#The battle animation Was top notch but we already new that

[atomicengineerdetective]

ASH KETCHUM WORLD CHAMPION!!

This makes me So Unbelievable Happy. You have No idea. It's been so long. So many years following this Kid and His Incredibly powerful pikachu I love to see him Win. He and his team Family deserves this one

Congratulations!

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group L Round 1: #L4 vs #L5

#L4: Comedians make comedy

Follows the conversations of five rakugo storyteller girls relating the odd things that happen to them each day. Their comedic and satirical chatting covers all kinds of topics, from pointless observations of everyday life, to politics, manga, and more. Each girl has something new to add to the discussion, and the discourse never ends in the same place it began.

Each of the rakugo girls has their own unique personality, with the energetic but immature Marii Buratei; the seemingly cute Kigurumi Haroukitei; the inherently lucky and carefree Tetora Bouhatei; the calm and violent Gankyou Kuurubiyuutei; and the pessimistic and unstable Kukuru Anrakutei. These girls—and their mysterious friend in a wrestling mask—give their observations to the audience, either backstage at the rakugo theater or in various famous locations around Tokyo.

#L5: Underground boxer loves vampire doctor (BL)

After losing his parents at a young age, Mignon lives as a mechanic by day and a cage fighter by night at an illegal arena. Living a life of exploitation and violence, the only person who gives him any attention is Oh Young-One, the resident doctor at the arena.

Despite accidentally discovering Young-One’s true identity, Mignon continues to love him, and it’s this pure kind of love that lets Young-One slowly open his heart. But when the hellish reality surrounding Mignon starts threatening the stability of Young-One’s life, can these two ever find happiness?

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#L4: Joshiraku

Propaganda 1:

All the girls have fun personalities, and it puts some light on a form of Japanese traditional storytelling. It’s also the origin of the April 40th meme image.

Propaganda 2:

It’s hilarious! Genuinely one of the funniest comedy anime I’ve seen. The characters are all ridiculous and the bits almost all land perfectly. Mostly. Some of the bits require too much knowledge of Japanese language or culture to make any sense translated, but that’s not too many. My favorite character is Gan. I love the joke where she’s the “glasses girl” and so everyone assumes she’s meek and nerdy, but she’s actually super-violent.

The animation is also really good and gets absolutely ridiculous at points. There’s even a recurring meta joke where one character will complain about how hard the animators are working while being ABSURDLY over-animated. The standard structure of the skits is that the characters will start by having a conversation littered with puns, and then things escalated to a jungle shoot-out or crazy slapstick or a ninja battle or the characters talking politics. You never know, and it’s great.

Trigger Warnings: None.

#L5: Mignon

Propaganda:

Mignon is an independently-made BL aeni (Korean anime). There are only 12 episodes, and each is around 5 minutes long, except for the last one. Watching everything is like watching a short film, and not just because of the length, but also because of its quality.

The story is really short, so I can’t talk much about the plot without spoiling everything. But if you’re already into yaoi manhuas, then I can say that the plot is quite basic. The execution, however, is top-notch. Mignon takes a simple premise and brings out the best in it.

Characters are few but focused. Although there isn’t much time to delve deep into them, we are given enough info to care for them. The voice acting is also lovely. I don’t really watch aeni, and I haven’t watched KDramas in years, so I thought it would take me a while to get used to animated characters speaking in Korean. But surprisingly, after the first episode, it no longer bothered me. The voice actors did a good job in portraying the personalities of each character that I was quickly immersed into the story.

Then, there’s the use of color. The colors are purposeful and contributes to the atmosphere of each scene and also hints at us the significance of the place—loud, vibrant colors for the noisy arena, calm whites in the clinic where Mignon first found solace in Young-One, drab blues and greys in Young-One’s apartment where he’s lived alone for years, etc. And oh, don’t get me started on the scene direction/arrangement. It’s amazing how the creators can make every episode impactful despite having only around 5 minutes for each of them. Episode 10, especially, is a cinematic masterpiece.

Lastly, the music. There’s a lot of 80s synth-pop vibes, and I just love it.

Honestly, even if you don’t end up voting for Mignon, just go ahead and watch it. It only takes about an hour, and you won’t regret it.

Trigger Warnings: Mignon is abused by his coach. Lots of scenes that involve blood, but nothing too gore-y. Episode 10, however, has TOO much blood.

NSFW Warning: There’s an explicit sex scene. The parts are pixelated, but it doesn’t really leave much to the imagination. Also lots of tongue kissing.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[land-of-holly]

The southlands! Isildur! Numenor! Galadriel! Elendil! That's the two storylines we're getting this episode, isn't it.

GAUNTLET. Love that dirt. Ooh, what dark magic is this?

I so want to know how many of these guys Adar is actually the dad of. It could be a lot.

He sure can give a speech wow

Like it's a flat out fascist speech, but, ya know, they're not animals

GIMBATUL!

Still not sure why the evil sword sculpture is in the elf tower

Adar continues to be suspiciously silent on the subject of Sauron

Here goes thr plan! Good job Arondir

New theory: Adar is Turgon

The Numenorean soldiers are sleeping cheek by jowl, but those ships STILL look like they must be bigger on the inside.

Galadriel CAN be a good commander when she tries

Don't ask personal questions about people's mothers

I suppose this show has enough bad bitches, they can be allowed ONE dead mother

Map!

I likw the look of the Numenorean battle armor

Hitting it a bunch is not gonna work, Arondir. Guess he can't be good at everything

I swear I'm not slut shaming Bronwyn, but I like her little shawl-thing. Makes her outfit look more put together

Another one for the "light" motif

Ah the old, "you'll be their protector" ploy

I am SO TORN as to whether Theo is Arondir's son or not. There's so many reasons to think he is, but Arondir and Bronwyn simple do not strike me as two people who have already slept together

BIG DAMN KISS

The ranks of orcs always follow the path of the land, giving them a strong "flowing water" vibe

Get that woman a Bic!

Are the torches for intimidation/source of fire? I bet the orcs don't need them to see.

Wow I would have expected a wood elf to have better falling off of roofs skill

His karate skills are top notch though

Eew, right in the eye

Wow that final struggle went on forever

I mean, the guys fighting on the orc side certainly weren't holding back

Bronwyn duck!

Bronwyn's the only one who has npc levels and can survive getting hit with an arrow

Fortunately, Bronwyn got hit in the upper chest, famously a place where no important body parts live

Medical drama!!!

Oh gosh AND they're field cauterizing the wound? I should get out my bingo card

Bronwyn makes such wonderful pain faces, the acting is magnificent

Nah, this is not a dramatically appropriate place for her to die.

Yeah I would have passed out for a minute after that too

Adar!!

HERE THEY COME!

Like the hand of God. GLORIOUS!

Galadriel is as big of a drama queen as Sauron when it comes to horse color

Why is it full daylight where the Numenoreans are? Are they still in the past?

Don't give in to threats, Arondir!

Is it actually there, though?

It is? Arondir, you couldn't have at least taken it out of the village?

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO NUMENOR!

Remember: stab, twist, THEN gut

Ontamo! The Meriadoc Brandybuck of Numenor

Don't worry Isildur. You'll have time to go completely dephalagulatingly nuts later.

Horse chase! Through the woods!

Oh thank god the horse is okay

Oh no his other hand ow

Uh insight check on Adar not knowing who Halbrand is. Unfortunately the Sauron hints keep piling up. If you wanted to see it you totally could.

Besides, we gotta question this guy

I love that Isildur is the shortest of his friends. Take that jrrt

When she was a child? So, the ORIGINAL orcs? SWEET

No not his kids!

"Healing" Middle-earth. Oh "perfect order", yeah, that sounds like Sauron

Oh yeah the evil spirit magic experiments

Oh my god that's adorable. He didn't just split with Sauron because of power rivalry, but because he loves his kids

"Split him open"????

Doubt.

THEY ARE CHILDREN OF THE ONE SAME AS YOU

Galadriel, God doesn't make mistakes :(

IN YOUR OWN MIRROR OH MY GOOOOOOOD

Whoa, chill girl. Don't let him bait you like that

The thing is, it would be so easy for Halbrand to be merely what he seems (well mostly). AND YET.

Yeah there's no motion toward each other. They just look at each other and talk about their personal growth. No sexual tension detected.

Bronwyn go lay down. You're not well enough to stand up yet.

Miriel you inherited your power, what does that say about you

Lord Halbrand? I didn't vote for you

If you miss feeling powerful, Theo, might I interest you im a nice ring?

Oh yes, throwing the evil artifact in the sea is a wonderful idea

Where's the sword??

Still don't know why the sword goes there

Oh shit are they gonna flood the whole town??

Uh it's not Isildur's pain that's bothering Berek either guys

Awww father son hug

Heeeere it comes

Yikes are they gonna sinkhole the town? Is that what the tunnels are for?

Udun? Oh fuck

Fucking volcanos, how do they work?

GTFO guys!

You can't stop phase one

Take shelter where???

Is Galadriel having PTSD flashbacks to the Dagor Bragollach or what? Move, girl!

ADAR NO! Man I hope he lives.

[insertdisc5]

Hi!! I wanted to ask, in celebration of Deltarune CH. 2, do you have any updated thoughts and head canons about the game?? Like, y'know, similar to a previous ask about Kris in your Deltarune tag? Thanks!

thoughts on kris part 2 i guess???? (part 1 from ch1 here lol)

spoilers for deltarune like woah. this wont be kris focused just random thoughts on everything. thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk

not that many thoughts for this chapter tbh! EDIT LOL: this was a lie i have a lot of thoughts

-just in general i feel like the player isn't the only one controlling kris... like yes the player forced kris to do what happened in the snowgrave route but AT THE SAME TIME idk it feels like there's someone else too. just because of the terrifying voice i suppose. and also the jerky movement kris does every time they get their soul out? unless there's another reason for it... maybe getting your soul out means you walk weird lol

-BUT ALSO i feel like kris is 100% in control when they create fountains. idk it just makes sense kris would create them. to create another world, a better world, A WORLD WHERE THEIR BROTHER IS HERE PERHAPS? i do wonder why they get their soul out then though. i'm all for it sweetie! do whatever! i support you!

-(i am and will be playing deltarune with only kris' best interests in mind. i will not hurt anyone unless kris wants me to. dont worry my little meow meow im on your side! talk to me! no? okay ill stay under the sink its fine)

-speaking of asriel. SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER (starts crying) V-VACATION COLLEGE WHEN

-kris misses their brother so much it's so sad. if you make kris steal 5$ from asriel they take it "reluctantly"? talking to asriel online so often even alphys knows?? the google search?? GOING INTO ASRIEL'S GOOGLE SEARCH ROOM WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED BECAUSE THEY'RE CONVINCED THEY ALREADY KNOW WHATS IN THERE? THAT ONE IS LESS OF A MISSING THING BUT IM LIKE OH MY GOD

-the city walk with susie at the end makes it clear to me that kris really values susie's friendship... kris even sits with her if you spend long enough near the lake like aaaaah ;_;

-and even in snowgrave you spend your last acts with the final boss calling for your friends like YES there's a way bigger creepy aspect to this (kris as more of a Leader who Commands and commands their subjects to come) but still :'0 (and then noelle answers oh my god noelle im so sorry for the trauma)

-berdly. listen. listen. listen. liste

-berdly sucks but [berdly hurts his arm in the battle against queen if you don't save him because he doesnt want to hurt you] [berdly realizing smg's wrong in snowgrave and immediately taking steps to save noelle] berdly is my little crumb nugget. i will protect him.

-noelle. noelle. girlboss!

-like ooooh listen. hearing about the genocide path for undertale. made me go "that is SO COOL. i HAVE to experience it myself this is great. hehehe killing time" and like no regrets. i was fully enjoying the experience knowing i was an awful person. SNOWGRAVE THOUGH. i will never try this myself its too fucked up. casually grooming your childhood friend to murder people <3 and also acting like a weird stalker towards her <3 stockholm syndrome speedrun i will get all the info i can about this but i will never do this myself

-people remarking the kris/player>noelle relationship is similar to the relationship between player>chara in genocide path is like yes. chefs kiss. don't worry we just are making you stronger and everything will be fine "you made me kill my friend? and for what?" this is fine sweetie don't worry about it!!!!!!

-like the amount of details added to snowgrave, like if you equip noelle's watch she notices later? and her battle animations change as time goes on, she gets an ice shield and stops sighing in relief after battle? oh my god? oh my god.

-(berdly is not awake.) JUST KILL ME RIGHT HERE I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT BERDLY NOT BEING AWAKE!!!!!

-also why didnt he turn into dust. so many possible reasons. is magic a thing in the normal world and perhaps no magic means no dust (theres graves). maybe he isnt dead. maybe hes braindead. maybe he'll come back. either way that boy is now in the closet big enough to put someone in

-also dess' name probably being december AND THATS WHY NOELLE LOST THE SPELLING BEE?!?!??! FUCK ME UP!!!!! JUST FUCK ME UP!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

-also so many good pixel art this chapter. too many? i didnt need pixel art of cardboard noelle falling on the statue. like thank you but please. please it hurts my game artist brain.

-the expressions in this chapter were also top notch. all the unsettling noelle expressions like (i fall over face first)

-i threw away the ball of junk (which i already tried in ch1) and this time the game was like "ARE YOU SURE BC THIS IS A BAD IDEA" and kris felt bitter :'( (it deletes all your items in the dark world)

-i uh fucked up and skipped the susie+noelle scene bc listen last time ralsei mentionned seeing what susie is doing we missed some PRIMO LORE. turns out it just makes you skip the scene and you dont get anything new. welp

-speaking of ralsei well you know. he exists. but im stuck on him going "i just wonder what being ralsei-like even is...?" ralsei my dude there's so much i could say about this. do you feel like you can't be ralsei-like because you feel like you have to be asriel-like

-but also that makes no sense bc susie hasnt even mentioned ralsei looks like asriel. and i cant imagine asriel being so meek. so WHAT GIVES

-ralsei as kris’ “i wish i was a monster just like my bro and family and i’d look like asriel but with red horns [THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME] and my name would be something cool like ralsei instead of a boring human name like kris and im sweet and cute because thats how i act with asriel because ASRIEL MADE ME” theory because that would be cute.

-ASRIEL GOING TO THE CHURCH TO CONFESS HIS "SINS" WHEN "SINS" AREN'T A THING IN THE ANGEL BELIEF LIKE I KNOW THIS INTERACTION WAS TREATED AS A JOKE BUT WHAT THE FUCK ASRIEL?

-kris definitely has a connection with the big red door in the city, judging by what the kids say they probably went there... i feel like this place's dark world will be the Final Dungeon you KNOW some shit happened there. also the sounds you hear when you go there is the phone dark world call's sound slowed down? AND AFTER SNOWGRAVE APPARENTLY YOU CANT HEAR IT ANYMORE? HUWAH?

-speaking of songs the songs were all so good, My Castle Town rules, the berdly snowgrave music is stuck in my head, flashback is uwah wuahah, Until Next Time is so good, AND ALSO A FRIEND NOTICED THE DARK WORLD CITY THEME IS JUST tHE SONG 74 (MOST NOTICEABLE WITH THE SNOWGRAVE VERSION)?????? WHAT DOES IT MEAN????? it might be just "hey its just reuse" BUT MR FOX YOU KNOW WE'RE GONNA READ INTO THIS IS NOELLE THE ONE SINGING IDK BRO!!!!!!!!!!

-asgore dreemurr fired from the force what happun!!!!! game theory is that asgore is related to dess' death/disappearance but eh who knows

-you start the chapter at lvl2 and get to lvl3 after the final boss, a friend mentioned this is probably because we destroyed a world and im :0

-to go back to kris it's still so interesting to figure out who they are based on how they act/people mention them. like kris shaking the ferris wheel car? yeah makes sense i can imagine a pranking kid do this. kris' dance? yeah thats a little silly but i can buy it. doing cool anime poses? well i dunno this doesnt line up PERFECTLY but sure. BUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN SNOWGRAVE... especially >proceed like that is such a weird thing that i can't imagine them doing, but i can't completely see the "player" doing either (compare with going to sans -which kris doesnt know- and going "SANS!" because of course the player would know sans), like THATS one of the reasons i feel like there's someone else in there. the weird robotic merciless actions. if im going super meta it feels like there'd be someone else like writing the choices into existence for us to pick you know? gaster probably? god i need to read more gaster theories i completely sidestepped the gaster shit bc i wasnt interested. anyway just spitballing

-(looks at big shot guy) please dont make him the next tumblr guy i beg you

-obligatory "queen was great" mention if only because this part made me laugh a little bit too hard

that was a lot. thank you for letting me talk

[sparring-spirals]

yadda yadaa TLOVM S1 e9 liveblog GIVE ME THE ZOMBIES

oh, or briarwoods flashbacks, that’s okay too I guess

cannot stop thinking about the posts re: the briarwoods choosing to revamp their style after the vampire-ing and evil-ing. Like they look good here too (even with Sylas half dead), but wow they really did go all in on the aesthetic after huh. i respect that.

So like, if being a vampire stops you from aging, does that mean Sylas’s silver streaks were... manually put in. Did Sylas go “i want to be a silver fox and no “lack of aging” is going to stop me", and then sit in his bathtub to dye his hair? This is great, I love this so much. Hell yeah.

also: nice, love villains getting fleshed out :)

Sylas, at any given point in time: oh there goes my wife :) look at her she’s so great :) what is she doing? no idea. who knows. maybe summoning an undead army. maybe doing occult rituals with a prisoner in the basement. :) isn’t she lovely :) 

laud-

*scanlan, somehow finding the breath to complain AND shriek in terror about the undead* cass, already having had one near death experience today, flipping a zombie: god someone please kill me this gnome

“percy how many undead are there in your city???” love the implication that this is just a whitestone issue. fucking whitestone, full of stuffy nobles and also the ZOMBIES, also terrible nightlife! only nightDEAD am i right haha

Grog is RIGHT! Zombies DO come from under the ground! normally! listen to the man!!

Well... at least Keyleth and Vax are not flirting with long gazes mid battle. genuinely glad for that. Look at these two awkward beans.

CHRIST Vex. “well, that was kind of hot, but-” ksdlfkjaafhlajfhljzh sjfh i mean mood, Scanlan vex is really, truly, terrible, at expressing softer feelings for people isn’t she. I would say “other than Vax” but no, she really is just. Absolute trainwreck at it.

The zombies DO seem to love Scanlan, i guess they do know he’s delectable.

“Could be worse.” “HOW?” “Could be my arm.” See previous bullet about Vex. Vex you are a menace. (Affectionate.....?) Inside of Vex’s brain, probably: *thumbs up* successful comforting of friend acquaintance we are begrudgingly fond of this FUCKING gnome

*watches them climb out of the roof hatch* I’ve seen this TWDG episode! ... it was pretty upsetting if I recall correctly.

Percy, with VM: can’t believe I’m the only adult in the room.  🙄 Percy, in whitestone: can’t believe I’m the only adult in the room?? 😧😠🥺 (PERCY... you are NOT the adult in the room.....:( )

“i need this arm! for.. stuff!”

I was gonna say “I would be keyleth in an apocalypse situation” but you know, i only wish i could be a keyleth.

STOP! MAKING! DRAMATIC! EYE! CONTACT! MID! BATTLE! BANNED! oh he lived. but now he’s talking... very dramatically.... archie... stop that.....

oh god dammit

(man, he got ANIME bisected :( ) aw hell, percy

KEYLETH!!! KEYLETH!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDD

“yes yes, she’s the tits, we still have to go” an excellent scene but ESPECIALLY for that line

percy!!! being the adult in the room! i mean he’s still baby but he’s doing his fucking best and its real good

i also like vex’s softer expression being a little- thoughtless. not even sure she knew she was doing it. :)

damn vax, timing-

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA OH GOD THIS IS MAYBE MY FAVORITE LINE IN THE SHOW NOW. Vaxleth is adorable and i am cheering for them but listen: that reaction to a mid battle confession scene is just. yes. fantastic. keyleth you’re so incredibly valid.

PIKE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE.

ah the ~character implications~ embedded in the “marry me” “okay, lets go. right now” “What? really?” top notch voice acting from ashley and sam.

okay no jk this convo between grog and pike is my new favorite lines oh god their friendship is so good i love them so much “you’re glowing.. and buzzing.. are you DEAD?”

no hubby ilu we cant endanger u for our evil plans uwu ;*

character details in this fight are SO good. ive refrained from listing all of them but i cant resist saying: vex/vax “give me a lift” and then vax/grog competition.... :D

Y’all wha tNO dont FREE her she is VERY CLEARLY NOt- oh nice see Vax is using the wrench AND the pick again. Seriously how terrible was Krieg’s door. This is going to haunt me for this whole show isnt it.

oh. oh okay that works too.

AW THIS IS A REALLY NICE PIKE SONG. :D

overall:

- fuck, i really do like the combat with VM in this show. i think the tendency to have... everyone other than them brutally murdered makes me more leery of everyone else in combat, but seeing the VM in combat is always so good. so many character details. so nice to watch.

- i am trying very hard not to harp on about this but- *deep deep sigh* romance is. a tricky thing to communicate in shows. i get that. limited runtime, you gotta be a bit more heavyhanded with how you distribute Meaningful Interactions and dialogue space. but. buuuuuuuut. i do wish i could tweak the conversation ratios just a little. just a tiiiny bit. that said, i do understand why they’re paired the way they are.

- Pike is SO good holy shit I adore her. Fuck. Wow. Her arc, the blend of aggression and optimism and touch of crassness, her interactions- oh wow. Adore her, honestly.

-- Addendum to this- I really like the throughline of the two characters with some level of anxiety about their magic working + their worthiness of it/ability to wield it just being. Fucking incredibly powerful when things line up. (Keyleth and Pike specifically).

- <3 friendships within the VM my beloved.

[lostatsea303]

Alright Y’all immediate thoughts on Arcane

Spoilers ahead

Alright first and foremost holy shit, that show was incredible and not just as an animated attachment to a video game but as a show. That was truly special.

The characters are amazing, the performances were top notch. The music and sound design? A-fucking-plus. The writing? Superb. The animation? This and spiderverse are on the same damn level, yeah I said it.

I heard a quote once saying there are three things you should do everyday: Laugh, think, and cry. If you do that you’ve had one heck of a day. This show made me do all three. The story was a nuanced personal and global tragedy. The destruction of innocence, the unfair cruelty of the world, how people become broken and the often unintentional part we play in it. In spite of that darkness it also gives up hope, that no matter where we’re from or what we’ve done we can choose to be better, to try. I won’t ramble on too long, but if you told me years ago that League of Legends would produce a story this moving and resonant I would have never believed you.

Excellent work to all involved.

That being said my brain wants next season right now so assuming we’re getting one I’m gonna throw out predictions:

A bunch of the council is gonna die, this one is pretty obvious but my guess is obviously Mel will be dead as well as Caitlyn’s mom plus a few less important ones.

This leads to Mel’s mom getting involved and possibly dissolving the council entirely taking power for herself bringing her faction from Noxus into the city which leads too...

This wouldn’t be a forefront plot point but I believe we would start to see some champs from Noxus show up and the threat of Noxus being a S3 thing (yes I’m already resigned to there being a season 3)

Jinx isn’t going to be as primary a fixture, I think she’ll be pursued by the likes of the enforcers like Caitlyn Jayce and Vi but I think she takes a back seat to the looming social turmoil caused by her killing of the council.

Said turmoil will lead to more violent conflict between Piltover and Zaun which eventually forces Viktor to become what he is in game to defend Zaun so we get so Jayce v. Viktor

Speaking of champions fighting, while I think it’s now pretty clear they have feelings for each other, Caitlyn and Vi are not going to be in a good way to start. Caitlyn will either blame Vi for stopping her from killing Jinx thus leading to the death of her mother (mirroring what happened between Vi and Powder in episode 3) and push her away too harshly that they end up being on opposite sides of the battles between Zaun and Piltover OR Vi blames herself so much that she pushes Caitlyn away forcing Caitlyn to try and find her while...

Caitlyn becomes the new Sheriff of Piltover (yeah this isn’t too deep)

Ekko and Heimerdinger become more important to the story as they become the middle ground of the story (in a similar role to Vi and Cait this season less romantic tho) working together to make peace with both sides.

Singed becomes the main bad guy

Another time skip probably occurs either right at the beginning where we get to piece together the now fractured city and relationships within it or near the end which....

If I had to guess Vi officially becomes an enforcer at the end of the season before a foreboding shot of the next threat is shown.

Alright that’s all I got FOR NOW. Thanks for reading and happy arcane season 1!

Bonus prediction: we’re gonna get a Vi and Cait kiss

[popculturebuffet]

Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 3: Storkules in Duckburg! aka THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES TERRIBLE BUT WELL MEANING ROOMATE OUT OF MYTH

Hello all you happy people! And welcome and welcome back to Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers, my look at the season 2 arcs of Ducktales! This arc was paid for by WeirdKev27 and I truly enjoy his support. if you want to know how to commission your own reviews or to get a guarnateed review of me of your choice from me a month, stick around to the end. I realized that shoving all my plugs in up top may be driving people away and while I DO make them because I want to make a living off this, i’ts not fair to those of you who simply can’t afford to buy a lot of extra shit like myself to keep shoving it in your face. 

Previously on the Louie Inc Arc, Louie, after believing he had no skills and it was a matter of when not if he ws going to die, found his talent: seeing all the angles and thus being Sharper than the Sharpies. With newfound confidence and a chip on his shoulder from Scrooge saying he could one day be a bigger success than Scrooge himself, founding Louie Inc as a result. But what is Louie Inc? Does he actually have a plan or a bunch of buzzwords. And what does STORKULES, MANLY GAY OUT OF MYTH have to do with any of this? Join me under the cut to find out. 

We open with Louie giving Scrooge his sales pitch that is essentially...

Naturally Scrooge buys none of it. I mean he’s somewhere in his hundreds, he’s probably seen about 80 thousand pitches that amount to “I have no plan but give me money anyway”. There’s a reason there’s a Butch Hartman shaped crater on the lawn from where he threw his ass out. 

Scrooge does mentor the lad, or at least attempt to pointing out he needs an actual product or service (Louie rejects the idea of a lemonade stand as too easy), or as he puts it “Find a problem and create a solution”. 

While the basic PRINCIPAL isn’t bad, find something people want or need and provide it, phrasing it that way sounds like “find a problem people are having and exploit the shit out of that problem for fun and profit.” Granted that IS a guiding principal of business, it’s just not something an uncle should be teaching his kids. They should be teaching them about the anime and cartoons they grew up with as I do with my niece and nibling. 

He does show him a valid example of this in action in the form of Donald. Turns out Donald has found a good way to make money while he looks for a job, can relate: since Duckburg is facing a housing shortage, likely because several square blocks probably get destroyed by Scrooge’s Adventures, Glomgold’s Schemes, Superhero Battles, whatever creation went horribly wrong for Gyro, etc at least once a week. So he’s taken it upon himself to offer up the spare room to whoever can rent it.. and to steal Scrooge’s chandelier which even when caught he still takes anyway. Scrooge.. you called the guy a god-damn moocher in the season premiere, despite the fact he lives there soley because YOU offered and because he’s you know, being responsible and staying by his boys so they have their father figure around. So yeah I feel he’s doing this partly out of spite as is the McDuck way. I mean if your going to call him a freeloader just for being a responsible parent, then he’s going to take it up a damn notch.

Scrooge proceeds to laugh off Louie wanting a million dollars and gives him a dime instead because of course he was. Seriously Louie there are two other billionaires in town who are FAR dumber and far more easily swindled. Just go get star up capital from them. Hell with Glomgold all you’d have to do is tell him it’d upset scrooge and he’d literally throw money at you. Or give you a shark full of money. He needs the shark back though. He’s family. 

Meanwhile Donald prepares for his new tenant and finds.. THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES! Who to his mounting horror as he realizes it, IS the new tenant. And who throws him into the sun. Cue credits. 

So after Donald somehow survives being thrown into the sun, Storkules explains why he’s here: Zeus responded to his son playing the lute a lot like any rational reasonable 

No of course he responded to the “crime” of “playing his instrument a lot” with sending a swarm of harpies on the town then blaming Storkules for it and casting him out. What’s most shocking is not the action, this is honestly him staying the course of being a fucking disgrace, but that Zeus somehow ISN’T the biggest asshole i’ve dealt with this week. No that honor is reserved as always for this bitch:

Keep in mind she manages to be this obnoxious in only TWO scenes. Also keep in mind I had to put up with Julie for a MUCH larger chunk of the previous two volumes I covered before volume 5 yesterday for my Scott Pilgrim Retrospective and she is ALWAYS like this and you now feel my pain. 

This does create a problem though: Zeus casts Storkules out until he’s a responsible adult.. and thus paints Storkules as the bad guy... in a situation where the only other person in the story sent a swarm of HARPIES down at him for simply playing his music too loud. It just dosen’t work as a catalyst: Storkules objectively did nothing wrong. The only person he annoyed was a person who clearly dosen’t love, respect or like his son in any way shape or form anyway and essentially assaulted him and a bunch of innocent people via harpie and then cast him out. Zeus is an abusive asshole and i’ts weird the narrative sides with HIM and not our well meaning doofus. Zeus being an asshole with harpies is not a bad catalyst for the episode, and the harpies being unleashed is used well.. it’s just not a good catalyst for THIS story to try and portray an abuser as in the right. And make no mistake Zeus is a domestic abuser: he had his son mind controlled to try and MURDER innocent people, something Storkules begged him not to do, sent a swarm of creatures after him for the crime of playing his music too loud and in his next episode manipulatives Storkules sad emotional state for personal gain. Why would you try and paint THIS jackass as in the right?

Speaking of painting this jackass in the right sadly.. this episode does not do my boy donald justice. In most episodes he’s pretty nuanced and i’ts fair enough he’d be frustrated by Storkules as a roomate. Storkules has little sense of personal space, breaks his stove thinking theirs hydra in it, makes a mess of the kitchen making them a meal, and in general clearly dosen’t know how to live with a roomate much less in modern society. He has valid concerns and the episode COULD have used it that way.. but he’s also horribly impatient with Storkules. He refuses to get the guy just hasn’t had to live in a modern society and dosen’t know HOW to function in it and instead of helping him just gets mad again and again and gets really pissed when it’s clear Storkules dosen’t have a job and didn’t consider paying rent. He’s not WRONG to want him to pay Rent, despite what ironically the musical Rent would try and have you believe, but he dosen’t have any patience with the guy. And stork isn’t nearly coming on as strong as he normally does. The worst he does is cook the guy lunch and bring his donald fan art with him. Which we don’t see but I am assuming is mostly naked. What i’m saying is for once that while still bombastic, Storkules isn’t trying to force a relationship/friendship on him and simply wants to learn t be an adult from his best friend.. and Donald isn’t bothering teaching him.

Asking for rent or for him not to destroy the stove is fine, but not explaining WHY he needs either of those things or why he needs boundaries, he makes a roomate list, isn’t helping the guy. And this would be fine... but the episode dosen’t call Donald out on it for no real reason. It feels like it’s setting up for a “you should learn to wokrk with someone instead of just screaming at them aseop” that never comes and like with Zeus takes his side because shutup. I’d also LIKE to say this is the only time the writers reduced one of the cast to a caracture of themselves.. but I can’t.  Several episodes in season 3 forgot Louie’s character development and another episode in season 2, The Duck Knight Returns!, somehow reduced both Scrooge and Dewey to parodies of themselves with Scrooge SOMEHOW, despite Della as stubborn as she is being in his care and by his side for decades and Movies bein ga huge business, not having seen a movie since the 1920′s and not knowing how they work and Dewey being reduced to just hyperactive moron. It isn’t as common as other shows like say Regular Show, The Loud House or, for the exact reason I lost intrest, Rick and Morty, but I still expect better, especially since they went into this season KNOWING Donald would be gone for half of it and this would likely be one of his only spotlight episodes. 

Back at the good part of the plot, Louie is having a company meeting aka already treating Huey and Webby like his employees. Webby of course is glad to sign on, if little help in actually coming up with a product while Huey just wants to nope out. And if your wondering why Dewey isn’t involved Louie outright says he’d make a bad employee and while Dewey rises from his bed to object.. he stops halfway to opening his mouth and concludes he has a point. Best gag of the episode. Louie being louie easily cons Huey into staying by making Webby his charts officer. 

So the three have a corporate retreat at Funso’s... granted they don’t have a product but Louie figures this might help. Huey.. still wants out of this and suggest since they already spent what they had on ski ball “Company over?”. It’s clear that Huey just sees this as another one of Louie’s short sighted schemes... and while he’s not ENITRELY wrong, Louie has genuine ambition.. he just has no earthly idea what he’s doing and is shooting way too high.. but for understandable reasons. 1) He’s 11 at this point. 11 year olds aren’t great at business strategy or reinging it in. 2) he wants to live up to what Scrooge said to prove he can be successful and really be worth something like his mom was. 

But sometimes fate throws you one and the harpies bust in. And while Louie wants to do nothing and hope they go away Huey and Webby spring into action.. as does Storkules, who had to leave but warns donald there’s Orzo in the slowcooker and to not open it “LEST THE PASTA FAIL TO ABSORB THE BROTH!” Which is just.... Chris’ best line dleivery the episode. He says it like he’s saying the title of an old Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic, i’ts wonderful.

So our heroes defeat them and Louie steps in to charge for the service and quickly comes up with a company idea and name “Harp-B-Gone” (A Subsidary of Louie Inc). Louie hires Storkules on the spot. Storkules proudly tells Donald he has a job the next day and goes off to it. What follows is our heroes hilarously shooting a commerical with Storkules playing a baby to promote themselves so they can help who needs it. They just need to find out what they want.. and thanks to the JWG and the harpies stealing it find out they go after people’s most treasured posessions   Cue Ghostbusters-Style Montage

And this isn’t just me saying thing. The Rewriting History Entry (Which as a series weirdly stops around mid-season 2 and I don’t get why frank hasn’t gone back and finished it since) states they specifically based this whole operation on ghostbusters and the entire sequence of our heroes cleanin up the town reminds me of it. The highlight of it is a glomgold cameo where he’s kidnapped.. and refuses to pay so Louie just lets him go. And were this an innocent person who couldn’t afford it, i’d call him a monster.. but it’s glomgold. he brought this on himself.. and also sues himself for it. Wonder if he won. 

So with their stars rising, our heroes get booked on the hottest show in town: Dewey Dew-Night! I had honestly forgotten there was a Dewey Dew-Night segment in there, and delighted I get to talk about this recurring bit.  It’s one of the shows funniest runners and just perfectly FITS Dewey: of course the most egotistical and energetic of the kids would not only want to be a late hnight host but make up his own show. I also love the slow evolution of it: it started as something everyone clearly knew about but he stlill tried to keep hidden, slowly escalated to him allowing the rest of his siblings (Webby very much included) and the giant man who stalks his uncle in, and by later this season he’s putting the show online in the web shorts and gladly shooting it into space, with Season 3 having him spend the first half of let’s get dangerous making a documentary that includes an episode of the show featuring Darkwing. It’s a small thing sure, but it’s the little things like this that make the show special. 

The show does reveal a problem though as it turns out they’ve GOT all the harpies and while Storkules merely wanted to help, Louie points out they need more to keep a buisness going and naturally never bothered to ask Storkules just how many there were. They need SOME plan to get going. Webby submits a legitamte and great idea, training the harpies as she’s been trying to do in the background of the episode and aside from a hole in the floor they are starting to listen. But Huey is an ass about it and not only shoots it down saying let’s keep the dangerous creatures contained, even though A) he has no idea WHERE they’ve been kept so he can’t verify it’s safe, and since i’ts Donald’s Closet no no it’s not. and B)There’s no where he knows of to keep them. He isn’t aware of the other bin till next season. and C) it’s not ehtical to keep creatures locked up forever epsecially since while the harpies are dangerous they arent’ MALEVOLENT and are clearly acting on instinct. oh and for D) at least she has a plan to keep the company going instead of just wanting to end this and cash out. 

Which Huey tries to.. but naturally Louie spent all their money on...

So their broke.. and Storkules has no rent money and feels like a failure despite having done NOTHING wrong. We do get a clever little nod to Disney’s hercules though “I”m not a hero, i’m a zero”. Webby rightfully glares at Louie who decides to fix it... by sneaking into Donald’s house that night to free the harpies. 

Though to the shows credit it’s a VERY bad idea, and Storkules coming in mid attempt and congradulating Louie when he lies about checking the door gets the kid to come clean. And it’s a nice character moment: He could still go through with it.. but it’s clear he realizes just HOW low he was about to sink to save his own skin and that as much as Storkules WANTS a paycheck and deserves one, it’s not worth hurting people to get it. Louie tries to justify after this.. but can’t. 

Unforutnately Donald took a lot of stupid pills this episode, yells about his no pets rule and frees them instead of you know, THINKING for five minutes.

So yeah NATURALLY Donald is an angry shit about it , refusing to actually TALK to Storkules about this or maybe admit this is partly HIS OWN FAULT. Yes their both at fault, Storkules shoudln’t of shoved a bunch of harpies in a closet. That’s a classic blunder. But Donald still opened it and isn’t called out on taking zero responsibility. Huey sees the fracas and just takes down their days without an accident placard, good stuff and he and webby arrive to help. Donald fights with Storkules and Storkules worries about loosing his friend.. lead to them going after the thing he values most aka donlad and hyjacking the house boat, though the kids manage to get aboard. 

As Storkules saves Donald, Louie realizes the most precious thing he has is  his merch and willingly gives it, and his buisness up to save everyone. It’s good character stuff and shows that despite his problems with greed, Louie IS a good kid and will do the right thing. It’s what seperates him from the Rouges Gallery the family faces: He has FLEXIBLE morals but he has morals when it comes down to it. So everyone tosses the stoff to help direct the hapries and make it home tying them up. Donald has a heart to heart with Storkules and agrees to help him find another place, but still considers him a friend and they hug. Awww.  One intresting thing I DID find out from rewriting history is they originally fully intended to have Storkules STAY on the houseboat. He was going to be a permenant member of the household, at least as far as Season 2 was concenred and plans were made for several episodes down the road: the whole bit with him in “The Golden Spear” was simply because he lived there, he was going to be the one Della met in the houseboat, obliviously guilting her about what she’d missed, and he was going to set off the kids subplot in “Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?”

This ended up not happneing for logistical reasons: Frank, and I swear this was the term he used, felt they already had the perfect Himbo in Launchpad and it was just too much HImbo energy for the two to coexist without one taking the others screen time or neither getting a lot. 

The next reason was having a god around simply broke the story: He cited the gilded man from “Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!” as a specific example. There were just too many hoops to jump to have him not break any story he should be around for.  Finally with Della being added to the cast soon there simply wasn’t room in the main cast. Della brought it up to 9, Storkules would make it 10, and as i’ve gone on about the show already had trouble ballancing it’s cast, something Frank admitted to. Adding him would both be too big a stiatus quo change and be one on top of the massive one of Della joining the cast. So he was dropped back to recurring and only showed up one more time. And while it was the right call I am dismayed he didn’t show up for the whatever happened to donald duck subplot and it does feel very weird he never adresses Donald being gone despite, at least for season 2, apparently living in Duckburg. Otherwise though as funny as this wouldv’e been.. yeah it was the right call. 

Scrooge returns... having been absent all episode because otherwise it wouldn’t work and easily saw Louie loosing it all coming.. but gives him a can of lemonade for his troubles and comforts the boy. The heart of htis arc and what makes it work at it’s best.. is these two. Scrooge GENUINELY wants to help Louie see his potetial successor in buisness: oh sure adventure wise he’s throughly covered.. but Webby, Dewey and Della all are more focused on the addventure part and that’s where their passion and talent lies, Huey’s better at science and given his close frinedship with fenton and how much that part of things seems to truly inspire him, i’ts what he was born for, and Donald just wants a regualar life and can’t manage his own life much less a company. 

Louie is the only one in his family whose the right fit to inhereit that part of his legacy and I feel that’s why he takes a special intrest in him and webby over the other two: While he loves all of them and will clearly again leave a piece of his fortune and empire to all of them, Webby is the most like him, as we later find out not coincidentally in the slightest, when it comes to adventuring and curosity and a love of exploration. But Louie is the most like him in other ways; He’s cynical, money driven and passionate. Scrooge simply wants him to be as good a person and buisnessperson as he can be and is trying to push him in the right direction. And does so here by pointing out that failure isn’t a huge problem..it happens, comes with the terriotiry and as we’ve seen with life and times, even with portions of it clearly not happening in this universe, he failed a LOT to get here. What matters is that he tries and tries to do it the right way. 

Scrooge also sympathizes as he was buying a lemonade company in cape suzette, giving Louie the can as a present... but laments there’s no cheap effective way to deliver the lemons. Louie notices the harpies going after the can after he throws it and Webby controlling them with it and muses that theyd idn’t think about what THEY wanted.. nad rightfully gets punched across the lawn by Webby, whose had to spend an entire episode having her surrogate brothers talk down to her and ignore her valid ideas. She dosen’t even open her eyes she just bops him one.

So we end with Scrooge having enlisted the hapries, Louie trying to take credit again and both realizing they might just steal the lemons instead of work for them. Ha ha ha their going to get so sued. 

Final Thoughts: This one was mediocre. It has some good points, Louies arc continues to fascenate me, Huey’s done with this shit attitude is hilarous, and Storkules is at his best in this episode: his crush on Donald is toned down from this..

To this

To the point I could see shipping them off this one if Storkules episode didn’t have him do eveyrthing short of .. well see above.  So it’s not WITHOUT merit: I love me a ghost busters style plot, there are great jokes and Chris Dimatopolis is a gem as always. Glad he’s getting work after this show on Invincible and hope he gets to play Darkwing again some day. But the Donald stuff and the fairly predictable plot drag this one down. I’ts fairly obvious they’ll run out of harpies, Louie will have spent the money and they’ll somehow get free. It’s not a terrible episode but it’s it’s sandwiched story wise between two straight up classics on both sides: the previous two episodes were even better than I remembered and the next two are incredibly good: Whateve Happened to Della Duck?! is one of their finest hours and The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck, while not making my best of list for the series as a whole is still one of my favorites for the season.  It’s just disapointing this one wasn’t nearly as good as I remmebered and it’s understandable why I forgot almost all of it, unlike the previous two episodes. Thankfully as I said better’s over the horizon.

NEXT TIME ON OF MOONS, MILLIONARES AND MOTHERS: I’m taking a break for a week. One of two weeklong breaks for the arc, the other being the first week of July where i’m on vacation anyway (Though i’ll be doing the episode I would’ve done for that week the week before to keep the pace up, so no worries),

 As for why, it’s my utmost honor to announce GOOF WEEK! Goof Week is a weeklong celebration of Goofy’s birthday. The idea came about because as I do for the big three, I intended to just do a shorts special. But Kev , the guy who made this very review possible, suggested doing the two part Goof Troop pilot. And since kev pays for a house of mouth episode a month anyway and thaks to you lovely people I hit my patreon stretch goal to review the goofy movie, I figured “why not make a week out of it. Hence Goof week. So next week we’ll have a review of the two part pilot for Goof Troop, the special Sports Goof, the House of Mouse episode Super Goof, your regularly schedule shorts spectacular, with The Goofy Movie for the grand finale! yaaahoooooieeee! 

When we come back i’ll be shuffling episodes around slightly so I can do the Della comics from the Ducktales Tie-In Comic before her debut and in time for Donald’s own theme week in June, i’ll be saving “Whatever Happened to Della Duck?” for the week after Donald Week. Instead next we get a fun wild west adventure as Scrooge tells a story of his outlaw days, his tension with goldie and his encounter with a certain robber baron as John D Rockerduck FINALLY makes his screen debut. Yee-Haw!

If you liked this review, subscribe and follow for more and consider joining my patroen, patreon.com/popculturebuffet. I have exclusive reviews, my most recent duck based one being an obscure carl barks story about wigs and the boys attempting to murder a guy with a blow gun, and your contribution helps me reach my goals and thus gets everyone, patreon or not, a bunch of neat new reviews. If you get me to 20 dollars a month, i’m currently at 15, EVERYONE will get a monthly darkwing duck reviews, reviews of the two remaning ducktales 87 mini series including the origin of GIZMOOOODDUUUUUCCCKKKK, and a review of the Danny Phantom movie The Ultimate Enemy. And with the month running out NOW’S the time to join. YOu’ll also get to pick one of the shorts for my Donald Duck birthday specail next month, so if you want to join in NOWS the time. But wether you can or you can’t, thank you for reading, i’ts been a pleasure. 

[thisisgonnafuxkinkillme]

Save Me, Please!

A Yandere! All Might x F! Reader Fic~

Chapter 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  ...

𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰:

Stalking, gaslighting, phycological manipulation, anything that has to do with the yandere trope.

Weeks later, you completely forgot about the incident. Your life had returned to its normal, average, exceedingly mundane routine.

One night, you were curled up in your apartment when you heard a stray cat pathetically crying out for help. You’re an animal lover, and hearing that pitiful cry sent you into immediate action.

You rushed outside, still in your house clothes, looking for the animal. You didn’t think to bring your phone, a jacket, or anything else, but you just had to help this creature. 

The cat cried on, leading you towards it. You found yourself walking into a darkened, dingy alleyway.

The meowing stopped abruptly. 

“What d’ya think you’re doing here?” a gruff, disgusting voice whispered out. He seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“I-I’m...the cat...” you mumbled. You instinctively covered yourself, not being naked but also not being entirely decent. You were hoping to be in and out, just grabbing the kitten and bringing it to safety.

“Oh. Don’t you know better than to be wandering around outside at night, lil lady?” the man smirked, revealing yellowed, worn teeth. At that moment, the light hit him just right to reveal who he was. He was one of the local creeps, the kind you’d see begging for cash and coins on the corner, wondering why everyone passes him by until you see him up close and smell the strong scent of alcohol and cigarettes coming from him.

You said nothing, still wondering where that cat went. 

“...especially out here all by yerself...” the man continued as he picked at his gums with his grime filled fingernails.

You made eye contact with him. 

“It’d be such a shame if something were to happen to ya, little lady...” he drabbled on. Your hand looked for your phone in your pocket as you backed up and away from the alley. 

“Now, where are ya going? I wasn’t gonna hurt ya none!” he teased, grabbing your wrist. You screamed, trying to yank away your hand.

“Ah, now ya can’t be doin’ none of that,” he grinned. Suddenly, he pointed his index and thumb at you, making a gun like motion. You froze, confused yet somehow understanding.

This was the fucker’s quirk. 

His fingers around your arm became barbed wire, digging and cutting and slicing into your flesh. When you looked up from your bloodied arm, you saw that his hand had morphed into an actual pistol, and it was now pointed directly at your skull.

Tears silently streamed down your face as you looked down, now unable to fight back. 

“Yes, I will be coming in tomorrow ... you won’t need to cancel the class. No, thank you.” you overheard someone on the phone. It was a male’s voice, and you prayed with all your heart that it was a hero out on patrol.

He passed the alley, not even taking a millisecond to glance in your direction. Your heart plummeted.

“...What...what do you want with me?” your voice shuddered. The man said nothing. You looked up at him. 

He was staring intently at something outside of the alley, but you were so fear stricken that you couldn’t bring yourself to look at what it could be. 

Without warning, you were thrown to the ground, and the man was running away. You sat up, clutching your injured arm, trying to get answers, but everything happened in a flash before your eyes. 

All you saw was blood. Lots of it. Too much.

You couldn’t worry about that now, though. You had to get away. 

You got up, scraping your soft, white palms, rushing out and away from that damned alley. At this point, you didn’t give a shit what happened. All you know is that you’re alive.

You scrambled up your stairs, slamming and locking your door. You pushed a chair in front of it, switched all your lights on, and slept with your biggest kitchen knife under your pillow.

The very next day, the news reporter plainly read off of her script, letting everyone know that a local homeless man was brutally murdered last night. 

“We don’t have many details surrounding the motive, but we have reason to believe that this was a spontaneous spur of the moment killing,” she stated. 

“Now, back to the weather today with Susan Straham!” a male voice boomed, panning over to a perky weather lady. You shut off the tv and rubbed your arm. The door was still locked and bolted shut, the chair still propped up. You shuddered at the memory. 

Despite your discomfort, the day still had to go on. You left for work, listening to music as you walked.

Up ahead, you spotted a familiar figure. All Might. 

He didn’t notice you at first, but when he did, he basically picked you up, hugging you.

“I told you I’d see you again!” he beamed. People stopped to stare.

You put your hands out in front of you to signal him to tone it down a notch or two. Or a hundred.

He didn’t get what you were hinting at, though, and gleefully continued to absolutely shower you in attention. 

Suddenly, he stopped speaking. You tugged down on your shirt sleeve, realizing he probably noticed your battle wounds from last night. 

His tone completely changed as he monotonly asked if you heard about last night’s murder.

He eyed you, now walking with you to work. 

You didn’t mention what happened. It’s not like it could have been connected or anything, right? ...Right?

Finally, you arrived at work. 

“I hate to say goodbye again,” he frowned. You shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like this is the last time you’ll ever see me, ya know,” you mumbled. 

“What makes you so sure of that?” he asked. Your blood ran cold for a split second.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you never know what can happen. Stay safe, okay? I...don’t know what I’ll do if I never see you again,” he frowned. You were blown away by his sudden change of tone and his seriousness and said nothing. 

You just waved, entering your workplace and taking the elevator up. All Might lingered there at the entrance for a few moments, watching you go higher and higher, until he left, too.

A couple days went by with nothing interesting happening. Your arm was healing up nicely, and you were starting to feel okay in your apartment again. 

Today, you went to your usual coffee shop, and the barista informed you that someone had already paid for your drink in advance. 

“How could they have? I’m the only one in here,” you asked. The barista shrugged, just repeating that you didn’t owe them anything. 

Maybe the barista was just trying to flirt. That’d make sense. 

Definitely. That has to be it.

It wasn’t until that weekend when you realized that you had been seeing All Might patrolling in your area a lot more than usual. No matter how many times he’d see you, though, he’d always have the same over-the-top reaction. It was definitely endearing, in a way, but the attention you got from others was embarrassing enough for you to shrug away from it.

You had to admit, though, feeling another human’s touch was something refreshing. For years, you’ve been locked up in your tiny one bedroom apartment by yourself, just wishing that you could find someone. 

You joined a dating app not too long ago, which has been pretty hit or miss.

Maybe you would meet someone soon. Hopefully, at least.

[husbandograveyard]

can i ask for Hidan? he's a super cutie and i miss him

Hiya!! These are super short I am sorry, it was surprisingly hard to come up with non romantic, in series, general headcanons with how little we actually know about him and I had no idea which direction to take them in. I hope you like what I got nontheless! Enjoy 

General Hidan HC 

Not reader insert. 

Hidan has quite a lot of act then think impulses and acts upon them most frequently, but he’s actually not stupid. If he were not so obsessed with his religion and the constant sacrificing it requires, he’d actually be quite the strategist in battles. But alas, the brawn wins over the brain, which ultimately causes his demise. 

10000% steals money from Kakuzu, even though that’s super hard to do, and gets away with it about 40% of the time, by effectively blaming another member of the Akatsuki. Seeing Kakuzu going after them is another form of top-notch entertainment for him. The moments he doesn’t get away with it are only feeding the tension that is between them already, and often end in fights. 

He actually kind of cares about his appearance, even though there is very little to do about it when he’s on a mission. Knows he looks good and will say so if asked, not that anyone actually asks. 

When bored on missions, he actually tries to find new ways to push Kakuzu’s buttons, seeing just how far he can push him without getting into an actual fight. He’s got that immaturity that his older teammate absolutely hates, and does not shut up.

He can speak for hours, especially about his Jashinism. Even if no one, in particular, is listening. Even to potential victims, confusing the hell out of them. It’s not a conscious distraction technique, but an effective one nonetheless. 

Even though he can actually die from malnutrition, he hates vegetables with such a passion that he’d rather go hungry for an extended period of time than to eat plants. Yuck. He’ll kill and roast himself some animal, thank you. 

He has got his goofy and almost clumsy moments, but he absolutely hates when they happen and hopes no one sees them. Any witness that is not an akatsuki member will get killed. 

Sometimes he tries to be funny on purpose, only to loudly -and usually hysterically- laugh at his own jokes and such. His ego is big, and he is convinced that he is absolutely hilarious and the rest of the world should agree on that. 

[eat-the-richard]

Sonic’s 30th: What it could be and what it won’t be

Well folks, it's about that time again. Our beloved Sonic thee Hedgehog is turning the big three-oh this year.

I say that time “again” because, y’know, it seems like we just went through this. The last mainline Sonic releases, Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces, were both revealed as part of Sonic’s 25th anniversary. In a sense, that’s all us fans really have to look forward to anymore. Waiting for about five-or-so rotations around the sun to pass until SEGA can slap that big number next to Sonic’s mug to usher out as much celebratory marketing material as they can, all for the chance to get a smidgen of new video games to get our hands on.

This anniversary feels... different, though. Last anniversary SEGA had an absolute winner on their hands in Sonic Mania. There was no way the team behind that one could possibly mess up. And even if Sonic Forces turned out like... that, it at least made sense from SEGA’s perspective to greenlight a game like it during that time. But the five years since those games were announced have done little to assuage my worries about what exactly is planned for this year’s big game.

You see, Sonic has kind of vanished. He’s lost. M.I.A.. Which feels strange. Even during the supposed “dark age” of Sonic, he never really went anywhere. New games were still being produced like clockwork for a whole host of gaming systems. From mainline titles to spinoffs, dedicated Sonic fans had a lot to sink their teeth into back then. Since the release of Forces, all we really have to show for ourselves is a (personally) insignificant expansion to Sonic Mania and a new racing title which, frankly, didn’t set the world on fire when it was released. I suppose there’s a whole host of mobile titles that I didn’t mention but it’s difficult to get excited over yet another Sonic auto-runner. Perhaps most bafflingly, there haven’t even been many ports of older Sonic titles to modern hardware. If the mid-2000s were the dark ages of Sonic, perhaps right now we’re living in the “silent age,” where basically nothing is even happening and the franchise is at an eternal standstill.

The sole exception to this self-titled silent era was the Sonic movie, which I don’t think anyone anticipated being as big of a success as it was. Including the studio behind it. And especially including SEGA. It was utterly baffling to me that, upon the film’s release, there was nothing in the way of a tie-in game. Nothing directly associated with the movie. Nothing separate to release alongside the movie. Nothing. Some have speculated that SEGA was supremely unconfident in the film and it's hard to argue otherwise. It seems that, in a sense, the movie was a success in spite of the company the IP is linked with.

That’s why this anniversary feels more peculiar than the last one. At least Sonic was doing something in the early 2010s. Perhaps nothing groundbreaking, but he was at least around. If it hadn’t been for the movie, how in the world would the series be attracting new fans? This anniversary needs to be big. It needs to be the explosive re-emergence of Sonic to not only please the jaded oldies but the next generation of kids. And… I just don’t anticipate anything of the sort.

To me, Sonic Team has about four directions they could take the 30th anniversary game. Here they are, listed in descending order of likelihood.

4. A new “boost” game. Sonic Team ain’t opening that can of worms again.

3. A new “classic Sonic” game. While Christian Whitehead’s new studio has been deafeningly silent since forming, I believe that we’d have a bit more information about a Sonic Mania sequel by now if that was indeed in development.

2. Something entirely different.

1. Sonic Adventure 3 (or comparable analog).

Now, your reaction to that list may differ depending on your preferences and the year you were born. To me, something evoking nostalgia to the two Sonic Adventures is the safest and most likely choice for SEGA and Sonic Team. Just as classic nostalgia permeated through the 2010s, Adventure nostalgia will trailblaze full force through the 2020s. There are a lot of people whose only exposure to Sonic at all is playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on their GameCube. And the only way those people could potentially get funneled back into the series is through a proper Sonic Adventure 3, or at least something like it.

This, of course, says nothing about the overall quality of what this new Adventure title would be. And really, this is my main concern with the 30th anniversary. Can I even trust Sonic Team anymore to put out a good game?

Regardless of style, I’m unconfident to say the least. The staff that worked on the Adventure titles are not at SEGA anymore. The staff that spearheaded the “boost trilogy” of Unleashed, Colors, and Generations are not at SEGA anymore. And modern-day Sonic Team’s idea of something entirely different is, well, unappealing. Sonic Lost World proved that trying to change the core of the series for its own sake leads to a bland and uninspiring experience. And Forces? Oh… Forces.

Really, Forces is the main reason why I’m so disillusioned. Maybe it was that I was excited for the grand return of the boost. Maybe it was that I loved Generations so much that a proper sequel to it couldn’t possibly be bad. Instead of being a sequel to Generations, though, it tries to be everything at once. A game to appeal to the classic fans, the Adventure fans, the boost fans, those whole love complicated narratives, those who love the many characters this series has, and, obviously, the Original Character Artists™. Jack of all trades, master of nothing. A directionless, soulless game that in some instances is seemingly artificially-generated.

If this spectacular 30th anniversary Sonic game is something entirely different, it had to break an astounding amount of new ground. It had to rethink and reshape the series so drastically that, honestly, I don’t think it's very likely. I don’t think Sonic Team has even the slightest clue about what makes their flagship IP so appealing to so many people. If the nostalgia-fueled 2010s are any indication, SEGA only understands what makes Sonic so popular on a superficial level. 

They know we liked the 2D games, so now EVERY game has 2D in it! Oh, they didn’t like that Sonic has green eyes. Well, let’s bring back the CLASSIC version of Sonic. Let’s actually make him his own character who will also appear in every game! 

New zone ideas? LMAO how about we reuse the same set of classic levels over and over! Green Hill? YES! Chemical Plant? Of course! Let’s make an entire game that has both Sonics running around in a bunch of old zones. Wait, didn’t we just do that idea last year for Sonic 4 Episode 1? And aren’t we going to do that idea NEXT year for Sonic 4 Episode 2? WAIT DID SOMEONE SAY CHECKERBOARD PATTERNS IN WINDY HILL ZONE!???!!!! 

Oh wait, Christian Whitehead just pitched to us a brand new 2D Sonic game with classic physics and new levels? We’ll let him do it, but ONLY if it is ANOTHER nostalgia game that reuses old zones! 

Let’s inundate our fans with the same images of their childhood to activate their dopamine receptors! 

I can hardly wait for what this team’s idea of Sonic Adventure nostalgia looks like. Hope you really like City Escape.

Really, while such appeals to nostalgia are welcome the first few times, after a while it starts to get grating. Sonic Team leaning so hard into it during the 2010s reeks to me of desperation. As if the constant callbacks are the only thing the team knows how to do to link new games with the rest of the series. 

In actuality, fans don’t like Sonic because of the classic design or 2D-platforming or Green Hill Zone. They may like those things, but it isn’t why they continue to support the series. Fans love Sonic so fervently because, when he hits on all cylinders, he really hits. His games play in a supremely rewarding way where skill mastery is key. The better you are at Sonic, the better you feel while playing it. The personalities and designs of all of the different characters, from Sonic to Tails to Vector the freakin’ Crocodile, are not only distinct from each other but bleed through into gameplay in the way that they control and in how they are animated. Sonic’s best stories are ones that people can really relate to, dealing with a whole host of themes such as environmentalism, resisting fascism, surpassing expectations, and even the concept of free will among nonhuman entities. Not especially deep, but certainly thought provoking, especially for kids. All tied together with top notch visual and audio design that will stand the test of time. I’d posit that, while people like Sonic for a whole host of reasons, their starting point lies somewhere in the above explanation.

Hopefully, Sonic Team has realized by now that nostalgia will only get them so far. While a Sonic Adventure 3 would turn heads, it wouldn’t push the series forward. While a proper sequel to Sonic Mania would be a critical darling, it would continue to keep Sonic’s feet firmly planted in 1991. Sonic needs to evolve. He needs to change. And it seems like a change is happening. Roger Craig Smith, the voice of Sonic for the last 10 years, is no longer working with the series. The new TV series, Sonic Prime, is set to take place in a “strange new multiverse.” Even the Sonic movie refuses to lean on nostalgia too hard. 

So maybe the future will be set in unfamiliar waters. But if this is the case, I don’t want SEGA to half ass it. I want them to boldly step into that abyss with a vision of Sonic that appeals to the heart of the fandom. Because, even if it's been down recently, that heart is still beating, and after the abuse it's already taken, it’s going to take a hell of a lot to get it to stop. And if SEGA can get this heart pumping to its full extreme as it had in years past, we may have something legendary to look forward to.

They could also just release a bunch of old Sonic games on Switch. I’d like that too.

[kjmhj0429995486]

Perhaps a small winwin and kun college au?

okay this took me forever to get around to oops! hahahha this is honestly way too many words for nothing to really happen but I had fun writing it. would love to maybe continue this eventually!

tinder!au i guess??

kun despised the idea of dating apps. absolutely hated it. he always criticized the vanity and impermanence of meeting people online and stood by his ground that you could only find the perfect match in person. when kun created a tinder account under the influence of a few drinks and some very resilient friends on a friday night in, he still hated dating apps, but he’d admit now that maybe he was being a little early to judge.

kun wasn’t like his friends. ten lived for nights out and meeting new people and kissing boys he’d only just met. in a similar vein, lucas was always in a relationship, whether it being a fling that lasts a few weeks before he gets bored or one of his longer, more emotional engagements, kun has never known the man without someone on his arm. but kun was different. since they started college over three years ago now, he’d only kissed a handful of boys, maybe a girl or two in the beginning, and he’d only been in two relationships, both pretty long term relative to his friends. with the last one ending nearly a year ago, he couldn’t help but feel a little lonely; however, it wasn’t until the alcohol settled into his veins as he listened to stories of his friends’ most recent passionate endeavors during their guys’ night that he expressed this to anyone else.

“oh my god and then afterwards, he literally just, left me there. on the couch, naked. he didn’t even leave a blanket for me,” ten was a few shots in, speaking dramatically and drawing the most genuine reactions from his tipsy bestfriends as he spoke. “but oh my GOD did I even care after what that man had just done to me.”

kun never understood the hookup culture that his friends subscribed to, but he was happy for them; and they knew that, even if his snide remarks came off a little judgy. “i really can’t believe the situations you get yourself into sometimes,” kun laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “like you really can’t tell me it was worth getting treated that way to have sex with someone you’ll never see again.”

“kun,” ten began, placing his hands on kun’s shoulders and looking him in the eye, feigning as much seriousness as he could muster in his current state. “you really really need to get laid already,” this made kun immediately roll his eyes and laugh softly in ten’s face. “actually you don’t even have to fuck him right away, but like you could really use a cute boy in your life, man,” he ended with a slight seriousness that hit home more than he would’ve expected. kun knew exactly why ten was saying what he was saying. obvious to his friends, he’d been really stressed lately with midterms and club activities and whatever else he managed to find to keep himself busy enough to not have time to worry about how he felt so incomplete; about how much better all the stressful things in his life would be if someone else was there to experience them with him.

“wait wait wait,” lucas intergected, his normal deep voice even more boisterous with the drinks in his system. “you should make a tinder.”

at this, ten’s eyes widened and he immediately perked up with the biggest smile on his face.

“absolutely not.” kun intended to shut this conversation down before the boys got any stupid ideas in their heads. he was a little late.

“kun pleaseeeee?” ten begged with full on puppy dog eyes. “you never know, the love of your life might be on there right now.”

kun pulled away from the grip ten still had on his shoulders and raised his eyebrows at his friends in an attempt to get his seriousness through their heads. “no way. you guys know how i feel about dating apps. i will happily wait a thousand years for the right man to meet me face to face if that’s what it takes.”

lucas was not convinced. “dude you haven’t had a boyfriend in months. literally all you do when you’re not with us is study. obviously that’s not making you any progress soulmate wise so like.. what’s the harm in giving it a go?”

neither was ten. “exactly. kun you deserve to find someone, you really do. worst case scenario you go on a couple of bad dates and we have something to laugh about, best case scenario you find someone you think you can fall in love with,” kun softens, just a bit, at the sincerity of ten’s words. for a second that is. “and yeah most of them suck but i promise there’s some high quality, top notch men on there if you look hard enough. trust me, i’ve found a couple myself,” he adds with a quick wink. when kun’s scowl returns to his face ten reverts to his previous tactic: puppy dog eyes. “pleassssse kun. you know we really just want the best for you.”

kun sighs, rolling his eyes begrudgingly at his defeat. “i can’t believe i’m saying this out loud but i guess i have been kind of lonely lately,” he begins, catching his friends’ hopeful attention. “not in like a sad kind of way but maybe in a ‘this would be better with someone else’ kind of way.”

that was enough for lucas to grab kun’s phone from its place on the coffee table and download the app before kun even had time to protest.

-

“awww he’s kinda cute.” ten said, clicking to view the full profile of a boy just a year younger than kun.

“he’s holding a dead fish.”

“you know what they say, the bigger the dead fish the bigger his...”

“literally no one has ever said that.”

“ugh fine. next.”

kun went to bed that night disappointed about to his expectations, if not a little more.

-

it wasn’t until three days later when kun was laying in bed after a busy school day that he even remembered he had downloaded the stupid app a few nights prior. after a brief battle between his strong opinions towards the dumb application sitting almost mockingly on his home screen and his skeptical curiosity, he unlocked his phone and opened the neglected app, the latter obviously winning out.

kun spent a few minutes swiping. he clicked each individual profile to get as solid of a read as he could on each guy before making his decision with a careful consideration, something he had definitely never seen either of friends apply to their tinder boy sprees. left. left. left. kun was growing ever more frustrated, none of the boys striking a chord with him. perhaps he was being a bit harsh with his standards but he really truly felt that he couldn’t see himself in a relationship with any of these men. left. left. left again. and that’s when he stopped. almost instinctively swiping on the next boy before a picture loaded before his eyes that made him rethink every criticism he had ever given his friends or their dumb app. this one was cute. more than cute. kun never really understood what the phrase “boyish charm” meant, but he knew this boy had it. he was beautiful in such an understated way. not aggressively attractive by conventional standards, but gorgeous and delicate and handsome in a way that kun thinks he could stare at for hours.

with a breath of fresh air, kun finally swiped right. he felt a brief wave of something akin to panic, or maybe excitement, wash over him when a screen he had yet to see appeared. “it’s a match! sicheng likes you too,” the screen read. kun couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face for a split second before he forced it into a scowl, unhappy that he had fallen into the trap of these dumb apps. soon after, kun put his phone down and went to bed. he hated the lingering curiosity about the boy that he knew nothing about, but let himself indulge in his own imagination for just a little while before falling asleep to the thought of having someone to call his.

-

the next day was busy for kun. between his four classes and studying for his upcoming midterms, he hadn’t even had a second to consider swiping mindlessly through tinder or messaging the single boy he had deemed worthy of his swipe. that was, until he was sat outside the dining hall, letting himself enjoy a few free minutes to eat dinner with ten and lucas. amidst lucas’ downward spiral into the stress of his classes and how much work he has to do, kun’s phone buzzes. he doesn’t want to be as distracted as he is from his friends’ problems by the notification his phone lights up with, but he can’t seem to fight the curiosity of what the tiny words that read “sicheng sent you a new message.” would reveal. kun decides to wait until he can give his full attention to the weird little crush that’s already begun brewing on the total stranger living in his phone. he locks his phone and puts it in his pocket before returning his attention to the people in his life he knows are actually real.

-

back in his dorm, kun immediately flops onto his bed. he scrolls aimlessly through twitter and instagram before finally landing back where he was last night. knowing that he has a ton of studying to do before bed, he clicks on the messages tab and indulges himself, maybe for a little longer than he means to.

kun: hmmm maybe if i deem you worthy

sicheng: and how do i obtain your approval oh great magician?

kun: well for starters

kun: you’re really cute so that gets your foot in the door

sicheng: 😳

kun: but it’s gonna take a little more than that unfortunately

sicheng: i can dance

sicheng: does that help?

sicheng: ooh and i have a dog

sicheng: but he lives with my parents :(

sicheng: or i can show you my anime figurine collection it’s pretty impressive

kun: haha honestly?

kun: i think you just might be worthy of two magic tricks😂

sicheng: you mean to tell me you know more than one magic trick????

sicheng: wait

sicheng: are you a wizard?

kun: not last i checked

kun: but i guess you’ll be happy to know that i actually know like

kun: 10 magic tricks

sicheng: whaaaaaat

sicheng: lol what point in your life did you not have any friends?

kun: middle school😔

kun: but it’s okay i came out stronger

sicheng: so now you have friends AND know magic?

sicheng: AND you’re hot??

sicheng: sounds kinda op to me

kun: well i’d say all of those are only kind of true

sicheng: i’m still impressed

kun: thank you

sicheng: ✌︎('ω'✌︎ )

kun absolutely hated the stupid smile that wouldn’t leave has face as he read back the boy’s replies. but, as he continued to slowly learn bits and pieces of the boy that didn’t exist to him until last night through conversation that came way more easily than he ever would’ve imagined, kun decides that maybe something special really could come from this after all.

[zafaria]

Omnivore

It became very apparent why the notches and spokes on gears were called “teeth”.

“Teeth.”

The word didn’t feel right between hers.

“Teeth ,” she said as she looked up the axle of the machine.

Overhead the gears whirred. They were the size of whole islands. They reminded her in part of Brabanzio Villa, with the notches like the little arches in the marble portico surrounding the courtyard. Except there wasn’t anything that jutted out hungrily, all of the columns were lined safely underneath the connected annulets, like their large flat heads were connected by a surrounding comfort. They were aligned. They were the flat, humble teeth of an unthreatening herbivore ground down to the gums, leveled.

Then to either side of the walkway that opened up from the dock and formed the decking around the core, there were gears connected like waterwheels that had sharp spokes, like the edges of chainsaws. Malicious things, best kept away from. Undulling shark teeth.

And all the while looking at the structure she clenched hers, then looked in front of her and saw a most fascinating sight, one she had not seen for months: Phule. He beckoned her over from beyond some destroyed marines, with his long mask. Kane gave him a mouth, and on the lighthearted side, Phule smiled. On the stern side of his face, he scowled with his mouth bitterly propped open. But there were no teeth, and it was hollow and dark underneath the mask, and she could only ever imagine what drove him, what gave him spark to continue forward in his elusive, whimsical way.

She approached, treading carefully past the guards, wary of Phule and his ruses, that the hands of one of the constructs might reach from below and trip her up.

Phule looked at her straight as she approached, but when she came within distance of conversation, he turned his bitter side to her.

“It took you long enough to get here!” His mask was an exaggerated vaudeville one, polished black to look like an onyx or marble, or something else heavy. It was theatrical, but the droop to his mustache curling downwards and the fine feathers on his brow lifted up in warning scared her. And then he turned the other way, to show his amicable side, but also pointedly looking towards one of her guests.

“What are you doing here?” The “you” was drawn out, incredulous. It was to the old man, and the word was so sharp, so cruel, she worried it had drawn his blood, would make him collapse in the wind of it, as it began to echo into his ears. But Phule again proved difficult to predict as he reached his hand out toward the old man, and the old man took his clammy little clockwork hand in kind, between his own warm, large and gnarled fingers drawn out from wringing and tinkering. She stepped back a little and saw Gazpaccio’s warm, closed-mouth smile and his breathlessness, and she saw Phule's mustache twitch and his chin move as he seemed to mouth a word.

“Grandfather.”

Gazpaccio called him a tormented soul, said he made an error when he built Kane to be heartless. He held Phule’s tiny, almost dainty hand. Honored to meet a machine made from machine, and perhaps a little sad that the poor creature was, inevitably, only in existence because of his mistake making Kane so many, many years ago.

She held the sight a little longer. She wondered if Kane did have a heart from the beginning whether he would’ve still created, and if he did, would he have still made Phule as a joke, a tormented soul, or would he have been a little kinder.

“Fixing him will be difficult,” Phule said to the old man, then turned to the pirate. “You don’t know what the machine is for, do you?”

She shook her head. And then Phule flipped his, snapping his neck to the side. She thought he might be looking out over the decks for a second, but his wincing, malformed face began to speak.

“You don’t even know where you stand! You come in here to be some hero and yet you have not any idea how to begin!”

“Well. Yes. That’s been my entire journey up to this point, hasn’t it? I didn’t have an inkling of a clue of who you were when I first met you. How could we have predicted this, then?”

“Your ignorance could fill the Spiral!”

She frowned at this. She’d done wrong, spoken wrong. She didn’t like to think of the way things were in the places she had left behind, but she wondered, hungry and pained, what happened to the smoking buildings and ships in Westminster, or the vacated bodies of the wharf rats at Blood Shoals that no one tended to after they relinquished their ghosts.

Phule turned gently, back to his kind side. He explained slowly, patiently what the gears were, why there had been so many guards (but not why he had decided to clear the way for them). It was a Machine, a big Machine, to create a new First World from dust. To get rid of the imperfect things, like her.

“He’s your father. Why do you care?” she asked.

“As you can imagine, I have a rather unique perspective on imperfection.”

                                                                    *

Inside was full of brass and whining, and glass making the kinds of windows that bubble outwards and give the sky the appearance of storm-wracked darkness from window tint. But she knew it was just appearances, there was no tint to the windows, and they were clear glass. The sky was, in all truth, really that grey, that dusty. She’d just seen it.

And then in front of them was an elevator, but it looked an awful lot like a giant birdcage made of brass. She looked around the whole room. There were metal bars, plates, screws, up all the walls like seams. Outside, she saw a flash of green lightning. It turned in her mind, all the explicit, drenching danger of what she was about to do, but she also wondered about all the mundane dangers, the overloading of the small lift with her whole crew, the conductivity of all the metal, whether it was too exhilarating or taxing to get up to the top.

She turned to check on the old man, to make sure he hadn’t collapsed. She worried about him, that a breeze in the wrong direction might make him stumble, or that a sudden burst of lighting would send him into cardiac shock. He looked ahead, but noticed her gaze almost instantly. He turned to her and smiled with warmth, the red of his splotchy, wrinkled face a rare hue amidst the ferocious and vehement green and the unpalatable and loud orange-yellow.

She opened her mouth as if to speak a little.

“We shall be fine. Perhaps a few of us at once on the lift, yes?”

She closed her mouth.

Then, she stopped worrying about the mundane things and the minute things. There was only room, energy, emotion left for worrying about the big things, big like the Machine they were traipsing in. Gazpaccio reached his hand out to her and she grabbed it.

“We can go first.”

They walked together and held hands up to that brass birdcage and stood uneasy on the platform. She looked to him again, and he looked back with a smile, his crooked browned teeth showing in the flush of red.

The elevator ascended with more whining, and the rest of the crew stood, breathless and faced skyward as the old man and the pirate were lifted out of sight, surrounded by the miring sea of green glass and slowly moving bronze.

                                                              *

Above them, there was a raised center, like a stage. The Armada enjoyed their drama, after all. The entire spectacle was flanked by dragoons with heavy chests, lithe battle angels and their crowned helmets, and marines that each had sharp, polished blade axes. Kane stood in the center, his rapier extended as if he had struck already and was now plumbing the depths of the victim further.

The pirate and the old man were still holding each other’s hands. Gazpaccio unfurled his large fingers to step forwards, towards Kane and the blade. The old man began to fish something from a bag hanging on his side, sad and worn.

The pirate’s face furrowed.

Gazpaccio spoke, lifting out a small red object in a little wood-frame box. He held it up to Kane, leveling it out over the chest of the automaton. And in one swift motion, Kane grabbed his flintlock off his belt, and in the arc it took for him to raise his arm and line it up with the box, he flicked the lock back and it slammed into a little piece of flint and sparked.

The heart clamored out of the old man’s hands and fell to the floor, shattered.

She began to step forward, her mouth opened again as she moved towards the old man and held her arms out sheepishly, but somewhere above the man’s head, in the fuzziest reaches of her vision, a little fire shone and flashed out, and Gazpaccio crumbled on the floor before her, only a reach away.

She shouted, something feeble, something useless, and Kane just looked at her, interested and unfazed.

“Forget the map. Your race is over, and I’ve won.” His voice was smooth, but also crisp. It was inhuman, but interrupted by little jars and static and crackles.

She cried and tiptoed around the body of the old man, and as soon as her foot cleared his head, she ran and lept up towards the automaton’s foot, pulling at the empty, leathery tip of his boot. Kane flicked her off and sent her into the floorboards like it was a joke, taunting trapped, sacred, starving animals in a pit.

“I’ve made a new map. Took Marco Pollo twenty years; I made mine in twenty days.”

He said something else then walked away as she sat there on the ground staring at her knees, slumped next to the old man. Her parents hadn’t even been gone for fifteen years. She chased tattered, reeking and bleeding pieces of the map across the entire universe for only twenty days, and just to find that they were useless. Entirely useless. Her backbreak pulling at the lines and the sharp pains in her elbow from holding the wheel and gently guiding it, suspending her arms for hours. All of it useless.

The machines began to swarm around her and the old man. Her crew charged in and began shooting, disassembling, flinging things, knives, and yelling at each other. She stayed on the ground and felt that whole universe she had travelled and helped mend falling apart as gears would begin to grind into bedrock.

                                                             *

Her crew dragged her up by the elbows from her daze, interrupting her view of the ceiling and the wooden floorboards holding up the top of the machine.

“Come on! It isn’t over yet,” Bonnie said, pulling her by the arms, nearly tripping and floundering on a spiral set of unrailed marble stairs. Each little cliff in the stars reached up, like the serrated edges of some carnivore’s teeth. She stumbled over her footing again and again until the flight of stairs ended and they reached the top of the layer where Kane was standing minutes before. He had backed himself towards an edge now, near another bucket-lift.

It beeped. Well, something did. A little purple orb emerged from behind two bronzed, curved sheets.  It was polished to a shine, like a singular, faulty eye found on a spider or a bug or a squid. There were no separations, it was one unending sphere of a sickly, poison pink.

“No. Not yet. Prepare my escape, and destroy this chamber,” Kane said, looking at the pink sphere.

“No.”

There was silence. The Machine refused to obey the perfect creator, and this had left everyone and everything in the room a little stumped. Then Kane began yelling, turning almost infantile.

“I gave you an order and you will obey!”

The pirate looked bewildered and still tear-streaked, staring at the plaster man, watching his grip on the railing around the lift tighten and his legs straighten out. He was preoccupied waiting for the Machine; he didn’t notice she was staring.

Between her and Kane, the floorboards opened up and a series of automatons, the same kinds of battle-angels and dragoons from before, were lifted up into the light. Kane turned and went into the bucket-lift, leaving the pirate to resolve his insubordinate, imperfect Machine.

The pirate and her crew turned to one of their favorite solutions for pretentious and condescending things: they beat the core pillars surrounding the chamber until they were smashed and compromised and the Machine was left a stuttering and defunct mess.

And then they all grasped on to each other, surrounding the pirate in a ring of arms as they clung to the overburdened lift to Kane.

                                                             * 

At that top floor, there was a checkerboard tiling of black and white polished marble. She stepped up towards the squares, but not on them, then looked at Kane.

He stared back. Around him, he was flanked by even rows of other automatons, some they had seen and one they did not recognize.

“Allow me to introduce my greatest of creations, the Queen,” Kane said with a bow. The Queen let her hand-held mask down, revealing a slim plaster-white face with pointed, stabbing features.

“Kill them all.”

The machines surged forward on the board, and the pirate looked back to her companions only to find that they were rushing forwards, determined and set on their targets and gritting their teeth.

She heard a clatter as Bonnie Anne bashed something with the stock of her musket, the loud pangs of Gracie’s golem and her wrench hitting reinforced metal, the deft and feathery swish of the Queen’s rapier cutting air, and then a sharp little sound as she drew blood. There was grunting, small vocalizations, little things, and wheezes, but not screaming or yelling. The crew was focused. There was no fear here any longer.

And the pirate found herself walking forward, straight into the Queen at first, the unpredictable and perfected creation. She watched the Queen twirl and jab as she approached, but she was readying her hand on her own dagger, preparing to plunge it through the machine.

She stepped next to her, but as she did the Queen turned, changed direction and began to trust the rapier forward precisely, exacting. It caught the pirate and stabbed her. She cried and howled in pain as the blood began to emerge from the deep pits the sword had made.

And then, a pipe wrench smacked upwards and collided with the Queen’s lifted sword, with such a strike it bent the thin blade backwards, crinkled it at an angle. The pirate was in mincing pain, but she reached back for her own daggers, and did as she imagined she would, cutting through first the heavy silk and satin of the dress on the Queen, then hitting and piercing metal. Then striking copper springs, then going even further, piercing another layer of metal--the backside of the machine. After making the through-and-through cut, the pirate ripped up and down, wildly, aimlessly, hoping to deconstruct the thing piece-by-piece from the outside using something as imprecise as a sword.

And as she did this, Gracie turned to cover the pirate’s back, and the golem moved in as Kane gently and regally stepped into the scene, as if to try and salvage his creation.

The golem took its mace-arm and spiked it directly into Kane’s mask. It left holes in the exterior. And then Gracie struck him from behind his head, sending him lurching forward. As the clatters of the other machines echoed around the smoothed, level floors, the rest of the crew drew in bellicose and ruthless, ready to shred apart the last remaining machine. The pirate was now kneeling and continued to wildly fling her arms about and eviscerate the Queen, teeth barred and panting.

There was a ring of sounds, of metal, of lightning, of musket powder burning, and boots stomping.

She turned around, and then, there wasn’t anything at all. Everything was collapsed where it had stood.

Gears overhead continued to whir. The delirious and exasperated crew all kneeled to the ground to catch their breath, and before them, purple threads, the same sick color of that orb from the previous floor, materialized, and pulled at Kane.

They all followed with their eyes, but no one dared reach for the automaton. Another moment of stunned puzzlement.

There was a great light, like the lighting outside, but this one was condensed, inside, coursing through Kane from his face downward. His mask popped off and fell to the floor, scraped and broken. She winced as she saw his head snapping back at a ninety-degree angle and something extracted from the mess of wires and copper lining the inside. He was so limp, so lifeless, so...real. And just like that, after the shockwave had course through him, after the machine, the true Machine had done its work and gotten what it desired, it tossed him to the floor like a discarded toy with a satisfied thump that was heavier and sharper than anything organic. Like something that ran out of batteries.

He lay on the floor in the same, crumpled, grotesque way that his father did two floors below. All around them, things stopped turning, the flat faces of the spokes of the gears shuddering to stop.

And behind where the plaster mask used to be, she could see clearly now that the teeth of all the brass gears had finally stopped their whirring.

[a-crimson-lion]

Strengths... and Weaknesses

I think an appropriate phrase for this post would be:

"Lord forgive me... I'm back on my bullsh*t."

Anyone who's been viewing my tumblr recently knows of my excessive hatred for one Katsuki Bakugo. I have stated time and time again that he's a gigantic asshole who only managed to tone it down a notch or two as of late. He might be the slightest bit more tolerable then he was at the start (I'm not the type to say that Katsuki had no development; I'm the type to say his development is there, but it's slow and poorly executed), but he's still overall an asshole.

In fact, before I start this post, I want to make a few things clear on where I still currently stand with Katsuki, as a person who has only seen up to Season 3 of the anime and read up to the Shie Hassaikai Arc in the manga.

First off, let's address one of the more triggering parts of the series: Katsuki's suicide instigation. Horikoshi has apparently stated that he "went too far" with Katsuki in the first chapter of the manga, and for me and maybe a few others, that sounds like if Horikoshi was given the option, he might have written out that scene entirely. Well, okay then, I understand that much; I mean, Katsuki was never that level of harsh once the story started to really kick off. So what does that change?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

From where I stand, even if you ignore or flat out rewrite Katsuki telling Izuku to kill himself out of the story, that still doesn't change the fact that Katsuki is still a terrible person with very little development. He still bullied Izuku since they were kids. He still burned his notebook and threatened Izuku while burning his school uniform to not go to U.A. He attempted to harm Izuku on their first day at U.A., and during the Battle Trial, used a highly dangerous piece of support gear which could have very much killed Izuku (instead of, you know, using the capture tape?). He's still anti-social as all hell, which isn't a crime in and of itself until you realize that being a hero requires at least some form of cooperation. Even Eraserhead, an underground hero (which is probably as potentially anti-social as you can get) still at the very least has to work with other Pros and the authorities with some level of respectful communication. Katsuki's on his way to becoming the second Endeavor (which, depending on how the latter's redemption pans out, might be even worse than before).

That last bit is probably more the fault of my second grievence: the narrative coddles him too much. Yes, being consistently kidnapped by villains is very much not okay and is probably very traumatising, but that doesn't mean he's realizing he's becoming a better person. After the sludge incident, he didn't bother Izuku because he was too occupied with his own inferiority complex; he was angry at himself for not being "strong enough," and spent his time up to the entrance exam stewing in his insecurities. While at U.A., he gets no form of proper addressment for his actions. Eraserhead is willing to restrain Katsuki, but he won't expel him, or at the very least talk to him. Katsuki goes volatile during the Battle Trial, but no one discusses and addresses how much excessive force he uses. During the final exam, Katsuki isn't docked for his initial inability to cooperate and the fact that it took a literal punch to the face to begin doing such, and even then, Izuku caried his already beaten body past the gate, which means he technically passed. He should have been failed for his actions, maybe the villains wouldn't have been able to kidnap him during the Training Camp arc. Speaking of which, why doesn't he go back to camp and save his classmates the trouble? He just wants to fight, and this simple-minded desire ends up getting him kidnapped. And what does he learn from that kidnapping? Again, "he's weak." No introspection on his behavior except for a minor one before Deku vs Kacchan 2. No discussing his actions because he can't bring himself to be the bigger man and just talk to All Might. No, he has to bring out Izuku in the middle of the night and pummel him, and we're supposed to feel sorry for the kid because he's going through an existential crisis. Which I would feel bad, had it not been for the fact that it could have been avoided, AND his behavior aside, he's going through all the wrong coping methods. I don't care if he only knows how to express himself with violence, that fact alone warrants heaps upon heaps of propery therapy, NOT FURTHER VIOLENCE.

Before I officially take a complete dive into "anti" territory, let's look at one last thing.

Remember after Kamino Ward when Katsuki had Denki electrocute himself and he gave Eijiro some money as compensation for spending it on some fancy binoculars. Well, some of the antis I've seen have claimed the money was stolen from Denki. Personally, I don't see it. I can see Katsuki causing Denki to electrocute himself to show his begrudging care for his fellow classmates (even if it's still trying to grow). I can see Katsuki giving Eijiro money for his troubles, even if it's a blow to Katsuki's pride. I just can't see Katsuki stealing money from other people. Sure, he's an asshole, but he's not a thief. His morals are warped, not corrupted beyond the point of redemption.

Okay, so what dud I really want to talk about? Oh, right: Katsuki's obsession with strength.

We see this about three times in the manga. The first time is when Katsuki is saved by All Might at the USJ. He quickly dismisses Izuku's praise of him dodging because he didn't dodge: All Might pushed him out of danger. He won't take credit for a feat he didn't do. This segues into the second instance: his fight with Shoto. He wants Shoto to go all out in order to prove once and for all that he's the strongest in their class. Only Shoto is going through personal issues that Katsuki knows about because he eavesdropped. Even when Shoto manages to releaae his flames, he quickly snuffs them out because change is gradual; he still has to get used to the new implications of using his fire. (Sidenote: not an excuse for Katsuki's dickish behavior. Tenya and Shoto were initially percieved as assholes, and they managed to bridge that disconnect eons before Katsuki has.) Of course Katsuki's pissed at this, but I feel like he completely ignores Shoto's personal baggage and instead focuses soley on his physical strength. We'll get back to that later, but for now, let's move on to the third incident I can recall from the top of my head: Katsuki vs Setsuna. Remember that part of the Joint Training Arc where Katsuki saves Kyoka, because he FINALLY understands that saving people is important? Well, yes, but partially no. Katsuki didn't save Kyoka because of whatever goodness there was in his heart; he saved her because he thought getting a 4-0 victory was something worthy of the strongest heroes, and he even explicitly stated this. He's still focused on strength, and completely ignoring the more social aspects if heroism aside from prestige.

Remember after Deku vs Kacchan 2, where All Might says he focused too much on Katsuki's physical strength and not his emotional strength. Yeah, he's not the only one...

Katsuki himself never pays attention to the emotional side of himself. Years upon years of praise and his own decisions have led him to believe that his strong quirk and overall strengths are all he needs to become a hero. His brutal and excessive technique makes him a powerhouse to be reckoned with, but it also makes him predictably stubborn. Running away isn't an option, he has to duke it out with no remorse. The Number One Hero is about to curb stomp you? Don't run away and pass the test, try beating his ass and end up losing your lunch! Potentially dangerous villains trying to kidnap you? No worries, just keep fighting because you're a badass and no one tells you what to do- and oh, you got kidnapped. Even when confronting Izuku on his quirk, the possibility of Izuku getting his quirk for something other than physical prowess is a foreign concept for Katsuki. He ignores any and all chances of it being possibility, going so far as telling Izuku to shut up when he tries to explain himself, and even outright attacking Izuku after he tries deescalating the fight multiple times, only conceeding to Katsuki because he believes he's responsible for Katsuki to some extent (because Shonen Protagonist).

His obsession with strength is in character, but dear God it's getting old... and it's selfish.

Virtually everyone else trying to be a hero has a reason for getting stronger that isn't inherently to flaunt their superiority. Ochako? She wants to make money so her folks can rest easy. Tenya? He wants to live up to his family's legacy. Shoto? He wants to be able to protect his mom. Eijiro? He wants to be like his chivalrous idol, Crimson Riot. Izuku? He wants to get a better grasp on his quirk so he can save more people. Katsuki? He wants to prove that he's better than All Might from a physical standpoint, using the title of "Number One Hero" to elevate his status and earn the attention of everyone around him.

...see the disconnect?

I don't have a well thought out conclusion to this mess, so I'm just gonna close with this tidbit: Katsuki and Izuku sometimes do the same things for different reasons. Getting mad at Shoto? Izuku wants Shoto to go all out because everyone else is going all out, and he wants Shoto to move past his father's control; Katsuki wants Shoto to go all out because he wants to prove he's undoubtedly stronger. Idolizing All Might? Izuku admires All Might's ability to inspire and save people; Katsuki just pays attention to the physical strength and prestige, electing to ignore everything else. Saving people? Izuku saves people selflessly, with no inherent regard towards himself (he will gladly break a few bones or risk doing so just to save kids, for crying out loud); Katsuki only saves people because it strokes his own ego (the only time he ever truly went beyond was in an unnecessary fight against All Might; Two Heroes is the only exception). I'm pretty sure the list goes on.

I just hope that Katsuki learns somehow, some way, that physical strength isn't everything. Victory isn't everything. 'Cause if he doesn't, he's in for a world of hurt...

...and it's not gonna be something he can just explode and be done with.

-Crimson Lion (6 September 2019)

[lostatsea303]

Let’s Talk About The Finale

Hey guys before we talk about that last episode we’re going full spoiler in this post so if you haven’t seen it yet you may want to stop here

So I wanted to make this post after seeing so many different opinions on the content of this episode and I figured I could add my two cents in and hopefully bring some praise and constructive criticism from my point of view.

First let’s talk Directing, Choreography, and Acting

First off let’s tip our hats to the VAs this episode they all did an amazing job! Elizabeth Maxwell, Miles Luna, and Taylor McNee all deserve recognition for being standouts in an episode where everyone nailed their parts.

In terms of choreography I think this met the RWBY standard. The Ironwood and maiden fights were top notch and while the RWB fight against Cinder and Neo felt a little off I think this was intentional; Team RWBY has been fighting and without rest for nearly 24 straight hours, they’re going to be slow and tired.

Directing I thought was very solid. There are some great shots I want to highlight in fact:

I think all these shots are excellent and there are a few more I’ll be using later. Directing and lighting has been something I think this volume has done exceedingly well! However there is one scene I think fell short.

This kinda looks like a meme doesn’t it? This moment completely took me out of the moment and I was wondering why. It’s not because of Harriet’s action’s I think she was sick of physically fighting and just wanted everyone to leave so she could die going down with the ship. No, I realized it was this shot: if this sequence had a close up of Qrow struggling against the weight of the bomb and cut back to another close up of Harriet yelling where you could see the desperation on her face (cause CRWBY did a great job with facial animation) it would work. Instead the framing, drab lighting, and stillness really hurt this scene.

Outside of this one scene however, I think this was a stellar finale in terms of production value!

WRITING

Overall I thought this was another good episode for the writers. Character dialogue was on point:

“You chose nothing, this was a gift”

“Whatever you wanted, I hope it was worth it.”

“I’ve only done what’s best for Remnant, and no one is grateful.”

And of course the whole Cinder and Salem interaction.

The events within the episode, I think, were all very good choices but there are two in particular I want to focus on:

The Sacrifice

I’m gonna talk about this first because I know this is where there is the most division right now and understandably so. We all love Penny, she has always been one of the purest characters within the show. That is why her death, even so shortly after she became human, is not only the right decision but a good one.

When you think about it Penny and Pyrrha are very similar characters: Morally upright, strong, and viewed as paragons amongst their peers. Pyrrha was chosen to be Vale’s Guardian and Penny was the protector of Mantle. They were people who always did the right thing for everyone else. However, their journey’s, not as people within the show but characters within a piece of art, would always require them to meet their end. 

Penny’s development was never about her learning what it was like to be a “real girl” because she already got that from being friends with Ruby. Her development was based around one of the key themes of this show: choice and control

RWBY has always focused on the question of who do we choose to be and what do we let control us. Penny rarely had a choice, and was always in danger of losing her control to someone else. At Beacon she was at Ironwood’s behest, in this season Watts had control over her in spurts. She was always in a battle to decide who she would be, and this was shown literally in the show with the fight between the virus and her soul. So when she became human she completed the biggest step in her journey of development: she no longer had any strings.

And she finally got to feel the warmth of the heart.

And that left her character development at an end. She had already learned what it meant to live, she finally got to experience the physical side of it, and finally she couldn’t be controlled again.

So when faced with the threat of someone taking away her control (Cinder) the completion of her character arc comes with her making the choice that Ruby didn’t earlier. But this time she was at peace with it, because she wasn’t dying because she had to due to an uncontrollable circumstance. No, now she chose to give her friend’s a chance, give Remnant hope in a new Winter maiden, and take from the enemy what they once took from her.

She chose.

While this completes her character arc it also develops everyone else’s which leads us into our final section

The Separation

We all knew that they were going to fall, you don’t have foreboding lines like “Do not fall” and not explain why.

But now all of the events have culminated in a perfect storm for our characters next season. Here’s what I mean:

This finale, especially with Penny’s sacrifice sets up every single character in this show for major developments. Starting from the outside:

Winter now has to learn to be a leader, not just a soldier anymore. She has to unlearn the years of regimenting and oppression that she’s been a part of.

Ren and Nora get to truly figure out who they are: There will be no team leaders among them, they will have to become them.

Oscar and Ozpin have to become the heroes that the former has always wanted to be and the latter always had other to become.

Qrow continues to learn to deal with loss and how even in spite of it he can keep moving forward and that the pains of the past can push him to better instead of holding him down.

Neo will learn what family is supposed to be, and coming to understand forgiveness for the things others do.

Jaune has to come to grips with the reality of being a hero and that sometimes the best choices we can make for others are the ones that cost the most of us.

Ruby will have to face not only another close loss in her life but she’ll have to learn about sacrifice and the unfortunate necessity of it. She’s been surrounded her whole life with people making the choice to sacrifice for her: Summer, Yang, Qrow, Weiss, and now Penny. She’s going to have to face Jaune making the choice she wouldn’t (Not to say that situation called for it but understanding the differences in those situations) and understanding that sometimes people have to go. While we should always do our best to save everyone we can, sometimes running away from the grief in our lives can creating greater loss than if we face it when we have to. 

Weiss has to learn to let go of control. She tried to protect and save everyone but in the end she was the last one from her team left. We’ve subtly seen through out this volume, and really the last couple of them if we’re being honest, Weiss always trying to be moderate within the team and be the glue and protector of the team as a whole. She’s always trying to be the best teammate she always promised to be but that has made her terrified to fail and in the end it’s stopped her from reaching her full potential. It’s a noble thing she does, but she’s so beholden to the expectations of other’s (now her friends instead of her family) that it secludes her. We’ve seen moments of her true strength when she focuses and trusts herself but she still hasn’t fully gotten there.

Blake is the flipside to Weiss, she needs to learn to take control. She’s still held down by the fear of being what Adam said she was that she won’t take the step forward. Whether this be with her relationship to Yang or even in situations like the one we saw in the second to last episode frozen and unsure how to proceed at the end. She tries to play it safe because of what she’s gone through. But Penny’s sacrifice and when she thought she lost Yang will push her.

Yang has already learned to necessity of sacrifice but she has to learn that not every situation requires it. Put simply she has to learn what she means to the others. Yang has always been the first to throw herself in the line of fire for others and take the risk when it’s time. But she’s never thought about how she affects others with her sacrifice. Penny’s loss may initially affirm her current view but she will have to come to face that Penny’s sacrifice happened only when absolutely necessary and when it was best for everyone else. Yang needs to know she’s worth more than what she can do for other people.

CONCLUSION

Honestly guys this was alot and if you read all this way thank you! I’m sure some people will disagree with some of my thoughts and that’s totally ok! In the end we’re all fans, and we all care alot about this show.

See you guys next season!

[slo-liveblog]

Witch’s Heart Final Thoughts

Hellooo! It’s been a bit! I figured I’d go ahead and post that big ol’ thoughts and rambles post before I went ahead and started the Bonus Stage. I’ll probably be doing some similarly styled things in the future... anyways, I hope you’ve all been doing well, and don’t mind the long post! 

CHARACTERS

Claire: Oh my god. I would give my life for Claire in a heartbeat. I was honestly expecting to not care for her much, not that RPG maker games don’t have plenty of female protagonists I like but they’re almost exclusively children. On the adult side of things, not so much. I was expecting a mostly silent audience insert at best and an annoying, shallowly written protagonist at worst. Thankfully I was 100% wrong and ended up absolutely loving her and rooting for her all the way. I probably said at some point but she reminds me of Hiyoko Tohsaka, the protagonist from Hatoful Boyfriend... yes, the bird dating simulator, don’t even get me started. Maybe a little bit like Emma from The Promised Neverland, too. Pure of heart, dumb of ass female characters that could beat the shit out of anyone AND are incredibly compassionate and enjoyable to watch are just too damn rare. The ways in which she interacted with the other mains felt completely organic and I was never skeptical as to why she was spending time with them, which is something I tend to take issue with in games with a scenario/route structure. On the flip side, the reactions the mains had to her were completely understandable- as far as they were meant to be, anyway- and I found myself at least somewhat identifying with their thoughts on her. Like Leon, I too am in love with Claire. 

Ashe: Oh Ashe. Fuck Ashe. In terms of livening up any situation he’s in, for better or for worse, he’s an absolutely perfect abomination of nature. Every time he enters a scene I either laugh or am filled with pure, unfiltered rage, which I guess is a good sign. He’s definitely an excellent wild card that makes the experience better no matter what way you look at it. However.... in hindsight I think he might actually be the character we understand the least at this point, despite being the first person you meet and the first to get a scenario (if you play it in the order I did, anyway). Even Wiwardo, who’s silent 90% of the damn time, does have a pretty clear motivation. It seems likely that Ashe’s wish is to bring back his family, but not only do we not know anything about them or how they died, we also don’t have any context as to how Ashe became the sort of person he did. So it’s hard to really have a full grasp on him... I appreciate his character for what it is, but I’m not quite as enthusiastic about him as I am some of the others... yet.

Reynaldo: Reynaldo makes me want to start throwing things, in a good thing. I didn’t liveblog the beginning of the game, but I distinctly remember telling my friends he was my favorite initially- the bizarre name, the gun sprite that inexplicably makes me laugh, seems like just a sexi guy. I adore the reveal of what the curse/his wish was, and I think despite not knowing much about the particulars yet it says enough about why he is the way he is that it works perfectly even without the missing information. He’s a fascinating character and has a TON of the best moments in the game, for me personally anyway. My one major complaint would just be like... c’mon, I know he’s the stoic type but I would’ve liked just a liiiiittle bit more reaction from him in some of the bigger scenes, such as when Claire confronted Invective. Also I hate him and I’m gonna beat him up

Sirius: Baby boy. Baby. I want to hold his hand. He’s the character that I think is the easiest to understand at this point in the game, as his cards are almost all on the table. We’ve seen snippets of his childhood, gotten him to reveal pretty much all his thoughts and relevant knowledge to Claire, we’ve literally seen him go to hell, all the good stuff. Male tsunderes, at least ones that are still generally nice people like Sirius, are sooort of my weakness. There’s not a lot to say about him that I haven’t already said but he deserves the world.

Leon: BABY BOY. BABY. Okay, granted, I don’t... really care about Leon that much. Don’t get me wrong, I love him and nothing bad should ever happen to him ever again. But since he didn’t really get to be present in the other’s scenarios, I don’t feel as connected to him as I do the others. BUT with that said, now that the ball has finally dropped and his whole deal isn’t a secret anymore, at least not entirely, I’m hopeful that him not being around enough’ll be rectified by the bonus stage and final endings. He’s never done anything wrong in his entire life.

Charlotte: Charlotte’s in a weird place for me where I’m intrigued but not quite into her yet. I feel like we’ve only really scratched the surface, so I’m interested to see where she goes from here. She got so many interesting scenes like the one with Noel, Fiona, and Lime in her backstory that REALLY hit the mark for me. 

Zizel: Not a lot to say about Zizel, just that her interactions with Claire were absolutely adorable no matter how morbid the context. Love her.

Lime: Lime.... oh boy. I have some. Emotions. About Lime. She definitely seemed like the most one-note out of the demons when she first appeared, just sort of a cutesy masochist anime girl, but wow. I love her relationship with Charlotte and her fascination with Leon is really interesting. I kind of hope going forward that she develops more of a relationship with Claire? I dunno, feels like there’s just some untapped potential there, with Claire being as empathetic as she is and Lime being... as confused about emotions as she is.

Rouge: Again, not a ton to say about her, but her relationship with Leon ended up being way more interesting and heart-wrenching than I expected despite how little we saw of it. I appreciate that she really does care. 

Overall & Final Score The characters were fucking fantastic. My only complaint is that I haven’t seen enough of them yet. 9/10

STORY

Ashe’s Route: My least favorite route, I think, though that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It does have the advantage of being completely new (if you played it first like I did) and Claire and Ashe’s relationship was so fucking cute and entertaining to watch. It does really feel like an introductory route though- it was mostly setup, which isn’t bad. Just not as gripping as the other routes. And the ending is... a little anticlimactic, considering you can see Ashe’s murderous tendencies coming a mile away. But there’s nothing in particular I think I would change, solid but not incredible.

Wiwardo’s Route: My second favorite route, which... I have a feeling will be an unpopular opinion. I dunno, I just really enjoyed it from start to finish. The partner swapping was hilarious and did a lot to flesh out the dynamics between the characters, Invective was really fun and fleshed out Claire’s personality as well as a lot of demon lore, and I think Reynaldo’s conclusion might be my favorite in the whole game. I was really questioning where any of it was going towards the end, it definitely had me on the edge of my seat. The main complaint I have about it though is that we... don’t actually see that much of Reynaldo. Like, at all. I mean, he’s THERE, but as I mentioned prior he doesn’t... react to much. Of course he doesn’t need to be overly emotional, that’s just not in his nature, but a few more moments where he actually had any sort of stake in what was going on might’ve been nice. The majority of the scenes he’s in prior to the boss battle hardly get any dialogue out of him at all. But like I said, the ending really made it worth it. Fighting Ashe was probably THE most cathartic boss battle in the game and the realization about what Reynaldo was going to do moments before it happened gave me chills. 

Sirius’s Route: My favorite! Love my boy!! God Sirius’s route was incredible. Definitely the one that was the most consistently gripping. Exploring hell was such a cool way to make the route continue after Claire’s death and Sirius’s character development was top notch. It really felt like we were finally getting some answers, too, which was satisfying. I will say, despite being my favorite, it probably has the weakest actual conclusion. Like, the confrontation with the monster made me Feel Things, but since we don’t actually know who or what it is there’s not really as much weight as the other routes that end with Claire’s death. Still, the juicy plot revelations and character development more than made up for it.

Leon’s Route: It may not be one of my favorites but this shit fucked me up. Definitely elicited the most tears, the whole goddamn thing’s miserable. Leon’s route feels slightly lacking in the charm department for me, which probably sounds weird but... I guess it’s cause the whole thing is so laser focused on Claire. Like, obviously Leon is primarily concerned with her, so it feels like there’s less emotional or interesting moments with everyone else and the ones that ARE there aren’t as impactful as they could be since, y’know, he’s really only here for her. But that’s mostly just a personal preference and since that was the whole point I can’t really complain. Leon’s relationship with Claire was wonderfully executed and I really appreciate this poor boy. 

Torch Backstories: Like. They didn’t HAVE to add all this stuff in but they sure did and wow does it pack a punch. I was always super excited to see the next one after finishing a scenario. I do wish we had a little more variety instead of half of them being Lime though, as much as I adore her character.

Overall & Final Score My only real issue with the story is, again, I haven’t seen enough of it yet, and that it sliiightly dragged in some places. Plus there were some small elements I took issue with, like the use of the ??? character, but nothing major. 9/10 

GAMEPLAY

Fighting: No major complaints with the fighting mechanics, it was actually a really nice change of pace since most RPG maker games I’ve played don’t have battles. I do wish Leon had something a little different to set him apart from Claire, since he essentially has the exact same fighting style, albeit with a knife this time. 

Demon Requests: This was a mixed bag. I liked the concept, especially how it wraps in a little bit of lore and everything. But some of the requests, like the ones that involved fishing, were just tedious. I probably would’ve preferred if demon requests were either just a liiiiittle less frequent or had more lore sprinkled in to keep me interested. 

Scenario Mechanics & New Items: The whole idea of the scenarios is... good, but not flawless. I think giving the option of doing Reynaldo’s scenario first probably wouldn’t work very well and giving the illusion of choice only for it to just be which of the two you play first is a little redundant. But that aside, I really love the way they’re strung together with the hell room and all the things you can do there. Setting up a routine in this kind of game was a really good idea. I also looooved the new items you get each scenario, the lighter doesn’t do much but the wand and broom really feel like they broaden your horizons. 

Gift Giving & Minigames: Not super into the affection system to be honest. Like, the plushies are super cute, but the gifts and minigames feel pointless and tedious. I would’ve liked if there was some sort of scene, or even multiple, per character that you get when you max their affection, you know? Obviously this is a small complaint considering the absurd amount of content in the game but I was a little disappointed by how underwhelming the gift giving was. 

Other Puzzles I didn’t take issue with any particular puzzle, they were all reasonably easy and fun to do. I really enjoyed the majority of them and if I didn’t they were either over quickly or optional, such as Ashe’s damn slider puzzle.

Overall, Final Score The gameplay isn’t anything crazy, but it does what it’s meant to do. 6/10

ART & SOUND

Character Design: I don’t have a ton to say about the designs, I think they’re all really effective and well thought out, especially for the demons. No two characters look too similar despite the simplistic art style making it very easy for that to happen, and I thoroughly enjoy everyone’s outfits. 

Sprites and BGs: There are a few wonky sprites here and there but for an RPG maker game I was pleasantly surprised by their overall quality. And ability to make me feel things. And quantity! Like damn, there’s so many sprites for each character, I never feel like I’m seeing too much of the same one. 

OST and Sound Effects: I know none of the songs were composed for the game itself, which is common in these sorts of games, but the selection was excellent regardless. I still listen to the soundtrack a lot just for fun. The sound effects are really cute too, no complaints there either. 

Overall, Final Score It’s crude at times, but the art and music is perfect for what it wants to be and elicits a hell of a lot of emotion. 7/10

I adore this game and I can’t WAIT to start Bonus Stage!