#try not to say faust challenge (failed)

[ladyofmelk]

reading la moglie di dante rn and when cavalcanti got described as a petty devil-like presence I rubbed my hands like a fly

[vivaldiny]

LCB Sinners as Sims players (yes)

We've had a discussion with friends about sinners and their taste in games in modern AU and, being an avid fan of The Sims, I've decided to assign sinners their Sims playstyles. After all, who hasn't played it?

(oh, I also don't always mention which Sims game they'd play, but it's mostly 2-3 purely because I'm used to these myself)

Emil - I imagine that he'd prefer a story-heavy gameplay! He'd also have few families, but would be very attached to them (and dedicate a lot of time to creating interesting personalities). So much so that it'd be very hard for him to sacrifice their happiness for drama. Oh, and as for the game, I feel that he would really enjoy Sims 3. I'd also say that he might like Sims 2, but... Emil would probably be too young to know much about it.

Rodya - I think she'd get bored of the game quickly. On the other hand, she might try building or try out different types of gameplay - building different skills, playing with different content, etc. She's also one of rare sinners I imagine playing Sims 4 (or Sims 3... doubt she'd bother getting older games).

Gregor - the most ordinary Sims player. He just wants his sims to live a happy family life. He also feels like the kind of person to have played the first Sims game (I generally headcanon him to be an old games lover in modern AU... Yes, it's because he has strong dad vibes :D).

Hong Lu - one of my mutuals said that he'd have "disgustingly huge dynasties" and I love this headcanon!! I also think that he'd try out some of the Sims challenges (Legacy Challenge at least). Aaand among sinners he's another rare fan of Sims 4 in my eyes, because he's just that nice.

Outis - ...I think she'd hate the game actually.

Ishmael - she'd play normally... and that's why she'd get really bored of the game. Besides, she's the sinner to actually touch grass, so she probably needs no life simulator.

Ryoushu - have you seen those "making my sims suffer in terrifyingly cruel ways" videos? She's their creator.

Heathcliff - he'd try all possible ways to kill his sims. He'd probably also create his enemies and make them suffer in especially cruel and/or humiliating ways. He'd also probably enjoy Extreme Violence Mod for Sims 4. (among his saves there's actually the one with the couple that he created with Cathy. He didn't have it in himself to delete this family, and it's actually the only save where he plays in a completelly normal way)

Don - she'd be the type of player to create characters with only good traits (yes, she'd play Sims 3 or 4) and try to make them the best at everything. Somehow she'd end up being the first Sims player that sucks at the game. Oh, and I also think that she'd get bored of her sims pretty quickly and would constantly create new ones. Her only long-lasting save would probably the one with some horse farm owner (in Sims 3, at least...). Lastly, I think she'd often create her simsona (with the coolest trates possible, of course!!!) or her favourite characters/celebrities (would her simsona marry them? Maybe!)

Faust - I feel like she'd be less of a player, more of a popular modder. Her actual game experience would actually be playing the game a little, noticing some minor problems, looking into them... and ending up researching the game so much that it gets really boring to play (after all, she'd know all about it).

Meursault - he'd create either himself or the most generic sim possible, get him to work in business and purely dedicate his time in game to improving in that career. In the end, he'd drop the game simply because he wouldn't understand what it's point is.

Yi Sang - I honestly don't know, but I feel like he'd be an original Sims player. Not sure he'd even know about all later releases, actually...

Dante - he'd really, really like his sims and want them to be happy, but each time they'd fail spectacularly or die in mysterious circumstances. It'd always break Dante's heart. (Dante is also the reason Vergilius (who never played the game) knows all possible ways to fuck up in Sims)

Charon - she'd know A L L about the game. She'd try so many thing so she'd probably become some sort of Sims sage. Vergilius would probably be very confused as to how she hasn't ended up as the second Red Gaze after all this time playing.

Bonus: Kromer would bully Emil for his Sims hobby, calling it cringe and too girly (and causing Emil to be very self-conscious about his interests in games). Then she'd come home to her PC, boot up her very own Sims game and spend hours playing throught the save where she and Emil are in love and happily married.

And that's all! My apologies if it was silly - again, I'm just a huge fan of both The Sims series and Limbus Company. I also really like silly AUs!!! :D

(if you've noticed mistakes in the post - please, don't hesitate to point them out, English is not my first language)

[pandemoniclucio]

The Arcana HC's #3

Semi-modern AU where MC is the best bodyguard money could buy and is assigned by the LI's parents/parental figures to watch over them.

Asra

They're fine with the arrangement and understand why their parents hired you.

Their mischievous so you have to make sure that they and Faust are on their best behaviour.

They're already deeply interested in you so they try to get you to tell them stories and interact with them in general over tea.

They become concerned for your well-being if one of their pranks backfire on you and you get hurt or if you've had a similar day dealing with the press.

After many subtle hints, they finally kiss you while you're guarding them in the library.

They will commit minor public displays of affection but nothing too obvious that everyone can see it.

Nadia

She doesn't think she needs a bodyguard and will protest until her parents give her a good explanation for the situation.

She will slowly get used to you and eventually start asking for your opinion on certain topics. She'll eventually start having more casual conversations with you over drinks.

She's happy that Chandra likes you and often helps you guard her against the paparazzi.

It's a bit awkward when you two start your relationship but you eventually work around it and make a great couple.

You both keep your relationship secret because you don't want more paparazzi bothering you both.

Her sisters know about your secret romance but they're all okay with it because they think it's time Nadia found someone.

Julian

Due to his somewhat extreme masochistic tendencies, he definitely needs someone to keep him in check if Portia isn't around so he has mixed feelings about your presence at first.

You have to constantly stop him from aggravating someone who wants to fight, which means you usually have to intervene.

If your intervention fails and you happen to replace him in the fight, you'll make him watch you fight someone properly.

If you get hurt he'll pull you into his room to apologise and lecture you, even if you tell him that it is your job.

He unknowingly admits his feelings for you the next time you protect him from getting hurt, which leads to the start of your relationship.

You two are okay with keeping your relationship private, which means you have to put on an act for the public, so when you're alone you both do whatever the hell you want/make out.

Muriel

He doesn't see why he would need a bodyguard and nor do you until you discover from Khamgalai that he's a bit of a pacifist and an easy target for the press.

He tries his best to get you to stop following him but your persistence wore him down and he accepted this.

To try to get him to open up a bit more you start to converse with him.

You enjoy the fact that the royal in your charge prefers more quiet places like the forest where you can relax a bit and maybe even play with Innana for a while.

He tries to ask you out but you end up asking him out first fish he gets flustered about but agrees.

Since he barely spends any time out in public you don't have to worry about prying eyes watching you both enjoy romantic gestures and getaways.

Portia

She has mixed feelings about the arrangement that her aunt set up, she knows she's royal and needs one but she doesn't want someone always watching her.

She accepts it and tries to learn more about you since you'll be spending a lot of time with her.

She does get into a few mischievous acts but you're glad that she doesn't get into any serious trouble like her brother.

Portia doesn't understand how it happened but Pepi seemed to take a liking to you overnight, but she finds it adorable that Pepi likes sleeping on your shoulders.

She invites you out for a picnic near the forest when she asks you out, she laughs when you reveal your shocked blushing face.

Since her brother's the one most people are watching, you two can sneak in a few glances and kisses in public.

Lucio

He doesn't think he needs one, he believes he can take care of himself, with his bad decisions Morga thinks otherwise, so he challenges you to a duel to see if you're as good as Morga says you are. So, he begrudgingly accepts it once you kick his ass.

Once he gets over his defeat he'll begin talking to you and showing you around the palace and the forest surrounding it.

You have to keep an eye on him when he's at parties because he tends to do or say something regrettable and or stupid especially if he's drunk.

You genuinely enjoy going outside with him and his pets because it gives you and him some time to chat and hone your survival skills.

On one of your outdoor expeditions with him, he suddenly makes out with you, which left you confused, before he asked you out.

He's not worried about the public finding out about you two but he keeps the PDA as light as he can, which is not much, but you have to stop him from getting too carried away.

In all these scenarios if the press catches you and your LI it's usually you having to blackmail/bribe them to not publish anything about them or you.

[ratinthedeadhouse]

Forbidden Love

My heart is devoted to the one I shouldn’t love...

Fyodor x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Trying to keep it fluff.

"... A demon you say?" You question with hesitation, pale face bearing a frown as you try to put all the puzzles together. "That man is the super ability user and a terrorist that Yokohama is so desperate to catch? The very man, I spent countless evenings going to museums and libraries with? The very man with his astonishing diamond brain had helped me solve several murder cases?"

Silence settled between you and other Special Division Forces agents who glared at you with fear or utter confusion.

Nobody knew of your accidental connection with Fyodor Dostoevsky, or simply known as Demon Fyodor, and it sure was a surprise to you when your (e/c) eyes noticed a familiar face on all the screens and papers in the office with a screaming title: 'Wanted Criminal. Terrorist. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Highest rank ability user. Ability unknown.'

You honestly had no idea who the mysterious slender man was when you first met him at the museum. He looked charmingly tired, sharp purple eyes looked deeply into your soul while you both stood, rather awkwardly, near a woodblock painting that depicted the suffering of young children and women. Their weak bodies engulfed by flames, others were drowning in the peaceful veil of water. Despite the horrible scenario the colours united in harmony making you both stare at it for longer than you should have.

"The choice of the colour pallet... It mocks their suffering" you stated after a while, rather talking to yourself but hoping, subconsciously, that a curious stranger with a funny white hat would respond to your comment. To your amusement he did.

"Mhm," he nodded at first, pinching his chin like philosophers do while thinking and then slowly added: "Maybe the painter wanted to tell us that not all sufferings are recognizable at first glance. I noticed when walking up to the painting, the bright colours made me think of happiness and kindness, however, now that we stand closer to it we see that their very souls are in terrible agony" Fyodor's voice was soft like moonlight rays with a gentle touch of a foreign accent.

"I suppose... It depicts life itself. We never know how much one suffers due to the façade they’re putting" you said with a sad smile. At this very moment you looked delightful, Fyodor found a strange pleasure in watching your serious face merging into a saddened frown. And oh, he did it on purpose. He could've chosen a less explicit interpretation of the absurd painting but in his calculated mind he knew that this version would strike you the most... And he was right.

You still didn't move from the tiny painting, twirling a strand of your silky, (h/c) hair around your finger, beautiful eyes glued to the painting but your thoughts wandered far away. 

It took one glance from Fyodor to understand your entire being, no matter how complicated you think of yourself - to him you are an open book, and he could not resist the urge to live the faint mark on one of those innocent, white pages. 

“I apologize if my interpretations upset you, miss...” started Fyodor with a polite smile curving upon his frail face, but was interrupted by your sudden enthusiastic reply:

“Oh, please don’t apologize. One is a fool if they are not moved or hurt by art” your voice was gentle and soft and Fyodor couldn’t help but love your words. 

Perhaps you two were more similar than he thought at first. In any case, enchanted by your watchful careful eyes, your smile and graceful movements of your hands, your speech and voice - he couldn’t just let you go like that, out of his sight. 

A man tilted his head sideways a little, looking pleasantly amused, letting his dark locks fall upon his cheek, gently. “It seems that I found a charming lady who shares a similar view on things with me” something bittersweet hid in his words but it didn’t matter to you. 

With a small, delightful laugh you move your right hand forward: “My name is, (y/n). A pleasure to meet you” 

Expecting a handshake you watched as the man in a long dark cape came closer, gently grabbed your pale small hand and softly kissed the back of your hand;

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady” he murmured watching how your pupils dilate. “My name is Fyodor. Would you agree to spend the rest of the evening in my company?”

Walking around with a stranger whom you’ve just met seemed like a ridiculous idea... But you felt safe around him, although his eyes were dark as a bottomless well, you agreed but made a promise to yourself to stay on guard. However, he cast away all your suspicions in just a few hours. 

You became good friends, discussing ancient Myths and modern poetry embarked on philosophical journeys sitting in the dim corner of the library simply enjoying the presence of each other. He even played his cello for you under the mocking bright moon. His words and the depths of thought sometimes caught you off guard however, you were able to track his line of thoughts and in return challenged him with your endless and charming affection. 

Fyodor never learnt what the word love truly meant. He could explain its psychological and physiological effect but never experienced it himself. He was in absolute control over his feelings and that is why he felt confused when you would meet him with a bright, loving smile that changed into a slightly concerned frown when you noticed dark eye-bags on his face. Why did you notice it? Why did you care? Who gave you the power to capture his heart so suddenly and so... wrongly? 

For the first time in a long while, Dostoevsky felt as if he made a dreadful mistake. At first, he thought of you as a pawn. Easy to move and easy to get rid of. But you reminded him of himself... yet you were so much better! Despite your intellect and wittiness, you had a warm, loving heart, that even accepted a demon like him. It all changed when you finally opened up to him about your placement of work. That’s when he realised how forbidden your relationship would be. Soon you would find out anyway about his identity, his goals and... it would wound you. Deeply. 

Soon he stopped coming to the museum where you two would usually meet. You remember that day. You took his favourite tea from the shop and held it in your cold hands while the hot drink burnt your fingers. 

‘He will never come again’

You felt as if you lost a piece of your heart. But you never cried about it and kept all the memories of the mysterious man named Fyodor close to your heart, or rather what was left of your heart. 

But now it all makes sense. The puzzle is complete. You stand in the room full of your colleagues who proceed to glare at you in silent amusement and your heart leapt in ecstasy. The adrenaline rushed through your blood as your cheeks turned red - you felt like the main character of your own story, engaged in a forbidden relationship with the demon himself. 

You didn’t care about the consequences but on entering the Special Prison for the restrained Ability Users, shadows of doubt crept within your heart. 

“Please wait here, ma’am. You sure you want to interrogate him?”

“Yes” 

“In terms of emergency, we won’t be able to assist you immediately... ” 

“I understand”

The heavy door was shut behind you, a metal desk was drilled into the floor and so were the chairs. No windows - just solid rock walls that reminded you of a medieval dungeon, except there were no cracks at all. Finally, you heard footsteps and another door before you was opened. 

“Good afternoon, Fyodor,” you said in a strict tone trying to hide your excitement as much as you could. 

His lilac eyes widened in surprise, thin lips parted as he watched you right there before him. In his head, he tried to process why you came out of your way to see him? Did he not abandon you back then? Did you not realise what a hateful creature he was? 

“(Y/n)... Why are you here?” he questioned curiously. 

You were now completely alone in the interrogation - underground cell. He watched you come closer to him with a soft smile looking with kindness into his soulless eyes... 

“Why, you ask? Because I love you. That is the only concept you failed to fully understand. Monsters have hearts as well, they just need to learn how to love” words fell softly from your rosy lips while Fyodor closed his eyes and chuckled to himself. 

“Talking to you is pure joy (y/n)! Love is the ultimate atonement of all human sins. Even a Devil needs someone to love him at the end of his immortal life...“

“... Angels did fight for Faust’s soul at the end, despite all his reckless deeds” you added referencing the work of a German poet, Goethe. 

Fyodor sighed. He reached his slender cold hand towards you and you grabbed it without hesitation. 

“Will you be... my angel, (y/n)?”

You nodded raising your bright eyes at him. A soft kiss was placed upon your forehead before he hugged you letting you bury your face in his shoulder. You were like a blooming flower in his deadly grip... but he would never hurt you. Ever. 

People say the forbidden fruit is sweet... But is it so for the forbidden love that burns like fire?

 lmao part 2 is gonna be saddddd (if I get the motivation to even write it) 

[ill-skillsgard]

I can't tell you how legitimately excited I am for more Faust x Faith. I am dying for him to meet her parents. I swear this is like my new crack!

Oh, boy, it’s been a long time coming! This is pretty long, but I hope all you fans of the frosty boy enjoy it!

Previous imagines here (x)

Warning: 18+ smut, first-times, teasing, possessive, slight anal-play, anti-religious themes etc.

Faith gave it until the end of August to tell her parents she was seeing someone. She wanted to be free and clear of living under their roof before she broke the news, for her father already had his suspicions, and was sure to grill her about the boy she'd been concealing all Summer long.

The first strike against Faust occurred before he had set foot in the family home. Faith told her father that her new boyfriend was older than her by a few years, the admission followed by a long lecture about how older men couldn't be trusted off the bat. What kind of fellow had eyes for his young daughter, he asked. Faith came prepared to argue and told her fretting mother and disgruntled father that Faust was a gentleman and kept his hands to himself. It was a partial truth, but not so much a lie that Faith lost sleep. She hated lying to her parents — they were good people, and she loved them, despite their restrictions. She knew they only had her best interest at heart. If it hadn't been for their need to stay as a tightknit family, they wouldn't have moved to the city where her university was, and she wouldn't have met Faust.

She begged her parents not to get angry for keeping him a secret, then had to convince Faust to dress nicely for dinner at their house when they finally agreed she was old enough to live on her own, therefore old enough to have a romantic interest. It was an intricate plan with sensitive strings she had to pull in just the right order.

Faith had no idea Faust had already prepared for the occasion. He had a pair of fitted black dress pants tucked away somewhere, and a plain black shirt in place of the endless supply of band t-shirts he owned. He'd be the perfect boyfriend, or try his very best this once to make peace with her parents. Faust dreamt of the day he stood face-to-face with the man responsible for siring his pretty little Faith. Courting her had been such prolonged, sweet torture, and he was finally ready to give her what she wanted. He just had to set a few plans in motion.

His first goal was to show up on the preacher's doorstep, holding his daughter's hand, to see the look on his face when he realized his precious girl had fallen in love with a metalhead, and to assure there was nothing he could do to change her mind. The box checked off when they greeted her mom and dad in the foyer of their cheerful two-storey house on the ordinary suburban street.

The preacher recognized everything wrong with Faust upon first glance, their eyes clashing, already at war.  Faust had seen the look before: tight lips, a heavy brow, stony, disapproving eyes, stiffened back. He smirked, and so did the preacher.

Faith's dad challenged him with a fatherly handshake to which he accepted. He shook the man's hand, pale green eyes boring into the preacher with promises and warnings of the adulterous things he would have his daughter doing by the end of the night. 

"Name's Stan. This is my wife, Reneta. Boy, Faith didn't say you'd be this tall."

Faust smirked again, revealing the boyish looks Faith had fallen prey to. "No?"

"Not at all. Faith hasn't told us much about you at all, young man. How old are you?"

"Twenty-four," Faust replied.

"And how did you meet our Faith?"

"We have a mutual friend."

Faith detected the pressure in the room rising and beckoned a hug from her father to distract him from the six-foot-something degenerate standing in the hallway amongst the ceramic cherubs and framed family portraits.

Faust's second goal was to get Faith's mother on his side. He did that with calculated smiles, and exercising his manners whenever the woman of the house addressed him. By dinnertime, she'd asked how he kept his hair so shiny and if he needed any of Stan's old shirts to spruce up his monochromatic wardrobe. Faust could tell that one bothered Stan. He politely declined her offer, turning to his girlfriend with the most charming smile Faith had ever seen on his lips. It pleased her to see him trying, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing as they awaited their meal.

"Faith, why don't you help your mother bring in dinner? She spent all afternoon cooking, I'm sure she could use a hand," said Stan once he grew tired of watching his daughter making love-struck eyes at the stranger in his home.

"Sure, Daddy."

Faust watched her leave for the kitchen, his stare on her backside. Once she turned the corner, Stan tensed his jaw, ready to pummel the boy with a few personal questions framed as a benevolent curiosity. He waited until the girls joined, and dinner arrived on the table. They said grace, Stan noting Faust refused to close his eyes or add to the chorus of "amens" and struck.

"So, Faust. What do you do for a living?"

"I play in a band," Faust answered without tripping.

"Is that right? Anything I've heard?"

Faust chewed a wad of roast beef, simpering while Faith's eyes implored him not to cross the line. "I doubt it."

"What do you play? Guitar?"

"Drums."

"Ah, I see. How exactly do you make money that way? I can't imagine drummers making a whole lot. Unless you're Neil Peart."

The dark-haired man did not flinch. He stabbed another piece of meat with the prongs of his fork, poked it into his mouth, and continued.

"I'm a classically-trained percussionist. I don't struggle to find work. If the band isn't doing well, I get in the studio as a session musician. But the band always does well, so..."

"Classical training? My, that is impressive!" Reneta beamed. 

Stan assaulted his cut of meat, the serrated knife screeching against the faultless dinner plate. Faust revealed his top row of teeth.

"He's terrific, Daddy. He even taught me how to play a beat," Faith remarked.

"I'd like to know where you found all this time between work and Jessica to find yourself a boyfriend and learn how to play drums."

Faith's grin disappeared while Faust's quivered. The lie hung about their heads, and Faust inhaled every bit of it with feral delight.

A dappling of red crawled up Stan's neck. The two men held each other in a suspended glare. Faust told the man everything he didn't want to know with a raise of his eyebrows.

The third goal was to get Faith alone in her old bedroom after dinner. When her mother mentioned she left some clothes and a few odds and ends behind, Faust offered to take them down for her. He needed only her guidance upstairs to find the room. This was a farce. Faust knew damn well where her room was, as he'd waited down the street for her to sneak out the window many times over the months. Now that Summer was winding down, and Faith had a dorm far away from her dad's watchful eye, the bedroom seemed even more forbidden.

"Here, this must be what my mom was talking about," Faith went to the foot of her twin bed where a taped box waited.

When she turned around, Faust was inches away from her, and a breathy gasp leapt from her mouth. "Oh my goodness, Faust, you spooked me! You really have to make more noise when you... When you..."

He grabbed her hand and pressed it to the front of his dress pants just as he leaned in to force his way into her mouth. Her eyes bulged, the firmness she felt between his legs and his probing tongue halting her pulse for a double-beat.

"Faust!" She hissed. "What are you doing?"

"I want you. Right now," he said.

"Now? We can't! My dad's just in the other room."

"I thought you wanted my cock?"

Faith hushed him by pressing her fingers to his lips; terrified someone might hear his deep, resonant voice through the walls. "Why do you choose now to want this suddenly?"

"It's not sudden. I told you I'd fuck you after I met your parents."

"Yeah, but not here!"

"Why not?"

Faith attempted to pull away from him but loathed missing the chance to feel his manhood growing in her palm for the first time. She spent many nights trying her best to brush up against his groin to get a feel for what lay beneath his boxer shorts. Even going so far as to wake up before him, hoping she'd catch a glimpse of morning wood, but always coming up with nothing. Faust's self-control was unshakeable. But now...

With her palm pressed hard against his groin, Faust let out a dull growl, the guttural sound awakening the heavy longing Faith had tried so hard to resist.

"Faith!" Stan called from the bottom of the stairs.

She tried to snatch her hand away, but Faust's hold was iron. He kept her anchored to him, biting his lip as the sound of footsteps on the staircase warned them of her dad's approach.

"Let go," she hissed, unable to stifle the intrigue dimpling her cheeks. "Faust!"

"This is what you wanted," Faust told her.

Stan reached the landing, a mere seven-feet from the open bedroom door. Faust leaned in, let his bottom lip pop out from under the assault of his teeth and made sure she felt him twitch in her hand. Faith tugged again, but Faust held tight.

"Would you?— Faust, let me go!"

At the last second, before Stan entered the room, Faust released her arm and turned toward the box. He lifted it from the bed and held it in front of his hips to conceal the half-mast erection in his pants. Stan analyzed the scene with a critical eye and lingered on Faust while Faith failed to look innocent. She wrang her wrist and fiddled with her daughter's pride ring, bounding away from her boyfriend and into her father's arms.

"Thanks for everything tonight, daddy. I'm so glad we could have dinner and tell mom—"

"You all right, sweetheart?" Stan asked, throwing Faust a warning shot with his eyes.

"What? Of course, I'm all right, daddy."

"Just checking. You need any help?"

Faust's mouth twisted. "All good, boss. I'll take care of her."

His assurance did nothing to placate the preacher. He looked at his daughter as if to implore her to reconsider her choice of male company. Faust knew the moment he was out of ear-shot, and Stan had a minute to speak with his daughter, he'd beg her to think of the future he'd never be able to provide. But he knew Faith — knew she adored him with every mote of her being, and her father trying to shoo him off the porch would only intensify her lust.

Faust loaded his girlfriend's belongings into the trunk of his roommate's car he borrowed for the night while she said her goodbyes to her mother on the front porch. Stan took the opportunity to approach the younger man before Faith had a chance to intervene.

"I don't know what your intentions are with my little girl, son, but let me make myself clear: if I catch wind of any mucking around, or if she comes to me with tears in her eyes because of something you did, our conversation will not be a pleasant one."

Faust slammed the trunk shut. "I love her, and I don't plan on hurting her."

Stan sneered. "I've seen you and your group around town. Do you think a pair of dress pants and a fake smile will fool me? News travels in this place. I've heard all about what your circle is known for, and frankly, it'd please me if you left her to concentrate on her schooling. That's why we moved here. She doesn't need any distractions."

"Which is why I'm taking her straight back to her dorm."

Before the conversation went further South, Faith skipped down the walkway and wedged herself between the two men. She hugged her father and bid him farewell before joining Faust at his side. The drummer smirked as he wrapped his arm around Faith's shoulders and led her to the passenger side of the car, opening the door for her while maintaining eye contact with Stan.

Her parents waited on the porch for them to drive away, but Faust stalled under the pretense of answering some text messages. Before starting the car, he turned to his girlfriend, grabbed her jaw and pulled her in for a long, heated kiss. Faith giggled, attempted to pull back, but met resistance. Faust wasn't finished kissing her. Not until he was certain Stan and Reneta saw. Faust traced her gold necklace, thumbing the tiny crucifix as he pulled back, lips glistening from their passionate touching.

"Faust, come on, my parents are watching. Let's go."

"Your dad hates me."

"What? No, he doesn't. He just needs a chance to get to know you."

Faust shook his head. "No. I like this. I want him to lie awake all night thinking about the shit I'm gonna make you do when we get home."

Faith blushed. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway, an evil grin plastered to his face. There was one last thing left on his to-do list, and it sat next to him, toying with the fringe of her dress, crossing and uncrossing her legs to stave off the pulsing heat of anticipation.

When they entered the elevator, Faust lifted Faith's dress and pulled her panties down to her knees. He swiped two fingers over her lips, moaning when they came away slick. The tall man backed her into the corner as her underwear fell around her ankles. Lifting her leg, he crushed her against the cold metal wall and sucked at her neck like he meant to draw blood.

"You sure you still want to fuck?" He whispered.

"Yes. God, yes, I want to so bad."

"But your pussy's so small, and my cock is so fucking big. You can hardly stand it when I finger you."

"I don't care," she panted. "I want it, Faust. Please. Don't tease me anymore."

The lift came to a shuddering halt. Faust lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, panties hanging off one ankle. It was a fair walk to the end of the hall, and Faith worried somebody might open their door and see Faust palming her ass as he carried her to his apartment. The sound of blast-beats and squealing guitars filtered out from the apartment, greeting them like a wall when Faust opened the door. 

His roommate blinked, alarmed but not entirely shocked to see Faust toting Faith to his bedroom. Her lacy underwear fell to the floor, but neither of them noticed as they devoured each other's mouths on their way.

Once he deposited Faith on the bed and shut the door, she wrestled her dress off and waited. All night, Faust wanted to get out of his clothes, but his foresight convinced him otherwise. He wanted to watch her squirm and beg until she was so wet he could taste it in the air. He approached the bed, and Faith climbed to her knees, set on pulling him on top of her, but he resisted.

"Well, aren't you going to fuck me?"

Faust scoffed. "You think I'm gonna just stuff you that easily? Fuck no."

"Please, Faust. I've waited so long for you."

"Yes, you have. So waiting a little longer should be easy, right?"

Faith whimpered.

"Come here," he beckoned. Faith crawled until she was an inch away from his groin. "Closer."

She stared up at him, bright eyes wide with confusion. He repeated himself. Faith pressed her cheek to his groin, gasping when she felt his cock hardening. He raked his fingers through her hair, grinding her face into his pelvis until she fussed.

"All you fucking think about is cock. All day, every day, you sit there in your cute outfits, dreaming about having that tiny little pussy filled up with my dick. You look so innocent, but I know that not so deep down, under all that lace and gold, you're just as filthy as any other slut, aren't you?"

"Only for you, Faust," she replied, nuzzling into his groin.

"When you're at church with your parents, you're not praying. You're imagining what it'll feel like having my cock inside you."

She giggled and nipped at the erection trapped beneath his trousers. He scratched her scalp until she purred, the perfect kitten pawing for milk. 

"Your dad wants me to leave you alone. But how can I ignore such a pretty girl when I know every time she looks at me, all she thinks about is getting her cunt pounded?"

"That's not all I think about," said Faith. "I think about sucking your dick, too."

"Yeah, you're not so innocent. You just want your daddy to think you are. But he doesn't know you're in my bed, getting wet from the thought of taking my cock."

Faust pushed her away from his groin, stripping his clothes off and climbing onto the bed. He sat with his back against the postered wall, spreading his legs so Faith could crawl between them. She couldn't take her eyes off his hard-on, especially not when he began stroking it in front of her. She still wasn't used to seeing him naked. Her pulse quickened, eyes travelling his hand's trajectory up and down the engorged shaft, thick with blood and veins.

He made her turn around, facing away from him with her ass up and her knees spread as he jerked his cock. Faith sweltered under the heat of his stare, mewling when he finally reached out to goad her entrance with a careful swipe of his thumb. She dropped her hips, hoping to achieve some level of penetration, but he smacked her ass with disapproval.

"Don't you dare try to fuck yourself on my fingers while I'm admiring the view. That is not how this is going down. You just stay right there and do as I say."

"Faust," she whined. "Please. I want you so bad."

"Turn around. On your back. Spread those legs."

She obeyed, and flipped over, splaying her knees. Faust pulled her closer until she rested her thighs over his in a relaxed leg-lock. He continued stroking himself, though her pussy ached and glistened a mere foot away from the tip of his cock. Pushing down on his member, he angled it toward her and laughed when she whimpered.

"It's so close."

"Please, fuck me."

"No. Play with yourself. Rub that clit for me."

Her hand shot down, finding a frantic rhythm of stimulation for his amusement. The motion of her fingers toying with herself made him shudder. He had never been so hard in his life. When he showed her the pre-cum emerging from the tip, she screwed her eyes shut and pressed her spine into the bed, frustrated. 

"Come a little closer. I want to tease that fucking pussyhole."

Tease her, he did. The smooth head glided up and down, parting her lips but only just enough to reveal the pink inside her. Faust let out a long, steady breath, preparing himself for the pressure he was about to encounter.

"It's right there, baby, it's so close. You're so close to having your pussy full. You sure you wanna keep going?"

"Yes!" she cried. "I want it bad, Faust."

"Come and get it then, if you want it that bad. Just scoot down a little more and... Oh, fuck."

His swollen head disappeared beyond the confines of her sex, swallowed and held so close his eyes widened. She was tighter than he feared. It pained him to hear her gasping. Faust retracted, sights far-flung with concern.

"You okay, baby?" He asked.

She nodded, but her words scrabbled to the back of her throat. 

"I'm sorry. I told you, I'm huge, and it's not gonna be easy. Maybe just keep playing with your clit for a little while."

"No, I want you."

"I don't wanna hurt you, Faith."

She clamped her legs around his waist, but before she took him again, he pressed down on her hips, stilling her on the mattress. Maneuvering out from under her thighs, he crawled between them and retraced her opening with his cock, mixing his pre-cum with her wetness. He drew back for a second and deposited a warm wad of spit on the head of his cock before driving it inside with a shallow dip.

"Fuck," he groaned. "I might need to get us some lube. It doesn't matter how wet you are. I don't think you're built to take a cock this big."

"I can do it. I practiced. Please, don't stop, Faust. I'm so wet. I want it so bad."

Faust leaned over her, taking her breasts in his hands, eclipsing them and squeezing until they moaned in unison. He flicked her nipples and dove in to take one in his mouth as a distraction from the lack of promised penetration.

"Fuck, I love these perfect tits. I wanna fuck these too," Faust's voice bordered on a desperate note. "Might just make you wait, though."

"Don't say that! Please! Please, please, please—"

He clamped her mouth beneath his palm. She smelled her own wetness on his fingers and bucked her hips up to grind into his. Rolling his cock between their bodies, it was a fight to see who would overpower the other. Faust wrestled her into full-body submission, pinning her frame under his torso, his legs locking her in place while he held her mouth.

Long weeks of sexual backlog was a sobriety Faust never thought possible to attain. It imbued him with a sense of burning concentration. In the studio, his takes were flawless, his head completely in tune with his body for the first time. The purge left his gut empty, so when the time came, and he couldn't deny Faith any longer, the indulgence was ever the purer. Faith had come along at a time when he viewed any girl hanging around his circle as a pest. He'd had them all, in the very bed he laid her down in, but he never liked the taste of those girls. Faith was a dish far too immaculate for his palette, and yet she was his, and it baffled him.

"Wait, what do you mean you practiced?" He asked, sniffing the hair behind her ear as he kissed her neck.

She stopped struggling, and he let up on her so she could speak. 

"I made myself ready... Because I knew you'd be afraid of hurting me."

"Oh, yeah?" He snickered. "And how'd you do that?"

Faith bit the side of her lip, adjusting beneath him to assert her chest forward, spine curving to press against his warm abdomen and chest. "I went back to the sex shop... Without you."

"Did you?" He murmured, drawing up to look her in the eyes. Thousands of invisible needles pierced his skin all at once, his heart tripping on an undetectable wire. Faust shivered, cracked his jaw, and rose to his knees. Faith remained on her back, staring up at him, trembling. "What did you buy?"

She deliberated between a fib and a fact, choosing the latter. Faust hadn't lied to her about anything, and she wouldn't twist the truth either.  "I... I bought a toy that I thought might be as big as you."

Faust swallowed the dryness in his throat, but it came back the second he took another breath. "You didn't know how big I was until yesterday."

"I guessed," she admitted.

He wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his cock and gave it a few tugs to restore lost blood. In a moment, he stood rock-solid again, and Faith drooled over the thickness of his manhood. 

"Did you guess right?"

"Um... No."

"Didn't fucking think so," he growled. "I don't like the thought of anything but me inside you."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

"I just wanted to be ready, baby. I've wanted you for so long. Please, you promised after you met my dad, you'd have sex with me. Don't you want to?"

"Don't ever fuck yourself without my permission. Your pussy is mine. I'll take care of it when I want to, and when I don't want to, it's off-limits. If you wanna touch yourself, you ask. Understand me?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"What's that?"

"Yes! I'm sorry. I promise I won't ever do it again. I was just going crazy thinking about you. You turn me on so much; I can't help myself."

"That was the fucking point. I wanted to make you wait so that when I finally do fuck you, you'll never forget the feeling."

Faith scoffed, then lifted her legs and made sure Faust saw the parting between them, glistening and aching to be filled. "I don't think I could ever forget the boy who made me wait three months before he'd fuck me."

"That's right," Faust nodded.

He eased his way inside of her, little by little, inch by thick inch until his balls pressed against the swells of her ass. They both let out long streams of air, adjusting to the feverish incursion before Faust kissed her to absorb her already panting breath.

"Feels so fucking good, baby," Faust said, finishing with a deep moan that sent shivers through her body. His voice tingled against her neck, the low crunch of his vocal cords a sound she only ever heard muffled between her legs. Faith had listened to him moaning from pleasing her, but never the other way around. His audible bliss stroked her just as well as his fingers did when they found her clit, working in slow circles around it while he began to rock against her gently. 

The first time he slipped out, she gasped, and every peak of her body swelled with blood. Her nipples hardened, and skin crawled with delight while he eased back in, refilling the persistent little slit that had to stretch to accommodate him. Faith jolted back but settled once he picked her up, suspending her using his hands to lace under her ass like a swing. In that position, she could fret against him while he stayed buried inside, bathing in soft, liquid arousal. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like she needed to draw the breath from his lungs. 

"Fuck, I want to be inside this pussy forever. God, baby, it feels even better than I thought. You're so fucking tight around me. I don't know how much longer I can hold back. I need to fucking destroy you."

"Do it, you bad, bad boy. Use me. Fuck me hard like I know you want to."

He cut off her demanding mouth, answering her lip by touching the hole neighbouring the one his cock was inside. Faith squealed from the odd sensation, but Faust was determined to make her melt by toying with her hole the same way he had just stimulated her clit.

"Yeah, every hole in your body belongs to me. Even this precious little asshole."

He dared to press his fingertip between her cheeks to drive home his point, and she hopped against him like an animal trying to escape his arms. It only made him tighten his hold on her. 

"I bet your dad would fucking lynch me if he knew I had his sweet girl here with all her holes stuffed. He thinks you're back at your dorm doing homework and making something of yourself when really you're here, begging for my cock... Mm, just aching for this cum."

"Faust," she whined. It was all she could muster as he let her slide down his body. 

He scooped her off the mattress and placed her on the lowboy dresser next to the bed. Splitting her thighs, he didn't take the time to ease into her as he had the first couple of times. If Faith wanted the challenge and claimed she could take him, he would let her rise to the occasion. But she gasped, nails digging into his shoulders when his cock met a tight ring of resistance. He'd found her cervix, and the sensation shot through her pelvis like a blinding cramp.

"Oh! Faust! Oh my god, that h— that's..."

"Were you going to say it hurts?"

"No! I want it. Please don't stop."

"I won't stop, baby. Not until your cunt is dripping with my cum. Or maybe I'll pull out and shoot it all over your face. Or between your ass cheeks. Who knows?"

The dresser knocked against the wall, rolling a pair of his drumsticks to the floor with a clatter. Faith was happy Faust's roommate played music loud enough to drown out the sounds of her moaning and mewling for him to take her harder.

After a while, they ended up back on the bed; Faith mounted on his pelvis so he could take a break and enjoy the view of her riding him. He couldn't take the look on her face, the pained, lip-biting expression. It was almost enough to make him feel guilty. But this was what she wanted, and what he wanted, despite his insistence it was all for her.

He succumbed to the sensations holding his dick hostage. It happened after he worked Faith up to an orgasm, using his thumb to tease her clit until she shuddered and came, squeezing around him so hard Faust thought he might pass out before having the pleasure of emptying a load inside her.

"Oh my god, Faust, I'm coming," she squeaked. "Don't stop, don't stop."

"I won't, baby. Keep going. Keep coming all over me. That's what I like to see. Fuck, I'm gonna come, too if you keep clenching like that."

The contractions swallowing his cock were too violent for him to resist. The trembling of her thighs, the way she bit her bottom lip and squeezed her arms around her breasts, needing something to hold onto while she orgasmed sent him over the edge. At the last second, Faust slipped out and spilled months of mental-edging and self-inflicted teasing onto her hot skin. A few ropes slung over her tummy, and one even reached her chest. The rest dribbled into a pool around her navel. Using his swollen, wet head, he stroked her clit a few times, luxuriating in her snivelling shivers and the wetter sounds of her pussy lips.

Faust hopped off the bed and took a towel off the hook on his bedroom door. He returned with it, dabbing the mess he'd made on her. He draped the towel over the bedpost and looked down at his cock hanging spent between his legs. 

Faith recovered from her climax and giggled. "Next time, I want to start by going down on you."

"Oh, is that right?" He asked, shimmying back into bed next to her and pulling her close. "Now that you've had a taste, you can't get enough?"

"If that's what I've been missing... Well, I hope you're ready for my non-stop horniness."

"Pretty sure I'm used to it by now," he chuckled.

She snuggled into him, blotting his collarbone and chest with gentle kisses. "That was worth the wait."

"Yeah. I'm glad we did. Made it so much better to tease you."

"You're so evil sometimes," Faith murmured. "But, you're the best."

Faust tilted her chin up, kissed her, then ran his thumb over her cheek a few times before taking in a deep, preparatory breath. "Yeah... Well... I love you."

Heat pierced her tear ducts, but she screwed her eyes shut before any liquid escaped. She shoved her face into his neck, clinging to him with all her might. Faust couldn't see her cry, not after she fought so hard to prove herself to him. 

"I love you too," she finally whispered. "Like so much, I think I'm gonna—"

She hiccoughed as the tears flowed. Faust melted and pulled her even closer. "You're such a baby. I love it. Sweet girl."

[nobeliumoxygenoxygenmisc]

asra || you are my sunshine

based on ‘you are my sunshine’ (>1.5k words) - moments in asra’s life, from small snippets of being with you to a journey to a certain island 

--

You are my sunshine

“What are you smiling about?” 

“It’s too bright. Did we forget to set up the tent again?”

Asra blinked blearily up at you as you gave him a quizzical look. “No? We’re inside the tent, Asra.”

“Oh.” He couldn’t help his grin from widening. “I guess I just mistook your brightness for the sun.”

Your answering blush and exasperated laugh was enough to last him the rest of the day, and even though you promptly dumped your blanket on his head, Asra did not regret setting up the conversation just to say that one line. 

My only sunshine

The ride back to Vesuvia was the same as always--the beast sprinting through the desert at breakneck speed, Faust entwined around him and watching their progress with delight. And yet every time he travelled with you, Asra swore he felt happier than the last. No matter if you were talking amiably about whatever had piqued your interest that day, or sleeping, like now.

This time, you sat in front, for he did not want you slipping off as you slept, but whether you sat behind or not, it was always a comfort to feel your presence, your breath on his skin, your hair tickling his face even as he buried himself in it, relishing in your scent. 

You shifted in your seat, mumbling what he made out to be something that sounded suspiciously like “Give me the food, Asra.” He chuckled, the arm around you tightening to reposition yourself. That was both a mistake, and not, for you woke up then.

“How long was I out?”

“Only an hour so far. You can go back to sleep, Y/N.”

You shook your head. “You can sleep this ti...” Your words trailed off as you yawned, and you ducked your head in embarrassment. You didn’t have to turn to see Asra’s smug expression.

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Sleep!” Faust said.

“Faust says sleep,” Asra relayed.

“Fine, fine, I get it you two. I’ll go to sleep again,” You grumbled, settling back into his chest as he laughed once more.

You make me happy

The shop was probably one of the most unconventional shops there was in Vesuvia. There was never a set opening and closing time, and most regular patrons just had to be accustomed to a kind of feeling they had to cultivate to determine whether or not they would be open. And yet there were times when handling customers and doing readings did become mundane, and too much of a routine for Asra’s liking. 

Still, you always seemed to make everyday just a bit different.

“So I didn’t know whether to buy the pumpkin bread or try Selasi’s new recipe because I know you were craving the pumpkin bread today but, but the new bread looked and smelled heavenly so I bought both and well, um, we have…” You mumbled the rest under your breath, seemingly too embarrassed to continue.

“We have..?” Asra prompted, giving you a reassuring smile. You looked sheepish, but Asra knew that whatever you did would never be able to anger him. 

“We now have nothing else for lunch or dinner now,” You finished. “I’m sorry!” You added quickly, continuing. “But we have lots of bread and I think bread for dinner is nice, right? Selasi’s bread has never failed us after all and--”

Asra did not like interrupting you, but he couldn’t help the laugh that spewed out. Pretty soon, you joined in, leaning against the counter to allow Faust to poke her head into the bags full of loaves.

“Y/N,” He began when he cooled down. “You don’t have to look so worried. Of course we can have bread for lunch. And dinner.” You relaxed, smiling. “Even if it’s just bread.”

When you had both settled down upstairs, you handed Asra his bread loaf and a knife, giving him a silly grin before saying, “Your meal, master Asra.” He snorted and took a bite. “Is it to your liking? Or would master Asra prefer another dish?”

He played along, giving a contemplative ‘hm’. “What would the chef recommend?”

“More bread,” You said at the same time Faust squealed “Bread!” happily.

He smiled. “Then I shall take their recommendation.”

When skies are grey

Some days were hard. Long days in the shop, when the desire to travel had reached its peak, for one. And the anniversary of his parents’ death, for another. 

Asra had always thought he preferred to be alone for that day, save for Faust curled up around him. Muriel had understood, but he’d always ensured Faust stayed with him to keep him safe, and most importantly, grounded. Asra had never realised just how much your presence, even silent and still, was so, so wanted.

His head lied in your lap, face pushed into your stomach and his arms wrapped awkwardly around you. He wasn’t sleeping, neither of you were, but though it was silent and you mindlessly stroked his hair, it was enough. 

For now, it was enough.

You’ll never know dear

There were so many moments that you never saw Asra looking. 

Like the times when you laughed too hard at something--hopefully at something he had said--, eyes shut, doubled over, the twinkling of your laughter literal music to his ears, as cheesy as that was. Or the late nights when you and he talked about anything and everything, sometimes until your eyes couldn’t stay open but you continued to talk and listen. Or when you’d go into the market and he’d wait on the side as you bartered and bought whatever you two needed. Early mornings when you woke up later than him--admittedly rare mornings--, not awake enough to notice Asra’s gaze. When you’re talking about something that you’re passionate about, stars in your eyes, frowning a bit when you catch him just staring and not quite listening. 

So many moments that you never caught, just because you weren’t looking. So many smiles that were reserved just for you.

Always just for you.

How much I love you

“Clearly I love you more, Asra.”

“Y/N, there’s something you have to know.” You gave him a challenging raised eyebrow. “You need glasses, because what’s clear here is that I love you more.”

Rolling your eyes, you playfully pushed him away as you both lay in bed. “Hm, I’m not so sure about that.” You got up on your elbows, grinning down at him. “Let’s see, I wouldn’t be able to count all the ways I love you on all the hands of the people in Vesuvia.”

Asra grinned back, a mirrored challenging gleam in his eyes. “Ah, but I wouldn’t be able to count all the ways I love you on all the hands of the world.”

You momentarily pouted, before persevering for there was no way you were going to lose now. “I was wrong. I meant, I would need all the stars in the galaxy to count the ways I love you.”

He only smiled wider. “And I would need all the stars in all the magical realms and this one to count the ways I love you.”

“Oh, but are there stars in all the realms?”

“Maybe not all of them, but I already know the Magician’s realm does, and that’s already a galaxy on it’s own.”

There was a competitive glint in both your eyes now.

There was no way either of you were going to lose, it seemed.

Please

Arguments were rare. Of course, there were the almost daily play fights, sometimes even escalating into a pillow fight that constituted the only physical violence--if one could even call it that--between you two. 

But if anything became too strained, it was almost a tie to see who would apologise first. Sometimes you were stubborn, so most of the time Asra won. But other times he had to take a walk around Vesuvia just to get his thoughts into an organised order before he could return, and by then both of you were willing to apologise or compromise.

It was very, very rare that Asra left Vesuvia completely after an argument. For if there was one thing he had to do before going on adventures you couldn’t accompany, it was making sure you knew just how much he loved you before he left. You had once joked that it sounded too much like he was leaving for good and he’d told you that that would never be true. You had then said, “Well, don’t make it sound so much like you’re going to die out there or something, okay?” You two had shared a laugh back then, you playfully telling Faust to take care of Asra in case his fluffy white hair joined their cloudy brethren in the sky, leaving him vulnerable to whatever was out there.

Neither of you had thought that the day he couldn’t say anything to you would come.

Neither of you had thought that it would be you who would not return. For in a sense, you were each other’s homes.

Don’t take

Running through Vesuvia had never been as terrifying as that moment. 

Asra ran; Faust and him giving alleyways quick glances, every hooded face a look, scanning crowds and everyone and anyone who passed him.

The crowds thinned the closer they got to the docks. 

Shipments to the Lazaret that day had ended, so the docks were ominously empty, save for the few sails men tying up their boats. 

Asra had all but jumped into the one boat left untied, the sailor crying out in confusion more than anger, for when they saw Asra’s sweating pain-stricken face, they all but backed off.

Especially when they saw how he looked at the island with more fear than anyone should had ever known.

My sunshine

He had felt it.

He had felt it as if it was burning his own skin.

The flames tearing into him, melting his very being and yet, at the very same time, doing absolutely nothing.

For it was not him who had gone through that pain.

It was you.

The pain in his fingers was nothing compared to that. Compared to the ache in his chest, as if something that was supposed to be beating inside was not, as if it had been carved out and the weight of the object in his hand was not the handful of ash and dirt, but his own heart instead, slipping through his fingers.

Falling, falling, falling.

Even though you had brightness to rival the sun, Asra knew that those flames would have stopped at nothing to devour all in their path.

You were gone.

You were gone.

Away 

--

asra and angst just go hand in hand im so sorry. i was hoping my second arcana fic would be happier lmao - thank u for reading tell me if you liked it?

[theimpossiblescheme]

How about 1, 6 and 18 for Christian, and 7, 10 and 24 for Gus?

Let’s tackle our boy Christian first...

Something this character is truly proud of

After the failed hazing attempt that was potentially throwing himself to Cyrano’s wrath the first time they met (which he isn’t terribly proud of, honestly, because not only was it a small miracle that he wasn’t sliced in half right then and there, it was a horrible first impression and Christian likes to think he’s better than that), Christian was challenged to three duels between him and the cadets who first put him up to the challenge.  Everyone tried to talk him out of it, Cyrano included, but Christian insisted--if he was going to win the regiment’s respect, he needed to prove he was worthy of it.  They were close fights that netted him a couple of scratches, but he still won, and he’ll never forget the round of applause he got from Captain Castel-Jaloux and the “Well, I’ll be damned” look on Cyrano’s face.

Something they lost, but would love to have back

It’s a silly, sentimental thing in his mind, but... he wishes he and his father had the relationship they had when he was a boy.  It used to be that they played and laughed together, and Christian would practice with his first sabre by the stables and go for rides with him through the woods behind his family’s estate.  It was fun.  Now, it’s like the elder Baron de Neuvilette has completely forgotten was fun even is.  He never laughs, barely smiles, and all of his letters to Christian are about his obligations to his family and the king now that he’s a man.  There are times Christian wants to tear up the letters, throw the scraps in his face, and say, “To hell with obligations, I want to feel like your son again and not just some kind of business partner.”

Special talents they have

Out of the three of them, he’s the best dancer--it’s the one “extra” lesson that wasn’t strictly relevant to becoming a soldier, but that really stuck with him as he grew up.  Roxanne’s told him horror stories of her trying to teach Cyrano to dance when they were children with... decidedly mixed results, and Christian’s jokingly offered his own tutelage, only to be met with a laugh and a “don’t get any ideas” from Cyrano.

And now for the best grandpa cat...

This character’s favorite character

Out of all the characters Gus has played, he’s gone back to Hamlet the most, but Faust and Cyrano were his favorites (hey, it’s canon in the Stuttgart and French translations respectively).  He wishes he could have gotten a crack at Mephistopheles, particularly the operatic version, but you win some, you lose some.

How they deal with pain

Gus tends to sort of... hide his pain, or at least try to.  He doesn’t talk about the mates he’s lost, but he still wears the quilt his first mate was wrapped in when she first got sick.  He’s scared of completely losing his sight or motor control, but he doesn’t draw attention to his infirmities and hates it when cats make a fuss over him.  He’s the sort to bottle things up, even if it’s the least healthy option he could take, and insist that “I’m not made of glass, you know.”  Part of it comes from the classic “The Show Must Go On” mentality where unless you’re bleeding out on death’s door you carry on no matter what, and part of it comes from a genuine desire not to be a burden on his loved ones.

What they wish they could change about themselves

The biggest regret Gus has is that he wasn’t a better father when his kittens were younger and still needed him.  He still doesn’t think of himself as a naturally nurturing figure--he’s better at being a best friend or a Fun Uncle (TM)--but he wishes he was.  He watches Jellylorum with her own kittens and the others in the Tribe and wishes he had her patience and generosity instead of being so set in his own ways.  And while he’s much more present for her and Asparagus now that they’re adults, part of him wonders if it’s not too little too late.

[lotusplum]

Vayne Faust for @starivy‘s BC!!

“I named myself Vayne cause it sounds like pain. And pain is fun!”

Vayne is an imp from a little big place down below. She currently lives in Forgotten Hollow where she pranks all her neighbors. Shes not all that good because she always leaves evidence at the scene and it always somehow comes back to her! Love-wise she once fell in love with a human but that didn’t last long. Humans are b o r i n g and didn’t quench her thirst for mischievousness and excitement. So, she decided to give this challenge a try! 

More about Vayne:

- Shes always bragging about her prank achievements and her pretty horns

-Loves the color silver

-Will probably prank the contestants (if shes picked)

-When she's in love she fails at being confident and is really awkward, when she's in a relationship shes very....forward ;))

-Is clumsy and forgetful

-Her idol is Catwoman from the comics

-Isn’t really into crime per say, just loves to prank 

-Don’t trust her if she asks for a handshake...

-For some reason shes a big softie for guinea pigs. 

PRIVATE DL

[splazbee]

A guide to Reverse Asra (and how to avoid it)

I’ve seen some people already covering the reversed routes for the characters, but I found the need to try and understand first hand.

So, after a lot of pain, I found my way to the Reversed Asra route. There are several keys to getting it, which is the same for all the characters: feed into their bad habits and negative traits. Don’t push them to change. For Asra, those negative traits are as such: his tendency to run away, to push away the problems, isolating himself and an obsessive need to keep MC safe.

The first three are all aspects of one problem. When talking with Asra about our past, he told MC about the argument they had. Asra wanted to escape the town, leave the people to fend for themselves and him to find a safe place. He wanted to go with MC, but MC wanted to help the city. 

Here are some roots of the problem, and Asra can react in different ways. In the Upright route, Asra learns how to stand his ground in face of adversity, how to let people in and let them help. He can make MC grow. The other, Reverse reaction, is to regret even more not keeping MC safe and going to extreme heights to do so. He already gave up a part of his heart for MC to return to life, what more wouldn’t he do?

Encouraging his desire to run away, making MC look and act helpless, therefore making Asra believe MC would never survive without him, is the recipe for the disaster that is the Reverse route.

And here is why.

I went aaaall the way back to when MC and Asra went to his Sanctuary out of Vesuvia. MC is asked by Asra if they would prefer a big, bustling city, or a remote place. Answering remote appeals to his want to run away, especially with the apprentice.  Clap and a half for escapism everyone. 

The next choice is possibly not the most important in this whole scheme, but even choosing how to ride Beast can have its weight. Sitting in front is more adventurous, while sitting behind Asra? It already shows MC relies on him, in a way literally hiding behind his back.

I forgot to take my note in this choice, so i forgot where it was exactly in the midst of important choices, but it’s about MC’s dream. Telling Asra the dream about MC and him going off in a separate dimension or universe all of their own was a good one, welp, (a little maybe spoiler) lets not plant ideas in either Asra’s or MC’s head, m’kay?

Helping the villagers. While you do help them anyway, the way you go about it matters. Picking “We’re busy”, even though that is not exactly true, makes MC seem very callous, and selfish. Asra is shocked for a moment before he laughs. While picking this choice made me feel guilty, it does its job of isolating MC, and therefore Asra, from the outside world.

Next, relying on Asra to deal with the well. Again, enforcing the notion that MC needs to rely on Asra to do all the heavy lifting, and Asra, being the precious bean he is, shows once again that he would do anything for MC. This is not shaping up to be a healthy relationship people, especially for Asra.

Not taking the initiative and asking Asra to dance, and instead sitting in a faraway corner with him - isolation again.

Next the choice of going back directly to the palace, or first visiting the shop - this is avoiding the problems, leaving them for later. Running away from them. Not literally, not yet, but going there.

Meeting Muriel is the next on the chopping block. The most important bit is MC’s reaction to meeting him - whether MC is happy to meet him, or feeling nervous. Choosing nervous shows an unwillingness to meet new people, slight suspicion of them, and most importantly - a dependency on Asra.

Following this is MC’s opinion on Asra and Muriel. The choices being “Good thing you got away” and “Good thing you had each other”, based on previous statements, it’s written right there on the box which answer makes it more likely to get the Reverse route.

When Asra is confronted about his vanishing habit by Julian, MC saying “You’re always there for me” sounds suspiciously supportive, but it isn’t really, not in the long run. Telling Asra he has a vanishing-into-lands-unknown problem right in his face provokes change. In a positive direction, god forbid. I’m saying this sarcastically, but while he cares about Muriel, Nadia and Julian, if MC tells him to do something, he will follow it to the dot. Telling him he is always there for us just keeps him blind to his faults.

And so, we reach THE TRIAL. Picking the choice of Asra telling the people he’s innocent? Nicely packaged, but ultimately a bad decision. Asra keeps his secrets close to his chest, and while we all love this floofy boy, it is a fact he has quite the dark side. So he also lies. Condoning that is not okay. Him telling the truth challenges him. It’s against him. But he trusts MC, so when MC wants him to tell the truth, he changes. He grows.

Next up, MC asking Nadia to stop the fight is a bad choice, though I don’t believe it to be such a major one. But it shows one thing: no matter how much MC relies on Asra, they don’t truly believe in him or his abilities. This exact thing will play its role again in a later choice.

The next few choices are a bit foggy for me. I’m pretty sure in the next choice, picking “Let me help” is an Upright choice. Because wow, MC doesn’t want to rely on Asra and actually tries to be equal with him, like a healthy relationship should be? Whaaat?

When asked by Asra what MC would do in his place, I am confused as to which one is the Reverse choice. To me personally, “I’d do anything” seems to validate everything Asra has done for us, making it a situation of ends-justify-the-means. While I’m very happy that he did resurrect MC, because we wouldn’t have a story without that, it may push him into thinking that its always all in when it comes to MC. Pushing his protectiveness into an obsession.

“Why am I here?” and the “...” option seem to be the next Reverse choices. The first one shows that MC is still relying on heir teacher to explain things to them, a bit of naivete that kindles at Asra’s protectiveness. It’s a similar situation with “...” MC has no idea how to react, and need Asra to support them.

I’ll be shorter for the next choices, as this is getting quite long. “Did it change you?” seems to be the next Reverse choice, because “I’d do the same for you” is supportive, but i could be wrong here, as I was very conflicted. Trying to cancel the Masquerade is again avoidance of problems and running away. When it’s about Faust the “You’d do the same for me” seems to be the reverse choice. To me it feels like MC implies they don’t really care about Faust, and who would be so mad as to not like her, amirite?

Next up, dealing with the Devil. I picked No for his first offer, and then yes after he made Faust vanish. He confusion and fear broke me. Next I chose to tell the Devil that indeed, the Masquerade was enjoyable, but now we are so far into this Reverse hell, I don’t even know if it matters anymore. The next choice is very transparent - MC telling Asra they can’t do this alone after MC is left stranding in the Half world (what was the term for it again?)

Trusting Scout and telling the Magician MC doesn’t feel safe with him also aren’t very obvious to me.

Next up - Asra’s confession!!!  I trembled as, when in the face of his declaration, I made MC stutter out an “I... um...” Get yourself together MC, this boy needs love.

Magic realm time! Choosing the “I just want this to be over” shows the now infamous in this essay need to escape and get away, preferably to some isolated place. When confronted with the magic chains, “Find a safer path” shows MC unwillingness to stand up to adversity, and, well, a lack of courage. How will MC deal with the Devil is now beyond me (pun not intended, but the foreshadowing is too good for me to redact this).

Interactions with Asra’s parents. As with Muriel, an unwillingness to meet and trust new people, no matter how close they may be to Asra, must be shown. To me shaking hands seems more impersonal, and later not commending the spell Asra’s dad crafted. When in a timed choice attacking the tree is too straightforward, so the Reverse answer should be when MC goes into ‘helpless’ mode and just going “what do we do?!” Then right after, unwillingness to trust Asra’s dad to heal us, making Asra do it, and the poor boy is so jittery and nervous and afraid and stressed he can’t cast the magic fully and/or correctly.

Here comes LUCI! Asra presents MC with the idea of trapping Lucio. And here comes that point from waaaaaay back up at the gladiator battle, where MC doubted his abilities and his decisions. Picking “I’m not so sure...” and then completely disregarding Asra’s advice about approaching the water, shows a complete lack of faith in Asra, unwillingness to listen to him and sealing the deal of his protectiveness of MC turning into an obsession.

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 20

Finally, we have come to the Reversed route. Asra goes completely into a tunnel vision mode. Where in the Upright path, he suggests we use MCs blood to give the immunity of our magic to all the guests of the arcane feast, in the Reversed path he completely focuses on running away. Asking where we should run, the oasis or the shop, trying to find the right way in the maze. 

At a moment he says “... we can escape. Make sure the ritual fails. That’s... that’s all we can do now.” and when Muriel’s charm starts to completely give out Asra says “You can escape. Run far away, live your life...” In answer to MC choosing to say “I don’t think I can”, he apologizes. 

“I... I’m so sorry, MC. I wanted to protect you, but...”

Everything we started with. His desire to escape, run to a faraway place, protecting MC. All traits present thorough the story, fed by choices of at least 11 books. This is what causes the Reversed end.

He turned into a scared, helpless wreck of a man, desperate and trapped in his needs. And even if at the table, MC finally tries to take a stand and use Magic, its finally revealed why we can do what we can do, but seriously, we all knew we were the Fool already. Even then, MC has go make a deal with the Devil.

This is the end of this long, long essay. I’ll probably make a summarized version of this. More people will be inclined to reach the end at least :D

[rex101111]

Character concept: Aria/Justice

because I can’t get it out of my head here’s some scattered nonsense of ideas that I would like to see if Aria becomes a playable character again in the next Guilty Gear :D just like, a bunch of stuff thrown at the wall because I want these out so they won’t bother me in my head so here you go!

Intro: Shot of a hand holding a remote with a prominent red button on it, the thumb presses down on the button. Camera pans up to see a shine in the sky, followed by a huge shadow dropping swiftly down. Cut to a side view of Aria with her hands crossed as the shadow stops in front of her, a lightly altered recreation of the Gear Justice. She looks aside, at the camera and her opponent, says her opening line, before the suit opens up and she jumps inside. The suit closes around her as lights turn on all at once and the Gear, Aria, turns to her opponent with clenched claws.

opening line ideas:

Sol: “Fredrick, I want to test this thing out, don’t hold back like last time.”

“Don’t give me that look, I know you’re itching for another go.”

“I get antsy too you know, research gets boring sometimes.”

“No, I’m not mad. I am still going to beat you up though, it’s the principle of the matter.”

Dizzy: “Alright, now take a deep breath, and don’t hold back.”

“I know you don’t like fighting, but keeping your skills sharp is important.”

“You can do better then that, I know you can, I’ll drag it out of you if I need to.”

“You can’t hurt me dear, so let Necro have some fun this time, eh?”

Ky: “I need to know for certain if you can stand by her side, your majesty, so get ready.”

“A mother-in-law’s advice is healthy for any marriage, now pay close attention.”

“You never did fight Justice did you? Now’s your chance.”

“Dizzy gets a lot from me; my looks, my eyes, and my fire power.”

Baiken: “Take your anger, your pain, your hatred, and fight me!”

“I remember the feel of your blade against my armor, this time don’t miss.”

“This is your revenge, come and take it!”

“Guilt isn’t weighing me down, but I won’t sit by and let you wallow.”

Generic: “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt you, just think of it as an intense work out.”

“I installed a few new tricks into this baby, keep your guard up!”

“This isn’t the real deal, but it will be more then enough to handle you.”

Instant Kill: Aria lunches out a sort of tether to trap the opponent in place, fires a barrage of lasers, and then charges her Gammy Ray. She charges it up until the glow of it reaches the sky, and then flies towards her target to fire it, at point blank range. DESTROYED. Open to a large canyon in front of the suit, stretching out into the horizon. The suit opens and out comes Aria, grimly satisfied and the wind whipping her hair around while she says her winning line. Aria WIN!

“Asuka really went for overkill with this, didn’t he?”

“And that, is how you win a battle, even if you lose a war.”

“Most strategies fall apart when faced with overwhelming force, bigger stick always wins.”

“It may be a pale imitation, a reproduction, but this lady still packs a mean punch doesn’t she?”

Normal Victory Pose: The suits opens to let Aria step out before kneeling behind her, she leans back to sit, not at all elegantly, on it’s head with a weary sigh, reaches into her pocket to pull out a lollipop with a kind smile as she says her line before she starts eating it. Aria WIN! 

“Yikes, did I overdo it again? Sorry about that.”

“The thrusters still need tuning up, thanks for running around so much that I noticed.”

“You did well back there! A little more practice and I’ll have to work for it next time.”

“Next time, when you think of picking a fight with a laser shooting robot, don’t.”

End match quotes (AKA where I completely indulge in my HCs about Aria post Rev2):

Sol: “Hey Fredrick, remember that time I challenged you and Asuka to an arm wrestling competition? You two complained about sore wrists for weeks! *short chuckle*...brings back memories. doesn’t it?...”

Dizzy: “Very good Dizzy! Literally ever single reader and scanner on this thing burst and broke during that fight! W-wait no don’t look worried! That’s a good thing! I’m proud of you, really.”

Ky: “If I’m being honest, I really don’t get what Dizzy sees in you. Not that I’m questioning her choices, God forbid! You’re just not my type at all, bit too straight laced...though, that short hair look does suit you better, very handsome.”

Leo: “You make an odd King, Leo. But not a bad one at all! Sure, Ky may be more popular among the public, and the press love him more, and he tends to lead things more confidently and thoroughly, but you-you....Leo? Why are you sulking?”

Sin: “Well, deal’s a deal. I beat you so now you need to go back and finish your homework young man. Now don’t frown like that, only kids do that. Tell you what, finish your work quickly, and me and Fredrick’ll treat you to a big dinner, deal?”

Ramlethel: “Excellent work Ram, you’re improving very quickly! You and Sin train hard don’t you? Just try not to overindulge on those burgers after your sessions alright? Gear Biology or no those things are bad for you.”

Elphelt: “El, sweetheart, I know you have your style and all, but is the wedding dress still necessary? A place to hid your weapons sure but doesn’t it get in the way?...was I ever like that? God I hope not..oh! Nothing it’s nothing!”

Slayer: “Every single reader is either broken or glitching on me, armor cracked to hell, engine damn near exploded, exhausted my fuel and my ammunition...and here you are, lounging like it’s a holiday...what are you exactly...?” 

Potemkin: “Well! Zepp technology is certainly...hardy! Nearly overloaded my canons on you! Took me by surprise there...”

Chipp: “You really need to stop playing this silly ninja game of yours and sit down. Politics is boring as dirt but if you call yourself a president that’s your job...*sigh* I pity your secretary, truly.”

Faust: “Sorry about that...outburst, I kind of have this thing with medical procedures and needles and...well, I’m sure you understand, Doctor.”

Jam: “God it’s been ages since I had proper Chinese food, how’s your general Tsao?...why are you giving me that dirty look? Did I say something wrong?” 

May: “You pack a wallop don’t you? I thought that anchor was a toy at first but your swinging that cast iron like it’s nothing! Maybe train with someone who can teach you how to use it more directly? Who knows what kind of damage you could do...”

Zato: “...according to my scanners you don’t have a pulse...did that vampire have something to do with it? Either way, stay away from me, no offence but that shadow of yours is creepy, and coming from me that says something.”

Millia: “There are no chains on you dear, nothing holding you down and no one holding you back. Your freedom is right there, all you have to do is reach for it with both hands.”

Venom: “...you know, you remind me of this baker in downtown Ilyria, he’s a genius with bread and sugar, honestly incredible. I hope his business is doing well, I don’t know if I could make it through the day without one of his cinnamon buns.”

Baiken: “Get up. I know this isn’t all your anger, get up! Gather more hatred and fight me! Pour every ounce of pain you have into your blade and let it out! Get up! I won’t stop until you can live again, until you can let go before you tear yourself to pieces...get. Up.”

Anji Mito: “Now. You are going to behave, sit there, and tell the truth for once. Mind you this suit has a heartbeat monitor so I’ll know if you try to pull a fast one. Now, question one, what do you know?”

I-no: “...sorry for causing you so much trouble as Jack-O, my excitement kind of got away from me. Thanks for putting up with it.”

Raven: “I never did thank you for that wound you healed, did I? Of course I remember, who forgets a friend in this day and age?” 

Extra stuff/Headcannons:

* She’s like mature Jack-O personality wise, though with a rather wry sense of humor. Pokes fun at Sol every chance she gets (only calls him Fredrick, or Freddie if she wants to troll him), but always with a hint of affection. Sometimes blanks out or has her mind wonder off.

* Worked closely with Paradigm to build the suit, though she did most of the heavy work herself. Used schematics from a few of Asuka’s old hideouts and accounts from the Crusades while adding her own spin on the design. No...crotch spike. Constantly improving it and tweaking it whenever she has the time. 

* Nags Ky like a proper mother-in-law mostly just for the sake of poking fun, she trusts him with Dizzy. Wants to make up for lost time with Dizzy, though she knows she can only go so far with her being about a decade late to be a mom.

* Treats the Valentine sisters like, well, sisters almost. Little sisters. Spoils Sin rotten whenever his parents aren’t paying attention. Had a 10 hour long training session with him after he called her “grandma” once. 

* Feels a little guilty about Japan. Doesn’t exactly blame herself entirely, but she still feels some responsibility to fix some of the damage. Baiken makes that guilt double in her gut, wants her to move on because she has a vague memory of Baiken fighting Justice and failing miserably. 

* Has an odd, vague mix of memories from both Jack-O and Justice, she can just manage to keep up and make sense of them, but both at once has her needing to sit down and clutch her head because ow migraines. Also pretty much remembers everything from before she died the first time.

* Wants to punch Asuka in the nose. Also to say she forgives him and she gets why he did what he did, but first she needs to break his nose because seriously Asuka the fuck.

* Her theme would probably be some mix between “Meet Again” (Justice theme) and “Juno” (Jack-O theme), with maybe the “Diva” riff thrown in there for flavor. Slightly manic rock mix but ultimately in control and, near the end, happy. Song title would be something like “Together Again” or “Hera” (Juno’s Greek name) 

[gear-project]

Okay, I would love to if you could, can you explain what exactly Characters are saying during battle post SIGN? I know it's a bit vague, but at least thanks to the dub, there were gusts of character that I learned that I couldn't before (like Faust and Ino being masochistic, Elphelt focusing more on keeping her dress perfect or Leo's insistent downplaying of the damage he receives). So, could you give a rundown of what they are saying (Johnny - Answer) to someone not familiar with Japanese?

That depends on what you want to know… I already discussed basic mechanics of how the voices work before.

And it’s not like older characters from Xrd Sign changed their voice-work too much in Revelator.

At the same time, much of what they say can be considered recycled from older GG games, so you can always check out my Guilty Gear Quote Project text document for those tiny little bits that were re-used (for example: Sol will sometimes habitually say “Te no uchi wa oshimai ka” [“That’s it for you.”], though the dub took some liberties with a few bits of dialogue.

Though I suppose I can give a run-down of what the new cast characters are saying.

Jack-O’: She tries to summon her servants Lancer (K), Knight (P), and Magician (S), as well as use her special moves like Elysium Driver.  Her goal is to “test the limits” of her body, so she often compares things in “this era” to what she considers to be trendy from the past. She also makes fun of her opponent during taunts (she calls them a “weird chocolate” sometimes), though against Sol she’ll talk about the Backyard a bit.  When she gets knocked out, sometimes she’ll say she’s entered “Sleep Mode” and uses PC computer jargon to describe her situation.

Johnny: He’s a gambler, so when he tosses his coins he places a bet.  He’ll frequently say stuff like “watch your feet” when doing low attacks or low mist finers, and “above you” when doing high mist finers as a means of zoning out opponents.  Using Bacchus Sigh, he’ll say “I’ll show you a mystery”, as a sign that he’s confusing his opponent.  His dialogue is pretty loose and easy-going, so it’s not like he’s trying to fight seriously.

Baiken: Her voicework hasn’t changed much from Accent Core, so you can look up the guide on that to get a rough idea.  She has a taunt for everyone, but more often she’s only concerned about catching opponents in her traps and cutting them, so she’s very direct and short tempered.  She also appears to get frustrated with herself easily if she’s losing (nasake- ne… I’m pathetic).

Answer: He’s almost always on the phone with someone, mostly trying to get paperwork done or settle over-the-phone disputes (his idle crouching animation).  When he does his command throw izuna drop he’ll say “Wait a moment… CONTRACT DROP… sorry, I’m back, what were you saying?”  This is typical of him, as he’ll stop the conversation mid-way when he’s about to do a strong attack… or when he’s staggered and almost dropping his phone.  If he loses he’ll say things like “We couldn’t get the project delivered on time.” and such, like a truly apologetic office worker.  His wins are traditional of office greetings in Japanese work ethic… and is something of a play on how ASW work hard to produce their own games, so when he bows along with his clones and thanks his opponent… really that’s ASW thanking US for playing this game!

Dizzy: Her moveset has gotten a bit more courage-filled since AC, so even when she blocks attacks, she’s more focused on winning now than she used to be (shizukani, “silence”).  Necro will still catch her off guard, but it’s nothing new (Necro will sometimes say “I guess our attempts to reason have failed” or “It ended up this way in the end”).  She doesn’t like fighting so her Taunts are just about telling people to stop fighting, while her Respects are just acknowledging her opponent’s strength and resolves.

Kum Haehyun: Kum is all about fighting to the utmost, so she has a personality not unlike Ryu in Street Fighter if you can imagine it.  She has an “old man” sense of humor though, so she can be a bit of an antiquated bumpkin when responding to situations as is reflected in her way of speaking (I wouldn’t say she’s got a Kansai-ben accent, but it’s similar).  She’ll say “it’s a matter of course” when winning (jonryoku de aru mai… jonryoku being a “pun” on her robo suit’s name).  Any time she says Jonryoku, it’s a pun on the word “Power” or “absolute effort”, so keep that in mind.  When she gets flustered she says “cut it out!” (during psyche burst) as if the opponent is just fooling around with her.

Raven: Raven will often say things like “You’ll never understand me”, or “Past, Present, Future, I will EXIST”.  "You aren’t desperate enough, THIS is how you kill someone!“ *stabs self with needles*  "So close… SO CLOSE TO DEATH” (His time-up animation).  THE PAIN!  THE PAIN IS HERE~!  *happy face* Yes, he’s a straight up masochist.  One of his lesser known catchphrases is “My body is a temple? We’ll see about that!” as if he intends to challenge God himself to break his immortality.  His movelist is fundamentally german, but you can pick up some of what he says in this post.

I think that should do as a summary, but eventually we’ll figure something out about working on translation (I’m gonna wait until the next major GG arrives before I decide what to do about that.)

[buildridernews]

[Review] Kamen Rider Build - Episodes 34-37

Time for a month of episodes where some stuff happens. The most important thing to happen is me finally catching up with the show! 

Small disclaimer now that we're in Evol territory: If it weren't obvious, I flip between character name and Rider name (Sento / Build) depending on whether they are transformed during a scene I talk about, so if you see me saying Evolt or Evol, that's not a typo. That's just the show deciding to give them such similar names. Carry on.

Episode 34: “The Best Match Severed” (離れ離れのベストマッチ)

So Kamen Rider Evol is a thing, the prime minister is dead, and Gentoku might have emotions. Following that heavy ending to the last episode, Evol decides to poison Sento with the promise of a cure in return for - you guessed it - all of the Fullbottles and Pandora's Box. While Ryuga and Kazumi reluctantly meet him at the box's location with all of the bottles, it turns out the poison can only be cured if Evolt is defeated, which means they'll fight for Sento's life. Vernage's powers don't seem to be enough to help, as Evolt even remarks that her powers are just remnants at this point.

Of course, since Evolt has proven himself to be less than trustworthy, this goes poorly. Cross-Z Magma might have the stronger form, but he can just barely make a dent in Evol. It doesn't help that he's been given quite the realization, as Katsuragi previously wanted both Evolt and Ryuga dead since they are more or less one and the same. Also real talk? Kazumi says it's dangerous to transform again after you've been forced out of a transformation, which I don't think I've ever even heard being addressed in a toku - props.

With one literally heated rematch between Evol and Cross-Z Magma, the finishers clash and we end the episode with Ryuga standing in the flames left by their battle... and the reveal that Evolt has taken on the form of Ryuga! As you'd expect, Evolt was lying about Sento's poison only being cured that way, so Sento is healed and only just aware that something is amiss here...

Episode 35: “Tower of Destruction” (破滅のタワー)

Hot off the heels of the last episode, Evolt transforms into his new Dragon Form, which makes use of Cross-Z's helmet design. He's basically just showing off as he decides to stroll into the building to get Pandora's Box and ditch them. Sento won't take that sitting down, so despite literally just crawling out of an ambulance, he's ready to fight Evol.

This is when we get the full context of what's going on with Ryuga. As it turns out, the substance that made its way back from Mars was a part of Evolt, which was attempting to possess Ryuga's mother, but accidentally possessed the baby in her womb. So technically, Ryuga isn't the space baby I figured, he's just a human who got possessed by alien powers that fused with him to the point they remained dormant. So as Blood Stalk, Evolt was constantly raising Ryuga's Hazard Level for the sake of making him strong enough to fuse with, basically. Damn. That all comes together nicely.

After all that exposition, Evol ditches Build with the bottles and the box, but he forgot one! More on that in a sec. For now, we get something I wasn't expecting: Soichi is separated from Evolt, as he's in Ryuga's body now. In true toku fashion, however, he's in the hospital for now so we can't actually find out what he has to say yet. To be fair though, Evolt did kinda let himself deliberately take a LOT of beatings leading up to the Evol Driver reveal, so he deserves some rest. 

More on that bottle. I dunno who to credit for this cleverness, but Gentoku still had the Phoenix Fullbottle with him, meaning Sento wants to work together against Evolt. However, before they can really strike up a deal, Evolt forces them all to the middle of Pandora Tower for his big moment.

As you'd expect, everyone would rather punch him than let him do what he pleases, but that doesn't go so well to say the least. As it turns out, Evol is now acting against Namba since he's OPENING Pandora's Box, so it's up to Utsumi to go order Evol to stop - which goes as well as you'd expect. With no one capable enough to stop him, all 60 of the Fullbottles are in place and Pandora's Box - as well as Pandora Tower - is fully formed!

This would be a fun time for the show to take a week long break due to sports, but we've been pretty lucky in that regard.

Episode 36: "Evolt the Planet Hunter" (エボルトは星を狩る)

With Evol unleashing the power of Pandora's Box, he pulls out an item we know to be the Evol Trigger, claiming it will bring him to full power. Unfortunately, he can't use it just yet for some reason, so what seemed like a finale moments ago has now been cut short. Although, as he assures Namba, Seito now has a stunning display of power they can use to intimidate Toto.

With Vernage making a quick rescue, we also learn that the Fullbottles of Pandora's Box were actually made from Soichi's memories, which is an interesting thought, and contained Evolt’s power. Sento also discovered that a bit of his father's research involved a way of using a Pandora Panel to create a special transformation item to counter Evolt's power, which sounds quite deadly. Misora catches onto the fact that he's going to sacrifice himself for the good of others again, and gives him a reasonable talking to since he is still feeling those sins crawling down his back - this is a fascinating conundrum they've cooked up for a protagonist, damn.

Meanwhile, Kazumi has a score to settle with Gentoku. It seems like after all their fights, he's become much stronger than our purple edgelord, though it probably helps that Gentoku is also emotionally vulnerable right now. Kazumi lets out his frustrations over Gentoku killing Akaba, but he understands that if Akaba were still here, he'd probably think he's being a little petty about it. Since he won this fight, Kazumi gives Gentoku one request: Someday, whenever he's ready, become their ally. Very cool scene all around.

As Seito once again makes Toto a dangerous place to live, Build takes on Evol, showing that he's actually becoming strong enough to take on Evol's default form - glad they showed that since the FullFull armor forms seemed like they were quickly outclassed. Build tries using the blocky transformation item and manages to do some damage, Evol puts a hand into his body (context), and Build reveals that his father's invention was intended to foil Evol's strategies and he uses this opportunity to raise his Hazard Level rapidly and blow them both up.

As the smoke clears, we're not left with Evol or Build... but a white-haired Sento. Ryuga is separated from Evolt, and it turns out Sento's plan failed, so Evolt has the body of our strongest hero. Using his new Rabbit Evolbottle pulled from Sento's body, he taunts them all with a form reminiscent of Build...

Episode 37: "The Ultimate Phase" (究極のフェーズ)

Using his newly obtained form, Evol is now on Phase 3 of his personal level system, and makes quick work of Grease by... what I assume was destroying his Sclashjelly, but I guess he just made a little mess with it. And he didn't even have to do anything to Ryuga, because he took back any DNA left on him, making Ryuga a completely normal human who can't transform. Vernage makes a desperate attempt to escape by taking the entirety of the cafe and their lab, and repositioning it ssssomewhere by the sea? Sure. Be interesting to see the reaction to that later.

Ryuga and Kazumi make desperate attempts of their own as they come to Gentoku, at Faust's old hideout, to try and give Ryuga a Hazard Level again. But Gentoku is honest about how he doesn't really know anything about science, and the process involved Evolt, so... they're out of luck. Kazumi however does give an awesome speech about how Sento always fought for love and peace, and in some way, they were all fighting for the same thing. Interesting tidbit dropped here where Rogue’s gear apparently can only be used when a certain emotional drive is involved, and as we've learned, Gentoku is pretty drained of motivation lately, so he's in as just of a bad place as Ryuga...

It's really just up to Grease to try and take on both Evolt and the gear bros, but just as Grease becomes outnumbered, Rogue shows up! With a refreshed outlook on life, he's decided that his father doesn't have to be the one to run Toto, and neither does he - but he can sure make way for a brighter future regardless. The combined strength of these two still isn't quite enough to challenge Evol's power - he's proving just how much of an endgame villain he is.

That's when Ryuga pulls a Sento and gets a clever idea. Wrestling off the Dragon Evolbottle from Evol's arsenal, he attempts to use it to punch the heck out of him, only for it to actually work! It turns a gold color, and the Cross-Z Dragon flies over to him, turning red as he inserts the new bottle. Using it in the Build Driver, he transforms into Great Cross-Z, which is... basically the original Cross-Z with some Evol-y colors here and there. Not as great as you’d expect. 

In his new form, Cross-Z is surprisingly doing damage to Evol. Not only that, but his Hazard Level has in fact returned proper, as he switches to Cross-Z Magma and proves to be a formidable force. As the three Riders huddle together for a finisher, though, Evol blocks it with the Evol Trigger and lets it absorb their energy, allowing it to truly awaken.

Now Evolt, as Kamen Rider Evol, uses the Evol Trigger in the Evol Driver with his Evolbottles (NAMES ARE HARD) and transforms into his Blackhole Form - the final form. What a twi--

Oh, and Sento has been separated from Evolt,and he's back to normal... which means he no longer has amnesia and is now aware that he's Katsuragi Takumi! WHAT. A. TWIST.

So Build's doing pretty damn well. It has been high stakes for a while, but now we are in some heavy end game territory with plenty of episodes to spare. I am super interested in seeing where this Katsuragi thing goes.

These four episodes in particular were a lot of fun to marathon since they are so connected - it felt like a Steven Universe bomb done right, y'know? The one with the zoo? Good times.

Oh and since I know I’ll be asked about it: Yep, the magazine reveals for May did in fact include Kamen Rider Mad Rogue, who won’t be appearing until the next episode. The magazines show off what’s appearing in that month, though there are exceptions when it comes to movies/spinoffs. Regardless, this was an odd one to see in the magazine and not in the show. 

I think their reasoning for this was probably to do with the DX BatEngine Fullbottle Set being released alongside the DX Evol Driver - people who aren’t following spoilers will probably wonder what those bottles are for and why the promo images specifically involve using the Evol Driver for this set of bottles. 

[arkus-rhapsode]

How I Would’ve Done the Grand Magic Games Arc

Well people seemed to like my how I would end Fairy Tail so I guess I’ll give you another thing I would’ve loved making alterations to. That being the Grand Magic Games arc. (Be warned as this is an arc it is a little long)

First off we are cutting out the time travel. No Future Rogue, No Future Lucy, and no dragon’s from the past. Not every arc needs to have the world in danger to be compelling.

Makarov died on Tenrou. That way we have reason for Mavis to come in and act as the new mentor figure.

The Fairy Tail team is getting a goddamn training arc. Look the GMG was the longest arc (before Alvarez) and if we cut the future stuff we should have those extra chapters contribute to something better.

No second origin. Hacking yourself is not interesting.

The A team is aware of the B team. (It was a stupid reveal and if your all working towards the same goal then it makes no sense not to tell them.)

So in this training arc each character gets their own way of training.

Mavis tells Elfman of a forest that Gildarts went through that full of beasts and he could go there get new souls

This way we see Elfman hunt the beasts he’ll use in the tournament. Hunting and taking over weretiger and lizardman

Mavis says this is good training for Elfman as not only is he getting new souls but when in a wilderness setting like the forest the body to move around and uses a mix of muscles. This way not only can he get souls but also he’ll increase his base states as well.

Lucy still trains with Capricorn but make it longer. Capricorn is the wisest spirit, having him mentor Lucy on the secrets on celestial magic is a good idea

Erza actually recalls her fight with Azuma and how he was able to counter all her variety with only one form of magic.

Erza decides that maybe she might need new armor, after all it’s been 7 years advancements had to have been made. (Also this way we can see her buy the piercing armor and Nakagami armor)

Also she asks to spar Mira because Erza is now using more variety in her fights. (I’ve written before how the progression of Erza’s powers should’ve been: 1 armor–> Variety of Armor–> Mixing weapons from other armors with other armors. This seems it’s still variety stage of that progression)

Wendy’s training is with Laxus. (I mean all of FT’s DS all are pals except for Wendy and Laxus)

Wendy realizes she needs strength training and can’t just be support so Laxus tells her to punch a tree and see how hard she punches.

Naturally it doesn’t leave that much of of a dent and Laxus tells her that her first thing is to take her emotion and put it behind her punches.

Wendy keeps trying but it’s pretty much to no avail, she gets upset thinking about losing Mystogan and cait shelter but also she thinks about Brain, Faust, and Zancrow with how they hurt people close to her and she gets frustrated think if only she was stronger that she could stop them on her own.

She then punches and starts cracking apart the tree from the punches coming from her anger till Laxus catches her fist.

He tells her the point was to put her emotions behind the punch, not let them overwhelm her. He tells her that she must fight with her convictions but angry will only drive you in the wrong direction. Laxus himself getting flashbacks over his rage induced goals.

Wendy agrees to what he says and they begin to train (There I just did character growth and expanded the bonds of FT members)

Then we get Grays training. And he believes he needs to become faster molding magic. So he focus’s on increasing his already high speed.

Mavis comes across Gray after some of his training and he states he’s made no progress and Mavis tells him maybe instead of focusing on all his shapes being made faster he should choose one mold and increase it’s speed.

Gray decides he’ll increase the speed it takes for Ice-Make sword. This way when he shows off Ice make unlimited we see his speed really iss different and why.

Mavis offers Cana a way to permanently master Fairy Glitter.

Also notice Mavis is actually being smart and helpful. like an actual mother/strategist.

Natsu and Gajeels training is first they have their wrists bound and are then launches with Erza’s giant armor so far into the deep forest.

The two have to first get along with each other but they just end up letting their egos keep getting in the way.

The first challenge they face is giant waterfall

Natsu says he can get over it easy and use his flames to increase his jump and says when he’s at the top he’ll pull up Gajeel by their bindings.

This plan fails as Natsu can’t make enough jump to make it to the top. So Gajeel says he’ll handle it and uses his Iron to pier the rock and climb the the waterfall. This fails too, as the waters are too fast and force him down.

They keep trying their methods and get nowhere till Natsu asks Gajeel how far can he extend his Iron pillars and so using a combo of Gajeel’s iron club to push them up and Natsu’s fire to propel them up they are able to clear the water fall.  

They decide to rest for the first night and in the morning they find a stream and see fish in it.

Gajeel has trouble catching them but Natsu doesn’t and while Gajeel is a little refusing to accept any of the food Natsu caught, Natsu tells them need to eat.

But the food attracts a Vulcan pack and while they beat them they find out there are more vulcans and they keep fighting and once they win they decide to move on and get out of they forest quickly.

They however are stopped by a sudden rain storm and flee to find shelter but those same vulcans followed they and attack again Natsu is having a difficult time in the rain but Gajeel is still able to push them all back and they find some shelter.

Gajeel sleeps but Natsu stands out in the rain trying to increase his fire but each time it’s doused.

Natsu then thinks he’s doing it the wrong way and instead of making the flame bigger, he focuses on just increasing the heat and slow the flame burn brights as the water evaporates,

They continue on but it’s then when they hear the sound of the same vulcan horde Gajeel says they’re going to fight again Natsu tells Gajeel to just run as they clear more ground and when they stop Gajeel questions what the hell is up with Natsu

Natsu says they couldn’t fight as they are hungry and sleep deprived.

Natsu remembers what Gildarts told him about overcoming weakness and the first step is to know your weakness.

Making it closer to the end of the forest they come across a huge monster that beats the 2 around Natsu keeps up most the fighting and finishes the beast off but collapses.

Gajeel see’s this and turns his arms to blades and starts scrapping them against each other to create sparks to feed Natsu.

They both stand up and make it to the end of the forest yelling that if this place couldn’t beat them down then either could any guild.

They return as we gets shots of other people finishing their training.

During all this there are scenes introducing characters like Lyon and Jura but also new ones. I think you can keep Sting and Rogue’s intro, use the Erza getting new armor to introduce Kagura like when she’s coming out of the blacksmith shop have her pass Erza, or have Bacchus drinking at the FT bar, or with Raven Tail show Ivan rallying his men for the GMG.)

The actual tournament begins with the sky labyrinth. Focus on it a little more as it is the prelim.

Also team B meets assembles and Gajeel questions that he, Juvia, Mira, and Laxus are there and Cana is the reserve so who’s the fifth man.

The fifth member is Bickslow, and let me explain I wouldn’t done Loke but it seems like cheating for a spirit that’s owned by another contestant and on another team to be a member. It wouldn’t be Levy as she is made out to still not be a stronger member and they already have a reserve. Out of the thunder god tribe Bickslow is the most untapped into, Freed’s the most tapped into (that’s not saying much) but also his dark ecriture and jutsu shiki seem as they’d take to long to make and would be a detriment, Evergreen I’ll be honest has really undefined magic so I see it hard to make it interesting.

Bickslow on the other hand has powers that can be used in a variety of purposes and as I said he’s the least tapped into.

Another change to teams: Sho and Wally are on mermaid heel and there’s no beth or arana. (OKay first off Hiro wanted to include them in the first place but felt like there were too many characters, so why not cut your loses as having more already established characters like sho and Wally so you have more time on new characters like Sabertooth, Kagura, Chelia etc. Also Mermaid Heel doesn’t have to be an all female guild.)

The first day can stay the same.

Lucy vs Flare keep it

Mirajane vs Jenny change it to an actual fight but have the reason Jenny lose is she’s a little vain with her take overs and Mira takes advantage of it. (There I made a way for there to be fanservice without any demeaning of the actual fight… yay)

Orga’s intro keep it

Bickslow vs Jura. Jura fights the same way and while Bickslow is aware he’ll lose he’s still fighting for Laxus. Take this time to dive into Build on why Bickslow follows Laxus.

When it looks like it’s over as Jura has Bickslow on the ground Bickslow stands up even though it seems impossible and the reason is Bickslow posessed his own soul.

Even though it’s damaged he can still move his body and at least go out with everthing. Plus it’s not impossible to believe he could possess his own soul as he can see them and we can all naturally look down at our bodies.

Spend more time on Raven tail and define that they just came to beat FT they don’t care to win.

Chariot: Change the FT teams with A to Elfman but B being Mira because then we can see satan soul’s feature of speed (Doesn’t have to fly and i’d assume the enhanced mode would increase speed)

Elfman vs Bacchus, don’t change it

Kagura vs Yukino, don’t change it

No Natsu v sabertooth and just introduce Jiemma as this dick and show off Minerva (Hell use it as good parallel to Ivan and how they are similar only Jiemma use strength as a reason why he’s an ass and Ivan just wants to hurt people out of vengence.)

Pandemonium, for the love of god don’t change it

MPF, keep it the same

Laxus vs Alexei needs more time and insead of Laxus clowing all of Raven Tail, just have it be Ivan and they lose by disqualify.

Wendy vs Chelia, don’t change it

Naval Battle, change the wings of love scene but Minerva can still win

The team merges but there is a penalty and they lose some of their points

Ichiya doesn’t beat Bacchus as it completely makes Elfman’s win seem weaker

Instead of Lyon and Yuka vs Millianna and Kagura, have it be Millianna and Sho because an issue with Kagura was too much overhype so this will space it out.

Natsu and Gajeel vs Sting and Rogue, I think you can keep most the back and forth the same but the ending with the uniso raid should be countered with a unison raid. (No minecart crap)

The Raid is Stronger as not only because of the shared conviction but also that whole training arc got Natsu and Gajeel closer and stronger

Sting can still blow a hole in Jiemma and Minerva can trick him with lector

Final day, It’s Erza, Laxus, Natsu, Gray and Gajeel. Mavis has her god damn mouth closed

Gray fights Rufus but Rufus gets caught up in using all these powers he’s memorized and Gray takes advantage using Ice make unlimited and beats him as Rufus let his arrogance and constant binding of moves makes him over look something basic like Gray taking a basic move and focusing only on that.

Erza fights Kagura and Erza uses more damn variety of armors against Kagura.

Minerva enters and yes no samurai pants still just Erza and her swapping out her armor and fighting her, like she should.

Orga faces Chelia and crushes her telling her about how God slayer are at the top of world and somebody like her is weak.

Chelia asks how can he tell what weakness and strength is and Orga says he killed the man who taught him god slaying because the student needed to prove he was stronger, and says Chelia doesn’t have that in her.

Laxus comes up and tells him he’s full of shit

Gajeel and Rogue fight with no shadow and just about Rogue’s fear of Gajeel and Gajeel pointing out that he’s not the same person back in phantom. Gajeel then shows that he’s glad there are other dragon slayers and eats the shadow.

Gets his dual mode and beats Rogue

Returning to Orga and Laxus’s fight they are throwing around lightning and destroying stuff and Orga tells Laxus he’s not reacting quick enough.

Orga isn’t thinking out his moves he’s letting his instinct fight but Laxus exploits this when Orga uses his black lightning canon and puts his all his magic behind it but when the attack is coming Laxus smirkks saying that instinct can always be trumped by expierence and Laxus eats the lightning

Laxus asked Natsu about god slayer magic and Natsu explained the trick he used on Zancrow.

Orga’s baffled by this but Laxus uses Roaring thunder on Orga

Orga tries to stand up but Jura knocks him out saying he would know when to quit

Cut to Gray who then takes Lyon with Gajeel’s help

CUt to the threesome and Kagura still loses to Minerva but now Erza says that she’ll handle this

Back to the fight with Jura and Laxus the fight is on a grand scale, lightning crashing down, Jura raising the ear and using every single rock to attack Laxus just blow for blow it’s a battle between titans

Jura says Laxus is running on low and Jura reveals a technique called “wrath born from earth” which is a giant rock assimilation that becomes massive hands and try to close together similar to a prayer and crush laxus

Laxus uses Lightning body to dodge the attack and propel towards Jura and uses the black lightning he ate and merge it with his dragon lightning and then try to crush Jura

Jura creates a massive rock wall to guard and sees that the dragon god lightning move didn’t pierce it

But Laxus reveals he used lightning body again and moved around the wall using this moment of Jura’s surprise Laxus uses Roar and not only fully hits Jura but also blasts Jura through his own Rock wall

Erza reveals Nakagami to Minerva and Nakagami doesn’t have the same power. It uses holy light as a weapon

Minerva laughs this off as her speed still can’t touch her thanks to territory but Erza reveals that not only does Nakagami produce holy light

It also manipulates light and Erza bends the setting sun’s rays and uses them like blades to attack Minerva and while Erza wins she passes out from exhaustion

The final fight with Sting, Gray tries to fight but Sting beats him, Gajeel tries and Sting beats him. Sting gloats saying lector has given him more strength that their bond makes him stronger

Natsu see’s Sting and challenges him

Natsu takes advantage of the first move and punches sting in the neck disorienting him as Natsu beats him around, but Sting regains his barrings and easily punches back Natsu

Sting wastes no time with fighting Natsu and is even in dragon force beating around Natsu.

Natsu feels each of Stings punches and they seem to have more weight behind them and Sting says it’s because of Lector each punch is stronger than the last time they fought

Natsu gets a few hits in but it’s one sided

Natsu thinks about the guild and how it was his home, how hard it was for his guild to be insulted everyday for 7 years, sad that Lucy’s in bed not fighting with them, and he then says everyone else finished their fights and he’ll finish his

Natsu goes for crimson lotus exploding flame blade and that pushes back Sting and Natsu charges forward coated in flames and tries to ounch Sting but Sting catches it similar to how Natsu caught his white drive punch

Natsu tries with his other fist but Sting catches it and says Natsu still won’t win getting up in his face as Sting is crushing Natsu’s fingers while they’re caught

Natsu then roars in front of Sting and charges at him while saying that bonds do make you stronger and each punch Sting threw was because he carried the conviction of his friend in them but Natsu says in fist he carries the conviction of every member of guild and their hopes.

He punches Sting into the ground and Sting is out

Sting gets lector back as the guild is titled the bestLector tells Sting it doesn’t matter he lost and that Sting looked cooler than he ever had beforeSting tops yukino as shes boarding a train to leave and on his hands and knees begs her to come back apologizing We cut to arcadios who’s walking to the king and tells him that the eclipse gate reacted slightly when the zodiac keys were in crocus. As it’s printed that FT is the strongest we finally see crime socirere and their new looks and Jellal says he’s proud of Erza and Ultear says the same of Gray. Then Meredy reminds them that only one head of balam is left and thats Tartaros (there I created intrigue for the next arcs and instead of the time lapse we just use the Eclipse gate to get to neo eclipse)

So that’s how I would’ve done GMG. Again I found this as a satisfying way to do it and hope you guys enjoy.

[thecomicsnexus]

Crisis on Earth-One / Crisis on Earth-Two

Justice League of America #21-22. August, 1963. By Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.

Batman chairs a meeting of the Justice League of America. He tells the team that he just learned that Chronos, Doctor Alchemy and Felix Faust have banded together as the Crime Champions and intend to rob a bank in Powers City. The group splits into three teams to take down each of the super-villains.

Meanwhile, on the parallel world of Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America have received a challenge from three of their most well-known adversaries: The Fiddler, the Icicle and the Wizard. Eager to begin adventuring as a team once again, the JSA officially come out of retirement.

Back on Earth-One, Felix Faust plunders a sunken battleship. Aquaman, the Atom and Martian Manhunter arrive to stop him, but Faust crushes Aquaman with a tidal wave and conjures fire to keep the Manhunter at bay. The Atom knocks the fire away, and Martian Manhunter uses his Martian-Breath to blow the Atom like a bullet towards Faust, but the villain suddenly disappears.

Elsewhere, Doctor Alchemy uses his Philosopher's Stone to rob an armored car, giving it wings. Superman and the Flash arrive to stop him, but the Flash mysteriously begins vibrating and disappears. Doctor Alchemy uses his power to turn a nearby fire hydrant into Green Kryptonite, which slows Superman down. Green Arrow tries to stop the villain with his trick arrows but is caught in glue and his arrows turned to weeds, finally he uses lead to cover the Kryptonite enabling Superman to free him and they go after Alchemy, but he manages to escape.

In Powers City, Chronos the Time-Thief robs a vault. Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman show up and Chronos clips Batman's Batrope with projected clock hands from his pocket watch. He keeps Green Lantern at bay with a blast of yellow smoke from his Flying Sundial and he manages to elude Wonder Woman's golden lasso with hands fired from a watch. Wonder Woman saves Green Lantern by lassoing him from the smoke, he catches Batman. Like the other villains, Chronos mysteriously disappears.

The three Earth-One villains reappear at a secret lair on Earth-Two where they meet up with the Fiddler, the Icicle and the Wizard. The Earth-Two villains regale their Earth-One partners with stories of how they recently defeated the Justice Society. The villains decide to switch places with one another with Chronos, Doctor Alchemy and Felix Faust remaining on Earth-Two, and the Fiddler, Icicle and Wizard migrating to Earth-One.

When the Earth-Two villains arrive on Earth-One, they disguise themselves as their partners so as to confuse the members of the Justice League. The Wizard uses his magic to complete their disguises, he becomes Alchemy, Icicle becomes Chronos, and Fiddler becomes Faust, and they begin a crime spree at the gambling district known as Casino Town. The Justice League tries to fight them, but their unfamiliarity with these Earth-Two villains gives the criminals a distinctive edge in combat. Superman's vulnerability against magic enables the Wizard to spring a final trap against the group. The criminals manage to apprehend the League and imprison them inside their own Secret Sanctuary. None of their powers are strong enough for them to break free. Worse, the Flash still appears to be missing in action.

With little recourse, the League uses the Crystal Ball of Merlin to contact the Flash. The Flash tells them that he is trapped between dimensions and that they should use the Crystal Ball to contact their Earth-Two counterparts the Justice Society. The League conducts a seance over the Crystal Ball and the orb's magic succeeds in bringing the Justice Society to Earth-One. Both teams pledge to help the other in stopping the Crime Champions.

The combined efforts of the Justice League of America of Earth-One and the Justice Society of America of Earth-Two continue to try and stop the combined forces of the Crime Champions, a collation of villains from both Earths. The Earth-Two Atom and Hourman go after the Fiddler robbing a museum, Hawkman and Black Canary go after Wizard, and Doctor Fate goes after the Icicle. Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, and the Earth-One Atom go after Felix Faust, Batman and Wonder Woman go after Doctor Alchemy, and Superman and Aquaman go after Chronos who is stealing a clock from a lighthouse.

While both Green Lanterns seek to save the captured Flashes each of the other members of each respective group fails in defeating the various villains. The heroes manage to defeat their foes at first, but soon find themselves quickly defeated and trapped in cages in space just like the Flashes, due to a trap set there that is set off by the arrival of the Green Lanterns whose energies provide the remaining power needed to spring the trap.

However their imprisonment is short-lived when the two Green Lanterns are able to shrink themselves down to size to get out of their prison at the Earth-One Atom's suggestion, and then use their combined power rings and the super speed of both Flashes to free the others. The Crime Champions realize what has happened, and the Fiddler thinks there must be an Earth-Three they can escape to, which they try to find. Then the combined efforts of both the Justice League and the Justice Society defeat the Crime Champions. With their opponents defeated, both groups part company for their own worlds, taking their respective criminals back with them.

From DC Wikia

If you put apart the fact that this as historical event for comic-books... the story is complete nonsense.

But it is a very important event, not only because it would plant the seeds for big “events” that continue to these days. It also started a trend of visitors from parallel earths, that would end up inspiring the big Crisis.

Apart from that, this is the return of the Justice Society of America (first superhero group). I have to say, their scenes reminded me of Watchmen. The Minutemen were heroes because of the thrills of it, and that is exactly how it looks like here. They even have fond memories of fighting their villains. This is where you have to consider, all of this is Gardner Fox’s thinking. I understand him, these are his creations, but still, too many things in the story are just “wrong”.

One of the things that seem to out of place in his stories, is that he narrates on the narrator boxes. But uses dialogues to establish things that should go in the narration box. Like Aquaman explaining us that Snapper Carr wasn’t present because he had finals.

The art is no big deal, but I am probably spoiled by modern artists.

I give this story a score of 6.25.

[musiccosmosru]

Jim O’Rourke is searching for a word he’s forgotten how to say in English. After more than a decade living in Japan, the experimental musician doesn’t speak his native language much anymore and warns me at the beginning of our interview that he may occasionally have trouble. He’s trying to describe his new album, Sleep Like It’s Winter, and he’s pretty sure the word he’s looking for is not “exhume.”

“Express!” he says after working his way backwards with an online Japanese-to-English translator. It’s a significant word. Pick nearly any genre and O’Rourke can express a deep knowledge, critical understanding, and sly humor. But generally, he likes to let his music do the talking. Curious about his thoughts on guitar rock? Listen to 2001’s Insignificance. Americana and folk? Bad Timing. Classic pop music? Grab Eureka — and if you enjoyed that Burt Bacharach cover on it, well, he made an entire album of them. His latest is being called an ambient album, but he sees it more as an album about ambient albums.

For many, O’Rourke is best known for his work with other artists. You’ll find him in the credits of records by foundational indie artists such as Bill Callahan, Stereolab, Superchunk, Brainiac, and Joanna Newsom, as well as experimental legends Faust, John Fahey, Nurse With Wound, Tony Conrad, and Keiji Haino. As a producer-turned-member of Sonic Youth, he was key to their 2000s renaissance on late classics like Murray Street. And of course, there’s Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, a record as much myth as music due in no small part to his presence.

None of those artists come up during our hour-long conversation. They’re other artists’ stories and O’Rourke prefers the sidelines even in his own career: Interviews are rare, live performances even rarer. Yet O’Rourke subverts the trope of the reclusive musical genius, and the last few years have actually been some of his most prolific. This spring, he released the 40th album in his Steamroom series. Though it started in 2013 as a place to put archival material, Steamroom has evolved into a sort of sonic diary. In 2015, he returned to Drag City with Simple Songs, a collection of hilarious, cynical, and immaculately recorded pop tunes, and he continues to make collaborative releases with longtime friends such as Fennesz and Oren Ambarchi.

During our talk, O’Rourke offers rare insight into works old and new — from Sleep Like It’s Winter to his legendary ’90s post-rock duo with David Grubbs, Gastr Del Sol, to his favorite lyric and the one record he wishes people liked more. Like his music, he’s sharply intelligent, hilariously self-deprecating, and leaves you feeling like you’ve only scratched the surface.

STEREOGUM: Are you at home?

JIM O’ROURKE: Yeah I’m at home in the studio, now that I have a studio.

STEREOGUM: I read you had to move your studio after the earthquake. How do you have things now?

O’ROURKE: When I lived in Tokyo, the second floor was where I worked, and the house got … it got kind of … you have to excuse me occasionally, I don’t speak English very much anymore. [Laughs] It became too unsafe to have the stuff up there. But I moved out of Tokyo just under two years ago. I live in the countryside where you can probably buy a block of buildings for the same price. I have something that is more like an actual studio now, although it doesn’t look like it yet. It’s still a mess. I’m about two hours outside of Tokyo in Yamanashi. It’s near Mount Fuji and all that stuff. It’s up in the mountains.

STEREOGUM: How did this new album Sleep Like It’s Winter end up on Newhere, which is a very new label?

O’ROURKE: I’ll make the long story short. The label Newhere, the mother label, or whatever you would call it, is this label called Felicity here and they’re the label that puts out Eiko Ishibashi’s records. I don’t know if you know her.

STEREOGUM: Yeah, I enjoy her records.

O’ROURKE: I’ve produced all of Eiko’s records on that label so I knew [Newhere founder Hiroyasu] Hirakawa from Felicity. So the other side of the thing is people don’t really use things like Bandcamp in Japan because Paypal is near impossible to use here and just the culture of download music isn’t really what it is overseas. People still buy CDs here. Everything’s about CD still. So he wanted to start this label and he was like, “People here aren’t hearing the things you’re putting up on Bandcamp and I want people to hear those things.” It would have ended up there otherwise, but I made it specifically for him. It wasn’t like, “Oh I got that thing I was about to put up on Bandcamp.” I did work on it for about two years.

STEREOGUM: Wow.

O’ROURKE: He said, “We’re starting an ambient label,” which got me going down the rabbit hole of conceptualizing the record for a much longer time than I usually would. Usually I give myself the problem to deal with, but the fact that somebody else was giving me a problem to deal with made it take quite a bit longer.

sleep like it’s winter by Jim O’Rourke

STEREOGUM: How would you say this album differs from some of the Steamroom releases?

O’ROURKE: I think the main difference was this certain stimulus, this problem that I had to pose myself was coming from an external source, which really made me feel on the hot seat more than usual. Also, that’s not anything I would have challenged myself with, like what the hell does it mean to make an “ambient record”? I wouldn’t. That would be something I would just talk about with someone or think about or make jokes about. But because I said I would do it, I actually had to finish it. I would say 80% to 90% of the things I do, I don’t finish, because I’m not necessarily interested in making something for other people to hear but that I’ve learned something from doing it.

STEREOGUM: You have an interesting way of approaching a genre too. When you look at Eureka or Insignificance, there’s a certain slyness to the way you’re making “a pop record” or “a rock album.” Did you have that impulse here?

O’ROURKE: Well in the end, this one really is the same thing as all those. I don’t know what the right word is because a lot of the words are very misleading — I guess it’s an album about ambient albums. Eureka was an album about pop albums. But for me the real challenge is how to do that and still for it to be that thing …

STEREOGUM: To still function in that genre?

O’ROURKE: How can it be able to be both? I really admire great genre filmmakers like William Friedkin, people who make these genre films that are simultaneously about [genre] but still completely succeed in being that thing. For me, that is the most interesting area. You can see when a genre filmmaker decides to make their experimental film, it’s almost always an absolute disaster because their strength is in informing the genre film conditions, the tropes or whatever you wanna say. If you try and do it directly it just completely fails. It has to be rooted in the language of what you’re working with.

STEREOGUM: Were you happy with the result?

O’ROURKE: I mean, I’m never happy, but it came out fairly close, more than usual. But I don’t mean that like I’m miserable — it’s just not why I do these things. If I wanted to be happy I would just sit and watch movies all day. [Laughs]

STEREOGUM: You also just hit number 40 in your Steamroom series. Did you have expectations when this series started five years ago? Did you think that you would be releasing up to Steamroom 40?

O’ROURKE: I didn’t think about it, because I would have been making the things either way. It’s what I do with most of my time. It’s just that I like the way Bandcamp works. There’s like 50 or 60 people out there who want to hear those things, and they listen to them and that’s great. I don’t have to get involved with the whole cycle, I just want the stuff to be there and then when I’m gone, it’ll get taken down and thrown away and that’ll be it. For me, that would be the optimal way to do things because by the time I’m done with something, it’s really way behind me. I’m honestly only interested in the work, in doing the work. And when it’s done, I’ve learned something from it and now I can move on from what I’ve learned from that and put myself in another screwy position.

The funny thing with 40 is, I was talking to a friend about one record in particular that I took a long, long time to make and is maybe the closest I’ve ever been to being happy with making something, and no one liked it at all, which is fine. And we were joking about it. My friend said he makes a track in ten minutes and people love it. So I decided I’m gonna see if I can make a track in exactly the amount of time that it takes to listen to it. And that’s what that was, and I put it up and of course, like my friend said, easily the most popular one that I ever put up. And I literally made it in the exact — I put a mic out the window, actually you can hear, they’re out, the cicadas here are year round. Can you hear?

STEREOGUM: Yeah, I can hear the birds too.

O’ROURKE: So that’s the window to the studio. I put the mic out there and then I played with a speaker outside so they could react, ’cause they do react to it. And then I just played for 40 minutes and I put it up. [Laughs] I didn’t even listen to it. Obviously I’ve been doing something wrong all these years.

STEREOGUM: How do you approach field recordings when you’re not just putting the mic out the window? Do you set out with your recorder to find something or is it more spontaneous and you just are trying to grab something that catches you?

O’ROURKE: I was really adamant when I was younger, in Chicago, because there were so many places to go to get sounds. I lived in an area where there were a lot of factories and stuff. And it was also the dawn of the first sort of really high quality portable recorders — before, you would need a Nagra or something really expensive. I don’t go doing it so much now because I don’t travel anymore really. If I went around where I live here all I’d get are these same goddamn cicadas everywhere, which is why they’ve been on the last six or seven things I’ve done, ’cause I can’t avoid ‘em. When I find something I wanna record I do try to make a point of doing it right. It’s now more like I’m looking for something that’s really special as opposed to when I was younger I was like gathering.

STEREOGUM: One of my favorite field recordings is the one you put on “The Seasons Reverse” from the last Gastr Del Sol record. You’re recording the kid lighting off firecrackers, and it’s a great sound, but then he notices and actually gets quite upset with you.

O’ROURKE: [Laughs] Yeah, I got yelled at once by somebody that called me a cultural imperialist for that. He yelled at David [Grubbs] and he said, “No that was Jim!” — which was true.

STEREOGUM: Gastr was so different from most of what got lumped in with post-rock at the time. That last album, Camoufleur, was released 20 years ago, so I’m curious what you think now about the project.

O’ROURKE: This is gonna sound weird, but we were fuckin’ great. [Laughs] We were! We were.

STEREOGUM: You were.

O’ROURKE: David and I were at a criss-cross point in our lives. I was like 24, 25 and all I was doing was making tape music and playing improvised music and he was a guy coming from his world of music, which was not my world, and we criss-crossed at a perfect point in our lives. I was someone who genuinely knew how to make tape music. That’s what my life was. So we met with his growing interest in that kind of music and his knowledge of things like Derek Bailey and I was getting more interested in finding ways to do what I did in other ways, besides making just straight up tape pieces. How could these things meet? And I think we — this is going to be a little roundabout …

STEREOGUM: That’s ok.

O’ROURKE: There’s a lot of so-called “avant-garde” pop and rock music and I absolutely fucking hate that stuff. It treats the other forms of music as sprinkles that you put on top of things. It’s not genuinely integrated into the songwriting, it’s not integrated into your choice of instruments. It’s just treated as like a stylish scarf draped around the neck of what is not interesting music. It really offends me, because my whole life has been about this other kind of music and it still is to this day. But I think what we did was absolutely genuine and was really an honest, true integration of those things, consciously. So I’m very — I don’t wanna use the P word, but I’m — I think it’s the real thing. So I’m very happy about that. I mean l don’t listen to this stuff, I don’t listen to stuff I’ve worked on, but I think what we did was better than people thought it was at the time. I know this is probably gonna be on print, but please somehow express that I’m not boasting while I’m saying this. I’m not boasting. [Laughs]

STEREOGUM: Eureka and Insignificance also have dedicated fans. Those are albums that were received one way and then, 20 years later, have grown to have a certain …

O’ROURKE: Well, I think because when they came out it was the height of that construct of that idea, this post-rock. And everything was seen through that prism. And thankfully that prism’s gone away and it’s like people, now they’re seeing things directly. I don’t know this directly, but I hear from friends, like my friend Glenn [Kotche of Wilco] who plays on all those. He’ll send me an email on occasion just like, “I’m in Morocco and someone just asked me to show them the beat from ‘Life Goes Off.’” So you hear stories, which is neat. I don’t know directly, but I hear from folks that people still listen to ‘em. Eureka, I’ve got too much on the record about my feelings about Eureka, I’m happy when someone says they like Insignificance ’cause that one came up pretty well considering how quickly I made it. And that one song, the lyrics still make me laugh to this day. The one where the guy dies in bed. There’s a line — “I sure picked a winner” — that I think is the best thing that I ever came up with in my life. If I came up with one thing in that life, it’s that line. It still makes me laugh. I know you’re not supposed to laugh at your own stuff, but that’s one that’s pretty funny. I’m waiting for people to like The Visitor. If there’s anything, that’s the one I’m hoping someday people will like because I worked really hard on that one. That’s the one I probably feel the most least uncomfortable about. That one got really close to what I wanted to do. And I learned to play trombone.

STEREOGUM: Really?

O’ROURKE: I had to. I went like a year and a half trying to avoid it because I knew it had to be a trombone part but I was like, “Oh, I can’t play trombone.”

STEREOGUM: You played every instrument on that record.

O’ROURKE: Yeah, I played everything. That was sort of the challenge.

STEREOGUM: What was the challenge for Simple Songs, which had a whole band?

O’ROURKE: There was no challenge. It was guilt, because I’d made these people go through this record I don’t know how many times over five years. So I felt obligated to put it out because they had put so much of their time into it. [Laughs] Yeah, I’m still not far enough away from that one to be objective.

STEREOGUM: What was the experience like performing it live for those few shows?

O’ROURKE: That was horrible. I never wanna play live again. Everyone who played was great of course, but I’ve seen video of it. You can see how fucking terrified I am in my left hand. I think it’s maybe the beginning of “Hotel Blue,” my hand is freaking out. I do not like playing in front of people. It’s fine if they’re not looking at me. I’m fine when I’m playing for someone else or in somebody’s thing I have no problem. But if they’re looking at me, I’m terrified. Glenn and Darren from the old band will vouch for this. I mean, I would throw up after shows. It just terrified me.

STEREOGUM: A lot of people don’t realize you taught the kids in Richard Linklater’s 2003 movie School Of Rock.

O’ROURKE: Yeah, I taught them how to play, I taught them the songs, because except for one scene, that’s actually them playing. So for those scenes I’d be on set to keep the music part off of Mr. Linklater’s mind, sort of on the side music-directing, you know? That was a fun experience. I was supposed to be in the movie, but there was a Sonic Youth tour during the shoots so I couldn’t go back to do it.

STEREOGUM: Who were you supposed to be?

O’ROURKE: I don’t think I would have had a line or anything, they said they were gonna have me be one of the judges, you know sort of like a little in-joke, but it ended up that when they were shooting those scenes I wasn’t even gonna be in New York.

STEREOGUM: You’ve collaborated with so many accomplished musicians — what was it like suddenly working with kids?

O’ROURKE: It wasn’t like a music job at all, it really was a film job. I mean, the fun part was getting to be on set, meeting Mr. Linklater. If you get me talking about film you can’t shut me up, so I probably was annoying, but talking to the crew, just asking them technical things and talking to them about their jobs was really fun. I generally don’t like being around kids, so that was interesting. The kid who played guitar and the kid who played keyboards, they were really nice and genuinely very talented. I liked working with those two a lot. It’s funny because the guitar player kid [Joey Gaydos, Jr.] kept asking me, “Man, I want one of your records.” And I was like, OK. So actually the last day I saw him, they were at that place where they, the last scene where they’re playing at the, what do you call it?

STEREOGUM: A battle of the bands?

O’ROURKE: Yeah, they were setting up and it was my last day before I had to go on tour, and I brought a copy of Insignificance on CD for him. And I handed it to him and then I looked at the cover and remembered the pictures inside. And I said “Hey, you know what, I’m gonna sign this or something for you and get it back to you later.” And I took it back and then I left and went on a plane and never saw the poor kid again. But oh my god, if he had opened that, the parents and the film. They would have gotten sued or something.

//

sleep like it’s winter is out now via Newhere.

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The post Jim O’Rourke Interview: Catching Up With The Reclusive Polymath appeared first on MusicCosmoS.

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Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Episode 32

New Post has been published on https://hentaihun.com/blog/2017/12/21/yu-gi-oh-vrains-episode-32/

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Episode 32

This episode came out pretty late today, so I will also put a quick disclaimer: It was a long day for me, and I’m pretty tired, so I bare with me if you feel like I’m nitpicking something more than I should.

Alright team you have one job: SURVIVE!

Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. It was one of those episodes when the whole thing is more or less one hot mess. The animation quality was wonky, the pace felt off and I felt they spent unnecessary screen-time of characters we could care less about – AKA: the self-proclaimed reporters, the Pigeon and the Frog. (I still don’t understand why or HOW these two did not get absorbed already!) It also didn’t help with the way the trio meets The whole scene was so awkward and in a way felt forced. Playmaker, Onizuka and Blue Angel have never truly worked together as a team. Playmaker and Onizuka collaborated together in search for the one who carried the program to remove the virus, and that was it. We are in a situation we aren’t quite used to considering all the previous protagonists in the other series had a friend or two to work with. This time, we have these odd-balls who know almost nothing about each other (with the exception of Yuusaku who is the only one to know their true identities). And yet they are off on their own once again to fight their own battles. You could say each and every one have an ego of their own that drives their lone wolf streak. (However Onizuka is certainly more of the type who is willing to join or create a pact rather than fight on his own though.)

What surprised me the most though was the sudden emergence of Spectre, who appears to be Revolver’s right-hand man. Spectre appears when Kitamura tries to save his own skin by attempting to betray SOL Technologies and join the Hanoi Knights. Revolver knows the guy is a joke so he has Spectre deal with him. Thankfully we were spared of having to watch Kitamura’s duel against the guy, because I have little to not interest in him either. (It also helps he has been removed for the time being as he was absorbed too). Instead we will be seeing Spectre VS Blue Angel, a duel that was bound to happen.

Up until now, Spectre has been… mysterious…. but also hinted to be a creep (especially in regards to Blue Angel). Whenever we saw him, he was a man of a few words, or none at all, or his appearance would be extremely brief. Now in action, Spectre is showing his true colors and just how twisted this guy is (aka: Psycho). When you compare him to the likes of Faust and Baira, both who showed us their humane side, it is quite alarming how little regard he has for others. But the strangest part is how he claims he is a fan of Blue Angel, yet he said she was a “lowly idol” in comparison to Revolver who he holds in high regards. Hearing that, made me confused and wonder if he is actually an “ANTI” Blue Angel Fan.

As result we are now in for a rather unexpected Master Duel between Spectre and Blue Angel. It appears they will be using this duel to provide us more backstory in regards to Aoi’s past and what inspired her to go with the name she carries now. I do look forward to this considering we haven’t had the chance to learn more about her past through her own character. Everything we have seen up till now has been through another character’s backstory (Akira’s). However at the same time, I am anxious of what the outcome of the battle will be. I am torn between who I want to one: On one hand, I would hate it if Blue Angel falls here and pays the price for the loss, likewise for Onizuka. But on the other hand, I really want a threatening villain, so in order for that to happen, they have to make him powerful enough to not only be responsible for defeating Blue Angel, but also Onizuka, and then challenging Playmaker before he has the chance to fight Revolver.

But at the same time, I am hoping we will actually get to see the Hanoi Knight’s plans play out and they do destroy the world’s network, or at least damage it in some way or form. Or perhaps Ai will do something that will change the kind of impact it was originally planned to have (one I can see very likely to happen in order to ensure the group’s or at least Playmaker’s survival). There is a variety of options they could roll with, and it doesn’t matter which one they go with so as long as we can see what could happen if Playmaker were to fail. It’s so, so, SO LONG OVERDUE and the stakes could not be higher.

Last week the tower reminded me of Tartarus, but I was wayyyy off the mark. Until this week, I didn’t know about the concept of the Tower of Hanoi. Once it was mentioned in the episode about the legend, I looked it up to see if I was missing something. Sure enough I was. The more you know, am I right?

So here is how Revolver and Dr. Kogami intend to use it:

The underground Erasing System: The shape will create 6 rings, and create 1 ring/hour.

The Core will release high density to external networks and it will effect everything beyond VRAINS

Records, Programs connected to the network will vanish, power-plants, hospitals will also be effected. The result will be catastrophic world wild, forcefully dragging Humanity will return to the age of no technology.

Basically it’s an EMP Weapon, and Ai will be erased.

Ultimate Goal: Destruction of the Worlds Network (they weren’t kidding, they are flipping ambitious!)

Since the Hanoi Knights have completely taken over Link VRAINS, SOL Technology have issued a statement they enacted an Emergency Shutdown of VRAINS to prevent users from logging in. However despite their claim, users can still log in. It’s hard to say whether or not SOL Technologies really did try to shut it down, but simply cannot because Link VRAINS has been hijacked. On one hand, they waited way too long and should have done this like at least ten episodes sooner, or they want to leave it open. But while SOL Technology is a shady little shit, right now all eyes are on the Hanoi Knights, and its more than likely Revolver deliberately made it so (stupid) users can still log in and not only contribute to their grand scheme by being sacrificed, but also to enable Playmaker to come after him.

With that it’s a wrap! I hope everyone has a safe and lovely holiday this weekend!

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