#i know a lot of people wanted to have the jesus and miku one as a print so hehe

[captainharlock]

hey guys! me and my gf's shop is now open! come peruse our wares. you can support us by buying something, or just spreading this around. thanks a lot!🩷💙🩷💙

[scummy-writes]

Con Adventures!

--- Day One ---

The first day of con was pretty neat, and the very first thing we did was make our way to the dealers room so we could get to Cheritz's merch booth asap! The line to the room was kind of crazy, and I had never really been made to wait in such a long line for the dealers room before, but it was worth it finally getting to the booth!

(One side of it, I never managed to get a picture of the other side ;×; )

Thankfully the line wasn't too big, and everyone was very kind! I ended up spending....a lot.... but a fun thing the booth did was give you these bags if you bought something! The front and back looked like this:

While in line, I got to meet Mantamints, Mod Zen from Doodlemessenger, and Saeranuu! They were all such sweethearts and so nice, and Saeranuu even gave me a postcard!

So cute!! I was with Crystalsoul16 and Byebi during the con, and so Byebi was where I got the adorable Seven sticker from!

Pretty soon after saying hi and so on, we wondered around the dealers room until it was about time for the autographs to start, and we sat in the pre-line for a while and messed around on our phones while fawning over our bags.

I ran into the V and Yoosung cosplayer then, and got a picture, but right before then the Yoosung had asked if we wanted them to punch V before the picture and I ended up going "nOOOOO!" while laughing a lot. They were funny and kind!

For the autographs line it was really nerve inducing! I've only managed autographs from bands I've enjoyed before, but this had me so nervous, aaa orz Everyone has fun stories, but all I ended up doing was saying "Thank you" 2937947 times like a broken record, because I was too scared to say much else and didn't want to bother them.

They weren't mean, of course, and were incredibly sweet, but....ya know....anxiety. I ended up wearing my RFA badge to get the paper, and I'm so happy I was able the paper! I didn't......really.....bring....anything to sign....outside of that KSHSKDK i was a dumbass.

V's voice actor ended up asking for clarification on how to say my name, but since it's a little difficult he ended up pronouncing it wrong, and....without thinking...i corrected him, and I really regret doing that because he apologized a bit and I had to sit there feeling like a jerk o|-< People get my name wrong all the time at work so I'm used to rolling with it, so I have no idea what possessed me to correct him.

The autograph paper was great because they ended up having the VAs that couldn't come presign it! I'm so happy to be able to get all of them, but I'm also incredibly happy Sujin Ri was able to sign it was well! She looked so happy being asked to sign it!

After that, it was more wandering around the con, and I managed to run into Crystalstellar!! She gave me skeleton washi tape rolls ;v; She remembered I love skellies....

I closed my first day with this beauty:

I know its not MM related, but a quick note- People who can play this machine on extreme and get over 90% completion are insane and terrifying, but amazing to watch! Me and another guy were in line for the machines watching two dudes absolutely ROCK and we ended up talking about how awesome they were at it!

--- Day Two ---

I know everyone wants me to get to the panel stuff asap, probably, but for a little while I didn't even think we were going to make it to the panel! Crystal, Bibi, and I left the hotel early enough to try and get a good spot in line for the panel, but ended up getting stuck in a line for bag checks that wrapped around to the back of the first building.

I'm very, very, very, v e r y, thankful they did bag checks- incredibly thankful, but we waited in line for a while in super hot weather, with folks in full body costumes and such around us, only for them to...barely even check my bag????? The first day I had a small purse, and the woman checked the pockets fast and efficiently, and sent me on my way, but the second day I had a backpack on and the dude completely ignored two pockets?

I even pointed it out to them because they were big enough to like, put dangerous shit in if someone wanted to, and he told me to go ahead anyway? Like....if you're going to have a bag check line so big and make a big deal out of it, why the fuck aren't you actually checking the bags???

Jesus christ. I'm thankful no one wanted to do anything dangerous at the con.

Anyway, we ended up making it to the panel line in good enough time to get good seats, and eventually got in!

Before talking about the panel, I do want to link This Post where Mod Zen from Doodlemessenger recorded the panel from their spot! As of right now the official panel video isn't out, so this is nice for those of you who couldn't come! (Be sure to thank Mod Zen!!)

I don’t know what all to say about the panel, to be honest, especially after linking a video about it, but the person who set up the sound/video and was introducing the game was so funny and sweet. He seemed very nervous, but I felt like he helped give a calm air to the room, you know? He wasn’t afraid to joke around a little and he explained how surprised they were that so many people showed up.

I wasn’t really expecting them to play the opening video, but hearing everyone sing along made me happy ahhh ;;;; I get stupidly emotional over stuff like that ;w; And people actually cheered for Jaehee and Yoosung!!! I was so happy at that too!! I hope Cheritz can see that lots of people love them as well aaaaaa

I did like how they had the VA’s come out to reinact a few key VNS, and I was pretty surprised they had Ray’s VA do That VN, but it was so nice seeing and hearing all of them live, aaa.....aaaaa

I think my favorite parts of the panels were Sujin Ri explaining her thought process with the characters, and then the Va’s talking about how they felt towards their character/others. It was interesting hearing it all, and honestly Sujin Ri talking about how Seven came to be killed me o|-< I just really wanted to give her a hug after that. 

However, when she was talking about Jumin, and confirming he went through something traumatic with his mother, I felt aaah...sad and worried. Of course I’m not sure if she meant his birth mother, or a step mother, but I’m hoping that one theory I had isn’t actually true. It’s one thing to have it as a theory, but it possibly being true really....really....hurts. Not trying to say I hate that being written in, but I just don’t want these characters to have such hardships weeps

Hearing that Rika purposely made Yoosung weaker as well hurt.  aaah o|-< I dont know why I had hoped otherwise, though, when its apparent that she hardly had any sincere relationships of any kind. 

And speaking of, I was very thankful that Sujin Ri said that she had aimed for folks to see V and Rika's relationship as abusive- because it is. That's not me pointing to shippers and trying to mock them, I just mean I'm thankful that she was blunt about that, and that there's a good of how some relationships seem perfect at a glance, but once you pay more attention you can see how abusive some really are.

In my opinion, theres a lot of relationships portrayed as healthy or ideal in most medias, so I'm thankful when some abusive ones arent always shown as the same carbon-copy cutout tropes people often try and show them as- so that people can see abuse takes many shapes and aren't always covered in warning flags.

Ahh, serious topics aside, I also think V's va was....a huge highlight of the panel. He was hilarious, sweet, and, well...the Rika thing killed me akahjwhkwbqjshdkg

A lot of people are probably very upset the panel didn't get to Rika, and also didn't get to a Q&A session, but I hope you all realize that they were trying very hard to cover all the bases. Apparently, the con ended up cutting their time short, but I don't have any links to prove that, it was just what I've heard.

I'm assuming they're probably going to upload the video and maybe have an addition of Rika with talk of her VA (I hooope T_T) and try to answer the online Q&A's in some sort of format.

There's parts of the panel I didn't mention directly, and I want you guys to know that doesn't mean I hated those parts- I loved the whole panel. All of it. Every bit- I just don't see a reason to go over every little bit when I've linked a post with a recording of the panel, aaa... But if you guys wanna ask questions about my thoughts on things, please feel free! I love asks like that.

After the panel we ended up wandering around the artist alley a lot! I felt bad I couldn't snap some pics of another Rika cosplayer (and there was someone dressed as V's mom too!!!!!!!), but I had loads of fun! There were so many more MM cosplayers out on Sat, and it was so cool seeing all of them! I even ran into someone that looked so much like Saeran!! (But my friend took pictures of them, haha, I ended up getting too shy to ask if I could take one).

At the end of the night, I got to play Sushi Go with friends! I talked a little about that in a previous post, but it was so fun!

And...then I snuck to the Miku machines before the game room closed aaaaaaaaa

--- Day Three ---

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Went home.

Dhskjdkd I know some of you are probably like "Whaaaat!" Because there was another autograph signing, and as much as I love Cheritz and the Va's, there was an 8 hr drive ahead of me, and parking in Washington is fucking insane. Me and Crystal decided to head home as early as we could, and I'm glad for that because it was pretty late when we got back orz

I still have a lot to do, like find a proper pillow for my ray emoji case, and to hang up everything I bought, so I'm sorry for this post taking so long orz I'm still exhausted

Thank you for reading!!

[curestardust]

if you want: military drama / (realistic?) mecha fights / very plot focused story / most importantly if you liked the previous seasons

And I’m back already with another controversial opinion. I saw the entirety of Full Metal Panic! when I was around 12 and watched anime from CD’s that I borrowed from my classmate. And yet even at that impressionable age where my sisters and I were fawning over and incredibly ecchi and weird anime, I couldn’t care less about FMP. I found it BORING (in capital letters) and from what I remember, this anime was my first introduction to “tragic romance” and tsunderes. Both of which I try to avoid like the plague even now. So here’s IV. 

There are many problems. The OST is not lackluster, it basically doesn’t exist or just plain something that came from “Copyright-Free-Music.com”. This was even more glaring when the anime played the first seasons’ opening theme at the very end which invoked some major nostalgia so there was a huge missed opportunity there. 

Second, the mecha fights are incredibly boring. Like so-so-so sleep inducing. I’m going to say this now; I’m not a big fan of mechs. I don’t care about them. But I’ve seen my fair share of mecha anime and none of them bored me as much as this. 

Next, the lack of interesting characters and lack of interaction. I just didn’t care about anybody. There were like 2 moments where the plot surprised me but that’s it. And when the plot is too boring to carry an anime you fall back on the characters. And if the those are also boring then...?? What’s left?

 Finally, I’d also like to mention the quality. The mechs are 3D rendered so nothing to say about them but the animation wavered from “WOW” to “TF am I even looking at”. It was obvious that most of the money went into the mech fights and the more important physical conflicts. Episode 10 was especially tragic in this department.

Whatever I say here doesn’t matter much however, as this franchise has a cult following similiar to other great oldie anime which I understand completely. If you liked the previous seasons (not the comedy ones), you will most likely like this. If you didn’t, you won’t. As for those who’re new, I wouldn’t recommend jumping in with this one as this is set between 2 previously existing seasons so you won’t understand much. [5/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: to philosophise about the big questions of life (not so much in the anime, just makes you think) / nice music / video game adaptation

Caligula is a video game adaptation. I just wanted to get this out of the way cause this is a turn off for a lot of people. Is it good, though? Not really. Ok so first off, Miu is a virtual singer, like Miku from Vocaloid. Her songs are played throughout the anime, during fight scenes and they’re really nice (including the Opening and Ending songs). The OST has some nice tracks but it could’ve used some variety.

Miu’s voice actor was incredible. Ritsu’s (protagonist) was good as well however the others were QUITE awkward during emotional scenes. 

The colour palette was questionable. The whole world is white and dull and only the fight scenes bring in more colour. I suspect this was done on purpose and while I understand the point of it, that doesn’t better that I had to stare at like 3 colours moving for 24 minutes at times. The character designs were also very meh, I liked a few of them but it was like the creator ran out of design ideas halfway through making them and said “You know what! why don’t we have TWO blonde characters who wear their coats on their back without giving either of them much of a personality! That’ll surely not confuse anyone!”

Oh and that’s where the characters come in. The game has 9 main characters. The average playtime of the game is 26 hours. This anime was 4.5 hours long. I THINK you can all see the problem here. There are maybe 4 characters we get to know a bit but for the others?? I literally didn’t even notice there was one more character in the “squad” for like a whole episode! And this is what lead to possibly the worst offense of this anime. They literally had the characters tell their tragic backstories. As in, there was one episode where they sat in a room and everyone just talked about themselves. Umm??

The setting and the ideas presented were quite intriguing however. Intriguing enough for me to check up on the game which is going to be released on PC next year. I’ll probably check it out, not gonna lie but purely because the anime left me unsatisfied with its lackluster execution. [5/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: cute girls and cute girl friendships / idol anime / (CGI) performances / lots of great and varied songs / basically to just chill after a long day

I’m not sure if writing a review on Aikatsu is even necessary as from experience I can say that like 80% of Precure fans also watch this one so...but here we go anyway.

First off, let me say that you need to be a fan of idol anime. If you aren’t, leave right now. Second, you also need to like the “monster of the week” formula. In this case we have performances instead of monsters but the structure is basically the same. And finally, you need to consider characters more important than plot cause there isn’t much in Aikatsu. 

To put it bluntly, this is an anime for kids, just like Precure but even....kid-friendly-er? There are no high stakes, the outcome is predictable 99% of the time and while that may sound boring, that IS what some people look for. Yes, Aikatsu is a great “come home from a hard day at work and just watch something nice and sweet before going to bed” anime. 

You’ll also be delighted to hear that the music is excellent. While the performances being CGI is a little weird at first, you get used to it. And because they don’t have to hand-draw each performance (jesus) the animation quality very, VERY rarely wavers which is kinda incredible when you consider that there are 178 episodes.

Lastly, I just want to mention the characters. They are driving force of Aikatsu (besides the music and performances) and every one of them is likable. At least to me, but I have a soft spot for cute girls and have a hard time hating any so my experience may be a bit biased. Anyway, only drawback is that the main cast of characters switches around and that if you fall in love with a secondary-character you are pretty much doomed to see them for like 3 minutes in total after their arc ends. So be careful! [8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

[attract-mode-collective]

Scorpion Vs. Elon Musk’s Mom: FIGHT

Yes, that is indeed Elon Musk’s mother up there. And no, I do not have a bigger sized version of the pic. Guess we could always ask captain-price-official if one does exist.

Or perhaps make your own? Here’s Elon’s mum by herself (and in higher res)...

And with that, it’s time to see what else I tweeted during the first half of March! So, sticking with fighting games: which Street Fighter character does lighting better? Ryu, via the animated movie (via settei)...

… Or Bison, via the live action flick (via toghomevideo)...

I absolutely love win quotes from rom hacks (via bison2winquote)...

I have a massive backlog of games, yet Tekken 7 just shot straight to the top of the list, thanks to the knowledge that you can accurately recreate Dynamite Headdy characters (via mysterious0bob)...

This Hatsune Miku X Space Channel 5 figure is v. nice (via nendoroidoftheday)...

A friendly reminder to everyone that A. I'm a massive fan of Seaman & B. my birthday is about a month away (via nutastic)...

This scene at the beach with a Figma of Link, from A Link Between Worlds, feels more like Link's Awakening than anything else (via vyntic)...

Toys and models are no longer just for reenacting memorable in-game moments, they can also reproduce famous IRL events that surrounded the games themselves (via 8bitcentral)...

So what's the going rate for ET for the Atari 2600 that was supposedly dug up in for that so-called documentary, Atari: Game Over? Which I recently re-watched and still can't believe people think is real. At any rate, am assuming the autograph from Howard Scott Warshaw gives it some actual value (via it8bit)...

And what's the going rate for Chinese Famiclone karaoke carts, primarily one with Jackie Chan on the label. Am also wondering if it's cuz his songs are included... you are aware of his successful career in music as well, right? (via ulan-bator)...

Been struggling to come up with a zinger for the past 10 minutes, but ain't nuthin gonna beat "Welcome to the Velvet Room y'all!" (via jatayu)...

To be filed under: it's funny cuz it's true (via doctorbutler)...

So the weather has been awful around these parts, lots of rain & snow, which gets in the way of imagining a giant tetromino in the sky (via uvula.jp)...

When playing Super Mario Galaxy 2, please keep in mind that somewhere out there, despite being out of view, is the ghost of Luigi floating through vast stretches of empty space, with zero destination or purpose (via suppermariobroth)...

Speaking of Luigi, and Supper Mario Broth; they’ve taken the adventures he talks about in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and illustrated them in the form of a comic that closely adheres to the style of the game...

Also a friendly reminder of that rift between Mario & Luigi for a few years (they'd eventually make up & resume doing games together, as everyone knows) after Mario discovered his brother being all friendly with the enemy in Super Mario World (via peazy86)...

Yet another obscure Mario factoid: the move he uses to defeat Bowser in Super Mario 64 originates from an old furikake commercial that predates the game by about a decade (via suppermariobroth)...

Yet another random gif of Mario from the 80s, this one from a video guide from Super Mario Bros; I miss the days in which his look was not yet standardized (via suppermariobroth)...

And here we have a completely unlicensed Dr. Mario, unless Nintendo gave him the OK to brush up on his doctoring skills by assuming an alias at a family clinic in Houston TX (via suppermariobroth)...

It's funny how, when it comes to obscure Mario games, everyone brings up Mario Is Missing or Hotel Mario, but what about Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up? (via kazucrash)...

Mario gets his own breakfast cereal.

Luigi? Booze. (via @carolynmichelle)

A question that I posed on MAR10Day (via retrogamerblog)...

It's not Super Mario Bros, but simply…. Bros (via therubberfruit)...

I've never wanted something "bootleg" to be official as much as as this Dark Souls fan art. And if the actual game somehow looked like this, that would be... gladly welcomed (via gamefreaksnz)

Oh God, Nier is amazing and all, but I would SO be down for a yelling & screaming match with Yoko Taro on this point (via @Avisch_)...

Behold my fave Twitter thread in recent memory: "You see, that was taken from Africa, but it belonged to the Keyblade Masters. Imma take it off your hands for ya."

"Nah, It was taken by British soldiers in Africa but it's actually from Gaia. A sword far heavier than any sword has rights to be, yet a true 1st Class will wield it with ease. Don't trip, I'm gonna take it off your hands for you."

"Nah, It was taken by British soldiers in Africa but it's actually from Hyrule. Originally crafted by the goddess Hylia herself. Only a true hero that is pure of heart and strong of body is capable of wielding the sacred blade. Don't trip, I'm gonna take it off your hands for you."

Naturally the star of Home Alone 1 & Home Alone 2 has both a NES Classic and Famicom Mini, like all Hollywood bigwigs (via @SimonParkin)...

While discussing Ready Player One with a colleague, was reminded of the dude who was so inspired by the book that he turned his apartment into an arcade (and then his fiancé broke up with him; via nydailynews.com)...

Recently there was some kind of event at Sega HQ, I think? Details are basically nonexistent due to the language barrier, but far as I can gather, 16 super fans were invited to come by & party (via @SEGA_OFFICIAL)...

... If you check out #セガ公式アカウントオフ会 you'll see numerous pics from the get-together, though the one thing that stands out is the assortment of Sega hardware (via @KK__Cy)...

... MIA, cuz no variants were on display, is my fave alt ver. of the Mega Drive: the Wondermega. But @yu100s took one of his own… with the ugly ass US Sonic 1 NOT FOR RESALE cart inserted, Jesus fucking Christ...

The Sega logo in katakana looks pretty hawt (via @Exciteless)...

... Yet the Sega logo in Arabic which is official, is even hawter (via boingboing.net)...

Please enjoy your daily recommended dosage of an erotic hospital-management sim (via @topherflorence)...

NCSX makes the fidget spinner comparison, though the fidget cube seems a bit more appropriate; behold the fidget game controller...

Toy Fair recently took place, and naturally I took tons of pictures. You can find all of them on my personal Instagram, though a few are worth re-posting here. Like the latest in NECA's line of classic movie characters, as they appeared in video game adaptations...

Though in the case of their take on the Alien vs. Predator arcade game, they even included Capcom's original characters...

Unpainted, pre-production figures from Reflection's upcoming Ghost 'N Goblins line, sporting the oh-so popular Kenner-eqsue retro look...

Pint-sized arcade cabs, available this fall for $400. They’ll come unassembled, though dead simple to put together; the construction of the assembled mini cab was surprisingly sturdy, plus the screen wasn't bad (contrary to the picture that my iPhone's camera paints). Though the controls were shit; no word on whether the parts can be swapped or not...

Was delighted to not not only see Cuphead merch at Toy Fair, but more than just one instance (though this was the only time I was allowed to take a picture)...

Came across a producer of infant goods that had a selection of Super Mario baby bibs...

I asked the rep if this was their first foray into video games and the answer was "Yes." And when asked who's been mostly buying them, was told "Video game collectors, who don't even have children… it's so bizarre!!!"

Sticking with bibs, here's a set that tied to Dragon Quest (via miki800.com)...

... I asked on Twitter what they said and @alexfkraus was kind enough to provide translations, here and here.

Was so inspired by @MinusWorld listing which characters he'd like to see in the next Super Smash Bros that I decided to cite a few of my own:

- Mona from WarioWare - Nester from Nintendo Power’s Howard & Nester comics - Link from that Japanese A Link To The Past commercial - A deck of Hanafuda cards

... BTW, had no idea Ollie also mentioned a Hanafuda; I only saw his initial four, initially! Anyhow, my second round of choices:

- Ashley from Another Code - The "who are you running from?" guy in the Game Boy Camera - Lucas from The Wizard - The 4WD from Stunt Race FX (since Fighters Megamix with the Daytona USA 2 car clearly ain't ever happening)

I alas forgot to include BoxBoy, much like how I got these Uniqlo shirts when they were on sale last year (via minusworld.co.uk)...

Here we have my fave reaction on Tumblr to the Nintendo Direct with the Smash 5 reveal, if only for the punchline (via mendelpalace)...

And here we have my fave reaction on Twitter (via @redford)...

This one is also great because wrestling (via @SteveYurko)...

Speaking of wrestling, remember that time Tazz, while commentating for Smackdown, was also playing a game of Final Fantasy X-2… or so he thought? (via defjamvendetta)

"hey quick question whoever's developing the wwe games now: what the fuck"

"It helps him eat small fish"

"better question: why isn't this an option in every game ever"

"FAIR POINT" (via snoozlebee)

Whereas most publishers in Japan, during the 80s & 90s, had festivals (or carnivals) centered around shmups, Asmik's was based on women's wrestling (via oldgamemags)...

It's not for a video game, though the illustration is by someone who has been involved in a few; it's by Satoshi Yoshioka, of Snatcher and Policenauts fame (via videogamesdensetsu)...

It's not for a video game that actually exists, but is instead a completely fictional instructional manual, one that makes you wish it was real (via tomeccles)...

Just when you think you've seen every ultra, wacky & obscure video game box art there is to see out there (via @CoolBoxArt)...

I have a serious soft sport for the usage of video game imagery among early 80s musicians (via siryl)...

... What the final product looks like BTW/FYI...

A. so there's a VR version of Fruit Ninja, did not know that, & B. if you like watching people play it (for whatever reason), yet wish you could actually see a person swinging a sword and not just some abstract swiping motions… here ya go (via prostheticknowledge)...

Playing games in VR is so 2017… Handling your collection of games in VR? Now THAT is very 2018 (via mendelpalace)...

Lots of friends are playing the new DBZ fighting game, though I'll give it a shot once it hits the arcades and is also in a cab like this (via @Fotosdecomics)...

I absolutely need to get my hands on this S.H. Figuarts Shinya Arino (via tinycartridge)...

Available right now, some Altered Beast, Bare Knuckles, and Rent-a-Hero resin kits (via miki800.com)...

Cursed? More like blessed amirite (via @Pretzel_Pup)...

I know Yoji Shinkawa is best buds with Hideo Kojima, but would he be open to doing another gig at Konami? Cuz him art directing a reboot of Twin Bee would kinda be the best (via @SESKOU)...

There's money on the table with this Metroid X Pepsi mash-up, am confident of this (via ryangilleece)...

Cuz even someone like Samus Aran needs a good stretch every once in a while (via jon-bliss)...

And this third piece of Metroid fan art in a row is very much related to Metroid 3, aka Super Metroid (even though it technically depicts the ending to Metroid 2; via mmillus)...

Awakening indeed (via brookietf)...

For those who have asked, yes, I have seen the hack that connects the Switch to an itty-bitty black & white TV...

Though I'm only really interested in tiny b&w CRT TVs if I can play Duck Hunt on them (via arcade-crusade)...

I not only dig teeny-tiny displays for light gun games, but also for driving games as well (perhaps some of you might remember the following from this)...

Back to tube displays; seeing Zelda on a CRT also reminded me of how Dark Souls look on a CRT, aka CRT Souls or 480i Souls (which again I'm hoping regular readers of the blog remember, especially since the original post has fallen victim to a Tumblr bug)...

"while playing king's field just now i died in the magic cave of fire and when i warped back there were beautiful graphical glitches everywhere" (via mendelpalace)...

Some landscapes, filled with beauty and mystery and terror, are accidental (see: the graphical glitches from before)… whereas others are completely deliberate, as in the case of Atlantia (via obscurevideogames)...

Once again, I REALLY need to figure out a way to play some PC88 games (via obscurevideogames)...

Here we have a semi-common Space Invaders sighting for the time, in an episode of Battle Fever J, one of the earliest Super Sentai shows (via himitsusentaiblog)...

And here we have a rare Game Gear sighting, in old OVA anime, Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko. Hell, it’s a rare Game Gear in anything sighting; the only other example that comes to mind is Rumble In The Bronx (via @TheOtaking)...

And an equally rare Sonic on the runway sighting (via kotaku.com)...

I normally watch a video in its entirety before making a recommendation. Yet when it came to this overview of Last Bronx's legacy in Japan (and lack thereof in the West), hearing the main theme to Beat Takeshi's Violent Cop near the 3 min mark was all I needed (have since watched the whole thing, and as expected, it's another awesome Kim Justice production)...

And finally, a friend notes: "subzero's right arm is real close to trump's spinal column

just sayin" (via @jbillinson)...

[uniformbravo]

aaaa @fixion tagged me in a thing for “10 songs you’re listening to a lot at the moment” (im just trusting u that that’s what it’s called) so im gonna do that!! bc i love talking abt myself + i have literally been waiting for an excuse to share my music Lmfao Thank

(ps @ frank read the tags hkdgjlksd)

(this might technically be is absolutely more than 10 songs but like shh?? just shh)

both osomatsu-san ops theyre so fucking good?? here they are OP1 and OP2 pls listen to them im mlove th -

literally the entire rest of the osomatsu-san soundtrack ok i kfkigk gn i kNOw thats like 80 songs bUT I JUST,,,,,,,,,, here’s a couple samples lkdfjkdg Track 38 and Track 7 are some faves but i promise the whole thing is good i die, heres a playlist ok if u need smth to put on in the bg i highly recommend it....,.,..,,, -

so many songs/covers by Eve?? i’ve been listening to a lot of eve lately ok i’ll give my top three: デーモンダンストーキョー あの娘シークレット シャルル  it’s so hard to stick w/ just three tho seriously go listen to the rest ahhhhh (i love the art style in the music vids too?? like a lot??? so pay attention to that tbh) -

ピースサイン / Peace Sign - Kenshi Yonezu (bnha’s 2nd op) i got obsessed with this song & now i have like a million covers saved jesus christ save me (coincidentally, eve also did a cover of this one) -

砂の惑星 / Sand Planet - HACHI/ DUNE feat. Hatsune Miku i have a million covers of this one too lolllllll ((including eve’s)) check out this piano cover tho (it’s safe to assume that any time i find a song i like i’ve immediately gone searching for piano covers it’s in my blood) -

speaking of piano, anything by marasy8 is so good oh my god they’re literally incredible here’s one of my favorites by them i love putting their longer vids and streams on in the bg while i work on stuff (it’s always fun to randomly recognize some of the songs lol) -

this song was stuck in my head for like a week straight god her voice is soooo good (epilepsy warning for the vid tho) ((she also did an amazing cover of Imagination from haikyuu which still gives me goosebumps, that’s how i initially found her)) -

Sincerely, Me from Dear Evan Hansen LITERALLY how could i forget this until now i just had it on repeat for like 3 days straight???? it’s the catchiest fucking song i’ve ever heard in my life (nsfw warning) -

LambSoars: these guys are so cute omg they do a lot of covers so i have like all of their haikyuu stuff saved, my favorites are Mashi・Mashi and Heaven and Earth (honorable mention Peace Sign bc i already talked about that song earlier but i loooove this cover) -

You Say Run from the bnha s1 soundtrack uuuuugghhh what a phenomenal track like the whole ost is fun but this song is The Jam™

am i allowed to put a bonus section for piano stuff even though i already put piano stuff in the main “””10”””

this is the bonus “Im Trash And I Desperately Want To Share My Music With People” section

Q feat. Otomachi Una - i found this one a while ago which is why i didn’t put it in the 10 but im still rly into it ok -

literally every op/ed for little witch academia ok they’re all good they’re all perfect here’s a vid with all four of them go go go (i cannot believe it’s still up tbh) -

ok so this is an hour long mix of caravan palace songs so it’s more of a “put it on in the bg” kind of thing but i swear to fucking god. i fucking swear. i was just gonna put lone digger bc that’s my fucking jam always and forever but this mix starts with that song anyway so just have the whole goddamn thigng igmg fucking ((this post is beyond out of control but i physically cannot mention lone digger and not also bring up Lone Digger 100 (epilepsy warning), my very favorite mp100 amv that i have lovingly watched like 50000 times and i die literally every time ok gggby e)) -

the skill in this piano cover of osomatsu op2 is overwhelming i’ve never felt so intimidated in my life, just like. the thing where they play 2 overlapping melodies at once what the fuC k (also their cover of the other op Ugh) -

this would be another thing to put on in the bg bc it’s 30 min long but it’s a compilation of (mostly) piano covers of assorted tracks from the osomatsu ost, it is v nice and the pianist is super skilled (i especially love the last one because it’s Six Same Faces (ed1) which is one of those songs that i could never even begin to comprehend translating to piano but they fuckin did it and it sounds amazing) -

we’re back to peace sign again, this is my fave piano cover lol (love love love this pianist as always pls check out his other stuff) -

this piano cover of the one punch man op i cannot fucking believe (also the actual opm op jffucukgign just taKe it) -

ok ok ok fuCK FUKC i wasn’t gonna do it i ALMOST made it all the way through without doing this buT IM CAVING OK 99 BY MOB CHOIR THE MOB PSYCHO 100 OP GJSKDGFKGD i havent even been listening to it that much lately so there’s literally no excuse for me putting it here but it still goes hard as hell it’s still such a fucking timeless masterpiece im still complete garbage dumpster trash for this song and this show im crying jjusst take it, take it from my filthy fucking hands im gdj kjkgjdghkdjgskjdjflsd kjlak ljskdjg gk

ANYWAY I THINK IM GONNA STOP THERE LOL SORRY I HAVE LEGITIMATELY NO SELF-CONTROL IT’S EMBARRASSING.................. i listen to a lot of shit oK

also i get most/all of my music through youtube so i hope its ok that instead of song titles/artists it was this giant mess of rambling descriptions & video links ahhh

but yeah holy shit uhh tagging people. yes. dont worry abt it if u dont want to but @dolichomorph, @noonediesalone, @cry-beeby, @creepyjirachi, @cloversion, @docnoctem, @tender1999, @melleh17, @lancmclain, @thecavalrysqueer

also i havent been online lately so i have no idea who’s already done this so if u have then Whoops

if i didnt tag u specifically but u still wanna do this then just go for it i promise it’s fun, say i tagged u bc i did, this is me tagging u, an indirect ki s sfjkc

good nite

[baconpal]

since ive been complaining about shit already tonight i might aswell just mention random crap that i’ve been thinking about, but ill spare your dash, feel free to read me rambling about absolutely random shit if you want

first some video game stuff i guess;

the good: I don’t have a switch and still definitely cannont justify getting one yet but woo boy does ARMS look good, i wanna try it, and also splatoon 2, i really liked splats when it was first out, and martyo kart, but its p spensive stuff and im a cheap-ass 

the new thing code vein thing is simultaneous promising and incredibly boring to me, cus anime styled action game with the potential for cute girls to be wielding giant fucking weapons is like, my dream, and the boss designs looked pretty good, if a bit unrelated in the trailer, like the moose knight dude is fucking sick and i wanna use his armor, but then there’s also like, abyssal spear lady miku whose fucking cute, and they’re shown right after each other and it becomes a bit hard to follow, and the story seems to be just fucking dark souls “wah we go hollow and the world is a fuck”, i wish it wasnt that, cus dark souls alone made that setting overused, and while a modern-ish universe certainly sounds nice, it looks fucking bleak and they spend half the video in places that just look like bluer versions of DaS3 areas

the bad: so ive already complained about momodora 4, some people like it for some fucking reason but i dont, and now 5 is happening because they cant just make a new fucking series i guess, and it looks awful, like honestly horrid, its fucking shitty 3d when nobody asked for it, and it’s like, all the worst parts of something like dark souls, and none of the good parts and it angers me to no end that they keep dragging this sorta cute and okay free game series into the mud like this when they could make new games and try new things

the ugly: i never funded or thought about supporting indivisible because i had zero fun with the demo and i never really cared for any of the designs other than the redesigns of other characters from other games, and maybe the big fist girl, who didnt really fit in the style to begin with, but now they’re going and doing major redesigns and model updates that just look stupid and lifeless, like “wah wah diversity” drama aside, that cowboy guy went from a gritty, perfectly decent design to like, fucking nothing, he’s nothing now, i cant even identify him as something because he’s just nothing, and the entire cast seems to have been stretched up for no reason, and now a lot of the interestingly wide characters arent very interesting anymore, im not mad about it cus i never planned on getting it, but as an artist when i see artists take a very solid and nice character/design and just make it fucking awful, it makes me mad, especially cus i’ve seen some artists i used to know do it too, not starting drama or something it just seems pretty dumb to take things that are nice and people like and make them into different things when you could just make a new thing and have both

also uh like my friend showed me this jap band called uplift spice and at first i thought they were meh but i cant stop listening to them now its fucken cute rock stuff and it kills me

now art stuff. these are the things i really wanna talk about but they’re really just me problems so if you’ve already made it this far maybe you’ll care about this random shit

so like commissions have gone decently recently, not complaining about nobody wantin em or something, but for the longest time i’ve had people ask me about commissions, ask if there’s slots open or something, or even straight up say they intend to commission me, and then i’ll never fucking hear from them ever again ever, and like, if you just ask “hey got slots?” doesnt mean i expect you to actually get a comm, but it usually suggests there will atleast be a follow up response like “okay thanks but nevermind” or “ok cool ill be contacting you soon” and then actually following up on it, cus without any closure i just get stressed out thinking about why they never get back to me, are the prices too much? are they worried i won’t accept the comm? did they fucking forget i exist? did they get hit by a car? like even if you fucking told me “nevermind i dont want a comm you’re fucking SMELLY and i HATE YOU” i’d feel better cus at least i wouldnt worry about it for a week or something, none of the people reading this are likely the kinds of people who do this, most of them dont even follow me, but cmon man why you gotta make me worry about this shit

and last thing probably (hopefully jesus what am i even typing all this for) so like now that i’m doin comms more to support my own ass i’m really not pushing for requests in my inbox since a lot of them i’d never do anyway unless i got paid, but at the same time, i really liked drawin the ghost lady for that one ask, cus nobody is ever going to comm me for my own characters unless your one of my super good friends and youre just looking for an excuse to give me money, if you DID honestly comm me my OCs i’d fucking love you that’d be sick, but regardless i think that the only requests ill end up doing anymore are cute megalo1 and 2 ideas or stuff of my OCs, but i dont even know if you guys remember or like any of them, i actually have way more of them than i post because i like to design for fun sometimes, but like other than maybe neon idk if any of my OCs are know to any of my followers other than good friends, so idk if you guys would even care enough to request my OCs, but they’re mine and they make me happy so if you wanna see more of them or ask questions about them or anything, feel free to send me asks or messages or whatever, it’d be cool

so ye that’s all the shit im thinken about right now, if you actually could read all that you’re fucking weird and i like you

[kayostesting]

"8HIT" makes for a really good Training Montage. "Abstract Nonsense" by Rin. Apparently her being suicidal and with black hair contributes to the sheer awesomeness of this song. "Adolescence" uses the tune of "Cendrillon" and renders it better. Len's a capella cover of "Ark" (originally by the band Sound Horizon) is absolutely amazing. Rin and Len's "Astral Domination" has some awesome guitar and vocaloid-work. Len's cover of Justin Bieber's "Baby". Haters to the left! Their cover of "Bad Bye". Once again, the Kagamines cover one of Miku's songs and make it even more awesome (be warned, this video is somewhat disturbing). Rin's "Black*Rock Shooter", backup voices courtesy of Len. "Bloody My Doll" shows that Len tops Edward Cullen any day. "Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder", Len's version. The original Rin version was already great, but Len completely tops it. "Candy Psychologist" by Rin. Just like the name, it's addictive. "Childish War" made by Giga-P and sung by both, both the song and the PV are awesome, very upbeat and catchy. Sibling rivalry at its finest. "City Lights" by PowaPowa-P. "Cloud", an awesome Rin song. "Cosmic Star" by emon, for Rin Kagamine. A very sweet, beautiful song. "CULTURE Liberalization Ward (BUNKA)" features the Kagamines as detectives! Here's to hoping that they'll be able to solve any case that comes their way! "Cursed Glasses: Stray Girl In Her Lenses" by Rin (featuring Gakupo) is outrageously funny and weird at the same time. "Darkness 6". There are no words. "Death Should Have Not Taken Thee!". A parody song of Dragon Quest I made by Jesus-P. Warning, it's EXTREMELY catchy. And has an equally catchy sequel, "Your Adventure Log Has Vanished!". "Discotheque Love" for Len, from Lelele-P. Rin's "Dolls", combined with the very well made video, is incredibly beautiful and touching. Knowing the lyrics also makes it even more tear jerking. "Dreamy Cherry Blossoms" is about a rich girl (Rin) that's getting married in a little while that happens to fall in love with a violinist (Len). It's also note worthy that the art style in the PV is just as beautiful as the song that accompanies it. "Electric Angel" has excellent vocals by both Rin and Len, as well as a very catchy beat and awesome electronica elements (not surprising considering the name of the song). PowaPowa-P's "Equation×**". Len's cover of "-Error". Has some of the best vocalizations by Len. Rin's version sounds rather cute but still good. "A Faint Wish" and its sequel song, "A New Millenium" are very heart-warming. From the same series, we also have "Utopia", which is not quite as heartwarming. "Falling Falling Snow" is such a beautiful song with a simple yet touching PV. Rin's "Fate of Soul", an epic song that manages to be dreamy and powerful at the same time. "Fire Flower" is definitely one of Len's best. "First Virus Resistance". That is all. "Flames of Yellow Phosphorus" by mothy. Disturbing, sad, and absolutely epic. "Gekokujou", hands down. Nothing'll get you hoisting a yellow standard quicker. "Gemini" is just d'aaaaawwwww. "Gigantic O.T.N" is about Len gushing over his enormous penis. No really! You'll love it. PowaPowa-P's "Girl A". "Himitsu ~Oath of Black~" anyone? It's fantastic, and the story is heartbreaking. "Hot Cocoa" by Len is a very motivational song to listen to if you're trying to get work done. It's about Len trying to finish a homework assignment that he put off until the night before it was due. Rin's "I Like You, I Love You" is an adorable song about a shy girl's awkward attempts at a love confession. Len's cover of "Ievan Polkka" (the entire song, not just the leekspin gibberish portion; and in good Finnish too). "Imagination Forest", originally for IA and covered by Rin Sweet APPEND, the mood is captured very nicely and this version is just as nice as the original... and then there's the added bonus of Len coming in for the song's climax. Another amazing AVTechNO song, "Innocence". Awesome use of Len's Power append, sexy heavy beat, and one Epic Riff. "INTERSTELLAR", a Kagamine Rin original by FROMAGE. "Iroha Song" by Rin is a vibrant rock ballad with a traditional Japanese sound about being consumed by love and then losing it (oh, and bondage). "Jabberwocky Jabberwocka" sung by their appends is extremely catchy. The flashy PV doesn't hurt either. "Jutenija" by DATEKEN. Think priestesses singing in a desert temple and you're almost there. "Juvenile" from Dixie Flatline, a nice R&B song with smooth singing by Rin and great rapping from Len. "Karakuri Burst" is an absolutely amazing song. Len looking quite sexy (and non-shota) in that military uniform certainly doesn't hurt, either (also, please note that 卍 itself is not a symbol of the Third Reich — the Nazi symbol faces the other direction). "Karma". Bro. The composition is fantastic, as is Rin's voice, and that scream! "Kokoro". Just... "Kokoro". Len's version or Rin's version, there's really nothing better...except, of course, the mixed version. "Last Stage" and its Tear Jerker alternate ending, "Last Battle". The Synchronicity triology: "Looking for You in the Sky", "Paradise of Light and Shadow" and "Requiem of the Spinning World". "Lost Destination". Act 1 Len with Power, Cold, and Serious Append with an almost Crusader-like, cynical atmosphere. It is truly epic. This version uses Len Append Power and Cold, along with beta versions of Kaito Append Normal, Soft, and Whisper. Yes, Kaito. Append. Rin's "Lost Life" is just so rockin' awesome,and the high pitched voice fits the song perfectly. "The Lost One's Weeping" by Neru. It's a powerful rock song that'll get your head bopping... if the lyrics telling the story of a kid who's gone empty from exceeding pressure to succeed doesn't hit you in the feels too hard. This remix of "Love is War" is better than the original. "Magical Kitty Len Len" is more of a Funny Moment but still awesome nonetheless. "Main Character", a Len song. Awesome tuning, awesome music, but slightly Tear Jerker lyrics. "Make a Wish" is an excellent use of Rin's voice. "Meltdown". By far one of Rin's best. "Memory", a vocal version of the Leitmotif of the title character of the video game Ib sung in Surprisingly Good English by Rin. Ignoring the Engrish, "MIDI MASTER!!" will leave you clicking replay over, and over, and over again... Len's "Monochrome Dream Eater" has an extremely catchy beat. The voice of Len in it is nice, low and just ridiculously fitting for the song's tone. One of Len's best solo songs. Append (Power, Cold, Serious) Len's cover of the Girls' Generation song "Mr. Taxi" is amazing. "Never" is a pretty upbeat song (that comes with Len rapping!) about... eating natto. Their cover of Limahl's "The Never Ending Story". "Noiz bom", "Noiz Are NEL" and "DARK NEL" by AVtechNO are absolutely great. You know, let's just say anything by AVtechNO! Rin's cover of "Only My Railgun" completely overpowers the original. Their cover of "Our 16bit Warz" by their V 4 X voicebanks is just plain amazing, and they sound incredibly realistic. "Pantsu Nugeru Mon", or "I can take off my panties!", is definitely a lot more innocent than the title would suggest, and contains probably the best use of panties as a metaphor (for the care and control of her guardians) that we'll ever see in a a song. The story is about Rin going through puberty, standing on the border between childhood and adulthood, as she is torn between the freedom but responsibility of adulthood and the restrictions but irresponsibility of childhood. The song is very catchy, too! When "Paradichlorobenzene" and "Anti-Chlorobenzene" combine. Here's a Project Diva version of the combination. Len's Append voice with "Pink Rose" is quite lovely. Giga-P's, Orebanana's, and Reol's "Pinko Stick Luv". "Plus Boy." Len is a horny schoolboy who wants to get laid. Rin's cover of "Popipo" is just as energetic as Miku's. AvTechNO!'s "Plus/Space". "Q" by PowaPowa-P, featuring Rin. "Recycle Bin" sung by Len will prevent you from deleting a file from your computer in good conscience ever again. The sequel in Rin's point of view, "Salvage", doubles as a Heartwarming Moment. "The Riddler Who Can't Solve Riddles", a mystery song for Len Also, "The Riddler Who Won't Solve Riddles", its sequel song for Rin. Rerulli gives us another sexually charged Len song in "Sacred Spear Explosion Boy". Like "Brain Fluid Explosion Girl" before it, the words fly by fast, but it's still catchy. "SheSaw Day", a sexually charged song with the most realistic-sounding Len ever. Rin's cover, made by Lu Yurippe, is equally as amazing. Rin's "The Shibuya Catastrophe", complete with a PV as full of explosions as a Michael Bay movie. "SHOTA=RELEASE". Lyrical Dissonance and some absolutely stellar tuning make it a standout Vocaloid song, despite the scary mplications. "Sigh". Some might need a few tissues. "Silver Girl -awaking mix-", sung by Rin — the most epic coming-of-age rock ballad ever. "Skeleton Life" needs to be here. One of the best examples of Vocaska out there. "Skyblue!" is an upbeat song sung by Len, about friendship. Kind of... it's probably supposed to be, at least. Rin's song "Soleil", a song with beautiful instrumentals and an interesting storyline. "SPICE!" is pretty damn seductive. "Spinning Song" is a very soothing song which has a very traditional Chinese feel to it. "Taiyou no Kiss (Rerensa Mix)", a cover of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" sung by Len. "Tokyo Teddy Bear" by neru. It's about Rin wanting to change herself, and hating herself. It's a bit of a Tear Jerker, but the beat is so strong, you may be too busy headbanging to cry. Vocaloid Halloween? Try "Trick & Treat". "Undead Enemy" is a sleeper hit of Rin's, and would you believe it's actually about not being able to live up to expectations and good grades in school? Rin and Len cover Miku's "Unhappy Refrain" and completely steal the show. "Unrelated Emergency", which is about how most people think the news going on in the world doesn't concern them. "Vermilion" by toya, a duet by two Lens. "The Weekend's Coming!" Rin wants to confess her feelings to her crush, but the end of the world comes in the way. "Wings of the four seasons", a musical adaptation of a beautiful folktale, with amazing harmonies done by Hitoshizuku x Yama. "White Brick and Black Mourning Dress", sung by Rin, is a little bit confusing, but very touching and a real Tear Jerker. Len's cover of Harry Nilson's "Without You". Not a bad effort of trying to get Len to sing in English. "The Wolf That Fell In Love With Little Red Ridding Hood" by HitoshizukuP. Exactly What It Says on the Tin, although seeing as they're just characters of a story and Status Quo Is God, the two will never get together. However, many suspect that the bitten apple at the end of the PV may prove otherwise... Rin and Len's cover of "World's End Dancehall" by Giga-P is epic in its own right. And it combined with this Project Diva Edit PV just adds to the awesomeness that is this song. Len's cover of "World Is Mine". A must-see for Rin/Len shippers. "The Worst Carnival" is a very empowering Rin song about not letting rejection get to you. "YELLOW TRICK" by Yuugou-P. PowaPowa-P's "Year 3 Class C-14, Chiyoko Kubozono's Joining of the Cabinet", while having a rather lengthy title and having Mind Screw-y lyrics, is interesting and pleasing to the ear.

[howellfluff]

I was tagged by @placebophan, thank u mother rules: answer the questions & tag 20 blogs you want to get to know better (so thats not gonna happen)

Name: Victoria Family name: i should keep that a secret cause i dont want stalkers Star Sign: Virgo Height: 5′3 i think Age: 15 Fave Color: every pastel color, black and rainbows  Time RN: 3:24pm Hours of Sleep: usually like 5-9, u never know Lucky Number: i don’t think i have one but like 7? idk Last Thing I Googled: ‘dan howell need jesus’ i was having a v meaningful convo with Vanessa Fave Fictional Character: Hatsune Miku & Totoro 

Blankets I Sleep With: one, but it’s one of those thats meant for 2 people

Favorite Artists: if this is about music: Bring Me The Horizon, Panic!, Hatsune Miku, BABYMETAL, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, TIX, Denis Stoff

Dream Trip: Norway, Japan, London, America & Tenerife (again) Dream Job: programmer, editor or something internet/computer related i think What You’re Wearing Right Now: an oversized Joy Division hoodie and black shorts Follower Count: 831 Posts: 6k What Do You Post About: dnp, skam, bands, memes, pewdiepie, opinions lol Most Active Followers: @placebophan When Did Your Blog Reach Its Peak: i don’t think it ever did tbh Why Did You Make This Blog: i always wanted to blog about something so thx dnp Do You Get Asks On A Daily Basis: lmao i wish ahaha Why Did You Choose Your URL: I basically just wanted either dan or phils last name and something cute with it Countries You’ve Lived In: Denmark Favorite Fandom: The Phandom and The Bro army  Languages You Speak: danish, english, a tiny bit german, a lil norwegian and very very little japanese Favorite Film: Edward Scissorhands, My Neighbor Totoro, Fifty Shades of Grey & The Ring (all of them) Last Article You Read: idk probably something useless Last Thing You Bought Online: my ukulele? idk but the next thing im gonna order is a onesie and a fake piercing Last Person You Dreamt Of: 2 old friends and a meme, it was so weird wtf A Recurring Dream: meeting my internet friend from Norway Phobias/Fears: Claustrophobia, spiders and a lot of things i don’t remember rn How Would Your Friends Describe You: you’ll love me when you get to know me If You Had $$$ To Spend What Would You Buy First: merch, cosplays, onesies & a trip to Norway Shuffle Your Song Library And List The First Three Songs That Play: Mess Up - Johnnie Guilbert, Jakten På Verdigheten 2017 - Olav Haust, line! - BABYMETAL

i tag: i don’t know who to tag so if you see this then i tag you!!

[lumiolivierlithium]

Chapter Twelve:  The Birth of Russell

Word Count:  4242

Chapter No. 12/36

Notes:  I’m sorry.  I had a thing last weekend, so I didn’t post last weekend.  However, I don’t regret it.  I was busy making a beautiful cake that I’m sure my MCs would’ve approved of.  Big time.  If you haven’t seen it, I posted it on Snapchat, I posted it on Facebook, I posted it on Twitter.  I might post it here eventually because I’m pretty damn proud of it.  Especially for the little experience I had working with fondant.  But all that aside, how about a new chapter?  Is that ok with you?

Chapter Eleven:  Face Off

Four-thirty came far too early.  I didn’t want to move.  I had zero desire to get out of bed.  Then again, I had to be at Julian’s in half an hour, so the cougars didn’t attack.  Now, I get why he said cosplayers were chameleons. Granted, he was speaking of his ex-fiancée, but we can change who we are at the drop of a hat.  Sometimes that’s a terrible thing, like the case of Julian’s ex. Other times, it’s what’s keeping his ass safe.

 Despite the fact that I was half dead inside, I took a quick shower and picked my poison for the day. Today was a Ciel Phantomhive day. I’m not sure why, but it was.  A lot of deep, rich blues and a little bit of ruffle.  It was nineteenth century London and Ciel was a noble after all.  As soon as I looked cuter than all holy hell, I packed up my makeup case and started heading toward Julian’s while the sun rose behind me.

 I walked into his house without bothering to knock first like he said I could.  Huh.  All was still in Julian’s house.  I’m almost positive I told him I’d be here at five.  Here it was, five o'clock.  Where, oh where, was Julian?  I know he isn’t doing something silly like still sleeping.  We had this planned last night.  I’m sure he did something smart like set an alarm either on his clock or on his phone.  Because that’s the kind of responsible adult he is.

 However, that wasn’t the case.  Of course not.  That couldn’t be the case.  Not at all. Julian’s ass was still out cold. Every fiber of my being wanted to just scream and bitch at him, but I understood.  I was a bit on the sleep deprived side myself yet.  Instead of going off on him, I wanted to see something. Sure, it was a little creepy, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.  Besides, I hadn’t had something quite like this ins two years.  I took off my knee high black boots and climbed into his bed, replacing his Miku pillow.  That I honestly thought he was joking about.  But I had no room to judge.  I had Sebastian.  He had Miku. No judgment.

 Wow…I forgot what this felt like.  A warm body against me.  Almost as if he was acting on pure instinct, Julian’s arm tightened around me, cradling me against his chest.  It had been so long since I had felt so safe and loved and special to someone.  I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, hoping my eyes didn’t spring a leak, too.  Julian didn’t need to wake up to that.

 “Good morning, Mimi,” his voice grumbled sleepily, shaking me to my very soul.

 “How did you know it was me?” I wondered as he held me a little tighter.

 “You said five o'clock last night,” Julian reminded me, not even bothering to open his eyes, “Here it is. Five o'clock, probably.  Who else would it be?  My mom’s in Florida and you’re the only one I know here.”

 “Your mom would come in and cuddle wit you like this?” I worried.  Maybe Julian was more of a mama’s boy than I gave him credit for.

 “Before you ask,” he rubbed his eyes, “I don’t have an Oedipus complex.  But when I was younger, she’d come in early in the morning and I’d get all snuggly.”

 “I can’t imagine,” I got a little more comfortable, “I think I can do this in about half an hour.”

 “In that case,” Julian smiled a little, “We have a little time to kill, yeah?”

 “We don’t have time to kill,” I corrected him, “That’s not a definite time limit.  We need to get this done now.”

 “Relax, Mimi,” he covered my face with his hand, “I’m not awake and neither are you.  We can go back to sleep.”

 “No, we can’t,” I tried getting up, but between Julian’s arm and my sheer lack of willpower, I stayed in his bed, “We have to go to work.”

 “I don’t want to,” Julian whined, “I want to stay here with you.  We can work tomorrow.”

 “I know,” I rested my head on his chest, “And we will work tomorrow, but unfortunately, we have to work today, too.  We have to get up.”

 “You sound worse than my mom,” he finally sat up in bed, “You think you could throw me a t-shirt?”

 “Do I have to?” I admired the view of Julian’s muscle definition.

 “Ogle later,” Julian promised, “For now, I could probably cut diamond.  I need a t-shirt.”

 “Fine,” I grabbed a black one out of his closet on the non-cosplay side, throwing it at him, “Here.”

 “And a flannel,” he requested, “Don’t care what color.”

 “You want me get you some pants, too?” I teased.

 “If you don’t mind.”

 “No,” I rolled my eyes, “You’re a big boy, Julian.  You can get your own damn pants.”

 “Jesus,” Julian smiled, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of my bed this morning.  You’re usually a left side, aren’t you?”

 “Shut up,” I threw him a green flannel, “It was a momentary lapse.”

 “Was it?” he asked.

 “You’re delirious,” I wrote him off.

 “So, what if I am?” Julian stuck his tongue out at me like an adult.

 “Come on,” I left his bedroom, “We have a lot to do and little time to do it.”

 “Do you know how much it sucked peeling that liquid latex off last night?” he scoffed, “That made for a fun shower.”

 “Still got my rings though?” I hoped.

 “Yes,” Julian nodded, grabbing them off his kitchen counter, “All three of them.”

 “Good!” I smiled, “By the way, I suggest you grab some baby oil on the way home if you don’t have any. Gets the liquid latex off easier.”

 “Thanks for telling me that now,” he growled.

 “No problem!” I chirped, “Had to make you suffer a little bit.”

 “Haven’t I suffered enough?” Julian whined, sitting on a barstool, “And I have to go through all of this all over again?  It sucks!”

 “Welcome to the pains of being a woman,” I retaliated.

 “Touché,” he let it go pretty quick after that, “All this just to keep a group of women off my back.”

 I started putting on the first layer of liquid latex the same way I did yesterday, “I do wish people had the decency to keep some of their thoughts to themselves.  And their hands…”

 “You, of all people, understand why I’m doing this,” Julian pointed out, “I saw the way Griffin was with you.  How you don’t straight up deck him is beyond me.  I have to commend you for your self-control.  How in the hell do you deal with that?”

 “I’m a firm believer in karma,” I admitted, “One day, his being disgusting is going to come back and bit him in the ass and he won’t be able to sit for a while.”

 “You sure do know how to paint a picture, Mimi,” he giggled, “I wish it was a better picture.”

 “Me, too,” I sighed out, “Maybe while we’re running the con circuit, it’ll get better.”

 “It’s amazing,” Julian gushed, “There’s nothing like competing at conventions.  Especially if they require a skit for groups.  Those are always the best.  That’s when it can turn into crack real quick.  It doesn’t always go that route and they’ll end up following something from their respective genre down to the letter. Other times, it ends up in a rap battle.”

 “Oh, dear God,” I shook my head, “This is why the aliens pass us over.”

 “Hey,” he stopped me for a minute, “Do you think you and I could do Roy and Riza for our first con?”

 “What?” I gave him a look, “Are you serious?”

 “They’re kind of my OTP,” Julian admitted, “They’re too perfect for each other and you know it.”

 “I could’ve told you that,” I brushed him off, “It’s Royai!  What’s not to love about it?  Her father was his alchemy teacher.  She’s practically his nanny.  They’ve known each other since the dawn of time.  Give me two people more suited for each other!”

 “I can’t.”

 “Exactly,” I thought a little more about what he had just said and I never felt such a combination of stupid and anxious, “Are you trying to tell me that we’re too perfect for each other?”

 “No,” he defended, “I’m saying that I never got to do Royai and I want to do Royai, dammit.”

 “Your ex wouldn’t do Royai?” I wondered, hoping that wasn’t poking the bear too much.

 “She never liked Fullmetal Alchemist,” Julian explained, “She thought it was too disturbing. Roxanne didn’t like the gory stuff too much, so I had to watch Fullmetal Alchemist and Attack on Titan when she wasn’t home.”

 “So, you never got to do Edwin either?” my heart broke.

 “Nope.”

 “But you have a State Alchemist pocket watch!” I pouted while blending my little heart out, “You probably have Edward’s jacket somewhere, too, don’t you?”

 “Oh, yeah,” he assured, “I might not have made the watch, but I did have to carve the don’t forget into it.  Did it with my soldering iron.”

 “Fun fact,” I got another brush, “October third?  The day Ed and All burned the house down?”

 “Yeah,” Julian backed off for a minute, grabbing a Rockstar can off the counter, “What about it? That’s next week, too.”

 “That’s my birthday,” I beamed, “I was predestined for otakuhood as soon as I came out of the womb.”

 “Are you serious?” he gasped, “That’s fucking awesome!”

 “It’s true,” I squeaked, “I’m officially a little cooler than you.”

 “I don’t know about that,” Julian stopped me, “I share a birthday with a particular character that you would have his babies in an instant.”

 “And who is this?”

 “Well,” he smirked while I put his piercings in, “My birthday is June thirteenth.”

 My heart stopped, “Noiz.”

 “That’s right,” Julian sang out, “Was I right about the whole babies thing?”

 “I might not want any of my own right now,” I elaborated, “But if the situation were to arise, I would be more than happy to surrogate for Noiz and Aoba.”

 “You would,” he rolled his eyes.

 “Hey!” I snapped, putting his second eyebrow ring in, “You’re moving too much.  I can and will poke your eye out.”

 “Sorry,” Julian apologized, “You know, Mimi, I just noticed something.”

 “What’s that, sweetie?”

 “You and I have hung out every single night since we met,” he pointed out, “Almost.”

 “Yeah,” I slid the ring through the liquid latex, “What about it?”

 “I’m just curious,” Julian shrugged, “What are we doing tonight?”

 “I can’t come over tonight,” I broke the news to him, “I have to stay home.  Mom and Dad miss me.”

 “Then, why don’t I come over to your place instead?” he suggested, “That way, your parents get to see you and we don’t have to break our streak.”

 “As genius as that is,” I praised, “And this is nothing against you in the least, but I think some time with the folks wouldn’t be a half bad idea.  Besides, you still won’t tell me what you have planned for Saturday.”

 “I never said I had anything planned,” Julian groaned, “I just told you to keep it open.”

 “I had to cancel on Veronica for that.”

 “And you were ok with that.”

 I gave Julian a little smack upside the head and screwed the little ball on his last ring with no idea what I was going to do with him.  Maybe maiming.  Maiming sounded like a good idea, “There.  You’re golden, Julian.  You want a new name and a backstory?”

 “You are a writer, aren’t you?” he teased.

 “Guilty,” I beamed, “Now, do you or don’t you?”

 “What the hell?” Julian nodded, “Why not?  Hit me. Who am I?”

 “You’re the childhood friend that moved back to town sophomore year of high school,” I put his own words back in his mouth, “Remember?  We were best friends through grade school.  Then, when you came back, puberty hit you like a ton of bricks and you became the hot, yet approachable friend.”

 “Use your own material next time,” he shoved me a little, “What’s my name?”

 “Haruka…” I sighed out, immediately biting my tongue.  That wasn’t supposed to slip out.  Neither was that half orgasm that came with it.

 “Excuse me?” Julian lit up, Come again?  Because I have a feeling you just did a little.”

 “Ha, ha,” I laughed sarcastically, “I’m sorry.  I just had a flashback to a dream I had a while back.”

 “And what kind of dream was that?” he poked at me.

 “Nothing,” I turned bright red almost instantly, “Forget I said anything.”

 “That noise your throat just made is going to be pretty hard to forget,” he dug deeper, “What happened in this dream?”

 “Drop it, Julian,” I growled at him.

 “Oh, no,” Julian grabbed his car keys off the kitchen counter, “We need to explore this a little further. You said Haruka, so I’m assuming those Iwatobi boys were involved.  Or maybe just Haru.”

 “Shut up, Julian,” I was ready to punch him in his reconstructed mouth.

 “I won’t judge,” he promised, “I’m curious.”

 “No!” I snapped, “I’m keeping that dream to myself.”

 “Please?” he begged.

 “I’m not telling you,” I shot him down, regrettably getting into the passenger seat of his car.

 “Do it,” Julian insisted, “All the cool kids are doing it.”

 “I don’t give a shit about the cool kids,” I admitted, “I never was one of the cool kids.  Why bother starting now?”

 “If you tell me,” he bargained, “I’ll leave you alone about it and I’ll forget it ever happened.”

 “Fine,” I caved, “And you won’t judge?”

 “Not at all,” Julian swore, “Mine’s done some pretty shameful things, too.  You’re not alone.”

 “Ok,” I let out a heavy, exasperated, defeated sigh, “It started out with me waking up in bed and for some ungodly reason, Rin Matsuoka was standing in my doorway with my work apron on.  Don’t ask me why.  He just was.”

 “Ok,” he backed out of his driveway, “I won’t question it.  Go on.”

 “He didn’t want me to go to work,” I continued, “He just wanted to stay in bed all day with me and apparently, the night before we were having sex.”

 “Hot,” Julian praised, “Let me guess.  You two got kinky, didn’t you?”

 “Rin told me I was bendy,” I groaned, my voice dripping with regret, “And…It wasn’t us two…”

 “Uh-oh,” he grinned darkly, “I smell a threesome!”

 “Yeah,” I bit my lip, “There was a threesome involved.”

 “I’m guessing Haru was the other?”

 “Yep,” I went on, “And Haru had gotten really jealous of me because Rin was favoring me over him.  I got thrown off my own bed and Haru jumped in with Rin.  Then, things got really heated and Haru was asking Rin what his name was.  hence why when you asked me what your name was in relation to the face I gave you, that’s why I said Haruka.”

 “Oh, Mimi,” Julian pulled up to the café, “You didn’t say Haruka.”

 “That never happened,” I snarled, “You tell anyone what happened this morning, I swear to God, I’ll start peeling latex.”

 “I’m not going to tell anyone,” he reassured, “I promised you that I wouldn’t judge and I wouldn’t tell. So, you had a little yaoi dream.”

 “You were making quite the fuss over it,” I settled a little, shutting the car door behind me.

 “I just like giving you shit,” Julian hugged me, bringing me down the rest of the way, “But you never gave me a name.”

 “I don’t know what I’d call you,” I wiggled out of his arms, “What’s your middle name?”

 “Russell.”

 “Seriously?” I scoffed, “Fine.  It’ll have to do.”

 “I can’t be Sebastian, can I?” he nudged me inside, “Because that was my name without the new face.”

 “I’m sorry,” I grabbed my apron, “It was the first thing I thought of.”

 “I must admit,” Julian shot me a wink, “It did get me all tingly when you gave me the order.”

 “You’re such a dork.”

 “But I’m your dork, young mistress,” he bowed to me.

 “Julian…”

 “I’ll get to work then!”

 That boy…A part of me wanted to beat him senseless with a wrench Winry Rockbell style.  But on that same token, a part of me wanted to hold onto him and never let him go.  If I thought about it hard enough, we did actually have quite an Edward and Winry relationship. We both shot down any thought of us being together.  I wanted to beat Julian with a wrench already.  Hell, in a way, I had made artificial body parts for him, too.

 Then, I thought about how Edward and Winry ended up.  I could still hear it in the back of my head clear as day.  Equivalent exchange!  I’ll give have of my life to you, if you give half of yours to me!  Probably one of my favorite moments in anime history.  But in application to the current situation I was in, if I was really going to compare Julian and me to Edward and Winry, they ended up married with two kids, living happily ever after in Resembool.

 And then, a Russian gymnastics team made their home in the pit of my stomach.  For a brief moment, I was almost positive I was going to throw up. I had one arm on my stomach and the other on the counter, doing my best to keep my balance.  I hated when shit like this happened.  These sudden realizations were going to be the death of me.

 “Mimi?” Julian came out from the kitchen, “You ok?”

 “Fine,” I tried bringing myself down, “I’ll be ok.”

 “You sure?” he asked, “You don’t look so good.”

 “Rude,” I laughed it off, “I’ll be fine.”

 All of a sudden, dizziness hit me like a Mack truck.  But I had to keep my balance.  The last thing I wanted to do was pass out at work.  I was fine.  I’d be ok. I was just overthinking things. Yeah.  That’s all this was.  just a big misunderstanding.  Just my mind playing tricks on me.  Everything was cool.  Everything would be ok.

 “Come here,” Julian had a paper towel in his hand and put it up to my nose, tilting my head back, “And you said you were ok.”

 “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped.  But in the same breath, I noticed the blood soaking through that paper towel.  This wasn’t happening…

 “Taking care of your random bloody nose,” he did his best to calm me down, “Now, are you sure you’re ok?”

 “Just a little overreaction,” I assured, “I’ll be fine.”

 “Maybe you should sit down until your nose stops bleeding,” Julian suggested, “You want anything?”

 “Something cold,” I requested, taking the register booth.

 “Green tea, right?” he asked, “Squeeze of honey, little splash of lemon juice?”

 “Yeah,” I was impressed he remember something so trivial.  The day he came in, I was making a small batch green tea.  Then again, on that same token, the day he came in was the day I had the Rin/Haru dream.

 “What happened here?” Mr. Griffin had come in.  Fantastic.

 “Mimi had a nosebleed,” Julian reported, “Nothing to worry about.  I got it handled.”

 “Thank you…Uh…” the boss looked him over, “What was your name again?”

 “Russell, sir,” he didn’t even hesitate.  

 “Anyway,” Mr. Griffin went on, “Mimi, are you alright?”

 “I’m not going to bleed out,” I promised, taking my cold green tea from Julian, “What brings you by today, Mr. Griffin?”

 “Just checking in on my new model employee,” he told, “I did say to have him trained by the end of the week.”

 “Well?” I asked, “How did I do?”

 “Not too bad,” Mr. Griffin applauded, “Good for you, Mimi.  How does a twenty-five-cent raise sound?”

 “Really?” I squeaked, “That sounds wonderful!  Thank you, sir.”

 “I’d only do that for you,” he winked at me, sending chills down my spine, “As soon as your nose is done bleeding, get back to work.”

 “Yes, sir!” I chirped as he walked out the door, “Hell yeah!  I just got raise!”

 “Congratulations,” Julian sang, bringing me another paper towel.

 “I kind of want to celebrate,” I admitted, “Care to join me?”

 “I’d love to,” he agreed, “But remember?  You said you had to stay home tonight because your parents miss you.”

 “As much as I’m going to hate to say this,” I threw one of my bloody paper towels away, “I think you might be right.”

 “Excuse me?” Julian leaned in, “You think you could say that a little louder for those in the back?”

 “You were right,” I pushed him away, “I think you should come over tonight.  That way, we can celebrate my raise and my parents still get to see me.”

 “Awesome!” he squeaked, “Should I bring a bottle of wine or would that be in bad taste?”

 “You could bring that bottle of Fireball,” I suggested, “Just keep it in your inner coat pocket.”

 “I don’t have an inner coat pocket.”

 “You get what I mean, smartass,” I rolled my eyes.

 “Alright then,” Julian smiled, “Dinner with the parents already?  Mimi, this is so sudden.”

 “Would you like a bloody nose, too?”

 “Not particularly.”

 Once the blood stopped pouring out of my nose, I threw myself back into the fray and buckled down. I don’t know why I was still trying to impress the boss.  Griffin wasn’t even here anymore and I had already gotten my raise.  All I was waiting on was a promotion.  And I was content with where I was now.  As soon as lunch rolled around, I was definitely earning that raise.

 For some strange reason, we got flooded with more customers than normal.  there had to have been something going on in town that I didn’t know about. Didn’t keep myself up to date with the community calendar.  I could’ve cared less.  Tractor show in town maybe?  It was that time of the year.  That was the only thing I could think of.  Regardless, I still had a shit ton of people to deal with.  However, one local face made it a little easier to handle.

 “Hey, Roni,” I put her wrap and her coffee in her hands, “As much as I’d love to chat right now, we’re swamped.”

 “That’s fine,” Veronica understood, “Where’s Julian?  I wanted to say hi before I left.”

 “Julian’s not here,” I explained, keeping my voice down, “He’s kind of incognito.”

 “Who’s the new guy then?” she asked, eyeing him up.

 “That’s Russell,” I said, making change for another customer, “He’s a peach.”

 “He looks like he could be Julian’s brother,” Veronica thought, “Does Julian have any brothers that have mysteriously blown into town?”

 “You have a boyfriend, Veronica,” I reminded her, getting someone else’s order.

 “I know,” she pouted, “I’m just saying if things fall through with us.  It doesn’t hurt to have a back-up plan.”

 “Wow,” I cringed, “That’s terrible.”

 “That’s the way the cookie crumbles,” she shrugged, “Just trying to stay on top of the game.”

 “I’m disappointed,” I shook my head at her, “I raised you better than that.”

 “But do you honestly think I’m better than that?” Veronica asked with a note of condescension in her voice, “Do you really?”

 “There’s always hope,” I kept my fingers crossed, “Maybe with the next one.”

 “You know you love me,” she chimed, “I’ll let you get back to it then.”

 “See you later, Roni,” I waved her off.

 This job was going to be the death of me.  Why couldn’t I have something easier?  Why couldn’t my fan fiction make me money?  Why did no one want to publish me?  That’s right.  I have to have an original idea in order to get published.  And I hadn’t had an original idea in five years.  Nevertheless, I had to persevere.  That was the name of the game, wasn’t it?  

 Once the workday was finally done, I was free to put my feet up.  Something about the café after closing seemed oddly peaceful.  Especially after the day we had.  I had never seen this place so packed in my three years of working here.  amazing what kind of people tractor shows attracted here.  and how many.  Honestly. If they’ve seen one tractor, they’ve seen them all.  There’s nothing new about them.  four wheels, a pain in the ass to drive around, either red or green.  Yippee!  Sounds so exciting!  I hated living in a farm town.

 “Well,” Julian sat with me, “Am I taking you home and sticking around or am I coming over later?”

 “Give me half an hour to decompress,” I instructed, “Then, come over.  Besides, I left my makeup case at your house anyway.  I need that back.”

 “Alright then,” he nodded, “Did you do that on purpose?”

 “I wasn’t bringing that with me.”

 “Fair enough,” Julian allowed, “Come on.  Let’s get you home.”

 And just like that, my day started with cuddling with Julian only to give me a nosebleed.  That seemed weirdly fitting.  Was I going to say it?  I didn’t want to, but it may be time.  No.  Not now. I’m not.  There’s no way…