Americans are always in such a rush… VERSUS MAY: We've never actually thanked you for how much you've helped us, so we really appreciate it. VERSUS CHIPP: You think we're being "too normal"? But humans are pretty strange to begin with. VERSUS FAUST: All those years past when we entrusted that Scalpel to you, we never expected you to master it so well… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: We've fought our share of fellow Gears, but this is our first time encountering a Valentine… it feels different somehow… VERSUS POTEMKIN: We've certainly had a long history between ourselves… It is our hope we can become friends at long last… VERSUS LEO: We never expected an encounter with royalty to be so… frivolous… VERSUS ZATO: We've wanted to sit down and have a conversation with both of you after all this time… the Crusades left a mark on all of us. VERSUS MILLIA: We're sorry but we don't have an immediate answer for your Curse… But we will try and help search for one. VERSUS BAIKEN: We used to think revenge was the only answer too… After all this time so much has changed… VERSUS ANJI: When we still hated humans, we never considered the possibility that they would try to meet us half way… You were one of the first to try that, so thanks. VERSUS BEDMAN?: A machine with a mind of its own? Well, it's not the first time I've encountered odd beings like yourself. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: We have NO INTENTION on being locked away in some VAULT, thank you very much! VERSUS BRIDGET: Whether others accept the difference or not isn't as important as accepting your individuality for yourself. VERSUS JACK-O': You feel similar yet different to our old Master (Justice) somehow… You are much kinder than she was, which is for the best. VERSUS I-NO: As an individual we once longed for our past as a human, but we never regretted continuing to live. Consider your own value. VERSUS SIN: As we were SAYING: There is value in training for self-improvement, but it would be best if you focused and studied more. VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: We didn't mean to treat you like a spectacle, but we couldn't help but be curious about a Human who became a Vampire! VERSUS CHAOS: Having the World's Wrath directed at you might seem like the correct course, but we have other opinions on the matter… VERSUS ASUKA#: It was the Bureau (P.W.A.B.) that turned us in to a Gear, but we don't exactly know which Scientist it was for certain… sound familiar? VERSUS ASUKA: We still have to thank you for saving us from a life of mediocrity… Giving Gears more power than they are created for is uncommon, if not extremely rare.

Goldlewis Dickinson VERSUS SELF: Sorry but, dressing like me isn't gonna give you clearance… I'm going to have to escort you off the premises… VERSUS SOL: We were chasing a ghost like you for years, it seems like… It's just too bad I didn't get to finally arrest you for Breaking and Entering! VERSUS KY: It's an honor, your highness… But I still have my own Duty to serve, if you don't mind. VERSUS AXL: Are you SURE you're not a Cryptid? Those powers of yours say otherwise… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Back to your post, soldier… Secretary's Orders. VERSUS MAY: You'd think I'd be conscientious about wielding a heavy weapon, but seeing a young kid like you… It's encouraging somehow… VERSUS CHIPP: Sorry, it's Erica's orders… you're to report to base, like it or not! VERSUS FAUST: Personal Report: UMA encountered… Capture successful… Unsure of UMA's condition… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Never thought the world's most wanted little girl would end up becoming a Soldier for the Good Guys… It's an honor. VERSUS POTEMKIN: As you can see, I don't budge, despite my age. I hope you've learned something new today. VERSUS LEO: For a King you're pretty relaxed… I can appreciate that. VERSUS ZATO: For a while there I really did think of you as a UMA, until I read that P.W.A.B. report on you… you really ARE a ghost. VERSUS MILLIA: It's definitely a tough job in this line of work, but earning your keep will pay off eventually. VERSUS BAIKEN: If I was a bit younger I might've liked meeting someone classy like you, it's too bad we didn't meet sooner… VERSUS ANJI: No matter what theories you cook up, I'm not talkin'… It's in the job description. VERSUS BEDMAN?: Sorry little lady, I sometimes can't hold back my own strength… Is your… uh… pet… okay? VERSUS TESTAMENT: Death hasn't quite kissed me just yet… But she's held me in her arms and danced a few times… VERSUS BRIDGET: I try my best not to make assumptions, but it also helps to have friends who'll believe in you. VERSUS JACK-O': I've chased and bagged my share of poltergeists, ma'am, but even so, you're pretty spooky! VERSUS I-NO: Even if it looks like the world turns it back on you, you can still face the music on your own terms. VERSUS SIN: You've got guts and potential, kid… Still, you might want something better than a flag pole to fight with… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I've read my share of history books, but I never met someone like YOU raised as a Japanese before… Y'learn somethin' new every day… VERSUS CHAOS: I've caught my share of bounty marks, but you take the cake. You're not gonna EVER leave your cage AGAIN. VERSUS ASUKA#: I've heard stories that there were multiple "Men" behind the Crusades, but are you sure you're not a UMA? VERSUS ASUKA: Given the circumstances and who you are, I can't just let you roam scott free… I have to keep an eye on you, you understand…

Bridget VERSUS SELF: Trying to steal my tricks is gonna cost you EXTRA, you know! VERSUS SOL: Sorry for thinking you still had a bounty on your head… Fake bounties are way too confusing! VERSUS KY: I promise! I'll put on a show at your Castle that'll impress the whole crowd! VERSUS AXL: I have a lot of tricks, but "disappearing" isn't one of them… I should study Magic more… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Threat assessment? I'm not a threat! These are just Yo-yos… "Street Legal Permit"? What's that? VERSUS MAY: Maybe someday I'll become an OFFICIAL MEMBER of the Jellyfish~! Is that hoping for too much? Do I STILL need Johnny's approval? VERSUS CHIPP: Despite what others may think, these AREN'T NINJA WEAPONS… I don't know where those rumors started… VERSUS FAUST: Sorry, but… I'm not ready for a Physical Examination just yet… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Roger says he wants to look at your swords… Don't worry, we won't do anything to them… VERSUS POTEMKIN: I actually haven't completed a 'World Tour' enough to go back to Zepp for an encore… Maybe one day… VERSUS LEO: Sorry but… I don't reveal my tricks to anyone… not even ROYALTY! Hehe~! VERSUS ZATO: You had a bounty on your head, but records said you were dead… what's going on here??? VERSUS MILLIA: I'm still a bounty hunter despite moonlighting as an entertainer… but sorry, I won't be so easily scouted. VERSUS BAIKEN: If I've made you smile even ONCE today… I've done my job! VERSUS ANJI: Are you sure you've never wanted to work in Entertainment? You have the physical muscles for it. VERSUS BEDMAN?: Roger says: "No hard feelings." I hope that's okay by you. VERSUS TESTAMENT: You used to be so grumpy… I'm so glad you've brightened up! VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: We talked a lot… but I hope you get to talk with your brother someday… I hope I get to talk with my brother too! VERSUS JACK-O': Wow… how do you move like that? Are you an acrobat? How did you train? VERSUS I-NO: There were times when I hated the whole world too, but… hate isn't good for your heart. VERSUS SIN: I don't actually mean to use these as weapons you know… and no, you can't copy MY moves either! VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: You've never seen a Yo-Yo before? REALLY!? Wow… Where've you lived all this time? VERSUS CHAOS: Not all plots have to be dramatic and tragic, you know… A good entertainer knows when to brighten the crowd… VERSUS ASUKA#: I'm not quite sure I get it, but you're a… copy? Well, I'm a copy of my brother too, I guess, since we're Twins and all… VERSUS ASUKA: Sorry, but you can't dismantle my Yo-Yos… I've put a patent on them (good thing I took Sol's advice)…

Jack-O'Valentine VERSUS SELF: Synchronizing with my other self might seem beneficial, but as expected, Aria hasn't reacted to it. VERSUS SOL: You're "retired" so start acting like it, you hear me! VERSUS KY: Thanks for the advice… Thinking I wasn't human was getting in the way of actually BEING human… VERSUS AXL: So you've finally found your niche and someone you cared for… I'm so glad for you! VERSUS GIOVANNA: It took a while for me to accept who I am… You've got a strong heart to accept yourself so quickly… VERSUS MAY: I never thought you'd get this strong… even Justice would be impressed! (Oops, I shouldn't say that…) VERSUS CHIPP: It's just a theory, but you have the potential to exceed the sound barrier! VERSUS FAUST: Perhaps if I had dedicated my life to others more, I might've ended up like yourself… scary to think about. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I suppose you can think of me as an "older sister", despite my memory records, that is… VERSUS POTEMKIN: I never knew you were an artist as well as a pilot… I really should get myself a new hobby… VERSUS LEO: I have nearly 200 years of knowledge on history, but I've never actually compared it to what's in books… VERSUS ZATO: We would've been enemies in another time and place… but I'm so glad the Great War is long over… VERSUS MILLIA: I've never heard about the Crusades from your perspective… What was it like, living in Darkness for so long? VERSUS BAIKEN: I'll never make up for that destructive past of mine… But I'll do my best anyhow… VERSUS ANJI: You're the first person I've ever met who wasn't afraid of Justice… Just what is your perspective on history? VERSUS BEDMAN?: Oops! My servants overdid it, didn't they? Sorry, they got over-protective. VERSUS TESTAMENT: I can't say I have many past memories of you (as a Gear), but I'm sorry you had to bear that burden… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Sorry but, these little guys aren't aliens… I summoned them from the Backyard… "Where's that?" you ask??? VERSUS BRIDGET: I've never actually thought about working as an Entertainer… Frederick doesn't want to draw any crowds… VERSUS I-NO: You fought so hard for a past you lost… But for me, I can't afford to focus just on myself… VERSUS SIN: Erm… for the record, I'm not exactly your "grandmother"… But well, we are family, anyway… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Maybe if I had had more courage like you, history might have changed… VERSUS CHAOS: I'll be the first to admit I made mistakes in my own past… But being irresponsible isn't the way to do things! VERSUS ASUKA#: I'll admit, chasing down the original Asuka is kinda fun… It's like Hide and Seek! VERSUS ASUKA: Frederick still has a hard time accepting everything you did… Please give him more time…

I-No VERSUS SELF: I don't have the TIME for bootlegs, you understand… VERSUS SOL: You gave up all that power just to keep living with someone… If only I had met someone like you sooner… VERSUS KY: Sorry, but can you give your "Holy Crusade" a rest, please… You're getting annoying… (I should've never changed his timeline…) VERSUS AXL: You could never maintain a true duet with me, dear… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Can't say I've ever listened to much Brazillian Heavy Metal before… Can you keep up with my thrashing, though? VERSUS MAY: All that noise you're making isn't music… it's just noise! VERSUS CHIPP: Your tempo isn't even consistent… you're not even improvising properly! VERSUS FAUST: I should've left your corpse back in the old timeline… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: No matter how many times I tried to kill you, you kept coming back… This is getting too boring… VERSUS POTEMKIN: In one timeline, I almost became a soldier like you… glad I changed my tune! VERSUS LEO: You couldn't even hum a marching theme right… How sad… VERSUS ZATO: Doom Metal just isn't my thing… VERSUS MILLIA: So there's even people like you who accept the life of a monster… while I'm still trying to become "human". VERSUS BAIKEN: Can't say I've tried to play a Shamisen… maybe next time… VERSUS ANJI: Wind Instroments just don't do it for me anymore… VERSUS BEDMAN?: Sorry if I "broke" your "toy", kid… Ahahahah~! VERSUS TESTAMENT: Death Metal is up there on my list, but I'll play my OWN music, thanks! VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Sorry, but I'm just not fond of COUNTRY music! Hahah! VERSUS BRIDGET: Nowadays you have to "risk your life" in Show-Business~! VERSUS JACK-O': You think you're special just because the world gave you a chance? Try looking at things from MY perspective… I never GOT a past! VERSUS SIN: You wouldn't exist if I didn't change the timeline for dear old dad… You should be thanking me~ VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: For a bodyguard you sure don't do your job properly… Then again, you could barely scratch me… VERSUS CHAOS: Just because you're a sacrifice doesn't mean I owe you anything… Don't forget your deal in all this… VERSUS ASUKA#: So changing the timeline can even grant him THIS kind of power… How interesting… VERSUS ASUKA: I've finally caught up to you… You're going to be serving ME from now on, bookworm…

Sin Kiske VERSUS SELF: THE MAN IN THE MIRROR IS BACK AGAIN… God, just leave me alone! VERSUS SOL: Old man, THIS TIME, you owe me a STEAK! Extra Salt and Sugar, please! VERSUS KY: Dad, you really should try this recipe… Trust me, it'll taste GREAT! VERSUS AXL: Man you're getting good at disappearing, Uncle Axl… How'd you get so tricky? VERSUS GIOVANNA: So like… that Dog on your shoulder, does he eat meat too? VERSUS MAY: If I ever wanted to go swimming my old man would just throw me off an airship in the nearby ocean… It was fun the first few times… VERSUS CHIPP: So, I gotta ask… what does being a Ninja have to do with saying Haikus? Do Haikus make you stronger? VERSUS FAUST: Whoah… you've gotten really thin since I last saw you… you eating right, doc? VERSUS RAMLETHAL: You're so much better at math than me… how'd you get so smart, anyway? VERSUS POTEMKIN: It was a shock the first time I found out you were human… What exactly did you EAT to grow that huge? VERSUS LEO: So you're a king like my Dad… They aren't overworking you at the castle, are they? Do they make you run across the whole continent like my old man does? VERSUS ZATO: Well, even if someone tricks me… as long as they can get a better life out of the deal, it's worth it. VERSUS MILLIA: I can't picture my mom wearing your hairstyles… Wait, my mom's hair can do that TOO!?? VERSUS BAIKEN: Getting used to Gears probably took you some time, right? Well, getting used to humans took a while for me, too. VERSUS ANJI: To be honest I prefer running, climbing, and jumping over dancing… VERSUS BEDMAN?: We've been through a lot, but if I can help maybe we can track down where the rest of your "brother" went… VERSUS TESTAMENT: I used to think the old man was the scariest "Gear" I'd ever met… but I guess I have to meet more people and get stronger yet… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: So did you have kids when you lost your eye? What? The eyepatch is FAKE!? You tricked me! You shouldn't lie to your kids… YOU DON'T HAVE KIDS!?? VERSUS BRIDGET: I've gotten used to being around unusual people, really… But you're pretty normal… You're the first person I've met to smile like that… VERSUS JACK-O': Don't get me wrong… I'm not just copying the old man's moves… I'm gonna put a whole new SPIN on 'em… Prepare to be amazed! VERSUS I-NO: Just because my Lightning's black doesn't mean I'm black-hearted… Do you even get what I'm saying… You don't have to live that way… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: Onigiri? Do you put hot sauce on it? What about meatballs? Or, I know… dip it in SALT and SUGAR… VERSUS CHAOS: My old man said some old guy broke the state of the world to make it this way… I get the feeling it was you… VERSUS ASUKA#: If I run fast enough, I can see a copy of myself… No, that's not quite right… Let me try again… VERSUS ASUKA: I get that the old man has some history with you, but you seem like a nice guy to me… Sorry but… that Math stuff is over my head…

Nagoriyuki VERSUS SELF: To keep my Bloodlust Sealed, you had to be made manifest… I guess I must cut down ALL my desires… VERSUS SOL: I never expected to encounter a man as brazenly strong as you… I suppose I should be thankful for the fortune as a Vampire… VERSUS KY: So even a gentle soul like yours must carry a burden of power… But if I have helped temper you, I'm glad to assist. VERSUS AXL: I've lived long enough to be considered having lived in the past and the future… but I suppose it's not the same for your case… an entirely new reality… how intriguing… VERSUS GIOVANNA: Despite our duel, you held back… I understand where you are coming from, but I'm not sure I can reciprocate… VERSUS MAY: You fight with strong emotions, but at the same time want to maintain peace… I wish you could have met my Master… VERSUS CHIPP: Master Tsuyoshi from what I remember was a private man… but he still sought to teach others for their benefit… I would have you teach me what you've learned as well… VERSUS FAUST: To think that even a Doctor in the Medical Arts could also be so skilled in the Fighting Arts… you astound me… VERSUS RAMLETHAL: Perhaps if I had met someone as strong as you in my own past, I would not have made so many mistakes… It's regrettable… VERSUS POTEMKIN: You bear such burdens proudly, almost without a care… but I can see you still seek strength… If I can, I offer my services… VERSUS LEO: For someone who fought so valiantly, you seem to have suffered a great deal… I would hear your story… VERSUS ZATO: My understanding of Dandyism is a bit vaguer than you might anticipate… I am actually out of practice… VERSUS MILLIA: So you chose to serve others in order to find your place… I can sympathize, my past was similar… VERSUS BAIKEN: Your sword is strong, and your heart… even stronger… I would ask that we train together again some time… VERSUS ANJI: Your frivolity hides a cunning I haven't seen in some time… are you familiar with my Master's history? VERSUS BEDMAN?: While I do not know what past you and your brother suffered, I would ask to hear your story… not just for your sake, but for my own as well… VERSUS TESTAMENT: And they called ME a grim reaper when I fought… I just didn't quite look the part, it seems… VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: I was once tasked to carry a coffin with me wherever I went… I didn't expect someone would take it literally… VERSUS BRIDGET: Your cheerfulness surprises me… despite our battle you continue to seek to impress your techniques… I'm learning something new. VERSUS JACK-O': Despite the fact I sense TWO SOULS inside of you, one appears to be the more dominant one (and there is even a THIRD?)… How exactly did this come about? VERSUS I-NO: You would have me fight for nothing except your desire for power and infamy… I am no one's weapon save my Master's. VERSUS SIN: You wield a pole comparable to the length of my sword… Have you ever considered wielding a spear? You don't know what a spear is??? VERSUS CHAOS: Despite your obsession with humanity I would see to your death a thousand times… and a thousand times more if I must! VERSUS ASUKA#: The mystic arts and sciences confound me, if I'm being honest, I am just a humble warrior by comparison… VERSUS ASUKA: I never knew that your teacher created such a burden on you… If I had, I would have defeated him sooner…

Happy Chaos VERSUS SELF: Oh yeah, I saw this paradox coming a mile away… Just don't expect any favors… VERSUS SOL: This isn't exactly an audition, you know… I'd scrub you from my script if I only knew how… VERSUS KY: I've heard your sob story a billion times at this point… Had to rewrite the script a few times to get it just right though. VERSUS AXL: To keep a scale in balance, you have to make sure both sides have the same weight… the same story… Did that sting a little? VERSUS GIOVANNA: You're the type who doesn't even READ the script… get off my set! VERSUS MAY: I suppose you think bleeding hearts would eat your story up… BORING! VERSUS CHIPP: The fact you saw through to the real me is surprising… but I don't like people who READ SPOILERS FIRST. VERSUS FAUST: Is there even a POINT to giving someone like me a Medical Check-up? Is this a comedy sketch? VERSUS RAMLETHAL: You had your time in the spotlight, but now it's time for the understudy. VERSUS POTEMKIN: Someone like you should be a key grip… get it? Yeah, I'm not good at film jokes. VERSUS LEO: Throwing an amateur script like yours in to my story wouldn't be worth the print… VERSUS ZATO: Maybe in some other lifetime you would've made a great protagonist… guess I was a little slow… VERSUS MILLIA: Sometimes you meet people who were MADE for the big screen… You've got the icy EYES at least… VERSUS BAIKEN: There's always a critic… And there's always someone out there who doesn't watch movies… VERSUS ANJI: Chasing after MY story, are you? I'm afraid I can't let you see the final script… VERSUS BEDMAN?: At this point you two are just a sub-chapter prologue… Now if you'll excuse me I've got more Drama to publish… VERSUS TESTAMENT: We can't exactly have gawking bystanders on to the film set, can we? VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: You've probably got a conspiracy theory or two, I imagine… But I don't believe in any single conclusion… VERSUS BRIDGET: C'mon, SCRAM! AM-SCRAY! Get lost, kid, ya bother me! VERSUS JACK-O': I gotta say I'm impressed with my prized student's handiwork… Just too bad I couldn't tweak your script, myself. VERSUS I-NO: Being Creative isn't easy you know… you need to have a VISION. Ambition is only one part of the creative process. VERSUS SIN: You're one of those family-friendly stories, aren't you? Sorry, but my script is more ambitious than that… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I scouted you because your Drama practically writes itself! Even if I'm a dead man, I'd write for you any day… VERSUS ASUKA#: I've seen parodies and characatures before, but this is hardly a rewrite… (he really needs practice). VERSUS ASUKA: History isn't written by peace-lovers… it's written by survivors… Humanity will lose if it doesn't Evolve…

Asuka R# VERSUS SELF: Creating copies of myself, I now see that only the original can give me insight in to my own existence. VERSUS SOL: You noticed that I'm more talkative as a Copy… how perceptive of you… I just wish that animosity was aimed at me. VERSUS KY: With Sol as your rival, did it ever occur to you that such a relationship would galvanize you to the heights of power you now enjoy? VERSUS AXL: Even if I am not the genuine article, I can still relatively look and "act" the part… so you didn't exactly "catch the wrong actor". VERSUS GIOVANNA: The morality of some people confounds me… and I must confess that seeing someone "look defeated" has been refreshing for me. VERSUS MAY: I'm not sure I understand the concept of Love, though I do have concerns… For example, I have a concern for the results of this fight. Was it as edifying for you as it was me? VERSUS CHIPP: I must confess, subterfuge is lost on someone like me, who can use Magic to detect anyone even at long distance. VERSUS FAUST: Most likely I am the last person to end up as a Patient on your Docket. Do forgive my intruding on your schedule. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: My creator was fascinated with the method of your creation, which resulted in ME… though I doubt he created me to be as durable as yourself. VERSUS POTEMKIN: It fascinates me that not even Nature itself can predict the forms it takes… While you are an outlier of Humans, you are a great specimen of one. VERSUS LEO: My creator spent a large amount of time immersed in books, however I can't find myself to continue hiding behind them… Perhaps something is "wrong" with me. VERSUS ZATO: You make your vast knowledge out to be frivolous and meaningless, but in actuality most of what you are aware of STILL has great value. You can thank the Backyard for that. VERSUS MILLIA: I am still seeking my own purpose in this life granted to me, so I can understand your desire to belong. However, I'm not sure I can endure the opinions of others as easily as you do. VERSUS BAIKEN: Perhaps, upon seeing a copy of yourself, you found your own sense of enlightenment? Or was it just a coincidence? I wish I had that kind of fortune. VERSUS ANJI: You seek to be what others call a "friend", and yet you somehow end up getting in to trouble for your efforts… It's unfortunate the world rejects you that way. VERSUS BEDMAN?: If I had understood your brother's powers, perhaps I too would've made an Absolute World of my own… It's strictly speculation, however. VERSUS TESTAMENT: There are many generations of Gears that my Creator is responsible for making, however you weren't among them… I'd like to hear your story. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Being aware of your own mystical abilities is usually beneficial, but somehow in your case, the opposite is true. How does that even work??? VERSUS BRIDGET: If the world was as secretive as you about its myths, knowledge, and legends, I fear Science would never make any progress… VERSUS JACK-O': Even if you are a construct… merely existing is its own significance, I hope you'll find your confidence in that. VERSUS I-NO: I suppose I have you to thank for my own existence… if you had not changed the timeline, my creator would have never found the power and abilities to create me. VERSUS SIN: Does a change in perception of the world really work? I can't find any of your logic to make any sense, however I do appreciate the theories you've presented… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: The real Asuka was never a man of physical efforts, however I am more than the sum of him, but even I must confess you've given me quite the workout… VERSUS CHAOS: The meaning behind "existence"… while I am starting to understand your point of view… your explanation of it is quite lacking… where's your Thesis? VERSUS ASUKA: If I had asked you to "forgive yourself", would you have taken this fight any more seriously? Somehow I doubt this.

Asuka R. Kreutz VERSUS SELF: Not a construct I created: but an actual paradoxical existence from another timeline? When did this event occur and HOW!?!? VERSUS SOL: While I do regret our history… I do not regret saving you, and I will never look back and own up to my responsibility. I hope that will someday satisfy you. VERSUS KY: I've always known Frederick to not be the most likeable of people, but I never knew he was able to inspire others… Thank you for this knowledge. VERSUS AXL: I still haven't taken you up on the idea of going for some Tea and Snacks… I've perfected my materialization method�� care to try my recipe? VERSUS GIOVANNA: Your simple methods of using gravity and inertia to increase your damage output are fascinating… Though I have my own ideas and methods. VERSUS MAY: If I could make up for the tragedy of Japan, I would do my utmost to make amends… I hope to meet your expectations one day. VERSUS CHIPP: It never occurred to me that someone born and raised in another culture could have their own culture be completely rewritten… your life story fascinates me. VERSUS FAUST: While I have chosen to atone in my own ways, I cannot make shortcuts or sacrifices hastily… In order to properly atone, I must keep living. VERSUS RAMLETHAL: I must confess I went a little "overboard" when I was inspired by your creation… I'll try to keep out of trouble if I can manage it. VERSUS POTEMKIN: Honor-bound as a soldier, I imagine your history is what made you exactly what you are… and I still seek the truth behind that history as well. VERSUS LEO: I suppose you have every right to resent me for burdening you as I did during the War… But I will do what I can to repent and atone… you have my word. VERSUS ZATO: We both have our roles to play in atonement, don't we? We should both work our hardest, then. VERSUS MILLIA: My condolences to your mother. I am to blame for the loss of many families… I won't ever forget this… I won't ever let history repeat itself on my watch. VERSUS BAIKEN: That day when you came to me, sword drawn, in any other circumstance I would have let you kill me… But now I have a purpose to atone for… and I hope one day you'll find peace at last after learning the Truth. VERSUS ANJI: I owe you my thanks. You were resolute in seeking the truth, and without your insight a lot of history would still be hidden. I am in your debt. VERSUS BEDMAN?: So my teacher is once again to blame for this… I will do everything in my power to make up for this… I swear this to you. VERSUS TESTAMENT: It is a great regret of mine to see other Gears I did not create, but I still hope your lives are not in vain. VERSUS GOLDLEWIS: Fighting an unseen war is something I'm all too familiar with… I hope we both make progress in our objectives. VERSUS BRIDGET: It is almost refreshing to see someone practically unaffected by the past dark history such as yourself… I hope you'll be a beacon to people who need it. VERSUS JACK-O': We were BOTH stubborn in our beliefs, but making mistakes is still a HUMAN TRAIT… Just as making up for them is. VERSUS I-NO: I wish you could have waited for me… just a little longer. I hope your future does get fulfilled, however… VERSUS SIN: The last time we met, you were racing through the Backyard Gate to save Sol… I hope you've been doing well, Sin… Also, Math isn't that scary a concept, trust me… VERSUS NAGORIYUKI: I must say I've never kept much track of the history of Vampires or Nightless such as yourself… I will have to brush up on my history of them. VERSUS CHAOS: I'm afraid I can't let you roam about as you once did in the old days, Teacher… please, cease your actions at once… VERSUS ASUKA#: To be honest, you've surpassed all my expectations… I did not foresee power of this magnitude manifesting, though your lack of morality is worrisome…

[sassmill]

Absolutely nobody asked for this, but since it’s nearly October and I listen to these year round: here are some Halloween-y spooky musicals that aren’t Sweeney Todd or Addams Family or Beetlejuice. Lots of murder inbound, folks. The spectrum ranges from “this piece of art is integral to my soul” to “this is campy and fun and I sing it in my car a lot.”

1) Get Jack

To sum it up with lyrics, “he’s still most wanted, but we’ve been forgotten.” The Canonical Five women murdered by Jack the Ripper tell their stories (and then rise as specters from Hell to bring him down). Some serious guitar shredding and rock vocals on tracks like “Left Handed Wives” and “Agony in Red,” and hard-hitting emotional lyrics and performances on tracks like “Blood in Whitechapel” and “Forever Erased.” Plus, a cheeky narrator who may or may not be the Devil. Strikes the perfect balance between earned rage and overdue grieving for these victims that have been largely pushed by the wayside in the history books because of their gender and occupation—like the women of Six, they’re flipping the narrative to reclaim their own identities and agency in the story. These five women were more than just names in a rhyme.

2) Angelmakers: Songs for Female Serial Killers

This song cycle tells you its concept first thing—everyone deserves one song. Even those that have been condemned. Especially them. An examination of “feminine rage and radical empathy,” it makes no excuses for each of these eight women—these serial killers—but it dissects their lives and asks the audience to ponder: how has this world broken you down? How much have you held in? How often have you said sorry? How much have you sacrificed for peace of mind, and how much would you give to make the world bear the full brunt of your pain? It’s more than a concert or a song cycle, it is an elegy—a ritual, an offering for women we know and women we have been. We begin by acknowledging the rage we carry, the effort it takes to temper it, in “Stick the Key In.” We bear witness to the pain that the world has wrought in these women, we recognize that their circumstances are similar to so many others in the seven wildly cathartic punk rock devotionals—and I do feel that that is exactly what they are, because each song is “for” one of these women. And we end the cycle with a psalm of sorts, for all of us: “Will to Live.” It is explicitly unapologetic in the grace it grants these women, and in engaging with their trauma we can allow ourselves as women some grace as well: our pain is real, and our rage reverberates through the centuries because of this will to live despite those that try to break us because of how they’ve been broken. It gives you permission to hurt so that you can start to heal. If you listen to this one, make an evening out of it and listen to it all the way through—complete the cycle.

3)LIZZIE

Anybody who really knows me knows how close this show is to my heart. It takes the 1892 Borden ax murders and holds up a magnifying glass to the women at the center of it. Though the full history involves many, many players, this two act rock musical presents the story to us through just four: Lizzie and Emma, spinster sisters struggling under their father’s iron fist and their stepmother’s cold hearted scheming; Bridget, the family’s young Irish maid who sees and hears everything; and Alice, a neighbor and confidant who must weigh her desire to support the woman she loves against her conscience when she witnesses deceit. This work is a masterpiece of tension. In the days leading up to the murders, you can feel the stifling presence of the father and stepmother bearing down on all four women—and they aren’t physically present in the show at all. The women each play their own role in the drama they unfold—Bridget is our Greek chorus, Emma is puppet master, Alice is a light in the darkness, and Lizzie is the eye of the storm. Honestly, The Village Voice perfectly summed it up: “Lush tunes which retch sex, rage, dyke heat, misanthropy, and incest… Surreal glee and gallows humor… Finally, a rock musical you’d wanna mosh to.”

IMPORTANT: trigger warning for implications of sexual assault.

4) Lizzie Borden

Yes, there are two musicals about her. There’s also an opera by Jack Beeson and an Agnes DeMille ballet scored by Morton Gould, but that’s not why we’re here. As far as my suggestions on this list go, this 1998 treatment of the Borden murders is probably the most stylistically conventional for musical theatre (tying with Witches of Eastwick)—the weaving of dialogue with song, patter, and breadth of leitmotif call to mind Sondheim. Unlike LIZZIE, this show presents the full cast of characters involved in that fateful day and its aftermath in an inventive nonlinear fashion, splitting Lizzie into her younger self at some of its most chilling moments. The score is gorgeous, and I cannot properly stress how marvelously the leitmotifs pan out in the second act. Strikes a good balance between comedic, petty drama and the panic behind life altering tragedy—I guarantee you’ll be humming “Buttons” for at least a week after your heart stops pounding from the anxiety that builds with every measure of “So Easily.” Again, IMPORTANT: trigger warning for implied sexual assault.

5) Nevermore: the Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe

Haunting and ominously playful, the show’s traveling acting troupe starts at Poe’s birth and follows his tragedies and triumphs up until the opening moments of the show—a framing device that I will always love, and it’s played off here deliciously. I don’t have a whole essay to write on this one and I have no idea how biographically accurate it is to his life, but I love listening through it on long drives—a lot of underscored dialogue, which I just happen to enjoy while driving. Maybe because I like podcasts. I don’t know. It doesn’t really warrant a trigger warning, but I can’t NOT mention that it does include his marriage to his 13 year old cousin—the dynamic portrayed is avuncular if anything, nothing predatory or unnerving, but. Yeah. Child cousin bride. Do with this what you will.

6) Ghost Quartet

Dave Malloy, my sweet, sweet baboo. I love this show so much. I talked about this show in the process portion of my thesis. And it’s really impossible to summarize the plot because it is stories inside of stories and it’s best listened to many, many times in the wind and rain. There are two sisters, an astronomer, and a bear. A soldier. A driver, a victim, a pusher, a photographer. The Fall of the House of Usher. Sheherazade, Dunyazad, and Shah Zaman. Thelonious Monk. Any kind of dead person, reincarnation, a classic murder ballad, and lots of whiskey. It’s intensely weird and equally wonderful. If you listen to the live recording from the McKittrick Hotel, dialogue is included! Better yet, Dave Malloy actually made the full production directed by Annie Tippe available to watch on his YouTube channel at the start of the pandemic.

7) The Witches of Eastwick

As far as I am concerned, John Updike doesn’t exist and the only versions of this story that matter are the movie and this musical. Three witches in a small Rhode Island town learn to be authentically themselves and enjoy their lives through some ill-advised fraternization with the devil himself (the egrets be damned). Local prophet has some tummy trouble. The “I want” songs are delicious and it is a personal goal of mine to perform “Words, Words, Words” without actually biting my tongue in the last verse. “Dirty Laundry” has all the petty 1960s housewife drama you could ask for. “I Wish I May” is a charming trio about fulfilling the dreams we had as children. “Dance with the Devil” is a straight banger. “Another Night at Darryl’s” is a lusty romp. Just, like, do yourself a favor and listen to this musical it’s so fun. John Updike stays in the penalty box for all eternity, though. I am never getting those hours of my life back.

8 ) Rebecca das Musical

Okay I KNOW that this one is literally in German but hear me out—the lovely fanbase have made so many YouTube videos of the soundtrack with English subtitles if you don’t speak German (I’m… getting there). The Daphne du Maurier novel is perfect, the Hitchcock film is perfect, and this musical is perfect. Even before I knew enough German to comprehend any of the words, I knew the storyline well enough that the music itself (it’s so expressive I swoon) made characters and plot points clear. Gothic romance that is incredibly questionable, murder, ambiguity, repressed lesbianism, scandal, a protagonist that literally doesn’t have a name—what’s not to love? Mrs. Danvers steals the show as is her god-given right, and if nothing else you should listen to the demo recording of the English language version of the title song “Rebecca” from the vanished Broadway production (whose death was just as tragic and mysterious as Rebecca de Winter’s). It’s unhinged and incredibly sapphic; everything Mrs. Danvers ought to be (Kristin Scott Thomas, I’m so sorry they gave you that sad excuse of a script you deserved so much better. When it was first released I said I liked the 2020 Netflix Rebecca but in retrospect… no). I don’t think I’m really capable of intelligent thought at this point in the list (it is now 1:26 am) but just know that I love this musical and it is helping me learn German. Why am I learning German? So I can listen to this musical. Why I am listening to this musical? So I can learn German. And the snake consumes its own tail. And I should probably go to sleep.

[lucreziaq2001]

•TV show: "Criminal minds".

•Content warnings: Mentions of a woman being referred to as "uncontrollable and evil" because of her behavior as a teenager, her having had a tough childhood, her having been expelled from school because she had hurt one of her classmates (who had insulted her) with a rock, her having a bad temper, mentions of hitting and murder, the woman I mentioned hiding everything about Saint Bridget's from the police, mentions of a 36-hours labor with no pain meds, her saying she never looked for the son she gave birth too in that institute to keep him a secret and also because it was hard to cope at Saint Bridget's and most of the girls just tried to think of themselves, and her suggesting that her friend's boyfriend was the person who killed her.

•I apologise if adult Emily seems out of character too, but this is what I needed her to be like for the story.

•I made up the name of the girl teenage Emily attacked at school. I wanted to give her a name, so I just picked one.

•Some of the lines are almost the same that are in a scene of the "Cold case" episode this story is inspired by. I did modify them a bit, though. I didn't just copy and paste them.

•Tags: @lex13cm, @golden1u5t, @rynwritesreid, @reidmeister, @justalesbianwithsomegayshit, @thatonewritersstuff, @marril96, @c-m-stuff, @criminal-addict.

Between their two hearts

Chapter 12: Emily Prentiss

After she had finished telling that story, Sister Margaret explained some things to Jacqueline and Scarlett that made the two young women believe they had already found Jennifer's killer in a way.

According to the nun, as a teenager Emily Prentiss was uncontrollable, and she didn't want to also call her "evil", but she couldn't find another suitable word to talk about that girl's personality.

She knew Emily hadn't had an easy childhood, but she also didn't think that justified some of her behaviors.

Almost exactly one year before being taken to Saint Bridget's, for example, the girl had been expelled from school shortly before graduation because she had hit one of her classmates in the head with a rock.

Therefore, deeply shocked by that story, Jacqueline and Scarlett began looking for Emily.

After just a few minutes of research, they discovered that the woman, who was now 56 years old, lived in Washington and worked at a diner, so the next day, they went to talk to her.

"We've been told you have a pretty bad temper, Emily" Jacqueline said as she and Scarlett walked through the door of the place Emily worked at.

"Oh. I guess you are not here for our special dish, then" the woman, who was standing near one of the still empty tables with cutlery in her hands at that moment, replied, smiling at them.

"No. We came because of a murder" Scarlett explained, and from the look on Emily's face when she heard those words, both she and Jacqueline immediately understood that she knew what they were referring to.

"The culprit is the cook" she responded, clearly joking "I'm just the waitress".

"Do you remember Jennifer Jareau?" Jacqueline then asked her "You were together at Saint Bridget's. Did you ever hit her like you did with your schoolmate?".

"Yes, Isabel Grant!" Emily snorted, shaking her head "That girl shouldn't have insulted me".

"You're right, but let's talk about Jennifer now" Scarlett replied, trying to keep Emily focused on what she and her friend had come to talk to her about "Did you ever hit her?".

"No, Jennifer was a good girl. She was always kind to me. We had even become friends" Emily told her.

"Where were you when she was killed?" Jacqueline then asked.

"In bed. I had been through a thirty-six hour labor just a few days before. It hadn't been easy to get an 8-pounds baby out without painkillers. I still needed time to recover" the woman explained.

"And why didn't you tell the police about Saint Bridget's after Jennifer's death?" Scarlett questioned.

"For the same reason why I've never looked for my son" Emily replied "It's better to keep some secrets well-hidden".

"So you pretended nothing had happened, right?" Jacqueline supposed, and that sentence of hers irritated Emily quite a bit.

"Look, we usually tried to only think about ourselves in that place" she replied in a firm voice.

"So who do you think could have been mad at Jennifer?" Scarlett asked, as she didn't know about anyone else who had had such a close relationship with Melissa's biological mother during her time at Saint Bridget's.

"What about the guy who got her in trouble, for example?" Emily suggested, then she started talking about what had happened during their outing after the one on May 30, the first and only time she had met Derek Morgan.

[connievalentine]

various mighty med hcs i’ve accumulated in my like. nine months of being fixated on the show;

(under the cut bc there’s a lot and it’s hard to organize)

getting the lgbt ones out of the way first..

• kaz - ace gay (i also LOVE genderfluid or nonbinary kaz..)

• oliver - transmasc bi demiro .. him falling for all his friends is real. xoxo.

• skylar - agender aro/acespec lesbian (you can pry calderans not having a gender binary from my cold dead hands)

• jordan - LESBIAN!! no one will ever change my mind. sorry.

• alan - i don’t have solid hcs for him but i do love the transfem alan agenda i’ve seen .. either way, he is trans. you cannot be a cis shapeshifter.

—

now onto the other ones LMAO

• kaz is petrified of extremely niche things. he’ll go into a haunted house and be laughing on the way out but if he sees a balloon or smthn he runs the other way.

• oliver was the one who original introduced kaz to comics, but kaz got into them WAY more at first. (they were considerably easier for him to digest than books)

• during mm era i am a Strong believer that oliver’s growth spurt made him exactly an inch taller than kaz and this pisses kaz off to no end.

• jordan and kaz bicker like siblings, but oliver and kaz bicker like an old married couple. gus commonly says that he would choose oliver in the divorce (sorry kaz).

• over the summer, pre-mm, jordan helps oliver dye pink streaks in his hair and bridget loves it (she makes him dye it back for the next school year though)

• oliver is allergic to too many things to keep track of.

• kaz’s little sisters would force him to let them hang out with him and oliver just because oliver let them braid his hair or paint his nails without complaining as much as kaz. (he is VERY vocal)

one final one that may be controversial.. /hj

• i am a strong bridget supporter. she would Not be homophobic. like yes she’s a supervillain but she’s doing everything for her son?? why would she be bigoted. she’s evil, not corrupt. xoxo

i can’t think of any more of my Solid hcs and i assume no one will read this far but hiiiii if you did!!

[gerec]

Au-gust 2022

1. Underwater 2. Artist’s Muse 3. Countryside 4. Dinosaurs

-----

5. Teachers

Pairing(s): Cherik, Xavierine, Cherigan, Starles Warnings: Past mpreg, total crack

This is a little snippet from an unfinished chapter from my fic Charles Xavier's Baby. You don't really need to have read it to understand this ficlet, though I personally think it would be funnier if you did. Just know that the story is inspired by Bridget Jones's Baby, and Charles got knocked up with twins from two different guys :D ---- They’re already halfway through a very nice roast beef dinner before it happens; the slow, dawning realization by both Erik and Logan of the girls’ intentions, inviting their art teacher over for an in-home visit. Charles pretends not to notice the mental alarm bells coming at him from two different directions, merely smiling at Mr. Rogers as he takes a sip of the man’s contribution to the meal; a very fine - and expensive - vintage Bordeaux. Mr. Rogers, Charles notes, seems to have excellent taste in French reds. “Mr. Rogers, you have such exquisite taste. This wine is absolutely delightful.” The man really is ridiculously handsome, and muscular to boot, sweet and well-mannered but with a delightfully dry wit. He’s exactly Charles’ type – and Charles ‘pre-twins’ would have been all over Steve Rogers like a slutty octopus – which only makes Laura and Lorna’s plan all the funnier to a slightly inebriated Charles. “Please call me Steve,” hot art teacher Steve says, as Erik’s mental nudges escalate to urgent pokes, and Logan looks like he’s minutes away from to sticking his claws into that broad, well-defined chest. “Thank you again for the invitation to dinner. It was an absolute delight having the girls in my art class this year.” He’s not surprised at all to hear that they’re well-behaved for him, since it seems they have very specific ideas for what role they want Mr. Rogers to play in all their lives. In a way that makes perfect sense to seven-year-olds just finishing their second year of school, they’ve decided they want a baby brother or sister, and – because they have different fathers – they obviously need to find another father for the new baby too. “You’re very welcome, Steve,” he says, and maybe, just maybe he bites his lips a little as he reaches over to refill the man’s wine glass. “You’re their favorite teacher by far. It’s always ‘Mr. Rogers is so smart’, or ‘Mr. Rogers is so good at painting’ with these two.” Both Lorna and Laura beam at him and then at Steve, their heads turning in perfect synch. Charles doesn’t have the heart to be too upset at their misguided matchmaking, though he’s not looking forward to the conversation they need to have about how they’re definitely not going to be getting a new sibling. (There is no way Charles is going to have another baby, after the insanity of getting impregnated by his ex and his new boyfriend in one pregnancy.) “Mr. Rogers, did you know Daddy is a teacher like you?” Lorna says, a conspiring Laura whispering in her ear. “He’s a Professor of Genetics at the university. And he’s rich and we have lots of expensive art at the house in Westchester. So you have lots in common.”

Steve, bless him, doesn’t see the evil terrors that the twins really are, lulled by their pretty smiles and the perfect manners they pull out whenever it’s convenient. “Oh, really? That’s wonderful. Do you have a favorite period or artist in your collection, Charles?” “Charles doesn’t know a damn thing about art,” Erik snaps rudely, in a way that would normally get him thrown out of Charles’ bed for a week. But handsome, fit, talented, artsy Mr. Rogers is driving him crazy with jealousy, in a way he hasn’t broadcast this loudly to Charles since he was fighting with Logan over the (at the time they thought just one) baby. “Any art he owns came with the house.” Logan, usually the one with the cooler head and more laid-back attitude, also seems rather threatened by the very idea that someone like Steve Rogers even exists. “What’s a guy like you doing teaching little kids art anyway?” he growls. “Logan—” “No, Charles, it’s fine,” Steve says affably, though there’s a glint of something in his eye now that makes him even more attractive. “After I retired from the army, I wanted to do something different; something that gave me a reason to get up in the morning again. And being around the kids, teaching them and watching them grow…it makes me happy and fulfilled like I haven’t felt in a long time.” ‘Pre-twins’ Charles would most definitely be sucking his face by now, which is both an indictment of his past self and weird proof that the girls have the same taste in men as their Daddy. He gazes with admiration at a smiling Steve, which solicits another wave of mental grievances being shouted in his direction. Stop flirting with him, Charles! Who invited this guy? Why is he even here? If you’re trying to get back at me for proposing again you are way out of line! Between the wine and Erik and Logan’s incessant complaints, it’s no wonder that Charles misses Lorna turning determinedly to Steve and promptly blowing the entire evening to smithereens. “Mr. Rogers,” she says, smiling her dimpled smile at an indulgent, if slightly puzzled Steve, “would you like to have a baby with Daddy?” Charles absolutely does not dump his entire glass of wine down the front of his shirt.

[mae-dwrites]

Taking Flight - Chapter 1 - Life

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“Remember truth, and honesty are rewarded,” Sabine said after giving the purse left on the bus to its’ owner. “Even if you don’t realize it. Being a Cheng means honesty. Do you understand Marinette?”

The seven-year-old cheeks puffed out in determination and she nodded, “Yes Maman.”

“Now come on, it’s too late to be out.” Sabine picked her daughter up.

☾•☽

Tom held Marinette as she cried in his arms, “Sometimes people are mean 'cause someone was mean to them. We can’t change them but we can try to help them.”

“B-but if people don’t ch-hange then how can you h-help them?” Marinette tried wiping tears away, boogers getting on her shirt sleeves.

“People think they can change but they can’t, they grow. They can grow from what they’ve done but it will always be a part of them, you can help people grow.” Tom explained as he wiped away the nine-year-old’s tears away for her.

“So I need to help her?” Marinette asked with a sniff, “Cause someone hurt her?”

“Yes, exactly. Chloé just needs someone to help her.” He set her down and opened a drawer, “Now let’s see how we can help your hair.”

☾•☽

Marinette groaned as she sat down for lunch. Grabbing her lunch out of her bag as Nino joined her, “What now?”

“Just ugh, Chloé! And she hasn’t done anything, yet, but being the daughter of the Style Queen she would be better at dressing herself.”

Kim snorted as he sat down, “When has she ever been good at anything.”

Marinette lightly whacked Kim, “Don’t be rude.”

“And you weren’t?” Kim stole a croissant earning him another smack. Marinette huffed, “I’m a designer! I’m not bullying, I’m critiquing. Also, we’re in collégé, she should be able to dress herself to not look like an orange. Like that orange is so bright I might cry.”

“You would think she wouldn’t use her dad as a threat anymore,” Nino grumbled before pulling his headphones up.

“She needs to grow up,” Kim said handing his rice bowl to Marinette. Marinette said thanks, “She will eventually. She has to.”

☾•☽

The bakery door busted open, “Happy Birthday my precious Marigold!”

"Āyí Bridget!” Marinette ran from the cashier station to her aunt. Marinette heard her mom yell something from the bakery kitchen. “Bridget is here Maman!” She grabbed her aunty's hand bringing her to the back.

“Baihu,” Sabine wiped her hands off on her apron before hugging her younger sister. She tried to mind her hands so she wouldn’t get any flour on Bridget. Bridget put her hands on Sabine's shoulders to la baize, Sabine chuckled as she had her wrist on her sister’s shoulders.

“Now, shall I take my niece out for her birthday,” Bridget raised her arm to Marinette as if to court her. Marinette giggled and hooked her arm around her aunts.

“Can you wait till Tom gets back, so one of us can take over when Marinette goes,” Sabine gave the young woman a pointed look. Bridget waved off Sabine, “Of course, what do you take me for? I’ll work it with Mari ‘til Tom arrives.”

-•-

“Sooo is there anyone I need to worry about hurting my favorite girl?” Bridget spoke in English, raising an eyebrow at Marinette. Marinette shook her head as they walked, “You don’t need to worry about that. Besides Maman has that department handled.”

“Even so you should never let someone step on you, literally and metaphorically. Let people know they can’t fuck with you! Stand tall and say ‘I AM MARINETTE ZHÀNSHÌ DUPAIN-CHENG, DON’T MESS WITH ME!’” Bridget had jumped onto a bench and yelled.

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re cool and confident,” Marinette said looking at her. She started to fidget with the bottom of her shirt. She sighed changing to French, “I can’t even get Chloé to be remotely nice to us.”

“Do you want her to be nice or kind?”

Marinette frowned as she changed back to English, “What’s the difference?”

“How I see it is kindness is genuine, you want to help because it’s right. You put others before yourself more often than not, unless it's wrong. When someone is nice they want something, they pretend, and throw you away when they’re done.” She dropped down into a sitting position. She tapped beside her and continued, “It’s hard to find kind people, but it’s harder for people to stay kind.”

“Which is why it’s harder to find them.”

Bridget nodded with a small smile, “See you get it, your father has this idea of nice and kind are the same, and can be used interchangeably. He’s got your mom thinking it too. When people describe others like ‘they seem nice,’” Bridget had gone into a high-pitched voice. “Like uck! Seem, I don’t like that word.”

“Uh, how come?” Marinette asked. Bridget looked at her shoes, “I don’t like uncertainty. If you aren’t sure then you’re walking in the dark.”

Marinette bit her cheek as she thought about what Bridget had said. It makes sense I guess, Marinette tapped on the bench till her aunt grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

“Let’s stop talking about icky grown-up ideas. Let’s go find Andrè before it’s too late out, I do not need your mother yelling a storm at me.” Bridget said. “Oh and don’t tell her I spoke profanities, she will have my head.”

☾•☽

“Marinette it’s destiny,” the tiny creature squeaked.

Marinette just wanted it to stop following her, she wanted to be alone, she couldn’t do this. How could she? She was only fourteen, how was she supposed to do any of this? She doesn’t even have the time for heroing, she barely has time to keep up with her family and that’s when she knew what they were saying! She barely knew Chinese and some of her cousins were speaking another other language around her! If she can’t keep up with them how can she keep up with anything hero related?

Being a hero took time out of your life, if anyone knew they treat you differently, American Heroes were proof of that. Sure not all of them hide their identities but most do, cause they want to live their lives, or have no choice. Sometimes they would get in trouble so they hide.

What if the people don’t like her? What if they try to arrest her? What if she ends up being more of a vigilante than a hero? What if they don’t approve? What if the person who gave her the earrings realize they made a mistake and came back for them?

That would be good, she wouldn’t have to do this but she would rather be able to just give it back rather than seen as a mistake. Chloé did say that she was a mistake last year, but that isn’t true. Chloé doesn’t know her, she doesn’t know Tom and Sabine. At least Chloé didn’t get these earrings, Marinette thought touching the earrings. I am a better choice than her at the least.

But she could handle this better, a part of her nagged…

“Marinette please listen to me, you’re the only one who can do this!” Right the flying bug-mouse was here.

“I’m the only one who can do this?” Marinette let out a laugh, “As if! An adult should have these”-she moved her hair to show the earrings-” I, still a child, shouldn’t. I don’t have the skills or-or experience too!”

“You’re smart, creative, exactly what a Ladybug wielder needs to be. You have shown to be able to adapt well even in this stressful situation!” The red creature came closer to Marinette’s face.

“So is my mother! Although she may not have the time to be a hero, just like me, she can fight far better than me. She can handle this better than I can. You saw the news! I messed up I didn’t get the Akuma, between me and my mom, she should have the earrings.” Marinette grabbed the wooden box.

“Marinette you were chosen for a reason! You can’t give the earrings to just anyone!” The bug flew in front of her. “You can’t tell anyone your identity or about the miraculouses.”

“Yeah, well-well the city knows! Not a lot but they’re aware too!” Marinette shot back, it wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair to her or the people who lived here. And an adult should handle this, no-

Marinette’s phone went off, it was supposed to be her alarm to go back to school, but no one had to go with the Ivan turning and others being turned into stone monsters. Lunch was technically over now. She didn’t have to go back but maybe she should, maybe she could find an older student to give these earrings to. She took off the earrings with Tikki’s protests in tow, she placed them back in the box.

She sighed, It’s the right thing to do.

“Marinette where are you going?” Sabine asked when Marinette got down to the bakery.

“I’m going to school, some of the kids might have been forced to go back for all we know. And Ivan being turned into that stone monster was scary, also he might need support.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but not all a lie either.

“I-” Sabine hesitated, “You can go to school, but you come straight home after, you hear?”

“Yes Maman,” Marinette kissed her cheek.

-•-

Marinette dropped the transformation in an alley by her school, she brought her hand to her right earring. She made circles around it as she leaned against the wall.

Being a Cheng means honesty.

Well, Cheng does mean honesty, Marigold.

You’re kind, I hope you stay kind my Marigold.

Always help others my Marimoon.

Hello Marinette, you truly look like one of the sea.

This is Marinette? Heh, she best bring honor to our name.

“Heh, honor,” she slid down the wall onto the dirty ground. She didn’t care, not right now at least. “Chengs are honest,” she sighed. Marinette closed her eyes and rested her against the wall, “I must keep my promise.”

A tear fell down her cheek, “I must keep my promise.”

The bug mouse sat on Marinette’s leg, “I’m sorry Marinette, I do agree you’re too young to take this responsibility, but there wasn’t much time when we realized the Butterfly was active again. I wish you were older, I wish the person who holds the Butterfly had waited longer. I truly am sorry.”

Marinette looked down at the creature, a Kwami, she smiled at her, “It’s okay. It wasn’t our choice, but the man who had you and Hawkmoths. They’re the reason.”

They flew up to Marinette’s face and wiped away her tears, “Your aura really is perfect for my power though Marinette. There aren’t many that are, maybe more but not here. I can sense it, you’re the only one in the France area who’s a perfect match. The Guardian couldn’t just go out in search, it would take too long even with my help. Not to mention it would be too suspicious if a Ladybug came around the same time as a newcomer to Paris.”

Marinette nodded, “You needed the quickest option.”

“Exactly.” The bug bowed its’ head in shame, “If I could change things without consequence I would.”

“But there needs to be a balance,” Marinette whispered. The creature nodded before going back down to its chosen knee. Marinette took a deep breath, she brought her hand next to her knee, “What is your name again? It’s been very rude of me to dismiss you.” The creature went on Marinette’s hand, she brought them up to her level.

“I am Tikki,” she said. “And please this was sprung on you.”

“Well, Tikki, I think we should head back to school. Alya and Kim are most likely wondering where I am.”

“Of course Marinette.”

☾•☽

If you’d like to be tagged let me know <3

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and some language

Score: 4 out of 5

The Evil Dead series has what may be the single best track record for quality out of any Hollywood horror franchise. With the big slasher franchises of the ‘80s, Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, I can name at least three movies from each series that are downright wretched. The Universal monsters fell off in quality during World War II and only came back when they let Abbott and Costello do an officially sanctioned parody of them. Saw fell off starting with the fourth movie and never fully recovered, even if it still had some decent movies afterwards. Even Scream and Final Destination each have one bad or otherwise forgettable movie marring their otherwise perfect records. Evil Dead, though? The original trilogy is golden and has something to offer for everyone, whether you prefer the first movie’s campy but effective low-budget grit, the second movie’s slapstick horror-comedy approach, or Army of Darkness’ wisecracking medieval fantasy action. The spinoff TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead was three seasons’ worth of horror-comedy goodness that fleshed out the franchise’s lore. Even the remake was awesome, a gritty, ultraviolent bloodbath that took the first film’s more serious tone and put an actual budget and production values behind it, making for one of the most graphic horror movies to ever get a wide release in American theaters. This latest film delivers on the same, with a tone and levels of violence akin to the remake and most of its strengths as a pure, straightforward, whoop-your-ass horror movie with lots of muscle and little fat once it gets going. It may not be revolutionary, but Evil Dead Rise is still as good as it gets, and exactly what I hoped for given this series’ high bar.

Like its predecessors barring Army of Darkness, this is a self-contained story set within an isolated, closed-off location, in this case the top floor of a Los Angeles apartment complex instead of a cabin in the woods. Our protagonists this time are a family, led by the single mother and tattoo artist Ellie with three kids, the teenage DJ son Dan, the teenage activist daughter Bridget, and the adolescent daughter Kassie, as well as Ellie’s sister Beth. After an earthquake reveals an old vault beneath the apartment complex (which used to be a bank), Dan explores it and discovers the Naturom Demonto, an evil-looking book bound in human flesh, along with three records recorded by the renegade priest who had last had that book a hundred years ago. Dan takes the book and the records back home, plays the latter on his turntable, and turns this into a proper Evil Dead movie, with Ellie winding up the first one possessed by the demon it unleashes.

Much like how the remake built its human drama around Mia’s friends staging an intervention for her, so too does this film root its central dynamic in the relationships between its human characters, in this case crafting a dysfunctional yet believable family. Lily Sullivan as Beth and Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie are the film’s MVPs, making their characters flawed yet sympathetic figures whose perspectives are understandable but who both clearly made mistakes in managing their relationship. Beth, an audio technician for a rock band, is visiting Ellie because she just found out she’s pregnant, but is naturally hesitant to tell her sister, given that Ellie sees Beth as a glorified groupie and still harbors some resentment for the fact that Beth wasn’t there for Ellie when her husband left her. News of a pregnancy would do little more than confirm Ellie’s suspicions of Beth and her lifestyle. After all, Beth abandoned Ellie and failed to return her calls, and Ellie readily sees that Beth’s motive for visiting is self-serving even without Beth telling her exactly why she’s there. Ellie herself isn’t blameless in the breakdown of their relationship, though. She clearly has a chip on her shoulder, somebody who sees herself as the more responsible sibling even though Beth is the one with a successful career while she’s living in a run-down apartment struggling to raise three kids after her husband walked out on her.

All of that is heightened when Ellie gets possessed, as the demon, inheriting all of Ellie’s memories, uses them to taunt Beth and go completely mask-off on all the things that she wouldn’t directly say in life, calling Beth a whore and her own children leeches. Not only do we get the metaphor of a family tearing itself apart made literal, it’s here where Sutherland truly shines as not just a working-class single mother but also as the terrifying demonic parody thereof that she turns into, demonstrating what separates the Evil Dead series’ “Deadites” from many other zombies: their sense of personality. The series takes George A. Romero’s already scary idea, that of a ravenous monster that looks human, used to be human, and is able to turn others into similar monsters with just a bite or a scratch, and adds the twist of a demonic component that gives the monster that person’s intelligence and memories as well, which it then uses to torment the people who knew them in life before it devours their souls. While the more comedic direction that the “main” series films and the TV series went in is more iconic, the remake showed that there’s just as much room for a straightforward horror take on the idea of combining a zombie film with a demonic possession film, and this movie takes that idea and runs with it even if it still retains a measure of camp in some of the one-liners and gore gags.

Dan and Bridget’s relationship, too, takes center stage in the second act as they have two very different reactions to the evil book that Dan brought back to their apartment, with Morgan Davies as Dan and Gabrielle Echols as Bridget giving their characters plenty of life and personality. Bridget is suspicious from the word “go”, and when Ellie gets possessed, she blames Dan for unleashing a dark, evil force in their lives, with implications that they had a fraught relationship even before this. Even Kassie, the youngest among them, was good, with Nell Fisher taking a role that could’ve easily turned annoying and making her character feel believably scared without being completely helpless or whiny, getting in one of my favorite lines when, after Beth tries to calm her down and tell her that they’ll be okay, she responds by telling Beth that she’ll be a great mother because she knows how to lie to kids. The only weak link in the cast was the family’s neighbors, who show up briefly early on but all of whom clearly existed as cannon fodder for Ellie to slaughter in a single sequence in the second act, even though some of them felt like they’d wind up more important or at least get more scenes to shine before they were killed. With how little they’re in the film, you could almost feel the pandemic filming conditions, getting the sense that some of them (particularly Gabe and the shotgun-wielding Mr. Fonda) were originally written to have larger roles but they couldn’t find a way to have that many actors on set at once.

Another thing I felt that made up for it, though, was this film’s unflinching brutality. One of the other things that even the more lighthearted entries in this series are known for is their absolute geysers of blood and gore, the fact that most of the carnage is inflicted on zombies seemingly giving it a pass in the eyes of an MPAA that normally slaps this kind of shit with an NC-17 when it’s done to living humans. And here, we get it all. Stabbings, a cheese grater to the leg, somebody getting scalped, an eye bitten out, multiple decapitations, a wooden spear through the mouth, Deadites puking up everything from vomit to blood to bugs, the good old shotgun and chainsaw (this series’ old favorites) taking off limbs, a woodchipper, and some gnarly Deadite makeup, most notably the freakish, multi-limbed monster at the very end. This movie does not play around, and it is not for the squeamish. The only gore scene that didn’t really work for me was one Deadite transformation that was let down by some dodgy effects shots of fake-looking black blood coming out of somebody’s face; the rest, however, was some seriously nasty-looking, mostly practical stuff. That’s not to say it’s just a parade of violence with no tension, though. Director Lee Cronin employs all the classic Sam Raimi tricks that have become staples of this series as much as Raimi’s career in general, knowing when to keep the monsters in the shadows, lurking ominously behind our characters, or coldly mocking them. Ellie especially is a key source of the film’s less bloody but no less effective scares, especially with how she tries to manipulate Kassie into letting her back into their apartment, as are the scenes of characters succumbing to possession and hearing voices in their head taunting them. Once the film gets going – and you will know when it gets going – it never once lets up or gives you much room to breathe, instead maintaining a heightened level of terror and suspense throughout.

The Bottom Line

This was a welcome return to the big screen for a classic horror franchise, especially with how certain plot threads at the beginning and end leave the door open for a sequel that, going by the box office returns this past weekend, is likely inevitable at this point. Right now, the Evil Dead series is five-for-five in my book.

[littleperilstories]

Fen and Freddie: Masterpost

Fen and Freddie

(Whumptober 2022)

One fateful night, Freddie's world is turned upside-down when his best friend Fen is kidnapped by a superpowered ex-colleague of her older sister, Bridget, who has taken something precious from him. Kain Brockhurst will stop at nothing to punish Bridget for what she's done—even if it means hurting the person who means the most to her.

Will Brockhurst do the unthinkable to get back what he believes is rightfully his? Will Freddie ever have the chance to tell Fen what she means to him?

Day 3 - gun to temple, impaled, "say goodbye” Day 5 - running out of air, blood loss Day 6 - ransom video, “I’ve got a pulse,” screams from across the hall Day 7 - shaking hands, silent panic attack Day 12 - what could go wrong? Day 30 - manhandled, hair grabbing, “please don’t touch me” Day 10 - taser, whipping Day 19 - knees buckling, repeatedly passing out, head lolling Day 25 - duct tape, “you better start talking” Day 23 - forced to kneel, tied to a table, “hold them down” Day 22 - toxic Day 31 - comfort, bedside vigil, "you can rest now"

Christmas episode! // Wherever You Find Love, It Feels Like Christmas (3543 words): One year after Fen’s abduction, a still-guilt-ridden Bridget visits home for Christmas dinner, unsure of how she’ll be received.

Character Tags

Freddie Howell is a dopey lovestruck fool

Fen is a tough little cookie

Bridget: not exactly sister of the year

[phantasmagoriaoriginals]

Bridget Kendrick — Left Hand, Rank 1

Age: 20 (14)

Height: 5’6

Description: Average height. Plain build, no distinct curves or strength. Non-distinct features, a pleasantly neutral expression, and pale gray eyes that her smiles never quite reach. Dull, curly, medium brown hair worn pulled back and over one shoulder, with her bangs long and in her face on one side, and parted open on the other. Somewhat guarded posture.

Bound Object: Magnet

Alterations: For the most part, she has the typical alterations to make herself sturdier, more durable, and faster to heal. However, that healing factor is also slowly making her resemble her sister more and more, and just subtly enough that she can never be sure that it’s happening at all.

History: She was constantly compared to her older sister, who could do no wrong in her family’s eyes. When her sister became a Diviner, Bridget was expected to as well, and did so expecting to stay at a low rank in her sister’s shadow. Her sister ended up dead within two years, though, and Bridget’s unexpected talent with magic pushed her to places she never wanted to go.

Personality: Outwardly, she acts polite and unassuming, but her real nature is bitter and self-serving. People are drawn toward her for how easy she is to be around, but somehow, no one ever gets too close. Internally, she’s pessimistic, resentful, and unhappy with her life, though she’s too weak-willed to do anything to change it. She tends to do what she’s pushed into, even if she has a constant stream of complaints on the inside.

Positive Traits: Polite, socially adept, good self-control, cautious, easy to get along with, respectful of authority, level-headed, humble, laid-back.

Negative Traits: Negative, vindictive, too cowardly to help herself, holds grudges, (internally) whiny, envious of others, unreliable, indecisive.

Miscellaneous: She resents her family massively, but is too much of a coward to complain to their faces. Her social skills were developed solely to avoid the trouble arguments cause. When she became a Diviner, she’d expected to have too little talent to be assigned to the frontlines, anticipating a support job instead. It’s hard to place exactly what she felt when her sister died, but she doesn’t think the feeling was really sadness.

[briannaswords]

lime green, blood red, and strawberry pink?

Hi Daisy! Thanks for the ask! <3

Answers under the read more bc this got a bit long!

Lime Green: Your favourite kind of scene to write

I really like writing arguments because there's always a large range of emotions when fights do happen and I love seeing how my characters change when facing these emotions. For example, Zahra is usually quite a closed-off person but when she's angry she's like a volcano about to explode!

Blood Red: Favourite piece of dialogue from your wip

Ok there are two contenders for this. Both are from my main wip, Writer's Worries.

Ryleigh: “Besides, if she cares so much about Renee being on the team, why doesn’t she give up her own spot?”

Jessica: “Because Renee would never let her.”

Ryleigh: “But she’d let you?”

Jessica: “Well…she hasn’t exactly been saying much. Or anything really. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears half the time.”

Ryleigh: “I don’t blame her. If I was Bridget’s cousin I’d cry more than half the time.”

Jessica: “Ryleigh!

And, from the same scene:

Jessica: "I feel like she’s going to take off with the new girl and leave me on my own. Is that dramatic? I feel like I’m overreacting—”

Ryleigh: “Well overreacting is better than underreacting

Strawberry Pink: Ship trope you have in your book

Well, the main book I'm working on right now (which is Writer's Worries) is focused on Jessica who is ten years old so her story doesn't really have a lot of romance in it. However, there is a side plot of her older sister Zahra getting together with one of her best friends so...Best Friends to Lovers? I guess??

[lea-andres]

A challenge for @l0w-p0ly-3dz , and honestly anyone else that wants it.

Infinite is biologically related IN SOME CAPACITY to 5 of my fankids.

Four of them are through the Barker Bunch shenanigans @bitter-sweet-coffee and I created (meaning he's an uncle to three of them and a great uncle to the fourth)

One of them is a wild card only Izzy and @stillafanofsonic know, the former because I workshopped it with them and the latter because they correctly guessed it last time I vague posted about this.

Here's my line up, oldest (age wise) to youngest. Feel free to take your guesses on who is what relation to Infinite:

-Briar the Squirrel (Tangle and Whisper's adopted son) -Indestructible squirrel with extra heart to make up for his lack of braincells. He's got a bit of a masochism streak (Like, not really, he just likes to know how bad things that look like they would hurt would hurt. Masochism's being a bit overdramatic) Words can't begin to describe how much of an idiot this kid is. I love him so much. 🥰

-Rosella the Seedrain (Tails's adopted daughter) Accidentally created via a lab explosion, Rosella takes after her dad in terms of inventing/science. (and also explodes a lot of stuff she works on) Experiments on Briar quite frequently... At his request.

-Chaos Specimen #91 "Maria" (Shadow's daughter) GUN attempted to make a super soldier of their own following the Project Shadow blueprints using mostly Shadow's DNA, and a cursed slurry of... Other DNA. Shadow got very mad when he found out, levelled the lab she was made in, and took her and went on the run for three years.

-Ivy the SugarGlider (Tangle and Whisper's adopted daughter) Sometimes she's the braincells Briar's lacking, but other times she's encouraging him to surf down the stairs on a trash can lid because it'd be really funny to watch him crash and break something. Trust her at your own risk.

-Yumi the Chameleon (Espio's adopted daughter) Espio found a brat in an alleyway during a case and kept the little shit because he got attached to her despite her taunts and insults. She's a brilliant ninja detective in training, but she's got a fucking mouth on her. Single handedly responsible for Eggman inventing "The Muzzle" later on. Yes that does exactly what it sounds like.

-Patience the BugBear (Bark and Jewel's daughter) - She seems like a shy little thing at first, but get her talking about archaeology and she won't shut the fuck up ever. Also quite cheerful once you break down her walls. A bit accident prone though, especially once she gets her hands on The Grimoire, an ancient tome her mentors accidentally let her keep that is filled with ancient spells. She's translating them... With chaotic results.

-Bridget (I forgot what Bridget was I'm sorry IZZY HELP 😭) Fiona and Crystal (my OC Bark's cousin)'s kid- Skilled snowboarder, skateboarder, Extreme Gear rider... Give her a board and she can kick your ass with it. Her parents taught her everything they knew about the aforementioned sports and then handed her off to the Babylon Rogues for further training. LOVES fashion too. Will play either the dumb jock or the dumb blonde to troll the shit out of idiots.

-Leaf (Storm and Big's robokid)- Wave built them a robokid. Very earnestly into helping people. Wave also complied with their request for Leaf NOT to be a gifted Extreme Gear boarder by making them a gifted Extreme Gear MECHANIC instead. 😎 Also consider this your freebie Leaf is NOT related to Infinite obviously LMAO.

-Marzipan the BugBear (Bark and Jewel's son)- He's like Ferb. Rarely speaks, when he does it's usually quite profound. Gets really into botany when he gets older, but unlike his sister he's not a prodigy in the subject. The boy just likes his flowers and wants to open a florist shop.

-Stella and Luna the Sloths (Tangle and Whisper's adopted twin daughters) - Unless one of their moms each takes one around with them, they get separation anxiety when you separate them. They don't like loud noises and big energy. If you're being A Lot, they'll sneak up on either side of you, and then hug you and shush you until you calm down. They do this to Infinite and Fang a lot.

[average-guy-reviews]

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

"A reunion between two estranged sisters gets cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable."

This is a film that shows you the depths of terror that only a mother can give you. Written, and directed, by Lee Cronin this is a really solid addition to a franchise that began 42 years ago with the Bruce Campbell led, low budget masterpiece, that was The Evil Dead.

The franchise has evolved a lot from the beginning, giving us five movies, as well as a TV show. The original trilogy, and the Ash V The Evil Dead, gave us a campy horror filled world of deadites and gore. They knew what they were and never took themselves too seriously, and they are widely loved for exactly what they are.

The 2013 re-imagining, and this new film, take all of the horror of the originals and ratchet it up to 11. What the new films don't have is that camp edge that can help to alleviate some of the terror. That's not to say I don't like them....far from it. I really enjoyed the 2013 movie and this film immensely. They are just very, very different beasts from the originals, from whence they sprang.

The film starts at a lake with a pretty gorey, wince inducing, hair moment, and then cycles back to "one day earlier". It's at this point we meet the family from the trailers, and see the main location for the film. It's here where the fun begins. It starts slowly, while we are introduced to the family and the returning sister. Then shit goes downhill, and not slowly. One thing I will give these new films over the old is the quality of the effects. Things have improved dramatically in that sense, and this film takes full advantage of that, and does it really well.

The film itself looks to have been made well. The lighting, sets, and effects were all great, and my only minor niggle with the cinematography is that in some scene there seemed to be an odd disconnect with the focus. It was in a couple of scenes with the Book of the Dead and some of the characters. They seemed to be in crisp focus, but the book seems a little fuzzy. I don't know if it was a deliberate choice or a simple camera issue. It was just a noticeable thing for me. Other than that I really loved the way the film was done, and Lee Cronin as director did a bang up job.

This was a small scale ensemble piece focusing on a family, played by Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols and Nell Fisher. The quality of performances varies, but none of them are bad. Nell as Kassie, the youngest of the group, is pretty good for someone so young. Morgan Davies, as Danny, is the one that finds the Book, and the way he deals with his part in the nightmare is solidly done. Gabrielle, as Bridget, is probably middle of the pack performance wise. She's really good. Lily, as Beth, is an actress with a really solid catalogue behind her already, and this is a great addition to that for her.

For me though, the absolute star of this film is Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie. She is a mother on the verge of life falling apart as she faces the prospect of being homeless with three kids, as their building is due to be demolished. Then her life REALLY falls apart. No spoilers here as the trailers clearly show her possessed by the deadite spirits, but her performance is just awesome. Physically she nails it. I'm not entirely sure how she did certain bits, but the jerky nature of her walking corpse was great. Her facial expressions were on point, and the smile....ooh boy, that smile with cold dead eyes....wow. She really was great.

Overall this film, unlike another recent horror, made me uncomfortable, but in fun ways. It is a gore laden, eyes hidden, jump scary film in mostly the best ways. If you have a weak stomach you might wanna avoid it, but if you're a fan of horror, and the Evil Dead films, you'll love it. There are some brill little easter eggs scattered throughout the film, but you'll need to find them yourselves. It's getting a really well earned 8/10. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you will too.

[isjustadream98]

Quiet contemplation, Buzz Buzz sensation 

 

   Much like Bridget Jones I am quietly waiting on my dream man, secretly hoping it's the guy I'm currently shagging.  Being single is hard, maybe even harder when the start of my single life genuinely looks like the opening to a horrible Hallmark movie. I suppose I should really start there, to be frank… not pretty. Trigger warnings for those who have dealt with abuse, this part is where I won’t be delicate. I am worried sometimes I might choose to forget this part but the reality is I don’t know if I ever can. The man I dated for six and a half years was everything you need to warn your sisters, your daughters, your loved ones about. The guy who made you feel like you were on top of the world one minute, only to remind you how deep rock bottom really is the next. The guy who makes a seventeen year old feel dangerous in all the most delicious ways. You know the twenty-one year old with the weed and the booze you swore would only be a phase. Yeah, that guy. I could lay into him so much more, and I will. I promise you I will but seriously I’m the main attraction here. Currently I’m trying this thing where I heal all my wounds, and god damn this hurts so bad. I’m sure on the sad nurses scale that they show you at the hospital can’t even show you the kind of pain this is. No amount of frownie faces can explain how hard it is to break some of these cycles, but today is just day one of whatever this is so lets start with the current feelings I’m in. 

    I don’t know many people who have had to start over quite like this. Honestly I'm sure there's a support group I’m supposed to go to where people like me do exist. Until then, I am going to figure this out on my own. Right now I feel simultaneously  twelve , ninety ,and twenty-five . Let me elaborate. I had to move out of my house, Into a few friends' houses. From there I moved back in with my sister. That's restarting my twenty's bit. There's the crippling anxiety… needing to ask my friends for a ride or I can’t come to play. The constant need for approval, there's the Twelve. Now the ninety, that's special. I am not the smartest person you’ll ever meet. Understand this, I have definitely lived more life than most people. Call it the ninety, call it the past, fuck call it trauma if you want to. Whatever you call it, just understand some of the people who try their hardest are because they’ve gone through the most. My story is neither here nor there though. I have had a life of opportunity and hard work. I have both been handed everything and hand nothing left to offer people but a broken bitter person. Okay that's enough of this… subject change!

   Does anyone know how difficult it is to feel sexy, have sex, think about sex… while being sexually repressed you’re entire life? Yet it's something I admittedly think about, on a daily basis. I don’t know why this is embarrassing but it absolutely is for me. Like yes, hi grandma I am going to talk about the smut I read and the men I've slept with, also yes... I am going to dads birthday. However sex has been both the best and worst coping mechanisms i have. Maybe I'm self-diluted here but I've heard it's okay to use the tools you've been given to heal. Currently that tool is a half off hitachi… you know the kind that plugs into the wall. Even if I can't currently use it; because what they don’t warn you about is how loud they are.  I keep having these light flashbacks of the last time I used it, anxiously looking at my phone to see if the guy I like will message me back. I know it's wildly too soon to date since the “incident", timings a bitch right now. I just want to heal before I get into a relationship but I still need the cuddling and the sex, oh and I suppose the human contact might be nice. I suppose.. Anyway, I’m just now understanding what my real sexual needs are, now that I’m finally away from the person I first developed this kind of relationship with. I now figured it out. I don’t exactly know what healthy looks like, so what does a healthy relationship to sex look like?